Nice Review of Space Vikings on RPG.NET
- Thread starter Mithras
- Start date
Good review relative to how it could apply to Traveller. I too was confused by the Space Viking connection (or lack thereof) when TNE came out.
This is one of the books that heavily influenced the development of my Non-OTU which was quite the grab bag of space opera aliens and such when I was a kid. It used to look like I took every book in my collection and created a companion world for it.
The space vikings worked great in my younger days when I guess suspension of disbelief was easier and there was more emphasis on action and high adventure when compared to later games. They made a good adventure hook when players would get caught in a raid by vikings. Help the colonists resist sort of thing. Or once they had their ship snapped up by the vikings and had to "earn" it back by going "a viking" with them until their share of the plunder allowed them to buy it back.
As my campaign grew larger (and I grew older) it also made more sense and the vikings had too much wince-factor in them. But nowadays I'm back to playing with some of the same guys I used to play with due the happy coincidence of finding ourselves all in the same city again. And the most amazing thing happened when we started up my old campaign - they wanted the space vikings back.
I guess they can be fit into a campaign for grown-ups without any wincing after all.
This is one of the books that heavily influenced the development of my Non-OTU which was quite the grab bag of space opera aliens and such when I was a kid. It used to look like I took every book in my collection and created a companion world for it.
The space vikings worked great in my younger days when I guess suspension of disbelief was easier and there was more emphasis on action and high adventure when compared to later games. They made a good adventure hook when players would get caught in a raid by vikings. Help the colonists resist sort of thing. Or once they had their ship snapped up by the vikings and had to "earn" it back by going "a viking" with them until their share of the plunder allowed them to buy it back.
As my campaign grew larger (and I grew older) it also made more sense and the vikings had too much wince-factor in them. But nowadays I'm back to playing with some of the same guys I used to play with due the happy coincidence of finding ourselves all in the same city again. And the most amazing thing happened when we started up my old campaign - they wanted the space vikings back.
I guess they can be fit into a campaign for grown-ups without any wincing after all.
BlackBat242
SOC-14 1K
It all depends on the degree of multi-system government/law in the particular sector/subsector.
I pushed them farther back into a subsector with several small-sized worlds in a few J-1 clusters with a wide J-4 gap to get to the closest colony they can prey on. With few motherships capable of the jump, little self-sustained industry to support the ships the vikings can't make the number of raids that would create earn attention from my Terran Empire - the border of which is still a subsector and half away anyhow.
To even sustain what they have the vikings are depleting a finite resource since the colonists they prey on are either getting better at resistance against the raids or because merchant traffic is pretty much on the Free/Frontier Trader level the colonists are running out of loot worth grabbing let alone starship parts.
So it does create a outgunned but defiant colonists vs. the neobarbarians situation that provided many the adventure seed. And eventually the vikings will be completely cut off and become a "lost colony" adventure for later players.
To even sustain what they have the vikings are depleting a finite resource since the colonists they prey on are either getting better at resistance against the raids or because merchant traffic is pretty much on the Free/Frontier Trader level the colonists are running out of loot worth grabbing let alone starship parts.
So it does create a outgunned but defiant colonists vs. the neobarbarians situation that provided many the adventure seed. And eventually the vikings will be completely cut off and become a "lost colony" adventure for later players.
Appelcline
SOC-9
Thanks for the kind words, and happy to have generated some discussion here.
I'm reading through some Dumarest of Terra books for my next review in the series, and I gotta say, they're mighty fine space opera.
I'm reading through some Dumarest of Terra books for my next review in the series, and I gotta say, they're mighty fine space opera.
Thoth-Amon
SOC-12
Apparently it is in the public domain, now: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/20728
It looks to be a fun read. Cant wait to get on it.
It looks to be a fun read. Cant wait to get on it.
Starviking
SOC-13
Heh! Replace 'mighty fine' with 'excellent' and I'd be in complete concurrence.
I just wish the DoT books were more accessible nowadays
Appelcline
SOC-9
Dumarest of Terra Availability
Not bad if you're in a town with used book stores. I picked up six of the books for a total of $8 last week. The majority of them had DAW publications, and DAW just reprinted the heck out of its catalog as far as I can tell, leaving most of them very available in secondary markets. (I've actually found the Arrow [UK] books pretty common around here too.)
Heh! Replace 'mighty fine' with 'excellent' and I'd be in complete concurrence.
I just wish the DoT books were more accessible nowadays
Not bad if you're in a town with used book stores. I picked up six of the books for a total of $8 last week. The majority of them had DAW publications, and DAW just reprinted the heck out of its catalog as far as I can tell, leaving most of them very available in secondary markets. (I've actually found the Arrow [UK] books pretty common around here too.)
Space Viking should be required reading for Traveller players. You could say the same for just about any Piper book. The interesting twist in this one (don't worry, this doesn't rise to the level of a spoiler) is that, although the raiders act like Vikings, swooping in and killing and taking what they want, they become the civilizing force taming a barbarous galaxy instead of t'other way round.
The Dumarest novels, too, are essential if you play a non-Imperium Traveller universe. They're formulaic, so don't read them one after another, but also loads of fun, and the influence they had on Traveller leaps off the pages. They contain very little of what you would call "space action," however. The stories are almost completely planet-based, as Dumarest travels from one unique, exotic world to another in search of "Earth" and tries to stay one step ahead of the deadly Cyclan.
Steve
The Dumarest novels, too, are essential if you play a non-Imperium Traveller universe. They're formulaic, so don't read them one after another, but also loads of fun, and the influence they had on Traveller leaps off the pages. They contain very little of what you would call "space action," however. The stories are almost completely planet-based, as Dumarest travels from one unique, exotic world to another in search of "Earth" and tries to stay one step ahead of the deadly Cyclan.
Steve
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