Mongoose Gar
Mongoose
I'm going to hold off on official responses to anything for a few days, and let people read, comment, even misinterpret (if lots of people are picking up a particular rule wrongly, then that rule's badly written).
Announcing: The Open Playtest!
- Thread starter Se Chris
- Start date
First off I'm really glad that there's an open play test. I love testing out new games, and this one especially as I'm a big fan of CT.
I've just glanced at the document so far, but I did notice a few things:
In the Homeworld section of character creation is has some example home worlds. I noticed that Asteroid Belt had agriculture as it's skill and it's tech level was primitive. Is this correct? I would imagine that being a belter would mean mining or manufacturing of some kind would be the main trade skill, and that just to live in that environment would entail Average Stellar as the tech level.
On the next page it has Education, and I quote : Education: If you have four or five background skills, then you have also picked up some basic skills from your schooling.
A formal education gives you a basic level of competence in various sciences and academic disciplines. Select from the
following list:
Admin 0, Advocate 0, Any Art 0, Carouse 0, Computer 0, Any Engineer 0, Any Language 0, Medic 0, Any Science 0.
At this point, you are eighteen years old.
Does this mean you get all the skills listed, or just some of them?
That's it for now. Like I said, just started going through it, but wanted to start rolling characters right away and these points caught my eye.
I've just glanced at the document so far, but I did notice a few things:
In the Homeworld section of character creation is has some example home worlds. I noticed that Asteroid Belt had agriculture as it's skill and it's tech level was primitive. Is this correct? I would imagine that being a belter would mean mining or manufacturing of some kind would be the main trade skill, and that just to live in that environment would entail Average Stellar as the tech level.
On the next page it has Education, and I quote : Education: If you have four or five background skills, then you have also picked up some basic skills from your schooling.
A formal education gives you a basic level of competence in various sciences and academic disciplines. Select from the
following list:
Admin 0, Advocate 0, Any Art 0, Carouse 0, Computer 0, Any Engineer 0, Any Language 0, Medic 0, Any Science 0.
At this point, you are eighteen years old.
Does this mean you get all the skills listed, or just some of them?
That's it for now. Like I said, just started going through it, but wanted to start rolling characters right away and these points caught my eye.
Hangfire, I interpreted the home world table as three separate sets of columns. You check each of the three against separate values of your home world. This could require some cleanup, explanation, or dividers between the three.
I have the same question of "how many" for the education background skills. I thought I was missing something because it was midnight when I read it, but if other people have same question...
I have the same question of "how many" for the education background skills. I thought I was missing something because it was midnight when I read it, but if other people have same question...
Border Reiver
Mongoose
The characters generated by my friends and me are so far looking rather sparse on the skill front. More so than even Classic Book 1 characters. They are admittedly bulked up by a number of additional Skill-0 skills. I'd like to see more options in the life events/ mishaps tables. 12/6 ends up with "what we were both cashiered from the Navy for losing a critical battle?" too often.
We really are not enjoying the whole initiative thing, it is clumsy in any combat involving more than two participants. We refuse point blank to sit down at a table with a bag full of D6's to track initiative. Not everyone sits at a table or even has floorplans for minis when doing combats.
I quite like the task system. Classic 8+. Ken Bearden developed a similar system a couple of years back, worth checking out. The time and effect dice are an interesting idea but again I'm not a fan of the whole "red" die is for "a", "white" die for "b" thing. We'll probably end up rolling 1 die twice and/or ignoring the time increment (like we did with Megatraveller).
A weekend's worth of trial and error is coming up and we'll have more once we've played through a bit more.
We really are not enjoying the whole initiative thing, it is clumsy in any combat involving more than two participants. We refuse point blank to sit down at a table with a bag full of D6's to track initiative. Not everyone sits at a table or even has floorplans for minis when doing combats.
I quite like the task system. Classic 8+. Ken Bearden developed a similar system a couple of years back, worth checking out. The time and effect dice are an interesting idea but again I'm not a fan of the whole "red" die is for "a", "white" die for "b" thing. We'll probably end up rolling 1 die twice and/or ignoring the time increment (like we did with Megatraveller).
A weekend's worth of trial and error is coming up and we'll have more once we've played through a bit more.
Ooh, okay, I get it now. Thanks Deniable.
Mongoose Gar please don't leave it too long. I'm looking at play testing this puppy tomorrow night, and from the sounds of it some of the rules are pretty unclear. Someone mentioned this (as an example) : 1. Movement Phase.
In order of Dexterity characteristics from highest to lowest, characters may do any of the following:
* Take a free move of one tick, and move up to three ticks.
Now I thought a tick was time (or initiative count) not distance, as defined here: A character's Initiative die is incremented by two every round. Each step on the Initiative die is called a 'tick'. So,
incrementing the Initiative die means 'gaining two ticks'.
This is the kind of stuff that needs to be cleared up fast enough for us to actually play the game (which is what I'm really looking forward to).
As for aliens, if they are going to be a part of the game then put them in the core book. More can be added later, but if the main races the are playable by the characters are going to include aliens than I want the stats from the get go, not in some distant source book. Minor or fringe races can be covered in source books. Just my two cents.
Mongoose Gar please don't leave it too long. I'm looking at play testing this puppy tomorrow night, and from the sounds of it some of the rules are pretty unclear. Someone mentioned this (as an example) : 1. Movement Phase.
In order of Dexterity characteristics from highest to lowest, characters may do any of the following:
* Take a free move of one tick, and move up to three ticks.
Now I thought a tick was time (or initiative count) not distance, as defined here: A character's Initiative die is incremented by two every round. Each step on the Initiative die is called a 'tick'. So,
incrementing the Initiative die means 'gaining two ticks'.
This is the kind of stuff that needs to be cleared up fast enough for us to actually play the game (which is what I'm really looking forward to).
As for aliens, if they are going to be a part of the game then put them in the core book. More can be added later, but if the main races the are playable by the characters are going to include aliens than I want the stats from the get go, not in some distant source book. Minor or fringe races can be covered in source books. Just my two cents.
Border Reiver
Mongoose
A tick appears to be an "action". Everyone gets one free action and can move 1.5m or go prone or whatever. They then have up to 3 more "ticks". Confusing but cleared up later.
Border Reiver
Mongoose
I also read "only one" educational background skill but I suspect skills equal to your education perhaps, surely not Edu DM though?
Border Reiver
Mongoose
OK, I think I have it.
You get background skills equal to 3+/- Edu DM. This gives a range of 1 to 5.
If you have 2 skills choose from two columns (Traveller planets may have multiple trade codes Rich HiPop Industrial for example). 3 skills means one from each of Environment; Trade and Technology. The remaining two skills are chosen from the high education selection on the next page
You get background skills equal to 3+/- Edu DM. This gives a range of 1 to 5.
If you have 2 skills choose from two columns (Traveller planets may have multiple trade codes Rich HiPop Industrial for example). 3 skills means one from each of Environment; Trade and Technology. The remaining two skills are chosen from the high education selection on the next page
weasel_fierce
Mongoose
Looks very pleasing so far, but we'll have to sit down over the weekend, roll up a couple of guys and have them murder each other 
Border Reiver said:
You actually don't have to have minis and floorplans. My buddy and I just played around with a range grid ala Classic Traveller and it worked just fine. We used the dice to mark initiative, but my buddy suggested just having a track on the character sheet labeled 1 to 6 and moving a marker on that. A combat wheel ala the ones used by Exalted fans would work as well.
I've used the UGM myself and it works well.
It's worth noting that you don't have to designate one color as "a" and the other for "b" as the character gets to choose which is which. You may have already realized that, but I wasn't sure by the way this was phrased.
Seems a lot of us have a fun weekend in store for us.
N
noobdelux
Guest
i for one would liked a better explained way to make a character : P
E.D.Quibell
Banded Mongoose
noobdelux said:
So an explanation of say how the character "Merchant Captain Alexander lascelles Jamison" came to be about would be useful in the rule book?
Although you'd have to use a different name as "Merchant Captain Alexander lascelles Jamison" is Traveller IP.
Best Regards
Ewan
Border Reiver
Mongoose
First combat attempts last night were ok. A simple bar room brawl which would elevate into a firefight. 3 PCs versus 8 adversaries played by Skype. I kept track of the "ticks" by using ticks on paper, fair enough. I revise my opinion to reflect that it isn't as bad as first seems, though it is still a lot of work.
Tonight I'm going to try assigning a single initiative track for every four NPC's to try and simplify things a little (that's if the public give me enough time to do this, I'm on nightshift and it is a Friday).
We're still unsure about the allocation of skills, they really do seem particularly meagre. To play 2 or 3 term characters and only come out with less than a handful of skill levels is positively miserly. It really does need rethinking. How about giving 2 of the basic training skills at skill-1 and the rest at skill-0 and maybe including a few skill gains for life events? I'm easily a "real life" 6 termer and I can think of countless skill-0's I have and at least a dozen that I could claim skill-1 or more. I understand that the skill paradigm has been tuned down and that a game is not real life but I think that the skill hungry players out there will be trying their best to change this.
Tonight I'm going to try assigning a single initiative track for every four NPC's to try and simplify things a little (that's if the public give me enough time to do this, I'm on nightshift and it is a Friday).
We're still unsure about the allocation of skills, they really do seem particularly meagre. To play 2 or 3 term characters and only come out with less than a handful of skill levels is positively miserly. It really does need rethinking. How about giving 2 of the basic training skills at skill-1 and the rest at skill-0 and maybe including a few skill gains for life events? I'm easily a "real life" 6 termer and I can think of countless skill-0's I have and at least a dozen that I could claim skill-1 or more. I understand that the skill paradigm has been tuned down and that a game is not real life but I think that the skill hungry players out there will be trying their best to change this.
On first flick-through I really liked the way weapon range is handled - the way that a rifle gets less easy to use when the targets gets nearer than optimal range. I don't think I've seen that before. Where do SMGs fit in the table though ? I guess 'Pistols', which should probably be renamed handguns.
It might be easier to simplify it a bit though - standardise on a +2,0,-2,-4,-6 curve, then for each weapon class just state it's optimum and maximum ranges.
I was kind of hoping that the setting would get a bit of a reboot too, bringing it more up to date with current technology, but I suppose Mongoose don't have the rights to do that ?
As for Gauss weapon recoil - it would be less than an equivalent conventional firearm because the projectile is accelerated over a (very short) period of time, instead of instantaneously. I have no idea if the difference would be appreciable though....
It might be easier to simplify it a bit though - standardise on a +2,0,-2,-4,-6 curve, then for each weapon class just state it's optimum and maximum ranges.
I was kind of hoping that the setting would get a bit of a reboot too, bringing it more up to date with current technology, but I suppose Mongoose don't have the rights to do that ?
As for Gauss weapon recoil - it would be less than an equivalent conventional firearm because the projectile is accelerated over a (very short) period of time, instead of instantaneously. I have no idea if the difference would be appreciable though....
After a first read only...
1) I dislike tasks as DM's, instead preferring differing target numbers. While mathematically there is no difference, there is a tremendous difference when GMing, since I often don't openly state difficulty levels.
2) The "standard" task labels need to be roughly in the same spots, and all of them need to be there, though more interspersed are not a bat thing.
they are, in order: Simple, Routine, Difficult, Formidable, Staggering*, Impossible
3) Can the various engineering skills besides electronics perform repairs?
4) Skills references in CGen mentions both cascades and specialties. Please pick one and stick to it, or define the difference
4.1) Skills chapter doesn't include a recap of specialty versus non-specialty skills rules.
4.2) Medical Debt: Army, Navy, Marines, and Scouts in military service should get 100% coverage.
5) Skill packages: how do you determine who gets to pick first?
6) learning new skills: could we have a label, like Mega had Advancement Tallies, for "months" earnned.
7) Stat Chart: 12-13 entry and 13+ entry; should probably be 12-13 and 14+. I'm good with 2 lines per plus thereafter.
Aliens:
To refute Cowboy's assertions that Traveller Aliens were never in core sets: Deluxe Traveller included Adv. 0, which gave Zhodani creation as DM's and a couple paragraphs.
Further, to refute his "always well done and more than just DM's"; see best of JTAS 1-3 & Adv 0, and the aliens therein. The initial appearances of Aslan, Vargr, Virush, Newt, and Zhodani were all short (about 2pages), and included a brief sketch of the culture, and a list of stat and career DM's.
If aliens are in the core book, they need to include not just stat mods, but mods to career rolls, too, IMO. Also, explicitly list movement types and speeds on the races table.
In Re combat and the timing roll: After seeing the new task system, I can't condemn it as is yet; My earlier grousing is appeased somewhat by the material presented.
In Re OGL: T20 released the alien races stats/feats as open content, but not the text descriptions nor the names. I'd expect no less from RTT...
1) I dislike tasks as DM's, instead preferring differing target numbers. While mathematically there is no difference, there is a tremendous difference when GMing, since I often don't openly state difficulty levels.
2) The "standard" task labels need to be roughly in the same spots, and all of them need to be there, though more interspersed are not a bat thing.
they are, in order: Simple, Routine, Difficult, Formidable, Staggering*, Impossible
3) Can the various engineering skills besides electronics perform repairs?
4) Skills references in CGen mentions both cascades and specialties. Please pick one and stick to it, or define the difference
4.1) Skills chapter doesn't include a recap of specialty versus non-specialty skills rules.
4.2) Medical Debt: Army, Navy, Marines, and Scouts in military service should get 100% coverage.
5) Skill packages: how do you determine who gets to pick first?
6) learning new skills: could we have a label, like Mega had Advancement Tallies, for "months" earnned.
7) Stat Chart: 12-13 entry and 13+ entry; should probably be 12-13 and 14+. I'm good with 2 lines per plus thereafter.
Aliens:
To refute Cowboy's assertions that Traveller Aliens were never in core sets: Deluxe Traveller included Adv. 0, which gave Zhodani creation as DM's and a couple paragraphs.
Further, to refute his "always well done and more than just DM's"; see best of JTAS 1-3 & Adv 0, and the aliens therein. The initial appearances of Aslan, Vargr, Virush, Newt, and Zhodani were all short (about 2pages), and included a brief sketch of the culture, and a list of stat and career DM's.
If aliens are in the core book, they need to include not just stat mods, but mods to career rolls, too, IMO. Also, explicitly list movement types and speeds on the races table.
In Re combat and the timing roll: After seeing the new task system, I can't condemn it as is yet; My earlier grousing is appeased somewhat by the material presented.
In Re OGL: T20 released the alien races stats/feats as open content, but not the text descriptions nor the names. I'd expect no less from RTT...
Border Reiver
Mongoose
Oh look there's the rules for initiative for larger scale combats, group them in squads. How did I miss that. 
Border Reiver
Mongoose
More confessions. I've been using damage as a number of D6's plus effect dice. Is this right or is it a fixed damage value?
E.D.Quibell said:
Certainly I hope and trust they have either 1 character that covers every aspect or few smaller character creation processes as an example of how to go through the process.
I also hope some of the wording is tidied up a bit in the final document.
The whole thing can be pretty complex(I'm still trying to figure out few things myself ;-) and while I'm sure text is clarified in final version(this is playtest version afterall) example or two for new players wouldn't go amiss.
Border Reiver
Mongoose
I suppose each weapon when described can include a range class in its description.
eg
9mm tech6 SMG
range rifle
damage 5 auto 3
5mm tech8 PDW
range pistol (hey, I'm British it's a pistol or are we calling the rifle longarm? :twisted: :lol: )
damage 4 auto 5
4mm techC Gauss Carbine
range rifle
damage 7 auto 6
etc.
Can I request a quick 2 on 2 combat example at perhaps a Chargen example (though I have no issues with that per se) 8)
eg
9mm tech6 SMG
range rifle
damage 5 auto 3
5mm tech8 PDW
range pistol (hey, I'm British it's a pistol or are we calling the rifle longarm? :twisted: :lol: )
damage 4 auto 5
4mm techC Gauss Carbine
range rifle
damage 7 auto 6
etc.
Can I request a quick 2 on 2 combat example at perhaps a Chargen example (though I have no issues with that per se) 8)
