An interesting thought occured to me yesterday when I was working with
a friend on a car of his. He had put a new engine in it and was putting in a
carberator (sp?) for racing when I asked him why he didn't use fuel injection.
He stated that although fuel injection was all fine and dandy it was a pain to
fix and in the last couple of years, carbs have greatly increased in performance
and durability. Now, most of you ask what this has to do with traveller, let me
give you two examples below:
Sharek popped open the engine compartment of his new air/raft.
It was a beauty, brand new technology on his TL15 world it used
the latest in technology. Its power output was much higher than
the old ones and it grav system just new of the drawing boards.
HOWEVER the warning light had just come on and it had coasted to
a landing in the sandy desert. He looked at the power plant, a
jumbled mass of control circuits and tubing, he couldn't even
begin to fanthom it without his gravitics kit. The instruction
manual, claiming that the engine was too complicated unless
specially trained, only said "call nearest service center".
Sharek looked up at the approaching storm, "Uh-oh."
Now a different example.
Sharek popped open the engine hatch of his "Safarimaster" air/raft
although not the most sophisticated model, it had stood up to the
test of time using mostly components invented around TL12, 150 years
ago on his planet. He stared down at the power plant, it was large
and flat and was a mass of square modules each coded in one of ten
colors. Because of refinements to the equipment over the years the
control chips had all been standardized into ten sorts and coded,
plus many of the systems were redundant. A small square turned blace
in the top right corner if it had burned out. Sharek scanned the
power plant for a moment before finding the bad module. A red module
had burnt out, he quickly reached over and took one from the "spares"
holder mounted on the side of the compartment. Pushing the reset
button, he heard the powerplant come to life and shut the hatch. All
green light appeared on the display panel. He quickly lifted the
air/raft off the ground and sped towards home. He chuckled as he
looked over his shoulder, the storm would be 1000km behind him by
the time he reached home.`
As you can see from the examples, old technology at a higher tech level
might be desirable. Why that old laser pistol, first available at TL8 but build
at TL15, might be usable right after it is wiped off after being dragged from
that hole after 10 years.
In game terms this would mean there would be 2 tech levels for every
item, ship, etc., one for when it became available and one for when it was built. Although this (slightly) increases paperwork and records, it also is very
handy as a game tool. Bob's brand new laser rifle might shoot for more damage,
but probably John's older, more proven, one will probably shoot longer with less
maintenance.
For planyer this means: A) that they will recieve a plus on the die for
the difference between the techs. B) They will be able to smuggle in goods to
TL restricted worlds without it being so noticeable. "Commander Vrog, the
rebels seem to have the same rifle we do, but they never seem to require
maintenance and can constantly be abused without breaking".
What is everyone elses opinion on this?
Matt Teets