			    TRAVELLER Digest 429

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Re: TRAVELLER digest 426
	by library@dss.gov.au (DSS Library)
  2) Re: TRAVELLER digest 428
	by toad@ugcs.caltech.edu (Benjamin Lane)
  3) Efate disclamer...
	by Alvin Plummer <alvin.plummer@sheridanc.on.ca>
  4) Sparklers...
	by Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)
  5) Regency Sourcebook(YES!!!), Efate RICE, Cybereck rules, etc...
	by cmdrx@magicnet.net (Commander X)
  6) WBH and TNE playability...
	by Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)
  7) Another note on pion guns
	by merrick@Rt66.com (Merrick Burkhardt)
  8) RE: TRAVELLER digest 428
	by E.Watters@Queens-Belfast.AC.UK
  9) Vehicles and GDW Background
	by Steve Charlton/Avalon Software Inc
 10) Multiple
	by "Frances A. McLaughlin" <wwnfam@pipeline.com>
 11) RICE Paper:  Kubishush/Inar
	by Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)

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

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 14:10:23 -0500
From: library@dss.gov.au (DSS Library)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: TRAVELLER digest 426
Message-ID: <199509262110.OAA13650@babylon5.dss.gov.au>

Dear Folks -

Re Ben's questions in 426:

>> 2.      ZHODANI AND THE CORE
>Cool. But I don't have MT#4. Would you be willing to write a short explanation?

I'll write one up and send it direct to you, if you like (it will contain
spoilers so I am not sure that a general posting would be appreciated).
Please note that reading between the lines of Dave Nilsen's editorial indicates
that GDW may scrap this idea... but then, there is still The Woman In Black!
(SEE Commodore Bwana).

>> 4.      THE CONSULATE AND THE REGENCY
>> ... According to TD #4, many Zho fleets were destroyed, and
>> many of their psionic nobles went insane. If this option is used by GDW,
>> it could leave a hole in Zho society that they would need time to fill.
>just the fact that the fleets in question were a few hundred parsecs away
in the
>Coreward direction would effectively remove them from the Frontier wars.

_Survival Margin_ has the Zhos rotating ships out of the front line with the
Marches and (probably) sending them coreward - a bit like Lucan's use of the
huge Corridor Fleet, I guess. I think that a similar power vacuum may have been
created along the Zho-Regency border - but the Regency is less inclined to
exploit
it than the Vargr were in Corridor.

>> 2. The Regency has TL 16 and experimental TL 17. The Zhos have TL 14 and
>> experimental TL 15. The Darrians (Regency allies) have the Star Trigger.
>> This should help to equal out the balance of power.
>True. Where can I find out more about the star trigger? 

_Aliens Book 7 (or 6??): Darrians_.

- Hyphen
  (David Jaques-Watson)


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

Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 23:51:58 -0700 (PDT)
From: toad@ugcs.caltech.edu (Benjamin Lane)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: TRAVELLER digest 428
Message-ID: <199509260651.XAA26544@gluttony.ugcs.caltech.edu>

Hi all,
	well, it seems I am not the only one criticl of the Storyline 
focus of GDW. But as I said before, it's their call... 
BTW, what veer happened to DGP. Do they still exist? 

About the World Builders handbook - sure it was a lot of work, but if 
all the players wanted was to refuel at the starport, I usually didn't 
bother detailing everthing. AS for the low percentage of habitable worlds,
well, we don't know anything for certain, but based on the solar system
it is improbable to find a habitable world. Sure, there is Earth, but there
is also Mars, Venus, Mercury, the Moon, etc... The chain of events that must
occur in order for a world to be hospitable to human life is long and 
complicated. For instance; a planet must fall within a very small mass range,
(in order to retain an atmosphere), it must be at just the right distance.
It's star must be relatively stable. It should have an iron core (to provde aa 
protectice magnetic field), it must have oceans. it must have an atmosphere of
oxygen with just the right partial pressure. notice that the only known way 
to produce such an oxygen atmosphere is through LIFE. thus the world should 
have at one point at least developed oxygen producing lifeforms.. etcetc.
Earth seems to be a rare planet.. 
I would be extremely surprised if the universe contained an earth-like planet 
around every G type star, not to mention around MV's , F class stars, brown dwarfs, binaries, and whatever else you can find in some of the sector data. 

AS for Meson guns. well, I like the idea of them being merely very high-penetration weapons. although I must admit that I like the idea of deep meson sites... I just don't like the other applications, i.e. battlefield MGs, or small 
ship-board ones on the bridge used to supress mutinies.. ( an idea mentioned 
on the ML a month ago or so.) perhaps some physicist can figure out a 
massive, unstable neutrino? 
speakng of which - I have to disagree with the current rules that make neutrino
sensors useless for detecting ships. Two years ago a friend of mine worked 
on a neutrino detector set up to detect neutrinos emitted from a nuclear 
power plant. at TL-8! true  , the thing was big and close to the reactor, but 
the point remains - we can almost do it now. at TL-15 what with control of the 
weak nuclear force, I think it should be easy. 
and it doesn't have to be a playability problem. on the contrary, it make s
space combat that much more interesting. surely you remeber the Diskhilii maneuver? Not to mention that a gas giant would probably emit enough random neutrinos to be a good thing to hide behind. 
also, I recall a rumor of a proposal by someone at TRW wanting to make a 
directional high-sensitivity neutrino sensor, supposedly his case was not 
scientifically unsound. But the Navy vetoed the idea. I wonder why? ;)

in the same vein, have you ever heard of LIGO? sounds like a prototype 
densitometer... 

I think what I'm trying to get at is that whenever someone starts saying 
"this is the way this universe is. we make the game - use it or make your own"
you start to limit the possibilities that a bunch of interested gamers can dream up. the ideas aired on the TML alone would, if implemented in official rules,
certainly add a lot of depth to the whole Traveller universe. 
if the game were more of a framework, with many different regions with different histories, gaming focii, possibilities, etc, there would be a place to
suit almost every campaign. 
ah well, enough now..

Oh, also, wasn't Cymbeline rather totally nuked by Lucans forces in the late 
1120's? I seem to recall a TNS message saying that most of the cyberlife 
on the planet had been destroyed... 
sorry to bring it up. 
 
cheers,
/ben

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

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 07:48:21 -0400 (EDT)
From: Alvin Plummer <alvin.plummer@sheridanc.on.ca>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Efate disclamer...
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.91.950926074311.17420A-100000@hubble.sheridanc.on.ca>

From: Rob_Prior@nynet.nybe.north-york.on.ca (Rob Prior)

> This doesn't sound like the Efate from Classic Traveller.  Check out
> adventures like "Dagger to Efate" in JTAS for the feel.

I suspected as such: I have no Traveller material for Efate.  However, 
it's such an important world that I felt that I _had_ to develop it, for 
my own sanity.

> 
> Of course, you could always move your world to somewhere that hasn't been
> described/used yet.  Lunion or Vilis Subsectors might be a good bet: GDW
> hasn't done much there (except for Garda Vilis).

I second this opinion.  I try to keep my worlds 'legit'... sorta... but I 
definitely have limitations.  The Keeper of the Papers may want to put a 
disclamer on my Efate paper...

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

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


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

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 08:31:51 -0700
From: Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Sparklers...
Message-ID: <0681d2b0@MailXFER.DMCWAVE.COM>

     >>The Sparklers, as described in MegaTraveller Journal #4 by DGP, are 
     unofficial now and will likely remain so. Forever.  Your mileage may 
     vary. I personally don't ever intend to use them in the fashion DGP 
     planned on, and probably not at all... <<
     
     Still, they would explain why the Zhodani are so preoccupied with 
     problems at the Core.  I seriously doubt that GDW intends to endorse 
     DGP's passing mention of them too, however.  
     
     Whenever I look at World Builder's Handbook, those MT Journals, the 
     Aliens Modules (and the mention of the defunct Zhodani & K'Kree, the 
     proposed third alien module), and other great DGP products, I cringe.  
     What wonderful stuff DGP put out.  I only wish they could be 
     resurrected to produce stuff for TNE.
     
     --Chris

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

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 11:30:44 -0400
From: cmdrx@magicnet.net (Commander X)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Regency Sourcebook(YES!!!), Efate RICE, Cybereck rules, etc...
Message-ID: <199509261532.LAA15006@magicnet.magicnet.net>

This is Commander X
of the RQS Fortune and Glory
Hailing the TML.

First of all I would like to say just on thing that has been on my mind
since Mr. Griffen posted in Digest #427

REGENCY SOURCEBOOK IS HERE!!!!

again, still shouting out loud so all can hear...

REGENCY SOURCEBOOK IS HERE!!!(about bloody time! :)  )

I haven't as of yet seen it at Enterprise 1701 (THE Orlando, FL gaming
shoppe!) but I am hoping they will get it by the 1st of the month (aka this
weekend?) I can hardly wait to get my grubbly little fingers on it!

Another matter, directly speaking to Mr. Griffen.  It would appear that Mr.
Plummer has beaten us to the punch with his Efate RICE paper.  Very
interesting work though. I do like the holograms and the religeon behind it.
(Don't tell Rimmer of the Red Dwarf that, he might want to be revered as a god!)

One more thing...
An appology to Mr. Currie
It seems that either the e-mail address I have is wrong, your mail server is
on the fritz, or my mailserver will not send to New Zealand.  In any case, I
cant send you the cyberdeck/computer hacking rules because the &*^% Mail
deamon keeps eating them!
So I have decieded to post them on the TML
Also if you want the first installment of  "Tales from the Line" go to the
FTP server for the TML, I think you want digest#375 It includes my initial
test hail (wanted to make sure the thing worked!) and Volume One which
involves the idea of Jump missles.

Soooo....
Volume 3 of Tales form the line will be put on hold.  But I think there may
be a debate about the Efate Rice for some time as somone mentioned in #427
that it "doesn't sound like CT" I can't rightly say as my collection of CT
toys is EXTREAMLY swiss cheezy and limmited. (I realy started playing
durring the Transition between CT & MT c.1986)

So I am going to post the next instalment like this...

                                And now for something completely the same...
                                                COMMANDER X'S
                                               TALES FROM THE LINE
                                                VOLUME 2 1/2
                                CYBERDECK/COMPUTER HACKING RULES
                                                TO ACCOMPANY
                                                VOLUME 2
                        HACKERS/CYBERDECKS/COMPUTER EMPATHICS AND YOU!
                                (include fanfaire .wav file wile shouting
out loud)
                                        comming to a TML near you, rated PG

Well, thats all for now, gotta go get that BOOK, YES!!!! AH, HA, HA, HA!!!!

>From the RQS Fortune and Glory.
KEEP THE FLAME!!!
Commander X out....<click>
**>END TRANSMISSION<**


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

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 08:43:21 -0700
From: Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: WBH and TNE playability...
Message-ID: <0681fad0@MailXFER.DMCWAVE.COM>

     >>>THe best sourcebook I've ever seen was "World Builders handbook" by 
     DGP.  General enough to be useful to everyone (even if you weren't a 
     scout. Or nowadays an RC marine). lots of equipment, a good (not 
     entirely out of touch with science) system for making worlds. 
     
     This book is good, but it too has drawbacks.  The biggest is that is 
     is almost impossible to produce a habitable world.  Temperature 
     extremes usually make it either too hot or too cold.  It does provide 
     an appreciation of the Earth.<<
     
     Well, on the one hand, the completely inhabitable world _should_ be 
     rare.  Just because we like a planet with an average temp of about 15 
     degrees C and a standard atmosphere doesn't mean those should be 
     easily found throughout the universe.
     
     I know what you mean, though.  When I detailed desert world, Jae 
     Tellona, I discovered that the temp, due to the lack of water was 
     something like 140 deg. C.  I decided that Jae Tellona lay one orbit 
     into the outer zone.  My recalculated stats resulted in a hot, but 
     manageable 22 degrees, if I remember correctly.
     
     There are ways around the formulas.  Just be creative.  Or discard the 
     ones you don't like! <g>
     
     >>It goes back to the Imperial Survey/Tarsus debate Dave alluded to.  
     Do you spend the time generating gobs of background data for a world 
     and then never let your players leave?<<
     
     Not necessarily.  It's a gamble.  You may want to highly detail about 
     10 worlds you _expect_ your players to go to, and then use the added 
     information for the ones they actually visit.
     
     I have the advantage in my current campaign because it's of the 
     mercenary variety.  They go where they get a ticket and I get to 
     control that.  I like to make sure they have a certain amount of 
     autonomy, though.  It's no fun being railroaded along by an AR 
     referee.
     
     --Chris

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

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 11:04:51 -0600 (MDT)
From: merrick@Rt66.com (Merrick Burkhardt)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM (traveller)
Subject: Another note on pion guns
Message-ID: <9509261704.AA18769@Rt66.com>


Howdy,

I still haven't figured out the interaction problem... *sigh*

Anyway, it's interesting to note that because of beam slop, as well as
smearing, MGs will leave a detectable area along the beam path.  This
means that an old thread regarding invincible deep site MGs isn't too
much of a problem, you detect the beam at 2 points, and folllow it
through the planet.  You might not get a lock, but you can  fire shots
into the most likely spots until it stops shooting bach.

Also, if it fires more than once, you have 2 convergent lines... BOOM.

So will the high-penetration version of the MG kill deep site mounts?
I'd say no, they just have to be really big.  Maybe they'd be bigger
than a ship weapon that delivers the same DV to the target.  No problem,
size doesn't matter for these.  Maybe for deep site mounts you subtract
the absorbtion/scattering right out of the DV before you actually attack
the target.

To do this, treat the depth of the site (actually the path length of the
beam through the planet) as "armor".  Force the beam to penetrate the
planet, then attack the target with the remaining DV.

The deep site MG will be designed to fire through a certain amount of
crust and still deliver a decent DV to capital ships.  The attacking
ships might have to be very close to penetrate the crust... or at least
within short range and directly above to minimize path length through
crust.

I like this outlook on MGs a lot.  

-Merrick

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

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 19:13:57 EDT
From: E.Watters@Queens-Belfast.AC.UK
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: RE: TRAVELLER digest 428
Message-ID: <00996FCC.B122F4C0.15@v2.qub.ac.uk>

Thanasis Kinias <tkinias@asu.edu> sent:

>From Mr. Lane:

Actually I must take the blame, Mr. Lane was responding to me.

>> > 
>> > (2) The Lab Ship. Must explore strange, new worlds but can't land. Can only
>> > refuel at A, B, or C starports, asteroids, or by launch (how many trips?!).
>> > Doesn't make sense even in CT era (should have kept the pinnace). 
>> 
>> True enough.
>> 

>As I recall from the description, the lab ship is not intended for 
>exploratory missions (that being the duty of the survey ships like 
>_Donosev_), but for anything else requiring labs.  This doesn't 
>necessarily mean the ship will be terribly far from support facilities.  
>By analogy, Jacques Cousteau's vessels are not equipped, as far as I 
>know, to be self sufficient to any great extent.  They are, however, 
>research vessels somewhat akin to a lab ship.

But the fact of the matter is a Lab Ship can't easily explore a world with a D,
E or X-class starport if it is more than than a jump-1 from a minimum of a 
C-class starport. Very limiting even in MT or CT times.



>>From Mr. Watters:

>> trusting, I let them replace the MFD crewperson too. I found that the 

>How is this done?  I don't recall seeing a way for MFD crew to be 
>eliminated.  By the way, what are the effects of being undercrewed (as 
>the "Star Shark" design at one FTP site is)?  I can't find any rules for 
>this in TNE/BL.

Vampire Fleets mentioned using a Peacemaker virus to control a ship's MFD
for the (trusting) crew.

Eamon Watters.		



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

Date: 26 Sep 95 11:07:26 MS
From: Steve Charlton/Avalon Software Inc
To: traveller <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: Vehicles and GDW Background
Message-ID: <9509261716.AA22908@khan.avalon.COM>

In Traveller Digest 428 David C. Broussard (broussa@connecti.com) wrote:
>Look at the Intrepid Grav Tank.
>It has the same armor value as pen in the frontal arc.  This means that it
>cannot kill itself except through minor penetrations.  In our times, and
>always in the history of tank warfare, a MBT has the ability to kill a tank
>with similar protection out to a good range.  

Actually this is no longer true.  In the Gulf War the Army was forced to 
combat-loss (self-destruct) an M1A1 Abrams that got caught in a ditch.  Several 
attempted close-range shots from other M1A1s were totally ineffective, and it 
took several hours to finally resolve the situation.  Not only was the M1A1 
impervious to Iraqi MBTs, it was also highly resistant to close-range attacks 
by US MBTs.  There is a good (and amusing) description of this in Tom Clancy's 
Armored Cav book.

As for David's main point, I wholeheartedly agree.  I have noticed that GDW not 
only designed a limited amount of equipment, but also much of that equipment 
(especially the tanks and starships) was horribly weak compared to the 
potentials of the tech level.  I have been able to design fairly inexpensive 
MBTs that could take on dozens of Intrepids.  Maybe I misinterpreted some of 
the FF&S rules, but it looks to me like they tried to "backdate" some old MT 
designs without bothering to look at how these designs could be 
upgunned/uparmored under the FF&S rules.

Still, any vehicle designs GDW includes are appreciated, if only becuase it 
saves me the effort of designing them myself.

As for GDW's reluctance to reveal "too much" I think they are fleeing ghosts.  
A region of 11,000+ worlds culd never be detailed so fully as to prevent GMs 
from finding someplace to do the adventure or campaign they want to do.  
Detailing the overall framework (the Imperial government and its neighbors) and 
some interesting sideshows (Grandfather) only adds to the possibilities for the 
GM and his/her players.  I appreciate the fact that the folks at GDW want to 
unfold an epic storyline, but the reality is that tightly pre-programmed 
storyline adventures rarely work.  How many of you tried playing TSR's 
Dragonlance adventures for AD&D?  This was the far end of the tight-control 
spectrum, where the players were expected to follow EXACTLY the plot of the 
books.  GDW does not seem to have gone that far, but by setting up a series of 
storyboard adventures moving towards a very predetermined goal, the GMs and the 
players are in danger of being forced to either exactly follow the script of 
completely disassociate themselves from fur=ture GDW adventures.  The old CT 
adventure format was much more free-form; the adventures were not really 
interconnected, or as in the case of the Traveller Adventure formed a concise 
but limited campaign.  It was easy for GMs to pick and choose adventures for 
their own campaign, or to set up "mini-campaigns" as desired.

I have not given up hope, though.  With the exception of their artwork, the 
quality of GDW's Traveller material has been steadily improving, and they 
really seem to be making an effort here.  I think that, even with this 
difference in gaming philosophy, I can dig up enough material from GDW's 
publications to make buying them worth my time and money.  And I am still 
fortunate enough to have pretty much all of the original CT/MT background 
material.  Time will tell.

I want my Regency Sourcebook
Steven Charlton
scharlto@avalon.com
shcarlto@rtd.com
My Employers have very few opinions, and none at all regarding Traveller...

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

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 14:51:44 -0400
From: "Frances A. McLaughlin" <wwnfam@pipeline.com>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Multiple
Message-ID: <199509261851.OAA26433@pipe4.nyc.pipeline.com>

Hi folks, I've just joined the list and after lurking for a week or so in
order to get a handle on the threads, I thought I'd add my two cents to a
number of the topics. 
 
First, regarding the complaints about the limitations of the Coalition
Space campaign, I feel obliged to stand to GDW's defense.  As Dave states
in the _Challenge_ 77 editorial, one of MT's flaws was that "in order to
leave space for everybody's personal campaigns, it refused to define too
much about the Rebellion."  Call that approach "Background-Framework" in
that the Rebellion was posited and a background created for it, but then
everyone was left to go on their merry way.  Nice enough for those groups
that wanted a grand saga going on around them, but really it was little
more than wallpaper - the chances for characters to forcefully impact the
progress of the Rebellion were minimal.  
 
The New Era, and particularly the RC, as I see it, gives the GDW team (and
all of the rest of us as well) a chance to narrow the focus a bit and
concentrate on a very limited sector and to write the history of the
Coalition.  I particularly like the reappearance of various NPCs over time
(for example, Cynta Lawter in _Smash & Grab_ and then in _Vampire Fleets_).
 This "Official" campaign is obviously a work in progress to which (one
would hope) players of the system can contribute - perhaps GDW will sponser
official tournament or other events which would then become part of the
history of the Coalition.  For those who aren't happy with the Coalition,
there are a tremendous number of options - create your own pocket empire in
a sector far from the official story-line, or adventure in the Regency (for
me, this last is probably the least interesting, because, to my mind, an
established area of space makes it that much harder for the individual to
have a substantial impact).  They all require some work, but (again
speaking for myself) that's half the fun.   If you opt not to use the
published material, for whatever reason, that's fine, but then of course
you don't benefit from what is published - although Challenge is featuring
non-RC material and the Regency book will do so as well.  At the very least
though, you can take the published stuff, strip off the title Coalition and
stick on whatever name you want.  Or create your own using FF&S. 
 
I _do_ agree with the complaint that keeping information out of the hands
of customers is a bit unfair and basically says that we can't separate
player knowledge from character knowledge while making the GM's task that
much more difficult, but I suspect that it may be more a matter of GDW's
not having decided exactly what comes next than anything else, and not
"trying to keep players and GM's in line". 
 
As to the complaint about lack of variation in equipment, again I must
disagree (mostly).  Let's take air-rafts for example.  The TNE rule-book
provides two basic versions (Open and Enclosed) as well as the military
version (G-carrier). The _RC Equipment Guide_ provides the "Ragtop" Air
Raft which is stated as the "standard air raft in production for all forces
of the Reformation Coalition."  What they have provided is basic equipment
(Milspec) for the RC plus some stuff built by other groups. In digest 426,
Dave Broussard wrote that he disagreed that all 5mm weapons are the same. I
think the point to make is that the primary differences between similar
weapons are cosmetic, but that the basic feature - the amount of damage -is
dependent upon the muzzle energy of the weapon (which in turn is primarily
dependent upon the muzzle energy of the round).  Abstracting from reality
to game terms makes the big difference.  Regarding the "plethora of 9mm
pistols on the market today", the operative term there is "market". 
Standardization need not exist on a balkanized world such as ours.  Most of
the equipment presented in TNE has been milspec and as such remains limited
in variation, outside of prescribed options. Note, however, that page 111
of the Equipment Guide states that the vehicles presented may be modified. 
They just aren't going to do all the work. 
 
In digest 425, Eamon Watters complained that not enough information has
been provided about what's to Trailing and Rimward.  I think that this
represents the coreward strategy being pushed by the Aubani and the concept
of the "Closed Frontier" which views the Trailing/Rimward direction as
eminent domain of the Hivers.  Admittedly, this does not explain the
Bootstrap and Colony operations at So Skire and Poyzen, something that does
need to be reconciled.  On the other hand, it is important to remember that
the Hivers only contacted what is now the RC ten years ago in game time,
and that the Dawn League trading expeditions were sent out only three years
ago.  There has not really been enough time for all this stuff to be
detailed. 
 
Eamon also commented on some of the ships.  Again, I think it is important
to remember that the ones that you are concerned about are all relic
technology and thus designed with the more abundant facilities in mind -
some also might be more likely to have survived in the Regency than in
Coalition Space.  Benjamin Lane talked about the Gazelle fuel skimming
issue.  The lab ship in CT (Double Adventure 3:  Death Station) was "a
moveable research and development station" rather than an exploration ship.
It appears that the pinnace was replaced by the launch via the revised
design system in TNE - since the ship itself displaces 390 tons, all that
it can carry is a 10 ton launch given that the drives and controls are
configured for the 400 ton displacement.  On the yacht, I don't see why it
can't land, as a needle configuration with CG lifters can land, even if it
is unstreamlined (at least as I read FF&S), and it has fuel purification
machinery, so it should be able to refuel almost anywhere (although it is
not clear whether fuel scoops are included - which I would doubt, as the
vessel was a noble or rich person's vehicle). 
 
Well, I guess that's about all I have to say for now (as if it isn't more
than enough).  By the way, having just moved to NYC, I'm looking to find a
new group. 
 
Will Nourse 
 

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

Date: Tue, 26 Sep 1995 12:24:06 -0700
From: Christopher_Griffen@dmcwave.com (Christopher Griffen)
To: traveller@mpgn.com
Subject: RICE Paper:  Kubishush/Inar
Message-ID: <06853890@MailXFER.DMCWAVE.COM>

     Another in the Vincennes Cluster of worlds, Deneb Sector.  Comments, 
     criticism, is invited.
     
     RICE Paper #DB-0917:  Kubishush System
     
     Kubishush (Inar:  Deneb/0917)
     B8B6AAA-D  Fl Hi   101 RE M3 V M8 V
     G=1.60, Day=43:14:01.68, Year = 46d 17:13:23.1* Atmo=6.10, Weather 
     Control
     Temp= +41.88 (7/lat +21 to -49) (season +9 to -27.0, 27 deg lat) Daily 
     temp range 565.24 (+471.86 to -93.38)
     Ores, Compounds; Metals, Non-Metals; None; Recordings, Software, 
     Documents
     Conservative/Indifferent, Unaggressive/Peaceable, Discordant/Friendly 
     Legal: A-B77D6     Tech: DA-DEDEE-DEDD-AB-G 
     
     * Kubishush orbits a small gas giant, Oolvig Naseena. Oolvig Naseena 
     orbits the system's primary star, L'gnng Uuvon.  The "Year" entry 
     shown above is Oolvig Naseena's orbital period around L'gnng Uuvon.  
     Kubishush orbits Oolvig Naseena at a rate of 9y 126d 19:23:43.36.
     
     [NOTE: DGP's article on Deneb Sector, featured in MegaTraveller 
     Journal #3, was used as a resource for this RICE paper.  I would like 
     to acknowledge the authors of the DGP article, James Holden, Mike 
     Makesh and Nancy Parker.  This RICE paper is intended to build upon 
     the information they have provided.]
     
     Kubishush, or Unan Olov as it is known to its natives, is one of the 
     more hostile places one may visit in the Regency.  The native minor 
     race, the Gl'lu, are friendly enough, but the buckling terrestrial 
     surface and corrosive nitrogen-rich, ammonia-tainted atmosphere of the 
     planet tend to make even a routine stopover an adventure.
     
     To get to know Kubishush, one need only get to know the Gl'lu.  The 
     Gl'lu have, at least to human perceptions, formed an entire 
     civilization based on planetary cataclysms.  Their world, a roiling 
     hell by the standards of any of the major races, is so subject to 
     natural catastrophes that its entire sentient culture is based upon 
     surviving its earthquakes, storms and volcanic explosions.
     
     With 11 tectonic plates and a seismic stress factor of over nine, 
     Kubishush is highly unstable.  Constant earthquakes and aftershocks 
     rock regions throughout the planet's dozens of major faultlines.  
     Kubishush is known to have 13 to 16 continents at any one time, with 
     occasional continental separations and convergences increasing or 
     decreasing the number from time to time.  Immense mountain ranges 
     crisscross the planet's continents like a web.  While the geological 
     and meteorological upheavals of Kubishush are great enough to cause 
     dozens of small catastrophes every year throughout the globe, every 
     decade or so, a quake, storm or volcanic eruption hits that is so 
     severe it warrants the title of Yulangngol, or "Great Cataclysm."  
     These events are so commonplace on Kubishush that they have been 
     integrated into the Gl'lu culture.  Many Gl'lu religious groups hail 
     these events as signs from otherworldly deities.  Secular Gl'lu groups 
     look at these natural disasters as opportunities to prove Gl'lu 
     prowess in the areas of environmental and disaster recovery 
     technology.
     
     At the time of first contact by the IISS, the Gl'lu had independently 
     achieved a high-common technology level of 8.  After Kubishush was 
     incorporated into the Imperium in 188, IISS representatives offered 
     technological aid to lessen the impact of the planet's frequent 
     catastrophes.  The IISS was politely refused in the characteristic 
     Gl'lu way.  Such technological assistance, ruled Gl'lu leader Sananes 
     Nuruva Gogonas, would upset the balance of Gl'lu culture.  Most Gl'lu 
     heartily agreed.  The basis upon which one socially advances in Gl'lu 
     society is proving one's skill at averting the affects of natural 
     disasters and helping those less fortunate Gl'lu who are vicitimized 
     by the whims of nature.
     
     The Gl'lu Sananes, literally translated as "young one," is the 
     solitary ruler of the entire planet.  Sananes are elected by a council 
     of elders from among the dynastic families of the Unaga, or "exalted 
     ones."  The Sananes rules from early adolescence until it reaches 
     maturity at about the age of 32 human years.  Geriatric effects set in 
     so quickly after maturity for Gl'lu that their culture has developed 
     the tradition of bestowing leadership upon its youth.  The position of 
     Sananes is an honored one, but little fought over.  The 17 electoral 
     gerontocrat seats, however, are vehemently sought by Unaga who pass 
     maturity.  A gerontocrat electoral seat is held for the lifetime of 
     the Gl'lu who acquires it.  Because of the long lifespan of the Gl'lu 
     (about 120 human years), opportunities for gerontocrat positions are 
     few and far between.  Selection of gerontocrat positions is determined 
     by the outcome of a peculiar tournament, in which all eligible mature 
     Gl'lu compete with one another for the available seat.  Humans 
     visiting Kubishush during gerontocrat selections have compared the 
     game to "marbles," a game commonly played by human children on 
     low-tech worlds in which small opaque glass spheres are rolled or 
     hurled at each other.
     
     Perhaps the greatest Sananes ever was S'lmar Vovon, who lived from 
     1098-1192.  S'lmar developed and administered the global recovery 
     project following arguably the worst Yulangngol in Gl'lu history.  In 
     1108, over two billion Gl'lu died when the convergence of two tectonic 
     plates created a quake so severe that Kubishush's smallest continent 
     effectively sank below the surface of one of the planet's ammonia 
     oceans.  S'lmar Vovon directed the recovery project so efficiently 
     that other than the fatalities, little evidence of the catastrophe's 
     effect on Gl'lu society could be seen five years after the incident.
     
     Over the post-Imperial contact centuries, trade with the Imperials 
     inadvertantly raised Gl'lu technology to the point where they could 
     not help but develop better disaster recovery methods.  While most 
     Gl'lu do not enjoy the benefits of TL-13 technology, the elite Unaga 
     developed ways to protect themselves from planetary catastrophes.  The 
     most popular method utilizes borrowed elements of Vincennezi 
     technology.  The Unaga began to build floating cities with gravitic 
     capabilities to lift them into the upper reaches of Kubishush's 
     atmosphere during times of high seismic and/or meteorological 
     activity.  Low-common technology generally reflects the technology of 
     the land-based Gl'lu, or Kilig Gunati, who comprise the majority of 
     the population.  The Kilig Gunati on the whole do not benefit from the 
     technological advancements made by the Unaga and continue to be 
     subjected to the violent upheavals of the planet.  
     
     While only about 10 percent of the Gl'lu enjoy high-common technology, 
     the centuries of imbalance have allowed the Gl'lu to increase their 
     population from approximately 800 million at first contact with 
     Imperial surveyors to about 14.7 billion inhabitants at the present 
     time.  Because of the disparity in technology levels between the Unaga 
     and the Kilig Gunati, however, the Gl'lu currently have a large 
     surplus of "elite" citizens.  One might think that the Kilig Gunati 
     would resent this arrangement.  Surprisingly enough, they do not.  
     Gl'lu on the whole are extraordinarily accepting of ewang'vn or 
     "fate."  Because of a natural propensity for lending a helping hand to 
     fellow Gl'lu, the Unaga are known to do whatever they can to help the 
     Kilig Gunati through the turmoil of natural disasters.  This 
     extensiveness seems to curtail resentment of the social inequalities 
     that exist on Kubishush.  Unaga factions are surprisingly paternal and 
     territorial over the groupings of Kilig Gunati they protect, however, 
     and are not likely to assist a rival faction with disaster relief.  
     Parcels of Kilig Gunati territory are unofficially under the 
     protection of individual Unaga factions that report to the Sananes.  
     So it is that the ambiguous traits of racial extensiveness and 
     internecine competition meet in Gl'lu society.
     
     Gl'lu possess unique physiological characteristics.  The Gl'lu are 
     hermaphroditic septapods whose metabolism is based on the oxidation of 
     ammonia in Kubishush's atmosphere.  Upon first meeting a Gl'lu, the 
     first feeling most humans have is revulsion.  Their porous mottled 
     skin, six slimy appendages and periscope-like eyestalk make them look 
     like a cross between a Terran octopus and a slug.  Upon first 
     encountering the race during the Grand Survey, scouts mistook them for 
     a far-flung colony of githiasko or genetically altered hivers.
     
     Many archaeologists who have explored the ancient ruins of Kubishush 
     postulate that the Gl'lu are actually natives of the system gas giant, 
     Oolvig Naseena.  The authors of this theory believe that the Gl'lu had 
     successfully achieved non-jump spaceflight in approximately -3200 and 
     had successfully colonized Kubishush some time after.  The similar 
     atmospheric content of Kubishush and the Oolvig Naseena highlands 
     bears this out.  Many physiological and historical aspects of the 
     Gl'lu indicate that the race is not actually native to Kubishush.  For 
     example, the high strength of Gl'lu limbs and skeletal structure 
     indicate that they evolved on a world with higher gravity, and perhaps 
     a less dense atmosphere than that of Kubishush.
     
     Other evidence that bears this out is Kubishush's fossil record.  Not 
     only is there no natural life on Kubishush, but there is no indication 
     that life ever existed on the planet.  The world's instability makes 
     excavation a risky proposition at best, however, and most scientists 
     admit that extensive enough digs have not yet been made.  The Gl'lu do 
     not allow excavation by human archaeologists at several sites due to 
     their religious significance.  These sites are usually epicenters for 
     the world's greatest seismic upheavals and become holy burial grounds, 
     not to be desecrated for a period of one nugesan after the upheaval 
     (about 124.25 standard Terran years).
     
     Why the Gl'lu would have wanted to abandon their comparatively calm 
     home on Oolvig Naseena is subject to a great deal of debate, mostly 
     among non-Gl'lu historians, paleontologists and archaeologists.  The 
     most popular theory, though unfounded, is that Oolvig Naseena was the 
     victim of a latent biological weapon housed there by the Ancients.  
     During the Final War, Grandfather and the children who allied 
     themselves with him were known to use deadly biological weapons.  Such 
     a weapon killed the entire Droyne race on Zhdant and set the Zhodani 
     back several centuries in their quest for the stars.  The theory that 
     such a catastrophe occurred on Oolvig Naseena assumes that uninfected 
     Gl'lu, having recently acquired spaceflight technology, set out to 
     colonize Kubishush to escape their doomed brethren who were beset by a 
     bioweapon-induced plague.
     
     Whether or not the Oolvig Naseena theory is correct or not is 
     unconfirmed.  Whatever the case may be, however, the Gl'lu do not 
     currently inhabit the rocky highlands of Oolvig Naseena's icy core.  
     In fact, the gas giant is effectively interdicted by the Gl'lu for 
     what they claim are religious reasons.  The Gl'lu claim Oolvig Naseena 
     as sacred ground, not to be desecrated by travellers wanting to skim 
     for fuel.  A considerable fleet of Gl'lu SDBs enforces this holy law, 
     infraction of which is punishable by death.  Gl'lu SDBs will not 
     attempt to disable and board offenders of the interdiction, but rather 
     will destroy offenders' ships or blast them into Oolvig Naseena's 
     unforgiving gravity well.
     
     Kubishush's turbulent atmosphere, dense over-ocean grav traffic and 
     high number of floating cities make skimming its ammonia oceans a 
     dangerous task, effectively eliminating them as wilderness refueling 
     sites as well.  In addition, no other planets in the system have any 
     hydrosphere whatsoever.  In order to compensate traders for the lack 
     of viable wilderness refueling sites, the Gl'lu sell imported fuel at 
     their orbital and planetary starports for approximately 50 percent of 
     the normal price found throughout the Regency.  Political pressures 
     from outside the system and the need for trade have influenced the 
     Gl'lu to grant such generous dispensations of fuel.
     
     Gl'lu architecture is universally the most sound and durable one is 
     likely to find.  The Gl'lu mastery of materials technology gives them 
     the ability to produce TL-14 bonded superdense alloys.  The most 
     common shape for Gl'lu buildings is a flattened sphere with an 
     interior "rolling sphere."  During large quakes, the rolling sphere 
     within rotates on its transverse axis, thereby protecting the 
     inhabited interior structure from toppling onto its side.  The rounded 
     edges, spherical rooms, elliptical entryways and portals of the 
     interior remind many cosmopolitan travellers of aslan architecture.  A 
     closer look, however, will reveal numerous microstruts and jambs 
     throughout the interiors of Gl'lu buildings, intended to ensure the 
     integrity of each and every wall and doorway.
     
     The Gl'lu are nothing if not meticulous about safety and the strength 
     of their constructions.  Following punishing earthquakes and storms, 
     Gl'lu corporate buildings and housing complexes are frequently found 
     intact hundreds of meters from their original locations.  Their 
     inhabitants may be frightened and perhaps bruised, but most often 
     protected by the strength of the building hull.  So strong is the 
     outer hull of these buildings that they can often be recovered even 
     after slipping into crust fissures during particularly heavy quakes.  
     Cities on Kubishush are generally regions dotted with hundreds or even 
     thousands of these flattened spheres, with nothing by dry rocky land 
     in between.  Huge grav tugs are employed to transfer buildings to 
     other regions when a corporate headquarters or factory requires 
     relocation to another Kubishushi region.  Because of the frequent 
     movement of Kubishushi buildings, both natural and unnatural, the 
     planet has no "cities," per se.  Regions are sometimes given 
     unofficial names or nicknames, but due to the everchanging nature of 
     the Kubishushi landscape, the convention of naming geographic regions 
     is almost obsolete on Kubishush.
     
     Because of the Gl'lu obsession with safety and security, their 
     starships are also unique within the realm of Regency Space.  The 
     Gl'lu are accustomed to inhabiting small spaces and require only a 
     fourth of the space necessary to lodge the average human.  Staterooms, 
     generally built to house up to eight Gl'lu, displace only four metric 
     tonnes.  Gl'lu starships contain hardy ammonia filtration systems to 
     keep the nitrogen atmosphere comfortably tainted.  Humans visiting 
     Gl'lu starships have noted the constant meter-high fog that covers the 
     floors of the ship.  Many humans marvel at the tight accommodations 
     and seeming uniformity of all rooms on the ship.  Many touring humans 
     have been known to become lost in Gl'lu ships, unable to differentiate 
     one room from another, an occurrence from which the Gl'lu derive great 
     merriment.
     
     Perhaps the strangest feature of Gl'lu starships is their obsession 
     with backup systems.  All Gl'lu starships have two maneuver drives, 
     one on each end of the ship, negating the need for turnaround and 
     retrofire.  Any ships built for planetary landing also employ two 
     contra-gravity units as well.  While these are the most common 
     redundancies on Gl'lu ships, many Gl'lu are known to install their 
     ships with backup power plants, jump drives, bridge workstations and 
     large quantities of backup hull material.  To a human, this lack of 
     concern for wasted space is ludicrous, but to a Gl'lu, humans are 
     living on borrowed time in their poorly backed up ships.  Most Gl'lu 
     starships and spaceships are built in the familiar flattened sphere 
     configuration, with large ovular openings for maneuver drive, jump 
     drive and antenna surface space.  It is currently popular to build 
     modular ships with interlinked spheres.  Multiple-sphere modular ships 
     look something like giant metallic earthworms.
     
     Uplifted by Imperial and Regency technology, the Gl'lu have become a 
     minor starfaring race.  Thousands of Gl'lu traders can be found 
     throughout the region, selling their high-grade materials and 
     innovative environmental products.  Through years of study, the Gl'lu 
     have found ways to implement their knowledge of catastrophe-defying 
     technology into usable products by humans, vargr and droyne (the three 
     most common races in the region).  Though the Gl'lu have also invented 
     high-tech environment suits and PLSSs to protect them and nourish them 
     with ammonia-tainted nitrogen, they generally do not stray too far 
     from home.  Few worlds present an atmosphere that is breathable in the 
     long term for the Gl'lu and even fewer are dense enough to provide a 
     comfortably high gravity level.
     
     Kubishush is a tumultuous world filled with mystery.  Geological and 
     political concerns make unravelling the mystery all the more 
     difficult.  While the Gl'lu are an amiable and sociable minor race, 
     eager to trade and exchange ideas with their human and vargr 
     neighbors, they often appear secretive about their history or 
     motivations.  People who know the Gl'lu are aware that this apparent 
     secrecy is not secrecy at all but rather acceptance.  Living in an 
     environment as harsh as Kubishush's, the Gl'lu have learned to accept 
     impending fate and the frequent death of friends and family members.  
     Discussing such events at length or the long history of Kubishush's 
     cataclysms serves no purpose as far as the Gl'lu are concerned, other 
     than to prolong one's sorrow for lost compatriots.
     
     Kubishush System Details
     
     Orbit      Name    UPP     Remarks
     Primary    L'gnng Uuvon    M3 V
     0  Oolvig Naseena  Small GG        Size 60
     3     Ring System     YR00000-0
     5     Sanunnga        Y20036B-C       Va
     9       Kubishush     B8B6AAA-D       Fl Hi (Known as Unan Olov 
     to the Gl'lu)
     40      Gaumng Nol    Y400000-0       Va 60      Yil'anan      
     G100300-C       Va
     1-2        (Empty Orbits)
     3* Magae' Nannga   M8 V
     4  A'man'a Y200000-0       Va      
     *Companion Star.

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

End of TRAVELLER Digest 429
***************************
