On games in the Imperium:
There's a game I invented for my Traveller campaign called Slingshot,
which is the subject of a short story or two that I wrote a LONG time
ago and should probably resurrect again. It's primarily popular in the
Spinward States, as the Imperial Core considers it too barbaric. It's
a combination of Ultimate Frisbee, Rollerball, and Jai-Alai, played
by armored teams in a playing area that changes not only gravitational
amount but also direction. The floor becomes the wall becomes the
ceiling becomes the floor, randomly, with audio/visual warning signals
that are on shorter and shorter notice as the players get better. The
object one throws is a metallic discus, that can be handled by hand
(in some variants) or with a gizmo like a jai-alai or lacrosse stick
(in others).
The game is played by teams of two, three, or four, and has various
rules levels and degrees of violence and danger to the participants.
This can range from contact-free (which makes the game a lot like
Ultimate) to full-contact (which is a cross between Rollerball and
lacrosse). Professional-grade Slingshot, or ProShot, is a hot sport
on video, but is not played on all worlds because of the violence
built into it. Because the equipment used and the environment of the
playing field erases a lot of the physical differences between
species, it is one of the few games where Aslan and Droyne can compete
on equal terms, to say nothing of other races as well. Teams are
rarely racially integrated, and my story was about the first
all-species team to make the ProShot Circuit: one Human, one Vargr,
one Aslan, and one Droyne.
It was a neat story, if a bit juve; I should probably dig it up again.
On the gauss rifle bowing to the ARL in TTNE:
It's about damned time. The ARL is the most underrated weapon in
Traveller, and the handheld gauss rifle the most overrated.
Thanks for the review, Bertil; things are looking hopeful. I'm
going to post a review of my own, assuming my local store ever
bothers to order me a copy. |-P
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mike metlay * atomic city * box 81175 pgh pa 15217-0675 * [email removed]
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