Traveller 5 vs Mongoose Traveller comparison
- Thread starter terryocarroll
- Start date
Those are, respectively: Bk 1-3, Module 1, and Sup 7
"Bk" is fairly standard English abbreviation for "book" tho it's falling from common use since it was primarily used in library card catalogues....
One reason playtest was so open was because you are wrong in at least one sense.
Traveller5 is intended to be one sort of "standard": it's Marc's view of how Traveller works. This creates a ripple effect. When it makes statements on how particular in-game effects work, such as how jump works, it is intended to either restate, augment, complement, or replace previous statements as a successor to GDW Traveller rulesets.
This also spills over to Traveller books published in the future, regardless of publisher. Marc can simply point to his core rules when a publisher wants to know how something works. Similarly, a publisher could potentially refer to the T5 Core Book to handle explanations, freeing up room for his own content. Or (better), Marc can derive a reference supplement from the T5 Core for that purpose.
Fanbase Fragmentation
One concern is that Traveller5 may fragment the player base more by adding yet-one-more rule system in a Babel of rules systems. I think that people who like Book 2, High Guard, MegaTraveller, TNE (and so on) will continue to like the product, but what I think will happen is that Traveller5 assumptions will begin to take priority, with other systems having vocal minority inputs.
In the best of all possible worlds, those minority inputs will influence Traveller5 (after all, BCS is yet to be published, and Traveller has no Operational Warfare rules, yet).
Subsystem Adoption
As far as the subsystems go, people are free to pick and choose the bits they like and ignore the bits they don't like, and I think that can only benefit Traveller in general. But some referees will like the synergy between Traveller5's systems, and prefer to use it wholesale, rather than taking only one or two subsystems and grafting them into another rulesystem.
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I predict that the "How Jump Works" section may cause the biggest rift(s).
An argument that will split the rule sets down the middle(ish) and not, thankfully, pit rule set vs rule set.
I just hope it actually settles...anything. A lot of stuff depends on the nuances of Jump. And while the books don't say to much about it, the JTAS article did, but no one seems to give it much credence or credit. And once Jump is settled, we can better start working on Operations.
But the last time I checked, it seems like Marc conceded the point which bothered most of us. I'm not sure if there's enough controversy in the article to cause a big brouhaha.
What point was that and how did he answer it? THe one about the linear link between diameter of object and the jump shadow it casts, regardless of its density? I know that's the one that bothers me most.
Hans
DangerousThing
SOC-13
The point was when jump shadowing happened. Originally Marc had it at the end of jump, leading to all sorts of infighting because it was extremely possible to keep a ship from jumping out.
In the final version the jump shadowing is calculated at the beginning of jump, which means it's possible to follow a ship, but not keep it in the system on purpose.
If it happens at the END of a jump, it has nothing to do with jumping out at the Beginning...
What does a jump shadow have to do with being able to "follow" a ship in jump?
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
If you don't know the draft version of the rule then wait for T5 to be published and we can discuss it openly then.
It's not long to wait now
It's not long to wait now
If you don't know the draft version of the rule then wait for T5 to be published and we can discuss it openly then.
It's not long to wait now
At that price? Don't think so.
Yavin_Prime
SOC-7
My question is how much more or less depth does T5 have compared to MGT? I own MGT but I've yet to play it (finding a group in my area has been uber hard). I will buy T5 if only to support Traveller as a franchise but I was just curious. I'd like to see a return to options like the pocket empires.
DangerousThing
SOC-13
I think that you need to separate out the background (the OTU) from the rules. So far T5 is mostly rules with little background. The rules can be used with the OTU, or you can do as I've done and make a background of your own. Of course, MTU doesn't have the depth the OTU has, but there is more exploration possible.
Yavin_Prime
SOC-7
With that said will they be releasing a campaign setting for T5?
It certainly WILL fragment the fanbase. It's mechanically incompatible on many levels.
Unfortunately, even as a "reference" it's already creating division... especially the changes in the Jumpspace chapter. Even if Marc intended it to work that way from the get-go, most, perhaps even almost all, others didn't get many of the ideas within it from any prior sources.
The one thing T5 has prompted me to do is to start doing my house rules MT variant. Which won't be using the OTU, either. I'll be pulling a very few items from T5. Namely, the map mechanics and fief mechanics, maybe the revised world gen. (That's about ALL that I've found useful.)
DangerousThing
SOC-13
It may not be in the main book, but I'm assuming that the default campaign setting is the OTU as described in a bunch of books already available. The major races are talked about.
I'm not sure that it would be *possible* for anybody to gather all the sources that make up the OTU and put it into a single source. It would be nice, but unless it's electronic and regularly updated, it couldn't have everything.
The OTU is one of the most complex official campaign environments I've ever seen, and it's been worked on for 30+ years by countless people.
I'll admit, I did come close to using the OTU, but I couldn't do everything I'd like to do in the OTU, even an an ATU. So I took some things from the OTU and put them in place, then tossed most of it away for this iteration of MTU. But doing this is a lot of work and I'm only getting it done because I have an extra two months or so because Lee needs surgery.
Vladika
SOC-14 1K
LO (f$%@$#!) L
I get pretty tired of one Traveller "line" abandoned rather than expanded upon. The OTU changes, rules change. Compatibility isn't (I know, I know ... you can REF anything blah blah blah...)
One thing doesn't change and I doubt it ever will: ERRATA! I have to wonder just who "proof read" ANYTHING that has EVER gone to print?
Of course, why bother since we will buy anything Traveller and REF anything blah blah blah...
Before this gets edited (or me banned) could we get the "real" MM to weigh in on this?
DangerousThing
SOC-13
It has gone to press already. Yes, it could have used real proof reading by a real copy editor. On the other hand, we amatures did what we could. I don't think that anything in the book will break the OTU.
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