Ships Locker: 4mm Gauss Pistol

4 mm Gauss Auto Pistol

Cr: 1250, TL D

Magazine: 30 rounds, Cr40

Range:

• Effective - 50m (6)
• Long - 100m (3)
• Extreme - 175m (1)

Weight: 1650 grams; magazine (30 rounds): 350 grams

Size: 45cm long, handle 20cm, barrel 8cm diameter

Clip size: 15x5.4x2cm

Rechargeable batteries: time between recharge: 3000 rounds (100 clips).

Options:

• hi-res scope, computer enhanced, 10x50 lenses, light enhancement and passive IR. Cr250, 320grams, 15x3.5cm
• carry-all personalock (tm) with composite laminate case (.25cm armr, AR2), holds autopistol and 5 clips. Cr 105, 750 grams, 50x25x10cm
• Repair kit: battery tester, electronic diagnostic computer, microtools, cleaning fluids, cloths and utensils. Cr795, 1050grams, 25x20x5cm

The hand-drawn picture looks alarmingly like one of those caulking guns...Pretty sure this is old Striker stuff. 

Trying to get through the T5 Gunmaker is...challenging. At least in the book - I need to check the 5.09 version to see if they've made it easier. And 5.1 is supposed to be coming out soon.

AltGPM-13

Advanced Light Gauss Pistol Man - 13

Range: 2

Effects: Bullet 3

Pretty much a guess there...

via https://www.allthetests.com/quiz31/picture/pic_1402980882_6.jpg

Bestiary: Whalrus

The Whalrus is a cold-world animal that lives on floating ice islands. Able to hold its breath for more than an hour, the whalrus is a warm-blooded animal prized for both its ivory and oil. There are two sexes, and mating season occurs once every 2-3 years. There are between 2 and 6 young per breeding cycle, and the young stay with their parents for at least 2 years. The whalrus lives in large groups called bundles, with between 30-40 adults and up to 150 or so young in various age groups. They are omnivorous, eating local seaweeds as well as small sea creatures similar to plankton. The average life span is 35-40 years.

Their ivory, when worked like scrimshaw, is prized and expensive. Collectors pay large amounts of credits for well-crafted art. Additionally, the oils produced are useful in a variety of cooking methods and contains copious vitamins. It is rumored that the oils are being examined for anagathic benefits. The blubber, when deep fried, is considered a delicacy, and the meat from a whalrus, while having a distinctive odor, is an excellent source of protein.

Female tend to be larger than the males. An average female is close to 600 pounds (272 kg), a male averages 500 pounds (226 kg). They have 30 hit points with the equivalent of cloth armor due to their thick blubber.  While not aggressive, they are protective of their young and tend towards herd mentality in defense. On ground they are slow, and a human can easily outwalk them. In the water, though, they are much more agile than expected. They have been known to sink small submersibles that get too close to their young.

Possible game use: 

1. You are hired to hunt several of these to bring in several kilograms of their ivory, blubber and meat.

2. You are hired by animal rights people to protect a local bundle from hunters.

3. You are hired as part of a scientific team to observe a local bundle, and get in the middle of a fight between hunters and animal rights activists.

4. You are eating an excellent meal at the TAS, and find that the meat is from the whalrus. There is a hunting party going in the next few days, and you are invited along.

5. A local population sees the whalrus as their totem, and they have an almost mystical connection with the local bundle. Turns out the whalrus are slightly psionic and can extend their bundle to non-whalrus sophonts.

6. The whalrus is actually a sophont who has turned their backs to technology. 

Create your own at: http://digitalcultures.pl/hybridizer/

Gargoyle Rock

Digging back through my college hand-drawn maps and attempting to update them via Campaign Cartographer. Below is Gargoyle Rock, a smallish island full of gargoyles. My guess is I had just bought the gargoyle miniatures and wanted them to have their own island. Not sure where this is in the broader scheme of things as I never made a master map...And for some reason, my gargoyles are green but have pink wing membranes. I am wondering if I had a lack of paints and just used what I had.

Not sure what gaming system I was using, but the notes on the side of the map indicate:
Population: 1,050
Inhabitants: Gargoyles
Location: West end of Divisor River
Access: Warlock Cloak (now that sounds interesting!)
Statistical Information: 

• Magic Resistance: 0
• Death Resistance: 5
• Mobility (unity): 7
• Range: Land 0.5, air 5 (guess they are slow on the ground and fast in the air)
• Evil-Neutral: 2
• Size: 25 miles, 625 square miles
• Highlights - minimal vegetation, Forketh River is slowly dividing the island in half, mage floatation: 25%

I wonder what mage floatation is?

The original map is pretty sparse. I guess having only 3 or 4 gargoyle miniatures Ifelt that their world did not need too much detailing.

         

Patron Encounter - Mad Scientist

Equipment needed:  None; optionally their own ship.
Skills needed: depends if they are piloting their own craft or travelling as passengers. Admin, Legal, Forgery, Carousing, and personal skills could come in handy.

Players Information: In searching for cargo on the cargo boards, the group sees a request for a specialized package pickup from a neighboring world that pays above and beyond normal rates. Upon calling, they converse with a Dr, Ruce Robarne. There is a final piece to an invention he has been working on for several years, and the only nearby planet that can produce the part refuses to sell it to him. Upon pressing as to why, it turns out that this particular part is considered illegal on this planet. All he needs is to get it to the port, and he says he can get it from there. There should be no legal issues for the group.

If the group does not have their own ship, he is willing to pay for up to 4 people (2 at high passage, 4 at mid passage) to the neighboring world on a the next subsidized liner and to retrieve the parts. He gives them a line of credit that is valid in this section of space that will cover the costs.

If the group has their own ship, he is willing to pay basically for fuel, salaries and Cr3000 for transporting what amounts to a 2dton cargo. They are free to carry other cargo of course if this is a merchant vessel.

Upon successful transportation to a designated warehouse, he will pay up to Cr10,000 per person for a total of Cr40,000.

Referee Information
1. All is at it seems: the neighboring worlds are experiencing a trade embargo in an escalating trade war, and supplies of certain parts and severely curtailed.
2. The scientist is a deep-cover spy from the neighboring world, and the parts in question are additional equipment loads to help him continue his mission.
3. The scientist is one of the forgetful scientists types: when the group returns with the package safely stored in the warehouse, he will profess to no knowledge of their transaction.
4. The package is interdicted by the system. Getting it unloaded, even in the port, may require some finesse with the local and port authorities.
5. The scientist refuses to actually pay until the Travellers actually deliver the parts to his lab. The parts are illegal on this world.
6. The scientist is indeed a mad scientist, and the completion of his project is a bomb powerful enough to take out a small city. He is wanting to take over the world!

General notes: I just started looking for public domain science fiction images. I am still thinking about a month challenge, so perhaps this is a warmup...get an image, wrap something around it.

Miscellaneous Musings

I was talking with one of my friends and the whole month challenge thing came up. You know, when you do a post a day for 30 days. Or in the case of Yet Another Traveller Blog, one per letter of the alphabet (I've got his blog linked to the right - if you've not seen it, you really need to as it is an excellent source of Traveller goodness).

It would be challenging (hah! that's the point) but something I am considering to do. I got some good reactions from my Traveller Patron post, so I am thinking I may try something like that. Some nugget of Traveller usefulness, such as NPCs, or maps, or patron encounters. I think there is an actual month this happens across multiple blogs, but I'll still think about it.

I've also decided to try yet again with the Traveller tracker. Although this time perhaps a web-based project. Sigh. I know, how many times will it take? I could wimp out and go back to the Winforms which would be the easiest, and I could just restart with a smaller scale for the UWP version. I downloaded the Visual Studio 19 and it has a few more project options which is why I was considering the web one, but then I'd have to create a user system as well so that people could have their own ships. And I still really prefer more stand-alone desktop projects that have optional internet connections. Because the internet is not available everywhere. Still thinking about it, just have to actually do something about it.

And here is the beach our Delve characters have washed ashore on. The tower is really supposed to be a ship mast with a metal cage. Good ol' Bertram lives up there. We rescued some Brownies before they managed to eat Granite's big toe (well, they were starving).