Hey, gang, I haven't forgotten my promise to submit a feature on Traveller
gear, but I'm going to have to alter it a bit to remove some references to
gear that I'll be attempting to publish in the Travellers' Digest and in
Challenge. If it gets in, then it'll be official and you can read about it
yourselves, and if it doesn't, well, then I'll publish it here as a variant.
Anyway, one question: does anyone know what MegaTraveller policy is concerning
the HFMP-15? This was the "Hand Flamer," a low-efficiency plasma pistol for
use with battle dress, as introduced in JTAS (Issue #3, I think). The idea was
to have a relatively low-powered sidearm for use in cramped situations,
powered from the same fusion pack that powered the battle dress. It seemed
like a good idea, and is certainly plausible in technological terms (plasma
devices on its scale exist today, for use in welding heat-resistant metals and
so on), but it never seemed to catch on. Most of the weapons that were
introduced in the JTAS, like the autoshotgun, tranq rounds, and the ARL, have
been incorporated into the official rules, but there's no mention of the
HFMP-15. Pity, too; it was a nifty little gun. Did they leave it out to try to
conserve game balance? That seems silly since it's not concealable unless you
remove the fusion pack |-> .
And by the way, what exactly are those fusion packs, anyway? Are they really
small fusion reactors? If so, then how are the "minimum reactor size per Tech
Level" figures reconciled with them?
Just curious....
metlay | HOW TO DIE YOUNG, #38:
Traveller Mailing List Historian|
| Pour sugar into a starship's fuel feed
[email removed] | "as a prank."
[email removed] |