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Date: Wed Apr 10 21:00:11 PDT 1991

From: traveller-request@metolius.wr.tek.com (TML Administrator)

Subject: TML Bundle #181: Table of Contents



-AMN- --Date--- --Sender--------- --Subject-----------------------------------

2255  03-Apr-91 sfellows@slate.Mi Hydrogen Explosion << I am not following the 

2256  04-Apr-91 Marc Alexandrovic Richard's Trivia Question - << > Killer trivi

2257  04-Apr-91 SULAIMAN@ecs.umas Adjutant Vehicle Designs << I have their firs

2258  04-Apr-91 George William He Proposed Waterfaring Craft Design Rules (LONG

2259  05-Apr-91 C450160@UMCVMB.MI Alot of TidBYTES... << [Mea culpa, I reformat

2260  09-Apr-91 Dave Johnson      Sysgen4 queries << Hi, I was messing around w



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



Archive-Message-Number: 2255

Date: Wed, 3 Apr 91 15:03:47 -0700

From: sfellows@slate.Mines.Colorado.EDU (FELLOWS STEVEN B)

Subject: Hydrogen Explosion



I am not following the PBEM, but as for hydrogen explosions I do know that if   

you mix oxygen with hydrogen you will get a rapid exothermic reaction 

(an explosion).



Since you are human, that would mean that you do have oxygen supplied on 

board.  It does not need to be pure oxygen but the same misture as we breath

(79% N2  21% O2).



Now lets talk Traveller:  How would you produce a fusion explosion?



Well, I am not all that familar with fusion, but what if you had a small fission

fission reactor, thus able to produce deuterium and tritium.  Release the 

mixture in a small sphere, containing the heavy hydrogen at a high pressure:

say a few GPa.  Then fire a high energy laser beam at the sphere, thus produciu  ing

enough energy to activate fusion.  Would this produce fusion?  Maybe....

The real question is how much energy would it release?



Now for another thought, what if you planted a large bomb on a vessel that would

fire a high energy laser into the fuel tanks?  I doubt fusion would occur, be   

because less than 0.01 % would be heavy hydrogen.





Steven B. Fellows

sfellows@slate.mines.colorado.edu





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



Archive-Message-Number: 2256

From: Marc Alexandrovich Volovic <mav@cs.huji.ac.il>

Date: Thu, 4 Apr 91 00:25:42 PST

Subject: Richard's Trivia Question -



 

>  Killer trivia question: Why is it that all of the very best game

>material is delivered in private, between two or three characters,

>rather than publicly?

 

 

  Otherwise it would be absolutely NO fun trying to integrate a whole

collection of ragtag out-of-syncers and the PBEM would blossom and grow

and swamp Richard completely and Richard would collapse and PBEM would

die and we all know it and are not allowing it to happen despite the most

fond raving and our own very special desire to increase the interest in

this PBEM, which has been brought to you by Richard.

 

  I hope you can all read the statement above...

 

 

+----------------------------------------+-------------------------------+

|eMail: mav@lizardo.huji.ac.il           |      Linguists do it cunningly|

|Dept. of Linguistics                    |                               |

|Hebrew University                       |VP -> V {VP|NP|AdjP|AdvP|PrepP}|

|Mt. Scopus                              |                               |

|Snail: P.O.B. 23114, Jerusalem, Israel  |   Gramaticians do it correctly|

+----------------------------------------+-------------------------------+

P.S. hehe



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



Archive-Message-Number: 2257

Date: Thu, 4 Apr 1991 19:01 -0500

From: SULAIMAN@ecs.umass.edu

Subject: Adjutant Vehicle Designs



I have their first three books namely Ground Vehicles, ACV and 

Aircraft. The designs are based on Striker not Megatraveller. As far as I

can tell all vehicles/craft etc are built at TL15. All heavy weaponry is

MD or CPR guns. The reason given being their cheapness. However I tend to

disagree with that as i think it is hard to hit flying grav vehicles

with CPR rounds fired from ground level. All the vehicles seem to be 

designed with the thought that grav vehicles will be rare if any and will

be used in the CAS role. Interesting stuff. However they seem to know

a lot about CPR rounds and they have all sorts of neat rounds like APERS

and FAE rounds etc. 



Overall well done. If you play in a 2300AD type Megatraveller with no

antigrav then this is a great value. Otherwise they are good for their

excellent art.



Ameer Sulaiman.



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



Archive-Message-Number: 2258

Date: Thu, 4 Apr 91 23:38:09 -0800

From: George William Herbert <gwh@ocf.Berkeley.EDU>

Subject: Proposed Waterfaring Craft Design Rules (LONG)





WATERFARING CRAFT DESIGN SYSTEM

George William Herbert 3-27-91 thru 4-1-91

[note: this entire work is copyright to it's author and may not be used except 

for personal use or reproduction.  As it eventually is intended for 

publication, please don't abuse this early look...thanks]

 

***notes***

I need to fix table numbering (speed moved to Rating/Evaluation section)

The length table is only partially filled in...

***unix notes***

Some of the tables (and a few lines) are misformatted due to transfer problems.

If you have any questions, ask.  (they should be obvious, even if not lined up)





INTRODUCTION

 

	Humaniti's progress in transportation technology has reached a 

number of plateaus over the millenia.  Currently, the highest reaches of 

Imperial technology are found in its starfaring vessels.  But these are often 

overshadowed in importance by other craft: small craft, atmospheric 

vehicles, and sometimes waterfaring craft.  As a Naval Architect, I'm proud 

to present these rules for designing waterfaring craft in MegaTraveller.  

They cover designing displacement-based watercraft, surface and 

submersible, including Hydrofoils.  For hovercraft and grav vehicles, refer 

to the basic design charts.

	Waterfaring craft (Ships and Submarines) have a number of 

advantages in low (and even mid and high) tech societies: reliability, cost, 

and size.  While ships may be sunk, much less effort is required to crash an 

airplane or grav vehicle.  Also, ships with broken engines usually have 

plenty of time to fix them.  Aircraft tend to just crash...  Even the lure of the 

sea still remains a pull to some.

	These rules are a variation on the Referee's Manual basic 

vehicle design system.  As a variation, they use the same form and many of 

the same elements as the basic system.  You must be familliar with the 

vehicle design system to use the Waterfaring Vehicles rules.

	Note that these rules can just as easily be used for vessels in 

Liquid Methane seas, liquid Mercury, or whatever fluid you can find to 

want to use.  (Refereee's, here's your lead in for 'Methane Pirates of Planet 

X...')  In non-water seas, the changes for the rules are noted.  As a handy 

reference, the relative densities for some other possible/common liquids 

are listed here (as well as if they are cryogenic):

 

TABLE 1: Liquid Densities/Specific Gravities

	Liquid Hydrogen: 0.07 (Cryo)

	Liquid Helium: 0.09 (Cryo)

	Peterochemicals (Oils): 0.7 - 1.05

	Liquid Methane: 0.28 (Cryo)

	Water: 1.0

	Mercury: 13.5

	Liquid Nitrogen: 0.81 (Cryo)

	Liquid Oxygen: 1.14 (Cryo)

	Alcohol: 0.8

	

0. OVERALL DESIGN 

	

	Waterfaring ships are designed using a modified version of the 

basic craft design rules from the Referee's Manual.   The most significant 

changes are in the Locomotion section, where the speed of the vessel is 

determined, and in the importance of weight.  Waterfaring vessels are 

usually designed from a weight-critical and volume-secondary standpoint, 

different from what most MegaTraveller vehicles emphasize (volume).  

Keep this in mind when you're using these rules.

	Surface Vessels must always way less than their volume in kL.  

Submarines must weigh as much as their volume, when ballasted down.  

Anything that weighs more than its volume for any reason sinks to the 

bottom of the sea, wherever that sea may be.  In non-water seas, multiply 

this allowed weight by the specific gravity of the liquid.  Archimedes 

principle is hard on heavier-than-water vessels.

	 I hope you enjoy being able to add seafaring vessels to your craft 

design reprotoire.

 

1. HULL DESIGN

 

        Waterfaring vehicles are designed using the normal hull design rules.  

The minimum armour rating guidelines are:

 

Table 2: Minimum Armour

	UCP	Minimum Armour

	50,000+	24

	40,000	22

	30,000	20

	20,000	18

	10,000	16

	5,000-9,000	14

	1000-4000	12

	200-900	10

	20-100	8

	11-19	6

	5-10	4

	4-	2

 

	Odd sizes are as usual treated as the next largest size.  Hull 

extensions (Turrets or Superstructure) are allowed,as are open topped 

vehicles, but the stability and length calculations are based on the 

unmodified volume.

 

	Submarines use a different formula.  A 'Operational Depth' is 

chosen, representing the deepest that the submarine is capable of diving 

safely.  Divide the Operational Depth by 20, multiply this by the world's 

surface gravity, and determine what the armour modifier (not rating) is for 

that number.  The armour rating corresponding to that modifier is the 

required armour rating, unless the Surface Ship minimum armour is 

greater, in which case the higher value is needed.

	(Depth/20) x g = req'd. armour multiplier

	Submarines also use different rules for hull extensions.  

Submarines are not allowed to be open-topped.  They are required to have a 

hull extension in the form of ballast tanks, and usually have one for a Sail 

(fin sticking up).  The ballast tanks percentage must be between 5% and 35% 

of the hull volume.  This extra volume is unavailable for other purposes.  

Sails may be any size up to 10% of the basic hull volume, and add half of 

their volume to the interior hull.  Both ballast tanks and sails simply 

multiply the base hull cost and weight by the added percentage.  Ballast 

tanks are necessary to allow the submarine to submerge.  When surfaced, 

the tanks are filled with air to keep the sub at the surface.  This added 

bouyancy is released when the sub dives.  Note that the ballast tank volume 

is also the percentage of the pressure hull that may flood without rendering 

the submarine unable to surface.

	Length for submarines is calculated for the volume of the hull 

plus the ballast tanks.  Weight for submarines while submerged should be 

multiplied by 1 + the ballast tank percentage to account for the added water 

in the tanks.  In non-water seas, divide the ballast tank volume 

requirements by the density.

 

	Waterfaring vehicles may use any hull configuration except 

open frame (Config 0) or Irregular (Config 7) or Planetoid (Config 8 and 9).  

Immobile bouyant structures may be Irregular configuration if desired, but 

are not self-mobile (must be towed).  Larger waterfaring vehicles are usually 

Box or Needle configuration.  Submarines are usually Cylinder or Needle 

configurations.  Smaller vehicles can also be found that are Wedge and 

Cone configurations.  Sphere and Dome/Disk configurations are very rare.

	A waterfaring vehicle's loaded weight must be smaller than its 

volume in kL (exception: submarines).  For normal vessels, the mass 

should be within the range shown below, for safety and stability.  Heavier 

vessels have too little freeboard (distance from water level to deck), lighter 

ones are too unstable (tend to be top-heavy).  For seas that are not water, 

divide the fraction shown by the local specific gravity of the fluid being 

designed for.

 

Table 3: Safe Weight to Volume ratios

		Min and Max safe loaded weights 

	UCP	(as fraction of volume in kL)

	5000+	0.15 - 0.75

	1000+	0.15 - 0.66

	100-999	0.15 - 0.50

	25-99	0.15 - 0.45

	24-	0.10 - 0.35 

 

	In addition, when the hull is selected, the Hull Length and the 

Length Speed Factor are determined also.  

        Hull length (Referred to as 'L') also must be determined.  The basic 

length is given below for all UCP values.  If you want to interpolate, the 

basic formula is that hull length is the length of a box with relative 

dimentions 8L*1W*1H and a volume of 4/3 the hull displacement.  

Configuration and Streamlining modify the length as shown:

 

Table 4: Streamlinging Length Modifier

	Streamlining	Length Modifier

	Unstreamlined	x 0.75

	Streamlined	x 1.0

	Airframe	x 1.25

 

Table 5: Configuration Length Modifier

	Configuration	Length Modifier

	1 Needle/Wedge	x 1.25

	2 Cone	x 0.75

	3 Cylinder	x 1.0

	4 Box	x 1.0

	5 Sphere	x 0.33

	6 Dome/Disk	x 0.5

 

Table 6: Volume/Length Table

	UCP	Length

	0.007	

	0.019	

	0.037	3.2

	0.056	

	0.074	

	0.093	

	0.111	5.0

	0.130	

	0.185	

	0.25	6.6

	0.5	

	0.75	

	1.0	10.5

	2.0	

	3.0	

	4.0	

	5.0	

	6.0	

	7.0	

	8.0	

	9.0	

	10.0	22.5

	11.0	

	12.0	

	13.0	

	14.0	

	15.0	

	16.0	

	17.0	

	18.0	

	19.0	

	20.0	28.5

	25	

	30	

	35	

	40	

	45	

	50	38.5

	55	

	60	

	65	

	70	

	75	

	80	

	85	

	90	

	95	

	100	48.5

	200	

	300	

	400	

	500	83.0

	600	

	700	

	800	

	900	

	1000	105

	2000	

	3000	

	4000	

	5000	

	6000	

	7000	

	8000	

	9000	

	10000	225

	20000	

	30000	

	40000	

	50000	384

	60000	

	70000	

	80000	

	90000	

	100000	484

	200000	

	300000	

	400000	

	500000	

	600000	

	700000	

	800000	

	900000	

	100000	1,040

 

 

2. POWER SUPPLY

 

	Choose any power supply available from the design charts in the 

Referee's manual.  Note that, as in land-based installations, there is often a 

tradeoff bewteen output and reliability made: If you lower the output power 

of a powerplant by some factor, the maintenance requirements (and 

probability of breakdown) and fuel requirements also decrease by the same 

factor.  At TL7 and below, powerplants often are seen with effeciencies 10% 

or lower than the book values, soley to decrease maintenance costs and 

increase safety.

	In addition, the Solar Cells system has to take into account that 

on planetary surfaces, Night cuts the solar power down to zero.  An 

alternate source must be provided, or the vessel will drift at night (not 

always safe).

 

	A new type of engine is available, the Steam Engine, at TL 3 and 

4.  

 

Table 7: New Powerplants

				Fuel

TL	Description	Power Out	Price	 Kl/Hr

3	Basic Steam	0.05	500	0.015

4	Steam Engine	0.10	750	0.015

 

	All steam powerplants weigh 1 ton per Kl and burn hydrocarbon 

fuels.  At TL3 this is usually coal or wood (solid), requiring 1 crewmember 

(stoker) per 10 Kl powerplant (per shift) over and above other crew needs.

 

	Submarines are a special case.  While submerged, they may not 

in general operate a airbreathing powerplant.  At lower tech levels, 

Submarines normally install batteries (giving limited endurance 

underwater).  Fission power sources solve this problem (as do fusion, and 

fuel cells, which also require Oxygen as per airless worlds rules).  

Submarines also may not operate a Solar Power system while submerged.

 

3. LOCOMOTION

 

	Surface water vehicles may or may not have a suspension 

(hydrofoil), and all water vehicles must have a Transmission (Propellor or 

similar system).  Using a Hydrofoil suspension changes the nature of the 

final Speed calculation and makes the vessel more vulnerable to 

catastrophic damage from groundings etc.

 

Table 8: Contact Based Hydrofoil Suspension

	(all values per kL of suspension)

Type	Power	Weight	Price (MCr)

Hyd	0.04	1.5	0.05

	Minimum volume of suspension is 5% of vehicle volume.  A 

hydrofoil syspension is optional.

 

Table 9: Contact Based Water Transmissions

	(all values per Mw of powerplant output)

TL	Type	Vol.	Weight	Price(MCr)

3	Paddlewheel	3.0	5.0	0.25

4	Propellor	2.5	2.0	0.25

5	Propellor	2.0	1.0	0.25

6	Propellor	1.5	0.5	0.25

7	Propellor + Elec.	1.0	0.5	0.2

8+	MHD Drive	1.0	0.25	0.15

 

	The TL 3-6 Transmissions are directly connected to the 

powerplant.  At TL7 and above, the system is an electrical 

generation/electric motor system, and the power can be utilized for other 

purpses if the craft is not moving at full speed.

	This transmission is in one or more units (propellor/shaft or 

equiv.).  The maximum power per shaft/propellor unit is the square of the 

Tech Level in MW.  If total installed power is more than this, there must be 

as many shafts as the installed propulsive power divided by the TL squared 

(round up).  

 

4. COMMUNICATIONS

 

	Communications systems are installed as per the Referee's 

Manual.  The range required depends on the intended range of the vessel 

and the size of the planetary oceans.  A good rule of thumb is that a vessel 

should be able to communicate all the way across the largest ocean it's 

intended to cross.

 

5. SENSORS AND ELECTRONICS

 

	Sensors are the same as in the Referee's Manual, with the 

addition of the Sonar sensor system.  Sonar comes in two types, 

Active/Passive (pingers and passive sensors) and Passive only (passive 

sensors).  Active Sonar has the same characteristics as a Radar system, but 

with one range band less range.  Passive Sonar ***

 

Table 12: Active/Passive Sonar

	Weight in tons by TL

Range	6	7	8	9

Long	0.5	0.01	0.005	0.001

Very Long	2.0	1.0	0.1	0.05

Distant	5.0	2.0	1.0	0.1

V. Distant	-	10.0	5.0	1.0

Regional	-	25.0	15.0	5.0

Table 13: Passive Sonar

	Weight in tons by TL

Range	6	7	8	9

Very Long	0.1	0.05	0.01	0.005

Distant	0.5	0.1	0.05	0.01

V. Distant	1.0	0.5	0.1	0.05

Regional	-	10	5	1

Continental-	20	10	5

 

Table 12&13 notes:	Sonars have a power requirement of their 

weight in tons.  They cost MCr 1.0 x their weight in tons.  Volume is the 

weight in tons  x 2.

 

	In addition, a simple depth sounder or fishfinding sonar 

(minimal imaging ability or directionality) is available for one-tenth the 

size and cost of a Very Long range sonar of the same TL.

 

6. WEAPONS

 

	Waterfaring vessels may have any listed weapons installed.  In 

addition, a new weapon (Torpedoes) are available.  At low TL, Guns are 

favored, with the emphasis changing to Missiles at TL 7, and somewhat to 

Beam Weapons (Lasers) by TL 8 to 9.  Waterfaring Craft may mount any 

starship (hardpoint) weapons, with the same restrictions as other craft.

 

	***torpedoes***

	Note that underwater explosions are naturally tamped by the 

surrounding water.

 

7. SCREENS

 

	All standard screens may be installed.  In addition, three new 

screening devices are available for sound screening.

	Anaechroic Coatings are a passive hull coating available for any 

size hull.  They reduce the sound signature by  x 0.5, and weigh 0.01 ton per 

KL of vehicle.  They cost MCr 1.0 per ton.  Anaechroic Coatings are 

available at TL 8; early coatings ( only reduce signature by  x 0.75) can be 

found at TL 7 for the same size and cost.

	Bubble Screens are active equivalents of Anaechroic coatings.  

They also reduce the sound signature by  x 0.5, and weigh 0.025 ton per KL 

of vehicle.  They take 0.1 MW power per ton and cost MCr 1.0 per ton.  They 

are available for any surface ship except hydrofoils at TL7.

	Noisemakers are decoy bouys, at lower TL's simply bubble and 

sound generators, by TL9 they include sonar jamming electronics.  A 

noisemaker launcher costs MCr 0.05, takes 0.1 KL volume, and weighs 0.1 

ton.  Noisemakers are MCr 0.05 each, and require 0.05 KL and weigh 0.05 

ton.  Noisemaker effectiveness is dependent on TL.

 

8. BRIDGE

 

	As Referee's Manual.  Until TL 8, waterfaring vessels don't 

usually use a computer for controlling more than Sensors, Screens, and 

Weapons.   Also, most vessels don't need more than basic environment, 

and never (except Chemical/Biologically sealed) need more life support 

than the world's environment demands.  Lights and heat usually suffice, 

and except for passenger vessels, are usually fitted only to operations areas 

(not cargo areas).

 

9. ACCOMIDATIONS

 

	Waterfaring Craft use the standard accomidations rules.  

Subordinate craft may be carried as shown below.

	Carrying subordinate craft requires three elements: hangars, 

elevators, and a flight deck.

	First, there must be hangar space for the vehicles.  For grav or 

other Referee's manual designs, use the listed subordinate craft volume 

requirements.  For COACC aircraft, fixed-wing aircraft require 60 KL per ton 

of design weight, and folding wing aircraft (and helocopters) require 40 KL 

per ton.  Other watercraft require the same as Referee's manual listings 

(dependent on size), and don't need elevators or a flight deck.  Land 

Vehicles aldo don't require a flight deck or elevators, but do need some way 

of being landed.

	Second, there must be elevators to move the vehicles from the 

hangar to the flight deck.  They are not required for vessels with a less-

than-total flight deck.

	A flight deck is where actual flight operations take place.  It may 

have any area up to (maximum) 0.15 x L^2 (one sixth L squared).  

Minimum area is the largest of 20 % of hangar volume (in meters square 

per Kiloliter) for the largest helocopter aboard, 15% of hangar volume of 

the largest VTOL aircraft aboard, 10% of the hangar volume of the largest 

grav vehicle aboard, 100% of the volume of the largest STOL aircraft aboard, 

or 200% of the hangar volume of the largest normal takeoff aircraft aboard.  

STOL and normal aircraft need that much space to take off and to land.  A 

single deck area may do both, but not at the same time.  Dedicated carrier 

ships often have seperate launch and landing facilities for aircraft.

 

10. FUEL

 

	Evaluate the fuel needs and cargo as per the Referee's Manual.  

Normal fuel needs are determined by determining speed at 0.75 max power,  

dividing required range by this speed, and multiplying by fuel usage.  A 

safety factor of 25% is normally added.  Some military vessels will have an 

endurance requirement in days or weeks rather than required range.

 

WATERFARING VEHICLE DESIGN EVALUATION

 

	After going over the design carefully, the vehicle Universal Craft 

Profile is generated from the design.  The UCP for watercraft is slightly 

different than for other vehicles, the exceptions being noted below.

 

CraftID

	Watercraft type codes are preceded by 'SW' for Surface 

Watercraft or 'SS' for Surface Submersible or submarines.

 

Hull

	List the normal hull data, and additionally include the hull 

length.

 

Power

	As normal vehicles

 

Locomotion

	List the power-to-weight ratio and the loaded and unloaded 

cruise and maximum speeds.  Cruise speed is speed at 0.75 maximum 

powerplant output.  Speed is determined as shown below.

 

        The speed of a ship depends on its hull length, it's power to weight

ratio, and a factor of how 'fat' (bulky or wide) the vehicle is.  The speeds 

listed below work for all speeds that watercraft are practical.

 

	The formula for determining speed is:

	Speed(kph) = (LF/g) + PWR - (W/L)/50g

 

	For Hydrofoil vehicles, this is 

	Speed = 2 x PWR - (W/L)/50g

with a minimum resulting speed of twice the hull's LF.  Hydrofoils slower 

than this cannot get 'foilborne' and lift out of the water.

 

	For submerged Submarines, the formula is

	Speed = 2 x (LF/g) + PWR - (W/L)/50g

 

        Definitions:

                L=hull length in m 

                LF=hull Length Speed Factor of the ship (see below)

                P=ships' power, in kW (power in MW x 1000)

                W=ships' weight in metric tons

                PWR=Power Factor, depends on power to weight ratio (see below)

                g=local gravity in G's

 

	The Length Speed Factor ('LF') depends on the hull length.  It is

tabulated below:

 

Table 10: Length Speed Factor

	Hull Length	LF

	50+ m	L/10

	25-49 m	0

	15-25 m	-3

	8-14 m	-6

	7- m	-10

 

        The Power Factor ('PWR') is a direct function of the power to weight

ratio.  Multiply its powerplant output (in megawatts) by 1000 to find power

in kW.  Divide this by the loaded weight of the ship in metric tons to find 

the

power to weight ratio.  Look up the corresponding PWR factor on the chart

below.

 

Table 11: Power Factor

	P/W	PWR

	0.033	2

	0.066	4

	0.15	6

	0.30	8

	0.45	10

	0.55	12

	0.67	14

	0.85	16

	1.20	18

	1.75	20

	2.40	22

	4.50	24

	7.50	26

	11.0	28

	14.5	30

	18.0	32

	21.5	34

	24.0	36

	27.5	38

	31.0	40

	35.0	42

	40.0	44

	50.0	50

	70.0	60

	90.0	70

	110.0	80

	130.0	90

	150.0	100

	175.0	110

	200.0	120

	225.0	130

	250.0	140

	275.0	150

	300.0	160

	325.0	170

	350.0	180

	375.0	190

	425.0	200

	higher speeds are impossible with floating ships.

 

 

Commo

 

	List all installed communications systems.

 

Sensors

 

	As Referee's Manual, but add Active Sonar Scan, Active Sonar 

Pin, and Passive Sonar Scan and Pin (if Sonars are installed).

 

	Active Sonar Scan: Active sonar scan difficulty is listed below:

Table ??: Active Sonar Difficulty

	Range of Sonar	Difficulty

	Long	Formidable

	V. Long	Difficult

	Distant	Difficult

	V. Distant	Routine

	Regional	Routine

 

	Active Sonar Pin: Same difficulty as Active Sonar Scan

 

	Passive Sonar Scan: The difficulty level for locating vehicles 

passively with sonar is listed below:

 

Table xx: Passive Sonar Scan

	Sonar Range	Difficulty

	Long	Formidable

	V. Long	Difficult

	Distant	Difficult

	V. Distant	Routine

	Regional	Routine

	Continental	Simple

 

	Passive Sonar Pin:  Passive Sonar Pin is one level more difficult 

than Passive Sonar Scan.

 

Off

 

	List all weapons as normal, including any Torpedo launchers.

 

Def

	List all defenses, including anaechroic coatings, bubble screens, 

and noisemakers (if installed).  For computing Defensive DM, Agility is 

effectively the top speed in KPH divided by 35 (round up) minus the Target 

Size DM (minimum Agility=0).

 

Control

	As normal

 

Accomm

	As normal

 

Other

	Add the AcousticSig signature value to the ratings.  The 

Acoustic Signature is determined as follows:

 

Table yy: Acoustic Signature

	Power Plant Output	AcousticSig

	Over 10 MW		Strong

	1 to 10 MW		Moderate

	0.1 to 1 MW		Minimal

	Under 0.1 MW	Faint

 

	Anaechroic coatings and bubble screens reduce the effective 

Power Plant output for purposes of determining the Acoustic Signature.

 

 

SPACECRAFT IN THE WATER

 

	There are several references to using spaceships as submarines 

and other watercraft in various places in MegaTraveller.  Most importantly, 

the safe operational depth must be determined for subsurface operations.  

To find this, multiply the armour modifier corresponding to the vehicles' 

armour rating by 15, and divide by the local surface gravity.  This is the safe 

operating depth in meters.  A normal starship hull (armour 40) is thus safe 

at up to 495 meters depth.  (This is slightly less than purpose-built hulls.  

Spacecraft, while strong enough, tend to have weakpoints in airlocks and 

sensors and turret connections that lessen the safe depth.)

 

	Second most important is determining the operating speed.  Due 

to excessivly bad hydrodynamic properties, spacecraft use the following 

formula to determine in-water speed:

 

	Speed = PWR * 0.5  (surfaced and underwater equal),

	with PWR in this case being determined by using the gravitic 

power (Grav modules or Thrusters) or Rocket thrust in tons.  Other 

propulsive systems are nonfunctional underwater.

 

	Note that it's quite possible to exceed the high end of the PWR 

system.  You may either treat this as a hard limit or extrapolate the table.  In 

either case, the vehicle has become very, very noisy, and is automatically 

detected on every available sonar system (and may be tracked visually on 

the surface if submerged).  Running at these speeds is usually less subtle 

than running on the surface, and to be avoided unless, for instance, there's 

a MK 48 torpedo about to test your hull armour's manufacturers guarantee.  

(Note that heavyweight torpedoes at TL7, with a 1 ton warhead, will breach 

armour 40 and leave a 1-meter plus hole, a fact not lost of several of my 

players who tested the high end of this speed range for exactly that reason 

once...)

 

	Entering the water is safely done at speeds under 50 KPH.  If you 

touch down faster than this, the pilot must make a difficult piloting roll 

with a negative DM of the speed divided by 50 or suffer damage to the 

vehicle.

 

NOTES

 

	A few random comments about these rules and about 

waterfaring vehicles and activities.

	Remember that a submarine must weigh as much as its hull 

volume in KL to be able to submerge.  Several previous forays into 

watercraft in MegaTraveller have forgotten this basic fact and designed 

unsinkable submarines.

	How mush deeper than Operational Depth may a submarine 

actually go before it implodes?  I've used the US Navy 66% criterion 

(Operational Depth is 66% of the calculated crush depth), so theoretically 

you can go 50% deeper than operational.  Submarines are normally test 

dived to 20% deeper than operational.  Any further than this and the 

referee can start rolling their favorite accident system rolls for hull collapse.  

Damaged hulls often will fail at much shallower depths.

 

SAMPLE WATERCRAFT DESIGNS

 

TL 8 Guided Missile Destroyer 'Admiral' class

 

 

 

TL 7 Peteroleum Tanker 'Valdez' class

 

 

 

TL 7 Aircraft Carrier 'Gulf' class

 

 

 

 



.



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



Archive-Message-Number: 2259

Date: Fri, 05 Apr 91 10:05:13 CST

From: C450160@UMCVMB.MISSOURI.EDU

Subject: Alot of TidBYTES...



[Mea culpa, I reformatted this message so that words weren't broken over line

boundaries.  Guess I should've become a writer rather than a programmer, huh?

- - -- James]



Fellow Travellers,

I am in need of your thought provoking input on a number of MT questions.  Let

me state that I am using the first editon/printing of the MT rules, thus some

of these "problems" may be solved and I don't know about them.  Now, where to

begin...



1) Personal Combat - I've resently started running a traveller campaign and

this is the first time that I have used the new MT rules.  I've worked through

all the changes that have occured and thought I was ready to move into the new

age of traveller, then I had to deal with personal combat.  Traveller was kind

to PC with the combat system before, But NOW...  I can't kill anybody without

High Energy Weapons...



I try to keep the military related gear out of my players hands... that gear

is for the active duty types.  They went along with that fine, so everyone got

cloth armor ship's jumpsuits...  No problem, until the first firefight.  Since

I keep the lid on Military gear, most opponents have lower level stuff too...

That when we found out that SMGs,Shotguns and Advance Combat Rifles CANNOT

penetrate even "lowly" Cloth armor.  I was stunned.  Topping that feat is the

TL14 Vacc suit which will stop anything short of a Gauss Rilfe, ARL or LAG AP

rounds...  Even when you hit with these, most damage will be disapated...  I

can see the headlines now...  MAN IN VACC SUIT TAKES ROCKET TO THE CHEST AND

LAUGHS.  Now I can live with all the hand waving and scientific slips that

occur for game sake, but NO DAMAGE without Penetration...  I know the 10%

rule, but thats for uncovered areas only... a vacc suit covers all...



Slug thowers are and will be one of the most widely used weapons.  Kinetic

energy is the easiest way to convey killing power.  Defensive technology will

keep pace.  This all equates to a police nightmare.  Thank god my players are

not all running around in combat armor or battle dress.



2) Personal hit locations - If we start to consider partial armor covering, as

the 10% rule seems to, why not use a hit location chart ala Aftermath.  I'm

interested in your oppinions on this, if you use a system and how you work it

out.



3) Rates of Fire - Did they forget about this all together? Sure there is the

rapid fire rules, but you empty your clip and the auto fire rules cover only

ful ly automatic fire.  I'm sorry...  I may not be a marksman but I have fire

both pistols and long guns before.  With a 9mm Barretta (a traveller

autopistol) I can aim and fire off 2-3 rounds in a 6 second period of time

accurately.  At this rate it would take 30 seconds to empty my clip, but I am

firing at multiple targets also.  A submachine gun only firing 1,3 or 30

rounds in a combat round...  I don't understand.  With this system an antique

Blunderbuss (one player has one), a revolver, an autopistol, a SMG, an ACR and

A VRF Guass Gun all fire ONE round every 6 seconds.  What was Marc Miller

thinking about here...



4) Starship Hijacking - with the new rules about ship computers, this option

becomes almost impossible.  No real critisism, but I would like to here how

you pull this caper off.



5) Starship combat rounds - 20 minutes... ummmmm...  I'm sure that alot could

be occuring in that time.  I realise that the distance can be so great, but

modern naval combat takes place at much longer ranges than that of WW2 combat

and things move faster now.  I use 1 minute rounds and throw the movement

scales out the window.  I'd like to know what you do.



6) High Tech Gear - I've got a number of player's reading GURPS Ultra tech and

asking for conversions.  I agree with most of the stuff, but some things that

make sense just don't work.  For example, construction cement.  I figure that

by TL 15 there would be some form of quick drying polymer that would be used

as material for roads, walls, etc. that is as strong, if not stronger, than

concrete.  Now my players want to use this stuff as bulkheads in there ship.

If the get boarded by bad guys (good guy to me), they just start pouring this

stuff down the halls to the bridge and engineering, thus sealing out the

enemy.  How do you deal with logical technical advances that could throw the

system out of whack.  Its the traveller equivelent of the +5 Holy avenger/rune

blade/sword of sharpness.  ..  HHEEELLLLPPPPP....  See reference to question 4



7) Imperial Law Level - As I have stated, I keep the military gear in the

hands of the military when and where ever possible.  I know that there are law

levels for the member worlds, but what if any, law level do you aply to

imperial space.  I know that every imperial marine force commander has

nightmares about garrisoning a starport that allows civilian merchants to arm

their security men with battle dress and FGMP-15s.  And should civilian ships

be allowed to mount meson/spine mount weapons?



8) True Speculative Cargo - The trade and commerce section deals with

speculators buying and selling cargo, but the cargo bought is only supposed to

go to the world where the ship is going.  With this in mind, the minimum

resale price any good merchant captain will get is 90% of its selling price (2

on dice+4 Broker +any Bribery).  What happend to the "What do you mean, you

don't want 10,000 snow cone machines... this is a desert planet you idiot".

I've got players wanting to buy TL15 household items, with replacement parts,

to sell on any given TL11 -14 world.  How do you deal with this problem.



I must state that my campaign is running in 1113 pre-rebellion.  I would like

to see TDR replies.  Enough rambling...



Mike Finn

c450160@umcvmb.missouri.edu



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



Archive-Message-Number: 2260

From: Dave Johnson <D.M.Johnson@newcastle.ac.uk>

Subject: Sysgen4 queries

Date: Tue, 9 Apr 91 16:52:20 WET DST



Hi,

        I was messing around with sysgen4 the other I was wonder what the

formatting commands the detprint produces are. Could some one help me please

I have been porting it to the ST and have had no problems. Now I am just making

it ST specfic (GEM windows etc etc etc), because I felt like it. (I must be

crazy). Any way if any one could tell me what the format commands do I would be

grateful.



Dave

- - --



+-------------------------------------+---------------------------------------+

| David M. Johnson                    | If the radiance of a thousand suns    |

| c/o Electrical and Electronic Eng.  |   were to burst at once in the sky,   |

|     Merz Court                      | That would be like the splendor       |

|     Newcastle University            |   of the Mighty One...                |

|     Newcastle upon Tyne             | I am become Death                     |

|     NE1 7RU                         |   The destroyer of worlds.            |

+-------------------------------------+                                       |

|Janet : D.M.Johnson@uk.ac.newcastle  |                                       |

|ARPA  : D.M.Johnson@newcastle.ac.uk  |                The Mahbharata.        |

|UUCP  : ...ukc!newcastle!D.M.Johnson |                                       |

+-------------------------------------+---------------------------------------+





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



End of TML Bundle

*****************



