Calling all TAS Publishers and Fans!

Bear in mind that war is not the normal state of things for people. I don't care about what looks like warfare among non-sapient animal species. Perhaps that's due to the species being non-sapient, rather than it being some imaginary "immutable" law of biology?
In any case, we're not telling stories about the Far Future when we're roleplaying science fiction. We are telling stories about ourselves in the here and now.
And I can get mighty sick of people who think that war is the be all and end all of Traveller, when there are so many other kinds of campaigns you could run, such as the exploratory campaign, the trade campaign, the diplomacy campaign, the career criminal Stainless Steel Rat campaign, the science campaign, the investigative campaign, the rescue campaign ...
I've never met any of those people, so I guess that's good.
 
I do not like active duty campaigns where the PCs are members of some sort of military, paramilitary, or even government controlled civilian service.

Traveller from its inception is about people moving on from their prior career and finding their own way to fortune, or die trying.

Resolving situations as they arise rather than combat after combat after combat...
I'd be happy for characters to be these freewheelin' thieves and vagabonds, getting into one heist situation after another, if it was fun and it involved as little bloodshed as possible - think of something like Hustle or Leverage, or Ocean's Eleven with a starship.
 
You know all of those luxury ships in the latest Traveller book? Mobile heists. That's why they were put into that book, floorplans and all.
 
Regarding 3rd party IP, are JTAS publishers limited to just the IP present in Mongoose published supplements, or is the material available in say GURPS Traveller, or Hero Games supplements, etc. It's just that since many 3rd party supplements are canonical, this means we'd need to avoid canon in certain areas if we're not allowed to use the IP. Would appreciate a very clear yes/ no listing of categories of traveller IP that it's allowable to use
 
Regarding 3rd party IP, are JTAS publishers limited to just the IP present in Mongoose published supplements, or is the material available in say GURPS Traveller, or Hero Games supplements, etc. It's just that since many 3rd party supplements are canonical, this means we'd need to avoid canon in certain areas if we're not allowed to use the IP. Would appreciate a very clear yes/ no listing of categories of traveller IP that it's allowable to use
I'm not sure how Mongoose's JTAS program would be able to affect your ability to use other publisher's IP. Mongoose (I think) only owns its own IP. Either the other publisher (or whoever ended up with its assets) or FFE would be the person to contact about that other IP.
 
I'm not sure how Mongoose's JTAS program would be able to affect your ability to use other publisher's IP. Mongoose (I think) only owns its own IP. Either the other publisher (or whoever ended up with its assets) or FFE would be the person to contact about that other IP.
Thanks, I thought that might be the case. Wasn't sure if there might be some reciprocal agreement in place across Traveller IP
 
Since this thread is about improving the TAS program, I'll address that.

When a product goes up on TAS, Mongoose gets the credit for the number of downloads. I do not know if it is possible, but if those stats could be shared for the product creator as well it could increase the exposure for Traveller and be an enticement.

I think that it would be beneficial to detail ways to integrate the TAS module published with the Traveller Map and the Traveller Wiki. If for nothing else, it would provide extra channels for exposure and probably increase sales.

I'd like to see some extra clarification on use of media links in TAS PDFs for advertising or product enhancement. Can there be links to audio clips or video clips that help set up the adventure? Like a link to YouTube of a 1-minute short that is a distress signal received which starts the adventure or an exploration adventure which shows an image of what a probe drone has recorded along with some data in a video overlay as the adventure hook? Could links be embedded to positive reviews or notes of the product, like links in the Death Station PDF to Seth Skorkowsky's review and notes for the same?

The TAS program may be the best vehicle to address expansion into other digital media, such as apps. If Mongoose Traveller 2e had an app similar to the RED app for Cyberpunk Red, I can only see that as a positive for exposure and an extra revenue stream. This may be an investment in time and money for Mongoose, but I think it would be worth it and the expense can be offset with a Kickstarter.

Lastly, I'd like to suggest that TAS be viewed as a breeding ground for future writers and artists for Mongoose Publishing. Bestselling and well-reviewed products can be a good indication of talent for cultivation.

EDIT: I would also like to advocate for the Traveller Open Content program because I can easily see products from that folded into TAS and thus generating sales and exposure for both programs.
 
The TAS program may be the best vehicle to address expansion into other digital media, such as apps. If Mongoose Traveller 2e had an app similar to the RED app for Cyberpunk Red, I can only see that as a positive for exposure and an extra revenue stream.
Great minds think alike. I have been thinking about this for a while, but I am currently still finishing another project (started off as a mobile game and became a steam game) and I was unsure who to contact re licensing (FFE, Mongoose, etc?). I was thinking of just building a 2D trading game initially, where you could fly around the travellermap and buy/sell on each system, etc to automate all the dice rolls
 
The TAS programme on Drivethru has been enjoying a lot of success since its launch. Next year, we would like to take a serious look at it, and improve things for those brave Travellers who toil away to provide others with gaming material.

So, from the point of view of both publisher and customer... what can we do to make things better? Easier? More worthwhile?

All ideas and comments are welcome. Let us know, and we will see what we can do for you all in 2024!
How about a online index of all past/present/future JTAS article titles and subjects?

For example, JTAS #4 had an article on sensors that I wanted. The only reason I even found out about was someone mentioned it in a facebook post. Because of this post, I purchased a copy of that issue.

A "Library Data" online index that told me what issues had what articles that covered what subjects could drive one to purchase back issues.

Unless you already have such a thing...
 
Regarding 3rd party IP, are JTAS publishers limited to just the IP present in Mongoose published supplements, or is the material available in say GURPS Traveller, or Hero Games supplements, etc. It's just that since many 3rd party supplements are canonical, this means we'd need to avoid canon in certain areas if we're not allowed to use the IP. Would appreciate a very clear yes/ no listing of categories of traveller IP that it's allowable to use
As things stand, just current edition Mongoose - however, this is one of the areas we will be taking look at. No promises, but we will see what can be done!
 
I'd love to see TAS extended enough to allow paid creations on fantasy grounds forge for traveller rulesets. Or maybe an agreement with smiteworks that allows modules and extensions for sale on DTRPG TAS. Or really anything you can think of that would make selling content for traveller specifically for fantasy grounds smoother. :)
 
I'd love to see TAS extended enough to allow paid creations on fantasy grounds forge for traveller rulesets. Or maybe an agreement with smiteworks that allows modules and extensions for sale on DTRPG TAS. Or really anything you can think of that would make selling content for traveller specifically for fantasy grounds smoother. :)
Philosophically speaking, we would not be against this as an idea. It could not be a TAS thing, as that has to revolve around Drivethru, so this is something to look at when we have TAS shipshape again. However, consider it on the List Of Things To Consider :)
 
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