See - here's the thing.
I started out with Classic Traveller back in the stone age. We didn't even have desk top publishing when Traveller first came out, let alone PDF's. When they finally unearthed my birth certificate clay tablets, they still translated the date wrong because the dust had gotten into the cracks of the lettering - well, never mind. Long story short, the STORY element depends on what is or is not possible in the Traveller game systems. Ever wonder what happens when a fusion power plant fails to contain the magnetic bottle? Ever wonder how much energy a given power plant of a given size puts out? What if you wanted an uninterruptable power supply for your cold berth? Does your game system have RTG's for use as a back up power source that doesn't require maintenance? Can a power plant be designed which is SELF-MAINTAINING (all caps as part of the attention grabbing marketing strategy)?
Half the fun when you're the GM, is taking the material on what is possible, and finding ways to put things to use that the author of the book never envisioned. How many remember FIRE, FUSION & STEEL? Me? I like looking at a scenario possibility and seeing "how do I make a STORY emerge out of that?". For example - there was a little throw away item from the DENEB write up that I thought was really interesting. I also thought "how do I make this work?". Imagine if you will, a really powerful family of Imperial Nobles being brought low and hunted out of existence during a civil war. Now imagine TWO people making it out of that bloodbath that destroyed the family as a whole, but a lot of assets that were hidden, or a lot of loyalties kept to a minimum.
What happened to the two who got away? What if they survived of sorts, by jumping out-system and always refueling on the sly? What if they carefully made their way system by system out of Deneb and into the Spinward Marches? What if - they were planning on "pocket empiring" as it were (to turn a phrase and using T4's POCKET EMPIRE rules) such that the colony transport arrived, but the noble family failed to arrive? What if that world the colony landed upon was Trexalon in the District 268 sub-sector? What if the two who got away were floating about somewhere - waiting to be found while in cold berth sleep - sleep that has lasted almost 300 years?
Problem is? Can I get someone to have survived cold sleep for 300 years? Do I "need" cold fusion power plants or can I use RTG (Radio-thermal generators)? GURPS allows me to do that and much more. I'm betting that Fire Fusion & Steel would permit it. I'm not so certain that CT would permit it nor would say, any of the other game systems (Not sure about T20, T5.1, or Mongoose).
So - can it be done? How much energy is 1 power point? .1 Power Points? That someone was kind enough to say "based on other game systems, in MgT it is probably this..." and made an effort to convert from one game system something that seems to be lacking in another game system. I'm ALL for that mentality by the way. When something is missing, jump in and figure it out so it works for your own game world.
Sooooooooo....
The challenge now becomes one of "how do we make this work?". If it can be done, great!
If it can't be done - well, MAKE it work *teasing grin*.
RTG's are possible today. No moving parts, no real maintenance required, and the energy that comes out is relatively steady. How long will those last is the question. How about solar panels? If one can hook some up, knowing that over time, those panels are going to degrade (micro-debris etc), then perhaps there is a ticking clock here. Maybe there is a HARD medical + Int roll to be made to stabilize the patient before the medic can even HOPE to revive them. So maybe another HARD medical+Edu roll is necessary. Stories are DRAMA, keeping things where the players are on the edge of their seats. Finding a derelict ship, 300 years old, made of the finest craftsmanship because the money in the family is good - makes for a satisfying story. Having a ship whose doors are vacuum welded shut, whose electronics are growing brittle, and whose entire system might last a single jump, or just might not - THAT can get the players rolling their dice and praying they come up hot.
In the vein of "what would you do for a Klondike bar" kind of thing...
"What would you do for a Pocket Empire?" in district 268? Hell, why not make it the outskirts of the Trojan Reaches? If Kahn could survive, why not a noble household?
Well, first we gotta nail down that thing called internal self-consistency darn it!
