Publius

Re: Vehicles, Cockpits and Seeing Things

But the Battle Bridge was only used when they separated and it was in the front of the rear section after separation (trust me, I have the plans).

The NCC 1701 (no A, B, C, D, E, S, M whatever) did have an emergency bridge which was buried inside, but the emergency bridge only allowed a very crude control od the systems.

I agree about the modern ships being set up like that (which is what I was getting to), I can understand plane/fighter functions being controlled topside (like the tower of an airport).

Re: [Actual Play] Traveller Hero: Flight of a Thousand Years

This sounds very sharp. I'm jealous. In fact, I'm turning green even now. Darn it.

Re: Serenity RPG

I'm playing a Serenity game and I don't mind the system. It is hardly granular, it has a lot of flaws, but ultimately it does what it needs to do.

Systems are systems are systems. Some of them are better suited for some style of games than others, but I have had some of my best games with the worst systems (and some great times with the best systems). The playing is the thing for joy to gamers bring (Hamlet via Yoda, only wrong and dummified).

Faults: In addition to what others have suggested, the Serenity system is half-finished. There is a lot of stuff that I make up on the fly (and take should take good notes for in case of future replication) not because I want to but because I have to. There is a lot of stuff (like the autofire rules) that either sucks or needs to be replaced. Again, not because I have to but because they don't make any sense.

The Benefits: Simplicity. And then there is um, simplicity. The game has a rather smooth flow because of this (discounting the occasional need to make things up because the game is half-finished), it also lacks granularity (see above). This is not necessarily as bad in the 'Verse as it would be in another setting. I often find that games based on movies and other visual properties have a better 'fit' to their subjects if they are simple and smooth in operation. Look at Trek-games. The Coda system was more complex but also quite simple (and horrifically unbalanced in a lot of ways). The LUG system did very nicely (although character generation had some serious flaws) and is probably my favorite from a game-play perspective (Coda was actually easier to GM but was subject to a few balance and metagaming issues). I liked the FASA version myself, and the AP system, and percentile based skills are actually quite simple.

I love HERO, very granular and the ability to create powers and whatnot is tres cool. But it is also a much more "expert oriented" game, where the players have to have some basis of knowledge in the system in order to play. The kids nowadays are scared off by that, and some of the established gamers I know (who play some hopelessly kludged systems like Rollmaster) are also afraid to try it out (or in at least one case, determined to declare that it sucks no matter what; you always get that guy at the table). They are turned off by the math involved in character creation (which not only isn't that bad in the first place but this whole "math-bad-avoid" cycle speaks to our modern generations lack of grit).

I'm considering taking the Serenity game on hiatus for a while, they have three books that are supposed to come out (I'll wait until that happens before I put much stock in that) and frankly, I need a little more as a GM. It has been a relatively long running campaign, but I would like to spread my wings a bit.

As such, I plan on tricking the players into trying HERO. Most recall or can get their hands on the original Traveller rules. I am going to have them make Traveller characters and send them to me. Then I will translate these characters into HERO and I will even them up by using the player with the highest points as the baseline and adding superskills, psionic abilities or whatnot to the others in order to bring them to the same point value. This avoids the problem that guy who rolls up five characters and takes the best (or just cheats) in Traveller and the problem of "Hero Shock" in the character generation process. It also evens the players out: No "Dude I'm like 90 but I have all the skills I need" or "I was forced to muster out after two terms, I'll just sit over there while the rest of you do everything")

I will then present them with characters and simplified options for the combat system. If I do the math for them -- "If you use Autofire with this character your OCV is X" right on the sheets -- it should ease any lingering problems as well as streamline combat a bit. I may make the characters (actually translate the characters) all with a standard Speed (like 3) so that they all start with the same action sequence (which tends to be more flat in Heroic games anyway), but show using NPCs and the like how the speed chart works (not making ever NPC faster than them btw, just the occasional bad guy or running-away critter). This way, they can see where they might want to spend advancement points. Eventually, I am sure that some of them (which include two engineers and a science teacher) will want to delve further into the system on their own as they get more interested.

I plan on using either the Terran Empire setting (or maybe Alien Wars, that was very cool) or a variant of the Traveller HERO rules (no aliens, smaller "galactic footprint" and some other elements that may include Infected Mutates and Post-Apocalyptic goodness) for this.

Any suggestions?

Re: Vehicles, Cockpits and Seeing Things

I totally understand you on this one. I'm doing a little shipwork myself, and I have to ask myself: why the heck is the bridge in the front/top of the ship? To make it easier to hit? I mean if all this stuff is coming though via screens anyway (a la Trek's larger ships, not runabouts or pods or shuttles) why the hell not bury that baby deep inside of the ship?

Likewise with robots: if the "control part" -- whether that is a computer, an AI-programmed something-or-other, or a positronic whatsis -- can go into the chest where it can have greater protection why not do so?

I think this is a designer flaw, i.e. that these things have been designed by humans. Our brains are the place they are for a lot of very good biological reasons, but when we design things we tend to put the control center where ours is -- up front and on top.

Re: First Impressions of Traveller Hero

Hi Publius,

 

If I knew how to 'rep' someone, I would do it for you! Thank you for pointing this problem out.

No Problem, as I say I have done the same many many times. Thankfully for my favorite work there is an angel (the kind that smites. not the Victorian cherub) on my shoulder who watches when I mis-spell things (thank you Steve). As I mentioned, with work that involves so much intricate stuff (tables, charts etc.) there is bound to be something.

I have sent you both a PM and a email (the email has my contact info) as well as a little something you might be interested in

Re: First Impressions of Traveller Hero

Trust me, I publish myself (thought presently on a very small scale), it is really easy to do. Didn't mean to be flippant or anything. Any time you take on a task like this that sort of thing is bound to happen.

Re: First Impressions of Traveller Hero

Gosh fellas, I didn't mean to break your game or anything.

Say, I sent a PM to Polaris, but it doesn't seem like he's been online since the 27th. Should I resend to one of you fellows? It was regarding formatting. Nothing big, just a sample.

Re: First Impressions of Traveller Hero

I'm making a ship for a little project of mine, and I've noticed that the Jump Drive costs are out of whack with the Jump Drives given in the original game. I don;t have my copy of High Guard with me (I'm trying to find it now, trust me) but I think that the drives are about double what they should be in terms of tonnage.

Unless of course the numbers in the rulebook are for hexes (thus you have to divide by two) or the more dense Jump Drives take up less hexes than standard... (still the tonnage would be off, but the hex limitations for the hull type would be correct).

Or maybe I'm missing something, I am a bit rusty.

1000 ton vessel

Jump 3, 2 G Man. Drive and a P3 Powerplant

In Old Traveller this would be a Q-Jump and Powerplant and a K Manuever drive. Q-Jump is 80 tons of Mass, Q Power Plant is 46 tons and a K Manuever drive is 19 tons

In your rules, a 1000 ton vessel needs to allocate 150 tons for the Jump Drive, and that is 300 Hexes (which is the maximum capacity of the vessel all by itself) , the Manuver Drive and the Power Plant track pretty well however.... (Manuver drive is 20 tons, the Power Plant is 45, both within 1 of the original values)

I noticed also that many of the Samples have drives that would do this as well (The Sample Subsidized liner, 600 tons has a 90 ton Jump engine, which btw maxes the drive section, while the classic has a 50-ton Type J, again about 1/2 the size of your version +/- 5 tons).

Re: Faerie's Tale

I would totally agree with that, one of the reasons I wanted to try it out with the kids. They didn't seem to have any negatiove reaction when we discussed it, but they are pretty affiable kids. I have been deprived of that opportunity however by his (rather sudden) moving across a big chunk of the continent, somewhat to my chagrin.

I had my map I was going to use and everything

Re: Suleiman-class Type-S Scout/Courier Deckplans

You have done a great job at capturing the feel of the Traveller style. I have done a good number of deckplans, but I never can get it right for this style. One of the "blindspots" I have as a cartographer is that I like to have things nice and square, circles and angly bits never look right to my eye. Those angles on nearly all of the cabins along the exterior walls always make me discard these designs well before I am finished. Yours however look very good, I'm a bit envious.

Re: Analysis of the Red-Shirt Phenomenon in Star Trek

I love Red Shirts!

You have the Pcs get attached to them, you know, with names and stuff. I'd say "pimp them out" but that would convey the wrong image to most folks, you know personalize them. Heck, the Red Shirts who they personalized were more effective, better shots and whatnot.

Then you offer the PCs bonus points to order their (now prized) Red Shirts in situations where they know the GM is going to kill/freeze/reduce them into stryofoam cubes and watch the angst.

Re: Post-Apocalyptic Hero

As for the book and its genre... I'm still waiting on my copy too.

Re: Traveller Hero Core Books Now Available!

Just bought about 50 bucks worth, including discount. My preliminary assessement is very good. The "feel" of Traveller comes through, the old days of going through the books and everything. Good times, good times...

I printed out a few test pages as a booklet, you know that cool Old-style, but the print was a bit too small. Although I have seen a lot worse when reduced that way. Pity really, not that I am complaining, but that would have been a very cool way to go for the old foggies like me who remember the original.

Polaris, you have a PM...

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now?

Lyle Lovett and his Large Band has a new Album: It's not Big, it's large. I Like it.

Re: PA HERO: The World Without Us

Good book, I'm no scientist and unlike some of the folks here I have very little grasp on real science IMHO but I found it a good source for the "feel" of a sudden and nondevestating (I.e. no mushroom clouds) post-apocalyptic environment.

Gamewise it paints a rather bleak picture for the long-term post-apocalyptic setting (i.e. beyond a few years). May as well use Fantasy HERO after some point. Of course, Asteroid fields aren't as they are presented in Star Wars and unlike the Flirefly 'Verse you cannot terraform gravity, so there is no reason to follow this book slavishly. Gamewise, pick what you are comfortable with and go with it, screw the science.

I've written elsewhere in this area of the Boards that there can be mitigating factors that extend the life cycle of industrial society, buildings etc. (Water is bad, most of those great post-apocalyptic abandoned cities are dry as a bone for a good reason it turns out). Nevertheless, this is a neat book. New York is 'going down' a few hours into the bad stuff happening. Flooding alone would make "The Day After Tomorrow" look like a desert movie and do so in a surprisingly short period of time.

Full Disclosure: Unfortunately, I was betrayed by a tragic combination of my short attention span and a bright and shiney object so I did not finish it completely yet... The second half of the book may be incomprehensible for all I know but I rather doubt it.

Re: Faerie's Tale

I picked up Fairy's Tale not too long ago and was going to run something for my brother's kids. Unfortunately, my brother just moved out to Reno before I had a chance to actually get together

Neat game for the mniche it fills, it has nice flow and a good feel to it for younger players. I was a bit worried it might be a bit "girly" but I never got a chance to find out.

Re: Ripping off the Late Roger Zelazny...

But not all characters could do that eavesdropping thing, Caine and maybe a few others (Caine is the only one mentioned). I'd make that a separate power that he tacked onto the whole thing.

No one has mentioned the ability to do a psyche attack through the Trump contact yet either. As Corwin's brother was able to do to him via Trump during the naval battle in the first book.

I decided to surrender the fleet and then transport myself to Amber and challenge Eric to a final duel. He'd be foolish to accept. But what the hell-I had nothing else left to do.

 

I turned to make my wishes known to my officers, and the power fell upon me, and I was stricken speechless.

 

I felt the contact and I finally managed to mutter "Who?" through clenched teeth. There was no reply, but a twisting thing bored slowly within my mind and I wrestled with it there.

 

After a time when he saw that I could not be broken without a long struggle, I heard Eric's voice upon the wind:

 

"How goes the world with thee, brother?" he inquired.

 

"Poorly," I said or thought, and he chuckled, though his voice seemed strained by the efforts of our striving.

 

"Too bad," be told me. "Had you come back and supported me, I would have done well by you. Now, of course, it is too late. Now, I will only rejoice when I have broken both you and Bleys."

 

I did not reply at once, but fought him with all the power I possessed. He withdrew slightly before it, but he succeeded in holding me where I stood.

 

If either of us dared divert his attention for an Instant, we could come into physical contact or one of us get the upper hand on the mental plane. I could see him now, clearly, in his chambers in the palace. Whichever of us made such a move, though, he would fall beneath the other's control.

 

So we glared at each other and struggled internally. Well, he had solved one of my problems, by attacking me first. He held my Trump in his left hand and his brows were furrowed. I sought for an edge, but couldn't find one. People were talking to me but I couldn't hear their words as I stood there backed against the rail.

 

What time was it?

 

All sense of time had departed since the beginning of the struggle. Could two hours have passed? Was that it? I couldn't be sure.

 

"I feel your troubled thought," said Eric. "Yes, I am coordinated with Caine. He contacted me after your parley. I can hold you thus while your fleet is demolished around you and sent down to Rebma to rot. The fishes will eat your men."

 

"Wait," I said. "They are guiltless. Bleys and I have misled them, and they think we are in the right. Their deaths would serve no purpose. I was preparing to surrender the fleet."

 

"Then you should not have taken so long," he replied, "for now it is too late. I cannot call Caine to countermand my orders, without releasing you, and the moment I release you I will fall beneath your mental domination or suffer physical assault. Our minds are too proximate."

 

"Supposing I give you my word that I won't do this thing?"

"Until then," I said, "try this!" And I hit him with everything I had, boring into his mind, hurting him with my hatred. I felt his pain and it drove me harder. For all the years of exile I'd spent, I lashed at him, seeking at least this payment. For his putting me through the plague, I beat at the barriers of his sanity, seeking this vengeance. For the auto accident, for which I knew he had been responsible, I struck at him, seeking some measure of anguish in return for my hurt.

 

His control began to slip and my frenzy increased. I bore down upon him and his hold upon me began to slacken.

 

Finally, "You devil!" he cried, and moved his band to cover the card that he held.

 

The contact was broken, and I stood there shaking.

 

I had done it. I had bested him in a contest of wills. No longer would I fear my tyrant brother in any form of single combat. I was stronger than he.

How would you handle their invulnerability? Trumps (as opposed to Trump Sketches) were nigh invulnerable...

Re: Gyro Cadis-class Type-R Subsidized Merchant Deckplans

Very sharp, brings back memories! Nice clean lines too, I like that.

Re: The artwork drives me nuts

I can't agree more here.

 

I like Storn's signature. It's block letters, I don't have to guess.

 

I hate it when an artist uses some weird Thing for a signature. Or worse simply their initials. How am I supposed to know who you are? Guess? So much for trying to use your artwork to get more commissions....

Re: The artwork drives me nuts

Is there a reason why you don't pursue the Masters or PhD that it'd get you onto a tenure track position?

 

Because as I see it, all it would take is the University you work at the make that decision and eliminate not Instructors and only have TA's and Professors teach.

 

TB

Economically, that would be suicide however. There is not a grad program here, so no TAs and if they got the Profs to teach all of the classes for what they make it would run them into the red very quickly. Of coursem therein lies the rub: they are getting the pinch from the State cuts to education, and they have a lot less money. In the imaginery world they live in, the part-timers are an extra expediture. In the real world, I carry most of the department. They teach classes with less students than pay their wage. The first four students pay my wage per class and I have over 200 students in an average semester. But then the cuts come and they say "you cannot cut the full-timers" so they cut me even though I am pound for pound making them money. The Administration is either unaware of this or simply doesn't care, so the department gets pressure from both ends.

Why haven't I done the dissertation? I have finished all of my coursework and done the oral and written exams for the PhD, but frankly I have run out of steam after so many classes. I average 12 a year, that means I am prepping for classes (because two of those were new courses) and grading etc. for at least 3 and sometimes 4 classes a semester. Simply put, I'm burnt out; I bitch about it, but there is a reason they only give the others 5 classes a year and summers off if you want to finish say, a dissertation. Then, there is no guarantee that the degree will get me the full-time. Another fellow in my department has the degree and isn't getting full-time offers either, and he has tried.

The way it comes down is this: I love to teach, and as MarkDoc puts it, the emphasis for full-time folks is not on teaching but on grants and research. Publish or perish, at least until you get your tenure and sit on your fat rear end. Then suck off the University mam until you "retire" which means go down to 40% classload and get a major portion of your income plus benefits while still tying up a position.

Eventually, I'll fall off the gravy-train here. I know this, but the situation is too good and I live in an economicaly depressed area so there are little viable alternatives. At this point, I am simply riding it out. I hope I can find something as cool to do when it happens.

Re: The artwork drives me nuts

Our dept head actually has a great deal of vitriol toward the adjunct and part-time instructor system for just the reasons you mention' date=' Publius - he says it's basically a way for the university to employ slave labor. He refuses to use them, generally, because he doesn't want to encourage the system...[/quote']But then I'll be out of a job . Let's hope the incoming department chair doesn't decide to "liberate" me from my livelihood for my own "good"....

Re: The artwork drives me nuts

And oh yeah, I have never missed a deadline for HERO. Ever. I've brushed it once, but 11:58 PM is still on that calendar date.

Re: The artwork drives me nuts

I like the academic life: it offers intellectual stimulation' date=' pretty good colleagues and a great deal of freedom in your work life. I actually like my job and have turned down offers to move onto the commercial side for much more pay, partly for that reason.[/quote']

You forgot the co-eds. And the "Freedom in your work life" is the real perk (along with the co-eds) because it is very cool not to have a boss down your back all the time.

...If your goal is primarily to teach (and I'm not dissing that ambition)' date=' you can avoid most of that, but you won't get tenure that way.[/quote']This is where I am at now. I have been a "Part-time"* instructor for 15 years now, my economic life runs in 4 month cycles. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. I've been on that tightrope for twice as long as the average "career" and I'm going to do it as long as I can. I love teaching, I love the autonomy and while the pay can always be better it aint bad if you teach enough classes (since I get paid by the course).

 

*"Part-time" my @$$. Which amuses me no end as those lazy "full-time" people teach 5 classes at most a year to my 12, often less than a measley 5 with course releases for nonsense crap like imaginary 'Centers' that are essentially all on paper or heading "Programs" with less than 20 students in them. I have taught more classes than my department chair and I teach more courses titles (American Gov, Constitutional Law, American Political Culture etc.) than he does as well. Admittedly, I don't have to research (as if I'd have the time) but then neither do most of my collegues who are full-time either; they sit on their tenured asses all day long (I pray for Post-Tenure review to sweep away the debris, but it never comes). I on the other hand have taught 12 classes a year, 12 months a year for the last 8 years and have been teaching without a single semester off (Sabbaticals are for wussies) the entire 15 years I have been doing this.

 

Oh, and I'm classified the same as a migrant farm worker ("Part-time seasonal"). But the perks you mention make that all worthwhile... If only there would be some recognition for the slave labor class of University instruction.

 

 

...Let my people go-oooo...

Re: Is Gotham City a substitute for Sin City?

I would have said Gotham was Detroit.

Only the bad parts.

Re: A Map of Zothique

The Zothique stories are good, but dark. This is fantasy a la Lovecraft although it does not feature Lovcecraftian deities and does not fit into the Cycle (some of his other works do). I'd recommend: The Charnel God, Xeethera, Necomancy in Naat, The Empire of the Necromancers, The Witchcraft of Ulua, The Black Abbot of Puthuum, and The Dark Eidolon.

"The Charnel God" is a nice setup for the rest of the series, it gives the feel of the world as a place where everything is slowly disintegrating. "Xeethera" helps give the scope of the setting, the sense of age and empires risen and lost (so does the Empire of the Necromancers).