Rebuilding the rebuilds - Kossak

Red Blok "Kossak" medium strider (TL 10)
Hull: 26 m³, Standard Configuration, Advanced Composites, Rugged, Sealed, 9/11
Drive: Walker
Power Plant: Hydrogen Fuel Cell-10, Power Output 330, Fuel Consumption: 5 per hour
Fuel: 200 litres (40 hours)
Armour: Advanced composites 12 (24/16/16/16/16/8)
Weapons:
light autocannon (pop-up traversing, TL 10 stabilisation, 7d6 SAP; auto 6)
ammo: 40 attacks
4x light tac missile (antiarmour) (right external fixed, 9d6 Super-AP)
4x light tac missile (antiarmour) (left external fixed, 9d6 Super-AP)
ammo: 16 missiles
Sensors: Comprehensive Compact Hardened, Extended (9 km +2 DM)
Communications: Radio 1,000 km, Laser 20 km
Environmental: Improved Life Support
Crew: 2
Operating Stations: 2
Cargo: 0.05 dTon
Agility: +1 DM
Speed: Cruise: 10 kph Top: 13 kph Offroad: 6 kph
Ground Pressure: 3.67

-Rognar-

Rebuilding the rebuilds - Destroyer

The new "Destroyer" armoured personnel carrier is still equipped with the TL 11 upgrade of the plasma A gun, but has lighter armour.

ONI "Destroyer" APC (TL 11)
Hull: 30 m³, Standard Configuration, Advanced Composites, Rugged, Sealed, 10/12
Drive: Wheels, Drive Wheels (x2), Offroad Suspension, Improved Controls
Power Plant: Hydrogen Fuel Cell-10, Power Output 110, Fuel Consumption: 5 per hour
Fuel: 200 litres (40 hours)
Armour: Advanced Composites 8 (14/14/14/14/8/8)
Weapons:
plasma A gun-11 (internal traversing, TL 10 stabilisation, 14d6)
Sensors: Comprehensive Compact Hardened (3 km +2 DM)
Communications: Radio 100 km, Laser 20 km
Environmental: Advanced Life Support
Crew: 3
Operating Stations: 3
Passengers: 8
Cargo: 0.01 dTon
Agility: +0 DM, +2 DM (Offroad)
Speed: Cruise: 63 kph Top: 84 kph Offroad: 69 kph
Ground Pressure: 2.80

-Rognar-

Rebuilding the rebuilds - Kolossus

The new "Kolossus" has a larger power plant, but a smaller main gun. It also has no reloads for the tac missile launchers, but does have higher speed and better sensors/comms. Here's the build:

Red Blok "Kolossus" light strider (TL 10)
Hull: 10 m³, Standard Configuration, Advanced Composites, Rugged, Sealed, 3/5
Drive: Walker
Power Plant: Hydrogen Fuel Cell-10, Power Output 88, Fuel Consumption: 4 per hour
Fuel: 80 litres (20 hours)
Armour: Advanced composites 8 (16/12/12/12/12/8)
Weapons:
medium autocannon (right external traversing, TL 10 stabilisation, 7d6 SAP; auto 6)
ammo: 30 attacks
2x light tac missile (antiarmour) (left external fixed, 9d6 Super-AP)
Sensors: Comprehensive Compact Hardened (3 km +2 DM)
Communications: Radio 100 km, Laser 10 km
Environmental: Improved Life Support
Crew: 1
Operating Stations: 1
Agility: +1 DM
Speed: Cruise: 11 kph Top: 15 kph Offroad: 7 kph
Ground Pressure: 2.98

-Rognar-

Rebuilding the rebuilds - Fire Toad

It turns out, I've been making a very crucial mistake in my Traveller builds of AT-43 vehicles. All my vehicles, except the ONI "Enforcer" are wrong. They are way too heavy for their drive systems. So, I undertake to correct the erroneous builds. I begin with the "Fire Toad". My biggest problem with this build is finding an appropriate weapon. Currently, there is no laser weapon in between the laser rifle (7 kg including power pack) and the laser cannon (1750 kg stripped for vehicle mounting). Clearly, there is a need for a light laser cannon, so I created one. The light laser cannon (TL 11) weighs 320 kg, does 6d6+3 damage and has a maximum effective range of 10 km. Here is the corrected build:

UNA "Fire Toad" light strider (TL 11)
Hull: 16 m³, Standard Configuration, Advanced Composites, Rugged, Sealed, 6/6
Drive: Walker
Power Plant: Hydrogen Fuel Cell-10, Power Output 176, Fuel Consumption: 8 per hour
Fuel: 320 litres (40 hours)
Armour: Advanced Composites 12 (22/16/16/16/16/10)
Weapons:
light laser cannon (left external traversing, TL 10 stabilisation, 6d6+3)
light laser cannon (right external traversing, TL 10 stabilisation, 6d6+3)
Sensors: Comprehensive Compact Hardened Extended (9 km +2 DM)
Communications: Radio 100 km, Laser 20 km
Environmental: Improved Life Support
Crew: 1
Operating Stations: 1
Cargo: 0.03 dTon
Agility: +1 DM
Speed: Cruise: 8 kph Top: 10 kph Offroad: 5 kph
Ground Pressure: 3.85

The new "Fire Toad" has a lot less armour and a larger frame and power plant. It has less sophisticated environmental capabilities, but higher speed due to its greater power output and lighter frame.

-Rognar-

ONI Enforcer build

The "Enforcer" scout car is the most popular ONI armoured fighting vehicle on the colonial worlds, where its compact size and toughness make it ideal for exploration and counterinsurgency. The standard configuration mounts twin Vulcan rotary cannons capable of directing ridiculous amounts of ordinance downrange. For this reason, many buyers of Enforcers request only a single autocannon be installed.

ONI "Enforcer" Scout Car (TL 11)
Hull: 20 m³, Standard Configuration, Advanced Composites, Rugged, Sealed, 7/8
Drive: Wheels, Drive Wheels (x1), Offroad Suspension, Improved Controls
Power Plant: Hydrogen Fuel Cell-10, Power Output 88, Fuel Consumption: 4 per hour
Fuel: 160 litres (40 hours)
Armour: Advanced Compsites 8 (14/14/14/14/8/8)
Weapons:
2x Vulcan light autocannon (internal, traversing, TL 10 stabilisation, 6d6 SAP; auto 10)
ammo: 30 bursts each
Sensors: Comprehensive Compact Hardened (3 km +2 DM)
Communications: Radio 100 km
Environmental: Advanced Life Support
Crew: 2
Operating Stations: 2
Passengers: 4
Cargo: 0.04 dTon
Agility: +0 DM, +2 DM (Offroad)
Speed: Cruise: 83 kph Top: 111 kph Offroad: 91 kph
Ground Pressure: 2.54

-Rognar-

Mongoose Traveller chargen - random v. point-buy

It may be blasphemy to long-time Traveller players, but Mongoose has added a point-buy option to the chargen process. Since I have used point-buy systems for years, I'm agnostic in this regard, so I figured I'd run it through and see how a character will differ if generated with the point-buy.

I randomly created my man, Angus. He started out in the Army, but was forced out due to a conflict with a superior officer in his second term and then enlisted in the Scout Service for two more terms. Here is the result:

Angus I
St:9 Dx:7 En:11 In:7 Ed:7 So:5
Drive-0
Athletics-0
Gun Combat-0
Gun Combat (slug rifle)-2
Recon-1
Melee-0
Melee (unarmed combat)-1
Vacc Suit-1
Astrogation-1
Comms-0
Computers-0
Streetwise-0
Pilot (small craft)-2
Navigation-1
25,000 Cr

Here is an approximate recreation of the build using the point-buy system:

Angus II
St:9 Dx:9 En:9 In:6 Ed:6 So:6
Drive-0
Gun Combat-0
Gun Combat (slug rifle)-2
Recon-1
Melee-0
Melee (unarmed combat)-1
Vacc Suit-1
Astrogation-1
Computers-0
Pilot (small craft)-2
20,000 Cr

The random Angus has more 0-level skills, while the point-buy Angus has better (and more mechanically-advantageous) characteristics. Also, the random Angus has more background info, such as the aforementioned problem with a superior officer in the Army as well as a life-threatening injury suffered in his first term of the Scout Service that nearly cost him a limb and required expensive medical treatment. Still, all that background can be created by the player after the character is built.

-Rognar-

ONI Destroyer build

The most recognizable ONI combat vehicle is the "Destroyer" armoured personnel carrier. Thousands of these APCs patrol the hostile borders of Asia and provide support to UNA forces throughout the colonial worlds. This build describes the favourite colonial variant, armed with an upgraded plasma A cannon.

ONI "Destroyer" APC (TL 11)
Hull: 30 m³, Standard Configuration, Crystaliron, Very Rugged, Advanced Sealed, 9/12
Drive: Wheels
Power Plant: Hydrogen Fuel Cell-10, Power Output 110, Fuel Consumption: 5 per hour
Fuel: 200 litres (40 hours)
Armour: Crystaliron 12 (20/20/20/20/16/12)
Weapons:
plasma A gun-11 (internal traversing, TL 10 stabilisation, 14d6)
Decoys: Multispectral smoke dispenser (6 uses)
Sensors: Comprehensive Compact Hardened Extended (9 km +2 DM)
Communications: Radio 100 km, Maser 20 km
Environmental: Hostile Environment Life Support
Crew: 2
Operating Stations: 2
Passengers: 8
Cargo: 0.09 dTon
Agility: +1 DM
Speed: Cruise: 50 kph Top: 66 kph Offroad: 33 kph
Ground Pressure: 2.67

-Rognar-

Kossak build

Red Blok "Kossak" medium strider (TL 10)
Hull: 26 m³, Standard Configuration, Advanced Composites, Very Rugged, Advanced Sealed, 9/12
Drive: Walker
Power Plant: Hydrogen Fuel Cell-10, Power Output 264, Fuel Consumption: 12 per hour
Fuel: 480 litres (40 hours)
Armour: Advanced composites 32 (46/36/36/36/36/26)
Weapons:
4x light tac missile (antiarmour) (left external fixed, 9d6 Super-AP)
ammo: 2 attacks each
4x light tac missile (antiarmour) (right external fixed, 9d6 Super-AP)
ammo: 2 attacks each
Sensors: Advanced Compact Hardened Extended (15 km +3 DM)
Communications: Radio 100 km
Environmental: Hostile Environment Life Support
Crew: 2
Operating Stations: 2
Cargo: 0.12 dTon
Agility: +1 DM
Speed: Cruise: 9 kph Top: 12 kph Offroad: 6 kph
Ground Pressure: 1.12

Although the Kossak is typically armed with antiarmour missiles, it can be equipped with antipersonnel and antiair missiles in any combination.


-Rognar-

Kolossus rebuild

The Red Blok "Kolossus" is the lightest mech on the battlefield. Since the Red Blok lags behind the UNA in technology, they lack the means to produce combat armour. The Kolossus fills the heavy infantry role. Here's the build:

Red Blok "Kolossus" light strider (TL 10)
Hull: 10 m³, Standard Configuration, Advanced Composites, Very Rugged, Advanced Sealed, 3/5
Drive: Walker
Power Plant: Hydrogen Fuel Cell-10, Power Output 66, Fuel Consumption: 3 per hour
Fuel: 60 litres (20 hours)
Armour: Advanced composites 16 (30/20/20/20/20/10)
Weapons:
60mm antitank gun (right external traversing, TL 10 stabilisation, 7d6 Super-AP)
ammo: 30 attacks
2x light tac missile (antiarmour) (left external fixed, 9d6 Super-AP)
ammo: 2 attacks each
Sensors: Basic Compact Hardened (1 km +1 DM)
Communications: Radio 100 km
Environmental: Hostile Environment Life Support
Crew: 1
Operating Stations: 1
Agility: +1 DM
Speed: Cruise: 5 kph Top: 7 kph Offroad: 4 kph
Ground Pressure: 1.90

-Rognar-

Fire Toad rebuild, pt.2

I needed to get the weight down a bit on my Fire Toad, so I adjusted my tech level improvements on the laser cannons, sacrificing some of the extra damage for lower mass. The lasers now do 8d6+5, but are 35% lighter. Here is the updated build:

UNA "Fire Toad" light strider (TL 11)
Hull: 15 m³, Standard Configuration, Crystaliron, Very Rugged, Advanced Sealed, 6/8
Drive: Walker
Power Plant: Hydrogen Fuel Cell-10, Power Output 132, Fuel Consumption: 6 per hour
Fuel: 240 litres (40 hours)
Armour: Crystaliron 24 (40/30/30/30/30/20)
Weapons:
laser cannon-11 (left external traversing, TL 10 stabilisation, 8d6+5)
laser cannon-11 (right external traversing, TL 10 stabilisation, 8d6+5)
Sensors: Comprehensive Compact Hardened (3 km +2 DM)
Communications: Radio 100 km, Maser 20 km
Environmental: Hostile Environment Life Support
Crew: 1
Operating Stations: 1
Cargo: 0.04 dTon
Agility: +1 DM
Speed: Cruise: 5 kph Top: 6 kph Offroad: 3 kph
Ground Pressure: 2.23

Still pretty slow, but there's not much else I can do and still design the vehicle with laser cannons. Another issue is the firepower. Lasers are accurate and have long range, but do little more than scratch the paint on heavily-armoured vehicles. My Fire Toad build would be hard-pressed to even penetrate its own armour. So, I think it is time to abandon the laser cannons, and arm the 'Toad with plasma A guns. With a tech upgrade, I can make the plasma guns even lighter and smaller than my laser cannons and they do a much more respectable 14d6 damage. With the added space, I had room to upgrade my sensor package as well. At long last, the definitive Fire Toad build:

UNA "Fire Toad" light strider (TL 11)
Hull: 15 m³, Standard Configuration, Crystaliron, Very Rugged, Advanced Sealed, 6/8
Drive: Walker
Power Plant: Hydrogen Fuel Cell-10, Power Output 132, Fuel Consumption: 6 per hour
Fuel: 240 litres (40 hours)
Armour: Crystaliron 24 (40/30/30/30/30/20)
Weapons:
plasma A gun-11 (left external traversing, TL 10 stabilisation, 14d6)
plasma A gun-11 (right external traversing, TL 10 stabilisation, 14d6)
Sensors: Comprehensive Compact Hardened Extended (9 km +2 DM)
Communications: Radio 100 km, Maser 20 km
Environmental: Hostile Environment Life Support
Crew: 1
Operating Stations: 1
Cargo: 0.02 dTon
Agility: +1 DM
Speed: Cruise: 5 kph Top: 7 kph Offroad: 3 kph
Ground Pressure: 2.03

-Rognar-

Fire Toad rebuild

I have updated my UNA "Fire Toad" design using the Mongoose design rules. Several significant design changes are involved, the most significant being the switch from a fusion reactor to a hydrogen fuel cell. Power demands are not as severe with the new design rules and, in any case, the power output of the fuel cells is only slightly less than fusion reactors at the tech level I'm interested in. I have, once again, had to fiddle with my laser cannons to make the Fire Toad. Lasers have always been the red-headed stepchildren of the Traveller game system, chronically underpowered when compared to slugthrowers. Anyway, I upgunned the laser cannon-9, using the tech advancement rules to give the laser cannon-11 a boost to 8d6+7. They are still enormously heavy, but the 'Toad can handle the load.

So, here is the build:

UNA "Fire Toad" light strider (TL 11)
Hull: 15 m³, Standard Configuration, Crystaliron, Very Rugged, Advanced Sealed, 6/8
Drive: Walker
Power Plant: Hydrogen Fuel Cell-10, Power Output 132, Fuel Consumption: 6 per hour
Fuel: 240 litres (40 hours)
Armour: Crystaliron 24 (40/30/30/30/30/20)
Weapons:
laser cannon-11 (left external traversing, TL 10 stabilisation, 8d6+7)
laser cannon-11 (right external traversing, TL 10 stabilisation, 8d6+7)
Sensors: Comprehensive Compact Hardened (3 km +2 DM)
Communications: Radio 100 km, Maser 20 km
Environmental: Hostile Environment Life Support
Crew: 1
Operating Stations: 1
Cargo: 0.007 dTon
Agility: +1 DM
Speed: Cruise: 3 kph Top: 4 kph Offroad: 2 kph
Ground Pressure: 2.74

A top speed of 4 kph is a bit low even for the lumbering Fire Toad. I don't have any volume left to upsize my power plant, however, so I have to get the weight down. I have to tweak the lasers some more. They are too heavy.

-Rognar-

Mongoose Traveller vs. Megatraveller - combat

Another area where some rule changes have been instituted by Mongoose is combat. In Megatraveller, a character with average characteristics will have a hit value of 3/5. This means 3 pts. of damage will render him incapacitated, while 5 more pts. will kill him. Most of the handheld weapons in Megatraveller do 3 or 4 pts. of damage. These include slugthrowers and lasers of most tech levels. This means a single full damage shot from any of these weapons will knock most characters out of combat. This is where armour comes into play. All weapons have a penetration value and all types of armour have an armour value. In order to achieve a full damage hit, the penetration value must be double the armour value. If it is equal or greater (but not double), it does half damage. In general, armour values tend to lag behind penetration values for a given tech level, so incapacitating shots tend to be rather common. Thus, combat in Megatraveller is best avoided unless the characters have a clear advantage in technology or numbers over their opponents. Another feature of Megatraveller combat is the lack of randomness. The penetration number and the damage of the weapon are fixed. Your weapon either penetrates or it doesn't and you either do full damage or half damage. There are no grazing hits or critical hits. If you have a laser rifle-9 and your enemy is wearing combat armour-12, don't waste your power cell. You will not affect him, no matter how awesome a called shot you make.

In Mongoose Traveller, a character takes damage directly to characteristics, first Endurance, then the other physical characteristics (player's choice). When End and another characteristic are reduced to zero, the character is incapacitated. When all three physical characteristics are reduced to zero, the character is dead. An average character would, therefore, expect to take around 14 pts. of damage before incapacitation and another 7 before death. There is no penetration number for a weapon. You roll a number of damage dice and any excess above what is required to exceed the armour value is applied as damage. This adds a greater degree of uncertainty to each result. For example, the aforementioned laser rifle-9 now does 5d6 pts., while the combat armour-12 has an armour value of 14. It is, therefore, likely that at least a couple pts. of damage will be done to the target and a really good roll could do significant damage. Still, one shot incapacitation against a reasonably armoured character is pretty unlikely. Of course, when PGMPs and FGMPs are being used, characters start getting vapourized pretty quickly.

-Rognar-

Mongoose Traveller vs. Megatraveller - chargen

Mongoose Traveller is very similar to older versions of the game including the one I am most familiar with, Megatraveller. There are a few differences, though, and I will demonstrate those by generating a character. My character is a Scout named Travis. Let's start with rolling characteristics.

I roll 6 x 2d6 and get 11,5,3,6,9,8. In the old days, you took your rolls in order. So Travis has:

Str:11 Dex:5 End:3 Int:6 Edu:9 Soc:8

So, MegaTravis is strong enough to lift a small car and he attended a very good school, but he's a bit clumsy and quite sickly. Bad news for someone interested in the Scout Service.

Mongoose lets you distribute your rolls as you see fit. So, I will make Travis a much hardier individual.

Str:11 Dex:5 End:9 Int:6 Edu:8 Soc:3

I could make more wholesale changes, but this is a comparative exercise, so I will try to minimize the number of changes I make during the chargen process.

Time to revisit MegaTravis. First he must enlist. He needs a 7+ on the roll and he has a +3 DM thanks to his high Str and decent Int. He rolls an 8 (+3), total 11, no problem, he's in. Next he has to survive his first term. He needs another 7+ with no DM due to his lousy End. Luckily, he rolls a 9. Good news, he didn't suffer a career-ending injury (no death in Megatraveller chargen). He also rolls a 7 on his Special Duty check, easily making the 4+ he needed. More good news for MegaTravis. Time to start racking up the skills. MegaTravis is a Scout, so he has as default skills, Gun Combat-0, Vacc Suit-0 and Computer-0. MegaTravis gets three skills, 2 for his term of service and one for his special duty. He decides to roll twice on the Personal Development table and once on the Service Skills table. He gets a Physical and a Gun Combat result on the former and an Electronics result on the latter. He uses the Physical result to increase his End by one and he takes Laser Weapons-1 in Gun Combat. So, MegaTravis looks like this after one term:

Str:11 Dex:5 End:4 Int:6 Edu:9 Soc:8
Vacc Suit-0
Computers-0
Gun Combat-0
Laser Weapons-1
Electronics-1

MegaTravis decides to try and reenlist. He needs a 3+ and rolls a 7. So far, so good.

Next term, the good news keeps coming for MegaTravis. He rolls an 8 for survival and 5 for special duty. He gets 3 more skill rolls, so he decides to take one from the Personal Development table, one from the Service Skills table and one from the Advanced Education table. He gets a Dex +1, an Inborn and a Medical result. He decides to take Leader as his Inborn skill. After two terms, MegaTravis looks like this:

Str:11 Dex:6 End:4 Int:6 Edu:9 Soc:8
Vacc Suit-0
Computers-0
Gun Combat-0
Laser Weapons-1
Electronics-1
Leader-1
Medical-1

MegaTravis is now 26 years old and he has decided he wants to strike out on his own. He still has to make a reenlistment roll to avoid mandatory reenlistment and gets a 10. He's free. Now it's time to roll for mustering out benefits. He rolls twice on the benefits table and twice on the cash table. He ends up with Int +2, a laser rifle-9 and a total of 80,000 Cr. MegaTravis is ready to start his life as a PC. He looks like this:

Str:11 Dex:6 End:4 Int:8 Edu:9 Soc:8
Vacc Suit-0
Computers-0
Gun Combat-0
Laser Weapons-1
Electronics-1
Leader-1
Medical-1

laser rifle-9
80,000 Cr

Back to MongooseTravis. Careers in Mongoose Traveller have specializations. In the case of Scout, they are Courier, Survey and Exploration. MongooseTravis decides he wants to be an Explorer. To enlist in the Scout Service, he needs an Int 5+ roll. He has no Int bonus, so it's a straight roll. No problem, he gets an 8. Life as an explorer is no walk in the park, MongooseTravis has to make an End 7+ to survive his term. He has a +1 DM due to his high End and rolls 9 (+1), for a total of 10. He also has to make an Edu 7+ roll to earn an advancement. MongooseTravis is as lucky as MegaTravis so far. He rolls an 8. Now it's time for skills. Default skills are handled a bit differently in Mongoose Traveller. You start with 3 + Edu DM skills at level-0. These can be derived from your homeworld characteristics or from formal education. I will choose to give MongooseTravis Vacc Suit-0, Computers-0 and Space Science-0. He came from a high-tech, ice planet and was very good in his astronomy classes. In his first term in the Scout Service, he also receives all the service skills at level-0. This gives him Pilot-0, Survival-0, Mechanic-0, Astrogation-0, Comms-0 and Gun Combat-0. MongooseTravis gets two rolls this term because he succeeded on his advancement roll, so he selects the Personal Development table and the Service Skill table. He gets a Dex +1 and a Mechanic result. Also, because he made a successful advancement roll, he is promoted to Scout-1 and gets Vacc Suit-1 as a rank benefit. Next, MongooseTravis makes a roll on the Events table to determine the highlight of his term. He rolls a 5, indicating an exemplary service was performed. He gets a +1 DM on a future benefits roll. MongooseTravis now looks like this:

Str:11 Dex:6 End:9 Int:6 Edu:8 Soc:3
Vacc Suit-1
Computers-0
Gun Combat-0
Pilot-0
Survival-0
Astrogation-0
Space Science-0
Comms-0
Mechanic-1

MongooseTravis sticks around for another term. His reenlistment roll is combined with his advancement roll, so he is already accepted for another term. He makes his survival and advancement rolls again, earning 2 more skill rolls and decides to go with the Service Skills and Specialist: Exploration tables. He gets Comms and Recon results. He also gets promoted to Scout-2, although there are no rank benefits at that level. On his Events table roll, he surveyed an alien world. He has several skills to choose from and selects Survival-1. MongooseTravis now looks like this:

Str:11 Dex:6 End:9 Int:6 Edu:8 Soc:3
Vacc Suit-1
Computers-0
Gun Combat-0
Pilot-0
Survival-1
Astrogation-0
Space Science-0
Comms-1
Mechanic-1
Recon-1

MongooseTravis managed to avoid mandatory reenlistment last time and decides to muster out. He gets one benefits roll for each term of service and an extra one for reaching rank 2. He decides to roll twice on the benefits table and once on the cash table. He will use his +1 DM (from his first term event) on the first of his benefits table rolls. He gets three straight rolls of 2 (+1 on the first), giving him +1 Int, +1 Edu and 20,000 Cr. MongooseTravis now looks like this:

Str:11 Dex:6 End:9 Int:7 Edu:9 Soc:3
Vacc Suit-1
Computers-0
Gun Combat-0
Pilot-0
Survival-1
Astrogation-0
Space Science-0
Comms-1
Mechanic-1
Recon-1

20,000 Cr

In the end, MongooseTravis has more skills and more optimal characteristics, while MegaTravis has better mustering out benefits.

-Rognar-

Mongoose Traveller, I like it, I really like it

My history with the Traveller game dates back to the release of Megatraveller. TSR had recently cancelled its Star Frontiers game and I was looking for a new game to fill my need for space adventure. A classic space game and a shiny new setting, the Shattered Imperium, seemed like the perfect fit. I picked up quite a few of the books, including some of the releases from Digest Group Publications. I liked the game, but I have to say, I didn't love it. I like a game with a lot of combat and action, but Megatraveller was too lethal to run a game like that. Many weapons in that game can kill an armoured character in one shot. On the upside, however, vehicle/spaceship design is extremely detailed and quite fun, a definite plus for a gearhead like me.

When Traveller: The New Era came out, I jumped on it. I was playing in a different city then, with a different group of gamers who were decidedly more into space games. Sadly, I was disappointed. T:TNE was an errata-ridden mess and the campaign setting was just awful. I gave away the core book and never looked back.

Fast forward to today and I find myself revisiting the Traveller game. I have started collecting Rackham's AT-43 miniatures line and I'm looking to convert the units to a tabletop rpg ruleset. Traveller seems uniquely suited to this effort. Still, the vehicle design rules are a little dated and not as ideal for building the kind of vehicles that dominate the AT-43 line. So, I picked up Supplement 6: Military Vehicles from the Mongoose Traveller. I have to say, it looks great. One innovation I particularly like is variable damage. In Megatraveller, each weapon has a fixed damage. I prefer a bit of randomness. It seems more realistic to me. Unfortunately for my bank account, I guess I will be buying Mongoose Traveller. Good thing Star Wars Saga Ed. has published its last supplement.

AT-43 - Megatraveller conversion: Kolossus

The Red Blok has a slightly lower level of technology than does the UNA, so I have pegged them at TL 9. This has important implications for vehicle design, as small fusion reactors first appear at the tech level, but they are still too large for small vehicle applications. Therefore, in designing the Kolossus, the standard small mech of the Red Blok, I was compelled to use the TL 8 MHD turbine power plant. This is not a particularly limiting factor, because while the Red Blok uses a wide variety of different weapons in their striders, they do not employ beam weapons. So, power output is not a major design issue for Red Blok units.

As mentioned, the Reds use a variety of weapons. Kolossus variants can employ rocket and grenade launchers, gauss guns and even flamethowers. Not all of these weapons have been made available in Megatraveller, so some work will be needed down the road to include them. For my standard Kolossus design, I am going to arm it with two 4 cm high-velocity guns, firing KEAP rounds.

Here is my build:
CraftID: RB "Kolossus" small strider TL 9 Cr 176,000
Hull: 1/3, Disp = 1, Config = 4USL, Armour = 10D, Unloaded = 9.5 tons, Loaded = 9.9 tons
Power: 2/2, MHD turbine = 0.8 MW, Duration = 0.3/1
Loco: 2/2, Legs (x2), Road = 40 kph, OffRoad = 24 kph
Commo: MaserComm = V.Distant, Radio = Regional
Sensors: Active IR, Passive IR, Light Amp, Adv Active IR
Off/Def: HardPoints = 1
4 cm high-velocity gun (x2) w/ KEAP rds, Pen = 15, Damage = 6, Range = Distant (5), Sig = Med
Control: Computer = 0 x1, Panel = Computer link x1, Special = HeadsUp, Environ = basic env, basic ls, enhanced ls
Accomm: Crew = 1 (Operator = 1), Seats = cramped x1
Other: Cargo = 0.2 kl, Fuel = 0.28 kl, Ammo = 300, ObjSize = Small, EMLevel = Faint

-Rognar-

AT-43 - Megatraveller conversion: Fire Toad

After trying a few different things, I decided the easiest way to deal with my power-to-weight ratio/road speed issue is just to arbitrarily let limits on the speed of walking vehicles. I would estimate the top speed of a Fire Toad to be no more than 30 kph, with a top off-road speed of 18 kph. The vehicle may have enough power to move much faster, but the nature of the design makes higher speeds dangerous and extremely uncomfortable for the driver.

I have also redone the build with a much smaller hull. I realize, after comparing the Fire Toad mini to a human-sized miniature, that it is far smaller than 81 kl. I have decided to go with a displacement of 2 tons, which gives a volume of 27 kl. I also reduced the armour value to 10.

Finally, I have done some interpolation in the beam laser gun table. It is a big jump from 1.0 to 5.0 MW, so I graphed the penetration, range (which is linear) and damage as a function of power and was able to derive values for other power settings. I chose 2.0 MW beam lasers, which have a penetration of 16/3, a damage of 7 and a range of V.Distant (10). This allowed me to use a smaller fusion reactor. So, my final design is as follows:

CraftID: UNA "Fire Toad" small strider TL 10 Cr 967,000
Hull: 2/5, Disp = 2, Config = 4USL, Armour = 10E, Unloaded = 20.8 tons, Loaded = 21.3 tons
Power: 2/2, Fusion = 5.0 MW, Duration = 10/30
Loco: 2/2, Legs (x2), Road = 30 kph, OffRoad = 18 kph
Commo: MaserComm = V.Distant, Radio = Regional
Sensors: Passive EMS = V.Distant, EMM
Off/Def: HardPoints = 1
TL 8 beam laser gun (x2), Pen/Attn = 16/3, Damage = 7, Range = V.Distant (10), Sig = Hi, AutoTgt = 2
Control: Computer = 0/bis x1, Panel = Dynamic link x1, Special = HeadsUp, Environ = basic env, basic ls, enhanced ls
Accomm: Crew = 1 (Operator = 1), Seats = cramped x1
Other: Cargo = 0.5 kl, Fuel = 0.72 kl, ObjSize = Small, EMLevel = Faint

-Rognar-

AT-43 - Megatraveller conversion, pt.1

I'm quite interested in utilizing my growing collection of AT-43 miniatures in a role-playing game system. One major stumbling block is statting out the units. To this end, I found myself digging out my old Megatraveller books, since this game has detailed rules for creating vehicles. For my first effort, I have turned my attention to the backbone of the UNA force, the Fire Toad.

I've estimated the overall tech level of the UNA to be TL10. This is significantly below the default TL in the Megatraveller campaign setting, but I think given the absence of grav vehicles, it is appropriate. For the hull, I have the following:

6/14, Disp = 6, Config = 4USL, Armor = 20E

The volume is 81 kl and the weight of the hull is 4.8 tonnes.

So far, so good. Next is power supply, but I have to jump ahead a bit because the Fire Toad is armed with two laser cannons, so I have to know what kind of power requirements are going to be needed. I choose 2 5Mw TL8 beam laser guns to give me the kind of firepower I envision for the Fire Toad. So, getting back to power supply, I add a 6kl TL10 fusion reactor, which provides a total power output of 12Mw, sufficient to fire the guns and run all the other systems the vehicle will require. Locomotion is, of course, two legs and the required suspension and transmission. The power supply and locomotion systems weigh in at a hefty 36.9 tonnes.

For sensors and communications, I include Passive EMS V.Distant (50km) and MaserComm and Radio Regional (500km), respectively. I also install Basic Env, Basic LS and Extended LS.

The Fire Toad seems to be limited to a single crewman, so an onboard computer is clearly required. Without it, one would need a driver/operator, two gunners and a commander. I select a 1/bis system with 13 dynamic-linked control panel units and a heads-up display. I also include electronic circuit protection since it is a military vehicle.

The entire vehicle weighs 51.7 tonnes.

At this point, everything is pretty straightforward, but I'm guessing any of you who are veterans of the Traveller vehicle design procedure may have already noticed where I am about to hit a speed bump (and I mean that literally). When I proceeded to calculate my power-to-weight ratio (P/W), I got:

(12.0 Mw / 51.7 tonnes) x 1000 = 232

A quick look at the speed table will tell you a P/W of 232 results in a top road speed of 276 kph, which seems about an order of magnitude too high for the lumbering Fire Toad. Now, I'm stuck. I can't reduce the power output without greatly reducing the firepower and I can't increase the weight very much since most of the weight is power supply. If I increase its size, I also increase its power output. One possibility is to switch from a fusion to a fission reactor, which has a significantly lower P/W. It is also a much lower TL and takes up a lot more space, so I will have to recalculate everything and watch my hull volume closely. I will post my revised build soon.

-Rognar-

A further thought, perhaps what I have to do is houserule a power management system. After all, the current build assumes the vehicle has all the power it needs to fire all weapons, move at full speed and run all other systems simultaneously. I used to play BattleTech quite a bit. Maybe I will borrow some of that system's ideas on power distribution and management. Perhaps the weapons could be powered by capacitors that have a delayed period of charging before they can be fired.

Cthonian Stars, Lovecraft meets Traveller

Coming this summer, from the guys that produce CthulhuTech, Cthonian Stars is Lovecraftian sci-fi using the Traveller game system. This could be interesting, although I confess I find the Traveller system a little bland, with its emphasis on combat avoidance. It may be realistic, but not especially heroic or exciting. Of course, until CthulhuTech came along, rpgs that revolved around the Cthulhu Mythos tended to have a similar emphasis. I suppose my interest in Cthonian Stars will depend largely on how the guys at Wildfire chose to present it. I'm also somewhat hesitant to buy a product published by Mongoose. My first copy of the CthulhuTech core rulebook, an original Mongoose edition, fell to pieces in a matter of hours. I had never seen such a poorly-bound book before. I have heard they have improved their quality since then, but once bitten, twice shy.

-Rognar-

cross-posted at Roll for Initiative