Rest In Peace My Friends

R.I.P.

Richard Carnes

Last night my fellow parishioner Richard Carnes, a Vietnam Veteran, left this life. The scourge of cancer brought an end to his life in this world. The grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ brings him to life in the world to come. He was a close friend of our priest for decades, and a good friend to me; and the godfather of my two sons.

Richard Carnes
667887 Army, 1 term Trooper Age 72 Cr – no longer important
Rifle-1, Mechanical-2, Wheeled Vehicle-0, Animal Handling-0

He was: Husband. Father. Grandfather. Godfather. Friend.


Robert Wood

More unexpectedly, over the weekend of the 15th-16th, my fellow parishioner Robert Wood, a Vietnam-era Navy Veteran left this life. Robert had COPD from a lifetime of smoking, which finally brought an end to his life in this world. The grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ brings him to life in the world to come. He was a part of our parish for over ten years, and I enjoyed many conversations with him from religion to politics to philosophy to his love of motorcycles.

Robert Wood
665887 Wet Navy, 2 terms Petty Officer Age 66 Cr - not much
Electronics-2, Mechanical-1, Wheeled Vehicle-1, Swimming-1 Watercraft-0

Robert never married, but he travelled widely, and had friends in many places.

Prayers for the Departed

Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend the souls of thy servants, Richard and Robert, and beseech thee to grant them rest in the place of thy rest, where all thy blessed Saints repose, and where the light of thy countenance shineth forever. And I beseech thee also to grant that our present lives may be godly, sober, and blameless, that, we too may be made worthy to enter into thy heavenly Kingdom with those we love but see no longer: for thou art the Resurrection, and the Life, and the Repose of thy departed servants, O Christ our God, and unto thee we ascribe glory: to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit; now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.


If you are minded to pray, pray also for Richard's widow Karen, their six children (grown) and four grandchildren.

Almighty God, who knowest the weakness and frailty of our nature, we beseech Thee to give unto us Thy servants whom thou hast stricken with this sorrow, such measure of thy grace as shall enable us to bear it with humility, resignation and submission to thy divine will. Grant that we not sorrow as those who have no hope. Grant that whatsoever we may want in outward consolation, we may find in the inward rest of perfect submission to Thy holy will, and unshaken trust in Thy loving mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord.


Both will be buried in a Veterans cemetery in central Virginia.


Image credit: Pixabay

More Vehicles - Bearcat construction vehicle

My son designed this vehicle using MgT's 2nd edition vehicle rules. I have included some CT-style flavor text.

Bearcat class Construction Vehicle (TL-8)

Chassis: Heavy Ground Vehicle

Spaces: 30 (15dtns)

Crew/Passengers: 2/0 (2 spaces)

Speed: Slow (Very Slow)/100kph (50kph)

Range: 400km (600km)

Agility: -1

Hull: 90

Armor: 2/2/2

Traits: Tracks, ATV (DM+2 to Drive checks when traversing rough terrain)

Armament: None

Equipment: Improved Control Systems (5000Cr), Heavy Crane (8 spaces, 
Max Load-10tns, 10,000Cr), Digger Blade (10 spaces, 25,000Cr)

Cargo: 2.5tns (10 spaces)

Cost: 220,000Cr

The Bearcat class multi-purpose construction vehicle is a rugged, reliable vehicle built for the settlement that's looking to expand. The Bearcat weighs 15 tons and has a crew of two. It moves on tracks, and has a maximum speed of 100 kph, and 50 kph off-road. When carrying a load, the recommended top speed is 20 kph. Its range is at best 600 km, but is typically transported to the work site.

The Bearcat can operate on a job site for 30 hours before recharging. It can lift 10 tons, or up to its own weight if special balancing weights are attached to the chassis. The digging blade can excavate 75 m^3 of earth per hour. 

A Bearcat at work

Backhoe not shown

This design may be used without attribution. However, if you do use it, please leave a comment to let us know, and how well it worked.



Image Credit: U.S. Navy photo by Rey Rabara [Public domain]

A Trio of Special Psionic Talents

A Trio of Special Psionic Talents

Here's what the CT Book says about Special talents:

SPECIAL

Although psionic activity generally lends itself to classification, some individuals defy this very classification. Individuals with special talent are capable of some activity which is not described here; this talent is dispensed by the referee after deliberation. The special talent may include abilities not covered by this section, or may be a random assignment of otherwise unreceived abilities. Special talents should be made psychologically dependent on a focus, in the form of some artifact or charm, which must remain in the possession of the character. (TTB, p. 120)

EXPERIENCE

When a character finishes his initial training, he is unable to function with his full psionic strength. In all talents except teleportation, a character is initially capable only of level 1 abilities . . .

As the character becomes more familiar with his talents (in game terms the mere passage of time is sufficient), his skill gradually increases up to the level of his psionic strength.

Each month, roll 2D for each talent possessed; on 10 + for awareness, 12 for teleportation, and 8 + for all other talents [including Special], the character's ability increases by one level.

. . .

The procedures above may or may not apply to the special talent at the referee's discretion. (ST, p. 60)

With these in mind, here are three Special talents to incorporate into your Traveller game.

Absorb/Dissipate Energy

A Psi with this talent can reduce the amount of damage they suffer from dangerous phenomena. Perhaps you remember this scene from a popular sci-fi film:

More Traveller Literary Inspiration - Treasure on Thunder Moon

Treasure on Thunder Moon

By Edmond Hamilton

Published in Amazing Stories, 16 #2, April 1942

 

This world is a Red Zone. Literally.

I’ve read and posted about other works by Edmond Hamilton (here and here). Once again I find his work to be a breezy and enjoyable read, if one doesn’t peer too closely at the ‘science’ underneath.

Treasure on Thunder Moon is the most Traveller pulp sci-fi novel I have read to date. Let me count the ways this sounds familiar . . .

The main character is John North (a reference to Northwest Smith?), a 37 year old retired Space Officer. He’s currently out of a job and looking for work. His gang of friends is in the same boat – they’re all too old to work for the Company that monopolizes space travel. They’re living at the scraping-by level in one of Earth’s starport towns hoping to get lucky.

North, Peters, Steenie, Dorak, Hansen, Connor, Whitey. We have our crew of PC veterans. These guys are not in their 60’s and 70’s, but in their 30’s & 40’s.

Starport, check. Looking for Patrons? Check. Long-term subsistence? Check.

The luck arrives in the form of a young woman who happens to be the daughter of an old pal of theirs. She wants their help, to crew a ship. Her destination is Oberon, one of the four moons of Uranus. The plan is collect a treasure that her father discovered but couldn’t recover.

Now we’ve got a Patron, and a Rumor.

On the Pursuit of Noble Titles

More Thoughts on Noble Titles

In an essay titled “Courting Dishonor” in The New Criterion January 2020 issue, author Simon Heffer writes:

“Some people angle desperately for letters to put after their name, or even better, a title before it . . .”

I've spent lots of time thinking about how to get a noble title or into the society of the rich & powerful, at least for my PCs. I've written about it here, here, here, here , and here.

The New Criterion essay made me think about a way of getting a Noble title that I had not considered before. The PC who finds that he has a lot of cash (up into the MCr range) can just BUY a title. Go to the sovereign of some world with a Pr trade code and offer a wad of cash. In exchange you get the right to style one's self Baron of Somewhere or other.

In England, a Baronetcy had no political authority vested in it. It was a title paid for with cash, which means only the wealthy could get it. A Baronet could brag of having a title (like a certain Percy Blakeney, Bart.) which he could pass on. Whatever other benefits accrued were social not material. The king, on the other hand, got a big cash infusion.

Ian Fleming's novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service involved a villainous character trying to get a patent of nobility. The claim was spurious, but the villain thought he could do it through bribery and deception. I don't recall what further villainy he intended to do from there. Though the PCs wouldn't think of using a title as a pretext for crime. Right?

How far would you go to get this estate?

I have written a bit about the idea of social promotion but always from the perspective as SOC promotions coming as the result of real effort – as a reward for success.

(Banned) Weapon Research in my TU

Speaking of research . . . 

Recently I watched again the Star Trek film Insurrection. This will not be a movie review. In the film, there was a space battle scene in which the enemies of the Enterprise used an "isolytic burst" weapon. The Enterprise crew were surprised, as the weapon was banned by some treaty or other, for being unpredictable. I think it was supposed to be a scene to show how the Enterprise crew are creative and resourceful thinkers. Maybe it worked at that, maybe not. Watch the film and judge for yourself.

We never actually see what the weapon is supposed to do. Rather we get told about it by several crewmen, and then the Enterprise defeats it, and the enemies. The weapon might as well have been a 20th century ICBM, or a boring old laser beam.

So I thought, what kinds of crazy weapons could show up in my TU, as unique and probably banned weapons?

Well, there is the "stellar ray" from that post on Edmund Hamilton's "Crashing Suns". That's a crazy-powerful weapon.

Here are some of the unusual and illegal weapons that have been at least researched if not developed by star nations in my TU. The Talaveran Empire has declared a ban on all of them; any vessel found in Imperial Space equipped with such will be impounded and destroyed, or just destroyed if they don't surrender.

"The Imperial Ministry of Defense in conjunction with the Ministries of State and of Science have signed resolutions, later confirmed by the King, banning the experimentation, development production or use of the following devices. Some of these were explored by the Ministry of Defense, but were rejected by the Navy as being “irresponsible, inhumane and contrary to the ways of civilized peoples”."