Got 760 Patrons?

[Allensh]

My first response was "this isn't very much like 76 Patrons".

My next response was to read it for what it was...and realize that any of those people COULD be patrons...you just have to come up for a job for them to give the characters in connection with what they are doing...or someone else to give them a job in opposition.

Also, my players have trouble coming up with ideas for those contacts, enemies and allies they get...this book fills that need wonderfully.

It is also worth noting that Mongoose has said that the books with black covers are intended to be useful in more than just OTU games...thus the presence of certain elements (like time travel) not normally found in that setting.


Allen

 

[Imperial Planetologist]

My next response was to read it for what it was...and realize that any of those people COULD be patrons...you just have to come up for a job for them to give the characters in connection with what they are doing...or someone else to give them a job in opposition.

I can do that with the existing random encounter tables. [insert eyeroll smiley here]

When I want to buy a book of patron encounters, I'm looking for the writer to have generated those jobs already.

 

[Allensh]

I can do that with the existing random encounter tables. [insert eyeroll smiley here]

When I want to buy a book of patron encounters, I'm looking for the writer to have generated those jobs already.

A viable point, and obviously then this book might not be for you.

Allen

 

[Imperial Planetologist]

A viable point, and obviously then this book might not be for you.

That's my conclusion as well.

 

[Allensh]

Someone mentioned using the random patron encounter tables in the MGT core book in conjuction with 760 Patrons...I did that and came up with the following interesting adventure idea;

A yacht belonging to a Zhodani noble was found abandoned in the outer reaches of the Cronor system, The ship was heavily damaged and its inhabitants nowhere to be found. What is not generally known is that this noble was also an agent for Zhodani Intelligence. His former partner now works for Imperial Intelligence as an analyst/consultant on Zhodani issues. When word of the find got back to him, he managed to persuade a case officer that the ship needed to be salvaged and brought back to Imperial space; much good information could be obtained from its computer banks, he believed. So they have now hatched a plan to do just that. This plan involves getting to the ship, taking it over from the repair crew currently working on it, jury-rigging repairs of their own and somehow refuelling it enough to jump to a nearby system (Cronor has no gas giant).

Complications:

- a large Zhodani naval presence

- the fact that the Zhodani agent turned Imperial Agent is not considered completely trustworthy by his new employers

- the logistics of getting the material to repair the ship and the fuel to fly her out.

Allen

 

[tbeard1999]

It occurs to me that almost any book with 760 adventure seeds would be worth $40 or so. If only 10% of the ideas are any good, that's 76 good ideas...

I'll be getting it.

 

[far-trader]

...760 adventure seeds...

That is exactly what I was thinking it sounds more like and should have probably been titled as (or possibly 4560 adventure seeds if each "personality" has the usual D6 "options" in the description.

Yes, about 50 cents per idea at your 10% usable rate seems like a fair bargain

 

[Allensh]

It occurs to me that almost any book with 760 adventure seeds would be worth $40 or so. If only 10% of the ideas are any good, that's 76 good ideas...

I'll be getting it.

And since it the listed price is $29.95 its an even better deal

Allen

 

[Allensh]

That is exactly what I was thinking it sounds more like and should have probably been titled as (or possibly 4560 adventure seeds if each "personality" has the usual D6 "options" in the description.

Yes, about 50 cents per idea at your 10% usable rate seems like a fair bargain

There's actually about three variations per NPC..sometimes more. Still, not bad.

Allen

 

[jimg]

I just got my copy today and after a very quick scan, I would have to agree that the book is a bit misnamed... 760 NPCs or 760 Plot Hooks or something... but I do think it will be useful for off-the-cuff adventure seeds and generating interesting contacts/rivals etc.

I have 76 Patrons on CD, and I'm sure I'll end up using both... assuming I ever have time to get a f2f game going.

It doesn't look quite like what I expected, but I still think it will be well worth my money.

 

[Supplement Four]

I'm curious. Do the people who like 760 Patrons also like the T4 First Survey book? Or even CT's The Atlas of the Imperium?

I ask because I felt extremely ripped off when I bought, brand new, First Survey. And, I would have felt the same about The Atlas of the Imperium except that I only spent 0.15 cents on it (and I wasn't worried about wasting 0.15 cents).

People think I'm being flamboyant when I declare how shocked I am that 760 Patrons is gettng good reviews by some. I'm judging by what I see here (and I know I have duplicate type material in CT pubs). To be completely honest, I do feel a book like 760 Patrons is more useful than either First Survey or TAotI, but that's only because those two books are only good for door stoppers and paper weights.

There's a value evaluation going on here. If the book were $5 bucks, I probably wouldn't buy it, but I would understand why others would. But, $20 bucks seems, to me, crazy.

Instead, I would expect to see something like what 760 is offering as a chapter inside another book with more useful information. Or, maybe as a freebie download.

But, hey, that's just my two credits.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Hey, don't forget the 3d edition of Stellar Reaches had some patrons in it, too! And, they were pretty good ones, if I do say so myself.

 

[jimg]

I'm curious. Do the people who like 760 Patrons also like the T4 First Survey book? Or even CT's The Atlas of the Imperium?

I ask because I felt extremely ripped off when I bought, brand new, First Survey. And, I would have felt the same about The Atlas of the Imperium except that I only spent 0.15 cents on it (and I wasn't worried about wasting 0.15 cents).

Since I don't own the first and I've never looked at the second, I can't answer that. It seems odd that you are asking, since these products have nothing to do with the product being discussed, and I don't recall seeing any posts from those who have purchased the book complaining about feeling ripped off.

People think I'm being flamboyant when I declare how shocked I am that 760 Patrons is gettng good reviews by some. I'm judging by what I see here (and I know I have duplicate type material in CT pubs). To be completely honest, I do feel a book like 760 Patrons is more useful than either First Survey or TAotI, but that's only because those two books are only good for door stoppers and paper weights.

There's a value evaluation going on here. If the book were $5 bucks, I probably wouldn't buy it, but I would understand why others would. But, $20 bucks seems, to me, crazy.

Instead, I would expect to see something like what 760 is offering as a chapter inside another book with more useful information. Or, maybe as a freebie download.

But, hey, that's just my two credits.

I understand, from you're various posts, that you don't think its worthwhile. That's fine with me. It's a valid, contrasting point of view that will help others make their own decisions and I'm certainly not going to try to change your mind.

Unfortunately, as a someone who has not purchased the book and - as far as I can tell, has never actually even looked at it - you're opinion of it's value isn't worth nearly as much as those who have actually used, or at least read it.

Especially since the OP specifically asked for the opinions of people who have read the book:

Anyone read 760 Patrons yet? Any good? Compatable with other editions?

 

[rust]

There's a value evaluation going on here. If the book were $5 bucks, I probably wouldn't buy it, but I would understand why others would. But, $20 bucks seems, to me, crazy.

Less than 20,- Euro for about 160 pages of adventure ideas and NPCs does
not seem that bad to me. Some copy shops charge more than 12.5 Cents
per page over here (although admittedly only few), so why should I com-
plain about those 12.5 Cents per page of adventure ideas and NPCs.

When I bought 76 Patrons many years ago, the less than 50 pages of it were
a lot more expensive per page (remember, the USD was much higher then,
and the postage quite expensive, too), and the content was - in my opinion -
not in any way more interesting or useful.

 

[Echo]

I'm curious. Do the people who like 760 Patrons also like the T4 First Survey book? Or even CT's The Atlas of the Imperium?

I don't know about the Atlas book, but T4s First Survey was literally a list of generated numbers (which, I've been told, were apparently innaccurate). 760 Patrons is certainly not just a list of numbers - it's 760 personalities, with story attachments, organised into catagories, which can be randomly selected and put to use as contacts, allies, enemies or simple encounters on the fly. You can use the book to develop encounters, and build scenarios, or flesh out character backgrounds.

 

[Klaus]

I'm curious. Do the people who like 760 Patrons also like the T4 First Survey book? Or even CT's The Atlas of the Imperium?

If 760 Patrons was just pages of UPPs with a couple of significant skills each, but no other description, then yeah, the comparison might be apt.

To turn it on its head, if either First Survey or The Atlas of the Imperium had been a sectors-worth of planets, each with a capsule description plus 3-4 adventure hooks, would they have then been worth the money?

 

[Supplement Four]

To turn it on its head, if either First Survey or The Atlas of the Imperium had been a sectors-worth of planets, each with a capsule description plus 3-4 adventure hooks, would they have then been worth the money?

No, not really.

There's a CT book like this called Lee's Guide to Interstellar Adventure. It features 10 generic worlds, with a page or two of 'adventure seeds' outlining a scenario that takes place on the planet.

I bought it for a buck at a used book store, and I've never, in my 25+ years of playing Traveller, used the doggone thing.

It's a buck wasted.

 

[Gruffty]

I'm curious. Do the people who like 760 Patrons also like the T4 First Survey book?

:rofl::rofl:

Or even CT's The Atlas of the Imperium?

:rofl::rofl:

In the words of Jar-Jar Binks:

"oh look, issa all broked!"

 

[coliver988]

No, not really.

There's a CT book like this called Lee's Guide to Interstellar Adventure. It features 10 generic worlds, with a page or two of 'adventure seeds' outlining a scenario that takes place on the planet.

I bought it for a buck at a used book store, and I've never, in my 25+ years of playing Traveller, used the doggone thing.

It's a buck wasted.

No it's not a buck wasted: you got to use it here to help validate your point!

Actually, if you've read it (and I have a copy never directly used as well) some of the stuff in there may have percolated through to adventures you did run, or gave you ideas. Or maybe not)

(wait, if it was not wasted, then it does not validate....err, it's turtles all the way down then! Maybe I should not post pre-coffee)

 

[Allensh]

No, not really.

There's a CT book like this called Lee's Guide to Interstellar Adventure. It features 10 generic worlds, with a page or two of 'adventure seeds' outlining a scenario that takes place on the planet.

I bought it for a buck at a used book store, and I've never, in my 25+ years of playing Traveller, used the doggone thing.

It's a buck wasted.

I had that very book out yesterday, right alongside 760 Patrons. I can assure you, they are completely different books with completely different structures.

But then you see, I have actually read both books and know what I am talking about. You haven't, and you don't.

Allen