Traveller General--Vertical Advancement Edition

File: 1501875584172.jpg (221KB, 900x785px) Image search: [Google]

221KB, 900x785px

anyone know where this image is from?

Anyone kinda feel sorry for Marc Miller? Like he's been forgotten and no one plays his game any more? Traveller should be the D&D of scifi games and yet...

>>54773830

Here bro:
http://sabakakrazny.deviantart.com/art/The-Starport-Bazaar-332243962

Has anyone considered an in-universe alternative to just handing your players the UWP? I was thinking a sort of fact sheet: it covers all the basics, but in bureaucratic language, not numbers.

>>54774308
but anon, traveller's better than D&D

I'm biased, because IMO even generic sci-fi>>>>>>>>>>>>>generic fantasy

>>54773830
Looks like Star Frontiers work.

>>54774308
>>54775385
That's because traveler is literally a game for autistic mathheads and that's how they run it.

I've seen GMs who run every other game well just end up rolling dice to themselves for an hour or more when running Traveller.

>>54775407
that's why pre-game prep is important?

at least a bit of pregame prep

>>54775392
Star Frontiers?

>>54775407
Traveller, especially in the old school improvisational style it was built for (something about emulating the episodic style of old pulp), is not easy to pull off with modern gaming - there's too many options for the players to use, and it requires having a lot of background prep that might not get used.

For Mongoose 1e, does a PGMP actually have a magazine size, or is the magazine size effectively infinite under any normal circumstances?

>>54778956
Specifically, I'm asking because the CRB version doesn't specify an Ammo rating, and then Plasma Rifle in CRB has:

TL 16 technology allows the bulky reactor and plasma
chamber of the PGMP to be made small enough to fit into a rifle
frame. The plasma rifle is a high-power sniper weapon designed to
crack Battle Dress. Because of its internal reactor it never runs out
of ammunition.

But then you've got the CSC book, which goes on to say:

Plasma Gun, Man Portable-12 (PGMP-12) (TL 12): Plasma Gun, Man Portable-12 (PGMP-12) (TL 12): The PGMP-12
consists of a power pack carried on the fi rer’s back, the weapon
itself and a fl exible power link. The powerpack powers a laser
ignition system in the weapon itself, which heats hydrogen fuel to
a plasma state. The plasma is contained in the ignition chamber
briefl y and then released through a magnetically focused fi eld along
the weapon’s barrel. The initial plasma ‘ball’ is 2cm in diameter
but begins to dissipate rapidly. The weapon fi res a short stream of
‘balls’ or ‘pulses’ in each attack and can conduct autofi re. Each pull
of the trigger discharges one plasma bolt. Because of the recoil and
intense heating of this weapon, it may only be fi red once every two
rounds.

BUT it lists an ammo rating, namely 10 through 15 for the various TLs the weapon is available at.

>>54774308
NO!

The wisdom of Marc Miller:
-Man portable lasers are STUPID! Just use Revolvers! Revolvers are BOSS!
-What are you talking about? Computers haven't changed since 1951!
-Football grid combat
-Look at all these stats for famous SF characters... that can't be legitibly be created using the rules.
-The very idea that someone who hasn't spent 20 years in the military could accomplish ANYTHING is just laughable!
-These are basic rules that allow the GM to create their own milue and campaign... within VERY narrow limits.
-Everyone loves MegaTraveller? Well, I'll put a stop to that! (TNE and T4)

File: 1428233661164.jpg (272KB, 566x694px) Image search: [Google]

272KB, 566x694px

>>54775385
Here's a couple of reviews from an old Ares magazine circa 1981

File: Traveller SORAG.pdf (4MB, 1x1px) Image search: [Google]

4MB, 1x1px

Here, have some content

>>54773806
>What're the advantages of Traveller character advancement vs. say, D&D's, as an example?

Traveller was meant to be different from the first and so there was different thinking behind it. Not better, not worse, but different.

Don't get me wrong. GDW LOVED D&D. When D&D came out they had to make a rule about not playing it at work because nothing was getting done! They loved the gaming ideas Gygax and Arneson had developed and wanted to create their own RPGs - their OWN roleplaying games and not just copies of D&D.

In various interviews, Miller talks about how they dropped the idea of levels and in-game advancement early on. They wanted their game's PCs to be competent when play began and they didn't want play to focus on "leveling up". When you look at Classic's skills that design goal becomes apparent.

Traveller wasn't the first RPG with skills, but it was the first RPG with a great skills system. After decades of skill level "inflation", people often forget just what those original skill levels meant. A level of "only" 1 meant your were good enough to be hired on that basis alone. A level of 2 meant you could teach that skill while levels of 3 or 4 meant you were widely renowned as an expert.

With skills that powerful at what now seems to be low levels, there was no real need for in-game advancement. You could still get better, but it was going to take time & effort just like in real life.

D&D's model is great, "growing" a PC from an easily killed nebbish to a demi-god is wonderful fun. Traveller's model is great too, starting with a fully competent PC and growing as a player with in-game knowledge.

Both models are great. Neither is better, neither is worse. They're just different.

>>54781569
Relatedly, since I've been unable to find it, for, say, Mongoose 1e, is there a cap on the ranks in an individual skill?

File: Ihatei's agree.jpg (7KB, 194x259px) Image search: [Google]

7KB, 194x259px

>>54781569

>>54781645

I don't know, sorry. GDW added an INT+EDU skill/level cap to Traveller in the later versions of Classic and carried that forward into MT.

Mongoose was "designed" to be more like what current players believe RPG should be so the rank, skill, & level "inflation" of the last few decades was embraced. I'd guess Mongoose didn't cap skill levels for that reason alone.

>>54780982
>The very idea that someone who hasn't spent 20 years in the military could accomplish ANYTHING is just laughable!

u r doin it rong.

>>54781834

I could have sworn MGT1 had the INT+EDU skill cap in there somewhere, but nope. There appears to be no explicit maximum for skills. It does mention that 4 points means you're a renowned expert, so it kinda sorta implies you shouldn't be going above that in one skill, but there's no actual limit to how many skills you can get.
Cepheus Engine has no limit either, but it's mostly just the MGT1 SRD anyway so that's not surprising.

>>54781970
Marc got A LOT of push back on this in the 70's, and that's why we got the Citizens Of The Imperium book.

>>54782292
>Marc got A LOT of push back on this in the 70's, and that's why we got the Citizens Of The Imperium book.

While CotI added other careers, it didn't add to the numbers of skills and/or levels a "playable" PC required.

All those other careers were a great addition. I used them frequently but had already homebrewed certain careers even before CotI came out. The reason those careers weren't in the first 3 books had to do with space more than anything else.

GDW had three books of 48 pages each to present chargen, combat, skills, ships, worlds, animals, trade, psionics, and all the rest. There just wasn't room for anything that wasn't vitally important.

Like I wrote, I used the example of the original six careers to create careers of my own. Stuff like that was an EXPECTED part of RPG play back in the 70s and early 80s.

How we played then was different than how we play now. Not better, not worse, just different. For a couple of years I had a great time playing a PC who was a one term scout with THREE skills. He mustered out on detached duty with a scout/courier and had Pilot-1, Navigation-1, and Medical-1. Thanks to the often forgotten "All PCs have a weapons skill of 0" rule he wasn't handicapped when it came to shooting, he just didn't get a bonus. I did use the experience system to get Autopistol-1.

These days that PC would be worthless, but back then he was a lot of fun.

File: 1407906895583.jpg (152KB, 1000x800px) Image search: [Google]

152KB, 1000x800px

>>54782522
It's all in the campaign. If you have a competent GM and decent players, even a TWERPS game can really shine. I've always viewed the rule set as an aid to the game, but not a hinderence. But then again, I'm playing with a pretty sharp group.

>>54782710

I very much agree with that.

We need more sexy hiver art. Any drawfriends in thread?

>>54782753
>aslan pinup calender
>all office girls doing spreadsheets

File: laughing_cheetah.jpg (65KB, 493x311px) Image search: [Google]

65KB, 493x311px

>>54782800

>fund it!

>>54782753

"Aliens of the Rim" in the TNE section of the Archive has some nice illos. The GT Hiver book has good art too.

>>54781645
Not in Mong-1

I missed the last thread's nonsense about Mongoose 2300 being vague about its Twilight:2000 origins.

I think it's much more likely that Mongoose choose to retcon the WWIII details because they didn't have the license for Twilight:2000 than out of an imagined fear of triggering people.

>>54782140
in mgt2 they added the skill cap again, i can see it in the character sheets(int+edu times 3)

>>54783268
>I think it's much more likely that Mongoose choose to retcon the WWIII details because they didn't have the license for Twilight:2000 than out of an imagined fear of triggering people.

Mongoose has a license for 2300AD which gives them license to use the background created for T2K. Why? Because both games used the same background, that's why.

As for triggering people, Mongoose isn't smart, aware, or even conscious enough to worry about that. They most likely flushed all the details about WW3 for two reasons:

1st - Mongoose changes stuff for no other reason than they like to change stuff.

2nd - By claiming all the records about WW3 were lost, Mongoose didn't have to do the WORK necessary to explain why and how WW3 happened.

When it comes to Mongoose and the "decisions" it makes, the fact that Mongoose is LAZY and STUPID explains over 99.99% of their actions.

File: PAV.jpg (182KB, 1008x578px) Image search: [Google]

182KB, 1008x578px

I think Shawyer, the original EM drive guy, has completely lost it. But anyway, the guy's latest proposal includes a mockup of a fucking Traveller grav car.

This only requires about 7,000 times more "thrust" than what may or may not have been shown possible in tests so far

>>54781569
Amen. It's nice that the PCs come with a background too.
>>54781834
I capped skills at 4, with 1-2 being allowed to hit 5 (your capabilities have redefined everyone else's Ph.D's). It allows for a lot of lateral growth, but everyone still gets their niche. Eventually.
I also defined the skills as degree equivalents. 0 was two semesters of classes on that subject, 1 was an Associates, 2 a Bach, 3 a Masters, and 4 a Ph.D.
It seems to make a lot of difference in how people view and use the skills.

>>54784075
>I also defined the skills as degree equivalents.

Degree equivalents work nicely. Sometimes I found them too narrow of an explanation for some people. After all, you can hold a professional license without having a degree.

When explaining skill levels to new players, I always stressed the "Skill-1 = Can Be Hired To Perform That Skill", "Skill-2 = Can Teach That Skill", etc. which GDW used.

>>54783399
While I can't counter your read of Mongoose's usual 'decision making' methods. It's worth pointing out that a different company had licensed Twilight at around the same time.

It may be that they had no fucks to give AND weren't allowed to go into details is all.

>>54785043
>It's worth pointing out that a different company had licensed Twilight at around the same time.

I'll explain again that T2K and 2300AD share the same background history. While originally written for T2K and then changed from "future" to "alternate" history, that history is NOT EXCLUSIVE to T2K.

You get the license to 2300AD and the T2K/2300AD WW3 comes with it.

>>54782800
Ohgodwhy?

They're not cat-people anon!

File: low dividends.jpg (89KB, 473x596px) Image search: [Google]

89KB, 473x596px

>>54785238

>>54785486

It's "disdain." Stop comically misspelling things, kitty.

File: TL13 heavy powered armor.pdf (32KB, 1x1px) Image search: [Google]

32KB, 1x1px

>incoming content
So this is an exercise I've kept on forgetting to do ever since MgT 2e Vehicles Handbook came out:

Presenting an alternative to battle dress (for long-winded and not very interesting reasons): a bigger power armor. It's more 'ridden' than worn; by spaces it's about half the size of a modern sedan. So a bit more Alien's powerloader than Halo Mjolnir armor.

Relative to MgT 2e battle dress stats:
- same TL as basic battle dress
- nearly double the protection (40 armor vs. 22)
- nearly double rad protection (500 vs. 245)
- much faster (200-300 kph with 20m vertical jumps vs. 6m/round) [by RAW it can run at up to 180 miles per hour]
- longer life support (4 days vs. 6 hrs.)
- equivalent or better computer system
- much better sensors/comms
- integrated quad-linked autocannon, dealing 6d6+18 damage to up to 3 targets in a 1km range.
- all for the same price! (almost, 225k vs. 220k, and you can save 80k by removing the integrated weapons)

The downside, of course, is that this wouldn't fit down most hallways. But it's 'relatively' small and can give small, backwater PDFs a very solid boost to mechanized forces. Throw one at your players who start treating a local starport as if they own it. It'll be 'fun'.

File: Heavy Power Armor.pdf (63KB, 1x1px) Image search: [Google]

63KB, 1x1px

>>54787145
This is the same exercise using MgT 1e Vehicle rules (though this one can fly). As you can see, it's a bit more involved. On the one hand, I suppose it's interesting to manage power-to-weight ratios in order to maintain sufficiently low ground pressure as to not bottleneck your take-off speeds. On the other hand, it's a not-insignificant amount of extra round-about calculations for not a hugely great difference in terms of pay-off as compared to 2e's methodology.

The numbers, of course, are not comparable (as damage, hull, structure and armor are quite different in the two editions).

And it should obviously be noted that neither this or the previous build is 'optimal'. You get much better power-to-weight ratios with lower TL turbine powerplants (and cheaper prices!) and so on, but this is a relative exercise based on the style suggested as per RAI in the books.

>>54788284
>that distinctive curve of CRT monitors
>1950s diner tables and lounge
You know, anons, as much as I have of a hard-on for nostalgia sometimes I do wish Traveller (and/or its players) would move its futurism a bit further forward. Like maybe into the 1980s? or even 90s?

>>54788414
THEM'S FIGHTIN' SHIPS, YA VARMINT!

>>54788372
We'll upgrade the monitors, but those table booths are gonna stay, dammit.

>>54787145
>>54787304
>>54788284

Thanks for these, Anon. Very kind of you.

>>54788777
I agree, I'm getting tired of dull steel colors on functionally curved furniture (or whatever modern furniture looks like these days).

File: 66.jpg (477KB, 1920x1080px) Image search: [Google]

477KB, 1920x1080px

>>54787145
Just noticed a math error in here, but too tired to fix it now. Not that anyone was going to use this, but it's a bit wrong.

Have a happy space yacht instead

>>54791897

I might. Repost it when you get around to fixing it.

>>54791856
that feel when someone saved your meme

feelsgoodman

>>54791897
cute yatch

File: 5e823f6163ca6b3d80bb408a9351c7e0.jpg (76KB, 1126x709px) Image search: [Google]

76KB, 1126x709px

>>54791897
Nice to see a space-yacht that actually looks like something a rich person would fly, as opposed to the dull boxy designs you usually see in Traveller art
The Mistral's Daughter design was never particularly sexy

The online library lacks the 2e Mercenary Book. Does anyone have that? I want to see if it has a good base-building system.

>>54794670

Very true. Most of the older yacht designs were pure kludge. More winnebago than custom tour bus.

>>54781117
>This game starts where Dungeons and Dragons left off, but, if there is any justice, will end up more popular than that venerable relic.
If only, Ares Magazine, if only.

>>54794670
It has a sort of functional beauty. I'd have fun with it.

>>54795241
It is there. Referee Briefing 4: Mercenary Forces. And aside from 4 weapons, it has nothing new in it from a rules perspective. Just a bit of fluff about mercenary forces in general, and a bit about a few specific groups.

>>54795590
Though it just hit me right after I hit post that you may be talking about the 2nd edition of the Mercenary book for MgT 1e.

>>54787145
Run at the speed of 289 km/h? Sounds more like exploding forwards.

Why is it that every supplement gives ludicrous speeds to everything? Don't the people who write these have brains at all?

>>54776438
pleb

File: 1496125817193.jpg (244KB, 1920x864px) Image search: [Google]

244KB, 1920x864px

>>54795925
Well, it's a velocity band, so mechanically, when playing the game, the actual max velocity doesn't actually matter. There's just a provided range, and you can use your judgment within that range; most similar walkers in the handbook are on the low end.

That being said, the 1e handbook had more stringent velocity calculations, dependent on not just power-to-weight ratios, but also ground pressure. It's sort of fine, but it's a fair bit of extra finagling around to get your vehicle just right.

File: Lynx MBT.pdf (37KB, 1x1px) Image search: [Google]

37KB, 1x1px

>>54792064
So it turns out I was just tired and the math was fine. Have fun with it!

Have something else: a tank that's a bit between the Lynx and Predator in VH 2e. It's fairly cheap and is a fairly capable unit, all in a relatively small 15dton shipping package.

It takes advantage of a particularly wonky rules exploit: AP rules in 2e are similar to 1e, in that they're a multiplier based on number of damage dice. However, there's no ruling on what to do with DD weapons, which is not normally a problem because DD weapons don't qualify for variable ammunition rules in the CSC.

That is, except for the heavy gauss cannon in VH2e, which explicitly allows for variable ammunition. So the thinking is that because DD weapons are a 10x multiplier, the AP should probably be an equivalent 10x multiplier.

Thus we get a nice tank-killer in this vehicle. It might not stand up against TL15 grav tanks, but for it can punch way above its weight class, all for a fraction of the cost.

>>54798703
Where are the rules for this in 1e?

File: M32.pdf (90KB, 1x1px) Image search: [Google]

90KB, 1x1px

>>54798966
I do have a 1e version, but it's a bit different, requiring a bit higher TL to meet armor requirements without weighing down the tank too much. Interestingly because of the way the rules interact, the whole thing turns out closer to a modern MBT in terms of speed and range, which is probably not appropriate for something that requires TL14 armor.

>>54799176
Nah, I just mean the actual creation rules in 1e. I'm relatively new to the system, but this looks like a far more appropriate route to what I'd wanted than the actual Battle Dress itself for a few reasons.

>>54799376
Oh, for 1e you'll need Supplement 4: Central Supply Catalogue, and Supplements 5 and 6 for civilian and military vehicles. They're all up in the archive in the OP.

>>54795611
That is exactly what I was talking about. I'm seeing people talk about it on obscure sites, so I'm assuming it exists. If I had my hands on the pdf I might be able to edit a 'safe' version out of it that's harder to find automatically. I don't want to shell out money for the abortion that is Mg2e products, I just like to check if there's an element that's good enough to make use of here and there.

Specifically, I'm looking to find or design a base/HQ-building system from scratch. Maybe incorporating elements from Scoundrel's Intrusion system. In that all the security systems and variants you need to find out about and work around would be one set of upgrades with prices that you can buy.

>>54798317

Ooooo... nice illo! What do you figure? He-3 mining on the Moon in the 50s?

File: 1432221541708708271.jpg (210KB, 800x1168px) Image search: [Google]

210KB, 800x1168px

>>54800679
Interestingly enough it's a bit of Soviet futurism, cosmonaut Alexey Leonov was asked to draw some postcards
http://gizmodo.com/the-first-spacewalker-and-his-painter-friend-created-th-1729276737?IR=T

>>54800759
>Interestingly enough it's a bit of Soviet futurism, cosmonaut Alexey Leonov was asked to draw some postcards

Even better. Thanks for the link.

>>54788372
>You know, anons, as much as I have of a hard-on for nostalgia sometimes I do wish Traveller (and/or its players) would move its futurism a bit further forward. Like maybe into the 1980s? or even 90s?

How about the 2010s?

I've been aboard several of the Virginia-class SSNs. They make extensive use of flat screens, tablets, "operate/fly by wire" systems, and the like. Oddly enough the way the display and control panels are mounted looks quite a bit like those depicted in >>54788284 because they're "ruggedized" and while keeping shocks & maneuvering in mind.

File: d29a27bd669a9e6c1a3167198201eb65.jpg (32KB, 564x319px) Image search: [Google]

32KB, 564x319px

>>54801974
That was more a reference to the idea of futurism in the 1970s, rather than what real world analogues actually turn out to be.

So, 1980s futurism would involve a lot of dystopian corporate authoritarianism, 1990s futurism features apocalyptic environmentalism (90s rpgs about the future are weird, aren't they), and the futurism as depicted in the last few years have ships that are essentially heavily armed-flying Apple stores.

>>54803624
>the futurism as depicted in the last few years have ships that are essentially heavily armed-flying Apple stores.

Worst future yet.

>>54803624
Yeah, but we're kind of stuck with it. Created in 1977, Traveller is an almanac of 70's thinking, especially with Miller's owe personal predilections. But I think you're all making too much of it. CT is heavily tied to worlds in the Spinward Marches, but the Imperium more than likely has a miriad of styles and design ethics in play. Not all starship or facilities with have the same stylings, not to mention things getting a periodical makeover.

>ib4 70's planet with leisure suits and feathered hair styles.

>>54804079
>>ib4 70's planet with leisure suits and feathered hair styles.

Solomani space pretty much

>>54803624
>So, 1980s futurism would involve a lot of dystopian corporate authoritarianism

Government codes 1 and 5 plus law levels.

>> 1990s futurism features apocalyptic environmentalism

Atmospheric codes 2, 4, 7, 9, A, B, and C.

>>the futurism as depicted in the last few years have ships that are essentially heavily armed-flying Apple stores.

You don't think all those computer dTons listed in Classic referred to a SINGLE computer or system, did you?

Every type of futurism you mention was present in the game in 1977. You simply have to know how to look for it.

Has anybode already done a scan of Solo? (not the old Star Trader one)

Jump-1

File: Basepricesciv.png (20KB, 1236x642px) Image search: [Google]

20KB, 1236x642px

>>54806801
What?

Jump-2

File: 1470406136846.jpg (656KB, 1000x1398px) Image search: [Google]

656KB, 1000x1398px

>>54804431
>Every type of futurism
Which type of futurism has the purple skinned lesbian aliens in flight suits? I want that one.

File: Irish Class.pdf (136KB, 1x1px) Image search: [Google]

136KB, 1x1px

Low-TL campaigns are best campaigns.

>>54809525
>I want that one.

You want that one, you make that one.

That's how Traveller works. That's the thinking behind it's design. The rules are the starting point, not handcuffs.

An earlier anon whined about "Look at all these stats for famous SF characters... that can't be legitibly be created using the rules." without ever realizing you aren't limited by the chargen system and that NPCs were supposed to be built rather than rolled.

It's a mindset and a style of play many current players simply cannot grasp. It's not better, it's not worse, it's just differernt.

File: beam rifle development.jpg (1MB, 3391x4500px) Image search: [Google]

1MB, 3391x4500px

So how would we go about representing E-Cap or Minovsky tech? By design small-craft aren't much of a bother to large ships in Traveller, what with their high hull/structure and whatnot. But plenty of mecha fiction (not to mention other sci-fi settings) emphasize the ability of small craft to take down much larger prey, either via some accurate shooting, or by mounting battleship weaponry on your little fighter jet.

I've some ideas, but I'm wondering how you guys would approach this conundrum.

>>54798524
Not quite - a 289kph battlesuit (besides being ludicrous) is a difficult target given the movement modifiers in MGT2e when shooting at something.

>>54809736
>Low-TL campaigns are best campaigns.
Prove it

how low TL we talkin'?

>>54813502

Not him, but I like the idea of a campaign starting on a barbarian world and eventually moving to the stars.

Or maybe it's just this song.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=H4Y-cjqK1Bc

>>54813892
So, being a sword worlder?

>>54813971

Nah, Sword Worlders have spaceships and rifles and stuff. They just pretend to be Vikings on weekend retreats.

File: 27222-16678-5999.jpg (26KB, 393x462px) Image search: [Google]

26KB, 393x462px

>>54785486
>distain

>>54818409

Okay, I've seen that one before but I'll be damned if I can remember where. It's a book cover right? One of those "STL generation ship full of people who don't know they're on ship" stories, right?

>>54815921

That one is just weird for the sake of being weird. Is it Soviet Bloc like the earlier postcards?

>>54819304
>>54815921 is the cover to The Enemy Stars by Poul Anderson,
>>54818409 is the cover to Phoenix Without Ashes by Harlan Ellison

>>54819338
>is the cover to Phoenix Without Ashes by Harlan Ellison

Ellison? That covers being weird for the sake of being weird.

>>54820931

That's one of MgT's IISS designs, right? I remember thumbing through their Scouts book and finding the designs intriguing.

Can anyone point me towards 21 plots and similar? I can't find them in the archive

>>54823326

MGT1/Other Settings/Gypsy Knights (Clement Sector)/21 Plots

As an alternative, BITS has 101 plots in the BITS folder.

>>54823442
You're a saviour. Thanks, anon.

>>54823442
Gypsy Knights any good? WTF is it about?

>>54825535

It's an alternate setting published by Gypsy Knights. At first it was just "the Gypsy Knight stuff" but they later packaged it all up and rebranded as "Clement Sector." They're still publishing stuff for it, though it's gonna be Cepheus engine from now on.
I don't know a whole lot beyond that.

>>54826015
thanks anon

>>54825535

Adding further to >>54826015 fine explanation, the Clement Sector setting begins with a seemingly stable wormhole being discovered and lots of people joining a land rush at the other side. Worlds get settled, a few multi-system polities are formed, and then the wormhole collapses. You end up with a somewhat small settled region surrounded by a whole lot of frontier.

Would Traveller be a good system for Halo?

>>54828055
Do you mean like, Master Chief Halo?

It'd probably be doable, but there's also a Halo RPG called Halo: Mythic. Brandon | Vorked#4849 is the head developer on Discord.

>>54828123
I might check it out, got a link?

>>54828555
Literally PM the developer and ask him about the system, and you'll pretty likely be able to acquire a copy through that.

Like, nigga, I gave you quite literally the most direct link physically possible to the system. Come on now.

I wonder how you guys keep finding Traveller games.

>>54829606
We don't. There's less than ten Traveller games across the entirety of the internet.

File: peachy.jpg (102KB, 1280x723px) Image search: [Google]

102KB, 1280x723px

>>54803663
>Minimalist
>White & Beige
>light, airy, glass everywhere.

It's very much a 70s aesthetic, honestly.

>More salesmen than customers.

Also very 70s.

>>54807395
Travellers jump when they bump.

>>54803624
>>54829789
>>54803663
The hell are you on about.
Voyager is very much 90s.
And it's pretty as fuck. Perfect combination of sleekness and ruggedness.
Just like that picture you have there.
The apple store aesthetic is completely different as you can see here >>54829789

bump

Vargr, sell them to me, what's good about them?

File: 1489815000112.jpg (768KB, 2240x1320px) Image search: [Google]

768KB, 2240x1320px

Now this is a generation ship.
Discuss possible giant ship adventures in Traveller.

>>54832352
where's that from, anon? ...other than star wars

>>54832640
I keep finding on various space ship threads.
Although a 260km keel... Imagine just how fucking big the jump drives are.

>>54832689
holy shit...

>>54832344

They're familiar enough to be more or less understandable, but weird enough to be jarring.

To Humaniti, Vargr are mercurial and hard to figure out. Ever read Transmetropolitan? The city is kind of what a Vargr world is like: an endless stream of change and variety, that the locals seem to take for granted, but which is baffling to an outsider.

For their part, the Vargr find humans pretty odd too. The Imperium is this vast, impossible thing that goes on forever and ever across time and space, growing bigger and lasting longer than it has any right to do.
Humans owe loyalties to people they've never laid eyes on, and agree to follow its precepts based on, well, nothing. It's weird.

Vargr often say that you should never offer a job to a human that's already employed, because "everyone knows that humans never change jobs."
Also there's the kicking -- they can't kick someone in a fight, and it kinda freaks them out a little

But beyond all that, we're still pretty closely related, and humans and Vargr can totally get drunk together, and that's gotta count for something in the vast reaches of space, right?

File: tm6.jpg (155KB, 700x329px) Image search: [Google]

155KB, 700x329px

>>54832857
I have read transmet...I...understand the analogy, but now I've got to make Not!the city Vargr

for the benefit of the anons here who haven't read transmet, do you think you could try and explain the city? I'd do it myself, but words fail me

Transmet is pic related

>>54781834
Mongoose didn't need to install a cap. The CT cap was to keep the Book 4-7 year by year characters from completely out-stripping the Book1 and Supplement 4 characters. Mongoose does not use two different methods, so all characters learn at roughly the same rate.

>>54788372
That art is likely from the early 90s, before flat screens were a thing.

>>54819472
Phoenix Without Ashes is the novelization of the pilot for Starlost before the studio got their hooks into it.
Think Metamorphosis Alpha without all the funky mutants.

>>54821203
Nope. That's a T20/CT ship from Avenger/Comstar. The art is older than Mongoose Traveller.

>>54833230
T20 as shit as I expect?

>>54833256
Maaaybe? It was based on 3.0 pre-D20Modern, but went to great lengths to bend D20 to fit Traveller instead of the other way (which is the sin of GURPS Traveller). The biggest problem is the layout of the book, which tried to follow the layout of the 3.0 PHB slavishly and ended up scattering chargen wider than a rhino with diarrhea. You build a 1st level character, take them through a term of prior experience to gain EXP, use that to level up in available career/classes, then repeat. Some classes are always available, while others, notably the military classes, are only available to level up in during the terms you were in those careers. It's a little confusing.
There is no penalty for multi-classing; you pick an available class with the skill-to-BAB relationship you want.
The feats list is salted with SF bits but looks like the 3.0 list for most options.
A few skills were converted to feats. I know the Vacc Suit skill of prior editions became a Vacc Suit feat and a reflex roll or DEX check in emergency situations. Just like bicycles and swimming, once the vacc suit drill is in your head it never completely fades...

File: Scout 1248.jpg (148KB, 574x639px) Image search: [Google]

148KB, 574x639px

>>54833230
Specifically, that's a 1248 ship, the Telemon Survey Scout.

>>54833334
oh, not QUITE as bad as expected, but still not good

>>54833480
1248, as in the...pseudocanon traveller future? post new era/regency I mean?

>>54833488
Well, it IS D20, so it thrives on the density of that family of games. If that doesn't bother you it is quite playable.
Another point of divergence is that it used two HP scales. Like 3.0 the rolled HD per level exist, but are used for non-lethal combat. If the guns come out your only HP pool is your CON score. As such, T20 combat was every bit as dangerous as CT or MT.

The ship building rules are decent, being a direct development from CT High Guard, and explicitly call out some features that are not costed as falling within either stateroom or bridge tonnage, making explicit what a lot of deckplan designers had been assuming for years.

Also, new ship art all around.

The default setting for T20 was the Solomani Rim War period about a century before CT, but set in the Gateway area. The four-armed Sydites and uplifted bears (the Ursa) are on the PC race list as regional options in addition to the usual Major Race suspects.

>>54833515
Some elements of 1248 apparently survive as Canon, but a lot of the details are difficult to reconcile with the more recent changes to the Empress Wave (see MGT Zhodani).

>>54833256
If you consider the d20 System in general to be shit, then yes.

If you do like the d20 System, then maybe. There really isn't anything notably good about T20.

>>54833640
The Comstar/Avenger products for T20 were also cross-over CT books in most cases, so if you have a CT jones they are worth finding the PDFs for.

>>54833515
I thought 1248 was a (semi-non-canon) rewrite of TNE and how Virus spread?

>>54833630
What was known about the Empress Wave pre-MgT?

>>54834628
No, it was an attempt to move the timeline forward and take advantage of the environment TNE began. It starts where (and when) TNE left off.

The problem was that it used one interpretation of the Empress Wave and made an assumption about psionics, both of which have since been changed or shown to be incorrect. The effects of the Wave are now much worse, and it moves much faster. And it affects just about every being it touches. 1248 assumed you could "snow day" the Wave as it went by, so it was just a thing to plan for. That is no longer the case, so many of the events of 1248 that assume the Wave has come and gone and been "avoided" are no longer viable. THAT is why it is now considered "semi-Canon". Everything rimward of roughly the Lishun/Core sector border could still happen, but coreward of that is fucked royal.

>>54837403
From MT:
-Zhodani Consulate being shredded by "something"

From TNE:
-Moved at light speed
-can be Jumped over
-Imperial installations it rolls over go silent

1248:
-Psionic and EMP combo
-created by human race placed near the galactic core to watch for the core explosion. They mostly died to create the Wave or were, at one time, fleeing before it
-causes unrest and need to move away from the galactic core in most thinking beings
-causes electronic failures similar to a huge solar flare

Mongoose Zhodani:
-NOW moves at about 3x light speed (one hex per year)
-entirely prionic, and capable of completely scrambling world populations.

Agent of the Imperium:
-capable of killing entire worlds, and known by far rimward cultures as "The Madness".

>>54837678
The changes in the Wave's effect also make the origin story in 1248 unlikely.

>>54837720
Okay guys. I'm thinking about speed-starting a new game with blackjack and hookers. My other two games are merc-themed and merchant themed, what should I do as a third one?

>>54833230

Ahh... thanks. I knew I'd seen it somewhere before and now I know why I couldn't remember. 1248, what a waste of effort.

So how was MegaTraveller, /tg/? I've heard it's an uncomplete system, whatever that means, but I'm looking through the book and can't find anything out of place.

>>54838392
It's for the the party to take up jobs as political revolutionaries set on toppling [Insert Corporation/PoliticalEntity/Other Thing] here, basically functioning akin to Nuke Ops from SS13.

File: ConsolidatedMegaTravellerErrata.pdf (354KB, 1x1px) Image search: [Google]

354KB, 1x1px

>>54838446
Mega suffered from some rushed editing work that missed a lot of things...

>>54837678

That's an excellent summation. Thank you.

In AotI, at least two Imperial ships "jump over" the wave. One is a long range IISS scout cruiser on a 20+ year mission a couple sectors coreward of Vargr space. They jump over the Wave without even knowing it and contact a world which the Wave passed over less than a generation ago. They impose some sort of political order by handing out "makers" (3D printing, additive machining, fabricators) and then purposely jump over the Wave after leaving.

That ship files a report which leads to a copy of the Agent commandeering scout ship & crew to visit the same world centuries later.

One of the biggest problems with the Wave is why the Zhos seemingly had no warning of it and/or took no precautions against it. The Zhos have this incredibly long Core Route full of their colonies and contacted species which means they should have know something was happening when those worlds went "dark".

All versions of the Wave, even the late Don McKinney's version in MgT haven't addressed that apparently huge loophole because all version can be "jumped over".

Either Miller has another rabbit to pull out of his hat in the AotI sequels or it's something which is meant to be "officially" ignored.

>>54838446
>So how was MegaTraveller, /tg/?

Good bits, meh bit, and bad bits.

Good bits: Chargen "unified" with all careers getting Classic's advanced chargen treatement. A task system. Consolidated equipment list. etc.

Meh Bits: A task system. Trade became more record keeping then wheeling & dealing. The Rebellion setting which replaced a "static" 3I with a "static" civil war.

Bad bits: A metric shit ton of errata (for which some kind anon has shared the document). The absolute worst ship combat system of any of the GDW/Miller versions of the game.

GDW also handed off day-to-day "control' of the game to DGP which was good in some ways and fatal in others. DGP played the game and their work for it showed. They produced some excellent supplements, magazines, etc.

DGP didn't own the game, however, and that meant they could make any substantial changes in the setting. DGP was stuck on the Rebellion setting's "treadmill". They couldn't get off and had to keep jogging along with the rest of us to nowhere.

>>54838589
Read the Zho chapter of Agent again. That's a century before the Imperial Civil War, and the "Chilling Thought" (what the Zho call the Wave) is already on their list of worries. Six hundred years later we see little apparent response because there isn't one. Small populations can be evacuated, but moving billions on short notice, from multiple worlds at a time, is an all-consuming task that will still not be enough.

>>54838586
My first experience with MT was trying to follow a shipbuilding rules example (don't remember where the example was, but it must've been an official source like JTAS/Challenge because I had access to little else):

One of the first steps is to look up the price of the hull by TL and displacement. The values in the table are of a straightforward form, perhaps

price = TL times displacement times (price per ton)

The example unerringly goes for the one entry that is wrong.

>>54838589
>another rabbit to pull out of his hat
The rabbit has already been revealed if you know what you are looking at.

>>54838783
The ship building rules were just a little too complex until DGP published an example in TD. Then the pieces fell together, errata and all.
The last piece to really make it work was the power plant trick published much later in Challenge.

>>54838770
>Read the Zho chapter of Agent again. That's a century before the Imperial Civil War, and the "Chilling Thought" (what the Zho call the Wave) is already on their list of worries.

True, but they're still really not doing anything. That world with it's Dancers is out in the back of beyond and "staffed" by people too mentally defective/deficient for even the Zhos to integrate.

If the Zhos truly thought the Dancers had any chance of effecting the Wave, there would be hundreds if not thousands of such installations involving millions of people in the central regions of the Consulate. Instead you've got Jim Jones and the Peoples' Temple without the mass suicide.

It's a busy work project, nothing more. It does hint, however, that the Zhos might other, more secret projects with a greater chance of success. While I didn't care for the details that much, the late Don McKinney's MgT Zho book explicitly discusses one such "anti-Wave" or "Wave mitigation" project. Seeing as Don was Miller's right hand man for years, that gives us some window into Miller's thinking on the subject.

I expect the AotI sequel or sequels to settle the Wave once and for all.

>>54838810

Please explain. Seriously. Please.

>>54774333
So does DA have some function to just mass download an entire player's gallery?

>>54839352
not to my knowledge, sadly

>>54832689
yeah, that whole generation ship, jump drive thing ..... jump drives would make the generation, what, a week ?

>>54842350
>Giant ass ship
Hey guys! We're on an expedition to the other side of the galaxy!
Don't worry about fuel, we got collectors.
(BTW, MgT2e HG fucked up their numbers, there is literally no way a ship could carry a J9 and fuel for the jump).
There's your generation ship. Or it's a city ship in the style of Macross.

>>54843688
>>54842350
Speaking of which. Who's idea was it to have all J-Drives have the same degree of fuel-efficiency? Or rather if the fuel is just for creating a bubble to fit the ship in, wouldn't the fuel cost depend more on the total tonnage rather than the amount of parsec you jump?

>>54843688
Drops tanks can carry some or all of the needed fuel.

>>54843806
feel free to houserule it then, anon

>>54843806

That's the result of changing the explanation over from supercharging the engines with massive amounts of power, to creating a bubble of hydrogen to envelop the ship.

>>54843923
MgT doesn't say all the fuel is used for the bubble. At least some of it is, however. The majority could still be used to form the jump tunnel, with a bit left over used to inflate the bubble.

>>54843923
when'd the change the explanation?

>>54845055

Sometime after Classic, I'm not sure when. I've been all over Classic and never seen any mention of a jump bubble, though.

>>54842350

The Loeskalth/Sky Raiders had a generation ship with jump drive. They were fleeing imminent Vilani conquest before the FIRST Imperium. Using both jump and STL drives on their huge planetoid ships was part of the plan. They jumped a few times away from their home system, then crossed the Great Rift at STL speeds, only to begin jumping again when the reached the other side.

Admittedly, their reasons for using jump drives in a generation ship won't work for most.

>>54843806
>Speaking of which. Who's idea was it to have all J-Drives have the same degree of fuel-efficiency?

In Classic, simplicity of play. They had 3 books of 48 pages each to present everything.

In MT, jump fuel usage changed with TL.

>>Or rather if the fuel is just for creating a bubble to fit the ship in, wouldn't the fuel cost depend more on the total tonnage rather than the amount of parsec you jump?

It depends on both, so more fuel is need for both larger ships and longer jumps.

What you're forgetting is that jumps of different lengths are accomplished by accessing different dimensions. There's a specific dimension for < to =1 parsec jumps, another for >1 to =2 parsec jumps, and so forth. Accessing the those jump dimensions which allow you to jump further is harder requiring more fuel/energy and better computers/programming.

>>54845055
>when'd the change the explanation?

MT. DGP's work specifically.

>>54846287
> when'd they change the explanation?
>MT. DGP's work specifically.
MT is where the hull grid first appeared, but the fuel use dropped.

>>54846897

Read DGP's SSOM. It's in the Archive. There's a grid and a bubble. Look for the Old Timers side bar about a misjump specifically.

>>54846973
Right. The bubble about a meter off the hull was also in CT. Old TAS News item about a misjump, IIRC.

>>54847720

Yes. What does Miller's essay in JTAS #24 say? That's Classic but late very Classic.

>>54838446
It tried very hard to unify the personal combat system, the vehicle combat system and the space combat system. YMMV if they succeeded!

The task system of course was a bit of a revelation when it first arrived. As a ref you just had to decide how difficult a task was and away you went. Whether they got the skills/attributes balance right is another matter.

The space combat system was a disaster. Avoid it at all costs.

The clever bit in the personal/vehicle combat system was that you took damage to lifeforce and only worried about the effect on your attributes latter which sped up combat markedly and conveniently allowed you to scale up or down combat to squads/platoons/companies/etc if required.

File: trade routes.png (118KB, 1085x700px) Image search: [Google]

118KB, 1085x700px

Relatively new to Traveller and I'm trying to figure out how to draw out trade routes according to how they are described in MgT (either edition).
>Trade routes link worlds that have strong commercial ties. Consult the table below – if any pair of worlds matching the two columns are within four parsecs of each other, and there is a Jump–1 or Jump–2 route between them, then mark a trade route connecting those two worlds.
>Industrial or High Tech: Asteroid, Desert, Ice Capped, Non-Industrial
>High Population or Rich: Agricultural, Garden, Water World

If I follow these guidelines I end up getting a bunch of systems that "branch" out to others, like in the left picture (only took a small section for the example). However, most of the maps I've seen from publish works look more like the picture on the right, which seems like an actual ROUTE for trade that won't make the sector map so cluttered looking. Which one would be the preferred way to map trade routes?

>>54849674
Most OTU maps are showing official news/courier routes explicitly, with the implication that they tend to follow major trade routes. Trade route maps tend to look too busy since the presumption of the rules and OTU setting is that trade is ever-present.

>>54849674
Since the method calls out a J1 or J2 connection as a pre-requisite, I would follow the chain instead of denoting a trade relationship directly.

I would also not overlap route maps. Use Traveller Map's Jump radius format and map just the relationships of the world in the middle. That a route might pass through worlds that are not technically part of the relationship you are mapping is a feature instead of a bug.

>>54849674
Neither of those would be correct. A trade route is Jump-1 or Jump 2. The link between the Rich planet and the Water world is Jump-3. It would have to go through one of the middle planets first.

On the left, the link between the Rich planet and the Garden world would be correct, assuming it stops over at that C class starport in between.

The route would most likely start at the Rich world, then go J-1 to one of those 2 C-class starports (whichever would have more trade), then to the Water world, then Garden.

You look at all worlds within 4 parsecs, but you connect them with Jump-1 and Jump 2 chains.

>>54852709
Messed up my example. Route would likely go from Rich to 2622 to Water to Garden.

The old Jump-1 route would have gone from Rich to 2522 to 2622, but with the introduction of Jump 2 the system in 2522 would likely have been cut out with ships heading to the Garden world going from Rich to 2622 to Garden.

>>54850575
>>54850979
>>54852709
Awesome. Thanks for the clarifications, guys. Definitely think I understand a little better now. I was going to print out a poster for the sector for my home game, though I'll probably just focus on the mail routes if the OTU stuff indeed focuses more on them than trade routes. It certainly looks a little cleaner than plotting out every possible trade route. I like the way the Traveller Map site does it by default.

>>54854576
>I was going to print out a poster for the sector for my home game
Stick to two, or at most four, subsectors. In most cases 60 to 100 systems will have all the diversity and distance you need.

>>54854576
I don't use the X-boat routes, because the average person doesn't use them (And the TU I'm working on right now doesn't have a publicly available courier system). those are for corporations and governments. All mail follows trade routes IMTU.

File: ct77routes.png (59KB, 544x497px) Image search: [Google]

59KB, 544x497px

>>54849674
Also, take a look at the 1977 version of CT's Book 3 (Worlds & Adventure), and see if that trade route generation appeals to you.
>Too lazy, didn't download
Good thing I capped it for you.
Rather than depending on trade codes to generate trade routes (assumption of interdependence), it uses the starports themselves (the trade hub model).

File: 1483318981614.jpg (78KB, 406x428px) Image search: [Google]

78KB, 406x428px

>>54859097
Thanks for the tip. I definitely like the thought of using the starports rather than just the trade codes.

>>54860751
Imperial Marine?

>>54861557

Doesn't look like an Imperial uniform, probably some Vargr group. Best to assume they're raiders unless they give some sign otherwise.

>>54860751
>>54861557
>>54861640

It is a generic sci fi bounty hunter that someone photoshopped into a vargr.

>>54861702
still cool though even if it is of the worst race

>>54861748

>Vargr
>not the best race

>>54861850
That sprint ability is pretty nice, but the rest of it's kinda questionable.

>>54861850
prove to me it is

>>54849674
>according to how they are described in MgT

If you want a different viewpoint or just something you can borrow routes from, the Traveller Wiki has sector-sized trade maps which show routes using the formulas in GT:Far Trader.

While I don't agree with everything in GT:FT or the assumptions they made, the trade route maps are wonderful.

>>54861872

>judging races by mechanical abilities they give players

>>54861702
Works for me.

>>54863660
>judging races like you're not playing d&d

>>54866438
You can just sit quietly until the Starfinder threads start up then.

>>54866438

I'm not, though.

>>54866835
Nah,I was trying to to create the opposite statement of judging races - the fact that in D&D many players see races for their abilities and nothing else. I failed at wording.
>>54866832
If its going to be anything other than Spelljammer brought back, I don't care.

>>54866927
>If its going to be anything other than Spelljammer brought back, I don't care.
I strongly suspect you could play SJ with it, but that won't be the default.

File: 87f0098c7a45e7adc2385f3142fba58ed8ad6e30d934629bbdcce86896f20339.png (617KB, 551x1056px) Image search: [Google]

617KB, 551x1056px

Vargr Corsair

bump

How many anons use SWN with Traveller?

>>54867383

Saving that one.

>>54868928

Okay, I guess.

>>54870238

Too fragile from my liking.

>>54872202

Saving this one too. Now to figure out how to use it!

>>54872584

Saved.

Thanks Anon!

>>54874285

I do. I immediately grabbed the Faction system to use as a "living background" for the campaign. Between sessions, I spend a few minutes running the factions solo and noting the results. I then drop those results into the campaign as rumors, news, jobs, etc.

I've been using SWN to more quickly develop the "social" side of planets too.

>>54876113

MT's version is the most badass version of BD.

>>54880267
What is it with female battle-dressed characters going without a helmet? It makes it seem more like they're just posing for a photo than actually fighting, since realistically they'd get rekt pretty quickly without a helmet.

File: helmet.jpg (205KB, 595x842px) Image search: [Google]

205KB, 595x842px

>>54880757

>>54880757

Same deal as all the male characters without a helmet.

>see: wh40k

>>54876195
why is that?

File: 1490330145659.jpg (78KB, 736x762px) Image search: [Google]

78KB, 736x762px

>>54810064
I've been wondering something like this, and I was going to try to houserule something like this for combat in MTU, basically by ripping off Lightning Strikes from Jovian Chronicles.

For those of you who don't know, mecha take the place of space fighters in that game. They're the ones that do the dogfighting and all that stuff. The more traditional fighters, if they're not fighting in atmosphere, act more like bombers. What they do is they go far away from the carrier, then accelerate to ludicrous speeds, going so fast that by the time they're in weapon range of the cap ships, they only get one shot. The cap ship might get a few shots off, but the whole fighter wing is aiming at them and carrying enough missiles and guns to hit them, then fly past in a matter of seconds. In Jovian Chronicles, they can do this about three times before having to land at the carrier for arms and fuel.

For MTU, I have shields and microjump drives, and the overall lack of stealth in space unless you're holding still in ambush means that carrier fighter doctrine is basically to jump in a fair distance to the target, launch all fighters, get them to do a couple strikes with railguns/nuclear missiles/kinetic kill weapons/whatever, expend their ordinance, fly back, and jump out. The carrier will still be in system, but they'll reappear 100+ light seconds away somewhere, at which point tactical advantage wouldn't be on your side.

Of course, boy I hope you like the Misjump table. You say you wanted to land NEAR Jupiter or ON it? I haven't committed this to rules yet, but it's on the table.

>>54883018
sounds cool, anon

File: Pen_Pen.jpg (52KB, 640x480px) Image search: [Google]

52KB, 640x480px

>>54861850
For an Human party i would argue that more or less realistic uplifts are an good addition, since they are a product that was MADE to interface with humans and do some of their work.

After that come Droyne scouts for pretty much similar reasons.

Also Vargr's inability to adhere to any form of social structure for more than ten seconds make the fact that they developed FTL drives an mircale. If it weren't for those few inbetween who take care of technology, repair it, fix it and share it among them they would be still stuck on their damn rock.
There is also the problem with them where they think that piracy and other criminal activitys are honorable and fun jobs. The only way they can keep throwing the lifes of their own people into such an meatgrinder society is by reproducing like rabbits, so there is always fresh blood for the Vargr cosairs.