10 questions to ask Joe Fugate
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2. How did Digest Group Publications begin? What inspired you start publishing for Traveller?
I think I somewhat covered this in my first answer, but let me elaborate a bit more.
I had a basically selfish reason for wanting to get involved publishing things for Traveller. I wanted to explore parts of the Traveller universe and to have an offical "need to know" on certain aspects of the background, or be in a position to make it up if no one knew.
I was not especially interested in getting a lot of fame, I was more interested in becoming so knowledgeable about the background that I would know the answer to most any question anyone could ask me, and it would be the official right answer.
In effect, I would know it almost as well as if I actually "lived" in the genre. I didn't actually want to live there, but it was a fun "alternate reality" to enjoy with my friends, and I wanted it to be as real as possible.
Then I worked to assemble a team around me who were each very good at helping me flesh out this detail, and in making a gaming session a real hoot.
The biggest eye-opener for me was to actually ROLE PLAY in character during a game. What a kick, once I realized you could do this! Being an old war gammer, I tended to think in terms of game mechanics and completely overlooked the element of staying in character while playing the game.
A real joy for me came one time when I was refereeing a game at a RPG convention. The group was trying to smuggle some stuff into the system on the sly, and I decided to create some suspense by having one of the local System Defense Boats perform a routine boarding check.
The group freaked, but then tried to play it cool. I acted as the SDB commander, and in character walked on board their ship, asked to speak to the commander, and be allowed to examine their manifest on their ships computer and to do a visual inspection of their hold. All in very official tones, trying very hard to keep a straight face while they tried to keep from looking freaked.
I conducted a pretty superficial inspection, but asked some potentionally embarassing questions that they cleverly answered in a way that sidestepped the issue unless I actually suspected them of fowl play (I already assumed the SDB commander wouldn't do anything unless they screwed up and let something slip).
They did well, so I rounded up my inspection troops (marines in body armor, by the way), wished the captain a safe voyage and returned to my SDB.
The crew and captain heaved a big sigh of relief and the guy playing the captain replied, "Well played! I used to be in the coast guard, and you played that role perfectly!"
Of course I was shooting from the hip doing impromptu roleplaying, but it sure was fun! Of everyone in the group, Gary was by far the best at this. He even used his linguistics background to figure out how a Vargr would speak Galanglic with a Gvegh accent. What a kick!
2. How did Digest Group Publications begin? What inspired you start publishing for Traveller?
I think I somewhat covered this in my first answer, but let me elaborate a bit more.
I had a basically selfish reason for wanting to get involved publishing things for Traveller. I wanted to explore parts of the Traveller universe and to have an offical "need to know" on certain aspects of the background, or be in a position to make it up if no one knew.
I was not especially interested in getting a lot of fame, I was more interested in becoming so knowledgeable about the background that I would know the answer to most any question anyone could ask me, and it would be the official right answer.
In effect, I would know it almost as well as if I actually "lived" in the genre. I didn't actually want to live there, but it was a fun "alternate reality" to enjoy with my friends, and I wanted it to be as real as possible.
Then I worked to assemble a team around me who were each very good at helping me flesh out this detail, and in making a gaming session a real hoot.
The biggest eye-opener for me was to actually ROLE PLAY in character during a game. What a kick, once I realized you could do this! Being an old war gammer, I tended to think in terms of game mechanics and completely overlooked the element of staying in character while playing the game.
A real joy for me came one time when I was refereeing a game at a RPG convention. The group was trying to smuggle some stuff into the system on the sly, and I decided to create some suspense by having one of the local System Defense Boats perform a routine boarding check.
The group freaked, but then tried to play it cool. I acted as the SDB commander, and in character walked on board their ship, asked to speak to the commander, and be allowed to examine their manifest on their ships computer and to do a visual inspection of their hold. All in very official tones, trying very hard to keep a straight face while they tried to keep from looking freaked.
I conducted a pretty superficial inspection, but asked some potentionally embarassing questions that they cleverly answered in a way that sidestepped the issue unless I actually suspected them of fowl play (I already assumed the SDB commander wouldn't do anything unless they screwed up and let something slip).
They did well, so I rounded up my inspection troops (marines in body armor, by the way), wished the captain a safe voyage and returned to my SDB.
The crew and captain heaved a big sigh of relief and the guy playing the captain replied, "Well played! I used to be in the coast guard, and you played that role perfectly!"
Of course I was shooting from the hip doing impromptu roleplaying, but it sure was fun! Of everyone in the group, Gary was by far the best at this. He even used his linguistics background to figure out how a Vargr would speak Galanglic with a Gvegh accent. What a kick!
Joe is writing from the West Coast of the US, specifically the State of Oregon, which is three hours behind the East Coast of the US, specifically Georgia, where QLI and its servers are located.Originally posted by rgd:
And I hope your clock is off or something, or are you a nightowl, posting at 3:31am!? (Oops, don't answer that - there are much more important Traveller questions to get to!)
So it was a "mere" 12:30AM for him...
(^_^)
Next question(s) ...
3. How surprised are you that Traveller is still going so strong after 26 years?
a) What would you pick, as the single element you think is most responsible for Traveller's continuing appeal after all these years?
I am surprised, yes. As the internet appeared on the horizon, and I saw the advent of pretty sophisticated video games, I expected the market to move that direction away from "paper and pencil" roleplaying. And wargaming was certainly becoming a shadow of what it once was in the 70s.
I also saw GDW "going south" and didn't expect them to last (which turned out to be true) and Marc was starting to consider employment outside the gaming industry. I knew he would always maintain rights to the game he invented, but I wasn't sure those rights would amount to anything.
I did speak with Marc about his rights to the game and I asked him if he would ever consider selling the rights and he just looked at me, smiled, and said "no". I fully understood. Were I in his shoes, that would have been my answer.
Why does the game still seem to be alive and well? One reason is Marc Miller. The guy has imagination and a quiet determination to keep doing something for his baby.
Another reason is the vast adventure possiblities in the game. Its background is compelling with the level of detail it has achieved, and its a refreshing change from more Star Trek or Star Wars.
And speaking of Hollywood, I think the Traveller genre is a great undiscovered third major SF storyline people would stand in line to watch on the big screen. If the producers of SF movies wanted to discover the next Star Wars, I think this is it. Oh well, dream on.
3. How surprised are you that Traveller is still going so strong after 26 years?
a) What would you pick, as the single element you think is most responsible for Traveller's continuing appeal after all these years?
I am surprised, yes. As the internet appeared on the horizon, and I saw the advent of pretty sophisticated video games, I expected the market to move that direction away from "paper and pencil" roleplaying. And wargaming was certainly becoming a shadow of what it once was in the 70s.
I also saw GDW "going south" and didn't expect them to last (which turned out to be true) and Marc was starting to consider employment outside the gaming industry. I knew he would always maintain rights to the game he invented, but I wasn't sure those rights would amount to anything.
I did speak with Marc about his rights to the game and I asked him if he would ever consider selling the rights and he just looked at me, smiled, and said "no". I fully understood. Were I in his shoes, that would have been my answer.
Why does the game still seem to be alive and well? One reason is Marc Miller. The guy has imagination and a quiet determination to keep doing something for his baby.
Another reason is the vast adventure possiblities in the game. Its background is compelling with the level of detail it has achieved, and its a refreshing change from more Star Trek or Star Wars.
And speaking of Hollywood, I think the Traveller genre is a great undiscovered third major SF storyline people would stand in line to watch on the big screen. If the producers of SF movies wanted to discover the next Star Wars, I think this is it. Oh well, dream on.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Thanks once again for answering our questions Joe
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Yes, very
Border Reiver
SOC-14 1K
Please Sir. Can I have some more?
I have one, which doesn't necessarily have to be answered by JoeFugate (though you'll see why he might want to).
Sorry to sound ignorant, but asking as someone who didn't get into Traveller (Our Favorite Game ) until G:T came out (indeed only heard of it once during TNE, when I was about 12). Who's Joe Fugate?
Sorry to sound ignorant, but asking as someone who didn't get into Traveller (Our Favorite Game
) until G:T came out (indeed only heard of it once during TNE, when I was about 12). Who's Joe Fugate?
daryen
SOC-14 1K
Joe Fugate was the founder of Digest Group Publications (DGP).
DGP was responsible for some of the best Traveller material from the late CT through the MT eras, and in fact were main drivers through MT. While some (including me) may disparage some of their work, they produced some of the best material ever produced for Traveller. (E.g. GC/GS/WBH, SOM)
The other great thing about Mr. Fugate and DGP is that he was originally just a "fanboy" who was able to harness that and turn into a direct, published contributor. I always have to respect that!
DGP was responsible for some of the best Traveller material from the late CT through the MT eras, and in fact were main drivers through MT. While some (including me) may disparage some of their work, they produced some of the best material ever produced for Traveller. (E.g. GC/GS/WBH, SOM)
The other great thing about Mr. Fugate and DGP is that he was originally just a "fanboy" who was able to harness that and turn into a direct, published contributor. I always have to respect that!
Don't be so modest, Daryen. They produced some of the best material for ANY game ever. Have you seen what passes for role-playing games and supplements nowadays?
I hope that this feet-whetting (sorry for the mixed metaphor) you're doing here leads you back to the greatness you were destined for, Joe: making good products into great products!
I hope that this feet-whetting (sorry for the mixed metaphor) you're doing here leads you back to the greatness you were destined for, Joe: making good products into great products!
M
Malenfant
Guest
DGP invented the task system? I thought that showed up first in the MT corebooks?
Hopefully Joe will want to go into more depth on this.
from Traveller Downport:
"The Universal Task Profile (PDF) was first introduced in the Travellers' Digest and later added to the GDW publications. It was later expanded and integrated into MegaTraveller."
UTP link
DGP folk also had a substantial hand in MT. If you compare credits between MT and DGP books you'll see several names on both.
Casey
M
Malenfant
Guest
Oh right. I didn't know that
I quite like the task system from MT too, it's a neat little system.
I quite like the task system from MT too, it's a neat little system.
Thanks, guys, for your glowing words for the task system. As I mentioned, my gaming background was first as a wargammer, so it always used to irk me there was no standardized way in Traveller for making use of all those cool attributes and skills.
So I invented the Universal Task Profile. True to the way my rule design tends to go, it started out simple, then got more complicated and bulky, then more streamlined again.
But it endures as one of DGP's better contributions to Traveller, so thanks!
So I invented the Universal Task Profile. True to the way my rule design tends to go, it started out simple, then got more complicated and bulky, then more streamlined again.
But it endures as one of DGP's better contributions to Traveller, so thanks!
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
If I had to pick the greatest DGP contribution to Traveller it would have to be Grand Survey and Grand Census, which became the MT World builder's Handbook.
So thank you for those as well
So thank you for those as well
Okay, let's deviate from the question order a bit to have some fun.
I said earlier:
" At any rate, we had some interesting stuff planned for the Alien books, especially Zhodani and Droyne, which was to be our next release. I'll divulge some secret stuff that links Knightfall, the Referee's Kit, and the next Alien book ... curious yet?"
I might also add the World Builder's Handbook to this list ...
What is the common thread to all 4 of these products? Once Zhodani and Droyne came out, we were going to reveal that common thread ... the primordials.
One misunderstanding about the primordials that I was somewhat remiss in not setting straight early on, is that the primordials are not "more advanced" than the ancients. They simply came before Grandfather and the Ancients, and he got some of his technology from them. They were more advanced in some areas, and woefully short of the ancients in many others.
This would have come out in time.
One area where the primordials were not more advanced is they were not essentially "immortal" like grandfather. But they do still exist as a race somewhere in the galaxy. There are a few specimens left in charted space (grandfather did not know this), but the bulk of the race has migrated off to the galactic core.
Their biggest asset as a race is that as a mature being, they are extemely psionic ... so much so that their abilities gives them a sort of "collective race mind" for acting. Now this was before the Borg on Star Trek, and the primordials are not malevelolent like the borg.
Their biggest racial behavioral attribute is they are *extremely* curious. But this also means they can get so involved in the latest "group think" project that the race is absent minded to a fault.
Grandfather discovered evidence of this race (there are two primordial sites in the Imperium ... one is given in Knightfall, the other (never mentioned) is underground on the world in the folio adventure from the Referee's Kit. Grandfather discovered three more primordial sites in what is now Vargr space.
Grandfather concluded the primordials as a race migrated toward the galactic core, but he was never able to find them.
So Grandfather decided to take the most psionic race in charted space and make them his "errand boys" to find the primordials for him. So he planted an artifact in Zhodani space that shows diffent possible routes the pimordials may have taken to the galactic core in hopes the Zhodani would one day explore all those routes and find the primordials for him.
Every so often, Grandfather checks up on the Zhodani to see how they are progressing on their errand.
We were going to have the Zhodani finally encounter the primordials ... the sparklers as they would call them because they use psionics to build a jump field instead of technology, which causes a sparkeling effect.
If you want to get technical, this makes the primordials not a major race, since they don't have any jump technology. You can't, for example, steal their jump technology because there isn't anything to steal. There isn't any jump drive in their ships. That really messes up the whole minor / major race way worse than the Aslan revelation!
We had expected the first encounter between the Zhodani and the primordials would be misunderstood by the Zhodani because the primordials would start doing intrusive psionic probes and the Zho's would mistake that as aggression and attack.
Because of the intense curiosity / absent mindedness angle of the primordials, a non-psionic Imperial (deadhead) could sneak aboard one of their ships right under their noses and they wouldn't pay any attention.
Again, remember this was all before the borg on Star Trek. There must have been something in the SF ether going around because there are some basic similarities between the primordials and the borg. Only thing is, any apparent evil intent on the part of the "sparklers" is simply becaue of their intense curiousity / absentmindeness attributes.
The primordial's home world is a high gravity one, so a lot of their activities relied on psionic mind manipulation rather than direct physical manipulation. However, when immature, a primordial has no psionic ability, that only comes with maturity.
Physcially, an immature primordial is a low, squat crocodile looking creature ... they are described in the ref's kit folio adventure as a local life form! However, these creatures in the folio adventure never mature because the gravity on that world is too low!
The primordials absent mindedly left some of their young behind on that world, heading off toward the next system which had something very curious going on!
As they mature, the primordials go through a metamorphesis like a caterpiller / butterfly, and a mature primordial is a lizard-like creature that lives in a spiral mollusk-like shell. They usually anchor themselves to the walls of their ship like huge barnicles, and then manipulate things psionically. After the change into this mollusk form is when they get their psionic abilities and must be trained.
The cover of World Builder's Handbook is the same world that's in the folio adventure of the Ref's kit.
So that's how it all ties together. We had some fun times cooking all this up ... I have shared it with a few people over the years, including Roger Sanger. So now, the "world" knows!
I said earlier:
" At any rate, we had some interesting stuff planned for the Alien books, especially Zhodani and Droyne, which was to be our next release. I'll divulge some secret stuff that links Knightfall, the Referee's Kit, and the next Alien book ... curious yet?"
I might also add the World Builder's Handbook to this list ...
What is the common thread to all 4 of these products? Once Zhodani and Droyne came out, we were going to reveal that common thread ... the primordials.
One misunderstanding about the primordials that I was somewhat remiss in not setting straight early on, is that the primordials are not "more advanced" than the ancients. They simply came before Grandfather and the Ancients, and he got some of his technology from them. They were more advanced in some areas, and woefully short of the ancients in many others.
This would have come out in time.
One area where the primordials were not more advanced is they were not essentially "immortal" like grandfather. But they do still exist as a race somewhere in the galaxy. There are a few specimens left in charted space (grandfather did not know this), but the bulk of the race has migrated off to the galactic core.
Their biggest asset as a race is that as a mature being, they are extemely psionic ... so much so that their abilities gives them a sort of "collective race mind" for acting. Now this was before the Borg on Star Trek, and the primordials are not malevelolent like the borg.
Their biggest racial behavioral attribute is they are *extremely* curious. But this also means they can get so involved in the latest "group think" project that the race is absent minded to a fault.
Grandfather discovered evidence of this race (there are two primordial sites in the Imperium ... one is given in Knightfall, the other (never mentioned) is underground on the world in the folio adventure from the Referee's Kit. Grandfather discovered three more primordial sites in what is now Vargr space.
Grandfather concluded the primordials as a race migrated toward the galactic core, but he was never able to find them.
So Grandfather decided to take the most psionic race in charted space and make them his "errand boys" to find the primordials for him. So he planted an artifact in Zhodani space that shows diffent possible routes the pimordials may have taken to the galactic core in hopes the Zhodani would one day explore all those routes and find the primordials for him.
Every so often, Grandfather checks up on the Zhodani to see how they are progressing on their errand.
We were going to have the Zhodani finally encounter the primordials ... the sparklers as they would call them because they use psionics to build a jump field instead of technology, which causes a sparkeling effect.
If you want to get technical, this makes the primordials not a major race, since they don't have any jump technology. You can't, for example, steal their jump technology because there isn't anything to steal. There isn't any jump drive in their ships. That really messes up the whole minor / major race way worse than the Aslan revelation!
We had expected the first encounter between the Zhodani and the primordials would be misunderstood by the Zhodani because the primordials would start doing intrusive psionic probes and the Zho's would mistake that as aggression and attack.
Because of the intense curiosity / absent mindedness angle of the primordials, a non-psionic Imperial (deadhead) could sneak aboard one of their ships right under their noses and they wouldn't pay any attention.
Again, remember this was all before the borg on Star Trek. There must have been something in the SF ether going around because there are some basic similarities between the primordials and the borg. Only thing is, any apparent evil intent on the part of the "sparklers" is simply becaue of their intense curiousity / absentmindeness attributes.
The primordial's home world is a high gravity one, so a lot of their activities relied on psionic mind manipulation rather than direct physical manipulation. However, when immature, a primordial has no psionic ability, that only comes with maturity.
Physcially, an immature primordial is a low, squat crocodile looking creature ... they are described in the ref's kit folio adventure as a local life form! However, these creatures in the folio adventure never mature because the gravity on that world is too low!
The primordials absent mindedly left some of their young behind on that world, heading off toward the next system which had something very curious going on!
As they mature, the primordials go through a metamorphesis like a caterpiller / butterfly, and a mature primordial is a lizard-like creature that lives in a spiral mollusk-like shell. They usually anchor themselves to the walls of their ship like huge barnicles, and then manipulate things psionically. After the change into this mollusk form is when they get their psionic abilities and must be trained.
The cover of World Builder's Handbook is the same world that's in the folio adventure of the Ref's kit.
So that's how it all ties together. We had some fun times cooking all this up ... I have shared it with a few people over the years, including Roger Sanger. So now, the "world" knows!
RainOfSteel
SOC-14 1K
That makes a great deal of sense when tied into a lot of other bits of information, especially my alternate (and still secret) view of the ancients.
Must . . . spend . . . time . . . fully . . . digesting . . . new . . . info . . .
<burp, delicious, yum>
Must . . . spend . . . time . . . fully . . . digesting . . . new . . . info . . .
<burp, delicious, yum>
Mr. Fugate,
This is beyond wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing all these behind-the-scenes goodies with us.
You jumped the question list to talk about the Primordials (they're now firmly enscounced IMTU, thank you very much) and I was wondering if you'd care to jump again? You mentioned your wargaming background. I'm an old grognard too; cut my milk teeth on Tactics-II and all that, and still play wargames more than RPGs. In fact it was a wargame, TCS, that brought me back into Traveller in the early 80s after playing an dropping it in the late 70s.
As a wargamer, would you care to explain why you, DGP, and GDW thought the Alien Incursions - the Aslan and Vargr invasions of the Imperium - could occur and could be as successful as they were. One commentator has likened the Alien Incursions to a successful invasion of the US east coast by European fishing patrol fleets while the USN is busy elsewhere.
As a wargamer, the Alien Incursions immediately struck me as the Rebellion's primary deux et machina. The fingerprints of the designers just stood out too easily.
Thanks again for taking the time to chat with us.
Sincerely,
Larsen
This is beyond wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing all these behind-the-scenes goodies with us.
You jumped the question list to talk about the Primordials (they're now firmly enscounced IMTU, thank you very much) and I was wondering if you'd care to jump again? You mentioned your wargaming background. I'm an old grognard too; cut my milk teeth on Tactics-II and all that, and still play wargames more than RPGs. In fact it was a wargame, TCS, that brought me back into Traveller in the early 80s after playing an dropping it in the late 70s.
As a wargamer, would you care to explain why you, DGP, and GDW thought the Alien Incursions - the Aslan and Vargr invasions of the Imperium - could occur and could be as successful as they were. One commentator has likened the Alien Incursions to a successful invasion of the US east coast by European fishing patrol fleets while the USN is busy elsewhere.
As a wargamer, the Alien Incursions immediately struck me as the Rebellion's primary deux et machina. The fingerprints of the designers just stood out too easily.
Thanks again for taking the time to chat with us.
Sincerely,
Larsen
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