
-------- TML Message #1805 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1805
Date:    Sun, 18 Nov 90 16:17 EST
From: PHB100@psuvm.psu.edu
Subject: Traveller physics

Ahem.  I hate to say this with all the physics gurus out there, but I sometimes
get these self-destructive urges...;+)

First of all let me say that I have as little to do with physics as possible...
so doubtless this is nothing but more hand-waving.
Lots of people have been saying that you can't have a reactionless thruster
because it violates conservation of momentum, or a jump drive because it
violates casuality.  But isn't that just according to the physics we know now?
Wait!  Before you take Plasma Rifle in hand to blast me to atoms, isn't it
possible that in the next, what, 5,000 years, that enough progress will be made
in physics to show that what the ancient Terrans (circa 2000) thought was
impossible might become possible?  Perhaps in 3-D space and Einsteinian Physics
FTL drives are impossible, but in 6-D space and Baughmanian physics it is not?

I hereby put forward a theory for your consideration.  There are actually six
dimensions and that there is a limit to how fast information can travel.  This
limit is six parsecs per week.  This limit shall be known for ever afterward as
the Speed of Rumor in a vacuum.  I can show mathematically that nothing can
travel faster than Rumor.  Of course, you probably won't understand the math...
;+))))

Semi-seriously, though, our knowledge of things scientific is progressing
constantly, so why assume we currently know all there is to know about physics?
Aren't there things we know now that were once proved impossible?  Isn't it
just possible that the things we KNOW now will be disproved in the future?

Please allow me time to engage my Black Globe before you reply.  ;+)

Unka

- - -------

Disclaimer:  This is me.  Do I sound like anyone else?

Paul Baughman          PHB100@psuvm.bitnet

-------- TML Message #1806 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1806
Date:    Sun, 18 Nov 90 16:20 EST
From: PHB100@psuvm.psu.edu
Subject: BG and jump question

Anyone know what happens if you jump with a black globe on?  Does the BG
prevent it?

- - -------

Disclaimer:  This is me.  Do I sound like anyone else?

Paul Baughman          PHB100@psuvm.bitnet

-------- TML Message #1807 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1807
Subject: Knightfall, travel logs, and customs
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 14:10:32 X
From: Iain Fogg <iain@batserver.cs.uq.oz.au>


I just finished reading Knightfall and I'm still perplexed by something
that happens fairly early on the piece. My rating of Knightfall: the
plot is okay, but the trading rules and Massilia sector data are more
worthwhile.


****SPOILER WARNING Skip to the next message if you don't want to know

In one of the early "nuggets" the player's ship is boarded by a patrol
cruiser under the pretense that the player's travel log did not agree
with the library data of the cruiser. What gives here? As far as I knew,
only the ship id was broadcast via the transponder. How did the patrol
cruiser captain get hold of the travel log to compare against library
data? Does this also imply that the system authorities have the travel
logs for all ships? If the players had never been to the system before
how could the cruiser have their travel log in the archive? This fairly
minor detail really bugs me. Does anyone have a reasonable explanation?

On a related note, how do you handle customs in your campaign. For
example, does every starport have a customs station that all characters
must pass through to get access to the startown? What happens when
someone tries to take an illegal weapon onto the world? Who stops them?

Lots of questions, not many answers!

Cheers, Iain.

-------- TML Message #1808 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1808
Date: Sun, 18 Nov 90 18:31:38 -0900
From: George William Herbert <gwh@ocf.berkeley.edu>
Subject: TDR rules...


Metlay says:
>I hereby designate the official name of the alternate-rules project to
>be TDR, short for Traveller Done Right. I hereby declare myself in charge
>of TDR, with final editorial rights over what is and isn't considered
>part of the approved package. I hereby declare that TDR will be public
>domain and will be distributed via Email, and state my intention to
>prevent any and all attempts to inform either GDW or DGP of our work,
>knowing full well that both companies will refuse to believe that a project
>of this magnitude would be attempted without hope of monetary gain, hence
>encouraging copyright infringement suits and the ruin of the careers of
>several promising young RPG writers, myself included.

ahh ahh...oh oh.
My honest, impartial opinion, is that GDW won't give a flying f*ck if someone
else wants to do an alternate rules set.  I also think that keeping them in
the dark is a bad idea.  I don't think we need to tell them, but there's no
need for secrecy.
	I also don't know about making it all public domain: i may be the only
person that GDW's paying for anything, but i _like_ money...  I don't care
about releasing anything I do, but i prefer to keep copyright on my work. 8-(

- - -george

-------- TML Message #1809 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1809
Date: Sun, 18 Nov 90 18:34:16 -0900
From: George William Herbert <gwh@ocf.berkeley.edu>
Subject: re: BAD NEWS!!!


>     Now the amount of energy obtained from the fusion of 1 ton of hydrogen
>into helium is 2.58 E6 Joules (roughly).  This assumes all the mass
>difference between 4 hydrogen and 1 helium is converted to energy.  Since
>this is not true, the actual energy output will be lower.

Uhh.. Check that again.  My memory says that a mere 1/2 kilo of TNT is a 
megajoule.  Methinks you lost between 3 and 6 decimal places somewhere.
[i've done fusion garbage before.  this feels WRONG]

- - -george

-------- TML Message #1810 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1810
Date: Sun, 18 Nov 90 20:56:19 -0900
From: George William Herbert <gwh@ocf.berkeley.edu>
Subject: TDR revisited


In earlier mail i complained that I don't like some of Metlay's TDR ideas.
Let me explain more clearly why...

	What we're trying to do with TDR is Fix things...things we see as brokeand things we want to see done better.  Ideally, we'll come up with a much
better set of rules that the current ones for what we're addressing.
	This does us no good whatsoever if it ends up the 'internet version' of
Traveller.  As long as we're keeping it quiet and not distributing it or info
about it, nobody else is going to find out about it, use it, or benefit from
our work.  If 95% of the MT players/GM's never find out about our better rules,
we've wasted 95% of our effort.
	Now, the BEST way to get our new rules out is a combination of the way
we're doing now (electronic) and the way the majority of people get their rules
and supplemental materials: through the people who make the game.  GDW has
published a lot of expansion material that edges towards what we're doing, m
mostly in Challenge, and has licenced other people to do other things that they
thought were good.  They've no reason to fear us as long as we're not trying to
take their game away.  Which we aren't, we're just trying to make it better.
	I say we tell them about it.  Ask them for input.  Ask them if they'll
either run some of the TDS stuff in Challenge or not object to running it 
somewhere else.  {Challenge will almost certainly leap at the idea...they're
starved for Traveller articles right now).  That's how I see the best way to
spread the good word 8-) 

	And I have a proposed middle ground for the Public Domain issue: I'll 
hereby allow free electronic redistribution w/o restriction of any of MY work
or anything that i help with, but I don't relinquish copyright.  I think that's 
the only balanced solution.

- - -george william herbert
gwh@ocf.berkeley.edu

-------- TML Message #1811 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1811
Subject: Re: Efficiency of Fusion
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 11:09:03 +0000
From: Tim Day <tday@ps.ucl.ac.uk>

Robert P Poole <tarquin@athena.mit.edu> writes:
> Since when is it graven in stone that ordinary Hydrogen doesn't
> work in fusion?

Oops.  I checked.  There are fusion chains in which a proton decays to
give a neutron.  But the isotope reactions are a couple of orders
of magnitude more efficient, according to the ``Spaceflight Handbook''.
I also remember that the plans for BIS's Deadulus probe (to Barnard's Star)
called for fusion fuel pellets primarily of deuterium/tritium.  More
tomorrow (and hopefully some numbers). 


-------- TML Message #1812 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1812
From: Adrian Hurt <adrian@cs.heriot-watt.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Great balls of black
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 9:42:51 GMT

"Brent L. Woods" <woodsb@zoo.ecn.purdue.edu> writes:
>  In message 1782, adrian@cs.heriot-watt.ac.uk (Adrian Hurt) writes:
>  >"Brent L. Woods" <woodsb@zoo.ecn.purdue.edu> writes:
> 
>      Personally, I'd rather have one of the recovered Ancient artifacts
> rather than a new-made copy (though I *think* that there were only
> 2,000 of those that were found).  I'd tend to distrust the understanding
> of the copiers.

I'd rather have the Ancient version for another reason - it's probably a
USP code 9 version, compared to the code 1 copy.  Mind you, you don't get
the manual for the original!

>  >This depends on how the PC's get hold of it.  (Assuming that they do, of
>  >course - and assuming that they role-play properly, and don't make use of
>  >what the players read in various manuals.)  If they got one by looting an
>  >Imperial warship, they are probably more powerful than they have any right
>  >to be ...
> 
>      Unless it's a derelict.  As I recall, there is mention of several
> black globe-equipped drelict ships here and there in the official
> publications.  Like the _Kinunir_, for example.

And if they make a good job of looting the Kinunir, they are probably more
powerful than they have any right to be.  Wait till they get caught in
possession of nuclear missiles, Marine battledress, and a black globe.

"Honest, your worshipfulness, er, sir, er, we found them lying around, honest
we did!"
"Oh yeah, where?"
"Shionthy, er, no, that's interdicted, er, oops ..."
"Very well, since you show an affinity for Kinunir class cruisers, let me
allow you to become residents of one - the prison ship Gaesh."

And so the referee gets to use another part of the book.

>  >>      Of course, this can be dangerous.  If you overload your capacitors,
>  >> your ship is destroyed (by violently exploding capacitors, I guess).  I
>  >> imagine that it's not a very good idea if you only have your jump drive
>  >> capacitors available.
>  >
>  >I don't see the danger.  If the ship has absorbed enough energy to make the
>  >jump, it absorbed the energy into the jump capacitors.  If it still exists,
>  >it hasn't overloaded the capacitors.
> 
>      Ah, but what if your jump capacitors are fully charged, you're
> preparing to jump out of a *very* dangerous situation, *and your globe
> gets hit again*?

Perhaps I should have said "I don't see the _extra_ danger".  If, as a result
of using the globe, your capacitors are fully charged, you don't choose to
jump, and you get hit again, boom.  Answer: if your capacitors are fully
charged, you switch off the globe pronto, and try to discharge them as quickly
as possible - e.g. by jumping.

>      I just like to have ample safety margins whenever possible--could
> you tell?  ;-)

There is a safety marging available if your jump drive is capable of more than
a jump 1.  Let the capacitors get sufficiently charged for a jump 1, then
execute a jump 1.  If your jump drive isn't capable of more than jump 1, then
it's probably the sort of ship you want to replace anyway as a first priority.

- - -- 
 "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

-------- TML Message #1813 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1813
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 10:04 EDT
From: METLAY@vms.cis.pitt.edu
Subject: a few thoughts on fusion


...from a nuclear physicist, if that counts for anything.

First off, Robert, I would LOVE to argue stellar physics with you-- your
premise that the Sun runs on "ordinary hydrogen" is correct, but you've
failed to realize what "ordinary hydrogen" IS. It's mostly protium, but
there's a plenty large enough trace percentage of deuterium and tritium
in it to let a deuteron+deuteron=alpha+gammas reaction take place. The
fusion drives in Traveller refine fuel to eliminate nonhydrogen atoms,
and what's left is only partly deuterium, but that part is plenty to get
a good reaction going. If you want abundances, energy yields per atom,
etc., I suppose I could post them, but let's not get ridiculous. The 
primary difference between protium and deuterium, the presence of a neutron,
makes all the difference between fusion and fizzle. If all you had was
protium, you'd need to combine a four-object collision that has a vanishingly
small reaction cross section with electron capture and other weak interactions.
Not impossible. Possibly even practical, in a plasma bath the size of a star.
But with deuterium around in as much quantity as it is, why bother?

And the reaction really takes off if there's tritium involved... the problem
there is that we get extra neutron flux, i.e. hard radiation. But I suggest
that we leave this part of the rules alone-- my next post, which will appear
tonight or tomorrow, will have (among other things) what a real fusion 
reactor's yield is predicted to be, and how fusion would work if I were 
running this universe-- excerpts from the proceedings of a FASCINATING
conference on fusion that took place recently.....

metlay

-------- TML Message #1814 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1814
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 14:22:29 GMT
From: Jo Jaquinta <jaymin@maths.tcd.ie>
Subject: Casual Encounter 1

THE PERSONALITY WAREHOUSE
	This shop is located on the bazzar square in the main Space Station
for Serabi (10003,10002,10003 for those with sysgen). Patrons looking for
cargo or just shopping my be set upon by a small, bright yellow ball bouncing
through the air and exclaiming "HiYa!" in a cheery voice. It will bounce 
around and try to attract customers to the shop.
	The Personality Warehouse specialises in giving mechanical objects
"personalities". Anything from a desk calculator to a ship's computer can
be so modified. It is accomplished through ultra small speakers, sensors,
and computing components. Prices range from 100Cr for a purse that screams
when you open it to 1MCr for a complex and fully interactive addition to your
ship's computer. Generally assume 10Cr per word vocabularly. Different 
inflections or being triggered by specific things count as more words. 
	The shop has several items on display. There is "The Guru"; a small
elderly person who makes Zen like responses to philosophical questions. An
attachment that can be placed almost anywhere that can be programmed with
ten choice insult to hurl at passer-bys. The more complex programs may be
"interviewed" via a computer terminal. They comprise a wide variety of uses
from a simple to use user interface for a passenger ship to cargo wise
managers for merchants.

- - -------------
My own players bought three things here that might be useful as examples.

1) For the assistant engineer (laid up in bed so missing the leave) they
got her calculator modified to say "You can press my buttons anytime" in
either a husky male of female voice (depending on the presser). Price 150Cr.

2) A small ball of fluff with eyes on it that shouts "HiYa!" to anyone who
passes it. Price 100Cr.

3) For their currently absent Captain (the one who kidnapped them) they got
a personalised mug. When sipped it murmmurs, moans and sweet nothings with 
increasing intensity as the liquid is drained until with the last drop the 
ejaculations reach their natural climax. Price 1600Cr (they clubbed together).

I assume 10Cr = $1.

						Jo Jaquinta
						jaymin@maths.tcd.ie

-------- TML Message #1815 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1815
From: Jim Cheetham <jim@oasis.icl.stc.co.uk>
Subject: Flickering shields (was Black Globes)
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 9:10:26 GMT

Hiho all ...
Following on with the ideas inherent in flickering black globes ...

(I'm taking most of this info from Interceptor/Centurion/Leviathan
board games and Legionnaire RPG, from FASA)

They developed a gravitational field effect that generated (I think)
several thousand Gs on it's surface - the first time it was tried
the thing imploded and took out most of the lab as it drained it's
power source (don't we just love inventions that blow up!?)

So the guy came up with the idea of flickering it on and off - this
avoided the exponential curve of the power drain, and still provided
the practical effect.

When the system became portable, they started using it for fighters,
as a marvellous way of stopping laser and mass weapons (yes, photons
at speed have mass ... it's just when they're at rest that they don't)
but found that the constraints of the power supply meant that the flicker
rate couldn't really be varied much.

The methods of firing at a flickering ship were either to keep the weapon
trained continuiously (in the case of laser and particle weapons), or to
try to synchronise the attack with the flicker. Synchronisation proved
to be the best in terms of power expenditure, and so lasers attacked at
the flicker-rate-range for that model of target.

On the ground, the grav-tanks could carry much more equipment, and so
were able to have more control over their shields. However, as the distances
on the ground were much less than those in combat in space, ground bases
units were able to employ painting lasers, whose sole job was to contact the
shield and by varying it's frequency was able to figure out the flicker
rate of the target. This information was then broadcast to every unit,
and the shield was effectively negated.

The grav-shields take a finite amount of time to generate and dissapate,
although short, and this time delay is the basis of the painting laser -
once it has analyzed the flicker rate, it has <x>ms to transmit the
information to other units, before the rate changes.

Simple game mechanics - Legionnaire is a d10 based game, and so it
uses a single d10 roll to see if a shield has been penetrated - the
shields have flicker values of 1 to 9 (quoted as 10 to 90, just to
sound good - note that a rate of 100 doesn't flicker, and destroys
the user as in the initila experiment).

The relative cost of the differing rates, and the improvement in protection
can be sensibly modelled using the distribution of 2D6, as in ...

|                                            |          _/-------
|                                            |        _/
|      __                                    |       /
|     /  \                                   |      /
|   _/    \_                                 |     /
|  /        \                                |    /
| /          \                               |  _/
|/            \                              |_/
+----------------                            +------------------
   Bell curve distribution                     Cumulative distribution.
(apologies to any real statistitions out there ... I think it's clear :-)

Basically, the cumulative curve can be used for both cost and effectiveness,
as the lower rates are cheap but useless, the mid-range ones climb steeply
in both categories, and there isn't much difference between 80 and 90 ...
Note that this is slightly different from FASAs approach, but I think it
makes a bit more sense ...

Perhaps a proper rule master could tidy this idea up a bit ...
And hey! What about the TDR then ? I'm not submitting this as it's not
completely worked out ... anybody willing to help out? (like, do it all!)

A la prochaine ...
        _____               ____  _               _   _  
       (__ __) o  ______   (  __)( )_  ___  ___ _( )_( )_  ___   ______
      (____)  (_)(_)()(_)  (____)(_)_)(__=)(__=) (_)_(_)_)(___)_(_)()(_)
Jim Cheetham, jim@oasis.icl.stc.co.uk, BRA01 0344 424842 x3121 (ITD 763 3121)
              *********************** - as from December 1990 onwards,
              use jim@oasis.icl.co.uk due to corporate restructuring.
    #include <std/disclaimer.h> /* To keep the company lawyer happy */

-------- TML Message #1816 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1816
Archive-Message-Number: 1816
Subject: Customs 
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 7:49:05 PST
From: Richard Johnson <richard@agora.UUCP>

I imagine the hassles you have with customs would depend on
(1) how high the local law level is
(2) how big the starport is
(3) whether you work for intelligence and they have a "deal" going.

The general rule here in the states is that when you file your flight
plan, you check the box labeled "adcus".  Then you make sure you're
on time.  "adcus" means "advise customs".  Normally in the U.S. if
you're fair-weather flying (navigating by ground reference, good 
visibility etc.) flight plans are optional.  When you go accross the
border they are mandatory.

Canadian customs is great to work with.  U.S. customs SU**S!  They
are surly, obnoxious, and prone to charge you fines for failing to
declare your pet fish on departure.  Almost all good-sized airports
in North America (the ones served by >1 commercial airline and near
a city > 100,000 people) also have a full-time and on-call customs
office.

In MT terms, then I call these class A and class B starports.  They
*will have* customs.  Otherwise, you might have anything you feel the
adventure needs.  Special ops, duty-free ports, whatever.

Richard

-------- TML Message #1817 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1817
Subject: CAT (Computer-Assisted Traveller)
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 8:15:10 PST
From: Richard Johnson <richard@agora.UUCP>

Robert P. Poole (tarquin@athena.mit.edu) struck a harmonious chord
in me there.  I'm much more interested in being involved with
efforts to produce programs, services, interfaces, *tools* on computers
to help people either play or ref Traveller (that's a generic sci-fi
role playing term here).

I understand Dan Corrin has a complete archive on "sunbane" which is
(I presume) a node or disk at Universy of Waterloo.  Dan, Bill Morrison,
I and some others whose names are etherialized did some work with 
mapping.

Jo (Yoquinta  sp?) has done some good mapping stuff, and Dan and Mark Cook
have some some sector/subsector generation programs.  From his volume,
I'd guess Rob Dean has a vehicle generation program.

Shall we get somewhat organized around this concept?  

Richard
	richard@agora.hf.intel.com

-------- TML Message #1818 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1818
Subject: PBEM - Urgent Admin Note
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 7:41:35 PST
From: Richard Johnson <richard@agora.UUCP>

Everyone make sure they have the right address for Simon Anderson
(Kimball Redd)!  His school is getting a lot of mail at his *old*
address.  I just got this:

:
:At Coventry Polytechnic, all misdirected mail comes into a account for
:student advisory queries. At the moment, we are getting quite a few
:messages for csd096@uk.ac.cov.cck who does not exist! Would it be
:possible to remove this user from the game mailing list?
:
:Thanks in advance
:
:-- 
:James Nash, Computing Services, Coventry Polytechnic, England


His *correct* address is   cse426@cck.coventry.ac.uk
Please change your alias list, if necessary.  There is no need to apologize
to Mr. Nash - I have already done that.  :-)

Richard

-------- TML Message #1819 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1819
Subject: fusion, ref. frames
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 17:55:42 EST
From: Robert P Poole <tarquin@athena.mit.edu>

>That's what I thought, until I added the mass of 4 Hydrogen atoms
>and found it to be greater than the mass of one Helium atom.  THinking
>about it, a single hydrogen atom could be converted into a neutron
>(neutron = proton + electron), so on paper, you could get a helium
>atom from 4 hydrogen atoms.  I doubt it's so in real life.

If you're a star, it's very possible.  You can also get a neutron from a proton
by positron emission.  There are lots of things that can happen.  And, yes,
neutrinos do play a role in energy conservation and such.  We still haven't
totally resolved the issue of neutrinos coming from the sun.  (Remember that
neutrino deficit people keep talking about?  It's real, and only now people are
trying to explain it away by "neutrino oscillation," that is, the mixing of
"flavors" of neutrinos.  This, incidentally, has an impact on the detection of
neutrinos.  If the physics is right, then detectible neutrinos should be
converted to undetectible types with greater and greater probability as the
distance from the source increases.  This should probably play a role in the
TDR rules, just to put a limitation on the range of neutrino scanners that is
"realistic.")

By the way, things like Jump Drive and such work just fine if you specify that
they only work in ONE reference frame.  A standard out -- hand waving wise --
is to use the reference frame at rest with respect to the cosmic background
radiation.  That way, you avoid messy stuff like time travel, and you can
always detect microwaves, so it's not as though you're ever "blind" -- they're
everywhere!  I imagine in TDR that a standard piece of equipment in the sensor
suite of a ship is some kind of "Big Bang microwave detector" which must be
used to align the ship with the proper ref. frame.  If damaged, the ship might
misjump or even (gasp!) be sent into never-never land.  Literally.

Robert P. Poole                       tarquin@athena.mit.edu
46 Massachusetts Avenue               MIT Course VIII
311B Bexley Hall                      "We make Idols of our concepts, but
Cambridge, MA  02139                   wisdom is born of wonder."
                                         -- St. Gregory the Illuminator

-------- TML Message #1820 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1820
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 18:07 EDT
From: METLAY@vms.cis.pitt.edu
Subject: Fusion reactors



HOW I'D DO FUSION IF I RAN THE TRAVELLER UNIVERSE (and how humaniti would
do it if they could):

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Series A Volume 271,
1988, carried the proceedings of a conference on the theory of Aneutronic
Fusion Reactors (AFRs). Unlike Neutronic Fusion Reactors (NFRs) like the
deuteron-deuteron and deuteron-triton reactors being developed at Princeton
et alii, AFRs utilize a different sort of fusion reaction with different 
yields and byproducts for more favorable results. An overview:

NUCLEAR FISSION: Fuel is enriched uranium 235/238
                 Waste is assorted uranium, plutonium, thorium
                 Reaction is: U+n=2 pieces+more n's
                 Easy to build and run
                 Fuel is costly and dangerous
                 Waste is radioactive and useless
                 Containment vessel becomes "hot" after a long time
                 Can be designed to make bomb-grade materials like plutonium
                 Some designs can runaway; all can melt down
                 Theoretical limit of efficiency: 33%
                 Requires heavy shielding during and after use
                 Power yield per ton: circa .001 MW
                 Smallest feasible reactor: not sure, it's used on subs.

NFR (D+D, D+T):  Fuel is ordinary hydrogen or even water
                 Waste is ordinary hydrogen, water, some helium
                 Reaction is: D+D=alpha or D+T=alpha+n
                 Difficult to build and run
                 Fuel is commonplace and cheap
                 Waste is clean and harmless
                 Containment vessel rapidly gets VERY "hot", must be replaced
                 Can easily make bomb-grade materials like tritium
                 Primary hazard is meltdown, though it wouldn't be easy
                 Theoretical limit of efficiency: 50%
                 requires progressively more shielding as it runs
                 Power yield per ton: .01 MW
                 Smallest feasible reactor: 100 tons, 1 MW

AFR (the ideal): Fuel is either lithium-7 or (ideally) helium-3
                 Waste is helium
                 Reactions are: p+7Li=2alphas, 2x3He=alpha+2p NO NEUTRONS!
                 Extremely difficult to build and run
                 Fuel is somewhat costly but harmless by itself
                 Waste is clean and harmless
                 Containment vessel never gets "hot"
                 Cannot be used to make bomb-grade materials of any sort
                 Cannot runaway, explode or melt down
                 Theoretical limit of efficiency: 100% (85-90% easy)
                 NO SHIELDING NECESSARY, NO RADIATION HAZARD
                 Power yield per ton: 1 MW
                 Smallest feasible reactor: 1 ton, 1 MW 

By "feasible" that means economically feasible for a TL 8 economy. Helium-3
is one tenth the cost of Uranium, and one kilogram-equivalent of the stuff
would give power equal to that obtained by burning 100 metric tons of refined
fuel oil. If we extrapolate efficiency increases and shrinking lower limits,
we get down to the manpack fusion piles of TL 13 and up. They're cheap to run,
environmentally safe, don't make a mess, tremendously efficient, and are 
perfect for civilian use because they can't be converted to weaponmaking.
Not bad, eh? So what's the catch? Simple: they require operating conditions
an order of magnitude more difficult than the ones Princeton's been trying
to reach for decades now. But with grav plates, it might be possible.

What would this mean in Traveller terms? Well, power plants would become tiny
and power worries would vanish; wilderness refueling would become impossible
under most circumstances (or can you get helium from a gas giant?); refined
fuel would be a lot less dangerous (liquid helium can't explode) but more 
costly (liquid helium is tough to keep liquid), and there wouldn't be any such
thing as unrefined fuel any more. And other game-balance-altering effects as
well, but those will do for a start. (No, they won't be put in TDR if i can
help it: the rules are enough of a mess as it is.)

Just a little something to chew on for those of you who wanted to see what an
"Advanced" culture would do for power (assuming we don't discover dilithium
crystals and antimatter any time soon)....

metlay

PS.  Note the power plant efficiency: 1 MW for 100 tons weight for fusion,
unless i got my numbers crossed. How's that compare with the rules?


-------- TML Message #1821 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1821
From: "Mark F. Cook" <markc@hpcvss.cv.hp.COM>
Subject: TDR Archive Guidelines
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 15:30:09 PST

An archive for TDR development has been established and is ready to accept
submissions.  This article details the archive structure, criteria for
acceptance, and some future plans.

The archive will be divided into directories, based on subject matter.
Material in each directory will directly pertain to a specific aspect
of game rules.  The initial directories are as follows:

    TDR/admin          - Transaction affecting the TDR development process
                         itself; this catagory will NOT be used frequently.
    TDR/char_gen       - New rules for character generation.
    TDR/char_classes   - New character classes: including both basic and
                         extended character generation.
    TDR/char_skills    - New skill sets for characters, which conform to
                         the new character generation rules.  May also
                         include mechanisms for defining new skills not
                         already listed.
    TDR/combat         - New combat rules (personal, mass troop, vehicle-
                         to-vehicle, and space combat).
    TDR/mail_archive   - Month-by-month archives of E-mail between submitters
                         and the TDR Administrator or the TDR Archivist.
    TDR/misc           - Anything that doesn't fit into one of the other
                         specific catagories.
    TDR/physics        - Rationales for the physical behavior detailed in
                         the above rules.
    TDR/task_rules     - New rules for resolving non-combat related tasks
                         within the framework of a TDR game.
    TDR/trade_commerce - New trade & commerce rules.
    TDR/vehicle_design - New rules for designing ALL vehicles.  This covers
                         all vehicle forms: land, water, air, and space.
    TDR/vehicle_lists  - New vehicles designed according to the new rules.
    TDR/weapons        - New weapons (or modified existing ones) which conform
                         to the new combat rules.

I will accept any complete rule set (or complete draft) which fits into one
of the above catagories.  I will also accept additions and/or modifications
to rules sets which have already been archived.  I will AUTOMATICALLY reject
any submissions that consist of only general discussion about a particular
aspect of rule development or WIBNI ("Wouldn't it be nice if...") letters.
This type of dialogue should remain within the confines of the TML.  Only
submissions of specific rules should be sent to the archive.  I will also
REJECT any rule set sent in piecemeal.  Submissions must be complete packages
which contain sufficient breadth to deal with the subject matter (character
creation, combat, etc.) in it's entirety.

Requests for the addition of a new rules subdivision (i.e.  a request for 
a new catagory for rules on alien race creation) may be submitted to the
archive.  They will be forwarded to and reviewed by TDR administration.
If the request seems reasonable, a new catagory will be added to the
archive and an announcement will be made via the TML.

When you make a submission, remember two points.  First, plain ASCII only,
no special formatting languages.  I will automatically discard anything
which violates this requirement, regardless of the merit of the actual
submission.  Second, be sure to preface the submission with a synopsis.
If the submission is long, I may not have the time read it in it's entirety
to determine where it should be filed in the archive.  If I'm in a hurry,
and I can't decide where it belongs, it may end up filed in the TDR/misc
directory and forgotten.  You are thus forwarned.

I will make a 'best attempt' to responde to any questions regarding the
archive, especially those which only require a short answer.  I would
prefer to deal with E-mail only, but for those of you who what more immediate
feedback, I can be reached at (503) 750-2949 from 8 AM - 5 PM weekdays, and
(503) 754-1605 evenings and weekends after 10 AM Pacific time.

Within the next month or two, I will be announcing a 'standard format' for
all vehicle submissions (once a draft set of design rules are in place),
which will lend itself to bursting.  This will allow faster seach and
retrieval from the archive.

Regards,

        - Mark F. Cook (TDR Archivist)

-------- TML Message #1822 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1822
From: wrgate.wr.tek.com!oresoft.com!richard@reed.UUCP (Richard Johnson)
Subject: PBEM Stuff
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 90 15:23:54 PST

Please bear with me a little.  Don't post any more PBEM stuff just
yet, wait until AFTER you read turn 10.5 (well the next one).  I've
been diligently working on this one since Friday morning (it's now
Monday afternoon...) and can see I'll tonight at least to tighten it
up and make things flow together.

Anyway, there is a *bunch* of information you are all dying to find
out that hopefully will be answered.  Consider waiting a day or two
and excercise in personal discipline :-).  By waiting, we should
have a lot less backtracking and foretracking of timelines, and my,
Mike's, and Dan's Jobs will all get easier.

I'm gonna keep at this.  You sophonts are great.  Now, if we can
just get Lucasfilm or Spielberg to buy the rights...

- - -- 
Richard

-------- TML Message #1823 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1823
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 90 07:58:01 -0500
From: "T. L. Hayes" <al646@cleveland.freenet.edu>
Subject: Massive Embarrassment (Blush Blush, Glow Glow)



Cardinal Rules -

1) Always check your math -

2) Always "think" about your answer (does it make sense) -

3) Never ASSUME that YOU no longer NEED to do 1 and 2 above -

SORRY!!!  Lunch and physics (number crunch) don't mix.  As several of
you were quick to point out there was a GROSS error (to say the least)
in my calculation of the amount of energy released by the fusion of 1
ton of hydrogen to helium.  (In my defense - several of you who pointed
out the error did not get it right either!)  CAREFUL calculation indicates
that the amount of mass converted during the fusion of 1 ton of H to He is
about 7.1 kg or about 6.40 E17 Joules (big difference)!  The remaining 
calculations were correct and assuming 100% efficiency you would need about
1.1 kg of Hydrogen to power the ship for 1 hour.

DID YOU EVER HAVE ONE OF THOSE DAYS...As if the above wasn't enough.  I
pointed out that assuming a straight line flight path was incorrect. 
That is true.  I said it was inefficient (extremely).  That is also true.
Rob Dean pointed out that the wasted energy is insignificant.  In the
Traveller time frame that is true as well.  The point was the assumption
of a straight line flight path was incorrect.  I IMPLIED that if we were
to fix this problem in-system travel time might become unacceptably long.
This is not correct.  Some quick calculations (yes, I know but I checked
them carefully this time, honest!) show that the difference between a
straight line flight path and a correctly curved flight path for a powered
vehicle would NOT be sufficiently different to justify the worry.  

The point I was trying to make was that some physics problems need to
be fixed, some can be fix, some can't be fixed, and some shouldn't be
fixed.  I simply picked a bad example.

Changing gears now...Jim Baranski says:
>Has anyone considered fusion other elements, or fusing multiple elements
>at high TL?

In stars at least, H fusion is easier (requires lower temperatures) and
(if I remember correctly) generates more available energy.  Stars can
pass through several buring stages: Hydrogen to Helium, Helium to Carbon,
(its been a while but I think the next couple reactions are) Carbon to
Oxygen, Oxygen to Silicon, and lastly Silicon to Iron.  Fusion reactions
beyond Iron *use* energy.  Similarly fision reaction produce less energy
(in general) as you go down toward Iron.  Iron is the most stable element.
Point is - Hydrogen is VERY abundant, the easiest to fuse, and yields the
best energy returns why use anything else?

Robert P Poole says:
>All FTL drive systems that rely on taking a ship out of our space-time
>and plopping it temproarily in some "hyperspace" or "jump space" are
>going to violate relativity.

Bear in mind this all off the top of my head.  If I get time I will look
into this further but ... first the ship accelerates to near light speed
special relativity does not apply.  Special relativity deals only with
constant velocities - no forces, flat space.  Second if the jump drive
takes the ship "out of our universe" into another (higher?) dimension
then even general relativity is not binding - ie it *can not* predict
what will happen.  Moreover, upon leaving our universe you break contact
with all mundane space reference frames.  Traveller says that if you
jump out to a point in space it takes 1 week (120 - 200 hours).  If you
jump back *immediately* it takes 1 week (both are from your point of
view).  If you ask a passerby how long have you been gone he will say
"Two weeks".  What ever physics governs the transfer to jump space and
the time in jump space obviously "fixes" causality!  Incidentally there
is some debate (as I recall) as to whether causality must not be violated.
Also consider worm holes which can exist within general relativity.  They
allow EM radiation to travel at FTL speeds.  I don't remember the various
consequences or restrictions.

Lastly Iain Fogg says:
>On a related note, how do you handle customs in your campaign.

In my games, patrol boats monitor the ships around the planets to watch
for those that would try to land at places other than the Starports so
presumably to avoid customs inspectors.  Much as the Coast Guard does
for US coastlines.  At the Starport, all ships are routinely boarded and
inspected for contraband or their goods are taken to bonded areas and
identified as having not been approved.  The goods can then be inspected
later. 

As for individuals, they *may* have luggage searched like in International
Airports and usually have to show ID Papers.  They also pass through
metal + ??? detectors which will pick up any weapons.  In my game, all
*legally* obtained weapons can be detected because the Imperium requires
that this be the case (in the same way all plastic explosive made in the
US can be detected because the gov. tells the makers to make it that way).

Generally I simply assume this is being done with character consent unless
they are trying to smuggle something or I want to cause trouble then I
role play the customs.  As for patrol boats stopping character's ship, I
do it from time to time - "random safty inspection" or the like.

TLH

- - --
T.L.Hayes                  |
MIT/Lincoln Laboratory     |
Lexington, MA              |

-------- TML Message #1824 --------

Archive-Message-Number: 1824
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 90 09:38 EDT
From: METLAY@vms.cis.pitt.edu
Subject: fusion erratum


Whoops. Red-face time from the nuclear physicist who hasn't done nuclear
ASTROPHYSICS lately.... I'd forgotten the proton-proton chain, so don't
waste time correcting me, OK? However, deuteron-triton fusion is immensely
easier to get working in terms of favorable fusion conditions, and if the
reactors using deuterons in Trav are as inefficient as the rules say they are
then you can kiss proton-proton fusion goodbye. Unless we postulate that the
Trav reactors ARE proton-proton reactors ALREADY, which would be stupid
considering that at a TL where a crummy proton-proton reactor would work, a
combination deuteron-deuteron reactor and hydrogen enricher would be orders
of magnitude more efficient, and a helium-3 reactor would be easier still
and cleaner and more efficent and--- you get the idea.

metlay

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

