Mongoose High Guard

[Whipsnade]

"I hope MgT fails miserably" isn't critique.

Andrew,

Agreed.

... but just pointing out flaws and hoping it fails doesn't help anyone.

How about pointing out flaws without saying you hope it fails?


Regards,
Bill

 

[mbrinkhues]

@Mongoose Matt:

CoDominion written in the same general direction of Heinlein, H. Beam Piper and David Drake. A relatively small, human only(1) universe with lots of politics and small wars and all. Tech is in many ways 2300AD level

ZbV (german side only)

While ZbV was a bit "tongue in cheek"(2) the CoDo Universe should find a following among Traveller players. At least one thread here about adapting Traveller to play it currently

(1) One Alien race appears late in the universe but is a Second Rank power

(2) Don't get me wrong I think it's a fun and playabel universe with all it's 1960s/the Atom is our friend writing style. Bit of a "StarGate" feeling with Earth realising that we are not alone the hard way. Female Technobabble-Generators optional

 

[spinwardpirate]

Some guys were working on a CoDominium rpg a few years ago. As far as I know, the only thing that's left of it are some nice pieces of art:
http://www.dennisantinori.com/EOM/Poster.jpg
http://www.dennisantinori.com/1001/index.cfm?topic=EOM&Show=Slides

 

[Andrew Boulton]

How about pointing out flaws without saying you hope it fails?

Fine, as long as the object is to find a solution, rather than just saying "MGT sucks because..."

 

[Imperial Planetologist]

CT Products were being published by Avenger up until they were eliminated in order to make room for Mongoose.

Thanks so much for that.

At the time Mongoose Traveller was announced, two different publishers were still producing new material for Traveller; there were also two active minis lines at that time as well.

There's a reason that Mongoose pursued the Traveller license: it was a property worth acquiring, a roleplaying game that after thirty years is still part of the gamers' zeitgeist, still selling more copies of its reprints than many publishers are of brand new games. A roleplaying game that is still played about as much as any game not named Dungeons and Dragons or perhaps Dark Heresy is played.

 

[Imperial Planetologist]

Here's one thing that needs changing; Traveller as a game system needs to move away from the rigid "canon" of the OTU. and Mongoose is trying to do that.

What is "rigid canon?" And why does anyone need to move away from it?

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Thanks Andrew for explaining the difference. I do appreciate the Mods taking an active role in helping others understand the forum rules.

Getting people to understand them is easy, it's getting them to *obey* them that's hard!

 

[Andrew Boulton]

What is "rigid canon?" And why does anyone need to move away from it?

I think of it as not so much "sticking to rigid canon", but as more "getting your facts right"...

 

[mbrinkhues]

What is "rigid canon?" And why does anyone need to move away from it?

If you want to see a "rigid canon" try the german DSA game (aka Da Schnarchen alle or Das Spielen Alle) the german equivalent to DnD. The universe attached to the game is so finely detailed that you get afraid to kick a pebble. After all it might the THE PEBBLE that causes Borbarad to stumble in Adventure 19, page 4, line 6. (1) Other examples can be found in RPG adaptions of some movies/TV series that have a long running time and writers bibles (StarTrek is chief here, Babylon has it's own share of problems)

Traveller canon OTOH is rather loosely defined with a number of fixed dates/events and some key technologies that are painted with a very broad brush. The rest is left to GM and groups. I.e. Traveller never says how Anagenetics or Universal Immunisation works, might be Nanostuff, might be crushed Hiver larva. Or look at Computer. In CT (the broadest brush) it was "THE COMPUTER" and in MT and TNE it got broken down into multiple smaller systems that work together for fault tolerance. Or take Athmosphere codes. "Tainted" is something that is unhealthy and reduces your lifespan. That can mean Bejing style smog or Bikini style fallout and the peoples reaction to that will match. "Religious Oligarchie" can mean anything from the Taliban to the ancient Egypts and so on

The only time Traveller canon is rigid is when people either want it to be to bash it or can't fill the short descriptions given by the game with life.

(1) The DSA computer game is Drakensang, should be availabel in english also

 

[Garyius2003]

"Rigid Cannon"

What is nice about the 3I, once I back out the mistakes and end up with a universe like GURPS or Mongoose, is that I have detail but lots of room to play.

There is a Navy, and x-boats, and grand events. However, whether the princess gets married is a background fact. Out where I play, my character can be a knight or baron, and never dream of going to Capital/Core.

By the same token, the PC can report to the emperor about the secret mission to determine if Norris is a Zho plant---of course the info will be 6 months out of date even if the party jumps there in the secret high speed transports.

However, even if Norris is, the main timeline can continue. Heck, you can even keep using the TNS feeds.

The Emperess can be jumping through the system, and the PCs can laugh, while drinking at the TAS hotel, at all the butt kissers. Or, they can try to steal the data chips her trip is a cover for (I would advise against allowing her death, but that is hardly kicking a pebble). Either way, the new TNS feeds cover the situtation.

Unless you are playing an unusual type of game, there is room to play. Of course a PC isn't going to easily replace Norris in the Marches. However, lots of room for a new Duke at the spinward end of the J-5 Rift route, holding back the alien invaders without ticking off their parents.

 

[Imperial Planetologist]

Traveller canon OTOH is rather loosely defined with a number of fixed dates/events and some key technologies that are painted with a very broad brush. The rest is left to GM and groups. I.e. Traveller never says how Anagenetics or Universal Immunisation works, might be Nanostuff, might be crushed Hiver larva. Or look at Computer. In CT (the broadest brush) it was "THE COMPUTER" and in MT and TNE it got broken down into multiple smaller systems that work together for fault tolerance. Or take Athmosphere codes. "Tainted" is something that is unhealthy and reduces your lifespan. That can mean Bejing style smog or Bikini style fallout and the peoples reaction to that will match. "Religious Oligarchie" can mean anything from the Taliban to the ancient Egypts and so on

The only time Traveller canon is rigid is when people either want it to be to bash it or can't fill the short descriptions given by the game with life.

What is nice about the 3I, once I back out the mistakes and end up with a universe like GURPS or Mongoose, is that I have detail but lots of room to play.

There is a Navy, and x-boats, and grand events. However, whether the princess gets married is a background fact. Out where I play, my character can be a knight or baron, and never dream of going to Capital/Core.

By the same token, the PC can report to the emperor about the secret mission to determine if Norris is a Zho plant---of course the info will be 6 months out of date even if the party jumps there in the secret high speed transports.

However, even if Norris is, the main timeline can continue. Heck, you can even keep using the TNS feeds.

The Emperess can be jumping through the system, and the PCs can laugh, while drinking at the TAS hotel, at all the butt kissers. Or, they can try to steal the data chips her trip is a cover for (I would advise against allowing her death, but that is hardly kicking a pebble). Either way, the new TNS feeds cover the situtation.

Unless you are playing an unusual type of game, there is room to play. Of course a PC isn't going to easily replace Norris in the Marches. However, lots of room for a new Duke at the spinward end of the J-5 Rift route, holding back the alien invaders without ticking off their parents.

These are my people.

 

[MongooseMatt]

still selling more copies of its reprints than many publishers are of brand new games. A roleplaying game that is still played about as much as any game not named Dungeons and Dragons or perhaps Dark Heresy is played.

Not _quite_ true - however, we certainly believed we could make the game achieve these aims.

 

[captainjack]

These are my people.

Allow me to join in the group hug. two of the better comments I've ever read on the subject(s).

In fact, I'll probably swipe them..

 

[Imperial Planetologist]

Not _quite_ true - however, we certainly believed we could make the game achieve these aims.

My comment was based on figures that Hunter Gordon tossed out.

 

[pierangelo]

how does the game play in terms of big ship space battles? does it scale well and are some of the glaring problems from CT high guard addressed?

 

[rancke]

I think of it as not so much "sticking to rigid canon", but as more "getting your facts right"...

I stumbled across this line while browsing, and if I had a sig file, it (the line) would go straight into it (the sig file).


Hans

 

[robject]

I think that Barbettes have been shortchanged in yet another version of Traveller. MgT allows me to mount a turret or a 50 ton bay on a 60 ton craft and then tells me that a Barbette is between the two in size, but it fails to follow the logic to it's conclusion and create barbette versions of the Turret weapons.

On the other hand, the ability to upgrade weapons at later TLs is very clever and seems simple to use. Upgrades include:
* Accurate
* Easy to Repair
* High Yield
* Long Range
* Resilient
* Variable
* Very High Yield

I agree with both these points. The latter is very in line with the MGT/CT feel, but the barbettes really do need laser and missile launcher guidance. Not much, but a little.

 

[robject]

What is "rigid canon?" And why does anyone need to move away from it?

Depends who you ask.

Probably safest to say something like "decouple the core rules from 1105 Third Imperium, and where that cannot be done, then modularize the rules for hot-swap.". Reasonably done with MGT.