Vehicle Construction System

[rust]

This looks like more good news from Mongoose, coming through
Mongoose Planet:

The Traveller vehicle system is very much an internal project at the moment. It needs to satisfy the entire Traveller line, as well as the OTU/Imperium, so some tweaking to the original design rules will be necessary. The idea is for a system that will support the design of every kind of vehicle, from bikes, through dirigibles, through jet fighters and up to aircraft carriers and beyond. Prelim system is done, but various tweaks, not to mention simplicity, needs to be introduced.

A vehicle construction system that is as versatile as, but less compli-
cated than, Fire, Fusion & Steel would be really welcome, I think.

Plus, it mentions an aircraft carrier, so this time there is hope that it
will include watercraft too !

 

[Vile]

I hope it is compatible with space craft design, too, although the preview doesn't say anything about that.

 

[SnowDog]

I am waiting for that kind of supplement. I really liked FF&S in TNE and I spent some time designing various vehicles and weapons (small arms, mainly). Very nifty.

 

[collins355]

I certainly hope they play-test it well (I like the reference to an 'internal project'). Too many Traveller vehicle design systems have proven duds when released on an unsuspecting public. It is hard to have a coherent system, not too complicated, that designs everything from a bike to an aircraft carrier, and is consistent with existing MongTrav rules and equipment. Previous vehicle design systems have all fallen down at one or more of these hurdles (although YMMV, of course).

 

[Eisenmann]

Nice. We definitely need some sort of construction kit. I'm very much looking forward to this.

 

[far-trader]

It is hard...

:lol:

Your definition of hard sounds like mine for impossible

 

[rust]

Your definition of hard sounds like mine for impossible

Well, I do not think that it is impossible.

In my opinion GURPS Vehicles could have come close to a good system
(and for many people it is one), but from my point of view the designers
just got carried away by their love for more or less unimportant details.
A system like that one, only more streamlined, could well do the job, I
think.

 

[Jame Rowe]

For me, GURPS Vehicles is like GURPS Traveller's spaceship construction - interesting, but ultimately confusing, frustrating and therefore useless.

I'd like something like what's in the core rules book, compatible with it (although for the starships I would like to be able to build starships up to 250,000 tons without all the mathematics that Book 5 made me use), and able to build anything from a bycicle to an APC to a submarine to a space dreadnought.

 

[aspqrz]

For me, GURPS Vehicles is like GURPS Traveller's spaceship construction - interesting, but ultimately confusing, frustrating and therefore useless.

I'd like something like what's in the core rules book, compatible with it (although for the starships I would like to be able to build starships up to 250,000 tons without all the mathematics that Book 5 made me use), and able to build anything from a bycicle to an APC to a submarine to a space dreadnought.

BTRC's "Stuff" ... all done by use of addition and subtraction of modifiers.

Allows you to design weapons, vehicles, gadgets (anything not a weapon and not a vehicle), creatures (!), civilisations (!) and ... well, pretty much anything you're likely to need ... all to a consistent level of detail and interlockedness.

I use it mainly to reverse engineer real world stuff and then extrapolate to future developments of the same, but it is designed to work from scratch.

Available at dtrpg, rpgnow and lots of other PDFG selling places. Well worth the dough (IMHO, of course )

And, no, Greg doesn't pay me a fee for the plugs ... but I did assist with the playtesting 8)

Phil

 

[rust]

BTRC's "Stuff" ... all done by use of addition and subtraction of modifiers.

If this is the EABA "Stuff !", it really looks very good, although I would
prefer a system with a little more detail (somewhere between GURPS
and Stuff) and a direct compatibility with the Traveller rules system.

But, yes, Stuff ! indeed is a very good recommendation, I think.

 

[Eisenmann]

Silcore has a fantastic construction system. I've used it in the past to put together ideas and ported them to Traveller.

 

[GypsyComet]

I've seen Traveller vehicles done Book 2 simple, but that was a long time ago. Space Gamer #40 or 41 had a whopping two or three page system. The results could get a bit odd in light of the systems GDW released a bit later, but it would have been worth making adjustable, I think.

 

[aspqrz]

BTRC's "Stuff" ... all done by use of addition and subtraction of modifiers.

If this is the EABA "Stuff !", it really looks very good, although I would
prefer a system with a little more detail (somewhere between GURPS
and Stuff) and a direct compatibility with the Traveller rules system.

But, yes, Stuff ! indeed is a very good recommendation, I think.

Yep. BTRC is the game company and EABA ("End All, Be All") is the game system.

There is actually a moderately extensive conversion chapter in the back of the book ... mainly for weapons ... 3G3, CORPS (both BTRC systems predating EABA), GURPS, HERO, Action System, Silhouette Core, Savage Worlds, JAGS, Impresa, GenreDiversioni, Albedo ... are covered specifically, but notes on how to convert other game systems.

For vehicles, well, equivalencies in kW ratings for engines and batteries are provided and the rest is generally not game specific. For Gadgets, well, only if the item incorporates some ability or skill, well, you have to convert from EABA skills/abilities, but that's not hard.

Likewise, Creatures ... convert from EABA stats isn't really that hard.

Civilisations. Well, I have some issues with its accuracy at lower levels, but the figures work well enough in broad swathes.

FWIW, I like it and use it a lot for a variety of game systems. 8)

Phil