I would first like to begin by saying that I have been out of the Traveller scene since the mid 80's. I dropped out because of lack of interest with my other friends. I continued to game through most of collage until the early 90's. After graduating, I stopped altogether. Three years ago I became friends with a group of guys that were gamers and began to play again. Three months ago I discovered with some delight that Traveller was alive and kicking. I purchased most of the GURPS system of Traveller, and have repurchased many of the older CT stuff from ebay. I will probably pick up the second printing of T20 in when it is released this September. Mega Traveller, The New Era, and T4 were all completely new to me. I am not familiar with these other versions of Traveller, so forgive me if this post sounds like old news. In GURPS version of Traveller, the concept of gigantic clumsy ship computers growing in size as capacity and tech level increased had been "fixed" from the 70's technological era that Traveller was born from. However, personal weapons hadn't changed much at all. I am currently preparing to restart my Traveller Campaign due to launch January 2004. I do not intend to use classic Traveller weapons for the "standard" tech level of 12 (10 in GURPS). My reasoning does not fly in the face of traditional "hard science" concepts so prevalent in the Traveller universe, but actually reinforces the notion.
If a Car Phone morphed from a large clumsy heavy box in the early 80's, into a ultra thin digital phone with 10 times the capacity and range, with all the bells and whistles like internet and digital photography, within only 20 years, how can a laser rifle maintain the same huge battery pack the size of a backpack over hundreds or even thousands of years?
I think it is because of some sacred untouchable elements of the game that are still stuck in 70's technology. The "typical" laser weapon with an extension cord to a backpack will still exist in my version of the Traveller universe, but only at the tech level where it was first developed, 8 or 9. Anything after that, and the size of the power pack "battery" will dramatically decrease. This is the my idea of reduction in size of the power pack.
Backpack (100 shots) to hip pack (100 shots) to belt pack (40 shots) to large clip in front of trigger guard (10 shots) and finally to standard clip inside the pistol grip (20 shots) at "standard tech level" 12/10.
The same can be said for plasma guns. The typical Imperial Marine with PGMP's and FGMP's with their devastating exploding burst of energy will still be in play. But those are like vehicle weapons, only used with Battle dress. Smaller versions with much less damage will appear in my campaign. Because the mechanics of the weapon force plasma down a tight magnetic beam, the range will be very limited, say 50 meters for hand guns, and 100 meters for long guns. Those are the absolute limits that the "magnetic bubble" constraining the plasma can be maintained. The plasma will the discharge into a puff of energy. Anything in the hex will take 1/4 damage. Damage will be only slightly higher than laser weapons, but range will very short in comparison. The power cell "battery" will fit inside the grip and be virtually identical to a laser, but the fuel cell (used to create the plasma) will be a separate "clip". This could attached horizontally under the barrel, like a pump shot gun, or hang down in front of the trigger guard like another large clip. A typical hand gun will be able to discharge 10 shots before both "clips" need to be replaced. A long gun may have up to 20 shots with only a slight increase in damage over the hand gun. These weapons will provide a "mid range" energy weapon between the good old fashioned laser and the devastating Marine weapons.
Ships weapons.
What happened to pulse lasers on ships? Is it only GURPS that dropped them?
If a marine can blast troops with a PGMP or FGMP on the surface of any world, why can't larger versions work as ships weaponry in the vacuum of space?
Are plasma or fusion cannons part of other Traveller game systems?
If a Car Phone morphed from a large clumsy heavy box in the early 80's, into a ultra thin digital phone with 10 times the capacity and range, with all the bells and whistles like internet and digital photography, within only 20 years, how can a laser rifle maintain the same huge battery pack the size of a backpack over hundreds or even thousands of years?
I think it is because of some sacred untouchable elements of the game that are still stuck in 70's technology. The "typical" laser weapon with an extension cord to a backpack will still exist in my version of the Traveller universe, but only at the tech level where it was first developed, 8 or 9. Anything after that, and the size of the power pack "battery" will dramatically decrease. This is the my idea of reduction in size of the power pack.
Backpack (100 shots) to hip pack (100 shots) to belt pack (40 shots) to large clip in front of trigger guard (10 shots) and finally to standard clip inside the pistol grip (20 shots) at "standard tech level" 12/10.
The same can be said for plasma guns. The typical Imperial Marine with PGMP's and FGMP's with their devastating exploding burst of energy will still be in play. But those are like vehicle weapons, only used with Battle dress. Smaller versions with much less damage will appear in my campaign. Because the mechanics of the weapon force plasma down a tight magnetic beam, the range will be very limited, say 50 meters for hand guns, and 100 meters for long guns. Those are the absolute limits that the "magnetic bubble" constraining the plasma can be maintained. The plasma will the discharge into a puff of energy. Anything in the hex will take 1/4 damage. Damage will be only slightly higher than laser weapons, but range will very short in comparison. The power cell "battery" will fit inside the grip and be virtually identical to a laser, but the fuel cell (used to create the plasma) will be a separate "clip". This could attached horizontally under the barrel, like a pump shot gun, or hang down in front of the trigger guard like another large clip. A typical hand gun will be able to discharge 10 shots before both "clips" need to be replaced. A long gun may have up to 20 shots with only a slight increase in damage over the hand gun. These weapons will provide a "mid range" energy weapon between the good old fashioned laser and the devastating Marine weapons.
Ships weapons.
What happened to pulse lasers on ships? Is it only GURPS that dropped them?
If a marine can blast troops with a PGMP or FGMP on the surface of any world, why can't larger versions work as ships weaponry in the vacuum of space?
Are plasma or fusion cannons part of other Traveller game systems?
