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A Referee's Manual Outline - concept

robject

robject

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...might consist of:

  1. Referee's Responsibilities (how to referee, adventure types, etc)
  2. Conduct of the adventuring session
  3. Adventure schema (chase/pursuit, assault/rescue, exploration, enrichment, enigma, novelty)
  4. Traveller Campaigns (Gimmick, push, pull, enigma...)
  5. Guide to Tasks
  6. Guide to Interpersonals
  7. Guide to Skills
  8. Encounters
  9. Ship Economics
  10. Ship Operations (by section)
  11. Ship Encounters / Space Combat
  12. Mainworlds
  13. Starports
  14. Maps and Charts
  15. Trade and Commerce
  16. Animals (yes BeastMaker)
  17. Clones, Synthetics, and Robots
  18. Sophonts
  19. Psionics
  20. A quick guide to Charted Space

Maybe, maybe ACS Zero. But for now I'm assuming no.

A large part of this list comes from MegaTraveller's Referee's Manual, by the way.
 
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ACS Design seems out of place here. I would leave that in the Core Rules along with the Makers and Sophont/Animal Design.
 
agorski said:
ACS Design seems out of place here. I would leave that in the Core Rules along with the Makers and Sophont/Animal Design.
Click to expand...

I suspect that Rob's idea is to have a players book and a DM's book. Not a DM's book and a set of core rules.

While it might be interesting to some players to design ships, most players are only going to be interested in making a character and playing mechanics.

Ship design, makers, and sophont/animal design all go to setting materials that the GM would be providing and need to work on but an average player would only interact with these things (not design them).
 
The concept still lacks focus, as your posts have shown. What's it for when we have core rules?

So: guidance to the referee, organized nicely and accessibly. That means tools stay in the Core Rules, generally.

I agree that ship design is out of place here.
 
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Ship design, ship combat, and trade and commerce are all activities that can and in the case of the later two do involve players.

A third book is required :)
 
mike wightman said:
Ship design, ship combat, and trade and commerce are all activities that can and in the case of the later two do involve players.

A third book is required :)
Click to expand...

I concur. And honestly, possibly a 4th book. I started re-reading Book 0, and it has all sorts of advice for both playing and refereeing. Although that could go into the 'in general' book.

Perhaps:
Referee Guide - world building, extensive notes on refereeing, brief overview of skills, etc
Player's Guide - character generation, skills greatly defined
Playing Traveller Guide aka Maker's Guide - shorter overview of playing and refereeing (book 0 redux), trade, ship building, vehicle design, weapon design. Basically the Makers.
 
coliver988 said:
I concur. And honestly, possibly a 4th book. I started re-reading Book 0, and it has all sorts of advice for both playing and refereeing. Although that could go into the 'in general' book.

Perhaps:
Referee Guide - world building, extensive notes on refereeing, brief overview of skills, etc
Player's Guide - character generation, skills greatly defined
Playing Traveller Guide aka Maker's Guide - shorter overview of playing and refereeing (book 0 redux), trade, ship building, vehicle design, weapon design. Basically the Makers.
Click to expand...

As another voice advocating the Makers be a separate book, I would advocate splitting the star system generation, sophonts, beasts, and empire building/trade system into one book, and the things designs (ships, vehicles, weapons, things) makers into another.

I would include the following things in the Referees manual
  1. Referee's Responsibilities (how to referee, adventure types, etc)
  2. Conduct of the adventuring session
  3. Adventure schema (chase/pursuit, assault/rescue, exploration, enrichment, enigma, novelty)
  4. Traveller Campaigns (Gimmick, push, pull, enigma...)
  5. On Using Charts
  6. Referee's Guide to Tasks

But I also would include a lot more about people and interacting with them. Given how deadly the Traveller combat is, I always found the lack of rules and suggestions around interaction with NPCs a very strange hole. And a big chunk of NPCs.
 
I would include, augment and detail the Personals Chapter from the Core Rules. I second that role-play has just as much value as gearheaded design chapters.
 
Good point about discussing Interpersonals and Skills. Also good point about leaving out star system "Book 6" level of design. Mainworld detail is important to retain, as is trade and commerce.

The Makers and detailed miscellany are in the Core Rules after all.
 
A players' rule book would just have more basic rules in it maybe? Like how the Hero System 6th edition did a Basic Rulebook version of their core rulebook. It was a paperback book with a lot less pages in it.

A T5.09 Players' Book would have simple chargen, simple task checks, simple skill/career lists, simple animal and world descriptions/encounters. And it would include lists of weapons, ships, equipment, patrons, animals, aliens, robots, that were not even included in the T5 corebook. And maybe include some adventure hooks in the back of the Players' Book.
 
ShawnDriscoll said:
A T5.09 Players' Book would have simple chargen, simple task checks, simple skill/career lists, simple animal and world descriptions/encounters. And it would include lists of weapons, ships, equipment, patrons, animals, aliens, robots, that were not even included in the T5 corebook. And maybe include some adventure hooks in the back of the Players' Book.
Click to expand...

Thanks Shawn. Currently, the proof-of-concept contents for a Player's Handbook looks like this:

6"x9" format. Currently appx 180pp. It could grow a bit more. It probably won't shrink.

3pp Welcome
65pp Chargen, Skills (9 careers)
18pp Advanced chargen rules, including sophonts (aliens & robots)
30pp Tasks, personals, personal combat
11pp Equipment
13pp Weapons and Armor
3pp Vehicles (undeveloped)
25pp Starships (12 ships)
2pp Last words / next steps

It's not complete nor final of course.
 
robject said:
6"x9" format. Currently appx 180pp. It could grow a bit more. It probably won't shrink.
Click to expand...

If you're going to go with that, can y'all give a call to the folks over at O'Reilly and go the extra mile to make it a "lay flat" binding?

It's a great, handy size, but the pages just don't stay open without under force that tends to be more damaging than not.
 
coliver988 said:
I concur. And honestly, possibly a 4th book. I started re-reading Book 0, and it has all sorts of advice for both playing and refereeing. Although that could go into the 'in general' book.

Perhaps:
Referee Guide - world building, extensive notes on refereeing, brief overview of skills, etc
Player's Guide - character generation, skills greatly defined
Playing Traveller Guide aka Maker's Guide - shorter overview of playing and refereeing (book 0 redux), trade, ship building, vehicle design, weapon design. Basically the Makers.
Click to expand...

tjoneslo said:
As another voice advocating the Makers be a separate book, I would advocate splitting the star system generation, sophonts, beasts, and empire building/trade system into one book, and the things designs (ships, vehicles, weapons, things) makers into another.
Click to expand...

I would like to second both points and recommend:

1. Player's Guide
2. Referee's Guide
3. Maker's Guide
4. World Builder's Guide
 
ShawnDriscoll said:
Needs to be the same hardcover size as that The Traveller Book and Mongoose Traveller 1st Edition are.
Click to expand...

No, it doesn't. 6x9 is becoming, more and more, the default size. In fact, it's kind of annoying that MGT was done in A4, rather than B4 or A5...
 
ShawnDriscoll said:
If you're Burning Wheel.
Click to expand...

Fate Core, Fiasco, Savage Worlds, and a number of others.

Comic racks work for 6x9, but not for 8.5 x 11 (typical large softcover) to 9x12 (the typical size for hardcovers with 8.5x11 pages)

Burning empires wasn't even 6x9 pages. 5.5x8.5.. in a 6x9x2 inch hardcover. Great game, traveller roots.
 
aramis said:
No, it doesn't. 6x9 is becoming, more and more, the default size. In fact, it's kind of annoying that MGT was done in A4, rather than B4 or A5...
Click to expand...

No it is not. I am very happy that MGT was done in the standard size rather then some smaller BS format.

I like that all my books are the same size and all my shelves are set for the normal game book size.
 
But then what does it matter what size you guys choose to go with since this product will never see the light of day. After all the core book isn't even fixed yet.
 
Morph WBG into setting guide- including worlds but also subsectors, interstellar polities/corps/orgs, less 3I and more sandboxy 'making design decisions for the setting with particular play points/style' in mind.
 
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