Damn, that 1000th post snuck by me! So, here we go again!

First!

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 2):

Second, or is that third?

Anyone have thoughts about me taking over command of our new muscle and drilling them to be proper marines?

I know there's this whole "woman" thing but I'm pretty confident I can beat the crap out of them until they overlook that :D

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 4):

Sounds good to Teddy. All you need is Varca's permission. I'm the captain of the ship, he controls the boarding party and ground operations. BB any good on the ship as crew? We have to teach these guys some things too so they're useful too.

StarMaster would like us to fill in the Ship’s Crew roles thing he posted. Who is doing what? I propose we split the three newcomers up. One marine, one gunner, one backup engineer or pilot as needed (or based on their aptitudes)

  Every one of those ships has a full stock of missiles: how many ships were there? We've got a lot of resupply, however many tons of salable cargo, or some mix of both. Same with the launchers, which can probably be packed up and sold. (It's not like there won't be a market for them in the Reach...)

  We aren't going to be able to fill those roles exactly as-is: there are far too many of us with nontraditional skillsets by the standards of the Sindalian navy. On the other hand, some of us can cover multiple jobs for the same reason.

  But if we want to stick as close as possible to that roster, then...


  Looking at the UPPs, Aaron is obviously a highly-qualified Medic, but he's also our best Electronics guy and can handle Astrogation as well, which means he'd be the Navigator too under that role-set.

  Since the Medic is mostly a Steward, and we're less concerned about the latter and have multiple people who can cover the former, no problem there.


  And Theodore is our best Pilot as well as being equal to Ingrid on the J-Drive, but you can't really work those jobs when you're handling tactical command.


  It looks like Viridian is the best pilot we have after that (and good with small craft and flyers too, if that ever comes up).


  Ingrid is the one with Engineering skills, and after that... Theodore's J-Drive talent and nothing else. Lots of people have Mechanic, at least.

  So the four critical jobs are covered: Captain (Theodore), Pilot (Viridian), Navigation (Aaron), and Engineer (Ingrid).



  BB and Rejji are both marines and not much else. (Although when it comes to leading the team BB appears to be a better tactician than Varca is...)

  Varca is the closest thing we have to a General Gopher (aka Second Pilot), with Pilot, Astrogation, and Electronics. On the other hand, that means he can run off with the marine squad and not leave any crucial seats empty.



  We only have two people with Gunnery (Theodore, Viridian), and both are on different jobs, so we'll need people to handle those (whether it's Vespexers or someone else).

  We don't really have a Drive Chief either, since Theodore is unavailable for it. And you really don't want someone tampering with the drives, power plant, or life support if they don't know what they're doing. Again though, lots of people with Mechanic.

  Medic/Steward is pretty much whoever-as-needed and not-relevant, respectively.

  We need one more Marine to fill that list. Or we can have more Marines than the Sindalian standard called for. Vespexers should be good for this either way.



  And Zhouth is very helpfully useless in most of this. He has set himself up as the ship's Admin expert (the only thing he has going in terms of vaguely ship-relevant skills...) so he's effectively the Purser (in current-day spacegoing terms), and can also act as one of those in-a-pinch medics and mechanics if needed.

  ...unless we end up capturing a Zhodani noble or intendant, in which case he can reprise his mad scientist role from Vanejen. If he really has to.

  Somewhat related to the talk of ship roles...


  My understanding of this expedition is that it was essentially a thematic way of accessing and using our ship shares. I *think* the total listed in the Statistics thread is correct, or at least close to it - did BB bring any more to the table? - which leaves us with enough to solve some of the Harrier's problems, but not all of them.

  One share is good for a single Structural RU or Technical RU, or 2d6 Cosmetic RUs. Appearances may not be as operationally important, but they do still count, both for making an impression on others and for making the ship more livable for those on it.

  Given our available RUs, I'd say that we should definitely go for...


  J-Drive, M-Drive, Lanthanum Grid, Fuel Scoop, and Fuel Tanks: average of 7 RUs. We really need these done to go anywhere.

  Bridge Controls, Comms, Computers, Countermeasures, Sensors: average of 9 RUs if we ignore the cosmetics.

  Dorsal Hardpoint (particle cannon): 3 RUs if we ignore the cosmetics.

  Life Support, External Airlocks: 3 RUs if we ignore the cosmetics.

  Total: 22 RUs.


  For the sake of both appearance and livability we should probably spend SOME shares on the cosmetics. Assuming totally average rolls, 5 shares would give us 35 Cosmetic RUs, which could go toward...


  Life Support: 3 Cosmetic RU.
  Galley/Mess: 1 Cosmetic RU.
  Medical Bay: 1 Cosmetic RU.
  Dorsal Hardpoint: 1 Cosmetic RU.

  The first three are functional systems and we don't want a dirty medbay or fungus-prone air supply. If we're making the turret work, it'd be very helpful to have it LOOK as though it means business, too.

  Bridge: 6 Cosmetic RUs.
  Upper Deck: 2 Cosmetic RUs.
  Lower Deck: 6 Cosmetic RUs.

  This gets the interior half way back to shiny-new, making it at least somewhat presentable (and not nearly as much of an eyesore to the crew).

  Crew Accommodations: 12 Cosmetic RUs.

  Go full-on repair here, mainly for the sake of morale (especially if we're about to have all berths filled).

  Total: 32 Cosmetic RUs.


  This doesn't spend everything (2 shares and average-of-3 Cosmetic RUs left over), but we need to make some allowance for the inevitable bad rolls. Whatever is left over can be used to pretty things up a little bit more and/or fix another system somewhere.


  The missile launcher would be nice, but it's awfully expensive in terms of RUs and the particle beam is liable to be a better weapon.

Are you saying I'm wasting my time bringing over the missiles?

  Depends on whether we get any extra RUs out of it or those end up being part of the sale pile. ;)

  If the specific items from the scene end up filling out some of the RU needs without us having to spend any, that helps a lot - not just with the missiles, but across several areas.

  GM? What's the word on this? Can't really continue with the planning until we know what we've got.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:35, Tue 30 June 2020.

They'll use them against us! We make the missile racks functional and supply them! ;-P
This message was last edited by the player at 11:40, Tue 30 June 2020.

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 11):

Okay, now that I'm drinking feeling better....

I know that I/Varca keep throwing around the word "Pirate" a lot (and that there is a good chance we could all be brainwiped for "Piracy"), but remember that that is only a Cover Story--we are secretly Privateers for the King of Drinax.

So...yes, we are sitting on a large number of (potentially salvageable) Tech/15 Anti-Ship Missiles.  And yes, even in their "salvaged" condition, we could probably find a black market buyer for them.  Good money for stuff that costs us, basically, nothing but elbow grease.

But, as Privateers, we also have the option of bringing them to our "Patron", and expect him to pay us a (small) percentage of their value.  That's part of our deal.  Sure, he might prefer if we hand over lockboxes full of Imperial Credits, but sometimes we are only going to be able to hand over whatever was in the cargo hold of the ships we rob--and sometimes that might be a cargo of "Military Supplies, Armaments".

Our "Patron" doesn't really care where the stuff we bring him comes from, as long as it's valuable, or he can use it.  We just have to try to get paid before he finds out they are all marked "Manufactured on Drinax".

^_^


But, we now also have the option of arming the Vultan with a missile turret.

We have this option, here at the Lost Base, and it won't cost us a lot of money--maybe not any money.  That is a big "pro" for installing missiles.  That there are lots of missiles to be found here--again, possibly keeping replacement costs pretty low, for a long while--is another "pro".

Particle Beams/Missiles is an okay weapon mix for a combat starship--where it's just fighting against other ships--but it's not so good when it comes to Ground Support--and by that I mean supporting ground troops, not just blasting static targets on the ground.

As I see it, as we rampage around, we might be called upon to do both "Space Pirate" type missions, as well as "Planet Raiding" missions.  The Particle Barbette, for all it's power, is only a single "barrel"--just 1 beam (I get that datum out of the PoD: Harrier-class Commerce Raider PDF).  And the dorsal Missile Turret (by design; same source) also only has a "single" turret--just 1 weapon system in the turret.  While this is usually a Missile Launcher, the Harrier-class PDF says that there are two other variations; a Torpedo Launcher version, and a much rarer Laser Cannon version.

What I'd like to propose as an alternative--and I admit, up front, this is something we won't be able to do for a while--is to get the single turret replaced with a triple turret, and then place 3 Sandcasters in it.  Yes, Sandcasters.

First of all, adding Sandcasters will add to our defenses.  With 3 'Casters I would have 2 of them dedicated to using standard Sand Cannisters for laser defense, but I would load the remaining 'caster exclusively with an optional Cannister ammo from High Guard--Pebbles.



"Targeting boarders", in MilSpeak that would be "Anti-Personnel".  So--if Pebbles can be used against people in space, why couldn't they be used against people standing on the ground?  Think of it as mounting a regular cannon on the ship, then using "grape-shot" ammunition (if you know what that is).  Otherwise, just think of it as putting a Super-Big-Assed Shotgun on a starship ^_^

And, Y'know, even though I don't know of a Rule for it....why couldn't a blast of Pebbles be used to knock out in-coming missiles?

Now, the really big down-side of this idea is that it all has to wait until we can both afford to buy all that stuff AND until we can find a Yard to do the work at.

"Varca" (being a Ground Trooper) has no interest in installing a single launcher missile system onboard the Vultan--except for punishing a landing zone before we make an assault, Varca doesn't see missiles as useful for supporting ground operations.

"I", however, do see the benefit of adding another weapon system to the ship.  So, if it is what everyone wants to do, I'll get behind it.  "Varca" will bitch a little bit, but come around ^_^

  My understanding of the Harrier design, partly from the Mongoose forum, is that it uses range, speed, and stealth/countermeasures to (fittingly) harry targets from beyond their ability to respond effectively. They may not even be able to get a lock on the attacker, and there's no chance of being able to return fire with beam turrets unless the harrier allows it by closing right in. Even missiles aren't much good between the distance, evasion, and countermeasures that the harrier has on it.

  That's an ideal world and the harriers were originally deployed in squadrons rather than alone, but any which way we should be using those advantages to keep enemy forces from being anywhere near close enough to board the ship - and missiles are pretty good at taking out boarding transports, too!

  *If* we're actually getting those launchers/missiles 'for free' rather than needing to use shares then I'd favor keeping the turret and even upgrading it to a triple since missiles can be used for all kinds of things depending on what you load them with.


  Keep in mind too that even when pirating/privateering/etc it's better to NOT engage in a firefight if you can help it - and the long-range (and radiation-inflicting...) barbette is a great tool for encouraging someone to drop a few crates and run with no shots (or just one warning shot) fired.


  The whole idea with Oleb's charter is that we're paying him part of our income anyway, so whether we do the selling or he does the selling (and we're more likely to go to places where we CAN sell them) isn't as big a factor here IMO.

  If we really are awash in free launchers and missiles, setting some aside for use in other ships and/or setting up some defended hidey-hole is another option. (The Harrier may be a nice symbolic flagship, but the big-picture plan is going to take a full-sized pirate fleet to pull off.)
This message was last edited by the player at 04:54, Thu 02 July 2020.

Continuing thoughts about Missile Turrets & Launchers...

     I would like to point out, at this point, that while I often make reference to PoD materials, I am also taking it for granted that StarMaster--aware that several of us own Pirates of Drinax adventure materials--probably will make changes to this data, in order to keep us on our toes.  So, just because I may be "quoting" some "official" printed item, what I'm quoting may not, actually, be what StarMaster is presenting to us.

     Be warned.

     Now, having said that--again quoting from the Pirates of Drinax: Harrier-class Commerce Raider PDF:

     So, if that is the case, we need to completely replace the turret, before we can put a weapon system in there.  Not "make repairs", but "completely replace".

     On the bright side, maybe, our parts survey of the wrecks says...

     Now maybe--maybe!--it can be implied from this that, if the launcher, as well as the missiles, themselves, and the autoloading system, are intact, then perhaps the Turret which houses all these items may also be intact.  Thus we might be able to just remove the damaged turret and swap it out for a fully equipped missile turret in it's entirety--well, except for needing to swap out the damaged electronics.
     Dropping the old, damaged turret will probably be easy--there isn't much left of it.  But dropping an entire Turret system, with missile launcher already installed, then moving it to a different ship, and installing it up into a new ship....I dunno.  That might require heavy equipment.  Maybe.

  Some of those materials - like the Harrier book - are meant for player use to begin with, so there shouldn't be any problem with referencing them?

  What we really need to look at doing over the short-to-medium term is getting the Harrier into shape to use as a 'diplomatic' vessel (and coincidentally, a legitimate courier ship, since those two cross over a lot) and get ahold of one or two others that are proper pirate ships (with crews to run them) for generating fear and loathing (per the plan) and a revenue stream (also per the plan).

  That also avoids trouble always being specific to where the Harrier is. Well-played, the sleeper-ship story will cover things for a little while, but we won't be able to keep it going indefinitely.

this is a depot, they have heavy equipment. Question is does it work.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:12, Fri 03 July 2020.

  So... I think we really need that GM delineation of just what this all adds up to in terms of the ship repair. Otherwise we're mostly going to be making things up IC.

  Umm, Theodore, it's supposed to be 2d6, not 1d20...

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 18):

What? I rolled a d20?! OOOPS. Thanks, I fixed it! rolled better with 2d6.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:37, Sat 04 July 2020.

  Having clarified things with the GM, we have the 8 structural/20 technical/26 cosmetic RUs covering a specific set of things.

  Then we can spend the 27 ship shares at 4x value (effectively 108 if we use them all) on most things. Each share gives one structural or technical RU, or 2d6 cosmetic RU.

  So, with the exception of a few things, we can get the Harrier back into working shape, and maybe even have something left over.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:12, Wed 08 July 2020.

Good!!!

  Adding up the RUs still required (the post totals don't match the columns):

  21 Structural
  43 Technical
  76 Cosmetic

  It includes the 10 Technical needed to get operating costs down to normal but leaves out the 1 Technical for the holographic hull.

  We Salvaged 8/20/26, so...

  13 Structural
  23 Technical
  50 Cosmetic


  With each share being worth 4 S/T and (on average) 28 C, and rounding up the requirements...

  4 shares for Strucutral
  6 shares for Technical
  2 shares for Cosmetic

  This does cover the fuel tanks/hull/ventral hardpoint repairs even if we need to bring down some heavy equipment (or, more likely, haul the parts up to the palace and use its spaceport area).


  That leaves another 15 shares unspent.


  All good with that?

Not here, we have to go elsewhere to get it done, Tech-World.

Just as an FYI, I am here but as I haven't officially joined the crew yet I'm staying quiet. Right now I'm just helping you guys get back to orbit and then submitting an invoice.

How you choose to pay is going to be up to you ;)

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 24):

Yeah, that's gonna go well....

Hey, Theo!  Why don't you and Ingrid take BB's plasma gun out for a walk in the park, while Varca and BB discuss these fees--the poor thing looks like it needs to pee on a bush, or something...

  Re the IC thread: yes, Zhouth did get the specs/schematics/etc technical details on the Harrier class(es) while he was there. We could build new ones if we had the materials and a shipyard.

Awesome Zhouth, forgot you had everything already.

In reply to Varca Lexand (msg # 25):

Yeah good luck with that. I like holding onto my plasma gun more than I care for living crew mates :P

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 28):

Well, then, there's a pretty good chance the discussion may get...heated...when BB presents that invoice for Services Rendered...

^_~

  Y'know, I'd really rather that we rebuild the interior instead of further dismantling it...

     Yeah, the Hull issues are, for me/Varca, the primary reason for wanting to go to the shipyards at Tech World--specifically.
     I've been kinda assuming that the hull of the Vultan is one, single, monolithic piece--assuming that, when it was originally built, they used some Super-Science-y Tech/15 3D "printer" gadget which just took the raw materials and "extruded" the hull, complete with cut-outs for hatches and whatnot.
     Now, any Tech/15 shipyard might be able to fix the problem--if I recall, StarMaster said something about "Microfractures in the hulls metallic matrix", or something like that.  Whatever the issue is, it didn't sound like something that could be fixed by running a hot torch over the fractures :P  And, if the hull is a single, solid structure, then cutting out the damaged sections and replacing them doesn't sound like a good idea, either.
     But the shipyard at Tech World was built by, and is operated by, technicians from planet Neumann(sp?)--where they have/had very advanced Nano-Technology.  I'm thinking it's gonna take a "bath" of nanites to swarm over the hull, filling in the microfractures, to fix the Vultan's hull.
     That's just what I think, anyway ^_^

     Fixing/replacing the ventral Turret--yeah, I was pretty sure that was gonna be Yard Work.  That's pieces of armored hull, there.  Gonna need heavy cranes, and probably Gravlifters.  No surprise there.
     On the other hand...we have all the needed pieces/parts, we only lack the heavy equipment needed to install it...anyone feel like trying to drop an entire, missile launcher equipped, Turret Assembly out of one of the wrecks...then drag it into our cargo bay...then pay someone to install it for us, when we reach a real shipyard?
^_^  Of course I'm kidding....

     But, y'know, I think I might argue about us being able to "fix" the fuel tanks, here.  As I understood it, there is just a section of the tankage that's only damaged, not destroyed.  Now, I acknowledge that these ain't "water tanks"--they aren't just a tight cube of metal that holds liquid.  These tanks hold Liquid Hydrogen (or a reasonable facsimile thereof), which is a Cryonic Fluid--the liquid they hold is at a temperature of -252.87°C.  So the tanks are, probably, a special material that holds up to that temperature, as well as having the intense refrigeration equipment need to maintain that temperature at all times.
     So, I'm thinking the issue is just that we have fuel in part of the tanks--that we can't make the needed repairs as long as we have any fuel on board.  So...we dump the fuel.
     We save making the fuel tank repairs for the Very Last Job.  We then either give the reactor enough fuel to operate for a couple of days (assuming the reactor needs to be constantly fed fuel), or we charge-up the ship's emergency power back-ups (batteries?), which should last for a couple days.  Then we just dump the fuel, flush the tanks (for safety) and go in there and make the repairs.
     Once the repairs are complete, we seal up the tanks and lift off--Gravitic Thrusters don't use "fuel", they just use "power"--heading straight for the seacoast, to the south of our mountain location.  We land at/on/in the water and start Wilderness Refueling--we fixed the fuel processors already, remember?
     And who cares if the seawater is biologically contaminated!  We're gonna convert the water into Deuterium, and then burn it in a fusion reactor!
     Of course, we should hope that Varca's repairs to the Fuel Processors don't...uh...leak.


ADDENDUM
     "...a lot of vacc suits..."?  Salvageable Vacc Suits?  Calling All Personnel with Mechanic Skill, report for Suit Refurbishment Duty!
     Space Suits that have been stored at this facility since the Aslan attack?  Even if they are only General Purpose or Light Duty suits, that still makes them TECH/15 Space Suits!!  Sco-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ore!
     And even if they are only Light Duty suits, we got 14 Vespexers (including Varca & Rejji) to work on them--we are a "suit-wearing" culture, we'll be able to cobble together something to "upgrade" their armor value.  They may not be "pretty" when we're done with them, but they'll stop a bullet....probably.  I hope...

Lots of good ideas there Varca! Teddy is more than willing to get his hands dirty and will work with anyone!

  The only reason for a fuel tank to be unusable would be a hull rupture affecting the section, which could kind of go along with the reduced hull integrity. Otherwise, fuel tanks don't really require anything special - it's just space designated to hold fuel in the same way that cargo capacity is space reserved for cargo. You could make more of either by taking out something else (and some ships do just that).

  You can likewise carry crates/drums of fuel IN your cargo hold and use those to refill the tanks if you want to extend a mission, or even do a second jump on a ship that isn't inherently capable of it. Jump bridges and deep space depots also work on this basis by way of stockpiling the crates/drums ahead of time.

  It wouldn't let us do a Jump-2, but we'd be able to do two Jump-1s in a row without stopping to refuel if we crammed our hold full of fuel drums. That probably isn't necessary at the moment, though.


  Edit: I can't see needing to go all the way to Tech-World to get the heavy equipment. You don't need high tech levels to make forklifts and the like. Even if we can't get any from the palace, Asim and/or any of the other nearby worlds are capable of producing industrial-age hardware.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:03, Fri 10 July 2020.

Fuel tanks also probably have various pumping systems and safety protocols. If you look at fuel tanks on rocket ships they are crazy complicated with all sorts of pumps and pressure valves and safety stuff.

For example high speed pumping requires you to also pump another inert gas INTO the tank to avoid fighting a vacuum effect. Modern rocket engines are so complex that because you can't create a pump fast enough to move the fuel, there is actually a miniature rocket engine inside that propels the pumping mechanisms with ROCKET SPEED just to pump the fuel into the main tank.

Here is a great video that goes into different engine types:

https://youtu.be/LbH1ZDImaI8

And just looking at that you realize there is a lot more to a fuel tank then just a place to store fuel.

---

Okay joking aside if possible I'd like to set up an agreement on how BB will fit into the crew ahead of time via OOC before even stepping foot into IC negotiations. The last thing I want to do is set myself up for failure by being on a completely different frame of reference for payments as opposed to everyone else.

She does not come with a ship share, fyi, so I don't know how you are planning on dividing up the loot. I am fine with it being a percentage thing or even a flat fee. I don't know how the rest of you are planning on squaring up the loot but in my other traveller game the rule was this:

1) Ship gets first cut of the share. The goal was to fill up, say, 3 amount of months of maintenance and loan as an emergency fund.

2) Everyone gets a flat 5%.

3) For the remaining percentage it gets split up depending on ship shares contributed. So if you contributed 60% of the downpayment you got 60% of whatever was left.

4) If upgrades are planned the ship can get an additional 5-10% set aside for upgrades.

I'm not saying we HAVE to do it, but I don't know if it has been decided yet so just throwing this out there as an option.

  We aren't really using ship shares in the conventional sense so those don't even matter.


  Oleb gets 10% of any take, up front. That's part of the deal.

  For the rest...

  IIRC the 'standard' arrangement for ventures like this* is that the captain gets 3-5 shares, officers get 2 (XO maybe gets 3) and everyone else gets one. This is done partly on the assumption that the captain has to pay some operating expenses directly rather than taking it all out of a ship fund, and the officers might have to do the same every now and then.

  * This largely holds true of privateering/mercenary operations in a number of genres and settings. IIRC the Drinax campaign also assumes something like this is in place.

  We could establish a few shares as 'belonging to the ship' without causing too much trouble as long as it we're careful to keep the 'grunts' happy with other measures since this does effectively cut into their pay.

 Alternately, a major expense could just be deducted from the haul (after paying Oleb's tithe, of course) before shares are split. Probability of more serious but less frequent grumbling.



  Edit: The PCs would presumably all count as 'officers' in this sort of an arrangement. (It's also something of a genre standard...)
This message was last edited by the player at 19:36, Fri 10 July 2020.

If you want traditional pirate's code then it goes something like this:

1) When the ship docks you first subtract any expenses for the ship. Food, repairs, ammunition etc.

2) Captain and the Quartermaster receive 2 shares

3) the Master, Bosun, and Gunner receive 1.5 shares

4) other officers received 1.25 shares

5) Everyone else gets a share

The whole point of being a pirate was that overall it was a much more even split of the take and as captains were "elected officials" it was a very democratic system of business.

Compared to a traditional merchant ship where the sailors would make almost nothing (a couple of shillings which is the equivalent of about $10 a month. That did include food, clothing, medical, and housing for the month from the ship so that is pretty much "pure profit" but its a reason why piracy was so attractive despite the steep penalty for getting caught. Captains of a merchant ship usually had a percentage of the profit so were encouraged to go as cheaply as possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0fAznO1wA8

  We can shuffle the share numbers around however we need to, but it seems like you're okay with the general idea?

  Is it fair to suppose that all of the characters are also at least loosely okay with it?


  (I'd be inclined to stick to whole-number shares just to keep the math simple, whatever the numbers actually end up being.)

I am fine with that depending on her position and how big the crew ends up being. If she ends up being in charge of a group of marines and leading the charge then she might ask for an extra quarter pay as an officer but that is a negotiation for a later time.

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 38):

     Actually, in this specific instance, the creation of a "ship fund"--or even assigning a specific "share" of loot to the ship--is actually warranted (is that the right word?  I.e., "called for"?)

     Anyways, both in the PoD material, as well as during our "interviews" with both Princess Rao and King Oleb, we were told by both that we were not only responsible for "maintaining & repairing" the Harrier, but that we were also tasked with "restoring the ship to her former glory" (or words to that effect).  So we have to spend time and money on improving the damned décor!

     I ain't paying for that, so we better arrange for that money to be embezzled skimmed right off the top, just like the Operational Costs.

     Princess Rao might let us slide--a little--on this issue, but I'd bet real money that King Oleb will not.


     Speaking of Vacc Suits -- and I was speaking of Vacc Suits, you know...you just weren't paying attention -- here's some data about Vacc Suits I pulled from the Central Supply Catalogue, 2nd Ed., concerning "general duty" Vacc Suits.  The info in the Catalogue only went up to Tech/12 designs, everything after that is just some extrapolation on my part--subject to acceptance by Star Master, of course.  But the info concerning the Electronics Suites is all straight from the book--again, our salvaged Tech/15 Drinaxi Space Suits being subject to modification by StarMaster.

---

VACC SUIT
At lower Tech Levels, a rather bulky suit providing protection from hard vacuum and temperatures encountered in space.  The suit also gives some radiation protection and includes a six-hour air supply.  At higher Tech Levels, the vacc suit becomes much thinner and easier to use, even though its level of protection continues to increase.
     This all represents a complete suit, usually with helmet and any additional gear, such as air tanks, already attached.  Suits, if sealed, offer total protection from gas and airborne biological agents.

     Unless otherwise stated, non-powered suits come equipped with electronics suites, appropriate to their Tech Level, as detailed below.

  Cosmetic RUs cover the restoration of the ship's glorious appearance and luxury; we've mostly got that dealt with thanks to all of the salvage and ship shares that we've thrown at the problem.

  The bigger issue is that we need to build an entire fleet (not necessarily Harriers) to really make the plan work. That's going to take money. We also need to bring world governments onside. That's also going to take money (in massive quantities), whether or not we're handing it to them directly.

---

     So.  The decor within the Harrier-class has been described as "Baroque" -- so, what is "Baroque"?  (I swear, the first person to make a "no money" joke will get smacked with a fish!  My Hand to God!)

Baroque definition
     Baroque (US: "ba-row'k") is a style of architecture, decor style, music, dance, painting, sculpture and other arts that flourished in Europe in a period spanning from the 17th century until the beginning of the 18th century. The style began at the start of the 17th century in Rome, then spread rapidly to northern Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, then to Austria, southern Germany and Russia.   Though first appearing in Rome, the term Baroque likely arises from the Portuguese word, “barocco,” which means “uneven pearl.”  The style typically uses classical orders and ornaments in a free and sculptural way that evokes movement and has a dramatic effect.  Baroque style permeated most parts of European culture, including gardens, architecture, music and art.

     In the decorative arts there is an excess of ornamentation -- golden hardware,  ornate embellishments, flower and nature motif embellishments on walls and cielings, gilded and painted wood, intricately carved wooden items, upholstery done in beautiful silks.  Gilded architectural details and heavily decorated  -- one might even say overly decorated -- wall panels are common in most styles of Baroque interior design.  Baroque architecture emphasizes this with bold massing, colonnades, domes, light-and-shade ‘painterly’ colors, and the bold play of volume and void.  Baroque-style interiors are luxurious, with raised, gilded ornamentation and rounded shapes, a plentiful use of gold and darker shades of ivory, as well as a variety of inlaid wood — called marquetry — are all hallmarks of much of the Baroque style.

     Furniture from the Baroque era can be identified by its very ornate and luxurious look.  Intricate, elaborate and exaggerated decorations are characteristic and most often include flowers, leaves, and cherubs.  Baroque-style furniture is highly detailed and overly ornamented, yielding an overall look that is both grand and lavish yet symmetrical and balanced.  Furnishings are heavily decorated, have curvaceous legs – sometimes animal legs —  and feature intricate embellishments of scrolls, leaves and shells -- and are upholstered in rich, sumptuous fabrics, but velvets and heavy brocades are most often used, all framed by gilt-wood and marquetry.  Baroque style lamps and accessories feature iconic leaves and scrolls in the design.

     Baroque-style furniture, predominantly, has turned or pedestal feet.  Small, round and oblong tables and consoles are common.  Chests and cabinets, many with inlaid wood panels, are very in vogue for storage pieces.  Wooden furniture pieces are predominantly oak, walnut, chestnut, and ebony -- or non-terrestrial woods of a similar nature.  Much of the ornamentation is done in rosewood, sandalwood, tulipwood, and other exotic woods -- for purposes of ornamentaion and accent, the more exotic, the better.

     The basic shape of Baroque furniture is also distinctive: curved legs are a hallmark of the period. The appearance of being handmade pieces, and being made of 'the best woods' is paramount.  Upholstered pieces can be covered in cloth (usually a silk, velvet or damask fabric, but not always) or leather, but wood is always a prominent feature of every piece of Baroque-style furniture.  The wooden elements of Baroque furniture can be varnished, but it is more common for wood to be painted – most often in either gold or white – and often with a crackled finish.  Pieces with gold-painted wood are very popular as a status symbol.
Five characteristics which strongly influence Baroque furniture style are:

Foliage motifs — Baroque style used a great deal of plant life in its ornamentation, including scrolling foliage and garlands of flowers.

Marquetry — Marquetry involves laying different-colored wood veneers onto the surface of furniture -- inlaying such woods as ebony and mahogany with tortoise shell, brass and other metals.

Putti  — This is an Italian word that means ‘boys’ and refers to chubby infants used in much of the Baroque décor.

Crests and Initials  — Monograms used for decorative purposes were common in Baroque style furniture, as were heraldic crests.

Lambrequin motif  — We’ve already noted that the Baroque era was typified by luxurious textiles, and the features of these fabrics were used in other media as well.  A tasseled cloth motif, called a lambrequin, is one of the most commonly seen -- appearing with curtains over windows, as well as accenting an open archway.



     My apologies -- I was suddenly overwhelmed with an obsessive need to Educate.  I shall have myself Flogged, immediately...

Fileted ;-)

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 34):

Actually, BB has Cyrus's shares. He felt bad about committing his shares to the venture but then having to leave for a family 'emergency', so he assigned them to BB as sort of payment for filling in for him, especially as 'muscle'.

If Cyrus ever returns, we'll deal with it then.

That works great. BB's got Cyrus' shares so she already is part owner, welcome aboard BB!

I'm thinking of starting a MGT2 game here as well. IF I do, anyone here is welcome.

  Okay, so... five days means that we'll have spent ~1 week on Drinax in addition to the week from Asim. Is there anything else we need to do here or should we head off to pursue the various schemes that we've talked about?

Five days and the ship is mostly fixed but not completely. Jump drive is fixed, are the fuel tanks, scoops, cargo scoop, all that is fixed too?

Tech-World for the tech 15 workforce there and possible android/robot? Triple missile launcher and ventral hard point all fixed. Maybe update or upgrade the computer too.

link to another game

I'm going to try my hand with MGT2 Anyone interested in trying, give a hollar.

I might be interested. The last three Traveller games I joined as a player had the GM bail and I wound up taking up GMing the games.

Well, you are welcome to come aboard. Looking at the naval campaign with the cruiser. I will ask for advice from time to time, I'm not too proud as to overlook my shortcomings. ;-)

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 50):

Post people, we need to get off of this rock and on to Tech-World. Then off to privateering! Woot!!!

  Privateering? But we've got a water reclamation project to pursue, an old set of ruins to poke around in for lost tech, a raid on some nearby worlds that will get us crushed under valuables...

  (Although we can't get to the latter two until the fuel tanks are fixed and/or we load up the cargo hold with the aforementioned fuel drums...)

Fuel tanks will be fixed at Tech-World.

True, I did overlook lots of adventure in my post!

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 50):

Hmm, it is purely an Imperial military campaign? I had an idea I wanted to use for Ingrid but didn't that might work for a character, but I'm not sure she'd make an Imperial soldier.

That was an idea, might not be that, partly up to what folks want to do.

You could be captain! ;-)
This message was last edited by the player at 10:58, Tue 14 July 2020.

Just in case anyone is curious, they would learn during this time that BB is trained in athletics (strength), has very high endurance and strength, as well as leadership and tactics.

When she says she was an NCO in the marines she might as well be the living embodiment of that role, for better or for worse and I (the player) feel like she would fall back into her boot camp mentality given a dozen "undisciplined" new grunts at her disposal.

Her style is very much "I will beat common sense into you every step of the way but I will never leave you behind."

  It's hard to imagine Zhouth coming across as any sort of grunt, undisciplined or otherwise. As he has repeatedly pointed out throughout the story, he's an academic with no talent (or mindset) for being on a battlefield. Unless it's a bureaucratic one. ;)

Unless you're acting like a Vexsper I don't think you have to worry about BB boot camping you.

  Separate issue: there's no reason that you need to have Steward to cook things. Steward represents a level of professional service to patrons/passengers/etc that goes well beyond basic kitchen duties.

Correct.  Which means, if you want to take on being in charge of "The Kitchen", Ingrid, you are more than welcome to do so--your skill levels in Steward make you our best "cook", but don't be afraid to grab people to help you.

I'm sure that Teddy would love to help you in the kitchen...

And even Varca can wash dishes...once it's pointed out that he's not doing anything else. ^_^



Actually, Scandinavians do have native, non-Sturgeon based, Caviar.  A couple of varieties, actually.  But the two most common/popular are based on the Roe from Cod and Coalfish.

     I know that I keep getting off on the Old Drinaxi tech being Tech/15, but....really, Theo?  "Salvageable" foodstuffs....after over a Century and laying about in a radioactive environment, to boot?  Really?  ^_^



     Dammit!  Y'mean we gotta cut the hull?  Crap.
     I've been assuming that the hull is a single piece--extruded, or 3d printed, or whatever, but all a single piece, except for the cut-outs for hatches and such.
     Cutting pieces from such a hull isn't a good idea.  Oh, well.


     In the case of the Computers and the Countermeasures, are these issues of hardware or software?   Because we have a Computer Operator who was trained at Tech/16...


     Okay, I'm going to let y'all in on a little secret--Varca sleepwalks.  So, since I don't want Varca walking into a stateroom that isn't his, let's deal with this situation, now.

     According to the info about the Harrier in "Pirates of Drinax - Book 2: The Trojan Reach"....

     The supplemental book "Pirates of Drinax: Harrier-class Commerce Raider" further defines the staterooms....

     I take from this that these staterooms are intended for single occupancy.  Or double occupancy, if the two officers are particularly...friendly...

     ....And that clearly says these are double occupancy.

     While this data is "canon", I, as always, throw in the caveat that everything is subject to alteration by the DM, for any damn reason he wants, just because he's the DM ^_^

     But, that caveat aside, StarMaster has made a few alterations to the Deckplan of the Vultan.  So, let's take a closer look at that, shall we?

     Upper Deck, Room #12, that's how all the staterooms are labeled--except one of them is labeled as "12a", and it's a little bit larger than all the other staterooms.  I'm going to assume that 12a is the Captain's Cabin, and that it's larger because it's also where the Captain's Office is located.

     Also, for purposes of this discussion, let's call the other staterooms 12b - 12h, starting from 12a and going clockwise (so that's 12h on the port side of the ship, opposite 12a).

     According to the original ("canon") info all the officer's staterooms are on one side of the ship--in our case these would be 12a - 12d, on the starboard side of the ship--and all the crew staterooms are on the other--12e - 12h, on the portside.  The 4 officer's staterooms are single occupancy while the 4 crew staterooms are double occupancy--4 Officers and 8 Crew, for a total of 12.

     We have, according to the list found in "The Cast", 10 (original) members of our Crew, however, Cyrus has left, so that drops us to 9 Crew.  Kastamir Kang has not posted in a year (truth be told, I'm not even sure that the Character is even with us, but I will assume he is) so I assume he's being NPC'd.  Similarly, I believe that Rejji may also be being NPC'd.  Aaron was gone for a bit, then he was back--now I'm not sure, but I hope he's still with us.  To this we add 12 more, in the form of our 12 Vespexer "mercenaries".

     Now let's assign quarters.

     To start, Theo gets the Captain's Cabin.  Varca may think he's the Big Boss, but Theo is The Captain, and getting the Captain's Cabin is part of the perks that go with that asignment.  Does anyone disagree with Cap'n Theo getting the Captain's Cabin, stateroom 12a?

     That leaves 3 remaining single occupancy staterooms--unless we convert them to multiple occupancy.  I am not actively suggesting we do this, I'm just pointing it out as an option.  So, who gets to occupy a single, then?

     Let's consider Zhouth, 'cuz he's a...y'know...he's...alien...  Plus, I think I recall Zhouth saying he bought a bunch of office equipment and that he'd planned on setting it up in his quarters.  I got two things on this--first, Zhouth being a Vargr probably isn't an issue--at least, so far, nobody, including Zhouth, has expressed any issues with being in close proximity to a non-human Vargr, and, so far, Zhouth hasn't made any issue about any "special needs" he has, as a Vargr (although, if he starts pissing on the potted plants....)
     As for setting up an office in his quarters--for that I would say, even if Zhouth feels the need for some seclustion<?i>, as he does his research, or whatever, and feels the need for his own "office workspace", then might I suggest that Zhouth choose one of the Countermeasures Rooms (Lower Deck, Room 25) and set up his "office" in one of <i>them--each room already has plenty of computer access, and there's room enough for the office equipment.

     Next, we should consider each of our female Crew for a single occupancy stateroom.  Either that, or they both are gonna be roommates in a double--because until Theo Pops The Question and Ingrid says Yes (see Rejji concerning the Betting Pool), they ain't gonna be sharing that big Captain's Cabin  ^_^

     Okay, so, 4 out of the 9 get into single staterooms.  That leaves 5 of us to double-up, occupying 5 of 8 bunks available--or 2.5 of the 4 available crew staterooms.  But StarMaster says we can...

     I assume this means 6 double occupancy staterooms worth of gear--everything needed for 12 people.  Now, if we keep the staterooms on the Upper Deck "as is", we would have only 3 bunks available.  Not enough.  We need to have bunks for 21--and no, I will not even consider "hot bunking".  Not even for the Stregor.

     Altering the Captains Cabin is also off the table.

     Options:
     We can convert the 3 officer's staterooms (single occupancy) to crew staterooms (doubles).  This would give us 14 bunks plus the Captain's 1--total of 15.  Not enough.

     We leave the officer's staterooms alone, and convert all 4 crew staterooms to quadruple occupancy.  This gives us 16 bunks plus 4 for officers--total of 20.  So close, but not enough.

     Finally, we convert the 3 officers staterooms into crew staterooms (quadruple occupancy) and leave all the others alone.  This gives us 3 staterooms (x4) plus 4 staterooms (x2) plus the Captain's Cabin (x1)--total 21.  This is what we need.

     Question is, is it what we want.

     I/Varca has suggested it before--we convert the old Missile Storage Bay (Lower Deck, Room 31) into a Barracks, but that is not the only stateroom modification that I'm suggesting.  What I suggest is that we change the Upper Deck staterooms to be 6 single occupancy "officers staterooms" and 2 double occupancy "NCO staterooms"--this puts 10 personnel on the Upper Deck, and then we convert the old Missile Storage into a Barracks for 10 "marines" (this includes putting a single Fresher in there, as well).  But all of "us" get a single occupancy stateroom.

     What's that?  That's only 20 beds, you say?  Oh.  That.  Yeah...Varca has to toss Kastamir out an airlock for this plan to work.  Then Varca and Rejji will occupy one of the doubles on the Upper Deck, and we let Thrazakar and his Lieutenant occupy the other double on the Upper Deck--King Oleg will just love the "Officers on the Upper Deck" concept, I'm sure....

Where do we store the missiles?

  So... how many times do I have to repeat that Kastimir Kang never joined us at the farmhouse? I'm up to half a dozen by now, at least...

  Zhouth has made mention of using the officer cabin as an office and also suggested setting up a mad scientist's laboratory inside. Though he was probably joking about the latter...


  Here's the problem with adding a massive number of people: we may have the parts to add a bunch of staterooms but we've only got 30 tons of cargo space, and we're losing that with everything we add. (A single stateroom uses 4 tons!) I doubt that the life support systems on the Harrier are built to cope with quadruple occupancy either - to say nothing of the morale effects of cramming that many people into a small space.

  So, let's NOT try to take the entire clan on board as a crew. The idea was to take a few at a time, and while we can handle three or four, more than that is going to strain systems, crew cohesion, and budget (because we have to pay for all of those extra hands).


  Now, once we get another ship or two, it's a completely different matter to recruit large swaths of Vespexer clans and whoever else we can find to crew the things. In the meantime we can repurpose/sell/donate* the stateroom fittings, or just leave them here as spares.

  * The Stregors might not mind having some better accommodations planet-side.

Agreed Zhouth, we can take them all off and cram them in to relocate them once we find a base, but nothing permanent. No room.

  We can set up a temporary barracks in the cargo hold if we need to move a bunch of them to a base site - but we don't have one of those yet, and we may not for a while.

Very true, might not have one for awhile either.

  Also, to Varca: the 'man-days' of work isn't really about what TL you come from. It's about whether you have a relevant skill, and even that only mildly affects the amount of time taken per rank. (Rank 4 completes something in half the time of Rank 0.)

  Given that the number of people we have working on the ship is effectively able to do the entire thing in a five-day span, the difference from skill levels is pretty much negligible.


  Since (AHEM!) Kastimir was never part of the crew because he didn't join us at the farmhhouse, there are only eight of us, so we can take four of the Stregors on board at any given time. That effectively gives them three 'rotations' to cycle through each time we come back to Drinax, and we'll be doing that at least a couple of times just to deal with the plans that we already have/know about.

Hey Varca, what's the Vespexer custom for a booty call? BB's not looking to get married or anything but all this grunt physical labor and no fighting means she's looking to blow off steam.

No offense Teddy but you are definitely not her type :P

You're not his either. Varca or the head of the Vespexers is your type. Teddy has his eyes on Ingrid. Feminine but tough

  Maybe Rejji too?

  Theodore needs to be a bit careful if he's wooing Ingrid though. Showing special favor to one member of the crew can cause its own problems!

Yes it can.

@Zhouth: Dramatic music blares as pirates and ninjas suddenly swing from the rafters that were not there. Who builds a starship with rafters? The air is full of the clinking of cutlass clashing with short blades, and the only screams are Wilhelms. The hero is dashing, the maidens fair, the villains uncomfortably greasy. Even though men and women are probably dying all around the hero plays comical games and pranks, laughing and quipping as his friends are killed and maimed, but never on camera unless it is time for an Oscar-bait drama scene. A land where every hanging rope can bear your weight and take you exactly where you need to go. A land where nobody actually gets sick or even paid. A land where every rogue has a heart of gold and every career officer is a pompous scumbag.

     In the Cargo Hold, since they're just cargo.


     You will have to keep repeating it until Kastimir's name no longer appears on the Crew List.  Until then, every couple of months, when I look at that list--and my Old Fart brain has forgotten that Kastimir joined, and then un-joined the group--I will keep asking "where the Hell is Kastimir?"  Because, y'know, I forgot!


     Okay, then, that's a confirmation of what I said, right?.  And I also expressed the belief that, if Zhouth were placed in a double occupancy stateroom with someone, and he tried to set up such an office, it might be too cramped in there.  That's why I was making the point that Zhouth should probably be assigned to a single occupancy stateroom--and then I went on to suggest ways we (us PC's) might all get single occupancy staterooms.


     Gotta disagree, Bubba.

     I have always assumed that this took into account that the "average Deck height" is 3 meters--that the designers intent is to make it as simple as "count the number of squares in your deckplans, then divide by 2, and that's your tonnage".

     If this is the case, then the Missile Bay (Lower Deck, Room 31) is 3 squares by 5.5 squares, or 16.5 squares total.  Divide 16.5 by 2 and the Missile Bay occupies 8.25 tons.

     My suggestion was not to mess with the Cargo Bay, or any of our cargo capacity, but to convert this space/tonnage into a Barracks....

     Converting the Missile Bay into a Barracks will not take anything from the cargo capacity of 30 tons--we're just swapping out the 8.25 tons of missile storage for 8.25 tons of Mercenary storage.  But you are correct in one way--I had hoped to put 10 bunks in this space, but the numbers actually say only 4 can go in there.

     Oh, and by the way, about "a single stateroom uses 4 tons"--yes, it does, but there is no difference in cost, tonnage, or life support needs, between a stateroom with just 1 bed, or a stateroom with 2 bunks....

     I would go on to make the argument that Vespexers probably are "used to it", as they live in old, often cramped survival bunkers.

     So, converting a single occupancy stateroom into a double occupancy stateroom--or vice versa--does not alter either the stateroom's tonnage, nor it's life support needs.  And swapping out 8 tons of missile storage for 8 tons of bunk beds and the life support equipment needed for them, also does not alter our tonnage capacity (though it does increase our life support capability).

     I take from all this that you are opposed to one of the three suggestions I made, concerning quarters on the ship--that being that you are opposed to the addition of a Barracks.  Fine.  I also made 2 other suggestions--where's your thoughts on those?  How do you propose we distribute the staterooms?  I was trying to figure out how we could all get our own stateroom--you must have other ideas.  Please share them.



     I wouldn't think that there is a specific "custom" either for, or against, a "hook-up".  To Vespexers, life is pretty damn dangerous, which tends to make it too short--so they'd take their "leisure activities" when and where they can.

     The only issues would be the social strictures about "unwelcome/uninvited" contact--but that can be dealt with as easily as asking "Hey, ya wanna?" ^_^

     But also remember that Vespexers have an inherent distrust of "strangers"--because they live in an environment that is chemically, biologically, and radiologically contaminated, meeting someone who is new and unknown brings the possibility that the new person is contaminated, and contact with them will contaminate you.  That is the reason that Vespexers rarely fully remove their Hazard Suits--except for when they are in a place where they know the conditions are "safe", and they are with people that they are absolutely sure are uncontaminated/uninfected.

     So, even though any Vespexer male would very definitely want "a piece o'dat" whenever BB offered it, they would likely turn it down until they got to know her better, and had assured themselves that she was "safe" to mess around with.  That might take...a day, or so  ^_^

Varca is probably already sure she is safe! Enjoy yourselves!

  We don't have 8.25 tons of missile storage. We have 1 ton of missile storage. It's right there on the Harrier stats. (MgT doesn't stick to 'X tons = Y tiles' standards much when it comes to printing its own maps, so they're pretty much never a good guide to anything, and StarMaster made that room even bigger than the original one did.)

  And while - as usual with Mongoose - the total tonnage doesn't quite match the individual items, adding them up as-is gives 168.9 tons used (so 31.1 tons free for cargo - the page says 29.7).

  (We COULD carry 8 tons of missiles - and have 24.1 tons left...)

  So yes, we're going to be cutting into cargo if we add anything in the way of extra passenger capacity.

  (And don't forget - barracks or staterooms, you also need common area tonnage to avoid psych problems.)

  **

  I'm not sure what the point of taking all twelve at once would be, either. We don't need that many people to run the ship, and taking the whole lot of them isn't the deal we arranged in the first place.


  There *is* a no-extra-tonnage option to cram all twelve on board if you insist that we have to, but I doubt that it'll be a popular one: we have stateroom capacity for four... and eight low berths.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:36, Fri 17 July 2020.

  Just looked at barracks, and while they do cost less to install, they don't actually help the tonnage situation, coming in at 2 tons per person, which is the same as double-occupied staterooms.

  So, either way, we'd be looking at 16 tons for the staterooms/barracks, and 4 tons for the common space. Drops us down to 11.1 tons free (counting 1 ton of missiles). That's not much for cargo or anything else, especially if we're supposed to be turning a profit!
This message was last edited by the player at 16:37, Fri 17 July 2020.

Well, we taking all of them, or just a few? Varca? Zhouth? I don't care as long as we have the room for cargo to carry our parts. We need to start carrying cargo or something too, wirh 30 tons of space max for cargo, we aren't stealing much as pirates either. How the hell we supposed to pay for fuel and upkeep and wages? We have to take prizes I guess.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:37, Fri 17 July 2020.

  Well, the ORIGINAL deal was to take a few at a time. We have room for that. I'm not sure why Varca suddenly wants to install extra capacity and take all of them at once, but it's both a ship-capacity problem and a payroll one as well.


  Since it's a light raiding ship, it's designed to hold some high-value stuff taken from said raids (low-value stuff gets left behind). It could also work as a chartered courier (per one of Zhouth's suggestions), and maybe do legitimate trade if there are sufficiently-valuable crates on offer, but it certainly isn't meant to function as a tramp trader under normal circumstances.

  Keep in mind that Oleb's piracy plan isn't really about rebuilding the kingdom by way of one little raiding ship bringing in loot. Creating an entire pirate fleet would (maybe) give him the necessary leverage to force concessions from the Imperium and/or Hierate, and diplomatic work in the meantime should bring enough worlds back under the banner of Drinax to make the 'Kingdom' one in more than just name.

  The details? Those are up to us to figure out. The Harrier is just a ship to get started with.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:54, Fri 17 July 2020.

Okay. God I hope I'm up to running the Traveller game. Getting into the swing of it in my D&D games.

Number crunching aside, Rejji's idea (he's still around because I'm under the impression he was hoping to return at some point) was to shove three of the modular staterooms down the the long cargo chute since it wasn't likely to be used very often, and, even if it is needed, the stateroom modules could just be rolled back down the corridor and pushed aside for a short while.

The other three would go in the cargo bay.

As for the missiles, the missile storage bay also included the apparatus for shifting them around (though, apparently, not actually loading them into the missile launcher). So you can put a lot more missiles in there than normal. Because, until you get a missile launcher, they are just 'cargo'.

One of the reasons I changed the deck plan of the Harrier was because it made almost no sense. I mean, you have this forward cargo scoop. What kind of cargo would it be scooping? The only thing that really makes sense is that it was a standard Drinaxian CUBE cargo container, because if it wasn't a cube, how the hell would it make it around all those damned corners? As it is, it would be rolled, slid, grav jacked or otherwise (gravitic ceiling crane?) moved down the entire length of the ship and jockeyed around corners to reach the cargo bay.

That being the case, who the hell is flinging cargo out into space in Drinaxian cargo cubes these days?

On top of that, what precautions are built in to make sure the cargo cube doesn't squash a crewman as it's being slid to the back of the ship?

By Varca's concept of piracy,  you need Marines to board other ships, raid bases and space stations, etc. Sure, if all of you want to have fun doing that, then you don't need any of the Stregors. Essentially, though, they are cannon fodder.

As I understood it, the original idea was to take them all (or else kill half and take the remainder). It was only when someone started crunching numbers that taking only half, rotating them or whatever came up. Sometimes, you need to stop worrying about the numbers and just do what needs to be done.

Considering the nature of ships and that all the staterooms are identical in size and configuration, there's no sane reason not to think they are modular--Henry Ford lives again! As such, they are self-contained life support modules. The duct work and power cables have to be allowed for when the ship is being built--because the design already says that the stateroom modules are going HERE and HERE and HERE.

So, where the staterooms go may need a bit of work to connect the to the ship's life support, but those ducts and cable already exist throughout the whole ship, either in the walls, under the decking (usually the best place) or in the ceiling.

Finally, we get to the tonnage. Depending on who you ask and what source book you read, a 'ton' means different things. One term that gets tossed about is 'displacement tons'. The problem is that ton can mean two different things--it either applies to volume or mass. The game has never wanted to make a distinction between the two as it over-complicates the number crunching, so they kind of smushed them together.

For all practical purposes, a ton is volume, which is represented on a deck plan by two squares of 1.5 meters each (or 5 feet for us metrically challenged players). The fact that the designers never bother taking this into account (or, at least, never seem to) is just bullshit to me.

A jump drive, for instance, would be high mass but low volume, while a stateroom has high volume but low mass. A bridge might be somewhere in between because of all the consoles, chairs and controls. For all intents and purposes, a cargo bay has 1 ton of cargo space per two deck squares, unless you specify that the height is higher than normal (2 squares high--i.e. ten foot ceilings) but then the deck above that better show it!

That's my 2 credits.

And, yes, for the record, Kastimir had to bow out of the game.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:19, Mon 20 July 2020.

     I'm gonna have to agree with StarMaster, here--if there is a way that to present data in a format that is guaranteed to cause confusion by way of being interpreted in multiple ways, the Bozos at Mongoose Publishing will find and use it.
     I don't feel like looking up then cut-and-pasting all the relevant data into quotes, to make my point here--beside, you're agreeing with half of what I'm saying--so...

     It does say (somewhere) that the Harrier is/was equipped with a Single Turret Missile Launcher.  (Maybe StarMaster changed this, but I am unaware.)

     It does say (High Guard, I think) that each Missile Launcher in a turret is equipped with a rack of 12 missiles.  It also says (again, in High Guard) that 12 Missiles (I assume they mean 12 "racked" missiles) occupy 1 Ton.

     In my mind, I think of these 12 missiles--the 12 missiles to be found in the turret--as "ready ammo".  So, when I look at the Ship Stat Sheet, as I believe you have, I see "AMMO: 12 missiles" and I think that means "the ship has a single missile launcher turret that's ready to fire 12 missiles, before needing to be reloaded".

     The failure, here, is that the Weenies at Mongoose who put the Ship Stat Sheet together made no allowance for the contents of a chamber on board the ship that was described as being for "Missile Storage"--no stats, no data, no numbers, no nothing.  Just "extra missiles are stored here".

     I ask you, if the Ship Stat Sheet is to be taken as ABSOLUTE UNALTERABLE FACT, then the 12 missiles listed on that Stat sheet MUST be located inside the turret WITH the Launcher.  Because High Guard says that THAT is FACT.

     So, then.

     What is inside the room labelled "Missile Storage"?  Whether it's the room on the Original deckplan, or the redrawn deckplan of StarMaster's--WHAT is inside the "Missile Storage" room, if ALL 12 of the missiles listed on the Ship Stat Sheet are the ONLY missiles onboard the ship, and they are inside the turret, with the launcher?

     Look, here's another way to look at it--say I hand you a tray.  I tell you "On this tray is a loaded 9mm autopistol and a box of 50 cartridges".

     How many cartridges are on the tray?  There's 50 in the box, and 15 in the magazine of the pistol, making 65 cartridges on the tray.

     The "tray" is the ship, the "pistol" is the missile turret, the "box" is the Missile Storage room.

     Next, let's say the tray will collapse if more than 10 pounds is put on it.

     The loaded pistol weighs 2.6 pounds and the box holding 50 cartridges weighs 1 pound, leaving 6.4 pounds before the tray collapses.

     Now say we take the 50 9mm rounds out of the box (they weigh 14.6 ounces altogether), and we then fill the box with 14.6 ounces of US Pennies (I don't give a fuck how many that is).

     Now how much weight is on the tray?  Now how much more weight can be added to the tray, before it collapses?

     The same frikkin amount.  No difference.



     So, in conclusion of this point, we CAN carry 8 tons of missiles--plus 1 more ton inside the Turret--and STILL HAVE 29.7 tons left for cargo.  The ship is designed that way, even if some idiot over at Mongoose Publishing forgot to list the 8 tons of missiles anywhere.


     You are absolutely right.  Completely and totally correct in every way, concerning this sentiment.  I couldn't agree with you more!
     If only, at any time ever, I had actually said that I/Varca wanted anyone to join us--and I'm quoting you, now--to "run the ship".  'Cuz, y'know, I never did say anything like that.  Ever.
     What I/Varca did say was that more people were desirable to go outside the ship and help with "Ground Operations"--whether that meant loading and unloading cargo, helping us rebuild a town, or running in front of us and shooting guns while we're trying to steal things from other people.  I/Varca have always wanted extra personnel on board for the exclusive reason of them being cannon fodder--for them to be meatshields between me and any armed opponent.  No!  Let me correct that, I want them to act as meatshields between YOU and any armed opponents shooting at YOU!


     And once again, there just isn't any way that I could agree with you MORE!  I also thought that we'd all agreed to choose just "a few" of the Stregors to go with us.  I did.  Then one day there were suddenly 12 new names added to the list of Crewmen that I could send messages to.  Sure, I recognized that they were all the Vespexer NPCs, but there they all were, on the list.

     As I had been offline for several days, at the time, rather than bitching about it, I made an (incorrect) assumption that while I was "away" a different decision had been made, so I just rolled with it--and yes, I admit that part of that decision making process probably was my subconscious desire to "cram more" cannon fodder onboard.
     But I didn't make the decision to put all 12 of them on board--I thought all of YOU did...

We is taking only 6, hallelujah!

link to another game

At least one of the Travellers will have an appointment to keep with a Mr Anders Casarii of the Imperial Scout Service office on the Highport. Mr Casarii has a proposition for the Travellers. During the meeting, he explains that one of the Scout Service’s detached duty vessels is stuck on a nearby world and needs bringing home to Flammarion. The ship has suffered a major problem with its electronics systems and needs a crew to deliver some replacement parts. They will also need to download a replacement operating system into the ship’s computers to ensure that any corruption caused
by the failure does not endanger the vessel. Once the ship’s systems are up and running, it must be brought back to Flammarion Highport where a proper systems overhaul can be made. There may be unexpected complications of course, so ideally the crew sent to pick up the ship will be multi-skilled and flexible enough to deal with whatever crops up. The ship is downed at Walston, four parsecs away, where the previous crew abandoned it. The ship was a detached duty Scout/Courier assigned to them and has apparently been mistreated. There are penalties for abusing detached duty ships since they still belong to the Scout Service, so presumably the crew decided it was in their best interests to disappear. In any case, the ship legally belongs to the Scout Service, which will provide appropriate documentation to allow the
Travellers to pick it up and bring it home.

The premise of the scenario is that your going to be granted the use of an old scout courier, The "High and Dry" which has been part of the Scout Service ‘detached duty pool’ of small ships for decades now. These vessels are loaned to former Scout Service personnel for private use on the understanding that the ship can be recalled to duty at any time even if the user is not.

A one-year lease of the ship is on standard Scout
Service Detached Duty terms, more or less. The
Travellers will have to meet their own life support and
fuel costs and must keep the ship in good order in
case it is needed. The vessel’s logs will be examined
whenever it passes through a Scout Service installation,
providing information on starports and ship movements
in the area. The Scout Service will overhaul the ship at
the end of the year, at which time it may or may not be
reassigned.
In addition, there are some ways to make a few
credits on the side. For example, the Scout Service
pays – though not much – for first-hand reports on
starports, cities and outposts a ship has visited. For the
sake of typing up a few lines detailing the Travellers’
impressions and experiences of the places they visit they
can cover at least their bar tab in any given port.

The hitch is you'll have to go "retrieve" the ship...

Looking for 1 to 3 players

Hey Varca if you need to be heated up I've got just the tool for you...

<plasma charge whine>

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 84):

Are you kidding?  I'm lucky my...dangly bits...didn't snap clean off!

Varca wasn't directly splashed by the cryonic Liquid Deuterium--that would have probably shattered the suit, and simultaneously invented Flash-Frozen Vespexer.  He was just enveloped by the cloud of freezing mist that formed when the stream of deuterium hit the air and immediately boiled off--the mist was still something like a hundred degrees below zero.

He literally "got his ass chapped"...

BB'll warm you up!

I feel like everyone missed the reference to the PGMP

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 87):

Plasma Gun Man Portable! ;-) Didn't miss a thing!
This message was last edited by the player at 13:43, Mon 20 July 2020.

goddammit...

  I got the reference.

  Zhouth would hastily point out that a PGMP lacks the precision focus to not set the Harrier's interior on fire along with reheating the target...

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 90):

     Oh, I got it!  I was trying to trump it!

     Wait....does that phrase still mean the same thing as it used to, nowadays?  Or does it now mean to just babble stoopid shit on social media....?

  Does Zhouth really seem like he'd catch the attempt at cleverness before he reflexively panicked at the idea of (another) eruption of high-powered ordnance in his vicinity? ;)

  And... it still means that. And will in the far future. I hope.

Do we want to roleplay ALL of those repairs, or is it time to move on now? Pick six Stregors to go along, we'll train in jump space a few of them to crew as needed and BB can drill them to be Marines. Lean mean fighting machines! URAH!!!

What has been fixed? All of the drives, we rolled engineering checks a while ago. What else needs rolled for Rob? Zhouth should have the computers working good, the grid thingy needs done, roll what for it?
This message was last edited by the player at 13:28, Wed 22 July 2020.

Just downloaded the updated Drinaxian Companion.

My vote is to dust off. I like having some breather room to establish characters but I am ready to kick things into outer space.

We've been establishing for about a year now all together. Tech-World is the next destination to complete repairs.

  Where we do more establishing, you mean? ;)

  Unless something comes up along the way. The Stregors not brought with us can carry on with the salvage site at a preferential rate (established by Varca with the palace starport), and get their turn on the ship when we're winging our way back up the chain.

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 97):

Hehehehehhehe, 110% correct, even MORE establishing! Yup. This is one of my favorites. I love my Traveller games!
This message was last edited by the player at 19:53, Wed 22 July 2020.

  And, irony of ironies, we're this far in and aren't actually pirates yet. Just a salvage operation.

Hehehehehehehehehehehe, I've found it quite fun though, good crew to game with! Cyrus and Kastimir and Reggie blew it by leaving!

  I don't remember what the reasons were for Cyrus and Reggie; I seem to remember Kastimir's player saying they'd been injured IRL. (Failed a survival roll?)

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 101):

Awww, didn't know that. Hope he gets better.

Rob, can we skip some of this and move on just a bit. Just a bit. Everything is updated and we lift off. Let us know if you want more rolls, we don't know to make them if you don't tell us.

Get better soon Ingrid, need you IC ;-)

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 104):

     I could be wrong (I so often am) but I think everything is fixed to "acceptable" levels (but close your eyes and pray, when you push that button), except for the Fuel Tank issue.

     And again, on that issue I could be wrong, but I thought I remembered reading that the tanks just couldn't hold enough fuel for a full Jump-2.  We can do a Jump-1 (and we have) and then have some fuel left to run the ship, but not enough to even initiate a Jump, never mind completing one.  So all we need to do is figger out how we can carry the needed extra fuel--drop tanks would okay, a temporary Fuel Tank in the cargo bay isn't ideal, but it's workable, and smaller tanks that we have to pump into the regular tanks while in-flight would be messy, but again, doable.

     And yes, I'm gonna open this can of worms again!--since, when we lift off from Drinax we will NOT have been able to REPLACE the Ventral Turret, but it seems we CAN drag ALL the parts for a full replacement turret into the Cargo Bay for later installation, then I would suggest--as a TEMPORARY measure--we consider converting that much-argued-about Missile Storage chamber into a temporary Fuel Bunker (if we ain't gonna turn it into a Barracks).  If we do that, we can keep the cargo bay open for the turret parts, as well as a load of missiles.  For later use.  (though Varca doesn't, really, want to add a missile launcher...)

     So, like I said, I'm not sure I'm remembering this correctly, but I think the only things we HAVE to do are build a fuel tank--that is, decide upon its form, because we have the parts we need--we can rip other fuel tanks out of the other ships--and then we go Wilderness Refuel.  When THAT's done, we can leave.

     Oh, and one LAST boot up Theo's ass...  ^_^

     While WE may want to go to Tech-World ASAP to get the ship a full work-up, King Oleb wants us to go to planet Torpol to check out some stories about Raiders--he said as much during our Audience with him.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that when we left him, His Majesty was under the impression that Torpol was where we were going....

  He'd like us to go there. Voha talked about it with Zhouth.

  Problem: we can't get to Torpol without Jump-2. Actually, we can't get to Tech-World without Jump-2 either.

  The only high-tech place that we can reach with (a lot of) Jump 1 transit is Tyokh. I can just imagine what Varca would think about heading there with the Harrier.

We need to get the fuel resolved before we go to Torpol, Oleb is stupid and shall remain so. We need to get the ship in order or we go nowhere.

Torpol is a Jump2 away and tech level 8. If the drop tanks are fixed and we can reach Torpol, Are they of sufficient tech level to FIX our regular fuel tanks.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:40, Sun 26 July 2020.

Captain - Teddy
1st Pilot - Viridian, Pilot 1
2nd Pilot - Teddy, Pilot 3
Drive Chief - Collyn Ramburton (Engnrng 4)
Navigation Officer - Teddy, Astrogation 2, Collyn Ramburton, Astrogation 4
Engineering Officer - Ingrid, Engnrng 4 (split up over drives)
Gunner -
Gunner -
Medic - Aaron, Medic 3. Viridian, Medic 2
Marine - Varca
Marine - Rejji
Marine - BB Nova

Collyn never made it to the game, like Kastimir. He is still an NPC

What are you going to do Zhouth? Science officer and learn Astrogation? You got computers and comms too, sensors if you want them, but those aren't actual positions.

We can use the Vespexers as gunners too as well as spare Marines. We can use 3.

Starmaster, can you assign Collyn to me or do you want to run him?
This message was last edited by the player at 17:02, Mon 27 July 2020.

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 108):

Thrazakar, Ling Wu, Mongor are my picks to join the crew, I like the names!

Teddy you might want to either re-think how low you're putting BB on that list or re-think how you'd like your butt with a permanent bootprint on it :P

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 110):

Put yourself above Varca for all I care. I just filled it in. That is the crew.

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 111):

Gunners and marines normally make 1,000 credits per month on a trader. How much do pirates pay? ;-) 2,000 credits to the Vespexers? +bonus maybe?
This message was last edited by the player at 19:02, Mon 27 July 2020.

  Aaron is far and away our best person for the Astrogator job, given that it also covers the comms/sensors/remote ops activities and he's much better than the rest of us at that. He can also be our Medic in the event that someone needs Serious Surgery (tm), but several of us can handle straightforward first aid, and as the Harrier book noted, the Medic usually didn't have much to do during action stations and was more of a glorified Steward.

  Aaron is also better as a science officer overall, although perhaps not as good as Zhouth at playing the Mad Scientist role (if only due to the reputations of their respective fields). Zhouth is more or less the ship's administrator.

  That... would technically make him the XO, but he isn't really commanding enough for that, so call him the Accountant/Bookkeeper/Clerk/etc instead. Unless you really enjoy flustering him, in which case go ahead and declare him to be the XO. ;)

  --

  They'd get paid the basic amount and get a share each as 'crew'. If we all count as officers then we'd get a share-and-some each, but this is one reason why you don't want to have a larger crew than necessary - it splits the profits too much.

  --

  And I don't think the Marine slots are actually ranked relative to one another. Anyway, won't BB be too busy waving her gun around to spend time giving orders? ;)
This message was last edited by the player at 02:20, Tue 28 July 2020.

Collyn Ramburton and Taliesa Dieros were NPCs I created to fill in crew positions in case there weren't enough PCs.

So don't count them.

  Sixth Sense (Edge)... tingling.

  Zhouth is ICly referring to this from the Harrier book:


The central section of the Harrier’s cargo area can be converted into a mission-configurable pod. This involves little more than creating attachment points for internal walls and fittings, and replacing existing partitions with more substantial light bulkheads to preserve atmospheric integrity when the rear cargo doors are open. Creating a pod requires 1D days’ work and costs Cr250000 for materials. The ship loses 10 tons of cargo space to the pod, and the forward section of the cargo area (about 10 tons of space) becomes inaccessible from the aft cargo hatch. Small items can still be brought aboard through the main airlock, of course.

Once in place, the pod can be reconfigured at need or simply swap one pod out for another, though there are expenses involved.

The pod can be used to create additional living space or house specialist facilities, for example. These have to be built within the pod at a cost of +20% more than usual. Cargo and fuel have no significant extra cost; suitable fittings are assumed to be created when the pod is installed. For example, if the pod is used to carry a 4-ton medical bay, a standard stateroom and a couple of tons of general stores, the cost will be (MCr2 + 20%) MCr2.4 for the medical facility plus (MCr0.5 + 20%) MCr0.6 for the stateroom, for a total of MCr3.

Many of the possible modifications could be directly installed into the ship on a permanent basis, but by creating a mission pod the Travellers can swap out components in a matter of a hour or so. Even an entire stateroom can be hauled out and replaced with something else. A selection of possible pod configurations follows:


This seems to be a semi-standard design feature for the Harriers, so there's no reason that we couldn't set one up. While it's 10-ton by default, making it 20-ton should be doable, in which case we can store fuel there until the tanks are repaired, and use it for other things (cargo, fuel, and/or mission modules) afterward?

We'd have to spend another ship share to cover the salvaged-parts cost, but in the long run it's probably worth it even if we could use drop tanks to address the current problem.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:31, Tue 28 July 2020.

We need drop tanks to have sufficient fuel for jump 2.

We can train a Vespexer to be drive chief I guess. Chief of Boat.

  We need drop tanks or 20-tons of that modular unit: per its description it can act as a fuel tank.

Okay. 20 ton tank in the hold it is.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:45, Tue 28 July 2020.

Fabricating drop tanks might well be beyond the current capabilities. These aren't just portable gas cans. Not only do they have to be able to handle liquid hydrogen, but you'd have to make attachment points on the hull and make a system for jettisoning the tanks.

If you just made them 'temporary' external tanks that don't drop off, that'd be more feasible. Clearly all the parts and components are available from the wrecked squadron Harriers--the fuel pumps and coolants and such, since they are all there in the fuel tanks of the other ships.

It's also probably possible to scavenge decking from the cargo bay of the other ships to create this 'pod' for your cargo bay, but it is hardly going to be easy to install the necessary fuel pod components. You'd have to make connections to the power plant or the existing fuel tanks.

Yup. We have to, because Drinax won't fix them. We can't make Torpol OR Tech-World currently. We have to make a fuel pod for the cargo hold or external tanks, that don't jettison because we're not engineers. Which would you prefer? We can do either or.

Vince is hiding. What is you opinion Varca?

Since we have a partial holographic hull we don't want to lose the rest of, I'd say internal.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:31, Tue 28 July 2020.

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 122):

     Okay, Zhouth, I think you've hit on our fuel tankage solution!

     According to the Harrier Ship Statistics thread StarMaster put up, there are 42 total tons of fuel tankage.

     And, according to the Harrier Assessment thread, page 2, message #16, StarMaster reported that Ingrid had diagnosed that...

     I think that last bit was referring to....

     But the Jump Drive is fixed, now...isn't it?

     So, we only need 2 tons of fuel tankage to have all the fuel we need for a J-2 and 4 weeks of operations....or, if the J-Drive isn't fixed...enough fuel for two J-1's and 4 weeks of operations.

     According to what Zhouth put up, we can section off 10 tons of the cargo hold which is supposed to be able to hold fuel.  I dunno about how we're to get it into the reactor or engines, but we can, at least, carry it.  And if this is something the ship is designed to do, then we might be able to find the parts we need on one, or more, of the hundred-odd wrecked Harriers all around us.

     Heck, if we're restricted to putting up only a 10-ton "pod"--and can't build anything smaller--then we'd actually be carrying 50-tons of fuel.

These are the module options from the book:



Command Suite

If the Harrier is intended to lead other ships, or simply requires additional electronic warfare capabilities, a command suite can be fitted. This contains an advanced electronic warfare suite granting DM+4 on all checks related to electronic warfare (e.g. jam an enemy ship’s communications or punch a signal through hostile interference), plus a multi-spectral scanning system capable of penetrating the hull of a lightly armoured vessel (up to 4 points of armour) at a range of up to 50 km. Whilst not as powerful as the Shallow Penetration Suite found on page 42 of High Guard, within its operating range this system allows marines to be tracked within a hostile vessel and pockets of resistance to be identified, as well as building a map of the target ship indicating damage or important objectives.

In addition, the command suite has dedicated workstations allowing a flotilla or marine commander to coordinate forces. This gives DM+1 on all Tactics checks made by vessels or personnel under the command of the leader using the suite, including the Harrier’s own crew. The cost is MCr7.5.


Diplomatic Suite

A conference area equivalent to an extremely luxurious version of the briefing room (giving DM+1 on Diplomacy checks) and an associated common area can be fitted for a total of MCr0.7.


Emergency Fuel Store

Tankage for 10 tons of fuel can be carried. This is insufficient for a jump, but will significantly extend the ship’s powerplant endurance, allowing it to remain on station for an extended period. There is no cost to use the pod for fuel tankage.


Marine Barracks

An extremely cramped accommodation area for four additional marines, plus an armoury for their equipment, can be set up in the pod for MCr0.8 plus life support costs of Cr500 per occupant per week.


Medlab

A large medical bay with additional bed space plus laboratory area can be fitted, creating an area that can be used to house up to ten casualties. If configured as a life sciences laboratory, this setup allows the Harrier to act as a mobile disease treatment facility or deal with the effects of chemical or biological weapons, or radiation poisoning. Whilst more useful to a support ship than a raider, this configuration might be useful in terms of winning friends. The laboratory could be reconfigured for other purposes such as analysing artefacts or discovering the origins of a starship component. The cost comes to MCr4.


Prisoner Holding Facility

Travellers who expect to take a lot of prisoners, and prefer to keep captives awake rather than stuffing them in low berths, can convert the pod to a holding area capable of housing ten prisoners in relative comfort (compared to just locking them in the missile magazine). The facility costs MCr0.75 to build. Each prisoner costs Cr300 in life support per week.


VIP Accommodation

The mission pod can be set up to house one important passenger (or one Traveller with a massive ego), creating the equivalent of a High Stateroom and associated personal recreation space. This costs MCr1, plus 1 Cosmetic RU if the décor is to match the rest of the ship.


Weaponry Workshop

The addition of a dedicated armoury enables the Harrier to properly maintain boarding suits and advanced weapons, or service large numbers of less complex devices and weapons. This could be useful when supporting and supplying an insurrection or friendly faction the Travellers hope to align with Drinax. The workshop facility could be used to fabricate basic weapons (e.g. making crude but effective submachineguns by stamping their components out of sheet metal), explosives and ammunition. Modifications to weapons can also be made, including experimental designs. The cost for this setup is MCr0.5.



Applications of the mission pod are almost infinite. The ship could be configured to carry a member of the Drinaxian elite to some important meeting, then later it might be churning out improvised grenades and simple assault rifles for a pro-Drinaxian militia set up by that dignitary. The final victory won by the militia might be coordinated from the Harrier’s command suite, after which a diplomatic suite might be set up to accept the enemy’s surrender. Alternatively, inventive Travellers might come up with all manner of other applications, some of which might be quite unexpected to the referee. The addition of a mission pod enables the Harrier to be quickly optimised for almost any mission, and of course it can be removed to regain the lost cargo space.

Sweet on the Command Suite and the Medlab!

Welcome back Varca!

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 125):

Vince, you're leadership 1 tactics

I'm Leadership 2 Naval tactics! ;-P

  Okay, now BOTH of you are breaking into rules-speak in your IC posting. ;)

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 127):

Where do we get the modules you posted about Syrris?

The suites and labs?

  Source-wise, the Harrier book.

  In-game resource-wise, they're just starship items/rooms/etc like any other, so generally wherever you can get starship work done - none of those require particularly high TLs.

Except the command suite and medilab. we'll get them on Tech-World if we want them.

  Keep in mind that they all occupy space in the pod. If it's being used for fuel storage those other things will have to wait.

Yup, we need it for fuel until we get to Tech-World and get the fuel tanks fixed. Then we can convert it to something else.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:26, Sat 01 Aug 2020.

  The secret conversation on the bridge appears to have moved out into the main area again...

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 133):

That's okay, the secret is over anyway. Didn't want to see Varca cry or throw a tantrum. It's either that, or quit and let Varca do it himself.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:59, Sun 02 Aug 2020.

     Hey, c'mon!  When you pointed it out to me, I explained that it was Late, and I was tired when I made that boo-boo about Viridian!  I meant to write "...is trained with turret weapons...", but without even noticing I'd done it, I'd written "Gunner/Turrets".

     Why...did I do it somewhere else?




     Varca doesn't throw tantrums ... he throws knives

In reply to Varca Lexand (msg # 135):

More for Tech-World!

Hull
When built, the Harrier had a hull value of 88 rather
than the 80 she would have had with conventional
shipbuilding materials. However, her age and the
damage she suffered in the fall of Drinax reduced this
to a mere 40. Without extensive repairs the Harrier is
rather fragile. Each Structural RU assigned to repairing
the hull increases Hull value by 2D, to a maximum of
88.

General Systems
The Harrier’s running costs are double what a ship of
this type should normally require. The extra cost is
absorbed in replacing minor systems and components,
and ongoing loses through leaks, spoilage and other
ongoing costs. Each Technical RU assigned to making
general repairs reduces the extra operating cost by 20%,
to a maximum reduction of 100%, which represents a
return to normal operating costs.

Teddy throws tantrums and gauss rounds!

  Look, vargr-style roughhousing Zhouth can at least cope with. You guys start disagreeing by way of high-powered weapons and he's going to be panicking and hiding (in the short term) and fleeing the ship (in the medium to long term) because that goes way beyond the expected bounds of academic debate.. :P
This message was last edited by the player at 00:03, Mon 03 Aug 2020.

Don’t worry Zhouth, BB’s got you covered. Anyone so much as singes a hair on your head eats a face full of plasma.

So.  Let me tell y'all just how Truly Magnificent a RolePlayer I am!
(Zagyg, put down that rock!)

I am so Truly Magnificent a RolePlayer, that I am playing the details of my Character -- Varca Lexand -- so Truly Magnificently and so accurately, that everyone thinks that the
"argument" over Leadeship that Varca and Theodore are having IC is also actually happening OOC, between me and Zagygthemad!  Truly!
(Zagyg, that better not be a knife you're holding behind your back!  I mean it!)

Now, sit and be amazed as I prove just how Truly Magnificent I am, as I provide proof that, all along, I have been playing Varca exactly as he should be played --
as an Asshole.

First:
Varca's SOC -- which is also supposed to represent not just Social Standing and Status but also represents the character's natural Social Skills and Graces (call it personality, if you must).
Varca's SOC is 5.  Not Bad, but not Good either; giving him a DM-1 to social skills.

Next:
Varca is 42 years old -- almost 43, now.  In all that time he has never learned Diplomacy skill.  Not even Level 0.  Neither does he have Carouse.
You know what "Social Interaction Skills" he does have?
Deception, Persuade, and Streetwise, at various levels -- all these skills are more for manipulating people, rather than being "friendly".
I suppose, if you look at it from a certain angle, his Leadership skill could be considered an "interpersonal skill".  But it's oriented more towards ordering people around, rather than being "cuddly".
Varca only just started training for the Diplomacy skill two weeks ago (maybe three).
So, after 42 years, Varca is only just now learning how to be "nice".

Also:
Remember all the way back to when we all created these Characters?
One of StarMasters "House Rules" was that he let us all pick a few Edges and Flaws from a list of those abilities he'd put together, and was going to let us have.
Here is what I picked for Varca....

FLAWS:
Outsider: Vespexer
   "Everybody Knows" Vespexers come from a "contaminated Hellworld" and we must be contagious with "something", or we're "radiation scarred" or "mutated" or something.  That, and we have to be living in primitive conditions, probably little better than some barbaric savages.  Why, we Vespexers don't even know enough to understand that the King of Drinax is our representative to the outer Universe.
   Vespexers are just backward Barbarians.

Brash:
   Fools Rush In...
   I have a strong and self-assertive -- and mildly overbearing -- personality which often manifests as energetic and irreverent rudeness, and sometimes as physical combativeness.

Infamy: Personal Reputation for "Causing Trouble"
   No matter how hard I try to avoid it, I always seem to end up getting into a fight -- at least, there always seem to be witnesses who say I was right there, in the middle of the goings on.
   Even when I wasn't!
   "Everybody Knows" it's just a matter of time before I start some kind of trouble -- usually ending with injuries and deka-Credits worth of damages.  However, this Infamy usually isn't a problem until/unless me or my name have been recognized by somebody -- and even then, the further away from Planet Drinax I get, the less this Reputation of mine matters.


     Now tell me, have I not been Truly Magnificently roleplaying all these unpleasant qualities?  Does this not explain why Varca keeps bringing things back up, even after they've either been resolved, or just don't matter, anymore?

     Am I not the Master of being an Asshole!

     Look upon my Works, lowly Non-Asshole People, and bask in the True Magnificence that is Me!

This Insane Rant paid for by the "Let's Put another Dumbass in Office for another 4 Years!" Campaign Fund, which is affiliated with every Dumbass Political Party, ever.

  I'd figured that it was pretty much in-character thematics(/dramatics) to begin with...

  Torpol to repair the things it can handle (a reasonable amount at TL 11) actually isn't a bad idea if we can actually get there. Not having the hull in good shape IS a downside and the general plan for covering our tracks requires the holographic hull be operating. Those could be dealt with later, though.

I thought Torpol was Tech level 8?

I laugh at his posts, I know it is IC.

  Has a "B" on my copy of the map. Was that an error?

Okay, I thought the B was an 8, getting old in the eyes too.

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 144):

No, the internet Traveller Map says 8.

https://travellermap.com/?p=-9...=1&an=1&mh=1

Isn't that saying the planet is tech 8 but it has a B starport that should be able to make all necessary repairs? I think that just means when you get down to the surface they'll shrug at the Harrier but a B-class starport HAS to be able to make basic repairs or it wouldn't be a B.

Think so? I don't know, Varca? Zhouth?

  I've concluded two things:

  1) The Tlaiowaha Subsector system list makes thoroughly inconsistent use of the Ht trade code.

  2) Torpol is supposed to be TL8. The Drinaxian Companion also reverts it to that TL, so it isn't a campaign-specific change to the world.


  However, the Blue system, in the same cluster, is TL11. We'd need two jumps to get there via Torpol or Clarke, two two worlds that we know were attacked.

Well, what do you and Varca want to do? Well, he wants Torpol hell or high water. Tech-World can FIX our fuel tanks and our hull without harming integrity. Clarke and Torpol can't.

  The cargo scoop and missile situation can probably be fixed pretty much anywhere TL6+ if the only thing we're short of to do it is lifting equipment; Torpol being on the Florian route also implies that it sees trade in better tech goods than it can produce locally.

  The hull, the fuel tank, the maintenance issues, and some of the electronics would be left to deal with at that point, and it seems like we can only deal with those at TL14+ worlds, which are relatively few - Drinax, Tech-World, and Tyokh are the only ones close by, and apparently we can't visit the palace to deal with any of this.

  We haven't actually registered the ship anywhere yet either. Registering it as a courier was the plan last I knew.


  Registering it as a courier at Drinax would actually make some sense if we're supposed to be flying legitimate missions for the king (among other 'courier work') under our Vultan identity and doing piracy under a made-up Sindalian one that the king totally has no idea about - and we haven't actually DONE any piracy yet so there's no particular reason for anyone to suspect us of anything right now anyway!

  The only potential downside is Varca's fret about Oleb asking what we're up to, but spending several days to get the Harrier into working condition - and, coincidentally, actually capable of getting to Torpol and Clarke - isn't a bad answer. (Even if we could to do it via two Jump-1s, a few days of repairs and a single Junp-2 still gets us there faster...)

  Installing the missile launcher and cargo scoop while we're registering it - as a totally legitimate piece of salvage that hey, we just found and decided to patch back together and see what we could do with it - should be possible? If we can also patch the hull and/or tanks a bit, so much the better.


  We can also reload supplies, maybe nab a token cargo, and put out our cover (and right now, legitimate) story that, since we found and patched up this nice little ship we'll see what we can do to help out Drinax's neighbors because, y'know, we're a legitimate outfit here on the Vultan and the Reach could use a bit of public spirit right now. (Not to mention the mountain of gold and lanthanum that everyone's talking about...)


  That would be Zhouth's take on the situation, anyway!
This message was last edited by the player at 23:40, Mon 03 Aug 2020.

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 150):

     As to the Tech Level/Starport question...

     It's always been my understanding that, like BB said, the Starport "Class" system is representative of the "quality" of the services that they can provide.  But they still have to operate under a normal business model.

     What I've always felt that meant was that, in order to keep costs down (like any business) the Starport services will try to locally source as much as they can.  Obviously this has to be interpreted on case-by-case basis.  If the Port is listed as Class C, but the local planetary Tech Level is 3, then the only "locally sourced" materials (i.e., cheap to purchase) in this case are probably just going to be food resupply.  EVERYTHING ELSE that a Class C Starport is supposed to be able to provide it WILL provide--but since EVERYTHING but food & beverages will need to have been imported, including the Technicians, the costs & time will skyrocket (I, personally, have put a Rule of Thumb on this that materials & technicians are available only up to Average Interstellar Tech Level (10-12?))
     So, in our case (if I were GMing, and Torpol's TL is 8) the Class B port at Torpol could easily & cheaply handle any repair that could be done with Tech 8 materials or TL8 trained Technicians.  Since planet Blue is sorta close and has TL 11, I might rule that any repairs at the Torpol Class B starport that would need TL9 to TL11 resources would be more expensive, because they need imported materials, but probably not too much more expensive.  But the Class B port at Torpol still wouldn't be able to touch any of our (old) TL 15 gear.  It's just beyond anybody at this Port who might be available to work on them, and the Port ain't go those kinds of parts.  But with Tech-World having a Planetary TL of 15, they would be able to work on our ship.

     But that's me.  StarMaster may do something else.


     Yeah, I really do wish we could get something done about the hull--anything about the hull--anywhere in the Torpol Cluster, but I just don't think anyone there can help us with any of that.  Well, maybe we can repair/replace the elements of he Lanthanum Grid that need to be fixed.  I think that that affects the accuracy of our jumps--oh, we'll still make a Jump-1 or Jump-2 (did we fix the Jump Drive?  I really can't remember), and we'll even arrive at the star system we're aiming for, we just might not come out as close to the planet as we programmed for...or we might come out way closer than we wanted!

     And yeah, we can go to Torpol, and/or Clarke, and present as just a Drinaxi-registered "Courier".  Varca has no problem with that, sounds good.

     For this mission, I don't think we'll need to act as Pirates, maybe not even "officially" as Privateers, either.  We can try to be "concerned" folks from the "friendly neighbor planet" of Drinax.

     If the Jump Drive is fixed, we can make J-2's.  We need 42 tons of fuel to do that (actually, 42 tons of fuel lets us make a J-2 and keep the ship operating for 4 weeks), so after we add that 10 ton fuel pod in the cargo bay, we'll have 50 tons of fuel on board.  One way or another, I think that we'll be able to either a Jump-2, or two Jump-1's, and still have some fuel to operate with.  But we will definitely need to refuel before can jump anywhere else.

  The grid is fixed. I don't think you could properly jump without it: link to a message in this game


  Refuelling at Torpol shouldn't be a problem. Class B starport, system with a gas giant, AND it's a water world, so it's not like they're lacking for available hydrogen.

  Blue and Clarke both have class-B starports so fuel is again not much of a problem. (Blue doesn't have a lot of water but there's another gas giant there.)


  So, modular unit in place, we've effectively solved the can't-get-there problem, just not the remaining repairs.

  Other than the missile launcher and scoop, since we have the parts and just need some basic equipment. Oh, and there's that little Varca-doesn't-want-the-launcher issue, too...

@Varca: Makes sense. I'm on board.

So...shoot for Blue?

edit: Okay I know this is going to be a stupid questinon but why not get repaired on Drinax? It's Tech E with an A class starport?

Who did we piss off that we can't go there -__-


edit: Also Pourne is right next to us. Class A tech A...
This message was last edited by the player at 12:16, Tue 04 Aug 2020.

Fat Olrb doesn't want an evidence trail back to Drinax, he wants Deniability to cover his fat cowardly ass.

They don't have the tech to deal with the hull/fuel issue but they can do other stuff.

  Hmm. If we're somewhere that can handle the hull issues generally then getting the holographic elements fixed shouldn't be any problem - it's actually a pretty low TL system for a starship:


Holographic Hull (TL10)

Multiple holographic projectors are embedded within the hull allowing the ship to change hull colours, add graphics and adopt a different appearance (though its shape remains the same). Changing the hull colour or adding a stored graphic can be done by anyone with access to the ship’s computer. Creating a complex colour scheme from scratch requires the talents of a skilled artist. Some young nobles try to outdo one another by changing the schemes daily or hiring artists to create the most complex scenes imaginable. Some pirates have made use of this system to simulate visual hull damage and lure other ships in with a GK distress call. However, most ship owner’s use it for the purposes of advertising.

A holographic hull system costs Cr100000 per ton of hull and uses 1 Power for every two tons of hull. The projectors are small enough that they do not consume tonnage themselves.




As for repairing on Drinax, he can hardly get upset about deniability if we've just been sent on a goodwill mission on his behalf to neighboring systems. Especially if we don't do anything piratey along the way. And we have our double identity plan to cover that once the hull *IS* fixed.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:58, Tue 04 Aug 2020.

Exactly Zhouth, we are couriers, not pirates ;-) Register here.

I'm an asshole too! Just not quite so glaring of one as you! ;-)

Psst, BB: We don't need to J-1 to Drinax. We're at Drinax! Only thing we'd need to do is fly up to the palace.

Despite the stupid listing for Drinax, it is NOT a Class A Starport, nor is it TL 14.

It has no highport, and it has nothing to trade except its technical knowledge, which it does frequently since it needs many imports to keep functioning.

It has the knowledge from when it was a TL 14, but it no longer has the tools or supplies to support that tech level. It's just barely functional as TL 11.

There probably was a highport before the war, but the Aslan would not have left it in orbit. Technically, there were two starports on the Floating Palace--the Royal Starport and the Public Starport. Due to overpopulation of the Floating Palace, the Public Starport has been converted to living quarters. So, only the Royal Starport is usable to land ships on. And clearly it can't handle very large ships, so it can hardly be a Class A Starport. A- or C+ maybe.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 160):

Tech-World it is then. for final repairs. First stop, still undecided.

How confident are we that we can make a x2 J2 jumps?

We could J-1 to Pourne, get all the TL 10 stuff taken care of, then J-1 to Hilfer, J-2 to Tech World. That's the safer route but adds like 2 weeks at least to our travel time.

Option 2 if we are feeling bold and tangy is to just J-2 to Hilfer and J-2 to Tech-World once we are done putting out all the fires.

Honestly I'm up for Option 2. BB is a "ride or die" kinda gal.

I like the second option too, we get the fuel pod in and we can do it.

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 163):

How about we jump a week in time, pod is installed and in working order and we decide where we're going now.

I say Tech-World, but can live with Torpol.

There are two aspects of our activities. The first is to disrupt trade in the area such that the Imperium will take a greater interest in keeping the Aslan from trying to annex the area. The second is to build up the Drinaxian 'empire' by making them look like the good guys.

The first is the piracy part--just don't blame Drinax for any of it!

The second is solving other world's problems. Torpol was hit by raiders... essentially someone is stepping on our toes. If we can find and stop these raiders, we benefit in two ways. We make Drinax look good, and we eliminate some of the competition. Further, we can blame our own raids on these other guys.

Ingrid, as our chief engineer, examined the ship's hull and determined that it wasn't as sturdy as it should be. She didn't say it was now nothing better than paper mache. If we go after these raiders and beat them, we'll know more about the capabilities of our own ship. If it turns out to be more than we can handle, then we just turn and run away to fight another day.

The longer we delay in going to Torpol, though, the harder it is going to be to find them.

It's like when a hurricane hits. Let's wait a year and then go see if there are any survivors. Not a good option.

My rebuttal would be we can't accomplish either of those objectives if our broken ass blows up the first time we encounter raiders. If we're going pirate hunting I'd like to do it with a ship in tip top condition, not one patched together with duct tape and bubble gum.

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 166):

"Agreed BB. Throw in a paper clip or two. Ingrid? Zhouth? What is your opinion? Varca and Viridian vote Torpol, BB and I say Tech-World."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:15, Wed 05 Aug 2020.

Real talk, how combat capable is the ship at the moment? My understanding is we've got severe hull damage and only one working weapon, correct?

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 168):

yup, not combat capable at all. IIRC the turret doesn't even turn, you have to point the ship. I may be wrong on that though. The other turret is just for missiles. The one that is working is a particle accelerator though.

Full hull is 88 points, currently at 40 points, not sure how that works though. We spend units to fix it is all I understand. 1 point is 1d6 or 2d6 points I think. Have to go back and read it.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:20, Sat 08 Aug 2020.

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 169):

     Yeah, go to "Harrier Statistics", and scroll down to Msg #2.

     The dorsal Barbette is fixed and fully functional.

     And the "larger weapon" that's in this barbette?  The weapon that Theo keeps disparaging, and Varca keeps calling a "Terror" weapon?


High Guard 2E, pg. 25:



     So...
     Very Long Range--in space combat, this is 25,001-50,000 km (that's 15,535-31069 miles)
     Damage 4D--that's 4-24 points of real, physical damage to a ship's hull PLUS with each hit, and even some near misses, the target gets bathed in 200-1,200 rads of lethal radiation!  That is an average of 700 rads!!
     Naval personnel on a warship--maybe even some pirate ships--may have enough shielding to not be concerned, but the average Spacehand on a civilian transport is gonna be shitting himself when we put a shot past his bow, and his rad-sensors start screaming that was an 800-rad blast!

     And something else to consider, concerning our "combat readiness"...

     If you look at the Harrier Statistics, page 2, go down to the "ELECTRONICS" section and look at "Countermeasures"--look all the way over to the right.  StarMaster has written "REPLACED".  Do you know what that means?!  I double checked with StarMaster--this means that we didn't just find any old electronic component that could do the job for a repair.
     No-no-no-no...it means we found the exact equipment--not "components" but entire modules and full units!  And all of it is original--it's all Drinaxi-built at Tech-15 by original suppliers for the Harrier class!!!
     Oh, yeah, the stuff's old, it's been sitting in abandoned storage units for 200 years--and we've decontaminated it and refurbished it--so, yeah, the life expectancy may not be all too long, and they might be a little more prone to break down--but it is still original equipment!  Original Tech-15 Equipment!
     The Countermeasures Suite isn't "repaired", it is REPLACED!!  And Varca is trained as an Electronic Warfare Operator (junior grade).  EW can add to both our ability to strike an opponent, as well as mask us from getting hit by them.

So we're the shit so long as we only get attacked by one ship. But lets say the raiders have 3 or 4 then we get one nifty shot off before getting our asses blown to high heaven.

Seriously who would even THINK about going into combat with this many holes in their ship :P

  It's a bit better than that.

  One, the mount is listed as repaired, so we can fire at all angles.

  Two, we have Thrust 6, which very few non-military ships do.

  Three, we can fire at a distance beyond many non-military ships' effective sensor range given Superior Stealth.


  If we don't want to get shot at we don't need to give them the chance. They may never be able to get a lock on our location, and even if they do, they aren't going to be able to catch us.

  Granted, this works best against the sort of ships that the Harrier would be used to pirate, rather than other raiding ships that might also have particle weapons, but even against those we probably have a speed and stealth advantage - and can simply disappear if we're outgunned.

Unless they got missiles or torpedoes...

Unless they get a really lucky shot off or we get really unlucky.

Unless there happens to be a few of them and they box us in.

Unless they ambush us and catch us by surprise.

Just saying you're playing really fast and loose with your life on this one...

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 173):

     Oh, Hell yeah!

     You're right, BB.  But that's what real Pirating was like!  It was nothing like what Hollywood shows us.

     It was hard, desperate, and often deadly--an absolute adrenaline rush!  ^_^

     Okay, sure, we've only got 40 Hull Points--we can't take too many big hits.  But that assumes we get hit.  We do have a few things going for us:

Superior Stealth Hull (TL12):  A highly advanced stealth coating makes a ship all but invisible to sensors.  This gives DM-6 on any Electronics (sensors) checks made to detect or lock onto the ship, with an additional DM-1 for every Tech Level the stealthed ship is higher than the sensors trying to locate it.  It cannot be combined with regular Stealth Hull or Reflec Armor.
Adding Superior Stealth costs MCr1 per ton of hull, and can only be added once.
[available at TL12, but ours was installed at TL15]

Our Armor is Bonded Superdense (Armor 4), just about as good as it gets.

We have Advanced TL15 Sensors, and we have a TL15 Military Countermeasures Suite...
Military Countermeasures Suite (TL15):  The Military Countermeasures suite is the cutting edge of countermeasure technology in the galaxy, incorporating both powerful transmitters and advanced electronic–warfare programs to shut down enemy communications.
The military countermeasures suite grants DM+6 to all attempts at jamming and electronic warfare, regardless of the usual DM the sensor suite it is attached to.
A military countermeasures suite consumes 15 tons and costs MCr28. It requires 2 Power.
[our Advanced Sensors would give us a DM+2 to jam signals, a (standard) Countermeasures Suite (TL13) would give us DM+4]

     And, just to review how important Electronic Warfare can be...

Electronic Warfare: (Sensor Operator)
A ship’s sensor operator may attempt to jam the communications of an enemy by making an opposed Electronics (comms) check against the sensor operator in the target spacecraft.  The same process may be used with the Electronics (sensors) skill to break a sensor lock.

Sensor Lock: (Sensor Operator)
A ship’s sensor operator may attempt to obtained an improved target lock on an enemy spacecraft with a successful Electronics (sensors) check.  If the check is successful, attacks made by the spacecraft with that sensor operator aboard it gain a Boon against the enemy spacecraft until the sensor lock is broken.

Missile Electronic CounterMeasures (ECM): (Sensor Operator)
A ship’s sensor operator may attempt to use the Electronic Warfare action to destroy or misdirect incoming missiles before they impact his vessel or another ship within Close range.  The sensor operator must succeed at a Difficult (10+) Electronics (sensors) check (1 round, INT) in order to destroy or render inert incoming missiles within a single salvo.  The Effect of this check will immediately remove that many missiles from the salvo.
Electronic Warfare may be performed upon a salvo multiple times over several rounds, with the effects being cumulative.  However, a salvo may only be subjected to Electronic Warfare once per round, no matter how many sensor operators are available.

     And that's just to avoid taking damage.  You people keep diss'ing my "Terror Weapon", but even that thing benefits from the Old Drinaxi policy of an Iron Fist inside a Steel Mail Gauntlet ^_^

     Normally, our Particle Beam Barbette does 4D of regular damage, PLUS an additional burst of lethal radiation equal to (2D x 20) x5 ('cuz it's Ship Scale).
     PLUS....
Accurate:  Accurate weapons gain DM+1 to all attack rolls.
High Yield: When rolling damage for a High Yield weapon or the performance of a High Yield screen, any ‘1’s rolled are counted as ‘2’s.

     Last, but not least, if it looks like an opponent might be too much for us to handle, we always have the option of escape, using...

Early Jump: This Jump drive can jump 10% closer to a gravity well than normal (90 diameters, as detailed on page 148 of the Traveller Core Rulebook).

Stealth Jump: A stealth jump drive minimizes the burst of radiation caused by the transition from jump space into real space.  Normally, a ship that emerges into real space
will be automatically detected if it emerges within the ‘minimal’ detail range of the sensor.  However, detecting a ship equipped with a stealth drive emerging into real space requires a Formidable (14+) Computers (sensors) check (1D rounds, INT or EDU) if it is within the ‘limited’ detail range of the sensors or will automatically fail if within ‘minimal’ detail range.

     I would go on to say that we also have an advantage in that Varca, himself, is a Raider--no matter what he looks like, no matter what Service he has been part of, no matter what anyone tells you--Varca is a down and dirty, club you for your last penny, Raider.

     He doesn't fight fair (if he ain't cheating, he ain't trying!), he doesn't fight "straight up" (if the enemy is ready for him, he goes back home), he grabs every advantage, uses every dirty trick, and will kick the enemy while they are down--and keep kicking them, even after they are dead.  He has no fear of nuclear weapons, and no compulsion against using biological weapons.  Chemical weapons are boyhood playthings.

     But all of that don't matter, because Theo is in Command, when it comes to space battles.

     So, yeah, we're all screwed.... ^_^

Do we or don't we have the drive fixed? It's in green on that table now, which I thought meant 'fixed', but I'm not sure what to make of most of it anymore.

If it  is so awesome, why are there holes in the fuel tank and why is the armor down to 40 from 88?

Teddy and Ingrid fixed the jump drive I do believe Varca, Fixed like the turret was.

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 177):

Time to go to Torpol StarMaster! JUMP SPACE!!!

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 178):

     I'm aboard with that, Theo.

     I do, however, have to--AGAIN!!--apologize for screwing something up...yup, another "Oops!  I did it again..."

     It seems I kinda ... misread ... the Harrier Statistics page (StarMaster has already kicked me around about this).

     I swear I read that the Countermeasures were "replaced", but the reality is that they are still un-repaired--we found absolutely no parts for Countermeasures.  Not to say we couldn't find components that we could make work to repair that system, but we found no actual Countermeasures parts.  What we found were either intentionally destroyed, or appeared to have been removed a long time ago.

     So, I'm sorry I got all excited about us having Military Countermeasures.  We do not.

     Oh, and I also screwed up when I said that Old Drinax had TL15--I'm such a bonehead that I kept translating "Tech-E" into "Tech-15"".  It's really Tech-14....


     Look, I'm just really into Military Technology, Okay?  And I haven't had a Woman in my life for quite a while, now, and when I thought we had that Tech-15 Military Countermeasures, I got all excited, and....

     Oh, never mind!

     Either Theo or Viridian needs to fly us out of this canyon, then set us down on a nice, contaminated beach, maybe someplace with a lovely overview of a radioactive crater...

     Vultan's fuel processors will take 8 hours to fill the Fuel Pod (40 tons/"day"(24 hours?) / 10 tons = 8 hours).

     In that time, Varca needs Zhouth's assistance with some "documents"... (Hey!  Don't gimme that look! You're the one who said he could forge documents!)

     To get a "legitimate" Ship Registry for Drinax, we're gonna need a couple of documents to support the fake background of the ship.

     First we need a Salvage Claim, dated 3 years ago (local), on a claim for a crashed "Drinax Empire Era Harriet-Class Scout/Courier starship" with an addendum that the Claim Owners intend to "restore and refurbish" and not "scrap" the vessel.

     Second, we need a Space-Worthiness Certificate, issued by the Royal Drinax Starport Authority, dated 4 months ago, stating that our rebuilt and refurbished Harriet-class Courier is fit for space flight operations. (Varca Vonon just happens to have a copy of such a certificate--with a signature of an RDSA Inspector--that's dated a year ago...)

     And Third--if you feel it's needed, Zhouth--maybe set up a shell company, here on Drinax?  Call it, I dunno, "Vultan Ventures, LRC"? (LRC = "Limited Royal Charter"; i.e., "If you idiots screw this up, I'll deny I ever knew you!" - Oleg) ^_^

     After that, Varca can contact...his guy...in the Administration, and get the ship Registered ASAP.

     So, that would be--what?--two, three, Skill checks (Admin, I think, to forge documents?) for Zhouth, and one Kiss-Some-Serious-Ass check for Varca, right?

     And we'll have a whole 8 hours to get it all done...
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:44, Mon 10 Aug 2020.

Sounds good!

Seems like forging the documents would be a single task since they're part of the same activity, more or less?

Although if he doesn't have any copies of the documents in question then forging them becomes a teensy bit problematic. Varca's copy of the certificate is great, but do we have one for salvage claims?

Calling in your buddies in the palace to get all three (salvage, spaceworthy, registration) expedited strikes me as the better route.


(Mind you, this being the Reach, they might not care so much about some of the certifications that everyone needs to have in the Imperium.)

If I were there IC, I'd agree with you Zhouth! Ingrid and I are building the fuel pod though! Anyone willing to help is welcome!

  I think Comms and Sensors are normally a single station in the Harrier (Astrogator covers those).

  On the other hand, the second gunnery station isn't usable for gunnery right now, so it could be configured to cover one of those? Not that Zhouth really knows what he's doing in that role, but if Theodore doesn't mind the ship flying into something that Zhouth failed to notice...

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 184):

Comms is on the left, sensors is on the right. Or vice-versa. Just looked at it. We'll teach you! Mr. Spock, Chief Science Officer
This message was last edited by the player at 19:13, Wed 12 Aug 2020.

  Spock? Since when has Zhouth been a stoic rationalist!?

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 186):

;-) Never!

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 187):

     Varca is not a Marine--just deadheading it aboard a ship until it lands somewhere, and only then does he perform his duties!

Go ahead, Devil Dog, say something!  I was Straightleg Infantry and always never deadheaded anywhere! ^_^

     Varca is trained as an Electronic Warfare Operator--so, he'll pull shipboard duties as Comm & Sensor Officer...when he's not off-ship Raiding.  He'll just do the job from down in one of the Countermeasures rooms, rather than up on the Bridge.

     Hey Zhouth!  How about...instead of saying we "dug up" our fictional "Harriet"-class ship in a desert on Drinax...we claim we dug it up in a desert on Hilfer?  We still gotta register it on Drinax, but, like you said, how's anyone on Drinax gonna confirm if we really found it on Hilfer?

     Oh!  Oh!  No, wait!  Better idea!  We stumbled across it on Asim!  That planet is closer, but still has lots of unexplored/undeveloped land, where this ship could have lain wrecked for over 200 years!  By the time anyone gets around to actually checking the records on Asim, we'll have our Registry, and be gone.  Then, once we get back (hopefully to report a success), we'll have "inside pull" to fix any problems.

     This idea has the added advantage of there being a travel record of all of us--except BB--having actually been on Asim, recently.

  Well, that's why Zhouth was suggesting an asteroid belt in some system that doesn't have much of a functioning government, like Oghma or Norricum or (etc); or it was pulled out from under the Aslan somewhere nearby (because how is Drinax going to check up on those, nevermind the relative administrative chaos of their clan structures).

  Either way, he managed to create fake papers for your registration with full fake biometrics and a +1 Effect.

     Um, I'm sorry, guys, but I'm confused.  Again.

     Okay, I got that the Fuel Pod in the Cargo Bay only holds 10 tons of fuel, and that connections already exist for fuel from a Fuel Pod to be fed into the Power Reactor, but no such connections exist for this fuel to be used for a Jump--unless we jury-rig such a connection ourselves.  On the Plus side, 10 tons of fuel will, apparently, keep the ship powered for 20 weeks!

     And I knew we were gonna have to hodge-podge a work-around to transfer fuel from the main tanks into the Fuel Pod, because there are no existing connections between the (temporary) Fuel Pod and the Main Tanks.

     I was under the impression that, when we left the Floating Palace, the Harrier had been refueled from it's trip to Asim, and had a "full" 40 tons of fuel onboard.  We barely touched that landing on Drinax, but then we ran the Reactor for, what, 10 days, on the ground?  Was it 2 weeks, maybe?  So, at a Half-ton of fuel per week, we've used anywhere from 1.5 tons of fuel, to maybe 2 tons, out of the 40 tons in the Main Tanks, then we transferred 10 tons to the Fuel Pod, leaving...28.5 tons, maybe as little as 28 tons left in the Main Tank, at the time we chose to lift off.

     Here's where I start to get confused.

     So...we have to top up the Main Tank--let's call it 12 tons, just for chuckles.  Our Fuel processors can produce 40 tons of refined fuel in 24 hours--that's 1.67 tons per hour--or 7.2 hours to produce 12 tons of fuel.

     We could hop over the mountains, land at the coast, set down just off a beach, in some shallow water, for 7-and-a-quarter hours, while the fuel scoops suck up water from Drinax's nasty ocean, and the Fuel Processors convert the toxic aqua into Refined Fuel.  Then we could leave Drinax, take maybe a half-a-day getting out of the planet's Jump Shadow, and then immediately Jump straight to Torpol, and make Fat Oleb happy....

     Only, apparently we don't do that.

     Instead, down 12 tons of fuel, we lift off from Drinax, leave the planet, and fly across the system to the nearest Gas Giant--I dunno, a couple days flight away, hopefully?  Maybe more?  When we arrive at the Gas Giant, we've used a half-ton of fuel--but that's okay, cuz this is now coming out of the Fuel Pod.  We only need to put a "full" 40 Tons into the Main Tank, in order to make a Jump 2.  So, after 7.5 hours, we've skimmed & processed the needed fuel, and the Main Tanks are at 40 tons.  We spend the better part of a day getting far enough away from the Gas Giant to Jump.

     It took almost an extra week, but hey--we had fun storming the castle skimming a gas giant, rather than just sitting in a contaminated tide pool for just under 8 hours, and then getting the hell out of Drinax--right?

     After another week, we drop out of Jump Space just outside of Torpol's Jump Shadow, only to, if I got this right, turn around and fly away from Torpol, to head over to the nearest Gas Giant so we can fill up our now-empty Main Tanks (24 hours to skim & process 40 tons--unless we choose to top up the few tons we've used from the Fuel Pod), then fly back to Torpol.

     Why didn't we just jump to the Gas Giant?  We have the ship library files that Princess Rao loaded onto the Harrier, plus Zhouth found a database on some deeply stashed computers, on the Lost Base (or did I imagine that, too ^_^).  So, one way or another, we have astrographic data about Torpol's planetary system--we could program a Jump straight to the Gas Giant, there.

     AND Torpol is listed as a Water World--we can set down in that ocean and suck water to make fuel.

     Or maybe I'm wrong about this!  Maybe Mongoose Traveller doesn't allow ships to Wilderness refuel with water--though I clearly recall this being allowed in both Original Traveller, and MegaTraveller.  Now I'm gonna be distracted while I try to figure this out and find an answer...

So we used the water, next time answer when I ask you a question! I asked about the water and got silence from you.

We went to the ocean and then jumped out of system, we're at Torpol now. Speak on. What do you want to say to the folks at Torpol mister anally congestive old fart! ;-)

We land at the lowport and suck ocean then! SPEAK your mind Vonon.Varca.


"Lets try those papers of Zhouth's and get on with this. Comms, contact the highport and tell them that the Vultan is here in search of what Varca? You tell them what Fat Oleb wants them to know. We're looking for pirates and such to clean up their space? Oleb's best wishes in the endeavor. What else?"

"We need to refuel at the gas giant or ocean too and then set down and look for courier work too.

1) The papers were for use in getting the ship properly registered at Drinax.

2) I thought we were going to use water on the surface as well, not the gas giant, especially since we kept getting told that time was all-important, etc. It's definitely doable in 2E (there are references in various sources), as is ice-cracking, etc.

3) Why waste time at the gas giant on Torpol either? It's a water world - they're hardly short of hydrogen!

Fine, we use the ocean! For heavens sake it wasn't in concrete! ;-)

I'm not a commanding captain. I'm not really, In command but not commanding! ;-)

Catch some fish too for the freezer? What can we get done on Torpol? Anything?

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 193):

     Yeah, StarMaster just admitted to me he'd forgotten about the ocean refueling we wanted to do, and just said gas giants so he could get us going.  Excellent effort, but flopped on the details ^_^

     As for getting work done at this Starport, figure anything that's strictly a mechanical job, this Class B port will be able to do a good job on.  The planet's native TL8 means that electronics work--the kind of electronics work that we want/need, that is--would be almost exclusively "import" stuff, and the quality of the work may, or may not, be what we want.

     We can most certainly get that turret installed here, and the job quality will probably be pretty good, and the installation price reasonable.  Maybe--MAYBE--they can help us with the damaged fuel tank--if it was just a question of having the correct tools.  I got the impression that without really high TL materials science, we'd have to cut into this 'unibody' hull of ours, to fix the tanks, and cutting this hull would be "A Bad Thing".  Maybe.  We can still look into it.

     Oh!  Hey!  Anybody with both Electronics(computers) and Explosives skills!!  During our time in Jump Space, Varca will start running diagnostics on the Missiles--to make sure that they are still viable weapons, and not just duds that can hold a power charge.

     You want me to send just one roll of each skill, StarMaster?  A few of each?  None, 'cuz this is such a "standard" operation?

     Now, I gotta get up for a 12 hour shift in...4-and-a-half hours, so I'm going to bed, dammit!

     Nighty-night, y'all!

Good night Vince, don't work too hard.

We have to get the fuel tank and hull fixed at Tech-World, but if we can get the missile turret installed we will.

  Several of us can cover Elec/Comp. Only Varca and Rejji can handle Explosives.

  Unless you want us doing it untrained, anyway...

In reply to Zhouth (msg # 196):

I don't even know if they can check explosives, they're the only ones, with BB, of the correct background that COULD know.

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 197):

     Yeah, and it's not that I'm thinking to use Explosives to, like, "set" or arm he things--more like that might be the skill to use to run diagnostics on the viability of the explosives in the warhead.

  If it's just for checking/fixing the missiles' status then it'd also be covered by Maintenance. It's explicitly used for that in a couple of cases in MgT material.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:36, Mon 17 Aug 2020.

Serious question guys. I'm looking for a way to be useful and contribute.

Would anyone mind if BB takes over the role of head of security. I know it's been talked about between Varca/Rejji and herself but Rejji is AFK and Varca spends a lot of his time arguing with Teddy over which way the wind is blowing to the point I consider them "co-captains".

So I don't know what the official ship's title would be but as a player I would set about doing things like training marines, enforcing ship's discipline, watching over prisoners and leading boarding actions.

The reason I want to bring this up via OOC now is I don't want to step on anyone's toes from a player/OOC perspective before she starts throwing her weight around IC.

I am A-OKAY with PC vs. PC conflict but my operating guideline is that there has to be an agreement OOC on which way the conflict will resolve FIRST before ever digging into it.

For example if Varca and BB get into a pissing match over who is in charge of the marines, I want to know ahead of time via OOC who is going to win before ever starting up the first argument so we can navigate effectively towards a common goal and nobody has any hard feelings afterwards.

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 200):

Rejji quit ages ago, StarMaster NPCs him now. It would be BB and Varca, since Varca is Sensors/Comms, I think BB SHOULD run the marines, but I'll let Varca and BB see who can piss furthest, sounds like you have a grip on things. Teddy and Varca fight about everything! I'm Captain of the Vultan, he is Mission Commander.

Works for me. Hell, half the time, I'm looking for some way to be useful!

I try to caution players that join my games not to make a one-trick-pony character... that can only do one thing even he does it very well... because he's not going to be able to that all the time. Traveller doesn't normally generate those kinds of character unless you are doing a focused game (such as commandos).

  Uhm, wasn't the point of the documents that we'd stop at the Drinax starport on the way and have Varca's friend give us a new set of codes/registration?

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 202):

Or Naval campaign? I sent you some stuff Rob, You get it?

In reply to Theodore McFarlane (msg # 204):

Didn't we do that? I thought we did??? We would have. We need the documents. We can skip back and cover that if we want to, Rob, how you want to handle it?
This message was last edited by the player at 16:05, Mon 17 Aug 2020.

  Well, yes, that was the idea, but the last IC message from the station is talking as if we didn't...

"scratching head" We just jumped. We need a redo for that, we WOULD have done that as it was the plan. I forgot, when Rob opened the Torpol thread, I just started posting there.

1. As I at least told Zhouth, there are no paper documents in space. When communication between planets is measured in weeks, it's 120% impractical to keep track of paperwork from dozens--let alone hundreds--of worlds. On a planet, it's still viable (such as passports, plane tickets, boarding passes, concert tickets, etc.), but even today, half of that's already being done electronically.

2. Landing on the Floating Palace to get non-existent documents would not only have been pointless and a waste of time, it would have alerted the King that you weren't on Torpol yet. Whatever codes you needed could have been transmitted while in transit to the gas giant.

3. That's not what I posted. I never said you didn't have any of those things; they just weren't being transmitted by the ship's transponder. Normally, this is all done automatically. For instance, whenever Ingrid performs routine maintenance on the fusion reactor, that maintenance is logged into the computer and then routinely updated to the transponder. Same is true for medical.

Additionally, your crew manifest and cargo manifest are also transmitted--the former in case you happen to be transporting a wanted criminal, and the latter in case you are carrying hazardous or prohibited cargo or cargo subject to import tariffs or cargo they are in desperate need of.

Otherwise, you'd be getting boarded by customs inspectors at every port.

4. In the hustle of making repairs and keeping an eye on the Vespexers, no one thought to check the transponder to see if it was up to date. If anyone even thought about it, you probably just thought it was being done automatically like it always is.

So, it's not a big deal (unless you were the Dread Pirate Robert), and, as it turns out, two benefits can come from it: it will make you memorable and it kind of makes you appear innocuous.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 208):

Thanks Rob!

  I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be Aaron? ;)

     We are "co-Captains"!  Theo is "Ship Captain" and Varca is "Mission Commander"--if it has anything to do with flying the Ship, or Space Combat, or Ship Operations, or Astrogation, or anything "Piratey" (that's a real word!  It is!!)--then absolutely Theo is "in command".

     Anything to do with off-ship operations--Raiding, ground combat, breaking into bases (plus Pillaging, Political Assassinations, Robbing Banks, Stealing Ships, Toppling Governments, Handing Out Scientology Propaganda, etc.), and generally keeping us focused on a Pro-Drinax agenda, 'cuz he's a "Big Picture" guy--then, yeah, Varca is "in command".

     Theo and Varca are Equals in Command  (Varca is just more Equal...)


     Gunnery Sergeant BB Nova, feel free to be a Gunnery Sergeant!  As there are only a handful of us, I'm not sure any one of us "officially" holding title to "Chief of Security" (that specific Title) is needed. "We" are all "Officer Caste"--I would hope that there never is a case for any of us needing to be strong-armed by a "Security Chief".

     However, if you want to take the handling of our "marines" into your own hands, sure, go for it.  But expect Varca to help out, occasionally.

     As you present BB as "being a Marine" ("there are no ex-Marines!" ^_^), I interpret that as being a "Professional" soldier (talking attitude, not a paycheck), while with Varca, he's the opposite, and makes no bones about his warfighting skillset as being a "Raider"--not just a hit-and-run expert (like "Marine Raiders"), but the older meaning of the term--he's a "Hit-and-Grab-Everything-you-can-and-then-Run" expert.  He's kick'em while they're down, dirty tricks and illegal warfare. (Nuke'em from Orbit--while they're playing with their kids, in the park!  They'll never expect it!  It's the only way to be sure!)

     So go ahead and consider BB to be the (so recently mis-used title) "Chief Of the Boat", you're the "Top Kick", the Highest Ranking NCO on board.  You are the Platoon Sergeant to Varca's Platoon Leader (y'know, that shave-tail Butter-Bar who's never, actually around? ^_^).

     And, as we all (should) know, the Chief Of the Boat is actually in charge of running Security Details onboard a Sub, under the direction of the XO (or, in our case, as it is shipboard security, the COB would be under the direction of Cap'n Theo).



     Varca is stepping up to be Sensors/Comms when we're doing those shipboard, Piratey (I told y'all that that's a real word!  Leddigo!) things.

     When it comes to space-bound Boarding Actions, now that we have BB on the Crew, Varca will probably sit them out, and do the "Lead from the Command Car" thing, from his station in Countermeasures--leaving BB to be "on The Line", up front, during Boarding Actions.

     But when it comes to Ground Combat, or any combat not in space, then yeah, Varca will be "boots on the ground", leading from up front.

     Like Theo says, up there, ON the ship, Theo is "in command", OFF the ship Varca's "in command".  They are both Equally "in command" (but Varca is still more Equal...)


     Why you always gotta be blaming the Medic for everything, Zhouth-Man?  'Cuz he the other Educated person on board?  This one'a them Egg-Head Gang things...?
^_^

Can we get a Ship's Locker thread where we can put stuff we have for the ship? (tool kits and such).

FYI even if Torpol is a tourist trap I can swing by the seedy sections of town: the red light districts and the local jails and see if there's any scumbags the local constabulary might want to offload.

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 213):

Yup, no doubt. They have a seedy underworld too. We can still try to recruit here.

  It's a high law level planet and the description says that they keep the tourist areas very safe despite the carnival atmosphere, so the local population might be a better bet. Even if you don't get to go jail-diving for recruits, there're going to be people who find being well-regulated to be burdensome.

taps her nose

Bwahahahahahaha. EVIL!!!

     NO, I don't think anything of the sort!  Varca, himself, is fairly uncomfortable when he's not wearing a Hazard Suit for prolonged periods!  Perhaps my use of the word "acting" is what's causing the confusion--maybe if I said "...when we're pretending to be the innocent crew of a simple courier..."!
     I mean, sure, if you want to wear this--or any--uniform on a daily basis, then feel free.  But Varca is only suggesting that the "Vultan Crew" wear these uniforms--or any uniform--so that nobody will (later) associate them with a group of scruffy-looking Pirates.
     The "Vultan Uniforms" are a façade, get it?

     And there are still variations, here.  In the drawing, on a couple of uniforms, I put colored strips over the shoulders (which could represent "Ship Departments", or could represent nothing), while on the others I changed the collar color for the same reasons (I just like a gray collar! ^_^).
     Zhouth, if you want BRIGHT colors, then just go for a uniform in Neon Red, with banana-yellow trim.  Or a Uniform in all Cyan.  Or if we decide to all wear the same color, and it's "too dull" for you, then wear a tie-dye vest over it!  Make it one of those multi-pocket ones, and claim you wear it for functionality, or some other line of bullshit...

     'Cuz, like I said, for most of us, we'll only be wearing these uniforms once in a while, when we're presenting ourselves as the "harmless" Drinaxi Courier crew.

     This same concept will also hold true for the "Sindalian Uniforms" that I've got ready--we'd only wear them when we're pretending to be a cryo-suspended Sindalian Vengeance Unit ^_^


     I did not "create" those uniforms, I stole them just changed the colors.  In my head, yes, the Woman's Uniform was supposed to be a single piece "skirted" garment (could have shorts under there, I suppose)--but it could just as easily be a Jacket over (covering) a blouse & skirt, or (as shown with the Red uniform) a jacket over a blouse & slacks.
     Though not shown, I assume that the footgear--for both genders--would be calf-length boots.  I have a big kink like for boots. ^_^

  Moved from the in-character thread to here since it was supposed to be OOC:

  Do you really think that Zhouth is going to go for a day-to-day uniform? They're completely color-uncoordinated. There needs to be at least five hues capable of causing retinal damage, to start with...

  **

  Scruffy-looking? Zhouth doesn't look like that either! Okay, Varca can do a good impression, and I'm sure that if Theodore neglected to trim his beard for a couple of days he'd be a case study in scruffy. Zhouth, on the other hand, looks like a proper (non-absent minded) academic.

  Shoes/boots, gloves, hats, pocketwatches, etc - they're probably part of the uniforms somehow, even if they're not used all the time.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:43, Thu 20 Aug 2020.

@Ingrid: I've decided BB really wants to have a female friend on the ship's crew but is utterly incapable of being polite or proper. You have been warned :P

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 220):

Lolololololololololol.

Maybe Ingrid can turn BB into a lady!

God am I multitasking! I set the course for Viridian, Put Varca in charge of the bridge, helped Ingrid with the jump drives. God I'm good! :-)