Traveller-digest    Tuesday, September 28 1999    Volume 1999 : Number 1137



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

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Re: Murphy's Rule
RE: Player handouts
RE: Plant and Animal Builder raw data
FW: Shipper vs Mudder salaries
FW: Swimming in the gas giants.
RE: good and evil
RE: Shipboard vs. Groundbound salaries
Re: good and evil
Re: More _Andrew Young_
Re: TML Roster
RE: Player handouts? Anyone use them?
Traveller in Oregon?
Re: Traveller Player Roster; XML for Traveller Data
OT: Stock Spam Reply
Re: Jagannath?
RE: Shipboard vs. Groundbound salaries
Re: good and evil
GTL10 Grav Bike

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

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 15:54:36 +0200 (METDST)
From: Hans Rancke-Madsen <rancke@diku.dk>
Subject: Re: Murphy's Rule

Steven Hudson writes:

>>From: Hans Rancke-Madsen <rancke@diku.dk>
> ...
> >As for retirement pay, I agree 100% with the _Murphy's Rule_ that
> >considered it ludicrous that a retired admiral and a retired ensign
> >with the same number of terms served would have the same retirement pay.
> >That rule is broken too... 
> 
>  As a quick fix why not add B:1 rank to # of terms served? If appropriate
>you could use something like [(Enlisted rank/2) -1] to get a commissioned
>rank equivalent for senior enlisted , allowing long-timers to see enhanced
>pension benefits, too (not that KCr 16/p.a. for an 8-term (!) E-9 engineer
>necessarily seems really rich, unless he/she/it can acquire/build a second 
>income, perhaps using their cash from mustering out?).
 
IMTU I use 20% of final pay for each term served after the third (20% for
4 terms, 40% for 5 terms, etc. up to a maximum of 100% for 8 terms served).
So an ensign and an admiral who had both served 7 terms would both get 80%
of their final pay, but they would have very different final pay.

Lyle Youngblood writes:

>>It's not the money itself that's a burden, it's the goods the Imperial
>>Army buys with the money that is deducted from what is available to
>>the locals.
>         I believe the idea is that the tax revenue from, for example,
>Regina, would be used to raise, equip, and support a corps, army, or army
>group stationed on and recruited from that world.  Many items of
>equipment might well be locally produced and acquired.  Military pay
>and a portion of the equipment cost would be recycled into the local
>economy.  I don't completely agree with this, but it is my understanding
>of how it works.

A military base is a tremendous boost to any local economy, no doubt about
that. But people often forget that _somebody_ always pays. If the people
of Regina are taxed to pay for an Imperial Army corps, then some Reginans
will undoubtedly benefit from the business generated by the corps. But some
other Reginans will pay for it. Any military unit is a net loss.

>>I was under the impression that starship crew earned far more than KCr13
>>per year. If it really isn't more than that, it fits quite nicely with a
>>dirtside average of KCr10. A 30% bonus to starship crew is not at all
>>unreasonable.
>    This I have to disagree with.  The dirtside employee has to pay for
>his residence and sustenance out of his income.  The starship crew
>has his domicile and upkeep supplied as part of his work conditions.

That's assuming he is a tramp spacer with no fixed abode. I see no reason
why most spacers wouldn't have a home (and a spouse) somewhere along the
route of the regular ship he is serving on.

>Given the same job, say steward or computer tech, I would expect the
>shipboard position to pay significantly LESS that the ground-side one.
 
Maybe the spacers have a great union.
  

      Hans Rancke
University of Copenhagen
     rancke@diku.dk
- ------------
        "The referee should determine the nature of subsequent
         events based on the individual situation."
                                _76 Patrons_, p. 8

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

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 10:11:11 -0400
From: Ian Ferguson <ian@vax2.concordia.ca>
Subject: RE: Player handouts

Derrick Jones writes:
<snipped>
>Does anyone else regularly do this? Would you be willing to share 
>the generic stories with other list members? Obviously not plagiarising
>your local press like I did, but the outlines if nothing else?

	I have always liked to provide certain information in the
	form of handouts, especially background information and
	news stories.  My problem is that I never seem to have the
	time to come up with good news stories that add colour, 
	give the players a sense of the social and political context,
	and camouflage the occasional story that may have direct 
	relevance to the players.  Sharing such stories would be 
	very useful to me.

Peez

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

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 10:16:32 -0400
From: Ian Ferguson <ian@vax2.concordia.ca>
Subject: RE: Plant and Animal Builder raw data

Robert Prior writes:
>Please. Getting into a university library nowadays is tricky: the main
>UofT library no longer even lets people _in_ without student cards. >Which
makes for difficulties when you attend a meeting held there. I can >walk
into any lab on campus, including the reactor, but no go to the >library...

	That is a sad state of affairs.  It offends my sense of what
	a library is all about, but I suppose that there are practical
	considerations that are difficult to ignore.  Here at Concordia
	University access to the library is only restricted during the
	exam period, and I believe the same applies to McGill 
	University just up the hill.  If I can assist with any
	references, please let me know.

Peez

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

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 22:17:29 +0800
From: "Antony Farrell" <Skaran@bigpond.com>
Subject: FW: Shipper vs Mudder salaries

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-traveller@lists.imagiconline.com
[mailto:owner-traveller@lists.imagiconline.com] On Behalf Of Zane H.
Healy
Sent: Tuesday, 28 September 1999 0:42
To: traveller@lists.imagiconline.com
Subject: Re: Shipper vs Mudder salaries


>
> At 08:11 PM 26/09/1999 -0500, you wrote:
> >>I was under the impression that starship crew earned far more than KCr13
> >>per year. If it really isn't more than that, it fits quite nicely with a
> >>dirtside average of KCr10. A 30% bonus to starship crew is not at all
> >>unreasonable.
> >    This I have to disagree with.  The dirtside employee has to pay for
> >his residence and sustenance out of his income.  The starship crew
> >has his domicile and upkeep supplied as part of his work conditions.
> >Given the same job, say steward or computer tech, I would expect the
> >shipboard position to pay significantly LESS that the ground-side one.

You've OBVIOUSLY never lived and worked onboard a ship.  That free room and
board might sound great, but they don't make up for the problems of living
onboard.  This is true now with ocean going vessels, and I expect it's also
true with Starships.

Of course there are those who love shipboard life and wouldn't want to live
dirtside.  I suspect that catagory makes up a lot of the independants and
that they would make less, as they're running marginal anyway.  The huge
corporate starships probably pay a greater sum than their dirtside
equivalents.

>         There is the issue that your average dirt-sider is significantly
> less likely to be traumatically exposed to either hard vaccum or
jump-space.
> Do not under estimate the requirement for hazzard pay.

Well, then there is that.  Hazard pay can make an undesirable job easier to
live with. :^)

			Zane

Then there is the food, on small ships at least it is all pre-packaged,
imagine having to eat airline food day after day  after day.

Antony Farrell

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

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 22:17:27 +0800
From: "Antony Farrell" <Skaran@bigpond.com>
Subject: FW: Swimming in the gas giants.

I don't know about swimming in gas giants, but in one of the scenarios in
the Azhanti High Lightning a wrecked Azhanti was floating in the atmosphere
of a gas giant with its lower (aft) decks up to one of its hanger decks
filled with liquid hydrogen. How about that for some salvage. In the
scenario the cruiser still had some Rampart class fighters trapped in its
hangers.

Antony Farrell

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

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 10:32:13 -0400
From: Ian Ferguson <ian@vax2.concordia.ca>
Subject: RE: good and evil

Shawn Campbell writes:
<snipped>
>My players are mixed with good and evil characters.
<snipped>
>What can I do to bring these characters together?
<snipped>
>Any suggestions?

	I have generally insisted that my players develop characters
	that are compatable, to avoid these sorts of situations.
	There have been cases, however, where such intraparty friction
	develops or is even encouraged (it can make for some great
	roleplaying and interesting plots).  The more extreme the
	differences in the group, the more delicate and unstable the
	balance that must be maintained.  You can make the "good" 
	character a family member of the biggest/meanest "bad" guy,
	or perhaps said "bad" guy owes his/her life to the "good" guy.
	This may work, as long as the "bad" guy is not too "bad."
	The "good" guy might be a friend of a really really nasty
	organsization that strikes fear into the hearts of the 
	players.  The "good" guy can be incredibly useful to the 
	group, but this is difficult unless the "good" guy has
	powers/skills that cannot be got elsewhere.  Finally, there
	is cold, hard credits: The "good" guy has access to a hefty
	bankroll (trust fund, research grant, rich uncle, etc.).
	It may not work forever, but so what?  There could be some 
	fun play before the nasties finally snuff him.

Peez

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

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 10:53:48 -0400
From: Ian Ferguson <ian@vax2.concordia.ca>
Subject: RE: Shipboard vs. Groundbound salaries

Christopher Thrash writes:
<snipped>
>The reason is simple: most people want to have families, and families >are
terribly difficult and uneconomical to maintain aboard. Traveller
>characters, just by virtue of the character generation system, are >almost
to a one single, never married, and over 30 years old. How many >of those
do you know personally? They make great adventurers, but should >not be
regarded as typical by any means.

	Actually, I know many people that fit that description, in
	fact most of my friends.  More to the point, I don't know
	anyone who works as a mercenary or on a ship.  I agree that
	many spacers would probably have families on planets (maybe
	even more than one), but spacers are probably not typical
	citizens (especially those on tramp freetraders).

>The vast majority of crewmembers are likely to be hirelings, with no
>attachment to a particular ship. They have homes and families onplanet.
>They take their skills to the hiring hall in the local startown, where a
>broker (union-hired where unions are legal, freelance otherwise) sets
>them up with a ship for a small percentage. They hire on for one >specific
voyage, either a round trip (common for subsidized merchants) >or to a
certain point where they can catch a ship in the return >direction (as
crew, working passage, or using the repatriation bond >provided with the
contract, in descending order of preference). The >voyages are several
months long, but the crew make enough to stay home >for several months
before venturing out again. Officers may be more >closely tied to a
particular ship, but even so there will still be some >personnel turbulence.

	IMTU, a substancial proportion of ship crews fall into this 
	category, but the crews of Tukera Lines vessels on main
	routes are much more stable (usually having a home on one
	end of the route).

>Salary-wise, this means that ship's crews have to make roughly twice the
>salary they need to live on while they are working, since they only work
>half the time. On the other hand, if contract rates are normally paid in
>Imperial credit, a favorable exchange rate may make even a common
>spacehand very wealthy indeed by local standards.

	A lot of real world sailors come from countries where the
	average pay is relatively low, so perhaps freetrader crews
	are dominated by travellers from nearby poor, low-tech
	worlds.  Such crew might work for a few years while sending 
	home much of their pay.

>[In the real world, salary rates for merchant marine crewmen aren't
>significantly higher than shore-based positions that require the same
>qualifications and experience. The difference is overtime: salaries are
>calculated on a 40-hour week. Standing watch at night? Time-and-a-half.
>Ship still at sea on Saturday? Double-time. Can't get into harbor >because
it's a holiday? Triple-time. And so on. The officers of the S.S. >Empire
State told me that they make three to four times their nominal >salary in
overtime on a typical voyage.]

	Good point, the high pay of starship crews can be assumed
	to take this into account.

<thought-provoking stuff snipped>

Peez

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

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 11:02:21 -0000
From: "Chris Seamans" <semo@pil.net>
Subject: Re: good and evil

- -----Original Message-----
From: Shawn Campbell <shawn@electricstitch.com>
To: traveller@lists.imagiconline.com <traveller@lists.imagiconline.com>
Date: Tuesday, September 28, 1999 3:25 AM
Subject: good and evil


>What can I do to bring these characters together? The person playing the
>scientist likes the character and I feel this is really developing their
>role-playing abilities, but she is thinking of dropping the character in
>favor of a rogue/pirate type that would fit in well with the game.

>
>Any suggestions?


Back when I was running TNE one of the players played a scientist. She was
interested in the fields of cybernetics and genetic engineering... only
those two fields became frowned upon once the Reformation Coalition came
into power. As their centralized power grew, she lost more and more of her
research money. So, she fell in with pirates and rogues and the like. By the
time the campaign started, she was a brutal blackguard in her own right. ;)

One way to keep the group together is to make sure to script the plots in a
way that requires different skills at different times. With all due respect
to you, it sounds like it's as much a problem with the kind of game you're
running as it is with the character clashes. Perhaps the scientist isn't
getting enough "screen time[1]" in relation to the other characters?

Some people become horrified when I bring up the concept of plotting games.
There are folks who really like running loose games that take shape as a
given game progresses. This is fine if the characters all share a certain
set of skills (usually combat skills), or if significant segments of the
game are pure *role*playing (more interaction, few skills in use). However,
when you've got someone like a scientist, who is specialized, you're really
going to have to write him into the game in some way so that his ability to
contribute is roughly equal to that of the more combat oriented characters
in your campaign.

Nothing sucks more as a player than sitting around with nothing to do, and
that sounds like what your player with the scientist character is doing.

[1] Screen Time - My own term for the amount of time a player is in the
spotlight in a given game. How frequently the player is able to use his
specialties in an entertaining manner that he feels are worthwhile
contributions to the campaign.

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

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 10:02:49 -0500 (CDT)
From: Steven Bonneville <bonnevil@ima.umn.edu>
Subject: Re: More _Andrew Young_

>         Before I start arguing with you, I'll start by saying I agree
> completely =).  The _Andrew Young design came from a series of role-play
> like discussions that went back and forth on the TML a few months ago.  She
> was indirectly described to be a) a single ship I-MiB task group, b)
> something that the destination/ target system was *very* concerned about.
[...]
>         I personally am of the opinion that any real planetary invasion is
> going to make WWII Normandy look like a Berkely civil rights protest march.
> Particularly if the defender has deep meson sites.  However, that's not how
> the discussion was angled.

Fair enough.  For my part, there are things about the TF-15 that I'd change
if I hadn't been trying to make a slavish port of the design from FSOTSI.
  
  -- Steve Bonneville

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

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 11:17:20 -0400 (EDT)
From: jg42@cornell.edu
Subject: Re: TML Roster

Juliean Galak
Ithaca, NY (school)
Merrick, NY (home)
USA

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

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 16:22:58 +0100
From: "Trevor, Peter" <Peter.Trevor@rb.cwplc.com>
Subject: RE: Player handouts? Anyone use them?

Derrick Jones wrote:
> The request about system writeups got me thinking. Does anyone
> else write up periodic news articles (sort of TNS, but local)
> for their players to read before, during and after an adventure?
> I tried it a few times, and I  must admit that the players
> really appreciated it. There were a few plot related atricles,
> a few totally non related, and some 'dunnos'. I think it added
> a little colour to the game, and most of it was taken from my
> local newspaper, scanned in, and manipulated slightly.

I have the TNS stories printed out 1 story to a page for  use  as
player handouts (on the appropriate campaign dates) but I haven't
got around to adding 'local' stories yet.

I also have three pairs of ring binders ... one pair  contain  an
atlas of known space (one for the players and a more complete and
accurate version for me),  one  pair  contain  a  ship  catalogue
including "All The Emperor's Fighting Ships" (again one  for  the
players and a more complete and accurate version for me), and one
pair contains Library Data (again different versions for the  ref
and the players).

Sometimes they get briefing orders (they are still in service  in
the IN) done up in a style similar on the back of the AHL box.

But the biggest  group  of  player  handouts  are  the  equipment
sheets: those things from the MT Referee's Kit and some issues of
Digest and Megatraveller  Journal  magazines.  However,  I  don't
just use them as equipment info for key items,  they're  used  as
tokens for specific pieces of equipment.  Thus  if  a  PC  has  2
daggers then the player has 2 dagger equipment  sheets.  Each  PC
has a folder for their character sheet and any  equipment  sheets
taken out of the  folder  with  the  character  sheet  represents
equipment the PC has with them,  equipment  sheets  left  in  the
folder represents equipment the  character  has  but  at  another
location (eg. left onboard their ship).  When a PC lends his  ACR
to another character the relevant equipment sheet is passed  over
to the other player.  This system works really  well  and  avoids
arguments over who has what, and do they have it with them,  etc.
The only downsides are making up equipment sheets for things  DGP
didn't cover, and making sure there are enough copies.

A similar treatment to character sheets also works well.  When  a
PC is about  to  attempt  something  dangerous  they  hand  their
character sheet to me (the Ref): if they survive they  get  their
character sheet back; if not it is torn in  half.  Stangely  this
makes some players hesitate before doing something hazardous  and
reconsider.  The physical destruction of a character sheet  seems
to make character death  more  'real'.  Players  become  far less
gung-ho!



Regards PLST
"Rome wasn't burned in a day."

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

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 10:28:42 -0500
From: "Smart, David J (David)" <dasmart@lucent.com>
Subject: Traveller in Oregon?

Glenn M. Goffin posted:
>
> If you're ever in Portland, Oregon, go to the Coin-Operated Church of
> Elvis downtown -- and then to the UFO Museum on Burnside Street.  Trust
> me.
>
> - --Glenn

My wife and I are flying to Oregon in about 3 weeks. 

Anybody know the state of Traveller around Medford/Grant's Pass?
Any good gaming stores I should keep an eye out for?

David

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

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 11:41:22 -0400
From: "David J. Golden" <goldendj@pcisys.net>
Subject: Re: Traveller Player Roster; XML for Traveller Data

At 05:06 PM 9/27/99 -0500, you wrote:
>My XML proposal, then, is to format data in this way.  Suggestions
>are welcome (as if anyone's going to bother pawing through this
>data in the first place!).
>
>
><character name="Sir Crai Belden" rules="CT">
>   <born date="123-1100" world="Alpha" sector="S1" hex="0102" />
>   <stat name="strength" value="10">
>      <rolledValue value="8"        />


	Counterproposal: in my Library Program script, I want to ensure that
even raw data is completely human readable via a standard web
browser. So I'm using stock HTML to format the entries. The script
will parse the HTML to extract necessary information, and reformat
for display to the enduser (usually by stripping out extraneous
stuff). But the original data file can be read and edited using any
HTML editor or notepad. That also allows me to easily expand the
display formatters. I can define a new type and add a module to
process it. But if the right processing module is missing, the data
still gets displayed in the "raw" but readable format. I'm thinking
of using an HTML definition list to delineate tag/value pairs.
Example:

<h1>Sir Crai Belden</h1>

<dl>
   <dt>Ruleset
   <dd>CT

   <dt>Access
   <dd>Referee

   <dt>Milieu
   <dd>Rebellion

   <dt>EntryType
   <DD>Character

   <dt>Birthdate
   <dd>123-1100

   <dt>Birthworld
   <dd>Alpha/Sector1/0102

   <dt>UPP
   <dd>88797A
</dl>

Check out my website at
www.pcisys.net/~goldendj/Traveller/Library.html for the start of the
project.

PS: Anybody think website URLs would make a good addition to the
Traveller census? And maybe UPPs if you've got'em

Dave Golden : Woodbridge, VA, USA : goldendj@pcisys.net :
www.pcisys.net/~goldendj/Traveller : Travelling since 1981

- -- Disinformation is not as good as datinformation.

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

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 11:31:33 -0400
From: "David J. Golden" <goldendj@pcisys.net>
Subject: OT: Stock Spam Reply

At 05:50 PM 9/27/99 -0400, you wrote:
>>At 02:44 PM 9/26/99 -0500, you wrote:
>>>On 09/25/99 at 12:09 PM,  "Joseph R. Dietrich"
>>>What's the list's opinion, am I worrying about nothing?
>>>Would a
>>>poison pill in the addresses be "good enough" protection?
>>
>>	I'm already on enough spam lists ... the folks at the FTC, IRS,
and
>>US Postal Service are probably ruing the day I found out about
their
>>spam reporting addresses (for general, "get rich quick," and
pyramid
>>or chain letter [==felony] respectively).
>
>Which are...

Here's my stock spam reply, edited down as needed. I also stop by
spamcop.net to winnow through false addresses, mangled URLs, cutouts,
and other attempts to hide to locate all the postmasters and
webmasters relevant to a given message.

This email is being forwarded to the involved internet service
providers and government agencies for action
    ** pyramid@ftc.gov for pyramid schemes
    ** uce@ftc.gov for general unsolicited commercial email
    ** fraud@uspis.gov for suspected mail fraud, including chain letters
    ** enforcement@sec.gov and cyberfraud@nasaa.org for stock scams
    ** otcfraud@cder.fda.gov for drugs and herbal products
    ** net-abuse@nocs.insp.irs.gov for "make money fast" schemes
    ** 

Dear Postmaster/others,

	I've forwarded this email to you because either 
		(a) it appears to originate from your domain, 
		(b) the headers indicate it passed through your domain, 
		(c) it includes a reply or contact address showing this jackass is
also operating out of your domain, or 
		(d) everything else seemed completely forged and your domain was
the first identifiable intermediary between the origin IP and my ISP.

	Can you please help stop this growing cancer across the Internet?
Unsolicited commercial mail is going to be the ruin of another
otherwise useful idea if it isn't solved by the users. I've just
about reached the point where I'm going to ignore ALL email coming
from certain domains as it is. This is really getting out of hand,
and I ask your help in stomping out the jackasses such as the
original author of the bilge below. Thank you.

	*** You might also note that the USPS considers pyramid schemes such
as this to be a federal crime.  And the fig leaf of "selling a
report" IS IRRELEVANT ... it's still a chain letter, and hence mail
fraud ... It also doesn't matter that the solicitation came via
email, as the scheme uses the US Postal Service. ***

	For information on why chain letters and other pyramid schemes are
illegal see: 

	<http://www.usps.gov/websites/depart/inspect/chainlet.htm>

Dear submoronic cretin (not you, Postmaster),

	This mail was unsolicited, unwanted, uninteresting, unwelcome, and I
consider it harassment. You're using my bandwidth, my mailbox, my
paid online time, my download time, my hard disk and my personal time
to screen an unwelcome, worthless piece of junk. Remove my name at
once from your mailing lists, and do not ever bother me again. There
are many places on the Internet to advertise your services, but my
mailbox isn't one of them. If I wanted a service I'd go where ads are
appropriate and search for it. I will never utilize a service nor a
product from a company which uses spam to solicit business.

	And quoting poorly written, crappy PROPOSED legislation which is
*NOT* and may never become law doesn't mean squat. So take your "in
compliance of the new e-mail bill: SECTION 301, Paragraph (a)(2)(C)
of s. 1618" and this garbage, and stuff it.


- -- Disinformation is not as good as datinformation.

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

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 11:43:49 -0400
From: "David J. Golden" <goldendj@pcisys.net>
Subject: Re: Jagannath?

At 02:50 AM 9/27/99 PST, you wrote:
>In mail you write:
>
>>         Mapping is where I lack things; what I'd really like to
see, though,
>> is something vector-oriented rather than (or in addition to)
>> bitmapped. What's sized decently for display is way to coarse for
>> printout, and what's sized for good results printing on one
printer
>> doesn't always come out well on another. But what a good file
format
>> is a can of worms I'd rather sidestep in favor of a brief
discussion
>> about near-C asteroid pirate ships 'manned' by Aslan females
wearing
>> comfy shoes and armed with TL-15 ROM relics who prey on free
traders
>> making a tidy profit carrying simple cargo to Virus-infested
feudal
>> technocracies...
>
>CGM is a vector format designed for data interchange. And a lot of
>drawing programs support it, at least as an import or export format.
>
>I may have a file describing the basics around here somewhere.

	Aargh! He opened the can of worms. Quick! Stomp on them before they
get you!

- -- Disinformation is not as good as datinformation.

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

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 11:49:34 -0400
From: "David J. Golden" <goldendj@pcisys.net>
Subject: RE: Shipboard vs. Groundbound salaries

At 10:53 AM 9/28/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Christopher Thrash writes:
><snipped>
>>The reason is simple: most people want to have families, and
families >are
>terribly difficult and uneconomical to maintain aboard. Traveller
>>characters, just by virtue of the character generation system, are
>almost
>to a one single, never married, and over 30 years old. How many >of
those
>do you know personally? They make great adventurers, but should >not
be
>regarded as typical by any means.

	Hey! Quit pickin' on me ...

- -- Disinformation is not as good as datinformation.

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

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 09:14:53 -0700
From: "Shawn Campbell" <shawn@electricstitch.com>
Subject: Re: good and evil

From: Chris Seamans <semo@pil.net>
> One way to keep the group together is to make sure to script the plots in
a
> way that requires different skills at different times. With all due
respect
> to you, it sounds like it's as much a problem with the kind of game you're
> running as it is with the character clashes. Perhaps the scientist isn't
> getting enough "screen time[1]" in relation to the other characters?

I agree. Part of the problem, I think, also lies in lack of experience or
not having played in awhile. 3 of the 5 players are fairly new to Traveller,
with one being new to RPG's. Not to mention, It was only about 6-9 months
ago that I picked up my ol' Traveller books and started playing again.

We're only two game sessions into this campaign and this is the first time
this group has ever played together. So, I'm not sure if it's just
player-styles clashing or what.

I've been trying to come up with adventures that would gear more towards the
scientist. The "fighters" seem to get into trouble no matter what they do.
;)

Thanks for everyone's advice.

Shawn Campbell
shawn@electricstitch.com

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

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 11:21:05 -0500
From: "Bont" <felix@felixcafe.com>
Subject: GTL10 Grav Bike

Here is something for everyone to play with.

GTL10 Grav Bike

  Components
    - Cycle Crew Station, TL0, 10.00 lbs, $ 50.00 
    - Cargo, TL0, HP 12, 1.00 cf, 200.00 lbs, 1.00 cf Driver and 20 
lbs of cargo
    - GT Contragrav, TL9, HP 6, 1,000.00 lbs Lifted, 10.50 lbs, $ 
505.00, 0.21 cf, 1.0000 kW Used 
    - GT Thruster (STA), TL10, HP 14, 0.20 sTons of Thrust, 30.00 
lbs, $ 600.00, 1.20 cf, 20.0000 kW Used Vectored
    - Nuclear Power Unit (STA), TL10, HP 14, 31.29 kW, 56.29 lbs, $ 
6,258.00, 1.13 cf, 31.2900 kW Produced Lasts 2 years

  Subassembly : GTL10 Personal Craft Electronics Suite

    Components
      - Terrain Following Radar, TL10, HP 1, 2.50 lbs, $ 1,000.00, 
0.05 cf, 0.2500 kW Used 
      - PESA, TL10, HP 2, 5.00 mi, 5.00 lbs, $ 20,000.00, 0.10 cf 
      - LowRes Imaging Radar, TL10, HP 3, 20.00 mi, 10.00 lbs, $ 
12,500.00, 0.20 cf, 10.0000 kW Used No Targeting
      - Long Range Communicator, TL10, HP 1, 2.50 lbs, $ 150.00, 
0.05 cf, 0.0400 kW Used Range 50k Mi
      - Small Computer, TL10, HP 1, 0.50 lbs, $ 250.00, 0.01 cf 
Complexity 4
      - High Security Alarm, TL7, $ 3,000.00 
      - Inertial Navigation System, TL9, HP 3, 10.00 lbs, 0.20 cf 

    Armor : PD 2, DR 2

    Statistics : - GTL10 Personal Craft Electronics Suite, TL10, HP 5, 
30.50 lbs, $ 36,900.00, 0.61 cf, 10.2900 kW Used

  Armor : PD 3, DR 10, TL10 Cheap Metal, 45.60 lbs, $ 45.60

  Structure : Heavy Frame, Cheap Materials, Computerized Controls

  Air Performance : Motive Thrust 400.00 lbs, Stall Speed 0.0 MPH, 
Top Speed 300.4 MPH, aAccel 17.2 MPH/s, aMR 5.000, aSR 
3.000, aDecel 20.0 MPH/s, Take off 0, Landing 0

  Statistics : - GTL10 Grav Bike, Body, Size Mod 1, TL10, HP 54, 
HT 12, 464.98 lbs, $ 49,434.09, 16.67 cf, 31.2900 kW Used, 
31.2900 kW Produced, 20.0000 kW Motive Power, 400.00 lbs 
Motive Thrust, 1,000.00 lbs Aerostatic Lift


- - - -
FELIX (Thomas L Bont)

- - Encrypt your messages!
  That way only the government knows what you wrote!

- - It is truly the wise man that knows what he doesn't!

- - With your shield or on it ... (Old Spartan Blessing)

- - Fidelitas super omnia, honore excepto

- - Help Stop Forest Fires.  Outlaw Matches.

Be sure to visit The FELIX Cafe at
     http://www.felixcafecom/

- - - -

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

End of Traveller-digest V1999 #1137
***********************************

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