Traveller and Stuff!

[vargr1]

I've been reading through the new Traveller and comparing it to another game I really like - Greg Porter's EABA.

EABA has a suppliment called Stuff! which excells at designing personal weapons. Indeed, the scale of EABA is almost identical to Traveller. Attributes are 0-15, average being 7. Skills are rated as 1-5dice.

Weapons are very comperable:

For ex:
AutoPistol damage
Traveller : 3d6-3
EABA: 2d6+1

Shotgun damage:
Traveller : 4d6
EABA: 3d6+2

Laser Rifle damage:
Traveller : 5d6
EABA: 6d6

Frag Grenade damage:
Traveller : 5d6
EABA: 5d6+1

Also, armor compares nicely between games. EABA rates armor as dice of damage. The average values of the EABA armor are in parentheses.

Flack Jacket (Fragmentation Vest):
Traveller: 6
EABA: 1d6+2 (5)

Combat Armor (Combat Infantry Suit):
Traveller: 16
EABA: 4d6+2 (14)

It shouldn't be too hard at all to make a conversion guide for Stuff! weapons to Traveller. With both publisher's OGLs, it would also be easy to make it quite legal.

 

[BenTOGS]

What is EABA? NHOI.

 

[G. K. Zhukov]

What is EABA? NHOI.

It's difficult to miss if you do an Internet search for it. :wink:

BTW, vargr1, EABA has always been one of my systems of choice for running Traveller.

 

[far-trader]

What is EABA? NHOI.

It's difficult to miss if you do an Internet search for it. :wink:

Ah yes the good old European Amateur Boxing Association. No? (1st hit)

Oh, you mean the English Amateur Billiards Association. No!? (2nd hit)



Which is just my way of saying (speaking from doing it myself in the past so don't take it personally G.K.Z.) that not everybody will find the same thing in Google, and some people can't check every link that comes up, so instead of paragraphs of witty banter a simple answer to a simple question (or a link) is the best in these cases, unless you're not sure. To whit:

EABA - The End All Be All game system. As per wiki here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EABA

Which was the 3rd hit, today at least. Other days and other times it could be lower...

 

[aspqrz]

What is EABA? NHOI.

The best generic gaming system ever written? Covers everything from High Fantasy to the Hardest of Hard Science with its toolbox approach, and is eminently playable.

Close enough!

And with supplements like Stuff! that allow you to design anything from .22 derringers through massive 16" coast defence guns to spacecraft sized weapons as well as vehicles of all sizes, "gadgets" (anything mechanical or electronic that isn't a weapon, per se), creatures and even whole societies (from the Lord's Manor, through to an entire planetary one!) ... and all of these can be easily converted to a plethora (any, really) of other systems? Well, yes, definitely the best system around!

Well, MTrav is pretty good, too ... :wink:

Currently I'm using Stuff! to design the core elements of the equipment for the Traveller Hardware book I am working on, amongst many other projects.

Check it out at BTRC's page at RPGNow or Drivethroughrpg.

Phil

 

[Vile]

There is a free sample of the basic weapon design system on the Drivethru website:

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=3708&it=1

At first glance, it looks quite usable. I hope MGT ends up with an integrated design system like this. For vehicles and ships, at any rate - I don't really need a new system to make up new or variant guns, there are (or will be) enough examples in the game to use the MIU* system.

*Make It Up

 

[vargr1]

I haven't ran Traveller for a couple of years, but I was planning on using EABA for it.

So, I'm playing around with Stuff!, designing some of the standard Traveller items.

EABA Design (RTT stats in parenthesis)
I'm taking as my model the Browning Hi-Power 9mm pistol for the Traveller TL6 Autopistol.


AutoPistol(TL 6)
Atomic Era +30
Early - 2
size: 2 milihexes -27
+ 25% space + 1
Bulky Ammo(x1/2) + 1
Hand Held + 3
--------
TOTAL: + 6

Final Design:
Size: 2.5 milihexes
Ammo: 15 round magazine (15)
Ammo Mass: .0125 kg/round
Mass: 1.25kg (.5kg)
Mass, Loaded: 1.44kg
Damage: 2d (3d6-3)
Accuracy: +1 (Range Pistol)
Cost: 175Cr (Cr 200)
Armor: 1d+2
Hits: 2


Notes:
Weighs less in Traveller.
Real World data: Browning HiPower 9mm Mass, unloaded(loaded): .9kg (1.060 kg with 13 rounds)

Damage:
EABA: range 2-12, avg 7
Traveller: 0-15, avg 7.5

So, it seems to be 'close enough' that I can use this weapon without needing to change hardly anything.

 

[domingojs23]

Dear Friends,

Could someone perhaps indicate the difference between EABA's "Stuff" and "Guns Guns Guns" as they both appear to be weapons design systems.

Thanks !

Gary

 

[Claybor]

I don't have GGG, but stuff can be used to create weapons, vehicles, gadgets, creatures, and civilizations.

 

[pasuuli]

Dear Friends,

Could someone perhaps indicate the difference between EABA's "Stuff" and "Guns Guns Guns" as they both appear to be weapons design systems.

Thanks !

Gary

GGG is older than EABA's Stuff!, and done by the same person IIRC (Greg Porter).

Greg took lessons learned from gearhead design and distilled it into logarithmic tables. Thus design becomes very similar to working a slide rule; everything (distance, mass, time, cost, damage, etc) interlocks nicely based on a single linear exchange system.

It's very well done, and the PDFs have embedded JavaScript that will do the work for you. You pick the descriptors, and it calculates the stats. And because Greg built it, you can be sure that it's as gearhead-worthy as anything can be.

It's the best both worlds: the light brain-load of table-based design, combined with the complexities of realism.

The only potential downside is that Stuff! is perhaps TOO generic. Like HERO, it can do anything at all, meaning you may have to set up boundaries, and descriptions are often a bit vague. But color text is always free, and the product is a masterpiece of consistency and realism and simplicity.

Ah yes, you'll also have to calibrate the output to get "close enough" to Mongoose Traveller. And results which are distinctly better than (or too different from?) Mongoose's equipment may be hard to share with the rest of us. On the other hand, equipment which MGT can't currently make may well be welcomed here!

 

[domingojs23]

Thanks Pasuuli !

Just to clarify though, is there any material in GGG that is not in Stuff ? Would it be advisable to get both books ?

Cheers,

Gary

 

[aspqrz]

Thanks Pasuuli !

Just to clarify though, is there any material in GGG that is not in Stuff ? Would it be advisable to get both books ?

GGG just does guns, of course 8) ... and in more detail than in Stuff! ... but I don't think there's anything in it that isn't in Stuff! ... or that would appear in Stuff! stats, since its more granular than GGG.

But get both, by all means, if you want a severely high level of crunch from GGG ... and get CORPS VDS (Vehicle Design System) as well, which is the GGG of vehicle design, if you want that severe level of crunch :mrgreen:

 

[Infojunky]

Thanks Pasuuli !

Just to clarify though, is there any material in GGG that is not in Stuff ? Would it be advisable to get both books ?

I would hope so as G3 is.... Woefully out of date, and well some of technical aspects are wonky.

 

[Treebore]

There is a free sample of the basic weapon design system on the Drivethru website:

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=3708&it=1

At first glance, it looks quite usable. I hope MGT ends up with an integrated design system like this. For vehicles and ships, at any rate - I don't really need a new system to make up new or variant guns, there are (or will be) enough examples in the game to use the MIU* system.

*Make It Up

Thank you! Its amazing how hard some people find it to provide links to what they are talking about.

 

[G. K. Zhukov]

Thanks Pasuuli !

Just to clarify though, is there any material in GGG that is not in Stuff ? Would it be advisable to get both books ?

To be honest, MGT is not as crunchy as 3G3 is, so I do not see the need to own the latter - unless you are a true gearhead. "Stuff!" should be more than enough to design weapons, armours, vehicles, gadgets... as well as civilizations and creatures!

 

[pasuuli]

3G3 is highly gearheaded, so if you love complex design for the sake of complex design, and you're an ace with your scientific calculator and really really want to use spreadsheets for designing ammunition, gun barrel lengths, propellants, etc etc, then you'll want 3G3.

On the other hand, if you just want to build out things that can be used in Traveller, and don't want design complexity for the sake of design, just get Stuff!