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Old 05-15-2019, 12:26 PM   #1
hal
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Buffalo, New York
Default Can a Scout ship have only one station in the bridge?

Subject line says it all.

Per the Compact Bridge option, you can remove 2 crew stations with a volume reduction of 1/2 dTon for the Bridge. The first such reduction will lower the number of crew stations at the bridge to 3 stations. If however, the Ship is to be crewed by a single pilot/navigator/engineer trained individual - could such a ship have a compact bridge option that removes 1 dTon from the Bridge and remove 4 stations of the 5 originally set up in a standard bridge, and permit the ship to be flown by a single pilot at a single station?
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Old 05-15-2019, 09:03 PM   #2
ak_aramis
 
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Default Re: Can a Scout ship have only one station in the bridge?

Quote:
Originally Posted by hal View Post
Subject line says it all.

Per the Compact Bridge option, you can remove 2 crew stations with a volume reduction of 1/2 dTon for the Bridge. The first such reduction will lower the number of crew stations at the bridge to 3 stations. If however, the Ship is to be crewed by a single pilot/navigator/engineer trained individual - could such a ship have a compact bridge option that removes 1 dTon from the Bridge and remove 4 stations of the 5 originally set up in a standard bridge, and permit the ship to be flown by a single pilot at a single station?
Which ruleset?
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Old 05-15-2019, 11:22 PM   #3
hal
 
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Default Re: Can a Scout ship have only one station in the bridge?

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Originally Posted by ak_aramis View Post
Which ruleset?
GURPS TRAVELLER: STARSHIPS

That is where they introduce the compact bridge option. In GURPS TRAVELLER 2nd edition (I'd have to dig up my first edition to confirm the wording hadn't changed between editions) it says this on page 130 under the crew listing for Sulieman Scout:

"Pilot, co-pilot, and engineer are the most common arrangement. An exceptional person might fill all slots and operate the vessel alone, but few
people have all the requisite skills (see Crew Requirements, pp. 149-
150).
"

That would seem to imply that if one person can crew a scout ship, a bridge that normally has five work stations, can be made to be more compact at a trade of 2 work stations per 1/2 dTon traded in, would seem to imply that you can get by with but one work station.

If that is true - then the bridge, which normally has five work stations, can trade in four work stations.

Problem is - I have never bothered to try and "optimize" the ship build simply because I never thought of it that way. Not until the day I opened up this particular thread.

Right now, I'm going through ship by ship of "old designs" in various GURPS TRAVELLER products, seeing if they could benefit from optimization in any manner, courtesy of GURPS TRAVELLER: STARSHIPS.
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Old 05-17-2019, 06:32 PM   #4
Anaraxes
 
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Default Re: Can a Scout ship have only one station in the bridge?

You wouldn't have to actually remove the other crew stations to allow one person to run the ship. They'd just reconfigure whichever station they liked as needed. Most designs would probably keep the "extra" stations so you could also use a full crew.

The only time you'd want a single-station bridge was if there was no chance the ship would ever have a crew of more than one. An X-boat, maybe.
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Old 05-17-2019, 09:49 PM   #5
hal
 
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Default Re: Can a Scout ship have only one station in the bridge?

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Originally Posted by Anaraxes View Post
You wouldn't have to actually remove the other crew stations to allow one person to run the ship. They'd just reconfigure whichever station they liked as needed. Most designs would probably keep the "extra" stations so you could also use a full crew.

The only time you'd want a single-station bridge was if there was no chance the ship would ever have a crew of more than one. An X-boat, maybe.
If we can build ships that need only one crew station to run the ship (aka bridge), then every dTon of space we can save for use with transporting freight/cargo helps.

I've got one player who enjoys running a ship with but one crew so as to keep costs to a minimum and to avoid the issue of having hijack attempts.

So, in theory, the answer is "yes - you can reduce the number of work stations for the bridge down to one".
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Old 05-19-2019, 12:26 PM   #6
ak_aramis
 
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Default Re: Can a Scout ship have only one station in the bridge?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anaraxes View Post
You wouldn't have to actually remove the other crew stations to allow one person to run the ship. They'd just reconfigure whichever station they liked as needed. Most designs would probably keep the "extra" stations so you could also use a full crew.

The only time you'd want a single-station bridge was if there was no chance the ship would ever have a crew of more than one. An X-boat, maybe.
Canonical X-boats are equipped for two-man crews.

Partly because of an artifact of CT/MT rules: Each job done by a character reduces their effective skill in each skill by 1. To function in a job at a payable level, that level must be 1+. The absolutely required jobs were Pilot and Engineer. Navigation could be done by jump-cassette, so need not be carried.

So, to function as a sole crewmember on a ship would have required Pilot 2 and Engineer 2 - given the maximum of 5 skills per term, and that scouts always had flat rate 2... plus 2 extra in term 1 (one of which was pilot 1)... solo qual required 8+ years as part of a multi-person crew.
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Old 05-19-2019, 12:45 PM   #7
hal
 
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Default Re: Can a Scout ship have only one station in the bridge?

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Originally Posted by ak_aramis View Post
Canonical X-boats are equipped for two-man crews.

Partly because of an artifact of CT/MT rules: Each job done by a character reduces their effective skill in each skill by 1. To function in a job at a payable level, that level must be 1+. The absolutely required jobs were Pilot and Engineer. Navigation could be done by jump-cassette, so need not be carried.

So, to function as a sole crewmember on a ship would have required Pilot 2 and Engineer 2 - given the maximum of 5 skills per term, and that scouts always had flat rate 2... plus 2 extra in term 1 (one of which was pilot 1)... solo qual required 8+ years as part of a multi-person crew.
There is that.

then again, GURPS TRAVELLER does have its own drum beat that it marched to. There is no limit to when training is given to a character, in what order, or how much.
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Old 05-19-2019, 07:00 PM   #8
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Default Re: Can a Scout ship have only one station in the bridge?

Quote:
Originally Posted by hal View Post
There is that.

then again, GURPS TRAVELLER does have its own drum beat that it marched to. There is no limit to when training is given to a character, in what order, or how much.
1st and 2nd ed had a limit of 2x Age points in skills for starting characters.
and, checking, so does 3rd...
page 14 of printing 6, second to last paragraph. also in the skills chapter, page 43.

Since GT uses GURPS 3...
Let me check the CD...
GT, Page 92. GT specifically calls it out for children. And while GB only puts it in the children section, it does NOT call it out as a children only limit.

Last edited by ak_aramis; 05-19-2019 at 07:12 PM.
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Old 05-19-2019, 09:34 PM   #9
hal
 
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Default Re: Can a Scout ship have only one station in the bridge?

A character aged 22 years - could have as many as 44 points in skills.

Truly not a limit on how a pilot could have Piloting, Navigation, Sensor operation, Mechanic(Jump Drive), Mechanic(Power plant), Mechanic(Maneuver drive) and a few other skills as well.

Even if you required that the skills had to be skill 12 or higher (12 being professional level) - it is still possible.

As mentioned, GURPS doesn't quite follow the same drum beat as CT.
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Old 05-20-2019, 12:04 PM   #10
Mike Wightman
 
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Default Re: Can a Scout ship have only one station in the bridge?

Which canonical x boat has a crew of two?

The CT canonical S:7 x boat has a crew of one:

Quote:
Crew. One. Pilot/engineer performs all required operations. Ship can function automatically without any crew.

The ship has two staterooms; one is necessary for the
single crew member

TYPE X EXPRESS BOAT
X-51216 Express Boat X-1540041-000000-00000-0 MCr70.65 100 tons
Book 2 Design Crew=1 . TL=10.
Passengers=1 (possible). Low=O. Fuel=40. Cargo=1 (possible). EP=O. Agility=O.
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