snapshotbygdw
SOC-12
And one in the UK!
How to answer "What's traveller like?"
- Thread starter iron warrior
- Start date
And one in the UK!
ShapeShifter
SOC-13
I'd introduce a prospective player to at least one of the Dumarest books and Mote in God's Eye. Those two together really form the foundation of what CT is.
grendelttroll
SOC-12
How is Traveller like to me?
Listening to the soundtracks of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Heavy Metal(the 1980 movie) at the same time.....
Listening to the soundtracks of 2001: A Space Odyssey and Heavy Metal(the 1980 movie) at the same time.....
Stoneburner
SOC-5
Dumarest
I'm just about to begin reading Dumarest properly. I read 'Winds of Gath' last year. I have the next 4 books on the way. A. Bertram Chandlers John Grimes series isn't far off the mark either.
I'm just about to begin reading Dumarest properly. I read 'Winds of Gath' last year. I have the next 4 books on the way. A. Bertram Chandlers John Grimes series isn't far off the mark either.
Andrew Boulton
The Adminator
Two
I'm gonna have to upgrade my VHS copies of M44 and OL now...ooh, both DVDs for under £7 on Amazon...
iron warrior
SOC-12
Two
I'm gonna have to upgrade my VHS copies of M44 and OL now...ooh, both DVDs for under £7 on Amazon...
Yes, those two make a nice pair.
Yup, that'd work.
Icosahedron
SOC-14 1K
By coincidence, Moon 44 showed last night on UK TV. Since it'd been mentioned here as travelleresque, I watched about half of it - and then went to bed. Yep, it was that interesting...
Frankymole
SOC-12
With its emphasis on a group of disparate individuals with skills, adventuring together after a prior career (and now not always on the right side of the law) it has more in common with Blakes 7 than Star Trek - especially Blake 7's third series which was more a random assortment of adventures than a story of rebellion.
It is also like Elite - in that the computer game Elite is totally based on Traveller free trader gameplay.
It is also like Elite - in that the computer game Elite is totally based on Traveller free trader gameplay.
iron warrior
SOC-12
Since moon 44 and outland have come up here, I'd like to recommend a third old movie: Moon zero two, hammer film's only straight science fiction film.
It was pretty good for the time, made about the same time as Armstrong put his foot on the moon and working in a reff to it. If you can choke down the "space western" bit (and judging by the # of firefly fans here I guess most of you can) it was kind of decent and fairly good on science, asides from the 'artificial gravity" scene.
It was pretty good for the time, made about the same time as Armstrong put his foot on the moon and working in a reff to it. If you can choke down the "space western" bit (and judging by the # of firefly fans here I guess most of you can) it was kind of decent and fairly good on science, asides from the 'artificial gravity" scene.
I wonder how much TNE inspired Gene Rodenberry's Andromeda (at least the first season). The Systems Commonwealth = Imperium, High Guard = Imperial Navy, an officer from the golden era sleeps for 300 years and now travels around in a lostech ship with morally flexible merchants ... and while there is no Virus per se there are starship AIs gone mad aplenty. I just wish whoever wrote the pilot episode had a slightly better understanding of science.
Oh, and ...
Unfortunately I can't think of Heavy Metal without remembering the South Park version.
o:
Oh, and ...
Unfortunately I can't think of Heavy Metal without remembering the South Park version.
o:iron warrior
SOC-12
I wonder how much TNE inspired Gene Rodenberry's Andromeda (at least the first season). The Systems Commonwealth = Imperium, High Guard = Imperial Navy, an officer from the golden era sleeps for 300 years and now travels around in a lostech ship with morally flexible merchants ... and while there is no Virus per se there are starship AIs gone mad aplenty. I just wish whoever wrote the pilot episode had a slightly better understanding of science.
Oh, and ...
Unfortunately I can't think of Heavy Metal without remembering the South Park version.
Frak south park! It's just a couple snarky dicks who treat their show like a license to viciously attack anyone who's famous and not to the right of attila the hun.
Agreed - Andromeda was a very Traveller-ish show for the first season or two. Really, once they re-established the Commonwealth, the show seemed to lose direction. I couldn't even watch the last season.
Another very Traveller-ish show is a low budget Canadian export called "Starhunter:2500". The acting is horrible, especially in the first few episodes, but after a while the show grows on you. The tone is a little more modern space opera (though very little "trans-humanism") than classic Traveller, and it would seem that their FTL technology is even less reliable than Jump Drives but you still get plenty of seedy startowns, corsair bands, shady merchants, etc.
You can find it on Netflix in the US. Not sure about elsewhere.
I noticed the resemblance to Traveller from the first time I watched andromeda.
iron warrior
SOC-12
Andromeda was a great show with a lot of potential, until sorbo's ego turned it into "The adventures of kirkules" and threw any semblance of science into the garbage can so they could bring in prophecies, chosen ones, mystical forces, godlike beings and make sorbo the superheroic one whom the universe revolved around.
Really, thinking about that show makes me want to scream and cry.
Really, thinking about that show makes me want to scream and cry.
Ah, remember the movie Arena? The gladiators in space? A bit of that and, to me, the Star Wars (original trilogy) novels, which are very well written, and even by different authors. I use psionics a bit like the force, but without the religious aspect as a plethora of religions give yet another level of intrigue to the game.
Oh, and hello, by the way, I am an oldschool gamer, usually fantasy, but have played Traveller in the dim past and am going to be running it again.
Oh, and hello, by the way, I am an oldschool gamer, usually fantasy, but have played Traveller in the dim past and am going to be running it again.
"Aliens" and "Outland" were table settings for Traveller feel. Some 2001 as well, along with a healthy dash of Indiana Jones and a few World War 2 flicks.
I can't ever remember anyone using Traveller to do SW or ST in the local gaming community. That's not to say that it didn't happen, but Traveller (even with psionics) didn't seem to lend itself to Star Fleet or the "the Force". It seemed to more mimic sci-fi films from the 50s and 60s.
I can't ever remember anyone using Traveller to do SW or ST in the local gaming community. That's not to say that it didn't happen, but Traveller (even with psionics) didn't seem to lend itself to Star Fleet or the "the Force". It seemed to more mimic sci-fi films from the 50s and 60s.
I am thinking of bringing in a few aspects of Warhammer 40k that I find interesting. Some races, some gear, some planet ideas, Chaos, but not making everything quite as warlike, throwing in intrigue, exploration and some of that old Star Wars feel of an oppressive regime and dozens of factions oppressing it, most of these having that "slightly used" gear feel.
Imagine a universe where Chaos is rising and the forces of Law have been broken and struggle to fight the tides of entropy while neutral forces struggle against Chaos to uphold the Balance (and for their own interests).
Imagine a universe where Chaos is rising and the forces of Law have been broken and struggle to fight the tides of entropy while neutral forces struggle against Chaos to uphold the Balance (and for their own interests).
iron warrior
SOC-12
Hmmmm, let's say someone found an Ancient base with what appeared to be a prototype for a jump 7 engine it it, and using it created a warp portal that let Chaos into the universe, and it spread from there. Hence planets near the original portal were quickly converted into "Daemon worlds" where people began becoming chaos worshippers and then making chaos space marines.
I suppose you could do it, but hell, if you want to pervert the traveller universe that much wh not use cthonian stars instead?
