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To: dan@engrg.uwo.ca (Dan Corrin), bfwong@ocf.berkeley.edu (Raven Blackburn),
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Subject: TML Bundle #273: Msgs 3298-3304
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TML Bundles come from the archives of the Traveller Mailing List,
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Date: Sun Dec 15 21:00:10 PST 1991
From: traveller-request@metolius.wr.tek.com (TML Administrator)
Subject: TML Bundle #273: Table of Contents

-AMN- --Date--- --Sender--------- --Subject-----------------------------------
3299  09-Dec-91 burt@ptltd.COM    GENIE: Revised Starship Combat Rules (v1.0) <
3300  11-Dec-91 Rob Miracle       Re: General Traveller Questions << >Question 
3301  12-Dec-91 Robert S. Dean    Re: (3284) Re: A Little Joke (Agility) << Ste
3302  12-Dec-91 surman@zulu.lgs.l GDW Pubs, Re: 3295,3294 << Has anyone heard a
3303  12-Dec-91 Robert S. Dean    Re: (3286) Re: General Traveller Questions (3
3304  12-Dec-91 Robert S. Dean    Re: (3300) Re: General Traveller Questions <<
3305  12-Dec-91 Joe Heck          GENIE Compilation << After reading through th

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

Archive-Message-Number: 3299
Date: Mon, 9 Dec 91 13:47:44 EST
From: burt@ptltd.COM (Burton Choinski.)
Subject: GENIE: Revised Starship Combat Rules (v1.0)

[NOTE: I was working on the following until I got wind of the T3 revision.
 Please send it along to GDW via GEnie.  Maybe they can use some of the ideas.]
===============================================================================
Revised Starship Combat Rules (v1.0) 

[0] Combat Ststistics
    Each ship must have it's combat characteristics defined (generally done
    after the design process). 

   * Critical characters (pilot, gunners, etc) must determine their base combat
     efficiency:
        Skill: (none)  0   1  2-3 4-5  6-7  8-9   10
        Effic:   -4   -2  -1   0   +1   +2   +3   +4

   * Hull Capacity: Ship hulls have a limited amount of punishment that they
     can take before becoming incapacitated.  This value is based on hull size
     and armor type.
        HCS = 2 x (Displacement/100)^0.6666 x Armor modifier (below)
        HCD = 12 x (Displacement/100)^0.8333 x Armor modifier (below)

           Soft Steel ........................ x0.248
           Hard Steel ........................ x0.310
           Composite Laminate ................ x0.705
           Lt. Weight Composite Laminate ..... x0.815
           Crystaliron ....................... x1.000
           Superdense ........................ x1.148
           Bonded Superdense ................. x2.214
           Coherent Superdense ............... x4.429

     HCS (Hull Capacity, Streamlining) indicates the number of hits to reduce
     a hull rating one level (Hypersonic-Supersonic-Transonic-Subsonic-Simple).
     Dropping one level indicates a breach -- two levels indicates a serious
     breach.  At three or more the ship has too many holes to be pressurized.
     
{note: Airframe = Hypersonic, Streamlined = Supersonic, Partially Streamlined =
 Transonic.  All others = Unstreamlined rating.  Ratings and speeds from 
 STRIKER}

     HCD (Hull Capacity, Disabling) indicates the number of internal structural
     hits a ship can withstand before becoming a delilect (i.e. cannot maneuver
     else she breaks up).

{Note: These hull damages are meaningless when using a divisional damage
  system, in the notes later on}

[1] Pre-combat
    Before combat, determine the readiness modifier of each critical
    character (pilot, gunners, etc).  The result of an open-ended roll is
    checked to determine their readiness:

    ... -7,-6  -5,-4  -3,-2  -1,0  1,2  3,4  5,6  7,8  9,10  11,12  13,14 ...
    ...   -5     -4     -3     -2   -1   +0   +1   +2   +3     +4     +5  ...

    The open roll is performed as follows: roll 1d6
    a) if 2-5, use that number
    b) if 6, add 5 to the roll of 1d6.  Subsequent 6's add 5 and another roll.
    c) if 1, subtract 5 from the roll of 1d6.  Subsequent 1's subtract 5 more.

    Thus, rolling a 6 means you get 5+1d6.  However, if you roll another 6,
    on this second roll, you get 10+1d6, and so on until you do not roll
    a 6.  The same process goes for 1's.  Once the "direction" is determined,
    you do not consider the other end (i.e., if on a 6 chain, ignore rule "c"
    above).

{Note: Joe Gunner (Gunnery 3, base of 0 (from above) rolls a 6.  Using rule
 "b" he rolls again, getting a 4.  His total is 9, which converts to a +3.
  His gunnery modifier for this encounter is +3.  Fred Gunner (Gunnery 6,
  base of +2) rolls a 1, then another 1, and finally a 5.  Using rule "c"
  his roll is 5 (last roll) -10 (for the two 1's) for a -5 total.  On the
  table, this is a -4 modifier, so he starts combat with a -2 rating.}

    Thus, on average, critical characters will operate at or near their
    normal efficiency.  However, some will start off very well, while some
    will be having a very bad day.  

    As combat turns go by, the readiness will improve (if negative) or degrade
    (if positive) at a chance determined by the quality of the position
    (cramped vs. roomy, no HUD, HUD or Holo-HUD, etc).

{Note: As combat turns go by, the ratings are improved or reduced to the base
levels.  Thus, as combat goes by, Joe will tire and eventually have a +0
rating, while Fred will eventually get the kinks out and be operating at his
normal +2 rating.  How fast their levels change will depend on the equipment
they have to work with.  Good equipment will eliminate negative penaties faster
and slow the rate of degredation.  Likewise, Poor or primitive equipment will
hasten a loss of "edge" and make "getting up to speed" longer.  In addition,
small or cramped workstations or cocpits will increase the rate of degredation
and slow the rate of improvement.  (However, unlike the equipment, they do
not have the opposite effects if large and roomy)}

    For small ships, one readiness check is made per gunner.  For larger
    ships, one is made per section (laser weapons, missile weapons, etc).

{I really like this system.  It adds a bit of "readiness" to combat encounters.
To simulate combat readiness or laxity, one can ignore rules "b" and "c"
as required. (thus, "Ship 'O Fools", with a Lax crew, would not reroll and add
on 6's, but would reroll and subtract with any 1's).  If used with the proposed
d20 system, add the values above to the skill rating before calculation
of skill level.}

[2] Combat Sequence
[3] Damage Resolution
[4] Post-Combat

{Note: I never got to this stage.  The following are notes I made, to be
chopped up and placed in the above document.}

    2) In combat, 2d6+(gunner rating)+(weapon accuracy rating)-(pilot rating)-
       (agility rating)-(defensive rating) is cross-checked on a firing table
       corresponding to the number of weapons fired (may use HG numbers for
       space saving) to determine the number of weapon hits.  The amount of
       computer resources devoted to the weapon system improves the basic
       accuracy bonus.  Likewise, the amount of resources devoted to evasive
       actions will determine the computer add to the ship's defensive rating.

{More detail below on this}

    4) Weapon accuracy's are based on ease of tracking and hitting (i.e. 
       beam lasers are +1, while pulse lasers are +0).

{Yea, standard stuff}

    5) Computer Power is "allocated" for different tasks.  Using the Maximum
       CP input as a "power rating", "allocate" these CP's for combat tasks.
     
       example: The ship's computer has <what ever fits, I don't have my book 
       with me> a limit of 15CP.  If the ship has two gunnery positions, the
       pilot may allocate 5CP to each gunnery position and reserve 5CP for
       evasive action control.

       This simulates the computer power dedicated toward target location
       prediction (i.e. Predict programs from book 2) as well as "Jinking"
       and "facing" changes for defeating such programs (i.e. Maneuver/Evade).
       
       The number of CP required for each bonus is some power function,
       not linear.  The power function for evasion ramps up faster and starts
       at a higher number.  [Note: Somebody good at "does it look reasonable"
       math please come up with some functions...I was thinking of 
       2+CP^2 for gunnery and 3+CP^3 for evasion.

{Note: This needs to be rewritten as it is kind of confusing.  Basically,
for a +3 Evasion, 3+3^3 (or 30) CP are needed.  For a +3 gunnery, 2+3^2
(or 11) CP are needed.  Evasion requires more CP due to the need to swing
a whole ship around instead of just a turret.  Presumably, Evasion bonuses
are limited to maneuver G rating.  Targeting bonuses could be limited by
sensor's available or TL.  Spinal mounts would use the Evasion formula.}
  
{Note: This rule above was to bridge the gap between the old Book-2 programs
and post-HG combat with "computer Model" modifiers.  This Method allows a
starship commander to determine how computer resources are allocated.
Conceivably, each gun position COULD have it's own computer and dedicated
CP allotment, with the ability to be augmented by the main computer.  I agree
that this system could very well be unweildy with HG style ships, but in
"player-scale" combats, I think it is a good balance.  This system could be
extended to include sensor tasks.}

    6) The Hit tables correspond to the HG ratings:
   
               ------------ Roll ---------------
       Beams:  0-  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10 11 ....
          1    -- -- -- -- -- --  1  1  1  1   1  1 ....
          2    -- -- -- -- --  1  2  2  2  2   2  2 ....
          3    -- -- -- --  1  1  2  3  3  3   3  3 ....
          6    -- -- --  1  2  3  4  6  6  6   6  6 ....
         10    -- --  1  2  3  6  8 10 10 10  10 10 ....
                  
                  etc...  This chart is in no way accurate, just a
                     guide to what I was talking about.

{NOTE: This was an attempt to get around the "30 lasers fire at the ship,
and one hits" bugaboo in High Guard.  The "Roll" above is the
base roll (on 2d6, before modifiers) to hit.  I agree this still needed work.}

{end of notes}
===============================================================================
The rules above were my (initial) attempt to make traveller combat more
personal and less abstract than HG (and the botched MT hack of it) version.
My multiple laser rule was an attempt to add some sort of "bracketing" 
ability without having to roll for each laser, yet allow for more than
"one" hit.  

One change I mentioned a while ago (which may have been sent to you in the
packets, but I am not sure) is the "Gal Force" style lasers.  To re-cap:

             //
  Laser     //--------
  Vane --> //+--------
          //++-------- Reflected Lasers, to target ---->
         //+++--------
        //++++--------
       //|||||
#################################
########## Ship Hull ################
###########################################


Lasers are arranged in banks, with anywhere from 1 to 30 lasers per
bank (usually in a line, but in a rectangle for large numbers).

The vane, with is movable for targeting, focuses the lasers on a single
impact point (each vane has a targeting mirror for each laser in the bank,
in addition to the vane itself being able to rotate and move).
Damage to the target ship equals number of lasers - armor protection
(note: this is different from my above "Note 6".  In that, the number of
lasers hitting depends on how well you bracket the target.  In this
idea, a hit is all or nothing.  Note, however, a 30 laser hit is NOT a
single point of damage, but 30x damage).

Laser vanes can be folded down for atmosphere operations and to protect
the mirrors from normal travel damage (microdust, etc).  

As I stated in that old post, Missiles need not be in turrets.  At TL 9+
they can target on their own, given aquisition data from the gunner and
the ship's sensor array.  So missile banks are simply tubes along the sides
of the ship (like torpedo tubes).  Computer CP in this case is used to
provide a clearer sensor "picture" for the missile before launch.
Damage from missiles, being individual objects, would use my "Note 6" above,
since with 30 missiles flying at the target, it is possible for all, none,
or some to hit the target, depending on how agile the target is, how smart
the missiles are, etc.  Missile bays simply allow either more of the smaller
missiles, or larger ones (which are harder to kill with sand, see below).

Sand is handled similar to Screens in 2300ad.  Sand banks provide a metalic,
ablative screen around the ship.  In HG terms, the ship requires one factor
of sand for every ship size. (i.e. while a 100t Scout can get by with 1 
sandcaster, providing Factor 1 protection, a 1000t escort requires 10
sand banks for the same protection.  However, the actual scaling should
be based on the AREA of the ship's increase, (i.e. .6666 power law), so the
1000t excort would need (10^.666) or 4.6415 (round to 5) sand banks.
Sandcasters are not a Single unit, but spread over the ship (i.e. 1 Sandcaster
might actually be 100 seperate dispensors over the hull).  The other half
of the Caster is the hull grid that generates the magnetic fields to keep the
sand screen around the ship.  The sand rating is considered when determining
how many missiles hit, and reduces the amount of laser damage.  Sandscreens
will obviously require more power now.

Particle beams are handled as they are now, as turrets.  However, they
too add the number of particle beams to get the particle damage (before
being reduced by sand or armor).

Armor has the effect of reducing weapon damage.  I suggest a divisional
method, as used in STRIKER for breaches.

(Note that this system already allows some abstraction (for lasers).  While
missile damage is handled on a per-missile basis, you could just break the
damage into 2 or 3 hits (for large volleys) and then apply the armor.)

A simple fractional table could be given for quick reference.
       IMPACT
ARMOR  1x  2x  3x  4x  5x  6x  8x  10x  15x  20x  30x     "Class"
10/12   1   2   3   3   4   5   7    8   13   17   25
 9/12   1   2   2   3   4   5   6    8   11   15   23        EE
 7/12   1   1   2   2   3   4   5    6    9   12   18    
 6/12   1   1   2   2   3   3   4    5    8   10   15         E
 5/12   0   1   1   2   2   3   3    4    6    8   13         D
 4/12   0   1   1   1   2   2   3    3    5    7   10         C
 3/12   0   0   1   1   1   2   2    3    4    5    8         B
 2/12   0   0   1   1   1   1   1    2    3    3    5         A
 1/12   0   0   0   0   0   1   1    1    1    2    3        AA   (A2)
 
beyond these levels are the extreme armor ratings, where the ship is basically
all armor...

 1/18   ...   AAA    (A3)
 1/24   ...   AAAA   (A4)
 1/30   ...   AAAAA  (A5)
 1/36   ...   AAAAAA (A6)

Armor determines effectiveness of any attack.

(Example: Ship Alpha has B rated armor, while Ship Beta has E rated armor.
  Both ships, armed with laser vanes, attack.  Alpha (a gunship) gets 2
  laser hits (each vane has 10 lasers).  Beta also hits with its one vane,
  containing 5 lasers.

  For beta, each 10x laser hit translates into a 5x internal hit.  This
  leaves 5x external energy, which converts to a 3x surface hit.  The remainder
  is lost.  Obviously, beta suffers from two of these.

  Alpha takes a 5x laser hit, which translates to a 1x internal hit.  The
  remaining 4x energy becomes a 1x surface hit.

Internal hits damage Drives, crew areas, power, etc.  Surface hits knockout
external weapons (i.e. non-spinal), sensors and external screens (Sandscreen
grid), communications, streamlining, jump drive grid, etc.

High-energy weapons (Particle, X-ray laser, fusion/plasma) reduce armor
rating by one level.  Very High Energy Weapons (Nuke Missile, Antimatter)
reduced it by 2 levels.

Screens can use the same chart, if given ratings the same as hull armor.
Basically, if the two defenses are the same rating the mutual protection
is one level greater.  If there is too much difference, there is
no significant change.

(Example: A Gunship has B Class Armor and B Class screens.  Being the same
level means the ship has an effeective protection of Class A.  If the screens
are damaged, and are reduced to Class C, they no longer provide significant
protection over the armor, and the ship now has Class B protection.)

This idea would definately work better with a larger armor spread (from 15/20
to 1/20)

===============================================================================
I used 12 steps on the above chart, because 12 is a nice number.  You can just
as well use 10, 20 or some other number, but remember that useful armoring
doesn't begin until the 1/2 mark.  Unarmored ships, on the above table, would
be rated at EE (3/4) armor.  Armor rating, of course, is based on Armor
Hardness and thickness.  Higher numbers allows greater variation with
regards to High-energy Pentration (i.e., with a a table based on 1/20,
Fusion/Plasma could have -1 rating, Particle and Xray at -2 ratings, etc).

===============================================================================
Weapon Limitations:  I suggest that surface weapons be limited based on 
surface area, not ship size.  A 1350kl ship has a surface area of 732 M^2 if
a cube, 590 if a sphere.  Split the difference for "normal" ships,
you get 661 square meters.  From this, configuration can alter this basic
rule of thumb (-10% for spherical or disk ships, +10% if close structure
or box, +20% if dispersed structure, +40% if open frame)  As volume increases,
area increases to 
the .666 power (this can be tabulated), so a 2700kl ship (200t) has an area of
1049 M^2.  After lopping off X% for drives (based on G-acceleration) and
Y% for Jump Grid (based on jump number), and a reasonable amount for general
ship stuff (air locks, landing jacks, windows, etc), the remainder is
available for weapons, sensor arrays, sandscreens and commo equipment.

This allows the removal of the "hardpoint" limitations.  If you got the
hull area, you can put on the weapons. 

In my games, I gave each race a specific style of ship.  The Imperium used
mainly wedge and cone forms, the Zhodani used close structures.  Aslan
prefered Needle forms.  K'Kree used Spheres or Disks.  Hiver ships were
usually irregular shapes.  Vargr used everything, but also tended toward 
needles, wedges or disks.  These form preferences are for capital ships and
orbital-only ships.  Landers or other atmospheric ships tended to be
more similar.  If these new rules are used, racial preference could make
a difference in ship effectiveness, so to offset this perhaps a "bonus" could
be assigned to prefered configuartions, at the expense of a loss in other
configurartions. (1/2 the bonus or penalty of the shape, or 5%)

(Example: Imperial Design prefers wedges and cones, so an additional 5% of
hull area is given.  However, Spherical ships are the least prefered, so
they are further penalized by losing 5% more for a -15%.  
Zhodani ships, being more
close structured, get +5% (giving +15% total over "normal" styles), but
dislike dispersed styles, losing half of the normal dispersed structure
or open frame bonus, for a total of +10% and +20%, respectively).

Note:  Because hull volume goes up faster than hull area, this idea makes
SDB's and Battle Riders much more viable (i.e., no need to leave room for
a jump grid)

This rule also means that a 1,000,000t ship cannot have 1,000 times the number
of weapons (only 100x).  Because of this, large capital ships will not have
multitudes of small guns, but instead have larger ones.  The purpose
of smaller guns, to shoot down missiles and fighters, is left to escort
ships.

Since, in the above rules, AREA has to be calculated, it should be the basis
of any to-hit modifiers based on ship size.
===============================================================================
Well, there are some of My ideas to y'all at GDW.  I hope you can get 
something useful out of them.

===============================================================================
Burton Choinski                                       Phoenix Technologies, LTD
"All opinions are mine, not Phoenix's"                            Cambridge, MA
===============================================================================

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

Archive-Message-Number: 3300
Date: Wed, 11 Dec 1991 21:46 EST
From: Rob Miracle <RWMIRA01%ULKYVX.bitnet@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Re: General Traveller Questions

>Question 6
>
>Are nuclear weapons illegal for everybody

No.  Only systems that belong to the Imperium are affected by that Imperial
Law.

>Question 7
>
>When does the imperium interfere in a member worlds affairs . So like when
>the mysterious strike assignment from the naval characters generation comes
>into it .

I would say that any world where there was a political uprising agianst the
loyal Imperial supporting goverment.

>Question 12
>
>It took me an average 5 hours to make up a vehicle . How does Scott Kellog
>find the time, I mean geez .....

I can't speak for Scott, but software and spreadsheets come in real handy.

>Question 14
>
>I tried to make a scout vessel (as the one from the encyclopedia) and
>absolutly nothing was acurate . As it turned out the power listed for vessels
>in the encyclopedia were on average 3 times the power I worked out for them

That is another general complaint of the MT rules.  One of the things that bugs
me about the ship generation is that you can't build a decient starship below
TL14.

>Question 15
>
>How different is the robot rules in book 8 different from the ones published
>in 79 in the best of traveller journal . (Which I have a copy)

I am trying to remember those books.  I think book 8 was an expansion of the
JTAS artical.  There was another robot system in one of the Dragon Magazines
that we used alot which was totally different.

>What does exactly NOE mean ???

Nap Of the Earth.  It is used in aircraft which describes flying an aircraft
close to the earths terrain.  It is typically listed as NOE speed, or the speed
in which the craft can fly and make flight adjustments based on the terrain.
For example, an FB-111 with it's terrain following radar has a much higher NOE
speed than an F-4 without.


>1) Officers get promoted once a term, and not dependant on assignments (
>except say garrison . So an army lieut gets promoted on an internal sec)

That is true, but the promotion is not automatic.  And they only get one
promotion every four years.

>2) College : 4 yours at college to recieve a pidling extra educ points . How
>about instead of gaining educ points, gain levels of academic . So a character
>could have studied history, or genetics or something like that at college .

Makes sense.  Maybe MT-III will include that.

>3) Flight School : Is this one year or 4 . Could you spend brownie points
>to gain extra pilot skills, The descriptions and tables seem to be different
>from each other for advanced characters (I mean in naval academy, flight
>school etc)

Flight School is 2 years unless you wash out, in which case it is one.  You
can't just spend brownie points to get skills.  You could however, use them to
modify your chances to get the skills you role for.

>4) Traveller Aid Society . The description in the book isnt all that clear ...
>Do travellers members pay for accomodation while travelling, How do they prove
>thier identity as a traveller member .

Yes, they have to pay.  Think of TAS as the AAA of space.  There is free
information and suggestions on good places to stay and eat.  Plus they will get
you out of trouble at times.  I would assume that TAS issues an ID card.

>5) Naval Bases and Scout Bases
>
>How big is a naval base (very roughly, like how many ships etc)
>How big is a scout base (as above)
>
>Do the staff at bases count as members of the population

Base size will vary.  See the MT book "Rebellion" for more details.

>6) Non Imperial Military Bases : What exactly are they ????

Generic title for military bases for non-imperial worlds, such as the Swords
Worlds, etc.

Rob Miracle

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

Archive-Message-Number: 3301
Date:     Thu, 12 Dec 91 9:26:34 EST
From: Robert S. Dean  <rsdean@crdec8.apgea.army.mil>
Subject:  Re:  (3284) Re: A Little Joke (Agility)

Steve writes:
> Subject: (3284) Re:  A Little Joke (Agility)
> 
> 
> This little drone with the massive agility and supposedly no propulsion
> unit doesn't make sense, though.  To be able to dodge, the craft will need
> to be able to apply a thrust in some direction, right?...

As the designer, I quite agree.  It makes no sense whatsoever.  It is, however,
_legal_ by the current rules, and as the folks on GEnie insisted to me, _the
way the rule is intended to be_.  I wrote the ship up as part of a protest
to show how stupid the rule is.

Rob Dean




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

Archive-Message-Number: 3302
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 91 08:29:51 CST
From: surman@zulu.lgs.lsu.edu (Michael A. Surman)
Subject: GDW Pubs, Re: 3295,3294

Has anyone heard anything about the GDW publications: Diaspora and 
Hard Times? I came across some advertisements the other day (can't
remember where though) and I remember Marc Miller taking about them
at Origins. The ad stated that one of them was to be available in
early December.

bonnevil@stolaf.edu (TML msg 3295) writes:

> On Credit:  I don't think the Imperium operates on an interstellar
> credit system like ours.Travel time would make collecting payments
> . . .

I guess a card debit system would work but what about non-Imperials
or non-megacorp employees? Or for that matter visitors from those
small out of the way planets? My brain is rusty this morning, but is
there a banking megacorp? And does it extend beyond the Imperium(i.e.
into Vargr, Aslan, Solomani, etc. territory).

I would assume that each system used would be different from the 
others. Each would have their own 'best' method of implementing
the security features. 

On a similar note. How are identifications achieved? As in, how could
anyone prove who they are? 

d9bertil@dtek.chalmers.se (TML msg 3294) writes:

> I belive that we have seen this in action at least once, and that was
> one of the reasons behind why I said that unless a core group of 
> persons in physical contact with each other is placed as the spiders 
> in the net, there is no way anything comm*rcially successful will 
> come out of TML.

I wouldn't say they would have to be in physical contact (it would help
though) but someone, the project leader for instance, would have the
final decision as agreed upon by the others. 

I made a similar observation in an earlier posting (msg 3131 Nov 20)
about putting together some house rules. The TDR seems to be the
closest thing to this but from what I read it is very sketchy at best.

If a commercial product was produced I would think some sort of
corporation would have to be formed in order to operate. However,
that would create another set of problems.

I have an idea but I'll save it for later. :-)

Mike Surman

"You haven't experienced Shakespeare until you've read it in the
orginal Klingon." 


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

Archive-Message-Number: 3303
Date:     Thu, 12 Dec 91 9:55:30 EST
From: Robert S. Dean  <rsdean@crdec8.apgea.army.mil>
Subject:  Re:  (3286) Re: General Traveller Questions

Edmund writes:
>
> Subject: (3286) Re: General Traveller Questions
> 
> Question 1
> Can you give me an extended description of planetary governments 

No, not really.  There is a slightly extended sequence in the World Builder's 
Handbook, but it really doesn't tell you much more.  It's one of the things you
pretty much have to make up if you want detail.

> The vilani / vargr and solomani / aslan books wont be ordered by my book

Hmmm...well, they're making a mistake, because they are quite good.

> So I dont suppose you have (very brief so as not to piss you off) any info

Not really.  I mean, you could always just add +1 to Aslan Str and -1 to Aslan 
Dex, and do the opposite for Vargr, and then run them through the normal 
system, but that doesn't have much flavor.

> Question 7
> 
> When does the imperium interfere in a member worlds affairs . So like when
> the mysterious strike assignment from the naval characters generation comes 
> into it . 

Only when they absolutely have to.  There are not really any examples that I
can immediately think of in the existing Traveller literature to support
much more of an answer.


> Question 11
> 
> Whose the guy who regards himself as an expert on military affairs in 
> traveller (as in the one who has access to email)

Not me, really.  Adrian Hurt, Marc Volovic, and Bertil Jonell are all vocal
on this topic (or have been in the past...)

> Question 12
> 
> It took me an average 5 hours to make up a vehicle.  How does Scott Kellogg

Scott definately uses a spreadsheet.  However, since he just headed home for
Christmas, he won't be around for a few days to give details.  I just use
a pad of graph paper and start putting things down in columns.  You get faster
the more you do, and you figure out pretty soon which things can be safely
ignored, and how to plan ahead a little bit.  I've got a set of 'guidelines'
I wrote up once before, which I'll dig out and repost.
> 
> Question 13 
> 
> The power (in megawatts) in the vehicle creation system is really unclear,
> I dont suppose you have a clearer definition . 

Probably I can, but you'll have to be a little more specific.  The first thing 
to do is to check out the very important little chart on the lower right corner
of the power plants page heade "Economies of Scale" or some such.  Any large
fusion plant delivers three times the listed basic output, which is critical
in ship design although a little less so for vehicles.  

> Question 14
> 
> I tried to make a scout vessel (as the one from the encyclopedia) and
> absolutly nothing was acurate . As it turned out the power listed for vessels
> in the encyclopedia were on average 3 times the power I worked out for them

Regrettably the ships in the I.E. are full of flaws, errors, and typos.  
Regarding the 3x business, though, might it have something to do with the
economy of scale chart?

> Question 15
> 
> How different is the robot rules in book 8 different from the ones published
> in 79 in the best of traveller journal . (Which I have a copy)

As I recall, it's more of an elaboration than a replacement, with the exception
of the section on design of brains.  Certainly as an approximation, anything
built using the rules from the old JTAS articles can be duplicated with Book 8.


> Star Vikings, based on Pipers space vikings ???

In a nutshell, yes.

> 5) Naval Bases and Scout Bases
> 
> How big is a naval base (very roughly, like how many ships etc) 
> How big is a scout base (as above)
> 
> Do the staff at bases count as members of the population 

Most scout bases shown in the literature have been quite small--no more than
four or five landing sites plus a repair/refueling facility.  I figure that
most naval bases that are not located on high population worlds are also
rather small, with few ships permanently based there.  Their refueling 
facilities may be substantial, though, based on the Fifth Frontier War board
game rules.


> 8) What exactly are the official guidelines for vehicle creation . It 
> seemed that all the creators in the archives (well the bundles) had thier own
> idea

There are no official guidelines, except for the design rules.  You are right,
we designers all have our own pet theories and standard methods, but most all
the stuff posted here has been legal under the rules.  I expect most work along
the lines of:

     1. Consider what the vehicle needs to do.
     2. Consider whether price or performance is more important.
     3.  Consider if any special features are needed due to intended use,
        such as sonar for a sea vehicle, or heavier than usual armor for
        corrosive atmospheres.
     4.  Start designing.
     5.  Evaluate completed design...was it fast enought, did it carry enough 
         cargo, or whatever.
     6. If not, start over at step 4.


> 9) How far out are the vehicles in the encyclopedia from the truth ?

Pretty far in some cases.  Sad but true.


Others have handled some of the other questions...

Rob Dean


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

Archive-Message-Number: 3304
Date:     Thu, 12 Dec 91 10:02:47 EST
From: Robert S. Dean  <rsdean@crdec8.apgea.army.mil>
Subject:  Re:  (3300) Re: General Traveller Questions

Rob Miracle writes:
>>Question 14
>>
>>I tried to make a scout vessel (as the one from the encyclopedia) and
>>absolutly nothing was acurate . As it turned out the power listed for vessels
>>in the encyclopedia were on average 3 times the power I worked out for them
>
>That is another general complaint of the MT rules. One of the things that bugs
>me about the ship generation is that you can't build a decent starship below
>TL14.

Well, it depends on your definition of decent.  Personally, I think of 13 as 
the bottom end of 'what's militarily useful', given the present Imperial
situation, and TL11 as the bottom end of 'what's commerically useful'.

What did you mean?

Rob Dean


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

Archive-Message-Number: 3305
Date:         Thu, 12 Dec 91 09:12:31 CST
From: Joe Heck <CSPECJH@UMCVMB.missouri.edu>
Subject:      GENIE Compilation


After reading through the numerous files that people have posted,
here's a vague synopsis. I'm sure I'll probably not match what everyone
had in mind, so if there's something you severely disagree with, say so.
(Like I have to tell this group anything about speaking out). Anyway, here
it is.

The largest compaint/recurring thought was the proofreading and format
of the publications from GDW. The ideas are often presented poorly, and
information is often hard to find. The general thought behind this was:
please proof your publications better, and ley them out in a consistent
format.

The second hotest topic to recur was the idea of keeping the same task
system. Barring that, the next biggest round was for keeping a good task
system, although few people have posted anything about it since the
system that GDW had in mind was explained.

Beyond this, everyone began to shatter into their own ideas of what was
really needed in Traveller 3. Some of ideas were:
>Keep the basic rules simple, but include complex designs in supplements
>Revert the desgin process to Striker type rules for the serious
ironmongery
>Include details and thoughts as to life (economics, robots, medical)
in the future and make rules to keep up with this.
>Fix the science rules so that it is reasonably consistant with some basic
ides, like conservation of energy. Mostly this revolves around Power plants
and propulsion systems.

Hope this provides something of use,
                                             Joe

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

Joe Heck
(314) 882-2131

InterNet: CSPECJH@umcvmb.missouri.edu
BitNet:   CSPECJH@UMCVMB
cc:Mail:  MUCCGW.CSPECJH@SSGATE.MISSOURI.EDU

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End of TML Bundle
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