Traveller-digest       Friday, August 13 1999       Volume 1999 : Number 955



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

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Re: Oops... Off Topic...
The "Its Harder Than I Thought" rule (Was: What's the News on T5?)
Re: Natural Disasters
More back to topic?
Re: Oops... Off Topic...
Re: HEPlaR vs T-Plates
Re: Milieu 0 & stuff
Re: More back to topic?
Research Call: Terran Material
Re: A Question to the list
Re: Reprint CT 
Re: Natural Disasters
RE: Oops... Off Topic...
Re: Natural Disasters
Re: Explain to me how radios work
Re: Natural Disasters
Re: Explain to me how radios work
Re: Iron Chef
Re: Oops... Off Topic...
gone for a week or so
The Babe Scale and the Gwendi Chronicle

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 08:24:43 -0400
From: "Jory Earl" <j-man@iname.com>
Subject: Re: Oops... Off Topic...

Legate said :
- -----

    Could be, & thank you, I am very open about my sexual orientation.
    To bring it back on-topic for this list.  *weg*  What types of "toys"
would be around for BDSM'ers in the 3I?  I can see Grav Restraints, & maybe
touchwands that induce pain, but are there anything else?
- -----

I have never understood why some enjoy pain in a situation that is supposed
to be pleasureable.  I myself abhor pain and will go to great lengths to
avoid any.  :)))

Which is why I have absolutely no understanding of the pain thing in sex.
I'm completely baffled by it.  I lost one girlfriend years ago because I
flatly refused to use a whip on her.  Thought she was dodgy.  :)))
___________________________________________________________
 J-Man
 ICQ# 2843475
 New Hampshire - U.S.A.
 Email : j-man@iname.com
 Home Page : http://www.geocities.com/~jman037/
___________________________________________________________

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

Date: Sat, 14 Aug 1999 00:20:08 +1200
From: "Andrew Moffatt-Vallance" <a.vallance@netaccess.co.nz>
Subject: The "Its Harder Than I Thought" rule (Was: What's the News on T5?)

From:           	"Eris Reddoch" <eris@pcola.gulf.net>
Date sent:      	Thu, 12 Aug 99 21:47:54 -0500

> On 08/13/99 at 01:38 PM,  "Andrew Moffatt-Vallance" <a.vallance@netaccess.co.nz> said:

> >I agree. I found the core T4 system to be excellant. My biggest gripe
> >was always the skills vs stats argument, but that seems to have been
> >fixed with the "Its Harder Than I Thought" (IHTIT) rule. With the
> >IHTIT rule, the system works wonderfully. For me T4 was able to
> >recapture the simplicity of CT and add in the smooth playability of
> >MT.

> ...and that darn d3 at Difficult?  So, shoot me!  Having that *1* d3
> in the task system just twists my shorts.

I never really had too much of a problem with the half die. Sure it does
stick out like a sore thumb a bit, AFAIK it really ain't that bad.

> BTW, would you review the IHTIT rule for me?  I remember the
> discussion starting, heck I remember being involved in it, but I
> think I missed the final result due to internet static.

The IHTIT rule is neat and simple. If your skill isn't equal to the number
of (whole) dice being rolled, then the level of difficulty increases by two.
Thus when your skill 1 dex 15 med student decides to try brain surgery
they all of a sudden find that their lack of skill makes things a whole lot
harder. The only modifier is that JoT can be used to "bump up" a skill
for the purposes of avoiding the IHTIT rule (ie your skill 1, dex 15 med
student can avoid the penalty if they have sufficent JoT skill to bring
their skill up to the requisite level, but you're still only skill 1 when
making the roll).

The down side of the IHTIT rule is that it makes the half dice rather
more neccessary (otherwise skill 2 characters get hit on a difficult
task). Still you can get around this by making the IHTIT rule kick in
when the number of dice exceeds skill by more than 1.

However in my games I still use my orignal system. I don't rate tasks as
average, difficult, formidable etc, just by the number of dice to be rolled.
Thus a player gets told its a 2d or 2.5d or 3d task etc. And the IHTIT gives
a penalty equal to the number of skill levels short the character is. Thus
a skill 1 character attempting a 5d task gets it bumped up by four levels
(making it a 9d task). Its a little more complex than the T5 version, but
over the two years or so I've been running T4/5, I've found the extra level
of complexity doesn't slow play down.


Andrew etc
http://users.netaccess.co.nz/amv/
    Listening to way to much Dave Brubeck

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 08:27:16 -0400
From: "Jory Earl" <j-man@iname.com>
Subject: Re: Natural Disasters

Leonard asks :
- -----
Did it mention that this stuff releases *airborne* neurotoxins? After
learning the hard way, researchers are now studying it with stronger
precautions than AIDS labs use. Not *quite* up to "Ebola" standards.
- -----

Oh yes it did.  It mentioned the first researchers lost memory, had brain
damage, etc, all by working around water with that virus in it.  The real
nasty thing about it is that it is NATURALLY occurring..  Another thing is
it could be anywhere...Say you and the kids go up to the lake for some
recreation..You could all come back pretty screwed up.
___________________________________________________________
 J-Man
 ICQ# 2843475
 New Hampshire - U.S.A.
 Email : j-man@iname.com
 Home Page : http://www.geocities.com/~jman037/
___________________________________________________________

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 23:06:07 +1000
From: "The Roc" <roc@kewl.com.au>
Subject: More back to topic?

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Legate Legion <legate@futureone.com>
To: <traveller@lists.imagiconline.com>
Sent: Friday, August 13, 1999 9:27 PM
Subject: Re: Oops... Off Topic...



>
>     Could be, & thank you, I am very open about my sexual orientation.
>     To bring it back on-topic for this list.  *weg*  What types of "toys"
> would be around for BDSM'ers in the 3I?  I can see Grav Restraints, &
maybe
> touchwands that induce pain, but are there anything else?
>
> Legate Legion

On topic:  BDSM recreational drugs?  Chemical (drugs) technology is huge in
many sci-fi settings, this has to be a derivative??
The electronics and computer aspects should make any kinkster's heart
flutter?  ;^)

- -- The Roc

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 23:10:23 +1000
From: "The Roc" <roc@kewl.com.au>
Subject: Re: Oops... Off Topic...

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Jory Earl <j-man@iname.com>
To: <traveller@lists.imagiconline.com>
Sent: Friday, August 13, 1999 10:24 PM
Subject: Re: Oops... Off Topic...


> Legate said :
> -----
>
>     Could be, & thank you, I am very open about my sexual orientation.
>     To bring it back on-topic for this list.  *weg*  What types of "toys"
> would be around for BDSM'ers in the 3I?  I can see Grav Restraints, &
maybe
> touchwands that induce pain, but are there anything else?
> -----
>
> I have never understood why some enjoy pain in a situation that is
supposed
> to be pleasureable.  I myself abhor pain and will go to great lengths to
> avoid any.  :)))
>
> Which is why I have absolutely no understanding of the pain thing in sex.
> I'm completely baffled by it.  I lost one girlfriend years ago because I
> flatly refused to use a whip on her.  Thought she was dodgy.  :)))

Some say it's (endorphins) akin to an addictive drug, I don't accept pain
either, so I honestly cannot say... but people *do* get "high" from it,
believe it or not.

- -- The Roc

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 09:13:45 -0400
From: Thad Coons <Sapience@compuserve.com>
Subject: Re: HEPlaR vs T-Plates

Leonard Erickson replied:

>> No rehash of these points is required. What I would like 
>> to know is if any heretic has worked out what kind of power
>> requirements contragrav and T-plates would require if they
>> *didn't* violate conservation of energy?
>> Never mind what they do to General Relativity.

>The problem is that because theuy don't use reaction mass,
>T=Plates *have* to "create" the ships kinetic energy by pushing
> or pulling on *something*. That gives you a reference frame to
> "balance" the enery in.

Not a problem for me: IMTU, T-Plates do conserve momentum (and
obey it's corollary, Newton's 3rd), by (somehow) exerting an
equal and opposite force through the gravitational field on the
bodies that create it; e.g. planets, & stars. These are so much
more massive that the effect on their motion is negligible. The
drive appears to be reactionless, since it requires no reaction
mass, but there is a reaction that appears elsewhere.

>Alas, it also means that it takes *four* times as much energy to
>go from 1 km/sec to 2 km/sec as it does to go from 0 to 1
>km/sec. 
>In short, the energy budget is exponential with velocity. I can
>dig out the equations we worked out for distance and velocity
>based on a given time at a constant *energy* expenditure.
> It might be practical for getting to/from jump points. But
>you'd be sitting ducks for anyone with a decent reaction drive.

I worked on the problem a little. I can live with a
handwave that T-plates are limited to the designed G or thrust
rating at velocities below 100 km/s*G-rating (unless I dropped a
decimal somewhere) but that they use less power than FFS2 gives 
them. Above that velocity, their power consumption has a constant 
maximum value, but the G or thrust rating is inversely 
proportional to the velocity.

But that only covers *kinetic* energy. Conservation of
gravitational potential energy at constant power requires a
combination of: mass of the body exerting the gravitational force
on the ship, distance from that body, thrust, and rate of ascent.
All these are a bit difficult to calculate on the fly...I thought
of trying to do some tables.
  

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 09:13:50 -0400
From: Thad Coons <Sapience@compuserve.com>
Subject: Re: Milieu 0 & stuff

Leonard Erickson wrote:

>Not so minor detail. With space based telescopes, *amateur*
>astronomers will be not only detecting gas giants, but likely
>plotting orbits of even Earth sized worlds from 10-20 parsecs.

>The only reason that stars a single parsec outside the "borders"
>aren't mapped to the point of having most planetary sizes and
>orbits plotted correctly will be if the astronomers in the 3-5
>parsec radius of them *inside( the borders were complete and
>total incompetents.

>The proper thing for those scouts to be sent off to do is deploy
>large, flimsy dish antennas (at least a hundred meters or more
>across) to listen for evidence of civilization in the systems.. 

>"Jumping blind" isn't going to happen anywhere *near* a star
>with space based observatories. 

     Well, yes, but there's a limit to what even a PEMS-15
Science grade sensor (at 200,000 MCr!) can detect at a range of a 
subsector plus. There was enough competition for observing time
on the UofS big dish that charting systems 20+ parsecs outside
the border had slipped down the priority list. Sylea had fought
naval battles two subsectors away within living memory, and the
new wave of advance recon was expected to be that far in a year
or two. Scouts had operated as far as the neighboring sectors.
     The planned MO for advance Recon missions was to do a quick
first look at a several worlds at a time with craft no larger
than necessary, smaller than was ordinarily used for first survey
work. Each of these would jump into the outsystem of a star and
spend a week: refueling, getting a good system map (all the
planets and major moons), making observations of the surrounding
systems (so the next recon team out that way could go a parsec or
few further), and looking at planets in the life zone from a few
AU or so away to get a rough classification of physical data and
any observable population or TL. It would then go onto the next.
    After the data was returned and analyzed, follow-up survey
missions would take a closer look at anything interesting,
threatening, or close enough to the Federation border.
     The very first missions were intended to work the kinks out
of this new Recon MO, train a new group of scout recruits close
to home, and most of all set up for the follow-up surveys, rather
than find anything that wasn't already known.  Cleon hoped for
more, but technical astronomy wasn't one of his skill areas: his
scouts knew what to expect that close to home.
    When a gung-ho team of recruits at Sylea decided try using
typical scout mapping gear (PEMS-13) to check out the nearest two
parsecs, they found they couldn't detect several gas giants they
*knew* were there. So they checked the published data from the
UofS big dish, and were really shocked. Their instructors
shrugged their findings off as only to be expected, but Cleon
heard about it and made his own inquiries, which resulted in
giving PEMS-13.5 gear to advance Recon craft.
    The idea of bringing observation satellites and leaving them
to look deeper was tried, but within the first year Recon
abandoned the concept as mostly not worth the trouble and
expense. [At least, in my TU it did]
  

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 06:22:43 -0700
From: "Legate Legion" <legate@futureone.com>
Subject: Re: More back to topic?

From: The Roc <roc@kewl.com.au>
Subject: More back to topic?

>On topic:  BDSM recreational drugs?  Chemical (drugs) technology is huge in
>many sci-fi settings, this has to be a derivative??

    That would violate S, S, & C.  Hell, I will not punish my subbie when I
have had one beer.  And, if a drug is around that intensifies pain, well
could it not be used for torture?

>The electronics and computer aspects should make any kinkster's heart
>flutter?  ;^)


    Well, remote control vibes are here, but what about a set of remote grav
restraints?  I.e. your subbie is walking along, you hit the remote & she is
spread eagle, floating in mid-air, & you can have your wicked way with her.
    Of what about a collar that tells you the physical condition of your
subbie?  How much pain she is feeling, how much pleasure, that sort of
thing.
    And, what about a computer game based upon BDSM?

Legate Legion
ICQ # 8973001
legate@futureone.com
http://www.futureone.com/~legate/index.htm

"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

"I am ready man, check it out, I am the ULTIMATE bad ass.
State-of-the-bad-ass-art.  You do not want to f*** with me.  Check it out!
Hey Ripley, don't worry. Me and my squad of ultimate bad-asses will protect
you. Check it out! Independently targeting particle beam phalanx...FWAP! Fry
half a city with this puppy.  We got tactical smart missiles, phase plasma
pulse rifles, RPGs, we got sonic, electronic, BALL breakers!  We got nukes,
we got knives, sharpsticks..." -Hudson, Aliens (1986)

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 09:30:49 EDT
From: JFZeigler@aol.com
Subject: Research Call: Terran Material

I'm working on the upcoming Solomani Rim book for G:T.  I've acquired
most of the sources I need, but I don't have copies of _Traveller's Digest_
issues 13 and 14, with the material on the Terran occupation.  Is anyone
willing to photocopy or loan copies?

(Yes, I know DGP material is off-limits for G:T.  I'm trying to avoid coming
into conflict with it, that's all.)

- ----------
Jon F. Zeigler: Mathematician, computer geek, amateur historian, freelance
writer, occasional scribbler of bad poetry
"For any statement, no matter how innocuous, there exists a nonempty
set of people who will take offense at it."

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 10:00:49 -0400
From: "Sword Worlder" <swordworlder@clinic.net>
Subject: Re: A Question to the list

Sure, rub it under our noses!  Put your star drive in hyper-gloat and give
it to us.  Nice guy. :-p

Don't have one, but I'll add it to my list of "must have" stuff.  (Now, what
was the number for that brit merc unit, let's see, need to look through my
back issues of SOF).

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The TRAVELLER Domain
http://www.downport.com
Colin Michael, Webslinger

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Ewan Quibell <E.D.Quibell@bton.ac.uk>
> Salurian Industries Orbital Service Module
>
> My question is, has anyone else got one ?

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 10:06:59 -0400
From: "Sword Worlder" <swordworlder@clinic.net>
Subject: Re: Reprint CT 

Well, yes and no.  It is a Collector Edition in a different format... but it
will ALL be there, as far as GDW CT is concerned.  Read the announcement at
http://www.downport.com/news

And don't forget, the Trav CD will be out for Christmas 2000! ;-)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The TRAVELLER Domain
http://www.downport.com
Colin Michael, Webslinger

- ----- Original Message -----
From: DaveShayne <daveshayne@email.msn.com>
> Did somebody say Marc was reprinting the CT Rules.
> Joy, Joy.
> Mine have suffered from years of use. (Much greater wear than my D&D)
> It would be quite nice to get some fresh replacements
>
> Oh I hope I read correctly.

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 07:48:08 -0700
From: Bruce Johnson <johnson@pharmacy.arizona.edu>
Subject: Re: Natural Disasters

Jory Earl wrote:

> Oh yes it did.  It mentioned the first researchers lost memory, had brain
> damage, etc, all by working around water with that virus in it.  The real
> nasty thing about it is that it is NATURALLY occurring..  Another thing is
> it could be anywhere...Say you and the kids go up to the lake for some
> recreation..You could all come back pretty screwed up.

Actually...no. It requires more than casual contact with the organism in the
water (not a virus, BTW, but a protozoan... a _big_ difference), as only
people handling the infected, sick fish were getting sick. Also the organism
has to be in just the right stage of it's life cycle for it to be infectious,
and it's an astonishingly complex life cycles (something like 6 or 8 stages,
IIRC..I can't find that issue right now)

OTOH, it points out avenues of research into Alzheimers (and many other
diseases with an unknown cause) that to my knowledge, haven't even been
_considered_ let alone investigated. With all our advances in cellular biology
and genetic engineering, basic microbiology has become a sadly neglected
field. If no one's looking for these things you're not going to find them.

If these guys hadn't been good enough to notice the symptoms in themselves,
we'd still be going along thinking that those few pathogenic protozoa only
cause intestinal woes, like giardia and amebic dysentery.

obTrav: Critters like this can obviously readily infect members of other
species. The people on a newly colonized planet sowly start realizing that
they're getting forgetful, irritable, and just feeling run-down. The med
scanners find no evidence of bacterial or viral infection, no obvious
metabolic imbalance stands out, and using filter masks dosn't improve matters...

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 11:02:48 -0500
From: "Moody, Danny M." <DMoody@bridge.com>
Subject: RE: Oops... Off Topic...

On Friday, 13 August 1999 06:34, Legate Legion [SMTP:legate@futureone.com]
wrote:
>     You know you do not have to.  *weg*  I didn't.  One thing I would
>     like
> to add is the idea of an orgasm inducer, would make the subbies life
> quite
> interesting, would it not?

Or, we could use it to become a *superhero*!  With the advent or neural
weapons, such an 'orgasmorator' would become possible.

http://www.cluborgazmo.com/

Tie 'em up Choda-Boy! :-)



 -- vargr1                                              UPP-8D9B85 --
The three principle virtues of a good programmer   |   vargr1@jcn1.com
 are Laziness, Impatience, and Hubris.             | dmoody@bridge.com
             ** Omnia dicta fortiora, si dicta latina. **           

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 11:08:33 -0500
From: "Smart, David J (David)" <dasmart@lucent.com>
Subject: Re: Natural Disasters

Leonard posted:
>
>> Leonard warns us :
>> -----
>> Grab a copy of Scientific American (the one with OXYGEN on the cover).
>> Read the article about Pfisteria(sp?). 
>>
>> *That* is one damn scary microrganism. Picture a strain that can invade
>> starship life support systems. 
>>
>> -------
>>
>> I just read Popular Mechanics, and it had an article about that too.
>
>Did it mention that this stuff releases *airborne* neurotoxins? After
>learning the hard way, researchers are now studying it with stronger
>precautions than AIDS labs use. Not *quite* up to "Ebola" standards. 
>
>But unlike AIDS, ebola, and other well known "scare" diseases, this
>stuff is *hardy*. The spores survive things like 30 minute immersions
>in bleach!

Yep.

A study in the medical journal The Lancet says the microorganism
causes a range of neurological and cognitive problems in humans.
Pfisteria has been responsible for massive fish kills in North Carolina
and the tributaries of Maryland's Chesapeake Bay. The authors of
the report studied 24 fishermen, recreational boaters and others who
had been exposed to the Pfisteria toxin during a fish kill on the
Pocomoke River in Maryland.

Not only were the brain scans of the fishermen abnormal, so were the
results of some cognitive tests. 

For example, the fishermen in the study were asked to identify the
colors of type printed in a list of words, while ignoring the words
themselves. They had a harder time with the test than people who had
not been exposed to pfisteria. 

The good news is that three to six months after the fishermen stopped
working in pfisteria-infested waters, their brain functions went back
to normal.

Combine this with the rules for BioWarfare Agents posted on the TML a
couple years back, and you've got nasty, nasty stuff.

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 14:36:42 +0100
From: Matt Clonfero <Matt-C@aetherem.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Explain to me how radios work

Leonard Erickson wrote:
>In mail you write:
>
>> Are you telling me that the cruddy little handset Tx/Rx units you can
>> buy are going to get a signal through a hill? We've already had one
>> poster with experience of the US Army's set (PRC-77, IIRC) which drops
>> out if you go into a fold in the ground.
>
>True. But a listener 20 miles *up* may be able to.

Which is what I said - 20 miles up has line-of-sight to the Tx.


>> In the meantime, the enemy COMSEC team with it's neutrino sensor and
>> maser commo hunts down and kills the drones...
>
>Actually, we are just about ready to deploy some drones that will do
>this sort of job and *not* be detectable via CG or neutrino emissions.
>They are basicly a small solar powered sailplane. 

How do you `stealth' a solar cell?

>Also, due to their very construction, they wind up being *very*
>stealthy. Much of the structure is either transparent to radar, absorbs
>radar, or just doesn't return a decent signal. 

Aetherem Vincere
Matt
- -- 
Matt Clonfero: Matt-C@aetherem.demon.co.uk    | To err is human, To forgive
My employer and I have a deal - I don't speak | is not Air Force Policy.
for them, and they don't speak for me.        |   -- Anon, ETPS.

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 13:28:01 -0400
From: "Jory Earl" <j-man@iname.com>
Subject: Re: Natural Disasters

David J Smart (DAVID!) had this to say :
- -----
The good news is that three to six months after the fishermen stopped
working in pfisteria-infested waters, their brain functions went back
to normal.
- -----

This indicates an inhibiter-effect, possibly in the neurons themselves.
___________________________________________________________
 J-Man
 ICQ# 2843475
 New Hampshire - U.S.A.
 Email : j-man@iname.com
 Home Page : http://www.geocities.com/~jman037/
___________________________________________________________

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 13:29:16 -0400
From: "Jory Earl" <j-man@iname.com>
Subject: Re: Explain to me how radios work

Matt asks :
- -----
How do you `stealth' a solar cell?
- -----

Oh very easy, you just spray it with non-reflecting black paint.

<snicker>
___________________________________________________________
 J-Man
 ICQ# 2843475
 New Hampshire - U.S.A.
 Email : j-man@iname.com
 Home Page : http://www.geocities.com/~jman037/
___________________________________________________________

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 10:38:12 -0700
From: "Kelly St.Clair" <kellys@efn.org>
Subject: Re: Iron Chef

>I'm just not sure which way to go with the ship exterior: a "castle" (as the 
>show is supposedly in one), or something resembling a Pokeball (hmmm, a 
>converted Tigress...)

"Iron Chef, I choose you!"
"IRON CHEF!"

(Sorry, I'll go back to lurking now...)



- --------------
Kelly St.Clair   "At last we will reveal our pants to the Jedi.  At last we
kellys@efn.org    will have revenge."

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 10:40:32 -0700
From: "Glenn M. Goffin" <gmgoffin@pacbell.net>
Subject: Re: Oops... Off Topic...

> From: "Legate Legion" <legate@futureone.com>
> Subject: Re: Oops... Off Topic...

>     To bring it back on-topic for this list.  *weg*  What types of "toys"
> would be around for BDSM'ers in the 3I?  I can see Grav Restraints, & maybe
> touchwands that induce pain, but are there anything else?

Larry Niven had a great device called the tasp.  It's a device that
stimulates the pleasure center of the brain -- remotely.  A common game
is to hang out in a public place and tasp random people for a fraction
of a second, but it has other applications, and is quite addictive.  

The precursor to the tasp was the wire.  It was an electrode implanted
in the brain that stimulated the pleasure center.  Addicts were called
wireheads.  

- --Glenn

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 10:45:52 -0700
From: "Glenn M. Goffin" <gmgoffin@pacbell.net>
Subject: gone for a week or so

I'm going to sign off for a week and a half to go where there are no
computers, no email, no cell phone service (the high Sierras).  So I
hope that, by the time I'm back you will have resolved all problems
relating to lesbian Aslan pirates using near-c asteroids as terror
weapons and any related subjects.

- --Glenn

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

Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 11:11:14 -0700
From: "Kiri Aradia Morgan" <tiamat@tsoft.com>
Subject: The Babe Scale and the Gwendi Chronicle

>d10 heresy?  Never!  I had some youngsters (okay, I was the oldest in my
20's when they were in their late teens - early twenties) in my campaign who
were typical males of the time... whenever there were encounters in bars
with members of the opposite sex, they always needed to know what they
looked like ("Is this chick a babe?"), so what easier way to determine than
with the oldest scale in the world for such things, the old "scale of 1 to
10 with 10 being the best" and what better tool to use than a good old d10?
:^)
>
Actually, I used to ask that same question about *male* NPC's when I started
playing.  (First of all, Countess Julissa had voracious appetites.  And
second of all, I was a 16-year-old girl.  Some things are universal.)

We used the same scale on NPC's of both genders, depending upon who was
asking.  At one point I did have a lesbian character.  No, she wasn't an
Aslan.

>However, with the establishment of the scale, it was only fair that they
had such a rating, but who wanted to be fair anyway... it was an NPC rule
;^)
>
As far as PC's were concerned, most of us had such a good image of our
character (and not all of us had gorgeous characters) that the ref basically
said we looked like what we said we did.  "Ryder Hook" was ruggedly
handsome, "Ian Cameron" was military-clean-cut cute, the computer guy whose
name I have forgotten was average looking and so forth.  Countess Julissa
was a babe because she was that kind of character (think Emma Peel in
space).  Other female characters I had were rather plainer, because that's
the sort of people *they* were.

Of course there was also Gwendi.  Gwendi, the naval officer, who was always
prim and proper and brilliant and true.  Gwendi was our gunner.  I rolled
her up because we needed one.  She got this personality largely because she
never picked up any skills that indicated anything other than that sort of
temperament:  no Streetwise, etc.  We also had one of those character life
events generators and basically nothing very interesting had ever happened
to her.  She ended up being a lot like Misa Hayase/Lisa Hayes in
Macross/Robotech, but that had not come out yet.  This is the kind of girl
that I always loathed when I was in school: the one that was never thought
weird and never rebelled about anything.

The only interesting thing about her seemed to be that she liked to shoot
things.  (This was also the only aspect of my personality that came
through -- I am a lady by Heinlein's definition among others, but I am not
very "ladylike".)

I did not know that my ref had a thing about Navy girls and that "nice and
prim and proper" would be so popular.

I got rather bored with Gwendi, but the PC's chased her like she was a cat
in heat.  Two PC's and the ref's favorite NPC were always after her.

I discovered (because I was REALLY bored with playing Miss Goody Two Shoes)
that this character could NOT die.  Finally the only way I got to retire her
was that I let the ref's favorite character marry her (they made me role
play the wedding including speaking her vows to this guy) and then get her
pregnant.

Whew!  For some reason, even though I said she was an ordinary-looking girl,
they all gave her a babe rating of 11.

They even gave her a Zhodani identical twin-- Adlikliepr!!!  But I didn't
have to play the Zhodani, thank goodness.  I still think that would have
been a plot point better suited to Julissa, who had been a Scout and was an
excellent spy...

Kiri

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

End of Traveller-digest V1999 #955
**********************************

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