equipment catalogue?

[RedBeardSean]

One of my players wants to know about a lot of gear not found in the core rulebook, to whit:

Also, I just finished buying my equipment, but I didn't find much in the way of incidentals. Is there a gear book filled with ballgowns and stereos somewhere?

So, how close are credits to the modern American dollar, in regards to buying power (or better yet, the Euro)? Should I refer her to a mail-order department store catalogue, or is there a comprehensive book of future-tech and sundries out there somewhere? I know there wasn't for CT, and there is not (yet) one for MGT, but was there one for any other edition?

Thanks to all!

 

[Kilgs]

Here is a consolidated list put together by one of the veterans of the game.

http://www.sff.net/people/kitsune/traveller/peter/consolodated%2072.pdf

 

[Jame Rowe]

Here is a consolidated list put together by one of the veterans of the game.

http://www.sff.net/people/kitsune/traveller/peter/consolodated%2072.pdf

Very nice. But ... doesn't have clothing.

 

[RedBeardSean]

My players are rather spoiled by the Kenzer & Co. offering Goods & Gear for D&D (and some of them prior to that by Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue for 2nd Edition AD&D). While I do have a couple of gun-bunnies in my game who want to look at more hardware, several of them want clothes and knick-knacks for their staterooms. :roll:

 

[Scorpion]

Admittedly, I'm new to Traveller, and I like the Mongoose Traveller game so far ...

And it's easy to make up costs for simple items, but the other day I realized that this is the only RPG I've ever seen with an equipment section that doesn't include rope.

Mongoose folks, for all of the above, please read: An equipment book for Mongoose Traveller would not go amiss.

 

[aspqrz]

One of my players wants to know about a lot of gear not found in the core rulebook, to whit:

Also, I just finished buying my equipment, but I didn't find much in the way of incidentals. Is there a gear book filled with ballgowns and stereos somewhere?

So, how close are credits to the modern American dollar, in regards to buying power (or better yet, the Euro)? Should I refer her to a mail-order department store catalogue, or is there a comprehensive book of future-tech and sundries out there somewhere? I know there wasn't for CT, and there is not (yet) one for MGT, but was there one for any other edition?

Generally speaking, 1 Cr supposedly equals US$2-2.50.

However, the wage rates implied in the books are far too low for this to be the case and/or the cost of some items is far too high for this to be the case ... or both :roll:

As for Gear, hmm, so far the tentatively titled "Dark Star Catalog" I am working on has c. 80 pages of gear ... power sources (generators and batteries), survival and exploration gear, personal sensors ... and is nowhere near complete (the rate things are going, I will probably release it in parts of c. 96 pages or so).

The contents are something that Traveller really hasn't done ... ever, I'd say, but certainly not since the 3LBB days, if you're generous ... an attempt to update a lot of tech to stuff we either have now (as opposed to the 1970's), extrapolated for future developments, or stuff we are developing now, based on an assumed success in developing it, and stuff that seems reasonably standard in a variety of SF books (at least the ones I have read over the years, anyway ) ... to make the future feel like something more than the 1960's with Starships (Mongoose has made a sorta start with, forex, Cybernetics, but, IMO, FWIW, hasn't gone far enough in any other areas)

I am sure I am not the only person preparing such a product.

Hopefully before Xmas for the Power Sources/Exploration Gear (possibly personal sensors) Book.

Phil

 

[kafka]

This is exactly what Traveller needs. A book filled with Chrome fittings onto the Traveller Universe. We can steal descriptions from a multitude of Traveller sources but a hard core beautifully illustrated equipment guide would be a welcome addition. Wizards has already been brought up as a standard...and indeed I strongly encourage Mongoose to follow in that lead but even look at Star*Drive from TSR...their equipment guide was heads over heels over what Traveller has produced. The closest we get to a polished Chrome look was what DGP attempting in the World Builder's Guide.

 

[pasuuli]

Really... we want a catalog that contains... rope? I mean, I know equipment catalogs do have sundries. But is this a value-added thing?

OK, less pessimistic: this is a good topic for a third party person to tackle... and indeed appears to be being tackled.

 

[rust]

Really... we want a catalog that contains... rope?

Yep, rope, I would welcome it.

Not any kind of rope, but something science fiction-like that has some un-
usual properties and can add some color to the setting, like for example
an artificial spider silk rope (with a higher tensile strength than the best
steel cable combined with a very low weight).

In fact, I would very much welcome any kind of equipment that could help
me to demonstrate to the players that the setting is very different from
the real world, and in my opinion surprising properties of "pedestrian"
stuff like a rope can get the idea across quite well.

 

[Baeron Gredlocke]

Well, consider that rope:
1) Never needs to be rebooted
2) Can not be infected with virus
3) Can not suffer an electronic malfunction
4) Will still work in a power outage

I think a selection of "survival" based items are completely relevant for a traveller campaign.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Add a feature that makes the rope self sticking, but with a simple hand twist, the stickiness goes away. Great for climbing, since you don't need a hook at the end or something to hook to.

 

[aspqrz]

Really... we want a catalog that contains... rope? I mean, I know equipment catalogs do have sundries. But is this a value-added thing?

OK, less pessimistic: this is a good topic for a third party person to tackle... and indeed appears to be being tackled.

Of course. Electro-contractive rope with gecko-like attachment properties to make climbing (or cargo handling) easier ... or, at least, more interestingly high tech.

Or do you expect Traveller era starships will still be regularly using handmade hempen fiber rope from giant rope-walks and requiring the learning of arcane skills at splicing together and tying knots in same?

On the whole, I think many Traveller players would prefer the "Smart Rope" option ... YMMV, of course

Phil

 

[aspqrz]

Add a feature that makes the rope self sticking, but with a simple hand twist, the stickiness goes away. Great for climbing, since you don't need a hook at the end or something to hook to.

Gecko-patched electro-contractive Smart Rope (not linked to computers at all ... or not necessarly ... and, anyway, I am one of those who think Virus was the biggest crock of s***t idea ever :shock: YMMV of course :? ), in fact, which appears in "Dark Star Catalog" ... which, as I said, currently is at c. 80 pages (US Letter) and for which work is progressing slowly (it's report writing time of year at School ... which takes a huge chunk of time ... and they've just released Dead Space, Far Cry 2 and Sacred 2, which is tending to take a chunk of the rest ... still, hopefully something before Xmas )

Phil

 

[aspqrz]

Add a feature that makes the rope self sticking, but with a simple hand twist, the stickiness goes away. Great for climbing, since you don't need a hook at the end or something to hook to.

Actually, Gecko Patches are available for use on uniforms and clothing ... including Vacc Suits, for example, so you could get by quite nicely without anything as clunky and 30's as magnetic plates on the boot soles ... also makes seating the pilot/crew in accelleration couches more secure, forex

Phil

 

[pasuuli]

Well, consider that rope:
1) Never needs to be rebooted
2) Can not be infected with virus
3) Can not suffer an electronic malfunction
4) Will still work in a power outage

I think a selection of "survival" based items are completely relevant for a traveller campaign.

With the other mentioned high-tech features, I can see descriptions of rope to be potentially valuable.

I guess I'm thinking of the shopping angle. While it would be useful to have appropriately high-tech rope, I wouldn't want to have to shop for it... I'd want it in the Locker.

Again, I iterate: this is probably good fodder for Traveller License material, but... well... there are so many things to twist up into high-tech, you could create huge catalogs of flavors of things that cost Cr20 or less... it seems to become an end unto itself once you've passed a certain threshold...

 

[Baeron Gredlocke]

Well, consider that rope:
1) Never needs to be rebooted
2) Can not be infected with virus
3) Can not suffer an electronic malfunction
4) Will still work in a power outage

I think a selection of "survival" based items are completely relevant for a traveller campaign.

With the other mentioned high-tech features, I can see descriptions of rope to be potentially valuable.

I guess I'm thinking of the shopping angle. While it would be useful to have appropriately high-tech rope, I wouldn't want to have to shop for it... I'd want it in the Locker.

Again, I iterate: this is probably good fodder for Traveller License material, but... well... there are so many things to twist up into high-tech, you could create huge catalogs of flavors of things that cost Cr20 or less... it seems to become an end unto itself once you've passed a certain threshold...

Good point re: ship's locker. Simple rope is probably something one could find there.

 

[aspqrz]

Ship's Locker = 3D Printer.

You don't actually have rope (or anything) "in" the Locker as such -- you have the data pattern for rope(and other things) in the computer that controls the 3D Printer/NanoFac/NanoForge or whatever you call it.

The Data patterns may, or may not, cost something to purchase, depending on a whole range of factors (a Machete, forex, is such an old standard design, it costs nothing -- comes with the 3D Printer package; a PRIS, if you have them, costs for the individual pattern).

We have 3D printers of an experimental sort now. At higher TLs, why would you not have them at least potentially available for such purposes? Use 'em or not asyou wish, they will probably be in Dark Star Catalog (though not necessarily in DS#1).

Phil

 

[Baeron Gredlocke]

Really... we want a catalog that contains... rope? I mean, I know equipment catalogs do have sundries. But is this a value-added thing?

OK, less pessimistic: this is a good topic for a third party person to tackle... and indeed appears to be being tackled.

Of course. Electro-contractive rope with gecko-like attachment properties to make climbing (or cargo handling) easier ... or, at least, more interestingly high tech.

Or do you expect Traveller era starships will still be regularly using handmade hempen fiber rope from giant rope-walks and requiring the learning of arcane skills at splicing together and tying knots in same?

On the whole, I think many Traveller players would prefer the "Smart Rope" option ... YMMV, of course

Phil

( somewhat OT response )
I presume that campaigns differ in tone, mine being no exception. We're in the TNE setting with my players spending quite a bit of time on the other side of the quarantine zone.

If you've got a set of players who spend a lot of time in primitive fantasy settings, I imagine it's appropriate to bring a lot of high-tech traditional sci-fi elements into the campaign as a way of reminding them of their genre and keeping them in it.

My group tends to take sci-fi elements for granted and routinely make assumptions about how easy it is to get things done. They've gotten a lot of challenge and interest out of the sessions where I've pulled the plug on some of the high-tech labor saving devices that are supposedly available in your average TU.

 

[rust]

Ship's Locker = 3D Printer.

Thank you very much for an excellent idea !

In my new setting the player characters will (once again) establish an out-
post on a barren world and develop it into a small colony.
Sooner or later the characters will doubtless need some strange item of
equipment that they did not think of when outfitting their expedition, and
it will most probably be something that no sane person would have put
into the ship's locker, and the next supply ship will arrive weeks too late
- and not have the item anyway.
However, with a 3D Printer and a good database (or some programming
skill) the characters should be able to produce either the item itself or so-
mething similar enough to serve as a replacement for it.

Yep, you have just provided a perfect solution for one of my new setting's
problems.

 

[pasuuli]

In my new setting the player characters will (once again) establish an out-
post on a barren world and develop it into a small colony.

That sounds like fun.

No really, I meant it. The players face all sorts of difficulties that they can't simply run away from, and the accomplishment of an emerging colony can be reward in and of itself. Plus whatever perks may come with it.