Bu and Embla’s Guide to Starports of the Marches - PDF Released!

[Vormaerin]

Like.. when I am setting a campaign in the modern world, whether its horror or urban fantasy or superheroes or whatever, and I decide that the characters are going to go to Kenya, I totally grab the Lonely Planet guide to Kenya as a valuable sourcebook.

I want the sector books to be like a Lonely Planet guidebook, but they mostly are a CIA Factsheet. Which has useful info too, but most of its never going to apply to my game. Honestly, the Mora section of Bu & Embla's gave me more information likely to make an impact in my campaign than all the Mora entries in any Spinward Marches supplement or adventure that I've read since I started playing in the late 70s. Which is quite a few books.

Bu and Embla's cute asides were amusing, but that's not what makes this book amazeballs for me.

 

[Condottiere]

 

[MongooseBella]

I like that I am seeing bits of that in the planet write-ups these days: notes on the gravity, how planet A's tainted atmosphere is different from planet B's, general notes on architecture, what can get you onto trouble... but I would like forays into local clothes, food, music (are hurdy gurdys the thing this year?), unexpected customs, or whatever else would make a Traveller think, "Hunh. Why don't we do this back on Fornice?" I'm not looking for a lot, but as Vormaerin noted, enough to make places more memorable and maybe serve as the starting points for some unexpected adventures.

I just like hurdygurdys

 

[Seffix]

I just like hurdygurdys

As well you should! Back when I lived in a different place, I had friends who played them (as well as harps, and crumhorns...) professionally. Which makes me wonder if there are Zhodani worlds where they use colonial re-enactment parks to not only make proles feel pride in their heritage, but subtly remind people how much better things are now.

 

[MonkeyX]

I still say that the system pdfs for 1e were some of the best ones for helpful info. Stuff about the main planet but also other significant things going on too. A sector book with that amount of detail per system would be great.

 

[Seffix]

I still say that the system pdfs for 1e were some of the best ones for helpful info. Stuff about the main planet but also other significant things going on too. A sector book with that amount of detail per system would be great.

I think a sector book of that magnitude would (a) be great (b) destroy my spinal column. That said, if they did a subsector book of that nature, which subsector would you want to see?

 

[MongooseMatt]

I think a sector book of that magnitude would (a) be great (b) destroy my spinal column. That said, if they did a subsector book of that nature, which subsector would you want to see?

We are currently looking at doing just this with the Islands subsectors...

 

[Vormaerin]

We are currently looking at doing just this with the Islands subsectors...

That would be pretty interesting, considering that's where I run my campaigns. Be very interesting to see different takes on the same material. The Islands were the only part of Trillion Credit Squadron I ever put to use after I bought it back in 1980 or whatever.

 

[Seffix]

We are currently looking at doing just this with the Islands subsectors...

Cool -- do you think you might afterwards do one or more of the less isolated subsectors?

 

[Sigtrygg]

I've never understood why some people want every world detailed by someone else...

that said District 268 and Five Sisters

 

[Farqs]

Overall I agree but on the other hand if you adopt the OTU then a thumbnail (sorry) sketch of a world/system is a useful skeleton to hang skin (sic) etc on. One benefit of the OTU as a concept is that you have the overarching Third Empire for example but under that a system could be almost anything you choose. I'd cite the description of Vincennes in The Megatraveller Journal 3 as a suitably interesting example of a heavily populated TL16 system which gives you plenty of background, hooks and yet scope to amend the detail to suit your campaign. The "old" Bowman and Tarsus boxed set similarly.

From a selfish point of view whilst I can see The Islands as a sensible standalone for me District 268 would be a grand place to start - I'm not sure whether the shenanigans between Trexalon and Collace have been explored in any detail - a good opportunity to flesh out a corporate war in MGT2 terms perhaps? Mind you once you start where do you stop? Any subsector description will inevitably have to provide context with the sector (or adjoining subsectors/polities) and so staying within canon whilst i dare say creating more of the same would be an interesting challenge.

On that basis one subsector per sector would a) give an interesting over view of that area of space and b) potentially be a massive undertaking depending on how Mongoose set the format.

To flip back to Vincennes - you could have years of campaigning in that system alone if you so chose; no amount of official information will cover everything and nor should it.

 

[Farqs]

And whilst I'm about it the best bit of the Kickstarter was always going to be Bu and Embla and that was my feel even before i got my grubby mitts on the book. it didn't disappoint me and I look forward to more of the same; for me the cameos and extra background give a really good combination of fact and opinion.

 

[Seffix]

I've never understood why some people want every world detailed by someone else...

that said District 268 and Five Sisters

My creative style is enhanced by constraints and ideas from other people.
I like Traveller because of other peoples' ideas and the work they've put into it.
Sourcebooks are fun to read.
Make sense?

 

[Vormaerin]

I've never understood why some people want every world detailed by someone else...

that said District 268 and Five Sisters

I don't feel obliged to use stuff other people write. I like reading other people's thoughts, but that doesn't mean I actually use them as written or necessarily at all. On the other hand, game worlds and big campaign length adventures are popular across most game systems. Whether its Secrets of the Ancients or Masks of Nyarlathotep or all the D&D and Pathfinder Adventure paths. In my particular extended gaming group, it's the occasional GMs who really like the pre written stuff, while I and the other 'full time' GM like creating our own stuff. But that's just local anecdote, not likely any kind of truism.

However, I DO think it is a good idea for there to be an official product that does show case a fully developed subsector. I feel like I frequently run into Traveller players and GMs who think that the UWP snapshot of the starport and environs is somehow the full system.

I agree that 268/Five Sisters is more "mainstream" than the Islands as a choice of what to develop. But I'm always in favor of the writer writing what they want to write, so if they have an author with a love of the Islands, they should go with that.

 

[Geir]

I've never understood why some people want every world detailed by someone else...

that said District 268 and Five Sisters

Having that level of detail (besides echoing the 'Source Books are fun to read' comment) is very valuable if circumstances or personality make you want to run a solo campaign.

And yeah, I second/third/ fourth District 268 and Five Sisters, especially the latter. There is significant material depth on District 268 all ready, but Five Sisters is most general big picture stuff.

 

[MonkeyX]

I do find it funny that Traveller has rules for some very specific things but details on how far the nearest gas giant is the the main planet if a system is often missing. I don’t need every detail but I made a good few weeks worth of gameplay just using one of the system PDFs and the info about the main works and the other nearby planets and the tensions and troubles between them.

 

[Vormaerin]

Well, that's actually an extremely hard question. Because the answer changes constantly because both the main planet and the gas giant are in constant motion at different speeds. Jupiter is anywhere from 367 to 600 million miles from Earth, depending on when you ask.

 

[Galadrion]

Specifically, the distance between two planets will vary anywhere from the difference in orbital radii (but you won't be travelling that short a distance, due to orbital transfer mechanics and the fact that your starting and ending points are both in motion) to the addition of those two radii (but you'll be travelling a farther distance than that, again because of orbital transfer mechanics and targets in motion, but also because transiting too close - or even within! - a star could be considered a bad idea).

 

[alex_greene]

Page 10 of the PDF, page 9 of the book. First paragraph what is the definition of this "Due to a dearth of traffic", what is a "dearth"?

A scarcity, lack or shortage of something.
"A dearth of non-synthetic protein" means that the supply of natural meat has run out.

 

[alex_greene]

As well you should! Back when I lived in a different place, I had friends who played them (as well as harps, and crumhorns...) professionally. Which makes me wonder if there are Zhodani worlds where they use colonial re-enactment parks to not only make proles feel pride in their heritage, but subtly remind people how much better things are now.

Working on that ...