Traveller-digest        Sunday, June 8 1997        Volume 1997 : Number 1414



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

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Re: Windows on Starhsip?
Re: X-Boat data capacity
Re: Windows on Starship?
Web Pages back
Re: What is Rapid fire?
Re: What do people like?
Dogs Love Trucks (was Windows in Ships)
Re: Initiative Thoughts
Radioactive living rooms
Re: Radioactive living rooms
Re: Radioactive living rooms
Re: Starship windows
Re: Windows in Starships?
Thanks..
Re: What do people like?
Re: Re: Trading Systems
Re: Trading Systems
Starlink:Alpha
Re: Techlevel dependant Skills
Farewell for now
Pocket Empires questions
Re: Techlevel dependant Skills

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

Date: Sun, 8 Jun 1997 13:38:31 +0930 (CST)
From: David Sarkies <oedipus@student.adelaide.edu.au>
Subject: Re: Windows on Starhsip?

On Sat, 7 Jun 1997, JayStr wrote:

> Look.... if you can have lanthanum grids and sensor mets built into the
> hull of a starship, why not an OPTIC grid? On the outside you have
> zillions of little bullshittium optic sensors transmitting x-many pixels
> of visual information; on the inside at any given point, you have a
> monitor. Between, you have solid hull metal... and you STILL have the
> pleasant illusion you're looking out a window. More advanced models
> would allow you to pan around and look in different directions; it'd
> return to zero, so to speak -- looking straight out -- after a minute or
> so of inactivity.
> 
> Think of it as a freebie that comes included with any passive sensor
> array. Buy a whole 'nother passive array, put it on the INSIDE of the
> hull, and sweet Jesus! you've suddenly got the mother of all
> surveillance systems! Cheapo ships WITHOUT passive sensors are liable to
> need an external monitor just to see what's going on (as though space
> flight isn't 99.9% done by instruments anyway). This fits well for
> inexpensive cargo-ship-turned-discount-liners -- packed full of people
> staring morosely at the wall.....
> 
> -- Jay Stranahan

I like. It also doubles for a communication device, like they do on Star
Trek: Next Gen and Voyager.

> 

May the grace and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all
David Sarkies

- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Apollo ordained my fate ... but the hand that struck my eyes were mine
alone." Oedipus Tyrannos
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Sat, 07 Jun 1997 22:12:16 -0600
From: "David J. Golden" <goldendj@pcisys.net>
Subject: Re: X-Boat data capacity

At 08:45 am 06/07/97 PST, you wrote:

>> (WARNING WARNING I am working from possibly faulty memory here about the
>> rate at which data can be transmitted at a given frequency...I think it's
>> 1/2 bit per cycle)
>
>Shannon's Law:
>
>	C= W log2( 1 + S/N )

	I believe that should be "ln" (natural log) ... 
- -- Dave Golden                  http://www.pcisys.net/~goldendj --
   goldendj@pcisys.net                       finger for PGP key
    *** USE OF THE ABOVE EMAIL FOR SOLICITATION PROHIBITED ***

 "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: Sat, 7 Jun 97 22:49:49 -0600
From: Glenn Hoppe <starcity@sk.sympatico.ca>
Subject: Re: Windows on Starship?

On 1997-06-07 17:04 thus spake Paul D. Owensby:

>Protestant <g> versions of Traveller speak of the hull material as being made
>of a chameleon substance that could change its colors, design, camo, etc. 
>pretty much at will? Someone will have to help me here, as I'm an old 
>Catholic Traveller man myself, and unfortunately don't even have all of 
>those materials. (So, is anyone ever going to reproduce all the old stuff on
>a CD or something? Please?)

IIRC, The much ballyhooed _Starship Operator's Manual_ spoke of the 
chameleon paint job.

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

Date: Sun, 08 Jun 1997 15:30:01 +0800
From: Michael Bailey <mickb@opera.iinet.net.au>
Subject: Web Pages back

I've finally settled in in Perth, and dug out my old Traveller web pages.
These can be found at  'http://www.iinet.net.au/~mickb'.  This site
replaces my old site, which has been defunct since mid-1996.

Note that these pages haven't been updated in almost a year...when I get
time I'll be doing a major overhaul.  Any comments and suggestions would be
welcomed. 

Seeya,


Mick
Michael T. Bailey (mickb@opera.iinet.net.au)

"F**k you, I'm sick!"
			Hunter S. Thompson

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

Date: Sun, 08 Jun 1997 20:16:01 +1200
From: Andrew Vallance <a.vallance@netaccess.co.nz>
Subject: Re: What is Rapid fire?

>Date: Sat, 7 Jun 1997 13:31:47 +0100
>From: SD Mooney <dom@cybergoths.u-net.com>
>Subject: What is Rapid fire?

>In the context of T4,  can anyone tell me what is 'rapid fire', as refered
>to in EA? Is it a mistake, or is it something from T4.1?

Rapid fire (and very rapid fire) are descriptive terms for weapons. Rapid
fire refers to an autofire weapon capable of firing more than 20 rounds
per turn (ROF > 1200rpm), very rapid fire refers to a weapon capable
of firing more than 50 rounds per turn (ROF > 3000rpm). Rapid fire
weapons get a +2DM on autfire and Very Rapid Fire a +3DM. IIRC
these figures are not spelt out anywhere except in G3G, but you can
extrapolate them from EA.

>I have looked through T4, CSC, EA in an attempt to find out what it is, but
>have had no joy so far. The only modes of gunfire described appear to be:

>Single shot				T4 rules
>Burst fire (3R or 5R depending on reference)	EA
>Autofire (5R/target)			T4 rules
>Suppressive fire (held autofire action)		T4 rules

>I can remember CT having 'rapid fire', which involved emptying the whole
>magazine in a panic, but the rapid fire weapons in EA don't seem to fall
>into that context. EA hints at a beneficial DM.. Any ideas?

That was 'Panic fire' it enable a player to make up to 3 attacks in a single
round at a negative DM and expended all the rounds in the magazine.

  Andrew etc.
    a.vallance@netaccess.co.nz

****************************************************************************
The longest distance between two points is with children.
****************************************************************************

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

Date: Sun, 8 Jun 1997 20:04:16 +1000
From: Jason Anderson <midnight@kagi.com>
Subject: Re: What do people like?

>How would other people rate the T4 products so far?


Hmmm. I think I would have to go:

  T4:        **** (if I use KBv2)
  Starships: **
  AA:        **
  CSC:       ****
  M0:        *****
  FS:        * 1/2
  EA:        *****
  PE:        ****

Some of you may have gone "what, is he mad" for giving Starships and FS
scores higher than 0. But you have to remember that not everyone owns all
the CT/MT products ever released. I own a few TNE things, but mostly T4 is
the only version of Traveller I own. Hence Starships is fairly useful to
get an idea of ship stats (the deck plans don't do much for me though), and
FS is useful to know what is where (even if the information on each planet
is broken). M0 is a brilliant source of background (I wish it was longer
though ... say about 32 pages longer => ). EA is good for expanding the
weapons available past the limited selection in the main rule book, and PE
is very interesting reading (I don't know if I'll ever use it to a great
degree, but it is still interesting). AA is probably the least used and
looked at suppliment I own, not because of any fault with it, but just
because I'm not that interested in it. However, it is still interesting to
read.

Anyone else want to give a score?

Cheers,
Jason

- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jason Anderson                          Computing Support etc
Room 305 Centenary Building (IASOS)     Antarctic CRC / Glaciology
Ph:  03 6226 7853                       Fax: 03 6226 2902
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Sun, 8 Jun 97 06:13:52 -0400
From: FKiesche@concentric.net
Subject: Dogs Love Trucks (was Windows in Ships)

Greetings All:

Just thought of one possible race to use windows in a starship...and it 
is not (despite the title of my message) the Vargr!

Think on it: The Vilani!

Vilani are very conservative. Long ago Vilani pilots dimmed their ships 
power useage before jump to give the jump drive that extra added omph to 
get over the brink of hyperspace. Long after more efficient 
engines/batteries/whatever made this unnecessary (see DGP's Starship 
Operators Manual One), tradition dictated that this still be done.

So in my great tradition of looking for a "Traveller" reason to explain 
stuff in the game (e.g., my reasons for why Traveller Computers are 
Stupide Big Iron Machines, etc.), here's my latest:

Starships of Vilani design have windows, including windows in the control 
area. The reason for this is tradition. The holographic viewing systems 
might fail, also, they would shut down during the dimming of power 
systems prior to jump. (Paranoid) Vilani pilots needed to see out, so 
windows were left in the control areas long after the need for them 
passed.

Works for me...

On what you see in hyperspace...I've changed this over the years. 
Initially I went with a variant of Larry Niven's Hyperspace Blindspot: 
Your eye really can't accept hyperspace, so it tends to make the windows 
vanish...driving some folks crazy. Then I went with a version of 
hyperspace that kind of looked like a combination of the Stargate 
Sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey and the hyperspace effects in Star 
Wars: A New Hope (of course at that point all of the folks in my group 
had seen Star Wars for the first time that year, and even our 
ship--called The Millenium Pigeon--had a passing resemblance to a certain 
other ship!).

I more recently adopted the description found in DGP's Starship Operators 
Manual.

In passenger cabins, crew quarters, I've generally assumed that they have 
windows (exterior cabins) or holotanks (interior cabins)...



Frederick Paul Kiesche III
(FKiesche@concentric.net)
(Traveller since 1977!)

"For two weeks,then, preparations can be made...The characters should be 
heavily involved in such planning...after all, their safety will depend 
on the precision and coordination of the attacks they launch."

- --The Traveller Adventure, GDW, 1983

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

Date: Sun, 8 Jun 1997 07:16:23 -0400
From: Roderick Darroch Elliott <rellio@po-box.mcgill.ca>
Subject: Re: Initiative Thoughts

	Kenneth: I'd suggest using DEX+INT as the basis for initiative
rolls.  I'd say that at least half of being able to act quick in a given
situation is being due to think really really quick.

	This illustrates another area where IMHO White WOlf's attribute set
is superior to Traveller's; as opposed to just one mental attribute, it has
three; Perception, Intelligence, and Wits.  Initiative rolls are simply
opposed rolls of each character's Wits+Alertness.  Each character rolls
(Wits+ALertness)d10's, and he with the most successes wins.

	Other than that though, your rule tweak seems to make sense.  I'll
have ample opportunity of testing it next week, so I'll let you know how it
goes.

R.D. Elliott <rellio@po-box.mcgill.ca>

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

Date: Sun, 8 Jun 1997 07:08:48 -0400
From: Roderick Darroch Elliott <rellio@po-box.mcgill.ca>
Subject: Radioactive living rooms

David J. Golden wrote:

>
>>Also, a nuke is a nuke is a nuke. You need the same critical mass
>>regardless of tech level to
>>achieve a chain reaction.
>
>	Er, nope ... critical mass depends on how well you can compress and
>contain the fissile material before the ensuing reaction tears it back
>apart. If you take the "critical mass" from the original Hiroshima warhead,
>and just dumped it in a pile in the middle of your living room, the
>resulting "firecracker" reaction would scatter it all over your living room
>... but not much more.


	Well, I was thinking of staging a TML getogether bash at my place,
but all of a sudden I think I'll give it a pass.  If I got radioactive
debris scatttered all over the living room my girlfriend would kill me...

	...and lord only knows what 60' tall radioactive mutant lovebirds
would do :).

R.D. Elliott <rellio@po-box.mcgill.ca>

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

Date: Sun, 08 Jun 1997 14:19:25 -0600
From: "David J. Golden" <goldendj@pcisys.net>
Subject: Re: Radioactive living rooms

At 07:08 am 06/08/97 -0400, you wrote:
>
>David J. Golden wrote:
>
>>
>>>Also, a nuke is a nuke is a nuke. You need the same critical mass
>>>regardless of tech level to
>>>achieve a chain reaction.
>>
>>	Er, nope ... critical mass depends on how well you can compress and
>>contain the fissile material before the ensuing reaction tears it back
>>apart. If you take the "critical mass" from the original Hiroshima warhead,
>>and just dumped it in a pile in the middle of your living room, the
>>resulting "firecracker" reaction would scatter it all over your living room
>>... but not much more.
>
>
>	Well, I was thinking of staging a TML getogether bash at my place,
>but all of a sudden I think I'll give it a pass.  If I got radioactive
>debris scatttered all over the living room my girlfriend would kill me...
>
>	...and lord only knows what 60' tall radioactive mutant lovebirds
>would do :).

	Alright, alright ... we can pile all the fissionables up out in the street
instead of your front yard ... just watch out for 60' gophers ...
- -- Dave Golden                  http://www.pcisys.net/~goldendj --
   goldendj@pcisys.net                       finger for PGP key
    *** USE OF THE ABOVE EMAIL FOR SOLICITATION PROHIBITED ***

 "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: Sun, 08 Jun 1997 08:19:25 -0600
From: "David J. Golden" <goldendj@pcisys.net>
Subject: Re: Radioactive living rooms

At 07:08 am 06/08/97 -0400, you wrote:
>
>David J. Golden wrote:
>
>>
>>>Also, a nuke is a nuke is a nuke. You need the same critical mass
>>>regardless of tech level to
>>>achieve a chain reaction.
>>
>>	Er, nope ... critical mass depends on how well you can compress and
>>contain the fissile material before the ensuing reaction tears it back
>>apart. If you take the "critical mass" from the original Hiroshima warhead,
>>and just dumped it in a pile in the middle of your living room, the
>>resulting "firecracker" reaction would scatter it all over your living room
>>... but not much more.
>
>
>	Well, I was thinking of staging a TML getogether bash at my place,
>but all of a sudden I think I'll give it a pass.  If I got radioactive
>debris scatttered all over the living room my girlfriend would kill me...
>
>	...and lord only knows what 60' tall radioactive mutant lovebirds
>would do :).

	Alright, alright ... we can pile all the fissionables up out in the street
instead of your front yard ... just watch out for 60' gophers ...
- -- Dave Golden                  http://www.pcisys.net/~goldendj --
   goldendj@pcisys.net                       finger for PGP key
    *** USE OF THE ABOVE EMAIL FOR SOLICITATION PROHIBITED ***

 "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: Sun, 8 Jun 1997 11:49:46 -0400 (EDT)
From: pierre-louis constantin <Pierre-Louis.Constantin@DMI.USherb.CA>
Subject: Re: Starship windows

Howdy!
 
	I cant find the orignal article on transparent metals.  After
a quick look on the net I found this though:
     ------------
     
     TRANSPARENT METAL DISCOVERED
     (Source: DISCOVER MAGAZINE, 7/96)
     
     It's not quite the "transparent aluminum" of Star Trek IV, but
     Dutch scientists think they have discovered a metal that you can
     see through under certain conditions. Normally a thin sheet of
     yttrium covered with palladium behaves like most metals,
displaying
     a shiny mirror-like surface; however, seconds after the metals
are
     exposed to hydrogen, something totally unexpected happens - they
     turn transparent. Evacuate the hydrogen, the metals turn shiny
and
     metallic again, unlike normal chemical reactions which can only
go
     one way. The value of such a discovery is not clear, but already
     Philips has bought the rights to the material. (JG)
     
     ------------
 
	This isn't exactly what I was talking about originally but it
does point out to the fact that thin sheets of metals or
semiconductors can be made transparent and maybe someday thick slices
can be made transparent (at will) too... 
 
	The article I saw in the Economist talked about making
certain metals transparent to thinks like x-rays or other and their
transparency was seet during manufacture.  No mention of thickness
limits afaIcr...  I'll keep looking. :)
 
Ow my aching head... school reunions are bad for you...


- -- 
Pierre-Louis Constantin, ift. a. 	"He whose name was writ in E-mail."
(: "I hate fanatics with a passion; all extremists should be shot." :)
	    How's my surfing? http://www.dmi.usherb.ca/~constanp/

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

Date: Wed, 4 Jun 1997 03:31:53 -0400
From: "Eric Freitas" <edf@atlantic.net>
Subject: Re: Windows in Starships?

- ----------
> From: Chris Lloyd <cdl@delcam.com>
> To: traveller@MPGN.COM
> Subject: Windows in Starships?
> Date: Thursday, June 05, 1997 6:51 AM
> 
> put on the hull of a ship.  The shuttle has already had a window
> cracked due to a paint fleck in a retrograde orbit, how much damage
> can you expect if a traveller ship encounters a speck of dust at roll
> over on it's way between two planets.  Not to mention the liability
> they are if it comes to hostile fire.  The only advantage I can see
> for windows is the passengers actually get to look out a "real window"
> and actually see the new planet, rather than just seeing it as a video
> feed from a camera on the outside of the hull.

Two words:  Ceramic Steel

You know how they talk about transparisteel windows in Star Wars (Gasp!),
well such things may not be far from becoming reality.  I know of at least
two types of transparent metals that can be made in small quantities. 
Both iron and aluminum have been used to create transparent metal ceramics.

I know that you are all thinking that I've been watching too many 
Star Trek movies, but I honestly read about this in science magazine 
sometime within the last three years.

The only catch is that apparently the stuff is very difficult to 
manufacture and has only been used so far in a few specialized 
areas. I'll try to find out more about it.

In any case, who is to say that the super high density materials 
used in Traveller don't have transparent ceramic types as well?

Eric

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

Date: Sat, 7 Jun 1997 23:59:59 +0100
From: SD Mooney <dom@cybergoths.u-net.com>
Subject: Thanks..

Thanks to everyone who explained and provided references to my stellar
classification question - a trip to the bookshop will follow shortly, even
though everything appears clear now!

Dom

- ------Dom Mooney---dom@cybergoths.u-net.com-------
"Feel the guilt / like shackles round your feet / like a halo in reverse"
                     Depeche Mode "Violator"

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

Date: Sat, 7 Jun 1997 23:57:19 +0100
From: SD Mooney <dom@cybergoths.u-net.com>
Subject: Re: What do people like?

John G. Wood wrote:
>How would other people rate the T4 products so far?

T4 rules 3/5 (strong sense of deja vu...)
Starships 0/5 biggest waste of money on an RPG I have ever spent. (well,
SSDS is okay! but the rest? sheesh!)
CSC 3/5
AA not bought as I rarely play in the Core...
M0 5/5
EA 4/5
PE 5/5
FS not bought as rated it as 0 following reading in shop and TML reviews.

- ------Dom Mooney---dom@cybergoths.u-net.com-------
"Feel the guilt / like shackles round your feet / like a halo in reverse"
                     Depeche Mode "Violator"

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

Date: 08 Jun 1997 18:11:58 GMT
From: Rob_Prior@nybe.north-york.on.ca (Rob Prior)
Subject: Re: Re: Trading Systems

>I like Rob's system.  I want to be trading in "powdered Yarrow Root" not
>"Carbohydrates".  Its a lot of work, but it makes trading really part of
>the action.  

Thanks <blush>.

Generating the trade table isn't a lot of work.  At least, it's no harder
than an animal encounter table.  Metator (for the Macintosh) does it
automatically, and writing a spreadsheet to generate the tables would be easy
too. 

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

Date: 08 Jun 1997 18:08:05 GMT
From: Rob_Prior@nybe.north-york.on.ca (Rob Prior)
Subject: Re: Trading Systems

>What system do you use for trading activities? 

Well, I use my own, obviously :-) 
<http://www.interlog.com/~dmci104/GamingClub/Traveller/trade.html>

Seriously, though, I don't think that "Rob Prior's home grown system" is
actually a separate system.  Rather, it is an _extension_ of the Classic
Traveller system.  After all, if the referee hasn't got a trade table ready
for a planet then the Book 2 table will still work -- all the dice rolls and
statistics are still the same.

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

Date: Sun, 8 Jun 1997 02:52:56 -0500
From: "The Druid" <tntsrv@10mb.com>
Subject: Starlink:Alpha

Well, Once again, Starlink:Alpha is going back into design.
I won't bore you with what the software is; If you already know, you're
gritting your teeth enough. If you don't know, there is no reason to find
out for a while.
Lets just say that Pocket Empires is a fantastic enough product to put our
entire game back into re-re-re-write.
This notice is placed here to contact all the alpha's who slipped thru the
cracks.

Rich Travis
http://www.vrhome.com/traveller

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

Date: Sun, 08 Jun 1997 19:45:10 +0100
From: Bruce E J Lewis <bruce@legend.ftech.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Techlevel dependant Skills

At 20:48 07/06/97 -0500, Alex Rebsch wrote:

<excerpt>	I have a question about certain Skills that should be Tech
level dependant. Should an Ships engineer who was taught at a T12
University be able to work on T14 stuff? This just doesn't seem logical.
There are lots of skills (at least technical skills) which are Tech level
dependant or should be. Has anybody every thought about some rule
modifications which would correct this?

</excerpt>

	I'd say that many improvements in TL are down to things like efficiency,
smaller size, more powerful; basically, they work the same, except that
they're better.


	If someone trains to learn how to drive a car in 1965, they could
probably still drive many cars from today after having just seen them for
the first time. This would represent a jump in TL from 6 to 9, three
changes. The basics won't have changed, only the luxuries, but they are
usually so user-friendly in cars I'd discount them as being too difficult
for a 1965 person to cope with.

	

	But could you and I drive a car three TL's in advance of today? And not
everything has changed as little since 1965 as cars have, computers being
a prime example. Someone from then may have a slight chance with a PC or
Mac, but there I would increase their task difficulty by half or one die
maybe. But, I wouldn't punish a 1965 guy for using a 1997 car too much.
But again, what about reverse TL, i.e. could I drive a car from a 100
years ago? Sheesh, I think you'd have to wing it a little, unless someone
came up with some tables!


	I'd hazard that increases in task difficulties would possibly depend on
the type of skill being used, and obviously the amount of difference in
TL. Or if you want a _very_ rough working model, maybe, one increase in
task difficulty for every two levels of TL's above the character's own
level of expertise.


	e.g. TL 7 man can play with a TL 8 computer, but has the task difficulty
modified by one against him / her for a TL 9, no more for TL A, then 2
for TL B etc...


	And an extra difficulty modifier in the other direction for every four
or five TL's below the character's level of expertise, except for
character's with, say, a skill level of 3 or more as they would possibly
know a little about the history of that task.


	e.g. TL 9 man tries to drive a TL 5 car, and has to roll at an extra
difficulty level, but irrelevant at TL 1, no cars, just horse and cart,
so you'd have to use equestrian maybe, don't know, have to think about
this bit a little more!


	Someone who has a high skill level would possibly be deemed slightly
obsessive about that skill, so maybe only give them no negative DM if
they have a reasonably high education charateristic.


	So you could wing it, use this as a possible idea, or draw up tables for
each skill, for forward and backward level of skill against TL.


	See ya...




Bruce E J Lewis - mailto:bruce@legend.ftech.co.uk

Telephone - 0956-506527


	From Barkingside, within the London home county of Essex, E N G L A N D


Spurs Ticket Info can be found at - http://web.ftech.net/~legend/fixtures.htm


	Tottenham Hotspur - "Everybody will be singing..."

	Paxton Road Stand - Block R, Row 14, Seat 58

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

Date: Sun, 8 Jun 1997 14:52:59 -0500
From: "K.C. Komosky" <themoof@autobahn.mb.ca>
Subject: Farewell for now

	I just wanted to drop everyone a line that I'm going to be unsubscribed 
for the next three months or so. I have another job up in northern 
Manitoba, but instead of going to a semi-civilized town like Flin Flon, I'm 
going to several communities that don't even have road access, never mind 
ISPs!

	Hopefully, this will give me some time to work on my sporadic writing and 
rules for the K'kree in T4.

	If anyone really wants to reach me, they can still e-mail me at 
themoof@autobahn.mb.ca, as I'm keeping this account open. However, I 
probably won't read it untill Sept 1.

K.C. Komosky
themoof@autobahn.mb.ca

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

Date: Sun, 08 Jun 1997 16:38:38 -0400
From: Peter or Kevin Miller <pmiller@linkeasy.net>
Subject: Pocket Empires questions

Hi,

Just got my copy of PE, and I'm very impressed with it to sya the least.
Along with Emperor's Arsenal I'd say it's my favourite T4 expansion yet.
However, I d have a couple of questions.  First, in the subsector maps for
the Empire of the Six Suns, etc. the planet data at the top goes as follows:

HEX	NAME	UWP	PBG	???????

What is the ????? data?  It's something I've never seen before, and i was
hoping someone could enlighten me.

Also, I'm a little confused as to the rules of how to take control of a
planet to begin your pocket empire.  While learning the rules I went
through with an Imperial Noble family going to establish a pocket empire in
a subsector of my own creation.  However, the rules aren't clearly stated,
or, at least, I can't find where it tells me how to take control of a
planet.  I'd love some information on the actual establishing of the
empire, if someone could explain it to me more clearly.

Thanks,


				Peter or Kevin Miller

			   ----- pmiller@linkeasy.net -----
			  |                                |
			  |    Second Base Sports Cards    |
			  | www.dragonfire.net/~pm/kevin/  |
			  |				   |
			   --------------------------------
		    	  "Workingmen of all lands, unite!" 
					- Karl Marx
			    ----- www.irevolution.com -----

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

Date: Sun, 8 Jun 1997 14:06:31 -0700 (MST)
From: Bruce Johnson <johnson@Pharmacy.Arizona.EDU>
Subject: Re: Techlevel dependant Skills

On Sun, 8 Jun 1997, Bruce E J Lewis wrote:
 
> 	If someone trains to learn how to drive a car in 1965, they could
> probably still drive many cars from today after having just seen them for
> the first time. This would represent a jump in TL from 6 to 9, three
> changes. The basics won't have changed, only the luxuries, but they are
> usually so user-friendly in cars I'd discount them as being too difficult
> for a 1965 person to cope with.
> 

Whoa there....modern autos are _NOT_ TL9, no way. At _best_ modern autos
incorporate some TL-7-8-ish advances in materials technology, but the
basic design and operation of the automobile hasn't changed much since
the widespread introduction of the automatic transmission in the early
50's got rid of the clutch.

If you want to subject someone to the kinds of changes you're talking
about, over three tech levels, plop a WWI pilot into an F-16, and let him
try to fly it.

The problem with things like this is that, paradoxically, untrained people
will do better than people trained at lower tech levels...they haven't got
anything to unlearn.

However, this kind of adjustment is so task and situation dependent that
it's hard to pin down. I'd make it 1 DM harder for two TL's, 2 for three,
but after that it'll probably become progressively easier, due to the
'ease of use' features that come into play.

Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group

Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs

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

End of Traveller-digest V1997 #1414
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