Traveller-digest       Tuesday, June 10 1997       Volume 1997 : Number 1419



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

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Re: Traveller Chat - PE Walkthrough
Re: Star ship design question
Re: PE vs reality(tm)
Re: Re: Trading Systems
Re: Scenario: Generation-Ship
Web pages updated.
Re: Widows on Star's hips
MoRe: Pocket Empires Errata
Shipyard capabilities
Re: Initiative Thoughts
Re: T4.1 Char Gen Checklist
Re: Web pages updated.
Re: Traveller-digest V1997 #1416
Re: PE and reality
Re: Initiative Thoughts
Re: Scenario: Generation-Ship
Re: Windows on Starships

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

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 09:58:48 +0000
From: "Suzette C. Dollar" <suzd@goodnet.com>
Subject: Re: Traveller Chat - PE Walkthrough

> > Greetings!
> > 
> > With great pleasure, I would like to announce that I've managed to 
> > con my husband, Stu Dollar, into presenting a walk-through of Pocket 
> > Empires on Thursday, July 19, 1997.  This replaces our regularly 
> > scheduled Traveller Chat topic.

Forgive me!  This should read Thursday, June 19, 1997.

Suz 

#Traveller Channel Manager
suzd@goodnet.com

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

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 09:44:26 -0700
From: Scott Ellsworth <Scott_Ellsworth@alumni.hmc.edu>
Subject: Re: Star ship design question

At 01:09 PM 6/10/97 +0100, you wrote:
>At 13:17 09/06/97 -0700, Scott Ellsworth wrote:
>>The claim is that the energy densities required are much, much larger than
>>can be stored in any reasonable accumulator.  DGP stated explicitly in
>>Starship Operators Manual that the jump drive has, as an integral
>>component, an very large accumulator that craps out after an hour or two,
>>so you do generate the energy over a reasonable time of hours.
>>
>	Are there any specific rules for determining how long one can keep the
>jump capacitors charged before the energy contained within them begins to
>discharge? How about a difficult enginering task roll to keep the energy
>stable longer, so that say a successful task roll keeps the energy in place
>for one hour plus D6 times ten minutes (i.e. 70 to 120 mins)?

I do not recall any specifics.  They did say that the limit was measures in
hours, and the number was pretty small.

I like your suggestion for the results of trying to keep it there longer.
(I allow them to keep the power in the array for up to an hour without
harm, but after that, things get a bit dicey.  This makes stealthing a bit
interesting, as the ship then has very limited radiating capability.)

Scott
Scott_Ellsworth@alumni.hmc.edu   http://users.deltanet.com/~fuz
"When a great many people are unable to find work, unemployment 
results" - Calvin Coolidge, (Stanley Walker, City Editor, p. 131 (1934))
"The barbarian is thwarted at the moat." - Scott Adams

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

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 10:00:14 -0700
From: Scott Ellsworth <Scott_Ellsworth@alumni.hmc.edu>
Subject: Re: PE vs reality(tm)

At 09:08 AM 6/10/97 +0100, you wrote:
>>My suggestion for infrastructure improvement is that it costs RUs equal to
>>the TL of the planet for each labor point (100,000,000 people).
>>
>>Similarily, I recommend a cost of RUs equal to infrastructure per labor
>>point to uplift technology.
>>
>>The cost of establishing a new colony should be Inf*TL per labor point.
>>
>>The cost of moving people should be 10 RU per parsec per labor point.
>>
>>Transportation costs should add 10% per parsec to foreign investments, not
>>50%.
>
>The thing I disliked most about PE (so far, I got it yesterday) is the
>apparent lack of TL impact on society.

Agreed!  Technology should be more important, imho.  they do have some
impact, in the credit exchange table used to determine the actual credit
value of an RU, but I wanted it a bit clearer just how much of a
powerhouse, economically, a high tech world is.  (My rule of thumb - 2-4
tech levels is an order of magnitude, depending on field.)

> A high TL world according to PE is
>like a low TL one but better. The only real TL advantage that plays a role
>is jumpdrive but surprisingly enough the transportation costs does not seem
>to go down with TL and the disadvantages of atmos etc doesn't alter with TL
>either.

I am a bit vexed that it does not get cheaper to transport as TL goes up,
which is why my TL12 J1 drives cost a lot less and are a lot smaller than
my TL9 ones.  I am moving to the system where the best jump that the tech
can produce takes a certain fixed size and cost, with lesser drives falling
off in size and cost fairly rapidly.

>As have been seen from "history" again and again is that higher TL is not
>only a quantitatative advance but a qualitative one as well. Terrans got
>their mesonguns and whipped the Vilanis, when we get high powered lasers
>we'll stop using high flying aircraft in warfare, out of womb child
>carriage will improve population growth enormously etc.

Yep.  I want this kind of effect as well - no TL 12 culture should be
beaten by a TL 9 culture, unless the TL 9 culture has 25 times the
population, or the TL12 culture cannot use the advantages it has.  Civil
war works, lack of military funding, and so on.

>Are there anybody interested in a PE rules discussion along the lines of
>the gearhead one? Do some reality checking, handwaving etc (whats the PE
>equivalent of a frac c rock?). I think PE despite some flaws (mostly in
>presentation) is one of the most important things to come out for Traveller
>ever.

Like the idea!  And let me repeat here that I do like the supplement a
great deal.  I think it needs tweaking, but not generic rewriting.  Adding
a few charts or calculation results, and then running a few million monte
carlos on the results should do it.

>I hereby dub such a thread as 'PE vs reality(tm)'

If you are dubbing it, should it not be 'Sir PE vs. reality(tm)'?  haut?  Von?
Scott
Scott_Ellsworth@alumni.hmc.edu   http://users.deltanet.com/~fuz
"When a great many people are unable to find work, unemployment 
results" - Calvin Coolidge, (Stanley Walker, City Editor, p. 131 (1934))
"The barbarian is thwarted at the moat." - Scott Adams

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

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 13:23:13 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Peter  H. Brenton" <pete@cummings.uchicago.edu>
Subject: Re: Re: Trading Systems

On 8 Jun 1997, Rob Prior wrote:

> >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. 

Oops, You're right.  Metator is great, and generating detailed tables is
easy, but I take it a step further; I want tables that are specific to
individual worlds, so that if the planet's description says "A major
exporter of Steel Alloys" the "Steel Alloy Construction Materials" shows
quite prominently on the trade table.  Of course, other than these few
exceptions the more random method works well.

Pete   

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

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 13:28:49 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Peter  H. Brenton" <pete@cummings.uchicago.edu>
Subject: Re: Scenario: Generation-Ship

On Tue, 10 Jun 1997, Volker A. Greimann wrote:

> Hi folks,
> yesterday during a perticularly boring lecture, i hit upon a new idea 
> for a scenario: Travel onboard a GenerationVessel, a whole new take 
> on the "limited space" campaigns. 

Damn, what was the Heinlien book? Tunnel in the Sky?  Do I have the right
author?

Anyway the scenario was basically a ship based culture that was no longer
aware they were on a ship.  They believed the ship was the world.  Areas
above a certian "deck" were taboo (bridge and ships conrols) and the
people had formed their tribes and sects.

Cool idea, wish I could remember the name of the thing for sure.  Old Age
is a terrible thing (I'm 30 now ya know).

Pete 

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

Date: Fri, 06 Jun 1997 19:12:24 -0700
From: "Douglas E. Berry" <dberry@hooked.net>
Subject: Web pages updated.

If just finished a load of work on my web pages, and would like some feed
back.  Please wander by, the URL is in my .sig, and let me know what you
think.

I especially need feedback from folks who aren't using Netscape.


- --

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|   Douglas E. Berry          dberry@hooked.net   |
|      Professional Driver - Traveller Guru       |
|   Duchovny Manor Sniper and Beverly's Brother   |
|         http://www.hooked.net/~dberry/          |
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
|   "Wide unclasp the tables of their thoughts    |
|  These same thoughts people this little World"  |
|      - inscription on a stained glass window,   |
|        found in the Winchester Mystery House.   |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 14:14:50 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Peter  H. Brenton" <pete@cummings.uchicago.edu>
Subject: Re: Widows on Star's hips

There once was a widow named Pip
Who lived with a star on its hips
She knitted a sweater
made out of leather
and gave it to a passing starship.

Sorry, that was silly.

Pete

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

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 20:40:20 +0100
From: Jo_Grant/DUB/Lotus@lotus.com
Subject: MoRe: Pocket Empires Errata

Joe writes:
>it appears that
>the text in Chapter 2 (The Family, by Jo Grant) does not match the Partner
>Table provided in the back of the book.

I've only checked through my sections, so far, but there are several
(minor) bits wrong. Most crucially, the example family tree for the
Cararialta Family is arse-ways. Hazel the Younger is the grandson of Hazel
the Elder, not the grandfather. (!)

In general, follow the text, not the tables or the diagrams. The text is
almost always correct.

In some Cararialta examples, Anfinwen is refered to as "he". This should be
"she".

There are numerous inconsistencies in presentation. The intro casts it
primarily as a role playing schema where the players are various members of
a Imperial Noble family making a new start beyond the fringe. The back text
protrays the focus as pre-existing upstart empires beyond the fringe.
Tapestry of Stars says different players play individual pocket empires.
Sure, you do can all of that with the product, however I would have
expected the IG editors to have put some consistancy into the presentation.

Anyway, I was going to start a web page of errata (since I have the
original family tree I sent to IG which was _quite_ clear) but I'm not sure
that's legal.

I _might_, in a few weeks, start a Pocket Empire Play-by e-mail. If I do it
will be "rules lite". The focus would mainly be on role playing the family
politics rather than gearhead budgets and wish-fulfillment dictators. If
you are interested _wait_ a few weeks, then say so. (I'm on business. I
need to get back and get my life in order.)

Jo

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

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 12:35:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: Douglas <douglas@*teleport.com>
Subject: Shipyard capabilities

Heyo,

One of my (numerous) current projects is to come up with a list of
improvements a shipyard can make to starships.  Eventually I hope to
release the project as a starport design product - something to both flesh
out starports, and give the players a reason to seek out specific
starports.  ("There's a mom&pop shop at Emape down that can boost M-Drive
performance 10%!")

I'd like to get some input on what others think are important additions to
the shipboard inventory - currently I'm grouping them (roughly) into
Engineering (M-Drive), Engineering (P-Plant), Engineering (J-Drive),
Sensor, Computer (hardware), Computer (software), Command & Control, and
Gunnery.

Any help would be appreciated, I'll release a composite list of all inputs
to any contributers who are interested.

Thanks in advance!

- --------------------------------------------
Any sufficiently reliable magic is indistinguishable from technology
                                              -Merlin

douglas@teleport.com
http:\\www.teleport.com\~douglas\

MCSE: Windows95, Windows NT 3.51 Server, Windows NT 3.51 Workstation, 
      Exchange Server, Basic Networking, TCP/IP
- --------------------------------------------

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

Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 15:11:06 +0000
From: "Kenneth Bearden" <dreamer@weck.brokersys.com>
Subject: Re: Initiative Thoughts

> This is good in theory but probably too complicated for ease of use.

Yea, you are probably right.  I think I'm going to abandon this 
initiative thingy and stick with the official rules--that is until 
another idea hits me.

> How about just using TNE's initiative ?

No, TNE allows for multiple action in a round.  T4 covers that in a 
different (and I think better) way with the multiple action rule.

You could use the base init from  TNE, though, but I think that I've 
found out that this initiative thing needs more thought.

It's not really broken in T4--just a little basic.  I was wanting to 
add some depth to it based on a character's skills and background, 
but I want the addition to be simple.

For now, I think I'll just play with it as is.  You never know, maybe 
Marc will surprise us with a brilliant idea for this in T4-Revised.

Kenneth.
> 
> 

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

Date: Mon, 9 Jun 1997 15:11:02 +0000
From: "Kenneth Bearden" <dreamer@weck.brokersys.com>
Subject: Re: T4.1 Char Gen Checklist

> 	1. Basic Characteristics. Roll the six personal characteristics (2D each):
> Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Intelligence, Education, and Social Standing.

I use the straight "roll 2D and that's your Str...roll 2D and that's 
your Dex, etc" method, but I liked seeing other generation methods in 
the book i.e roll 2D six times and arrange to taste.

It is nice to have options.


> 	3. Birthworld. Determine the character's birthworld.

> 	4. Homeworld. If player decides that homeworld is not the same as
> birthworld, determine homeworld.

I really like this.  I used to differentiate between homeworld and 
birthworld on my own for some characters.  It is nice to see this in 
the chargen system.

> 	5. Homeworld Skills. Determine homeworld skills. For each trade
> classification of the homeworld, on World Skills Table 1 or World Skills
> Table 2, roll 1D to determine the specific skill received.

I like this too.  Is this the same as the 4 background skills allowed 
in T4?  Or, will a character be allowed a variable number of skills 
based on his homeworld?  If so, what is the range of skills expected, 
ie 2-4?

> 	6. Education. Determine Educational Background.
> 		A. Initial Schooling. Scan the Available Schools Table to determine which
> prerequisites for education are met (University, Military, Naval, Merchant
> Academy or Educational Certificate,). If additional education is to be
> pursued, and prerequisites are met, consult the specific Educational
> Institution and 

This looks really good.

> 	7. Service. Determine Career Path.
> 		A. Select Career. Select a career from the Available Careers Table.
> 		B. Resolve Career. Consult the specific Career Page and

One note of caution here.  The T4 system is a little too generous 
with regard to awarding skills.  With the way default skills are 
being handled in T4 (which I think is brilliant), a character comes 
out of chargen too powerful with no where to grow to.

It should be a rare occurrence when we see a character with a level 5 
or 6 skill--especially straight out of chargen.

I like the idea of having an opportunity to receive a skill each year 
(rather than the 1 skill per 4 years as in CT), but I don't think 
this should be automatic.

I think the advanced chargen used in CT's Mercenary/High Guard/Scouts 
renedered ballanced characters--not too many skills, but enough to 
make him playable.  Coupling this with the way default skills are 
handled now, a character straight out of chargen has a lot of skills 
to pull from.

One way to put a limiting factor in the T4 chargen process is to have 
a character roll to see if he is awarded a skill that year--just like 
in CT/MT advanced chargen.

For example, look at the Marine chargen table on page 29 of Book 1.  
I suggest keeping everything as is, except you add a roll for skill 
next to the other rolls listed (Enlistment, Injury, Commission, etc)

The roll might be a number between 6 and 9--you'd have to roll, say, 
7- to get a skill if you were a Marine.

I've grabbed these numbers out of CT Book 4:  Mercenary (and inverted 
them for the T4 low is better system).  To come up with one skill 
number for a Marine career, I'd figure a weighted average based on 
the numbers given in CT's Book 4.  

For example, if a marine has a training assignment in Book 4, he 
needs to roll a 7+ to get a skill.  If he has a Raid assignment, 
he needs to roll a 5+ to get a skill.  

I'd assign weights to the actual assignments (like a Marine will 
roll a Raid assignment about 8.33% of the time), and then I'd 
perform a weighted average to find a general skill throw number 
for Marines.

I'd do this for each of the different careers, but the end result 
would be that a number is generated that has to be rolled each 
year, or the character doesn't get a skill that year.

Another dimension this will add to chargen is that players can use 
it to make their choices.  "I can go in the Army and only have to 
roll 5- per year to get a skill, or I can go into the Marines and 
have to roll 7- per year to get a skill.  The Army is also easier 
to get into than the Marines, but the Marines have these certain 
skills that you cannot get in the Army."

I'm sure there are other ways of handling this, it just that I 
think adding a skill roll per year might be the easiest.

> 	10. Cold Sleep Weeks. Determine the total number of weeks spent by the

Great stuff.  Love to see this in the game.

> 	11. Determine Birthdate.

More great stuff.  I usually determine this myself, but it is good to 
see an official rule for it.

> 	12. Hit Boxes. Mark hit boxes available on the Character Card.

Cool.  Keep track of hit points on the character sheet.  I have 
generated damage record sheets for my campaing because I don't like 
constat erasing messing up the character sheet, but this will be good 
for NPCs.

> 	13. Comments. Mark any comments in the Character Card Comments box.

Good stuff, here too.

 	14. Aging. At the end of each term (beginning with term 6), 
determine the
> effects of aging on the character.

Glad to see this.

> 	15. Skills. Note skills received.
> 		A. List in alphabetical order.
> 		B. Note Cascade skills received in parentheses behind the specific skill
> selected.

The cascade skills are a nice touch--to remind the players what's 
available to them.

One thing I'd like to add, Marc.  Going hand in hand with chargen is 
character experience.  I hope that you have devoted some time to this 
because the system in T4 is completely broken.  I'd like to see a 
character expereince system that allows the character to grow at the 
same rate he did in chargen.  If he averaged 1 or 2 skills per year 
in chargen, then while playing the character, he should gain skills 
at a rate of 1 or 2 skills per year as well.

Chargen in Traveller is really just an abstract way of roleplaying a 
character through multiple years.  Actually playing the character 
should reflect that.

Marc, I've got to say that I am impressed with what you have posted 
here.  To tell you the truth, I didn't have that high of hopes for 
T4-Revised.  I thought it would be a grammar corrected version of 
what we already have.

It looks like you are putting a lot of work into it, and, from what 
I've seen here, it looks like I am going to like a lot of the changes 
you are making.

I'm actually looking forward to getting it now.  From the EA to PE 
and now this, I'm getting that feeling back that Traveller is in good 
hands again.  It feels good to have some faith in Traveller's 
producer again.

Keep up the good work.  I sincerely like what you have posted here.

Kenneth.

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

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 16:15:58 -0400
From: "Peter H. Brenton" <brenton@psfc.mit.edu>
Subject: Re: Web pages updated.

>If just finished a load of work on my web pages, and would like some feed
>back.  Please wander by, the URL is in my .sig, and let me know what you
>think.

Pretty neat.  Why isn't the picture of "The Beast" inline?

>I especially need feedback from folks who aren't using Netscape.

Oh, I am using netscape.

That first image is great.  Is it a concept drawing for a new airport
terminal somewhere or what?

Pete

Peter H. Brenton
(617) 253-3185
pbrenton@mit.edu

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

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 18:18:57 -0400
From: Peter or Kevin Miller <pmiller@linkeasy.net>
Subject: Re: Traveller-digest V1997 #1416

>   Sorry I can't answer your first question; I don't have a copy of PE
>   on me right now.  Are they trade codes? (Ni=non-industrial,
>   Ic=ice-capped, etc.)

No, not trade codes. Here's an example from the book:

...........E654755-6  Ag         502 (PBG)   F4 V
...........B642422-7  Po Lopop   702         M7 V1

It's the last part, the "F4 V" and "M7 V1" I don't get.

>   following chapter, "War".  Right now my players are using election
>   rigging and religious conversion (at cross purposes) to try to "take
>   over" one particular world.  My game, howver, is very role-playing
>   oriented, being essentially a traditional Trav campaign gone to very
>   high levels.

Thanks, I get it now.  Basically, I've started by playing solitare to get
the hang of the system, until I introduce it to a couple of friends.

Thanks,
________________________________________________ Peter J. Miller
Second Base Sports Cards - http://www.dragonfire.net/~pm/kevin/
TravWeb Central - http://www.dragonfire.net/~pm/traveller/

"I took the one less travelled, and that has made all the difference."
		- Robert Frost ("The Road Not Taken)

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

Date: Tue, 10 Jun 1997 16:47:23 -0700
From: Chris Griffen <cgriffen@cisco.com>
Subject: Re: PE and reality

Hans Rancke-Madsen wrote:

>And I must admit that while I can
>accept that 300 RUs worth of TL 10 combat units could be an even match
>for 150 RUs worth of TL 12 combat units, I find it difficult to believe
>that _any_ number RUs worth of TL 0 combat units can match 150 RUs worth
>of TL 12 units.

Come on, Hans! Haven't you seen "Return of the Jedi"? I think that's proof
enough that a large number of TL0 troops armed with spears and rocks can
take on and defeat a superior TL 12+ force of crack troops armed with
high-energy weapons and armored walkers!

(Sorry, but when I saw this portion of Hans' post, I just couldn't resist!)

Best,

Chris Griffen

===================================================
Keeper of the Flame. Traveller player since 1980.

http://www.cris.com/~Cgriffen/traveller/deneb.shtml



- --------------------------------------------------------------
Christopher Griffen                      Phone: (408) 527-7189
Cisco Systems, Inc.                      Fax:   (408) 527-0452
NMBU Technical Publications              cgriffen@cisco.com

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

Date: Wed, 11 Jun 1997 11:53:23 -0700
From: Rupert Boleyn <gtrupert@iconz.co.nz>
Subject: Re: Initiative Thoughts

At 15:11 9/06/97 +0000, you wrote:
>
>> This is good in theory but probably too complicated for ease of use.
>
>Yea, you are probably right.  I think I'm going to abandon this 
>initiative thingy and stick with the official rules--that is until 
>another idea hits me.
>
>> How about just using TNE's initiative ?
>
>No, TNE allows for multiple action in a round.  T4 covers that in a 
>different (and I think better) way with the multiple action rule.
>
>You could use the base init from  TNE, though, but I think that I've 
>found out that this initiative thing needs more thought.
>
>It's not really broken in T4--just a little basic.  I was wanting to 
>add some depth to it based on a character's skills and background, 
>but I want the addition to be simple.
>
>For now, I think I'll just play with it as is.  You never know, maybe 
>Marc will surprise us with a brilliant idea for this in T4-Revised.
>
>Kenneth.

As a TNE Referee I find TNE's initiative system is too deterministic, and
the inititive die roll at chargen time too important.

Recently I've been experimenting with a where a character's initiative only
effects action declaration except in 'Wild West' style shoot-outs and melee
combat. In this the character's action are declared from worst to best
initiative, and then resolved pretty much simultaenously, except for melees
which are resolved from best to worst (along with any shots fired into
them). Currently I'm got initiative from the TNE initiative +1D6 and any
applicible aglity penatlies for melee, but I'm not entirely happy with this.

R. Boleyn
 <gtrupert@iconz.co.nz>
TNE to the core

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

Date: Wed, 11 Jun 1997 01:29:16 +0100
From: Bruce E J Lewis <bruce@legend.ftech.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Scenario: Generation-Ship

At 13:28 10/06/97 -0500, Peter  H. Brenton wrote:
>Damn, what was the Heinlien book? Tunnel in the Sky?  Do I have the right
>author?
>
>Anyway the scenario was basically a ship based culture that was no longer
>aware they were on a ship.  They believed the ship was the world.  Areas
>above a certian "deck" were taboo (bridge and ships conrols) and the
>people had formed their tribes and sects.
>
	I don't know the Heinlien book, but Harry Harrison has written an
excellent one called "Captive Universe" (c) 1969, ISBN 0-586-05677-7

	This is about an Aztec tribe who are very unaware of the real truth behind
their world. When the truth emerges, there are quite a few details that
describe the way the captive inhabitants are looked after, plus a bit about
ship operations. I read this book a few years ago, so I can't remember too
much, but it is definitely the sort of thing that would be useful to anyone
interested in a generation ship scenario.

	And there's another book I have too by Brian Aldiss called "Non-Stop" (c)
1958, ISBN 0-14-017353-6

	Apart from some excellent twists, the storyline involves a journey through
the ship, which could be useful in describing to players parts of a
generation ship. Although bits of it are very un-Traveller, there's plenty
there to be useful.

 	Then there is a novel by Ben Bova called "The Exiles Trilogy", about a
modified prison ship that leaves Earth for the stars. Each of the three
parts deals with an entirely different generation in the ship's history. I
don't have the ISBN number.

	And finally, there is "Earthsearch" and "Earthsearch 2 - Deathship", both
by James Follett.

	An asteroid collides with the ship, killing all but four of the ship's
inhabitants. They are just babies at the time of the disaster, and their
lives and even their hormonal growth is controlled by the ship's computer.
There's plenty of exploring - "No one's been in that part of the ship for
hundreds of years, what are you doing!!!" etc... There's also bags of
cryogenic suspension involved, while the ship journeys ever onwards
searching for planet Earth. This is also one of the best books I've ever
read, and if I could find it I'd read it again! Needless to say, I don't
have the ISBN number to hand, sorry.

	Oh, and I thought I'd mention the second part of "Hitchhikers Guide to the
Galaxy", "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" by Douglas Adams. You
will find this on any half-decent shop's sci-fi bookshelf. Although the
story is a laugh by nature, the ship featured isn't really a generation
ship, but it does have a ship containing thousands of colonists. Might be
worth it for a laugh in your campaign ;-)

	I also believe that the RPG "Metamorphosis Alpha" has recently been
re-released. This game is set on a massive generation ship, and was also
the very first item featured in the first edition of White Dwarf. This may
be of some help.

	I also think that one would find bits of the wonderful ;-) TV show
"Battlestar Galactica" useful too. Although not very Traveller, there are
plenty of scenes of people cooped up in the battlestar, as well as the
ships it protects. Episodes have featured different aspects of a
civilisation living onboard a starship; recreation, the hydroponics ship,
command, medical, a shipboard fire, sensors ops, comms, etc... I'm sure you
all know, just thought it might be helpful to mention it ;-)

	There must be plenty of other sources to draw upon, but that's all I can
come up with for now!

	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: Thu, 5 Jun 1997 17:56:39 -0400
From: "Eric Freitas" <edf@atlantic.net>
Subject: Re: Windows on Starships

> From: Erwin Fritz <efritz@glja.com>

> Since there are Traveller hulls with fields to strengthen the bonding
> of the atoms, is it too much to presume that there would be fields
> to alter the window frequency? What about polarization?

Another area of research going on now, is to use lasers to manipulate
the electron charges of opaque atoms to allow specific frequencies
through.  The note that I read in Science mentioned that they were
only experimenting with allowing optical frequencies to pass through
a gas of lead atoms.  The scientists, when questioned whether the 
technique could be used on solid materials, said that they were only 
working with gasses, but that it may not be impossible to achieve the
same thing with solids.

Eric

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End of Traveller-digest V1997 #1419
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