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From: owner-traveller-digest@mpgn.com (Traveller-digest)
To: traveller-digest@Phaser.ShowCase.MPGN.COM
Subject: Traveller-digest V1996 #773
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Sender: owner-traveller-digest@mpgn.com


Traveller-digest     Thursday, December 19 1996     Volume 1996 : Number 773



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

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Flame ratings: PGMP-13 ? A bit hot for my tastes. 
New Carreers
IISS Anthem?
Starship design philosopies
Re: [T96#757] Weird Place Names
Readability
[none]
Re: Deckplan talk
Re: SSDS FSY Caligula-class 1000Td megayacht
Re: Starship Design Philosophy
Re: Ship design formulae
Re: Starship Design Philosophy
Gazelle class Close Escort
Re: Fighting Ships
What else do I need..?
Re: TCS construction times, HG ship design
Re: Deckplans for T4 supplement
Re: Jumpspace.
Re: Readability
Re: Starship Design Philosophy
SSDS FSY Moonshine-class RI/ESS

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

Date: 19 Dec 96 12:22:29 +1100
From: Michael.Barry@FINANCE.ausgovfinance.telememo.au
Subject: Flame ratings: PGMP-13 ? A bit hot for my tastes. 



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

Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 16:21:39 -0900
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@lunatic.asylumbbs.com>
Subject: New Carreers

>CORE is currently planning out a series of such books. The obvious question
>is, what would you like to have in such a book other than the 1-year system?
>More detail on the character _class_, or splitting major classes into
>subclasses, or just adding lots of new careers? How about little things
>specific to classes, i.e. special contacts or equipment - perhaps even
>ships. Would you want to see career-oriented adventures (several A4 pages),
>say 1 per career, or just plots that the ref' can flesh out? Would you want
>the career detail to be Milieu-specific? How detailed do you want the career
>description - i.e. a technical discussion of how the Imperial army's
>organised, or just a brief bit of fiction describing a typical trooper in a
>warzone.
>
Year by year assignment system, with 1 skill per year, plus one per
promotion or special duty. Awards/Decorations/Letters of Citation.
Specialty Skill tables for the different arms of a given service.

Several more basic careers, with corresponding specialty/year by year
systems to match.

Basically, a t4 version of "Citizens of the Imperium", along with advanced
generation.

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

Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 19:36:16 -0600 (CST)
From: Joseph "Chepe" Lockett <jlockett@io.com>
Subject: IISS Anthem?

I've probably complained enough of late that I ought to contribute
something useful.  I'm working on a Scout Cruiser (but has TLWH already
done that?), and here's something else exploration-related.

Someone complained about the "traditional Navy voyage song" listed in
STARSHIPS (p. 45).  FWIW, I don't think it's supposed to be sung to our
current "From the Halls of Montezuma," it just expresses a similar
concept.  (If it _is_ the same tune, the meter is regrettable).  In any
case, here's my own take on the "service anthem" for the IISS.  It's meant
to be sung to a theme from Gustav Host's "Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity"
in "The Planets" which I've always thought deserved some words.  (For
those of you with it handy, it's about three minutes into the piece.
You'll probably recognized it.)


SERVICE ANTHEM OF

THE IMPERIAL INTERSTELLAR SCOUT SERVICE

(Music by Gustav Holst, Terran, -2648 to -2588)
(Lyric by Aram Synof, Sylean, -37 to present)


CHORUS:  Though the stars be dim and winsome wan
         And ever off so far,
         We shall bear Sylea's flame e'er on
         Rekindle every star.

Fro-om Delphi unto Windhorn,
Terra's outskirts unto Vland,
We will bear Civ'lization
To every being's hand.

[CHORUS]

To each human, to each other,
To each planet, to each race,
Shall Sylea be mother,
And show her shining face.

[CHORUS]


Yes, it is rather more... fulsome... than current tastes might warrant.
I'm going with the whole burgeoning 50's atmosphere that M0 seems to
warrant.  Constructive, especially lyrical or metrical, comments are
appreciated.  (Yes, I know "Windhorn" and "Civilization" don't even
closely rhyme.  Wanna see my poetic license?  :-)

P.S.  Marc, it's yours if you want it.

- ----------------------------*------------------------*------------------------
 Joseph L. "Chepe" Lockett  |"Nullum magnum ingenium | GURPS fan, Amiga user,
http://www.io.com/~jlockett | sine mixtura dementiae | Shakespearean scholar,
  Email: jlockett@io.com    | fuit." -- Seneca       | actor and director.

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

Date: 19 Dec 96 12:54:04 +1100
From: Michael.Barry@FINANCE.ausgovfinance.telememo.au
Subject: Starship design philosopies

     I recall a throwaway comment from this list a number of months ago, 
     about a change in warship design when meson weapons come into vogue. 
     
     For a large warship using its armour to stop beam & missile weapons, 
     the sphere (or a combination of spheres) is most efficient. Once meson 
     weapons arrive, ships will begin adopting longer needle or dispersed 
     configurations, since their armour isn't so much use anymore. 
     
     Civilian ships? Well, if they're built in the same shipyards as the 
     large military ships, their designers and builders might find good 
     reason to give them similar configurations...or might not. 

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

Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 21:07:11 +0000
From: Mused <marz@hotstar.net>
Subject: Re: [T96#757] Weird Place Names

Eris Reddoch wrote:
> Let's all have fun with Chumukla, We-Wa-Witchica and Kissimee now.

I'm originally from Sault Ste Marie (pronounced soo saint muh-ree)
Ok, so it is not as impressive, but I have heard people say Salt Stee Mary

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

Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 16:46:36 -0900
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@lunatic.asylumbbs.com>
Subject: Readability

>FACT: It has been *proven* that black type on a white background is
>easiest to read. The Macintosh platform was designed to be black text on
>white because the designers knew this! Microsquish figgured it out too.
>
Not So, mon frer... Most persons find black on white easy to read, but a
huge minority (dyslexics and those with scotopic sensitivity) find the
contrast too great. Black upon soft, colors (yellow, soft pink, soft rose,
or sky) are used for minimum reading problems by the aforementioned
minority. And, normally, those are easily readable by the vast majority.

OTOH, White or slightly off-white papers are cheapest to purchase, and
SERVE the majority.

[Sorry, Disability Awareness kick. My mailer is set to black on sky so I
can read it. Otherwise, I get many transposed letters, and letters
in-between lines, and flipped, etc... and I'm only MILDLY dyslexic. It's
entirely a problem with brain function. And judging from the consistant
typos on this list, I figure there are quite a few dyslexics on here.]

- -wil

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

Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 17:01:46 -0900
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@lunatic.asylumbbs.com>
Subject: [none]

>
>Quoth William F. Hostman:
>> one last thjought: censorship, imposed or customary, self or external, is
>> the death of what we call freedom. I'm not talking about "naughty words";
>> censorship is about IDEAS. Mr Whitman has asked us to keep our thoughts to
>> ourselves; had we done that, would Marc Miller have even tried to do t4?

What I should have done is list the 3 forms I am objecting to:
	External Censorship
	Imposed Self-Censorship by custom (as was seen on the WFRP lists)
	Customary requirements (without formal penalty, but customary penalty)
As for the WFRP lists: they required you to adhere to the very limited
mores and interests of the group in order to be "accepted". Failure to do
so was flamed beyond belief.

Also, to many of us Alaskans (Part of the USA)... Censorship has different
connotations; It has connotations not of rational limitations, but of
Limitation for Irrational or oppresive purposes, or to limit rational
communication in an unfair or undesireable way. All of which apply to Mr
Whitman's cry.


>ObTraveller:  Doesn't sodium pentathol work by removing rational self-
>censorship, in order to make victims babble on and hopefully divulge
>useful information?  Might a more tightly-focused version (perhaps, say,
>making the victim shut up but then say everything he thought when verbally
>prompted?) appear at higher tech levels?  How does high-tech questioning
>and interrogation go about?

If you use the broadest sense of the term, technically you are correct. I
made the mistake of utilizing terminology with (obviously) very different
connotations.

A requirement to censor one's self is as bad as a forcible blocking of
material, Assuming that said censorship is not the rational, literral,
blocking of the undesireable you [pl.] assumed. <sigh> Yet another reminder
of the SEVERE linguistics gap between the various sub-languages, languages,
and dialects collectively known as "English".

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

Date: Wed, 18 Dec 96 20:03:32 -0500
From: eris@pen.net (Eris Reddoch)
Subject: Re: Deckplan talk

On 12/18/96 at 10:54 AM,  Dane Johnson <danger@visi.com> said:

> I'm going to be working on some deckplans of my own.  I've settled on a
> 1.5m grid.  I'm trying to decide how "deep" these squares should be and
> I've pretty much decided on 4m, which gives me 2.5m height for hallways
> and rooms while leaving 1.5m for decking, conduits, and the like.  This
> means each square will be 9m^3.  Does this seem reasonable, or is there a
> different/better convention I can use?

Your scale will work pretty well.  With 1 square equal to 9 stere, you will
have 3 squares equal to 27 stere..or right at 2 traveller displacement
tons.  

3 squares/ton works pretty well. <G>

Personally, I'd go for lower overheads as in...

Length = 1.5
Width  = 1.5
Ceiling (2.2) + Overhead (0.91) = 3.11   

1 Square = 1.5 x 1.5 x 3.11 = 7 stere = 1/2 displacement tons.  This works
really well for me.  

Engineering, cargo, and specialty spaces would be deeper.  I
try to keep them multiples of the standard cube, foex doubling the depth
gives you a 5.31 (17ft) deep cargo hole below the overhead with 1
ton/square. 

Eris

ps.  What's the abbreviation for stere...st? <g>

- -- 
- -----------------------------------------------------------
eris@pen.net (Eris Reddoch)    using MR/2 ICE #245
- -----------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 21:39:45 -0500
From: rellio@po-box.mcgill.ca (Roderick Darroch Elliott)
Subject: Re: SSDS FSY Caligula-class 1000Td megayacht

Bruce Johnson wrote:

>
><Excellent ship design snipped>
>
>THAT is what I meant by descriptive prose! Good ship design, Roderick!!
>Now if we can get a few more of these in the list to quell the flames,
>maybe this list'll be useful again! (yeah, yeah, yea...I know, get off yer
>butt Johnson and do one yourself!)
>

        <blush>... thanks.  I should note that I goobered up the USD on the
weapons and fuel rating.   I am a bit disappointed that nobody is flaming
me about the fins and styling bits...  I almost put in a bit about pink and
chrome paint jobs, but figured that'd be going too far :).

*-------------------------------------------------------------*
| Roderick D. Elliott... rellio@po-box.mcgill.ca              |
|                        elliot_r@lsa.lan.mcgill.ca           |
*-------------------------------------------------------------*
| "...an imperfect plan implemented immediately and violently |
| will always succeed better than a perfect plan."            |
|                        -Gen. George S. Patton.              |
*-------------------------------------------------------------*

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

Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 20:37:45 -0600
From: Ernest N Rowland <erowland@ionet.net>
Subject: Re: Starship Design Philosophy

> From: John Kovalic <muskrat@msn.fullfeed.com>
> A number of people (myself included) have noted that starships from Mileau
> 0 are pretty much the same *designs* as starships 2,000 years later, just
> packaged in different shells.

I think this is a real problem, but hard to address.  Social changes on just a 
single planet over 2000 years would be hard to imagine, much less large chunks 
of interstellar empire.  Even with high communications technology and 
prevalence (ie a global village), there will be a tremendous amount of change 
(and with the 1+ week jump time between worlds, they will drift considerably 
between worlds, even in the same interstellar political unit).

Some common themes that I think will drive differences in ship design are:

Military Ships

   The basic idea is making something harder to damage for an acceptable 
   price; or easier to maintain. Changes in doctrines of weapon use would give 
   rise to different designs (as long as they weren't too far from optimal - 
   or the idea doesn'tt survive long enough to become doctrine!).

   The following two ideas are somewhat at cross-purposes, but different 
   cultures, or different military philosophies might give rise to one or the 
   other.

   Distributed Jump Drives

      Since the grid is distributed all over the hull, then it makes sense 
      from a damage-control point of view to spread out the jump drives also. 
      This makes it less likely to lose the whole wad at one time - perhaps 
      just a degradation in performance as 'jump drive nodes' are lost.

   No Jump Grid

      Since the grid is distributed all over the hull, then it can be easily 
      damaged - I think there would also be research into making something 
      like a centralized jump field generator.

   Perhaps a government would be willing to sacrifice some performance to gain 
   tougher systems?

Civilian Ships

   Economics and competition would certainly drive some changes.
      "Why pay 34MCr for the competitor's plain-jayne sportster when you can 
      have a BeebleBrox9000 (C) SuperYacht (TM) with our famous 'mini-fresher 
      in every stateroom' and our 'super-state room' - twice the size with 
      wet-bar and entertainment center... for a mere 36MCr (tags and title 
      extra)"

   Enhanced State Rooms
      The possibilities are endless.  Everyone (except perhaps the strictly 
      luxury ships for the ultra-rich) would be looking at cost per passenger 
      types of ratios - the consumer market would basically drive what kinds 
      of facilities would be considered acceptable.  And this would vary 
      dramatically from world to world and century to century.

   Specialized Cargo Holds
      An earlier thread talked about transporting live animals one way and 
      then something else the other way.  Design philosophies would evolve to 
      handle these problems - a multitude of 200 ton trader designs (forex) 
      meant for different kinds of cargo.  I'm sure modular designs (like a 
      giant version of the modular cutter) would become the standard for some 
      cultures.

One big thing about ship design philosophy:  Given that starships and related 
systems are critical military technologies, how much freedom would commercial 
shipyards really have?  I've always thought that civilian starships would be 
at a tech level lower than the current military ships.  T4 answers part of 
this question by having different civilian versus military systems.  I still 
think that the Navy would have ships a tech level ahead of what they would 
admit - at least some of the sub-systems...

8-)
Ernest N Rowland
erowland@ionet.net
"The flag is solid red, except where a thin ring-shaped hole has been cut
out of it, through which one can see the sky."-DRH

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

Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 20:25:18 -0700
From: "David J. Golden" <goldendj@usa.net>
Subject: Re: Ship design formulae

At 09:19 am 12/18/96 +0100, you wrote:
>Hi everyone!
>
>After my number of rants about the low quality of the T4 rules and books I
>finally decided to do something more constructive: since my first attempt
>to design a ship with the Starships rules was pretty frustrating (I hate
>them the way they are presented... totally obfuscated to me) I decided to
>rewrite the SSDS for more clarity and a little more brevity.  Since I'm
>coming from a mathematical background I'll also junk tables whenever
>possible and will replace them by nice and short formulae (which IMHO
>e.g. show the differences between hull shapes a lot better than huge
>tables).

        Before you go trying to reverse engineer all of SSDS... pick up
FF&S. That's what was used to create SSDS. All the equations are in there,
although the organization wasn't the best.

        And the new, improved version of FF&S is being worked (albeit with a
minor hiatus due to family crisis and holidays on my part) on the GDW-Beta
list as the "Naval Architect's Handbook." Check my web page for the (not
very recent) latest.
- --________________________________________________________________
   Dave Golden                           PGP Public Key available 
   goldendj@usa.net     http://www.usa.net/~goldendj/default.html

 "He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his
  enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes
  a precedent that will reach to himself" -- Thomas Paine

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

Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 20:25:22 -0700
From: "David J. Golden" <goldendj@usa.net>
Subject: Re: Starship Design Philosophy

At 10:17 am 12/18/96 -0700, you wrote:
>	Actually, they are far more technology related than social
>related, insofar as environmental protection is primarily a technological
>issue.  Roman Villas are reasonably well designed for comfortable living
>in a Mediterranean climate, whereas most modern middle class dwellings are
>designed for the periods of extreme temperature fluctuations one gets in
>the temperate zones of the world(as I found out today...Brrrrr. 28 degrees
>(F) as I rode in to work. Yes, I know, I'm just another whining desert
>rat, so shut up already ;-) 

        Try -5 degrees F, plus a few knots or so of wind chill... <G>
- --________________________________________________________________
   Dave Golden                           PGP Public Key available 
   goldendj@usa.net     http://www.usa.net/~goldendj/default.html

 "He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his
  enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes
  a precedent that will reach to himself" -- Thomas Paine

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

Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 22:34:20 -0500
From: Doug Sinclair <diemos@io.org>
Subject: Gazelle class Close Escort

Here is my first attempt at a T4 SSDS starship.

Gazelle class Close Escort

Tons  300 Streamlined    Volume 4200            MCr 380
Crew   11                Passengers 0
Cargo   6 tons           Military/fib             Tl 14

8 Size Rating                    4 Jump Rating
5 Fire Control                   6 G-rating (Thrusters)
NPAWS: 5-5-3-2                   5 Power Plant Rating
Lasers: 3-2-0-0                  62 Fuel Rating/Scoops/Refine
                                 10A 4P 10J Sensor Rating /w EMM
20 ton Gig                       47 Armor     18 Structure
2 x 50 ton Drop Tanks
Sick Bay

The drop tanks are unstreamlined cylinders with a 4g rating.
They cost 39 KCr and mass 22 tons for a pair.

The maneuver rating is only 2.5g when the actual mass of the
spacecraft is taken into consideration.  More would require
the sacrifice of some armour.

I am quite pleased with how close this comes out to the Gazelle 
listed in Traders and Gunboats.  The deckplans require only the
removal of the venteral barbette, and the replacement of the
dorsal barbette with a spinal mount.  Above the second deck will
be the NPAWS fire-control station and some maintenance hatches.
I'm glad spinal mounts are now within the reach of 300 ton 
spacecraft.  My players rarely encounter anything larger than
1000 tons.

There is now a crew of 11 instead of the original 12.  They are
the captain, the medic, the pilot, the navigator, four engineers,
four electronics technicians and two gunners.  The commander, 
pilot, navigator and chief engineer are the officers and have
staterooms on the lower deck.  The medic has a stateroom to herself
on the upper deck, and the others share the remaining three.

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

Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 23:13:20 -0500
From: jpb@miamisci.org (Joe Block)
Subject: Re: Fighting Ships

In article <961118183617555@mychelle.other-plane.miamisci.org>, Thad Coons
<104765.503@compuserve.com> wrote:
> I just went through the TL-15 ships in MT Fighting Ships of the Imperium,

As I recall, Fighting Ships vessels didn't stand up too well when brought
against ships designed for Trillion Credit Squadron style games.  

When the Naval Architect book comes out, I'd like to see a page with
tournament standards similar to what was in TCS.  That way, people can
compete their squadrons at conventions and the winning squadrons can make
it into the T4 Fighting Ships.  Besides, the old tournament rules made it a
lot easier to play pickup combats at conventions.

Joe Block <jpb@miamisci.org>

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

Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 22:42:49 +0000
From: "Bill Hopper" <whopper@pobox.com>
Subject: What else do I need..?

I bought T4-Starships despite the bad reviews here.  Now that I have 
looked at it, I have one major question; what _else_ do I need to be 
able to play T4? 

I have the T4 Rulebook (of course).  I also have lots of CT stuff, 
but I stopped buying Traveller when MT came out.

I guess I expected T4-Starships to be, when taken with the basic 
rulebook, a standalone product.  Perhaps like an improved High Guard, 
which included revised combat rules that explained how all the 
new goodies in the improved design sequence would affect game play.  
For example, it would be nice to know how uncompensated Gs affect 
the crew in T4. An explanation of _what_ a G-tank _is_ would also 
have been nice.

So, now that I have T4 and T4-Starships, what MT or TNE books am I 
going to have to buy to explain how T4 starships work?

Patiently hoping IG gets their stuff together,
WKH

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

Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 22:42:49 +0000
From: "Bill Hopper" <whopper@pobox.com>
Subject: Re: TCS construction times, HG ship design

> Michael Nutt <misha@crossrds.com>
> deletia...
> <grin> And here we get to one of the key points in the High Guard
> construction sequence for military ships...the *best*
> way for a military starship to inflict damage is with a spinal mounted meson
> gun, and you can only put in one of those per hull, no matter what size the
> hull is....
> Cost-effectiveness suggests that spending the same amount of money on a
> squadron of twelve CAs as opposed to the one DN provides *vastly* improved
> firepower (12 spinal mounts, as opposed to only one), and a lot more
> survivability, as twelve hits are required to put the entire squadron out of
> action, as opposed to only one for the DN. The additional strategic
> flexibility in having 12 hulls available as opposed to just one is simply
> another major perk.
> 
> Where am I going with all this? Well, contrary to the canonical "Fighting
> Ships"... I don't think the Imperium *ought* to build big DNs at all. At J3
> a wonderfully capable CA can be built on 40 ktons, and at J4, an
> equivalently capable ship can be built on about 70 ktons. Anything bigger
> should be an auxiliary of some sort, a CVA or tanker or troop transport, for
> instance. Bigger is *not* better, and is demonstrably worse, 
> IMO.... Your best defense is giving the enemy more
> hulls to shoot at than he's got meson guns to shoot with.

Bingo!

This is exactly why. using High Guard, my design philosophy for 
capital ships (mostly battle riders) was to pick the meson or 
Particla Accelerator spinal mount I wanted to carry and build 
the smallest ship that could carry it at manuever 6 and 
agility 6.  If you don't have to carry jump drives, it can be
amazing what you can fit into a (relatively) small hull. 

I enjoyed designing HG ships because the system is robust and not 
overly complex(as is FF&S, IMHO).  But most of all, I knew how the 
design choices I made would affect game play, especially combat.  
That is my chief complaint about T4-Starships - SSDS allows anyone to 
design a ship fairly easily, but there are no rules about how these 
ships _work_.  I like to build ships that are efficient within the 
rules of the game.  There is not enough info in T4-Starships to do 
this.

WKH

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

Date: Wed, 18 Dec 96 21:08:21 -0500
From: eris@pen.net (Eris Reddoch)
Subject: Re: Deckplans for T4 supplement

On 12/18/96 at 03:42 PM,  "John R. Snead" <jsnead@netcom.com> said:

> I'm writing a T4 supplement for GoldRush Games.  The supplement is about 
> a small confederation of worlds, and in it will be two deckplans for
> small, locally-made ships. 

That sounds right up my game's alley!  <g> 

> I'm checking opinions here to see if the following format would be 
> acceptable:

> 1) The USP

> 2) A brief description of the ship (300-400 words)

> 3) Crew rooster (usual and minimum)

> 4) Deckplans on the order of those in Traders and Gunboats, but 1.5 m
> squares, and numbered rooms.

> 5) Descriptions of each number room

Precisely, what I'm looking for!  

Eris
- -- 
- -----------------------------------------------------------
eris@pen.net (Eris Reddoch)    using MR/2 ICE #245
- -----------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Wed, 18 Dec 96 22:39:58 -0500
From: eris@pen.net (Eris Reddoch)
Subject: Re: Jumpspace.

On 12/18/96 at 06:16 PM,  aboulton@cix.compulink.co.uk (Andrew Boulton)
said:

> > could someone tell me what jumpspace is supposed to look like?

> I use Niven's 'blindspot'.

Everybody has their own take it, but this is the way I do it....

...each individual sees something different.  Generally, it's
described as "swirling, psychedelic, mind-numbing, colors"; "uh, I can't
remember"; "utter blackness"; "flat grey..just nothing there", or
"darkness, sucking me down, swallowing me up"...something like that. <g>

The effects of even a quick glance is enough to grab some people and lock
them into slack-jawed catatonia...sometimes just until someone pulls them
away, sometimes forever.  On most people, it's not immediately disabling,
but continued exposure produces psychotic symptoms in *all* sentient
beings.  And this is just *looking* at jumpspace.  The higher the psionic
rating of the character the more problems they have with jumpspace.

If the protective field produced by the hull's jump grid weakens the crew
is in *bad* trouble!  If it fails, well, they're dead!

The way I play it, the protective field forms a shield between the ship and
jumpspace.  If that shield weakens the ship begins to disintegrate. The
sanity of the crew goes first, but with further weakening actual matter
begins to disappear...imagine the ship beginning to disappear, in bits and
pieces, all around you.  

If the shield completely fails then the ship and everything in it is gone,
Gone, GONE!

How does that sound? <g>

Eris
- -- 
- -----------------------------------------------------------
eris@pen.net (Eris Reddoch)    using MR/2 ICE #245
- -----------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Wed, 18 Dec 96 23:09:51 -0600
From: Glenn Hoppe <starcity@eagle.wbm.ca>
Subject: Re: Readability

>Not So, mon frer... Most persons find black on white easy to read, but a
>huge minority (dyslexics and those with scotopic sensitivity) find the

huge minority? Is that like military intelligence? ;-)

>contrast too great. Black upon soft, colors (yellow, soft pink, soft rose,
>or sky) are used for minimum reading problems by the aforementioned
>minority. And, normally, those are easily readable by the vast majority.
>
>OTOH, White or slightly off-white papers are cheapest to purchase, and
>SERVE the majority.
>
>[Sorry, Disability Awareness kick. My mailer is set to black on sky so I
>can read it. Otherwise, I get many transposed letters, and letters
>in-between lines, and flipped, etc... and I'm only MILDLY dyslexic. It's
>entirely a problem with brain function. And judging from the consistant
>typos on this list, I figure there are quite a few dyslexics on here.]
>
>-wil

Interesting... My intention wasn't to marginalize those with disability. 
I just wanted to make the point that books are printed black on white 
with good reason.

- -- 
===== Glenn Hoppe =====\ /--- MailTo:jumpspace@geocities.com ----
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Date: Wed, 18 Dec 96 23:09:48 -0600
From: Glenn Hoppe <starcity@eagle.wbm.ca>
Subject: Re: Starship Design Philosophy

Dave Golden wrote:
>At 10:17 am 12/18/96 -0700, you wrote:
>>	Actually, they are far more technology related than social
>>related, insofar as environmental protection is primarily a technological
>>issue.  Roman Villas are reasonably well designed for comfortable living
>>in a Mediterranean climate, whereas most modern middle class dwellings are
>>designed for the periods of extreme temperature fluctuations one gets in
>>the temperate zones of the world(as I found out today...Brrrrr. 28 degrees
>>(F) as I rode in to work. Yes, I know, I'm just another whining desert
>>rat, so shut up already ;-) 
>
>        Try -5 degrees F, plus a few knots or so of wind chill... <G>

Pah! Today I *biked* to work. It was -26 deg C (-15 deg. F for you Yanks) 
Wait till January. That's when it gets *really* cold. :-)

- -- 
===== Glenn Hoppe =====\ /--- MailTo:jumpspace@geocities.com ----
\ . . Enter Jumpspace --X-> http://www.geocities.com/Area51/8275 \
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Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 00:18:37 -0500
From: rellio@po-box.mcgill.ca (Roderick Darroch Elliott)
Subject: SSDS FSY Moonshine-class RI/ESS

        Here's another one, but first, a comment: RE SSDS & its yea &
nay-sayers: I *LIKE* the SSDS.  While it's the only design system I've ever
used, as a newbie I gotta say that I have no problems with it... it works
for me.

        Second, another comment: I was inspired by Thomas Biskup's post a
digest or two back about a quick-getaway vehicle for nobles to use when
leaving planet one step ahead of a mob of revolting peasants.  I thought...
"wow; there'd be a small niche market for that".  Then I thought... "and
tack some weapons and armour on it and put some cargo capacity in, and
there'd be a *monster* niche market for it!".  So, exams being over, I
whipped up something up.  It'll be interesting to compare it to what Thomas
comes up with...



        Third, a press release from Famille Spofulam Yards' corporate counse=
l:

"Sylea, Day 30 Year 00

        It is with deep regret that we read of the recent highly-publicised
comments by Rozeikollis Aagaporniz, head of Ling Standard Shipbuilders,
over the release of our new Moonshine-class Rapid Insertion/Extraction
Starship.  To wit, Mr. Aagaporniz said in an interview in the Sylean
Shipping News, a respected and widely circulated trade publication:

       "Clearly, the Moonshine's true target market is drug runners, gun

        runners,smugglers of every stripe, and criminal scum in general!
        Who does Spofulam think they're fooling when they say that they're
        aiming that ship at a tiny market of sleazy nobles of the worst
        stripe who want to get off-planet one step ahead of a well-deserved
        lynch mob?"

        We here at Spofulam deeply resent this slanderous attempt at
defamation by a competitor clearly motivated by professional jealousy and a
desire to compete unfairly.  We have therefore launched a suit wherein we
will be requesting unspecified but considerable punitive damages, a gag
order and full public apology.  Furthermore, we have notified the Sylean
Constabulary, who are now investigating Mr. Aagaporniz with a view to
filing charges of l=E8se-nobilit=E9.

        For the record, FSY would never sell a Moonshine-class vessel to
anyone whose reputation was not above question.  As a shipbuilder whose aim
is to produce high-performance, high-quality vessels for a most demanding
and discriminating clientele, as opposed to a mass-market builder like Ling
Standard, our track record should make that obvious."


        Fourth, the USD!

=46amille Spofulam Yards Moonshine-class Rapid Insertion/Extraction Starship

200Td Needle Airframe            Volume:  2800 M^3
Cost: 285MCr
Crew: 6                          Passengers Medium: 6
Pass. Low: 0
Cargo: 45 Td                     TL-12 Adv. Civ. cntrls (cockpit)      TL-12

08 Size Rating                  02 Jump Rating
00 Fire Control Rating          09 G Rating (6G T-plates, 3G HEPlaR)
01 Light Laser 1/0/0/0          7.5 Power Plant Rating
                                822.5 Fuel Rating (no scoops, no refine)
                                01 Sandcaster Rating (30 canisters)
                                10A/4P/10J EMM Sensor Rating

                                20 Armour Rating        15 Structure Rating

"For when you have to get in or out *really* quickly": The newly-released
=46SY Mooshine-class Rapid Insertion/Extraction Starship is designed for
customers who need a craft capable of the quickest and stealthiest possible
arrivals and departures.  Customers who have pre-ordered Moonshines include
several prominent nobles from worlds sadly troubled by political
instability, and the Imperial [classified] [classified] [classified] and
[classified] [classified].

        Built around a 200Td Airframe Needle superdense hull, the Moonshine
sports a top-of-the-line military electronics package with jamming
capabilities, and a complete Electro-Magnetic Masking package.  It is also
heavily armoured, and carries a Famille Spofulam Defense Systems Mk-XIII
sancaster and a 95 Mj FSDS laser in small turrets.  It carries a Zhunastu
(long live the Emperor!) Fusion Systems 750Mw power plant.  It's jump drive
has a two-parsec range.

        However, it is in its maneuver drives that the Moonshine stands
out: it sports both a 6G thruster plate drive *and* a 3G auxiliary HEPlaR
drive (with 2 hours of nominal fuel capacity which may be extended from
siphoning from the power plant's excess capacity), which when running
together can accelerate the Moonshine at a truly spectacular 9Gs, exceeding
even the *public* acceleration capability of Imperial Light Fighters.
Nothing can get you from a planetary surface to jump point faster than a
Moonshine!

        To enable the crew and passengers to withstand these truly extreme
accelerations, the most advanced inertial compensators available have been
installed, and are supplemented by Famille Spofulam Subsystems G-tanks;
thus, even at full thrust, the crew will only feel a subjective 4 Gs.  Some
sacrifices have to be made for mission capability.  Accomodations include 6
small staterooms, 6 bunks, and a 55 cubic meter lounge/dining area.  Cargo
capacity is 45 tons.

        While the Moonshine class RI/ESS is not going to be the most
commonly encountered vessel on the space lanes, we here at FSY feel proud
of the impact that it will make in its market, and would like to reiterate
that while the Moonshine's special capabilities might lend themselves to
wrongdoing, we are committed to ensuring that Monnshine-class vessels will
be sold to only the most aboveboard of customers.


*-------------------------------------------------------------*
| Roderick D. Elliott... rellio@po-box.mcgill.ca              |
|                        elliot_r@lsa.lan.mcgill.ca           |
*-------------------------------------------------------------*
| "...an imperfect plan implemented immediately and violently |
| will always succeed better than a perfect plan."            |
|                        -Gen. George S. Patton.              |
*-------------------------------------------------------------*

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

End of Traveller-digest V1996 #773
**********************************

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