Traveller: New Era...

[jonathonbarton]

...was published long after I'd graduated High School and joined the Marines (and left RPGs behind for a long time...)

(So was MegaTraveller, for that matter)

I'm trying to get a 'feel' for the history of the era, and I want to kind of confirm my suspicions based on the posts and websites I've read recently...

Is my image of the "Virus" event being similar to (for those of you that remember it) the 1986 movie "Maximum Overdrive" (which, itself was based on Stephen King's short story "Trucks") in the ballpark?

If so... The Self-Guided Technological Horsemen of Interstellar Death...with an AC/DC Soundtrack...seems like an *absolutely* grand way to sweep aside the detritus of the past... *grin*

*cue "Hell's Bells"*

 

[far-trader]

Yep, I'd say that comparison is not too far off

I think I've seen an "Introduction to TNE" somewhere on the net that should give you the overview you're looking for on Virus.

I'll give my google-fu a shot but if I don't come back maybe someone else will come along and remember where it is. You could post a similar message down in the TNE forum too, it's bound to start a discussion there

 

[far-trader]

I think this might be what I was thinking of. Not sure it's what you want, I haven't looked at it myself, but it is free (2nd one on the page):

Understanding Traveller: The New Era

This is a short 4 page overview of Traveller: the New Era. 1MB download of a scanned book.

 

[jonathonbarton]

I've got that one... It doesn't *really* dig too deep into the whole Virus thing - just a paragraph or two...

There's a tickle in my brain that's starting to think that a game set 75 years *before* TNE might be sort of interesting, in that Maximum Overdrive sort of way...

*sigh* Yet Another thing to put on the List of Cool Things To Do...

 

[Whipsnade]

Jonathon,

What is it you want to know about the 'whole Virus thing'?

There are a few old threads here about that we can direct you to, including one by the fellow who invented Virus.


Have fun,
Bill

P.S. You idea of a setting 75 prior to TNE has been done. It's called Hard Times.

 

[jonathonbarton]

Just whether my "impression" (listed above) is remotely accurate...

I think I read the long thread from the author a couple weeks ago...very interesting...

 

[ChaserCaffey]

Originally posted by Jonathon Barton:

I'm trying to get a 'feel' for the history of the era, and I want to kind of confirm my suspicions based on the posts and websites I've read recently...

Is my image of the "Virus" event being similar to (for those of you that remember it) the 1986 movie "Maximum Overdrive" (which, itself was based on Stephen King's short story "Trucks") in the ballpark?

Jonathan-

Having read the Stephen King story you mentioned, I can say that it's pretty much a perfect example of what happens when a TL-14 or -15 cargo hauling network is infested with one of the more advanced strains of Virus. Trucks roaming the highways, cutting down anyone they come across, except where they're needed to handle refueling and the like.

At the very end of the King story, there's even some speculation that the trucks may become the new rulers of the Earth, conscripting people to turn out new trucks as needed. That's pretty much a perfect description of the most advanced Viral strains (i.e. "Mother", "God", and the like)

And yeah, the idea that the metallic Four Horsemen were something Humaniti brought on itself was always pretty cool, at least for me.