Traveller Beta Playtest Rulebook

[AndrewW]

I was disappointed that suggestions about errors (for example, the PA weapon has limitations on turreting, but didn't see any mention of that).

I'm not sure what happened with the Particle (and Plasma) limitations for turrets, but this is known and should be corrected before the beta release.

I did like the color layout, love the idea finally of power being a limited resource to be managed. Still lots of review and look over to do. Unless the idea is to really build your starships from a future upcoming high guard book, the current version leaves a LOT to be desired. And if the idea is to keep it as is, then it goes against the idea of what the core rulebook is supposed to mean in the first place. So I'm still scratching my head to figure out what kind of direction is supposed to mean.

Everything that is currently covered in the Core Rulebook and High Guard for shipbuilding should be covered in the new High Guard.

 

[wbnc]

I have to leaf from book to book, and i don't have every book so I don't even have those options available to work with as of now. To do twenty or thirty ships left me with a desk that looked like a bomb went off.

Fun isn't it? I blame the Hivers.

it would be nice to have them all in one place..with more description of several options, and some points better explained.

Some of this has been done.

Most of it's been outlined over in the starship design thread. or various threads on missiles, torpedoes, sand-casters, etc...seems people around here aren't shy about their likes, dislikes, or pet peeves. Guess I should go write those points up in some sort of sane order.

Yes and High Guard related stuff posted on the forums over the years has been seen.

Feel free to write stuff up, though you might want to wait till the release of the High Guard playtest stuff as it may have already been covered.

Ya know I at times imagine guys at the office cackling madly when they think about this poor first time writer learning for himself how easy it ain't. Its been a learning experience. But it's given me a chance to tear apart the rules set in detail.

I have a lot of the notes already down in rough form...I just need to get them organized and then see what has already been done....When I was looking over the beta..I spotted the close combat rules and compared them to the notes I had been working on for the same idea....

I went into a bit more detail but what surprised me was how close the basic ideas were to each other...even the mods were within a point of each other. I took this as a good sign, I was close to what more experienced writer/designers had come up with

 

[vladthemad]

Sweet...I'll pick up a copy. I can't wait to start complaining about everything!

Complain away. Constructive comments are welcome, they can help make the product better.

That was a bit tongue-in-cheek. So on to actual constructive criticism!

EDIT: Wait, Mongoose is re-writing High Guard too? I beg you to get all the ship equipment and upgrades from everywhere else into one place! It'd be awesome to have everything under one cover finally! Don't forget to check all the adventure books too...as they always seem to have new equipment available in them. I think ship based plasma weapons and collapsible fuel tanks, were in Trillion Credit Squadron for example.

 

[Vile]

Got it - but it'll take me a while to get around to reading it!

 

[dirklancer]

Dirklancer. Cool name.
Yes, there needs to be one for download.

Thank you, it was my imaginary father's name.

And it would be appreciated. I want to start making a few test characters to kick the beta around a bit. Not that the old ones or good old blank paper don't work, but a blank official one would be nice.

 

[lordmalachdrim]

I might have missed it but where do we report issues for the new book?

pg 22 Army - under career progress it lists the same branches as agent (Law Enforcement, Intelligence, Corporate)

 

[AndrewW]

I might have missed it but where do we report issues for the new book?

pg 22 Army - under career progress it lists the same branches as agent (Law Enforcement, Intelligence, Corporate)

Scroll down on the forum, and use the appropriate section. Though that particular one has already been noticed. But thanks.

 

[Scoundrel]

Haven't had time for a full read through yet, but I did notice something regarding the Common Ships deckplans- You've got bathrooms (pardon me, freshers) on the ships, which is a major step in the right direction, but I'm not seeing any dedicated galley space. Was this unintentional, or are Jetsons-style food pills all the rage in the Imperium these days?

Edit- RE: The Subsidized Merchant: that's got to be the most cramped space I've ever seen on a ship. the passenger common area is TINY, and there's only one fresher for 14 people in single occupency? People must HATE those things.
RE: The Free Trader varients: those must be a bugger for the pilot to fly, having to crane his/her neck to see what's immediately in front of the ship.

 

[AndrewW]

Edit- RE: The Subsidized Merchant: that's got to be the most cramped space I've ever seen on a ship. the passenger common area is TINY, and there's only one fresher for 14 people in single occupency? People must HATE those things.
RE: The Free Trader varients: those must be a bugger for the pilot to fly, having to crane his/her neck to see what's immediately in front of the ship.

I figure more like cruise ships with a fresher in each stateroom, but some include for use outside the staterooms as well.

Nah, no direct visuals needed for the pilot would have a screen with information collected from the sensors. Even today aircraft are starting to go this way.

 

[Reynard]

Small nitpicks and credits and I'll delve deeper.

 

[AndrewW]

Small nitpicks and credits and I'll delve deeper.

Note the best place for comments relating to stuff in the playtest documents is the multitude of forums available below this section.

 

[Scoundrel]

Edit- RE: The Subsidized Merchant: that's got to be the most cramped space I've ever seen on a ship. the passenger common area is TINY, and there's only one fresher for 14 people in single occupency? People must HATE those things.
RE: The Free Trader varients: those must be a bugger for the pilot to fly, having to crane his/her neck to see what's immediately in front of the ship.

I figure more like cruise ships with a fresher in each stateroom, but some include for use outside the staterooms as well.

Nah, no direct visuals needed for the pilot would have a screen with information collected from the sensors. Even today aircraft are starting to go this way.

My father was a pilot, first for the US Navy, and then for commercial aviation. Late in his life, he saw proposed designs like that, and that same philosophy behind them. He and most other pilots he knew thought they were (in his words, with no offense intended) "utter horseshit."

 

[Condottiere]

In an emergency, you could have an armoured curtain raised to expose the cockpit windscreen.

 

[AndrewW]

In an emergency, you could have an armoured curtain raised to expose the cockpit windscreen.

The original Galactica had one of these.

 

[phavoc]

Positive Shields now! Didn't always help Adama though.

Why spacecraft designers feel the need to put the bridge exposed on the outside I'll never know. Maybe the Rebel Alliance slipped into the Kuat company and did that, knowing a little itty-bitty snub fighter could disable a ship the size of the island of Manhattan???

#The_Force_Is_With_You

 

[AndrewW]

Positive Shields now! Didn't always help Adama though.

Fire in Space.

Though it could have been worse without the shield. But yeah not a guarantee against Cylon fighters packed full of solonite.

 

[vladthemad]

My father was a pilot, first for the US Navy, and then for commercial aviation. Late in his life, he saw proposed designs like that, and that same philosophy behind them. He and most other pilots he knew thought they were (in his words, with no offense intended) "utter horseshit."

Yeah, but in a generation or two, fighter jets will be operated from behind a LCD screen with playstation controllers. The military won't even have to train the pilots, they've already gained all the skill they need from video games... :wink:

Kidding aside, I discussed how the drones the U.S. military uses work, and I was really surprised some of them have even gone so far as being a point and click operation. They basically tell it where to go and what to do, and the drone figures out for itself the best way to go about it. it has to make landing and refueling pretty interesting for the guys on the ground.

 

[Condottiere]

Near future aerial combat will be a combination of manned and unmanned aircraft, though I'm inclined to believe the F-14 would have been a better model than the F-35 for this.

 

[Askold]

Edit- RE: The Subsidized Merchant: that's got to be the most cramped space I've ever seen on a ship. the passenger common area is TINY, and there's only one fresher for 14 people in single occupency? People must HATE those things.
RE: The Free Trader varients: those must be a bugger for the pilot to fly, having to crane his/her neck to see what's immediately in front of the ship.

I figure more like cruise ships with a fresher in each stateroom, but some include for use outside the staterooms as well.

Nah, no direct visuals needed for the pilot would have a screen with information collected from the sensors. Even today aircraft are starting to go this way.

My father was a pilot, first for the US Navy, and then for commercial aviation. Late in his life, he saw proposed designs like that, and that same philosophy behind them. He and most other pilots he knew thought they were (in his words, with no offense intended) "utter horseshit."

Maybe with modern technology but I refuse to accept that spaceships are piloted by looking out the window. With the speeds those spacecraft are moving (and with no way to actually determine how far things are with just your eyes) the pilots should be flying with the help of the instruments, computer screens and several assisting programs that help them deal with all the information needed to fly the ships.

 

[CosmicGamer]

For streamlined ships to land on low tech worlds that don't have guidance tech?