Adrian Hurt:
>>Dan's Traveller Mailing List Mail [email removed] writes:
>>
>>I think one would have to know what your definition of hand made was.
>>I believe there is a car manufacturer in the south U.S. that hand
>>manufactures limos (Blackhawk?). In this case all parts are indivdually
>>fitted, milled, etc. But using a drill press or a lathe isn't really
>>hand made is it?
>
>I assume this society does allow the use of tools, otherwise they wouldn't
>have progressed past the Stone Age. In fact, they wouldn't have even made
>it into the Stone Age! Using a flint knife isn't really hand made, is it?
>:-)
>
>If the objection to mass-production is philosophical, what they may demand
>is that an individual - or even a single group - be responsible for the
>entire production of a given item. And the maker(s) will take some pride
>in their product, to the extent of embellishing it a little - signing it,
>decorating it, or in some other way adding an organic touch.
Spot on, Adrian. That is exactly what I had in mind.
Scott Kellogg:
>As to the ability to hand make stuff, it depends on your definition
>of hand made. Your TL 3 tools would be hand made. With those tools
>one makes TL 4 tools. With those, one proceeds to make TL 5 tools,
>6...7...? With your philosophical preference for hand made stuff,
>sounds like a crew of craftsmen who would be very protective of
>their tools (They'd have to be to build the planes, TV sets (starships)
>you seem to want them too.)
>
>But, would your definition of hand made allow them to use a tool
>(machine?) that would grow silicon chips? Would it allow them to use
>a tool (machine?) that would allow them to etch a silicon chip?
>All one is doing is using a very sophisticated tool. It is not a
>"Factory", but is it a tool, or a machine?
Depends on how the machine is used. If it turns out identical chips by
the dozen it's a no-no. If the craftsman can look at one of his chips
and say: 'Yeah, I remember that chip, that's the one I made last Tuesday',
then it's ok.
James T Perkins:
>Dan? writes:
>>I think that this type of culture is interesting, however. What happens
>>to visitors to the planet?
>
>[email removed] writes:
>>That's what I want my players to find out some day ;-) They get treated to
>>anything from a cold shoulder to physical abuse, depending on the bigotry
>>of the native.
>
>If the world is fairly isolated from regular offworld traffic, there
>will probably be people very eager to leave as well, like any
>restrictive society needs an escape valve. Witness the number of
>Pennsylvania Dutch children who leave the community to make their way in
>the big city in popular society, or people from small towns or students
>from the 3rd world who never go back. Or people from Eugene Oregon who
>leave for Portland or Seattle (I can sure see why :-).
>
>Or think of the two characters from _Doc_Hollywood_ who wanted to leave
>their home town and go to LA. The young lass would have done nearly
>anything to get Ben Stone to take her with him. Maybe an idea for a
>plotlet in there. "Back to the Interstate, Ben Stone".
A very good idea, James. I shall certainly include an encounter with
someone like that. Thanks.
THOMS, KEITH:
>From Dan Corrin...
>>I don't think that any electronic components could be hand made.
>>(depending on your definition). It would be pretty hard to even make
>>vacuum tubes by hand (which of course includes televisions). A lot
>
> What about gray areas like imported electronic parts that are then
>hand assembled or even just custom packaged? An end user is typically
>more interested in what the product looks and feels like than what's
>inside. Nobody would know but the repairman, and who do you think
>would be fixing a one-of-a-kind design anyway?
Absolutely contrary to the law and the prophets, but these people would
have the same proportion of rouges and iconoclasts as any other human
population. So a local villain buying such evil stuff off the PCs would
be a definite possibility.
Hans Rancke
University of Copenhagen
[email removed]
- ------------
"A subsector official pompously states that the
subsector armed forces have four Kinunir class
ships in service, each with enough troop strength
to put down any military operations that threathen
the peace of the Imperium."
---Adventure 1, The Kinunir