Subj:	#1(2) TRAVELLER digest 380
Date:	95-08-16 17:27:08 EDT
From:	traveller@mpgn.com
Sender:	traveller@mpgn.com
Reply-to:	traveller@mpgn.com
To:	traveller@mpgn.com (Multiple recipients of list)


			    TRAVELLER Digest 380

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Mertactor redux	by Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)
  2) RICE Paper #SM-1537:  Mertactor/Plankwell Version 1.1	by Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)
  3) Combat Service Support Guide citation	by "Christopher Weuve" <caw@intercon.com>
  4) Re: Peaceful Uses: Battleriders	by Mark Clark <markc@brahms.udel.edu>
  5) forwarded FTL message	by Joni M Virolainen <jonimv@evitech.fi>
  6) 	by A.S.Lilly@bnr.co.uk (Andy Lilly)
  7) Re: Pulse Rifle	by Lahtinen Antti Jussi <al76188@cs.tut.fi>
  8) Penetrating Problems	by Jennie Kermode <916265ke@udcf.gla.ac.uk>
  9) Time Magazine Cyberwar article	by bjm@dsc.com (Brian Makens)

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

Date: Tue, 15 Aug 1995 15:19:46 -0700
From: Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Mertactor redux
Message-ID: <0311daa0@MailXFER.DMCWAVE.COM>

     First, let me thank Hans for his corrections and suggestions.  They 
     are much appreciated.  I'll repost Mertactor with some modifications.  
     But first, let me indulge myself by addressing each of his concerns in 
     turn:
     
     >>The maps in the article "History of the Spinward Marches" (published 
     in several CT modules) shows that Mertactor was settled by 300 (it 
     dosen't say how much earlier) and already independent. It was part of 
     the jump-1 route to Glisten (which was colonized in 298). Of the other 
     worlds in District 268 (I suppose Plankwell is an official new name 
     for it?) the worlds to trailing are shown as being within the settled 
     area. Over half of the planets to spinward are not yet settled.<<
     
     Not necessarily.  I defer to the Tarsus boxed set which states (I 
     think) that Tarsus, which is only a few parsecs away from Mertactor, 
     wasn't settled until some time in the 400s.  It takes years to 
     establish these colonies and many habitable worlds were left 
     uncolonized for years.  The maps to which you're referring show 
     _areas_ that were colonized by 300, not the specific worlds.
     
     Plankwell is the name used by Leroy Guatney in his "semi-official" 
     1201 listings for the Spinward Marches, posted in the Genie RPG 
     section last December.
     
     >>Have you ever tried calculating the amount of tonnage you need to 
     export a significant part of a planetary population? It's quite 
     expensive even if you export to a world just one jump-1 away. Expenses 
     rise _rapidly_ if the "sinkhole" is more than one jump away. Mora to 
     Mertactor is - let's see, jump-4 hasen't been invented yet, has it? - 
     NINE jumps by jump-3, 14 by jump-2. There's no way such an operation 
     could have any useful effect (Hmm.. Except as a phony propaganda stunt 
     to give psycological relief to the people at home (just like the Aslan 
     ihatei expeditions).<<
     
     Or a propaganda stunt to discourage _more_ colonists from coming to 
     Mora from the more settled regions of Imperial space.
     
     I didn't say Mora picked up the tab.  Maybe the colonists had to trade 
     tons of their colonization goods to buy more fuel to get them to their 
     new home.
     
     I don't think the tonnage needs to be calculated.  The colonists have 
     already done it for me when they calculated the tonnage to move 
     themselves from their former homes in the established Imperium.
     
     Yes, the numbers are astronomical, but have you ever considered what 
     it must've cost the Sword Worlders to immigrate from Terra?!  Now that 
     must've been a pretty penny.  Expeditions are often undertaken with 
     little consideration for the financial costs.  Just ask Kevin Costner. 
      
     Often, such decisions are based on emotion.  It is my feeling that 
     Morans began to feel a bit xenophobic due to mass immigration to their 
     world.  If the Morans _did_ foot the bill, perhaps they felt that, at 
     any cost, it was worth the effort to relieve their burgeoning 
     population pressure.
     
     >>That might work. But even then it dosen't make economic sense to 
     send them all the way to Mertactor. There were planets within two 
     jumps-3 of Mora that were outside the Imperium at the time.<<
     
     My take on it was that many of the worlds were reserved for 
     colonization by people outside the Deneb region.  Sort of like 
     claim-stakers who filed for their colonies back on Core or something.  
     Perhaps Mertactor was unclaimed as yet and the other worlds, nearer to 
     Mora, _were_ claimed.
     
     >>The Old and New Islands Subsectors were unknown until a scout vessel 
     misjumped into them in... I forget the year, but it was quite recent. 
     The inhabitants had never heard of anyone from outside and noone 
     outside had heard of them.<<
     
     Whoops.  Where's that?  Trillion Credit Squadron?  I knew I shouldn't 
     have sold that book! <g>  Reft'll have to be changed to Gushemege or 
     Dagudashag. Thanks for enlightening me.
     
     >>Not a correction, just a comment: Mertactor is between 15 and 24% 
     covered with water. There can undoubtedly be lush and verdant spots on 
     it, but overall the planet must be quite arid.<<
     
     True, but it's also a very small world.  Size 2 if memory serves.  It 
     wouldn't take much in the way of water or atmosphere to make it a lush 
     place.  Maybe the molten core of the planet feeds the surface with 
     chemically rich soil or something.  You just gotta use your 
     imagination!
     
     >>Re:  Lobbying Imperial/Regency officials to select Mertactor as 
     subsector capital.
     
     Hans:  That's a neat trick! How did the lobby pull that one off? 
     Collace must have several hundred times the ressources to spare for 
     lobbying than Mertactor.<<
     
     Well, you know what they say about friends in high places! <g>  
     Seriously though, I referred to the Tarsus boxed set which said that 
     Collace was being considered as the capital of the subsector.  When I 
     read in my updated 1201 stats that Mertactor was chosen (a nice big 
     "Cp" appears next to Mertactor), I figured it had to be some sort of 
     irregularity that influenced Imperial or Regency officials to select 
     Mertactor over Collace.  Hence, the lobbying method (read: bribery).
     
     >>      Within the last 80 years, the rimward encroachment of aslan 
     ihatei <<
     
     I don't quite understand you here.  However, in defense of this 
     statement, Plankwell Subsector _is_ on the rimward edge of the 
     Spinward Marches.  Less than 20 parsecs away, the aslan have 
     completely usurped entire systems.  In tribute to Alvin Plummera's 
     mention of the aslan on Glisten, I thought I'd maintain a bit of 
     continuity between RICE papers and mention them.
     
     
     Now that I'm out of defensive position, I'll make a general statement: 
     RICE papers are intended to be a guide where little or no detailed 
     cultural information has been presented before.  I think I speak for 
     everyone who has contributed at least one of these papers when I say 
     feel free to leave as much of these RICE papers as you like on the 
     cutting room floor.  Or disregard the whole thing!
     
     I've collected the other RICE papers that folks have done on the TML 
     and I think they're great.  I've modified them where necessary to fit 
     my own campaign or where I didn't like what the author has stated, but 
     all in all, I appreciate that someone else has done the legwork for 
     the most part.
     
     That said, let's see some more RICE papers from others on the TML.  
     Hans, I haven't seen you contribute one yet.  Have at, pal!  There are 
     hundreds of worlds we need to know more about.
     
     --Chris

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

Date: Tue, 15 Aug 1995 15:35:54 -0700
From: Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: RICE Paper #SM-1537:  Mertactor/Plankwell Version 1.1
Message-ID: <03121750@MailXFER.DMCWAVE.COM>

     Below is a revised edition of the Mertactor RICE paper with historical 
     corrections:
     
     
     Mertactor (Plankwell:  Spinward Marches/1537) B262732-B  S   Cp      
     610 RE G1 V
     G=0.26, Day=25:39:30.5, Year = 724d 20:36:54.14 Atmo=1.3, No Weather 
     Control
     Temp= +20.7 (4/lat +12 to -28) (season +12.42 to -43.0, 5.5 deg lat) 
     Daily temp range 18.2
     Agricultural; Agroproducts; Weapons; Artforms 
     Progressive/Enterprising, Competitive/Neutral, Discordant/Friendly 
     Legal:  2-20544     Tech  BA-BBBBB-BBBB-BB-D
     
     On the fringes of Regency space in the Spinward Marches lies 
     Mertactor, a nexus for mercantile activity.
     
     As a planet on the frontier, Mertactor is known for its free 
     spiritedness and lawlessness.  Felons fleeing the authority of the 
     Regency Navy, RQS and/or bounty hunters frequently stop off at 
     Mertactor on their way to the independent worlds and client states 
     spinward and rimward of the Regency.  Merchants carrying illegal goods 
     find Mertactor to be the ideal port to sell their wares.  For the 
     disenfranchised, disillusioned and disingenuous, Mertactor is the last 
     port on a journey to the outlands of unincorporated space.
     
     Mertactor was settled relatively late compared with the other worlds 
     of Plankwell Subsector.  It wasn't until 486 that the first colonist 
     set foot on the system mainworld's terra firma.  Formerly a possession 
     of Mora, Mertactor was designated as a place where the Morans could 
     stow their population overflow.  The Relocation Initiative of 486 was 
     not looked well upon by the unwilling colonists.  To vilify the Moran 
     Matriarchs, the colonists named their world after the notorious 
     freebooter, Wilhelm Mertactor, who had raided, raped and pillaged the 
     spinward regions of Dagudashag sector in the twilight years of the 
     Ramshackle Empire.  An ambitious public relations campaign by the 
     Moran Matriarchs was demoralized and many a political career fell by 
     the wayside in the ensuing scandal.
     
     Surprisingly, the Mertactans refused the clemency of the Moran 
     government in 489, when they were offered repatriation as compensation 
     for their "unjust deportation."  The Mertactan colonists had become 
     accustomed to their small but verdant new home and the majority 
     decided to stay.  By appealing to the IISS Exploration department's 
     colonial bureau, Mertactor was granted independence.  Imperial 
     officials saw this as an opportunity to prevent the relocation scandal 
     from travelling all the way back to the Iridium Throne.  As part of 
     the deal, the IISS was allowed to establish a base on Mertactor.  It 
     wasn't until after the Fourth Frontier War that Mertactor finally 
     accepted overtures made by the Imperial Government to reapply for 
     membership.
     
     Descending from working-class deportees, Mertactans are proud of their 
     uncompromising heritage.  Mertactans tamed the wilds of their planet, 
     forging an advanced and forward-thinking society.  The Mertactan 
     Chamberlords reserved approximately 25 percent of the planet's 
     wilderness as preserves to avoid the ecological calamities that had 
     occurred elsewhere in the region due to reckless colonial bootstrap 
     programs.  The remaining portion of land was tendered to offworld 
     corporate interests with a mind to develop the planet's resources and 
     promote trade and industry.  In order to preserve their independence, 
     however, the Chamberlords carefully screened out any megacorporations, 
     megacorporate shadow companies and sectorwide corporations in order to 
     prevent a takeover attempt by any one corporate entity.
     
     Their conservative approach backfired and industry never really took 
     off on Mertactor.  Seeking to teach the upstart colonists a lesson, 
     the megacorporations had colluded with mid-sized corporations to 
     boycott the Mertactans.  Employing every type of coercion imaginable, 
     the megacorporations managed to squelch independent-minded investors 
     from circumventing the boycott.
     
     Undaunted, the Mertactan merchant fleet took the initiative and began 
     establishing trade agreements with the worlds of the Daryen 
     Confederation and the Sword Worlds.  Famous Mertactan free trader and 
     gambler Michaela Wallace took her business all the way to the fringes 
     of the Zhodani Consulate, and established trade ties with the Zhodani 
     that have survived numerous frontier wars and exist to this day.  
     While most of the early Spinward Marches colonies also traded with the 
     established interstellar governments of the region, few could dispute 
     that Mertactan mercantile savvy could open twice as many doors in half 
     the time.
     
     Modern Mertactan industry is essentially just subsistence for the 
     planet's lucrative mercantile sector.  Rather than a producer of 
     industrial or agricultural goods, Mertactans like to think of their 
     system as "the best damned conduit for trade in the Regency."
     
     Landing at Mertactor downport can be a harrowing experience.  The 
     unregulated close orbit and airspace of the planet are subject to more 
     accidents per capita than on any planet in the sector.  While there 
     are ample spaceports on the planet, only the B-quality facility in the 
     capital city of Seacheard and the C-quality installation in Kaydah 
     provide services for interstellar craft.
     
     While dodging free traders and air/rafts, visiting travellers will be 
     impressed by the lush earth and blue skies of Mertactor.  Thanks to an 
     absence of big industry and an abundance of scattered wilderness 
     preserves, the planet has been able to maintain its clean air and 
     natural landscape.  Due to the planet's rather small size and close 
     horizon, the clear azure skies seem to almost surround the reclining 
     viewer.
     
     Mertactor's thriving tourist industry offers a plethora of activities 
     to visiting travellers.  In the city of Seacheard, visitors will be 
     astonished by the beauty of the Daryen flame sculpture exhibit at the 
     Seacheard Museum of Art.  Donated by First Frontier war hero, Admiral 
     Koenig, the exhibit features some of the finest Daryen artwork to be 
     produced in the last millennium.  At the Colonial History Museum, 
     visitors may view artifacts, holovids and antique equipment from the 
     Spinward Marches' colonial past.  Of particular note is an exhibition 
     featuring what the museum's curator claims are the original blueprints 
     for the Type-S scoutship prototype.  Children will enjoy visiting The 
     Wild Frontier, Mertactor's largest amusement park replete with an 
     imported Moran virtual reality entertainment center.
     
     Inghvernar, Mertactor's largest ocean, lies 280 km to the west of 
     Seacheard.  Mertactans on holiday flock to Inghvernar's golden 
     beaches.  Well-travelled offworlders will be less impressed by the 
     beachfront of this body of water which would only constitute a large 
     lake on most larger planets.  On Inghvernar's east coast is the 
     Lubvenar Fossil Museum, where travellers can discover the rich natural 
     history of Mertactor through an exhilarating series of exhibits and 
     holodynamic displays.
     
     Kaydah, the seat of government, features the impressive Mertactan 
     Legislature Building (MLB).  Constructed of reinforced synthetic 
     sandstone, this ivy-draped obelisk seems to thrust right out 
     Mertactor's terrestrial crust and through the planet's thick 
     equatorial jungle as if it had been there since time immemorial.  
     Standing atop Mount Aseldon, the MLB looks over the busy streets of 
     northern Kaydah like an alert sentry.
     
     On the southern end of the city is the Plankwell Subsector Capital 
     Building.  Though the Capital's architecture is aesthetically pleasing 
     with its sharp edges and metallic industrial styling, political 
     representatives from throughout the subsector complain about the 
     dearth of office space in the building.  The building was intended to 
     be much larger when the subsector capital was set to be on neighboring 
     system, Collace.  However, when the Mertactan Chamberlords 
     successfully lobbied the Archduke to establish the capital on 
     Mertactor, they immediately contracted a local architecture firm to 
     design the building.  Due to the time constraints of the agreement, 
     the job was rushed, with the result being an attractive but largely 
     inadequate building.
     
     Despite the Mertactan historical animosity toward Mora, the native 
     government is rather obviously influenced by that of the domain 
     capital.  While not a matriarchy, women traditionally get preference 
     for most cabinet posts and tend to be elected to Chamberlord positions 
     at a rate of just over 60 percent on Mertactor.  The Chamberlords are 
     a select group of nine individuals, elected for lifelong terms by a 
     subordinate network of sheriffs, who are popularly elected by the 
     rather disproportionately sized counties of Mertactor.
     
     As befits any cosmopolitan world, the fashion and culture of Mertactor 
     are heavily influenced by visiting merchants and adventurers.  
     "Anything goes," is the motto on Mertactor.  One will find visiting 
     travellers sporting anything from traditional Vilani lagaash robes to 
     the virtual nudity of Glistenite tailored vaccsuits.  The jaded 
     Mertactans are nonchalant and accepting of such diversity.
     
     Perhaps the most outstanding educational establishment on the planet 
     is the Mertactor Mercantile Academy.  While the academy is on par with 
     most other Regency educational facilities for the most part, its 
     language department is outstanding.  Just about every language spoken 
     within 80 parsecs is taught at the academy, including each and every 
     vargr language in the extents.  The academy emphasizes cultural 
     behaviors and idiosyncrasies as well in order to train the ambitious 
     merchant cadet for any eventuality.
     
     As a result, Mertactan trading companies feature some of the most 
     finely trained personnel in the Regency.  Mertactan trading companies 
     are known to be quite bloodthirsty in their competition for business 
     insystem and will stop at nothing to obtain their goals.  The rather 
     ineffectual law enforcement administrations of Mertactor are unable to 
     prevent trading blocs and factions from colluding, bribing, embezzling 
     and on occasion shooting each other to death.  
     
     Within the last 80 years, the rimward encroachment of aslan ihatei has 
     had an interesting effect on the mercantile subculture.  Disputes 
     between trading companies are now frequently resolved by dueling.  
     Unfortunately, the aslan code of honor is absent in Mertactan dueling. 
     Shooting or stabbing one's opponent in the back or poisoning his food 
     the evening before the duel is not uncommon.
     
     Visiting free traders should not fear, however.  Oddly enough, the 
     virulence shown by one fellow Mertactan trader to another is not 
     extended to offworlders.  It is thought that a general sense of pity 
     for the poorly trained foreign trader makes him unworthy of such 
     treatment.  The prevailing attitude is "if he's not Mertactan, he's no 
     good at trading anyway!"  Though you'll never hear a Mertactan say 
     this in public!
     
     The Mertactan Free Trade Administration operates the planet's sole 
     orbital starport and city.  Built in 1004, FTA Orbital was originally 
     intended as a place where offworlders could comfortably trade without 
     having to make planetfall.  The idea never took hold with visiting 
     free traders, however, who thought they were being duped into trading 
     at the orbital facility so that native Mertactan merchant companies 
     could reap all the rewards of downside trade with subsector- and 
     sector-wide lines.  Declining public funds resulted in the 
     government's inability to properly maintain the facility.  FTA Orbital 
     quickly deteriorated into a D-level facility.  Ironically, trade 
     traffic has actually increased over 300 percent at FTA Orbital since 
     the decline, which now features the most active black-market trade in 
     the subsector.
     
     To coin an ancient Terran metaphor, Mertactor has a Jekyll-and-Hyde 
     culture.  To offworlders and potential trading partners, Mertactans 
     are amiable and welcoming, while to one another they are the most 
     vicious of opponents, professionally speaking.  While the divisiveness 
     of Mertactan society may appear anarchic or perhaps downright hostile, 
     it is embraced by Mertactans as an integral part of their culture.  To 
     survive in a universe fraught with danger and deception, Mertactans 
     believe that "It is better to do unto others before they do unto you."
     
     Mertactor System Details
     
     Orbit      Name    UPP     Remarks
     Primary    Magnus  G1 V
     0  Bailiff Y200000-0       Va
     1       Ring System     YR00000-0       Va
      25      Vaunt   YS00000-0       Va
     1  Wrankon YS00100-A       Va
     2  Gustavson       G770360-A       Sc
     40      Danner  Y300000-0       Va
     3  Tyros Belt      H000462-B       Re Sc
     4          Mertactor       B262732-B  S    Cp
     10      Hord    GS00235-A               Va
      30      Skellor YS00000-0               Va
     5  Pelloponeese    Y600233-B       Re Sc
      6  Mauritius       Y330000-0       Va
     1       Ring System     YR00000-0
     6.9                Gwaynfjord      G957562-B       Re Sc
     7          Calori Belt     F000563-B       Re Co Sc
     7.3                Eldron  G967363-A       Sc
      8          Wyndermere      H667263-A       Sc
     8       Hoggoth H430160-A
     9          Portcullis      F303321-A       Sc

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

Date: Tue, 15 Aug 1995 18:42:49 -0400
From: "Christopher Weuve" <caw@intercon.com>
To: GURPSnet-L@io.com, CONSIM-L@LISTSERV.UNI-C.DK, xboat@MPGN.COM,
Subject: Combat Service Support Guide citation
Message-ID: <9508151842.AA49588@caw.intercon.com>

Here is the more complete citation for the book I mentioned earlier:

_Combat Service Support Guide_, 2 edition
by MAJ John E. Edwards (USA, Ret.)
Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, PA (1-800-732-3669)
US$14.95/CA$19.95
ISBN 0-8117-3021-2

Christopher Weuve  [caw@intercon.com]
I speak only for myself.


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

Date: Tue, 15 Aug 1995 22:15:37 -0400 (EDT)
From: Mark Clark <markc@brahms.udel.edu>
To: xboat@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: Peaceful Uses: Battleriders
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.950815220835.23304A-100000@brahms.udel.edu>


  I've used surplus Battleriders in my campaign as an alternate means of 
transport between high-pop worlds (cheaper for the small traders who hook 
their ships on, plus it saves wear and tear on the drives) and as a means 
of bypassing a dangerous or unprofitable section of space (linking two J-1
mains, for example).  I've also use them as background, carrying 
enourmous standard containers on fixed runs - the sort of thing you 
describe to your players so they say "Wow, that's a Mega Megacorporation."

Mark Clark

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

Date: Wed, 16 Aug 1995 09:56:01 +0200 (EET)
From: Joni M Virolainen <jonimv@evitech.fi>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: forwarded FTL message

Shalom Zaidfeld, if get the name of the publication where that mentioned 
paper will be published, could you please inform me.

Thanks,

Joni Virolainen
jonimv@evitech.fi


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

Date: Wed, 16 Aug 1995 09:28:13 +0100
From: A.S.Lilly@bnr.co.uk (Andy Lilly)
To: xboat@MPGN.COM
Cc: traveller@MPGN.COM
Message-ID: <199508160830.EAA17467@Mithril.MPGN.COM>

Shalom Zaidfeld asked about Signal-GK.

Yes, it is still in production. I think issue 11 is due out some time
soonish. Subscriptions are 7.50 UK pounds for UK residents and 10.00 UKP for
overseas. That's 3 issues which I think is about 1 year.

I don't believe Signal-GK has a US or Canada distributor at the moment nor
are you likely to find it in the shops.

They are NOT on e-mail but to save you trans-pond postage, I can relay info
if you want to e-mail it to me (I have started writing for Signal-GK as well
as the Traveller Chronicle).

As regards Writing Guidelines for S-GK, they will accept material for any
era although each issue tends to concentrate on an area of Dagudashaag
sector and thus has some sort of theme. They are looking for people to write
sector data: try thinking up something new for the 299th planet in the
subsector, etc... ;-)

And yes, I quite agree with you: it's an excellent magazine for the price.
Okay, so they don't bother with a colour cover, but the contents
(particularly the alien races) are really good and thoroughly detailed.

Andy Lilly


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

Date: Wed, 16 Aug 1995 14:54:42 +0300 (EET DST)
From: Lahtinen Antti Jussi <al76188@cs.tut.fi>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: Pulse Rifle
Message-ID: <199508161154.OAA17759@korppi2.cs.tut.fi>

>	Most of the weight is in the receiver and magazine (to hold 99 or 95 
>	rounds).  I seem to remember that someone posted information on 
>	lighter weight materials for FF&S designs.  Could you please e-mail me 
>	with that info, again.
     
	You can get the article using ftp. It is in ftp.mpgn.com, and the
	file is /Gaming/Traveller/TML/tml94-118.Z.

>	There doesn't seem to be any differentiation made between cased and 
>	caseless ammo in FF&S (other than a comment saying all non-ETC ammo 
>	above a certain TL will be caseless).  Has anyone come up with their 
>	own rules?

	I have made some design rules for FFS caseless ammo, but I do not
	know how accurete the rules are. The main problem is that there
	is very little (real-life) source material available, and the only
	real caseless ammo I have found are .22 Daisy brassless, 4.93x33 H&K
	and .223 Usel.

	However, if anyone is interested, I will post the rules.

-- 
        Antti Lahtinen    :     Justice is Only a Wish of a Weak
        al76188@cs.tut.fi :


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

Date: Wed, 16 Aug 1995 13:38:00 +0100 (BST)
From: Jennie Kermode <916265ke@udcf.gla.ac.uk>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Penetrating Problems
Message-ID: <2164.199508161238@lenzie.cent.gla.ac.uk>

Penetrating Problems

	I've been wondering what happens when a character gets shot with
a high penetration weapon. What started me wondering is this: characters
using innocent bystanders as human shields and hostages.
	If say I gave a human body an armour value of 3 then shot it
with a fusion gun with a damage value of 15 I reckon from the rules the
body would suffer 3D6 wounds (ave 10.5 wounds) and the person tacking
the hostage would take 3+3D6 wounds (ave 13.5 wounds which now includes
blunt trauma). However the rules in TNE would suggest that all the 15
dice of damage would be taken by the hostage. Setting it to 5 would give
respectively 5d6 (17.5) and 5+5D6 (22.5), and if the hostage tacker was
wearing something with armour value 5 they would take 10+5D6 (27.5)?
	As high penetration weapons will pretty obviously go though
people it may be wise to adopt an armour value for an average person
(maybe 3 to 7). I think it could have one of two big affects on play.
one: players abandoning dreams of MPFGs or two: them not wearing there
armour (and keeping within a budget) It would also give a point where
relay heavy armour would become counterproductive. It still leaves the
problem of of one of them (my flat mate and the only person to relay
cause me problems as a GM) quitting my game because I wouldn't let his
character have a grav tank and a Fiery class close escort (he's already
lost a Gazelle).

	Trust in your player(s) to break a workable set of rules.
	Should I bitch?

Donald Munro 

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

Date: Wed, 16 Aug 95 13:43:22 -0700
From: bjm@dsc.com (Brian Makens)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Cc: bjm@dsc.com
Subject: Time Magazine Cyberwar article
Message-ID: <9508162043.AA03301@neptune.dsc.com>


For all you FFS and striker crazy folks, you might want to
check out the current US edition of Time Magazine,(Its cover 
is about Cyberwar). In that article, there is also a side article
about future infantryman gear. Might be a place for some idea's.

BrianM


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End of TRAVELLER Digest 380
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