[ProfGast]

Been reading over Rigger 5 stat lines and am somewhat interesting in the GMC Universe, however I don't understand its seating.

It's listing in as 2/14 and doesn't seem to mention any other special seating modifications.  The closest similar vehicle, the GMC Bulldog, lists 6.

Anyone have any input?

[Herr Brackhaus]

I was under the impression that whenever a slash is used for seating the number before the slash is actual seats and the one after is capacity in terms of how many can fit without actual seats. Think back of a cargo van type of thing.

[ProfGast]

That was my original assumption, but A. it's not used in the core and I didn't find explicit mention yet in Rigger 5 (may have missed) and B. for vehicles like the FunOne (2/1) it just straight doesn't make sense.

[Herr Brackhaus]

Agreed that it isn't mentioned in core, but that's hardly conclusive one way or another. And the FunOne could simple have two seats but room for a third. It's the only way I can think if reading that stat personally. Maybe Wakshaani could comment on this for some official clarification.

[Marcus Gideon]

At first, I look at the Funone and where it talks about rearranging the seating. And specifically how a Troll driver would need the seat in the middle. So it makes me think the 2/1 means either 2 normal sized folks, or 1 Troll.

But more and more, I'm suspecting that was intended to reflect extra space specifically for hauling cargo. For instance, the Universal Hovercraft Minnesota is described as a cargo craft with a cabin for 2 and extra cargo space. Which would explain the 2/12 listing. The Nissan Hauler has 4/4 which if we were talking about reconfiguring seating, makes no sense. But the fluff text does talk a lot about having plenty of cargo room. Since the Core book does say that you can either haul X people, or 250lbs of cargo per seat you fill with stuff... maybe these are saying that it's got room for 4 passengers, and 4 "seats" worth of dedicated cargo space otherwise unfit for passengers

[ProfGast]

I can see that interpretation.. but it doesn't make any sense whatsoever for the GMC Universe which is supposed to be a more "civilian" analog to the GMC Bulldog.

Still hoping an author will weigh in.

[Marcus Gideon]

I'm still thinking it's meant to reflect pure cargo space. Picture your common 10-12 passenger van. It's got several rows of seats in the back, and 2 bucket seats up front. Now if you want to, you can take those rows out and end up with a sizeable cargo area in the back, but those 2 seats up front stay put.

The Bulldog is a vehicle meant to carry people. Or you can pile stuff up in the chair / move the chair, to fit some extra cargo.

But the Universe is a straight up cargo van. It's got those 2 seats, and that's it. The whole back end is open space enough for 14 "seats" worth of cargo. Which means 14 stacks of 250lb bundles, so basically 3,500 lbs of cargo.

[Herr Brackhaus]

Yeah, reading the description of the Universe I'm reminded of something like a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, which has two or three seats up front and an open cargo area in the back. With some difficulty you could stuff 14 people in there (or 7 trolls, or a mix of both), but they won't be sitting and they won't be able to use modifications like seatbelts (and thus no personal protection bonus in the event of a crash).

[Senko]

The problem is that the term is used for two seperate things . . .

Vehicles also have a non-combat attribute, Seating, which determines both how many people can fit in the vehicle (including the operator) and also, in a pinch, additional cargo space—one ‘seat’ can also be used to hold up to 250 kilograms of cargo.

So it could be an alternate seating configuration as in the funzone 2 normal sized or 1 troll sized but I can also see it being meant to represent a vehicles cargo capacity i.e. the minisota hovercraft states it can seat 2 and has an area that can be either cargo or a mini-apartment . . .

The Minnesota is designed as a cargo craft with a cabin for two, with the normal amenities raised up at the center of the craft. The additional height allows great visibility and puts it over both the front and rear cargo spaces. The area beneath the cabin comes with two options: empty to allow for oversized cargo pods or extra cargo space, or as a small cabin with a pair of pullout sleeper spots and a living space with a kitchen.

and it gives its "seating" as 2/12 so it can easily be read as seating 2 and taking 3,000 kg of cargo capacity.

Its one of the areas I wish there was more explanation on what they intended see my threads on trying to make an RV or figure out the Bohl's luxury yacht.

[Malevolence]

It sounds from the description of the FunOne that it is a two seater that also has additional cargo space. It talks of "even the rear door opens wide" leading me to believe that there is a hatchback for accessing some cargo space (apparently 250kg worth) behind the seats. Reconfigure the seats for one troll and it becomes 1 occupant and 250kg of cargo (as the troll takes up 2 "passengers" worth of space). So the interpretation of "Seats: X/Y" meaning X actual seats for passengers and Y additional non-passenger storage seems to still hold.

[ProfGast]

Alright, so assuming that the stuff behind the slash means additional cargo space equivalency, How many seats would you say would be added if you gave the Increased Seating modification on the Universe.

Would you allow the addition of 7 seats, or only 1 given the reading that Increased Seating says "the passenger capacity of the vehicle is increased up to a fifty percent increase of its base value."

[Herr Brackhaus]

Hmm, that is a damned good question. I'd say yes, personally, at least in general. Some vehicles my be less straight forward than the Universe, which clearly has a lot of space in the back.

[Senko]

Hmm it could actually go the other way increased seating means putting more seats in which would probably reduce the cargo space part of the equation e.g. 2-3 and 14-9 or something like that.