High Guard Update 2022 - Now on PDF and Pre-Order!

[MongooseMatt]

The wait is over, High Guard Update 2022 is now available on PDF release and pre-order!

You can grab your copy now and set sail for the stars right here: https://www.mongoosepublishing.com/products/high-guard-update-2022




We also have a special Collector’s Edition, limited to just 250 copies and including a faux-leather cover, metal corner protectors, a double ribbon (so you can keep track of your reading in more than one place!), printed endpapers of two different designs (front and back), and rounded, silver-edged pages.

You can reserve your copy of the Collector’s Edition (and get the PDF for free as normal) here: https://www.mongoosepublishing.com/products/high-guard-update-2022-collectors-edition



High Guard Update 2022 is a major expansion to the Traveller roleplaying game with rules for designing, building and operating spacecraft found throughout the galaxy. From small and nimble fighter craft to the adventure-class ships that Travellers fly, from gargantuan megafreighters to military capital ships, this book provides everything the aspiring naval architect needs to populate their universe with ships that ply the spacelanes.

This book also provides rules for designing space stations and starports, customising ships, and exotic technologies found in popular science fiction novels and movies that can be incorporated into your universe. There are also advanced rules for sensors, detailed descriptions of starship crew roles, how to conduct violent boarding actions, and detailed guidelines for battles between fighter squadrons and enormous fleet battles.

Finally, High Guard Update 2022 presents dozens of ship designs for the Charted Space universe, including small craft and fighters, traders, gunboats, scout ships and battleships ranging from lethal destroyers to colossal battleships, carriers and dreadnoughts. The revised design system provides a new approach to armour and armaments, making space combat scalable for anything from small skirmishes to devastating clashes between dozens or even hundreds of warships.

 

[Reynard]

Grabbed and waiting to read. Let's see how my custom designs change.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Has this gone to the printers? I hope not...

 

[Synther]

Are the deck plans for the Free Trader on page 172 supposed to have drone storage?

 

[Arkathan]

Are the deck plans for the Free Trader on page 172 supposed to have drone storage?

That's the low berth area they labeled as drones.

 

[Subzero001]

Where is the write-up for Experimental/Prototype/Early? or is that the discounted TL of 8-10 lvls. for instance Hop drives (Experimental in T5) is tl14 so in Mongoose it would be tl9 or tl7? (Prototype in T5) is tl15 so in Mongoose it would be tl10 or tl8? (Early in T5) is tl 16 so in Mongoose it would be tl11 or tl9?

Molecular bonded => Coherent Superdense?

Solar Coating in the new HG book is in essence a "collector" that can be used in movement and in jump? if so then it could theoretically can collect "exotic particles" from the burning hydrogen bubble (source of exotic particles) the ship is contained in while the powerplant charges up the high capacity battery during the jump week.

The pirate ship write up "swallows up 100dt ships whole". What would the ship size have to be to do this to the "standard" small merchant ship of 200dt like a beowolf/Hero class or far trader/Empress Marava? Would it require a jump net?

I see the write-up for the rider in the HG book where is the write-up or stats for its carrier/tender "Warmonger class"?

I noticed that some of the "warships" now have radiation shielding why not add self sealing as well, why isn't this applied to fighters along with self sealing? Are fighters now "gnats" again to the warships?

 

[Geir]

Random partial answers to some of the above:

Customising Ships p.70 covers the Prototype and and Early Prototype for options for drives and weapons, just like the 'Primitive and Advanced Spacecraft' section in the older version.

Solar coating is well, like half the back of the Dragon trunk: solar cells mounted (or at higher tech levels maybe sprayed ) on the hull itself.

On page 10, it says 'Starting at TL9, all hulls are self-sealing.'

As for radiation shielding, it cost money, Cr25000 per ton, which adds 50% to the hull cost (for a standard hull, anyway). Personally, I think it's a good investment for a military ship. But any particle beam hit on a light fighter is pretty much going to destroy the ship, so shielding the surviving fragments isn't likely to count as a good investment to the bean counters.

 

[kevinknight]

Military Countermeasures

Noticed that the wording on this has changed from:
The military countermeasures suite grants DM+6 to all attempts at jamming and electronic warfare, regardless of the usual DM the sensor suite it is attached to.

to:
The military countermeasures suite grants DM+6 for all jamming and electronic warfare attempts, in addition to the DM of the sensor suite.

Since regular countermeasures retained the original wording (+4 regardless) this would actually make regular countermeasures better than military countermeasures when coupled with Basic sensors (net +2 with military as opposed to the flat +4 from regular).

just wanted to verify this. Thanks.

 

[MongooseAlisha]

Hope everyone had a great weekend, everyone enjoying indulging in the new high guard!?

 

[Sigtrygg]

Has it gone to print yet?

 

[Reisender]

Hope everyone had a great weekend, everyone enjoying indulging in the new high guard!?

Well, looking at the thread

High Guard Update 2022 - Coming July 29th!

The date is set... High Guard Update 2022 will be on PDF and pre-order on July 29th (next Friday!). This is a major expansion to the Traveller roleplaying game with rules for designing, building and operating spacecraft found throughout the galaxy. From small and nimble fighter craft to the...

forum.mongoosepublishing.com

people seem to enjoy finding errors in the new Highguard book.

 

[MongooseMatt]

Has it gone to print yet?

No, and won't go for another couple of weeks at least. Expect updates.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Good, plenty of time for playtesting and comments. I have to say that is a much nicer book to use than the previous edition and the artwork continues to improve.

 

[nats]

How come we are getting updated 2022 core rule books that are full of new errors? Got to lol.

 

[Bill Sheil]

As this pinned thread has most visibility and in the hope that there may still be some chance of clarification in the book text before it goes to print I am transplanting my query regarding Ion Weapons from Feagal's thread:

In the breakout box for Weapon Train: Ion (p30):

Instead of dealing damage as usual... roll for its damage but ignore any armour the target possesses. Instead of applying damage to the target’s hull, it is instead (sic) temporarily deducted from the target’s Power...

In the breakout box for Damage Multipliers (p29):

After a hit is scored, roll damage, subtracting armour and other countermeasures from the total... Multiply the remaining damage by the Damage Multiple for the final damage.

By strict reading of the rule I could interpret this as excluding the weapon mount damage multipliers from applying to ion weapons on the grounds that ion weapons bypass the normal armour/hull damage step.

However for the weapon tables Ion Weapons are given the following "damage" values:

Barbette: 2Dx10 (same as 1st edition)
Sm Bay: 6D
Md Bay: 8D
Lg Bay: 10D

As pointed out in that thread, this makes barbettes significantly more efficient than bays.

Given that (ignoring the x10) the dice values of the ion weapons are in line with the values for other weapon type damage in the tables I assume, therefore that:

• The barbette ion damage value should be 2D, not 2Dx10
• The weapon mount damage multiplier should be applied to ion effect (may be good to clarify in the box text).

If so then the actual final ion effect values would be consistent with other types of damage with a modest scale efficiency: (2Dx3, 6Dx10, 8Dx20,10Dx100).

 

[Arkathan]

If so then the actual final ion effect values would be consistent with other types of damage with a modest scale efficiency: (2Dx3, 6Dx10, 8Dx20,10Dx100).

But a 2Dx3 ion cannon is useless, so it should be specifically exempted from the Damage Modifier and the 2Dx10 left in place.

 

[Bill Sheil]

In which case the bays would become redundant through inefficiency compared with Barbette batteries. And the weapon mount multiplier description becomes more complex when you start to add partial exemptions.

But in any case it is not by any means "useless",. At 21 average damage it neutralises a couple of turrets or the manoeuvre drive of a small ship which is well worth it for a corsair, q-ship or a police ship; two barbettes hitting and many ships will be limited to running a single system.

No reason why any weapon should be instant win as a 2Dx10 would be in a lot of cases.

 

[Bill Sheil]

BTW I think it would nice to have a rule where Ion effect is persistent but the ship's power grid sheds 10% of its output per combat round. Maybe with a Routine Engineering (Power) skill check that can multiply the charge shedding by its effect.

 

[kevinknight]

But a 2Dx3 ion cannon is useless, so it should be specifically exempted from the Damage Modifier and the 2Dx10 left in place.

lol, even at 2Dx3 a single ion barbette can one shot a light fighter. At 2Dx10, it can one shot a free trader which is severely overpowered. So, for game balance, it has to be a misprint and should be 2D with the barbette multiplier of 3.

 

[Arkathan]

It interrupts the power for a turn. It might kill all the power, but usually results in a choice between maneuvering and firing. And if the free trader pays for EM hardening on the M-drive, sensors and weapons, the ion cannon is useless during combat. /Fib is cheap for a Comp/5 or /10.
The 2Dx10 is consistent with the previous progression, and no one has been screaming about the barbettes being unbalanced for all these years since the initial printing.