Minbari guide

[Ranger66]

Overall I really like the book. But a couple of things strike me as odd.

A: The price of Minbari weapons. If those are black market prices then fair enough. But my Minbari warrior caste character can't afford Minbari PPG. Wouldn't it be more likely that a Minbari would have a minbari weapon. A Narn with a Narn gear and so on. I don't know what its like in the other guides but it seems odd to me.

B: Its great that we have some info on Minbari ground vehicles but are there any visual references anywhere for them?

 

[frobisher]

B: Its great that we have some info on Minbari ground vehicles but are there any visual references anywhere for them?

You'll see a good few of them here which shows the original AOG GROPS miniatures that a lot were derived from.

 

[August]

Ranger66, I can understand your confusion over the prices but if you read the rest of the guidebook you will find that Minbari gain things they require simply by being in thewir own culture and expressing a need for them. The Minbari do not use money, so to speak; a need is filled when it can be. Thus, a Minbari soldier will certainly (unless the Games Master decides there are circumstances to the contrary) receive a weapon appropriate to his station and current assignment without charge.

Ultimately, prices are subjective and the GM should always monitor equipment and grant it where appropriate.

-August

 

[Ranger66]

Thanks for the clarification. I have read the book twice and must have missed it both times. I think its part my missing it and some of my Gm's taking what is the guides as set in stone.

 

[crizh]

I too have noticed the lack of any detailed economic analysis of the Minbari Federation and its Protectorate.

Care to write a little article August?

The Federation itself seems to operate as a perfect Communist society but it must interact with the economies of the Protectorate and now with the increase in contact and the development of trade with other cultures the Federation must have developed some sort of system of interfacing its own economy with the capitalistic ones of its potential allies in the war to come.

On an interesting and possibly related note there is no mention of crime and punishment within the Federation.

Having recently read Psi Corps and seen some of the more recent episodes of Enterprise (dealing with Vulcan culture which seems oddly similar to Minbari in a number of regards) I've been thinking about the resistance to the admissibility of Telepathic evidence in most SF cultures.

Why would the legislature of any society with access to reliable Telepathic scans choose to not use them to determine guilt?

Unfortunately the simple answer has to be fear. Babylon 5's EarthGov does not want a legal system that permits them to be scanned.

Despite his dislike of Telepaths, Garibaldi repeatedly uses them to prove his loyalty throughout the series. Why?

Cos he knew he was innocent!!

It would appear to often be the case that there are two sorts of criminals. Those who are kept in check by the Law and those that write It.

And in a suprise twist I will now get to the point.

The Minbari would appear to have virtually no crime and do not possess the common distrust of Telepaths and their abilities.

Could the two facts be linked?

A culture with no fear and distrust of teeps, thats uses them and their abilities in the service of society, would have no problem using them to combat crime. Are courts and juries and lawyers and prisons and and and etc, really necessary when a small team of teeps can track down a criminal in a matter of hours and adjust him/her so that they do not ever re-offend?

In a society where socially unacceptable behaviour (crime) is simply impossible to get away with and results in 'readjustment' how much crime is going to actually occur?

I only break the law if I think there is a possibility that I might get away with it.

So, August, care to comment on Minbari crime and the use of teeps to resolve it?

 

[Aramanthus]

Hmm. They could keep expanding this post too! It is very interesting!

 

[Big Pete]

B: Its great that we have some info on Minbari ground vehicles but are there any visual references anywhere for them?

You'll see a good few of them here which shows the original AOG GROPS miniatures that a lot were derived from.

It is a really pity that you can't get those models anymore. I was planning on getting alot of Minbari Minatures, but didn't have the $$ at the time.

They are quality minatures. Is mongoose planning on producing something similar?

 

[frobisher]

It is a really pity that you can't get those models anymore. I was planning on getting alot of Minbari Minatures, but didn't have the $$ at the time.

You probably can still get those you know, Agent1 (Bruce Graw) did by back a lot of surplus stock and that is in fact on sale at the link I gave above

Don't know of the exact availability of the Minbari Gropos stuff though.

 

[Aramanthus]

Thanks for posting the link! It is a nice visual!