Worlds of Darkness

[kafka47]

MJD,

I was wondering how dark are you planning your new TNE milieu? As I have been on the record, I would favour an extremely dark milieu to counteract some the shiny brightness of the antebellium that seems to dominate much of Traveller's history or at least the striving toward it...

What about others on this forum. Do people favour more Dark, Gray or Light campaigns for the future TNE product?

 

[Elliot]

As the song goes:

'Hello darkness my old friend'

One thing that was good about TNE was the darkness - it was ruined by the jingoism of the Star Vikings.

If MJD's supplement is sort of post TNE Hard Times on the road to recovery (I'm probably one of the few Trav players that liked the idea, if not the supplement)that would be cool.

Or to be Nietzchean about it, not so much long night, rather dark winter morning.

 

[kafka47]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Elliot:


Or to be Nietzchean about it, not so much long night, rather dark winter morning.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think that I would opt for a very dark stormy howlling winter's morn. The type that appears in the standard horror film or in Macbeth on the heath. (Not that I want the milieu to invoke terror)

But, there ought to be something more sinster at work in which the 4th Imperium is struggling against but cannot fathom.

 

[MJD]

Dark. I do dark. Don't like daylight, in fact. Dark is good.

 

[Kentares]

Like I wrote in previous posts I like TNE because of its theme (the virus) and its darkness (makes me remember the beginning of Battletech perhaps

 

[DrSkull]

I liked it because of the Star Viking jingoism.

------------------
Dave "Dr. Skull" Nelson

 

[MJD]

I liked it for many reasons, not least of which is the truly epic vision of humaniti face down in the mud, then lurching to its collective feet and stumbling onward into a frightening future, but determined to tame that future.

It appeals to me, I suppose.

 

[kafka47]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by MJD:
I liked it for many reasons, not least of which is the truly epic vision of humaniti face down in the mud, then lurching to its collective feet and stumbling onward into a frightening future, but determined to tame that future.

It appeals to me, I suppose. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ditto. Save that it keeps stumbling for a long time because of the sins of pride, greed, avarice, and the rest of the deadly sins. That is why I would favor "War of the Roses" scenario, with various noble prentenders, TEDs who strive to show might makes right. Only to stumble again. You have really triggered my imagination when you talk about the Vacant Throne...

Really look forward to the TNE supplement. So hurry up with the T20 nonsense...<smile>

 

[Antony]

I normally use a mix of TNE with Dark Conspiracy. You should have seen the faces of my Traveller players when they discovered that they were facing a Pale (basically a heat vampire for those who don't know)

 

[kafka47]

Is your Dark Conspiracy merging with a contemporary Traveller circa 2002 or is it in the far future.

The proper intersection of horror and science fiction is a topic of great interest to me. Thus far, I have not been able to find an adventure that really satifies both well. I have done the Alien thing but that soon degenerates into a bug hunt. I have done NASA/ESA investigating the face on Mars but found that it does not yield the same sense of horror.

Therefore, I have made many of scenarios Dark with populating them with plots within plots. Making the nobility corrupt and making character see the worse of human nature. Which in itself produces horror.

What other experiences have others had mixing the two genres.

 

[Antony]

The Dark Conspiracy/Traveller blend I normally ran in the far future. But I have also used the TNE rules for a setting around 1908. The adventurers were on a small yacht when they find a drifting paddle wheel liner. The inspiration for which was a missing American transatlantic paddlesteamer, I think it was the "Atlantic" Which vanished without trace. I ran basically the same scenario with an old colony transport.

My players have also learnt to research the names of vessels before boarding them (paranoia is a great plot device)and have stayed away from ships named E Fiztgerald, Cyclops etc.

I found the compatability between the GDW games very useful for cross pollinating.

Virus would certainly fit in a horror background. Anyone remember the film "Screamers", not a brilliant film, but has many useful ideas.