I hate the name. TRAVELLER - NEW ERA sounds like the name for a source book,
not a set of rules. How about calling the whole thing TRAVELLER and then
you can create a source book called TRAVELLER - NEW ERA and 2300AD and
TWILIGHT 2000 and DARK CONSPIRACY and 3rd IMPERIUM etc etc etc.
> Boarding actions are a really neat trick unless you have blown away
> the maneuver drives in advance. But if that is the way you want it...
And all their weapons systems and the crew quarters and ... Doesn't sound
feasible unless you have something like (yuk) tractor/pressor beams.
> The fleets would have to have no transponders of any kind or they would
> become infected.
Why would a host of potentially hostile empires use the same circuitry to
identify ships. You can have as many ship id systems as there are empires
and its still playable.
> Being a little faceious now: wouldn't the 'virus' spread as fast as ships
> moved? Wouldn't this mean that it spread as fast as communication speed?
> Which kind of implies that once you know the virus exists it is too late.
Yeah, its real difficult to justify the effect.
> Can anybody come up with reasons why jump drives would be
> used in preference to stutter-warp.
Well for a start they don't kill you. Also, JUMP-3+ drives give you better
range and speed.
> Anyone noticed the increased similarity between Battletech and TNE? 'Ships
> are rare antiques, and boarding actions are common, and all that...' '
> An empire dependant on past science...' etc...
Not very believable. If you had the rare vessels you wouldn't send them out
alone. And if you only had one or two you would be using them for research
to be able to rebuild/repair them.
> Thank God, no BattleMechs.
>
> Double that, that cyborgs will be few and far between, no teen-angst
> cyberpunk, as Metlay puts it for me thank you...
You must be reading something I didn't receive. Nobody said anything about
putting limits on TNE. All they've said so far is that things have changed
and won't be a "dark future". Space is big and there is room for all sorts
of societies and phobias. Actually, I could never see why a MECH was better
than a man portable anti-mech weapon. RoboTech shoots itself in the foot
with each new technology change that comes out (their all shrinking in size
while rising in attack/defence/speed power). Similar for the BattleTech junk.
> Traveller in the past, has had features unique to itself, and has also let
> several gaming fads slip by without jumping on the bandwagon, and becoming
> yet-another-generic-battlemech-cyborg-netrunner-psyionic-fantasy-robot game
> for teenagers.
It's the y-a-g-b-c-n-p-f-r teenagers that GDW are probably hoping to snare.
> I like generic rules systems that can be applied consistantly to any type of
> campaign or scenario. But I also want Traveller to continue to have it's
> unique flavor.
Fine. Let GDW produce a generic rule book that defines all these technologies
and play rules. Lets feed them our views and get it heading in a compatible
direction. GDW can then create source book(s) for 2300AD, Twilight 2000,
Dark Conspiracy, IMPERIUM I, IMPERIUM II, TRAVELLER (IMPERIUM III), CYBERPUNK,
and for TRAVELLER - NEW ERA (IMPERIUM IV). GDW are in it to make money and
this is where they will do it. Its up to the GM to decide what's IN his/her
universe or which universe they're in.
> I don't like the 'fallen empire' atmosphere. I prefer the 'expanding empire'
> attitude. But it's easier to move forward in time and crush the Imperium to
> create frontiers then to move backwards to the point where the Imperium or
> some subset of it had genuine frontiers...
So buy the master rules set and the appropriate source book for where you want
to exist.
> If you have to use a term, it can be "barbarian states" or Pirates, or
> Reavers or something. Vikings, as in Norse "Yo, Thor!" types is at best
> a Solomani Term, if it still exists
Yeah. How about just plain "Raiders". But if the HIVERs are using them to
restore some semblance of civilization to humanity then they should be called
"Crusaders" or something similarly uplifting even though everyone else hates
their guts and calls em pirates.
> Thinking back to my old ref, back in '80, he didn't give too much worrk about
> tech strangities, as long as it was consistant. If the science is strange,
> fine, as long as it fits with everything else. The plates were a crock
> because they were not consistant with newtonian physics. But you can fudge
> stutterwarp or jump physics, as long as you are consistant within that frame.
Just because newtonian physics is the only one we currently have you shouldn't
jump to the assumption that it is complete.
> []> GDW is seriously considering including TWO faster-than-light star
> []>drives in the Imperial setting, traditional jump drive and stutterwarp
> []>from 2300 AD. Frank Chadwick and Lester Smith favor this because
> []>stutterwarp makes for a very interesting space combat system.
>
> I dunno. I can live with umpteen different ways to shuttle around a system,
> be it orion systems, Fusion torches or Ion rockets, but I think the means to
> pierce the 'c' boundry should have a single basic form, with other systems
> being variants of that. Look at normal maneuver drives -- Be it Fusion, Ion
> or Nuke bomb, it's all "action<->reaction". It's that same idea, just with
> variant ways of doing it. The same should be with the star travel.
Here's a possible technology path (Remember the time scale of the various
IMPERIUMs I thru III and the slow tech advancement relative to Earth in the
1800s thru to the 2300s):
TECH 8-9: StutterWarp is discovered.
TECH 9-10: JUMP Drive discovered as safe alternative to StutterWarp.
StutterWarp still outperforms JUMP Drive.
TECH 11: StutterWarp plateaus in usefulness.
More and more travellers opting for safer JUMP Drive travel.
StutterWarp and JUMP Drive not compatible on same ship. Causes
rapid buildup of StutterWarp radiation while in JUMP space [or
something equally nasty].
TECH 13-14: JUMP Drive is new alternative and safe mode of travel.
JUMP Drive "MIS-JUMPS" are identified as a potential problem.
StutterWarp drive ships lose competitive edge and are phased out.
TECH 15-16: JUMP Drive has plateaued out but still the safest travel mode.
"MIS-JUMPS" investigated and StarGate/Warp technology found.
StarGates constructed but still need JUMP Drive to get to the
two end points to build the gate in the first place.
TECH 17: One way StarGates constructed, thus reducing need for JUMP Drive
equiped vessels for exploration.
TECH 18-19: Mobile StarGates established allowing ships to generate own
temporary StarGate field.
That could be the way the TRAVELLER - IMPERIUM star drive technology works
while other source books could have a slightly different technology
dependency.
There's nothing stopping all star drives being useful in a campaign universe.
I'm not real happy about the TECH levels but ALL tech levels could happen in
a 100 year period in a rapidly expanding civilization.
Bruce... [email removed]