A couple questions about starships

[dekrass]

I was building a ship using the Starship Construction Manual and noticed something that seemed odd to me. A mess hall takes up 4 Cargo Units, and if I'm reading it correctly that accommodates one crew member. That's 4 times the size of a cabin. Why is that?

Another thing I was pondering comes from the Space book, jump drives. Why do they take as long to get somewhere as other drives? They're described as teleporting instantly. Is there supposed to be some kind of cool down period between jumps or something? I'm not familiar with fiction that includes jump drives so I don't really have anything to go on.

 

[Morrus]

I was building a ship using the Starship Construction Manual and noticed something that seemed odd to me. A mess hall takes up 4 Cargo Units, and if I'm reading it correctly that accommodates one crew member. That's 4 times the size of a cabin. Why is that?

Mess halls include dining areas, some entertainment facilities, and so on. Cabins are a lot smaller.

Another thing I was pondering comes from the Space book, jump drives. Why do they take as long to get somewhere as other drives? They're described as teleporting instantly. Is there supposed to be some kind of cool down period between jumps or something? I'm not familiar with fiction that includes jump drives so I don't really have anything to go on.

Generally, you need to decide on your setting 'fluff' - the game doesn't really distinguish between types of drives (other than speed, efficiency, etc.) A jump drive might for example, as in BSG, need multiple jumps at 33-minute intervals.

 

[Morrus]

Incidentally, the starship builder here uses a slightly different system:

http://www.starships.enworld.org

(Both are valid)

 

[dekrass]

I had not considered entertainment space, etc., as part of a message hall. It makes more sense now.
I expected the jump drives to just be a fluff issue. The time interval sounds like a good way to make them work.
Thanks for your input.