High Guard: Ship software and ship combat missing

[Vormaerin]

Oh, I think that High Guard absolutely should be a core rulebook and have lots of of things in in that are not Charted Space specific. I just think that saying "I want my Core Rulebook to not be limited to Charted Space... but I don't want it to have *that* non Charted Space stuff" is not great either.

If it is a core rule book, itshould have Jump Drive, Hyperdrive, Warpdrive, Stutterwarp, Wormhole drives, etc. Or Wave Motion Guns. Or whatever lets you build your own campaign setting, not just Charted Space.

Then if you can have your Charted Space Naval Shipbuilder's Guide that is the specific rules for Charted Space. So the core rules can have ramscoops or ion weapons without those things intrinsically getting added to Charted Space or 2300 or whatever.

This half assing where the Core Rulebooks are kind of about Charted Space, but not really about Charted Space is a problem. It limits what can go in the core rules and it undermines the assumptions of how Charted Space works at the same time.

The Vehicle Handbook should have big stompy mechs, ideally, even though that's not a Charted Space thing. The Robot Handbook should have a whole thing on proper playable machine characters, even though that's not a Charted Space thing. Likewise, Personal Energy Shields or powerguns or whatever. But right now, "it's in the Robot Handbook so it's canon for the Third Imperium" happens all the time. And it shouldn't.

Charted Space should not be the limit of what the Traveller Core Rules can contain. And, equally importantly, being the the Core Rulebook should not mean it is ipso facto part of Charted Space.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Ever since the earliest playtests/discussions for MgT High Guard that I was privy to I have asked for one thing:

clearly define the rules that apply in the Third Imperium and differentiate them from those that don't.

Result - ion weapons are now in the Third Imperium, energy screens are now in the Third Imperium, dogfighting... because authors didn't know the setting well enough or it was a deliberate change.

The grandfathered design in HG2022 all cap at M-6, if the current rules apply where are the M-9 BBs?

Why is some exotic technology permitted in the setting while others not?

 

[Vormaerin]

You might think this is just grognardia, but it has real implications. Charted Space is great and it draws a lot of people to Traveller. But, I also see lots of people talk about sci fi games and rule out Traveller for various reasons. And those reasons are almost always Charted Space specific. They don't like the aliens or they think the Imperium is a boring setting or whatever. Or they think Traveller can't run this or that kind of game, because that's not how Charted Space is advertised.

It's clear that Mongoose doesn't see Traveller as The Charted Space Role Playing Game. They've got 2300, they authorized a Traveller version of Mindjammer. They have Pioneer coming out. They have a little book on doing your own homebrew. But it's not going to work if the Core Rules like remains all muddled like it is.

 

[Condottiere]

It's probably a zero sum game.

You don't want to cannibalize sales on stuff that actually makes money.

 

[MasterGwydion]

But it has stuff that’s not in Charted Space (unless the GM decides someone is super-high tech) and many, many people use it for their non-charted space homebrews.

It’s been Traveller’s own High Guard for almost half a century. It works. That’s fine.

Yeah. Many people misuse a product and then complain that it doesn't work right. Then, Mongoose muddles it by trying to make everything Charted Space while says this is not Charted Space.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Ever since the earliest playtests/discussions for MgT High Guard that I was privy to I have asked for one thing:

clearly define the rules that apply in the Third Imperium and differentiate them from those that don't.

This was your mistake. You should have asked for a High Guard that was setting-agnostic and another High Guard that is only Charted Space.

Result - ion weapons are now in the Third Imperium, energy screens are now in the Third Imperium, dogfighting... because authors didn't know the setting well enough or it was a deliberate change.

The grandfathered design in HG2022 all cap at M-6, if the current rules apply where are the M-9 BBs?

Mongoose has a very large quality control problem.