Traveller Release Schedule 2024
- Thread starter MongooseMatt
- Start date
AndrewW
Emperor Mongoose
If they don't yet realize how deadly Traveller combat can be they might change their minds.
True but this is what I love about Traveller. There's something for all play styles. I'm attracted to doing something 'bolt-on'.
alex_greene
Guest
Bear in mind that a lot of that isn't exactly running gunfights. More like serving some poor sod their papers in the middle of the street or doing repo work hauling off their wheels, or their ship.
Not so much of the Strontium Dog, and less of the Dog the Bounty Hunter either.
CordwainerFish
Emperor Mongoose
So, it'd be really great if Bounty Hunter was out for Life Day...
Why would it include a new Sub-Career and why do you think we need one?
Midnightplat
Banded Mongoose
I read that as a joke relating to an earlier post mentioning bail bondsman and reality TV star Dog the Bounty Hunter. At least i think that's what they were getting at.
While I'm typing, any idea yet when we'll see Companion Update 2024 in print?
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I was also thinking of Colt Seavers from the 80s TV programme The Fall Guy
alex_greene
Guest
Dog The Bounty Hunter is probably a more modern metaphor, too, though "leading with the corny Lee Majors TV show everybody forgets after The Six Million Dollar Man folded" is also valid.
I'm assuming that the history of Traveller is more of a text based book and less dependent on tables and maps. If so, it would be nice if Mongoose released it as an ePub, not just as a PDF. It's much easier to read text based books on my Kindle, although it's horrible for PDF files.
CordwainerFish
Emperor Mongoose
I hope the physical book gets printed on matte paper rather than gloss, too.
(I'm certain those aren't the right terms, but it's one area of book design that does not come up in $DAYJOB.)
eclecticidol
Mongoose
I have to say, having lived through the first incarnation of FFW as an attempt to "shake things up", and having not thought it helpful then, that I'd prefer a broader range of content in 2024. I can see how, having decided to do it, you need to commit. I also don't know how well certain modules have done. I didn't much like the Mercenary stuff but maybe milSF does far better in the market than it does with me.
I'd have preferred to see more sector books (for the Imperium and/or for the surrounding polities) and also something about how to play more with Traveller tech levels for different kinds of campaigns at the higher tech levels - e.g. how could I get the Mindjammer type stuff without having to buy into the whole Mindjammer background (I do have the MJ Traveller book but it's a fair bit of work to adapt, and to my understanding they've discontinued their license).
Singularity seems to be a higher tech campaign rather than a sourcebook per se. Correct?
And Legend of the Sky Raiders does include Far Frontiers sector ... correct?
Does Bounty Hunter contain new career options (entertainment options notwithstanding)? Or is it just a set of campaign guidance similar to Mercenary?
I'd have preferred to see more sector books (for the Imperium and/or for the surrounding polities) and also something about how to play more with Traveller tech levels for different kinds of campaigns at the higher tech levels - e.g. how could I get the Mindjammer type stuff without having to buy into the whole Mindjammer background (I do have the MJ Traveller book but it's a fair bit of work to adapt, and to my understanding they've discontinued their license).
Singularity seems to be a higher tech campaign rather than a sourcebook per se. Correct?
And Legend of the Sky Raiders does include Far Frontiers sector ... correct?
Does Bounty Hunter contain new career options (entertainment options notwithstanding)? Or is it just a set of campaign guidance similar to Mercenary?
Fall guy would be a performer plan and simple. Dog is a bounty hunter not an entertainer so he’d probably be an Agent (Law Enforcement). It’s not the first time I’ve seen someone saying there needed to be more Entertainer sub-class but I have yet to see any that was actually not already covered.
Truth be said if we need any new branches it would be for the Army and for that we need a Flyer and a Drone operator. Calvary doesn’t quit fit regular aircraft pilots and there nothing for drone use even tho Robots greatly expands them.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Your second career, when you sell out.
Midnightplat
Banded Mongoose
Oh yeah! And I forgot about that Gosling movie coming out. You know, I've probably watched more The Fall Guy than Dog the Bounty Hunter, like hours to minutes ratio. It was in syndication when I was a kid, so regularly watched it.
Now thinking of some sort of Fall Guy, Last Starfighter, Galaxy Quest character concept where the character is from a TL 7 world, where he plays a space adventurer on the world's mass media ... and some Travellers think "wouldn't it be funny if..." or maybe he is some sort of "chosen one" and is needed for like a gene or something the Ancients planted in his DNA millenia back.
The problem with the first incarnation of FFW was that, like pretty much all the meta events GDW did, it completely ignored the actual player characters. Mongoose is attempting to do it in a player facing manner. I'm hoping that means there's a lot of sandbox-y "this is how the war affects you as you go about your normal business and here's some adventures relating to the war" as well as any "adventure path" of stories putting the PCs front and center that the hype is implying.
Seffix
Emperor Mongoose
So, I enjoy reading Sector descriptions for recreational purposes (as well as letting me throw in details to fill out the parts of Charted Space that the players are not actively terrorizing travelling through. To that end, I started looking at as yet unreleased (in the current version) sectors to determine which ones I wanted. For the purposes of this, I limited myself to sectors in the 50-sector region demarcated by Far Frontiers and Phlask (though my actual cravings do extend beyond that).
Here they are in reverse alphabetical order...
Zarushagar — It’s a toss-up between whether I want to play with the Darmine or the Thaki more!
Waroatahe — We’re talking Kusyu incognita here. The great quest for land is starting to run into the Great Rift and the Keawe Rift, making this a place where ihatei squeezing back against the clans. Fun!
Vland — Home of the Vilani!
Verge — It’s only half a sector, but it’s also the secret route to the soft, furry underbelly of the Hierate!
Star’s End — Relaxed K’kree! Truculent Humaniti! An obscure corner of the Julian Protectorate! (Not related to the world in Zarushagar)
Staihaia’yo — Clan Syoisuis’ (purported) home turf!
Spica — Hivers, meet Solomani. Solomani, meet Hivers. Sounds like a party to me!
Phlask (or maybe Ukan) — It’s mostly Hivers doing mysterious Hiver stuff, but there are also some Ithklur and a planet named Dumpty!
Old Expanses — They’ve seen a lot of action. A lot of action. And they have Veraq: All X-Boat Roues lead to Veraq!
Massilia — This is positioned to be the most Imperial of the Imperial sectors. Close to Core; nary even cultural zone. You just know it’s a smoldering powder keg! That and the Geonee!
Magyar — It’s got the Wuans, the New Slavs (Go, Magyars), and the squiggliest Solomani/Imperial border!
Lishun — Retorted to be a massage trade hub, and the J’sia are a hoot!
Leonidae — Home of the Dynchia, and there’s a Dynchia character in my game that I want to visit home. Also, Ithklur!
Karleaya — Aokhalte has a large presence here, and has been forced to occupy increasingly undesirable worlds, so this sounds like an unpleasantly inhospitable sector!
Ilelish — So adorably rebellious, but honestly, I’m all about the Suerrat!
Iwahfuah — Home base of the oh-so-Aslan Khaukheairl clan as well as a bunch of Solomani-settled, but culturally Aslan worlds!
Iphigenaia — An outpost of the Hierate, the largely central Asian Solomani of the Regency of Muirimi, and potential interest from the Zhodani!
Hlakhoi — The main route to the trans-rift Hierate and probably home of those weird, crusty Murissi (Carcinisation in action)!
Hinterworlds — This is number two for poetic sector names, but it has the rather creepy Outcasts of the Whispering Sky, and how could I resist that?
Gushemege — The down & dirty on the Lancians!
Glimmerdrift Reaches — My favorite poetical name for a sector. I don’t need another reason to want it.
Ftaoiyekyu — Meh. Absolutely nothing to see here. Move along!
Fornast — Reported to be a statistical anomaly, lacking any mid-sized political groups. Time to find out why!
Far Frontiers — It’s on the other side of Foreven, so I can use it to shape my game’s foray into the Gimli endeavour. Also, more of the Trelyn Domain!
Empty Quarter — It’s where the Bwaps come from!
Ealiyasiyw — An early site of ihatei conquest, and yet the Islaiat Dominate is hanging on!
Delphi — It’s mostly the Delphi Rift, but it’s known for its ‘anomalies’ and the influence of Tukera Lines!
Daibei — It’s seen a lot of fighting, but it also has the Evantha, who just don’t get enough love.
Dagudashaag — This sector has a metric ton of native sentient species and history!
Diaspora — It’s all imperial, but it’s still half Solomani. What could go wrong?
Crucis Margin — No one really seems to want this sector. Maybe it’s just because the Devi Intelligence is/are so oogy!
Antares — Where the pacification campaigns crashed and the border of the Julian Protectorate!
Here they are in reverse alphabetical order...
Zarushagar — It’s a toss-up between whether I want to play with the Darmine or the Thaki more!
Waroatahe — We’re talking Kusyu incognita here. The great quest for land is starting to run into the Great Rift and the Keawe Rift, making this a place where ihatei squeezing back against the clans. Fun!
Vland — Home of the Vilani!
Verge — It’s only half a sector, but it’s also the secret route to the soft, furry underbelly of the Hierate!
Star’s End — Relaxed K’kree! Truculent Humaniti! An obscure corner of the Julian Protectorate! (Not related to the world in Zarushagar)
Staihaia’yo — Clan Syoisuis’ (purported) home turf!
Spica — Hivers, meet Solomani. Solomani, meet Hivers. Sounds like a party to me!
Phlask (or maybe Ukan) — It’s mostly Hivers doing mysterious Hiver stuff, but there are also some Ithklur and a planet named Dumpty!
Old Expanses — They’ve seen a lot of action. A lot of action. And they have Veraq: All X-Boat Roues lead to Veraq!
Massilia — This is positioned to be the most Imperial of the Imperial sectors. Close to Core; nary even cultural zone. You just know it’s a smoldering powder keg! That and the Geonee!
Magyar — It’s got the Wuans, the New Slavs (Go, Magyars), and the squiggliest Solomani/Imperial border!
Lishun — Retorted to be a massage trade hub, and the J’sia are a hoot!
Leonidae — Home of the Dynchia, and there’s a Dynchia character in my game that I want to visit home. Also, Ithklur!
Karleaya — Aokhalte has a large presence here, and has been forced to occupy increasingly undesirable worlds, so this sounds like an unpleasantly inhospitable sector!
Ilelish — So adorably rebellious, but honestly, I’m all about the Suerrat!
Iwahfuah — Home base of the oh-so-Aslan Khaukheairl clan as well as a bunch of Solomani-settled, but culturally Aslan worlds!
Iphigenaia — An outpost of the Hierate, the largely central Asian Solomani of the Regency of Muirimi, and potential interest from the Zhodani!
Hlakhoi — The main route to the trans-rift Hierate and probably home of those weird, crusty Murissi (Carcinisation in action)!
Hinterworlds — This is number two for poetic sector names, but it has the rather creepy Outcasts of the Whispering Sky, and how could I resist that?
Gushemege — The down & dirty on the Lancians!
Glimmerdrift Reaches — My favorite poetical name for a sector. I don’t need another reason to want it.
Ftaoiyekyu — Meh. Absolutely nothing to see here. Move along!
Fornast — Reported to be a statistical anomaly, lacking any mid-sized political groups. Time to find out why!
Far Frontiers — It’s on the other side of Foreven, so I can use it to shape my game’s foray into the Gimli endeavour. Also, more of the Trelyn Domain!
Empty Quarter — It’s where the Bwaps come from!
Ealiyasiyw — An early site of ihatei conquest, and yet the Islaiat Dominate is hanging on!
Delphi — It’s mostly the Delphi Rift, but it’s known for its ‘anomalies’ and the influence of Tukera Lines!
Daibei — It’s seen a lot of fighting, but it also has the Evantha, who just don’t get enough love.
Dagudashaag — This sector has a metric ton of native sentient species and history!
Diaspora — It’s all imperial, but it’s still half Solomani. What could go wrong?
Crucis Margin — No one really seems to want this sector. Maybe it’s just because the Devi Intelligence is/are so oogy!
Antares — Where the pacification campaigns crashed and the border of the Julian Protectorate!
I’m looking forward to just about everything on the schedule except possibly the Free Trader Beowulf (it doesn’t sound like it has any actual game mechanics in it and it doesn’t fit my budget) I just wish Mongoose had listed a 2022 rewrite of the vehicle Handbook preferably done by Geir. Now don’t get me wrong I think that Colin’s chassis system was a good ideal but there are just to many internal inconsistencies in the book. For example the book says that by TL 12, fusion power is ubiquitous, though ultra-dense batteries are also found in many places. But there’s no reason to ever put a fusion power plant in a vehicle the additional size and the cost makes it impractical and there’s absolutely no advantage at all. Plus the duration of a fusion plant makes no sense either. That’s just one of the many inconsistencies plus with Geri’s awesome Robot book the two book need to be consistent with each other Between drones and other robotic vehicles the two books need to work hand in hand.
