Subj: Traveller-digest V1999 #1428
Date: 12/2/99 10:14:02 AM Pacific Standard Time
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Traveller-digest Thursday, December 2 1999 Volume 1999 : Number 1428
(R)1996. Traveller is a registered trademark of FarFuture Enterprises.
All rights reserved.
The following topics are covered in this digest:
re: stopping the world
Re: early christian writings and roman rumors
Hello and TNE question
re: Bribery Skill
Re: Hello and TNE question
The answer to the great 'Where does Jump Fuel go?' debate ;-)
Re: Stopping the world...
RE: Different Technologies
Re: Hello and TNE question
Re: Hello and TNE question
Re: Bifrost-class Solar Shuttle (GTL9)
Re: Bribery Skill
Re: Superpowers
YKYBPTMTW...
Re: Stopping the world...
Re: GS3/3 Solar Sails
re: Different Technologies
Re: power generation technologies
Re: Stopping the world...
Re: Different Technologies
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 10:54:06 -0500
From: Walter Smith
Subject: re: stopping the world
Jason Kemp wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
What would happen if you could suddenly stop the world from spinning
on its axis? Assume that all physical laws remain intact, beyond the
one exception that someone or something could stop the Earth, or a
planet of your choice, from spinning.
>>>>>>>>>
I take it that there's some effect to this world-stopper that stops the
mass of the world itself from rotating, and not the hydrosphere,
atmosphere or anything upon it. Considering how heterogenous much
of the planet is, why does the weapon not affect the people, the water,
and the air the same way it affects the planet?
It would be bad to go from normally rotating to tidally locked all at once,
even without mile-high ocean waves and such.
SPI's _Freedom In The Galaxy_ had an orbital superweapon the
bad-guy Empire could use, called the Planetary Stabilizer. It could
instantly stop just the core (and maybe the mantle) of a planet from
rotating, throwing the crust of the planet into space as the thin crust
absorbed all that rotational velocity at once. Everything on the planet
dies, and everything in orbit (including the Planetary Stabilizer) gets
destroyed as well. As a bonus, the Imperial terraforming engineers
have a clean slate to work from, and it's probably in a habitable zone
of the star system to boot...once the orbit clears up a bit.
Walt Smith
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 11:02:55 -0500
From: "Swordy (Colin MIchael)"
Subject: Re: early christian writings and roman rumors
> As for
> me, I myself have read the Bible, "to see what all the shouting
> was about". Guess what, I'm still an athiest.
>
> :)
Missed it, eh? :-p
- -Crusty
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 11:09:01 EST
From: Qstor@aol.com
Subject: Hello and TNE question
Hi all, I'm back after a few months absence. I was previosuly subscribed under mmckeown@hotmail. I just voted on Mark Millers site for favorite traveller system..I found I was in the distinct MINORITY :)
I have a TNE question...was there a "ship" book for the system? Like supp. 7 or 9 for CT?
Thanks..happy holidays to all!
Mike
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 11:12:15 -0500
From: Walter Smith
Subject: re: Bribery Skill
Chris Seamans wrote:
>>>>>>>>
That's not what Streetwise is, though. From the Traveller book:
There's a referee example as well, but in the sake of brevity I'm leaving it
out. I do have certain problems with the description of the skill as
presented, it doesn't look like it deals solely with the *criminal*
underground, but subcultures in general.
>>>>>>>>>
Agreed, but the most common *uses* of the skill I've seen or heard
of deals with those who are, in some way, criminal. Whether they are
criminal because they are the bad guys, or because they've been
criminalized by the rest of society is another matter. Your quote
highlights the utility of the skill in knowing how to obtain contraband
goods or make shady deals as well.
Streetwise might be useful in making a deal with the stevedore gangs
in a low-class starport, while Admin skill would be used to deal with
a high-class starport executive. Bribery skill could be useful in either
case, as long as you have something to bribe with and your target
can be bribed.
(OT: I recall in TSR's "Gangbusters" prohibition-era rpg, there was a
chance (1 in 100? 1 in 36?) that any NPC would be totally honest,
and would not lie, accept a bribe or give in to criminal intimidation under
any circumstances. This could be a very serious problem for gangster
PC's, since getting such a person out of the way might require murder
- - and a standard of the fiction being played was that while racketeers and
smugglers might evade the forces of justice, these same forces would
pursue a murderer with tireless dedication.)
Walt Smith
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 11:16:39 -0500
From: "Swordy (Colin MIchael)"
Subject: Re: Hello and TNE question
Heh-heh. Yep, named "Vampire Fleets". :-p
- ----- Original Message -----
From:
> I have a TNE question...was there a "ship" book for the system? Like supp.
7 or 9 for CT?
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 02 Dec 1999 09:18:22 -0700
From: Bruce Johnson
Subject: The answer to the great 'Where does Jump Fuel go?' debate ;-)
The current Freefall:
http://www.purrsia.com/freefall/default.htm
- --
Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 10:26:35 -0600 (CST)
From: "Jason Kemp"
Subject: Re: Stopping the world...
From: Jeff Zeigler
> > What would happen if you could suddenly stop the world from spinning
> > on its axis? Assume that all physical laws remain intact, beyond the
> > one exception that someone or something could stop the Earth, or a
> > planet of your choice, from spinning.
>
> One effect you've missed. . .You'd have to dissipate or oppose all of
> the planet's rotational energy, and unless you've somehow repealed
> the laws of thermodynamics a fair amount of that energy is going to
> end up as heat. IIRC that would be enough to melt a large portion of
> the planet's rock. The oceans wouldn't just slosh, they'd flash-boil.
Good point. I had wondered about how much heat might be produced in
such an instant, but was caught up in the imagined special effects of
the empire state building shearing off and flying eastward at some
incredible speed, followed by huge super-tsunami waves destroying
both seaboards, that kind of thing. You know, the basic cinematic
end of the world level of destruction.
> Not quite. Tidally locked worlds still rotate, they just do it in step
> with their orbital motion. Of course if you want to specify that the
> world has been reduced to a tide-locked state from a state of
> rotating every 24 hours or so, the effects would be almost the
> same.
Point conceded. In the event of a true cessation of rotation, does
that mean, then the the day now equals the sidereal year? Still has
nasty effects on the ecology and weather patterns, but after the
melting of most of the planet's surface, what does it matter, right?
> I've just finished applying a rough _First In_ procedure to all 400 worlds
> of the Solomani Rim. An awful lot of those worlds are tide-locked, all
> right, but that's because they're down in canon as maintaining Earthlike
> conditions despite being in orbit around dim red dwarfs.
I'd love to see this, but I can assume it's for the GT: Solomani Rim
book you're working on, so I guess I'll just have to wait until it
comes out. :)
Looking forward to it with anticipation.
> You don't need Ancient weapons to tide-lock a world under those
> conditions. Sitting too close to a star will do it in much less
> than a billion years.
I know. I was just reaching pretty hard for an ObTrav, actually, so
that the post would somehow be Traveller-related. :)
Thanks,
Jason
=============================
Jason Kemp, ADS Programmer IV
(512)458-7111 ext. 3375
Internet Address: jason.kemp@tdh.state.tx.us
Most computer virus and email alerts are hoaxes. For more info, check out:
http://urbanlegends.miningco.com/culture/beliefs/urbanlegends/library/blhoax.htm
==============================
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 02 Dec 1999 11:29:27 -0500
From: Ian Ferguson
Subject: RE: Different Technologies
Chris Seamans writes:
>From: Ian Ferguson
>>Just my Cr 0.02: There are differences in power generating
>>plants around Terra, but most of these are either minor
>>variations on the same technology, or based on resources
>>that vary considerably in availability.
>Well, yes and no. The same idea may be at work with nuclear
>plants and coal plants, the two are very different animals.
This would be an example of approaches based on differences
in available resources. Also, while the source of heat may
be quite different, the turbines and electrical generation
will be quite similar.
>>details of some foreign cars, but almost all of them use
>>metal frames, rubber tires, and internal combustion
>>engines. That despite the wide range in environments in
>>which these vehicles must operate.
>I know you said "almost all", but if you head up north where
>there's a good deal of snow and you'll find lots of vehicles
>which use a combination of skies and treads, not rubber tires.
>These vehicles fill the same role as cars, but they're not cars.
Yup, but space is mostly the same wherever you go.
>To go a step further than that even, Buckminster Fuller designed
>the Dymaxion (sp?), a three-wheeled car that was quantifiably
>better than most cars of the time, but an unfortunate accident
>caused funding to dry up. While the Dymaxion was not radical in
>the sense that the difference between, say, using solar power on
>a starship and using fusion power would be, it's still a design
>which is different enough to be notable.
I'm right with you here. I try to work in minor differences
in tech, novel approaches to using the same tech, etc. It's
just that if your neighbour has starships that are demonstrably
superior in every way, I expect that eventually you will adopt
that technology. Just how much of a time lag there is may be
subject to debate.
>To stick with automobiles as an example, even with very similar
>technology, cars themselves can come in a variety of different
>shapes and sizes. Sometimes, as with the popularity of compact
>and sub-compact cars, the change is a result of *function*, while
>at other times the change is purely a result of aesthetics. Take
>a look at the rise in popularity of the SUV among America's
>"soccer moms".
I agree. This should be the most fertile ground for
generating differences in starship designs. Of course, even
Imperial designs should vary considerably (Presumably 4 dtons
is some sort of minimum for staterooms, but larger ones could
be installed. If one wished to complicate the rules further,
one could introduce drives that are cheeper but have lower
performance, or some saving in tonnage for skipping grav=plates
in the hallways).
>To further complicate issues, you've got things like motorcycles
>on the roads as well, which look and feel very different from
>automobiles. If everybody in America started to drive motorcycles,
>for whatever reason, the country would look and feel quite different.
>So, even using the same core technology, you can have any number of
>permutations which, in most cases, are functionally different in a
>quantifiable way.
I am in complete agreement.
>These are above and beyond *mere* differences in tech levels.
Yup, a whole 'nuther kettle of fish.
>One thing that's interesting, which nobody has mentioned yet,
>which is not surprising given the rational and optimization-happy
>nature of this list, is that something which may be functionally
>and quantifiably better may be, for whatever reason, unpopular, or
>the idea might not catch on. Look at the Betamax / VHS brawl, as
>an example,
Consumer goods are driven by a number of things, not least
of which is standardization. There is no doubt that this
consideration would influence the use of technologies, but
there are limits. Can you imagine an airline insisting on
using propeller-driven aircraft for transatlantic flights?
At best, a very small market might be found for 'nostalgia'
flights, but jets are the way to go for long-distance
travel. The fact that prop planes are still practical for
short hauls does not mitigate this.
>Fax machines owe their popularity in the 80s and 90s not to their
>being "better" than other forms of technology,
I don't follow this. To what other forms of technology are
you refering?
>So, even on a single planet it's quite possible to have many
>different approaches to a problem. People's priorities can also
>be very different. While many on this list may lean toward
>optimization, most people *don't*. Tradition and industrial
>inertia are very powerful forces, even for those of us who aren't
>Vilani.
Agreed, but I still don't see radically different technologies
being dominant in different areas on Terra. Sailing vessels
are not widely used to transport goods. Nor are derigables.
>In some cases, even very brilliant people can't think far enough
>"outside the box" to see that there may be a different way of doing
>something. The rise in popularity of "alternative medicines" in the
>West is a good example. Acupuncture, which just came up on the list
>in another discussion, is quite different from other methods of
>dealing with certain medical problems.
Hmmmm... let's not go there.
>Similarly, the difference between the therapy dominated field of
>psychology and the empirical approach of psychiatry are really
>very different. I could go on and on, but I think that I've made
>my point. ;)
Me too. ;)
Peez
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 03 Dec 1999 00:46:01 +0800
From: Nattrass
Subject: Re: Hello and TNE question
>Heh-heh. Yep, named "Vampire Fleets". :-p
barely
that suppliment contained 1 ship with its floor plans
unless of course u are talking about a suppliment in which the ship can be a pc
but the best suppliment for ship's I'd have to say is "Brilliant Lances"
many low end ships from tl 12-15
In my talons I shape clay.....
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 11:05:51 -0600
From: ehenry@newberlin.org (Eric Henry)
Subject: Re: Hello and TNE question
I give, what was the big deal about TNE that nobody liked it? Certainly
Brilliant Lances and Battle Rider are derived works and cool to read if not
necessarily play.
- -----Original Message-----
From: Qstor@aol.com
To: traveller@lists.imagiconline.com
Date: Thursday, December 02, 1999 10:31 AM
Subject: Hello and TNE question
>Hi all, I'm back after a few months absence. I was previosuly subscribed
under mmckeown@hotmail. I just voted on Mark Millers site for favorite
traveller system..I found I was in the distinct MINORITY :)
>
>
>I have a TNE question...was there a "ship" book for the system? Like supp.
7 or 9 for CT?
>
>Thanks..happy holidays to all!
>Mike
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 09:06:55 -0800 (PST)
From: Anthony Jackson
Subject: Re: Bifrost-class Solar Shuttle (GTL9)
Leonard Erickson writes:
> >
> > p.17 "Starsailing: Solar Sails and Interstellar Travel" by Louis Freidman
>
> Try telling that to the magsail folks! :-)
Magsails are non-physical, and several orders of magnitude larger than solar sails.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 12:07:53 -0500
From: "Chris Seamans"
Subject: Re: Bribery Skill
From: Walter Smith
> Agreed, but the most common *uses* of the skill I've seen or heard
> of deals with those who are, in some way, criminal. Whether they are
> criminal because they are the bad guys, or because they've been
> criminalized by the rest of society is another matter. Your quote
> highlights the utility of the skill in knowing how to obtain contraband
> goods or make shady deals as well.
Well, traditionally the background of Traveller is one in which the most
common subcultures will generally be things like organized crime
organizations and revolutionary groups, so it makes sense that these would
be the most common uses, especially to a game that has a strong focus on
merchant and mercenary style campaigns.
> (OT: I recall in TSR's "Gangbusters" prohibition-era rpg, there was a
> chance (1 in 100? 1 in 36?) that any NPC would be totally honest,
> and would not lie, accept a bribe or give in to criminal intimidation
under
> any circumstances.
That's interesting! I might snag it for my own use ;)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 17:07:31 +0000
From: Martin Hardgrave
Subject: Re: Superpowers
In message , SD Mooney
writes
>Originally, the plan was to use coal from local sources, but
>it was realised that the natural radiation levels of the coal would
>set off all the site external alarms if any dust blew around.
Not dust, but combustion gases.
- --
Martin Hardgrave
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 17:10:11 +0000
From: "Dr. Nik"
Subject: YKYBPTMTW...
... You wake up the day after your 34th birthday and think 'Oh my God!
Next year I start making ageing rolls!'
Nik
- --------------------------------------------------------------
Nik Whitehead C885587-B S zh++ as+ da+ kk-- A 224
sharik@barrayar.demon.co.uk http://www.barrayar.demon.co.uk
Having the moral high ground is good.
Having the moral high ground and a meson gun is better.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 09:15:01 -0800 (PST)
From: Terry Mixon
Subject: Re: Stopping the world...
- --- Jason Kemp wrote:
> What would happen if you could suddenly stop the world from spinning
> on its axis? Assume that all physical laws remain intact, beyond the
> one exception that someone or something could stop the Earth, or a
> planet of your choice, from spinning.
>
> First, the obvious answer that most people come up with is "Everybody
> falls down." Yes, and so do buildings, vegetation, certain terrain
> types, etc. Suddenly the world stops, but inertia keeps you going at
> an incredible rate. (My best friend quoted something around 900
> miles per second, but I don't have the figures to back it up.
> That's one hell of a skinned knee.)
My rough calculations indicate a more "sedate" rate. On the equator,
the circumference of the Earth is 24854.848 miles, give or take. The
Earth rotates once in about 23.933333333 hours. So I figure the
speed at close to 1038.503398 miles an hour.
Unless I am totally offbase.
And as you move away from the equator, the speed will drop. At the
poles, the effect would be almost negligible.
> Creatures and/or technological devices in flight would be tossed,
> tumbling, through the air in the direction of the previous rotation
> of the planet as the atmosphere suddenly scoured the planet's
> surface, continuing to move that direction due to inertia as well.
> Assuming that aerodynamic flight could not be reestablished once the
> device starts flipping nose over tail, wing over wing, in a chaotic
> tumble, most of these devices would probably crash. I'm not sure how
> well gravitic devices could recover from the disorientation of being
> slammed by an atmosphere that was suddenly moving at the planet's
> former rotation speed while the planet has stopped.
I am not so certain that craft in the air would be affected so badly.
The air around the craft would still be going the same rough speed
in relation to the craft. The ground stopped, not the air or the craft.
The ground would whiz by though and flying objects would be a hazard.
That and mountains. The effects would be more pronounced near
the ground.
> One of the effects of this would be the pushing of the planet
> outside it's former plane of orbit about its primary/star. For
> Earth, that means that the world would start moving in a northerly
> direction, out of the plane it used to orbit in. Someone on the
> south pole at the time the world's rotation was stopped would be
> launched into the air, as the world started moving north out of the
> plane of revolution at a high rate of speed, relatively. Someone of
> the north pole would be slammed to the ground at a relatively high
> rate of speed, for much the same reason. (This is according to my
> friend. I personally have doubts on this point, at least as far
> as the person standing on either pole being so dramatically
> affected by the shift in direction of planet movement.)
North? If it moves out of its orbit at all, which I will have to
think about, I would expect that would change perpendicular to the
actual plane of that orbit, ie the equator. Thus, no matter what
direction, in or out, it would depend on where things were in the
day/night rotation. I do not have any facts on if the rotation of
the earth adds or subtracts from it's orbital period but I would
feel safe in saying that it does not add/subtract enough to change
the orbit very much at all. Everybody? Am I off base on this?
> My apologies if you do not find this an interesting diversion or
> thought exercise, at least momentarily. I now return you to your
> regularly scheduled thread of choice, already in progress.
I like the mental challenge that this one provoked. Thanks.
Terry
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. All in one place.
Yahoo! Shopping: http://shopping.yahoo.com
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 09:16:28 -0800 (PST)
From: Anthony Jackson
Subject: Re: GS3/3 Solar Sails
Leonard Erickson writes:
>
> Actually, there's another problem (potential). You need to sanity check
> the figures for the sail mass.
Shrug...400 lb/square mile, or .07 grams/square meter, or 7e-6 grams/square centimeter. Assuming water density, 7 angstroms thick.
Considering such other GTL-9 abominations as monowire and construction foam (construction foam is fast-hardening foam that's firm enough to walk on. It has a density, if inflated, of about .0005) it fits well enough with the GURPS technology. Of course, both of these technologies might be unavailable in GT.
> And mass has to be above (way above!) 2.28 tons per space (250 mi^2).
It is. 22x greater.
>
> >>A 1-space (490T) TL-8 sail is 15 square miles with a thrust of 0.038T (it
> >>has marginally lower thrust); maximum area is 3,600 square miles (240
> >>modules)
>
> And it must mass above .137 tons per space (15 mi^2).
>
> --
> Leonard Erickson (aka Shadow)
> shadow@krypton.rain.com <--preferred
> leonard@qiclab.scn.rain.com <--last resort
>
>
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 12:13:20 -0500
From: Walter Smith
Subject: re: Different Technologies
Some ways I try to make ships of different races (or even regions)
vary from each other: customs and regulations. Here are some examples
of ways I've used to make ships different, from different regions,
species or organizations:
All vessels above 200dtns (or some other arbitrary limit) must have
sufficient lifeboats to carry all passengers and crew, or cannot be
licensed to carry passengers in Imperial(or other) space.
All jump-capable ships, even small ones, must be unstreamlined
to prevent their landing on planets[1], or because the particular variant
of jump drive technology used behaves badly when exposed to
planetary landings[2]. (I have a 200dtn, jump-1 trading ship design that
carries a 95dtn shuttlecraft for when I was experimenting with this idea.)
Misjumps are to be feared. Only the most desperate crewman will serve
on a ship unless it has sufficient low berths/emergency low berths
available at all times to allow everyone to go into hibernation in the rare
case of a misjump to interstellar space or a fuelless system.
Passengers with criminal intent are a very serious threat to the safety
of a starship. Passenger areas are on seperate decks, and are widely
seperated from areas containing any important ship functions. There are
no vital areas a crewman needs to access during flight that require a
crewman to enter the passenger areas, unless the crewman is specifically
seeing to passenger needs. The passenger area probably also has
it's own exterior access (airlock or small craft dock), so the passengers
can board and disembark from the ship without ever entering most of it.
No one boards a starship unless they are in the same service or company
as that operating the starship, or are there as allies of the starship
operators (such as contract employees or hired specialists). There is
virtually no distinction between passenger areas and crew areas, and
"passengers" are usually given appropriate shipboard duties during
the voyage.
While most starports have sufficient support craft, no serious merchant
vessel will place it's cargo handling ability entirely in the hands of each
planet's shuttle service. Nearly all merchant vessels will have their own
small craft, with at least some ability to transfer passengers and cargo
from orbit to planet. Your High Passengers want to disembark *now*, not
when the local shuttle pilot strike is over. Also, if enough merchant
vessels have some small craft capability, it will help control the power of
each planet's shuttle pilot groups to increase rates.
Some manufacturing, engineering or facilities limitation places a
maximum practical size on ships that can be landed - perhaps 1000dtns
or so. Even when the limitation is overcome, it may be some time
before shipbuilding customs or common landing facilities make larger,
landable ships a useful design philosophy.
Just some ideas...variations in design philosophy, rather than
strictly the technology involved.
Walt Smith
[1] Say the polity in question is surrounded by worlds that lack jump
drives, and wants to ensure that a jump drive will never be landed
on a planet and seized.
[2] In Alan Dean Foster's Flinx(sp?) series, no ship with a stardrive
could land on a planet without wrecking the drive and a good chunk of
the planet. Everyone knew this to be true. Then the hero met some
aliens who didn't know it couldn't be done, and their mathematical
prodigies made it work, but only made one for Flinx...
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 09:19:13 -0800 (PST)
From: Anthony Jackson
Subject: Re: power generation technologies
Steven Hudson writes:
> While we're on the subject (or at least close), would anyone care
> to explain why SF games almost always assume that anti-matter is a
> power supply system that doesn't need an ultimate source of fuel?
Because antimatter fuel plants are 'background' information, not something you generally put on board your ship?
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 09:39:34 -0800
From: "Wayne Ewart"
Subject: Re: Stopping the world...
>
> > What would happen if you could suddenly stop the world from spinning
> > on its axis? Assume that all physical laws remain intact, beyond the
> > one exception that someone or something could stop the Earth, or a
> > planet of your choice, from spinning.
> >
This made me think of another RPG that came out about ten years ago, TORG.
In the books that came out at the same time (I don't have the books any more
and the names escape me but it was a three book trilogy) one of the bad guys
was slowly (over about a months time) slowing down the earth's spin. The
effect was a slow but steady increase/decrease of temps, daylight/night
fall, and extreme weather. End result was a small ribbon in the twilight
zone that was not harm full to life. If anyone can remember the detials (the
books names, ect..), please jump in.
Wayne
wewart@home.com
icq22113294
http://www.members.home.net/wewart/wewart/traveller/
"It is by caffeine alone that I set my mind in motion,
By the beans of Java, my thoughts acquire speed,
The hands acquire the shakes, the shakes become a warning,
It is by caffeine alone that I set my mind in motion."
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 13:02:08 -0500
From: "Chris Seamans"
Subject: Re: Different Technologies
From: Walter Smith
To: 'TML'
Sent: Thursday, December 02, 1999 12:13 PM
Subject: re: Different Technologies
> Some ways I try to make ships of different races (or even regions)
> vary from each other: customs and regulations. Here are some examples
> of ways I've used to make ships different, from different regions,
> species or organizations:
Throwing some of my own ideas into the mix:
A serious human tragedy due to poor safety features causes the local
interstellar polity to crack down on safety requirements for passenger
carrying ships. This could be a real problem for ship owning characters who
might have to foot the bill to add things like lifeboats, or to take out
things, like flammable panels in the passenger and crew compartments, or
install an extensive, and expensive, safety system of another sort.
A secondary form of interstellar travel can be added which is cheaper or
more fuel efficient than standard Jump Drives, but which is slower than even
Jump-1. Such a drive would not seriously impact the game world, but could be
used for local flavor as certain races might use such a design for bulk, low
priority shipping.
Jump Drives, in and of themselves, can be modified slightly. Add a few hours
to transit time to simulate cheap drives, knock a few off to simulate more
expensive, optimized drives. Similarly, fuel consumption can be varied, or
alternate methods of power generation for Jump Drives can be employed, like
the Annic Nova. A more detailed system for misjump calculation can be
employed, and the drives of different races, or companies, or polities might
have slightly different chances to misjump.
There might be some degree of difficulty in applying parts for a more
expensive or exotic version of Jump Drive. Canonically, it is said that the
Droyne make excellent hand crafter Jump Drives, while the first try of the
Hivers was inferior to "standard" drives. The same core technology may be
there with regard to jump drives, but the actual application could well be
different.
Apply drawbacks to technologies like reactionless thrusters and
contra-gravity. This might explain why certain races or cultures might
prefer another form of technology. There were some good ideas along these
lines in the original Fire, Fusion & Steel. One of the ones that I liked
quite a bit was "mass displacement" as a drawback / advantage for
contra-gravity.
------------------------------
End of Traveller-digest V1999 #1428
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