I finally picked up TNE and have been thumbling through it. It is a
touch thick.
Anyway, I may have made a few assumptions that just are incorrect. I
assumed that TNE is kinda-maybe-sorta-almost-at-least-a-little-bit
compatible with the older Travellar stuff. MT was pretty much an
evolutionary product whereas TNE is a revolutionary product. At its
core, TNE has bascially nothing to do with MT and before. The data in
Survival Margin on converting from MT to TNE would have been just as
apllicable if it was written for "MT to GURPS".
Clearly, there is some remnant from MT to TNE -- Animals, Trade, World
Generation, etc. From the discussions (agruments? Flame Fests?) that
have been happening recently, its apparent that some rather drastic
shifts in Starship technology have happened. For example, I assumed
that when they mentioned the nuke-laser missile as the "generic
missile", that this was the "generic missile" that we've always used.
But it distrubed me because the Imperium did not allow such prolific
use of nuclear technology. And if that was the case, then missile
turrets would not be common. I was concerned more with the past than
the future.
I think that the system has changed enough that the "feel" of the game
is no longer what it was. From the change in mechanics to the trashing
of the Imperium, "Toto, we're not in Deneb any more". TNE is a
different game. It's as different from Travellar as 2300 was.
But, I guess this is GDW's goal. A blurb in the Tech section of TNE
mentions that when the Architecture Manual comes out, it will describe
various different technologies that "CAN" happen. Thruster Plates,
Stutterwarp, and FTL communications all seem to be in this one
cohesive manual. TNE presents the Official GDW Universe, but
individual players can dump the jump drive and use stutterwarp
instead.
I guess GDW felt that the Imperium was too dominating and that new
players/refs felt they had to know the entire history so that they
could play their adventure "right". I liked the Imperium. I think
there has been more talk on this list about the ficticious Imperium
than the current spat of rules-talk we're going through now. The
Imperium may have been as attractive to some as it was overbearing to
others.
But on the other side of the coin, I think people play games as much
for their atmosphere as for their mechanics. that if a group
really liked a particular game, but had specific problem with it, they
would keep the environ and just change the rules. GDW changed both
with TNE.
TNE could easily be called Twilight 1200: The New Era. You're in post
armageddon known space. The Imperium is dead, but so what -- you were
never in it. Technology is lost -- but who cares, you've never known
it, except maybe as campfire tales. For those still in the thick of
the Old Imperium, in the Regency; It's changed from the free
wheeling hope and commerce filled universe of your grand parents to a
police state surrounded by ancient enemies. The people know it, and
they feel it -- but for you, it's always been that way. It's a time
where misery and oppression prevails thoughout. Where strangers from
the stars obliterate your local tyrant and replace it with one of
their own, for your own good. So we can play either the oppressor or
the oppressed. Sign me up.
I am hopeful for the TA manual. The TA manual will be the link
that allows the older Travellar stuff to work with the new mechanics.
I like Travellar with the Johnny Quest flare. Ships landing with a
loud hum instead of nuclear hell.
I think that there must be a way to make the G-Turns and reaction mass
and all of the f=ma stuff we've been flinging around work with our
fanciful clean drives and Jump systems. I mean, if all else fails I
guess when a player asks "How do the M-Drives work?", we can always
answer: "Well, you see that knob on the dash next to the ON switch?
That's how it works."
Will
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