Going through some of the archives I discovered there was an attempt to experiment with a personal warp pack. Dare Devil Maxwell Cahones conducted his first experiment using a Type-VI drone frame with the warhead replaced with a special life support system, inertial dampener, and deflector system. The drone frame had a harness that he basically strapped himself into. The drone was launched from a specially designed rail system on top of his personal shuttle. The Personal Warp Pack was successfully launched but when the drone ran out of fuel and became inert he was not still attached. All of the harness straps were sheered away and despite extensive scanning of the entire trajectory no trace of Max was ever found. No one ever tried to develop a Personal Warp Pack ever again in recorded history.

By Randy Blair (Randyblair) on Sunday, October 04, 2015 - 11:20 am: Edit

Maxwell Cahones...
Iced tea on my screen again.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Sunday, October 04, 2015 - 02:02 pm: Edit

While it may not be quite the same thing, it would be interesting to see the Powered Battle Armor system represented in Prime Directive terms someday. (Not least since it is primarily operated by humans - albeit ones who have found themselves stranded quite a lot farther from home than they had originally been expecting...)

By Steve Cain (Stevecain) on Monday, March 07, 2016 - 08:02 pm: Edit

I am working on several character concepts for Gurps PD. With this I am referencing all of the PD1 series for background, concepts, etc.

Some questions come to mind: In PD1 Federation there is a distinct branching 9 (well 10) paths for Vulcan Psi. Is a character more historically grounded in GPD edition if these are used?

Would a fleet commanded Prime Team with it's own ship (ie APT/Prime Trader) be likely to have an above average crew that does not come close to outstanding status? If so, would this perhaps compare (vaguely) to the Klingon Knight Paladins and their retinue plus ship crew?

What is an appropriate power level for a true experienced Prime team. I have done the numbers repeatedly and to make a Prime Team with the Spec Forces (required) template they get VERY powerful.

Also is there an adjusted to Gurps example of a PD1 Prime Team such as the Blackhawks?

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Tuesday, March 08, 2016 - 12:28 pm: Edit

I would assume that the Prime Trader crew is a special-duty assignment, requiring a higher security clearance, and thus Prime Command is a bit selective about who they have run their vessels. They may or may not take Crewmen (E-2 / E-3) pipelined right out of tech school, but if they do you can bet they'd be in the top 5% or their class.

As to Prime Team members, consider that modern-day special forces is, if I'm not mistaken, only open to those who have pulled a four-year tour and have re-enlisted.


Garth L. Getgen

By Steve Cain (Stevecain) on Tuesday, March 08, 2016 - 05:53 pm: Edit

Garth,
Thanks for the input. I was aware that most SF operators apply more than once and that (and I believe you are correct for all services) there is a min 4 yr tour.

So, given 4 yr tour, bump their power level up by 1-2 putting Primes in a 250-300 point bracket for a team fresh out of Prime Central?

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Tuesday, March 08, 2016 - 06:38 pm: Edit

I have no idea how to covert it to game terms, sorry.


Garth L. Getgen

By A. David Merritt (Adm) on Tuesday, March 08, 2016 - 07:17 pm: Edit

AS GURPS player I would say that should work for a Prime Team.

By Steve Cain (Stevecain) on Tuesday, March 08, 2016 - 07:38 pm: Edit

Thanks guys

By Dal Downing (Rambler) on Tuesday, March 08, 2016 - 10:20 pm: Edit

The thing to remember about Prime Teams is they are not just Ubber Special Forces. They have Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers even Negotiators who all are competent Fighters as well as very very good at their original fields.

The cloestest TV reference I can think of off hand is NCIS Abby and Beale are still members of the team just rarely deployed to the field. Even McGee was originally just Tech Support that made the jump.

By Jon Murdock (Xenocide) on Wednesday, March 09, 2016 - 03:18 am: Edit

They fit into an odd place that does not fit in any modern military force. Special forces would be the SFB commando units.

They fit into the fictional genre of all-around troubleshooters. The best fiction comparison I can come up with is from the Stargate TV series though other series have had comparable groups. They go on special missions and are set up to have to negotiate, explore, fight, perform recon, evaluate cultures and technology, explore ancient ruins, and whatever else comes up.

By Loren Knight (Loren) on Wednesday, March 09, 2016 - 10:10 am: Edit

I think Prime Teams fit in a universe where Star Fleet Command had to come up with a way to keep their sodding star ship captain's from leaving their ships to chase hot alien chicks and to reduce Red Shirt losses!

By Jon Murdock (Xenocide) on Wednesday, March 09, 2016 - 10:50 am: Edit

I suspect you could say Kirk is one of the main reasons for the creation of Prime Teams.

By Steve Cain (Stevecain) on Saturday, March 12, 2016 - 03:17 am: Edit

Dal- Very good point on the multiple types of career fields. That is part of where I find it difficult to get a moderate power on them- since they are good to very good at areas besides the combat.

Jon- Agreed Spec INCLUDES commandos-- by far the majority; but background states that PTs are Spec Forces too. One might think of ratios as that of Rangers, Marine Recon, and other elites compared to the handful of SEALs, Green Barrettes, Air Force's spec jump teams (forget the name), etc.

Loren- I feel a Storm Trooper v. Red Shirt joke inferred there: Storm Troopers all miss targets; Red Shirts die anyway.

So, bottom line: What is realistic power level to run newly formed PT assuming that they just finished the old PD1 "Graduation Exercise"?

By John Williams (Johndw) on Wednesday, October 12, 2016 - 05:48 pm: Edit

It has been a while, I'm wondering what the current status of Traveller: Prime Directive is.

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Wednesday, October 12, 2016 - 11:33 pm: Edit

I have got to start over on the text and graphics. I need to move from the old Mac to my PC. And then I need to check with the author to see what changes need to be made.

By John Williams (Johndw) on Thursday, October 13, 2016 - 12:18 am: Edit

Jean, sounds like quite a bit to do with all of your other work load as well. May the muses inspire you to complete all that you have on your schedule.

By A. David Merritt (Adm) on Tuesday, February 07, 2017 - 04:17 pm: Edit

Glancing through the new PD20M Supplement raises a question for me.

Will there be a similar book for GURPS? I noticed some changes, i.e. Vudar ambitiousness, and Carnivon -1 SM changes, there may be others, but I noticed those two.

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Tuesday, February 07, 2017 - 05:57 pm: Edit

I think there will be, but it will be a long list.

Did you mean "amphibious" instead of "ambitiousness," perhaps? I don't recall anything about ambition.

I'm not sure what you mean by -1 SM with the Carnivons. Their attribute modifiers and advantages all carried through. Their short life span is covered under the AGE section.

By A. David Merritt (Adm) on Tuesday, February 07, 2017 - 06:55 pm: Edit

Vudar, I did. I typed that on my phone, it must not have liked amphibious for some reason.

Carnivons, the height weight table on pg 25 has the Carnivons being 3'11"M, 3'10"F, in GURPS terms that should be SM -1.

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Tuesday, February 07, 2017 - 07:32 pm: Edit

Carnivons are 3'11" +2d10 inches, so they should be between 4'1" and 5'7". The average would be 4'10" (subtract an inch on all the numbers for females). The text of being about four feet tall is straight from GURPS. They are on the edge of being "small" for PD20M, but are not. I didn't want them to be under 4' because that means they are two different size classes. I could change the dice to be 2d6 (from 2d10) to provide shorter Carnivons. That would produce a range from 4'1" to 4'11" with 4'6" being average.

By A. David Merritt (Adm) on Tuesday, February 07, 2017 - 07:50 pm: Edit

Ah, an edge case, never mind.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Wednesday, February 08, 2017 - 09:48 am: Edit

We need to confirm ambitiousness...

The carnivons have lots of ambition...next to the Romulans they aspire to greatness. To conquer the Galaxy one meal at a time!

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Wednesday, February 08, 2017 - 02:14 pm: Edit

Carnivons have been changed to be +2d4 for their height. This makes them closer to the verbal description of four feet tall.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Wednesday, February 08, 2017 - 04:55 pm: Edit

FYI! Just in case any one might have misunderstood the context of Jeans message... while a four foot tall Carnivon might not sound like much in a GURPs PD setting, it must be remembered that Carnivons hunt in packs, and that it is rather unlikely to encounter just one Carnivon.

It's only speculation, but urban legend has it the the Carnivon word for all establishments such as bars, saloons, cocktail or speakeasy translates as "Free Food!"