Traveller-digest      Sunday, October 3 1999      Volume 1999 : Number 1155



(R)1996. Traveller is a registered trademark of FarFuture Enterprises.
All rights reserved.

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Re: Traveller Versions 
Re: Shionthy too
Re: Re TNE/Nth RFW
Re TNE/Nth RFW
Re: Bagpipes (was: Re: Gurkhas - Correction)
Re: GURPS rules.
(OT) Re: GURPS rules. 
LBB's
[none]
[none]
Re: Bagpipes (was: Re: Gurkhas - Correction)
Re: (OT) Re: GURPS rules. 
Re: Traveller Versions 
Book 8 (was: Re: Traveller versions)
Re: Traveller Versions
Re: Annic Nova...
Re: Annic Nova
[BITS] 3 October 1999 - website update

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sat, 02 Oct 1999 16:36:18 -0900
From: Peter Newman <pnewman@gci.net>
Subject: Re: Traveller Versions 

"Stuart Ferris" <stuart.ferris@virgin.net> wrote

> So much material in Traveller is nothing more than a
> rehash of existing rules. I realise that this is a necessity, with the
> current state of affairs, as each version of Traveller introduces new
> players, but if they could create a stable version and run with this for
> more than a couple of years this wouldn't be a problem. How about something
> original for a change?

What i have noticed is that any time you anyone
tries to write anything _new_ for Traveller the
continuity (I'm not brave enough to use the other c
word) freaks (you know who you are) get upset.
Every last bit of all past GDW detail (except
for the parts _they_ disagree with of course)
has to be just so.

This includes not just background can** but
also rules can**; any result which was possible 
under their favorite version of Traveller must be 
possible under all new versions of Traveller
or the new version is wrong.

To these sorts of people if, for example,
under CT it was just barely possible for an
unarmored character to survive a direct hit from
a FGMP-15 (damage 15d6) then to these people
any future FGMP-15 for which it is not just
barely possible (although quite unlikely) for
an unarmored character to survive a direct
hit than the new FGMP is wrong and whoever
designed it is screwing up Traveller.

Of course these same people tend to bitch a
lot about Traveller design sequences not
matching "reality".  If the firearm they
used in the military massed 8 kilos and the
FFS equivalent weighs 14 kilos then FFS is
broken and they have to bitch about that too.

I am not really sure that I would _want_ to
redo anything already covered in can** _or_
do anything new since I would get bitched at
either way.  Instead it may be best to design
things that were mentioned but not detailed
in past canon.  It is just safer that way.

For example when I wanted my new Traveller
character to have green hair I told the GM
the character was Darmine.  Can** never
said what color hair the Darmine had so 
this worked well.

For four years now I have been able to develop
the Darmine as I see fit.  If I want to explain
the fact that the reason the Darmine tend toward
obsessive compulsive disorder is that their
bodies chelate away the massive amounts of heavy
metals on their home world, Ishag (density of 1.7).
A very small amount of this heavy metal ends up
in the fat myelinating the nerve cells in their 
brain.  Since the copper makes electrical
connectivity higher it is easier for connective
pathways to form in the brain and the brain tends
to be more likely to want to repeat actions.

Now this explanation might be attacked on medical
or psychological grounds but no one is going to be
able to say that the existence of the Darmine is not
can** or that the version I have developed conflicts
with established can**.  Established can** on the
Darmine is about 40 words and does not include any
biology.

Of course of GT: Alien Races Minor Races comes out and
includes a different version of the Darmine I will
be upset.

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 02:50:04 +0200 (METDST)
From: Hans Rancke-Madsen <rancke@diku.dk>
Subject: Re: Shionthy too

I wrote:

>But since Marc Miller has stated on the TML that Shionthy was the location
>of Eskaloyt, that has to be a mistake. I don't have my copy of _Droyne_
>here, but IIRC it states what range Eskaloyt's sun must have fallen into.
>Shionthy's sun must fall into that range. I'll check when I get home.
 
Eskaloyt's sun is thought to have been between an F2 V and an F7 V. Since
_Regency Sourcebook_ changed a number of M-type stars to other types by
substituting an F, G, or K for the M and retaining the number, I'd
suggest that Shionthy's star ought to be an F4 V.


      Hans Rancke
University of Copenhagen
     rancke@diku.dk
- ------------
        "The referee should determine the nature of subsequent
         events based on the individual situation."
                                _76 Patrons_, p. 8

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 02 Oct 1999 18:05:04 -0700
From: "Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella" <xrp@sierratel.com>
Subject: Re: Re TNE/Nth RFW

> It was almost as if someone took my MacOS 8.5 system and I
> switched on the next day to find Windows NT 4.

Oh, thank you. Now I can have a real good nightmare tonight. ;)

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 21:53:56 -0400
From: "Terry Carlino" <carlino@home.com>
Subject: Re TNE/Nth RFW

>>In the
>>process he once again imposed his own, very different, view of Traveller
on
>>a large number of GMs running CT/MT campaigns at the time, and who had
been
>>repeatedly promised by GDW a place very similar to the classic Imperium to
>>ease the transition to the new era.

>He imposed nothing on anybody, since I must missed those days when the GDW
>shock troops went from door to door forcing Traveller players to use the
TNE
>materials in their campaigns.

In the hope of muffling this oft repeated Flame War let me attempt to
arbitrate by translating. I believe what the first poster was really trying
to say was: Once GDW instituted the TNE changes it was pretty much insuring
that no new CT/MT material would be produced. GDW did not have the resources
to support two different Traveller games. No one had to use the TNE
materials in their game, of course. It was just guaranteed that they
wouldn't have any new published material in their game either.

A GM could split off his campaign at any point in the time line.
Pre-Rebellion, Post Rebellion, or Post Virus. No matter what though, thanks
to the demise of GDW the GM is on his/her own. TNE storyline was never
finished either. So at it's core no one is happy with the outcome. CT's
don't like the Rebellion, MT's don't like Virus and TNE's don't like not
knowing what the hell the Empress Wave is.

Terry C

All that is Gold does not glitter
Not all who travel are lost

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 22:47:11 -0400
From: "William Beatty" <wgbeatty@onlink.net>
Subject: Re: Bagpipes (was: Re: Gurkhas - Correction)

I agree!!  There is something very stirring deep down in you when you hear
the bagpipes

William Beatty

 >> Banned by the TU equivalent of the Geneva Convention shurely?
> >>
> >Only by you hethans who do not know the sounds and songs of god when you
> >hear it.
>
> You said it!  There's nothing that the massed pipes and drums to make you
> want to go invade something, preferably northern England.
>
> My Marines use pipes.  Mostly it's a tradition thing, but the effect
pipers
> in a small starship have on Naval crew is a big plus.
>

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 22:13:20 -0500
From: "Joseph R. Dietrich" <yikes@evansville.net>
Subject: Re: GURPS rules.

> >But I did get a look at SJG's Werewolf, and Steve apparently knows how to
> hire a >team of editors. I wish the mechanics of GURPs was more enjoyable,
> but they >drive me nuts.
>
> The best thing about GURPS rules is that everything (practically) is
> optional.

The biggest problem I have with the GURPS system is the enormous numbers you
have to play with when dealing with things like high-tech, large-scale
weapons. I prefer something of a more logarithmic system (i.e. smaller
numbers ... didn't David Pulver come up with something like this once?). For
me, figuring 6d x 10,000 damage vs. 128,000 DR or whatever, then figuring
the remaining damage against various components is a little onerous. Not to
mention figuring up all the modifiers based on range, speed, size, targeting
computers, weapon accuracy, etc. just to make a hit roll.

AFAIK, there is no alternate "to hit" and "damage" sequence in the rules.

But this is *purely* personal preference, because I don't like to play with
a calculator while running a game, and I am weak at doing quick math in my
head. And, while I don't like to play GURPS, I do like to mine it
extensively for use in the rules that I do use.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 02 Oct 1999 21:10:20 -0700
From: "Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella" <xrp@sierratel.com>
Subject: (OT) Re: GURPS rules. 

> But this is *purely* personal preference, because I don't like to play with
> a calculator while running a game, and I am weak at doing quick math in my
> head. And, while I don't like to play GURPS, I do like to mine it
> extensively for use in the rules that I do use.

Yes, I mentioned something along these lines, I believe on another list
(Trav Deckplans? AGL?), and got the comment that GURPs had only four
attributes. I had no idea how to explain my problem, but I think you got it.
There may be only four /basic/ attributes, but, IIRC, there are scads of
*derived* attributes that are calculated using those four and maybe some
other things. The big numbers, although somewhat ungainly, can have the
zeros dropped and then replaced when done, but that is another step. And a
reason I prefer CT with it's tidy little scores. ;) I see that White Wolf
pared down their Renown scores in their second edition of Werewolf. I was
surpised at the first set of rules, as everything else avoided mile long
numbers. It seemed reminiscent of AD&D's experience system. But now it is
much more elegant. I did get First In and Far Trader, as I figured it was
quite alright having such a gearhead ruleset for creating steller systems
and handling commerce. The players never deal with that part directly, so
the fact the systems are *completely* different is not an issue.

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 00:45:25 -0400 (EDT)
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@gci.net>
Subject: LBB's

>*clears throat*
>
>I believe you meant to say "Books 1 thru _6_"....  ;-)
>
>(I have never looked at Books 7 or 8, so I don't know what utility they
>may have.)
>
>- --
For the unititiated (or forgetful), a brief bibliography of CT and it's
carryforward materials to MT:
Bks 1-3 are the basic rules set
Bk1 Characters and Combat
Bk2 Starships
Bk3 Worlds and Travel
Bks 4-8 are expansion material
Bk4 Mercenary
(Adv CGen for Army and Marine, more weapons, Q&D mass combat abstraction)
Bk5 High Guard
(Adv CGen for Imp, Sect, SS, and System Navies, advanced ship building rules)
Bk6 Scouts
(Adv CGen for scouts. Expanded System Generation)
Bk7 Merchant Prince
(Adv CGen for Merchants (Free Trader, SS lines, Sector Lines, Megacorp
lines) and bulk-goods style trade rules)
Bk8 Robots
(Robot design rules, and robots as pc's rules; GDW branded DGP work)

Striker (Bks 1-3, boxed set, CT Minis combat rules for ground forces)
Bk1 Rules
Bk2 Advanced Rules
Bk3 Equipment

Snapshot (boxed, several formats)
(CT Bk1 combat rules presented as a boardgame)

Mayday (boxed)
(CT Bk2 starship combat adapted to hex-grid)

Azhanti High Lightning (Big flat box)
Azanti High Lightning
(striker combat adapted to square-grid boardgame)
Supplement 5 Lightning Class Cruisers
(Explains the deckplans and ships of the AHL class also in the box)

Supplements with rules:
Supp4 Citizens of the Imperium (12 new careers)

Adventures with major Rules bits:
Adv3 Twighlight's Peak
(Droyne Generation Rules, supplanted by an AM)
Adv 5? Trillion Credit Squadron
(Campaign rules for small astro-naval wars)

Just for reference, MT included the Bk4-7 Adv CGen rules, and the Bk 6&7
materials in the basic materials, and slightly expanded Bk1 CGen... with
parsonal combat being a hybrid of Bk 2 and Striker/AHL. Ship combat is a
gridded version of Bk5 HG combat. MT also has a workable mass combat system
in the Ref's Companion... it works with almost all scales of combat, if you
are willing to do the math. It also included Supp8 and Supp 11 (Library
Data).

William F. Hostman  |  "Smith & Wesson: THe original Point and Click
interface!"
Aramis 0602 C55A364-C S kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge-
533
Mailto:aramis@gci.net http://home.gci.net/~aramis http://www.alaska.net/~mhaa
ICQ:14640742          AIM:AKAramis	ARM 1.0: 3 R H++ P+
IMTU 1.0: tc tm++ tn- t4-- tt+ to- tg-- ru+ ge 3i+ c+ jt-() au+ st- ls
pi+() ta+ he+(-) kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge- pi+

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 00:55:22 -0400 (EDT)
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@gci.net>
Subject: [none]

>William F. Hostman writes:
>
>>According to the original solicitations to my FLGS [...], [2300 AD] was
>>originally supposed to be set in the Traveller Universe.... in 2300 AD (vs
>>5600AD for then ruling CT...).
>
>Are you sure your FLGS owner didn't misunderstand the original information?
>_Traveller 2300_ quite obviously didn't belong to the Traveller timeline,
>and I believe GDW got a lot of (well-deserved) flack from people who had
>quite naturally assumed from the name that it would. As I understand it,
>that was the reason for the name change.

The original solicitations read something to the effect of "2000 years
before the 3rd Imperium"... I was shown the solicitation. Whether the error
was at the distributor's level or not, it was common and widespread on
wwivnet, too. When it came out, the solicitations had changed, and the ads
made no reference to the CT setting.

William F. Hostman  |  "Smith & Wesson: THe original Point and Click
interface!"
Aramis 0602 C55A364-C S kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge-
533
Mailto:aramis@gci.net http://home.gci.net/~aramis http://www.alaska.net/~mhaa
ICQ:14640742          AIM:AKAramis	ARM 1.0: 3 R H++ P+
IMTU 1.0: tc tm++ tn- t4-- tt+ to- tg-- ru+ ge 3i+ c+ jt-() au+ st- ls
pi+() ta+ he+(-) kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge- pi+

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 01:14:23 -0400 (EDT)
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@gci.net>
Subject: [none]

Chris Seamens quoth me replying to somebody else thusly:
>>>I still can't understand why maintaining the nobility in the post-Third
>>>Imperium TNE universe seems so important to some people.
>>
>>It is part of the feel of Traveller, especially CT.
>
>There are alot of things that are part of the feel of Traveller. That still
>doesn't explain why maintaining the nobility is so important.

In essence, in CT and MT, the imperial government effeectively IS the
nobility. Dukes rule subsectors. Archdukes RULE domains (at least once
reinstated). Most subsectors have dukes ruleing them. Based upon Bk5, there
are also spearate navies at these levels, too. Obviously there are some
bureacracratic organizations to hadle some aspects, but the Dukes, at
least, ARE the imperial government.

>>GDW *PROMISED* an area
>>where CT/MT's 3rd Imp CONTINUES ON, not where democracy eliminates the
>>nobility. GDW Lied.
>
>So something can't continue on but also change?

See above... the level of change changed the nature of the government of
CT, and blocked quite a few CT style adventures. I think Mr. Nilsen went
WAY TOO far.

>
>>>That's strange. I thought that Virus actually was the resolution of the
>>>Rebellion storyline, at least as the resolution was imagined by GDW.
>>
>>No, it wasn't a resolution, but a means of wiping the slate clear... and
>>there is a difference.
>
>Yes. It was a resolution. The issue of the Rebellion was resolved. However,
>instead of trying to redefine the concept of resolution, you simply say it
>was a resolution you didn't like, or found implausible.
>
Did it really resolve anything? No. The rebellion setting is one about
fighting for what you believe in.

More literally, the virus was a tool to end - without resolving - the
rebellion.  Resolution implies bringing clarity and or vision and or
completion. If TNE had simply left the imperium shattered into many pieces,
it would have been a resolution... not one I would have liked, but it would
have continued the story. Virus is pure deus ex machina to undo the entire
history.


>Personally, I'm not going to go there, and you won't here a peep from me if
>you said you don't like the way it was handled. I don't consider myself an
>arbiter of taste.
>
>>Hard times was a continuing resolution; it continued
>>the thematic elements of the civil war, the madness of lucan, the
>>destruction of life, and the hardships and hopes of a resored 3i.
>
>
>You do realize that with the change of only few words your statement
>concerning Hard Times can be applied to TNE from the RC view.

I have been aware of that... but it is not dramaturgically correct to do so...

>"TNE was a continuing resolution; it continued the thematic elements of the
>civil war, the madness of lucan, the destruction of life, and the hardships
>and hopes of a restored 3i."

anything can be said, but when said is it truthful?

As I recall, the TNE rulebook says very little about the continuing
thematic elements... those were all in Survival Margin.

>>TNE, and Virus were seen by many (effectively everyone I know FTF who's
>>conversant with traveller) as a way of saying "It doesn't matter who should
>>have won, who would have won or how, we're just going to do something
>>entirely new, and coopt you into buying it because it has the Traveller
>>name."
>
>
>I always thought that Mr. Nilsen's opinion was that nobody would have won;
>the strife in the Third Imperium was simply too widespread.
>
Yes, it was... but I don't blame Mr. Nilson alone... I blame him for the
changes to the Domain of Deneb... but virus was a GDW decision, not a Dave
Nilson decision. Eradicating the Nobility as Government in the Regency,
that was Mr. Nilson, and he changed the setting to be a parody of the CT
setting.

BTW, my apologies if I used the wrong spelling of anybody's name...

William F. Hostman  |  "Smith & Wesson: THe original Point and Click
interface!"
Aramis 0602 C55A364-C S kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge-
533
Mailto:aramis@gci.net http://home.gci.net/~aramis http://www.alaska.net/~mhaa
ICQ:14640742          AIM:AKAramis	ARM 1.0: 3 R H++ P+
IMTU 1.0: tc tm++ tn- t4-- tt+ to- tg-- ru+ ge 3i+ c+ jt-() au+ st- ls
pi+() ta+ he+(-) kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge- pi+

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 04:09:08 +0100
From: "Matthew Bond" <mgb@akira.swinternet.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Bagpipes (was: Re: Gurkhas - Correction)

- -----Original Message-----
From: William Beatty <wgbeatty@onlink.net>
To: traveller@lists.imagiconline.com <traveller@lists.imagiconline.com>
Date: 03 October 1999 03:49
Subject: Re: Bagpipes (was: Re: Gurkhas - Correction)


>I agree!!  There is something very stirring deep down in you when you hear
>the bagpipes
>
>William Beatty


Och aye! The skirl o' the pipes...

Matt

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 02:51:24 -0000
From: "Chris Seamans" <semo@pil.net>
Subject: Re: (OT) Re: GURPS rules. 

- -----Original Message-----
From: Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella <xrp@sierratel.com>
To: traveller@lists.imagiconline.com <traveller@lists.imagiconline.com>
Date: Sunday, October 03, 1999 4:13 AM
Subject: (OT) Re: GURPS rules.


>Yes, I mentioned something along these lines, I believe on another list
>(Trav Deckplans? AGL?), and got the comment that GURPs had only four
>attributes.

Traveller Culture. You had said that there were too many numbers involved in
character creation. Joseph's problem seems to be one with combats with
*really big* weapons.

>I had no idea how to explain my problem, but I think you got it.
>There may be only four /basic/ attributes, but, IIRC, there are scads of
>*derived* attributes that are calculated using those four and maybe some
>other things. The big numbers, although somewhat ungainly, can have the
>zeros dropped and then replaced when done, but that is another step.

There are hardly "scads" of derived attributes, and the derivations
themselves are very straightforward.

I'd be really surprised, at least with the various GURPS rules I've come
into contact with, to see any attributes that would require the use of the
kind of numbers that you are talking about.

The kind of numbers that Joseph was talking about, in fact, seem to be a
little bit of hyperbole to prove a point. The numbers he was talking about
seem more along the lines of the Death Star blowing up a planet; numbers
that are so high that they throw the system out of whack.

Still, it is a valid complaint, really big combats are meant to be handled
differently than person to person combats. In all cases of larger combats
that I can think of, there is a different rule, usually included either in
the sourcebook that the campaign is using or Compendium 2.

That's why I'm really kind of baffled. I hate doing anything but the
simplest math in my head, and yet I've strangely never felt that I needed to
be a human calculator to play. I'm not saying that GURPS is perfect, by any
means. However, if people want to attack its faults, attack its actual
faults and weaknesses. They do exist and they're not hard to find.

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 02:57:51 -0000
From: "Chris Seamans" <semo@pil.net>
Subject: Re: Traveller Versions 

- -----Original Message-----
From: Peter Newman <pnewman@gci.net>
To: traveller@lists.imagiconline.com <traveller@lists.imagiconline.com>
Date: Sunday, October 03, 1999 12:43 AM
Subject: Re: Traveller Versions


>What i have noticed is that any time you anyone
>tries to write anything _new_ for Traveller the
>continuity (I'm not brave enough to use the other c
>word) freaks (you know who you are) get upset.
>Every last bit of all past GDW detail (except
>for the parts _they_ disagree with of course)
>has to be just so.


Nah, GDW's details can be scrapped. It's DGP's details that are important.
;)

<much of Pete's commentary snipped>

The sad (yet strangely amusing) part is that you're absolutely right. Your
characterization is quite on target. However, I suspect you hit a number of
people a little too close to home. I can lend you an asbestos suit if you'd
like. ;)

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 03:18:09 EDT
From: GypsyComet@aol.com
Subject: Book 8 (was: Re: Traveller versions)

><< (I have never looked at Books 7 or 8, so I don't know what utility they
 >may have.) >>
>
>I like 'em although people on the list said the merchie' rules in #7 were 
>seriously screwed. Book #8 Robots is nice, although I think it's repeated 
>somewhere (FF+E?)....
>

 Feh. Book 8's color text is fine, but any attempt to use the design system 
reveals its huge omissions and descriptive gaps. This book was a test run by 
the DGP crowd for their thorough mangling of MT's design systems, and boy 
does it show. Stick with the system from the first four issues of JTAS (also 
to be found in Best of JTAS, Vol 1) or jump to Vampire Fleets for TNE.

GC (Gearhead since Book 2)

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 03 Oct 1999 01:18:14 -0700
From: shudson@lightspeed.bc.ca (Steven Hudson)
Subject: Re: Traveller Versions

>From: SD Mooney <dom@cybergoths.u-net.com>
>Subject: Re: Traveller Versions
...
>Book 8 is Robots and not really relevant as a core system. Striker is
>equally applicable.

  Are you suggesting that "Striker" _isn't_ really relevant?

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 18:45:46 +1000
From: "The Roc" <roc@kewl.com.au>
Subject: Re: Annic Nova...

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Craig Berry <cberry@cinenet.net>
To: <traveller@lists.imagiconline.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 03, 1999 8:30 AM
Subject: Re: Annic Nova


> > From: Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella <xrp@sierratel.com>
> > Sent: Saturday, October 02, 1999 2:30 PM
> >
> > I just recalled some more clues (from memory of course...)
> >
> > *A hydroponic vegetation deck (for food I'd assumed, but nothing was
ever
> > said was there?).  Fresh vegies or research?  Perhaps it was a yacht??
>
> It always 'felt' like a yacht to me.  Not much cargo space, no obvious
> major weapons or armor, no lab space or large sensor arrays, lots of
> living space...hard to read it as anything other than a pleasure craft.
>

Yep, the yacht thing always struck me too, just needed someone else to
confirm it (When I started Trav, there were precious few GM's of the game
and I never got on the right track myself, and had no-one to confirm my
doubts/thoughts... and I always thought GDW would write something about it
in a JTAS article and they never did--a clear cut case of not pursuing my
own ideas incase I invalidated something official that may be printed later,
a common game system fault I have).

> > **How about the little toy robot that every player I ran through the
game
> > shot and killed (errrr, destroyed :)  What shape was that?
>
> Wish I still had the supplement to check.  I seem to recall it as
> humanoid.
>
> > ***The drawing on the door?  Was it if a snake?  Humanoids?
>
> Menacing fanged snake.  Drawn in crayon in a childish hand, and on the
> door where a victim of some plague was living.  The clear backstory to me
> is that the family on board got sick one by one; to help the child (not
> yet sick) remember not to go into the quarantined room, the parents or
> guardians had him/her draw his own "keep out" sign, figuring doing it
> personally would make it more meaningful and memorable.  Again, drawing
> tools, style, and psychology look entirely human- (and perhaps even
> specifically Solomani-) normal.
>

Again, a similar take I pursued, and again, never forwarded because of the
imagined rules/background I would break and have to alter later!  Not to
mention the tiny doubt I had about the Droyne... so consider that not
mentioned :^)

> > ****The two Star Trek-like pods that were actually common ship's
> > boats/pinnaces?
>
> That was a fun one. :)
>
> > The vessel was alien enough not to be known to anyone in Imperial space,
> > but it could have been a custom design too?  But no-one knew the text of
> > the markings either?  The thick plottens??
>
> The markings do thicken things a lot.  The only credible scenario I can
> come up with is that the ship was built by some race 'unknown' in the
> Marches (perhaps on record in the databanks, but not immediately
> recognizeable), and subsequently somehow came into the hands of a human
> family (or family-like group) who somehow reached the Marches before being
> infected with and dying of a virulent plague.  The Victoria map chip
> suggests they were moving more or less coreward through the Marches --
> unless that's where they were *heading*.  Hm.
>

From just outside perhaps?  From Laviathan territory?  I like this and it
saves me having to think out anything more plausable... thanks for that.

ObTrav: Funny, I must have run this particular adventure at least a dozen
times (it and Pyramids were always popular with club gamers), and really
never put a great deal of thought into the background, other than muling
over things waiting for a JTAS article that never came, but oddly enough,
didn't stop me from enjoying the module...  I also found that many things in
JTAS never happened anyplace and were an absolute pain to track-down a
suitable world to host it on in the Marches, and many seemed to leave things
unanswered... or was it me and the time I gamed in?

- -- The Roc

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 18:58:07 +1000
From: "The Roc" <roc@kewl.com.au>
Subject: Re: Annic Nova

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Douglas E. Berry <gridlore@pop.mindspring.com>
To: <traveller@lists.imagiconline.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 02, 1999 3:50 PM
Subject: Re: Annic Nova



> >
> >Menacing fanged snake.  Drawn in crayon in a childish hand, and on the
> >door where a victim of some plague was living.  The clear backstory to me
> >is that the family on board got sick one by one; to help the child (not
> >yet sick) remember not to go into the quarantined room, the parents or
> >guardians had him/her draw his own "keep out" sign, figuring doing it
> >personally would make it more meaningful and memorable.  Again, drawing
> >tools, style, and psychology look entirely human- (and perhaps even
> >specifically Solomani-) normal.
>
> The book doesn't mention fangs, just the coiled snake.  My take was that
> the child copied the caduceus from medical gear after the adults all fell
> sick.
>

Starting to add up...

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 3 Oct 1999 12:15:10 +0100
From: SD Mooney <dom@cybergoths.u-net.com>
Subject: [BITS] 3 October 1999 - website update

BITS - Britsih Isles Traveller Support
http://www.bits.org.uk/

....is happy to announce a new addition to the software on the ARCHIVE
page, plus the updating of an old favourite.

Andrew Moffatt-Vallance has been beavering away and has released the
following spreadsheets:

- - Pocket Empires v1.6.4 for Linux StarOffice
A conversion of the Pocket Empires v1.6.4 Excel 5 Spreadsheets for MacOS
and Windows, this spreadsheet aides the GM running the T4 supplement
'Pocket Empires'.

- - T4 Gunsmith v2.0.1 for MacOS and Windows (Excel)
An update to the popular spreadsheet for producing T4 weapons. Now includes
recoiless weapons.

Enjoy!

Dom Mooney (BITS webmaster)

- -------------Dom Mooney---webmaster@bits.org.uk----------------
                 BITS - British Isles Traveller Support.
 http://www.bits.org.uk/              mailto:bits@bits.org.uk
Traveller is a registered trademark of FarFuture Enterprises.
GURPS is a registered trademark of Steve Jackson Games, Inc.
BITS and CORE are trademarks of BITS UK Limited.
All rights reserved.

------------------------------

End of Traveller-digest V1999 #1155
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