A thing that makes it difficult in doing hardish SF in a RPG is that the players will simply ask the GM the results w/o doing the calcs. Which is entirely normal, as that is what people would do in real life is ask the ship's computer. The rub lies in that the computer was an NPC run by me, so I was loading myself up with the extra rules. Lesson: KISS. #KosmicRPG#CepheusEngine#TravellerRRG#ttrpgDesign
Made me look into Cepheus for the first time, which made me realize it is not actually a pared down MgT but a variation of Classic.
Which means it is missing the best part of MgT: the life path character generation system.
That was the part that really interested me in Traveller, and which my players loved.
I’m studying some ideas for a future hard sci-fi adventure using Mongoose Traveller 2ed and Orbital 2100, with player characters landing in Europa (Jupiter’s moon) to study the chance of life in the ocean under the moon’s icy shell.
I’m thinking about giving them some kind of submarine vessels, like a bathyscaphe or armoured diving suits, and probably a mobile base. Have any of you thought about how to design a vehicle that can be at the same time a dropship and a terrestrial base/vehicle to travel over the surface of Europa and transport the bathyscaphe to a chosen site?
Continuing on with the planetary map project I wrote up on the weekend, the second half of that before gears shift and it's time to start laying down some text.
A little essay on how I go about doing the thing I do best, making planets for Traveller/Cepheus Engine, via a discussion of the main world in my Three Clusters setting.
Prose is where my talent lies, but to self-publish projects I need to work on art too. Life drawing is not my forte AT ALL.
So I've focused on maps & diagrams because what's better than a good world map? I think this is my best so far (printed in the free Wallwichen world book I've got on DriveThruRPG for curious potential customers).
Still not entirely happy how the text & the cartographic features clash with each other, but I continue to study real maps for ideas. 1/2
Please respond by saying what sorts of TTRPG things you're pretty likely to either talk about or respond to if you see them.
This can be a list of games (D&D! Tribe 8! Fate!) or categories (the weirdest of indie stuff! NSR! Anything PBtA!), topics (Worldbuilding! Publishing!), stuff you're making, meta-commentary (The State Of The Industry), and so on.
Then maybe share, and if the replies are building up, check them for new people.
When doing something for myself it's either #systemless settings or #cepheusengine. #ADandD from back in the day and never felt much need to move up any edition numbers there due to sunk costs....
Decided to try some Solo Traveller. So making four characters and will see how big of a ship they can afford. I figure they can have up to 50% of their ship a loan.
Of course, they are likely to need to hire a few more for the crew, depending on ship size. One ship share (50 tons) so far.
Unfortunately, Keith recently lost his battle with cancer and left his family with a lot of debt for his care.
In an attempt to defray some of those costs, many Traveller and Cepheus publishers have banded together to present this bundle. All of the money raised by this bundle will go directly to Keith's wife, Megan, to pay those medical bills.
This is Free Trader Beowulf,
calling anyone…
Mayday, Mayday…
we are under attack…
main drive is gone…
turret number one not responding…
Mayday…
losing cabin pressure fast…
calling anyone…
please help…
This is Free Trader Beowulf…
Mayday…