Hi all,
[WARNING: High Blither/Garbling level in following text]
WORLD/CORP GENERATION
Thanks to Dave Johnson for the world gen system. I did note that the Govt gen
bit doesn't allow have religious extremists or dictators - or am I
misinterpreting the oligarchies, etc.?
The Earth Colonies Corporation tables were a welcome addition.
THANKS
Kudos (to borrow Roger Sanger's terminology) to those who contributed useful
stuff this week: pocket empire ideas, regency notes, the MBT discussion, the
post-Virus ideas, colonies and interstellar politics.
****** QUIET PLEASE ******
To those who chipped in on the anti-TNE lobby, I would like to say firstly,
that I mostly agree with them with regard to TNE, the manner in which it has
been 'thrust' upon gamers, etc.
However, as pointed out by some others on TML (and refering you back to my
'cartoon' of 562/7058), harping on about TNE won't solve anything. To
paraphrase Arnold Rimmer (Red Dwarf, speaking to the others, two of whom are
armed to the teeth ready to take on a Polymorph which has horribly attacked
them all and sucked the aggression out of Rimmer's mind):
"I don't want to inflict my opinions upon anyone... just regard me as... a
'facilitator'... It seems clear that the time has come to really hit hard...
and fast... I'm talking about a really major leaflet campaign here... and if
that doesn't work... it's the T-shirts with 'Out with Polymorphs'"
1) If you don't like TNE (rules, etc.)... you don't need others to reinforce
your dislike. Just because you won't run any such games yourself - and won't
shell out for the rulebooks, et al. - doesn't mean that you're going to turn
around when your referee says "I'm gonna run a TNE game next week" and tell
him to *&^$ off (well, hopefully not - we still have AD&D 1st/2nd edition
fights here). In such circumstances you might as well at least have a go and
see just what it is like.
2) If you don't like the TNE background... keep running things in the old
Imperium. Most scenarios can be adapted for CT or MT - whether pre or during
the Rebellion. There have been quite a few discussions on TML over the last
few months saying how a post-rebellion Imperium could have reformed such that
you can run the rebellion (for a change) but still get back to stability after
a few years. There's no reason why an article about the background of a TNE
post-blitz planet can't still be used in CT/MT settings, just pretend there's
been a more-localised conflict or ignore all the war stuff and just extract
the cultural stuff, etc.
3) If you do like TNE... then it's unlikely that people harping on about its
faults is going to change your mind - all this does is irritate.
If people really feel so strongly that they have to leave the list, or refrain
from sending in CT/MT material then...
1) Previous checks of TML members have shown that at least half either don't
use TNE or don't even use the approved DGW background. So there is still a
very good audience for CT and MT material (perhaps our 'facilitator' James
could correct me if this is no longer the case).
2) So, by withdrawing your support from the forum you are 'abandoning' the
rest of us die-hards who will drain every scrap of scenario or idea for use
in their CT/MT campaigns? I don't have time to write up every detail of the
planets my players come to... I just scramble for anything I've read of late,
any scenarios (Star Trek, Star Frontiers, anything!) I've seen, and then lie
through my teeth to make it all fit my own campaign. You can practically see
the vampire teeth-marks / circular leech holes on the original material!
3) How about some constructive hints on how to convert between TNE and MT,
particularly with regard to the character skills, etc. so that articles can
be more generic between CT, MT and TNE. Okay, so someone indicated Survival
Margin might help here, but us TNE-illiterates are unlikely to buy that if we
won't buy TNE itself!
4) If people are really, really, really desperate for non-TNE support, then
should we ask our already over-burdened facilitator James to start up another
mailing list? Not specifically for anti-TNE gripers or for TNE-lovers, just
one where the acronym TNE is never heard? Frankly I think this would be a lot
more work and some of use would have a lot of trouble deciding whether to send
to one or both mailing lists and those who subscribed to both might get
duplicates of a lot of the stuff.
Everything above is my own opinion (c)1994 A. S. Lilly All Rights Reserved.
Which means when flaming back at me you are not allowed to repeat the exact
wording of anything I said. Unless I give you specific written permission to
do so. Probably... Oh what the Hell...
Let's see a continuation of the constructive scenario ideas, backgrounds and
important discussions which have been evident the past months.
SOFT SKILLS
I am assuming (quite arrogantly in fact) that Joni M Virolainen (596/7465) was
refering to me (562/7058) and Dave Johnson (560/7044) when he mentioned about
'soft' skills (Liaison, Carousing, Admin, etc.). I have some stuff in the
pipeline in that vein but it's not ready for TML quite yet. I'm sure other
referees have systems for evaluating such skills - I tend to play such off the
top of my head, using a simple feedback loop: player satisfaction is the
feedback mechanism. Feedback loops can go crazy sometimes (Player rolls
double-1 but looks so sad referee says he still managed to crack the Imperial
code computer with his Computer-0 skill)... so you have to have 'common sense'
limits.
MORE GENERALLY
My games are centred on player/referee enjoyment and the positive feedback
given after a good game. If the players enjoy talking about past events their
characters have been involved in, and the mention of specific incidents brings
a smile to their face, then you're doing it right.
INTERSTELLAR POLITICS / SPACE COLONIES / HOSTILE WORLDS
I think Bill White (597/7491) brought up an important point when considering
why some star systems don't seem to have a logical basis for the siting of
their starport, huge population on a hell-hole world, etc. The price of
interstellar travel might not seem too bad when you're a rich adventurer with
the price of several High Passages in your wallet, or a Far Trader owner
carrying weapons or jewels. But when it comes to bulk (and I mean millions of
tons) goods - ores, metals, petrochemicals, foodstuffs, etc. then in-system
transport is expensive enough, without bringing in such low-value goods from
other systems. In such circumstances I would imagine that initial colonists
would congregate around the site with the greatest natural resources. With
regard to the starport-on-a-hell-hole problem, if the hell-hole is the source
of the resources then it's going to need big port facilities to ship the stuff
elsewhere in the system. Other ports in system need only have space ports to
handle the goods. Perhaps more importantly, the F-class spaceport to handle
in-system bulk goods might well be several times larger than the 'main' A or
B class starport which serves the inter-system traffic.
BYE
Just some thoughts, sorry if they're a bit grabled. :-)
exit, quit, logoff, etc.
Andy
(Working his Model 1 bis with Computer-1 skill)
Commander Lilly, PITS (Political Intelligence Team, Scout)
Nothing I say or do in any way reflects the views of my very kind and
generous employers.