Subject: TRAVELLER digest 247
Date: 95-04-06 19:09:04 EDT
From: traveller@mpgn.com
Sender: traveller@mpgn.com
Reply-to: traveller@mpgn.com
To: traveller@mpgn.com (Multiple recipients of list)

			    TRAVELLER Digest 247

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) [T244] What to call H&I?	by jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (JEFF ZEITLIN)
  2) Boldly going	by Paul Ah-Thion <pahthion@phonelink.telme.com>
  3) Re: Space 1889 Movie	by Mark Clark <markc@strauss.udel.edu>
  4) Droyne	by "Paul Marini" <pmm118@email.psu.edu>
  5) FFS technical stuff	by Lahtinen Antti Jussi <al76188@cs.tut.fi>
  6) Re: What to call H&I...	by Derek Smith <Derek_Smith.LOTUS@crd.lotus.com>
  7) Re: Droyne	by Rehan Ahmad <rnahmad@is.dal.ca>

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

Date: Wed, 05 Apr 95 00:20:00 -0500
From: jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (JEFF ZEITLIN)
To: TRAVELLER@MPGN.COM
Subject: [T244] What to call H&I?
Message-ID: <8A6D014.01000473B1.uuout@execnet.com>


T::>On Sun, 2 Apr 1995, Derek Wildstar wrote:

T::>>
 ::>> Dear Mark,
 ::>>
 ::>> Thank you for the well-written and insightful review of H&I (should
 ::>> the official TML nickname of this book be "Starfish and Rubber
Chickens?").

T::>Thanks for the very kind words.  You know, I was trying to come up with
 ::>something along the lines of "Sneaks and ...." and I just couldn't think
 ::>of the second term.  I'd like something that ryhmes, like "Rats and Cats"
 ::>or "Cogs and Dogs," but the nearest I got was "Sneaks and Geeks," and I'm
 ::>not sure that is as good as the other ones.

 Well, I would have liked one-syllable nicknames, but I came up 
 with "Silent and Violent" (pronounce "si-lent and vi-lent")...

 Although, I look at the others, and they all smack of a certain 
 contempt for the races in question.  Perhaps that will allow for 
 "Bugs and Pugs", in spite of the Hivers not being insectoid.

T::>Perhaps all you folks out there can take a crack at it and we can vote on
 ::>the suggestions.
==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin                                      jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com
---
  OLXWin 1.00  Chief Black Pot, Universal Cookware

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

Date: Thu, 06 Apr 1995 10:43:58 BST
From: Paul Ah-Thion <pahthion@phonelink.telme.com>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Boldly going
Message-ID: <27308@tmrelay.prod.phonelink.com>

I've been lurking the list for a while, and figured it's time I jumped in.
For what it's worth, I like seeing discussion (argument even !) on the rules, it
helps me make sure I understand how things work, but I'd rather we did
a bit more adventure/playing/fun type stuff ! It's easy to just say that, I know,
so I'll put my money where my mouth is ....

Watching TV the other night, it struck me how much fun you could have
with the RC stuff playing it sort of like ST:TNG. For Enterprise,
substitute an Aurora or Maggart class ship ("This is Captain Pat Ritter of
the RCS Thunderchild, answering your distress call. Can we be of
assistance ?"), and ditch the ship's counselor ("We'll worry about
feeling bad when & if we get back to base"), then go and recycle all
those old Star Trek plots.

(Just read Challenge #76. Gee, aren't GDW kind, they've even put the
Borg in ;-) )

Of course, THIS time, when those pesky natives don't know what's good
for them ("But our religion/custom/other perverse reason forbids us
from speaking to outsiders/accepting your help/having a good time"),
the players & ref can throw the Prime Directive out the window and go
kick some ass ("I don't care if your Virus god DID give you food & water,
we've nuked it now, but here's some rations & a vending machine").

Actually, would a TL 15 vending machine be a good idea with the Virus
about ? "Maybe we should scan that Twinkie before we eat it, just in
case....", "Err, is coke supposed to be green like that, & why is it fuming
?"

For some historical precedent to RC behaviour, think of the
US/USSR/GB/France & places like Somalia, Suez, Chad, and all those
other places big nations went to help out, even if sometimes for their
own, perhaps a little selfish, reasons, :-). The thing is, at ground zero,
lots of people aren't going to want to have a RC staging base or
whatever in their back yard, or visiting starships ("If we'd been meant to
fly, we woulda been born with thruster plates"), or synthetic materials,
TV, etc. etc.

Oops, lost the point for a while there. Basically, the RC only have a
limited number of ships, and an increasing amount of space to check
out, so it's quite often going to be that old routine of one ship doing a
meet & greet, with only old information and scattered rumours from
merchants and the like (BTW: Whatever happened to rumour tables ?
They were fun !). In many ways, there are similarities with the old CT
adventures (Leviathan, Safari Ship, etc.), one ship exploring strange
new worlds, only this time, instead of doing it for your own selfish
reasons (Money ! Fame ! Large guns !), you're doing it for a good cause,
the expansion of the RC, and the betterment of humaniti. Well, maybe a
bit of selfishness can creep in, you can still have the fame and large
guns, but perhaps the money will have to wait. In other words, players
should be boldy going, and making names for themselves.

BTW, anyone seen or have stats for the Lancer & Fusilier class, as
mentioned in POT ?

"There ain't no justice, there's just us."
	(If this isn't an RC motto, it should be !)

Paul Ah-Thion			(Traveller victim, 1982 - present day)
pahthion@PhoneLink.TelMe.com
(All these opinion are my own)
(Especially the good ones)

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

Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 08:23:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: Mark Clark <markc@strauss.udel.edu>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: Space 1889 Movie
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.950406082111.2782B@strauss.udel.edu>

Speaking as the publisher of the official Space 1889 fanzine, there has 
been no further progress, as far as I know.

Mark Clark

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

Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 10:26:58 -0500 (EST)
From: "Paul Marini" <pmm118@email.psu.edu>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Droyne
Message-ID: <37627.pmm118@email.psu.edu>

I'm interested in using Droyne as PC's in a game. If anyone has any
information on how to generate a Droyne PC, I'd appreciate being sent it. In
fact, if anyone has any information on the Droyne - other than what's in the
TNE sourcebook, I'd appreciate it.

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

Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 19:25:41 +0300 (EET DST)
From: Lahtinen Antti Jussi <al76188@cs.tut.fi>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: FFS technical stuff
Message-ID: <199504061625.TAA25459@kaarne.cs.tut.fi>

	Helicopter Rotors

	I tried to re-create various modern helicopters using FFS aircraft
	design rules, and I noticed that FFS designs require much more
	engine power than modern helicopters.
	That is, Huey Cobra uses 0.8 MW engine power to create 11 tons
	of lift, and FFS allows only 4-5 tons of lift per MW. This low
	effiency means that FFS-style Huey clone needs huge engines and
	consumes fuel like hell.
	Huey Cobra weights 9.5 tons, and corresponding FFS designs weights
	24.5 tons.
	However, if the lift/MW values are doubled, modern helicopters can
	be designed.

	----------


	Volume-based aircraft design

	While the present aircraft design rules in FFS are based on the
	weight of the airframe, it is possible to design fixed-wing and
	rotary-wing aircraft by using the design rules from lift-vehicle
	chapter, and design evaluation rules from aircraft chapter.
	The main difference is that you can design armored aircraft with
	lift vehicle rules.

	----------


	Displacement Tons

	When I was re-designing modern vehicles, I noticed that the numbers
	can be deceiving, for 1-ton vehicle is already quite large.
	I checked the volume of various modern vehicles and come up with
	following values:

	Vehicle Name	Approximate Volume in Displacement Tons
	------------	---------------------------------------
	Motor bike	0.2  tons or less
	Family car	0.5-1.0 tons
	Van		1.0-2.0 tons
	APC		2.0 tons (M113)
	Helicopter	1.5 tons (Huey Cobra)
	Jet Fighter	2.0 tons (F-18 Hornet)
	MBT		4.0 tons (T-80)
	Large MBT	6.0 tons (M1 Abrams)

	Compared with these values, 12-ton MBT (Prairie Fire) and 4-ton
	LRV (Pandina) are quite large.

	----------


	Hull Material Volume

	When I calculate the hull material volume (with Exel spreadsheet),
	I use the following formula:

	MV = Material Volume
	DT = Displacement Tons

	MV = (DT*14)-4/3*PI()*(((DT*14)/(4/3*PI()))^(1/3)-0,01)^3

	(Volume of spherical hull, minus the volume of a spherical hull
	which has 1 cm smaller radius. This difference gives the volume
	of 1 cm thich hull armor.)

	This formula gives quite similar values as Hull Size table in FFS,
	page 11, but the results begin to differ in the high and low ends
	of the table.
	
	Rate	Exel	FFS	Rate	Exel	FFS	Rate	Exel	FFS
	1	0.28	0.4	100	6	6	1000	28	28
	2	0.44	0.5	200	6.9	9	2000	44.6	43
	3	0.58	0.7	300	12.6	12	3000	58.4	57
	4	0.70	0.9	400	15.2	15	4000	70.8	70
	5	0.82	1.1	500	17.7	17	5000	82.1	80

	Either this formula is wrong, or there is some errors in the FFS table.

	----------


	Damage Dice for PAWS

	Does anyone know how much damage a particle beam will inflict
	to living targets? As PAWS are used mostly as spinal guns, the
	personnel damage is irrelevant, but the design rules allows PAWS
	to be downscaled into man-portable waaepons, and then personnel
	damage becomes an issue.

	Laser damage is ( 2.5 x sqrt(I) ).
	PAWS damage (and penetration) is ( 5 x sqrt(I) ).
	According to FFS, Lasers inflict 20 times more damege to living
	target than they inflict to non-living target.
	According to BL, a crew hit with PAWS will double the causualities.
	Does that mean, that PAWS Damage Dice would be ( 100 x sqrt(I) ) ???

	----------

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


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

Date:  6 Apr 95 12:11:50 EDT
From: Derek Smith <Derek_Smith.LOTUS@crd.lotus.com>
To: traveller <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: Re: What to call H&I...
Message-ID: <9504061735.AA07715@internet1.lotus.com>

Well, from what I've been hearing about it (I haven't read it),
it sounds like

"Duds and Puds"

would apply  8^).


--Derek

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

"What's three orders of magnitude among friends?"

                                --Mikkel Spurlickman (ex-Scout)

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

Date: Thu, 6 Apr 1995 16:49:48 -0300 (ADT)
From: Rehan Ahmad <rnahmad@is.dal.ca>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: Droyne
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9504061630.A97009-0100000@is.dal.ca>


On Thu, 6 Apr 1995, Paul Marini wrote:

> I'm interested in using Droyne as PC's in a game. If anyone has any
> information on how to generate a Droyne PC, I'd appreciate being sent it.
In
> fact, if anyone has any information on the Droyne - other than what's in
the
> TNE sourcebook, I'd appreciate it.

If you can track it down, CT had a wonderfull module for explaining and 
generating Droyne characters. This was part of the Aliens module series.

It may take a bit of work to convert it to TNE stats.

If you can't track one down drop me a line via mail, after a couple of 
weeks. Exams dontcha know.

      -----------------------------------------------------------------
      |     No matter where you go,    |    Rehan N. Ahmad            |
      |      there you are.            |     rnahmad@is.dal.ca        |   
      |---------------------------------------------------------------|
      | Engineering Dept., Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada, |
      |  Planet Earth, third rock from the Sun.                       |
      -----------------------------------------------------------------


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

End of TRAVELLER Digest 247
***************************
