Will Behind the Claw ever be reprinted?

[thethirdmargrave]

Just curious. Will GURPS: Behind the Claw ever be reprinted? The Spinward Marches being the primary campaign setting for Traveller, it seems counterproductive to let it lie fallow. Is there some other prevailing issue that precludes a reprint? Any information would be helpful.

 

[Rraurgrimm]

Well, since SJG decided that a reprint is out of the question due to the large amount of errata and inconsistencies - a new, re-edited version would be neccessary. And that would require someone willing to redo much of the book as it seems - which SJG is currently not willing to do.

Mayhaps they will do a PDF-version of it sometime - but First In has a priority there so don't hold Your breath.

 

[kafka47]

The Marches for me have been overdone. BtC is not the sacred grail that you hold it out to be. I have always preferred to set my campaigns elsewhere. The Solomani Rim/Rim of Fire was a well crafted sourcebook that could easily make the transition to e23 with chunky bits from Interstellar Wars (that were on editors table but added too much detail) milieu thrown in. Plus, perhaps set the stage for further products.

 

[Jeffr0]

Nobody wants to play "save the whales" in a derivative US/USSR cold war rip off. I'll take vicarious lawbreaking in an "overdone" setting any day. 8)

 

[MJD]

An edited version of BtC exists - the one we submitted after the playtest. The raw draft (written in 3 weeks around day jobs) got published instead.

But all the same, don't hold your breath for a reprint.

 

[flykiller]

An edited version of BtC exists - the one we submitted after the playtest. The raw draft (written in 3 weeks around day jobs) got published instead.

(laugh) the draft was published instead of the edited version? how did _that_ happen?

 

[Rhialto the Marvelous]

Originally posted by Jeffr0:
Nobody wants to play "save the whales" in a derivative US/USSR cold war rip off. I'll take vicarious lawbreaking in an "overdone" setting any day. 8)

Word.

 

[MJD]

My guess is that SJG were far behind schedule (that much I know) and kind of lost it on the corner trying to catch up. BtC-draft was the equivalent of hitting the tyrewall.

As an interesting aside, Btc was 4/3 as long as published. The fill version was approved and written, then cut down. We could never get an answer out of SJG about who owned the rights to the other chunk.

 

[GypsyComet]

Originally posted by Jeffr0:
Nobody wants to play "save the whales" in a derivative US/USSR cold war rip off. I'll take vicarious lawbreaking in an "overdone" setting any day. 8)

This particular "nobody" would run such a game. A shame you won't show up for it.

If I want my players to feel comfortably at home before the clock starts, the Marches are a good place to game in. If I want them to sweat *every* sensor contact, encourage language skills, and have huge tracts of unfriendly space waiting to be poked at, I could do considerably worse than the Interstellar Wars period.

 

[Jeffr0]

That was a tongue-in-cheek jab, of course. I'd play any sector, any era, and any ruleset if there was a good Traveller ref nearby.

 

[rancke]

Originally posted by MJD:
As an interesting aside, Btc was 4/3 as long as published. The fill version was approved and written, then cut down. We could never get an answer out of SJG about who owned the rights to the other chunk.

Were you paid for it? If not, you do (well, to the extent that Marc Miller doesn't ).

At least, that's my understanding of copyright under the Berne Convention. If you write something, the rights belong to you until you explicitly transfer them. The fact that it's a Traveller product complicates matters, but if SJG didn't pay you for it, they certainly don't have any part in it.


Hans

 

[rancke]

Originally posted by Jeffr0:
Nobody wants to play "save the whales" in a derivative US/USSR cold war rip off.

I don't quite see the relevance of this observation. Certainly playing in the Spinward Marches does not inevitably entail playing "save the whales", playing in a derivative US/USSR cold war rip off, or any combination of the above and anything else.

I'll take vicarious lawbreaking in an "overdone" setting any day. 8)

Now I'm confused. This appears to refer to the Marches after all (one of the charges against the Marches is that they're an overdone setting, right?)


Hans

 

[Jeffr0]

Er... Hans, it was just a quip to kafka's Solomani Rim proposal... and I lovingly pick at William Keith's Classic Adventure whaling and defection scenarios.

Just a joke.

Evidently an ineffective one.

I really should use the quote command even if I'm posting right after somebody...

 

[daryen]

If it is any consolation, I got the joke.

Personally, I still love the Spinward Marches. I would gladly play in the Interstellar Wars. However, the Solomani Rim leaves me utterly cold.

The Solomani Rim is a static setting, with no open areas, no neutrals, two sets of bad guys and no good guys, and ridiculously overpopulation.

If you want perpetual cold war between two unsympathetic groups in a claustrophobic setting, then the Solomani Rim is for you.

Me? I'll take the Spinward Marches, thank you very much.

 

[flykiller]

The Solomani Rim is a static setting, with no open areas, no neutrals, two sets of bad guys and no good guys, and ridiculously overpopulation.

sounds like a great setting. james bond x 10, hunt for red october, boys from brazil, militia groups, peace protests, treason (how many "imperials" wonder why they are fighting the homeworld of their ancestors?), smuggling, warfare soto voce, propaganda sports contests and olympics, arms dealers playing one side off the other, planetary governments trying to steer a middle course, sabotage, terrorists, elections. it'd be a blast.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by daryen:
The Solomani Rim is a static setting, with no open areas, no neutrals, two sets of bad guys and no good guys, and ridiculously overpopulation.

I've always played in the Marches as well. Classic setting. Classic fun.

It's not that other sectors don't appeal to me, though. It's that many adventures (most) are set in the Marches. A GM could spend a lifetime detailig worlds in just one sector (even a couple of subsectors). I've never strayed.

But, I have looked longingly at the Solomani Rim, with its genetic enhancements and Gestapo-like secretive SolSec security types.

That would be fun.

-S4

 

[rancke]

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
I've always played in the Marches as well. Classic setting. Classic fun.

It's not that other sectors don't appeal to me, though. It's that many adventures (most) are set in the Marches. A GM could spend a lifetime detailig worlds in just one sector (even a couple of subsectors). I've never strayed.

But, I have looked longingly at the Solomani Rim, with its genetic enhancements and Gestapo-like secretive SolSec security types.

That would be fun.

I agree completely. I'm sure that I could come up with scads of amber zones, adventures, and campaign settings for the Solomani Rim if I put my mind to it. It's just that I don't want to divert my efforts from the Spinward Marches. (I did write an Amber Zone set on Shululsish (http://jtas.sjgames.com/login/article.cgi?160), and I have some vague ideas about writing up Shululsish some day).


Hans