Cluster Truck - Here in Time for the Holidays!

[Terry Mixon]

"New stuff" in the sense of entirely new components that you might put on a real ship? Some salvage drones and a salvage capture thingie. A variant docking clamp.

A bunch of stuff on jury-rigging and using substandard components that doesn't change anything about building proper ships, but allows you to play in a "I wonder what will break this week" level of shipping that isn't a thing in High Guard currently.

A bunch of stuff on using Astrogation for in system travel.

Obviously haven't played with any of this yet to see how it actually works, but it is all the kind of thing I want to work and was missing from basic Traveller, imho. Not everyone will want a flying rustbucket vibe or spend any time on in system travel instead of just jumping, but both those things are right up my alley.

 

[Michael S]

Really Love Martin's update to the in system travel rules and wonderfully describing the difference between Brachistochrone transfers and Hohmann transfers, and how flying through a Solar mass object when your (Mars on the other side of the sun) destination is in a superior conjunction might be a not very good idea. Compared to a Brachistochrone transfers when Mars is in opposition and right next door.

 

[rinku]

Just bought my copy! I'll digest it today at work as much as I can get away with.

Edit: Came for the Convoy nostalgia. Stayed for the in-system travel chapter and the junkships.

Seriously, I can think of 6 pages in High Guard that could be dropped to allow the in-system travel chapter to be included. CRB is packed enough that it probably doesn't have 6 that could be dropped, but any possibility to squeeze a version of it into a future edition or revision should be looked at. It's such a fundemental space travel subject that it bears repeating (unless in CRB).

Get this product into FLGS and push the hell out of it online. Bribe Drivethru and the reviewers as much as you need to. People who know nothing about Traveller will see this and check it out. Ideally they'll pick up CRB, but Explorer's or Trader's edition are a cheap entry point.

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

I am loving the Cluster Truck updates!

These are my new favorite quotes:
"Upgrading a vessel to a higher Tech Level is a huge undertaking requiring a major rebuild. If this were to be done for some reason, the vessel’s new baseline Tech Level would be defined by the lowest of its hull, bridge and power plant Tech Level."

"A complete component, say a TL14 jump drive, can be installed in a ‘black box’ configuration providing suitable interface devices can be constructed. Installing a complete component requires an Average (8+) Engineer check (INT) with a negative DM equal to the difference between the component’s Tech Level and that of the vessel it is to be installed into. Failing this check reduces the condition of the component by one level but does not preclude a future attempt."

 

[Absinthe]

You can be like Space Cowboy from Battle Beyond the Stars?

 

[rinku]

You can be like Space Cowboy from Battle Beyond the Stars?

Yep. It's almost compulsory.

It's mainlining Smokey and the Bandit, Convoy, Every Which Way But Loose, and BJ and the Bear.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Yep. It's almost compulsory.

It's mainlining Smokey and the Bandit, Convoy, Every Which Way But Loose, and BJ and the Bear.

I need me some Boss Hogg and Roscoe P Coltrain tossed in for fun.

 

[Michael S]

Maybe a littte JW too?

 

[rinku]

Blues Brothers gets a dishonorable mention; it's squarely in the same genre. And does feature a truck or two:



(Also, you will note, cops in sunglasses, massive car chases and CB radios!)

 

[Michael S]

Am getting some 5E vibes written into Cluster Truckers, or is it just me?
Perhaps do not play William Shatner's version of Space Truckin while reading

 

[CaptKraken]

This is the most excited I've been for a Traveller product in a long time. First impressions are great! Glad to see a product that reflects how my players actually play the game, with tons of campy sci-fi fun.

One REQUEST: Can we get versions of the maps without the numbered locations?

 

[Limpin Legin]

Not a foregone conclusion, Blues Brothers meets Paris, Texas meets Bagdad Cafe. YMMV

 

[J. L. Brown]

Is this set in the Estuary system (UWP: B355616–8) in Heads subsector / Hanstone 1811?

 

[Vormaerin]

Yes.

Well, that region. It's a variety of systems in that J1 cluster.

 

[rinku]

Despite what some (including me) may have assumed, there IS jump travel, as well as a lot of in-system travel. But the locals are barely able to keep the legacy J-1 drives going and are de facto TL8 with TL9 pretensions. The big mining corporation that's come in and is taking over is not limited to local TL, however.

If the locals were rich enough, they'd be able to import some shiny new ships and drives from the Solomani, some 17 parsecs distant.

But they ain't.

 

[actionman]

"There's a concept I can't get enough of; A man and his monkey."

There ain't too many guys
Flyin' 'round this system
With an ape.

 

[Galadrion]

There ain't too many guys
Flyin' 'round this system
With an ape.

But what with the Uplifts, I can see "Right turn, Clyde" making an appearance...

 

[Tom B]

This looks fun - but I can't justify spending more money at the moment.

 

[Micky]

The premise sounded fun, the hook to buy was the different setting. That rimward region of chartered space is a goldmine for different kinds of settings free of 3I lore. Sitting down to do a deep dive read through this morning.

that said MJD. Glare all you want! Machine Head was great no doubt.. actually thought Fireball was a better album start to finish.

but it was no Who's Next. The greatest of all rock albums

 

[MongooseMatt]

Oh, you just wait until Infinity Suite comes out...