OTU Overview

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

WARNING! CRTITIQUE BELOW! NOTHING PERSONAL!

(sorry, It's SOP Disclaimer)

The Jewish Preacher bit stings. Too Callous. People will react negatively. This is not to spark a religious debate, but there should be no mention of Romans or Jesus, even indirectly. It sounds silly, but Romans in the first tagline could be misinterpreted.

In some Areas (particulary the description of Nobles, what?) it is a little confining and prmotes a TOO pre-concieved notion of certain things. The use of the term "vegan" to describe K'Kree is promotion of a word not yet recognized as being anything more than a social affectation
(just dont say it to a Vegan)and is not exactly accurate, as it imples that they do not Hunt...

Also, the use of specific names and dates can lead to zzzz for exhibition. Think not on how cool the Intro to Lynch's DUNE is, but how many people didn't understand it. For a rediculously extreme example, watch the beginning of Chronicles Of Riddick. Ten minutes of Necromongers, etc...

 

[aramis]

Saarthuran: I didn't use "Vegan", I used "Vegetarian." Your visual problem, not my editing.

AS to the initial lines, it sets the time, it was, at worst, an afterthought. AS to historical documentation, there is plenty of evidence of his followers, and a couple of offhand references in Roman histories to a a variety of Jewish preachers, just none by name Yeshua Ben Yoseph bar Nazarat. We do, however, have the writings of one Peter, who happens to have been executed by the romans, also nailed to a cross, within a few years.

The reference tho, is one to a specific date upon which the modern calendar is based.

 

[alanb]

Originally posted by Aramis:
The reference tho, is one to a specific date upon which the modern calendar is based.

Correct, and I was being a jerk. Sorry.

there is plenty of evidence of his followers,

Correct. But obviously this is not the same thing.

references in Roman histories to a a variety of Jewish preachers,

Also correct.

We do, however, have the writings of one Peter, who happens to have been executed by the romans, also nailed to a cross, within a few years.

This would be an interesting discussion in its own right, but quite irrelevant to this thread, alas.

I'll go away now.

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

Take it easy, Coach, just trying to be helpful.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

I don't want to enflame a discussion better left to the Political Pulpit, but there is just as much, if not more, historical evidence re: Jesus' crucifixion than there is for numerous other things accepted as historical fact. The manuscript evidence is overwhelming. Thanks for being stand-up about it, alanb.

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

So we should get working on space Jesus and Space Romans?

That is my point. In exhibition, it is a bad idea to mention something without expansion on it, or for it to have not some bearing on the game. It is too Terracentric.

 

[kafka47]

baron, we are bound with come up with a document that is going to be Terracentric, as remember we are not marketing this product to the converted but rather the uncoverted. Whilst, I do agree, the religious reference was tacky reminscent of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, most people would not get it and get offended in the process. The introduction has to be something that lures people in, as Baron said, just like in the beginning of Chronicles not Dune. Personally, I like the idea of the campfire of an old timer telling a story but we could go for something more cold like a series of Encyclopedia Imperia/Library Data entries.

The starship encountering a vast world almost all covered, someone reaching over and punching in the Library Data on the World: Capital.

Giving a brief overview of Imperial history right there in a nutshell.

Another possibility is a museum tour a la Traveller Adventure/rebooted Time Machine movie whereby exhibits tell there own story.

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

Of course it must be terracentric to be understandable, but if the uninitiated is the key, perhaps we need to develop campaign models, so that new players do not have to do just the imperium, or just sols... the persepctive of the overview should be as clear, short, and as objective as possible.

We need to find the "heart" of it. The Gist... Is it the Jump Drive? The Imperium? What are the things to touch on in a setting so wide? Specifics right out of the gate might be confusing to some new players....

 

[TheEngineer]

Hi !

Guess its a very though thing to introduce the Traveller Universe within just a couple of sentences. At least it posesses aspects of several thousend Earths. Just try to describe this single Earth that way..

But what do we really need to know in order to get along in this world and to feel somehow comfortable ?
If we would stress the vastness of the TU and dozens of its features just in the introduction a player might get "lost" soon.

So perhaps its a good way to keep the global aspects of the TU fairly vague, but concentrate on the actual, maybe narrow, perspective of players and their characters (yes, just like in Serenity).
Thats why I really like the phrase "This is Free Trader Beowulf, calling anyone...". This one introduces Traveller from the individuals perspective and a very specific situation. Its just totally unimportant here, that there are 11000 worlds around and an Imperium etc...

So, what about introducing the TU from this kind of perspective and by an expanded story of a Free Trader Beowulf ?
We might not need a technocratic fact presenting abtract but a pretty little story to help players to get their place and situation in a world.

Any storyteller around ?

Anyway I really like Aramis approach, as it connects real history (things players already know) with the fictional extrapolation.

Perhaps the concepts could be combined....

Regards,

Mert

 

[Scarecrow]

Originally posted by Baron Saarthuran von Gushiddan:
Think not on how cool the Intro to Lynch's DUNE is, but how many people didn't understand it.

A beginning is a very delicate time.
Know then that it is the year 10191.
The Known Universe is ruled by the Padisha Emperor Shadam IV. My father.
In this time, the most precious substance in the Universe, is the Spice Melange.
The Spice extends life.
The Spice expands conciousness.
The Spice is vital to Space Travel.
The Spacing Guild and it's navigators whom the spice has mutated over 4000 years, use the orange spice gas which gives them the ability to
fold space. That is, travel to any part of the universe without moving.
Oh yes, I forgot to tell you. The Spice exists on only one planet in the entire Universe. A desolate, dry planet with vast deserts.
Hidden away within the rocks of these deserts are a people known as the Fremen who have long held a profecy that a man would come, a messiah who would lead them to true freedom.
The planet is Arakis. Also known as, 'Dune'.

What's not to understand?

Okay, it may not be the best example of an intro and I don't like the 'Oh yes, I forgot to tell you, but what I'm really after is something that fills in the player on Traveller's essential tropes in the broadest possible strokes. Something new players can read in a just a minute or two and enter the Traveller Universe with some basic idea of how it works. The details they can discover as they play.

They need to know it's spread over a wide area of the Universe. They need to know that it is ruled by a Feudal system with an Emperor and regional nobles. They need to know that they can travel between stars using a 'Jump' Drive. They need to know what alien races and careers there are so that they may choose to be one when creating a character. They need to know that technology is at 'laser gun' stage but there are no lightsabres. They need to know that they can have psionic powers and they need to know all this as simply and as palatably as possible.

For what it's worth, I rather liked Aramis' take though I found it a little too wordy and whilst I also wasn't keen on the first line, it's only because I felt it was frivolous and flippant and doesn't really have anything to do with Traveller.

Crow

 

[Chaos]

FWIW I liked Aramis´ summary, too. My suggestion for avoiding the controversy in the first sentence is, to replace it with something like: "Three and a half millenia have passed since we realized we are not alone in the universe." I´d leave out the second sentence, too, and substitute "we" for "Mankind" in the rest of the paragraph.

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

There is nothing wrong per se with the intro for DUne to me, I had read the book several times even before the film was out. Thing is, when you cram a book that is as thick as a 2x4 into two hours of screen time. Something is lost. Consider also the "expanded" version of the movie, where they attempt to deepen the exhibition (read by the bald guy from REsivoir Dogs!) explaining about Butlerian Jihad, etc...

When first released, I and my fellow movie goers were handed a one sheet paper (!) listing and briefly describing characters and rough concepts.
Me, I have that framed, but I also remember the garbage can being full of them. I also remember getting pissed off while watching the film because there were several groups around me either walking out, or saying loudly "What the Hell is Going on?"

If it is to entice the uninitiated, you must determine who that uninitiated is. Is this for Science Fiction fans? RPG fans? People unfamiliar with both? If its the third one, then focus on clarity is essential.

Traveller got me with its Spartan look, (until the Traveller Book came out, and I became addicted) It looked like some secret report, pretty cool.

"Accessible" does not have to mean "Dumbed down to the point of lameness". The reader needs to want to read the rest of the book.

 

[Golan2072]

I like the illustrated scenes in T4 (such as on p.6, p.10 and so on); they convey the spirit of the setting quite well in both artwork and text.