760 Patrons

[Supplement Four]

The reviews on 760 Patrons seem to be all over the place. Some think it is well worth the investment. Some like it, but think it shouldn't be a Traveller product--instead more of a generic SciFi product. Some think it's a waste of money and something that should have been a freebie download.

Simple question on this poll: Do you think that 760 Patrons is a worthwhile supplement--worth the $20 bucks or so you paid for it?

Those that don't actually own the supplement are invited to respond as well, citing whether they will be purchasing the book or not.

 

[Border Reiver]

Is there anyone that has actually bought it that thought it a waste of money?

When there are waste of money products people are plenty vocal about it and being ripped off. I haven't actually heard anyone that bought express disappointment, surprise at it not being quite what they anticipated but disappointment? No.

 

[kafka47]

Hard to vote as I got mine free...it might not be worth $20 but it is a solid generic SF product with elements of desperation thrown in. By that I mean, like the adventures that appear in Signs & Portents are not MTU** but I could adapt them to being so. 760 Patrons is a worthwhile successor to 76 Patrons but Wanted Adventurers...it sadly is not. Like many things the 'goose is trying to break some new ground...compare it the early years of GDW not DGP**. They are not so much continuing the brand but rebranding it or rebooting it...to use the marketing parlance.

With quality writers like Flynn & MJD enlisted they have an excellent chance of making it work. For all its flaws Spinward Marches was brilliant save the execution done for the 1248 line superior to Bearers of the Flame. In the future, I think and hope that we might see a dialectic between medoire products and excellent products because of the 'goose's timelines with hopefully the quality only steadily improving as they get familairity with the Traveller Universe. And, quite frankly, I can see supplements being less quality than the Core books and Adventures almost as a rule of the industry.

Remember, they do not have someone like Loren or Jon on staff and rely upon Marc to vet products. So give them time but be sure to participate in the playtests to help them better.

**DGP was started by a bunch of Traveller nuts like most of us on this board. Whereas, GDW was a stop & go venture just testing the market then had a runaway product on their hands producing some good things in those early years and some very dubious by today's standard. Just because the bar has been raised by over 30yrs of gognards playing Traveller does not mean that each and every company or product will reach it.

S4 - you & I disagree about quite a few things but if I were to advise you - wait for the PDF for 760, chances are it will be cheaper and you will not feel your money wasted. Buy instead: Spinward Marches book or better yet the PDF from Drive Through.

 

[Vargas]

First, I think it would have been better to have more than two such diametrically opposed choices for the poll. I personally won't be buying it, but that's due more to issues of cost, (yes I realize the PDFs will be cheaper), and having already invested in three versions of the game and therefore my position is more one of "no thank you" and not "hell no".

For all its flaws Spinward Marches was brilliant save the execution done for the 1248 line superior to Bearers of the Flame. In the future, I think and hope that we might see a dialectic between medoire products and excellent products because of the 'goose's timelines with hopefully the quality only steadily improving as they get familairity with the Traveller Universe.

Second, not having seen SM, I'm a little in the dark to what's being referred to here.

 

[aramis]

I looked through it at the store. Not worth it for me. The writing is not "game-ready"...

 

[Border Reiver]

That's the sort of stuff I was wanting to hear.

not game ready

It's the sort of feeling I got when I opened it up and saw it was nothing like 76 Patrons or JTAS's Encounter or Amber Zone sections. In fact I saw it as having more in common with 1001 Characters (and that was a waste of money!). But it was more what 1001 Characters should have been, pen portraits and some motivations. Ideal for slipping into an off the cuff scene or filling out a ship crew. And of course it could have been better but still worth every penny.

 

[jimg]

With no middle ground, I can't vote here.

I think it is worth the money, but it's not so great that it deserves a "Hell Yes"

 

[Klaus]

I looked through it at the store. Not worth it for me. The writing is not "game-ready"...

I don't regard the 'full' patron format to be 'game ready' either. They're little more than detailed adventure hooks themselves.

760 is one of those rare cases of 'quantity' over 'quality' that works. The comprehensiveness in giving all the careers (+ the 6 new merc careers) a bunch of contacts/rivals/enemies/allies is great. And the entries only require a little more writing up than 'traditional' patrons do already.

I actually wasn't expecting 760 to be as useful as it is.

 

[aramis]

For to be game ready, and most of 76patrons wasn't, either, it'd need to have UPP's for the major characters, and have better content.

I might buy it if it hits $10. Odds are it will turn up for my mid-september birthday. I am waiting on Mercenary and HG... those will determine, fundamentally, whether I hybridize MT and MGT, or go back to MT only, or go MGT only.

 

[Hemdian]

Is 760 Patrons worth buying? It depends on who you are.

• For some people anything with "Traveller" on the cover has to be bought. That could be because of the collector mentality and/or it could be to support this niche within a niche industry. Worth buying = yes.
  
  
• Some people have been playing Traveller for years and, while thay might not automatically buy everything that has "Traveller" on the cover, nevertheless already own a similar product be it the original 76 Patrons (GDW/FFE), 101 Plots (BITS), and/or 101 Patrons (BITS). Worth buying = no.
  
  
• However, some people have been playing Traveller for years ... and frequently use 76 Patrons/101 Plots/101 Patrons but have exhausted them. Worth buying = yes.
  
  
• Some people have been playing Traveller for years are have campaigns and plot ideas aready mapped out. They never use a product like this. Worth buying = no.
  
  
• Some people are new to Traveller. They've been bought in via a more general interest in Mongoose products but they're not sure how to play it yet. Worth buying = yes.

So, which group you are in gives you your answer. Personally, since the MGT line seems more focussed on this last group, I would have preferred to have seen several fully written mini-adventures and a smaller number of 'patron' entries in this product. On the other hand I'm in the first group so what do I care?

 

[Bishop Odo]

In General, I’m kind of disappointed in the Mongoose Traveller. The rule book art, yea I know its just art, really tweaked me. There is a picture of an 800 ton subsided liner that looks more like the Enterprise, it huge. First thing, I thought was this artist and art director never played Traveller and did not have a clue. It really made me appreciate the Keith brothers; after all you know they played the game. Will I change my mind, sure, I hope so. I only buy the good stuff, and I have not checked out the Spinward Marches yet, so there is still hope.

 

[Klaus]

In General, I’m kind of disappointed in the Mongoose Traveller. The rule book art, yea I know its just art, really tweaked me. There is a picture of an 800 ton subsided liner that looks more like the Enterprise, it huge. First thing, I thought was this artist and art director never played Traveller and did not have a clue. It really made me appreciate the Keith brothers; after all you know they played the game. Will I change my mind, sure, I hope so. I only buy the good stuff, and I have not checked out the Spinward Marches yet, so there is still hope.

Will I'll agree it looks superficially like the sub liner, there's no evidence that that is actually what it is. Bit more mileage in being critical of the chargen pages art.

 

[Burocrate]

Is 760 Patrons worth buying? It depends on who you are.

• 
  
  Thank you Hemdian, I am of the same opinion about 760 Patrons. It is a Traveller product; therefore, I must own it. However, my feeling of necessity was lessened when I paged through it at my FLGS. I liked the vast number of alternatives, and like the layout/organization of the book but I was expecting a higher level of detail. True, this would have made it a 1200 page tome to flesh out a full 760 Patron adventure seeds but that is what I am looking for. I am too lazy/busy to have a backlog of random scenarios at hand for when the PCs go off the map.
  
  I like the book, I want the book but after looking it over I can wait till I pick up my Mongoose Mercenary first. (No pun or other alliteration intended, but enjoyed all the same.)

 

[Thoth-Amon]

Polls

Every time i try to participate in polls, i get this reply:

"Your submission could not be processed because a security token was missing or mismatched.

If this occurred unexpectedly, please inform the administrator and describe the action you performed before you received this error."

Oh, & yes, i have tried to inform the administrator numerous times.

Anyone know how i can remedy this?

Thoth-Amon

 

[aramis]

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[Merxiless]

I think it's brilliant, and quite useful, not just for Traveller but for all of my sci fi rpg campaigns, primarily Traveller, but also Alternity, and Star Trek, particularly.

I could launch whole mini-campaigns off of these hooks, which are damn useful.

So many ideas in one book. I'm glad to have paid 29.95 plus tax at my FLGS.

 

[CosmicGamer]

I think it's brilliant, and quite useful, not just for Traveller but for all of my sci fi rpg campaigns, primarily Traveller, but also Alternity, and Star Trek, particularly.

I could launch whole mini-campaigns off of these hooks, which are damn useful.

So many ideas in one book. I'm glad to have paid 29.95 plus tax at my FLGS.

Details please.

This sounds like a product solely for the referee. Just a bunch of possible adventure starters? or is there something else in there?

 

[Merxiless]

In a nutshell is is a series of tables and charts with amplifying text, such that for a scout:

(paraphrasing, making stuff up)

An old veteran scout contacts the group.

Possible outcomes / plot:
1. The scout has info on an uncharted planet that he discovered in the service, and didn't report. The find, even claimed just for the mineral rights, would be worth millions.

2. The scout has access to a donosev class survey ship, and needs a trustworthy crew to fill it out.

3. The scout has run into legal difficulties and offers the group 100,000 credits to fly him, no questions asked, to a little known backwater world.

4. the scout recalls their service together, and has many useful skills acquired during service, and offers to work with the group.

175 pages of that.

I found piles of ideas that I could use for most any sci fi game inside.

 

[casquilho]

I think this is a good product for starting GMs or a group that is new to Traveller to own a copy. I would not call it a must have though. It will help a new GM by sparking ideas, but the GM will need to do a lot of work to get the "encounter" useable in a game.

I am not sorry I bought it, but I am not gushing about it either. It could have been much better. To steal a phrase from Aramis, it was not even close to game ready and I would have expected it to be at least close.

Daniel