ASK THE REFEREE

Rather than bog down the meta session with nit-picky rule or setting questions I figured it'd be good to kick of a generic "bug the GM with annoying questions" thread. Questions are for the Referee, so please wait for the current Ref to answer the questions rather than jumping in with your opinion. ... Unless he wants to open a question up for discussion that is.

A novel idea.  Fire away.  I'll help Bob if I can with text rules in books and interpretations, but not campaign questions.  Those deserve a different thread.

First annoying question: In the core rule book (p100) laser weapons are listed with a single weight and with two costs - one for the weapon and one for the power pack. With no weight for a power pack I assumed that the weight was included in the weight of the weapon. A 3kg pistol just seemed crazy, but it made sense if that weight included a power pack. The laser weapon descriptions in csc (p84) include the cost and weight of power packs. It's not clear if this is for an extra power pack or if the weight of a power pack isn't included in the listed weapon weight and you have to buy it separately. Hoping to get a ruling on that . If metric/imperial conversions are a hassle - a loaded assault rifle weighs about 3kgs, and an unloaded M60 weighs 10kgs. Grating question number two: the PGMP and FGMP stats in th CSC seemed to fix up the stats listed in the Main Rulebook (p100) and bring the weapons back into line with how they were presented in Classic, Mega, and Striker. The only difference is that csc has given them a very limited number of shots (csc p100). In every other incarnation of Traveller including the Mongoose Main Rulebook you've had 24 hours of "LET'S ROCK!" With these bad boys thanks to a fusion power pack (except for the PGMP-12. With that you only got 50 shots from a battery). I'm trying to figure out if this is some weird typo or if the writers of csc were actually meaning to give the Imperial Marines a staple weapon that ran out of juice 12 seconds into a fight. Maybe there is a seperate fusion pack item somewhere that is intended to go with these weapons, and if you don't have one then the internal batteries only have enough juice for ten shots? Keen to get a ruling on this. Thanks.

Alby said: First annoying question: In the core rule book (p100) laser weapons are listed with a single weight and with two costs - one for the weapon and one for the power pack. With no weight for a power pack I assumed that the weight was included in the weight of the weapon. A 3kg pistol just seemed crazy, but it made sense if that weight included a power pack. The laser weapon descriptions in csc (p84) include the cost and weight of power packs. It's not clear if this is for an extra power pack or if the weight of a power pack isn't included in the listed weapon weight and you have to buy it separately. Hoping to get a ruling on that . If metric/imperial conversions are a hassle - a loaded assault rifle weighs about 3kgs, and an unloaded M60 weighs 10kgs. Treat each book as if written by a different author and format.  Yes, the Main Corebook seems to include the weight of a backpack power source for a laser weapon.  The cost of the power pack may be separate so the user can be more trigger-happy with his second power pack on the vehicle nearby.  CSC seems to have corrected the issue.  This may be a single instance where CSC was written with brains in mind. Grating question number two: the PGMP and FGMP stats in th CSC seemed to fix up the stats listed in the Main Rulebook (p100) and bring the weapons back into line with how they were presented in Classic, Mega, and Striker. The only difference is that csc has given them a very limited number of shots (csc p100). In every other incarnation of Traveller including the Mongoose Main Rulebook you've had 24 hours of "LET'S ROCK!" With these bad boys thanks to a fusion power pack (except for the PGMP-12. With that you only got 50 shots from a battery). I'm trying to figure out if this is some weird typo or if the writers of csc were actually meaning to give the Imperial Marines a staple weapon that ran out of juice 12 seconds into a fight. Maybe there is a seperate fusion pack item somewhere that is intended to go with these weapons, and if you don't have one then the internal batteries only have enough juice for ten shots? Keen to get a ruling on this. Let's roll with the Main Corebook and treat the CSC version as alternate or lesser-tech or some other off-brand of MP artillery weapons.  Keeping it simple as the CSC makes almost everything listed as Over Powered and often aimed at campaigns that can reach in to TL 16+.  As the former Referee, I wanted a simplistic weapons list and simplistic combat rules.  CSC seemed to blow things out of proportion more often than not.  If it feels Over Powered, then chances are likely the cut-paste weapon was imported from elsewhere at the behest of lil boyz who want bigger gunz.  I favored story over New-Hawt in the campaign, (new Referee caveat and all). Thanks.

Thanks Pakkrat, but I was hoping that the  actual Referee could give me a ruling on this one. Kidding - ba ha har - burrrrrn. I'm totally onboard with what you're saying. Should we be getting Referee thumbs up on each purchase then? We're in the middle of buying a heap of gear, and a lot of it is from the csc. Or should we just carry on?

So what you are saying Packrat is that the CSC is Ling Standard commercial line of goods

Vic's humor is ever-present.  What would we do without you?

So the CSC items will become something like a -6 broker -6streetwise/Admin roll type of thing with a massive upcharge, or did I misunderstand that COMPLETELY.

Buddah said: So the CSC items will become something like a -6 broker -6streetwise/Admin roll type of thing with a massive upcharge, or did I misunderstand that COMPLETELY. I'd say that you're probably on target with some of the stuff that is just crazy powerful. I'd say that the OP stuff is generally the exception, not the rule. So most of it is probably fine. But like Pakkrat said, if it seems OP, then it's probably going to get the thumbs down. As always, asking the Ref is the best way to be sure.