Traveller tech stuck in the 70's?

[Baron_Vulk_Morden]

It's a fun book, but the source material is very satirical so don't expect the sourcebook to be overly serious. And the sorcery portion is only one chapter. Still, the material was well-written and would easily let me run a Fading Suns game using MGT, which made it worth it to me.

Now if they'd only do a Nemesis the Warlock sourcebook ...

And there's a reference that went right by me.

Sorry, the only Warlock I'm familiar with is Adam Warlock, Jim Starlin's (and Marvel Comics') favorite space-going Elric wannabe.

For those not familiar, he's a space-going genetically-engineered sorcerer who has the nasty habit of having to employ time-travel in order to assassinate a despot from the future... who just happens to be a future version of him!

 

[rust]

And there's a reference that went right by me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemesis_the_Warlock

 

[Baron_Vulk_Morden]

While I'm unfamiliar with the character, I recognize Kevin O'Neil's artwork style from the story he did with Alan Moore, Here There Be Tygers, from a Green Lantern annual. This years major in-house crossover arc was based off of that story.

 

[Vargr]

I do think it is difficult with a group of players, to say 'you cant use all the nice new chrome' without sounding like a killjoy, however. Easier to add options than take them away, I always find.

If you don't supply the splatbook there will be no chrome, will there?

Nice new chrone? What nice new chrome? No new chrome around here! Move along folks, disperse! Shoo! Back to your homes!

We are discerning consumers, aren't we? If you don't want n-chrome then don't get "Chromium Sourcebook X". :wink:

 

[rust]

When a SciFi game (or novel) needs an explanation of it's tech beyond "it works" the game/novel IMHO has a serious problem - lack of action/flow. Tech explanations as a running gag (Carter in StarGate) work in a novel/movie if used occasionally but rarely in a game.

Well, this would turn dozens of supplements like TNE's Fire, Fusion & Steel
with their detailed explanations of how technologies work into a proof that
Traveller has a serious problem and lacks action / flow .... :lol:

 

[phavoc]

I never had a problem with the tech in Traveller. Granted, using Mega or TNE instead of CT/T20/MGT helps a lot since most of the problematic stuff (Huge computers i.e) does not exist there. As for the rest:

When a SciFi game (or novel) needs an explanation of it's tech beyond "it works" the game/novel IMHO has a serious problem - lack of action/flow. Tech explanations as a running gag (Carter in StarGate) work in a novel/movie if used occasionally but rarely in a game. Even most TechnoThrillers put the "this is how it works" stuff in an appendix (If they explain it at all)

Personally I'm the opposite of that. In Sci-Fi games, with emphasis on the "Sci", half the fun is understanding the things. There is obviously a demand for more background behind the tech, as evidenced by the books and supplements that get published. The people I play with are pretty far advanced from the "pointy end towards enemy" simplification I think you are referring to.

Having a general understanding of things allows for characters to come up with the ideas that they can EVA outside the ship to get to another part, or that slug throwers in zero-g are a bad idea unless you are planning on going somewhere.

And for some people its just fun to design stuff and then blow it up (or conversely design stuff to blow up someone else's stuff). Background info is never wasted, but not everyone has to use it. But I believe its better to have more than you need and then you can decided to NOT use it if you so choose. But having little or nothing means you dont' have that choice to start with.

 

[rust]

Having a general understanding of things allows for characters to come up with the ideas that they can EVA outside the ship to get to another part, or that slug throwers in zero-g are a bad idea unless you are planning on going somewhere.

Yep, and at least in our campaigns an important part of the fun are cle-
ver ideas to use equipment for purposes it was not designed for, in or-
der to improvise new solutions for new problems. To be able to do this
requires at least a basic knowledge of how the technology in question
works.

To use your example: If one does not know the difference between how
a laser rifle and an assault rifle works, one can hardly understand why
an assault rifle is a much better replacement for a damaged jet pack in
zero-g than a laser rifle.

 

[phavoc]

When a SciFi game (or novel) needs an explanation of it's tech beyond "it works" the game/novel IMHO has a serious problem - lack of action/flow. Tech explanations as a running gag (Carter in StarGate) work in a novel/movie if used occasionally but rarely in a game.

Well, this would turn dozens of supplements like TNE's Fire, Fusion & Steel
with their detailed explanations of how technologies work into a proof that
Traveller has a serious problem and lacks action / flow .... :lol:

Traveller HAS this problem on occasions. FFS is much to detailed for a game supplement IMHO. OTHO it is not the stuff that generally ends up on a gaming table. Same with a lot of TNE engine/reactor/weaponstech. Too much detail.

I never cared how the StarGates worked in SG1 (except that it took 5 years and three supercomputers to McGyver something together...) nor what engines/fuel a BC304 uses. Same with Traveller. All I need to know about reactionless thrusters is that they take energy on Plug A and produce Thrust through Nozzle N. Who cares how?(1) Same with Laser rifles. I need to know they have no recoil but not why.



(1) Knowing that older thrusters are limited to the 100D range before thrust drops off may be important. WHY they do it isn't

Yeah, I agree FF&S only really appeals to a minority. It's waaayy too detailed for the casual gamer. But for the grognard who really likes to do that sort of stuff, it's a great way to develop new weapons and vehicles for the rest.

Personally I prefer a balance. I don't want to understand quantum mechanics and stellar astrography in order to jump from star system to star system. But I do want to have more background than push a button and magically appear in the next star system.

I like to think a richer defined game setting benefits us all. Too much detail bogs down the game, but too little also takes away from it IMHO.

 

[rust]

Just where in between those two is the question.

I think it will depend a lot on the style of the campaign and on the players
involved. While a cinematic campaign could well do without many explana-
tions, a simulationist one is more likely to require them, and a group of
accountants will probably ask the referee for less technology details than
a group of aerospace engineers.

 

[phavoc]

Agreed. The level of detail should IMHO be somewhere between "FFS"/Spielberger "The Panzerkampfwagen V" on the upper end and "Shadowrun Rigger Black Book"/"It works" on the other. Just where in between those two is the question.

Not to belittle "The Panzerkampfwagen V". It's a great book if you like Panther tanks or plan on building a 1:35 model of one.

WTF?? Nazi's in space??? Whaddya gonna cite as an example next? Admiral Guderian ordering his Space Tiger VI's with Space Stuka support to blitzkreig their way through the Zhodani Consulate? :lol:

Patton and the Third Army don't really translate well into being Zhodani's. After all, he coulda psyched-probed that poor soldier he slapped in Sicilily and known immediately if he was goldbricking or not.

Aww, WW2 trivia... never know when it's gonna come in handy.

 

[rust]

Admiral Guderian ordering his Space Tiger VI's with Space Stuka support to blitzkreig their way through the Zhodani Consulate?

Which traitor told you about our secret campaign ? :shock:

Glad you did not spill the beans on Admiral Yamamoto's Battle Rider Squa-
dron ...

 

[phavoc]

Guderian would use a starship that looks like a duck. After all the "Guderian duck" is (in)famous (1) Besides in Traveller the roles are clear:

Zee Germans are played by the Solomanie
The Americans are played by the Imperials
The Japanes and the Aslan go Katana in Dewclaw
The Sowjets and the Zhodanie fit each other.

Just who plays the Italians and the Brits is the question.

(1) A "Guderianente" is the nickname for the Jagdpanzer IV/70 due to the extremly long barrel and a tendency to drop the front and raise the rear. Like in an old german song about duckies. A "Bundeswehrente" is the (similar looking) Jagdpanzer 4-5 "KaJaPa"

I vote for the Vargr to play the eye-talians.

Maybe Hivers for the Brits? They have some right-odd sexual reproductive methods, much like the Brits. Seems like a jolly-good in my mind!

 

[Vargr]

a group of accountants will probably ask the referee for less technology details than a group of aerospace engineers.

No, they will ask for MORE detail, in triplicate, and on their desks by Friday. :lol:

 

[The Chef]

Maybe Hivers for the Brits? They have some right-odd sexual reproductive methods, much like the Brits. Seems like a jolly-good in my mind!

LOL... "so old chap, i take it we're to sit here all dandy waiting for the damned imperials to go all gung ho and save the day hmmm what.

tea??"

Chef

(who is unreservedly british.. odd reproductive methods aside)

 

[rust]

I am beginning to suspect that the Darrians might have a British streak ...

 

[rust]

No, they will ask for MORE detail, in triplicate, and on their desks by Friday. :lol:

We have banned that kind of accountants from our gaming table after
they demanded the presence of a sworn in public notary to certify all
dice roll results. :lol:

 

[BP]

I heard the Arthur Andersen folks had a great campaign planned (well, once they finished designing the spacecraft within a year or two) - but, alas, all the evidence is gone...

 

[rust]

I heard the Arthur Andersen folks had a great campaign planned (well, once they finished designing the spacecraft within a year or two) - but, alas, all the evidence is gone...

I knew that campaign was doomed when I heard that someone from Leh-
man Brothers worked on a spreadsheet for the speculative trading ...

 

[BP]

I knew that campaign was doomed when I heard that someone from Lehman Brothers worked on a spreadsheet for the speculative trading ...

Ah - heard that did you - well, I think that was their other campaign, you know 'Obstruction of Justice – The Shredding Incident' (I think it was situated somewhere in the Abyss Rift, or maybe that was the SEC Reaches in the Enron Sector...)

 

[BP]

Hey, I think I just stumbled upon a new setting concept - AIS...

Of course, Accountants in Space, will require a few general game mechanic changes - DMs will be replaced with DMs and CMs, which must be stated as CM 2- and DM 3+. Oh, and the Time Frames Table on pg 50 will be replaced by a Depreciation Schedule (which only allows Accellerated changes for difficulty adjustments). Also, no more simple interest for starship mortgages. And all campaigns must start and end on the fiscal calendar.

The Imperium will be replaced by The Fed.