CT Only: My TC Universe

[savage]

Looks fun!

Did they use anti-grav to get off Earth or a Space Elevator? Perhaps I missed something. If there was economic hardship a Space Elevator program would add an interesting twist. Taking advantage of the early stages of asteroid mining to get the population working off planet is more attractive than wiping out the population in wars.

Another thought, I liked the "depletion of Fossil Fuels" approach Lost in Space took as a motivator to leave Earth. Such an event would result in obliterating farming and about every aspect of the majority of nations on Earth. Resource wars would get very hot.

I also liked robjects suggestions. Generation ships add great mystery and really the only way to move masses of sophonts. I have a numerous amount IMTU.

YTU is pretty cool.

 

[kilemall]

No wars, just plagues. Too disruptive to fight over the remains.

Although whether the plague itself was a weapon is an open question in some people's minds.

Space elevator too slow, you want to move 1 million per day to have a reasonable 1 billion per 3 years rate, and you have to move them to the Cities anyway, too much transloading, so shuttles straight from population centers, 100 per shuttle flight plus baggage.

2000 shuttles plus spares, flying 5 sorties a day, figure 2 shuttles assigned per million survivors, that's 1000 per million block per day, plenty of time for proper quarantining prior to lift.

Hmmm, imagine what an early lottery ticket for a first year trip would go for on a black market.

 

[warwizard]

Just to put another example, accoridng 2300AD (classic, not MgT) explanation for lasers, 1 kg of TNT produces about 5 Mj when it explodes.

So, if Aramis numbers are correct (and I assume they are) the damaging possibility would be about the same as 1 kg of TNT per 30 seconds per square meter...

I should also note here that all these particles pushed out of the way or collided with would have a breaking effect on the ship's velocity, and increases at the square of the relative velocity of the two objects (ship and gas) so you would reach equilibrium with your thrust = drag, you do NOT reach .9C with a 1g drive, your deflector imparts momentum on to mass, and that eats into your kinetic energy.

 

[Adam Dray]

Braking effect, not breaking effect.

At least, I hope!

 

[savage]

Braking effect, not breaking effect.

At least, I hope!

Thanks Adam. Yes. You hope correctly. :rofl:

 

[kilemall]

Been rethinking the task rolls a tad, and came up with this-

1. Simple 9+
2. Routine 11+
3. Effective 15+
4. Long 17+
5. Extreme 19+
6. Impossible 23+

Combat ranges are still by Striker but using their literal task type names, and new ranges for different situations- shift down one task level for ambush/surprise, shift two down for execution/immobile 'targets', Impossible range is Extreme range + 10% Extreme.



By stretching the outlier task rolls I'm making the easier more reliable and the impossible tougher.

 

[mike wightman]

Can you explain the reasoning behind the difference between the target numbers?
9-11 is a jump of 2
11-15 is a jump of 4
15 to 17 is a jump of 2
17 to 19 is a jump of 2
19 to 23 is a jump of 4.

 

[kilemall]

Can you explain the reasoning behind the difference between the target numbers?
9-11 is a jump of 2
11-15 is a jump of 3
15 to 17 is a jump of 2
17 to 19 is a jump of 2
19 to 23 is a jump of 4.

Well technically 11 to 15 is a jump of 4.

Remember I have my weirdo char/skill 'the characteristic IS the modifier' roll system, so I have to look at outlier effects of extremely low or high chars + skills.

What I was finding was that simple things were a huge difficulty to the unskilled and untalented, and the insanely difficult was a walk in the park for the reverse. So I needed 9 and 23 instead of 11 and 21 as the edge cases.

I didn't want to create more levels of tasking ala Mongoose Traveller because it would just be more juggling, and I want to be able to roll a 1d6 and determine how badly something is damaged on the fly so six task levels it is.

Now that means in my system a knowledge check can knock something down from Effective to Routine, a +4 jump to success, but I'm largely comfortable with that, as I want Education and skill/JOAT to mean something and am pretty harsh about the reverse (no skill) so it evens out.

It also means that having no skill bumps you two task levels, so a Routine power plant start goes to Long, a -6 hit- but still more like an A roll in the 68A system.

The 'no gun skill' careers like Doctor and Barbarian has Effective ranges turn into Extreme ranges, which still works.

 

[mike wightman]

Typo, sorry.
In which case wouldn't it work better with:
9+
13+
15+
17+
19+
23+
7 is average characteristic, average 2d6 roll is 7, level 1 in a skill; it all adds up to a 58% chance of achieving 15+

 

[kilemall]

Can you explain the reasoning behind the difference between the target numbers?
9-11 is a jump of 2
11-15 is a jump of 4
15 to 17 is a jump of 2
17 to 19 is a jump of 2
19 to 23 is a jump of 4.

Typo, sorry.
In which case wouldn't it work better with:
9+
13+
15+
17+
19+
23+
7 is average characteristic, average 2d6 roll is 7, level 1 in a skill; it all adds up to a 58% chance of achieving 15+

That's basically the 8+ roll, but I want Routine to be exactly that, low chance of failure, and Effective to be where things start getting tougher, like the time/fear/opposed action pressure of a combat shot, or a Routine power plant startup gets a lot tougher if it has to be done in half the normal time.

I suppose in a 68A way I have 248ACG, only it's not exactly that way because of the large characteristic swing.

 

[mike wightman]

The characteristic is going to have a massive effect on success chance.

In the example above if your stat is only 6 then your chance of achieving 15+ becomes 42% while if your stat is 8 you have a 72% chance.

 

[kilemall]

The characteristic is going to have a massive effect on success chance.

In the example above if your stat is only 6 then your chance of achieving 15+ becomes 42% while if your stat is 8 you have a 72% chance.

I read that as 45% and 63% each, not quite as wide as you have it, but yes larger then most.

Makes that Personal Development table pure gold.

On the other hand not having a skill costs brutally, could cost -4 to -6 effectively on the roll. And I am giving skills all manner of extras (combat skills adjust for to hit OR more damage for instance, less ammo use, etc. ).

I'm sure it all seems odd to you all, but to me I don't have to track on every itty bitty -1 this and +2 that for X stat thresholds, an inexperienced but talented person can still do things, I have a built-in stats-only roll for forcing doors or social checks without it being separate, one stop task determination (with the knowledge check bling).

Really clarifies the way people solve problems too, whether people are a read the manual EDU type or jump in and just try things by pure INT and have skill that mitigates shortages of either (or has all 3 and is the equivalent of Scotty).

And AI, whether the robotic kind or Watson's descendants, clearly operate on brute force EDU problem solving most of the time.

 

[Adam Dray]

Do you have the bulk of this written up somewhere in a single document?

Is it shareable?

 

[kilemall]

No not really Adam, the thread is really my archive, and this is very much a work in progress.

The biggest written down part are the various star system stats.

Really stuck on the backstory for Mars, I'm further along with Venus and Mercury.

I know various things I have not talked about thus far, like what's really going on with the pirates, the monastery on Bernard's Star, Faust Vegas, Duel Station, Pronoia and Prometheus the Alpha Centauri worlds, the Mariner's Ice Cathedral, backstories and elements for some of the players that have already worked with me, approximate size of the national fleets and armies, etc.

A lot of this I can't get into, if for no other reason then my players finding it.

Other things I'm doing or redoing- just worked out the sensor situation in my head to fit where I think the HG:Mayday:CT mutant ship system is going to go, and that casual explanatory 68A version of the task system I just posted in the CT subforum is probably going to be retrofitted as THE task system, as it's just a lot easier to remember and still does the same things I want.

Anything you are specifically interested in?

 

[Whipsnade]

No not really Adam, the thread is really my archive, and this is very much a work in progress.

This is a very interesting thread so I was sorry to read that.

Have you ever considered doing a player handout? The few page handout you give new players to get them quickly up to speed on the setting?

Over the years I found they not only helped new players but helped me as the referee by forcing me to "distill" all my setting materials into a few pages containing the high points.

Our Absent Friend Hans Rancke had a great little hand-out for his Regina Starport Police campaign. It not only dealt with the Imperium and jump drive, but had quite a bit about Regina and other stuff. IIRC, it came in at about 5 pages including some maps.

P.S. The title of Hans' campaign wasn't exactly Regina Starport Police, but that's close enough.

 

[savage]

Our Absent Friend Hans Rancke had a great little hand-out for his Regina Starport Police campaign. It not only dealt with the Imperium and jump drive, but had quite a bit about Regina and other stuff. IIRC, it came in at about 5 pages including some maps.

Good note Whipsnade.

Sadly, too many people sit on their handouts and universe material. Everyone with such materials should consider the legacy of uploading it to Files here on COTI. Share and expand Traveller, don't loose hard work. The same is true with paid websites where people let it expire. Create a pdf and upload it here.

 

[Whipsnade]

Good note Whipsnade.

Han's handouts were good enough to remember.

I'll be damned if I can find them now, however, either here or in my scattered files.

Anyway, I found that producing a Cliff Notes version of my various campaign settings not only helped the players but also helped me keep focused. All too often a referee gets lost in the details losing sight of what attracted both them and their players to the setting in the first place.

 

[flykiller]

Sadly, too many people sit on their handouts and universe material.

not much of an issue. I hand out my stuff left and right, link most of it in my sig, and frequently refer to it in posts, but except for the tourists' comments it all seems to see little game use. the imperial culture thread still gets 4 views a day, but the only comments on anyone actually using any of it say they DON'T use it.

whatever. between the published material and the material available here on coti (and whatever other sources there are) I'd say there's already more material than anyone can sort through, let alone use.

 

[savage]

... the imperial culture thread still gets 4 views a day, but the only comments on anyone actually using any of it say they DON'T use it.

whatever. between the published material and the material available here on coti (and whatever other sources there are) I'd say there's already more material than anyone can sort through, let alone use.

And it's available if someone would like to use it. I too have published a lot, some on COTI, some on my ol' game website. But it's available if someone wanted it.

I have had positive comments in the past. So, I'd just say if someone puts the work into something generic enough to help others, then publish it.

 

[kilemall]

Part of not wanting to hand out a sheet with all the major elements and library data up front is I want to shock and surprise the players as they hit the next system and I throw out the next 'common knowledge' item that the characters know but they don't.

I want a constant 'Toto we aren't in Kansas anymore' 'no really you ARE in space and it HURTS' sense of wonder and surprise at the 'same but different' feel to it all.

I also want to acclimate them to hitting the EDU task roll for knowledge items.

Things like how jump and tasks and combat work should definitely be on such a document given how oddly I am applying some of this.