			    TRAVELLER Digest 528

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Striker II
	by Joni M Virolainen <jonimv@evitech.fi>
  2) Common A/G Devices and Effects
	by aswfh@acad2.alaska.edu (William F. Hostman)

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Date: Thu, 28 Dec 1995 04:08:48 +0200 (EET)
From: Joni M Virolainen <jonimv@evitech.fi>
To: Traveller Mailing List <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: Striker II
Message-ID: <Pine.HPP.3.91.951228040414.19031B@evitech.evitech.fi>



"I'll be bag"
-Arnie the Alligator

Joni Virolainen
jonimv@evitech.fi

I'd like to know a few things about Striker II. 
1) What scale it has? A few single combatants like in WH40K or squads 
like in Squad Leader? Or something comletely different?
2) How well you can incorporate your PCs to combats?
3) How detailed it is? How much time it takes to play battles of about 
200 persons?
4) Is it any good?

Thanks

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Date: Thu, 28 Dec 1995 00:42:50 -0900
From: aswfh@acad2.alaska.edu (William F. Hostman)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Common A/G Devices and Effects
Message-ID: <v01530503ad080e065369@[137.229.100.54]>

I think of the effect of common gravitics much like household electronics:
The rich will be surrounded by them constantly, the poor will have access
only to the most basic and cheapest versions. Som common items at TL 13+ in
my campaigns include the following:

upper middle class and higher class homes will include a workout room, with
full g-control, up to the G-Comp limit by TL. (much like modern jaccuzzi's
and sauna's.)

A move to gravitic vehicles, at first as expensive luxuries, later as good
transport for urban high-rise zones. by TL 13+, you'll see private garages
all the way up high-rises. Law Enforcement and Emergency Services would be
early adopters, and have switched over by early TL 11.

gravitic "bullet trains" and chunnels.

Gravitic lift tubes reeplace elevators and escalators in common use, but
elevators and escalators would continue as back-ups. (TL 13+) Common term
for them (judging by my players useage) is "Shoots", spelled "Chutes". they
generally have rails that run up the sides.

Gravitic Desk toys by TL 11+. Middle class get them by TL13, children get
them by TL15.

Gravitic bonding laser printers by TL 13. Uses very intense, localized
gravitic effect to bond toner. Not really noticeable except for reduced
heat output and warm-up time.

Washers and dryers  use gravitics to augment function by tl12+ for
commercial machines, tl14+ for common machines.

Hospitals using repulsors for sterile area barrier by TL14+

Replace/Augment pneumatic container tubes with gravitics by TL 14+

ATC by TL 11 eclipses police in terms of numbers needed for common traffic duty.

DUI/DWI becomes more serious as gravitics become more common in vehicles.

Taller buildings on ground, as gravitics can relieve stress upon the frame.
Frames have built in limited reliability in case of power failures.
Gravitics in buildings become priority power users, normally tapping a
separate system of power mains, with auto switching to civil mains (with
pre-emption) in case of failures, as well as building back-up generators.

Gravitic pumps become common in urban and industrial fludis by late TL 11;
they allow fluids to "flow downhill" in any direction the piping may run,
and maintain good pressure with little noise and vibration.

With advent of Tractors (tl 14, by High Guard, as I recall) and repulsors
(TL 12, again HG), buildings are able to use trac/rep nets to stabilize
tops of high rises against winds by interlocking computer controlled webs.
Generally would be clearly maked with low power visible light lasers.

Wheelchairs supplanted by TL 12 for anyone with middle class income at all,
by TL 13+ for everyone.

Materials tech improves greatly with 4-G or better fields, and purity as
well with only 2-g compensation.

Fusion becomes practical: by combining gravitics, laser heating and room
temp superconductors, fusion that is portable becomes realistic.

by TL 14, most security areas will have a repulsor beam or gravitic trap to
"hold you at the gate" linked to a Metabolic Scanner. At TL 15, it becomes
a common option for the wealthy as a home security measure. Unauthorized
entry hits you with 5-8 G's (it exceeds the TL Limits for compensation, but
that is for long term devices; these are not intended for constant use, but
short (2-3 hour) use, after which everything gets checked..

The entertainment industry put gravitics to use early: within a few years
of first civilian available gravitics, they use them a lot. They'll have
the money.

Early gravitic designs would probably be gravitically augmented aircraft
and GEV's. By reducing required lift (even if only by 50%), that's much
more maneuverable, with shorter TO and Landing rolls. And combined Aerodyne
controls with tilt rotors, and add gravitic bouyancy, and you have
exceptionally good light tactical troop transports, urban assault vehicles,
and recon craft, as well as incredible v-tol and maneuver capabilities.

Most of my ideas are from the fleetway/quality "Judge Dredd" comics; while
they may be hokey, they have early TL-10 gravitics (primarily
gov't/military use) and they show a dark view of the social effects, but
the implementation is some of the best that I've seen.

-Wil

William F. Hostman

EMail:          ASWFH@Orion.Alaska.EDU
HomePage:       http://orion.alaska.edu/~aswfh/index.html



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End of TRAVELLER Digest 528
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