[Mongoose] 2300AD Reviews?

[Kilgs]

Anyone have any thoughts on the new 2300AD? Thinking of picking it up as an aid to my own version of 2300AD.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Wow, I hadn't realized they were putting 2300AD out. May have to check it out.

 

[LemnOc]

Don't wait! It is excellent and, unlike the old GDW game, dovetails right in with CT or MT rules.

Obviously a labor of love from Colin Dunn. Well worth the purchase IMO.

Link to a review: http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/15/15549.phtml

 

[Putraack]

I eagerly looked forward to it, I have it, I've read it... I haven't done anything with it, except make up a pair of practice characters.

It looks pretty good, I've not really read through all of the world descriptions yet. That they all fit into the UPP system is a help, and the many, many planet maps are a big plus.

I like that it merges, rules-wise, with Traveller. I like the emphasis on cyber implants, computer interfaces and DNA-mod packages. I'm looking forward to messing with the space combat, as well as other combat.

I was always more a fan of 2300 as a setting for wargames than as an RPG-- I never really grokked what to do with it, except that my brother and I loved Star Cruiser for a short while. No one else around us wanted to GM, so we drifted away.

Of the groups I play with now, two are heavy on the hack 'n' slash, so I could easily whip up some Kaefer fights. One is more into detailed RPing, so if I come up with a good game concept someday, I'll break it out.

 

[LemnOc]

I was always more a fan of 2300 as a setting for wargames than as an RPG-- I never really grokked what to do with it, except that my brother and I loved Star Cruiser for a short while. No one else around us wanted to GM, so we drifted away.

Of the groups I play with now, two are heavy on the hack 'n' slash, so I could easily whip up some Kaefer fights. One is more into detailed RPing, so if I come up with a good game concept someday, I'll break it out.

Setting the characters up as Troubleshooters works pretty well with this setting. They can do a lot of things, including merc work, and have excuses to Travel around the Arms. The setting is perfect for espionage-style intrigue. Build a shadowy third-tier agency without a lot of initial detail and professing limited resources. Attach the characters to it and let them go at it, Mission Impossible style.

I think the Kaefers can get real dull real quickly, although it is fun to throw them in every now and then to ramp up the excitement and despair. But that's just MO.

I’m not really sure the Free Trader schtick works too well in this setting. There’s just not enough Unobtainium lying around to build entire campaigns around.

 

[Kilgs]

I'm looking to pick it up sooner rather than later. I'm kinda done with the Traveller system when it comes to games that require a bit more finesse. I think Interlock or SilCore will work much better for it.

But I am pretty disappointed that they kept the old NSL.

First, it's incorrect.

Second, it makes future use of NSL lists (more accurate ones) extremely difficult if not pointless. Since the game uses their own coordinates, you can't really add the real ones, you basically just have to handwave the whole thing.

Third, it missed a significant chance to open up whole new Arms. Check out Evil Dr. Ganymede's stellar charting blog for full notes.

I spent the weekend with Astrosynthesis and "fixing" some of the broken links. Nyotekundu was easy since GDW did it themselves (move it about 0.08LY). A few Brown Dwarfs here and there. The whole BCV, Joi, Dunkelheim area took a bit of moving around but I have a very decent representation of it now.

Frankly, the real thing that comes out is much more interesting than the old map. It also provides a significantly larger setting than was originally available. The Beta Hydri arm alone has almost 50 stars in the cluster but a long ways out which makes sense that its not in the 2300 timeline. It will take awhile to get all the way out there. The 61 Cygni cluster is opened up. The French Arm is pretty much the most straightforward since its almost completely mapped out.

 

[LemnOc]

I am pretty disappointed that they kept the old NSL.

...Check out Evil Dr. Ganymede's stellar charting blog for full notes.

I think if you bump up the stutterwarp threshold to 8 ly it solves most of the immediately fatal problems, and the Arms would still be Arms. Not quite sure why Colin didn't at least do that, but maybe 7.7 rule was just too deeply ingrained.

Your engines would be screaming on the stretch between Seriuer and Broward, and Sirius would still be unreachable.

All those fake Kaefer stars bug me more than the jumble in the French Arm.

 

[Kilgs]

All those fake Kaefer stars bug me more than the jumble in the French Arm.

Yeah, was wondering what I missed there... the French Arm just stops at Gamma Serpentis and Lambda Serpentis.

Luckily it's far enough out that I can throw a few things in without causing much of a problem.