Mary Sues in Traveller

[kafka47]

To a certain extent, Game Designers always immortalize themselves by shifting around their names and those they love, etc. Traveller is littered with refers to Marc. Whether, it is the Oberlines CEO or Jameson. I never saw this Mary Sue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue) coming until I looked at the first page (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=64319). How about others...have they found obscure Mary Sues...

I bet somewhere there must be Mnod system lurking somewhere in T5.

 

[scrabble]

Grandfather.

 

[far-trader]

Oh that* Yeah I grinned when I saw it too. But I don't think it was intentional, just a case of not planning ahe

ad

*

Spoiler:

The Spinward Marc bit I'm guessing

 

[WarriorKnight]

I it looks like a case of misjudging space needed.Still I looked at it & laughed.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Krypton is listed in the official Atlas of the Imperium.

 

[WarriorKnight]

Really;what page?

 

[Blue Ghost]

Oh, I can't remember, but I distinctly remember seeing it several times. It's there. Sorry for not remembering the page.

 

[WarriorKnight]

Oh, I can't remember, but I distinctly remember seeing it several times. It's there. Sorry for not remembering the page.

Thats cool;gives me a project to do this weekend. ; )

 

[far-trader]

Really;what page?

Solomani Rim 0330

I recalled it too but had to search http://www.travellermap.com/

I think I recall seeing some other world tributes in various products (the whole Sword Worlds of course) but I don't see the ones I thought I recalled, or I'm misspelling them.

 

[beowulf2044]

For those who recall the Dick Van Dyke show, there is the planet Remulak

 

[sabredog]

Remulak is where the Coneheads came from.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

I did chuckle when I discovered the translation of shugilii...

 

[deniable]

Remulak is where the Coneheads came from.

I remember the TNS from a Challenge issue where relief efforts were under way on Remulak due to a severe shortage of beer and chips.

 

[beowulf2044]

D'Oh! That's correct. I was thinking of the planet Twylo.

 

[fiat_knox]

The Zhodani word Tliaqrnad means "Miller."

On another note, who's Mary and why's she suing Traveller?

 

[far-trader]

Swinging back to "The Spinward Marches" again, the term March in this context is interchangeable with Mark. Though whether that is an easter egg or coincidence I don't know.

 

[scrabble]

I never saw this Mary Sue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue) coming until I looked at the first page

I think you should read that article more carefully. A "Mary Sue" is not "an homage to something else", or an "inside joke" or an "easter egg", as you seem to be interpreting it:

"A Mary Sue (sometimes just Sue), in literary criticism and particularly in fanfiction, is a fictional character with overly idealized and hackneyed mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws, and primarily functioning as wish-fulfillment fantasies for their authors or readers."

Grandfather seems to fit this definition quite nicely. He is an all-powerful being, unquestionably knowledgeable about everything, can completely control characters, and is very clearly Marc Miller's "GM character".

 

[Ran Targas]

RPGs have a long history of Mary Sues. D&D is rife with them; most of the everything in Greyhawk, including its greatest heroes and villians, is based on Gygax's first dungeon delving adventures with his son, Dave Arneson, Rob Kuntz, and the other first generation of RPGers. Some of the most powerful spells and artifacts in later books took their names from the characters these players rolled up at Gary's kitchen table.

Imagine your homegrown campaign morphing into the largest RPG system in existence.

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

Remulak was where the Coneheads came from. The Twilo-ites came from Twilo ("Lolac of Twilo" was HOT!).

 

[Ran Targas]

"Narfle the garthok!" Don't know why, but that movie always makes me laugh. "We are from France!" I just love it!