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Date: Sun, 03 Apr 94 22:00:02 EDT
From: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin)
Subject: TML bundle #571: Table of Contents

BUN# =AMN= =DATE====== =FROM==========  =SUBJECT/BODY==========================
 571  7157 03-Apr-1994 Roger Sanger     Spinward Marches in the New Era <<  
 571  7158 03-Apr-1994 David Johnson    Traveller Background 8 << Gentlesophont
 571  7159 03-Apr-1994 Mark Watson      Re: TML nightly: Msgs 7143-7150 V71#7 <
 571  7160 03-Apr-1994 Mark Watson      Re: TML nightly: Msgs 7143-7150 V71#7 <

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

Bundle: 571
Archive-Message-Number: 7157
Date: Sun, 3 Apr 1994 07:47:19 -0700
From: rodge@cyberspace.com (Roger Sanger)
Subject: Spinward Marches in the New Era

 
               ---------------------------
               CIVILIZATION IN THE NEW ERA
                         - - -
                       THE REGENCY
               ---------------------------
 
Come on guys, lets DEVELOP the background rather than just
discuss it!
 
There is a definite gaping hole in TNE's background material --
the REGENCY and surrounds --  which leaves us SPINWARD MARCHERS
in the lurch.  This isn't a complaint, but merely an observation.
My opinion is, you can either FEEL BAD about this, or you can DO
SOMETHING about it!  And since GDW isn't working on the area, and
since they don't show anything on their release schedule for it
for at least the next year, that leaves the area wide open for US
to develop.  I've seen several complaints on the TML about the
Regency not being supported, and my response to all of them is
DON'T JUST SIT THERE, JOIN EFFORTS, HAVE FUN, AND WEAVE ITS
FUTURE!  I'm sure we could come up with something truly
excellent.
 
So in the spirit of fantastic science fiction, I'll attempt to
get the ball rolling.  Here goes...
 
                  -------------------------
                  Breaking the TL15 Barrier
                  -------------------------
 
Thinking ahead to the New Era in the still-civilized regions,
did you ever wonder how the Regency managed to remain virus-free?
Well, they didn't do it by merely patrolling their borders, I can
assure you of that!
 
Here are the worlds from the Regency and its neighbors in the
Spinward Marches that are destined to break the Tech-level 15
barrier in my campaign, and the role of each of them in the war
against the Virus:
 
 
In my campaign, the following worlds are at the forefront of
technology in the New Era:
 
    In the Spinward Marches:
 
        GLISTEN -- A major robotics center, where environmental
        mining suits and battledress have evolved into
        sophisticated unmanned robots.  Most emergency service
        personnel (paramedics, firemen, search and rescue, swat
        teams, etc.) are bots, as are most of the workers in the
        housekeeping, maintenance, and mining industries' labor
        forces.  When the Virus first struck, all robotics
        interfacing had to be reduced to direct sophont-given and
        coded commands, which put a major damper on industry in
        Glisten.  Work began immediately to develop a form of
        telecommunications that was safe from viral intrusion,
        and this research and development has continued to this
        day -- the resulting comm-filter technology is nearly
        full-proof and such filters are installed in all bots,
        ships, and communications equipment manufactured in
        Glisten.  As an additional security measure, all such
        equipment undergoes regular routine anti-viral
        diagnostics.
 
        The shipyards of Glisten have developed a sophisticated
        anti-virus defense system that is itself autonomous, and
        is a major export:  Unmanned drone SDB's, each outfitted
        with "canary" virus traps, are designed to patrol systems
        on the lookout for virus-infested ships.  The "canaries"
        are isolated computer chips that are allowed to become
        infected (only one is active at a time) in direct open
        communication with another ship.  Sophisticated
        diagnostic methods are used to monitor the canary's
        health, thus providing a way to detect virus-infected
        ships.  Advanced scanners, polygraph equipment, and
        automated boarding inspectors are also used to screen
        ships, whether manned or not.  These ships are the
        closest things to "white blood cells" in space, and
        combined with Glisten's comm-filter technology makes that
        place one of the safest from the Virus.
 
 
 
        MORA --  Is home to the largest sim-space data
        environment in existence.  When it was invaded by the
        Virus, many cyberspacers of the system encountered the
        viral aliens mono a mono.  At the height of the crisis,
        several dozen citizens became possessed by viral control
        through the net's direct neural interface, and ran amuck.
        Many deckheads were killed before they were able to rally
        together and successfully wipe the electronic symbiotic
        intruders out.  Several viral strains were captured in
        the net by cybertroopers, and a careful study of the
        quickly evolving species has proceeded since then.  The
        computers of Mora are patrolled by cybernetic police who
        jack directly into the system, and all cyberspacers can
        be called upon as militia if the need ever arises.
 
 
 
        RHYLANOR -- The pseudoreality capital.  Anthropomorphic
        robots have long been a part of the culture of this
        thriving world.  By the time of the Virus, Rhylanor had
        progressed into early AI, and the development of
        life-like androids and hologrammatic projections.  Home
        of the first android citizen, AB-101, "who" was actually
        knighted by Emporer Strephon himself and made sentient by
        Hiver manipulators at the computer concord at Shudusham.
        "Abee Wan Owen" did much to alleviate the public's
        initial apprehension toward life-like androids and
        holograms, and their numbers grew rapidly.
 
        However, when the Virus devastated Trin, robotophobia
        became the norm, and all androids were ordered to be
        powered down.  The effort went further, and one sentient
        android in particular was dismantled (killed).  Other
        androids protested in court, making a martr of their
        fellow, and were interned instead and required to wear a
        prominent "A" on their foreheads to distinguish them from
        true biologicals.  Quarantined before the Virus reached
        the planet, the android population was thus spared.  In
        their confinement, the androids of Rhylanor became the
        developers and keepers of the world's prominent computer
        systems, and developed their own subculture.  The
        "pseudos" undertook the mission to produce a vaccine that
        would protect them from the Virus.  After decades of
        unsuccessful attempts to isolate a genotype of the Virus
        due to its rapid adaptability, the androids eventually
        turned their efforts toward redesigning themselves to be
        virus-immune. The quarantine on androids was lifted some
        time ago, but most of the world's androids prefer their
        own company and infrequently venture from their communes,
        though biologicals frequently visit them!
 
        The holoprojected people of the world weren't so lucky.
        Arnold J. Rimmer holograms were a hot item on Rhylanor
        for awhile, until most of them became infected by a
        strain of the Virus dubbed the "Napoleon Complex",
        and tried to take over the world.  No one likes Arnold
        Judas Rimmer anymore, though there are still a few
        (uninfected ones) left, complaining about their
        unfortunate circumstances, and envying their android
        counterparts who have actual physical forms and who got
        all the lucky breaks.
 
 
 
        PALLIQUE -- Thrust into prominence by the fall of Trin,
        this mineral world was forced to fill the economic gap
        caused by that disaster.  Pallique has traditionally had
        an amber zone rating, due to its extreme distance from
        its sun, resulting in the world's critically low
        temperatures.  This environmental factor, compounded by
        the world's very thin atmosphere and scarcity of water
        (it was all frozen), cost the inhabitants over 1/2 of
        their world's rather high GWP (gross world product) just
        to control the environmental conditions within their
        habitats.
 
        This situation eventually led to the development of
        extremely light but well-insulated vacc-suits, which were
        much more cost-effective to heat and pressurize than
        entire habitats, yet not so cumbersome as to restrict
        movement and comfort.  So each individual became isolated
        in his or her own tiny habitat most of the time.  For
        daily hygiene and intimacy, one could retreat to the
        fresher which could be heated and pressurized once you
        entered, so you could desuit.
 
        This was the state of affairs on Pallique when the Virus
        came to be.  It was here that it was discovered that the
        Virus does not thrive well in very low temperatures.  As
        Pallique's computers were designed to operate in the
        extreme cold, this planet was barely troubled by the
        virus at all.  This allowed the planet to progress
        without devoting much of its resources to combating the
        virus, concentrating instead upon shifting from mining to
        the manufacturing of goods for export, including vacc
        suits, efficient heating and lighting systems, air and
        water recycling units, and air compressors and filtration
        systems.
 
 
 
        DARRIAN -- The Maghiz cataclysm shocked the Darrian race
        out of their hyper technological ambition, and the Virus
        shocked them back into it when it caused one of their
        great floating cities to come crashing down from the sky.
        In this age of monumental dangers, the lack of ambition
        to them equates to negligence.  Their response to the
        Virus was to declare war upon it, and bring all their
        resources to bear upon developing offenses and defenses
        against it.  They adapted immunity to electronic viral
        infection by progressing beyond silicon-based computer
        technology to fiber-optic and direct energy transmission
        (DET) computing systems.  To protect themselves from
        physical assault, they learned to duplicate the
        technologies of their distant past.  Vampire ships are
        vaporized with disintegration weapons, now standard
        armament on all Darrian military spacecraft.  [And no,
        their military technology is NOT for export].
 
 
 
        CHRONOR -- Ironically, with the coming of the Quarantine
        came increased rather than decreased trade with the
        Imperium, or at least with what was left of it.
        Chronor's major export:  Psionicists, psionics
        knowhow, and advanced robotics.  Its major import:  Hi
        tech cargos and data packages.
 
        The industry in the Consolate to get the biggest boost
        from this trade was, again ironically, communications.
        The Zhodani, masters of communicating via the direct
        transfer of thoughts, were decidedly behind in the area
        of mass communications systems and computer interfacing
        technologies.
 
        The most significant development of this technological
        influx was the meshing of psionics and DNI (direct
        neural interfacing).  The Zhodani, already adept at the
        formation of mental constructs for telepathic transfer,
        and in the methods of training this special skill, now
        had the technology to transfer thoughts directly into
        computers.  They took to it like fish to water.
 
        Pseudo-telepathy became the rage, and surpassed all other
        industries.  The masses, who longed for the abilities
        heretofore reserved for a privileged or gifted few, were
        exposed to a technology that would let them communicate
        mentally amongst each other.  Universities scrambled to
        reorganize their medical schools for the training of
        neuro-cybernetic surgeons, and several bio-cybernetic
        companies exploded into mega-corporations, the demand
        was so great.
 
        The Virus was no match for the Zhodani.  They quickly
        learned to sense it supernaturally, and once they
        learned its basic nature, destroying it was relatively
        easy.  It was made of minute particles of sand!  Zhodani
        telekenticists had no trouble obliterating it.
        Unfortunately, this also resulted in the destruction of
        the infected hardware as well.  But it was a small price
        to pay.
 
        As DNI technology expanded, hooked-in telepaths could
        easily pinpoint viral invaders and telekineticists
        equipped with detailed biofeedback aquired microscopic
        control over their mental skills, and eventually learned
        how to excise the virus directly and to repair the damage
        done by it.
 
I haven't gotten around to Deneb, Reft Sector, or the Trojan
Reaches yet, but noticed several high-tech worlds in the sector
data, including a couple TL16 worlds.  Since the stats were dated
1120, those worlds are bound to be even further advanced by the
turn of the century!
 
As for the Spinward Marches, what material have YOU developed for
it, whether CT, MT, or TNE?
 
Come on, post it here so everyone can benefit by it.  Help make
this repository of Traveller material GROW!
 
    Rodge.

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

Bundle: 571
Archive-Message-Number: 7158
Date: Sun, 3 Apr 94 12:25:35 CDT
From: djohnson@geds01.jsc.nasa.gov (David Johnson)
Subject: Traveller Background 8

Gentlesophonts:

Some very interesting discussion Saturday night, especially some that moves
our discussion on to the Regency and other areas.
 
Jeff Freeman <Jeff.Freeman@p5121.f1014.n124.z1.fidonet.org> writes:
 
> I thought that the direction in which The Viral-Imperium was
> headed had already been decided -- just from reading the TNE
> rulebook.
 
> Observation:  If the Star Vikings fight the Regency (and I
> agree completely, they must!) then the winner will go down in
> history as "the good guys".  They will need no defense by
> acadamians such as these.  The losers, apparently the RC,
> would be vilified... to the point that some generations later
> scholars would feel the need to set the record straight.
> 
> Compare:  American Indians. 
> Had the Indians succeeded in pushing Europeans from
> American soil, no doubt the situation would be opposite.

Jeff makes some very good points.  Clearly, those who are writing the
`history blurbs' are trying to `rehabilitate' the Star Vikings and while
this suggests they weren't `victorious' this doesn't necessarily have to
be the case.  The Regency and the Coalition might have come to some sort
of integrative accord and yet the Star Vikings might still have been
perceived as `barbarians' by the `dominant' culture of the Regency.  (A
good example would be the `dominant' American perception of Southerners.)
Another case might be that the Star Vikings are being `rehabilitated' in
reaction to the `politically correct' attitudes that originally painted
them as `bad guys'.  (Sort of like the `men's movement' now.)
  
> In away, this is good news for the "Down with TNE, Long Live
> the Imperium" crowd.  Push ahead 50 years and your beloved
> Imperium is back... slightly more democratic (q.v. Changes in
> the Regency), but The Imperium nontheless.

And with *Traveller: The Fourth Imperium* we'll have all the TNE folks
complaining about all their TNE material being made obsolete and pining
away for the `good old days' when Vikings were Vikings and the Virus was
`in your crosshairs'.  :-)


Jeff Zeitlin <jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com> writes:

>  Thus, the Hivers work with the RC to create stable
>  governments, and in the process, influence the "direction" that
>  the RC develops to suit their (the Hivers) needs.

Thanks for the info.  This particular fact makes me much less comfortable
with the Coalition.  It sounds a great deal like the Coalition may merely
be the pawn of the Hivers.  Is this the case?  Maybe all that `democracy'
doesn't really matter?  (Watch out!  Here's comes the firestorm.)
   
>  The 3I was in no way homogeneous - either technologically 
>  or culturally.

Well, yes, but is it really relevant to say that some low-tech, backwater
world was `part' of the Imperium.  Such a world played little or no role in
the conduct of Imperial affairs.  It was the worlds with an `affinity' for
technology that `made up' the Imperium and it will be worlds with similar
affinities that will make up whatever interstellar state or states that
arise from the Collapse.  I guess the worlds without these affinities are
what you would refer to as `ghettoized'? 

>  But the Collapse threw the 3I worlds back to 
>  pretty low tech levels, and some of them will have been fortunate 
>  enough to (a) have a cache of low-tech reference materials (a.k.a. 
>  paper books), (b) be in an area that is relatively free of vampire 
>  ships (as opposed to the Promise Main in Diaspora), and (c) have 
>  avoided developing rabid xenophobia and/or technophobia.  These 
>  worlds will form the nuclei of pocket empires or Reformation 
>  Coalitia.  But you'll still have the dominant high-tech nucleus 
>  with other worlds acting strictly as feeders for one or another 
>  necessary foundation material.
> 
> T::>(I'm not trying to suggest that Western culture is somehow 
>  ::>`better' than other cultures, merely that is is better suited 
>  ::>to the practice of technology - that `technology' is part of 
>  ::>the Western cultural tradition.  Whether that is a `good thing' 
>  ::>or not remains to be seen.)
> 
>  And it is quite clear, and natural, that the GDW-designed 
>  interstellar states should share that bias - all of the GDW 
>  designers are, after all, North American Terrans from the 
>  twentieth century, with all of the cultural baggage that comes 
>  with that.
> 
> T::>Such will not be the case in the worlds that are `integrated' 
>  ::>into the RC.  All former Imperial worlds, to a certain extent, 
>  ::>will enjoy a `technological' cultural tradition.  They will not 
>  ::>face many of the obstacles to technological development faced 
>  ::>by non-Western cultures on Earth.
> 
>  Except that there is a lot of xenophobia that has developed, and 
>  the technological tradition and cultural background wasn't all 
>  that firmly entrenched on all of the worlds.  Remember, the static 
>  Vilani culture was in control of most of Imperial space for a lot 
>  of years; that's one culture that does not encourage innovation.  
>  The Solomani made an impact on that culture far out or proportion 
>  to its numbers, due to the encouragement of technological 
>  development.  But the Solomani veneer can be expected to be quite 
>  thin, as it was really only around for a couple of thousand years 
>  (part of which was the Long Night - which saw many of the same 
>  problems that the Wilds see now.)
> 
> T::>>   we're looking at the ghettoization of space, with all of
>  ::>>   its attendant problems (again, look at present-day Terra for
>  ::>>   examples of what can happen).
> 
> T::>Not necessarily.  Had TNE occurred several hundred years after 
>  ::>the Rebellion maybe the technological traditions of the 
>  ::>Imperium would have been lost but in just seventy years, or 
>  ::>even 150 if it takes the RC that long to expand a great deal, 
>  ::>those traditions will still exist.  Look at the Renaissance of 
>  ::>Western Culture after the Dark Ages - much of what had been 
>  ::>done in the Classical Era was quickly reincorporated into the 
>  ::>culture.
> 
>  But classical cultures were the foundation for the Dark Ages 
>  culture in the first place, and was more homogeneous than the 3I 
>  was.  This is the point that you're overlooking.  While there were 
>  definitely failures of policy, it's pretty clear that 
>  _culturally_, the policy of the 3I was to step back and let them 
>  go their own way.  They simply must follow a minimum set of rules 
>  (i.e., no nukes, no slaves, and no violating extrality...), but 
>  within those very broad constraints, freedom.  How else could 
>  you have had TL4 charismatic dictatorships in the same Imperium as 
>  TL 10 religious oligarchies and TL15 participating democracies? - 
>  and think just how different the cultures that support these 
>  different governments must be.
> 
> T::>>   However, the Regency will have access to the Jumpstart
>  ::>>   caches
> 
> T::>Jumpstart caches?
> 
>  Mentioned in Arrival Vengeance.  Caches of resources that the 
>  Emperor (or an archduke, perhaps; never really established) could 
>  release to start massive public works projects in an economically 
>  troubled area.  When Strephon essentially abdicated in Norris's 
>  favor, he handed over the information and "passwords" as well.  
> 
>  Also mentioned was Longbow, which was hinted at as being possibly 
>  a communications project of some sort, and one that may very well 
>  be involved with psionics.  One of Strephon's comments to Norris 
>  in connection with this was to watch the Zhodani, as they may 
>  know.  Or some such comment as that; I'd have to look it up, and 
>  AV isn't handy at the moment.
> 
> T::>>   we're going to see the (N+1)th Interstellar Wars/Pacification 
>  ::>>   Wars/Wars of Integration/Coalition Wars/Regency Wars/Guild Wars.
> 
> T::>Of course we are.  :-)
> 
>  Yeah... that _was_ kind of stating the obvious, wasn't it... :)
> ==========================================================================
> Jeff Zeitlin                                      jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com
> - ---
>  ~ QMPro 1.52 ~ ... the glorious failures and the glorious victories...
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Bundle: 570
> Archive-Message-Number: 7150
> Subject: 71:4/7121 Regency vs. RC
> From: jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (Jeff Zeitlin)
> Date: Fri,  1 Apr 94 21:27:00 -0500
> 
> Subject: 71:4/7121 Regency vs. RC
> 
> T::>Jeff Zaitlin:
> 
>  That's "Zeitlin", but don't worry; I get that kind of thing all 
>  the time...
> 
>  ::>  The Regency will also have the same kind of high-tech center,
>  ::>  because the center did not lose the technology in the first
>  ::>  place.  However, the Regency will have access to the Jumpstart
>  ::>  caches, which will allow a more even development of the
>  ::>  technological and industrial base - or, the Regency can do
>  ::>  nothing, and allow the reintegrated areas to develop on their
>  ::>  own.  In either case, the Regency is likely to have less of a
>  ::>  ghettoization problem, as they have no need to scavenge high
>  ::>  technology, and their expansion is not driven by a need to import
>  ::>  from an external market.  High tech centers will develop, but not
>  ::>  in such a way that they will be driven to focus on serving the
>  ::>  needs of an already extant high-tech area.
> 
> T::>What amazes me is the fact that the Regency isn't already expanding
>  ::>into Deneb and Corridor at a furious rate (or indeed, into Verge
>  ::>via the Jump-5 route across the Great Rift).  Either the Regency
>  ::>still fears Zhodani betrayal or a war with the Aslan colonies while
>  ::>its' efforts are concentrated on rebuilding its trailing worlds or
>  ::>it still believes there to be a strong threat from the Virus.
> 
>  No, it seems to be a little more complicated than that.  It seems 
>  that there was one ship that got through the cordon, and as a 
>  result, the planet of Gram suffered.  Badly.  The fallout from 
>  that was that the _public_ perception (though not necessarily at 
>  the highest levels of government) was that it was too dangerous, 
>  from a Virus standpoint.  Also remember that they have to guard 
>  the entire Vargr border.  Expansion into Corridor lengthens that 
>  border, and it may not be feasible to maintain "adequate" border 
>  controls.
> 
>  The J5 Route across the Rift leads from the Aslan Spinward 
>  Colonies to what used to be the main body of the Hierate.  It's 
>  not Norris's to exploit.  The Spinward Aslan may very well look to 
>  Norris with much respect, and be inclined to follow his advice, 
>  but they do not subordinate themselves to him, any more than the 
>  Zhodani do.
> 
> T::>                                                               But
>  ::>since the Virus (except for a few pockets here and there) has
>  ::>largely disappeared there is nothing to stop it.  And with the
>  ::>Regency's industrial base largely intact it should be able to
>  ::>expand very rapidly.  Frankly, in a contest between the Regency
>  ::>and the RC I don't see how the RC could win.  They are just too
>  ::>small.  Which means that GDW must be planning on keeping the
>  ::>Regency within its' existing boundaries for some time to come (to
>  ::>give the RC time to catch up).  I don't personally find this credible.
> 
>  Different attitudes, different responses to a situation.  There 
>  are people that did not find it credible that the US had no 
>  interest in incorporating foreign countries into a US-controlled 
>  (as opposed to merely dominated) empire.  Nevertheless, the US 
>  never used this model, whereas it was the typical Soviet/Russian 
>  model.  Nobody thought that the Terran upstarts could beat the 
>  long-established Vilani empire, either.  Yet the Rule of Man 
>  happened anyway.
> 
> T::>Jeff Zaitlin:
>  ::>  Does the RC know that the Regency and the other Spinward states
>  ::>  exist?  Do the Hivers?  Does the Regency know about the survival
>  ::>  of the Hive Federation?  About the RC?
> 
> T::>What about the K'kree?  They've always been (pardon the pun) the
>  ::>dark horses of the Traveller universe.  Could they make a bid
>  ::>for increased living room (bigger, brighter pastures await you
>  ::>in the ruins of the former Third Imperium).  But mabye they just
>  ::>live too far away...
> 
>  Unlikely.  They wouldn't have had any defenses against Virus, 
>  except distance.  And the Hivers were just as far, for the most 
>  part.  The Hivers got bit, and only their sophisticated knowledge 
>  of computers saved them.  Relations between the Hive Federation 
>  and the Two Thousand Worlds were not so good that the Hivers would 
>  have gone out of their way to help the 2KW.  Thus, the 2KW 
>  suffered the same fate as the Aslan Hierate, the Solomani 
>  Confederation, and the Third Imperium.
> 
> T::>Jeff Zaitlin:
>  ::>  At this point in time, we must assume that the answer to all of
>  ::>  these questions is "no" and that both the Regency and the RC will
>  ::>  develop in their own way, until they meet.  That meeting is
>  ::>  likely to occur due to both states attempting to integrate or
>  ::>  build forward bases on the same planet.  With such a fundamental
>  ::>  difference in outlook, we can expect to see armed conflicts, as
>  ::>  the Regency tries to prevent undue interference in the internal
>  ::>  affairs of a client or member state, while the RC is trying to
>  ::>  mold the state into what they feel is an "appropriate" shape for
>  ::>  membership.  Add to this mixture the Guild, which will try to
>  ::>  keep both interstellar states out of the picture, and I think
>  ::>  we're going to see the (N+1)th Interstellar Wars/Pacification
>  ::>  Wars/Wars of Integration/Coalition Wars/Regency Wars/Guild Wars.
> 
> T::>This depends very much on any future political change within the
>  ::>Regency.  It has already moved towards a more democratic system.
>  ::>It's connection to the Third Imperium will taint it in the eyes
>  ::>of most RCers but then, we can't all be perfect.  The RCer may
>  ::>consider the Imperium to have been immoral in some of its'
>  ::>practices but I don't think that they place it at the same level
>  ::>as your average TED (basically what the Imps would have called a
>  ::>barbarian with nukes).  The Imperium, whatever its' faults, was
>  ::>civilised.
> 
>  Well, yes and no.  I think it depends more on the _cultural_ 
>  attitudes than the _political_ ones.  And the two cultures are 
>  very definitely at odds.  I don't see such drastic changes in 
>  _either_ so as to be able to avoid these confrontations, and it's 
>  not good for source material development, either.  I don't believe 
>  it's a question of "_Will_ the wars happen"; I believe that it's a 
>  question of "_When_" and "_Where_" they will happen.
> 
> T::>I'm not sure from reading Path of Tears to what extent the RC
>  ::>tries to force a One True Way on the worlds it integrates.  The
>  ::>Federalist faction seems to believe in promoting diversity of
>  ::>cultures/political systems within the Coalition while the
>  ::>Feudal Technocrats seem to want to squeeze everyone they re-contact
>  ::>into their mould.  At the moment there is no clear indication which
>  ::>faction will come to dominate the Coalition.  The RC is definitely
>  ::>opposed to any government/society which routinely tortures, murders,
>  ::>enslaves and otherwise oppresses its' citizens on a daily basis or
>  ::>which regards outsiders as 'the enemy' or technology as 'evil'. I
>  ::>think that a lot of the people in the Regency would also agree
>  ::>with that.  It still leaves a lot of room for different kinds of
>  ::>government.  I think that the RCers think that the attitude of
>  ::>the Third Imperium towards its' member worlds was 'so long as
>  ::>you pay your taxes, we don't care what you do to your people' or
>  ::>'he may be a bastard, but he's our bastard'.  This kind of laissez-
>  ::>faire, amoral attitude is definitely out the window.
> 
>  Consider what happened with technological development here on 
>  Terra.  Whatever nation/empire, throughout history, was currently 
>  on top, spread its culture throughout the "known world".  First 
>  the Greeks, then the Romans, then the Italians and French, then 
>  the Spanish and Portuguese, then the English and Germans, then the 
>  Soviets and Americans.  With technological dominance and higher 
>  education comes cultural dominance as well.  It's not a question 
>  of _forcing_ the cultures into the RC or Regency mold; if that's 
>  what I said or implied, please forgive me.  What I was thinking 
>  was that the dominated cultures would be "exsimilated" into the 
>  dominant culture, much the way American culture is now pretty much 
>  global.  Yes, there will always be some elements of prior 
>  cultures, and some of those aspects will be absorbed into the 
>  dominant culture, but by-and-large, the "lesser" cultures change 
>  to conform to the dominant.
> 
> T::>As far as the Guild is concerned, while it has high ambitions to
>  ::>dominate interstellar space I think that it lacks the organisational
>  ::>structure to do so, and that faced with an opponent like the Regency
>  ::>it will quickly be removed as a power.  I think that it poses more of
>  ::>a threat to the RC because the RC doesn't have the kind of resources
>  ::>at its' disposal that the Regency has, and is spread much more thinly.
>  ::>I expect the RC to dispose of the Guild in the next 10 years (unless
>  ::>the Guild changes its' structure and becomes much more like a
>  ::>government).
> 
>  One comment.  The United States was beaten in Viet Nam by what was 
>  essentially a guerilla army of "regular irregulars."
> 
> T::>The next big plot development we can expect to see concerns the
>  ::>Black Curtain.  Path of Tears mentions the "Vampire Highway" that
>  ::>leads into the Core of the former Imperium (straight to the centre
>  ::>of Lucan's territory).  Obviously the Virus has been busily at work
>  ::>there for the last 70 years building...something.  No doubt that
>  ::>something will be unleashed on an unsuspecting Universe in the near
>  ::>future.  I would expect the RC and the Regency to put aside their
>  ::>differences and fight this common enemy (anyone remember Fred
>  ::>Saberhagen's Berserkers?).
> 
>  You assume that both will perceive it as an enemy.  All we know 
>  right now is that the feeder leads corewards, and any planet that 
>  starts to develop is sacked before it gets too far.  We thought 
>  that the RC would be all bad, too, when all we knew about them was 
>  that they were called "Star Vikings"...
> ==========================================================================
> Jeff Zeitlin                                      jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com
> - ---
>  ~ QMPro 1.52 ~ If it isn't borken, don't fix it.
> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> End of TML Nightly
> ******************
> 
> 

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

Bundle: 571
Archive-Message-Number: 7159
Date: Sun, 3 Apr 94 20:11 BST-1
From: Mark Watson <watsonm@cix.compulink.co.uk>
Subject: Re: TML nightly: Msgs 7143-7150 V71#7
Reply-To: watsonm@cix.compulink.co.uk


In-Reply-To: <9404030132.AA10098@engrg.uwo.ca>
Loren on the GDW/TSR deal:
Unwanted speculation on GDW's future apart, I'm in agreement with those 
people who believe that the death of DJ is generally a good thing for 
Traveller (or rather, what Traveller has become ...). One point I'm not 
clear on, does this mean the unlamented demise of 'Journeys' and the 
movement of Challenge back to a monthly schedule?

Cynthia and Dave on the outbreak of democracy in the RCES:
(shouting: let me through, I have a politics degree!)
Well, to start off with, modern democracy really starts with John Locke 
and the 17th Century; Locke's descriptions of the relationship between 
the individual and government led to the liberal philosophers of the 
enlightenment, such as Paine and Rousseau. Classical models influenced 
it, but not as much as Christianity and mediaeval tradition.

Anyhow, that departure apart (and thanks to everyone for letting the 
social scientists have a chance to take over the role of pointless 
discussion on this list from the hard sciences); why no aristocracy in 
the RCES? The easy answer is that there's none in Twilight:2000 either, 
so given that this is the same game ...

On the other hand, if you look at the UK as an example, we have an 
aristocracy, at least to a certain extent. Now, I think very few people 
would have that now if we were to design it from scratch; but for 
various complex reasons we're stuck with it (at least until the Labour 
party gets in for a couple of terms or so). The RCES people *are* 
rebuilding from scratch, pretty much, so they have that option. And I'm 
sure that the hivers would have discouraged the development of a new 
aristocratic tradition, given that much of the blame for the Collapse 
(or at least its nature) could be associated with the constitutional 
arrangements of the Third Imperium.

By the way, I get the impression that most of the Imperial nobility was 
not of long standing. Extrapolating from the tradition of both refs and 
scenario writers of knighting adventurers after (or in the case of DGP 
midway through) a long campaign, most of the lower nobility (ie the 
mass of it) was probably created in the last couple of generations, and 
probably wasn't strong enough to counter any determined movement to 
overthrow it. 

Jeff Freeman on the future of TNE:
Best place that I can see for post TNE speculation is the introduction 
to Survival Margin. By NE65 we have "former black sphere" and "former 
Domain of Deneb" (though this latter may only be a reference to 
pre-Collapse arrangements). The inference I make from the passage is 
that by 65 the area of the former Imperium is, in one form or another, 
reunited (or rather, it is sufficiently peaceful that individuals can 
travel across its span). The Star Vikings are long gone. Kuniholm, 
writing in 1235 (NE35) speaks of them in the past tense. In general, it 
would appear that the Regency survives (doesn't it still have TL15? 
maybe I missed something), perhaps as part of a new Imperium (sans 
nobility). Whether this means the return of the D6 and a decent 
character generation system is another matter (he says bitterly).

Jeff Zeitlin on the K'kree:
Yes, the K'kree were caught in the Collapse with no way out. But why 
shouldn't the Hivers help the K'kree as well? The K'kree, unlike 
humaniti, weren't responsible for the collapse of hiver civilisation. 
If the hivers intervene, they can establish a more pliable, less 
extreme K'kree civilisation to coreward. 

Roger Sanger on a Regency list:
Hi Rodge. I'd much prefer if all traffic was kept to TML. The schism of 
TML was a Bad Thing from which the list is only just beginning to 
recover (I can tell this by the fact that my Windows based newsreader 
has recently started to complain again that the messages are too big). 
By the way, it would be nice if someone started reposting digests of 
the Genie discussions to TML (Do GDW realise that Genie does not have 
points of access in the UK? And for that matter, do they care?)

Finally, anyone spotted Path of Tears in the UK? Challenge 72?

Cheers
Mark Watson

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

Bundle: 571
Archive-Message-Number: 7160
Date: Sun, 3 Apr 94 20:13 BST-1
From: Mark Watson <watsonm@cix.compulink.co.uk>
Subject: Re: TML nightly: Msgs 7143-7150 V71#7
Reply-To: watsonm@cix.compulink.co.uk


In-Reply-To: <9404030132.AA10098@engrg.uwo.ca>
Loren on the GDW/TSR deal:
Unwanted speculation on GDW's future apart, I'm in agreement with those 
people who believe that the death of DJ is generally a good thing for 
Traveller (or rather, what Traveller has become ...). One point I'm not 
clear on, does this mean the unlamented demise of 'Journeys' and the 
movement of Challenge back to a monthly schedule?

Cynthia and Dave on the outbreak of democracy in the RCES:
(shouting: let me through, I have a politics degree!)
Well, to start off with, modern democracy really starts with John Locke 
and the 17th Century; Locke's descriptions of the relationship between 
the individual and government led to the liberal philosophers of the 
enlightenment, such as Paine and Rousseau. Classical models influenced 
it, but not as much as Christianity and mediaeval tradition.

Anyhow, that departure apart (and thanks to everyone for letting the 
social scientists have a chance to take over the role of pointless 
discussion on this list from the hard sciences); why no aristocracy in 
the RCES? The easy answer is that there's none in Twilight:2000 either, 
so given that this is the same game ...

On the other hand, if you look at the UK as an example, we have an 
aristocracy, at least to a certain extent. Now, I think very few people 
would have that now if we were to design it from scratch; but for 
various complex reasons we're stuck with it (at least until the Labour 
party gets in for a couple of terms or so). The RCES people *are* 
rebuilding from scratch, pretty much, so they have that option. And I'm 
sure that the hivers would have discouraged the development of a new 
aristocratic tradition, given that much of the blame for the Collapse 
(or at least its nature) could be associated with the constitutional 
arrangements of the Third Imperium.

By the way, I get the impression that most of the Imperial nobility was 
not of long standing. Extrapolating from the tradition of both refs and 
scenario writers of knighting adventurers after (or in the case of DGP 
midway through) a long campaign, most of the lower nobility (ie the 
mass of it) was probably created in the last couple of generations, and 
probably wasn't strong enough to counter any determined movement to 
overthrow it. 

Jeff Freeman on the future of TNE:
Best place that I can see for post TNE speculation is the introduction 
to Survival Margin. By NE65 we have "former black sphere" and "former 
Domain of Deneb" (though this latter may only be a reference to 
pre-Collapse arrangements). The inference I make from the passage is 
that by 65 the area of the former Imperium is, in one form or another, 
reunited (or rather, it is sufficiently peaceful that individuals can 
travel across its span). The Star Vikings are long gone. Kuniholm, 
writing in 1235 (NE35) speaks of them in the past tense. In general, it 
would appear that the Regency survives (doesn't it still have TL15? 
maybe I missed something), perhaps as part of a new Imperium (sans 
nobility). Whether this means the return of the D6 and a decent 
character generation system is another matter (he says bitterly).

Jeff Zeitlin on the K'kree:
Yes, the K'kree were caught in the Collapse with no way out. But why 
shouldn't the Hivers help the K'kree as well? The K'kree, unlike 
humaniti, weren't responsible for the collapse of hiver civilisation. 
If the hivers intervene, they can establish a more pliable, less 
extreme K'kree civilisation to coreward. 

Roger Sanger on a Regency list:
Hi Rodge. I'd much prefer if all traffic was kept to TML. The schism of 
TML was a Bad Thing from which the list is only just beginning to 
recover (I can tell this by the fact that my Windows based newsreader 
has recently started to complain again that the messages are too big). 
By the way, it would be nice if someone started reposting digests of 
the Genie discussions to TML (Do GDW realise that Genie does not have 
points of access in the UK? And for that matter, do they care?)

Finally, anyone spotted Path of Tears in the UK? Challenge 72?

Cheers
Mark Watson

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

End of TML Bundle
******************
To: traveller@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Submissions)
Date: Wed, 06 Apr 94 22:00:02 EDT
From: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin)
Subject: TML bundle #572: Msgs 7161-7176 
Approved: by traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin) Wed Apr  6 22:00:02 EDT 1994
Reply-To: traveller@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Submissions)
Errors-To: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca
Precedence: bulk

TML bundles come from the archives maintained by
traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin).

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

Date: Wed, 06 Apr 94 22:00:02 EDT
From: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin)
Subject: TML bundle #572: Table of Contents

BUN# =AMN= =DATE====== =FROM==========  =SUBJECT/BODY==========================
 572  7161 03-Apr-1994 DANIEL_T@delphi  Re: Bridge Crews << Roger M.,
 572  7162 03-Apr-1994 RJR96326@vax1.u  Duke Fleet Admiral Milidran Pike << OK 
 572  7163 03-Apr-1994 "Susan M. Shock  RC Government << My take on the RC gove
 572  7164 04-Apr-1994 Mark Watson      Double posting << Looks like my post go
 572  7165 03-Apr-1994 RJR96326@vax1.u  Quoting << Please! Whenever you quote, 
 572  7166 03-Apr-1994 Gregg Giles      Calculating spherical surface area - ho
 572  7167 03-Apr-1994 James Kundert    Re: Bridge Crew << DANIEL_T@delphi.com 
 572  7168 04-Apr-1994 Caffine Achieve  Re: TML nightly: Msgs 7152-7157 V71#9 <
 572  7169 04-Apr-1994 mike@rmf41.usac  VIRUS ATTACK ON HIGH-TECH CIV  << I ref
 572  7170 04-Apr-1994 Roger Myhre      Bridge crew               << >Roger M.,
 572  7171 04-Apr-1994 Goldman of Chao  clarification. << > Bundle: 566
 572  7172 04-Apr-1994 David Johnson    Re: TML nightly: Msgs 7158-7164 V71#10 
 572  7173 04-Apr-1994 Gregg Giles      Need Deneb sector UPPs <<    I need the
 572  7174 04-Apr-1994 Graham Spearing  Future Politics << Path of Tears (PoT) 
 572  7175 04-Apr-1994 "Susan M. Shock  RE: Tne Background #7,8 etc. << I'm sor
 572  7176 04-Apr-1994 David Johnson    Norris in the 5FW and Starports << "Jam

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

Bundle: 572
Archive-Message-Number: 7161
Date: Sun, 03 Apr 1994 15:58:42 -0400 (EDT)
From: DANIEL_T@delphi.com
Subject: Re: Bridge Crews

Roger M.,
 > I would rule that if the ship are of such a small size a lone bridgecrew
 > would manage the ship far as it is unarmed. Soon as you put on a weapon
 > there should be either a gunner or a second bridge crew. Unless you rule
 > that another crewmember are not needed in a position during a fight, and
 > can man the turret then. Stewards and maintenance crew fits in here. The
 > main thing is what do you find most appropriate for your campaign?
 > I would rule that if the ship are of such a small size a lone bridgecrew
 > would manage the ship far as it is unarmed. Soon as you put on a weapon
 > there should be either a gunner or a second bridge crew. Unless you rule
 > that another crewmember are not needed in a position during a fight, and
 > can man the turret then. Stewards and maintenance crew fits in here. The
 > main thing is what do you find most appropriate for your campaign?

The only problem I have with this ruling is that if I decide to have a
minimum bridge crew of 2 then I will be unable to use any ships made by
someone who decided that the minimum should be 1. Many of the ships in the
encyclopedia have a bridge crew of 1 and many ships that I have downloaded
have bridge crews of 1. These facts pretty much force me to reduce the
minimum bridge crew. 

Originally, before I had the Encyclopedia, I rationalized that the minimum
bridge crew should be 2 because the station had to be maned 24 hours per
day, much like a modern jet or ship. It assumes that someone should be awake 
and on the bridge at all times, incase there is an emergency of some sort. I 
like this concept and want to keep it but again I run into the problem
stated above. It would mean that I have to redesign several of the ships in
the Encyclopedia and that I couldn't use many of the ships I have downloaded 
(unless I redesign those as well). 

Since the average travel time from planet to 100 diameters is 85 hours
(assumes 1G acceleration and a 13000 km diameter world), making the minimum
bridge crew 1 must mean that the ship can fly itself for the most part. So
what happens if something unexpected comes up while the pilot is asleep? 

I would like to know the thoughts of other MegaTraveller Referees about
this. How did you resolve this problem? 

==Daniel T.


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

Bundle: 572
Archive-Message-Number: 7162
Date: Sun, 3 Apr 1994 14:31:28 -0500 (CDT)
From: RJR96326@vax1.utulsa.edu
Subject: Duke Fleet Admiral Milidran Pike

OK ya'll, here's a character I made up about two years ago for Megatraveller.
Never played him, but I had a lot of fun just rolling him yp.

BTW: Mea Culp regarding the "Penn/Beads" deal. I *knew* that. :)

*****
Duke Fleet Admiral Milidran Pike	3386BDF   7 terms Imperial 
Navy (flight, Line)
Homeworld: Capital/Capital A788A98-G   
Discharged: Maitz/Spinward Marches 2927
Hits 3/3	Armor none	3 MCUF, 1 command MCUF, 5 
commands, 2 high passages, TAS

Bribery 3, Fleet Tactics 4, Pilot 3, Navigation 1, Vaccsuit 2, 
Leader 2, Handgun 4,  Interrogate 1, Ship's tactics 1, Liasion 1, 
Admin 2

Equipment: Laser Pistol-13

Story: Duke Admiral Milidran Pike is one of the most celebrated 
and well-known members of the Imperial Navy. His career has 
been long and strenous, but has at last produced the epitome of 
an Imperial Naval Officer.
	Pike graduated the Naval Academy with honors and went 
to Flight School. His first assignment was Shore Duty, and he 
applied to several schools out of boredom. He went to 
Intelligence School, where he was taught how to weed out unfit 
personnel from the Navy, and was subsequently assigned to a 
Core patrol unit. Boredom set in again, and Pike went to 
Command College, where he almost failed.
	After Command College, Pike was assigned to a Strike 
Squadron. Pike, as a newcomer, was given mop-up (boring) 
duty and requested Staff College, hoping to make the 
connections to transfer to Line Duty. After Staff College, he 
spent one year with a lakadaisical patrol of reject pilots. He 
transferred to another unit, in which he received his first MCUF 
for singlehandedly destroying three Aslan fighters after his own 
ship was rendered defenseless.
	Pike then became a recruiter. The next year, he returned 
to his patrol unit, and was promoted for destroying the brifge of 
a pirate ship after the attack was abandoned. He ejected out of 
his own critically damaged ship after setting it on a collision 
course, and floated eight hours in the cold depths of space 
before being rescued. He spent a year in retraining and was 
given command of a patrol.
	Pike commanded the patrol for two more years, in the last 
of which he was decorated for making the patrol the best in the 
Navy. He was then assigned to Strike Duty against Zhodani 
bases, and commanded another patrol for a year. He accepted 
demotion from command in order to be a wingman again, and 
was subsequently awarded another MCUF for gallantry in 
action.
	Later tours included Training, a Frozen Watch, and Shore 
Duty-during which he was promoted to O4 for turning a dead-
end unit around. He spent two years in Strike Squads, secretly 
working for Naval Intelligence. A turning point in his career 
was as an aide to Admiral Larson, who got Pike his long-
awaited Line Duty. Pike comanded a communication ship in the 
battle of Vland IV, took part in a Strike Squadron, and again 
took command of a ship, the destroyer Vendez. He ended his 
career commanding a training station in the Spinward Marches, 
and was given the title of Duke over the planet Maitz in 
recognition of his long and loyal service. He holds an orbital 
residence over his domain.
	Duke Admiral Pike has recently left for points unknown in a 
Merchant vessel listed as the Mildoru. His majesty did not say why, 
although it has been noted that he desired "another go" at the 
spacer's life.




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

Bundle: 572
Archive-Message-Number: 7163
Date:         Sun, 03 Apr 94 16:29:09 EDT
From: "Susan M. Shock" <34ZBTXQ@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU>
Subject:      RC Government

My take on the RC government is that it is relatively stable FOR THE MOMENT,
but the struggle between the Federalists and the Centrists, if not settled,
could lead to instability. The Centrists, led by the planet Oriflamme, seems to
be the faction most interested in forcing everyone in the RC to conform to a
standard, theirs being a strong central government built along the Feudal
Technocracy model. The Federalists, currently the "dominant" group and led by
RC headquarters world Aubaine, seem to opt for a more open approach, truly
opposing only dictators who oppress their populace with advanced tech and rule
against the people's will. Things are not as organized as perhaps people might
like. Probably the RC will come to a "compromise" between the Federalists and
the Centrists, and wind up with a government somewhere in the middle.
   Someone mentioned the "historical" looks at the "Star Vikings" in the TNE
rulebook and Survival Margin, and took this to mean that they were a thing of
the past by that time. I would agree with this. The RC itself might abolish the
idea if 1.) They complete the major part of their mission and aren't needed
anymore, 2.) It becomes obvious that their intended schedule was impossible to
keep to, which I beleive it is. Just because the RC wants to recolonize three
sectors in four years doesn't mean that GDW will let them. What's that old
line about the "best laid plans of mice and men..." 3.) They run into the
Regency and the RC's expansion is halted. Assuming that there will be war of
at least a limited duration, the RC is frankly doomed. If cooler heads prevail,
they might come to some sort of accomodation. Some of this may depend on what
the Hivers decide to do. Either through an RC defeat, or simply running out of
room, there would come a point where the "Star Vikings" as portrayed would no
longer be needed.
   In any event, we need a Regency Sourcebook of the same level of quality as
the Path of Tears book to really be able to make predictions about what the
Regency will or won't do.
  By the way, an aside to GDW: a contest was run in Challenge to guess the
identity of the "woman in black" on the cover of the TNE rulebook. It may be
too late. and electronic submissions may not count, but I think it's Seldrian,
true daughter of Archduke/First Regent Norris! Or at least one of HER clones.
                                 Allen

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

Bundle: 572
Archive-Message-Number: 7164
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 94 01:11 BST-1
From: Mark Watson <watsonm@cix.compulink.co.uk>
Subject: Double posting
Reply-To: watsonm@cix.compulink.co.uk


Looks like my post got uploaded twice - apologies.
Cheers
Mark Watson

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

Bundle: 572
Archive-Message-Number: 7165
Date: Sun, 3 Apr 1994 20:52:31 -0500 (CDT)
From: RJR96326@vax1.utulsa.edu
Subject: Quoting

Please! Whenever you quote, delete material not directly related to your
response. Part 1 of Sunday's TML had me go through almost a dozen
screens of quoted text before reaching the "End of TML Nightly". To
me it's just a nuisance, but to some of our commercial members who 
pay for disk space and access time, it means money. So please, quote only
what you need, and kill the rest.


J Roberson

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

Bundle: 572
Archive-Message-Number: 7166
Date: Sun, 3 Apr 94 19:54:00 PST
From: so!ggiles@efn.org (Gregg Giles)
Subject: Calculating spherical surface area - how?

   I'm trying to determine the surface area of a hypothetical planetary body, 
given the circumference of that body (assuming it is a pefect globe with no 
blemishes or terrain). Does anyone know the formula for this? I'm working in 
kilometers, and suck at math. Please reply directly. Thank you!


- --
   =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
   Gregg Giles       Internet: so!ggiles@efn.org      FidoNet: sysop>1:152/18 
   Sensory Overload (503/484-1281 USR HST DS) Anime VR Techno Digital Highway 

      "I program my home computer, lead myself into the future." -Kraftwerk   
   -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


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

Bundle: 572
Archive-Message-Number: 7167
Date: Sun, 3 Apr 94 23:27:08 PDT
From: James Kundert <james@dumbcat.sf.ca.us>
Subject: Re: Bridge Crew

DANIEL_T@delphi.com  says:
>The only problem I have with this ruling is that if I decide to have a
>minimum bridge crew of 2 then I will be unable to use any ships made by
>someone who decided that the minimum should be 1. Many of the ships in the
>encyclopedia have a bridge crew of 1 and many ships that I have downloaded
>have bridge crews of 1. These facts pretty much force me to reduce the
>minimum bridge crew. 

  My assumption is that the Bridge Crew requirements exist for one real
reason: determining how many seats to put on the bridge deckplan.
  What with reconfigurable control panels, semi-intelligent computers
(during the Imperial era, anyway), and the Han Solo "wall-banging"
method of repair, only one person is required to actually _run_ a
bridge most of the time: the pilot/astrogator.  So long as a person
who can pilot the ship (and knows which way to point it) is present,
you can get by.  He can wear headphones to monitor the Comm
station, and (in a really small ship) keep the several most important
engine telltales in view, thus monitoring Engineering.
  But safety and sanity dictate that there be an extra control station
installed on the bridge.  Why?  So someone else _can_ help if needed.
So your just-fried control station doesn't leave the ship without
controls.  So the padding on one chair doesn't wear out quite so fast.
Etcetera.
  How you (as a referee) keep your players running around in a
bridge too big for them is either to be ignored, subjected to player
ingenuity, or played for comic effect.  Standing watch on a civilian
ship requires only that the person on duty know who to wake up in
case of emergencies...

  The bridge crew question isn't a MegaTrav problem, BTW, it's an older
problem that was carried over without due consideration.  Anyone who
has looked at MT construction without benefit of High Guard and Striker
can tell you: there are NO EXPLANATIONS.  The Craft Construction rules
in MT are the poorest documented in Traveller history, and among the
ommissions is the older note regarding really small ships.
  Not to beat a dead horse, but TNE fixes this problem by rigorously
defining Bridge size in terms of crew stations.  The number of
stations you decide to keep manned is your problem ;)
 
  To summarize: Bridges have at least two stations (seats), but don't
always require two people to run them in the smaller ships.


James Kundert <j.kundert@genie.geis.com>
              <james@dumbcat.sf.ca.us>

There was a young lady named Bright,
Whose speed was much faster, much faster than Light.
She departed one day in a relative way,
And returned on the previous Night.
   --Albert & the Heart of Gold

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

Bundle: 572
Archive-Message-Number: 7168
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 94 1:47:17 PDT
From: Caffine Achiever! <fok@scf.usc.edu>
Subject: Re: TML nightly: Msgs 7152-7157 V71#9

> Bundle: 570
> Archive-Message-Number: 7154
> Date: Sun, 3 Apr 1994 07:22:14 -0700
> From: rodge@cyberspace.com (Roger Sanger)
> Subject: Starport design...
> 
> I've always winged starports at my roleplaying sessions, but I've got
> an adventure coming up that is likely to take place primarily at a 
> starport, so I need something a bit better defined than my adlibbing.
> 
> I shall therefor be designing a starport, but I have no idea what I
> should put in it.
> 
> WHAT IS IN A STARPORT?

Well here's my $0.02.

For my old campaings (...haven't had any new ones either:( )I tried to
model it as a mesh of seaport and airport.  However this is a moot
point if you're in the wilds...just be happy to find a "firm marked
spot".

Basic components should include: (bear w/me as I start w/the obvious)
1	Landing/TO pad with blast deflector.  In lower tech level these
would require water cooling, so expect to find the associated
plumbings.  Also for this consideration it would be wise to have
nearby a *large* body of water. At lease one long runway for airframe
vehicle L/TO operations. (I usually size these at 3000+ meters)
2	Covered hangers: four types, Commerical passenger loading
(nicely furnished, subtle but highly secured against hijacking),
Commerical cargo loading, expect to find secured but lightly
furnished, lots of loading equipments.  General private hanger for
privatly owned and operated vessals.  And finally the service hanger
where you get to fork over your annual maintance payments:)
3	Well paved taxi way connecting item 1 and 2.  Expect to find
available *heavy* duty tow truck (wheel/track/grav/legs) to move ships
around the starport.  (Facility maintance crew hates cleaning up HePlaR
burn marks...)
4	Firestation and emergency medical center
5	Fuel farm (may or maynot contain Purifyer system depending on
local condition) and a distribution network.  Really lowtech will use
fuel trucks, followed by above ground lines (easier to maintain and
inspect) and finally underground lines.  However truck will always be
used for special conditions (i.e. "You mean your TL15 vapor recovery
lines won't go into my salvaged TL10 fuel tank?")
5.5	Power Plant: If local politics and technology allows, this can
be a bank on back up generators.  Otherwise it can be anything from
steam turbine to fusion power plants.
6	Air/Near space traffic control center:  This can usually be
found in the orbital portion (or High Port).  For saftly reasons
there's probably a backup set dirtside.  Responsible for maintaining
communciation during initial approach.  Also expect to find a large
ground or space based logn range detection array.
7	Tower/Operation center:  Direct landing and takoff vector,
schedual landing/TO time, Taxi way right of way assignment ("gee
officer, I didn't mean to broadside the scout/courier. just heading
over to the freight hanger in my cherry red Fat Trader.")  Responsible
for communication during final approACH and TO.  TOC should exist in
both High Port and Dirt Side,  Short range high resolution sensor are
often installed to side L/TO operations.
8	Customs:  There should be three customs.  One for commerical
passenger like those in most major airports, One for freight with
contraband detection equipments (big ones for bulk cargo) and
enviromental controlled quartine area for bio freights.  And finally
the one run by the local planetary landlord...consult your local
government type and lawlevel for ideas...but only if you wanna leave
the starport area.
9	Passenger service:  Waiting rooms, overpriced cheezy
restaurants, Hotels/Shopping Mall/Casino/PostOffice/Hospital(wanna guess why?)
complexe for those staying on Starport grounds.  Also expect to find
Starport police to keep things undercontrol.  Other service also
available can be personnel service, freight broker, legal aides,
education centers, engineering consulting firms, banks, and your
firendly neighborhood Sears fusion gun sales/service center :)
10	Planetary Transportation Hub:  Located outside but adjacent to
Starport property lines.  Provide transportation service via
planes/trains/car/bus/grav/helio/ship/bikes/feet...(get the idea :). Since
this is base on my design theres also a unfillable, free parking
structure w/easy access to the starport.:)
11	High Port specifics:  For commerical passenger and delicate
freight service, direct docking to the central station is provided.
All others can be placed into unobstructing parking orbits.  Custom
agents board via custom cutters for paperwork and inspection.
Personnel and freight are off loaded using starport operated shuttles.
12	Sateillites facilities:  At class A and some B starports,
expect to find orbital construction facilities for large starships.
If not reasonable close to the main High Port facility ther should be
a small station nearby as office/rest area/toolshack.The simplest form can
be a open frame structure (i.e. dry dock from Star Trek movies) but in
some systems with radiation problems this would be completely enclosed
and armored.
13	Common to both High Port and Dirt Side are administrative
office for the Chief administrator, chief of sections, central
computer, vehicle pool, cafeteria, showers, and personel locker
spaces.  The major sections would include facility maintance,
personnel, security, legal, finance, emergency service, operations,
and diplomatic corp (if there's a greater government out there...)
Like the before mentioned power plant the starport may or maynot
contain its own communication network.
14	Scattered through out the commerical passenger section expect
to find large number of information/service booth (manned or
automated) where a traveller can get directions, rent vehicles, and to
get general local informations (i.e. local sign for 'men's room').
Can also be found in fewer qty in the private hanger areas.

Okay so this was more like $0.03 worth.  Hope you find *some* of this
info useful :>

- -Ed Fok





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

Bundle: 572
Archive-Message-Number: 7169
Subject: VIRUS ATTACK ON HIGH-TECH CIV 
Date: Mon, 04 Apr 94 10:27:12 -0500
From: mike@rmf41.usace.army.mil

I refer you to "A Fire Upon the Deep" by Vernor Vinge
(falling platform citys, infected cyborgs, and enslaved populations)

- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
"It was not called the Net of a Million Lies for nothing."   Vernor Vinge
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Stone          (205) 890-2410       |    A    TTTTTTT  SSSSS 
Advanced Technology Systems (ATS), Inc.     |  A   A     T     S    
4801 University Square, Suite 2             |  AaaaA     T     SSSSS 
Huntsville, AL  USA   35816-3431            |  A   A     T         S
mike@rmf41.usace.army.mil                   |  A   A     T     SSSSS 
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Bundle: 572
Archive-Message-Number: 7170
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 1994 18:04:38 +0200
From: Roger Myhre <myhre@oslonett.no>
Subject: Bridge crew              

>Roger M.,
>> I would rule that if the ship are of such a small size a lone bridge
>> bridge crew would manage the ship far as it is unarmed. Soon as you
>> put on a weapon there should be either a gunner or a second bridge
>> crew.

Daniel T.,
>Since the average travel time from planet to 100 diameters is 85 hours
>(assumes 1G acceleration and a 13000 km diameter world), making the min
>bridge crew 1 must mean that the ship can fly itself for the most part.
>what happens if something unexpected comes up while the pilot is asleep

When the ship are in jump or in transit from A to B, and that that
travel takes kore than one shift, anyone can watch the controls. In
jumpspace, there isn't much to monitor except for the powerplant,
jumpdrive and the environment. In transit from jump point which may take
one or two shifts, there isn't much more to monitor. The chances of
hitting something out there that would seriously harm the ship is
virtualy nil. And most sensors are good enough to pick up something that
will. And thus the sensors and the controls can be rigged to alarm units
that will wake up the pilot.


Roger "StarWolf" Myhre
       

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

Bundle: 572
Archive-Message-Number: 7171
Subject: clarification.
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 94 12:02:11 CDT
From: goldman@orac.cray.com (Goldman of Chaos -- postmaster CRI-US)
Reply-To: goldman@orac.cray.com

> Bundle: 566
> Archive-Message-Number: 7102
> Date: Wed, 30 Mar 1994 14:01:32 -0800
> From: rodge@cyberspace.com (Roger Sanger)
> Subject: Traveller computer documentation and indexing
> 
>  
> To: goldman@orac.cray.com (Goldman of Chaos -- postmaster CRI-US)
>  
>                    ------------------------------
>                       Criss-crossing Traveller
>                    (and just about anything else)
>                    ------------------------------
>  
> Dear Matt:
>  
> You posted the following on TML:
>  
>  >I'm beginning to cross reference all of my Traveller matrial.
>  
> What did you mean by this statement?  ARE YOU INDEXING YOUR COLLECTION?

Yes.  I got the idea from 'The Day the Universe
Changed' by James Burke.  Cross Referencing was
mentioned as a really major leap forward.  I've started
a very simple key word index for the JoTAS Amber Zone
mini-adventures.  Here is a sample of what I'm trying
to do.



5th Frontier War
	Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure

Adventure 4, Levaithan
	Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure

Aerosol germ bomb
	Geria Transfer, AZ adventure

AZ adventure
	JoTAS
	Geria Transfer
	Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure
	Soft Bunk, AZ adventure

Brnava Curiosities, LIC
	Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure

Coins
	Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure

Cyris, planet
	Geria Transfer, AZ adventure

Cyris Easport, city
	Geria Transfer, AZ adventure

Cyris Westcenter, city
	Geria Transfer, AZ adventure

Freak electrical storm
	Geria Transfer, AZ adventure

Freelance courier
	Geria Transfer, AZ adventure

Gene Engineering Research and Industrial Applications Corporation, GERIA
	Geria Transfer, AZ adventure

Geria Transfer, AZ adventure
	Cyris, planet
	Pesek subsector
	High Speed Rail Network (HSR)
	Cyris Westcenter, city
	Freak electrical storm
	Cyris Easport, city
	Freelance courier
	Microbial cultures
	Gene Engineering Research and Industrial Applications Corporation, GERIA
	Kjeldahl Metallfabrik, SA
	Aerosol germ bomb
	AZ adventure
	JoTAS #10

High Speed Rail Network (HSR)
	Geria Transfer, AZ adventure

Imperial dissidents
	Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure

Imperial dissident network
	Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure

Imperial Intelligence operatives
	Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure

JoTAS #9
	Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure
	Soft Bunk, AZ adventure

JoTAS #10
	Geria Transfer, AZ adventure

Kjeldahl Metallfabrik, SA
	Geria Transfer, AZ adventure

Lanth, planet
	Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure

Microbial cultures
	Geria Transfer, AZ adventure

Minor alien race
	Soft Bunk, AZ adventure

Monorail train systems
	Trains

Pesek subsector
	Geria Transfer, AZ adventure

Querion garrison battalion
	Soft Bunk, AZ adventure

Rare antiquities
	Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure

Regina, planet
	Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure

Regina Starport Orbital Station
	Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure

Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure
	Regina Starport Orbital Station
	Small parcel job
	5th Frontier War
	Rare antiquities
	Coins
	Brnava Curiosities, LIC
	Adventure 4, Levaithan
	Zhodani names
	Zhodani spy network
	Lanth, planet
	Zhodani Consulate
	Sword World Confederation
	Imperial dissidents
	Imperial dissident network
	Regina, planet
	Imperial Intelligence operatives
	Zhodani underground
	JoTAS #9
	AZ adventure

Small parcel job
	Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure

Soft Bunk, AZ adventure
	Zhodani attack
	Tionale, planet
	Vilis subsector
	Spinward Marches
	Minor alien race
	Querion garrison battalion
	AZ adventure
	JoTAS #9

Spinward Marches
	Soft Bunk, AZ adventure

Sword World Confederation
	Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure

Tionale, planet
	Soft Bunk, AZ adventure

Trains
	Monorail train systems
	High Speed Rail Network (HSR)

Vilis subsector
	Soft Bunk, AZ adventure


Zhodani attack
	Soft Bunk, AZ adventure

Zhodani Consulate
	Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure

Zhodani names
	Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure

Zhodani spy network
	Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure

Zhodani underground
	Rule of Man Commemorative, AZ adventure

>  
>  >Does anyone have suggestions about software tools to make this
>  >task easier?
>  
> The programs MaxThink and Transtext, used in conjunction, can
> cross-reference just about anything. 

Thanks for the pointers.  I'll look into them.
Eventually I want to scan in my traveller collection
and turn it into a hypertext tool.

Matt


- -- 
Matthew Goldman  E-mail: goldman@orac.cray.com Work: (612) 683-3061

My day today? Nothing major, just Xenon base gone, Scorpio gone, 
Tarrant dead, Tarrant alive and then I found out Blake sold us out.

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

Bundle: 572
Archive-Message-Number: 7172
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 94 12:41:01 CDT
From: djohnson@geds01.jsc.nasa.gov (David Johnson)
Subject: Re: TML nightly: Msgs 7158-7164 V71#10

Gentlesophonts:

On Sunday morning I erroneously posted "Traveller Background 8" before I
was finished editing it.  This resulted in the bulk of Saturday's nightly
messages being reposted.  I apologize for this mistake, especially to those
of you who are paying for your TML by the byte.

I guess if I'm not going to buy TNE and POT I should *at least* read the
manual for my e-mail application.  :-)

My humblest apologies,

David Johnson
Houston, Texas, USA

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

Bundle: 572
Archive-Message-Number: 7173
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 94 12:08:18 PST
From: so!ggiles@efn.org (Gregg Giles)
Subject: Need Deneb sector UPPs

   I need the Universal Planetary Profiles (UPP) for all the main worlds in 
the Deneb sector. If you have this information, please send me a copy at 
so!ggiles@efn.org. Thanks.


- --
   =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
   Gregg Giles       Internet: so!ggiles@efn.org      FidoNet: sysop>1:152/18 
   Sensory Overload (503/484-1281 USR HST DS) Anime VR Techno Digital Highway 

      "I program my home computer, lead myself into the future." -Kraftwerk   
   -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


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

Bundle: 572
Archive-Message-Number: 7174
From: Graham.Spearing@mettav.royle.org (Graham Spearing)
Reply-To: Graham.Spearing@mettav.royle.org
Date: 04 Apr 94  13:33:56
Subject: Future Politics

Path of Tears (PoT) has found it's way over to the UK. It is very very good.

I have to put my cards on the table. I thought the Rebellion was an interesting
development in the game's background, and looked forward(?!) to watching the
struggle against the Long Night II unfold. I thought Virus was a 'soon to feel
outdated' gimmick to wash the Imperial background away, a marketing ploy to
kick in a new TW2Kish twist to the 'jaded' past. As it turns out, it looks as
if the Imperium (Regency) will make a comeback in the relatively near future.

My current campaign is set using the Flaming Eye scenario pack (Lishun, date
1120), using the TNE / Brilliant Lances rules. As for the HePlar Drive debate I
use the 'multiply the endurance by 10' rule. It happens to give a nice feel,
and gives the Engineer something to do. In addition the HePlar looks much more
like good old MT Thrusters, and therefore can be used in city environments. Cop
out? Yes, but I'm interested in the look of the thing.... Ok so I play Star
Wars RPG, I can give up any time. Honest . . .

By the by what happened to the poll on which rules/background we're all using?
Was it you Derek? If it's been posted apologies but although I'm on the nightly
I don't seem to get them all.

In a nutshell I would have liked to have seen a development of a fragmented
Imperium with some Core / Frontier explorations. I take it that an alternative
history supporting this is out of the question? I think so.

There is little in PoT to make me change my mind. However, I think it's one of
the nicest sourcebooks ever put together by GDW. I particularly like the
internal politics between Federalists and Centrists. Most apposite for my
country's national politics at the moment! What accomodation can be found with
the Guild? What political structure can the Federalists come up with once (if?
- - can there be any doubt) the RC has established itself. The Imperium was
incredibly Federalist. Local politics was allowed to flourish; different
regions of space had distinct cultural identities (heightened and polarised in
the Rebellion); devolved decision making by regional nobles. Sensible Imperial
codes relating to Tax and Conflict were in place to ensure the greater good of
the whole. Democratic? No. Effective? Yes. Perhaps the RC could also learn from
Imperial history? What is the RIGHT sort of government structure in the
Traveller environment? How would it change if Longbow introduces new forms of
interstellar communication?

I am interested to see what lessons the Regency has learnt from the politics of
the past, as this will impact on the Imperium for the future. Any thoughts out
there?

If I do use PoT, I will be tempted to add 100 years to all post 1130 dates, TNE
1 = 1300.

Regards

Graham

P.S. I don't believe in assimilation. Just doesn't happen. Right, now that I've
finished with this I think I'll go out and get myself a big Mac, and pop over
to the out of town Warner multi screen and watch a 'movie'. . . :-}

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

Bundle: 572
Archive-Message-Number: 7175
Date:         Mon, 04 Apr 94 20:07:25 EDT
From: "Susan M. Shock" <34ZBTXQ@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU>
Subject:      RE: Tne Background #7,8 etc.

I'm sorry if I seemed to imply that you shouldn't be leading this discussion;
you're quite welcome to talk about anything you like. And I agree that GDW is
NOT the final authority regarding any of these issues; WE are. If you want to
play the RC as a divided governmental entity, you can! If you want to throw out
the Virus and drag out the Rebellion for 70 years, or for that matter throw
out the Rebellion and let the Third Imperium live on, go ahead! I was under the
impression that we were discussing the TNE background as written, due to some
desire on the part of those participating to understand it. I can see where you
are looking for inconsistencies in the TNE set-up. That's good, actually; I'm
sure Frank and Dave would appreciate the help! Keeping fictional universes
consistent is never easy, especially when more than one person contributes.
And especially when that development is spread over 17 years and involves a
lot of open-ended stories resolved by thousands of people in 1000 different
ways!
   Before I abandon the RC for the developing Regency discussion, let me say
that I treat the RC as neutral leaning towards good. The PC's in my RCES
campaign want to be good guys; they'll shortly be running into some Lancers
with a very different view. The RC is currently under the leadership of the
Aubani, with a few concessions to the Oriflammens. such as the "official"
limitation of activities to the primary AO (which both sides violate rather
frequently). The Hivers DEFINITLEY have an ulterior motive, and when the
humans find out, it may cause some serious questioning of the RC's goals and
purpose. There is one Pocket Empire in Diaspora which may cause trouble for
the RC (the Covenant of Sufren), and two more developing. There's also a
60,000 ton Vampire ship with LOTS of vampire fighters and cyborged/Virus
infected Solomani troops on their way to the RC to cause my players SERIOUS
trouble.
   And now, on to the Regency. I agree with Roger; let's develop the area
ourselves! Sure, we may wind up with many different versions of the Regency,
but that's okay; all campaigns are different to some extent. You may even
decide that what we develop is better than the "official" stuff that comes out.
That's okay, too; as gamemasters, we have the right to draw from whatever
sources we choose. I will say one thing, though; I think we should say that
GDW is free to use whatever ideas they wish to from our Regency discussions
without hassle. After all, it is their game. If they use enough of our ideas,
obviously credit would be nice (and I'm sure they would do this). I don't
want to see them do a Regency sourcebook somewhere down the line and have a
bunch of people complain "They stole ideas from us!" As far as I'm concerned
they can have mine, if any are worthwhile enough to be used.

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

Bundle: 572
Archive-Message-Number: 7176
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 94 19:09:00 CDT
From: djohnson@geds01.jsc.nasa.gov (David Johnson)
Subject: Norris in the 5FW and Starports

"James M. Kelleher" <kelleher@holonet.net> writes:

> In the campain during the 5th fronteer war she was put in the same 
> "Hospital" as Norris for their "Health" They were busted out ( That is a long
> story but her husband had something to do with it...)

Wasn't Norris' `hospitalization' really a cover for his mission to retrieve
the Imperial Warrant from interdicted Algine that he used to replace Admiral
Santanocheev?  I'm not taking issue with varying from the `official' setting
but rather just wonder if someone can confirm this `memory' of mine.


rodge@cyberspace.com (Roger Sanger) asks:
 
> WHAT IS IN A STARPORT?

Well, first you need to know what era (CT/MT or TNE) and what class.  Let's
assume you're looking for a CT/MT (or TNE in the Regency) class A or B.  It's
going to be similar to a modern cargo and passenger airport combined with an
aircraft manufacturing plant combined with a sea port and shipyard.  Besides
passenger and cargo dis/embarkation facilities there are going to be shipbuiding
facilities, maintenance facilities and a ship trials range.  There will be
customs facilites, security facilites, traffic control facilities and military
facilities if a base is present.  There will be `operations' facilities much
like at any large place of employment: offices, cafeterias, day care, lounges,
employee parking (or mass transit stations), etc.

There will be passenger and cargo interface facilites: parking, mass transit 
stations, cargo vehicle (truck) docks, taxi and shuttle stands, etc.

The `startown' region beyond the extrality fence will have passenger
accommodations, employee `stress relief' establishments (bars, brothels, etc.),
commercial offices and warehouses, and housing for port employees.  Convention,
retail (the `mall') or `theme park' facilities may also exist here.

If the port has an orbital element some or all of these things may be located
there.

That should get you started.

David Johnson
Houston, Texas, USA

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

End of TML Bundle
******************
To: traveller@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Submissions)
Date: Wed, 06 Apr 94 22:00:02 EDT
From: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin)
Subject: TML bundle #573: Msgs 7177-7191 
Approved: by traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin) Wed Apr  6 22:00:02 EDT 1994
Reply-To: traveller@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Submissions)
Errors-To: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca
Precedence: bulk

TML bundles come from the archives maintained by
traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin).

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

Date: Wed, 06 Apr 94 22:00:02 EDT
From: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin)
Subject: TML bundle #573: Table of Contents

BUN# =AMN= =DATE====== =FROM==========  =SUBJECT/BODY==========================
 573  7177 04-Apr-1994 David Johnson    Traveller Background 9 << Gentlesophont
 573  7178 04-Apr-1994 David Johnson    Traveller Background 8A << Gentlesophon
 573  7179 05-Apr-1994 James Dening     Ug ug splutter gasp etc. << Dear me, I 
 573  7180 05-Apr-1994 TML Administrat  2300AD & Pedro Tavares << Pedro Tavares
 573  7181 05-Apr-1994 John V Banagan   TNE: A few questions << Hi,
 573  7182 05-Apr-1994 Mark Cook        Re: Calculating spherical surface area 
 573  7183 05-Apr-1994 Mark Urbin       Giving credit where credit is due... <<
 573  7184 06-Apr-1994 James Dening     Things.... << To Mark Cook:
 573  7185 06-Apr-1994 Richard Johnson  Comets and Starports and CAT << Hi all.
 573  7186 06-Apr-1994 Steven M Bonnev  Re:  TNE: A few questions << >2)Can shi
 573  7187 06-Apr-1994 chiggin@aol.com  Paper Tigers & Imperial culture << Davi
 573  7188 06-Apr-1994 Steven M Bonnev  Energy from planetary collision! << In 
 573  7189 06-Apr-1994 startrek76@aol.  Starports << Rodge.--
 573  7190 06-Apr-1994 Ray_Pullar       Re: The New Era << The debate seems to 
 573  7191 06-Apr-1994 chiggin@aol.com  Nominally Inelastic collisions << From 

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

Bundle: 573
Archive-Message-Number: 7177
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 94 22:11:53 CDT
From: djohnson@geds01.jsc.nasa.gov (David Johnson)
Subject: Traveller Background 9

Gentlesophonts:

The 'Net gremlins seem to be trying very hard to keep me from posting
this little piece of opinion about the Regency.  First, there was my
erroneous posting of Sunday (again, my humble apologies).  Then I tried
to complete that posting but the message never seemed to make the TML
nor did my copy to myself appear.  So here goes again.

Several folks have wondered why the Regency has not made more progress
beyond the Virus Quarantine and into the Wilds.  It has been noted that
public opinion in the Regency is largely against such expansion while
`economic pressures' seem to call for it.  It has also been noted that
another obstacle to expansion might be concerns about possible threats
from the Zhodani or Vargr or Aslan *ihaeti* (or whatever they're called
in TNE).

My sense is that public opinion in the Regency will be whatever the
leadership wishes it to be.  Norris is (was?) nothing if not an excellent
`molder' of public opinion.  Only the `Hero of the Fifth Frontier War'
could overcome centuries of psi-phobia and anti-Zhodani sentiment.

The second issue is the `paper tiger' of the Vargr threat.  This has not
been credible to me since the days of the Rebellion despite the efforts of
GDW.  It takes a stable government to effectively wage war.  The Vargr
are *predisposed* to fragmentation and factionalism.  Any good leader
would see that the Vargr threat could be neutralized by fostering instability
in the Extents.  Certainly such a task is not beyond the capabilities of
Norris and his heirs.  Corsairs may be tiresome but they do not pose a
real threat.

The Zhodani remain a mystery to me.  Maybe some of you with TNE rules have
an opinion on this?

And the *ihaeti* seemed to have stopped being a threat even before the
Virus appeared when the Denebians started viewing them as colonists rather
than invaders.

And it seems to have been established that the Virus no longer poses an
insurmountable threat despite the public opinion in the Regency.

So with all these `imaginary' reasons dispelled, what might be the real
reason the Regency has not expanded into the Wilds?

IMHO, the *primary* threat to the Regency is that posed by an opponent that
might question its `legitimacy' as the `heir' to the Third Imperium.  As far
as the Regency knows, one or more of the Rebellion Factions might also have
managed to `survive' the onslaught of the Virus and the subsequent Collapse.
Many of these states might challenge the Regency's claim to the mantle of
the Old Imperium.  Imagine the response in the Regency (and elsewhere) 
should a `just and noble' granddaughter of Lucan (or Margaret) emerge from
behind the Black Curtain at the head of a `Renaissance Fleet' anxious to
bring `all of Strephon's children' back into the Imperial `family'.

Therefore, it is in the interest of the Regency leadership to remain in
Quarantine.  The longer the Regency populace is isolated the lesser the
chance that *any* claimant to the Imperial heritage, no matter how legitimate
they may seem, will be able to garner their support for abandonment of the
`regency' and a return to the `Imperial' fold.

Peace,

David Johnson
Houston, Texas, USA

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

Bundle: 573
Archive-Message-Number: 7178
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 94 17:27:25 CDT
From: djohnson@geds01.jsc.nasa.gov (David Johnson)
Subject: Traveller Background 8A

Gentlesophonts:

Well, let me continue where I unfortunately left off Sunday.  Again, I
apologize for all that wasted bandwidth.

Oh yeah.  I stopped by the local games store today (Nan's Comics -*the* place
in Houston) and took a gander at the TNE Rulebook and *Path of Tears* and
(dare I admit it?) I was very tempted to cough up the $43 for the two of
them.  Is there a twelve-step program for Traveller junkies? 

On Saturday night, Jeff Zeitlin <jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com> wrote: 
 
>  Except that there is a lot of xenophobia that has developed, and 
>  the technological tradition and cultural background wasn't all 
>  that firmly entrenched on all of the worlds. 

Well, yes, but even the `newest' regions of the Imperium had been incorporated
for more than a century which means any New Era xeno- or techno-phobia has
only had a similar amount of time to develop at best.  I know the rulebook
might say xeno- and techno-phobia are rampant in places but that doesn't
mean it makes *sense*.  Remember, a *lot* of TNE grandparents are going to
remember a *lot* of `good' things about technology and off-worlders. 

> T::>>   we're looking at the ghettoization of space, with all of
> 
> T::>Not necessarily.  Had TNE occurred several hundred years after 
> 
>  But classical cultures were the foundation for the Dark Ages 
>  culture in the first place, and was more homogeneous than the 3I 
>  was. 

This is not my sense of the Third Imperium at all.  I always felt that any
grunt soldier from the Old Expanses would have felt just as at home in 
a unit in Trojan Reach and a Deneb free trader just as comfortable in the
Solomani Rim.  Sure, there was a great variety from planet to planet but
most of Imperial culture (which was the *only* interstellar culture) ended
at the starport extrality except on those high pop and tech worlds that
were the `backbone' of the Imperium.  Maybe the Imperium was also `ghetto-
ized'?

Thus, TNE `interstellar' culture (Coalition or anyplace else) will have
its roots in Imperial culture.  In effect, most of those `varied' cultures
beyond the extrality fence `gave-up' on the stars *long* before the 
Rebellion even.  Sure, *some* of these will venture to the stars in TNE but
*most* TNE interstellar culture will have an Imperial (and technological)
heritage.

>  TL 10 religious oligarchies and TL15 participating democracies? - 
>  and think just how different the cultures that support these 
>  different governments must be.

Yes, but none of these were *interstellar* cultures.

> T::>Jumpstart caches?
> 
>  Mentioned in Arrival Vengeance.   
> 
>  Also mentioned was Longbow, 

Thanks.  I've *Arrival Vengeance* myself.  I'll have to take a closer look.
  
> T::>What amazes me is the fact that the Regency isn't already expanding
>  ::>into Deneb and Corridor at a furious rate 
> 
>  Also remember that they have to guard 
>  the entire Vargr border.  Expansion into Corridor lengthens that 
>  border, and it may not be feasible to maintain "adequate" border 
>  controls.

This Vargr threat has always seemed a `paper tiger' to me since the days of
the Rebellion.  As long as the Vargr remain(ed) fragmented and factionalized
they pose(d) no real threat to the Regency(Domain).  Sure corsairs are 
troublesome but it takes a centralized state to wage war.  If I were Regent
(or had been Archduke) I would have worked constantly to keep the Vargr frag-
mented and unstable.  This doesn't seem to be too difficult a task since the
Vargr are prone to factionalism.  (The US has been doing this quite effectively
in Latin America since the days of the Monroe Doctrine and for much the same
reasons - an unstable neighbor is not much of a threat.)
 
> T::>                                                               But
>  ::>since the Virus (except for a few pockets here and there) has
>  ::>largely disappeared there is nothing to stop it.  And with the
>  ::>Regency's industrial base largely intact it should be able to
>  ::>expand very rapidly. 
> 
>  Different attitudes, different responses to a situation.  There 
>  are people that did not find it credible that the US had no 
>  interest in incorporating foreign countries into a US-controlled 
>  (as opposed to merely dominated) empire.  Nevertheless, the US 
>  never used this model, whereas it was the typical Soviet/Russian 
>  model.  Nobody thought that the Terran upstarts could beat the 
>  long-established Vilani empire, either.  Yet the Rule of Man 
>  happened anyway.

Yes, but, in both these examples the `unconventional' agents had *interests*
that propelled them in the `unexpected' directions.  These examples don't
counter the point that there is no apparent reason why the Regency *shouldn't*
be expanding into the Wilds.  Yes, the public might be afraid of the Virus
(but they used to be afraid of the Zhodani too - remember the psi helmet
craze? - but that's changing) and the Vargr `threat' isn't as large as GDW
seems to be intent on painting it.  One reason *might* be that the Regency
fears encountering another power that may have survived the Virus and has
a similarly `legitimate' claim to the Old Imperium.  Any number of the 
Rebellion Factions might have survived the Virus (as far as the Regency knows)
and might therefore challenge the legitimacy of the `Regency'.  The longer
the Regency remains isolated the less likely the populace is going to throw
out the Regent when the `True, Legitimate Heir' to Strephon shows up -
reardless of how legitimate that `heir' might seem.  This threat to its
legitimacy seems to me to be the *greatest* threat faced by the Regency.
If a `decent, noble' daughter of Lucan were to emerge from behind the Black
Curtain at the head of a `Renaissance Fleet' it would pose a much greater
threat to the Regency leadership than any Viral or Vargr adversary.  Fearing
just this sort of event the Regency leadership may very well be *encouraging*
these fears of the Virus and the Vargr (and Zhodani, and *ihaeti* . . . .)
 
>  One comment.  The United States was beaten in Viet Nam by what was 
>  essentially a guerilla army of "regular irregulars."

Well, this is a chance to really spark some flames but let me respond in
this fashion.  The US wasn't `beaten' by the North Vietnamese (there are
no Viet Cong military governors in San Francisco).  What happened was that
the North Vietnamese were able to convince the US that its goals - namely
the survival of its client state in the South - were not worth the cost of
maintaining it - either in terms continued American casualties or through
escalation to nuclear weapons, neither of which would have been supported
at home.

The Gulid might use similar tactics to counter the Coalition *or* the Regency
in the *Guild's* area of operations but the Guild could never use such tactics
*offensively*.

Again some really good stuff - especially the continued expansion to the
Regency.  Once more I apologize for my erroneous post of the first part of
this piece.

Peace,

David Johnson
Houston, Texas, USA
 

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

Bundle: 573
Archive-Message-Number: 7179
From: James Dening <james@camscan.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 5 Apr 94 11:10:09 BST
Subject: Ug ug splutter gasp etc.


Dear me, I take the Easter weekend off, and come back to 250K ish of TML stuff!
Drain of departmental resources....nah!

Um, I don't know if y'all in America are interested, but I've just been
back to Mummy and Daddy's house out in the sticks and dug out some
Traveller stuff from back issues of White Dwarf, at the behest of my
fellow TMLer Roger Sanger. Unfortunately, I left the disk with the
details (Title, Author,Length,Source) in the PC at home. Anyone wanting
details, apply at the address above!

Don't get excited, there isn't much.

Roger, you get a copy whether you like it or not! (Sorry for the delay...:-)

James.

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

Bundle: 573
Archive-Message-Number: 7180
Subject: 2300AD & Pedro Tavares
Reply-To: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Administrator)
From: TML Administrator <traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca>
Date: Tue, 05 Apr 94 09:03:41 PDT


Pedro Tavares (our 2300 SIG Coordinator) is alive and well on the
Internet.  If you've tried to reach him recently, do try again!
He can be reached at:

	ftavares@ptearn.fc.ul.pt (Pedro A C Tavares)

James

__   __/         /   /	    Internet Traveller Mailing List, Administrator
    /     /  /  /   /	   James T. Perkins in Eugene, Oregon, USA
 __/   __/__/__/ _____/   traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca

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

Bundle: 573
Archive-Message-Number: 7181
Date: Tue, 5 Apr 1994 12:18:54 -0700 (PDT)
From: John V Banagan <jbanagan@uclink2.berkeley.edu>
Subject: TNE: A few questions


Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could send me information regarding TNE charts 
and forms on Excel for Fire, Fusion, and Steel (where I can FTP to get 
them, etc...).

Also, Brilliant Lances mentions that RAFM makes miniatures for TNE 
starships. Do they also make miniatures for grav tanks and troops and if 
so, could someone send me the mailing address for RAFM or any other 
miniature dealer (I'm looking at both 15mm and 25mm).

Now for some technical things: 

1)How do Black and White Globes work? What are the HPG banks and how do 
they accumulate damage and dissipate the damage?

2)Can ships smaller than 100 tonnes be jump capable?

3)Has anyone attempted to make 'wet navy' ships using the ship creation 
rules and if so, where can I get some tips and sample designs?

Thanks for everyone's patience and assistance.

- -John

##########################################################################
# John Vincent Dempsey Banagan       #     For Rent. Inquire within.     #
# University of California, Berkeley #                                   #
# School of Public Health, COEH-CE   #                                   #
#                                    #                                   #
# [ jbanagan@uclink2.berekely.edu ]  #                                   #
##########################################################################

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

Bundle: 573
Archive-Message-Number: 7182
From: Mark Cook <markc@CSOS.ORST.EDU>
Subject: Re: Calculating spherical surface area - how?
Date: Tue, 5 Apr 1994 13:18:06 -0700 (PDT)

In TML Msg. No. 7166, Gregg Giles <so!ggiles@efn.org> writes:

>    I'm trying to determine the surface area of a hypothetical planetary body, 
> given the circumference of that body (assuming it is a pefect globe with no 
> blemishes or terrain). Does anyone know the formula for this? I'm working in 
> kilometers, and suck at math. Please reply directly. Thank you!

This is a trivial exercise, when armed with the necessary two equations:

  1) circumference = pi * diameter
       - or -
     circumference = pi * radius * 2

and...

  2) surface area = pi * radius^2

Since you already know the circumference (c), we can calculate the
radius (r) as:

  r = c / (2 * pi)

Thus, the surface area (s) is:

  s = pi * (c / (2 * pi))^2

BTW, is doesn't matter what unit of measurement you work in (kilometers,
miles, or cubits), since the math is abstract. Whatever unit you start
with is the unit you'll get the results in.

Now what *I* want to know is how to calculate liberated energy from
a nominally non-elastic collision.  The Shoemaker-Levin (sic) comet
is going to hit Jupiter in July, and I'd like to know how many ergs
will be released when several 4-kilometer in diameter chunks of ice
slam into a nice, thick hydrogen laden atmosphere at 60 km/sec.

mark f. cook * 2055 sw whiteside dr. * corvallis, or * markc@csos.orst.edu
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
"When your enemy falls, don't rejoice -- but don't pick him up either."
                                             - Yiddish proverb

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

Bundle: 573
Archive-Message-Number: 7183
Date: Tue, 5 Apr 1994 16:40:32 -0400
From: eclipse@world.std.com (Mark Urbin)
Subject: Giving credit where credit is due...


"You can't build a healthy economy based on scavenging." 
                - Cynthia Higginbotham


Can we call this one, "Trask's Rule?"

- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Urbin -- eclipse@world.std.com -- These opinions are mine.
Vikings?  There ain't no vikings here.  Just us honest farmers. The town was 
burning, the villagers were dead.  They didn't need those sheep anyway.  
That's our story and we're sticking to it.
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Bundle: 573
Archive-Message-Number: 7184
From: James Dening <james@camscan.co.uk>
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 94 11:23:33 BST
Subject: Things....


To Mark Cook:

Simplifying hugely (and not taking fusion/fission reaction into A/C), you can
calculate the K.E. from such an impact, using 1/2 m (v*v).

The mass of a 4 km diameter chunk of ice is:

density of ice (in kg/m^3) * (4/3 * pi * (diam./2)^3) (in m^3)

which is roughly 0.8 * 4 * 2000^3 = 2.7 * 10^10 kg

Multiply half this by the square of the speed (in m/s)..

1.35 * 10^10 * 3.6 * 10^9 = 4.9..no, call it 5 * 10^19.

As we have used SI units (metres, kg, seconds) all the way through,
 this figure for energy will be in Joules. You lot can convert it 
into Ergs, BTU or hamster.seconds, if you want.

Does this figure seem a bit high?

Not for celestial pyrotechnics.

BTW, why won`t this start a fusion reaction? Because, all this energy 
will be liberated in the (relatively) cool and low-pressure external
 shells of the planet. The core that is actually hot and heavy enough
to go bang will never feel the effect of the impact.

Thanks to David Sansom for that bit (I know you read this...)

Rodge, White Dwarf stuff is on its way.

Anyone else who would like more info on the following, please email me.


Format is :	Name;
		Author(s);Number of pp;Source.

Wordly Power - Additional Government Types for Traveller;
Phil Masters;2;Best of White Dwarf III.

Additional Detector Systems for Traveller Starships;
Antony Cornell, Martin Barrett;1;Best of White Dwarf III.

Stand by to Repel Boarders - Starship Security in Traveller;
Andrew MIller;1;Best of White Dwarf III.

To Live Forever - Immortality in Traveller;
Andy Slack;3;White Dwarf 52.

3D Space;
Bob McWilliams;1;White Dwarf 72.

Mercy Mission - A Scientific Adventure for Traveller;
Simon Lewis;6;White Dwarf 82.

TTFN,

James.

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

Bundle: 573
Archive-Message-Number: 7185
From: richard@agora.rain.com (Richard Johnson)
Subject: Comets and Starports and CAT
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 1994 06:16:50 -0700 (PDT)


Hi all.

First, for Mark -- I don't know how much it will be, but I'd
call the collision partial elastic, rather than partially
inelastic.  Not that it maters much.  Shame we'll lose a comet.
Did see a thing a few days ago about how it's actually going to
hit fairly close to the earthside limb of Jove, so we should
get a risg-side seat for Hubble.

===
Next -- Starports.  Don't get me started.  Nothing (IMHO) in 
all of the T/MT/TNE domain is more in need of development work.
Just been talking with James about some of my ideas, in fact.
I think I want to do a *complete* set of navigational and approach
charts -- but only for ONE world.  I offer this to the list.  
Please tell me which world you want.  So far I'm seriously 
considering doing hold zones, approach plates, frequencies, 
services available, locations, times of operation, contact 
methods and persons, landing and parking fees, fuels type and
availability, local attractions, etc for:

  jump points
  high ports
  low ports
  air ports
  asteroid clusters and claims
  refueling queues

and perhaps some others.  What I haven't figured out yet, is if
I want to do this for on-screen delivery or on-paper delivery.
Please let me know.

====
Finally -- CAT
My labor of love -- computer assised RPG's.

I find myself unable to spend enough time online and connected to 
keep the list talking.  If anyone would like to take over as moderator/ 
instigator on the CAT list, please drop me a line.  Write to 
rdj@plaza.ds.adp.com so I'll see it sooner.  It's not that I want
to give it up or fold the list, but I'm just too busy with real
life to give it any cycles at all.  That's not fair to you.



- -- 
Richard Johnson      richard@agora.rain.com
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

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

Bundle: 573
Archive-Message-Number: 7186
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 1994 08:45:44 -0500
From: bonnevil@mermaid.micro.umn.edu (Steven M Bonneville)
Subject: Re:  TNE: A few questions



>2)Can ships smaller than 100 tonnes be jump capable?

In the original "black box" 1977 Traveller rules, no.  However, I've
done a careful reading of FFS, and *I can't find any reason why it's
not possible*.  The only restriction I could find on ship jump size
had to do with the minimum required size of the jump drive (I think
only two cubic meters!) and of course the supporting controls, fuel,
and so forth!  This also had the odd side effect that such "mini-ships"
with j6 drives could be _smaller_ that ones with lower tech j1 drives,
because of the way required jump drive size per hull size is calculated,
as I recall.

Furthermore, ships with acceleration greater than 6 G are also now
possible.  As I read the rules, G-tanks can be combined with grav
compensators to counteract the effects of acceleration on crew.
You can even exceed those limits on acceleration if you are willing
to suffer skill penaties on the performance of your organic crew.
I have a design for a 50 ton heavy fighter very similar to the one
in _Book 9: Fighting Ships_ that is essentially a TL16 interceptor
with a crew of two, small stateroom, and 12 G acceleration.  Pilots
with neural jacks are recommended!  Cost was about MCr 50 for the
stripped-down prototype model.  Note that this craft is of course
very heavily armored, in line with the design rules for high-
acceleration ships.  It has about the same number of G-turns as
the Rampart standard 9 ton fighter design.  I am willing to post
design sheets for the monster.  10 G would be reasonable in a TL15
interceptor, I believe.  Virus with one of these things would be
BAD NEWS.


*******************************************************************************
 Steve Bonneville                | "Beware the tablespoon my son,
                                 |  The teeth that bite, the Claus that catch,
 bonnevil@mermaid.micro.umn.edu  |  Beware the Subjects bird, and shred
                                 |  The serious Bandwidth!"
*******************************************************************************


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

Bundle: 573
Archive-Message-Number: 7187
From: chiggin@aol.com
Date: Wed, 06 Apr 94 10:05:07 EDT
Subject: Paper Tigers & Imperial culture

David Johnson sez:

>The second issue is the `paper tiger' of the Vargr threat.  This has not
>been credible to me since the days of the Rebellion despite the efforts of
>GDW.  It takes a stable government to effectively wage war.  The Vargr
>are *predisposed* to fragmentation and factionalism.  Any good leader
>would see that the Vargr threat could be neutralized by fostering
instability
>in the Extents.  Certainly such a task is not beyond the capabilities of
>Norris and his heirs.  Corsairs may be tiresome but they do not pose a
>real threat.

Cynthia:

    Well... (1) Ask the people living near the border (or well within 
it) how they feel about continual hit-and-run guerilla-style raids. 
You know, cruise in, lob a few bombs to temporarily disable local 
defenses (lob nukes if the defenses are tough), land troops at the 
target, grab whatever you came for, blowing away anything (or 
anyone) that gets in your way, leave after throwing some more missiles
at defense ships to delay pursuit.  If this happens just once a year, 
your world is going to look like Lebanon and your people will have a 
siege mentality -- if it happens every few months, it's going to look 
like Sarajevo.  And don't even bother having an economy.  This is a 
bit more than "tiresome".
    Fighting Vargr corsairs is like nailing jello to a wall, or 
finding Vietcong in the woods.  Yes, they can't take on your fleets, 
but they can cripple your civilian society and are very hard to pin 
down.
    (2) Vargr nations are "fragmentary" by the standards of the 3rd 
Imperium.  Compared to modern Earth nations, or the Darrians or the 
Sword Worlders, some of those Vargr nations are huge.  In Gvurrdon, 
there is at least one multi-subsector TL-15 (!!) nation (The Rukh 
Aeguezz).  They could do some damage if they went "on the warpath", 
much more so than the pathetic Sword Worlds fleets (TL 11-12) and the 
two TL9-10 Vargr worlds that joined in the "Outworld Coalition" during
the FFW.
    (3) How do you "foster instability in the Extents"?  Vargr have 
been living and developing societies to cope with their factional 
nature for 40,000 YEARS!  What can you possibly do to them that they 
haven't already done to themselves at one time or another, and learned
to cope with?  And what nation(s) do you start with?

- --------------
more from David:

    This is not my sense of the Third Imperium at all.  I always felt 
that any grunt soldier from the Old Expanses would have felt just as 
at home in a unit in Trojan Reach and a Deneb free trader just as 
comfortable in the Solomani Rim.  Sure, there was a great variety from 
planet to planet but most of Imperial culture (which was the *only* 
interstellar culture) ended at the starport extrality except on those 
high pop and tech worlds that were the `backbone' of the Imperium.  
Maybe the Imperium was also `ghetto- ized'?  
    Thus, TNE `interstellar' culture (Coalition or anyplace else) will
have its roots in Imperial culture.  In effect, most of those `varied'
cultures beyond the extrality fence `gave-up' on the stars *long* 
before the Rebellion even.  Sure, *some* of these will venture to the
stars in TNE but *most* TNE interstellar culture will have an Imperial 
(and technological) heritage.  

Cynthia:

    This coincides with my view of the Imperium...pre-Virus.  I have 
always envisioned 3I as having a unified "Spacer" culture composed of 
the nobility, the interstellar merchants, and the Imperial military 
(including the Scouts).  "Beyond the extrality fence", most 
significant worlds had their own, local culture, and most people who 
lived on those worlds could care less about what went on beyond their 
own sky (so long as it didn't affect them in obvious ways), and knew 
about as much about "Spacer" (Imperial) culture as the average Joe 
knows about the military culture or the life of a (real-life) merchant 
marine sailor.  The obvious exceptions would be Capital/Core, and 
systems where exploitation of space is a normal part of the economy 
(e.g.  Glisten, any system with many large colonies).  

    You have added an interesting point about "local" cultures 
"giving-up" on the stars *long* ago...  presumably when they were 
incorporated into the Sylean Empire, or when they grew beyond 
outpost/colony status.  This would be a side-effect (or deliberate 
intention) of the 3I policy of not allowing multi-system member 
states...  so there is NO interstellar culture except the Imperial 
"spacer" culture.  Contrast with the Solomani Confederation, which has 
large interstellar states with distinct cultures as members.  
    Unfortunately, what was destroyed in Hard Times and the Virus was 
the Imperial interstellar culture.  That has been utterly wiped out, 
except in the Regency.  In the pocket empires, and other places that 
are reaching for the stars again, we are seeing the local cultures, 
using the knowledge from the extinct Imperial culture, reach out 
"beyond the extrality fence" for the first time in a thousand years. 
The techonology *may* be initially based on Imperial designs, but the 
culture will not.  IMHO, the TNE interstellar culture outside the
Regency will not have an Imperial heritage.

 ------------------------
Mark Urbin:

>"You can't build a healthy economy based on scavenging." 
>                - Cynthia Higginbotham

>Can we call this one, "Trask's Rule?"

Cynthia:

    <grin> I guess we could.  I haven't read that book since 
college...  I had forgotten that was one of themes of that book.  
(Gee, this list has only been talking about it for the last 2 
weeks...)  

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

Bundle: 573
Archive-Message-Number: 7188
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 1994 09:31:22 -0500
From: bonnevil@mermaid.micro.umn.edu (Steven M Bonneville)
Subject: Energy from planetary collision!

In TML Msg. No. 7182, Mark Cook <markc@CSOS.ORST.EDU> writes:

>Now what *I* want to know is how to calculate liberated energy from
>a nominally non-elastic collision.  The Shoemaker-Levin (sic) comet
>is going to hit Jupiter in July, and I'd like to know how many ergs
>will be released when several 4-kilometer in diameter chunks of ice
>slam into a nice, thick hydrogen laden atmosphere at 60 km/sec.

I did some calculations along these lines with a _Covenanter_-class
starship crashing into an airless body with its maximum vector.  
I assumed that in the non-elastic collison, all of its kinetic
energy was liberated.  The equations ran:

Kinetic Energy = 0.5 * mass * (velocity squared)

Mass of ship = about 4000 metric tonnes = 4 million kg
Max. vector  = 80 G-turns = 1330 kps (= 0.4 % lightspeed)
KE of ship   = 0.5 * 4000000 kg * (1330000 m/s)^2
             = 3.54 * 10^18 joules
             = 840 megatons TNT

Some useful information on this sort of thing is in "Space FAQ 04/13 -
Calculations" in newsgroups sci.space, sci.astro, or news.answers.
(1 MT = 4.2 * 10^15 J) conversion came from that document, and there
is also an equation for meteor impact craters among other things.

I don't know what effect an atmosphere would have on these rough
figures.  Spacecraft are deadly weapons.  Note that a Virus-controlled
suicide ship attacking, say, a starport in this fashion would 
appear on ground-based 10 hex sensors at their maximum possible
detection range of 80 hexes *one 30 minute turn* before impact.
I suspect quite a bit of that sort of attack happened during the
Crash.  (no pun intended)  

- --Steve

PS  Should be some interesting pictures from the Galileo probe of
    the Shoemaker-Levy impact...I don't know if it's too bad that
    the impact will happen behind Jupiter from the probe's 
    distant perspective, or a Real Good Thing (that flash will
    be pretty bright...even though the comet's going a lot slower
    than the above example, it's a lot more massive, too).


*******************************************************************************
 Steve Bonneville                | "Beware the tablespoon my son,
                                 |  The teeth that bite, the Claus that catch,
 bonnevil@mermaid.micro.umn.edu  |  Beware the Subjects bird, and shred
                                 |  The serious Bandwidth!"
*******************************************************************************


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

Bundle: 573
Archive-Message-Number: 7189
From: startrek76@aol.com
Date: Wed, 06 Apr 94 11:11:24 EDT
Subject: Starports

Rodge.--
    Re your comments:
>I've always winged starports at my roleplaying sessions, but I've >got an
adventure coming up that is likely to take place primarily 
>at a starport, so I need something a bit better defined than my >adlibbing.
>I shall therefor be designing a starport, but I have no idea what I
>should put in it.

>WHAT IS IN A STARPORT?

I think a decent starport should have:
1)   A customs impound area. Warehouses where things like cargo
      being trans-shiped is stored. Usually deserted by 3pm, good 
      for gun battles between players and NPC badguys.
2)   Sleezy, run down resturants serving terrible food and worse 
       coffee, and over charging for it.
3)   Starship Maintance areas. 
4)   Starport Security. The police station and lockup. Manned by 
      guys like Worf on ST:TNG. Has at least one "goon-squad"
      that gets called out to handle drunken Vargr.
5)   A gambling den (or several), pawnshops, bookie joints, houses       of
"ill-repute"
6)    General purpose warehouses and business offices of cargo 
      forwarding and shipping companies.
7)   A passenger terminal
8)   Fuel processing and refueling docks
9)   Both long "runway" type landing areas [for horizonal take            
off/landing ships. and "field" areas [for vertical takeoff/landing      
ships].
10) GCA (Ground Controlled Approach) equipment, Comm       equipment, Radar,
etc.
11)  Space Traffic Control Tower.
12)  Emergency Medical facilities

 



 

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

Bundle: 573
Archive-Message-Number: 7190
From: Ray_Pullar <csh019@cch.coventry.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: The New Era
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 94 16:49:17 WET DST



The debate seems to have moved onto the role of the Regency in the
New Era but since I've not been able to read my mail for the last
5 days I thought I'd take the opportunity to briefly comment on some
of the replies to my postings.

David Johnson:  I feel that the democratic institutions of the
RC are believable.  The Collapse is stated to have destroyed the
old Imperial government - it didn't survive to rebuild (except in
the Regency and possibly in a few Pocket Empires).  With the
disappearance of the Imperium I don't see why local populations should
have continued to respect the holders of offices in its structure. 
Infact, the locals would have been more inclined to lynch the local
Imperial representative after all the suffering of the Rebellion and
then the Collapse (which lends support to your idea of a Revolution -
but I think that this would have happened in 1130 not in 1180).

Jeff Zeitlin suggested that the Hiver's may have re-introduced the idea
of democracy to the world's in the RC.  This may have happened (I think
that they'd certainly encourage it) but I still believe that a strong
democratic tradition could have existed even despite the rule of the
Third Imperium.  My reasons: the Old Expanses was a part of the Solomani 
Sphere and only re-conquered by the Imperium during the Solomani Rim
War.  The Solomani (especially in the Sphere) are much more inclined
towards democratic government and the idea of freedom in general.  I
think this cultural belief in self-determination and individual freedom
would have remained even under Imperial rule.  With the Collapse, these
suppressed beliefs would have been allowed to re-appear (and fuelled
by the rejection of the Imperial system because of its' responsibility
for the Rebellion and the Collapse).

Jeff also stated that there was no reason to believe that the Regency
or the Reformation Coalition would automatically regard a Virus-based 
interstellar civilistation emerging from behind the Black Curtain to
be an enemy.  Except, that is, for the fact that the Virus was 
responsible for destroying interstellar civilisation and plunging
humanity into a new Long Night and that in all of its' most common 
forms it is completely hostile to all non-Virus.  I agree that a
Virus controlled civilisation could be non-aggressive and even
benevolent but it will take a lot of persuasion and proof to convince
the RC and the Regency of this.


David Johnson said:
> the Old Imperium.  Imagine the response in the Regency (and elsewhere) 
> should a `just and noble' granddaughter of Lucan (or Margaret) emerge from
> behind the Black Curtain at the head of a `Renaissance Fleet' anxious to
> bring `all of Strephon's children' back into the Imperial `family'.
> 

I don't agree.  It would make more sense, as I see it, for the Regency to
expand and enlarge *now*, before anyone emerges from behind the Black
Curtain.  The bigger the Regency is, the less likely they are to be
challenged.  My assessment of Norris is that if a legitimate successor
did appear then he would be willing to swear allegiance and accept them
as Emperor.  However with all the democratic changes within the Regency,
the rest of the political establishment might not be too keen on this.
My view is infact the opposite of your view: you think that if an heir
appeared the ordinary joe in the Regency would be clamering to swear
allegiance while Norris (or his heir) would be desparately trying to
cling to power.  I think that Norris would be willing to accept the 
claimant to the throne while the Regency's population, enjoying its'
newfound democratic freedom would be opposed to this.  Strange.

The upshot:  I'm still not convinced that there are any good reasons
why the Regency shouldn't be doing what the RC is doing.

David Johnson continues:
> Well, yes, but even the `newest' regions of the Imperium had been incorporated
> for more than a century which means any New Era xeno- or techno-phobia has
> only had a similar amount of time to develop at best.  I know the rulebook
> might say xeno- and techno-phobia are rampant in places but that doesn't
> mean it makes *sense*.  Remember, a *lot* of TNE grandparents are going to
> remember a *lot* of `good' things about technology and off-worlders. 
> 

I agree.  One of the weakest parts of the New Era setting is the time
scale that GDW presents.  As you point out, 70 years is a short enough
period for the high technology and institutions of the pre-Collapse
society to be in living memory.  The idea that 70 years after the Collapse
the survivors would be worshipping micro-wave ovens is idiotic, IMO.
Technology could be held responsible for the widespread destruction and
people could be (legitimately in the case of computers/robots and the
Virus) fearful of it, but I don't believe that they'd be endowing it
with supernatural qualities so soon after it was a mundane part of their 
everyday lives.




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

Bundle: 573
Archive-Message-Number: 7191
From: chiggin@aol.com
Date: Wed, 06 Apr 94 13:57:53 EDT
Subject: Nominally Inelastic collisions

From Mark Cook:

Now what *I* want to know is how to calculate liberated energy from
a nominally non-elastic collision.  The Shoemaker-Levin (sic) comet
is going to hit Jupiter in July, and I'd like to know how many ergs
will be released when several 4-kilometer in diameter chunks of ice
slam into a nice, thick hydrogen laden atmosphere at 60 km/sec.

Cynthia:
    Steve suggests using the kinetic energy of the comet at impact for 
a good approximation....

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

End of TML Bundle
******************
To: traveller@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Submissions)
Date: Sun, 10 Apr 94 22:00:02 EDT
From: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin)
Subject: TML bundle #574: Msgs 7192-7203 
Approved: by traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin) Sun Apr 10 22:00:01 EDT 1994
Reply-To: traveller@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Submissions)
Errors-To: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca
Precedence: bulk

TML bundles come from the archives maintained by
traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin).

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

Date: Sun, 10 Apr 94 22:00:02 EDT
From: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin)
Subject: TML bundle #574: Table of Contents

BUN# =AMN= =DATE====== =FROM==========  =SUBJECT/BODY==========================
 574  7192 06-Apr-1994 David Johnson    Traveller Background 10 << Gentlesophon
 574  7193 06-Apr-1994 Ted7@world.std.  Counter-commentary << David Johnson wri
 574  7194 06-Apr-1994 Glenn Myers      Regency comments << Hi All,
 574  7195 06-Apr-1994 psualum@aol.com  Pennsylvania & deckplans <<  helm@geolo
 574  7196 06-Apr-1994 Roger Sanger     SPACE COLONIES... <<  
 574  7197 06-Apr-1994 psualum@aol.com  Regency << covering former 3rd Imp terr
 574  7198 06-Apr-1994 Roger Sanger     Map of Regency region... <<  
 574  7199 06-Apr-1994 Roger Sanger     A question... <<  
 574  7200 06-Apr-1994 David Johnson    *Shall Not Perish* (Regency sourcebook)
 574  7201 05-Apr-1994 Jeff Zeitlin     71:11/7166 Math - area of << Subject: 7
 574  7202 05-Apr-1994 Jeff Zeitlin     71:10/7159 Hivers and K'k << Subject: 7
 574  7203 05-Apr-1994 Jeff Zeitlin     71:10/7158 Tech and Ghett << Subject: 7

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

Bundle: 574
Archive-Message-Number: 7192
From: David Johnson <johnsodj@ucsu.Colorado.EDU>
Subject: Traveller Background 10
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 1994 12:16:25 -0600 (MDT)

Gentlesophonts:

My time on the TML may be ending.  One account will be terminated on
April
18th and my priviledges to mail outside my facility at my other
account
appear to have been revoked.  I heard those muffled cheers.  :-)
I'll
still be getting TML though so I'll be keeping up with y'all.  Hey,
that wasn't even muffled!  :-)

>From Tuesday night, Allen Shock <34ZBTXQ@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU>
writes:

> I was under the
> impression that we were discussing the TNE background as written,
due to some
> desire on the part of those participating to understand it. 
> I can see where you
> are looking for inconsistencies in the TNE set-up. 

Well, I'm not too concerned with sticking to the `official' campaign
or not.
I agree that a ref ought to be able to do as she pleases with
anything.  I'm
just a `background junkie' and a fundamental of background-building
is
consistency.

> The RC is currently under the leadership of the
> Aubani, with a few concessions to the Oriflammens. such as the
"official"
> limitation of activities to the primary AO (which both sides
violate rather
> frequently).

This approach seems to provide good adventure potential.
 
> The Hivers DEFINITLEY have an ulterior motive, and when the
> humans find out, it may cause some serious questioning of the RC's
goals and
> purpose.

I think such an occurrence will be explosive in the Coalition!
That's great!
  
>    And now, on to the Regency. I agree with Roger; let's develop
the area

> I will say one thing, though; I think we should say that
> GDW is free to use whatever ideas they wish to from our Regency
discussions
> without hassle. 

I concur.  This is a good idea.  If you want to protect your ideas
you ought
to keep them off TML (or *any* public forum).

> As far as I'm concerned
> they can have mine, if any are worthwhile enough to be used.

Me too.  :-}


eclipse@world.std.com (Mark Urbin) writes" 

> "You can't build a healthy economy based on scavenging." 
>                 - Cynthia Higginbotham
> 
> Can we call this one, "Trask's Rule?"

Here, here!  I fully agree.

 
> On Saturday night, Jeff Zeitlin <jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com> wrote: 
> 
> > T::>Jumpstart caches?
> > 
> >  Mentioned in Arrival Vengeance.   
> > 
> >  Also mentioned was Longbow, 
> 
> Thanks.  I've *Arrival Vengeance* myself.  I'll have to take a
closer look.

Well, I looked and didn't find anything on the jumpstart caches *or*
Longbow.
Is this the right reference?  Avery appears in *Arrival Vengeance* by
the
way.  He's *about* eight in 1126 which puts his birth c1118 and will
make him
82 in 1200.  My guess is he's another clone of Strephon.  (I know I'm
*really*
taking a chance with that guess.  :-)

Well, I hope this isn't the last you hear of me.  :-)

"What are you doing, Dave?  Dave?  Please stop, Dave.  Dave?  Dave?
 Please stop . . . ."
               -HAL 9000

Peace,

David Johnson
Houston, Texas, USA


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

Bundle: 574
Archive-Message-Number: 7193
From: Ted7@world.std.com
Subject: Counter-commentary
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 1994 14:42:40 -0400 (EDT)

David Johnson writes:
>but again just because some GDW product says such and such doesn't
>necessarily make it gospel.  

Ah, but it does!  GDW products ARE what create the TNE background.  So,
except where they switch themselves (as "Reavers" became "Star Vikings"
which became "Path of Tears", producing kinder, gentler Vikings), GDW's
products ARE the gospel.  Unfortunately, as you point out, they are not
always self-consistent, sensible or logical.

>How would being in possession of *Path of Tears* or any other TNE 
>product better help one to understand these sort of issues except 
>to be able to say, "But GDW says so on page XX"?

You would certainly save us all a good deal of time and space by
reading an explanation and then commenting on it instead of holding
forth on a topic in ignorance, waiting for a correction, and then 
replying to the correction, prompting responses (usually more detail
that you could have read in the first place) before getting to the 
heart of the discussion.

I, like you, however, choose not to buy TNE nor its supplements.

>A nice excuse but if the RCES is `benevolent' then abuses will be
>minimized as the `abusers' are not retained or disciplined and other
>potential `abusers' learn that abuses won't be tolerated.  

Ah, but man is a political animal:  if my planet or faction with 
RCES hired say my nephew's group, I won't let you come down overly
hard on him, nor will I let you publically discipline him as it
would make me look bad.

Not to mention the process for investigating an abuse:
1. Abuse occurs.
2. Raiders return with report slanted in their favor, especially if
   they bring back good profits.
3. Some time several months later, someone returns to site of abuse 
   and reports it.
4. A few (or many) months later, reports of such an abuse get back to
   RCES HQ, which sends out an investigation team.
5. A few months later (assuming transport is available & that the
   investigating org has a team available), a report suggesting
   disciplinary action appears.

Meanwhile, during the year (or more), the abuser has gone out for two
or three more missions....

>On the 
>other hand, if abuses *do* continue and become the pattern then one
>has to question the motivations of the RCES itself.

Roger Sanger says:
>Come on guys, lets DEVELOP the background rather than just
>discuss it!

Sure - as long as you remember the caveat that GDW will ignore most
of what is said here and will eventually sweep it all away with a 
sourcebook.

>This situation eventually led to the development of
>extremely light but well-insulated vacc-suits, which were
>much more cost-effective to heat and pressurize than
>entire habitats, yet not so cumbersome as to restrict
>movement and comfort.  So each individual became isolated
>in his or her own tiny habitat most of the time.  For
>daily hygiene and intimacy, one could retreat to the
>fresher which could be heated and pressurized once you
>entered, so you could desuit.

You may want to think this through again.  I don't mean to stifle
your creativity, but this is kinda silly.  There is a lot more to 
life than comfortable movement.  Let's discuss air.  Carrying around
your own air supply for the day is heavy, regardless of how comfy the
suit itself is.  Not to mention the dangers of sleeping on a limited
air supply.  Then there is food - these people ONLY eat food from
a tube through a helmet chowlock?  Not to mention the waste of 
heating up a fresher only to vent it all during EACH individuals
daily (weekly? monthly?) shower run.

What a herrless existence these people lead! They suffer from sensory
deprivation.  
Their skin ONLY gets to feel their undersuit.  
They smell ONLY themselves.
They hear ONLY what comes in over their headphones and their own
mutterings
They taste ONLY prepared mushy food they get through a tube.

Considering that well before TL15, insulation is good enough to build
space environments, I can't see why building an insulated house on a 
planet is difficult.  With good insulation, you won't lose much heat 
to the outside, so there goes the cost/efficiency problem.



>This was the state of affairs on Pallique when the Virus
>came to be.  It was here that it was discovered that the
>Virus does not thrive well in very low temperatures.

Uh, considering that hardware runs BETTER in cold environments,
that software isn't affected by temperature at all, and that the
Virus doesn't seem to have a problem operating on ships open to 
space, I'd suggest that the Virus would have no problem operating on
a cold planet's computers.

>This allowed the planet to progress
>without devoting much of its resources to combating the virus,

Except for the spare resources taken by the Regenecy gov to shore up 
other planets (zero spares above subsistence).  

Consider - the Regency needed to maintain a larger fleet than before
(say during the 5th Frontier War) in order to maintain the blockade,
and yet had to do so ONLY with local resources; the costs of such a 
fleet could not be supported by resources of the 3I interior.  To do
so, every spare resource would need to be spent just to maintain the
status quo.

>the Virus
>shocked them back into it when it caused one of their
>great floating cities to come crashing down from the sky.
	
You may want to re-read how the Virus operates.  If the Virus had 
gotten this far into the operating system of one major system (a 
floating city), it would have infected MOST major systems on a planet
and then manifested itself over the course of a few days.  Scratch 
one of the Darrians planets.  Not to mention those planets on the 
path from Deneb TO the Darrian worlds!!

>They adapted immunity to electronic viral
>infection by progressing beyond silicon-based computer
>technology to fiber-optic and direct energy transmission
>(DET) computing systems.

This won't help against self-evolving software as GDW describes the
Virus to be.  It didn't help the Aslan (with different hardware &
software from Imperial systems).

>noticed several high-tech worlds in the sector
>data, including a couple TL16 worlds.  Since the stats were dated
>1120, those worlds are bound to be even further advanced by the
>turn of the century!

And what of the trade that fed these worlds that kept them as hi-tech?
The trade cut off due to the Rebellion and Hard Times?  Like 
stopsville?  As these places lost their markets (no one to sell to), 
their economy declines.  Like lose a couple tech levels?  

It's all there in GDW's books.

Mark Watson says:
>why no aristocracy in
>the RCES? The easy answer is that there's none in Twilight:2000 either,
>so given that this is the same game ...

There isn't?  Should we discuss the King of Silesia in one of the
Modules?  And if you read some of the notes between T:2000 & T:2300
there are several small kingdoms that pop up only to be swallowed...
And BTW, there are aristorcracy in the Regency, and that IS in the
same game.

>By the way, I get the impression that most of the Imperial nobility was
>not of long standing. 

Only about 1000 years or so (available from several sources).

>Finally, anyone spotted Path of Tears in the UK? Challenge 72?

Anyone spotted Challenge 72 in the US?  It was promised to be mailed
out by the end of March (but then, it was to be at the printer by 
mid-jan & then out by the end of Feb, too).  Its now April 6 and no 
mag.

Daniel T. says:
>Since average travel time from planet to 100 diameters is 85 hours
>(assumes 1G acceleration and a 13000 km diameter world), making the
>minimum bridge crew 1 must mean that the ship can fly itself for the
>most part. So what happens if something unexpected comes up while the
>pilot is asleep? 

Travelling through empty space on a known course is not that difficult
at all.  A bridge crew of 1 can do it, and simply sleep when he feels
like it - as long as he doesn't run into any problems.  I had no 
problem rigging the alarms into the in-ship intercom system to wake a
sleeping pilot for emergencies.  Of course, if something happened in 
time it took the pilot to wake and run to the bridge (if he wasn't 
sleeping there), he was up the creek w/o a paddle.

					Ted7



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

Bundle: 574
Archive-Message-Number: 7194
From: Glenn Myers <gem188@swanson.com>
Subject: Regency comments
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 94 16:19:59 EDT



Hi All,
Regarding the Regency in the New Era:

I have the impression that fighting Virus 70 years after the collapse
would be close to what we deal with today concerning computer viruses.
As new threats are recognized, the infomation on how to prevent 
infection would be widely distributed.

Although virus protection will always be important, life shouldn't be
changed that much. Through the use of heavy patrols in Corridor, most
incoming threats could be neutralized before any population centers
are at risk. Of course all critical automated systems will have manual
overrides, but I always assumed that should have been the case anyway.
Virus or no Virus, software is never 100% bug free. There should have
been a plan for the possibilty of massive computer failure. If the 
Virus didn't destroy a civilization when first encountered, it isn't 
likely to do so 70 years later.

BTW, I expect that the natural astrography of Corridor is part of the 
reason why the Regency hasn't reclaimed that area. It forms such a nice
choke point at which to fight any intruders, Viral or otherwise. 
Besides, I'm sure a lot of resources have been used developing an
infrastructure capable of withstanding a possible conflict.

I would like to see how the other races have fared since the collapse.
I would think that the Vargr would have been decimated and that the
Zhodani would be mostly unharmed. The Aslan behind the claw would
have fared much better than the rest of the Hierate. They could be 
quite a threat in the Trojan Reaches. 

I would guess that the Virus can't be maintained as an interesting 
and challenging foe in the Regency for very long. The end result 
may in fact be that GDW can "have their Imperium and destroy it too."
I don't like the Virus as the cause of the collapse. However, at least 
where it matters most to Imperium fans ( the Regency ) the effects 
shouldn't be that bad.

In my campaign set further spinward of the Regency, I used to use the 
official GDW campaign info as news from the Old Empire. During the 
rebellion, it was common for mercenary companies from the frontier 
to fight with one of the factions (rather like the barbarians being
hired to defend Rome). I expect that once the collapse occurs,
contact will be completely lost. If I like the look of the Regency,
I may make a recontact mission the thrust of a new campaign. 


TTFN

Glenn


- ----------------------------------
| Glenn E. Myers                 |
| gmyers@swanson.com             |
| QA software engineer           |
| Swanson Analysis Systems, Inc. |
| (412) 746-3304 x188            |
- ----------------------------------


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

Bundle: 574
Archive-Message-Number: 7195
From: psualum@aol.com
Date: Wed, 06 Apr 94 18:44:58 EDT
Subject: Pennsylvania & deckplans

 helm@geology.ucdavis.edu (Juanna Napp) wrote:

>     William Penn was granted, by the English Crown, the new
>     world colony of Pennsylvania, mostly to get those troublesome Quakers
>     to move out of England.  Pennsylvania was officially settled in 1682.

Thanks for clearing the William Penn question, you beat me to the punch.  In
addition to getting rid of the Quakers the crown also used the grant to repay
a debt originally incurred to Penn's father.



Regarding questions of CAD programs I posted info some time back re a company
working on mapping software as a game aid.  Cartografix by Silicon Dragon
initially plans to release a product for mapping "Planets. Continents.
Cities.
Buildings. Floor Plans. Even galaxies or microchips."  They are also planning
a library module with a Cyberpunk theme.

If enough Traveller players send them requests for a ship module they may
just
listen!  For more info or COMMENTS:
    Sheila M. Cameron-Carey,  Internet - dragon@sdragon.com


PBJuzyk in Reading, Pennsylvania

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

Bundle: 574
Archive-Message-Number: 7196
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 1994 15:56:25 -0700
From: rodge@cyberspace.com (Roger Sanger)
Subject: SPACE COLONIES...

 
 
To: john991@tampa.relay.ucm.org
 
                         --------------
                         SPACE COLONIES
                         --------------
 
Dear John:
 
You wrote (3/16):
 
 > Megatraveller and CT had the Planatoid/Asteriod Hull type.  That
 > could be adapted to a space colony fairly easily.  This type of
 > construction seems to be missing in TNE.  I haven't tried to adapt
 > MT/CT rules to TNE yet.  Does anyone have any suggestions on
 > designing a space colony.  Orbital colonies don't seem to be a
 > part of the traveller universe and I really don't know why.
 > Especially in asteroids fields.
 
Space colonies and the like have been covered in Traveller.  The
following references come to mind:
 
    The "Sky Raiders" trilogy from fasa, by the Keith brothers.
 
    Gateway Station (in Gateway Sector) in "Lords of Thunder", by
    William H. Keith, Jr., published in DGP's MegaTraveller
    Journal #4.  There's also an inhabited natural satellite
    around another planet in the sector that is an integral part
    of the adventure.
 
    The orbital facility in fasa's Adventure Class Ships
    Volume II is a must-have item.  Modular and multi-functional.
 
    The gutted-out Kinunir class colonial cruiser in orbit around
    Pixie/Regina/Spinward Marches is covered in Adventure 1 - The
    Kinunir.
 
    Adventure 11 - Murder on Arcturus Station includes an
    interesting illustration of that facility.
 
    Many orbital starport facilities are mentioned in Traveller
    literature, and although they aren't colonies per se, they
    subsume that function by having permanent residents.  The
    only one that comes to mind orbits Regina/Regina/Spinward
    Marches.
 
Okay..., you asked for advice on designing space colonies, so
you've got it:
 
    First, for quick-and-dirty asteroid colonies, since they are
    so much like dungeons hewn from solid rock, many Ad&d modules
    work quite well for the basic floorplans of such a facility.
 
    At least such modules can give you an idea of where to start
    -- The "Ghost Tower of Inverness" could easily be adapted
    into an orbital space colony.  Simply trace the outline for
    each level onto graph paper, and then redraw the interiors.
 
    The best AD&D module that comes in mind for this however, is
    "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks", which includes the plans
    for the Metamorphosis Alpha, a huge spacefaring craft
    designed for housing colonist during their long but fateful
    voyage. All you need to do to use this is dump its drives.
 
    Another tip is to use examples from movies/TV and literature
    as models.  Moonraker, Aliens, Star Trek II - The Wrath of
    Khan, Deepspace Nine, Red Dwarf (several episodes), Star
    Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, 2001: A Space Odesy, Star
    Cops, Dr. Who, and Space 1999, all include examples of space
    habitations.  The deep sea habitat in "The Abyss" could also
    prove useful as a model.
 
    The thing most useful in designing anything is a list of
    specifications and features/facilities to include.  Off the
    top of my head, here are some things that would be needed in
    a space colony:
 
        Production facilities for or importation of food.
        Dining facilities, if not included in living quarters.
        Kithen facilities, if not included in living quarters.
        Sanitation and waste disposal facilities.
        Starport/docking facilities.
        Hospital and clinic, with medlabs.
        Recreation facilities.
            Movie theater
            Concert hall
            Swimming pool
            Indoor track
            Grav ball arena
            Workout gym
            Dancehall/nightclub
            Games room
        Control center.
        Atrarium.
        Offices.
        Shops.
        Workshops/repair stations.
        Storage.
        Cold sleep facilities / emergency low berths.
        Meeting facilities.
        Science labs.
        Computers.
        Education facilities.
        Library.
        Security stations.
        Detention cells.
        Surveylance systems.
        Emergency stations.
        Laundry facilities.
        Customs and quarantine facilities.
 
        Lighting.
        Emergency lighting (dimmed to conserve power).
        An intercom system.
        Living quarters.
        Air locks.
        Air importation or recycling.
        Gravity generation or simulation.
        Hatches
        Sealable sections
 
Did I leave anything out?
 
Hope that helps,
Rodge.

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

Bundle: 574
Archive-Message-Number: 7197
From: psualum@aol.com
Date: Wed, 06 Apr 94 18:51:41 EDT
Subject: Regency

covering former 3rd Imp territory?  It seems to me that the Regency is Virus
paranoid (Viruphobia?).  Consider the Quarantine blockade they set up and
after 75 years continue to man.  Private individuals would have great
difficulty crossing the border (although those seldom used bureaucratic
skills
would certainly come into play in this situation).

There is some mention that the Regency economy is beginning to stagnate and
referendum re. opening the borders was held but rejected.  Since when do
gov'ts follow to the letter the will of the people?  And as recently pointed
out various gov't agencies frequently pursue their own agendas.

There is also the matter of the nobility.  Under the new form of gov't the
nobles were given fiefs but what about their younger children?  No doubt the
eldest will inherit the fief but the younger sons & daughters are not just
going to all embrace the democratic way of life that the commoners adhere to.

I see two activities re exploration of the wilds from the Regency:

1)  The gov't will begin to send secret missions of exploration and contact.
There are no doubt those who remember the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service
and its proud traditions - the glory of going where no one has gone before
instead of playing Quarantine Police.  These missions would have many of the
some objectives of the RCES missions.  In addition the Regency has better
data, yes it is also out of date, specifing locations of bases and research
stations and the contents of those bases.  More on this in future
installments
(the Scouts are my favorite service!)

2)  The young nobility seeing limited prospects in the new order of things
will look for elbow room.  Their parents will likely support their wishes to
explore the Wilds as it will ease tensions at home (and decrease internecine
conflict to determine who shall inherit the fief.  Expeditions will be
outfitted and launched toward the core of the former Imperium.  Some will
conquer/colonize/set up shop on some of the planets and begin trading via
free
merchants with each other and, for those with the bureaucratic patience, with
the Regency.  Others will seek out riches in smash-and-grab/looting type
expeditions with an eye toward high profit items such as starships and
locating the warehouses of the former MegaCorps.

As mentioned I have more to say re scouts in the future but ta ta for now.

PBJuzyk

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

Bundle: 574
Archive-Message-Number: 7198
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 1994 16:09:42 -0700
From: rodge@cyberspace.com (Roger Sanger)
Subject: Map of Regency region...

 
 
 
                   ------------------------------
                   SPINWARD MARCHES AND SURROUNDS
                   ------------------------------
 
I noticed some notes passed back and forth on the location of
various sectors near the Spinward Marches, so I thought I'd blow
up the region for you from my Traveller MaxThink hypernet.
 
Here is a sector chart of the region surrounding the Spinward Marches,
including the foreign names.  The developer is also shown, where known.
 
The Regency is located in the Spinward Marches, Deneb, and Reft
Sectors.  It used to extend into Trojan Reach Sector, but I think
the Aslan New Lords took over that territory during the Rebellion
era.
 
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Zhdant       | Tienspevnekr | Ziafrplians  | Briakqra' (z) | Dravr (z)     |
|              |              | Usingou      | Gvurrdon      | Tuglikki      |
|              |              |              |               |               |
|              |              |              |               |               |
|              |              |              | (Roger Myhre) |               |
|------------- |--------------|--------------|---------------|---------------|
| Yiklerzdanzh |              |              | Spinward -    |               |
|              | Far Frontiers| Foreven      | Marches       | Deneb         |
|              | Afachtiabr   | Iakr         | Tloql         | Nieklsdia     |
|              |              |              |               |               |
| (Ausie HIWG) | (fasa)       |(Imp. Lines)  | (GDW)         | (GDW/DGP)     |
|--------------|--------------|--------------|---------------|---------------|
|              | Steblezh     | Zhdiakltlatl | Idrflanta     |               |
| Fulani       | Vanguard -   | The Beyond   | Trojan Reach  | Reft Sector   |
|              | Reaches      |              |               | Bransakral    |
| Chtedrdia    | Telehfaeikh  | Lerlairlaii  | Hlaoirlpahaurl|               |
|              | (Paranoia Pr)| (Paranoia Pr)| (GDW/DGP)     | (GDW/DGP)     |
|--------------|--------------|--------------|---------------|---------------|
|              |              |              |               |               |
| Theron       | Iphigenaia   | Touchstone   | Riftspan Reach| Verge         |
| Iykhaiser    | Kyatulyare'  | Weasuirlaoa  | Iiyoihuakh    | Khtiyhkokaeiw |
|              |              |              |               |               |
|              |              |              |               |               |
|--------------|--------------|--------------|---------------|---------------|
 
Have fun,
Rodge.
 
 
P.S.:  If there is any data missing from or incorrect info
included in the above chart, please post it so we may all
benefit.  Thanx.

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

Bundle: 574
Archive-Message-Number: 7199
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 1994 16:28:51 -0700
From: rodge@cyberspace.com (Roger Sanger)
Subject: A question...

 
 
Does anyone have any idea how many Traveller players there are in
the world today?
 
    Curiously speaking,
    Rodge.
 

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

Bundle: 574
Archive-Message-Number: 7200
From: David Johnson <johnsodj@ucsu.Colorado.EDU>
Subject: *Shall Not Perish* (Regency sourcebook)
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 1994 17:47:43 -0600 (MDT)

Gentlesophonts:

A couple of weeks ago, John H Bogan <john.bogan@asb.com>
gave us an overview of *Path of Tears*, the Coalition
sourcebook.  I've used his template here for a fictional
Regency sourcebook, which I've called *Shall Not Perish*.
I hope y'all will help me fill it in.

THE REGENCY:

> mostly a reprint of the RC timeline, though some 
> parts have been expanded and more detail added.

Anyone care to expand on or add detail to the New Era
Regency timeline?  What significant (or just plain
interesting) details are missing?

> the original 12 ships sent out by the Dawn League,
> with ship name, type, sceduled course, and fate

Would the establishment of the Quarantine Line be
the Regency equivalent here?

> maps and UWP data for Aubaine (ex-Nicosia) and 
> Oriflamme (ex-Sarid) subsectors.

Would more than two subsectors be detailed for the
Regency?  Which ones?  Trin's Veil?  Regina?
Rhylanor?

> Each world has two lines of 
> UWP data, first the pre-Rebellion and then the New 
> Era stats.

Certainly this is simple enough for Regency worlds.
 
> a breif description of each world within the RC

Another simple task, but maybe just a focus on `major'
worlds in the Regency?

> an overview of the RC government such as it is

What would an overview of the Regency government
include?  Should we use the *World Builder's*
model and identify executive, legislative and
judicial authority in the Regency?  What about
principal NPCs (the Regent, etc.)

> a table listing each world, its population,
> political
> bloc it belongs to, and number of representatives
> in the Assembly.

It's been suggested that the Regency is more
`democratic' than the Imperium was.  `Representation'
in the Imperium was through the aristocracy.  What's
the situation for the Regency?

PEOPLE OF THE REGENCY:

> the eight major political issues
> within the Coalition, most of which are actually
> matters of
> the internal structure of the Coalition, rather
> than matters
> focusing primarily on the univers outside the RC.

What major political issues face the Regency?  What is
the internal structure of the Regency?  What is it's
attitude toward the exterior?  What's the nature of
this `democracy' in the Regency?  How did it arise?
What are all those former aristocrats doing now that
there are `commoners' serving as governors and such?

> "typical" views of persons from each of the 
> RC's major worlds on the Coalition itself, the other
> member worlds,
> and the aliens within the Coalition

This ought to be simple enough once the major worlds of
the Regency are identified.  The Regency includes Vargr
and Aslan, right?  What minor races exist?

> a glossary of RC jargon, about half of which appeared
> in Survival Margin.

For the Regency would this be a guide to the `Riftian'
dialect after 70 years of divergence?

> RCES OPERATIONS:

Would the Regency equivalent be the `Patrol'(?) that
Norris created shortly after the Domain was cut off from
the Imperium?  How does this mesh with the entity 
responsible for maintaining the Quarantine?

> RCES mission types, doctrines, and general tactics.

Seems pretty straightforward to do the same for the
Patrol/Quarantine.

> the defensive (ground, wet, and COACC) forces oef the 
> coalition, and their orginization.
> Sidebars on RC rules of 
> engagement and informality among ranks.

The Regency would also have significant naval forces,
wouldn't it?

> the ships available to the RC, with tables of ships
> complemented by text explainations.  Incidentally, 
> some errata from
> Brilliant Lances is dealt with here.

Simple enough.  You shipwrights out there ought to have
a field day.

> the economics of the RC and the Auction(s), both
> in general terms and in player-level terms 
> (their cut from the 
> auction, etc.)

Would Quarantine procedures be the equivalent here?

THE AO (AREA OF OPERATIONS):

> an overview of RCES objcetives for the next 5+ years

What's the mission of the Patrol/Quarantine?

> player maps of Promise (Diaspora L), Khulam 
> (Diaspora P), Thoezennt (Old Expanses I), and
> Shenk (Old Expanses J)
> subsectors, in the same format used for Aubaine &
> Oriflamme.  Outside 
> of seven parsecs of the RC proper, however, only
> pre-Rebellion UWPs 
> are available.

If the Regency isn't venturing beyond the Quarantine Line
what's the equivalent here?  Would subsectors on the
Zhodani, Vargr, Aslan and/or Virus(?) frontiers be appro-
priate?  What about Darrian and the Sword Worlds?

> maps and world data for 19 Wilds worlds.

Again, what's the Regency equivalent?

REFEREE'S INFORMATION:

> general GM advice. Sidebar on the distinction between
> Free Traders (the people, capitalized) and free traders
> (the ships,
> lower case).

Is there an organization(s) in the Regency that corresponds
to the Guild?  Not necessarily more merchants but one
that has a different agenda than the Regency government?
 
> notes and rules on detailing worlds. Rules for 
> determining the size and number of surface nations
> on balkanized
> worlds, traits of governments (as opposed to types),
> types of
> salvagable equipement, size and composition of military
> forces.

This would all be pretty much the same, wouldn't it?
 
> Ref's data and notes for the subsectors and detailed
> worlds.  Lots of adventure "nuggets" for a GM to expand
> upon.

Similar stuff should be simple enough.

> The Star Guild, a loose organization of
> Free Traders in and around Diaspora.

Again, what entities in the Regency have their own agendas?

> stats on personal equipement and vehicles

More grist for the iron-mongerers!

> Manta-class skimmers
> expands the information on the
> Aurora clippers from what was presented in BL.

Again, you shipwrights can have at the Regency ships.

> Finally,
> an index, which, at first look, seems pretty complete.

This is a must!  :-)

That's all of John's template.  Remember, I don't have TNE
so I may have left some major points out that are included
there.  What other aspects of the Regency aren't covered
in TNE or by this template?

That should get us started.

Enjoy!

David Johnson
Houston, Texas, USA

P.S. My Internet access is fading fast it seems.  I may
be back to USmail soon.  Just in case, I'm at:
P.O. Box 891403, Houston, Texas, 77289-1403 USA. 
 

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

Bundle: 574
Archive-Message-Number: 7201
Subject: 71:11/7166 Math - area of
From: jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (Jeff Zeitlin)
Date: Tue,  5 Apr 94 17:51:00 -0500

Subject: 71:11/7166 Math - area of a sphere

T::>   I'm trying to determine the surface area of a hypothetical planetary bod
 ::>given the circumference of that body (assuming it is a pefect globe with no
 ::>blemishes or terrain). Does anyone know the formula for this? I'm working i
 ::>kilometers, and suck at math. Please reply directly. Thank you!

 Let's start with the fundamentals.  That circumference that you 
 have is equal to 2*pi*r (pi is that familiar constant, 
 approximated badly by the fractions 22/7 or 355/113).  The area of 
 a sphere is 4*pi*r^2 (r^2 is "r squared", or r*r).

 Now, (4*pi*r*r)/(2*pi*r)=2*r, which equals (2*pi*r)/pi.  So, given 
 the circumference C, we can arrive at the surface area by using 
 the formula

 C*C/pi.
==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin                                      jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com
- ---
 ~ QMPro 1.52 ~ That was profound! I didn't understand a word.

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

Bundle: 574
Archive-Message-Number: 7202
Subject: 71:10/7159 Hivers and K'k
From: jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (Jeff Zeitlin)
Date: Tue,  5 Apr 94 17:15:00 -0500

Subject: 71:10/7159 Hivers and K'kree?

T::>Jeff Zeitlin on the K'kree:
 ::>Yes, the K'kree were caught in the Collapse with no way out. But why
 ::>shouldn't the Hivers help the K'kree as well? The K'kree, unlike
 ::>humaniti, weren't responsible for the collapse of hiver civilisation.
 ::>If the hivers intervene, they can establish a more pliable, less
 ::>extreme K'kree civilisation to coreward.

 I'd concede that this would be possible, except that the K'kree 
 have been established as being somewhat intolerant of what the 
 other races that have been spotlighted would consider "normal 
 social diversity."  Should any K'kree pocket empire, especially 
 one with its center on Kirur, struggle to its feet without outside 
 aid, it will exhibit all of the characteristics of the original 
 K'kree culture - in fact, it will, for the most part _be_ the 
 original K'kree culture.  The natural K'kree intolerance of 
 diversity is such that if an "Old K'kree" empire were to confront 
 a "K'kree RC", the Old K'kree would be compelled to exterminate 
 the K'kree RC.  Remember what happened to the K'kree planets on 
 which the Hivers demonstrated their ability to manipulate 
 cultures.  On those planets, they had "perverted" the K'kree into 
 finding acceptable the consumption of meat sauces on food, and the 
 use of solitude as recreation - both things that are against the 
 established fundamental nature of the K'kree.  I can't think of 
 any "aberrations" of human culture that would generate such a 
 reaction in the rest of humanity.

 Remember, the aliens in Traveller are truly _alien_.  While some 
 of their behavior might be characterizable through the use of 
 comparisons to human behaviors, this is anthropomorphising of the 
 worst kind.  Their motivations are _not_ those of humans, and 
 they cannot be expected to react to stimuli the way humans do.
==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin                                      jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com
- ---
 ~ QMPro 1.52 ~ We're beaming down to the planet, sir.

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

Bundle: 574
Archive-Message-Number: 7203
Subject: 71:10/7158 Tech and Ghett
From: jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (Jeff Zeitlin)
Date: Tue,  5 Apr 94 17:36:00 -0500

Subject: 71:10/7158 Tech and Ghettos

T::>>  The 3I was in no way homogeneous - either technologically
 ::>>  or culturally.

T::>Well, yes, but is it really relevant to say that some low-tech, backwater
 ::>world was `part' of the Imperium.  Such a world played little or no role in
 ::>the conduct of Imperial affairs.  It was the worlds with an `affinity' for
 ::>technology that `made up' the Imperium and it will be worlds with similar
 ::>affinities that will make up whatever interstellar state or states that
 ::>arise from the Collapse.  I guess the worlds without these affinities are
 ::>what you would refer to as `ghettoized'?

 It's as relevant as saying that cities like New York, Chicago, and 
 Los Angeles "make up" the United States, or that countries like 
 the United States, the United Kingdom, and the People's Republic 
 of China "make up" the United Nations.  Certainly, there's a lot 
 of influence concentrated there.  But would the US be able to 
 survive without the "backwaters" of western Wisconsin, or upstate 
 New York, where there are a lot of dairy farms, or the 
 "backwaters" of central Nebraska and South Dakota, where a lot of 
 wheat is grown?  The Imperium was a whole, with all planets 
 contributing.  In different ways, but they all contributed.  The 
 fact that all 11,000 worlds didn't appear in the TNS doesn't mean 
 anything; my small town, for instance, hasn't made a New York 
 Metro region newspaper in several years - and when it last did, it 
 was because there was a murder committed within the town limits.  
 Yet this same town is home to many UN diplomats, and many 
 high-level executives of big corporations.

 No, I'm not saying that worlds without a tech affinity are the 
 ones that are going to be ghettoized.  I'm saying that the ones 
 that are "forced" to focus their production to service the needs 
 of the planets that (re)acquire tech early are the ones that are 
 going to be ghettoized.  A TL12 planet whose sole industry is 
 exporting starship power systems, without building any ships of 
 its own, is as surely ghettoized as any arbitrary corner of the 
 United States whose sole reason for existance is to send whatever 
 it produces to the major cities of the coasts.
==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin                                      jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com
- ---
 ~ QMPro 1.52 ~ You are in a maze of twisty subroutines, all alike.

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

End of TML Bundle
******************
To: traveller@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Submissions)
Date: Sun, 10 Apr 94 22:00:02 EDT
From: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin)
Subject: TML bundle #575: Msgs 7204-7219 
Approved: by traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin) Sun Apr 10 22:00:01 EDT 1994
Reply-To: traveller@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Submissions)
Errors-To: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca
Precedence: bulk

TML bundles come from the archives maintained by
traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin).

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

Date: Sun, 10 Apr 94 22:00:02 EDT
From: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin)
Subject: TML bundle #575: Table of Contents

BUN# =AMN= =DATE====== =FROM==========  =SUBJECT/BODY==========================
 575  7204 07-Apr-1994 b.borich@genie.  Norris/Regency/bridge crew <<     <It w
 575  7205 06-Apr-1994 Steven Gott      The Jumpstart Caches << My take on this
 575  7206 07-Apr-1994 A.S.Lilly@bnr.c  Apology, Languages, Wilderness Refuelli
 575  7207 07-Apr-1994 John V Banagan   Ice Slamming Goodness << With all the t
 575  7208 07-Apr-1994 Ray_Pullar       Re: The Regency << I liked PB Juzyk's i
 575  7209 07-Apr-1994 Bill Garmer      Re:  TML biweekly: Msgs 7195-7200 V43#1
 575  7210 07-Apr-1994 James Dening     Be constructive.... << Re: Ted7,
 575  7211 07-Apr-1994 "Stuart C. Squi  Starports << Hi All,
 575  7212 07-Apr-1994 Roger Sanger     MaxThink and Transtext <<  
 575  7213 07-Apr-1994 chiggin@aol.com  Starport Traffic << Richard Johnson:
 575  7214 07-Apr-1994 Jeff Zeitlin     71:12/7177 Expanding the << Subject: 71
 575  7215 07-Apr-1994 David G Haren    Starports << I noticed the omission of 
 575  7216 08-Apr-1994 Goldman of Chao  cross reference builder << Hello All!  
 575  7217 08-Apr-1994 A.S.Lilly@bnr.c  Deckplan generation << Hi,
 575  7218 08-Apr-1994 Goldman of Chao  Cross referencing... << I've added the 
 575  7219 08-Apr-1994 James Dening     Aberrations... << Re Jeff Zeitlin (Cut'

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

Bundle: 575
Archive-Message-Number: 7204
From: b.borich@genie.geis.com
Date: Thu,  7 Apr 94 04:37:00 BST
Subject: Norris/Regency/bridge crew

    <It was primarily public opinion resulting from the Trin incident
that holds the Regency behind its lines, at least officially.> Knowing
Norris quite well, you can bet he has feelers out there somewhere....
(probably everywhere, Norris believes in viewing everything as a potential
resource and in not wasting anything (except maybe a few PC's <grin>).
 
 
    <Glisten...the resulting comm-filter technology is nearly full-proof
and such filters are installed in all bots, ships, and communications
equipment manufactured in Glisten.> Nope. Won't work. Nothing is
full-proof for one. The virus is too smart for two.
 
    <Sophisticated diagnostic methods are used to monitor the canary's
health,> Just remember not too hook up the diagnostic equipment to the
'canary'. And forget automated boarding inspectors. I expect Robots in the
TNE era won't exist for awhile.
 
    <At the height of the crisis, several dozen citizens became possessed
by viral control through the net's direct neural interface, and ran
amuck.> All possessed (who connected anyway, if the Virus hit Mora or
Glisten). Deckheads wouldn't be able to compete with the Virus, they would
be turtles, Virus would be having them fight copies of itself while it gang
banged one decker at a time.
 
    <As Pallique's computers were designed to operate in the
extreme cold, this planet was barely troubled by the virus at all.>
Problem is the Virus is the computer, not the other way around. If
Palliques computers can stand the cold, so can Virus. Not to mention
that a fair amount of machines the Virus affected are probably using
superconducters and are cold anyway (maybe, some at least).
 
    <silicon-based computer/fiber-optic> Who says Imperium computers
are all silicon based <though at least the transponders were>. But than
most of the Imperium warships had fiber-optic computers for all the
good it did them.
 
     <Collapse (or at least its nature) could be associated with
the constitutional arrangements of the Third Imperium.> Not so much the
constitutional arrangements as much as the Nobles forgetting who there
obligations belonged too. Nobility could still be possible, if more
requirements were fixed on the Nobles. The RCES 'democracy' could run
into the same problems (just look at the general interest in term limits
on elected officials).
 
    <someone started reposting digests of the Genie discussions to TML>
Not easily possible as GEnie has copyrights on the material
(though it is possible with the writers permission, but this can be a
real drag, I've tried to do it here and there, but it's too hard to get
yesses from the writers (though admittedly none would mind that I know of)).
 
 
 
 
Daniel T:
    <Since the average travel time from planet to 100 diameters is 85 hours
(assumes 1G acceleration and a 13000 km diameter world), making the minimum
bridge crew 1 must mean that the ship can fly itself for the most part. So
what happens if something unexpected comes up while the pilot is asleep?>
The computer wakes the pilot up. Technically there should be a 24 hour
watch on the bridge, but MT ships are pretty well automated and just need
the pilot to tell it where to go. If it weren't that automated you'd probably
need at least 3 bridge crew (6 on/12 off, something like what we have
in the current wet navy).

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

Bundle: 575
Archive-Message-Number: 7205
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 1994 22:32:49 -0700 (PDT)
From: Steven Gott <sgott@u.washington.edu>
Subject: The Jumpstart Caches


My take on this was that Strephon foresaw a second Long Night and planned 
accordingly.  This would imply that scattered across formal Imperial 
Space there are some really nice goodies!  Now Norris was told all of 
their locations so this gives him the edge on the RC and any Pocket 
Empires out there.  This seems to be the only way you can have quatations 
from NE 44 that imply that the Imperium is back togather in some way 
shape or form.

Also, the big reason the Regency isn't cruising all over the Wilds is the 
"RAPE OF TRIN" when a Vampire vessal got through and wrecked havoc...

In Addition, IF you bring your ship into the Regency, you LEAVE it at the 
BORDER!  It is a true quarentine in that regard.

more later

S Gott

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

Bundle: 575
Archive-Message-Number: 7206
From: A.S.Lilly@bnr.co.uk
Date: Thu, 7 Apr 94 10:07:40 +0100
Subject: Apology, Languages, Wilderness Refuelling

Hi all,

UPDATE
I've been on holiday for a while, hence haven't replied to those of you who've
been e-mailing me in the last two weeks.
APOLOGY
Re: 563/7072 (from myself)
My last upload included a graphic description of someone nasty being very
nasty to a heroine, resulting in her giving him a good kick where he deserved
it. I would like to apologise if any of the content of this fictional example
offended anyone.
I would just like to add that with regard to the sexual side of the encounter
(I'll bet that's got you scrabbling to find the mailing) the text I used was
quite deliberately graphical. This is a technique that I use with my Traveller
group(s) to build up the tension, slowly, sentence by sentence. Not only do
some of my female players take full advantage of their sexuality in such
circumstances (in effect taking advantage of the weakness of men), but in
addition their sense of revengeful satisfaction at the point where they get
to counter-attack their aggressor is heightened by the slow build-up. I have
also found that release of violent emotions in the game can sometimes help
people deal with real events, whether it be getting rid of the tension after
a hard day's work, or simulated revenge on someone who's been nasty to them
at some other time. I'm sorry if this carry-over from my own (adult) games
offended anyone. If so, I suggest they disconnect their TV and keep to the
children's shelf at the library. :)
I fully support women and their equal rights - my own wife has to put up with
working in a particularly sexist group and therefore I know first-hand how
hard it is for some women. Therefore I tend to let her (and others) express
their feelings in my games - as long as they only act in defence (I don't like
to encourage needless aggression, hence my frequent use of high law-level
worlds in my games).
I'd be interested in anyone else's views in this field (unless it's already
been discussed prior to me joining TML, of course).
REFUELLING
Re: 562/7068 (Grant Sinclair)
Refuelling in oceans might seem the easy option to saving money on fuel bills,
however I had the following thoughts:
1) Refuelling from oceans will be frowned on for ecological reasons
(disturbance of wildlife, plankton, etc., particularly if from a small lake,
etc.)
2) There may only be limited safe landing places around such seas, allowing
that some ships can't hover, others might not like total submersion, many
beaches, cliffs, marshes, etc. are unsuitable for a heavy ship, etc. The
remaining 'safe' sites have no beacons or other landing aids and, unless the
players have a priori knowledge of the site, may hide some nasty shocks
(sudden land slippage, unpleasant flora or fauna, etc.) "Hmm. Just land on
that sand over there... how could you know it looks like quicksand from up
here? Don't be silly, just land the damned ship... er... ooops...)
3) Such landing places may be unreachable due to air traffic control laws,
private property ownership, fishing rights, tribal law, religious significance
of the body of water concerned, etc.).
4) Alternatively, certain landing places may be legalised, with a usage fee
(say, about the same price as unrefined fuel at starport rates...)
5) Many ships (particularly the really big merchants) are too big to land
anyway, so they would tend to rely on small shuttles (for maximum speed they'd
use a known approach path and quick refuelling facilities... i.e. a starport)
or the main ship could dock with an orbiting starbase (problem solved).
6) All in all, any large merchant ship is going to take the known route every
time, i.e. the starport. We all know how short cuts always take longer, so a
sensible captain pays the few credits for the fuel bill, given that a detour
to a sea might (due to Sod's Law, etc.) delay him or cost him more money in
the long run.
FURTHER...
In continuation to the comment about refuelling, i.e. that this makes merchant
ships much more economical to run...
1) surely most ships ought to still be paying off their 'mortgage'; if that
isn't a fair outlay each month then you're making it too easy for them. Ships
shouldn't just be given away - the mortgage is a good excuse to press players
into doing any job they can for almost any money, encourages them into
smuggling, etc. making life much more interesting...
2) whether the ship's mortgage has been paid off or not, I still charge my
characters for its usage by making them pay maintenance costs. These are some
small percentage of the total ship cost per year, with them having the option
of doing the work themselves (reduce %) or having others do the work (increase
%). In either case they can pay for good parts and good skills (increase %)
or not (reduce %) or not at all (zero %). Their choices then influence the
ship's jump, pilot, computer, etc. rolls throughout the game. A bad failure
on a well-maintained ship will generally not cost too much to repair... but
a badly maintained ship... well, you can just see the engineer's face as he
examines the damage, that knowledgeable sigh and tutting sound as he adds up
the megacredits of repair bill (ever taken your car into a garage and had the
same treatment?)
LANGUAGES
Re: Multiple messages over past week
There was a pretty good article about Languages in JTAS. I have a copy of the
article but don't know which issue it was from [Roger Sanger may like to look
this up on his index system and mail in the issue number].
Given that there may be a sudden rush to buy translation machines, and given
the Virus (oh no!) might have extended a few less virulent tentacles to such
(or a disenchanted programmer or a programming fault, whatever), how about
giving your players a translator that acts about as well as the Monty Python
Swedish/English dictionary.
Player, beginning trade negotiations with Vargr, speaking into translator:
"Greetings fellow star merchant. May the sun shine upon your cargos"
Translator: "Vrgahh sghett ajskj dyuyer qiuu qoid hhhh"
Vargr Captain fingers Gauss pistol under table, having just heard translation:
"Yo werewolf features. Your mother wears combat boots"
Vargr, realising translator might be at fault, replies:
"I think your translator needs correction, but welcome anyway"
Players hear: "hhjasd iudkfn wifu asuu qwwjwjd ashdjhqw dhajsd"
and then (from translator): "Stick it up your *&#$ you slimey Vilani"
Gun fight ensues...
If this isn't the Virus' ideal ploy - getting people to kill each other, then
I don't know what is...
COMPUTER GRAPHICS FILES
I've been trying to get EPS (expanded postscript) files across e-mail. After
all, they're text-based and if split into reasonable sizes ought to transfer
across the network... but I've not had any success yet so if anyone has got
it to work, please contact me. EPS can be included (in a non-editable, but re-
sizeable form) into some wordprocessors (e.g. Microsoft Word, Wordperfect) and
graphics programs (e.g. Freelance). GIF files are more generic with regard to
displaying but generally need transferring to another format to edit and
aren't as flexible as EPS for re-sizing, etc. I'd be interested to know if
anyone has an alternative way of transferring graphics files using e-mail
(rather than relying upon a ftp site).
NEWSPAPERS
Re: 563/7076 (jeff.zeitlin)
Yes please, more news articles, etc. Anything that can be made into a
scenario. Even minor stuff can at least be going on in the background so that
when the players come into system and ask for a news broadcast to see what's
going on down on a planet I don't just say 'Oh, the usual'...
ER...
I think that's it. Thanks for listening.

Andy Lilly

Commander, PITS Team (Political Intelligence Team, Scout)
"We are never out-gunned..."
Nothing I say or do here in anyway reflects the views of my very kind,
understanding and generally wonderful employers

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

Bundle: 575
Archive-Message-Number: 7207
Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 08:57:47 -0700 (PDT)
From: John V Banagan <jbanagan@uclink2.berkeley.edu>
Subject: Ice Slamming Goodness

With all the talk about celestial bodies slamming into each other, has 
anyone converted the kinetic energy (in joules) into TNE/Traveller terms 
for damage (I know, this question would come up sooner or later, so I 
thought I'd ask it). I think it's obvious that anyone caught in the area 
of the collision will be vaporized, but what damage does it do to the 
surrounding area (converted into game terms)?

Also, how extensive was shooting asteroids at the enemie's cities used? 
Could these same asteroids be used against starships? I remember an 
article in Dragon magazine about 'round shot' turrets (I guess mass 
drivers) used on starships to pound each other, but my memory is very 
vague, so does anyone have any info on it?

Lastly, has anyone used the alternate jumps and power systems in TNE 
starship designs yet? Thanks in advance.

- -John

##########################################################################
# John Vincent Dempsey Banagan       #     For Rent. Inquire within.     #
# University of California, Berkeley #                                   #
# School of Public Health, COEH-CE   #                                   #
#                                    #                                   #
# [ jbanagan@uclink2.berekely.edu ]  #                                   #
##########################################################################


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

Bundle: 575
Archive-Message-Number: 7208
From: Ray_Pullar <csh019@cch.coventry.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: The Regency
Date: Thu, 7 Apr 94 16:58:48 WET DST


I liked PB Juzyk's idea of the sons and daughters of the former ruling
class in the Regency heading out into the Wilds to found new feofdoms.
This would be quite permissible under the conditions of the Blockade
since it would be a one way trip.  However, it would leave the government
of the Regency facing a possible future rival in its' immediate 
neighbourhood.  Also, the establishment of these colonies would be fuelled
by a drain of people and resources from the Regency economy.  If trade
was not permitted because of the Blockade, then the Regency would have
nothing to gain from letting this colonisation take place (except a
more stable and peaceful political environment).

The idea of an official policy of re-colonisation also has promise but
this would come up against the public fear of the Virus making an incursion 
into the Regency.  This would be easier to achieve if it was a secret, 
unofficial policy.  Since the TNE manual describes the Regency government's
secret attempts to create a benign form of the Virus it would be quite
in character for this to be taking place at the same time.  I would 
imagine that the Regency is currently mounting Arrival Vengeance
type missions to explore the Wilds and re-contact the remenants of the
former Third Imperium, possibly with a view to re-integrating them into
itself (Traveller: the Next Generation anyone?)

David Johnson's proposed Regency sourcebook seems like a fair jumping off
point for a discussion about the possible shape of the Regency. 
Unfortunately, since I don't have my copy of the TNE manual with me I'm
not in a position to answer some of his questions.  I would imagine that
a fierce political debate is currently taking place within the Regency
about whether to attempt to re-contact worlds within the Wilds or not.
Also there will be a fair amount of tension between the new Democrats
and the Old Aristocrats as well as the pro-psionic lobby vs. the anti
psi (anti-Zhodani) faction.

However all of this will just be idle speculation until GDW do something
solid on the Regency.  And I don't see that happening in the next two
years (there was no mention, as far as I can recall, of any Regency
sourcebook in the GDW production schedule that was around a few weeks
ago).

******************************************************************************
*  Ray Pullar  csh019@cch.cov.ac.uk    Coventry University, U.K.             *
*  "Quantum mechanics?  Even I don't fully understand it."  - Ian Sales      *
******************************************************************************


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

Bundle: 575
Archive-Message-Number: 7209
Date: Thu, 7 Apr 94 10:26:42 PDT
From: bgarmer@torrey.cts.com (Bill Garmer)
Subject: Re:  TML biweekly: Msgs 7195-7200 V43#1

 

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

Bundle: 575
Archive-Message-Number: 7210
From: James Dening <james@camscan.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 7 Apr 94 17:59:38 BST
Subject: Be constructive....




Re: Ted7,


Whilst I agree with much of what you said in the (April 7) last posting, like

>> hardware runs better in cold environments...etc.

you could have proposed some alternative ideas instead of merely shooting down
the ones put forward. Yes, I know some of the ideas were maybe unfeasible, but
where are your new ideas/planets/people?

And also, as we are dealing with tech much in advance of anything we can 
build at the moment, we simply don't know if some things will or will not work.

For example, the point about DET computing systems not helping against the
self-evolving Virus, simply because of the way GDW described it, and the fact
that the Aslan were affected, is simply not a valid point. Maybe they have 
discovered something new, that does pose a serious problem to the Virus, not
simply being a different OS or whatever. As a (serious...not really) software
engineer, I liked some of the ideas, certainly the cyberpunk-esque idea of
warriors defeating the virus mano a mano (sp?) in a virtual world. Anything is
possible. 

Opinions are fine, but your postings like 

>> And what of the trade that fed these worlds that kept them as hi-tech?
>> The trade cut off due to the Rebellion and Hard Times?  Like 
>> stopsville?  As these places lost their markets (no one to sell to), 
>> their economy declines.  Like lose a couple tech levels?  

have left many questions unanswered. How about some answers?


Oh and as for the bridge crew of 1. Yup, absolutely! 
Paddle-less in Deep Space...!


James.

*
*"Shall we just stay here and watch him get horribly tortured to death, or
* shall we leap down and rescue him?"
*
*"Pass the Popcorn..."
*

PS BTW Ted7, what does herrless mean?


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

Bundle: 575
Archive-Message-Number: 7211
Date: Thu, 7 Apr 94 20:24:53 GMT
From: "Stuart C. Squibb" <scs@vectis.demon.co.uk>
Reply-To: 
Subject: Starports

Hi All,

For a run down of Starports, see Far & Away Magazine, Issue 1 (April 1990).
There are two articles of interest, both by J. Andrew Keith:

PlanetFall (Deals with landing, taking off and docking procedures, 12 pp)

The Compleat Starport (Details what's in a Starport, 6 pp)

Hope this is of use.
Stuart.
- -- 
scs@vectis.demon.co.uk


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

Bundle: 575
Archive-Message-Number: 7212
Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 14:48:18 -0700
From: rodge@cyberspace.com (Roger Sanger)
Subject: MaxThink and Transtext

 
                      ----------------------
                      MaxThink Special Offer
                      ----------------------
 
 
I was not expecting such a high volume of replies concerning
MaxThink!  Though, it sure seems like the product was designed
with RPG'ers in mind.
 
I haven't seen Neil Larson, the author of MaxThink, since he
stayed at my home as my guest back in 1990, when he flew up to
speak to my computer club at the time (I was the newsletter
editor for the Pacific Northwest IBM PC Users Group).  We
hobnobbed about hypertext and MaxThink for 3 days straight, while
a friend of mine and I showed him around the Puget Sound.  This
was quite a treat, since I consider Neil Larson one of the
foremost experts on the subject.  His products are unequalled in
the industry.
 
I was no less than thrilled to have him sit by at my computer
station, while I gave him a tour of his own program, pointing out
bugs and making suggestions for its improvement.  I was a bit
nervous at first, but once you get me talking about hypertext,
it's hard to get me to stop.  I was in good company, and we
swapped many hyper-tips.
 
He also spoke to my Hypertext Special Interest Group, and
explained some of the finer points of hypernet construction, idea
generation, and knowledge organization.
 
Since then, I've spoken to him a couple times on the phone, but
for the most part have kept up to date through his customer
newsletter.  I no longer run the SIG, but compute almost
exclusively with hypertext programs (which I use to generate and
organize my ideas and notes on every subject), and have converted
a few friends over to hypertext in the past couple years.
 
Your queries got me to thinking.  I figured it was about time I
gave Neil a call, to catch up on old times.  TML's own James
Perkins made the comment in regards to my initial MaxThink
posting that I should become a salesman for the TML (and if he
hadn't been joking I would have taken him up on it!), and that
got me wondering whether or not I should actually sell MaxThink
rather than just spout off about it.  Heck, I've relied on the
program continuously for years and know it cold.  So, I called
Neil Larson, figuring I might be able to work out some kind of
discount for my friends on the TML.
 
Yep, Neil still talks a mile a minute and it is quite hard to
keep up with him unless you run!  However, when it comes to
Traveller or hypertext, I manage quite well, since I eat and
breath these two subjects.  The end results of the conversation
were as follows:
 
        1)  I am now a distributor of MaxThink, and have been
        authorized to pass on a 10% discount to you.  MaxThink
        is a DOS application and works on IBM compatibles (sorry,
        there is no Mac version), and its price is $89.00 plus
        shipping.  After the 10% discount, that comes to $80 plus
        shipping. (Don't let the low price fool you, the program
        does run circles around conventional wordprocessors, as
        it has many commands simply not available in any other
        program.  It does not have the sophisticated WYSIWYG
        formatting of Word or WordPerfect, instead, it is
        designed for the manipulating of text rather than the
        fancy displaying of it).
 
        2)  I may be working on the help system for the next
        version of MaxThink, but discussions on this topic were
        rather vague.  Neil is planning something far more
        sophisticated than I had in mind, so I'm not sure if
        there will be textual help in it at all!  What he
        mentioned almost blew my mind.  More on this at a later
        date.
 
I guess the next step is for me to write up a more specific
account of how MaxThink can be used to organize Traveller
material and how it can help in the design of Traveller
adventures, background, rules, and components (NPC's, equipment,
technology briefs, etc.).  Expect something in the next few days.
 
For those of you who already know you want the product, send a
check or money order for $80 plus $6 shipping to:
 
        Roger Sanger
        P.O.Box  75472
        Seattle, WA  98125
 
        For future reference, my physical address is 1021 NE
        123rd, Seattle, WA  98125.
 
        My voice phone is:  (206) 363-1094
 
 
Be sure to include your mailing address and voice phone just in
case.
 
And yes, I'd be glad to help anyone who purchases the product
from me to get started.  I'm in the process of working on a
Traveller-related MaxThink outline for that very purpose, and
shall have it ready to include with orders by the time I ship.
It shall be based on my own Traveller hypernet's organization,
and will include subject categories in an outline's tree
structure to help you organize your Traveller writings.
 
A companion product to MaxThink is Transtext, a hypertext
wordprocessor which can be called from within MaxThink, or
seperately from the DOS command line.  From within any text file
that includes jump referencing filenames in angle brackets
<likethis>, Transtext will view those files with but the press of
a single key, and can view files referenced within those files,
and within those files, etc., while keeping track of the path
taken from file to file so that you can backtrack.  When you find
a text file in your hypernet that you want to edit, another key
allows you to pull that file into Transtext, which has six
editing windows.  Transtext comes with a runtime hypertext viewer
that you can package with your hypernet creations, while MaxThink
has a utility that can convert MaxThink outlines into
hyperlinkied file-nets.  MaxThink has the same file viewer built
into it so that it can view any file that you write using
Transtext.  (Both file formats are strictly ASCII, and can be
edited with other programs if you desire).
 
I prefer to use MaxThink outlines as the core to my hypernet,
with text files linked to it via angle brackets included in the
topic (paragraph) nodes.  Thus I've attached to my personal
Traveller campaign outlines every single text file I've
downloaded from sunbane, many of which I've converted to MaxThink
outline format (a matter of spacing and placement of carriage
returns and line feeds within the file).
 
Transtext is available for the same price as MaxThink, and the
10% discount applies to anything from MaxThink, Inc. that you
purchase from me.
 
Feel free to email me your questions.
 
It's time for me to burn some midnight oil!
 
            Sincerely,
 
            A hypertext freak,
 
            Roger Sanger.
 

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

Bundle: 575
Archive-Message-Number: 7213
From: chiggin@aol.com
Date: Thu, 07 Apr 94 17:53:40 EDT
Subject: Starport Traffic

Richard Johnson:

Next -- Starports.  Don't get me started.  Nothing (IMHO) in
all of the T/MT/TNE domain is more in need of development work.
Just been talking with James about some of my ideas, in fact.
I think I want to do a *complete* set of navigational and approach
charts -- but only for ONE world.  I offer this to the list.
Please tell me which world you want.  So far I'm seriously
considering doing hold zones, approach plates, frequencies,
services available, locations, times of operation, contact
methods and persons, landing and parking fees, fuels type and
availability, local attractions, etc for:

Cynthia:

    There was a good article a long time ago in Challenge (# not 
handy) for the Star Trek RPG about starship traffic patterns 
in-system.  The ideas in the article are/were portable to both 
Traveller and 2300AD.  As for your example system with ports, etc, I 
would like a copy "on-screen" so I can download it... I'm too lazy to 
send mail for things.
    Also, for one of my PBSEM turns sometime ago, I wrote up some 
information about in-system navigation, and spatial positioning 
systems.  I'll dig it out and post it, if anyone is interested... or 
not.

- ----------------
From: Glenn Myers <gem188@swanson.com>

I would like to see how the other races have fared since the collapse.
I would think that the Vargr would have been decimated and that the
Zhodani would be mostly unharmed. The Aslan behind the claw would...

Cynthia:

    Why?  Decimating Vargr is like nailing jello to a wall...



    +-------------------------------------------------------+
    |"What is the difference between the RCES and pirates?" |
    |"The RCES CARE more!"                                  |
    +-------------------------------------------------------+
    | Cynthia Higginbotham             chiggin@aol.com      |
    |                                  1:396/1.8 Fidonet    |
    +-------------------------------------------------------+


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

Bundle: 575
Archive-Message-Number: 7214
Subject: 71:12/7177 Expanding the
From: jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (Jeff Zeitlin)
Date: Thu,  7 Apr 94 17:07:00 -0500

Subject: 71:12/7177 Expanding the Regency

T::>My sense is that public opinion in the Regency will be whatever the
 ::>leadership wishes it to be.  Norris is (was?) nothing if not an excellent
 ::>`molder' of public opinion.  Only the `Hero of the Fifth Frontier War'
 ::>could overcome centuries of psi-phobia and anti-Zhodani sentiment.

 True, but there are limits to that kind of ability.  If you've 
 seen a planet get sacked by a homicidal Virus-infected starship, 
 you're _not_ going to be easily convinced that Virus isn't a 
 threat any more...

T::>The second issue is the `paper tiger' of the Vargr threat.  This has not
 ::>been credible to me since the days of the Rebellion despite the efforts of
 ::>GDW.  It takes a stable government to effectively wage war.  The Vargr
 ::>are *predisposed* to fragmentation and factionalism.  Any good leader
 ::>would see that the Vargr threat could be neutralized by fostering instabili
 ::>in the Extents.  Certainly such a task is not beyond the capabilities of
 ::>Norris and his heirs.  Corsairs may be tiresome but they do not pose a
 ::>real threat.

 The threat that I was thinking of in my previous posts, that 
 required guarding the Vargr border was in fact the threat of 
 Virus.  Consider: some of the Vargr states coreward of the Regency 
 went along with Norris's program of sealed borders.  Some likely 
 did not.  Vargr alliances are notoriously unstable, because of the 
 psychological makeup of the Vargr themselves.  So, the best that 
 Norris (and the Zhodani, for that matter) could hope for was that 
 Virus would be slowed down, not stopped, in the Spinward Extents.  
 This would also have the effect of slowing down the evolution 
 and/or extinction of Virus in the Extents, making infection from 
 the Extents a very real threat, even at this late date.  Given 
 that the Aslan are "more reliable", it's probably safer for them 
 to consider recolonization/recontact of what used to be the main 
 portion of the Hierate than it is for the Regency to expand back 
 into Corridor, along the Vargr border.  Norris _must_ tread 
 carefully with respect to the Extents; not doing so could be 
 fatal.

T::>IMHO, the *primary* threat to the Regency is that posed by an opponent that
 ::>might question its `legitimacy' as the `heir' to the Third Imperium.  As fa
 ::>as the Regency knows, one or more of the Rebellion Factions might also have
 ::>managed to `survive' the onslaught of the Virus and the subsequent Collapse
 ::>Many of these states might challenge the Regency's claim to the mantle of
 ::>the Old Imperium.  Imagine the response in the Regency (and elsewhere)
 ::>should a `just and noble' granddaughter of Lucan (or Margaret) emerge from
 ::>behind the Black Curtain at the head of a `Renaissance Fleet' anxious to
 ::>bring `all of Strephon's children' back into the Imperial `family'.

T::>Therefore, it is in the interest of the Regency leadership to remain in
 ::>Quarantine.  The longer the Regency populace is isolated the lesser the
 ::>chance that *any* claimant to the Imperial heritage, no matter how legitima
 ::>they may seem, will be able to garner their support for abandonment of the
 ::>`regency' and a return to the `Imperial' fold.

 This is a very good thought, especially as we do _not_ know what 
 is going on behind the Curtain.  It is certainly a valid 
 possibility, but...

 We who have Arrival Vengeance know that (a) the Strephon that 
 entered the fray from a base in Gushemege is in fact the _real_ 
 Strephon, and (b) he effectively abdicated in Norris's favor by 
 entrusting Norris with the complete Jumpstart and Longbow files, 
 and the boy Avery (who we still know nothing about, although I 
 have my own suspicions...).  Given that Norris _does_ have a great 
 deal of ability in molding opinion, and that he (and his 
 successors) have enjoyed the support of an overwhelming majority 
 of the people of the Regency, even a documented successor to Lucan 
 or Margaret is unlikely to gain sympathy in the Regency, as they 
 represent the part of the old order that "abandoned" the area 
 "behind the claw." I would say that the "legitimacy" of the 
 Regency is secure, especially as it is also recognized by 
 Non-Imperial cultures (the Zhodani and Aslan Ihatei, primarily) 
 as having that legitimacy.
==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin                                      jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com
- ---
 ~ QMPro 1.52 ~ Never let a machine know you're in a hurry.

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

Bundle: 575
Archive-Message-Number: 7215
Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 18:45:09 -0700
From: David G Haren <tyr@crl.com>
Subject: Starports


I noticed the omission of personnel shelters used for emergencies
which IMHO should be quite prolific around such installations,
given the horsepower to weight ratios involved in these ships
any accident, while not very common, would probably eliminate the
port (nobody left to rebuild the facility) if these were not quite
abundant.


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

Bundle: 575
Archive-Message-Number: 7216
Subject: cross reference builder
Date: Fri, 8 Apr 94 0:09:24 CDT
From: goldman@orac.cray.com (Goldman of Chaos -- postmaster CRI-US)
Reply-To: goldman@orac.cray.com

Hello All!  Happy day.  I thought through the problem a bit more and
came up with the following 3 programs.  The program is expecting a
datafile in the format of 

[SOF]
Subject 1
<tab>Subinfo-1
<tab>Subinfo-2
  .
  .
  .
<tab>Subinfo-n

Subject 2
<tab>Subinfo-1
<tab>Subinfo-2
  .
  .
  .
<tab>Subinfo-n
[EOF]

Note that '[SOF]' is start of file.  That isn't really in the file.
'[EOF]' is end of file.  '<tab>' is for the tab character, and blank
lines seperate the data bits.

The first program is the shell script that runs it.




- ----- cut here ----- cut here -----
build_list*	build_list.c	cross-01.txt	do_ref*		spit_list*
#!/bin/sh
#
#
# This program will build a cross reference for datafiles.
#

BIN1=build_list
BIN2=spit_list

cat $* | ${BIN1} | sort -uf | awk -F'|' -f ${BIN2}
- ----- cut here ----- cut here -----




The next program is the source for build_list.  Build it 
with your favorite compiler:



- ----- cut here ----- cut here -----
/*
  part one of the cross referencing program.
*/

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <ctype.h>

#define MAX_ENTRIES 5000


main ()
{
  char *current;
  char  line[MAX_ENTRIES],
        header[MAX_ENTRIES];

  strcpy (header, "XXXXX");
  while ((fgets (line, MAX_ENTRIES, stdin)) != NULL) {
    if (strlen(line) != 1) {
      while ((current = strchr(line, '\n')) != NULL) {
        *current = '\000';
      }
      if (line[0] != '\t') {
        strcpy (header, line);
      }
      else {
        current = line;
        current++;
        strcpy (line, current);
        printf ("%s|%s\n", header, line);
        printf ("%s|%s\n", line, header);
      }
    }
  }
}
- ----- cut here ----- cut here -----




finally there is the awk program spit_list



- ----- cut here ----- cut here -----
BEGIN {
  LAST="XXXXXX"
}

{
  if ( $1 != LAST ) {
    print " "
    print "------------------------------------"
    print " "
    print $1
    LAST = $1;
  }
  print "	" $2
}
- ----- cut here ----- cut here -----

eventually I'll modify spit_list to generate psroff output; however,
I'm happy with it as it stands.  This should generate really nice
patterns of data.  If you run my datfile from a few days ago though
the shell script, you'll see what I mean.  I'm very open to
suggestions on improvements.  If anyone takes the time to put the 
three programs together as one programme, I'd like to see the result. 

Matt

P.S.  If anyone takes the time to make cross reference entries, send
them to me and I'll add them to my database.

MD 'Doc' Goldman
- -- 
Matthew Goldman  E-mail: goldman@orac.cray.com Work: (612) 683-3061

My day today? Nothing major, just Xenon base gone, Scorpio gone, 
Tarrant dead, Tarrant alive and then I found out Blake sold us out.

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

Bundle: 575
Archive-Message-Number: 7217
From: A.S.Lilly@bnr.co.uk
Date: Fri, 8 Apr 94 09:45:28 BST
Subject: Deckplan generation

Hi,

With regard to deckplan generation, I use Freelance for Windows v2 to draw
them up then (pretty much in the style of CT Supp7 Traders and Gunboats).
FLW is a 'professional' graphics package for PCs. It has a screen grid so
I calculate the ship dimensions and adjust the grid size to give the right
1.5m spacing, with 'iconized' doors, accel couches, etc. By 'iconized' I mean
I have a standard stock of pre-drawn items, again using the style of Supp7.

If anyone is feeling really frustrated at not being able to draw good deck
plans we might be able to come to some agreement; you e-mail me a design with
notes on how you expected it laid out, or snail mail me a sketch of the deck
plans, and I'll draw you up a pretty picture. I can output to most graphics
formats (so I could return GIF versions, etc. via some mutual ftp address),
or hardcopy (good quality laser printer). We'd have to come to some
arrangement about costs (perhaps a swap for some Traveller material).

Obviously it would be better if people had access to their own drawing
packages but I have the advantage that I use FLW regularly and thus can get
some quite good output.

Any thoughts? Anyone interested or got a better idea?

Andy Lilly

Commander, PITS Team (Political Intelligence Team, Scout)
"We are never out-gunned..."
Nothing I say or do here in anyway reflects the views of my very kind,
understanding and generally wonderful employers

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

Bundle: 575
Archive-Message-Number: 7218
Subject: Cross referencing...
Date: Fri, 8 Apr 94 4:10:22 CDT
From: goldman@orac.cray.com (Goldman of Chaos -- postmaster CRI-US)
Reply-To: goldman@orac.cray.com

I've added the JoTAS #1 to JoTAS #12 Amber Zones into
my cross reference database.  There are some
interesting patterns arising.  More details after I get
some sleep.

Matt

- -- 
Matthew Goldman  E-mail: goldman@orac.cray.com Work: (612) 683-3061

My day today? Nothing major, just Xenon base gone, Scorpio gone, 
Tarrant dead, Tarrant alive and then I found out Blake sold us out.

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

Bundle: 575
Archive-Message-Number: 7219
From: James Dening <james@camscan.co.uk>
Date: Fri, 8 Apr 94 10:56:52 BST
Subject: Aberrations...


Re Jeff Zeitlin (Cut'n'paste just in case my spelling was fractious today)
saying

>>                                            I can't think of 
>>  any "aberrations" of human culture that would generate such a 
>> reaction in the rest of humanity.


I can. Cannibalism, ritual murder, as part of a society would generate
this sort of reaction.

Funnily enough, symbolically speaking, cannibalism, ritual murder (for the
good of the great unwashed of course)....does this remind anyone of a certain
major terran religion from ooh, I don't know, about *0* A.D. to the present day?


Yours blasphemously,

James.

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

End of TML Bundle
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Subject: TML bundle #576: Msgs 7220-7228 
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sun, 10 Apr 94 22:00:02 EDT
From: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin)
Subject: TML bundle #576: Table of Contents

BUN# =AMN= =DATE====== =FROM==========  =SUBJECT/BODY==========================
 576  7220 08-Apr-1994 john.bogan@asb.  VIRUS, THE << I think I've stumbled acr
 576  7221 08-Apr-1994 Steven M Bonnev  Tech Levels in the Regency << In TML Ms
 576  7222 08-Apr-1994 John V Banagan   Sectors outside Imperial Space << Hi,
 576  7223 08-Apr-1994 VANYA            Vargr Adventures in the Far Future <<  
 576  7224 08-Apr-1994 Glenn Myers      Regency notes << Hi All,
 576  7225 08-Apr-1994 DANIEL_T@delphi  Re: Bridge Crew << Ted7 said,
 576  7226 08-Apr-1994 David Johnson    Traveller Background 11 << Gentlesophon
 576  7227 08-Apr-1994 David Johnson    Regency *ihatei*? << Gentlesophonts:
 576  7228 07-Apr-1994 Jeff Zeitlin     Jumpstart... << Subject: Jumpstart...

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

Bundle: 576
Archive-Message-Number: 7220
From: john.bogan@asb.com
Date: Fri, 08 Apr 94 02:47:22 
Subject: VIRUS, THE



I think I've stumbled across a notion of the Virus that actually 
WORKS for me, and doesn't seem like excuse-making for a plot device. 

Two of the big problems a lot of us have had with the Virus are: 
1) It's ability to "cut new circuts" and
2) the complete and absolute ineffectiveness of Imperial computer 
   defenses.  

How about if the Virus is psionic?  Not the broad-band variety 
of psionics that humans have (though that could certainly be 
a plot point for some exotic strains), but a limited, highly 
specialized ability akin to Zhodani "flicking".

It uses this to physically alter the hardware it is inhabiting 
to create defenses against the usual viral countermeasures.
Even at tech 15-16, with self-reconfiguring organic computers or 
what have you, computer virii boil down to being either hardware 
critters (in which case they can't transfer to other machines) 
or software critters (in which case they can, ultimately, be 
DELETE-ed). Standard computer defenses revolved around isolating 
the nature of a virus (lower case), cornering it, and eliminating 
it. 

Enter the Virus (upper case), an electronic life form that through 
its psionic abilities can break the hardware-software barrier, and 
can convert from one to another almost at will.  Imperial scientists 
never gave much thought to psionic electronics, except for some 
Ancients scholars, and it was a matter of debate among even them.  
And besides, that was the ANCIENTS, not US. 

What you wind up with is the Virus acting pretty much as GDW 
describes it.  The Virus is so effective precisely because it 
ovecomes a barrier that was considered so fundamentally absolute 
that its breaching was never taken into account, kind of like the 
way the real world doesn't take Traveller-style psionics into 
account-- they simply don't exist until someone (or thing) shows 
up to prove otherwise.


At any rate, this gives me a rational handle on the Virus, rather 
than leaving me hemming-and-hawing about its super-duper 
effectiveness and circut-cutting.  Your milage may vary. 

John H Bogan
john.bogan@asn.com

- -----------------------------------------------------------------
In Chicago, a man stops his car at a red light.
AT THE VERY SAME INSTANT, EIGHT THOUSAND MILES AWAY,
In Hong Kong, a woman drops a bowling ball on her foot!

Coincidence, or PSYCHIC PHENOMENA!?!?
_YOU_ DECIDE!
- ------------------------------------------------------------------



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

Bundle: 576
Archive-Message-Number: 7221
Date: Fri, 8 Apr 1994 09:00:13 -0500
From: bonnevil@mermaid.micro.umn.edu (Steven M Bonneville)
Subject: Tech Levels in the Regency


In TML Msg. No. 7193, <Ted7@world.std.com> writes:

(about worlds in "Spinward Marches" or whatever it's called now....)

>>noticed several high-tech worlds in the sector
>>data, including a couple TL16 worlds.  Since the stats were dated
>>1120, those worlds are bound to be even further advanced by the
>>turn of the century!
>
>And what of the trade that fed these worlds that kept them as hi-tech?
>The trade cut off due to the Rebellion and Hard Times?  Like 
>stopsville?  As these places lost their markets (no one to sell to), 
>their economy declines.  Like lose a couple tech levels?

Actually, not in the Regency.  If you look at the data for Regina
subsector in the TNE rulebook, and compare it to older sector data,
you may notice that tech levels in the area have been *increasing*
since 1105.  As I recall, in 1201 Regina/Regina is tech 13, but in
1105 I think it was only tech 10.  I think during the Rebellion-era
it was about tech 12, according to the sector data.  And no, it isn't
the only world in the area to go up.  (Also note that they've been
expanding the old X-boat network to run along the border with the
Extents.)

It seems to me that the Spinward Marches economy was primarily geared
to trade "behind the claw" (i.e. internal to the Regency) even before
the Rebellion.  The area was one of the Imperium's primary commercial
regions to begin with, partly due to the continuing development of the
area, and partly due to the fact that the Windhorn-Great Rift corridor
makes long-range traffic with the main body of the Imperium so time-
consuming.  After the closing of Corridor, the worlds in the area
had to re-tool to pick up the slack of the few industrial materials they
needed that come from the Domain of Vland or further away.

The text in the TNE rulebook says that the Regency economy is 
"overheating".  This suggests that the main problem the Regency
is facing economically is not lack of production or technical
development, but rising inflation rates.  You might have to pay
higher interest on a new Far Trader loan because of that, so
some traders would put off the purchase for a while...you can see
how that might begin to stagnate the Regency economy, even though
it is *incredibly* healthy by standards of the Wilds.

I think that there are a number of worlds which conceivably might
have achieved TL16 since the Rebellion.  Mora is a candidate, as
capital and commercial hub of the Regency.  Some of the older
worlds near the Regency hub in Deneb may also fit.  High population
worlds at TL15, starport A, and near Mora or another major commercial
region, and on an X-boat route, would be places to expect it.

(By the way, people might ask why the Regency hasn't been expanding
 heavily into Foreven.  Well, the Zhodani provincial capital for the
 Regency area is in Foreven (roughly equivalent to a domain capital --
 this is where the government on Chronor gets its orders from!) 
 Most likely, they consider the sector as part of their "sphere of
 influence" and dislike rival governments meddling in local affairs,
 even though they only control a third of the sector.  Remember,
 it was Imperial-sponsored colonization in the area in the 500s that 
 triggered the First Frontier War!  This is another good reason 
 besides the drain on resources due to anti-Virus patrols why the
 Regency hasn't been growing quickly to spinward.  Neither the
 Zhodani nor the Regency want to get in a war over something which
 isn't a high priority for either government.)


*******************************************************************************
 Steve Bonneville                | "Beware the tablespoon my son,
                                 |  The teeth that bite, the Claus that catch,
 bonnevil@mermaid.micro.umn.edu  |  Beware the Subjects bird, and shred
                                 |  The serious Bandwidth!"
*******************************************************************************


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

Bundle: 576
Archive-Message-Number: 7222
Date: Fri, 8 Apr 1994 08:23:49 -0700 (PDT)
From: John V Banagan <jbanagan@uclink2.berkeley.edu>
Subject: Sectors outside Imperial Space


Hi,


I am wondering if any of the FTP sites have sector information on sectors 
located outside charted Imperial space. I'm interested in all the areas 
(Zhodani Consulate, Vargr States, Aslan Hierate (sp?), Hiver Federation, 
and the K'Kree whatchamacallit). So if anyone has information, I'd 
appreciate it very much as I'm trying to update all my sectors and come 
up with a big map of who's where and who owns how much. Thanks in advance.

- -John

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

Bundle: 576
Archive-Message-Number: 7223
Date: Fri, 08 Apr 1994 16:22:17 -0400 (EDT)
From: VANYA <S_DMOODY@pstcc.cc.tn.us>
Subject: Vargr Adventures in the Far Future

	Gawd, a whole week off from school. That means I only had to worry
about work.  Then, after I got back to school, I had too much work to post
this.  
	Anyway, back to important things

In response to rodge@cyberspace.com (from sometime week-before last):
 
>I noticed that you stop play just because one player can't show
>up.
	Not necessarily.  This was a particular case where the player had been 
involved from the beginning, and I wanted him to be there when his    
character was 'retired.'  Besides, it allowed us to use the our valuable
gaming time ( we have 2 ugrads, 1 PhD candidate, 1 CPA, and 1 soon-to-be
policeman) to branch out to other games (Star Wars and CoC).

	Since the deleivery of the message to Esalin marks an endpoint to the
beginning of the campaign, I wanted Bella ( what Helen is called by her
friends) to be there when her character decided to go back home (somewhere
in Corridor sector) on one of Marcus' traders.  She's currently 1st officer 
on the MV DeLancian Dream.

>                     Moody's Marauders

	This happens to be the name of my TL-13 'just add water' mercenary 
unit.  (No, I will NOT redisgn them to use lasers vice plasma guns.  Lasers
are for wimps.)

>I like the characters you posted, and the food-fight in public
>idea.  Sounds like a great way to introduce these characters.
>They're first in line on my special encounters list, and I will
>spring them on my players at my earliest opportunity, though I'm
>not sure yet what to do with the Zhodani spy ring plot.  I'll
>keep you posted.
	Give me a few more days & I'll send e-mail you their UWP, etc.  They're 
at my girlfriends apt right now.

>By the way, what happened to the characters on Wednesday?  
	Ah, a small sidebar has open up in the adventures of this intrepid band
of characters.
	After delivering the mail to Esalin ( and the departure of Bella), the
characters decide to head back into the sector to more 'safe' areas (right).
They jump toward Lysen.
	Therefore, introduce new PC- Shea. (This sidebar was developed to get
Shea in with the adventures.  She will become a regular on our show.)
	Shea has a problem - the Malithar (basically the Mafia) want her dead.
Why?  She KNOWS something that could break their little drug distibution
ring wide open.
	(The idea for this comes from an old StarFrontiers module _Drammune Run_.
	not a *bad* adventure, but the core idea was great.)
	The planet Shea comes from (Margesi 1020 SpMa) has had a bit of trouble
lately with one of their colonies.  One of the other small planets
has developed a very open, frontier-like mentality that, unfortunately,
also allows it to be used as a refuge for people who would rather not be
found.  This Mars-like planet, Qinzeno, is the base for the Malathar.
	The Malathar are marketing a drug (called hyperdrive on the street) that
allows the brain to experience, in a small way, the swirling energies of
jumpspace (it boosts the psi-centers of the brain).  However, repeated uses
of the drug makes the user decend into a heavy jump-sickness like state
before they eventually die of brain failure.

Name: Shea Anton-Penanza
Race: Imperial     
UPP: 154EF7
Age: 70( 70)
BirthDate: 056-1046
Career: Merchant
	For the last 54 years, Shea has roamed the Marches from spinward to 
trailward, from corward to edgeward, seeing almost every planet along 
the way.   She learned her trade almost too well, making enough money 
top buy the freighter from her captain and mentor when he retired.  With 
a ship of her own, she truly felt fulfilled.
	That's when the bug hit her.
	The disease has been named Pneumonomutiexosiliconiosis, a viral 
infection that eventually destroys the lungs.  Unknown in its origin, it 
especially hits those people who move from planet to planet, exposing their 
immune system to the dangers of a thousand worlds.  This exposure forces 
the immune system into overdrive, and Pneumono is a very opportunistic bug.
	(btw- if anyone with better medical skill can suggest of a better name,   
	it would be appreciated.)
	Although it takes several years to develop, there is no known cure. The 
best that can be done is to stay on one planet, not taxing your immune 
system any more.  With this diagnosis, Shea continued her way, travelling 
about the stars, until it bacame too much.  After twenty years with the 
bug, Shea decided to retire and return to Margesi(notice her low STR & END).
	One last run, Shea thought, carrying foodstuff from Margesi to Qinzeno, 
wouldn't kill her.  Besides, she could sell the ship on Qinzeno for a larger 
profit than on Margesi, even after paying for passage back home.
	Unfortunately, it all went wrong.  When unloading the cargo from the 
ship, one of the smaller crates broke open, revealing its contents.  
Inside was two animals, with furr coats, curled up about themselves.  
Although whole animals are often shipped becausse of their values as 
delicacies, these were not food animals, nor were they dead.  They were 
very much alive.
	The chukka are as close to a planetary mascot the Margesi have.  These 
small, ferret-like animals are incredibly intelligent, cute, cuddly, and 
friendly.  Exporting them off Margesi is also a capital crime.  The Imperial 
Scout Service declared chukka as proto-intelligent, meaning they could, 
given a few million years, develop true intelligence.  If the poulace of  
Margesi knew chukkas were being exported to Qinzeno, it would create
an interplanetary incident.  As proto-intelligents, chukkas could not be 
removed from their native planet.  Why would anyone want to steal these 
animals?  After hiding the chukkas on her ship, Shea tried to find out.
	A miner with a tongue loosened with drink revealed the answer: 
Hyperdrive.
Hyperdrive is made from the pituitary glands of chukkas.   (The chukkas,
though this is not known, are latent psions and can read surface emotions
and attitudes.  This is what makes them so friendly to some, and not so
friendly to others.  The are friendly to most people.)
	Qinzeno has recenlty declared independance from Margesi, and has used
the profits from its mining to hire mercenary forces.  Any small incident 
could plunge the system into war, a war Qinzeno would lose.  The Malathar
doesn't want the war to happen.  It would destroy their main operations
base on Qinzeno.
	Shea had to escape.  If the Margesi population knew about the chukka 
being used to make hyperdirve, they would force a conflict with Qinzeno.
	Jumping into her ship, she blasted out from Qinzeno - not even waiting 
for her crew, only to be chased by sleek, black fighter craft.  Someone 
must have overheard her conversation at the bar.  
Someone must have noticed the empty container and the missing chukkas that 
were wrapping themselves around her feet as she flew the ship.  There was no
way she could get to Margesi with the fighters after her.  A small jump, to the
other side of the system would throw the fighters off, then she would try to
come back to tell the Margesians.  Setting her jump destination, she 
powered up the drives.  Right before final tumble, the fighters hit the 
j-drive, fracturing the zhuchai crystals...
The misjump flung her ship across almost thirty parsecs and took almost  six
weeks to complete.  The life support fading, Shea barely survived  her
month-long bout with jump sickness to re emerge into realspace at  Lysen, in
Jewell subsector.  Her ship falling apart, Shea limped the  wounded freighter
into an orbital dock and tried to disappear into the  crowds.  Her ship, the
Discus, she knew, was ruined.  Her j-drives needed complete  replacement, her
thrusters barely responded to her commands.  She had  to find a ship - a fast
ship - to take her and the two chukka ( she has named then Charles and Ada )
back to Margesi.  She had friends there.   Perhaps they would be able to help. 
Pehaps the Malthar are no longer  looking for her...  

Thus, she charters the characters ship to head back to Margesi with just
herself and personal cargo (the chukkas, though the ships crew do not know of
them) and no questions asked.

	What will out intrepid bands of characters do?  Will their passenger
bring them great danger?  Whill Shea entrust the crew with her secret?  Will
they help her against the Malathar?

	Stay tuned- Same Traveller Time, Same Traveller station...

>And what do I tell my players if they ask why that woman has been in
>deep freeze so long?
	She tried to kill Ahz, and succeded in killing twenty innocent people 
instead.  Ahz decided to turn the tables on her, eventually tracked her 
down, and placed her in cold-sleep until such time he could truly inflict
deserving revenge on her (something about blackmarket genetic tinkering, or
something like that...)  Unfortunately, although Ahz doesn't know this, 
she is *also* an agent for the Malathar...

	Ah, the net closes ever so slightly around the characters...

				In Service to the Imperium
					-Vanya

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

Bundle: 576
Archive-Message-Number: 7224
From: Glenn Myers <gem188@swanson.com>
Subject: Regency notes
Date: Fri, 8 Apr 94 16:23:29 EDT



Hi All,
Regarding the Regency in the New Era:

From my last post (which apparently only saw limited release, I didn't
even get a copy):

>>I would like to see how the other races have fared since the collapse.
>>I would think that the Vargr would have been decimated and that the
>>Zhodani would be mostly unharmed. The Aslan behind the claw would...

>Cynthia:

>    Why?  Decimating Vargr is like nailing jello to a wall...

Maybe I should have said scattered or routed. 

I believe that any culture which does not successfully survive and
defeat the first wave of Virus will quickly be reduced to the status
of the Wilds. The Regency survived the initial Virus assault due to
advance warning, astrographic good fortune (easily defendable), deep
resources, and a unified front of resistance. The Vargr may have the
advantage of some warning, but they have a wide border to defend and
no single unifying leader to coordinate the defense. It just doesn't 
seem likely that they will successfully resist. On the other hand, 
once all central governement is destroyed, they may be better suited
to recovery than humans.

Maybe my impression of Virus is exaggerated. I expect that it would hit
new territories fast and hard and exploit the chaos which will ensue.

I think this is a problem with the Virus history in general.
Virus is portrayed as a juggernaut which establishes a virtual
stranglehold on all defeated regions. Think of all the extensive
computer resources that are now Virus controlled. We are to believe
it can rewrite hardware. Fighting this thing after it conquers is
going to be TOUGH. 

For this same reason, I don't see the RCES as likely heir to the 
Iridium Throne. There is just too much struggle ahead in which every
victory will be paid for dearly. The Regency is much better suited
for this role. FTL communications will be what allows the reclamation
of the Wilds. If it is psionic in nature, Virus won't have any defense.
The keys to fighting viruses today are rapid detection and distribution
of information. It should be equally important in TNE.


Bye 

Glenn


- ----------------------------------
| Glenn E. Myers                 |
| gmyers@swanson.com             |
| QA software engineer           |
| Swanson Analysis Systems, Inc. |
| (412) 746-3304 x188            |
- ----------------------------------


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

Bundle: 576
Archive-Message-Number: 7225
Date: Fri, 08 Apr 1994 19:24:37 -0400 (EDT)
From: DANIEL_T@delphi.com
Subject: Re: Bridge Crew

Ted7 said,
 > Travelling through empty space on a known course is not that difficult
 > at all.  A bridge crew of 1 can do it, and simply sleep when he feels
 > like it - as long as he doesn't run into any problems.  I had no
 > problem rigging the alarms into the in-ship intercom system to wake a
 > sleeping pilot for emergencies.  Of course, if something happened in
 > time it took the pilot to wake and run to the bridge (if he wasn't
 > sleeping there), he was up the creek w/o a paddle.

b.borich echoed these sentiments as well.

It seems to me that in the high velocity world of interstellar space, the
time it takes to become alert is more than you have once the alarm goes off. 

Modern day planes and some ships have automatic pilots and yet there is (or
at least should be) someone awake at all times to respond to emergencies
right? 

However, my original question dealt with that fact that the design rules
said "minimum bridge crew of 2" yet several ships have a bridge crew of 1.
Based on the response I've been getting, I assume that most have decided
that the design rules are in error and the minimum bridge crew is actually
one. 

I have taken a cue from 2300AD witch states that bridge stations must be
maned 24 hrs. per day. Hence I have decided that the minimum bridge crew can 
indeed be one, but you still need two people to pilot the ship. :) 

BTW, is Star Cruiser for 2300AD still published? If not, does anybody want
to sell me a copy? 

I am glad to see all the information on Starports! Maybe this should be
placed in an faq. I'm sure the information is much wanted and much asked! 

- --Daniel T.


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

Bundle: 576
Archive-Message-Number: 7226
Date: Fri, 8 Apr 94 19:51:33 CDT
From: djohnson@geds01.jsc.nasa.gov (David Johnson)
Subject: Traveller Background 11

Gentlesophonts:

I'm baaack!  (Seems my inability to mail was just a systems glitch.)
From Wednesday night:

James Dening <james@camscan.co.uk> writes:
 
> Anyone else who would like more info on the following, please email me.
> 3D Space;
> Bob McWilliams;1;White Dwarf 72.

Anyone interested in three-dimensional space might like to check out the
newsletter *Melbourne Times*.  We're using a three-dimensional setting
for the (non-Imperial) Earth Colonies Campaign that consists of the "Near
Star Map" data from *2300AD* translated to 3D CT/MT hex coordinates.
 

Cynthia Higginbotham <chiggin@aol.com> writes:
 
> David Johnson sez:
> >Corsairs may be tiresome but they do not pose a
> >real threat.
> 
>     Well... (1) Ask the people living near the border (or well within 
> it) how they feel about continual hit-and-run guerilla-style raids. 

Etc.,

> And don't even bother having an economy.  This is a 
> bit more than "tiresome".
>     Fighting Vargr corsairs is like nailing jello to a wall

A great image (really), but, remember the *JTAS* article "The Ecology of
Piracy on the Spinward Main"?  Raiders who hit too hard or too often
`bite the hand that feeds them' by either driving off their `prey' or
inciting the attention of committed police forces.  The Vargr know this.
Planet-, or even city-killing attacks will be reserved for war time
situations - which take an organized state.  Raiders who are `crazed'
and just destroying for the sake of destruction still need supplies, ship
maintenance, R&R sites, etc. (again, see the *JTAS* article) which provides
a means for *limited* naval forces to deal with them.

The issue of the American military experience in Vietnam is often brought
up as an example of the `difficulties' of dealing with guerrilla forces but,
IMHO, erroneously so.  A few nukes, or even heavy conventional air strikes,
into the North Vietnamese supply lines in *China* would have put a quick stop
to Vietcong activities in the South.  Now, you're saying, "But the US wasn't
willing to escalate to that level."  You're absolutely right - but the Viet-
cong weren't shelling Los Angeles either.

For most folks in the US, the Vietnam war was a `nuisance' (if they paid it
any attention at all) - until their sons started coming home in body bags.
Similarly, Vargr corsairs will be a `nusiance' to the Regency.  If some still
hit hard it will only take limited naval forces (remember Elphinstone
chasing renegades in Regina after the 5FW?) to deal with them.

> In Gvurrdon, 
> there is at least one multi-subsector TL-15 (!!) nation (The Rukh 
> Aeguezz).  They could do some damage if they went "on the warpath"

Yes, they could, but these large states have interests that aren't
necessarily served by going to war with the Regency.  Considering the inherent
chaos of war the leaders of the larger Vargr states are probably even *more*
reluctant to go to war - the resulting chaos might threaten their very
existence.

>     (3) How do you "foster instability in the Extents"? 

Primairly through arms sales and other `assistance' to opposing forces.  The
US has been doing an `excellent' job of this in Latin America for decades.

> What can you possibly do to them that they 
> haven't already done to themselves at one time or another, and learned
> to cope with?

When one of the Regency's clients decides to call the Regent a "hairless,
toothless, clawless puppy" the Regency can continue to supply them with arms
if it serves the Regency's ends.  An `insulted' Vargr leader would be forced
to go to war with her `client' in order to preserve her charisma - there's
your inherent instability.

>  And what nation(s) do you start with?

The `second tier' states that are envious of the `big dogs'.  When they get
to be the `big dogs' you help the next tier - or the former `big dogs' - *ad
nauseum*.  What do you get?  Ethiopia and Somalia.  Iraq and Iran.  Pakistan
and India.

Jeff Zeitlin made an interesting clarification on Thursday night about
the threat from the *Virus* through the Vargr border.  This makes a great
deal of sense.

>     Unfortunately, what was destroyed in Hard Times and the Virus was 
> the Imperial interstellar culture.  That has been utterly wiped out, 
> except in the Regency.

Well, is this an opinion or something written in the GDW `stone tablet'?
My sense is that, after only 70 years, those groups that manage to move
back to the stars are going to be - by and large - descendants of Imperial
culture that somehow managed to lessen the onslaught of the Virus.

> In the pocket empires, and other places that 
> are reaching for the stars again, we are seeing the local cultures, 
> using the knowledge from the extinct Imperial culture, reach out 
> "beyond the extrality fence" for the first time in a thousand years.

Maybe, but after 1000 years of being `homebodies' and then with the *added*
burden of the Virus assault from `out there' what could possibly motivate 
such local cultures to venture into space?  I believe this sort of pocket
empire will be the exception rather than the rule.

IMHO, the `typical' pocket empire world will be a world that enjoyed a
relatively advanced level of technology during the Imperial era but that
also enjoyed a certain degree of isolation from the Imperial mainstream
(to give it an opportunity to blunt the assault of the Virus) and that also
enjoyed a large degree of self-sufficiency (again to blunt the effects of
the Collapse and to support the rebuilding during TNE).  Now, such a world
might not have much of an `Imperial' cultural heritage but it *still* will
have a *technological* cultural heritage.

 
Ray_Pullar <csh019@cch.coventry.ac.uk> writes:
 
> David Johnson:  I feel that the democratic institutions of the
> RC are believable.  
> Infact, the locals would have been more inclined to lynch the local
> Imperial representative after all the suffering of the Rebellion and
> then the Collapse (which lends support to your idea of a Revolution -
> but I think that this would have happened in 1130 not in 1180).

I agree on the Revolution and the earlier date but where does the motivation
come to move to democracy?  Remember the Imperial nobility were not just
political leaders but held a great deal of the economic assets as well.
When they cut off the head of the local marquise, who gets her 60% share in
the local agricultural operation?  Distribute it among everyone?  That's
`democratic' but not very efficient.  Give it to the board of directors
of the operation?  Doesn't that just make `director' a new name for `baron'?
Won't this be the trend anyway because most people are *used* to having
`someone else' make these sorts of decisions?

Think of the American and French Revolutions.  Early on, despite their
assertions and our `rose colored' views, the early revolutionaries weren't
very `democratic'.  Participation was limited to propertied, white males -
no where near a majority of the total population but pretty nearly a
*totality* of the *economic* interests.  It took decades (and subsequent
civil uprisings, some wars) for those initital ideas of `equality' to be
expanded to where we are now.

> I still believe that a strong
> democratic tradition could have existed even despite the rule of the
> Third Imperium.  My reasons: the Old Expanses was a part of the Solomani 
> Sphere and only re-conquered by the Imperium during the Solomani Rim
> War.  The Solomani (especially in the Sphere) are much more inclined
> towards democratic government and the idea of freedom in general.  I
> think this cultural belief in self-determination and individual freedom
> would have remained even under Imperial rule.

How long ago was the Rim War?  Aren't we talking several centuries?  We
don't have much of an `aristocratic' or `monarchic' tradition here in
North America and yet that's a much more recent heritage for us than
`democracy' is in the Old Expanses.  Admitedly, the American settlers were
`anti-monarchists' but I doubt many `democrats' were prominent in Old
Expanses society under the Imperium either.  How come that wonderful 
`assimilation' is going to work for the Coalition when it apparently hasn't
worked for the Imperium?
  
> I don't agree.  It would make more sense, as I see it, for the Regency to
> expand and enlarge *now*, before anyone emerges from behind the Black
> Curtain.  The bigger the Regency is, the less likely they are to be
> challenged.  

The Regency doesn't (or at least *might* not) know about the Black Curtain.
As far as Norris was concerned a `legitimate' successor might have appeared
in 1140, 1160 or 1180 and yet this successor might *still* have `problems'.
Remember it was the lack of `one clear choice' that led to the Rebellion
and Hard Times in the first place and Norris and the Domain only avoided
becoming embroiled in that mess because they were isolated by the fall of
Corridor.  So maintaining that isolation made sense in the early days.

> However with all the democratic changes within the Regency,
> the rest of the political establishment might not be too keen on this.

Well, things seem to keep getting back to that same point: it's only been
70 years.  Whatever `democratic' elements have arisen in the Regency aren't
going to be very well entrenched (much less even than in the Coalition).
Remember again, a lot of adults in TNE grew up listening to their grand-
parents telling them about the `good old days' under Strephon.

> I think that Norris would be willing to accept the 
> claimant to the throne

I agree.  Norris would.  Seldrian might.  Avery and Seldrian's daughter?
Who knows?  Their children?  I doubt it.

> while the Regency's population, enjoying its'
> newfound democratic freedom would be opposed to this.  Strange.

As *long* as things are going well.  Look at Russia.
 

Glenn Myers <gem188@swanson.com> writes:
 
> Virus or no Virus, software is never 100% bug free.

Ahhh, don't promote this misconception!  Ask the Software Engineering
Institute: if we start `designing' software rather than keep `creating'
it like we've done in the past this doesn't have to be the case. [Sorry,
I've drifted into "alt.design.quality.software"  :-) ] [And BTW, I'm
a mechanical engineer who barely understands FORTRAN!]
 
> BTW, I expect that the natural astrography of Corridor is part of the 
> reason why the Regency hasn't reclaimed that area. It forms such a nice
> choke point at which to fight any intruders, Viral or otherwise. 
> Besides, I'm sure a lot of resources have been used developing an
> infrastructure capable of withstanding a possible conflict.

Two good points.  The Regency may be able to `disinfect' the Virus but
it may be less sure of fighting the Ziru Sirka, Lucan's Imperium or
Dulinor.  (Remember, the Regency may not have the NE map of the Imperium.)
 
> In my campaign set further spinward of the Regency

Care to share some background details?  :-)

 
(???) <Ted7@world.std.com> writes:
 
> David Johnson writes: 
> >How would being in possession of *Path of Tears* or any other TNE 
> >product better help one to understand these sort of issues except 
> >to be able to say, "But GDW says so on page XX"?
> 
> You would certainly save us all a good deal of time and space by
> reading an explanation and then commenting on it instead of holding
> forth on a topic in ignorance, waiting for a correction, and then 
> replying to the correction, prompting responses (usually more detail
> that you could have read in the first place) before getting to the 
> heart of the discussion.

Have I really been `holding forth in ignorance' for `a good deal of time
and space'?  Please, let me know and I'll shut up.  Maybe.  :-)

> Ah, but man is a political animal:  if my planet or faction with 
> RCES hired say my nephew's group, I won't let you come down overly
> hard on him, nor will I let you publically discipline him as it
> would make me look bad.

This is true, but then a Coalition under these sorts of conditions isn't
very centralized or stable, which means it's not very effective, which
leads to questions like, "The *what* Coalition?"  :-)
 
> Roger Sanger says:
> >Come on guys, lets DEVELOP the background rather than just
> >discuss it!
> 
> Sure - as long as you remember the caveat that GDW will ignore most
> of what is said here and will eventually sweep it all away with a 
> sourcebook.

In the same post you quoted me from above I wrote:

"It seems to me though that most folks are unwilling to discuss the Regency
much because GDW hasn't weighed in yet with a sourcebook.  If this is how
things are going to be then why discuss anything?  We can all just wait for
the next sourcebook for GDW to tell us what's going on."

Peace,

David Johnson
Houston, Texas, USA


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

Bundle: 576
Archive-Message-Number: 7227
Date: Fri, 8 Apr 94 20:00:05 CDT
From: djohnson@geds01.jsc.nasa.gov (David Johnson)
Subject: Regency *ihatei*?

Gentlesophonts:

On Wednesday night, PBJuzyk <psualum@aol.com> wrote:
 
> I see two activities re exploration of the wilds from the Regency:
>  
> 2)  The young nobility seeing limited prospects in the new order of things
> will look for elbow room.  Their parents will likely support their wishes to
> explore the Wilds as it will ease tensions at home (and decrease internecine
> conflict to determine who shall inherit the fief.  Expeditions will be
> outfitted and launched toward the core of the former Imperium.  Some will
> conquer/colonize/set up shop on some of the planets and begin trading via
> free
> merchants with each other and, for those with the bureaucratic patience, with
> the Regency.  Others will seek out riches in smash-and-grab/looting type
> expeditions with an eye toward high profit items such as starships and
> locating the warehouses of the former MegaCorps.

I like this idea.  It `resonates' well with the incorporation the Aslan
*ihatei* into the Regency.

Just my cr0.02's worth.

David Johnson

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

Bundle: 576
Archive-Message-Number: 7228
Subject: Jumpstart...
From: jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (Jeff Zeitlin)
Date: Thu,  7 Apr 94 21:57:00 -0500

Subject: Jumpstart...

  O.K., I looked at my TNE/Transition materials, and
  _I_Made_A_Boo_Boo_.  The Jumpstart stuff that I was referring to 
  in previous messages was not in AV, but in TNE itself.  I have no 
  idea why I thought it was in AV.
==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin                                      jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com
- ---
 ~ QMPro 1.52 ~ Confussion will be my epitaph

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

End of TML Bundle
******************
To: traveller@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Submissions)
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 94 22:00:02 EDT
From: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin)
Subject: TML bundle #577: Msgs 7229-7241 
Approved: by traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin) Wed Apr 13 22:00:02 EDT 1994
Reply-To: traveller@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Submissions)
Errors-To: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca
Precedence: bulk

TML bundles come from the archives maintained by
traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin).

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

Date: Wed, 13 Apr 94 22:00:02 EDT
From: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin)
Subject: TML bundle #577: Table of Contents

BUN# =AMN= =DATE====== =FROM==========  =SUBJECT/BODY==========================
 577  7229 08-Apr-1994 Jo_Grant.LOTUSI  CASUAL ENCOUNTER: VIRTUAL FUN <<  VIRTU
 577  7230 08-Apr-1994 David Johnson    Re: TML nightly: Msgs 7201-7214 V71#15 
 577  7231 08-Apr-1994 David Johnson    Traveller Background 12 << Gentlesophon
 577  7232 08-Apr-1994 "James M. Kelle  More Musings on the Regancy << Hi there
 577  7233 09-Apr-1994 psualum@aol.com  RC Unity << >Should we take a poll?  Th
 577  7234 09-Apr-1994 chiggin@aol.com  A Mistaken Impression << Just to set ev
 577  7235 06-Apr-1994 Muir Macpherson  CRAY << I believe someone was posting t
 577  7236 09-Apr-1994 "Alexander W. H  RC & Hub Worlds Pocket Empire << I was 
 577  7237 10-Apr-1994 Roger Myhre      re: Traveller bckgrnd 11  << >> In Gvur
 577  7238 10-Apr-1994 chiggin@aol.com  Politics... << From: DANIEL_T@delphi.co
 577  7239 11-Apr-1994 David Johnson    Traveller Background 13 << Gentlesophon
 577  7240 10-Apr-1994 Dane Johnson     Penetration and Melee... << Greetings, 
 577  7241 11-Apr-1994 muskrat500@aol.  Submission << Okay. The debate so far:

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

Bundle: 577
Archive-Message-Number: 7229
Date: Fri, 8 Apr 94 21:57:40 EDT
From: Jo_Grant.LOTUSINT.LOTUS@CRD.lotus.com
Subject: CASUAL ENCOUNTER: VIRTUAL FUN

	VIRTUAL FUN

	Although many diverse are the pleasures of the 3rd Imperium
perhaps one of the broadest, particularly for spaces, is that of the
arcades. Of those born to space or at least the stations can they not
remember those long hours of lost youth spent in the arcades? The loud
music, the crowd, and the stunning new games. And what percentage of
us that were there were drawn into the travelling space professions in
hopes that we might berth some day on Serabi, producer to so many of
those games?
	One can hardly mention arcade games without thinking almost
synomously of the RealVision and Red Wizard trademarks. The former is
the trademark for the most widely circulated arcade periferials and
the later the giant in the Arcade Software industry. The standards
both of them use define the marketplace even for third party hardware
and software. Both, in fact, can be considered one company as they are
jointly managed by the enigmatic figure of "The Red Wizard" who lives
almost as much in legend as reality (virtual or otherwise).
	The RealVision hardware ranges from the simplistic 3D imaging
found on most home systems to the full stim-tanks in the arcades. Most
commonly it is found as a combination of simple gogles and grav-sticks.
	The goggles are light-tight and provide for full 360 degree
simulated vision. Advanced pairs come with cameras so that their user
can flick back to check on reality at a moment's notice with no extra
inconvienence. These also serve to monitor the rest of the body's 
movements so that the simulation can correctly pose its analogue.
Goggles without this feature have to rely on external shipboard cameras
and approximation algorithym. Although the difference is hard to
detect most long-term arcaders prefer the inbuild system.
	[It isn't a widely know fact but the military FullVision system
is, in fact, a anonymous spinoff from RealVision. In this system each
soldier has integral goggles and a camera, the input of which is
corelated by one person carrying a battle computer in the unit. The
input from all units is conjoined and made available to each person.
Thus one unit could "see through" a wall if the other side was in
view by someone else. Images are stored and slowly faded so that a
quick reconisense fills in the gaps for the whole unit. Nothing
like this is available in their games, though and they usually don't
comment on their relationship with FullVision.]
	A grav-stick in its simplest form is a textured baton with
a variety of grips. The mechanism within it has the ability to
interact with the artificial gravity system present on most ships
and stations under computer control to provide appropriate feedback.
	The standard "two sticks and goggles" setup kit can provide
for quite a wide variety of software. They are most widely used for
3rd party educational/entertainment software for training in the
space tight conditions of a ship or station. The obvious examples
are the gymnastic ones with uneven bars, parallel bars, weight lifting,
etc. Although with enablement into the system of the area's grav plates
and inertial compensation one can find fairly good skiing, tennis,
shooting, and many other packages available. More exotic grav-balls,
and grav-seats allow for other packages like bowls or driving instructors.
	This leads back into the software realm. Red Wizard is the
trademark of the largest arcade software company. They are based on
Serabi station and are best known for their extrememly detailed
progressive adventures. The game will usually start with the player
(or players) appearing in the "outfitting" section. They there chose
amongst the various allowable implements they might use in completing
the rest of the adventure. Once "kitted out" they move into the adventure
proper. This can be anything from a 10 mintue spurt to full blown
week-long excursions. In most arcades "death" or complete failure just
means a return to outfitting and starting over again. If the adventure
is completed or otherwise finished the players procede to the "endgame".
This usually just consists of the credits, where each of the people on
the programming team makes some sort of cameo appearance. The most
notable figure, of course, is The Red Wizard himself. In these, no matter
what the genre, he always appears as a ingratitingly cheerful red-robed
wizard seemingly immune to all antagonism (but see later).
	The normal Red Wizard release takes a team of up to 30 designers
9 months to produce. They are the most advanced in the industry in
design software and quality control. They have a very aggressive bug
control policy and offer free software to anyone who can find a bug.
	So in this virtually limitless arena what are the rules? Some
companys have none and truly anything can happen. The Red Wizard himself
has personally derided such companies in their literature instead
garunteeing their customers a consistent genre reality. Within any of
their supported genres (which range from Historical Romance, Fantasy,
to Modern, Vaudville and a plethora of others) players are garunteed that
everything will work consistantly. They have synthesised for each what
they call "The Laws of Reality" which are available to the trade for
designing compatible games. This allows players who have gained special
items or treasures as the results of one game can carry these on to another.
	Anything the players can meet must be constructed according to
the Laws of Reality. Even the Red Wizard analogue at the end of most games
is designed that way. There is always one way to "kill" the irritating
character. Often players will play the game not for the purpose of whatever
inbuilt goal there is but for finding the secret way of offing the Wizard
at the end.
	The exciting aspect of this commonality is that there is a subset
on a cross-genre level that are common. This enables the yearly "critter
competition" on Serabi. In this the top four selling games are conjoined
together. Interface software converts the subsystems of one genre to a
compatible level with the others in real-time enabling a great collective
adventure.
	This "Greatest Entertainment Experience" takes place in the
Serabi RealVision Arcade on the Serabi spaceport. The most widely know
and sophisticated arcade in the Dete sector. Their facilities will
support up to 80 players in full stim tanks. These not only provide
full output into the simulation from the players there is also full
bio-feedback from the system to allow nearly full sensory input to
the players. "As good as being there" is what the literature advertises.
Extended excusion holidays are offered where play can extend through
several subjective weeks. For this instance there are bio-support
facilities integral to the tank which make the extended play possible.
Various psyco-medical drugs and effects are used to tune the player's
awareness to ignore long repetitive tasks (like sleeping or long jump
journeys) allowing the software to "fast-forward" through boring bits.
In some systems the effect goes so far as to supress recent short term
memory, erasing the decision to take a trip to the arcade. Such jaunts
are reported to be particularly fulfilling as they can be completely
unaware that they are in a simulation.
	There are some people who exhibit an adverse reaction to the
full stim-tanks. RealVision strongly advises that all players take
specific regulated medical tests before engaging in this sort of activity.
This service is provided free of charge on Serabi station.
	But in all of this we have skirted the edge of The Red Wizard
himself. Very few facts are know about him although the arcade community
abounds with a great deal of lore. Some beleive he is just a trademark,
others that he is in fact a recorded personality, and even other that
he is an incarnation of a deity. From the company register, though, it
can be gained that there is, in fact, a real person, registered under
the name of "The Red Wizard" who is the director of both companies. He
is, though, surrounded by a complete media screen and only communicates
occasionally through releases.
	The circumstantial evidence though is sufficiently high to credit
with some additional facts. He seems to be a complete expert on all systems
and apparently is personally responsible for the analogues that have
defeated the ingunity of so many players. Occasionaly this analogue appears
real-time in the critter competition and it is widely beleived that it is
the man himself. So, the only recomendation that we can make to those 
wanting to know more about his is to play the games, and maybe, someday,
you will find him.

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

Bundle: 577
Archive-Message-Number: 7230
Date: Fri, 8 Apr 94 22:26:12 CDT
From: djohnson@geds01.jsc.nasa.gov (David Johnson)
Subject: Re: TML nightly: Msgs 7201-7214 V71#15 (fwd)

Andy Lilly <A.S.Lilly@bnr.co.uk> writes:

> I'd be interested in anyone else's views in this field (unless it's already
> been discussed prior to me joining TML, of course).

Okay, but remember, you asked.

First, I admire the character it took to make the apology, but, I think you
should have rembered the `First Rule of Holes' and `stopped digging'.

> with regard to the sexual side of the encounter
> the text I used was
> quite deliberately graphical

There was nothing `sexual' about the encounter you described.  It was violent,
not sexual.  This misperception of violence as `sex' is part of what leads
to that sort of behavior.

> Not only do
> some of my female players take full advantage of their sexuality in such

Again, they are not taking advantange of `sexuality'.  They are taking 
`advantage' of others whose *violence* manifests itself in `sexual' activity.

> circumstances (in effect taking advantage of the weakness of men)

To suggest that a prediliction toward sexual violence (the `weakness' you
describe here) is a characteristic inherent in all men is insulting and
and sexist.

> addition their sense of revengeful satisfaction at the point where they get
> to counter-attack their aggressor is heightened by the slow build-up

More misanthropy and misogyny.  One violent act is `countered' by resorting
to the `satisfaction' of another violent act - all under the guise of `sexual'
activity.  To suggest that one can achieve `satisfaction' in the aftermath
of a violent, sexual assault through the commission of another violent act
is reprehensible and unconsidered.

> I have
> also found that release of violent emotions in the game can sometimes help
> people deal with real events,

And your professional psychological credentials that allow you to make any
sort of valid assessment in this matter are?

> I'm sorry if this carry-over from my own (adult) games
> offended anyone. If so, I suggest they disconnect their TV and keep to the
> children's shelf at the library. :)

I would prefer you choose to keep these views to yourself.  What you and a
group of friends prefer to do `in the privacy of your own home' is your
business.  What you do on a public forum like this becomes everyone's.  You
have the right to continue to express this sort of stuff but you will also
have to bear the responsibility of evoking this sort of response.

> I fully support women and their equal rights

The fact that you see this as only a `women's issue' suggests to me that
you still have some room for improvement in this realm of `enlightenment'
that you so nobly lay claim to.

> - my own wife has to put up with
> working in a particularly sexist group and therefore I know first-hand how
> hard it is for some women.

No, you have *second-hand* experience.  I encourage you to write an `encounter'
in which a man faces a similar manifestation of violence in sexual activity.
Please don't post it but if you write it honestly I feel you might benefit
from the exercise.

> I don't like
> to encourage needless aggression

In my opinion, you original post and this subsequent `rationalization' do
just this.

Finally, I'd like to apologize to the TML for this exchange.  I initially
expressed my concerns about Mr. Lilly's post in a private message to him.
He, regretably in my view, chose to respond on the TML.  I therefore felt
it necessary to respond in kind.

Let's all try to be a little more sensitive to others and get back to having
fun.

Peace, 

David Johnson
Houston, Texas, USA



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

Bundle: 577
Archive-Message-Number: 7231
Date: Fri, 8 Apr 94 22:35:09 CDT
From: djohnson@geds01.jsc.nasa.gov (David Johnson)
Subject: Traveller Background 12

Gentlesophonts:

From Thursday night, Jeff Zeitlin <jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com> writes:
 
>  survive without the "backwaters" of western Wisconsin, or upstate 
>  New York, where there are a lot of dairy farms, or the 
>  "backwaters" of central Nebraska and South Dakota, where a lot of 
>  wheat is grown?

Hmmm, an interesting image: `rural ghetto' that doesn't sound all that
bad now.  I guess I'm confused.  What exactly, then, is the problem with
being `ghettoized'?
 
>  No, I'm not saying that worlds without a tech affinity are the 
>  ones that are going to be ghettoized.  I'm saying that the ones 
>  that are "forced" to focus their production to service the needs 
>  of the planets that (re)acquire tech early are the ones that are 
>  going to be ghettoized.

Okay, so `ghettoized' means something akin to `exploited'? 

>  ~ QMPro 1.52 ~ You are in a maze of twisty subroutines, all alike.

Yup, that's how I feel.  I seem to have forgotten the original point.
Maybe I should just concede you this one, Jeff, whatever it was.  :-)


(???) <b.borich@genie.geis.com> writes:
   
>      <Collapse (or at least its nature) could be associated with
> the constitutional arrangements of the Third Imperium.> Not so much the
> constitutional arrangements as much as the Nobles forgetting who there
> obligations belonged too. Nobility could still be possible, if more
> requirements were fixed on the Nobles. The RCES 'democracy' could run
> into the same problems (just look at the general interest in term limits
> on elected officials).

I get your point but when I look at the `term limits' crowd in light of the
chronically low voter turn out I have to ask myself if it's the politicians
who have forgotten their obligations or the citizens?  Remember, the most
powerful politician on the planet's term was prematurely `limited' in 1992
without recourse to any term limiting law.  *That's* democracy.


Steven Gott <sgott@u.washington.edu> writes:

> Subject: The Jumpstart Caches
> Now Norris was told all of 
> their location

How do `we' know this?  Someone mentioned *Arrival Vengeance* but I looked
and I can't find it there.  Does it appear in *AV* errata?


Ray_Pullar <csh019@cch.coventry.ac.uk> writes:

> Also, the establishment of these colonies would be fuelled
> by a drain of people and resources from the Regency economy.

And there it is: Trask's Second Law!  :-)

> The idea of an official policy of re-colonisation also has promise but
> this would come up against the public fear of the Virus making an incursion 
> into the Regency.  This would be easier to achieve if it was a secret, 
> unofficial policy.  Since the TNE manual describes the Regency government's
> secret attempts to create a benign form of the Virus it would be quite
> in character for this to be taking place at the same time. 

Hmmm, doesn't all this government secrecy sort of bring into question
the suggestions that the Regency is somehow more democratic?  [Warning:
this is one of those areas where my Sense of Reason may be at risk of
blaspheming the Holy Writ of GDW.  :-) ]

> a fierce political debate is currently taking place within the Regency
> about whether to attempt to re-contact worlds within the Wilds or not.
> Also there will be a fair amount of tension between the new Democrats
> and the Old Aristocrats as well as the pro-psionic lobby vs. the anti
> psi (anti-Zhodani) faction.

Okay, let's start identifying these factions.  The Isolationists want to
maintain the Quarantine.  The Expansionists want to move into the Wilds.
The Democrats seek to expand `democratic' values.  The Aristocrats seek
to maintain the *status quo*.  The Tolerants favor a relaxation of psi
prejudices while Santanocheevists oppose any moves toward accommodation
with the Zhodani.  Anybody have other/better names for these groups?  How
about other blocs that haven't been identified?  What about Imperialists
who still hope one day to rejoin the Imperium and Autonomists who favor a
complete break from the Imperial past.

Alliances might exist between the Isolationists and the Autonomists; between
the Aristocrats, the Santanocheevists and the Imperialists; between the
Expansionists and the Imperialists; between the Democrats and the Tolerants;
and between the Expansionists and the Tolerants.

This is *so* cool! 
 

jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (Jeff Zeitlin) writes:
 
> T::>My sense is that public opinion in the Regency will be whatever the
>  ::>leadership wishes it to be.  Norris is (was?) nothing if not an excellent
>  ::>`molder' of public opinion. 
> 
>  True, but there are limits to that kind of ability.  If you've 
>  seen a planet get sacked by a homicidal Virus-infected starship, 
>  you're _not_ going to be easily convinced that Virus isn't a 
>  threat any more...

Absolutely true (not the `limits' part though).  The fact that the `Rape of
Trin' became wide-spread pubic knowledge [FACT ALERT: I don't have TNE] must
mean that it served Norris's purposes somehow.
 
>  The threat that I was thinking of in my previous posts, that 
>  required guarding the Vargr border was in fact the threat of 
>  Virus. 

This is a good point, as I mentioned in an earlier posting, but . . . 

>  This would also have the effect of slowing down the evolution 
>  and/or extinction of Virus in the Extents, making infection from 
>  the Extents a very real threat, even at this late date.  

I'm not sure I understand this point.  Are you saying that by taking 
`longer' to reach the Regency through the Extents the Virus would somehow
be more powerful?  How so?  Wouldn't Regency agents have a *better* 
opportunity to observe the Virus which would permit the Regency to better
develop counter measures?

>  We who have Arrival Vengeance know that 
>  (b) he effectively abdicated in Norris's favor by 
>  entrusting Norris with the complete Jumpstart and Longbow files,

There it is again!  *Please* tell me where in *AV* Jumpstart and Longbow
are mentioned.  Just the page numbers will suffice.

>  Given that Norris _does_ have a great 
>  deal of ability in molding opinion, and that he (and his 
>  successors) have enjoyed the support of an overwhelming majority 
>  of the people of the Regency, even a documented successor to Lucan 
>  or Margaret is unlikely to gain sympathy in the Regency

Wait.  Roll back the clock 85 years.  Substitute Strephon for Norris and
Imperium for Regency.  What do you get?  Rebellion.  Hard Times.  The
Viral Collapse.  And yes, da**it, The New Era.  :-)

>  as they 
>  represent the part of the old order that "abandoned" the area 
>  "behind the claw." I would say that the "legitimacy" of the 
>  Regency is secure

Doesn't the very name `Regency' suggest a deep felt respect for that `old
order'?  All the legitimacy of a `regency' is derived from that for which
the `regent' is stewarding authority.  To me it is absurd that the *people*
of the Regency would forget what they've been `waiting' for all these years.
 
A great expansion of the background round robin!

Peace,

David Johnson
Houston, Texas, USA

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

Bundle: 577
Archive-Message-Number: 7232
Subject: More Musings on the Regancy
Date: Fri, 8 Apr 94 21:27:48 PDT
From: "James M. Kelleher" <kelleher@holonet.net>

Hi there I'm back...

Hi agian

I am going to mention some thoughts I have had about the Regency.
I feel that the Regency and the Counslate have become closer thgether
both econamically and in looking coreward. The Zhodani might find it 
useful to have some of the Scouts on some of their explorations. As 
well as the expansion into the unexplored areas to coreward.
The Vargar threat is not as much of a "paper Dog" soem have made it 
out to be I think tha tthe Corsairs can be a very serious danger to the 
borders' econimy ( yes I know I can't spell ) Two things I think was done
was the Hiring of some of the " Iheati " to help the Domain to deal with
the Vargar the other is the breakup of the large fleets into the smaller
"task " groups much better able to deal with the Vargar small Corsair 
fleets. ( What a Political struggle in the Admrility That was...)
Then the Virus hit...
The Aslan are still the Patrol and the small task groups are the 
Quarrintine forces.
Most of the adventures into the Corridor sector and into the old imperium
are either Covert Government, or of private Noble families ( younger sons,
and daughters) especally those with a Scout tradition in the Family.
The Regancy has more data available to it locations of Naval Depots,
Research stations and industrial worlds. They will send Covert Missions 
to find some of the jumpstart caches. ( mentioned in Survival Margin!)
Also at least one expidition to find "Long Bow" ( also mentioned in 
Survival Margin) Then in 12xx ( I can't remember the exact date )
but some thing is comming and the Regancy MUST be ready for whatever 
it is. The government knows that something is on the way.
Here is an adventure for you find the longbow information, Were is it?
Behind the curtin?
There are some more possibilities... a combined expidition Regancy - 
Zhodani that finds out what Longbow is about.
I could go on but I am sure you can see that we are not locked into just
the RC stuff that is published.
I know that some of you will not agree with my estimates. Oh Well You use 
what you feel fits for you game it's what makes the game so interesting.
I am speaking in general terms there are some spefic forces at work that
I don't feel like mentioning now because some of my players are on here.
and I don't want to give them to much information before they are ready.
or they could use it or mess it up...
James if I have blown it on the Zhodani please Correct me. ( James Kundert
is more knowlageable than I about them. ) I do know that they have some very
sharp traders!
Ok I think I have Babbled on for a while time to Quit...
Oh there is a couple of articles on StarPorts in JTAS. ( I'll look for them
but all I can do is give the No.s and dates... I don't have a Scanner and 
that would not be legal anaway... :-) )
later
jim


- -- 
Remember: no matter where you go...
There you are...
B. Banzi

James M. Kelleher
kelleher@holonet.net


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

Bundle: 577
Archive-Message-Number: 7233
From: psualum@aol.com
Date: Sat, 09 Apr 94 05:29:42 EDT
Subject: RC Unity

>Should we take a poll?  Those of you who have read *Path of Tears*: is the
>Coalition government stable and central, unstable and fragmented, or
>somewhere in between?  And if it's stable and central, is the RCES the
>`chicken stealing Star Vikings' or the `exploring Peace Corps'?

>This seems to suggest that the Coalition government might *not* be stable
and
>centralized.  If this is the case, each bloc may be able to `protect' RCES
>groups which carry out each's particular `mission'.  This would allow both
>the `good viks' and the `bad viks' to exist and in relatively equal
strengths
>but overall RCES effectiveness might then suffer because the separate groups
>might often find themselves at odds and working at cross purposes.  This,
>IMHO, sound like a *more* interesting setting that a stable government with
>either a `benevolent' or `malevolent' RCES.  With all those guns and `take
>charge' types around though the Coalition might even be heading for a
>`rebellion' (civil war) of its own!  This setting, while not very original,
>might be still more fun to adventure in.

I tend to feel that the Coalition is not the UFP with a single way of
thinking
(Prime Directive).  There are between 10 and 20 worlds of varying sizes
within
the Coalition and although they roughly fall between two outlooks (Oriflamme
led Centrists and the Federalists of Aubaine) each world has its own spin on
policy, with differences within the people of each world (so there are
probably some Centrist backers from Aubaine).

From PoT: "There are real tensions between the different cultures of the
Coalition . . . players, even if from different worlds, may be willing to put
these differences behind them and work together in harmony... That's kind of
the point of the Coalition, after all.  NPCs ... may not be quite so braod
minded... Nobody is likely to pull a gun ... but don't expect covert agents
working for the Oriflamme Marine Intelligence (as opposed to the RC) to blow
their cover just to help out ... eye-lights that get into a jam..."  Eye-
lights being starry-eyed Federalists.

Therefore it seems that RC missions may all have the same objectives and
rules
of engagement but the member worlds also are conducting missions into the
Wilds and they are operating according to their own rules.

Finally I do agree that this background with its diversity and its element of
the unknown is a "*more* interesting setting than a stable government" would
provide.  Throw into this mix the evil Star Guild (may they die in poverty)
and the Vampire Data Net makes it a more volatile setting than the 3I.


Peter B. Juzyk
Reading, PA

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

Bundle: 577
Archive-Message-Number: 7234
From: chiggin@aol.com
Date: Sat, 09 Apr 94 12:41:56 EDT
Subject: A Mistaken Impression

Just to set everyone straight -- I DO NOT HAVE ANY SMALL-ARMS SPREADSHEETS. 
I was quoting someone else who was... things somehow got mixed up.  I would
be interested in small-arms spreadsheets, however.

                                  Thank you,
                                  Cynthia HIgginbotham

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

Bundle: 577
Archive-Message-Number: 7235
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 1994 17:02:07 -0700
From: Muir Macpherson <muirmac@ocf.Berkeley.EDU>
Subject: CRAY

I believe someone was posting to the TML a while ago who worked with Cray.
If you're still out there could you contact me via email?  Thanks.

	muirmac@ocf.berkeley.edu

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

Bundle: 577
Archive-Message-Number: 7236
Date: Sat, 9 Apr 1994 23:32:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Alexander W. Holt" <awh2@crux4.cit.cornell.edu>
Subject: RC & Hub Worlds Pocket Empire

I was just going over somethings when a curious fact hit me.   If you 
notice that  Hub Worlds Pocket Empire detailed in the TNE book you find 
that it must have several time the industrial might of the Regency.   
Note that there are 3 worlds that have the ability to make starships, 
Towering, Color (while not a member, it is on friendly terms) and 
Kaggushus itself.   Also note that Kaggushus has a New Era population of 
30 billion.  Now were are talking several multiples on industrial output 
as compared to the RC.  So what is the deal here?  I would think that 
they are expanding much faster into the power vacuum of the wilds.  One 
more curious note.  TNE stays that Kaggushus itself is Mars sized with a 
tainted atmosphere.   So how did Kaggushus feed itself when it only had 
sporatic contact with any agricultural worlds?

					Alex
					awh2@cornell.edu

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

Bundle: 577
Archive-Message-Number: 7237
Date: Sun, 10 Apr 1994 11:12:23 +0200
From: Roger Myhre <myhre@oslonett.no>
Subject: re: Traveller bckgrnd 11 

>> In Gvurrdon,
>> there is at least one multi-subsector TL-15 (!!) nation (The Rukh
>> Aeguezz).  They could do some damage if they went "on the warpath"
>Yes, they could, but these large states have interests that aren't
>necessarily served by going to war with the Regency.  Considering the
>inherent chaos of war the leaders of the larger Vargr states are
>probably even *more* reluctant to go to war - the resulting chaos might
>threaten their very existence.

I don't know how many of you are HIWG members, but those of you who are
will by looking through the back issues of AABP see that I have made
several changes to the Gvurrdon sector. Rukh and Anti-Rukh are long
gone. The new troublespots are the border between Thirz Empire and
Society of Equals. Anyone interested in getting data for Gvurrdon in TNE
please mail me a DD disk and I'll return it with whatever I got. (couple
of 100K) This information has been mailed to GDW. (And it would be nice
if you let me know that you have received it and looked at it [hint,
hint]). HIWG members may get this from Clay Bush.

>>     (3) How do you "foster instability in the Extents"?

>Primairly through arms sales and other `assistance' to opposing forces.
>US has been doing an `excellent' job of this in Latin America for
>decades
I don't think Regency would foster instability in Gvurrdon. If whats
remaining of Gvurrdon falls to the Virus, it just mean that Regency have
to commit more resources to protect that border. And likewise with
Zhodani. In my campaign Thirz Empire is Zhodani backed, while what's
left of Thoengling are Imperial backed. And the zoo needs the stability
much as Regency needs it.



Roger "StarWolf" Myhre
Snailmail address:
        Ammerudgrenda 168
        0960 Oslo
        Norway
                       

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

Bundle: 577
Archive-Message-Number: 7238
From: chiggin@aol.com
Date: Sun, 10 Apr 94 16:39:07 EDT
Subject: Politics...

From: DANIEL_T@delphi.com

>It seems to me that in the high velocity world of interstellar
>space, the time it takes to become alert is more than you have once
>the alarm goes off.

"Space is big.  Really, really, really big."


From: djohnson@geds01.jsc.nasa.gov (David Johnson)


>>     Unfortunately, what was destroyed in Hard Times and the Virus 
>>was the Imperial interstellar culture.  That has been utterly wiped
>>out, except in the Regency.

>Well, is this an opinion or something written in the GDW `stone 
>tablet'? My sense is that, after only 70 years, those groups that
>manage to move back to the stars are going to be - by and large -
>descendants of Imperial culture that somehow managed to lessen the
>onslaught of the Virus.

 ...key word & tricky phrase was "my interpretation".  Based on the 
*events* described by GDW in Hard Times and Survival Margin, that was 
my interpretation of the fate of Imperial "interstellar culture".  As 
I noted, it was 180 degrees from your interpretation.  However, as far
as *my campaign* goes, "my interpretation" is written in the Cynthia 
Higginbotham 'stone tablet' ...as is your interpretation in your 
campaign, no doubt :-).

>>      <Collapse (or at least its nature) could be associated with
>> the constitutional arrangements of the Third Imperium.> Not so much the
>> constitutional arrangements as much as the Nobles forgetting who there
>> obligations belonged too. Nobility could still be possible, if more
>> requirements were fixed on the Nobles. The RCES 'democracy' could run
>> into the same problems (just look at the general interest in term limits
>> on elected officials).

>I get your point but when I look at the `term limits' crowd in light of the
>chronically low voter turn out I have to ask myself if it's the politicians
>who have forgotten their obligations or the citizens?  Remember, the most
>powerful politician on the planet's term was prematurely `limited' in 1992
>without recourse to any term limiting law.  *That's* democracy.

    Both, in my opinion...  but we're straying into alt.politics.  
Especially ironic when you consider that the citizenry were manipulated by 
the media and out-and-out *lied* to by the "boy from Hope"... Slick 
Willie is a "wonderful" example of politicians in a democracy 
forgetting who his obligations belong to.

>> Subject: The Jumpstart Caches
>> Now Norris was told all of
>> their location

>How do `we' know this?  Someone mentioned *Arrival Vengeance* but I looked
>and I can't find it there.  Does it appear in *AV* errata?

    Longbow and Jumpstart were introduced in "Survival Margin"; I 
believe Norris was given the locations of the Jumpstart caches along 
with Avery in AV.



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

Bundle: 577
Archive-Message-Number: 7239
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 94 00:08:54 CDT
From: djohnson@geds01.jsc.nasa.gov (David Johnson)
Subject: Traveller Background 13

Gentlesophonts:

From Sunday night, Roger Myhre <myhre@oslonett.no> writes:

> I don't think Regency would foster instability in Gvurrdon. If whats
> remaining of Gvurrdon falls to the Virus, it just mean that Regency have
> to commit more resources to protect that border. 

After reading Jeff's post about the threat from the Virus from the Vargr
border then I don't think the Regency will be anxious to foster instability
in the Extents *either* but (there's always a `but', isn't there?) *if*
there really is such a threat of Virus from the Extents then it seems to
me the Vargr are going to be somewhat `occupied' themselves and won't
pose much of a threat to the Regency.  On the other hand, *if* there is
really such a threat of Virus from the Extents is it still fair to claim
that the Regency ought to be able to venture into the Wilds where it will
face the Virus head on?

If the Regency is equipped to deal with the Virus in the Wilds then it
ought not to face a `greater' threat of Virus from the Extents (I know
Jeff still has some clarification on this point) and ought to be comfortable
fomenting instability in the Extents if a credible threat from the *Vargr*
(as opposed to the Virus) is perceived.  If Virus from the Extents *is*
a threat then the Regency ought not foment instability among the Vargr (and
doesn't *need* to either) and probably *isn't* capable of taking on the
Virus directly in the Wilds either.  I don't see how it can be both ways.


Cynthia Higginbotham <chiggin@aol.com> writes:
 
> From: djohnson@geds01.jsc.nasa.gov (David Johnson)
> >Well, is this an opinion or something written in the GDW `stone 
> >tablet'?
> 
>  ...key word & tricky phrase was "my interpretation".  
> As 
> I noted, it was 180 degrees from your interpretation.  However, as far
> as *my campaign* goes, "my interpretation" is written in the Cynthia 
> Higginbotham 'stone tablet' ...as is your interpretation in your 
> campaign, no doubt :-).

I agree completely.  I recognize and enjoy the fact that each of us will
have our own take on the `official' background.  I was just trying to
preface my comments with (an admittedly cynical) acknowledgement of some
TML'ers' views that to take issue with what's been published in the
`official' literature is pointless.  Some folks (not me) feel one `can't
argue with the rules' which, since I don't have any TNE products anyway,
I sometimes find myself doing.  :-)
 
>     Longbow and Jumpstart were introduced in "Survival Margin"; I 
> believe Norris was given the locations of the Jumpstart caches along 
> with Avery in AV.

Thanks for the pointer.  I don't have *SM* but I looked in *AV* again
today and, although a personal message from Strephon to Norris is mentioned,
the jumpstart caches are not (nor is Longbow).  It is suggested that Seldrian
`takes an interest' in Avery but we're not told why.  We're told Avery is
`about' eight years old in 1126 which puts his birth(?) sometime in 1118 -
after Strephon had reappeared and *after* it was clear the Imperium would
not rally to his banner.  Coincidence?

Peace,

David Johnson
Houston, Texas, USA

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

Bundle: 577
Archive-Message-Number: 7240
Date: Sun, 10 Apr 1994 22:48:50 -0700
From: Dane Johnson <dane@halcyon.com>
Subject: Penetration and Melee...


Greetings, Sophonts!
	An interesting point came up in yesterday's game -- A combat situation
came up on Knorbes in Regina, a TL 2 planet.  Basically, one of the locals
attempted to lop the head off of one of my players.  It was our first
collective foray into the TNE rules (and my first time running combat with
them) and questions invariably arose.  The most pressing is the following:

If armor (Say, for example, Ballistic Weave) with an Armor Value of 1 is
good enough to drop a die of damage off of a pen 1 weapon or completely
negate damage from a pen NIL weapon, why does it only stop 2 points of
sword damage?  A sword does 2d6 damage, average of 7 points of damage,
reduced to 5 points (granted, not much) with the AV 1 armor, while it
will completely stop a 9mm TL6 autopistol with ball ammo.  If anybody
has a good 'realistic' explanation of this phenomenon I've got a player
*eager* to hear it :)

On a similar front, the same guy would like to know if you could wear
a Flak jacket over Ballistic Weave (For the laser protection:)?  I ruled
that it would be *possible*, but that it'd probably be like wearing a ski
jacket over a snowmobile suit.  Any comments?

Sorry to muddy the recent thrust towards more 'setting'-type discussions
with this rules ironmongery, but my group is eager to hear the collected
wisdom of the net on these matters...

Dane
djohnson@willamette.edu   dane@halcyon.edu

TNS Stringer ------ Terra/Solomani Rim (1827 G867975-8)
"My opinions are those of my fuzz-brained, cat-sniffing Norwegian Elkhound."

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

Bundle: 577
Archive-Message-Number: 7241
From: muskrat500@aol.com
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 94 02:24:32 EDT
Subject: Submission

Okay. The debate so far:


>>     Unfortunately, what was destroyed in Hard Times and the Virus 
>>was the Imperial interstellar culture...

And... 

>My sense is that, after only 70 years, those groups that
>manage to move back to the stars are going to be - by and large -
>descendants of Imperial culture that somehow managed to lessen the
>onslaught of the Virus.

Why not a middle ground? Imperial Culture (capital letters, please) that had
1,000 to ingrain itself won't be wiped out by a 70-year gap. Even the entire
Dark Ages didn't wipe away the influence of Rome on, for example, Northern
Europe. And look how long others tried to keep the "idea" of the Ceasars
going - all the way up to the last Czar. 
    In the New Era, the Noble Houses may change, technology may be viewed in
a new light (ie, with suspiscion; once you see Uncle Ed eaten by his
mulchmower, how eager are you gonna be to mow the hypergrass on Rigel-7?),
but the basic Imperial societal structure will be far harder to wipe out
completely, even given the enormous impact of the Hard Times.
    Individual planets may be exceptions, but the "idea" behind the Imperium
is far from dead...and the Eastern Roman Empire (the Regency as the
Byzantium, anyone?) did briefly reunite both halves...
    Solomani Home Rule!
    John Kovalic
    (Muskrat500@aol.com)

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

End of TML Bundle
******************
To: traveller@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Submissions)
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 94 22:00:02 EDT
From: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin)
Subject: TML bundle #578: Msgs 7242-7258 
Approved: by traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin) Wed Apr 13 22:00:02 EDT 1994
Reply-To: traveller@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Submissions)
Errors-To: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca
Precedence: bulk

TML bundles come from the archives maintained by
traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin).

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

Date: Wed, 13 Apr 94 22:00:02 EDT
From: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin)
Subject: TML bundle #578: Table of Contents

BUN# =AMN= =DATE====== =FROM==========  =SUBJECT/BODY==========================
 578  7242 11-Apr-1994 zcfbj00          Lots of people seem to like Insidious w
 578  7243 11-Apr-1994 chiggin@aol.com  Gvurrdon << From: Roger Myhre <myhre@os
 578  7244 11-Apr-1994 "Pedro A.C. Tav  2300 Newsgroup << Hi everybody.
 578  7245 11-Apr-1994 Anthony "K." Ba  Hub Worlds <<  Re- The economic strengt
 578  7246 11-Apr-1994 Roger Sanger     Open Letter to David Johnson... <<  
 578  7247 11-Apr-1994 David Johnson    Interest in a Non-Imperium Campaign? <<
 578  7248 11-Apr-1994 Steven Gott      JUMPSTART << Jumpstart Caches are descr
 578  7249 11-Apr-1994 Roger Sanger     TNE UWP's FOR THE REGENCY? <<  
 578  7250 10-Apr-1994 Jeff Zeitlin     71:17/7231 Various << Subject: 71:17/72
 578  7251 11-Apr-1994 Roger Sanger     Peace vs. the Virus in the Spinward Sta
 578  7252 11-Apr-1994 Roger Sanger     Sending a mission out into the Wilds...
 578  7253 12-Apr-1994 J Roberson       << Dane - What you ask is not rules mog
 578  7254 11-Apr-1994 Joseph Block     emailing eps files, Starpor << Emailing
 578  7255 11-Apr-1994 James Kundert    The sector next door... << chiggin@aol.
 578  7256 12-Apr-1994 keystring@aol.c  UNSUBSCRIBE << unsubscribe
 578  7257 12-Apr-1994 keystring@aol.c  UNSUBSCRIBE << unsubscribe
 578  7258 12-Apr-1994 Bertil Jonell    Re: Penetration and Melee... << > From:

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

Bundle: 578
Archive-Message-Number: 7242
From: zcfbj00 <zcfbj00@ucl.ac.uk>
Subject: Lots of people seem to like Insidious worlds....
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 94 13:55:28 +0100

Greetings and salutations to you all. Oh what the heck, HI EVERYONE!!!
Well, I've been unable to read my mail for a couple of weeks, and BOY have
you guys been BUSY!! I had a brief scan of my accumulated mail (all 460K of
it!), and I have a few comments to make and a question.

First, the question -
One thing that's always bugged me about traveller is the fact that lots of 
people (and I'm referring to people living in the traveller universe) seem
to like living in VERY inhospitable curcumstances, such as on planets with
Exotic, Corrosive and even Insidious atmospheres. I find this rather odd.
	Ok, I can hear everyone saying that there's lots of valuable ores
and minerals on these worlds, which are exploited by industry. That's all
very well, and I have no problems with this. For example Heavy Metals
Amalgamated finds platinum and lathanum on a particularly nasty Insidious
planet. There's just enough to make a small mine cost-effective. So, they
send down a few tens or hundreds of people to build a small underground
mining village and live happily ever after. I can live with this - although
I dare say the employees would rather not....
	What gets me is that there are several worlds in CT, MT, and TNE 
which have very high populations, but type B or C atmospheres. One example
is in Path of Tears (I think its in the same subsector as the planet Lucifer)
which have a population digit of 7 and a type C atm. Lets see, that's a few
tens of millions of people living on (or in!) an absolute hell-hole of a 
world (just think, Venus is bad enough and that's only a type B atm!). The 
big question is.....WHY?!
	Seriously, I would appreciate some kind of reasoning behind 
condemning millions of people to live in a 750 atm pressure, radioactive
Hydrofluoric Acid atmosphere with oceans that corrode you if you even THINK
about them.....
	And no sneaky saying that the population actually live on the 
planet's moon! If they did that, then the more habitable moon should be listed
in the UPP, and not the hellhole it orbits!
	Answers on an email please to ....... zcfbj00@ucl.ac.uk

Now, a few comments before I leave you.

First, MESON HANDGUNS: 		scary.......
	There seems to be a lot of this going about. 'I know, lets see if we
can design a realistic tactical nuclear grenade' |-). I hope people are 
joking here, otherwise, I think they've missed the point with the iron-
mongery in FF&S. Of course, there are good points to this, just picture a 
mob running around a building lobbing tac nuke grenades through the windows...
Maybe I'm just being too serious.....

Second, is there any plans to release any solid info on the K'kree?! I mean,
lots of people have said that the starport rules were a long time coming, but
the poor K'Kree are practically unknown!! I was really looking forward to DGP
publishing an Alien Module on K'Kree and HIvers (also largely unknown but this
at least seems about to be rectified by GDW, bless their little cottonsocks!)
as well as modules on the Zhodani and Droyne (there's ANOTHER mysterious race
for you), but they (IMHO, flame on, etc) appear to have conveniently copped
out (and let a _lot_ of people down in the process - thanks a lot, DGP...). 
I'm sorry, but I would imagine that the DGP Alien Modules were fairly 
universal (even non-Traveller GMs could find them very useful) - they were 
very well laid out and also were good reads to boot. For DGP to say that 
they're dropping an excellent Traveller line just because the New Era was 
coming seems a bit daft to me....(***flame off (was that a flame?!)***).
	I'm sorry, but I _had_ to get that out of my system. Anyway, back to
reality. What little info on the K'Kree that I have read (in DGP MT Journal 4)
was quite interesting, but they seem to have been largely ignored by GDW (The
K'Kree? Oh, they're just a bunch who live to Trailwards who generally have 
nothing to do with the Imperium - forget about them....:-)). I do hope that 
now DGP have dropped their line, GDW will start doing more books on Aliens 
(I know there's an Aliens of the Rim one coming up, but that still leaves the
K'Kree, Droyne and Zhos largely uncovered.). If anyone's got any more ideas
or info on any of these races, then do drop me a line, and sorry about the 
rant.....

	Right that's all from me. TTFN until neaxt time and remember-
Be Pure, Be Vigilant, BEHAVE!!!	(-Torquemada, Nemesis the Warlock, 2000 AD)

	TTFN, Constantine

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

Bundle: 578
Archive-Message-Number: 7243
From: chiggin@aol.com
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 94 10:10:06 EDT
Subject: Gvurrdon

From: Roger Myhre <myhre@oslonett.no>

>I don't know how many of you are HIWG members, but those of you who are
>will by looking through the back issues of AABP see that I have made
>several changes to the Gvurrdon sector. Rukh and Anti-Rukh are long
>gone. The new troublespots are the border between Thirz Empire and
>Society of Equals. Anyone interested in getting data for Gvurrdon in TNE
>please mail me a DD disk and I'll return it with whatever I got. (couple

    Interesting...  I noticed in DGP's "Vilani & Vargr" that the 
borders in Gvurrdon had changed from the original Vargr Supplement 
(Thirz had grabbed a few Society Worlds, Rukh had swallowed half of 
the Anti-Rukh) and I've been using Thirz-Society conflict as a 
backdrop for one of my e-mail groups.  So what happened to the Rukh? 
I imagine they swallowed the Anti-Rukh (the Antis just didn't have 
what it takes -- no decent starports, low-tech vs. TL15, Type A, large
yards...).  Did the Rukh fall apart?  If so, there are a couple of 
(LARGE) TL-15 Vargr worlds "on the loose".  Did they join someone 
else?  Did they change their name? What? Who? How?
    Can you e-mail the Gvurrdon data and history, or put it up for 
ftp?  I avoid surface mail like the plague.  Also, do you have stats 
for the next sector spinward?  I would like to see what the rest of 
the Thirz Empire looks like, as I haven't gotten around to rolling the
rest of it up, yet.

>Zhodani. In my campaign Thirz Empire is Zhodani backed, while what's
>left of Thoengling are Imperial backed. And the zoo needs the 
>stability much as Regency needs it.

    Yah, that's mostly what I did.  I figured that a strong Vargr 
nation that close to Zho borders was probably on good relations with 
the Zhodani, or the Zhos would have picked a fight with them and 
broken them up years ago.  I have been running the Thirz as having a 
vaguely Irish-Celtic "government" -- a bunch of semi-autonomous 
planetary "kings" and clan-lords owing fealty to the "High King"
(mistranslated as Emperor by the Imperials).  I see the Society 
of Equals as a loose confederation, based on the name and the 
various Vargr scenarios that have been set there. Right now (1112) the
Thirz lords are hungry for the rich worlds of the Society of Equals, 
and are picking a fight based on the multi-national slave trade going 
on between them.  (The Society allows slavery, the Thirz don't. 
Extra-national corsairs raid Thirz and independant worlds for slaves 
to sell on Society worlds.)

                    -- Cynthia


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

Bundle: 578
Archive-Message-Number: 7244
Date:         Mon, 11 Apr 94 01:25:50 PRT
From: "Pedro A.C. Tavares" <FTAVARES%PTEARN.BITNET@FRMOP11.CNUSC.FR>
Subject:      2300 Newsgroup

Hi everybody.
The number of people wanting to be included in the 2300AD list has been
raising steadily so I decided to create a newsgroup for it.  I would like to
know if there is anyone who would be interested in the group that cannot
access usenet.  If there are few people in this situation I can mail them
digests.  However if this is not the case we can consider creating a
mailing list instead of a newsgroup (a group is easier to create and manage so
I'm trying this first).
I also want to know if there are any suggestions to the name.  It will be
be a alt group (if you feel that it should be included in rec let me know).
The name can be something like "alt.games.2300ad".

This message is cross posted to the 2300 list and to the TML.

- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Pedro A.C. Tavares

Faculdade de Ciencias - Universidade de Lisboa

Email: ftavares@ptearn.bitnet
       ftavares@ptearn.fc.ul.pt
       ftavaresS@skull.cc.fc.ul.pt
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Bundle: 578
Archive-Message-Number: 7245
From: Anthony "K." Baggaley <mcdapab@prawn.ch.umist.ac.uk>
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 94 17:47:56 BST
Subject: Hub Worlds

 Re- The economic strength of the Hubworlds in TNE

 I see someone else has noticed the rather extreme population and naval
capability of the Hub Worlds Pocket Empire.  As detailed in TNE they rather  
belittle the 'what will happen to the RCES' discussion because they could
roll right over the RCES like the RCES roll over chickens.         
 Expect the Hub Worlds to be decimated by virus/civil war/teddy bears  just  
as soon as the majority of Traveller players start to ask GDW what they are
playing at.
 I am honoured enough to play with some of the people who are listed on the
Hub Worlds development team, so I suppose I could ask them what the heck they
thought they were doing putting 30 Billion people on a Mars-type planet, and
if they actually intended it to be many times more powerful than the RC. 
 I really wish they say  " to see if GDW noticed...."

                                    May Your Fusion Gun never run out of ammo
                                    Anthony K

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

Bundle: 578
Archive-Message-Number: 7246
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 1994 10:21:24 -0700
From: rodge@cyberspace.com (Roger Sanger)
Subject: Open Letter to David Johnson...

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Dear David,
 
 
We've spent weeks reading your commentary on what you think of
the background and on what others are doing in their campaigns.
 
So, naturally, I'm curious as to how you run things in YOUR campaign.
 
I'm quite interested, for one, and I'm sure others would find it
entertaining too.
 
You mentioned something about a 3D variant to the Imperial
setting a while ago.  How about posting something about it for us
all to enjoy?
 
Indulge us.
 
Rodge.
 
 
 
 
 

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

Bundle: 578
Archive-Message-Number: 7247
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 94 13:12:07 CDT
From: djohnson@geds01.jsc.nasa.gov (David Johnson)
Subject: Interest in a Non-Imperium Campaign?

Gentlesophonts:

In a personal message, Roger Sanger <rodge@cyberspace.com> writes:
  
> Dear David,
>  
> We've spent weeks reading your commentary on what you think of
> the background and on what others are doing in their campaigns.
> So, naturally, I'm curious as to how you run things in YOUR campaign.
> I'm quite interested, for one, and I'm sure others would find it
> entertaining too.
> You mentioned something about a 3D variant to the Imperial
> setting a while ago.  How about posting something about it for us
> all to enjoy?
> Indulge us.
>  
> Rodge.

I'd be more than happy to share details of the Earth Colonies campaign but
since TML seems to be focused on the `official' background - or least 
backgrounds related to the `official' Imperium campaign - I have been hesitant
to do so.  The Earth Colonies Campaign, while a Traveller campaign, is
completely original and unrelated to the Imperium Campaign.  (See my posting
of Feb. 24th - TML 547/6877 - for specific details.)  If others would be
interested in reading about the Earth Colonies campaign (or would *not*)
please let me know.  If there's a positive response (as opposed to merely a
lack of negative response) I might start with an explanation of the 3-D
aspects of the Earth Colonies campaign.

If you're interested in the Earth Colonies campaign but would rather not
see it on TML (or no one expresses an interest to do so) you can always
send me a business-sized (4 in x 9 in) self-addressed, stamped envelope
(SASE) for details (overseas folks contact me by e-mail first) about our
newsletter *Melbourne Times* at:

P.O. Box 891403
Houston, Texas 77289-1403 USA

Happy travelling,

David Johnson

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

Bundle: 578
Archive-Message-Number: 7248
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 1994 13:29:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: Steven Gott <sgott@u.washington.edu>
Subject: JUMPSTART


Jumpstart Caches are described in Survival Margin as a public works 
project in the back of the book.  However, from the letters to Strephon 
from Norris it appears that in fact they are something much more.

OUT ON A LIMB TIME:

I think Longbow is some super secret faster than light stardrive.  The 
reason I believe this is from the Adventure PROJECT FARSTAR (In a very 
old copy of Challenge).  In this adventure the players work with scientists on 
the problem of how to jump farther.  One of the possible scenarios is that the
 players detect a starship moving faster than light!  Longbow is listed 
in the back of SURVIVAL MARGIN as a FTL communicator that didn't work.  I 
think there is more going on here than that though.

EVEN MORE WILD SPECULATION:

Wouldn't it be weird if the crash was not from the *VIRUS* but rather 
from as yet unknown agent that even now is hurtling its way to the new era.

enough for now

Steven Gott

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

Bundle: 578
Archive-Message-Number: 7249
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 1994 15:25:47 -0700
From: rodge@cyberspace.com (Roger Sanger)
Subject: TNE UWP's FOR THE REGENCY?

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
What would the UWP's look like for the Spinward Marches in the
New Era?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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

Bundle: 578
Archive-Message-Number: 7250
Subject: 71:17/7231 Various
From: jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (Jeff Zeitlin)
Date: Sun, 10 Apr 94 22:52:00 -0500

Subject: 71:17/7231 Various

TML::>>  survive without the "backwaters" of western Wisconsin, or upstate
   ::>>  New York, where there are a lot of dairy farms, or the
   ::>>  "backwaters" of central Nebraska and South Dakota, where a lot of
   ::>>  wheat is grown?

TML::>Hmmm, an interesting image: `rural ghetto' that doesn't sound all that
   ::>bad now.  I guess I'm confused.  What exactly, then, is the problem with
   ::>being `ghettoized'?

   Actually, ghettoization is probably the wrong word.  What I'm 
   thinking of is the planet that becomes a "banana republic" - its 
   only source of foreign (interstellar) exchange becomes raw 
   materials that high-tech cultures need but will not pay high 
   prices for.  Consider the state of things in countries like 
   Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Mexico, Malaysia, and so on.  I'd say 
   that there are probably better words than ghettoization, but I 
   can't think of them.

TML::>>  No, I'm not saying that worlds without a tech affinity are the
   ::>>  ones that are going to be ghettoized.  I'm saying that the ones
   ::>>  that are "forced" to focus their production to service the needs
   ::>>  of the planets that (re)acquire tech early are the ones that are
   ::>>  going to be ghettoized.

TML::>Okay, so `ghettoized' means something akin to `exploited'?  

   More than just exploited.  Japan was exploited after WWII, but 
   it was able to pull itself together.  But South Asia and the 
   Indo-Pacific island nations, and to a lesser extent, the 
   Carribean and Central and South America are both exploited and 
   ghettoized.  Some countries are making an effort to pull 
   themselves out of it - Argentina is a notable example.  But most 
   of those countries have no present hope of escaping or solving 
   their problems, many of which are connected with high population 
   density, low wages, and single-product economies.

TML::>Steven Gott <sgott@u.washington.edu> writes:

TML::>> Subject: The Jumpstart Caches
   ::>> Now Norris was told all of
   ::>> their location

TML::>How do `we' know this?  Someone mentioned *Arrival Vengeance* but I looke
   ::>and I can't find it there.  Does it appear in *AV* errata?

   OK, I finally have it straight, once and for all.  It's NOT in 
   AV.  It's NOT in TNE itself.  It _IS_ in Survival Margin.

   On P30, Strephon effectively makes his decision to abdicate by 
   choosing not to cooperate with IRIS.  That this is his attitude, 
   rather than it being beneath his dignity, is confirmed by the 
   statement that IRIS will "get me out of this" and by (P31) his 
   apparent happiness at his claim being disallowed.  So we know 
   that Strephon has abdicated.  He effectively turns the job over 
   to Norris on P51, where he sends Avery "with them" [the AV], 
   and P52, where we see the text of the message that was in the 
   holocrystal given to the diplomatic team from the AV.  In that 
   message, Strephon confirms Norris's assumption of the title of 
   Archduke, gives him Jumpstart, and warns him about Longbow.  He 
   also makes it clear that Norris is the only one left to carry on 
   the traditions of the Imperium.  Recall also the Domain's last 
   words to the interstellar communications network: "We keep the 
   flame".  Though veiled, this can be taken as a reference that 
   they _know_ that they have the only rightful claim to the mantle 
   of the 3I.  That they take on the name "Regency" after that 
   indicates that Norris is taking his position as "emperor" not as 
   his own position, but as a trust, for when a true Emperor shall 
   resume the Iridium Throne.  Recall, however, that after a much 
   shorter period, a previous regent (during the Civil War (in the 
   600s)) took the thrown as Regent, rather than Emperor, until she 
   was asked, by the Moot, to take the title as well as the 
   authority.  It is not unreasonable to assume that the same will 
   happen with Norris or his successor, or possibly Avery or one of 
   his descendants.  The question is _when_ this will happen - in 
   other words, at what point does it become appropriate for the 
   Regency to "admit" that it is in fact the Imperium?  See my 
   comments later in this article...

   Sorry about all the confusion...

TML::>jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (Jeff Zeitlin) writes:

TML::>> T::>My sense is that public opinion in the Regency will be whatever the
   ::>>  ::>leadership wishes it to be.  Norris is (was?) nothing if not an
   ::>excellent
   ::>>  ::>`molder' of public opinion.
   ::>>
   ::>>  True, but there are limits to that kind of ability.  If you've
   ::>>  seen a planet get sacked by a homicidal Virus-infected starship,
   ::>>  you're _not_ going to be easily convinced that Virus isn't a
   ::>>  threat any more...

TML::>Absolutely true (not the `limits' part though).  The fact that the `Rape 
   ::>Trin' became wide-spread pubic knowledge [FACT ALERT: I don't have TNE] m
   ::>mean that it served Norris's purposes somehow.

   Not necessarily.  News that is not in the Government's best 
   interests _will_ get out somehow.  And it will spread by the 
   fastest available route.  Remember a break-in at a major 
   Washington, DC, hotel, around about 1974?

TML::>>  The threat that I was thinking of in my previous posts, that
   ::>>  required guarding the Vargr border was in fact the threat of
   ::>>  Virus.

TML::>This is a good point, as I mentioned in an earlier posting, but . . .

TML::>>  This would also have the effect of slowing down the evolution
   ::>>  and/or extinction of Virus in the Extents, making infection from
   ::>>  the Extents a very real threat, even at this late date.

TML::>I'm not sure I understand this point.  Are you saying that by taking
   ::>`longer' to reach the Regency through the Extents the Virus would somehow
   ::>be more powerful?  How so?  Wouldn't Regency agents have a *better*
   ::>opportunity to observe the Virus which would permit the Regency to better
   ::>develop counter measures?

   No, not really more powerful.  The primary evolution of Virus 
   was toward a non-suicidal, and non-homicidal form - because it 
   is more conducive to spreading Virus, i.e., survival.  This 
   evolution was facilitated by the ability of many substrains and 
   strains to interact with each other.  But this kind of 
   interaction is slowed down when you have a situation in which 
   the spread of Virus is slowed down.  Thus, strains of Virus 
   approaching the protected states through the Vargr Extents will 
   tend to be earlier strains, and therefore more dangerous ones.

   The total quarantine imposed by the Regency and the Zhodani (and 
   the other surviving Spinward States) would tend to cut down on 
   opportunity to observe.  And a Virus that can bridge the 
   gap between Software and Hardware (as Virus can) is _not_ 
   something that you will easily be able to develop 
   countermeasures to.  Nor is it something that you want to bring 
   into a well-equipped research lab in the heart of your territory 
   (such facilities need support that is unlikely to be available 
   at the frontier), when the amount of damage that can occur in a 
   release accident is so high.  The Rape of Trin (I still somehow 
   think it was Gram, but...)is graphic evidence of what can go 
   wrong.  You don't mess with that kind of thing.  Consider:  
   Union Carbide has just announced plans to build a chemical plant 
   in your home town.  It will be the same kind of thing that the 
   plant in Bhopal, India, was doing.  Are you really going to feel 
   comfortable about having that plant there?

TML::>>  We who have Arrival Vengeance know that
   ::>>  (b) he effectively abdicated in Norris's favor by
   ::>>  entrusting Norris with the complete Jumpstart and Longbow files,

TML::>There it is again!  *Please* tell me where in *AV* Jumpstart and Longbow
   ::>are mentioned.  Just the page numbers will suffice.

   See above.  It's SM, not AV, and not TNE.  Sorry for the 
   confusion.

TML::>>  Given that Norris _does_ have a great
   ::>>  deal of ability in molding opinion, and that he (and his
   ::>>  successors) have enjoyed the support of an overwhelming majority
   ::>>  of the people of the Regency, even a documented successor to Lucan
   ::>>  or Margaret is unlikely to gain sympathy in the Regency

TML::>Wait.  Roll back the clock 85 years.  Substitute Strephon for Norris and
   ::>Imperium for Regency.  What do you get?  Rebellion.  Hard Times.  The
   ::>Viral Collapse.  And yes, da**it, The New Era.  :-)

   It's certainly possible...

TML::>>  as they
   ::>>  represent the part of the old order that "abandoned" the area
   ::>>  "behind the claw." I would say that the "legitimacy" of the
   ::>>  Regency is secure

TML::>Doesn't the very name `Regency' suggest a deep felt respect for that `old
   ::>order'?  All the legitimacy of a `regency' is derived from that for which
   ::>the `regent' is stewarding authority.  To me it is absurd that the *peopl
   ::>of the Regency would forget what they've been `waiting' for all these yea

   I refer you to the outcome of the Civil War of the 600s.  
   History _does_ tend to repeat itself.  Also, Norris never threw 
   his support to any faction - he was loyal to the concept  and 
   ideal of the Imperium itself.  Can _anyone_ descended from 
   _any_ factional leader, no matter how "good" his/her lineage, 
   and how pure his/her motives, establish a _morally_ justifiable 
   claim to the Iridium Throne?  I suspect that when/if this 
   situation arises, and push comes to shove, that the people of 
   the Regency will stand behind the Regent, rather than the 
   Pretender.  At that time, when the _people_ realize that the 
   Regent is in fact the Emperor, the Regent will "reluctantly
   accept the summons to the Iridium Throne."
==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin                                      jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com
- ---
 ~ QMPro 1.52 ~ Make the most of an uncertain future.

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

Bundle: 578
Archive-Message-Number: 7251
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 1994 19:27:35 -0700
From: rodge@cyberspace.com (Roger Sanger)
Subject: Peace vs. the Virus in the Spinward States

 
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                   The Necessity of Peace
                       In the New Era
 
One plausible explanation for the peace between the Regency and
its neighbors is the very real danger that the Virus poses to an
unstable region (which is what you'd have if a war were to break
out).  Warfare could allow the Virus to easily infiltrate and
wreak havoc abroad, doing to the nations of the region what it
did to the Imperium, the Hiver Federation, the Solomani
Confederaton, etc.
 
Therefore, the Regency, the Zhodani Consolate, the Darrian
Confederation, the Sword Worlds, and all the governments further
spinward each have a very high stake in keeping the peace and
tolerating each others' presence.
 
That doesn't preclude covert activities, however.  :)
 
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Bundle: 578
Archive-Message-Number: 7252
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 1994 19:47:15 -0700
From: rodge@cyberspace.com (Roger Sanger)
Subject: Sending a mission out into the Wilds...

 
 
 
 
 
How far could a well-stocked 5k-ton vessel go without starport
support?
 
How far could a solar-powered ship go without starport support?
 
Couldn't such a ship successfully travel across the map and back
in less than 10 years' time?  What would its probability of
success be (at the beginning of the collapse)?  (Toward the
beginning of the New Era)?
 
And what of the MegaCorporations?  Wouldn't they want to reclaim
their companies' assets?
 
Just wonderin'.
 
 
 
 

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

Bundle: 578
Archive-Message-Number: 7253
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 1994 00:07:22 +0600
From: RJR96326@vax1.utulsa.edu (J Roberson)

Dane - What you ask is not rules mogering. It's a request for why things
work, based on real life, to help you and you players understand what's
going on.

Let's talk about armor. Modern bulletproof vests are weaves of high-tech
materials. They form a mesh upon which a bullet goes splat, spreading out
the kinetic energy over a wider surface area and doing less damage.
However, since it's a weave, sharp pointy things can slip between the
cracks and hurt people. In order to stop them you need to have solid
plates, like those in a flak jacket.  Lasers are thin, sharp pointy things,
just like knives and swords - I would rule that whatever special protection
flaks (and any other "hard" armor, like battledress) give for lasers apply
to swords & knives as well.

More later if you like. Gotta Run.


The University doesn't stand behind my opinions, but I do.
        Way behind- Miles even.
Eugenics: Chlorination of the gene pool.
J Roberson      RJR96326@vax1.utulsa.edu        Priss@io.com





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

Bundle: 578
Archive-Message-Number: 7254
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 94 23:19 EST
From: Joseph Block <0006316815@mcimail.com>
Subject: emailing eps files, Starpor


Emailing eps files is best done by converting them to either uuencode
or binhex format.  Uuencode is probably easiest for people on most
platforms.

I've lost the name and address of the person who was asking for ads
for the starport paper in his campaign.  Are you still interested? 
Is EPS a good format for you, or do you want hardcopies snail mailed?

Joe {jpb@mcimail.com, jpb@gate.net}

Rats are just a bushy tail away from being hand fed in the park.



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

Bundle: 578
Archive-Message-Number: 7255
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 94 22:57:39 PDT
From: James Kundert <james@dumbcat.sf.ca.us>
Subject: The sector next door...

chiggin@aol.com asks:

 >  Also, do you have stats 
 >for the next sector spinward?  I would like to see what the rest of 
 >the Thirz Empire looks like, as I haven't gotten around to rolling the
 >rest of it up, yet.

 As it happens, I'm the HIWG Sector Analyst for the sector in question
(Usingou to the Vargr, Ziafrplians to the Zhodani).  The position
entails collecting all available information on the sector and
developing where needed.  What I have is as follows:

 -A dot map of the sector with borders from V&V.  Getting this map
  was a real case of eye-strain, as the V&V map does some really
  bizarre things across national borders.
 -Nameless UWPs for the Zhodani part of the sector, and nameless
  _provisional_ UWPs for the Vargr section.  Why provisional?  I've
  not had time to take a really close look at the Gvurrdon half
  of the Thirz.  There might be trends to propagate in government
  types.
 -All subsectors named.
 -All worlds in Subsector P named, with basic notes on the subsector
  level.
 -All Zhodani Way Stations placed.  Random sector production is
  wonderful, but Way Stations need to be placed by hand.  As an aside,
  the placement of Consular Naval Depots makes it obvious that
  the Zhodani may talk to the Thirz, but they don't completely trust
  them.

 Aside from the actual world locations and the placement of the
border (provided by DGP in V&V), and the subsector names (provided
by another HIWG member) all the above is my own work.  The naming
of worlds continues in sporadic fashion (and I've got a huge list
of Zhodani world names from other sectors so that duplication is
kept to a minimum), but all other details are done as needed.
 I don't publish a fanzine, or I would take submissions.

 This brings up some good questions, however.  What is the nature of
"adventuring" in the Zhodani Consulate?  Does such a thing exist
in the Imperial sense of the term?  What do the answers to these
two questions mean in terms of further development of a Zhodani
sector?  In the final analysis, is Ziafrplians worth developing
to an exhaustive level?

 The final question can be answered more easily for Ziafrplians
than for its spinward neighbor Tienspevnekr, because Ziafrplians
is a _border_ sector.  Here there be Vargr.  A few of the more
adventuresome Imperial merchants might find their way this far
especialy via the Thirz or the buffer area.  While Ziafrplians
is not the hotbed of adventure that Gvurrdon, the Marches, and
Foreven are, it does have potential.

 While the sector listing is still too rough to distribute whole,
anyone interested in particular pieces can contact me by email.
Contributions to the finished sector will be appreciated and
(if ever necessary) credited.

James Kundert <j.kundert@genie.geis.com>
              <james@dumbcat.sf.ca.us>

There was a young lady named Bright,
Whose speed was much faster, much faster than Light.
She departed one day in a relative way,
And returned on the previous Night.
   --Albert & the Heart of Gold

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

Bundle: 578
Archive-Message-Number: 7256
From: keystring@aol.com
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 94 03:26:32 EDT
Subject: UNSUBSCRIBE

unsubscribe

unsubscribe  keystring@aol.com

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

Bundle: 578
Archive-Message-Number: 7257
From: keystring@aol.com
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 94 03:29:17 EDT
Subject: UNSUBSCRIBE

unsubscribe

unsubscribe  keystring@aol.com

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

Bundle: 578
Archive-Message-Number: 7258
From: Bertil Jonell <d9bertil@dtek.chalmers.se>
Subject: Re: Penetration and Melee...
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 1994 09:39:28 +0200 (MET DST)

> From: Dane Johnson <dane@halcyon.com>
> Subject: Penetration and Melee...
 
> If armor (Say, for example, Ballistic Weave) with an Armor Value of 1 is
> good enough to drop a die of damage off of a pen 1 weapon or completely
> negate damage from a pen NIL weapon, why does it only stop 2 points of
> sword damage?

  Ballistic weave is notoriously bad at stopping thin penetrating or
shearing attacks like daggers, arrows and swords. Even very small
bullets like .22LR have a tendency to "slip though the net" sometimes.

  Now this only holds for ballistic weave, ie TL6-8 Terran body armour,
not for platemail, combat armour and battle dress, and possibly not even
for low-tech vac suits.

  I suspect this is a relic from T2k2, since T2k2 only concerns itself
with body armour and not platemail, combat armour and battle dress.
But you would still get some impact damage from the actual blow, it
is hard to stop that.

> djohnson@willamette.edu   dane@halcyon.edu

- -bertil-
- -- 
Legal Notice: Exporting 'personal data' to non-European countries without
special license issued by the Computer Oversight Agency ('Datainspektionen')
for each specific case (message) is a crime. Personal data include names,
even my name. If you read this message outside Europe, I'm a criminal.

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

End of TML Bundle
******************
To: traveller@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Submissions)
Date: Sun, 17 Apr 94 22:00:02 EDT
From: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin)
Subject: TML bundle #579: Msgs 7259-7272 
Approved: by traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin) Sun Apr 17 22:00:02 EDT 1994
Reply-To: traveller@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Submissions)
Errors-To: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca
Precedence: bulk

TML bundles come from the archives maintained by
traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin).

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

Date: Sun, 17 Apr 94 22:00:02 EDT
From: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin)
Subject: TML bundle #579: Table of Contents

BUN# =AMN= =DATE====== =FROM==========  =SUBJECT/BODY==========================
 579  7259 12-Apr-1994 Joni M Virolain  Hi << Hi, everybody!
 579  7260 12-Apr-1994 Stefan Matthias  Alien statistics << Hello.
 579  7261 12-Apr-1994 Steven M Bonnev  Re: TNE UWP's FOR THE REGENCY? << In Tm
 579  7262 12-Apr-1994 Steven M Bonnev  Re: Hub Worlds << Anthony "K." Baggaley
 579  7263 12-Apr-1994 "Susan M. Shock  "Official" backgrounds vs. homegrown <<
 579  7264 12-Apr-1994 chiggin@aol.com  Penetration & Corrosion << From: Dane J
 579  7265 12-Apr-1994 Roger Myhre      FTP Gvurrdon stats        << >From: chi
 579  7266 12-Apr-1994 usboa001@ibmmai  2300AD List                            
 579  7267 12-Apr-1994 "Michael A. Mas  Re: 2300 AD << If there is a mailing li
 579  7268 12-Apr-1994 Roger Sanger     off-line for two days << The internet s
 579  7269 13-Apr-1994 Joni M Virolain  Technophobia << Howdy!
 579  7270 13-Apr-1994 Bertil Jonell    Re: 45 and 9 << > From: chiggin@aol.com
 579  7271 13-Apr-1994 Roger Sanger     world write-ups <<  
 579  7272 13-Apr-1994 David Johnson    Traveller Background 14 << Gentlesophon

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

Bundle: 579
Archive-Message-Number: 7259
From: Joni M Virolainen <jonimv@evitech.fi>
Subject: Hi
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 1994 13:33:32 +0200 (EET)

Hi, everybody!
That Regency-thing that some of you are making is quite interesting, in fact
when I started my current campaign I planned to situate it to the Regency.
But 'cos the only material I have about that region is what is in the TNE
rules book I decided to establish it instead to Aubaine because I knew it
would be supported so I didn't have to do *all* the work by myself.

My group just finished their first mission to RC. It was the Once & Future
Emperor adventure from the rules book. I have to admit that we enjoyed playing
it. Of course it was a short one and quite linear, but it was suitable for
introduction adventure. There were also couple of illogical/unfinished spots
which bothered me a bit. One thing which I was strongly disappointed was that
it was situated to many subsectors away from Aubaine and there were no star
maps about area where PCs were due to travel. I had to improvise how much time
it took for them to get there. I have to admit that I got very lucky about
that time. Since then I have downloaded sector datas from sunbane (?).

My group spent almost 2 years in that mission (including 1.5 years in the
scout ship). When they got back and their ship got its annual maintenance
they kept their vacation. While two of them were in Jump Drive named bar
one of them paid attention to one of the spacers who were there. In fact he
was not supposed to be anything special but I suppose my group will encounter
him later. I guess that he will be involved in organ legging and slavery.
In my game Trybec is very criminal place or at least its star port is.
There authorities do next to nothing about smuggling and slavery. Slaves come
from wild of course. 

My player group have four players.

Ayla Walls: Her duty is to keep the party alive and well. She used to be
            a doctor in Brusman, Aubaine. But she didn't pay much attention
            to Hippocrate's Oath. Therefore she is not allowed to keep a 
            doc shop. Althought not a soldier, she is competent with her
            SMG.

            She met one of her student time friends who were going to Trybec.
            Ayla doesn't know that but her friend is also involved in organ
            legging (she is a doctor).

Andrew Strong: Originally from Schall. His grand parents came from Seliga
            during the Rebellion, before Seliga died. He has been a diplomat
            in Aubaine, after that he spent a few years as a journalist.
            Finally he "saw the light" and decided to begin bounty hunting.
            He is quite a funny guy because he loves danger but panics
            easily.

            Next mission of the party takes them to Seliga, where they will
            meet scavengers working for one of the Schall's families. It might
            be interesting to see how his loyalties are divided between his
            new employees and his home planet!

Paul Doolittle: Party's soldier, after serving 3 terms in the army he decided 
            to go to Hiver Academy. He also flies partys star ship. Althought
            not a very competent pilot, he is the best the party have. He
            have received an "unofficial" nickname as "Doomlittle" after
            almost crashing their ship while taking off from Aubaine when
            going to orbit.

            Nothing special about him at that point.

Jack Road:  Other party found him from Karaguuka. He was deserted there by
            his former companions. I guess he was too unsocial for them and
            they got fed up with his arrogant behavior. Knows something about
            star ships and lots of computers and robots.

            He is from small pocket empire in Diaspora sector near 
            the Karaguuka. I suppose there will be interesting personality
            clashes within party when he comes to play. Oh yeah, I almost
            forgot, he served couple of years one of the Karaguuka's most 
            powerfull warlords as a technical advisor (literally).

So, that's what kind of party I am running.

I also need a little help about some equipment.


1) When you buy a vac suit, does it include a helmet?
2) In upgrade booklet p. 7 sez: 4 cm CLC Rifle's ammo price is 6/68, does
   that mean that you must pay Cr.6 for 68 "bullets" ?
3) In TNE rules book p.337 is a thermal.meteoroid garment. It has a armor 6
   and cloth -1. If this is true, would not it be a very good armor even while
   worn by itself? And what does that cloth -1 mean? Is it same as Agl Mod -1?
4) Is there anywhere floorplans for a scout ship?

That's it for now, be seeing you.



*********************************** 
* WARNING      / Joni Virolainen  *
* Biological   / VANTAA, FINLAND  *
* Hazard !!!   / jonimv@evitech.fi*
***********************************

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

Bundle: 579
Archive-Message-Number: 7260
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 1994 14:46:02 +0200
From: Stefan Matthias Aust <sma@informatik.uni-kiel.d400.de>
Subject: Alien statistics

Hello.

I'm no TML member, but I will try to post here anyway. If time permits
I read the TML bundles. Since quite a while I'm interested in playing
(game mastering) a SF campaign, presumably in the Traveller background.

Beside humans as player character I would like to roll up character of
some of the typical alien races, too. So my question: Doesn't anybody
know statistics of Vargr, Aslan, etc. (Classic Trav, MT or TNE) or can
describe them in relation to humans? (Aslan are stronger for example?)

PS: If you like, please CC: me the mail, too, because I can't read the
TML every day.


thanks in advance,
bye.
- -- 
Stefan Matthias Aust // ...als alle den Saal verlassen hatten, stand
                    //  Herr K. auf, drehte sich um, und sagte "Nein".

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

Bundle: 579
Archive-Message-Number: 7261
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 1994 09:19:52 -0500
From: bonnevil@mermaid.micro.umn.edu (Steven M Bonneville)
Subject: Re: TNE UWP's FOR THE REGENCY?


In Tml. Msg. No. 7249, Roger Sanger <rodge@cyberspace.com> writes:

>What would the UWP's look like for the Spinward Marches in the
>New Era?

Based on the TNE stats for Spinward Marches/Regina in TNE, expect
some minor population increases and a general tech level increase
of one from 1112/1120-era (Post FFW/Rebellion) stats.  Regina
subsector's average tech level is not terribly high by world, but
the lower tech ones have a better chance to rise further than
the high tech ones.  Kinorb, at tech 2, jumps to tech 4, I recall.
But Uakye, at tech D, stays where it is, even though both Efate
and Regina gain a tech level.

Governmental affiliation on the rimward edge of the sector might
be a bit odd.  Any parts of old imperial District 268 that the
ihatei didn't take forcefully may have been incorporated like
Ruie/Regina by now, to shore up the Regency's authority in the
area.  I'm not sure what will be going on with the Sword Worlds,
especially considering the partition after the 5FW.

Expect to see the Xboat system extended along the coreward edge of
the sector, and perhaps other borders as well.  New scout bases
(Regency Quarantine Service bases, actually) will be constructed
at many of the worlds on or near the new xboat route, to watch
the border for Virus and support the advanced pickets.

*******************************************************************************
 Steve Bonneville                | "Beware the tablespoon my son,
                                 |  The teeth that bite, the Claus that catch,
 bonnevil@mermaid.micro.umn.edu  |  Beware the Subjects bird, and shred
                                 |  The serious Bandwidth!"
*******************************************************************************


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

Bundle: 579
Archive-Message-Number: 7262
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 1994 10:02:44 -0500
From: bonnevil@mermaid.micro.umn.edu (Steven M Bonneville)
Subject: Re: Hub Worlds


Anthony "K." Baggaley <mcdapab@prawn.ch.umist.ac.uk> writes:

> Expect the Hub Worlds to be decimated by virus/civil war/teddy bears  just
>as soon as the majority of Traveller players start to ask GDW what they are
>playing at.

Actually, that's why the HubWorlds needs all those resources, as I see it.
Kaggushus is sitting in a very dangerous spot.  Massilia was the most
technologically advanced sector of the Imperium -- some twenty-odd 
tech 16 worlds were in the sector (one of which *was* Kaggushus).  That
means there could be a lot of dangerous Virus-infected high tech hardware
flying around the area.  On the other side, the Hub is very close to the
edge of the Black Curtain, and nobody in the Hub has any idea what might
be lurking in there, eating exploratory ships.  They might need to find
out one of these days.

Also, note that the coreward neighbor to the HubWorld's Ershur subsector
is Core sector's Cadion subsector.  There are at least two interesting
things to check out there.  Just over the border is Reference/Cadion
(Core 0140).  The astrographic center of the Imperial navigation system,
and former data repository of the IISS Imperial Grand Survey.  If even
partially intact, it could be a treasure trove of information for 
rebuilding or raiding dead and not-so-dead worlds.  Of course, it's 
probably a death trap, considering that life support on the airless rock 
was computer controlled and that there are tens of thousands of different 
data storage computers networked under that rock, as well as Imperial
Naval and Scout bases sited in the system.  The second target in the 
subsector would be Lucan's research station where Virus was actually 
developed.  It might be inside the Black Curtain, but there could
still be useful information that wasn't destroyed by the staff, the
Virus, or Dulinor's raiders.

In fact, it's interesting that the Hub survived the initial Virus
attack that close to the release point....


*******************************************************************************
 Steve Bonneville                | "Beware the tablespoon my son,
                                 |  The teeth that bite, the Claus that catch,
 bonnevil@mermaid.micro.umn.edu  |  Beware the Subjects bird, and shred
                                 |  The serious Bandwidth!"
*******************************************************************************


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

Bundle: 579
Archive-Message-Number: 7263
Date:         Tue, 12 Apr 94 10:08:41 EDT
From: "Susan M. Shock" <34ZBTXQ@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU>
Subject:      "Official" backgrounds vs. homegrown

Mr. Johnson seems to say that GDW's "official" background leaves something to
be desired. He may be right, for him at least. This is my opinion on the whole
subject.
   GDW are the aribiters of the OFFICIAL Imperium Space background. They made
it up, and continue to develop it. In terms of what the OFFICIAL supplements
say, their word IS "law".
   The point is, NO ONE HAS TO USE THE OFFICIAL BACKGROUND! For instance, Mr.
Johnson offers information on his Earth Colonies campaign. Great! I'd like to
see this! I enjoy reading other people's campaign backgrounds; I appreciate
the creativity which goes into these efforts., Even for those who wish to take
the Imperium and alter it to suit their tastes, such as disposing of the Virus
and even the Rebellion.
   I use and follow the GDW background for the following reasons: I've been a
fan of it since the days of the Journal; I can't really see myself coming up
with anything better; and I simply don't have TIME.
    The one disadvantage of coming up with your own background or altering the
existing one is that there is less support material that you can just use "off
the shelf". However, if you're creative enough to create your own background in
 the first place, writing your own support material shouldn't bee too tough.
    GDW owns the "official" Traveller background, but you DON'T have to use it.

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

Bundle: 579
Archive-Message-Number: 7264
From: chiggin@aol.com
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 94 12:56:44 EDT
Subject: Penetration & Corrosion

From: Dane Johnson <dane@halcyon.com>

>If armor (Say, for example, Ballistic Weave) with an Armor Value of 1 is
>good enough to drop a die of damage off of a pen 1 weapon or completely
>negate damage from a pen NIL weapon, why does it only stop 2 points of
>sword damage?  A sword does 2d6 damage, average of 7 points of damage,
>reduced to 5 points (granted, not much) with the AV 1 armor, while it
>will completely stop a 9mm TL6 autopistol with ball ammo.  If anybody
>has a good 'realistic' explanation of this phenomenon I've got a player
>*eager* to hear it :)

    Speculations:  Because the, say, 75 lbs of force behind the sword 
swing is distributed over an edge maybe a millimeter wide and the 
sharp edge of the sword actually cuts the ballistic cloth fibers?  9mm 
TL6 autopistol -- sounds like a Walther P-38 or other 9mm Parabellum 
equivalent.  Not anywhere near the muzzle energy of a rifle round, or 
even .45 ACP.  Or maybe TNE's rules are screwy?  In GURPS, modern and 
ultra-tech ballistic cloth stops melee weapons as well as bullets. 
I understand that, in the Real World (tm), getting shot in the 
ballistic vest gives you a heck of a bruise, if not broken ribs -- you
do take some damage.  That damage is an improvement over having 
bullets puncture your internal organs, however.

>On a similar front, the same guy would like to know if you could wear
>a Flak jacket over Ballistic Weave (For the laser protection:)?  I 
>ruled that it would be *possible*, but that it'd probably be like
>wearing a ski jacket over a snowmobile suit.  Any comments?

Sure, why not?  Yes, *jury-rigging* armor like that might be awkward, 
but someone, somewhere probably sells an integrated C.E. suit with 
ceramic inserts over the vitals -- it's a whole lot lighter and 
cheaper than combat armor, and such armor was on the standard 
equipment list in the 2300AD game.

From: muskrat500@aol.com

>Why not a middle ground? Imperial Culture (capital letters, please) 
>that had 1,000 to ingrain itself won't be wiped out by a 70-year 
>gap.  Even the entire Dark Ages didn't wipe away the influence of 
>Rome on, for example, Northern Europe.  

Good point.  My idea was that most worlds NEVER HAD an Imperial 
Culture ingrained; that *most* worlds had their own culture with a 
"interface" layer of Imperial Culture among the nobility and the 
starport personnel.  It would be more reasonable to assume that the 
Imperial Culture never *replaced* the original culture on these worlds
- -- even as the peasant cultures of France and England are more Gallic 
Celt and Angle/Saxon/Celtic than Roman even in the 20th century.  But 
Imperial influence on Art, Religion, Philosopy, Architecture, 
Literature, Language, and Technology might be as pervasive as the
influence of Roman and Greek cultures in the former Roman Empire. 
However, I see the true Imperial Culture being as dead as the Roman 
Culture is now -- a lot of wannabes shortly afterward, and a 
pervasive, lingering influence on all the "liberal" Arts, but never 
quite the same again.

>And look how long others tried to keep the "idea" of the Ceasars
>going - all the way up to the last Czar.

<grin> Even later than that -- Mussolini portrayed himself and the 
Fascists as restoring the glory of the Roman Empire.  Ever notice that
the Italians in WWII used the Roman Legionary standard?  And Hitler 
didn't use the Roman eagle clutching a swastika in its claws by 
coincidence.

From: zcfbj00 <zcfbj00@ucl.ac.uk>

> Seriously, I would appreciate some kind of reasoning behind
>condemning millions of people to live in a 750 atm pressure, 
>radioactive Hydrofluoric Acid atmosphere with oceans that corrode you
>if you even THINK about them.....
>   And no sneaky saying that the population actually live on the
>planet's moon! If they did that, then the more habitable moon should 
>be listed in the UPP, and not the hellhole it orbits!

    I put 'em in orbital habitats, myself.  Humans just don't live on 
worlds like that.  Of course, aliens who are native to the environment
are another case entirely... Some of those high-pop hellholes may be 
inhabited by the local equivalent of Chlorans, or Mesklinites.






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

Bundle: 579
Archive-Message-Number: 7265
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 1994 19:12:28 +0200
From: Roger Myhre <myhre@oslonett.no>
Subject: FTP Gvurrdon stats       

>From: chiggin@aol.com
>    Can you e-mail the Gvurrdon data and history, or put it up for
>ftp?  I avoid surface mail like the plague.  Also, do you have stats
>for the next sector spinward?  I would like to see what the rest of
>the Thirz Empire looks like, as I haven't gotten around to rolling the
>rest of it up, yet.
I'll see what I can do. E-mail is out of the question as I use a
offliner which mainly is used against BBS's. And using it up against
Internet properly is impossible. I can however try to put them up at a
FTP site. I haven't done that before, as I'm quite new to the net. So
any instructions would be appreciated.

I doesn't have the stats of the sector spinward of Gvurrdon. I have been
trying to get those for more than 2 years, but the sector has been
changing hand in HIWG a few times, and I do not know who's holding that
position at the moment.


>>Zhodani. In my campaign Thirz Empire is Zhodani backed, while what's
>>left of Thoengling are Imperial backed. And the zoo needs the
>>stability much as Regency needs it.

>    Yah, that's mostly what I did.  I figured that a strong Vargr
>nation that close to Zho borders was probably on good relations with
>the Zhodani, or the Zhos would have picked a fight with them and
>broken them up years ago.  I have been running the Thirz as having a
>vaguely Irish-Celtic "government" -- a bunch of semi-autonomous
>planetary "kings" and clan-lords owing fealty to the "High King"
>(mistranslated as Emperor by the Imperials).  I see the Society
>of Equals as a loose confederation, based on the name and the
>various Vargr scenarios that have been set there. Right now (1112) the
>Thirz lords are hungry for the rich worlds of the Society of Equals,
>and are picking a fight based on the multi-national slave trade going
>on between them.  (The Society allows slavery, the Thirz don't.
>Extra-national corsairs raid Thirz and independant worlds for slaves
>to sell on Society worlds.)

As I read it we got quite similar perception about Thirz Empire and
Society of Equals (SoE). But in my campaign Thirz has given back some of
the worlds, as they became unruly under their domination. However they
kept a few. At the moment SoE eyes the build up of forces along the
border to Thirz suspiciously. They do both share border with the wilds
close by. And the zoo and Regency are worried that a shooting war might
errupt. This might lead to that their borders will be poorly defended
against the Virus as the forces are drawn to the front.


Roger "StarWolf" Myhre
                          

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

Bundle: 579
Archive-Message-Number: 7266
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 94 15:04:37 EDT
From: usboa001@ibmmail.COM
Subject: 2300AD List                                                      

- ----------------------- Mail item text follows ---------------

To: I1057915--IBMMAIL  Pedro Tavares
cc: I1057280--IBMMAIL  Traveller Mailing

From:  Dennis L. O'Brien
       Consulting Systems Engineer
       VM Systems Software 5863             (510) 675-5594
Subject: 2300AD List
Pedro,
    I would like to be on the 2300AD list, but have no access to usenet; my
Internet access is E-mail only.  Either a mailing of the newsgroup digest, or
using a mailing list instead of a newsgroup, would be fine with me.

    I don't know if my earlier notes to Pedro got through, so I'm also posting
this to TML, in hopes that Pedro will see it there.

                                       Dennis
 *
    Those who beat their swords into plowshares may one day find
    themselves under the yoke of those who kept their swords.

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

Bundle: 579
Archive-Message-Number: 7267
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 1994 17:34:07 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Michael A. Masten" <deadlock@hopi.dtcc.edu>
Subject: Re: 2300 AD

If there is a mailing list, newsgroup, or what-have-you, I am greatly 
interested in such things and would appreciate it if I was added to the 
list(s).

Thank you.

Murphy's Law:   Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
Deadlock's Rule:  If anything goes wrong, remove all evidence of your
		  involvement and blame someone else.
deadlock@hopi.dtcc.edu


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

Bundle: 579
Archive-Message-Number: 7268
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 1994 17:42:32 -0700
From: rodge@cyberspace.com (Roger Sanger)
Subject: off-line for two days


The internet site that I have an account with will be off-line 6pm-midnight
on both the 14th and 15th, for maintenance.  So mail sent to me during
that time will probably rebound.

Rodge.

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

Bundle: 579
Archive-Message-Number: 7269
From: Joni M Virolainen <jonimv@evitech.fi>
Subject: Technophobia
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 1994 09:44:21 +0200 (EET)

Howdy!

So you have trouble accepting that technophobia (and techno worshipping)
in TNE. I have a little trouble with this technophobia thing too.
In my game technophobic planets are those planets which had high TL before
the collapse and a (very) low TL now in the new era. I can't imagine a TL 7
planet with technophobia. Those planets doesn't worship technology either.

But I think that technophobic planets are possible, even probable.
For example let's assume you had a dog when you was a child, you really loved
it and felt very sad when it died. But you decided not to buy a new dog. After
several years from your dog's death you walk in the street minding your own
business when a BIG DOG (maybe even rabies infected) attacks you! It really
beats you up tearing half of your face to unrecognisable mass, eats your
right arm and piss on your back. Then you wake up in a hospital and recover
slowly and even if you recover fully you will fear dogs or at least feel very
nervous when you see one again. I'm *not* hoping that this ever happens to
any of you guys and I don't even hate dogs that's just an example, right?

With this example I wanted to tell you how irrational phobias are. And what
comes to that point that most grand fathers remember that glorious time when
technology was people's friend, they also remember their
friends who were killed by Virus infected machines. How about that technology 
worshipping? If there are a living Virus infected computer controlled military
base or high port which can affect the people's life for example making it very
short, can be a very possible subject of worshipping. Heck, people worship
even abstract things which somebody claims to be gods.  I suppose that
nobody worships a microwave owen, on the other hand why not?

I'd like to hear about that Earth Colony campaign and more about that
bodysnatcher adventure.

Well, I suppose that's it...

And remember...

 ... Mercenaries don't die, they just go to Hell to recruit

*********************************** 
* WARNING      / Joni Virolainen  *
* Biological   / VANTAA, FINLAND  *
* Hazard !!!   / jonimv@evitech.fi*
***********************************

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

Bundle: 579
Archive-Message-Number: 7270
From: Bertil Jonell <d9bertil@dtek.chalmers.se>
Subject: Re: 45 and 9
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 1994 20:40:38 +0200 (MET DST)

> From: chiggin@aol.com
> Subject: Penetration & Corrosion
> 
> 9mm 
> TL6 autopistol -- sounds like a Walther P-38 or other 9mm Parabellum 
> equivalent.  Not anywhere near the muzzle energy of a rifle round, or 
> even .45 ACP.

  According to both 3G and the Kemira-Vihtavouri reloading guide
9mm Parabellum vary between 337 Joule and 500 Joule and .45 ACP between
470 Joule and 506 Joule, so it is definately wrong to say that a 9mm has
significantly lower energy than a .45

  Short nines (makarov, .380 ACP and so on) however is a different story.

- -bertil-
- -- 
Legal Notice: Exporting 'personal data' to non-European countries without
special license issued by the Computer Inspection Agency ('Datainspektionen')
for each specific case (message) is a crime. Personal data include names,
even my name. If you read this message outside Europe, I'm a criminal.

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

Bundle: 579
Archive-Message-Number: 7271
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 1994 12:12:40 -0700
From: rodge@cyberspace.com (Roger Sanger)
Subject: world write-ups

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Does anyone have any write-ups for worlds in the Spinward Marches?
 
Any era.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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

Bundle: 579
Archive-Message-Number: 7272
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 94 17:59:39 CDT
From: djohnson@geds01.jsc.nasa.gov (David Johnson)
Subject: Traveller Background 14

Gentlesophonts:
 
>From Tuesday night, Roger Sanger <rodge@cyberspace.com> writes:
 
> Therefore, the Regency, the Zhodani Consolate, the Darrian
> Confederation, the Sword Worlds, and all the governments further
> spinward each have a very high stake in keeping the peace and
> tolerating each others' presence.

"Only fools fight in a burning house."
                     - Klingon proverb

> And what of the MegaCorporations?  Wouldn't they want to reclaim
> their companies' assets?

I don't think so.  More like worried their former `bosses' want to
reclaim their Deneb operations!

Where do the megacorps fit in in terms of the Regency political blocs we've
identified?  Certainly, many megacorps will be prominent in the Isolationist
bloc because they'll want to maintain their new-found autonomy.  Megacorps
might also then be expected to support the Autonomists in breaking from
the Imperial past.  In this sense, both the Quarantine and promotion of a
move from `regency' to `independence' or autonomy can be seen as being in
the interests of the major economic concerns in the Regency.  The megacorps
might also support the Aristocrats (since many megacorp leaders are nobles)
and the Santanocheevists because an expansion of psi-talents might not be
good for business (nor would greater accommodation with the Zhodani - at
least not for those in the `military-industrial complex').

 
James Kundert <james@dumbcat.sf.ca.us> writes:
 
>  This brings up some good questions, however.  What is the nature of
> "adventuring" in the Zhodani Consulate?  Does such a thing exist
> in the Imperial sense of the term? 

Certainly the Zhodani Core Expeditions suggest an `exploratory' interest
in the Consulate.  Has anyone ever run across a Zhodani equivalent to the
IISS?  I would think the Zhodani exploratory service would be similar to
Starfleet in the "Next Generation" era with `counselors' on every ship
to help the crews deal with the stresses of the unknown.

 
Steven M Bonneville <bonnevil@mermaid.micro.umn.edu> writes:

> I'm not sure what will be going on with the Sword Worlds,
> especially considering the partition after the 5FW.

I've always been a Sword Worlder.  (I `served' in the Second Grav Tank Corps
during the 5FW as a result of the *JTAS* `draft' *way* back when.)
We've already noted that the Sword Worlds were the home of the original
`Space Vikings' from H. Beam Piper's Future History.  Obviously, there were
and are Piper fans at GDW but the Sword Worlds never seem to achieve the
`glory' of Piper's novel.

It would seem that the most sensible course for the Domain of Deneb, and later
the Regency, would be to turn the Sword Worlds into an `buffer' state against
the *ihatei*.  The partition of the Sword Worlds following the 5FW, the
natural infighting of the Sword Worlders themselves, and the ability of
the Regency to focus on the SW in light of the Zhodani `rapproachment'
would all seem to facilitate such meddling.

> New scout bases
> (Regency Quarantine Service bases, actually) will be constructed

If the Quarantine Service is the successor to the IISS in the Regency how
does the role of this service interact with the `Aslan-dominated Patrol'
created by Norris during the Rebellion?  [FACT ALERT - I don't have TNE
rules!]  :-)


Allen Shock <34ZBTXQ@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU> writes:

>    GDW are the aribiters of the OFFICIAL Imperium Space background. They made
> it up, and continue to develop it. In terms of what the OFFICIAL supplements
> say, their word IS "law".
>    The point is, NO ONE HAS TO USE THE OFFICIAL BACKGROUND!
> Even for those who wish to take
> the Imperium and alter it to suit their tastes, such as disposing of the
> Virus
> and even the Rebellion.

I agree but how should we (I?) deal with those responses to criticism of the
official campaign (in effect `altering it to suit my tastes') that say
`such and such doesn't matter' because `it says so in the rule book'?  This
is absolutely true but I don't see how such a response furthers or contributes
to the discussion at all.  IMHO, there's not much point to a discussion about
the `gospel' of the official rules.  That seems to me to be something like 
the joke about the guys in prison who just yell out numbers and everyone
laughs except when the new guy tries it because he `just can't tell a joke'.
I can see it now:  TNE page 32!  Yeah, and *PoT* pages 14-17!  No, no.  *FF&S*
page 64 . . . .

>     The one disadvantage of coming up with your own background or altering
> the
> existing one is that there is less support material that you can just use
>"off
> the shelf". However, if you're creative enough to create your own
> background in
> the first place, writing your own support material shouldn't bee too tough.

Another disadvantage is that it's tough to discuss your own campaign on a
public forum like TML!  :-)

> GDW owns the "official" Traveller background, but you DON'T have to use it.

Ah, ho!


Cynthia Higginbotham <chiggin@aol.com> writes:
 
> From: muskrat500@aol.com
> 
> >Why not a middle ground? Imperial Culture (capital letters, please) 
> >that had 1,000 to ingrain itself won't be wiped out by a 70-year 
> >gap.  Even the entire Dark Ages didn't wipe away the influence of 
> >Rome on, for example, Northern Europe.  
> 
> Good point.  My idea was that most worlds NEVER HAD an Imperial 
> Culture ingrained; that *most* worlds had their own culture with a 
> "interface" layer of Imperial Culture among the nobility and the 
> starport personnel.  It would be more reasonable to assume that the 
> Imperial Culture never *replaced* the original culture on these worlds
> - -- even as the peasant cultures of France and England are more Gallic 
> Celt and Angle/Saxon/Celtic than Roman even in the 20th century.  But 
> Imperial influence on Art, Religion, Philosopy, Architecture, 
> Literature, Language, and Technology might be as pervasive as the
> influence of Roman and Greek cultures in the former Roman Empire.

Well, yes, but won't most of those worlds venturing into space during
TNE be doing so through the *technological* heritage of Imperial Culture?
And won't this make a Revenant [FACT ALERT - I don't have TNE!] just as
comfortable in most Pocket Empires, including the RC, as an ancient Greco-
Roman would be among the Neoclassical `gentlemen citizens' of Jeffersonian
America?  More so even since the temporal displacement is only 70 years
rather than 700?

> However, I see the true Imperial Culture being as dead as the Roman 
> Culture is now -- a lot of wannabes shortly afterward, and a 
> pervasive, lingering influence on all the "liberal" Arts, but never 
> quite the same again.

Say it ain't so!  :-)

> From: zcfbj00 <zcfbj00@ucl.ac.uk>
> 
> > Seriously, I would appreciate some kind of reasoning behind
> >condemning millions of people to live in a 750 atm pressure, 
> >radioactive Hydrofluoric Acid atmosphere with oceans that corrode you
> >if you even THINK about them.....
> 
>     I put 'em in orbital habitats, myself.

I face the music - the world generation rules, to be polite, leave much
to be desired.  Being the heretic that I am, I lower the population
level.  I mean, come on, you might find *some* rational for millions of
sophonts in that sort of system (wherever they live) but you're stretching
any reasonable limits of the imagination to do it several places in the
same sector. 
 

Jeff Zeitlin <jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com> writes:

>    Actually, ghettoization is probably the wrong word.  What I'm 
>    thinking of is the planet that becomes a "banana republic" - its 
>    only source of foreign (interstellar) exchange becomes raw 
>    materials that high-tech cultures need but will not pay high 
>    prices for.

Okay, but didn't this exist in the Imperium too?  How is this different
in TNE?
 
>    OK, I finally have it straight, once and for all.  It's NOT in 
>    AV.  It's NOT in TNE itself.  It _IS_ in Survival Margin.

[FACT ALERT: I don't have *SV* either!  But if anybody's got a *used*
copy . . . . :-) ]

>    On P30, Strephon effectively makes his decision to abdicate by 
>    choosing not to cooperate with IRIS.  That this is his attitude, 
>    rather than it being beneath his dignity, is confirmed by the 
>    statement that IRIS will "get me out of this" and by (P31) his 
>    apparent happiness at his claim being disallowed.  So we know 
>    that Strephon has abdicated.

We learned this in *AV* too.  We're told that Strephon refused to
cooperate with IRIS because he was distraught by the violence and 
suffering that resulted from his reappearance in Gushemege.

>    to Norris on P51, where he sends Avery "with them" [the AV],

So Avery appears in *SV* too?  Do we learn anything more about him
there?
 
>    Strephon confirms Norris's assumption of the title of 
>    Archduke, gives him Jumpstart, and warns him about Longbow.  He 
>    also makes it clear that Norris is the only one left to carry on 
>    the traditions of the Imperium.  Recall also the Domain's last 
>    words to the interstellar communications network: "We keep the 
>    flame".  Though veiled, this can be taken as a reference that 
>    they _know_ that they have the only rightful claim to the mantle 
>    of the 3I.

Here's an interesting question: does Strephon have this authority?
Also, we (the `real' us) are told that Strephon is genuine but the information
in *AV*, including the ref's info, suggests the PCs, and therefore
Norris and the rest of the Domain, are less certain.  Does *SV* shed any
light to confirm to Norris that Strephon is genuine?  What good is this
`claim to the mantle of the Imperium' if Strephon's identity remains
suspect?

>    Recall, however, that after a much 
>    shorter period, a previous regent (during the Civil War (in the 
>    600s)) took the thrown as Regent, rather than Emperor, until she 
>    was asked, by the Moot, to take the title as well as the 
>    authority. 

This suggests that Strephon *didn't* have the authority to `pass the crown'
on to Norris.  In order to become Emperor, he or his descendant would have
to be `confirmed' by the Moot - or ignore them like Lucan did.  Of course
if the only Imperial aristocracy to survive is in the Regency then this
issue of Moot approval may become moot.  ;-)

> It is not unreasonable to assume that the same will 
>    happen with Norris or his successor, or possibly Avery or one of 
>    his descendants.

I agree, but what does this say about the eventual fate of the new 
Democrats in the Regency?

> TML::>The fact that the `Rape 
>    ::>Trin' became wide-spread pubic knowledge
>    ::>mean that it served Norris's purposes somehow.
> 
>    Not necessarily.  News that is not in the Government's best 
>    interests _will_ get out somehow.  And it will spread by the 
>    fastest available route.  Remember a break-in at a major 
>    Washington, DC, hotel, around about 1974?

Hmmm, this might be a decidely `American' view about press freedoms.  Any of
our British friends care to interject a few words about the "Official
Secrets Act"?  Watergate is a poor example because powerful political
interests (Democrats) existed who benefited greatly from the disclosure.
I can't imagine the Isolationists being that powerful in a multi-bloc
Regency, unless *Norris* wanted them to be.

And keep this in mind.  If *news* of a Virus assault on Trin (or Gram?)
got off-world (or out-system, at least) then the *Virus* might have as well!
That's a good enough reason to keep the news under wraps in and of itself.
So I maintain, if the news broke, it served Norris's interests.
 
>    No, not really more powerful.  The primary evolution of Virus 
>    was toward a non-suicidal, and non-homicidal form - because it 
>    is more conducive to spreading Virus, i.e., survival.  This 
>    evolution was facilitated by the ability of many substrains and 
>    strains to interact with each other.  But this kind of 
>    interaction is slowed down when you have a situation in which 
>    the spread of Virus is slowed down.  Thus, strains of Virus 
>    approaching the protected states through the Vargr Extents will 
>    tend to be earlier strains, and therefore more dangerous ones.

If you meant to write ". . . this kind of interaction *increases* (rather
than *is slowed down*) when you have a situation in which the spread of
Virus is slowed down" then I get your point.  Sorry I'm so dense.  :-)
 
>    I refer you to the outcome of the Civil War of the 600s.  
>    History _does_ tend to repeat itself.  

Maybe, but Arbellatra was the `one, true choice' that was so missing in
the Rebellion.  Norris isn't if any other factional power manages to
survive the Collapse.  *We* know none have (with the possible exception
of whatever's behind the Black Curtain) but *Norris* doesn't - at least
not yet.

>    Can _anyone_ descended from 
>    _any_ factional leader, no matter how "good" his/her lineage, 
>    and how pure his/her motives, establish a _morally_ justifiable 
>    claim to the Iridium Throne?

Certainly.  Lucan would have enjoyed universal support if he hadn't been
implicated in the death of Varian.  (That's why Dulinor tried to have him
killed).  The Imperium doesn't have the `Klingon' tradition of offspring
bearing the burdens of the crimes of the parents so any `kinder, gentler'
descendant of Lucan might enjoy widespread support.  An usurper in Illelish
might gain support if she managed to topple Dulinor - even in Illelish -
once Dulinor went completely off the deep end into religious fanaticism.
(Convenient how GDW played that, isn't it?)  Margaret might have done it
in the Rebellion if she hadn't turned out to be a bigot.  (More convenience.)
A `kinder, gentler' descendant of hers would have advantages similar to
Lucan's heirs.  Likewise `regencies' in Antares or Daibei might offer
claims nearly as valid as Norris's and would enjoy similar levels of
support in their cores had they managed to survive the onslaught of Virus.

>  I suspect that when/if this 
>    situation arises, and push comes to shove, that the people of 
>    the Regency will stand behind the Regent, rather than the 
>    Pretender.  At that time, when the _people_ realize that the 
>    Regent is in fact the Emperor, the Regent will "reluctantly
>    accept the summons to the Iridium Throne."

Despite my points above, I'm convinced you've divined where GDW is headed.

Peace,

David Johnson
Houston, Texas, USA

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

End of TML Bundle
******************
To: traveller@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Submissions)
Date: Sun, 17 Apr 94 22:00:02 EDT
From: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin)
Subject: TML bundle #580: Msgs 7273-7287 
Approved: by traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin) Sun Apr 17 22:00:02 EDT 1994
Reply-To: traveller@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Submissions)
Errors-To: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca
Precedence: bulk

TML bundles come from the archives maintained by
traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin).

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

Date: Sun, 17 Apr 94 22:00:02 EDT
From: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin)
Subject: TML bundle #580: Table of Contents

BUN# =AMN= =DATE====== =FROM==========  =SUBJECT/BODY==========================
 580  7273 13-Apr-1994 "Susan M. Shock  Campaigns << My previous post was inten
 580  7274 13-Apr-1994 Muir Macpherson  ghettoization <<  Jeff Zeitlin said he 
 580  7275 12-Apr-1994 Jeff Zeitlin     71:19/7242 Alien Races << Subject: 71:1
 580  7276 13-Apr-1994 Erwin Fritz      Re: TML nightly: Msgs 7268-7272 V72#2 <
 580  7277 14-Apr-1994 Stewart Eyres    Roger Sanger << Rodger Sanger
 580  7278 14-Apr-1994 James Kundert    Zhodani Adventures << djohnson@geds01.j
 580  7279 14-Apr-1994 Steven M Bonnev  Re: Technophobia << Joni M Virolainen <
 580  7280 14-Apr-1994 James Dening     Press freedom << As regards David Johns
 580  7281 14-Apr-1994 "Alexander W. H  Virus being psionice << I really like t
 580  7282 14-Apr-1994 lazerbrain@aol.  Regency Material << I am new to this ga
 580  7283 14-Apr-1994 Mark Fletcher    Politics an all that << Hi my name is M
 580  7284 14-Apr-1994 Jerry Sanders    Traveller Chronicle Issue #4  << I'm ba
 580  7285 14-Apr-1994 Curtiss Cicco    << Is there a FAQ available for this ma
 580  7286 15-Apr-1994 Mark Urbin       various and sundry <<   A few quick not
 580  7287 15-Apr-1994 lazerbrain@aol.  Regency Invasion << Here's a thought...

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

Bundle: 580
Archive-Message-Number: 7273
Date:         Wed, 13 Apr 94 22:30:54 EDT
From: "Susan M. Shock" <34ZBTXQ@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU>
Subject:      Campaigns

My previous post was intended to voice my opinion that picking apart the GDW
background for Traveller is kind of like complaining about the weather; every-
body does it, but nobody does anything about the problem! To give examples:
    Some people don't like the fact that thrusters now use fuel. Fine! use the
Thruster Plates from Fire, Fusion and Steel.
    Some folks don't like the Virus, and this is their main objection to TNE.
Fine! Come up with some OTHER reason for the Collapse to have occured.
    Some people don't like the Collapse at all. Fine! Write your own course of
events for the Rebellion. Perhaps have a less lethal form of Virus around, and
use it to explain why crews are larger on most ships.
    Finally, some people don't like TNE at all. Fine! Play Classic Traveller
or MegaTraveller! Just because Challenge only prints TNE adventures doesn't
mean some other gaming magazine, such as Pyramid or White Wolf, will. There
might still be possibility for support for the older systems (especially if
adventures have stats for all three versions!)
    People who cry "You can't do that! That's not in the rules!" are right
ONLY if you're running the "off-the-shelf" Imperium Universe campaign. What
you do in your own campaign is YOUR right. I frankly know very few campaigns
that a dedicated critic couldn't rip to shreads for "inconsistencies", real
or imagined, if they want to. If the campaign is fun for the players and allows
them to suspend disbelief enough to enjoy themselves, it's fine.

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

Bundle: 580
Archive-Message-Number: 7274
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 1994 19:54:56 -0700
From: Muir Macpherson <muirmac@ocf.Berkeley.EDU>
Subject: ghettoization

	Jeff Zeitlin said he was looking for a better word for 
"ghettoization."  In the poli sci literature the word is "dependency."
If you're really interested in this subject there's a good book
called _Dependent Development_ by Peter Evans about Brazil.
	You could easily adapt the experiences of Brazil and countries
like it to an interstellar civilization.  To put it in Traveller terms:
	Megacorps or companys from hi-tech worlds establish subsidiaries
on low-tech worlds to take advantage of their raw materials and low
labor costs.  They may then establish local suppliers of inputs for
their products, eithe because the local government forces them to or
because its cheaper than importing.  Often they transfer some technology
to their local partners so that they can better produce the inputs
that the megacorps need.
	This often creates a two tier society with a ring of hi-tech
export industries clustered around the starport while the rest of
the planet languishes at its basic tech level.  The megacorps workers
and the employees of its suppliers will have much higher incomes than

the rest of the planet and will begin demanding luxury consumer goods
from off-world.
	A cozy relationship can grow up between he megacorps, the local
suppliers, and the government.  The megacorps get cheap production, the
local suppliers get a lot of business, and the government gets good tax
revenue.  Unfortunately, a lot of the money generated by these activites
may go into maintaing the life-style of those in this triple alliance.
This could be the basis for the "imperial society" that has been
discussed elsewhere.
	Adventure opportunities abound in this situation and can easily
be taken from history.  You could have rebels seizing control of the
gov't and "nationalizing" the megacorps assets, which might cause
intervention from Imperial Marines to "protect the lives and property
of Imperial citizens."  It doesn't have to be the empire either.  You
could use this in the Regency or in the RC.  
	What happens if a newly "assimilated" world decides to try and
kick the RC out?  What if the megacorps are trying to recover national-
ized assets?  How about being in the pay of rebels who want to 
interfere with the operations of the megacorps?  Maybe the players' 
ship is carrying the megacorps products and is hijacked so as to
"liberate" the cargo for the rebels.
	You can have a lot of fun with this idea and history is replete
with examples that would make excellent adventure nuggets.

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

Bundle: 580
Archive-Message-Number: 7275
Subject: 71:19/7242 Alien Races
From: jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (Jeff Zeitlin)
Date: Tue, 12 Apr 94 21:02:00 -0500

Subject: 71:19/7242 Alien Races

TS::>Second, is there any plans to release any solid info on the K'kree?! I mea

  Well, you might try to get a hold of the Classic Traveller Alien 
  Module (I forgot the number) on the K'kree...  While some of the 
  info therein will certainly be dated, it won't be outdated...

  GDW did a not-quite-complete set of Alien Modules for CT.  I have 
  them all.  There were modules for Aslan, Vargr, K'kree, Hivers, 
  Solomani, Zhodani, Droyne, and Darrian.  Certainly, I'd like to 
  see GDW issue supplements/conversion guides/reworks for all of 
  these, but what's in them should still, when mixed with a little 
  imagination, be useful, whether you play in the Classic Era, 
  MegaEra, or New Era.

  With sufficient (not monetary - what've you got to trade?) 
  inducement and permission from GDW, I might be convinced to run 
  the ones I have through a photocopier and ship you the results.
==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin                                      jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com
- ---
 ~ QMPro 1.52 ~ What garlic is to salad, insanity is to art.

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

Bundle: 580
Archive-Message-Number: 7276
From: erwin@fritz.cuug.ab.ca (Erwin Fritz)
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 94 21:34:05 -0700
Subject: Re: TML nightly: Msgs 7268-7272 V72#2

In <9404140032.AA25539@engrg.uwo.ca> rodge@cyberspace.com (Roger Sanger) writes
>Subject: world write-ups

>Does anyone have any write-ups for worlds in the Spinward Marches?
> 
>Any era.
> 

I'm running the Spinward Marches in the year 1100, using CT rules.  I've
fleshed out a few worlds (I expand one every time my group jumps there).
Which ones are you interested in?


- -- 
erwin@fritz.cuug.ab.ca

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

Bundle: 580
Archive-Message-Number: 7277
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 1994 08:09:44 +0100 (BST)
From: Stewart Eyres <spe@jb.man.ac.uk>
Subject: Roger Sanger

Rodger Sanger

I don't seem to be able to reach you using the address in your mail.  
Perhaps you could try to contact me?

_____________________________________________________________________________
"Traveller Done Wrong 
	- Let's get the Fiction back into Science Fiction Roleplaying"

Stewart								N.R.A.L.
								Jodrell Bank
								Macclesfield
spe@jb.man.ac.uk						Cheshire
								SK11 9DL
____________________________________________________________________________


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

Bundle: 580
Archive-Message-Number: 7278
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 94 01:01:53 PDT
From: James Kundert <james@dumbcat.sf.ca.us>
Subject: Zhodani Adventures

djohnson@geds01.jsc.nasa.gov (David Johnson) says:

>Certainly the Zhodani Core Expeditions suggest an `exploratory' interest
>in the Consulate.  Has anyone ever run across a Zhodani equivalent to the
>IISS?  I would think the Zhodani exploratory service would be similar to
>Starfleet in the "Next Generation" era with `counselors' on every ship
>to help the crews deal with the stresses of the unknown.

 This was never a question.  The best "gung-ho" adventures available
to the Zhodani are the Core Expeditions and all the little stuff
on and off the Core Road between Expeditions.  As such, the sectors
of the Core Road (term coined by me, BTW; no need to look it up)
are marvelously safe from a private campaign point of view.  There
are more sectors on the Core Road than in all the rest of Explored
Space, and _no_one_ will ever publish anything to counter your work
(Security Leak #5 not withstanding).  Sure all your PCs are Zhodani,
but once you peel off the respective Noble layers the Zhodani and
the Imperium are _very_ similar.

 But I was asking about adventure _within_ the Consulate.  Because
of one inherent difference (not psi, BTW), we poor Solomani cannot
conceive of and detail the vast range of Zhodani world-bound cultures.
We have enough trouble with _Imperial_ world-bound cultures.  The
result is that the Consulate looks fairly monochrome to us, and no
fun to adventure in, native PCs or not.  I suspect that in "Real
Life" this just isn't so.  As many Solomani philosophers will tell
you, "Life is an Adventure," and this applies to the Zhodani as well
as to all other Human races in Explored Space.  The high degree and
unusual success of the Zhodani social engineering scheme does little
to affect this maxim of humanity.
 What is the difference that makes visualization so difficult?  The
basic underlying (and utter) honesty of the Zhodani.  This immediately
cuts out a great many adventure seeds that work just fine in Imperial
space.  Think about it.  How many Amber Zones over the years have had
lying, cheating, or stealing somewhere in their makeup or motivation?
Or private military operations?  Murder?  Dropping any of these into
Zhodani space will attract every Tavrchedl' in the subsector, not to
mention the Consular Navy and maybe SORAG, all of whom are much
nosier than their Imperial counterparts when it comes to member
worlds.
 This problem makes the sectors that _border_ the Consulate much
easier to detail than wholly interior sectors.  In these places there
are peoples with honesty levels closer to Imperial/Solomani norms
who are much easier to develop, leaving the Zhodani (who probably
dominate the sector from the real estate point of view) as the
"big, stuffy, puritanical neighbors."

James Kundert <j.kundert@genie.geis.com>
              <james@dumbcat.sf.ca.us>

There was a young lady named Bright,
Whose speed was much faster, much faster than Light.
She departed one day in a relative way,
And returned on the previous Night.
   --Albert & the Heart of Gold

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

Bundle: 580
Archive-Message-Number: 7279
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 1994 09:21:59 -0500
From: bonnevil@mermaid.micro.umn.edu (Steven M Bonneville)
Subject: Re: Technophobia

Joni M Virolainen <jonimv@evitech.fi> writes:

>But I think that technophobic planets are possible, even probable.
 . . . [example comparing to nasty dog attack] . . .                  
>With this example I wanted to tell you how irrational phobias are.

Hear, hear!  And in the case of Virus, technophobia is a damn rational
response -- assuming that anyone is left rational afterwards.  Living
through a Virus attack on an unprepared, unsuspecting world would be
like a movie by Steven King (or another wild horror author) on a real
bad acid trip.  The problems start small, but get worse and worse as
Virus takes hold.  Anything that's automated can and will be used
in the most destructive way the controlling Virus can think of (at
least in the case of the secondary Viral strains).  

Not only would survivors of such an attack be pretty screwed up for a
long time afterward, they might never find out why all their machinery
turned against them.  This could lead to all sorts of crazy speculation,
and the idea that a controlling spirit residing in a computer decided
to visit itself on humaniti to make it suffer for the sins of the
Rebellion, in the absence of any other plausible explanation, might
carry the day.  (Besides, the concept of Virus isn't exactly all that
rational either...considering all the debate on the TML on how to
explain how it can possibly work.)

>I'd like to hear about that Earth Colony campaign and more about that
>bodysnatcher adventure.

I agree.  No reason to limit discussion to the GDW universe here,
after all.  It would definitely be interesting to hear about some
of the variants people have come up with.


*******************************************************************************
 Steve Bonneville                | "Beware the tablespoon my son,
                                 |  The teeth that bite, the Claus that catch,
 bonnevil@mermaid.micro.umn.edu  |  Beware the Subjects bird, and shred
                                 |  The serious Bandwidth!"
*******************************************************************************


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

Bundle: 580
Archive-Message-Number: 7280
From: James Dening <james@camscan.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 94 15:55:34 BST
Subject: Press freedom


As regards David Johnson asking:

>> Hmmm, this might be a decidely `American' view about press freedoms.  Any of
>> our British friends care to interject a few words about the "Official
>> Secrets Act"?  

Hmmm, yes. I don't actually know if this is a strictly American thing. There
is certainly a public opinion over here that 'that sort of thing just wouldn't
happen....' but several cases, such as the admission of MI5 (CIA/FBI) trying
to destabilise the Labour govmts of the 70's (Read Spycatcher by Peter Wright,
the book Maggie had banned in the UK), and that huge coincidence when a lawyer's
office safe was broken into, that just happened to contain the only documents
relating to adultery by the leader of one of our opposition parties (Paddy
Pantsdown). 

As for the Official secrets act, the government do have the power to nail you
to the wall - *if* you've signed it! They can also put D notices on newspapers,
but to do that, they have to know if the paper are going to print it, before
they can stop them! (Any lawyers who can give more details, please do, I'm
only really good on the Data Protection Act 1984, and speeding in built-up 
areas in the hours of darkness.)

Freedom of speech is quite good here (in theory) you cannot be stopped unless
you have entered into a contract with the govt. not to disclose etc. (the OSA).
Certainly I would agree with Jeff, when he says

>    Not necessarily.  News that is not in the Government's best 
>    interests _will_ get out somehow.  And it will spread by the 
>    fastest available route.  

Of course it will - well in any enlightened democracy......does this include
the Regency under Norris? Opinions on an e-postcard please..

(Sorry about this non-Traveller stuff....I'll get to the point...)

The point is that the higher the technological level gets, the less powerful
in numbers etc you have to be compared to your political enemies in order to 
get the dirt on them, IHMO. The Isolationists may have gotten lucky, but
equally Norris could have engineered the leak. However, I don't think the I's
would have to be particulally resourceful to find the dirt on something as
big as the Rape of Trin - I mean, an awful lot of people must have known
something was up, one way or another - couriers, traders, etc.


James.

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

Bundle: 580
Archive-Message-Number: 7281
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 1994 15:58:46 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Alexander W. Holt" <awh2@crux4.cit.cornell.edu>
Subject: Virus being psionice

I really like the idea of the virus being psionic.   I think that eases 
alot problems with the virus itself.  Way to go John!   The other idea I 
was wondering about is, what about the virus has a player character?  Say 
suck in a ship, robot, or etc...   I think you could have a lot of fun 
developing that in to a could campaign or side adventure.  


					Alex

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

Bundle: 580
Archive-Message-Number: 7282
From: lazerbrain@aol.com
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 94 17:03:29 EDT
Subject: Regency Material

I am new to this game system as well as this list, AOL only recently adding
the INTERNET thing and all.  My primary interest in TNE is in the Regency
[for various reasons].  I was wondering, in the mass of books GDW is pumping
out for this system have they even bothered to include any more material on
the Regency than what's in TNE?  Is Norris still ArchDuke?  Did the Vargr
keep the territory they gained from MegaTraveller [I have the box set of that
one...yuck]?  Any new material at all?

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

Bundle: 580
Archive-Message-Number: 7283
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 1994 22:26:17 +0100 (BST)
From: Mark Fletcher <mf1@st-andrews.ac.uk>
Subject: Politics an all that


Hi my name is Mark Fletcher, and this is the first time I've posted to 
TML. Thanks to all the people who have informed me about TML these last 
few days.

Ive been reading some of the opinions out that some folf have given on 
the political status of the Regency, the Reformation Coalition 
(henceforth RC, its sore on the fingers!) and the Pocket Empires. Id like 
to take the time to offer my opinions on this matter; I probably stand to 
be corrected.

THE REGENCY:

The Regency perhaps is not as diversified as many people would believe. 
The Regency government would perhaps be split in two, much like the 
Houses of Parliament in Britain. One house, which would be made up from 
elected representatives, would attend to the running of day to day 
activities, whereas the second house, the House of nobles or "Moot moot" 
would oversee the long term policies of the domain. Any major changes in 
the running of matters would have to be passed before the Moot moot.

Sure there will be a degree of political views, but not as much as say, 
the Solomani Confederation. I think Norris would have forseen the 
problems in changing the government and would try to smooth things out.

To summarise, the Regency is differs little from how the Domain was run, 
except now there is a group of elected representatives assigned to make 
sure that the Nobles dont get away with murder...

REFORMATION COALITION

The last thing the RC want is to break up into small warring polities, 
and two things prevent this:

1. The Hivers: The Hivers being the long term schemers that they are 
   have realised that if they do not have a bigger say in how things are 
   run in human space, they could have some pretty xenophobic neighbours 
   pretty soon! I think that after the Hivers have rebuilt their society, 
   they probably turn their hands to altering the cultures of the former 
   Imperium with the goal of producing a more altruistic, less violent 
   culture 
2. The governments of the RC have realised the potential of technology. 
   While the RC economy is largely based on imports, there will be a 
   thriving trade in technology between these worlds, such as The Auction 
   on Aubaine. These worlds want the latest technology, the best minds, in 
   order to keep up with their neighbours.

Finally has anyone came up with a way for designing Robots for Traveller:TNE?
If so let me know. Also going back to what was said on the Regency, 
perhaps another job for the defunct IISS would be to conduct Diplomatic 
missions between the worlds of the Regency, and to help worlds with low 
TL's and low populations, so that they can contribute more to the Regency 
economy.

This might provide some interesting adventures.



_______________________________________________________________________________
   "Everything you know is wrong; watch more TV"     |   Mark Fletcher:     |
     U2, Zooropa 1993.				     |    mf1@st-and.ac.uk  |	
_______________________________________________________________________________



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Bundle: 580
Archive-Message-Number: 7284
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 1994 20:44:57 -0700 (MST)
From: Jerry Sanders <xminusjs@indirect.com>
Subject: Traveller Chronicle Issue #4 


I'm back :)

The Traveller Chronicle issue #4 has been out for a couple of weeks now. 
Those of you who've seen it already know about the changes...for those of 
you who haven't, the following is a portion of Kevins editoral:

The Editor Speaks...

Welcome to issue four of The Traveller Chronicle! How does out latest 
face lift check out? That's right - full color covers from now on...but 
issue #5 will contain even more dramatic changes... We are going to full 
size 8.5 X 11, 48 page, full color cover layout! This will allow us to 
provide more information and better appeal to the stores. There will be a 
price increase of $4.95 cover price - but the magazine is almost doubling 
in size, so we hope you'll feel it's worth it.


Subscriptions are as follows... The Traveller Chronicle is published 
quarterly at the beginning of January, April, July, and October. One year 
subscriptions are $18.00 (North America), $22.00 (Overseas Surface), and 
$30.00 (Overseas Air). Please make all payments in US funds. To make 
things easier for our overseas subscribers - we can now accept payment 
via either Mastercard or Visa (but, please keep in mind the 5% surcharge 
when using a credit card).

Enough of that...

Table of contents for issue #4:

The Far Frontiers 
(Third installment of the rimward half of the sector developed by Dale Kemper 
- --- Look for original material dealing with the  coreward half of the sector 
starting next issue by none other than TML'er James "Farstar" Kundert!)

Astrogator's Update to Disapora Sector
(Continuing the Diaspora Sector update by Charles E. Gannon)

House Rules
(A nw colimn featuring varient rules for Traveller by TML'er Guy Garnett)

Runner
(A Spinward States adventure by TML'er Joe Heck)

Planetary Profile: Skold
(A detailed look at the Skold/Deneb system by Joe Heck)

Contact! The Mermani
(A geneering experiment left on its own with the collapse of the Imperium 
by TML'er Bill White)

Imperial Fragments
(An addition to character generation by Mark "Geo" Gelinas and David McNeill)

Comming in Issue #5....


           *** A Pilot's Guide to the Caledon Subsector ***
                              -- by --
                           J.Andrew Keith

Thanks again to all the TML'ers who have made TTC a hit...
Tell next time...

Paul Sanders

P.S. Bill White.... please contact me so that we can send you payment for 
your articles...long time no hear! L8r :)

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Bundle: 580
Archive-Message-Number: 7285
Date:         Thu, 14 Apr 94 20:41:25 PST
From: Curtiss Cicco <1CMC3466@ibm.MtSAC.edu>
Subject: 

Is there a FAQ available for this mailing list?

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Bundle: 580
Archive-Message-Number: 7286
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 1994 15:05:06 -0400
From: eclipse@world.std.com (Mark Urbin)
Subject: various and sundry



  A few quick notes about combat.  Ballastic Weave is a fabric.  It's very
good at stopping fast blunt things like bullets.  What is does is spread
the damage around, thus keeping the bullet from penatrating.  It's not
perfect though.  For every die of damage it stops, the wearer still gets
one point of `blunt trauma' damage.  For example, you get hit with a round
from an 11.45mm pistol (dam:2 Pen:1-Nil) while wearing a BW suit.  The 
armor stops one die of damage but not the other.  The round it stops still
does 1 point of blunt trauma damage.  You take 1d6+1 points of damage.
(personally I like 1d10+1 better, but that's another topic...).
  The BW fabric is not good at stoping sharp (or very thin) things though.  
Swords, knives, arrows, and laser beams are good examples of what it does
not stop very well.
  According to the TUB (Traveller Upgrade Booklet) that came with FF&S 
(and available from GDW), any kind of `hard' armor (flack jacket, combat
armor, etc) would provide good protection from MP lasers.  FYI, A flack
jacket is a thick BW vest with inserts (or `plates') of metal or hard
ceramics/plastics.
  Moral of the story.  You're BW suit is pretty handy between Tech levels
of five and nine.  You are most likely to get shot by a slug thrower.
Below that and there still is a good chance you'll get stabbed.  Above
that and you start seeing lasers.  

  Where to find Spinward Marches world stats.  The Regina subsector is in the 
TNE book.  There is a CT supplement called `The Spinward Marches' which has 
data on a dozen or so subsectors.

  Challenge #72...Anybody seen it?  GDW told me (over the phone) today
that it was shipped to subscribers last week.  I'd add some time to shipping
in the US due tax filing frenzy.


- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Urbin -- eclipse@world.std.com --  These opinions are mine.
"I did not commit a crime.  What I did was to fail to comply with the law."
 -- NYC ex-mayor Dinkins, accused of not paying taxes for a number of yrs.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------



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Bundle: 580
Archive-Message-Number: 7287
From: lazerbrain@aol.com
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 94 16:05:57 EDT
Subject: Regency Invasion

Here's a thought...once the phobia over the Virus fades, what will keep the
entire Regency, Vargr, and every other sentient along the border from
mobilizing fleets and literally PLOW back into the Imperium?  Wouldn't they
all go Hell-Bent-For-Leather for the most territory that they can possibly
grab?  And that being the case, what would happen to the RCES?  I think
they'd get mowed over but quick.
And if this is the enevitable outcome, why didn't GDW just say that the
Regency was doing the Star Viking thing instead of someone else who is
destined to be conquered?  It all seems rather pointless! Anyway, it was just
a thought.  You all can scream at me now.

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