CT Errata Compendium

[Nathan Brazil]

Hi DonM,

In looking over the K'kree Alien Module, there is inconsistency concerning K'kree Base generation.
On page 26, it appears that K'kree Naval bases are found on a 7+ resulting in 58% of K'kree generated systems, as there are no DM's or restrictions based on Starport. Then there is the issue of K'kree Outposts.

On page 27 it says to use normal procedures, I am assuming from Book 3, or the relevant section in Traveller Book or Starter Traveller. 8+ only at A or B starports, I believe. This would result in only 16% or 17% of K'kree generated systems. Then there is the rolling for K'kree Outposts.

Admittedly, it is important to me in a current discussion over at Mongoose concerning the level of K'kree agression (or paranoia/protection of its beings), but it is also an inconsistency in the book that should be resolved in general.

 

[GypsyComet]

Then there is the issue of K'kree Outposts.

On page 27 it says to use normal procedures, I am assuming from Book 3, or the relevant section in Traveller Book or Starter Traveller. 8+ only at A or B starports, I believe. This would result in only 16% or 17% of K'kree generated systems. Then there is the rolling for K'kree Outposts.

Aside from the mutually exclusive placement (mentioned on both p26 and p27), the Outpost roll is exactly the same as the 1981 edition Book 3 rule for Scout Bases. No confusion there.

The Naval Base roll should probably be 7+ (like p26) but with the same exclusions as Outposts (don't roll for E and X ports) instead of the standard navy Base limits (A and B only). K'kree militancy makes the Imperium look relaxed.

 

[rancke]

Library Data (N-Z)

Problem: On page 7 of LDNZ the sentence "Legislation and enforcement are the prerogative of the Imperium, or of the sectors" is in conflict with a passage on p. 7 of Library Data (A-M): "The ruling figure at the subsector capital is a high-ranking noble selected by higher levels of government. This duke has a free hand in government, and is subject only to broad guidelines from his superiors."

Argument: If subsectors are not allowed to legislate and enforce as they want (within certain guidelines) but has to rely on the sector government for authority, they are subject to a good deal more than broad guidelines. Nor is a sector capital so very remote from any subsector capital in its sector, rarely being more than a month away by fleet courier.

Proposed solution: Change the sentence to "Legislation and enforcement are the prerogative of the Imperium, or of the subsectors."

Argument: Sector duke is not a higher rank than subsector duke but simply the first among equals. Removing legislation and enforcement from the primary duties of a sector duke still leaves him a function as the administrative coordinator of sector-wide activities, but makes the remote Imperial capital the source of the broad guidelines for the subsector dukes.

EDIT: Ooops. I just realized that the two texts I quote from makes no mention of the superiors being 'remote'. Yet I could have sworn that I'd seen that in some canonical source. Is my memory playing tricks on me? Anyway, I think the other part of the argument is sound: Subsectors will need legislative and enforcement autorization in order to function with only broad guidelines from the superiors.


Hans

 

[Carlobrand]

Problem: On page 7 of LDNZ the sentence "Legislation and enforcement are the prerogative of the Imperium, or of the sectors" is in conflict with a passage on p. 7 of Library Data (A-M): "The ruling figure at the subsector capital is a high-ranking noble selected by higher levels of government. This duke has a free hand in government, and is subject only to broad guidelines from his superiors."

Argument: If subsectors are not allowed to legislate and enforce as they want (within certain guidelines) but has to rely on the sector government for authority, they are subject to a good deal more than broad guidelines. Nor is a sector capital so very remote from any subsector capital in its sector, rarely being more than a month away by fleet courier.

Proposed solution: Change the sentence to "Legislation and enforcement are the prerogative of the Imperium, or of the subsectors."

Argument: Sector duke is not a higher rank than subsector duke but simply the first among equals. Removing legislation and enforcement from the primary duties of a sector duke still leaves him a function as the administrative coordinator of sector-wide activities, but makes the remote Imperial capital the source of the broad guidelines for the subsector dukes.

EDIT: Ooops. I just realized that the two texts I quote from makes no mention of the superiors being 'remote'. Yet I could have sworn that I'd seen that in some canonical source. Is my memory playing tricks on me? Anyway, I think the other part of the argument is sound: Subsectors will need legislative and enforcement autorization in order to function with only broad guidelines from the superiors.


Hans

There's really not a lot of government going on. The various worlds are sovereign within their own planetary "borders", subject only to certain broad laws handed down from the Emperor, certain obvious restrictions (like, "you don't get to make foreign policy"), and the requirement to raise funds and - for larger worlds - certain forces to support the Imperium. The citizens of the Imperium are governed first and foremost by their planetary governments - the Imperium's demesne is the space between the planets.

The subsector noble manages a government whose primary responsibilities are to collect taxes from planetary governments, apply those taxes to address interstellar needs like defense and maintenance of starports and suchlike, and to police the planetary governments to ensure that Imperial laws remain in force and planetary governments remain loyal.

That government covers an area of 8 parsecs by 10 parsecs. Communication between the subsector capital and outlying regions is a matter of weeks to a month or more. The subsector government MUST be free to handle their own affairs and respond as needed, because to do otherwise is to add another month or more to the response time.

However, a subsector government cannot be too free. One cannot have a war start because Jewell decided to pick a fight with the Zhodani. So, like the planets, the subsector nobles are sovereign within broad limits. Their authority extends to decisions that must be made within the next few weeks or months, but long term policy comes down from the sector duke. They control the comings and goings of the ships of the fleet within their demesne but they do not decide where the bases are going to be and they do not enjoy the privilege to send the fleet to attack neighbors, except perhaps in a very limited "hot pursuit" situation as when chasing down Vargr pirates with destroyers.

There might be certain narrow appeal rights for planets if a subsector duke was trying to compel something that violated sovereignty and was not based on Imperial law, but beyond that the sector duke would have no say in the day to day operations and decisions of the subsector so long as the taxes were collected, the fleet remained at strength and met performance standards, and the subsector government was otherwise doing its job. The sector duke is a bit more than first-among-equals - he's the Emperor's right hand in managing the sector - but his powers are limited to issues of broad policy and long-range planning, as is fitting since he still has his own subsector to manage.

I would suggest that the two statements are not in conflict when we consider that the subsector dukes have full responsibility for their subsectors but that the sector duke probably has the right to petition the Emperor to seek removal of a duke who is not meeting his duties (a slow process that could take years to resolve fully, what with the communications back and forth), and that planetary governments probably have some narrow form of right to appeal to the Emperor, which given the distances involved would most likely land at the doorstep of the sector duke first.

 

[rancke]

There's really not a lot of government going on. The various worlds are sovereign within their own planetary "borders", subject only to certain broad laws handed down from the Emperor, certain obvious restrictions (like, "you don't get to make foreign policy"), and the requirement to raise funds and - for larger worlds - certain forces to support the Imperium. The citizens of the Imperium are governed first and foremost by their planetary governments - the Imperium's demesne is the space between the planets.

None of that is interstellar government. The member worlds are free to govern themselves within certain specific limits. However "Interstellar government begins at the subsector level" [LDAM:7]. That's what one text grants the subsector duke a free hand in and the other text reserves for the Imperium (no argument there) or the sectors. I submit that a duke can have a free hand in government or he can be subject to a higher authority to whom all legislative and enforcement power is reserved. He can't do both. At least, I thought the word 'reserved' meant that no one else had those powers.

To elucidate a bit: if every time a subsector duke needs some legislation enacted he has to ask his sector duke to enact it for him, then he does not have a free hand in governing his subsector. So I don't see how those two statements can possibly be reconciled. You might argue that the sectors ALSO have legislative and enforcement powers, but I don't see how the subsectors can not have any such.

That would make the fix "Legislation and enforcement are the prerogative of the Imperium, or of the sectors and subsectors."

However, I don't think that fits any too well with the sector dukes status vis-a-vis his fellow subsector dukes. Also, it's easier to imagine that the original mistake was a 'sectors' for a 'subsectors' instead of a 'sectors' for a 'sectors and subsectors'.

That government covers an area of 8 parsecs by 10 parsecs. Communication between the subsector capital and outlying regions is a matter of weeks to a month or more.

It's a matter of one jump by a navy courier if the subsector capital is located centrally, two jumps if it's located near the edge of the subsector. Unless it's an oversized duchy that covers more than one subsector, such as the Duchy of Regina.


Hans

 

[aramis]

You're excluding the subsector duke from the powers reserved to the Imperium, when he is the lowest level OF the Imperium?

The powers reserved to the Imperium begin being doled out at the subsector level, Hans.

 

[rancke]

You're excluding the subsector duke from the powers reserved to the Imperium, when he is the lowest level OF the Imperium?

The powers reserved to the Imperium begin being doled out at the subsector level, Hans.

Exactly my point. The text I suggest correcting says differently. Which is why I suggest correcting it.


Hans

 

[Carlobrand]

None of that is interstellar government. ...

What IS interstellar government? What are the subsector dukes needing to do that you feel needs protection?

I see the Navy doing its Navy thing. I see the Scouts doing their Scout thing. I see great interstellar corporations that need some rules and supervision to restrict them and protect the sovereignty of member worlds - and to give them some consistency which to make long-term business decisions. I see the member worlds themselves being required to cough up some taxes and support and being expected to treat each other in a certain way. I see interstellar traffic requiring support and regulation. I see a need for a supra-stellar body to provide aid and support beyond the capacity of individual worlds when something major overtakes them, especially these lower pop worlds.

I don't see most of that needing to rise above the level of the subsector duke - usually. The one thing I do see is a need for someone to pull the various strings together so we don't have Tukera complaining that it has to follow one set of rules here but a different set of rules there, or the IN engaged in a war with a major Vargr faction because Aramis decided to go on a punitive expedition. I think there's a risk here of overemphasizing the power of the subsector in a way that undermines the Imperial nature of Imperial governance and results in the creation of little satrapies.

I don't see the two entries as mutually exclusive if you think of the subsectors as responsible for the day-to-day nitty gritty of governance and the sector as responsible for long-term planning and broad policy involving the sector as a whole.

It's a matter of one jump by a navy courier if the subsector capital is located centrally, two jumps if it's located near the edge of the subsector. Unless it's an oversized duchy that covers more than one subsector, such as the Duchy of Regina.

Two jumps is two weeks in jump space, one way. One month between the time a query from a distant world is issued and a response from the subsector capital arrives. That, of course, assumes it's something urgent enough to warrant use of a dedicated 6G courier rather than relying on the more conventional communication network - and the subsector capitals don't seem to be being chosen for their central location.

 

[rancke]

What IS interstellar government?

Your guess ought to be as good as mine. The text says that it exists and that it begins at the subsector level with a duke at a subsector capital.

What are the subsector dukes needing to do that you feel needs protection?

I don't understand the question.

I see the Navy doing its Navy thing. I see the Scouts doing their Scout thing. I see great interstellar corporations that need some rules and supervision to restrict them and protect the sovereignty of member worlds - and to give them some consistency which to make long-term business decisions. I see the member worlds themselves being required to cough up some taxes and support and being expected to treat each other in a certain way. I see interstellar traffic requiring support and regulation. I see a need for a supra-stellar body to provide aid and support beyond the capacity of individual worlds when something major overtakes them, especially these lower pop worlds.

See, your guess IS as good as mine! The subsector government regulates relationships between its member worlds.

I don't see most of that needing to rise above the level of the subsector duke - usually.

Neither do I, and neither does one of the two texts I quoted.

The one thing I do see is a need for someone to pull the various strings together so we don't have Tukera complaining that it has to follow one set of rules here but a different set of rules there, or the IN engaged in a war with a major Vargr faction because Aramis decided to go on a punitive expedition.

If starting wars is a concern, that could be one of the broad guidelines. "Don't start any wars". Personally I think subsector dukes do have the authority to send out punitive expeditions. That's one of the points of having a man on the spot that "has a free hand in government, and is subject only to broad guidelines from his superiors."

I think there's a risk here of overemphasizing the power of the subsector in a way that undermines the Imperial nature of Imperial governance and results in the creation of little satrapies.

I don't think that I'm overemphasizing the power of the subsector when I interpret "This duke has a free hand in government, and is subject only to broad guidelines from his superiors" to mean that he has considerable legislative and enforcement powers.

I don't see the two entries as mutually exclusive if you think of the subsectors as responsible for the day-to-day nitty gritty of governance and the sector as responsible for long-term planning and broad policy involving the sector as a whole.

The Imperium has four levels of organization: The Imperium, the domains, the sectors and the subsectors. Unless my knowledge of English is playing me false, the sentence "Legislation and enforcement are the prerogative of the Imperium, or of the sectors" quite unequivocally says that the Imperium and the sectors have legislative and enforcement powers and that the domains and the subsectors do not. Because if they did, those functions would not be the prerogative of the Imperium and the sectors alone.

Two jumps is two weeks in jump space, one way. One month between the time a query from a distant world is issued and a response from the subsector capital arrives.

Yes it is. Whats' your point? History shows that empires can function just fine with communication times between capital and province three times greater (Or is it six? I can never remeber if the six month figure is one way or round trip).

That, of course, assumes it's something urgent enough to warrant use of a dedicated 6G courier rather than relying on the more conventional communication network - and the subsector capitals don't seem to be being chosen for their central location.

J6 couriers is an available option. If they're needed, they'll be used; if they're not used, it's because they're not needed.


Hans

 

[aramis]

Rome had issues, but functioned with a 3 month lag. But, as it expanded past that, we get into the Two Empires era.

The British Empire, at it's largest, hit about a 6 month total lag, but was so highly decentralized that effective rulership was impossible.

Note that, at best, it's about 4 months one way to the Marches; the domain of Deneb is, much like Australia or India was in the early 1800's, not so much ruled as culturally and economically tied as a client state under the Imperial Flag.

 

[mike wightman]

Can I make a suggestion?

Errata threads should be for correcting mistakes - not discussions.

Make a thread to discus this stuff then post on the errata thread if the consensus is it is indeed errata rather than a rules interpretation or setting conflict.

 

[Carlobrand]

Working a robot builder, running into a couple of oddities:

Available skills include Vehicle: "This application program is a cascade skill. The specific vehicle skill must be selected. A robot with anti-grav must select grav vehicle skill, and it must be CPU resident." (Book 8, page 36) Vehicle is a 4-space, Cr400 program. For organic folk, Book 1 stipulates that the Vehicle cascade would include, "Aircraft (select Helicopter, Propeller-driven Fixed Wing, or Jet-driven Fixed Wing), Grav Vehicle, Tracked Vehicle, Wheeled Vehicle, and Watercraft (select Small Watercraft, Large Watercraft, Hovercraft, or Submersible)."

But, over on the table we also have Grav vehicle, a 2-space, Cr400 program. (We also have ATV, a 1-space, Cr300 program which technically should also be part of the Vehicle cascade.)

Wouldn't be an issue except that Grav vehicle takes up 4 spaces by cascade but 2 spaces by the alternate entry, and they both do the same thing. (Similar problem with ATV.) As I see it, we can either kill the two extraneous vehicle entries or break Vehicle into separate programs with different space demands and costs depending on the complexity of the task. Driving a vehicle in two dimensions is way easier than piloting a vehicle in three dimensions.

 

[Carlobrand]

Armor oddity:

Armoring up a non-pseudo bot under the Striker option is based on a straightforward formula F=A/a, where F is the desired armor factor, A is the desired thickness, and a is the original thickness (based on the base armor factor of 2 for mesh) - which is a mathematical way of saying if you want to double the thickness of armor, you double the mass of the chassis.

Works all right if you assume you're always using steel, but you aren't. There's no reason to send a tech level 14 Zho bot into the field with two inches of steel plate when you've got bonded superdense available, which despite being twice as dense as steel is 14 times as strong, therefore giving you lighter weight of armor for the same defense. Or there's superdense, crystaliron, and so forth.

Values need to be modified for the tech level of the armor in use. Quick-n-easy calculation is multiply the A/a formula by 0.44 at TL7-9, 0.31 at TL10-11, 0.27 at TL12-13, and 0.13 at TL14+.

 

[Carlobrand]

CT07 errata states, "Page 27, Locomotion: Transmissions (Legs, Tracks, Wheels) (omission): Note the power requirements: each leg, 40kW; track, 30kW, wheels, 20kW. Each unit is per kW of power plant output."

It's impossible for the transmission to consume more power than the bot puts out, and the Page 27 transmission table does not appear to have an omission.

Given that the transmission system seems to be employing some sort of speed governor to limit their speeds to something acceptable in a human-populated environment (page 45, speed determined by dex), it might be better to tie power consumption into the bot's weight instead of the plant output because a larger plant doesn't make the slightest difference in the unit's speed. As it happens, if you take that 0.3/0.4/0.5 value on the table as kilowatts per 100 kg mass instead of kilowatts per kilowatt of plant, you end up with a power-to-weight ratio that gives you about the right speeds.

 

[Carlobrand]

Clarification, please:

In Supplement 3 and Adventure 6, Zircon (a world controlled by Arden) is listed with an Imperial scout base. In Spinward Marches Campaign, this becomes instead a "military garrison", presumably a garrison of Ardenian forces. Errata doesn't speak to this change; perhaps the Imperials gave the scout base over to the Arden government for some reason in the aftermath of the Fifth Frontier War - it'd be about the right size for the ships the Arden Navy'd be using. However, Errata does say there was a scout base at Utoland - Supplement 3, Adventure 6 and FFW game errata, but NOT in the Spinward Marches Campaign errata.

So:
1) Were there in fact two neighboring Imperial scout bases, or was the errata intended to move the scout base from captive-government Zircon to captive-government Utoland?
2) What happened to the errata-added Utoland Imperial scout base after the war? Was it surrendered to the Arden government, therefore dropping off the map? (i.e. we're not tracking small-ship "naval" bases among the nonaligned worlds?) Or, was the addition of the scout base intended to apply to the Spinward Marches Campaign Utoland as well?

On a side note, can we please consider giving hegemonic Arden a proper spaceport as befits a world that's dominating its neighbors, and maybe raising tech level from 8 to 9? Sure, its billions of people could economically dominate Utoland and Zircon with the power of the purse, but one has trouble seeing the why of it when the world doesn't even feel the need to refine fuel at their little spaceport. An ambitious Arden with two worlds under its economic grip, nestled in a power vacuum between two great empires, has rather strong motivation to be able to build and maintain its own mercantile fleet.

 

[DonM]

Clarification, please:

In Supplement 3 and Adventure 6, Zircon (a world controlled by Arden) is listed with an Imperial scout base. In Spinward Marches Campaign, this becomes instead a "military garrison", presumably a garrison of Ardenian forces. Errata doesn't speak to this change; perhaps the Imperials gave the scout base over to the Arden government for some reason in the aftermath of the Fifth Frontier War - it'd be about the right size for the ships the Arden Navy'd be using. However, Errata does say there was a scout base at Utoland - Supplement 3, Adventure 6 and FFW game errata, but NOT in the Spinward Marches Campaign errata.

So:
1) Were there in fact two neighboring Imperial scout bases, or was the errata intended to move the scout base from captive-government Zircon to captive-government Utoland?
2) What happened to the errata-added Utoland Imperial scout base after the war? Was it surrendered to the Arden government, therefore dropping off the map? (i.e. we're not tracking small-ship "naval" bases among the nonaligned worlds?) Or, was the addition of the scout base intended to apply to the Spinward Marches Campaign Utoland as well?

On a side note, can we please consider giving hegemonic Arden a proper spaceport as befits a world that's dominating its neighbors, and maybe raising tech level from 8 to 9? Sure, its billions of people could economically dominate Utoland and Zircon with the power of the purse, but one has trouble seeing the why of it when the world doesn't even feel the need to refine fuel at their little spaceport. An ambitious Arden with two worlds under its economic grip, nestled in a power vacuum between two great empires, has rather strong motivation to be able to build and maintain its own mercantile fleet.

T5SS 1105 UWP data for Arden is B5549CB-9, with Imperial scout bases at both Utoland and Zircon.

 

[DonM]

Preparing to release version 1.1 of the CT errata (version 1.0 was supposed to be the version that went on the CT CD). Let's see if I can post this correctly... It's been a while.

Book 3, '81 edition:
Page 33, Animal Attributes table (correction): The correct DM for atmosphere 8+ should be +2.

Book 8, Robots:
Page 23, The Chassis, Armor (clarification and correction): The F=A/a calculation works fine for steel, but does not take into account more advanced materials. It is recommended to apply the Weight Modifier from the Armor Type Table from MegaTraveller, Referee’s Manual, page 63 (reprinted below) to the formula: F=A/a × WM. The UCP code is included in case it is desirable to add to the URP. [table not posted for brevity]
Page 27, Locomotion: Transmissions (Legs, Tracks, Wheels) (omission): Note the power requirements: each leg, 0.4kW; track, 0.3kW, wheels, 0.2kW. Each unit is per 100kg of robot mass.
Page 33, Application Programs, Vehicle (clarification and correction): Programs appear on the list for ATV (1 space, Cr300), Grav Vehicle (2 spaces, Cr400) and Vehicle (4 spaces, Cr400). The Vehicle program is further explained on page 36 as a cascade skill, where the specific vehicle skill must be selected. The simplest resolution is to break the cascade down based on 2D movement (either a ground vehicle or surface watercraft skill) using the ATV characteristics (1 space, Cr300), or 3D movement (underwater watercraft, aircraft or grav vehicle skill) using the Grav Vehicle characteristics (2 spaces, Cr400).

Supplement 3, The Spinward Marches:
Page 14, Vilis Subsector data (correction): Arden (201) should have a starport code of “B”, and a TL code of “9”.
[Personal note -- T5SS changed this a while ago, but it was missed in the updates.]

Alien Module 2, K'kree:
Page 26, Technological Levels (correction): TL 7 should be “circa 1970 to 1980.”
Page 27, World Generation, Bases (correction): Instead of the normal procedures, the errata above for K’kree Naval bases and the rules on page 26 for Naval Outposts should be used.

Spinward Marches Campaign:
Page 35, Launch (correction): [design omitted]
Page 35, Starship Encounters, Gig (correction): [design omitted, but already appears in existing Traders and Gunboats errata]
Pages 47 and 49, Acquired Skills Tables (correction): The printed Acquired Skills Tables for Barbarian, Bureaucrat, Rogue, Noble, Scientist and Hunter is simply the Navy, Marines, Army, Scouts, Merchants and Other table from The Traveller Book, with only the Hunter details changed in the Personal Development Table. The printed Acquired Skills Tables for Pirates, Belters, Sailors, Diplomats, Doctors and Flyers is simply the Navy, Marines, Army, Scouts, Merchants and Other table from The Traveller Book, with no changes. It is recommended to use the original Acquired Skills Tables tables (appearing in Supplement 4, Citizens of the Imperium) for character generation.

Items still in progress: comparing T5SS to the Fifth Frontier War map, and reviewing the 1112 T5SS data to Spinward Marches Campaign.

That's what I have so far. Please comment...

 

[Carlobrand]

Looks good.

I'm going to0 add a query:

Special Supplement 3: missiles

Errata states the standard missile is a 5G6, but then it gives a fuel price for what appears to be a 6G5. Was the standard intended to be a 6G5, or is the fuel price wrong?

 

[Baltech Budapest]

Book 3, '81 edition:
Page 33, Animal Attributes table (correction): The correct DM for atmosphere 8+ should be +2.

Hi Don,

I hope I'm not being pedantic or stating the obvious with this, but, this correction also applies to The Traveller Book and Starter Traveller "Charts & Tables"

 

[snrdg082102]

Howdy Carlobrand,

Looks good.

I'm going to0 add a query:

Special Supplement 3: missiles

Errata states the standard missile is a 5G6, but then it gives a fuel price for what appears to be a 6G5. Was the standard intended to be a 6G5, or is the fuel price wrong?

I may or may not have caught this when I submitted errata to Donald prior to the release of Traveller 5.

Tom R