To OTU or not to OTU?

[RobertFisher]

This is my biggest quandry. I like the OTU, but I'd love to experience the game as people did before the OTU. The OTU provides lots of support to me as ref, but it also comes with baggage. I'd love to do both, but Traveller has a lot of competition for my group's time.

 

[RobertFisher]

This is my biggest quandry. I like the OTU, but I'd love to experience the game as people did before the OTU. The OTU provides lots of support to me as ref, but it also comes with baggage. I'd love to do both, but Traveller has a lot of competition for my group's time.

 

[BrennanHawkwood]

Flip a coin...or ask your players...

In my case...it came down to basically OTU...simply because developing a non-OTU setting to the extent that I would want to have for play would have taken too much time.

 

[BrennanHawkwood]

Flip a coin...or ask your players...

In my case...it came down to basically OTU...simply because developing a non-OTU setting to the extent that I would want to have for play would have taken too much time.

 

[Malenfant]

If you've got an idea for your own scifi setting, and the time to develop it, then do it.

If not, then pick what part of the OTU you want to run in and go with that.

 

[Malenfant]

If you've got an idea for your own scifi setting, and the time to develop it, then do it.

If not, then pick what part of the OTU you want to run in and go with that.

 

[clementk]

I'd suggest you start developing your own subsector and if you start running out of ideas, need more detail than you have time for, etc. have a misjump to the OTU. Easy Deus ex Machina supported by the rules.

Casey

 

[clementk]

I'd suggest you start developing your own subsector and if you start running out of ideas, need more detail than you have time for, etc. have a misjump to the OTU. Easy Deus ex Machina supported by the rules.

Casey

 

[jappel]

Drink deep of the spring of creativity and build it yourself! Avoid the endless wrangling of the canonistas, sidestep the obvious implausiblities of the OTU, and craft ye a coherent universe of your own!

< Pfft! goes the tranq gun >

OK, seriously, I heartily recommend going the homebrew route. Steal ideas from wherever you can, sure, in fact I imported many of the OTU aliens and tweaked'em to suit my setting (e.g., the Zhodani are just an offshoot human culture, Droyne are around but the Ancients never were, etc.).

The most important thing you need to do is to write down all the little details you come up with as you go. I have notes scattered across a couple of notebooks and some notepads over the years, plus some 25-year-old index cards for worlds and NPCs. Slowly, that information is being put into electronic format. (Peter Trevor's Universe program is proving to be very handy for storing world information.

Either way, good luck with it! And if you decide to stick in the OTU, don't let the canonistas drag you down.

John

 

[jappel]

Drink deep of the spring of creativity and build it yourself! Avoid the endless wrangling of the canonistas, sidestep the obvious implausiblities of the OTU, and craft ye a coherent universe of your own!

< Pfft! goes the tranq gun >

OK, seriously, I heartily recommend going the homebrew route. Steal ideas from wherever you can, sure, in fact I imported many of the OTU aliens and tweaked'em to suit my setting (e.g., the Zhodani are just an offshoot human culture, Droyne are around but the Ancients never were, etc.).

The most important thing you need to do is to write down all the little details you come up with as you go. I have notes scattered across a couple of notebooks and some notepads over the years, plus some 25-year-old index cards for worlds and NPCs. Slowly, that information is being put into electronic format. (Peter Trevor's Universe program is proving to be very handy for storing world information.

Either way, good luck with it! And if you decide to stick in the OTU, don't let the canonistas drag you down.

John

 

[Flynn]

I've done both, and had a great time with it. Right now, I'm enjoying a 1248 Fourth Imperium campaign. Who knows what the next one may hold?

If you go ATU, start small. It helps.

If you go OTU, take what you like and don't get bogged down with trying to keep it all accurate to the written word. For a home game, canon should be an aid, not a limit. (The opposite is true in writing for Traveller publications, of course.)

Best of luck, my friend, and let us know if you need any help,
Flynn

BTW, I recommend Galactic. It's reliable and it works. I haven't played with Universe yet, of course, so that might change, but money's tight right now, so that'll have to wait.

 

[Flynn]

I've done both, and had a great time with it. Right now, I'm enjoying a 1248 Fourth Imperium campaign. Who knows what the next one may hold?

If you go ATU, start small. It helps.

If you go OTU, take what you like and don't get bogged down with trying to keep it all accurate to the written word. For a home game, canon should be an aid, not a limit. (The opposite is true in writing for Traveller publications, of course.)

Best of luck, my friend, and let us know if you need any help,
Flynn

BTW, I recommend Galactic. It's reliable and it works. I haven't played with Universe yet, of course, so that might change, but money's tight right now, so that'll have to wait.

 

[clementk]

I would be remiss not to point to Freelance Traveller's Other Roads section.
http://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/othroads/index.html

In particular the Burgess Shale Period article. Before my time as I first played with either Starter Traveller or the Traveller Book, i.e. 2nd edition and OTU. I agree with Doug Berry and others that 1st Edition CT should have been reprinted along with 2nd edition, as a historical document if nothing else.

Galactic is highly recommended. While the tech is about the same era as CT itself, ANSI graphics and all, it works and is free. While I like Universe it is a commercial product and not all planned features are implemented yet.

Casey (maudlin a bit; I do have a copy of 1st edition now)
edit - added paragraph on Galactic

 

[clementk]

I would be remiss not to point to Freelance Traveller's Other Roads section.
http://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/othroads/index.html

In particular the Burgess Shale Period article. Before my time as I first played with either Starter Traveller or the Traveller Book, i.e. 2nd edition and OTU. I agree with Doug Berry and others that 1st Edition CT should have been reprinted along with 2nd edition, as a historical document if nothing else.

Galactic is highly recommended. While the tech is about the same era as CT itself, ANSI graphics and all, it works and is free. While I like Universe it is a commercial product and not all planned features are implemented yet.

Casey (maudlin a bit; I do have a copy of 1st edition now)
edit - added paragraph on Galactic

 

[Spinward Scout]

I'd recommend a misjump to your HBTU (Home Brew Traveller Universe) then, if your players don't like it, have them work to find a way to get back in one last adventure, with guns blaring after them, etc...

I always wanted to make my own universe, too. I also want to make a canon-ish Traveller universe with only the top 100 or 200 best OTU worlds in Charted Space. Change the jump time to 140+ minutes intead of 140+ hours and the universe just became a lot smaller. At that rate of speed, you could cross charted space in a couple of months. Mix in some liberal fuel consumption rules, and you're planet hopping.

Later,

Scout

 

[Spinward Scout]

I'd recommend a misjump to your HBTU (Home Brew Traveller Universe) then, if your players don't like it, have them work to find a way to get back in one last adventure, with guns blaring after them, etc...

I always wanted to make my own universe, too. I also want to make a canon-ish Traveller universe with only the top 100 or 200 best OTU worlds in Charted Space. Change the jump time to 140+ minutes intead of 140+ hours and the universe just became a lot smaller. At that rate of speed, you could cross charted space in a couple of months. Mix in some liberal fuel consumption rules, and you're planet hopping.

Later,

Scout

 

[kafka47]

If I to play exclusively in the CT universe using the Big Black Book or some of the LBBs, I think that I would go with a Home Brewed Universe, as I did for many years.

However, if you begin to collect Traveller, you will begin to see the glory of the OTU. As Joe Fugate has stated, it is the largest untapped source of inspiration for SF after Star Wars & Star Trek...as if you look at any of the SF games on the market...all pay homage to Traveller in some form even if it is because they want to be anti-Traveller.

A good sourcebook that would outline the glory of the OTU that Hunter & MJD have been talking about to rival Milieu 0 and setting in the era of T20.

Although, I think that it would even better if it was M:1248 (with snapshots looking back all they to M:0) is a missing part of the OTU. A real cool 1248 sourcebook for the OTU would have the different voices speak from the grave would give a new feeling and give 1248 the history that most feel TNE Mk 1 destroyed.

As all we really have is a canon spread out over half a dozen sources and a consolidation effort made with the MT Imperial Encyclopedia which suits me fine...but I can imagine how newbies feel.

 

[kafka47]

If I to play exclusively in the CT universe using the Big Black Book or some of the LBBs, I think that I would go with a Home Brewed Universe, as I did for many years.

However, if you begin to collect Traveller, you will begin to see the glory of the OTU. As Joe Fugate has stated, it is the largest untapped source of inspiration for SF after Star Wars & Star Trek...as if you look at any of the SF games on the market...all pay homage to Traveller in some form even if it is because they want to be anti-Traveller.

A good sourcebook that would outline the glory of the OTU that Hunter & MJD have been talking about to rival Milieu 0 and setting in the era of T20.

Although, I think that it would even better if it was M:1248 (with snapshots looking back all they to M:0) is a missing part of the OTU. A real cool 1248 sourcebook for the OTU would have the different voices speak from the grave would give a new feeling and give 1248 the history that most feel TNE Mk 1 destroyed.

As all we really have is a canon spread out over half a dozen sources and a consolidation effort made with the MT Imperial Encyclopedia which suits me fine...but I can imagine how newbies feel.

 

[RobertFisher]

Originally posted by Casey:
I would be remiss not to point to Freelance Traveller's Other Roads section.

Yeah. I had re-read that just before I started this thread. Very inspirational.

I think there's only one person in the group who might have a preference. I'm going to talk to him about it, but I'm leaning towards homebrew.

Thanks to everyone for the advice.

 

[RobertFisher]

Originally posted by Casey:
I would be remiss not to point to Freelance Traveller's Other Roads section.

Yeah. I had re-read that just before I started this thread. Very inspirational.

I think there's only one person in the group who might have a preference. I'm going to talk to him about it, but I'm leaning towards homebrew.

Thanks to everyone for the advice.