Starports and Bases

It's been a while since my last post, but I've been busy working on a new Traveller supplement, tentatively titled Starports and Bases. The project draws inspiration from Judge's Guild's Fifty Starbases and other published works featuring starports and similar facilities. The goal is to create a collection of detailed, high-quality starports and other facilities for use in your Traveller games. It will be Traveller version generic and could even be used for other science fiction role playing games.

Each entry will include an annotated site plan of the facility, a 3D illustration, and a narrative description. Additionally, each entry will include a blank site plan, for use by players and referees to label and customize however they wish. As currently envisioned, the collection will span everything from remote Class E frontier landing fields to sprawling Class A facilities, both highports and lowports, along with non-starport facilities like research stations, mining camps, scout bases, and more. Randomized tables will help generate local flavor and provide ideas for making each starport feel unique and memorable. I'd like to include notable local NPCs, vehicles, robots, and adventure hooks if time and space permit.

Below are several work-in-progress images (some previously posted to a couple Facebook groups), to give an idea of the direction I am heading. My goal is to include around fifty facilities. Progress has been slower than I'd like as I try to maintain a consistent level of quality.

A Type C starport on the planet Skull in the Lanth subsector

 

A detailed view of the Skull downport

An annotated site plan of the Skull downport

 

A Type D starport on an agricultural planet

 

A Type A starport adjacent to an ocean or lake

 

A Type C space station and larger cousin to the Wyngate and Arcturus Stations

Y is for Yacht

"Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued". - Socrates

Here's my second take on a yacht for Traveller: the Prosperity Class 200 ton Yacht. Although the Destiny Class Yacht was fairly well received, there was much I didn't like.

Statistically this ship is fairly similar to the Destiny - 200 tons, Jump 2, and 4 G acceleration. There is a much clearer delineation between crew and passenger spaces. No crew member except the steward and maybe the captain need to mingle with the passengers. The passenger lounge is roomy and takes advantage of the views from the bow of the ship. When landed, two transparisteel panels at the front of the ship can be opened up to an extendable outside covered deck to create an even larger socializing space.

The dorsal turret is now a low profile missile rack - purely an aesthetic decision - and contains twelve small but high-yield missiles. The ventral turret contains a double beam laser.

The ship uses large wings to assist in atmospheric flight and they fold up during landing to minimize the ship's footprint. The rear half of the ship rests on the ground during landings and the front is supported by landing gear.

Thanks to everyone at Citizens of the Imperium for their input on the previous design. I'm hoping this ship is more worthy of the nobles and megacorp executives in your game.

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For a higher resolution PDF, click this link: (Traveller Starship Prosperity Class Yacht Deck Plan). The deckplan was created to be printed out on 30"x42". Scale is 1" = 5'-0" so it can be used with 25mm miniatures. Enjoy!
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G is for Grav-Hauler

Possibly the smallest of the small craft, the Grav-Hauler is a one man anti-gravity vehicle used to transport small cargos. It's performance when loaded is very similar to the standard air/raft, and is slightly faster when unloaded. It is most frequently used to haul single standard 4 dton containers,  but two containers can be linked and hauled together with some loss of performance. The cabin allows for 12 hours of life support, and contains an emergency vacc suit which will provide an additional 12 hours. It is possible for a second occupant to squeeze into the cabin, essentially on the pilots lap, but all operations are performed at a skill level of -2 and life support time is halved.

The vehicle requires the Pilot skill or Grav Vehicle skill to operate (level 0 is acceptable). Operation of the cargo clamps and cargo grav units is fairly intuitive and no special skills are required for basic manuevers. Cargo Handling skill is recommended for anything more difficult. The Grav-Haulers cargo clamps retract when not in use and the vehicle only takes 1 dton of space, so they are often carried aboard larger cargo ships.

The Grav-Hauler is an ubiquitous vehicle, and can be found at nearly all starports and spaceports, transporting goods across the planet or across town. Pilots of these craft are often part of a close-knit community and are known to look out for each other.

The model of the scout ship was created by Cyberia23 at the SketchUp warehouse. The alien planet landscape background is from WallpaperSafari.com

Additional Illustrations - Starship: 200 ton Armed Merchant

Additional images of the Sharptooth Class 200 ton Armed Merchant, loading cargo in a landing bay. I redesigned the rear cargo area to have an EVA room, additional ship's lockers, and standard airlock. The adjacent Broadsword Mercenary Cruiser is heavily influenced by (read: ripped off from) the work of Ian Stead. Check out his work if you haven't already. The model of the scout ship was done by Cyberia23 at the SketchUp warehouse.