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From: owner-traveller-digest@mpgn.com (Traveller-digest)
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Subject: Traveller-digest V1996 #728
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Traveller-digest      Sunday, December 8 1996      Volume 1996 : Number 728



(R)1996. Traveller is a registered trademark of FarFuture Enterprises.
All rights reserved.

The following topics are covered in this digest:

RE: Disintegrators & democracy
Rebellion end/Norris
Skipping messages in digest format.
Re: Foss Art
RE: Vaccuum fluctuations and Zero-G
Re: Starships--Got IT! (fwd)
Re: 
Re: Foss Art
RE: Starships--Got IT! (fwd)
Re: Foss Art
Re: 
RE: Things that make you go 'Hmmmmm'. 
The New Look of Traveller
Re: Starships: no map grids
RE: The New Look of Traveller 
Starship Deckplans
RE: Starships--Got IT! (fwd) 
Re: <none> - Appropriateness of Ken's Posts
Re: Starships: no map grids
Re: Starships--Got IT! (fwd)
Re: Strephon was a good Emperor
Re: Starships: no map grids

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

Date: Sat, 7 Dec 1996 21:09:01 -0500
From: Eric Freitas <edf@atlantic.net>
Subject: RE: Disintegrators & democracy

I read in an article in Science magazine, that researchers had found a way to 
stabilize heavy unstable elements by hitting them with high energy lasers of
a certain frequency.  It reminded me of the radiation fire extinguishers described
by Bill Baldwin in his Helmsman series.  In the Helmsman, powerful lasers of 
green light were focused on a collapsed matter hullplate that was in the process 
of un-collapsing.  The collapsium hullmetal would give off a _lot_ of nuetron 
radiation when it uncollapses, even if there hadn't been the radiation hazard, you
don't want your ship to disintegrate around you.  I thought it had a certain flair.
YMMV.

Eric Freitas

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

Date: Sat, 7 Dec 1996 21:16:18 -0500
From: Kagehira@aol.com
Subject: Rebellion end/Norris

   <what would have happened to the MegaTraveller/ Rebellion setting?  I
find it hard to believe that Marc Miller, Joe Fugate, and all the rest were
just making it all up as they went along, so they must have had some idea for
how things were eventually going to turn out. Does anyone have any idea what
that might have been?> Yes, Joe had an idea on how things eventually were
going to turn out, although some things got made up as things went along too.
And Nope, I don't know what the ending was. And as far as I know there are
only three parties that know the answer (though I expect there might be
others).

    As for Norris coming to the rescue, that wasn't likely too happen, he had
too much rebuilding to do, and since he no longer had the resources of the
rest of the Imperium to help him, he was more interested in building up his
resources as best he could (most of which can be seen in the Regency
Sourcebook). Now what woud be interesting to see would be if he would rejoin
whoever came in control of the Imperium......

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

Date: Sat, 7 Dec 1996 21:21:04 -0500 (EST)
From: Charles Collin <charles@hebb.psych.mcgill.ca>
Subject: Skipping messages in digest format.

Hi all. Someone complained that in the digest format of the TML, it is
difficult to skip messages.  This is not at all true.  Simply do a text
search (using control-W for "Where is" in pine, for instance) and look for
the next "@" symbol or "Date:" string.  There is one at the beginning of
every message, so you won't miss anything and it's easy to skip over long
stuff you don't want to read!  I for one am in favor of messages with good
content, be they long or short (remember boys, size doesn't matter :-).  I
would like to suggest (for the millionth time) that people label long
messages as such, however. 

Chuck the techno-diplomat...

________
Can anything truly meaningful be said in just a single line?  Maybe, maybe
not.    -Charles Collin. (charles@hebb.psych.mcgill.ca)
        -Psych. Dept., McGill U., 1205 Dr. Penfield, Montreal, QC. H3A 1B1
        -http://www.psych.mcgill.ca/labs/cvl/home.html   

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

Date: Sat, 7 Dec 1996 20:20:50 -0600 (CST)
From: "Joseph E. Walsh" <ransom@connect.iconnect.net>
Subject: Re: Foss Art

On Sat, 7 Dec 1996, Douglas E. Berry wrote:

> Am I the only one here who really dislikes Mr. Foss' artwork?  Nevermind
> that every piece in Traveller is a reprint, his bizarre take on perspective
> and engineering have always reminded me more of pulp SF than the Hard SF the
> Traveller has always drawn on.

Well...

1)  It's art, and that means some are gonna love it, some are gonna hate 
it, and most won't care.  That's the nature of the beast.

2)  It's a radical change in Traveller's "look," so most of us oldtimers 
are gonna be predisposed to disliking it.  Most people don't like change 
(me included).

3)  My own opinion of Foss' artwork is that it's interesting to look 
at, and certainly visually appealing, but it's just not Traveller.  I can 
live with it, though, since I care far more for the text associated with 
RPGs than for the art (although I certainly respect the fact that for 
others the art is far more important).


- -Joe
______________________________________________________________________________
Joseph E. Walsh      |  Atari 8-Bit User and Programmer Since 1982
ransom@iconnect.net  |  Classic Traveller Referee Since 1983
Stuck in the '80s    |  Microsoft-Free and Loving It! :)
       .....Official Reporter of Imperium Games Product Info.....

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

Date: Sat, 7 Dec 1996 21:28:31 -0500
From: Eric Freitas <edf@atlantic.net>
Subject: RE: Vaccuum fluctuations and Zero-G

In mail you write:

>There have been numerous variations on this over the years. What's
>going on is that the gizmo is ionizing air and the electrostatic field
>is accelerating the air! In other words, it's jet propelled, only the
>jet is electrically produced. Think of the plate as a propeller.

Your talking about the "Electric Wind", and various machines have 
been designed on this principle that never made it to a full scale version.
However, this device was tested in a vacuum, after being accused of using
the electric wind phenomenon, thus nullifying that argument.

To quote the same artice on the electric wind possibility:

	"Many scientists and engineers have witnessed _these flying discs_.
             Their opinion has been, generally, that the motive force propelling 
             them was one which is often called "electric wind".  Few, if any, up
             to now, have believed the Brown discs were propelled by the new 
             principle Biefeld or Brown had discovered.
		Though Brown did not agree, there was little he could do 
             until he went to France.  There he "sailed" some of his discs in a 
             high vacuum with singular success.  Not only did the discs fly more
	 efficiently, but as there was no air present there could be no "electric
	 wind"".

By the way I once saw an illustration of a proposed electric wind propelled
aircraft in a book.  It looked kind of cool, but the technique was different.  
While the capacitive plates used on the Brown device could be completely 
enclosed and still operate, an electric wind device would require an open
structure to allow for the flow of air.  The illustrated craft that I'd seen
had a central control cabin & power plant, with a large circular "wing" surrounding
it.  The "wing" was made up of two conducting meshes one above the other.
When you apply power to the mesh, the upper mesh applies a negative 
charge to air molecules in it's vicinity.  These negatively charged air particles
rush towards the lower positive mesh.  If you can achieve a powerful enough
airflow, the craft will at least hover and possibly fly.  It would probably work
much better on a thicker atmosphere world.

Why haven't there been electric wind vehicles?  There is of course the problem
of a compact electric power plant, which we don't have yet.    sigh :(

Eric Freitas 

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

Date: Sat, 7 Dec 1996 21:22:39 +0000
From: "Kenneth Bearden" <dreamer@brokersys.com>
Subject: Re: Starships--Got IT! (fwd)

On  7 Dec 96 at 14:45, Joseph E. Walsh wrote:


> I finally got a look at starships - at my FLGS - and it does use the same 
> ships as in T4, plus others.  That is to say, it's got some of the same 
> ship TYPES we've always had (scout/courier, patrol cruiser, free trader, 
> etc.) but they are designed differently in appearance and of course also 
> in detail since they're designed to TL12 at the most.
> 
> That's good, for the reasons you state.

No, that's bad.  If you are going to have new ship designs 
(appearance) then you need to call them something else.  

What I don't like is that everything about the ships (jump 
capability, m-drive, hardpoints, weapons, etc) are exactly the same 
as the ships we've all come to associate with Traveller.  Even the 
names are the same.  But, the ships look differently.

That's a break in consistency in my book.

I'm all for "new" ships, but I think they should not only look 
different, but be different as well.  They should have different 
performance characteristics.

Doesn't it bug anybody that a subsidized merchant, in the Year 0, 
still has jump-1, still has 200 tons of cargo space, still has a 1-G 
rating, still requires the same amount of crew, still is a 400 ton 
displacement ship--in fact, the ship is exactly the same on paper as the 
subsidized merchant 1100 years in the future?

I think that IG should have come up with new ships for the year 0 
that are really new ships--not just slap a new picture on the same 
old statistics.

I'm not against new ship designs--in fact, I'm for new designs.  What 
I'm against is the same ships we've all come to know having a different look.

Kenneth.

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

Date: Sat, 7 Dec 1996 21:22:39 +0000
From: "Kenneth Bearden" <dreamer@brokersys.com>
Subject: Re: 

On  7 Dec 96 at 12:37, William F. Hostman wrote:


> OTOH, I did like your House Rules posts... just not 12 screenfuls of
> backstory that I have 0 (ZERO) use for.

Actually, many people have let me know that they like the backstory 
posts.  But, as Alan suggested, I will start putting "long" on my 
long posts.

William, you may be misinterpreting what the backstory posts are 
designed to do.  I'm not just putting these up because I think they 
are a cool story.  Actually, each one is a first draft, and you can 
probably tell that the writing needs some work.  I know that I could 
do a better job if I put the time into it.

But, the backstory posts are not just backstory.  Each one details a 
fleshed out NPC for GMs to use.  They are "backstory" because I 
relate how each PC/NPC became involved in the Grand Adventure.

I've put the NPC's stats at the bottom of the posts along with other 
game information.  If a GM is interested, he can use this guy as a 
quick NPC for his current adventure.  A personality and background is 
already laid out.  

Or, the GM can use the NPC during his own Traveller Adventure 
campaign.

Whatever the GM wants to do with it--that's what it is there for.  He 
could even copy the post and use it as a player hand out.

Therefore, at least for some, I think the backstory posts are more 
than just "Traveller-esque" reading.  I think they can be useful game 
aids.

Kenneth.

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

Date: Sat, 7 Dec 1996 21:22:40 +0000
From: "Kenneth Bearden" <dreamer@brokersys.com>
Subject: Re: Foss Art

On  7 Dec 96 at 16:40, Douglas E. Berry wrote:

> Am I the only one here who really dislikes Mr. Foss' artwork?  Nevermind
> that every piece in Traveller is a reprint, his bizarre take on perspective
> and engineering have always reminded me more of pulp SF than the Hard SF the
> Traveller has always drawn on.
> 
> If a new edition of Space Opera were to appear, Foss would be among my first
> choices for cover artist, but not for Traveller.

I agree whole-heartedly.  His work is very non-Traveller.

Kenneth.

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

Date: Sat, 7 Dec 1996 23:13:19 -0500
From: Eric Freitas <edf@atlantic.net>
Subject: RE: Starships--Got IT! (fwd)

Joseph E. Walsh wrote:

>I'm gonna try not to be down on Starships.  I'll focus more on the design 
>system aspect, since that's really the part that's aimed at us 
>old-timers.

What do people (on this list) look for in good starship deck-
plans?  I have a number of ship deckplans, that I may not have
originally designed for Traveller, but have either been or can
be.  If people are interested maybe I'll make them available
somehow.

Eric Freitas

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

Date: Sat, 07 Dec 1996 23:51:30 +0000
From: Mused <marz@hotstar.net>
Subject: Re: Foss Art

Kenneth Bearden wrote:
> 
> On  7 Dec 96 at 16:40, Douglas E. Berry wrote:
> 
> > Am I the only one here who really dislikes Mr. Foss' artwork?  Nevermind
> > that every piece in Traveller is a reprint, his bizarre take on perspective
> > and engineering have always reminded me more of pulp SF than the Hard SF the
> > Traveller has always drawn on.
> >
> > If a new edition of Space Opera were to appear, Foss would be among my first
> > choices for cover artist, but not for Traveller.
> 
> I agree whole-heartedly.  His work is very non-Traveller.

I liked the old line drawings from CT and MT era stuff. Straight and linear, like Traveller
Rational, solidly scientifically based....Foss' stuff looks like something from the Hugo 
Gernsback era

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

Date: Sat, 07 Dec 1996 23:53:04 +0000
From: Mused <marz@hotstar.net>
Subject: Re: 

Kenneth Bearden wrote:
> Actually, many people have let me know that they like the backstory
> posts.  But, as Alan suggested, I will start putting "long" on my
> long posts.
> Therefore, at least for some, I think the backstory posts are more
> than just "Traveller-esque" reading.  I think they can be useful game aids.

Ken, post all the bloody huge posts you want. Even if I don't use a single thing from them, 
someone else might. 
And that is reason enough for them!

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

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 1996 00:11:32 -0500 (EST)
From: That Computer Guy <darkstar@UDel.Edu>
Subject: RE: Things that make you go 'Hmmmmm'. 

In Reply to Your Message of Sat, 07 Dec 1996 12: 19:36 GMT
Date: Sun, 08 Dec 1996 00:11:32 -0500
From: That Computer Guy <darkstar@brahms.udel.edu>

: >Clairvoyance in Traveller is not defined as the ability to perceive the
: >future, but
: >rather distant events.  (I'm at the office, without my books, so I can't
: >quote.  I
: >really need a second set.)
: <snip>
: 
: If you had Clairvoyance, one set would do, but then you might possibly
: already know what I was about to write ;)

Isn't Clairvoyance the ability to see things that aren't in your field
of vision?  Like Anders pointed out, reading a book on your desk while
your actually somewhere other than your office.

As for the future, you're thinking of precognition--the ability to
forsee future events.  As far as I know, this power has never appeared
in any Traveller material.

       --Jerry

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

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

Date: Sun, 08 Dec 1996 00:20:54 -0500
From: sturm <sturm@tiac.net>
Subject: The New Look of Traveller

I must say that I'm very disappointed with the whole art direction the
new edition of Traveller has taken.  While the rules and such are fine,
the whole art thing has really gone down the shitter.

I can't believe that Marc Miller is that out of touch with the core
Traveller audience.  People play Traveller because they love hard sci-fi
(hell, I still love 2300AD and think its the best hard sci-fi game evert
created).

The new art for Traveller IMHO, is crap.  I like Foss's art and Elmores,
BUT NOT IN TRAVELLER.  If Miller would have done his homework, he should
have gotten David Deitrick, Blair Reynolds and Mike Vilardi.  Their art
fits the Traveller universe like a glove.

Again, this is all IMHO

sturm@tiac.net

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

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 1996 00:29:03 -0500 (EST)
From: pawn@CAM.ORG (Glenn Grant)
Subject: Re: Starships: no map grids

>> DECK PLANS: No Grid? YAAARRRGGGHHH!!!
>
>Yah. :(  BIG goof-up, there.

Are you sure this is a mistake? In CT and T4, the map grid is 1.5m; but
I've heard that TNE used a 2m grid. So if IG had put a grid on the maps,
one or the other faction of players would be ticked off. As it is, both can
use the book, albeit with some slight inconvenience.

A suggested fix: photocopy onto acetate a grid of the proper size, at the
scale you use in your game, and use it as an overlay. Then you can draw all
over it with grease pencils or erasable markers: "The Vargr boarders are
*here*; you guys are down the corridor *here* and *here*..." (Are all the
deckplans reproduced at the same scale? I'm assuming they are.)

And if you want to use indoor *hex* grids, like Rob Prior does, go ahead.
Everybody gets their druthers.

Not having seen the book, I can't say for sure if this is practical. Does
it make sense?

Glenn G.

- -----------------------Glenn Grant-----------------------  
                      <pawn@cam.org>
Web: <http://helios.physics.utoronto.ca:8080/ggrant.html>
    "That which does not kill us makes us stranger."
                  -- Trevor Goodchild

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

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 1996 00:36:31 -0500 (EST)
From: That Computer Guy <darkstar@UDel.Edu>
Subject: RE: The New Look of Traveller 

In Reply to Your Message of Sun, 08 Dec 1996 00: 20:54 EST
Date: Sun, 08 Dec 1996 00:36:30 -0500
From: That Computer Guy <darkstar@brahms.udel.edu>

: I must say that I'm very disappointed with the whole art direction the
: new edition of Traveller has taken.  While the rules and such are fine,
: the whole art thing has really gone down the shitter.
: 
: I can't believe that Marc Miller is that out of touch with the core
: Traveller audience.  People play Traveller because they love hard sci-fi
: (hell, I still love 2300AD and think its the best hard sci-fi game evert
: created).
: 
: The new art for Traveller IMHO, is crap.  I like Foss's art and Elmores,
: BUT NOT IN TRAVELLER.  If Miller would have done his homework, he should
: have gotten David Deitrick, Blair Reynolds and Mike Vilardi.  Their art
: fits the Traveller universe like a glove.

I think that IG definitely did the right thing with the artwork.  Don't
take this the wrong way, but it's different and it's visual enough that
it will attract people.  Is it the most scientifically correct?  Of
course not.  Are there flaws in the logic behind the vehicles in the
artwork?  Of course.  Is everyone that plays Traveller a fucking rocket
scientist?  Of course not.  Isn't this a game?  Of course.  Then why do
we take it so seriously?  We're still clamoring for the Traveller we
started out on 20 years ago.

The problem is that we're not a new market for IG to tap.  So, a lot of
what goes into this edition has to attract a wide variety of people.
You know, pretty pictures sell more than scientifically correct
pictures.  A fact of life.

Do I like Foss's artwork?  Some of it (not the weapons page).  Would I
like to see Deitrich and Vilardi back?  Of course.  You know, IG could
always just hire different artists based on Mileu (Foss/Elmore for M:0,
Deitrich/Vilardi for M:1100, McDevitt for M:1200, etc...).

       --Jerry

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

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

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 1996 00:42:25 -0500
From: BrianMays@aol.com
Subject: Starship Deckplans

In a message dated 96-12-07 23:17:17 EST, you write:

<< What do people (on this list) look for in good starship deck-
 plans?  I have a number of ship deckplans, that I may not have
 originally designed for Traveller, but have either been or can
 be.  If people are interested maybe I'll make them available
 somehow. >>

I would love to see them.  I am always in the market for deck plans!  One
wonderful source I found was the old Space Opera "Seldon's Starcraft
Compendiums."  There are some really bizarre ships in them, true, but if you
are looking for, say, the layout of a megaton luxury star-liner for your
intrepid party of adventurers to snoop through, the "technical details" can
be fudged or ignored completely, since chances are really good that these are
not vessels you will use in combat, and that the players will end up in
possession of.

Also great for alien ship "dungeon crawls" if they're really weird designs.

Brian ("What's that slimy pod opening up over there - AAARGH!) Mays

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

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 1996 00:42:48 -0500 (EST)
From: That Computer Guy <darkstar@UDel.Edu>
Subject: RE: Starships--Got IT! (fwd) 

In Reply to Your Message of Sat, 07 Dec 1996 21: 22:39 GMT
Date: Sun, 08 Dec 1996 00:42:48 -0500
From: That Computer Guy <darkstar@brahms.udel.edu>

: On  7 Dec 96 at 14:45, Joseph E. Walsh wrote:
: 
: 
: > I finally got a look at starships - at my FLGS - and it does use the same 
: > ships as in T4, plus others.  That is to say, it's got some of the same 
: > ship TYPES we've always had (scout/courier, patrol cruiser, free trader, 
: > etc.) but they are designed differently in appearance and of course also 
: > in detail since they're designed to TL12 at the most.
: > 
: > That's good, for the reasons you state.
: 
: No, that's bad.  If you are going to have new ship designs 
: (appearance) then you need to call them something else.  
: 
: What I don't like is that everything about the ships (jump 
: capability, m-drive, hardpoints, weapons, etc) are exactly the same 
: as the ships we've all come to associate with Traveller.  Even the 
: names are the same.  But, the ships look differently.
: 
: That's a break in consistency in my book.
: 
: I'm all for "new" ships, but I think they should not only look 
: different, but be different as well.  They should have different 
: performance characteristics.

Look at automobiles.  As technology progresses more bells and whistles
are added, but they remain the same basic piece of functioning
technology.  Also, look at the automobiles produced in Mexico.  They are
models that haven't been produced in the states in over 10 years.

Sometimes when you define a class, it doesn't matter how much time
lapses, if your requirements don't change.  After all, if it ain't
broke, don't fix it!

: Doesn't it bug anybody that a subsidized merchant, in the Year 0, 
: still has jump-1, still has 200 tons of cargo space, still has a 1-G 
: rating, still requires the same amount of crew, still is a 400 ton 
: displacement ship--in fact, the ship is exactly the same on paper as the 
: subsidized merchant 1100 years in the future?
: 
: I think that IG should have come up with new ships for the year 0 
: that are really new ships--not just slap a new picture on the same 
: old statistics.
: 
: I'm not against new ship designs--in fact, I'm for new designs.  What 
: I'm against is the same ships we've all come to know having a different look.

I think that these ships should have a different look.  The fact is that
styles change more than function.  Look at the Corvette of today and
compare that to the Stingray.  How about the Nova as a muscle car and
then as a hatchback?  Honda Civic?  The *real* differences are subtle at
best.  The physical differences are due to the fact that people's idea
of style changes over time.

       --Jerry

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

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

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 1996 02:09:23 -0500
From: Bill Rutherford <worj@topgun.cinecom.com>
Subject: Re: <none> - Appropriateness of Ken's Posts

It seems that different people on the TML like different things - fine!
Some of us like reading rules analyses, some of us like reading
Traveller-related game narratives, and some of us like reading
Traveller-related science notes... Use intelligible post subjects and there
shouldn't be a problem.  If I see something that, by its subject, doesn't
interest me, I trash it w/o reading it.  I find trickier those posts that
have <none> as a subject, though - who knows what's in there? I like Ken's
posts.  If I didn't, I simply wouldn't read them, and their subject lines
would tell me which ones to skip.  The virtue of one TML, to me, is its
variety.  The alternate would seem to be a number of smaller lists... Having
said that, I admit I don't know the problems of getting the TML by digest,
as I don't.  If there's a problem with long msgs (of whatever topic), could
not the list limit msg lengths accepted?  





- ---------------
Bill Rutherford
worj@topgun.cinecom.com

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

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 1996 00:52:12 -0600
From: "David Blustein" <dtb@NASCRAG.ORG>
Subject: Re: Starships: no map grids

>>> DECK PLANS: No Grid? YAAARRRGGGHHH!!!
>>
>> Yah. :(  BIG goof-up, there.
>
> Are you sure this is a mistake?
>
> A suggested fix: photocopy onto acetate a grid of the proper size...

Another possibility that comes to mind if the deck plans are all
drawn to the same scale (e.g., 25mm = 6m?) would be to grab one or two
pieces of string, cardboard, or perhaps clear acetate, and mark it at
3m, 15m, 45m, and (if you really want to) 150m in scale. Another set
of marks at 10m, 20m, and 30m could be put on the same "ruler" or a
second one for movement.

Cheers,
     David
- -- 
David T. Blustein
http://www.nascrag.org./~dtb/
mailto:dtb@nascrag.org

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

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 1996 00:52:12 -0600
From: "David Blustein" <dtb@NASCRAG.ORG>
Subject: Re: Starships--Got IT! (fwd)

> Doesn't it bug anybody that a subsidized merchant, in the Year 0,
> still has jump-1, still has 200 tons of cargo space, still has a 1-G
> rating, still requires the same amount of crew, still is a 400 ton
> displacement ship--in fact, the ship is exactly the same on paper as
> the subsidized merchant 1100 years in the future? 

Nah, all naval architects throughout the history of the Third 
Imperium are required to be pure blood Vilani. ;-)

Cheers,
     David
- -- 
David T. Blustein
http://www.nascrag.org./~dtb/
mailto:dtb@nascrag.org

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

Date: Sun, 8 Dec 1996 02:05:48 -0500
From: HDHale@aol.com
Subject: Re: Strephon was a good Emperor

Peter Newman writes:

>  I believe that Strephon acted properly in leaving Capital/Core 
>to go to Depot/Lishun to reveiew the Project Longbow Data.

<snip>

>   In other words the data concerning the Empress Wave had prority 
>Zephyr and the Emporer HAD to go to Lishun & make a decision 
>himself about what to do on the spot where he could see all the data.

   There was absolutely no reason why the information on the Empress Wave
couldn't have been loaded up on one of those secret J-6 couriers the Imperium
had so many of and sent to Captial.  Does the Prime Minister of Great Britain
hop into a helicopter every time a radar installation in Scotland sees
something weird or potentially dangerous?  No, he (for now) or she stays at
10 Downing Street or goes to another location in the vicinity of London to
get briefed on it.  Same for the President of the United States--he would
only leave Washington if it were about to be destroyed, and then he would
stay in communication at all times with his commanders in the field.

   But let's assume that Strephon did feel the need to go--Priority Zephyr
sounds serious afterall--why not have his people announce a "Good Will Tour"
of the Lishun Sector, with an "unscheduled" stopover at Depot/Lishun so that
he can sneak off for for a while to get briefed on the status of Project
Longbow while his double waves at crowds and gives nice speeches.  He could
also meet with Dulinor while on the tour, and perhaps the Aslan ambassador as
well.

>While it may seem to we 20th century thinkers who are used to 
>rapid progress that 90 years is plenty of time to solve this problem 
>& Strephon had no need to rush to Lishun to see this data we are wrong.
>The 3rd Imperium faced what was its most dire challenge EVER in the 
>form of the Empress Wave & Strephon was right to leave Capital.  

   Whether it is the 20th century, the 3rd century, or the 57th century, it
is the height of irresponsibility and recklessness to leave as he did.  You
would think that somebody would have made some kind of contingency plan for
what to do if his double was blown away while he was gone, but there is no
evidence of that either--that too is irresponsible.  

   The few months gained in research time on the Empress Wave were lost many
times over as a result of the Rebellion and the Collapse.  These things do
not occur if Strephon is at Capital getting briefed by his top aides.

>Lets pretend that it is 1205 Imperial, that Dulinor never tried to 
>assasinate Strephon, and that Strephon did not go to Lishun to 
>examine the Project Longbow data, that as a result he did not understand 
>how dire the situation was, did not to enough to stop it, and that as a 
>result the still thriving 3rd Imperium is about to collapse like a house 
>of cards before the Empress Wave. Then Strephon would have been a bad 
>Emporer.

   There is no evidence that the Empress Wave is going to wipe out the
Regency, or in this case, the Third Imperium.  It is certainly wreaking havoc
on the poor Zhodani, but then their society is based on psionics, while the
Imperium is not.  While many millions of psionically talented people in the
Imperium are going to be affected, it will not cause the fall of the empire.

>The primary duty of an Emporer is to preserve that Empire.

   A job best performed from the capital.  If you think he or she should make
periodic tours to wave the flag, make friends, and inspire confidence in the
people that the Emperor cares about them, that's one thing, but covert
missions of the kind Strephon undertook should never be a part of the
Emperor's job description.

>The fault if any was in not having a mole in Dulinors entourage 
>who could & would blow him away when he formulated his assasination plan.

   No, the fault is with the plot, which could have been written better.
 Remember, the fact that Strephon was really alive afterall was a bit added
later into the storyline.  I would have written it differently.

   Nothing can be done about that now (it is canon), but I refuse to give
Strephon anything but low marks as a ruler.  He wasn't where he was suppose
to be when the Imperium really needed him, and untold billions died as a
result.

Regards,

Harold

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

Date: Sat, 7 Dec 1996 23:43:31 -0800
From: "Zane H. Healy" <healyzh@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Re: Starships: no map grids

>A suggested fix: photocopy onto acetate a grid of the proper size, at the
>scale you use in your game, and use it as an overlay. Then you can draw all
>over it with grease pencils or erasable markers: "The Vargr boarders are

Actually you might be able to buy these.  I know they used to make them.  I
thought they were great, and bought some, years ago, but have never had the
opportunity to use them.

>Not having seen the book, I can't say for sure if this is practical. Does
>it make sense?

Dispite the fact I HATE THE IDEA OF NO GRIDS, yes you make sense.

			Zane

| Zane H. Healy                    | UNIX Systems Adminstrator |
| healyzh@ix.netcom.com (primary)  | Linux Enthusiast          |
| healyzh@holonet.net (alternate)  | Mac Programmer            |
+----------------------------------+---------------------------+
| For Empire of the Petal Throne, and Traveller Role Playing   |
| see http://www.dragonfire.net/~healyzh/                      |

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

End of Traveller-digest V1996 #728
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