Pony Express in the Frontier

Oghma's picture
Oghma
July 24, 2008 - 5:52pm
I just read the chronocom article from SFMan, which pretty much invalidates this idea unless you play the game in an era before the development of subspace com.

But, I had fun developing it so I'll throw it out there anyhow.  It is basically a spaceship based takeoff on the pony express.  A small ship one person (or possibly robotic) with a really big hard drive and really really big engines (giving the ship a huge ADF) sits at the edge of a system and recieves sublight message traffic.  The ship then accelerates to the fastest possible jump speed to the next system where it drops just out of the void, deposits the messages for that system, picks up new messages, and accelerates slightly, to re-enter the void on its way to the next system.  A network of these vessels would be in constant movement around the frontier delivering messages.

The ship itself would be defended only by its speed and very short time in realspace.  Combined with the fact that it doesn't carry anything valuable, and it would be ahead of messages to intercept it, makes it a pretty low value target unless you were a terrorist purposefully trying to disrupt communications, or some such thing.
Comments:

Imperial Lord's picture
Imperial Lord
July 24, 2008 - 6:03pm
Interesting concept...

But is it necessary?

Oghma's picture
Oghma
July 24, 2008 - 6:37pm
Well no, not with subspace com networks.  But, how did the communicate before that?

Heck, even the pony express wasn't necessary.  It only lasted for a few months, yet everybody knows what it was.

Mostly I just thought it was a fun concept.  An imaginative game master could come up with some good uses for it I'm sure.

Rum Rogue's picture
Rum Rogue
July 24, 2008 - 7:37pm
It is a neat idea. Reminisent of the X-Boat system in Traveller.
The AD(Basic) book states that FTL communication was discovered before FTL flight.
At least that was what happened with the Humans.

SFAD Basic rulebook:
Humans discovered that waves of sub-space pi-tachyon particles could cross interstellar space faster than light, they realized they had found a link to the stars. A radio message that would have taken years to travel between stars could be sent with subspace communicators in months or even weeks The Humans started broadcasting news of themselves to the neighboring stars, and soon found they weren't alone.

 The Humans made contact with an inventive race of insect-like creatures called Vrusk, who had developed limited space travel decades earlier. One of the Vrusks' mining colonies had already contacted another race, the shape-changing Dralasites. The two races had been exchanging information for several years. The Vrusk and Dralasites were pleased to learn of another race.



Time flies when your having rum.

Im a government employee, I dont goof-off. I constructively abuse my time.

Anonymous's picture
w00t (not verified)
July 24, 2008 - 8:49pm
I absolutley love the idea!
I can think of many adventures and ideas...

Perhaps you could write something up and tag it pre-subspace. :-)

Mystic's picture
Mystic
July 26, 2008 - 8:02pm
Why not use the same setup as a courier service rather than pony express? Small items, such as encrypted data chips, notarized documents, where speed is more important than cost. This kind of thing could always lead to interesting adventures.

umungus's picture
umungus
July 28, 2008 - 8:30am
A fast courier service would be cool. It seems to have some good potential for adventures.

At least I got to scare an alien rabbit thingy......


Anonymous's picture
w00t (not verified)
July 28, 2008 - 7:21pm
umungus wrote:
A fast courier service would be cool. It seems to have some good potential for adventures.


interception
perception
deception
out of fuel
sabotage
you want me to haul what?
why is that mail bag moving?
mail... *piff* they don't make chips like they used to


umungus's picture
umungus
July 29, 2008 - 10:33am

Sounds good. Looks like it is up to Oghma to come up with deck plans and specs. for the fast courier ships. Wink

At least I got to scare an alien rabbit thingy......


Anonymous's picture
w00t (not verified)
July 29, 2008 - 12:33pm
Innocent

TerlObar's picture
TerlObar
July 29, 2008 - 12:45pm
Mainly this ship would have to be designed around creature comforts at constant high g forces.  The only way to get the speed benefit is to be constantly accelerating at some speed faster than 1g.  At a standard 1g it takes 83 1/3 hours to get to jump speed and the same to slow down.  So a jump nominally takes about 8 1/2 days.  To cut that in half, you have to double your acceleration and so endure 2g for just over 4 days.  At 3g your trip lasts only 2.8 days but you are now laboring under three times your normal weight for the entire time.  Anyway, that's just some ideas to think about.
Ad Astra Per Ardua!
My blog - Expanding Frontier
Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site
Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine
Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine

umungus's picture
umungus
July 29, 2008 - 3:42pm

Have you guys read Forever War?

There are huge battleships. They would travel at 1g constant acc. If a space battle happened, the whole crew would have to get into these special chambers that would stop the g's from crushing them. They would be asleep in this special gel while the ship would accelerate and decelerate and manuever to avoid the enemy missiles.

Anyway that might an idea to have technology help the crew deal with the higher g's. Maybe not something as extreme as letting the ship do the flying while you are asleep. Maybe just special suits or something to help cope with the high g's involved?

At least I got to scare an alien rabbit thingy......


TerlObar's picture
TerlObar
July 29, 2008 - 3:58pm
Read the book a long time ago and I even have the board game.  That was my point, you will need some sort of technology to help you deal with the prolonged stress.  You're basically going to be confined to some sort of special accleration couch for the duration of the trip.
Ad Astra Per Ardua!
My blog - Expanding Frontier
Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site
Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine
Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine

umungus's picture
umungus
July 29, 2008 - 4:16pm
I got your point, I was just trying to come with some ideas of the technology involved.

At least I got to scare an alien rabbit thingy......


TerlObar's picture
TerlObar
July 29, 2008 - 5:11pm
Yeah, sorry about that if I came off a little brusque, I saw you got it, my additional comment was directed generally, not at you specifically.  It was a good example of a possible technology.
Ad Astra Per Ardua!
My blog - Expanding Frontier
Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site
Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine
Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine

umungus's picture
umungus
July 29, 2008 - 5:19pm
Thanks, no hard feelings.

I think this is Oghma's baby. So, he should have the final word.
You know, for the article he is going to write. Tongue out

At least I got to scare an alien rabbit thingy......


TerlObar's picture
TerlObar
July 29, 2008 - 5:35pm
Absolutely, I'm just tossing out ideas and things to think about to make it more "realistic". 
Ad Astra Per Ardua!
My blog - Expanding Frontier
Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site
Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine
Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine

AZ_GAMER's picture
AZ_GAMER
September 17, 2009 - 9:40pm

Using the starship construction kit on  my 3d cgi software, the courier at HS 3 might look something
like this.

AZ_GAMER's picture
AZ_GAMER
September 17, 2009 - 9:40pm
With Side Cargo Bay Doors Open To View Cargo Area

 

AZ_GAMER's picture
AZ_GAMER
July 30, 2008 - 6:36am
Courier Landed On An Ice Planet For Cargo Pick Up



sorry No Scorch marks on the ground or crater I just dont have the time at the
moment to put that much detail into the rendering

Anonymous's picture
w00t (not verified)
July 30, 2008 - 6:52am
TerlObar wrote:
Read the book a long time ago and I even have the board game. That was my point, you will need some sort of technology to help you deal with the prolonged stress. You're basically going to be confined to some sort of special accleration couch for the duration of the trip.


Sathar have acceleration couches... right? Undecided

Anonymous's picture
w00t (not verified)
July 30, 2008 - 6:55am
AZ_GAMER wrote:
Courier Landed On An Ice Planet For Cargo Pick Up

sorry No Scorch marks on the ground or crater I just dont have the time at the
moment to put that much detail into the rendering


I would think a courier ship would have shuttle to move mail from the main ship to the surface.
Something like the Explorer-Class Heavy Scout Craft in Issue 8.

BTW, without the crater and scorch marks it looks great and from the looks of it you landed safe. Smile

AZ_GAMER's picture
AZ_GAMER
July 30, 2008 - 7:31am
The shuttle cradle goes right on the bottom, underneith the cargo bay, there is a 3d mesh for the shuttle/drop ship I just havent purchased it yet.....muhuhahahaahaha, render madness! Small Pods
& Launches could launch directly from the cargo bay 

AZ_GAMER's picture
AZ_GAMER
July 30, 2008 - 7:34am
I used my side bar dice roller to determine the outcome of the landing, I could render it as crashed, muhuhhhhhaahhaaha, but what fun would that be to wreck the ship so soon (pondering, considering, ooooh it was fun though to crash that destroyer for the other article, naaaaahhhhh, maybe later)

AZ_GAMER's picture
AZ_GAMER
July 30, 2008 - 7:56am
If Sathar didnt have acceleration couches, or similiar technology, then you would have a real can or worms on your hands....ewwwwww

Anonymous's picture
w00t (not verified)
July 30, 2008 - 8:18am
AZ_GAMER wrote:
If Sathar didnt have acceleration couches, or similiar technology, then you would have a real can or worms on your hands....ewwwwww


I knew you were going to open that one up. Money mouth

LOL

AZ_GAMER's picture
AZ_GAMER
September 17, 2009 - 9:42pm
 okay what fun would it be if I didnt crash it

TheWebtroll's picture
TheWebtroll
July 30, 2008 - 5:52pm
Thinking of couriers to deliver mail is good… but another twist could be private couriers, runners who will slip through Star Law space and deliver a package that might be to “sensitive” for regular services, with no questions asked. I might use that myself…

Or if your group is more to the monty python type, think Futurama (ZuZuuuuuu!)
The Webtroll
~Living UNDER the Information Super Highway

Oghma's picture
Oghma
July 31, 2008 - 5:32pm
Wow, I didn't think this idea would trigger so much conversation!

Forgive me for not having looked at the rules in a really long time.  I was thinking that the ship would be the smallest size possible to jump.  Ideally, with the original idea, it would have been HS1 with a single pilot, maybe a second seat for a message operator or a relief pilot.  The engines would be considerably larger than you would find on a hs 1 vessel, perhaps as large as those of hs 4 or 5.

The g forces in the original idea would not have been a big deal as the plan is for the ship to drop just below void speed long enough to send a burst transmission, receive message traffic, and make nav corrections before returning to the void on their next jump.  They would never stop except at the beginning and end of their routes.

Carrying physical cargo would be considerably more complicated.  I can see where they might carry a torpedo like pod which could be launched with the cargo inside in the direction of a receiver station.  The security of that would be questionable though.  A high speed rendezvous with a similar pod would be pretty tricky.

For acceleration, one of the primary tools would be putting the crew in a bed!  G'forces acting transversly (front to back through the body) are much easier to endure than those acting longitudinally (from head to toe, or vice versa).  Otherwise, a gel suit would be a pretty neat idea.  Physical fitness would be extremely important for crew members because of the strain of maintaining high g loads for days on end.  Bionic appendages would be pretty helpful.  Perhaps some sort of heart assist pump could come into play.

TerlObar's picture
TerlObar
July 31, 2008 - 6:02pm
The one other thing we've over looked is jump calculations.  By canon rules it takes 10 hours per light year jumped to do the calculations.  So even if you can get up to speed or stay at speed you still have many hours calculation to do.  You'll have to come up with a way to shorten that time frame as well.
Ad Astra Per Ardua!
My blog - Expanding Frontier
Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site
Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine
Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine

umungus's picture
umungus
July 31, 2008 - 9:07pm
Maybe have a pre- calculated run that the ship goes through.

At least I got to scare an alien rabbit thingy......