Required reading....
- Thread starter Gatsby
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M
Malenfant
Guest
Well, what really IS "Traveller-like scifi" anyway?
Bob Weaver
SOC-12
For the sake of arguement, I say that Star Wars was NOT an influence on the development of Traveller. I have two reasons for this.
First, Star Wars and Traveller were both introduced in 1977. At the time, both projects were unknown quantities, so it is unlikely that either Miller or Lucas influenced (or were even aware of) each other.
Second, while Traveller players have ever since 1977 been shoe-horning Star Wars tech into their games, the fact is that neither mega-colossal starships nor lightsabers were included in the LBBs. Yet those two artifacts are staples of the Star Wars mythos.
It is beyond doubt that Star Wars did have some influence on Traveller after it was introduced. Bk5, it is commonly assumed, was meant in part to allow the construction of the SW-sized mega-ships. Yet the most common comparison I see of High Guard ships is the 16th-19th century "Age of Sail" paradigm.
Thanks to all who have contributed authors & titles to this list - it gives me more stuff to read!
Bob Weaver
SOC-12
As a tag-on to my previous post, I think that the venerable Horatio Hornblower series by C.S. Forester should be mentioned as inspirational source material for Traveller players. HH is acknowledged to be an inspiration for the later, and well worthy Honor Harrington series.
I'm fairly sure that Marc and Loren have discussed publicly in the past what SF was inspiration for Traveller, and when; I'd strongly urge folks to check the TML archives. That said, I'm also pretty sure that most of them have already been mentioned; just limit yourself to the most Traveller-like works that PREDATE 1977, when Traveller came out.
I'm also pretty sure that most of them were also mentioned in another thread here on CotI, "Books with that Traveller feel". I'd certainly classify most of the works mentioned there as "required reading", even if they weren't inspiration for Traveller.
I'm also pretty sure that most of them were also mentioned in another thread here on CotI, "Books with that Traveller feel". I'd certainly classify most of the works mentioned there as "required reading", even if they weren't inspiration for Traveller.
M
Malenfant
Guest
That's all very well for pre-1977, but what books *post*-1977 have that "Traveller feel"?
Jeff M. Hopper
SOC-14 1K
Actually, I believe that both James White and Arthur C. Clarke have influenced Traveller greatly. I know that the hero of James White's Sector General series has been written up as a Traveller character in the back of either 1001 Characters or Citizens of the Imperium, I can't remember which supplement it was.
Maladominus
SOC-14 1K
Recommended Reading:
The Josh Whedon Autobiography: "How I Used to be a Role-playing Game Nerd and Played a Game Called Traveller in the 1980s and Stole Many Ideas And Made a Popular TV Show and Movie Out Of It"
The Josh Whedon Autobiography: "How I Used to be a Role-playing Game Nerd and Played a Game Called Traveller in the 1980s and Stole Many Ideas And Made a Popular TV Show and Movie Out Of It"
rogermccarthy
SOC-12
As TS Eliot put it 'When a man of genius steals, he always makes the thefts his own'.
While Whedon's hardly a genius if Firefly does owe everything to Traveller he's integrated it so well its hardly visible.
The low-medium tech weaponry for instance is mainly due to his 'Western in Space' concept - the Marines with revolvers and cutlasses of LBB 1-3 Traveller was more the result of a stunning lack of imagination amongst the original authors.
The alien-free small universe (everything takes place in one multi-star system with ships that travel at the speed of plot rather than FTL) is also conceptually about as far from Classic Traveller as you can get.
The mismatched crew of renegades and fugitives keeping one step ahead of the Alliance owes way more to Blakes 7 and Farscape (and numerous westerns) than Traveller with its implausibly benign Third imperium.
The free trader thing is indeed very Traveller but Marc et al can hardly claim to have invented it and Whedon could equally well have picked it up from Norton, Heinlein, Cherryh, Anderson or a dozen other SF authors - or for that matter from a computer game like Elite or the example of Han Solo.
I'm not a Whedon fanboy - Firefly and Serenity were both commercial flops for good reasons while Buffy series 7 and Angel series 3 were as bad as anything I've ever watched on TV - nevertheless if Firefly does indeed owe anything at all to Traveller I think Marc (and Loren etc) should be flattered rather than aggrieved.
While Whedon's hardly a genius if Firefly does owe everything to Traveller he's integrated it so well its hardly visible.
The low-medium tech weaponry for instance is mainly due to his 'Western in Space' concept - the Marines with revolvers and cutlasses of LBB 1-3 Traveller was more the result of a stunning lack of imagination amongst the original authors.
The alien-free small universe (everything takes place in one multi-star system with ships that travel at the speed of plot rather than FTL) is also conceptually about as far from Classic Traveller as you can get.
The mismatched crew of renegades and fugitives keeping one step ahead of the Alliance owes way more to Blakes 7 and Farscape (and numerous westerns) than Traveller with its implausibly benign Third imperium.
The free trader thing is indeed very Traveller but Marc et al can hardly claim to have invented it and Whedon could equally well have picked it up from Norton, Heinlein, Cherryh, Anderson or a dozen other SF authors - or for that matter from a computer game like Elite or the example of Han Solo.
I'm not a Whedon fanboy - Firefly and Serenity were both commercial flops for good reasons while Buffy series 7 and Angel series 3 were as bad as anything I've ever watched on TV - nevertheless if Firefly does indeed owe anything at all to Traveller I think Marc (and Loren etc) should be flattered rather than aggrieved.
rogermccarthy
SOC-12
Re James White, while Dr Conway's UPP does indeed figure in one of the Supplements, the Sector General series is about as far from any RPG as you can get - the plot of every story is after all 'lets heal them and give them stuff'.
Consider a White character at the beginning of a typical RPG campaign 'oh dear - yet another bar-room brawl - good thing I brought my med-kit (ducks)... wonder if this pathological behaviour is socially determined or if its apparent ubiquity suggests a deeper physiological cause'
Consider a White character at the beginning of a typical RPG campaign 'oh dear - yet another bar-room brawl - good thing I brought my med-kit (ducks)... wonder if this pathological behaviour is socially determined or if its apparent ubiquity suggests a deeper physiological cause'
Murray Leinster wrote Med Ship (a fun read). It's protagonist runs around a large universe with lots of different planets where the main interplanetary binding is medical bureaucracy (public health) rather than any higher level government. He's part doctor, part psychologist and sociologist, part manipulator, and part capable defender.
Leinster books, downloadable, from Baen's Bar (Freebies!)
I can just envision his character talking about random brawling as a public health issue... he sounds like he'd get along well with the Sec Gen folks.
H. Beam Piper was a major influence on Traveller, at least IMNSHO.
You can find many of his books at Gutenberg.org
You can find many of his books at Gutenberg.org
Cab Kroner Honing
SOC-7
The Tolstoy recommendation is most intriguing and appreciated. War and Peace has amazing details on both the level of characters and larger historical forces about an important part of world history. It's a great model for world building and characterization.
Old School
SOC-9
Holy thread necromancy, batman!
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
When it comes to world-building, it would be hard to beat Hal Clement. While Mission of Gravity would not likely work for Traveller, the planet in Still River would. It could also be a bit of a treasure trove for Artifacts.
Andre Norton also was good at world-building. Take a look at Plague Ship and Voodoo Planet from the "Solar Queen" series, and Storm Over Warlock, which can be found on Project Gutenberg as well.
Cab Kroner Honing
SOC-7
Thanks
