On Sat, 2012-06-09 at 18:06 -0400, Kurt Feltenberger wrote: > On 6/9/2012 7:21 AM, Onno Meyer wrote: > > Family Ships: > > * Johannes mentioned the idea of families on board, with plots > > based on the dynamics within the crew. Who needs an Alien if > > the Old Man is just as scary, and refuses to retire in peace? > > * When we talk about families, does that mean a generation ship > > where people are born, raised, live and die? It doesn't have > > to be a ship which spends centuries between ports, as in the > > usual sublight generation ship meme. You could have a > > situation where voyages take a year or two, and a 'triangle > > trade' takes a decade. Would you leave your family at home > > that long? Cf Cherryh's merchanters in the Alliance/Union > > universe. > > * How large is the crew? If each ship is one closed society, you > > need a decent gene pool. If different ships meet and there is > > an exogamy tradition, each individual crew can be smaller. > > * What is the minimum size to retain technology? Are the kids > > taught by apprenticeship, or is there a college/university? > > How many students, how many faculty? > > * There could be family ships where young professionals are hired > > at a port and live on a ship until retirement. Children would > > be born, and raised on the ship until they go to a boarding > > school college in port. The ship might have a primary school > > teacher or two, and crew take turns at teaching middle school > > classes (the astrogator teaches maths, the engineer teaches > > physics, the commo officer teaches languages, etc.). > > * Is the ship trading to support the family, or does it carry > > the family to allow trade? Cf the Stargate Atlantis episode > > Travelers. > > If you can find a local copy of "Midshipman's Hope", by David Feintuch, > that might be inspiration for family aboard ships. The story covers a > three year voyage (one way) and the people and politics on the ship. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midshipman%27s_Hope >
There are many novels with space traders. Here are a few I am thinking of right now: The Chanur series by Cherryh. Sharon Lee and Steve Miller's Balance of Trade. Their Conflict of Honors also has a family trade ship. The Quarter Share, Half Share, Full Share, etc. series by Nathan Lowell is excellent. -- Knowledge Is Power Power Corrupts Study Hard Be Evil _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
