A thread of 3 messages, 9 November 1990 to 14 November 1990, in the order they were sent.
re:moving through the field.
In the history of the black globe, found in High Guard I believe, it
tells of when the first black globe was activated. It cut off the arm
of the scientist activating it. So I would venture a guess that it is
not possible to move through the field however slowly.
Though it does present a good question about what happens when matter
meets the field. after all 2
E=mc
Dave
[email removed]>TML nightly Mon Nov 12 20:32:19 PST 1990 Volume 11 : Issue 16
>
>> In any case, to refer to the current Travller black globe as "the ultimate
>> defense" when it will eventually overload and destroy your ship in a huge
>> explosion is, in my opinion, overstating the case a trifle.
>
Well, since I called it the ultimate defense, I'll have to retract the
statement. I didn't know it blows up when overloaded. I still prefer the
Langston Field version that gets rid of absorbed energy by blackbody radiation.
Can't hide that very well. I also like the fact that it (the LF) doesn't
necessarily blow you to atoms, the field generator will go, and depending on
how badly it was overloaded, the ship *could* be destroyed, but it might only
lose the LF generator. It could also be anywhere in between.
>I'd refer to the MT white globe as "the ultimate defense". Getting one is
>a neat trick, though! ;-)
Huh? wazzat?
>
>The way I'd handle this in game terms is, the weapons skill allows you
>to strip and clean the weapon, and replace components with other parts
>taken intact from another weapon or a spares store. The nature of the
>component would dictate the task difficulty level; e.g. replacing a
>piece of the trigger mechanism is not as easy as replacing the barrel.
yep. I agree.
>Globe is turned on the ship can't fire, communicate or maneuver. The Ship
Why can't it maneuver? With reactionless thrusters which don't emit anything
to be absorbed by the field, you should be able to maneuver all you want. Of
course, you can't *SEE* where you are going, and running into an asteroid
(after you drop the field) could ruin your day, but what is the handwaving-
pseudo-technical explanation for why you can't maneuver?
- - -------
Disclaimer: This is me. Do I sound like anyone else?
Paul Baughman [email removed]Paul Baughman writes: > (Paul doesn't mention it, but I, Adrian Hurt, wrote): > >I'd refer to the MT white globe as "the ultimate defense". Getting one is > >a neat trick, though! ;-) > > Huh? wazzat? I'm sure I read about this in a MT manual, which isn't here right now for me to check. Instead of absorbing energy, it reflects it. It isn't much use as a cloaking device, of course. I can't remember whether or not it allows you to fire out through it. I think it is available at some ridiculous tech level (TL 20+, maybe). Actually, firing out of a black globe shouldn't be a serious problem. You synchronise your fire with the flickering. It might be necessary to have a slightly longer than usual period that the globe is off, to allow some fire (especially missiles) to get through. At the simplest, have an interrupter circuit fitted into the generator which turns the globe off, permits weapons to fire, then turns the globe back on. The drawback, of course, is that the enemy might hit you while you're firing. This could be accidental (roll dice to see if the enemy got lucky when he fired) or intentional (the enemy needs to make some sort of Sensors task roll). > (Someone else not credited wrote): > >Globe is turned on the ship can't fire, communicate or maneuver. The Ship > > Why can't it maneuver? With reactionless thrusters which don't emit anything > to be absorbed by the field, you should be able to maneuver all you want. And there's your answer. This rule, like so much else, is lifted from good old High Guard. And in those days, no-one had heard of reactionless thrusters. Yet again, I say: ignore the garbage about reactionless thrusters. They're silly, they violate the law of conservation of energy, and they add nothing to the game except inconsistencies like the above. - - -- "Keyboard? How quaint!" - M. Scott Adrian Hurt | JANET: [email removed] UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian | ARPA: [email removed]