10 questions to ask Joe Fugate
- Thread starter kafka47
- Start date
Sweet stars above! Joe, thank you SO much for the post! I've always loved the MT campaign myself and look upon DGP's publications as some of the finest ever produced for Traveller.
To find out the background of the Primordials fills in a large hole that's always grated for me.
Thank you again for the info and such wonderful material over the years.
To find out the background of the Primordials fills in a large hole that's always grated for me.
Thank you again for the info and such wonderful material over the years.
M
Malenfant
Guest
That's a pretty nifty background. Cool - there were hints dropped about it in MTJ#4, but not that much!
Larsen:
It's actually more akin to 50% of all the nations on earth suddenly showing up on the borders of Canada and Mexico and then marching across. Set this in the mid 1800s ...
And have many of our troops busy in central Asia ... that's a close analogy, although still not perfect.
The Imperium does not have enough troops to defend all its borders all at once. Many of the races outside the Imperium decided to move quickly once they got the news (which still took time to reach everyone ... hence the mid 1800s analogy ... it could be months before our troops in central Asia even knew we had a problem back home).
Similar thing here. Plus it makes for more adventure, and that never hurts an adventure game.
Of course, the Aslan are basically land squatters at heart, and the Vargr always like an excuse for a good scrap. Mess up the Imperial chain of command and set it into disarray and it's likely all you will have to face for a while is the local system forces. Once the Imperials sort things out, there's a good chance you could be entrenched and be able to defend your position.
And so it goes ...
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Did MWM authorise the primordials story arc?
Can they be considered "canonical" I wonder?
(I hope so
)
Can they be considered "canonical" I wonder?
(I hope so
)Yes, Marc at the time was fine with it. They published Knightfall, which introduced the primordials.
And the Zhodani artifact that shows routes to the core is in the original Zhodani alien module.
The groundwork was laid, and we discussed what we wanted to do with the primordials in the Zhodani & Droyne alien book.
But that was before the DGP products were declared to no longer be canon, so who knows now.
And the Zhodani artifact that shows routes to the core is in the original Zhodani alien module.
The groundwork was laid, and we discussed what we wanted to do with the primordials in the Zhodani & Droyne alien book.
But that was before the DGP products were declared to no longer be canon, so who knows now.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Ah, but they are still fuzzy canon
Hunter himself has defended their "canonicity" both on these forums and over at rpgnet.
What were you going to do with the Droyne part of the third Alien book?
Hunter himself has defended their "canonicity" both on these forums and over at rpgnet.
What were you going to do with the Droyne part of the third Alien book?
Excuse me? Is there anything in my post that you feel would so offend him that he would leave in a huff? If so, please point it out to me. I thought I was being quite civil.Originally posted by Sigg Oddra:
Oh well, it was nice to talk to Joe while he was here
Or are you attempting to make a joke?
Hans
hunter
Ancient - Absent Friend
I thought he was being quite civil. Folks are free to disagree as long as no personal attacks come into it.
As the previous poster mentioned however, it would be best to post responding comments in a new thread and leave this one for Joe to post his answers.
Hunter
M
Malenfant
Guest
You could just copy your post yourself and start a new one with it? (that's probably easier than getting hunter to do it for you ).
).Next question ...
4. The Grand Tour had a feel that many of the adventures were part of a larger campaign. Was this a campaign that you or Gary ran?
a) If so, were there adventures that you would liked to see published but didn't make the cut? Could you elaborate on any details that you might remember?
===================================================
Well, I did run some Traveller campaigns prior to the DGP days, but the grand tour was planned in advance as to the route and the biggies like the visits to Vland, Capitol, Earth, and Aslan space, and the great "revelation" about the Aslan.
Beyond that, everything else just came out as we went along. We did playtest all the adventures with the same basic players throughout the tour, which was fun.
I referee'd most of them, but Gary did some too.
We planned things 1 or two adventures in advance. I don't recall any adventure ideas for the tour that we didn't end up using eventually.
The Rebellion came up just before we hit Capitol and was largely Marc's idea. We just got to implement it (which was a real tip of the hat to us at the time ...).
I was always partial to the Keith brothers adventures. I thought they could weave a good yarn, and was thrilled to get to print the Lords of Thunder adventure by Bill Keith in our last Traveller release, MTJ4.
4. The Grand Tour had a feel that many of the adventures were part of a larger campaign. Was this a campaign that you or Gary ran?
a) If so, were there adventures that you would liked to see published but didn't make the cut? Could you elaborate on any details that you might remember?
===================================================
Well, I did run some Traveller campaigns prior to the DGP days, but the grand tour was planned in advance as to the route and the biggies like the visits to Vland, Capitol, Earth, and Aslan space, and the great "revelation" about the Aslan.
Beyond that, everything else just came out as we went along. We did playtest all the adventures with the same basic players throughout the tour, which was fun.
I referee'd most of them, but Gary did some too.
We planned things 1 or two adventures in advance. I don't recall any adventure ideas for the tour that we didn't end up using eventually.
The Rebellion came up just before we hit Capitol and was largely Marc's idea. We just got to implement it (which was a real tip of the hat to us at the time ...).
I was always partial to the Keith brothers adventures. I thought they could weave a good yarn, and was thrilled to get to print the Lords of Thunder adventure by Bill Keith in our last Traveller release, MTJ4.
Mr. Fugate,
All these behind-the-scenes peeks are spectacular! Thank you again for sharing them with us!
DGP's Grand Tour was indeed grand. I'd always wondered if the adventures printed for it were the only ones run or if your group had run others - meaning there might have been more goodies in the pipeline. While they may have not been any more (sigh), what great adventures they were!
Just trying to choose a couple off the top of my pointy head...
- The one set on the Rim aboard a lab ship with a runaway Ancients sabtage 'bot. Dur stuck in the ship's boat as the power plant malfunctions, the drunken and bad tempered ship's engineer, the lead researcher stealing her underlings ideas, the befuddled Vegan, all really good stuff.
- One of the early ones set on a tidally locked world among a seemingly primitive people. The group trying to keep Aybee's nature hidden, the tribal bully trying to pick fights, the curious little boy who may inadvertantly lure the players into breaking taboo, all in all a nice change of scene and play style proving that Traveller can be more than starships and a PGMP-15.
- Of course DGP's Antiquity adventure ranks right up there with the Keith Brothers' work IMHO. Just the stuff on how the Vargr speak is priceless, let alone the six-fingerd NeoVargr and the dolphin with tentacles. I ran it once and, as soon as my players finally got those SMGs away from the Doggies, they went crazy trying to figure out how to bring out as much data as possible. They sent Krenstein (the weakest member) through the wall in the hopes he could send small amounts of food back via the monadium 'eggs'. They even drank the water Aybee's fuel cell produced!
I'd like to add another question to the list; You playtested your adventures, so who played Dur, who played Kid, who was the Doc, and who played Aybee?
Sincerely,
Larsen
All these behind-the-scenes peeks are spectacular! Thank you again for sharing them with us!
DGP's Grand Tour was indeed grand. I'd always wondered if the adventures printed for it were the only ones run or if your group had run others - meaning there might have been more goodies in the pipeline. While they may have not been any more (sigh), what great adventures they were!
Just trying to choose a couple off the top of my pointy head...
- The one set on the Rim aboard a lab ship with a runaway Ancients sabtage 'bot. Dur stuck in the ship's boat as the power plant malfunctions, the drunken and bad tempered ship's engineer, the lead researcher stealing her underlings ideas, the befuddled Vegan, all really good stuff.
- One of the early ones set on a tidally locked world among a seemingly primitive people. The group trying to keep Aybee's nature hidden, the tribal bully trying to pick fights, the curious little boy who may inadvertantly lure the players into breaking taboo, all in all a nice change of scene and play style proving that Traveller can be more than starships and a PGMP-15.
- Of course DGP's Antiquity adventure ranks right up there with the Keith Brothers' work IMHO. Just the stuff on how the Vargr speak is priceless, let alone the six-fingerd NeoVargr and the dolphin with tentacles. I ran it once and, as soon as my players finally got those SMGs away from the Doggies, they went crazy trying to figure out how to bring out as much data as possible. They sent Krenstein (the weakest member) through the wall in the hopes he could send small amounts of food back via the monadium 'eggs'. They even drank the water Aybee's fuel cell produced!
I'd like to add another question to the list; You playtested your adventures, so who played Dur, who played Kid, who was the Doc, and who played Aybee?
Sincerely,
Larsen
A quickie:
Dur and Aybee were played by a husband and wife ... Craig Sweigart played Dur and his wife Nona (a full blooded native American, by the way) played Aybee.
I always remember Nona being concerned in various cultures about giving away her robot nature and playing Aybee as quiet but ready to go whenever the group was in danger.
And Craig in real life resembled Dur to a certain degree in his nature. Clever, yet not boastful, and a good technical bent.
The others were played by various people and they just don't stick with me right now like Craig and Nona did.
And yes, the Antiquity adventure was one of the most memorable for us, too. A real science-fictiony feel. Of course Gary played the Vargr NPCs to the hilt.
Dur and Aybee were played by a husband and wife ... Craig Sweigart played Dur and his wife Nona (a full blooded native American, by the way) played Aybee.
I always remember Nona being concerned in various cultures about giving away her robot nature and playing Aybee as quiet but ready to go whenever the group was in danger.
And Craig in real life resembled Dur to a certain degree in his nature. Clever, yet not boastful, and a good technical bent.
The others were played by various people and they just don't stick with me right now like Craig and Nona did.
And yes, the Antiquity adventure was one of the most memorable for us, too. A real science-fictiony feel. Of course Gary played the Vargr NPCs to the hilt.
M
Malenfant
Guest
Funnily enough (and I don't intend to slight anyone with this), when I ran it I (and the players) found the Antiquity adventure to be so dull that it basically put me off ever playing or running in the OTU again. And before you say "it must have been the GM's (i.e. my) fault", I was just running it straight from the book. All you do is get locked in an Ancient base, and wander round looking in rooms, seeing weird stuff, and then you leave. 
Obviously others have fun with it, but evidently our group just didn't get it, I guess. Maybe it just wasn't the best adventure to start people who had no backgroud in Traveller with. But considering this is touted by some as one of the best adventures for Traveller, and that I've found other published CT adventures to be similarly uninspiring, it's not surprising that I've never been persuaded to play in the OTU again.
Obviously others have fun with it, but evidently our group just didn't get it, I guess. Maybe it just wasn't the best adventure to start people who had no backgroud in Traveller with. But considering this is touted by some as one of the best adventures for Traveller, and that I've found other published CT adventures to be similarly uninspiring, it's not surprising that I've never been persuaded to play in the OTU again.
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