Traveller, 1977 Edition, Characters & Combat, Review

Okay, as promised I'm going to do a review of the whole boxed set, one book at a time. This is more of an overview, since I already did the page-by-page read-through of all three books. So, I'm going to post my overall thoughts on each book and how I see a classic Traveller setting and game.

First of all, it's the Characters & Combat book, which could provide a lot of gaming all on its own. The whole idea of character generation possibly causing death is, I think, unique in gaming, or at least in old-school gaming. And, unlike Dungeons & Dragons, your characters aren't raw rookies who might get smoked by an orc patrol; you're experienced soldiers and scouts, ready for action with a decent chance of good skills and equipment to start.

I've seen that character creation can be a mini-game all on its own; spend a session creating characters, rolling them randomly and seeing how many survive, and how experienced they get. You'd need some ridiculous rolls to get an Admiral or a high-level Merchant with his own ship already paid for, but it could happen. Alternatively, your character could muster out after a single term, stuck with one or two low-level skills but with lots of years ahead of him.

Combat is pretty abstract, as befits an old-school game. It's fast-paced, with a good mix of weapons and tactics to spice things up. It's also friggin' deadly; there will be a goodly number of one-shot kills in Traveller combat.

Full disclosure: I've never seen a full episode of Firefly, just the first half of the pilot. I've heard rumors that it was actually based on a Traveller game run by Joss Whedon, but I have no idea if that's true or not. Still, what I did see of the show gives me a good idea of how a Traveller game should be run. It's dark, it's gritty, it's adventurous...and it can be a lot of fun. I get the sense that this game can handle Star Wars and Star Trek style better than Golden Age sci-fi like Asimov and Clarke. Which is good, since I frankly find those writers to be a little less than exciting when it comes to the action.

I think that good prep for running a Traveller game might include some of the classic pulp science fiction from the 1920s and 1930s: Skylark of Space, The Legion of Space, Flash Gordon, and other classics. Later stuff like H. Beam Piper, Poul Anderson, and the current king of space opera, David Weber, would also be great inspirations. Certainly, this is a pulpy sort of game, not a 'men with screwdrivers' setup. And I think that's for the better.

Next time, I'll do a quick overview of the second book, Starships. In the meantime, check out my first science fiction book, Bard Conley's Adventures Across the Solar System, which might provide some inspiration for Traveller games as well.

Let's Read: Traveller, 1977 Edition, Worlds & Adventures, page 42-43

Let's continue with the psi-drugs. I'm still laughing at this ridiculous name: Thongamonganite. Available in pill and liquid form, no less. The pill is a double-dose, boosting your psi-power by 6 points if you're at full-strength, and 4 if you're down a bit. I'm sure that will cost a pretty penny.

The 'Special' is thongamonganite's liquid form, that gets your PSI-strength up to an insane level, adding 15 points(!) at the rate of 1 point per hour. It's an injection-only drug. And it has its downsides, too. First, the boost lasts for four hours (unless you use the points first), and then you start losing one point per hour. Not one bonus point, but one point, until you're down to zero points at all. Which means, after you use this, you're going to end up psionically useless for a while. The second, and nastier side effect is that there's a chance (11+) that using Special will permanently drain one PSI-rating point. Yikes.

So, the psionicists aren't all that popular in the game world, and the psi-drugs are tough to get. And insanely expensive; if you can find them, the odds are pretty good that having any will be a crime on a given world. So, that will make it even tougher to find them, since nobody wants to risk getting caught selling the stuff to a stranger who might be a space-narc.

If you can find one, though, dealers can be located on any world on an 8+ throw, with Streetwise as a modifier. The most common psi-drug will be booster (one die for number of doses). Double is only available on a roll of 10+, and Special is only on a straight roll of 2. If you are lucky enough to find one of the latter two psi-drugs, you get half a die worth of doses available.

As I suspected, these things are pricy. Even the booster is a cool thousand Cr per dose. Double is 4,000, and Special is 10,000 Cr per dose. And that's the base price; it could be higher, and it won't be lower.

Even if you stay away from Special, you can still fall into the typical drug-abuse pattern. Three doses in three days or four doses in a week earns you a 9+ throw to overdose within 6 hours of the last dose. An OD will mean you're unconscious and taking 3D in wounds, and you need to roll a 10+ to avoid losing a permanent PSI-rating point.

So, that's the basics of psionics. There's a final section on public prejudice against psionicists. People won't often admit that they even have psionics, since it's so unpopular. Unless they know that the person approaching them is psionic themselves, they'll keep quiet.

This means that there's a chance that you could hire a psionicist and not know it. It's a throw of 12 (secretly by the referee) to see if the hireling has some talent; if they do, the referee rolls it up normally. There's also a chance (another roll of 12 on 2D) that the person hired is actually an informer who will report on any psionic activity they witness. That would be a dangerous job, since the odds are pretty good that a psionicist will be able to detect their treachery. And someone who can tear minds apart with their thoughts might not react very well.

Oh, and we close the page with a list of potential punishments for being detected as a psionicist. Roll two dice. 12+ is a lobotomy. Ouch. 10+ is a lynching. No, that doesn't have negative connotations these days. 8+ is tarring and feathering...what is this, the late 1700s in space? 6+ means you're thrown in jail, and 4+ means they just kick you off the planet. So, psionics has some pretty good benefits, but the drawbacks, especially the social ones, are nasty.

That's it for this page, but the final page just has a table of psionic range costs, so I'll throw that in. Awareness is internal only, so it doesn't have any range costs. Telekinesis doesn't go beyond Very Long range, which is up to 500 meters, according to Book 1. No, I didn't memorize it; I just opened it up again to page 28. At that range, TK costs 9 additional points, so it's likely to be a short-range ability. Telepathy, Clairvoyance, and Teleportation can go across the entire planet, at a maximum cost of 6, 4, and 5 PSP for range, respectively.

And that's it for Book 3. It's been quite a trip, but it's not quite done. I'm going to do a review of all three books, now that I've read through the whole game. It's quite a different perspective now that I've seen the entirety of the original rules. I still haven't had a chance to play, but when I do, I'll be more prepared for it. And, I still have the Hub to work on. So, there's plenty of Traveller left to talk about. But for now, the rules are done.

In the meantime, there's a really cool science-fiction book you could check out. It's got spaceships, pirates, daring rescues, and a square-jawed hero. What more do you want? Check out Bard Conley's Adventures Across the Solar System, available at an Amazon website near you.

Our First Harvest

So, how did you celebrate Father's Day?

I started mine with a 6:30 wake-up for no reason whatsoever. So, after the usual morning stuff, and while everyone else was still asleep, I finally went out and started pulling up the rhubarb that we have growing next to the garage. It took a while, but I got a nice big batch of rhubarb:

I'd say it was close to twenty-five pounds of rhubarb. It certainly felt like it was that much when I was carrying it in the house. The leaves, of course, ended up in the compost bin that the province picks up every other week. I don't feel like getting oxalic acid in my own compost pile, so I'll let them have it. I'm generous like that.

Our neighbor wanted some of the rhubarb, so they took an armful of it before I started chopping it up. They used to get it themselves when the house was unoccupied, and since it's such a huge plant, there was no point in keeping it all for ourselves anyway. So, they came by and grabbed it, and then it was time to chop up the rest. It took a while; rhubarb can be tough, especially when the stalks are thick. But I persevered, and finally got this:

That is one of Garrett's toy bins, rinsed and cleaned. It holds quite a bit of rhubarb, as you can see. It took me almost an hour to chop it all up, but it felt good to get it done.

Some people say you should soak the rhubarb overnight to get any residual oxalic acid out of it; others say you don't have to, because it's a minimal amount that won't hurt you. I say, why take the chance? So, we soaked it overnight:

That picture gives a better idea of just how much rhubarb we have. I have no idea if we're going to be able to eat it all, but we've got some good recipes to try, including my mother's Rhubarb-Peach Cobbler, which I haven't tasted in decades. I'm looking forward to it.

But that wasn't all we did for Father's Day. I got to go out and plant stuff in the gardens; bush beans, corn, and peas. I didn't take any pictures, since it just looks like plain dirt at this point. But the veggies will grow. We're on our way to making a real farm out of this place.

And last night, Dannielle and I took Garrett to Thunder Cove Beach, which is on Malpeque Bay, to see the Teacup Rock and the sunset over the water. It was an amazing view; it's absolutely beautiful there. It's beautiful everywhere on this island, frankly. I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to live here. Oh, did I mention the caves?

The cave doesn't actually go anywhere, but just take a look. I don't know about you, but my imagination was fired up looking in there. There were a couple of other caves there, smaller than that.

Dannielle and I walked along the beach with Garrett, who was having a great time. He's actually sitting with me as I type this, and pointing at the cave picture above. He crawled in and had a good look around while we were there.

By the time we walked away from this spot, the 'S' was already washed away by the waves. But at least we have the memories.

All in all, I would have to say that this was a successful and pleasant Father's Day. I'm looking forward to our further explorations of the island, and whatever mysteries and majesty await us.

Setting Goals

I have to say, coaching baseball is a blast. It's not something I'd thought seriously of doing before, but now that I'm actually doing it, I'm really enjoying it. I'm coaching a bunch of 11-13-year-olds, and while we lost another game tonight (we're 0-3 on the season), there was some definite improvement throughout the team.

One of the things I started doing right off the bat is asking each kid to set a goal for each game. At the last practice, I'll ask everyone what their goal is for the game. Each kid is different; some will set a goal to get on base, some to strike out batters as a pitcher, some to record an out. And on the first day (two games), seven of the twelve kids met their goals. It was pretty exciting. Tonight, we had our third game, and once again, several kids reached their goals. My starting pitcher wanted to strike out three batters; he got six. I set a team goal as well, to get through two innings with three outs instead of the other team scoring four runs (which ends the inning). Tonight, we got three innings like that, including a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth. It was fantastic.

I think that setting goals helps the kids get through the games even when they are losing. Tonight, the score was 11-4, but the kids played hard right to the end, and there was no quit in them. I was proud of them, and I told them so.

So, goals. It's important to set reasonable goals at the beginning, goals that are achievable based on the current level of ability. For the kids, some of them have the goal of just getting good contact on the ball; others set their goal to get extra-base hits. As long as it's not something crazy, like 'strike out the side on nine pitches', or 'hit for the cycle', I'm going to encourage them to keep working at it. It's a great motivator, and something that we can keep improving during the season.

But of course, this isn't just a baseball thing; it's for everything. The most successful people will always say that they are constantly striving to meet the next goal they've set. It's a very important habit to get into, one I want to instill in these kids now while they're young, so they get into the habit of doing it later in life.

Not only that, but achieving these goals shows them that they can improve, and once they've achieved the small goals, then they can set bigger ones. And by the end of the season, there will be some tallies in the win column, which is the best goal of all for a team.

One of my goals last year was to publish twenty original books. I didn't achieve it, but I got halfway there, publishing ten books on Amazon. One of them is my first mystery novel, Final Exam, the first book I published last year. It's available in ebook format right now, for the low price of $0.99 US. Check it out, and support indie publishing!

Let's Read: Traveller, 1977 Edition, Worlds & Adventures, page 41

 Okay, we're just about done with psionics (and the rule set itself), so let's get into the home stretch and see what the last few pages of psionic stuff will give us. We continue with some teleportation rules, specifically about changes in altitude. If you teleport down a mile, the temperature jumps 7 degrees Fahrenheit, which is enough to cause you some serious damage. It's recommended that the character not jump with an altitude difference of more than 400 meters, and don't jump more than 600 meters in altitude in an hour, or bad things will happen.

The explanation they give is that teleporting into a lower elevation changes energy, manifesting as heat. Teleporting up produces the opposite effect, so things noticeably cool down. I'm not sure how the physics of that would work, but then, this is psionics and science fiction, so it's all good. I'm sure there's an old Astounding story that would explain it.

These temperature changes don't have to be an issue; there are compensators and heat suits, for example, that can take the danger out of teleporting. Of course, you'd have to be at least 7th level to use any of them...

Speaking of levels, teleporters are the only ones who start at a higher level: They start at level 5, unless their PS rating is less than five, in which case they simply can't teleport, and never will. Well, that would suck. It's a worthless ability if you've got a low PSR, and you can't improve it. Oh, and good luck leveling up, because it takes a roll of 12 on 2D to level up, and you only get one roll per month. Considering the odds, you've got about three years before you gain a single level. Good thing you start out at five, so on average you'll take twelve years to get to level 9 and the full teleporting ability.

And that's it for teleportation.Next, we have the 'Special' category. This is your 'miscellaneous' powers section, which can be basically anything that isn't covered by the five main talents. Maybe a cryonicist who can freeze things with their mind, for example. Or someone who can project images of what they are thinking for people to see with their eyes instead of their minds. That would be handy to have when you're shopping and you can't describe what you're looking for.

This can also give a character an ability that they normally wouldn't qualify for from one of the other abilities. So, you might only be a level-3 teleporter with a low PSR, but with the Special, you could say that while you won't develop the full abilities of a teleporter, you can still teleport short distances yourself. Or, you might be able to teleport small objects instead. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination, of course.

So, that's it for the powers. Remember, they all cost PSPs. So, you have to be able to regain those PSPs. According to these rules, you have to wait three hours after using a power to start regaining your strength. Note that it's any power that will restart the clock to three hours. After you've left your psionics alone for three hours, you regain one PSP per hour until you're back to full strength. Obviously, you can't 'recover' more than you normally have. Taking Psi-Drugs is considered as using psionics, so don't if you want to recover your strength naturally.

Speaking of psi-drugs, that's what's next. There are a few different kinds, which will be described here and on the next page. Basically, these are what you'd expect: chemical methods of enhancing your PSPs. The only one we get to see today is the Booster, which is the entry-level psi-drug with a ridiculous scientific name. Thongamonganite. Seriously? Thong among the ganites? Anyway, this one boots your PSPs by 3 points if you are already at full strength, and 2 if your strength is reduced. The booster lasts for about an hour, and you can't double-dip with it to get additional strength; it just won't work. And you can never increase your PSP more than three points above your maximum with the booster drug.

Alright, that's another page done, and there are only a couple of pages left. Until next time, read some sci-fi goodness provided by yours truly: Bard Conley's Adventures Across the Solar System. I didn't include any psionics in this book, but there is plenty of action and adventure to be found. Check it out, and support indie publishing. Because that's where the good stuff can be found.

Top 10 Heroes

Everyone has heroes. Heroes are a part of our lives from the moment we're old enough to recognize other people. For many of us, our parents are our first heroes. Dad is the strongest guy in the world, and Mom is the most beautiful woman who ever lived. They are our icons, the people who inspire us to be more than a crawling infant. As we get older, our view of heroes expands. Maybe it's a sports star, or a movie character, or a comic book. Heroes continue to inspire us as we grow up.

And as we grow, our heroes change. Sometimes for the better, sometimes...not so much. We can often fall into the trap of admiring and emulating someone who we think is heroic, but ends up having feet of clay, or worse, their heroism was only in our minds, because we thought they were cool, and 'cool' equaled 'hero' to us.

But throughout our lives, whether we recognize them or not, we all have our heroes. I'm going to list ten of mine, heroes who have inspired me as a writer and as a person. Some of them are heroes from my childhood; some are heroes from later in life, and some are recent acquaintances. But they all have one thing in common: They are heroes.

But, what is a hero? Well, that depends on each of us. We all have our different views on what a hero is. And tastes change over time; what was once considered heroic becomes problematic as society views these older heroes as racist, sexist, etc. But they are who they are, and they still have those heroic qualities that made people admire them throughout history.

In my case, my heroic tastes run to the noble and great, the mighty who protect the weak. When I played D&D, my favorite class was always the paladin. The knight in shining armor, the epitome of the medieval hero, the man who would stand unflinching before the very hordes of hell and hold the line. Stories of King Arthur and his knights always fascinated me, even to this day. But knights come in different forms, sometimes in a way we don't expect.

So, here are ten of my favorite heroes from movies, literature, comics...and real life.

10. Sir Richard Burton. The only historical figure on my list, Sir Richard Burton is one of the most incredible men who ever lived. He was a soldier, a spy, a polyglot, and a diplomat. He explored the world; he spoke over two dozen languages; he wrote prodigiously about his travels, and gave us two of the most famous (and notorious) collections of writing in English history: The first complete translation of the Arabian Nights, and the Kama Sutra. He is a titan in history, and while the number of people who remember him or his activities is dwindling, he casts a massive shadow over not only history, but literature. For more on that, check out this link at DMR Books' blog: The Literary Afterlife and Legacy of Sir Richard Burton. If a writer were to invent Burton, he would be ridiculed for creating such an over-the-top, larger-than-life character. But he was real, and he was definitely a hero.

9. Luke Skywalker. I've written about Luke before. While everyone I knew was into Han Solo, Luke was my guy. He was a paladin, even though it was called a Jedi Knight. He did what was right, he didn't fall into temptation, and he did something extremely Christian: He redeemed a fallen soul, his father, before he died. Luke Skywalker is a fantastic hero, in more than one sense. We will ignore the fake Luke Skywalker that appeared in the new sequel trilogy, because that was not Luke Skywalker.

8. Honor Harrington. The only woman on my list, she is the star of David Weber's Honorverse series of books. I know that she's a ridiculous Mary Sue, but I still like her. True, you could switch her out with a male character and, other than the romance parts of the story, you'd see nothing different. The thing that I appreciate is her absolute devotion to duty and her determination to uphold the traditions of the Navy and the Queen she serves. She's obviously and blatantly modeled on Horatio Hornblower, with not a little bit of Admiral Nelson thrown in. But there's nothing wrong with that. I've been reading her books since the first one came out, On Basilisk Station, many years ago, and I never get tired of them. Sure, I'll skim over the technical exposition to get to the action. Action is the point, anyway. And the Honor Harrington books have a whole hell of a lot of action. Space battles galore! And sword fights, just because! It's fun, and she is a great hero.

7. Conan. I'm a newcomer to the pulps; I've read a few Conan stories, and yes, I've seen the two Arnold movies (but not the Jason Momoa one). But let's face it: Conan is as larger-than-life as it gets. He's Richard Burton, minus the civilization. He gets around, he explores the world, but he always remains true to himself and his own code. I'm looking forward to reading more of Howard's greatest creation as I progress through my Appendix N list; what I've read so far makes me want to read more. As for the movie version, I prefer the second movie to the first one, which I know makes me insane. But the first one was plodding and as soulless as one of Thulsa Doom's thralls. Plus, I'm not a big fan of the R-rated stuff. The second one was more of a romp, light-hearted and silly at times, but I found it had more action.

6. Spider-Man. I always looked at Peter Parker with a sympathetic eye, because I could most definitely identify with him. Smaller, shy, bookish...Peter's trials and tribulations throughout high school resonated with me. And he was someone that, through extraordinary fortune, because extraordinary himself. But he still acted and felt like a typical high school kid, one who didn't have all the glory and the girls, like so many of us. And the thing I liked about his adventures was that he didn't always win. In fact, he often got his butt kicked the first time around. But he never gave up, he always came back and found a way to come through when it mattered. No wonder he became the most popular comic book hero on the planet for a good chunk of time.

5. King Belgarion. This one is a sentimental favorite. I didn't read Lord of the Rings until I was in high school, and while I enjoyed it (I was among the many who assumed that LotR was the ur-text for Dungeons & Dragons), I found it to be a bit of a slog to get through. The long descriptive passages turned me off, and I found my eyes glazing over as I skimmed ahead looking for some action. But David Eddings' Belgariad was my real introduction to epic fantasy. I got the first two books for my twelfth birthday (along with the first Foundation book, which made LotR look like an Edgar Rice Burroughs book). It took me a couple of tries to get into the story, since it started off rather slow, but once I got into it, I was hooked. I read the entire series as each book came out, and I reread them regularly. Garion, like Peter Parker, was a character I could identify with. Hey, he was roughly my age. And he was on this incredible journey of discovery, not only of the world around him, but of his own heritage and power. To this day, it's still my favorite fantasy series, largely because of Garion and his earnest heroism. He didn't always know what to do, but he did it sincerely.

4. Madmartigan. I wrote about this recently, too, although I focused more on the movie in general and not as much on Madmartigan. But despite his single appearance in this movie, Madmartigan was one of my favorite characters, ever. He wasn't much at the beginning; a thief, a liar and a swindler, but by the end of the movie, he had more than redeemed himself. The moment where he swears himself to Willow's service still gets to me, and his heroic one-man stand against an army (and a dragon) had me riveted. Plus, he got the girl in the end, which is always important.

3. John Carter. The foundation of fantasy and science fiction literature in the twentieth century, John Carter's shadow looms over everything. He debuted in 1912 in All-Story Magazine, and turned a whole generation of boys into readers. Without him, there's no Star Wars, no Superman, and no Dungeons & Dragons. He changed it all, creating a whole new genre of planetary romance, and setting a new standard for a superman with his fighting prowess and incredible leaping. His indomitable spirit and indefatigable endurance make him one of the deadliest warriors ever. And that was E.R. Burroughs' first written work! I've read four Barsoom books so far, and they're all fantastic. In every sense of the word.

2. Captain James T. Kirk. I was actually torn between Kirk and Cpt. Archer, his predecessor as captain of the first Enterprise. Archer's Enterprise is still my favorite of the Star Trek series, with its relatively-primitive technology and that sense of exploration and wonder that was missing from the 24th-century shows. But Kirk is still the man, and will continue to be so. His willingness to do what was right, even in defiance of the almighty Prime Directive, is one of the most important qualities of a hero. And while sometimes his stories got a bit preachy, you could always count on him to jump into the action and save the day. He was the ultimate leader, a man who could inspire everyone around him to greater heights, and he deserves every accolade the Federation ever gave him.

1. Superman. Of course it's Superman. Just as I preferred Luke to Han, there was never a question in my mind of 'Superman or Batman.' Superman just exceeds Batman in every significant way. Sure, Bruce has more money than Fort Knox, has the cool villain gallery and the great toys, but let's face it: Superman would take out Batman in about three seconds. I don't care how much prep time Bats has; Superman moves at near-light speeds, can heat-vision you from a mile away, can hear you coming from even further, and can bounce pretty much anything you throw at him.

But that's not what makes him a hero. He's the greatest hero because although he has the ability to do all that, he holds back. He's the ultimate example of how far we can go as a race, but he's still grounded with his friends, his career, his family, and his humanity. Yes, the most powerful being on the planet is still human where it counts. He's the shining, noble knight who will fly in to save the day, never hesitating to put himself in harm's way to protect the weak. He could rule the world, and no one could prevent it. But that's not what he's all about; he's about inspiring us to be greater than we are. And in the end, that is the most heroic action of them all.

If these are the kinds of heroes you like as well, you might be interested in checking out my first fantasy novel, Arrival, the first book of the Chronicles of Meterra. It's got literal knights in armor doing the right thing, carving their way in a strange new world. Check it out, and support indie publishing.

Let's Read: Traveller, 1977 Edition, Worlds & Adventures, page 40

It's the home stretch, as we've only got a very few pages left in these rules. We're finishing off Awareness and moving on to Teleportation, so let's get to it.

There's not much left to say about the Awareness ability; it's self-only, so no using it to enhance or heal your crewmates. There is a note that combat rounds are considered to be about 15 seconds long, which is important when using countdown powers like Psionically-Enhanced Strength and Endurance. It's an awkward place to put that rule, but that's how old-school games worked.

The usual bit about experience is next, although the roll to increase the level by one is a 10+ rather than an 8+. So, this is a tougher one to improve.

Next, it's time for everyone's favorite instantaneous-movement power, Teleportation! This skill only enables the user to teleport himself; at higher levels, you get to bring your stuff along, within reason. There aren't any sub-abilities to mention here, as the only issue is how much can you teleport. The basic teleport, where you're just bringing yourself (naked) is a level 5 skill. It costs the range cost only to do this.

If you want to arrive at your destination without looking like you're streaking, you need to be level 7. Again, it's just the range cost, and if you can carry a small (less than 1 kg) weapon such as a dagger or holstered small gun, as long as it fits to the clothing, you can bring it along.

Level 9 is when you can bring more gear, but only as much weight in kg as you have strength points. So, you can't teleport with full battle dress. Although that would be a terrifying encounter, wouldn't it? A Heinlein Mobile Infantryman just pops in out of nowhere and starts blasting? Yikes.

As with Awareness, this is self only, so you can't bring someone else along or even just teleport someone else instead of yourself. You can, however, bring a small animal with you at level 9, as long as you can carry it.

One of the keys to this ability is that you have to know where you're jumping to. You can't just jump blindly, since you have no idea what's there. Unless you can see it, of course, such as teleporting from one rooftop to the next one over. Either you've been to the place before, or someone's used telepathy to put the image into your mind, or you're using the level-5 Clairvoyance ability to see it yourself. Remember, you can learn and develop more than one psionic ability.

There are some further restrictions on jumping, because teleportation is one heck of a handy device that can break a game if it's not carefully watched. If you're planetside, you're only jumping within a regional distance. Did we get 'regional' distances defined at some point? I don't think so. But I'm going to assume that it's more of a 'no further than across Texas or Ontario' kind of distance, which is still pretty far. And it's going to cost lots of PSPs to do that anyway.

Jumps at very distant range can be disorienting, confusing the teleporter for up to 2 minutes, which can be deadly if your landing zone wasn't as safe as you had expected. And at distant ranges, there's an 8+ chance that you'll trip or fall when you get there. This is why looking before you leap is necessary; the player has to describe the specific effects at the LZ and how he will avoid them, if he wants to make those really long jumps.

And that's it for this page, as we've just touched the top of page 41. More next time! In the meantime, you can still get my first science-fiction adventure, Bard Conley's Adventures Across the Solar System, which is available on Amazon in paperback or in ebook format. It's not based on Traveller, since I hadn't read through the rules yet, but it's written in the spirit of the pulps that inspired the game. Check it out, and support indie publishing as the wave of the future!

Opening Day

Well, it's official; I'm now 0-2 to start my career as a baseball coach. I take comfort in the fact that I've got some good kids, and there's talent to work with. We played two games against the two Summerside teams. The first one was rough, as we lost 16-6. The second was quite the crazy game, a back-and-forth affair that ended up at 20-16.

Tanner started the first game and pitched pretty well, although he's got some work to do on throwing strikes. That was the theme today for all six kids who pitched, though; accuracy is the challenge. Still, there was some hitting, some excellent defense, and some smart baserunning on our part. And now I've got a better handle on what these kids can do, and how I'm going to teach them.

This is level 'A' ball, so these are more of the beginning kids; a couple of them haven't played before, and some didn't play at all last year, since they lived in Ontario and everything was shut down. But they acquitted themselves very well today, and I'm looking forward to more success this year.

Seeing as I'm a teacher by nature, I want the kids to learn the fundamentals and improve their play throughout the season. We've got a special coaching clinic coming up on Thursday, with some of the players from the provincial 22U team. College-aged kids, basically. And I'm going to use a 'goal-oriented' approach to the games for the kids. Tanner's goal today was to strike out three batters. He got two, which is a great start. Others wanted to do something on defense; most of them, of course, wanted to hit the ball. And they did hit the ball. They hit the ball very well. Not everyone did, but almost everyone did get on base today at least once.

So, it was a great start to the season. I had some fears that this would start out like the Mighty Ducks' movie, where we got wiped out by the teams that have been practicing for a couple of months. But that wasn't the case; we didn't win, but we played pretty well. I'm looking forward to the rest of the season. Our next game is on Friday, so everyone will be rested up and ready to go. In the meantime, practice tomorrow and the clinic on Thursday. It's going to be a fun season.

Let's Read: Traveller, 1977 Edition, Worlds & Adventures, page 39

Well, my first post on Traveller psionics got linked on Castalia House's weekly Sensor Sweep, which was quite unexpected. And very cool; it was through Castalia that I found some of the blogs I read regularly now, so I'm hoping to see an uptick in traffic as a result.

Anyway, back to the psionics. It turns out that TK doesn't have any specialized abilities other than picking up bigger raisins as you get stronger. I was hoping there would be some interesting abilities like fine manipulation, or exploding small objects. Of course, I can always add them if I want to. And, like the other abilities, experience works with a monthly 8+ roll to improve a level. Nothing earth-shattering there. Or raisin-shattering.

So, we move on to the fourth talent, which is Awareness. This is bodily self-control. No, it doesn't mean you have a super-bladder. But it does come with four cool abilities, so let's take a look at them.

First, it's Suspended Animation, or 'feign death' for all you D&D fans out there. It's like cold sleep in the Low Passage death-boxes, except you don't die. That would be worth doing if you were on a long trip, instead of risking your life in the deathtrap known as 'Low Passage,' if you could convince the purser to let you hang out in a small pressurized container for a few days. The power is good for seven days, although it can be stopped through external stimuli like an alarm. It's a level 2 ability, costing 3 points. That's an efficient use of points, 3 for a power that lasts a whole week? Of course, you can't actually do anything during that week.

Next is Psionically Enhanced Strength. Hulk Smash! You convert your brain strength into muscle strength, translating 1 PSP per minute into a one-point bonus to your Strength score. Your maximum points gained is your current level of Awareness power, and you can't boost yourself higher than a 15 Strength no matter how high your level is. The strength boost lasts for an hour, then fades at 1 point per minute until you're back to normal. This is a level-4 ability.

Psionically Enhanced Endurance is the follow-up, a 5th-level ability that does for your endurance what the previous ability does. Same rules, same restrictions.

The fourth ability is Regeneration. So you can be the Hulk and Wolverine at the same time, if you've got the mental stamina to pull it off. One PSP equals one wound point healed. It's fast (a minute or so), and you can repeat the process if one application isn't enough to get you all the way back to healthy. It's even retroactive, so you can regenerate lost limbs and old wounds from years ago once you're strong enough to do it. You cannot, however, reverse the aging process. This is a level-9 ability.

In honor of the potential new readers, I'd like to ask you to take a look at my first science fiction publication, Bard Conley's Adventures Across the Solar System, which is a collection of ten linked short stories. It's available in paperback and e-book formats on Amazon right now!

Let's Read: Traveller, 1977 Edition, Worlds & Adventures, page 38

Let's continue with more psionics, specifically Clairvoyance abilities. We've seen Sense (level 2) and Clairvoyance (level 5) thus far. Next up...the radio version of Clairvoyance, Clairaudience. It's identical to the former, so it's also level 5 and costing 2 PSPs + range to use. But it's audio only. So, Clairvoyance is like the Six-Million Dollar Man, for you oldsters like me. Clairaudience is the Bionic Woman's ability.

Next up, the full package of Clairvoyance and Clairaudience together. It's level 9, costs the same as the previous abilities, and allows you to see and hear what's going on at a distance.

Direction allows you to target your extra-sensory abilities, which seems odd; you should be able to aim it right off the bat. But it's a level 3 ability, requiring no points except range costs, and it basically means you can target a specific area, rather than just a general one. Okay, that makes sense.

Clairvoyants are the ultimate spies; they can see and hear at a distance, without anyone having the slightest clue they are around. Their abilities are completely invisible, even to other psionics. Useful, and scary. As beginners, they are level 1 (which means they have no actual power; Sense is level 2), and they get the same 8+ roll once per month as Telepaths do to go up a level. They can do this until they reach their maximum level, based on their psionic strength rating.

Now we move on to the third psionic ability: Telekinesis. Yes, moving things with your mind. Your level determines how much you can lift mentally. At level 1, your mighty powers enable you to move...1 gram of weight. One lousy gram. Do you know what weighs a gram? A raisin, or a paper clip, or a pen cap. Not exactly earth-shattering, is it? Still, it's a start. The table of telekinetic levels goes up to level 10, which tops out at 100 kilograms, or the size of a full-grown man. Well, it's not moving tanks or anything, but lifting someone up off the ground from thirty feet away is still impressive.

There's enough sensory awareness in the TK to manipulate objects in a meaningful way. And if I'm reading this right, the weight you lift determines the PSP you use in that instance. If you throw the object, the cost is doubled. TK ability lasts for up to a minute. Gravity doesn't affect the mass you can move, either; it's mass, not weight that you're lifting. An important distinction that I was wondering about.

And that's it for this page; next time, we'll see what else Telekinesis can do.

How to Be a Successful Farmer in One Easy Step

And I thought growing garlic was easy...

All I had to do was put the bulbs in the ground and leave them over the winter. Pretty soon we're going to have some home-grown organic garlic, ready to harvest. But today, we saw this by the garage:

That...is rhubarb. Lots and lots of rhubarb. I didn't have to do anything to get it, either; it was there, sneakily growing behind our backs the whole time. We're going to start harvesting it this week and doing funky things with it. Not the leaves; they're poisonous. But the stalks? Oh, yeah. And Mom, thanks for the rhubarb peach cobbler recipe; I knew you'd find it eventually.

Speaking of peaches, we do have a peach tree, although I forgot to get a picture of it. It's still in a pot, not planted in the ground, but we figure that will change in a month or so. It's a self-pollinator, so it's not going to need any other peach trees to produce fruit.

Now, if we could only grow something on purpose...baby steps, I suppose.

Play Ball!

Well, baseball season is back. No, not the Major Leagues; they're already two months into the season. I'm talking about local kids baseball. We had our first practice tonight, and when I say 'we,' I'm including me, because I'm the coach. Yes, I'm coaching Tanner this year. I'm not exactly the 'head' coach, since I've never done that before and I have no clue how to run a practice, but I'm going to learn. Fortunately, there are a couple of other dads who are helping out as well, so we'll get through it.

So, this team is the Western Mariners, and has kids from all over the western part of Prince Edward Island that live too far from Summerside to play on those teams. And there are only ten kids on the team. It's going to be an interesting year, especially if any kids miss games. I'm not expecting us to be league champions or anything; there's no point in having high expectations when you have no clue what your players are capable of yet.

I'm going to do my very best not to favor Tanner; he didn't play at all last year, and he's out of practice. But he's getting his pitching groove back, and although there's at least a week before we play any games, I get the sense he's going to be the team's best pitcher. We'll see; it's only been one practice, after all, but I've only got three kids who even want to pitch, so there's not a lot to pick from. I'll probably have to draft someone to pitch at some point, because with the pitch-count rules in effect, there's no way I'm going to get away with having only three pitchers all season.

I'm going to Charlottetown on Saturday for the big coaches' meeting to get the schedule and everything else I need to run a team. I'm looking forward to it; I don't generally get too far east of Summerside, so going to 'the big city' around here is a bit of a treat.

So, it's time to grab some popcorn and peanuts, and get ready to yell at some umpires. I'm going to go practice dirt-kicking for a bit. Gotta be ready for my coaching debut, after all.