Class D Starport
Every system has a port classification grade (A to E, and X) to the starport available in the system. This grade assigned to the port encompasses the services available in the port. A Class D Starport is a poor quality installation which has few of the expected amenities. There is unrefined fuel for starships and a limited variety of ship provisions. There is no shipyard of any kind, but there may be parts and technical support for doing minor services and repair. Ports of this classification generally consist of a downport, unless this is a trade port or system with a hostile environment mainworld.
It is also known as a Class II Starport.
Facilities[edit]
The number, and in some cases the quality, of the facilities and services depends on the size of the port. For medium or larger ports, all of these services will be available, for small or tiny ports, the facilities will be available but on a best-case availability.
- Traffic Control
Traffic control around class D ports is passive, having communications to the 10D limit around the main world and other inhabited worlds in the system. There is a navigation system only around the inhabited worlds. Ships should expect communications regarding course plots only as they enter the 10D limit around the worlds.
- Ship Services
There are poor quality ship service facilities including some docking facilities. There will be unrefined fuel available for ships, produced by using the world's oceans as source of raw fuel. There may be refined fuel available in limited quantities or by contacting other ships in port.
There are warehouse facilities for cargo of many types. The port crews are minimally trained to manage hazardous or special materials safely. There may be brokerage service available to manage buying and selling speculative cargo. The customs department will generally manage the paperwork for getting cargo into and out of the port, but may require intervention by the ship to ensure prompt delivery of cargo.
There are are no shipyard facilities available at the port. There are one or more shops with most common parts available for ship crews to perform their own maintenance and repair work.
- Passenger services
For passengers there will be an simple concourse with a few shops, restaurants, and other hospitality services available. The port connects to local transportation grid for travel to and from the port but only on an irregular or on-demand schedule. Passenger hospitality services like hotels are outside the port either in the startown or other cities.
- Emergency services
The port itself contains only minimal emergency services for crash, fire, and rescue services, contracting this to the local world. This may take longer to respond to emergencies. There is a trained search and rescue (SAR) service with ships capable of covering the main world and some of the other populated worlds in the system. The port itself contains an aid station staffed with a few trained medical people.
Image Repository[edit]
Construction[edit]
Many Class D Starports started out as a Class E Starport and were later upgraded, but some - usually associated with richer colonization efforts - were created as class D to begin with. See for example Dee Six class Downport.
See also[edit]
Starport facilites[edit]
- Starport Types
- Facilities
- Services
References[edit]
- Marc Miller. Worlds and Adventures (Game Designers Workshop, 1977), 1,9,10.
- S. L. A. McIntyre. "Port Facilities". White Dwarf 22 (Dec/Jan 1981), 22
- Marc Miller. The Spinward Marches (Game Designers Workshop, 1979), 36.
- John Harshman, Marc Miller, Loren Wiseman. Library Data (N-Z) (Game Designers Workshop, 1982), 23.
- Marc Miller. Scouts (Game Designers Workshop, 1983), 28.
- Thomas M. Price. "Happy Landings: Starport Design in Traveller" White Dwarf 43 (July 1983), 26-28
- Marc Miller. Referee's Manual (Game Designers Workshop, 1987), 19,22,25.
- Terrance McInnes. COACC (Game Designers Workshop, 1989), 74-81.
- Dale L. Kemper. "The Compleat Starport." Far & Away 01 (1990): 20-25.
- J. Andrew Keith. "The Compleat Starport Supplementary Material For Megatraveller." Starships, Starports & Vehicles Vol. 1 No. 3 (October 1990), 1-5
- Kevin Knight. "House Rules." Traveller Chronicle 04 (1994): 28-37.
- J. Andrew Keith. Starport Planetfall (Cargonaut Press, 1998), 9-10.
- Carl Warmsley. Starports (Mongoose Publishing, 2011), 42-65.
- John Watts, Tony Hicks. 21 Starport Places (Gypsy Knights Games, 2013), 7-75.
- Martin Dougherty. Going Portside (Mongoose Publishing, 2016), 6-18.
- Marc Miller, Robert Eaglestone, Don McKinney. Starships (Far Future Enterprises, 2019), 22-29.
- Marc Miller, Robert Eaglestone, Don McKinney. Worlds and Adventures (Far Future Enterprises, 2019), 24.