TNE Background 5

Gentlesophonts:

Okay, we've pretty much established that TNE isn't much of an improvement over
CT/MT but since it's the only Traveller background being supported we've
begun to look at its details.

"Susan M. Shock" [email removed] writes (about the Star
Vikings and *Path of Tears*):

> SPOILERS ABOUND, so skip this if you don't want to know this stuff.

> They DO take sides in struggles on the
> planets which are balkanized, siding with the least technophobic or xenophobic
> faction (or sometimes with the faction most friendly to the RC).

This is a definite advantage over the Imperium, IMHO.

> They are
> trying to establish a reasonably democratic interstellar government.

Another advantage.

> TNE is at heart an OPTIMISTIC setting; mankind is
> going back to the stars. The holocaust is ending; there is light at the end of
> the tunnel for the billions of humans who live in the Wilds. If not the RC,
> then the Regency, the Free Trader Network, or even the Guild, will rebuild
> some
> sort of society. All the RC is trying to do is hasten this process and have it
> come out better than the Imperium was.

>    I'm excited about the possibilities of my TNE campaign. My players'
> characters will need to learn to be diplomats and explorers as well as
> soldiers
> and they will learn it "on the job".

This is really of interest to me.  One of the `failings' of Traveller IMHO
has always been the focus on combat skills - hence the expanded character
generation for army, marines, navy and even scouts and merchants than could
be paramilitary characters.  This is a rules issue but (I'm beginning to be
swayed by Anthony "K." Baggaley's arguments) I feel this focus has always
been influenced by all those rules for handling combat and for all that
nifty iron-mongery.  Imagine a game with rules for `peaceful' conflict
resolution, negotition and such that were as in-depth as the combat rules
in Traveller (or any other RPG).


Matt Johnston [email removed] writes:

> The central point in all the ANTI-TNE arguements seems to be..
>
> 	"But its not CT/MT/2300, Ct/MT/2300 was better..."

> "Okay you EVENTUALLY arrive at Gnepticon IV, your library computer,
> when consulted, says it is a large round pomegranite spinnng at

Etc.,

> constructed from bits of starship hulls and space station struts.
> make yer piloting rolls you lucky guys."

I know I'm beating a dead horse, but I think we've pretty much established
that all of the above could have taken place in a CT/MT campaign that was
removed a sector or two from the Imperium.  Please, let's move on to particular
details of TNE.


James Dening [email removed] writes:

> BTW, has there been any backlash against software engineers due to the Virus?
> I mean, it's the classic scenario - God Squadders raving on about it being
> a punishment - we should never have learnt to program in the first place
> etc..., the unwashed masses setting fire to Workstations in the streets,
> line printers being hounded out of town, modems and disk drives living
> together in unmarried sin, RS-232 cables turning to drink and drugs... sorry,
> got carried away there!

This is a good idea.  It's like the Butlerian Jihad from *Dune* that led
to the abolition of computers and the rise of `mentats' - humans trained
to function as biological `computers'.  A similar theme in TNE would be
quite interesting.


Simon Hibbs [email removed] writes (among other things):

> *** WARNING : RULES QUESTION ALERT ***
>
Then some remarks on rules, and then:
>
> *** RULES ALERT OVER ***

This is a great idea!  Can we make this a `rule' for discussions?  ;-)
I'm kidding, but Simon, you had me laughing out loud.  :-)

> TNE gives us an opportunity to live through a fascinating period in Imperial
> history. TNE is more than just savages fighting over the scraps of a fallen
> civilisation, it is about growth and renewal. Then, when we have fought the
> good fight and wrested civilisation from the jaws of barbarism, we can look
> forward to the wheel turning full circle. 'Traveller: The 4th Imperium'.
> Of course it will happen, can you seriously doubt it?

Of course this is what's in store.  And according to the above review of *Path
of Tears* GDW is already laying the groundwork.  I wonder if in five years
or so we won't have all the TNE devotees being `bashed' for being `old
timers' who `just don't want to change' because they're upset at the
release of TFI (Traveller: The Fourth Imperium) which `abandons' TNE.  :-)
(Actually, I don't wonder.  This is a given as well.)


Matthew Goldman [email removed] writes:

> *Imperium* is gone.  There was lots and lots of space mapped outside
> the GDW private areas.  Since "The Vanguard Reaches" and "Beyond"
> sectors vanished off of the official GDW maps, I assume that they
> exist in the 'real Traveller' universe.  The universe where the virus
> never was.
> Even if the sectors were still in the official GDW universe, their
> citizens would still be safe. Good old Norris is protecting everyone
> Spin-corward of the Imperium from the virus.

This is true.  Anyone adventuring in these regions - despite the Virus?


Anthony "K." Baggaley [email removed] writes:

>     Straying slightly (only a bit, trust me) into the grey area between
>  rules and background is the other large difference between the two
>  settings that I've mentioned before- the equipment. Even if CT and TNE
>  were identical in background, you'd notice a BIG difference in the
>  capabilities of weapons/armour/starships/vehicles- all the other
>  changes tend to conceal them.

>  In an SFRPG
>  the technology is part of the background as much as the astrography.
>  With FF&S it is obvious that TNE has an advantage in this area, since
>  you can partly alter the technology to suit you game, but some people
>  might prefer the simplicity of the old Traveller...

>  Those small but
>  annoying changes can stop people changing over, it even stopped some
>  people switching from CT to MT, never mind TNE.
>  TNE
>  does have good points in this background area.

This is a good point, as I mentioned above.  I've just sort of always
ignored these sorts of issues.  I've taken a page from Gene Roddenberry's book.
He was pressed early on by NBC to come up with explanations for things like
phasors - how they worked.  He refused (and nearly 30 years later we still
don't know) on the grounds that an explanation wasn't needed in order to have
a good story.  He used the example of Joe Friday and his .38.  He points
it at a bad guy, there's some indication of activation (a flash of light
and a lound crack - or a beam of light and a high-pitched whine for a phasor),
and the bad guy falls down.  No explanation necessary.

Nevertheless, I can see where rules (character generation makes more sense
to me than technology, but you get the point) *can* influence the nature of
the campaign background.  So, what sorts of effects on the background are
a result of the new TNE rules?  (But let's try not to argue about what the
rules are, or how they're marred - just focus on the result from a background
point of view.)

>    And, don't forget a lot of this list would even buy a broken Yugo
>  if GDW printed "TRAVELLER" on the hood :>
>                                (and I did, he mutters)
>                                (twice, he mutters)

Me too (second-hand MT), but not twice (TNE), at least not yet . . . .  :-)

Okay, where are we?  We've started to discover the exploration opportunities
of the Space, er, Star Vikings of the Reformation Coalition.  And we've touched
on the effects of TNE technology rules on the campaign settings.  We've also
mentioned the aspects created by an aversion to computers and technology in
general.  And finally there's the gimmick of `positive' viral mutation
technologies.  All of these are avenues ripe for further discussion and
development.

What about the other areas?  Adventure opportunities in the Regency and in
the Pocket Empires?  What are the Guild and the Free Trader Network?  What
about the Hivers?  The other Aliens?  The Zhodani and the Solomani?  Anybody
still *behind* this `black curtain' helping Lucan's descendants fight
WWIV with sticks and rocks?  Do tell!

Peace,

David Johnson
Houston, Texas, USA