The instant I saw the whole spinning disk thing my instant thought was - 'That'll be the Tribes expansion then'...then I leapt to 'oh Eldar players from 40k will like it'. I just assumed that it was a toy put in to carry those flavours - like the alternate drives system in the core rules. There seems to be in the current Traveller set the use of 'Traveller Rules' and 'OTU setting' much more as two separate but co-designed entities than other recent versions.
MagRail vs. Gauss
- Thread starter Allensh
- Start date
Cleon the Mad
Mongoose
I haven't read every post, so my reply will reflect this. Please forgive me if someone else has brought up this exact same point.
I guess one thing to remember is that the suppliments that aren't "3rd Imperium/OTU" specific will contain some "oddball" items that wouldn't be seen in the Third Imperium normally such as well, said Magrail guns. So I do think people need to remember that such things might be seen in the equipment books of future supliments also.
My only comment and suggestion, is perhaps have seperate sections if they feel this wouldn't become too cumbersome, one for "OTU" weapons/gear, one for "generic setting" gear and so forth. Or maybe just put an asterik next to any weapon/item that would be unusual or not seen at all in a "OTU" setting.
Then again..if one adds in a couple house rules, maybe a) Make the weapon less accurate then the equivelent gauss weapon at long ranges and b) Maybe make it half effective vrs armor, then the weapon is possibly more realistic. Consider this if nothing else..a short ranged weapon firing something like of like a sawblade that might not penetrate armor TOO well but vrs an unarmored or lightly armored target, as long as it's not too far off in the distance it rips them to shreds...sounds like something the K'Kree would love using against those nasty meat eating G'Nack (or however that word is spelled, my knowledge of their tongue is rather rusty and limited). K'Kree having to fight meat eaters in armor would then switch to a normal gauss weapon or some such.
I guess one thing to remember is that the suppliments that aren't "3rd Imperium/OTU" specific will contain some "oddball" items that wouldn't be seen in the Third Imperium normally such as well, said Magrail guns. So I do think people need to remember that such things might be seen in the equipment books of future supliments also.
My only comment and suggestion, is perhaps have seperate sections if they feel this wouldn't become too cumbersome, one for "OTU" weapons/gear, one for "generic setting" gear and so forth. Or maybe just put an asterik next to any weapon/item that would be unusual or not seen at all in a "OTU" setting.
Then again..if one adds in a couple house rules, maybe a) Make the weapon less accurate then the equivelent gauss weapon at long ranges and b) Maybe make it half effective vrs armor, then the weapon is possibly more realistic. Consider this if nothing else..a short ranged weapon firing something like of like a sawblade that might not penetrate armor TOO well but vrs an unarmored or lightly armored target, as long as it's not too far off in the distance it rips them to shreds...sounds like something the K'Kree would love using against those nasty meat eating G'Nack (or however that word is spelled, my knowledge of their tongue is rather rusty and limited). K'Kree having to fight meat eaters in armor would then switch to a normal gauss weapon or some such.
So basically, it's a flechette gun? Just enough penetration to cut through a vacc suit, and will cut an unarmoured person to small bloody fragments; but not much use against armoured targets or starship bulkheads.
Sounds like an ideal weapon for boarding actions (arr, matey!) or the nastier kind of crowd control. Not a military weapon, though.
Cheap to operate, too. The ammunition is just steel disks, after all - inert and safe - and to recharge it, just plug into the wall socket overnight.
Sounds like an ideal weapon for boarding actions (arr, matey!) or the nastier kind of crowd control. Not a military weapon, though.
Cheap to operate, too. The ammunition is just steel disks, after all - inert and safe - and to recharge it, just plug into the wall socket overnight.
Klaus Kipling
Mongoose
EDG said:
Thirded! People just have to remember that there ain't no such thing as the OTU anymore. It's The Third Imperium, if you please.
One OTU among many....I think that is exactly the point, they are not hard SF. Hard SF items will probably be accepted by the Traveller Taliban whereas items tending towards science fantasy (phasers, frisbee guns) will not be and tend to dial them up to 4.
Flechette guns they are not, flechettes are more like nails - long and thin to give high mass for their frontal area and thus good sectional density.
What would be worth a new topic is what weapons would be plausible (and thus acceptable to the Traveller Taliban) and fun such as the flying crowbars from Footfall.
Flechette guns they are not, flechettes are more like nails - long and thin to give high mass for their frontal area and thus good sectional density.
What would be worth a new topic is what weapons would be plausible (and thus acceptable to the Traveller Taliban) and fun such as the flying crowbars from Footfall.
Cleon the Mad
Mongoose
klingsor said:
LOL on "Travler Taliban". Actually, any campaign I run will be set in the Third Imperium, I'll either do the Year 1105 setting from Classic CT (like the idea of having the 5th Frontier War looming over the horizon) or since I do have T20's "Gateway to Destiny" do some conversions of T20 aliens/Minor Humans to MGT and use the Year 1000 setting from it. So, the Magrail gun as it stands either won't be used, or will be a K'Kree invention with the limitations I stated above (half effective vrs armor, gets innaccurate pretty fast at range, but again the K'Kree don't care, they are using them to hack apart them primitive carnivores...). Use outside of the 2000 Worlds and their colonies, if I do put some Magrails in there will be very uncommon and probably just reversed engineered prototypes, again if I put them into MTU version of a 3rd Imperium campaign.
Having said that, I'm not upset at all that such were included. I knew from the start that anything not 3rd Imperium/OTU specific with MGT will try to be a bit more of a generic game. People forget the CT started as a generic Sci-Fi game until Suppliment 3 came out detailing the Spinward Marches, if I have my "Traveller History" correct. Why can't MGT do the same thing, be a generic Sci-Fi game with one of many settings inculding the "OTU 3rd Imperium"?
Or to put it another way, their might be a "most supported" setting with D&D right now (if there is, I pretty much stopped with D&D early 3E, don't own a single 4E or even 3.5e book), but that's obviously not the only setting. As much as I do like the 3rd Imperium setting (and ones that are in it's history), not like I will scream "THOU MUST PLAY THE OTU!! HERETIC!!" if someone wants to play "Mongoose Traveller: Babylon 5" or whatever.
As an aside...with regards to my possible MTU idea, the K'Kree using Magrail guns, and slapping the 1/2 armor penetration/inaccurate at long range limitations on it...who's to say that might not be a Hiver maniplulation...convince those silly K'Kree some gun shooting metal frisbees is the ultimate in Carnivore extermination...all the while they are lugging around weapons with much more bulky ammo and less accuracy then a nice simple gauss rifle...yep, it could be...
far-trader
Mongoose
EDG said:
Or what if the point of the spinny disc guns is that the discs make a scary sound as they fly all over the field of fire? Then you don't even need to care about hitting..."
That's only half in jest btw. One word, Bagpipes!
I still doubt the practicality as a weapon and will repeat the only good arguments I've heard have been cultural*. Hey, Bagpipes.
* ok, the idea of a mine-field scatter gun is not bad and TDX impact explosive is passable too, IF you can get past all the rest of the issues, BUT, none of that is how the weapon was presented is it?
I think he does not mean spinney as in hedgehog but spinny as in roundabout but I am infamous for misreading (and particularly mispronouncing) words so take my reading with a pinch of salt.
For the K'Kree it makes a mad sort of sense.
As to Traveller Taliban I rather suspect I am one, inshallah (which is such a useful word). The idea that the new toys might not be intended for the OTU never occurred to me until some kind soul here enlightened me. Now I have just discovered I am running Traveller in a fortnight so I suspect I have some work to do.
For the K'Kree it makes a mad sort of sense.
As to Traveller Taliban I rather suspect I am one, inshallah (which is such a useful word). The idea that the new toys might not be intended for the OTU never occurred to me until some kind soul here enlightened me. Now I have just discovered I am running Traveller in a fortnight so I suspect I have some work to do.