What Properties Would You Like To See Mongoose Acquire?

[Twin Agate Dragons]

BABYLON 5 FO SHO!!!!

 

[Jeff Hopper]

I know that this thread is about acquiring properties to be used with Traveller , but I'd like to suggest an alternative.

Several authors have appeared multiple times because their IP universes inspire and entertain us. Instead of getting the rights to something already made, why not hire the writers themselves to work on a co-operative setting for Traveller that would be supported by their fiction? The project would be a shared universe similar to Medea: Harlan's World for Traveller.

I'm pretty sure that this would be initially expensive, yet you are tapping into not only the Traveller market but also the fanbase of each individual author who is involved in the project - which will also expand the Traveller market as well through association.

Something to think about, regardless.

 

[lastbesthope]

Robert Buettner's Orphan series

LBH

 

[Anonymous]

Space 1889 is already being redone as a Savage World book http://www.peginc.com/Art/Articles/Space1889/Space1889.html

Foundation is the next book for Thousand Suns by Rogue Games http://www.rogue-games.net/thousandsuns/tsfoundation.html

 

[G. K. Zhukov]

Foundation is the next book for Thousand Suns by Rogue Games http://www.rogue-games.net/thousandsuns/tsfoundation.html

Thanks for the heads up, Rog!

 

[Anonymous]

I aim to please being a fountain of useless information :lol:

 

[Sevya]

There's already been some work done on a Dirtside II and Stargrunt II conversion, though to Classic Traveller rather than Mongoose - check out Ken Pick's Striker Zero at Freelance Traveller.

Thank you for the link. I've thought a bit about that myself, and I like a lot of the work there. I'm working on a Striker conversion for Battlefield Evolution.

Sevya

 

[Vandal]

H. Beam Piper's Terro-Human Future History

 

[Guardnacho]

I'm in favor of more fantastic SF titles: Doctor Who and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Both have loyal fan bases. The Doctor is enjoying popularity here in the states. ( I watch it on 3 different networks). HHGTG is having a new book as written well.

I know that Traveller is Hard Science Fiction. But the rules, by their elegant mechanic, can easily adapt. Also either license gives wide latitude for alien Tech books and worlds.

 

[Wyrmsbane]

Ian Douglas's Semper Mars and the rest of the series.
More Hammers Slammers!!
Some kind of cyber game, maybe like William Shatners "Tek" series, not a cyber punk but close.
David Sherman and Dan Craig's "Starfist" series.

 

[Anonymous]

Not interested at all - traveller is all about 3I for me.

 

[Lorcan Nagle]

I'd love for B5 to continue, but if the all ighty ollar says they can't sustain it, then I'd rather we get more Traveller in general...

Second the works of Alastair Reynolds, Peter Hamilton (I hactually ran sme ideas on converting Hamilton's Night's Dawn and Commonwealth books through my head when I first got the core rulebook), and Allen Steele, and series like Appleseed/Ghost in the Shell, Nikoli Dante, Nemesis/ABC Warriors and Rogue Trooper.

For some other suggestions: How about some mecha stuff like Macross or Gundam? There's a lot of potential there, but the value of the franchises is much higher in Japan than here. Also, the Accelerando/Glasshouse universe by Charles Stross has a lot of potential for Transhumanist games.

Or how about licensing other RPGs like used to be done for D20?

And one last thing for the peopel who cited Transhumanist and recent SF writers: Are you familiar with Eclipse Phase? New Transhuan RPG from Catalyst Game Labs - they who currently publish BattleTech and Shadowrun:http://www.eclipsephase.com/ for more info.

 

[djd]

I'd add my votes for Stainless Steel Rat, Polity and Culture books. A Traveller cyberpunk sourcebook would also be welcome.

 

[Sevya]

A thought related to this occurred to me. There have been several games disappear, or at least loose the majority of their appeal, once the rights to the setting were lost. FASA's Star Trek, WEG's Star Wars, ICE's Middle Earth Role Playing, Mongoose's Starship Troopers and A Call to Arms are the big examples I can think of. On the other hand, the iconic games that are still around after decades usually have strong settings of their own, such as Dungeons and Dragons, Magic the Gathering and Warhammer 40K. There are a few exceptions. GURPS has done very well as a generic game, with no core GURPS setting at all, and Starfleet Battles has persisted mostly due to a strong core following and a license that cannot expire.

I don't know the terms of the licensing of Traveller that Mongoose has arranged, but it might be good to try to establish a strong in-house setting for the Traveller rules. It would need to be diverse enough to attract players interested in a wide range of scenario styles, detailed enough that everyone has an idea of what to expect and open enough that GM's and future developers have room to work.

Just a thought I had...

Sevya

 

[Anonymous]

A thought related to this occurred to me. There have been several games disappear, or at least loose the majority of their appeal, once the rights to the setting were lost. FASA's Star Trek, WEG's Star Wars, ICE's Middle Earth Role Playing, Mongoose's Starship Troopers and A Call to Arms are the big examples I can think of. On the other hand, the iconic games that are still around after decades usually have strong settings of their own, such as Dungeons and Dragons, Magic the Gathering and Warhammer 40K. There are a few exceptions. GURPS has done very well as a generic game, with no core GURPS setting at all, and Starfleet Battles has persisted mostly due to a strong core following and a license that cannot expire.

I don't know the terms of the licensing of Traveller that Mongoose has arranged, but it might be good to try to establish a strong in-house setting for the Traveller rules. It would need to be diverse enough to attract players interested in a wide range of scenario styles, detailed enough that everyone has an idea of what to expect and open enough that GM's and future developers have room to work.

Just a thought I had...

Sevya

Yes, to me the third imperium is traveller. There have been several sets of rules for playing in it but as a long time role player, I have found what counts in making a satisfying game which I keep coming back to and buying stuff for is the setting being internally consistent, rich and interesting. The exact types of dice are irrelevant except for the general principle that less is more.
I run and play games for their narrative content and the playing out and development of characters. For this I need a setting which is solid enough that characters and narrative can bounce off its boundries and limitations, not melt into its inconsistent chaos.
While I am very happy that mongoose is developing traveller and rejuvinating it and making it accessable to new players with a variety of settings (and I think they have done this very well) I think it is equally essential for the longevity of traveller that they really understand the 3I setting which has compelled die hards to keep this game alive for 30 years.
I remain to be convinced of this. I bought all the books initially, but now am very hesitant.

 

[GamerDude]

A thought related to this occurred to me. There have been several games disappear, or at least loose the majority of their appeal, once the rights to the setting were lost. FASA's Star Trek, WEG's Star Wars, ICE's Middle Earth Role Playing, Mongoose's Starship Troopers and A Call to Arms are the big examples I can think of.

WEG's Star Wars is still very popular here, along with MERP (one group has been running a small con around MERP for like 4-5 years now. Fairly well attended too).

Traveller has kept it's appeal even with GDW going under and such.

Mongoose hasn't lost the Starship Troopers license, they've just put the game (minis and RPG) on the back burner for a bit (who knows what their future plans for it are). Matt addressed this a while back on the forums and such. One of the ST licensees, not Mongoose, ran into some problems and all the licenses went into limbo. While this was going on ST products from Mongoose fell off of the radar. Once everything was settled Mongoose was given, as way of a 'thanks for waiting through all this' an extension of several years on the license for free.

 

[Sevya]

WEG's Star Wars is still very popular here, along with MERP (one group has been running a small con around MERP for like 4-5 years now. Fairly well attended too).

Traveller has kept it's appeal even with GDW going under and such.

Mongoose hasn't lost the Starship Troopers license, they've just put the game (minis and RPG) on the back burner for a bit (who knows what their future plans for it are). Matt addressed this a while back on the forums and such. One of the ST licensees, not Mongoose, ran into some problems and all the licenses went into limbo. While this was going on ST products from Mongoose fell off of the radar. Once everything was settled Mongoose was given, as way of a 'thanks for waiting through all this' an extension of several years on the license for free.

I had missed the thread in the forums about Starship Troopers. Thanks for the info.

I am not refuting anything you said. In fact, people still playing the games I mentioned helps to make my point. These are good games that went out of print (temporarily, in Starship Troopers' case) because of problems with the licensing.

Actually, with a little more thought put into it, I guess I really should have been thinking "Continue the Third Imperium setting." The more I thought about it, it would be pretty hard to come up with a new, unique setting for Traveller that didn't just feel like Traveller with some tweaks. Other settings based on classic or current science fiction are fun, and I'll probably buy and play some of them, but it will always be Traveller in the setting of Babylon 5, for example, and not a Babylon 5 game.

Sevya

 

[Dave Chase]

Another one to add to the growing list of properties

Living Steel


Dave Chase

 

[Alan Hume]

I would love to see Blake's 7 done by the mongoose 8)

and bringing back Babylon 5 would be a very good thing too

 

[Rex]

Space Academy/Jason of Star Command (because I feel Old)

Thundercats (Because I am being forced to post that for someone else and it actually, has potential as much as I hate to say it.)

~Rex