Planet Mongoose

[Jean]

Just a few quick notes:

ADB, Inc.'s license is approved by Paramount and doesn't ever expire (unlike the licenses to the other RPG companies where the license is good for five years, then put on the auction block again). We have a right to use what we have already used in both ST: TOS and ST: TAS. We do have permission to use Kzintis, but they are (as Mike noted) our Kzintis and not Larry Niven's Kzin.

I know that the books thus far haven't been the fastest in getting released. Since I started working on the RPG line in 2008, we have gotten out PD20M, Klingons PD20M, Federation PD20M, and GURPS Federation -- not too shabby when you consider this gets done in my "spare time" from the RL job and that I also proofread each and every product that ADB, Inc. releases and I also have many of the responsibilities of the Marketing Director (the hazards of working for a small gaming company!) However, the PD Traveller project is my highest priority after I get back from Origins.

As for the claims of shoddy fiction and art ... we'll just have to agree to disagree. Obviously we wouldn't release anything that we considered "shoddy" and many people seem to love the fiction. However, fiction is an individual taste and we will never please everyone.

With respect,

Jean
---
ADB, Inc. RPG Line Editor

 

[zero]

So is it not a stretch to say that maybe in the future there will be Klingon and Federation sourcebooks for PD: Trav?

 

[Jean]

I can't see why we wouldn't provide those sourcebooks, provided that core rulebook does well and that Mongoose Publishing and Traveller players want the sourcebooks. Still, let us get the core rulebook done before we start laying too many future plans!


Jean
---
ADB, Inc. RPG Line Editor

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

The more I learn about ADB and what Jean will be doing with the Traveller version of the SFU, the more I am encouraged.

I think I speak for many people here in saying that if there is anythign we can do to help, please let us know!

 

[MongooseMatt]

So is it not a stretch to say that maybe in the future there will be Klingon and Federation sourcebooks for PD: Trav?

We are already discussing the Klingon book

 

[Renny]

One of ADB's achievements is getting a Klingon source book into print. Neither Last Unicorn or Decipher managed it with the last two attempts at a Trek related license. Good on Mongoose for following suit.

On an unrelated note, has any thought been giving to putting together a Star Fleet Universe primer which might help newcomers to the setting (like me) in getting to grips with it?

 

[Jean]

Renny, what sorts of information are you wanting? We may have some of it already available on our site.

 

[zero]

I'd personally like to know a list of the alien races that will be included in the game.

I'm guessing Vulcans, Romulans and Klingon will be, there have been references to the Kzin, anyone have an actual list??

 

[Renny]

Renny, what sorts of information are you wanting? We may have some of it already available on our site.

Hi Jean

Difficult to be specific as I'm not sure myself . I've just printed out the timeline and history of the general war from your site which I'll have a read of over the weekend. I suppose I'm just thinking it might be useful to have a short document which gives an overview of the SFU to differentiate it from that other universe so that people who are attracted to the game because of the superficial similarities can quickly get a grasp on what is different. So a simple map of general positioning of the different empires, a brief timeline, a quick overview of the technology and the sort of games you can run. Maybe a four to six page PDF which can be downloaded and printed out and handed to players. Sorry i'm not being very articulate today .

I'm thinking along the lines of a handout which was prepared by GDW when they released Space 1889 back in 1989. It gave you the high points of the setting and got a lot of people, myself included, to play the game. I'll see if I can find a link to it online as an example of what i'm talking about. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

 

[rust]

Yep, I also think that this kind of primer would be a very good idea.

 

[captainquirk]

You can find a great deal of information here:

http://www.starfleetgames.com/federation/phpbb2/

http://www.starfleetgames.com/discus/

http://www.starfleetgames.com/masterindex.shtml

The Historical Downloads section of the master index includes maps showing the placement of various empires and factions.

 

[Jean]

I very much like this page: http://www.starfleetgames.com/historicaldownloads.shtml

From it, you can find the history of the General War, the Timeline, the Galaxy Map, and some of the play aids that we simply give away, such as the insignia for different ranks.

You can also go here: http://www.starfleetgames.com/federation/about_universe.shtml to find out more about the SFU and its empires. (Those pages are designed for marketing Federation Commander, so they do have sales pitches on them.)

Does that help? I do like sending people to reputable Web resources as that helps save the trees! (And answering questions is part of my professional life as I'm a librarian by trade.)

 

[rust]

Does that help? I do like sending people to reputable Web resources as that helps save the trees! (And answering questions is part of my professional life as I'm a librarian by trade.)

It does, but it would still be nice to have a short, free PDF (also good for
trees ...) to download from wherever the PDFs of the game will be avai-
lable, something which one can also give or send to others who might be
interested in the game.

People tend to be lazy, and if I give potential players some weblinks, it is
not at all certain that they will really take a closer look. In my experience
the probability is a bit higher when I give them a PDF. Such a PDF is no-
thing important or urgent, it would just be a nice extra.

As for an example of what it could be like:

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=15943&language=de&it=1

- although I am thinking more about perhaps 4 or 6 pages instead of the
18 of this example.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Including something like that at the beginning of the Core book would be very helpful (I only remember watching a couple episodes of TAS). That little section (3-5 pages) could be available for free as a PDF as others have mentioned.

Basically, a "What is different between SFU and the TV Series" kind of thing.

I will definitely be looking through the links you have provided to get a feel for this setting.

I consider my self a Star Trek fan, but not a Trekkie (if there is really a difference); but I know many Trekkies who are also RPG players, I plan to suck all of them into Traveller using this setting!

 

[Jean]

My personal guess on this is that we will want to emphasize what we are, not what we are not. Would one of you mind PMing me after Origins (July-ish) to remind me to nudge SVC to think about doing this?

Thanks!

 

[Renny]

Jean, i'll be happy to.

 

[AndrewW]

I consider my self a Star Trek fan, but not a Trekkie (if there is really a difference); but I know many Trekkies who are also RPG players, I plan to suck all of them into Traveller using this setting!

There's also Trekker...

 

[J Harper]

Do the Slavers exsist in the SFU? I always wondered about that.

Also, why do PD rpg lines always follow the core up with a Klingon source book? You'd think a Fed source book would be the one players would want first.

 

[Jean]

We do have Orion Pirates who may not be particularly choicy about what they sell ...

The reason we always followed up with a Klingon book is that the core rulebook tends to be Federation-centric. We can't cover all the military academies, so we look at the Federation and say the others are "sort of" like these. Thus players who want to focus on the Federation have something to go on, but folks who want to play Klingons have less. In addition, we've found that people tend to misunderstand the SFU Klingons. They aren't the TOS brutish thugs or the TNG noble warriors. They are driven by their culture and are as varied in motivation as humans -- but those motivations can be quite different.

The other reason is that the "core" Federation one didn't get finished until fall 2010. We were still doing species write-ups during the time and trying to make some things fit that wouldn't come together. The Fralli proved to be very challenging to make fun to play, yet not totally munchkin. We had to add Antareans and Mantorese.

And who knew that the Air Force tapes would have such intriguing information about parsley? We checked several times and still found out the same information ... :shock:

Suffice it to say that it did take a long time. I was tasked first with getting PD20M out, then followed that up with the Klingon book. Then we needed to get out Feds and we've done that for PD20M and GURPS. Now, instead of Romulans PD20M, we'll work on PD: Traveller and create a great synergy.

 

[J Harper]

I actually meant Niven's Slaver alien race, though admittedly it probably doesn't matter, since they've been extinct as a species for several billion years in both Known Space and Star Trek/SFU continuities.

Your reasoning on starting with Klingons makes sense (and should have been obvious, if I had just thought about it). Thanks for the answer.