I will go on record with my personal desires on the "new" Traveller:
Ruleset: I would prefer a single basic rules package, ala the Traveller
Book or the original boxed set, with detailed add-on products. The
detailed add-ons would include a Vehicles/Starship package (operation,
design, examples), and a World guide (extended generation, world
building and mapping, and imperial large-scale maps and local data). I
feel this approach allows players to get started with the basic game,
then add details and extensions as desired.
Tasks: I prefer the MegaTraveller task system over all other
success/failure mechanisms I have used in the past, because it is an
easy concept to communicate and resolve situations with.
Personal Combat: I'd like it kept brief, easy to play out,
unpredictable, usually incapacitating and often deadly. Non-lethal
combat where the goal is incapacitating your opponent is important to
me. If you haven't guessed, I don't rely on personal combat as a large
part of my Traveller games.
Adventures: A small adventure example in the basic ruleset would be
nice. I like brewing my own adventures, so adventure support is not
critical to me and I tend to not purchase them. However, I do enjoy
scanning adventure concepts and "Amber Zone" sorts of small adventures
to give me fresh ideas for plots, gimmicks, twists, and NPCs.
Characters: I prefer MegaTraveller basic character generation, and enjoy
the extended generation provided. I like the character's unique
situation of being dragged into recieving some skills, but choosing
others.
Starship Construction: In the basic ruleset, I'd like to see
off-the-shelf starship building, ala Classic Traveller Book 2. I feel
that an in-depth fully-compatible detailed add-on, perhaps A MegaTrav
construction rehash, should be published in a seperate volume.
Starship Combat: I would prefer colorful, imaginative, and fun,
well-suited to small vessel combat, like the Classic book 2 System. I
would like to see vector movement brought back too. Large-scale combat
can be left to the extended starship package.
Vehicles: A brief basic common vehicle compendium ala Classic book 2 is
nice. I think that a scout or merchant ship should have small but
complete deck plans in the basic set. Detailed piles of extra designs,
etc. should reside in the detailed starship package.
Technology: I'm not fussy about thrusters vs. fusion rockets. I would
like to see good support for different technological paths; for example,
jump vs. stutterwarp vs. ramscoop, rockets (fusion, fission, chemical,
electric) vs. thrusters vs. light sails, etc. These fringe concepts
need to be planned for in the basic ruleset, but can be expounded upon
in a detailed starship volume. I'd be happy for a default technology
(thrusters + jump drive) set of drive packages to be part of the basic
rulebook starship construction set.
Worlds: Leave UPPs and their generation as in MegaTraveller and DGP's
World Builder's Handbook. This is a finely tuned imaginative system
allowing basic or detailed generation.
Trade and Commerce: I'd like to see an amalgam of Classic and
MegaTraveller ideas, because the Classic system was colorful and had a
high variance in price/volume, and the MT system was comprehensive.
Index: an exhasutive compendium of planned for, plus out-of-print but
applicable Traveller materials, is somethings I'd spend some money on.
Maybe an appendix to the basic rule set, with short paragraphs
(Adventure 1: Kinunir - 1980 (out of print) - short description).
Philosphy: refereeing and play philosophy is welcome in the basic set
(how to be a good referee/player, general plot ideas, etc).
Aliens: a general introduction to the alien races, their homes, and
proper character play is essential to the basic ruleset, as the aliens
and Imperium history set the flavor of Traveller.
Artwork: excellent for visualizing the flavor of the universe, as well
as providing a mental map for concepts and rules organization.
James
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Traveller Mailing List Administrator James T Perkins @ Tektronix, Inc
[email removed] Beaverton, Oregon, USA
"How many ancients can dance on the head of a pin?" - Scott Kellogg