Cepheus adventures

[estar]

So in order to reach out and exercise some concepts that I have, I need to either design my own game (which I don't want to do) or write for another system.

Given that the case I will add

1) Doing original settings using 2d6 rules is exactly what drove the creation of Cepheus in the first place.

2)While Marc Miller hasn't said "Yey Cepheus!" The fact he approved this subforum is a pretty good indication that that the Traveller IP Holder isn't out to "get' people who write material using the Cepheus Game Engine.

Finally what i say to anybody using open content. Put away the original books and supplements use only the SRD as your reference. That way you won't accidentally use something you shouldn't. The most perninant example of a screw up of something not doing this is Jim Ward who used to work for TSR. During the d20 Boom he used the AD&D Monster Manual and MM II and wound having to pull a print run after Wizard sent a cease and desist. Aside from the monetary bath he took from having to pull books, that all that happened.

Again stick to what can be found in the Cephesus SRD. Note that you have the D20 Modern SRD to draw on as well which has a science fiction component as well.

Thanks for the thoughtful response. It does help.

That my goal. Glad to be of service. The trick to get that first book out there. Do something manageable for your first release so you get a hang of the process then go for the big project.

 

[Blue Ghost]

A quick anecdote;

One concept that is essentially in final draft form, but not assembled, was an undersea adventure that was meant to be a small "do it in an evening" session for players. But the more research I dumped into it the more I had to keep adding in order to keep it true to what I wanted. I'm not bothered and yet am bothered by that, because it's like doing hard special effects for a small film clip that's in a major feature film. It's a detail that you can't afford to botch, but at the same time how many people are going to catch it.

Given that scifi RPGers tend to be a little smarter than your typical hack-n-slash D&D types, I figured I'd better err on the side of caution. So where the actual adventure may still only take up an evening's worth of play, the thing has blown up to 50 pages from the original 12 page concept that I imagined;

As for legalities ... well, whatever. As I've mentioned elsewhere I'm still stuck in the "proto-Traveller" mode where the game is a GURPS-like RPG that is meant to be vague so it can mimic whatever setting you want to create.

And that's how I came up with probably most of my concepts. We'll see what happens in the coming months.

 

[aramis]

Traveller is restricting for creativity, but I like it's grounded setting in that it sticks mostly with security themes.

You obviously have not played many of the published adventures.

Or if you have, you've got the themes misread all to hell.

Adv 1: Kinunir — Rumours about and an action upon a battlecruiser. (SSU)
Adv 2: Research Station Gamma — dungeon crawl with political overtones to be picked up (Chirpers are sentient!)
Adv 3: Twilight's Peak — subsector wide clue-hunt, part II of the Ancients CT campaign.
Adv 4: Leviathan — Merchant Exploration with a charter that makes it OK to lose money
Adv 5: not really an adventure. HG expansion.
Adv 6: Expedition to Zhodane — Infiltrate the Consulate with a fake personality...
Adv 7: Broadsword — Merc mission.
Adv 8: Prison Planet — Escape the prison. Or enjoy the simulation of prison life. Either way.
Adv 9: Nomads of the World Ocean — another High Tech Dungeon plus a hunt.
Adv 10: Safari Ship — Hunting Expedition goes wrong.
Adv 11: Murder on Arcturus Station — Solve it.
Adv 12: Secret of the Ancients

In early CT, many thought of A2 & A3 as precursors to A12. Some included Shadows and Annic Nova. (That the Droyne are the ancients is in A3... but it's in your face in the ending of A12.)

Anyway...
Genres:
Big Animal Hunt: A9, DA3(DS), DA5 (CP, H), A2
Dungeon Crawl: DA1(AN & S), A2, A3, DA3 (DS)
Survival Hex-Crawl: DA2 (MoM & ATBF), DA4 (M, MA)
Murder Mystery: A11
Political Intrigue: DA3 (AG), A2, A6, A7
Escape Story: A8

Of theses, "Security focused" only applies clearly to A8 (Prison Planet) and A7 Broadsword, and tangentially to A6 (Expedition to Zhodane), and A1 (Kinunir)... and that's being generous with Kinunir.

The dungeon crawls are abandoned ships or stations with hazards both animal and due to operational systems gone awry...

You're complaining about a lack that simply did not exist.

 

[Blue Ghost]

No, the only one I never played was Broadsword, and I think that was because it was more of a wargame than anything else.

I think the only one in the list that doesn't have security in shape or form is "Secret of the Ancients".

And by security I don't neccesarily mean analogs, but more metaphor and similie. Example; the Chamax plauge is about rallying the locals to resist an invasion. You already cited Research Station Gamma. Nomads of the Ocean World, to me, is about confronting a Greenpeace like threat on the high seas, only in the role of the demonstrators.

 

[aramis]

No, the only one I never played was Broadsword, and I think that was because it was more of a wargame than anything else.

I think the only one in the list that doesn't have security in shape or form is "Secret of the Ancients".

And by security I don't neccesarily mean analogs, but more metaphor and similie. Example; the Chamax plauge is about rallying the locals to resist an invasion. You already cited Research Station Gamma. Nomads of the Ocean World, to me, is about confronting a Greenpeace like threat on the high seas, only in the role of the demonstrators.

Then you're using the term in a manner inconsistent with common use.

Security refers commonly to use of force (including threat of force) either to protect a population or a location, and/or maintaining or having freedom from violence. It is NOT a common theme in Traveller adventures.

Pick your terms wisely and by common meanings. Continuous redefinition away from common meanings to prove a point is an action to the detriment of the community.

Why? Because its a form of strawman argument. Sometimes, it's also a false dichotomy. It's also just plain bad form.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Do you use any Cepheus material in your gaming sessions?