I want to take a vote, sort of

[sabredog]

I currently have scads of animals I haven't yet expanded more fully on and posted here or on Freelance Traveller. What to do with them?

I downloaded the MgT core rules yesterday and am working on converting the stats to that rule set, and will do the same when I get my T5 CD. My thought is to compile what I have here, plus the unposted ones, with illustrations and stats for CT/MgT/T5. And some of the color stuff for background, like environments, worlds they live on, etc. Dunno how big this thing will be, but maybe to start with I'll keep it to a reasonable number of animals (maybe 24?) and the worlds they live on.

The idea being (thanks to Fritz_Brown) is that it is a sort of Big Book Of Alien Animals that will provide referees with enough material to flesh out any safari or other dirtside wilderness adventure. Plus, I have a nice little adventure for scientists and suicidally inclined involving the Chamax.

So waddaya think? Will it sell west of the Mississippi?

 

[Dragoner]

Sounds cool, it would be the first encounter book for T5. I wish there was a general encounters book for traveller (animals plus more), that would be nice.

 

[sabredog]

I have to wait for my CD to show up in the mail since I was just a beta, but as soon as it gets here I will start converting to that format. If nothing else it will be fun to make something like that.

I'll have to get all the licensing stuff dealt with before publishing, naturally, but I don't imagine that takes long. I'll need a proofreader/critic or two to check it out before then, too.

...and dragoon my daughter into helping with the artwork...

 

[77topaz]

Will the "worlds they live on" be OTU/Charted Space worlds? Would the Foreven restriction apply in such a situation?

 

[Dragoner]

Sounds like a plan. I made a monster manual when I was a kid, still have it in a three ring binder.

 

[sabredog]

Will the "worlds they live on" be OTU/Charted Space worlds? Would the Foreven restriction apply in such a situation?

Dunno...I hope to make them generic enough to be plugged into any campaign, and I imagine either the OTU or Foreven is large enough to have worlds similar to what I will describe.

Essentially I have 5 worlds that right now would supply a broad assortment of environments that would support the animals in the set. I suppose the Foreven thing might be safer but I'll need to check it out. Or you just plug the world description into one of the myriad planet names and locations in the OTU that has a similar UPP and call it good. There won't be anything in the book that is specific to any particular TU except the Chamax adventure. That would have to be canon though I use in MTU already - the names being changed to fit my game is all.

The goal is to provide a referee with some good depth to some animal encounters to liven things up dirtside. Like fishing for Damnthings with yourself as the lure, hunting in the mountains for trophy Gargoyles, and what it takes to survive on a world that is in near total darkness most of the time (and not much better the rest). So if you find a place like that in the OTU, you could just drop in the info I provided.

 

[sabredog]

If you want a sample just look at the files I've posted in this forum.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

This is a great idea!

You can go one of two ways with it: produce it as fan material and put it up here free, or get Marc's approval (and Mongoose's if you gen them for both systems) and get it sold as "the first encounter book for T5" (Dragoner).

I would opt for the second option - I think your stuff is that good.

 

[sabredog]

Option two would be ideal. For now I'll just work on populating the book and see what the T5 CD has in it.

I have the beta and I've never found anything in it that is about animal encounters. The sophont tables could be used but the rules in the version I have specify those are for sophonts so I've been hoping something was going to be in the final release. If not, then I'll use what is on the sophont charts as a benchmark for T5 stats. It shouldn't be too hard.

I'll check with Marc and Mongoose re: the system stats for publication so I can license this properly. As I said, I'd like to include pages that have all the stats for each animal and event, etc. in CT/T5/MgT so it is as useful as possible across the board. Maybe I better include MT, too, while I'm at it.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

There was *something* about flora/fauna in there, I thought. I'll have to look and see what I can find.

 

[sabredog]

Yeah, I'm looking too, but can't find anything. I thought I saw something about them once. It has always been an area of the game that has been lacking for some reason.

Lemme know if you find something.

Still, I have plenty to do before the stats, which are actually the easiest, quickest part after figuring out the whole write-up. Which BTW, I made three more of last night and this afternoon. So the total for the project will be 25 profiled creatures with incidental beasts here and there in the write-ups to add plenty of color and give life to the whole thing.

Add to that the environments and other bits added (like Damnthing LureSuits and hair-raising fishing tournaments to catch the biggest one without getting eaten doing it) and there will be plenty of good stuff in there. Lots of seeds and ideas for clever referees and players.

And Sarah is jacked - she is at her Mom's this week for Spring Break but she has already started working up sketches for me to review before she does the full drawings with her new digital pad. She just got into the only magnet art academy that the state has here for when she starts high school in the Fall and wants to add this sort of thing to her portfolio for that.

 

[DangerousThing]

If you would like to put these into a wiki, I have space and wiki code.

 

[robject]

@worlds: I suggest going the "Lee's Guide" route, locating each animal type on a UWP range for flexibility, and perhaps noting a world or two in the Marches which qualify.

 

[sabredog]

That works. I have UWP's for each that will go into the descriptions and will hunt up what fits in the OTU. I don't have Foreven, but nothing will violate canon so they should be fine for either.

 

[sabredog]

If you would like to put these into a wiki, I have space and wiki code.

Thanks, but I'm going to go the full book route this time. Its something I've wanted to do for a long time and have been working towards with my entire ATU. I don't get to run it as often as I like anymore so I figure I'll part it out this way and see what happens. If the book thing doesn't work out I'll probably take you up on your offer.

 

[robject]

Illustrations?

 

[robject]

Plus, I have a nice little adventure for scientists and suicidally inclined involving the Chamax.

If you could, please send me an email. Robert daak* Eaglestone, at gmail daak* com.


* daak Vilani for "dot".

 

[HiverLord]

I would opt for the second option - I think your stuff is that good.

I'll definately agree with that! Fantastic stuff. (And the daughter's artwork looks great, too! )

Why not do a full-blown world(s) book?
If you have some worlds fleshed out, detail them out (societies, cities, government, animals, adventure ideas, etc etc)?
You could publish them as a group of nearby, related worlds that could be 'dropped in' to almost any existing campaign, or some such?

Me, personally, I'm always looking for more world resources; saves a lot of time. I'd definately purchase this.

 

[77topaz]

That works. I have UWP's for each that will go into the descriptions and will hunt up what fits in the OTU. I don't have Foreven, but nothing will violate canon so they should be fine for either.

UWP data (etc.) for Foreven can be found at TravellerMap. - http://travellermap.com/SEC.aspx?sector=Foreven should work, or http://travellermap.com/?sector=Foreven for the map.

 

[sabredog]

I'll definately agree with that! Fantastic stuff. (And the daughter's artwork looks great, too! )

Why not do a full-blown world(s) book?
If you have some worlds fleshed out, detail them out (societies, cities, government, animals, adventure ideas, etc etc)?
You could publish them as a group of nearby, related worlds that could be 'dropped in' to almost any existing campaign, or some such?

Me, personally, I'm always looking for more world resources; saves a lot of time. I'd definately purchase this.

Thanks! The Podge, Spindizzy, and Puppeteer pics I did, Sarah has done a few others and is working on some of the new ones. She is getting better than me. She also helps with some of the conception - she draws a creature and then we puzzle it out.

I do have a whole world in the works - Gehenna, where the Podge, Spindizzy, and a lot of my posted ones come from, but this time it will just be the animals. Kimpali and Nikolas would probably be next. I planned the world to be next, after I get a chance to see the final T5 rulebook and how it differs from the beta.

Your point on the location within the OTU is a good one I had always thought would work but people often seemed too attached to the as-is OTU and point to Foreven for anything else. I agree with you, though, that anything can be dropped into the OTU and used since its a big place with lots of nooks and crannies for a world to be lost in. I would imagine that would be especially likely now after the whole FFW and collapsed Imperium getting rebuilt. At worst, just change the name to protect canon.