My my, there's hope for this list yet! Most of a Daily and some
private mail, with only one reply even slightly venomous. Mostly
in order, I reply:
[email removed] (Gino Lucrezi) asks:
>In the spinward marches data on the MT Imperial Encyclopedia,
>some worlds have the (undefined) Remark "Fl". What does
>that mean?
...
The "Fl" in the Spinward Marches listing stands for Florian
League, a rather opportunistic state sitting between the Imperium and
the Zhodani Consulate. In my local campaign, nobody much likes them,
but most everyone tolerates them to some extent. I don't expect the
League to survive to the New Era (but I could be wrong; it's happened
before :)
The subsectors of the Spinward Marches are named in the MT Player's
Manual, on the inside front cover. In case your edition doesn't
have this (I notice you're coming from Italy), they are as follows:
First row (across top): Chronor, Jewell, Regina, Aramis
Second row: Querion, Vilis, Lanth, Rhylanor
Third row: Darrian, Sword Worlds, Lunion, Mora
Bottom row: Five Sisters, District 268, Glisten, Trin's Veil
I have not perused the Classic and MT world stats so thoroughly that
I can catalog the changes. Most are Tech level changes, a few will
be population changes, and the entry for 2632 is a duplicate of 2602
(Corfu). 2632 doesn't exist.
On to the rest:
[email removed] says:
> Topic: RE: Submissions to Challenge.
>
> I don't see why they can't continue to take MegaT submissions. It
> shouldn't matter that your not in the exactly defined TNE universe
> as GDW themselves are offering variations to their own rules AND
> although I haven't seen it yet are apparently defining technologies
> (ala reactionless drives) which DO NOT EXIST in the official TNE
> universe (well they used to). They (GDW) appear to be trying to
> convert TNE into a generic high-tech role playing system (ala GURPS).
>
> I have no problem with a generic system, why should Challenge?
As one of those who responded privately put it, this list has trouble
seeing the difference between the rules and the background of TNE. It
makes perfect sense to me that Challenge no longer takes articles
written for the MT _system_. It's no longer the current edition of the
game, and there are significant changes between editions. Supporting
those _rules_ is pointless.
On the other hand, the timeline of the Imperial universe has merely
been _advanced_, not rewritten (though some would argue this point).
If Challenge has a spot for pre-Rebellion or pre-Collapse material,
I wish you only good luck in getting your material published.
As an aside, last week someone complained about the Traveller
material in Challenge 71, and how they could not tell the difference
between the editions of the articles except by careful reading. Please
look at the inside bottom corner of each page. "Space Race" IS labeled
as a MegaTraveller article.
Next, Anthony Neal [email removed] says:
> Thanks to James Kundert [email removed] for the reply and...
>model#>=jump# ? No there's something new to me! Oh well. Just another
>little modification I have to make to a few designs... Thanks for the
>info. Wasn't in the erratta.
The rule from Classic Traveller was that your Computer Model Number
had to equal or exceed the rated Jump range of the ship, or it was
incapable of calculating the jumps. "Bis" type computers counted
as one model# higher for this purpose (Thus the jump-2 Type S mounted
a 1/bis). This rule was entirely absent from MegaTraveller, replaced
by the CP multiple. The model number ceased to mean much at that
point, but was kept for sentimental reasons that you can thank DGP for.
Model number was removed entirely for TNE, and installation is now
based entirely on tech level and the number installed.
Furthermore, George Herbert [email removed] says:
>James Kundert complained about a lack of enthusiasm for
>TNE on the main Traveller Mailing List and that the TNE-Pocket
>and FF&S review groups had gone off and done their work
>seperately. I'd like to address what TNE-Pocket is doing,
>for real, as opposed to random speculation 8-)
...
Thank you for the rundown, the clarification of my "No Loitering"
label, and the information about the pocket archives. I stand
corrected.
All of the enthusiasm, whatever system it's for, that the folks on
the Pocket list brought to the TML is now absent from the TML. That
is my primary complaint.
Continuing, Keeper Of The Lint [email removed] says a
variety of things I agree with, so I won't quote him extensively.
Those of you upset with the change from "bell curve" to "linear"
can certainly change to 2d10, which is just as much a bell curve
as 2d6 is, and allows you to use the rest of TNE pretty much
changeless.
"TL15 Han Solos"? Yes, I've got one. Well, he's from Lunion (TL13),
and he's not much of a pilot (MT level 1), and he sleeps a lot (CON 3),
and...
Scott Kellogg (or is it someone named Britta?) asks a gravitics
technology question I've already answered to my satisfaction: short-
duration gravity focusing is one of the elements accounting for the
_rather_ high efficiency of the HEPlaR drive. It's just not documented
that way...
And finally, [email removed] reiterates his opinion of TNE
in an unanswerable and inarguable fashion. I will not try to change his
mind, but neither will he prevent me from discussing TNE on this, the
CT/MT/TNE/2300AD Traveller Mailing List. To each his way and mind.
James Kundert
[email removed]