[Heretical Thoughts] Savaging Traveller!

[Poppyseed45]

(note: this is also posted on RPG.net - I just wanted the opinions of the gurus here too)

So, as I've recently let be known here and elsewhere, I'm a big fan of Classic Traveller, and have come to appreciate the 3rd Imperium as a setting. I've recently gathered a new group and I'm starting a Traveller campaign next month for them.

In looking at rules however (I've got both Classic and Mongoose) I want something slightly more cinematic/pulpy, with bennies and the like, and I've settled on Savage Worlds (I just got the Deluxe book but I've played and run SW before). With that in mind I want to Savage Traveller so that I can use the Savage Worlds system, but use bits of Classic Traveller as well, and have them mesh without too much fuss (because, you see, I'm rather lazy - one reason I want to use Savage for Trav is because I will want to run other games after this campaign, and I plan on using Savage Worlds for it).

I'll be, for this, using the two first big floppy books, Classic 1-8 (mostly for the trade rules) and many things from Supplements 1-13 (the deck plans, 76 Patrons for sure, and the maps and info for the Spinward Marches, where the campaign will be set).

One thing to note: I don't want the lifepath system. I know it's awesome, but I've at least one player who hates it, and I want the group to be able to choose their roles without recourse to multiple character rolling. I saw someone's great Traveller .pdf for SW with that in there, and I don't want it. Also, I want to use my actual Trav books while using SW as the rules base. I'll explain.

Here's what I mean as an example (and the advice I'm asking):

1. I want to keep all the regular ships and stuff of Traveller, and with that, the starship economy, which means trade. What I want to do is, in this case, have it so that a player can roll, say, their Knowledge(Broker) skill and have their successes modify the buying/selling table outlined in BK 1-3 of Classic Trav. My thought is to have each success and raise count as a +1 on the table, so that keeps within the mechanical scale that Trav envisioned (with the occasional chance for super success). Would this work?

2. I essentially want to keep the ships in the book as is, and use their "fluff" stats (like cargo size, how many crew, etc) but use SW rules for combat. I found one conversion here: http://flynnwd.blogspot.com/2011/06/...starships.html.

Anything missing or strange? Seems quite complete to me. But all right to the higher gurus out there?

3. What's a good rank for "experienced" Traveller types? In Traveller, characters can start anywhere between 1-7 or 8 terms, thought the average is 4 terms I guess (assuming survival or not being kicked out)? What's a good rank to hit that sweet spot (i.e. people who've done a job for 10-16 years, are older professionals who are also apparently crazy to go out and adventure)? Novice with a few raises? Seasoned? Seasoned with raises? Not Veteran, surely?

4. In the Deluxe book, there's a "gritty" rule for damage in combat, and I think it looks interesting. One of the things that sort of defined Traveller to me when I actually played it as a player was the deadliness of combat. We really had to plan and make tactics, all to get that surprise round. Would the gritty rules presented in deluxe be enough for that "holy shit don't get shot or stabbed" feel from Traveller?

Thanks all! I look forward to your comments.

 

[CaptainTrips]

Somehow your link to the Savage Worlds / Traveller starship rules got messed up.

Here is the full link:

http://flynnwd.blogspot.com/2011/06/traveller-to-savage-worlds-starships.html

Here is the non-linked version in case my link above gets messed up the same way:

"http://flynnwd.blogspot.com/2011/06/traveller-to-savage-worlds-starships.html"

 

[Strithe]

I'm thinking of using Savage Worlds to run a game in the 2300AD universe. Here's some of the ideas I've played around with.

1. I want to keep all the regular ships and stuff of Traveller, and with that, the starship economy, which means trade. What I want to do is, in this case, have it so that a player can roll, say, their Knowledge(Broker) skill and have their successes modify the buying/selling table outlined in BK 1-3 of Classic Trav. My thought is to have each success and raise count as a +1 on the table, so that keeps within the mechanical scale that Trav envisioned (with the occasional chance for super success). Would this work?

It sounds reasonable. You might want to cap it at +2 unless you want the odd super-result.

2. I essentially want to keep the ships in the book as is, and use their "fluff" stats (like cargo size, how many crew, etc) but use SW rules for combat. I found one conversion here: http://flynnwd.blogspot.com/2011/06/...starships.html.

Anything missing or strange? Seems quite complete to me. But all right to the higher gurus out there?

Looks pretty decent, although you might want to tweak it to integrate with vehicles or added armor (if your campaign uses them extensively). The Sci-Fi Gear toolkit isn't a bad buy, & it's got guidelines for vehicles, starships, etc.

3. What's a good rank for "experienced" Traveller types? In Traveller, characters can start anywhere between 1-7 or 8 terms, thought the average is 4 terms I guess (assuming survival or not being kicked out)? What's a good rank to hit that sweet spot (i.e. people who've done a job for 10-16 years, are older professionals who are also apparently crazy to go out and adventure)? Novice with a few raises? Seasoned? Seasoned with raises? Not Veteran, surely?

In my game I'm going to run it with a relatively low power level. "Novice" in Savage Worlds is pretty damn capable, especially over typical Extras that don't get bennies, multiple wounds, or a wild die. I'm using anyone with no experience as having something like the Young hindrance without the attribute hit (10 instead of 15 skill points & the Luck edge). A character with 2 terms would be a regular novice, and each 2 terms thereafter would be another advance. Your 8-term character would still be a Novice, but would have 3 advances. Adventuring means a lot faster character advancement in my games than "normal life."

If you're looking for a higher power level, start your characters out as Novices at age 18, & add an advance for every term. An 8-term character would be a Veteran in this case.

4. In the Deluxe book, there's a "gritty" rule for damage in combat, and I think it looks interesting. One of the things that sort of defined Traveller to me when I actually played it as a player was the deadliness of combat. We really had to plan and make tactics, all to get that surprise round. Would the gritty rules presented in deluxe be enough for that "holy shit don't get shot or stabbed" feel from Traveller?

Thanks all! I look forward to your comments.

I don't like that rule because of the extra die rolls & added record keeping. Instead, I typically just rule that it only takes 3 wounds instead of 4 to incapacitate a character. This does a couple of things: it brings wounds in line with fatigue, and makes it easier to remember ("three strikes & you're out). It has the by-product that when a character is knocked out they have a lower chance of dying due to the lesser wound penalty.

If that's not gritty enough, get rid of soak rolls. Your players really won't want to get hit then: they won't be able to shrug off hits quite as readily & the team medic becomes vital in "reviving" downed characters after combat.

 

[FreeTrav]

I haven't played Savage Worlds, so I can't comment on your post above. What I can do, however, is encourage you to write up an article or three for Freelance Traveller about this project.

PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE?

 

[Strithe]

I haven't played Savage Worlds, so I can't comment on your post above. What I can do, however, is encourage you to write up an article or three for Freelance Traveller about this project.

PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE?

Were you talking to me or Mencelus?

 

[Strithe]

I haven't followed the discussion on RPG.net, but there's some conversions of Traveller on savageheroes.com, and there's also a "Savage Space" house rule set that I use for some ideas on skills & edges as well on chaosmeister.wordpress.com.

 

[FreeTrav]

To Mencelus; I was using Quick Reply for that, which puts it properly threaded, but I forgot to check the 'quote message' check box.