Recent content by J. L. Brown

MasterGwydion is obviously (and deeply) wrong about black holes; but his point about lasers at higher TLs being able to be better focused than at lower TLs is just as obviously correct. At TL-9 the civilizations of Charted Space have mastered gravity to the point of being able to manipulate it...

Methane is very common, probably quite cheap basically everywhere. But petrochemicals are mixtures, and some of the molecules are quite large & complex. The trouble I have with shipping petrochemicals around is that any TL high enough to move them cheaply can also turn methane (and water...

If the pilot/owner/operator lives on board -- converting the 'cabin space' to a stateroom, a single dTon of 'common area', and 4 dTons of cargo -- then the Ship's Boat can haul 16 dTons of freight. Call it 550 Cr per month for upkeep; plus 1000 Cr for life support, plus blue-collar monthly...

I get a minimal (~500000 dTon) 'Class-A Starport' (with a 5100 dTon tl-12 fusion powerplant, and fuel refinery but no tanks) having a monthly maintenance cost of 14.98 MCr. That does not count the cost of the powerplant fuel, life support, nor paying the crew. Also note that this does not...

In-system shipping is even more hand-waved than interstellar shipping, though. I have built several designs for large (20k+ dTon) merchant ships, and (with 3 jumps per month) they can get freight costs down to (or just below) about 600 Cr per dTon. In-system stuff is handwaved as 'about one...

For pirate bands? Strictly cash. The problem is that you are outside the Third Imperium, so the CrImp is not the obvious choice. There are three (the Yerlyaruiwo Yahai [~0.3 Cr each], the Khaukheairl Khauki [~0.5 Cr each], and the Trans-Rift-specific Soitshi [~1 Cr each]) major Aslan...

I will point out that there are three new Psionic Talents included in

In Mysteries Yusote's ship is listed as 'impossible to acquire; nice try, though!' in the 'loot players might try for' section. That is kind of funny, because it is ~1000 dTons, pretty fully detailed, and not Ancients tech at all. On the other hand Tellsadiu's ship is ancients technology; and...

I think, in the context of the Solomani & Terragens, that human-uplift is very likely. It might (as in David Brin's excellent 'Uplift War' books) be a secret project. This brings us to another topic related to 'What animals would be cool to see as Uplifts'; and that is: 'Which species are...

Batteries in Traveller suck. If your hypothetical 'recharge once per week' container uses just one Power, then (at TL-12) it requires a minimum of 28 dTons of battery for 5.6 MCr. And quite expensive. Even buying 'non-gravity' hulls this means paying 25 KCr per dTon. Since a Credit is...

Rinku: Could you please condense your posts a bit? If you have two or three things to say, put them in one post? I'm hoping we get a pretty active discussion -- and I would like to keep the page-count sort of manageable, if possible. There is nothing wrong with editing a post, especially if...

Almost certainly. The Vargr were wolves produced to someone else's specifications; dogs are shaped to roles far more suited to working for Humaniti. Where Vargr are fractious, dogs are very social -- and, as an already-existing & independent star-faring race they don't do much to further the...

[* Reserved for summary & index, if this ever takes off *] Potential Species: Bears Crows Elephants Kangaroos Macaws Octupi Orangutans Raccoons

Yes, I know -- there are rules for Gorilla and Chimpanzee uplifts, as well as Dolphins and Orcas. But Terra has a multitude of high-potential animals -- elephants, octupi, bears, orangutans, and etc. And Humaniti has been working with canines for so long that a Dog uplift project seems...

And that rule is crap; and ought to be changed. It creates more problems than it solves /* gestures at conversation here so far /* and it is part of the reason vehicle and robot systems do not scale to each other (or to ships) in any rational manner. The Vehicle rule allocating one passenger...