Coverting Game Systems.

[Keklas Rekobah]

This started out as a purely academic exercise (the wife was out, no players around, and I needed a Traveller fix), but has now become a near-obsession. How do you convert characters, monsters, and equipment from non-Traveller games to the each of the different versions of Traveller?

For instance, converting to the GURP system from pre-T5 systems is spelled out right in the GURPS Traveller book, but how to reverse the process? The attributes are easy, the skills take a bit of careful thought, but the character templates...?

Even converting AD&D (1st & 2nd edition) characters and monsters is simple, once you throw out the magic systems.

Cyberpunk to Traveller?
Rifts to Traveller?
________ to Traveller?

Has this been treated before? If so, then how well?

Please don't ask me 'Why' - it's an overwhelming compulsion that's getting out of hand (didja ever see Richard Dreyfus in 'Close Encounters'?).

 

[CarlP]

Well, as it happens, I'm currently engaged in exactly the *opposite* task. I'm preparing a classic Traveller campaign using the Shadowrun rules. It started when I was working on a Shadowrun campaign, with the magic and monsters de-emphasized. I realized that Travellers frequently engaged in the same sorts of activities as Shadowrunners do. And that I could use the Traveller adventures (it was the pyramids adventure in the back of the big hardbound CT book that I noticed this first.) Then, when the Classic Traveller reprints came along, things sort of got out of control....

Anyway, I've found the conversion to be pretty darned easy. Both systems are d6. The characteristics are comparable, and the Traveller skills can be readily added to the Shadowrun list.

The only headache I'm having is making up archetypes for the various Traveller professions. Not that it's difficult, just tedious, because I want to do all of them.

The campaign I'm working on is locally based, around the Solar System, just before the FTL breakout (but don't tell my players that. 8^D) Even though I'm using the Shadowrun mechanics, I'm still hoping for the feel of Classic Traveller. The first game will be in a few weeks. We'll see how well I accomplish my goal.

carl

 

[lightsenshi]

I've done Traveller to D&D. It's an interesting look on the player's faces when they realize that large red scaled reptile flying next to their ship is a great red wyrm.

 

[BrennanHawkwood]

Originally posted by CarlP:
Well, as it happens, I'm currently engaged in exactly the *opposite* task. I'm preparing a classic Traveller campaign using the Shadowrun rules.

Hey, if you end up with your shadowrun conversion in electronic format, I'd love to get a look at them.

-- Blair
brennanhawkwood(at)earthlink.net

 

[tjoneslo]

Originally posted by Keklas Rekobah:
How do you convert characters, monsters, and equipment from non-Traveller games to the each of the different versions of Traveller?

Do a google search on Traveller and Conversion. I've seen conversion documents for Hero, Harn, Risus, BESM, Alternity, Shadowrun, and many others. Some were less complete than others, but a few hours of digging through old traveller websites ought to turn up a few interesting ideas.

Get a copy of Guns, Guns, Guns (G3G), which has a very involved system for creating guns, plus conversions for several game systems including T4 and CT. It should give you a broad range of weapons.

 

[Malenfant]

Originally posted by Keklas Rekobah:
This started out as a purely academic exercise (the wife was out, no players around, and I needed a Traveller fix), but has now become a near-obsession. How do you convert characters, monsters, and equipment from non-Traveller games to the each of the different versions of Traveller?

Just speaking generally here... when converting I'd say you need to (a) know both game systems very well and (b) know thy game design principles

.

You need to look at each version of whatever you're converting, and then figure out how the practical game-mechanical aspects would work in the destination system.

A gun, for instance, might do X damage in system A. So if you want to convert directly to system B, you'd probably think "OK, on average X is Y% of a PC's total hit points/life score/whatever you're using in system A" and then you'd figure out the equivalent percentage in system B and set the gun's damage to that there.

I find that design sequences don't necessarily need to be converted (unless technologies and assumptions are vastly different) - but the output does need to be converted into something meaningful. I think the best thing would be to just figure out the important stats in system B and convert them straight over from system A. If a ship speed is 100 km/s in A, then you can probably keep it at 100 km/s in B.

Taken to the extreme, you could just use system A's ship design and combat system in system B and save converting anything at all, while using a totally different PC design and combat system.

 

[aramis]

I, too went the other way... Traveller to WWG's Storyteller.

I've also converted other sci-fi settings to different games.

As for converting ships and such: no need to convert the design sequences... just convert the combat mechanics.

EG: Storyteller Ship Combat (New addition)
A ship has a life score equalling log5(tonnage)+HGAV
Weapons have a to-hit target number of Agility+1 at Dist, +1 per Range band. Roll skill & computer against this to hit
Damage is HG USP + TH Successes dice vs life score; scores of 10+ become TN 10, and the excess becomes additional hits per line.
Soak: AV vs USP + Damage successes
5 lines: -0, 1st system loss, 1d10/2 system losses, 1d10 system losses, Dead in space, destroyed.
Damage allocation tables:
1 AV or computer (computer for radiation hits)
2 Crew (1 person per USP factor of hit)
3 Single Battery Reduction (-1 USP)
4 Computer
5 Cargo
6 Fuel (1d10x5%), doubled if AV0
7 MD
8 JD
9 PP
0 Criticals

Criticals:
1 Bridge
2 Structure -1 & AV gone
3 Crew 1d10 * Weapon USP hits
4 Streamlining and Fuel Scoops
5 cargo bay rupture: 1d10x10% of cargo lost; 1d10x5% destroyed (separate rolls)
6 Computer destroyed
7 Auxillary systems damage (Labs, shops, subcraft, sickbays, etc) 1d10*10%
8 Weapons systems: all weapons batteries take -1 USP; bays take -2 USP, Spinals -1d10 USP.
9 drive system out 1-3 MD, 4-6 JD, 7-9 PP, 10 Aux Power
0 Spine Broken - no vaccum integrity, Maneuvers generate damage at G's vs diff 6, eff USP for crew hits is crew USP.

We now can use MT, HG, or T20 ship designs with minimal prep (calculate "life" rating and hits per line).

Remind me some time to provide a new version of the conversions, and add this to it... but not now..

 

[Malenfant]

Doesn't Trinity have any spaceship combat rules?

 

[mike wightman]

Yeh, but they're pretty basic.

 

[CarlP]

Originally posted by BrennanHawkwood:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by CarlP:
Well, as it happens, I'm currently engaged in exactly the *opposite* task. I'm preparing a classic Traveller campaign using the Shadowrun rules.

Hey, if you end up with your shadowrun conversion in electronic format, I'd love to get a look at them.

-- Blair
brennanhawkwood(at)earthlink.net </font>[/QUOTE]As a matter of fact...
http://www.starbeast.net/Carl/traveller.htm

This is the page on my website where I'm posting my conversion notes. I have some new stuff to put up there--the project has just recently been restarted. But the plan is to put my conversion notes up there.

I've also got some other ideas, and a section with my ships, including deckplans.

carl

 

[robject]

Sounds to me like Archetypes are more in line with T5's "Life Pursuits", which explains what the character does or is qualified to do, rather than which branch of service he picked up his skills from.

Perhaps one could look at the various Traveller player-character types that crop up and fit them into an archetype?

For instance, the ever-present Mercenary. And the Trader. And the Pirate. And the Medic, Engineer, and hot-dog Pilot. And the Computer specialist, who'd better have a strong minor in sensors, comms, or astrogation.

In fact, I'd say the Hunter is an archetype, rather than a service career. Likewise the Noble.

Lessee... there's the Explorer and various sub-branches thereof (archaeologist, researcher, etc). And there's the Con Artist, who has forgery or something plus plenty of streetwise connections.

Nearly everyone needs a weapon skill...

 

[BetterThanLife]

I have found that in Shadowrun the Archtypes go out the window when players decide that they can create their own characters from scratch. Archtypes don't really define the characters in Shadowrun except as a basic background. Traveller on the other hand shows how a character got to where they are at game start. Then only once we got to T20 has class or level become important. Once the game starts, in both CT and Shadowrun things like archtype, prior history career (again except T20) don't really matter.

 

[CarlP]

Originally posted by Bhoins:
I have found that in Shadowrun the Archtypes go out the window when players decide that they can create their own characters from scratch.

Quite so. A personally crafted character is far superior to an Archetype. My main use for them is to get new and/or inexperienced players into the game with a minimum of fuss. They know what sort of character they want to play, they find the appropriate archetype, and they're in. Soon enough, they're creating their own characters from scratch.

In fact, instead of working on archetypes, I've been spending my time working on a handout with the character creation rules, to take them right into the process of making their own characters. The Archetypes is going to be a background thing for me; I think this handout is going to prove to be a better way to go.

 

[Jame]

Wasn't someone trying to do conversions between the WEG d6 system and some of the Traveller versions?

 

[aramis]

Originally posted by Malenfant:
Doesn't Trinity have any spaceship combat rules?

Trebly irrelevant, Mal.
1) Trinity is not readily available (at least here)
2) The nature of a rules conversion is to keep significant amounts of flavor, while using a different engine.
3) this was an example to show a methodology of conversion.

And I haven't seen the trinity starship rules, but I've heard they exist. They are not in the base book.

and to top it off, my methodology is based upon 1st ed vampire. Best ruleset of the whole system, IMO. The fixed target numbers are faster, but less responsive.

 

[Antares Administration]

I've started running a campaign that's converting MegaTraveller and various d20 games (including T20) to Silhouette v2 (also known as SilCORE). Although Dream Pod 9 has published a lot of material on conversion back and forth between d20 and SilCORE, the process is still very labour intensive.

I just wish I liked d20 more....

Paul Nemeth
AA

 

[Nurd_boy]

here's a link I found for chaosiums basic roleplay system (runequest/elric!/stormbringer/COC) for traveller

http://www.basicrps.com/links/stefan/brp.html

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

I've finished my AD&D to CT and GURPS to CT conversion systems.

Now I'm working on Cyberpunk to CT, although it looks like it's going to need an intermediate GURPS conversion.

Again, these are purely academic exercises, as I do not see any practical value in eliminating a 16th-level AD&D Wizard's spellcasting ability just to have another TL3 (or less) character running around some backwater planet. The Cyberpunk character conversions present some interesting possibilities, however...