Official 2300AD Comments Thread

Book 2, pages 18-19

Book 1, page 49, Link Phone mentions UCP/UNP. Earth and Tirane have Nations and not Colonies. The UCP Tech Level even has Tier Level of Nation/Colony.

IS UNP a thing in 2300 AD?

Should "Universal Colony Profile UCP" be "Universal Colony Profile (UCP)/Universal Nation Profile (UNP)"?
 
Book 2

Page 28, King Map
Is there a land border between New Columbia and Huntsland?

Page 31 and Page 32, Botany Bay
The UCP on page 31 is given for Darwin Island, but the map on page 32 seems to show most of civilisation on Botany Bay Island.
 
Book 2

Page 38, Kimanjano Map
Is there a land border between Fromme and Okavango? Although the writeup on page 39 says Okavango only covers a 20 m2 area in any case wohich would not be visible

Page 40, Beta Canum
None of the maps have legends, so what is the yellow portion?

Page 42, Joi
Where is the land border between New Cornwall and Lubumbashi?

Page 44, Adlerhorst
Land border between New Mark and Saint-Benoit?

Page 49, Hochbaden
I'm guessing the white hexes are higher altitude regions?

Page 50, Aurore
Border between Aurore and Tanstaafl?
 
Book 2

Page 55, 56, Cold Mountain
The map on page 56 shows a catapult north east of Hanzhong, but the UCP on page 55 is C.

Page 57, Proper Cold Mountain Attire
Protection is 3, this should be +3

Proper 57-58, Daikoku
1) The locations for the Japanese colony at Daikoku and Arabian colony at Al-Marjiti are not marked on the map on page 58
2) The UPP has B class Interface, and the map shows a catapult east of Aoki, but both colonies are class D Interface.

Page 57, 59, Syuhlahm
1) Border between Chyuantii and Lihngtou? There are two military bases near the equator so that would make sense.
2) The map shows a Catapult south east of Tianjiin but both UCP have class D (Page 21, ballistic SSTO). A Catapult changes UPP from D867665-A to to B867665-A and one of the colonies from D to B

Page 57, 60, 61 Heidelsheimat
1) Page 60 shows a catapult north west of Dresden. UPP on page 57 shows D class Interface (Ballistic SSTO). Page 61 has all three colonies with class D Interface.
2) If we are talking borders the islands need to marked with borders as well.

Page 62, 63 Chengdu
A catapult (Class B Interface) is indicated east of Anyou, Wuqi, whereas the UPP and UCP has class C Interface.

Page 65, Kwantung
Manchurian Kwanting and Mexican Azteca colonies. Again the military bases help, and the Heavy Industry would be Manchurian.

Page 66, 67 Dukou
Shows a Catapult (B Interface) north east of Xixiang City, but the UPP and UCP are D Interface (Ballistic SSTO).

Page 67, Montana
The UPP has class D Interface, the UCP has E Interface.

Page 68, Austin's World
Borders for the three colonies?

Page 69-70, Haifeng
Page 69 UPP us X76A0000-0 and spelt Haifeng
Page 70 UPP is D989674-B and spelt Heifang
Haifeng seems to be correct as thus is referenced for the Hellshark on page 98. As the planet is inhabited the page 70 UPP would be correct.
The UCP is missing, there is space below the writeup on page 69.
 
Book 2

Page 57, Proper Cold Mountain Attire
Protection is 3, this should be +3

Proper 57-58, Daikoku
The locations for the Japanese colony at Daikoku and Arabian colony at Al-Marjiti are not marked on the map on page 58

Page 57, 59, Syuhlahm
Border between Chyuantii and Lihngtou? There are two military bases near the equator so that would make sense.

Page 57, 60, 61 Heidelsheimat
1) Page 60 shows a catapult north west of Dresden. Page 61 has all three colonies with class C Interface (Spaceplane). Heidelshimat should be B instead of C.
2) If we are talking borders the islands need to marked with borders as well.

Page 62, 63 Chengdu
A catapult (Class B Interface) is indicated east of Anyou, Wuqi, whereas the UCP has class C Interface.

Page 65, Kwantung
Manchurian Kwanting and Mexican Azteca colonies. Again the military bases help, and the Heavy Industry would be Manchurian.

Page 66, 67 Dukou
Shows a Catapult (B Interface) north east of Xixiang City, but the UCP has C Interface (Spaceplane).

Page 68, Austin's World
Borders for the three colonies?

Page 69-70, Haifeng
Page 69 UPP us X76A0000-0 and spelt Haifeng
Page 70 UPP is D989674-B and spelt Heifang
Haifeng seems to be correct as thus is referenced for the Hellshark on page 98. As the planet is inhabited the page 70 UPP would be correct.
The UCP is missing, there is space below the writeup on page 69.
 
Book 2

Page 79, Earth First
Mission Statement should be in BOLD.

Page 82 and 83, military illustrations
Any chance of names for each of the illustrations?

Page 83, Royal Space Navy ranks
These seem a little unbalanced. Mid-shipman is usually an officer under training or Level 0. The jump from Commander to Admiral seems a little large as well.

Page 87, Eber Traits
The "Large" should be "Large(+X)" from the Traveller Core Rulebook, with the X indicating the DM modifier.

Page 87, Eber Townsperson
There is probably room for stats for the matchlock pistol if stats are available.
 
Book 2

The page 101 UPP adds PAS Severity and Compatibility. This is not mentioned on pages 18-19. Page 101 should at least be mentioned on page 18.

Page 104
Gas guns are mentioned on page 38 of Characters and Equipment. They are not rated here or anywhere else.

Page 109
Belters have Guderian K-20 Hardsuits. This is not rated in Book 1 page 88-89.

Page 110
1) Colonial Militia have Inertial Armour Vest (+6) and Standard Helmet (+1) for +9. This should be +7 instead of +9.
2) Mercenary have Inertial Amour (+8 for Full-Body) with Vedette Hard Plate (+2) and Helmet with HUD and image (sounds like +2 for High Threat) for +17. Should this be +12 instead of +17.

Page 111
1) Neo-Cats can fly? Would surely be Small (-2)?

Rounds complete.
 
Book 1
p.64 Stracher SG-77 Country is stated as Germany. All other Stracher weapons are stated as being Austrovenian
p.65 Rockwell 12-81 Magnum Country is stated as United Kingdom. On p.68 the Rockwell 12-39 Magnum Country is stated as Britain. I believe Britain is the correct reference (as used in Book 2)
p.75 Jaschonek Fabrikant A-9. Contrast with the manufacturer of the Heavy Plasma A4T (p.77) manufactured by Jaschonek Waffenfabrik. These might be separate or affiliated companies but it looks like a single manufacturer has been given two names with similar meanings by mistake.
p.70 & p.79 Traylor T-50 & Quinn Optronics Restraint Carbine. Country is stated as America. Other instances are stated as USA (e.g. Traylor M-2, Model-10 & M-57 and the Hancock 9-23)
 
Book 1
p.24 Cold Mountain colony on Delta Pavonis. UPP is missing a digit. It has six but requires seven before the hyphenated Tech Level.
p.29 Hermes, right hand column. The UCP for Hermes is missing. Compare with other single colony systems e.g. Botany Bay and Kingsland (p.31) which show the UCP below the System info and UPP.
 
More typos and odd-looking info in the UPP, UCP data

p.22
Vega UPP: second digit is the letter 'S' Should this be 5?
Nyotekundu UPP: last character is a single quote mark ..." B74A0479-7 0 50' " The quote mark needs to be replaced with a digit.
DM-26 12026, Serurier, Davout all have Population Multipliers of zero
Some of the systems have suspiciously high numbers of Asteroid Belts. Is it really intended that AC+17 534-105 (Canada) has seven asteroid belts?


p.23
Although the UCP key on p.19 doesn't indicate a space of a 'Bases' code, some of the colony UCP's have one, some have a zero , whilst Beta Canum has nothing at all (nor does it on p.24)
Adlerhorst on Vogelheim (last row) has a Base code of "M" What does "M" represent? Or should it be "N"?
 
As far as I can tell the distances between stars haven't been provided in the books so it's impossible to know how long an interstellar stutterwarp jump will take. We know the maximum range is 7.7 ly and we can calculate the speed (p.42) but the books don't provide the distances.

In Traveller 2300 and 2300AD the Near Star List provided the necessary information to compute. I suppose we could assume that they are all about 7.7 ly but some are, in fact, considerably less. Kingsland to Botany Bay is 1.2 ly
 
Book 2, p.98 Night Stalker

What on earth (or any other planet) is a 'climax predator' :D :shock:

Perhaps that should be 'apex predator'!
 
Book 3, p.38 "Fuel Consumption" and "Reducing Time to Orbit"

The example in the right hand column is incorrect if the following statement (in the left hand column) is correct, "These modifiers alter the effective world Size code for purposes of determining fuel burned and time to orbit"

If the modifiers do indeed affect time to orbit also then the example in the right hand column should be as follows, "For example, a ballistic craft with an Advanced Drive on Earth takes 7 minutes to reach Low Orbit, spending 7 Burns (-1 for the Advanced Drive). If the craft has the additional fuel, it can spend 1 Burn to reduce the time to orbit by lowering the Earth’s effective Size for the purpose of determining time to orbit. In this case, it will take 6 minutes to reach Low Orbit and require an additional Burn, for a total of 8."

BTW, on p.37 Lifting bodies are noted as having a Speed Band of "Transonic". No such speed band exists in the Traveller Core Rules (p.130): ..."Very Fast, Subsonic, Supersonic, Hypersonic" Do you mean Supersonic when you say Transonic?

I gotta be honest, reading 2300AD rules cold without being an expert in Traveller is a nightmare. There are no cross-references in the 2300AD books back to Traveller Core Rules. Every time you find an undefined or unfamiliar term in 2300AD you have to go on a Ctrl+F hunt in the hope it might be somewhere in Traveller.
 
Thanks for the new, updated files! It's a wonderful world that you describe here and the new illustrations really bring it to life. I look forward to the physical copies.

I thought I'd give the new files a read with fresh eyes as I had only skimmed the earlier versions. Here are some things that I would do differently, having read a little over halfway through the first book. Although I'm offering you lots of "shoulds" and "do thises", these are really just the notes and recommendations that I would send to an editor at our own little publishing company after a single concentrated read. Some are tiny things, other bigger ones. Make of them what you will. I'm not an actual proofreader or a copy editor by any means.

General comments:

The page numbers I mention refer to the printed page number, not the pdf page number. They are all for Book 1, unless otherwise stated.

In your books, numbers representing costs sometimes use thousands separators (26,530) and sometimes not (26530). You should pick one style and stick with it. For readability, it would be good to always use separators.

Similarly, you sometimes have spaces between numbers and unit symbols, but most often not. Typical style conventions with SI units call for a space between numbers and unit symbols. So, following usual conventions, I would use "0.1 mm" rather than "0.1mm". But whichever you choose, you should at least be consistent throughout the books.

I would use a little padding under most headings. Now they feel a little crammed into the text under them. Would they also look better without the padding to the left of them, which is currently making each heading a little indented?

Page 3:

"...inherent in the stutterwarp effect, the engine that drives..." -> I guess "stutterwarp effect" is not technically the engine but the science behind the engine? Should this be "...inherent in the stutterwarp drive, the engine that drives..." or "...inherent in the stutterwarp effect, the science behind the engine that drives..."

"Alpha/Beta Centauri systems" -> surely this should be something like "Alpha Centauri A/B systems", or just "the Alpha Centauri system"? Beta Centauri is a star almost 400 light years away: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_Centauri

Page 4:

"at speeds up to 5 light years or more per day" -> "Up to X or more" is a rather strange expression, or at least a little nonsensical. Why not just "at speeds topping over 5 light years per day", or some such?

"allow for lighter, yet stronger, hulls, making" -> maybe cut down on commas here for readability: "allow for lighter yet stronger hulls, making"

Page 5:

"the influence of transnational corporations (TransNats) and the Foundations are pronounced" -> Why "the" Foundations? Would it read more naturally as "the influence of transnational corporations (TransNats) and foundations are pronounced"?

"in support of science, colonisation, humanitarian, or environmental, causes" -> I would suggest losing some commas here for readability: "in support of science, colonisation and humanitarian or environmental causes"

"these clearly-intelligent species" -> " these clearly intelligent species" (lose the hyphen)

"'borderline'" -> lose the quotes, not sure why used?

"These proto-intelligences enjoy a protected status and on Earth alone there are at least 15 such species under protection." -> would it be possible to get a couple of examples here, to make the reader understand what kind of species we are talking about?

Page 6:

Text in the black box: "Heidelshiemat" should be "Heidelsheimat". Check this spelling also in book 2, where it's misspelled at least on pages 57 and 61 (twice on that page)

Page 7:

About Soft/Hard division, this page says that "While some worlds might tend more towards one path or another, both are available on most colony worlds. Exceptions to this are noted in colony world descriptions." But is this correct? At least a cursory scan of Book 2 colony descriptions doesn't indicate any colony that works as an exception. Furthermore, on page 21 of Book 2 it says that no colony is actually an exception that forces one path or another: "Path indicates whether the colony generally follows the Hard Path or Soft Path, keeping in mind that no colonies exclusively subscribe to one or the other." And yet again, a little bit earlier, on page 18 of Book 2, it says: "There are situations where the Soft Path will not work, worlds where bio-chemistry is so completely incompatible that DNAM changes are just not possible. Worlds like Beta Canum, Kimanjano and Aurore, on the French Arm, Avalon on the American Arm and Austin’s World and Dukouon the Manchurian Arm." (Note also the missing space: "Dukou on".) But the descriptions of these colonies don't seem to say a word about the colony being exclusively Soft or Hard. And in the table on page 23, the Azanian colony on Kimanjano is actually marked as Soft. I'm very, very confused now... please help?

As a side note, the term "Path" is a little game-like for my tastes. Someone in our group has already suggested referring to it as "heritage" or some such.

Page 8:

"while on their homeworl" -> "while on their homeworld" (missing d)

"Core World Travellers will be covered in a future supplement." -> But aren't they actually at least partially covered in this book in the appendix? Could the appendix just be incorporated here, as it's becoming quite challenging to create characters when you need to refer to the rules, the appendix and the Traveller rulebook? Or at least change the sentence to reference the appendix as well.

"These modifications are further detailed in the Chapter Augmentations." -> use lowercase c for "chapter", and should the chapter name be "Implant Augmentations", as it's written on page 21?

"hell-world" -> lose the hyphen: "hell world"?

"Gravity Type" paragraph and the "Homeworld Gravity" table: Sometimes you capitalise terms like "Light gravity" and "Extreme gravity", while not capitalising (but adding hyphens for) the terms "low-gravity" and "high-gravity". "Light gravity" is not an actual term that you use in the table, so should it actually be "low gravity"? I would suggest picking one form and sticking with it throughout the books.

"the table in The Worlds of 2300AD page 23" -> "the table in The Worlds of 2300AD on page 23"?

"Hostile worlds negatively-impact survival rates." -> lose the hyphen: "negatively impact"

"Book2" -> "Book 2" (space missing) Also, just a couple of paragraphs earlier you referred to the book by name "The Worlds of...", maybe be consistent here as well?

Page 9:

"These are noted in their colony’s description." -> Are they? The colonies in book 2 list "Environmental Hazard and Requirements" but I can't find the DNAMs and symbionts used to counter them there? Some sort of a table somewhere that cross-references hazards and dnams would be useful, at the very least.

"low- to -zero-gravity" should probably be " low-to-zero gravity" or just " low to zero gravity"?

"The Travllers will suffer" -> "The Travellers will suffer" (missing e)

Zero G DNAM: Within a span of these two pages, it's referred to as "0G DNAM" (p 8), "Zero-Gee DNAM" (p 9) and "0-G DNAM" (p 9), yet none of those DNAMs seem to actually exist anywhere in the books. The closest I can find is the "PAX/DLX Transcribe Free Fall Space Adaptation Modification" on page 32. I would suggesting a term and sticking with it. And please don't choose "Zero-Gee" (here or elsewhere) as it looks weird and sounds a bit like a Bee Gees cover band. :p

"due to accident or animal attacks" -> "due to accidents or animal attacks"?

"The prosthetic will be a cosmetic replacement and have no" -> "and has no"?

Gravity Type paragraph now capitalises "Low gravity". I'd use whatever you decided to use earlier on page 8.

Also, Gravity Type paragraph says that "Spacers are assumed to live in Low gravity environments", but on page 8 it said that "Zero-gravity environments are the domain of Spacers who are covered on page 9". Are Frontier Spacers zero gravity or low gravity characters?

And speaking of gravity, why does the Frontier character generation specifically rule out zero gravity environments for most characters, while on page 100 it is said that Core characters can choose zero gravity as well?

"will be fully-fluent" -> why the future tense? I would also lose the hyphen: "are fully fluent"

Zhargon box: This sounds like a creole (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creole_language), but having a creole that spans such a large area of space and cultural contexts feels implausible. Rather than invent a new language that appears a little improbable (at least for someone with a linguistics background), how about a skill like "Intercultural communication" or "Spacer talk" instead which simply helps in communicating across cultural and linguistic barriers? Or alternatively, have separate creoles at least for each arm/finger which are maybe somewhat mutually understandable?

Page 11:

"Lv500000" -> add a comma to make this easier to read: "Lv500,000"

"jointly-owned" -> I would drop the hyphen: "jointly owned"

"time-to-time" -> drop the hyphens here as well

Page 12:

"job-to-job" -> " job to job"

"contract-to-contract" -> "contract to contract"

"hand-to-mouth" -> "hand to mouth"

I am starting to see a pattern here. :D My understanding is that in this type of constructions, the convention in English style guides tends to be to use hyphens when the phrase is used as an adjective ("hand-to-mouth existence") but not when used adverbially ("living hand to mouth").

Page 13:

"On 3–4, you survive" -> "On a 3–4, you survive" (to be consistent with the other options)

Page 14:

Under "Urbanite Skill Package", shouldn't "Melee (any)" be "Melee (any) 1"? Also, does it and "Corporate Skill Package" have only 7 skills on purpose?

Page 15:

"18 year old" -> "18-year-old" (hyphenate "x-year-old" when it's a noun or an adjective)

"chosen from the table in The Core: A Most Alien Place chapter in The Worlds of 2300AD, page 8" -> there is no table on that page of the book

"Australian colony on Kingsland" -> shouldn't this technically be "Australian colony on Zeta Herculis" or "Australian colony Kingsland"?

"Finally, Anderson checks the description of her homeworld of Kingsland (The Worlds of 2300AD page 23)" -> should this actually point to page 31 where the description is?

I don't understand where Anderson got the DNAM and the symbionts. I can understand why, but these specific ones are not listed anywhere in the colony description, are they? Maybe explain this better for a first time player?

Page 16:

"As Australia uses the air force rank structure for its space forces (see The Worlds of 2300AD page 83)" -> There is no Australia listed on that page?

Page 18:

"24th Century" -> "24th century" (no capitalisation unless it's a name or a title)

"The Black Clinics" -> "The black clinics" (and later "Most black clinics")? Capitalising these clinics would suggest that you are referring to some sort of a name, like Games Workshop or something, meaning that "The Black Clinics" is some sort of a distinct business entity. I think "the black clinics" is closer to the truth?

"and had the Livre" -> " and had the livre" (currency names are typically not capitalised)

Page 20:

"in the finger tips" -> "in the fingertips"

Page 21:

"enhanced libido, for all subjects regardless of gender" -> "enhanced libido for all subjects, regardless of gender" ? Does 'subject' here refer to the person who received the implant, or to everyone they interact with? Maybe reword to be clearer?

Combat Implant gives traits like Fast Metabolism, yet as far as I can see, the Traveller core rule book only has traits for animals, and not for human characters? Although, I suppose humans are animals just like others...

Page 22:

Since a neural bridge says that it requires a neural jack, and a neural jack requires a neural bridge, is there ever a situation where someone would get only a neural bridge or a neural jack, without the other? To avoid confusing new players, would it make sense to put these under a single header "Neural jack and bridge"?

Also: what is the "neural link" that the text mentions?

Page 24:

"Cybernetics may lawfully increase a Traveller’s physical characteristics by 10-Law Level." -> What does this mean? What is "10-Law"? Does it mean that only places with Law Level 10 and up can increase physical characteristics? Or is this meant to be read as "10 minus Law Level"? Confused.

Page 25:

Check the padding around the small tables. Each little table is currently closer to the next augmentation's text, rather than the text that it belongs to: "Data Display" table is closer to the "Flash Proof" text than the "Data Display" text, etc.

"Thermally-sensitive" -> "Thermally sensitive"

"common modification for Libertine and belter crews" -> "common modification for libertine and belter crews" (or then capitalise both terms)

Page 26:

"audio files can be download" -> "audio files can be downloaded"

"selectively-dampened" -> "selectively dampened"

"Cybernetics arms" -> "Cybernetic arms"?

Arms and Legs: I would suggest making the baseline cheapest limbs STR/END 5, not 7. I would think that the cheapest tech is "just good enough" and if you want something to actually work properly, you need to pay more, like today.

Does a Cybernetic Leg include a Cybernetic Foot, or do they have to be bought separately?

Page 28:

"governments,and" -> add a space before "and" (and maybe remove the comma?)

"The market cost of a DNAM is roughly 5x the listed price" -> Does this mean that all prices should be multiplied by five? If so, why not list those prices? Maybe explain this clearer.

"There has been no evidence of this to date, although," -> remove stray "although", or "There has been no evidence of this to date though,"

"Super-intelligence" -> "Super intelligence"

"touted by the transhumanists" -> "touted by transhumanists" ?

Page 29:

"A Traveller receiving a DNAM must make an Easy (4+) END check. DM-2 is applied for a Major modification" -> Might it be easier for the reader if you wrote: "A Traveller receiving a DNAM modification must make an Easy (4+) END check for a Minor modification or a Routine (6+) END check for a Major one."

Page 30:

"blood vessels in the upper torso" -> is there an extra space between "vessels" and "in" or am I just seeing things?

Page 31:

"sees few colonists living past their 70th year" -> "sees few colonists living past 70" or "sees few colonists living older than 70 years of age"

"The DNAM also did not provide" -> "does not provide" ? Tenses in this paragraph are a little odd and it's a unclear what is information about past issues and what the current situation.

Fast Metabolism trait is mentioned, but again these are only mentioned in the animals section in the Traveller rule book?

The picture has a visible border at the bottom, is it cropped a little too early?

Page 32:

All three mods described on this page seem very cheap compared to the others?

"Free Fall" -> I'm wondering about the naming of this: why "free fall" and not "zero gravity" or "microgravity"?

"zero-gee" -> I would again urge switching to "zero-g" (which is used in the next paragraph). But ultimately the question of course boils down to: how deep is your love for that spelling? ;)

"from Zero-gravity to Light" -> "from Zero to Light gravity" (or whatever capitalisation you settle on across the book, but the word "gravity" should nonetheless be last here for readability)

"page 101" -> should the reference rather be to page 103?

The picture again has a visible border at the bottom, is it cropped a little too early?

Page 33:

"includes some minor water-saving measures, although as extensive as the dry world adaptation." -> Wondering if there is a missing negation here: "...although not as extensive..." ?

"relatively-common" -> "relatively common"

"deep-water" -> "deep water"?

"The Triton adaptation creates a being capable of living comfortably underwater, yet able to interact on land as well and the modification is legal in the Core." -> "The Triton adaptation creates a being capable of living comfortably underwater but able to interact on land as well. The modification is legal in the Core."

Again traits are mentioned, see my notes earlier about traits and the Traveller rulebook.

"fully-capable" -> "fully capable"

Page 34:

"generically-engineered" -> "genetically engineered"?

"micro-organisms" -> "micro organisms"?

"micro-gravity" -> "microgravity"

"super-humans" -> superhumans"

"zero-gee" -> I'd use "zero-g".  But that might be just jive talkin'. ;)

Page 35:

"cardio-vascular" -> "cardiovascular" (twice)

"accidentally-destroyed" -> "accidentally destroyed"

The prices of symbionts seem very low to me. I'd make most symbionts something like 10 times more expensive.

Page 37:

"internationally-traded" -> "internationally traded"

Speaking of currencies, it would be a big help if you could include a simple table somewhere that tells us what people earn in the world of 2300 AD. Naturally, there are huge differences depending on what you do and where you are, but just even a small table that lists average wages for something like "unemployment benefit", "low skill worker", "trade worker", "skilled worker" and "CEO", and maybe divided for "Core", "Urban Frontier" and "Rural Frontier" would be a lot of help to give us a general idea of the designer's intent.

Page 39:

"higher-quality" -> "higher quality"

"warm, wetsuit" -> "warm wetsuit" (drop the comma)

Page 40:

"Daria checked the list again, scrolling it across the display tattooed on her left arm." -> Where can I find more about this tattoo display technology? It doesn't seem to exist in the Tools? Is it a good idea to include references to tech here that is not described in the rules?

"Model-57" -> "Model 57" (this is how you spell it on page 69)

"The Large inflatable shelter" -> "The large inflatable shelter" (same capitalisation as in the small version below, and the pressure tent)

Is just 200 livres realistic for a 10 kilo airlock?

"The shelter also is" -> "The shelter is also"

"i.e." -> "e.g."?

Page 41:

How much does the chill can for the Thermal-Visual Camouflage suit cost?

Also, decide whether it's "Thermal-Visual Camouflage" (title and paragraph) or "Thermo-Visual Camouflage" (table) and stick to the same term (makes it so much easier to search documents while playing)

"micro-filter" -> "microfilter"

"The price is a baseline and can be much higher in some areas and worlds." -> It would be really helpful if you could, instead of saying "much higher", give us a rough range of how much prices fluctuate.

Page 42:

Why do Basic tools cost more than twice as much as Construction tools? Compared to today's, those are some really expesive screwdrivers, pliers and wrenches!

Why are electronic repair tools so expensive compared to what they cost these days, and compared to other tools listed?

Locksmith Kit talks about "a local license" (twice) whereas on the next page the description for Electronic Security System Kit talks about a "A licence". As you always talk about "kilometres" and not "kilometers", and since "Traveller is a trademark of Far Future Enterprises and is used under licence" (page 1), I suggest going with the non-US spelling everywhere. "License" as a noun appears also on pages 55 and 75.

Page 44:

"A Stik-kit (‘Gekkocott’ in Europe)" -> considering that this is a French led world, should the primary name given be "Gekkocott", just like "Tous-Outil" is not "Multitool" on the same page?

Why are Ultraviolet strength Stik-kits regulated?

"Tous-Outil" -> The title of the paragraph is in this form, but in the main text and the table it is referred to as "Tous-Outils", so should the title also be ""Tous-Outils"? Or should it rather always be ""Tous-Outil", which maybe reads better in English?

"designed for use with the Tous-Outils" -> "...with Tous-Outils"?

Page 45:

"wide-range" -> "wide range"

"Visual binoculars" -> "Binoculars". Or are there binoculars that are not visual?

"ineffective for military purposes, however," -> I would drop the "however", as it doesn't add anything and makes reading more difficult

"and is instead designed" -> "and the LLFD is instead designed" (could also be "and it is instead designed", but I suppose then it would be referring to the range, rather than the device)

Page 46:

"high-quality" -> "high quality"

"data-links" -> "data links"

"micro-transponder" -> "microtransponder"?

"exo-skeletons" -> "exoskeletons" (as elsewhere on this page)

Page 48:

"sold in single single-dose dispensers" -> It is a little unclear to me what this means. Are these dispensers to be discarded after a single use?

"Travelelr" -> "Traveller"

"Vassopressin-Y" -> "Vasopressin-Y"

"they will continue the suffer" -> "they will continue to suffer"

Page 49:

"It has a 200 kilometres range." -> "It has a 200 kilometre range."

Page 50:

"system resources, than professionally-designed programs" -> (drop the comma and the hyphen) "system resources than professionally designed programs"

"Expert systems are extensively used..." -> What follows in this paragraph doesn't seem relevant to Computer Programming. However, it is a really good description that helps the reader to contextualise the world. Could this be put into its own box (like Computer Viruses on this page) or even moved higher up, to the very first pages of the book where the world of 2300 is described more generally?

"massively-connected" -> "massively connected" or something like "hyperconnected"?

Page 51:

"A scientific reference chip does not make the user an expert in a field; however, any more than a pile of chemistry reference books makes the owner an expert chemist." -> I don't understand this sentence. :( Does the word "books" still refer to electronic data or physical books as the word "pile" would indicate? Or is it a "pile" of memory chips that are required for expertise? Also, I don't think expertise comes only from available information. A layman doesn't become an expert in chemistry just by owning or even reading lots of chemistry books. They can get a base-level understanding, but expertise surely requires years of guided study? Just like it's described later in the Reference Guide section (you get DM-2 rather than DM-3).

"Use a reference guide" -> "Using a reference guide" or "The use of a reference guide"

What is the difference between a Translation Chip and a Language Cracker chip? Cracker can take any language as an input, while TC only one predetermined one? Should Language Cracker be more expensive?

Page 53:

"to rapidly 'print' parts" -> why the quotes (I think we are all familiar with the concept of 3D printing)?

"This model can create objects up 100cm x 100cm x 30cm" -> "...objects up to 100 cm x 100 cm x 30 cm" (add "to" and use spaces as per SI standards)

"15cm x 15cm x 15cm" -> same here, missing the spaces before units

Page 54:

"usually called simply ‘Hump-it’" -> this made me laugh. Don't change. :D

Page 55:

"industrially-produced" -> "industrially produced"

"On less-advanced worlds old-fashioned dynamite, relatively easy to manufacture, is produced for local use." -> for better readability, I suggest: "On less advanced worlds, old-fashioned dynamite is produced for local use, as it is easier to manufacture."

Page 57:

Is the biosampler so cheap on purpose, or is there a missing 0?

Page 58:

The damage difference between a ceramic knife (3D) and a knife (1D+1) seems excessive. Is that a typo or can increased sharpness really be such a large differentiating factor that ceramic knife makes as much damage as a long sword? What would a ceramic long sword do?

Also, why are there two specifically Japanese style melee weapons? This seems strange.

Page 60:

A general comment about firearms: I would be helpful for those of us who know little about weapons, what sort of situations each type of weapon is generally used. For instance, is any of these weapons a typical choice when fighting in a space station or a spaceship, where a stray bullet would probably be quite problematic? When would one pick a plasma gun as opposed to a conventional firearm? And so on.

"computer-controlled" -> "computer controlled"

The brown triangles around the "Current Service Rifles" header (and similar ones that follow) are a bit odd looking, especially as elsewhere similar looking (but larger) triangles are used to guide the reader to the next page.

"192cm", "12,5kg" etc. in the table -> again, SI convention would ask for a space between the number and the unit (you could go through the book and fix these everywhere)

Another inconsistency is that on this page you write "10x57mm flechette" (no spaces) while on the following page the FAM-90 has "4.5 x 25mm flechette" (spaces between numbers). I would suggest "10 x 57 mm" and "4.5 25 mm" and sticking to that format throughout (it's a bit random in the later tables which is used).

I assume that "RoF" refers to "Rate of Fire" or some such, but I don't think this is explained anywhere (?) and could therefore be difficult to understand for those who don't know much about guns (like myself). And also, what do I do with that information, does it affect the game in some way? I can't find it mentioned in the Traveller rules.

Also, is there a reason why each weapon has two tables, the larger one and then smaller one together with other weapons? Some information like weight and magazine are repeated. Why not just have one table per weapon?

Page 61:

Is it Rorttman or Rorrtman? Both spelling are used.

Page 64:

Am I seeing things, or is the font size in the Type-49 table slightly larger than in the SG-77?

Page 65:

Speaking of maybe seeing things, but is the text "7.5mm hunting rifle" in the FC-70 table slightly bolder than the rest of the table?

Page 71:

"Autoguns often have quick-" -> The paragraph continues on the right, a little confusingly as previously this sort of a column structure hasn't been used. Would it be impossible to set the text here so that the paragraph can run fully, maybe by switching the positions of the illustrations? Or maybe add a dividing line under the top paragraphs to make it easier to read the page?

Page 72:

Is it "Rheinmetall" or "Rheinmetal" (one or two Ls)? Both are used.

Page 73:

Same here as on page 71 about the top paragraphs. Maybe a dividing line under the top paragraphs would be enough, if you can squeeze it in somehow?

"Gonzalves-Brizilia" -> "Gonzalves-Brazilia" (I assume)

Page 74:

"Muelle-Rivera P3" -> "Mueller-Rivera P3" (I assume)

"Rorttman" -> "Rorttmann" ? Or then change "Rorttmann" also to "Rorttman".

Page 75:

Again, the two paragraphs at the top throw me off a little. It takes a moment to realise that the top right paragraph continues the top left paragraph, and not the A-9 description.

"SK-19" -> "Sk-19" (this is the form you have used elsewhere, including earlier in this very same sentence).

Page 76:

"PGHP Mk 2-A2" -> "Mk 2-A2 PGHP" (the same order as in the title)

Page 77:

"The A4T proved very effective in the German War of Reunification and has since become standard issue." -> Does this mean that the German War of Reunification is slightly different in this version of 2300AD than in Mongoose's previous edition, where it was described more as a "propaganda raid" rather than a full military confrontation? GDW's old materials spoke of some tens of thousands dead -- are we now back to closer to those figures? Book 2 doesn't seem to want to give us any real details, which is a little disappointing as the recent conflict has always felt like a major part of the tensions and geopolitics (astropolitics?) of the world of 2300AD.

Which brings me to a related subject which has nothing to do with page 77. While I have yet only skimmed through Book 2, it seems to me that there is far less information there about Earth than there used to be. While I can understand that to do proper justice for the Core, a separate book is a good idea, by removing things like a more detailed description of the German War of Reunification or that of the Central Asian War, or indeed not having a handy list of rivalries like the previous edition had, you have not only removed information about the Core, but about humanity as a whole. Now everything seems a little less grounded on realism and history, and feels far more abstract, an emptier shell without its... and please do pardon the pun... core. 2300AD has never been particularly good at it, but something that I would really love to see is a timeline of the last, say, 50 years, which includes all the major geopolitical events and even just one sentence descriptions. It would help a new player enormously to understand the world that they are stepping into. That this is their history.

Page 78:

"chemically-propelled" -> "chemically propelled"

Page 79:

"ultrahigh" -> "ultra high"

"Sonic weapons are designed for use against terrestrial life and can have variable effects when used against alien." -> "...against alien lifeforms" or "...against lifeforms from other planets."?

Both of these non-lethal weapons seem very cheap. Around the same price as non-lethal melee weapons. Is this on purpose? I would increase these prices considerably.

I'll continue reading if and when I find the time. Hopefully soon.
 
I think it’s awesome that we’re getting the opportunity to make this the best 2300AD version. Colin’s work has been amazing and in fairness the errata is no more than I would expect for such a technical document. I’m a SQL programmer and if something this complex worked first time I’d assume the compiler was broken!

Page 71:

Giscard F-44 Gauss Gun shows Muzzle Velocity as 1,100mps. The Giscard FAM-90 fires the same round at 1,600mps but does significantly less damage. Should this be 2,100mps?
 
I have a couple map errors and one question.
On the Explored Space poster map:
1. the Sung homeworld at DM+4123. As a Canadian I noticed this right away, Taylor Station is Canada, not Canadia. Sorry!
2. the distances between stars seems to be missing for stars in the American Arm.
3. there are 2 Wolf 424 systems: one right beside Queen Alice's Star and the other near the end of the finger west of Vogelheim.

Now my question. On the UPP, the World Population digit basically is how many zeroes are in that world's population. So if there's a 5 here the population is in the hundreds of thousands. Multiply this by the UPP Population Modifier and that would give us how many hundreds of thousands. So if we had a 3 here it would mean that world's population is 300,000. Correct so far? On the UCP, the Population Value is an exponent of 10 for a specific colony on said world. So if this value is say a 4, it would give a population in the tens of thousands for that specific colony. This is then multiplied by the UCP Population Code Multiplier. So if it had a value of 3 for this, it would mean this colony's population is 30,000. Is this correct?

If this is all correct, there needs to be an explanation in the book for this as it's kind of confusing and there doesn't seem to be any sort of explanation on how to use these different world/colony population values/modifiers. I'm not a dummy, but it took me a bit to parse through what's going on here.

Edited in point #3
 
Sigmar said:
1. the Sung homeworld at DM+4123. As a Canadian I noticed this right away, Taylor Station is Canada, not Canadia. Sorry!

You apologised for someone else's mistake. Verified Canadian? :)
 
Re-posting as this one was too late to make the cut for the (much improved) latest version of the PDF's

RandomNumber said:
Book 3, p.38 "Fuel Consumption" and "Reducing Time to Orbit"

The example in the right hand column is incorrect if the following statement (in the left hand column) is correct, "These modifiers alter the effective world Size code for purposes of determining fuel burned and time to orbit"

If the modifiers do indeed affect time to orbit also then the example in the right hand column should be as follows, "For example, a ballistic craft with an Advanced Drive on Earth takes 7 minutes to reach Low Orbit, spending 7 Burns (-1 for the Advanced Drive). If the craft has the additional fuel, it can spend 1 Burn to reduce the time to orbit by lowering the Earth’s effective Size for the purpose of determining time to orbit. In this case, it will take 6 minutes to reach Low Orbit and require an additional Burn, for a total of 8."

BTW, on p.37 Lifting bodies are noted as having a Speed Band of "Transonic". No such speed band exists in the Traveller Core Rules (p.130): ..."Very Fast, Subsonic, Supersonic, Hypersonic" Do you mean Supersonic when you say Transonic?

Also...

Book 2 p.22 there are no Survival DM's shown for the Outposts. These would be useful in case (a) a PC is generated with a background in one of those locations and (b) PC's visit an outpost and need to make a PAS roll - the PAS modified is now based on the Survival DM (per p.102).
 
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