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Post by tkdco2 on Feb 9, 2015 19:39:48 GMT -6
Do you set your games in:
A. The official Traveller universe, perhaps modified to suit your needs,
B. an established universe from television, cinema, or another rpg setting, or
C. Your own setting, maybe influenced by either of the above?
Lately, I've been more interested in creating my own settings rather than play in another setting. I will use ideas from games and TV/cinema, however.
What do you prefer?
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Post by makofan on Feb 10, 2015 10:01:04 GMT -6
Always C. I refuse to have anything to do with the "Traveller=known setting" crowd. Random world and sector generation is your friend. Pages 4-16 in Book 3 is all you need.
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Post by thorswulf on Feb 10, 2015 12:26:09 GMT -6
I always liked the Sword Worlds Confederation since it was based on Piper's Star Viking. I wanted to runa mercenary campaign in it, but never got around to it. *Sigh*
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Post by makofan on Feb 10, 2015 13:02:08 GMT -6
I should probably add that I have nothing against the 3rd Imperium setting, just the disciples who preach it is the Only True Way, then proceed to tell me what I got wrong.
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eris
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 161
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Post by eris on Feb 10, 2015 17:31:07 GMT -6
I should probably add that I have nothing against the 3rd Imperium setting, just the disciples who preach it is the Only True Way, then proceed to tell me what I got wrong. Preach it, brother! There are many roads to Traveller, not a single path. Eris, The Traveller Heretic |
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eris
Level 4 Theurgist
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Post by eris on Feb 10, 2015 17:48:49 GMT -6
I don't do B, but I do A with revisions and C. I am running a Traveller PBEM currently set in my own universe, specifically "The Quental Main"...more at mypbem.com/akus/Background.html. This "setting" has been used and reused by me for close to 20 years now. Every time I revisit it, it changes some.  My previous game was set in a more "canon" 3I TU with a merchant crew out in the Spinward Marches. Prior to that I set a game in a revised "Hardtimes" TU, no Virus occurred, but times got very, very, hard as the loose pieces of the 3I ground themselves to dust while the Sols and Aslan blew themselves apart in a bloody war of their own. The only remaining points of stability where places like Caledon in Reaver's Deep. The party had a ship and where travelling from Daibei and trying to get to Caledon...and, relative, safety. |
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Post by tkdco2 on Feb 10, 2015 20:31:22 GMT -6
While I never gamed in either setting, I can see the campaign set in the Blake's 7 (characters in another thread) or Battlestar Galactica universes. Given the prevalence of slug throwers, the reboot would work really well.
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Post by Otto Harkaman on Mar 22, 2015 7:02:36 GMT -6
I've been reading some of the old Dumarest novels, very inspiring for adventures. It might be fun instead of a stellar map to just say you've travelled to so and so planet and run a "Planetary Romance" style adventure motivated by a "patron" as described in book 3.
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Post by coffee on Mar 22, 2015 8:01:18 GMT -6
I've been reading some of the old Dumarest novels, very inspiring for adventures. It might be fun instead of a stellar map to just say you've travelled to so and so planet and run a "Planetary Romance" style adventure motivated by a "patron" as described in book 3. That could be quite a good game! It wouldn't have worked with the group I originally learned Traveller with, though -- they were obsessed with getting their own ships (as was I). But if you go into the game with that clearly known, it should be a good time. When you do this, come back and let us know how it went! |
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Post by Otto Harkaman on Mar 22, 2015 9:02:21 GMT -6
Yes, I think I always thought of the game that way as well, that you had to have a free trader, Han Solo style. It wasn't until I started to read the Dumarest books as suggested on the Traveller Citizens of the Imperium website and then read this great article "Deciphering the Text Foundations of Traveller" www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10119 that I realized the charm of just a planetary setting. |
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Post by tkdco2 on Mar 22, 2015 21:35:35 GMT -6
Good, article, Otto, thanks for sharing.
If Classic Traveller is hard SF and Film Noir, I can see why I enjoy it, being a fan of both.
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Post by geoffrey on Mar 22, 2015 22:30:36 GMT -6
Do you set your games in: A. The official Traveller universe, perhaps modified to suit your needs, B. an established universe from television, cinema, or another rpg setting, or C. Your own setting, maybe influenced by either of the above? I've never refereed Traveller, but I've played it a few times. I've also read quite a bit of the old little black Traveller books. Based on what I know, I would probably choose A, with heavy emphasis on "modified to suit your needs". |
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Post by Vile Traveller on Mar 22, 2015 23:02:13 GMT -6
All my Traveller games as a player or as a referee have been in the Spinward Marches. I also like the idea of system-based non-FTL settings like near-future solar system or Firefly-style settings. And my all-time-favourite is Blakes 7, of course.
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Post by tkdco2 on Mar 23, 2015 2:01:34 GMT -6
All my Traveller games as a player or as a referee have been in the Spinward Marches. I also like the idea of system-based non-FTL settings like near-future solar system or Firefly-style settings. And my all-time-favourite is Blakes 7, of course. Cool! I am currently working on a near-future setting, partly inspired by Firefly. I am making it generic enough that it can be used in any system, including Classic Traveller. I did use Traveller to play-test one of the adventures set in my universe. I did some write-ups of the Blake's 7 cast elsewhere on this forum. |
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Torreny
Level 4 Theurgist
Is this thing on?
Posts: 171
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Post by Torreny on Mar 24, 2015 4:34:54 GMT -6
I've liked going with plain old CT, using a "shared universe" that's got Alien(s), Bladerunner, Outland, District 9 and such all mashed together. Though currently I've been brainstorming playing Mass Effect.
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Post by Vile Traveller on Mar 24, 2015 8:38:40 GMT -6
I've liked going with plain old CT, using a "shared universe" that's got Alien(s), Bladerunner, Outland, District 9 and such all mashed together. Though currently I've been brainstorming playing Mass Effect. John Ossoway once had a RuneQuest-based game called Cthulhu Rising that had pretty much all of those (except D9, because that wasn't out then). It was all available for free on his website, sadly now departd. I believe he is working on an OpenQuest version with Newt Newport. |
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Post by dukeofchutney on Mar 24, 2015 10:14:15 GMT -6
C, generally i dislike cannon settings, i find them very restrictive, though they are an easier sell.
I do take ideas from all over the place but tend towards paperback inspiration rather than film or tv. Usually my games are set in balkanised border world type regions where the wider galaxy is sort of irrelevant.
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Torreny
Level 4 Theurgist
Is this thing on?
Posts: 171
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Post by Torreny on Mar 24, 2015 15:28:59 GMT -6
John Ossoway once had a RuneQuest-based game called Cthulhu Rising that had pretty much all of those (except D9, because that wasn't out then). It was all available for free on his website, sadly now departed. I believe he is working on an OpenQuest version with Newt Newport. Used-future Cthulhu Runequest sounds neat and weird. |
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Post by battlebrotherbob on Apr 21, 2015 7:40:47 GMT -6
I'm in the midst of C. I always felt left out by the Canon. Its nice, but unless you read it non stop, you really don't get a feel for it, and it never becomes yours.
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Post by tkdco2 on Aug 18, 2015 18:00:45 GMT -6
While I haven't read the Dumerest novels, this article (I don't remember where I found this; perhaps here) made me think about running a Noir SF game. The PCs can be troubleshooters/detectives who travel to the stars solving mysteries and fighting/dodging galactic gangsters. The idea is still in its infancy, so I'll post any details later. |
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Post by Punkrabbitt on Aug 18, 2015 21:52:23 GMT -6
I really like the Judges Guild sectors, especially Crucis Margin. I have a couple of different campaigns written for that area. Close enough to the Imperium to have the Human Feudalism vibe, close enough to The Two Thousand Worlds that I can have some K'kree intrigue going on. K'kree are a big selling point for the "official" Traveller setting for me.  |
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Post by tkdco2 on Aug 18, 2015 22:08:30 GMT -6
I'm not big on aliens lately. I prefer settings with humans only.
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Post by Punkrabbitt on Aug 18, 2015 22:25:16 GMT -6
Of all the Major Races, only the K'kree and Hivers are suitably "alien" to catch ny interest. They make good antagonists for a group, but are really too weird to fit in with a mixed-species group.
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Post by kpeterson on Aug 19, 2015 8:56:28 GMT -6
C influenced by both A and B. I steal parts I like and combine it with my own setting ideas.
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Post by Vile Traveller on Aug 19, 2015 9:29:32 GMT -6
I'm not big on aliens lately. I prefer settings with humans only. When I was still on talking terms with Citizens of the Imperium, there was an interesting discussion about running the OTU entirely with humans, just skinning them with the different alien cultures. Actually sounded very interesting and in some ways made them seem more alien than before. |
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Post by tkdco2 on Aug 19, 2015 21:23:23 GMT -6
My last SF campaign drew inspiration from the Cowboy Bebop, Battlestar Galactica reboot and Firefly. That's basically where the humans-only setting comes from. This current setting will be farther into the future than my last one, where interstellar travel will be available. Space combat will hardly, if ever, come into the picture. But personal combat will be common, or my players will get bored.
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Post by ffilz on Aug 19, 2015 21:48:23 GMT -6
I've got a Travelleresque setting very slowly percolating. I've always loved what Paul Gazis did with his Eight Worlds. A few years ago I used some real star data plus some programming plus some hand tuning to generate a set of star systems with Sol/Earth at the center. It's constantly in the back of my mind, but I'm stalled for how to bring it alive, which among other things probably needs some players. It will be a mostly human universe, but I do like my aliens, though maybe they will all be NPCs. Firefly is definitely a big inspiration for me, count me among those who wondered if Joss Whedon played traveller... On a flip side, I'm also torn, by taking lots of inspiration and rules ideas from Paul Gazis, I'm mostly tossing all the Traveller material that has never been easier to access (everything from the bargains of the CD-ROM collections to all the fan material on the web)... A big sticking point for me is how much "realism" to use, that's so hard with SF. With Fantasy, it's easy to hand wave left and right to have the magical effects you want without having to worry about implications. With SF, it's like, well, what in the heavens do you actually ship from star to star other than information? Frank |
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Post by tkdco2 on Aug 19, 2015 21:59:25 GMT -6
While it's another game altogether, Attack Vector: Tactical features an all-human setting. Edit: Hey, I just levelled up! |
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Post by Vile Traveller on Aug 20, 2015 7:26:00 GMT -6
Space combat will hardly, if ever, come into the picture. Space combat in Traveller has always been a bit scary from a PC perspective, when a bad hit can wipe out 90% of the crew. I think that's why deck plans are so popular, starships are more like mobile homes to most players than combat vehicles. Edit: Hey, I'll be hitting Sorcerer soon - 5th level spells! |
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Post by tkdco2 on Aug 21, 2015 14:11:06 GMT -6
I tend to run police procedurals set in the future, so I can borrow plots and characters from different shows. Most of the shows I watch are imported from Europe, so my players won't be familiar with them.
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