Anomalies

[Merxiless]

I'm a big fan of making each episode more like a 3-Act structure favorite sci-fi TV Show.

Gimmick, Push, Pull, and Enigma never worked for me, as a paradigm. At least not in the way it was presented.

I really think that most traveller adventures are not challenging enough, and are very much

Based on the map / dungeon room encounters that D&D had
or
Have too much of a linear storyline
or
Are a bunch of NPCs that you get to interact with, forcing the referee to improvise like mad.

That beind said, I like Traveller. Just that I also feel the need to rewrite a lot of them, before running them, Across the Bright Face standing out as one of the best Traveller adventures for me personally.

It had a map, lots of randomness, certainly, but there was a concrete goal, and it was just a question of will these obstacles wipe out the party, before they get to the destination.

 

[Merxiless]

I'm a big fan of making each episode more like a 3-Act structure favorite sci-fi TV Show.

Gimmick, Push, Pull, and Enigma never worked for me, as a paradigm. At least not in the way it was presented.

I really think that most traveller adventures are not challenging enough, and are very much

Based on the map / dungeon room encounters that D&D had
or
Have too much of a linear storyline
or
Are a bunch of NPCs that you get to interact with, forcing the referee to improvise like mad.

That beind said, I like Traveller. Just that I also feel the need to rewrite a lot of them, before running them, Across the Bright Face standing out as one of the best Traveller adventures for me personally.

It had a map, lots of randomness, certainly, but there was a concrete goal, and it was just a question of will these obstacles wipe out the party, before they get to the destination.

 

[kafka47]

Any suggestions from your own running my fellow Referees to the proportions of hoisin & soya for Anomalies, as I agree Merxiless that it does not seem like a lost cause.

 

[kafka47]

Any suggestions from your own running my fellow Referees to the proportions of hoisin & soya for Anomalies, as I agree Merxiless that it does not seem like a lost cause.

 

[Pickles]

Ma Po Tofu - takes the roof right off your mouth.

 

[Pickles]

Ma Po Tofu - takes the roof right off your mouth.

 

[Whipsnade]

Originally posted by Cymew:
BTW try frying tofu in a *really* hot pan with hoisin sauce and a dash of soya and it will not be so bland. My wife was amazed by the amount of taste of that tofu.

Cymew,

I didn't mean to insult tofu. As a matter of fact I eat it somewhat regularly. However, I never eat tofu 'straight out of the box', it is just too bland.

Much I like I rarely ran any published adventure 'straight out of the box' either!


Have fun,
Bill

 

[Whipsnade]

Originally posted by Cymew:
BTW try frying tofu in a *really* hot pan with hoisin sauce and a dash of soya and it will not be so bland. My wife was amazed by the amount of taste of that tofu.

Cymew,

I didn't mean to insult tofu. As a matter of fact I eat it somewhat regularly. However, I never eat tofu 'straight out of the box', it is just too bland.

Much I like I rarely ran any published adventure 'straight out of the box' either!


Have fun,
Bill

 

[FlightCommanderSolitude]

I had the pleasure to purchase freshly-made tofu from the guy who made it, in a little tiny shop in a residential village in Yokohama. It was nothing like the stuff widely available here in the States; it was quite flavorful on its own. Subtle, yes, but not the blank slate that supermarket tofu brands are.

Utterly off topic; sorry about that.

 

[FlightCommanderSolitude]

I had the pleasure to purchase freshly-made tofu from the guy who made it, in a little tiny shop in a residential village in Yokohama. It was nothing like the stuff widely available here in the States; it was quite flavorful on its own. Subtle, yes, but not the blank slate that supermarket tofu brands are.

Utterly off topic; sorry about that.

 

[Reg Redblade]

I only found this particular thread today - I don't normally read over the T4 lists as I am not a fan ( I bought it when it came out, loved the ruleboook and Milieu 0, GM'd a short campaign and then abandoned it when I saw some of the stuff being released - went back to TNE ). I think though following my experiences with this book I went looking to see if anyone on this list had commented.


I have had this one on my shelf for about five years and never actually read it. This is itself unusual as I usually manage to plough through those traveller products I dislike in the hope of unearthing something useful. To be honest I think what had continually put me off was the sheer visual unattractivness of the product - the cover art is pretty ( if useless) but once you open the book up you feel as if you are drowning in a sea of graduating grey tones.

So. Having a few hours free yesterday afternooon I sat down with a pot of tea and the long neglected 'Anomalies' . I got about two thirds of the way through it before I had to take a break - I really can't understand how they put this together, stuck their names on it, and released it to the wide world.

Before I launch in - I actually like a few of the ideas in Anomalies - but the product is in draft form only - really the only thing that has been finished is the artwork ( Bryan Gibson and Steve Bryant I feel for you ).

A perfect example of this is the lone whisper episode; interesting setting (scantily laid out but a GM can flesh it out - some nice evocative artwork would have helped) , okay npcs ( but not enough of them), and then the potential to release an ANCIENT - surely this should have been a headline event - this is unprecedented in Traveller ( AFAIK - wasn't there something similar in Long Way Home though ? ) - instead the whole thing is dispatched in two or three paragraphs and the implications,etc. are just left to the GM.

Anyway - my reaction to the book overall.

LAYOUT - like so many other T4 products ( I have most of them ) - is simply appalling. Lots of justified text, no (well, no 'relevant' ) colour, little use of boxed text where it is badly needed ( see the cargo crawler issue below), even the commissioned art is out of phase with the writing.

WRITING - I had to stop a couple of times and look into the middle distance and try to comprehend what exactly was going through the heads of the IG team when this manuscript came in and they agreed to run it ( DID THEY READ IT AT ALL ? ) The writing is simply dreadful - both from a style and syntax point of view - there are simply too many examples to mention but particular notoriety must be brought to the adventure featuring the moon base where they discover a cargo crawler ( the following four paragraphs detailing the crawler I think were typed once and never looked at again) & Also the very first page of the ' campaign ' - the first paragraph screams " where is my editor ".

EDITING - I am not an editor - not even vaguely - but I do have a fairly good grasp of the English language and the written word. I am simply convinced that there is no way this product would have been released as it was if the publishers were GDW or ( especially ) DGP.

SUPPORTING MATERIALS - would it be too much to ask for a map of the subsector(s) where all of this is going on ? I mean - by this stage First Survey was out (it was attrocious - but the data was available ) and maybe a few system maps/planetary details.

OVERALL - I won't mark it out of ten - I will finish reading it tomorrow probably - but how did this calamity come to pass ? As stated above, there are actually a couple of neat little ideas in here ( this only compounds the tragedy) but there is also a lot of conceptual dross.

Sigh

RR.

 

[Reg Redblade]

I only found this particular thread today - I don't normally read over the T4 lists as I am not a fan ( I bought it when it came out, loved the ruleboook and Milieu 0, GM'd a short campaign and then abandoned it when I saw some of the stuff being released - went back to TNE ). I think though following my experiences with this book I went looking to see if anyone on this list had commented.


I have had this one on my shelf for about five years and never actually read it. This is itself unusual as I usually manage to plough through those traveller products I dislike in the hope of unearthing something useful. To be honest I think what had continually put me off was the sheer visual unattractivness of the product - the cover art is pretty ( if useless) but once you open the book up you feel as if you are drowning in a sea of graduating grey tones.

So. Having a few hours free yesterday afternooon I sat down with a pot of tea and the long neglected 'Anomalies' . I got about two thirds of the way through it before I had to take a break - I really can't understand how they put this together, stuck their names on it, and released it to the wide world.

Before I launch in - I actually like a few of the ideas in Anomalies - but the product is in draft form only - really the only thing that has been finished is the artwork ( Bryan Gibson and Steve Bryant I feel for you ).

A perfect example of this is the lone whisper episode; interesting setting (scantily laid out but a GM can flesh it out - some nice evocative artwork would have helped) , okay npcs ( but not enough of them), and then the potential to release an ANCIENT - surely this should have been a headline event - this is unprecedented in Traveller ( AFAIK - wasn't there something similar in Long Way Home though ? ) - instead the whole thing is dispatched in two or three paragraphs and the implications,etc. are just left to the GM.

Anyway - my reaction to the book overall.

LAYOUT - like so many other T4 products ( I have most of them ) - is simply appalling. Lots of justified text, no (well, no 'relevant' ) colour, little use of boxed text where it is badly needed ( see the cargo crawler issue below), even the commissioned art is out of phase with the writing.

WRITING - I had to stop a couple of times and look into the middle distance and try to comprehend what exactly was going through the heads of the IG team when this manuscript came in and they agreed to run it ( DID THEY READ IT AT ALL ? ) The writing is simply dreadful - both from a style and syntax point of view - there are simply too many examples to mention but particular notoriety must be brought to the adventure featuring the moon base where they discover a cargo crawler ( the following four paragraphs detailing the crawler I think were typed once and never looked at again) & Also the very first page of the ' campaign ' - the first paragraph screams " where is my editor ".

EDITING - I am not an editor - not even vaguely - but I do have a fairly good grasp of the English language and the written word. I am simply convinced that there is no way this product would have been released as it was if the publishers were GDW or ( especially ) DGP.

SUPPORTING MATERIALS - would it be too much to ask for a map of the subsector(s) where all of this is going on ? I mean - by this stage First Survey was out (it was attrocious - but the data was available ) and maybe a few system maps/planetary details.

OVERALL - I won't mark it out of ten - I will finish reading it tomorrow probably - but how did this calamity come to pass ? As stated above, there are actually a couple of neat little ideas in here ( this only compounds the tragedy) but there is also a lot of conceptual dross.

Sigh

RR.

 

[aramis]

Reg: It isn't unprecedented to release an ancient. CT Adventure 3: Twighlight's peak, has that potential. (So they're warrior caste and grumpy. Big Deal.)

CT Adventure 12: Secret of the Ancients likewise is dealing with the original ancient himself.

 

[aramis]

Reg: It isn't unprecedented to release an ancient. CT Adventure 3: Twighlight's peak, has that potential. (So they're warrior caste and grumpy. Big Deal.)

CT Adventure 12: Secret of the Ancients likewise is dealing with the original ancient himself.

 

[Reg Redblade]

Really ? - actually this rings some bells.

I have most CT materials but somehow have missed that trilogy - I know that the material in the CT Droyne sourcebook was based on this ( will have to track those adventures ).

All the same - I would be of the opinion that such an event as releasing an Ancient would need at least a page or three of ' what ifs' , ' possibilities' and a good bit of detail of the being's origin etc - stuff that would build into the canon - rather than just " he had a feeling that he would be nuked if he hung around ".

D.

 

[Reg Redblade]

Really ? - actually this rings some bells.

I have most CT materials but somehow have missed that trilogy - I know that the material in the CT Droyne sourcebook was based on this ( will have to track those adventures ).

All the same - I would be of the opinion that such an event as releasing an Ancient would need at least a page or three of ' what ifs' , ' possibilities' and a good bit of detail of the being's origin etc - stuff that would build into the canon - rather than just " he had a feeling that he would be nuked if he hung around ".

D.

 

[aramis]

Sorry, not a one of them gives that kind of "What If."

Adv 3, a fun one, I assure you, gives us a preview of the AM Droyne materials. All the "what if" is included in AM Droyne.

In Adv 12, you aren't actually waking him... you're dealing with him after chasing him down. It also is the place where we find that Stargates are canonical... but not quite the same as we see in SG1...

 

[aramis]

Sorry, not a one of them gives that kind of "What If."

Adv 3, a fun one, I assure you, gives us a preview of the AM Droyne materials. All the "what if" is included in AM Droyne.

In Adv 12, you aren't actually waking him... you're dealing with him after chasing him down. It also is the place where we find that Stargates are canonical... but not quite the same as we see in SG1...