Greetings to all denizens of this TML-
Following is a set of fairly unconnected thoughts and ideas that I have been
pondering lately (this senior business isnt all its cracked up to be). Some of
them I have been able to throw to the wolves (well, wolf, I only have one Vargr
in my current campaign) who are my players, and only now have I been able to
sit down (after reading two weeks of TML posts) and put these tidbits into
electronic info.
On the subject of fusion rockets:
Mr.Higginbotham ([email removed]) writes:
>Quite frankly, I am pretty disgusted by the fact that everyone seems
>willing to change the "laws of the universe" rather than face up to the
>situation presented, and learn to live with it. If you use the starship
>rules ("laws of nature") from TNE, you have to learn to deal with the
>fact that ANY ship can toast ANY city (well, any city at TL12-, and most
>any at TL14-).
This was not a problem with MTs reactionless drives, which didnt start with
MT. Theres a line in High Guard, pg 17, "Power for the maneuver drives is
provided by the starships power plant...Fuel consumption for manuever drives is
inconsequential...regardless of the degree of maneuver undertaken." This
sounds a lot like a-grav, but it doesnt drop off when not in a gravity field.
True, reactionless drives greatly disturb the physicist within this astronomer
mind, but they are a lot more poetic than fusion rockets, and I dont have to
worry about my players being able to decimate a city with their starships
engines. I am willing to trade some scientific accuracy to plug loopholes in
the rules. (Besides, a Vargr is perfectly capable of destroying a city using
only the force of his personality...)
Mr Higginbotham continues:
> So what does that mean? Well, landing ships should be RIGHT OUT!
>Allowing a fusion gun that size near ANY city is INSANE! So ships
>should be docking at space stations FAR from a planet (like
>geostationary orbit, for instance. That gives the planetary defenses
>time to scrag anyone who deviates from traffic corridors toward the
>planet). You should LAND in shuttles that have ONLY scramjet/chemical
>rocket drives (getting up and down will be pretty damn tricky. Sort of
>like 2300AD).
Chemical drives are too,too,too old tech for me. While useful for the
technological inferiors who now populate the former Imperium (more on that
later), I cannot see the Grand Navy of the Third Imperium using chem drives,
nor can I see not allowing my players to land on a planet. Does this mean that
even a lowly 100-ton scoutship has to carry a shuttle to land on an unknown
planet?
I can accept two things: first, fusion rockets are cheaper and more powerful
than a-gravs or reactionless drives, and two, that fusion rockets will find
their place on station-based SDB and fighters. The high acceleration/low
duration needed for fighter craft seems to be perfect for fusion rockets.
Also:
> Of course, out in the Wilds, there is NO WAY IN HELL that you can
>keep PCs (OR NPCS!!!!!) from landing anywhere they like, and toasting
>anyone they dislike! So live with it. Or stop complaining, and go back
>to Megatraveller starship rules (yeah, the ones most of you have spent
>YEARS complaining about)! And remember this the next time you decide to
>cry out for "more realistic starship rules".
Hear, Hear! Ive spent my years complaining about the MT construction rules,
but they are useful (once some the the holes are plugged).
>Loud laughter fading into the distance....
> ---Steve Higginbotham
My Vargr and I agree.
On a slightly unrelated note:
[email removed] (Bruce) writes:
> One thing perhaps overlooked is that all of your crew on a star vessel may
> not be strapped into acceleration couches at the moment the pilot wants
> the ship to dance on it's tail and flip out of harms way. During combat
> in space are we assuming that all crew are in G-suit equiped Vacc-suits
> and remain in acceleration couches to do all their work? Are acceleration
> couches factored into crew space for all crew in starship construction
> rules?
I would think that any crewmember in their right mind would strap down into an
acceleration couch whenever the combat alert went off. The only people who
could move around would be damage control parties and engineers, and even they
would take care to make sure they were holding on tight at all times (remember
the tale of the Old Timer in Starship Ops Manual? Didnt his ship only do 4g?).
Space combat is deadly enough as it is without taking stupid risks. Three
things that make it more survivable are acceleration couches, vacc suits, and
depressurising the ship. A-couches to prevent your crew from becoming sticky
jelly that needs to be cleaned off the bulkheads, vacc suits for protection
from the vaccuum of space (and some radiation protection), depressurising the
ship stops shockwaves from travelling through the atmosphere of the ship, and
prevents explosive decompression.
(Yet another change of subject)
I will add my voice to the cacaphony of shouts that dislike the Virus idea.
The Virus was created for one reason, and that was to bring the Rebellion to a
screeching halt and bring on a deep, dark, long night so that players could
have fun beating up on technologically inferior residents of war-torn worlds.
---Puhleeeze!---
Not ragging on the universe in T:TNE (okay, I am: I loved Survival Margin, I
hope the rest of GDWs newest Traveller will be as well written and assembled.
They set a new standard for exellence that GDW should always achieve with
Traveller, but I still severly dislike the universe it describes), but, the
Virus was an idea that wasnt really necessary.
Lets pretent...
what might have happened without the Virus...(Sherman set the Way'forward
Machine)}}}
The Rebellion was already heading for a final showdown (probably between Lucan
and Dilinor) that would draw in the rest of the factions (except the Spinward
Marches) into one great, final spasm of destruction. After the dust settled
(oh, bout 1130-1140) the slide into another Long Night would have been
inevitable. Just wait long enough (oh, by 1200), and the Long Night would be
in full darkness, and slowly getting worse before getting better.
See? All GDW had to do was wait a bit and our beloved Traveller universe would
fall apart before our own, saddened eyes. Instead, the Virus plunged the
Imperium into a nose-dive into the depths of barbarity; a universe where
survival is the only reward, and suffering is the coin of the realm.
The Virus was only the beating of a once-glorius, but now dead, horse. Out of
the ashes of the Third Imperium would have, eventually, arose a phoenix, a new
Imperium to once again unite the children of Terra under one protective banner
of brotherhood and peace. The Virus threatens even that. The Virus strikes at
the very heart of the Imperium: at the very thing that made it possible:
technology.
With out a high tech base, the phoenix will never be able to spread her wings,
never be able to take flight, never be able to protect the peace that allow
people to live normal, everyday lives.
Oh, dont worry, humaniti will eventually pull itself out of this gutter, like
theyve done for hundread of thousands of years. Its just, this time, the
future might not be as bright. With every ship dating from the Third Imperium
either confined to the Marches or destroyed on first sight due to the
possibility of it carrying the Virus, Old Tech equipment will be harder and
harder to obtain. It will be almost impossible to reinvent the technology
using a basis that the Virus couldnt infiltrate, and any tech copied from older
designs will be just as vulnerable. Goodbye high tech, goodbye Third Imperium,
goodbye Traveller, goodbye to Science Fiction Adventure in the Far Future.
Goodbye to good old fashioed revenge! I wanted Lucans head brought to me
on a platter with a side order of fries! Someone comes along and screws up
your whole universe and theirs nothing you can do to him.
If I wanted a depressing universe, Id play T2000.
My frends, its time to dust off the Classic Traveller universe and turn back
the clock. The Traveller we know and love is long gone. I survives only in
our hearts, minds, dreams, and wishes. All we old-timers can do is keep the
memory of it sacred, and hope its meaning can be taught to The New Era of
Traveller.
Traveller is dead,
Long Live Traveller!
(Besides, I reall cant wait to get my hands on the new rules. Really, did you
expect me to give up Traveller?)