tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post2725291248762627351..comments2024-03-18T20:22:06.331-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: Retrospective: MercenaryJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-59857328590068036492012-05-06T12:28:13.009-04:002012-05-06T12:28:13.009-04:00"With books 4-5, million ton ships carrying a..."With books 4-5, million ton ships carrying armies capable of jump 6 are introduced - that sort of detail changes a game."<br /><br />I don't really see why. That they exist in the setting doesn't mean the players would necessarily have them, or have control of them.<br /><br />In an Earthbound game set in the 21st century, where you play smugglers and traders and mercenaries, the players might well have access to small jets, or boats, or even a small submarine. There would also exist major military hardware, that might well factor into the players' schemes, but which they wouldn't be able to consider their own equipment.<br /><br />" Small ships and adventuring parties could make a difference, and there were parts of the starmap big ships could not go, creating backwater areas and places for star pirates to hide"<br /><br />These situations would be preserved by means of the backwater areas being too numerous and/or too remote to be patrolled effectively. Even a power great enough to field huge ships has limits, and priorities. The piracy activities in a certain area might not be significant enough to warrant intervention from outside the sector.<br /><br />Think of how long the real-world pirates on the Horn of Africa were able to operate without real opposition. And that's on a major shipping route. Had the Horn been even more remote, and the pirates been less active, they might not have incurred the current anti-piracy operations.Jonathan W. Hendryhttp://twitter.com/jonhendrynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-43916267067328649402012-05-06T06:39:15.639-04:002012-05-06T06:39:15.639-04:00So far I haven’t seen anything in Mongoose Travell...So far I haven’t seen anything in Mongoose Traveller that has convinced me to invest much time into it. But then, I like gray areas, and I often don’t care for “clean up”.Robert Fishernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-90379118598454632462012-05-04T10:07:56.891-04:002012-05-04T10:07:56.891-04:00I've recently started a Traveller campaign and...I've recently started a Traveller campaign and am using only books 1-3. I allow characters to roll for skills on each table every term (instead of picking one). It gives the group a wider variety of skills without all the added crunch of books 4-7. In retrospect, I could have also used Citizens of the Imperium, but I was going for the Old School approach.Shawn Sanfordnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-80045863096689009522012-05-04T03:12:52.689-04:002012-05-04T03:12:52.689-04:00Yeah, the non-character creation stuff is generall...Yeah, the non-character creation stuff is generally good. At this point, I'd use some stuff I found on the web (now gone to archive.org) to incorporate ideas from <i>GURPS Traveller: Far Trader</i> into Classic Traveller, which should fill out the trade system in Book 7 properly.Faoladhnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-48585299960471422112012-05-04T02:37:11.555-04:002012-05-04T02:37:11.555-04:00My friends and I adored Mercenary when it came out...My friends and I adored Mercenary when it came out, because we were all enormous fans of Hammer's Spammers. It took a while, we realized that all those plusses on our dice rolls were screwing up the game. Somebody worked out a simple conversion chart that ratcheted Merc-generated stats down a bit, and we assumed that Merc characters didn't benefit from Traveller's standard rule that all PCs have basic familiarity (level 0) with everything. As a Merc, if you didn't have level 1 in a skill, then you were completely unskilled and took big penalties. Eventually we went back to the standard chargen because it made everything simpler. We sure loved all the Ironmongery, though.Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11677895164302972957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-77802225893876176082012-05-04T02:02:00.420-04:002012-05-04T02:02:00.420-04:00 This is pretty much what I did...though I did bor... This is pretty much what I did...though I did borrow some of the non-character stuff from books 4-7 (system generation from Book 6, cargo rules and other stuff from Book 7, etc.)Stuart Dollarhttp://www.facebook.com/people/Stuart-Dollar/100000246202373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-23926373151346366302012-05-04T01:29:23.306-04:002012-05-04T01:29:23.306-04:00 Robert, you ought to give Mongoose Traveller a se... Robert, you ought to give Mongoose Traveller a serious look. It basically cleans up a lot of the gray areas of CT, gives all of the basic classes nice overhauls, and if you want the Advanced Character Generation Options, Mongoose does those too.Stuart Dollarhttp://www.facebook.com/people/Stuart-Dollar/100000246202373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-22711650370582184912012-05-04T01:27:48.890-04:002012-05-04T01:27:48.890-04:00 Books 1-3 had six careers. Another 12 were intro... Books 1-3 had six careers. Another 12 were introduced by GDW in Supplement 4, Citizens of the Imperium. Along with this, there were a few that graced the pages of Journal of the Traveller's Aide Society and Challenge, as well as DGP's Traveller's Digest.Stuart Dollarhttp://www.facebook.com/people/Stuart-Dollar/100000246202373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-67014612386896881512012-05-04T01:25:46.432-04:002012-05-04T01:25:46.432-04:00I think you miss the mark on this one a bit, James...I think you miss the mark on this one a bit, James. There's nothing wrong with more official material, per se...but it's a matter of how you do it. If you're going to offer Enhanced Character Generation, you need to do it for every class.<br /><br />I've come to believe that Mercenary, not the Third Imperium setting, was the high water mark for Traveller as a system. The problem wasn't an enhanced character generation system for Soldiers and Marines (and eventually Naval characters with High Guard, Merchants with Merchant Prince, and Scouts with Scouts). The problem is they never got around to doing the same thing for other careers, which essentially left those grossly underpowered <br /><br />For a setting and indeed a system that just cries out for space <br />feudalism, why no enhanced Noble career? Why did none of the other 12 careers published by GDW not get<br /> the same attention? For all you can rag on the various splat-books that have been a plague on every version of D&D since AD&D2, at least TSR/WotC have generally made sure that each of the core classes got a little extra love. GDW never even went that far.<br /><br />To return to my original point, Mercenary took a broad game that could create and simulate a wide variety of sci-fi stories, involving a variety of characters (particularly after Citizens of the Imperium added a whole bunch of new classes) and effectively narrowed the number of classes a player might want to play back to the core book, effectively limiting the types of games that could be played as surely as if they'd never created a broader array of classes in the first place. Effectively games of Traveller after the release of Books 4-7 were released tended to be either mercenary games, naval oriented games, or merchant games. Now all of those have their place, but you could do so much more if you didn't limit to these options.<br /><br />To their credit, GDW finally figured this out with The New Era (too late to save the company, however) and gave the Advanced Class concept the old heave ho. Similarly, Traveller 4th Edition (which I worked on a bit) and Mongoose Traveller ditched Advanced Classes (in T4), or came out with advanced class book options for every character class (Mongoose Traveller). Either one is preferable to what Books 4-7 did to Traveller, and by extension to MegaTraveller.Stuart Dollarhttp://www.facebook.com/people/Stuart-Dollar/100000246202373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-62337290811217052592012-05-03T22:51:00.846-04:002012-05-03T22:51:00.846-04:00"Adventures" weren't. They were gen..."Adventures" weren't. They were generally mini-campaigns, or small sandboxy situations with no real expected resolution. Or worse they did have a resolution which wouldn't be considered by your players.<br /><br />I got into Traveller late with MegaTraveller. They had 18 careers, with some additional steps that increased the number of skills in the basic careers, and still including the advanced careers for four of them (in all of their bug ridden, paste-up deficient glory). For some reason the journalist was not included even though its a major character in the authors adventures in the zine Traveller Digest. They could have left out the wet navy. "Unofficial" careers both basic and advanced appeared in various places in magazines or online.Fred Schiffnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-909915514868287752012-05-03T22:13:17.603-04:002012-05-03T22:13:17.603-04:00Whoa; didn't realize Classic Trav only had 6 c...Whoa; didn't realize Classic Trav only had 6 careers. I've been playing Mongoose, which is mostly very close to Classic with some rough edges filed off, and the chargen is much more like what you describe pre-Mercenary, but with many more careers (12ish, I think?).John Davisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-78142556952667850382012-05-03T20:54:22.129-04:002012-05-03T20:54:22.129-04:00After Mercenary and High Guard I just did my own v...After Mercenary and High Guard I just did my own versions for the other professions and added more professions as well. That helped with the all ex-marine syndrome.Brucenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-53451185715069073972012-05-03T20:01:55.566-04:002012-05-03T20:01:55.566-04:00These days I prefer to stick to the Book 1 and Cit...These days I prefer to stick to the Book 1 and Citizens of the Imperium generation. That said, there are bits of the “advanced” character generation I might’ve liked to see integrated back into “basic” chargen. (Which it looks like some of the later editions have done, but I haven’t had time to take a good look at them.)<br /><br />I’d also say that the books have some useful stuff beyond the expanded chargen. And I like the way I can ignore that stuff until in becomes relevant.Robertnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-48335202317800399572012-05-03T19:56:16.594-04:002012-05-03T19:56:16.594-04:00As Mercenary was one of the very few supplements f...As Mercenary was one of the very few supplements for Traveller published in Spain, I have it in the highest esteem. Even now, I'm amazing how inspirational it is for the kind of hard-military science-fiction I've always liked.Lizanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-68000746976381073452012-05-03T19:45:27.678-04:002012-05-03T19:45:27.678-04:00But just think of all the splatbooks this thing in...But just think of all the splatbooks this thing inspired!Mark Rhttp://profile.yahoo.com/A2RWRDYRBU7KPSRZF5HVCDOKCEnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-55628484078895856392012-05-03T18:21:07.581-04:002012-05-03T18:21:07.581-04:00 True, I just remember reading through Mercenary a... True, I just remember reading through Mercenary and seeing dozens of references to gear and weapons not in the book. Only years later did I find them in a copy of Striker I picked up.Stephen Teixeiranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-73382775412227200252012-05-03T16:48:11.992-04:002012-05-03T16:48:11.992-04:00Books 1-3 of Classic Traveller represent the kind ...Books 1-3 of Classic Traveller represent the kind of Traveller I enjoy. They are evocative rather than exhaustive. They are manageable rather than overwhelming. They are open-ended rather than constraining. The smaller number of skills meant one could do more with those skills -- it encouraged creativity. The increase in the number of skills, although it seemed to give characters more capabilities, in the end gave them more limitations (in my opinion). I really wish they had just added new services in the same level of detail as the originals and left the originals alone.<br /><br />IISSGordon Coopernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-18757495254936784522012-05-03T16:40:36.630-04:002012-05-03T16:40:36.630-04:00 Supplement 4 - Citizens became the default that m... Supplement 4 - Citizens became the default that most of my players <br />wanted to roll characters from, especially Belters, Pirates and <br />Barbarians. A party of these misfits made for very bizarre campaigns.<br /><br /><br /><br />I can't remember the issue offhand, but Space Gamer had an article <br />called competitive Citizens that gave a cool system to allow 1 year <br />skill roles for these characters.<br /><br /><br /><br />This was only important if you worked Book expanded characters into the <br />game and all the Citizens classes tended to be very skill oriented <br />rather than combat oriented so it helped lots regardless.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The expanded ship design rules in High Guard were riddled with problems <br />and that book was rewritten/revised at least once and heavily FAQed by <br />GDW.middleton8vu9noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-71124217685446796002012-05-03T16:40:10.160-04:002012-05-03T16:40:10.160-04:00Supplement 4 - Citizens became the default that mo...Supplement 4 - Citizens became the default that most of my players wanted to roll characters from, especially Belters, Pirates and Barbarians. A party of these misfits made for very bizarre campaigns.<br /><br />I can't remember the issue offhand, but Space Gamer had an article called competitive Citizens that gave a cool system to allow 1 year skill roles for these characters.<br /><br />This was only important if you worked Book expanded characters into the game and all the Citizens classes tended to be very skill oriented rather than combat oriented so it helped lots regardless.<br /><br /><br />The expanded ship design rules in High Guard were riddled with problems and that book was rewritten/revised at least once and heavily FAQed by GDW.middleton8vu9noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-48591883452517990222012-05-03T16:05:32.056-04:002012-05-03T16:05:32.056-04:00That's what I do these days. Citizens of the I...That's what I do these days. Citizens of the Imperium is a great supplement.Jesse Butlerhttp://profiles.google.com/deinolnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-16757939256898481512012-05-03T15:39:45.313-04:002012-05-03T15:39:45.313-04:00 I also like the replacing of Other with the Sup4 ... I also like the replacing of Other with the Sup4 careers as well. Paul Patinonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-72522954158761218532012-05-03T14:47:47.043-04:002012-05-03T14:47:47.043-04:00 Mercenary came out before Striker... Mercenary came out before Striker...Frank Filznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-35504172529991994022012-05-03T14:11:08.764-04:002012-05-03T14:11:08.764-04:00Mercenary wasn't complete, it mentioned a lot ...Mercenary wasn't complete, it mentioned a lot of the gear in the Striker<br /> game, so it was more like a book integrating Striker into Traveller. <br />That aside, the books did introduce a huge amount of military theme <br />creep into the game. With books 1-3, warships were limited to smaller 50,000 ton ships and low jump ratings. With books 4-5, million ton ships <br />carrying armies capable of jump 6 are introduced - that sort of detail changes a game.<br /><br />I prefer book 1-3 Traveller, with more emphasis on small ships, diplomacy, exploration, mysteries, and merchant traders. Small ships and adventuring parties could make a difference, and there were parts of the starmap big ships could not go, creating backwater areas and places for star pirates to hide. The base game and the book 4-5 games were vastly different games, at least from my game table.Stephen Teixeiranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-61506187823094849542012-05-03T13:45:32.862-04:002012-05-03T13:45:32.862-04:00The skill inflation is significant.The skill inflation is significant.Lord Kilgorenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-72563551033606564712012-05-03T13:38:46.408-04:002012-05-03T13:38:46.408-04:00The effects of Mercenary that you describe here ar...The effects of <i>Mercenary</i> that you describe here are a great example of the push for emulative rules that you recently wrote about. As I saw it, <i>Mercenary</i> came about to allow players to more effectively emulate military SF stories; the original rules didn't generate robust enough characters to allow such emulation (or at least people thought they didn't).jhbrinegnoreply@blogger.com