Starship designs...

[Aramanthus]

I'll have to start thinking on this particular idea. It might take a few days to lay them out and then I'll start working them out and post them after that.

[taalismn]

In the meantime I'll give consideration to Central Alliance cyborg designs that skirt the line between 'Heavy Cyborg' and 'Giant Robot with Organic Brain'....

As it is; one of the distinctions between CA 'troops' and CA 'Marines' as carried aboard their ships is that the Marines all have some sort of built-in flight/jumpjet system for enhanced mobility both planet-side and in space...

[Aramanthus]

I'd give them a portable CG drive. MAybe a fusion power pack to supply the power on that one.

[taalismn]

Cyborgs who are effectively CG spacecraft onto themselves....
Add forcefields and you got another 'ultimate traveller'...

[Aramanthus]

You'd just have to be able to add an FTL drive. Then you could have your ultimate Cyborg intergalactic grav cycle gang.

[Aramanthus]

This must stay near the top!

[taalismn]

You'd just have to be able to add an FTL drive. Then you could have your ultimate Cyborg intergalactic grav cycle gang.

You'd wind up with something like the Devastator Power Armor, only cyborged....

But seriously, Parachuting would probably be a good skill for a Central Alliance cyber-Marine to have...only include the subset 'orbital skydive'....

Of course, being amphibians, the Golgans probably have developed a similar tactic, only it involves hard and fast landings in a planetary ocean to conceal the true intent of their invasion....the air/space-deploy submarine(mini- up to 'fleet'-sized) is another of their overlooked, but signature, tactics and technologies....Though such craft would be also made for quick evac and abandonment if a planetary warzone got too hot, and the locals proved to have more than adequate ASW capabilities(rare, but possible...the Golgans hedge on 'unlikely) and they have to abandon ship...

[Aramanthus]

I'd make those cyborgs sort of like drop commandos with some sort of ablative drop capsule. Of course CG would allow them to drop into atmosphere with equipment they needed.

[taalismn]

I'd make those cyborgs sort of like drop commandos with some sort of ablative drop capsule. Of course CG would allow them to drop into atmosphere with equipment they needed.

'Popular Science' has a recent piece on super-high altitude skydiving....might be worth a look...
It's getting picked off on the long way down that's the real fear...

[Aramanthus]

I saw that article too. It looked interesting!

[KLM]

Hmm... Heinlein's Starship Troopers comes into mind... again.

Adios
KLM

[taalismn]

"Look at the bright side of this whole orbital skydiving business...if he fails, we don't have to pay for cremation...or deep burial..."

[taalismn]

thought I'd repost this oldie on this thread, since part of it goes towards spacecraft-oriented design...

It’s Springtime and thoughts turn to travel, and gettin some of that cabin fever dust off me...but as things stand, travel options are pretty limited right now....Fortunately, there isn’t any travel restriction on imagination...

(I was looking over my book collection and hauled out my copies of Steward Cowley’s Starliners! and The Transgalactic Guide to Solar System M-17, and thought it would be fun to write up a set of guidelines for space lines and passenger services. It uses the basic Palladium chart system, but can be adapted for just about any sci-fi/fantasy space setting...
I’ve elected to focus more on basic administration and organization, rather than specific ship design, to give GMs more leeway in designing the hardware.

Space Lines(a Point Guide)
“Because Getting There’s Half the Fun!”

“Ah, my friends. I am pleased to announce that we will be shortly making the jump to Web Drive, where we shall be moving along the cosmic fabric of the universe at hundreds of times the speed of light to our destination! You may notice a tingling feeling as we make the transition from Normal Space...do not be alarmed, that is merely a portion of your life force being stripped away to feed the Web Drive and it will do little more than take a few years off your already short lives...not that you’d ever notice in any case, you cattle! But don’t worry, that’s the least of your problems, and we of Drowish Loigani Webways look forward to having a long association with you all!”

“You put a WHITE ROSE in Mister Atossian’s cabin!? Mister Atossian is R’Betian! Aromatics are POISONOUS to his people! And white is the color of clan feud! He now thinks someone on this ship has announced an intention to ritually assassinate him! You idiot, didn’t you read the cultural info-fiches we issued?! You’ll never set foot on a cruise ship, let alone work for TransAndromeda Lines, ever again!!!”


“You will all be pleased to know that the starship “Agatai’s Caravan” will shortly be making the switch to Fold Drive. We will only be in Foldspace for 2 hours, so I ask you to please keep your physical activity to a minimum and stay in your cabins during the period of disorientation. Once we come out of Foldspace, we will be over 2,000 light years away, in the Orion Arm, where we shall proceed to our destination under conventional contragravitational drive. We will be travelling at about fifty percent of light speed, and it will take us a week to reach our first port of call, the lovely Old Tirolian world of Parnassus IV. That will give you plenty of time to enjoy the spectacular view of the Maiden’s Veil Nebula from the observation lounges. For those of you looking for something more active to enjoy, we will be holding a Grand Prix Derby race on ‘B’ Deck, in the old mecha hangars. We will also have a regatta and scull race in the water recycling tanks on ‘G’ Deck. For your own safety, please use the Micronian access walkways when leaving your designated passenger areas...Our crew has your health and comfort in mind, but we can’t always see you small people down there on the deck!
If you have any questions, or wish to know of any other activities we will be having aboard ship, just ask for me, T’Zar, or ask any of the other stewards, who will be happy to assist you in making your cruise aboard Zentraedi Freeholder Spaceways a memorable one!”

“Look, I know they’re beautiful, but I have to ask you to stay away from them...those Moon Doves are WORKING birds, and we have to feed them only on a special diet of moon dust and celestial ferns, so they can pull the carriage and gas envelope from here to the Far Kingdoms and back. So, I know you want to pet them, little lady, but I’m afraid I have to ask you not to feed them...I assure you, we give them special treats, but they’re very delicate and we can’t just let anybody near them...only special handlers...maybe when you’re older...”

“Quality Service is Only Logical”
----Slogan of T’Lel Interstellar Travel Facilitators of Vulcan

“Okay, just what did we do wrong here? You’re the expert.”
(Sigh)”Okay, first of all, your equipment is antiquated by our standards...not really a problem, since many people like nostaglia, but the stuff looks like it just got pulled off the front line...It’s obvious that the ‘luxury spaceliner’ is a converted troop transport that you didn’t even bother removing all the guns from, everybody could see that the new name of ‘Wandering Dream’ was hastily paiinted over its original name, ‘Divine Retribution’, the security check-in looked like a military encampment, the ‘top -notch dining experience’ looked like warmed-up MREs, and the hosts were wearing khaki-green military fatigues, light body armor, and gun belts. Sorry, but a lot of people around here thought you were a glory-barge of paramilitaries looking to dragoon and draft them into service as involuntary conscripts in a Rim-war!”
“So you really don’t think ‘Paladin Express’ will fly here?”


So you’ve decided that maybe you need a break from constant combat, and putting some of your hard-earned travel experience and shipboard skills to work in the commercial sector appeals to you more than another stint in the Stellar Navy or another tour of duty in the Forever War....Or maybe you just got a lawyer’s fiche from your grandmother’s representative, telling you that you’ve inherited a controlling interest in something called ‘Solar Transit’, and you want to know how much the old bat REALLY left you....Or maybe you and your buddies are thinking of booking a flight thru the beyond, and you’d like to have some insight as to what you should be looking for.
Acquiring a space line is one thing, RUNNING it is another. Any space line is a large scale enterprise and undertaking requiring constant attention to detail, business foresight, and planning for the future. It’s more than simply blowing into a space port, announcing your plans to take passengers somewhere, and then collecting fares as they come aboard....It takes planning and preparation; setting up your vessel to accommodate passengers, many with special needs or demands, and meeting all the requisite safety standards of the regions you’ll be operating in. Speaking of which, those same regions will want to regularly inspect your ship(s), will usually have a few years worth of paperwork for you to navigate through, and may place restrictions on your wanderings through their space. Parallel with navigating the bureaucracy, space lines need to set up a portside presence, or some means of arranging for docking privileges, lining up passengers and accommodations, setting schedules(and keeping them), arranging for supplies and repairs, and getting the word out about the services you’re offering. Crew selection is even more demanding; space lines need reliable, courteous workers who can do their jobs with a minimum of hotdogging, follow the book, don’t attack the passengers(or otherwise annoy them), but at the same time can keep their cool in a tight situation, and deal with crisises both domestic and cosmic, including those not covered in the employee manual(like what to do when a 15-ton infant Drol gets separated from its parents on ‘C’ Deck and goes wandering about the engine room)....AND you have to make sure you have enough workers and crew to cover for emergencies and illnesses ....
And that’s just the things you can predict you’ll have to deal with...On top of everything else, there’s the aspect of uncertainty....A space line can be adversely affected by everything from a port workers’ strike or local contagion, to warp storms and unpredicted supernovae....Once sure-fire trade routes and passenger runs can turn to ghost lanes with a down turn in the local economies, and war can break out in once peaceful systems, making commercial space travel a very uncertain business.
It’s not surprising, then, that many space line managers go nuts after trying to handle a couple of zillion issues all at once. Some space lines make a profit in the first period of operation, while others may struggle for years, just breaking even, before showing a winning dividend to shareholders. Others just flash up, then burn out, their ships and hardware sold off to other space lines even before the paint on the company logo has dried.
For diehard adventurers used to blowing up things, running a space line may be the HARDEST task they ever take on, since over half of the battle is NOT killing or abusing the passengers when they give you problems. Dealing with the imposing Mrs. Dimmblefark, her henpacked husband Elroy, her entourage of twenty male lovers, her little pet Whimsie, and her lawyer Dreadness, over the quality of the lotta-leaf salad served at pre-lunch can make many a man wish they were only facing a homicidal dragon. And try looking cool as a steward when you volunteer to take a passenger’s bags, and discover he’s a GOD travelling incognito with his neutronium-lined luggage, and you’re just a whimpy mortal. That is, if you can even tolerate that silly-looking uniform they give you to wear....
For travellers, putting your fate in the hands of others may be much more disconcerting, especially after seeing the Captain do his walk-through with a half-empty bottle of Zagorthi gin in one hand and his pants waist band in the other. And you get to find out what the brochure means by ‘Fun and Stimulating Organized Passenger Activity’, which could mean anything from enslavement to a passenger revolt. Oh, and how are you going to explain why you’re carrying a device that’s considered grossly illegal by seventeen galactic governments in your carry-on luggage? Then again, maybe you’ll score with that cute little thing from ‘C’ Deck from Planet Pinup....if you can get past her male companion, Attila the Ken Clone.
Ready to button up your uniform and greet the passengers? Ready to pack your bags and board ship? Great, let’s go!

Size of Space Line
Depending on the scale of your game and disposition of your company, the size of your company could range from a one-ship startup firm serving two solar systems to a giant conglomeration with thousands of ships, serving entire galaxies and extra-galactic regions. On the other hand, you could just as easily have a small company with a large fleet of bare-plates starships crawling between dozens of star systems, or a massive corporation that has sunk all its resources into one equally massive resort ship serving a handful of the most prosperous solar systems.

1. Tiny (‘Brown Dwarf’)---No more than a hundred personnel work here, and most people know each other, like one happy family. Resources are limited, so there’s bound to be lots of shaved corners and economizing, but the company may have an edge of some sort and a freedom to run its own affairs that larger companies don’t have.
Available Points: 75
2. Small Company(‘Lunar’)----Perhaps 200-300 people work for a company of this size. Likely to have 1-3 established ports of call/facilities
Available Points: 150
3. Fair-sized Company(‘Tri-Planetary’)----300-1,000 employees, with perhaps 4-5 ports of call and facilities. About average for the standard low-end spaceline.
Available Points: 250
4. Large Company(‘Solar’)---1,000-5,000 employees, and a dozen or more terminals
Available Points: 350
5. Cosmic----Larger than average, with up to a million employees and several well-established ports of call
Available Points: 450
6. Mega-Galactic----These companies are massive sprawls employing millions of employees across dozens, if not hundreds, of solar systems.
Available Points: 750

Types of Space Line

1. *Cargo/Passenger Line---This is a freight line that has found that there’s enough return in carrying passengers on their flights. They’ve actually made some accommodations(other than coldsleep capsules racked next to the frozen bovine embryos in the stasis-hold) for passengers on their ships...typically pretty no frills and spartan cabins....But even with the most luxurious Cargo/Passenger line ships, the real moneymaker on flights is cargo, and it’s the bulk goods that dictate schedule and flightplan. Still, prices for passage tend to be on the cheap, especially if one offers to work as part of the crew...and cargo carriers often go places not considered ‘glamorous’ enough for regular commuter or direct passenger service.
Examples: Consolidated Agricultural Transport of Andor, Elvendire AstroHaul, Atlas Supermovers of Titan, Colonial Movers of Caprica.
Bonuses: None
However, even if you fail at delivering excellent passenger service, you can still make a profit off cargo...

2. *Commuter Line----Essentially souped-up taxi companies, commuter lines typically service high-travel, built-up worlds and destinations that see a lot of commercial traffic. Because of the amounts of expected traffic and the time involved, most commuter lines are, of necessity, short-haulers, servicing planetary systems and star clusters. Commuter lines are in the business to move people, and not much else, in bulk, on schedule. Commuter flights last typically 1-3 days, rarely longer, and the less time spent in flight, the better. Short-haulers have the advantage of operating near busy traffic lanes, where rescue is not likely to be far away(‘far away’ being relative...we’re talking interstellar distances here), while long-haulers, taking the more expensive and dangerous routes outside the more populous regions of the galaxy will have to worry about longer trips and associated problems. Commuter lines get to make or break their reputations fairly quickly. Cost for passage ranges from inexpensive to moderate, depending on the run.
Examples: Alpha Express, Coruscant Celestial Travel, Redshift Transit, Celestial Tramways Inc.
Bonuses: None

3. *Long Jumper---These services take the longer jumps between solar clusters and even galaxies, that can still attract enough passenger traffic to be profitable. They may also carry some cargo, but they are still a people-based service. Flights are less frequent, and longer in duration(typically weeks or months), so ships have better accommodations for the long hauls. Prices for passage range from modest to very expensive, depending on the distance to travel.
Examples: Andromeda Fartravel, Einstein Unlimited, Gateway Travel, Wegetthere, Interstellar.
Bonuses: +3 points to Accommodations, +10 points to Entertainment, +5 points to Medical Facilities

4. *Cruise Line---The adventure of space travel and the opportunity to spend some time away from the hassles of home are what’s being sold here. Flight routes are chosen to be long(weeks to months), indirect, and pass by stellar objects of scenic beauty, and/or to exotic ports of call. Shipboard facilities on Cruise Lines tend to quite extensive, with luxury being the big selling point...and one can expect to pay a hefty penny for the luxury.
Examples: Magellanic Tours, Walkabout Spaceways, Fantoma Cruise Ways, Jedi Meditative Astral Transit
Bonuses: +20 points to Entertainment

5. *Package Tour---Package Tours go beyond simple cruises in that they incorporate a ‘full experience’ both on and off the ship. Package Tour companies run scheduled ‘adventures’, taking paying passengers on their ships(usually shorter than cruises) to resort communities that the companies own(in addition to the ships), and leave little room for the passengers to go off and ‘do their own thing’ outside the schedules and legal parameters of the tour package. Prices tend to be even more expensive for the packages, and the operators are fixed on their schedules and your travel itinerary.
Examples: Consolidated Disney-UA Adventures, Old West Arm Golden Nugget Tours, Club Westheimer
Bonuses: +20 points to Entertainment, +10 points to Offship Contacts, +15 points to Headquarters and Port Facilities

*Charter ----Charters cater exclusively to people with the money to book an entire ship and crew to get them somewhere. Most charter companies specialize, much like the Package Tour companies, in taking people to specific locations for specific purposes, like hunting or artifact hunting, and supervise the passengers, hauling them out of trouble when they step too far or run out of money. Other Charter companies are more open ended, acting as interstellar ‘taxis’ and going where the passengers pay them to go. Most Charter spacelines are either small-scale operators who specialize in shorter, localized, runs, or in destinations considered too undeveloped or dangerous for the larger carriers. Expect a lot more flexibility of scheduling and destination, but also expect to pay for the advantage.
Examples: Rustbucket Travel Services, Inc., A-Hab(itat) Astro-Hunting Expeditions,
Rift-Diver Outfitters, Forbidden Zone Adventures, Unlimited.
Bonuses: +10 points to Special Advantages


Sponsorship
1. Private----Family owned or a publicly-traded company
Bonus Points: None

2. Unknown---Nobody knows who really who runs the company or their motives. Occasionally, ships are told to divert to specific ports to pick up special passengers and cargo, with no explanation, or ships may be fitted with special equipment they are told not to touch, or other strangeness.
Bonus Points: +10 points to Equipment, +10 points to Technology, +10 points to Uniforms, and +10 wherever you want

3. Organized Crime---The spaceline may have once been legitimate, but it is now a front for organized crime, who uses it to launder money, transport fugitives, or conduct criminal activities under cover. Typicaly exercises tight control over the spaceline, with particular attention given to keeping non-organization employees quiet and in-line about anything they see or may learn.
Bonus Points: +15 points to Criminal Activity, +5 to Offship Contacts, +5 to Security, and +10 to Weapons and Defenses

4. MegaCorporation---The spaceline is a subsidiary arm of an established megacorporation spanning dozens of regions and companies. This means the company has the legal, material, and financial resources to cover the spaceline, but it also expects the spaceline to be profitable...If not, it will readily trade the spaceline off for whatever it can sell it for.
Bonus Points: +15 points to Emergency Funds, +15 to Headquarters/Facilities

5. Government---The spaceline is government-owned and subsidized. This means the adherence to security and safety regulations tends to be rather strict, schedules are kept, and the company has a financial buffer against bad times. The spaceline also gets ships through government contracts, including specially built or military surplus craft. On the minus side, the spaceline tends to parrot the government’s policies, and act as an arm of them, meaning that flights may serve as spy missions, passengers watched and interrogated, ‘alien’ or ‘unsuitable’ individuals turned away/refused service, the company’s funding may wax and wane with the government’s own, and the government’s enemies may specifically target facilities and vessels of the spaceline.
Bonus Points: +10 points to Uniforms, +5 to Security, +10 to Offship Contacts, + 15 to Headquarters/Facilities

[taalismn]

A. Auxiliary Vehicles--
This is the fleet of smaller vessels available to the spaceline for intersystem and planetary travel and activity, both by company personnel and by passengers. This includes intersystem shuttles, surface crawlers, robots, and power armors. Many Charter and Package Tour operators maintain large auxiliary vehicle fleets to shuttle their fares about exotic locations.
1. None---Only whatever the main ship(s) carry in the shuttlebays; typically only lifepods. Groundside, the company has to rely on employees’ personal vehicles.
Cost: 0 points
2. Light---The company has 1-3 light shuttlecraft or groundside vehicles for use
Cost: 5 points
3. Company Motorpool---The company has a modest fleet of work vehicles, mostly light servicing vehicles and transfer shuttles
Cost: 10 points
4. Specialty Vehicles---The company has, in addition to its regular service fleet, some specially-built vehicles for special purposes or environments, like specially shielded planetary tour modules, or solar-diver scouts.
Cost: 20 points
5. Extensive Fleet---A veritable armada of vehicles for work, passenger transport, and SAR, ranging from planetary rovers to small FTL shuttles, is available for use. Some of the vehicles may also be military-grade or military surplus, with appropriate armor and armament.
Cost: 50 points

B. Level of Technology
This is a general indicator of how old the equipment of the company is. Depending on local conditions, older technology isn’t necessarily bad, but may require more maintenance and may not meet more modern standards of performance and safety. On the other hand, older technology may be easier and cheaper to repair, and in many systems, there is an attraction in the ‘retro’ look of the older equipment. Vassilian Dessodyne continues to make a fortune on the old Alpha Centuri run, using slightly upgraded versions of the original Mag-Sail Highliners that most companies scrapped centuries ago, with passengers encouraged to come dressed up in period clothing to sample what life was like in the pioneering days of interstellar travel. Avalon-Pegasus Interstellar, on the other hand, prides itself on its Elven-designed Psi-Crystal Drive System, that drops its ships out of warp far closer to destination, faster, and with less residual exit-radiation, than any other competitor.
1. Ancient---This stuff looks left over from the dawn of the space age, and the early days of FTL flight! Some of it may simply be pre-Warp intersystem ships retrofitted with an FTL drive! Drive performance is typically incredibly slow(0.5 or less- 2.5 light years per hour) and spare parts hard to come by.
Cost: 0 points
2. Old---Dated, but not ancient. The ships may be a bit slower than the latest models, and some parts hard to come by, but can still be competitive and profitable. For Phase World, these ships typically move at 3-4.5 light years per hour
Cost: 10 points
3. Modern---Average for the time, and fairly representative of most of what’s currently flying. Parts and servicing are readily available, and most ports will be able to deal with the technology. In Phase World, average speeds would be 3-5 light years per hour
Cost: 15 points
4. State of the Art----This is what’s just come out in the last two or three years, and is high performance....so new that few other carriers have the same gear, and spare parts and servicing still expensive until more businesses have the same gear in distribution. In Phaseworld, ships of this description can typically move at speeds of 5-6 light years per hour
Cost: 40 points
5. Super-Tech---Typically a prototype technology unique to the company. This technology represents a major jump in capabilities that will place the company light years ahead of the competition, and may revolutionize the industry. Things like wormhole generators, foldspace drives, extradimensional engines, and other exotic technologies. Expensive to service, instantly distinctive, but worth every penny of it. Of course, the downside is that the company may be targetted by industrial spies out to steal this new hardware and sabotage the company’s edge in it, but that’s business!
Cost: 60 points


C. Uniforms
How does the company look ? Do they let their professionalism(or lack thereof) speak for itself, or do they dress to the nines to impress, from the highest company captain down to the lowliest landing gear well decontaminator?
1. None---Crew provides their own gear and clothing. Safety equipment is limited to whatever came with the ship when they acquired it.
Cost: 0 points
2. Basic Uniforms----The spaceline provides the crew with basic commerical-issue uniforms(like overalls) in basic colors, with the company’s insignia prominently displayed on a shoulder or back.
Cost: 5 points
3. Specialty Clothing---The company has its own range of customized clothing and uniforms, including light armor and light exoskeletons. Still recognizable as commercially-available types, but heavily marked with the company logo.
Cost: 10 points
4. Distinctive----The company is known to be snazzy dressers(even if their reputation sucks), with a large wardrobe of customized distinctive uniforms and gear for all occasions
Cost: 20 points
5. Unlimited Wardrobe----These guys have a massive budget alloted to wardrobe, and can get just about anything, from basic uniforms to formal wear, light utility suits to heavy duty radsuits, all with the distinctive cut and design of the company. This company is known as a real company cult of clothes horses!
Cost: 30 points

D. Equipment
How are these people equipped to handle emergencies?
1. None----Nil, zit. Aside from what tools the crew has to keep the ship running, they have little to spare for anything else. Count the lifeboats before you come aboard, because you may want to bring your own self-rescue gear.
Cost: 0 points
2.. Basic Equipment----The ships are equipped with the basic gear to meet safety standards, with enough safety gear for the passengers(although conditions are likely to be cramped, and capacity depends on people getting to their assigned emergency stations on time).
Cost: 4 points
3.. Good Gear----Meets basic safety standards and then some. Equipment is reliable, and there are several sets of spares for backup. Employees will have a basic communications device, first aid kit, and an emergency spacesuit. Extra life-saving gear is available for up to 20-50% above the listed passenger load.
Cost: 10 points
4.. Excellent Gear---The ships’ equipment is state of the art; durable, reliable, with plenty of spares and replacements available. All employees have a communications device and/or portable computer terminal, mini-tool kit, as well as a top-of-the-line personal spacesuit. Extra life-saving gear is available for up to twice the listed passenger load.
Cost: 20 points

F. Medical Equipment/Facilities:
What sort of medical treatment can you expect if you have a problem far from port? This also gives a good indication of the space line’s ability to spot alien diseases and treat them en route. From spotting a carrier of Simon’s Impotency Plague, to dealing with an Otorian princess’s unexpected multiple pregnancy, this is what the space line has on hand to deal with the situation.
1. None---Better hope one of the other passengers is a medical professional, or that the ship is hauling medical supplies as cargo, because you’re in trouble.
Cost: 0 points
2. Basic---Paramedic or RMK/IRMSS equivalency. Anything more serious, and the ship is going to have to divert or call for assistance to take care of it.
Cost: 4 points
3. Sickbay----The spaceline has paid for a fully-stocked sickbay aboard ship, with a doctor(typically level 1-5) and several dedicated nurses, or crewmembers trained as paramedics, with some training in the biology and disorders of the more common alien species of their region. The sickbay can take care of fairly serious ailments and problems, and can at least stabilize(or place in stasis) more serious ones until help arrives, or the ship arrives at more extensive facilities.
Cost: 10 points
4. Extensive---Equal to a good base-side hospital, and can treat just about any normal condition. The staff is larger, much more experienced, and is well-informed on most alien species and disorders in their region, and many outisde it.
Cost: 20 points
5. Excellent---Spaceline boasts facilities that many planetary heathcare systems would love to call their own. The ship(s) could easily double as hospital ships in an emergency, the staff is experienced enough to spot the most subtle alien diseases and cope with the most persistant hypochondriacs, and the medical staff even has their own research facilities aboard. The staff also has extensive training in xenobiolology, and can treat members of other species with as much competency and compassionate care as their own species.
Cost: 40 points

G. Communications:
This is the means by which the spaceline can keep track of their ship(s), inform them of changes of scheduling, denial of access to certain ports, news, and emergency information, and the exercise of control by the home office over its ships. Communications networks are also useful for tracking flight plans, and finding diabled ships and their lifeboats in event of crisis.
1. None---Company ships are on their own in flight, and are reliant on short range systems, or ‘mail drops’ at ports of call, to pick up orders and keep informed
Cost: 0 points
2. Basic---The spaceline uses commercial communications services, like the FTL networks or paid couriers, to get word to its ships. Typically has to encrypt important messages for transmission.
Cost: 5 points
3. Secured Service---The company has several FTL stations of its own to communicate with major traffic hubs, and then uses commercial services and ‘maildrops’ to service fringe ports.
Cost: 15 points
4. Private Network----The Company maintains its own network of FTL stations and high speed couriers, capabe of intercepting ships in FTL flight, to keep the fleet on track and up to date. The company could also supplement its income acting as a commercial communications firm.
Cost: 20 points
5. Ship-Web---Besides having the benefits of a Private Network, all ships in the fleet are equipped with state of the art FTL communications equipment, allowing instantaneous communications between all parties. Has its own network of advanced rescue recievers and translocators, allowing them to conduct their own searches for missing vessels.
Cost: 50 points

H. Offship Contacts:
This is the spaceline’s groundside contacts and crew---who it knows in the ports it calls on, to help their ships get clearance, buy fuel and supplies, book flights, and rely on to help clear them through the paperwork.
1. None---The company ships must negotiate directly with whatever local authorities it encounters when coming into port.
Cost: 0 points
2. Friend---The crew knows a local traffic controller(or two) or other groundside agent working for the local government/authority, who can help them out, or owes them some favors
Cost: 3 points
3. Portside Liaison---The company has a dedicated agent or small staff of workers in the port, in their pay, who takes care of the paperwork, negotiates with port authorities, keeps an eye on local conditions, and takes care of booking and legal affairs
Cost: 10 points
4. Large Staff---The company has a large dedicated team of agents and employees portside who do all of the above, handle planetside public relations, and have contacts with the local authorities. They are also likely to have the handle on some of the local authorities, in terms of bribes and political pull.
Cost: 30 points
5. Extensive---Not only does the company have an extremely large groundside staff on the payroll, but they have several portside or local government officials unofficially on the payroll, and have a strong lobby in the local government looking out for company interests.
Cost: 60 points

I. Technical Support:
This is what the company’s ships can expect in the way of service if something goes wrong with them. It also gives a good indication of how long a space line’s ships are likely to remain out of service when needing repairs(maintenance turn-around), which can be a major factor in the profitability of the company.
1. None----The ships’ engineers are wholly responsible for keeping the ships running
Cost: 0 points
2. Fair----The company has several servicing agreements with local companies for repairing the fleet, but extensive repairs may be beyond their capabilities, or take a prohibitive time to complete.
Cost: 4 points
3. Good----The company has a service/repair contract with a reputable company paid extra for speedy service, has its own small facility for ship repair, and has a stock of replacement parts and components(engines, computers, etc,) on hand.
Cost: 10 points
4. Excellent----The company has its own repair yard and staff of dedicated engineers. If necessary, it can fly out a salvage/repair crew to a disabled ship and repair it on-site. Quality of work is excellent, and turnaround is quick.
Cost: 20 points
5. Extensive----Effectively owns its own shipyards and R&D facilities to repair, build, and design new ships. Technicians are top of the profession and there are damn few things about the company’s ships they can’t fix. Furthermore, the companies that built the spaceline’s ships give them special discounts on parts and servicing.
Cost: 50 points

J. Security:
This is an indication of both portside and shipboard security; who it lets on and how it deals with them once aboard ship. It also gives a good indication of how much firepower the ships have aboard for dealing with boarders and portside trouble.
1. None---The company totally trusts to port security(if any), and lets just about anyone aboard without any sort of baggage or security check. Shipboard, passengers are expected to behave themselves.
Cost: 0 points
2. Light----Light security scan and frisk at the port. Has the equivalent of an air marshal aboard with light weapons hidden among the passengers
Cost: 5 points
3. Heavy---More thorough security scan and search at port, ships and facilities are fenced off and patroled, and has several security staff hidden among the passengers.
Cost: 15 points
4. Ironclad----Thorough security check and scan at port, with a basic background check of passengers conducted. Shipboard security has at least one obvious uniformed officer with light weaponry, backed by a large number of plainclothes air marshalls. The ship has specially reinforced internal walls and doors, and code locks to prevent passengers from getting access to the rest of the ship.
Cost: 30 points
5, Paranoid---The El Al’s of the space line industry. Extensive scan for contraband, background check of passengers, and isolated groundside facilities for the ship routinely patroled by security staff. Ship’s security staff is larger, with access to lethal weaponry. At least one member of the security will be augmented(or a robot), and the ship has an internal surveillance system and heavily reinforced internal partitions.
Cost: 45 points
6. Impregnable----Prison ships are less secure than this company’s ships. Thorough electronic and physical scans, extensive background checks, and heavy port patrols before passengers even step aboard the ship. Large(1 security guard for every 20 passengers) security staff aboard ship with physical augmentation(bionics, psionics, superpowers, etc,), access to heavy weapons, armor, power armor, and riot gear. Ships have extensive concealed security systems, a brig, and the crew are trained and equipped for combat. The security can also act as a strike/rescue force in event of problems in port.
Cost: 60 points


K. Weapons and Defensive Systems:
Sad to say, in these dangerous universes, even non-combatants may have to carry some form of protection...How willing is the company to bend its civilian transport posture in order to defend itself and its passengers?
1. None---The ships have NO weapons and minimal armor(bare plates), trusting to their noncombatant status and pilot skill to avoid trouble.
Cost: 0 points
2. Light----Ships carry one or two ‘pop guns’ for dealing with large space debris, and have minimal shields to ward off attacks.
Cost: 10 points
3, Concerned----The spaceline is worried enough to mount a few fair-sized weapons capable of repelling boarders. Shielding has been upgraded to 10-25% over the standard.
Cost: 20 points
4. Heavily Armed---Ships are armed and armored equivalent to an armored shuttle or average system patrol craft, with two or three heavy weapons, point defense weapons, light to medium armor, and military-grade shields.
Cost:40 points
5. Paranoid---The spaceline’s ships mount dedicated warship-grade armor, shields, and guns, and can slaughter all but the most heavily armed and persistant bandits. Many will even carry fighters in their auxiliary ship bays, or travel with a fleet of ‘parasite’ military escorts. Some solar systems won’t even allow these privately-owned battlewagons NEAR their planets.
Cost: 60 points

[taalismn]

L. Headquarters and Port Facilities:
This is the sort of facilities the company has besides its ships for passenger accommodation, layover, repairs, and administration. From the ‘little red space station’ of one-ship rimrunners like Halley Express to the distinctive giant medallion-like stargate terminals of Tanelorn Federated Starlines, these are what passengers are most likely to see first of their chosen ride.
1. None---The company is solely based on its ships, and must either rely on other companies’ facilities or ‘rough it’ from unprepared grounds.
Cost: 0 points
2. Basic---The company has a few basic office facilities dirtside and hangar/servicing facilities, but for extensive servicing, must rent space.
Cost: 10 points
3. Large---Has the equivalent of a small office building, and several adjacent hangars/slips , and its own terminal/lounge.
Cost: 15 points
4. Extensive----Has a large office/administration complex, large complex of hangars. adjacent workshops, a large passenger terminal, and a small hotel-complex for passengers and layovers.
Cost: 35 points
5. Massive---The company has established large enclaves akin to colonies, its own private spaceport(s), and shipyard facilities capable of servicing dozens of ships, and even building new ones.
Cost: 60 points

M. Accommodations
Most spacelines have the traditional gradiant of accommodations(economy, coach, first class, luxury), but this section is a general indicator of the overall quality of accommodations. Note, however, that depending on the sort of space line and its nature, quality of accommodations doesn’t always adversely affect popularity; when the non-human Kalids started their Cyphed Space Transport, their Coraloid Starmovers proved remarkably popular with adventure-minded tourists who paid high passage fees to ‘rough it’ in the interior of their threadbare, but visually spectacular, crystalline spacecraft. Montagi-Fabulon Luxury Transit, on the other hand, sank billions of stellars into accommodations that featured hordes of android servitors who would carry passengers from place to place, attend their every whim, and react with all due dispatch to remedy any percieved problem....The company folded after loud complaints by most of their passengers, who thought they were being abducted for medical experiments by a demented rogue machine intelligence.
1.Steerage----Bare plates and that’s it. All you’re certain of is air to breath and a place to put your bedroll(if any). You might get to use the crew waste facilities and maybe even get to use a hot plate(again, if you got one) to prepare your meals.
Cost: 0 points
2. Spartan---Minimal attention given to comfort. The billets have padding, the environmental controls are within a few degrees of comfortable, and you have access to basic refresher services. Meals aren’t much better than crew leftovers or MREs; nourishing, but not exactly soul-food.
Cost: 1 point
3. Comfortable---About average for the industry. Seats are comfortable, but not excessively so, food service is regular and of average quality(equal to a good school cafeteria), you have access to a communal refresher facility and washroom, and you can usually get a few minutes of privacy.
Cost: 3 points
4. First Class---Very comfortable. You have your own private space, access to a limited access refresher facility and shower/bath, and the meals are regular and of better quality(good restaurant class).
Cost: 10 points
5. Luxurious---The lap of luxury. Comfortable bedding(changed once a day), individual climate control, superior-quality meals/food service, personal space in abundance, and your own private toilet facilities.
Cost: 15 points
6. Sybaritic----This goes beyond mere luxury! All of the above, plus personal servents at your beck and call. Meals at your call, and often include exotic items, like personal selections from the ship’s wine rack, or hard to obtain delicacies. Captain and ships officers frequently dine/socialize with you
Cost: 40 points

N. Entertainment:(can purchase more than one)
What amenities does the spaceline have to help people pass the time? Here’s a few suggestions;
1. Arboretum---More than basic hydroponics, the ship has an extensive garden of exotic plants and possibly even animals to help passengers pass the time.
Cost: 3 points
2. Multi-Media Library---The ship has a large library/database of information, music. books, movies, and video games for the passengers to peruse.
Cost: 2 points
3. Movie/Tri-V Presentation----The company has a special deal with the media companies to show first-run films or unique video presentations
Cost: 2 points
4. Resident Celebrity---This is a retired or semi-retired celebrity or person of distinction who has taken up semi-permanent residence aboard ship to give lectures and hobnob with the delighted passengers.
Cost: 2 points for a semi-famous person, 5 points for a really famous celebrity, and 10 points for a superstar or supergenius!
5. Live Musicians---Quality live band and/or singer(s)
Cost: 3 points
6. Dancers(Classic)---Ballet, acrobatics, clowns, or other physical entertainers.
Cost: 4 points
7. Dancers(Exotic)---A more risque and titillating show. Look, but don’t touch.
Cost: 4 points
8. Prostitution(legal)---Licensed practictioners of pleasure, who geniunely want to give clients a ‘good time’....Not always an obvious brothel; some lines have ‘hosts’ and ‘hostesses’ who befriend and romance lonely passengers for the duration of the trip.
Cost: 8 points
9. Gambling----Legal casino with a (fairly) honest staff and resident cardsharp/stage magician who good-naturedly returns his winnings if the mark catches him in the act.
Cost: 3 points
10, Resident Athletic Attraction---Depending on the size of the ship and the facilities it offers, this could be a single distinguished athlete or a whole team in residence aboard the ship, who regularly challenges passengers and other crews to beat them in their particular specialty. Can also include personal trainers.
Cost: 8 points
11. Gourmet Dining----The food is better than average, thanks to a good cook in the staff, a team of chefs, or a particularly good autochef system. Even if you’re serving the stuff on styrofoam disposaplates, the food is considered to be excellent!
Cost: 10 points
12. Comedian---You have a genuine clown or stage magician aboard who can tell jokes without offending anybody, lighten the mood with her banter, defuse tense situations with a little self-humiliation, and wow the younglings with some sleight of hand.
Cost: 5 points

O. General Alignment of Personnel:
How thoroughly do you screen your employees?
1. Diabolical ----These guys are little more than pirates, who will do anything to destroy their competition and milk their passengers for every iota of worth. That includes molestation, murder, and slavery. Passengers are cattle to these people, even if they greet them with a smile and a handshake. In an emergency, you can expect these folks to eat the passengers.
Cost: 0 points
2. Aberrant----Stick to the letter of their posted regulations, and will provide their stated service to the letter(or maybe even the spirit), but will always look out for their own self-interest first, or else are using the space line to advance other purposes.
Cost: 2 points
3. Miscreant----The space line cannot be trusted when it comes to gouging a profit from services. Most staff are of the mind that ‘the customer is always wrong’. Expect complaints to fall on deaf ears, and crew to have first crack at the lifeboats.
Cost: 2 points
4. Anarchist-----The company is one big gamble, and the employees are likely between jobs, looking for a better one or a bigger score. Expect a high rate of looted baggage and petty thievery from the cabins.
Cost: 4 points
5. Unprincipled -----The company is well-intentioned and well-behaved, but could be better. Likely to be some lapse in quality on the employee level, and the company overlooks some minor regulations or ‘forgets’ the occasional passenger complaint. Still, when push comes to shove, these people tend to stick by their passengers.
Cost: 6 points
6. Scrupulous-----These folks hold themselves to a high standard of conduct within their organization, but aren’t above exercising their own muscle when it comes to dealing with problem employees(above and beyond the letter of the law), truly obnoxious passengers, or with stodgy port authorities.
Cost: 8 points
7. Principled----The company holds itself to the highest standards of conduct with regard to both its own regulations and those of its ports of call. Investigation of complaints is prompt and thorough. These people tend to put the welfare of passengers ahead of their own.
Cost: 10 points

P. Average Level of Experience:
How competent are they?
1. Unskilled---How do these guys expect to survive? Barely enough brains to keep things running, and they have to keep looking at the manuals to figure out what to do next. Level 1 of experience and you get what you pay for.
Cost: 0 points
2. Novice---Hey, we just started this company! Most employees are levels 2-4, with a few more experienced hands to show them how to do things.
Cost: 5 points
3. Experienced---People who are competent, with enough experience under their belts that they can cope well with most any situation. Levels 5-10
Cost: 10 points
4. Highly Skilled---- “You’re in good hands, folks.” Most employees have seen extensive service and experience and know how to handle themselves. Hardly anything phazes these people; levels 10-13
Cost: 20 points
5. Extraordinarily Skilled---”Don’t worry. I learned to handle situations like this when I saved the Grand Fleet flagship at Goliath Rift!” The best of the best--levels 14-15
Cost: 30 points

Q. Criminal Activity:(can purchase more than one)
Because not all spacelines follow the rules.
Aside from the usual low-key mix of scammers, grifters, and card-cheats who seem to creep aboard any large passenger cruiser, there’s always a chance of some sort of more serious, organized, criminal activity going on, unless shipboard security is very tight, or the ‘line caters to very law-abiding people. Some forms of criminal activity may be conducted on the sly without the senior officers knowing, but at least one crewmember is in on the scheme, or being paid to look the other way. On the other hand, many space lines are little than space going ‘sin ships’ who take passengers outside the legal boundaries of ther home systems’ influence, for the sole purpose of providing them with illegal pleasures forbidden at home.
1. Theft---The spaceline ships act as bases for pirates and thieves. A higher than average portion of the crew/passengers are accomplished lockpicks, hackers, and safecrackers who kick back a portion of their booty to whoever is in charge of the operation. Ironically, most passengers are safe, as their luggage is considered small potatoes by the gang, but wealthier passengers may find their luggage and possessions a bit lighter upon arrival, and local spaceports and their adjacent communities will have a higher than average theft rate when the cruise ship’s in port....
Cost: 10 points
2. Enforcers----The ship carries a team of high-powered(magic, psionic, or technological) thugs trained in high-profile mob enforcement, kidnapping, extortion, and assassination, using the spaceline as a base.
Cost: 20 points
3. Prostitution----These can be unwilling sex-slaves pressganged into service or unscrupulous sex-workers who torture, steal from, or later blackmail their clients.
Cost: 5 points
4. Illegal Gambling----Ships are flying high-stakes palaces of chance, overseen by a staff of resident cardsharps, with the odds criminally rigged in favor of the house.
Cost: 8 points
5. Smuggling---The spaceliners sideline as smugglers, with secret compartments or drop-points for contraband or even fugitives. Smugglers are also more likely to have extensive star maps of exclusive or restricted systems.
Cost: 15 points
6. Body Chop-shop---The spaceline’s ships are travelling illegal medical clinics specializing in such unsavory practices as illegal cybernetcs/bionics, organ harvesting, Juicer and Crazy conversion, medical experimentation, and/or reconstructive surgery designed to change a person’s identity.
Cost: 20 points
7. Forgery---The ships carry facilities or staff capable of forging false identifcation and authorization papers, or art work and money.
Cost: 10 points
8. Slavery----The ship carries involuntary passengers, and may serve as a ‘training’ facility for breaking slaves into their lot in life.
Cost: 15 points
9. Polluters---The spaceline uses its ships to transport hazardous materials and dump them illegally on other worlds or in space where they think nobody’s looking.
Cost: 5 points

R. Available Funds
This is how much money the company can extend to a ship for emergency purposes(bribing officials, bailing crew out of the drunk tank, emergency repairs, hiring more staff in a hurry, etc.,), or that the ship’s bursar might have for emergencies...
1. None---Nil, zilch, nada, pass the hat....
Cost: 0 points
2. Nickels and Dimes----20,000 to 25,000 credits
Cost: 5 points
3. Small Potatoes----100,000-200,000 credits
Cost:15 points
4. Large Loans----1-3 million credits
Cost: 25 points
5. Big Bucks---15 million credits
Cost: 45 points
6. MegaFund---2 billion credits
Cost: 60 points


S. Reputation:
Reputation is VITAL to a space line...Unless they’re just starting out, space lines have reputations tagged on them by passengers, industry observers, and authorities....this helps determine how much attention they are likely to get, how much they are likely to spend to fix themselves(or their image) up, and how likely people are to invest in them and extend them assistance.
1. Infamous---This company has such a notoriously bad reputation that nobody will even touch the name, let alone the company. Employees known to work for the company are tarred with a black mark against them, and will find it that much more difficult to get hired by any self-respecting company.
Cost: 0 points
2. Struggling---The company has, through a declining reputation, or bad turn of fortunes, lost most of its steady customers, is losing most of its market, and is on the verge of being passed into the hands of its creditors.
Cost: 1 point
3. Poor---Company is known for shoddy practices and bad scheduling and is having problems keeping up. Unless something is done, it will most likely slip to Struggling status.
Cost: 5 points
4. Known---Company is known within a region, but hasn’t really distinguished itself in the business as anything other than serviceable.
Cost: 10 points
5. Well-Regarded---Company is on the up-and-up with good business reviews. People are more inclined to do business with the company.
Cost: 15 points
6. Established---Company is recognized as one of the major players in the field, with instant brand-name recognition among the public. Local governments and organizations are more likely to assist the company and even bail it out in times of trouble.
Cost: 25 points
7. Famous---This company is known as one of the leaders in the field. It is strong, innovative, it can boast thousands, if not millions(or maybe a handful of very important), of satisfied customers, a sparkling safety record, and prospective passengers will book flights months, or even years, in advance. Governments and communities court the favor of the company to secure their business, and many smaller companies will beg for service subcontracts to provide the company with food, souvenirs, and other goods and services affiliated with their name.
Cost: 50 points

T. Salary:
How much do workers for the spaceline get paid on average?
1. Debtors----Employees depend wholly on shares in the profits of every journey and have to scrounge, barter, and take second or sideline jobs to make anything extra.
Cost: 0 points
2. Break-Even----Everything the employees make goes back into the company, and operating costs leave very little left over. Aside from shipboard eating, housing, and medical care, employees make a pittance of 3d6x10 credits a week
Cost: 2 points
3. Low Salary---- 300-900 credits a week, depending on position and rank
Cost: 5 points
4. Good Salary----400-2,000 credits a week, depending on position and rank, plus a severance package of 1d4x1,000 credits
Cost: 10 points
5. Excellent Salary and Benefits---Employees enjoy high wages(500-5,000 credits a week, depending on position and rank), comprehensive medical and benefits packages, and get generous retirement packages(40% of standard pay rate for the next 2d6 years)
Cost: 20 points
6. Outrageous!---Employees are paid like kings, even the lower echelon workers! 500-5,000 credits a week, depending on position and rank, plus 3d6x1,000 credit bonuses for special performance. Even after one trip, these folks are set! And then there are the massive retirement and health care packages...50-60% of standard pay for 10-20 years.
Cost: 40 points

U. Special Features:
These are special features that help further distinguish the company:
1. Exclusive Services Contract---The spaceline has a virtual monopoly to provide passenger service to a planet. This contract is enforced by both the company and the local government, who may provide the company with free labor planetside, or discounts on services.
Cost: 20 points
2. Legal Immunity---The company is owed a BIG political favor, has bribed the right people, or has distinguished itself in such a way that it has acquired a limited legal immunity from the laws and policies of the local government. This could include tax-exempt status, waiving of safety and customs regulations, immunity from prosecution, or tariff-free imports. It may also include special exemption from attack by certain/specific pirate bands.
Cost: 10 points
3. Alien Multi-Species Services----The company’s ships and facilities can accommodate a variety of exotic alien species, in as much comfort as their normal clients, effectively increasing their potential customer market and reputation.
Cost: 10 points
4. Charitable Institution---The spaceline does some great humanitarian service that can potentially net it some serious good press. Things like giving unclaimed/unbooked passenger slots to terminally ill people and their families, transporting emergency medical supplies, or volunteering their ships, crews, and facilities in times of crisis are all examples of this. These small sacrifices of time and company resources can gain the company some major good karma and positive media attention in the long run.
Cost: 2 points
5. Military Surplus---The company has special contacts that allow it to get ahold of military surplus hardware much easier. It may take more time and expense to make these ships and equipment suitable for civilian use, but they may be more durable, faster, or possess special qualities not found in contemporary civil designs.
Cost: 20 points

6. Expert Designer---The company has retained the services of a famous/distinguished designer/artist to give the company’s outfits, equipment, and ships a unique, distinctive, aesthetic look that sets it apart from all the rest.
Cost: 10 points

7. Political Favor---The company is owed ONE big political favor by a politiician. They keep it in reserve against a time of really desperate times when having a friend in a high place can mean the difference between solvency and bankruptcy.
Cost: 15 points

8. Shortcut---The company has a minor advantage in either a drive modification, navigational shortcut, or just plain luck, that allows them to shave 10-20% off the normal travel time to a destination
Cost: 20 points.

9. Crackerjack Legal Team---Company retains the services of a top-notch legal team or firm to protect them in cases of litigation and other legal entanglements.
Cost: 20 points.


V. Special Disadvantages
These cost you nothing, but actually give you more points to play around with. On the other hand, you do pay for them with potential trouble.

1. Rival Company---Another company of the same size as you, competing for the same niche market as you. This is STIFF competition, with vicous price slashing and even some industrial espionage.
Bonus Points: +10

2. Rival Corporation---Another company competing for the same market as you, only they’re 2d4 times larger than you, with more resources, and likely fewer scruples.
Bonus Points: +25

3. Disgruntled Former Employee(s)----Former workers(Jimmy the Janitor) or administrators(Dolson, the former manager who almost ran the company into the ground) who left your service under a cloud and are still angry. They know many, if not all, of your secrets and means of operation, and will ACTIVELY do everything to get back at your company, from selling out to your competitors or suing you to tie you up in court, to sabotaging your equipment and framing you for bogus crimes.
Bonus Points: +5 for a former worker, +10 for a former administrator

4. Government Investigation----Somewhere along the line, you tripped a flag in some government office, or pissed off someone in a high place real bad. There’s a government out there that wants you investigated for some offense(real or contrived), and may impound your ships if you come into their territory, or demand your arrest. and extradition.
Bonus Points: +7 points for regional local gendarmes, +20 points for a local planetary government, +30 points for an entire race(Vulcans are boycotting you, Proximans want you for gun smuggling, or the Protoss have declared you heretics), +50 points for a major galactic power like the Romulan Star Empire, TGE, or Boskone.

5. Pirates----The regions you operate in are subject to heavy pirate or privateer activity, making your trips very uncertain.
Bonus Points: +20

6. Spacial Dangers---The regions the company operates in are prone to severe spacial disturbances, like warp storms, rogue black holes, cosmic string chains, etc., making space travel that much more hazardous.
Bonus Points: +20

[taalismn]

Adventure Seeds
Starliners can be great settings for a number of dramas to be played out, from pirates boarding them, rogue aliens going on the rampage, locked door murder mysteries, mysterious illnesses, smuggling, and all sorts of wildness for passengers and crew alike. Here’s a sampler:

Murder on the Alpha Centuri Express
Hook: The PCs, either as starliner crew or fellow passengers, have to deal with the incredibly wealthy, arrogant, and irritating Mrs. Dimmblefark, her henpacked wet-noodle-for-a-backbone husband Elroy, her entourage of twenty younger male lovers(‘The Gigilo Squad’), her little pet Whimsie, and her family lawyer Dreadness. Mrs. Dimmblefark has quickly managed to **** off just about everyone on the ship with her throwing her weight around, has made several threats to get rid of staff members she has taken an exceptional dislike to, has shown a surprising amount of bad blood with a number of other passengers, and shown, for a person of her station, an apalling lack of decorum.
Why does it not surprise you that she ends up dead, halfway through the flight?
Line: Naturally, in good Agatha Christie fashion, the PCs must lead the quest to find out whodunit. In a shipload of potential suspects, with the PCs among them, this will naturally be harder than it looks. And it takes on a new urgency when some of their best suspects begin dying in rapid succession. Are the murders related, part of some greater plan, or is the murderer trying to clumsily remove all potential witnesses or accomplices? Light years from the authorities, weeks to go before reaching civilization, someone had better figure something out soon!
Sinker: The real culprit is Whimsie, who is really a surgically-altered alien posing as a dumb pet. He’s managed, over the years, to get Mrs. Dimmblefark to change her will to make him the sole beneficiary...a brilliant long-term plan that would ultimately leave him a very wealthy pet indeed, except that he didn’t count on Mrs. Dimmblefark enjoying her ‘second youth’ and spending so much on the Gigilo Squad that it began to eat into what Whimsie would ultimately get, so he decided to kill her before she gave it all away to her boy toys...Of course, he soon discovered that MISTER Dimmblefark was quietly embezzling from his wife’s accounts, and had to take him out too, then discovered that one of the Gigilo Squad was another talented grifter who had hacked into Mrs. Dimmblefark’s accounts, and he had to kill him too...except that another of the Squad walked in on the murder and had to be dealt with...and so on...
Sound complicated? Basically a good scheme’s gone bad, and the murders are snowballing, as the increasingly desperate scam-artist is trying to keep control of the situation, and losing badly....Problem is, the scam-artist’s damage control may end up taking down the PCs, or maybe the entire ship....

Hired Miracle Workers
Hook: The PCs, who have made a name for themselves as experts in space travel, are approached by a species they have never before encountered, the Grini, who have heard of the expertise of the PCs(and flatter them accordingly), and would like to hire them to help the Grini people set up a space line that will help open them up to the cosmos, greater civilization, and the wealth in instellar trade that will flow into Grini coffers.
Line: The Grini have made it most profitable for the PCs, and have a very sweet arrangement set up for them. The newly minted Grini National Space Lines is well- supported, has top-notch staff, state of the art ships, and excellent equipment. Lining up the passengers for these people shouldn’t be a problem....
Sinker: Problem is, the Grini have just emerged from a vicious interstellar war with several neighboring star systems...and the Grini were the clear aggressors, who were just barely beaten back and contained. To everyone in the region, the Grini are an abhorrent, conniving, warmongering people who are not to be trusted in anything.....To their neighbors, Grini National Space Lines represents a thinly disguised Grini rearmament program...their crews paramilitary in civilian disguises, their sparkling new starships disguised troopcarriers and warships, awaiting installation of their main batteries. If confronted, the Grini will admitt, yes, they were expansionist in the past, but that was the old regime, and the current Grini government is truly repentent and wants genuinely to engage in peaceful commerce with the rest of the universe...the new space line is simply part of the Grini initiative to put their best face forward on their new course...
Who do the PCs believe? And how do they overcome the Grini stigma?

Junket to the End of a World
Hook: A large delegation of wealthy Bosian government officials and merchant princes have hired the PCs’ space line to host a cruise that takes them through the neighboring Abora system. It is a grand affair, that will demand that the PCs be on the best of behavior and really roll out the red carpet for their wealthy passengers. The ambrosia and money will both be flowing freely for this event.
Line: As the ship flies through the Abora system, word reaches the ship that the planet Abora is suffering some sort of massive catastrophe. Thousands of Aborans are fleeing the planet in a mass exodus of ships, and local Aboran space control is asking any and all other ships in the region to help them evacuate the planet, or at least to help the fleeing refugees, many of whom have taken flight in less-than- spaceworthy ships. There are reports of wholesale chaos, looting, and outright murder, as panicked Aborans try to surge aboard any available escape vessels. Several escape ships are destroyed by this panicked behavior.
Sinker: The question is, how do the PCs respond to the Aborans’ plight? Go to assist the Aborans and risk getting mobbed, or stay away and protect the safety of the Bosians?
It further complicates matters if the PCs attempt to aide the Aborans, and the Bosian delegation refuses to hear of it.....Seems the Bosians both fear and abhor their neighbors and rivals the Aborans, and refuse to help them out. Things take a sinister turn when one of the Bosian government officials on the trip makes a comment like, “Besides, this is what we paid to come see.”, and several others nod agreement. Did the Bosians have advanced knowledge of the disaster, or did they somehow cause it?

Drafted!
Hook: The PCs’ company is doing well enough when one of the local governments they have dealings with approaches them with a contract for a large scale transport of colonists to a new world outside the normal trade routes. The space liner(s) appropriated will take on no other passengers, and will recieve both special personnel to facilitate the colonization effort, and a light military escort. The space line stands to make a bundle from this deal.
Line: When the colonists arrive to board ship, they come under heavy guard of the ‘specialists’, and seem rather poorly equiped for a colonization effort....If the crew asks about this, the government personnel assigned to liase with them give rather ambigious answers, like ‘they don’t need much’, or ‘their religion forbids material goods’, or, ‘they’ll have all they need when they get there’. They also refuse to allow the crew any contact with the colonists, claiming ‘health reasons’, or ‘confidentiality agreements’. If the crew asks too many questions, they are warned off, given bribes to do their jobs and keep quiet, or they may even be arrested, and the ship locked down.....
Sinker: Some bright and depraved government official has come up with a great idea for dealing with a troublesome local ethnic group---deport them to some hellworld or barely inhabitable penal colony world, and dump them there to live or die....The plan doesn’t have official approval, so the people responsible couldn’t use government ships(or they may simply lack adequate transport), so they’re using their outside contacts to provide transport, trusting in the outsiders’ ignorance, greed, or discretion to keep them quiet. Or else the ‘specialists’ can arrange a tragic ‘accident’ for the crew...
With armed stormtroopers inside and armed warships outside, and landfall on a hellworld coming up soon, with a bellyful of innocent people, what are the PCs and their lightly armed spaceliner supposed to do?
Other complications could include a revolt by the ‘colonists’, an attack by their better- equipped brethren, or interdiction by another government...In any case, the PCs are going to be caught in the crossfire!

It’s that One Star Difference that will Kill Ya...
Hook: The PCs, who run a travel service, have gotten the heads-up that the infamous Murphy Trocheck has booked a flight on their ship(s), under an assumed name. Trocheck is a very well-regarded travel critic for one of the largest travel rags in the region, and is the darling of the local travelling elite for his acerbic wit, vicious turn of phrase, and demanding standards. He is so well-regarded, that a few well-chosen words on his part can make or break a company with one review...and ‘Murphy the Masticator’ destroys more space lines than he builds up, much to the delight of his readers.
Word has it, he’s in an especially bad mood right now, and is eager for any excuse to meet his ‘tonnage qouta’ of sunken starlines this month, so whoever he has his sights on had better be extra careful...
Line: The threat of Murphy Trocheck should have the PCs scrambling on short notice to prepare for his arrival, including discreetly finding out what they can about him, his appearance, and his preferences(favorite foods, cabin preferences, whether or not he can be seduced, or safely inebriated the whole trip, etc.). When he arrives, the crew will also be obliged to figure out how to flatter and pamper him discreetly, without letting him know that they’re on to him, as well as putting up with his peculiar demands and requests...GMs: make this a very hair-raising experience for the PCs, with the option of tossing in any other crisises that threaten to make them look really bad in front of the uber-critic
Sinker: The person they think is Murphy Trocheck ain’t Murphy....it’s his brother Anton. Anton is a slob who can’t tell the difference between a burgundy and a bourbon, and his low sense of style are in part responsible for Murphy’s rabid fastidiousness and cynical attitude. But the two look enough alike that few people outside their family can tell the difference. However, Anton’s word of recommendation means damn little, and if he catches on that he’s being buttered up, he’ll only get MORE demanding, to see how much he can get away with....
Bad news is, Murphy’s booked a cabin on the NEXT flight....


Little Problems
Hook: The ship the PCs are on for a week-long flight embarks a family of Degolians, a recently discovered, or obscure, alien race, who are just now making their way into local interstellar commerce. Coming aboard is a typical Degolian family; the two giant cicada-like Looms, and their hyperactive grub-like offspring, Loom Junior.
Line: Halfway through the flight, room service finds both the elders in their cabin, apparently dead and stiffened in rigor mortis, their bodies hardened to rockhard density. This should launch an immediate search for the child...which shouldn’t be too hard, especially if the kid is already at work....
The oversized child is currently munching its way through the ship, gorging itself in the galley, busting into restricted areas, poking its tentacles where they don’t belong, and growing fat and bloated. The kid either doesn’t understand any attempts to communicate, or is a cheeky wiseass who ignores the PCs and goes right on doing whatever it damn well pleases...and refuses to discuss what might be wrong with its parents. This might ordinarily not be a problem, except that Loom Junior is some 500 lbs plus, is 10 feet long, and is almost visibly growing larger and stronger, being able to do that much more damage as it grows and blunders about the ship....All this childish roughhousing takes a dangerous turn when Junior starts poking around in the ship’s systems service trunks and engineering spaces....
Sinker: The Degolians are an extremely TOUGH species....they live for centuries, and nothing short of a nuclear blast can kill them....Thing is, the adults tend to get space-sick when they get older, whereas their young are still bliffly enthusiastic...The elder Looms aren’t dead, they’re hibernating until the worst part of the trip is over, letting their precocious child have his fun.
Frankly, there isn’t ANYTHING the PCs can do to harm Loom Junior, short of dumping him out into space, and even that’s uncertain(they can hold their breaths for a LONG time). On the other hand, if they use enough force(or the right kind), he’ll move along surprisingly quickly.
When the elder Looms wake up at the end of the trip, they quickly take their child in tow(who immediately becomes a meek little tyke), and assess the damage. If the PCs spoiled the child with kindness, the Looms will criticize them for spoiling their child rotten, but if the PCs used some serious force to keep Loom Junior in check, they’ll thank the PCs for ‘being good role models of discipline’ with a promise to recommend the space line for their ‘family service’.


Family Business
Hook: The PCs are contacted by a relative of theirs, Eddy, or ‘Adventure Eddy’ as he is known, who happens to run a small single-ship charter service that takes paying customers to enjoy the thrills of camping and hunting on various virgin worlds not yet openned up for full-scale development. It’s pretty low-risk...the worlds Eddy flies to are relatively safe, the inhabitants are primitive, conditions decent, and there’s little in the way of competitors...Just fly in, land in an isolated location far from any settements, let the fares ‘rough it’ for awhile, then fly out. Pretty easy profit for anyone who’s a halfway decent pilot or outdoorsman. Eddy has a problem, though; he’s got some business elsewhere at the same time that he’s booked some big-time clients. Eddy’s heard of the PCs, and figures that they’ll be able to handle the booking and any problems while he’s off elsewhere...In return for this little favor, Eddy will let the PCs keep ‘whatever they get out’ of the charter.
Line: Settling in should be no problem....The charter ship Eddy left them is small and spartan, but serviceable, the flight plans and background files are thorough, and the PCs should have no problem taking care of the booking party....
Until they arrive, in which case it turns out to be a surprisingly well-armed collection party of goons from the local organized crime syndicate, headed by a lieutenant, and they mean business....
Sinker: Seems Adventure Eddy had a sideline gambling problem, and he’s defaulted on the loans. He got wind that the mob was sending someone to collect and assumed the worst, so he contacted the PCs to take care of the problem, one way or another, while he split for a hiding place, leaving his ship behind(too easy to trace) but taking what money he could from the company(as the PCs will discovery when they search the place).
Ironically, if the PCs treat the collection squad like paying charter fares(especially if they combine it with a polite hand-off of some bribe money), rather than bad guys, and offer them the agreed-upon trip(rather than start shooting on sight), that will help defuse the situation somewhat...Eddy actually doesn’t owe the syndicate that much(he’s small potatoes compared to their other ‘clients’), but the lieutenant and his men welcome the opportunity to muscle the old guy, getting out into the open air, and enjoying some time away from the dome cities and their bosses, without paying too much for the privilege. They’ll still want some money, however, but if the PCs show them a good time, there’s no reason a reasonable discount on the balance can’t be reached, and everybody leaves happy(and with their kneecaps still attached). The lieutenant’s a decent guy/gal, and his/her minions are pretty decent, too, but they do like intimidating people, and they are well-armed, and they do outnumber the PCs...
Of course, if they DO take the trip, there’s always the chance that Adventure Eddy’s maps and planetary info aren’t TOTALLY accurate, and there could be trouble...everything from unmentioned hostile lifefroms, nasty natives, rival governments objecting to poachers, faulty equipment, or other hazards, making it a REAL adventure... If things really go sour, the goon squad might believe the PCs are trying to kill them and make it look like an accident(they’ll be most unhappy at being iced by amateurs), or, if they don’t survive the experience, the home office might begin taking ‘Adventure Eddy’s Star Charter’ seriously, and send some heavy hitters to do more than hunt Jackson’s Slugathope....


The Love Boat
Hook: On a flight with a large number of people on it, the atmosphere is decidedly cheery and happy...no problems, everyone is getting along just fine, and there’s even more socializing than normal...In fact, it’s getting rather TOO friendly, as the PCs start noticing that everyone, including themselves, is beginning to feel rather amoruous, even towards their enemies and normally incompatible folk....As the trip progresses, feelings of love and lust only increase, so much so that people become extremely distracted, and the ability to perform all but the simplest tasks(or those involving undoing fasteners and clothing seals) degrades substantially...It’s amusing at first, embarassing later on, but could become potentially dangerous when the bridge navigation console gets used for other things than plotting the ship’s course...
Line: Only the people working near the engines or on the outer hull seem to be immune to this pervasive feeling of amor.....and even they succumb in a matter of hours once they leave the airlocks or the engine room, though their sense of reason does return within a matter of minutes once they return to those areas...
Sinker: A couple on the ship has been experimenting with sex magic to spice up their relationship...or else they’re projective empaths....and they are unaware that their activities have an area of effect that is letting everybody else aboard the ship share in the experience. Besides being behind heavy shielding, characters with mindblock or resistance to magic will be less likely to succumb to it, and may stand a better chance of figuring out what’s going on.
Fortunately, if characters use the shielding of the engines or the outer hull/airlocks to ‘hot bunk’ and come out in shifts to perform work before retreating back when they start feeling distracted, they should be okay. Another solution would be to outfit one of the lifeboats as a love suite for the couple; the ship’s shielding will insulate everybody else from the amor....Of course, convincing everybody to go along with this scheme, or even pay attention to you, may take some doing....
Note: This whole thing should be played for licentious laughs...getting as many of the PCs as possible into embarassing and compromising positions, and tearing up the scenary with frivolity...especially if you combine it with other scenarios like the Uber-Critic or Lost Kid....

[KLM]

Impressive...

Adios
KLM

[devillin]

[Teal'c] Indeed [/Teal'c]

I think I will use variants of these in my campaign.

[taalismn]

Thanks...this was one of my larger write-ups, but I certainly had fun doing it!

[Aramanthus]

Those are very cool Taalismn!

About the Spce line one. Could you modify that one a little bit to make up businesses. A little rewritting and you could create businesses to populate the 3G's or anywhere a Gm would or could think of.

[taalismn]

That would be a monumental undertaking considering the number of possible types of businesses...even if you divided it up into say 'manufacturing', 'service', 'public', 'actuarial'. etc...


But I'll consider it...

[Aramanthus]

You don;'t have too. I was thinking about it as I read thru it. Of course could you modify it to including shipping companies?

[taalismn]

You don;'t have too. I was thinking about it as I read thru it. Of course could you modify it to including shipping companies?

Hmmm..I'd have said just limit yourself to Cargo-shipping concerns under the LIne Type...but perhaps you want it expanded to include 'container lines' or specialized liquid/exotic materials handling firms(much as we have shipping companies that specialize in Liquified Natural Gas here on Earth?)?

[Aramanthus]

I'm not trying to work you to death! It is a very cool set of tables! And the HLS is very nice too!

[taalismn]

Nope, I'm just fishing for ideas...what you might have in mind for shipping company options/features....

[Aramanthus]

I'm always glad to help!!

[taalismn]

mmm...maybe an option would be Degree of Automation...from zero/basic automation(everything is manual labor or vehicles piloted by living beings) to Totally Automated....Everything in the company's freight and warehousing facilities is automated, run by robots, with minimal oversight by living beings....

Communications would include inventory access...the ability of the company to know what it's moving, where the shipment is, and when the ship is expected to get in....


mmm....

[Aramanthus]

What about records of what each ship is carrying?

[taalismn]

What about records of what each ship is carrying?

THat's taken as a given as part of inventory and shipping manifest...but preloading scanning of cargo before it's loaded comes under the heading of Security...while acces of cargo records and location by the HQ/dispatcher comes under Communications...

Perhaps there could be a category for 'Inventory' that indicates how much info the owner-HQ has with regards to knowledge of what's on each ship in the company at any given time...

[Aramanthus]

That would be something cool to add to your list!

[taalismn]

The categories for company types could be broken up as follows:

*Couriers(small cargoes, mail)
*General Haulage(large quantities of diversified cargoes)
*Bulk Haulage(BIG quantities)
*Armored Delivery Services(small to medium sized consignments, high-value)
*Hazmat Transit(radioactve waste, anti-matter, bulk infectious biowaste, etc.)
*Exotic (special needs cargoes; perishable genetic material, long duration 'cold storage', cryostasis chambers, etc..)

[Aramanthus]

Don't forget to have someone who transports living things. You know like cattle!

[taalismn]

I thought about 'Agricultural Transport' but figured that bulk livestock could be herded under Bulk Transport, and specialized zoological shipments could come under 'Exotic Transport'...Depending on the value of the items, frozen livestock and animal ova/sperm/genetic material could even go by Courier or Armored Transport...
Self-contained stasis tanks for life animals could even travel Bulk Transport, as long as the company had personnel knowledgable in maintaining the gear(or could accommodate an additional crewman or several to accompany the shipment) and had the right insurances and permissions...

Hmmm...maybe I should add 'Insurance' as a category...how liable is the shipping company for losses? The more points you spend, the better your insurance(though it might be a category in which if you use it too much, there's the option of your rating actually DROPPING...).

[Aramanthus]

You are right about the livestock Taalismn!

I think Insurance would be an interesting new category.

[taalismn]

Mass movement of livestock and the like is no big deal in the Three Galaxies...but it also suggests a new angle for smuggling people(illegal immigrants or slaves) hidden in the stock tanks....
That will have to be covered under Illegal Activities that will have to be modified, since Cargo Carriers are unlikely to have some activities more endemic to passenger lines(Brothel/Prostitutes may betetr come under People Smuggling) and gamblers aren't likley to make much of a living on the cargo haulers...freighter crews may have a constant floating poker game(and I'd hardly qualify that as CRiminal Activity), but anyone(especially a stranger) fleecing them is going to be out the airlock fairly fast...THAT comes under Alignment of Crew...

[Aramanthus]

I think you are on to something with that line of thoughts!

[taalismn]

It's like those 'Match the Items in Column A with Column B' tests...

[Aramanthus]

I can see that!

[taalismn]

Salary and Credentials/Reputation categories would be unchanged...except maybe the payscale would be lower(maybe specifics, like Bulk Carriers get 10% LESS than average, HazMat crews getting an industry standard pay of 10-20% over base? Armored Delivery 10-15%, and Couriers have the possibility of time bonuses for fast delivery?)

[Aramanthus]

Sort of like combat pay.

[taalismn]

Exactly..except shippers have the option of taking theri time while figuring out how to move stuff...soldiers don't...

[Aramanthus]

That is very true! Soldiers follow their orders and are heroic! (For the majority of them.)

[taalismn]

Of course any shipper/trucker who's recounted to you the story of how they flipped over with a load of live hogs or a carboy of industrial solvents will tell you they should get combat pay too...

(never mind that they were speeding in excess of posted speed limits at the time...)

[Aramanthus]

That is true. I've known a few friends who did that sort of thing for a living! The ones who transport hazardous materials and Hazardous Waste should get something like combat pay too. It can be very dangerous transporting some of those things. My experience having to help clean up a mercury spill is something out of a mightmare! Trust me, it was frightening!

[taalismn]

Of course SHIPPING hazardous waste and (properly) DISPOSING of it are two separate problems(as evidenced by the number of times haulage firms have been caught illegally dumping because they didn't want to go to all the trouble of filling out the necessary paperwork, and paying a THIRD party to safely store and neutralize the stuff...).

Illegal Dumping would be a MAJOR criminal sideline for galactic shipping concerns, though arguably one that would be hard to prosecute("Sure, we sent the stuff into the nearest star to burn up! It was chemicals anyway...not like we were dumping anti-matter into the sun...it's all nicely burnt away....".."Well, dang, we can't arrest them for doing what we do all the time...")

[Aramanthus]

Ah, but you could always launch it right into the sun.

[KLM]

Well... I heard some theories, if some fusion material (lithium
to be exact) is launched into the sun, it would create a spike
of hard radiation, which could erase all higher life on Earth...

On the other hand, one can always find a backwater little
star...

Adios
KLM

[Aramanthus]

That's an interesting theory. If we ever actaully get out there well have to try it out ina system that has no habital worlds. Just to find out what the reaction would be.

[taalismn]

Well... I heard some theories, if some fusion material (lithium
to be exact) is launched into the sun, it would create a spike
of hard radiation, which could erase all higher life on Earth...

On the other hand, one can always find a backwater little
star...

Adios
KLM

Been reading James Pellegrino?
Okay...no dumping old medications into the home star,,,,Otherwise all those depressives will have something to REALLY worry about...

[Aramanthus]

As I said we'll have to experiment in an uninhabited system when we get out and about in the universe.