Spaceships - "House" systems

[jacobmuller]

Smart-Metal
This is the latest materials technology; limited availability. A smart-metal hull can be reconfigured for Combat or Travel, Unstreamlined or Streamlined, and it can alter its dDR per Angled Force screens. Design the ship as usual, the dDR is for combat mode; Travel mode allows double the access, storage and living area but halves dDR and is SM+1. When reconfiguring, make a HT check; failure indicates something not where it should be; critical failure indicates a hull breach. Smart Metal can also repair hull breaches by spreading its armour. Use the stats for TL10 nanocomposite but costx5; no-armour is priced as dDR 0.5. LC1.
Polymetal
Polymetal vessels can be shipped as a homogenous mass and formed as they are needed; space saving, disposable, transport system. They can change shape once; the next change causes destabilization and meltdown. Use the stats for TL10 nanocomposite but costx3; no-armour is priced as dDR 0.5. LC1.

[Langy]

Life Support
Air and water are included in the Habitat system. A cabin worth of life support machinery produces enough food for thirty people at TL8, seventy people at TL9, and 150 people at TL10, while at TL11+ providing food is a trivial by-product of providing water and oxygen.

Spaceships 7 seems to indicate that life support is half of cabin mass, so a single cabin full of life support machinery would only support eight people. This matches the values I calculated using third edition information after figuring in how much the system would require in auxiliary power and heat radiators.

Of course, if you use superscience the mass required by heat radiators and power (and life support machinery itself, of course) can be drastically reduced, and those figures may not have been valid for all tech levels, or valid at all if the assumptions were incorrect.

Also, your 'Suspended Animation Tubes' are the same as Spaceships 1's Hibernation Chamber except 1/4 as large.

[jacobmuller]

Brett (if he was the mastermind) was working on figures solely for Food supply rather than the whole thing. Air and water per cabin block, food separate.

SAT's - yes, more to do with UT weights and available space than anything else. I figure you can fit more in than Spaceships allows for. House-rule.

[Langy]

Well, don't forget that about half the mass of a habitat (or more!) is probably auxiliary power and heat radiators. Those things can be heavy! That's a pretty decent reason why each hibernation chamber masses 1.25 tons rather than just 750 pounds as per Ultra Tech, and they probably require more power (and thus create more heat) than the equivalent mass in cabins.

[Rupert]

I allow weapons to be placed in multi-weapon turrets, which allow one gunner to fire them all together if the weapons are identical in the same way that a fixed mount does (no +2 bonus, though). If a turret has a selection of weapons, only one type can be fired per turn, but the gunner can swap between them each turn.

I also allow weapons of the 'wrong' size to be installed in a system, by taking advantage of the 1-3-10 scaling. Thus you can fit a 'medium' weapon in a 'small' weapon system at the cost of 3-4 small weapons.

These house rules allow more flexibility in arming small ships and custom alterations by PCs, etc.

[jacobmuller]

Originally Posted by Langy

Well, don't forget that about half the mass of a habitat (or more!) is probably auxiliary power and heat radiators. Those things can be heavy! That's a pretty decent reason why each hibernation chamber masses 1.25 tons rather than just 750 pounds as per Ultra Tech, and they probably require more power (and thus create more heat) than the equivalent mass in cabins.

Ah, thank you. I'll try again at double weight and see what I get.

[munin]

Originally Posted by jacobmuller

Smart-Metal

Is this an armor system that can affect the size of other systems? Or is this a design option for cargo hold/habitat systems?

Also, shouldn't no armor be priced as dDR 0.2 for streamlined and dDR 0.3 for unstreamlined (SS, p. 10)?

Originally Posted by jacobmuller

Polymetal

Again, is this an armor system or a design option for other systems?

I'm not sure I understand the advantages of this, since Spaceships is all based on mass, not size. A hangar bay can transport a regular 30-ton ship just as easily as a 30-ton homogenous mass.

[jacobmuller]

Originally Posted by munin

Is this an armor system that can affect the size of other systems? Or is this a design option for cargo hold/habitat systems?

Also, shouldn't no armor be priced as dDR 0.2 for streamlined and dDR 0.3 for unstreamlined (SS, p. 10)?


Again, is this an armor system or a design option for other systems?

I'm not sure I understand the advantages of this, since Spaceships is all based on mass, not size. A hangar bay can transport a regular 30-ton ship just as easily as a 30-ton homogenous mass.

It's an armour system and it's really all about the feel. Roomy warships that slim down a size for combat, angle their armour frontally and "heal" hull breaches. Delivering a payload of 50lb bricks that pop-up into emergency shelters...and turn to dust afterwards.