Traveller General - Bizzare Bazaar Edition

>>54697876
Do we think there's still a market for new 'adventure' material ? Can/do freelance people make a living/side gig 'doing' adventure writing ?

I think so, with the caveat that it's got to do more than provide an adventure (and this doesn't only apply to Traveller).

A great Traveller Adventure is useful as a supplement as well as the adventure. Leviathan isn't just a particular adventure, it's a primer on running commercial exploration games. Kinunir and Research Station Gamma have adventures in them, but they serve as worked examples of those setting elements, which is important, because everyone's setting is a little different, you want to provide something that a gm can plug into anyone's game.

If I were putting something out for Traveller that I expected to actually sell, it'd have pregens, a couple of situations, a world to be swapped in anywhere, notes on placement (away from a trade route, on the frontier, etc), equipment & Library Data. Extra rules to fill any gaps in Traveller as needed, plus appendixes for conversion notes (because we're looking at a 40 year old game, that's seen 9 versions).

I don't think people want to buy 'big story' adventures, especially when the creator doesn't have control of canon.

But a book that covers a new campaign frame in detail... especially if it can be as close to system-agnostic as possible, would be like gold.

>>54697958
I feel that Traveller Adventures are best written as "here's what the opposition's plan is, here's a set of potential encounters and their effects on the plan, here's some ways to show the plan in action, have fun and improvise".
Of course, we won't get that these days, since modern adventures fall into the trap of writing rigid plotlines like your table is some sort of tv show.
Don't write story plots, write villain plots, and build the story from the characters reacting.

>>54698161
Mmmmm, fortunately the two I've completed are canon agnostic, both pretty much starters for 'bigger' things. I'll find the right thread and post, ta gents.

>>54698161
>I don't think people want to buy 'big story' adventures

Depends. Some people have kids and/or a job. One reason why GURPS:T didn't work for me and possibly others was that it would've taken too much time to run.

Yes, I'd love to flesh out things myself, haven't the time.

>>54697958
there's always a market, might not be a very LARGE market, but there's always A market

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have an ancient spaceship

>>54700443
Just need a general outline of what the villain is doing, and some flashpoints to set back his plans. Random tables are your friend.

>>54701190
Speaking of ancients, what bullshit do you pin on them in ytu?

>>54703128
>Speaking of ancients, what bullshit do you pin on them in ytu?

Nothing important, just a few archaeological sites that show "hey, this starfaring species existed back in the dinosaur days".

>>54703838
that's the most restrained I've ever seen them used

>>54702432
Doesn't work if the players insist on planets with names and coordinates, tech levels, locations.

At least include examples of suitable locations in the OTU or whatever Cepheus uses for a setting.

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How garbage should a starter spaceship be? How garbage is too garbage?

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>>54708857
>garbage
It's called "character"

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

FUCKING TRAVELLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER

>>54708872
I'm glad now all of that shit would fit on two touchscreens.

Does anyone have any advice for Mongoose 1e Chargen?

>>54708872
every time I see this, I spot something new

>>54708947

Yeah, but it'd all be hidden inside a single hamburger menu, sixteen layers deep, and god help you if you tap the wrong thing and get lost in there.

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>>54712400
>not having neuro-networked AI (which has lovingly taken care of you since the day you were born) manage all the nonsense that our feeble brains can't handle and/or have a chance of accidentally breaking

1970s futurism is fine and all, but really, a multi-million credit TL11+ ship should have enough AI hand-holding to prevent shit like accidentally pressing bad buttons from happening in the first place.

>>54714309

>wanting an AI to second guess you all the time and give you what it thinks you wanted instead of what you asked for

Touchscreens are a fundamentally poor interface and you can't patch that with nannyware.

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>>54714430
>you can't patch that
Sure you can. Instead of physically touching something, just have your neural-integrated AI do that thing which you intend (including refusing to do so if, in its judgment, it is something that is harmful to you). Human foibles are the problem, after all.

Also, showing your age, gramps.

>>54715179

Then why bother to have a touchscreen if you have an AI?

And just because kids today are used to eating garbage doesn't make it stop being garbage. Get your tablets off my lawn, you little shits!

>all the slowness of a phone with all the portability of a small painting

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>>54708947
Modern military aircraft have these buttons which are themselves little screens, which change to show different options as you navigate menus, forget what they're called.

>>54715706

>Windows XP

I feel safer already.

Didn't the Navy run a pilot program back around 2005 to replace their VMS based systems with a special Windows version Microsoft developed for them, only to cancel the fuck out of it when the test carrier had to shut down for like a day because it fucked up?

>>54715786
In defense, that screen is from a hovercraft. As far as the other, you got me. Sounds like something we'd do, though.

>>54715706
Let's just call them "fancy optimus maximus keyboards".

>>54715786
It's XP because the whole thing is built around working with it, upgrading to 7 or 10 would mean rewriting a lot of horribly specialized software from scratch.

>>54716050
Shoulda stuck with VMS ......

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>>54715618
>Then why bother to have a touchscreen if you have an AI?
Context sensitivity. Regardless of the AI we would make to help us, we are, at the end of the day, still products of our evolution, so building something that elicits a tactile response is useful.

A quick example: the vast majority of the photoreceptors in our eyes (90 million out of a total of ~95 million) are completely bleached (and produce no information-containing signal) in daylight and are only used in early dawn/twilight hours and for peripheral vision. Of the remaining 4.5 - 5 million photoreceptors that can see color, much of the 'encoding' of the data (in terms of cross talk down to bi-polar cells) is ONLY activated by motion.

We all experience the sensation when a small animal moves in the brush; when it was still it may have been difficult to detect (although our eyes do take in the sensory data, it's mostly ignored by primary visual cortex because it's not salient), but once the animal moves, your brain registers it immediately.

So this is a product of our evolution as predatory animals and thus if you are building an AI to compliment it, you have to that into account. So, for instance, in the real world, AI vision is shittacular at identifying a person who gains a bit of weight or ages a bit, which the human brain is exceedingly good at, but is very good at processing an enormous number of similar-looking people and differentiating between them (humans are AWFUL at this and can really only remember around 12-16 'archetype' faces in its memory, which is why people stereotype others as 'looking all the same' if they don't interact with them often.)

>>54717220
>a tactile response

But that's the worst part of a touchscreen's usability, they have no tactile response. I mean, that and the poor accuracy of pressing stuff with your fingers forcing designers to have to fold menus up several layers deep just to accomodate suitably oversized buttons.

>>54717220
Time and time again I'm reminded that nature is both a weird and a beautiful thing

>>54717811
that it is

>>54708841
Cepheus doesn't have a setting to the best of my knowledge

>>54718627

No default setting, but several have been published.

>>54718652
what's the best published setting in your opinion for Cepheus engine?

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What're psionics like in your traveller universe, anons?

>>54720065
They don't exist, because I don't need space-muslims blowing things up with their mind.

>>54721500
I said psionics, not zhodani anon

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>>54720065
In the past? pic related
Now? half of them are scared of being like the Mind Lords, a small bit want to be Mind Lords, and the rest Just Want Some Godsdamned Peace And Quiet.

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I made some 2300ad maps of earth if anyone cares

>>54722477
post more! I love this shit!

2300 deserves more respect than just 'Hard Science Traveller'

>>54722477
Good to see that poland finally caught Lithuania

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>>54722477
>>54722501
Sure

>>54722623
how'd you make these, and are you basing it off of cannon, or your own story?

Only thing I know about 2300 is 'related to traveller, and really cool, weird aliens'

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>>54722661
I just got blank maps of the world and drew over them. They're all based off of the canon maps given in the 2300ad Earth sourcebook (I'm just remaking them because the Earth sourcebook maps are reaaaally messy and not very nice to look at.)

>>54722685
Ok, thanks anon

Has anyone posted the new Pirates of Drinax mega-campaign for Mongoose 2ed?

>>54722867
there's a new one?

>>54722685
>Venezuela
Well know I Know this is a fantasy setting

>>54722896
Yes. And it even already has a thread about the errors it contains on the MgT message boards. So it appears to suffer from typical Mongooses editing shittyness.

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Here's more 2300ad if anyone wanted it

>>54723701
thank you anon

>>54708857
>>54708872
A starter ship should fit what you want the PCs to be able to reach and be capable of doing when they get there for the first several sessions. After that the ship should be whispering in the Captain's ear about that next repair or upgrade. A ship that meets every need and is in good working order needs to be shot at occasionally.

>>54709292
The checklist is not just decoration, and explains a few things the text is poor at.
I usually allow the basic skill roll on the term a PC fails out of a career, because failure is educational.

>>54724833
like the Millennium Falcon, as an example of a junker that works juuuust well enough it's not a health hazard?

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>>54723741
???

Also as a note it is VERY hard to get the borders just right please don't kill me

Nice maps.
Also, reading about it few threads back I started to read Hammers Slammers and damn, that's some good military sci-fi. (even if it isn't all about shooting guns) Why isn't it more popular?

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I guess to top it off I'll post the 2300ad near star map.
Too bad I'll never use any of this stuff because there's no one to play 2300ad with,
and even then I'd want to rewrite a bit of the setting to be more cyberpunky, so to say

>>54726184
>it isn't all about shooting guns. Why isn't it more popular?

There's your answer anon, in my experiencem most of the people I've met who're into military sci-fi are just there to drool over the space guns

How many terms are too many terms? Is there a maximum age?

>>54726806
4-6 tends to be about the maximum, and 'until you die?'

>>54726834
So if you managed to get an early roll of the Lottery roll in Cosmopilite, got a million dollars, then got a doubled Noble benefit roll right after it, and went for Anagathics, and due to the right stat spread managed to get about 36 terms, uh, what then?

>>54726862
congratulations, you've officially got the best luck, and you've probably got a loooooooooooooooooooong list of enemies

>>54726882
Seven enemies, three allies, no contacts or rivals because they all died or became enemies. Nearly died once, only actually forced out of a career twice so far due to failed survival.

Do I just stop at this point, or what? Do I just see how long the ride goes?

>>54726894
It's your choice anon, but remember, things can and probably will come back to bite you in the ass once the game starts

>>54726917
Like, the primary problem I'm concerned about is someone seeing this and just telling me to fuck off, but the entire thing is rolled up in a public page.

What do I actually do to determine who my allies/enemies are? I've never actually done that before.

>>54726933
use the game's rolls as a basis? what version are you using? my only experience is with mongoose

>>54726954
Mongoose 1e, at present. I've built like 1-2 characters before this, but those were with people standing by. I'm... at least relatively sure that I've actually got things correct? I'm just still new as hell to this.

>>54726968
oh yeah, then it should tell you 'gain (as an example) naval officer as your enemy'

>>54726977
Nah, most of them were like "Gain 1d3 Enemies and 1d3 Allies", I just rolled higher on enemies almost every time, and then several events either killed or flipped allies.

Do humans in Traveller use any particular style of naming?

>>54726992
then pick something that sounds like it'll make a good story
>>54727076
I know Sword Worlder's use vaguely 'not Nordic' sounding names

>>54727076
Last time I looked at the map I saw a Third Space French Empire some place, I'm assuming many of them have French names.

>>54728708
I think that's 2300, anon

>>54729713
That was on travellermap.com, and probably not canon.
IIRC it was inside Solomani territory, somewhere bottom right of Earth.

>>54729713
>>54729839
http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Third_Reformed_French_Confederate_Republic
Ah shit, it's canon.

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I'm going to try running classic Traveller soon for two players, but I'm still reading through the core rule book. I have very little experience GMing, but I have a particular kind of game in mind. I'm interesting in building my own setting for a sandbox where each planet is its own little ecosystem of adventures that are largely disconnected from each other.

I was hoping for some recommended Sci-Fi inspiration. I like the genre but I actually don't have much literature or media under my belt and I'd like to have more, especially if they can be digested fairly easily. Also, are there any recommended homebrew fixes/splats I should know about for this version?

>>54730018

Grab the Rule 68A pdf from the Archive. Skim through The Traveller Adventure, there's a lot of good advice. Citizens of the Imperium is awesome, as is Traders and Gunboats. If you want robots, use the JTAS version.
Other than that, steal bits and pieces from wherever.

>>54726184
>>54726764
It was quite popular back when it was nearly alone in Military SF, but its Vietnam vibes (war is shitty, win or lose) in the early stories don't sell as well *now* compared to all the winning the more recent stuff does. Once the MilSF writers started to channel the MachoFic Gun Porn there was no attention left for actual good writing.

>>54730018
A lot of H.Beam Piper is now out of copyright, I think. Good reading there.

You can get a lot of mileage out of the Patron system, though I might recommend grabbing the Mongoose 1e core book for its Patron tables to help with motivations and tasks.

Another source of assistance outside of Traveller is the D20 based Stars Without Number. Flip past all the system specific stuff and head for the Referee's advice and campaign building guide.

>>54731021
>You can get a lot of mileage out of the Patron system, though I might recommend grabbing the Mongoose 1e core book for its Patron tables to help with motivations and tasks.

Classic's 76 Patrons is an excellent alternative. 76 patrons with plot seeds, each with about 3-6 variations.

>>54731054
Absolutely. The variations structure of 76P is a useful thought process to learn in general. At such an early stage, however, i would look at as many tools as possible and see which ones resonate.

>>54730018
Firefly has pretty much got your entire spectrum covered

>>54731965
it was based on traveller IIRC?

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>>54733786

Not totally-for-sure 100% super confirmed, but yeah, it was based on a Traveller campaign.

https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/13668/is-joss-whedons-firefly-based-on-the-traveller-rpg-he-played

>>54733992
thanks anon

>>54722477
I love how it looks like Donegal seceded. Guess they built their own Las Vegas after all

Seriously though, 2300ad is pretty cool.
My current TU is heavily based off it by way of Alien

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Would it be acceptable to make a Zhodani a Not!Dune type? (I.E. vaguely middle-easternish, arabian prince kinda thing)

>>54722661
2300 continues the universe of Twilight 2000. No relation with Traveller except that it has starships, and even their FTL is completely different.

I guess GDW stuck Traveller on 2300 initially so that it would sell better.

>>54726184
>>54730894
I blame Ringo and his military pornography.
Well, the entire suite of "we always win, easy" really started after Desert Storm, with a generation that never really grasped the reality of WW2, Vietnam, and Korea. To them, Desert Storm was the ideal form of war, brought to us by technology that made the primitive combat conditions of those previous wars something to be never seen again.
Then WoT started, and about 2005 we started losing that idea when people realized that there's a reason we call it an "urban jungle"...

>>54726894
Just remember: if your advancement roll is lower than the number of terms you've spent in that career, you have to muster out that term, even if you got promoted.
Of course, I've never seen rules for what happens if you make an advancement roll at Rank 6 - I just roll another skill, like you're supposed to do with promotions.

>>54733992
>>54734100
Also, the entire sector of Reaver's Deep, which had... Reavers, AKA partially insane raiding warlords, especially during T4's M0 setting.
So I'm pretty sure I narrowed down the sector, milieu, and edition of play.

>>54736485
Ringo?

enlighten a poor fool, anon

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>>54737214

John RIngo, one of the not-as-awful military SF writers in Baen Books' jam-packed stable of awful military SF writers.

>>54737271
Oh, that guy, who I vaguely remember reading about, have some more military sf

http://www.alternatewars.com/Fiction/MilSF_Listing.htm

>>54737214
>>54737271 has it right, Ringo is not as bad - after all, Ringo has seen actual combat. The problem is how his politics inform the plots of his books. It's why I never really noticed Weber doing the same thing, since I started reading them both at the same time.
Their novels are the best when they stay the hell away from politics. (and Ringo did have the contract to write the first-contact history of Schlock Mercenary, until Howard realized just how political John is when he's not trying to include it...)

Now, what I need is more old-school pulp. Picked up Andre Norton's Star Guard a few days ago and discovered where my tastes lie, alongside the Vorkosigan series. Any suggestions? One of my local bookstores has an entire aisle of old pulp sf.

>>54739073
Heinlein, but I'm a fag who'll shill for Heinlein at any given opportunity

>>54735074
caveat: Your game, your character

The Zhodani nobles (the only ones who wear turbans) range from localized community types to big picture meddlers. A desert world could produce a local populace a lot like the Fremen, but isolation and cultural drift is not something the Zhodani want to have happen, so the Fremen thing will be more of an overlay on the Zhodani baseline.

>>54736485
>I blame Ringo
Ringo is a symptom. The drift of SF into mindless bulletry started in the mid-90s as S.M.Stirling started to inexplicably get book contracts and a horde of unknowns began to bleed and butcher poor helpless thesauri in the quest for combat writing that didn't drag. As most of them couldn't write non-combat either, they failed, but kept getting published.

>>54734188
I run 2300ad a lot darker than it usually is, making it in to a sort of cyberpunk space future thing. French and Japanese corps running everything, mass poverty in ruins leftover from the third world war that were just never touched on again, and a demographic shift from the nuclear exchanges that made a wealth gap that would make the 1980s blush.

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I'm Missile Destroyer Anon from last thread. I never said it was perfect, and I posted it here to get it criticized. Thanks for that.
Multi-Role is basically just a name to tell my players, as in 'The ship chasing you is a Zhodani Navy Multi-Role Missile Destroyer. It carries 400 missiles, every 5 of which are fully capable of blowing you out of the sky'.
I've listened to you, and gave it a more diverse weapon loadout, made it cheaper, got rid of some superfluous stuff and reclassed it as a corvette. If you don't mind, I'd welcome further criticism.

>>54741953
Okay, that looks better, and the basic frame is much more flexible. It's much easier to change the loadouts on a hull you can already build, and I can think of multiple variants already.

In fact, the first variant I can think of is Modular. First, drop the Library, which frees up four tons. Next, use two of those for sandcaster storage, and the other two go into torp storage.
Now, split the barbettes into pairs (1 torp, 1 fusion), split the ammo into two groups, and... designate them as two separate modular sections. 20 tons a piece, built for a specific 500 dton hull, actually gives you a lot of options. First, you can swap the weapons depending on mission. Patrol would use missiles and might keep the fusion guns, Fleet could keep two missile or torp barbs on one module and use the other entirely for a PD array (The Admiral needs you to... Do a Barrel Roll!). With that degree of flexibility, and its independent operation range (although you list it having fuel for a J3 with J4 drive, take care of that), it actually is a multi-role ship.
(also, the modules would technically, in some groups, count as small craft. Lot more available vendors there).


Next variant: Battlerider (not modular). Drop JDrives and that fuel, freeing up a lot of space. Also frees up power, which then allows you to... Cut out the turret and replace it with a medium bay. Drop one barbette and use that hardpoint for a PD array. Swap all barbettes for fusion or particle, and use the bay for either torp or missile. Some self-defense, but plenty of firepower. Two barbettes can also be swapped for triple turrets for missile screen purposes.
For a pure screen variant of the battlerider, drop the bay and 1-3 barbettes, and use all of those hard points (2-4) for PD arrays, leaving a fusion barbette as the main gun. I don't suggest this, it's too specialized, but might be perfect in a much smaller variant that gets used for suicide runs.

>>54741953
On a ship that small, usually only the captain would have a stateroom to himself. I would suggest converting 4 of those single staterooms into double staterooms. Drop the library (which is strange on a small military craft anyway), and add another double stateroom in its place. That gives you additional accommodations for 6 people. I believe your original design space for marines on a very temporary basis – this would give space for a half dozen marines at all times. Use 3 tons of your cargo space (or remove 3 tons of torpedo storage) for a breaching tube to allow those marines to board other ships (or 2 tons for a forced linkage apparatus if you don't like cutting holes in the ship you board). Corvettes are usually anti-piracy or customs enforcement craft, so the marines help in that role.

You still have the problem explaining why they won't just wipe the floor with the PCs merchant vessel, however.

>>54742994
And I just noticed you have no storage for sandcaster rounds. You need to add that too. You don't want to have to carry those barrels from your cargo bay all the way to the turret by hand.

>>54741953
Common practice is to have common areas equal to 1/4 the volume of the accommodations, so you could drop half that common area space. (which really shouldn't be there anyway - common ares used to be included for free in the volume dedicated to staterooms but Mongoose changed things).

That would free up 14 tons for use elsewhere.

>>54742947
That's a pretty great idea. I'll split it into two variants, one modular and one not. Might take me a while to get the modular variant running though.

>>54742994
The library is really only there for on-the-job training and to fight boredom. An option would be a single occupancy stateroom for the captain, double for the crew and a couple of tons of Barracks for Marines.
It's meant as a recurring enemy. The PCs are raiding, and the corvette is sent to stop them. One day, they're boarding a freigther, this thing pops up from behind an asteroid and starts firing torpedos. Cue chase scene. Repeat as necessary, or until they come up with a plan to incapacitate it.

>>54743012
Thanks, I'll add that.

>>54743174
I thought it was 1/2. It's a warship, not a cruise liner, however, so I'll consider that.

>>54744032
Oh, quick question: Do I need Radiation Shielding to have Fusion Guns? It says in the description of the Radiation trait that it gives everything within 60 meters a dose of 2Dx100 rads.

>>54744032
Video screens would be standard in all staterooms, as would a computer connection. Personal programs like video games wouldn't require any of the computers processing power. In addition, the space set aside for common areas includes entertainment, so boredom wouldn't be a problem. Personal data devices (like tablets) would also most likely be common.

And you can still train without a library. The library just makes it a little bit easier.

>>54744063
It would be a good idea. The hull normally protects against 500 rads, the shielding increases it to 1000. Any ship that mounts fusion guns is probably also the kind of ship that would have fusion guns fired at it as well.

It also helps against natural sources of radiation.

The crew being in vacc suits helps a bit too. (and they should be suited up anyway due to the chance of a hull breach).

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Alright, this is the newest version. I'm worried about it getting too expensive again.

>>54745071
Honestly, I don't see why I shouldn't have it. It's only 4 tons, and even if I have it, I still end up with 24 tons of cargo space. Maybe Gaming Space would be better for entertainment, or a small Training Facility for training. I'll probably go with Gaming Space, would be good for morale in this tiny sardine can if you could shoot some hoops after your shift (or whatever the Zhodani equivalent is).

>>54745155
I agree, proper battle procedures should include everyone suiting up, and most, if not all of the ship being put under vacuum.

>>54703128

Like >>54703838, not much.

The Ancients are completely overused. GDW started the practice, lazy writers and GMs kept adding to the problem, and Mongoose followed along.

The only time I've them is when I've run the Classic products which featured them. All the other times they're just a bit of "common knowledge" PCs and NPCs may be aware of.

>>54723171

Will wonders never cease.

>>54726862

So you ignored the INT+EDU skill limit like all good munchkins should?

>>54729897

It's a Francophone SolCon member state and not the 3rd French Empire from 2300AD, knucklehead.

Grab "Solomani & Aslan" from the Megatraveller section of the Archive and read about all the various SolCon member states. There's Slavs, Boers, etc.

>>54746483
>Honestly, I don't see why I shouldn't have it.

Never served aboard a ship or sub, huh?

As already explained to you, a library is too specific and formal training can be handled at computer terminals anywhere. Use the 4dTons to provide ELBOW room and not just a CLASS room. Call it a multi-function space which can used as a gym, lounge, lecture/briefing room, or whatever.

>>54697958
>Do we think there's still a market for new 'adventure' material ?

Sell or share? Assuming it's a side gig, there are a number of 3rd party groups publishing materials for CE, groups like Stellagama, Zozer, JBE, and others.

You can find their stuff in the Archives and thus find their contact info.

If you don't want to write within established settings, you'll have a harder job selling stuff.

>>54729897
2300AD is not the same setting as the Imperium setting at all. Never intended to be, never pretended to be. Only confusion because of the first edition being called "Traveller:2300". They changed that in the 2nd edition to just "2300AD" for a reason.

The two settings have different histories for Earth from 2000 to 2300.

In the Imperium setting by 2300 the Terrans are united and have already had a couple shooting wars with the vast Vilani empire. Terran colonies and conquered territories are already up to a sector from Earth.

In 2300AD Earth is NOT united, had a hard reset nuclear war in 1999-2000, and has yet to meet any alien sentience less strange than the Eber; there are no "alien Humans" in the setting. Human colonial space is maybe two (Traveller flat style) subsectors in total area.

>>54747192
> gym, lounge, lecture/briefing room, or whatever.
Which would basically be Common Area. Got it.

>>54747427
>Which would basically be Common Area. Got it.

Exactly. ELBOW room, not SPECIFIC PURPOSE room.

>>54747662
Converted the Library and 4 tons of Cargo to another 8 tons of common area, for a total of 25 tons. That also makes the ship cheaper, if not by much. DM+1 is crap anyway.
Now, time to get the modular version together. Will probably post that tomorrow.

>>54720065
>What're psionics like in your traveller universe, anons?

Straight out-of-box Classic with all the limits and costs.

I want psionics to be another skill and not an all powerful trump card.

>>54746483
Torpedoes probably aren't the best idea, seeing as how they have a penalty to hit anything below 2000 tons. In other words, the typical targets this ship would be going after.

>>54747192
Hell, drop it and some cargo space to get a workshop, which really extends endurance.
Remember that most of your cargo space is going to be spare parts to repair battle damage, along with life support supplies and food.

>>54746483

If price is a concern, consider lessening or dropping the massive amount you have spent on electronic warfare. Is it really necessary to a combination of sensors and programs giving a +13 bonus (not counting the crews members skill itself) and costing 36 million credits?

You can also save some money by using a budget maneuver drive. Save 15 million credits in exchange for 1 disadvantage. Increasing the size by 25% (7.5 tons) is probably the least damaging.

Likewise a budget jump drive. In this case, maybe the late jump option (requires the ship to be at 50 diameters instead of 100 to jump). Saves 20.625 million credits.

Doing that to both the drives and at the very least dropping the electronic warfare program would save 59.625 million credits.

>>54749642
I made a typo. The late jump option requires you to be at 150 diameters, not 50.

And if noting else, drop the electronic warfare software. You have 2 enhanced sensor upgrades adding a total bonus of +8 for 12 million, and a software program that only adds +3 for 24 million.

>>54747288
Maybe it's because the versions I've seen have been built off of traveller rules? Either way, I think 2300 is a really cool setting

why is mongoose the best edition to build off of? or is classic the best? cepheus engine, give me your opinions anons

>>54750953
>why is mongoose the best edition to build off of?

2E presumably. It supposedly fixed most of 1E's problems.

>> or is classic the best?

Classic is pure OSR. Classic was OSR decades before there was an OSR. I use Classic because it's minimalist enough to keep out of my way while also helping me. I've also used it for so long that I don't need to think about it.

>> cepheus engine, give me your opinions anons

CE currently has the best non-OTU settings and the amount of CE material will only grow.

>>54750383
>Maybe it's because the versions I've seen have been built off of traveller rules? Either way, I think 2300 is a really cool setting

That could very well be it. The "real" 2300AD is in the Archive, grab it, read it, and leanr just how much Mongoose fucked it up.

lasers or kinetics anons?

personally, I'd go for kinetics if given the choice

>>54749244
Sigh, last thread i was told to drop missiles in favour of torpedos. But you're right, they get DM-2. Still gives me DM+1 with Fire Control/3. Maybe switch them back out for two Missile Barbettes?

>>54749642
It's +7 for EW and jamming, and +4 for Electronics (sensors). I don't think they add up. Electronic Warfare is the first line of defense against missiles, lets them jam enemy communications and break target locks. I'd imagine everyone would be using it at TL15. Hell, we're using it today, and we're barely TL8. It is expensive, but still below 10% of the entire thing.
Budget Drives would be an option, I'll consider that.

>>54754195
Sexy uniform

>>54747288
>had a hard reset nuclear war in 1999-2000,
World War 3 went from 1996-2001 (Arguably 1995-2001 if you count the Sino-Soviet war as the start of WW3). The nuclear exchanges lasted 1997-1998.

>>54755551
Ben a while since I read that history, but I remembered the name of the game: Twilight:2000.

>>54751116
>and leanr just how much Mongoose fucked it up.
You mean the stupid lore changes they made? Like how World War 3 is completely wiped from the history books and no one knows what happened during "Twilight?"

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>>54747288
>there are no "alien Humans" in the setting
Pic related (Using the Mongoose one because better artwork except for that horrible Kafer redesign)

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>>54731965
>>54731245
>>54731054
>>54731021
>>54730157
Thank you my dudes.

>>54751116
>OSR

If you mean "Old School *Renaissance*", I'd point out that Classic Traveller predates AD&D by a year or so. It was played alongside, and occasionally combined with D&D. It's not a retroclone, it's the actual retro.

>>54755891

I think he means the playstyle that's commonly referred to as OSR. One that's focused on rulings by the DM, and trust in his fairness and ability to adjudicate things that aren't covered by the rules.

>>54752057
Electronic warfare is still an Electronics (Sensors) check. Enhanced Sensor Processing says it improves all sensor related checks, and electronic warfare is sensor related. They should both work.

And don't go for missile barbettes. A single 5 ton barbette launches 5 missiles, with storage space for 25 missiles (5 full attacks). In the same 5 tons, a triple missile turret launches 3 missiles but holds 48 missiles (12 full attacks, and more total missiles than the barbette). Not counting the missiles stored in the turret itself (which Mongoose fucks up).

>>54758065
Re-reading the description of Enhanced Sensor Processing, I see that you're right. I replaced the Electronic Warfare program with a Launch Solution program, for MCr8 less.
That still gives me +10 on electronic warfare, but that's kind of what I want. The ship only has one double Pulse Laser for missile defense if you take away EW.
Not sure about that one, desu. Anyone with experience on this want to give their opinion?

I think it's a question of what you want your missiles to do. Missiles Barbettes do more damage (as you only roll once for damage per salvo, then multiply it by the effect of your attack roll, and every missile gives you DM+1). Triple Turrets let you store more missiles in the same space, but fire 2 missiles per salvo less.
IMO, missile storage isn't important enough to justify making your actual missile attacks weaker. I currently have storage for 266 missiles, which would take 26 rounds to fire, or THIRTEEN hours (and then you still have enough missiles for more than a full salvo). I honestly don't see the point of having even more.

>>54758791
Actually, I'm wrong. 26 rounds are 156 minutes, not 13 hours. Still, a very long time to keep firing missiles continuosly

>>54751116
>2e
Anagathics, general layout issues, editing issues, lack of character options in career/gear/anything else, lack of non-100% RNG chargen options, an overall lower power-level which effectively means that you're going to be starting out as an idiot with a 50% chance of success, a general lack of content, complete lack of indexes or bookmarks, errors and typos galore in every book.

>>54708857
The finest starship will be garbage if your players don't know what they're doing. I started a group off with a system shuttle and they parlayed it into a 400 tonne Merchant.

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>>54715706
>combat halted due to constant prompts to upgrade to Windows 10

>>54755891
>If you mean "Old School *Renaissance*", I'd point out that Classic Traveller predates AD&D by a year or so.

And I'd point out that you're a clueless douche.

I wrote "Classic is pure OSR. Classic was OSR decades before there was an OSR." indicating Classic predates OSR by decades.

What I was referring to, and as >>54756001 repeated, is that Classic's style of play is what current RPG players call OSR.

>>54755685
>You mean the stupid lore changes they made? Like how World War 3 is completely wiped from the history books and no one knows what happened during "Twilight?"

Yes, among many other things. 2300AD was not only a lore "sequel" to T:2000, it was a system and design paradigm "sequel" too. Like T:2000, 2300AD was primarily a "milsim" RPG with highly detailed personal combat rules.

>>54764411
>The finest starship will be garbage if your players don't know what they're doing.

Exactly. A ship must also "fit" the campaign. That patrol cruiser is "garbage" if your players want to be traders.

Over the years I've found the best or most satisfying way to give the players a ship is to let them earn one. Hook them up with a patron, either an individual or company, who allows them to use a ship while working for them. over the course of the campaign, the players' actions can earn them sole title to the ship.

The constant need to meet mortgage and pther payments is muted somewhat and the GM has a nice "hook" in the form of the patron to direct the players' choices. Classic's TTA campaign is a great example of this. The PCs start out crewing a subsidized merchant. They have various scheduling obligations, but only need to worry about saving for the annual overhaul. They engage in a few side gigs, come to the notice of a regional shipping magnate, do some jobs for him which escalate in importance, and eventually do so well that he buys the ship and give it to them as a reward.

>>54755551

GDW tinkered with that history between both editions of T:2000, but that's basically it.

Mongoose, being Mongoose, decided to inflict total amnesia instead most likely out of some misplaced PC/SJW fear of "triggering" someone.

>>54766049
They never changed when the Sino-Soviet war started, nor when World War 3 started. And I'm not sure how World War 3 could possibly "trigger" someone.

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>>54766865

Eh, it's traditional on some parts of 4chan to blame everything that happens on the SJW boogieman. It doesn't need to make sense or anything.

>>54766943
I'd like to think there has to be some reason he said that. Maybe because Germany started World War 3 by trying to reunify the country with a coup in East Germany? Or he could be referring to the really dumb lore change they made in the second edition where Germany invaded Poland (After it was reunified peacefully with the GDR) because ethnic tensions in Silesia.

>>54766865
>They never changed when the Sino-Soviet war started, nor when World War 3 started.

True, but they changed how and why those wars started.

1E came out in '84. It's background refers to events which begin in '95 and is an example of FUTURE history.

2E came out in '90, after the fall of the USSR made 1E's background unworkable. 2E's background contained various changes to account for real events and other by the time 2.2E was released in '93, the background was deliberately made to be an ALTERNATE history.

So, 1E is future history and 2E is alternate history.

The two T:2000 timelines look like this:

1E: '84 to '94 no change, '95 Sino-Soviet War, '96 German plot to reunify, '96-'97 NATO-WP war, '97 limited nuke exchange, 2000 stalemate

2E: '84-'88 no change, '89 USSR falls, '91 coup against Yelstin succeeds & alternate history begins, '91 USSR restored, all other events from 1E occur on schedule.

>>And I'm not sure how World War 3 could possibly "trigger" someone.

You haven't been on the internet long, have you?

>>54767001

Congratulations, you named both "triggers".

>>54767159
>>54767189
The problem is that anyone who would know enough about why that should trigger them wouldn't be triggered by that. Also, it's Euro on Euro, do you really think any "sjw" would care about that?

>>54766943
>It doesn't need to make sense or anything.

In this case it does.

Rather than follow the lore from 2E's alternate history, Mongoose choose to go the amnesia route for "reasons".

Just because PC/SJW crybullies don't scream about "wrongthink" all the time, it doesn't necessarily follow they never scream about it.

In both of GDW's versions of T:2000, Germany's actions start WW3. Because 2300AD uses T:2000's history, Germany's actions started WW3 three centuries earlier.

In the Mongoose version of 2300AD, that "fact" is not only purposely ignored, it is consigned the to Orwell's "memory hole".

>>54767322
>Germany's actions start WW3
You mean the PRC's actions start WW3, cyкa ))))

>>54767289
>Also, it's Euro on Euro, do you really think any "sjw" would care about that?

Mongoose apparently did. How can you explain why Mongoose published a version of 2300AD which deliberately ignores the history set out in all the previous versions?

There are at least 3 GDW versions and a version by Quiklink for d20/T20. They all kept the history intact. Why didn't Mongoose?

>>54767322

I don't think you've adequately explained how that change has anything at all to do with PC/SJWs.

>>54767378
Because they felt it would be too anachronistic? T2k HAS to have that happen, because it's the entire concept of the game. 2300ad is far removed from world war 3 (Though it is mentioned several times the wakes of which are still felt), so you could just do what mongoose did and not really change too much about the core game. I'm not saying it's a good idea, I'm just saying the sjw boogyman isn't likely to be of blame here.

>>54708857
>>54764411

I think a good way to handle it would be to let your players earn a ship with modular hull.

i would go with a 300 dTon hull, of which 200 are modular. so your players would start with an 100 dton ship. Those 100 tons could be basically just an off-brand scout shipt (statwise) and the players have the time to learn about the ship and upgrading it piece by piece towards their needs.

>>54767378
It is easy to explain. Mongoose is shit and does shit work. They could have deliberately ignored something. It is also possible that, Mongoose being who they are, they fucked it up accidentally by following their standard level of quality control. Mongoose isn't fit to be in the business, but you can't tell that to most of the idiots that keep giving them money for crap.

>>54767492
>>54767576

Let me try to explain.

Part of the background in 2300AD is that the newly reunified Germany is still not entirely trusted by the other nations of Earth. It's a something the people in the setting take for granted, like the UK having an empire again, everyone speaking French as a 2nd language, the livre being default currency instead of the dollar, and lots of other things.

GDW felt these "everyone knows" geopolitical bits were so important to the setting that they included a sections listing several of them like US/Mexico animosity, US/Australia friendship, etc.

France keeping Germany fragmented for centuries was viewed as a Good Thing by most nations because, rightly or wrongly, Germany is blamed for starting THREE WORLD WARS including the last which nearly snuffed out humanity. When Germany reunifies again, the process involves - surprise - going to war with neighboring countries. Something which doesn't help Germany's reputation.

This basic suspicion of Germany figures prominently in the Kafer War with attempts to maintain a unified human response hamstrung by distrust - again rightly or wrongly - of Germany and her motives. On the other side of the equation, Germany sees the Kafer War as a way to repair her international reputation.

All of this is lost in the Mongoose version because the causes and conduct of WW3 have been thrown down Orwell's memory hole for no discernible reason other than not wanting to speak ill of certain nationalities.

>>54767750
>It is easy to explain. Mongoose is shit and does shit work.

This is more than a typo or mistake. Mongoose takes time to explain that "all the records were lost" and "no one knows what happens".

Mongoose deliberately omits anything about T2K's WW3.

If it were just another of Mongoose's many fuck-ups, they would have forgot about it in one section, referred to it in another section, and all with their usual piss poor writing and editing.

Glad to see tradition still holds in that we can't have a Traveller thread without the same autist bitching that Mongoose is apparently the root of all evil for changing some completely unimportant bit of lore (which the majority of players usually ignore for their own homebrew settings anyway). Now all we need is someone shilling the fucking Syphilis Engine and we're good to go.

>>54768056

Still not seeing anything that would raise an SJW's eyebrow there.

>>54768207
Well, we've got sore-ass Mongoose fanboy, so that's one more notch on the bingo.

>>54768310
>Still not seeing anything that would raise an SJW's eyebrow there.

Okay. Explain why Mongoose doesn't address WW3 then.

If that reason is plausible to you, it could also be plausible to me.

>>54768207

Go to bed, Matthew.

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>>54768207

shilling something that's free, stay mad bro

>>54768394
>Okay. Explain why Mongoose doesn't address WW3 then.

I don't really know why they changed it. But I can't see how it would bother SJWs since it doesn't paint brown people in a bad light or involve disrespecting someone's pronouns.
"Germany starts WWIII" is just not even a vaguely controversial proposition for an alternate history. The change is baffling, but if you want to blame it on SJWs you're gonna have to explain why anyone would think they would care.

If I had to speculate, somebody at Mongoose probably thought "we don't know, the truth was lost in the chaos" sounded cool to them, and so they went with it. "That sounds cool" seems to be a common impetus for throwing things out and adding new stuff at Mongoose. Look at how they desperately tried to make the Ducks cool over in Runequest.

>>54768555
>"That sounds cool" seems to be a common impetus for throwing things out and adding new stuff at Mongoose.

That works too.

>>54768394
>Okay. Explain why Mongoose doesn't address WW3 then.

They're making an updated product, dude. Twilight: 2000 had an edge because when it came out it sounded plausible. The second edition was a stretch, but still not ridiculous. By now it'd require a wholesale rework to make even a similar game these days.

The Twilight War is still necessary to the setting of 2300AD, so the exact nature of it is left as an exercise for the GM, because no matter how you justify it to the players, you're bound to do a better job than the guy who wrote Twilight: 2013.

>>54769454
>Twilight: 2000 had an edge because when it came out it sounded plausible.

As I already explained, T2K lost that edge by the early 90s and GDW responded by shifting it's background from FUTURE history to ALTERNATE history.

The "fix" you claim is needed has been in place for over 25 years.

>>54769537
I usually keep 1st edition's timeline and just say that instead of Gorby getting in to power, Yanayev or someone else seizes power instead and makes the USSR great again.

>>54769537
It's a really shitty fix which only worked because the people who brought Twilight: 2000 2nd Edition probably got the first edition and were already invested in it. Mongoose has no such advantage.

Besides, who has the rights to Twilight: 2000? It's possible they'd have to cut Marc Miller a check if they got too specific, and god forbid they did that.

>>54769569
>I usually keep 1st edition's timeline and just say that instead of Gorby getting in to power, Yanayev or someone else seizes power instead and makes the USSR great again.

So your fix is essentially the same as GDW's. You shift the background from future history to alternate history.

>>54769583

They already cut Miller a check for 2300AD.

As for the fix "only" effecting T2K 1E buyers, the fix sets the history for T2K AND 2300AD. Furthermore, the fix explain certain geopolitical other background bits in the 2300AD setting, background bits GDW felt was important enough to the setting that they wrote a separate section to discuss and explain it.

>>54769746
Sure, but it prevents the start of WW3 being Germany invading Poland, and instead keeps the war started by a coup in East Germany.

>>54769799
>Sure, but it prevents the start of WW3 being Germany invading Poland, and instead keeps the war started by a coup in East Germany.

But it still results in actions by Germany starting WW3 and thus a reunified Germany viewed with suspicion by the international community and the people in 2300AD.

>>54769856
Yes I know, I never said that I didn't have that. I'm just saying that I think while the Yanayev succeeding in his 1991 coup thing is kind of neat as an idea, it doesn't make for the best WW3 scenario.

>>54769888
>Yes I know, I never said that I didn't have that.

I never said you didn't either. I said you fix was essentially the same as GDW's fix.

By 1900, real world events had overtaken the future history they laid out for T2K in 1984. Accordingly, the changed that future history into an alternate history. While the details are different, you did the same thing and changed T2K's future history into an alternate history.

The changes GDW made and the changes you made resulted in the same things: the USSR was restored and some foolish action by Germany kicked off WW3. The details differ while the results remain the same.

>>54697876
>Have your players bought anything other equipment, cargo, or Plot Devices?

I had players buy a planetoid once, actually the mineral rights to a planetoid. That would probably count as a Plot Device though.

I also had players end a pogrom against Chirpers on a backwater world by offering a bounty on LIVE Chirpers. They then shipped the Chirpers to a nearby Droyne world.

No Chirpers, no progrom. No progrom, no Droyne invasion. No Droyne invasion, no intervention by local power. No intervention by regional hegemon, no intervention by other local power. No intervention by other local power, no general war.

Easy peasey.