Ship's Locker: Out of the Closet

[Condottiere]

The technological singularity—or simply the singularity[1]—is a hypothetical future point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable consequences for human civilization.[2][3] According to the most popular version of the singularity hypothesis, I. J. Good's intelligence explosion model, an upgradable intelligent agent will eventually enter a "runaway reaction" of self-improvement cycles, each new and more intelligent generation appearing more and more rapidly, causing an "explosion" in intelligence and resulting in a powerful superintelligence that qualitatively far surpasses all human intelligence.[4]


1. For Traveller, that's technological level eight.

2. You can argue about artificial intelligence's effect, but practically, it's early fusion reactors and gravitational motors.

3. Civilizations thrive on energy, especially, if it's for all intents and purposes, free.

4. Less air/rafts, more air/barges.

5. You need minimal transport infrastructure, and no long runways.

6. You'll be able to connect anywhere on the planet.

7. Local fusion reactors makes you independent of a continental electrical grid.

8. And whatever you can squeeze out of renewables.

9. Plus gravitational powered barges can act as low orbit satellites, for surveillance and communications.

 

[Condottiere]

C/argo?

S/c/argo?

 

[Condottiere]

The Self Balancing Monorail

In this video, we explore the fascinating story of the Brennan Monorail, an innovative train from the early 1900s designed by Louis Brennan. This monorail defied conventional physics by balancing on a single rail, leaning into corners without external input, and remaining stable even when stationary … So why weren’t investors confident in this design? Stick around to find out why and to learn more about how you can enter to win in the next exciting giveaway!

00:00 What is the Brennan Monorail?
01:12 How Does a Gyroscope Work?
04:22 Balancing the Brennan Monorail
07:33 What Happened to the Brennan Monorail?

Neat.

But applicable?

 

[Condottiere]

Survival Gun

V. Snubsonic.

W. Snub implies a really short barrel.

X. We could redefine it as a short cartridge.

Y. Short round.

Z. So we could improve range and accuracy by increasing the barrel length to handgun or assault size.

 

[Condottiere]

Survival Gun

1. The purse or pocket gun would need a short barrel.

2. If you're willing to spend an extra twenty five percent, you can bullpupize it, and increase barrel length from short to handgun, without compromising total quickdraw score, and doubles range.

3. You're already dealing with a minus two inaccuracy, and unless the idea is that the snub pistol is mostly for deterrence and/or intimidation, then actually discharging one seems unlikely, except to demonstrate you're willing to employ it, in which you plan to miss anyway.

4. A light handgun bullet could be lethal, but the physical signature might not be intimidating.

5. A loud bang might persuade anyone within close ear range to duck instinctively, and if only momentarily, break contact.

6. As a home defence alternative to a shotgun, we get to the thorny issues of exploding and Dum Dum bullets.

7. Technically speaking, you get about the same results, without needing to bulk up to strength/nine.

8. An advanced quickdrawed variant with an assault barrel, creates a danger area of twenty five metres.

9. That should be enough to hit anything down a corridor, or at least, keep their head down.

 

[Condottiere]

Survival Gun

A. Going by Central Supply, home defence is about one hundred fifty to two hundred starbux, for pistols and shotguns.

B. I tend to think it should be more in the range of fifty to a hundred starbux.

C. It looks like a Glock Seventeen comes in under five hundred bux.

D. That would be a hundred starbux.

E. Average price for a shotgun does seem about a thousand bux.

F. Which would be two hundred starbux.

 

[Condottiere]

Survival Gun

G. Handgun receiver base cost is one and three quarters hundred starbux.

H. Repeater mechanism halves that to seven eights of a hundred starbux.

I. Modified ammunition capacity would be four.

J. Assuming revolver, our cylinder becomes a square, or a diamond.

K. Eighty seven and a half, plus handgun barrel at thirteen and one eighth, total one hundred and five eighths starbux.

 

[Condottiere]

Survival Gun

G. Arguably, a hundred starbux for a four chambered snub revolver at nine hundred sixty grammes weight, which may or may not include four ten millimetre snub rounds.

H. Range is short two metres, medium eight metres, long sixteen metres, extreme thirty two metres.

I. Fixed magazines are part of the weapon and, by definition, cannot be detached. They make the weapon slower to load; instead of taking one minor action to change a magazine, the user must usually feed ammunition in one round at a time. Each minor action allows the user to get D3 rounds into the weapon, and in many cases it can be fired as soon as there is any ammunition at all. If using a reload-assistance device such as a stripper clip, en-bloc clip or speedloader, 2 minor actions are sufficient to place the contents of the loading device into the weapon. Such devices typically cost 1% of the weapon’s purchase price. A fixed magazine reduces cost and weight of the receiver by 10%.

J. It occurs to me that a revolver cylinder is a fixed magazine.

K. So the cost would drop to a tad above ninety starbux, and weight eight hundred sixty four grammes.

 

[Condottiere]

Survival Gun

L. I think the only way to make this cheaper is to manufacture low quality examples.

M. Considering we're dealing with snubbery, inaccuracy would be the goto disadvantage.

N. I wouldn't push my luck with unreliable, unless you're using a sniper rifle.

O. Inaccuracy starts at ten metres, which means you either adjust short or medium range to that.

P. Extremely low quality at forty percent discount and three disadvantages, all inaccuracy.

 

[Condottiere]

Survival Gun

Q. Rifle length barrel gets you medium forty metres, short ten, but it's too long.

R. Assault barrel medium twenty, short five metres, also probably not worth it.

S. Back to handgun with medium eight metres (minus two), short two metres (minus one), long upto ten metres (minus four), long range upto sixteen metres (minus seven), extreme thirty two metres (minus nine).

T. Thus we have the Saturn Night Special.

U. Extremely low quality snub revolver, handgun barrel, four chamber diamond, three points of inaccuracy, fifty four starbux.

 

[Sigtrygg]

What is the purpose of a survival gun...

 

[Condottiere]

You can survive a lot of encounters with enough firepower.

However, a survival gun is the minimum requirement for the majority of possible encounters and situations.

In this particular case, minimum force (and cost) required for deterrence and/or intimidation.

 

[Saladman]

I always took it to be literally a gun for a survival kit, for a pilot, backpacker or just a trunk gun for someone driving through back country. I wasn't thinking of it as home defense as well. (This is not probative of anything, just for discussion.)

The catch to this definition is a fair number of Traveller planets are going to have their equivalent of grizzly bear country. So there's some immediate tension between a caliber and barrel length that a saurian hexapod pouncer is even going to feel, and a gun optimized for close quarters home defense.

All that aside, I liked those oddball break action designs you posted. Thematically cool, although - better hope you make your first shot count.

In a game a high caliber, break action rifle is something I might place at the back of a trader's arms locker, behind the half dozen cutlasses and autopistols of Classic adventures.

 

[Sigtrygg]

A survival gun is for hunting and personal protection.

A snubgun based survival rifle. is close to useless.

Shoot a rabbit or small deer with an APHE round and you have nothing to eat.

It's range means that the search parties armed with carbines and rifles will be able to stand off and shoot you dead.

You want something light, reliable, lots of ammo, can be used for hunting.

 

[Condottiere]

1. If y'all recall, I mentioned there are subcategories.

2. The best survival gun in Traveller is the advanced combat rifle, both it and it's ammunition are (retail) underpriced.

3. Outside of the laws of war, I don't think expanding bullets are illegal.

4. Suitability of any particular survival gun depends on circumstances and encounters, so it's usually a question of the majority of them.

5. Traveller makes no distinction between a nine or ten millimetre handgun bullet, but apparently, a grizzly does.

6. Snub pistols work for close encounters of the unpleasant kind, especially for someone with at best a passing familiarity with a firearm.

7. Logistically, you try to stick to one type of gun, and compatible ammunition.

8. For home defence, engagement range is likely the length of a room.

9. The home defender might only have purchased the gun as a last resort option, and might not want to invest a lot of money in something he hopes he'll never need, nor use.

 

[Condottiere]

A. A technological level four air gun should be able to deal with most bunny rabbits at seventy five metres, and slightly better damage than a snub or medium pistol round.

B. Plus, he won't hear it coming.

C. Has better range than the default forty metres of a rifled snub round.

D. Short range eighteen and three quarter metres (plus one).

E. Cost of an air gun pellet is one starbuck, which seems off.

F. Make the pellets enhanced wounding and damage blossoms from one to sixteen, to seven to twenty two, which should ensure that that rabbit is now (on) toast.

 

[Condottiere]

Survival Gun

V. The thing about increasing the ammunition capacity of a repeater modification, is that you tend to end up, costwise, where you started.

W. Modified four round capacity, increase to six is fifty percent. which means a fifty percent increase in cost, and a twenty percent increase in weight.

X. A repeater doesn't decrease weight: one assumes that the extra mechanism(s) take the place of of the halved ammunition.

Y. High capacity can increase that to upto fifty percent extra, for fifty percent extra cost and twenty five percent extra weight.

Z. The default snub revolver with eight rounds would then cost for just the receiver, 196.875 starbux, and weigh one and a quarter kilogrammes, compared to the default semiautomatic handgun receiver at 175.00 starbux, and four fifths kilogrammes.

 

[Condottiere]

Unique rifles - Vierling from Herbert Scheiring

A very unique rifle from the world famous gunsmith Herbert Scheiring from Ferlach - Austria. 4 barrel and only one trigger make this gun perfect for every driven hunt.

 

[Condottiere]

The Rarest Military Rifle in the World; The Russian AN-94

Today we have the distinct opportunity to look at the rarest Military Rifle in the world. The AN-94.

I know why I automated guns in ShadowRun to automatic/one double tap, it had to do with taking advantage of combat rules, basically recoil and hit probability.

I could investigate if it's worthwhile trying to do that in Traveller, since it would be three dice plus one versus handgun two plus snub two.

Hinged full stock.

 

[Condottiere]

Survival Gun

1. Or, if we follow the example, ammunition capacity is based on the base default, and weight and cost follows from there.

2. Thus, the second fifty percent is also a set fifty percent, which equals to a total hundred percent, you're back where you started with the semi automatic stick magazine.

3. Except, it could be a revolver cylinder, and you could deduct ten percent cost and weight, but increasing capacity still increases weight, without an initial weight loss.

4. If weight loss was important, at least moreso in relation to cost, you can decrease ammunition capacity to the mid nineties, and half the percentage to get hold of that weight loss.

5. Surprisingly, single shot you get a three quarters cost deduction, though weight remains the same.

6. You could directly reduce ammunition capacity to twenty five percent, two rounds, which would get you a thirty seven and a half percent weight and cost reduction.

7. Though that would still leave the chamber empty, which makes a potential three rounds, two in the magazine, one in the chamber.

8. One round magazine capacity (plus one in the chamber), eighty seven and a half percent ammunition reduction, forty three and three quarters cost and weight reduction.

9. Zero magazine capacity would leave only the chamber, which would make it a single shot equivalent. at one hundred percent magazine capacity reduction, and fifty percent cost and weight reduction, plus (or minus) fixed magazine at an additional ten percent reduction in cost and weight.