Prime Directive Campaign - Traveller, SF Marines, Starmada

[domingojs23]

Dear Friends,

I'm eagerly awaiting Traveller: PD, and just put on order SF: Marines Module 1: Assault. For my SFU campaign, I will use of course Traveller: PD as the RPG ruleset, Starfleet Marines as the ground combat system, but I'm still pondering what ship combat rules to use - it's either SF Starmada or ACTA. The big advantage of SFU Starmada (or rather Klingon Armada) is that you have ship construction rules, which is taboo in SFB / FC proper, and does not appear to be included in ACTA - but someone please correct me if I am mistaken.

My PD campaign will be 3 games run in parallel, (1) an RPG campaign, something like the usual "Prime Team adventures", (2) there will also be a ground campaign using SF Marines I guess on the platoon or battalion level, and (3) a space campaign with squadrons of ships.

Cheers,

Gary

 

[Hopeless]

I have to admit to being very interested in the prime directive release mostly because I ahd run a d6 doctor who game using a clone of Doc 10 via that hand they later used up to create the meta crisis doctor.
My game idea was that the Confederation of Planets would serve as the backdrop of the setting and I'd use Traveller rules for the characters, not so sure about using Mirror Universe concepts but like the idea of introducing variant races.
Will be interested in what else develops in this thread!

 

[locarno24]

does not appear to be included in ACTA - but someone please correct me if I am mistaken.

You are correct; several classes of ship have options (command variant for +X points, or swap-able weapons on Orion ships) but there's no guidance for pointing/statting up a hull from whole cloth.

Ship combat wise, It'll be interesting to see if there's a good cross-over of the Traveller rules (I hope so, if only because it's a shame to waste them when you're calling something traveller to start with). That has full ship design rules, for any displacement of ship from fighters and shuttles up to megatonne monstrosities - it just needs read-across equivalents for Warp Drives, Cloaking technology, and a replacement suite of weapons (which nevertheless work the same way, albeit with the powers of ten for the range bands moved up a notch).

High Guard contains a nice, simple ship combat rules set, which also has the advantage of bolting straight into the mechanics for a PC's stats and skills - Gunner (Capital Weapons) is a skill just like Melee (Blade), allowing your characters to directly control a ship's main armament.

 

[daryen]

Traveller Prime Directive will include additions to use the combat rules from the Core Rulebook (which would also let it work with High Guard). It will also include rules on how to use player skills when using SFB or Federation Commander. It will not include a ship creation system.

 

[domingojs23]

It will not include a ship creation system.

Hi ! Well, I was referring to the ship creation system in the vanilla core Starmada book, which is compatible with SFU Starmada.

 

[Hopeless]

Traveller Prime Directive will include additions to use the combat rules from the Core Rulebook (which would also let it work with High Guard). It will also include rules on how to use player skills when using SFB or Federation Commander. It will not include a ship creation system.

Excuse me but just wanted to check since while it doesn't have a ship creation system I wanted to find out if it will have any examples of ships in the book or whether this will be covered by picking up SFB or Federation Commander?

 

[GamingGlen]

It will not include a ship creation system.

Hi ! Well, I was referring to the ship creation system in the vanilla core Starmada book, which is compatible with SFU Starmada.

You want to use the Admiralty Edition, not the new version I call Starmada for Dummies, but officially it is known as the Nova Edition. I created some of the civilian and escorts ships from the core Traveller book with SM:AE which seemed to work okay (but not in the battle line they ended up in as a "ragtag" fleet).

 

[domingojs23]

Dear Friends,

I'm planning to run my campaign solo, as it is really hard finding any tabletop RPG players where I am now (Geneva, CH). I'm basically thinking as background a planetary "police action" on a disputed world, with a menage a trois between Fed, Klink, and Rom forces. I should be getting my SF Marines game in a couple weeks, so I will be planning the campaign around it. I'd also like to wedge in the Traveller Hammers Slammers source material into the campaign, so the Slammers will be some sort of planetary militia or a Fed "National Guard" unit, perhaps even a "Private Military Company" ala Blackwater. One thing I love about the SFU is that it uses the TOS iteration of the Klingons, so more of greasy Soviet than swarthy Samurai (as in Worf), so the Klinks will be represented by something like a Spetsnaz unit alongside KGB/GRU types running around.

If time permits, I also plan to write up my campaign in a form such as the solo game "Airborne in Your Pocket" http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/42651/airborne-in-your-pocket-free-trial-version/

So, I feel that solo Traveller gamers could still somehow get the enjoyment of interactivity with other players not by direct gaming, but by producing solo campaign material for others.

Cheers,

Gary

 

[daryen]

Traveller Prime Directive will include additions to use the combat rules from the Core Rulebook (which would also let it work with High Guard). It will also include rules on how to use player skills when using SFB or Federation Commander. It will not include a ship creation system.

Excuse me but just wanted to check since while it doesn't have a ship creation system I wanted to find out if it will have any examples of ships in the book or whether this will be covered by picking up SFB or Federation Commander?

Yes, the book will include example ships that can make use of that combat system.

 

[locarno24]

Daryen's point is fair enough - if you've got the core Traveller Rulebook + High Guard, you've got a ship creation system, which even includes the warp drive and the antimatter power plant (admittedly in variant rules).

You just need sizes/stats for a few components that are unique(ish) to the SFU - weapons, shields, cloak, tractor beam, transporter, and declare that short/medium/long ranges represent a different distance (since you're dealing with >C speeds and 'magic sensors').

It's no different to Universe of Babylon 5 - there was no 'ship creation system' in that; just a table describing the stats for pulse cannons, heavy lasers, etc, and the rules for jump space.

 

[Hopeless]

Any update on the release date for Traveller Prime Directive?

 

[scoutdad]

Any update on the release date for Traveller Prime Directive?

Jean Sexton, the ADB, RPG editor in chief typically spends two weeks in Amarillo every year at Christmas (at least until she retires this May and moves there full time).
During that stay, she works almost exclusively on RPG products. MGT: Prime Directive has been in development behind the scenes for quite a while now.

I don't know the extent to which development has progressed, but I'd expect a lot ofthe final tweaks will be done during this upcoming visit... and I'd expect a "big" announcement / progress report in early January. Just about the time we all come down from our Hobbit high! :wink:

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

So, I feel that solo Traveller gamers could still somehow get the enjoyment of interactivity with other players not by direct gaming, but by producing solo campaign material for others.

Cheers,

Gary

Nice idea.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

I suspect that Traveller Prime Directive will be bare bone. Just some RPG elements borrowing from Mongoose Traveller. GURPS 3e Prime Directive used some GURPS Space 3e for its ship combat rules. GURPS 4e Prime Directive didn't wait for GURPS Space 4e or GURPS Spaceships 4e, and so recommended using the SFB combat rules at the time of its publishing. GURPS 4e Prime Directive did not require the GURPS 4e rulebook, while Traveller Prime Directive does require the Mongoose rulebook.

I have become a fan of Mongoose Traveller (over GURPS Traveller) this past year. So I am a bit excited about the Traveller Prime Directive book showing up in my mail.

 

[Hopeless]

So any updates on when this might be released?

 

[adm]

The word from ADB is; The rules are done, the holdup is the required deck plans, probably 2013.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

No updates about it yet. Jean is editing the book still (in between other duties assigned kind of thing). Did she move to the shop yet? I'm lagging. Maybe she will post here? Also, check their Facebook page.

In the meantime, I think I will be getting Mongoose's Call to Arms: Star Fleet for my Prime Directive ship combat. I never got interested in SFB since its beginning. I have plenty of ship minis already from my Star Trek Fleet Captains and Romulan expansion.

 

[Hopeless]

Many thanks have a hankering to run a Prime Directive game inspired by the Star Trek Online game... well I did say inspired by rather than complete hack of...

Just liked the ship they start off with and it got me wondering how to handle a campaign with that in mind...

 

[Jean]

Just a quick update.

The two weeks in Amarillo this year were spent on producing Captain's Log #46, dealing with a hacked debit card when there are no branches of my current bank in Texas (let alone Amarillo), and searching for a future apartment.

We do indeed lack deck plans. We must decide how long to delay this or if we release without an abundance of deck plans. That decision will probably be made after Origins. (I move in May and there's a lot associated with moving across country and Origins follows in mid-June.)

 

[Hopeless]

As long as you're okay we can wait until you're ready!