About 1/3 of the fanbase likes virus, about half hates it, judging from here, The RPG Site, RPGGeek, and RPGNet discussions.
Marc embraces it as canon, but is setting new material far enough past it to ignore it, and the GTU ignores it.
Attracting New Players..
- Thread starter DickNervous
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About 1/3 of the fanbase likes virus, about half hates it, judging from here, The RPG Site, RPGGeek, and RPGNet discussions.
Marc embraces it as canon, but is setting new material far enough past it to ignore it, and the GTU ignores it.
Mostly 20-somethings. The crusty old white guys simply play Traveller as Traveller, and variations on the OTU, mostly CT or MT. The TNE fanbase is less tied to the OTU, from what I've seen, using it as often for pocket empire ATUs as for virus wasteland OTU.
And when I point out the lack of Transhumanist elements, that's a selling point to many 20somethings.
As for not embracing the Space Fantasy Genre? Have you read any of mongoose's addon books? Mongoose is rapidly running in that direction, and it's not for the better. It's glaring (and drew irate comments from fans old and young) where it's being done. (Shuriken guns?)
Marc isn't. Marc added some transhumanist elements into T5... and those elements seem to be the areas people are ignoring.
I think this is the WH40K route. Of course, I also think there can be only one WH40K.
And I doubt Mongoose Traveller will be the "Pathfinder" to WH40K's "AD&D".
I've noticed tastes changing over the years.
At first, getting players for Traveller was fairly easy: Most D&D die-hards wouldn't touch it. I found boardgamers, wargamers and complete novices more willing to try the game.
A few years in and the game was THE SF game and lots of people wanted to play it. I think, in part, other SF games didn't satisfy because they didn't seem as well thought out or were like D&D in space rather than an SF game where players could do so much.
I found the worst time to recruit players for Traveller to be the 1990s: "Dark" gaming was in, Cyberpunk and Shadowrun were the buzz SF games and then GDW ditched the CT/MT system and went with their own house system, which I didn't like. I just couldn't get anyone who hadn't played Traveller already to join in a game.
A few years ago I ran a short campaign but I had one player undermining the mood with his complaints about technology: "My mobile phone is more powerful than this ship's computer...my laptop is more powerful..." which he repeated loudly. The other players got fed up with the mood and me having to make on the spot rules to pacify this guy. Then two others in this group of six threw their lot in with him and that was that.
My final response to technology in Traveller became thus:
1. Empires and civilisations have risen and fallen: The technology we use and understand today will take different paths, will diverge, U-turn and even go backwards.
2. Your laptop and mobile phone are backed up by a world-wide network of servers, satellites and support staff. Your Traveller hand computer has to work independently of all that.
3. If you have any suggestions for technology in Traveller, let me, the GM know! I can wing it or, better, give me a week and I'll have a properly worked out version.
4. The game isn't rigid when it comes to technology. It is capable of being adapted. Don't look at the equipment lists in the books as something final.
I
At first, getting players for Traveller was fairly easy: Most D&D die-hards wouldn't touch it. I found boardgamers, wargamers and complete novices more willing to try the game.
A few years in and the game was THE SF game and lots of people wanted to play it. I think, in part, other SF games didn't satisfy because they didn't seem as well thought out or were like D&D in space rather than an SF game where players could do so much.
I found the worst time to recruit players for Traveller to be the 1990s: "Dark" gaming was in, Cyberpunk and Shadowrun were the buzz SF games and then GDW ditched the CT/MT system and went with their own house system, which I didn't like. I just couldn't get anyone who hadn't played Traveller already to join in a game.
A few years ago I ran a short campaign but I had one player undermining the mood with his complaints about technology: "My mobile phone is more powerful than this ship's computer...my laptop is more powerful..." which he repeated loudly. The other players got fed up with the mood and me having to make on the spot rules to pacify this guy. Then two others in this group of six threw their lot in with him and that was that.
My final response to technology in Traveller became thus:
1. Empires and civilisations have risen and fallen: The technology we use and understand today will take different paths, will diverge, U-turn and even go backwards.
2. Your laptop and mobile phone are backed up by a world-wide network of servers, satellites and support staff. Your Traveller hand computer has to work independently of all that.
3. If you have any suggestions for technology in Traveller, let me, the GM know! I can wing it or, better, give me a week and I'll have a properly worked out version.
4. The game isn't rigid when it comes to technology. It is capable of being adapted. Don't look at the equipment lists in the books as something final.
I
Traveller needs an exciting sales pitch to haul in new players.
D&D has Dungeons! Dragons! Swords! Treasure! Orcs! An evil Wizard!
Traveller has Exit Visa! Bureaucrats! Reams of paperwork! Bribes! An evil Librarian!
I'm being facetious of course, Traveller is the best game ever made IMHO. And I'm not saying Exit Visa! can't be fun, but as a pitch, no. Traveller needs more explaining than D&D and that explanation needs to be exciting.
D&D has Dungeons! Dragons! Swords! Treasure! Orcs! An evil Wizard!
Traveller has Exit Visa! Bureaucrats! Reams of paperwork! Bribes! An evil Librarian!
I'm being facetious of course, Traveller is the best game ever made IMHO. And I'm not saying Exit Visa! can't be fun, but as a pitch, no. Traveller needs more explaining than D&D and that explanation needs to be exciting.
it is. it's just exciting in different ways to different people.
here you go. "design your own starship". "battledress and fgmp14". "mass combat". "ship vector combat". "imperial marines". "a different planet every game session". "no limit to number or kind of aliens". "imperial intrigue". "space zombies". "600 thousand years of history". "planet busting". "starship pilot". "space mercenaries". seems a good start ....
Exactly. Just don't terrify them with needing to know that 600K years of history to play. Last new player I had I told only two things: roll 8+ to succeed and don't annoy anyone in BattleDress with an FGMP.
Luke is the perfect new Traveller.
We could do a cut-and-paste of the articles from 1120 to 1105, but I really don't like that notion. For an 1105 version I would want to make everybody 15 years younger. Some people won't be there yet, and those who are there would be 15 years younger. And, of course, there would be some people then who would be gone by 1120.
Some of the more generic bits could be reused ('the more things change, the more they stay the same' sort of thing), but much of it would require rfevision.
That was what we aimed for. I'm glad you think we succeeded.
Hans
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Except using him would highlight the limitations of the experience system.
At least until someone discovers that he's a psionic. Then it's necktie party time!
Hans
Highorbit_drifter
SOC-12
Well, that's an author talking. Of course you know things were somewhat different 15 years ago, and that would make a great article - maybe with stats for the people active in 1105 in whatever game system you can sell that article to - or if someone puts out a "generic" JTAS, supporting all systems. But from a DM point of view... just drop it on your players, it works.
And yes, as I recall I gave it a 4 or 5. It works very well - and should be available to new players
:rofl:
Can you imagine the imperial family hiding a secret like that? Grand Princess Iphigenia with telepathy and telekinesis? Maybe Dulinor was on to something after all...
Yea, so much this.
Someone was trying to get us back in to a D20 game, Pathfinder I guess it was. And he wanted us to go through all these books and what not.
I basically told him "If I'm not killing monsters within 15 minutes of sitting down, then I'm not coming".
Maybe a skilled player wants to know the rules, but early on the GM should just be guiding us through the mechanics and the story. It's an RPG, not Squad Leader.
"I listen at the door what do I hear?" "Roll some dice" "7" "You don't hear anything." See, I didn't really need to know the "listen" mechanic, task, skill, or whatever to do that. HE did, the Ref, but I didn't.
Ref presents situation, players react. Ideally Ref doesn't put beginning players in to situation where understanding the nuances of moving grazing fire while crouched in a smoke filled room with limited visibility but an infra-red sight will make any difference. "Ah, see, the scope gives you a 17% better chance at success, but encumbers you, limiting your actions on High-G worlds." "Umm..did I hit the guy or not?" "No." "Ok, I fire again." "You might want to take a turn to aim, since dancing will affect your chances at hitting." "Oh, ok. I stop dancing. Then I'll fire." "That will be next turn." "Ok."
Heck in many ways, it's better for the players to not know the rules, then you have fewer rule lawyering arguments.
"But the book says..." "Yea, and it also say I can do whatever I want cuz I'm the Ref" "Well why have rules at all?" "That's stupid" "You just hate that my elf got her ears bobbed." "Say, can I have some chips?"
I got asked once a few years back "Why are there only white people in Traveller?" (Referring to the OTU, while looking through by books.)
Took me completely by surprise, but then I started going through my Traveller content, looking at the artwork.
Quick, how many non-Caucasians have you seen in Traveller Artwork over the past 35+ years?
Answer: Less than 10.
This is something we need to work on. Actually,it is something I have noticed in both SF & Fantasy.
It's something artists need to work on, perhaps. As far as text is concerned, not mentioning skin color at all reinforces the notion (which I've always assumed applied in the Third Imperium) that skin color doesn't matter at all.
Hans
kilemall
SOC-14 5K
Another meme mine to work is Cowboy Bebop, tell em a lot of Traveller is like CB and that will ring a bell with many potential interested parties that are not otherwise into scifi RPGs.
Now that I think on it, almost every episode is like an Amber Zone adventure.
First episode, a super Slow drug as the McGuffin, second is a very special datadog.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3Bsu8firko
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCxPpX9_uEk
Now that I think on it, almost every episode is like an Amber Zone adventure.
First episode, a super Slow drug as the McGuffin, second is a very special datadog.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3Bsu8firko
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCxPpX9_uEk
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