hunter
Ancient - Absent Friend
I haven't seen anyone make anything resembling such a statement, including the person you quoted. He said 'if we want to support Traveller'.
Mongoose - traveller returns
- Thread starter Eamonn
- Start date
I haven't seen anyone make anything resembling such a statement, including the person you quoted. He said 'if we want to support Traveller'.
Not here, maybe. But I have heard similar things fairly often.
It seems to me that the only way to make skills more important than stats is to make sure the amount that stats contribute to the equation is considerably lower than what skills contribute.
One of the first stat + skill systems I ever saw was the James Bond 007 game, but in that game, stats and skills were both capped at 15, and the total was multipled by the Ease Factor (5 being average) to determine a target number for a percentile score. Of course this meant that for certain characters, it was possible them to derive as much or more benefit from their stats than from skills. Bond being a "cinematic" game, this was never an issue.
I think in light of my first paragraph, that something like +1 stat mod for every 3-5 points of the stat makes mathematical sense if you were going to use 2d6, and that the maximum skill level allowed should be on the order of (maximum stat modifer reasonably possible) x 3. Thus if the max is +5, the top skill could be 15, for a total of 20 modifer to a roll. This would mean some fairly high target numbers.
Allen
One of the first stat + skill systems I ever saw was the James Bond 007 game, but in that game, stats and skills were both capped at 15, and the total was multipled by the Ease Factor (5 being average) to determine a target number for a percentile score. Of course this meant that for certain characters, it was possible them to derive as much or more benefit from their stats than from skills. Bond being a "cinematic" game, this was never an issue.
I think in light of my first paragraph, that something like +1 stat mod for every 3-5 points of the stat makes mathematical sense if you were going to use 2d6, and that the maximum skill level allowed should be on the order of (maximum stat modifer reasonably possible) x 3. Thus if the max is +5, the top skill could be 15, for a total of 20 modifer to a roll. This would mean some fairly high target numbers.
Allen
Actually, I take issue with this somewhat. The aim of RTT is to maximise the market for sure, but you mustn't forget that the core of the market will still be existing or returning Traveller fans in the main, I'd argue. Other gamers may check out the new product, due to the buzz or whatever, but it would be folly to assume that old gamers will buy Traveller regardless.
From what I've seen, returning Traveller fans come in two varieties.
(1) The grognard. This person likes and wants exactly a specific version of Traveller, and won't buy RTT because it fails to essentially reprint that one specific version as their rules. They'll also whine and gripe as loudly as possible to all within earshot about how the game sucks because it's not the ruleset they want.
(2) The casual gamer, or the Mongoose gamer who once played Traveller and remembers it fondly, or the RPG.net gamer who has flirted about with Traveller and/or Mongoose products and hears about RTT. If the ruleset works, they'll buy it, play it, and share it with their friends. If the ruleset doesn't work, it will start a noticeable slide into obscurity, like T4 did.
Who would you market RTT to?
Judas Iscariot
SOC-10
Something that I have been pushing for Traveller to do for years is to finally aquire(have created) and support a miniatures line for the game.
It is something that has helped many other sci-fi systems maintain a share of the market. It is something that Traveller has never had, yet it does have a rather solid core of canon imagery behind it (The wedged shape of the 100t Scout, the Sloped occipital of the Imperial Marine Battledress, etc..) that could be exploited in the same manner that the beaked Space Marine of 40K, or the shield of an Early Imperia Roman Legionnaire (I know that one isn't sci-fi, but it is a recognizable image that is used to sell games & Minis).
Many other successful RPGs have miniature lines that help their sales. Although Traveller is also a generic RPG, and as such can make use of the many lines of Sci-Fi miniatures out there, it cannot hurt it to have a line of Imperium centered vehicles and Figures produced.
How many people wanted the Traveller Starships?
Of course, how many people want a thing is no gaurantee of those people actually buying a thing... It wouldn't hurt to at least look into what it would cost to have the line produced and what people would like to see included in it.
As for the Game mechanics... I will be happy with just about anything they come up with as long as I have the option of using either a simple system for the most part, but am also able to delve into a pool of detail as deep as I can imagine.
Mytholder: LISTEN TO HIM. PLEASE!!!!!!!
This guy has published works in _every_ version of Traveller. Outside of Marc, his word is that of the divine. Period.
My only other comment is that I'll buy it if there is a 2d6 task system. I will not otherwise. MRQ is a mess to this longtime RQ player. Please do better with your chance at Traveller.
Thank you & god's own luck because you'll need it.
(Back to deep lurk mode.)
William
Hmm... (read, read, read)
Sorry, you're an idiot. Please don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.
And, sorry to say, that's only about half smartass. If hex is really that important to you, then go print out the illiegal scans on the net and have a nice life. Hex made nice color. Hex did not make Traveller.
William
Openly insulting other posters is bad enough, but being so blatantly hypocritical about it leaves me stunned. So, you, when declaring non-2d6 a dealbreaker, are obviously making a rational decision, but someone who declares another arbitrarily picked design element a dealbreaker is an "idiot"?
Sorry, you're a non-entity. Couldn't give a toss about what you think, of myself or the game. I'm sure your on screen etiquette will work wonders for you, in trying to influence others.....
And for the record, despite my preferences, the HEX issue was never a deal breaker for me. So not only are you rude, but you can't read very well either.
R
Roger Calver
Guest
OK, thats the end of the PA's, if you two want to talk about it between you take it to PM's.
One of the things I find disturbing in recent posts on other boards is that people keep pointing to the Runequest SRD as an example of what will be in the Traveller SRD. The Runequest SRD has the following: Character Creation, Skills, Combat, Magic, Adventuring, Equipment, Character Improvement, Cults, Temples, Creatures/Monsters, some Environmental stuff, and some Cosmology stuff.
I am willing to chalk it up to a lack of experience with Traveller, but I certainly hope that there's a bit more than above, or at least a bit different. To be explicit, I would like: Character Creation, Character Improvement, Skills, Combat, Psionics, Equipment, Environments, Creatures/Encounters, World Generation, Starship Creation, Trade & Commerce.
I understand that Mytholder wants much the same list as above, but ultimately, he has to take direction from his boss, who may further be restricted by their negotiations with MWM. He has already mentioned that the Starship Creation rules might, repeat, MIGHT be in a secondary book, but if they are, he has stated that the rules will be made available under the OGL when it happens.
One can hope that at least general info on the OTU, even just library data, would be available in the SRD as well, or at least the opportunity to write in the OTU would be available through the Traveller Logo License (TLL). However, I haven't heard any word at all on that particular subject, save that MWM has told Spica that their project could be one of the first to be released under the OGL and TLL. That may imply OTU access through either the OGL/SRD or the TLL, but then again, the OTU content might be covered by the pre-existing license instead. I don't know for a fact, and I'm not sure anyone else does either, at this time.
Anyway, that's currently where I'm at. I'm not worried about the playtesting of the product. The closer it sticks to its announced goal of deriving from CT, the less testing that needs to be done, because the world has been testing it since 1977. The further one gets, the more testing has to be done. Then again, if it's OGL, we can always publish our own fixes if we find something we don't like. With that in mind, the rules themselves don't bother me. I'm worried about what rules will be left out that we can't play with, as well as whether or not we get to add to the OTU through these licenses.
With Regards,
Flynn
I am willing to chalk it up to a lack of experience with Traveller, but I certainly hope that there's a bit more than above, or at least a bit different. To be explicit, I would like: Character Creation, Character Improvement, Skills, Combat, Psionics, Equipment, Environments, Creatures/Encounters, World Generation, Starship Creation, Trade & Commerce.
I understand that Mytholder wants much the same list as above, but ultimately, he has to take direction from his boss, who may further be restricted by their negotiations with MWM. He has already mentioned that the Starship Creation rules might, repeat, MIGHT be in a secondary book, but if they are, he has stated that the rules will be made available under the OGL when it happens.
One can hope that at least general info on the OTU, even just library data, would be available in the SRD as well, or at least the opportunity to write in the OTU would be available through the Traveller Logo License (TLL). However, I haven't heard any word at all on that particular subject, save that MWM has told Spica that their project could be one of the first to be released under the OGL and TLL. That may imply OTU access through either the OGL/SRD or the TLL, but then again, the OTU content might be covered by the pre-existing license instead. I don't know for a fact, and I'm not sure anyone else does either, at this time.
Anyway, that's currently where I'm at. I'm not worried about the playtesting of the product. The closer it sticks to its announced goal of deriving from CT, the less testing that needs to be done, because the world has been testing it since 1977. The further one gets, the more testing has to be done. Then again, if it's OGL, we can always publish our own fixes if we find something we don't like. With that in mind, the rules themselves don't bother me. I'm worried about what rules will be left out that we can't play with, as well as whether or not we get to add to the OTU through these licenses.
With Regards,
Flynn
Well, let's hope that people will realize that Traveller basics are different from Runequest basics.
Well, in one other thread, a guy from Ad Astra Games was quoted to have said that he conversed with Marc, and apparently Mongoose was a bit overzealous in their announcement. The reconcentration of licences only means RPG engine licences (save GURPS.) Secondary products using the Traveller universe are apparently to go on as before.
I think it's fair to say that Traveller and RuneQuest are different systems, with different goals.
It's possibly also fair to point out that the core rules of RuneQuest will be greatly expanded by the release of RuneQuest deluxe next month too. I wouldn't rule out that possibility in the future.
From what I've read, the two areas of doubt are the starship creating rules and psionics. Psionics, I'm not much interested in anyway (unless there done in a gimmicky Rhine Deck way!), but IIRC, the suggestion for starship design was that there was going to be a customising-of-several-example-models in the corebook, and an expanded-design-your-own-ship in a suppliment.
I think the key thing is that they want the corebook to be kept as accessible as possible, without too many complicated options. Then again, I may be reading to much into that.
It's possibly also fair to point out that the core rules of RuneQuest will be greatly expanded by the release of RuneQuest deluxe next month too. I wouldn't rule out that possibility in the future.
From what I've read, the two areas of doubt are the starship creating rules and psionics. Psionics, I'm not much interested in anyway (unless there done in a gimmicky Rhine Deck way!), but IIRC, the suggestion for starship design was that there was going to be a customising-of-several-example-models in the corebook, and an expanded-design-your-own-ship in a suppliment.
I think the key thing is that they want the corebook to be kept as accessible as possible, without too many complicated options. Then again, I may be reading to much into that.
It's possible, especially if they're releasing the core book as a 96-page hardcover.
It's possible, but I don't think Mongoose will be doing a corebook that thin again. Firstly, because there were lots of complaints last time, and secondly because they now own their own printing facilities - meaning that they can print any size they want, without cost implications.
The current outline suggests the book would come in at 160 pages, but having our own printing monster means that we can be flexible on that. I'm certainly comfortable with a 160-page length - it's short enough to be manageable, but not so short that all the core material can't be covered.
Thanks for letting us know, Mytholder. At what point do you think you might be able to give us a highlights as to what might be in the core rulebook (not necessarily the SRD, of course, since that's probably a second winnowing process after the core rules are written)? I don't know the procedure at Mongoose, so I don't know when the outline is set in stone and work proceeds from there.
With Regards,
Flynn
