Stereotypical Newbie Questions

[Thorog the Slasher]

OK, so I'm new here. Just bought T4 from the local second hand book/gaming store, then managed to get Aliens Archive, First Survey, Central Supply Catalogue and Starships a few days afterward. Great system. Just a few questions I hope I can get answered:
1) In First Survey, it refers to the following things in the comments sections for systems:
- Chirper
- AAB Repository
- Droyne
- ROM Depot
What are they/what do they mean?
2) Also in the planet listings, there are the headings PGB and Stellar Data. What do the figures under these headings mean?
3) In the Aliens Archive, it details stats for minor races (i.e. Asym, Bye-Ren, etc). Where can I get stats for major ones like Vilani and K'Kree?
Thanks in advance.

 

[tjoneslo]

Originally posted by Thorog the Slasher:
OK, so I'm new here. Just bought T4 from the local second hand book/gaming store, then managed to get Aliens Archive, First Survey, Central Supply Catalogue and Starships a few days afterward. Great system. Just a few questions I hope I can get answered:
1) In First Survey, it refers to the following things in the comments sections for systems:
- Chirper
- AAB Repository
- Droyne
- ROM Depot
What are they/what do they mean?
2) Also in the planet listings, there are the headings PGB and Stellar Data. What do the figures under these headings mean?
3) In the Aliens Archive, it details stats for minor races (i.e. Asym, Bye-Ren, etc). Where can I get stats for major ones like Vilani and K'Kree?
Thanks in advance.

1) Chirper and Dryone are an alien race scattered (like humanity) across the stars of charted space. These worlds have populations of chirpers and Dryone (respectivly). AAB Repository: The AAB is a vilani library/museam. The ROM depot is similar, dating from the Rule Of Man. Both contain interesting very old artifacts (some more than 2,000 years old) from the previous Imperiums.

2) PGB stands for Population, Gas Giants, Belts. Gas giants is number of gas giants in the system, and belts is the number of planetoid/asteriod belts. Population is the population multiplier. For example if the UWP pop code is 7, and the pop number is 3, the world has 30,000,000 people.

The stellar data is the type of star(s) that make up the system. Our sun is a G2 V star. Stars are labeled from hot to cool as : O B A F G K M, with the number indicating a percentage 1-9 step between the two codes. The fianl code V indicate main sequence, and VI indicates giant and D is dwarf star. If there are others, I'll can look them up for you.

3) The major races were detailed in many places, now mostly out of print. If you can find copies of the Alien Modules (1-8) (say on e-bay or other local used book seller) each details one of these races. In print are the GURPS Traveller: Alien Race books (1-4), each of which covers two major races and add a few more minor ones. The GURPS Traveller main book also has a overview of each of these races.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[Ben W Bell]

If you're planning on running Traveller using that system and setting you'd be advised to try and pick up Milieu 0. That is the setting book for T4 and will provide you with the detail to play in the universe.

First Survey I'm afraid was probably a waste of money. A lot of the system statistics in it are wrong. As an example a lot of the homeworlds only have a few thousand people living there.

The background you can find in the Gurps series of books is quite good though I would maybe recommend you try and pick up the Traveller Reprints by Far Future Enterprises which are reprints of all the classic TRaveller books, supplements and adventures.

Now just to confuse you the version of Traveller you picked up is set at the beginning of the Third Imperium (around 10-40 in the Imperial Calendar) and the original Traveller items are set in Imperial Year 1100+. Quite a difference in the setting.

If you can afford to do so I would recommend getting the reprints or at least the Milieu 0 book for T4.

 

[al duc]

I probably won't be very popular for saying so here, but IMHO you should avoid the Classic Traveller reprints. Those books were quite good when they were published, but some of the contents has aged quite badly.

For example, the early adventures are mostly plotless, need lots of work to run them and presume the PCs are, well, sociopaths who don't mind breaking any law if there is any profit in it. There is still some interesting elements in them

The thing is, almost all of the contents of the reprints (excepts the adventures themselves) has since been covered and updated in the GURPS:Traveller material. I personnaly find that the G:T material is more fun to read and better at explaining what's going on in the Traveller universe. Still IMHO, "Behind the Claw" (the Spinward Marches G:T sourcebook) is far more complete and interesting than the original supplement about the Spinward Marches, who is basically a some star charts and statistics with almost no text.

If you ever find that you became a Traveller addict, than perhaps then the reprints will appeal to you. Then again, perhaps not.

 

[TJP]

Originally posted by tjoneslo:

The fianl code V indicate main sequence, and VI indicates giant and D is dwarf star. If there are others, I'll can look them up for you.

Sorry to be a nitpicker, but to correct (a probable typo): VI is a sub-dwarf and I to IV (roman numerals) are giants.

 

[GypsyComet]

Originally posted by TJP:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by tjoneslo:

The fianl code V indicate main sequence, and VI indicates giant and D is dwarf star. If there are others, I'll can look them up for you.

Sorry to be a nitpicker, but to correct (a probable typo): VI is a sub-dwarf and I to IV (roman numerals) are giants.</font>[/QUOTE]And type VI stars are MUCH rarer than they tend to occur in Traveller sectors. Which is why they were all converted to type V for TNE and T20 (I don't recall if G:T did so as well)...

 

[DaveShayne]

Originally posted by al duc:
... presume the PCs are, well, sociopaths who don't mind breaking any law if there is any profit in it.

I'm not sure who you've been roleplaying with but from my experience that prety much covers PC motivations.

 

[daryen]

Originally posted by DaveShayne:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by al duc:
... presume the PCs are, well, sociopaths who don't mind breaking any law if there is any profit in it.

I'm not sure who you've been roleplaying with but from my experience that prety much covers PC motivations.

</font>[/QUOTE]I completely agree with David on that one.

The problem I always had with the adventures is that in many of the adventures it is assumed the PCs will break all of those laws for altruistic reasons. They just assume they will come to the aid of an annoying, whiny Chirper in the face of tremendous opposition, and then go and break lots of laws to help him. The second part was always easy. The first just didn't fly.

For example, I had a massive problem getting The Traveller Adventure started. My players couldn't figure out why their characters would bother helping the Vargr. They did anyway, but I never did figure out why they should.

Just to further that point, the adventures will, many times, assume the characters will break the law for altruistic reasons. E.g. in RS Gamma, it is just assumed that the PCs will help the poor chirper and in The Traveller Adventure, it is just assumed the PCs will help the beat-up Vargr.

 

[al duc]

Granted the fun of roleplaying is doing things you wouldn't dare do in real life, but IMHO the early adventures often depend on the players taking some pretty big chances for very unclear reasons.

Take, for example, the scenario in "The Kinunir" where the players escort a hunting expedition. They have a permit to go hunting on one end of a continent, while the other end is a restricted area.

For the scenario to proceed, the players must decide to venture in the forbidden part of the continent. Why would they want to do that? It's pretty unclear, really. It's just like it is assumed that the players will jump at the chance to do something illegal.

And I honestly don't think I would be able to seriously start an adventure with the players being offered a mission while hanging out in a spacebar, which is the case in many of the original adventures...

 

[daryen]

Originally posted by al duc:
And I honestly don't think I would be able to seriously start an adventure with the players being offered a mission while hanging out in a spacebar, which is the case in many of the original adventures...

And why not? It worked for Han Solo ...

Looking for jobs in a starport bar seems to me to be a pretty standard SF (or at least space opera) procedure.

 

[autochthonic]

I've always assumed my ex-military characters are loyal to the Imperium, not individual worlds or agencies, which gives them plenty of lee-way. Smuggling? Burglary? local stuff.

Even so, most job offers seem a bit iffy - e.g. in the Kinunir, it's just before the 5th Frontier War, there's terrorists all over the Marches, and some guy asks the characters to find out classified information (Black Globe mount points etc). I can't believe any veteran would betray the Imperium like that.

Of course a good ref can cover most eventualities, using "false flag" recruiting, etc.

 

[Thorog the Slasher]

Gee, thanks...now it all makes sense...due to the fact that I know there are a *lot* of sector maps out there. The main advantage is that if the PCs decide to misjump or land on some planet or seomthing I've always got a load of planet data to fall back on. Does anyone know where I can get statistics (or even a basic appearance) of chirpers/droyne? The basics seems to be missing from the book.

 

[autochthonic]

http://www.tip.net.au/~davidjw/libdata/ALPHABET/D/droyne.htm

 

[Thorog the Slasher]

And on the continuing search through the books, more questions arise, namely:
In Starships, there are lots of nice big tables given for creating ships, with the modifiers No streamlining, Streamlining and Airframe, which change cost of the ship. A few questions about this - what is the default configuration? I've seen tables with only Non-SL config allowed, which multiplies by 0.3. So what is the config where it isn't multiplied? And what are the advantages/disadvantages of taking airframe over streamlined?

 

[DaveShayne]

Originally posted by Thorog the Slasher:
And on the continuing search through the books, more questions arise, namely:
In Starships, there are lots of nice big tables given for creating ships, with the modifiers No streamlining, Streamlining and Airframe, which change cost of the ship. A few questions about this - what is the default configuration? I've seen tables with only Non-SL config allowed, which multiplies by 0.3. So what is the config where it isn't multiplied?

SL sphere has a multiplier of 1. I guess that makes it the default if I understand the question correctly.

And what are the advantages/disadvantages of taking airframe over streamlined?

From "Marc Miller's Traveller" page 107

"Airframe hulls (code A) have lifting surfaces added so that they can fly (or at least glide) and manuever aerodynamically within an atmosphere."

So it's a manueverability issue.

 

[GypsyComet]

If starship building is of interest, you should probably hunt down the latest version of the QSDS. It's supposedly still out on the web somewhere, but my search engine seems to be taking the morning off. You're looking for QSDS 1.5 or 1.5.1.

 

[far-trader]

Originally posted by GypsyComet:
If starship building is of interest, you should probably hunt down the latest version of the QSDS. It's supposedly still out on the web somewhere, but my search engine seems to be taking the morning off. You're looking for QSDS 1.5 or 1.5.1.

Ah so its not just me, I did a few searches a couple years back and couldn't find it, but yesterday three (of the right) words got it in one. Just go here http://www.cybergoths.u-net.com/BITS_website/archive.html and scroll down to "rules", lots of other great stuff too.

 

[Thorog the Slasher]

So it's a manueverability issue.

Hmmm...I thought that AF was a second-best Steamlined option, for unstreamlined ships that needed to skim for fuel, but consulting the QSDS it seems that it is vastly superior to SL in Max G's, although it takes up more room (looking at the 100-ton Wedge). I was originally intending to use the Starships creation system, but although it allows for quite a bit of diversity in the way of hull designs, it gets messy with the different streamline options, and no max G rating. But with the QSDS + the hull book, I should be able to make any ship I want to.

 

[far-trader]

Actually the additional "lost" tonnage comes not from the streamlining chosen as much as the extra structural elements to handle the G's. Hulls in this system have some displacement given up to the hull skin/armor, internal structural reinforcing, and misc. systems (see under Hull pg2 for details).

Personally I had to do a little tweaking with a few elements of the system to make if fit MTU. Just minor stuff, no actual breaking

For example, and in relation to your US v SL v AF question, I allow any Pilot fool enough to try it the chance to land any ship in any atmosphere, with task rolls (which escape me for the moment). AF is easy so a bonus, SL is the default so no changes, and US is no walk in the park so a penalty. Then the atmosphere type applies a penalty depending on the ship. Vacuum, Trace and Very Thin (0-3) penalize AF. Thin, Standard and Dense (4-9) penalize US. Landing is more difficult than Skimming a gas giant (I figure you have to skim in the Thin to Dense atmosphere level for the scoops to work), and I make a check for "bad weather" to add a penalty in both cases. Bad weather covers more than just wind, it can be a solar storm sweeping an airless world for example that screws up the sensors at the critical moment.

Anywho just a few thoughts. I really have to think again about staking my claim to some virtualestate again and put all this stuff out there, but every time I try my computer commits suicide. Twice now, first a hard drive died, then after restoring it from backups, another drive failure and my backup died. Third times the charm right?

 

[Takei]

Originally posted by GypsyComet:
If starship building is of interest, you should probably hunt down the latest version of the QSDS. It's supposedly still out on the web somewhere, but my search engine seems to be taking the morning off. You're looking for QSDS 1.5 or 1.5.1.

Also the SSDS, which IIRC, the QSDS is a Lite version of. The SSDS is what appeared in Starships.