What If?
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archhealer
SOC-12
I have only played T20, however...
I am currently runnign a game with three to five players (Depending on who shows) once a month.
I am currently working on another traveller game with a different set fo players, whcih is still in the preliminary stages.
The main thing that holds me b ack isn't a lack of interest... there's plenty of that. My main problem i slacking severely in the time/money to purchase products, set things up and properly run a game. However, I'm getting by and I think my players are enjoying the game immensley. I have discovered that running a T20 game is far more labor intensive than a standard D20 DND game.
I am currently runnign a game with three to five players (Depending on who shows) once a month.
I am currently working on another traveller game with a different set fo players, whcih is still in the preliminary stages.
The main thing that holds me b ack isn't a lack of interest... there's plenty of that. My main problem i slacking severely in the time/money to purchase products, set things up and properly run a game. However, I'm getting by and I think my players are enjoying the game immensley. I have discovered that running a T20 game is far more labor intensive than a standard D20 DND game.
far-trader
SOC-14 10K
Nah, it was merely napping
Welcome aboard BillDowns
In that case....
I would say just try it and if no one likes, they won't do it.
One way would be to propose an Alternative traveller Universe where the basic schema gets voted on. Have a thread somewhere with maybe some sort of extra registration - free, of course - for it.
Thanks for the welcome, far-trader
I would say just try it and if no one likes, they won't do it.
One way would be to propose an Alternative traveller Universe where the basic schema gets voted on. Have a thread somewhere with maybe some sort of extra registration - free, of course - for it.
Thanks for the welcome, far-trader
staples357
SOC-5
Hey Hunter,
Do the powers that be have any plans to develop a gm. screen or is that already been done? or that could be something for other people to come up with for ct. and t-20. I think one is needed for both games.
Do the powers that be have any plans to develop a gm. screen or is that already been done? or that could be something for other people to come up with for ct. and t-20. I think one is needed for both games.
hunter
Ancient - Absent Friend
Space Cadet
SOC-12
Yes you could write it in a non-OTU setting and use the Traveller compatible logo. The 'compatibility' is refering to mechanical compatibility not setting. So you could write and adventure that is CT compatible but it cannot be set in the OTU specifically.
Hunter </font>[/QUOTE]Here is a possible non OTU Traveller compatible setting:
The Sky People is a novel written by S.M. Stirling, its premise is simple, it supposes an alternate history where the early 20th century Pulp Versions of Mars and Venus were true, then it establishes a realistic alternate history of the Earth assuming these premises. This book focuses on Venus, a later upcoming book, it is hinted will dwell on Mars with its ancient civilization and extensive canals.
The Venus of this book is populated by dinosaurs, prehistoric creatures and native humans. The planet has near 100% cloud cover in the form of a high atmospheric haze that reflects a good deal of sunlight back out into space, this keeps the temperature on the surface temperate to tropical.
Earth's history is the same as our up to 1961, when the first probes are sent to Venus. When the Russian probe discovers a jungle filled with creatures, humans and neanderthals, priorities are changed, a massive space race is launched to develop the rocket technology required to send people to Venus and Mars, this alters the history somewhat. For the United States, the Air Force becomes the US AeroSpace Force, the Russians along with the East Block build heavy boosters while the US develops a two-stage shuttle. research on nuclear rockets are accelerated. Along the way certain things do not happen. As the Soviets and the US turn their attention to space travel, the peripheral brushfire wars are neglected. There is no Vietnam War, the middle east is a quite place, as the superpowers are too busy to get involved in the local politics there. The current year is 1988, and both the US and Soviet Union have been maintaining bases on Venus since 1981, each has a population of about a couple of hundred people, with a bunch of natives in employ.
The treatment of the setting uses plausible technologies, spaceships and politics, given the fantastic settings of these two planets. The fact that Venus has life on it, and life related to Earth since 150 million years ago, implies some ancient intelligence at work here. Before 150 million years ago is the familiar Venus with the 90 atmopheres of carbon dioxide and the surface temperature hot enough to melt lead, and then over the next million years something changed both Venus and Mars to resemble the Pulp Versions as written about by E. R. Burrows and other Pulp Science Fiction works of the Early 20th centuries. Someone brought the dinosaurs, the humans, and prehistoric life to Venus, and that is in essence the mystery of the setting.
Border Reiver
SOC-14 1K
Goodness me, this is the second person posting in support of SMS' SkyPeople this week.
Tom Kalbfus, late of this Parish said this on the New Mars boards
Amazing synchronicity.
How ya doin'?
Tom Kalbfus, late of this Parish said this on the New Mars boards
Amazing synchronicity.
How ya doin'?
Space Cadet
SOC-12
So tell me Mr. Reiver, are you a hacker?
Do you write viruses to spy on people's personal computers, tracking the e-mail and so forth?
Because I have not furnished you with any information for you to come to any firm conclusions about my identity, unless you are a writer of spyware. Perhaps it is you who is responsible for all the popups, I've been getting lately, or perhaps not. Tom Kalbfus is not a celebrity or any famous person. Why are you so obsessed? Don't you have anything better to do with your life than follow some person around on the Web? I for one am more interested in ideas than in people. So if your going to stalk somebody, why don't you go bother Brittany Spears or someone like that who's a real celebrity? If you don't want to talk about the book, fine, but I'm not interested in your personal agenda about who's doing what, and if your writing spyware and invading other people's pritate lives and their computers, I wish you'd just get a life and mind your own busniness. I don't give a damn about who's who, that's why I don't use my own name on these boards, I'd rather talk about good ideas for traveller products which is the subject of this particular board, not about who's doing what where. There are boards for gossip about people and this is not one of them. If your spying on people and bugging people, I wish you would stop it, and stop with the skulking ok. I don't care about you personal agenda, leave it off these boards.
Do you write viruses to spy on people's personal computers, tracking the e-mail and so forth?
Because I have not furnished you with any information for you to come to any firm conclusions about my identity, unless you are a writer of spyware. Perhaps it is you who is responsible for all the popups, I've been getting lately, or perhaps not. Tom Kalbfus is not a celebrity or any famous person. Why are you so obsessed? Don't you have anything better to do with your life than follow some person around on the Web? I for one am more interested in ideas than in people. So if your going to stalk somebody, why don't you go bother Brittany Spears or someone like that who's a real celebrity? If you don't want to talk about the book, fine, but I'm not interested in your personal agenda about who's doing what, and if your writing spyware and invading other people's pritate lives and their computers, I wish you'd just get a life and mind your own busniness. I don't give a damn about who's who, that's why I don't use my own name on these boards, I'd rather talk about good ideas for traveller products which is the subject of this particular board, not about who's doing what where. There are boards for gossip about people and this is not one of them. If your spying on people and bugging people, I wish you would stop it, and stop with the skulking ok. I don't care about you personal agenda, leave it off these boards.
M
Malenfant
Guest
Uh, Tom, your writing style is what gives you away - nobody even needs to do any "spying". For all you know, BR may be on that other board anyway and just noticed the similarity. As it is, I had a sneaky suspicion about your real identity before BR ever pointed it out, just from how you were writing things (i.e. long posts with new rules with no introductions, rambling obsession with alternate realities, generally not answering questions etc).
Enoff
SOC-13
Wow! Ha Ha that is true paranoia!
I have noticed that a lot of people are on several boards at the same time, how could you not have?
Well anyways I don't want this to turn into a gossip flame war either. I like the idea of alternate histories and I am a fan of the old pulps. I think I lean more towards Otis Adelbert Kline's vision of Venus than a Arthur Conan Doyle stellar Lost World.
Cool how several websites are making available these old Sci-fi stories: Top Sci-fi authors of the 19th - 20th century
Ok - back to thoughts for material.
I'd love to see one on colonization of a hostile world such as Vensus {as we know it- vs the pulp fiction type}. My inspiration from this is from an actual at least semi-serious proposal:
http://powerweb.grc.nasa.gov/pvsee/publications/venus/VenusColony_STAIF03.pdf
Steve B
I'd love to see one on colonization of a hostile world such as Vensus {as we know it- vs the pulp fiction type}. My inspiration from this is from an actual at least semi-serious proposal:
http://powerweb.grc.nasa.gov/pvsee/publications/venus/VenusColony_STAIF03.pdf
Steve B
R
Roger Calver
Guest
Space Cadet, take a deep breath count to 10 and then repeat until a sense of calm fills your life
Space Cadet
SOC-12
In a hostile Venus, either your environmental suit keeps you alive or it does not.
If it does not, you suffer a quick death, not much of an adventure.
If it does, you get to walk around in a rather boring landscape collecting rocks. I guess you can have avalanches, Venusquakes and volcanic eruptions to make life interesting, but that is about the extent of adventuring that a hostile Venus provides you. Of course you could have a bad guy in another environmental suit firing his weapon at you, but then you could have the same guy in a space suit firing his weapon at you on the Moon or Mars, the environment of Venus really doesn't add anything to the encounter other than affecting the way you move and your style of combat. Nothing originating on Venus other than the natural geological events I mentioned really does anything to threaten you or to make your stroll on Venus interesting. Your suit could fail and you could die of course.
So your optinons on Venus are the following
1) Endure Venusquakes, Volcanic eruptions, or avalanches.
2) Suffer from environmental suit failure and die.
or
3) Bring someone along to attack you.
That's about it.
I think Pulp Venus has some more interesting encounters, has some mystery about it. If you want a realistic Pulp Venus, there is the mystery of who made Venus that way, and why its not the hostile Venus you mentioned.
The hostile Venus just is, that't its natural state. The only remarkable thing is if its not in its natural state then you have to ask who made it that way. You could have a terraformed Venus, which is basically the Pulp Venus, and a Pulp Venus is simply a Venus terraformed long ago by somebody, this is the end product of terraforming, and there really is more adventure and mystery in this sort of Venus rather than hostile Venus or a Venus undergoing terraforming.
Having ruins and artifacts to plow through is more interesting than having nonruins that are perfectly function and that you built yourself and know everything about.
This is the same analogy between a derelict space station and a non derelect space station.
Derelect space stations are fun to explore, while nonderelect space stations are places to go shopping.
In a hostile Venus, either your environmental suit keeps you alive or it does not.
-clip-
</font>[/QUOTE]Space Cadet, 1st Read the article - enviro suit not required. The article postulated colonizing Vensus with floating cities at 50 km - using existing technology. And it seems quite feasible, with the sole exception of how to get the quantities of materials needed to Vensus.
If you have floating cities - you could have abandoned floating cities just as easy as ruins on the ground. Also if your using OTU - then the cities may have been there for some time (1st Imperium, Rule of Man, others?) and not something you already know. There are a lot of possibilities.
Additionally you can have tremendous adventure in populated areas. One city ploting to let the air out of another. Failing altitude control needing to be repaired due to pirate attack. Murder by exposure to the atm. The list goes on - limited only by your imagination.
If you like pulp, you can reinvent Vensus and Mars to have active life now - but that's fantasy not Sci Fi (not that there's anything wrong with fantasy - just not what I'm interested in.) And as you've pointed out several times, there is existing material to cover the pulp angle. The product I'm suggesting takes a different track.
Like I said, read the article - and open your mind, you may find some interesting setting ideas for a new product. Or stick to pulp - just don't expect me to buy the product.
Steve B
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