 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. |
 July 24, 2008 - 6:03pm | Interesting concept... But is it necessary? |
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. |
 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. |
 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. :-) |
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. |
 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...... |
July 28, 2008 - 7:21pm | 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 |
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. At least I got to scare an alien rabbit thingy...... |
 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 |
July 29, 2008 - 3:42pm | Have you guys read Forever War? At least I got to scare an alien rabbit thingy...... |
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 |
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...... |
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 |
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.  At least I got to scare an alien rabbit thingy...... |
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 |
 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. |
September 17, 2009 - 9:40pm | With Side Cargo Bay Doors Open To View Cargo Area |
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 |
July 30, 2008 - 6:52am | 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? 
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July 30, 2008 - 6:55am | 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. 
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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 |
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) |
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 |
July 30, 2008 - 8:18am | 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.  LOL |
September 17, 2009 - 9:42pm | okay what fun would it be if I didnt crash it |
 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 |
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. |
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 |
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...... |
