			    TRAVELLER Digest 82

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Re: AHL Comments TD#80	by Derek Wildstar <wildstar@qrc.com>
  2) Figures and AHL	by Steve Charlton/Avalon Software Inc
  3) Old Info...	by alvin plummera <plummera@hubble.sheridanc.on.ca>
  4) Black Curtain, Stutterwarp	by erich@bush.cs.tamu.edu (Erich Schneider)
  5) 	by gdw.support@genie.geis.com
  6) Re: Character and Animal generation	by Shalom Zaidfeld <cs911408@red.ariel.cs.yorku.ca>
  7) The uses of Chlorine Atmospheres	by alvin plummera <plummera@hubble.sheridanc.on.ca>
  8) Re: your mail	by Shalom Zaidfeld <cs911408@red.ariel.cs.yorku.ca>
  9) Re: Supernovas	by James Kundert <james@dumbcat.sf.ca.us>
 10) GDW Schedule	by That Computer Guy <darkstar@chopin.udel.edu>
 11) minitures UK	by cs5025@wlv.ac.uk (L.T.Bryant)
 12) More Viral Schenanigans (did I spell that write?!?)	by Mark Fletcher <mf1@st-andrews.ac.uk>
 13) Re: TRAVELLER digest 81	by Stewart Eyres <spe@jb.man.ac.uk>
 14) Re: TRAVELLER digest 81	by Stewart Eyres <spe@jb.man.ac.uk>
 15) Stutterwarp and FTL	by "p.a.c.tavares" <cabr85@ccsun.strath.ac.uk>
 16) Re: More Viral Schenanigans (did I spell that write?!?)	by rwm@MPGN.COM (Rob Miracle)
 17) Traveller miniatures in the UK	by Alan Huscroft <A.A.F.Huscroft@reading.ac.uk>
 18) Re minatures	by David John Yeardly <djy@st-andrews.ac.uk>
 19) Combat and massive bodies	by "Les Howie"  <lhowie@192.219.29.90>
 20) Web Pages	by Mike Basinger <dbasinge@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu>
 21) On stutterwarp	by KenHagler@aol.com

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

Date: Tue, 25 Oct 94 17:12:07 -0400
From: Derek Wildstar <wildstar@qrc.com>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Cc: 3I4KQ7X@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU
Subject: Re: AHL Comments TD#80
Message-ID: <9410252112.AA11883@qrc.com>

"Mary E. Poynter" <3I4KQ7X@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU> wrote in TD#80
> Geez, tear apart my AHL write-up whydoncha!
> Now wonder you're a TML terrorist :)

Sorry, I wasn't trying to rip you to shreds ...  Call it collateral
damage from friendly fire.  :-/

I was wondering if the results pointed out a problem with the ability of
Battle Rider to resolve combats between large ships.  In other words, does
Battle Rider give halfway sane results when handling very large ships or a
mixture of large and small ships?

> Seriously, that was a conversion from the AHL done on the GDW-Beta list some
> time ago, run through the conversion system in the BR rulebook, and is by no
> means official or even accurate.

I was referring back to that conversion to make my comments.  I used Matt's
design (the one from GDW-Beta a while back) as the T:TNE (actually, FF&S)
basis for comparison to the Auroras.
While it's certainly not a 'official' (to my knowledge, it doesn't have
GDW's blessing), I don't believe a better conversion to FF&S could be made.

Matt did an excellent job at designing a truly large ship for T:TNE (and, as
far as I know, the only such design - does anyone else have FF&S designs for
ships larger than, say, 50,000 displacement tons?).  The complete design
evaluation, as well as the complete set of calculations for everything (not
only the ship itself, but the spinal and bay weapons, and the subordinate
craft) is available through the world wide web.  Connect to the URL
http://muon.qrc.com/gdw_beta/ahl.design and you've got it all.  View it
online, or turn on load-to-disk to save it for later perusal.  Most of the
rest of the gdw-beta archives are at http://muon.qrc.com/gdw-beta/beta.html

> As for the fight we staged, we didn't use any
> fighters or the like as we didn't have any rules for them.

Good point, and handling the fighters as separate ships would've been an
incredible nightmare.  Has GDW mentioned fighter rules anywere, or given an
'official' example of a FIM?  (fully-independent missile - rules are included
in Brilliant Lances, but there are no such missiles available in the arms
lists)

> Your point about the
> ability of the lasers to penetrate AHL's armor is well-taken; the fatal hits
> were done with a spinal mounted meson gun .

I had hoped that Battle Rider wasn't THAT brain-damaged.

> I also erred in not pointing out
> that these were Maggart class ships; the "stretch" Auroras mentioned in the
> PATH OF TEARS books.

I believe that makes a difference, they have a considerably more capable
meson gun mounted, don't they?

> Still, the victory did require a healthy dose of dumb luck
> and the use of the d20 table in lieu of the damage markers.

Perhaps this is the culprit?  I still haven't seen the Battle Rider rules,
but if the table makes the implicit assumption (for example, by not
factoring in ship size versus damage done) that all of the ships in the
fight are approximately the same size, then it would produce incorrect
results when used in a situation like this.

Unfortunately, I'm not likley to purchase Battle Rider myself - nobody to
play it with, and I don't really feel like spending money on a game I'm not
going to play.


wildstar@qrc.com, also
gdw-beta-request@qrc.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   "A shining New Era is tiptoeing nearer
..."
                                                "... and where do we feature?"

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

Date: 25 Oct 94 15:18:32 MS
From: Steve Charlton/Avalon Software Inc
To: traveller <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: Figures and AHL
Message-ID: <9410252119.AA09953@khan.avalon.COM>

Issue 1 - Miniatures in the UK
I hope you all find the minis you want.  Maybe you can help me.  Are 
there any miniature companies in the UK making decent 15mm, 20mm 
or 25mm sci-fi miniatures?  I am specifically excluding the Games 
Workshop stuff, which I find to be very overpriced and overrated.  Any 
info will be appreciated, although I doubt I will be taking any 
corporate-sponsored trips to London.  Still, you never know.

Issue 2 - The Azhanti High Lightning
Allen Shock has described an epic battle between 7 Auroras and 1 AHL.  
Allen, please, please, please post the full FF&S/Brilliant Lances design 
of the AHL if you have it.  I have heard mention of it in the past, but I 
have not been able to find it in the TML archives.

Issue 3 - M.C. Llaneza, Duty Now For The Future
An NRA member AND a Devo fan?   You would fit in well here at my
company.  You should consider moving to Tucson.

scharlto@avalon.com
I am Elmer of Bowg.  Wesistance is futile.  Pwepare to be assimilated, 
you wascally wabbit...
(Found this on the Internet.  Thinking about selling my Modem now)

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

Date: Tue, 25 Oct 1994 18:02:14 -0400 (EDT)
From: alvin plummera <plummera@hubble.sheridanc.on.ca>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Old Info...
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.1.9410251814.A5830-9100000@hubble.sheridanc.on.ca>


A very, very long time ago, I wrote about killer microscopes.

And soon after, someone asked me from which Philip K. Dick story did I get
the image from...

Well, the name of the short story is "Colony".


Alvin Plummer
(_NOW_ I can sleep easy at night!)


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

Date: Tue, 25 Oct 94 18:17:00 CDT
From: erich@bush.cs.tamu.edu (Erich Schneider)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Black Curtain, Stutterwarp
Message-ID: <9410252317.AA03246@ bush.cs.tamu.edu>

1) Black Curtain

Regardless of our speculation about what is "really" behind the
Curtain, it can't be _too_ overwhelming. I base this from the
following (_Survival Margin_, p. 5):

"It is still common for archaeological and historical artifacts
relating to Lucan to be destroyed in an irrational exorcistical
frenzy within the area of the former Black Sphere." 
  - Victoria Kiigun and Norris Ushakov
    Regence University of Deneb, Mora, NE 65

Thus, by 1265, the Black Curtain is "former".

2) Stutterwarp

I think it's perfectly reasonable to prohibit combat between stut
ships outside of star systems. After all, space is big, and any ship
should be able to evade contact at will in the inky depths between
stars. An exception might be made if there's something "important" out
there, like a deep-space facility, but in general, the only things
worth fighting over are in star systems.

As far as insystem combat goes, I suggest folks try to dig up a copy
of Challenge #33, which contains the extended 2300AD/Star Cruiser
campaign "Lone Wolf". 
--
Erich Schneider  erich@bush.cs.tamu.edu  http://tamsun.tamu.edu/~ers0925

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

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 94 00:20:00 UTC
From: gdw.support@genie.geis.com
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Message-ID: <199410260039.AA201221952@relay2.geis.com>

 
 traveller@mpgn.com
 
 Steve Charlton:
 
 > I was told last week by an assistant flunky at my local
 > game store that GDW had folded.
 
 Would you be so kind as to tell us the name of this store and
 the assistant flunky involved (via Email, of course).
 
 EVERYBODY: If anyone at a game store tells you we are out of
 business, or no longer publishing Challenge, or something else
 nasty, please send us the name of the person involved, and the
 store where they work. We want to write these people and ask them
 to stop spreading nasty-grams about us, as this costs us
 customers.
 
 A number of people who came up to me at the summer conventions
 and said words to the effect: "I was going to buy TNE, but I
 heard you had gone belly up and I didn't want to get into a game
 that wasn't going to be supported." Although 100% of these people
 bought Traveller items after seeing we were still around, I hate
 to think of the number of people who didn't come to the show, and
 whose only source of gaming information is a part-time, $5.00-an-
 hour assistant flunky at a game store who hates our products
 anyway...
 
 Anyway, on to other stuff:
 
 From TRAVELLER Digest 74
 
 Steve Charlton/Avalon Software Inc
 
 > I just saw a blurb in a gaming trade magazine
 > mentioning "Long Ships," a $18.00 supplement for TNE
 > due out this month. I seem to recall mention of a
 > sourcebook for RC starships, particularly Clippers.
 > Does anyone know if this is the sourcebook in question?
 
 Yes, That's it, and I'm still not done writing it (and
 otherwise creating it). I had this little thing called Aliens of
 the Rim shoved on my dance card ahead of it.
 
 By "otherwise creating" in the sentence aboce, I mean coming up
 with floorplans of the Clipper and each of the modules. This is
 time-consuming.
 
 > If Loren has not yet been buried in boxes, maybe he
 > could re-pub the upcoming release list (please, grovel,
 > grovel).
 Stop drooling on my instep, Steve. I respond to cash
 in sealed envelopes, not pleading :)
 OK, off the top of my head over the next 2-3 months
 (non-Traveller stuff such as Volley & Bayonet or Armor 21 not
 included):
 
 Challenge 75         Mailing to subscribers, ships to distributors 1st
                      Week in November
 Striker II           Due to ship in late November
 Aliens of the Rim    Late December, early January
 Death of Wisdom      1st Traveller Novel, perhaps as easly as
                      February '95
 Challenge 76         In here somewhere, late December early
                      January maybe
 
 > Finally - There was once mention of a contest to
 > identify the woman on the cover of the TNE book.
 > Did anyone ever win?
 
 Not that I know of.
 
 From TRAVELLER Digest 76
 
 Assorted:
 
 >(2)Is Lucan back? If so is he some kind of mutated cyborg
 > freak ala Darth Vader????
 
 Actually, Lucan's brain has been transplanted into the body of
 a 6-foot ppurple dinosaur, and he is now pursuing a
 career singing children's songs on TV and videos...
 
 From TRAVELLER Digest 77
 
 Mark Fletcher:
 
 Re: The Black Curtain:
 > according to the TNE Referees Screen, there
 > were "Creatures" that sounded alot like the Borg
 > to me. Whether or not they come from the Black Curtain
 > remains to be seen.....
 >
 > Please, please, pretty please GDW, my favourite game
 > company, could you shed some light on the situation??
 > (Whine, beg, plead!!)
 
 I wish I could...Dave hasn't told _me_ everything yet...I still
 don't know who the lady in black on the TNE cover is (I prefer to
 think it is Malificent, the evil queen from Disney's _Snow
 White_, but I'm funny that way :-) ).
 Also, Mark, I cannot find anything in print officially
 detailing the UWPs for Capital system. Dave and I hunted through
 everything we had and came up empty. I guess that's one of those
 areas that has to stay painted canvas backdrop for the moment.
 
 Loren K. Wiseman
       GDW,Inc.
 

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

Date: Tue, 25 Oct 1994 21:34:39 -0400 (EDT)
From: Shalom Zaidfeld <cs911408@red.ariel.cs.yorku.ca>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: Character and Animal generation
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.90.941025212741.11590A-100000@blue>


On Mon, 29 Aug 1994, alvin plummera wrote:

> >   A) Life Paths for PC's and NPC's?

Hey, this would be intersting..  What spscificlly did you think of?  Have 
the means to generate char. background (family/etc?)

> >   B) A way to generate quirks, neurosises and insanities, to 'flesh out'
> > characters?

There is a good article in TTC #4 by Mark "Geo" Gelinas & David McNeill, 
_Advantages and Disadvantages_  Take a look at that.  I think you'll find 
it to be just perfect for what you need (regarding quirks, neurosises and 
insanities...)

> (My Canada includes Traveller!)  

Yeah, my Canada includes it too.  Too bad we can't find a ref for our 
traveller group, here in Toronto :(

	Take care,

		-Shalom Zaidfeld
		-Toronto, Canada


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

Date: Tue, 25 Oct 1994 20:48:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: alvin plummera <plummera@hubble.sheridanc.on.ca>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM, xboat@MPGN.COM
Subject: The uses of Chlorine Atmospheres
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.1.9410252050.A12576-c101000@hubble.sheridanc.on.ca>

--0-694055179-783133842:#12576
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII


I just found this article in USENET, on chlorine atmospheres and their
implications.  Does anyone of you PhD's here care to expand on what other
atmospheres would entail?

Even if not, I still enjoyed this article... has anyone on the List followed
the entire thread?


Alvin Plummer
("There it goes!" Labyrinth scrambled to his feet.  The shoe had come out,
fast.  It went across the room, heading for the big chair.  Before it
could get underneath, Labyrinth caught hold of one of it's laces.  The
shoe pulled and tugged, struggling to get free, but the old Doc had a firm
hold of it." - Philip K. Dick, "The Short Happy Life of the Brown Oxford" )

===============================
--0-694055179-783133842:#12576
Content-Type: APPLICATION/octet-stream; name=atmos
Content-ID: <Pine.3.05.1.9410252142.B12576@hubble.sheridanc.on.ca>
Content-Description: 

From: neelk@athena.mit.edu (Neelakantan Krishnaswami)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.misc
Subject: Re: Hard SF: Alien Atmospheres
Date: 22 Oct 1994 22:49:42 GMT
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

<snip>

You can use chlorine instead of oxygen as the oxidizer in the atmosphere.
There will still be fire, and a technical civilization could develop. 

Positing a chlorine breathing life-form, we get:

a) green skies. very cool special effect.
b) a rather complex biochemistry. Chlorine can only bind to one
other atom compared to oxygen, which can bind to two. This suggests that
we need some other atom to make the complex molecules of life possible.
How about phosphorous? The Kloro "carbohydrates" could consist of carbon
chains
that branch where P atoms connect, and the exact conformation dictated by the
presence of chlorine atoms instead of hydrogen. Or maybe they'd use basically
earth style organic compounds, since you can get oxygen and hydrogen by
dissociating water. I dunno, and it's not terribly important, unless one
of the characters is a biochemist.

Points to consider (off the top of my head):

Water: I believe water should be stable in the presence of chlorine, but
since
their electronegativities (how well they grab electrons from other atoms) are
so
close, it becomes likely that the equilibrium between the seas and the
atmosphere
would lead to lots of HCl or HOCl in the sea -- acidic oceans! Nifty. I can
see
a lot of chemical engineering possibilities there. Perhaps instead of an
industrial revolution they have a chemical revolution -- with the coastal
states
(already wealthy because of sea trade) funding chemical research and becoming
the
super dominant powers. LOTS of sociological implications, even if you assume
a
basically human style psychology (but it's more fun if you don't :-)

Metal distribution: The geology of ore deposits is heavily affected by the
atmospheric composition. There's a lot of iron ore (low-grade, but so what?)
on Earth because iron oxide is more or less insoluble -- I think. Go to the
library and compare the solubilities of oxides and chlorides of metals to see
which metals the Kloros are likely to use. This is a very rough first
approximation, since there are all sorts of other factors, but for most
purposes
(up to and including a full-length novel) it should be sufficient. Another
factor
is that almost all water on Kloro is going to acidic -- this is another
factor in
the metal distributions.

Competition with Earth (happy answer): They and we shouldn't. The other
sides'
atmosphere is completely toxic and corrosive, and a general pain to deal
with.
Why try to kill each other when ignoring the other is so much easier. It is 
entirely possible for the two interstellar states to inhabit the same volume
of space because we *can't* use the other sides' worlds.

Competition with Earth (unhappy answer): We will. All it takes is for a few
individuals on either side to be stupid, and you can have all out
interstellar
war -- especially stupid since it's a completely pointless and futile effort.
But hey, that's life.

Neel
(Whew! I didn't realize I had that much verbiage in me. The Kloros are
*definitely* going in my next SF campaign -- they're too cool to ignore.)



--0-694055179-783133842:#12576--


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

Date: Tue, 25 Oct 1994 22:07:14 -0400 (EDT)
From: Shalom Zaidfeld <cs911408@red.ariel.cs.yorku.ca>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: your mail
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.90.941025215512.14425A-100000@blue>


On Tue, 25 Oct 1994 gdw.support@genie.geis.com wrote:

>  > I just saw a blurb in a gaming trade magazine
>  > mentioning "Long Ships," a $18.00 supplement for TNE
>  > due out this month. I seem to recall mention of a
>  > sourcebook for RC starships, particularly Clippers.
>  > Does anyone know if this is the sourcebook in question?
>  
>  Yes, That's it, and I'm still not done writing it (and
>  otherwise creating it). I had this little thing called Aliens of
>  the Rim shoved on my dance card ahead of it.

   Loren, could you please describe what Alien Of Rim will contain?  Is 
   it going to be like the Alien Modules (Classic Traveller?)  If so, 
What Aliens are going to be detailed?  About the Long ships, the product 
will cover Aurora type ships plus other RC ships?  Is it going to be like 
the Starship operator's manuel type detail?  

>  By "otherwise creating" in the sentence aboce, I mean coming up
>  with floorplans of the Clipper and each of the modules. This is
>  time-consuming.

   Hey, you can always ask around the TML for a contest to see who can 
design Aurora's Deck plans.  I'm sure a lot of people will try their 
hand.  In the end, you'll have more time working on the 
rules/background.  How's that :->

>  Death of Wisdom      1st Traveller Novel, perhaps as easly as
>                       February '95

 Loren, could you tell us more about the novel (Author, etc.)?


>  Loren K. Wiseman
>        GDW,Inc.

  Ok..ok..  Now you can go back to work..  :-)

 Take care,

		-Shalom Zaidfeld


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

Date: Tue, 25 Oct 94 19:52:46 PDT
From: James Kundert <james@dumbcat.sf.ca.us>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: Supernovas
Message-ID: <9410260252.AA25439@dumbcat.sf.ca.us>

Glen Meyers wrote:- 

>>>How long will the [super?]nova last before it collapses to a white
>>>dwarf. Years? Decades? I need to know how long jump travel will be
>>>impossible.  Would it prohibit space travel in nearby systems? If so,
>>>for how long?


dlg @ jb.man.ac.uk (Duncan Law-Green) replied: 

>>Jump travel is so much technobullsh*t, so you can give whatever
>>timescale you want for how long the supernova interferes with Jump
>>travel..."gravitational radiation from the supernova event disturbs the
>>Jump continua causing Jump travel to be extremely hazardous for 
>>years/decades/whatever..."


finally, Derek Smith <Derek_Smith.LOTUS@crd.lotus.com> opined:

>2)  It will make jump travel impossible for ZERO time.  In other words
>it will have NO EFFECT on jump travel whatsoever.  Gravity is caused
>by MASS, and the MASS hasn't changed, just been redistributed.  (ie -
>Spent stellar fuel is blown off, and the core shrinks.  But [most]
>of the mass is still there), and there is NO INCREASE in gravity
>at normal distances from the star.


 Actually, it would depend on the pattern of matter being ejected by the
explosion. If there is enough junk being spewed into the (remains of the)
system, then Jumping into that system could be hazardous, as no volume
of space is guaranteed to be free of debris or localized gravity effects.
If the nova is spewing continuously, then the star's diameter _could be_
effectively increasing, causing Jump Space to eject a ship at extreme
distances (the current 100 diameter limit). This IS Science Fiction,
after all.

 For an interesting view of how a supernova could affect its neighbors,
you might read "Antares Dawn" and Antares Passage" by Michael McCollum.
The books use naturally occuring stargates instead of free-ranging Jump
drive, but are otherwise quite appropriate. It's almost enough to make
me want to run a stargates universe...


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

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

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 01:49:13 -0400
From: That Computer Guy <darkstar@chopin.udel.edu>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: GDW Schedule
Message-ID: <199410260549.BAA03303@chopin.udel.edu>


Okay, I have just one question of GDW.  When are you going to release
Vampire Fleets and The Regency Sourcebook?  Last time we heard from
you, you mentioned that Vampire Fleets was being pushed back to
January, to allow The Regency Sourcebook to be released first, and
incorporated into VF.  But this time around, you didn't mention either
one.  Please don't tell me that the two supplements that I've really
been waiting for are being pushed back!

        --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: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 09:34:10 +0000 (GMT)
From: cs5025@wlv.ac.uk (L.T.Bryant)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: minitures UK
Message-ID: <m0r04kF-0003tjC@ccub.wlv.ac.uk>

Hi all
after a long passive scan of the list ( read a good lurk) i  have
senced people in need of my aid,
	The  question :  Where can i get traveller  minitures  in
the UK?

The  anser :  Dungons and starships, shops in bouth waslsaw  (  w
midlands) and in Birminham, I will try to rember the catalog  for
tomorrow as this has the mailing list address.

Thats all for now 
Lawrence  Bryant  ( President of wolverhapton su roleplaying  and
wargames sosity)
My  mispelt  veiws are my own and do not represent the  veiws  of
any outher unfortunate git.
-- 
oh rose thou art sick
               the invisible worm that flys by night.....STEEL


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

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 09:26:30 +0000 (GMT)
From: Mark Fletcher <mf1@st-andrews.ac.uk>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM


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Subject: More Viral Schenanigans (did I spell that write?!?)
Message-ID: <Pine.3.87.9410260929.B24159-0100000@pasta>

Michael Llaneza writes:
 
> 	I think you all have developed  a perfectly logical summary of what is 
> happening behind the Black Curtain. Sure, now if I have this all down 
> right. Virus takes over the data systems on Capitol and becomes super 
> intelligence. Simple enough.
> 	Problem, what if it decides that it is now the Emperor . After 
> all, it can claim the throne by right of assassination. That worked for a 
> lot of admirals who didn't have an iota of the power that CapitolVirus 
> has. So we have an AI as Emperor if it wants the throne.

> 	Then what? Then things would get REALLY SCARY. Remember, the 
> Imperium has been working on FTL communications. Every computer in the 
> galaxy could wind up in one big Net. There's an internet for you. I'd be 
> loging in from sfsu.edu.earth. Even if the time was days per parsec, 
> that's a manageable lag. If it was less, things would get worse. One 
> computer,over all the galaxy. Shiver.
> 	Then we note that we got cybernetics in FSS, and not robotics.

Yeah, the Imperium were developing FTL communications at the time of the 
Rebellion, but we dont know the nature of the com system, nor how far 
they were into the project. I think GDW have thrown themselves into the 
deep end here with hints of Cyborgs, FTL communications and hints of AI 
Ruled Empires. How they are going to tie it up I dont know, but I hope 
its good...!
 	
> 	The Borg probably started out like that. I'd say that that's not 
> the way its gonna happen. GDW caught enough flak ower the Virus in the 
> first place. They'd never compound that mistake. We would simply not buy
it.

Look at the TNE Referees Screen. It mentioned Borg like characters, so 
perhaps GDW have went that way already. IMHO it would be a waste of time 
for the CapitalVirus to turn the populaton of several worlds into cyborgs 
just to subjugate them. The majority of the population within the Black 
curtain would still be human. Where ship-crew/Security/Crack troops are 
needed then Cyborgs would fill those niches as they would be far more 
reliable and efficient. If CapitalVirus had an uprising on a world, it 
would nuke it. Clean and effiecient. So GDW can maintain a Borg flavour, 
without having to go the way of ST:TNG. Certainly I wouldnt like to see GDW 
to do that either. 

Hugh Foster writes:

> >>Mark Fletcher, University of St Andrews<<
> 
> Hey! I would'a gone there if I hadn't screwed up my A-Levels! Whatcha do ?

Im doing second year Physics and I love the department. I wouldnt go 
anywhere else! As for St Andrews itself two words: Cold and Crap (All you 
pedants out there ignore the and!!!). The shower in my flat is not 
working, which would explain why I am in a bad mood. Oh one more thing, 
very important. The booze in the Union aint cheap either (1.40 a pint!!)

Cheers, 

Mark Fletcher. 


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

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 11:28:56 +0000 (GMT)
From: Stewart Eyres <spe@jb.man.ac.uk>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: TRAVELLER digest 81
Message-ID: <Pine.3.87.9410261154.A1865-0100000@jbss1>

Derek Smith wrote:

> 
		.
		.
	Stuff Deleted
		.
		.
> Well,
>
                .
                .
        Stuff Deleted
                .
                .
> 
> 2)  It will make jump travel impossible for ZERO time.  In other words
> it will have NO EFFECT on jump travel whatsoever.  Gravity is caused
> by MASS, and the MASS hasn't changed, just been redistributed.  (ie -
> Spent stellar fuel is blown off, and the core shrinks.  But [most]
> of the mass is still there), and there is NO INCREASE in gravity
> at normal distances from the star.

Yes, but if you want it to, you can posulate a gravity wave, which acts 
as a moving source of gravity.  As we know next to nothing about these 
things (except that they are v. weak), you can say anything you want.  
Did my previous mail on this get posted?

> 
                .
                .
        Stuff Deleted
                .
                .
> speeds).  Remember though, that the density of this energy falls
> off with the inverse of the cube of it's distance from the star
> from which it was expunged...  By the time it gets, say, one
> parsec away, it will be pretty feeble.
> 

Isn't this as radius squared.  I might be missing something here, but the 
thing that matters is how it is spread over the surface of an ever 
expanding sphere, particularly as the change in distance from the star 
from one end of a ship or distant planet to the other is pretty small 
compared with the distance from the star.

What's been written re. the SN question looks pretty good from here.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
*					*				    *
* Stewart P. S. Eyres	 		*	N.R.A.L.		    *
*			         *	*	University of Manchester    *
* Stellar Radio Astronomy     * * * *	*	Jodrell Bank		    *
*			       * * *	*	Macclesfield		    *
* Email: spe@jb.man.ac.uk     * * * *	*	Cheshire		    *
* Tel: (+44)  0477 571321        *	*	SK11 9DL		    *
* Fax: (+44)  0477 571618		*	England			    *
*					*				    *
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-




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

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 11:37:11 +0000 (GMT)
From: Stewart Eyres <spe@jb.man.ac.uk>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: TRAVELLER digest 81
Message-ID: <Pine.3.87.9410261111.A1865-0100000@jbss1>

Hi again

Just reread Derek Smith's email; a black hole formed straight out of a SN 
would be less massive than the original star, but it would have some 
weird effects on it's surroundings compared with a neutron star of the 
same mass.  On the other hand, a black hole formed from a pulsar sucking 
in matter could be more massive (eventually) than the original star, 
creating even more dramatic effects.  The TMLer who's question started 
all this (I can't remember who now) said his system was a binary; in that 
case, the companion could be having its surface sucked off by the neutron 
star/black hole, and the stream of gas from one to the other could be 
another lucrative source of star-processed elements.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
*					*				    *
* Stewart P. S. Eyres	 		*	N.R.A.L.		    *
*			         *	*	University of Manchester    *
* Stellar Radio Astronomy     * * * *	*	Jodrell Bank		    *
*			       * * *	*	Macclesfield		    *
* Email: spe@jb.man.ac.uk     * * * *	*	Cheshire		    *
* Tel: (+44)  0477 571321        *	*	SK11 9DL		    *
* Fax: (+44)  0477 571618		*	England			    *
*					*				    *
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-




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

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 12:29:11 +0000 (GMT)
From: "p.a.c.tavares" <cabr85@ccsun.strath.ac.uk>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Stutterwarp and FTL
Message-ID: <9410261229.AA01112@avon.cc.strath.ac.uk>

About FTL space combat with stutterwarp.

The argument posed by GDW is that speeds outside a system (that
is FTL speeds) make fighting encounters close to impossible.
So combat only happens at subluminal speeds.  

The description of the effect of FTL on normal sensors actually
strenghens the above argument.  Since ships will in general be
travelling at FTL between systems they are virtually undetectable.


---------------------------------------
Pedro A.C. Tavares

Dept of Physics & Applied Physics
University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

Email: p.tavares@ccsun.strath.ac.uk
       cabr85@ccsun.strath.ac.uk

Tel No: +44-41-552 4400 (ext. 3151)
Fax No: +44-41-552 2891
---------------------------------------

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

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 08:36:11 -0400
From: rwm@MPGN.COM (Rob Miracle)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: More Viral Schenanigans (did I spell that write?!?)
Message-ID: <199410261236.IAA13091@Central.KeyWest.MPGN.COM>

>Look at the TNE Referees Screen. It mentioned Borg like characters, so 
>perhaps GDW have went that way already. IMHO it would be a waste of time 
>for the CapitalVirus to turn the populaton of several worlds into cyborgs 
>just to subjugate them. The majority of the population within the Black 
>curtain would still be human. Where ship-crew/Security/Crack troops are 
>needed then Cyborgs would fill those niches as they would be far more 
>reliable and efficient. If CapitalVirus had an uprising on a world, it 
>would nuke it. Clean and effiecient. So GDW can maintain a Borg flavour, 
>without having to go the way of ST:TNG. Certainly I wouldnt like to see GDW 
>to do that either. 

I think that Borg like is a bit difficult to fit in considering the current
environment.  However a Cylon like group would be more appropriate for
Virus.  Pure machine, pure AI, absoulte control.

Traveller already has sofisticated enough Bots that they could easily
perform all ships functions.  In fact, they would probably cause humans to
be slaves, (depending on the Virus type that was controlling the Bots).

There is a lot of possiblities, unfortunatly, the best ones have been used
by other SciFi sources.  Also, does any one who has read Asmov's Robot
series see any relationships here?

Rob
--
Rob Miracle
rwm@mpgn.com
"You have a problem?  I have a plan!" -- Anton Devious


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

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 94 13:34:44 GMT
From: Alan Huscroft <A.A.F.Huscroft@reading.ac.uk>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Traveller miniatures in the UK
Message-ID: <27796.9410261334@suma1>

I have seen some of the new (RAFM?) Traveller miniatures on sale at
Leisure Games in Finchley, north London.  If anyone twists my arm hard
enough I'll look up the address/phone number.

--
Alan Huscroft     A.A.F.Huscroft@reading.ac.uk

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

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 15:31:06 +0000 (GMT)
From: David John Yeardly <djy@st-andrews.ac.uk>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re minatures
Message-ID: <Pine.3.87.9410261506.A18937-0100000@psych>

I dont know of any uk company producing starship minatures, but Scotia 
Models do a range of sf figures. The address is 
Scotia Model 
32 West Hemming St.
Letham
Angus
DD8 2Pu
Scotland
Tel 0307 818707
fax 0307 461180
Hope this helps in your search, and appologies if i have breached 
etiquete by posting an address for a company



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

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 94 11:00:02 ADT
From: "Les Howie"  <lhowie@192.219.29.90>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Combat and massive bodies
Message-ID: <9410261400.AA00252@Prograph.Com>

Derek Smith <Derek_Smith.LOTUS@crd.lotus.com> wrote
> If you put Stutterwarp in your campaign, you'd better also add FTL
> (ie: Tachyon) Sensors, or be willing to assume that space combat 
> never occurs except in the immediate vicinity of a large mass.
> 
Its been a while since I read the 2300 rules, but I think the cutoff for SW 
going sublight is somewhere around the orbit of Jupiter -  In fact, a far
wider 
sphere then you have with Jump equipped ships.  Outside of the 100-diameter 
limit in mainstream traveller, space combat is still a matter of consent.

Les Howie
Technical Architect (Database)
Prograph International


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

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 11:57:47 -0500 (EST)
From: Mike Basinger <dbasinge@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu>
To: Traveller Mailing List <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: Web Pages
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9410261150.A4541-0100000@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu>

I'm looking for Web pages that have info on Traveller on them.

Thanks,
Mike

ps: My web page has some.

--
D. Michael Basinger [call sign pending]
dbasinge@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu
<http://bronze.ucs.indiana.edu/~dbasinge/>
"Not speaking for Indiana University"


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

Date: Wed, 26 Oct 1994 15:21:46 -0400
From: KenHagler@aol.com
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: On stutterwarp
Message-ID: <9410261519073150327@aol.com>

Derek Smith writes:

> Actually, stutterwarp causes more problems than that, which were
> never addressed in 2300..

> Like, um, for example, the fact that a ship stutterwarping at full
> efficiency, heading straight for your ship, is INVISIBLE, period, 
> with ZERO CHANCE OF DETECTION (ie - a roll of automatic success
> indicates a failure)

This was addressed in 2300AD--ships going at full efficiency just didn't
fight each other.

> If you put Stutterwarp in your campaign, you'd better also add FTL
> (ie: Tachyon) Sensors, or be willing to assume that space combat 
> never occurs except in the immediate vicinity of a large mass.

Well, never occurs except in the inner reaches of a system anyway. The "FTL
cutoff" for Sol is around the asteroid belt, which leaves plenty of room for
fighting that's not directly over a planet. Beyond that--well, nobody ever
fights in deep space anyway. Why would they want to?

Adding FTL sensors wouldn't be enough to let ships with stutterwarp fight in
deep space. They'd need FTL weapons, too...

Ken

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

End of TRAVELLER Digest 82
**************************
