As a publisher of Traveller products, one of the things I find the most frustrating about the Traveller System Reference Document is that much of the specific information related to the mechanics of weapons and combat is missing. I understand that this is intended to require publishers to make vague references to the Traveller core rules, thus insuring that Mongoose Publishing continues to have strong sales of their core book, at the very least. However, I feel that such hamstrings me on specific projects, and so I have been creating Open Game Content of my own to cover the absent material.
For example, the Traveller System Reference Document does not have a range table for personal combat. Now, to be fair, the Mercenary System Reference Document does contain a parabolic weapons range tables that slipped past the censors, giving us an idea of how it should look. In that same document, we also see a few weapon stat tables, which give us a format we can use, if we want to maintain consistency. However, as a publisher, we cannot simply duplicate the material that is considered closed content in our own books, so I cannot copy the range tables to include in my own products. Instead, I'll have to come up with my own, if I want to include them.
With that in mind, I'm going to take a step back and describe the difficulty of each range category as a Task Resolution difficulty rating. This harkens back to my MegaTraveller days, giving me a sense of nostalgia, yet it also creates a system that is consistent with the rules as they are written, and thus easy to grasp. Looking at the current core rules (closed content) and converting the penalties and bonuses to the best fitting task descriptors, I come up with the following range table for use in my games and my own published material:
| Weapon Category | Personal | Close | Short | Medium | Long | Very Long | Distant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melee (close) | Average (+0) | Difficult (-2) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Melee (reach) | Difficult (-2) | Average (+0) | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Ranged (thrown) | -- | Average (+0) | Difficult (-2) | Difficult (-2) | -- | -- | -- |
| Ranged (pistol) | Difficult (-2) | Average (+0) | Average (+0) | Difficult (-2) | Very Difficult (-4) | -- | -- |
| Ranged (rifle) | Very Difficult (-4) | Difficult (-2) | Average (+0) | Average (+0) | Average (+0) | Difficult (-2) | Very Difficult (-4) |
| Ranged (shotgun) | Difficult (-2) | Average (+0) | Difficult (-2) | Difficult (-2) | Very Difficult (-4) | -- | -- |
| Ranged (assault weapon) | Difficult (-2) | Average (+0) | Average (+0) | Average (+0) | Difficult (-2) | Very Difficult (-4) | Formidable (-6) |
| Ranged (rocket) | Very Difficult (-4) | Difficult (-2) | Difficult (-2) | Average (+0) | Average (+0) | Difficult (-2) | Very Difficult (-4) |
| Space (missile) | Difficult (-2) | Difficult (-2) | Difficult (-2) | Average (+0) | Average (+0) | Average (+0) | Difficult (-2) |
| Space (short) | Difficult (-2) | Average (+0) | Average (+0) | Very Difficult (-4) | -- | -- | -- |
| Space (medium) | Difficult (-2) | Difficult (-2) | Average (+0) | Average (+0) | Difficult (-2) | Very Difficult (-4) | -- |
| Space (long) | Very Difficult (-4) | Difficult (-2) | Average (+0) | Average (+0) | Average (+0) | Difficult (-2) | Very Difficult (-4) |
| Space (very long) | Very Difficult (-4) | Difficult (-2) | Average (+0) | Average (+0) | Average (+0) | Average (+0) | Difficult (-2) |
That should do it. It changes the odds in a few places, but puts the emphasis on the skill system, which I think is appropriate. That, and it places all of the range tables in one location, where it will prove more useful when resolving combat.
Hope This Helps,
Flynn
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