TEXT: Alex Greene (order #7008129)
  
  Referee’s Aid 5: Type-Y Yacht ©2015 Mongoose Publishing. All rights 
  reserved. Reproduction of this work by any means without the written 
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  Traveller is a trademark of Far Future Enterprises and is used under licence. 
  Printed in the USA.
  CLASSIC TRAVELLER
  Marc Miller
  Loren Wiseman, John Harshman, Frank Chadwick, Darryl 
  Hany, Winston Hamilton, Tony Svajlenka, Scott Renner, Doug 
  Poe, David MacDonald, Wayne Roth, Paul R. Banner.
  MONGOOSE TRAVELLER 
  Author
  Martin J. Dougherty
  Editor
  Matthew Sprange
  LAyout And GrAphic dEsiGn
  Will Chapman, Amy Perrett
  CONTENTS
  CREDITS
  TRAVELLER
  REFEREE’S AID 5: TYPE-Y YACHT
  INTRODUCTION 
  2
  THE TYPE-Y YACHT AND VARIANTS 
  3
  THE YACHT AS A PLAYER SHIP 
  6
  YACHT OPERATIONS 
  7
  YACHT ENCOUNTERS 
  10
  Alex Greene (order #7008129)
  
  2
  INTRODUCTION
  Almost every society has an upper echelon, whose status may 
  or may not be deserved. Endless arguments are possible about 
  whether someone who ‘earned’ fame through a reality vid show 
  is as deserving or more, less or the same respect as someone 
  born into a powerful family, but regardless of viewpoint these 
  people exist.
  Whilst some elements of the upper echelon might (perhaps 
  rightly) be regarded as rich idiots who waste their own time and 
  that of everyone else, many of these people fulfil a variety of 
  important functions. Those who do nothing more than fill the 
  gossip pages with their antics at least provide entertainment 
  and something for folks to talk about and many of these upper-
  class citizens actually do make things better for the rest of 
  society.
  The nobility, or the upper segments of other societies, are 
  often heavily involved in politics, business and the mediation 
  of disputes. This may not be apparent to those who see 
  them having yet another high-class ball or sweeping through 
  customs without all the hassle that everyone else has to deal 
  with. Nevertheless the noble may well make important business 
  deals at that party which create jobs for others, or might be on 
  the way to head off some crisis before it can become serious. 
  These efforts rarely make the news – or at least, they are not 
  luridly splashed across a certain kind of newspage in the same 
  manner that the Baroness of Tildy’s new boots or Sir Boris 
  Ulriaan’s drunken rant at the Zhodani ambassador’s reception 
  is likely to be. 
  Wealth and power are a reward and also a tool. It is a 
  controversial fact, but a fact nonetheless, that people are 
  impressed by status symbols and someone with a lot of ‘big 
  toys’ is more likely to be taken seriously than someone humbler 
  but equally competent. Among these big toys are starships 
  such as the yacht. It is more than a pleasure-craft in many 
  cases; it enables the owner to get where he is going and to 
  impress those he meets. This translates to better deals and 
  easier negotiations, and thus may justify the fact that the noble 
  gets to swan around in a fabulously expensive jump-capable 
  mobile home. 
  Thus there are many aspects to the upper end of society. 
  Ultimately, whether or not they are worth the wealth and 
  privilege that they have is a difficult question that can only be 
  answered by examining the results they obtain and how those 
  benefit society at large. These results may not be apparent to 
  an outside observer… and they may not exist at all in some 
  cases. Sometimes all that is apparent is the cash and the status 
  symbols for the very good reason that there is nothing else. In 
  other cases, the noble more than earns their status, or is in a 
  position to do so if the need arises. These are people who may 
  some day be able to save millions of lives with a few words, and 
  the ability get others to heed those words is arguably worth all 
  the wealth and privilege it took to put the noble in that position.
  Opinions, of course, vary.
  TYPE-Y YACHT
  For the very rich, starships are eminently affordable purchases. 
  Although a starship may be bought as an investment, then hired 
  out to other organisations or used for mercantile operations, a 
  yacht is a personal vessel. Most are specially commissioned 
  or refitted to fulfil a specific purpose, and can provide some 
  inspiration of what can be done with an open-ended budget 
  without simply sinking money into armaments. The Type-Y 
  yacht is the merest of what is possible with truly unlimited wealth 
  but provides a classic status symbol recognisable throughout 
  Charted Space.
  Built on a 200-ton hull, the Type-Y yacht is a noble’s plaything 
  used to entertain friends and undertake political or commercial 
  missions. The ship includes sixteen luxury staterooms, two of 
  which are combined into a suite for the owner aboard. There 
  are no low berths. No turrets or weaponry are installed, but 
  there is one hardpoint and one ton has been set aside for fire 
  control. The yacht carries an air/raft and a ship’s boat in hull 
  compartments, and an ATV is also carried (the ship’s boat is 
  fitted to ferry it from orbit to surface and back). 
  Alex Greene (order #7008129)
  
  3
  THE TYPE-Y YACHT AND VARIANTS
  World governments, megacorporations and smaller business 
  entities all have a need for local agreements which are best 
  negotiated in person by an individual empowered to speak for 
  the polity or business group in question. Larger corporations 
  also need numerous starships to act as personnel transports 
  or mobile headquarters. These roles can be (and often are) 
  fulfilled by a converted Free Trader or even a small scout ship, 
  but there is more to this than merely providing transportation. 
  The vessel that a negotiator arrives in can influence how he or 
  she is received; a company that uses beat-up free traders to 
  transport its executives makes a weaker first impression than 
  one that sends a negotiator in a luxurious yacht.
  The 200-ton yacht was designed to meet this need. It provides 
  luxurious transportation for an important person or group, with 
  sufficient additional capacity to allow adaptation to a variety 
  of other roles. Yachts are often described as ‘playthings for 
  nobles’, and indeed many are used simply for pleasure or as 
  a status symbol. However, a large proportion of yachts are 
  working vessels whose silverware and deep-pile carpets are a 
  tool as well as a luxury.
  The yacht provides (relatively) low-cost transportation for a 
  reasonable number of people. Its drives can only make jump-1, 
  but fuel capacity is sufficient to make two consecutive jumps. 
  Thus a yacht can carry its owner more or less anywhere he 
  wants to go – eventually. Cargo capacity is far too small to 
  make commercial operations viable, though some yachts do 
  function as ‘trade scouts’, carrying samples to a target market 
  along with a negotiating team who will set up a deal to provide 
  as much as the client wants if a market is found. This role is 
  often completely forgotten, but it is one of the main functions of 
  the yacht. Many have a cabin or two converted to offices and 
  act as a mobile headquarters for a small business, or allow a 
  merchant factor to move from market to market promoting his 
  business.
  The ability to carry a significant number of people in luxury 
  means that some yachts, especially older vessels which have 
  been sold on when their operators wanted something new and 
  shiny, serve as liners on minor routes or fill in the gaps between 
  bigger ships. With sixteen cabins (of which two are combined 
  into a suite) a yacht can carry a small crew plus a dozen High 
  passengers at premium rates. This is insufficient for a brand-
  new ship to pay its way, but there is a significant market in older 
  yachts with much lower mortgage payments. 
  The three main purchasers of yachts are world governments, 
  large corporations and nobles (or other high-status individuals). 
  All three groups are highly concerned with image and will 
  often sell a yacht to buy something newer rather than put it 
  in for a mid-life refit. This refit is slightly misnamed, in that it is 
  rarely possible to predict the service life of a vessel when it is 
  built. However, most ships are bought on a 40-year mortgage, 
  making the 20-year point a natural time for a major refit. Smaller 
  refits are common every ten years, in addition to the normal 
  annual maintenance. These ‘mid-life crisis’ yachts, as they are 
  sometimes known, may become available at a good price to a 
  secondary operator. 
  Alex Greene (order #7008129)
  
  4
  Not every user sells their yacht at the midlife point, of course. 
  Some noble families (often poorer ones) are very proud of their 
  century-old family yacht, and treat it (perhaps rightly) as an 
  heirloom. However, in the sort of circles where yacht operators 
  move, a 20+ year old yacht might well be sniffed at. Those with 
  the money and sufficient concern for their image thus tend to 
  sell on their yachts and buy the newest model. Some super-rich 
  individuals buy a new one every year.
  The yacht is thus part status symbol and part means of personal 
  transportation for important people. Some impoverished nobles 
  own little more than their ancient yacht, making it also their 
  home, and at times a noble might be given a yacht and a 
  stipend on the condition that he or she goes far away and stays 
  out of the news. Older yachts may also be used by others, for 
  example scientists or engineers-for-hire who can command a 
  sufficiently high fee to operate their vessel. 
  The yacht has an unstreamlined hull, and is thus better suited to 
  docking at a highport or sending its ship’s boat down from orbit 
  than landing on-planet. It can do so, but this is a complex and 
  difficult evolution, and getting back to orbit is worse. Despite 
  this, the yacht as standard has two areas designated an ATV 
  bay and an air/raft bay. The ATV, if carried, is garaged in its bay 
  but landed by the ship’s boat. Moving the vehicle between the 
  bay and the boat’s cargo hold is tight and tricky, and in truth 
  most yachts do not carry an ATV at all. 
  The ATV bay can take any vehicle up to the size of an ATV 
  or can be converted as an additional cargo hold, squash court 
  or whatever else the user wants. Corporate yachts often build 
  a safe into this area to carry high-value trade samples and 
  documents, or partition it off as an office or conference room. 
  Many noble users find quite inventive uses for this space, 
  though a few do carry an ATV or other ground vehicles in this 
  space. No ATV is provided with the vessel when it is bought, so 
  this space is invitingly available for conversion. 
  A high quality air/raft is included in the price of the ship, but the 
  air/raft bay can take any similar craft. Many operators swap the 
  standard air/raft out for a high-end speeder or a grav limousine, 
  and often use this to descend to a world’s surface rather than 
  the ship’s boat. Getting back to orbit aboard a grav limousine or 
  air/raft takes several hours, so it is not uncommon for the yacht 
  to descend into a very low orbit to meet its owner. 
  A fairly standard ship’s boat is included in the price of the 
  vessel, which adds MCr16 to the overall cost if bought new. A 
  brand-new yacht, without its subordinate craft, actually costs 
  slightly less to build than a Type A Free Trader. This is another 
  way that yachts find their way into the liner business; either the 
  vessel is built or bought without a ship’s boat, or it is sold for 
  whatever the operator can get for it. This does limit the yacht/
  liner to operations between highports or vacuum worlds but that 
  is not a problem on some runs. 
  No hardpoints for weapons are fitted as standard, but this is a 
  common conversion in some regions. Similarly, the yacht does 
  not have a particularly high-end electronics fit. It does not need 
  military or scientific sensors, nor high manoeuvrability, in most 
  of its likely applications. What a yacht needs to do is to make 
  its occupants feel comfortable and important, and the luxury 
  fittings do a good job of that.
  The yacht can be operated by a minimal crew of two: a pilot/
  astrogator and an engineer. Its luxurious and highly automated 
  systems allow High passengers (or the equivalent) to be carried 
  even without a steward aboard. However, for reasons both of 
  comfort and status a larger staff is normally carried. Typically 
  this means a second pilot (for the ship’s boat), gunners i.e. 
  weapons are fitted, and at least one steward/medic. If it quite 
  common for noble-owned yachts to fly with a crew of six (two 
  ‘flight’ personnel, two engineering/technical crew, two stewards) 
  plus at least two or three other personnel acting as bodyguards, 
  drivers, clerks, personal physicians or whatever else the owner 
  feels necessary to maintain his high status.
  Some operators run a rent-a-yacht service for those undertaking 
  a long voyage or wanting personal transportation for a business 
  trip. The quality of these vessels varies from an interstellar 
  limousine service to a rather tired not-much-better-than-a-free-
  trader experience. Yachts of this sort are sometimes sent to 
  fetch someone as part of a deal or negotiation, or can be hired 
  as a party venue. Those that ‘bring the party to you’ at mining 
  camps and similar outposts are often rather seedy, but still 
  make good money off those willing to pay for a little luxury and 
  the company of anyone but other roughnecks.
  Yachts are occasionally put to other uses such as command 
  ships for a small naval force or military intervention on a planet. 
  Large forces such as the Imperial Navy would not do this, but 
  smaller planetary forces have much less money in the budget 
  and have to make do with whatever ships they can get. Older 
  yachts might be bought up for conversion to as mail ships or 
  similar vessels that do not require a very large cargo capacity.
  The yacht can thus be encountered in a wide variety of roles, 
  of which the common denominator tends to be a need for 
  transportation with a certain degree of luxury. Applications 
  include but are not limited to:
  • 
  Luxury transportation for nobles and other important 
  persons
  • 
  Mobile corporate or political headquarters
  • 
  Mobile negotiating facility
  • 
  Itinerant impoverished noble’s home/ship
  • 
  Passenger work
  • 
  Scouting for speculative trade
  • 
  Mail ship
  • 
  Mobile venue for party or expensive holiday 
  • 
  Rental yacht
  Alex Greene (order #7008129)
  
  5
  The standard yacht is built to a well-established design, 
  and is more than eligible for the 10% discount such designs 
  receive. Vessels are built in small private yards as well as huge 
  Megacorporate facilities. The Imperial Megacorporations Ling 
  Standard Products and General Products both mass-produce 
  yachts, with the buyer able to specify various packages for 
  décor and internal facilities at the time of fitting out. These 
  vessels are built to a generally high standard, as might be 
  expected, but ‘generiyachts’ (Generic Yachts) are sniffed at by 
  those able to afford a custom build. This is of course unfair – a 
  generiyacht is an expensive and luxurious status symbol, but 
  one that impresses people who cannot afford a yacht much 
  more than those who can.
  Many of the privately built yachts coming out of the smaller 
  yards are also essentially Generiyachts, though since each one 
  is a custom order there tends to be a little more variation. This 
  is sometimes due to customer requirements but often because 
  a given yard has a particular way of building what is otherwise a 
  standard vessel. Some companies speicalise or are particularly 
  strong players in the yacht-building marketplace. Of these, 
  many build a range of luxury starships and may also  construct 
  liners; others are exclusively builders of the 200t version.
  The Holy Grail of yacht ownership is a vessel from the Imperial 
  Yacht Corporation, which builds vessels to the basic 200t 
  design but incorporates features that are beyond the imagining 
  of generiyacht owners. IYC yachts are extremely expensive, 
  even after multiple owners, and are so prestigious that the 
  corporation often buys back older vessels for scrapping rather 
  than allowing a run-down IYC ship to wander around detracting 
  from the firm’s image. IYC also builds much larger yachts, but 
  stays out of the luxury liner marketplace as part of an agreement 
  with Imperiallines and LinerCorp. The latter is a mid-sized 
  Imperial firm that builds small yachts for individual clients when 
  an order comes in, but mostly constructs passenger vessels or 
  200t yachts modified to act as high-end small passenger ships.
  A modified (and heavily armed) version of the 200t yacht is used 
  by Solomani Security (SolSec) officials in the Solomani Rim as 
  a ‘Standards and Procedures Enforcement’, typically carrying 
  a senior investigator and a staff of bureaucrats and guards. 
  Many of these vessels operate on a fairly loose remit, arriving 
  unexpectedly and conducting an aggressive and invasive 
  assessment of the local situation. The arrival of one of these 
  ships is a cause for apprehension; its departure is grounds for 
  celebration. Investigations are not conducted everywhere the 
  ship goes; in many cases one simply passing through the port 
  is a reminder to tighten up accounting and security procedures. 
  SolSec thus considers these little ships a good investment, as a 
  reminder to everyone that whilst the price of not being annexed 
  back into the Imperium is constant vigilance, the price for not 
  being treated to a full and formal SolSec audit is ensuring that 
  the Standards and Procedures Enforcement officer does not 
  spot anything out of order.
  Unified Space Industries, based in Trojan Reach sector, 
  constructs a variety of yacht variants based on the standard 
  model. These include a mobile-head-office variant, a 
  passenger ship and a command vessel for crisis management 
  or mercenary operations. By far the most popular is the ‘small 
  liner’ variant, which can be encountered on many local routes 
  in Trojan Reach and up into Spinward Marches subsector. This 
  vessel often has two remotely operated laser turrets added in 
  place of some cargo space, and may also carry a mail safe or 
  secure cargo hold in place of the ATV bay.
  Many Class A starports have an area (inevitably termed a 
  ‘marina’) where yachts congregate. This practice started out 
  as an exercise in practicality – yachts and similar vessels do 
  not need heavy-duty cargo handling equipment – but over time 
  the general-small-ship pads where these vessels were typically 
  assigned became an area where lower-class ships were not 
  welcome. Many marinas have their own access to the starport 
  concourse, usually close to the best hotels and high-end 
  entertainment. 
  Marinas also exist away from the starports, sometimes as a 
  specialist facility serving only yachts and the occasional cruise 
  liner. These independent marinas attract wealthy clients, 
  especially those frequented by owners of huge top-end IYC 
  vessels, and often grow into resorts in their own right. Marinas 
  of this sort have what might be considered a ‘tradesman’s 
  entrance’; a set of docking slips for the use of merchant ships 
  delivering supplies and the like. Free traders and subsidized 
  merchants are not permitted to dock next to ICC yachts. 
  Possession of a docking bay at one of these marinas is a status 
  symbol among yacht owners, especially if it is for a specific slip. 
  There is often a waiting list measured in years for a permanent 
  slip, and many owners never actually berth their yachts in most 
  of the places they have slips – just owning the slip costs a 
  fortune and thus impresses a certain class of people. Lesser 
  yacht operators must slum it down among the generiyachts that 
  rent a slip whilst they are in port, which can affect status among 
  the yacht-operating class. There are bars and clubs in some 
  marinas that require possession of a high-status docking slip 
  just to get through the door – such is the world in which high-
  end yacht owners live. 
  Alex Greene (order #7008129)
  
  6
  At first glance the yacht might not seem ideal as a ship for a 
  player group. It can carry very little cargo and thus might be 
  considered unsuited to a ‘free trader’ style of game. Its 21-
  ton cargo hold can carry a little speculative cargo; not enough 
  for the ship to pay its way except on the most spectacularly 
  lucrative deals, but it is sufficient to permit players to indulge 
  in a little trading on the side. This inability to make a living 
  from trade can be an asset to the referee since it limits the 
  players’ ability to wander out of the prepared playing area.
  A yacht must pay its way through other means. This might be 
  money the characters already have, an outside backer, or as 
  a result of what the characters do wherever they go in their 
  yacht. The benefit to the referee is that the yacht can be a 
  plot hook – a need to pay for refits and general running costs 
  forces the characters to take on jobs or find ways to make 
  money – as well as providing the mobility required to get from 
  one adventure site to another.
  For the players, a yacht does offer some good possibilities. Its 
  ability to make two jump-1 transits allows it to cross between 
  mains and clusters, enabling it to go almost anywhere – 
  albeit slowly. It can also jump into a system without readily 
  available fuel and out again. Arriving in a yacht rather than 
  an old free trader has social advantages too, which can be 
  translated into opportunities for higher-paying work or some 
  highly inventive scams. Customs and naval personnel are 
  (sometimes) more relaxed in their attitudes towards yacht 
  owners than scout ships or traders.
  Of course, this to some extent depends on the state and age 
  of the vessel. An ancient yacht that is falling apart will be no 
  better regarded than a beat-up old scout ship, unless it has 
  found fame as a ‘living antique’. A crew that takes some time 
  and trouble with their own appearance, and who maintain 
  their ship in good condition, can often make a sufficiently 
  good impression to gain access to government officials and 
  other high-ranking people. This may enable a yacht crew to 
  get high-end work that a lesser vessel could not. 
  THE YACHT AS A PLAYER SHIP
  So instead of transporting some freight and whatever 
  passengers they can get, a yacht crew might be offered a fuel-
  and-maintenance deal, plus personal fees for crewmembers, to 
  transport an eminent scientist or broker a trade deal. They might 
  of course have absolutely no idea how to accomplish what they 
  are being paid to do; looking respectable and competent can 
  allow people to land jobs they are not qualified for. Blagging 
  their way through the task might be an interesting challenge….
  Thus a yacht might be a good choice of ship for a player group 
  that wants to be involved in the upper end of the adventuring 
  spectrum – getting involved in politics, economic manoeuvring 
  and corporate or interplanetary espionage for example. 
  Alternatively, a very old yacht with its mortgage paid but the 
  décor in tatters might be an interesting alternative to the more 
  usual scout ship or free trader. If the mortgage is paid off, the 
  ship will cost a little over Cr40,000 per month to run, assuming 
  a couple of jumps each month using unrefined fuel. Crew 
  and personal costs are on top of this, of course, but a clever 
  adventuring group with good skills should be able to pull in this 
  amount by various means. 
  If this is the case, then the yacht provides a useful mobile 
  base. It has an ATV, an air/raft and a ship’s boat (assuming it 
  is fully equipped) for the characters’ use, plenty of comfortable 
  accommodation, and a modest amount of cargo space. Far from 
  merely being a noble’s plaything, the yacht is capable of being 
  a very versatile working starship in the hands of an eminent 
  scientist, diplomat or a band of ‘freelance experts’ specalising 
  in solving (or causing) problems wherever they go.
  Alex Greene (order #7008129)
  
  7
  YACHT OPERATIONS
  As already noted, a yacht cannot pay its way in commercial 
  freighting; not with just 21 tons of cargo capacity. However, 
  this is not a concern for most people buying yachts. In general, 
  operators do not buy a yacht to make money with; they buy 
  one because they already have money and want to flaunt it, 
  or they want to impress people so that they can go on making 
  ever-more-huge amounts of money. In this case the cost to 
  operate the yacht is met from funds generated elsewhere. Thus 
  a government official’s yacht is paid for out of his budget, and 
  may well be considered a worthwhile investment if it allows him 
  to negotiate good treaties with neighbouring worlds. Similarly, a 
  yacht used for speculative trade scouting will not make enough 
  to support itself, but may open the door for bulk freighters to 
  start bringing in large amounts of goods to the new market.
  OVERHEADS 
  Mortgage: This can vary but for a new vessel it is Cr.189438.75 
  per month based on the discounted price for a standard design
  Crew Salaries: These vary depending on the crewing level
  Maintenance: Cr.4210 per month
  Fuel: Cr.500 per ton (refined) or Cr.100 per ton (unrefined)
  Life Support and Supplies: Cr.32000 per month
  Assuming a crew of about six (pilot, astrogator, engineer, three 
  steward/medics), sharing cabins, a yacht acting as a passenger 
  vessel can offer eleven normal passenger cabins plus the 
  double-sized suite. Having several stewards allows the crew 
  to provide a high-class service and, hopefully, fill all the cabins 
  with high passengers. This would generate Cr.66000 for eleven 
  High passengers, plus whatever could be charged for the suite 
  and any small amounts of cargo or mail that could be carried. 
  At two jumps per month, a new ship could not pay for itself 
  without a subsidy from some outside source. This might be 
  available if a government felt that a regular high-class passenger 
  service was desirable. Alternatively, a ship that was sold off at 
  its mid-life point (with half the mortgage paid off) could just 
  about break even with a full complement of passengers. Selling 
  the ship’s boat to reduce the mortgage repayment (and thus 
  restricting the ship to Highport-to-Highport runs, which should 
  not be a big problem) brings the margins up to an acceptable 
  level, especially if the boat bay is used for cargo. 
  Alternatively, high-tempo operations are an option, with the 
  ship averaging more than two jumps per month by reducing 
  time in port. This is very tiring for the crew but does allow 
  more revenue to be generated over the course of a year. This 
  of course assumes a 20-year-old yacht. One that is older and 
  has changed hands a few times may be much cheaper, but will 
  more than likely  need refurbishment before returning to high-
  end passenger service.
  Most spares and components for this vessel are not particularly 
  hard to source, since it makes considerable use of off-the-shelf 
  standard components for its major systems such as drives and 
  power plant. However, whilst every starship breaker’s yard 
  has a partially stripped scout/courier or free trader that can be 
  cannibalised for spares, yachts are much less common and it is 
  relatively rare to find one with components specific to its design 
  still in place. The ‘standard’ galley, for example, is notorious for 
  not being very standard at all. No other ship uses components 
  with the same shape or design as the yacht. Thus while this 
  system does provide excellent facilities without taking up much 
  space, it is very difficult to fix if a fault occurs, and components 
  are expensive.
  The same comments apply to some bridge and control 
  components, and the entertainment systems installed in the 
  cabins. These systems are the first to be stripped out of a yacht 
  that comes in for breaking, and generally find a buyer very 
  quickly. It is not uncommon to find yachts that have been given 
  downgraded systems simply because the proper components 
  were not available or were too expensive – and thus naturally it 
  is a status symbol to have all-as-specified systems aboard and 
  in good working order. 
  THE TYPE-Y YACHT
  The standard Type-Y yacht officially has three decks, though 
  the lowest ‘deck’ is really nothing more than an engineering pod 
  containing the drive systems, located below the main deck and 
  surrounded by the fuel tanks. The sort of person who buys a 
  yacht is likely to forget that this deck even exists. It is accessed 
  via a shaft from the cargo bay; another area that yacht owners 
  tend not to have much to do with. The engineering pod has an 
  iris valve in the floor that permits access to the outside of the 
  ship.
  The main deck is dedicated to accommodation for the most 
  part. A 21-ton cargo bay spans most of the rear of the ship, 
  and contains access points to the engineering ‘deck’ and the 
  main corridor on the command deck. Two corridors run fore-
  and aft through the main deck, giving access to the fourteen 
  standard cabins. Unless the builder specifies differently, these 
  are all extremely luxurious. They are no larger than a standard 
  cabin but make excellent use of the space available to give 
  the illusion at least of more room. They also contain high-end 
  entertainment facilities and extremely high-quality fittings.
  Alex Greene (order #7008129)
  
  8
  Ship’s Boat
  AirLock
  Cargo Bay
  1.
  4.
  2.
  12.
  3.
  12.
  11.
  11.
  5.
  6.
  7.
  8.
  8.
  Alex Greene (order #7008129)
  
  9
  1. Bridge
  2. Ship’s Locker
  3.Air/Raft Bay
  4. ATV Bay
  5. Ship’s Boat Hanger
  6. Owner’s Suite
  7. Passenger’s Common Area
  8. Passenger’s Staterooms
  9. Cargo Bay
  10. Engineering
  11. Deck Access
  12. Lift
  Fuel
  Power Plant
  Manoeuvre Drive
  Jump Drive
  11.
  10.
  Alex Greene (order #7008129)
  
  10
  There are no crew cabins elsewhere aboard the ship, so the 
  crew of a standard yacht do have a very comfortable place to 
  live. Some builders shave a little off the cost by only outfitting 
  some of the cabins to full standard, but many potential buyers 
  feel that they want their crews to have the best. There are 
  various reasons for this, ranging from ego (‘even my underlings 
  live well’) to a desire to build crew loyalty. There are also 
  those who feel that since all cabins are on the same corridors, 
  they do not want their high-class friends seeing shabby 
  crew accommodation as this might detract from the general 
  classiness of the vessel. 
  The portside corridor has a hatch through into the cargo bay 
  which on some ships is concealed in various ways. This corridor 
  is often referred to as the ‘crew corridor’ as the four cabins along 
  it generally house crewmembers. This enables them to access 
  the cargo area and proceed through it to the command deck 
  above without using the lift and thus disturbing the important 
  people enjoying the common area. It is quite common on 
  yachts that have been converted to passenger operations to 
  find security doors fitted at the fore end of this corridor, and 
  for everything aft of the doors to receive little attention when 
  the fittings are refurbished. Indeed, ‘it’s a bit aft of the doors 
  these days’ is a common expression for something that is worn, 
  shabby or outdated.
  At the fore end of the crew corridor is a large common area/
  galley which usually features a well-stocked bar and very fine 
  silverware, and also has a lift to the upper (command) deck. 
  This is used by the owner and any passengers needing to 
  move between decks. Some owners-aboard are not even 
  aware that there is an alternative route though the cargo bay. 
  Forward from the common area is the owner’s suite, created 
  from two stateroom-equivalents. Some yachts replace part of 
  the forward hull with a viewing dome, which is covered when 
  the ship is in jump or when danger threatens. The rest of the 
  time the owner can gaze out on the stars or survey a world 
  below whilst thinking important thoughts.
  Two cabins open directly off the common area, and on many 
  ships are assigned to stewards or the personal staff of the owner. 
  The remaining eight cabins all open off the starboard corridor, 
  which has no access to the cargo area. Instead this corridor 
  ends at the aftmost cabin, which has various connotations. On 
  some ships, this cabin is the least prestigious, since it is furthest 
  from the owner. On others, it is outfitted a bit better than the 
  others in keeping with a tradition that the most important guest 
  sleeps furthest from the host and helps watch over the lesser 
  guests in between – and also has the best excuse for arriving 
  late for dinner, though aboard such a small ship there is a limit 
  to how far this can be stretched.
  Some variant vessels combine pairs of cabins (often the two 
  pairs on the starboard side) into suites. Another occasional 
  alteration is to remove all the central cabins, leaving just a few 
  pillars in place for strength. This creates quite a large space and 
  still retains ten cabins plus the owner’s suite. More commonly 
  (aboard corporate and government ships at least), some of 
  these cabins are converted into offices or records rooms, whilst 
  on private ships some might be walk-in wardrobes or filled 
  with nothing but racks and racks of fishing tackle. The longer 
  a particular owner has had his ship, the more personalized it 
  tends to become.
  The upper deck has a well-equipped bridge with an airlock 
  beside it. This is the main access point when in Highport, 
  creating a slight security issue when a yacht is converted to 
  passenger operations. Most passengers go directly down to the 
  main deck via the lift and do not return to the command deck 
  until they disembark, though there are always exceptions.
  The rest of the command deck is taken up with the ship’s boat 
  bay and the ATV area opposite it, plus the air/raft bay. As noted 
  elsewhere, these areas are often converted to other uses. The 
  ATV bay makes a reasonable conference area after removal 
  of the vehicle tie-downs and tool racks, and on some vessels 
  the ship’s boat bay is also available for conversion. Vessels 
  involved in corporate or business operations often convert 
  some of the cabins to offices, allowing the ship to function as 
  a mobile headquarters for a troubleshooter or regional head.
  Alex Greene (order #7008129)
  
  11
  The following encounters are all with Type-Y yachts, but each 
  has very different characteristics. These vessels and their 
  crews might be encountered on the landing pad at a starport, 
  or in passing as local colour. The characters might even travel 
  aboard or interact directly with one of these ships. 
  FLAFF
  FLAFF is an abbreviation for ‘Footloose And Fancy Free’, 
  though the ship’s official name is indeed FLAFF. This vessel is 
  a rather weary Generiyacht originally built by General Products 
  about 120 years ago. She has been refitted several times and 
  is in reasonable operating condition, though her internal décor 
  and non-essential systems are rather tired. FLAFF’s interior is 
  charactrerised by chipped and scratched surfaces, chandeliers 
  that only partially work, and an intermittent fault with her galley 
  that makes cooking an adventure all of its own.
  FLAFF has been owned from new by the same family; a minor 
  Imperial noble house with branches on several worlds. She was 
  one of a group of yachts purchased a long time ago, and started 
  out as a prestigious conveyance for whichever of the family’s 
  younger members had business elsewhere.  FLAFF has carried 
  a daughter to the Imperial Naval Academy at Core and a much-
  loved grandfather home to the family burial plot. She has taken 
  negotiators to a conference that ended a war and been sent to 
  bring home a wayward son who almost started one. 
  But that was long ago. As the vessel aged, she was gradually 
  passed down from the main branch of the family to its lesser 
  cousins, eventually finding herself in the hands of Sir Richard 
  Hault-Imissent. Sir Richard is a minor member of his family, 
  with a knighthood he inherited from a rather more worthy line 
  of hereditary nobles. He is a drunk and a gambler who caused 
  one scandal too many and was essentially given a starship and 
  a stipend in return for making himself scarce. So long as Sir 
  Richard is somewhere else, and not in the news, then his family 
  does not really mind what he does.
  Unfortunately, this has resulted in Sir Richard becoming ever 
  more bored and dissociated from mainstream society. He 
  seeks ways to amuse himself, which occasionally stray into the 
  realms of worthy and respectable behavior. He has dabbled 
  in diplomacy and mountaineering, even disaster-relief at one 
  point. However, most of the time he is a wandering space-bum, 
  dragging his long-suffering crew far off the beaten track to visit 
  some astronomical phenomenon or particularly good Vilani 
  restaurant. 
  Sir Richard likes to fill up his ship with interesting people, so 
  in addition to his crew there are usually a handful of other 
  individuals. These might be ‘great minds’, members of a minor 
  race or unusual culture, war heroes or students hitching a 
  ride home. Some of these people have turned out to be more 
  interesting than Sir Richard might have wanted; hijack attempts 
  generally occur at the rate of one or two a year.
  FLAFF herself is obviously run-down and tired, both inside and 
  out. Hull panels are dinged, carpets are worn through to the 
  underlay in some places, and the silverware is scandalously 
  mismatched. However, her owner and crew are perversely 
  proud of their impoverished-but-still-classy image, and the 
  ship itself has become something of a celebrity in certain ports 
  and marinas. Sir Richard has use of high-end berthing slips at 
  some marinas due to his family connections; so long as another 
  entitled vessel is not present he can berth right next to the IYC 
  vessels. Some top-end owners resent Sir Richard and his crew 
  holding a landing pad picnic outside their shabby old ship and 
  right next to their betters, but some are willing to hop over the 
  fence with a bottle of incredibly expensive wine and join in the 
  somewhat disreputable fun for a while.
  THE DUCHESS OF QUEJAY
  The Duchess of Quejay was built by Unified Space Industries 
  as a generiyacht, about thirty years ago. She passed through 
  several sets of hands, averaging four to six years with any 
  given owner, before being bought back by her builder and 
  given a facelift. She was then sold to BorderLines Shipping as 
  a passenger vessel operating along the Imperial border and 
  just beyond it. 
  The Duchess is armed, with a triple turret fitted on each side of 
  the cargo bay. Each is served by a small control room/missile 
  loading area, and as is common with such retrofitted weapon 
  systems there is no integrated fire control or central director. 
  Instead, the two gunners operate their turrets under local 
  control and receive only the most general instructions from 
  the bridge. This is generally considered adequate; a yacht or 
  small liner will generally accelerate away from danger and fire 
  at whatever is chasing her; there is little need for more complex 
  tactical instructions. 
  Each of the two turrets contains a pair of missile launchers, with 
  three ship-to-ship missiles on the autoloader racks. Reloads 
  are not normally carried, and would have to be manhandled in 
  from the cargo bay if reloading is required. Each turret also has 
  a beam laser for missile and small-craft defence. This weapons 
  mix allows the ship to run away behind a hail of missiles, at 
  least for a short time. An enemy vessel that is evading missiles 
  is not giving chase, and one conducting point-defence fire is 
  not shooting at the liner. Thus the weapons fit is considered to 
  be defensive/deterrent in nature even though missiles can do 
  a lot of damage.
  YACHT ENCOUNTERS
  Alex Greene (order #7008129)
  
  12
  The weapons fit uses up a small part of the ship’s cargo capacity, 
  but this is offset by the fact that no ATV is carried. The ATV bay 
  on the command deck has been converted to a secure cargo 
  area. Passengers are not normally permitted on this deck once 
  they have boarded, and anyone who did gain access would find 
  that this area contains two heavy, armoured cargo safes and not 
  much else. These are used for mail and secure packages, and 
  although they are rarely full the ship receives a flat Cr.25000 fee 
  upon arrival in every port with which she has a mail contract. 
  Sometimes there is no mail at all; sometimes there is quite a lot. 
  Sorting the mail is a job for the ship’s designated postmaster, a 
  job usually done by the senior gunner in return for a small pay 
  bonus. 
  The Duchess has a standard modification in the form of heavy 
  security doors at the fore end of the portside corridor. The four 
  cabins aft of these doors house the flight and operations crew, 
  consisting of the ship’s master (who serves as a backup pilot), 
  pilot/astrogator and engineer. Two gunners are carried, sharing 
  the aftmost portside cabin. These individuals are rarely required, 
  so most of the time they act as extra hands doing maintenance 
  or watching the sensor boards. They are also responsible for 
  security if there is a disturbance among the passengers.
  The port and starboard ‘shoulder’ cabins are occupied by the 
  ship’s stewards and purser. Either one or two stewards or 
  steward/medics are carried, sharing the portside cabin if there 
  are two of them. The purser (head steward and ship’s legal/
  accounting expert) occupies the starboard cabin. At least one 
  steward is on duty at all times when there are passengers 
  aboard; carrying three spreads the load.
  The eight cabins on the starboard corridor are available to High 
  passengers for the usual fee. Depending on the destination, 
  the Duchess will sometimes refuse to take a Mid passenger 
  to fill up her cabins, as her operators feel this devalues their 
  service. ‘High or nothing’ is not an option for a beat-up old free 
  trader but the Duchess is a very luxurious ship that operates in 
  areas where it is fairly rare to have more than one or two empty 
  cabins on a run. The suite is available for three times the cost 
  of a normal High passage if booked in advance, and if it is not 
  taken then other passengers may be offered the opportunity 
  to upgrade for 50% additional cost once the ship has left port.
  The Duchess of Quejay generally serves a contracted route, 
  but this shifts from time to time and she might be re-tasked of 
  a one-off opportunity presented herself. She has occasionally 
  been chartered by government or corporate clients to convey 
  negotiators to a conference, or to carry out a specific mission 
  requiring the discretion and professionalism of her smartly 
  uniformed crew. Whilst arriving aboard a chartered small liner 
  makes less of an impression than stepping down from your own 
  yacht, it is a lot better than coming in aboard a free trader.
  IGNATIX CONFERENCE 
  SERVICES
  Ignatix Conference Services (ICS) is the name of a vessel and 
  her parent company, which is exclusively based aboard its sole 
  interstellar asset. ICS offers mobile conferencing services for 
  scientists, diplomats and merchants, and can act as either the 
  venue or transportation to it. In the latter case, a negotiating 
  or legal team can prepare themselves on the way to their 
  conference, trial or whatever the destination may be. The ship 
  has a very extensive (and regularly updated) legal database, 
  and can arrange to have specialist scientific, political or military 
  data available at need.
  ICS has been used as a mobile negotiating centre for clients 
  ranging from world governments to mercenary units. It is 
  favoured by Armed Services LIC, an Imperial corporation 
  operating several military units, as a place to meet clients and 
  has sometimes been the venue for operational planning. This 
  requires a high degree of confidentiality, and ICS has a good 
  reputation in this field. 
  The ship named ICS started her career as a typical generiyacht, 
  but was sold off after a collision that partially crushed her ship’s 
  boat bay. Rather than rebuilding to the original standard, it was 
  decided to remove the worst damaged section and replace it 
  with a slightly smaller area that could not handle a boat but 
  which might be useful for other applications. Thus the 30-ton 
  boat bay became a 26-ton configurable mission area plus four 
  additional tons of fuel, adding a little to the ship’s endurance 
  and returning her to full structural integrity.
  The former ship’s boat bay is currently set up as a conferencing 
  area, complete with a small food/drinks preparation area, and 
  an ‘office farm’ at the aft end of the bay. This is a collection 
  of cubicles and workstations which allow research, report 
  preparation and the occasional heated argument to be carried 
  out away from the common area on the main deck. The 
  conferencing area has an impressive suite of visual aids and 
  a presentation lectern. Holographic projection systems damp 
  out noise from the office farm and can create the impression 
  that the conference or negotiation is taking place in a variety of 
  environment ranging from open countryside, underwater or out 
  among the open stars. 
  This facility has been used by military formations as a training 
  aid or a novel method of interviewing a candidate. After clearing 
  away the office equipment and conference tables, it is possible 
  to project a very realistic battle on the walls. Mercenary units 
  can thus stick potential officers in the middle of a high-stress 
  situation and feed them data along with all the distractions of a 
  real conflict. Those that can focus and do a credible job stand 
  at least a decent chance of being hired.
  Alex Greene (order #7008129)
  
  13
  The lack of a ship’s boat forces ICS to operate from highport 
  to highport, and thus the vessel can only serve systems with 
  a class C Starport or better. A class C port will have a small 
  orbital station or a mooring beacon, from which passengers or 
  conference delegates can disembark by means of a groundside 
  shuttle. Class A and B ports have large orbital facilities where 
  an unstreamlined ship can dock without effort, whereas lesser 
  (Class D and E) ports are not typically the venue for the sort of 
  services offered by this ship. Shuttles and small craft can dock 
  at the external airlock of course, if operations over a world with 
  no decent port are required.
  The ATV and air/raft bays have been converted into crew cabins, 
  accommodating the pilot/astrogator, engineer and deck hands 
  when the passenger/delegate cabins are in use. Conference 
  staff serve as stewards for the delegates, and are berthed on 
  the main deck, whereas crew move into a more luxurious cabin 
  when they have the opportunity, and generally stay out of the 
  way in their cramped crew quarters when there are important 
  people aboard. 
  In addition to the suite, which is sometimes converted into a 
  secondary conference room, twelve of the fourteen passenger 
  cabins are generally available for conference delegates. 
  Sometimes a client will request that one or more cabins be 
  made available as a secure office or research room, permitting a 
  delegate to prepare his or her presentation without interruptions.
  ICS commands a high fee for its services, as might be 
  expected. Transit times to and from the conference as well as 
  the duration of proceedings will determine the fee, which starts 
  at Cr.20000 per day plus unusual expenses such as providing 
  hard-to-source foods and other amenities. Despite the cost, the 
  ship sees steady business and generates a very respectable 
  amount of revenue. Most clients are very satisfied with the level 
  of service provided; some important deals and treaties have 
  been negotiated aboard this ship. 
  Alex Greene (order #7008129)
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Traveller/08 - Mongoose Traveller/Third Party Materials/Sourcebooks & Referee Materials/Traveller Referees Aid 05 - The Type Y Yacht.pdf