
-------- TML Message #544 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 544
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 89 17:07:37 EDT
From: (wilson m liaw) macgyver@cis.ohio-state.edu
Subject: Is it Strephon?  Or is it Memorex?



	Well, neither DGP nor GDW has make a decision on this. They think it
should be left to the GM to decide. In my game, he is actully a clone.
But in some of the games my friends run, he is the real thing.

				Mac

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-------- TML Message #545 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 545
Date: Fri, 15 Sep 89 10:23:32 EDT
From: ("William B. Morrison") morrison@pyr.gatech.edu
Subject: *Real* star system generation program


Ted Kim <tek@penzance.cs.ucla.edu> and I have been discussing the *real*
star system generation program. It generates star systems comparable
to our own (all have 1 star and about 10 planets), and the generation
is based upon current astrophysical knowledge. Since neither Ted nor I
are astrophysics experts, we'd like to know the following:

1) what classifies a star type (eg. sol is a G-type star, what's that mean?)
   Also, what are the other classes of stars and what does that mean for 
   the star system (I think it has something to do with star burn rates).

2) Are there any physics/astronomy/astrophysics people out there who
   could tell us what a *real* binary/trinary star system would look
   like ('yes' and 'no' are *not* appropriate answers :-).

3) Ar there any other star system types that are known to exist aside
   from the stardard unary/binary/trinary systems? (Ringworld and Dyson
   sphere systems are man/being-made and can be anything we want them
   to be). 

4) what does "Planet's rotation is in a resonant spin lock with the star"
   mean?


Thanks for any help.

This and other questions
- --Bill Morrison
  morrison@pyr.gatech.edu

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-------- TML Message #546 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 546
Subject: Introduction to Astrophysics
Date: 15 Sep 89 16:43:13 PDT (Fri)
From: jamesp



I'm a little rusty on my astronomy hobby, but here goes.

> 1) what classifies a star type (eg. sol is a G-type star, what's that mean?)
>    Also, what are the other classes of stars and what does that mean for 
>    the star system (I think it has something to do with star burn rates).

Stars are classified by many things.  The most important factors in
stars are mass, composition, and distance from the observer.  From these
everything else can be deduced:

Basic Stellar Factors:

	Mass: Stars vary from 1/100 to 100 times the Sun's mass.  At
	certain cataclysmic times in their lives, stars will lose mass
	(from 10% to 99% of their starting mass).  Sometimes stars will
	scoop up mass from the atmosphere of a nearby companion.  Most
	stars are about 10-20% of the sun's mass.  Stars larger than the
	sun get progressively rarer, mostly due to their short lifetimes.

	Composition: Stars start out with about 75% Hydrogen and 25%
	Helium.  Stars formed from the ashes of earlier stars which have
	Nova'ed may have dust formed from elements Iron and lighter.
	Stars formed from the ashes of Supernovae (like most stars in
	our galaxy today) are further enriched with elements heaver than
	Iron.  Composition is the single most important factor which
	causes stars to age.  As stars age they fuse the Hydrogen nuclei
	into Helium nuclei.  Stars somewhat more massive (>1.4 Solar
	masses) can develop the core pressure to burn the Helium into
	Carbon, Carbon into Neon, Magnesium, and so on up to Iron.  The
	smaller stars (<1.4 Solar masses) run out of fuel, blow off
	their outer layers, and cool into a naked degenerate matter core
	called a white dwarf.  The larger stars run out of fuel, blow
	off their outer layers in a supernova, and press all the
	electrons and nuclei together (in the naked core) called a
	neutron star.  Or maybe a black hole.

	Distance from observer: affect the apparent brightness of the
	star.  Naturally it has no effect on the intrinsic brightness of
	the star.

Resultant factors:

	Core Temperature: A function of mass and composition.  A few
	million degrees Kelvin is necessary to fuse Hydrogen.  Several
	hundreds of millions of degrees are necessary to create Iron.
	Temperature (and Pressure) of that magnitude can only be
	achieved in the most massive stars.  The core temperature and
	pressure is increased by gravitional collapse, and decreased by
	the radiation pressure of the gamma rays generated by fusing
	elements.  As the fusion rates increase, the core expands,
	reducing the temperature and pressure, causing the fusion rate
	to decrease.  This steady state is why stars burn at a steady
	rate.  Very massive stars have stronger gravity-pressure to
	overcome, so they reactions stabilize at vastly higher reaction
	rates.

	Size: The girth of the star is determined most importantly by
	its composition and core temperature.  Most normal composition,
	that is, main sequence stars (type V) are compact, that is,
	about 1-10 million km in size.  Stars made of white-dwarf matter
	are subcompact (Earth size), and neutron stars are microcompact
	-- only a few km (say 15 or so) across.  Red giants, where the
	core temperature is very high and is goading fusion reactions on
	the star's surface, are bloated out to 100 million to 1 billion
	km in size.

	Surface Temperature: A function of mass and size.  Most surface
	temperatures are in the 3000K-45000K range.  Sol burns at about
	5600K.  Redder "colors" are cool, 3000-4000K.  Yellow is
	5000-7000K, White is 8000-15000K, and the hotter stars have a
	distinctly bluish tint.  This is because the photosphere
	(deepest visible layer of the star) radiates like a black body,
	in a continuous bell-curve of luminosity vs. wavelength.  White
	dwarfs tend to be whitish, Red Giants bloated by high core
	temperatures and high-atmosphere hydrogen burning are very cool
	on the surface.

	Luminosity: The intrinsic brightness of the star; it's total
	energy output.  This is a function of the star's size and its
	surface temperature.  White dwarfs are hot and very small, so
	they are dim.  Neutron stars are hotter still and tinier still,
	so they are even dimmer.  Red Giants are cool but very large, so
	they tend to be very bright.  Stars range from 10000 to
	1/10000'th the luminosity of Sol.

Observable information:

	Apparent magnitude: How bright the star looks from your
	backyard.  A combination of luminosity degraded by distance.
	This is a logarithm of the apparent brilliance of the star.  Sol
	is magnitude -26 or so, the Moon, about -16, Sirius A (brightest
	star) is -1.6, Alpha Centauri A, about 1.0, dimmest observable
	with unaided human eye, about 6.0, Sirius B (white dwarf), about
	15.0.

	Absolute magnitude: Magnitude of star if it were brought to a
	fixed distance of 10 parsecs.  I think the Sun would be around
	magnitude 4.0.

	Color Index: The degree of blueness or redness of the star as
	measured by comparing the brightness of the star from two
	photographs, one taken through blue and the other through a red
	filter.

	Spectrum: A spectrograph is used to look at the emission of the
	star at each visible wavelength.  The bell curve of black-body
	radiation is most evident (hotter stars are bluer, colder are
	redder).  On closer examination, dark and bright lines can be
	distinguished.  The dark lines are caused by gases in the star's
	atmosphere absorbing light from the lower layers; the bright
	lines are emissive gases in the star's atmosphere.  The exact
	position of the lines map out the composition of the stars to
	observing scientists.  Hot stars tend to have very understated
	emission/absorption lines, whereas the cooler stars have very
	pronounced absorption lines.

	The spectral class of the star attempted to classify the stars
	from the spectral lines, and originally we had type A through
	type S stars, with type W Wolf-Rayet stars too.  After much
	studying and theorizing, they realized everything was screwed
	up.  They threw out most of the letters as meaningless, and came
	up with the order O B A F G K M, which classifies normal (type
	V) stars in order of decreasing temperature and size.  For finer
	degrees of measurement, a decimal was added.  Hence Sol is 2/10
	of the way from G0 to K0, a G2 star.

Stellar lifecycles:

	Formation: all stars form from clouds of dust and gas.  Areas of
	the clouds will be more dense, and the stronger gravity there
	draws in surrounding gas, etc., until a proto-star system is
	born.  Often the central mass will have other similarly sized
	clumps gathered with it.  This is a multi-star system.  Others
	may not, like the Sol system.  Any tiny planets tend to clump
	together as the star is warming up.  Eventually the star heats
	up really good and blows away most of the dust and gas around
	it.  Often the young star burns off the volatiles from the
	close-in planets, while the outer ones maintain their hydrogen
	and helium envelopes (gas giants).

	Main Sequence Life: About this time it probably emerges from the
	cluster (in the case of galactic clusters) or spiral arm and
	enters the long-term hydrogen-burning steady state "main
	sequence".  The star spends most of its life converting hydrogen
	into helium, at modest core temperatures.  This is the time a
	star is considered "type V".  For Sol, this is around 10 billion
	years.  For more massive stars, much less time (higher core
	temperatures and much greater burning).  Sirius A, a class A
	star, probably will last 200 million years or so.  For less
	massive stars (class M), 40-50 billion years.

	Uh-oh, low on gas: When the star runs low on hydrogen, the core
	will no longer be able to support itself against gravity, and
	will shrink, compressing and heating up.  The hydrogen outside
	the core, what ther is, starts burning like crazy.  The intense
	heat of this causes the star to bloat hugely into a red giant.

	Small Stars: In small stars (1.4 Solar masses or less), the core
	will tend to continue collapsing into a state of degenerate
	matter called a white dwarf.  The remnant core will then blow
	off the outer layers of the star into a "plentary nebula".  The
	inert dwarf, just hot matter with no energy generation, will
	slowly cool over billions of years, going from spectral class B
	or so down to M and below (a black dwarf).

	Large Stars: The core will collapse futher and further until it
	gets hot enough to fuse the plentiful helium ash into carbon.
	The star has a new lease on life, but the intense temperatures
	makes the helium burn very quickly and it lasts only 1/10 to
	1/100 as long as the hydrogen lasted.  When it runs out, the
	story is repeated.  THe core collapses until it is hot enough
	for carbon to fuse.  The star is like an onion, with hydrogen
	burning on the surface, helium below, carbon below that.  This
	can't go on forever.  When the star reaches Iron, it cannot fuse
	any more to gain energy.

	Neutron Star: at this point the core continues collapsing until
	the electrons, protons, and neutrons are crushed into a gigantic
	ball of neutrons 10-30 km across, the rest of the star falling
	in around it.  Suddenly the core stops collapsing, and the
	infalling matter crashes against the core, rebounding with a
	gigantic shock wave which is crushed out before it can leave the
	star.  At this point heavy elements are created by crushing the
	iron and lighter nuclei together.  A massive burst of neutrinos
	is the neutron core's shockwave of its own.  The neutrinos,
	unlike photons, mostly pass through the matter of the star, but
	those that do collide into the star's matter heat it violently
	and the star's outer 95% rends itself away from the core.  This
	is called a Supernova.  The remnant is a neutron star.  If the
	star was very massive, the neutron star will collapse at this
	point into a black hole.

	The Remnant: The supernova remnant is highly enriched in heavy
	elements.  Undoubtedly the gases and dusts will be swept into
	more star formation in a few million or billion years.  Think of
	the gold in the switches in your computer terminal.  Yep, those
	came out of a supernova long before the solar system formed.

> 2) Are there any physics/astronomy/astrophysics people out there who
>    could tell us what a *real* binary/trinary star system would look
>    like ('yes' and 'no' are *not* appropriate answers :-).

I suggest going to a star party and asking to see a couple
binaries/trinaries.  There are many paintings by artists depicting life
on a planet ruled by binary/trinary star systems.  Read "Nightfall"
(don't see the movie) by Larry Niven and ???..  Look for art in
"Cosmos", by Carl Sagan.

> 3) Ar there any other star system types that are known to exist aside
>    from the stardard unary/binary/trinary systems? (Ringworld and Dyson
>    sphere systems are man/being-made and can be anything we want them
>    to be). 

Other than multi-star systems and globular and galactic clusters, there
aren't really any other kinds of systems.  Globular clusters are
ancient, one-shot star formations of several million stars, very poor in
heavy elements.  Galactic clusters (and galactic arms) are full of dust,
gas, and radiation.  They are full of young, hot, massive stars that go
"pop" and raise a lot of radiation.

> 4) what does "Planet's rotation is in a resonant spin lock with the star"
>    mean?

Mercury is an example.  It is in an eccentric orbit, and contains uneven
distribution of mass within itself.  It revolves around the Sun in 88
days, and rotates in 59 days.  Note the 3:2 ratio, a ratio of small
integers.  This has happened because of a resonance; when Mercury is
closest to the Sun, the lowest energy state is when the mass
concentrations on Mercury closest to the Sun.  The Moon is a similar
case in it's orbit around earth, only the ratio is 1:1.  This effect is
usally felt only when the objects are fairly close to one another, and
have been orbiting for a long, long time.

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-------- TML Message #547 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 547
Date: Fri, 15 Sep 89 17:27:21 EDT
From: (Greg Givler - QA) givler@cbmvax.commodore.COM
Subject: TRADE AND COMMERCE VOL. 8



  ***************************************************************************
  ** 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    **
  ** in this digest. Thanks, Greg Givler <givler@cbmvax.cbm.commodore.com> **
  ***************************************************************************


Contents:

1. Trade and Commerce System - Greg Givler

       			   TRADE AND COMMERCE SYSTEM

This is a prototype of the new proposed trade and commerce system. This
has been culled from suggestions from various sources. Most notably
Mark Power and Edwin Wiles, thank you for your input. I hope that 
I haven't munged your ideas. :) 
I have placed the events in the same order that they are in the 
Mega-Traveller Book. I have repeated the unchanged portions to save 
GMs from having to look in two places for the information. There 
are very few if any changes in the first few steps, I have commented 
on some things that I think that need to be considered for change in 
the future. The real changes have happened in the Purchasing area. 
I have a purchase table and sale table and a goods table format. 
Most of the numbers are arbitrary. In other words I made them up. 
If you have suggestions send them to me and not the net. I would 
like to see this generate some new article for the digest. If I do 
not hear anything in the next week, I will give you the next part 
of the installments.

Greg
  
Steps for TRADE AND COMMERCE:
=============================

1. Source World Details
- -----------------------------
Determine sourceworld's Population and Tech Level.


2. Destination World Details
- -------------------------------
The ship captain must select and designate a destination world within
jump range. Determine destination worlds Population, Tech Level, and
travel zone.

3. Shipments
- ----------------
Passengers are determined at Step 4. Cargo and Freight are both
determined beginning at step 5.

4. Passengers
- -------------------
Determine how many passengers are available for the ship.
Roll once on the High column
Once on the Middle column
Once on the Low column


  
				PASSENGER TABLE

============================================================================
WORLD DIGIT		HIGH		MIDDLE		LOW
============================================================================

	0		---		----		---
	1		---		1D-2		2D-6
	2		1D-1D		1D		2D
	3		2D-2D		2D-1D		2D
	4		2D-1D		2D-1D		3D-1D
	5		2D-1D		3D-2D		3D-1D
	6		3D-2D		3D-2D		3D
	7		3D-2D		3D-1D		3D
	8		3D-1D		3D-1D		4D
	9		3D-1D		3D		5D
	A		3D		4D		6D

DMs: If destination world Population 0-4, DM -3. If destination world
Population 8+, DM +1.

If any crewmember has STEWARD skill, apply it as a +DM on the roll for
High passengers.

If any crewmember has ADMIN skill, apply it as a +DM on the roll for
Middle passengers.

If any crewmember has STREETWISE skill, apply it as a +DM on the roll
for Low passengers.

DM +(sourceworld TL minus destination world TL).

If destination world is RED ZONE, DM -12, and no Middle or Low
Passengers. 

If destination world is an AMBER ZONE, DM -6

Passengers may not exceed the passenger capacity of the ship. 

This table may be consulted once per week.

INCOME: Credit the ship with:

Cr 10,000 per High passenger,
Cr  8,000 per Middle passenger,
Cr  1,000 per Low passenger.

[One thing that was discussed is the possibility of charging different
prices for different length jumps. This should be considered a
possibility and I will have an optional table in future articles. I think
that a standard X per jump is a bit much and X per trip not enough. I
would like to see a sliding scale, something similar to what toadys
airlines have. Obviously the above table is the simplest, but not the
most realistic. - Greg]

5. FREIGHT AND CARGO
==========================

Freight consists of paid shipments of goods. Cargo is purchased at the
sourceworld and destination world. Determine the available lots from
the table. Roll once in the major column, once in the minor column,
and once in the incedental column. For each lot determine its size by
rolling the lot size.

				AVAILABLE LOTS
			      ==================

POP		__________Available at Sourceworld________________
DIGIT
		MAJOR			MINOR		INCIDENTAL

0		-----			-----		-----
1		1D-4			1D-4		-----
2		1D-2			1D-1		-----
3		1D-1			1D		-----
4		1D			1D+1		-----
5		1D+1			1D+2		-----
6		1D+2			1D+3		1D-3	
7		1D+3			1D+4		1D-3
8		1D+4			1D+5		1D-2
9		1D+5			1D+6		1D-2
A		1D+6			1D+7		1D

LOT SIZE: 

MAJOR CARGO:   1D+10 MINOR CARGO: 1D+5 [I have included optional lot
sizes on the cargo determination tables below. This chart could be
used or we can get develop a system where each entry on the purchase
table will have its own range of lot size. I think I like the second
method better, but it will mean some sort of modifier list to be
applied probable based on population. I will work on such a table.

MAJOR FREIGHT: 1D+10 MINOR FREIGHT: 1D+5 
Lot size is stated in displacement tons. To convert to kiloliters,
multiply by 13.5

DMs: If destination world is Population 0-4, DM -3. If destination
world is Population 8+, DM +1. If any crew member has LIAISON skill,
apply it as a +DM on the roll for minor cargos. DM +(sourceworld TL
minus destination world TL). If destination world is red zone, there
is no freight. If the goods are freight (carried for a fee of Cr1000
per ton) and their identity does not matter, ignore further steps. 
The sum of cargo and freight cannot exceed the cargo hold capacity 
of the ship.

This table shows the limit of freight and cargo available to a ship 
in a period of one week. A crewmember with Broker skill may consult
this table again once (to find last minute cargo but not frieght).

PURCHASING
- ------------
1) Determine number of available cargos. [ Dependent on starport and
   population? I do not have a table for starport and population, if
   someone out there has some suggestions let me know. - Greg] 

2) Determine specific cargos.  Involves a certain amount of searching
   on the part of the players.  Referee rolls on appropriate table for
   trade class.  


[I have a small (really) sample of what I am working on. I would like as
much input as you can give. Most of the numbers are based on Book 2 old 
Traveller base prices, but are actually rather arbitrary.]

[Here is what I have.

This is a suggested table of goods in a new format. This format will allow the 
referee to modify and add more detail to the cargos available. 
I have started with Mega-Traveller Table 10a, I have an entry for Lot size, 
but this could be optional and you can use the table above. As you can see this
table will take some time to establish and I would like input on what you see.
If you feel that this will not work let me know. I think that we have a rough 
beginning here and I know that I need more input. - Greg]
 
TABLE 10a: NATURAL RESOURCES
- ----------------------------------
NO: 11 FERROUS METAL ORE

Lots:	1D+10 TONS			
Value:	1000Cr per ton
Transport Price: NA
Transport Cost:	NA
Market:	Raw Material	
Restriction: None	
Special Handling: None
Modifiers: 
	Purchase Mods: As = -40%
	Resale Mods  : In = -10%

NO: 12 FERROUS METAL ORE

Lots:	2D+10 TONS			
Value:	1000Cr per ton
Transport Price: NA
Transport Cost:	NA
Market:	Raw Material	
Restriction: None	
Special Handling: None
Modifiers: 
	Purchase Mods: As = -40%
	Resale Mods  : In = -10%
		
NO: 13 FERROUS METAL ORE

Lots:	3D+10 TONS			
Value:	1000Cr per ton
Transport Price: NA
Transport Cost:	NA
Market:	Raw Material	
Restriction: None	
Special Handling: None
Modifiers: 
	Purchase Mods: As = -40%
	Resale Mods  : In = -10%

NO: 14 NONMETAL ORE

Lots:	1D+10 TONS			
Value:	500Cr per ton
Transport Price: NA
Transport Cost:	NA
Market:	Raw Material	
Restriction: None	
Special Handling: Corrosive - 10+, Flammable - 12+
Modifiers: 
	Purchase Mods: As = -40%, IN = -10%
	Resale Mods  : In = -30%, NI = -10%

NO: 15 NONMETAL ORE

Lots:	2D+10 TONS			
Value:	500Cr per ton
Transport Price: NA
Transport Cost:	NA
Market:	Raw Material	
Restriction: None	
Special Handling: Corrosive - 10+, Flammable - 12+
Modifiers: 
	Purchase Mods: As = -40%, IN = -10%
	Resale Mods  : In = -30%, NI = -10%

NO: 16 RADIOACTIVE ORE

Lots:	1D+10 TONS			
Value:	1,000,000 Cr per ton
Transport Price: NA
Transport Cost:	1000Cr per week, per ton
Market:	Raw Material	
Restriction: 8+
Special Handling: Special Sheilding, Radioactive 6+
Modifiers: 
	Purchase Mods: As = -20%, In = +70%, Ni = -20%, Ri = +30% 
	Resale Mods  : In = +60%, Ni = -30%, Ri = -40%, As = -30%

NO: 21 RADIOACTIVE ORE

Lots:	2D+10 TONS			
Value:	1,000,000 Cr per ton
Transport Price: NA
Transport Cost:	1000Cr per week, per ton
Market:	Raw Material	
Restriction: 8+
Special Handling: Special Sheilding, Radioactive 6+
Modifiers: 
	Purchase Mods: As = -20%, In = +70%, Ni = -20%, Ri = +30% 
	Resale Mods  : In = +60%, Ni = -30%, Ri = -40%, As = -30%

3) Determine base asking price.  Roll on table to determine price.

[Below are two tables quite similar, but slightly different, they are
possibilities of what we might end up with. They are pretty straight
forward, but may not work. I have not checked the probability curve.
Let me know what you think. - Greg]

PURCHASE TABLE

MODIFIED 	PERCENTAGE	
DIE ROLL	MODIFIER
- ----------------------------------
[Optional
   -2		-10% for each 
		Number below 2 until
		10% of base cost is 
		reached]

    2		  50%
    3		  60%
    4		  70%
    5  		  80%
    6		  90%
    7            100%
    8		 110%
    9		 120%
   10		 130%
   11		 140%
   12		 150%

[Optional

   13+		+10% for each 
		number above 12 until
		200% of base cost is
		reached]

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

Roll 2D-7 plus modifiers

Get modifiers from product table.

Tech Level Modifier

Sourceworld TL - Destination TL

SALE TABLE

MODIFIED 	PERCENTAGE	
DIE ROLL	MODIFIER
- ----------------------------------
[Optional
   -2		-10% for each 
		Number below 2 until
		10% of base cost is 
		reached]

    2		  60%
    3		  70%
    4		  80%
    5  		  90%
    6		 100%
    7            110%
    8		 120%
    9		 130%
   10		 140%
   11		 150%
   12		 160%

[Optional

   13+		+10% for each 
		number above 12 until
		300% of base cost is
		reached]

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

Roll 2D-7 plus modifiers

Get modifiers from product table.

Tech Level Modifier

Sourceworld TL - Destination TL

**************************************
==============================================================================
TRADE AND COMMERCE DIGEST             | ****This*SPACE*intentionally*left****
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-------- TML Message #548 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 548
Date: Sun, 17 Sep 89 20:56 EST
From: WRICKER@northeastern.edu
Subject: Monopoly (TM) is Patented too


Regarding the (probably unlamented) dead topic of game copyrights,
I have seen a full copy of the PATENT on the monopoly game.  Its claims are
very specific as to how the game operates, but also has some breadth, such
that Parker Bros may be able to extort some vigourish out of similar games
created to promote other cities.  If anyone wants the number of the patent,
and doesn't have a game box handy, I can step down to the operating systems
group and check the copy.  (Jim did a contract automating the patent office
search system, and pulled copies of patents that intrigued him, including
Samuel L. Clemen's patent adjusable belt buckle; or was it a garter?)

- --- Bill Ricker
Ricker @ NUHUB.ACS.NORTHEASTERN.EDU

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All opinions and material above is the responsibility of the originator.
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-------- TML Message #549 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 549
Date: Sun, 17 Sep 89 21:14 EST
From: WRICKER@northeastern.edu
Subject: re: What besides shattered imperium?


Our group and one on the west coast have been using for 10 years now a
campaign in the TL 9 to 12 range set in a non-standard post-imperial-fall
future history.  Paul Gazis (PhD Astrophysics, MIT, now with Voyager at JPL)
created both the campaign setting -- modeled after the long-boat raiding
in dark-age europe -- and the Traveller rules variants in use in both
campaigns.  The east coast campaign is set in a barbarous back-water, the
Scarp region, of the parent-campaign; the two GMs coordinate historical
fluxes between the campaigns, such that a couple of wars from the other 
campaign are about to redirect our commercial/exploration campaign.
    Paul's rules modifications consisted of:
* Skill learning system, not unlike that presented in Cosmos by J.Redden,`
   which Paul credits to Mike Yoder and the Eastern Isles campaign of
   Warren Dew, Frank Adams, &co at MIT & DC etc.  (A very low-tech medieval
   game with several games-masters for different islands, which now runs
   in multiple cities on the east coast.)
* Character generation tables for different sub-services and countries,
   not unlike Mercenary/HighGuard but moreso and completed (to all classes)
   sooner.
* Ship construction, maintenance, operation, and combat which didn't offend
   an astrophysicist, but are usable by non-technical players.
* stars live in 3-space, based rougly on the known structure of our galactic
  arm (the Scarp is just this side of the Orion nebula; major, old imperial
  space stations are located on the arm's fringes nearest tangencies to earth)
  Space combat, however, is done either as chalk-board vectors or kriegspieled
  verbally.

His rules variants have been serially published in The Wild Hunt, a role-
playing APA (Amateur Press Association) run by Mark Swanson.  I can provide
information to anyone who'd like more...

Bill Ricker
WRICKER@NUHUB.ACS.NorthEastern.EDU
ignore erroneous return address on last message.

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-------- TML Message #550 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 550
Subject: Re:  The Imperium
Date: 14 Sep 89 08:41:07 EDT (Thu)
From: (Gerry Williams) gsw@moss.att.COM


I once ran a campaign for a short time based on post-holocaust Earth (this
was before the advent of Twilight 2000/Traveller 2300).  It was totally
different from any other Traveller game that I have played.  I based it on
the premise that the Third World War was truly devasting and led to wild
mutations, etc.  That way I could throw in some curves (monsters).  I even
took some Gamma World monsters and converted them into Traveller form (it
was actually very simple to do).

Here's how the campaign went:

The character (in my case there was only one player) started out in post-
holocaust Earth fighting to survive.  He had quite a few skills and great
physical attributes, but no technical training (imagine a barbarian, only
tougher and smarter).  This was, of course, due to the daily rigors of
survival in a post-holocaust Earth.

After a bit of time spent just trying to survive and rebuilding some of
Earth's cities, the character came upon a crashed spaceship.  Exploring
the ship was somewhat hazardous and didn't reveal much anyway, but
eventually the owners of the ship came looking for it.  They had known
about the war on Earth, but were "too late" to stop it, and didn't know
that life was returning to the planet, or, in fact, that anyone was still
alive.  This is what the character was told, at least.  What actually
happened was that the alien race had seen the impending menace of humanity
and used their guile to cause a nuclear conflict on the Earth.  They were
quite upset at the fact that humanity had managed to start rebuilding so
soon (the character had played a big role in this earlier).

Rather than tipping their hands, the aliens pretended to be "friends" and
offered to help rebuild what was left of humanity.  We never finished the
campaign, but it was left off with the human leaders willing to accept
the aliens' aid without question, but the character was already starting
to get suspicious about certain discrepancies in the aliens' stories.  The
aliens also used slave labor from conquered races, and the character would
eventually have discovered this, since he was learning to use the alien
technology alot faster than he let on.  One interesting twist is that the
aliens had used the war as an excuse to grab tens of thousands of humans,
which they had bred and used as slave labor.  By this point there were
millions of humans being used as slaves throughout the nearby stars.

I made a great effort to use real nearby stars when devising this campaign
in order to add a more realistic feel (the Near Star List would have been
a great help at that time).  With any luck, the character would have
discovered a rebellion ready to happen among many slaves, and maybe even
saved a few humans along the way.  Actually, the character would be more
likely crossed by human slaves than by other aliens -- humans are less
reliable than most races.

It was an interesting campaign -- too bad we both left for college and
never got to finish it.

By the way, this was a long time ago, so I don't remember any of the
details, although I probably still have my campaign notes somewhere...

Gerald S. Williams : gsw@moss.att.com : AT&T Bell Laboratories
WH 14D-337 : Whippany Rd. : Whippany, NJ 07981 : (201)386-2059

P.S.  If you were looking for a history where, for instance, the Third
Imperium survived, then simply use the old Traveller setting.  Many
campaigns developed in that setting (including some I've been in).  I'm
sure that many people who had already developed elaborate campaigns
didn't want to screw them up by introducing the Shattered Imperium.  A
common one I have seen is the Solomani Revolt, where Earth decides
enough is enough and kicks some Imperial ass.  I personally liked the
idea of a conquered Earth.  In my campaigns in the Third Imperium, the
people of Earth were actually happier under Third Imperium rule, since
they had been tired of fighting and didn't really care who ran the
government anyway.  (Of course there were some who would have preferred
home rule anyway. 8-)

The Traveller Mailing List is a courtesy of James Perkins and Tektronix, Inc.
All opinions and material above is the responsibility of the originator.
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-------- TML Message #551 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 551
From: (Steven J Owens) scratch@unix.cis.pitt.edu
Date: Mon, 18 Sep 89 12:11:43 EDT
Subject: Request for Traveller Tech


Hi there in Traveller Land...
 
	I used to play Traveller a while back, and I've finally gotten
into another campaign.  I'm about to start a character who is very
techie oriented and will hopefully come up with a lot of odd, off the
wall devices.  He's starting on a world with TL12, maybe up to 13 or 14
on the black market, and no laws.  He'll have about 4-5 five weeks
before the other players (in transit) arrive, so I'm going to get some
stuff together. 
 
	I want to ask for advice and reccommendations from the list,
because I'm not completely familiar with the rules (this is old
Traveller) nor with all of the expansions/alternates.  I'm interested in
advice or suggestions on the gadgets I'm going to make, suggestions on
more gadgets to make, and information on stuff that's already out there
in rules form but I haven't run into it yet.

	One thing I'd like is an idea of what kind of stuff is
available, mainly at TL12, with some stuff edging up into TL13.  The
rules I have aren't too detailed, and I definitely remember things
like holocameras, etc, which aren't detailed in my rules.

Hand Computers

	In this game the HandComputers are very nice, from an article
in a Traveller Digest the GM has.  I very much reccommend this article
(I only wish we had the stuff it talks about in there now!) in which
it outlines some of the things hand computer can do, and some of the 
services available to hand computers via packet radio transmissions
(including e-mail, possibility of hacking into the system to track
down somebody by their handcomp, various information services
available, etc). 

	One thing it doesn't do much about is software available for
hand computers, and how they can be used, but I guess that can be figured
out as needed, although if there are any such articles I'd appreciate
hearing about them. 

Implant Chip

	I remember seeing something called an Implant chip, or something
similar, in an issue of the TASJ, which enabled a character to hook up
directly to the computers.  I'm going to try to get one for my
character, and then use it to interface with my handcomputer and use it
more efficiently.

Eyephone shades 

	If I can't get one of those, I'm going to put together a set of
eyephones built into a pair of goggles or shades - eyephones exist
today, and are a pair of LCD screens which fit over your eyes and give
you a color 3D view of a virtual world - different people are developing
them for different reasons, I suppose, but I heard the most about them
in relation to something Autodesk (I think) is coming out with, a
virtual reality system using eyephones and a dataglove as the
input/output device.  
 
	These eyephones will be built into a set of wraparound
sunglasses, and will have input from the handcomputer to the screens, 
or from a tiny set of cameras, thus rendering them effectively
"transparent" to me so I can see out.  Minor options include a
rear-view option, and perhaps image processing.  The main reason for
the eyephones is to be able to display information from my
handcomputer for me.

	Then I can feed information in either through a set of
contacts to monitor my brainwaves (far-fetched, but perhaps possible
in TL12, what do I know?) or more realistically, through an
"eye-cursor" a system which tracks whichever spot I'm looking at, puts
a cursor there on the screen, then I can hit enter by blinking in a
special way, etc.  This enables me to do stuff without appearing to,
and to access my Handcomputer without overtly doing anything.              
 
Getting into the Rat Race...

	A series of rodent-sized robots.  They would be equipped with
certain capabilities, the range increasing with the TL and the
development. At first they'd basically be little programmable rodents
that go around and record stuff and carry out orders (through their
computer, or from a comlink) and can self-destruct with a demolitions
charge to destroy the evidence or a target.  

	As I get better, I'd add things like an electronic lockpick, a
tiny laser cutter to let them make their own mouse-holes, the ability
to tap into a ships computer and dump schematics so they can find
their way around, perhaps even the ability to dump a virus into the
ships computer so they are ignored by sensors.  Of course, the higher
the TL, the smarter the programming. 
 
	Any suggestions?  Feedback?  Ideas for more whacked out gadgets?
Let me hear from you! 

Steven J. Owens   |   Scratch@PITTVMS   |   scratch@unix.cis.pitt.edu

"Okay, Major Jonathan "Wrong-Is" Wright rubs his magic ring of Imperial
 Intervention and twenty stormtroopers with battledress and gauss rifles
 pop out of the microwave oven..." 
 
	- Sean T. Grape, in a truly bizarre traveller campaign...

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All opinions and material above is the responsibility of the originator.
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-------- End of TML Messages --------

