T4 Issues - The Galactic Map varies and more

[Spaceresearcher]

Hello all,
Perhaps someone could assist me with the following discrepancies with Traveller 4(yes I know there's page updates but these don't seem to be documented that I know of).

1. Perhaps the most critical of all. The glactic map on page 183, is nothing like the online map at www.travellermap.com???? Please help/explain. Should I continue to go with the list(even though the grid references seem to be bogus and just update all my characters when T5 graces us with it's pressence or ditch it and only use the online map which seems to be official?? (At least Horizon still seems to be showing but the UWP has changed slightly).

2. Upon character generation(which yes you can just work out thanks to the sample Jameson character), Page 16 mentions a 'Homeworld Generation Table'?? Is that just the size of the world from page 26? (I was expecting a list of random world names).

3. Page 16 also mentions a 'Background Skills Table' that you can roll and select from. Where is it??? Or likewise do they imply the move to page 26 again?

4. Was it just me or did intial users also find that the sample character was prematurely inserted on page 25 when it should have been at page 48?

Should I pause on Traveller 4 and wait for Traveller 5 or just go back to Classic Traveller rules only?

Your thoughts and opinions would be appreciated.

 

[Spinward Scout]

1. Perhaps the most critical of all. The glactic map on page 183, is nothing like the online map at www.travellermap.com???? Please help/explain. Should I continue to go with the list(even though the grid references seem to be bogus and just update all my characters when T5 graces us with it's pressence or ditch it and only use the online map which seems to be official?? (At least Horizon still seems to be showing but the UWP has changed slightly).

T4 is supposed to be 1000 years in the past of the game timeline. The worlds listed on travellermap.com would be much different than the ones in T4, also since about half of the worlds listed for Core subsecctor on page 183 aren't even showing as explored/surveyed.

 

[AndreaV]

Hello all,
Perhaps someone could assist me with the following discrepancies with Traveller 4(yes I know there's page updates but these don't seem to be documented that I know of).

1. Perhaps the most critical of all. The glactic map on page 183, is nothing like the online map at www.travellermap.com???? Please help/explain. Should I continue to go with the list(even though the grid references seem to be bogus and just update all my characters when T5 graces us with it's pressence or ditch it and only use the online map which seems to be official?? (At least Horizon still seems to be showing but the UWP has changed slightly).

T4 is set in M0 (circa 0 to 100), Travellermap is for CT (circa 1105 to 1115). If it helps, I've redone four subsectors I use for my M0 games set in Fornast/Ley and hopefully they'll be appearing in Freelance Traveller soonish along with a fair amount of background data and a couple of bits of fiction (given the amount of material, spread over a few issues ).

2. Upon character generation(which yes you can just work out thanks to the sample Jameson character), Page 16 mentions a 'Homeworld Generation Table'?? Is that just the size of the world from page 26? (I was expecting a list of random world names).

Roll once on p26 each for starport, size, atmosphere, hydrosphere, population, Law level and tech level (total of seven rolls)

3. Page 16 also mentions a 'Background Skills Table' that you can roll and select from. Where is it??? Or likewise do they imply the move to page 26 again?

Yep table on p26

4. Was it just me or did intial users also find that the sample character was prematurely inserted on page 25 when it should have been at page 48?

Yep, Imperium games was notorious for poor layout. I use the PDF and print out the pages in the order I want

Should I pause on Traveller 4 and wait for Traveller 5 or just go back to Classic Traveller rules only?

Your thoughts and opinions would be appreciated.

Rules or setting? If you're asking about the setting, M0 can be easily used with any ruleset. If it's rules your asking about. I'm a great fan of T4, just make sure you use the 'its harder than I thought rule' to balance skill vs stat. But basically go with the rule set you like most.

 

[inexorabletash]

Supporting different eras is on the "to do" list for travellermap.com, but don't hold your breath. There are lots of issues as most of the existing data is poorly tagged for dates. The map data is currently an amalgam of 990 (T20), 1105 (CT), 1116 (MT), 1120 (MT) and even 1248 (TNE) data if you look really closely. A canonical data set for Imperial worlds in several of those eras is a long term goal.

 

[rancke]

Supporting different eras is on the "to do" list for travellermap.com, but don't hold your breath. There are lots of issues as most of the existing data is poorly tagged for dates. The map data is currently an amalgam of 990 (T20), 1105 (CT), 1116 (MT), 1120 (MT) and even 1248 (TNE) data if you look really closely. A canonical data set for Imperial worlds in several of those eras is a long term goal.

Milieu 400 data for Glisten, District 268, Pax Rulin, and Egyrn can be found in my Outrim Frontier campaign setting on JTAS Online. Not canon, since JTAS Online is not canon, but IMO a good deal better than nothing.


Hans

 

[Spaceresearcher]

That explains the state of it.

Many thanks Spinward Scout, Andrewmv and inexorable tash,
It's a real shame T4 was rushed to print so quickly as it's got some of the best that Traveller has to offer IMHO.

I've always loved the classic traveller, Megatraveller seems pretty decent but seemed over the top in some ways, TNE didn't gel with me and then finally T4 came out but with terrible errors and the layout besides the TOC is almost random at times which is a shame as this could have been simply stellar.

I'm hoping that T5 will finally layout a definitive guide to the galactic map, set the timelines straight and provide a rules set that is well researched, clear and laid out in an intelligent and clearly structured manner.

Those tips and bits have helped immensely. Glad it wasn't just me.

Think I'll use the Galactic map current, so that my characters will seamlessly fit in with T5. I'm anticipating a similar but more clearly laid out rules set for T5 that essentially will be the T4 we all wanted but didn't quite get. Alas no doubt minus the amazing artwork of Chris Foss but I guess that was for T4, T5 will feature even more spectacular artwork from totally new artists, who are if I'm not mistaken actively involved in the Traveller universe. Can't wait.

Till then I'll continue to tinker with T4.

Thanks everyone.