Best Mechanics + Favorite Setting

[Sophiathegreen]

I think the idear of the rebellion was dumd in the first place. Let the GM run any rebellion it he or she want to. In the Classic Traveller we talk about this also you might want to look in there also. I didnot understand the Task Resoultion system they have in megra-traveller, than less accurate but simpler system might have being better.

 

[Sophiathegreen]

I think the idear of the rebellion was dumd in the first place. Let the GM run any rebellion it he or she want to. In the Classic Traveller we talk about this also you might want to look in there also. I didnot understand the Task Resoultion system they have in megra-traveller, than less accurate but simpler system might have being better.

 

[aramis]

The Rebellion was not a bad idea; it was quite appealing to many players (IME, about 1/3rd).

The MT Mechanics had a few oddities (I'd rather PEN > AV = x1 damage; I often use TNE style initiatives instead of the intterupt mechanics). But they were also a good idea (About 1/2 of the players I knew at the time liked them).

The problem was that the overlap (about 1/6 of the players I knew) liked both setting and rules.

Now, with TNE, IME, about 1/5th of the players liked the setting; ALL the players I dealt with liked CG and disliked combat.

Heck, I'd love to see the MT mechanics used again, even if not for a "Traveller" setting.

 

[aramis]

The Rebellion was not a bad idea; it was quite appealing to many players (IME, about 1/3rd).

The MT Mechanics had a few oddities (I'd rather PEN > AV = x1 damage; I often use TNE style initiatives instead of the intterupt mechanics). But they were also a good idea (About 1/2 of the players I knew at the time liked them).

The problem was that the overlap (about 1/6 of the players I knew) liked both setting and rules.

Now, with TNE, IME, about 1/5th of the players liked the setting; ALL the players I dealt with liked CG and disliked combat.

Heck, I'd love to see the MT mechanics used again, even if not for a "Traveller" setting.

 

[aramis]

The Rebellion was not a bad idea; it was quite appealing to many players (IME, about 1/3rd).

The MT Mechanics had a few oddities (I'd rather PEN > AV = x1 damage; I often use TNE style initiatives instead of the intterupt mechanics). But they were also a good idea (About 1/2 of the players I knew at the time liked them).

The problem was that the overlap (about 1/6 of the players I knew) liked both setting and rules.

Now, with TNE, IME, about 1/5th of the players liked the setting; ALL the players I dealt with liked CG and disliked combat.

Heck, I'd love to see the MT mechanics used again, even if not for a "Traveller" setting.

 

[jalberti]

MT is definitely my favorite in the series in terms of mechanics and setting. I am happy to see it has its own room on this board. Renewals my interest in the forum.

I have favored Gushemege Sector as a setting. Three factions all contest the area. I have always found it a good area for gaming. I also like Lishun, between the Varge, Ziru Sirka and Lucan.

 

[jalberti]

MT is definitely my favorite in the series in terms of mechanics and setting. I am happy to see it has its own room on this board. Renewals my interest in the forum.

I have favored Gushemege Sector as a setting. Three factions all contest the area. I have always found it a good area for gaming. I also like Lishun, between the Varge, Ziru Sirka and Lucan.

 

[jalberti]

MT is definitely my favorite in the series in terms of mechanics and setting. I am happy to see it has its own room on this board. Renewals my interest in the forum.

I have favored Gushemege Sector as a setting. Three factions all contest the area. I have always found it a good area for gaming. I also like Lishun, between the Varge, Ziru Sirka and Lucan.

 

[T. Foster]

Originally posted by jalberti:
MT is definitely my favorite in the series in terms of mechanics and setting. I am happy to see it has its own room on this board. Renewals my interest in the forum.

Glad to see another MTer on board. Don't forget to post early and often!

I have favored Gushemege Sector as a setting. Three factions all contest the area. I have always found it a good area for gaming. I also like Lishun, between the Varge, Ziru Sirka and Lucan.

I've tended to shy away from the heavy war-zone sectors (Gushemege, Dagudashaag, Zarushagar) because IMO having all those fleets around tends to limit opportunities for PC activity (though I suppose once the fleets have left/been destroyed the PCs can move in). I agree about Lishun, and don't forget that the neighboring Antares faction is also heavily interested in the sector (which is technically part of the Domain of Antares).

And that points out one of the (IMO) great things about the Rebellion milieu -- it's so dynamic that there's adventure potential in every single sector, and no two are totally alike. People tend to lose sight of this and think of the Rebellion as nothing but fleets and Black War but they're missing the point. The Rebellion wasn't one story playing out across the Imperium, it was many different stories, all playing out in their own region, and all at the same time. There was enough adventure potential for ALL of the following to have been sourcebooks (some of which were actually done/attempted, but IMO none except Gateway/LOT actualy lived up to their full potential):

Domain of Deneb (inc. SM, Trojan Reach, Deneb, Reft)
Corridor
Vland
Lishun
Antares (inc. Mendan, Amdukan, Empty Quarter)
Gushemege
War-Zone (inc. Dagudashaag, Zarushagar)
Core (inc. Fornast, Ley)
Gateway
Ilelish (inc. Verge)
Massilia
Delphi (inc. Glimmerdrift)
Daibei (inc. Reaver's Deep)
Diaspora
Old Expanses
Hinterworlds
Dark Nebula
Solomani Rim (inc. Magyar, Alpha Crucis)

Note: the above includes 29 of the 35 sectors from AOTI with something interesting and unique going on during the Rebellion period -- everything but Spica and the non-border Aslan sectors!

 

[T. Foster]

Originally posted by jalberti:
MT is definitely my favorite in the series in terms of mechanics and setting. I am happy to see it has its own room on this board. Renewals my interest in the forum.

Glad to see another MTer on board. Don't forget to post early and often!

I have favored Gushemege Sector as a setting. Three factions all contest the area. I have always found it a good area for gaming. I also like Lishun, between the Varge, Ziru Sirka and Lucan.

I've tended to shy away from the heavy war-zone sectors (Gushemege, Dagudashaag, Zarushagar) because IMO having all those fleets around tends to limit opportunities for PC activity (though I suppose once the fleets have left/been destroyed the PCs can move in). I agree about Lishun, and don't forget that the neighboring Antares faction is also heavily interested in the sector (which is technically part of the Domain of Antares).

And that points out one of the (IMO) great things about the Rebellion milieu -- it's so dynamic that there's adventure potential in every single sector, and no two are totally alike. People tend to lose sight of this and think of the Rebellion as nothing but fleets and Black War but they're missing the point. The Rebellion wasn't one story playing out across the Imperium, it was many different stories, all playing out in their own region, and all at the same time. There was enough adventure potential for ALL of the following to have been sourcebooks (some of which were actually done/attempted, but IMO none except Gateway/LOT actualy lived up to their full potential):

Domain of Deneb (inc. SM, Trojan Reach, Deneb, Reft)
Corridor
Vland
Lishun
Antares (inc. Mendan, Amdukan, Empty Quarter)
Gushemege
War-Zone (inc. Dagudashaag, Zarushagar)
Core (inc. Fornast, Ley)
Gateway
Ilelish (inc. Verge)
Massilia
Delphi (inc. Glimmerdrift)
Daibei (inc. Reaver's Deep)
Diaspora
Old Expanses
Hinterworlds
Dark Nebula
Solomani Rim (inc. Magyar, Alpha Crucis)

Note: the above includes 29 of the 35 sectors from AOTI with something interesting and unique going on during the Rebellion period -- everything but Spica and the non-border Aslan sectors!

 

[T. Foster]

Originally posted by jalberti:
MT is definitely my favorite in the series in terms of mechanics and setting. I am happy to see it has its own room on this board. Renewals my interest in the forum.

Glad to see another MTer on board. Don't forget to post early and often!

I have favored Gushemege Sector as a setting. Three factions all contest the area. I have always found it a good area for gaming. I also like Lishun, between the Varge, Ziru Sirka and Lucan.

I've tended to shy away from the heavy war-zone sectors (Gushemege, Dagudashaag, Zarushagar) because IMO having all those fleets around tends to limit opportunities for PC activity (though I suppose once the fleets have left/been destroyed the PCs can move in). I agree about Lishun, and don't forget that the neighboring Antares faction is also heavily interested in the sector (which is technically part of the Domain of Antares).

And that points out one of the (IMO) great things about the Rebellion milieu -- it's so dynamic that there's adventure potential in every single sector, and no two are totally alike. People tend to lose sight of this and think of the Rebellion as nothing but fleets and Black War but they're missing the point. The Rebellion wasn't one story playing out across the Imperium, it was many different stories, all playing out in their own region, and all at the same time. There was enough adventure potential for ALL of the following to have been sourcebooks (some of which were actually done/attempted, but IMO none except Gateway/LOT actualy lived up to their full potential):

Domain of Deneb (inc. SM, Trojan Reach, Deneb, Reft)
Corridor
Vland
Lishun
Antares (inc. Mendan, Amdukan, Empty Quarter)
Gushemege
War-Zone (inc. Dagudashaag, Zarushagar)
Core (inc. Fornast, Ley)
Gateway
Ilelish (inc. Verge)
Massilia
Delphi (inc. Glimmerdrift)
Daibei (inc. Reaver's Deep)
Diaspora
Old Expanses
Hinterworlds
Dark Nebula
Solomani Rim (inc. Magyar, Alpha Crucis)

Note: the above includes 29 of the 35 sectors from AOTI with something interesting and unique going on during the Rebellion period -- everything but Spica and the non-border Aslan sectors!

 

[robject]

Yes, MegaTraveller put the Mega in Traveller, no doubt about it. It made firm the CT foundation -- it extended the chargen system nicely, and solidified the now-universal Task System. I (currently) believe that the MT task system is probably the best there is, with the major caveat that I like 6-sided dice. It showed us the size and power of Imperial fleets, and forced us to think seriously about how such an Imperium is managed... and how it can be shattered.

My general feeling is that it loaded down the starship design system, even though I prefer an extended, inclusive vehicle/ship design system. I never used the ship design rules; I stayed with CT, and even went back to CT after giving up on T4's SDS.

 

[robject]

Yes, MegaTraveller put the Mega in Traveller, no doubt about it. It made firm the CT foundation -- it extended the chargen system nicely, and solidified the now-universal Task System. I (currently) believe that the MT task system is probably the best there is, with the major caveat that I like 6-sided dice. It showed us the size and power of Imperial fleets, and forced us to think seriously about how such an Imperium is managed... and how it can be shattered.

My general feeling is that it loaded down the starship design system, even though I prefer an extended, inclusive vehicle/ship design system. I never used the ship design rules; I stayed with CT, and even went back to CT after giving up on T4's SDS.

 

[robject]

Yes, MegaTraveller put the Mega in Traveller, no doubt about it. It made firm the CT foundation -- it extended the chargen system nicely, and solidified the now-universal Task System. I (currently) believe that the MT task system is probably the best there is, with the major caveat that I like 6-sided dice. It showed us the size and power of Imperial fleets, and forced us to think seriously about how such an Imperium is managed... and how it can be shattered.

My general feeling is that it loaded down the starship design system, even though I prefer an extended, inclusive vehicle/ship design system. I never used the ship design rules; I stayed with CT, and even went back to CT after giving up on T4's SDS.

 

[kaladorn]

I prefer MT for its ruleset. I have them all - MT's is the simplest (well, except for CT, but it brings a lot with the little bit of extra work). T4... not so interesting. T20.... interesting but I don't like the mechanics. TNE... Nihilists? No thanks, I've had Ine Givar and that was bad enough! GT? Great reference works... unplayable game IMO.

Now, it is a pity DGP's work is being papered over. I think that is alluded to frequently on CotI and on the TML and has a lot to do with the current intellectual property rights being in the hands of a fellow with whom Mark and others at FFE and other folks have had a lot of trouble dealing successfully (he seems to want either insane amounts of $$$ or help on his own pet projects...). It is a damn shame as the end result will be they paper over MT and all value he could have gotten goes away (except as a collectors item).

MT has a lot of errata (how does a Merchant get Sensor Ops? just as one quick for instance). It has all sorts of shortcomings. But it had an interesting background (use it or not, it was interesting). And it had a great idea for how to run a game using your imagination and not tables - just invent tasks! If you read Traveller's Digest, you'd see Fulgate et. al. saying that you should just turf example tasks if you didn't like them and make up your own! And I've run an entire campaign with the players not really caring about the rules, and the task system made that feasible.
The story was what mattered.

MT is great... I'm sad to see it languishing. If I thought QLI would be interested, I'd consider writing an MT GRIP module. If I do write a module for the public's use, it'll certainly have MT stats available for it (even if it can be used with other systems too).

 

[kaladorn]

I prefer MT for its ruleset. I have them all - MT's is the simplest (well, except for CT, but it brings a lot with the little bit of extra work). T4... not so interesting. T20.... interesting but I don't like the mechanics. TNE... Nihilists? No thanks, I've had Ine Givar and that was bad enough! GT? Great reference works... unplayable game IMO.

Now, it is a pity DGP's work is being papered over. I think that is alluded to frequently on CotI and on the TML and has a lot to do with the current intellectual property rights being in the hands of a fellow with whom Mark and others at FFE and other folks have had a lot of trouble dealing successfully (he seems to want either insane amounts of $$$ or help on his own pet projects...). It is a damn shame as the end result will be they paper over MT and all value he could have gotten goes away (except as a collectors item).

MT has a lot of errata (how does a Merchant get Sensor Ops? just as one quick for instance). It has all sorts of shortcomings. But it had an interesting background (use it or not, it was interesting). And it had a great idea for how to run a game using your imagination and not tables - just invent tasks! If you read Traveller's Digest, you'd see Fulgate et. al. saying that you should just turf example tasks if you didn't like them and make up your own! And I've run an entire campaign with the players not really caring about the rules, and the task system made that feasible.
The story was what mattered.

MT is great... I'm sad to see it languishing. If I thought QLI would be interested, I'd consider writing an MT GRIP module. If I do write a module for the public's use, it'll certainly have MT stats available for it (even if it can be used with other systems too).

 

[kaladorn]

I prefer MT for its ruleset. I have them all - MT's is the simplest (well, except for CT, but it brings a lot with the little bit of extra work). T4... not so interesting. T20.... interesting but I don't like the mechanics. TNE... Nihilists? No thanks, I've had Ine Givar and that was bad enough! GT? Great reference works... unplayable game IMO.

Now, it is a pity DGP's work is being papered over. I think that is alluded to frequently on CotI and on the TML and has a lot to do with the current intellectual property rights being in the hands of a fellow with whom Mark and others at FFE and other folks have had a lot of trouble dealing successfully (he seems to want either insane amounts of $$$ or help on his own pet projects...). It is a damn shame as the end result will be they paper over MT and all value he could have gotten goes away (except as a collectors item).

MT has a lot of errata (how does a Merchant get Sensor Ops? just as one quick for instance). It has all sorts of shortcomings. But it had an interesting background (use it or not, it was interesting). And it had a great idea for how to run a game using your imagination and not tables - just invent tasks! If you read Traveller's Digest, you'd see Fulgate et. al. saying that you should just turf example tasks if you didn't like them and make up your own! And I've run an entire campaign with the players not really caring about the rules, and the task system made that feasible.
The story was what mattered.

MT is great... I'm sad to see it languishing. If I thought QLI would be interested, I'd consider writing an MT GRIP module. If I do write a module for the public's use, it'll certainly have MT stats available for it (even if it can be used with other systems too).

 

[TheEngineer]

Hi MegaTravellers !

Honestly, the older I'm getting the more I love MT, its setting, its rules and its errata.
There are still a couple of aspects, where I would like to ask the authors about their intention, but all its really ok.

Even so I have no problem with the MT Rebellion setting. I like it as any other Traveller setting (even TNE, Virus and comming 1248).
The rise and fall of empires and organisations is just a large scale effect of basic human behaviour. As long as humaniti is around we might have to live with that (except we take StarTrek drugs). Is there a Canadian/Mexican borderline in several hundert years ? Nobody knows ?

Maybe a key to get along with the Hard-Times/TNE era is to stress the ability of huminati to get along with all those problems and destructions in just a pretty short adaption phase.
On a typical players scale it might hardly make any difference to the pre-rebellion era at all.
Ok, travels to capital are a bit more complicate now. But in my practice we played several years just in perhaps 5 subsectors of the Spinward Marches.

I also started to skip all specifically defined home brewed rules or modifications over the last years, resulting to play pure MT, simply accepting the maybe non-perfect bits of the system or spontaniously fudge the things I really need (e.g. SensorOps for Merchants).

And my players generally have no problem with that at all. Guess the rule thing is a kind of natural relationship problem between a referee and his rpg-system

.

Regarding the skill issue Vhela mentioned I would like to ask, if the really is a significant difference between both systems ?
When I ref'ed CT I "internally" did set up a modularisation of difficulties and boni in order to be somehow reliable to players.
IMHO MT just included this method into its ruleset.
What I regard as interesting is, that younger, modern, generic RPG systems like Fudge use both old MT concepts, namely meaningful terms to specify "task" difficulties and the uneven probability distribution of the dice.

Best regards,

Mert

 

[TheEngineer]

Hi MegaTravellers !

Honestly, the older I'm getting the more I love MT, its setting, its rules and its errata.
There are still a couple of aspects, where I would like to ask the authors about their intention, but all its really ok.

Even so I have no problem with the MT Rebellion setting. I like it as any other Traveller setting (even TNE, Virus and comming 1248).
The rise and fall of empires and organisations is just a large scale effect of basic human behaviour. As long as humaniti is around we might have to live with that (except we take StarTrek drugs). Is there a Canadian/Mexican borderline in several hundert years ? Nobody knows ?

Maybe a key to get along with the Hard-Times/TNE era is to stress the ability of huminati to get along with all those problems and destructions in just a pretty short adaption phase.
On a typical players scale it might hardly make any difference to the pre-rebellion era at all.
Ok, travels to capital are a bit more complicate now. But in my practice we played several years just in perhaps 5 subsectors of the Spinward Marches.

I also started to skip all specifically defined home brewed rules or modifications over the last years, resulting to play pure MT, simply accepting the maybe non-perfect bits of the system or spontaniously fudge the things I really need (e.g. SensorOps for Merchants).

And my players generally have no problem with that at all. Guess the rule thing is a kind of natural relationship problem between a referee and his rpg-system

.

Regarding the skill issue Vhela mentioned I would like to ask, if the really is a significant difference between both systems ?
When I ref'ed CT I "internally" did set up a modularisation of difficulties and boni in order to be somehow reliable to players.
IMHO MT just included this method into its ruleset.
What I regard as interesting is, that younger, modern, generic RPG systems like Fudge use both old MT concepts, namely meaningful terms to specify "task" difficulties and the uneven probability distribution of the dice.

Best regards,

Mert

 

[TheEngineer]

Hi MegaTravellers !

Honestly, the older I'm getting the more I love MT, its setting, its rules and its errata.
There are still a couple of aspects, where I would like to ask the authors about their intention, but all its really ok.

Even so I have no problem with the MT Rebellion setting. I like it as any other Traveller setting (even TNE, Virus and comming 1248).
The rise and fall of empires and organisations is just a large scale effect of basic human behaviour. As long as humaniti is around we might have to live with that (except we take StarTrek drugs). Is there a Canadian/Mexican borderline in several hundert years ? Nobody knows ?

Maybe a key to get along with the Hard-Times/TNE era is to stress the ability of huminati to get along with all those problems and destructions in just a pretty short adaption phase.
On a typical players scale it might hardly make any difference to the pre-rebellion era at all.
Ok, travels to capital are a bit more complicate now. But in my practice we played several years just in perhaps 5 subsectors of the Spinward Marches.

I also started to skip all specifically defined home brewed rules or modifications over the last years, resulting to play pure MT, simply accepting the maybe non-perfect bits of the system or spontaniously fudge the things I really need (e.g. SensorOps for Merchants).

And my players generally have no problem with that at all. Guess the rule thing is a kind of natural relationship problem between a referee and his rpg-system

.

Regarding the skill issue Vhela mentioned I would like to ask, if the really is a significant difference between both systems ?
When I ref'ed CT I "internally" did set up a modularisation of difficulties and boni in order to be somehow reliable to players.
IMHO MT just included this method into its ruleset.
What I regard as interesting is, that younger, modern, generic RPG systems like Fudge use both old MT concepts, namely meaningful terms to specify "task" difficulties and the uneven probability distribution of the dice.

Best regards,

Mert