OLD GDW Adventures
- Thread starter jchurchill
- Start date
Well, she looked big... at the time...
Bizarro Theory 1: She misjumped very badly, and in order to not make the Imperium look absolutely retarded (the proud IN hates to look retarded) they just claimed she was transfered in as a prototype and if she was successful, they would build similar ships in the Rim. The design wasn't terribly good without a BG and so they didn't bother.
1. I can see these getting lost. A more limited version of them (though it doesn't say so, it should) was issued to "Hunters" (bounty hunters) in the old days. Though that would be 'frowned upon'. Just imagine what anyone acting on an illicit Warrant would face if found out? I'm guessing a summary execution. Something also tells me Imperial Intelligence has a fair idea of who has and has not been granted and Imperial Warrant.
2. I thought it was silly that said Warrant and Norris' Warrant were ever associated. I always figured them for different documents. I understand the references that said they were the same document, I just ignored them.
BITS or a predecessor?
It was published by GDW.
That certainly won't appear IMTU.
Sure, but my point was that the adventures would work well if displaced a bit.
Additionally, if you skewed the time of construction, the Kinunuir might well have been considered a powerful ship in the region and the sector next to Glisten might well have been hinterland.... though that'd be a few hundred years back....
Well, she looked big... at the time...
Bizarro Theory 1: She misjumped very badly, and in order to not make the Imperium look absolutely retarded (the proud IN hates to look retarded) they just claimed she was transfered in as a prototype and if she was successful, they would build similar ships in the Rim. The design wasn't terribly good without a BG and so they didn't bother.
1. I can see these getting lost. A more limited version of them (though it doesn't say so, it should) was issued to "Hunters" (bounty hunters) in the old days. Though that would be 'frowned upon'. Just imagine what anyone acting on an illicit Warrant would face if found out? I'm guessing a summary execution. Something also tells me Imperial Intelligence has a fair idea of who has and has not been granted and Imperial Warrant.
2. I thought it was silly that said Warrant and Norris' Warrant were ever associated. I always figured them for different documents. I understand the references that said they were the same document, I just ignored them.
BITS or a predecessor?
It was published by GDW.
That certainly won't appear IMTU.
Sure, but my point was that the adventures would work well if displaced a bit.
Additionally, if you skewed the time of construction, the Kinunuir might well have been considered a powerful ship in the region and the sector next to Glisten might well have been hinterland.... though that'd be a few hundred years back....
kaladorn wrote concerning 'Leviathan':
"BITS or a predecessor?"
Tom,
A predecessor I believe.
"It was published by GDW."
Yes, published by GDW but written elsewhere and not very well vetted. Almost a DGP-MT trial run as it were.
BTW, don't judge BITS by the horrific T4 product 'Long Way Home'. FWIU, the version submitted by BITS and the version published by IG were completely different, just like FF&Sv.2 ignoring all playtest results.
Sincerely,
Larsen
"BITS or a predecessor?"
Tom,
A predecessor I believe.
"It was published by GDW."
Yes, published by GDW but written elsewhere and not very well vetted. Almost a DGP-MT trial run as it were.
BTW, don't judge BITS by the horrific T4 product 'Long Way Home'. FWIU, the version submitted by BITS and the version published by IG were completely different, just like FF&Sv.2 ignoring all playtest results.
Sincerely,
Larsen
kaladorn wrote concerning 'Leviathan':
"BITS or a predecessor?"
Tom,
A predecessor I believe.
"It was published by GDW."
Yes, published by GDW but written elsewhere and not very well vetted. Almost a DGP-MT trial run as it were.
BTW, don't judge BITS by the horrific T4 product 'Long Way Home'. FWIU, the version submitted by BITS and the version published by IG were completely different, just like FF&Sv.2 ignoring all playtest results.
Sincerely,
Larsen
"BITS or a predecessor?"
Tom,
A predecessor I believe.
"It was published by GDW."
Yes, published by GDW but written elsewhere and not very well vetted. Almost a DGP-MT trial run as it were.
BTW, don't judge BITS by the horrific T4 product 'Long Way Home'. FWIU, the version submitted by BITS and the version published by IG were completely different, just like FF&Sv.2 ignoring all playtest results.
Sincerely,
Larsen
This is of course a major logical problem in what is otherwise one of the most fun things you can do with your clothes on.
The Leviathan setting is a gem: a patch of essentially unclaimed space, including unsettled and sparsely populated worlds, a tiny pocket empire, pirates, psionics, and a scattering of Imperial and Zhodani ships. Just right for wouldbe empire builders and traders.
With comparatively small amounts of tweaking, it would be the perfect setting for something like a club game, with multiple PC groups working at cross purposes.
"Fixing" its logic wouldn't necessarily be a problem - you would just have to discard maps of subsectors few people use much anyway, and move it a couple of subsectors away from the Imperial border. This would require redrawing one of the subsectors in the book slightly, but that involves worlds that aren't really critical anyway.
Now I think of it, this might be an another option for my "next Traveller game" to be played "at some point in the future".
One of the keys to what makes Leviathan work, IMHO, is that the subsectors seem to have been hand designed rather than randomly generated. There's nothing there that isn't meant to be there.
Anyway, onto the Kinunir class vessel in the Solomani Rim...
Obviously, it's the result of a conspiracy.
One of the things we know about the Kinunirs is that they were equipped with experimental artificial intelligence systems. One of these managed to malfunction and destroy the ship it was installed on. Sound familiar?
Could it be that the Kinunirs were testbeds for the experimental deployment of early prototypes of... Virus?
Alan Bradley
This is of course a major logical problem in what is otherwise one of the most fun things you can do with your clothes on.
The Leviathan setting is a gem: a patch of essentially unclaimed space, including unsettled and sparsely populated worlds, a tiny pocket empire, pirates, psionics, and a scattering of Imperial and Zhodani ships. Just right for wouldbe empire builders and traders.
With comparatively small amounts of tweaking, it would be the perfect setting for something like a club game, with multiple PC groups working at cross purposes.
"Fixing" its logic wouldn't necessarily be a problem - you would just have to discard maps of subsectors few people use much anyway, and move it a couple of subsectors away from the Imperial border. This would require redrawing one of the subsectors in the book slightly, but that involves worlds that aren't really critical anyway.
Now I think of it, this might be an another option for my "next Traveller game" to be played "at some point in the future".
One of the keys to what makes Leviathan work, IMHO, is that the subsectors seem to have been hand designed rather than randomly generated. There's nothing there that isn't meant to be there.
Anyway, onto the Kinunir class vessel in the Solomani Rim...
Obviously, it's the result of a conspiracy.
One of the things we know about the Kinunirs is that they were equipped with experimental artificial intelligence systems. One of these managed to malfunction and destroy the ship it was installed on. Sound familiar?
Could it be that the Kinunirs were testbeds for the experimental deployment of early prototypes of... Virus?
Alan Bradley
alanb wrote:
"With comparatively small amounts of tweaking, it would be the perfect setting for something like a club game, with multiple PC groups working at cross purposes."
"Fixing" its logic wouldn't necessarily be a problem - you would just have to discard maps of subsectors few people use much anyway, and move it a couple of subsectors away from the Imperial border. This would require redrawing one of the subsectors in the book slightly, but that involves worlds that aren't really critical anyway."
Mr. Bradley,
I liked 'Leviathan', liked the deckplans, liked the idea of merchants exploring the unknown as opposed to quasi-military types, liked the premise. I mentioned the canonical gripes with it because the goals of my mini-review required it. Many people have problems with 'Leviathan' because of them, I don't (except for the jump torpedoes and I've used them in another setting!)
"One of the keys to what makes Leviathan work, IMHO, is that the subsectors seem to have been hand designed rather than randomly generated. There's nothing there that isn't meant to be there."
A very good point. There is very little 'waste' in the subsector presented, every world presents a challenge and it seems that every world was essentially handcrafted. TTA approached this problem in reverse. It tried to provide adventure seeds for each world in the Aramis subsector. Leviathan created an adventure and then built the worlds to suit it.
As you point out, 'Leviathan' could easily be 'ported elsewhere. Iphigenia, Beyond, or even the Far Frontier sectors come to mind first, as does the rimward reaches of the Solomani Confederation. A Leviathan-class, either complete or in sections, toted out to a entrepot world on the Iphigenia-Far Frontiers border and crewed by people awakened from low berths would make for a wonderful campaign.
The merchantile clans IMTU's Grote band together and fund 'Black Ships'. Every year or so, these vessels make fast, secretive voyages to various entrepot worlds ranging from Vland to Far Frontiers and the Marches to the Trans-Rift Route. They carry out crewmen and precious trade goods and haul back the same. A 'modular' Leviathan, hauled out in sections, carefully assembled, and jumping off from a distant world could very easily begin to explore areas that the Imperium merchantile community knows very little about.
"Could it be that the Kinunirs were testbeds for the experimental deployment of early prototypes of... Virus?"
You, sir, are an evil man!
Sincerely,
Larsen
"With comparatively small amounts of tweaking, it would be the perfect setting for something like a club game, with multiple PC groups working at cross purposes."
"Fixing" its logic wouldn't necessarily be a problem - you would just have to discard maps of subsectors few people use much anyway, and move it a couple of subsectors away from the Imperial border. This would require redrawing one of the subsectors in the book slightly, but that involves worlds that aren't really critical anyway."
Mr. Bradley,
I liked 'Leviathan', liked the deckplans, liked the idea of merchants exploring the unknown as opposed to quasi-military types, liked the premise. I mentioned the canonical gripes with it because the goals of my mini-review required it. Many people have problems with 'Leviathan' because of them, I don't (except for the jump torpedoes and I've used them in another setting!)
"One of the keys to what makes Leviathan work, IMHO, is that the subsectors seem to have been hand designed rather than randomly generated. There's nothing there that isn't meant to be there."
A very good point. There is very little 'waste' in the subsector presented, every world presents a challenge and it seems that every world was essentially handcrafted. TTA approached this problem in reverse. It tried to provide adventure seeds for each world in the Aramis subsector. Leviathan created an adventure and then built the worlds to suit it.
As you point out, 'Leviathan' could easily be 'ported elsewhere. Iphigenia, Beyond, or even the Far Frontier sectors come to mind first, as does the rimward reaches of the Solomani Confederation. A Leviathan-class, either complete or in sections, toted out to a entrepot world on the Iphigenia-Far Frontiers border and crewed by people awakened from low berths would make for a wonderful campaign.
The merchantile clans IMTU's Grote band together and fund 'Black Ships'. Every year or so, these vessels make fast, secretive voyages to various entrepot worlds ranging from Vland to Far Frontiers and the Marches to the Trans-Rift Route. They carry out crewmen and precious trade goods and haul back the same. A 'modular' Leviathan, hauled out in sections, carefully assembled, and jumping off from a distant world could very easily begin to explore areas that the Imperium merchantile community knows very little about.
"Could it be that the Kinunirs were testbeds for the experimental deployment of early prototypes of... Virus?"
You, sir, are an evil man!
Sincerely,
Larsen
alanb wrote:
"With comparatively small amounts of tweaking, it would be the perfect setting for something like a club game, with multiple PC groups working at cross purposes."
"Fixing" its logic wouldn't necessarily be a problem - you would just have to discard maps of subsectors few people use much anyway, and move it a couple of subsectors away from the Imperial border. This would require redrawing one of the subsectors in the book slightly, but that involves worlds that aren't really critical anyway."
Mr. Bradley,
I liked 'Leviathan', liked the deckplans, liked the idea of merchants exploring the unknown as opposed to quasi-military types, liked the premise. I mentioned the canonical gripes with it because the goals of my mini-review required it. Many people have problems with 'Leviathan' because of them, I don't (except for the jump torpedoes and I've used them in another setting!)
"One of the keys to what makes Leviathan work, IMHO, is that the subsectors seem to have been hand designed rather than randomly generated. There's nothing there that isn't meant to be there."
A very good point. There is very little 'waste' in the subsector presented, every world presents a challenge and it seems that every world was essentially handcrafted. TTA approached this problem in reverse. It tried to provide adventure seeds for each world in the Aramis subsector. Leviathan created an adventure and then built the worlds to suit it.
As you point out, 'Leviathan' could easily be 'ported elsewhere. Iphigenia, Beyond, or even the Far Frontier sectors come to mind first, as does the rimward reaches of the Solomani Confederation. A Leviathan-class, either complete or in sections, toted out to a entrepot world on the Iphigenia-Far Frontiers border and crewed by people awakened from low berths would make for a wonderful campaign.
The merchantile clans IMTU's Grote band together and fund 'Black Ships'. Every year or so, these vessels make fast, secretive voyages to various entrepot worlds ranging from Vland to Far Frontiers and the Marches to the Trans-Rift Route. They carry out crewmen and precious trade goods and haul back the same. A 'modular' Leviathan, hauled out in sections, carefully assembled, and jumping off from a distant world could very easily begin to explore areas that the Imperium merchantile community knows very little about.
"Could it be that the Kinunirs were testbeds for the experimental deployment of early prototypes of... Virus?"
You, sir, are an evil man!
Sincerely,
Larsen
"With comparatively small amounts of tweaking, it would be the perfect setting for something like a club game, with multiple PC groups working at cross purposes."
"Fixing" its logic wouldn't necessarily be a problem - you would just have to discard maps of subsectors few people use much anyway, and move it a couple of subsectors away from the Imperial border. This would require redrawing one of the subsectors in the book slightly, but that involves worlds that aren't really critical anyway."
Mr. Bradley,
I liked 'Leviathan', liked the deckplans, liked the idea of merchants exploring the unknown as opposed to quasi-military types, liked the premise. I mentioned the canonical gripes with it because the goals of my mini-review required it. Many people have problems with 'Leviathan' because of them, I don't (except for the jump torpedoes and I've used them in another setting!)
"One of the keys to what makes Leviathan work, IMHO, is that the subsectors seem to have been hand designed rather than randomly generated. There's nothing there that isn't meant to be there."
A very good point. There is very little 'waste' in the subsector presented, every world presents a challenge and it seems that every world was essentially handcrafted. TTA approached this problem in reverse. It tried to provide adventure seeds for each world in the Aramis subsector. Leviathan created an adventure and then built the worlds to suit it.
As you point out, 'Leviathan' could easily be 'ported elsewhere. Iphigenia, Beyond, or even the Far Frontier sectors come to mind first, as does the rimward reaches of the Solomani Confederation. A Leviathan-class, either complete or in sections, toted out to a entrepot world on the Iphigenia-Far Frontiers border and crewed by people awakened from low berths would make for a wonderful campaign.
The merchantile clans IMTU's Grote band together and fund 'Black Ships'. Every year or so, these vessels make fast, secretive voyages to various entrepot worlds ranging from Vland to Far Frontiers and the Marches to the Trans-Rift Route. They carry out crewmen and precious trade goods and haul back the same. A 'modular' Leviathan, hauled out in sections, carefully assembled, and jumping off from a distant world could very easily begin to explore areas that the Imperium merchantile community knows very little about.
"Could it be that the Kinunirs were testbeds for the experimental deployment of early prototypes of... Virus?"
You, sir, are an evil man!
Sincerely,
Larsen
I'm hoping Larsen and Agent and the others on this thread will read and comment:
I'm working on the chart of all the adventures (turns out this might take some time.... prolific buggers...).
In order to classify the adventures wrt their generational flexibility (ability to be ported between Trav versions), temporal flexibility (ability to be moved various eras/periods), and spacial flexibility (ability to be moved to different sectors/domains/etc), I needed to evolve some ideas what the ratings would mean.
Here is my first cut. Comments welcomed.
Generational Flexibility Rating
Rating Description
Very Low Does not include references to any other Traveller version. The product is either so poorly put together, so unclearly written, or so tied to its particular Traveller version that any conversion effort would either be brobindingian in nature and/or likely to fail due to its magnitude. On the whole, if you aren't going to play this one in the rules version it was written, you might want to look elsewhere for something in the ruleset you wish to play or which is more easily convertible.
Low Does not include references to other Traveller versions. Either the writing or layout is unclear or the work itself contains so many references keyed to a particular Traveller version that conversion to another version of the Traveller rules would require significant effort. On the whole, although conversion is possible, it would seem like an extensive and time consuming effort.
Moderate Does not include references to other Traveller versions but is reasonably clearly written. Conversion is not entirely trivial due to some distinctions of game mechanics or the need to convert a more complex entity (perhaps a vehicle) if a port to another Traveller version is undertaken. On the whole, the conversion seems feasible with a little work.
High Does not include references for other Traveller version's game mechanics, but is otherwise clearly enough written and provides enough detail to make the conversion from one version to another a simple task, often as simple as understanding how a target number in Classic Traveller relates to a skill difficulty level in MegaTraveller or TNE, etc. On the whole, conversion is deemed to be straightforward and feasible with only a minor amount of work.
Very High References more than one Traveller version's mechanics - including skill descriptions, attributes, equipment descriptions, etc. so that no conversion work is required - the author did the work instead. This is a near zero effort no brainer to make work in alternate Traveller systems. This is also the holy grail of multi-platform game design and is rarely realized.
Spacial Flexibility Rating
Rating Description
Very Low The adventure is completely tied to its suggested locale, with many important aspects of the adventure relating to the selected geography (system or planetary) and that geography being such as to preclude relocation. This adventure is so hooked-in to its location that moving it would probably be more work than just writing a hole new adventure from scratch.
Low The adventure has a fair number of ties to the spacial location of its setting and some of them may be very important to the underlying plot of the adventure or at the very least, the particulars of the location are such that finding a replacement in another place may be quite involved. Modifications to relocate this adventure are probably going to require a sizeable amount of labour and perhaps some fairly extensive research. Relocation may also necessitate some notable changes in the adventure itself.
Moderate The adventure has some ties to the spacial location, and perhaps some of them are at least moderately important to the story or at least are restricting enough that relocating will require a reasonable amount of thought and perhaps some work to make the product fit in the new locale. On the whole, the adventure seems feasible to move, but the move will require at least some investment of time and mental effort.
High This adventure has few ties and none of them terribly critical to the spacial location of the setting. It can be moved about with reasonable ease to any of a wide variety of locations. Moving the adventure should not be all that problematic and it should fit somewhere within most sectors.
Very High The adventure has no ties worth mentioning to local galactic or planetary geography. It can be plunked down anywhere and it will work equally well. This is the ideal case, at least in terms of portability.
Temporal Flexibility Rating
Rating Description
Very Low The adventure is completely tied to its suggested temporal setting, with many important aspects of the adventure relating to the selected time period and the details of that period or history being such as to preclude relocation. This adventure is so hooked-in to its temporal location that moving it would probably be more work than just writing a hole new adventure from scratch.
Low The adventure has a fair number of ties to the time of its setting and some of them may be very important to the underlying plot of the adventure or at the very least, the particulars of the time period are such that fitting the adventure into another period may be quite involved. Modifications to relocate this adventure in time are probably going to require a sizeable amount of labour and perhaps some fairly extensive research. Relocation may also necessitate some notable changes in the adventure itself.
Moderate The adventure has some ties to the the time it is set in, and perhaps some of them are at least moderately important to the story or at least are restricting enough that relocating in time will require a reasonable amount of thought and perhaps some work to make the product fit in the new temporal locale. On the whole, the adventure seems feasible to move, but the move will require at least some investment of time and mental effort.
High This adventure has few ties and none of them terribly critical to the time of the setting. It can be moved about with reasonable ease to any of a wide variety of periods. Moving the adventure should not be all that problematic and it should fit somewhere within most historical eras.
Very High The adventure has no ties worth mentioning to the period in which it is set. It can be plunked down anytime and it will work equally well. This is the ideal case, at least in terms of portability. If you'll pardon the pun, a truly timeless adventure.
I'm working on the chart of all the adventures (turns out this might take some time.... prolific buggers...).
In order to classify the adventures wrt their generational flexibility (ability to be ported between Trav versions), temporal flexibility (ability to be moved various eras/periods), and spacial flexibility (ability to be moved to different sectors/domains/etc), I needed to evolve some ideas what the ratings would mean.
Here is my first cut. Comments welcomed.
Generational Flexibility Rating
Rating Description
Very Low Does not include references to any other Traveller version. The product is either so poorly put together, so unclearly written, or so tied to its particular Traveller version that any conversion effort would either be brobindingian in nature and/or likely to fail due to its magnitude. On the whole, if you aren't going to play this one in the rules version it was written, you might want to look elsewhere for something in the ruleset you wish to play or which is more easily convertible.
Low Does not include references to other Traveller versions. Either the writing or layout is unclear or the work itself contains so many references keyed to a particular Traveller version that conversion to another version of the Traveller rules would require significant effort. On the whole, although conversion is possible, it would seem like an extensive and time consuming effort.
Moderate Does not include references to other Traveller versions but is reasonably clearly written. Conversion is not entirely trivial due to some distinctions of game mechanics or the need to convert a more complex entity (perhaps a vehicle) if a port to another Traveller version is undertaken. On the whole, the conversion seems feasible with a little work.
High Does not include references for other Traveller version's game mechanics, but is otherwise clearly enough written and provides enough detail to make the conversion from one version to another a simple task, often as simple as understanding how a target number in Classic Traveller relates to a skill difficulty level in MegaTraveller or TNE, etc. On the whole, conversion is deemed to be straightforward and feasible with only a minor amount of work.
Very High References more than one Traveller version's mechanics - including skill descriptions, attributes, equipment descriptions, etc. so that no conversion work is required - the author did the work instead. This is a near zero effort no brainer to make work in alternate Traveller systems. This is also the holy grail of multi-platform game design and is rarely realized.
Spacial Flexibility Rating
Rating Description
Very Low The adventure is completely tied to its suggested locale, with many important aspects of the adventure relating to the selected geography (system or planetary) and that geography being such as to preclude relocation. This adventure is so hooked-in to its location that moving it would probably be more work than just writing a hole new adventure from scratch.
Low The adventure has a fair number of ties to the spacial location of its setting and some of them may be very important to the underlying plot of the adventure or at the very least, the particulars of the location are such that finding a replacement in another place may be quite involved. Modifications to relocate this adventure are probably going to require a sizeable amount of labour and perhaps some fairly extensive research. Relocation may also necessitate some notable changes in the adventure itself.
Moderate The adventure has some ties to the spacial location, and perhaps some of them are at least moderately important to the story or at least are restricting enough that relocating will require a reasonable amount of thought and perhaps some work to make the product fit in the new locale. On the whole, the adventure seems feasible to move, but the move will require at least some investment of time and mental effort.
High This adventure has few ties and none of them terribly critical to the spacial location of the setting. It can be moved about with reasonable ease to any of a wide variety of locations. Moving the adventure should not be all that problematic and it should fit somewhere within most sectors.
Very High The adventure has no ties worth mentioning to local galactic or planetary geography. It can be plunked down anywhere and it will work equally well. This is the ideal case, at least in terms of portability.
Temporal Flexibility Rating
Rating Description
Very Low The adventure is completely tied to its suggested temporal setting, with many important aspects of the adventure relating to the selected time period and the details of that period or history being such as to preclude relocation. This adventure is so hooked-in to its temporal location that moving it would probably be more work than just writing a hole new adventure from scratch.
Low The adventure has a fair number of ties to the time of its setting and some of them may be very important to the underlying plot of the adventure or at the very least, the particulars of the time period are such that fitting the adventure into another period may be quite involved. Modifications to relocate this adventure in time are probably going to require a sizeable amount of labour and perhaps some fairly extensive research. Relocation may also necessitate some notable changes in the adventure itself.
Moderate The adventure has some ties to the the time it is set in, and perhaps some of them are at least moderately important to the story or at least are restricting enough that relocating in time will require a reasonable amount of thought and perhaps some work to make the product fit in the new temporal locale. On the whole, the adventure seems feasible to move, but the move will require at least some investment of time and mental effort.
High This adventure has few ties and none of them terribly critical to the time of the setting. It can be moved about with reasonable ease to any of a wide variety of periods. Moving the adventure should not be all that problematic and it should fit somewhere within most historical eras.
Very High The adventure has no ties worth mentioning to the period in which it is set. It can be plunked down anytime and it will work equally well. This is the ideal case, at least in terms of portability. If you'll pardon the pun, a truly timeless adventure.
I'm hoping Larsen and Agent and the others on this thread will read and comment:
I'm working on the chart of all the adventures (turns out this might take some time.... prolific buggers...).
In order to classify the adventures wrt their generational flexibility (ability to be ported between Trav versions), temporal flexibility (ability to be moved various eras/periods), and spacial flexibility (ability to be moved to different sectors/domains/etc), I needed to evolve some ideas what the ratings would mean.
Here is my first cut. Comments welcomed.
Generational Flexibility Rating
Rating Description
Very Low Does not include references to any other Traveller version. The product is either so poorly put together, so unclearly written, or so tied to its particular Traveller version that any conversion effort would either be brobindingian in nature and/or likely to fail due to its magnitude. On the whole, if you aren't going to play this one in the rules version it was written, you might want to look elsewhere for something in the ruleset you wish to play or which is more easily convertible.
Low Does not include references to other Traveller versions. Either the writing or layout is unclear or the work itself contains so many references keyed to a particular Traveller version that conversion to another version of the Traveller rules would require significant effort. On the whole, although conversion is possible, it would seem like an extensive and time consuming effort.
Moderate Does not include references to other Traveller versions but is reasonably clearly written. Conversion is not entirely trivial due to some distinctions of game mechanics or the need to convert a more complex entity (perhaps a vehicle) if a port to another Traveller version is undertaken. On the whole, the conversion seems feasible with a little work.
High Does not include references for other Traveller version's game mechanics, but is otherwise clearly enough written and provides enough detail to make the conversion from one version to another a simple task, often as simple as understanding how a target number in Classic Traveller relates to a skill difficulty level in MegaTraveller or TNE, etc. On the whole, conversion is deemed to be straightforward and feasible with only a minor amount of work.
Very High References more than one Traveller version's mechanics - including skill descriptions, attributes, equipment descriptions, etc. so that no conversion work is required - the author did the work instead. This is a near zero effort no brainer to make work in alternate Traveller systems. This is also the holy grail of multi-platform game design and is rarely realized.
Spacial Flexibility Rating
Rating Description
Very Low The adventure is completely tied to its suggested locale, with many important aspects of the adventure relating to the selected geography (system or planetary) and that geography being such as to preclude relocation. This adventure is so hooked-in to its location that moving it would probably be more work than just writing a hole new adventure from scratch.
Low The adventure has a fair number of ties to the spacial location of its setting and some of them may be very important to the underlying plot of the adventure or at the very least, the particulars of the location are such that finding a replacement in another place may be quite involved. Modifications to relocate this adventure are probably going to require a sizeable amount of labour and perhaps some fairly extensive research. Relocation may also necessitate some notable changes in the adventure itself.
Moderate The adventure has some ties to the spacial location, and perhaps some of them are at least moderately important to the story or at least are restricting enough that relocating will require a reasonable amount of thought and perhaps some work to make the product fit in the new locale. On the whole, the adventure seems feasible to move, but the move will require at least some investment of time and mental effort.
High This adventure has few ties and none of them terribly critical to the spacial location of the setting. It can be moved about with reasonable ease to any of a wide variety of locations. Moving the adventure should not be all that problematic and it should fit somewhere within most sectors.
Very High The adventure has no ties worth mentioning to local galactic or planetary geography. It can be plunked down anywhere and it will work equally well. This is the ideal case, at least in terms of portability.
Temporal Flexibility Rating
Rating Description
Very Low The adventure is completely tied to its suggested temporal setting, with many important aspects of the adventure relating to the selected time period and the details of that period or history being such as to preclude relocation. This adventure is so hooked-in to its temporal location that moving it would probably be more work than just writing a hole new adventure from scratch.
Low The adventure has a fair number of ties to the time of its setting and some of them may be very important to the underlying plot of the adventure or at the very least, the particulars of the time period are such that fitting the adventure into another period may be quite involved. Modifications to relocate this adventure in time are probably going to require a sizeable amount of labour and perhaps some fairly extensive research. Relocation may also necessitate some notable changes in the adventure itself.
Moderate The adventure has some ties to the the time it is set in, and perhaps some of them are at least moderately important to the story or at least are restricting enough that relocating in time will require a reasonable amount of thought and perhaps some work to make the product fit in the new temporal locale. On the whole, the adventure seems feasible to move, but the move will require at least some investment of time and mental effort.
High This adventure has few ties and none of them terribly critical to the time of the setting. It can be moved about with reasonable ease to any of a wide variety of periods. Moving the adventure should not be all that problematic and it should fit somewhere within most historical eras.
Very High The adventure has no ties worth mentioning to the period in which it is set. It can be plunked down anytime and it will work equally well. This is the ideal case, at least in terms of portability. If you'll pardon the pun, a truly timeless adventure.
I'm working on the chart of all the adventures (turns out this might take some time.... prolific buggers...).
In order to classify the adventures wrt their generational flexibility (ability to be ported between Trav versions), temporal flexibility (ability to be moved various eras/periods), and spacial flexibility (ability to be moved to different sectors/domains/etc), I needed to evolve some ideas what the ratings would mean.
Here is my first cut. Comments welcomed.
Generational Flexibility Rating
Rating Description
Very Low Does not include references to any other Traveller version. The product is either so poorly put together, so unclearly written, or so tied to its particular Traveller version that any conversion effort would either be brobindingian in nature and/or likely to fail due to its magnitude. On the whole, if you aren't going to play this one in the rules version it was written, you might want to look elsewhere for something in the ruleset you wish to play or which is more easily convertible.
Low Does not include references to other Traveller versions. Either the writing or layout is unclear or the work itself contains so many references keyed to a particular Traveller version that conversion to another version of the Traveller rules would require significant effort. On the whole, although conversion is possible, it would seem like an extensive and time consuming effort.
Moderate Does not include references to other Traveller versions but is reasonably clearly written. Conversion is not entirely trivial due to some distinctions of game mechanics or the need to convert a more complex entity (perhaps a vehicle) if a port to another Traveller version is undertaken. On the whole, the conversion seems feasible with a little work.
High Does not include references for other Traveller version's game mechanics, but is otherwise clearly enough written and provides enough detail to make the conversion from one version to another a simple task, often as simple as understanding how a target number in Classic Traveller relates to a skill difficulty level in MegaTraveller or TNE, etc. On the whole, conversion is deemed to be straightforward and feasible with only a minor amount of work.
Very High References more than one Traveller version's mechanics - including skill descriptions, attributes, equipment descriptions, etc. so that no conversion work is required - the author did the work instead. This is a near zero effort no brainer to make work in alternate Traveller systems. This is also the holy grail of multi-platform game design and is rarely realized.
Spacial Flexibility Rating
Rating Description
Very Low The adventure is completely tied to its suggested locale, with many important aspects of the adventure relating to the selected geography (system or planetary) and that geography being such as to preclude relocation. This adventure is so hooked-in to its location that moving it would probably be more work than just writing a hole new adventure from scratch.
Low The adventure has a fair number of ties to the spacial location of its setting and some of them may be very important to the underlying plot of the adventure or at the very least, the particulars of the location are such that finding a replacement in another place may be quite involved. Modifications to relocate this adventure are probably going to require a sizeable amount of labour and perhaps some fairly extensive research. Relocation may also necessitate some notable changes in the adventure itself.
Moderate The adventure has some ties to the spacial location, and perhaps some of them are at least moderately important to the story or at least are restricting enough that relocating will require a reasonable amount of thought and perhaps some work to make the product fit in the new locale. On the whole, the adventure seems feasible to move, but the move will require at least some investment of time and mental effort.
High This adventure has few ties and none of them terribly critical to the spacial location of the setting. It can be moved about with reasonable ease to any of a wide variety of locations. Moving the adventure should not be all that problematic and it should fit somewhere within most sectors.
Very High The adventure has no ties worth mentioning to local galactic or planetary geography. It can be plunked down anywhere and it will work equally well. This is the ideal case, at least in terms of portability.
Temporal Flexibility Rating
Rating Description
Very Low The adventure is completely tied to its suggested temporal setting, with many important aspects of the adventure relating to the selected time period and the details of that period or history being such as to preclude relocation. This adventure is so hooked-in to its temporal location that moving it would probably be more work than just writing a hole new adventure from scratch.
Low The adventure has a fair number of ties to the time of its setting and some of them may be very important to the underlying plot of the adventure or at the very least, the particulars of the time period are such that fitting the adventure into another period may be quite involved. Modifications to relocate this adventure in time are probably going to require a sizeable amount of labour and perhaps some fairly extensive research. Relocation may also necessitate some notable changes in the adventure itself.
Moderate The adventure has some ties to the the time it is set in, and perhaps some of them are at least moderately important to the story or at least are restricting enough that relocating in time will require a reasonable amount of thought and perhaps some work to make the product fit in the new temporal locale. On the whole, the adventure seems feasible to move, but the move will require at least some investment of time and mental effort.
High This adventure has few ties and none of them terribly critical to the time of the setting. It can be moved about with reasonable ease to any of a wide variety of periods. Moving the adventure should not be all that problematic and it should fit somewhere within most historical eras.
Very High The adventure has no ties worth mentioning to the period in which it is set. It can be plunked down anytime and it will work equally well. This is the ideal case, at least in terms of portability. If you'll pardon the pun, a truly timeless adventure.
kaladorn wrote:
"I'm hoping Larsen and Agent and the others on this thread will read and comment: ..."
Tom,
Got it and printed it out. Let me peruse it for a bit; ~24 hours, and I'll respond.
It looks very, VERY good at first blush.
BTW, if anyone else sees anything they think is a whopper, chime in. The more eyes the better, think of it as a playtest.
Sincerely,
Larsen
"I'm hoping Larsen and Agent and the others on this thread will read and comment: ..."
Tom,
Got it and printed it out. Let me peruse it for a bit; ~24 hours, and I'll respond.
It looks very, VERY good at first blush.
BTW, if anyone else sees anything they think is a whopper, chime in. The more eyes the better, think of it as a playtest.
Sincerely,
Larsen
kaladorn wrote:
"I'm hoping Larsen and Agent and the others on this thread will read and comment: ..."
Tom,
Got it and printed it out. Let me peruse it for a bit; ~24 hours, and I'll respond.
It looks very, VERY good at first blush.
BTW, if anyone else sees anything they think is a whopper, chime in. The more eyes the better, think of it as a playtest.
Sincerely,
Larsen
"I'm hoping Larsen and Agent and the others on this thread will read and comment: ..."
Tom,
Got it and printed it out. Let me peruse it for a bit; ~24 hours, and I'll respond.
It looks very, VERY good at first blush.
BTW, if anyone else sees anything they think is a whopper, chime in. The more eyes the better, think of it as a playtest.
Sincerely,
Larsen
BITS or a predecessor?
It was published by GDW.
[/QB]</font>[/QUOTE]I'll have to dig my copy out and check, but I'm pretty sure it was written by Games Workshop at about the same time that they were printing Traveller under licence in the UK.
I still have some LBB in UK A5 with the 'printed under licence' logo on the inside covers.
Cheers
David
BITS or a predecessor?
It was published by GDW.
[/QB]</font>[/QUOTE]I'll have to dig my copy out and check, but I'm pretty sure it was written by Games Workshop at about the same time that they were printing Traveller under licence in the UK.
I still have some LBB in UK A5 with the 'printed under licence' logo on the inside covers.
Cheers
David
Gallowglass
SOC-12
BITS or a predecessor?
It was published by GDW.
</font>[/QUOTE]I'll have to dig my copy out and check, but I'm pretty sure it was written by Games Workshop at about the same time that they were printing Traveller under licence in the UK.
I still have some LBB in UK A5 with the 'printed under licence' logo on the inside covers.
Cheers
David [/QB]</font>[/QUOTE]Glad someone else remembered this as well. IIRC wasn't Adventure 4 written by Bob McWilliams, then editor of the Starbase Traveller column in White Dwarf? I seem to recall that it was intended as the first of a line of products, but nothing else materialised... The GW printed UK editins of quite a lot of CT material (I have a few LBB's in different sizes thanks to some being US and some UK) certainly as late as the Starter Edition boxed set and possibly the Traveller Book.
Anyway, I'll stop cluttering up the thread with tangential ramblings now!
Cheers,
Nick Middleton
Gallowglass
SOC-12
BITS or a predecessor?
It was published by GDW.
</font>[/QUOTE]I'll have to dig my copy out and check, but I'm pretty sure it was written by Games Workshop at about the same time that they were printing Traveller under licence in the UK.
I still have some LBB in UK A5 with the 'printed under licence' logo on the inside covers.
Cheers
David [/QB]</font>[/QUOTE]Glad someone else remembered this as well. IIRC wasn't Adventure 4 written by Bob McWilliams, then editor of the Starbase Traveller column in White Dwarf? I seem to recall that it was intended as the first of a line of products, but nothing else materialised... The GW printed UK editins of quite a lot of CT material (I have a few LBB's in different sizes thanks to some being US and some UK) certainly as late as the Starter Edition boxed set and possibly the Traveller Book.
Anyway, I'll stop cluttering up the thread with tangential ramblings now!
Cheers,
Nick Middleton
