			    TRAVELLER Digest 70

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) GDW's phone number
	by "Robert O. Thomas" <rthomas@arlingtonhgts.pamd.cig.mot.com>
  2) Re: Ship Design
	by bonn0015@mermaid.itlabs.umn.edu
  3) Gunners by the Baker'd Dozen
	by michel_v@cpx.Prograph.Com (Michel R. Vaillancourt; ACP)
  4) RE: Ship Design 
	by That Computer Guy <darkstar@chopin.udel.edu>
  5) RICE Paper #AWP-00074: Persephone
	by alvin plummera <plummera@hubble.sheridanc.on.ca>
  6) Imperial Stutterwarp Comments
	by jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (JEFF ZEITLIN)

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

Date: Thu, 13 Oct 1994 17:00:29 -0500
From: "Robert O. Thomas" <rthomas@arlingtonhgts.pamd.cig.mot.com>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: GDW's phone number
Message-ID: <9410131700.ZM8163@arlingtonhgts.pamd.cig.mot.com>

does anyone have GDW's phone number?  i am attempting to order the Scouts
supplement, so i need a number (and POC, if available) for GDW.

thanx!

regards,
--robert
--

o  robert owen thomas: Unix consultant. Navy veteran. user scratching post. o
o         e-mail: rthomas@pamd.cig.mot.com --or-- robt@cymru.com            o
o                  vox: 708.632.5768  fax: 708.632.5694                     o
o                -- System Administrator's Dictionary --                    o
o    user (you'zer) n. 1 A waste of system resources; an unwanted load      o
o    on the processor(s) of a Unix system. 2 Someone who uses Caps Lock.    o


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

Date: Fri, 14 Oct 1994 00:05:53 -0500
From: bonn0015@mermaid.itlabs.umn.edu
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: Ship Design
Message-ID: <199410140505.AAA10473@seahorse.itlabs.umn.edu>

On the ship design thread:

Personally, I recommend putting in the main drive elements first --
jump drive and fuel, HEPlaR and CG, power plant for the HEPlaR and
its' fuel, and enough fuel for the minimum number of G-turns you
want the ship to have.  Then roughly figure out your crew needs for
just that.  That covers most of the ship volume right there, and
you know right away if things look tight.  You can add more power
plant, G-turns, and staterooms later when you need them.  

For staterooms, the standard designs tend to put Command in single
small staterooms and the rest of the crew doubled in the large
staterooms.  I tend to follow BR plateaus for armor factors, and
not to skimp on it.  I more lightly armor civilian ships, but if
they are big they put on a fair amount too.

Incidentally, has anyone else noticed the upper limit on starship
size in FF&S?  Try building a jump-6 800000 d-ton sphere.  You
can't.  Jump radiator surface area is tied to drive volume, so
it grows cubically while surface area only grows roughly as the
square of ship size.  The max spherical diameter at a jump size
is (18/<drive percentage>) in meters, assuming nothing else is on
the hull -- like airlocks or sensors.  You can get around this
a little by using other configurations, like needle/wedge.  But
then again, the crew sizes get obscene compared to MT for big
starships anyway.

On _Challenge_:

Around here it's harder and harder to find also.  Not that it
surprises me, I've always said it was one of the casualties of
the Rebellion.  My pet theory is that declining quality of the
articles and the declining quantity of Traveller articles has
led the local readership and stores to abandon it, but that's 
an uninformed supposition.  The loss of TNS and it's clean
design for that messy monstrosity they're using now for the
same thing is a case in point.  They could revive it for news
from the Regency of the Third Imperium (hint hint)....   

By the way, is it just me, or does the New Era seem to be 
making people's veins pop out all over the place?

  Steve Bonneville
  <bonn0015@gold.tc.umn.edu>


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

Date: Fri, 14 Oct 1994 08:25:57 -0500
From: michel_v@cpx.Prograph.Com (Michel R. Vaillancourt; ACP)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Gunners by the Baker'd Dozen
Message-ID: <9410141126.AA14363@Prograph.Com>

 Edward_Swatschek@mindlink.bc.ca wrote:
>  Crew sizes for MGs is something I'll modify for my own use (I have a hard
>time imagining what all those 128 MGunners are doing :).
>
 
   I don't think they are all target designators, if that is what you mean.
 With modern surface ships, a standard 76mm auto-cannon has several
"gunners" (six per mount, I think).  They are mainly for *maintainence* of
the weapon, as opposed to firing it.  So, 128 for a gun *that* size isn't
unreasonable.
--
    -+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=-
 Michel Vaillancourt            Written from, not for:          
 "Live, Love, Learn"            Prograph International      
 MetroCity 2.0.2.0 BBS          2745 Dutch Village Rd,         
    902.835.9766                     Halifax, NS                
1:251/17@fidonet.org            "Watch your language!"          
                                                           
                                                                           
                 
                                           


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

Date: Fri, 14 Oct 1994 13:00:20 -0400
From: That Computer Guy <darkstar@chopin.udel.edu>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: RE: Ship Design 
Message-ID: <199410141700.NAA29767@chopin.udel.edu>

In Reply to Your Message of Fri, 14 Oct 1994 01: 44:52 EDT
Date: Fri, 14 Oct 1994 13:00:19 -0400
From: That Computer Guy <darkstar@chopin.udel.edu>

: On _Challenge_:
: 
: Around here it's harder and harder to find also.  Not that it
: surprises me, I've always said it was one of the casualties of
: the Rebellion.  My pet theory is that declining quality of the
: articles and the declining quantity of Traveller articles has
: led the local readership and stores to abandon it, but that's 
: an uninformed supposition.  The loss of TNS and it's clean
: design for that messy monstrosity they're using now for the
: same thing is a case in point.  They could revive it for news
: from the Regency of the Third Imperium (hint hint)....   
: 
: By the way, is it just me, or does the New Era seem to be 
: making people's veins pop out all over the place?

I'm kinda lucky in the fact that my hobby store does always order a
copy or two (since the owner knows I'll be picking it up).  But the
number of copies that he gets has dwindled down.

As for viens popping out all over the place.  Well, let me just say
this (yes, I'm gonna bitch and complain, and reminise about the good
'ol days for just a second).  The one thing that I really liked about
MT was that even though it was suppossed to start off in the Spinward
Marches, you could get source material for another place on the map,
and another type of campaign.  Rebellion Sourcebook, Hinterworlds and
Julian Protectorate Supplements, DGP's grand tour of the Imperium,
etc...  In other words, GDW, you've been way too slow in getting out
this Regency Sourcebook, and way too eager to keep cramming this RCES
crap down our throats...

       --Jerry

|>  Jerry Alexandratos                **  "vengo de la tierra del    <|
|>  darkstar@strauss.udel.edu         **   fuego ten cuidado cuando  <|
|>  darkstar@canary.pearson.udel.edu  **   llamas mi nombre..."      <|

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

Date: Fri, 14 Oct 1994 15:38:44 -0400 (EDT)
From: alvin plummera <plummera@hubble.sheridanc.on.ca>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: RICE Paper #AWP-00074: Persephone
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.1.9410141543.A21124-e100000@hubble.sheridanc.on.ca>


 [ P.S. Jeff, you can reset my RICE no.  These papers are actually set for
the
 year 1200, since a) they can form a basis for roleplayers in 1201 b) the
 year "1200" looks more cooler than "1201".  Also, I can't be bothered to
 actually figure out the number-of-days for the Imperial Dates.
 
 Also, I noticed that at ghost.cc.missouri.edu, you didn't add your own
 "Glisten" paper.  Would you do so, please?  Thanks...                     ]
 
 
 Persephone (Lunion:Spinward Marches/2228)
 B775833-A W  922Re M2V
 B4A-0 502-8NA0-2A Re3
 g=.7962  day=26:03:35.06; year=64d 19:10:59.75/59d 16:15:46.60
 atmos=.92, natural weather
 Temp=0 (6/lat +18 to -42) (season 17 to -26, 16 deg lat)
 daily temp range 15
 Agricultural; Durables; Recordings, Software, Documents
 Conservative/Indifferent, Expansionistic/Militant, Monolithic/Aloof  
 Legal 3-40535,  Tech AA-AAA99-AAAB-AA-D
 
 Persephone has always been noted as just a whistle-stop on the Strouden -
 Glisten xboat route.  Most traders, pre-Collapse and today, have not even
 bothered to land on Persephone itself.  Instead, they merely refulled at
 the the Gas Giant Demeter (diameter: 84,329 km), which Persephone orbits
 around.
 
 A flotilla of ships and small space stations, greeting the local traveller
 near Demeter's norhtern polar regions, glistens like red stars against the
 planetary tempests below. This flotilla serves a vital purpose for local
 traffic: providing fuel (both refined and unrefined) and basic repair
 services, which the small, TL A local starport cannot provide. The
 flotilla is a transient affair, growing larger as more traffic passes
 through Persephone, fading away as traffic weakens.
 
 There is no organization in the flotilla: each and every ship is a law onto
 itself.  There _are_ a few common characteristics shared by nearly all of
the
 thousand or so ships and stations: they are all registered with nearby
 Strouden (Lunion: Spinward Marches/2327  A745988-D), never set foot on
 Persephone itself, and have a running vendetta against the local Persephone
 System Guard regarding taxes and tarrifs.  Although hostilities between
 the Guard and the flotilla rarely break out into violence, there is a near
 continual game of hide and seek between them.  The Guard strives to record
 every major transaction while the flotilla conspires to hide "the Big
 Stuff" from the Guard and their ugly taxes. 
   
 Approaching Persephone the casual traveller can easily make out the Dam
 Aspshii, a major sea covering 1/3 of the surface area of Persephone.  This
 circular sea is widely believed to have been the result of either a
 massive impact crater or the work of the local Keo Neseb civilization. 
 While my scout ship - the R.S.S Aurora - did not dock at the high port, we
 did take a pass.  The port seems to be nothing but a long communication
 antenna, with a stub at the end for insystem shuttles and living space.
 
 The small size of Persephone Lowport - it can hold the grand total of 1600
 Disp worth of craft, total - is fabled thoughout the subsector.  I counted
 at least 47 craft on my sensors waiting to land.  According to legend, a
 messanger with an Imperial Warrent, waiting to speak to the King himself,
was
 left waiting in orbit for 52 hours as traffic untangled itself.  One large
 merchant, which needed the ENTIRE starport to land, waited for an entire
 month until finally the port was freed for landing.  The fact that the
 port can only repair ships to TL A does not endear it any more deeply to
 hard-pressed merchantmen.
 
 The current activist monarch, Queen Ashki, is laying plans to expand the
 starport drastically.  Already construction has finally begun on a new
 starport just outside of the system capital of Ki Didimgamu, finally
 laying to rest the jokes of a "starport smaller than a Tirken's mouth".
 (especially since the Moran Tirken doesn't even _have_ a mouth, just a
small,
 noticable pore.)
 
 My pilot waited two hours in orbit, but we finally landed at the Scout Way
 Station rather than the Lowport.  The station administrator laughed at my
 troubles, and she promptly swamped me with tales of 'backyard landings'
 and 'running touchdowns', leaving me helpless with laughter. 
 
 The next day, I took an air/raft to the Lowport.  If you examine the Law
 Code closely, you'd realise that these is NO TRADE LAW on Persephone. 
 This makes for cutthroat trading, indeed.  This also makes Persephone The
 Source for all sorts of goodies you can't find anywhere else in the
 subsector.  I recommend that only experienced traders visit Persephone's
 Giilumadgii Trade District, people who _know_ what they're doing.
 
 The careful reader would have also noted that there are no crystals, ores,
 or metals that are mined on Persephone.  This is because the old resources
 were mined out by a long-dead civilization called the Keo Neseb.  An
 insectoid race, looking more like a giant praying mantis than anything
 else, they originated on Penkwar (Lunion: Spinward Marches/2128 X978000-0),
a
 Red Zone world a parsec from Persephone.  They seem to have reached their
 apex about eight million years ago, and most likely changed Persephone's
 and Harvosette's atmosphere to it's current state.  No one knows what has
 become of them, although a few archeological digs were made on Penkwar. 
 
 Among the most important changes that has occurred on Persephone
 is a change of personality.  For centuries, Persephonians were considered
 "Unagressive/Peasable" rather than "Expansionistic/Nilitant".  However,
 the old easygoing attitude dissapeared due to the great (local)
 economic crash of 1179.  The people, led by the young, aggressive
 Queen, have changed drastically, so don't trust the old starman tales or
 out-of-date guidebooks.  
 
 Giilumadgii itself - the major startown on Persephone - is a rather pretty
 town of 72,000, set in the Aziramam Badlands, a heavily forested, cold
 region in the southern hemisphere of Persephone.  The Persephonians
 themselves are rather distant from outworlders.  While always polite, I
 have never seen one smile in my presence.  Outside of Giilumadgii, children
 run from me and my crew, and adults only answer my questions EXACTLY,
 forceing me to dig to learn anything.
 
 It should be noted here that Galanglic is spoken only to foreginers. 
 Among themselves, Vilani is the common tongue.  My Tobian engineer, who
 speaks Vilani himself, claimes that Persephonian Vilani is strongly
 accented, but still can be understood: but the written language is
 something else entirely!  Apperantly, their elegant script, using glyphs
 and symbols to stand for particular ideas, is not related to written
 Vilani at all.  This greatly surprised me: almost always, the spoken word
 changes but the written word remains highly stable.  It certainly doesn't
 metamorph into something completely different.  I fear that it would take
 years for a foreginer to master written "Persephonian".
 
 The local's name for their world is Mudemzalushush, but they call
 themselves Ushamai (as do their related folks at Harvosette (Lunion:
 Spinward Marches/2129 C330737-9)).  Local cities are not domed archeologies
as
 on most worlds with tainted atmospheres, but rather like a warren of
 long steel corridors, with houses and public spaces being dome "nodes"
 connected by one or two corridors. [Incidentally, the airborne taint -
 which takes about a day of exposure before convulsive vomiting begins,
 leading eventually to death by dehydration  - is exactly the same as on
 Harvosette, only with greater concentration there.]  The domes are always
 above ground: the corridors may be above or below ground.
 
 In private homes, the walls have engravings and are painted with bright
 abstract patterns.  Some of the more traditional people still put up
 "wood" venners from the local flora.  The more wealthy folk buy offworld
 holographic projectors.  In the very few elite homes I was allowed to
 enter (exactly two: both actually owned by offworlders) the new fashion is
 to embed the walls with strips of black marble, with white or silver
 engravings on them.
 
 I feel that a brief summary of local history would not be amiss to the
 casual traveller, so here goes.  The Persephonians first settled here during
 the 420's, as political/religious refugees from Corridor.  Here, they
created
 their society around Gekashiishaa (their political/economic ideology)
 and Nominolus (their religious beliefs).  They prospered and 'kept
 balance' for centuries until the Second Civil War, when Glisten was lost
 to the wicked Aslan.  The loss of Glisten slashed trade volume through
 Persephone, striking an economic blow to Persephone that slowly, inevitabily
 let to the Crisis of '79.  Then, the newly coronated Queen saved her crown
 and Persephone independence fron their creditors, at the cost of general
 living standards.  Her expansionist policies have brought Persephone a new
 spirit of greatness and hope, but most people still have not recovered
 back to pre-Crash years.
 
 I eventually found myself in Kigiirpaku Limis, the major holy site on
 Persephone, and home to seven million priests, acloytes, confessors and
 attendant bureaucrats.  Unlike most cities, Kigiirpaku is set in a
 arological bubble covering the entire city, allowing a freedom of movement
 hard to find in Persephone cities.  An unfortunate side effect, though, is
 that local temperature control is poor (whether deliberate or not, I don't
 know), so the heat from the noonday sun realy cooks.
 
 The local faith - called "Naminalus", Vilani for Balancing - centres on a
 triune God, but composed of Time/Space/Energy rather than the Christian
 conception of Father/Son/Spirit.  The goal of the Naminalii Kuk Kusili - a
 follower of Naminalus, or "Maintainer of the Balance" - is to maintain the
 Balance demanded by God, by keeping the forces of Time, Space and Energy in 
 Balance throughout their life.  By doing so, a form of immortality is
 granted to the believer, being merged with the "Universal Balance" that
 all life depends on.
 
 For a long time, the priests of Naminalus was concerned only with fellow
 believers on Persephone, Harvosette and Strouden.  But now, as the old
 faith in Gekashiishaa fades away, the Queen - a strong believer - is
 urging the priesthood to spread the faith, to help restore Balance
 throughout the Regency, and eventually - especially - throughout the
 ex-Imperial Wilds.  "Seekers" (Naminalusian mossionaries) are now being
 sent throughout the subsector, and are causing quite a bit of comment,
 both good and bad.
 
 Finally, I went to Ki Didimgamu, the capital of Persephone.  An undersea
 city, set under Une Didimgamu (Lake Didimgamu), it houses 138 million
 people and is the largest city on Persephone.  It is very much a _Royal_
 city, proud of it's Vilani heritage.  Most prevelant here is the
 Digamu, the ruling elite of Persephone, and their entourange.  One of the
 most surprising aspects here is the absolute ease that the richly
 dressed rulers move through the commoners, many without any bodyguards.  
 
 As a lark, I sent a video message to the Palace, persenting myself as a
 Regency Scout asking for an interview.  And not only was their a response,
 but the answer was yes!  Well, a virtual interview, anyway.  The contents
 of the interview is available elsewhere, but I can vouch for the fact that
 the Queen is quite a remarkable woman, with a strong 'presence' that is
 unmistakable.  
 
 Among the more strangest sounds I have heard in my 24-year career as a
 scout was the Mortiousa Melody, often heard in the poorer quarters of
 the city.  The best I can describe it is as a combination of Latin Chant and
 Cantonese Popsongs, with a fast samba beat.  I have no idea how the poor
 folks sleep at night, it sounds so bad to my ears.  Moreover, it is a
 tradition to never let the song die, but to pass it on from singer to
 singer.  
  




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

Date: Thu, 13 Oct 94 19:25:00 -0500
From: jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (JEFF ZEITLIN)
To: TRAVELLER@MPGN.COM
Subject: Imperial Stutterwarp Comments
Message-ID: <89BB48D.0100035D38.uuout@execnet.com>


  I recently sent to the list a two-message (roughly 200 lines)
  discussion on Stutterwarp to the list.  By the time you see this, 
  it may or may not have reached the list, and I will be attempting 
  to recover it and repost it (or failing that, I will rewrite it 
  from scratch - I still have my figures).  To summarize, 
  Stutterwarp allows ships to make faster interstellar transits 
  with a smaller drive system, using microscopic amounts of fuel.  
  The biggest drawback is the 7ly (just over 2pc) "charge" buildup 
  limit, followed by the 40hr discharge time.  If loading and 
  unloading (to/from ship's boats or shuttles) can be conducted 
  during the discharge operation, free and far traders are 
  revolutionized.  If not, it's still pretty good, and in any case, 
  interstellar commuting and day trips become feasible.

  What I'd like from the List is an analysis - suppose the 
  JumpSpace Institute were to develop Stutterwarp, and the military 
  had no interest, releasing it immediately for civilian use.  
  Suppose also that any Class A or B shipyard with TL12 
  capabilities could construct Stutterwarp ships from the keel up.  
  What do you think the Regency/Imperium/RC/polity-of-choice would 
  look like in 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 years?  Please cite your reasons 
  for thinking so, and let's engage in lively debate - it may be 
  the most interesting alternate universe resulting from a single 
  technology change, that doesn't change the fundamental assumption 
  of Traveller (that commo is no faster than travel).
==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin                                      jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com
---
  QMPro 1.53  Senior Researcher, JumpSpace Institute, Regina

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

End of TRAVELLER Digest 70
**************************
