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Post by Vile Traveller on Sept 21, 2016 9:09:51 GMT -5
It takes a while for things to settle into a routine at the start of semester - hopefully I can contribute a bit again soon-ish. Although I do have a bit of work on the Journeymanne Rules and crowdfunder video I should be doing ... hmm, playing off procrastination against procrastination, that sounds like a plan!  |
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Post by Mighty Darci on Oct 19, 2016 7:18:14 GMT -5
Inspired by the Traveller Out-of-the-Box posts on the Tales to Astound! blog and makofan 's post on the OD&D Discussion forum, what do you think of our chances of putting together a subsector based on the 1977 LBBs? I know we're a small community, but the recent one-page setting contest seems to show there is enough will and talent here. The only question is whether you'd all be interested in doing something like this for old-school CT. The idea is that I would prepare the blank map using only the random method in LBB3 (including '77-style space lanes), and everyone would take it from there to develop their own clusters or individual worlds (in communication with your neighbours if you feel so inclined - we found this was the most fun part when we developed the Spica Sector for Spica Publishing years ago). Interested? I realize that those of you who are going to play this are all busy out in the real world right now and that setting up the game with worlds and groups, etc. has to be done first. When you and makofan get a bit more time and are a little closer to playing I would like to know a bit more about Traveller and the LBBs mashup is going work and what play would look like. |
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Post by makofan on Oct 19, 2016 10:16:24 GMT -5
Hello Darci
The only project here is creating a Traveller 1977 subsector. People who own Traveller (and Classic Traveller used to be a free download) are all taking a planet or planets and developing them. The idea is then we will have a sandbox for any GM's to grab and use
I thought it might be fun to run a game with some friends in the subsector we are creating and post session reports, but there is no organized online gaming planned.
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Post by Admin Pete on Oct 19, 2016 11:47:40 GMT -5
Is Classic Traveller still available as a download free or not-free anywhere? I find myself wanting to take a look at it. I have never played or looked at it and this making this old guy want to check it out/
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Post by Mighty Darci on Oct 19, 2016 11:57:48 GMT -5
Hello Darci The only project here is creating a Traveller 1977 subsector. People who own Traveller (and Classic Traveller used to be a free download) are all taking a planet or planets and developing them. The idea is then we will have a sandbox for any GM's to grab and use I thought it might be fun to run a game with some friends in the subsector we are creating and post session reports, but there is no organized online gaming planned. OK, I got the impression, apparently in error, that this was going to proceed an online game here. Is Classic Traveller still available as a download free or not-free anywhere? I find myself wanting to take a look at it. I have never played or looked at it and this making this old guy want to check it out/ I too would like to check this out if it is available. I might take some planets, if I knew what to do with them and the terminology to use. |
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Post by makofan on Oct 19, 2016 14:27:05 GMT -5
I currently have found no legal sites with free PDF. It is currently $13.40 at www.drivethrurpg.com/product/80190/CTSTStarter-TravellerI was fortunate enough to download my copy in 2010 when it was made freely available It is basically a rearrangement of Books 1-3 1981 version, and uses range bands instead of vectors for space combat (a big improvement I think in terms of ease of use) |
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Post by makofan on Oct 19, 2016 14:41:18 GMT -5
Darci
Traveller is a scifi system framework based on 2d6 rolls. Stats are rolled on 2d6, Str Dex End Int Edu Soc, and the numbers 10 through 15 displayed as hexidecimal notation. SO if I rolled 7, 6, 7, 8, 11, 9 my character profile would be 7678B9
Planets, ships, creatures, people can all be basically described with one line of numbers and letters - very elegant, if a bit dry. It is up to the GM to breathe some life into it.
It has basic rules for technology levels, combat from clubs to plasma guns, ship combat, ship building, economics, world building, animal and robot creation, psionics, you name it.
It is a skill based system and usually you need 8+ to do something, so if you have Laser Rifle-2, you roll 2d6, add 2 to your number, and need to get an 8 to hit with a laser rifle. Of course the GM will have other modifiers like range, cover, etc
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Post by randyb on Oct 19, 2016 15:37:18 GMT -5
I currently have found no legal sites with free PDF. It is currently $13.40 at www.drivethrurpg.com/product/80190/CTSTStarter-TravellerI was fortunate enough to download my copy in 2010 when it was made freely available It is basically a rearrangement of Books 1-3 1981 version, and uses range bands instead of vectors for space combat (a big improvement I think in terms of ease of use) Actually, the 1977 edition of Traveller is only available (to my knowledge) on the Classic Traveller CD-ROM (available here: www.farfuture.net/FFE-CDROMs.html note that the CD-ROM currently includes both the 1977 edition and the 1981 edition). Fixed the link- minor change (Admin) |
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Post by Admin Pete on Oct 19, 2016 15:52:37 GMT -5
The Classic Traveller link lists the CD contents as containing , more than 60 books (totaling some 3,000 pages and more than half a million words) is the authoritative set of materials for the Classic Traveller game system. All of this for $35.00 is a pretty good deal.
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Post by Mighty Darci on Oct 19, 2016 22:58:43 GMT -5
That is something to think about for Christmas.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2016 5:12:04 GMT -5
The Cepheus Engine SRD from Samardan Press on Drivethru RPG is pay what you want and as near as I can tell is Traveller Books 1-3 minus all Imperium data ... It's also very well organized. I'd print this up if I lost my Traveller Books.
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Post by Vile Traveller on Oct 20, 2016 7:24:51 GMT -5
The CD-ROMs are incredibly good value. I highly recommend them. Apocrypha II has all the Judges Guild Traveller stuff.
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Post by Admin Pete on Oct 20, 2016 10:39:36 GMT -5
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Post by Vile Traveller on Oct 20, 2016 10:43:25 GMT -5
I've started to put the grabbed worlds into booklet form, which will help (me, at least) to get an understanding of the place and allow extra tweaks to make the worlds properly interactive.
At some point the bugbear of planetary maps is going to raise its head. I wonder if any of the Piazza mapmakers have tackled old-school Traveller planets, with hex symbols and stuff?
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Post by Mighty Darci on Oct 20, 2016 11:34:23 GMT -5
Hexidecimal notation (base 16) looks like it would take some getting used to.  If I were able to get a copy of the Traveller Rules, are the suns and planets already created and I would need to come up with how to use those worlds or are there suns out there available and I would come up with the planets and who or what occupies them? |
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Post by Mighty Darci on Oct 20, 2016 11:35:36 GMT -5
Would this be close enough to allow me to participate or would I need the actual Traveller Rules? |
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Post by makofan on Oct 20, 2016 13:28:16 GMT -5
I would bet that the Cepheus SRD document would be good enough to read and participate. I took a quick perusal of its Table of Contents
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Post by makofan on Oct 20, 2016 13:34:36 GMT -5
Just to blow your mind, this link travellermap.com/ is an interactive drill down map based on the universe created for GDW's vision. You can even download PDF's of system data. We of course are creating our own. Basically, you take an undeveloped planet from the list, for example 0804 B 45468D-9 Gas Giant You look up what each code means, describe it in a short paragraph, and find creative ways to link those stats into a unique world. Take a look at what I did with 0101 Muskatoon A 562584-E and you can see the idea |
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Post by ffilz on Oct 20, 2016 21:40:29 GMT -5
The Cepheus Engine SRD from Samardan Press on Drivethru RPG is pay what you want and as near as I can tell is Traveller Books 1-3 minus all Imperium data ... It's also very well organized. I'd print this up if I lost my Traveller Books. From my reading it actually has some significant differences. Just did a quick read through, to me, all of the things that make 1977 Traveller interesting compared to newer versions are pretty much changed. I celebrate Cepheus Engine, but it's a different game that has numeric details that are in the same ranges as Classic Traveller such that it could be used to run any published Traveller adventure. Frank p.s. the sub-sector and world generation systems are not exactly compatible with Classic Traveller (CE modifies population for a variety of reasons where in Classic Traveller population is 2d6-2 with no modifiers, and in CE, star port is determined after population. Also, the space lanes rules are not present (though they have been posted in a variety of places). On the other hand, all of those bits have already been taken care of for our community sub-sector... |
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Post by Vile Traveller on Oct 20, 2016 23:45:40 GMT -5
p.s. the sub-sector and world generation systems are not exactly compatible with Classic Traveller (CE modifies population for a variety of reasons where in Classic Traveller population is 2d6-2 with no modifiers, and in CE, star port is determined after population. Also, the space lanes rules are not present (though they have been posted in a variety of places). On the other hand, all of those bits have already been taken care of for our community sub-sector... As the worlds have already been generated according to the 1977 LBB3 rules, anyone who wants to do a world-grab only needs to fill in the descriptions. Cepheus Engine seems to be okay for this, because the tables in Chapter 12 line up with the tables in LBB3. So yes, Mighty Darci, you should be able to use Cepheus Engine to participate in this project. I did print a copy of the SRD through Lulu, it's turning out to be a great reference. |
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Post by Vile Traveller on Oct 21, 2016 5:24:20 GMT -5
Grabbed another trio of worlds, so anyone who has an itch better scratch it quick before they're all gone! I have decided to call the subsector Murkhill, by the way ... EDIT, make that four, I just had to add the "subsector capital" Murkhill!  |
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Post by Admin Pete on Oct 21, 2016 9:24:51 GMT -5
Am I correct in this list of the remaining unclaimed worlds?
0202
0301
0704
0801
0803
0804
0805
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Post by makofan on Oct 21, 2016 9:48:07 GMT -5
Planet 0202 is already done (Miscatoon). The rest look unclaimed. I am thinking of doing 0301
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Post by Vile Traveller on Oct 21, 2016 9:52:50 GMT -5
In case you're wondering what brought on today's burst of productivity, it was brought to you courtesy of Sever Typhoon Haima, which hit the territory with a Typhoon No. 8 warning for the whole of today, which meant everyone got to stay home from work! Yay Haima!! Normally these bloody things hit in the night, so you can't sleep and still hve to go to work the next day. Or they hit in the morning, so you have to go to work in the afternoon. Or they hit in the afternoon, so you get to spend the entre afternoon stuck on overloaded train stations. But this one, she was a good one! |
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Post by Admin Pete on Oct 21, 2016 10:00:30 GMT -5
OK, cool so the list of unclaimed worlds is:
0301 (may be claimed soon)
0704
0801
0803
0804
0805
This other five look like they are all gas giants and are kind of a group also. I am not familiar the rules, so if someone takes a world with a gas giant can any of those be openly habitable worlds or does the gas giant (in the rules) make that type of world impossible? Not that I have time to take any of them, although I would love to, so just curious.
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Post by Admin Pete on Oct 21, 2016 10:02:04 GMT -5
In case you're wondering what brought on today's burst of productivity, it was brought to you courtesy of Sever Typhoon Haima, which hit the territory with a Typhoon No. 8 warning for the whole of today, which meant everyone got to stay home from work! Yay Haima!! Normally these bloody things hit in the night, so you can't sleep and still hve to go to work the next day. Or they hit in the morning, so you have to go to work in the afternoon. Or they hit in the afternoon, so you get to spend the entre afternoon stuck on overloaded train stations. But this one, she was a good one! OK, have fun and stay safe! |
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Post by Vile Traveller on Oct 21, 2016 10:12:22 GMT -5
I am not familiar the rules, so if someone takes a world with a gas giant can any of those be openly habitable worlds or does the gas giant (in the rules) make that type of world impossible? Not that I have time to take any of them, although I would love to, so just curious. No, that symbol just means there are gas giants in the system. The main world is still a planet, as per the UWP in the subsector data. I am being fast-and-loose with how I design the rest of the system other than the main world, the gas giant(s), and the scout or navy bases, if any - in the spirit of old school!  |
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Post by makofan on Oct 21, 2016 10:24:38 GMT -5
The gas giant is important as it is a source of fuel for ships that can scoop the gases and use unrefined fuel
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Post by Mighty Darci on Oct 21, 2016 12:52:42 GMT -5
OK I would like to take these
Now do I understand correctly that all I am doing first is taking the numbers that have already been assigned
and converting those numbers to words for the descriptions?
Also there would be no Star Bases and just the one Scout Base, is that correct?
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Post by makofan on Oct 21, 2016 13:54:28 GMT -5
No Naval Bases. The Star Ports are E, B, B, B, C (first letter of the string)
Yes, you would convert numbers to words, but you also need to add personal creativity. Why don't you start with one planet first
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If I were able to get a copy of the Traveller Rules, are the suns and planets already created and I would need to come up with how to use those worlds or are there suns out there available and I would come up with the planets and who or what occupies them?
