Da Crew

[slayernz]

Thoughts of a captain ...

Do the crew actually get any compensation for flying around with yours truly? Do they get hazard pay for tirelessly volunteering for (often one-way) expeditions to explore rugged, yet strangely beautiful toxic or radioactive landscapes?

I wonder about this - as I fly from planet to planet, kind of glad that my subordinates don't quite grasp the concept of the word "Expendable" that is printed on the backs of their red ensign shirts. Before you ask, I got the shirts real cheap when I boarded some ancient wreck of a ship called the "Enterpizza", or "Enterpost" (or some similar name that I can't quite recall).

Part of me feels bad, especially since I pretty much only offer fuel-water for their sustenance, and even then, I'm pretty frugal. "You, #21. Here is your 125mls of Fuel-Water for this week." I give them numbers because I don't want to get too attached to the minions people who help make my ship the efficient machine that it is.

Do captains such as myself get bad reputations when they go through more crew than pretzels in a year, hunting for that elusive ancient treasure in the wilds of remote planets? If so ... shouldn't recruiting be just that little bit harder. No, I thank my lucky stars that the fresh fodder volunteers always abound at local spice halls, eager to clamber aboard my ship, the Mortuus Mox.

[cynik]

Maybe it would be nice to pay in $ for every single crew member? Once per week/month or they could get % from contracts.

[Cory Trese]

From a story standpoint being a low-born planet side is horrible.

Born into the debt his parents the average grav-monkey toils endlessly in polluted mines on hostile worlds. The ruins of greatness and visions of the stars mock these endless poor and hopeless downtrodden souls.

As such, the populous of most Faction worlds has a substantial percentage of young men and women willing to risk all for a chance to advance from Crew to Officer and from Officer to Captain.

I have a few page story somewhere about a planet called DU'Rok one of the Faction mining worlds near the Farfallen belt.

[Kelvin Zero]

Slayernz, from earlier writings with Cory, a Credit is like a thousand dollar coin, a Mark is like a dollar coin, and a Shilling is like a penny. For the common man a Mark is big money for them and a Credit would hardly ever be seen. I figured my Captain was paying his men in shillings and the occasional Mark. For my crew, a successful run of a few years would net them enough to live comfortably somewhere for the rest of their lives but would barely register on my accounts. That would make it worth the risk of dying horribly on some godforsaken wild planet.

In regards to the Water-Fuel, I figured there were food proccessors that converted it into various yummy globs and pastes that had that great food-like taste you imagined Luxury Rations would taste like, if you had ever had the chance to actually eat some.

Your crew has probably never actually eaten real food in the first place, if they were coming from really oppressive worlds. That's why Luxury Rations work so well in keeping your crew in line when you run out of Water-Fuel.

[oldalchemist]

My men seem to still crawl out on the hull for ice and die when I've got luxury rations out the wazoo in the cargo hold.

I'd like to be able to select which fuel/rations I'm burning. On a long haul, or when morale is low, you ought to be able to serve luxury rations and save the water for the reactors. Also, if morale is low, you should be able to spend a ton of vudka to keep the men happy. Alternately, if you're sailing towards a shortage planet with a full belly of firewater, you should put a lock on the liquor cabinet.

Right now, I sail around with a single ton of vudka in the hold and it never gets used up. Same with crystals and metals that the mechanical officer gets a bonus from. It ought to use those up or give you the option to spend them so that they're not just 'cargo items.'

[slayernz]

I hate the smell of rehydrated pizza in my fusion reactor. Vudka could be a better option as fuel than luxury food

[Cory Trese]

There is a "Quartermaster" function which was built some time ago that allowed the Captain engaged "Luxury Rations" mode, throw Vodka and Spice parties and generally turn the boat into a floating space party.

Perhaps the time has come for this button to be enabled =)

[oldalchemist]

Hey, Captain, exactly what kind of plants are these plants?

[Kelvin Zero]

I would be worried about giving my crew Vudka and spice while traveling, could I get pulled over for drunk flying? Plus, what is my First Mate doing with the Vudka he is saying he needs for crew morale anyway?