Refuelling and others

> Subject: campaign notes
> From: [email removed] (Matthew D. Goldman)

> I've been going through my old Traveller stuff preparing for my
> current campaign.  It is going to be much easier to get the
> group involved this time any time before.  They are all Zhodani
> spies.  Have them meet an old man in the bar and try to get the
> players to get involved?  Naah, this time I'll just have the old
> man pass them the information along with their current orders.

The one I liked was when we were handed a set of orders and we started
commenting on them in front of the GM (ie orderer) who just sat there
taking notes of our attitude.  Later, we were "evaluated" by intelligence
officers based on what we had complained about.  There's nothing
more paranoid than a paranoid security officer.  Boy, they could dig
up things you thought you had well and trully forgotten.

> I really like lines such as "This data is of extreme value to a
> Zhodani Intelligence operative (maybe Cr30 million, plus expenses)"
> from 'Adventure 2 -- Research Station Gamma'.  Cr30 million?  Not
> a chance!  They will just get a pat on the back for a job well
> done, and their next assignment.

Gee, your guys are either very patriotic or thy're shit scared of their
boss.

I remember a discussion long ago (well bits of it) about why the US never
had any good spies and always seemed to have big leaks.  Of course the UK
are a separate issue, most of their agents were working full time for
everybody else.

It seems that the end result was that if you pay your top-notch agent
$40K a year and then expect him/her to pay informants $200K for a snipet
of information then you would have to be an idiot to expect them to NOT
cash in by selling some US secrets to the oposition.

If you give the $200K to your agent and say "get the information" then
they will be more likely to come home with the goods (with a profit to
themselves) and be very expensive to win over to the other side.

> From: Rob Dean [email removed]
> Subject: Oops!

> Still and all, a chest of 30 is pretty respectable if you're up
> against one of those wimpy weapons like a 50lb hunting bow (average
> damage 2.5--12 hits to serious wound level).

It does sound unrealistic.  I've found this in almost any game system
where they try to cover everything from fist blows to vehicle mounted
fusion weapons.  I have found the LIGHT/SERIOUS/CRITICAL wound
classifications to be easier to accept where the category of wound
has varying meanings depending upon where you get hit.  A light wound
to the head is far more incapacitating than a light wound to an arm etc.

BTW  I have heard of a LONG BOW firing an arrow at short range though
     half inch of plate armour.  Armour which a police revolver did
     not penetrate.  Police were there for the exhibition and I believe
     that the arrow used was wood with a reinforced metal tip.


REFUELing
- ---------

Thanks to the few who have replied to this question but I still don't have
a useful answer.

So far I've got

   - don't worry about it, it won't cause any problems for several thousand
     years,

   - panic now because you're losing 2cm a year (2cm over a 10 year period
     would start to get me worried), and

   - panic yesterday because you're losing 9+cm per year.

If you have to process XX tons of water to get 1 ton of fuel then you must
be processing a lot of water.  When does this activity start to impact the
planet?  When do the GREENies and other radical groups start complaining
about the environment and the destruction of water life etc etc etc and
shut down your operation on planet.


Bruce...             [email removed]