Subj:	TRAVELLER digest 338
Date:	95-07-05 21:43:24 EDT
From:	traveller@mpgn.com
To:	traveller@mpgn.com

From:	traveller@mpgn.com
Sender:	traveller@mpgn.com
Reply-to:	traveller@mpgn.com
To:	traveller@mpgn.com (Multiple recipients of list)
			    TRAVELLER Digest 338

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Re: TRAVELLER digest 329
	by library@dss.gov.au (DSS Library)
  2) Re: TRAVELLER digest 337
	by goldendj@deltanet.com (David J. Golden)
  3) Re: TRAVELLER digest 337
	by goldendj@deltanet.com (David J. Golden)
  4) My WWW pages
	by Goeran Damberg <goeran@enter.hb.se>
  5) FFS Starship Design Questions
	by That Computer Guy <darkstar@chopin.udel.edu>
  6) TNE Law Enf. Career
	by jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (JEFF ZEITLIN)
  7) Nuclear missiles...
	by Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)

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

Date: Wed, 05 Jul 1995 14:32:50 -0500
From: library@dss.gov.au (DSS Library)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: TRAVELLER digest 329
Message-ID: <9507052135.AA11182@babylon5.dss.gov.au>

Re Pete Blake in TRAVELLER Digest 329:

I have put library data (both GDW's and HIWG) onto my Amiga using the
Hyperbook
program. My players can have direct acces to a library computer! Any local
relevant info is just prepared prior to the game. All secured info (Naval
files, etc) are protected by password.

(One thing - don't ask for a copy, as 1. that would break copyright, 2. each
page is a separate file; 3. it is currently 2 MB in size and this is only
from the letter "A" to "P", with some scattered R's to Z's).

- Hyphen
  (David Jaques-Watson)



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

Date: Tue, 04 Jul 1995 22:57:25 -0700
From: goldendj@deltanet.com (David J. Golden)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: TRAVELLER digest 337
Message-ID: <9507050601.AA02292@deltanet.com>

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

>Date: Tue, 4 Jul 1995 12:06:47 -0600 (MDT)
>From: merrick@Rt66.com (Merrick Burkhardt)
>To: traveller@MPGN.COM
>Subject: Re: TRAVELLER digest 336
>Message-ID: <9507041806.AA04887@Rt66.com>

/* snip */

>
>As for the FIMs, they're not hard to design (who am I kidding, they're no
>harder to design than any other missile---which is a pain :)
>

        Could you post an example? I tried several months ago, and came up
with 
a bunch of questions for GDW which I posted on GEnie. I didn't really get any

useful answers back. The biggest problem (which GDW acknowledged) was that
they 
hadn't provided the guidance systems for space missiles in FF&S. Now that
I've 
got Vampire Ships, I assume I could just couple a robot brain and a flight 
computer to get something to run a FIM. Anyway, I'd appreciate a sample of
one 
you've done. Thanks!

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 ___________________________________________________________________
  Dave Golden                     |         D.GOLDEN@genie.geis.com
  PGP Public Key available        |           goldendj@deltanet.com

 "He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his
  enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes
  a precedent that will reach to himself" -- Thomas Paine


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

Date: Tue, 04 Jul 1995 22:57:21 -0700
From: goldendj@deltanet.com (David J. Golden)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: TRAVELLER digest 337
Message-ID: <9507050601.AA02288@deltanet.com>

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

>Date: Tue, 4 Jul 1995 12:36:08 GMT0BST
>From: Joerg Wegener <mspjoerg@swansea.ac.uk>
>To: traveller@MPGN.COM
>Subject: Beginner's confusion
>Message-ID: <19A307B1BF7@EBMS3.SWAN.AC.UK>

/* snip */

>why are all the ship-to-ship missiles nuclear-powered laser warheads? 
>Why doesn't anyone use simple nuclear warheads instead?

        The assumption is that a simple (i.e. contact) nuclear missile would
be 
shot down long before it got close enough to actually do any damage to the
ship. 
Since there's no atmosphere to carry the blast effects, the energy dissipates

rapidly with distance. You basically have to hit the target. And if your
target 
has lasers and targetting systems capable of hitting ships 1,200,000 km
away, it 
can certainly nail anything big enough to carry a warhead before it gets
within 
a thousand.

>In Brilliant Lances, the missiles have to reach the hex the target is 
>located in, so there is no advantage (in game terms) in firing a 
>laser from some (relatively close) distance, as opposed to moving 
>near the target and detonating a warhead (like better survivability 
>of the missile due to lesser likelihood of being shot down. Doesn't 
>apply if you have to reach the target's hex).

        You're forgetting that being in the same hex isn't very close -- a
hex 
is still 30,000km across. Once again, your nuclear missile is going to be 
toasted long before it gets close to the target. That's why you use the 
detonation laser instead.

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 ___________________________________________________________________
  Dave Golden                     |         D.GOLDEN@genie.geis.com
  PGP Public Key available        |           goldendj@deltanet.com

 "He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his
  enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes
  a precedent that will reach to himself" -- Thomas Paine


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

Date: Wed, 5 Jul 1995 07:42:46 +0200 (MET DST)
From: Goeran Damberg <goeran@enter.hb.se>
To: Xboat Mailing List <xboat@MPGN.COM>,
Subject: My WWW pages
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.950705073928.22529B-100000@enterprise>


Hi,

My WWW pages will be down for a little while. I don't know for how long 
at the moment, but I hope they will be back in about a week or so. I'll 
let you all know when they are back...


goeran


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

Date: Wed, 05 Jul 1995 09:44:29 -0400
From: That Computer Guy <darkstar@chopin.udel.edu>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: FFS Starship Design Questions
Message-ID: <199507051344.JAA29250@chopin.udel.edu>


I've been trying to convert some of old MT designs over to TNE using
FFS (wow, how's that for a sentence full o' acronyms).

Anyway, I came upon a very puzzling question which I'm hoping someone
out there may answer (and if not, then maybe one of the folks from GDW
could).

Just exactly what is the deal with the number of staterooms one the
TL-10 Moraine Class and the TL-15 Beowulf Class free traders and the
TL-12 Jayhawk far trader.  According to the ship stats for TNE, they
have two times the number of staterooms as before!

The only thing that I could come up with was that the numbers listed
under the crew and passenger accomodations section was that the numbers
listed are for double-occupancy in a small stateroom.  That way the
Beowulf or Moraine have 5/9 and 6/8 (crew/passenger) respectively which
is more in line with the old MT design which had 9 staterooms.

However, I haven't come across anything in the rules that stats this is
what has been done, or that small staterooms are automatically
considered double-occupancy (even for middle passage).

So, my question is, what's the deal?  Do all of the ships nowadays have
twice as many passenger staterooms as before?  And if so, then why were
they designed that way instead of giving over all of that space to the
cargo hold (especially for the free and far traders)?

Please, please, please someone answer this for me, it's left my head
all twisted for the past day or so...

        --Jerry

8) Jerry Alexandratos                %  "Nothing inhabits my    (8 
8) darkstar@strauss.udel.edu         %   thoughts, and oblivion (8
8) darkstar@canary.pearson.udel.edu  %   drives my desires."    (8

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

Date: Tue, 04 Jul 95 18:05:00 -0500
From: jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (JEFF ZEITLIN)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: TNE Law Enf. Career
Message-ID: <8AC943D.0100050562.uuout@execnet.com>


I was looking through the Traveller:The New Era character
generation sequence, and decided, based on my personal real-world
experience, that the Law Enforcement career could be improved
somewhat.

For the record, I live in a small town (about 15,000 people) and
work for the New York City Police Department (about 40,000
uniformed members of all ranks, serving a city of 12,000,000
people).  I have made it my business to be familiar with police
operations to the greatest extent possible in both departments.  I
have also heard about other departments from police officers who
have transferred in, or who have done exchanges with other
departments.

In general, there will be two kinds of Police Departments for the
purposes of character generation: small departments and large
departments.  The mission is not dependent on size, but the
department table of organization will be strongly affected, as will
the ranks and some skills attainable by members of the service.

A note on terminology - a "member of the service" refers to any
individual working for a police department.  A "UMOS" (Uniformed
Member Of Service) refers to any member of the service that is
issued a shield and a sidearm.  A "Cop" is a UMOS of rank below
Lieutenant; an "Officer" is a UMOS of rank Lieutenant or above.

SIZING THE DEPARTMENT

For the purposes of determining whether a department is considered
large or small, some information about local population _density_
and area covered by the department must be available.  For the
purpose of discussion, interpret the population density level (PDL)
number as you would a population number, i.e., as an exponent of
ten, but with units of people per square kilometer rather than just
people.  If you're one of those people who likes to compute this by
using the "log10" key on your calculator or in your computer
program, round down.

My rule of thumb:  If the PDL is less than 4 in the area covered
by a single department, _and_ the area covered by a single
department has a population level less than 5, the department is
small.  Departments that have other departments operating partially
or totally within their jurisdiction are automatically large.
Thus, using the United States as an example, Westchester County,
New York, has several towns, cities, and villages.  The Village of
Pelham has a population of about 6,000 in 2.25 square kilometers.
This yields a PDL of 3 (3.42, actually).  The Village of Pelham has
a small department.  The County of Westchester has a population of
867,000 in 1192.50 square kilometers.  This yields a PDL of 2
(2.86).  However, the population level is 5, almost 6, _and_ there
are departments operating in smaller areas of Westchester County.
Therefore, the Westchester County Parkway Police Department is a
large department, as is the New York State Police Department.

The City of New York has 12,000,000 people in an area of about
1,000 square kilometers.  This gives a PDL of 4 (4.07).  This alone
is enough to make the New York City Police Department a large
department, as is the population level of 7.

TABLE OF ORGANIZATION

Small departments are generally unitary, with no division into
bureaus for functional separation, nor into precincts for
operational separation.  Large departments frequently have both.
The typical small department can be treated as a single precinct
for its table of operation.

The typical precinct is commanded by an officer of rank O2 or
higher.  This individual is responsible for overall coordination of
activities that occur both within the police station or out in the
operational area, for the entire 24-hour period of the standard
day.  In large departments, or in jurisdictions where there is a
lot of crime, he may be assisted by an executive officer whose rank
in small departments is at least one lower than his (but still at
least O1) or in large departments may be equal in rank.

There are three "platoons" in a precinct or a small department -
one for each eight-hour period of the standard day.  Platoons are
generally lettered in the Anglic alphabet, with each platoon being
listed as on-duty over a specific eight-hour period.  Each platoon
is led by a Lieutenant, who is responsible for coordinating
operations in the operational area for the period during which his
platoon is on-duty.  The Lieutenant is also responsible for
reporting his platoon's activity to the commanding officer, and for
passing on information to the following platoon about conditions
requiring special attention.  Staffing of the police station (i.e.,
ensuring that a sufficient number of Police Officers are in the
station at all time to take walk-in reports of crimes and to
process arrests) is the responsibility of the Lieutenant, as well.

Each platoon is divided up into several squads.  Each squad works a
sequence of days on-duty, followed by a shorter sequence of days
off-duty.  Squads work so that there is sufficient coverage each
day, and so that over a long period of time, each squad's on-duty
time is twice its off-duty time.  Squads are headed by Sergeants,
who are responsible for ensuring that all information required by
the platoon commander is collected from the police officers, and
for monitoring the performance of the Police Officers in his squad.

In small departments, the Detectives are usually considered a squad
on special assignment, but see the notes on Detectives in large
departments.

Administrative duties may be handled by Police Officers given a
"special assignment" of Staff, or by civilian bureaucrats (unranked
clerks) specifically hired for the purpose.

Large departments may have additional levels of command - for
example, a Division Command may have oversight and data collection
responsibilities for several precincts.  Large departments always
have a headquarters separate from a precinct, which has ultimate
overall responsibility for operational oversight and strategic
planning for the department as a whole.  Large departments are
generally divided up into operational bureaus, as follows:

Patrol Service - responsible for day-to-day patrol operation of
uniformed officers.  These officers are the ones that respond to
emergency calls and crimes-in-progress, and who act as a deterrent
by their presence.

Detective Service - responsible for investigation and information
development of crimes-completed (in the past).  May also arrange
and execute "sting" and under-cover operations.

Internal Affairs - responsible for investigating allegations of
misconduct by members of the service.  Responsible for proffering
specifications for departmental hearings.

Information Systems - responsible for maintaining computer systems
and software, and development and purchase of same.

Physical Plant - responsible for maintenance of physical facilities
of the department.

Quartermaster - responsible for supply and maintenance of equipment
and consumables required for department operations.

Information Systems, Physical Plant, and Quartermaster may be
contracted out to non-governmental firms, or to other government
agencies.  Patrol Service and Detective Service operate
"round-the-clock" (but see below).  Other bureaus generally operate
only during "normal business hours".

Detectives are not generally organized into platoons and squads as
patrol officers are.  Instead, each detective sets his/her own
hours based on the needs of any cases and/or "stings" or
under-cover operations he/she is currently working on.  Hours spent
on-duty must conform over the course of one fiscal year to the
same ratio as is required of Patrol Officers.

RANKS AND TYPICAL TITLES (as used in the United States)

There are two "classes" of UMOS, similar to the "enlisted" and
"officer" division of military forces.  Typically, they are
referred to as "Patrol officers" (cops, or enlisted) and
"Supervisors" (officers).  In this classification, Patrol officers
includes detectives of rank E2 and E4, and Supervisors includes all
ranks O1 and above.

The table below gives the rank number and rank title for all ranks.
Where "-----" appears in the Detectives column, it means that the
Detective Service bureau does not use that rank.  Ranks marked with
"*" may be omitted by some departments; see the notes following the
table.

Rank #  Standard Title            Detectives
~~~~~~  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~            ~~~~~~~~~~
E1*     Cadet                     -----
E2      Police Officer            Detective
E3*     Corporal                  -----
E4      Sergeant                  Detective Sergeant/Investigator
O1      Lieutenant                Lieutenant
O2      Captain                   Captain
O3*     Deputy Inspector          Deputy Inspector
O4      Inspector                 Inspector
O5*     Assistant Chief           Assistant Chief
O6*     Deputy Chief              Deputy Chief
O7*     Chief of Bureau           Chief of Detectives
O8      Chief of Department       -----
O9*     Commissioner              -----

Ranks O3 and above are generally considered political appointments
from within the ranks in large departments.

Small departments never have Cadets (rank E1) and generally omit
ranks E3, O5, O6, and O7; rank O3 may or may not exist.  If ranks
O5, O6, and O7 are _all_ omitted, rank O8 is called simply "Chief".
Some large departments omit ranks E1 and E3. A department that has
rank E1 will also have a Police Academy of its own; a Cadet will be
a prospective Police Officer in the final phase of his/her
training, or, in the largest police departments, may be a college
student who is on a work-study program with a major field of study
of Law Enforcement or Criminal Justice.

Small departments never have Commissioners (rank O9). Large
departments may or may not; if a Commissioner exists, it is as a
civilian political appointee setting overall policy, not involved
in operational matters.

UMOS are civil service employees until they achieve rank O3.  As
such, officers must have come up through the ranks.  Do not roll
for Commission.  Promotion should be rolled for regardless of SOC
and world government if current rank is below O2, with a +1 DM for
each _2_ terms served (count the current term) in addition to the
stated DMs and no SOC benefit.  Term DMs are no longer added once a
character achieves rank O2, but at that time, the SOC benefit _is_
added.  Thus, a player with SOC 9 who achieves rank O2 in his 5th
term did so with a +2 DM on the promotion roll in addition to any
DM for CON, but no SOC DM is given, even on Low Gov worlds.  In
subsequent terms, the character has a +2 DM for time-in-service,
_and_ a +1 DM for SOC 8+, for a total DM of +3.  The automatic
promotion on Gov High+ worlds applies once a character is attempting
to promote beyond rank O2.

All characters enter the career as rank E2.  Time spent as E1 in
departments that use this rank is covered by initial training and
possibly Undergraduate University as well.

Characters may leave the career and then choose to come back.  If
a character had rank O2 or below at the time of departure, roll 2D6
for the total number of terms in _all_ careers up to this point.
the result is _greater_than_ the number of terms served in all
careers, the character may re-enter with no loss of rank.  If the
result is _less_than_or_equal_to_ the number of terms served in
all careers, one level of rank is lost for _each_ term _not_ served
in Law Enforcement.  If the character had rank O3 or above at the
time of departure, roll 2D6 for 10+, DM +1 for SOC 8+, DM +1 for
each _2_ terms served in Law Enforcement.  If the roll succeeds,
the character is reappointed with no loss of rank.  If the roll
fails, the character may not return to Law Enforcement.

SKILL PACKAGES

Small departments:  The supplied skill packages in the basic rules
are OK as written.  However, the "Detective" skill package is not
used for being "commissioned".  Instead, roll 1D6 for assignment
each term; on 1, the special assignment is "Staff", on 2, the
special assignment is "Detective".  On any other roll, the
character is a uniformed officer.  If the assignment is
"Detective", use the Detective skill package instead of the
Uniformed skill package; if the assignment is "Staff", the
skill package consists of Vehicle, Interaction, Charm, Language,
Perception, Economics, Social Science.  On "Staff" assignments, the
character gets one Government and one Law Enforcement contact
instead of one Criminal and one Law Enforcement contact in that
term.

In large departments, roll 1D6 each term for bureau assignment:
1 - Patrol Service, 2 - Detective Service, 3 - Internal Affairs,
4 - Information Systems, 5 - Physical Plant, 6 - Quartermaster.  If
the bureau assignment is Patrol or Detective, roll 1D6 for
assignment; on 1 or 2, the character has been assigned to "Staff"
and gets the staff skill package above.  Otherwise, Patrol
assignees use the uniformed skill package; Detective assignees use
the Detective skill set.  For other assignments, use the following
skill packages:

Internal Affairs - Determination, Charm, Interaction, Perception,
Vehicle, Economics, Social Science.

Information Systems - Economics, Technician, Interaction, Charm,
Perception.  Contacts as "Staff", above.

Physical Plant - Engineer, Artisan, Construction, Technician,
Vehicle, Economics.  Contacts as "Staff", above.

Quartermaster - Charm, Determination, Interaction, Vehicle,
Economics.  Contacts as "Staff", above.

==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin                                      jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com
---
  OLXWin 1.00a  The free exchange of ideas is a foundation of democracy

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

Date: Wed, 5 Jul 1995 16:08:06 -0700
From: Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Nuclear missiles...
Message-ID: <ffb1b5f0@MailXFER.DMCWAVE.COM>

     Joerg Wegener wrote:
     
     >>why are all the ship-to-ship missiles nuclear-powered laser 
     warheads? Why doesn't anyone use simple nuclear warheads instead?<<
     
     I believe, and others may confirm or argue against this, that straight 
     nukes are not used in space because vaccuum is a poor medium for 
     transfer of energy.  Nuclear explosions are powerful within atmosphere 
     because they burn up the atmosphere of our world, creating the 
     fireball and huge mushroom-cloud effect.
     
     In space, Traveller's means of transferring the immense nuclear energy 
     is via laser rods that channel the force of a nuclear explosion into 
     several laser shots that can potentially devastate a ship's hull.
     
     --Chris

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

End of TRAVELLER Digest 338
***************************


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