Gravitational Effects and Combat

John Carter is considered to be the greatest swordsman on Barsoom (Mars). This is in part due to his extensive skill (even he doesn't know how long he's been practicing arms) but in another part due to his relatively high strength. His muscles are used to Earth gravity, so while on Mars he has a distinct advantage. In my short story Just Across Town, the protagonists' off-world physique both helped and hindered them – they were stronger than the locals, but unused to the lower air pressure and oxygen levels.

The Gravitational Effects Table (ST Charts book, p. 5) says that you can carry or lift more when on a lower-gravity planet. In the table, the difference is expressed as a percentage of standard carrying capacity. The standard load is 1kg of weight for each STR point. So a person of 'typical' strength can carry 7 kg worth of gear before being 'encumbered'. Lower gravity means you can carry more without penalty.

It seems reasonable then, that such changes can also be expressed as an effective change in STR score. Multiply the base STR by the load percentage and round up. This becomes the effective STR while on the low-gravity planet. This in turn will have an effect on a character's ability to fight with melee weapons.

For example, Bruce, an NPC character has STR 6 and Blade-1. He avoids the -DM for STR, so his total DM is +1 (from his skill). When Bruce visits a size 4 world (150% load) his effective strength is [6 x 1.50=9] 9. Now, the Advantageous STR score for Blade is 9, so as long as Bruce remains on this lower-gravity world, his effective DM when fighting with a Blade is +2.

If Bruce visits a heavy-gravity world of size A (75% load) his effective strength is [6 x 0.75=4.5] 5, which may mean he incurs the -2 DM for required strength.

The gravity effect should not reflect a character's ability to absorb injury, however. This only effects muscle power's interaction with local gravity.

This requires little math to calculate, while adding a layer of reality that can influence player decisions. Mercenaries or explorers might be reluctant to take jobs on heavy-gravity worlds because of the drag on their abilities. Variables like gravity and air pressure give worlds their character and flavor, and keep them distinct.

Secret Police forces in Traveller Governments

• The KGB & FSB.
  
• The Gestapo, the SS, the Stasi.
  
• SMERSH (James Bond and Real Life)
  
• The “Office of State Security” in the People's Republic of Haven (Honor Harrington novels).
  
• S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel comics universe).
  
• U.N.C.L.E. (as in The Man From).
  
• Torchwood from Doctor Who.
  
• The Galactic Empire's Imperial Security Bureau.
  
• Babylon 5's Nightwatch and Psi Corps.
  
• Firefly's Blue Hands Men and the Operatives of the Alliance.
  
• 1984's Thought Police. 'Nuff said.
  

What do all these groups have in common? They're Secret Police forces.

What are Secret Police?
The Columbia Encyclopedia defines secret police as a “Policing organization operating in secrecy for the political purposes of its government, often with terroristic procedures.”

They exist to protect the security of the state from conspiracies or revolutions. They are distinct from conventional police in that they operate out of uniform and often with little or no over government oversight. Secret Police forces often have power to act extra-legally, and authority to over-rule conventional police.
In some states the Secret Police (SP) reports only to the chief executive or someone near him. In these cases, the normal legislator or jurist may be unaware of their activities or even their existence.

You really can do anything in Traveller!

I hope the OP doesn't mind my sharing this. I was reading the CT board at COTI recently and came upon this post by Pendragonman. The thread was discussing 'what is the point of Traveller? What do you do?' Go read the whole thread.

"I once ran a solo game. The guy generated a 5 term Navy character. After mustering out, he took passage to an industrial world where he bought a house. He then found a job working at a shipyard where he could apply his mechanical skills.

He then bought a car. On his first day off of each week he did his household chores. That night he would participate in some form of entertainment. The other day off was rest.

He kept doing this week after week. I kept waiting for him to do some sort of adventurer-esque activity.

I finally asked him what he was trying to achieve. His response was that he was proving that in Traveller a player can do literally anything that the player wants to do, provided that the player is ready for the consequences."

Fantastic!
 
Now, that doesn't sound like my kind of adventure, but sure, why not? Also, note that all the referee would need to give his player the 'adventure' he wanted was books 1-3 and some imagination.

The thread also has some good posts about what 'character advancement' looks like in Traveller, as compared with level-based game systems. I wrote about this a while back, too. 

Why are there no Ranks in the Scout Service?

Chris over at Tales to Astound has been recently exploring the literary inspirations for Traveller. I wish to add a small discovery to that effort. 

An abandoned alien city and an object that appears to made of Absolute Zero.

I've known for some time that the fantasy & sci-fi great Poul Anderson is counted among the inspirational authors for Traveller. Just yesterday I ran across a story of his that provides an answer to my question. His short story "The Entity", with John Gergen, appearing in the June 1, 1949 issue of Astounding Science Fiction gives us a look at the life of the Scout Service.  Also, it's a good story of an encounter with alien technology.

“Civilization could not expand blindly into the stars. Someone had to go ahead of even the explorers and give a vague idea of what to expect. Only Earth’s finest, the most ultimately sane of all mankind, could endure being cooped in a metal bubble floating through darkness and void for years on end and even they sometimes broke.” 

Perhaps this explains the higher Survival throw for Scouts?

But here's the paragraph that has me convinced (emphasis mine):

"He [the expedition's captain] felt a loneliness as he stood facing the men. They were more than his subordinates; they were his friends. Only those with the highest congeniality indexes could ever have survived a survey trip, so rank and formal discipline were unnecessary and unknown. The captain was only the coordinator of a band of specialists."

Scouts that are really scouting the uncharted regions have to endure long stretches of isolation with a small group. You'd better be able to 'play well with others' in such circumstances. The astronaut Mann in the film Interstellar is an example of the Scout type that 'sometimes broke.'

While the 'laconic scout' trope is popular, if we take this story as source material, the key personality trait for Scouts should be a willingness to collaborate - maybe Liaison skill should be retrofitted into the Scout's skill tables?

Guest Post - Review of Mongoose Traveller, Second Edition

Mongoose Traveller

This is Free Trader Beowulf, calling anyone . . . Mayday, Mayday . . . we are under attack . . . main drive is gone . . . turret number one not responding . . . Mayday . . . losing cabin pressure fast . . . calling anyone . . . please help . . . This is Free Trader Beowulf . . . Mayday . . .

In 1977, the first edition of Traveller: Science-Fiction Role-Playing in the Far Future was released to the public. In April 2008, Mongoose Publishing released an updated, more modern version of Classic Traveller (or CT) rules. In 2016, Mongoose Publishing released a second edition of what has become known to Role-Players as Mongoose Traveller (or MgT). It is very likely that MgT has its critics, but it also has its fans. This gaming system is worth buying for three reasons. This system is similar to, and compatible with, the CT rules, the rules are simply written and easy to understand, and it combines several different styles of role-playing into one system, which makes the game a little easier.

The first reason Mongoose Traveller is worth buying is because it is similar to, and compatible with, the Classic Traveller rules. First, the designers included many new features, such as new careers, equipment, and skills, that can make gameplay more exciting. Then, they took existing rules from CT, such as the computer rules, and updated them to match current-generation technology (compared to the 1970s computers that were around when CT was published). Finally, they added rules for vehicle operations and combat, something CT doesn’t have.

The second reason MgT is worth buying are the simple and easy to understand rules themselves. The writers put detailed examples of play with each set of rules, giving players a better idea of how a particular task is performed. Throughout the book, there are numerous cross-references to make finding things easier. It also has clearly written data cards for all mentioned vehicles, starships and small craft, equipment, and weapons.

The third reason MgT is worth buying is the designers combined several different styles of role-playing into one system, which makes the game easier, both for the player(s) and the referee. The skill check format (2D + relevant skill and/or attribute + any relative DMs) is simple and quick. The target number chart goes from simple tasks requiring a die roll of 2 or better to formidable tasks requiring a die roll of 14 or better makes the referee’s job simpler.

Some role-players may believe that MgT is not worth buying. One argument could be that it has no index. While this is a potential problem with a physical copy of the book, if you have the PDF version on Adobe Reader (which, by the way, is cheaper), the program has a search engine that takes the place of the index, thus resolving the issue. Another argument could be that the book has several typos and seems to be missing certain important bit of information such as hull points on starships. While this is true, there is a PDF ‘printer friendly’ version that comes with the standard copy that has the missing information.

In conclusion, Mongoose Traveller is worth buying because it is similar to-and compatible with-the CT rules, the rules are simply written and easy to understand, and it combines several different styles of role-playing into one system, which makes the game easier. Mongoose Traveller is a good buy for new role-players because trying to get hold of older editions of Traveller, like Classic or MegaTraveller, is getting more and more expensive.

N.B. This review was written by my son. He recently purchased MgT, and has been itching to share something to the blog. So I told him to write an essay. His mother approved.