Johannes wrote: > I got an idea for an additional shiptype for the little superscience > astereoid mining background that had been discussed here a while ago. > > A rescue ship. It could be owned by a goverment or by some miners and > prospecters union. > > I would imagine it would consist of a fast response craft, good with > speed, bad with endurence and cargo space and a mothership or station. > > It would be a natrual vessel to be crewed by pcs, since as rescue team, > they can get in a wide variety of situations, new npcs can be easily > introduced, apcs (absent player characters) make less trouble (did not > feel well, stayed on the mothership) and the GM has a good option to > interrupt any ongoing story arcs with the rescue mission of the week, > should he have trouble with making up the next arc adventure.
Hello Johannes, accidents are always goood for games. So what could happen and who can help? I'm not too superscience, just fusion rockets and not reactionless thrusters. * Total systems failure in deep space. The crew may be injured or dead as well, but it doesn't really matter if they can't get the ship going again. People on Earth have just the loss of signal and perhaps a sudden energy burst. It will be difficult to make a rescue, but a team might be sent out, if only to tow the ship back for salvage. * Maneuver failure, power and life support operational. This includes such things as the loss of most reaction mass or fuel. The crew can still talk, and the time limit (if any) comes from delta-V considerations. How long until they're too far out for a practical rescue mission? Rescue could come in the form of a fast, robotic ship with lots of delta-V. * Maneuver failure and a time limit, like a ship that had planned a slingshot and missed a vital course correction. * As above, but in a craft with limited life support. This kind of ship would only operate in Earth-Luna-Lagrange space or around a belt station, not alone in deep space. The responder will also be a short-range craft. Whatever is at hand. * The ship can maneuver, but damage to the life support means the system is slowly deteriorating. Something like heavy metal in the _entire_ biomass and no way to filter it out. Or a medical emergency which requires dirtside facilities. Again the need for a high delta-V supply mission, with the help that the victim can come to a rendezvous. Generally, speed means delta-V and not accel, and mission times in deep space will be several months to several years, even in faster craft. Rescue missions are well-planned expeditions. It pays to spend some days or weeks to get the loadout right. Little engines, big tanks, no cargo, lots of cryonic capsules. Things are different in LEO and below. A tug might have to catch a damaged vessel before it burns up. Here minutes count, and the tug might well be a robotic work craft. BTW, I have two odd Traveller vehicles coming up, then five miners designs, with a sixth under consideration. And now maybe seven ... Regards, Onno _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
