CT Only: Since I can't leave well enough alone, LBB Remastered

[spank]

Actually, no Mark‘s version is still scanned, and the text has not been reflowed, nor has any of the errata been entered.

The errata was entered, but it's obviously a different typeface.
And in a few places the Errata needs to be errata'd
Here's an example of the errata being inserted.

 

[plazman30]

I grabbed my facsimile edition PDF and zoomed in on page 12. I zoomed the page in and D looks sharp and crystal clear, while the rest of the text looks fuzzy. The font is the same. It's still Univers. But what you're seeing is the difference between a nice clean digital font and a scanned font from the 80s.

My guess would be that Marc, or someone he knows/hired, used a copy of Adobe Acrobat to lay errata over the existing text in a scanned copy PDF. The book says that not all errata got inserted and needs to be references in the errata section. My guess would be that any errata that required the creator to re-flow the book didn't get inserted, because that's impossible in a scanned copy, unless you do what i am doing and convert it to completely digital.

I'm using a Mac and it does automatic OCR of any PDF you open. So, doing this isn't a ton of work, except for the tables. Those take a good chunk of time, because you can't just cut and paste the text to make a table.

My big concern is keeping it under 50 pages. I really want to get this saddle stitched (folded and stapled in two places) like the original LBBs. The only POD service I know of that can do that is Lulu. And their saddle stitched books need to be 49 pages or fewer. Somehow, I don't think I will pull that off. Right now, I'm making the book A5 size, to use a standard book size people print now. But I may need to 6×9, which would be bigger than the LBBs, but only slightly. I am trying to avoid going 7x10. I really don't want this to end up a perfect-bound book.

I also want to get rid of the double column stuff and make the entire book single column where I can. I think going back and forth from single column to double column is confusing. If this ever gets done, I'll reach out to Marc and Matt and see what they think of it, and what marketing possibilities there may be for this.

Traveller facsimile edition is free on DriveThruRPG. Clearly you can get the first 3 books for free right now. So maybe this could go up on TAS as a "pay what you want" title.

 

[plazman30]

And what if you consider the errata to be wrong?

I prefer the choice to incorporate or not.

Since this is a digital product, it's quite possible to offer it with and without errata easily.

 

[plazman30]

Looks good.
CT is a fine game, but the presentation could use alot of work.

You're probably not there yet.
But when you get to book 3, there is a typo in the Facsimile version.
In the world generation checklist on page 12, step D, it says:
D. Planetary hydrographics: 2D-7
+ atmosphere. If planetary size is 0, then
hydrographics must be 0; if atmosphere
0, 1, or 1+, then apply DM -4.

should be 0,1, or 10+

I don't know if I will ever get there. But thank you for this information. Hopefully, time allows me to complete this effort. It's just something I am doing for fun.

 

[plazman30]

What. the heck is the point to the Other column in this table? I feel like I should just remove it.

 

[plazman30]

And does this Prior Service Table work?

 

[Ildefonse]

This is fantastic work, and if you ever want another set of eyes on it please just say the word: happy to proofread. As for the sample layouts: I like everything shown so far, except for the white text on black fill column headers in the tables (where I'd much prefer the standard black text on either white or grey fill). Just my opinion, obviously.

 

[plazman30]

This is fantastic work, and if you ever want another set of eyes on it please just say the word: happy to proofread. As for the sample layouts: I like everything shown so far, except for the white text on black fill column headers in the tables (where I'd much prefer the standard black text on either white or grey fill). Just my opinion, obviously.

Let me tinker with it and see what it looks like.

 

[plazman30]

How does this look?

 

[whartung]

What. the heck is the point to the Other column in this table?

Same point as the Scout column. Mostly there to prevent players from asking about the "Scout and Other rank tables", reinforcing the fact that neither have ranks at all.

 

[Ildefonse]

How does this look?

View attachment 5691

I prefer that over the white on black for sure. I'd consider moving the "Draft" row too (either above "Enlistment" or below "Reenlist", since it's a condition separate from all the other rows). Just my two credits.

 

[plazman30]

I prefer that over the white on black for sure. I'd consider moving the "Draft" row too (either above "Enlistment" or below "Reenlist", since it's a condition separate from all the other rows). Just my two credits.

Draft is where it is in the original table in the LBB.

 

[mike wightman]

Which makes sense.
Roll for enlistment - > fail - > roll draft
If enlistment successful or following draft you then roll for survival for the term.

 

[Ildefonse]

Yes, I realized that after I suggested it: some might opt for the draft right away, but I think the usual path is to try for a career first, then submit to the draft if denied enlistment.