			    TRAVELLER Digest 407

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Apologies: rice program
	by Bill Currie <BILLC@teleng1.tait.co.nz>
  2) Re: [X376, T404] Capitals
	by jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (JEFF ZEITLIN)
  3) Re: Space Carriers
	by E.Watters@Queens-Belfast.AC.UK
  4) Black Horse
	by E.Watters@Queens-Belfast.AC.UK
  5) Re: Zho's
	by toad@ugcs.caltech.edu (Benjamin Lane)
  6) TNE Fire Combat Question
	by CyHiggin@aol.com
  7) The All-Powerful RC/Regency Debate
	by Steve Charlton/Avalon Software Inc
  8) Heplar Missiles
	by John Muir Macpherson <muirmac@uclink.berkeley.edu>
  9) Traveller Chronicle (fwd)
	by adou01@cs.auckland.ac.nz (Andrew Richard  Doull)
 10) Jump drives and HEPlaR
	by toad@ugcs.caltech.edu (Benjamin Lane)
 11) 1) Well, so much for the Zho's... 2) Vland views
	by Alvin Plummer <alvin.plummer@sheridanc.on.ca>
 12) RICE paper generator v.2
	by Alvin Plummer <alvin.plummer@sheridanc.on.ca>

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

Date: Fri, 08 Sep 1995 09:48:20 +1100
From: Bill Currie <BILLC@teleng1.tait.co.nz>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Apologies: rice program
Message-ID: <FB5E46FDB@teleng1.tait.co.nz>

Sourry about that miss post, I forgot that the list is the default 
reply address.

Bill
+--------------+-----------------------------------+
|Bill Currie   | "Watch that first step..."        |
|Christchurch  | Jump trooper motto.               |
|New Zealand   |                                   |
+--------------+-----------------------------------+

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

Date: Wed, 06 Sep 95 17:47:00 -0500
From: jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (JEFF ZEITLIN)
To: TRAVELLER@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: [X376, T404] Capitals
Message-ID: <8B0942B.0100056D7B.uuout@execnet.com>


X::>While reading *Arrival Veangance*, I noticed that the letter from the
 ::>Office of the Archduke came from "Giyachi, Mora, Spinward Marches."  Thus
 ::>apparently making Giyachi the capital of the Doamin of Deneb, and
 ::>probably the Regency.

X::>My question: what was the capital city of the Third Imperium?

 Well, if I apply a minimum amount of Imagination to the question,
 I come up with a couple of uniquely unexpected possibilities:

                Capital, Capital, Core

 or

                Imperial Palace, Capital, Core

 (Remember that in the material that gave info on the Palace, it
 was big enough to be a city in its own right.)

==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin                                      jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com
---
  OLXWin 1.00a  A good pun is its own reword

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

Date: Fri, 08 Sep 1995 00:33:36 EDT
From: E.Watters@Queens-Belfast.AC.UK
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: Space Carriers
Message-ID: <0099610B.331CF280.40@v2.qub.ac.uk>

aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton) sent:


>  > From: E.Watters@Queens-Belfast.AC.UK 
>  > Subject: Re: Space Carriers 
>  >  
>  > Regarding Andy Boulton's discussion on Space Carriers in Digest 401,
>  > I think retreval of fighters could be easier than in wet navy
>  > carriers, as there is is no gravity to pull the space fighter down.
>  > It could thrust up to an entry port and either enter under it's own
>  > power, or be brought in by grapples ( a better method, as the
>  > Carrier's internal gravity field could bring a fighter down awkwardly.
  
>I see this as being *much* slower than wet carriers (by at least an order
>of magnitude). Space carriers also carry more fighters. Retrieval time is
>therefore going to be a lot longer.

The actual 'landing in a 'space carrier' is simpler than a wet carrier,
there is no arrestor wire to be engaged at high speed, no need for
fighters to come around again after failing to engage the wire, and the 
'landing' space figher will not interfere with launch operations as happens
in current wet carriers when landing fighters which have caught the wire
come to a halt in the angled deck launch area.
Also, landed fighters have to be towed off the flightdeck and brought down 
into the hangar, a time consuming process which can also interfere with 
flight operations.



>  > The Carrier would need to be accelerating at a constant rate, or for
>  > an easy docking to not be accelerating at all.
  
>But in a combat situation...?
 
As with current carrier situations, if the carrier is maneuvering, landings
are off.


 
>  > As to the landing deck
>  > being in vacuum, use airlocks at the launch tubes and retreval ports
>  > and everyone can be in shirtsleeves. Hangar would be a better term
>  > than landing deck, as the fighters 'land' at the retreval ports.
  
>Airlocks = slower, more expensive, and more to go wrong.

Airlocks may be slower, a bit more costly than none at all, but I don't 
think they could fail catastrophically unless there was sabotage involved.
Also, it may be more cosly if all hangar operations have to be conducted
in a vacuum, all the vac suits for the techs, the lack of dexterity in
the suit affecting the quality of the work, and the need for more airlocks
to provide entry into the hangar without affecting the pressure level in
the rest of the ship.

>  > Wrecks wouldn't need to be dumped off the ships, as in wet carriers
>  > this was necessary to clear the flight deck for other planes coming
>  > in to land. 

>But if it crashed into the landing area...

It would be hard to do, as ideally a fighter should be aiming for a 
zero-v difference between the carrier and itself on recovery. If 
there was a collision, it should be at low enough velocity not
to endanger the ship or landing port.

>  > hangar itself as deep inside the ship as it could be, to avoid it
>  > being depressurised by enemy fire. Maybe multiple hangars. Would it

>But think of the damage if a damaged fighter exploded...

If the fighter is damaged enough to posed an explosion threat, get it 
to dump fuel before grappling it aboard.

As to the question 'Are fighters any use in TNE' I don't know. I haven't 
played BL, and thus have little idea as to their effectiveness vs. combat
ships, but they do give an enemy a lot more incoming targets to think about,
are fairly small, with a turret sized armament, and more likely to do something
unexpected, unlike a missile. Any BL afficionados run carriers vs cruiser 
scenarios?

Eamon Watters, CNG0016@v2.qub.ac.uk

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

Date: Fri, 08 Sep 1995 01:05:11 EDT
From: E.Watters@Queens-Belfast.AC.UK
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Black Horse
Message-ID: <0099610F.9CBBFDE0.1@v2.qub.ac.uk>

merrick@Rt66.com (Merrick Burkhardt) sent Regarding Benjamin Lane's 
Tl-6 ssto:

 
>> Smart design.  Your assumption re: the turbofan is ok.
>> Btw, there is a real vehicle somewhat like this (the "Black Horse" concept
>> by Maj. Mitch Burnside-Clapp, USAF) using just rockets.  It takes off with
>> enough fuel to rendezvous for an airborne refueling, then loads up its 
>> tanks and zips off as a nearly-single-stage-to-orbit flight.

>My roommate is friends with Mitch, and Black Horse is really, really
>neat.  I'll have to dig up the poop on this, from what I've heard it's
>pretty interesting.

>-Merrick

I saw Maj. Burnside-Clapp at a panel on Space Access at the SF Worldcon in
Glasgow at the end of August. He gave a short, but interesting talk on the
Black Horse, which I'll summarize:

Black Horse is a F-16 sized rocket plane, fueled by hydrogen peroxide and
kerosine in the latest version. It Takes off with a full oxidizer load (h202),
and enough kerosine to rendezvous with a tanker which fills the kerosine
tank up. The black horse (BH) disengages and boosts for low earth orbit, or
a sub-orbital trajectory, depending on the mission requirements.

Possible missions include:

Reconnsance
Satellite deployment
Strike (space-ground)
Counter-space (anti-sat, jamming)
Medevac

The BH has a payload bay about the size of an F-16 crew compartment. For the
first 4 missions it would be loaded with cameras, sats, bombs or ecm gear
respectively. For the last mission, it could take an injured soldier, in a 
pressurized compartment, and fly him/her from Saudi Arabia to the U.S. in 
an hour. As to the economy of this, I don't know, but the Major emphasised
the morale effect.
The BH could be deployed overseas easily, needing parking space for tankers
abd accomodations for techs.
BH has no airlock, and no spacewalking capacity is anticipated.
Unrefueled the BH has a range, sub-orbital, of 7000miles, refueled it can
ovefly any point on the globe and return.

That was the substance of the Major's talk.

BH, to me, seems like a good idea, and with some modifications could possibly 
serve as a Space Station crew/cargo resupply vehicle.

This is just my recollection of Maj. Burnside-Clapp's talk, my memory isn't 
perfect!

Hope this helps.

Eamon Watters, CNG0016@v2.qub.ac.uk  

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

Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 17:50:40 -0700
From: toad@ugcs.caltech.edu (Benjamin Lane)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: Zho's
Message-ID: <199509080050.RAA04737@frappe.ugcs.caltech.edu>


Forgive me for not quoting previous mail - I hope this is intelligible anyway.

The Zhodani are definitely a problem as far as making a roleplaying universe
goes - that is, _if you make them all-powerful and far too harmonious_.
The argument that it's better to let the Regency pour money into rebuilding
the imperium and thus 'a credit spent in the Wilds is one less spent on
Riders', is very shortsighted. So shortsighted in fact as to be more like
an Imperial policy than a Zho one. Sure, that credit might not buy a cruiser
today, but in 50 years it will buy a batRon. The Zhodani know that. However,
they also know that -unlike many who seem to be stuck in 19th century thinking-
a prosperous neighbour is more likely to be a peaceful one...             
Also, it is amazing how fast you can rebuild; a perfect example is what used
to be East Germany. Yes, it is true that west Germany strained its economy
in rebuilding, but the returns are enormous, and soon in coming as well. 
The Marshall Plan is another (perhaps even better) example of reconstruction.
Yet another advantage the Regency would have is that it is resettling 
already charted and explored space. Certainly there are dangers -TED's Vampire
ships, and what have you - but they already know which worlds are habitable, 
which are rich in resources, and which are troublesome... this will have an
enormous effect on the rate of reconstruction... I can easily see a scenario
where it takes less than 100 years to reestablish thousands of thriving,
growing worlds.. You see, what we have here is a large area of habitable 
space that can easily support thousands of times its current population (the 
old Imperium had eleven TRILLION inhabitants, ten trillion of them died).
The scene is et for exponential growth - which you should know can be _fast_.

Another aspect of this reconstruction is that it will tend to lead to a 
large degree of homogenization of the newly resettle area - the settlers
will all share the same basic culture ( Semi-Imperial, Behind-the-Claw),
they will have the same tech level ( 14 for the masses, 15-16 commercial, 
17 military), and they will all be used to the idea of the Regency having power.Like it or not, these people could re-establish an imperium in four generations.Not only that- it will be an imperium that is to a large extent willing and able (perhaps even unable to not) continue expanding. I think that the most 
clear-sighted Zhodani realize this, and I think this will have a strong 
effect on Zhodani culture. 

To begin with, reconstructing the Imperium would demonstrate the vitality
and adaptiveness of Imperial culture - something the Zho's are lacking.
You realize that when the average Regency inhabitant could just decide to
pack his belongings, take a low passage to some booming planet in Core and
start a new life - a few (not many I grant you. 7000 years of stagnation
will have had its effect. theose with 'get-up-and-go' have already gotten
up and left) unusual Zhodani are going to ask themselves why they can't do the 
same. But this is not the important part. No, instead the Zhodani leaders 
will realize with horror that THE IMPERIALS REPLACED 10 TRILLION DEAD IN 
FOUR GENERATIONS. The Zhodani could simply put never match this. And not only
that - the restored imperium is no longer hemmed in on all sides - to 
coreward the Vargr are in trouble, to Rimvard the Solomani are wiped out, 
to anitspinward the K'kree are now once again reduced to roaming the plains 
looking for pasture, and to Spinward (Foreven sector and beyond) there are
vast areas of uncharted space. the Zho's have had no firm opposition to 
expansion for millenia, yet they inhabit a volume smaller than that of the 
Third Imperium. the Galaxy belongs to those who reproduce - the Zhodani 
now face a culture that could outnumber them in five or six generations.
They must adapt or become irrelevant - and the most far-sighted of them
know that. 

I find that the Imperium much more fruitful for gaming simply because it is
DYNAMIC. To be sure, the Zho worlds can hardly be as pastoral as they are 
portrayed - for that reason I think gamers have overlooked an enormous 
opportunity for adventuring in Zho Space. What would it be like to be on a 
Core Expedition? A smart, resourceful misfit in Zho society who has mastered
psionic deceit? Don't tell me a psionic can't lie to another psionic, at 
least if he/she/it is good at it... I think Asimovs books about the Foundation,
and in particular the Gaia/Foundation interactions paints an interesting 
picture ripe with possibility. But I digress. 

It is incontestible that the Rebellion War and the Virus are the most 
important events in history - and now we are at a crossroads. Either the
regency and all of charted space can get stuck in interminable squabbling
and stagnation, or the door to expansion can be opened. For the purpose of 
gaming possibilities, I strongly suggest the latter. A universe where there 
are no fixed boundaries is much more interesting. It can hardly be a coincidenc
e that most traveller campaigns I've ever heard of took place in areas like
the Spinward Marches, Foreven sector, even Gateway had possibilities. Who 
would ever want to adventure in pre-Rebellion Massilia? It would be like 
mounting a wilderness expedition into Suburbia, USA.

Anyway, I think it's a mistake to relegate all of the Domain of deneb to 
the staus of Zho-like boringness. In fact I think it's a mistake to relegate
all of the Zhodani Consulate to the status of Zho-like boringness. 

Cheers,
/ben

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

Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 20:56:30 -0400
From: CyHiggin@aol.com
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: TNE Fire Combat Question
Message-ID: <950907205628_93860635@emout04.mail.aol.com>


From: SwrdKnght@aol.com

>I have a question about Fire Combat in TNE...

> Bob, slug pistol asset of 16, opens up with his custom gauss pistol
>on his opponent at short range. Now firing single shots (recoil 1) he
>could fire 5 shots (his str is 7) with a Difficult task, hitting on a
>d20 roll of 16 or less with each bullet. OR he could fire a 5 round
>burst (recoil 3) and those same 5 bullets would only hit on a roll of
>4 or less on d20 roll. Is this correct? and if so, why?!?! It makes no
>sense to me... 

Well, he can actually fire 2 5-round bursts without recoil problems...
At, as you say, to hit on a roll of 4 for each of 10 shots...

Yes, this makes sense... it's what Col. Cooper and others derisively call
the "Spray and Pray" technique of shooting.  I.E., spray lots of lead in the
general
direction of your enemy and pray that you hit... It is known for being the
technique of choice for people who don't know how to shoot.

                                            -- Cynthia


                                            


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

Date:  7 Sep 95 16:16:17 MS
From: Steve Charlton/Avalon Software Inc
To: traveller <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: The All-Powerful RC/Regency Debate
Message-ID: <9509080014.AA00333@khan.avalon.COM>

Alvin Plummer has reconsidered his position on the near-term relative 
strength of the Reformation Coalition in a fight with the Regency.  I think 
Alvin should re reconsider, as I think he was right the first time:

>Appendix I: Why the Reformation Coalition will survive contact with the 
>Regency.

Appendix Ia:  Why the Reformation Coalition Better Lay Low If it Wants 
to Survive.

>A few month's ago, I ridiculed the idea that the RC will outlast contact 
>contact with the Regency, since even a ho-humm, TL E frontier BatRon 
>could stomp out not only the RC, but possibly anything in the Old Expanses.

>Well, no.  First, I overlooked the fact that Vras (now Aubaine) was TL F 
>preCollapse.  That - with the fact that the RC has been successfuly 
>maintaining quite an amount of TL F equipment - means that the RC has 
>a good grasp of TL F technology, and that their current TL of 12 is 
>strictly temporary.  By 1230, they should have made their first TL F 
>warships, new from the ground up.

I am not so sure that the RC would hit TL15 that quickly.  In the Pre-Collapse 
Imperium, there were plenty of worlds trying to make it to TL15 and TL16, but 
this was a very long and arduous process.  And that was in a time where 
there were many more TL15-saavy technicians around, and when the Imperial 
infrastructure was around and in good condition.  The RC will be forced to 
bootstrap 
itself up using ruined infrastructure and a much smaller pool of TL15 
technicians.  I 
would suspect the RC will hit TL13 pretty quickly (by 1230 possibly) but this 
will be a 
major technology plateau; they will not be advancing much further until they 
rebuild 
some infrastrucutre, expand the RC high-tech economy and get a generation or 
two 
of technicians and engineers who are trained to build things rather than 
salvage and 
repair things.  I WOULD suspect that the RC would be able to salvage and repair 
TL15 warships by 1230-1250, but these would be at a disadvantage in battle due 
to the fact that they are salvaged; systems will be missng or jury-rigged, and 
supplies 
of spares will be dependant on salvage operations and luck, rather than on 
technical 
skill and economic strength.

>But how will they get the high-tech vampire warships they need to fend off 
>the Regency in the meantime?  

>Simple. Infect them with a friendly Virus.

>Using the same method, the vampire fleefs can be convered into RC fleets, 
>giving them quite a bit of muscle to face the Regency with.  Add in the 
>factr that Infected warships (with a peasemaker strain) operate at TL 16, 
>and the RC (later, Aubaine Republic) Navy have some real toys to play with.

But the Regency is probably the best-equipped state in the known worlds to 
fight off a 
Virus-controlled attack.  The Virus has been a constant threat to the Regency 
for 70+ 
years, and the Regency has devoted a lot of military and scientific resources 
to fighting 
off Virus incursions.  I would not be at all surprised if the Regency has some 
form of 
anti-Virus that infects and disables Virus-controlled computers.  I doubt that 
the psionic 
influence on Regency affairs will be as large as you describe, but certainly 
the Regency 
Navy will not be shy about using Psions to develop new tactics and 
methodologies to 
defeat Viruses.  As for the TL16 element, the Virus fleet would still be 
hampered by the 
fact that it is being supported by a government that can only supply TL12-TL13 
new 
equipment, or some TL15 salvaged equipment.  That TL16 advantage drops away 
quickly if the ship is armed with a bunch of TL12 Meson Weapons and lasers.   
The 
RC would probably be very disappointed with the performance of their vaunted 
Virus 
fleets against the Regency.

>Now (actually, from say 1220) , if that TL E BarRon squadron from the 
>Regency arrives over Aubaine, it'll be lucky to get out alive.

Those TL E BatRons won't be showing up in the RC; they will be busy subduing 
some 
TL9 TEDs and loner Virus ships elsewhere.  The Regency isn't going to waste any 
time in countering a threat from the RC, so it will send its top of the line 
TL16 fleets, fresh 
from the yards on Mora, supported by some "old and outdated" TL15 auxilliaries 
like 
Plankwell and Empress Battleships.

There is one fairly significant hope for the RC, but it is not to be found in 
defeating the 
Regency fleets.  The RC is far away from the Restored Imperium.  If the RC 
rulers are 
smart, they will bide their time and focus their attentions to rimward and 
anti-spinward.  
If the RC does not provoke the Regency, the Regency is not going to go out of 
its way 
to invade the RC.  That is expensive, and there is a lot of former Imperial 
space to retake 
closer to home (and possibly the Vargr Extents and the Julian Protectorate as 
well).  The 
Regency will  probably not be too hyped over trying to reacquire former 
hinterland regions 
of the Third Imperium and the Solomani Confederation, but if the Regency is 
threatened, 
it would have no compunction about "removing" the threat.

Of course, if the RC lays low for 150 years or so, the Regency will have a 
large and high-tech 
neighbor that could pose a real threat.  Now, that would be interesting to 
watch.

Now, where's that damned Regency Sourcebook!?!?!  I must have it now...

Impatiently
Steve Charlton
scharlto@avalon.com
scharlto@rtd.com
My Employers Have no Opinion in this matter.

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

Date: Thu, 7 Sep 1995 19:15:43 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Muir Macpherson <muirmac@uclink.berkeley.edu>
To: Traveller Mailing List <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: Heplar Missiles
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9509071826.A7055-0100000@uclink.berkeley.edu>

Roger Myrhe said:
>I haven't tried with Heplar missiles, but don't expect much more success.

Funny you should mention that....  I've been working on Heplar and Fusion 
drive missiles and have been quite impressed:

The Agincourt class Cruise Missile
TL 15		Vol. 	Mass	MCr
Warhead	500 Kt	0.4	0.4	1.2	
Fusion 	6 MW	1	2	0.2	
HEPLaR 		0.6	0.6	0.006	
Fuel		4.79	0.3353		
1 hex PEMS	0.21	0.41	0.41	
Total		7	3.75	1.816
	
FC		1.5	0.105		
G's	33.54				
G-Turns	214				

	With this design, a missile cruiser can launch from the max range
of its sensors and have missiles engaging the target in the next few turns.  
This particular missile must be designated by another ships AEMS or 
ladar.  But since the firing ship can stay out beyond 35 hexes where
absolute range diff mods make it almost impossible to hit, it has little to
fear from a conventional gunship.
	I modified a standard Missile Corvette with 16 hex AEMS and gave 
it autoloaders for its missile barbettes.  Then I put it up against a 
Midu Agashaam class Destroyer.  Make the range 48 hexes (long range bogey 
detection for the Corvette by Merrickrules) and give both ships bogey 
detection.  First turn, the Corvette lights up the AEMS and locks the 
Destroyer.  The Corvette is beyond max range of the Destroyers weapons and 
it has +9 diff mods (or more) for range beyond 27 hexes,  -6 for the MFD 
and -1 for the size of the Corvette, gives a net of  Impossibile +1.  The 
Destroyer misses.  When range hits 27 the Corvette empties its missile 
barbettes of Agincourt(tm) missiles and runs away.  Four barbettes, five 
missiles each, thats  20 missiles.  The missiles burn max Gs toward the 
Destroyer and reach it in _1_ turn.  Lets be nice to the Destroyer and say 
it hits a missile with every one of its weapons, including the spinal 
mount, and kills 9 missiles.  Lets say 6 of these missiles lose lock and 
fly off into space.  The remaining 5 fire on the Destroyer.  Three hit.  A 
total of 10 det-laser beams hit the Destroyer and trash it.  The Corvette 
still has another salvo left.
	The 400-ton Corvette just did severe damage to the 
3000ton Destroyer without ever exposing itself to effective return fire.  
This is with det-lasers.  Imagine what a KKM with a closing velocity of 
30+ Gs could achieve.  It gets worse.  Agincourt missiles have 214 
G-turns.  With another ship designating for it, the corvette could launch 
from 150+ hexes away, leaving the missiles 64 G-turns to correct, and 
still get a closing velocity which would punch those KKMs through one 
side of the Destroyer and out the other without even noticing.  Lets  
line up a bunch of em and see how many we can punch through with one 
missile.  Okay, so the Midu Agashaam is a wimpy ship, but its still 
almost an order of magniture larger than the Corvette which just trashed it.

	Hey Merrick, would you mail me the rules for KKM damage you 
have?  I'd like to see how vicious these get.

Merrick said:
>Using KKMs can really throw this out of whack, but FFS has provided us
>with Electrostatic Armor (ESA).

	I thought ESA (Electro-Static Armor) worked against HEAP 
and plasma weapons but not KEAPs.  Am I missing something?  I suppose at 
the impact energy we're taking about the KKM might _become_ a plasma....  
Of course anything that can be invoked to reign in 150 hex Hail Mary KKM 
Battleship killers would be welcome. :)

	--Muir

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

Date: Fri, 8 Sep 1995 15:57:35 +1200 (NZST)
From: adou01@cs.auckland.ac.nz (Andrew Richard  Doull)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Traveller Chronicle (fwd)
Message-ID: <199509080357.PAA23477@cs26.cs.auckland.ac.nz>

Forwarded message:

> 
> Greetings! My name is Kevin Knight and I publish the Traveller magazine, the
> Traveller Chronicle. I downloaded some of your stuff from Joe Heck's Web page
> and am VERY interested in publishing it. If you are interested in having me
> do so, please send whatever articles you would like to have published to me
> via email. I have enclosed a copy of our writer's guides. Thanks!
> 
[Copy of the writer's guidelines deleted.]

*Great*.  Unfortunately, I have not heard of the Traveller Chronicle. 
Could someone on this mailing list please fill me in?

Also, what are the legal issues concerning publication of material which
has already appeared in another form (eg Web page)?  I realise this is less
related to the TML list, but considering the recent change in policy that
Challenge magazine has concerning publication of submissions, I feel it is
still relevent.

A.D.Venturer
 

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

Date: Fri, 8 Sep 1995 00:14:56 -0700
From: toad@ugcs.caltech.edu (Benjamin Lane)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Jump drives and HEPlaR
Message-ID: <199509080714.AAA04877@liquefy.ugcs.caltech.edu>


HI all, 

First a though about j-drives... My understanding of how they work (based 
on the old Starship Ops manual above all.) is that you have a lanthanum 
doped net in the hull, a computer/power-router, a HPG bank (which IMHO 
might also be a loop of superconducting wire), and a special purpose 
powerplant. The reason you couldn't just charge up your HPG from the normal 
plant was unclear - I had to find a good explanaition for my players, so 
I said that you need _lots_ of energy quicky- the HPG/superconductor/capacitor
banks would break down before you had enough charge if you used a normal
plant. (reasonable - Capacitors leak charge, superconducting magnets might
lose the right kind of crystalline structure, or HPG magnetic bearings might for some reason not hold ) In order to get this large current flow you use 
a special method to extract energy from the plasma - MHD. In effect, you 
run hydrogen down a tube, compresing and heating it until it fuses. The 
heat from the fusion is used to accelerate the plasma further, at which point
you charge it and run it through a magnet. presto - lots of current. and very
inefficient unfortunately. only suitable for j-drives. 
And now we get to the point. namely that what you need to charge a jump drive
is a high-velocity, high-temp plasma running by a magnet. There is another 
way to create such a plasma - nuclear explosives. Conceivably you could 
pad a nuke with lots of ionizable stuff like cesium that would flash into
plasma as it goes off, and then use gravitic and magnetic fields to channel this into your MHD tube, or if you hadn't mastered gravitics, you could just 
make a big enough nuke. THis seems like a cheap, dirty, low-tech way to 
get into jumpspace... Perhaps cheap enough to be  a common technique at TL-9 ?
Or a good way to jury-rig your busted J-drive when you're headed into that
star over there..?
What do you think? I think it has a certain feel to it; "Go to the stars -
with a bang." 

Coupled with the assumption that certain geometries greatly simplify j-space
calculations (Of course, the necessary shape is a silly-looking saddle-shape
or something equally impractical), you might even be able get into J-space
at TL7-8. (NO, this is NOT Space:1889, thank you.)

Just because we didn't do it when we were at a low tech level doesn't mean
it can't be done... 

And now Heplar.. what happens when you run a HEPLar drive in an oxygen atmosphere? once the Hydrogen cools sufficiently it will combust, I would think. 
THus resulting in the embarassing case of a HEPlaR-propelled grav tank 
leaving behind it a 200-meter tail of flame. Boy, that has _got_ to be hard
to spot on HRT.

Therefore; can you use other chemicals in HEPlar drives? Above all, water?
Since you're not fusing it (which is a strange oversight - you would need
the extra energy in order to get the accellerations claimed), it should 
work even better than hydrogen, because of its higher density. Although I
suppose that you will still have the problem of combustion since the heat
would crack the water.

Forgive me for bringing up these perhaps nit-picky points, but it seems 
Traveller is at least partially hard sci-fi, and my group tands to come up 
with technically hard questions... and I like to give better answers than 
"because it just works that way, and remember this is a game. Now shut up
and roll the dice."

cheers,
/ben

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

Date: Fri, 08 Sep 1995 11:06:58 -0400 (EDT)
From: Alvin Plummer <alvin.plummer@sheridanc.on.ca>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: 1) Well, so much for the Zho's... 2) Vland views
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.91.950908102343.17068B-100000@hubble.sheridanc.on.ca>


Since the Computer Guy popped my balloon on impossibly large Zho naval 
fleets, the unbalanced relationship between then is now a good bit more 
balanced.  

(Whew!)

And without a massive imbalance in wealth, the Zhodani won't swamp the 
Regency with cash and culture, either.  Another nasty monster put to rest.

Even so, I wouldn't mess with them if I were you.  Depending on how much 
damage they took from Virus, they're still definitely more wealthier and 
more powerful than the Regency, although they probably would have 
problems conquering the Regency.  Just how much of a problem depends on 
how many High tech worlds GDW put in the Regency.  The kind of 
information only found in (all together now) THE REGENCY SOURCEBOOK!

(Any adventurers out there available for hire?  I've got a little job for 
you in an out-of-the way, low-tech dirtball called Bloomington....) 
 
*************

Vland is going to be a highly interesting problem for the Regency.  Only 
GDW really knows what happened to it (and we'll have to wait quite a 
while, I suspect).  But here are a few possibilities:

A) "Ground to meat."  Vland was at TL F, last time we saw it.  *And* was a 
high-population world, too.

And we all know what Virus does to high-tech, high-population worlds now, 
don't we.

Now, with the Vilani population blasted to shreds, but with a lot of 
useful - if Infected - high-tech equipment lying about, the place is a 
prime settlement target.  Settled, that is, by high-tech, largely
Solomani-desended Imperials, almost certainly washing out the 
couple o'thousand pure-blooded Vilani aboriginies running naked in the woods.

And I bet that the high-tech Regency cousins of those naked aborigines 
isn't going to like it one bit.  What *THEY* probably want to do is slap a 
racial-purity zone on Vland, turning it into a reservation.  And 
gradually, in the Vilani manner, raise their tech level.  

Expect lot's of politicing, with the Vilani at a distinct disadvantage since 
        - During the Rebellion, the Vilani Megacorps and Vilani sector 
          decided to abandon the Imperium (and the Domain)
        - Without the Megacorps, the Regency Vilani have lost their major 
          base of power.  Without a major population base (The Regency 
          was largely settled by Solomani), they haven't got much democratic 
          say, either.

B) "Berserker Throne" If Virus has made Vland into a robot-run world, 
more additional problems arise.  Vland was a major world of the Imperium, 
and it's proper restoration is one of the major goals of the Regency.  
which means that, unlike most Virus centres the Regency finds, you can't 
just nuke it to glass.  If the Vilani loved robots (and they did like 
expert programs), the Regency Marines can expect heavy action on Vland.

And not just the Marines: remember that Vland was a massive naval base 
in pre-Rebellion times, and was an independent nation during the 
Rebellion.  Which means lots and lots of warships.  I don't envy the 
first few Regency Scouts to enter the system (and you thought that scouts 
in Classic Traveller had short lifespans!).  And I don't envy the 
commander of the Naval task force sent to clear Vland of the vampires.

C) "Intruder! You have entered the Restored Vilani Empire.  Identify 
yourself!"  

If the Vilani somehow managed to survive Virus and endure as a pocket 
empire, then you can expect some fancy diplomatic footwork as Regency 
diplomats strive to incorporate it peasefully, while the locals 1: 
recover from the shock of seeing people with sunbursts on their helmets 
2: strive vigourously to retain at least some independence. 

The Vilani here will be the first pocket empire that the Regency 
encounters, not the RC. And it will be the Vilani that will set the 
pattern for Regency treatment of the Wilds.  Finally, assuming a peaseful 
annexation into the Regency, it will be the Vilani that will be the Regency's
advisors on how to treat the Wilds, acting like a buffer between the 
Regency and the Wildmen.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alvin Plummer
"Preserve what we created, Norris, and remember what we stood for."
                               - Strephon, 179-1126

Reply to: alvin.plummer@SHERIDANC.ON.CA
------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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

Date: Fri, 08 Sep 1995 10:23:14 -0400 (EDT)
From: Alvin Plummer <alvin.plummer@sheridanc.on.ca>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: RICE paper generator v.2
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.91.950908101007.17068A-100000@hubble.sheridanc.on.ca>


>From: Michael Bailey <pd82495@wapol.gov.au>
>> 
>> A while back, someone (oh god, I can't even remember the name!!) posted
>> details of a program that would generate RICE paper stats from a UWP
>> listing.  Is this program still around, and if so, where can it be found?
>

> From: Bill Currie <BILLC@teleng1.tait.co.nz>
> 
> here's my copy, uuencoded
> 
>   <computer gibberish follows>

Hya, All!  Just a reminder that I'm going to produce a less-buggy version 
by the end of September/early October.  This version is O.K., but I've 
been told there are some bugs in the temperature stuff.

Also: Thanks Bill for sending out my program, but maybe not on the list 
next time, just directly to Bailey. Thanks!

**********

[Mea culpa: I got my head banged around for reposting fat old TML posts.  
Nasty comments about paying for other peoples' email service and 
suchlike.]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alvin Plummer                          - waiting for Grandfather to get his

Reply to: alvin.plummer@SHERIDANC.ON.CA
------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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

End of TRAVELLER Digest 407
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