T20 Milieu

[mjwest]

Hunter:

If this question sounds insulting, I don't mean it to be, but I am curious, so here it is:

Why did you select year 1000? Especially in the Gateway area. Since Virus is apparently immutable cannon, no matter what "history" is made or established, it is all blown away in 1130.

A more logical (to me, anyway) approach would have been to just use MJD's 1250 setting in the 4th Imperium. That way whatever "history" is made would actually have some staying power.

Again, I am not trying to be insulting, I am just curious.

Thank you.

 

[hunter]

No insult taken, they are reasonable questions.

Originally we had not planned to do T20 (I honestly was one of the first to go 'EWWW! Could you imagine using d20 for Traveller? That would be horrid!). We were planning on producing CT adventures and material to supplement the reprints. We were going to set the material in the Mendan, Meshan, Julian Protectorate region, and had begun some development (very minor).

About this same time I ended up owning the rights to the old Judges Guild Traveller material (long story, don't ask...). Marc and I decided it might be better to rework the old JG material up into something better since I owned it now. It was Marc who selected the c1000 timeframe, at the time there were no plans for extending the TNE timeline.

The fact that the timeline get wiped around 1130 still leaves us over a century of material to cook up, and we can always start doing material in what may become the 4th Imperium.

Hunter

[This message has been edited by hunter (edited 15 October 2001).]

 

[mjwest]

Thank you for the response.

I guess it is just my own POV. If I am working on something where I don't know what will happen, I can accept it getting wiped out. I wouldn't be happy about it, but I could accept it.

But to work so hard to create what is sure to be a great and interesting environment, only to *known* it will all be destroyed, would be pretty hard for me.

 

[DrSkull]

Haey, you could just pretend you are in the GURPS timeline, and it will all be safe.

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Dave "Dr. Skull" Nelson

 

[rancke]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hunter:
The fact that the timeline get wiped around 1130 still leaves us over a century of material to cook up, and we can always start doing material in what may become the 4th Imperium.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I for one would welcome material set in Year 1000, providing care is taken to fit it into the established canon. Even if I never actually run anything in that time period<LI>, just having historical information about a period just a few generations before the time my main campaign is set would be interesting and useful.

<LI> Which I propably will, if only in the form of one-shots.


Hans

 

[worj]

A prior poster noted that going to the GURPS timeline was one way around the impending, preordained death of the 3I during the rebellion and the virus... That's one very workable way to address what, in M1000, is only really a far-future event. Another way to treat this is to embrace it (unless you REALLY don't like Virus!). Even if one's player characters manage to live 200 years, you, the referee, have all sorts of tools available - a complete structure of a violent 200 years' history-to-come - with which to create adventures... The galaxy didn't turn into a parking lot as a result of the Virus - it only seemed that way... Consider how you (referee) might tailor or guide your game-play's development if you know what's coming. One could almost argue that even in M0 the bother was hardly worthwhile because in only 1117 or so years the rebellion and follow-on virus would hit... M1000 is a bit neat because the more traumatic things are all over a century into the future... The only problem I'd see would be with canon-literate players who will keep saying "but the rebellion and virus are coming!" GURPS neatly sidestepped this; I think M1000 will, too, as the events are far enough into the future not to (I hope) unduly influence play... Fortunately, my players are mainly illiterate fantasy-types!

My own reaction is that playing in the rebellion - and also in the virus era - will be interesting, assuming my characters and their descendents ever get that far because I've had several years to mull over both of those events and to, for lack of better term, internalize them.


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- Bill Rutherford

 

[Nurd_boy]

I have a question...if the t20 system (oh, by the way, the more I think about it, the better idea seems to use d20 after all..sorry for knee-jerk reaction to it)

I was thinking, since this is a new beginning for the game, heck, new everything (system, mileneu, company..etc,et all) why not use this oprtunity to create a fresh timeline, without the rebelion, virus and all the (no offense) over convolutions THAT created....??

 

[hunter]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Nurd_boy:
I was thinking, since this is a new beginning for the game, heck, new everything (system, mileneu, company..etc,et all) why not use this oprtunity to create a fresh timeline, without the rebelion, virus and all the (no offense) over convolutions THAT created....??<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That would be the GURPS alternate timeline where Strephon wasn't assasinated and the rebellion, etc. did not occur.

As for 'fresh', I think you will find the current T20 timeline and material a bit different from the previously published material.

Also we will be producing the TNE sourcebook, which while 'generic' (no game stats) will move the official timeline forward and can easily be used with T20.

Hunter

 

[Nurd_boy]

cool...

I never got into GURPS,it was when SJ GURPED bunnies & burrows that I said EWW!

, so haven't followed it, knew the timeline was different but thats was about all.

the ct, rebellion and virus eras really are not bad, it was the rules shifts..ct to mega to tne...
...sounds like a killa idea...(

 

[Simon Jester]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Nurd_boy:
cool...

I never got into GURPS,it was when SJ GURPED bunnies & burrows that I said EWW!

, so haven't followed it, knew the timeline was different but thats was about all.(<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hey! Bunnies and Burrows is FUN! Where else can you play a cute fuzzy bunny with a flame throuwer (there were some house-rules involved, you see).

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>the ct, rebellion and virus eras really are not bad, it was the rules shifts..ct to mega to tne...
...sounds like a killa idea...(<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


I first got interested in Traveller with MT and kind of progressed backward into collecting the LBBs because of that. And then GDW went and screwed it all up with their lousy home system. Now that we've got GTrav and soon T20, I'm really getting back into things. Well done, everyone involved.

Simon Jester


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-If it's stupid but it works, it isn't stupid.

[This message has been edited by Simon Jester (edited 23 October 2001).]

 

[Nurd_boy]

where else?...hmmm, one word (or is it two?)...GAMMAWORLD, (black ray gun armed floppies riding hoppers beats your flamethowing fuzzy bunnies!!)...LOL
ok, seriously now,
the megatrav rules/timeline i thought where a nice evolution from CT, but those house rules of TNE(wheren't they used in dark conspiracy too?) combined with an interstellar post-apocolypse setting really did get to be too...(ooh,what's the word?)....complex?convoluted?

combining the 3 time periods under one mechanic is something, I for one, AM looking forward too...

 

[Cleon the Mad]

As an aside, although I like the whole "Okay, it was a bad dream, forget the rebellion, restart at 1116" idea, I'd personally like to see a timeline where 1130 is the diverging point. Maybe Dulinor makes it to capital, maybe not, but regardless, Virus is never released (or perhaps never developed, no-one ever makes those little chips into transponders, and hense no-one decided to evolve Virus)...but anyway one where the Imperium recovers from the Hard Times, sans Virus. Okay, the Solomani are conquering the Rimward sectors...but suddenly the Aslan move in, since the dunderheads pulled too many fleets from their border to go take Imperial space. Or maybe the Hivers see this as a prime time to start some heavy plans to manipulate the Solomani Confederation into a politically correct love thy neighbor regardless of their DNA and ancestor's planet of birth society. I can go on...haven't even jumped Spinward to tinker with the Zho's yet, or perhaps the K'Kree...etc...etc.


BTW, maybe this should be on the new TNE board...and also, I do hope the Empress Wave proves to be basically just a headache for the Zho's. I just like those mind reading guys too much, no need to have them swarm over the Regency border "In exile"...and I'd hate to think that the Core Expiditons were for naught, that the wave made the whole set of Core pathway colonies go psycho and blast each other to a bloody mess.

Okay, I'm done now.



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It is not I who am crazy, it's I who am mad!