More Traveller Literary Inspiration - The TAS

As I browsed through old issues of Planet Stories (in particular Vol 2 #7, Summer 1944) to my great delight I found this:

A welcome sight at Class-C and better Starports everywhere!

I never knew that the TAS could have been modeled on a real wartime organization, but it's not too hard to imagine that the writers of Traveller came across these ads while reading old sci-fi tales. 

Has anyone else seen advertisements like these in pulp magazines or other sources? How long did this TAS last?

Where do I sign up? Becoming a Warden in my TU

Here we will learn how a Traveller gets to earn the title of Warden.

Becoming a Warden is not a career in the normal CT sense. The TAS only hires veterans, those who have experience and a record of public service.

Applying to join the Wardens is a lengthy process. The applicant is interviewed extensively, including by priests and monks with spiritual insight to spot the selfish or unstable. The player and his referee should discuss the reasons for joining the program, and if the referee is persuaded, let the process proceed.

Warden training takes one full year. Using the CT experience rules, the Warden-in-training receives one level of Liaison skill (they are supposed to peacefully resolve disputes) plus one level of skill from this list (roll 1D6):

1. Medical
2. Administration
3. Leadership
4. Legal
5. Unarmed Combat
6. Survival

Payment will never be great, but the service offers room and board year round at TAS facilities. Annual salary is equal to Retirement Pay, as if the PC had served one additional term in their service. Minimum salary will be the same as for five terms. Long-serving Wardens will see pay rises on the same term basis.

Once the trainee has completed the first year, they graduate and take assignment in a specific world/system. Transfers are possible after one year of a four-year term of service. Wardens can retire at the start of any four-year term. The last thing the trainee has to do before taking assignment is to take the Warden's Oath, in the presence of a representative of the TAS and a priest, and recite from memory Psalm 82: 3-4.

The Warden's Oath

I am a Warden.

Medical Skills for Medical Adventures

He's A doctor, yes, but . . .

He's THE Doctor!

 In Space Gamer #47, J Andrew Keith wrote "I'm a Doctor not a . . .", a rules variant about expanding the Medical skill in Traveller to cover the range of medical activity in greater detail.

I've written in other posts about my dislike for "skill bloat", but in this case I see not bloating of skills, but subdividing medical specialties to give characters distinct roles.

Gear for TAS Wardens

This is the first of what I plan to be several articles expanding on my adventure framework of The Wardens, constabulary agents of the Travellers' Aid Society. Today we'll look at gear.

Wardens will always carry their badge/ID cards, and some sort of over-garment that clearly identifies them as TAS agents. Communicators and first aid kits, and whatever life support gear is necessary for the world are also standard equipment.
 
The TAS Wardens will carry non-lethal weapons while on routine patrols. They have them to protect themselves and discourage casual troublemakers, like drunks and petty criminals. The Wardens are there to assist local authorities and keep the peace. However, if the situation warrants it the Wardens will bring out regular firearms. For low-threat scenarios, here are some devices Wardens will typically carry.

Sleep Rods (TL9)

taken from Andre Norton's Solar Queen books

I've found no specific description of the sleep rod in any of Norton's stories that I've read. From the few mentions, I take the sleep rod to be roughly of pistol configuration. It is button activated, but with dermal grip sensors so it only fires when being held by an authorized user. Besides the grip it is a cylinder with an emitter at the far end. It is simple to use, just aim and 'beam'. It's size and DEX parameters match those of the Body Pistol, as does the skill to use it most effectively. Damage is 1 pt, plus the target must throw 3D for END or less to avoid unconsciousness for (20-END) minutes.

Range DMs

Close Short Medium Long

+1     +2      -2         -4

Armor DMs

None Jack Mesh Cloth Reflec Ablat Battle

0       0     0       0       -4        -2      No

Glove Shields (TL8)

The glove shield is standard kit for Wardens, to give them a visible badge of office, and a defensive edge. The shield is worn on the non-dominant arm. It is made of overlapping ceramic plates & a ballistic cloth sleeve. The sleeve part extends from the elbow to the palm, ending in a fingerless glove. The shield can be retracted to an arm covering, or extended (spring loaded) 10 cm on each side of the arm. Weight is 1.5 kg, but this is not counted against the wearer's encumbrance load. Glove shields are not available to the general market. As they are defensive in nature, they are not restricted by Law Level.

Combat Effects (combined with wearers' armor)

Vs guns or lasers, DM -1

Vs blade weapons, DM -2

An attacker with two or more hands can attempt to pull the glove shield off, but must have a STR score 3 greater than the wearer. Glove shields are custom-fitted and are not easily worn by another person.

Net Launchers (TL7)

The launcher is a shotgun configuration weapon, loaded with a tightly packed entangling net. The net is cased in a sabot which falls away harmlessly upon launch. The net reaches Medium range and causes no damage, but it will entangle and subdue any creature up to 200 kg. Larger creatures may be slowed by the nets, but they have sufficient strength to rend them and escape. At TL10, grav technology enhancements allow nets to reach out to Long range and to capture flying creatures without causing them to crash.

Weight and price are as Shotguns. Nets: Cr 20 each. Launchers can launch six nets before reloading.

All of these items can be customized by players utilizing Tech Level improvements or the non-generic equipment rules.

Mercy Ships for the TAS

In my TU, when the TAS comes into possession of a starship, whether purchased or received as a donation, it can be refurbished and converted into a mercy ship. These ships are crewed by TAS employees, and operate on regular in-system and interstellar routes, bringing routine or emergency medical care to any needy party. The ships are funded by the TAS, the Church and private donations. They are mobile field hospitals, and free clinics, so no one is expected to pay them directly.

The TAS hires people to crew the ships, offering anywhere from 1/2 standard wages to normal, with 1,2 or 4 year contracts. Potential employees can check at a TAS office if there are billets that need to be filled, and request an employment interview. The player should present the referee with relevant skills & experience to build a case for +DMs on the Reaction table, with a reaction of 9+ indicating a job offer. Once hired, the PC is obliged to fulfill the contract; the TAS will not overlook their employees skipping out or engaging in criminality.

The mercy ship can be a good campaign framework for a solo PC; a group of PCs might be able to provide most of the ship operator positions, and have an NPC crew providing medical care. In either case, the referee can direct the PCs to just about any system with the TAS as patron. In the course of providing medical aid, all manner of emergencies and side adventures can be introduced.

Mercy ships will be most commonly encountered in systems with lower populations, lower tech levels, and poorer starports (D, E, & X); as these systems will have less access to quality medical care. Any solar system will have its outposts and settlements on moons, planets or planetoids away from the mainworld, where life is rougher, and help may be far away. On the standard CT Starship Encounter Table, the referee can substitute a mercy ship for any listed encounter, or add a W for mercy ship wherever a dash appears on the table. 

From Adventure Class Ships Volume II, there is the Kurgilash-class Medical scout. 

Kurgilash not pictured, cover art is a Type-T Patrol cruiser.

In my TU, there is also the St Lucy class ship, similar in design to the type Y Yacht.

More than just High Passages - the TAS in my TU

What the Travellers' Aid Society does In My Traveller Universe

In the Third Imperium the feudal unity of the government makes a sector-spanning entity like the TAS possible. The Imperium is everywhere, so the TAS is everywhere as well. In my TU, there are multiple competing governments, none of which controls all of 'known space'. However, there is an organization that does span the map: the Church.

Why does the Church run the TAS? One of the reasons is right there in the name: Aid. For the Church to offer aid and assistance (the ecclesiastical word is alms) to those who venture across the stars just makes sense. The Church is a community. Parishes live and work together and help those around them. This is called almsgiving, and it is an essential part of what the Church is and does. The TAS takes as its foundation Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan found in Luke chapter 10 which underscored his teaching to "love your neighbor as yourself".

Why a TAS?