The Core Expeditions - on PDF and Pre-Order!
- Thread starter MongooseMatt
- Start date
I liked T:NE in the same way I liked 2300, as completely separate setting with different assumptions about how things work.
If there's a game company that managed to successfully present an evolving world without being annoying, I haven't encountered it. Whether it was GDW and the kerosene application to Charted Space or the weird things TSR/WOTC do with the FR when the update editions or Shadowrun's perpetual efforts to run big campaign arcs instead of just writing adventures, it's pretty much always been a disaster IMHO.
CordwainerFish
Emperor Mongoose
I think my Empress Wave is not a Wave of Madness but a Wave of Heebie-Jeebies; psions sense something but to most of them it's just enigmatic and annoying.
Terry Mixon
Emperor Mongoose
Sigtrygg
Emperor Mongoose
The Empress Wave was a plot device to uplift the role of psionics within the setting. It had not been fully fleshed out at launch, if Dave Nilsen or Frank Chadwick ever really knew what caused it in universe they have never said in any interview I have seen.
The original moved at lightspeed, not FTL, but because Don got his maths wrong he thought the wave had to be FTL to arrive in the setting as per TNE - it didn't. The problem was that the Zhodani would have already encountered the issues caused by the wave during their core expeditions, and for the TNE timeline then the wave must already be in Zhodani Consulate space in 1105... neither ow which was true for 1105 as detailed in CT or MT.
I just hope that in this timeline the Zhodani win the FFW, or at least get to Rhylanor and press the reality engineering big red button to remove the wave from now on.
Like I said, any referee who wants to explore its concepts can read up on Dave Nilsen's revelations about the wave, MWM/Don re-imagining the wave and introduce it to theri univers in a way that makes sense to me.
it may even be worth a JTAS article on the different variations of the wave, different origin stories explaining where it came from why and what it does...
The original moved at lightspeed, not FTL, but because Don got his maths wrong he thought the wave had to be FTL to arrive in the setting as per TNE - it didn't. The problem was that the Zhodani would have already encountered the issues caused by the wave during their core expeditions, and for the TNE timeline then the wave must already be in Zhodani Consulate space in 1105... neither ow which was true for 1105 as detailed in CT or MT.
I just hope that in this timeline the Zhodani win the FFW, or at least get to Rhylanor and press the reality engineering big red button to remove the wave from now on.
Like I said, any referee who wants to explore its concepts can read up on Dave Nilsen's revelations about the wave, MWM/Don re-imagining the wave and introduce it to theri univers in a way that makes sense to me.
it may even be worth a JTAS article on the different variations of the wave, different origin stories explaining where it came from why and what it does...
Terry Mixon
Emperor Mongoose
You should write that article. I’m certain it would be a good one.
mavikfelna
Emperor Mongoose
I don't suppose you have a link to those discussions? Just typing Dave Nilsen and Wave into google didn't bring me back anything useful.
The wave is a prominent part of my current project in the Rzakki sector, since it passes through from 1033 to 1076 according to the wiki.
Concertina
Mongoose
While it brings tremendous nastiness to coreward provinces and expeditions, the E.W. as it is now written does not seem to be a major issue for our regular charted space. Which is as well, since any canon setting destruction should imo originate with people and not Deus ex Yaskodray. On the other hand, the origin of the device and the E.W. is not being discussed, as far as I see also not who this empress even is. No Yaskodri to be found. Everything is being kept open for everyone to decide, getting the FFW treatment.
Pretty sure there will also be an optional Dulinor campaign about the democratization of the Imperium.
Pretty sure there will also be an optional Dulinor campaign about the democratization of the Imperium.
collins355
Emperor Mongoose
(hypothetical) What would you ask Dave Nilsen?
So, Joe Fugate has resurfaced on the MT boards and is currently being bombarded by questions about DGP ;) . Now imagine - purely hypothetically - that David Nilsen showed up here and was willing to answer questions about TNE. What would you ask him? (and assume you can only ask serious...
www.travellerrpg.com
Yeah, MJD made a big mistake, I think, with FFW in crippling the Zhodani use of warbots by making them little more than human-in-the-loop drones. I get that he has his view of how the FFW should play out, and has bent every sinew to ensure that it follows his preffered plot arc. But, given the tech level disparity and the huge difference in industrial base, their more relaxed view of military robots could be one thing that helps explain why the Zhodani can even compete. But no: he made the Zhodani just Vilani in Zhoface.
Man, I had forgotten how frustrated and sad I was that someone who hated the Traveller setting as much as Nilsen ended up as the line manager for it. The sheer hateful destructiveness of their introduction of the Empress Wave and the moronic Black Curtain are still truly shocking to me. I get that the classic setting bored him and that he lacked the imagination to create adventure within it (something Mongoose has done admirably). But to work so hard to destroy it (in the face of dogged resistance from fans, thus the grudging and temporary consession of the Regency) looks like spite.As a start.(hypothetical) What would you ask Dave Nilsen?
So, Joe Fugate has resurfaced on the MT boards and is currently being bombarded by questions about DGP ;) . Now imagine - purely hypothetically - that David Nilsen showed up here and was willing to answer questions about TNE. What would you ask him? (and assume you can only ask serious...
At the time, watching Nilsen and the other TNE vandals grind away at the setting put me off Traveller for literal decades. I am glad that they and their setting failed miserably: several Traveller rulesets failed - some of them because they just weren't very good - but TNE was the only one that I was glad - joyful - to see fail. I'm a little sad* that the chance to finally wipe away the last vestiges of that mistake away seems not to have been siezed with this release.
*Edit: British understatement. I'm gutted.
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DeepSpaceAdventures
Banded Mongoose
This is not an adventure or campaign book, it's a lore book that describes the background & reasons for the expeditions and also all past core expeditions in detail. There are a few adventure hooks and a chapter about how to play one of the historical expeditions or one of your own, but if you're looking for a ready 2 play adventure book you better look somewhere else.
If you're into the history of the expeditions and the Zhodanis this is a great book for you.
ps: The chapter on campaigns is 3 pages plus 5 pages on fleet composition plus 3 pages on minor expeditions.
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Terry Mixon
Emperor Mongoose
MongooseChris
Emperor Mongoose
The Wave is not only in TNE but also in Agent of the Imperium, so it's definitely a part of Charted Space lore and it will not be retconned.
mavikfelna
Emperor Mongoose
Thank you, that's very informative.As a start.(hypothetical) What would you ask Dave Nilsen?
So, Joe Fugate has resurfaced on the MT boards and is currently being bombarded by questions about DGP ;) . Now imagine - purely hypothetically - that David Nilsen showed up here and was willing to answer questions about TNE. What would you ask him? (and assume you can only ask serious...
