So I ordered Mongoose Traveller ...
- Thread starter Brandon C
- Start date
Garyius2003
SOC-13
Instead of dying in generation your characters are likely to get kicked out of a field. The character links and skill packages are a great idea. The skill rolls are different enough to need some slow play to get them down. Economics are still broken, but in slightly different ways. Armor is a need to have if the players may be shooting. Your old favorite ships are iffy for commerce and weak in fighting. The ships in the later supplements are either much better, or completely useless.
Although Book 5 gave more design options, I like the ship size and weapon limits of Book 2.
I have heard that, much like the first three LBBs, the MGT core rules make little reference to the 3I, which is fine with me since I prefer pocket empires to 1.000 world empires.
A lot.
No separate re-enlistment roll - promotion aka advancement handles that.
Task system - not the DGP one, either, so neither your 2300 nor MT nor DGP-CT experience will help with it.
Armor reduces damage.
End always gets hit first. So, now, low End is a glass jaw.
World gen changes the order of things, and is slightly more realistic as a result, especially with the optional adjustments.
Law Level has been given additional meanings, and they don't jive with the OTU at all.
New Trade system. I like it better than CT Bk3.
New Psionics rules.
New Skill List.
In other words, it's a whole new game with the same title/trademark, and able to use the Bk2 ships almost as is, and to use existing starmaps as is.
I've previously played and GM'd using T20. But since I got the MgT rules I have fallen for Mongoose Traveller. Character Generation is more personal, as well as simple.
I am finding that the trade rule are a double edge sword so far. (only had 3-4 sessions of buying/selling) all in one game session so far. It can make profits, but make sure the ships Broker character has a good Broker skill, or the group can take ages before finding a buyer to make a profit with. My players broker is 1, but the longest they took was 3 days, and this was after having some help from a robot guide help them. (All search's was on online interfaces) Profits they ended up getting from spec trade were meager to say the least. And I think all 3 of my players have decided to stick to minor and major shipments for the moment. Even with this, they are making a rather sizable amount of credits which I think they will be able to pay of the ships morgage, with enough spare to re-fill the trade fund, and make some turn over in their first month.
The law descriptions, I highly prize, though certain ones are scary, and are likely to make adventure hooks in themselves. Example, If Travellers are illegal on the planet and the planets law level is high, they could be allowed to land/dock to the port. But when they do, they can't get offworld. So, lets say a patron has hired them to stop of at the starport to pick up something. They get there. Now how do they get away, especially if the world has good technology to blast them out the sky. I actually have one of these worlds, travellers cannot leave, and enough tech to blow up anyone trying to leave.
I am finding that the trade rule are a double edge sword so far. (only had 3-4 sessions of buying/selling) all in one game session so far. It can make profits, but make sure the ships Broker character has a good Broker skill, or the group can take ages before finding a buyer to make a profit with. My players broker is 1, but the longest they took was 3 days, and this was after having some help from a robot guide help them. (All search's was on online interfaces) Profits they ended up getting from spec trade were meager to say the least. And I think all 3 of my players have decided to stick to minor and major shipments for the moment. Even with this, they are making a rather sizable amount of credits which I think they will be able to pay of the ships morgage, with enough spare to re-fill the trade fund, and make some turn over in their first month.
The law descriptions, I highly prize, though certain ones are scary, and are likely to make adventure hooks in themselves. Example, If Travellers are illegal on the planet and the planets law level is high, they could be allowed to land/dock to the port. But when they do, they can't get offworld. So, lets say a patron has hired them to stop of at the starport to pick up something. They get there. Now how do they get away, especially if the world has good technology to blast them out the sky. I actually have one of these worlds, travellers cannot leave, and enough tech to blow up anyone trying to leave.
Since you played a lot of CT, I think you will find plenty of familiar things in Mongoose Traveller. The core book is quite CT-friendly, and I think it will feel like a modernized version of Classic Traveller to you.
Mongoose's supplements sometimes favor a more power-gamer feel of things, but it's not inextricably intertwined with the system, and you can read reviews of the books to decide what to get and what to ignore.
That said, some Mongoose supplements are golden, regardless of which Traveller system you use. But then I'm biased.
Mongoose's supplements sometimes favor a more power-gamer feel of things, but it's not inextricably intertwined with the system, and you can read reviews of the books to decide what to get and what to ignore.
That said, some Mongoose supplements are golden, regardless of which Traveller system you use. But then I'm biased.
The book showed up about two hours ago and I've got to look through character generation in some detail and some other parts briefly.
Mostly looks fine and comfortably close to CT. The Law Level tables are quite a bit more intrusive than CT, so I may end up having to ignore parts of them.
Mostly looks fine and comfortably close to CT. The Law Level tables are quite a bit more intrusive than CT, so I may end up having to ignore parts of them.
I was thinking of the column with the blanket technology resrictions.
Note that I like what I've read overale, just nitpicking in places.
For the Technology restriction list. Me personally, i'd only use it for Red Zones. With the reasoning of, Yes you are allowed in the system, land on the planet. but when you leave the starport on to the main planet, do not take any of the following with you or you will break imperial law. The local populace has had in the past nearly self destructed themselves and cannot be trusted in any capacity with any of that technology. I'd also couple it with media and information. But Limit it to Off-world data, where as the actual world law allows these items.
Another possibility, Imperial Navy allow you to go there as above, and the rest as above, but the reason is that the planet in the recent past was responsible for a revolt against the Imperium or which ever power is in control of the planet.
Those to me would make sense to use the technology restrictions, and possible maybe a couple other exceptions.
Another possibility, Imperial Navy allow you to go there as above, and the rest as above, but the reason is that the planet in the recent past was responsible for a revolt against the Imperium or which ever power is in control of the planet.
Those to me would make sense to use the technology restrictions, and possible maybe a couple other exceptions.
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I guess in the case you describe (the patron wanting to pick something from a world), the characters whould likely stay in the extaleagality zone, and so not being able to be stopped leaving by teh local governement.
I don't like (and wouldn't use, should I ever referee MgT) the TL restrictions by law. I find absurd if your world is capable to build TL 14 items to have your populace restricted to TL 7 items because you're law level 7, as it would urely deongrade your peoples productivity too.
See that an industrial world is likely to have high law levels (minimum 4, more likely over 7), so even if it has TL15, people will still go in ground cars and biplanes and use fixed telephones (if not in oxcarts and comunicating by messanger doves and smoke signals) instead of grav vehicles and cellular videophones, if rules are followed to the letter. I don't see how this world can mantain a TL15 industrial economy.
I find absurd if your world is capable to build TL 14 items to have your populace restricted to TL 7 items because you're law level 7, as it would purely downgrade your peoples productivity too.
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For me if it's not a red zone as previously explained, it world be that the government is trying intentionally be backward in a manner. Say the government will happily make there max technology for it's Military, Navy and government things. But when it comes to the general populations life's the restrict what they own. Though the government may possible grant license's to individuals or companies to have higher tech. An example would be in a TL 14 world, Limited license's to companies that wish to operate in space. Most of these companies license's would likely end up that the company is required to do something for the government in return. For example, a company wish's to get in to mining. The government knows of rich deposits in the systems asteroid field. The companies license forces them to mine that asteroid to give the government say 1000 tons of ore a month from it.
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For me if it's not a red zone as previously explained, it world be that the government is trying intentionally be backward in a manner. Say the government will happily make there max technology for it's Military, Navy and government things. But when it comes to the general populations life's the restrict what they own. Though the government may possible grant license's to individuals or companies to have higher tech. An example would be in a TL 14 world, Limited license's to companies that wish to operate in space. Most of these companies license's would likely end up that the company is required to do something for the government in return. For example, a company wish's to get in to mining. The government knows of rich deposits in the systems asteroid field. The companies license forces them to mine that asteroid to give the government say 1000 tons of ore a month from it.
That's already reflected in the government modifiers to the Tech Level, IMHO.
The law level table suggests that all repressive governments are neo-luddites, which seems a bit ... overgeneralized to me.
This situation does remind me of the System Lords from Stargate SG-1 -- highly restrictive governments with a deliberately wide technology gap between the populace and the government/military.
Worth noting that high law worlds are bad for Imperial trade (such worlds tend to be high population, which means a lot of potential customers). I could see some nobles sending agents to such worlds to destabilize the government and replace it with something less repressive (and thus more open to trade) ...
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Thats true.
Before I forget again. I do believe there is a difference for ships. Because I believe most of the rule sets put Pulse Lasers as the offensive Laser and the Beam as a Defensive one. In mongoose the Pulse is the weaker one of the two, unless you swap them around which I have done.
Before I forget again. I do believe there is a difference for ships. Because I believe most of the rule sets put Pulse Lasers as the offensive Laser and the Beam as a Defensive one. In mongoose the Pulse is the weaker one of the two, unless you swap them around which I have done.
This is corrected in HG, where pulse lasers are less accurate but more powerful (in damage terms). IDK if there's a free errata somewhere wehere you could have this changes.
Think I'm happy with swapping them around. Though after checking the range chart for both, I'll keep the charts as they are for the weapons. Makes the pulse less accurate at long range and can't hit anything at distant targets. So, just swapping the damages they make is a good idea, and an easy edit.
It's in the errata from Mongoose, and in the SRD as well, so yes, it's out there.
