Traveller-digest      Friday, October 1 1999      Volume 1999 : Number 1151



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

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Re: Acronyms
Re: Versions was Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #1143
Re: Linux question
Re: Military Bands (was Re: Bagpipes)
Re: Friday afternoon mind bender
Re: Versions was Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #1143
Re: Versions (I will not)
Re: Re TNE/Nth RFW
Re: Traveller Versions
RE: UNCLASSIFIED Traveller's many faces (& typos)...
Re: TNE/Nth RFW
Re: Linux question
Re: Versions was Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #1143
Re: UNCLASSIFIED Traveller's many faces (& typos)...
Re: WBH different to Grand Census/Suvery [was: Re: Traveller-digest  V1999 #1143]
Re: Re TNE/Nth RFW
THUDDD: AuricTech Shipyards
Re: Versions was Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #1143
Re: UNCLASSIFIED Traveller's many faces (& typos)...
Re: UNCLASSIFIED Traveller's many faces (& typos)...
Re: Linux question
Re : Traveller Versions
GURPS rules.

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

Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 17:06:14 -0400
From: "Sword Worlder" <swordworlder@clinic.net>
Subject: Re: Acronyms

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella <xrp@sierratel.com>
> >ASTD!
>
> But now ya lost me, these letters stand for?

In my case it would be And Scaring The Cat (ASTC), but he much have one of
them retarded Vargr.

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

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

Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 15:42:08 +0100
From: Mark Watson <markw@antares.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Versions was Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #1143

On Fri, 01 Oct 1999, Sword Worlder wrote:
>
>Oh dear, and don't forget the Starter Edition with all of the book 1-2-3
>material repackaged in 8.5x11 format.  Actually, if you look carefully,
>there was also a "Deluxe Starter Edition" snuck in there, too.
>
Colin - I saw that on your bibliography - what was in the Deluxe Starter
Edition?
- -- 
Mark Watson, markw@antares.demon.co.uk

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

Date: Fri, 01 Oct 1999 14:19:28 -0700
From: Bruce Johnson <johnson@pharmacy.arizona.edu>
Subject: Re: Linux question

Here are two dos versions of tar:

From:

http://wuarchive.wustl.edu/systems/ibmpc/garbo.uwasa.fi/unix/

tar320g.zip     DOS/UNIX tar w/.Z/(g)zip/hardware support, T.Shaporev
tar4dos.zoo     Tar for DOS to handle .tar files, M.Colburn

(I believe the version I've used is tar320g.zip. If it is, it is a
straight port of gnu tar to dos, works just like in unix.)

Andrew Moffatt-Vallance wrote:
> 
> From:                   "Ron Brown" <ronnyq@nightowl.net>
> Date sent:              Fri, 1 Oct 1999 11:41:06 -0500
> 
> > Actually, if you have Winzip and open it in classic mode, you can extract
> > tar balls onto your Windows machine.
> 
> I want to create a tar on my windows machine :*> I'm trying to produce a
> version of my PE spreadsheet for linux.
> 
> Andrew etc
> Homepage http://users.netaccess.co.nz/amv/
> Traveller http://www.downport.com/amv/
>  "What do you expect from a species who's females are
>  always in heat" Ko of the Ilui clan on Humans and honour

- -- 
Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group

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

Date: Fri, 01 Oct 1999 16:24:08 -0500
From: Black ICE <wombat@premier.net>
Subject: Re: Military Bands (was Re: Bagpipes)

"Douglas E. Berry" wrote:
> 
> At 01:41 AM 10/1/1999 +0100, you wrote:
> 
> >Given the size of the Imperial Armed Forces you're going to have a lot
> >of military bands. Anyone have any idea how many? Or, for that matter,
> >what the ratio of bands/bandsmen to frontline troops?
> 
> Each Army Division and Marine Regiment will probably have their own band
> unit.

As will Army independent brigades and regiments.  A division would
probably have 50 or so band members (out of 15,000 or so personnel
total).  That's just a WAG, though....

IRL, the wartime missions of the band in US Army divisions are to
provide a security force for the division CP, and to assist in EPW
handling.

Just what I, as an interrogator, would _want_ handling my sources:  a
band playing the pipes!  ("If you don't want to answer my questions,
that's just fine.  [to guard] Could you have this prisoner moved to the
compound next to the pipers' practice area? [to prisoner] What's that? 
You want to answer my questions now?  All right, then, what is your full
unit designation?...")

- -- 
AuricTech Shipyards Journeyman Gearhead
"Gold-Plated [tm] solutions for copper-plated problems!" (r)
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/9776

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

Date: Fri, 01 Oct 1999 14:30:03 -0700
From: "Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella" <xrp@sierratel.com>
Subject: Re: Friday afternoon mind bender

> (No, this isn't OT:  I'm  thinking  of  using  this  info  in  my
> campaign, but haven't figured out the details yet.

Nothing this gritty /and/ kinky in hard science could really be considered
off-topic on this list. Quantum Mechanics, Relativity, general physics,
etc., all are topics we as Traveller players/arbiters need to explore. At
least IMHO.

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

Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 17:45:54 -0400
From: "Sword Worlder" <swordworlder@clinic.net>
Subject: Re: Versions was Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #1143

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Mark Watson <markw@antares.demon.co.uk>
> Colin - I saw that on your bibliography - what was in the Deluxe Starter
> Edition?

The box is physically the size of the Starter Edition, Tarsus and Beltstrike
(about 1" thick), but it looks like the Deluxe Traveller box, right down to
saying "Deluxe Edition" and having the number "300" on it.  When you open it
up you find the Starter Edition books that are 8.5x11" (2 books) plus the
Spinward Marches map, Imperial Fringe, Book 0, and a strange little 8-page
"Additional Rules" booklet.  No double adventure booklet.  An explanation
sheet inside the box says:

"Additional Rules is and 8-page compilation of extra rules which appear in
Basic Traveller or The Traveller Book, but are not included in the Starter
Traveller rules booklet.  Additional Rules provides complete compatibility
with all Traveller Rules sets."

The copyright date is "1981, 1984" on the Additional Rules, which I suspect
means that Deluxe Starter was first published in 1984.  This set actually
has everything that you'd expect to find in the Deluxe Traveller and does
not *need* to be distinguished from the edition with 5 LBBs, but for the
hopeless, completist collector...

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

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

Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 16:46:57 -0500
From: "Bont" <felix@felixcafe.com>
Subject: Re: Versions (I will not)

> >From: SD Mooney <dom@cybergoths.u-net.com>

< snipping of much ranting and raving ... >

> <BLACK GLOBE ON>

LOL!

Is this similiar to putting your hands over your ears and yelling, "La 
La La La La La La La" over and over again to yourself?


- - - -
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.felixcafe.com/

- - - -

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

Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 16:00:06 +0100
From: Mark Watson <markw@antares.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Re TNE/Nth RFW

On Fri, 01 Oct 1999, William F. Hostman wrote:
>>I still can't understand why maintaining the nobility in the post-Third
>>Imperium TNE universe seems so important to some people.
>
>It is part of the feel of Traveller, especially CT. GDW *PROMISED* an area
>where CT/MT's 3rd Imp CONTINUES ON, not where democracy eliminates the
>nobility. GDW Lied.
>
I think when you are responsible for producing the latest revision of someone
else's work you have to have some degree of humility about the stuff that was
originally there. Dave Nilsen doesn't seem to have had it. One of the big
things about TNE was that the Traveller nobility oughtn't to exist because that
was just plain wrong. Presumably if he'd got a hold of Paranoia he'd have got
rid of that mad old computer as well. It's like having someone come round to
your house and watch them go round straightening all your pictures.

>>>The main beef I had when I first read TNE was that GDW seemed intent on
>>>destroying everything DGP had created for the game:
>>>     - no robots (one of DGP's main PCs was a robot, another a roboticist);
>>
>>TNE tried to remove robots from the setting? It didn't appear that way to
>>me. 
To be fair, there weren't any proper robot rules for MT either. Book 8 and 101
Robots were CT supplements - robots were always something that DGP were just
about getting round to (given their production schedules it would be hitting
the shelves just about now).

>>>     - any thought of a resolution to the Rebellion storyline (designed by
>>>DGP) smashed beyond repair.
>>
>>That's strange. I thought that Virus actually was the resolution of the
>>Rebellion storyline, at least as the resolution was imagined by GDW.
The virus was the resolution of the rebellion storyline in the same way that
the Yucatan impact was the culmination of dinosaur evolution. At a stroke
something very rich and with considerable further potential was wiped out.

- -- 
Mark Watson, markw@antares.demon.co.uk

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

Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 16:21:07 +0100
From: Mark Watson <markw@antares.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Traveller Versions

On Fri, 01 Oct 1999, Timothy.Collinson@solent.ac.uk wrote:
>>I'll repeat my previous gripe. There simply isn't enough source material
>>available. I don't want rules. I want a more detailed universe rather than
>a
>>few subsector maps and system lists.Behind The Claw is to be applauded as
>it
>>is the first real attempt to detail a sector, but as the system info if
>>restricted to GURPS rules it doesn't interest me.
>
>
>I think 'first real attempt' is a little harsh on _Signal GK_ which was the
>actual first attempt to detail an entire sector at this level.  
Er, there's Chuck Gannon's guide to Diaspora, with extra detail he supplied in
Traveller Chronicle. There are some other detailed attempts which don't go
world by world, such as Solomani Rim in Traveller Chronicle, Far Frontiers in
Ares and Traveller Chronicle, Gateway in MT Digest 4. Plus there are the JAK
subsector guides to Caledon and Drexilthar.
- -- 
Mark Watson, markw@antares.demon.co.uk

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

Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 16:25:58 +0100
From: Mark Watson <markw@antares.demon.co.uk>
Subject: RE: UNCLASSIFIED Traveller's many faces (& typos)...

>
>I always liked the idea that Harnworld used (don't know if it was
>repeated in the Harn ruleset):  With each new product you cut off
>the spine and hole-punched the sheets.  That way you could insert
>new pages of source material into  the  right  sections  of  your
>universe ring-binder.
>
That's a great idea ... I'd vote for that
>
>Such a system would mean more,  but  thinner,  products  ...  and
>reduce the amount  of  duplicated  material  you  buy.  Those  on
>limited budgets who don't collect everything with  a  "Traveller"
>printed on the front could even control their  spending  by  just
>buying those components they  need  for  their  campaign  (eg.  a
>merchant prince campaign is unlikely to  need  the  fleet  combat
>module).
>
>Rulesets could then evolve  piece  by  piece,  instead  of  going
>through major changes.  For example, if  task  definitions  don't
>change then you could choose between the MT  task  system  of  T4
>task system ... based on your own preferences.
>
That was why the LBBs worked so well, and why they should never have been left
behind.
- -- 
Mark Watson, markw@antares.demon.co.uk

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

Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 15:03:17 -0700
From: "Tom" <tbergman@brawleyonline.com>
Subject: Re: TNE/Nth RFW

> It is part of the feel of Traveller, especially CT. GDW *PROMISED* an area
> where CT/MT's 3rd Imp CONTINUES ON, not where democracy eliminates the
> nobility. GDW Lied.

(snip)

> >>     - any thought of a resolution to the Rebellion storyline (designed
by
> >>DGP) smashed beyond repair.
> >
> >
> >That's strange. I thought that Virus actually was the resolution of the
> >Rebellion storyline, at least as the resolution was imagined by GDW.
>
> No, it wasn't a resolution, but a means of wiping the slate clear... and
> there is a difference. Hard times was a continuing resolution; it
continued
> the thematic elements of the civil war, the madness of lucan, the
> destruction of life, and the hardships and hopes of a resored 3i.
>
> TNE, and Virus were seen by many (effectively everyone I know FTF who's
> conversant with traveller) as a way of saying "It doesn't matter who
should
> have won, who would have won or how, we're just going to do something
> entirely new, and coopt you into buying it because it has the Traveller
> name."

Adding my .02cr...

I just got my hands on a copy of MT Journal #4.  In the letter from Joe F.,
it was mentioned that Marc Miller didn't have much to do with TNE, AND that
TNE was the reason why DGP got out of the Traveller business entirely.  I'm
guessing that there were some burnt bridges and sore feelings all the way
around about it.  Somehow, I suspect that if MWM had been involved with TNE,
it may have been an entirely different product...  at least I for one might
be using it for other than background material.

Oriontwin
orion 0609 C36AA84-A hi- va+ vi+ so++ A633
tc+ tm+ tn t4+ tg-- ru+ he+ 3i!(+) c+ jt- st++ pi+ ta ge

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

Date: Fri, 01 Oct 1999 18:16:43 -0400
From: Jeff Zeitlin <jzeitlin@cyburban.com>
Subject: Re: Linux question

On Fri, 1 Oct 1999 10:42:14 -0400 (EDT), "Andrew
Moffatt-Vallance" <a.vallance@netaccess.co.nz> wrote:

>From:           	Jeff Zeitlin <jzeitlin@cyburban.com>
>Date sent:      	Thu, 30 Sep 1999 17:35:13 -0400

>> Linux should support any of the widely-available unix formats -
>> that would be tar and gzip almost universally; you may also be
>> able to get a PKZIP-compatible program.

>Okay, so does anyone know where I can get a wintel utility to make tar
>and gzip files? I've got something which seems to make something called
>tgz, but my knowledge of linux is sadly lacking.

I believe that there are ports for Wintel of gzip/gunzip; I
_know_ there are Wintel ports of tar.  Best bet is to check
Simtel or any of the other _really_ _big_ multi-platform
archives.

However: That tgz utility you have is quite acceptable - a tgz
file is a tar file that has subsequently been gzipped.

- --
Jeff Zeitlin
jzeitlin@cyburban.com

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

Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 16:28:06 +0100
From: Mark Watson <markw@antares.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Versions was Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #1143

On Fri, 01 Oct 1999, Sword Worlder wrote:
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Mark Watson <markw@antares.demon.co.uk>
>> Colin - I saw that on your bibliography - what was in the Deluxe Starter
>> Edition?
>
>The box is physically the size of the Starter Edition, Tarsus and Beltstrike
>(about 1" thick), but it looks like the Deluxe Traveller box, right down to
>saying "Deluxe Edition" and having the number "300" on it.  When you open it
>up you find the Starter Edition books that are 8.5x11" (2 books) plus the
>Spinward Marches map, Imperial Fringe, Book 0, and a strange little 8-page
>"Additional Rules" booklet.  
Aha! I acquired a loose copy of that booklet in a recent lot of stuff I
purchased. I wondered whether that was where it had come from. 

Contents:
- - additional personal combat rules (archaic firearms)
- - extended starship construction rules (custom ships)
- - vector based starship combat
- - additional events for encounter tables
- - experience rules
- - drugs rules
- - 4 TAS forms (3 front, 3 reverse, 4, 7)
- - some extra equipment.

Right, that goes in the nearest Starter Traveller box.

>but for the hopeless, completist collector...
Er, yes. (shuffles feet, looks down sheepishly)

- -- 
Mark Watson, markw@antares.demon.co.uk

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

Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 16:44:49 +0100
From: Mark Watson <markw@antares.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: UNCLASSIFIED Traveller's many faces (& typos)...

On Fri, 01 Oct 1999, Stuart Ferris wrote:
>
>And that is where AD&D has succeeded where Traveller has failed. Traveller
>restricts the player to one setting and apart from the on-going timeline
>changes there has been very little development of that setting. 
That was probably the nature of the companies - GDW was run by games designers
and TSR was run by businessmen. GDW's one attempt to stick by a set of "house
rules" (T2000/2300/DC) faltered, mainly because they ignored the more
proven set of rules (CT) they had sitting on the shelf. 

And I still think the
characteristic generation using playing cards has to be the worst idea I've
ever seen.

Having said that, I do think it's more important to have a strong "default"
background for a sci-fi game than for a fantasy game. One game I have on the
shelf, Star Hero, has what many people would regard as very good rules (if
you're coming from the GURPS game balance direction), as well as an excellent
cover by the great Janet Aulisio (check out the covers to, eg, Challenge
31/32), but an entirely dismal background, and hence doesn't work at all.

>The worlds
>in AD&D have been developed beautifully. I have played various campaigns in
>the World of Greyhawk for over 15 years and have yet to find a better
>location for roleplaying.
>
Hmmm. Get thee to Glorantha by way of Innsmouth.

M
- -- 
Mark Watson, markw@antares.demon.co.uk

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

Date: Fri, 01 Oct 1999 17:38:11 -0500
From: Charles R Hensley <hensley.cr@worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: WBH different to Grand Census/Suvery [was: Re: Traveller-digest  V1999 #1143]

Timothy.Collinson wrote:

<snip>
>On the other hand, WBH did gain some extra material:
>
>Added to _World Builder's Handbook_:
>- - cover picture
>- - IS Form 23 (replacing IS Form 20 and 22)
>- - half page on the IISS in the Shattered Imperium
>- - half page detailing the IISS field offices
>- - half page sidebar defining 'lifeform'
>- - revised sensor readout panel (replacing two given in GS)
>- - DGP style equipment sheets (NB: info transferred from earlier books
but
>better laid out)
>- - Image Converter Binoculars, Floater and Remote Earpiece
>- - MT details for the Kankurur G-carrier
>- - MT Universal Craft Profile for the Donosev class survey vessel
>- - intererior illos for the Donosev
>- - various diagrams in the world building section
>- - female scout illo
>
>
>In addition some of the grainier illustrations from the earlier two
books
>have been removed.  No great losses, though the silhouetted explorers
on
>the horizon with a moon as backdrop (p.26) was disappointingly not
>transferred.  Other illustrations were added.
>
>Hope this helps.  I'm ready to be corrected on any of the above as the
>three books are a real pain to compare with their different layouts.

Expansion of the world density table and some minor corrections.

Charles

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

Date: Fri, 01 Oct 1999 18:39:46 -0400
From: jmaclean@ix.netcom.com
Subject: Re: Re TNE/Nth RFW

William F. Hostman wrote:
>TNE, and Virus were seen by many (effectively everyone I know FTF
>who's conversant with traveller) as a way of saying "It doesn't
>matter who should have won, who would have won or how, we're just
>going to do something entirely new, and coopt you into buying it
>because it has the Traveller name."

(Don't flame me for this, I'm just repeating someone else's ideas).

Based on what Dave Nilsen has said on the TNE-RCES list, the first part of
your statement is true.  Dave joined GDW long after the history of the
Rebellion and Hard Times had been written.  He believed that the Rebellion
story-line had thoroughly morally discredited every faction and that allowing
any of them to win would have been wrong.  He also said that the Imperium
itself had shown itself to be rotten at the core for allowing itself to
implode and take so many sophonts with it.  He pointed out that the Imperium
had survived the entire Civil War period relatively sanguinely as the Imperial
bureaucracy and much of the nobility stayed on the sidelines and thus kept the
violence contained.  The fact that in the Rebellion nearly everyone in a
position of responsibility in the Imperium seemed so eager to declare for a
faction and slay their fellow Imperial citizens seemed to him to be a sign of
a deep sickness.  A fresh start was called for, and the Regency and Reformation
Co! al!ition were it.

Dave also said that the nature of the TNE setting was driven partly by market
considerations.  GDW wanted to bring new blood into Traveller and he said
they kept hearing people complain that the Traveller background was too
complex and turned off new players, who felt they needed to own every copy of
JTAS and Traveller's Digest to play.  Furthermore, the scope of the 3I setting
was so big, individuals couldn't have much influence over it.  TNE was supposed
to appeal to new, younger players who would like the smaller setting with a
clear mission and outlets for the combat-oriented that didn't involve turning
pirate.  (Remember that Twilight:2000 had been a run-away hit, and this
probably had some influence over both the setting and House Rules adoption).

As for my own personal opinion, I liked TNE's story-line and my players loved
it.  It worked as advertised for pulling in a new group of players who
otherwise probably wouldn't have played Traveller.  I also liked the rules.
Brilliant Lances is great.  FF&S and the TNE combat rules provided a seamless
system that went from small arms to spinal mounts in a way no other Traveller
rules set has.  Whether it was necessary to alienate people who loved the 3I
and "Old Era" Traveller, I don't know.  The TNE setting could easily have been
put into an alternate universe, but I don't think GDW had the man-power or
distribution to support two sci-fi RPGs simultaneously.

It's all water under the bridge now.  TNE is as dead as every other non-GURPS
version of Traveller.  Traveller is dead, long live Traveller!

Jim MacLean
Economist, Traveller Fan
GT: Far Trader co-author

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

Date: Fri, 01 Oct 1999 18:00:30 -0500
From: Black ICE <wombat@premier.net>
Subject: THUDDD: AuricTech Shipyards

The following information is provided concerning AuricTech Shipyards:

AuricTech Shipyards, LIC, was founded on Sylea in 006 by Marcus
Weishaupt, a businessman of Solomani ancestry.  Its first contract was
to construct standard 100-ton scout/couriers for the Imperial
Interstellar Scout Service (IISS).  Within 5 standard years, AuricTech
began building ships designed in-house.  The first commercially
successful AuricTech design was the C20-2 light transport, a 100-ton
ship that carries 20 middle passengers at up to jump-2.  The first of
the Electra series of 1000-ton yachts (procured by the Imperial Navy as
the Isabel class VIP transport/C3I ship) cemented AuricTech Shipyards'
reputation as a producer of quality civilian and military ships.

AuricTech products in the early decades of the Imperium range from the
UA-1 and UA-2 30-ton ships boats to the 160,000-ton Agincourt class
battleship.

As the Imperium has expanded, AuricTech has shifted its main base of
operations to the Spinward Marches.  By 1100, AuricTech is a major
supplier of cruisers to the Imperial Navy and IISS, with shipyards at
Mora, Trin, and Lunion.  AuricTech Shipyards has remained a player in
the civilian market, and has recently signed a contract with Thermopylae
Lines to provide several new designs of freighters and passenger
liners.  For examples of AuricTech designs, see:

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/9776/travler.html

Current ownership (as of 1100): Hortalez et Cie 24%, Noble Families 22%,
AuricTech employees 17%, Ling Standard Product 14%, Thermopylae Lines
2%, Other 21%

AuricTech Shipyards can be contacted at wombat@premier.net.

Points of contact:

M:0 - Marcus Weishaupt, CEO; Lola Goetz, Vice-President for Public
Relations

M:1100 - Jenifer Rearden-Taggart, CEO


- -- 
AuricTech Shipyards Journeyman Gearhead
"Gold-Plated [tm] solutions for copper-plated problems!" (r)
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/9776

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

Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 19:32:27 EDT
From: Sethkimmel@aol.com
Subject: Re: Versions was Re: Traveller-digest V1999 #1143

In a message dated 10/1/99 10:16:21 PM !!!First Boot!!!, 
markw@antares.demon.co.uk writes:

<< nd a strange little 8-page
 >"Additional Rules" booklet.  
 Aha! I acquired a loose copy of that booklet in a recent lot of stuff I
 purchased. I wondered whether that was where it had come from. 
 
 Contents:
 - additional personal combat rules (archaic firearms)
 - extended starship construction rules (custom ships)
 - vector based starship combat
 - additional events for encounter tables
 - experience rules
 - drugs rules
 - 4 TAS forms (3 front, 3 reverse, 4, 7)
 - some extra equipment.
  >>

Sounds like it turns the starter Traveller rules into a Bk 1-3 equivalent...

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

Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 19:35:03 EDT
From: Sethkimmel@aol.com
Subject: Re: UNCLASSIFIED Traveller's many faces (& typos)...

In a message dated 10/1/99 10:35:22 PM !!!First Boot!!!, 
markw@antares.demon.co.uk writes:

<< GDW was run by games designers
 and TSR was run by businessmen.  >>

my pet criticism is that these two companies ultimately failed BECAUSE of 
these two extremes. You need creative types AND beancounters who can 
cooperate with each other...

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

Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 20:52:01 -0400
From: "Jory Earl" <j-man@iname.com>
Subject: Re: UNCLASSIFIED Traveller's many faces (& typos)...

>my pet criticism is that these two companies ultimately failed BECAUSE of
>these two extremes. You need creative types AND beancounters who can
>cooperate with each other...

Not learning this simple truth hurt Hewlett-Packard as well.  They could
have had Apple Computers but lacked the vision to move beyond the pale to
embrace it.

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

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

Date: Fri, 01 Oct 1999 04:06:46 -0400
From: Thom Jones-Low <tjoneslo@together.net>
Subject: Re: Linux question

Andrew, 
	Goto http://sourceware.cygnus.com/cygwin/ and download the Cygwin
toolkit and install it. It a free port of the linux tools for windows.
	Once you have installed the toolkit, click on the Cygwin Icon. This
starts a bash shell (looks like a dos box, but better). Type the
following commands:

cd <dir where your files are>
tar cvf collection.tar <list of file|dirs to include>
gzip collection.tar

	This will produce the collection.tar.gz file you are looking for. You
can type multiple files with wild cards or directories for the tar
command and it will correctly add them as you might expect. 

- --
	Thomas Jones-Low
	tjoneslo@together.net

> Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 06:19:55 +1200
> From: "Andrew Moffatt-Vallance" <a.vallance@netaccess.co.nz>
> Subject: Re: Linux question
> 
> From:                   "Ron Brown" <ronnyq@nightowl.net>
> Date sent:              Fri, 1 Oct 1999 11:41:06 -0500
> 
> > Actually, if you have Winzip and open it in classic mode, you can extract
> > tar balls onto your Windows machine.
> 
> I want to create a tar on my windows machine :*> I'm trying to produce a
> version of my PE spreadsheet for linux.
> 
> Andrew etc
> Homepage http://users.netaccess.co.nz/amv/
> Traveller http://www.downport.com/amv/
>  "What do you expect from a species who's females are
>  always in heat" Ko of the Ilui clan on Humans and honour
>

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

Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 23:57:01 +0100
From: "Derrick Jones" <dojones.whitestar@btinternet.com>
Subject: Re : Traveller Versions

Stuart Ferris wrote...
>I'll repeat my previous gripe. There simply isn't enough source material
>available. I don't want rules. I want a more detailed universe rather than a
>few subsector maps and system lists.Behind The Claw is to be applauded as it
>is the first real attempt to detail a sector, but as the system info if
>restricted to GURPS rules it doesn't interest me.

The plethora of rules editions, changes, what's canon, what isn't canon was
just too much for me to keep up with. I stopped looking at Traveller versions
after MegaTraveller. With all the wonderful stuff that was produced for it, (OK,
so after I fixed the errata), both by GDW and DGP, I was happy with the level
of stuff I had. 

I understand that games companies need to be in business, but I say that
I don't need to pander to their profitability in buying everything new when it comes
out. I'll leave this to new blood, and to the collectors here.. I had my game, and
all I want to do is play it.

I first got involved with the TML just after getting out of the army in 96, and since 
then the quantity of information I have available for CT and MT is just phenomenal.
And then people like Stuart, Tom, Hugh and Jesse give us access to their work,
and I have even more fantastic stuff. Why on earth would I need more stuff.

My major gripe is that Gurps (spit) is invalidating DGP's work (due to Mr Sanger,
I agree, but they're still making it non canon), and it isn't even Traveller. It's just
a campaign pack for a second rate system. DGP's stuff was brilliant, and if my
using it makes my campaign non canonical, so be it. I'll join up with Eris' gang!

I'll leave you guys to argue about what version's best, and I'll get on with playing
MT regularly, and spending my hard earned cash on other more important things
that my wife says I can spend it on!!!!! ;-)

Cheers,

Derrick


Derrick Jones
St Helens
Lancashire UK

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

Date: Fri, 1 Oct 1999 23:03:43 -0400
From: "Terry Carlino" <carlino@home.com>
Subject: GURPS rules.

>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 best thing about GURPS rules is that everything (practically) is
optional. You can fiddle with the rules and use just what you want. You only
need 6d and you can play everything from Man-to-Man style play-by-play
combat to quick combat resolution via a single defense roll. Task system is
quick and simple, or involved and complex. Pick it.

I especially like the ability to fine tune your character. You can develop
as detailed a history as you want, learn, have a career, and even have a
side-kick. And you can create an ex-career military character who knows
nuclear physics, electronic sensor and control systems, computers, ship
propulsion systems, small arms and vehicle weapons and is a specialist in
history (or at least has a degree in it.) That would be me. It would be
difficult to create a character with these diverse skills in most game
systems. In GURPS its easy. (Of course you have to take Absent-Mindedness,
Bad-Temper, Overconfidence and Lecherousness in order to get enough points.
:^) )

Terry C

All that is Gold does not glitter
Not all who travel are lost

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

End of Traveller-digest V1999 #1151
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