Originally posted by Elliot:
May it please you my Lords
I cannot agree with my learrn'd friends that the task system was an add on to reflect the games systems of the time. The task system had its origins in the Traveller's Digest long before MT. IIRC GDW thought it a pretty neat addition to the ill thought out 8+ business. We loved it - it took away the need to use rule books. It also stopped arguments dead. The testimony to the task system is that MWM is still contemplating it in T5.
As to Digest being amatuers: I think Mr Wiseman might have some sour grapes (although I have never seen the article where he calls Fugate such). GDW were not paragons of professionalism either. Errata had to be published for many GDW products and some CT Traveller adventures are just ideas that need to be thrashed out for players. I had a real shock coming from TSR products of the day such as S1: Tomb of Horrors to The Kinunir - the lack of thought as to how to turn the fragements into a campaign was shocking compared to the small amount of brain cell that went into the fantasy modules of the day. Resarch Station Gamma was even more pointless than G1-3!
Digest products on the other hand had a bit of thought as to how they would be played and had comparable production values to GDW's traveller products.
As to setting - the problem with the Rebellion is that it brought High Politics too close to home. In CT Strephon was a distant figure, in MT he was too near. Still I wouldn't mind putting together a campaign in Daibei, with the players to protect Duke Craig's realm from all sides. In my view that would be a cool setting.
My Lords
Unless I can assist you further, those are my submissions.
Elliot; you are correct. I believe in that interview Marc Miller stated he was the one who came up with a task system, presented it early on, then stated that he advised the DGP folks on how to go about reformulating one for MT (at least that's what I recall reading). Far be it from me to beat this horse any further
but our group (and again myself in particular, since I ran most of our adventures) felt hung out to dry when it came to resolving critical tasks. Tasks that were either defined by some hidden rule specicially for that one adventure (the success/failure roll from "Divine Intervention" comes to mind), or not defined at all. I believe in the example of play in the old CT books they tell you that an Admin-4 skill, though high, is not readily defined by some mathematical application (i.e. do not roll dice to see how well you organize the ship's crew, or prisoners of your cell block for the big escape, and so forth). But then if it's not defineable in terms of an absoloute game mechanic, then what does it mean?
I must say the more I think about it the more I loved the hit/penetration thing for the combat system. Even vaunted veteran systems like D&D didn't have a well thought out combat mechanic like that
There were occasions when a relatively primitive weapon hit someone wearing heavy armor of somekind, and then would cause damage to the character (player or NPC) leaving us to scratch our heads: How did a bow and arrow manage to hurt that guy wearing full Imperial TL15 Battledress? Off handidly we recalled a stormtrooper from Return of the Jedi getting hit in the back with an Ewok arrow ... it didn't wash with us because we knew better, but ... well, I don't know
The detail of the adventures for CT as opposed to what little I saw for MT were hit and miss, I think. Some of the details in the LBBs were well defined, well thought out, and enjoyable; think "Night of Conquest" or "Death Station" as a couple of good ones. Others, as Elliot pointed out, were rather elusive or nebulous in defining what the players were to actually do and achieve, much less give incentive to act upon; "Nomads of the Ocean World," "The Kinunir" as Elliot cited, and a couple others whose titles escape me.
MTs adventures? I only saw a couple, and don't remember much from them. They were desired, and would've been helpful, but not neccesarily needed. More later .... I've got to go.
