Mongoose 2300AD Progress Report
- Thread starter Colin
- Start date
AndrewW
Emperor Mongoose
Mithras said:I think its remarkable. I'm amazed I've never heard of it until today, and wonder why MI5 haven't got one of their top agents trying to infiltrate SeaLaunch right now. I'm sure its all part of some global domination plot....
Who says they haven't¿
Though seeing as how they are operating outside MI5's jurisdiction could be MI6...
Mithras
Banded Mongoose
:roll: slaps headAndrewW said:Mithras said:I think its remarkable. I'm amazed I've never heard of it until today, and wonder why MI5 haven't got one of their top agents trying to infiltrate SeaLaunch right now. I'm sure its all part of some global domination plot....
Who says they haven't¿
Though seeing as how they are operating outside MI5's jurisdiction could be MI6...
of course ..!
Colin said:
Any way you can rejig that so that B=Beanstalk and C=Catapult ? Even if it means ditching A ? ! Otherwise that's forever going to confuse me :? Also, what if the planet has multiple facilities - ie you can't use a catapult to launch passengers (if you want them to survive), so you'd need a spaceplane or a rocket too.
The very latest astrophysics suggest that space is littered with 'planetars' - Jupiter sized worlds that free-float in space, unattached to a star. That completely blows the original 7.7ly jump limit star map out of the water. So, um, I guess sticking with the original map is as good an idea as any.
Is the original art going to be re-used ? I mostly liked it, especially the alien art, but I did remember reading the regrets of the artist who drew the combat walkers that he wished he'd seen some of the Japanese designs before he drew them !
GJD said:
But this could screw with other systems in Traveller rules such as world creation tech bonuses, naval/scout base locations (2300 AD versions of), trade bonuses by starport, etc. You put a limit for humans of Starport B; they are the dominant race in 2300 AD. Beanstalks are the most advanced mode of orbital transportation; only 2 systems have it in old canon. Beanstalks should be on top at A. Having played 2300 AD for years, Catapults seem best at B (above average) and Spaceplanes just below them.
As for Catapult/Spaceplane, any starport with B Catapult has a Spaceplane since it is already included with C Spaceplane.
ShadowDave
Mongoose
Hopeless said:
I think their 'bugs' were a good bit bigger, but now you mention it...
That could be a really fun alternative to a standard game, although I'll have to stop my players hijacking Buster Machine #3!
Sturn said:
Sure, if you still use the starport identifier to indicate quality rather than type. JFK starport would be a spaceplane starport, but so would Tanstaffl starport, and I bet they both wouldn't be C class starports in Traveller.
It really depends on how Colin modifies the world generation rules.In the original 2300AD you generated points to "buy" infrastructure for the colony based on the maturity and vigour of the colonisation effort. Thus a world that would have been undesirable under the Traveller rules could be created in 2300ad and have a strong colonisation push that would generate a world profile that might not have been possible with Traveller.
The design paradigm is quite different.
G.
Mithras said::roll: slaps headAndrewW said:Mithras said:I think its remarkable. I'm amazed I've never heard of it until today, and wonder why MI5 haven't got one of their top agents trying to infiltrate SeaLaunch right now. I'm sure its all part of some global domination plot....
Who says they haven't¿
Though seeing as how they are operating outside MI5's jurisdiction could be MI6...
of course ..!
What is MI5, anyways? Other than being a sibling ministry to the one that James Bond is supposed to work for?
GJD said:
By Colin's new starport codes, he has altered them to mean orbital transport available and not quality. A - Beanstalk, B - Catapult, C - Spaceplane, etc. So, yes I would expect a spaceplane-using JFK Spaceport and a spaceplane-using Tanstaafl Spaceport to both be C under Colin's new codes.
There is no mention of quality in the new codes so I won't assume they are an indicator of such. JFK Spaceport C might have a beautiful well-designed starport with elegant shops and well-serviced shiney spaceplanes. Transtaafl Spaceport C would be a noisy, dirty, frontier place with spaceplanes that make a traveler cringe. But, they both have spaceplanes as the primary craft on the tarmac, no catapults, so they are both C under Colin's codes.
Earth's UWP in 2300AD should have Starport A since it has a beanstalk. Of course there may be hundreds of other ports that are B, C, D, or even E.
Colin
Mongoose
There is a colony design system that will appear in a later campaign book. It will be presented as a sort of mini-game, and can be used to create colonies at various stages of development.
Basic system design will follow standard Traveller rules. There are some modifiers, however. Maximum tech level for a human world is 12, though most colonies are 8-10. This refers to production capabilities, not knowledge.
The starport classification is dependent on technology as well, both in terms of production and also in terms of support infrastructure. My starport classifications are more about support than production.
Basic system design will follow standard Traveller rules. There are some modifiers, however. Maximum tech level for a human world is 12, though most colonies are 8-10. This refers to production capabilities, not knowledge.
The starport classification is dependent on technology as well, both in terms of production and also in terms of support infrastructure. My starport classifications are more about support than production.
Sturn said:
Yes, I realise that, but your earlier comments related to the main Traveller system where world design had an impact on the quality of a starport, and again, your comments about a Beanstalk being the best of the best and so should be an A class suggest that A class star ports are the best. My suggestion was to decouple the starport mechanic from quailty and turn it into a mnemonic. You could have A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H and so on codes without indicating quality at all.
G.
AndrewW
Emperor Mongoose
Jame Rowe said:
Don't really have a US equivalent to their official role.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MI5
AndrewW said:
Plus it's technically called the Security Service now, but everybody knows it as MI5.
Basically MI5 is domestic security and inteligence (Like the FBI but without arrest powers - for which they use police assets, notably Special Branch) and MI6 is foreign intelligence like the CIA. Gross oversimplification, but gets the general gist across.
We also have GCHQ which is SIGINT and a parralell to the NSA in the US.
There, that alphabet soup should have tripped a few watch flags somewhere.
G.
barnest2 said:
No more MI's - there isn't even an MI:5 and MI:6 now, just the SS and SIS, but there are plenty of other security and intelligence departments and groups. If you can find it, and are interested, the Call of Cthuhlu supplement Delta Green: Countdown has a good breakdown, if a few years old now.
