Traveller Hero, a major announcement

[shadowcat1313]

Comstar Games and Avenger Enterprises have gotten a license to publish some hero products, with more details to follow,

 

I would direct interested folks to this site

http://www.comstar-games.com/

 

with this announcement we have pulled the Traveller Hero pdf from the download sections at Star Hero Fandom and Freelance Traveller, and I cant think Aroo and Jeff Zeitlin enough for hosting the files there since last july

 

I think this has very definite good possibilities for Star Hero and Hero in general, and I am just a little keyed up about this

[Dale A. Ward]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

Hey, SC... I haven't been around here long enough to know everyone's history, so pardon me for having to ask this. Are you associated with any of the aforementioned companies? Is this going to be a good thing for you, financially speaking? If so, my congratulations!

 

In any case, I'm happy to hear that Hero gamers are getting a new source for Traveller goodies.

[Eodin]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

A licensed set of Traveller HERO books - when I got the email from Shadowcat, I thought "way cool"

 

So keep your eyes peeled, folks.

[Teflon Billy]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

You've got a customer waiting patiently right here.

 

TB

[TheRavenIs]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

And another. One of the first RP's I even did was Traveller. I so want to see it done in HERO.

 

TRI

[Sketchpad]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

Two words - Wh and oh!

[shadowcat1313]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

I have never worked directly for any of the companies mentioned, at least not yet, I have done assorted playtesting over the years for GDW, FASA, Imperium Games, and a couple of articles on GURPS Traveller for Pyramid Online, I also used to hang out at GDW on occasion, having lived roughly a mile from the home office while growing up.

 

the page mentions that we will be seeing conversions to Hero of some of the products they already publish that are listed in the traveller section, if anybody has any requests, i cant promise anything, although I have my first choice, but due to the NDA I will be signing, I cant guarantee what I can and cant talk about at this point

 

i dont see Grand Fleet as really being needed as a conversion book, there are a couple of Robots books that might be useful, and there are plenty of starship designs we could convert

 

i am wholeheartedly throwing my support behind this, I dont work for either company, but I really think it will be a good thing, as was Traveller Hero a year ago, I dont know if they will be able to do any support material for the Terran Empire universe, but that would be cool too

 

I will post more information as it becomes available

[Erkenfresh]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

What's this Traveller everyone's talking about?

[KawangaKid]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

And shouldn't there be only one "l" in Traveler?

[tancred]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

Guess I shoulda checked my email sometime since last Friday....

 

This is beyond exciting; I can hardly wait.

[shadowcat1313]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

Traveller was one of the first SF RPG's, and its survived into 6 different editions,4 different game companies, and its still going

 

couple of good reference links

 

http://www.freelancetraveller.com

http://www.farfuture.net

 

many other games since have used traveller for inspiration, GURPS Space and Star Hero among others.

 

good things about Traveller:

1. Planet building, it can run the gamut from very simple to extremely complicated

2. Starship design can run the gamut

3. a very detailed universe, with lots of room for expansion

 

bad points:

1. Computers, the computer rules are very 70's and really need fixing

2. Mostly Humanoid Aliens, most of the aliens in traveller just dont seem

all that alien, except for the Hiver and a couple of minor races

3. Characters can die during generation... this was fixed in Megatraveller

although it usually meant a medical discharge or being cashiered for something unbecoming

[Dale A. Ward]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

good things about Traveller:

1. Planet building, it can run the gamut from very simple to extremely complicated

2. Starship design can run the gamut

3. a very detailed universe, with lots of room for expansion

 

bad points:

1. Computers, the computer rules are very 70's and really need fixing

2. Mostly Humanoid Aliens, most of the aliens in traveller just dont seem

all that alien, except for the Hiver and a couple of minor races

3. Characters can die during generation... this was fixed in Megatraveller

although it usually meant a medical discharge or being cashiered for something unbecoming

 

Traveller was always one of my favorite systems, but one thing that always set my teeth on edge was that, by the time you had enough experience to be a viable character, you were in your late 50's to early 60's. It's no wonder that anagathic drugs were such a big part of the game!

[Erkenfresh]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

I skimmed through your FAQ and it does look quite impressive. If I was in the mood to start a brand new Star Hero campaign, I'd definitely take a closer look at it. I like the idea of slow travel between stars and no "prime directive".

[Matt Frisbee]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

Stupid question from the Peanut Gallery:

 

I was under the impression that the Traveller franchise was in the process of creating a fifth edtion to be released next year. Also, GURPS Traveller is still around as far as I know, so wouldn't this become a competing game system?

 

Matt "Still-has-the-Little-Black-Books" Frisbee

[G_K_Zhukov]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

Traveller was always one of my favorite systems' date=' but one thing that always set my teeth on edge was that, by the time you had enough experience to be a viable character, you were in your late 50's to early 60's. It's no wonder that anagathic drugs were such a big part of the game! [/quote']

 

Traveller obviously did not take into account the effects of advance medicine and bioengineering either. Otherwise characters would not start to age at 30-something.

 

I don't know. I still love the game, but I feel it is already beginning to be terribly obsolescent. It is obviously a product of the late 70's and early 80's - before computers/communications and genetics showed their enormous potential. It definitely needs an extensive background overhaul... or maybe it's time for a change to a sort of "interstellar Transhuman Space"?

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

There is a d20 Traveler a and GURPS Traveler, but since the Gaming Industry Downturn Steve Jackson Games (GURPS) has been pretty lax in production and their Traveler Forums are not that active.

 

I bought all the GURPS Traveller books, partially to run a Sci Fi Campaign, but it did not last. My players still ***** about how "Machiavellian: that game seemed to be. It ended after a scheduling change and another GM took up the reigns.

 

 

 

I will be another customer ready to buy Traveler Hero

 

QM

[Polaris]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

In addition to materials from the classic Traveller universe (yes, Traveller for the game does include a second 'l'), ComStar continues to publish materials for the 'new era' (a 1248 sourcebook will be coming to print in the very near future, for example).

 

William

ComStar

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

... I think I played MegaTraveller on my 8088. Character gen bit, and the Hexadecimal system gave me the shakes, and I never beat it because it was buggy as all get out, but I loved it. It was the first true sci-fi RPG I ever got my hands on, and I loved it. Good times.

 

Sure, why not. I'm in.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

Oh, query: I only do print material. What are the odds that all the important stuff will be ink on paper?

[shadowcat1313]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

According to the press release, at least some of the books will see print, but I dont know which ones

[Erkenfresh]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

Agreed. A nice bound, printed book is far superior to a PDF.

[Polaris]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

Oh' date=' query: I only do print material. What are the odds that all the important stuff will be ink on paper?[/quote']

 

Obviously I am biased, but I think *all* the material is important...

 

Seriously: The ultimate decision about how much material gets to print and what the material that gets to print is ultimately is up to the customers. ComStar intends to put 100% of its share of profits from the initial sourcebook into supporting the Traveller Hero line. We are hoping that this will lead to stronger sales down the road and increase support for this setting being done using the Hero System. The more sales we get of the sourcebook (and other products), the more products we can take the 'gamble' of printing (printing products is very expensive, and printing the wrong products can sink a small game company).

 

William

[Dale A. Ward]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

Oh' date=' query: I only do print material. What are the odds that all the important stuff will be ink on paper?[/quote']

 

 

There is a well known computer peripheral called a printer that can practically guarantee that any material you wish will be "ink on paper".

 

[Brother Jim]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

Obviously I am biased, but I think *all* the material is important...

 

Seriously: The ultimate decision about how much material gets to print and what the material that gets to print is ultimately is up to the customers. ComStar intends to put 100% of its share of profits from the initial sourcebook into supporting the Traveller Hero line. We are hoping that this will lead to stronger sales down the road and increase support for this setting being done using the Hero System. The more sales we get of the sourcebook (and other products), the more products we can take the 'gamble' of printing (printing products is very expensive, and printing the wrong products can sink a small game company).

 

William

 

Have you looked into Print On Demand services ??

[Polaris]

Re: Traveller Hero, a major announcement

 

Have you looked into Print On Demand services ??

 

Yes...

 

POD (or Print on Demand) technology has really improved greatly! The vast majority of game books you see on your game store shelf are now printed using this technology. The 'set up' costs of POD is much smaller than set up for a traditional 'off set' print run, but the per book cost is much higher.

 

The Traveller Hero pdf is currently being upgraded and expanded greatly. Some will likely decide to not purchase it since they had gotten the free version earlier. We are hopeful that we will have enough incentives to encourage people to buy it, but it would probably not be wise to do a huge print run on this first book in the line.

 

As I mentioned earlier, all of our share of the profits on the Traveller Sourcebook for the Hero System (TSHS)--definitely need a cooler 'FREd' type name--will go toward supporting TH. Hopefully this will help us be able to put more of the products into print (for those that prefer the 'dead tree' version).

 

William