[TML] Scientific realism

[Jerry W Barrington]

On 6/2/08 10:35 AM, "Richard Aiken" <raikenclw at gmail.com> wrote:

> Correct.  If the hostile is a military-grade vessel.  But most pirates
> (at least in Traveller) are barely-converted merchant ships.  Whether
> or not this makes actual sense is another question.  In other
> backgrounds - the Honorverse and the "Merchanter's Luck" books -
> pirates are actually "rogue" warships of substantial tonnage.  But
> that's another debate . . .
> 
> Against the typical Traveller pirate, the typical PC-crewed ship has a
> decent chance at surviving and even winning the encounter.  But that's
> because the sensors are more-or-less even.  In CT, they aren't an
> issue at all (occuring in the background).  But in non-Traveller 2300,
> the lack of a good sensor suite quickly kills you . . . if the pirate
> managed to get his hands on a better one, that is.

I just don't get it.  If he outguns you, how does getting a passive look
sooner help you?