First, I am a massive, massive fan of the GDW/DGP OTU (the Rebellion and Virus, meh, but DGP pre-MT was great, great stuff IMO) but I've been digesting the Mongoose Third Imperium works and I have to say that the setting seems more... fun?
That isn't quite the term I'm looking for - but in the GDW/DGP supplements the players often seem like the Greek Chorus or otherwise "witnesses to history" - and despite the existence of the Ancients, the Third Imperium very much is presented as the utter dominating technological, military, and economic power of the universe. We've talked a fair amount about the lack of "frontiers" in the OTU but there is also a similar lack of mystery or wonder or even a sense of Arthur C. Clarke style "magic".
I think that is what drew me to Paranoia Press and their two sectors - it felt like science fiction, not "humans in rubber suits on a soundstage with a bad blue screen" which is often where the OTU seemed to end up despite it's best efforts because there seemed to be so much emphasis on the 3I being "biggest, best, and baddest" of the empires out there.
I was just reading the Mongoose Aslan book and their treatment of the Trojan Reaches - and suddenly it seemed like a very cool place to be adventuring. Without giving spoilers they managed to turn much of the established canon several degrees, give it a new spin, and give the GM lots of very cool mini-settings that let the players be, well, "players" in a way that I can't really remember from a GDW/DGP scenario save maybe the "Reveal the Aslan are a Minor Race!" adventure that threw everyone into a tizzy.
I see the same stuff in their treatment of "Secrets of the Ancients" or even modules like "Tripwire" where the universe seems to be full of mystery, even in areas where the Imperium has been settled for centuries. All of the Mongoose Alien modules seem to be sprinkled with this sort of thing, plus their adventures.
I guess I'm wondering if other people have noticed the same sort of difference? Have thoughts as to why it is there? Think I'm off my rocker?
D.
That isn't quite the term I'm looking for - but in the GDW/DGP supplements the players often seem like the Greek Chorus or otherwise "witnesses to history" - and despite the existence of the Ancients, the Third Imperium very much is presented as the utter dominating technological, military, and economic power of the universe. We've talked a fair amount about the lack of "frontiers" in the OTU but there is also a similar lack of mystery or wonder or even a sense of Arthur C. Clarke style "magic".
I think that is what drew me to Paranoia Press and their two sectors - it felt like science fiction, not "humans in rubber suits on a soundstage with a bad blue screen" which is often where the OTU seemed to end up despite it's best efforts because there seemed to be so much emphasis on the 3I being "biggest, best, and baddest" of the empires out there.
I was just reading the Mongoose Aslan book and their treatment of the Trojan Reaches - and suddenly it seemed like a very cool place to be adventuring. Without giving spoilers they managed to turn much of the established canon several degrees, give it a new spin, and give the GM lots of very cool mini-settings that let the players be, well, "players" in a way that I can't really remember from a GDW/DGP scenario save maybe the "Reveal the Aslan are a Minor Race!" adventure that threw everyone into a tizzy.
I see the same stuff in their treatment of "Secrets of the Ancients" or even modules like "Tripwire" where the universe seems to be full of mystery, even in areas where the Imperium has been settled for centuries. All of the Mongoose Alien modules seem to be sprinkled with this sort of thing, plus their adventures.
I guess I'm wondering if other people have noticed the same sort of difference? Have thoughts as to why it is there? Think I'm off my rocker?
D.