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Book 9: Robots... Worth it?

So, I like to use robots in my campaigns and since I'm new to Mongoose Traveller I was looking forward to Book 9, as a fitting modernized upgrade of CT's Book 8. But the reviews I have read have been less than kind.

So, I'm wondering what everyone here's opinions are about it. Is it worth it or is it the mess that the reviews say it is?
 
Go with the 13Mann Robots Book..... You will be much happier.

MgT book 9 Robots is its own reality. The design system is very wonky and rest of the book is a tangent at best to the OTU....

Take two,

Mgt Robots, the design system is in desperate need of large amounts of errata.

13Mann Robots the design system works

MgT Robots has a interesting but highly variant campaign centered on robots in what appears to be a non 3rd Imperium setting.

13Mann Robots aimed right at the 3rd Imperium setting.

Both books have interesting rules relating to Robots. But neither is better than the other in that respects.

13Mann Robots also covers Computers and Cyborgs

If I were to have to pick one book 13Mann Robots would be it.
 
About the only thing I really liked in Book 9 were the options and equipment detailed under the Construction chapter.

I don't know what universe the book was aimed at but it certainly wasn't the OTU. the different Ages of Robotics detailed in the book don't appear to have any connection with previous Traveller background and really didn't appeal to me anyway.

The other thing that annoyed me was that Book 9 and Supplement 8: Cybernetics don't mesh. You'd think allowing for robotic parts to be adapted for use as cybernetics would be a no brainer.

If you like using robots in your games Book 9 might actually appeal to you in some aspects of its robot-centric universe or be useful to mine for ideas and equipment as I do.
 
I like Mongoose's book because it has chargen for robots. PCs can be robot characters. I don't know about the other robot book.
 
In general I liked the MgT book, that said the critique of the "base setting" is very, very correct. It does not seem aimed at 3I setting at all, and it doesn't play very well with the Cybernetics book - which I think is a valid issue.

Currently I've been looking at the Robot rules as a way to model dumb-bot or slave-bot military drones instead of using the Vehicle rules. It's kind of a stretch, but not a bad one - but none of the books work very well with each other.

That said, I think it's a pretty good book on Robots. Does include rules for robot PC's (which is very nice) and I'm sure that I could handwave the issues between it and the Cybernetics book in the same way that I'm kind of handwaving some of the issues with the Vehicle book away.

But I'm definitely a CT-kinda Ref who is very willing to play a bit fast and loose with the RAW to get a flavor that I like - I just work very hard to make it a consistent and logical deviation from the RAW.

D.
 
In general I liked the MgT book, that said the critique of the "base setting" is very, very correct. It does not seem aimed at 3I setting at all, and it doesn't play very well with the Cybernetics book - which I think is a valid issue.
There are definitely parts of the Robot book that would have belonged in a "yellow" book instead of in a "green" book. Cybernetics and Dynasty had more genericness to them to put them in the "yellow" titled category. On the other hand, Mongoose often introduces generic sci-fi in their "green" Traveller books.

Then, of course, there are the "3rd Imperium" books which are mostly for setting purposes for those that wished the Mongoose "Traveller Core Rulebook" be a settings rather than a mechanics book.
 
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