Making a Cruise ship into a megadungeon

[Shades of Eternity]

Keen.

Thank you all for the feedback.

Another question.

How easy would it be to setup a factory on the ship? I was watching some show about cruises and was noticing how they used conveyor belts for food.

Basically how hard would it be to manufacturer vehicles and/or munititions on the ship?

(I think it's safe to say it's easy to make nitrates from the crew).

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Oddly enough another model I'm looking at is the ship in system shock 2.

and this is setting up another question.

I'm working under the assumption that outside of breakdowns, this is an automated ship.

It's not going to have an AI, but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the functions have been computer assisted based on current technology extrapolated.

What systems would be suitable?

Also what degree of robotics should be on board? I'm guessing drones for sure, but should I stick to the simple and even the stationary (such as on an assembly line)?

 

[Mannahnin]

See if you can find any data on HMS Apollyon.

This was my immediate thought.

 

[Jd Smith1]

What I'm asking for are ideas on how to retrofit a cruise ship into 1. a weapon of war and 2. a dungeon for plucky adventurers.

1. You're going to take a slow, clumsy ship with a superstructure that is designed for housing, and make it a warship? About the only way it could be a weapon of war is to use it for boarding actions on very slow, unarmed ships. It is hard to imagine a worse choice.

2. As to making it a dungeon, it could work, although the simple, standardized deck plans are not the best. They key you would need is a food source to justify occupation. Mutant Epoch built several scenario hooks around beached ships this way.

3. About fifty times harder than to build a factory on land. The ship is designed to move people, not raw materials and finished products. A container ship would be a much better choice, or best of all, a fishing fleet factory ship.

You would have to jettison about thirteen desk in order to change the center of gravity sufficiently to accommodate the machinery. It would be far easier to build a new ship.

 

[aco175]

Basically how hard would it be to manufacturer vehicles and/or munititions on the ship?

I'm not sure you want to be mixing certain things while at sea and should do this while at port where the ship is more stable. There are hospital ships equipped with manufacturing for certain drugs and other medicines. I'm not sure on the quantity they can produce vs a land-based facility. I would game it to be like 10-20% what a factory on land produces.

I was going to mention the problem Jeff Bezos is having with his super-yacht and not fitting under a bridge in Holland. Apparently his 500 million boat will be too high to fit under the bridge and wants to pay to remove part of the bridge. Mo Money, Mo Problems.

 

[Umbran]

Basically how hard would it be to manufacturer vehicles and/or munititions on the ship?

Unless the thing is in dock, all the raw materials would have to be ferried out to it on other ships, and loaded at sea. That sounds incredibly inefficient.

 

[payn]

Just kicking an idea in my head here. The PCs make it to the bottom of the cruise ship and a fight causes a hole to blow into the hull. They now have a ticking clock as they have to get to the top deck and find a life boat. Fun!

 

[payn]

Unless the thing is in dock, all the raw materials would have to be ferried out to it on other ships, and loaded at sea. That sounds incredibly inefficient.

Inefficient maybe, but awesome, which makes it awecessary.

 

[Jer]

What I'm asking for are ideas on how to retrofit a cruise ship into 1. a weapon of war and 2. a dungeon for plucky adventurers.

As well as any strange cruise ship experiences that would make great gaming material.

Imagine a cruise ship that in the "before times" was retrofitted to be a floating genetic laboratory able to stay in international waters to avoid laws on cloning and other tampering with the human genome. Their descendants are now pirates, raiding island and coastal communities for supplies and unleashing their genetically engineered monstrosities onto the world as they go. (Or in your situation ORCA could have found the remains of their lab and are using it for their own purposes).

They might be supported by a small fleet that does the actual raiding, but the giant cruise ship the center of their power. Mutant monsters roaming the lower decks of the ship, psionic geneengineers running things at the top - the PCs can discover it either as a threat to the local area or as a potential treasure trove of pre-Cataclysm science that they just want to raid - what's not to love?

(I'm totally stealing this idea now by the way - I've been looking for an excuse to run another Gamma World game and this might just be the spark I needed. Thanks!)

 

[payn]

What if a cruise ship is moored to a battleship or aircraft carrier?

 

[Umbran]

Inefficient maybe, but awesome, which makes it awecessary.

I am not sure why it is awesome. Can you explain to me what, from the player's point of view, is awesome about a factory?