| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Rusharn
Sub-Lieutenant
Joined: 24 Apr 2016
Posts: 58
|
 Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 1:54 pm Post subject: |
 |
|
My players in all of my games where they manage their own Tramp Freighter someone always drew up a deck plan within the dimension of the ship they used. Over all ships, weight almost always was the deciding factor on whether a cargo could be carried verses the space of an object. In the current game I am running, the players have a YT-1300, in the space they have designated for cargo the could carry just over 1800 tons of gold if they filled the all the space in the cargo hold. When calculating for lighter materials they have always gone over the 100 tons before they have run out of space.
Only oddly shaped cargo causes them any problems, things like fully assembled star fighters, vehicles, or heavy equipment. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16345
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
|
| Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 3:17 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Dredwulf60 wrote: | I'm interested in YOUR take on it.
That's way more simplistic than what I expect from you. lol. |
At the time, I was in the middle of something else, so I just posted WEG's official conversion ratio.
As far as the original post, the idea was not to present WEG's conversion ratio as gospel, but to publish an obscure reference so as to inform eryone here as to WEG's only real effort to provide a conversion rate for cargo capacity to vehicle parking.
My personal take?
The real life weight of a cubic meter of water is one metric ton (also called a tonne). If WEG's ratio is correct, then a fully loaded freighter with a 100 metric ton capacity would only be carrying about 50 metric tons. Obviously, denser metals and the like will take up less volume and more weight.
I'm not interested in conversion rates for every last piddling thing a ship could carry, but what I'd like to see is separate conversion ratios for different classifications of cargo.
I'd take WEG's weight to volume ratio as a general standard, such that a ship with 100 metric tons cargo capacity has 50 cubic meters of storage volume. Figuring a ceiling height of either 2 meters (for a cramped hold) or 2.5 meters for something with a little more head room, you end up with either 25 or 20 square meters of deckspace.
From there, just apply the general cargo type's weight/volume modifier so as to have a general idea of how much it takes up. It would be highly crunchy, and far easier to calculate unit cargos as opposed to manifest, but anyone doing a Tramp Freighters campaign is already accepting a certain amount of crunch.
Another important factor is loading and unloading. The Falcon, for instance, doesn't seem designed for carrying anything larger than character-scale boxes, or maybe something long and thin like a speeder bike. The ships of the Serenity universe, with large, ground level loading ramps, seem far better suited to carrying larger cargos than do their SWU counterparts.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
JironGhrad
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: 20 Jan 2016
Posts: 152
|
| Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 4:04 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| CRMcNeill wrote: | | Another important factor is loading and unloading. The Falcon, for instance, doesn't seem designed for carrying anything larger than character-scale boxes, or maybe something long and thin like a speeder bike. The ships of the Serenity universe, with large, ground level loading ramps, seem far better suited to carrying larger cargos than do their SWU counterparts. |
I don't recall an official word on it, but I do recall in several of the novels references being made to an additional cargo hold door on the Falcon, underneath to allow for cargo loading rather than trying to fit things up the access ramp. There were several in the Brian Daley/Han Solo stories, but I seem to recall them in other books as well. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Naaman
Vice Admiral
Joined: 29 Jul 2011
Posts: 3190
|
| Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 4:52 pm Post subject: |
|
|
1 cubic meter might make up 4000 pounds of concrete or stone...
But cars take up maybe 5 or 6 cubic meters and don't even weigh that much.
In any case, its going to come down to whatever serves the style of your game.
I would be inclined to give two measurements for cargo capacity: GVWR and volume of storage space.
When one of those is reached, can't get any more in. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16345
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
|
| Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 5:14 pm Post subject: |
|
|
The problem is that external views of the ship's hull don't back this up. The closest I've seen to an official cargo loading system put it in the gap in the bow between the "mandibles". Even then, it was limited to crates of perhaps 1 meter on a side.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Rusharn
Sub-Lieutenant
Joined: 24 Apr 2016
Posts: 58
|
| Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 6:19 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| According to the 2nd edition Star Wars source book, a blue print of the Falcon is included on pg 42-43 and there is a cargo lift designated in the center of the cargo hold. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16345
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
|
| Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 6:28 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Rusharn wrote: | | According to the 2nd edition Star Wars source book, a blue print of the Falcon is included on pg 42-43 and there is a cargo lift designated in the center of the cargo hold. |
That blueprint has problems, though, particularly with ceiling height the closer the floor plan gets to the outer edges of the hull. And while that blueprint may show a cargo lift, but external views of the underside of the Falcon don't show a corresponding external hatch.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16345
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
|
| Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 9:01 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Naaman wrote: | 1 cubic meter might make up 4000 pounds of concrete or stone...
But cars take up maybe 5 or 6 cubic meters and don't even weigh that much.
In any case, its going to come down to whatever serves the style of your game.
I would be inclined to give two measurements for cargo capacity: GVWR and volume of storage space.
When one of those is reached, can't get any more in. |
That's what I was referring to. However, it would require at least a general idea what sorts of cargo will weigh how much and take up how much room. It doesn't need to be read-only accurate; just 10-12 rules of thumb...
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Urban Spaceman
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: 13 Sep 2010
Posts: 194
Location: UK
|
| Posted: Tue May 24, 2016 11:44 am Post subject: |
|
|
IIRC the GG for Tramp Freighters includes a list of basic cargo types (Foodstuffs, Low Tech, High Tech, etc.) with a formula for weight/space taken up, so that you could work out if you are going to run out of space or weight first.
My players have a Speeder Bike in the cargo hold, which is going to hurt them for space far more than weight.
The weight versus space problem hasn't really come up yet in our campaign, but it's heading that way, so I might have to dig the book out myself soon!!
_________________
"The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Naaman
Vice Admiral
Joined: 29 Jul 2011
Posts: 3190
|
| Posted: Tue May 24, 2016 12:32 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Here's an idea:
Heavy/dense cargo is 1 ton/cubic meter
Medium cargo is 1 ton/2 cubic metere
Light/boyant cargo is 1 ton/4 cubic meters.
Of course, adjust the ratios as you see fit. Metals and wood could be heavy; other organic materials might be medium (fabrics, etc); and polymers and synthetic materials could be light.... or whatever. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio
|
| Posted: Tue May 24, 2016 2:28 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Transporting sufficient helium actually has negative weight! 
_________________
"I've Seen Your Daily Routine. You Are Not Busy!"
“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/ |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Dredwulf60
Line Captain
Joined: 07 Jan 2016
Posts: 911
|
| Posted: Tue May 24, 2016 5:47 pm Post subject: |
|
|
What I've been doing is figuring out the players' ship's hold area, comparing it to the listed tonnage of cargo, then figuring out how big a square a 'ton' will be.
In roll20 I have created a crate 'token' which represents '1 ton'. The players can then move these tokens around and place them however they like in the hold;
Items like speeder bikes I scale to the ship. It will take up space that can't be filled by the tonnage crates.
It works for me.
I have been kind of treating the word 'ton' as a stand-in generic term for 'unit' of weight-volume rather than weight alone.
The players get the fun of organizing their own hold. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16345
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
|
| Posted: Thu May 26, 2016 7:43 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Naaman wrote: | Here's an idea:
Heavy/dense cargo is 1 ton/cubic meter
Medium cargo is 1 ton/2 cubic metere
Light/boyant cargo is 1 ton/4 cubic meters.
Of course, adjust the ratios as you see fit. Metals and wood could be heavy; other organic materials might be medium (fabrics, etc); and polymers and synthetic materials could be light.... or whatever. |
That's the way I was leaning, but I've hauled enough different kinds of cargo to know how much the weight can differ. "Foodstuffs" may sound generic enough, but there is a world of difference in weight between, say, bulk flour and loose-leaf lettuce.
Maybe I'm over thinking again...
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
