
-------- TML Message #304 --------

Date: Sat, 15 Apr 89 12:57:07 edt
From: (Greg Givler SUPPORT) givler@cbmvax.cbm.commodore.com
Subject: TRADE AND COMMERCE DIGEST VOL.2
Archive-Message-Number: 304



TRADE AND COMMERCE DIGEST VOL.2

***************************************************************************
** TRADE & COMMERCE DIGEST: Cargo, freight, and passenger issues.	 **
**                                                                       **
** All followups on this topic should be sent to			 **
** givler@cbmvax.cbm.commodore.com. They will be edited for clarity	 **
** and resent to the Traveller Mailing List in a following digest.	 **
** For my benefit, if you would include the word TRADE or COMMERCE in    **
** your SUBJECT: this will help me track these articles for inclusion to **
** this digest. Thanks, Greg Givler                                      **
***************************************************************************

EDITOR'S NOTE:

This is my first submission as editor of the TRADE & COMMERCE DIGEST.
Please send all replies on the subject of TRADE AND COMMERCE to:

givler@cbmvax.cbm.commodore.com

I plan to send issues out about every three days or if the volume is large
when the files reach about 45K. Below you will find Ed's reply to Mark's 
first article. What I would like to see is more on the same lines, then
we can work together to get a workable system that most, if not all, can 
use. I myself, have serious problems with the Mega-Traveller version 
of speculative trade. Below are some good Ideas, though they may require 
more detail than some of us would wish, or conversely not enough detail,
I think they are a good place to start. Again I ask that those who may be 
using a different version, than the book versions, let us know. I would 
like to see lots of different approaches so that we can all pick and choose 
what may work in our campaigns.

Greg <givler@cbmvax.cbm.commodore.com>
     <givler@cbmvax.uucp>
=========================================
Contents of the TRAVELLER MAILING LIST TRADE AND COMMERCE DIGEST VOL.2

1. Ideas for Speculative Trade - Edwin Wiles
2. Passages - Fred Schiff
3. Passages - Rob Vetter

As you can see pretty sparce at this time, as Johnny 5 says "I need input!"
Enjoy, and let's hear some feedback!

- ---------------------
From: uunet!netxcom!ewiles (Edwin Wiles)
To: givler@cbmvax.cbm.commodore.com
Subject: Re: Ideas for Speculative Trade

> From: "MARK A. POWER" <uabmap01@asnuab.asn.net>
> Subject: Ideas for Speculative Trade
> 
> PURCHASING
> - ----------
> 1) Determine number of available cargos.  Dependent on starport and
>    population?

At least partially, however dependent on how realistic you wish
to make it -- the KISS principle may apply here [Keep It Simple,
Stupid!] -- you might want to include a *very* slim chance of
something like either a newly discovered, or very hostile, world
with an incredibly valuable resource.  Thus the population would
be low, the starport might not be the greatest, but the cargos would
still be quite good.

> 2) Determine specific cargos....[edited]
>    ....It might also be necessary to institure Tech Level
>    limitations at this point.

Yep.  Good idea.

> 3) Determine base asking price.  Roll on table to determine price, say
>    range of 50% to 150% of base....[edited]
>    ...Note that I'd like to make all modifiers
>    percentages, not die modifiers.  A table that runs from 40% to 400%
>    is a bit much, and fixed amounts are simply ridiculous.

Agreed.  Percentage modifiers are a good idea.  I also think they'll be
necessary, though as you say, could be cumbersom.

> 4) Contact owner (or agent) and haggle over price.

I don't know.  I've never been one to enjoy haggling over price, unless
I think the price is outrageous.  With this system, you should come out
with a reasonable price.  If you still don't want it, that's your choice.
Perhaps there are other ships around that would be willing to bid?  (NOTE:
these should be other PLAYER ships!  Not NPCS!  Either that, or the GM
must be carefully honest, and keep the NPCS as though they were characters.
i.e. record how much money they have, how well they do selling, etc....)

> 5) Determine whether or not to buy.

Yep, you can't decide to buy until you know how much it's going to cost.
At least, not if you want to stay in buisness.....

> 6) Determine delivery date.  Allow rush delivery at, say, 10% per day.
>    At this time, determine any special handling characteristics.  I'd
>    allow them to look it up earlier, or ask during negotiations, but
>    this is where they find out if they don't think to ask.

Rush delivery?  Does that mean that we pay more if we force the owner/agent
to deliver to us sooner?  Do we get to impose penalties for failure to meet
the agreed delivery date?

About delivery dates:
    - Roll for the 'expected delivery date'.
    - If that is too long for the ship to wait, allow the captain/owner
    of the ship to adjust the 'expected delivery date' by specifing 'Rush
    Delivery', and paying the percentage penalty.  If the adjustment is
    outrageous (more than 5 days?), allow a percentage chance that the
    owner/agent for the cargo will refuse.
    - If the original 'expected delivery date' was too soon (ship servicing,
    etc..), allow the captain/owner to ask for 'Delayed Delivery' by any
    number of days.  (No penalty to either side.)  Roll to see if the
    owner/agent of the cargo is willing to go along.  If the cargo is
    perishable, then degrade it's *resell* value by a percentage per day that
    it is delayed (1%?).  (Not the owner/agent's fault that the ship couldn't
    leave!)
    - Roll for the 'actual delivery date' which should be a "bell curve"
    centered on the 'expected' date.  actual = expected + (2D6 - 7)?
    The above formula would allow for -5 to +5 adjustment to the expected
    date.  Negative 'actual' dates are really zero.  (The cargo is on-hand.)
    Penalties (10% per day?) apply to the owner/agent for failure to deliver
    on or before the specified time.  For perishable cargos, the owner/agent
    is penalized for early delivery, if the ship cannot leave early, at the
    same rate that the cargo is degraded.  (Not the captain/owner's fault that
    the owner/agent was over-eager!)

> SALE
> - ----------
> 1) Find a buyer.  Again, he's unlikely to come up and knock on the
>    airlock.  How long it takes (and how many you find) is based on
>    starport and population.

Depends!  On some worlds, particularly medium class worlds where cargo ships
are not common, but not unusual either, I would expect there to be 'factors'
who would darn near meet each ship as it hit the ground.  (Consider
Renaissance(sp?) Italy, particularly Venice, were the trading was sharp and
quick.  Knowing when the next ship was going to come in and being there to
greet it first could make the difference between living and starving.)
On worlds with first class ports, and lots of traffic, the likelyhood of being
met is somewhat less, but not by much.  Only on worlds with low class ports,
and little traffic, are you likely to have to go looking real hard for a buyer.
Of course, the buyers who DO show up may not be interested in what you have
to sell!  I suppose that the KISS principle would cause this situation to
be combined into one roll, that would determine whether there's a buyer for
your cargo immediately, or wether you have to go looking.  The nature of your
cargo, and the world you're on makes a difference.  "Coal to NewCastle!"

> 2) Determine base offering price.  Take base resale value from master
>    table, apply appropriate modifiers from master table, roll on 
>    random value table (same table as in 3 above.)

I should think that the captain/owner would have a great deal to say about
how much he'd sell his cargo for!  He just might opt to hold it over till
the next planet fall, if the price is lousy enough!

> 3) Select buyer and negotiate price.  See step 4 above.

If buyers are immediately present, and the roll was good enough, perhaps there
are multiple buyers present and willing to bid?

> 4) Decide to sell or not.

If you go the 'bid' route, you've little choice.  Though the captain/owner
can set a 'minimum' bid that he'll accept.  To run an 'auction', the
captain/owner must agree to pay the auctioneer a percentage based on the
final sale price.  If a 'minumum' bid was posted, and the auction fails to
sell the cargo, the captain/owner must still pay the auctioneer the sale
percentage, but base it on the 'minumum' posted bid.  (This is real life!)
Attempting to run an auction on your own, on a mid to high population world,
is virtually guaranteed to get a captain/owner in trouble....

> 5) Deliver as appropriate.  (In step 3, you agreed to deliver, and he
>    just didn't mention he's in a war zone.  Or the Teamsters are on
>    strike.)

Include a 'hazard' clause in the agreement (if the captain/owner thinks
to ask for it) which lets him duck if the delivery would be 'too hazardous
for a proper captain to accept'.  Include penalties for the owner/agent
for failure to inform the captain, and for the captain/owner for 'unreasonable
application of the hazard clause'.  Maybe settled by arbitration?  Allow the
owner/agent to ask for a waiver of the 'hazard' clause?

- --------------------------
From: uunet!bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu!vu0141
From: Fred Schiff

Subject: Passages

The idea of high, middle and low passages has bothered me for a while. If the
passages are not based upon the distance travelled, but instead a single jump,
the question is where do you get these tickets? The Traveller's Aid Society
gives them out as dividends to their members and it is doubtful whether every
tramp steamer spaceship sells them.  I thought that they might be sold by
financial institutions and the T.A.S. in the same manner in which banks sell
Traveller's checks.  This would explain the lesser amount you get on a discount
and the reason why passages are accepted everywhere throughout space; they
are backed by the various banks throughout space.


vu0141@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu

==================================
From: Rob Vetter (Controlled, Calm, Concerned) <uunet!amadeus.la.tek.com!rob>
Subject: Passages

	Passage tickets probably work similar to airline tickets
	today.  Most carriers will honor the tickets of another carrier
	(with the possible exception of Eastern Airlines) as a
	courtesy, and as a way to increase their own business.  It is
	assumed that the line which honors the ticket bills the
	issuer.

	This offers the possibility a couple of interesting angles to
	the game.  What if a major line goes T.U. after a tramp has
	accepted several passage tickets?  There may also be the
	possibility of major lines leveraging the small business owner
	into purchasing a special franchise or going out of business
	all together.

	A smart tramp operator may work in a high competition area with
	many major competing lines that cannot allow a bad reputation.
	Other possibilities are special contracts with certain lines,
	or accepting cash only.  I suppose you have to be on the
	look-out for Fly-By-Night Starlines tickets, too.

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

	I always assumed that the Traveller's Aid Society was kind of
	like Social Security or the Veterans Administration.  Probably
	closer to AARP - as a private organization.  One thing you have
	to remember is that it is HUGE.  Suppose 1 person out of 10,000
	in the Imperium pays (or has paid for them) the 1Mcr admission
	fee.  Assume resonable investment, assume also hotel, bar, and
	other revenues.  The society is probably LARGER than most
	(ALL?) Mega-corporations.  They maintain important economic and
	political contacts, possibly have their own fleet for internal
	travel and communication services, and DEFINITELY print their
	own scrip which is legal in most of the Imperial worlds.

	In the Shattered Imperium of Mega-Traveller, a good TAS
	director (likewise good Mega-corporation directors) will
	instruct the people to remain neutral.  This allows the
	opportunity for increasing power.

	    ["Mr. Director, the Emporer is here, will you see him?"
	     "Let him wait another day."]

==============================================================================
**TRAVELLER MAILING LIST - TRADE AND COMMERCE DIGEST VOL.2                  **
**                                                                          **
**Please send submissions and replies to these articles to:                 **
**                                                                          **
**givler@cbmvax.uucp                                                        **
**or                                                                        **
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**                                                                          **
==============================================================================


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-------- TML Message #305 --------

From: (Adrian Hurt) uunet.uu.net!mcvax!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian@tektronix
Subject: Megatraveller starships
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 89 10:32:48 BST
Archive-Message-Number: 305


A few questions on starships in MegaTraveller.

1. The new explanation of jump drives (i.e. a large power plant driving a net
integral to the ship's hull) is official - it's in the Referee's manual.
Given this, why can't you damage a ship's jump capability with mere surface
damage? The starship combat damage tables are lifted straight from High Guard,
and you can only harm the target's jump drive with an internal explosion or
critical hit.

2. Can you use the jump drive's power plant as a source of a lot of power for
a short time? E.g. build a ship with a small meson gun. Its power plant can't
supply this weapon, but using the jump power plant gives you sufficient power
for a limited number of shots.

3. In High Guard, weapons with a USP factor of less than 10 get a +6 DM on the
damage tables which makes them do less damage. The same rule applies in MT,
although here the tables are backwards, and weapons of USP factor >=10 get
a +6 DM to make them do more damage. But in High Guard, USP factor 10+ only
occurs on spinal mount weapons. In MT, TL16+ turret and bay weapons may have
USP factors >=10. The upshot is that in High Guard, only spinal mount weapons
get the DM; in MT, high-tech bay and turret weapons may do so too. Am I missing
something, or is this a contradiction?

 "Keyboard? How quaint!" - M. Scott

 Adrian Hurt			     |	JANET:  adrian@uk.ac.hw.cs
 UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian     |  ARPA:   adrian@cs.hw.ac.uk

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-------- TML Message #306 --------

Date: Tue, 18 Apr 89 13:25:42 EDT
From: vu0141@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu
Subject: Sword Worlds
Archive-Message-Number: 306


Does anyone know the origin of the Sword World's on the Spinward Marches map?
They sortof *jump* out at you (Beater, Biter, Sting, Sacnoth, etc.) and I was
wondering if anyone knew anything about their history.

- -- Fred Schiff (vu0141@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu)

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-------- TML Message #307 --------

Date: Tue, 18 Apr 89 13:24:01 EDT
From: vu0141@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu
Archive-Message-Number: 307


Subject: Re: Megatraveller starships

Adrian Hurt in message 305 asks, 
>A few questions on starships in MegaTraveller.

>1. The new explanation of jump drives (i.e. a large power plant driving a net
>integral to the ship's hull) is official - it's in the Referee's manual.
>Given this, why can't you damage a ship's jump capability with mere surface
>damage? The starship combat damage tables are lifted straight from High Guard,
>and you can only harm the target's jump drive with an internal explosion or
>critical hit.

Nope. I heard these questions asked at a con, and according to Miller et al,
the Lathimum (? is that correct? a rare earth metal I think) grid around the
hull is not that fragile; its basically a grid about the ship which is about
a meter apart, so the jump navigators can compensate if you are missing large
parts of it.  If you were actually missing large parts of your *hull* you
might be risking a misjump and have to deal with the possibility of having
a large hunk of jump space portrude into your ship. Not nice.

>2. Can you use the jump drive's power plant as a source of a lot of power for
>a short time? 

Definitely not!  Although the jump drive and the ship's power plant both supply
power they serve different requirements. The jump drive's burns all its fuel
very quickly and cannot sustain itself for the normal day to day run of the
ship's systems.  It cannot be altered to operated in any sort of "slow" mode.
And you cannot adapt the power plant to shunt energy through the crystals;
it just does not produce enough power, in the necessary amount of time.
You cannot adapt one to the other's use. If your jump drive and power plant are
gone, you are not dead yet; you've got batteries so you still have air,
(although I'd turn off the artificial gravity--it does kinda put a strain on
the power requirements)

Interestingly enough, jump is unlimited as far as how big a thing you want to
send.  At very high tech levels you can send entire planets through jump; its
an engineering problem rather than a theoretical one. Conceivably, you could
have some spare grid, put it around an interesting asteroid, modify your 
computers and jump with both your ship and the asteroid you had found.

Fred Schiff - You can kill and maim with your Zen gun.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= vu0141@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu
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-------- TML Message #308 --------

Date: Tue, 18 Apr 89 16:58:07 -0500
From: ("Nick Christenson @ St. Olaf College") christnp@thor.acc.stolaf.edu
Subject: Re: Sword Worlds
Archive-Message-Number: 308



The concept of the Sword Worlds comes from H. Beam Piper's book _Space_Viking_
(I didn't care much for it, although many of my friends enjoyed it.)  It's
a space opera.  Many of the names are retained (Gunn, Excalibur, Mithril,
et al) but more are added in Traveller.  Most of the other worlds are, of
course, named after swords.  Sting, Andruril, Narsil, etc from LOTR, Mjolnir,
etc from Norse mythos; Excalibur, etc from Arthurian legend; and so on.

Hope this is what you were looking for.

Nick Christenson
christnp@thor.acc.stolaf.edu

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-------- TML Message #309 --------

Subject: Re: Megatraveller starships
Date: 18 Apr 89 17:17:08 PDT (Tue)
From: jamesp
Archive-Message-Number: 309



Adrian Hurt writes in AMN 305:
> 1. The new explanation of jump drives (i.e. a large power plant driving a net
> integral to the ship's hull) is official - it's in the Referee's manual.
> Given this, why can't you damage a ship's jump capability with mere surface
> damage? The starship combat damage tables are lifted straight from High Guard,
> and you can only harm the target's jump drive with an internal explosion or
> critical hit.

Well, the new, detailed task diagram on page 64 of the Starship Operator's
Manual states:

	[Step] 3 Navigator engages jump drive

	To engage the jump drive:
	Routine*, Engineer, Navigator's Edu (fateful)
	Referee: While the Navigator "pushes the button",
	both the engineer and the navigator monitor the jump
	transition together.  On a mishap, see Other Tasks.

	Inside 100 diameters, this task becomes difficult*
	(hazardous, fateful).

	Inside 10 diameters, this task becomes formidable*
	(hazardous, fateful).

	There is a high risk the jump field will not close if more
	than 10% of the ship's hull net is missing in any one
	location.  How could this happen?
	1. From any critical surface hit in starship combat.
	2. Compute percent of hull net damage = (number
	surface hits x 100) / hull disp
	   If this number is greater than 10, then high risk.

	In these cases, the task becomes...
	Difficult*, Engineer, Navigator's Edu (hazardous, fateful)

Original is Copyright 1988 Digest Group Publications.  Above quote was
reproduced without permission.

Looks like ten surface hits for each 100 tons displacement makes a jump
more difficult, and the result of a mishap hazardous.  A single critical
hit acts similarly.  All the above skills are marked with an asterisk,
meaning they must should be done "Cautiously", or the task becomes
uncertain and a warning light event may occur later on a result of Some
Truth.

James

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-------- TML Message #310 --------

From: (Adrian Hurt) uunet.uu.net!mcvax!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian@tektronix
Subject: Sword Worlds
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 89 10:18:15 BST
Archive-Message-Number: 310



Fred Schiff (vu0141@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu) writes:
>Does anyone know the origin of the Sword World's on the Spinward Marches map?
>They sortof *jump* out at you (Beater, Biter, Sting, Sacnoth, etc.) and I was
>wondering if anyone knew anything about their history.

Most of them are the names of mythological swords (hence Sword Worlds). I don't
recognise them all, but some are from Tolkien's books (e.g. Sting). Also present
is Excalibur. There also the unpopulated worlds with the names of metals.

 "Keyboard? How quaint!" - M. Scott

 Adrian Hurt			     |	JANET:  adrian@uk.ac.hw.cs
 UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian     |  ARPA:   adrian@cs.hw.ac.uk


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-------- TML Message #311 --------

From: (Adrian Hurt) uunet.uu.net!mcvax!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian@tektronix
Subject: Megatraveller Starships
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 89 10:19:05 BST
Archive-Message-Number: 311



> more difficult, and the result of a mishap hazardous.  A single critical
> hit acts similarly.  All the above skills are marked with an asterisk,
> meaning they must should be done "Cautiously", or the task becomes
> uncertain and a warning light event may occur later on a result of Some
> Truth.
 
Pity this isn't made clear in the Starship Combat section, where, as I said,
surface hits have no effect on jump capability (except by reducing fuel),
while a critical hit can wipe out the jump drive entirely. I'd guess that the
critical hit knocks out the jump power plant. Interior explosions causing
jump damage may be doing damage to the net, rather than the drive.

All of which brings up another question. If a starship takes surface damage,
does it require a class A starport to repair it? Under the old system, no.
Only the jump drive required class A attention. But under the new system, the
hull is part of the jump drive. Which also means that simple surface repairs
become a lot more expensive, too.

 "Keyboard? How quaint!" - M. Scott

 Adrian Hurt			     |	JANET:  adrian@uk.ac.hw.cs
 UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian     |  ARPA:   adrian@cs.hw.ac.uk

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-------- TML Message #312 --------

From: uunet.uu.net!mcvax!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian@tektronix (Adrian Hurt)
Subject: Jumping planets
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 89 10:12:37 BST
Archive-Message-Number: 312


[Looks like this was meant as a reply to the list, and got just to me by
mistake -- James]

>At very high tech levels you can send entire planets through jump; its
>an engineering problem rather than a theoretical one. Conceivably, you could
>have some spare grid, put it around an interesting asteroid, modify your 
>computers and jump with both your ship and the asteroid you had found.

That would take some fuel! Send Earth through hyperspace - use Jupiter as a
fuel tank. But hauling smaller loads around can be done. In the old Supplement
9, Fighting Ships, there is a jump tug which does exactly what you suggest -
puts a mesh around a load, e.g. a cargo pod or a small asteroid, then pulls it
through a jump.

 "Keyboard? How quaint!" - M. Scott

 Adrian Hurt			     |	JANET:  adrian@uk.ac.hw.cs
 UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian     |  ARPA:   adrian@cs.hw.ac.uk

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-------- TML Message #313 --------

Date: Tue, 18 Apr 89 23:51:21 edt
From: givler@cbmvax.cbm.commodore.com (Greg Givler SUPPORT)
Subject: Re: Sword Worlds
Archive-Message-Number: 313


"The Sword Worlds where the men are men and the women are men too..."

The above is from an article for Journal No. 18 entitled
Contact: Sword Worlders, according to the article SW's are decended from 
Solomani Exiles which arrived in the subsector ca. -400 they first settled at 
Gram in -399. Although not part of the Imperium they did take advantage of 
Imperial trade, until the First Frontier War where Imperial alliances with the
Darian Confederation brought the Sword World and Darian problems to a head. 
This tension continues to this day. The article was written in 1108 or so, in 
and around the Fifth Frontier War. The Sword Worlds are part of The OutWorld 
Coalition.

The original settlers of the Sword Worlds were of Germanic and Nordic stock.
The official language is a variant of Icelandic. Each world of the Sword 
Worlds has a different culture although all are male dominated and any 
women in "male" jobs are expected to exhibit male rather than female behavior,
at least in public. Which leads to the statement at the beginning of this
article.

Psionics are not repressed as they are in the Imperium, but they are not 
an integral part of society either, like the Zhodani. Psi powers are viewed
with distaste by Sword Worlder men, and any male with them will be reluctant
to admit to them or use them in public. 

The Sword World Confederation is a true confederation with individual systems
having complete autonomy. Each world maintains their own armed forces and 
makes their own laws and completely regulates their own internal affairs. A
Confederation Council, made up of representatives on all the worlds. It 
regulates interworld trade and so forth. The so-called "metal worlds" (Iron,
Bronze, Mithril and Steel) have been designated resource worlds, and placed
under the direct administration of the Confederation government for further
development. [As an aside, if any of you have been run in Mission on Mithril, 
you know what these worlds are like. What a night that was for my character.]
There are no permanent inhabitants, just members of the Confederation Patrol
and various mining and resource company employees. 

Character generation is the same as for normal Imperial citizens, however the
Scout Service is replaced by the Patrol Service. 

The above is excerpted(sp?) and paraphrased from 
_The Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society_
No. 18, article _Contact: Sword Worlders_ by Loren Wiseman.

There is a character class, Patrol Service, that if people wish to have, I 
will issue a follow up article, I do not know if this issue of the _Journal_
is still available. If there is a request, I will be glad to type in the 
Patrol Service character class, there is also a chronology of the Sword Worlds.
Let me know if anyone wants the chronology too.

 
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greg Givler                        Q-Link: Commodore
Telecommunications Coordinator     CompuServe: CBM/Support 76703,2047
Commodore Customer Support         INTERNET: givler@cbmvax.uucp
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The above opinions are usually mine, but sometimes I just repeat things.
==============================================================================
!e

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-------- TML Message #314 --------

From: lsmith@apollo.com (Larry Smith)
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 89 16:54:58 EDT 
Subject: Sword Worlds
Archive-Message-Number: 314


[More mail that was sent to traveller-request instead of traveller -- James]

>Does anyone know the origin of the Sword World's on the Spinward Marches map?
>They sortof *jump* out at you (Beater, Biter, Sting, Sacnoth, etc.) and I was
>wondering if anyone knew anything about their history.
>
>-- Fred Schiff (vu0141@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu)

The Sword Worlds was a background created by H. Beam Piper for his space epics.
The only book in the series I recall that mentioned the Sword Worlds explicity
in _Space Viking_.  Pretty good story, actually.

The GDW Sword Worlds are not detailed anywhere, so I use stats based on H. Beam
Piper's work.  The names used on the Spinward Marches map correspond to most
famous named swords, ("Beater" and "Biter" being the orc names for "Orchrist,
the Goblin Cleaver" and "Glamdring, the Foe Hammer" from _The Hobbit_.  "Sting"
was Bilbo's name for his dagger/sword.  Other names mentioned on the map
include Excalibur and Durandal, I believe (or maybe they're from Piper and
I'm just confusing the two).  Durandal was the sword of Roland, I presume you've
heard of Excalibur.

Larry Smith    lsmith@apollo1.UUCP
            or {mit-eddie,yale,uw-beaver}!apollo!lsmith

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-------- TML Message #315 --------

Date: Wed, 19 Apr 89 12:51:14 -0500
From: uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!gslisa!gsliss!jcunning@tektronix
Subject: System Surveillance
Archive-Message-Number: 315


[Hmm... looks like this was meant for traveller@dadla... but was sent to
traveller-request, by mistake.  Please watch your "To" lines, especially
when automatically generated by the "reply" feature of your mailer.  But
keep the messages coming! -- James]

I am in the process of writing an adventure for Digest Group
which deals with ship operations in the Old Expanses sector,
my old High Passage stomping ground, which is now under
Solmani control. I would like some opinions as to how difficult
it would be to operate a ship in the system without being
detected. Part of this is solved by having only a small occupation
force in the system (how convenient!), and certain areas (such as
the main world and gas giants) would be impossible to get near
without being detected. The question is how much of the system
is being watched. Is there a sort of equivalent to the current
air traffic control system? How easy would it be for the Solomani to
set up such a system? Any ideas?

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-------- TML Message #316 --------

Date: Wed, 19 Apr 89 21:12:43 MDT
From: (SULAIMAN) asulaima@udenva.cair.du.edu
Subject: jump
Archive-Message-Number: 316



It is mentioned somewhere in the Megatraveller books that at high TLs

teleportation became intersystem capable and was used by ancients. In
the Traveller  Adventure "Secret of the Ancients" it is noted that the
Ancients used entire suns as source of energy by "pinching" them out of normal

space and then carrying along this pinched sun as a poerplant for their
ships!!!
At these TLs you wouldn't need to put a mesh around the sun/gas giant just
pinch it off and put a tap on the emitted energy. Wouldn't need to refuel for
atleast 5 billion years!!!

	Ameer Z. Sulaiman.

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-------- TML Message #317 --------

From: (Adrian Hurt) uunet.uu.net!mcvax!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian@tektronix
Subject: Ancients and Moties
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 89 10:18:13 BST
Archive-Message-Number: 317



I've just finished re-reading "The Mote in God's Eye" by Larry Niven and James
Pournelle, and was struck by the similarities between Moties and Droyne.
Both are caste-based societies, and most of the castes match, e.g. Droyne
Leaders = Motie Masters, Droyne Technicians = Motie Engineers. Droyne don't
have miniature Watchmakers (that we've seen), and their Drones don't have any
Motie equivalent that I recognised, though. Still, it set me thinking about
resolving the Riddle of the Ancients in terms of Moties. Anything is better
than the official explanation, so try this.

In their earlier times, the Droyne had the same problem as the Moties. They had
to reproduce, or they would die. This led to immense population problems, which
were solved to some extent when the Jump Drive was invented. "Some extent"
means that it was only a matter of time before the worlds which were colonised
were also overcrowded. Inevitably, interstellar war resulted, but not before
the Droyne had reached very high tech levels. Some colonies were wiped out;
others were blasted back to a Stone Age equivalent. Bases were left behind,
some intact, others ruined. No two bases were ever the same, as no two Droyne
did the same thing the same way.

Civilisations rose and fell several times before one Droyne, the Yaskoydray of
legend, formed a new society in which the needs of society totally overrode
the wishes of individuals. If an individual had to reproduce or die, and no
more children were needed by society, tough - the individual died. The impact
was lessened to some extent by the discovery of a hormone-control drug which
counteracted the biological need to reproduce. Yaskoydray tested this first on
himself, and when it appeared to be effective, issued it to his society.

Other societies were divided in their opinions of these developments. Some
welcomed the apparent end to millenia of rises and falls, of creation followed
by destruction. Others were reluctant to take the step into an entirely new
system. There was one more, cataclysmic war. Yaskoydray's side won, but it was
a Pyrrhic victory, as the few survivors were once more reduced to primitive
levels. Most of the survivors were on only two worlds, Andory and Candory. A
few isolated groups exist throughout space, but very small groups.

While the survivors of Andory and Candory were struggling to revive their
society, a new factor made itself felt. Humanity was, for the first time, also
capable of jump travel. The Imperials were the first to discover the twin
worlds. Their archaeologists learnt a few fragments of the above history;
enough to regard the Droyne as a potential threat, but only potential. There
was no reason to exterminate them, but they had to be watched in case they
expanded again.

In fact, there is no such threat. The concept of the individual being totally
subordinate to society is still in force. The hormone control drug was lost,
along with much of the Ancients' technology, but the rigid society attitude,
backed up by quasi-religious rituals such as those of the coynes, keep the
population in check. An individual lives just as long as it is needed by
society, then it dies. A few choose not to die, but they soon run into the
old problem. They have to breed, or they become listless and unhappy, and
eventually die anyway. But so long has it been since anyone bred for that
reason, that none know the cause of their unhappiness; and besides, none except
perhaps another one of these "deathless ones" will have anything to do with
them.

There is a legend which persists, that Yaskoydray is alive and well, and
occasionally visits the Droyne. The presence of coynes which cannot be
otherwise explained lends some credence. In truth, although none but Yaskoydray
himself know it, when he first tried the hormone control drug on himself, he
overdosed. But as the need to reproduce or die was nature's way of trying to
keep Droyne from living too long, and as he has overcome that need, he is in
effect immortal. Which does not make him very happy; even Ancients can get
tired of life when they've seen everything. Yaskoydray has seen more, and knows
more, than the sum total of the experience of all the human subspecies put
together. He's also slightly cowardly. He won't commit suicide, or take actions
which threaten him. Thus he is tired of life, but afraid to die.

Well, there you have it. Yet another Theory of the Ancients. Any comments?
Interesting side note, as this is inspired by "The Mote in God's Eye"; there
is a star called "The Eye Of God", or more correctly, "L'Oeuil d'Dieu". (That
high school French had some use, after all! :-) What a pity this star is on
the wrong side of the Spinward Marches.

 "Keyboard? How quaint!" - M. Scott

 Adrian Hurt			     |	JANET:  adrian@uk.ac.hw.cs
 UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian     |  ARPA:   adrian@cs.hw.ac.uk

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-------- End of TML Messages --------

