Traveller General: New and Improved Pasta Edition

Which books contain info on uplifted animals?

page 10 bump

The problem with generals: eventually everything that can be said about a particular canon has already been said.

I am 2 million dollar user from last thread. Basically i came to the realization that getting stressed over the party having lots of money is dumb, especially when there is so much cool shit for them to play with in terms of expensive gear. As such, i am trying out the game less firefly and more rogue trader.

The party will have the opportunity to keep making insane money, but it is going to get much harder. Rival merchants, pirates, beurocracy and corruption. Gonna try to make them do some less than savory things if they wanna keep rolling in creds

Yeah, it's a nice idea, instead of trying to cull their means to earn money, devise some new exciting money sinks! I would let them buy a piece of land on one of the less developed worlds. No matter how rich they are, the mansion can always get better!

Yeah, stuff like that, plus pimping out the old ship. I hope they will eventually fit a big old computer, maybe an atrificial intelligence. Maybe if it gets really out of hand they can mount a bigass bay gun in their current ship and buy a second hauler ship for cargo

And don't forget big money brings big problems and those tend to bring costly repairs. Also pimping out the ship sounds great! And if they want to get a lot from speculative trading, I'm sure the local officials will find the way to get a big fat envelope from the Players. Probably every time they trade in the system. I feel corruption is really underused with traveller.

The Vargr book (of which there are several spread across editions) is all about an uplifted species.

The other species uplifted to sophont status are the Ursa (in the T20 core book and discussed in T5's Cirque campaign), at least one type of Dolphin (Article in early JTAS and discussion in Solomani books), and Orangutans and some other primates (DGP's Solomani and Mongoose's Solomani books).

There is no one source for the whole thing, and no single method, goal, or actor, though the Rule of Man era GenAssist Corporation was behind most of them aside from the Vargr, who were uplifted by the Ancients.

There is a GURPS book for Brin's Uplift War, but that isn't the same setting.

>at least one type of Dolphin
So has anyone done Startide Rising-style ship designs with dolphin cyborgs and humans adapted to spend most of their time swimming?

I guess it's a plus that basic Traveller ship design doesn't care about mass.

Nto really for Traveller, no. The Phins don't build their own that we know of, and have been provided with hard suits that let them get around in dryspace.

There was a ship done with Phins in mind for the old Ringworld RPG, and the GURPS Uplift book may also have something.

There are a couple Human offshoots adapted for aquatic life, but they aren't "uplifts" as such. The Nexxies in the Spinward Marches are an Imperial project, while the Luriani of Ley Sector are an Ancient tinker that are aquapillic, though not outright aquatic.

There are also aquatic native aliens, though not many have been detailed. The Githiaskio look like squid, while the race in the Old Expanses are more Phin-like, and the big tri-limbed race in Deneb are more of an Elephant Seal analog. The Denebians might build ships, but the others do not that I recall.

>basic Traveller ship design doesn't care about mass.
Only one edition cared to the extent that a ship full of water would slow down under the rules, but the concept is not a bad one. Gravity is, by and large, Traveller's bitch, so a ship full of water might be a lumbering slug, but would still be technically feasible.

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Live!

Having only recently gotten into traveller, how much value can i get out of previous editions? Aside from plot hooks and inspiration that is. It looks like a lot of old stuff is being updated for mongoose 2nd but what all is being left behind?

From the mixed reviews I've heard about 2E and especially their treatment of power plant types, I'm just going to stick to MgT1, honestly.

Huh, havent heard any of that yet, whats up with the power plants?

All kinds of weirdness.
1. ALL P-Plants, regardless of size, require 10% their dT in fuel to operate(minimum 1dT), this provides enough fuel for 4 weeks of operation.
2. Yes that includes variant P-Plants like Fission and Antimatter.
3. The exception to the rule is Chemical Power Plants (Coal or Petroleum fuel, I guess?) that require 10dT of Fuel per dT of plant and only provide 2 weeks of operation for that amount.
4. Cool thing is, they added notation for how much power you generate (per dT and type of Power Plant). Uncool, power requirements have little basis in how a ship actually functions and serve as a limit on systems.

2e wanted to make the optional sidebar about different power plant types in 1e part of the 2e core. The problem was that in streamlining it (it was only 1 page though), they only differentiated non-chemical plants by power generation and displacement and crucially left out the variances in fuel consumption, as notes. It's also a little silly to 'require' 1dt minimum fuel requirement even for small craft, but I'm sure most GMs will ignore it.

To be honest, it's not a huge problem (Mongoose makes lots of these errors), as you could literally just use the one sentence in 1e Core to describe fuel usage for fission and antimatter cores.

Conversely, 2e's usage of percentage-based sizes for reactors and the like rather than set classes means that there's a lot more flexibility in ship sizes (you can pick a 13 dton hull now, if you so wish), which is nice as well.

1st edition High Guard fusion plants consume 1.33x the power plants size in fuel per month. I much prefer the 0.1x for 2nd edition fusion plants.

Chemical plants consume the same in 2nd edition as they did in 1e High Guard (10x plant size per 2 weeks.)

Though I do agree that 2e fission and antimatter plants need work. (Fusion plants should have a longer duration as well, but at least it is better than it used to be.)

So maybe some wonky power plants, otherwise is mongoose 2 a solid system?

>Cool thing is, they added notation for how much power you generate (per dT and type of Power Plant). Uncool, power requirements have little basis in how a ship actually functions and serve as a limit on systems.
Sounds familiar, but with fusion available and ancient, power should only be a concern if you are really packing the hull with hungry stuff.

Starship:
A hole in spacetime, into which one throws money.

Where can I learn more about the Zhodani?

What are some recommended books for different ships? I am using both mongoose and classic, mostly mongoose for core stuff and classic for extra tidbits. Civilian and some military ships will be in this campaign, not sure yet.

I suppose one big thing about user's issue with his players earning big money is that starships grow expensive in an exponential sorta fashion as opposed to a linear one. The 4MCr he originally brought to the table as alarming really is a drop in the bucket.

Well, the wiki is usually a good place to start from. There's a list of references at the bottom which points to more sources.
wiki.travellerrpg.com/Zhodani

The Alien Module for them is a good text to look at, as is JTAS #9, which I think is the one with the Zhodani Philosophies article.

Both the Classic and Mongoose Zhodani books are good primary resources. The GURPS book with the Zhodani is also good, but not quite up the other two.

JTAS #9 has the original Contact article. The Philosophies article is later in the GDW JTAS run.

CT is good. GURPS Traveller has some excellent sourcebooks with tons of neat stuff, including a full-length book about the Modular Cutter with a shit-ton of weird and wonderful modules. With deckplans.

Well, *A* Modular Cutter. It's a bit chunky.

It has variant cutter designs, as well as a load of modules. Good book.

does traveller work along the lines of stars without numbers? or vice versa? Im reading the core book right now and it seems very similar

Kevin Crawford took a lot of inspiration from Traveller when he made SWN.

Big differences are: No classes, skills are everything. (I mean there are careers, but they're only loosely related. If you pick Army or Marines you'll probably be good at fighting, for instance, but you could maybe end up a medic or pilot) There's little vertical advancement in characters, instead they grow in wealth, influence, and knowledge. Space combat is more surface navy than submarines, without the spike drive level shenanigans that SWN does.
The biggest thing I think SWN was missing was the lifepath system. In Traveller, generating a character involves playing a minigame, especially in Classic without the optional survival rules, where going back for another term and more skills is gambling with your character's life. Do you want to push your luck or stop while you're ahead, that sort of thing.

You know what would be handy? A booru type thing for Traveller deck plans, where you could tag and search them with things like "Grid," "Roll20Ready," "Merchant", "Standard Hull" and stuff like that.

Yeah that explains it
thank you for the write up

As I was thinking about what kind of Traveller game I wanted to run, I think I've hit on my idea.

I want to run a game where the players are a bunch of Psionic freedom fighters, working to liberate their home system and nation after it was conquered 10 years ago by a conquering Empire. They're all humans. The good guys and the bad guys, and the neutral nations are all human. The Evil Empire uses lots of incredibly evil tactics.

And the players must steal, bribe, cheat, murder, assassinate and resort to acts of terrorism to win. Overheating the power core in a Dreadnought, killing thousands of people. Pocket Nukes exploding in government buildings. Players use Psionic abilities to succeed, including Psionics to fold space and FTL instantly.

Is Traveler the best system for this? The Psionic rules seem clunky, and all the rules and rolling system seem a bit clunky.

Also, I think I want the players to pilot mechs, that work really well because they tie into Psionics. Code Geass but with terrorism.

One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter.

Yes, but they're a different shape. The GURPS Cutter is short and fat.

When the developers agree on what a couple of the standard hulls actually look like, sure.

So you want to play Psionic 'mecha terrorists on a planetary system-wide level?

You could do it in Traveller, but I would not say it's the best system for it. Sounds like you want something a little less crunchy. We'd be happy to help if you want to run it in Traveller, however.

Traveller psi defaults to "another set of tools" as opposed to "super powers". You might be able to massage recovery rates to get where you want, but you may want to look at other systems, too.

Meshing giant robots with super competent on foot types is asking a lot of any system, though.

What do you think of this as a starting ship for a bunch of Term 3-4s?

pastebin.com/qwBrCqnx

I have never GM'd a Traveller group but will be co-GMing relatively soon, so I need to get a feel for the "power level" of things.

That's a lot of ship for new players.
Jump fuel needs seem off.

He notes that it has an efficient jump engine that uses 1/2 the normal amount of fuel. Also, despite having a Jump-3 drive, it is limited to Jump-1. The fuel usage listed is the amount used by both the efficient jump drive and the power plant during the jump.

Though he seems to be under the impression that he can still jump a distance of 3 parsecs, it just taking 3 weeks. In actuality, a drive that is limited to jump-1 can only ever do jump-1. If you want to travel 3 parsecs it takes 3 separate jump-1s to do.

Correct. Though the idea is that eventually they'll save up/borrow 100 MCr and pay to get their J-drive fixed.

I'm talking about in terms of overpoweredness/underpoweredness? I know it can't go toe-to-toe with a capital ship, but it should be evenly matched against 3-4 pirate ships, right?

I'm reading through the weapons section again and I just saw the entry on Fusion guns. Are they man-portable casaba howitzers, or just fusion-augmented plasma guns?

That really depends on the pirate ship...

FGMPs and larger fusion guns are "just a little longer" Plasma Guns. The idea is that they induce fusion in the plasma "slug" just before firing, making the plasma bolt that goes down range that much hotter, brighter, and nastier.

Stars without number might be better for this, it has mech rules and ubiquitous psychic powers.

I'm not so sure. SWN psychics are definitely in the same "handy to have but not world-shaking" camp that Traveller psionic characters occupy.

I'm leery of class/level systems for anything with SF trappings, to be honest.

Hero System has all the tools, even a Traveller conversion, but they are spread across editions there too. Traveller Hero is a 5th Ed Revised conversion, while the decidedly odd Robot Warriors was for 3rd Edition. The Hero generic space book Star Hero was a hot mess in every attempt (in a different way than Robot Warriors, too), but I know one of the biggest Traveller boosters on the last ten years is was (he died last year) a big fan of the Traveller Hero conversion.

>I'm leery of class/level systems for anything with SF trappings, to be honest.

I generally agree, though I think it works in Starships and Spacemen, an old SF game of CT's era, but that's because it's totally Star Trek with the serial numbers filed off, and the classes fit the whole Engineering/Science/Security/Command divisions pretty well. Each has its own area of expertise and training, and its own rules and regulations. (Science officers are not supposed to shoot anybody; if they do they get put up for a review and need to explain what they were doing to their superiors, for one example)

THIS is what MEKTON is made for..

What are some video games out there that are like Traveller?

There are two official Traveller games from back in the DOS era. The second one is supposed to be pretty good, too.

Anything a little bit more modern?

I don't know, I don't play video games much anymore.

Can traveller be used as a generic sci fi system?, so if i want to do a "the thing" or aliens game i can do it?

Yeah. It does have tech assumptions in its starships, but you don't really _need_ to use them.

It definitely works for Alien & Aliens.

So does psionic strength just decrease the older you get, or would a particularly old character who started young keep their strength?

Untrained psi deteriorates with age. If you manage to find a Psi institute without getting lynched, and pay thru the nose for their training, you stop losing psi.

Regina

Fair enough. Traveller is one of those things I like to think about, but never actually play. I'm terrified of the rule books. Shadowrun, Exalted - no problems. I can GM that, if I must. Traveller?

I have no idea what the fuck I'mdoing.

Nowhere because the Spinward Marches are a realm of filth and ignominy compared to the glory and purity of the Solomani Rim

Sandbox GMing can be terrifying. Dive into the Patron section, and see it as the keys to the more traditional Quest-Reward game structure.

The new-ish co-GM here.

What's a good benchmark for giving out mission rewards? None of the books really mention it.

I was thinking of adapting the Shadowrun 4e reward system:
10k-30k for a smuggling run
20k-50k for wetwork
100k for VIP assassination
20k-60k for smash n'grab
10k-40k for burglary

Using that benchmark, what should I reward for the following jobs?
-exploration
-diplomatic
-survey
-courier

I'm thinking something like 10k for exploration, 20k for diplomacy, 10k for survey, and 10-20k for courier. Which seems highly unprofitable.

Payment for services has always been a bit of a black art for Traveller referees. I think I've read a rough guideline somewhere, but I'd have to dig and see.
I know you should be giving them more profitable jobs if they have a ship than if they're shipless. If they don't have a ship, they're a lower tier of mercenaries, and the employer has to buy them tickets if the job involves off-world travel, so they don't get paid as much.

There are standard rates in the books for mail transport which you could use for courier work.

>When the Vargr arrive
youtube.com/watch?v=2VlgYgN8qos

Starsector gives off that vibe. You never leave the ship though

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With the amount of money PC's make, what's to stop them from all becoming Adam Jensen's with super tricked out augs and dank stat bonues?

>augments and stat bonuses

Classic doesn't really do that sort of thing. Mechanically, the 2-12 is kind of narrow for handling lots of improvements, and fluff-wise, there's a big cultural stigma against relying too much on technology. People who jam electronics in their bodies would be seen as weirdos and deviants, people who bear close watching because they're probably dangerous.

Anyway, if you manage to get a large sum of money, the first thing you'll want to do is get a ship. Then if you have a ship and get a large sum of money, you're going to want to use it to pay for the ship, because the things are expensive as hell.

>2050: A sudden leap in our knowledge about gravity and how it works allows us to manipulate it.
>The first jump drives are built.
>Powerful nations establish many settlements, weaker nations form leagues and unions to take part in the race to space too.
>US, Russia and China are still the major powers.
>25XX: For the first time, we meet other sentient beings!
>Twist: they're humans too.
>My version of Sol Space has just met my version of the Vilani Empire.
>The Empire is pretty chill, but in 27XX the Solar Pride gains momentum.
>They're Sol Space inhabitants who think they are the rightful rulers of human space.
>By the end of the century starts the Solar War. Sol Space wants to conquer the Empire.
>But the Empire is more technologically advanced and more unified than us.
>Their spies turn solar nations against each others.
>By 2850, the War is ancient history.
>Sol Space becomes a protectorate of the Empire, with a special, semi-independent status.
>293X. Sol Space is more or less reunited and some of our new leaders want to take over the Empire. Again.
>But before doing anything else, they need an economical boost.
>With the help of megacorps, they start lending money at interesting rates to those who wants to settle on the "Last Brim", a region next to both Sol Space and the Empire.
>It officially doesn't belong to anybody, but there are actually a bunch of independent alien and human nations.
>The old Solar settlements that were left there are used as a base to start the operation.

>The game starts in 2996, on the Last Brim. The results of the operation weren't as great as expected. Settlers are already well established in some places, while some systems are left almost unexplored. Some others system have already gone through economical crisis, and are scattered with derelict infrastructure.
So more or less something of a Space Wild West in some parts, and a bunch of broken dreams and ambitions in others. With a "Sol will rise again!" vibe.

That's a pretty neat setup you've got there.

Thanks. I'm feeling a bit weird for stuffing everything in a less than a thousand years timeframe, but I really didn't want to go over the year 3000.

What is a reasonable cost for a permit to import goods to a high tech world like Trin? What sort of channels would one have to go through to get such a permit? Why is none of this shit covered in the rules?

Because Trin is an Imperial world, and interstellar trade is the lifeblood of the Imperium. A license is not required for the general case of importing. There might be licensing or permitting for very specific types of goods, but you can either simulate that as some Admin time and rolls (see the torture scenario Exit Visa for an example of that process that you may wish to avoid) or just factor it in as a -DM on the final Broker sale roll, to represent a lower profit to the PCs due to tariffs etc.

>ayys
>more or less Byzantium
>DEUS VULT
>Native American Equivalent
>IN SPAAAAACE
Sounds about as generic as the 3rd Imperium and It's got too many Veeky Forums memes

Shitting up existing tropes is. What. We. Do.

Doesn't mean a fine game can't result.

For the first third I thought this was maybe leading up to Vir Inter Astrum.

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Can someone post that one pic of a few TL7-8 soldiers going off against a guy in a battle dress? The TL7/8 soldiers reminded me a bit of UNSC marines with their armor and bullpup rifle.

Holy shit, that's a luxurious x-boat.

Anyone have good sources for 25/28mm minis appropriate for Traveller? Especially normal non-powerarmored civilians. An air/raft would be cool too.

Anyone else houserule an experience system for Classic Traveller? Never being able to improve your skills or gain new ones is utter horse shit.

White Dwarf magazine had a great series of articles called "The Experienced Traveller" that laid out a neat little system for it. But I'd like to hear some other systems if you have any.

Know where one can get a pdf of those articles?

Pic related

I would damn well hope for something approaching that level of comfort if I had to sit there jerking off for a week.

Ask in /awg/ for cool sci-fi mini suggestions

Pretty much everything Traveller related that appeared in White Dwarf was compiled into a pdf long ago, it's the in Classic Traveller folder / Zines subfolder in our trove.

Ninja'd. Have another.

The Infinity line has some.
The Void/Urban War/Metropolis line (in various parts from Urban Mammoth and Scotia-Grendel) is also good for a variety.
The Rezolution line from Abberant.
Parts of the Shadowrun line (Ral Partha Europe and Iron Wind Metals)
Individual stuff from Hasslefree.
Reaper's Chronoscape
em-4 may still have the old Future Wars line

GZG do a perfect 15mm air/raft, but unfortunately Daemonscape (who make some of their stuff in 25mm) don't do it.

Black Hat do some (armed, soldier-type) dog people. blackhat.co.uk/product-category/28mm-miniatures/28mm-miniatures-cobalt-1-sf/28mm-miniatures-cobalt-1-sf-ar-men/

You might find something useful for humans here: hfminis.co.uk/shop?category=sci%2dfi-& weird-war~sci%2dfi-humans - they're not all armed!

hfminis.co.uk/shop?category=modern-& post%2dapoc~modern-non%2dcoms-/-civilians

Plus their modern civilians range, with appropriately skiffy colours. Silver is in this space-year, right?

Which edition and what tech level are those guys?

Well, the asshole in armour looks like he's Imperial (sunburst), wearing battledress and the firepower to wreck their shit, facing off against a lower-tech force. So, TL 13+ vs 12-, possibly a fair bit lower.

Guy on the top left seems to be in charge and is ordering the guy on the right to get out there and assault, guy on the right is not having any of it.