Favorite module?

[clementk]

Originally posted by Richard Baker:
Ah, yes: Ad Astra, which doesn't have implacably hostile aliens but which does have a Pansolar War that nearly wipes out human civilisation

If you take a look at my Designers' Notes, you'll see that 2300AD was a direct influence on the design of the setting.

hmmm anything that references 2300AD *and* Iain Banks and Diamond Age and...(bookmark)

Casey

 

[rcdb100]

hmmm anything that references 2300AD *and* Iain Banks and Diamond Age and...(bookmark)

Thanks. As a special bonus, here's the first "teaser" for the first book of Ad Astra:

http://www.theculture.org/rich/sharpblue/archives/000085.html

This forms a sort of fictional companion pieces to my factual articles "The Economics of Space Transportation" and "The Economics of Interface Transportation":

http://www.theculture.org/rich/sharpblue/archives/000057.html

(Both articles are, I suppose, relevant to the 2300AD history before the invention of stutterwarp, says he trying to be at least a little on-topic.)

 

[Waldemar]

I would say that Aurore Sourcebook certainly was one of my favourite sourcebooks. It is a good setting, with an interesting colonial environment (eventhough a bit deadly :smirk and used the kafer threat in a manageable way.

Would it be my favourite today with 2320 AD? It still stands well, but the premise has been done quite a lot of times. I hope for a new, fresh take with 2320 AD. Maybe there is a new distinct setting in the wake?

 

[ElHombre]

The Kafers are one of the best alien races I've ever come across, but as far as favorite module...

Bayern. Takes one out of the arms, all right.

 

[Anders]

My favorite is the Colonial Atlas. So many interesting planets, ecosystems and societies. It is a great demonstration that you don't need a galaxy-spanning setting to have a big setting: distance is measured in number of interesting things, not lightyears.

 

[oletheros]

My copy of the Colonial Atlas has no spine, but is instead held together by a piece of masking tape. It's dog-eared and well-thumbed and it is one of my prized possessions.

 

[Kzintosh]

Aurora sourcebook is tops, followed by the Colonial Atlas. Concerning adventures, I'd say Ranger, and the entire Kafer arc of scenarios.

 

[Peter Schutze]

>So many interesting planets, ecosystems and societies.
>Aurora sourcebook is tops, followed by the Colonial Atlas.

If they'd done 5-6 page summaries of the Aurore Sourcebook data for each of the systems in the Colonial Atlas, the Atlas would have been a SciFi classic.

As published there is so much dross in the Atlas and its painfully obvious that it was created in isolation by different people, both of which seriously detract from the quality.

Aurore sourcebook is one of my favourite modules for any SciFi game, far eclipsing anything I own for Traveller

 

[dan891]

If they'd done 5-6 page summaries of the Aurore Sourcebook data for each of the systems in the Colonial Atlas, the Atlas would have been a SciFi classic.

As published there is so much dross in the Atlas and its painfully obvious that it was created in isolation by different people, both of which seriously detract from the quality.

Aurore sourcebook is one of my favourite modules for any SciFi game, far eclipsing anything I own for Traveller

Agreed. The Aurore SB was great, seriously one of the best modules released for any game - although in retrospect the military section on the French is just too influenced by the works of Bernard Fall.

Colonial SB on the other hand, as you say, is just too much of a mishmash. There is just not enough coherence - some nations colonies have significantly different governments on different worlds thanks to differing authors etc..

Also do have a soft spot for Invasion for overall framework in spite of its weaknesses. Nyotokundu was also pretty good.

Thumbs down to Op Overlord, just rubbish, and Rotten to the Core, ditto..

 

[Peter Schutze]

>some nations colonies have significantly different governments on different worlds

That i dont find a problem, probably because I live in a commonwealth country and am aware of the various governments Britain has used over the centuries.

My problem is the total lack of consistency in contents eg the treatment of system, ecosphere, colony setup details. This has been improved by Colin in 2320 but could still have been done FAR better.

 

[dan891]

That i dont find a problem, probably because I live in a commonwealth country and am aware of the various governments Britain has used over the centuries.

My problem is the total lack of consistency in contents eg the treatment of system, ecosphere, colony setup details. This has been improved by Colin in 2320 but could still have been done FAR better.

I have lived and worked in two Commonwealth countries and am very aware of the history. It irritates me in 2k3 Britain's case as there is no coherence in government or development. (eg Alicia with an elected Governor, but an appointed 12 man Privy Council, for a 25M strong colony is pretty poor.) Others have similar problems.

But yes there is no consistancy in the wider details either.

 

[Britti_Lover]

Ranger!

Ah yes - My favorite 2300AD module - there is two I still love to play today:

Ranger - this module is a hoot to run -- true classic SF adventure.

Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook (includes the great adventure "Rotten to the Core") -- this allowed you to play 2300AD as:

2300AD - The Cyberpunk Game of a Dark Gritty Future. (I actually have a GDW catalog that lists 2300AD as the ultimate Cyberpunk RPG). The picture for the game in the GDW catalog was a hot looking Gal netrunner with obvious cyber enhancements.

I really like the new version - 2320AD -- because its a bargin at 25 dollars for a 375 page .pdf -- very very nice. The fact that it requires T20 to play makes it almost a Traveller ATU now.

On ebay 2300AD RPG stuff is sold with the Traveller stuff - One lot of four Traveller books listed 2 MegaTraveller books and 2 Traveller:2300 books.

To me 2300 played well all three ways - New State of the Art SF RPG, Cyberpunk RPG or Traveller ATU.

But of the three versions, the game improved with each edition - 2320AD is really well done (the best version yet) and both Ranger and "Rotten to the Core" play very well with it.

When I got into 2300AD it was: "2300AD - the Cyberpunk Game of a Dark Gritty Future" as advertized by GDW in their catalogs.

I only played it as a cyberpunk game - and we loved it. Having other worlds to role-play on made 2300AD quite fun and better than the other cyberpunk games on the market.

I now play it as "GURPS ULTRATECH: Blade Runner" with all the 2300AD material all updated for GURPS 4e.

In fact - it will be at 5 MAJOR Gaming conventions starting next month.

Ranger for 2300AD is a fabulous adventure - I've actually got Dave Nelson's hand-written origonal copy of that adventure!

He knew I loved 2300AD and sent it to me as a gift!

Hey Navy guy - you can always run games on "Playbyweb"

I'm currently doing "Karate Kittens" with 2300AD, Traveller and GURPS Material combined together on "Playbyweb" under Traveller Games.

 

[Starviking]

I have lived and worked in two Commonwealth countries and am very aware of the history. It irritates me in 2k3 Britain's case as there is no coherence in government or development. (eg Alicia with an elected Governor, but an appointed 12 man Privy Council, for a 25M strong colony is pretty poor.) Others have similar problems.

But yes there is no consistancy in the wider details either.

The colony of Crater struck me as a ham-fisted recreation of 19th Century Australia - just unbelievable.

There was a definite archaic bent to the portrayal of the UK in 2300 - hell, the SotFA even had 'England' as the UK nationality!

 

[Murph]

But don't you know the sun never sets on the British Empire!

The colony of Crater struck me as a ham-fisted recreation of 19th Century Australia - just unbelievable.

There was a definite archaic bent to the portrayal of the UK in 2300 - hell, the SotFA even had 'England' as the UK nationality!