Is Classic Traveller Suitable for Pulp Sci Fi?
- Thread starter Terquem
- Start date
If you can find it, give Rocket Age a look. It is 2d6, but not Traveller 2d6. It was written precisely for what you want to do. Unfortunately, it appears to now be out of print (physically), but the pdfs are still available from DTRPG.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Pulp era involves fisticuffs, swordfights, the occasional blaster duel.
Get rid of the first blood rule and you are good to go for a pulp sci fi experience using CT.
And yes, I have run such games.
Get rid of the first blood rule and you are good to go for a pulp sci fi experience using CT.
And yes, I have run such games.
Run, no. Drafted house rules for? Yes: my headnotes for my house-rule doc are below.
Abstract: For “Heroic” Classic Traveller character generation use 3D6, drop the lowest for all characteristics and 4 skill rolls/term for all careers. This comes close to the iconic Space Opera characters as described at the end of Supplement 1, with the following assumptions.
• All weapons skills collapse to Melee or Gun, both umbrella skills with no cascade (much as “Engineering” is an umbrella skill, and does not cascade)
• Seven terms are rolled for
• Mustering out rolls don’t provide any increases to skills
This should get you characters in the mode of John Carter, Kirth Gersen, Earl Dumarest, etc. Adjusting the first blood rule is another change I'd make, as well as having unconsciousness occur at two or three characteristics = 0, not just one.
It's really a bit to gritty and simulationist to do that sort of thing well. and combat is famous for its deadliness. You might be better off with something designed for pulp action like PBTA, FATE or Savage Worlds. I'm pretty sure that you can even get off-the-shelf golden-age rocketpunk setting materials for most if not all of those systems.
I'd recommend Fudge before FATE. I find Aspects highly annoying.
Other systems, system wise, seem to be just variations of "roll 2d6, apply modifiers, determine success" (or degree of success/relationship of success). After a quick review, I think I will try a mod of Classic Traveller
I already began working on three career paths, CoIT -The Congress of Interstellar Trade (Merchants), UCoIG - United Consortium of Interplanetary Governments (Navy), and IRS - Interplanetary Relief Society (Scouts)
And I might add a possible dirt-side army path, but I'm not sure the setting calls for a interstellar army and seems more likely to have mercenary contractors and planetary armies.
The Rocket Patrol of Planet Tomorrow will be a member of the UCoIG, while the Hospital Ship will be IRS, and I have some plot ideas that bring these two groups into conflict, regardless of which group the PCs end up being in.
I already began working on three career paths, CoIT -The Congress of Interstellar Trade (Merchants), UCoIG - United Consortium of Interplanetary Governments (Navy), and IRS - Interplanetary Relief Society (Scouts)
And I might add a possible dirt-side army path, but I'm not sure the setting calls for a interstellar army and seems more likely to have mercenary contractors and planetary armies.
The Rocket Patrol of Planet Tomorrow will be a member of the UCoIG, while the Hospital Ship will be IRS, and I have some plot ideas that bring these two groups into conflict, regardless of which group the PCs end up being in.
ShapeShifter
SOC-13
Big fan of old school Flash Gordon (Buster Crabbe '36, '38, and '40 serials).
Star Wars (ep IV) is the direct descendant of Flash Gordon*. Thus WEG's d6 Star Wars rules would be far better suited than Traveller.
Converting the original serials into WEG d6 stats would be a fun project -- if I had more time.
Ever heard of Savage Worlds Flash Gordon? That may scratch your itch.
Stellar Adventures (a scifi "plug-in" for Advanced Fighting Fantasy 2E) is pretty darned rules-lite and may be an even better fit for FG than WEG d6.
The Unisystem Cinematic rules (e.g. for the Buffy RPG and Angel RPG) may work, but some tinkering with rules to make them more setting-appropriate will be necessary.
Going back over my old, old notes, some skills:
Brawling
**Advanced skill: "Helmet Punch" (FWIR, only Flash was doing this!)
Resisto-Force Operation
Rocketship Piloting
Hydrocycle Operation
Superscience (Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, Rocket Science, Astronomy, Mathematics, etc.)
Ray Technology (death ray, invisibility ray, dehumanizer ray, anti-gravity, etc.)
Rocketship Gunnery (bombs, nose cannon, etc.)
Interplanetary Radio Operation
Rocketship Repair
Equitation (or creatures other than horses)
Sport. In the case of Flash he would have a specialisation in Polo.
Ray Weaponry (Gun, Rifle)
Swordfighting
Spear
KNOWLEDGE FIELDS:
**Mongovian Flora/Fauna
**Mongovian Religion (mystery Cult of Great God Tao)
Spaceograph Operation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As a little side-note, the "Yellow Menace" element of pulp serials (FG and "The Drums of Fu Manchu" to name just a few) is impossible to get around and is a dimension of the genre that sets it firmly in its historical context of the early-20th century. On that note I was playing around by giving the infamous Ming a more Chinese name:
Ming2 Can3 Huang2 ("Emperor Ming the Merciless", or in Unicode, 660E, 6158, 7687)
Mongo = Man2 Guo2 (literally "Savage Country" or "Barbaric Land", which fits perfectly!) Unicode: 883B, 570B.
Tao (pronounced Tay-Oh in the serials) is very obviously from Dao, as in Daoism (which wasn't very creative of Alex Raymond, really).
____________
* not the 1980 atrocity, mind you.
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ShawnDriscoll
SOC-14 1K
Yep. Just add minions to the game.
Yes. Key thing to remember, fists, knives, and pistols.
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
And house-rule in saving throws.
That could help too...
It also helps to remember the source material, fights are frequently not to the death, knock down the mook and rush past to get the girl...
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
House rules and saving throws you say...
1. no first blood rule for PCs (you may want to keep it for critical hits like I do )
2. if a characteristic is reduced to 0 roll 2d vs unwounded End immediately (you need to get lower or equal to End for success), if successful raise 0 characteristic to half value immediately
1. no first blood rule for PCs (you may want to keep it for critical hits like I do )
2. if a characteristic is reduced to 0 roll 2d vs unwounded End immediately (you need to get lower or equal to End for success), if successful raise 0 characteristic to half value immediately
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
Number 2 would not be a bad idea for Traveller in general. Number 1 should be part of the rules.
Number 1 has been part of my games for years.
I think I will have to try out number 2 as well.
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
Mike, may I have your permission to add at least Number 2 to my reworked Cepheus Engine Rules, along with giving you appropriate credit?
I still need to think about the "no first blood" rule.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
More than happy to see it used.
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
Thank you.
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