[State of the Art] Best System/World Presentation
- Thread starter DonM
- Start date
It may not be awesome or recent, but I think the way it's done in (for example) Adventure 10 has the right level of detail. I've seen it done like this in other Traveller adventures as well, and they seem to follow a useful general template.
Lee's Guide did a good job, as well, though its focus was more on the adventure and less on the world. The JTAS article on Craw is also decent, tho incomplete.
They start with a mention of the primary star, and the world's orbital distance. This may or may not be in a block of data with mundane world characteristics -- nice to know what your temperature zones are and what your seasons are like.
A world map helps.
Topics covered include:
Lee's Guide did a good job, as well, though its focus was more on the adventure and less on the world. The JTAS article on Craw is also decent, tho incomplete.
They start with a mention of the primary star, and the world's orbital distance. This may or may not be in a block of data with mundane world characteristics -- nice to know what your temperature zones are and what your seasons are like.
A world map helps.
Topics covered include:
- starport and startown
- region around the starport (including a regional map)
- animal encounters in said region
- geography / geology
- oceanography
- climate
- flora and fauna
- population
- culture and traditions
- government
- laws
I have to say that the issue is one of scale.
If we're talking article size, then the way that DGP would present systems in the old Digest was pretty decent. I also think that FASA actually did a pretty decent job with the Port of Call section in the two issues of Far Traveller.
I have to admit that GURPS also did a pretty decent job for supplement-sized system write-ups.
D.
If we're talking article size, then the way that DGP would present systems in the old Digest was pretty decent. I also think that FASA actually did a pretty decent job with the Port of Call section in the two issues of Far Traveller.
I have to admit that GURPS also did a pretty decent job for supplement-sized system write-ups.
D.
LeperColony
Traveller Card Game Dev Team
Fading Suns produced a line of books covering the planetary fiefs of the great houses. Each world had a fair amount of detail, if I recall correctly, including astronomical and geographical information and maps.
I thought the GURPS Traveller: Sword Worlds book was the gold standard for detailed world write-ups.
For presentation, I am looking at using Campaign Cartographer 3 with the Cosmographer 3 add-on.
Profantasy also has annuals I subscribe to, each month a different set of ideas, symbols, and maps is available for download.
One of those annuals' month issue has a means of creating color drawings of solar systems.
You pick the star's color, place the orbits of the planets and asteroid belt, and place the planets and moons. Add text of names and distance from their primary.
I haven't seen an equivalent from other programs, although such likely does exist.
Profantasy also has annuals I subscribe to, each month a different set of ideas, symbols, and maps is available for download.
One of those annuals' month issue has a means of creating color drawings of solar systems.
You pick the star's color, place the orbits of the planets and asteroid belt, and place the planets and moons. Add text of names and distance from their primary.
I haven't seen an equivalent from other programs, although such likely does exist.
Space Hamster
SOC-12
Star Wars The Essential Atlas has a good presentation.
It has a large image of the planet. It would not work as a map but gives you an idea to the major colors of the planet.
It gives key stats to the side of the picture.
It then finishes off with a few paragraphs about the planet.
If you say, add in a Traveller planet hex map and a couple key personalities, it would be quite cool.
It has a large image of the planet. It would not work as a map but gives you an idea to the major colors of the planet.
It gives key stats to the side of the picture.
It then finishes off with a few paragraphs about the planet.
If you say, add in a Traveller planet hex map and a couple key personalities, it would be quite cool.
I'm right now working on player handouts for an introductory adventure. This includes world writeups for Regina and Yori, and I've tentatively settled on this format:
Note that Page 1, page 1+2, and page 1+2+3+4 should all work as handouts.
I'm dithering a bit over switching page 3 and page 4 around.
Hans
Code:
World writeups
==============
Layout
------
Page 1:
WORLD NAME
_________________________________________
Very basic information (elaborated UWP)
_________________________________________
|
|
|
|
Basic information | System information
|
(200-220 words) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
__________________________________________
World map
|\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /|
| \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / |
| \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / |
|___\/______\/______\/______\/______\/___|
| /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ |
| / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ |
| / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ |
|/______\/______\/______\/______\/______\|
\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /
\ / \ / \ / \ / \ /
\ / \ / \ / \ / \ /
\/ \/ \/ \/ \/
Page 2: Expanded basic information (700 words)
Page 3: History and chronology (700 words)
Page 4: Starport and trade information (700 words)I'm dithering a bit over switching page 3 and page 4 around.
Hans
Agreed. You could do an entire multi-page supplement just on one world. But ...
- For a one page format I really like the DGP style from products like 'Flaming Eye'. For example, Ashki on p35: UWP, stats, capsule description, mini world map, and system profile.
- For a smaller space I am partial to the format used by Gamelords in products like 'A Pilot's Guide To Drexilthar': UWP, stats, capsule description ... often longer than those of DGP.
The inclusion of the detailed block of stats in both cases can give a lot of useful colour information in a dense format. Definitely something I'd be looking for as a Referee.
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