tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3948501152869669792024-03-13T09:07:25.309-07:003rd Imperium IISSMike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-50689768038029350132014-12-09T21:15:00.000-08:002015-03-13T20:28:14.348-07:00Real lifeReal life has been kicking my ass for the last few months, but that should be changing "Real Soon Now". Stuff should be posted here again soonish.Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-6207340708492969682014-09-16T11:17:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:14.298-07:00Ships and craft design in the pipeline.<h2>Design pipeline</h2><br/><ul><br/> <li>A 7,500 dTon "Dreadnaught"</li><br/> <li>30 dTon Torpedo boat</li><br/> <li>50 dTon LAC</li><br/> <li>1000/2000 dTon LAC Carrier (1000 dTon core. Carries 20 LAC)</li><br/></ul>Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-77914466129104169322014-09-16T10:36:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:14.290-07:00Small Ship Traveller Universe<h2>A Small Ship Traveller Universe - A Bit of Handwavium to explain it.</h2><br/>In <em>Mongoose Traveller</em>, Capital ships (i.e. those over 2k dTons) are required to be in section. The largest one that can be done in just 2 sections is 7,500 dTons, which, as it happens in MTU, is the largest volume that a TL 15 anti-gravity field can support. Jump drives need A/G fields to make jump bubbles, so that also limits how big a jump capable ship can be. A/G fields affecting volumes of space, not mass, also explains why space ships are sized in dTons and the mass of the ship doesn't matter or affect how many G's acceleration it can pull. Due to the rather massive drop in both size and cost of spinal mounts, even meson guns up to Type C (the largest being D) could be mounted in a TL 15 craft.<br/><blockquote>This was first posted to the TML, but this is the "official" blog of My Traveller Universe, so I'm putting it here so it is made official and stuff.</blockquote>Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-87111004865221734312014-09-16T08:37:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:14.245-07:00Mongoose Traveller Core Rulebook MGP 3800 Part 9 Psionics.<h2>Psionics</h2><br/><h3><em>Use the Force....</em></h3><br/>Psionics is the optional 7th characteristic, rolled the same way, but with a -1DM per terms served up to that point. Values under 0 are 0 and mean you have no psionics at all. Your current PSI characteristic is also the number of psi strength points you have to spend on powers.<br/><br/>Once you have found out you raw amount of skill, assuming out side of character generation<sup>1</sup> you need to be trained. This takes 4 months and 100,000 Cr. This boils down to making a series of psi skill checks to find which talents you know. If you are still in CharGen when you get psions, training happens as part of your skill rolls.<br/><br/>There are 5 talents, which are (in reverse order of ease of learning)<br/><ol><br/> <li>Teleportation</li><br/> <li>Awareness</li><br/> <li>Telekinesis</li><br/> <li>Clairvoyance</li><br/> <li>Telepathy</li><br/></ol><br/>If you make you skill checks in that order it's a flat roll plus your modifier to beat 8 to get the talent. Doing them out of that order has some DM's based on the talent and the number of rolls you have made. The DM starts at +0 for Teleportation and ends at +4 for Telepathy, with a -1 DM per roll made to learn a talent.<br/><br/>Each talent is also treated as a skill, in that you gain levels in it, assuming you take a term or so in the Psionic career. Each talent is also broken up into smaller powers<br/><h3>Telepathy</h3><br/><ul><br/> <li>Life Detection</li><br/> <li>Telempathy</li><br/> <li>Read Surface Thought</li><br/> <li>Send Thoughts</li><br/> <li>Probe</li><br/> <li>Assault</li><br/></ul><br/><h3>Clairvoyance</h3><br/><ul><br/> <li>Sense</li><br/> <li>Tactical Awareness</li><br/> <li>Clairvoyance</li><br/> <li>Clairaudience</li><br/> <li>Clairsentience</li><br/></ul><br/><h3>Telekinesis</h3><br/><ul><br/> <li>Telekinesis</li><br/> <li>Flight</li><br/> <li>Telekinetic Punch</li><br/> <li>Microkinesis</li><br/> <li>Pyrokinesis</li><br/></ul><br/><h3>Awareness</h3><br/><ul><br/> <li>Suspended Animation</li><br/> <li>Enhanced Awareness</li><br/> <li>Psionically Enhanced Strength</li><br/> <li>Psionically Enhanced Endurance</li><br/> <li>Regeneration</li><br/> <li>Body Armor</li><br/></ul><br/><h3>Teleportation</h3><br/>Unlike the other talents it doesn't have any powers under it, just it gets more and more difficult the farther you attempt to 'port and how much you are taking with you. They still have Classic Traveller's change in gravitational potential being a bad idea when teleporting, just for what it's worth. The psi drugs are listed, and few pieces of psionic technology.<br/><h2>The Psions Career</h2><br/>Like the other careers it's broke down into 3 assignments, Wild Talent, Adept and Psi-Warrior.<br/><br/>Luke, as a random possible psionic character, was a Citizen colonist who rolled a 12 on a his first life event then spent a bunch of terms as a psi-warrior, if you get what I mean, and I think you do.<br/><blockquote>I am iffy about psionics. If you are running in Foreven (or the Spinward Marches) you have to pay some attention to it, because of the Zhodani and, to a lesser amount the Droyne. In MTU it's going to stay rare for PC and be mainly used by NPC/monsters, unless, like Luke, it comes up during character generation via events. I'm not going to allow PCs to pick it up post CharGen</blockquote><br/><sup>1</sup>Several events can lead to getting to roll psionics strength, most notable a 12 on the life event table, which all careers have a chance at rolling on.Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-44118099598776177832014-09-16T03:56:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:31:40.344-07:00The Challenge Class 2k dTon Cruiser<h2>
The Challenge Class 2,000 dTon Cruiser<sup>1</sup></h2>
<br />
<h3>
The Challenge class cruiser is designed to be "laser proof" and very hard to hurt with any thing less than 100 dTon class bay weapons.</h3>
<table border=1><tbody>
<tr><td>Component</td><td>Displacement tonnage</td><td>MCr</td><td>Notes</td></tr>
<tr><td>2000 dTon Hull (Class L)</td><td>2K</td><td>220</td><td>Streamlined</td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">Full RSTHR Hull skin</td><td valign="top">N/a</td><td valign="top">1100</td><td><br />
<ul><br />
<li><b>R</b>eflect (+3 Armor vs Lasers)</li>
<br />
<li><b>S</b>elf Sealing</li>
<br />
<li>S<b>t</b>ealth(-4 DM vs sensor lock)</li>
<br />
<li><b>H</b>eat Shielding</li>
<br />
<li><b>R</b>adiation Shielding (+6 vs Rad)</li>
</ul>
<br /></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">12 points Crystal-iron Armor</td><td valign="top">300</td><td valign="top">120</td><td><br />
<ul><br />
<li>15 Vs Lasers</li>
<br />
<li>18 Vs Radiation attacks</li>
</ul>
<br /></td></tr>
<tr><td>Jump Drive R</td><td>85</td><td>160</td><td>Jump 3</td></tr>
<tr><td>Jump Fuel</td><td>600</td><td>-</td><td>Jump 3</td></tr>
<tr><td>Maneuver Drive U</td><td>37</td><td>76</td><td>4 G Acceleration</td></tr>
<tr><td>Fusion Power Plant Class U</td><td>58</td><td>152</td><td>Rating 4</td></tr>
<tr><td>Power Plant Fuel</td><td>32</td><td>-</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>Bridge with Very Advanced sensors</td><td>45</td><td>14</td><td>-</td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">Computer MK IV and software</td><td valign="top">-</td><td valign="top">27.3</td><td valign="top"><br />
<h2>
Rating 20</h2>
<br />
<h2 style="padding-left: 30px;">
Software loaded</h2>
<br />
<ul><br />
<li>Library</li>
<br />
<li>Maneuver/0</li>
<br />
<li>Jump Control/3</li>
<br />
<li>Evade 2</li>
<br />
<li>Fire Control/4</li>
<br />
<li>Auto Repair/2</li>
</ul>
<br /></td></tr>
<tr><td align="center" colspan="4">Weapons and Screens</td></tr>
<tr><td>5 X Large Particle Bay</td><td>500</td><td>200</td><td>9D6 plus crew hit</td></tr>
<tr><td>7 x Triple Turrets</td><td>7</td><td>35</td><td>Particle Beam (3D6 damage, plus crew hit)</td></tr>
<tr><td>8 x Triple Turrets</td><td>8</td><td>24</td><td>3 x Beam Lasers 1d6 Used for point defense.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2 x Nuclear Dampers</td><td>40</td><td>60</td><td>-4d6 Damage, No crew hit from radiation attack</td></tr>
<tr><td>2 x Meson Screens</td><td>40</td><td>120</td><td>-4d6 vs Meson weapons</td></tr>
<tr><td align="center" colspan="4">Crew and Misc.</td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top">17 Statesroom</td><td valign="top">76.5</td><td valign="top">10.2</td><td><br />
<h2>
Crew</h2>
<br />
<ul><br />
<li>Commander</li>
<br />
<li>XO</li>
<br />
<li>Piloting Officer</li>
<br />
<li>Navigation Officer</li>
<br />
<li>Chief Engineer</li>
<br />
<li>Medical Officer</li>
<br />
<li>3 x Engineering Crew</li>
<br />
<li>2 x Screen operators</li>
<br />
<li>20 x Gunners</li>
</ul>
</td></tr>
<tr><td></td><td colspan="3"><br />
<blockquote>
Each states room has an escape pod. All the rooms, other than the commander's are dual bunked.</blockquote>
<br /></td></tr>
<tr><td>Repair Drones</td><td>20</td><td>4</td><td></td></tr>
<tr><td>Full Hanger or Cargo Space</td><td>150</td><td>30</td><td>Can carry 105 dTon of craft will full access</td></tr>
<tr><td>Totals</td><td>2000 dTon</td><td>2,132.5 Mcr</td><td>This is a rather expensive ship, but over half the cost is the hull and it's skin. With just normal armor and skin the cost is 1,032.5 Mcr</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<sup>1</sup>Built with Mongoose Traveller's <i>High Guard</i> rules.Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-43941066026376046992014-09-13T07:39:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:14.171-07:00Real lifeReal life, in the form of needing to make calls on the big white phone due to a dumb dinner idea kicked in. Will post ship designs Sunday morning. I hope.Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-90781590911884448572014-09-13T01:14:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:14.145-07:00Mongoose Traveller, Space Combat, Part IIOn The Traveller Mailing List (tml@simplelists.com, subscribe by going <a href="http://archives.simplelists.com/subscribe/tml">Here</a> if you are not a member. Go on, do it. If you are reading this you need to be on the list. I'll wait) the viability of small combat craft got brought up as a reply to my statement about not liking masses of massive ships, with the Classic Traveller <em>High Guard</em> rules about size of ship vs power of weapons as an example of why you want big ships.<br/><br/>This is not about Classic Traveller, so it's rules are only slightly important here, and only where they differ from Mongoose Traveller do they get brought up. I haven't gotten to <em>High Guard</em> yet, so the difference between it and <em>CT High Guard</em> combat hasn't been a subject, yet.<br/><br/>Yes, I know <em>Fighters in Traveller</em> is flame bait subject, but I'm going to look at it any way.<br/><br/>I agree, 10 dTon fighters are damn close to useless, other than against smaller (say sub 400 dTon or so) and lightly armored space ships. No arguments there. On the other hand, I think a 50 dTon Honor Harrington style LAC can be made that will as difficult to damage with non "capital" weapons (read a bay weapons or bigger) and that will be a threat, if only for a single volley or so, against major ships (i.e. not another small craft), A 50 dTon LAC style craft could carry, for example 1 Torpedo and one laser (for use as point defense or vs smaller targets), which would make it a threat, if only for a single volley, against most ships. A basic non-nuke torpedo does 4d6 damage, which, is going to penetrate most armor on an average roll, and all armor on a just slightly over average roll, just using rules as written.<br/><br/>Page 99 of <em>High Guard</em> has a 40 dTon, armor 10, 10G torpedo boat that carries 2 torpedoes. It's fairly close to the HH style LAC as it stands, but isn't self escorting and can be hurt by a laser or a missile. Maybe. If they roll real high on damage.<br/><br/>Armor is very important in space combat in Mongoose Traveller and is fairly cheap, both in tonnage and credits. With Rules As Written, 6 points of armor makes you invulnerable to a pulse lasers (or beam lasers if you apply the <em>High Guard</em> changes) and 12 points makes you beam laser (or a pulse laser with HG changes)<sup>1</sup> lasers proof. Not going to stop a Particle Beam or a Meson weapon, but you are using turret sized lasers and non-nuke missile? I laugh at you and call you a silly person.<br/><blockquote>In MTU, I use the personal level combat rule that the effect of the to hit roll (the amount over 8 rolled, after modifiers) is applied as damage on that attack. Any effect over 6 means that 1 point of damage gets through, regardless of armor. This makes good and lucky (defined as skill level 4 and rolling a to hit of 12) gunner gets +8 damage, which against an armor 6 craft is going to do at least 3 points of damage and could do 8, assuming it's only a 1d6 weapon, which translate to either 1 single hit, or 2 single hits, which, could, in theory, blow a fighter out of space. On the other hand, if you roll a 7 on location both times, all you did was reduce the armor by a total of 2 points. Of course that will make the next hit do more damage. You want 6's or 8's if you want to kill it. Other non 7 results will result in possible "mission kills" I'll grant, but not that expanding ball of plasma.</blockquote><br/>As my project for the day, during breaks from "Project Clean the House" I am going to design a 50 dTon LAC that is "self escorting", an 30 dTon torpedo boat (which might no be as easy, despite 30 dTon being a sweet spot in small craft design and a 2,000 dTon 4G Jump 3 ship. The 2K ton ship would be a "Light Cruiser" in a Large Ship Traveller game, but would be a "Battle Ship" in a Small Ship Traveller game.<br/><blockquote>My Traveller Universe is a "Small Ship" game. Capital (i.e. ships over 2Ktons) are very, very rare, even in the Imperial Navy. Mongoose Traveller's "Barrage" based combat doesn't make this a bad as it could be. Granted it does eliminate spinal weapons, but a "large bay" comes damn close for a smaller ship. Not having capital ships also cuts down on the 9 to 37 (!) pages of tiny type ship's maps.<br/><br/><dl><dd>Rant. Mongoose needs to stop doing that. The maps, for large ships, are too small to read and damn near useless for a 'dungeon' map, and in some books, just plain ugly due to the software used to draw them. Waste of book pages, In My Arrogant Opinion</dd></dl></blockquote><br/><sup>1</sup>They reversed which one does 1d6 vs 2d6 in <em>High Guard</em>, but made pulse lasers have a -2 DM to hit. Why? I don't freaking know.Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-13895543247492628982014-09-12T11:52:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:14.085-07:00LSP Far Venture class 400 dTon Trade Cruiser, armed varient.<h1>Subsidized Merchant (Armed) modified Type R (Type RLA).</h1><br/><h2>Major differences</h2><br/><ol><br/> <li>4 popup turrets</li><br/> <li>Jump 2</li><br/> <li>Removal of 7 stateroom</li><br/> <li>Removal of low berths.</li><br/> <li>Modular cargo / passenger design</li><br/></ol><br/><h3>Subsidized Merchant, Type RLA (‘Fat Long Trader (Armed)’)</h3><br/><table><br/><tbody><br/><tr><br/><td>Item</td><br/><td>Tons</td><br/><td>Price (Cr.)</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Hull</td><br/><td colspan="2">400 tons</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="3">Streamlined</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="3">Hull 8</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="3">Structure 8</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Total Hull Cost</td><br/><td></td><br/><td>17,600,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="3">Armour None</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Jump Drive D (Jump 2)</td><br/><td>25</td><br/><td>40,000,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Maneuvering Drive C (Thrust 1)</td><br/><td>5</td><br/><td>12,000,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Power Plant D</td><br/><td>13</td><br/><td>32,000,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Compact Bridge</td><br/><td>15</td><br/><td>2,000,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Computer Model 1bis Rating 5 (10 for Jump)</td><br/><td></td><br/><td>45,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Electronics Civilian Sensors (–2 DM)</td><br/><td>1</td><br/><td>50,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Weapons Fire Control</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;" colspan="1">4</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;"></td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Pop Up Turret 1 Triple Sandcaster</td><br/><td>1</td><br/><td>2,750,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Pop Up Turret 2 Dual Sandcaster, Missile Rack</td><br/><td>1</td><br/><td>3,250,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Pop Up Turret 3 Triple Pulse Lasers</td><br/><td>1</td><br/><td>3,500,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Pop Up Turret 4 Triple Pulse Lasers</td><br/><td>1</td><br/><td>3,500,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Fuel One Jump–2 and Two weeks of operation</td><br/><td colspan="1">88</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;"></td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Magazine</td><br/><td>10 Tons of munitions, normally 180 Sandcaster barrels and 12 missiles</td><br/><td></td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Cargo</td><br/><td colspan="1">191 (19 10 dTon modules)</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;"></td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>6 Staterooms for crew. 1 single, 5 double.</td><br/><td>24</td><br/><td>3,000,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="2">Extras Fuel Scoop</td><br/><td>–</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Fuel Processor</td><br/><td>1</td><br/><td>50,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Escape Pods One for every stateroom</td><br/><td>3</td><br/><td>650,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="2">Ship’s Locker</td><br/><td>–</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>LSP Light Launch Mod 6502</td><br/><td>16</td><br/><td>4,606,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="2">Software Jump Control/2</td><br/><td>200,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Manoeuvre/0</td><br/><td></td><br/><td>–</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Library/0</td><br/><td></td><br/><td>–</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Fire Control/1</td><br/><td></td><br/><td>2,000,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Total Tonnage and Cost</td><br/><td>400</td><br/><td>127,201,000cr</td><br/></tr><br/></tbody><br/></table>Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-61209143679757556522014-09-12T11:17:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:14.061-07:00LSP 16 dTon Mod 6502 Light Launch<h2>LSP Light Launch Mod 6502</h2><br/>The 16 dTon launch is designed to go with the "armed" version of the Far Venture class 2J merchants. It is a quite simple design, being made, mainly, to be the minimum needed to transport a 10 dTon module from a planet surface to orbit.<br/><table><br/><tbody><br/><tr><br/><td>Part</td><br/><td>dTons</td><br/><td>Cost (CR)</td><br/><td>notes</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>S 1.6 Hull</td><br/><td>16</td><br/><td>1,276,000</td><br/><td>Streamlined<br/>0 hull, 1 Struct pt.</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>sB M Drive</td><br/><td>1</td><br/><td>2,000,000</td><br/><td> (3 G Thrust)</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>sB FP Plant</td><br/><td>1.5</td><br/><td>1,000,000</td><br/><td></td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Fuel</td><br/><td>0.25</td><br/><td>0</td><br/><td>3 Days</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Cockpit</td><br/><td>1.5</td><br/><td>100,000</td><br/><td>One Crewman</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Computer MK I</td><br/><td>0</td><br/><td>30,000</td><br/><td>Rating 5</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Air Lock</td><br/><td>1</td><br/><td>200,000</td><br/><td>Includes boarding tube</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Cargo</td><br/><td>10.75</td><br/><td>0</td><br/><td>10 dTon as module</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Totals</td><br/><td>16</td><br/><td>4,606,000</td><br/><td>Cheap and dirty way of getting a LSP standard 10 dTon module into space.</td><br/></tr><br/></tbody><br/></table>Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-8822707380552539222014-09-11T03:27:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:14.003-07:00Mongoose Traveller Core Rulebook MGP 3800 Part 8 Spaceship Combat<h2>Spaceship Combat</h2><br/>Let's get the elephant in the room out of the way. No Vector Movement.<br/><br/>Wither this is a good thing a or a bad thing depends. I think it's a bad thing. Vector movement was an important part of Classic Traveller Space combat. Have no fear, it comes back as an alternate in <em>High Guard</em><br/><blockquote>Really, the space ship rules and the non character generation rules in <em>High Guard</em> should be taken as a whole, which I will do, post my<em> High Guard</em> post(s)</blockquote><br/>So, if no vector movement, what do we have instead? Well, a band based system that used the thrust of the ship to determine how long it takes to go up or down one band. This works fine, assuming 2 ships, because, after 2 points makes a line. With 3 or more, life gets ugly. Ugly enough as to almost be unplayable, giving the fact that the bands aren't the same size. Making tactical movements is really, really tricky. As I said, Vector movement, The One True Movement System For Traveller Space, comes back in<em> High Guard</em>, but as it stands, ick.<br/><br/>All that being said, the TMB space combat system really does work well for 2 ships. The postion of all the members of the crew needs to be determined, but that's sort of a given assuming you have a full crew.<br/><br/>Steps in combat are<br/><ol><br/> <li>Set up.</li><br/> <li>Manoeuvre</li><br/> <li>Combat</li><br/> <li>Ship's Action</li><br/></ol><br/><h2>Set up</h2><br/>This is just the find range, find where every one is located at, determine initiative, like the set up in damn near all modern role playing games.<br/><h2>Manoeuvre</h2><br/>This is some what simplified, given the lack of vector movement, it's just a matter of deciding how many of your thrust points you want to apply towards changing range bands (and if going up or down the scale) and how many you are keeping to dodge and like that with.<br/><h2>Combat</h2><br/>Combat is very much like personal combat, as far a rules mechanics go, in that you roll 2 dice, plus modifiers based on weapon type vs range and the skill of the gunner to get 8+ to hit, armor reduces damage and the target can take reactions to coming under fire to modify your chance of a hit. The number of reactions depends on the number of thrust points the target ship has left after the manoeuvre phase. On of the possible actions that uses a thrust point is "line up a shot", which makes a pilot check part of a task train for taking the shot. It's not quite clear if this applies to all shots that turn or just to one, but I rule it's for all shots, based on the wording "his gunners", not "a gunner", but I can see why some one might think it only applies a single shot. Not a game killer either way.<br/>Beam weapons are done per each, not per turret. Missiles, at least in the no vector version, have a turn until impact based on their range, or, if you want to be crazy, they are a thrust 5 ship. Gah. Tracking that many on the band based system? Ouch.<br/><br/>There is a "quick boarding actions" chart, in case you don't want to do a normal Traveller combat to solve the assault.<br/><h2>Ship Action Phase</h2><br/>In this phase you may attempt to repair damage systems, get (or break) a sensor lock, attempts to increase your initiative or change positions with in the ship.<br/><h2>Damage</h2><br/>Damage is tracked via the same system as vehicles, in that there is two types of damage points, hull and structure, and you don't take structure damage, in general, until you are out of hull points. The total amount of damage a hit does is cross referenced against a chart which reduces it to "single, double or triple" hits against a given system on the ship. The effects of single etc hits is listed per system. Stronger hits might do multiple single etc hits, as an example, 37-40 points of damage is going to do a triple, a double and a single hit. Each of these hits would be rolled on the target chart to determine what got kissed.<br/><br/>The chapter ends with a shadow text block explaining that a starship class weapon does 50x damage, so if you roll 6, you are doing 300 damage on the personal/vehicle damage levels.<br/><br/>Next up, Psionics!Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-45299348405100416032014-09-10T03:30:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:13.959-07:00Mongoose Traveller Core Rulebook MGP 3800 Part 7 Spaceship Operations.<h2>Spaceship Operations</h2><br/>Spaceship Operations include all of the following:<br/><ul><br/> <li>Airlocks: Yes, space ships need these.</li><br/> <li>Atmospheric Operations (and landing): If you are not at least semi streamlined, don't do this.</li><br/> <li>Boarding & Docking: You don't have to be docked to board, but jumping for ship to ship seems a bit extreme. Also, unless the other ship wants you to dock to it, it's difficult (-2) do do so. I would think it would be higher than that.</li><br/> <li>Costs and Maintenance: Basic costs are your mortgage, life support, which is based on the number of staterooms, and doesn't matter if they are in use or not, fuel, monthly maintenance, and crew salaries. As expected all of these add up to quite a chunk, makes for the PC trying to make the big haul all the time. There are rules for skipping out on your debts, but at any given world, regardless of how far or how long it's been you have a 1:36 chance of getting caught (a natural 12 on the check)</li><br/> <li>Encounters: There is a d66 chart, with mods for the leading digit, making it go from 01 to 96 for something that you encounter between the jump point and the port. several of them are not avoidable (attack by pirates, solar flares, that sort of thing)</li><br/> <li>Fuel: Jump eats this. 10% of the mass of the ship per jump number used. If you have a J2 ship and jump 1 parsec, you only use 10%, not the full 20% you are carrying.</li><br/> <li>Jump Travel: Jump is broke into several steps, each of which feeds to the next check.<br/><ol><br/> <li>Astrogation check</li><br/> <li>Divert Power</li><br/> <li>Jump check.</li><br/></ol><br/></li><br/> <li>Life Support: This covers radiation and running out of air, mainly.</li><br/> <li>Passage: Standard High, Middle/Working and Low. And random d66 passenger list is included.</li><br/> <li>Repairs: covers the 3 types of damage (Hull, Structure and Systems) and where they can be fixed and how much.</li><br/> <li>Security: This set of rules is very obviously post 9/11, and are bit hard to read today.</li><br/> <li>Travel Times: MgT doesn't include the famous travel time formula, but does have a spiffy chart of distance travelled vs thrust rating of the ship, ranging from 1000 km at 1 G (633 seconds) to 1,000,000,000 km at 6 G (2.9 days)</li><br/></ul><br/>There isn't that much different from Classic Traveller Book 2 in this section, and nothing really all that surprising<br/><br/>Next up is Space Combat and I've got a bunch to say there.<br/><br/> Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-17167806645297813072014-09-09T14:31:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:13.901-07:00Mongoose Traveller Core Rulebook MGP 3800 Part 6 Spaceships.<h2>Spaceship Design</h2><br/>The spacecraft design sequence is very much like Classic Traveller Book 2. Things are still measured in dTons, which is a unit of volume equal to one hundred tons of liquid hydrogen, or roughly 14 cubic meters. In TMB all you can design are space craft from 100 dTons to 2000 dTons. Bigger or smaller craft needs the rules in <em>Book 2 High Guard</em>. There aren't any real surprises, assuming you know book 2. Computers are assumed into the bridge so they don't eat up space, but do have a cost.<br/><br/>Well, I say there aren't any surprises, but there are, in that there are alternate versions of both drives and power plants that take you right out of the Classic Traveller mode and can do damn near any sort of SF. For drives, you have Warp, Teleport and Hyperspace, for power plants you have Fission and Anti-matter. Added note. Jump drives still eat 10% of the mass of the ship per jump number in fuel.<br/><blockquote>MTU errata. Fission plants exists, (as do the chemical and battery power options in <em>High Guard</em>), but none of the alternate drives exists, nor do Anti-matter drives.</blockquote><br/>One of the things that every ship is assumed to have is a "ships locker". This is a "simplify bookkeeping" rule, not a portable hole of has every thing. There is, addition to the rules on the locker a bit of shadowed text box about not allowing players to abuse it.<br/><h2>Ships Weapons</h2><br/>The basic weapons give are missiles, lasers and particle beams. Aside from cost, and possible legal issues, particle beams are the hands down best weapon systems.<br/><br/>Bay weapons take up 51 tons and include missiles, particle beams, fusion guns and meson guns. While the rules don't say so, I suspect that there is supposed to be a limit of one particle beam per turret, other wise you have a turret doing 3x3d6 damage, which is a bit high.<br/><blockquote>In <em>High Guard</em> there is a limit on particle beams based on your power plant size</blockquote><br/>For defenses, you have armor, sand-casters, nuclear dampers and meson screens, all of which work vs various different attack forms, with armor working against every thing but meson guns.<br/><br/><blockquote>I need to add that rules as written, 6 points of armor makes you pulse laser proof and 12 points manes you beam laser proof. These two laser type reverse how much damage they do in <em>High Guard</em> for no explained reason, but the point still stands that a fully armored TL 12 ship is turret class laser proof, which is one reason why the Particle Beam weapon is so much better. RAW mention using nuclear missiles near inhabited planets or orbitals, but don't say any thing about particle beams, which also cause radiation hits above and beyond their 3d6 basic damage.</blockquote><br/><br/> <br/><h2>Standard Ships</h2><br/>The following ship designs are given<br/><ul><br/> <li>Type S Scout</li><br/> <li>Free Trader Type A</li><br/> <li>Far Trader</li><br/> <li>Subsidized Merchant</li><br/> <li>Laboratory Ship</li><br/> <li>Gazelle Close Escort</li><br/> <li>Heavy Freighter</li><br/> <li>Yacht</li><br/> <li>Mercenary Cruiser</li><br/> <li>Corsair</li><br/> <li>Serpent Police Cutter (not a jump ship)</li><br/></ul><br/>Small craft, with minimal rules for them, are listed.<br/><ul><br/> <li>Launch</li><br/> <li>Ship's boat</li><br/> <li>Pinnace</li><br/> <li>Shuttle</li><br/> <li>Modular Cutter</li><br/> <li>Light Fighter</li><br/></ul>Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-36104233865493436902013-10-10T21:13:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:13.893-07:00Vehicle designAny new vehicles designed for this project are going to be made using the SCFI-20/T20 rules, as those are declared to be useable under the OGL. The Mongoose Traveller vehicle design rules, as of this time, are closed source and, in theory, can't be used in an OGL product. I'm not 100% sure about this, but that is the way I'm going, just to be safe.<br/><br/>Due to the difference in how armor is used in t20 vs Mongoose Traveller, there will be some tweaking needed, but other than that, they seem to be about the same.<br/><br/><br/><blockquote>This has been changed. I have Word of God that you can use the MgT design rules, you just can't publish the design rules as such</blockquote>Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-43897453377067892432013-09-29T02:11:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:13.848-07:00LSP Mk XXIV Life PodAll LSP space ships are equipped with an Mk XXIV pod at a rate of 1 per cabin.<br/><br/>.5 dTon (6.75 M³)<br/><table style="text-align: left;" border="1" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="2"><br/><tbody><br/><tr><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">Item</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">Meter³</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">Weight (Kg)</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">Cost (Cr)</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Box Structure hull with Advanced Sealing<br />7.425 Meters³ available<br />Crystaliron Armor 6<br />Hull 1 Structure 3</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">-</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">1,020</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">17,820</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">Grav Drive</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">0.3375</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">50</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">168,750</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">Fuel Cell<br/>TL-10 22 power units<br />Fuel Efficient x 4</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">1</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">125</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">12,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">Fuel 500 liters (2000 Hours)</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">0.5</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">500</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">-</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">Compact Comprehensive Sensors</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">0.5</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">1</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">2000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">Life support hostile environment</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">0.3375</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">135</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">168,750</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">Air flow device</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">0.033</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;"></td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">675</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">Pilot's station</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">1.25</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">125</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">-</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">Passenger seat</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">1</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">100</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">-</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">Radio-1000 TL 7</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">2</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">15</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">5000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">Total</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">6.958</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">2,071</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;">374,995</td><br/></tr><br/></tbody><br/></table><br/>Max speed in air 425 KPH<br/>Cruising speed 319 KPH<br/>Agility 1<br/><br/>Basic Load out<br/>2 x Environmental suits<br/>2 x Environmental masks<br/>Vehicle Survival Kit<br/>Fusion StileMike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-48484401061731638772013-09-28T11:02:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:13.839-07:00Hex 0406 "Neu Freisland" Home port of the LSPS Far Venture.<h1 style="text-align: center;">Neu Freisland</h1><br/><h2 style="text-align: center;">A hot sweaty marshy little hell hole<br/>of a world.</h2><br/><h3><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>System information</strong></span></h3><br/>Solo Red Dwarf (V M5)<br/>2 Gas Giants<br/>3 Planetoid Belts<br/>HZ - Orbit 0<br/>10 total worlds<br/><h3><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Orbit 0</strong></span></h3><br/>Main World "Neu Freisland" A-468442-B<br/>Size 4 (Light density) 0.375 G surface Gravity.<br/>Atmosphere: Standard (class 6)<br/>Hydrosphere: 85%<br/>Population: 87,800<br/>Star Port: Class A with Naval Base<br/>Government:Representative Democracy<br/>Law Level:2<br/>Tech Level:11<br/>Trade Classes: Agricultural (Ag), Non Industrial (Ni)<br/><br/><hr /><br/><br/>36.36 standard day long year<br/>1,308.96 standard hour day (resonate rotational period)<br/>10 ° axial tilt<br/>Torrid climate<br/>Natural Resources +3<br/>Complex native life.<br/>World Trade Balance +3<br/><h3><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Adventure seeds</strong></span>.</h3><br/><ol><br/> <li>The characters must chase a merchant, but have to contend with a possible trade war while being confronted by an enemy.</li><br/> <li>The characters must liberate an enemy at a transit point, but have to contend with legal troubles.</li><br/> <li>The characters must observe a bounty hunter, at the villain's base, but have to contend with lack of trust while being confronted by technological breakdown.</li><br/> <li>The characters must locate a treasure in orbit, but have to contend with misdirection while being confronted by a monster.</li><br/> <li>The characters must attack information on a mountain, but have to contend with language while being confronted by hazardous environment.</li><br/> <li>The characters must trade with a terrorist but have to contend with being side tracked while being confronted by recurring NPC.</li><br/></ol><br/><br/><hr /><br/><br/><h3><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Ocean Shallows "Monster" encounter table</strong></span></h3><br/><table border="1"><br/><tbody><br/><tr><br/><th>2d6</th><br/><th>Name</th><br/><th>Behavior</th><br/><th>Size</th><br/><th>S:D:E:I:I:P</th><br/><th>Weapon</th><br/><th>Armor</th><br/><th>Skills</th><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>2</td><br/><td>Rog</td><br/><td>Hijacker</td><br/><td>9</td><br/><td>20:10:7:1:2:14</td><br/><td>Teeth:2d6<br/> Stinger:3d6</td><br/><td>2</td><br/><td>Melee:5</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>3</td><br/><td>Scheermes</td><br/><td>Hunter/Fly</td><br/><td>3</td><br/><td>4:6:6:1:10:8</td><br/><td>Claws:2d6</td><br/><td>5</td><br/><td>Survival:2 Melee:2</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>4</td><br/><td>Tand Vlieg</td><br/><td>Hijacker/Fly</td><br/><td>1</td><br/><td>3:1:1:1:6:6</td><br/><td>Teeth:1d6</td><br/><td>0</td><br/><td>Melee:1</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>5</td><br/><td>Zeeaap</td><br/><td>Hunter</td><br/><td>8</td><br/><td>8:13:8:1:11:12</td><br/><td>Thrasher:3d6</td><br/><td>4</td><br/><td>Survival:1 Melee:2 Recon:2</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>5</td><br/><td>Zee Eekhoorn</td><br/><td>Gatherer</td><br/><td>11</td><br/><td>13:5:21:1:9:12</td><br/><td>Teeth:4d6</td><br/><td>4</td><br/><td>Stealth:2 Melee:1</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>6</td><br/><td>Zeekoe</td><br/><td>Grazer</td><br/><td>10</td><br/><td>15:10:22:1:6:10</td><br/><td>None</td><br/><td>1</td><br/><td>Stealth:2 Recon:2</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>7</td><br/><td>Vlieg Bek</td><br/><td>Grazer/Fly</td><br/><td>1</td><br/><td> 1:1:1:1:8:11</td><br/><td> Horns:1d6</td><br/><td> 4</td><br/><td> Melee:3</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>8</td><br/><td>Grote Zeekoe</td><br/><td>Grazer</td><br/><td>19</td><br/><td> 43:1:50:1:7:12</td><br/><td> Horns:5d6</td><br/><td> 7</td><br/><td> Stealth:2 Melee:0</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>9</td><br/><td>Dun Haai</td><br/><td>Chaser</td><br/><td>5</td><br/><td> 9:18:11:1:8:8</td><br/><td> Thrasher:3d6</td><br/><td> 3</td><br/><td> Melee:1</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>10</td><br/><td colspan="7">Event</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>11</td><br/><td>Sterk Haai</td><br/><td>Chaser</td><br/><td>18</td><br/><td> 35:6:29:1:14:9</td><br/><td> Thrasher:6d6</td><br/><td> 1</td><br/><td> Melee:4</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>12</td><br/><td>Haai</td><br/><td>Chaser</td><br/><td>17</td><br/><td> 38:8:42:1:10:8</td><br/><td> Thrasher:6d6</td><br/><td> 3</td><br/><td> Melee:6</td><br/></tr><br/></tbody><br/></table><br/>S:D:E:I:I:P = Strength Dexterity Endurance Intelligence Instinct<br/>Pack<br/><br/>All are swimmers unless marked /Fly<br/><h2>This post is Open Game Content</h2>Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-65227772958950190202013-09-10T12:54:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:13.771-07:002nd option for the LSPS-1802[caption id="attachment_646" align="alignleft" width="300"]<a href="http://3rdimperium.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/lsp-1802.png"><img class="size-medium wp-image-646" alt="Ling Standard Products Ship 1802 "Far Venture"Ling Standard Products Ship 1802 "Far Venture"" src="http://3rdimperium.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/lsp-1802-300x187.png" width="300" height="187" /></a> Ling Standard Products Ship 1802 "Far Venture"[/caption]<br/><br/>I think I like this one better than the other option, not the least because I still have the "source code" for the render so I can use it in other scenes.Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-82826510439880532642013-09-09T05:59:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:13.753-07:00Possible view of the 'Far Venture' LSPS-1802[caption id="attachment_641" align="alignleft" width="881"]<a href="http://3rdimperium.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/LSPTradeCruiser.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-641" alt="LSP Trade Cruiser" src="http://3rdimperium.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/LSPTradeCruiser.png" width="881" height="581" /></a> LSP Trade Cruiser[/caption]I haven't decided if this is the final version of the the ship, but this is close at any rate. Central hub with fuel/engine out rider pods.Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-63361874751175745522013-09-07T04:10:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:13.698-07:00LSPS-1802 Far Venture.<h1>Subsidized Merchant modified Type R (Type RL).</h1><br/><h2>Major differences</h2><br/><ol><br/> <li>4 hardpoints</li><br/> <li>Jump 2</li><br/> <li>Removal of 7 stateroom</li><br/> <li>Removal of low berths.</li><br/><li>Modular cargo / passenger design</li> <br/></ol><br/><h3>Subsidized Merchant, Type RL (‘Fat Long Trader’)</h3><br/><table><br/><tbody><br/><tr><br/><td>Item</td><br/><td>Tons</td><br/><td>Price (Cr.)</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Hull</td><br/><td colspan="2">400 tons</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="3">Streamlined</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="3">Hull 8</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="3">Structure 8</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Total Hull Cost</td><br/><td></td><br/><td>17,600,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="3">Armour None</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Jump Drive D (Jump 2)</td><br/><td>25</td><br/><td>40,000,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Manoeuvre Drive C (Thrust 1)</td><br/><td>5</td><br/><td>12,000,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Power Plant D</td><br/><td>13</td><br/><td>32,000,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Compact Bridge</td><br/><td>15</td><br/><td>2,000,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="2">Computer Model 1bis Rating 5 (10 for Jump)</td><br/><td>45,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Electronics Civilian Sensors (–2 DM)</td><br/><td>1</td><br/><td>50,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="1">Weapons</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;" colspan="1">4</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;"></td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="3">Hardpoint #1 Empty</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="3">Hardpoint #2 Empty</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="3">Hardpoint #3 Empty</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="3">Hardpoint #4 Empty</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Fuel One Jump–2 and Two weeks of operation</td><br/><td colspan="1">88</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;"></td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Cargo</td><br/><td colspan="1">201 (20 10 dTon modules)</td><br/><td style="vertical-align: top;"></td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>6 Staterooms for crew. 1 single, 5 double.</td><br/><td>24</td><br/><td>3,000,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="2">Extras Fuel Scoop</td><br/><td>–</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Fuel Processor</td><br/><td>1</td><br/><td>50,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Escape Pods One for every stateroom</td><br/><td>3</td><br/><td>650,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="2">Ship’s Locker</td><br/><td>–</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Modular 20 dTon Launch</td><br/><td>20</td><br/><td>7,000,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td colspan="2">Software Jump Control/2</td><br/><td>200,000</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Manoeuvre/0</td><br/><td></td><br/><td>–</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Library/0</td><br/><td></td><br/><td>–</td><br/></tr><br/><tr><br/><td>Total Tonnage and Cost</td><br/><td>400</td><br/><td>107,595,000 cr</td><br/></tr><br/></tbody><br/></table>Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-78230897446644035422013-05-31T00:29:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:13.690-07:00Nothing to do with TravellerPhotos of the storm that went about 2 miles south of my house. "Just" an EF-0, maybe EF-1. A dozen of so homes damaged, no injuries reported. This is the ass end of the storm and only sort of showed the funnel cloud by the time I went out side, plus I didn't use my fast lens, so these aren't the best.<br/><br/>[caption id="attachment_623" align="alignleft" width="678"]<a href="http://3rdimperium.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/DSC_3963.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-623" alt="Storm" src="http://3rdimperium.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/DSC_3963-678x1024.jpg" width="678" height="1024" /></a> Storm[/caption]<br/><br/>[caption id="attachment_624" align="alignleft" width="678"]<a href="http://3rdimperium.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/DSC_3971.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-624" alt="Storm 2" src="http://3rdimperium.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/DSC_3971-678x1024.jpg" width="678" height="1024" /></a> Storm 2[/caption]<br/><br/>[caption id="attachment_625" align="alignleft" width="1024"]<a href="http://3rdimperium.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/DSC_3973.jpg"><img class="size-large wp-image-625" alt="Storm 3" src="http://3rdimperium.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/DSC_3973-1024x678.jpg" width="1024" height="678" /></a> Storm 3[/caption]Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-88590659593036025932012-07-28T11:45:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:13.621-07:00Mongoose Traveller Core Rulebook MGP 3800 Part 5 EquipmentEquipment follows the more or less normal RPG list of things, starting with a generic "you must spend this much if your SOC is this" per month standard of living costs, which ranges from 400 cr for SOC 2 to 20,000 cr for SOC 16+<br/><br/><dl><dt>Armour</dt><dd>Armour ranges from Jack, which is little more than a leather jacket to Battle Dress. Ablat and Reflec are still here, as special armours vs lasers. Vacc suits are listed as a type of armour.</dd><dt>Augments</dt><dd>While the game system doesn't really push it self towards the cyberpunk style of play, there are enough things here to make you into a jacker or a street samurai, if you want to. Having Augments can effect how well medical aid works on you, so it's a good idea to have med kits and bays of the same or higher tech level than any augments your party has.</dd><dt>Communications</dt><dd>This covers "man portable" gear only, with 5 classes<br/><ol><br/> <li>Bugs</li><br/> <li>Transceiver</li><br/> <li>Comm</li><br/> <li>Commdot</li><br/> <li>Holographic Projector</li><br/></ol><br/></dd><dt>Computers</dt><dd>Computers now no longer weigh a ton and cost tens of thousands of credits. A model 1 computer weighs 5 kilos and cost 100 CR. There is an option of building a lower powered version than your current tech level computer which will be much smaller and lighter than one of the tech level it is emulating. Example given is a TL 10 society can make a TL 7 Computer/0 power level computer that weighs 1.25 kg and cost 6 credits. Making a computer/0 at it's native TL 7 will make it weigh 10 kilos and cost 50 cr. While hardware is more rational, Software is still all over the map as to cost and functionality</dd><dt>Medical Supplies</dt><dd>These cover the expected medikits and drugs, with the seemingly reversed "Fast" and "slow" drugs, in that "slow" makes you move faster and "fast" makes you move slower. I understand that it makes the universe seem fast or slow from your point of view, but it's still some what counter intuitive.</dd><dt>Robots</dt><dd>Not very well thought out and incomplete list of robots and drones available. Most of them are for shipboard use</dd><dt>Sensors</dt><dd>Binoculars and the like.</dd><dt>Survival Gear</dt><dd>Tents, generators, thruster packs, that sort of thing.</dd><dt>Toolkits</dt><dd>Very generic "you must have a tool kit for a skill to use a skill" sort of thing. All cost 1000 cr and weigh 12 kg</dd></dl><br/><br/><hr width="50%" /><br/><br/><h4>Weapons.</h4><br/>Ah, yeah, gun porn...<br/><br/>We've got melee weapons, slug throwers ranging from black powder weapons to Gauss rifles, energy weapons, grenades, heavy weapons and explosives. All the Classic Traveller toys are here, from the generic "<em>blade</em>" to the "<em>FGMP-15</em>" Fun fact. A FGMP-15 does one dice more damage than a "pocket nuke", and is capable of auto fire.<br/><br/>The chapter ends with a very short and some what confusing vehicle list and rules.<br/><br/>Next up Spacecraft.Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-81575698536379921322012-07-23T13:22:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:13.602-07:00Mongoose Traveller Core Rulebook MGP 3800 Part 4 Encounters and DangersThis chapter is rather dense, in that it has a lot of rules and tables and not a lot of fluff. It starts with animal generation, which is fairly close to it's Classic Traveller roots, however the "<em>Triphibian</em>" has been removed, there are not any attacks that are like a human weapon and armor doesn't go all the way up to Battle Dress. All that being said you still get the Classic Traveller sort of animals. A change is that Animals have STR, END, DEX and INT like a character, but have <em>Instinct</em> instead of EDU and <em>Pack</em> instead of SOC. Damage is figured the same way for an animal as it is for a character, vs the animal having a generic hit points as they did in Classic Traveller.<br/><br/>After animals we have the now obligatory disease, poison, temperature, weather and falling rules. These are pretty much what you would expect in a modern RPG, with no surprises or strange mechanics in use.<br/><br/><dl><dt>Injury and recovery.</dt><dd>A character that has taken damaged is either wounded or seriously wounded. You are seriously wounded if have taken at least one point of damage to all 3 characteristics. If one of the 3 is at full you are just wounded. If you are seriously wounded you need first aid and/or surgery, because unless the GM is using random first blood, you are going to have a negative END DM and will get worse, not better, using natural healing. First aid, if applied in the first 5 minutes after the wounding, heals twice the effect of the roll, as a standard medic check. First aid on your self is a "Difficult (-2)" task. If you a playing in a campaign where you need to be wearing Combat Armor or Battle Dress a lot, pay the extra 10,000 credits and get the medikit installed. Having your own personal Medic 3 around will save your life, assuming you have at least one point of something left. Getting one for your Vacc Suit is a good idea as well.</dd></dl>NPC. The book says there are 5 types of NPC in Traveller, allies, contacts, enemies, rivals and patrons. This isn't quite right because there is also mooks and bystanders, plus the McGuffion or two, but in general major NPC are one of those 5.<br/><br/><dl><dt>Allies</dt><dd>Willing to go way out of their way to help a character, but don't push it to often.</dd><dt>Contacts</dt><dd>While an ally will give you a gun, a contact will tell you were to buy one.</dd><dt>Rivals</dt><dd>They want to give the character a hard time, and maybe see them dead in the ditch.</dd><dt>Enemies</dt><dd>They are much like rivals, but lean much more to towards the dead in the ditch sort of thing.</dd><dt>Patrons</dt><dd>A Patron in Traveller wants to give you a job. The Core Rulebook comes with 7 patrons, which are well done, with the Classic Traveller look and feel. Make a note of this. This is will come up again, with a rant attached to it. After the 7 fully fleshed patrons there is a set of d66 tables for doing a quick and dirty patron/mission generation.</dd></dl>The chapter closes out with a set of generic encounter tables and sample mooks<br/><br/>Next up, EquipmentMike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-10235603785244048382012-07-18T23:00:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:13.556-07:00Mongoose Traveller Core Rulebook MGP 3800 Part 3 Combat<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em><strong>Just want to say that I'm not going to be covering all the books in the series in this level of detail, but this being the core rules I feel it needs a more detailed overlook.</strong></em></p><br/><br/><br/><hr width="50%" /><br/><br/>Like most modern RPG Mongoose Traveller has an "roll for a initiative" and subdivided rounds.<br/><br/>Initiative is a DEX check, in that it's 2d6 + DEX DM. High scores goes first. Initiative rolls can be modified by leadership or tactics skills.<br/><br/>Each round for a character is 1 minor action and one significant action. Movement is a minor action and gives you 6 meters (4 squares). You can convert your significant action to two minor actions. You get as many free actions as you can talk the GM into, as per normal in modern RPG :-) A character may also "react" to other characters actions, allowing them to dodge or parry an attack. You may take as many reactions as you want, however each one reduces your initiative by 2 and gives you a minus one on all skill checks and attacks.<br/><br/>Attacks are significant actions. Melee attacks are based on STR or DEX plus your melee skill level, shooting attacks are based on DEX, plus either your gun combat or heavy weapons skill. Thrown weapons are based on DEX, plus your athletic (co-ordination) levels. Each weapon class has a modifier based on the range to the target. Human scale ranges go from "Personal" (under 1.5 meters) to "Distant" (Over 500 meters)<br/><br/>Unlike Classic Traveller, the type of armor you are wearing doesn't effect your chance of being hit, it removes some of the damage done to you. Armor ranges from a leather jacket ("Jack") at one point, to Battle Dress at 18 points. Mongoose Traveller doesn't have the characteristics based modifiers for each weapon, however it does have either "recoil" or "heft", which is a number that you must beat with your STR DM, or suffer a modifier to your initiative the next round equal to the recoil minus your STR DM. Damage done is based on the weapon plus the effect of the attack roll. A attack that has an effect of 6+ always inflicts at least 1 point of damage, regardless of armor worn. Damage is applied to END, then STR or DEX. A character with 2 characteristics at 0 is unconscious and is dead if all 3 are 0.<br/><br/>Automatic weapons have 3 options, single shot, burst or full auto. Burst fire adds the "Auto" rating to the damage done. In full auto you roll a number of dice equal to the auto rating and then group them any way you want. The resultant attacks can be applied to any set of targets within 6 meters of each other. You also only get skill level 1 with a full auto attack.<br/><br/>Vehicle combat is a bastard mix of the space combat system with human level damage. To put it mildly it's not very well done in the basic rules Once the "<em>Vehicle Handbook" </em> (Supplement 5/6) is added in it becomes much better. There is another version of vehicle combat in "<em>Hammers Slammers</em>", which really isn't compatible with the Book 0 + Supplement 5/6 system. Use one or the other. My personal preference is the Supplement 5/6 system.<br/><blockquote>I'm not fond of damage being applied to your characteristics, but it's an integral part of the Traveller system. I'm still working out how I'm going to replace it, if at all. The optional "knockout" and "random first blood" rules make it some what better, but I'm still not 100% happy with the mechanic</blockquote><br/>Next up, Encounters, Dangers, Healing and PatronsMike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-32248965007093134882012-07-14T14:56:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:13.535-07:00Mongoose Traveller Core Rulebook MGP 3800 Part 2 SkillsMongoose Traveller has taken the Classic Traveller 2d6+modifiers, beat a target score system and made it more consistent. All skill roles are 2d6+modifiers, beat 8. The amount you go over 8 on your total roll is called the "effect". The effect determines how well you did. An effect over 6 is, in d20 terms, a critical success. Because it's a 2d6 it's very sensitive to modifiers, so that a plus or minus 1 is much more important than it would be on a flat d12 for example.<br/><br/>If you are completely untrained in a skill you have a minus 3 on your roll. That moves your "must roll" number to 11+, assuming no characteristic modifiers. If you have level 0 in a skill, you get no modifier, which makes your "must roll" number 8+, a much easier roll. (41% vs 8%)<br/><br/>Skill rolls are ranked from "Easy" to "Formidable", which range from +6 to -6. Most example skill rolls range from Routine (+2) to Difficult (-2). Skill rolls are also ranked by how long it takes to make the check. You can make a roll harder or easier by taking less or more time to make the roll, with a DM or +/- per step up or down the scale. You can also do an "Aid other" via task chains, which add a DM based on the effect of each task in the chain to the next roll. This doesn't help as much as it should<br/><blockquote>MTU errata. Instead of it ranging from -3 to +2, the full effect of the roll is added to the next roll in the chain</blockquote><br/><br/>Some skills have specialties. Taking a level in a skill with a specialty normally gives you level 0 with the other specialties in that skills.<br/><br/><strong>The skill list:</strong><br/><br/><dl><dt>Admin</dt><dd>Dealing with paper pushers, but not with legal issues</dd><dt>Advocate</dt><dd>Dealing with legal issues</dd><dt>Animals</dt><dd>A very broad skill, ranging from simple riding through Veterinary, with a side of farming</dd><dt>Athletics</dt><dd>This is a more important skill than it's name would reflect as one of it's specialites (co-ordination) is used for throwing weapons in combat</dd><dt>Art</dt><dd>This covers all creative arts, acting, dance, holography etc</dd><dt>Astrogation</dt><dd>Plotting jumps. Vital for ship based games. Jumps don't happen until you pass an Astrogation check</dd><dt>Battle Dress</dt><dd>This is one of the few skill you simple have to have to use something and is not rolled vs much in game.</dd><dt>Broker</dt><dd>Vital for traders.</dd><dt>Carouse</dt><dd>Yes, there is a skill for being a party animal</dd><dt>Comms</dt><dd>Aside for the obvious communications uses, it's also used for electronic warfare rolls</dd><dt>Computers</dt><dd>Using, programming and hacking computers</dd><dt>Deception</dt><dd>Lie, cheat and steal</dd><dt>Diplomat</dt><dd>Fun fact, it's harder to greet the Emperor than it is to negotiate a peace treaty</dd><dt>Drive</dt><dd>Ground based vehicles</dd><dt>Engineer</dt><dd>Space ship repair.</dd><dt>Explosives</dt><dd>Making things go bang with out hurting your self</dd><dt>Flyer</dt><dd>Aircraft and Grav vehicles</dd><dt>Gambler</dt><dd>Having this skill lets you add 1 to your cash mustering out rolls</dd><dt>Gunner</dt><dd>Spaceship weapons</dd><dt>Gun Combat</dt><dd>Rifles, pistols, lasers, that sort of thing</dd><dt>Heavy Weapons</dt><dd>Any thing bigger than a small arm, to include the PGMG/FGMP things</dd><dt>Instigate</dt><dd>Forensics etc.</dd><dt>Jack of all trades</dt><dd>A special skill. Each rank in it reduces your unskilled penalty by 1. Level 0 and more than 3 levels in the skill are useless. This skill can't be learned in game play and cost 5x normal cost if using the point by system. It's very powerful</dd><dt>Language</dt><dd>Speaking, reading and writing a language other than your native language</dd><dt>Leadership</dt><dd>Primary use is to increase initiative in combat</dd><dt>Mechanic</dt><dd>Fixing things that don't require the Engineer skill</dd><dt>Medic</dt><dd>Ranges from battle field first aid to surgery and long term care</dd><dt>Melee</dt><dd>Smacking people or monsters upside the head with various things.</dd><dt>Persuade</dt><dd>A more informal version of diplomacy</dd><dt>Pilot</dt><dd>Flying spaceships. Aircraft is covered by flyer</dd><dt>Recon</dt><dd>Seeing things that are either hidden or out of place</dd><dt>Remote Operations</dt><dd>Controlling drones, robots and the like</dd><dt>Science</dt><dd>This is divided into Physical, Life, Social and Space sciences, each of which has their own specializations</dd><dt>Seafarer</dt><dd>The water version of Drive</dd><dt>Sensors</dt><dd>Reading data from electronic sensor devices</dd><dt>Steward</dt><dd>The care and feeding of High and Middle passengers</dd><dt>Streetwise</dt><dd>Yo, keeping it real</dd><dt>Survival</dt><dd>Keeping it real in the woods</dd><dt>Tactics</dt><dd>Covers board games to major fleet battles</dd><dt>Trade</dt><dd>Knowing how to produce a good or service.This is the exception to the rule that if you have level 1 in a specialty you have level 0 in the other specialties.</dd><dt>Vacc Suit</dt><dd>Knowing how to wear a vacc suit</dd><dt>Zero-G</dt><dd>Knowing how to move in micro gravity and using a grav belt</dd></dl>Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-17102769959580147442012-07-12T23:14:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:13.487-07:00Traveller Core Rulebook (MGP 3800) Part one Character Generation.The Traveller Main Book, (TMB) to use the term that the Traveller OGL SRD uses.<br/>First pass and first impression: Cleaned up and brought to 21st Century role playing game rules version of Classic Traveller books 1-3, more or less.<br/><br/>Getting out the fine tooth comb now!<br/><br/>Character Generation, at first glance seems to be be very close to the "Classic Traveller" mode, however even a character that is a total failure (which in this case means a 2 EDU and a failed survival roll in his/her first term is going to end up a playable character, at least as far as skills goes, with seven level 0 skills, one career level 1 skill and at least one level 1 package skill (only 1 skill would assume a party size of 5-8 and being towards the end of the party list). An overachieving and lucky 1 term character can end up with eleven level 0 skills, six skill levels in careers skills, one skill level from the connection rule, and 2 skills from the packages, assuming a party size of 4.<br/><br/>How did I come up with those numbers? Back ground skills, which is 3 + your EDU DM (1-5) are level 0 skills. You get all 6 of the service skills table as level 0 skills on joining a career, if it's your first career, one career skill level for joining, one career skill level for advancement, one skill level for connections based off an event, one skill from an event and at least 1, and as many as 4 skills from the packages (4 skills would be for a party size of 2 which would be rule rape. 2 is closer to normal).<br/><br/>Looking at the 12 non psionic careers in some detail:<br/><ol><br/> <li>Agent (LEO or spy) Good to great for sneaking around and investigating things, with a good self protection options but not really much use out side of those areas. No rank 0 skills, but does have rank 1 skills. Good planetary character option, however has both TAS and ship share mustering out benefits</li><br/> <li>Army. Great for breaking things and killing folk, as to be expected. There is a skill level in Gun combat (slug or energy rifle) for rank 0, which makes one of the basic training level 0 skill a wash (gun combat). There is surprising depth to the skill lists, with several important non combat options also available.<br/><blockquote>MTU errata: "Gunnery" is replaced with "Heavy Weapons" for the Cavalry specialist.</blockquote><br/></li><br/> <li>Citizen. Good to great support character, however has almost no combat skills. No rank 0 or rank 1 skills.<br/><blockquote>MTU errata: Colonist gets Gun Combat at rank 0, not rank 6!</blockquote><br/></li><br/> <li>Drifter, the you can always take this career career. Skills all over the map, depending on the specialist taken. Scavenger is a good generalist space crewman character. Wanderer is a dark reflection of Agent and Barbarian is, well, a barbarian. Rank 1 skills, 14 based survival/advancement rolls, which makes it a hard career to either avoid mishaps or advance in, as apposed to the normal 12 base careers, which have trade off options.</li><br/> <li>Entertainer. More useful as a patron than as a playable character, however has people and creative skills to burn. Rank 1 skills or ability adjustments. Journalist makes a good character in an investigate campaign, however lacks the self defense options of an Agent. If you think your group needs a "Face" this would be a good career to use to generate it.</li><br/> <li>Marines Great for breaking things and killing folk IN SPACE! Spaced based version of Army and only career in TMB that has Battle Dress skill. Rank 0 and Rank 1 skills. Rank 5 officers are SOC 10 minimum.</li><br/> <li>Merchants. Good to great for space based characters that don't really expect to be shot at on the ground. Merchant Marine specialist best non-naval space based career, covering all the major space skills, other than Astrogation, which is available as an Advanced Education skill. A mix of Merchant Marines and Star Marines is a good general group of people for a "Traveller" or "Free Trader" based game. Free Trader specialist is almost as good, however lacks the Gunnery skill. Broker is a star port, not a starship based career in the main, but given that the "broker" skill is a service skill which means the other 2 specialists can get it, Broker is the weakest of the 3 specialists careers of the Merchants.<br/><blockquote>MTU errata,the "Free Trader" benefit represents 10 years off the mortgage, not 5% off the cost of the ship.</blockquote><br/></li><br/> <li>Navy. Great space based characters that are more about blowing up or capturing hostile space ships than trading on the ground. Flight Specialist best over all, however none of the specialist are weak. Rank 1 skills. Rank 6 officers are at least Barons.</li><br/> <li>Nobility. Drifter for people with SOC over 9. Damn near impossible to enter unless you have a high SOC DM, but if you do have a high enough (10+) SOC, you get in for free. Assuming a SOC of 9 or greater, which is what you really need to be in this career, you can not fail a Dilettante survival roll, other than on a natural two. The Administrator and Diplomat specialists give good "people skills". Dilettante makes a party animal. No combat skills, other than Melee (blade). 10, 12, and 11 based survival/advancement rolls, which means this is an easy career to survive and advance in.</li><br/> <li>Rogue. Tends to generate a combat character, however there are a surprising number of non combat skills. Rank 1 skills. The "Pirate" specialist is a very good choice for a solo or small group space based character, as all the important space skills are included, plus melee blade, which is fairly effective in "inside a ship" combat environment. A mix of all 3 careers would make for a good "<em>Burn Notice</em> " party group. Only major skill missing is "Broker", which really only matters if you are planing on doing a merchant legit buy and sell stuff based campaign.<br/><blockquote> MTU errata, the Corsair benefit gives you the ship free and clear, as the idea of a pirate with a mortgage on his/her ship is just to silly for words. "Ship Share" is replaced with "Armor" and "Two Ship Share" is replaced with "Ship's Boat"</blockquote><br/></li><br/> <li>Scholar. Generates fair to good support characters, for planetary based groups. While a scholar has a good chance of getting a ship, they can't run it by them self, having no "bridge" skills at all. Rank 1 skills</li><br/> <li>Scout. Good generalist characters, missing only "paper pushers" type skills. Only one that with out house rule changes that can get a ship that is more or less free and clear. Rank 1 skills. (note, unlike CT, MGT scouts have ranks, just no titles to go with those ranks, other than "Scout" for rank 1 and "Senior Scout" at rank 3.<br/><blockquote>MTU errata, "Ship Share" replaced with "Air Raft".</blockquote><br/></li><br/></ol><br/><br/><hr /><br/><br/>As a wrap up, what's the best Career? In my opinion it's a toss up between "Merchant Marine", "Pirate" and being a multi-specialist scout, however, given the "Skill package" system, a decent party can be made from any career mix.<br/><br/>Which brings us to the wild cards for skills. By using the "Connection" rules, you, in addition to having a reason to be an adventuring party, gives any character, of any career, at least two "free" skill levels, in any skill, even those not on their career lists. This can cover some of the "missing" skills for other wise strong careers. The "skill packages" are designed to insure that a party will have at least level 1 skills in the skills they must have for a given campaign type. This is very useful, assuming you know what type of campaign you will be running. The skill package types are<br/><ul><br/> <li>Traveller</li><br/> <li>Mercenary</li><br/> <li>Trader</li><br/> <li>Starship</li><br/> <li>Explorer</li><br/> <li>Diplomat</li><br/> <li>Investigator</li><br/> <li>Criminal</li><br/></ul><br/>Traveller and Explorer being the best all around packages, with Trader and Starship being the 2nd best, assuming a "normal" Traveller type game. The other 4 tend to be rather campaign specific.<br/><br/>As in Classic Traveller "aging" is used to prevent making 4+ term super skilled characters. Injuries are also used to generate medical bills, however most careers have some sort of "insurance" which will cover most, if not all, of the cost of recovery. Anagathics exists, however will generate medical bills, and double the number of survival rolls a character has to make. Medical bills are a good reason to start generating cash, even if you don't have a ship to pay off.<br/><br/>Alternate generation systems:<br/><ul><br/> <li>Solo generation . As normal, however the GM will provide a list of NPC for the character to generate "connections" with, as opposed to the normal system of the connection being a player character, and you just get 1 skill at level 1 instead of using the skill package rules.</li><br/> <li>Iron man. Classic Traveller all the way. No mishaps, if you fail a survival roll, you died. Start over man.</li><br/> <li>Select skills. Instead of rolling for a skill, you just select one.<br/><blockquote>MTU errata, your career skill is selected, your advancement skill is rolled.</blockquote><br/></li><br/> <li>Point buy. <em>Just say no</em>. This has the least "CT" feel of all the methods. I can see this being used by game groups that have grown up with less random character generation systems. That being said, the fact that it doesn't use careers at all makes it really not a "Traveller" character generation system at all. And because ranks have to be bought, and don't give any skills or benefits, you will almost always end up with rank 0 characters, at least by min/max type players.<br/><blockquote>I am using this as a basis for the XP system I'm using, but that's post character generation.</blockquote><br/></li><br/></ul><br/>All the alternate systems, other than point buy, can be used together.<br/><br/>Character generation ends with a short bit on doing aliens, with very short examples of all the 3rd Imperium /OTU major races, plus uplifted Apes and Dolphins. Of these, Aslan, Vargr, Zhodani and the uplifts have been superseded by their own books, which I will get to in due time.<br/><br/>Next up, Skills and Combat.Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-394850115286966979.post-25582579794945259562012-07-12T07:02:00.000-07:002015-03-13T20:28:13.478-07:00Mongoose Traveller, a slow read overI'm going to start a "slow read" review of the Mongoose Traveller (MGT) line of books. The MGT line starts with the Traveller Core Rulebook and goes on for 40 plus books. I'm going to be reviewing, or what ever it is I'm doing the "Books", "Supplements", "Compendiums" rule book series and the Third Imperium series of back ground books. I'm going to be (re)reading and reviewing them by their Mongoose series number.Mike Looneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16942657810234378665noreply@blogger.com0