Session Report May 2018

In this session, we finally wrapped up the airship race. See this post for how the fight got started.

Blasterson chased one assailant out onto the catwalk and through a porthole. The assailant hit him with a Tranq gas grenade, but Joe shook it off. He dove through the window and chased him into the hallway when . . .
 
McGee remembered that he had an infrared scope on his laser rifle. He started shooting the invaders through the walls (I added a -DM for aiming at a heat signature instead of a visible target). It is hard to survive a laser rifle shot in CT. He got Joe's quarry in the hallway.

Reaper slashed and parried with the assailant who had stabbed Ca'al, until McGee shot him. Reaper was not pleased that the shot had come so close to his own head, and said so in a colorful tirade. Ca'al grasped feebly at the attacker's legs, and believed (until later) that he had brought his man down. 

Up in the rigging, Jay, fearful of hitting Longfinger with a shotgun blast, used it as a cudgel, but the assailant's body armor stopped it. So Longfinger dug his claws into him and vaulted backwards over the railing, pulling the assailant down with him.

Upon announcement of this move, the entire table stopped dead quiet.

More Traveller Literary History - Toyman

I have now read the first three books in E.C Tubb's series "Dumarest of Terra". This week I finished Toyman, (#3).  But this is not a book review.

Marc Miller himself named the Dumarest saga as a major influence on Traveller. So how does Traveller reflect Tubb's universe? There are several things. First there's the word Traveler, which the protagonist uses to describe himself.

Although Toyman all takes place on one world, there is discussion of High, Middle and Low passages. Since I've now had a PC die in Low berth, I appreciate more the gritty feel of the desperate who travel Low.

Earl Dumarest wears Mesh armor, and carries a big knife (a Blade). Some NPCs use lasers, alongside clubs and whips. Thus the uneven distribution of technology across space, and the inclusion of primitive weapons in the game.

The planet Toy (not really a joke) is an example of Government Type 1: Company/Corporation. Stockholders run Toy, and whoever has the most shares has the most influence. The guy with the biggest share  is (again, not a joke) the Toymaster.