Good Reading for the Traveller GM
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jchurchill
SOC-12
The series was set in the near future solar system. It has the U.S. and it's allies set against the Chinese, French, Germans, etc.
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Sounds like 2003 actually. I guess it would be science fiction because it postulates that we still have allies in the future?
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Sounds like 2003 actually. I guess it would be science fiction because it postulates that we still have allies in the future?
I'll assume this was not a response to Frankowski, which is the tale of a Socialist Polish engineer who ends up in medieval Poland just prior to the Mongol invasion. He decides his only hope for survival is to cause an industrial revolution, inventing such institutions as the Playboy Club along the way...
Clay r bush
SOC-3
ENGINES OF GOD
A good Ancients mystery introcuable to many campaigns, and some politics. The gold is buried behind a contrived plot with spacers acting like spoiled children before acting ignorant of basic survival training.
A good Ancients mystery introcuable to many campaigns, and some politics. The gold is buried behind a contrived plot with spacers acting like spoiled children before acting ignorant of basic survival training.
Anything by A. Bertram Chandler. I'd go as far as to say that 'The Rim of Space' is required reading for anyone running a Merchant campaign, and the John Grimes Series is excellent also.
(Plug) As a matter of fact, I'm about to run an online campaign in the 'Rim Runners' setting - spaces available. (/Plug)
Richard Tongue
Methuslah@tongue.fsnet.co.uk
(Plug) As a matter of fact, I'm about to run an online campaign in the 'Rim Runners' setting - spaces available. (/Plug)
Richard Tongue
Methuslah@tongue.fsnet.co.uk
Is he the same fellow that wrote the only 3 good Star Wars extensions? (the Han Solo books)
Too late! When the boxed set Thieves' World (after the many-book multi-author series), it had stats for many fantasy games and ..... drum roll.... Classic Traveller!
I loved this series. Where's my Bester Grenade?
'Sam' from Starman Jones is still my idea of a textbook Traveller Imperial Marine with a troubled past. And 'Citizen of the Galaxy' gave an interesting view of a large galaxy of the future where vile things like slavery still persisted.
Well, GRUNTS would probably break the fragile minds of most of my players if I was to try to use it as some sort of adventure basis.....
It certainly is a long way from his best book, but I thought that Asimov's 'Stars Like Dust' would probably be the easiest to run as a Traveller campaign. A small, tight setting, no large spaceships, an obvious enemy to fight, a neo-feudal system - it was all there. I got as far as writing some rough notes about it - thought I could combine it with his 'Currents of Space', and 'Black Friar of the Flame' (From Early Asimov 1) to add extra depth.
Richard Tongue
Richard Tongue
Andre Norton's Star Rangers is a great read. And I hear all the rest of her books are inspiration for some of the Traveller background.
Another good book is Down The Bright Way. Here, take a look:
Down The Bright Way
Robert Reed
There are millions, perhaps an infinity, of parallel earths, each in its own universe, each connected to the next by portals that allow you to step across into the next universe.
Down this magnificent chain of worlds the Wanderers travel, bringing civilisation and peace to humanity in all it's varied forms across all the inhabited Earths. The Wanderers have been travelling on this mission for a million years. they are millions strong, and quietly confident in their superior technology, in the eventual success of their mission, and in the ultimate conclusion of their quest to find the makers of this universe-spanning wonder - the Bright.
For anyone that wants to get a good feel of Minor Humans - this is the one to get. It's about a group of explorers that go through a dimentional gate to alternate Earths. On each Earth, the species has deviated just a little bit or sometimes a lot. But at each new dimention, they pick up some new explorers - and you get to see the gamut of the different "humans" in the ranks of the explorers.
Here's a great page for looking up SF books:
SF Reviews
Always Scouting for a new path...
Scout
Another good book is Down The Bright Way. Here, take a look:
Down The Bright Way
Robert Reed
There are millions, perhaps an infinity, of parallel earths, each in its own universe, each connected to the next by portals that allow you to step across into the next universe.
Down this magnificent chain of worlds the Wanderers travel, bringing civilisation and peace to humanity in all it's varied forms across all the inhabited Earths. The Wanderers have been travelling on this mission for a million years. they are millions strong, and quietly confident in their superior technology, in the eventual success of their mission, and in the ultimate conclusion of their quest to find the makers of this universe-spanning wonder - the Bright.
For anyone that wants to get a good feel of Minor Humans - this is the one to get. It's about a group of explorers that go through a dimentional gate to alternate Earths. On each Earth, the species has deviated just a little bit or sometimes a lot. But at each new dimention, they pick up some new explorers - and you get to see the gamut of the different "humans" in the ranks of the explorers.
Here's a great page for looking up SF books:
SF Reviews
Always Scouting for a new path...
Scout
mad13142000
SOC-13
YES!
The new Dune Prequel is out...
The Machine Crusade....
Very good so far
-MADDog
The new Dune Prequel is out...
The Machine Crusade....
Very good so far
-MADDog
Richard, how right you were! I got a copy of this (admittedly thin, about half the thickness of a standard novel) book. Some little bits are a bit technologically dated, but it really does have a Leviathan feel to it! Tramp freighters on the Rim, new aliens, a massive government that's far away, characters who are refugee's from other services, planets of low tech xenobarbs, and some good old fashion slug-throwers. I also have Star Loot! and am looking forward to wading through it! What a wonderful (and previously overlooked) recommendation!
Worth hunting up online or in a used bookstore.
Tomb
Try and get hold of 'Ship from Outside'. It is a direct sequel to 'Rim of Space', and just as good. Not to give away any spoilers, the crew get their salvage money and set up their own shipping company. If anything, it's even more Traveller-esque. 'Bring Back Yesterday' is also well worth picking up.
Richard Tongue
Richard Tongue
Now, having delved into the used book world on the Internet, I acquired Rim Runners and Star Loot.
We have: - privateers and pirates - merchants from megacorps - soemthing like the navy/scouts combined - rim runners (free traders) - hyperdrive - pistol and rifle carrying characters - alien races - merchant trade - unions like the Astronauts Guild and one for the jump drive engineers - stewards - psionicists - naval intelligence mucking about .....
This is inspirational stuff for Traveller. Interesting characters. Ignore little bits of the tech (telephones, etc) as a bit dated (or imagine updated versions in place of) and it makes a great read. I look forward to getting more books from Bertram Chandler, as I can find them. Well worth a reprinting, if anyone has any sense.
An *excellent* recommendation for GMs and players. Star Loot (a Grimes novel) even shows why you want a good Steward and why Cargo Handling *should* be a merchant skill, just as Merchants and Merchandise from PP suggested.
selunatic2397
SOC-12
Try reading Freehold by Michael Z Williamson, it's an awesome read chock full useful goodies for traveller refs. He really did his research. It's a long one at 667 pages...even has a military glossary in the back, I love it when they take the time for that.
While I highly reccomend the Dune Novels by Frank Herbert, for the politics of the Dune Universe pre-Kwizats Haderach, the Dune prequels House Atreidies, House Harkonen, and House Corrino show HOW the Dune Imperium Worked (or failed to).
The Butlerian Jihad, Machine Crusade, and Battle of Corrin tell the story of how and why the wierd tech paradigms of the Dune Imperium come about....
Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson do a wonderful job.
And we see, in Battle of Corrin, the origins of the Bengeserit, the first Mentat, Navigator, and Reverend Mother, and see the founder of the Suk School. Interesting to note: the Ginaz are the oldest of the "Big Schools" of the dune universe.
Dune and Sten have both influenced MTU strongly.
The Vorkosiverse would be a fun place to play in... too bad for me it's a GURPS product in progress... It has had little impact upon MTU, but happens to parallel a lot of the bits about MTU that existed before I encountered the novels.
Also, MTU has been shaped a bit by the Flinx Adventures series by AD Foster. Mostly in the negative. As in, "If it works in the Humax Commonwealth, it doesn't do it that way IMTU") Excellent reads, well paced, and a good model of a multi-racial hegemony working. The Universal Humanx Church is also an interesting nod to the Dune/Job/Dianetics apochyphal contest. (Apochryphal in the sense that I've never seen the proof myself; I've only seen second-hand or further removed, non authoritative materials referencing it.)
Also, Bug Life Chronicles (don't have to hand) has some really nifty stuff for those wishing to integrate Cybertech past the "implant" stage...
As general reading, the McCaffrey BB Ship series is an excellent study of a potential use of the cybernetic technologies to provide meaningful work-lives to the excessively physically crippled. (Note that it appears that the Killashandra series is in the same universe, as are Dinosaur Planet/Survivors, and the Lunzie Trillogy, and possibly also pern...) We know they have some form of hyperlight travel, but it's not discussed, and is apparently "In Prime Universe" rather like Star Trek and the Humanx setting, and unlike Traveller, Starfire, the Webberverse, and the Vorkosiverse.
The Butlerian Jihad, Machine Crusade, and Battle of Corrin tell the story of how and why the wierd tech paradigms of the Dune Imperium come about....
Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson do a wonderful job.
And we see, in Battle of Corrin, the origins of the Bengeserit, the first Mentat, Navigator, and Reverend Mother, and see the founder of the Suk School. Interesting to note: the Ginaz are the oldest of the "Big Schools" of the dune universe.
Dune and Sten have both influenced MTU strongly.
The Vorkosiverse would be a fun place to play in... too bad for me it's a GURPS product in progress... It has had little impact upon MTU, but happens to parallel a lot of the bits about MTU that existed before I encountered the novels.
Also, MTU has been shaped a bit by the Flinx Adventures series by AD Foster. Mostly in the negative. As in, "If it works in the Humax Commonwealth, it doesn't do it that way IMTU") Excellent reads, well paced, and a good model of a multi-racial hegemony working. The Universal Humanx Church is also an interesting nod to the Dune/Job/Dianetics apochyphal contest. (Apochryphal in the sense that I've never seen the proof myself; I've only seen second-hand or further removed, non authoritative materials referencing it.)
Also, Bug Life Chronicles (don't have to hand) has some really nifty stuff for those wishing to integrate Cybertech past the "implant" stage...
As general reading, the McCaffrey BB Ship series is an excellent study of a potential use of the cybernetic technologies to provide meaningful work-lives to the excessively physically crippled. (Note that it appears that the Killashandra series is in the same universe, as are Dinosaur Planet/Survivors, and the Lunzie Trillogy, and possibly also pern...) We know they have some form of hyperlight travel, but it's not discussed, and is apparently "In Prime Universe" rather like Star Trek and the Humanx setting, and unlike Traveller, Starfire, the Webberverse, and the Vorkosiverse.
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