[This mail was sent to traveller-request by mistake. I forwarded it,
and added a more meaningful subject line -- James]
I have been reading the remarks on lasers, shooting, etc., and I thought
I would put in my own two cents. At the outset, I should let people know
that I run a very modified version of Traveller, and I'll try to briefly
explain any odds varients of my own that might confuse people.
For the sake of simplicity, I have have divided small arms into five classes.
Class I = Shoulder Arms (Shotguns/Grenade Launcher/etc.), Class II = Sniper
Rifle/Single-shot-at-a-time rifles (Laser Rifles/Bolt Action Rifle, etc.),
Class III = Automatic Rifles, Class IV = SMGs, and Class V = Pistols. (Among
my players, Class I weapons are known as "Guns for the blind" and Class IV
weapons as "Guns for the palsied.')
Now, I know a good case could be made for claiming that laser rifles, lacking
recoil, etc., should be treated as a separate skill, and that even weapons with
recoil might be treated as separate skill based on power, range, etc. (If
you know how to fire a .22 rifle, do you automatically know how to handle a
rifle that can fire a .375 Winchester Express?)
Fortunately, the easy way out, which, being a moral coward, I have taken, is
that "All of the weapons within any class are enough like each other, and
different enough from other small arms, that, having learned to use one, you
will gain the benefit of increasing your chance to hit a target with all
similar weapons...after all, your success with any skill is only a matter
of increased or reduced PROBABILITY." Okay, okay, it's a pretty thin
argument in some ways, I know, but it also makes sense, to an extent. After
all, if you know how to use one rifle, you really do know a fair amount about
the basics of using most other rifles, even if you are not as experienced.
The easy way out would probably be to make people choose a weapon of choice
within a class, and give them a -1 with any other weapon in that class the
first few times they used it.
Of course, in most of the cases I have seen, it becomes a moot point. Most
of my characters, even if they know every weapon skill in the book, only use
one or two weapons. (Just curious if other GMs have this happen. Any
interesting and/or funny stories?) Which means that all our worrying about
separate skills becomes needless--if they know how to use a rifle, they will
probably choose the good ol' Durenkell-Smithe 5 mm. projectile carbine
(3D - 2 damage w. slug rounds, 2.5 kg. mass unloaded, capable of holding a
10-round, 20-round, or 40-round clip, and capable of single shot or three-
round-burst fire) or some other gun and NEVER use anything else, even
though they could switch rifles every game if they wanted.
On a totally different subject, I was curious which people on this list
are in the Indiana/Illinois area and whether or not you go to sf cons. I
will probably be at Contact, Windycon, and Chambanacon--the first two are
iffy, the last is about 95% definite--and if you are going and want to
get together and talk about game stuff, etc., please let me know.
Anyway, take care.
Mark