Let's Read: Traveller, 1977 Edition, Starships, page 34

Continuing with damage to ship systems, next up is the Computer. Yeah, this one should be important. And it's the longest paragraph in the damage section, so you know it's serious. Every time the computer gets hit, it has an improved chance of malfunctioning. It works the opposite of the Double Fire program; your computer rolls a 1 or better (on two dice) to work properly. Every hit gives you a -1 on the roll. So, on the second hit, if you roll a 2, your modified score is 0 (-2 DM), and your computer is malfunctioning for the remainder of the phase. The effects of a malfunction aren't really spelled out, although a computer which is 'not operating' renders a ship effectively paralyzed. Every phase, you roll again to see if the malfunction has been fixed. At twelve hits, though, the computer is toast like a laptop dropped down the stairs. The next sentence states that a computer operator can use his skill level as a counter-modifier to the damage modifier, but I'm going to guess that the twelve-hit thing takes priority; you can be the greatest computer expert in the world, but that won't help if the CPU has been melted into slag.

Next up, we get the effects for small craft hits. There's the passenger section, which decompresses (hope you're in a vacc suit), weaponry, which destroys whatever weapon was hit (further hits do nothing) and the drive, which is destroyed in a single hit, turning the small craft into a ballistic rock, unable to maneuver or accelerate.

Next to this, we have the Hit Location table. It's on a 2D scale, so stuff in the middle is more likely to get taken out. That means that for a starship, the hull (6-7) and the hold (8) are the biggest targets. The power plant is the safest thing on the ship, with only a 1-in-36 chance (2 on the dice) of being hit. For small craft, the drive takes up the whole bottom of the range, with the cabin having 7-9 on the table and the weaponry at 10-12. Damage gets marked on the hit location table.

So, here are the odds of a particular system getting hit in combat, out of 36.

Hull: 11

Turret: 6

Hold: 5

Computer: 4

Fuel: 4

Jump: 3

Maneuver: 2

Power plant: 1

Next up, special situations, starting with decompression. We learn that ships will always depressurize their interiors before combat and put everyone into vacc suits if they can, so as to avoid the inconvenience of having an enemy ship do it for you and blowing your unprotected people into the vacuum of space. Some sections might stay pressurized (like cargo holds). It takes ten minutes to depressurize, so the odds are pretty good that you'll have time to do it; it's tough to sneak up on someone in space combat. Putting the air back takes two turns.

The pilot on the bridge controls what gets depressurized. Hmm...that could make for an interesting scenario: A rogue pilot trying to kill off passengers elsewhere on the ship, and you have to get to the bridge to stop him. Anyway, the engineering section, the hold, the bridge, and individual staterooms and turrets can be pressure-controlled from the bridge.

Some good stuff so far. Let's see what's next.