What do you think of Traveller: the New Era?
It sucks.
>>92545855Why?
>>92545807I liked it, but it was my first Traveller. A lot of older Traveller fans hated it because its one of those "jump forward two hundred years and completely trash the original setting" games. Part of it is that it's hard to tell what sci-fi tone they were going for. Traveller is Star Trek with Larry Niven aliens. Megatraveller is Star Wars. TNE's closest equivalent is military sci-fi but military sci-fi didn't have its big revival until the late 90s when Weber and Bujold started getting big.
>>92545807Too much autistic crunch. Also metaplots are gay.
>>92545807It's just a completely different rule system with the famous Traveller brand slapped on it to make it sell. It also has the original setting destroyed and replaced with a dystopian one to further help kill the original off and move the previous traveller player base to this game instead. (it didnt work, many people preferred the old familiar setting) This shit happens a lot nowadays in the gaming industry.
>>92545987Personally, I want something more Aliens/Starcraft 1 (before it became the Kerrigan Sue show).
It was ok
>>92545807I don't like the Imperium, so I like it, sort of. Though polities were already getting too big again in it to my taste.Have yet to get to run or play in its setting though, rip.I also really liked Hard Times (for MGT though) that sorta leads into TNE, and is about the post-rebellion imperium collapsing further and further, until the virus.Planets should just be isolated, self-sustaining (ish) and there shouldn't be empires, smdh.
>>92545807
I guess I'll give this a read at work. Military science fiction can have cool ideas
>>92545807I don't.
>>92545807>Traveller: the New EraBased & Laserwarheadpilled
Bump
For someone brand new to Traveler where's the right place to start?
>>92545807Virus was retarded. They could have continued the hard times and made a series of successor states post rebellion. Wave was also retarded.
>>92567492Honestly Mongoose 2e isn't a bad place to start. It's set in the golden era (they've just released a FFW source book so they may head towards the Rebellion), has a decent number of campaign books to get newbies started and has some optional rulesets that let you make the game as autistic or as simplistic as you like.
>>92567492Either Classic Traveller or MgT2e are the best to start. MgT2e is going to play much like a more modern RPG but CT is still very easy to pick up, Mega and New Era will play very different
>>92567492Classic if you like the idea of playing the original game. The entire lot is available on Drive Thru. If you prefer playing whatever the current IP owner is churning out today though, go for Mongoose 2nd ed (avoid 1st, they really fucked up with their first lobotomised and typo ridden version). Be aware though that what Mongoose call Traveller is very different from the original Classic game, in rule systems, concepts and settings, like the difference between 1st and 5th ed D&D. A compromise is the Cepheus Engine version, another recent version - they try to stick to the rule systems and spirit of the original game. There are lots of other versions between, (Mega, New era, Gurps, etc) but most are different games altogether with the famous Traveller title slapped on them to make them sell. T5 was Marc Millars attempt to include ALL the published game systems and concepts into one big book - good if you like to homebrew your own games, it's more of a scifi cook book than a playable game though. If you prefer pick up and play though, go with one of the others.
>>92569154>T5 was Marc Millars attempt to include ALL the published game systems and concepts into one big book - good if you like to homebrew your own games, it's more of a scifi cook book than a playable game thoughI would give good money if Marc's next project was a kind of "heritage edition" of Classic Traveller. You know how Disney have done high-quality remasters of their old animated movies? That kind of idea. Like, go back to square one, clean up all the typos and errata, plug in all the additional rules from later books, and publish a new box set of Little Black Books. Then do the same with the Imperium content that got created and make a complementary set of sourcebooks, and some adventures. And okay, that's 1977's idea of the far future, where computers are still enormous.But it would be awesome, and classic, and still allow for what the Cepheus people are doing - new settings, maybe even Marc's 2024 idea of what the Traveller future is. Also, pretty much all Traveller can be found in the Share Thread someplace. Or in /TravGen/, the next time someone posts that.
>>92569410I'd buy this in a heartbeat. Mongoose basically did this with their revised Core books
>>92569410Second on this, that'd be amazing.>>92569945>Mongoose basically did this>basicallyWhich, like "practically," means "they didn't, but I'm going to pretend they did," lol
>>92570396Well, if Marc doesn't do it, maybe the anon brigade can. I mean, once upon a time /tg/ used to get shit done... and look at Star Wars REUP. If a bunch of Star Wars fans on Google Groups can remaster their favourite RPG, imagine what all the Traveller-loving anons can do.
>>92572447I had some plans to do this myself. Combine CT81+errata, CotI careers, bits and pieces from the Traveller Book/Adventure, include Starter Traveller's ship combat as the basic option for that, include a version of the vehicle combat rules from Across the Bright Face, etc. Biggest hangup I ran into is how to merge skills from various books into a unified skill table. Could go with Megatraveller's solution and add cascades where you get a result and then roll another die on a subtable to see which subskill you got. Or you could add another table you roll on for each career, like "alternate skills." Cascade skills slow the character generation down by adding extra rolls, but are otherwise a simple way to cram more things into the d6 career tables
>>92572995Oh and sidebars for some of the CT77 rules variations, like jump tapes, which are just too cool to leave out IMO.
>>92545987>Bujold started getting bigWhat’s worth reading from Bujold? I’ve read half a dozen assorted Vorkosigans but nothing else
Would a traveller with an attack dog do any good? I know the solomani still have earth animals so dogs must have some use in game
>>92569410>And okay, that's 1977's idea of the far future, where computers are still enormous.I don't mind computers being enormous, "calculate the universe so a particle accelerator can punch a hole in reality, create a pocket dimension and move a ship to a point in space several lightyears away" is probably a complex problem to solve.
>>92569410I like enormous computers, and I always handwaved it to skeptical players that a tech 14 world could make you a pocket supercomputer but it wouldn’t be repairable at the tech 7s your tramp freighter bounces between, so you deliberately carry a large, bulky, not very powerful computer to facilitate lower tech repairs
>>92578985>>92579691I guess between the computational needs of superluminal travel (even if you have an astromech droid or jump tapes) and those of maintenance, ship's computers will always be big. Just hopefully a bit more versatile/"intelligent" along with it.Nothing wrong with playing in a retrofuture, nothing wrong with playing in a modern future... but let's play some Traveller. Or something Cepheus based. Hostile?
>>92578985>computers being enormousA type 1 is 1 dTon (3m x 1.5m floor to ceiling).My current Windows machine sits under a desk full of screens, speakers & stuff, so it's about 1/2 a dTon including the swivel chair. I've also got a broadband router, NAS, printers, and a couple of shelves of software disks, manuals & O'Reilly books.Add in a rack-mounted server to do serious processing, a few network switches, hardware firewalls, and you're getting there.If it's mission-critical, you probably want full redundancy (i.e. 2 of everything in case one goes pop) at a safe distance (so the same fire doesn't take out both of them).In terms of volume, computers are just as big as 1977, but more powerful. The 1977 iPad was a pocket calculator.
>>92584597Yeah people overlook that the dTon count isn't just the computer itself, but the terminals which include desks and chair, a service area (think of a server room) etc. Also, I'd like to remind the newbs that dTon's a unit of volume, not weight.
Refueling.
>>92585297Does that mean that it's better to be hit with a dTon of feathers rather than a dTon of lead?For all it sounds like a ton (or dTon) of computers must be enormous, when I think about it a cubic metre of water weighs a metric ton. And there must be more than a cubic metre of IT equipment in the avionics bay of a 21st century jet airliner. It's just this mental thing, partly age-related - I grew up with Commodore 64s and their 8-bit bretheren, so to me a one-ton computer conjures up mental images of cabinets full of mainframe boards and spinning tape reels. (And so what if they are, I'd still play Traveller - but I'm starting to get a better understanding of that aspect now.)
>>92570396>Which, like "practically," means "they didn't, but I'm going to pretend they did," lolNo, it means they did it in all ways that actually matter to non-autists.
practically (adjective as in almost; nearly)I practically have $5 with 4 dollars and 87 cents.
>>92589475>dTon of featherstoo right, a dTon of lead has a lot more mass
>>92585297also, your Alexa / Echo / smartphone may be pretty small, but a lot of the intelligence is done by a server somewhere on the Internet, as well as the data storage for the music (and flight plans).In space, nobody has broadband
>>92591908>In space, nobody has broadbandEh, I can see broadband being a workable thing when docked, in orbit, or up to around the kind of distance the Moon is from the Earth. The lag would be minimal for most things, though I wouldn't want to try a Quake deathmatch in lunar orbit. And pilots flying in convoy would likely have some kind of IOT-like data-meshing thing going on between their ships. Of course, that then opens up 21st-century-esque concerns about hacking, vulnerabilities, exploits... (But please, no Cyberpunk 2020-style netrunning)However, yeah, deep space or FTL would be totally isolated. And I don't know about you, but I'd prefer the ability to recalculate flight plans on the fly and enjoy my locally-cached media, rather than relying on pre-loaded flight data and waiting until the next port to catch up on that week's Billboard Hot 40.
>>92589475A dton in Traveller is the volume occupied by a metric ton (1000 kg) of liquid hydrogen starship fuel, no? If my mental math is right that’s around 14 cubic meters, which is small-ish room
>>92589599>they did it in all ways that actually matter to non-autistsSo you're saying "they didn't, but I'm going to pretend they did."
>>92593482It's been a hot minute (okay, about 25 years) since I last played Traveller, so my memory isn't perfect. But given the molecular weights of hydrogen and of water, I'd say the maths roughly checks out (though it's been closer to 30 years since I had a chemistry lesson).
>>92593482Checking the wiki, it's because each ship deck is assumed to be 3m tall when you include floors and ceiling, so 14 cubic meters is roughly equal to two 1.5m squares on a ship plan. Crew Quarters are 4 dtons each but that includes extra squares to make the common rooms and corridors bigger.So a 1dton computer is the 1.5m square containing a server rack and the square in front of it with the KVM.
>>92594081>each ship deck is assumed to be 3m tall when you include floors and ceiling, so 14 cubic meters is roughly equal to two 1.5m squares on a ship planneat, that all works out quite nicely
>>92570396They literally re-released the second edition core books and called it "Update 20xx" depending on the release. So the word you're looking for is literally, as in it literally happened, you fucking idiot.
>>92594248What are you talking about? That's not in any way a revised edition of Classic.
>>92594894I didn't say it was?
>>92595194Anon upthread says:>Marc Millar should do a revised-complete edition of Classic!Another anon says:>Mongoose basically did that with their revised core booksTo which anon says "no they didn't", and then you stomped in all enraged and started with the namecalling like a faggot.
>>92594894Parent was referring to 2nd ed of *MongTrav*
>>92595259>>92595524Basic Instructions poster here. The problem here is that from what I can see, there are two possible interpretations of what anon is saying Mongoose "basically did". I initially read it the way >>92595524 says, but discarded that. It's responding to people saying "I wish there was a new edition of Classic" by saying "You guys are talking about new, revised editions? Mongoose did a new, revised edition of Mongoose 2e when they released their new, revised edition of Mongoose 2e!" It's irrelevant, and so blindingly obvious that I can't see why anyone would bother to make that point unless they were a complete idiot. I prefer to assume that any given anon is NOT a blithering idiot, and settled on a more favorable interpretation: that he was relaying the notion, occasionally heard around the internet, that Mongoose is a "cleaned up and modernized version of Classic." It's also wrong, but were it true it would be relevant and helpful, and at least it's not stupid. So that's what I chose to read it as. YMMV.
>>92545807I dunno lol
Since this is basically the closest thing to TravGen to happen in a while: anybody picked up This is Free Trader Beowulf? The idea of a history of the IP seems interesting to me but idk about 60 dimmadollars interesting
>>92595626>The word barbecue comes from the language of a Caribbean Indian tribe called the Taino. Their word for grilling on a raised wooden platform is barbacoa. The word first appeared in print in a Spanish explorer's account of the West Indies in 1526, according to Planet Barbecue.Hrmm.
>>92595259Because I'm the anon that said "Mongoose basically did that with their revised code books" referring to Mongoose revising their own ruleset not that it's basically CT like >>92570396 implied. As you can see from >>92595626 and his original, he is in fact a fucking idiot, and a smug one, so I called him one.
>>92595958I'm sorry that I mistakenly assumed you weren't a retard, anon. (and a nasty one at that) I try to give everybody the benefit of the doubt.
I like the way Megatraveller handles UTP's, particularly timeframes, task risks (safe, hazardous, fateful, uncertain) and the mishaps/repair tables. So in the process of grafting them onto the mongoose 2ed ruleset like a tumor. Might graft more MT rules into our existing campaign if it slots in nicely, things like item and armor wear and tear is lacking in mongoose.
>>92595958What was the point of posting then? Does Mongoose pay you to jump into Traveller discussions that aren't about their edition and try to steer the conversation back to them, or do you just do it for free?
You know, i can't stand my coworkers so I'm wondering how to rationalize being trapped in a small space with 3-5 people for months at a time. On the tabletop a few days burn to safe area, week's worth of jumpspace, burn towards a planet is just a few sentences. The weight of a month trapped in a small space with other people isn't felt.Astronauts undergo a lot of psychological evaluations for long missions but a bunch of random people pooling their resources to buy a second hand spaceship aren't going to be trained to be that compatible with each other. The rules just assume everyone gets along perfectly. Thinking about it, I'd probably hole up in my cabin reading books or watching movies when I wasn't on duty.
>>92596045I'm a dumbass, that calculation should be (3d6 - (skill + mod)/10 * estimated timeframe = time to complete task
Tryna learn some stuff about combat in classic traveller?Compared to mongoose it seems like it’s all down to 1 roll with multiple modifiers rather than turns settings up and all that. Made a marine but unsure how to make the most out of my character
>>92596320Ship computers store a lot of data, and having been in military deployments we would alternate between hanging out and having alone time. So one day you play karaoke together then the next day you do some study or movie watching
>>92596320Where is that floor plan from?
>>92598077Google image search said Freelance Traveller Magazine:https://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/shipyard/mongoose/type-s.html
>>92596320John Carpenter's first movie, Dark Star, gives some insight into this. Although I suspect that there are better things to do than girlie mags, beer, and smokeables. For example, a nice game of Doom or Myst on your personal VR headset.
>>92568731Could also have placed the entire 'civilisation is destroyed and you are a primitive trying to rebuild the lost times from the wreckage' during the Long Night. Starting up the 3rd Imperium from year 0 could have been epic. But, no, they have to destroy the previous setting in the hope that playiers will jump onto the new edition.
>>92572447A bunch tried that a few years back with the traveller wiki, attempting to colate everything that had ever been published for Classic; GDW, FASA, Judges Guild, plus the content of decades of fanzines and player forums, but they got booted off it as much of the old stuff conflicted with simplified and badly though out drivel (sorry, official canon) Mongoose wanted to sell at the time.
>>92596320You should watch the scifi film Dark Star (1974). It coveres how crew cope living with people they hate for years at a time.
>>92596021I don't give anybody benefit of the doubt on this site. Everyone here is a drooling idiot who can't find their own ass with both hands and a tour guide, including me. I look at myself in the mirror every morning and say "guilty until proven innocent, bitch."
>>92597964I would still say “setting up” is important in CT, but it’s all stuff that happens before the combatRange, having appropriate weapons and armor, and getting the ambush can all be extremely important to the outcome of combat. If you’re a marine you already have some combat skills and a leg up
>>92596320Most likely the crews would be people who have learnt to tune distractions out and manage to deal with hours to days of little activity (and on a small ship, that shouldn't be a lot because a small crew means everyone has to put in work checking that the dials are not in the red and your Space 80s computer hasn't blown a circuit). In fact, I would say spacers in Traveller are much like ship crews in modern times: people who actually *want* to do that shit, and learn to take the good with the bad. One of my uncles was one of these: he hadn't seen a ship larger than a rowboat before enlisting on a tramp freighter as a second signaller. He ended up doing 20 years at sea, turning into a real sea dog in the process.
>>92600628What would be some good weapons and armor to prioritize? I have a badass Gauss rifle with a grenade launcher attached but the armor is very different from MgT2.
>>92593482I've been giving my ships half of that per man all this time.... Hohoh oh fuck no sailor your quarters are about to get way smaller.
>>92602422Combat Armor is the best, IMO. Battle Dress is superior on the battlefield, but it's expensive as hell and it's not often you can step out into a starport wearing 2 mega credits of military-grade bipedal tank without at least making the local authorities nervous. Combat armor doesn't raise as many eyebrows.
>>92602743SickI’ll definitely grab the chameleon variety and maybe some other upgrades
>>92577314Dog's a player race. The ancient Earth people uplifted and genehacked dogs into bipedal, sapient, speech-capable beings. In doing so, the majority of them went feral and became overly curious, neotenous bands of raider barbarians. Everyone is equal except the pack leader who is more equal than others. Being equal doesn't get you much, though.
>>92608448The Vargr were uplifted by the Ancients, who were probably the Droyne (if you believe Grandfather's story) not ancient humans. They were placed on the Vargr homeworld of Lair (and possibly a few other worlds) prior to the great conflict that wiped out the Ancients. (Also that's not what neotenous means)
>>92608448>>92608482
Oh man are we Vargrposting now?
>>92608895tell me more about Traveller memes
>>92608895Vargrs are the goodest boys ever.
>>92602422If you’ve already got the Gauss rifle you’re good to go on weapons, it’s just about the best man-portable weapon in the books
>>92614245that meme sent me down a fun rabbit hole — made a few ai images but the chad armor popped up much more frequently than the unarmored version
>>92615214Here's how it's supposed to look
>>92615343Artistic reinterpretation of the Chamax horde from DA5?
>>92613893There is a race of aliens called the Denaar and they are functionally immortal because they're bodies are more like hosts for their personality. If they "die" they can remove their brain stem like appendage and download themselves into a new body. Their personality can even survive inside an intact brain lobe for 5 years so even if their entire body is crippled they can still be downloaded into a new body as long as that particular organ is undamaged. Which it most likely will be because the entire body of a Denaar is covered in thick armor, especially around this organ. Thus they have zero sense of self preservation and can be surprisingly dangerous to hang around. Pic related.
>>92615968Need more meme
>>92576994Literally every book she ever wrote lolLike Chalion is one of the best fantasy series out there at the very least you should read the first book if you have a passing interest in fantasy.
What sort of min max nightmares have you come across in the game? The dice deciding this one would be a Titian of abilities and an absolute chad like >>92614245 mentioned?
>>92616043I’m more of a sci fi guy but I’ll check it out, thanks
An OOPS moment during a raid on a secret Psionics Institute facility.
>>92615968Sounds positively Lovecraftian, like the mi-go or something.
What do you consider the best career in MgT2? I’m kinda torn between noble for the low risk high reward and surprisingly drifter for the chances to get jack of all trades
>>92584597This pretty much.You only need to look at the size of servers on modern naval vessels and see that dTons are a good descriptor.
>>92619351I think it depends on the campaign/character you want to play.Naval has the best range of shipboard skills imo depending which branch you go into, it's really good for getting engineer, gunner and pilot/astrogation specialists.Marine has a good combination of some shipboard skills and some fighting skills.Army gets you some good combat skills fairly easily (and if you go support you have decent chance of getting medical skills).Noble gets you good social skills and allows you to get some decent starting capital.
>>92620457I've never seen a server room like that - but then I don't really spend time on naval vessels. It's quite different from what people expect when they hear the words "server room", but actually I like it. I get that you can't easily put a commercial-type server room on a ship, and that you'd want it to be more protected - a bit like the HAL room in 2001. So I think that image is a good reference point for Traveller, especially as it confines the climate control and fire suppression to defined spaces (and so feels to me like it would work quite well in a pressure hull)