Leif's DISCONTINUED GURPS Traveller Game OOC01

[Shayuri]

A lot depends on our activities. If we're doing the Serenity thing, hauling goods from rich worlds to poor worlds, a Free Trader is probably plenty, at least to start with.

If you want us to be able to reach somewhat remote worlds, or planets that are off the beaten track, then a Far Trader is more appropriate.

If you plan on us encountering dangers in space that will require combat to overcome, then an upgunned version of either of those ships would be fine.

A Zhodani ship being flown around in the Imperium is just asking for trouble. We might get away with it in a sector far from the Spinward Marches, where the Zhodani are just a nasty rumor. But if you want us flying around a rough and tumble frontier sector, it's hard to do better than the Spinward Marches.

If you really like the stats of the Zhodani ship, you can just 'transplant' them onto an Imperium model to avoid that messiness.

 

[Insight]

A lot depends on our activities. If we're doing the Serenity thing, hauling goods from rich worlds to poor worlds, a Free Trader is probably plenty, at least to start with.

If you want us to be able to reach somewhat remote worlds, or planets that are off the beaten track, then a Far Trader is more appropriate.

If you plan on us encountering dangers in space that will require combat to overcome, then an upgunned version of either of those ships would be fine.

A Zhodani ship being flown around in the Imperium is just asking for trouble. We might get away with it in a sector far from the Spinward Marches, where the Zhodani are just a nasty rumor. But if you want us flying around a rough and tumble frontier sector, it's hard to do better than the Spinward Marches.

If you really like the stats of the Zhodani ship, you can just 'transplant' them onto an Imperium model to avoid that messiness.

The latter is the solution I was going to propose.

 

[Leif]

The thing is, the Zhodani Yetsabl Class Courier can get by with a crew of 4, is built on a 200 ton hull, and makes 6.4Gs and Jump3. That seems pretty hard to beat if you ask me. But, you're right of course, such a ship practically begs to be copied by Imperial shipbuilders. Hmmm, might have just made another job for myself, unless you want to volunteer to do it, Shayuri??

 

[Shayuri]

Well, it's a very good courier ship design, by the look of it.

Couriers are a different beast entirely from cargo vessel. The 11 tons cargo space that this ship has is completely inadequate for commercial hauling. I expect it doesn't have much in the way of passenger staterooms either.

So again, it all depends on what you envision us doing. If we're going to be running high priority packages over long distances as fast as possible...a courier ship is precisely what we need.

But note, it's hard to make a profit doing that privately. Most courier ships are owned and operated by a government, or a major interstellar corporation.

 

[Insight]

Well, it's a very good courier ship design, by the look of it.

Couriers are a different beast entirely from cargo vessel. The 11 tons cargo space that this ship has is completely inadequate for commercial hauling. I expect it doesn't have much in the way of passenger staterooms either.

So again, it all depends on what you envision us doing. If we're going to be running high priority packages over long distances as fast as possible...a courier ship is precisely what we need.

But note, it's hard to make a profit doing that privately. Most courier ships are owned and operated by a government, or a major interstellar corporation.

This may be another chicken and egg thing. Maybe we should decide what we're doing and then get a ship that fits those needs.

 

[Leif]

This may be another chicken and egg thing. Maybe we should decide what we're doing and then get a ship that fits those needs.

Good point! Ok, I'm open to suggestions of that kind, too. What do you WANT to be doing? Although I will say that the Zho Courier does have about 5-6 staterooms.

 

[Leif]

Or, I had thoughts along the line(s) of:

1. The party is a team of agents working as operatives of the Zhodani in Imperial space. (credit for this idea actually goes to someone else, but I can't remember exactly who just now -- maybe Scotley or Grufflehead or Insight or Shayuri???)

2. My original idea was that the team was a combination of Zhodani and Imperial reps, and while your respective governments are hammering out a peace agreement, you're kind of guinea pigs exploring the possibilities of collaboration.

3. You're a team of Zhodani and Imperial trader-types that are agents of a relatively newly formed trade alliance. Conducting some trade, and exploring for new markets?

4. Or you could just be piratical types disrupting the trade of the Vargr or other race of your choice?

5. Any other ideas are welcomed.

Please, if you reply to this post, tell me something more than just the number of your preferred option, please. I'll need more of a clue as to what you refer to than just a simple number.

Oh, and some sort of covert or overt militaristic-type action could conceivably be worked into virtually any of these, unless you prefer to be pacifists. Like, say, we could work in a different race to be a common enemy of both the Imperium and the Consulate.

 

[Insight]

Doc Hannigan's angle is always going to be that he's, in essence, on the run from someone. He's gotten himself a bad rep and needs time to lay low. So, despite him having next to NO reason to go on trade missions, it gives him time and a place to do his research and design work -- in relative silence and without prying eyes.

So really, the pirate thing works just fine, as do any of the trade ideas. At this point, I really think the rest of the crew just sees Doc as a hired hand. He's not one of them, but this could easily change.

 

[Leif]

Doc Hannigan's angle is always going to be that he's, in essence, on the run from someone. He's gotten himself a bad rep and needs time to lay low. So, despite him having next to NO reason to go on trade missions, it gives him time and a place to do his research and design work -- in relative silence and without prying eyes.

So really, the pirate thing works just fine, as do any of the trade ideas. At this point, I really think the rest of the crew just sees Doc as a hired hand. He's not one of them, but this could easily change.

This all sounds supremely cool! What I'm curious about is exactly what Doc is on the run from and why. Perhaps you could share that with me privately sometime?

 

[Insight]

This all sounds supremely cool! What I'm curious about is exactly what Doc is on the run from and why. Perhaps you could share that with me privately sometime?

Yeah. What the other PCs would know is that Doc Hannigan is well-known as a cyber-surgeon and this hasn't put him in the best situation with those authorities who don't care for chop shops and cyberware. He's also known to tinker in the realm of biotech, which has a similar bad rep. But Doc is a medical genius and certainly well-qualified to be a ship's doctor. And, because of his situation, he comes cheap!