Johannes replied to me: > Large crews mean many NPCs. Running a game with many permanent NPCs and > little that creates a us vs them with the PCs, other then them being NPCs > is more difficult to roleplay. It also gives opportunities to the GM that > the simpler setup does not, but it's not suprising that this is not the > default. > > Additionally the larger the ship, itS' more likely that it becomes more > "landscape" rather then a vehicle. Not only are there more opportunities > for searches and such, unless it's a warship, the larger the ship is, the > smaller the chance that it will be used for missions, where vehicle combat > is likely.
So little ships are more interesting? I wrote 10- to 30-ton scouts, 100-ton freighters, 30,000-ton freighters, and I'm almost done with 30-ton couriers. What next? > A possible setup for a passanger transport optimized for speed could be > SOP being jumping into the system, exchanging a shuttle with outgoing > passangers with an already waiting one with new ones and heading out > again. It might get more feasable if there is an other reason to make > stops as well (long range navigation works with many small jumps anyway, > the shuttles also deliver fuel ect) If you can jump in precisely enough to meet a waiting shuttle, why not build a station out there? Always assuming that there is some kind of 'hyper limit' to prevent FTL close to the planet -- which makes sense for some kind of stories. * Consider the stations in Bujold's Vorkosigan universe. * Compare Shelley's DMC stories, where a breakthrough turned distant jumps into a short-range, short-time confused melee which overturned invasion tactics. Roger replied to me: > Another: you have to be _nice_ to passengers. You can't walk around with > power armour and plasma rifles. ... which some players consider fun, or at least smart. There were debates on anti-hijacking precautions in Traveller which made one wonder if they were talking about paying passengers or convicted inmates. Mike replied to Roger: > But yes when you have empty seats and staterooms, you got to do something > with it? > > A configuration that allows for fast change from state room to cargo? Those general-purpose ships are going to be less comfortable and less efficient than single-purpose ships. At lower TLs (for FTL craft), the efficiency problem could kill them, and at higher TLs, the demands for comfort go up. Brandon replied to me: > Or, all passengers could be carried in freeze tubes for a budget liner. In 3E, that isn't the low cost option. Freeze tubes are 1,000 lbs. and 50 cf, bunks with total life support are 600-240 lbs. and 120-104 cf. Mass trumps volume in these cases, since both FTL and STL drives are rated for mass. > >* Passenger liners go between established destinations. So do > > most freighters, but you see more freighters on the frontier, > > where action adventures happen and aliens might strike out > > of the shadows. > > Depends on the kind of liner. An old liner that transports settlers to > colonies or frontier worlds could have a lot of action. A luxury liner, less > so, but there is a greater chance of political intrigue. Or a smallish 'tramp transport' custom-built for those routes. The Subsidized Merchant in Traveller. Regards, Onno _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
