Hi people, this is the first ever mail message I've sent across the
net so I hope that this gets through. I've been reading this mailing list
for about a month now and have decided to throw my tuppence worth into the
ring.
First, I GM TNE and love it, despite the bugs. I also GMed CT
and MT in my murky past and found that the one thing that the Universe
lacked, for me at any rate, was a Frontier. Somewhere to go for things
like first contact missions. Somewhere for the thrill of discovering
lost civilisations, being somewhere no-one had been for a while etc.
The wilderness gives that. Thanks.
Second, I too think that the RCES will make good bad guys. I
can see their 'become one of us or we'll shoot you' attitude contrasting
violently with the IISS (remember them?) when they come out of their
self-imposed retirement in the Regency. What happens if the RCES come
across not a TED but a well-organised society that is perfectly happy?
Don't knock low-tech equiptment. The Lea-Enfield .303 rifle first came
out at TL4-5, has more stopping power than an M16 and an effective
range of over a kilometer. Contrast that to to 400m or so of modern
assault rifles. A British soldier of the period was trained to fire 15
AIMED shots a minute with that beastie, a feat that can seem like
auto-fire to those on the other end (cf Germans at Mons 1914).
Come to think of it, a Brown Bess musket fires a ball a solid
inch in diameter. Not pleasent.
Next, a personal plea from little me, for I am an ecologist
and know little of the arcane arts of technology. It seems to me that
quite a few people out there are somewhat hardware obssessed. The point
of an RPG is surely to interact with people/aliens, not to lose
sleep over the finer points of aiming lasers. Now I enjoy the use
of large guns at certain times as much as anyone (although I consider
the moral point raised in Challenge 71 that blowing large hole in someone
is nicer than blinding them a bit suspect to say the least), but there
is more
I would like to see more on the various culture people have come
up with. The purpose of Travellers is travel. This pursuit will rapidly
lose its interest if everywhere is like late 20th century America. My
current campaign is run on Atsa, which I've given a very Russian feel
to - including the names. It immediately makes the PCs feel like
outsiders. What have other people done - I'm sure there are far more
original cultures people have come out with that I could steal - please
post them!
Ranting over. One final thing. To the outside world the difference
between the Black Curtain and the Regency will be nil. Nothing that goes
in is ever heard of again. Something to consider when trying to hire
a Free Trader in Deneb.