Trav & Spacemaster
- Thread starter gdbackus
- Start date
M
Malenfant
Guest
I had one of the older editions of Space Master, came in a box set. IIRC it was very rule/table heavy (it was just a scifi version of Role Master, wasn't it?), and I'm sure I recall a rule stating that there was a flat, non-negotiable percentage (10%? 20%?) chance of your ship hitting an asteroid and blowing up if it went through an asteroid belt.
The Aliens and Artifacts book was really good though (unsurprising, it was written by David Pulver). Most of the aliens from there ended up as minor races in GURPS Traveller's Alien Races books, though they suffered for being squeezed into the OTU.
Didn't someone do a new edition (or printing?) of SM not that long ago?
The Aliens and Artifacts book was really good though (unsurprising, it was written by David Pulver). Most of the aliens from there ended up as minor races in GURPS Traveller's Alien Races books, though they suffered for being squeezed into the OTU.
Didn't someone do a new edition (or printing?) of SM not that long ago?
Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
I use Space Master and Space Opera (and even Gamma World) modules as Traveller episodes...after a bit of conversion.
All of those systems have some fun adventures--an area where Traveller has always been weak.
-S4
All of those systems have some fun adventures--an area where Traveller has always been weak.
-S4
Andrew Boulton
The Adminator
ISTR not being too impressed with SM, but that was 20 years ago...
go over to the Iron Crown site. They have PDFs for download.
http://store.ironcrown.com/category.jsp?category=23188
you might find something cheap to give you an idea. I picked up the old Tech manual.
It was the only sf game I had/could find for a long while. Got me through the 90's. Ran some fun Iain Banks / Lois Bujold Mcmasters inspired games at uni.
That was the 2nd edition. The setting weren't bad, if obviously Dune, and in hindsight, OTU inspired.
Then I discovered CT and everything changed.
I got the 3rd edition downloads from ICE, but have to say not that impressed. The setting suddenly became rather rubbish, the rules more complicated than the MERP style stripped down Rolemaster of 2ed.
That was the 2nd edition. The setting weren't bad, if obviously Dune, and in hindsight, OTU inspired.
Then I discovered CT and everything changed.
I got the 3rd edition downloads from ICE, but have to say not that impressed. The setting suddenly became rather rubbish, the rules more complicated than the MERP style stripped down Rolemaster of 2ed.
Yeah. I played Rolemaster/MERP from the get-go and got into Spacemaster also. The whole family is absurdly table heavy - and I don't think that the new editions are any sort of overhaul/improvement (I'm generally not too impressed by anything coming out of Iron Crown nowadays...)
It really is a very consistant(sp?) and broad system, and built on the (almost) unspoken premise that the GM should decide which rules are used and which aren't (aside from the core things like page upon page of weapon tables)
Never could find players for it however, so my actual experience 'in the trenches' of running SM
is nil. Unfortunately, I can say the same for Traveller. Never have run it. Never have even <u>played</u> it. Been something of a "lurker" since the LBB days though. Now I feel like taking the plunge.
Restarted running a RM campaign some time ago and the steam has largely run out on it because the players (and myself to a lesser degree) begrudge the game its real-time mathematical demands.
I've got a couple friends interested in playing Traveller. Seems that probably the best way to go about playing is to cannibalize the systems and use what's best about each, mostly using MegaTrav as a base. I'm used to borrowing and hybridizing games - but it would be nice to see T5 be the game that obviates that practice.
I feel like there's some question here that I haven't been able to frame enough to ask - but I think I've rambled enough.
It really is a very consistant(sp?) and broad system, and built on the (almost) unspoken premise that the GM should decide which rules are used and which aren't (aside from the core things like page upon page of weapon tables)
Never could find players for it however, so my actual experience 'in the trenches' of running SM
is nil. Unfortunately, I can say the same for Traveller. Never have run it. Never have even <u>played</u> it. Been something of a "lurker" since the LBB days though. Now I feel like taking the plunge.
Restarted running a RM campaign some time ago and the steam has largely run out on it because the players (and myself to a lesser degree) begrudge the game its real-time mathematical demands.
I've got a couple friends interested in playing Traveller. Seems that probably the best way to go about playing is to cannibalize the systems and use what's best about each, mostly using MegaTrav as a base. I'm used to borrowing and hybridizing games - but it would be nice to see T5 be the game that obviates that practice.
I feel like there's some question here that I haven't been able to frame enough to ask - but I think I've rambled enough.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
I lliked the setting and the technology, but ran the game using the Aftermath rules.
Had quite a bit of fun with it, especially when "magic" world was visited.
Had quite a bit of fun with it, especially when "magic" world was visited.
I enjoyed the older system much more. There are a lot of charts, but the charts actually help a referee to come up with move vivid, blow by blow descriptions. The history is there, kind of a gloss-over. The maps are derivsative of the SPI Style of Universe RPG.
A lot of fun. Akaisha Outstation rocks as a scenario, and gave me a real feel of what Noble Houses / Merchant Houses are like.
The combat was fast and furious. Art, not really there.
As Malenfant said earlier, the Aliens book is fairly good, even if used as a resource for other games, but I'd dare say, not a Traveller Race book, by a long shot.
A lot of fun. Akaisha Outstation rocks as a scenario, and gave me a real feel of what Noble Houses / Merchant Houses are like.
The combat was fast and furious. Art, not really there.
As Malenfant said earlier, the Aliens book is fairly good, even if used as a resource for other games, but I'd dare say, not a Traveller Race book, by a long shot.
I have always loved doing that: using one game as an 'intro' to another - a mission from Alpha Complex Computer to investigate the surface sends Troubleshooters into space...I was thinking about playing 1248 but using several games of OGRE/GEV to stage some of the historical events of the Collapse/Long Night.
Fun
Fun
