Weren't rocket ships and space travel once regarded as works of fantasy as in not possible, never gonna happen?

The movie Apollo 13 and Tom Clancy novels are hard science fiction. They are based on actual known technology in fictional or semi fictional settings. the 2001 series is speculative science fiction though it may border on fantasy with the monoliths and their creators. HAL is highly speculative as is...

Even VIRUS wasn't that unstoppable. What is the point of high tech alien ships in a Traveller campaign setting that need fleets of TL 15 fleets to dent them. Hate to think what corresponding weapons it would carry that would pick off those fleets in the meantime. Probably gets a big WOW! factor in a...

This is why when I was playing in Pirates of Drinax, we made it very clear we had that particular weapon and what it could do. It was always last option. It assisted in interactive negotiations and actually saved lives. As bad as getting killed by other ship weapon types, very few want to die by rad...

Was GURPS Traveller a split or an avenue for a different game system similar to T20 and HERO Traveller?

"anyone close to the firer, target and the line of fire in-between the two" Notice it doesn't say the firing unit is affected and close to the firer are people standing on either side before the barrel. That's why the military today train soldiers not to stand near rocket launchers. The effect of th...

The game should never be about killing off the players. Bad rolls can make things go very wrong but reading the rules literally and with no wiggle room is no fun. Piloting the Deep is Difficult BUT circumstances vary. First, you don't have to skim the Deep. The Shallows and Extreme Shallows also hav...

This is how you get that off flavor, off color protein paste three times a day.

Ever notice in fiction and real life we waste ever increasing amount of very costly power and resources when the whole problem is massively out of control populations. The elephant in the room breeds like a rat.

As long as you have extra time you can play it safe. Refueling the Shallows of a gas giant takes twice as long and imposes only a -1 penalty to Piloting while using the Extreme Shallows is ten times normal time and no penalty as compared to using the Deep at normal time and -2 penalty. Aerofins add ...

Slap some aerofins on and going Deep is far less a problem. I assume a lot of vessels stay in the higher layers and avoid atmospheric problems by taking more time to scoop.

Maneuver drives use 'power' produced by the power plant. That power is normally allocated in the PP's design so it's available any time as long as the plant works. No one thinks about it but the High Efficiency Batteries can also power the maneuver drive in 1 round (6 minute) increments at the power...

If you're using a real life rocket motor, how much dton equivalent fuel does it take to achieve orbit? From what I remember, it's immense.

I was using Traveller orbit distance of 10,000 km and a 2g Traveller reaction motor taking 1414 seconds (24 minutes or 4 rounds).

Surface to orbit at 2g with a reaction drive takes 24 minutes. It burns 5% of the hull size in fuel per hour, in this case 2% for a 24 minutes. For a 100 ton ship, that's 2 tons fuel just to get off world. Same amount to land. 2g maneuver for a 100 ton ship uses 20 power (2 tons fusion 8 powerplant)...

Use the High Guard rules to build reaction rockets rather than reactionless maneuver drives and integral lifter technology. Have the reaction drives for leaving an atmosphere and assume a few piloting rolls to safely guide back to the Downport without power. I'm thinking those craft will regularly f...

I can see a lab ship built for very long term research in remote locations. This can include a Collector system to reduce power plant and fuel space. Recharging the jump energy over long periods is not a problem. Solar panels should be a must for long endurance operations. Only real weapon needed is...

I usually figure characters to time in the University track or Scholar(Physician) then switching to the career track you prefer.

For a clue to the lowest tier on the interstellar military forces, here is a description about Colonial fleets for the Imperium from The Third Imperium: Sector Fleet supplement: "The active vessels of the Colonial Fleet (i.e. those not ‘mothballed ‘ at naval depots) are owned and operated by individ...

Remember that the Imperium does not extend beyond the fence on the ground and within the 100D except for the assets of Imperial Highports IF there is a Highport. This often means a system relies on their tech level and resources to raise and army and Close Orbit and Airspace Control Command assets. ...

Waiting for the canter drive, when you need to get there but are cool about it.

Just noticed that, eh?