Loadmastery

I don't usually have any RPG material directly on the site, however, I've had several contacts recently where the issue of cargo management has come up, and I've decided that I am going to give a basic run down on this skill.

Loadmastery is the skill that governs how well a character oversees the distribution of cargo within a ship. Loading a ship takes time. Gamesmasters are encouraged to work out how long for the ship in question, so that actual time taken can be worked out quickly for subsequent loads.

Loading a ton of cargo (or one crate) takes around ten minutes. Access through an airlock takes no additional time , but only one crate can move through at a time. Loading through a standard cargo lift is therefore much faster as many beings can assist in loading the lift and then off loading when the lift is raised. A cargo lift can hold around twenty tons of cargo. It takes around a minute to move from inside to outside and vice versa. In theory up to eight beings (or droids) can simultaeneously load a cargo lift, or unload it. Loading a cargo lift therefore would take around twenty five minutes, moving the cargo into the ship and securing it another twenty five. A really good droid team would include both loader and unloader teams. Therefore the load time for a ship is determined by the maximum cargo, and the number of lifts and if it is possible to do so at the same time, access via airlocks or the entry ramp. For example, a 300 tons capacity freighter with a pair of loading lifts using a team of eight loader droids / beings would take around twelve and a half hours. Longer then you'd think, eh? That figure would drop to six and a quarter hours with sixteen loaders. The ship could handle thirty two loaders, making the time a handy three hours or so.

When a cargo is loaded someone has to make a Loadmastery roll. This will be helped by use of gizmoes like cargo loading software. A ship can report it's load status to a degree through feedback from its landing gear, also.

Use of Loadmastery is one of the less sexy skills - success only means that its fine, nothing's going to go wrong. Failure means an increased chance of the cargo slipping, this risk gets progressively worse the lower the roll, and the more dramatic the movements of the ship. Running a small fast courier with cargo through a blockade is risky.