Hi there in Traveller Land...
I used to play Traveller a while back, and I've finally gotten
into another campaign. I'm about to start a character who is very
techie oriented and will hopefully come up with a lot of odd, off the
wall devices. He's starting on a world with TL12, maybe up to 13 or 14
on the black market, and no laws. He'll have about 4-5 five weeks
before the other players (in transit) arrive, so I'm going to get some
stuff together.
I want to ask for advice and reccommendations from the list,
because I'm not completely familiar with the rules (this is old
Traveller) nor with all of the expansions/alternates. I'm interested in
advice or suggestions on the gadgets I'm going to make, suggestions on
more gadgets to make, and information on stuff that's already out there
in rules form but I haven't run into it yet.
One thing I'd like is an idea of what kind of stuff is
available, mainly at TL12, with some stuff edging up into TL13. The
rules I have aren't too detailed, and I definitely remember things
like holocameras, etc, which aren't detailed in my rules.
Hand Computers
In this game the HandComputers are very nice, from an article
in a Traveller Digest the GM has. I very much reccommend this article
(I only wish we had the stuff it talks about in there now!) in which
it outlines some of the things hand computer can do, and some of the
services available to hand computers via packet radio transmissions
(including e-mail, possibility of hacking into the system to track
down somebody by their handcomp, various information services
available, etc).
One thing it doesn't do much about is software available for
hand computers, and how they can be used, but I guess that can be figured
out as needed, although if there are any such articles I'd appreciate
hearing about them.
Implant Chip
I remember seeing something called an Implant chip, or something
similar, in an issue of the TASJ, which enabled a character to hook up
directly to the computers. I'm going to try to get one for my
character, and then use it to interface with my handcomputer and use it
more efficiently.
Eyephone shades
If I can't get one of those, I'm going to put together a set of
eyephones built into a pair of goggles or shades - eyephones exist
today, and are a pair of LCD screens which fit over your eyes and give
you a color 3D view of a virtual world - different people are developing
them for different reasons, I suppose, but I heard the most about them
in relation to something Autodesk (I think) is coming out with, a
virtual reality system using eyephones and a dataglove as the
input/output device.
These eyephones will be built into a set of wraparound
sunglasses, and will have input from the handcomputer to the screens,
or from a tiny set of cameras, thus rendering them effectively
"transparent" to me so I can see out. Minor options include a
rear-view option, and perhaps image processing. The main reason for
the eyephones is to be able to display information from my
handcomputer for me.
Then I can feed information in either through a set of
contacts to monitor my brainwaves (far-fetched, but perhaps possible
in TL12, what do I know?) or more realistically, through an
"eye-cursor" a system which tracks whichever spot I'm looking at, puts
a cursor there on the screen, then I can hit enter by blinking in a
special way, etc. This enables me to do stuff without appearing to,
and to access my Handcomputer without overtly doing anything.
Getting into the Rat Race...
A series of rodent-sized robots. They would be equipped with
certain capabilities, the range increasing with the TL and the
development. At first they'd basically be little programmable rodents
that go around and record stuff and carry out orders (through their
computer, or from a comlink) and can self-destruct with a demolitions
charge to destroy the evidence or a target.
As I get better, I'd add things like an electronic lockpick, a
tiny laser cutter to let them make their own mouse-holes, the ability
to tap into a ships computer and dump schematics so they can find
their way around, perhaps even the ability to dump a virus into the
ships computer so they are ignored by sensors. Of course, the higher
the TL, the smarter the programming.
Any suggestions? Feedback? Ideas for more whacked out gadgets?
Let me hear from you!
Steven J. Owens | [email removed] | [email removed]
"Okay, Major Jonathan "Wrong-Is" Wright rubs his magic ring of Imperial
Intervention and twenty stormtroopers with battledress and gauss rifles
pop out of the microwave oven..."
- Sean T. Grape, in a truly bizarre traveller campaign...