Traveller Writers Wanted!

msprange · **Joined:** Mon Aug 18, 2003 4:25 pm **Posts:** 12302

andrewv wrote:

One question. American english or English english?

Either, at this stage.

Thile · **Posted:** Mon Jan 23, 2012 6:02 pm

msprange wrote:

1. Locations: Bases, starports, asteroids, townships, cities in the clouds, etc - will need maps!

5. Adventures: Can be completely original, tied to an official setting (or not) or even expand upon an existing campaign or adventure (such as 'what happend next' at the end of Beltstrike, or spin offs from adventures in the forthcoming Pirates of Drinax).

I am currently translating what I have written to English for you, but I have a question, a part of the small campaign I have written takes the characters throughout a system between the various woulds and gas giants. Would you be interested in a detailed star system description as well (Mongoose has no data to make these - so I used TNE Extended system generation?

Some of these planets will be important in what I have written, so I made maps of them, others are just used as UWPs that i had for a ''just in case the player get there''.

msprange · **Joined:** Mon Aug 18, 2003 4:25 pm **Posts:** 12302

Thile wrote:

I am currently translating what I have written to English for you, but I have a question, a part of the small campaign I have written takes the characters throughout a system between the various woulds and gas giants. Would you be interested in a detailed star system description as well (Mongoose has no data to make these - so I used TNE Extended system generation?

Probably not - entire star systems are harder to put into existing campaigns.

Thile · **Posted:** Tue Jan 24, 2012 3:48 pm

msprange wrote:

Thile wrote:

I am currently translating what I have written to English for you, but I have a question, a part of the small campaign I have written takes the characters throughout a system between the various woulds and gas giants. Would you be interested in a detailed star system description as well (Mongoose has no data to make these - so I used TNE Extended system generation?

Probably not - entire star systems are harder to put into existing campaigns.

Oh, i forgot to say that it is Esalin, Jewel Subsector/Spinward Marshes 1004, that i am talking about. I just fleshed out a bit more than what was found in the Tripwire book, I just find it so limiting that there are almost always only 1 world per system in most adventures. When one can really make 1-3 systems really interesting by visiting the various worlds and make it a whole campaign.

That is what always buggered me about CT/MT/TNE.

msprange · **Joined:** Mon Aug 18, 2003 4:25 pm **Posts:** 12302

Again, going to have to say no to a 3I system (canon issues). However, agree with what you say about systems - check out Beltstrike if you get a chance, as we did exactly that!

Techno-Guru · **Joined:** Tue Feb 08, 2005 1:45 am **Posts:** 160

Hmmm, I'll have to think about this. I might have a minor race I can submit but most of the stuff I wrote for the Traveller system was for Reign of Discordia. I'll go look at my species notes again...

Edit: If we elect to be paid in cash instead of Mongoose merchandise, will we be paid by check/cheque or an online service like Paypal?

LimeyDragon · **Posted:** Wed Feb 22, 2012 5:53 pm

Does this include writting stuff for Star FLeet Traveller..?

JRoss · **Joined:** Fri Nov 19, 2010 6:29 am **Posts:** 150

So, as someone who has sold several articles to Mongoose, I thought that I'd offer some insights.

When I sit down to write a Traveller article I think "What hasn't been done or what is missing?" I then try and think of things that are fresh or provide a different spin on things in Traveller. With Matt's call for writers in this thread, I've been working from his list.

Follow the formatting instructions. It's very important. Every publisher worth their salt will have some directions for writers, and failure to follow those directions can often get one's submission tossed. Remember that Mongoose uses the Queen's English.

Look all around you for inspiration. I wrote a couple of adventures in S&P that introduced a villain with the last name Ainley. He was based on The Master from Doctor Who, in that he was constantly hopping bodies and possessing people. For others I tried mixing Traveller with Fringe, Shadow of the Colossus and others.

I'll use the most recently-published article that I sold Mongoose. It's about an alien race named the Takel. I decided to do this because Matt stated that he wanted minor races. I realized that aquatic species are under-represented in Traveller, so I decided to go that route. I worked hard on making them logically fit their habitat and niche in games. Matt did not immediately accept it but sent it back with a list of specific changes that he wanted. I fixed those up the next day and we were golden. BTW, Matt's changes were very much for the best. I originally had the Takel as being uplifted octopi.

Don't be discouraged if you don't get an immediate response. Matt, like every other publisher in the world, is very busy. The longest time that I waited for a response yea or nay on an article was about three weeks, IIRC, but I have received replies on solicitations mere hours after sending them. Any criticism given is constructive, and Matt is full of good suggestions.

Karl Tenh · **Joined:** Mon Jan 30, 2012 1:15 am **Posts:** 7

Do slight variations of an existing ship require a deck plan submission?

msprange · **Joined:** Mon Aug 18, 2003 4:25 pm **Posts:** 12302

They will indeed.

AndrewW · **Joined:** Fri Dec 19, 2008 11:57 pm **Posts:** 2642

Maybe variations should be defined. If it's something that doesn't effect the deckplans (ie: computer upgrade, changing the weapons in the turret as examples) would that still require new deckplans?

msprange · **Joined:** Mon Aug 18, 2003 4:25 pm **Posts:** 12302

No - if you start rearranging the ship, it will naturally need deckplans, but if plans already exist, we can always use those instead.

Karl Tenh · **Joined:** Mon Jan 30, 2012 1:15 am **Posts:** 7

I should've been more clear with my first question. I was thinking along the line of Andrew, upgrades that don't impact the deck plan vice rearranging compartments within an existing ship.

jonathon10 · **Joined:** Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:50 am **Posts:** 5

Great information about Traveller Writers.

Techno-Guru · **Joined:** Tue Feb 08, 2005 1:45 am **Posts:** 160

This probably is a silly question but do you prefer that promising writers start with a query letter or dive right into the submissions?

Traveller Writers Wanted!

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