Traveller General: Tinker-Edition

>>55242039
>Tinker-Edition

I think that every ship worth it's salt should at least have an iron dust 3D printer so the crew can make the most basic things they need out of that and some basic power tools.

But mostly i assume that any TL+ ship has a multi-material 3D printer that can do things up to the size of a large suit case, including "simple" electronics.

>>55242490
That makes sense. Part of the maintenance cost is the materials for the printer, along with the plans for the replacement parts.
It can't do everything, so you still need to buy things, but it's enough for simple stuff.
Like ammo for the guns in the ship's locker, if you play in a TU where ammo isn't standardized.

>>55243390
Also it could imclude that you can buy some guns and a gene-marked blueprint for them, so you can actually maintain them while you are bounty hunting on medival worlds.

This of course would make such a printer insanely valuable on low tech worlds but any tech is that anyway for them tbg

So you could even get weapons damaged during combat without spitting in the players soup, because after a day it will be good as new.

So I decided to try the alternate Noble Rules at Reaver's Deep (http://reaversdeep.com/index.php/featured-articles/88-nobility-in-traveller)
Which is fairly good, it allows for great social advancement (since it goes 11-14, then 11S to 14S, then 15+), and got something odd:
there's no income listed for having a fiefdom (family planet), so I created it, based on similar items in the tables - 1d6xcr100 per person living on the planet.
I rolled a pop 9, with multiple of 5. Per person income/tax was cr400. The family was pulling 2 trillion from that world alone.
Made the the MCr3.9 from other properties kind of redundant. With 12 family members, what's a reasonable stipend? Cause I cut the income in half (to account for expenses and tax breaks to the fief, and so on), then divided by 12. Then cut it some more, so it was 50 billion credits a person.
I don't think they would make a good PC. Great patron though, especially with the Right of Escort that allows a body guard of 6 people, who can be armed with just about anything except heavy weapons, no matter the Law Level.

I want to run Classic but find the character creation limiting.There are no real official options for rolling a social or education based characters, which I know some of my players would want.

So my options seem to be 1) Homebrew some social and education careers, 2) Bolt Mongoose's character creation rules onto Classic, 3) Play Mongoose and refer to Classic where I can.

Which seems like the best option?

>>55244563
pick up the splatbooks with additional careers

>>55244613
Are these splatbooks for Classic, or Mongoose books? If the latter. are they easily transferable to Classic?

>>55244563

Citizens of the Imperium is what you want.

There's also a few other careers floating around, a couple of them are in the archives already.

>>55244613
>>55244717
I googled it and found Citizens of the Imperium. Thanks for pointing out the splatbooks

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>>55244756
Your welcome, traveller.

Okay, since this seems to have vanished I'll repost.

I'm thinking about doing a thing in one or two campaigns, and need some input on whether there is a coherent ruling on it or a widespread attitude. MGT1e Dilettante has rules on creating and managing a portfolio. You add assets instead of benefits.

So say as a non-noble, just a regular guy who has a lot of money to invest, what would stop me from buying and managing some real estate, a business or generally stocks. Is investing into a portfolio allowed when you're not a noble? Or is this exclusively for nobles for some Imperium-legal reasons?

>>55245336
They made it really weird, with restricting it to characters built using the careers from that book, who get portfolios instead of cash.
A possible interpretation is that it's anybody with SOC 10+ who qualifies for portfolios, or something.
Since Mongoose is just full of shitty editing, I would say you can roll on the portfolio table instead of taking a cash benefit.

>>55244563
Also a good note for GMs i forgot.
Your players will start as competent adults and a skill level of 1 is "properly educatet" and you can be hired for the purpose of using that skill.

compare:
0 is having your drivers license
1 is being a professional trucker/Taxi driver
2 Advanced driving and motor control, professional racing/stunt driving starts here.
3 Good chances that you drive a racing car at national championships, triple A movies.
4 Your driving style is literally used to show people what "true" driving looks like and there are techniques named after you.

Traveller PCs are competent (i can't stress this enough) and therefore your players should shut their trap when they ask for "experience points".
What i do is handing out one skill per player at rank 1 after major story arks, which usually are followed by some downtime.

Character advancement in Traveller is more about getting resources and equipment as much as it is about learning what your character is already capable of.

>>55245645
I absolutely agree. Doing it well tho like D&D means players and GMs need to calibrate expectations and mechanics accordingly. As another anon wrote up:

Anything that is usual for a professional in a field to carry out should be a Routine (+2) task. A person with +1 from an attribute and +1 from skill has a total bonus of +4, so the odds of success are 91,67%. Even if you fail, the degree of failure will be small meaning the outcome is likely to be annoying rather than catastrophic.

Compare this to an Average (+0) task: total bonus is +2 so the odds of success are 72,22%. Success is again likely, but by no means guaranteed. You might get a significant degree of failure, which again implies that whatever you are doing could go wrong pretty bad. In other words even professionals sometimes fail at Average tasks; they are no picnic.

The same basic professional would have a 41,67% chance of succeeding at a Hard (-2) task, and a 16,67% chance of succeeding at a Very Hard (-4) task. With the Very Hard task it most of the time it is a case of how badly it goes wrong, not if it succeeds. In other words, these difficulty levels should be used for tasks that even professionals are more likely to fail than to succeed at.

In conclusion: most common tasks performed in the universe are not Average, they are Routine (as the name implies). Now obviously you should not roll for such boring tasks unless the outcome actually matters. The difficulty level with +0 modifier does not represent the difficulty of the tasks people carry out most often, it represents the difficulty of tasks that are most often just difficult enough to warrant a roll.

>>55245562
No, I mean expressly not as a chargen benefit, but in-campaign.
> I'm just a low-status meathead/broker/engineer/security guy and made a lot of cash on this [campaign] gig.
> Let me just invest that cash into stocks
What I'm asking is whether that is allowed.

>>55250806
Who cares if the book says it's allowed or not?
Gather your cash, choose an investment type, then make a broker roll or two depending on the level of financial risk you want.
Or pay a few thousand for a good broker, then start managing your portfolio.
Simple.

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>>55250806

To put it >>55250961
a bit different.

It's true for many rpg systems and especially for Traveller that the rules are more basic ideas how to handle the game and less super solid rules, at least i think that's one point which seperate the good systems from the bad.
You know those that that encourage rule lawyering like pathfinder and shadowrun with their rulesbloat.

>>55252486
>shadowrun with their rulesbloat
And not even clearly written rulesbloat, either. SR4 was a mess. SR4/20 was a mess after a spritz of grammar. SR5 is a whole new mess.

Its like they don't realize they are bad writers because their fanbase actually loves to figure out their page scrabble.

>>55255851
>And not even clearly written rulesbloat
Are you implying Pathfinder is clearly written ?

Jokes aside, the problem with those systems is, taht there are sooo many miniscule rules and power ups, that changing some of them has a real risk of toppeling over what's levt of the balance... again.

>>55255806
That's a penis.

Which Trav campaigns do you follow on Youtube? Any Trav podcasts worth listening to? Why are there no new episodes of Felbrigg's podcast?

>>55257169

Close the Airlock was pretty good.

>>55257203
Yes, saved it while it was online. Glad to see it on archive.org. Sadly the next project was DnD.

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So, let's assume that there is a System in the foreven sector and there is a small system which want's to become a part of the larger nations.
Well they've found potential allies in the gundam-space germans from "Die Weltenbund", under the condition that they get their crime problem under control.

Now the players step upon the stage as qualified ship crew who are mysteriously jobless and seem to have a midlife crysis. They get the Job offer to work as in system patorl and can even get a small ship rented to do that work and bring the three large crime oganizations, that haunt the system, down.

What are some interesting space crimes and criminals, that stand in the way of justice and peace, you can come up with ?

>>55258064
>>55257203
What's Close the Airlock?

>>55258667
A Traveller podcast with about 110 episodes.
Each episode is a live recording of one session of a longer campaign.

>>55259283
Is it actually decent, or is it the sort of memey cringeworthy faggotry that you'd see from the D&D games that do this sort of thing?

1970s 2D6 RETRO RULES
http://www44.zippyshare.com/v/LAufPAs0/file.html

>>55259378

That's not really a question anyone can answer for you, because it's hard to say what you think constitutes "memey cringeworthy faggotry."

Every RPG podcast and show ever made has been accused of that by some anon at one time or other, so there's no possible objective metric.
Have a listen and see for yourself. I liked it.

>>55250806
>What I'm asking is whether that is allowed.

There's a current thread on the board asking us oldfags to compare our gaming experiences then to now and that incredibly pathetic question neatly sums up the differences I've experienced.

Allowed? You're the FUCKING REFEREE. You decide what is allowed or not.

Getting back to the question. You've a PC who received a windfall in chargen or game play; lottery win, dead uncle, loot, etc. They want to bank to money, go travelling, and you don't know what to do.

Google/bing "annuity". Think of it as a pension you pay yourself. The PC hands over a chunk of money and/or other assets to an institution which then manages it for him in various ways while cutting him scheduled checks.

The return is higher than a savings account because it's actively managed. The annuity holder doesn't need to be around to constantly sign off on decisions, and, unlike stock dividends, the return is guaranteed.

Read about annuities, fiddle the numbers to work for your campaign, and for fuck's sake OWN your game. You're the referee, the rules don't apply unless you want them to.

Does anyone have a link to the not-shit-gravy Robots book? Mongoose 1e, someone's asking about it and I don't personally have it.

>>55245645
>>55246923

Excellent advice from wise anons. Let me add that the target number need not always be 8+. In MgT, the target number can be as high as 14+ or as low as 2+ depending on the difficulty of the task.

So, why roll for something as automatic as 2+? Because sometimes whether the PC succeeds or not isn't the real purpose of the roll. As MgT2e states on page 56 of the core rules - and as so many seemingly overlook - sometimes the rolls is made because "The Travellers are under the pressure of time."

Replacing the cover to the light switch you just tampered with is dead simple BUT can you do it fast enough before the guard returns?

Or, you've six simple tasks to perform in order before the air runs out. How quickly can you manage them?

>>55261942
The problem with that is that Effect has no influence on Time. Time is something you can shift up/down by 2 categories at most, giving you a modifier, but it's still on a 1d6 of X scale. You have little to no influence over it.

>>55256997
>That's a penis.

That is a penis. It's also not a Traveller ship. let me explain.

The guy who diagrammed it, Star-something or other at COTI, doesn't use any ship building system from any version of Traveller to design his ships. He's got a wild mash up of tech instead with warp drives, deflectors, missiles, etc. He also uses a "module" based diagramming system. He designs modules with his own ship building system for common functions, draws the modules, and then fits them all together like Legos with one-off diagrams providing whatever connections he needs.

His designs are good looking and nicely detailed, but they're next to impossible to "fit" to Traveller designs because they're built with a different system.

>>55261880

Check Mongoose 1e, Third Party, Rules and Careers.

>>55262005
>The problem with that is that Effect has no influence on Time. Time is something you can shift up/down by 2 categories at most, giving you a modifier, but it's still on a 1d6 of X scale. You have little to no influence over it.

I used MgT because most here know nothing except MgT. In the DGP - MT - BITS task system, the amount by which you exceed your target number does effect the amount of time you took.

Anyway, my point still stands. Sometime you don't roll to see whether you succeed. Sometime you roll to see how WELL or how FAST you succeed.

>>55244428

Did you ever stop to think that all the taxes don't go directly into your noble's pockets? That maybe, just maybe, some may be needed for "luxuries" like roads, schools, police, fire, EMT, courts, public health, infrastructure, the social safety net, and silly shit like that?

>>55262072
>Sometime you roll to see how WELL or how FAST you succeed.

You sound like an ORE user and there is nothing wrong with that.
But i think at their heart most traveller games are about "does it work or not" when it comes to rolls and even MgT doen't really care about your positive success as long it's not 6 higher that the usual goal.

Overall it looks to me like a mechanic that was not intendet for most versions of this sytem, like MgT 2e "advantage/disadvantage mechanic"m
, since the basic idea is "Do you have the skill? yes? okay you do it."

>>55242490
>>55243390
>>55243506

Let me dial back your Santa Claus-machine fantasies by introducing the concept of feedstocks.

3D printing or, more accurately, additive machining will be part of any ship's engineering spaces and for all the reasons you note. Additive machining will not be building circuit boards or pistol ammo or anything else out of nothing but "iron dust" however.

Additive machining will need different raw feedstocks and different discrete components for different "builds". What's more, those feedstocks will have to come in specific forms and levels of purity. That requirement will limit the use of additive machining, or "makers" as T5 calls them, on low tech worlds. If you don't have the tech to feed it properly, it ain't going to build shit so, sorry, Ramses II isn't going to march to Kadesh with AK-47s.

TL;DR - You aren't going to be able to empty the Aslan's litter box into your Santa Claus machine and get a jump drive out the other end.

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>>55262203
>You aren't going to be able to empty the Aslan's litter box into your Santa Claus machine and get a jump drive out the other end.

What if it's a really shitty jump drive?

>>55262136
>But i think at their heart most traveller games are about "does it work or not"

That's true up to point. There are exceptions and those exception exist to enhance play. MT added a time component and MgT specifically mentions time as one of it's Four Reasons To Roll The Dice.

That doesn't mean time is ALWAYS in play. That doesn't mean time is ALWAYS a concern. It does, however, mean that sometimes, just sometimes, time is the issue at hand and time is the reason you're rolling.

There's far too much binary, sperg-type thinking in RPGs these days with it's always this or always that. Most of the time you roll to see whether you succeed, a few times you roll to see how fast you succeed, and even less often you roll for other reasons.

>>55262254

Now THAT's comedy!

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>>55262254

More like dump drive...

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>>55262331
>>55262254

>>55262203
Traveller, anon who posted that here.

The iron dust laser printer was my "lowest expectation" example and we use those things already.

And on our thread about dimension creating space drives, where did you jump to the conclusion that I meant the hecking bronze age with "low tech" ?

Just as nearest example, I'm pretty sure that MgT 1e considers WW 2 Tec as low.

But I'm to tired to check that for some random stranger on the internet with autism about how 3D printers work in a game of make believe.

So here is it: (you)

>>55262298
I see your, and understand it and I'm sorry if it sounded like "don't do that because". I just wanted to use the open platform to reason for an alternative approach, which I as GM prefer for reasons I stated.

Have a good day traveler

There was an anon in the previous who had a number of "episodes" they wanted help in knitting together into a campaign "arc" or "plot".

If they'd care to post again, I'm sure everyone would enjoy spitballing some ideas they could use.

>>55262104
Oh, that wasn't all of the taxes - that was just the head tax, which I've now cut down to a more reasonable 1d6x10cr/citizen average, instead of the 1d6x100/citizen average. Because you own the planet, and you can charge rent. Go see just how much a pop 9 world adds up with that, especially with a multiple of 7 or higher.
Rest of the taxes go into the Imperium (when designated) and back into the world infrastructure and policies. Smart nobles also designate a portion of their head tax to go back into the world.

>>55263270
>Go see just how much a pop 9 world adds up with that

We did way back in '81 when TCS came out and the question of where does all the money go first arose.

CT's Early Small/Later Big schism just doesn't involve a big Imperium with big fleets full of big ships. It includes BIG tax bases too.

Be very careful with those budget "projections". Your players can quickly use them to drown your campaign.

>>55262690
>I just wanted to use the open platform to reason for an alternative approach, which I as GM prefer for reasons I stated.

I also prefer the approach you stated. I just leave my options open.

One size never fits all.

>>55263389
Oh trust me, I know. I once ran a PF character worth over 14billion gp thanks to accidental time travel.
I don't have to restrict access to the money, I just have to make sure there are situations where money doesn't help.
And also keep the wallet out of their hands. I did get an idea for a campaign, where the players are all members of the same noble family - after 2-3 terms, they get recalled home, given some training, and then given a ship with the understanding of "you will do as we ask, when we ask. Other than that, have fun!"
Built in Patron, and gives some slack for them to catch/hang themselves with.

>>55263755

That sounds like a great idea for a campaign. Free ship and huge expense account come with a Very Big Hook.

You and your group should have a hoot playing it.

>>55263849
I don't have a group.
Partially cause I don't know very many people who like SF games, and my work schedule is shit for keeping a consistent game schedule.
So yeah, I work on Trav stuff because I want to.
And hand it to you, because someone might as well try to use it.

Just make sure they don't take advantage of Right of Escort - Right To Bear Arms is dangerous enough in the hands of a player, but "I can arm my minions, and the Law won't yell at me? I can have minions?!" is very dangerous.
Great for Patrons (you've all been hired by a noble as bodyguards/skilled servants. Bonus points: you can carry just about any non-energy weapon you want, all the time), bad for groups, unless they use them to achieve secondary objectives while the main group goes after the main ones.
And restrict how much of the expenses they don't have to worry about, and make them keep track of the discretionary fund (about 500k to start is probably good)

Funny note: a Type R, paid off, will be able to support itself extremely easily. Make about KCr898/year, and you'll be good - and that's with crew salaries, and full life support for everything, all the time. Put another way, ship about 898 tons of freight over an entire year (At full capacity, 4.5 trips), and you're good. At 25 jumps/year, it requires taking on 36 tons of freight at each stop.
Hows that for a cover ship? Any profit is more money in their discretionary fund - which means they don't have to answer for it.

>>55264238
>Just make sure they don't take advantage of Right of Escort - Right To Bear Arms is dangerous enough in the hands of a player, but "I can arm my minions, and the Law won't yell at me? I can have minions?!" is very dangerous.

Only in the presence of a bad referee. This Traveller and actions have consequences.

That Right of Escort they're going to abuse?

First, the Imperium grants it and will sure as hell rescind it once word spread someone's repeatedly abusing it.

Second, other NPC nobles are figure out every loophole and extenuating circumstance the PC do, if not more. Their retinues are going to be packing just as much heat, if not more.

Third, the planet's Johnny Law might not be able to ban your weapons but he'll sure as hell know you're packing and will take action if your group decides to go "blood simple". If he doesn't have the firepower to tackle your murderhobos, he can whistle up some NPC nobles and their retinues who do while letting the Imperium know about everything.

>>55264238
>Make about KCr898/year, and you'll be good - and that's with crew salaries, and full life support for everything, all the time.

That's with MgT numbers, right? While Classic's numbers are close to that, the point you were making is still the same.

A fully paid off ship can be both a good earner and a great cover.

>>55264734
Yep, 2e. Just ran my same methods on CT, and it turned out great.
But we always knew most of the running cost was the mortgage.
This does offer up a great idea: patron pays off ship for group, but they owe him big time. In between favors, they have to make the expenses. You can do it even for a Broadsword.

>>55265211
>This does offer up a great idea

That's one of the plots of Classic's and MgT's "The Traveller Adventure" (TTA).

>>55265501
Which I never read.

>>55265686

Sure. Check out anyway. There's lots of stuff to borrow from both versions.

Question: adapting the anime Black Lagoon to Traveller.
Has anybody else tried it? Because it is perfect for this game.
If you haven't seen it, go do so (Even subbers agree the dub is amazing), because it fits perfectly.
For a group of criminals anyway.

>>55266639
Well the career system with middle aged people already fits well, i dare to say.

Combat is already pretty lethal, but i would stick with mongoose 1E, still quite deadly but not too deadly.

There are splatbooks with rules to create a ship or you can just make it a little pulpy and play "black system".

I think it's a good fit, better than shadowrun.

>>55265971
>Sure. Check out anyway.

Arrgggh! Late night, stubby fingers, potato phone.

That's supposed to have read:

"Sure. Check them out anyway."

why use the british spelling of traveller when marc miller was american and in an american company?

>>55262203
>What's more, those feedstocks will have to come in specific forms and levels of purity.
. . . The printers we have TODAY can take pretty junk recycled plastic. If you can melt it, and push it through a hole you can make a tube. It doesn't even have to be that prefectly shaped, just enough so the grabby-wheel can feed it into the head which melts it all down again and pushes it through a smaller hole.

Junk in the feedstock (or sawdust that gets on it) can jam up the head, and the finer the head the more fickle it is. Which is a bitch. So most people put a little dry sponge on a clip before the head to clean it as it goes in. If there's something chunky inside the stock, that sucks. And it'll halt your print. Resetting mid print isn't worth it, so you just start again. (And melt down the half-print back into feedstock.

That's for plastic. Metal is a lot harder.

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>>55262254
>>55262318
>>55262331
>>55262349
omg you guys.

>>55263755
>I once ran a PF character worth over 14billion gp thanks to accidental time travel.

It's storytime anon

>>55274047
>. . . The printers we have TODAY can take pretty junk recycled plastic.

I work with additive machining. Not some table top device sold to people who want to "print" their own WH40K figs or keychain fobs to sell at the flea market. We use the tech for rapid prototyping, mould figures, and the like.

Printing in plastic results in a plastic part and plastic is rarely what you need.

>Junk in the feedstock (or sawdust that gets on it) can...

Thanks for making my point.

>That's for plastic. Metal is a lot harder.

Do tell. Metal, while being harder to use, allows more items to be produced. The more substances and items a "maker" can handle the more and better parts it can produce.

>>55273597

Branding, set the game apart, the "Dumerest" series, etc.

>>55274134

Definitely.

>>55274134
>>55274250
Okay. I've told it before, but here we go again.
About 4-5 years ago, my older brother ran a PF game at home. Now, he and I got trained by our dad, who started back in the 70's with Monty Haul games that upped the ante every time you got better gear, so we know how to handle this sort of stuff (skill checks everywhere!).
I finish my character first, down to background: rogue, daughter of innkeepers, secretary for the mob, and painter. The last is why she adventures, and also her bane - inspiration strikes and she needs a will save to avoid dropping everything to set up for painting, or making INT checks to memorize the scene. This happened in combat a few times, mostly when I dominated too much and the other players felt left out.
But back to the story.
Since I finish first, and we have players new to gaming, me and bro decide to run a prequel adventure involving a man forging paintings that aren't finished yet, and putting them out there before the original hits a gallery. Much adventure, ends with me and two other artists setting his ass up as an art exhibit, with the evidence on display, in front of his forgeries, which were displayed in the kings favorite gallery. And our newly made masterwork paintings of the entire exhibit in front of him.
This leads to his execution, right after the auction of said paintings. I made over 10K. That was the start of my money making.
Keep on The Borderlands later, I make some investments using Ultimate Campaign. Then plot hits, and we get sent forward in time to a world of sky islands and air that supports ships because the macguffin shattered and fucked things up.
Now, bro is an accountant. He looks at the rules for investments, looks at how I set things up, then goes through and does the math. He does it twice, catching an error the second time, and suddenly my bank account is the budget of several small nations, at a pretty 14 billion GP, with a few hundred million gp in spare change.

>>55274577
I promptly started a school for adventurers, attached to an orphanage. Both of which had self supporting portfolios. But all the money in the world couldn't solve the main plot: that was hands on, and our hands only.

>>55274577
>>55274616

Fascinating. Monty Haul has never been my "cuppa tea", but still fascinating.

>>55275208
Well, for the sake of discussion, what kinda campaigns do you like, anon?

>>55275208
Yeah, we fought the Monty Haul by requiring rolls to track down desired magic items. There was one that I had to commission, and another where the only known one was on an island somewhere.

>>55275268

Nothing as high powered or Mary Sue-ish. No continually upping the ante. No "modern banking methods in faux medieval times" anachronisms. None of that.

Our theme has always been ordinary people in extraordinary situations and not extraordinary people in extraordinary situations. No PC would be a masterwork painter, forex, although an NPC could be.

Then again, we rarely play games with levels, XPs, etc.

Hi travelers, how do you like your primitive aliens? Should they be mysterious and bizarre, strange and exotic or familiar with a twist?

I want to implement a primitive to a "one system" game where a colony was established before the long night and didn't recognize an amphibian/mostly aquatic species as sentient.

>>55277028

I've had aliens ranging from "Are they sentient?" to "Are they gods?". What I try not to do is fall into the "Primitive Equals Stupid" trap.

>>55262254
>>55262331
Uhuhuhuhuhuhuhuh

Anybody remember the Terran Trade Authority books?

There were rumours that it would be a Mongoose Traveller setting, but don't know how that turned out.

Found the out of print rpg version.
sendspace
/filegroup/hdcR%2B4EX7fmRynckFKzi4A

>>55279613
Got the first four. There were apparently more, but I'm not 14 anymore.

>>55279613
>>55280327

Foss' paintings and drawing are fantastic, just a little too fantastic for me take even slightly seriously as a young teen.

T4 still catches flak from dullards who thought that, because Foss' work was on the cover and inside, the game's ship building rules could recreate the "diesel powered flying lobster claw & electric donkey bottom wiper" ships Foss drew.

>>55281044
I like some of the Foss ships that were assigned to specific Traveller ship classes, though there are a couple duds there, too.

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>>55279613
http://www.mediafire.com/download/4zxvucxd81041mj/Terran+Trade+Authority+RPG+-+Core+Rulebook.pdf
http://www.mediafire.com/download/z3dgxdd7z55h0kd/TTA+Handbook+-+Spacecraft+2000+to+2100AD.pdf
http://www.mediafire.com/download/bnhsyxpi7qq9uz5/TTA+Handbook+-+Spacecraft+2100+to+2200AD.pdf
http://www.mediafire.com/download/yhygvuk3963ujcg/TTA+Handbook+-+Great+Space+Battles.pdf
http://www.mediafire.com/download/1xel3tu2td64zc6/TTA+Handbook+-+Spacewreck.pdf
http://www.mediafire.com/download/q1vwvqtq9y6urqp/TTA+Handbook+-+Starliners.pdf

>>55281062
>I like some of the Foss ships that were assigned to specific Traveller ship classes,

They were spurious fits at best. No deckplans were possible because you can't make the T4 design work "fit" within the inspired craziness of Foss' illustrations.

What many still fail to realize is that Foss DID NOT produce any new art for T4. Imperium Games bought stock art from Foss' portfolio and then selected existing pieces which "sort of", "kind of", "just' , and "maybe" were close enough to T4's designs. Foss was never handed a T4 design and then asked to produce an illustration for it.

While it's the norm these days, T4 was unique for the period (mid to late 90s) in that it's development received a lot of focused input from the prospective customer base via the internet. For a few years the old TML was essentially acting like a virtual development lab with big chunks of T4's various splats being worked and reworked by volunteers. FF&S especially was written more by TML subgroup than IG.

Sadly, IG's Mongoose-like final editing process wasted most of the work the TML did.

Anyway, because many of the details regrading T4's development were discussed on the TML, it was know early on that Foss' stock art was in consideration and a vocal minority did not like that at all. When Foss was firmly decided on, they renewed their complaints and, as is usually the case, many of their predictions have proven to be correct. Many people still erroneously believe that Foss' art has a greater link to T4 than it actually does.

>>55281044
Damn... now you made me think of doing DieselPunk Traveller just for those colorful odd asymmetrical Foss ship designs.

Don't know if I'd stick with Classic or go with a more pulpy core system and simply hack the starship rules to get the required level of gonzo style.

>>55281062
Yeah. It was a bit of good luck when they had a good graphic design match a particular class.

It does make me wonder how much of the Foss collection they were allowed to choose from before publication.

>>55281439
Though I suppose FF&S could be used to hack the shipbuilding components closer to the Foss designs (obviously not ALL of them).

Now I'll have to check out the alternate starship tech in T5. Damn.

>>55281439
The T4 launch announcement to line failure was barely two years, the wider fanbase was essentially out of the picture after IG mishandled Starships (right after launch) and completely out after the FF&S debacle.

I wish the T4 system had lasted long enough to look at the other Major races and their technologies.

Imagine how eccentric the Vargr would be.

>>55281655
The T4 roller coaster experience is why a few of us with long memories didn't throw money at Con Man Whitman for his TV pilot. We knew better.

>>55279613
Both of these have been dewatermarked.

>>55281577
>The T4 launch announcement to line failure was barely two years

And in that time it was discussed intensively on the TML with recruitment for private work groups like the one which labored in FF&S taking place. In fact, the FF&S fiasco illustrates just how much about T4's products was known prior to release.

It was only because of the TML discussions regarding FF&S that the fanbase knew what FF&S should have been compared to what IG published.

>>55281719

That assclown is still getting money from people despite how many failed kickstarters?

People are stupid I guess.

>>55281731
>It was only because of the TML discussions regarding FF&S that the fanbase knew what FF&S should have been compared to what IG published

Say on, I wasn't on TML at the time. And this interests me.

>>55281731
>what FF&S should have been compared to what IG published
As a side note, I passed IG's excuse for the typography fuckups in FF&S (they blamed the printer) to a former GDW employee who had done layout and printer liaison. His response was "Complete and Utter Bullshit".

>>55281767
>Say on, I wasn't on TML at the time. And this interests me.

First, IG fucked up Starships.

It had been discussed with people throwing in all sorts of ideas, answering "what do you want to see? questions", straw polls being conducted to select or emphasize which ones most people thought were good or better, and so forth. Not much in the way of actual drafts were shared or discussed, but there was a general idea of what the book would be like.

Then the book came out. It was as if IG hadn't heard a fucking thing and people thought they'd been conned.

Meanwhile the idea of a T4 version of FF&S had been kicking around from the first. Whether you hated or loved TNE, everyone loved the FF&S supplement for it. A group was recruited via the TML to work on "translating" FF&S into T4. They'd pop up regularly asking for input on this and that or showing off small sections. Once again, everyone had a pretty good idea of what the book SHOULD look like.

Then IG channels their inner Mogoose and COMPLETELY FUCKS UP THE FINAL EDIT. They couldn't even manage to get the correctly formatted equations and formulas into the final draft sent to the printers.

The books get shipped, everyone on the TML is saying WTF?, the people in the working group pop up saying "That is NOT what we wrote", and they even begin posting parts of the manuscript they'd submitted.

That's when everyone finally realized IG couldn't pour piss out of a boot and that's when IG and T4 died.

>>55281767
That was all after FF&S hit the shelves, at which point Dave Golden, who had spent months rendering TNE's FF&S down for T4, posted "I don't know what happened, but that's not what I handed them". At which point Ken Whitman blamed the Printer. Then someone blamed Marc for moving all the tables to the back.

All reasons why the simplest of T4's three ship systems, the QSDS, remained the best one.

>>55281925
>Ken Whitman

If you ever have questions about T4, that's all you need to know.

>the QSDS

Which is reborn of sorts in T5's ACS/BCS system.

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>>55281957
>the QSDS
Also attached.

>>55258415
>Slavers if it's pretty backwater/recently colonized
>Smuggling operations disrupting trade
>Corrupt officials feeding money into hidden drug factories aboard space-stations
>Protection rackets
>General gang violence causing chaos
>Seperatist rebels not wanting to ally with the other nations
>Proxy-war style terrorist attacks from nations that don't want the system allying with the other person

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>>55282018
Here is the big hulls reference as well. Between these two docs is a viable small ship construction process.

Edit: I knew Dave Golden had been involved, but apparently Guy Garnett was as well. Both badly burned by the final results.

Has the REAL versions of T4 Starships or FF&S ever been seen?

Or did the TML ever reverse engineer what they should've been?

>>55282050
Dave and Guy were probably under contractual limitations to not spread the original final around, and both left the community shortly after, burned out.. I know Guy has resurfaced recently, and I recall seeing something from Dave as well, but neither is a common sight anymore.

>>55282050

There has been a document with all the corrected formulas and equations floating around the 'net for sometime now. Just how of that came from the Golden/Garnett draft I can't say.

>>55282019

That's pretty much my standard Foreven system description.

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Have an NPC I rolled up (could be a PC if you really like old characters) with MgT2e. I, of course, ignore the cap on total skill ranks
Gorman
987AB7
Drifter - Barbarian 7 Terms Final Rank 7
Merchant - Free Trader 5 Terms Final Rank 6 (got lucky in one term)
Animals 0 Art 0 Astrogation 1 Broker 1 Carouse 0 Drive (Wheel) 1 Electronics (Computers) 1 Engineer ( J-Drive 1 M-Drive 1 Power 1) Gunner (Turret) 1 JOAT 3 Leadership 1 Mechanic 1 Melee (Blade 6 Unarmed 1) Persuade 1 Pilot (Spacecraft) 1 Recon 1 Seafarer (Sail) 2 Stealth 2 Streetwise 1 Survival 0 Vacc-Suit 0
Gorman was a Warrior King, having carved out the largest kingdom his homeworld (E978800-1) had ever seen through sheer force of skill (and yet no Tactics skill...). And then one day, a great opportunity came - a Free Trader, desperately seeking new markets via a newly discovered jump point (a barely there star or rogue planet), came to his little corner of space. Over dinner and trade talks, they mentioned their financial issues. After a quick-and-dirty lesson on banking and mortgages, he made them a deal - get his world, not just his kingdom, the modern conveniences for the best price they could, and he would see how much that "Bank" thought his kingdom was worth.
As it turns out, it was quite a bit for a primitive kingdom, and the needed collateral was greatly reduced - by requiring Gorman to serve on-board the ship. He handed the kingdom over to his little sister (his brother in law was perfectly happy being, in his own words, "A big muscle-head. She's smart, make her do it.")
(cont)

>>55283028 (cont)
Gorman served well and with distinction on-board, his previous 46 years having treated him ridiculously gently. Over the next 20 years, he skyrocketed through the ranks, the same mind and penchant for picking up bits of know-how that made him top dog of his area helping him learn how to do just about everything the ship needed. Along the way, he played well with his investments and money, earning back his original investment (and disappointing the bank that hoped for his kingdom), and earning enough to outright buy a used Free Trader modified for J2. Oh, and he had enough left over to invest in an old crewmate's ship.
Now 66 years old, Captain Gorman is immediately recognizable at ports all over the region thanks to his still-strong body and odd choice in personal protection - engraved Full Plate over TL12 Cloth armor and a Broadsword slung over his back. His ship, the Endless Depths Of The Horizon, is just as recognizable - he spent a few thousand credits on getting the right paints before hand-painting traditional designs on the entire hull. And he just so happens to be looking for a crew... He can't do everything!

Final Possessions
A2 Far Trader, Broadsword, Full Plate Armor, TL12 Cloth Armor, Misc Personal Gear and Clothes, CR6432
Merchant Pension: KCr10
Ship Investments: KCr25
Misc. Investments: KCr11

>>55283028
>>55283210

A 46yo illiterate from a TL1 world becomes a starship captain and owner in 20 years?

That's even more silly and nonsensical than the Pathfinder rouge adventuress - mob secretary - female Rembrandt billionaire posted earlier.

Whatever floats your boat...

>>55283320
Ok, first, fuck you and your hard-on for ordinary people. Second, same person (Hey, my rogue got lucky, and the DM let me have the painting bonus in exchange for that madness. Mob secretary was where she got trained as a rogue, so uh... That's an unrealistic part?).
Third - literacy can start existing as low as TL0, and making the rate rise is as simple as putting enough resources into teaching it. The printing press, in its crudest possible form, is TL1.
Fourth - you don't like the idea that the dice might give a rapid advancement rate, then add that rule to your game.
Hey, know what else is silly and nonsensical? A bunch of middle aged people making the multi-million 20% down payment needed just to finance a ship.

>>55283513
But you know what? I don't have to justify the existence of extraordinary people in my game, or in whatever I create.
I rolled a barbarian that mustered out at 7 terms with 11 ship shares. I asked why, and got Gorman. So then I ran 5 more terms working on a free trader, and the dice favored him there too.
So you know what? I'm not sorry that I didn't throw away the dice that gave me someone out of the ordinary.

>>55283513
>Ok, first, fuck you and your hard-on for ordinary people.

Dial it back. Not liking your Mary Sue or Gorman isn't a personal attack on you.

You can play however you want to play. That's what makes roleplaying so enjoyable to so many different people. Whatever is fun for you is by definition a good thing. Over-the-top is your preferred style and there is nothing wring with that at all. You're having fun, that's all that matters, and you needn't justify it to anyone.

Now, if someone says "No thanks. That's not my style" they aren't in any way saying or implying "You are bad for doing that". They're stating an opinion and not casting an insult.

Many years ago in the old Traveller Yahoo group, a member used to post summaries of a campaign he ran for his wife and a few friends. Let me tell you, this campaign made E.E.Smith's "Lensmen" series seems like tame stuff. The PCs were psionic cyborgs teleporting across parsecs, fighting hideous evils, wiping up entire worlds, blowing up suns, you name it. They could probably take down the Ancients on their coffee break.

While the group LOVED reading about that campaign, very few asked for any details to set up their own versions and no one asked to play. It was just too wild & woolly for most people but it was perfect for that member and his group. Understand?

Saying "No thanks" isn't the same as saying "Fuck you." It's just voicing a preference. Nothing more.

>>55283956
It's not that over-the-top is my preferred style (which it really isn't. That was how my dad played,combined with the old-school "no-fudging the die" rules), or that I'm taking the entire damn thing as a personal attack - I keep seeing one guy (who might be you), basically calling things out for not being Serious Fiction With Science In It.
At least, that's how it comes across to me.
Although, yeah, that damn rogue was basically a mary sue when it came it to painting. Good thing she wasn't adventuring for the cash, or the DM wouldn't have let me keep the money.

Alright, I'm genning up a character for a game. It's a fairly closed-off area of ~13 systems, big ass fucking asteroid field surrounding the area and other hazards that make travel out of it not an immediately tenable option for what I assume is PLOT reasons.

I rolled an event that gave the following: It is something very unusual, such as an alien artefact.

I'm currently playing basically a Doctor/Cybernetics Specialist with a side of Engineering. I have... absolutely no clue whatsoever about alien artefacts, and the GM is relatively new as-well, so I'd really appreciate some possible suggestions as to what it is.

Specifically, it's Event 23, #6, from the MGT1e Cosmopolite book, page 18, if that helps at all.

>>55284055
>At least, that's how it comes across to me.

It's all a matter of perception. What's spicy to some is bland to others.

Voicing a preference and saying that character or situation would not work in my game is NOT the same as saying "Fuck you, you're doing it wrong."

There's no right, wrong, better, or worse. There is different, however, and saying there are differences is not a personal attack on anyone.

>>55284125
>Specifically, it's Event 23, #6, from the MGT1e Cosmopolite book, page 18, if that helps at all.

So, paraphrasing here, it's the "Financial scandals of political foes/friends make you decide to be a merchant" event?

>>55284125
Okay, roll 2d, 10+ it does something (like being incredibly heavy for it's size when you rotate a portion of it). Otherwise it has either no use (like a paperweight), or a completely mundane use (like a paperweight).
Look into archaeology for stuff like this: the sheer number of neolithic dildos in existence is...
About average for that era's population over time, considering the female sex drive.
But artifact simply means something that a previous civilization left behind.

>>55284166
Wait, what?

Oh. Nevermind, I'm fucking retarded here. It's from Scoundrel. Sorry, I've got like ten different books open and I keep flipping around.

https://i.gyazo.com/c8398527e0ae445b9d2df86816685d9b.png

This thing.

>>55284166
I think he means event #25 of that career's event tables, which sends you to event 66 of the life events table, of which Alien Artifact is an option.
>3: Alien Artefact – You acquire a strange and unusual device from an alien culture that is not normally available to humans.
This does not mean that it has special powers - but it could worth a lot of money if there were enough experts around who could prove that it's not a fake.

>>55284190
Dude, that could be anything. Lemme go whip a few generators into shape... Get you some ideas.

>>55284212
Nah, I'm just a dumbshit and probably a fair bit tired. Proper source is here: >>55284190

>>55274577
god damn it, I want to know how you did that.

How did you waste my time with your inane jabberings? I should have caught you the first time, instead I read through the whole paragraph. Am I high or are you an idiot?

Seriously, how did you do that? Was it your tone? That was such an inane, uninteresting story, yet I fell for it, hook line and sinker, if I hadn't read it all the way through I would have fell for it hook line and sinker.

What did you do? Is that some sort of magic trick?

>>55284223
Thanks, man. I've got literally no idea what's even remotely appropriate for this, and you guys tend to be a big help with any questions.

>>55284190

No problem, anon. Don't whip yourself over this.

So, your referee - who is new to the game himself - has decided to cut off the 13 system cluster from the rest of the universe because of "something something something". That doesn't sound good in a metagaming sense. That sounds like a referee who has put too much on his plate too soon.

Anyway, now you've found an object aboard a capture ship which is VERY unusual. First, that event note doesn't say it IS an alien artifact. It just uses alien artifact as an example.

You know what you've found? A navigational data base that contains jump routes which lead beyond the 13 system cluster. All you have to do is figure out how to decipher and translate it. Something which you may never finish during the course of the campaign but something that will paint a BIG target on your back for all sots of people.

One final note of advice, it seems you guys are using too many books too soon. Learn how to play the game first and then start adding interesting bits from various supplements.

There's too much material out there for Traveller. If you try to use even a fraction of it before you've got a handle on the game, you'll do nothing but fuck yourself over.

>>55284293
This is basically just a complete guess, but I'm assuming we're sticking to about the 12-15 systems he estimated to give us an easy to manage sandbox.

I've got maybe... two months experience with the system? A bit more? The GM's been picking it up quick, and we've been sticking to just the MGT1e stuff so far pretty much. He's done a bit of houseruling on chargen to remove a little of the RNG and smooth it out.

>>55284243
Randomly generated, and less randomly created, ideas:
>A folded sheet of paper containing a sequence of numbers.
>A collection of paintings
>The deed to the land a starport sits on
>A completely mundane item, such as a ballpoint pen, made from the body parts of an unknown creature.
>cultural artifacts taken from an archeological dig
>Something completely mundane built by an alien race that doesn't live in this sector, or the neighboring ones
>Nuclear warheads. Try selling those.
>A prototype of an item that no planet in the subsector can produce
>The recipe for a restaurants secret spice mix
>An item with an actual plotline attached.

>>55284233
I think it's the tone, even if it doesn't work in person.
Or it might be the pacing inherent to the flow of the syllables that I write in endless streams
Of making you tell me to fuck off.
I started getting into that, and that's when I realized it's 3am where I at.

>>55283956
I can dial it back but I need a set of parameters.

>>55284304
>I've got maybe... two months experience with the system? A bit more?

And you've got ten books open like Scroundrel, Cosmopolite you're having to flip through?

That's too much too soon. The fact you're here asking for artifact ideas means you're already swamped. You players should have ONE book open; Core and no more. Your referee should have Core & High Guard open and no more.

For shit's sake give yourselves chance to get comfortable with the game before adding anything else.

>>55284344
>I can dial it back but I need a set of parameters.

The parameters for your game are fine. You enjoy that type of play and that's all that matters.

What you needed to dial back was your assumption that "No thanks" meant "Fuck you."

>>55284304
Trust >>55284356 on this one - I've been reading through MgT1e since 2009, and I wouldn't be comfortable pulling from 10+ books at once. Pick a single book if it deals with what character you want to try for. Maybe two or three.
It will kill your game faster than bringing up all the official 3.5 material that never saw anything other than a magazine page.

>>55284377
>Not remembering that you've already talked to the guy you needed to talk to

>>55284404
>>55284356
It's worth noting that the only things in actual use are Core, Scoundrel, CSC, and Cybernetics. Pretty much anything else is just stuff I pulled for a reference, or that'd gotten used like the Life Event tables off Cosmopolite.

>>55284416

It's late, I'm tired, etc.

>>55284422

That's good to read. You've got the Core, one career book, and Cybernetics is just a specialized CSC. That's manageable.

I was getting worried your group was spending more time looking shit up in a dozen books than actually playing.

>>55284448
Nah, most of the shit I have up is like one-item pulls. Cosmopolite has some fluff stuff for medics, Merc has a bit of assorted gear, CSC is the gearbox, Scoundrel is a career and a little misc stuff, and otherwise it's just core basically.

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>>55278577
>"Are they gods?"
What, how ?

But they should be reasonably intelligent, otherwise they aren't really intereting.

I wanted to introduce them as some sort of "pest" for the fishermen and waterfarmers, the farms are in the water, theydon't farm water, on the main planet. Maybe even as game that is hunted for pretty body parts like pearls/shells.

Mainly i want to introduce them for the players to get into a situation where they can no longer dish out the law "by the book". They are PMC space patrol and till now where like. "Well what does the big book of law say about this case?"

The imperial law states that trading/killing with sentient life, which said primitives are by the ISS. The law of the system they are animals and can be treated as such.Thing is the system want's to join the Empire and has to get their law level under control.

Now even if the planet recognises them as sentient they will move them simply out of the was and take what they want on resources and living space. But that's basically what the imperium want's to do with the low-tec population of the planet and use the systems space/position and resources for their own gain all that for the sweet sweet irony

>>55285201
>What, how ?
>But they should be reasonably intelligent, otherwise they aren't really intereting.

You're confusing PC/NPC ready with interesting, which isn't surprising given how many RPGs have non/semi-human player races. Rubber suit aliens suck, so I follow the example of D&D's intelligent monsters and Cherryh's "Chanur" series, especially the latter.

In the Chanur series, you have 4 oxy breathing species who understand each other just enough to trade with each other on sight. They in turn deal with a two symbiotic methane breather species they understand just enough to keep from shooting at automatically and the oxy breathers must deal with a wild card 3rd methane breather through the 1st two.

Aliens are events, not your next PC. They're barely understood and, if sufficiently advanced, their tech is mostly a mystery too. Hopefully their environmental requirements are different enough from humans' to keep them and us from wanting the same real estate.

>I wanted to introduce them as some sort of "pest" for the fishermen and waterfarmers...

So TNE's Schalli, huh? If you're going to borrow that's a good one.

The players' problem will hinge on the sentience of the local aliens being proven to the satisfaction of whomever can enforce the empire's views on the matter. Because some in the system wants to join that empire, you're going to have the sentience issue all snarled up in that issue too with factions on either side of both issues combining in odd ways.

I'd keep the PMC players at one remove from the "Are they sentient?" question. They've neither the equipment or training to make such a determination. Instead, I'd have them called to the system by a research team from the empire which has stumbled over the aliens and is beginning to suspect they're sentient. Things have gotten heated with the locals and the team feels in need of a little neutral back up.

The players aren't exactly who or what the team was expecting to show up either.

Jump1

what're some good Traveller-esque vidya?

>>55275524
so you don't play traveller? my only experience with the system is mongoose traveller

>>55290222

There's two old Traveller games for DOS, said to be pretty decent for the era.

>>55290222

Firefly, of course. Outland from the 1980s. The 1st Alien movie. The Expanse. Anime has Cowboy Bebop and others. An anon upthread mentioned Black Lagoon. Oddly enough, I also tend to get a Traveller vibe from maritime movies like Das Boot or The Abyss.

I'm others will have better suggestions.

>>55290277
>so you don't play traveller?

We do. My group just prefers a different style than the one that was being discussed. Not a better style, not a worse style, just a different one.

As for what version we play, it's about 90% Classic with bits from nearly every other version up through MgT2e making up the rest. Something like that is pretty usual for long time Traveller groups. Classic was designed to be homebrewed and people got into the habit early.

>>55283956

Let me tell you, this campaign made E.E.Smith's "Lensmen" series seems like tame stuff. The PCs were psionic cyborgs teleporting across parsecs, fighting hideous evils, wiping up entire worlds, blowing up suns, you name it. They could probably take down the Ancients on their coffee break.

Does this still exist, is it archived? I've been told traveller doesn't handle high powered games well. but this sounds pretty high powered

>>55290485
>Does this still exist, is it archived?

Beats me. It was in a Yahoo group around 2001. Yahoo doesn't even exist anymore and I don't know if their groups still exist, died around the same time, or died earlier.

If you need high powered Traveller, mix GURPS Supers with GT. I've heard of people approaching the concept that way.

>>55290522
Another method: roll 2d*2 (or more) for PSI. PSI may be dropped by 2 points to add 1 point to another stat.

>>55288515
>So TNE's Schalli, huh? If you're going to borrow that's a good one.
>The eventual discovery that Humans were intelligent came as shock and with some guilt, as the Schalli had considered the odd land creatures something of a delicacy.
What the actual fuck ?

>The players' problem will hinge on the sentience of the local aliens being proven to the satisfaction of whomever can enforce the empire's views on the matter.
Yeah, once the situation becomes clear they will no longer have a problem in dishing out THE LAW.
Initial contact with said aliens would be on the ship of a trader, where he has a few of them in cargo to be sold to some excentric person in another sytem. On board of the trader could be an imperial citizen who just mentions, something like "Oh, I was pretty sure those count as sentient."
And the players find themselfe in a situation where they might wrongfully fore a trader to return planetside.
Again they are PMCs and not real law enforcement, they don't have all the backing they should have.


Maybe with a follou up job where they escort some Imperial researchers only to find out that their research will be sabotaged and find themselfe again between job and duty.

From MgT2e
>Writing the New Edition of Traveller: Formidable (14+) Art (write) check (1D months, INT)
Riiiiiight. Reaching a bit there on talking up your efforts, eh?

>>55291748
too bad he only rolled a 5.

>>55291781
With not even Art 0 to help him...

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>>55291748

Hey, it's formidable for them.

>>55242039
okay, i'm reading 5th edition core, and I don't understand this at all. I rolled my UPP, but the game doesn't specify which of the stats I start with for each bracket [c1, c2, ect.]

Do humans start with Edu, Tra, or both?

>>55292208
you mean T5? Holy shit, pull up...it's not an RPG, it's a toolkit

>>55292208
Back away from Miller's Autism. Just put it down. Go pick up Classic, Cephus Engine, or Mongoose (yes, even with us trashing on it). Those are understandable, T5 is not.
Unless you really get into Traveller.

>>55283028
>>55283210
I am stealing this!

>>55292208
>okay, i'm reading 5th edition core

Why? Are you a fucking masochist or something? Haven't you been paying attention in all these /tg/?

We repeatedly warn people in these threads that T5 is NOT player ready. T5 is an RPG design/setting kit and not a playable game.

Put T5 down, take a walk, and then check out any other version.

okay, I'm using 4th ed now..

Can you just keep reapplying to different colleges? If I don't get into college, can I just roll again?

>>55292943
oh shit, you have to roll for EACH category on homeworld tables..

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>>55292987
sci-fi dudes have to stick together

https://donjon.bin.sh/scifi/tsg/

cheers mate.

>>55292943
>okay, I'm using 4th ed now..

Jesus Christ on a pogo stick. First you pick T5 and then you pick arguably the worst of all the non-T5 versions. Tell me, do they put a cork on the end of your fork to prevent you from doing yourself an injury?

Have you been paying any attention at all? >>55292394 already told you what to do.

Put down T4. Look over Classic, Cepheus Engine, and Mongoose. Then pick which one you like best. Once you're comfortable with the game, you can start paging through the other versions looking for bis & pieces to borrow.

>>55292943
Welcome to the OSR edition naming: where the numbers are made up and don't mean anything. The actual latest, and playable, edition is Mongoose Traveller, 2nd Edition. We suggest Classic Traveller (the original), either edition of Mongoose (Despite their issues), and The Cephus Engine (Mix of CT and Mongoose).

>>55293055
I already rolled.
C 123456
UPP 4A6884
5 terms
Age 38 Born 021-1067
Current Date 1105

Home World
Starport B
Atmos Dense
Hydro Wet
Pop 10M
Law A
Tech A

Resume'
Operators Permit (Groundcraft)
Operators Permit (Gravcraft)
Computer Literacy Certification (Computers)
Polo Club Varsity (Equestrian 2)
Bird Watchers Society (Perception)
Venders Rotary Club (Business)

Agent
Enlist ok
Injury ok
Commission ok

Do I get the bonus ranks from the first two years before or after I receive my commission.

>>55293213
well, whichever one is 4th ed, thats the one I dl'd

>>55293462
before? I...think? don't quote me on it

>>55293462
I probably shouldn't list the terms yet, huh? Also, i already applied and got rejected for college and merchant marines.

I already rolled.
C 123456
UPP 4A6884
5 terms
Age 38 Born 021-1067
Current Date 1105

Home World
Starport B
Atmos Dense
Hydro Wet
Pop 10M
Law A
Tech A

Resume'
Operators Permit (Groundcraft)
Operators Permit (Gravcraft)
Computer Literacy Certification (Computers)
Polo Club Varsity (Equestrian 2)
Bird Watchers Society (Perception)
Venders Rotary Club (Business)
College fail
Merchant Marines fail

Agent
Enlist ok
Injury ok
Commission ok

>>55293489
wait, i don't think it works like that, since it lists 01 and 1 as different ranks.. (i guess?)

>>55290358
Do not watch The Expanse show. Read the fucking books, people.

>>55293608
dude, this is so fucking confusing.

Do I go to rank 3, get commissioned to rank 01, and receive 7 skills (1/year + 2 for promotions +1 for Commission?)

Uh, no offense, but this game is a clusterfuck
I still like it better than FATAL

>>55293680
The show is good on it's own, but he's half-right, the books are better

>>55293684
>dude, this is so fucking confusing.

Welcome to T4, it actually was a clusterfuck. This is why nobody plays T4 or T5.

>>55293684
Err, wait, can you receive a commission as an agent or is that only for the military?

>>55266639
Years ago I saw an ORE-based game called "Mariner" that was basically Traveller set in '80s-'90s Southeast Asia. The idea was cool, but it was unfinished at the time and I don't know what happened to it.

>>55293699
No, anon. The show is okayish for a C-grade SyFy channel show, the channel which is widely known for having produced nothing of real quality in the past decade, and VERY often fucking up everything it touches.

The books? The books are probably one of the better examples of somewhat hard sci-fi in the past decade, and actually do really well.

The show is a goddamn abomination.

>>55293826
ok for syfy? don't you mean amazing for syfy?

>>55293753
okay, so which file specifically do I download if I am considering purchasing this game?

File: 1273137.jpg (82KB, 600x600px) Image search: [Google]

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>>55290485
>>55290522
Or if you're inclined to go full Lensman... or perhaps something like theGreen Lantern Corps

ION GUARD - ICONS Edition
http://www85.zippyshare.com/v/wKL4Hvok/file.html
The Great Game
http://www85.zippyshare.com/v/Hgf74JP4/file.html

ION Guard - BASH! Edition
http://www85.zippyshare.com/v/hTAywi9w/file.html
BASH! - Sci-Fi Edition
http://www85.zippyshare.com/v/BlQkHL7Q/file.html

Traveller to BASH
http://www85.zippyshare.com/v/NbP9jSJ4/file.html

Which should give you a Starkly Astounding Epic campaign!

>>55293885

Look, just grab the Cepheus Engine core rulebook. It should be easy to find, and it's cheaply available if you want to buy it.

>>55293899
>GLC in Traveller

Things I didn't know I wanted until now, but I wanna run it in the core rules...

>>55293935
this one?
>Cepheus Engine (MGT+CT system core book)

>>55294060
yup

An ability score
modifier is calculated by dividing the ability score by three, dropping all fractions, and then subtracting one, so
that the average characteristic score of 7 has a DM+0

>that the average characteristic score of 7 has a DM+0

>(rounding down)
>7/3 = 2
>2-1 = 1

fukken dropped. Is this game a prank?

>>55294194

What seems to be the problem, anon? You get modifiers from -2 to +2 on a 2d6 die spread, as shown in the table below that passage.

>>55294037
Which core system ICONS or BASH! supers?

Though going back to the earlier thread, there was a Green Lantern and Space Ghost crossover story.

And now I'm curious how well the T4 Imperium (Foss starships) would fit within the BASH Sci-Fi starship construction procedures.

>>55294194
>>55294298

Oh, I see, an editing problem. The text should say "subtract two," and it says "subtract one." The table has it right. I never noticed that error, seeing as how I only bothered to look at the table. I wonder if there's an errata or second printing available yet?

(Cepheus Engine is a clone of Mongoose Traveller 1, which was mainly built to allow third party publishers to continue to exist, in the wake of Mongoose 2e's licensing changes)

>>55294060
Okay i got CE right now but i'm not the new anon.

But what is the difference between damage types ?
Piercing, Slashing and Energy

>>55294538

Those are more like weapon categories than damage types. Damage is handled the same between them.

>>55294584
>Ranged Weapons
The Common Ranged Weapons table lists the ranged weapons commonly available in a Cepheus Engine
campaign. Each column is described as follows: Type: Type of damage inflicted – (B)ludgeoning, (E)nergy, (P)iercing or (S)lashing

Might just be a leftover from editing but had me confused.

But over all the system seems to be more streamlined and has reduced the skill bloat... in a good way. I'm looking at you MgT 2e

>>55292208
Humans should start with option 1 in all stats.

In Mongoose 1e, are there any problems with Psionics?

What about just in general, regardless of edition?

>>55295714
Not really, unless you are looking for Jedi or Lensman levels of power. Traveller's psionics are more Norton or Foster level. Additional tricks for a PC without being, most of the time, ridiculous super powers.

TNE amped up a couple powers a bit. The TNE version of Telekinesis is "always has a gun" in effect.

It is easy to power up the default by improving recovery rates and/or increasing available power points. Quantity becomes quality.

>>55295714
>What about just in general, regardless of edition?

Starting with Classic and running thru MT, TNE, and T4 psionics is best thought of as a type of skill. It's not weak and it's not overpowered, instead it's balanced within the game.

Psionics in Traveller will seem weak, however, to players used to psionics/magic in other games. Ranges are short, costs, high, and recovery times long.

I haven't used MgT1e psionics in play so I can't really speak about them. I'm sure some other anon will kindly clue us both in.

>>55296127
Almost exactly the same, except for the Psion splat, which has advanced talents - which are a bit of a wash. I think they're slightly more powerful, in that you get more abilities per talent/skill, but I wouldn't really know.

>>55294359
Traveller's core system

>>55296127
it's really good for an XCom game

>>55296964
Cool.

Would you run the Green Lantern Corps as an elite higher TL organization and keep the Imperium at roughly standard TLs?

Or run the whole game as a TL 20> super-science setting?

>>55298046
Based on the universe that surrounds the Corps, I would say elite org.

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We are about to start our first campaing in Traveller with my group on this sunday. Although i'm looking forward to it, there are some rules in Mongoose 2nd Ed. that are unclear to me.

Do the prices for missiles/torpedoes listed in High Guard stand for the full rack (1dton) or for the single missile? Our DM argues for the latter, but it doesn't make sense in my opinion as torpedoes would turn out to be cheaper than missiles.

>>55294359
>And now I'm curious how well the T4 Imperium (Foss starships)

Before you get disappointed, I'll remind everyone AGAIN that T4's ship building rules DO NOT produce Foss' starships.

T4 used stock art from Foss. That's all. T4 did not try to design Foss' ships and Foss did not illustrate any of T4's ships.

>>55298063
>>55298046
Before, or after the other 'Off-Shoot Corps' show up in canon? Also, no idea how to stat anything even remotely similar to a Lantern Ring, any ideas?

>>55298133
Math looks like it's per ton, so KCr250 for 12 missiles is KCr20.83/Missile and KCr150 for 3 torpedoes is KCr50/Torpedo.

>>55298168
That's OK, I won't be disappointed because I already knew about GDW using the Foss stock art (mainly as art) in T4.

My ATU needs would mostly be a much lower Jump fuel requirement and a few odd & ends components. Which isn't such a huge design stretch on the technical side (but will change the starship economics).

>>55298133
>Do the prices for missiles/torpedoes listed in High Guard stand for the full rack (1dton) or for the single missile?

Looks like one of Mongoose's usual editing fuck ups.

In 1e, the listed missile price was for 12 and the listed torpedo price was for one. There's no exact words to that effect in 2e, it would follow that the listed prices were again for 12 missiles and 1 torpedo.

Having a single missile cost more than a single torpedo makes no sense whatsoever, so your referee is most likely a douche nozzle. Good luck playing with that moron.

>>55298326
>That's OK, I won't be disappointed

That's good to read. Over the years one of the constant complaints regarding T4 from people new to Traveller is that you can't build Foss' ships with it. The cover art actually has that much of an impact.

When T4 when being hashed out on the old TML, the idea that using Foss' work would give people the wrong impression of the game was raised and laughed at. Here we are nearly 20 years later and it happens all the time.

101 Spaceship Traits
http://www15.zippyshare.com/v/saT89fBl/file.html

>>55299461

Nice share. Thanks.

>>55299506
You're Welcome

The Complete Sci-fi SNAFU List
http://www3.zippyshare.com/v/dOwfHCbK/file.html

jump-2

Do PGMPs or FGMPs have any armor penetration? They say that cover is entirely ignored, so I assume they ignore armor, too?

>>55301628
No they do not,
Cover is ignored in the sense that it isn't even relevant in the first place, unless reinfoced concrete.
So armor protection is still applied, not that it will save you or anything.

>>55301701
Alright, so basically, armor only applies when armor applies which is never, because even 200m of material is irrelevant unless it's material SPECIFICALLY enhanced to resist them, which means it ignores all armor. Gotcha.

>>55301722
> because even 200m of material is irrelevant unless it's material SPECIFICALLY enhanced to resist them, which means it ignores all armor. Gotcha.
Shit man, are you obstuse on purpose ?

To put it in simple language. Most versions of traveller assume that most cover can be either shoot through or not and only provide a DC to hit, not an modifier to armor, tho you can add that if you want.

So the main consideration is, "Can the weapon shoot through that material and still be effective or not ?"
And the baseline is that PGMP can shoot through any cover that isn't reinforced Most editions do not assume that the reader is autistic
Cover as in, a tent wall, a line of trees, a wall.
Not as in; a mountain range.

If you want to add armor values to your cover you can do that, do not know if MgT 2e does that already.

>>55301787
https://i.gyazo.com/ed4ed5bd74fd05155fa9c5497f775ed5.png

If it can ignore an office building as anything more than soft cover, then it ignores your armor. Hell, it probably instantly kills anyone it hits.

>2e

>>55301822
>"Hey how are things handeled in RAW?"

>"Things are Handeled in RAW usually like that"

>"Well that makes me upset and i attack your statement"

>"Well You asked what RAW was and i told you"

>>55301822
>If it can ignore an office building
I don't know in what bizarro dimension you live, but i'm pretty sure that over here, office buildings are build out of reinforced concrete.

Shit man, if you do not like the Rules, change them when you GM, also there is no armor that provides enough protection to survive a direct hit anyway. You are just splitting hairs for the sake of it.

Traveller was always a system where the RAW was more of a guidline, and if you do not like the fact that it welcomes homebrewing, there is proably a starfinder general up.

>>55290358
Dark Matter. Starts off very much like an SF RPG campaign. (Haven't seen the second season yet)

>>55301722
>Alright, so basically, armor only applies when armor applies which is never, because even 200m of material is irrelevant unless it's material SPECIFICALLY enhanced to resist them, which means it ignores all armor.

Since Classic, Traveller has differentiated between "hard" and "soft" cover. "Hard" prevents any exchange of gunfire and 'soft" allows an exchange but with a lower chance of getting hits AND a higher chance of those hits being more damaging. So you were either hiding completely behind something substantial (hard) or leaning our from behind so you could shoot (soft).

Classic Bk2 didn't include either the P/FGMP or cover. It did require a Line of Site (LoS) to fire which implied cover. Bk4 introduced the P/FGMP, didn't mention cover but had LoS. Snapshot didn't specifically mention cover, but did required LoS too. The AHL game had both types of cover and LoS.

Many of Classic's adventures included deckplans and repeated a section on interiors explaining how hatches, lifts, etc. The amount of damage necessary to breach the two types of walls, partitions and bulkheads, was always listed which again echoed the idea of hard &. soft cover.

MT basically cleaned that all up with specific rules for hard/soft cover and all subsequent versions followed suit.

From Classic Bk4 on, P/FGMP have always allowed for "group" hits, that is damage to additional targets close to or beyond the original target. At first, the group hit rules for shotguns were used. Soon after, there were specific, more damaging, group hit rules for the weapons.

Because a P/FGMP can blow through a partition with damage to spare AND because a P/FGMP can inflict group hits, it stood to reason that some hard cover was better than others. Modular partitions between office cubicles are obviously not the same as concrete walls of parking structure and shouldn't provide the same cover.

Aren't the same and shouldn't provide the same unless you're fucking autistic that is.

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>>55302596
>Modular partitions between office cubicles are obviously not the same as concrete walls of parking structure and shouldn't provide the same cover.

>Aren't the same and shouldn't provide the same unless you're fucking autistic that is.

My Zhodani

>>55298414
>you can't build Foss' ships with T4
You are literally the only person I've ever heard this from.

>>55302039

>Dark Matter

Yeah, it gets pretty crazy, but I enjoyed it. It's a shame it won't be back for a fourth season. Guess I'll have to read the graphic novel to find out what happens.
Killjoys is pretty good, too.

>>55301628
Plasma and Fusion weapons splash when they hit something strong enough, and in Striker had a danger space along the path of fire due to heat and beam containment leakage. If a PGMP or FGMP gunner knows where you are and knows his weapon, your cover is not going to help you.

>>55304940
There's a graphic novel? (heads to online bookstore)

>>55305561
There being only 4 issues of the Dark Matter graphic novel, I doubt the storyline therein goes as far as the 3 seasons on tv.

>>55305018
I'm not sure that was the case at all in CT/Striker. PGMP/FGMP only had a "target" rating of 1 in CT/Striker and the rules on page 31 relating to allowed number of attacks and danger space only apply to weapons that have a target number of more than one. Hence they only attack the primary target.
Nor do FGMP/PGMP have a burst size in CT/Striker. So no splash.

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>>55305791

Aw, man.

It's probably too much to ask that some other network picks up Space Channel/Syfy's leftovers. Let's hope they do like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and have like a "Dark Matter: Season Four" comic.

>>55305859
Perhaps I am conflating them with the larger plasma/fusion weapons.

>>55301822
You know, it usually does kill everyone it hits, despite armor (which is built to handle weapons fire, so yes, armor does apply when the exterior wall of an office building does not). And the person behind them, and the person behind them, and so on.
Funny, it's almost like combat is lethal in this game. Almost like... We don't have constantly bloating HP.
Battlesuit fights turn into contests of sneaking around, moving at MAXIMUM FUCK, and sniping each other through walls

>>55277028
>>55278577
>>55285201

I'd like to mention that their livestyle and circle would have an major impact on their behaviour, the circle maybe even more so than the style.

Species that spread their young around all willy-nilly like hivers or most clams will most likely not show a string bond, if any at all, with their young and only pay attention to them when they are in the same lifestage as them.

On the other hand you have the Githiaskio which have a mentallity strikingly similar to human, prolly because of their similar lifestyle as a species.

the coolest minor species in the OTU is...?

and why are they the coolest?

>>55305896
So, nobody is watching Traveller campaigns on YT? Guess I'll have to look for myself, which sucks as I'm restricted to mobile access with a very limited data plan.

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>>55306303
Partial to the Llellewyloly, myself.

>>55306560
why?

>>55306330

I didn't know there were any. Apart from those wacky Aussies a few years ago who once spent 45 minutes live trying to find the rules for fuel usage, because somehow it either got erased or wasn't recorded on the ship's sheet how much fuel it needed, and it was a question of life or death at the time. I found that hilarious, though it made me happy to be able to skip forward.

>>55306560
>Llellewyloly
Good taste anon.

ugh.

alright.

I'll give this another shot.

I like the character generation and career paths. I like how unfair it is and how it encourages you to cheat.

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>>55309217
>I like how unfair it is and how it encourages you to cheat.

>>55309217
That's why you always roll up characters as a group and with the GM present.

Aslan honor, is it anything like klingon honor? (IE: This only exists as a justification and morality thing, it's not concrete, there's no set code of honor)

>>55304937
The hard part is doing deckplans that match the exteriors.

There should be an app for that.

Here is my character

C 123456
UPP 369578

Homeworld
A Small Standard Wet 10M 9 0-3

Education
Ground Craft
Computer
Business
Computer(2)
Business(2)

College
admissions ok
perseverance ok
graduation
+4 to edu
honors ok
+1 to edu

Technical
Technical(2)
Science
Science(2)

Career: Entertainer
application ok
injury ok
term 1
Communications
Academic
Philosophy
Jack of all Trades

continuance ok
injury ok
term 2
technical
technical(2)
communications(2)
social standing +1

Merchant Academy fail
Merchant Career fail

Entertainer
Continuance ok
injury ok
charisma
technical (3)
acting
int +1

Rank and Service Skills
Carousing
Performance

Muster Out
1000 cash
high passage
2000 cash

>>55310630
So, my guy is a freelance author
He spent 8 years doing freelance work and
developed quite a few technical skills along the way. He tried becoming a merchant, but couldn't make it on his own, and went back to freelancing for a third term.

He has some friends in high places who offered him travel accommodations and only a few thousand credits to his name.

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Has anyone ever played Pirates of Drinax? Our Referee insists that when selling looted cargo we need a fence that pays only 10% of the original value. Isn't that a bit to much? At this point our crew would make a lot more, by doing simple speculative trading. It would also be far safer and wouldn't make us a criminals.

Is the piracy in Traveller really that unprofitable?

>>55310725
>fence that pays only 10% of the original value
you've never been to a pawnshop, have you?
you might get 20-30 if something is hot/popular, but fences are some tight fisted sons of bitches.

>>55310725
most people aren't pirates by choice.

>>55310725
What you gotta do is grease the wheels. Find out what your fence likes and give it to him. Some cigars, some port from his favorite vineyard, that kind of thing.

>>55304937
>You are literally the only person I've ever heard this from.

It's an illustration versus deckplan issue and you are "literally" the only person in this thread not to comprehend that.

>>55310725

The real money in OTU piracy is in stealing small craft. Get them to hand over their shuttle, or air/raft, or what have you. They're numerous and hard to trace compared to stealing a ship, and they're worth a ton of money.
That said, I would figure 20% would be more like what you'd get from a decent fence.

>>55305859
>I'm not sure that was the case at all in CT/Striker.

In Striker you're correct. Of course Striker is on a played different scale than CT Bk2, Bk4, Snapshot, and AHL combat.

BK4 has P/FGMPs using the groups hits for shotguns and AHL introduces a group hit rule just for P/FGMPs.

>>55310725
I did, and the price you get depends on how well you stand with the planet you are one right now.

i think dencer prices go from 10-30%
At the beginning you only get 30% from drinax.

Still, even 20% pure gain from selling somethin is pretty damn god if you don't need to buy it first.

Also also, didn't your GM give you a map of the sector and a list of the starports ?.

>>55310887
Also i have some tips for freeboting in your glorious leaf gold decorated ship, if you want them.

>>55310725
>Isn't that a bit to much?

Never pawned anything, have you? 10% is on the high end. The fence has to pay the thief, "launder" the goods in some way, and then find a buyer who isn't too picky but will insist on a discount too.

>Is the piracy in Traveller really that unprofitable?

Yup. This isn't some Johnny Dep movie in space. Traveller tends more towards historical pirates than Hollywood pirates. You don't jump around willy-nilly stealing everything in sight in every system you visit. Instead, you plan or two scores a year and lay low in between.

Snatching small craft is the way to make money. Even after being fenced, you'll earn enough from one to pay your bills for the better part of a year.

>>55310046
>Aslan honor, is it anything like klingon honor?

Pretty much, it's a justification thing more than a concrete moral code. Remember however that the Aslan predate TNG by several years.

The Klingon's weren't portrayed anything much beyond swarthy bad guys in TOS or TAS and very little regarding their culture was shown. We didn't learn anything about their honor system or even that they had one until TNG.

So, GDW wasn't ripping off Worf & Co. when they wrote up the Aslan. They were ripping off samurai instead, not the weeabo samurai but the historical version.

>>55311042
>Traveller tends more towards historical pirates than Hollywood pirates. You don't jump around willy-nilly stealing everything in sight in every system you visit. Instead, you plan or two scores a year and lay low in between.

To be fair, PoD got e very strong hollywood vibe with it. You fly an historical artpiece around as privateer and your mission is to jump start an almost dead empire back to life.

>>55310725
Also a ton of freight is worth around 50k credits on average in PoD, what did you guys get that you got complains about money ?

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>>55310887

Yeah, we have a Trojan Reach map and he sent us some fluff info, but asked to not search for the campaign books (that makes perfect sense). I marked some interesting spots to make a rough plan for our crew.

What bothers me the most is the whole requirement for a fence. Is it impossible to fabricate the cargo manifests and sell the loot as legal goods?

>>55310977

I would gladly take any!

>>55310714
>So, my guy is a freelance author

Why? Why choose that career path? What sort of campaign would such a PC fit in?

Are you one of those players who always shows up with a PC which is wildly inappropriate and/or useless for the stated campaign?

>>55311159
>What bothers me the most is the whole requirement for a fence.

Yeah, because you should be able to sell multiple dTons of cargo out of the back of your van, right?

>Is it impossible to fabricate the cargo manifests and sell the loot as legal goods?

No, it's not impossible. It's just not easy.

Is there a forger on your crew? Do you know where you can find a forger? Do you know how much you'll have to pay an even mediocre forger? Do you know what documents are necessary? How much time it will take to forge the documents in question? Will different worlds require different documents for sale?

There are answers to those questions, answers the PCs will have to investigate and uncover themselves.

Or your referee can just let you whip up the paperwork you need with a few crayons and a Chuck E. Cheese placemat.

>>55311132
>To be fair, PoD got e very strong hollywood vibe with it.

That's because it's Mongoose. Piracy in Traveller is still not 100% Hollywood piracy however, and PoD's fencing requirements are an example of that.

>>55311159
>Is it impossible to fabricate the cargo manifests and sell the loot as legal goods
That's actually a good idea but hard to set up, because you would also need to know where the cargo was before that and there are some forgery protections in place, would be alot easier with the orginal paper in hand.

Okay, to the tipps

1.) Drinax is your Tortuga, if you can fence stuff there, do it.

2.) Stay away from planets directly on the trade routes at the beginning, sounds stupid but those are the systems that can actually afford pirate protection and have a reason to get it.
Try to stick with planets away from the routes with a TL from 6-9, those are close to ideal.
Basically hunt smaller predators like you, smugglers and freetraders.

3.) Shooting stuff to smithereens is not the only way to go.
You can also try to infiltrate ships that take people on trips and start the overtake there in silence, for that a solid plan or a powerfull radio transereciver is needed, an engineer in the team can help with disabeling the turrets and blocking doors.

4.) Get some solid equipment for your marines, they are doing dangerous work.
When the credit is rare a combat enviroment suit with ballistic vest over will do but you should try to upgrade to boarding vacc suits as early as possible.
Shotguns + pistol smg are tested and true equipment, shotgun pellets keep most of the interior intact and pistol smgs with apds ammo deals with anything with too much armor (also has sweet sweet automatic fire)

5.) Always depressurise if you can before combat. Makes you harder to board by amateur PMC and prevents violent loss of atmosphere. But everyone in your ship needs a Vacc suit for this.

>>55311354
6.) Crew isn't permanently hired. Piracy is deadly work and there is a fair chance that somebody will leave you after they got enough money for their sick mother, paying back the debts, another month full with hookers and drugs.

7.) Be good but strict with your crew. You guys are the command, if you don't act unified infront of your crew they will notice that. Never take shit out infront of them and wait till you are in the officiers lounge.
Also take a planetside break once in a while, hand them some credits for some girls or give them the good booze, they will be there for you when you need them.

8.) Aslan will come already come after you after small sleights and attacks against their traders, that is their mentality.
Imperials will wait for you till the pressure forces them to act, but then with overwhelming force. Find a balace you guys can handle.

9.) if you are close enough in ship combat, always aim for the M-drive, one in two hits will go there and cripple your enemy.

10.) Hot boarding [after a ship fight] will ALWAYS contain a trap, be carefull and ready to fuck the fuckers that want to fuck with you.
Consider shooting a few times extra to make it clear you are serious.
Also flooding the airvent with a gas of your choice can also help, at least using smoke will turn the balance in your favour if you have access to ir vision.

11.) If a crewman EVER leaves with the gear YOU bought for his job.
Seriously consider finding him, breaking his knees and taking your stuff back.

>>55311465
That would be most of them that come to my mind.
If you have questions i will gladly answer them but first i need to sleep.

>>55311480
Just got some more.

Keep an eye on the clock
Don't try to do things where you aren't somewhat sure if you can do them and start wasting time.

Passenger ships also are a good source of booty, just not as cargo. Take personal valuables and usually there just a ship safe where the real treasures are hidden.

Never forget to ask kindly if the other ship won't just kindly space their cargo for you.

If cargo was kindly spaced, always check for traps like Marines in a box.

You should try to contact a ship and explaining the situation before you start attacking. Chances are that they have insured sacrificial cargo or a letter full with credits for you and if they don't start screaming for help just take it and let them go. Free money and you dudes didn't had to fight. There is always more than one ship in the system.

I think now I got most.

>>55311354
>>55311465

Great posts and great advice.

>>55310134
The people who are good at deckplans have their secret ways. The problem is that none of those people worked on T4 Starships.

>>55310823
Pah. "Can't be done" is not the same as "Didn't get done".

File: XXX_0189_Chris_Foss_Lift_Off.jpg (371KB, 1372x1000px) Image search: [Google]

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>>55311865
>>55311902
Yeah. I would've loved seeing this one as a 200-400 ton merchant.

>>55312164
Which end do you see as the front?

>>55312400
The Left end.

Though I could be wrong.

I think I would keep his color palettes even if I used more 'traditional' Traveller shape designs.

Okay, i got an idea.
How about a game centered around smugglers?
Its got all the same elements as piracy, but its not quite as dangerous.

>>55312400
If you hadn't asked that, I'd assume it was the right.

>>55311042
In addition to snatching small craft, run a chop shop. Yeah, it takes more setup, but it's fairly low profile.
Think about, especially using modern chop shops as an example: Stolen car? Hot goods. Stolen car parts? Not so hot.
Same thing with ships.
Get a ship with a grappling system and an overpowered J-Drive, enough that when you snatch a target it reduces to either J1 or can do insystem jumps (effectively, J0 or J0.5). Latch on and jump out.
So now you have the entire ship at your leisure. Now either A: hold on to it for long enough that its heat drops, or... First, loot all cargo. Loot all treasures. Take a quick trip to dump the crew and passengers off somewhere (I suggest a class E or D port).
Now, with a ship, you're going to have issues fencing it: it's worth a fuckton, but it's hot, and very few fences can actually move it. You might, on a really good day, get 20%. But strip it for parts... Sure, you lose the income off the hull, but each part can be moved quicker, moved to more places, and is not as hot as the ship it came off of. Change the serial numbers, sell to a fence who knows a shipyard that doesn't ask questions.
SO let's say the fence can sell the parts for 75% of actual value, accounting for use and possible damage. So you might get 35-50% of the value. Overall, a pretty penny.
And you don't have to lug 200 tons of "I'm a thief!" around.

File: XXX_0201_Chris_Foss_Icebergs_in_Space.jpg (402KB, 1600x1128px) Image search: [Google]

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It's not a grapple for piracy. Honest. I's just a harmless space tug.

>>55312767
>>55313222
Left-Front
-lower hull left is an intake. Zooming in it looks pretty narrow, but an intake still works.
-the little cylinder on top might be a part of the drives, with the rest underneath where we can't see it.
-Upper hull most likely bridge and quarters, with all the spoo on the end being sensors

Right-Front
-Lower left hull becomes a drive outlet
-Upper hull left can also be drives.
-little cylinder on top becomes a weapon?

>>55313451
I noticed the rear thrusters on the right.

>>55313451
maybe the lower left hull front is flat and behind that is the forward docking hatch/airlock?

>>55290222
Master of Orion 1
FTL
Space Station 13
Xcom games - kind of...
No Mans Sky
Space Engineers
Kerbal Space Program

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>>55313429

>>55313542
That could work.

The implied motion of the picture is to the left, while the curves of the hull suggest that it should move to the right.

Regardless of direction, a 200-ton rendition is probably three deck high and fairly narrow. A 400-ton rendition is probably four decks, maybe five.

>>55313582
Look if you try to calculate how much M-Dive they need to even move an icy mass that big.
Or how they could pull it with ONE cable.
You'll only cause grievous mental injuries.

>>55313629
Would it still work at 300-tons?

Other that longstanding Traveller tradition to go in even numbers, was there any design that used in-between tonnages?

>>55311132
>Also a ton of freight is worth around 50k credits
what?
we are pirates, we don't have traders licenses, we aren't welcome at port, some of us are wanted by the law.
how are we supposed to sell regular merchandise when everyone can tell?

>>55242039
I kinna feel bad for Traveler players. They have got no one but themselves. They need a touch of magic in their lives.

>>55314080

>Flynn's Guide to Magic in Traveller

You will be saving them a mountain of pain later on if you just tell them the game is bad.

Its shit.
Its absolute shit.
Its the worse game I've ever seen.

Traveler is a terrible, bad game, and you should feel bad for forcing it on unsuspecting do-gooders who are trying to keep a kindly old soul company.

>>55314312
Let me get one thing straight.
Its not just bad.
Its TERRIBLE.

As in god awful, horrible, irredeemable trash. I don't see why anyone would play this game unless they thought they might inherit something.

And I'm sorry, I'm just not that kind of guy. I can schooze a little bit, but I can't let whoever made this go on thinking that it is the best thing since sliced bread.

Somebody had to tell you.

>>55314334
And, i'm sorry.
Cause I know that's not the way to speak to an old man.
And I know whoever made this is a kindly soul.
And it pains me to speak the truth, but thats just the way it is.

Traveler is bad.

>>55314370
please don't kill yourself.

No Problem. We can use the Hoboes & Hobgoblins conversion to run Traveller.

More Magic
More Treasure
More Hot Space Elf Babes

>Traveller General acquires a troll

>>55314456
>do you think we should tell him?

>>55313684
Probably.

FASA had a 500 ton trader almost as homely as the old Judges Guild ships.

>>55314491
dammit, I said it cause I liked you, okay?
I saw how much pain it was causing you, and I had to put a stop to it. Cause when you like someone, and they like you, what hurts them hurts you.

I just didn't want to watch you live a lie.

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>>55315224
I am kind of high right now and very emotional. I think I got scalped and somebody swapped my DMX for 30 thousand mligrams of estrogen.

I'm still a bad dude. Shut up.

>>55315481
Screw you! I am hardcore gangster! I don't really like gnomes, fool!

>>55315493
fucking pathetic bastard gnomes..
why'd you have to make me feel?

>>55314948
OK. I could manage to match Judges Guild level homely with my drafting skills.

<starts looking for graph paper>

>>55313684
>Would it still work at 300-tons?

Sure, why not. You can say it's 100, 500, or 1000 dTons if you wish. Volume isn't the problem when working with a Foss illustration and neither is deciding which end is the front. The trouble with a Foss illustration is determining the volume ratios between the various sub-hulls.

Look at >>55312164 again. That's one of Foss' simpler "designs". We've only two sub-hulls; a small cylinder and a large rounded box. Tell me, what's the volume ratio between the cylinder and the box? 1:3? 1:4? 4:9? Something else? You've got to figure a likely ratio between the two sub-hulls, work out the volumes of those sub-hulls, and then begin to assign system volumes between the two.

And remember, that's a SIMPLE Foss design. Imagine trying to work out the volume ratios for some his really wildly imaginative stuff!

Another example of the illo vs. deckplan problem is the (in)famous Zho Shivva-class patrol frigate from Classic's A:4 Leviathan. You've a High Guard design on page 42 coupled with a Paul Jaquays' illo on page 43. While the design is nothing special, the illo so fantastic that it's been both admired and cursed at for decades. People love that illo UNTIL they try to deckplan it. It's driven people crazy since 1980 and, while there have been a few notable attempts, no one ever has really managed it.

I love Foss' work, it's incredibly imaginative. I won't even attempt to internally diagram his ships beyond something as vague as circles and boxes linked by lines.

>>55315649
dammit, now you are being cool again.

stop that. Be cool all the time.

>>55315649
>I love Foss' work, it's incredibly imaginative. I won't even attempt to internally diagram his ships beyond something as vague as circles and boxes linked by lines.

Yeah. I was thinking of making 3D models of those ships and slicing them at regular intervals (somehow) and getting a grid from that.

But probably only the 'simpler' one or two compound hull shapes variants.

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>>55315731
I wouldn't even know where to start on doing something like that.
Anyways, have a map. Again.
Why do I keep doing this, I haven't had a game since 2011. Or was it 2010?

>>55315815
maps are good.

>>55315649
>People love that illo UNTIL they try to deckplan it.
kinna like how people love dylan until they actually listen to his lyrics.

>>55315649
Foss is still relatively simple. Berkey, on the other hand.

>>55315815
>Anyways, have a map. Again.

Thanks! That cluster labeled "The Daughters" may not an empire but 3 A ports and 1 B port make it a powerhouse on that map.

>Why do I keep doing this, I haven't had a game since 2011. Or was it 2010?

Because it's fun?

>>55316046
Yep. The Daughters started off as bigger, but then I cut them down a bit. One planet spawned most of them, and they maintain close ties on the domestic front while presenting a united face to everybody else.
The Rendival Dukes were, until 45 seconds before I put their name down, the Rendival Raiders. They probably do still a lot of raiding, but I would need to gen the map the trade route at 1004 leads to in order to see if there's anything worth it in range there.
0104 leads to a Class A port, as does 0910. 0102 leads to a Class E, and 1004 goes to a C.
No idea what the Red and Blue Empires look like.

>>55316148
>No idea what the Red and Blue Empires look like.

What's on the map for both empire are distant frontier provinces, "marches" if you like. The bulk of both empires is dozens of parsecs off in their respective directions.

Nearly all the attention, might, and effort of both empires is drawn elsewhere. Here, both are satisfied with a watchful waiting. Small crises can be useful, but big crises are too potentially disruptive. The Daughters need to be kept on good terms and the raiders who call themselves "Dukes" monitored carefully.

And there's those three clusters of non-aligned worlds where influence of all kinds may be bought cheaply.

>>55316244
Well I knew that part. I just don't quite know what each one is going to be like, out here on the frontier.
I was thinking remnants of a civil war, long enough ago that people don't really care any more - and in both (and the other remnants of the Old Empire), there's a push to teach kids that the Civil War and the fracturing of the empire into multiple warring factions was a Good Thing.

>>55316266
I could see that, the blue empire could have been founded be some charismatic skipper, he stole some warships and made his own little empire, the other C planet at c0810 could be an ill fated punish expedition, than crashed with the nascent Blue empire and crippled both fleets.
Being loyalist but not very charismatic, he could have tried to emulate the old Empire/republic in that planet, having enough strength in old ships to be a force to be reckoned with but not enough to really challenge the blue empire. Both now have aged warships than were enough to bully lesser polities but they can't really maintain them at tip top conditions, and the vessels they can produce aren't that impressive.

>>55316266
>>55316335

So two remnants limping along unable to maintain their forces while apathy devours their populations? Sort of a SJW infused post-apop setting?

And out of the wreckage two new powers who haven't quite yet decided to do with the remnants except watch them circle the bowl?

That's a very interesting setting.

What are Darrian names like? The book isn't terribly clear about it.

>>55316508

Which book? The Classic AM gives examples and even has a language generator.

>>55316478
SWN has a nice kitchen sink setting, it has tables for everything and all the tools to generate fun adventures with a few clicks. It only irks me some of the OSR things.
And yeah, you can think lots of adventures with that lil sub-sector, the Daughters could be an isolationist high tech people, than had bad experience with the Raiders and don't trust anyone. Heck, with that name it could be a distopian Matriarchy where men are engineered to be little, dumb slaves than only exist for procreation or something like that, they are descendents from Biotechs than for whatever reason decided to do that (and it's full of myths and revisionism of course, you can't stain the origins of our glorious planets), perhaps after fucking up the original planet.

>>55316335
>>55316478
>>55316646
Okay, so it's basically a "Fuck off, Virus" TU. Massive Civil War, mostly offscreen of the map I just rolled. 7 Remnants, now 7 Empires.
So this little area was off at the sidelines, but still got hit with the lack of trade and raiders. Now, umpteen years later, Red and Blue, remnants of the Old Empire, have expanded enough that their borders are closing in.
The Daughters are named such as they are the "daughter planets" of the world that resettled them via quarter-jump drive about half-of-an-umpteen years ago. The Raider Dukes are descended from the wreckage of a naval depot - enough to keep a shipyard going, and export J-Drives (like the Daughters do for their real cash), not enough to really replace the aging capitol ships that are their only real deterrent.
The Ubuset Compact is from a Blue Empire noble going rogue a few generations back, leaving with a fleet to found his own kingdom - and the border has caught up with his descendants, who have yet to catch up with his dream...

HOLY FUCK WE HIT BUMP LIMIT

>>55316646
>SWN has a nice kitchen sink setting, it has tables for everything and all the tools to generate fun adventures with a few clicks.

That's why is so much fun to plunder.

>Heck, with that name it could be a distopian Matriarchy where men are engineered to be little, dumb slaves than only exist for procreation or something like that

In the OTU Mora is a matriarchy. There's also group of worlds in one of the core sectors which were a Long Night matriarchal pocket empire in which men were slaves. While admission/conquest by the early 3I ended that custom officially, the practice goes on under other names.

Damned if I can't remember the name of that pocket empire.

>>55316729

We do that occasionally. Especially when kind anons like >>55315815 share maps and setting ideas.

>>55314060
You need a tramp freighter. You don't have to actually own it (if you do own it, NEVER do anything remotely illegal with it) if you can persuade the captain to work with you. Stash your loot somewhere out of sight for a while, then have your Honest Free Trader take it to some backwater spaceport and claim it as salvage.

>>55317122

Acting as your own fence and setting up your own distribution network(s) takes time and money. While there's a lot of adventures in that, such arrangements require ACTIVE management, something which is impossible to do when you're gone for a few months "a-pirating". There are good reasons why pirates leave the sales and distribution fences, corrupt governments, and the like.

The "One week per jump" comm lag in Traveller is perhaps the hardest aspect of the game to accept. We can pick up a phone to call anyone on Earth in real time, we can send packages anywhere in days, we can go anywhere in days. It's hard to shake those bone-deep assumptions, so referees and players alike sometimes stumble a few times before learning to plan on a comm lag measured in weeks or months.

As for your idea of a poky little tramp regularly showing up in backwater ports with "salvage", the more often it's done, the sooner questions will be asked and not just by the authorities. Rival traders are going to want to know how it is they find all this salvage all the time. Tongues will wag, questions will be asked, and one day while unloading in some sleepy port, a nice IN officer with a few marines and some hard questions will appear smiling on the cargo ramp.

Leave all the headaches to others with the time and resources to set up and maintain the networks needed to distribute stolen goods. Fence your goods and start planning your next job.

>>55314060
And then you get 10 to 30 % off that 50K by a fence.