2300AD on Pre-Order

[Sturn]

BTW, surprised some here think the Kafers aren't interesting...our group imported them into our Traveller game some 20 years ago. We love the Kafers....dead preferably.

One of the reasons I loved the 2300AD over OTU were the aliens. Much more interesting and plausible then Cat Men, Dog Men, Space Elves, Space Vikings, Space Cows etc. In my opinion only the Hivers and Droyne are on equal footing to the original, interesting alien cultures in 2300AD.

[EDIT for counter-arguments, sorry another list ]

Kafer: Violent bipeds makes them comparible to "Space Orcs" yes. Otherwise, no. The most unique quality was (spoiler alert) their violence induced intelligent gain.

Sung: Do have a similar appearance to Droyne (birdlike biped with wings). Most interesting quaility I can think of is their culture which requires more advanced civilizations to share their technology and wisdom while those of a lesser culture/tech to be submissive.

Xiang: Multi-legged makes them "Space Bugs". Interesting historical background of being slaves to the Sung. Difficult to be recognized as intelligent (hard to communicate with) while having artistic talents makes them unlike "Space Bugs" which instead would have given them a Queen, Nest, Workers, etc.

Eber: I can't think of a comparison for their appearance. Their culture is also strange and enigmatic. On second thought, are they "Space Ents"? "Space Indians"?

Pentapods: I guess their multi-limbs (like Hivers) makes them "Space Squids". But, also like the Hivers they have an unique and interesting culture - biotech experts, living technology including spaceships, hive mind.

 

[Lysander]

One of the reasons I loved the 2300AD over OTU were the aliens. Much more interesting and plausible then Cat Men, Dog Men, Space Elves, Space Vikings, Space Cows etc. In my opinion only the Hivers and Droyne are on equal footing to the original, interesting alien cultures in 2300AD.

Totally agree. I like Vargr and Aslan but they don't hold up nearly so well as the 2300 Aliens. 2300 aliens were one of the settings greatest strengths.

One of the funnier things that happened was when we first introduced a captured Kafer to our PCs. One of our PCs (who had the demeaner of Dr.Mengele) decided it was time to get physical with a "docile" Kafer in an interrogation. The PC survived......missing a body part or three.

I always thought the Ebers to be one of the most interesting alien designs I have seen in any setting.

 

[zero]

Pentapods sound interesting, I do like biotech, especially if going down the Giger road.

 

[Lysander]

Pentapods sound interesting, I do like biotech, especially if going down the Giger road.

I acquired an adventure set on the Pentapod homeworld some time ago (I think it came from the 2300 compilation disk I purchased from Far Future Enterprises some years ago but am unsure). Although the Pentapods are (apparently) benign I could certainly see running a Cthulhuesque horror scenario - just based upon a misunderstanding/misperception between the humans/Pentapods. They are truly alien.

Also, Colin's old "Traveller 2320", I believed added quite a bit more depth to the Pentapods. Hopefully it will also be in the new version.

 

[Colin]

Pentapods, like humans, are not a monolithic group. They, have factions, which they refer to as Sects. Some are pro-human, some are anti-human, but most are indifferent. Most Sects are very inward-focussed, and these tend to be the ones that don't care about humans at all, save, perhaps, as a source of biological diversity.

 

[Li Kao]

2300AD and Transhuman Space are, hands down, my favorite hard (or "firm" if you're a stickler) sci-fi settings. I really liked Colin's treatment of the setting in his 2320AD work, and am thrilled that he's teamed up with an engaged publisher like Mongoose.

If somebody is tallying votes, I agree that the sample cover art shown isn't even vaguely evocative of the flavor that sets 2300AD apart from most space operas. This is not a comment on the quality of the art, but the style and content.

Pre-ordered!