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Old 07-11-2018, 09:12 PM   #1
Fred Brackin
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Default Stocking your Life Pod

This s the Life Pod on p. 232 of UT and for the sake of this discussion and preserving the utility of this fictional trope I'm going to assume that while situations where you need to eject your life pod from your spaceship do occur they do not occur in just any old random section of infinity.

Instead they are likely to occur within a useful distance of an Earth-like planet. So perhaps some sort of "misjump" scenario where misjumping severely damages your ship but at least puts you out of hyperspace relatively close to an Earth-like planet even if it's not the Earth-like planet you were originally aiming at.

The technobabble would go something like "Precursor-created network of spacegates with occaisionally eccentric navigation control" . It could also be soemthing basic in hyperphysics where the co-ordinates you use for hyperspace exit have a component that includes the age, mass and type of the local star. So if you were aiming at a star with planets you probably come out at some star that also has a good chance of having planets.

How close do you need to be? Farther away than orbit is posible. The pod has 1000 yards per second of Delta-V which you could turn into 2000 miles per hour of speed.

The pod also has 90 man-days of limited life support and a capacity of 4. So over 22.5 days at 2000 miles per hour you could travel about a million miles. Then you add in what you'd gain from gravity. If that was similar to the downhill run from the Moon to the Earth taken by an Apollo capsule add in another c. 250,000 miles.

If you're wondering about re-entry speeds that TL7 Apollo capsule did it at 25,000 mies per hour. So 27,000 is probably not a problem for a TL9 life pod.

Distance possible only goes up a little if there are less than 4 people in the pod. UT says that there's only 30 days of stored power to run all the onboard systems. Both Delta-V and stored power probably go up at hgiher tLs but that's a complication I'll avoid for a while.

So the pod provides air and water but everything else has to come out of the 200 lbs of storage space in the pod.

Even before landing we need to keep people fed but looking at the food on p.73 we see that 90 man-days of Meal Packs is 270 lbs. Survival Rations are still 135 lbs so it's probably Food Pills at 67.5 lbs. The lack of dietary fiber in those might be easier on the life support anyway. :)

So 67.5 lbs and $900.

An option that could save those food pills for after landing and stretch the life support a little is the Torpine drug from Bio-tech p.157 (but not the same-named but different drug from UT). That would let the pod-people sleep away the travel time while cutitng air use by half and food and water by a factor of 32.

That would let you stretch the life support to the full 30 days of stored power so you'd need 120 does for 4 people. That comes to $2400 and some small but unspecified amount of weight. Let's call it 2.5 lbs.

Now we come to what you need after landing. We'll add the simple stuff like 4 sets of personal basics and 1 set of group basics (as from Basic). $40 and 24 lbs.

4 Large Knives of Super-fine quality. I'm springing for the Super-fine because those UT cutting edges almost certainly don't need to be (and/or can't be) resharpened by hand which our TL9+ people probably don't know how to do. 4 lbs and $960.

We could go with 4 Small backpacks but those would only carry 160 lbs. So it's going to be 3 Small and 1 Frame backpacks and we'll hope for one strong person in the pod. 19 lbs and $280.

3 First Aid Kits and 1 Crash Kit as per UT p. 198. 16lbs and $350.

4 Vapor Canteens. 16 lbs and $1800. Filtration canteens are cheaper but probably less useful.

4 Envirobags. 12 lbs and $720.

4 Pocket Packs (p.38). These include penlights, Swiss army knives and a roll of duct tape each. 3 lbs and $100.

4 Pocket Laser torches. Useful for many purposes and probably the only way our UT castawys can start a fire. 1 lbs and $200.

4 Small radios to go with the Medium Radio salvaged from the pod. 2 lbs and $800 with another 5 lbs for the salvaged medium unit (price included with the pod).

I set of Televiewers (UT p.60) 0.6 lbs and $500.

1 rechargeable E-cell to extend the lives of all their other gadgets. At TL9 there do not seem to be better options for power. 20 lbs and $2000.

We're at 193 lbs and the castaways probably had some sorts of persoanl belongings when they entered the pod.

There's also a Personal Computer built into the pod. At 5 lbs it doesn't weigh much but I'm not sure how useful it would be.

Anyway, we're about at our weight limit and I know the lsit could be upgraded by spendign more money and/or going to higher TLs (like for TL10 Survival Watches) but this might be a good start.

Feedback and improvements welcome.
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Old 07-11-2018, 09:42 PM   #2
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Default Re: Stocking your Life Pod

I suggest an Inertial Compass or two, if only so that the survivors can find their way back to the pod. presumably this also lets the users make simple maps based on their trips. As this includes a tiny computer and a GPS system (probably useless, but it's there), these also act as accurate timepieces.

Not in UT, but a basic tent or set of shelter halfs would be useful. At 20 pounds, Group Basics won't include these.

If weight allows, add a decent machete - one that can be used as a weapon if necessary. Possibly replace one knife with it or make the knives small.

Filter masks or possibly respirator masks seem sensible if many of the likely worlds one might be stranded on have marginal atmospheres. Hopefully the castaways brought sensible clothing, as there doesn't seem to be the weight budget for a set of Protective Suits.
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Old 07-11-2018, 10:20 PM   #3
AlexanderHowl
 
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Default Re: Stocking your Life Pod

In my space campaigns, I had an injected version of the nanosymbiotes that caused nanostasis, so every lifepod possessed a dozen doses of the nanosymbiote. The nanosymbiotes would create the necessary preservatives and scaffolding from the materials within the body, dealing (ST) FP damage over the course of an hour, when the recipients would enter nanostasis. The passengers of the lifepod could survive for millennia until they were found, though they usually only had to spend a few months in nanostasis until they were recovered.
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Old 07-11-2018, 10:36 PM   #4
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Default Re: Stocking your Life Pod

Unless the pod is in a severely sub-optimal location staying with the pod increases chances of survival and being found.

So, while being able to carry everything is nice it may not be the most important thing.

Quote:
The pod also has 90 man-days of limited life support and a capacity of 4. So over 22.5 days at 2000 miles per hour you could travel about a million miles. Then you add in what you'd gain from gravity. If that was similar to the downhill run from the Moon to the Earth taken by an Apollo capsule add in another c. 250,000 miles.
That assumes best case scenarios.

Galaxies move. Star systems move. Planets move. They all have vectors. If your starship (and thus the pod) retains the vector it had pre-jump that may align with the system it's jumping into or it may not. If you jump in with an objective vector of zero that may be better or worse.

Earth orbits the Sun at about 67,000 mph, the system is moving thru the galaxy at about 448,000 mph and the galaxy itself is moving towards the Andromeda galaxy at 252,000 mph.

So, even if you ignore that galaxy's sped and even the system speed, if you're stationary relative to the rest of the system or worse going the opposite direction, you'd have a lot of ground to make up. 2000 mph wouldn't do it... and if you used all your acceleration accelerating, how do you brake or maneuver to land?

Last edited by tanksoldier; 07-11-2018 at 10:53 PM.
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Old 07-12-2018, 12:05 AM   #5
evileeyore
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Default Re: Stocking your Life Pod

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fred Brackin View Post
We could go with 4 Small backpacks but those would only carry 160 lbs. So it's going to be 3 Small and 1 Frame backpacks and we'll hope for one strong person in the pod. 19 lbs and $280.
I'd take 4 LB Vests from High-Tech pg 54. $60, 1 lb each, can carry up to 30 pounds. Then take your 4 small packs and call them LBE packs. This allows them to carry up to another 30 pounds.

Sure, you don't have the 100 pound frame pack, but you can redistribute weight more efficiently this way.

Just presume that most of the rest of your gear will also come in it's own pouches. This will add negligible weight and cost to the pen lasers, Televiewers, and e-cells. Nothing to the radios (they just clip on). The First Aid and Crash kits have their own containers (which at this TL are probably LBE complaint), as are the Vapor Canteens, and Pocket Packs.

At TL 9 Personal Basics would be an LBE Fanny pack, which would be belted into the bottom of the LBE Vest. Weight would remain unchanged, but cost would increase by $20, this pouch would have room for up to 5 more pounds worth of stuff packed into it.

The Group Basics would either be in a single duffel (1 pound, $20), or split between four 5 pound LBE pouches (same cost as the duffel) that are designed to hang from the bottom of a small LBE pack, or be stowed inside it.

All Pouches available from High-Tech may be LBE complaint at no extra cost, it's half a pound and $20 for a pouch that holds up to 10lbs (double for up to 20lbs). Pouches will be custom sized to whatever they are carrying (or you can just have a few extra 'generic' sized pouches).

I always recommend a few extra pouches or bags.

Quote:
We could go with 4 Small backpacks but those would only carry 160 lbs. So it's going to be 3 Small and 1 Frame backpacks and we'll hope for one strong person in the pod. 19 lbs and $280.
Halve those weights and double those costs. You can thank TL 8 for this.

Quote:
1 rechargeable E-cell to extend the lives of all their other gadgets. At TL9 there do not seem to be better options for power. 20 lbs and $2000.
Solar Powered-Battery Recharger, $100, 2 lbs. This is at TL 8, by 9 I expect it's half weight and works faster.


I don't see any rope or tool kits (your Group Basics only go so far for this). Does that 5 lb computer just pop-out*? What about fire suppression? What about camp lights? Flashlights are all and good, but a nice lantern really improves the mood when your trying to survive.

Now, on to improving the mood. I presume every Character will be including one or two things for psychological health?




* I'd include a Portable Toolkit on the pod, one designed to allow the pod to be stripped for materials in a survival situation. So you could pop out the computer. Remove seats, paneling, wiring, etc if the group really found it necessary to build shelter or repair another ship with scrap from their pod or whatever.

I'd also throw a hovercart or two on the pod. Make them 'wheeled' hovercarts and I'm sold.

Nix that. A Robot Mule/Hovercart with a Portable toolkit in it.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Rupert View Post
INot in UT, but a basic tent or set of shelter halfs would be useful. At 20 pounds, Group Basics won't include these.
Pressure tents are on page UT 76.

Quote:
Filter masks or possibly respirator masks seem sensible if many of the likely worlds one might be stranded on have marginal atmospheres. Hopefully the castaways brought sensible clothing, as there doesn't seem to be the weight budget for a set of Protective Suits.
Everyone is probably wearing Skinsuits, but I'd definitely add some Vacc suits.
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Old 07-12-2018, 12:50 AM   #6
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Default Re: Stocking your Life Pod

Quote:
Originally Posted by evileeyore View Post
Pressure tents are on page UT 76.
Way too heavy, and outside of the parameters Fred was looking at.
]quote]
Everyone is probably wearing Skinsuits, but I'd definitely add some Vacc suits.[/QUOTE]Too heavy, and pointless, when it comes down to it.

As for the LBE idea - it sounds great, and for an group of professional explorers or military, it would be great. For a bunch of people from who-knows-what background in a lifeboat, it's terrible. They'd have no idea where anything is stowed in the vests, would probably lose half the pouches in a couple of days, and wouldn't have a clue how to split loads effectively. Also, vests that are one-size-fits-all will be one-size-fits-nobody. Better to have some belts with a canteen, a pouch, and a knife on them, and packs for the rest of the stuff.
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Old 07-12-2018, 02:22 AM   #7
evileeyore
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Default Re: Stocking your Life Pod

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Originally Posted by Rupert View Post
Way too heavy, and outside of the parameters Fred was looking at.
I see it now. i missed his 200 pounnd limit the first time through.

So this is a "Pray we land on an earth habitable planet life-pod" then Fred?


Quote:
As for the LBE idea...
By TL 9 I expect the 'one size fits no one' to be solved... also aren't the Characters outfitting this pod? I expect they know their own sizes.

And I see millennials clipping stuff onto their backpacks all the time. It's a pretty ubiquitous idea these days.
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Old 07-12-2018, 02:48 AM   #8
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Default Re: Stocking your Life Pod

In case you land in water a raft would be handy.
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Old 07-12-2018, 04:18 AM   #9
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Default Re: Stocking your Life Pod

Quote:
Originally Posted by evileeyore View Post
By TL 9 I expect the 'one size fits no one' to be solved...
Responsive Fabric (UT39) says otherwise - it's TL10 and isn't one-size-fits all, though it is better than normal clothing.
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Old 07-12-2018, 07:42 AM   #10
Fred Brackin
 
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Default Re: Stocking your Life Pod

Quote:
Originally Posted by evileeyore View Post
I see it now. i missed his 200 pounnd limit the first time through.

So this is a "Pray we land on an earth habitable planet life-pod" then Fred?
It is a fundamnetal assumption of the setting that life pods will end up on Earth-like planets a significant percentage of the time. If this were not true there would be no life pods.

Nitpicking about retained/intrinsic velocity and the difficulties of matching orbits is off-topic. These problems are also assumed to be solved or again, there would be no life pods.

It is easy to create situations where life pods make no sense but that wipes out the basic "castaway" fictional trope.

If the pod lands in water it floats. UT is clear on this and it would be another "everyone dies" scenario if it didn't float.

The pod is assumed to be stocked by the ship-owners and probably to a legal standard. Passengers would be advised to keepa "go-bag" containing "sturdy clothing and footwear" that they can grab when the misjump alarm goes off.

I'd have milspec Assautl Boots (UT p. 173). Those add TL/2 to Hiking skill in addition to be indestrutible in normal use. The basic Protective Coverall (UT p. 178) is a very reasonable choice for "sturdy clothing". Together that's another 6 lbs per passenger but we can probably put that on the individual passengers' weight allowance.

A machete would be nice but there's a hatchet in the group basics. Swap out one for the other if prefer.

At TL 10 you can throw in a Morph Axe (UT p. 83) and replace a lot of basic tools.

If you start worrying about gear for serious arctic or desert or bad atmosphere situations it eats up that 200 lb weight allowance quite quickly.

If you need to take your pod apart you can do that with the Mini-Laser Torches (UT p.80). They give you 3 minutes of cutting power off a B-cell but the E-cell can recharge a B-cell 1000 times.

I knew there was better gear in HT than in Basic but there are only so amny books i can go through at one time. Thanks for anything you spot from HT.

Replacing the backpacks for the ones from HT frees up another 9.5 lbs so we're at maybe another 16 lbs of possible stuff.
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