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What are Traveller's Technoligical Assumptions

Ok, and why do US Army & US Marine recruits still get knife and bayonet training today? BTB, the USMC adopted a new bayonet for the M-16A2 in 2002.

And why are dress swords still used in most militaries today... with standardized drill sequences for them?


Just think... here is a weapon that needs no ammo, is very hard to damage, can severely injure an opposing ship crewman (if you want to) without really risking damage to vital equipment, and is very scary to opposing personnel (that guass rifle or snub pistol just doesn't drip blood very well, you know?). It can also puncture most vacc suits without serious injury, forcing a surrender to allow the suit to be patched while keeping the enemy in acceptable condition for further use. :smirk:


I view the cutlass in Traveller Marine use as being both a ceremonial and functional item... and mandatory for shipboard boarding/defense actions.
 
Cutlasses are also less likely to puncture a wall or bulkhead (with attendant unfortunate effects). Especially if you assume ships are built light (like an airplane, less mass to thrust against), rather than solid (like a ship).

A big thing to keep in mind is that the original version came out in 1977, and was influenced by the SF of the '60s and '70. This is your dad's SF. (I suggest reading some H. Beam Piper and C. J. Cherryh to get an idea of what kind of universe we're looking at here.)

Traveller is a big universe. There's room enough to find anything you might want to do.

The original 'external bad guys' were the Zhodani. A psionics-using human race with a big empire of their own who had attacked the Imperium four times (with a fifth being a plot line developed during Traveller's first edition). As the universe has grown, the Zhodani have become better understood, and much more complex.

Another technological assumption: FTL range is limited. A jump of 1 parsec takes a week, and requires fuel equal to 10% of the volume of the ship. A jump of 2 parsecs, requires a better/bigger engine, takes a week, and requires fuel equal to 20% of the volume of the ship. Two jumps of a parsec each with the original jump engine will take 2 weeks, get you the same 2 parsecs traveled, and still require 20% of the volume of your ship in fuel. No matter how you do it, that 10% of volume/parsec is a constant. It's only Hydrogen, which is readily available, but at best, you are going to have to refuel somehow after 9 parsecs (if 90% of you ship is a fuel tank...).

This means you can't just go flitting about to the most interesting spots in the universe. Settlements can (and do) happen in nearly every system that has some sort of rock in it, because someone had to stop there at some point.
 
I never really thought much about the ammo thing until I took this assignment working in Mumbai India.

When you live in India and encounter 10,000 different people in your 5 block commute, you realize that running out of ammo could be a real concern for a military unit depending on the numbers you face in combat. I've often thought to myself that even with a hummer full of ammo, you'd run out of bullets long before they ran out of people. A good sword gives you something to fall back on.
 
Rindis said:
Cutlasses are also less likely to puncture a wall or bulkhead (with attendant unfortunate effects). Especially if you assume ships are built light (like an airplane, less mass to thrust against), rather than solid (like a ship).

A big thing to keep in mind is that the original version came out in 1977, and was influenced by the SF of the '60s and '70. This is your dad's SF. (I suggest reading some H. Beam Piper and C. J. Cherryh to get an idea of what kind of universe we're looking at here.)

Traveller is a big universe. There's room enough to find anything you might want to do.

The original 'external bad guys' were the Zhodani. A psionics-using human race with a big empire of their own who had attacked the Imperium four times (with a fifth being a plot line developed during Traveller's first edition). As the universe has grown, the Zhodani have become better understood, and much more complex.

Another technological assumption: FTL range is limited. A jump of 1 parsec takes a week, and requires fuel equal to 10% of the volume of the ship. A jump of 2 parsecs, requires a better/bigger engine, takes a week, and requires fuel equal to 20% of the volume of the ship. Two jumps of a parsec each with the original jump engine will take 2 weeks, get you the same 2 parsecs traveled, and still require 20% of the volume of your ship in fuel. No matter how you do it, that 10% of volume/parsec is a constant. It's only Hydrogen, which is readily available, but at best, you are going to have to refuel somehow after 9 parsecs (if 90% of you ship is a fuel tank...).

This means you can't just go flitting about to the most interesting spots in the universe. Settlements can (and do) happen in nearly every system that has some sort of rock in it, because someone had to stop there at some point.
Click to expand...

Actually, it should be noted that the speeds are directly comparable for military traffic in the OTU and Star Fleet ships in Star Trek...

The presumptions of fuel need make it far less efficient than warp drive, but also far lower tech.
 
aramis said:
Actually, it should be noted that the speeds are directly comparable for military traffic in the OTU and Star Fleet ships in Star Trek...

The presumptions of fuel need make it far less efficient than warp drive, but also far lower tech.
Click to expand...

That's interesting. I had never done the math to check it out. So the big difference between Traveller and ST then becomes communication...
 
And the whole social thing is totally different...

...unless The Imperium are Ferengi ;)

I suppose the Zhodani are Vulcans?

The Vargr are of course Klingons. And...

...my Trek crossover interest is gone ;)
 
There's no remodulation skill. Does that count under sensor ops? It seems they always save the day by remodulating the caffeine flow through the navigational percolator. Early on is more Traveller, the captain yells at the engineer to fix it five minutes ago.

Far traders versus Harry Mudd and Cyrano Jones could be an interesting comparison. IMOJ would like to discuss your shipment of tribbles. :)
 
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