TRAVELLER Digest 565

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Re: TRAVELLER digest 564 by 34zbtxq@cmuvm.csv.cmich.edu (Susan M. Shock)
  2) Enterprise construction and Traveller rules & technology opinions by Armand Suarez <suarez@on.rim.or.jp>
  3) Plague of Duskir, Vargr and Imperial Tech Backwardness by Phillip McGregor <aspqrz@sydney.DIALix.oz.au>
  4) Production Time of Starships by Phillip McGregor <aspqrz@sydney.DIALix.oz.au>
  5) Jump Courier Missiles from Leviathan. by Phillip McGregor <aspqrz@sydney.DIALix.oz.au>
  6) 2300AD mailing list by eackerma@vt.edu (Eric Ackermann)
  7) Re: 2300AD by kevin.mccarthy@gsfc.nasa.gov (Kevin Mc Carthy)
  8) Doc 142.13 by StarWolf <myhre@sn.no>
  9) Adventure seed...Majesta class megafreighters LONG by "Bruce Johnson" <johnson@tonic.pharm.arizona.edu>

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

Date: Wed, 24 Jan 1996 05:24:08 -0500
From: 34zbtxq@cmuvm.csv.cmich.edu (Susan M. Shock)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: TRAVELLER digest 564
Message-ID: <199601241024.FAA01924@Mithril.MPGN.COM>


>While CT may be somewhat outdated, MT, with its armor penetration and task
>resolution systems, is not.  MT, IMO, was like a good rock band with a
>bad manager.  It died because of bad PR and poor production values, not
>because it is a "1970's" system.
 I would actually agree with this. I've been playing around with the MT system
lately, and with the exception of the vehicle design system ( which I'm still
struggling to understand) it is pretty OK. There's no question that what hurt
MT was the very poor editing which resulted in all that errata. I also
think, frankly, that the $30 price tag back in 1987 didn't help either. My
comments were directed at those who pine for CLASSIC Traveller. However,
there are still a few holdouts from CT even in MegaTraveller that I'd like
to see gone in the
new edition: NO survival rolls of ANY kind, and characters having more skills.
Other than that, I could be happy with an MT-style system; but call it
something else!


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

Date: Wed, 24 Jan 1996 21:19:02 +0900
From: Armand Suarez <suarez@on.rim.or.jp>
To: "'Traveller Mailing List'" <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: Enterprise construction and Traveller rules & technology opinions
Message-ID: <01BAEAA1.B47969C0@ppp041.on.rim.or.jp>

Greetings to all Travellers,
Henry Penninkilampi asked if there were any trekkies who knew the =
displacement and construction time of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D.  In the =
Star Trek Technical Manual (R. Sternbach & M. Okuda) it says the Galaxy =
Class Project (the start of the naval design and research) was approved =
in July 2343 AD, the first construction (fabrication of habitation and =
workspace modules) was begun in 2346, the first frame members of the =
Enterprise-D were gamma-welded on 3 June 2350, the first ship of the =
class, the U.S.S. Galaxy, was launched from orbital dock on 5 May 2356, =
and the Enterprise-D was launched in 2358.  The Enterprise-D was =
commissioned on 4 October 2363, taking a little over 20 years to =
complete.  Six ships of this class were constructed (simultaneously).
The exact displacement of the Enterprise-D is not listed.  However, the =
displacement estimate for the Ambassador class prototype (the slightly =
smaller Enterprise-C shown on the episode Yesterday's Enterprise) is =
3.71 million metric tons.  Volume is not given.
I just resumed reading this mailing list from almost 2 years ago, so =
forgive me if I'm missing something, but it seems like everyone is =
discussing another rules revision for Traveller.  It feels like I just =
bought TNE!  Not again!
Instead of revising the rules all over again, how about clarifying them =
and making them much easier to use in an actual RPG session.  I think =
good use of flowcharting and wargame-type paragraph rule listings might =
help.  How about a book which is devoted to flowcharts of all the rules =
systems with page and paragraph references to the actual rule books?  =
For me, small arms combat in TNE (or MT) is a major pain to referee.  =
Even a session of Battle Rider or Brilliant Lances is tedious because =
there are so many steps to perform and each one requires some searching. =
 Wargamers, I assume, are used to this (no offense intended of course), =
and GDW makes lots of wargames, but the players I know who are used to =
AD&D quickly lose their patience.
Could this be why TNE or Traveller in general is having trouble selling? =
 I love to talk and read about Traveller, but refereeing a game in real =
time is a rulebook headache compared with equally old AD&D. =20
I've been refereeing Traveller since 1982 and I still take forever to do =
things by the rules.  Of course we can always wing it, but then what are =
the rules for if they are too disorganized to use?  I don't want to =
throw TNE out and start again, I want to see it made more accessable and =
easier to play.  A CD-ROM reference with all the Trav stuff would be =
nice.  You wouldn't need it all the time, just for reference, especially =
when writing adventures.  As it stands, I have to search umpteen books =
thoroughly to find a reference I have a vague recollection of reading =
sometime in the past.
If the inevitable happens and Traveller is reincarnated again, I hope =
there isn't so much errata.  TNE was better than MegaTraveller in this =
area, I admit.  Also, I don't want watered-down rules for beginners =
(like CT) unless I can get access to the more detailed stuff too, like =
the next FF&S equivalent.
While I'm griping, I'd like to say that there are two things about =
Traveller that I find mildly regrettable.  The first is the fact that a =
jump takes a week of game time.  I assume this is a holdover from the =
Imperium wargame or whatever, but it gets tiring trying to explain what =
the characters do for a week every time they jump.  It seems to waste a =
lot of game time, and  it's not flashy or impressive like warp drive or =
hyperspace.  It's not heroic.
My next gripe is that Traveller, the game of the Far Future, posits high =
technology to be something that seems very low tech.  Long Nights =
notwithstanding, does the technology of tech level 15 really fit what =
you imagine technology will be like in the 56th century?  I imagine that =
TL 15-like technology will be available (in some of the fields at least) =
in the next 200 years.  I want logically thought out, believeable hard =
SF science, but I want to be awed and impressed with high technology.  I =
think new players do too.  I may be biased, being a Trek fan, but =
sometimes I think it would be more interesting to have a campaign set =
before the Ancient's Final War.  That would be great SF to me.  =
Traveller sometimes feels like Top Secret (the old out of print TSR =
overly-detailed spy game) in space.
Please don't get the impression I'm knocking Traveller.  I love =
Traveller, so I can see it's faults, kind of like how I view my wife (uh =
. . . pretend I didn't say that).
Please don't flame me too hard, I'm still a newbie.
Sincerely,
Armand

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

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 01:00:19 +1100 (EST)
From: Phillip McGregor <aspqrz@sydney.DIALix.oz.au>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM, xboat@MPGN.COM
Subject: Plague of Duskir, Vargr and Imperial Tech Backwardness
Message-ID: <199601241400.BAA20213@sydney.DIALix.oz.au>

Someone noted that the Tasmanian Aboriginies were wiped out by a mixture of
being hunted down and disease, the latter mainly while in what he called
"concentration camps". Well, so what? The people in question were even more
primitive than the mainland aboriginies, and, IIRC, it was at one stage (and
may still be, I don't know offhand) regarded that they were wiped out on the
mainland *by* said mainland aboriginies.

They were a *stone age* people. We know that the Vilani were "backward"
*compared to the Terrans* in their medical technology. Nowhere does it say
that they were the equivalent of TL0 in medical technology! In any case,
AFAIR, the last aborigines in question died out as much because of neglect
*and the destruction of their society* as anything else ... in other words,
it was the *social* impact of the disease and hunting down that did them
in as much as anything else.

Look at the native populations in Mexico as an example of what happens when
your society is destroyed by forces that you do not understand ... you see
the victor's society as being superior to your own, and adopt it as yours.
Hence, the adoption of catholicism by said natives and the effective
destruction of almost all traces of the "old" society within a generation
or so. The "wisdom" of the elders is lost, and respect for traditional ways
are lost, the younger generation tend to have a poor self-image, and this
leads to destructive behaviour. Sure, disease may trigger this, but the
real and ongoing killer is, as I pointed out, the lack of care for others
and for oneself that comes with the social impacts of contact between an
advanced culture and a less advanced one. However, you would be wise not to
extend this sort of assumption to the situation of the Vilani and the Terrans.
For a start, there is a maximum of one TL difference between them ... sort
of like the difference between (say) between the 1970's (TL8) and the 1990's
(TL/9). Significant? Sure! But hardly enough to allow a massive victory if
one side has mass and the other has only a marginal betterment in tech.

Thus, since the Vilani were *not* far behind in tech compared to the Terrans,
there would have been no problem as far as this is concerned ... especially
as, as I have already pointed out, they had, by then, been in contact (and
conflict) with the Terrans since 2096 AD ... some **187** YEARS by the
beginning of said Nth Interstellar War. Surely you would not expect us to
believe that the Vilani were completely unaffected by any Terran originated
diseases during the 187 years, that they learnt nothing from Terran medical
technology as a result, that there were no Terran "mercy missions" to Vilani
planets during that period, when not fighting, in the good old tradition of
the Red Cross/Red Crescent? Come on, guys, by the time of the Nth Interstellar
war the Vilani just weren't the sitting ducks to "ordinary" Terran diseases
that some of you seem to think. As for the Plague of Duskir being a biowar
effort, Vilani propaganda pure and simple (the Terrans are pure and the
Vilani are simple) ... it was simply the result of partial societal collapse,
probably disruption of food supplies to isolated and non-self sufficient
colonies, destruction of hygiene facilities etc. that led perfectly ordinary
and normally under control diseases such as Cholera, Typhoid, Dysentery and
the like loose. Nasty, and only possible because of the aftermath of the war
and the fighting.

As for the Gulf War, tech did not win that. What won it was *training* - the
allies had it, and the Iraqis didn't. Tech gave the allies an edge, but it
was training that was the killer. The Iraqi soldiers were little better than
partly trained rabble compared to the western and allied forces ... good
enough to stand off Pasdaran (Iranian) "human wave" attacks, but nowhere
*near* good enough to beat the allies. I would say that an equivalent force
of 1970's allied troops would have been able to trash the Iraqis probably
just as quickly if they were trained to equivalent standards.

As for quantitative edges beating qualitative edges. I am not aware of any
conflict in modern times that can be said to be a "total war" *and* where
the side with the qualitative edge won against the side with the quantitative
edge.

Take WW2 as an especially good example - the Germans had better plane designs,
they had better tank designs, they had better sub designs ... they even had
better smallarms designs. (Me-262, Me-163, Ar-234 etc for the planes, jets
and rocket powered jobbies; Panthers, King Tigers for the Tanks; Type XXIII
? and Electro-Atlantic U-Boats; MP-43 ... the design of which the soviets
copied as the AK-47, and the MG-42, which the US copied as the M-60) What
they didn't have were the *numbers* of those machines of death and destruction
that the west had (or even the western supplied soviets) ... they were always
short of fuel, ammo, and even rifles (I recall that the Supply arm of the
Wehrmacht complained that the loss rate of *rifles* in 43-44 exceeded the
replacement rate to the extent that even existing stockpiles of captured
foreign weapons weren't enough to take up the slack ... or soon wouldn't
be). The Germans simply couldn't compete on a mass basis *at any level*,
they were outproduced and buried by allied industry in the end.

The situation in the Nth Interstellar war must have been very similar. The
Vilani suddenly realised what a threat the Terrans had become, and threw
everything that they had into the fight ... eventually even weakening the
Vargr border to the extent that the said Vargr incursions someone mentioned
took place. But even that wasn't enough. The Terrans were able to bury them
with their superior level of production. The Vilani never had a chance,
poor suckers.

(Oh, and note, I've explained quite handily how the Vargr came to be where
they were on the k'Kree border or wherever.)

And, as I pointed out, the Rule of Man (under the treasonous militarists who
overthrew Terran democratic government with Vilani help and installed the
traitor Estigarribia as Emperor), had from AD 2299 to AD 2742 (some 4 1/2
centuries) to suppress information and falsify the historical and public
record. Any source material that was left probably had a hard time surviving
the ensuing "Long Night" (almost 18 centuries) ... and we know that the
Third Imperium has a long history of suppressing and distorting information.

Ergo, the Terrans *did* beat the Vilani by outproducing them with factory
tech that they had their traitorous Terran militarist allies suppress, and,
so, the Terran *Government* actually *lost* the Nth Interstellar war!

Phil McGregor

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

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 01:18:47 +1100 (EST)
From: Phillip McGregor <aspqrz@sydney.DIALix.oz.au>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM, xboat@MPGN.COM
Subject: Production Time of Starships
Message-ID: <199601241418.BAA27388@sydney.DIALix.oz.au>

I'm sure it mentions it in passing in TNE, and it *does* mention it quite
specifically in MTrav (pg. 61 "Referee's Manual") as well as in Classic Trav.

Referee's Manual: "Ships of less than 60000 kiloliters (about 4400 displacement
tons) can be completed within 36 months by any competent shipyard. Ships over
60000 kiloliters require from 24-36 moths to complete, based on conditions,
volume of orders, and the degree of haste desired by the ordering government."

"Additional identical ships can be completed in 80% of the original time and
for 80% of the original construction cost."

Book #2: Starships (CTrav): See page 22, a 100 ton hull takes 9 months to
build, 200 tons 11 months, thru to 1000 tons at 27 months.

Book #5: High Guard (CTrav): See page 20, Ships of 5000 tons or less need
no more than 36 months and ships of 5000 tons plus require 24-60 months.

As for how realistic these times are, consider, as I said, the 747. Weighs
around 170 tons. Production time, when geared up? Around a couple or more a
*day*. Do they test each plane off the production line to destruction
before they hand it over to the customer? No. I don't know how much testing
it goes through before deliver, a week? Sure, you *might* argue that
Starships are somehow more complex than a 747 ... and you may be right, at
that. However, the problem here is that the quality control and testing
regimes of the shipyards producing them are *also* much more complex. So,
at worst, they have kept pace and the damn thing requires a week or two of
testing, may a couple of Jumps ... certainly no more than a month or so.

Like I said, look at the efforts of the US and allies with Liberty & Victiry
Ships in WW2 ... and don't forget that they had similar amazing production
time reductions for warships from DEs through to Aircraft carriers.

Sure, small production runs (like for large military ships) may require
some extra time, but for ships of the 1000 tons or so that most PCs are
going to have some chance of owning, they'll be of generic designs and
should take no more than a a week or so to produce. Forex, we *know* that
there are some 30000 Scout/Couriers in service throughout the Imperium, and
1000 in the Spinward marches ... and yet the damn things take 9 months to
build. Nope, sorry, maybe with 1930's production techniques, but not with
those of the 57th century.

Phil McGregor


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

Date: Thu, 25 Jan 1996 01:27:00 +1100 (EST)
From: Phillip McGregor <aspqrz@sydney.DIALix.oz.au>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM, xboat@MPGN.COM
Subject: Jump Courier Missiles from Leviathan.
Message-ID: <199601241427.BAA00781@sydney.DIALix.oz.au>

Someone has suggested that these should be treated as non-canonical, even
though in a canonical source, and that the blanket prohibition of ships
smaller than 100 tons from having JDrives should be enforced. Why?

There is a perfectly good explanation as to how JDrive missiles (2 tons
displacement) can be made to work. The *real* limiting factor was the
minimum size of the Fusion power plants (esp see MTrav, where they're
humongous!) - but there's no *need* for the Fusion power plants to be on
board the vessel with the JDrive! We know (from a variety of sources, inc.
the "Starship Operator's Manual") that the majority of the space allocated
for the JDrive is *not* for the actual drive, but for the extremely high
capacity output fusion reactors to provide the power needed in less than
the handful of hours that the zuchai crystal/energy capacitors can hold
the energy before decaying. The solution? Easy! Use the mother ship's JDrive
generators and dump the power into capacitors (see the Black Globe rules
in CTrav and MTrav, as well as in FF&S) on the missile and then launch it.
The actual *active* portion of the missile is probably less than 10% of the
actual generator volume ... even the mother ship's computers can be used
to dump in a course tape.

So. There we have it, a reasonable explanation for a Jump Courier Missile!

Phil McGregor

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

Date: Wed, 24 Jan 1996 10:07:33 -0500
From: eackerma@vt.edu (Eric Ackermann)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Cc: xboat@MPGN.COM
Subject: 2300AD mailing list
Message-ID: <199601241507.KAA17607@sable.cc.vt.edu>

Please forgive any duplication due to a cross-posted message.

For those that might be interested, there is a Traveller 2300/2300AD mailing
list. The address is

                 ad2300-request@mars.galstar.com

Leave the subject blank, and type SUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. It
appears to be just starting up, so don't expect alot of mail right away.

Enjoy!

Eric

Eric G. Ackermann
Special Collections/University Libraries         VV      TTTTTTTTTTT
Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State Univ.      VV     VV  TT
PO Box 90001, Blacksburg, VA 24062-9001            VV   VV  TT
(540) 231-6308 FAX(540) 231-9263  eackerma@vt.edu   VV VV  TT
http://scholar2.lib.vt.edu/spec/spechp.htm           VVV  TT


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

Date: Wed, 24 Jan 1996 10:29:04 -0500
From: kevin.mccarthy@gsfc.nasa.gov (Kevin Mc Carthy)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Cc: ad2300@mars.galstar.com, eackerma@vt.edu
Subject: Re: 2300AD
Message-ID: <v02120d03ad2ba7998f24@[128.183.49.185]>

Eric Ackermann said on 1/23/96:

>So here's your chance to sound off about 2300AD: likes, dislikes, what you'd
>change, what you'd keep, you'd like to see, what new products, design
>philosophy (e.g., more detail vs less detail, etc), why you play it/don't
>play it, good/bad experiences with the game, you name it!

1) Revise and reprint the material GDW published.  Some of it was great
like the "Aroura Sourcebook" and "Energy Curve" and some was completely
error ridden like the "Mining adventure in space--correct title mecifully
forgotten " in one BIG book.  Don't try to reprint a dozen individual
books.

2) Keep the same flavor.  Stutterwarp, expensive interface transport costs,
gov't/corp owned starships, etc.  Come up with a better explanation why the
thousands of stutterwap ships that exist haven't explored the whole map
yet.  Similarly explain why the Kafers and humans didn't make contact
earlier--their was no expnation would hold water given the number of ships
on each side and the value of virgin worlds/solar systems.  Identify which
systems are open to GM development and which will be officially developed
in the"near future".

3) Revise the Star Map to comply with the latest anstronomical data,
including planetary discoveries around other stars.  Indicate ALL stuterwap
routes in some fashison even if there is no colony there.

4) Come up with a more resonable explanation for the French assendency,
other than a nuclear war.  Let's make this an upbeat game.

5) Come out with tables to ease the GM burden (distances and travel times, etc.)

6) Develop a sourcebook for the American and Chinese arms early in the
release schedule.  Do 5-10 pages on each world or 3-5 on each outpost.  Not
everyone will want to fight Kafers.

7) Cut down on the glossy pictorial fluff that GDW used to increase page
count.  I really hated that.

8) Revise the charactor generation system and the task system.

>Also include your
>primary interest in the game: as player, gamemaster, collector (or any
>combination of the above). All responses will be forwarded to the interested
>organization.

That's enough for now.  Interested as all the above.

Kevin

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

Date: Wed, 24 Jan 1996 19:51:23 +0100
From: StarWolf <myhre@sn.no>
To: hiwg-list@fwe.com, traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Doc 142.13
Message-ID: <199601241851.TAA14732@ekeberg.sn.no>

A new version of Document 142.13 Starship beam weaponry is laid out on my
FTP site at ftp.oslonett.no/public/user/myhre/Traveller/HIWG-docs.

The filename is 142_13.zip


------------+-----------------+--------------------------------------
Roger Myhre |myhre@sn.no      |http://www.sn.no/home/myhre/
Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other "sins"
are invented nonsense. (Hurting yourself is not sinful--just stupid.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------


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

Date: Wed, 24 Jan 1996 14:28:42 MST7
From: "Bruce Johnson" <johnson@tonic.pharm.arizona.edu>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Adventure seed...Majesta class megafreighters LONG
Message-ID: <1B4384F4294@tonic.pharm.Arizona.EDU>

Alvin's posting of the Majesta class specs and history sparked an
idea in my head...

The party is approached very obliquely by a representative of Tukera
Security, the Vermene, to investigate labor unrest on a major ship of
the line, a Tukera Majesta-class freighter, the `Catherine the Great'.

This adventure takes place before the Solomani Rim War (990- 1002) but
long after the Great Merchant Strike of 904. Put it about 985. This
could be part of the events and provocation's leading up to the
Solomani Rim War.

Introduction

Tukera Security is concerned about the possibility of another general
strike aboard the megamerchant class ships. Many of the gains achieved
by the crews in the Great Strike have eroded over time, particularly
in the face of the many planetary depressions and recessions
experienced in the wake of the Strike.

Rumors of another Strike have surfaced. Vermene has little concrete
evidence of any plot, simply a single report from an agent who has
since vanished, concerning a possible labor action possibly involving
Solomani influence, and a hunch by Mildur Troygvan, head of Vermene.
Troygvan's hunches have played out before, so Sildas Tukera heeds his
security chief on these matters.

The Great Strike cost Tukera a great deal, both financially and
politically, and Sildas is determined to avoid another at any cost. He
has authorized Troygvan to carry out 'black' operation of the highest
order. Sildas simply wants Troygvan to enlist agents entirely outside
of Tukera to infiltrate, if possible, the plot, and either expose or
neutralize the leaders. Tukera has had some problems with Solomani
infiltration of Vermene in the last few years, so Sildas want's things
to be extremely tight on this mission. The entire affair is to be his
and Troygvan's eyes only. In reality, Troygvan cannot handle all the
matters himself, so some of his most closely trusted staff will also
be involved.

PC's

The player characters have to have never had any substantive dealings
with Tukera, or else such dealings have been very well hidden. They
should also be racial Solomani, be able to pass for such, or have
homeworlds in the Solomani sphere of influence. If the PC's do not fit
this profile they will have to give Troygvan very good reason to
believe they can still accomplish this mission.

Contact

Troygvan will, if possible, contact the party through a patron they
have dealt with previously. He will come to this patron with
impeccable credentials...all false, but the head of security for one
of the largest megacorps has awesome resources at his command.

Troygvan will at first attempt to convince the PC's that he is merely
a middle man dealing for an anonymous corporate client, perhaps an
upper manager in the Tukera organization, attempting to keep a blemish
off of his bottom line.

However, if the PC's are observant, they will soon notice some touches
that belie this notion. Troygvan habitually travels with a security
escort, three ex-Marine commandos, and two ex-Scout special forces
recon specialists. The security will make the PC's long before, if
ever, than the PC's will make them.

Troygan himself will travel armed (small silenced autopistol) to any
meeting, and his guards will be heavily armed, sawed off shotguns,
silenced smgs, and flash-bang grenades, and wearing 'bullet-proof'
trench coats. Any outdoor, or accessible from the outdoors like a
restaurant window setting, meeting will be covered by one of the Scout
recons acting as a sniper with a heavy gauss rifle.

Troygvan is not a well known person; however, if one of the characters
gets a picture of him, and feeds it through a large enough photo
database, Troygvan will be identified as an executive for Tukera. At
any rate, his expensive clothes, mannerisms and clear attitude of
command make it clear that he isn't just any middleman. With extensive
research, if the player characters can actually access the data
sources they need, they may even be able to identify him as the
probable head of Tukera security.

Troygvan will readily agree to more than one meeting; the first will
be more 'feeling out' for both parties, no substantive information
will be given to either side unless all parties agree. Troygvan is
looking for a cautious, methodical, professional group to do this. If
the party seems to ready to agree to anything sight unseen, he may
back out; given the current state of political affairs in the
Imperium, with rising tensions with the Solomani Confederation, some
major planetary systems fighting recession, Tukera cannot afford
anything that could spark a strike, or give it bad press.

The only thing Troygvan will say about the assignment is that it is an
internal security matter on a starship, and the PC's are being
recruited for an undercover operation, the pay will be generous, and
that while there are very real dangers associated with the mission, it
isn't anticipated to involve combat, that the PC's are primarily being
asked to gather intel.

Mission Briefing

If the group agrees to work for Troygvan, he will suggest a meeting
aboard his ship, a Tukera executive vessel. The PC's will be searched
politely but firmly, on boarding the ship. Any weapons, recorders,
etc, will be taken from them. They will receive a receipt, and be
asked to sign it, for 'Items in the Ships Locker', listing anything
taken from them, and will be returned politely after the meeting.

The PC's will be shown to the wardroom, and offered refreshments. Soon
the lift warning comes over the ship's intercom, and the ship will
lift from the planet and head off into interplanetary space. The two
marine commandos will be in the room with them at all times, clearly
guarding the PC's. They will not be talkative.

About 15 minutes after lift, Troygvan will come into the room, and
dismiss the guards. and begin talking.

"I'm sorry for the rude treatment, but this is a matter of the highest
importance to Tukera Lines, and the utmost precautions must be taken.
We have reason to believe that an illicit labor group is organizing on
a major ship of our line, possibly to provoke a strike. I want you to
go on board as employees of Tukera, and determine if there is such a
conspiracy, and if so, who is involved. We do not know how high the
conspiracy reaches, so you are being introduced as complete outsiders.
You will be in under very deep cover. Vermene has agents working in
the ships looking for these people. They will not be told of your
existence, indeed, you will have to avoid them, since I cannot
compromise your cover by interfering with this or allowing anyone else
to know about it."

"The following is for your eyes only...No one else but myself and
Sildas Tukera himself know of your relationship to Tukera, and I am
prepared to take the most extreme measures to ensure that this remains
the case."

Troygvan has not changed expression, but the tone in his voice is
clear, the PC's will be killed before they can expose anything.

"Naturally, I'll reward success, even partial success, handsomely...I
know that I am putting you in an extremely tight position, and
potentially in great danger, but if you succeed I can bring all the
resources of Tukera to bear in your behalf."

"The ship involved is the Catherine the Great, a Majesta-class
freighter currently in the Diaspora sector. Their next port of call
will be at (Insert some port in the Diaspora Sector), there is a
scheduled layover of 5 weeks there, more than enough time for us to
get there. You will be put on board as part of normal crew
replacements, into the sections that we suspect of having organizing
activity. From there on, you will be entirely on your own. When you
have achieved your mission, you will bring the evidence to the Tukera
office in the next port, get off the ship and stay there."

He hands each of the PC's a package. It contains a folder with the
outline of their identities, ID cards, and ship's transfer papers
assigning them to positions appropriate to their skills, aboard the
Catherine. The PC's will be assigned to areas and shifts in the ship
close to them; this way they will be able to maintain some contact.
About two third's of the party will have identities that show they
worked on another Tukera ship, quite a distance away from the
Catherine's regular route. Their personnel files will also show that
they were transferred for unspecified disciplinary reasons. Tukera
takes a rather hard stance toward labor organization, and it will be
inferred from their files that they were suspected of being involved
in either labor problems or smuggling.

The disappearance of his agent has Troygvan suspecting that the
conspiracy, if there is one, has access to the ship's personnel
records, either through illicit means, or by a highly ranking
co-conspirator with legitimate access, since the agent had a
classified personnel docket identifying them as a security agent.

Troygvan gives the PC's a moment to look through the materials, then
continues.

" It is vital that you do not lose your identity cards_they have a
special code that will identify you as a high ranking agent, reporting
only to a few people within the Vermene organization. If you are
successful, report to the Tukera office at (a list of possible ports
will be given) and only at these offices. I cannot guarantee your
safety anywhere else. From there, you will be taken to a Vermene safe
house for debriefing. Myself, or one of my associates will debrief
you."

" One final bit of assistance. Your quarters on the Catherine will
contain a silenced snub pistol, with eight rounds of ammunition.
Recognize that this is highly illegal, and if these are found while
you are on board you will be arrested and interrogated. Use them only
as a last resort, as I cannot guarantee your safety aboard the
Catherine, high security clearance or not."

" You will use the information in this packet to develop a detailed
identity for yourselves while we are in transit to (embarkation port).
Upon arrival, you will be given new clothing, what possessions you
would be expected to have, and your identity card and papers. Your
belongings on this ship will be returned to you upon the mission
completion."

The time frame Troygvan has given the PC's, between the
entry point and the six possible offices to report to, gives them 1 to 6 months
to achieve their goals, based on the itinerary of the Catherine.
Transit time to the `Catherine' will be two jumps.  While in jumpspace
the PC's will be required to develop their identites; they will be
grilled by Troygvan and his associates, until they have everything
perfect.  If not, the failing PC will be left behind, or the mission
will be aborted, the PC's will be compensated lightly for their time,
and returned to where they met Troygvan, with the warning to forget
that the episode ever happened.

On board the Catherine

The PC's, if they have never been aboard a merchant of the Majesta
class will find themselves hard pressed to maintain their cover the
first time they are on board. The crew is larger than the population
of many small cities, and the ship itself is huge.  When a Majesta
comes into port, it takes over. Often Imperial Navy auxilaries clear
all non-Tukera or Naval vessels from the starport. The crew then takes
over the starport. Depending on the ship's schedule, the crew's
disposition, and the number and nature of the dependents on board, the
port is either flooded with crewmembers shopping and enjoying a few
day's shore leave, to a wild carousal. (Picture spring break in most
places in Florida, before the locals got fed up and clamped down.)

The PC's, however, should be able to settle down rather quickly into
the routine of shipboard life. Naturally, as the newbies on board,
they will get questions regarding their previous ship, why they're now
on the Catherine, etc.

 After about a week on board, if the PC's are observant, they will
 notice that they have occasionally seen someone who looks remarkably
 like one of the bodyguards who accompanied Troygvan to the meetings,
 and may have been aboard Troygvan's ship.  If contacted the person
 will deny ever having met them before, and unless the PC's talking to
 the woman makes a difficult perception check, will come away thinking
 that it is merely a case of mistaken identity.  In reality, it is one
 of the recon specialists sent by Troygvan to keep an eye on the PC's.

If they discover her, Troygvan's tactics become clear..there are three layers 
of investigation
going on simultaneously on the Catherine: The `official'
investigation, the PC's deep cover investigation, and the scout, who's
only job is to watch the PC's. If the PC's are blown or killed, it is
the scout's job to get off the ship and return with the information to
Troygvan.  If it has become clear that the PC's have uncovered a
conspiracy, the scout will attempt to assassinate any identified
leader, then escape the ship.  In either case, the scout's escape
route is a specially prepared scout/courier in cargo module 9. Using
this escape route will gather a great deal of attention, since it will
involve blowing the doors of the module open with explosives and
firing the scout's thrusters to leave the ship.  This will cause
considerable damage to the ship, but Troygvan considers the risks
worthwhile, if another Great Strike is averted.

>From here the adventure could follow several scenarios:

1: The Solomani Provocation.

The PC's are soon contacted by a person who hints that they might well
be able to continue their labor organizing.  If they express interest,
they will be slowly drawn into a conspiracy, led by a SolSec team, to
foment a Solomani-centric strike by the crew during the ships closest
approach to the Solomani Confederation some ten ports along the
itinerary.  SolSec has four or five agents placed throughout the ship,
including one agent in the higher command structure, such as an
assistant chief security officer.

The PC's will be asked to recruit others in preparation for the
strike, or to perform some act of sabotage on the ship as proof of
their bona fides.  If they are successful at this, they will be
allowed access to the higher levels of the conspiracy.

The SolSec agents are quite ruthless, and the PC's could well have a
fatal `accident' if their covers are compromised.

2: The `Molly Maguires'

There is a anti-Imperial labor movement underway aboard the ship, but
it has nothing to do with SolSec.  A group of engineers are plotting a
violent strike against Tukera for the gradual loss of the concessions
gained in the Great Strike.  They feel that success in this will
encourage other starship crews to strike, and that another Great
Strike will ensue. This time they hope to gain permanent concessions
from both Tukera, the other megacorps and even the Imperium for labor
movement.

The conspiracy does not have any assistance from the command structure
of the ship, but have hacked into the data systems for their detailed
knowledge of personnel and other files.

3: Captain Raimo

The ship is carrying classified Naval hardware (an improved gravitic
focusing system) in one of the cargo containers.  The ship's captain
is aware of this, and being a Solomani sympathizer is desirous of
hijacking the ship to Solomani space.  The stike (with accompanying
sabotage) is a ruse to draw the 250 Imperial Marines out of their
specially prepared cargo module, whereupon in the confusion the
captain will hijack the ship, put the crew out in the lifeboats, and
fake the destruction of the Catherine.

He has the absolute loyalty of the upper levels of command, except for
the highest ranking security officer.

4: Norma Rae

The PC's discover a labor movement afoot, but it is one that addresses
real abuses by Tukera. In fact, if the labor organizers are persuasive
enough, the PC's could well decide to side with them. The organizers
want to set up a legitimate, recognized union to negotiate with
Tukera. Tukera wants to squash it. In this case, the PC's will have
been largely lied to by Troygvan, particularly regarding the
involvement of Solmani interests.  He is using the players to find the
leaders.  Their subsequent murders will be blamed on the PC's.

5: "Run-run-run-run runaway_.."

The PC's discover that the original agent, whose report and
disappearance started this whole affair, is simply a ruse. The agent
had embezzled a great deal of money from Tukera, and filed the report
and staged his disappearance to hide his trail.  The PC's get involved
in no conspiracy greater than a scheme to win a g-ball game between
two engineering shifts, since one of the PC's resembles a semi-pro
player known by the captain of one team, who thinks he has a ringer
to spring on the other teams.

This will not go over well with Troygvan, who really wants to believe
there is a conspiracy afoot.  He could well decide the PC's are lying,
at worst, covering their own part in the conspiracy; or simply
incompetent at best, and they were unable to find what was `right
under their noses'.

GM Notes

The main thing for GM's to keep in mind is the sheer size of one of
these ships.  it's over one and a half KILOmeters long.  It has a crew
greater than many, many small cities.  No matter what scenario the GM
chooses, the ship should be a significant player in any plot.  The
PC's for instance could hide on one for months, scurrying from place
to place. They may need to find interesting ways to bug various parts of the
ship.  Also, since this ship should really be run less as a ship than
a company town, there are ample roleplaying opportunities beyond the
normal shipboard stuff.  The conspiracy could, for instance, take
place in conjunction with the the ongoing g-ball tournament between
different parts and shifts on the ship...what better excuse for people
to travel around the ship without attracting attention.  There could
be entire shipboard cultures unique to one of these class of ships, or
even an individual ship.  There could be things like the `Carnival
Cruise Lines' cargo module...basically a luxury hotel built into a
standard cargo module, along with power supply, life support, etc.
The cruise company contracts with Tukera to transport their modules
along...voila' no unneccesary ship maintenence or construction costs,
that's covered in the lease, which Tukera shouldn't charge too much
for, because in their minds, a cargo container is a cargo container.

 With these behemoths in service, suddenly the trade tables from the
 various incarnations of Traveller start (notice I said only start) to
 make sense.  Anyone on the scale of a PC is only going to be getting
 the odd spot shipment or charter...the big trade goes on these
 things. It would be sort of like attempting to figure out how modern
 maritime trade makes economic sense if all you knew about were ships
 like the dhow that Michael Palin rode across the Indian Ocean in
 `Around the World in 80 Days'.  When someone tells you that there are
 also giant kilometer-long container ships cruising around, it makes
 much more sense.

Bruce Johnson
Information Technology/College of Pharmacy
The University of Arizona
johnson@tonic.pharm.arizona.edu


As if this place HAD any opinions...

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End of TRAVELLER Digest 565
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