Traveller Wishlists for 2015

[Rick]

OK, I'm gonna post large tho I don't think what I'm asking for is on Mongoose's mind:
A NON 3rd Imperium Sci-Fi setting. We have 2300 which is good but I would stop short of a Culture like setting as the tech would appear to be too high, there's just too much hand waving in the Culture books for my liking. I'm thinking TL13-15 being the max. To be honest I think this may be best served by 3rd party settings in Foreven so maybe this is moot and I should look into those.

I wonder if a non-3I space viking/post-collapse setting would work - I'm not thinking entirely about the TNE setting, but of the "Long Night" of Poul Anderson's Flandry series. There would undoubtedly be some similarities with TNE, but no Virus or vampire ships; part exploration, part uncovering ancient relics or declining civilizations; part Traveller adventuring. Average Tech level around 12-13ish, with some relics perhaps going up to 15?

 

[phavoc]

I wonder if a non-3I space viking/post-collapse setting would work - I'm not thinking entirely about the TNE setting, but of the "Long Night" of Poul Anderson's Flandry series. There would undoubtedly be some similarities with TNE, but no Virus or vampire ships; part exploration, part uncovering ancient relics or declining civilizations; part Traveller adventuring. Average Tech level around 12-13ish, with some relics perhaps going up to 15?

Not sure how they are going to write the rules for hellburners and planet busters (re: Space Vikings).

 

[Rick]

I wonder if a non-3I space viking/post-collapse setting would work - I'm not thinking entirely about the TNE setting, but of the "Long Night" of Poul Anderson's Flandry series. There would undoubtedly be some similarities with TNE, but no Virus or vampire ships; part exploration, part uncovering ancient relics or declining civilizations; part Traveller adventuring. Average Tech level around 12-13ish, with some relics perhaps going up to 15?

Not sure how they are going to write the rules for hellburners and planet busters (re: Space Vikings).

Not sure I was going for an exact recreation of the book! I was using the 'space viking' idea in a similar way to TNE, as a way to describe the raid-style acquisition of higher tech items.

 

[dzanis]

I want Pirates of Drinax remaining adventures!!!

And I can't believe we went to third page without such wish

 

[GypsyComet]

Not sure I was going for an exact recreation of the book! I was using the 'space viking' idea in a similar way to TNE, as a way to describe the raid-style acquisition of higher tech items.

Which is, as you note, already covered in some form by TNE. Even if Mongoose isn't going there, the setting already has. That doesn't mean a new setting by Mongoose (or under their license) can't, but if if is being done for the sake of being "not the 3I", then some of its tropes need to change. To make it even more of a challenge, the 3I setting has actually done the same shtick three times, each with a different mixture of tropes. The initial rise of the Vilani, Geonee, and Suerrat 11,000 years ago was the first, re-exploring the space devastated by the Ancients 300,000 years before. Then the Third Imperium did it a thousand years ago, and a century and more into Mongoose's future the RC and Fourth Imperium do it all again.

 

[Rick]

Not sure I was going for an exact recreation of the book! I was using the 'space viking' idea in a similar way to TNE, as a way to describe the raid-style acquisition of higher tech items.

Which is, as you note, already covered in some form by TNE. Even if Mongoose isn't going there, the setting already has. That doesn't mean a new setting by Mongoose (or under their license) can't, but if if is being done for the sake of being "not the 3I", then some of its tropes need to change. To make it even more of a challenge, the 3I setting has actually done the same shtick three times, each with a different mixture of tropes. The initial rise of the Vilani, Geonee, and Suerrat 11,000 years ago was the first, re-exploring the space devastated by the Ancients 300,000 years before. Then the Third Imperium did it a thousand years ago, and a century and more into Mongoose's future the RC and Fourth Imperium do it all again.

Please read my original post. I like the concept of a post-collapse setting, recovery after hundreds of years of isolation, more like the Long Night of the Flandry setting, but I was very keen to get it away from the 3I and TNE setting, whilst acknowledging that there would always be similarities to TNE.
Completely different area of space entirely, completely different history and development, same Traveller rules mechanics.

 

[Hopeless]

Hmm... how about something similar to Traveller Earth 2 or Malo Korrigan I bet there would be interest in Traveller Cowboy Bepop... bet i spelt that wrong!

Is there any interest in a Traveller Blake Seven setting?

 

[GypsyComet]

I like the concept of a post-collapse setting, recovery after hundreds of years of isolation, more like the Long Night of the Flandry setting, but I was very keen to get it away from the 3I and TNE setting, whilst acknowledging that there would always be similarities to TNE.
Completely different area of space entirely, completely different history and development, same Traveller rules mechanics.

Anderson's Long Night was, IIRC, VERY long. He had a handful of stories set after it, compared to the two cycles before it, but he also visited the theme in his other cycle, the Psychotechic League, right near the end.

Traveller's Imperium owes a lot to the Terran Imperium of Flandry, actually. Its why I'm not sure it is different enough to set a post Night line that feels different enough without a lot of set up. That would be fun to do, though.

 

[JBRocky]

Hmm hat do I want to see? I have always been a big fan of the Alien Modules and since I am going to be in a game with a Droyne lets start there and add in K'Kree and Hiver since they are fun also. I would also like to see some more stuff dealing with the Zhodani maybe a new sector or stuff dealing with the Core expeditions or both. You could have something dealing with exploration and partial sector lists for stuff in Chtierabl or Vlanchiets Qlom would be ideal. Since I have never been a big fan of the Empress Wave an adventure can have something to deal with that and maybe stop it.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

Seeing the thread on WWII, I say perhaps Turtledove's Worldwar series Droyne, err..., The Race vs Humans!

(Yes, I know Droyne are not The Race!)

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

Is there any interest in a Traveller Blake Seven setting?

Personally I would like that... but it is realistically a very one-sided setting (after all who wants to play a bully-boy Federation trooper, or yet an actually evil character?), it's pretty likely every PC would be a rebel.

There is the Sevencyclopaedia for information already: http://www.hermit.org/blakes7/SevenCyc/index.html

 

[TrippyHippy]

I'd also like to see, some time in the future, a Traveller 'Supers' Book.

We have got Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog already, but actually the tabular-based design, along with lifepaths would indeed be very easy to replicate sci-fi-ish supers stories like Superman, X-Men and Guardians of the Galaxy.

I expect a few complainers too, but it would be sooo easy to implement and I bet there are a few mutant strains and superpowered aliens in the Universe somewhere....

 

[alex_greene]

Three things you can do immediately.
One, expand the characteristic DM table beyond 15, to show DMs for 16-17, 18-20 and on up.
Two, for some characteristics you can allow 3D or 4D along with the natural increases in species maxima.
Three, allow natural Notable traits of +3 and above.

Instant superstrength, superintelligence and all that.

Powers, well I'd have to work on that. Superspeed, invisibility, optic blasts, sorcery, non-psionic teleportation ... It is doable.

But no capes.

 

[GypsyComet]

There are two common modes to Super (fill in the attribute) mechanics. The more linear version takes the human-scale statistics and keeps expanding the range. Even if the meaning of the statistics isn't on a linear scale, the statistics' number value and inherent modifiers can be.

The granular version is where the statistics stay in the Human range, but then get a "power" added on to represent the super-ness.

With the skill system we have being very sensitive to excessive DMs, the second mode is probably better suited to Traveller.

 

[TrippyHippy]

There are two common modes to Super (fill in the attribute) mechanics. The more linear version takes the human-scale statistics and keeps expanding the range. Even if the meaning of the statistics isn't on a linear scale, the statistics' number value and inherent modifiers can be.

The granular version is where the statistics stay in the Human range, but then get a "power" added on to represent the super-ness.

With the skill system we have being very sensitive to excessive DMs, the second mode is probably better suited to Traveller.

I think the expansion of the stats (to an open ended, universal scale) would be inherently useful anyway - and it may be worthwhile to establish a fixed and consistent formula for bonuses too. It’s something that has always been a minor bug in the Mongoose Traveller system, in my view.

 

[dragoner]

A super science supplement, such as beyond TL15 would be interesting; and not just for gear, but for ships and other stuff (like orbitals).

 

[GypsyComet]

I think the expansion of the stats (to an open ended, universal scale) would be inherently useful anyway - and it may be worthwhile to establish a fixed and consistent formula for bonuses too. It’s something that has always been a minor bug in the Mongoose Traveller system, in my view.

The problem is that you get "super" modifiers long before the stats themselves are all that super. STR 18 is only twice as much lifting power as STR 9, but is a +4 vs a +1. On that scale, Spiderman is already in triple digits.

 

[TrippyHippy]

I think the expansion of the stats (to an open ended, universal scale) would be inherently useful anyway - and it may be worthwhile to establish a fixed and consistent formula for bonuses too. It’s something that has always been a minor bug in the Mongoose Traveller system, in my view.

The problem is that you get "super" modifiers long before the stats themselves are all that super. STR 18 is only twice as much lifting power as STR 9, but is a +4 vs a +1. On that scale, Spiderman is already in triple digits.

Well, that’s because the current formula is loosely (Characteristic/3)-2 (round down). Champions has a scale of Characteristic/5, which is coincidentally what it was with MegaTraveller too. Should the scale be changed?

 

[GypsyComet]

I think the expansion of the stats (to an open ended, universal scale) would be inherently useful anyway - and it may be worthwhile to establish a fixed and consistent formula for bonuses too. It’s something that has always been a minor bug in the Mongoose Traveller system, in my view.

The problem is that you get "super" modifiers long before the stats themselves are all that super. STR 18 is only twice as much lifting power as STR 9, but is a +4 vs a +1. On that scale, Spiderman is already in triple digits.

Well, that’s because the current formula is loosely (Characteristic/3)-2 (round down). Champions has a scale of Characteristic/5, which is coincidentally what it was with MegaTraveller too. Should the scale be changed?

Champions (and the original DC Heroes) make it work because the STR characteristic is not linear in the most obvious of "super" ways: lifting capacity. A Champions character with five more STR can lift twice as much, and that applies to a five point difference anywhere on the STR scale.

What may be useful here is to see what the Animal charts will let you do. See how two humans throwing punches and swinging random improvised weapons differs from two elephant-equivalents doing the same.

 

[Infojunky]

A super science supplement, such as beyond TL15 would be interesting; and not just for gear, but for ships and other stuff (like orbitals).

Isn't that called T5?

Though to be honest MgT is on its own Tech Level Progression as it is.