Traveller-digest       Monday, August 9 1999       Volume 1999 : Number 929



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

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Planetology 102 Part 8
Re: Dispatch From Crescent City Con
SEC: UNCLASSIFIED: Effects of stats on skill rolls
Re: House Rules
Re: Traveller Symbols
Re: Spacedocks...
Re: Habitable worlds in the Spinward Marches (long)
Re: SEC: UNCLASSIFIED: Effects of stats on skill rolls
Re: Re Skill Limits and CGen
GT 2nd Edition
Re:  Hi!
Re:  Civilian BD
Heraldry (was Re: Planetology 102 part 3)
Re: Planetology 102 part 3
Re:  Traveller Diplomacy Notes
Re: Hi! 
Re: Traveller Symbols
Re: Civilian BD
Re: Civilian BD
Re: Re Skill Limits
Re: Re Skill Limits and CGen
Re: SEC: UNCLASSIFIED: Effects of stats on skill rolls

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

Date: Sun, 8 Aug 1999 21:13:11 -0400
From: Thad Coons <Sapience@compuserve.com>
Subject: Planetology 102 Part 8

9. Sulfides, sulfates, and planetary formation.
     Sulfur combines with metallic elements like oxygen does, but
not as well. Magnesium and silicon, for instance, prefer the
oxide so much that sulfur is excluded. Iron forms a couple of
sulfides, mostly FeS (triolite), but also FeS2, iron pyrite,
"fool's gold". The presence of hydrogen complicates this a
little.  Given equal amounts of oxygen and sulfur, the
combination H2O + FeS would be preferred to H2S and FeO. But
amounts are nowhere near equal. The preference is slight enough
that overall, sulfur combines with more than its fair share of
the iron not absorbed by silicates, but oxygen gets most of it.
     Enough of the building blocks have been discussed that it is
time to pause and present a somewhat speculative but chemically
plausible scenario for the formation of rocky planets. The
starting point is mineral grains coated with ices. These collide,
melting the surfaces, and stick together, forming larger and
larger grains and lumps. At a certain size, the heat produced by
collisions begins boiling off some of the ices, concentrating the
minerals. When larger asteroid-sized lumps collide, they boil off
more volatiiles and begin to melt the minerals as well. Under
these conditions, methane and ammonia begin to react with water
to form hydrogen, nitrogen gas, and carbon monoxide.
     Sulfur comes into play because ferrous sulfide does not mix
well with molten silicates and forms a separate phase, like oil
and water. In the meantime, ferrous oxide reacts with the excess
hydrogen and the carbon monoxide to give water, carbon dioxide
and free iron, which then concentrates in the sulfide phase.
Above a certain size and temperature, gravity begins to
concentrate the much denser and lower-melting iron and sulfide in
the center, so that moons and planets develop a thick
ferromagnesian silicate mantle and a smaller iron-iron sulfide
core. The remains of failed and shattered moonlets and asteroids
in the asteroid belt rain meteorites down to the earth that show
this process frozen at various stages.
     Few chemical separations are complete, and small amounts of
ferrous sulfide remain in the mantle and crust. The trapped and
dissolved water assures that some gets converted back to ferrous
oxide and hydrogen sulfide, which gets released to the surface by
volcanoes, along with water, carbon monoxide and dioxide,
nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, and a few other volatiles. It is
thought that such a mixture of volcanic-type gases (probably
richer in hydrogen 4+ billion years ago) formed earth's early
atmosphere, and that similar mixtures are typical of the early
stages of planetary formation. Although this seems to be the
general picture, planetary astronomers and geologists seldom
summarize and simplify it like this. They do vigorously debate
the details, relative importance, and timing of the various
events and processes involved.
    For planets with water and carbon dioxide but little free
oxygen, there is no reason organic sulfide chemistry cannot form
a basis for metabolism and life. For many "primitive" and
anaerobic bacteria on earth, it does. There are various hints
that terrestrial life may have begun with sulfur chemistry and
shifted later to an oxygen base. Once such a shift is well
underway, sulfur begins to concentrate in the crust as sulfates
begin to replace sulfur and sulfides.
     Sulfuric acid, already mentioned, is even more effective at
combining with alkaline metallic hydroxides than carbonic acid
is. Only the lesser abundance of sulfur keeps it from dominating
mineral composition. Magnesium forms a sulfate MgSO4, epsomite,
AKA epsom salt. Ferrous sulfates are also known, but the same
conditions that work for sulfates work against the ferrous state
of iron, so they are not really abundant. Ferric sulfates have
the same problems as carbonates, and again the oxides are
preferred.
 

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

Date: Sun, 08 Aug 1999 19:01:49 -0700
From: shudson@lightspeed.bc.ca (Steven Hudson)
Subject: Re: Dispatch From Crescent City Con

...
>>They sold out of the first edition that fast.  The Second printing is just
>>a bug fix.
>
>How many did they print/sell?

  All of them?                (sorry, traffic was low... :> )

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

Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 13:58:46 +1000 
From: "Hughes, Michael" <Michael.Hughes@cbr.defence.gov.au>
Subject: SEC: UNCLASSIFIED: Effects of stats on skill rolls

Hey dudes, I was wondering what you various TMLers felt about the influence
of stats on traveller task rolls? 

Personally, I hated the T4 and TNE's approach (too much emphasis on the
stats IMO and not enough on skill) and like some felt that CT and MT didn't
have enough influence (I think MT's stat DMs were +1 if an applicable stat
was 5-9, +2 if A-D and +3 if F?). 

So I've just been using the MT system re-jigged as per below. Those with
average stats have a slightly reduced bonus and those with higher a much
better bonus). If more than was stat is applicable then I've averaged the DM
(rounded up if positive, rounded down if negative eg. 0.5 becomes +1, -0.5
becomes -1).


Stat Value	Task DM
1	-3
2-3	-2
4-5	-1
6-8	-
9-A	+1
B-C	+2
D	+3
E	+4
F	+5

What do people think? Too Hot? Too Cold or just right?

'This is not intended to be a trademark infringement on Brothers Grimm
products'

- - Michael 

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

Date: Sun, 08 Aug 1999 21:05:44 -0700
From: "Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella" <xrp@sierratel.com>
Subject: Re: House Rules

Silly me, I meant WW3, as in World War III, aka Armegedon, etc. A limited 
nuclear exchange in that game. I hadn't thought about others not having the
rules, as I am indeed a very silly elf. Well, it worked like this: Every
term served by the Chr's in either civilian or military occupations ends in
a roll of a ten sided, by which a roll equal to or less than the term spent
indicated the start of the war, which equaled a draft if you were not
already in the military. You could use any die however.

And I got to enter the answer to the acronym! Cool, I got there first.
BZA
////////////////////////////////////////
Akella 0609 C654474-6 S kk+ hi++ as+ va+ dr+ da+ so@ zh- vi+  A523
IMTU tc++ ?t4 ru@ 3i+(-) c+ jt au@ st- ls+ pi+ ta@ he+

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

Date: Sun, 08 Aug 1999 21:32:35 -0700
From: "Justice Hypercleats" <eris@sierratel.com>
Subject: Re: Traveller Symbols

Wow Alan, thanks, that is a whole wad of juicy data to chew on. When I was
playing the Spinward Marches the Sword Worlds employed us in a
circuitous(sp?) way, and were always a very mysterious entity. And players
were *never* allowed to look at most of the books, so when they went to the
elements, I lost all chance at those, and the game had gone out of print and
become rare. Thank The Nameless that there seems to be a strong resurgence
in the game. This info you posted will be a wonderful addition to my web
page.

You mention an erratic political history, I'll bet each world is highly
individualistic like Scotland and such, eh? Maybe each world has it's own
crest? I don't need it for the sector overview obviously, but they would be
nice for chrome. Like I said, I would like to adhere to canon (mainly
Millers), but I am willing to extrapolate from written description.
BZA

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

Date: Sun, 08 Aug 1999 21:15:56 -0700
From: "Glenn M. Goffin" <gmgoffin@pacbell.net>
Subject: Re: Spacedocks...

> From: "The Roc" <roc@kewl.com.au>

> ObTrav:  How do other GM's get around this problem?  There are military
> grade turret weaponry in a warehouse that *have to be loaded from there* a
> few cliks from the Starport and smuggled out.  The activity will draw
> attention and by the worlds laws, gives a high chance of being caught.
> Therefore the only option is to sneak past the sensors and land, load and
> sneak backout...

I think you can jam the local sensors (except possibly the Mk. 1
Eyeball), especially if you're at a higher tech level.  A more elegant
approach is to convince the sensor that it's just seeing the same thing
it was seeing before you flew by -- empty space.  This would entail
messing with the communications between the sensor's inputs and its
computer outputs.  

You can also knock a hole in their coverage area by sabotaging or
otherwise taking out a sensor that covers some part of the sky.  Of
course, there will some redundancy, so you may have to take out several
sensors or the whole grid to achieve this, and there goes secrecy.

Bribery-3 will get you a lot of advantages, too, of course.

That's off the top of my head.  The bottom line is that, under ordinary
circumstances, you can't sneak a ship onto a high-tech high-pop world
that does extensive official monitoring without doing something out of
the ordinary.  

- --Glenn

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

Date: Sun, 08 Aug 1999 21:30:51 -0700
From: "Glenn M. Goffin" <gmgoffin@pacbell.net>
Subject: Re: Habitable worlds in the Spinward Marches (long)

> From: Bruce Johnson <johnson@pharmacy.arizona.edu>
 
> I looked at the data (GENIE 2nd Survey) and came up with evodence to
> support the 'People move to garden worlds' theories.
> 
> I defined a 'habitable' world as having a thin, standard or dense ATM,
> basically one that we can breathe unaided, and having 1 or greater
> HYD..ya gotta have free water.
> 
> this is what I get for the Spinward Marches

[deletion]

> So, almost 90% of the population is living on less than half of the
> worlds listed.
> 
> For the entire Imperium  I get the following:

[deletion]
> 
> # worlds        % Population
> 36.52%          54.22%
> 
> Does this mean that the Imperium as a whole lives on uninhabitable
> worlds?
> 
> No, I just think it means that the the survey data is bad. The program
> used to create the Second Survey data suffered some clear problems with
> random number generation (cf. Mark Gelina's artcle on collapsing worlds
> in Challenge 76) The Spinward Marches has more of it's population on
> 'habitable' worlds than any other sector, by almost 15%. (The lowest is
> Magyar, with only 22% of it's population living on such worlds.)

I haven't yet analyzed your sector-by-sector analysis, but I'm not sure
the survey data is bad.  It could be that the more recently settled
sectors still have their populations primarily on habitable worlds, and
haven't yet spread to the worlds that are more difficult to live on. 
This would make sense in the Spinward Marches, where, as you point out,
some 90% of the population lives on less than half the worlds.  What do
we know about settlement patterns that would help us analyze your
sector-by-sector table in this light?

- --Glenn

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

Date: Sun, 08 Aug 1999 21:43:56 -0700
From: "Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella" <xrp@sierratel.com>
Subject: Re: SEC: UNCLASSIFIED: Effects of stats on skill rolls

> Hey dudes, I was wondering what you various TMLers felt about the influence
> of stats on traveller task rolls?
<snip>
> What do people think? Too Hot? Too Cold or just right?

Cool, I like this alot, at least as a start. I'm thinking that some skills
are more dependent on attributes, some more on skill, some may be balanced.
As a guideline, I would say the more technical a skill is (martial arts,
nuclear physics, computer prog., etc.) , the more it would rely on the
training, Whereas the more instinctual abilities (climbing, swimming,
brawling), would lean towards the attributes. Just thinking.
BZA
////////////////////////////////////////
Akella 0609 C654474-6 S kk+ hi++ as+ va+ dr+ da+ so@ zh- vi+  A523
IMTU tc++ ?t4 ru@ 3i+(-) c+ jt au@ st- ls+ pi+ ta@ he+

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

Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 15:06:52 +1000
From: "The Roc" <roc@kewl.com.au>
Subject: Re: Re Skill Limits and CGen

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Eris Reddoch <eris@pcola.gulf.net>
To: <traveller@lists.imagiconline.com>
Sent: Sunday, August 08, 1999 2:36 PM
Subject: Re: Re Skill Limits and CGen



>
> MT, sure! But we were talking about CT. ;-J  However, I don't think the
Int+Edu limit is actually *in* CT...at least, I really don't remember it
being in my LBB's. There was a seven term limit, though, IIRC.
>
> Eris

Was it in the journals at all?  I know it wasn't in books 1, 2, or 3... but
it was in use in my old games before MT was even a twinkle in a designer's
eye?  Just don't recall when/where it came about though??

- -- The Roc

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

Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 01:03:16 -0400
From: Glenn Grant <neo@total.net>
Subject: GT 2nd Edition

 Eris sez,
>On 08/07/99 at 08:35 AM,  "Douglas E. Berry" <dberry@hooked.net> said:
>>>Yeah, what are the most profound differences!!! What is prompting this 2nd
>>>edition so early in the shelf-life of G:T?
>>They sold out of the first edition that fast.  The Second printing is
>>just a bug fix.
>
>That's the thing to find out. Is it a second *printing* or a second
>*edition*.  A second printing is usually the same as first, sometimes with
>with errata fixes added. A second edition usually has rewritten sections
>and adds or drops sections.
>
>I'm guessing this is really a second printing with just the known errata
>added.

Look for a dozen new illustrations by yours truly. And perhaps other
artists, I dunno.

Best,

 + GMG +



                        Glenn Grant
                      <neo@total.net>
       "I hate waking up in someone else's nightmare.
  I especially hate waking up in someone else's bathroom."
                        --The Maxx

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

Date: Sun, 08 Aug 1999 21:47:39 -0700
From: "Glenn M. Goffin" <gmgoffin@pacbell.net>
Subject: Re:  Hi!

> From: "Kiri Aradia Morgan" <tiamat@tsoft.com>

> Is there anyone playing Traveller in San Francisco now?

Oh, yes, lots of us.  We had a big dinner at Denny's in San Jose during
BayCon.  Let's do lunch sometime.  Welcome to the Bay Area.

- --Glenn

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

Date: Sun, 08 Aug 1999 21:58:56 -0700
From: "Glenn M. Goffin" <gmgoffin@pacbell.net>
Subject: Re:  Civilian BD

> From: dadams@parracity.nsw.gov.au

> I am thrashing an idea of 'Roughnecks in Space" campaign, based on a mobile
> contruction ship. What I am looking for is ideas for a GTL12 Civilian Power
> Suit , designed for :

How about buying surplus?  When the Marines upgrade from TL 15 BD to TL
15.01 BD, it probably transfers some of the older stuff to colonial
forces, but there may be BD units in such bad condition that they are no
longer suitable for military applications.  However, they may still be
perfectly serviceable (or able to be made so for a few KCr) for civilian
applications like yours.  This could give an interesting flavor to your
setting.  Maybe only some percentage of the power suits are actually
ex-Marine BD.  Maybe some are of non-Imperial origin.  Maybe some, of
whatever origin, were scavenged from battlefields after a war.

- --Glenn

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

Date: Sun, 08 Aug 1999 22:17:56 -0700
From: "Glenn M. Goffin" <gmgoffin@pacbell.net>
Subject: Heraldry (was Re: Planetology 102 part 3)

> From: "Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella" <xrp@sierratel.com>
> Subject: Re: Planetology 102 part 3

> Does anyone know what the official Zhod color is? I'm still working on that
> Spinward Marches page and doing the political sections now. How about the
> Sword Worlds? I am also looking for any other sybols in canon, except the
> 3I sun. I have alot of those. Heraldric devices, subsector/sector/world
> crests, etc. Thanks!

I'm not sure that canon sets out an official Zhodani color.  The
Imperium, as we recall, doesn't have an official color because some
species can't see some colors.  The Zhodani Consulate, as another big
and old empire, has probably had the same experience with other species
as citizens and come to the same conclusion.  

For the Sword Worlds, I always use red, white, and blue, reflecting both
their French and Scandinavian roots (except for a few folks there who
continue to prefer yellow crosses on blue fields).  The particular
patterns in which those colors occur (crosses, stripes, etc.) vary from
world to world (ok, they vary depending on my mood when I'm painting
figures).  

- --Glenn

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

Date: Sun, 08 Aug 1999 22:29:05 -0700
From: "Glenn M. Goffin" <gmgoffin@pacbell.net>
Subject: Re: Planetology 102 part 3

> From: "Douglas E. Berry" <dberry@hooked.net>
> Subject: Re: Planetology 102 part 3
> 
> At 04:04 PM 8/6/99 -0700, you wrote:
> 
> >Does anyone know what the official Zhod color is? I'm still working on that
 
> based on _Fifth Frontier War_, the Zho's use blue.  I see them as a blue
> and silver type.
> 
> The Sword Worlds use black on green, the Confederation logo is three swords
> crossed like this:

Doug is using the colors of the counters in the Fifth Frontier War
game.  I'm not sure that's a good source.  For example, the military
convention for tactical mapping used to be (maybe still is) that your
own forces were drawn in red ink, and the enemy's in blue -- which is
the 5FW game from the Imperial player's perspective.  

On the other hand, the logos on the counters match canon texts (Imperial
starburst), even if the canon texts post-date the game (the Zhodani
triple-circle thing got picked up in MT).

- --Glenn

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

Date: Sun, 08 Aug 1999 22:42:18 -0700
From: "Glenn M. Goffin" <gmgoffin@pacbell.net>
Subject: Re:  Traveller Diplomacy Notes

> From: Steve Daniels <stevedaniels@portcaddo.com>

> I'm just to busy to really work on a map, so someone else with interest will 
> have to pick up the ball.

I may be able to do that in the fall.  I was doing some back of envelope
doodling on this the other day.

> I did do some preliminary work.  Here are my notes:
> 
> To parallel the standard Dip. map, I think these breakdowns
> of number of territories and supply centers works:

I tend to agree with your breakdowns, and I want to put in some supply
centers that are not attached to the major powers.

> Forces:
> The basis for having a distinction between Fleet and Army
> forces, as in the standard game, goes away in Traveller.

You're right, but I still like the idea of convoys and stuff.  I'll have
to think about it.  Your rift/lower jump navies idea might work out
well.

- --Glenn

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

Date: Sun, 08 Aug 1999 22:46:09 -0700
From: "Glenn M. Goffin" <gmgoffin@pacbell.net>
Subject: Re: Hi! 

> From: "Keven R. Pittsinger" <jamstar@accesstoledo.com>

> What, no TMLers in the PRB???

That would be me, comrade.

- --Glenn

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

Date: Sun, 08 Aug 1999 22:53:54 -0700
From: "Glenn M. Goffin" <gmgoffin@pacbell.net>
Subject: Re: Traveller Symbols

> From: "Alan Bradley" <alanb@elf.brisnet.org.au>

> Even more interesting though, is the fact that some Imperial worlds were
> originally settled by Sword Worlders.  Documented cases include Margesi and
> Garda-Vilis/Tanoose.  Off the top of my head I'm not certain if it is
> stated explicitly that Vilis was too, but that's the assumption I make.  (I
> think it is stated somewhere.)

In my Traveller universe, Asgard has many historical and religious sites
held in great reverence by the Sword Worlders, as they date back to
early SW settlement of the region. It is a source of great and ongoing
discomfort that the Imperium owns Asgard -- but on the other hand, at
least Joyeuse and Gram aren't going to war over the treatment of
pilgrims to Asgard by whichever of them was occupying it at any given
time.

So I made a house rule for Fifth Frontier War that the Sword Worlds'
initial advance into the Imperium has to include the liberation of
Asgard, and it has to be jointly and equally occupied by forces from
Joyeuse and Gram, or by Zhodani without any SW forces present.  (As if
the SW didn't have enough handicaps in that game.)

- --Glenn

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

Date: Sun, 8 Aug 1999 23:22:31 -0700
From: "Legate Legion" <legate@futureone.com>
Subject: Re: Civilian BD

From: Glenn M. Goffin <gmgoffin@pacbell.net>
Subject: Re: Civilian BD


>> From: dadams@parracity.nsw.gov.au

>How about buying surplus?  When the Marines upgrade from TL 15 BD to TL
>15.01 BD, it probably transfers some of the older stuff to colonial
>forces, but there may be BD units in such bad condition that they are no
>longer suitable for military applications.  However, they may still be
>perfectly serviceable (or able to be made so for a few KCr) for civilian
>applications like yours.  This could give an interesting flavor to your
>setting.  Maybe only some percentage of the power suits are actually
>ex-Marine BD.  Maybe some are of non-Imperial origin.  Maybe some, of
>whatever origin, were scavenged from battlefields after a war.


    And, what about TL12, TL13, TL14 BD?  I mean there are more TL12, TL13,
TL14 worlds than TL15 in the 3I & as the IN & IMC use TL15 gear, where is
the outlet for TL12, TL13, TL14 BD?  Mercs & Local Forces, but they cannot
handle the output of all of this gear, so where else?  The Civil Sector,
that's who.  I say outfit them with TL14 BD & have done with it.

Legate Legion
ICQ # 8973001
legate@futureone.com


"A man may fight for many things; his country, his principles, his friends,
the glistening tear on the cheek of a golden child. But personally, I'd
mudwrestle my own mother for a ton of cash, an amusing clock, and a stack of
French porn." - Edmund Blackadder

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

Date: Sun, 8 Aug 1999 23:22:31 -0700
From: "Legate Legion" <legate@futureone.com>
Subject: Re: Civilian BD

From: Glenn M. Goffin <gmgoffin@pacbell.net>
Subject: Re: Civilian BD


>> From: dadams@parracity.nsw.gov.au

>How about buying surplus?  When the Marines upgrade from TL 15 BD to TL
>15.01 BD, it probably transfers some of the older stuff to colonial
>forces, but there may be BD units in such bad condition that they are no
>longer suitable for military applications.  However, they may still be
>perfectly serviceable (or able to be made so for a few KCr) for civilian
>applications like yours.  This could give an interesting flavor to your
>setting.  Maybe only some percentage of the power suits are actually
>ex-Marine BD.  Maybe some are of non-Imperial origin.  Maybe some, of
>whatever origin, were scavenged from battlefields after a war.


    And, what about TL12, TL13, TL14 BD?  I mean there are more TL12, TL13,
TL14 worlds than TL15 in the 3I & as the IN & IMC use TL15 gear, where is
the outlet for TL12, TL13, TL14 BD?  Mercs & Local Forces, but they cannot
handle the output of all of this gear, so where else?  The Civil Sector,
that's who.  I say outfit them with TL14 BD & have done with it.

Legate Legion
ICQ # 8973001
legate@futureone.com


"A man may fight for many things; his country, his principles, his friends,
the glistening tear on the cheek of a golden child. But personally, I'd
mudwrestle my own mother for a ton of cash, an amusing clock, and a stack of
French porn." - Edmund Blackadder

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

Date: Sun, 08 Aug 99 23:57:27 -0500
From: "Eris Reddoch" <eris@pcola.gulf.net>
Subject: Re: Re Skill Limits

On 08/08/99 at 05:58 PM,  Michael Peters <travelleri@home.com> said:


>"William F. Hostman" wrote:
>>
><snipped>
>> And yes, I've been playing and running trav since the LBB days... I still
>> prefer the integration of MT... even tho it is little more than strikerized
>> CT with the DGP task system.

>And the problems with this are....?

I suspect William will say, "None." ;->

Now, *I* have some problems with MT, but I'll admit they are mostly
errata based.  See, I bought one of the first boxed sets of MT so I
got the most errata'ed Traveller there was, and it "turned me right
off."

Otherwise, my problems are I don't like having to divide
characteristics by 5 all the time, the difficulty levels aren't
intuitive to me, and I think the combat system is overly
complicated.

Say, what are the full characteristic used for in MT anyway?  Well,
other than recording wounds, that is.  

Why not just divide the characteristics by 5 when it is generated
and just use *that*  and be done with it?

Eris
- -- 
- -----------------------------------------------------------
"Eris Reddoch" <eris@pcola.gulf.net>    using MR/2 ICE #245
- -----------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Mon, 09 Aug 99 00:02:44 -0500
From: "Eris Reddoch" <eris@pcola.gulf.net>
Subject: Re: Re Skill Limits and CGen

On 08/08/99 at 07:48 PM,  SciFiFan56@aol.com said:

>>MT, sure!  But we were talking about CT.  ;-J However, I don't
>>think the Int+Edu limit is actually *in* CT...at least, I really
>>don't remember it being in my LBB's.  There was a seven term
>>limit, though, IIRC.

>The Int + Edu limit is in CT on page 29, first column of the
>Traveller Book. 

It's not in *my* copy of CT.  I have the original edition of the
LBB's.  It must have been added in a later edition, but I'd ignore
it anyway.

Say isn't the Traveller Book a BBB, not a LBB?  <g>

Eris
- -- 
- -----------------------------------------------------------
"Eris Reddoch" <eris@pcola.gulf.net>    using MR/2 ICE #245
- -----------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Mon, 09 Aug 99 01:22:54 -0500
From: "Eris Reddoch" <eris@pcola.gulf.net>
Subject: Re: SEC: UNCLASSIFIED: Effects of stats on skill rolls

Ooo! You shouldn't get me started! <bg>

On 08/09/99 at 01:58 PM,  "Hughes, Michael" <Michael.Hughes@cbr.defence.gov.au> said:

>Hey dudes, I was wondering what you various TMLers felt about the
>influence of stats on traveller task rolls? 

>Personally, I hated the T4 and TNE's approach (too much emphasis on
>the stats IMO and not enough on skill) and like some felt that CT and
>MT didn't have enough influence 

Yeah, same here.  I think Skills should be a little more important
than Attributes, say 60/40, or saying it another way if Skills range
from 0 to 6 (with a very rare 7 or 8) then Characteristics should
range from 0 to 4 (with a very rare 5).

My preferred approach has been to inflate the number of skill levels
you get. IOW, if Attributes range from 2 to 15 then Skills should
range from 3 to 25, and then boost the numbers needed for the Task
Difficulties.  That's what KB's methods did, too.

Although, the more I tinker, the more I think something close to
MT's approach might be easier to implement overall.  I think it
could be implemented with the fewest changes and maintain 
compatibility to the whole body of CT/MT work.  

>So I've just been using the MT system re-jigged as per below. Those
>with average stats have a slightly reduced bonus and those with
>higher a much better bonus). If more than was stat is applicable then
>I've averaged the DM (rounded up if positive, rounded down if
>negative eg. 0.5 becomes +1, -0.5 becomes -1).

>Stat Value	Task DM
>1      -3
>2-3    -2
>4-5    -1
>6-8    -
>9-A    +1
>B-C    +2
>D      +3
>E      +4
>F      +5

>What do people think? Too Hot? Too Cold or just right?

Pretty cold, I'm afraid.  ;-\ The stat range is still *too* broad,
given the number of skill levels the CT/MT/TNE/T4/T5 allow.  Shoot,
Michael, that's still the same as a *1* to *9* spread!  And it's
going to wreak the Task Difficulty levels.

1.  How about something that produces a FUDGE like range, like
(Stat-7)/2, round toward 0.  Almost everyone will be -1 to +1 (range
of 3, with skills ranging from 0 to 6).

2.  OTOH, I think STAT/3, dn at Chargen time and don't use *ever*
use the whole STAT would be simpler.  You get the 0 to 4 with a rare
5 that I think fits with 0 to 6+ skills.

I guess STAT/4 might be okay as a compromise, too, but if used, I'd
change the Task Difficulty levels to 3/6/9/12/15/18/21...I'd do that
with /5, anyway. <g>

     Method  Method
Stat  One     Two     STAT/4
 2    -2       0        0
 3    -2       1        0
 4    -1       1        1
 5    -1       1        1
 6     0       2        1
 7     0       2        1
 8     0       2        2
 9    +1       3        2
10    +1       3        2
11    +2       3        2
12    +2       4        3
13    +3       4        3
14    +3       4        3
15    +4       5        3

Now, about the Task System...<g>...the thing that bugs me about MT's
system is that it starts at 3 and *then* goes by 4's.  If the
average value from a Stat is one more than in MT, then the task
levels could start at 4 and go by 4's as in...

 4+ Easy
 8+ Routine
12+ Difficult
16+ Formidable
20+ Staggering*
24+ Hopeless*
28+ Impossible!*

*Staggering is what MT called Impossible, Hopeless, really is
hopeless, and Impossible *really* is. <g>

The question may arise, "What about Injuries?"  Well, personally,
I'm for going to a FUDGE style Wound Track based on STR+END as in...

DR=(STR+END)
           Light    Major                 Near
 Scratch   Wound    Wound  Incapacitated  Death
   DR      DR*2     DR*3       DR*4       DR*5
  O O O    O  O       O          O          O

Example: Str 7(2), End 8(2)
DR=(2+2)=4
           Light    Major                 Near
 Scratch   Wound    Wound  Incapacitated  Death
  1 - 4    5 - 8    9 - 12    13 - 16      17+
  O O O     O O       O          O          O
  
Light Wound:  All Tasks 1 level harder until healed.  Routine task
(END) to remain on your feet.

Major Wound:  All Tasks 2 levels harder until healed.  Formidable
task (END) to remain standing.  Routine task (END) to remain
conscious. May die without treatment.

Incapacitated:  All Tasks 3 levels harder until healed.  Impossible
to remain standing.  Formidable task (END) to remain conscious.
Will die without treatment.

Near Death: Unconscious and near death, or dead (GM option).
 
Didn't I say, "Don't get me started?" <g>

Eris 
- -- 
- -----------------------------------------------------------
"Eris Reddoch" <eris@pcola.gulf.net>    using MR/2 ICE #245
- -----------------------------------------------------------

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

End of Traveller-digest V1999 #929
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