
-------- TML Message #26 --------

Date: Fri, 24 Jul 87 18:56:40 PDT
From: ihnp4!ihlpf!zonker@tektronix
Archive-Message-Number: 26

Here is a new race that I developed for a campaign I was in.

Llamiya: (-2ST,+2DX,+3EN,2d(number of segments {typically six})IN,1d6SS)

Natives of Pichal.

     The Llamiya are often described by humans as a cross
between a shark, a snake and and a worm.  They have a
cartilaginous skeleton and outer skin very similar to a
shark, their method of movement is snakelike, and they are
shaped and organized interiorly like a worm.  Adults
average 12 feet long and are about as thick as a man's
thigh (they mass similar to a man).

     The most noticeable thing about them is the head.
The head has five appendages each 8-10 inches long.  The
top appendage is shaped like a four fingered hand and
contains the eyes and ears.  The other four appendages are
two fingered hands (spacing is even giving a pentagonal
effect to the whole head).  All the fingers are coated in
the same type of skin that coats the bottom of the body
giving them a griplike surface and the hands are double
joined cartilage making them very flexible (skin is
considered equal to jack armor).  The arms surround a
softer area containing the mouth, and the sex organs (two
small (2cm across) openings centered two inches apart and
two inches below the mouth).  The mouth itself is
surrounded  by short cilia used for taste and smell (they
give the mouth a goatee appearance).  The face can be
protected by closing the arms together.

     The adult body is organized into six segments (which
are not noticeable from the outside).  Each segment is
self-sufficient (actually each can support two allowing it
to grow new segments) as regards circulation and digestion
(i.e. each has a heart, lung and stomach).  They are not
self-sufficient as regards food ingestion, air ingestion
or waste disposal (i.e. if separated from the head they
will die, but it may take a couple of days while stored
fat is digested).  Each segment contains a portion of the
brain as well (the first segment containing the "Central
Processing Unit" and important storage the rest the memory
storage.  Loss of segment = loss of memory.  A Llamiya can
withstand the loss of all five anterior segments without
medical attention, but unless the segments are surgically
reattached within two hours the Llamiya suffers non-
recoverable amnesia.  It takes a Llamiya about one year to
grow a segment.  The multi-segment lung structure also
gives them the ability to filter air without external
devices, but causes them to have problems with thinner
atmospheres.

     Llamiyas are born as first segments prototypes,
develop into a full first segments and grow them selves
out to adults.  Only the first and anterior segments are
specialized.  The first contains the thinking section of
the brain, the head and reproduction systems.  Destruction
of the first segment results in death of the being.  The
last segment contains a prehensile hand (similar to the
ones on the  head) and the waste disposal organs.  Loss of
the last segment is recoverable without a doctor.
Memories are stored from the tail to the head (recall is
good, but slow), with some important things duplicated in
the first segment (i.e. training, etc.) and or other
segments.  A six segmented Llamiya has an intelligence
equal to man's, Llamiyas of more than six segments are
generally knowledge seekers and must be on a special diet
since the Llamiya mouth can only accommodate six segments
easily.  Llamiya are omnivorous and their diet is close to
Human.  Llamiya are asexual and reproduce by "kissing"
while exchanging genes through their sex organs.  Both
partners can get pregnant from a single contact.  Llamiya
with medical help can clone by mating with themselves, but
this is viewed as socially unacceptable behavior by the
rest of the race.  Permanent liaisions between two Llamiya
are rare.

     Llamiya are surprisingly human like in their
emotional range, tastes and actions.  They are able to
speak many tongues easily, without accent and are
frequently used as translators, because they have such
good recall.  Their social structure is very matrilineal
as there are few permanent liaisions.  Llamiya divide all
other Llamiya into four categories carriers (maternal
line), children (the Llamiya you have given birth to),
clan, and everybody else.  Llamiya give their allegiance
to their carrier, expect allegiance from their children,
expect help from the clan and are wary of all others.  The
clans are the social structure within which interbreeding
isn't done (prevents inbreeding).  A Llamiya's clan is
defined at his birth or his Brood Mother's death (a
Llamiya's Brood Mother is his oldest living ancestor).
Clan splits occur when there are more than one candidate
for Brood Mother.  Any problems with splitting clans are
solved by quick adoptions to make things work out right
(i.e. a Brood Mother may be an ancestor only by adoption).

     Llamiya live very long lives by human standards
(partily because they can regenerate segments at will i.e.
there bodies don't go into decay) and generally (barring
disease and dismemberment) die after about three hundred
years and a short bout of senility.  Dismemberment,
especially in older Llamiya, has a tendency to bring on
death earlier.  Llamiya's take about the same time to
reach maturity as a human (18-20 years), then need five
more years to grow the rest of their segments and it is
generally protected by its Mother or Brood Mother during
that time, but adoption by a sibling is also a common
practice. Llamiya are referred to as "he" until they have
a child and "she" afterwards.

     The Llamiya and Homo Sapiens get along very well race
to race (individual humans seem to have grave problems
though, snakes and spiders etc.).  The Llamiya find
violence distasteful (mainly because they are so poor at
it), but when necessary will carry and use weapons.  They
prefer to use shorter weapons like pistols and carbines.
They dislike blades (dismemberment is their inherent
fear), but because they are so dexterous they are very
good with them.  They are also surprisingly good with pole
arms, because they have the prehensile hand (i.e. don't
melee with one using a bayonet). Llamiya generally are
members of the scout service as this seems to suit them
best.  They are virtually unknown in the Marines.  They
are rare in the army or other services (when they are
inducted here they will almost always be a special
technician).  They are  occasionally found in the Merchant
service (any position) or the Navy (if in the Navy they
will never be officers and almost always will be some kind
of special technician).  Llamiya have little or no Psionic
ability, but because of their dispersed mind are immune to
Psionic attack (i.e. to Psionically attack a Llamiya would
require a Psionic Llamiya, of which there aren't any).

				Non Cuniculus Est!!!,
				    Tom H.


-------- TML Message #27 --------

Date: Fri, 24 Jul 87 19:36:42 PDT
From: Chris Guthrie <chris%ic.Berkeley.EDU@cad.berkeley.edu>
Subject: Traveller generation/skill systems.
Archive-Message-Number: 27

	
	1. What are the effects on psionics on game play?
	   Does it take some of the role-playing aspects out of the
	   game by making things to easy (too powerful PCs)?

Typically, psionic problems are based on how well the GM handles it.
Psionic training should be extremely difficult to get.  If a GM allows
players to get them in less than six months (of realtime) I would be
concerned that they were too easy.  There's a lot of role-playing possible
while the players follow lead after lead, looking for an institute.

If psionics prove to make the players too powerful, well, they are illegal.
GM's should be able to take care of that player.
	
	2. Is it best to stick to Traveller's character generation system?
	   What are playable alternatives used?

I would stick to it unless you decide to add skill advancement.  If you
do decide to add skill advances, look at Runequest as a reasonable system.
	
	3. Do you actually keep PCs from gaining skills, and if not
	   how do PCs get more skillful?

This is a constant problem with players moving in from DND.  They view
their character's advancement more as an increase in levels and skills
than in a more appropriate goal-oriented role-playing scenario.

I suggest that a GM ask each player/character what that character's
current goal or objective is.  Some of them I can think of off-hand
are to get rich, or discover a psionics institute.  This is very
dependent on how good the players are and how well they can get into
it.

For problem or beginning players, I would suggest giving players some
good short term goals.  Take away all their money or their ship.  Give
them an enemy to chase through a populous planet.  Make them really
angry at an NPC.  Eventually, they should catch him, but make sure they
have fun and problems on the way.
	
Far more than DND, Traveller depends on the GM.  You simply can't get
by by generating gobs of random 'monsters.'  You will kill the characters
and frustrate them when they discover that there's no reward in killing
monsters.

	4. How many PCs get out of the service in under seven terms, 
	   and why?

This depends on the players.  As they get more playing experience they
should move away from the characters who have every skill at level 1.
A well rounded party is important and adds teamwork.  Since characters
can die easily, make it very easy to bring in a new character quickly.
	
	5. We have picked up many books.  How many books are there?

Many.  I have at least 20.
	
	Chris

-------- TML Message #28 --------

Date: Sat, 25 Jul 87 22:58:03 PDT
Subject: Traveller News Service (from Challenge # 29)
From: percival.pdx.com!leonard@reed
Archive-Message-Number: 28

(original text was formatted for ~120 columns!)

CAPITAL/CORE (0508-A586A98-F)                                    Date: 132-1116
     Emperor Strephon Aella Alkhakioli was assassinated at 1517 hours local
time, 132-1116, in the Grand Reception Hall of the Imperial Palace above
Capital/Core. In the ensuing firefight, the Empress Iolanthe and Grand Princess
Iphegiana were also killed, along with the Aslan Yerlyaruiwo ambassador, twelve
Imperial Guards, and a number of bystanders
     In the following minutes, Archduke Dulinor of Illelish appeared before the
cameras of the Reception Hall, claimed the crown of Eperor by right of
assassination, and scattered holocrystals documenting his claim to the
surviving crowd. He ascended the steps of the dias and sat on the Iridium
Throne briefly before leaving in the company of his bodyguard.
     System Control Central reported tracking the Archduke's cruiser leaving
the Capital system minutes later. Fleet elements are reported in pursuit.
     Capital has been placed under martial law. Off-planet transportation has
been suspended temporarily. Naval headquarters has issued a statement that the
situation is stable and under control. Rioting is reported in the city.

CAPITAL/CORE (0508-A586A98-F)                                    Date: 133-1116
     The Imperial Palace above Capital has been sealed off by Naval Security
troops. Dulinor is rumored to remain concealed in the palace with a company of
bodyguards. It remains unclear whether Dulinor fled the Capital system
yesterday aboard his cruiser, or if he remains in the Palace. Occasional plasma
flashes have been reported along the Grand Concourse.
     Imperial officers at the scene refused comment.

CAPITAL/CORE (0508-A586A98-F)                                    Date: 134-1116
     Captain Sir Gerals Spirlandin, commanding the Honor Company of the 2nd
Imperial Marine Regiment, denied reports that Duke Varian, Strephon's nephew
and heir apparent to the Iridium Throne, was killed in skirmishes within the
Imperial Palace yesterday.
     Spirlan, 32 of Ibaru/Zarushagar, said "The situation is under control, but
identities of people in the palace remain unconfirmed."
     News Service personnel have not yet been allowed inside the Palace.

CAPITAL/CORE (0508-A586A98-F)                                    Date: 135-1116
     Preparations for Emperor Strewphon's funeral tomorrow continued today
without incident. Empress Iolanthe will be buried at the same time. Grand
Princess Iphegenia will be buried Thirday.
     The Admiralty confirmed today that the Imperial Palace has been cleared of
disloyal elements. The apartments accorde Dulinor in the Palace have been
retaken, with no sign of the Archduke.
     The body of Prince Varian, until today heir apparent to the Iridium
Throne, was recovered from the Imperial Palace this afternoon and now lies in
state alongside the Emperor in the central Hall of Nobles beneath the Moot
Spire. Varian's funeral is scheduled for Thirday.
     Crowds of mourners continue to file through the Hall of Nobles. Responding
to the press of crowds, last minute arrangements have been made to keep the
hall open through the night.
     The Office of the Mint has suspended production of the Cr1 coin pending
the coronation of the next Emperor. A generic sunburst design has been adopted
as a temporary replacement.

CAPITAL/CORE (0508-A586A98-F)                                    Date: 136-1116
     Emperor Strephon and Empress Iolanthe were buried today with full state
honors. The procession from the Hall of Nobles to the Alkhalikhoi section of
the Imperial Park in the shadow of the Palace moved slowly and without
incident.
     Prince lucan, Varian's younger brother, and now heir apparent to the
throne, appeared briefly at graveside, leaving under heavy security immediately
after the ceremony.

CAPITAL/CORE (0508-A586A98-F)                                    Date: 137-1116
     Following simple burial cermonies for Grand Princess Iphegenia and Prince
Varian, the Office of the Emperor today annouced that Prince Lucan had formally
ascended the Iridium Throne in private ceremonies in the Imperial Palace.
     Shortly thereafter, Duke Simalr of Ushra, speaking for the Moot, charged
that private ascension ceremonies are invalid, adding that any assumption of
the powers of the Imperium requires the consent of the Moot.
     Emperor Lucan, communicating through his seneschal, exercised the Imperial
power to dissolve the Moot for one year. Duke Simalr of Ushra, speaking for the
Moot, denied the legitimacy of Lucan's action in a strongly worded reply which
was released simultaneously to the news services.
     A meeting of the Moot later in the day failed to achieve a quorum. Duke
Simalr is reported under house arrest.

VLAND/VLAND (0307-A967A9A-F)                                     Date: 202-1116
     Emperor Strephon was assassinated by Archduke Dulinor of Illelish
132-1116. The Central Authority issued a simple statement early today
regretting the Emperor's death, but calling on all citizens to remain calm and
remember his passing with dignity.

-------- TML Message #29 --------

Date: Sun, 26 Jul 87 00:50:14 PDT
From: ihnp4!ucbvax!zooey.berkeley.edu!c160s-af@tektronix (Zig)
Archive-Message-Number: 29

>1. What are the effects on psionics on game play?
>   Does it take some of the role-playing aspects out of the
>   game by making things to easy (too powerful PCs)?

You have stumbled upon one of the hardest questions for the beginner traveller.
Psionics are certainly attractive to the D & D player, because they are a form
of magic in a scientific world.  After a while, you will discover that the
high technology is its own magic, and that life can be lived quite well
without psionics.  

I have allowed psionics in my campaigns, but usually too weak or inaccessible
to be of much use.  Remember, only the Zhodani have spent a lot of work on
this branch of science, and even they have a hard time coming up with enough
bodies and brains to fill their ranks.  Psi is explicitly illegal inside the
Imperium, and is considered by most citizens to be antisocial behavior on the
same order as rape.  It is the ultimate in personal violation.  Any open
attempts to find the psi institute should be met with disgust, anger, and calls
to the local constabulatory.

I usually allow players to find the institute after a few years (real time!) 
of careful searching and being chased by witch-hunters.  A good witch hunt is
a fantastic combat scenario.  If the players fight back, they're in serious
trouble when they get caught.  If they don't fight back, they get caught and
hurt.  If they run, they'll have to use that jump drive for the 14th time since
a major overhaul.  It can really take the fun out of gaining psi.

By the time the institute is found, they players have found that a good
rifle or a fast tongue can get them out of just about any trouble they've
gotten themselves into.  They are also too old to develop any really heavy
psi talent.  I try to keep psi down to the levels of Vicky and Andy McGee in
_Firestarter_:  you've got a 50-50 chance it'll work, if it works, it'll only
work a little, and if it does work well, you get a headache, numb spots, brain
hemmorraging, etc.  When the dice really do give a player strong psi, I don't
let them know it.  I just make the 50-50 turn to 75-25, keep the headaches
smaller and fewer, and eventually let the power develop to full maturity like
the books say.  
 
>2. Is it best to stick to Traveller's character generation system?
>   What are playable alternatives used?
 
Yes, the trav system works quite well.  It is a bit of a jump from the D&D
system, but the advanced character generation system yeilds very well-rounded
characters.  The only modification we ever did was the well-used "phantom
dice" rule:  if you rolled something *really* bad, the "phantom dice" would
all of a sudden jump up and roll themselves over.

>3. Do you actually keep PCs from gaining skills, and if not
>   how do PCs get more skillful?
 
Well, in my games, no rules are concrete, but skills are kinda hard to get.
After the initial generation, the "paper" character is largely frozen.  It
is really up to the player to flesh out the character and let him grow.  If
a character is in a situation where the acquisition of a skill is completely
logical, than I certainly prefer to give the skill level rather than violate
the logic of the world.  I try to keep a buffer between the players
imaginations and the dull numbers written on paper.  

>4. How many PCs get out of the service in under seven terms, 
>   and why?

Jeez, a whole bunch of them.  If your folks want psi, they should quit as
early as possible before there potential gets all dried up.  I actually
play with the age rules, and I play up the fact that a 56-year old man is
running around playing hero with a bunch of young whippersnappers.  If
you bring into play the months spent in space travel, the delay time in
between gaming sessions, and the inevitable healing time after an unfortunate
"incident," the players will get tired of their characters getting old and
dying on them.  

>5. We have picked up many books.  How many books are there?

Good grief.  There are dozens.  I have books 1-6, journals of the Traveller's
Aid Society 6-23, supplements 1-13 (or more?), a couple books from britain,
jeez, there's a whole slew of them!  *Now* there's deluxe edition books,
those annoying 8 1/2 X 11 books, and the alien races books that evolved from
the manuscript I have from a convention way back in '81!  But don't despair.
Only the GM needs a lot of reference material to create the universe.  Most
of out players only had books 1-5, if that.  

			     Verbosely thine,

			     --the Zigster


-------- TML Message #30 --------

Subject: Re: History/Government of the Imperium
Date: 27 Jul 87 20:11:44 PDT (Mon)
From: James T. Perkins <jamesp>
Archive-Message-Number: 30


Mike Rossow forwarded some information which he apparently painstakingly
excerpted from one of the Traveller supplements for our reading
pleasure.  While it *is* true that this excerpt is copyrighted and
reproduction on this mailing list is in direct violation of
international copyright law, I will forward this letter.

Why? Because it is shorter than about one page of printed material, and
is therefore in *my* opinion (as list owner) a small-enough excerpt that
it merely serves as a free advertisment for the original copyrighted
material.  I am also permitting it because the nature of the material's
copyright is clearly indicated.

Furthermore, since I "own" this mailing list, any copyrighted material
passing through it (including the "Traveller News Service" articles from
Challenge Magazine), is my responsibility.  Using the above guidelines,
I would appreciate that reproductions of copyrighted materials be kept
short (< about one page) or paraphrased, and the copyright notices
should, like here, be noted clearly.  To me this seems reasonable and
prudent.  (Any lawyers out there suggest I act differently? :-)

"Feel the discussion FLOW, Luke..."

- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
James T. Perkins		Traveller Mailing List Administrator
Tektronix Logic Analyzers	"Load Auto/Evade, Beowulf!"
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UUCP:	  {decvax,gatech,hplabs,ihnp4}!tektronix!dadla!traveller-request
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- ------- Forwarded Message

To: traveller-req%dadla.tek.com@relay.cs.net
Subject: I submit this for your approval
From: Michael Rossow <rossow@umn-cs.arpa>

I am not sure if this posting is quite appropriate for the
Traveller mailing list.  My concern is that this is copyrighted
material.  The other side of the coin is that it is only an 
excerpt from the complete work.  I don't have any idea if this
would fall into the fair use catagory.

If you do find this appropriate, I would appreciate it if you 
could forward the message to the list.  If you find that this 
falls out of bounds for this list, please enjoy it as a response 
to your querry.

						-Mike

- - ------- Forwarded Message

To: traveller
Subject: Re: History/Government of the Imperium
In-reply-to: Your message of 22 Jul 87 10:25:45 PDT (Wed).
	     <8707221725.AA15019@dadla.TEK.COM>
- - --------
This is an excerpt from an essay on GDW's Imperium campaign.
It was published in Supplement 8, Library Data (A-M) by GDW.
It is copyright 1980, 1981 by Game Designers' Workshop.

- - --------

The Imperium is a far-flung interstellar community encompassing 
over 1100 worlds within a region approximately 700 parsecs across.  
It has now ruled its territory for eleven centuries and looks to 
continue for many more.  Interstellar government over such a large 
area, however, becomes a philosophical question; the problem 
initially seeming to be insurmountable.  Distance, travel time, 
and communication lag all conspire against a functioning, efficient 
structure which can meet the needs of its subject population.  But 
the lessons of history serve as a guide.  Spain in the 16th century 
ruled much of the New World, with travel times of up to a year 
between the seat of governmental communication, with both a rapid 
dispatch of instructions and an equally rapid response, has been a 
dream, not a reality.

The Imperium has come upon two solution which together ameliorate 
the problems of distance: the xboat network and feudalism.

The Xboat Network: Like the body, with its network of veins and
arteries, the Imperium is permeated by a network of xboat routes, 
or links, devoted entirely to the carriage of messages for official,
commercial, and private purposes.

The express boat (xboat) is a small, fast ship filled with a pilot
compartment, message data banks, and jump drives.  The fit is so 
tight that the tiny ships don't even have maneuver drives.  Each 
is capable of jump-4 (four parsecs in a week); it jumps, relays its 
messages to the station on arrival, and then waits to be picked up 
by a tender, refuelled, and sent on its way to the next station on 
the route.  The local station on a world accepts messages, encodes 
them, and transmits them to a station at the edge of the stellar 
system.  The network works like the pony express - with messages 
always moving at top speed.  Transfer time for the messages from 
one xboat to another can be as short as ten minutes, and is rarely 
more than an hour.

Ultimately, the little xboats make their way to one of the many
Imperial Way Stations scattered throughout the Imperium's 
subsectors.  There they are refitted, overhauled, and refurbished, 
only to be sent on their way again.

The xboat network makes the edge of the Imperium about 44 weeks out
from the core and capital; that represents a savings of better than
50% of normal travel time.  And still the Imperium is straining 
under the effects of distance.

Feudalism: With such great distances separating stellar systems,
individual responsibility and authority become of great importance.
The Imperium is divided into sectors (twenty of them), each about 32
parsecs by 40 parsecs in size.  Each sector is divided into sixteen
subsectors (8 by 10 parsecs).  And within a sector are perhaps 
thirty or forty system, each with a star, worlds, and satellites.

Individual worlds, and even entire systems, are free to govern
themselves as they desire, provided that ultimate power is always
accorded the Imperium.  Interstellar government begins at the
subsector level - on one world designated the subsector capital.  
The ruling figure at the at the subsector capital is a high-ranking 
noble selected by higher levels of government.  This duke has a 
free hand in government, and is subject only to broad guidelines 
from his superiors.  But at the same time, the duke owes fealty to 
the higher levels of government, ultimately to the Emperor himself.  
The feudal approach depends greatly on a sense of honor, one 
cultivated by the hereditary aristocracy.  This sense of honor is 
very strong within the Imperium; it has proven essential to the 
survival of such a far-flung community.


- ------- End of Forwarded Message


-------- TML Message #31 --------

Subject: Clarification
Date: 27 Jul 87 20:42:57 PDT (Mon)
From: James T. Perkins <jamesp>
Archive-Message-Number: 31


Ummm... what I meant by "copyrighted material being sent to the list is
my responsibility" is that it's *okay* for list subscribers to mail
copyrighted material following the guidelines I listed, but that as list
owner I'm responsible in the end [I go to jail, not you :-)]

So feel free to send short items like Mike Rossow's Imperial Government
reply or the "Traveller News Service" postings.  Just make sure they're
less than a page or so and the copyright notice is included.

- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
James T. Perkins		Traveller Mailing List Administrator
Tektronix Logic Analyzers	"Load Auto/Evade, Beowulf!"
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
UUCP:	  {decvax,gatech,hplabs,ihnp4}!tektronix!dadla!traveller-request
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CSNET:	  traveller-request%dadla.TEK.COM@csnet-relay.CSNET


-------- TML Message #32 --------

Date: Mon, 27 Jul 87 22:31:36 PDT
From: ihnp4!ihlpf!zonker@tektronix
Archive-Message-Number: 32

The following rules are my House modifications to the Traveller
System.  For the most part I play Traveller one on one (i.e. no parties)
throught he mail.  In these situations having a PC that can fend for
himself is critical.  The number of characters I run depends on my
free time.  Also since it is one on one it becomes important that
the characters are interesting to me i.e. you almost want an interactive
fiction atmosphere.  Running one to one via mail has the advantage of
allowing both the player and ref to run at their own pace a turn can
last a year or a minute depending on the situation.  Little or no attempt
is made to keep players on the same time line.  If two characters
are in the same place during play and it is their first meeting
they can meet if they wish and no temporal problems would occur (i.e.
characters 1 and 2 meet at time x, charaters 1 does x+6mo. and
meets charater 3, charcter 3 moves to planet y, character 2 is on
planet y but has only done 2 mo since meeting character 1, therefore
character 2 and 3 can't meet until 2 has done 4 more months).
    The following are food for thought only as at the present time
I don't have free time to run any new characters.  Much of what is
stated here was stolen directly from Don Rapp's Paranoia game
which puts anything I've ever done in Traveller to shame.  

1. Character Generation:  First and foremost, I want to say that I
encourage different characters.  If you want to play a different
species let me know.  (Within reason (i.e. I expect some balance) you
may change the way your character is rolled up {number of dice, or
plus and minus on the normal two dice} I do of course reserve the
right to approval).  Other human cultures are not discouraged
either.  I will generally give a skill bonuses, as a reward, to
characters who  are trying to make things more interesting to me  
(feel free to suggest skills you think the character should get). 
Character Generation other than as stated above is more or less
done normally (except that character survival is ipso facto and
characters will not feel the effects of age (more later)).  You
should use Mercenary, High Guard, Scouts and Assassins (PP), Merchants
and Merchandise (PP), or a similar book to roll up a character (if you
lack the desired one of the above, I will roll you up a character
using one.  Be sure and tell me any ideas you have for the character
(you will also be able to reject the character if you don't like
it and I'll roll one up till we get one you like)).  If you have
the book feel free to roll up several characters and choose the
best one (the object of the game is to enjoy it and I find it is
easier to enjoy when you start off right).  Your first submission
to me should be a character (send what the character did each year
too as it gives me some background to work with) (or a description
of the kind of character you want), preferred place of mustering
out (any base).
    a.  As I said before I feel that characters should always
	survive the rolling up process and that medical science will
	progress enough that characters will not age within the terms of
	the game (i.e. lifespan of several hundred years). However
	severe damage as per wounds will simulate the effects of
	aging i.e. the body will begin to lose its ability to
	recover if enough serious damage is inflicted on it, the
	aging table will now be the effects of multiple wounds table.
	The label Terms of Service should be replaced with one called
	Wounds Received.  When rolling up a character if that character
	should fail a survival roll that character is considered to have
	taken a serious wound instead (don't roll for promotion or
	skills, but do roll for decorations with a +2 modifier (note that
	the Purple Heart is automatic)(in cases where no decoration is
	normally available a roll of 12 naturally will get the player
	character the highest honor the service can award i.e. it means
	you got yourself nearly killed doing something incredibly brave
	and stupid)(rolling exactly the number needed to survive
	is treated as usual).  His next year will be considered as
	in the hospital and will be rolled as a year of training
	(skills must be rolled on the hospital life table, failure
	to survive a year in hospital means another year in hospital
	and add two more to the number of wounds received (a third
	year would add four wounds for a total of seven wounds, etc)).

		Hospital Life Table
		1	Gambling
		2	Bribery
		3	Admin
		4	-1 strength
		5	-1 endurance
		6	+1 education

     b. (Modifications to Paranoia Press' Scouts and Assasins book):
	There is a third branch to the scout service called the
	Systems Branch.  The Systems Branch (also called the Space Patrol)
	has the dubious honor of patrolling (in a civil sense, not a
	military sense) explored space.  They are the people who man the
	majority of the Scout bases encountered by players.  When heavy
	guns and a show of force are necessary the Navy does the job, but
	the day to day patroling and policing of a subsector is done by
	the scouts.  Retired Scouts with ships are automatically at the
	call of the System Service.  The following tables apply:
	Scout Occupational Specialty Table  	General Assignment
		Die	Systems                  1	Stand-By
		Roll	Section                  2	Active
		1	Blade Combat             3	Active
		2	Gun Combat               4	Active
		3	Gunnery                  5	Active
		4	Admin                    6	Special
		5	Recon
		6	Pilot
		7	Computer
	
		Active Duty Assignment	   Skill Table
       		2	Recon Mission       Systems
      		3	Raid                1	Gunnery
      		4	Patrol              2	Zero-G Cmbt
      		5	Patrol              3	Leadership
      		6	Patrol              4	Admin
      		7	Ship Maintenance    5	Survival
      		8	Training            6	Small Ship Tactics
      		9	Training            7	Investigation
      		10	Patrol              8	Choice
      		11	Patrol              +1 for Recon Mission Assignment
      		12	Raid                +1 for fourth term scouts
                                            +2 for fifth up term scouts	

	Assignment Resolution
			Raid	Recon	Patrol 	Ship	Train	Stand-By
			       Mission		Maint
	Systems
	Survive		7+	8+	5+	Auto	4+	4+
	Decoration	6+	5+	9+	none	none	none
	Skill		6+	6+	6+	8+	5+	4+
	
	New Skill: Investigation: Expertise in finding whether or not
		   several events are related.

2. Planets:  For the most part planets are defined the same way as
in the original book.  The main exception is that I have
changed the meaning of the starport codes, changed the
meaning of the population table and rewritten the rules
for planet generation.  Since the changes in planet generation do
not affect players directly except in the two cases shown(i.e. the
generated planets are identical from the player's point of view)
they are not explained here (I will be glad to tell interested
parties all!).
     a. The new starports chart (from page 5 book 3) is:
			STARPORTS
	A    Imperial Starport. Starport built by the Imperial
	     Government to support both a scout base and a
	     navy base.  Fuel and Shipyard available.
	     Free fuel for scouts.
	B    Subsector Starport. Starport built by the Imperial
	     Government to support a scout base.  Fuel and
	     Shipyard available.  Free fuel for scouts.
	C    Commercial Starport. Starport built by a planetary
	     government or a commercial concern.  Refined fuel and
	     Shipyard available.
	D    Private Starport. Starport built by a government or a
	     commercial concern, but intended for private use.
	     You can land there, but chances are no services will
	     be available to you without prior arrangement (or
	     invitation).  Note that there may not be a shipyard
	     here at all, however at the minimum their license requires
	     them to provide unrefined fuel.  You will be
	     allowed to trade.  
	F    Fueling Station.  A Private Starport (generally on a
	     low tech/pop world which wants to encourage trade) where
	     refined fuel is available (but there are few or no
	     repair facilities). 
	S    Scout Base.  Shipyard and free fuel available to scout
	     ships.  Unrefined fuel (at the minimum) for others.
	N    Navy Base and scout base.  Shipyard and free fuel
	     available to scout ships.  Unrefined fuel (at the
	     minimum) available to nonscouts.
	E    Primitive Installation.  There are suitable areas
	     prepared or available for landing starships, but due
	     to the low tech level or frontier nature of the
	     planet no services for starship fueling, or repair
	     are available.  You can trade.
	X    No facility.  The planet has no provisions for landing
	     starships.  Trading may be iffy.
	R    Special Installation.  May be travel restrictions to
	     and from this installation.  Requires explanation on
	     subsector map.  Example: a prison planet.
	My resons for the new starport chart are based on how I
	see subsectors come into being.  A subsector was originally
	explored by the Scout Service and consisted of mainly X and
	E planets (unless there was a space going race native to the
	subsector (D starports and rarely C starports)).  As the
	subsector starts to open up the SS builds a series of Scout
	Bases (S), some of which are also used by the navy (N).  As
	Imperial Worlds begin to develop around these bases they start
	to become commercial starports as well (A starports or B 
	starports).  As worlds on which bases aren't built become Imperial
	Worlds they build their own commercial facilities (C public and D
	private).  Some worlds may become owned by large industrial
	facilities who will build a starport to carry away cargoes 
	(D starports and E starports depending on their needs).  Some
	of the original base worlds never develop into Imperial Worlds
	and remain as their original base (S or N).  A planet may be
	chosen as special world (R) and travel to and from it may be
	restricted.  Some worlds don't have the	technology/population
	to support a full starport, but wish to encourage travel and
	trade (for tourism etc.) and build fueling stops (F).
     b. New Population Table (numbers give are maximums).
	0	0 - 100 Marginal planet or station of some kind.
	1	5,000	Generally some kind of industrial/mining planet.
	2	10,000  New colony.  Minimum for Military Base.
	3	100,000
	4	250,000  Minimum for B starport.
	5	500,000  Minimum for an A starport.
	6	1,000,000 Minimum for a C starport.
	7	10,000,000 TL 0-8 sentient lower/TL 0 upper pop limit.
	8	25,000,000
	9	50,000,000
	A	100,000,000 TL 1 upper population limit.
	B	500,000,000 TL 2 upper population limit.
	C	1,000,000,000 TL 3-4 upper population limit.
	D	5,000,000,000 TL 5-6 upper population limit.
	E	10,000,000,000 TL 7-8 upper population limit.
	F	10,000,000,000+ Probably several planets.
     c. Misc:   Gas Giants are present in a system on 5+.
		Indigenous Populations are 1D6 for a one on
		planets where the Atmosphere, Water and Air are
		between 5 and 9.
3. Computers.  
The current computers in traveller are rather over sized for what
they can do i.e. a computer today that can run only two programs
every ten minutes and can only store 4 more would, comfortably
fit inside a telephone, yet it takes one ton of space to do this
in Traveller.  With just the currently projected advances in
technology you will be able to compact computers even more. (Also
Traveller computers obviously have no concept of virtual storage,
concurrency, multiprogramming, or multiprocessing all of which add
up to allowing literally scores of programs to run at the same
time.  With these each program only needs a small portion of itself in
memory at any one time.  The number of programs running being
limited by the speed of switching programs, rate new pages are
needed, and secondary storage more than CPU memory size.)
Since the Traveller tech chart shows the level 1 computer as a
Tech Level 5 entity, we are going to assume that the chart on page
13, book two is the TL5 chart.  Because I find the CPU/storage
columns to be nonsense they will be combined into one column
(note that this eliminates the need to have bis models).  For each
odd TL above five the program capacity of the chart will be shift
down one rows i.e. model 2 program capacity will become model one
program capacity,  cost and space will be read as normal. 
On even TLs the cost can be cut by one third or the mass can be
halved.  Therefore the chart for TL11-12 is:
	model	price	mass	prog cap
	1	2	1	14
	2	9	2	27
	3	18	3	50
	4	30	4	70
	5	45	5	90
	6	55	5	110
	7	60	5	130
	Note that I decided to project the top of the chart at a constant
	20 programs.  I think for the time being we'll leave software as
	it is.  (I will accept comments and suggestions there though).

Any computer with a program capacity of 150 or greater can be
considered an artificial intelligence (AI cost is x3).  These
computers may replace their prog cap with skills at a ration of 1
skill for 15 programs (one skill must be the skill AI which
equates to a personality)(plus they will automatically have 1 skill at
ship maintenance and be able to function as a library).   AIs are
required to have a robot at their disposal and are considered to
have heat and vacuum sensors through out the ship (visual, hearing
and voice would be limited except by the presence of the robot,
maintenance senors would be placed where needed).  Ship specific
skills would be:  Predict, Gunnery (assumed equal to Gunner
Interact, Target, Launch, return fire, anti missile programs and a
Gunnery skill of 1), Select, Multi-Target, Maneuver/Evade, Jump
(includes Generate and Navigation programs), and Anti-Hijack.  All
these skills can be assumed to have the same effect as the best
equivalent book 2 page 12 software and may be chosen freely by
the player.  AI computers can also have any other skill (granted
many of them would be useless to the computer) available and can
be used to teach.  AI computers can not change skills once they
are chosen.  An AI computer (that is to say the ship) will not
necessarily do what it is ordered since it is a NPC (note ships are
considered to be phenomenally loyal to their owner (i.e. incapable
of treachery), but not without a sense of self preservation).  We
will deal with the problems this will entail, in the area of title
transfer, when we come to it.
	a. When starships are awarded to a player (when he musters
	out) a die is rolled and the TL of the computer is as
	follows 1 = TL9, 2,3,4 = TL11 5,6 = TL13.  Note: that you
	may buy a new higher TL computer to replace the one given.
4. Combat:  For the most part the nature of combat will be free
form.  This is to a large part due to the medium involved.  I use
the following as guidelines: 
	Small Ship action: Mayday (enhanced with the original
			   rules for damage and programs). I also
			   have also developed some errata.
	Large Ship action: High Guard version 2 (lots of free form, too).
	Small ground action: Snapshot/Azanti High Lighting.
	Large Ground action: Striker.

5. Players who earn the Starburst for Extreme Heroism (or its
equivalent) are automatically members of Traveller's (Scouts and
Merchant Captains have the option of not becoming members of
Traveller's and automatically getting a ship on their first die
roll (i.e. you do expend the roll).  Note that only one membership
in Traveller's or one ship is ever granted, multiple SEHs get you
nothing except your governments gratitude (and any monetary subsidy
attached).

6. Psionics:  I follow the Traveller rules for Psionics very
closely, except that I feel that the government actively screens
for Psionics (mainly because of their abilities to spy, etc.).
The Psionic screening is done at time of induction and to the
inductee it is just another in a long series of tests.  This is why
the government does not actively root out the Psionics Institute. 
Popular sentiment (primarily due to the way Psionics tend to be
used) is heavily against Psionics (as per the books) and open use
of Psionic ability is likely to end in death for the user (knife
in the back and whatnot).  Player characters have their Psionic
abilities rolled by the referee and if their rating is high enough
they may be asked if they want to be trained (note that this would
happen before they served their first term).  All NPCs have a second
characteristic, Psionic reaction, (rolled by me as well) for use
in determining their reaction to Psionics.  Players should
remember that any other individual that they encounter may indeed
be Psionic and living/working under an assumed identity (retired
(do spys ever really retire?) Psionics are generally permitted to
take their assumed identities with them).  Psionic ability in
untrained individuals may be used by me (where appropriate) as an
intuitive factor to help players (or others).


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