Your Favorite Colonial World
- Thread starter Murph
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Malenfant
Guest
I did have a soft spot for Aurore. Nice and exotic, as a tide-locked satellite of a brown dwarf.
The exotic worlds are interesting to read about, but I wouldn't want to live there. Were I a colonist heading out, I'd be looking for the most boring, mundane, nothing-ever-happens-there planet and make my own fun - or go to the exotic locales when things got too boring.
Of course, most of the planets on the French Arm that seemed boring at the time turned out to be highly interesting, and for all of the wrong reasons - hindsight is 20/20.
Of course, most of the planets on the French Arm that seemed boring at the time turned out to be highly interesting, and for all of the wrong reasons - hindsight is 20/20.
My personal favorite was a world that my players chose to colonize... we later found out that that world was a tide-locked world with blue-green plants... and a Kafer infestation. (We'd used the name Aurora... at the time, only the base box was out... under the name Traveller 2300.) Ironically, we'd put it in the same spot...
Huh. How prescient of you.
I think that SF milieus have to have a mix of worlds. Some should be normal, Earth-type worlds, where adventures that concentrate on Human interaction can happen, without worrying about the environment.
Exotic worlds are the next step, where both the environment and Human (or alien) created obstacles provide a source for problems and conflict.
Aline worlds are the next step, where the environment itself is the main enemy, and any Human interaction only emphasises that fact.
So worlds like Tirane and Beta Canum fall into the first group, Avalon and Aurore into the second, and Dukou and Cold Mountain inot the third.
So, my favorite first case world is actually Nibelungen, which is just alien enough to get the point across.
My favorite second-case world is Aurore, largely because of the excellent Aurore sourcebook.
And my favorite third case world is Haifeng (2320), a new colony on a small world with extremely deep oceans and next to no land, with super-hurricane storms amd fisg-things that can eat ships.
Colin
2320AD writer
I think that SF milieus have to have a mix of worlds. Some should be normal, Earth-type worlds, where adventures that concentrate on Human interaction can happen, without worrying about the environment.
Exotic worlds are the next step, where both the environment and Human (or alien) created obstacles provide a source for problems and conflict.
Aline worlds are the next step, where the environment itself is the main enemy, and any Human interaction only emphasises that fact.
So worlds like Tirane and Beta Canum fall into the first group, Avalon and Aurore into the second, and Dukou and Cold Mountain inot the third.
So, my favorite first case world is actually Nibelungen, which is just alien enough to get the point across.
My favorite second-case world is Aurore, largely because of the excellent Aurore sourcebook.
And my favorite third case world is Haifeng (2320), a new colony on a small world with extremely deep oceans and next to no land, with super-hurricane storms amd fisg-things that can eat ships.
Colin
2320AD writer
Dreadnought
SOC-12
Kormoran, Kormoran, Kormoran!
Dave
Dave
Dreadnought
SOC-12
Oh, you make that sound like a bad thing!
Did you introduce many changes in the setting?
Did the Ebers get their starships back?
Dave
Wasn't a bad thing at all. 
I rather liked the Ranger adventure, aside from the Rangers referring to the Ebers as Injuns. Just didn't quite fit, at least for me.
I moved the setting forward 20 years, allowing for me to add to the settiing. I didn't really make any changes, at least not to what had gone before. Some clarifications, and correcting some inconsistencies, yes. Changes, no.
The Ebers aren't yet at the starship stage, not by a long shot, but then I se them as very conservative, and still a little shell-shocked by the war. Even though it was 2000 years ago, that's only 5 Eber lifetimes.
I did lay down some "secret canon" for the Eber homeworld, but that's more for my amusement.
I did have to create a D20 compatible machanism for the (EDIT)Eber (EDIT) lobe-change ritual, as all the 2320 alien races could conceivably be used as PCs, though the game is structured around humans.
In the sense, 2300 has now been converted to the house system, just not the GDW house system.
Speaking of which, I did use the TNE rules to run 2300 once upon a time ago. I preferred them to the core 2300 rules at the time.
Colin
2320AD writer
Mad as hell at the MS Exchange web client
I rather liked the Ranger adventure, aside from the Rangers referring to the Ebers as Injuns. Just didn't quite fit, at least for me.I moved the setting forward 20 years, allowing for me to add to the settiing. I didn't really make any changes, at least not to what had gone before. Some clarifications, and correcting some inconsistencies, yes. Changes, no.
The Ebers aren't yet at the starship stage, not by a long shot, but then I se them as very conservative, and still a little shell-shocked by the war. Even though it was 2000 years ago, that's only 5 Eber lifetimes.
I did lay down some "secret canon" for the Eber homeworld, but that's more for my amusement.
I did have to create a D20 compatible machanism for the (EDIT)Eber (EDIT) lobe-change ritual, as all the 2320 alien races could conceivably be used as PCs, though the game is structured around humans.
In the sense, 2300 has now been converted to the house system, just not the GDW house system.
Speaking of which, I did use the TNE rules to run 2300 once upon a time ago. I preferred them to the core 2300 rules at the time.
Colin
2320AD writer
Mad as hell at the MS Exchange web client
Craters dayside during the liberation. Freaking big hover carriers, what more could you ask for:
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~dheb/2300/Europe/UK/CDF/CDFACdo.htm
Bryn
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~dheb/2300/Europe/UK/CDF/CDFACdo.htm
Bryn
Dreadnought
SOC-12
Colin--
Thanks for the memories,
Dave
Not a problem. I don't remember doing that, and the fact that I don't means that it must not have meant that much to me. Probably just an attempt to replicate the Old West feel that was present in the adventure. I did a lot of studying the historical Texas Rangers to prep for that, and it probably kept bubbling up.
Can you give me some examples? I won't be upset or hurt, just curious. Fixing inconsistencies is good, and I'm curious what you may have found.
No, you're right. I was kidding when I wrote that. I just liked the Dance of the Quarks.
Yes, that's always fun. I think I had some secret canon too, to be used in a follow-up adventure, but I don't know if I'd even be able to remember it now.
Yeah, that was a funny thing about 2300. So that's probably like the D20 Ithklur Enlightenment feat mentioned over in the TNE section.
AND ABOUT DAMN TIME, TOO!!
I really wish that we could have gotten to that. I'm not surprised you preferred them to the TNE rules, as the 2300 rules were really kind of an evolutionary step to the D10 T2K "house system," which culminated in the D20 House System, which I think with a few more tweaks and adjustments to get all the pieces properly settled (you could still see some of the join lines between T2K and DC and TNE) would have been pretty good. I think the current existence of T20 basically validates what we were trying to do in an evolutionary fashion. While it was fun to invent a new system for each game to concentrate on their unique flavors, it became really impractical really fast. And I say that as a person who didn't personally care for the GURPS approach of "one system to adjudicate them all."
Thanks for the memories,
Dave
The colonial atlas had some inconsistencies when compared to the 2300AD book, which I attempted to rectify. (What happened to Wellon, what is New Albion, why doesn't Argentina have a colony when it fought a war over the right to colonize Alpha Centauri).
The nature of the Twilight War, now that 2000 has come and gone, was an issue. I got around that by leaving the timing of the war rather nebulous. After all, so many records were destroyed, etc. When it happened doesn't matter so much as the fact that Twilight DID happen. This allows players and DMs to choose: is 2320 an alternate future, or a possible future? By allowing that choice, it can allow players more of a "buy-in" to the game.
2320 is set up so that aliens can be player character too, though some of them (esp. the Eber) would be pretty complex or almost impossible (Pentapods) to play. I expanded the role of the Pentapods as well, giving them more of a prescence.
By moving the timeline forward 20 years, I also had to resolve the Kafer War. That issue is still under discussion...
Language issues have been cleared up where possible. Some of the German/French/Mandarin words used were incorrect or inappropriate.
I got to change Canada's first colony's name from Doris to Kanata. I mean, the US gets worlds like King and Avalon, the UK gets Beowulf and Crater, and Canada gets Doris? Now the system's star is named Doris (Doris Day..?)
There were others, but I don't remember them off-hand.
As for the house system, I used Twilight weapons and vehicles, TNE mechanics and DC biotech in my adventures. I liked how the compatible systems allowed me to throw anything I wanted into the fray. D20 does the same thing. I could go out and buy D20 Mecha and have giant stomping robots if I wished (I don't). ONce you get past the Hit Point issue, D20 is a good system. Some may not agree with classes and levels, but is does provide a reward mechanism, and an impetus to do more. Of course, it also needs to be watched, lest hte game turn into a slaughter-fest (only 400XP to the next level. Hey, I'll just go shoot up a miner's camp and take their stuff.)
A quick question? Who put the smiley face in the muzzle of that big German anti-tank rifle in the T2000 v2 Small Arms Guide? That still sticks in my head, and I lost that book eight years ago...
Thank you Dave, for the TNE rules, and the fun I had with thrm, even if I never actually played TNE much.
Colin
2320AD writer
The nature of the Twilight War, now that 2000 has come and gone, was an issue. I got around that by leaving the timing of the war rather nebulous. After all, so many records were destroyed, etc. When it happened doesn't matter so much as the fact that Twilight DID happen. This allows players and DMs to choose: is 2320 an alternate future, or a possible future? By allowing that choice, it can allow players more of a "buy-in" to the game.
2320 is set up so that aliens can be player character too, though some of them (esp. the Eber) would be pretty complex or almost impossible (Pentapods) to play. I expanded the role of the Pentapods as well, giving them more of a prescence.
By moving the timeline forward 20 years, I also had to resolve the Kafer War. That issue is still under discussion...
Language issues have been cleared up where possible. Some of the German/French/Mandarin words used were incorrect or inappropriate.
I got to change Canada's first colony's name from Doris to Kanata. I mean, the US gets worlds like King and Avalon, the UK gets Beowulf and Crater, and Canada gets Doris? Now the system's star is named Doris (Doris Day..?)
There were others, but I don't remember them off-hand.
As for the house system, I used Twilight weapons and vehicles, TNE mechanics and DC biotech in my adventures. I liked how the compatible systems allowed me to throw anything I wanted into the fray. D20 does the same thing. I could go out and buy D20 Mecha and have giant stomping robots if I wished (I don't). ONce you get past the Hit Point issue, D20 is a good system. Some may not agree with classes and levels, but is does provide a reward mechanism, and an impetus to do more. Of course, it also needs to be watched, lest hte game turn into a slaughter-fest (only 400XP to the next level. Hey, I'll just go shoot up a miner's camp and take their stuff.)
A quick question? Who put the smiley face in the muzzle of that big German anti-tank rifle in the T2000 v2 Small Arms Guide? That still sticks in my head, and I lost that book eight years ago...
Thank you Dave, for the TNE rules, and the fun I had with thrm, even if I never actually played TNE much.
Colin
2320AD writer
Dreadnought
SOC-12
Colin--
Once upon a time I thought I didn't like smiley faces, but Kirk cured me of that pretty quickly.
Dave
That would have had to be Kirk Wescom, one of our resident artist/anarchists. I just did a post about him and his smiley faces over in the TNE section a couple days ago. He put them into the patterns of craters on moons, etc. Then he taught Rob Lazzaretti and Brad McDevitt to do it.
Once upon a time I thought I didn't like smiley faces, but Kirk cured me of that pretty quickly.
Dave
I remember those smileys from way back. The first time I saw one in the gun barrel, though, I thought I was seeing things. Put me off a bit at the time, but then again, I still remember that drawing, so it did something right.
What sort of ideas did you have in mind for the Eber homeworld? The fact that the Eber home system is Zeta 2 Reticuli gave me some ideas at first.
Colin
What sort of ideas did you have in mind for the Eber homeworld? The fact that the Eber home system is Zeta 2 Reticuli gave me some ideas at first.
Colin
Dreadnought
SOC-12
Colin--
I will try to remember, but I think I wrote that in 1988, and any notes I have are....where? Maybe still in the old 8088 machine I wrote it on? I don't think I even know how to use it anymore. I will look at the book and think on it, and if I can remember anything, I will surely let you know. But I did, seriously, have some secret ideas, because my desire was to do a follow-on adventure that went to the Eber homeworld, so I was already thinking about twists.
But then, they shut down 2300. Ranger was like the last or second to last module.
Now there's a new thread for you: Dave killed 2300 too! What is he, some kind of Typhoid Mary? Some kind of Angela Lansbury Murder She Wrote lady?
Just kidding.
Dave
Well, it'd be really tough trying to "change your mind" while getting your face hugged.
I will try to remember, but I think I wrote that in 1988, and any notes I have are....where? Maybe still in the old 8088 machine I wrote it on? I don't think I even know how to use it anymore. I will look at the book and think on it, and if I can remember anything, I will surely let you know. But I did, seriously, have some secret ideas, because my desire was to do a follow-on adventure that went to the Eber homeworld, so I was already thinking about twists.
But then, they shut down 2300. Ranger was like the last or second to last module.
Now there's a new thread for you: Dave killed 2300 too! What is he, some kind of Typhoid Mary? Some kind of Angela Lansbury Murder She Wrote lady?
Just kidding.
Dave
