Aarav
Traveler
Posts: 173
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Post by Aarav on Mar 18, 2021 20:43:13 GMT -5
Just so all the new guys know, we do have a forum on this message board that is devoted to Traveller and you can find it here. So when are you going to run a game here?  |
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Mar 18, 2021 20:51:10 GMT -5
Just so all the new guys know, we do have a forum on this message board that is devoted to Traveller and you can find it here. So when are you going to run a game here? I have never played Traveller and I have followed the games with interest. I started to create a sub-sector and then was distracted by real life and used my online time mainly for OD&D. My wife's health was already declining then and I never got back to it. Currently I am in a 5E game as a player ( I would never run it) with some friends, we use Roll 20 for the visuals and a conference call for sound, since Roll 20 sound has issues. When that game runs its course one of my friends who has experience with Traveller may run a game for all of us. Hopefully by that time it will be face to face. Once I have played, I might try running a game. |
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Post by raikenclw on Mar 20, 2021 23:53:10 GMT -5
Just a thought, related to the current scene: Perhaps our Vargr could talk his way back into the second turret? There's nothing much he can do in there that could hurt the Clear Sails and he might as well work against his captors.
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ateno
Traveler
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Post by ateno on Mar 21, 2021 8:30:21 GMT -5
Throwing Chaff at people 300 yards away is a lot different that doing 2D intercepts with x/y speed variances in your head or by guy.
Though Ekhunoz knows the idea, you with a slaved system will do alot better.
But if you want to lock him in a twisting turret during the fight, thats another point. Though he might want to take over the turret.
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Post by raikenclw on Mar 21, 2021 12:11:25 GMT -5
Throwing Chaff at people 300 yards away is a lot different that doing 2D intercepts with x/y speed variances in your head or by guy. Though Ekhunoz knows the idea, you with a slaved system will do alot better. But if you want to lock him in a twisting turret during the fight, thats another point. Though he might want to take over the turret. Well, that depends on how our kindly GM interprets matters. For example . . . 1) I recall a post about your character manually loading a new canister. If our GM sticks with that, then Peng has only one canister [possibly two - I still don't know how many of what type weapons each turret mounts] to fire remotely before he's out. So Ekhunoz would be useful just by reloading the launcher. 2) We appear to be playing by Classic Traveller rules (or at least something very close to them). In Classic Traveller, every PC was usually assumed to have Skill Level Zero in any skill that proved necessary.* This is not enough knowledge for an actual bonus to task rolls, but enough to avoid the -4 Unskilled penalty. 3) Given that Peng would be operating two stations at once if he succeeds in linking the turrets, he would be at -1 to rolls made for both. So putting Ekhunoz in the sand turret would likely yield a net benefit, as it would let Peng fire his cannon at Gunner-2, rather than Gunner-1. 4) IIRC, sand canisters only need to explode somewhere along a straight line between the pursued and pursuer to be effective, plus (due to ship maneuvering) their protective effect lasts only for the combat round in which they explode. So Ekhunoz would probably be just as good at "slingin' sand" as anyone else currently available. 5) Ekhunoz is a Vargr. It's much more charismatic to be doing something during a fight (even if it isn't actually effective) than to be cooling one's heels on the sidelines.  *This is why CT character sheets are a bit misleading, since such Level 0 skills are rarely noted. Even a officially-low-skilled CT character still has roughly the competence of a second level D&D character. |
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Post by raikenclw on Mar 21, 2021 12:17:36 GMT -5
Oh! While (as stated above) we appear to be using CT rules, I rather doubt we will be using ship combat turns for this chase. Ship combat turns in CT are 1000 seconds (16.666repeating minutes) long, to allow for the extreme distances involved (tens of thousands of klicks). Fighting another ship in atmosphere and especially while close to the ground would likely instead use personal combat rounds - six seconds each. Of course, at that combat round length, we are falling well behind the pirates, by taking so FREAKING long to lift off! Peng's going to mention something about that in-character. |
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Post by joertexas on Mar 21, 2021 12:47:58 GMT -5
Oh! While (as stated above) we appear to be using CT rules, I rather doubt we will be using ship combat turns for this chase. Ship combat turns in CT are 1000 seconds (16.666repeating minutes) long, to allow for the extreme distances involved (tens of thousands of klicks). Fighting another ship in atmosphere and especially while close to the ground would likely instead use personal combat rounds - six seconds each. Of course, at that combat round length, we are falling well behind the pirates, by taking so FREAKING long to life off! Peng's going to mention something about that in-character. A starship the size of a 747 takes a couple of minutes to be ready for flight - it's not your family car ;-) |
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Aarav
Traveler
Posts: 173
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Post by Aarav on Mar 21, 2021 13:05:10 GMT -5
2) We appear to be playing by Classic Traveller rules (or at least something very close to them). In Classic Traveller, every PC was usually assumed to have Skill Level Zero in any skill that proved necessary.* This is not enough knowledge for an actual bonus to task rolls, but enough to avoid the -4 Unskilled penalty. [snip] *This is why CT character sheets are a bit misleading, since such Level 0 skills are rarely noted. Even a officially-low-skilled CT character still has roughly the competence of a second level D&D character. Here's one of the reasons why Aarav became disillusioned in the Scouts. In eight years of service he was seldom aboard--and never piloted--a starship that had operational turrets! |
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Post by raikenclw on Mar 21, 2021 22:34:00 GMT -5
Oh! While (as stated above) we appear to be using CT rules, I rather doubt we will be using ship combat turns for this chase. Ship combat turns in CT are 1000 seconds (16.666repeating minutes) long, to allow for the extreme distances involved (tens of thousands of klicks). Fighting another ship in atmosphere and especially while close to the ground would likely instead use personal combat rounds - six seconds each. Of course, at that combat round length, we are falling well behind the pirates, by taking so FREAKING long to life off! Peng's going to mention something about that in-character. A starship the size of a 747 takes a couple of minutes to be ready for flight - it's not your family car ;-) Especially from a cold start! Which is why Peng is muttering to himself about keeping the engines warm, "next time we set down in a free-fire zone." |
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Post by raikenclw on Mar 21, 2021 22:35:58 GMT -5
2) We appear to be playing by Classic Traveller rules (or at least something very close to them). In Classic Traveller, every PC was usually assumed to have Skill Level Zero in any skill that proved necessary.* This is not enough knowledge for an actual bonus to task rolls, but enough to avoid the -4 Unskilled penalty. [snip] *This is why CT character sheets are a bit misleading, since such Level 0 skills are rarely noted. Even a officially-low-skilled CT character still has roughly the competence of a second level D&D character. Here's one of the reasons why Aarav became disillusioned in the Scouts. In eight years of service he was seldom aboard--and never piloted--a starship that had operational turrets! He must have been serving a looonnnnggggg way from Mantan Subsector, then! Out here on the fringes, them which has the biggest guns make the rules. |
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Post by erisred on Mar 21, 2021 22:57:19 GMT -5
Oh! While (as stated above) we appear to be using CT rules, I rather doubt we will be using ship combat turns for this chase. Ship combat turns in CT are 1000 seconds (16.666repeating minutes) long, to allow for the extreme distances involved (tens of thousands of klicks). Fighting another ship in atmosphere and especially while close to the ground would likely instead use personal combat rounds - six seconds each. Of course, at that combat round length, we are falling well behind the pirates, by taking so FREAKING long to lift off! Peng's going to mention something about that in-character. Pretty close to CT rules is the right way to look at things. A few things, though... 1. although you can try anything there is going to be a negative DM for things you don't have skills in, although if your PC has a background, ie. Career, that makes it likely you'd know something then the negative DM will go down. How much, depends on the skill in play, the number of terms you have that might help, and the quality of the BS roleplaying from the player. 2. JOAT levels can reduce negative DM's down to 0 (but not above 0), so if, say... ...a PC with a 2 Term Pirate career is trying to use a Sandcaster, but has no direct skill in Gunnery, he'd start with a -4 DM, maybe drop that to -3 or -2 based on his career and if he had JOAT-2 could knock the negative DM to -1 or 0... 3. Turn length is variable and mostly drama/action/common sense based. In the current situation, keep in mind that very little time has passed since the Pirate Ship took off, only a minute or two. It's going to take some time to get Clear Sails at full power and get her launched. But the Thread has Chase in it, so presumably there's going to be a chance for a chase to take place. |
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Aarav
Traveler
Posts: 173
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Post by Aarav on Mar 21, 2021 23:09:24 GMT -5
Here's one of the reasons why Aarav became disillusioned in the Scouts. In eight years of service he was seldom aboard--and never piloted--a starship that had operational turrets! He must have been serving a looonnnnggggg way from Mantan Subsector, then! Out here on the fringes, them which has the biggest guns make the rules. Before he joined the Scouts, Aarav had dreamed of serving in Exploration or Survey. As it happened, he served mostly in Communications and Operations. |
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ateno
Traveler
Posts: 111
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Post by ateno on Mar 22, 2021 7:27:16 GMT -5
2. JOAT levels can reduce negative DM's down to 0 (but not above 0), so if, say...
...a PC with a 2 Term Pirate career is trying to use a Sandcaster, but has no direct skill in Gunnery, he'd start with a -4 DM, maybe drop that to -3 or -2 based on his career and if he had JOAT-2 could knock the negative DM to -1 or 0... Excuse me, that's Corsair to humans that don't know the difference... |
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Aarav
Traveler
Posts: 173
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Post by Aarav on Mar 22, 2021 18:49:49 GMT -5
Excuse me, that's Corsair to humans that don't know the difference... Aarav resembles this remark. |
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Post by raikenclw on Mar 22, 2021 20:28:01 GMT -5
The ship rocks, twice, and [sic] you see a long groove in the tarmac where a ship's laser just slammed down. A second shot hit a warehouse next to the Terminal Building and something in there explode. The warehouse is a smoking ruin! There is debris everywhere, but Clear Sails appears to have been spared any damage...this time!I assume the use of strikeover means that while Peng can tell that something was hit, he can't tell what? Not even if it was Clear Sails or not? While I certainly understand "fog of war," this seems a bit much. If we are assuming that Peng doesn't have any close range sensors, how did Ekhunoz [aka Sand Slinger] manage to put that canister anywhere close to those dismounted pirates? Psionics, maybe? |
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Post by raikenclw on Mar 22, 2021 20:35:49 GMT -5
Points 1 & 2: Aye, aye! 3. Turn length is variable and mostly drama/action/common sense based. In the current situation, keep in mind that very little time has passed since the Pirate Ship took off, only a minute or two. Well, here we come to the . . . ummm . . . "special" nature of PbP character interaction. Long exchanges of considered conversation tend to leave the reader with the feeling that SEVERAL minutes have passed. In tense scenes, it may be a good idea to head each Referee post with a "Current Timestamp" entry, so everyone can stay on the same page as regards how much in-game time has "really" passed. |
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Post by raikenclw on Mar 22, 2021 21:15:01 GMT -5
Tokheletoi flicks her ears. "I presume it's that way," she says as she points aft. "Perhaps you can help if we are damaged in the fight. I will stay with you, however." , since Tokheletoi makes no explicit mention of taking the other two new characters to Engineering with her, may one assume that she might be amenable to Ekhunoz manning the port turret? |
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Post by raikenclw on Mar 22, 2021 21:21:16 GMT -5
Excuse me, that's Corsair to humans that don't know the difference... , in your post upthread this site's quirky quote nesting appears to have credited ME with something our Referee actually posted. In addition, please note that said "quirky" function has deleted everything erisred wrote in my above quote of *your* quote. The first time I ran into this it seriously annoyed me. But I've since learned to live with it. |
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Post by joertexas on Mar 22, 2021 21:23:05 GMT -5
joertexas , since Tokheletoi makes no explicit mention of taking the other two new characters to Engineering with her, may one assume that she might be amenable to Ekhunoz manning the port turret? She wants to stand where she can watch them. So, if Peng requests it, she will bring them to the bridge. |
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Post by Terry Mixon on Mar 22, 2021 21:27:36 GMT -5
joertexas , since Tokheletoi makes no explicit mention of taking the other two new characters to Engineering with her, may one assume that she might be amenable to Ekhunoz manning the port turret? She wants to stand where she can watch them. So, if Peng requests it, she will bring them to the bridge. OOC: Since Charlie escorted the one intruder off the bridge at gunpoint, he might not be too happy with the idea of more on the bridge. |
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Post by raikenclw on Mar 22, 2021 21:31:34 GMT -5
She wants to stand where she can watch them. So, if Peng requests it, she will bring them to the bridge. OOC: Since Charlie escorted the one intruder off the bridge at gunpoint, he might not be too happy with the idea of more on the bridge. Ekhunoz actually having been that "one intruder," most definitely not. But then, Peng doesn't know anything about that, does he? Perhaps Charlie can realize who Peng is talking about? Since Charlie didn't see anyone enter the bridge ahead of him, Ekhunoz could have been manning the port turret just before and therefore be Peng's "Sand Slinger?" |
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Post by joertexas on Mar 22, 2021 21:33:16 GMT -5
OOC: Since Charlie escorted the one intruder off the bridge at gunpoint, he might not be too happy with the idea of more on the bridge. Ekhunoz actually having been that "one intruder," most definitely not. But then, Peng doesn't know anything about that, does he? Perhaps Charlie can realize who Peng is talking about? Since Charlie didn't see anyone enter the bridge ahead of him, Ekhunoz could have been manning the port turret just before and therefore be Peng's "Sand Slinger?" If he misbehaves, Tok will just shoot him ;-) Seriously, though, we could really use another gunner... |
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Post by Terry Mixon on Mar 22, 2021 21:34:30 GMT -5
OOC: Since Charlie escorted the one intruder off the bridge at gunpoint, he might not be too happy with the idea of more on the bridge. Ekhunoz actually having been that "one intruder," most definitely not. But then, Peng doesn't know anything about that, does he? Perhaps Charlie can realize who Peng is talking about? Since Charlie didn't see anyone enter the bridge ahead of him, Ekhunoz could have been manning the port turret just before and therefore be Peng's "Sand Slinger?" OOC: Are the turrets physically accessed from the bridge? If so, the player didn’t know that. In any case, the intruder was at the pilot’s console so he might not catch it. |
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Post by raikenclw on Mar 22, 2021 21:34:46 GMT -5
joertexas , since Tokheletoi makes no explicit mention of taking the other two new characters to Engineering with her, may one assume that she might be amenable to Ekhunoz manning the port turret? She wants to stand where she can watch them. So, if Peng requests it, she will bring them to the bridge. Well . . . Peng wondering why Sand Slinger is not yet in the turret *could* be interpreted as a request for him to return there. Then again, perhaps Tokheletoi is not that well-versed on inferences in human communications? |
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Post by raikenclw on Mar 22, 2021 21:36:40 GMT -5
Ekhunoz actually having been that "one intruder," most definitely not. But then, Peng doesn't know anything about that, does he? Perhaps Charlie can realize who Peng is talking about? Since Charlie didn't see anyone enter the bridge ahead of him, Ekhunoz could have been manning the port turret just before and therefore be Peng's "Sand Slinger?" OOC: Are the turrets physically accessed from the bridge? If so, the player didn’t know that. In any case, the intruder was at the pilot’s console so he might not catch it. As joertexas helpfully provided to me . . . The Clear Sails deckplans/stats |
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Post by joertexas on Mar 22, 2021 21:39:26 GMT -5
She wants to stand where she can watch them. So, if Peng requests it, she will bring them to the bridge. Well . . . Peng wondering why Sand Slinger is not yet in the turret *could* be interpreted as a request for him to return there. Then again, perhaps Tokheletoi is not that well-versed on inferences in human communications? Nope, she didn't pick that one up. |
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Post by raikenclw on Mar 22, 2021 21:40:15 GMT -5
the intruder was at the pilot’s console so he might not catch it. True. But then, that would mean there must be someone else loose close by the bridge [perhaps in the computer room?] . . . since whoever Sand Slinger is/was, he couldn't have gotten very far from the turret in the seconds available to him, between the canister impact and Charlie's arrival on the bridge. |
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Post by raikenclw on Mar 22, 2021 21:42:55 GMT -5
Well . . . Peng wondering why Sand Slinger is not yet in the turret *could* be interpreted as a request for him to return there. Then again, perhaps Tokheletoi is not that well-versed on inferences in human communications? Nope, she didn't pick that one up. Then Peng will say something a bit more explicit IC. |
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Post by raikenclw on Mar 22, 2021 21:53:50 GMT -5
ateno: After looking at your character sheet, perhaps you can make an argument to our Referee that Ekhunoz's Forward Observer-1 will let him man a sand launcher at Gunnery-0? At least while close to the surface? Calling in accurate artillery fire from over the horizon should share at least some similarity to calculating where a canister must explode for optimum coverage.
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Aarav
Traveler
Posts: 173
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Post by Aarav on Mar 22, 2021 22:04:28 GMT -5
Points 1 & 2: Aye, aye! Well, here we come to the . . . ummm . . . "special" nature of PbP character interaction. Long exchanges of considered conversation tend to leave the reader with the feeling that SEVERAL minutes have passed. In tense scenes, it may be a good idea to head each Referee post with a "Current Timestamp" entry, so everyone can stay on the same page as regards how much in-game time has "really" passed. These are good points but I think this may be too much to expect from the Referee. FWIW, unless something is specifically called-for by the Ref, other than conversations with other PCs, I tend to consider I get just one action, of any sort, until the Ref posts again.
Yes, this can create a bit of "temporal distortion" when other PCs seem to "move the action" along a bit more but I try to resist the impulse to run/roll with that until the Ref's had a chance to weigh in.
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