Traveller + Terran Trade Authority

[Thorulfr]

Hello all - Well, I'm back again. Employed again (let's hope it lasts); divorce still pending. I'm still drawing breath, so I probably shouldn't use that breath to complain. Much...

I'm still poking at Wanderer, but in the odd moments when I'm not trying to get information on Byzantine merchant ships or something equally obscure, I've been happily squandering some of my spare moments on reworking the Terran Trade Authority as an RPG background.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terran_Trade_Authority

This is, for me, a bit of a nostalgia-fest, because my very first SF-RPG was a brief homebrew that used OD&D rules with the ships and background from the book Spacecraft 2000-2100. It didn't last long, and about a year later I bought that game called Traveller that had been out a couple of years...

Well, there is an actual published RPG from Morrigan Press, but as I go through it, I keep wincing at some of the things they've done (gravity grenades: 'nuf said.) I've been playing around with the idea of reworking the background and adapting it to the Traveller system. So far, the main problem (aside from finding the time/energy) is balancing the canon of the books with my own desire for a slightly more hard-science background, without going totally overboard.

Got to get back to work, but I'll post more as I make it.

And remember: Even though while in space, no one can hear you scream, the cloud of ice particles when you try is really impressive.

[The Fiendish Dr. Samsara]

I think someone may actually be working on an official TTA Traveller supplement, although I heard a rumour that it may be Savage Worlds now (I need to check that).

I run a short game I called the TravellerTrade Authourity using the TTA setting to run the classic Traveller game: free traders in debt to gangsters. I ran it using PDQ though and not Traveller (the Moongoose relaunch hadn't come out yet).

I have some notes posted here: Traveller Trade Authority.

[eris]

Mar 24, 2010 16:01:20 GMT -6 The Fiendish Dr. Samsara said:

I think someone may actually be working on an official TTA Traveller supplement, although I heard a rumour that it may be Savage Worlds now (I need to check that).

I think it is Mongoose that is working on it, but that is just a rumor I've read.

What I'd really like to see is someone flesh out the universe Andre Norton's used for the Solar Queen series.

[greentongue]

Mar 25, 2010 10:56:43 GMT -6 eris said:

What I'd really like to see is someone flesh out the universe Andre Norton's used for the Solar Queen series.

ABSOLUTELY!
I've often thought of it but time conspires against me.
=

[Thigru Thorkissen]

Mar 8, 2010 15:23:30 GMT -6 Thorulfr said:

This is, for me, a bit of a nostalgia-fest, because my very first SF-RPG was a brief homebrew that used OD&D rules with the ships and background from the book Spacecraft 2000-2100. It didn't last long, and about a year later I bought that game called Traveller that had been out a couple of years...

I just saw this post and found it interesting because this is exactly the same thing I did. Basically, I used AD&D as the framework, but made Sci-Fi classes and put stats to Sci-Fi weapons and armor. Ships had hit point values, but a few orders of magnitude above characters (so thousands rather than tens), with the weapon systems (extract from those named in the books, of course) dealt damage at the higher scale of ships. I wish I still had the notes, but they are long, long gone (probably tossed a within a year of being created).

My homebrew was quick and dirty, but for the few weeks we played it, it was a lot of fun.

tauman

[castiglione]

What is a gravity grenade?

It can't be any worse than a "warp grenade" (a grenade that allows you to "dial" a certain amount of havoc you want to wreak and when it detonates, unleashes a nuclear explosion with any excess energy being warped off somewhere into space. Useful for surgically blowing a small hole in a wall or eliminating an entire legion of enemy troops).

[Thorulfr]

Apr 8, 2010 21:22:01 GMT -6 castiglione said:

What is a gravity grenade?

Sorry..missed this post.
The Gravitic Grenade:

"When the grenade detonates, it releases incredible gravitational forces. All creatures within a 10-foot radius burst are struck for DR10B damage. A successful Evade roll halves the damage suffered."

Aside from the improbability of the device (on the other hand, I guess it is possible to make small but powerful EMP bombs using conventional explosives - plus a coil, antenna, serious capacitors and a hefty power source - rather than needing a high-altitude nuke, so maybe...)
as I was saying, aside from the sheer improbability of the device (my reality-suspenders are snapping), the implications are a headache: what about delicate items in the blast radius? Imagine tossing one in a fight in a chemical warehouse, and all of a sudden all the shelves in a 20' circle collapse, the containers shattering? What about the structure on which they are standing - what happens when it is suddenly loaded in a small area far beyond its normal capacity? Toss one of those under a heavy truck and it would be a great way to bring down a bridge. What about flying debris that might be passing overhead? Would it suddenly rain down with bullet-like force?

No...the writers didn't think far enough ahead. The players, on the other hand, are certain to (heck, I would... ;o).