Traveller Developer's Pack
- Thread starter MongooseMatt
- Start date
GypsyComet
Emperor Mongoose
Prime_Evil said:
It is one of the reasons that the OTU timeline has been given some details at different eras. Don't like the staid "Golden Age" of CT? Play the wartime games of MT, T20, or GT:IW, or use the Civil War period. Like exploration? Play in the New Era Dawn of 1200, the 4e of 1248, or the Imperial Dawn of 100, or even the Zhodani Core Expeditions or the Solomani Orion Mission.
The conflict between lots of detail and 'can't affect anything' is not unique to Traveller.
Prime_Evil
Emperor Mongoose
AndrewW said:
Hmmm....for some reason that reminds me of the approach adopted by the old FASA Star Trek game, where each PC performed one important function during space combat. This simulated the feel of the original TV show very well and gave almost every member of the bridge crew something to do. Curiously, the most important job was often that of the engineer - who was responsible for allocating power to each of the other players. I'm not aware that anybody has done something similar for the Traveller rule system, but it shouldn't be too hard to come up with a similar system. One weakness of many SF games is that one player tends to do everything when space combat breaks out between starships, leaving everybody else just sitting around.
Prime_Evil
Emperor Mongoose
GypsyComet said:
It's funny. I've always felt that the detailed history in the OTU is both one of its greatest strengths and one of its greatest weaknesses. On the one hand, I love the sweeping breadth and depth of the OTU timeline - as well as the sense that you can play in any of the different eras. It does allow you to feel the rise and fall of empires and the clash of rival civilisations like no other RPG. But on the other hand, the sense that the history of the setting is predermined in canon gives it a strangely static quality. It's very curious. Obviously individual GMs can choose to deviate from the canonical timeline in the way that GT did, but only if they are willing to jettison a certain amount of the available source material.
GypsyComet said:
I agree. I think it's a problem to many games with a well-developed 'metaplot'. However, I think Traveller was one of the first game systems to face this dilemma when GDW advanced the timeline beyond the Golden Age depicted in the LBBs.
Ah... but that's where MY or YOUR official traveller universe comes in - players CAN change things and then, later, if they read the later-era books, know that they CHANGED that history... that in your universe, at least, they made a difference... an assassination was avoided... that ship wasn't destroyed by pirates, etc...
Of course, it can be harder for players to then shift time periods, particularly if they'll be later playing in the same, previous, timeline as they did before... all part of the fun though.
I love the richness of the background - it's moved well beyond "Well, this is what I've decided this part of the universe should look like", which most TV series, films and RPGs have, into "Well, originally I planned it differently, but someone else came up with this neat idea and we've had a few adventures develop it into this now" which is more like Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms and a few others - noticeably more rare than the previous catagory and is something that can only be earned through aging.
So much so that I feel that sometimes it seems a little... daunting to make your own universe when you see just how detailed some of the Traveller universes are - the bar is much higher than, for example, D&D, where you can start off really small and work outwards (I actually tend to work from really big, but sketchy details, down to small and then detail back the other way, so I know how the area fits). Traveller seems like the universe works slightly differently - working with sketchy details for each world, but allowing more details as you go on...
I've had a Traveller boxed set on my shelf for years... but never did more than glance at it. Now I wish I'd gotten more Traveller stuff than some of the other books in my collection... I'm certainly making up for it now.
Of course, it can be harder for players to then shift time periods, particularly if they'll be later playing in the same, previous, timeline as they did before... all part of the fun though.
I love the richness of the background - it's moved well beyond "Well, this is what I've decided this part of the universe should look like", which most TV series, films and RPGs have, into "Well, originally I planned it differently, but someone else came up with this neat idea and we've had a few adventures develop it into this now" which is more like Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms and a few others - noticeably more rare than the previous catagory and is something that can only be earned through aging.
So much so that I feel that sometimes it seems a little... daunting to make your own universe when you see just how detailed some of the Traveller universes are - the bar is much higher than, for example, D&D, where you can start off really small and work outwards (I actually tend to work from really big, but sketchy details, down to small and then detail back the other way, so I know how the area fits). Traveller seems like the universe works slightly differently - working with sketchy details for each world, but allowing more details as you go on...
I've had a Traveller boxed set on my shelf for years... but never did more than glance at it. Now I wish I'd gotten more Traveller stuff than some of the other books in my collection... I'm certainly making up for it now.
Prime_Evil
Emperor Mongoose
Jame Rowe said:
The Developer's Pack hasn't been updated yet, but you can find the current version here:
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/pdf/travdevpack.zip
Home Brewed Dave
Mongoose
The new psd logo doesn't open in any of the open source programs i use.
Libre Office: can't use the color format.
GIMP: Same here.
Inkscape: same here.
Scribus: Same here.
PNG or SVG please!!!
Libre Office: can't use the color format.
GIMP: Same here.
Inkscape: same here.
Scribus: Same here.
PNG or SVG please!!!
trechriron
Mongoose
Is there an update to this package?
What are the current rules/licenses for publishing Traveller products?
Thanks,
What are the current rules/licenses for publishing Traveller products?
Thanks,
Prime_Evil
Emperor Mongoose
trechriron said:
There hasn't been an update yet. Mongoose have indicated that they are working on one, but that it is taking longer than expected because of other commitments - such as meeting their ambitious product schedule!
Personally, I still wish that Mongoose would adopt the position that they have with Legend and declare the rules content of some Traveller books as OGC while reserving the licensed Third Imperium setting as Product Identity. Maintaining a list of OGC from existing books would be a lot easier for them to do than to maintain regular updates to an SRD. However, they may have their own reasons for doing things the way thast they have - such as provisions in the licensing agreement for Traveller.
Incidentally, this has been a very good year for third-party Traveller products - it looks like the game has been building up a real head of steam.
Finally, Instructions on how to use the material in the SRD are contained in the zip package itself.
Prime_Evil said:
All true. _If_ we ever did a Traveller II, this is certainly something we would look at.
Prime_Evil
Emperor Mongoose
msprange said:
I suppose it's one of those things that can be chalked up to experience.
Given that this isn't likely in the short term, is it likely that we will see an update to the existing SRD in 2012?
I know that you guys have a lot on your plate at the moment, but it would be great to see what the various third-party publishers would do with some of the recent expansions to the rules that have come out (eg robots, cybernetics, et al).
middenface
Cosmic Mongoose
Can you reference equipment not in the SRD but say in the CSC, but of course NOT publish is specs?
Likewise I add a new piece of equipment it becomes Open ?
Likewise I add a new piece of equipment it becomes Open ?
Prime_Evil
Emperor Mongoose
middenface said:
You can't reference anything in the CSC without permission from Mongoose as that book contains no open game content. You can't even invoke the 'fair use' provisions of copyright law if you are publishing material under the Open Game License as the contract that you have entered into with Mongoose through acceptance of the OGL limits your rights in this area in exchange for free access to the material contained in the SRD. Hopefully Mongoose will *eventually* update the SRD to contain some material from the CSC, but this might not happen for a while. However, I'm sure that if you ask Matt nicely, he would probably grant you special permission to reference material from the CSC that you want to use.
With regard to the second part of your question, if it's your own creation, you can choose whether it becomes Open Game Content or is designated as Product Identity. It all depends upon how you designate OGC and PI in the statement required by the OGL.
It is something I am still very keen on but, unfortunately, we have _no_ time to even sniff at it right now.
Vile
Banded Mongoose
Understandable - unfortunately, the longer it is left the more new rules come out that could potentially be added to the SRD pool.
Would Mongoose consider letting a 3d party publisher produce a draft SRD for a particular book, e.g. vehicles, which you could then check over and add to the developer's pack? That would at least take the bulk of the work out of the equation. As it's in the interest of the 3PPs, hopefully they would be willing to take this on.
Would Mongoose consider letting a 3d party publisher produce a draft SRD for a particular book, e.g. vehicles, which you could then check over and add to the developer's pack? That would at least take the bulk of the work out of the equation. As it's in the interest of the 3PPs, hopefully they would be willing to take this on.
Vile said:
Potentially, yes.
