Traveller-digest    Thursday, September 30 1999    Volume 1999 : Number 1145



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

The following topics are covered in this digest:

OT: San Miguel beer in San Diego
Re: Gurkhas - Correction
Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #1143
RE: Linux question
RE: J-o-T: one free retry
Re: GURPS First In System Generation Rules
Re: Gurkhas - Correction
TL 8 Cargo Hovercraft
Re: Military pay
Re: Traveller in Oregon?
Bagpipes (was: Re: Gurkhas - Correction)
Re: GURPS First In System Generation Rules
Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #1143
RE: Traveller Houston or DC?
Re: MT and TNE designs
Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #1143
re: Citizens of the TML (was: Traveller Player Roster)
Re: GURPS First In System Generation Rules
Versions was Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #1143
Another graphics link
Re Lights and Battlesuits
[none]
[none]
Meson spinal mounts vs meson screens
Re: Versions was Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #1143
[none]

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 11:09:06 EDT
From: Kagehira@aol.com
Subject: OT: San Miguel beer in San Diego

    Try Manila Seafood by the popeye's near Plaza & Highland(?)


Bryan

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 16:18:07 +0100
From: Martin Hardgrave <martin@deira.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Gurkhas - Correction

In message <v03020908b4111cfb8d14@[18.77.3.40]>, "Peter H. Brenton"
<pbrenton@mit.edu> writes
>  They also have a tradition involving (shudder) bagpipes.

Banned by the TU equivalent of the Geneva Convention shurely?

>  Put
>these guys in Battle Dress 

ITYM Battle Kilt

>and they'll do ok, but don't expect the
>performance of an Imperial Marine.

- -- 
Martin Hardgrave

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 11:22:03 EDT
From: Sethkimmel@aol.com
Subject: Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #1143

In a message dated 9/30/99 1:35:33 PM !!!First Boot!!!, 
stuart.ferris@virgin.net writes:

<< My aim is to allow the user to
 select any system generation rules i.e. CT, MT, TNE & GURPS and select any
 world generation rules i.e. WBH, WTH & FI. >>

BTW, what's the difference between WBH and First Censis/First Survey?

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 08:36:13 -0700
From: Mark Ayers <Mark.Ayers@PREMERA.com>
Subject: RE: Linux question

>> formats linux will support. Anybody got any suggestions, and will a PC
>> file translate to linux?

WinZip supports the ".gz" compression of gzip. It also supports ".tar.gz"
and ".tgz"
Also most linux systems support the good old zip format.

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 10:41:44 -0500
From: "Slack, Andy" <andy.slack@gb.unisys.com>
Subject: RE: J-o-T: one free retry

Erwin Fritz <efritz@GLJA.com> wrote:
>In the MT rules, Jack-of-all-Trades skill allows "one free retry" per skill
level on a failed task.
I'm curious about how other people play this rule. I interpret "free retry"
to
mean that the player doesn't have to succeed at the determination task to
get
the retry. However, the retry is still subject to the 3D time roll of the
original task.<

That's the way I read it. And if he fails again, JOT-2 would allow him a
second retry without a Determination task. And so on.

>One of my players, who by no coincidence is the one with J-o-T skill,
thinks
that the time roll should be negated as well. His logic is that the J-o-T
character would be resourceful enough to come up with the right solution the
first time, so giving the player several task attempts with only one time
roll
emulates this.<

I wouldn't allow this IMTU. "Resourceful" is being able to think about other
ways of doing the task. Normally you'd try one approach, see that it failed,
and either [a] give up, or [b] use your resourcefulness to think of another
way, and then try that. Of course, he could say "I'm thinking about all the
possible ways to do this, and picking the best," but that takes time too.

Andy the Ruthless

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 17:43:26 +0000
From: "Carlos Alos-Ferrer" <carlos.alos-ferrer@univie.ac.at>
Subject: Re: GURPS First In System Generation Rules

> From: "Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella" <xrp@sierratel.com>
> Subject: Re: c
> 
> > Sinothy Belt/Regina has large chunks of antimatter in it.
> 
> Antimatter? Is this plausible? Or is Yaskodray to blame?

I still don't understand why the SJG people change the name of 
SHIONTY to SHINOTY, but they have done so coherently in all 
materials. ;-)

Yes, Yaskoydray is to blame. Apparently, Marc Miller himself stated 
that Eskaylot, the original Droyne world, was hidden in a pocket 
universe in ShiONty system. Maybe the name got changed in GT to 
change the framework... ;->

Carlos Alos-Ferrer

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 08:32:51 -0700
From: "Wayne" <wewart@home.com>
Subject: Re: Gurkhas - Correction

> In message <v03020908b4111cfb8d14@[18.77.3.40]>, "Peter H. Brenton"
> <pbrenton@mit.edu> writes
> >  They also have a tradition involving (shudder) bagpipes.
>
> Banned by the TU equivalent of the Geneva Convention shurely?
>
Only by you hethans who do not know the sounds and songs of god when you
hear it.

> >  Put
> >these guys in Battle Dress
>
> ITYM Battle Kilt
>
 That works for me

> >and they'll do ok, but don't expect the
> >performance of an Imperial Marine.
Yes the Gurkas will get the job done, unlike the Imp wussies.(= )

Wayne Ewart 0502 C588858 C N kk++ hi+ va++ dr+ so- zh+ da++ 734

CT/HG Templar Wanna-be
wewart@home.com
icq22113294

Give a man fire and he is warm for the night.
Set a man on fire and he is warm all his life.

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 09:07:03 PDT
From: "Brandon Cope" <copeab@hotmail.com>
Subject: TL 8 Cargo Hovercraft

TL 8 Cargo Hovercraft

This is a fairly common pre-grav transport, useful
especially on worlds with a high hydrographic percentage. It
can carry nearly 10 tons of fully enclosed cargo, which is
useful for most normal purposes. It has one large bow ramp
and two smaller ramps port and starboard. As a people mover,
it can carry 32 normal or 48 cramped passengers (though no
environmental control is provided normally).

It is frequently adapted for military use as a cargo and
non-combat personnel carrier and a mobile headquarters.

It can also be modified for longer duration habitation,
making it useful for explorers or researchers.

Carried aboard a starship, it takes up 4 displacement tons.


     Subassemblies: GEV skirt
     Propulsion: 1000-lb thrust ducted fan (250 kW), 37,000-
lb thrust lift fan (1850 kW)
     Instruments and Electronics: medium range radio, light
amplification (driver), GPS, small computer with one
terminal (driver), databases for computer ($2000 worth)
     Miscellaneous: full fire suppression
     Controls: Computerized, Crew Station: Driver
     Occupancy: Short, Passengers: one, Crew: Driver,
Accomodations: two normal seats, Environmental systems:
environmental control, two people, Safety Systems: two
crashwebs
     Power Systems: 2100 kW gas turbine, uses 115.5 gph
     Fuel: self-sealing 650 gallon tank, 650 gallons diesel,
Fire 6, 5.63 hours fuel for engine
     Access, Cargo and Empty Space: 59.82 cf access space,
960 cf cargo space, 5.48 cf empty space
     Volumes: Body 1250 cf, Skirts 750 cf, Surface Areas:
Body 696 sf, Skirts 495 sf, Total area 1191
     Structure: Medium, cheap materials, waterproofed
     Hit Points: Body 1044, Skirts 743
     Armor: overall PD 3, DR 10 std. metal
     Statistics: Unloaded Weight 13,065 lbs, Normal cargo
19,200 lbs, Normal Payload 23,500 lbs, Loaded Weight 36,565
lbs (18.28 tons), Volume 2000 cf, Size Modifier +5, Price
$150,500, HT 11
     Hover Performance: Stall Speed 0, Can Hover (2' maximum
clearance), Drag 1191, Top Speed 79 mph, hAccel 1, hDecel
20, hMR 2, hSR 6
     Water Performance: can float

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

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

Date: Wed, 29 Sep 1999 18:01:44 +0100
From: Matt Clonfero <Matt-C@aetherem.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Military pay

Lyle Youngblood wrote:
>>From: Matt Clonfero <Matt-C@aetherem.demon.co.uk>
>>For a real-life example, a Leading Hand (about an E-4 in US parlance) in
>>the Royal Navy earns about 16-18000 UKP - about the same as a Graduate
>>Engineer in the civilian sector. A typical person in a manual trade with
>>no higher or further education will be lucky to match the enlisted man.
>        Jesus, Mary, and Joseph did _I_ ever enlist in the wrong service.
>My background is U.S. Army and we don't get paid anywhere near this
>generously.  Our typical problem is retention as people come in, get the
>training and/or experience, and then leave as soon as possible for much
>better-paying civilian jobs.  To equal the "entry-level" positions available
>to a graduate engineer in the U.S. military you'd probably have to be
>an E-7/E-8 or at least an O-3 on the officer side.

I think you'll find that your graduate engineers get paid too much! A
Corporal in the British Army could be a helo pilot; a tank commander or
the senior NCO in a section of infantry - all jobs that show an equal
(if not higher) level of responsibility than that afforded to the new
graduate engineer. And the bonus of being shot at, too!

Even so, the UK Armed forces have a retention problem in both enlisted
and officer branches. 

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: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 09:46:18 -0700
From: "Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella" <xrp@sierratel.com>
Subject: Re: Traveller in Oregon?

> Last year they hit the limit around noon on Firday.

This is the day after or before Cederday? Or was it Birchday? ;)

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 09:32:49
From: "Douglas E. Berry" <gridlore@pop.mindspring.com>
Subject: Bagpipes (was: Re: Gurkhas - Correction)

At 08:32 AM 9/30/1999 -0700, you wrote:

>> Banned by the TU equivalent of the Geneva Convention shurely?
>>
>Only by you hethans who do not know the sounds and songs of god when you
>hear it.

You said it!  There's nothing that the massed pipes and drums to make you
want to go invade something, preferably northern England.

My Marines use pipes.  Mostly it's a tradition thing, but the effect pipers
in a small starship have on Naval crew is a big plus.

- -- 

Douglas E. Berry       gridlore@mindspring.com
http://gridlore.home.mindspring.com/index.html

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 09:35:39
From: "Douglas E. Berry" <gridlore@pop.mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: GURPS First In System Generation Rules

At 11:29 PM 9/29/1999 -0700, you wrote:
>> Sinothy Belt/Regina has large chunks of antimatter in it.
>
>Antimatter? Is this plausible? Or is Yaskodray to blame?

It's in the vicinity of Yaskodray's toy universe, so perhaps the large
amount of antimatter is an artifaxct of the pinching off of that pocket
universe.
- -- 

Douglas E. Berry       gridlore@mindspring.com
http://gridlore.home.mindspring.com/index.html

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 09:49:44
From: "Douglas E. Berry" <gridlore@pop.mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #1143

At 02:32 PM 9/30/1999 +0100, you wrote:

>I just get a little annoyed about the fact that Traveller is now onto its
>sixth (including 2300) version.

2300 was a separate game.  Not at all part the Traveller lineage.

>T4 was lucky to last a year. AD&D is only about to release its third 
>version.

If you count the various releases of D&D, rules expansions, Player Option
books, etc., AD&D has been through more "versions" than Traveller.  It's
one of the reasons I stopped playing D&D some years ago, and am looking
forward to the new edition.

>I just want someone to create a stable Traveller version and for that to be 
>around for several years. It isn't a problem with the core rules. What the 
>players need is are decent sourcebooks. There was absolutely nothing wrong 
>with CT rules and MT rules were superb. Call me cynical, but the versions 
>since then just seem to me to be publishers cashing in on the success of 
>Traveller.

Sadly, no game can stand like a rock and expect to survive.  See my example
on D&D above.  MegaTraveller came about because DGP had a genuinely better
way to handle tasks, and GDW wanted to spice up the setting; introduce some
conflict.

Publishers do want to cash in on successful games, that's how they stay in
business!  The decision to go to the GDW house system was a mistake IMHO,
but understandable since it would have allowed cross pollination between
the game systems.  (I actually played in a Twilight:2000 game set five
years after the Vilani invasion of Earth.. M-16s vs. Gauss Rifles!)

T4 was pushed far to fast.  If the publisher had been willing to wait
another six months to allow for play testing and editing, I think that we
would still see that system as a living game today.

Gaming is a niche hobby, with a thousand little camps in it.  We all love
Traveller, others can't understand why we like this game and not White
Wolf's World of Darkness.

- -- 

Douglas E. Berry       gridlore@mindspring.com
http://gridlore.home.mindspring.com/sylea.html

TML Great Old One
Plague of the Traveller Riders of the Apocalypse
Chant "Gridlore" thrice to summon.

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 10:06:56 PDT
From: "Brandon Cope" <copeab@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: Traveller Houston or DC?

>From: "David Reed" <de.reed@xolutions.net>
>
> > What about Third Planet?
>
>They're still open, but after a bad experience with "unknowledgeable,
>unhelpful" staff several years ago, I've never been back...  They've been 
>at
>their SW Fwy location now for a couple years.  Big blue building south of
>Kirby on the west side, north of the Girl Scout 'taj mahal'.  They had a
>good selection of anime last I heard.
>

I was last there 6 months or so ago. Gaming selection is pretty poor. Nan's 
Games (on the opposite side of Highway 59, near the Greenbriar/Shepard exit) 
has a very good gaming selection but the staff is just as unhelpful.

Not far way is a Half-Price Books (Kirby and University). Gaming selection 
is erratic (fair to poor) and parking is horrible, but has plenty of cheap 
non-gaming books (I've also been to all the other HPB in the Houston area 
(except the one far south of Houston) within the last six months -- the best 
for gaming, usually, is the one on Westheimer, a few blocks north of 
Dairy-Ashford -- also has a Fuddruckers across the street, too).

A generous and sadistic GM,

Brandon Cope

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 18:20:45 +0100 (BST)
From: Chris Thompson <u12ct@abdn.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: MT and TNE designs

On Thu, 30 Sep 1999, Antony Farrell wrote:

> While going through my old Traveller Campaign materials I came across hundreds of MT ships and vehicle designs (mostly TL7 to 13) as well as TNE versions of other vessels like the Regal class battlecruiser. I don't think I have room on my web site to put these on, but if anyone wants them drop me a line.
> 
> Some of the TNE designs on my webpage are actually conversians from lower tech MT designs.
> 
I'd be intrested in the TNE designs and the MT ones if they can add to the
history of the vessel.
Chris T
If I should fall to rise no more
As many comrades did before 
Then ask the fifes and drums to play
Over the hill and far away

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 10:25:15 -0700
From: "Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella" <xrp@sierratel.com>
Subject: Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #1143

> We all love
> Traveller, others can't understand why we like this game and not White
> Wolf's World of Darkness.

I love both. White Wolf has done a fantastic job, even with the terrible
editing. Anyone know where page xx is? And then there are the paragraphs
that are not completed on the following page. But I did get a look at SJG's
Werewolf, and Steve apparently knows how to hire a team of editors. I wish
the mechanics of GURPs was more enjoyable, but they drive me nuts. The
Storyteller system has great potential, but it seems that the designers are
not aware of some of the possibilities in the way the dice protocols work. I
have fiddled with extended contests, factored successes, and scads of other
tweaks. The pips are handy for newbie gamers too, making it fun to learn.

////////////////////////////////////////
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: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 14:07:04 +0100
From: SD Mooney <dom@cybergoths.u-net.com>
Subject: re: Citizens of the TML (was: Traveller Player Roster)

"James W. Lindsay" <jlindsay@home.com> writes:

>I haven't contributed much to this mailing list in the last year and
>perhaps it is time for this compiled list (113 KB) to be stored elsewhere.
>It has been nearly a year since I concentrated my website on my love of
>older VW Beetles instead.  Does anyone feel interested in continuing to
>host this page, and perhaps expand it?  It really belongs on a page that
>seems more Traveller visitors than mine ever did in the past.

I can host it (at my own site, not BITS).

>(haven't played a game of Traveller in over ten years, but *still* an avid
>collector)

But still a key player in the development of ACQ.

Dom

- ----------Dom Mooney---dom@cybergoths.u-net.com------------
                       MiB - Marines in Battledress
   "Protecting the Imperium from the Scum of the Galaxy"
Rob Prior's Mac software @ http://www.bits.org.uk/ 

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 11:13:35 -0700 (PDT)
From: Craig Berry <cberry@cinenet.net>
Subject: Re: GURPS First In System Generation Rules

> Date: Wed, 29 Sep 1999 23:29:13 -0700
> From: "Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella" <xrp@sierratel.com>
> 
> > Sinothy Belt/Regina has large chunks of antimatter in it.

It's 'Shionthy', IIRC (don't have a reference handy).

> Antimatter? Is this plausible? Or is Yaskodray to blame?

The latter, almost certainly...

*** "SECRET OF THE ANCIENTS" SPOILER ***

The SotA adventure places Y's pocket universe right next door to Shionthy.
Presumably, nearby systems would have been both major targets during the
wars with the grandkids, and experimental laboratories for Y's
hyperphysics noodling.  All manner of weirdness in these systems is thus
easily explainable.

- -- 
   |   Craig Berry - cberry@cinenet.net
 --*--    Home Page: http://www.cinenet.net/users/cberry/home.html
   |      "There it is; take it."  - William Mulholland

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 19:13:51 +0100
From: SD Mooney <dom@cybergoths.u-net.com>
Subject: Versions was Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #1143

"Stuart Ferris" <stuart.ferris@virgin.net> writes:

>I just get a little annoyed about the fact that Traveller is now onto its
>sixth (including 2300) version. T4 was lucky to last a year. AD&D is only
>about to release its third version.

Ahem. If you're going to claim Traveller has six versions (actually *7*)
with 2300 included (CT, MT, TNE, T4, GT, T2300, 2300AD) then I feel it's
only fair to count the D&D range in to AD&D as they are about as closely
related. In which case we get at least 4 editions of D&D on top of 3
releases of AD&D before thrid edition...

That's

AD&D 1st (cover set 1)
[AD&D 1st cover set 2 (IIRC)]
AD&D 2nd Edition (cover 1)
AD&D 2nd Edition (cover 2)
AD&D 3rd Edition (powergamer's wet dream due August 2000)

D&D - original (probably more copies here)
D&D Basic - Blue book
D&D Basic - Red Box
D&D Introductory Game....

And that ignores Expert, Companion, Immortal etc...


The real difference was TSR is the only publisher of (A)D&D.

*CT and MT are evolutions of the same game (maybe the analogy is the
differences in AC between D&D and AD&D)
*TNE was something altogether different
*T4 was something which had potential but was murdered by the publisher,
but was more of an evolution of CT/MT than TNE.
*GT is something different.
*2300 and T2300 are evolutions of the same game.

Dom

- ----------Dom Mooney---dom@cybergoths.u-net.com------------
                       MiB - Marines in Battledress
   "Protecting the Imperium from the Scum of the Galaxy"
Rob Prior's Mac software @ http://www.bits.org.uk/ 

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 19:47:47 +0100
From: SD Mooney <dom@cybergoths.u-net.com>
Subject: Another graphics link

There are some nice SF ships here, especially if you like CJ Cherryh's work.

http://www.valint.net/chp/imcr/real/shipyard.html

Dom

- ----------Dom Mooney---dom@cybergoths.u-net.com------------
                       MiB - Marines in Battledress
   "Protecting the Imperium from the Scum of the Galaxy"
Rob Prior's Mac software @ http://www.bits.org.uk/ 

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 15:14:55 -0400 (EDT)
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@gci.net>
Subject: Re Lights and Battlesuits

>Another question, this thing weighs 600lbs, runs at 13mph, and only uses
>.6kW?  Maybe I've got my units confused, but I think if I turned all the
>lights in my apartment on I could use .6kW.  Does the suspension really
>use this little power, or are lightbulbs not the low-energy devices I
>imagine them to be?
>
>Jim MacLean

Well, Jim, assuming you use the 'standard' 60 watt bulbs, 10 of them are 0.6kW.
If you use 100W bulbs, 6 is 0.6 kW.

Your TV probably runs 0.25kW give or take a hundred watts...

However, since the lowest entropy conversion is kinetic to kinetic, it
really is going to be able to go that fast (maybe not accellerate well),
and since humans can walk at 3-4 mph, and can run (in short bursts) up to
20 MPH, it really just needs to reduce the energy of running, not do the
running for them... 13 MPH is very reasonable...

William F. Hostman  |  "Smith & Wesson: THe original Point and Click
interface!"
Aramis 0602 C55A364-C S kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge-
533
Mailto:aramis@gci.net http://home.gci.net/~aramis http://www.alaska.net/~mhaa
ICQ:14640742          AIM:AKAramis	ARM 1.0: 3 R H++ P+
IMTU 1.0: tc tm++ tn- t4-- tt+ to- tg-- ru+ ge 3i+ c+ jt-() au+ st- ls
pi+() ta+ he+(-) kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge- pi+

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 15:24:02 -0400 (EDT)
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@gci.net>
Subject: [none]

>Ley Sectors) there is this HUGE black splotch, labeled
>"The Black Curtain".
>
>What the H$ll is it???!?!
>
>
>I don't play TNE, but, like I said, this has been
>bugging me ever since my buddy conned me into purchasing
>the rule book....
>
The "Event Horizon" of the expanding Virus-Dominated zone. Basically, the
point of no return due to too damned many virus vectors available. Just
think, virus sending "Seekers" (Virused SDG chips) through PA's, packed in
a padded and sticky package...

William F. Hostman  |  "Smith & Wesson: THe original Point and Click
interface!"
Aramis 0602 C55A364-C S kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge-
533
Mailto:aramis@gci.net http://home.gci.net/~aramis http://www.alaska.net/~mhaa
ICQ:14640742          AIM:AKAramis	ARM 1.0: 3 R H++ P+
IMTU 1.0: tc tm++ tn- t4-- tt+ to- tg-- ru+ ge 3i+ c+ jt-() au+ st- ls
pi+() ta+ he+(-) kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge- pi+

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 15:24:04 -0400 (EDT)
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@gci.net>
Subject: [none]

>> If you want to add more utility
>> To Get a Temporary Level 0 in another skill
>> Difficult, Int, Jack, instant, fateful, safe.
>> Success results in temporarilty having the level 0 skill desired,
>> and being elligible to obtain an at towards that level upon success at the
>> use of that skill. Skills recieved this way go away within an hour of not
>> using them, or when redered unconscious.
>>
>
>Would it make more sense to make it a uncertain task? Since it's JoT, they
>"think" they know their doing it right... but they wouldn't be sure until
>they tried. That's when they'd learn if they were right... just a thought.

In MT, uncertain means both player and GM are rolling dice, and the
player's dice indicate whther or not he knows he made it or not; this is a
major hassle. Slows things down a lot, too. And since all not having the
skill does is effectively apply a DM-4....

William F. Hostman  |  "Smith & Wesson: THe original Point and Click
interface!"
Aramis 0602 C55A364-C S kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge-
533
Mailto:aramis@gci.net http://home.gci.net/~aramis http://www.alaska.net/~mhaa
ICQ:14640742          AIM:AKAramis	ARM 1.0: 3 R H++ P+
IMTU 1.0: tc tm++ tn- t4-- tt+ to- tg-- ru+ ge 3i+ c+ jt-() au+ st- ls
pi+() ta+ he+(-) kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge- pi+

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 20:26:09 +0100
From: Simon Early <sre@taz.compulink.co.uk>
Subject: Meson spinal mounts vs meson screens

I've just been looking at GT ships (101 starships by Rob Prior) and the 
combat rules.  If I understand properly, Meson Screens are almost 
useless against a spinal mount meson gun:

Meson gun  6dx10000 = 200,000 damage on average

Meson screen = DR 10,000

Net damage = 200,000 - 10,000 = 190,000
.. or have I misunderstood something?

There seems to be a similar calculation for particle beams vs armour.

When I look at bay weapons, it gets worse - for the same Trillion Cr it 
cost for the spinal mount I can buy 40 bays, each doing 6dx1500.  
Against DR 10,000 armour this gives 40 bays x (30,000 - 10,000) = 
800,000 HP of damage, enough to wipe out a Megalith-class Battle 
Station (see 101 Starships) in a couple of rounds of combat.



Simon

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

Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 12:36:27 -0700
From: "Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella" <xrp@sierratel.com>
Subject: Re: Versions was Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #1143

> And that ignores Expert, Companion, Immortal etc...

I remember those! I may even have some off them stashed away. And that also
does not include Darksun, Krynn, Planescape or any of those other offshoots.
There are some rules changes, and they take the game in a tangent akin to
what MT, T2300, and others do for Traveller. BTW, what is the difference
between T2300 and 2300AD? I am only familiar with CT, although I have
browsed through others at the store.
////////////////////////////////////////
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: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 15:37:30 -0400 (EDT)
From: "William F. Hostman" <aramis@gci.net>
Subject: [none]

>I just get a little annoyed about the fact that Traveller is now onto its
>sixth (including 2300) version. T4 was lucky to last a year. AD&D is only
>about to release its third version. I just want someone to create a stable
>Traveller version and for that to be around for several years. It isn't a
>problem with the core rules. What the players need is are decent
>sourcebooks. There was absolutely nothing wrong with CT rules and MT rules
>were superb. Call me cynical, but the versions since then just seem to me to
>be publishers cashing in on the success of Traveller.
>
>Stuart Ferris

Hear, Hear! And, in the case of TNE and GT, not really showing any concern
for canon settings. Rip, shred, rend tear, fold spindle and mutilate. (See
Regency Sourcebook) After all they promised the Regency setting for TNE
would be a continuance of the late 3I.... but then it came out as the 3I
sans Nobility. GT is making steady and subtle (oft hidden) changes to
canon. T4 just raped the name to get film rights, I suspect.

William F. Hostman  |  "Smith & Wesson: THe original Point and Click
interface!"
Aramis 0602 C55A364-C S kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge-
533
Mailto:aramis@gci.net http://home.gci.net/~aramis http://www.alaska.net/~mhaa
ICQ:14640742          AIM:AKAramis	ARM 1.0: 3 R H++ P+
IMTU 1.0: tc tm++ tn- t4-- tt+ to- tg-- ru+ ge 3i+ c+ jt-() au+ st- ls
pi+() ta+ he+(-) kk+ as+ hi+ dr+ va++(--) so+ zh++ vi+ da++ sy- ge- pi+

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

End of Traveller-digest V1999 #1145
***********************************

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