Ursus Maior said:
You're right, it's because I had only the word "Kronstadt" in mind, Kotlin Island was a Swedish possession until 1703, and its geographical location is very Nordic/Scandinavian, just ask any (non-Russian) Estonian :lol: .
Pirates of Drinax - GMs thread
- Thread starter Sven2300
- Start date
You're right, it's because I had only the word "Kronstadt" in mind, Kotlin Island was a Swedish possession until 1703, and its geographical location is very Nordic/Scandinavian, just ask any (non-Russian) Estonian :lol: .
Ursus Maior
Banded Mongoose
Ah, yes, the Great Northern War, quite a game changer for North-Eastern Europe. :lol:
corsair1973
Mongoose
I've had the Drinax pdfs for sometime, but only recently got the physical books. I noticed a number of images are in the books but not in the pdfs. Page 81 of book one, for example, is missing the image of Kasiyl in the pdf, but it is present in the physical book. Same with the Hawk Warrior on page 238.
I bought the pdfs from drive thru rather than directly from Mongoose. I wonder if there was an update I missed?
I bought the pdfs from drive thru rather than directly from Mongoose. I wonder if there was an update I missed?
Old School
Mongoose
Huh, I never really noticed, but I don’t have those pictures in my PDFs either.
Old School
Mongoose
Well then, back to drivethru I go.
Old School
Mongoose
Just downloaded Book 1 from drivethrurpg again. Pictures still aren’t there.
Old School
Mongoose
Just checked on PC. Same files. Pictures appear in Adobe on my PC, but not in Safari or Goodreader on my iPad.
corsair1973
Mongoose
Confirmed. It works in Adobe, but not in Apple's Preview (the default pdf view on Macs).
Ursus Maior
Banded Mongoose
I have a different problem with the PDFs: Some pages are layed out in such a way that the text crosses into the ornamental bars beneath. That makes about the lower 1/8th of the page illegible. It's plain weird, too.
Ursus Maior
Banded Mongoose
MonkeyX said:
I was wondering the same thing. After all, an Aslan outcast pirate and his psion accomplice is a specific set-up. It's too suspicious to occur twice at random. And it's even stranger that Horal appears prominently in the first chapters of PoD Vol. I, but is later omitted, when the other Aslan captain is introduced (and consequently play no roll, too).
That might have been the original idea, but I can see a few good reasons not to go with it:
Using Hroal that many times would be narratively awkward (he'd be figuring into three adventures by default), and would also cause an issue if he was eliminated (somewhat likely in ToS) in one of the stories and then needed in another one - using a different Aslan avoids that issue. Aslan pirates are also supposed to be somewhat common in the Reach, and the main way that's going to happen is by way of becoming outcast (because the honorable ones are ihatei and/or their retainers), so it isn't THAT strange that two of them show up throughout the overall storyline.
The PCs also potentially need to make an alliance with the various captains in The Treasure of Sindal. It's going to be awkward at best when one of them is Petyr and another is an Aslan - but given that Petyr and Hroal have a 'special relationship', it's unlikely that that meeting in space would end in anything other than a shooting match, derailing the entire segment. Faihlokh is also a throwaway at the end of it, winding up dead when he tries to cash in, which seems unlikely of Hroal.
Psion seconds who are powerful telepaths also seem to be a running theme/gag in the adventures; it isn't just the Aslan pirate captains who keep them around! On the other hand, Hroal's psion isn't specifically described as being a major figure in his organization IIRC, so they could just be one of his low-end gang members or even a hired 'specialist'. (Hroal doesn't appear to be terribly picky about things like that...)
Using Hroal that many times would be narratively awkward (he'd be figuring into three adventures by default), and would also cause an issue if he was eliminated (somewhat likely in ToS) in one of the stories and then needed in another one - using a different Aslan avoids that issue. Aslan pirates are also supposed to be somewhat common in the Reach, and the main way that's going to happen is by way of becoming outcast (because the honorable ones are ihatei and/or their retainers), so it isn't THAT strange that two of them show up throughout the overall storyline.
The PCs also potentially need to make an alliance with the various captains in The Treasure of Sindal. It's going to be awkward at best when one of them is Petyr and another is an Aslan - but given that Petyr and Hroal have a 'special relationship', it's unlikely that that meeting in space would end in anything other than a shooting match, derailing the entire segment. Faihlokh is also a throwaway at the end of it, winding up dead when he tries to cash in, which seems unlikely of Hroal.
Psion seconds who are powerful telepaths also seem to be a running theme/gag in the adventures; it isn't just the Aslan pirate captains who keep them around! On the other hand, Hroal's psion isn't specifically described as being a major figure in his organization IIRC, so they could just be one of his low-end gang members or even a hired 'specialist'. (Hroal doesn't appear to be terribly picky about things like that...)
Ursus Maior
Banded Mongoose
paltrysum said:Jackstar said:
We just used the very same ships during "Prodigal Outcast" with a similar result. The players used the Harrier to hold the Threshing Oars at distance and managed to disable and capture several of them. I'm sure they will make fine additions to their pirate fleet.
May I say that Maker God is the first TAS publication I bought and I think it's a gold mine? I'm not sure, how or if I use the mini-campaign set-up in my running of PoD. The Threshing Oar class and its grav APC are part of the campaign already, though. What a stylish ship, especially the use of R-Drives, which totally makes sense. Plus, the Computer/10, which allows for both, an evasion program to be run and synchronised jumps to be executed. Just a well layed out design, respecting the culture of its architects and users.
Ursus Maior
Banded Mongoose
I get these points: Hroal would be prominent and it would be a nuisance to the referee, if he'd be kille, before his story arc could play out.Garran said:
But the opposites are true as well: Having a recurring Aslan pirate gives him a decisive role to play in the campaign, potentially making him an arch-nemesis or key ally. Are Aslan pirates somewhat common in the Reach? Yes, and they should be. But they're not just pirates, that's only what humans call them. Aslan pirates are outcasts of their society, but still Aslan, which makes them long for territory. It's explicitly remarked for Hroal in Honour Among Thieves. That trait and motive could make him a powerful figure: Do the players offer him land on one of their early acquisitions for the new Drinaxian Kingdom (or even: Sindalian Empire) in exchange for his services? Or does he indeed become their bitter enemy and will actually become the leader of ihatei, who leeds the assault on Drinax itself during the final battle of the campaign?
All of this gives me the feeling that Faihlokh is just a stand in. His psion is fleshed out more (a couple of sentences at least plus stats), but Faihlokh himself is not. He's not even clearly a pirate by his write-up, more a fortune hunter resorting to piracy frequently.
Just making Hroal another disposable Aslan pirate just doesn't give him credit, I think. Plus, there is this very specific set-up of an Aslan pirate captain and a psion-lieutenant as his second. It's just so specific:
And in my mind, that is adding injury to insult. Having Ogleby and Hroal's psion plus Faihlokh and Dai Kinnear is just too much "coincidence", unless psions are much more common in a referee's Traveller universe than in OTU. Now, I see many remedies for that. One could be that Faihlokh was a lieutenant of Hroal and established his own posse after Hroal bit the dust in Treasure Ship, taking Dai with him. That would explain it all, flesh out both NPCs and tone down the psion overpopulation. Or one could just leave out Dai, because she is simply not needed. Whatever she does for Faihlokh, Petyr and his posse can do it without a psion. So spying on the Travellers or following them should be possible for Faihlokh as it is possible for Petyr, too.
I like the idea of Faihlokh being a former lieutenant of Hroal more though. It needs changes in the background stories of Faihlokh and Dai, but that does not change the story or what the players know. I am also thinking about making Faihlokh a female Aslan, maybe Hroal's purser, head technician or something similar. And Dai being a Mardukian comes in handy, too. The planet is featured in Marooned on Marduk, after all.
Old School
Mongoose
Random thoughts:
1) I don’t recall Hroal also having a psion in his crew. Where is this mentioned? Couldn’t find it in the book. I did come across his uplifted Ape having two different names.
2) In my campaign, Hroal died rather loudly at the hands of a no name NPC Vespexer Mercenary wielding A PGMP. He took out several Vespexers with a plasma jet first, if memory serves. There’s an overly long post about It back in the archives of this thread, most likely.
3) Agree that Maker God is a damn fine adventure. Mongoose should hire that guy to write some official stuff for them.
1) I don’t recall Hroal also having a psion in his crew. Where is this mentioned? Couldn’t find it in the book. I did come across his uplifted Ape having two different names.
2) In my campaign, Hroal died rather loudly at the hands of a no name NPC Vespexer Mercenary wielding A PGMP. He took out several Vespexers with a plasma jet first, if memory serves. There’s an overly long post about It back in the archives of this thread, most likely.
3) Agree that Maker God is a damn fine adventure. Mongoose should hire that guy to write some official stuff for them.
Ursus Maior
Banded Mongoose
@Old School
1) The psion on Hroal Irontooth's payroll is mentioned, rather oddly, only in the background story of Marine Salvesdes of Treasure Ship. Salvesdes is said to be conditioned to Hroal, after a brief battle between the two, in which Hroal overpowered Salvesdes despite his battle dress. After Hroal helt Salvesdes down, a woman removed his helmet and used her telepathic skills to basically enslave Salvesdes to Hroal (PoD Vol. 1, p. 73).
Personal comment: It's certainly possible that this psion is in fact not a crew member of Hroal, but was somehow borrowed by Hroal from Faihlokh. But that would be a very specific use of a very specific asset for a very high-risk plan. I doubt even a desperate Aslan pirate captain would do that, unless he felt he had a close and trustful relationship with his fellow Aslan pirate. Hence my idea that Faihlokh was a lieutenant of Hroal or one of his captains.
2) I read your campaign reports and thoroughly enjoyed them. Certainly a befitting death for Hroal that will be kept in your player's memories for a long time. How is your campaign going these days?
3) Christopher Griffen did Reach Adventure 6: Exodus, and I cannot wait to incorporate it into my PoD campaign. I hope, he's the one writing the Glorious Empire sourcebook due in autumn. He has also done a TAS adventure on the GlEm, but I have not read it yet. I wonder, if it contains any GlEm ships or equipment?
1) The psion on Hroal Irontooth's payroll is mentioned, rather oddly, only in the background story of Marine Salvesdes of Treasure Ship. Salvesdes is said to be conditioned to Hroal, after a brief battle between the two, in which Hroal overpowered Salvesdes despite his battle dress. After Hroal helt Salvesdes down, a woman removed his helmet and used her telepathic skills to basically enslave Salvesdes to Hroal (PoD Vol. 1, p. 73).
Personal comment: It's certainly possible that this psion is in fact not a crew member of Hroal, but was somehow borrowed by Hroal from Faihlokh. But that would be a very specific use of a very specific asset for a very high-risk plan. I doubt even a desperate Aslan pirate captain would do that, unless he felt he had a close and trustful relationship with his fellow Aslan pirate. Hence my idea that Faihlokh was a lieutenant of Hroal or one of his captains.
2) I read your campaign reports and thoroughly enjoyed them. Certainly a befitting death for Hroal that will be kept in your player's memories for a long time. How is your campaign going these days?
3) Christopher Griffen did Reach Adventure 6: Exodus, and I cannot wait to incorporate it into my PoD campaign. I hope, he's the one writing the Glorious Empire sourcebook due in autumn. He has also done a TAS adventure on the GlEm, but I have not read it yet. I wonder, if it contains any GlEm ships or equipment?
Ursus Maior
Banded Mongoose
Excellent news, thank you!
paltrysum
Emperor Mongoose
Ursus Maior said:
Thank you very much! I rather like that ship myself, largely because Ian Stead did such a great job taking the deck plans and giving it a nice, savage look. Oddly enough, in my own campaign, my players are very afraid of going near Oghma because they know that I wrote Makergod. I can't imagine why.
Old School said:
Thanks, Old School. They'd have to be crazy to do something like that. :wink:
And yes, AndrewW is correct, I did write The Glorious Empire. I hope you all enjoy it when it comes out. Old School was a proofreader on the project (and inspired dozens of additional ideas during its development), so if anything is wrong with it, we can blame him. By the way, Iron Spine, the TAS adventure, has one ship that the GE use, but it isn't really an original ship; it's a modified version of a standard Aslan ship. However, the Glorious Empire book is loaded with new ships, gear, vehicles, world descriptions, interesting NPCs, campaign hooks, etc. It's basically a sandbox that you're supposed to come in and wreck and reorder it in whatever way you and your intrepid crew of Travellers see fit. I could easily see it being incorporated into a PoD campaign in many ways, possibly as a sequel.
Mongoose's next naval adventure, Fire on the Sindalian Main, is also my work and it features some new ships as well, including a Tyrian destroyer and an Aslan small craft. I won't spoil it more than that!
