Traveller Tuesday: Quad Turrets and Software

Some months ago I talked about old, practically obsolete TL7 starship weapons. While this post doesn't take the opposite approach and talk about TL16+ weapons -- that's a bit too ambitious for my tastes, as I'm afraid I'd get the numbers wrong and make something far too powerful -- there are some weapons that the Imperium keeps for its own use, and for the defense fleets of key worlds (notable subsector capitals like Jewell and Regina, for example). Think of them as having Imperial ITAR restrictions -- player characters can't buy them.

Well, not legally.

My use of Traveller setting and dress falls under

fair use guidelines for both Mongoose and Far Future Enterprises.

Quad Turrets are the natural evolution of the single, double, and triple turrets. Their weapons are stacked 2x2 and, in addition to the increased firepower of having an additional weapon in a turret, they also give versatility: if you are using High Guard rules of only allowing one Particle Beam per triple turret, a quad turret will allow the installation of a secondary weapon. Similarly, extrapolating from Trillion Credit Squadron, a quad turret will support three Plasma Guns.

Possession of a quad turret without Imperial authorization is a felony that will result in confiscation of the turret (weapons mounted will not be returned), a fine of 2d6 x 100,000 credits, and loss of captain's license. Seizure of ship and jail time of 2d6 years is also possible, depending upon the severity of the situation -- a captain with no record of legal trouble and using the quad turret for self-defense will receive more leniency than a pirate.

Quad turrets are TL10, displace one dton, and cost 2 MCr. to governments; illegally obtained ones can cost 2-3 times this.

Ship Software is another area the Navy tightly controls in order to maintain its supremacy. Unlike quad turrets, however, computer programs are not discernible to via casual inspection, and so are more rampant upon the black market. It is, however, rumored that these illicit versions are compromised in some way; perhaps they are riddled with viruses, or contain subroutines that allow certain parties (such as, oh I don't know, perhaps the Imperial Navy) to issue a shutdown sequence using a coded frequency, or are memory hogs that prevent other programs from running. Illegally obtained versions which are both clean and fully functioning cost at least double the legal price.

• Evade/4: TL15, Rating 30, Cost 5 MCr. 
• Fire Control/6: TL14, Rating 30, Cost 15 MCr. (This is due to be declassified soon.)
• Fire Control/7: TL15, Rating 35, Cost 20 MCr.
• Auto-Repair/3: TL14, Rating 30, Cost 20 MCr.

Possession of restricted programs without Imperial authorization is a felony that will result in confiscation or erasure of the ship's computer and a fine of 2d6 x 10,000 credits per infraction. 

Next week: Datacasters