When will Mongoose shoot Strephon?

[alex_greene]

Well, before they kill Strephon, they have to have the Fifth Frontier War.

Do they?

What if Strephon's untimely demise while visiting the Marches under the guise of the Marquis of Ilelish precipitates the Fifth Frontier War - what could end up being known as the "Final" Frontier War?

Now imagine that as the real major plot of Tripwire, rather than the published one.

 

[kafka]

MegaTraveller does have quite the loyal following...just the execution (pardon the pun) of the Rebellion is what left a sour taste in many fans mouths. Probably, many CT fans toyed with the idea of executing the ultimate enigma and if they did not shame upon you.

Having said that, I think, a generalized War supplement might cover the same bases as MT. For what MT was in Marc's words...an excuse to move lots of fleets around and engage in combat. Now, to make things interesting he did not want to do another Frontier War where the Colonial Fleet would be pitted against another Frontier Fleet...he wanted the full blown thing...a Total War (say didn't GDW have a series of wargames called World War III). So do we need more of the same...maybe not...but certainly MgT should assist players who believe that the OTU is ossified by making more products that excite and show how fluid all things actually are. For that was the greatest contribution of MT. It showed that All that was Solid...suddenly melts into the Air.

 

[Jame Rowe]

Actually, we were going to reveal the Emperor was a Borg. . .

HA! I KNEW it! You're secretly plotting to replace the ENTIRE OTU with your OWN HOUSEBREW STAR TREK WARS!!!

:lol: :twisted:

 

[Treebore]

The best thing is for all of us to quit thinking of there being an "official" traveller universe. Its their homebrew which they use as the premise for publishing their products and their ideas. Which we then take and use as we want in our own home brews. The only thing "official" is what happens within our gaming groups.

Same thing with organized play, what happens at their tables is what is official for them, it does not make it official dogma that the rest of us must follow.

There would be a lot less board wars if people would just realize and accept that the only thing "official" is what a GM and their game group makes official within their group.

I don't acknowledge anything Marc Miller/GDW/Mongoose/ad infinitum do
as "official", only what happens at my game table is "official".

So if I use it, its "official" within my campaigns, if I don't use it, its just an unused idea.

 

[Charakan]

The best thing is for all of us to quit thinking of there being an "official" traveller universe. Its their homebrew which they use as the premise for publishing their products and their ideas. Which we then take and use as we want in our own home brews. The only thing "official" is what happens within our gaming groups.

Same thing with organized play, what happens at their tables is what is official for them, it does not make it official dogma that the rest of us must follow.

There would be a lot less board wars if people would just realize and accept that the only thing "official" is what a GM and their game group makes official within their group.

I don't acknowledge anything Marc Miller/GDW/Mongoose/ad infinitum do
as "official", only what happens at my game table is "official".

So if I use it, its "official" within my campaigns, if I don't use it, its just an unused idea.

This has got to be one of the most sensible statements I've seen about what happens with the timeline and have to say I totally agree with it.

 

[Techno-Guru]

Actually, we were going to reveal the Emperor was a Borg. . .

haha, nice.

While I agree with Treebore in general (my mantra for Mongoose Traveller has been "homebrew, homebrew, homebrew") this thread has been extremely amusing despite not knowing what any of you are talking about (again, I know nothing about offical Traveller lore.)
It reads like the developers of Ratchet and Clank decided to try their spin on Dune. Wheels within wheels, plots within plots, and all of it for the most grandiose game of musical chairs in all of creation.

 

[old gamer geek]

I hope there will be NO repeat NO shooting of /at/near/around Strephon. I always thought that was a bad move on GDW's part. not a fan of the later settings.

 

[Charakan]

I hope there will be NO repeat NO shooting of /at/near/around Strephon. I always thought that was a bad move on GDW's part. not a fan of the later settings.

You are right, we should nuke the place from orbit, it's the only way to be sure!

I can just imagine some imperial marine grunt running round the ruins of the palace saying "Game over man! game f***king over!".

Personally I'm not for retconning the timeline but if you want to play it that way at your table then more power to you.

 

[Treebore]

Sorry but "official" is what the Publisher produces. That way I can pick up a book for "Setting X" and be sure that it will follow certain general assumptions. The "official" part makes sure that when participating in a "Living Traveller" setting I'll get Jump Drives and Nobles and Tigress class dreadnaughts and won't end up with Warpdrives and Vulcans. OTU gives (unless we are talking RIFTS) a good feel for power levels, allow the easy use of materials even IF one builds his own.

Having an official setting allows me to quickly judge a potential group that claims to play "X"(1) by asking "Are you using the OTU?" instead of wasting my time doing chargen etc. only to find out during play that the use the "System of X" but not the setting. Even more important today when gamers meets die out and groups are found over the internet. And THE important thing during convention play.

One might not like the published universe and do his own, that's for each gamer to decide. But a game without an OTU (or multiple ones) is worthless to me, costing to much time/effort.

And I admit that I have yet to see/read/play in a fan/homebuild universe that is both interesting and does not borrow heavily from an established background. Granted the same is true for many modern RPG backgrounds (7th Sea, Loadland, GURPS:Reign of Steel to name a few)

(1) X can be Harnmaster/Cyberpunk/Traveller/StarTrek/StarWars/Shadowrun/DSA (okay with the last two NOT using the OTU is a reason to play)

Yeah, but I have also ran into such "OTU" die hards they throw a fit because you gave a planet 10 moons rather then the prescribed 12 in the "OTU" bibles.

Naturally I told such players to take a hike.

For my game, I use the Imperium, just don't expect it to have much in common with it as far as big events goes. I use the same planets, usually the same TL's, but my players have had wide ranging effects on the Imperium over the years, and my games reflect those, rather than what Marc Miller, GDW, or Mongoose "tell" me happened.

So if you want die hard "official" OTU histories to apply, definitely stay out of my games.

 

[andrew boulton]

The best thing is for all of us to quit thinking of there being an "official" traveller universe. Its their homebrew which they use as the premise for publishing their products and their ideas. Which we then take and use as we want in our own home brews. The only thing "official" is what happens within our gaming groups.

Everyone has the choice to use as little or as much of the OTU as they like. Don't like it? Fine, use your own TU. It's your game. But accept that many people *do* like and use the OTU.

 

[Starwolf]

Virus more or less killed Traveller, and ultimately killed GDW.

At the time, TNE was GDW best selling product. And if you have been reading up on the facts there were other factors that brought about GDWs demise.

When I came into Traveller after MT was released, I felt it was lacking a lot. It was just too big and with so many holes that it was difficult to make a game in the setting unless you managed to get the older CT books. Specially for the races and the adventures.

The MT setting had great potential, but had soo little support that it was impossible to make anything that was supporting canon.

TNE actually opened up the game for me for the first time. I hardly did run any traveller games prior to TNE.

Ruleswise MT is quite solid appart for the amount of errata needed to fix things.

If GDW/DGP hadn't botched the MT line, we never would have needed TNE as a setting.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

I have always treated the published OTU material as being the "official" version of things. What reality actually is, is up to me as the Referee and what the players do later on.

Remember the old adventure "Dagger at Efate"? Depending on how that event played out in your game, it could have SIGNFICANT effects on how the 5FW unfolds in the Regina Subsector. Take out Efate's starport and things go a lot differently later on.

So, in my game, several PCs died in their failed attempt to prevent the Dagger from destroying the starport. So, when the Zho's showed up there was not much Efate or the Imperium could do to stop them and that changed things when the peace was made...

Try fighting the 5FW board game with Efate as a Class X starport and see how it goes...

I bought the products, I can do what I want with them.

 

[Bygoneyrs]

Hmmm "what if?"...the Duke actually shot and killed the 3I Strephon and stayed and claimed the throne, and kept it? Have other different factions still Rebel as before but this time the Duke keeps his powerbase and that of the Core too. Maybe the Rebel factions of the Rebelllion all fight to leave the 3I, and not stay. Maybe they each state it is too corrupt to remain a part of, sighting the actions of the Duke and that the Moot backing him and etc. I would also have the external powers also see this as a perfect time to move against the 3I.

Penn

 

[Treebore]

The best thing is for all of us to quit thinking of there being an "official" traveller universe. Its their homebrew which they use as the premise for publishing their products and their ideas. Which we then take and use as we want in our own home brews. The only thing "official" is what happens within our gaming groups.

Everyone has the choice to use as little or as much of the OTU as they like. Don't like it? Fine, use your own TU. It's your game. But accept that many people *do* like and use the OTU.

Which I have no problem with, what I have a problem with is people who give others crap for not adhering to it.

So that is why I say there is nothing "official", meaning no one is required to stick to OTU, and a certain segment of the Traveller fan population should get over themselves and accept it. By that I mean the ones who get rude and obnoxious about it, which isn't anyone I have noticed on these boards, everyone here seems very open and reasonable, especially in comparison to certain Trav boards I refuse to even go to.

Here we can at least chat about official versus not official and remain civil. Believe it or not, thats beyond the abilities of certain fans.

 

[Bygoneyrs]

Actually I didn't care very much for the Virus at all, I would have rather liked a broken up 3I instead.

Penn

 

[Sylvre Phire]

The main problem with the Rebellion always was that GDW/DGP didn't plan for it to "end", they where not willing to find a new "Status Quo". Instead they decided to start from fresh by collapsing civilisation through "Virus". Many gamers had/have problems with the concept of Virus and the switch in systems that changed quite a bit of the techbase (Fuel-Guzzler M-Drives and Tomahawk-Sized Space-Space Missiles i.e) didn't help either. The final setting was quite well done allowing a new gamer to "start small" with a limited history and universe yet providing material for expansion into the "pre-Virus" Empire.

Actually, DGP didn't have a hand in taking Traveller in the direction of TNE. There was actually a split between DGP and GDW on this issue, which led to DGP no longer supporting MT or any form of Traveller. The page for DGP on the Traveller wikia (http://traveller.wikia.com/wiki/Digest_Group_Publications) makes it pretty clear:

After the release of the March 1993 issue of the MegaTraveller Journal Four (MTJ4), DGP's last publication, the publisher was no longer allowed to contribute to the Traveller universe. This was due to a rift in the management of GDW in which the leadership of Traveller development shifted from Marc Miller to Frank Chadwick. Chadwick decided to take Traveller in a new direction, and created Traveller the New Era (TNE). Digest Group, which had already worked out an end to the saga of the Rebellion (which was scrapped by Chadwick), was blindsided by this move, and was further insulted by him by not being invited to participate in the development of TNE. It was made clear that DGP's license was not going to be renewed. With its current license to expire relatively soon, and faced with the prospect of supporting a crippled and deadended milieu (which is what MegaTraveller had become when the Rebellion plotline was scrapped)...

Pax et bonum,

Dale

 

[Nuclear Fridge Magnet]

The best thing is for all of us to quit thinking of there being an "official" traveller universe. Its their homebrew which they use as the premise for publishing their products and their ideas. Which we then take and use as we want in our own home brews. The only thing "official" is what happens within our gaming groups.

Everyone has the choice to use as little or as much of the OTU as they like. Don't like it? Fine, use your own TU. It's your game. But accept that many people *do* like and use the OTU.

Which I have no problem with, what I have a problem with is people who give others crap for not adhering to it.

So that is why I say there is nothing "official", meaning no one is required to stick to OTU, and a certain segment of the Traveller fan population should get over themselves and accept it. By that I mean the ones who get rude and obnoxious about it, which isn't anyone I have noticed on these boards, everyone here seems very open and reasonable, especially in comparison to certain Trav boards I refuse to even go to.

Here we can at least chat about official versus not official and remain civil. Believe it or not, thats beyond the abilities of certain fans.

Oh, I can believe it. :roll: My original Traveller DM would qualify as a 'rabid reactionary'.

 

[alex_greene]

A Foundation-style dissolution of the 3I, followed by a thousand year Second Long Night, would have been preferable, particularly one resulting in a stronger government which lasted longer than all of its predecessors combined.

I guess that's what the 1248 books were supposed to be about. At least, that may have been the intention.

 

[andrew boulton]

Which I have no problem with, what I have a problem with is people who give others crap for not adhering to it.

So that is why I say there is nothing "official", meaning no one is required to stick to OTU, and a certain segment of the Traveller fan population should get over themselves and accept it. By that I mean the ones who get rude and obnoxious about it

The OTU *is* official, but you're free to ignore it. I've never seen anyone say otherwise.

 

[kafka]

Hmmm "what if?"...the Duke actually shot and killed the 3I Strephon and stayed and claimed the throne, and kept it? Have other different factions still Rebel as before but this time the Duke keeps his powerbase and that of the Core too. Maybe the Rebel factions of the Rebelllion all fight to leave the 3I, and not stay. Maybe they each state it is too corrupt to remain a part of, sighting the actions of the Duke and that the Moot backing him and etc. I would also have the external powers also see this as a perfect time to move against the 3I.

Penn

There is the arguments right there for a MegaTraveller supplement...otherwise all the unresolved possibilities... This the problem with my earlier suggestion that we merge War with MegaTraveller. And, what you are suggesting is what fans of MT have been doing off and and on for years now. Take a concept and tweak it out.

A Foundation-style dissolution of the 3I, followed by a thousand year Second Long Night, would have been preferable, particularly one resulting in a stronger government which lasted longer than all of its predecessors combined.

I guess that's what the 1248 books were supposed to be about. At least, that may have been the intention.

Agreed that is part of what 1248 does... But, even a Foundation style dissolution would have likely gone the way of MT. The problem with MT is that it suffered from a wargame ethos rather than having some force (ok maybe IRIS was Foundationists in Imperial clothing) outside capable of putting humpty dumpty back together again...and following physics other powers were rushing to fill the vaccuum left by the collapse of the 3I but in good wargaming fashion they got blocked by an opposing army of the 3I...hence the need for the Virus...it is all quite logical when you look at GDW and the things they produced...it is largely the same game repeated numerous ways. What I am hoping that Mongoose has done is reset the clock to a certain extent and rebuild Traveller as RPG (with the emphasis on Role Playing) combining the best of the past and current developments in the industry.

Which I have no problem with, what I have a problem with is people who give others crap for not adhering to it.

So that is why I say there is nothing "official", meaning no one is required to stick to OTU, and a certain segment of the Traveller fan population should get over themselves and accept it. By that I mean the ones who get rude and obnoxious about it

The OTU *is* official, but you're free to ignore it. I've never seen anyone say otherwise.

No, Andrew. It was me who said that...
just kidding...ducks for cover.

All the OTU is a coherent history on top of the rules...it helps one to understand the rules but it is not the game. So, Andrew, well said. We old Grognards want sometimes to square the circle that was done in CT which is to have structured play (coherent history) and sandbox fun. So far, nothing Traveller has done has hemmed in either. As Referees are the ultimate rule and campaign setters.