Prime Directive Traveller

[spinwardpirate]

In playable scale (i.e., walking 28mm minis around the map)...

I thank the gaming gods that I still have all my FASA Trek 15mm deckplans. That's what I'll be using.

 

[Valarian]

Somebody with some "art+math" ability should add Traveller ships to something like this:
http://www.chrisabraham.com/StarshipComparisonChart1.html

How about this?
http://www.cix.co.uk/~fubar/Traveller/trav3d/sizechart/index.htm

based on Jeff Russell's charts (which looks like where the other guy got the data from for his chart): http://www.merzo.net/

This is also worth a look: http://www.shipschematics.net/

 

[Iron Domokun]

Now I am looking forward to seeing what PD: Traveller is like, so if its a simple case of, with the Klingon example, that there are base profiles and to learn more I have to get that sourcebook, fine thats cool, because I can still use them in my games until the book comes out.

How ADB has done PD in the past (for GURPS and PD) is have almost all of the rules crunch in the main rulebook and the "Empire" books concentrate on background and adventure hooks. E.g. the GURPS main rulebook had rules for all the major races of the SFU and a bunch of others too, the most commonly used equipment, and so on. You don't need PD Klingons to play a Klingon, but you will find lots of really valuable background information on the Klingon Empire in PD Klingons.

My understanding is that the plan for the empire books (PD Klingons, PD Romulans, PD Federation, etc) is to leave most of it the same and just change the game-specific parts, like sample characters & stats for any new equipment.

 

[zero]

^ Ok, thats cool :wink:

 

[SteveCole]

Yes, that is the plan.

The empire books are 144 pages. The difference between the gurps or PD20m version and the traveller version would be....

sample character redone for other system

skills and stuff translated into new system.

weapons stats translated to new system.

I'm told that traveller lays out planet data otherwise, so fix that.

Bits and pieces here and there, I doubt it adds up to eight pages total volume of words.

 

[rust]

Bits and pieces here and there, I doubt it adds up to eight pages total volume of words.

A Traveller career usually takes up about one page, so if there are any
careers different from those in the core rules - and I am almost certain
that this will be necessary - the eight pages will hardly be enough.

 

[Jean]

I have asked SVC and Matthew to give Mike and me time to see what needs to be done. We want to check on things to see what is needed. Only then can we say what will need to be added to make the PD: Traveller the game it needs to be.

 

[RobinS]

I am glad the books will be available in PDF. I like to buy the core book in hard copy (easier to look up rules that way) and then get PDFs for the supplements to save space, and I can then load them on to my Kindle in case I need to access them during a gaming session.

Looking forward to the new books and happy that I don't need to learn a new system to play PD.

 

[Iron Domokun]

happy that I don't need to learn a new system to play PD.

Actually, that's the intention behind adapting PD to different RPG systems rather than having a proprietary system.

 

[zero]

Question - will there be a hard copy of PD: Trav, or is it only available in pdf?

I am more likely to buy a hard copy than a pdf (the only pdf I have bought is Cstars and thats because I really wanted it).

 

[Jean]

The plan is for "real" books. I want paper that I can flag and make lovely purple notes all over. (Such as "form" should be "from" and delete that comma and add this semicolon.)

These are exciting times.

I will probably be away from this point through June 28. I'm not ignoring anyone; I'll just be at Origins at ADB's booth. Stop by and say hi so I can put people with names!

 

[Jean]

I am back from Origins. For those of you who stopped by, I was delighted to see you. There's a lot of excitement out in the gaming world about this game.

That said, I am going to have to hibernate with my new books. I was sent a ginormous, heavy box of Traveller books and a smaller box crammed full of "little black books." I have a lot to absorb.

 

[AKAmra]

Hmmm, if your fishing for sympathy about receiving boxes of free Traveller books you'll have to look elsewhere

I'm eager to see how big of a splash PD:Traveller makes. I'm sensing a lot of excitement too. The mix of TOS Star Trek as a setting, Traveller as king of sci-fi RPGs (in name recognition if nothing else) and ACTA as a miniatures game that might appeal to RPG gamers could have some real synergy.

I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of it.

 

[locarno24]

Now I am looking forward to seeing what PD: Traveller is like, so if its a simple case of, with the Klingon example, that there are base profiles and to learn more I have to get that sourcebook, fine thats cool, because I can still use them in my games until the book comes out. Also theres Star Trek wikis anyway Its more the case of saying there are Klingons as a main combatant and not having anything about them after that in the Core until the supplement, making me wait until that supplement book is out to use them, thats what I would find annoying.

Agreed. No problem with a 'generic Alien NPCs/weapons' chapter to allow me to create klingons for an adventure rather than the full career malarky to make them a party member (which is the sort of thing that goes in an Empire book).

Still makes it much smaller in volume than the Tigress. Do the volume calcs.

Definitely. A big part of that, though, is that the Tigress-class is pretty much a solid sphere of mesony doom. That means it's going to have a much, much greater volume than its length suggests; certainly compared to most fictional ships which have a...less boring?...profile.

 

[Jean]

<giggle> No sympathy fishing from me. I just have to eat the Traveller book "elephant" one page at a time! I also need to make some room on my very full office bookcases for the new books. I wish I had problems like this more frequently.

I love starting a new project!

 

[IanBruntlett]

I just have to eat the Traveller book "elephant" one page at a time!

I've been munching my way through MgT Star Ports recently. Like many MgT books, it pays to have a highlighter pen to make key things for rapid access during game play and add penciled in notes to clarify certain things. You might get some mileage out of that approach

 

[Jean]

What I generally do as an editor is try to get the feel for how the game plays, the layout of the book, and what a "typical" book includes -- sort of the look-feel of the gaming system.

With both of the Fearless Leaders being deeply involved, I don't think I have to worry too much about things going seriously astray for content. It is my responsibility to produce a book that both FLs will like and approve and that you, the players, will enjoy.



Did I mention I like challenges?

 

[rust]

Did I mention I like challenges?

If you do not mind the sad fact that the Traveller fan community includes
a couple of real {insert polite word for "idiots"} who will always hate what
you do to "their" game and keep in mind that those are not among your
customers anyway, there should be no problem. :wink:

 

[SSWarlock]

If you do not mind the sad fact that the Traveller fan community includes
a couple of real {insert polite word for "idiots"} who will always hate what
you do to "their" game and keep in mind that those are not among your
customers anyway, there should be no problem. :wink:

ROFL. You've just described a fact of Traveller since it was first published.

 

[adm]

What game systems do not have players like this?