No, I used Word 
Black background in a box, Oregon font, draw a line, choose a colour. That's it!
Black background in a box, Oregon font, draw a line, choose a colour. That's it!
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Mercator - Trading Adventures in the Ancient World
- Thread starter Mithras
- Start date
E.D.Quibell
SOC-13
No, I used Word
I couldn't get Word to do the word position properly for my covers, so I use Publisher
Regards,
Ewan
JustinInOz
SOC-12
Paul,
Have you seen this site: http://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/
I think it may be of interest to you if you have not.
Enjoy, I have!
Have you seen this site: http://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/
I think it may be of interest to you if you have not.
Enjoy, I have!
I would be willing, whenever it is that I get around to printing a copy out (I work better with hardcopy).
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So, FreeTrav ... I guess you're not interested?
I absolutely AM interested; since Freelance Traveller is a labor of love, I'm willing to wait until a willing person - you, in this case - has the time to do it.
I apologize if I didn't make it clear that I understood the above, and didn't make clear that I absolutely am interested, even if I didn't explicitly say so in reply to a specific comment. I'll do better in the future...
I apologize if I didn't make it clear that I understood the above, and didn't make clear that I absolutely am interested, even if I didn't explicitly say so in reply to a specific comment. I'll do better in the future...
I absolutely AM interested; since Freelance Traveller is a labor of love, I'm willing to wait until a willing person - you, in this case - has the time to do it.
I apologize if I didn't make it clear that I understood the above, and didn't make clear that I absolutely am interested, even if I didn't explicitly say so in reply to a specific comment. I'll do better in the future...
I'll have it to you as soon as I can make myself type it in to the computer. (I wrote it in a notebook and, while I have it right here in front of my as I type, I find my laziness overcoming my willingness :nonono: .)
In very basic(as in these are my thoughts but not the actual review): good stuff, but I'd alter the weapon damages (decrease dagger damage, increase longsword damage, increase bow damage), have some way of differentiating between scale and chain other than by weight and price, ship designs are good if basic;
chargen: needs to have some way of differentiating between citizen and non-citizen Romans, while the barbarians should also have a Soc score of 1d6 as well, and the Other, Rogue and Noble careers should also begin at age 14 (because the age of adulthood was younger then, and children had more adult tasks at earlier);
Carpentry, Stonemason and Blacksmith should be part of the Artisan cascade, even if they are special types of Artisan with special rules;
Economics and encounters are well thought out, although they do concentrate upon sea-trade too much - I'd like rules and locations for overland trading;
Locations are nice, but they focus on the Eastern Roman Empire and Mediterranean too much, and I'd have liked to see something for not only the Western Empire - Rome is calling to Papa - but also inland locations such as Persia. But this could be taken care of by special supplements (and not necessarily written by Mithras, but instead by anyone who's willing).
Congratulations! As an antique map dealer, however, I have a major problem with the name: because Mercator was 16th century.
For the Roman world, the names you want are Ptolemy, or possibly Strabo.
Use Mercator for your 16th century trade game!
Apart from that, it's gorgeous.
Ha, but Mercator is the Latin word for "merchant or trader", from the verb mercari, "to buy; to trade"
Huh! No kidding. Learn a new thing every day.
That's what I get for doing this at work. Maps on the brain.
Awesome. I bought that game.
Yes, I know.
Why do you think I brought it up? :devil:It's a pretty good game, very simple and straightforward. I really like the commentary with it...
Now, years ago I promised a review. I even *wrote* a review, and posted a pocket version of it. Now I think it's time to bring the full review to you all. FreeTrav, this is especially for you.
(As an aside, I need to put it up in segments; this is a shared family computer.)
Mercator, which was written by Paul Elliot, AKA Mithras, is a fan-made supplement for Traveller. It is set in the eastern half of the Roman Empire during the first and second centuries of the Gregorian Calendar, and aims to adapt the original version of the Traveller rules to a low-tech setting. To that end, Mercator includes Roman-style careers for character generation, combat, equipment (not just weapons and armor), sailing ships, economics and trading (with a sailing bent), low-tech encounters and a brief survey of the Eastern Empire.
Character generation covers the careers of Legion (citizen soldiers, SOC 6+), Auxiliaries (non-citizen soldiers, SOC 5-), Navy, Merchants, nobles, rogues, barbarians and the ubiquitous "other," which in these rules represents crafters, townsmen, slaves and the assorted characters which don't fall under the other careers. These careers follow the standard 2d6 method and start at 18, except for Barbarians which roll 1d6 for Education and start at 14. (In my opinion, the careers of Noble, Rogue, Other and maybe Merchant should begin at 14 as well, as humans usually begin their careers earlier in lower-tech areas - teenagers in this time were usually out working, and many teenage girls were married and/or mothers, more so than today.) The aging table is the one in CT Bk1, which is appropriate for the time period - once you made it past infancy you'd be fine 'til 60. Unless someone killed you, which was never unlikely.
The careers include a muster-out table, which no good Traveller career is complete without. Money is handled in silver denarii instead of credits, and the weapons are blades instead of guns. Indeed, like in sci-fi Traveller, Nobles and Merchants may aquire a ship - a wood sailing vessel without a mortgage.
One interesting change is that Nobles use the title that is the highest one that their families have held, which doesn't necessarily mean that the character holds it (I would not allow a PC to hold high titles without it being a political campaign), which is the other reason that I would begin Nobles at 14 - they had to undergo a course, the Cursus Honorum (Cursus!), which was designed to give them experience in how the Roman government worked. As opposed to commoners, who were supposed to let the First Families tell them what they *really* wanted to do.
There have been a few skill changes - for example, "Equestrian" - also a lower-noble Roman who isn't a senator but just rich - becomes "Riding" or Teamster, which is handling carts (which I would put together with Teamster when it comes up in Chargen - they're not the same, but a player making a legionary could pick Riding when he gets Teamster - once). There is also Blacksmith, Carpentry and Stonemason, which are specific and highly important subsets of Artisan (I would allow anyone who got a result of "Artisan" skill to pick these three, especially if playing an "Other"); "Artillery," which is ballistae and catapults, with Siege Engineer complementing them; meanwhile, Pilot and Small Craft refer to sailing vessels instead of starships (let me ask you what the difference between Star Ships and A Star's Hips is!).
[Here I must leave off. Others want this computer. I shall return!]
(As an aside, I need to put it up in segments; this is a shared family computer.)
Mercator, which was written by Paul Elliot, AKA Mithras, is a fan-made supplement for Traveller. It is set in the eastern half of the Roman Empire during the first and second centuries of the Gregorian Calendar, and aims to adapt the original version of the Traveller rules to a low-tech setting. To that end, Mercator includes Roman-style careers for character generation, combat, equipment (not just weapons and armor), sailing ships, economics and trading (with a sailing bent), low-tech encounters and a brief survey of the Eastern Empire.
Character generation covers the careers of Legion (citizen soldiers, SOC 6+), Auxiliaries (non-citizen soldiers, SOC 5-), Navy, Merchants, nobles, rogues, barbarians and the ubiquitous "other," which in these rules represents crafters, townsmen, slaves and the assorted characters which don't fall under the other careers. These careers follow the standard 2d6 method and start at 18, except for Barbarians which roll 1d6 for Education and start at 14. (In my opinion, the careers of Noble, Rogue, Other and maybe Merchant should begin at 14 as well, as humans usually begin their careers earlier in lower-tech areas - teenagers in this time were usually out working, and many teenage girls were married and/or mothers, more so than today.) The aging table is the one in CT Bk1, which is appropriate for the time period - once you made it past infancy you'd be fine 'til 60. Unless someone killed you, which was never unlikely.
The careers include a muster-out table, which no good Traveller career is complete without. Money is handled in silver denarii instead of credits, and the weapons are blades instead of guns. Indeed, like in sci-fi Traveller, Nobles and Merchants may aquire a ship - a wood sailing vessel without a mortgage.
One interesting change is that Nobles use the title that is the highest one that their families have held, which doesn't necessarily mean that the character holds it (I would not allow a PC to hold high titles without it being a political campaign), which is the other reason that I would begin Nobles at 14 - they had to undergo a course, the Cursus Honorum (Cursus!), which was designed to give them experience in how the Roman government worked. As opposed to commoners, who were supposed to let the First Families tell them what they *really* wanted to do.
There have been a few skill changes - for example, "Equestrian" - also a lower-noble Roman who isn't a senator but just rich - becomes "Riding" or Teamster, which is handling carts (which I would put together with Teamster when it comes up in Chargen - they're not the same, but a player making a legionary could pick Riding when he gets Teamster - once). There is also Blacksmith, Carpentry and Stonemason, which are specific and highly important subsets of Artisan (I would allow anyone who got a result of "Artisan" skill to pick these three, especially if playing an "Other"); "Artillery," which is ballistae and catapults, with Siege Engineer complementing them; meanwhile, Pilot and Small Craft refer to sailing vessels instead of starships (let me ask you what the difference between Star Ships and A Star's Hips is!).
[Here I must leave off. Others want this computer. I shall return!]
