So, the aim of the game I started recently is to complete Emissary lost, going via the nice prequel with the Ghazali. I just finished reading the scenario and while I really like it and think it will be a blast, one thing that wasn’t well thought is the situation with groups that have bigger ships, that can’t be accommodated into the hangars of the liner. My group has Class IV, huge loan and frantic about anything that happens with their ship.
So the line of thought is how to get them on the vessel without too much pain and definitely without losing the current ship. I don’t want them to have the ship, as it will more or less invalidate big fun of the scenario.
So I have been thinking on the following:
Their patron wants them on the mission because of the great benefits they will get but does not want to risk the main ship due to the unknown situation. Having a Legion destroyer is a concerns. Better loan small frigate and use it there, investing some money is stasis pods.
Their ship is under repair when this happens. Signing up for the mission is going to pay the bills while the space bird is not flying. This is lame approach, as there is no guarantee that the ship will be in the pit stop, unless I enforce something.
All members are ordered by the Legion and the Colonial Agency to go into Ghazali for the trip and the bigger ships will be commanded by Legion’s crew and escorted. I don’t like this approach.
One of the great things about Coriolis as a game is that the player characters are agents of a patron. And that patron is powerful. So sure - the patron wants the group involved in the rescue but it’s known that their Class IV ship is too big for the job - so she/he commandeers their regular ride and substitutes a smaller ship. It could even be a Class II passenger vessel - perhaps an older model pleasure yacht (Ooo: luxury cabins!) or a jump-capable shuttle…
I imagine the rescue effort is a lot like the evacuation of Dunkirk in WW2: any boat that could carry people, no matter how few, was a welcome addition to the effort.
In that case, even a smaller ship like a Class II would be useful. Small enough to get the crew on board, and a very different experience than their Class IV home.
I would go for a much simpler approach. Their ship is needed, that is the whole point of having them onboard. But as you said, a class IV won’t fit. So the expedition also brought along a bulk hauler to house multiple ships and had the crews transferred on the Ghazali for stasis since that’s where the pods are.
For added “realism”, you could say it was decided this way because they want to train the crews in coordinated rescue manœuvres and/or provide them with gear and train them how to use it, while the liner will be cruising in the Taoan system.
Luckily for the PC’s, the bulk hauler (Or a carrier!) was last to pass through and suffered some damage from the portal explosion, but the transported ships are mostly ok. It will be there in the background but can’t do anything about the Ghazali because it’s dead in space (EP0) because of damage to its reactor.
Extremely rushed rescue attempt and all are in hurry.