LBB 9 ADVENTURER ! Traveller, Original D&D and What if.

[captainjack23]

Hey all ! Book 2 of my "what if" fantasy traveller opus is now available for perusal, comment and assorted whatever !

Adventurer Book 2: Sorcery and Superscience !

http://www.box.net/shared/kzidsc78lztcb1u2nu6h

Enjoy !

[Jame Rowe]

*Droooooool*

I am downloading it right now. I shall (eventually) print it out and comment (when I can overcome laziness).

I still owe you commentary on Book 1. In short - good, with my primary thing being to change the weapon damages a bit (e.g. a dagger does 1d6+4, a blade/shortsword 2d6, and a sword does 3d6). More commentary when I can think of sitting and writing in notebooks, and then when I can think of sitting and translating from notebook to computer.

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

As I posted on the SFRPG boards, I really like this blend of D&D and Traveller. I feel that you have captured the spirit of both and it really seems to work.

My boys are complete D&D freaks and I cannot get them to play Traveller at all. I have been tempting them with your game as a bridge...

Keep up the good work.

[captainjack23]

Well, here it is. Book three of three. It's done.

This one covers the equiv of the wilderness and underworld adventures for original D&D. Player and non-player races, animal and fantastic creature generation rules; map, city and dungeon generation rules, plus traveller style profile strings ! analogues for all the major traveller races ! Major geek fest !

I'd love to hear any comments or stories from actual play. My local playtest has been a long time thing, but somewhat limited in scope and player headcount. I know more input would be better, so........http://www.box.net/shared/gzu9dcs4c4r61nrx2zo4

[alex_greene]

and the female equivalent (or wife) of an Earl
was adressed as a Countess

Yeah, people didn't like Earless for some reason...

Possibly due to an inability to keep their hats from slipping down.

[Infojunky]

Geeze, Martin I wander away for a while and look what you do....

I guess I will have to look now won't I?

I was all set for a run at TFT for the boy, now I have yet another option...

And since all the cool kids are ditching what is laughingly called PacificCon for CelestiCon (the Traveller and SF Gaming Convention) any chance we will be seeing you on Labor Day?

[captainjack23]

I'm going to be doing a new revision of this, so a new introduction is in order:

In Principio

________________________________________
It’s a simple premise that started this: what if G & A had different inspirations than the one(s) that became The Big RPG . From it (so far) has come at least two variants I really like: Mazes and Minotaurs and Xplorers ; these ask “what if the font of inspiration was Greek myths, or Science fiction. Really well done, check em out.

This, then, is that, but spun thusly: what if the first RPG was Traveller? I’m not even going to get into the possibility that this might have happened (I hasten to add), but rather just follow it up . What if Fantasy was the red-headed stepchild of the RPG industry, which is seven-tenths dominated by endless SciFi worlds adventures and rules sets. Specifically…. recovered from the detreitus of a quantum chronoinfindibulum experiment at CERN, which turned out to contain this manuscript and some very, very odd dice.

In 1974, a garage-based game failed to get off of the ground due to lack of financing, and the efforts of two well known miniature and board game designers (an odd miniatures supplement called “the fantasy game” ) languished unpublished in a box in a garage. Eventually the designers ended up at GDW, best known nowadays for the breakthrough and innovative game Traveller which caught and rode the wave of star wars popularity, and created a whole new genre and audience for games. Adventure Simulations Games (as they are called) cater to an endless variety of SF settings and adventures, all ultimately derived from Traveler and an infinite variety of SF settings. Looking to expand the boundaries of the new hobby to other genres, G & A convince GDW to try a new approach to travelling: “howzabout something like that Robert E. Howard/Lovecraft genre , but the swords and sorcery version more than the pulp horror of Investigator; you know, like in Fritz Leiber's stuff ? …or, heck, Anderson's fantasy stuff...... Low tech, ya' know ? C'mon Marc, pleeeeeeze ?”

And so, in 1977, following the phenomenal success of book 8 (Droidbots), The Adventure game is dragged out and dusted off. Months later, Book 9 Adventurer is released. Always enjoying a small but devoted player base, Fantasy has remained a constant niche in Adventure simulation gaming. Adventurer has been the touchstone of the genre, and despite revisions and imitations, has always remained in print for the entire run of all editions of traveler, through Advance, 2nd and 3rd edition. With the contentious release of Traveller 4.0 considerable interest in older editions of the original ASG has developed, and GDW (now owned by Conhugebro) has now rereleased the original edition and supplements for a new generation. Whether you are a revered elder gamer from the first days, or a recent entry to the hobby, we are delighted to present the most unusual supplement Traveller ever produced.


“Scouts may come and go, and core rules change from space opera to gritty apocalyptic SF(and back), but swinging a sword and looting evil ruins always remains a comforting constant. Plus, there are no frikkin’ stellar spectra charts to constantly bicker and obsess about updating, right Marc ? “

– G, asked about the constant popularity of Adventurer at AdventuCon 22.

“Two words: Pole Arms.”
-Marc’s response

[Jame Rowe]

I might take a look through this and see what can be used to use Harn for Traveller.

If I can find the copy I printed...

[captainjack23]

well, since harn is pretty hard fantasy (yes, I have it and enjoy it immensely), I'm not sure how well they'll mesh conceptually, but fer crimminys sake, let me know how it goes. Book three may be helpful, as it speaks more to campaign design/generation than to the travellerization of Swords and Sorcery. Maybe the magic system in book 2, plus -you may also want to look at Flynns guide to magic in traveller. . (RPGNOW).

and, in case you need a new copy:

http://www.box.net/shared/o44pzoojmp

Or from my blog (below).

I'll be uploading a redited and somewhat reorganized version soon, so check back. The current one is fine though, just needs more copyediting.

[Infojunky]

The current one is fine though, just needs more copyediting.

You can say that again....

[captainjack23]

The current one is fine though, just needs more copyediting.

You can say that again....

feel free to dive in and edit, mr. smartypants..

See, a real editor costs money. So, I gotta do it myself, or look for pro bono work. which takes time - the other thing I can't afford. So, it goes slowly. It's free, and that's part of why.

[jedavis]

I've begun work on a fantasy version of Traveller as well recently, due in part to growing discontent with D&D and in part to the fact that Traveller, as a system, is absolutely wonderful for the GM in terms of simplicity and flexibility. It's a work in progress, with bits and pieces going up gradually here.