Hello, this is my first message to the mailing list and I waited til
now so that i would have the time and the energy to respond to most
of the other messages semi-intelligently.
1) I WAS under the impression that this was a Traveller Mailing List
and not a mailing list for the discussion of Nuclear and quantum
theoretical physics...I think I have a list address for that sort
of subject. Also....I'm a biologist but am interested in all sorts
of science but somebody said that the particles concerned had
>ZERO MASS...I would like to point out that it may be Zero REST Mass
which is a different kettle of uplifted dolphins.
2)The Vargr Sex issue is interesting from a behavioural ecology and
animal psychology point of view and as it directly concerns Vargr I
feel it is relevant. The hormonal thing is a valid point..but Vargr
have had thousands of years. It must be remembered that the vargr do
not STILL mark out their territory by urination or gland scent
markings..they have signs and alarms and starcraft. To the vargr,
this question is the same as saying what would happen if we humans
were in the same room as a chimp in "heet" ( oestrus ). Nothing. The
more sensitive noses may detect a musky smell..but not a lot else.
3)Anybody got a copy of traveller;the new era yet. it ws apparently
scheduled for february but no show. I did a playtest of it at
WarpCon where GDW had Emailed a copy of the rules to the Convention
director..but they were incomplete. Its a good game..I like the
background at any rate..being a Hard Times person myself.
The Imperium is really screwed. Its all gone and a version of the
Long Night has settled over the Stars..as far as I know Norris' gang
still have a degree of civilisation. I'm also unsure of the role of
the star Vikings and I think its a silly name..and smacks too much
of Battletech's Clans.
Anyway..heres the adventure as we had it.....
I am Captain Charles Ryan, commander of the Most sophisticated war
Machine in Known Space. (Seen the Hunt for Red October...Youll know
what I mean) I have been commanded to bomb the hell out of a TL8-10
world for the sake of the WAR. I'm a great commander..but this goes
against my grain and instead I become a traitor and destroy half of
my fleet comapanions and then leave the rest to rot while I jump off
to Avalon, a peaceful planet of lush greenery which i hope to
protect from the ravages of the WAR.
Enter the Virus (a derivative of the Deo circuits)
While I am dining with the ambassador of the planet on his yacht, my
ship starts to fire on the Yacht. A big cockup results and we leap
into the Emergency Low berths and are jettisoned. Darkness and we
awake. We have been found by a Space Scout person who teels us that
we have been under for sixty years (ohoh we did a Ripley)
She explains that there were only two other survivors from my huge
spacecraft, one of them is a cook and the other is comms. She
explains that Avalon has a base from pre-Rebellion times hidden
beneath the surface and it apparently holds information on a variety
of Bio-Plagues which have been causing problems in rebuilding
civilisation. Of course I do not believe her story about us being
frozen for seventy years but I am shocked when she tells me that we
have only six personnel and a Stealth Speeder with which to find
this base. BUT as i said I am an excellent tactician and apart from
being berated by the Scout for giving orders as apparently the
Military i am commissioned with doesn't exist anymore (What Rot!)
We find the base..unfortunately it seem to be in the middle of a
settlement of the planets natives. It seems that I didnt save Avalon
but the planet I saved is the scouts Home planet and she gives me a
bit of line as I am regarded as a hero on her homeworld...naturally.
The settlement is a religious commune...these natives have regressed
to TL6 and they have found a way into the base, where they worship
the shiny surfaces and corridors.
We force our way in and confront the priests...they demand answers
and we tell them that we are angels from the Gods and from there we
enter the complex. It is very old. We reach the central core and
download everything onto disc as well as taking a hardcopy ( a huge
pile of paper ). I am still very wary of the Virus and try to keep
the computers isolated so they are not contaminated.
We are picked up by the Scouts Mothership and we jump outsystem. My
fellow crew retire with their savings and I try to sign up with the
Navy again
Happy days
This was a very condensed version of the story as we had some
interesting encounters on the way..most of them were the fault of
our cook....He had an intelligence of 5 and insisted on trying to
make gourmet meals for us. Our covert mission turned into a fight
for a pheasant at one point as the cook attacked a hunter for his
gamebird and we had to silence him so as to not attract attention.
Traveller:TNE can be played with beginners who have never known the
glory of the Imperium..or with hard times escapees who wake up to
find that its all gone and civilisation is only now beginning to
crawl out from under big stones.
Have fun.
Captain Charles Ryan,
Naval Attache
The New Era
(AKA Matt Johnston, Queens University, Belfast)