tancred

Re: TravellerHERO PDF in the works Speak of the devil, er, goblin, and he appears. I thought the revised versions you posted looked good, Shadowcat. But I'll take another look at these ASAP and let y'all know what I think. (I'm not gonna promise I'll do it tonight, 'cause I'm just not sure I can get to it. RL interfering with gaming, you know.)

Re: Has anyone ever converted Morrow Project to Hero? Just exactly the resource I could have really used BEFORE starting my Post-Apocalyptic HERO game.

Re: Dark Champions hero fragility We had a similar lethality problem in my Post-Apocalyptic Hero game when we started. All of my players are old-school D&D. They hadn't grasped the concept that you don't have to just stand there and suck up the damage. (I even forget that sometimes, having played so much D&D with them.) But the most amazing thing happened. The player who is playing the leader has the lowest-DEX character in the party, and he got tired of getting hit (and having to spend time healing). So he started Blocking (easier since he's learned to use a sword). Lo and behold, look what happens now! Now, he prevents one attack, then he gets to go first, even though the opponents are (nearly always) higher DEX than he is. Suddenly, he's not taking damage and having to heal. Now the other players are copying him, and they've gotten noticeably more effective in combat. I actually have to give them tougher opponents, because they're fighting smarter. I must say it's a lot of fun, having 3 modern characters using a longsword, a heavy bow, and a great club, respectively, rather than their M-16s (which are starting to run out of ammo).

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I just finished American Empire: The Center Cannot Hold by Harry Turtledove. This is the middle book of the American Empire series, part of the overall Great War / American Empire series. If you are like alternate history, this is the series for you. It begins with How Few Remain, the story of the second War Between the States. The prelude explains how the South won the Civil War (referred to in the series as the War of Secession), then HFR covers the Second Mexican War. The Great War trilogy covers World War I (most of which takes place in Kentucky!), and the American Empire trilogy (including the one I'm reading now, The Victorious Opposition) covers the aftermath of the Great War and the time of the Great Depression. This is the same author who wrote Guns of the South, but there's no silly time travel to let the South win this time, just well-crafted story-telling. If you ever wondered what the world would be like had the South won the Civil War, read this series. It makes me want to get down on my knees and gives thanks every day that I live in these United States. (Things could be so much worse than they are.)

Re: TravellerHERO PDF in the works I almost didn't even use Int+Edu, for exactly the reasons you name. Thinking about it now, your option 2 (no restriction) may be the best way to do it. On another note, my email has been messed up for a couple weeks; I can receive but not send. I just found that out this week, but haven't had time to sit on hold with Earthlink for half an hour. All that to say that I have some more HD files for Minor Races that I need to send, and that I hope to get them sent this weekend.

Re: Random Musing about PC Concepts Interesting discussion. I'm almost on the fence here, too. While I value the idea of a detailed character background (the more detailed, the better), I wouldn't care for having a background handed to me, most of the time. Although I could see the fun and challenge in figuring out a character based on a background that was given to me. As a GM, I could see making up additional background for a player, if his background wasn't sufficiently detailed, or if it would improve the game (by adding additional plot hooks). This actually happened to me as a player; the GM added lots of background detail based on the outline I had given him. This one character was a revenge-driven character, unlike most of those I've played and seen. To sum up, I would always prefer that the background for a character be either the player's creation or a collaboration with the GM. A less-desirable choice would be for the GM to make it up, if that's the way the player wants it. (Although the second choice feels much like giving the player a former NPC to play.)

Re: TravellerHERO PDF in the works Sweet!

Re: Getting rid of the {tech} Absolutely excellent article! Thank you VERY much for finding and posting that. You may be sure I will be remembering that advice.

Re: Battlestar Galactica Hero That would appear to be about Size 38, if I'm reading HD right. Size 38 gives an area of 21,137,967.60".

Re: TravellerHERO PDF in the works Yeah, that is a significant difference. I still haven't gotten a good grasp on the differences between TL and ATRI. Have to take a look at that this weekend. I agree that the book 3 world generation system is definitely game-neutral. It can be used in any game system. I especially like having a rating system for a world, where you can sum it up in a glance. That, to me, is the one drawback of the system in Star Hero, and in the system generation program in Free Stuff here. The UPP is just elegant, and easy to use.

Re: How Much Of A Tinkerer Are You? Prior to 5th Edition, I would say I was a 5 or 6. I was willing to tinker if it was needed, although I wasn't completely comfortable with it. These days? 2 at most. Especially since Hero Designer came out, I am almost totally unwilling to play with the system at all. (I want to do everything in HD, and I don't want to have to struggle to do it, so I tend to do everything book-legal.) I will create new Skills if it's absolutely required, but otherwise increasingly hate the idea of house rules. And as I get more books, with more published characters, I find new and better ways to do things that I once thought required tinkering. This in turn makes me less and less willing to tinker.

Re: TravellerHERO PDF in the works Man, that is SO cool! Permission from the man himself. This just gets better all the time.

Re: Traveller Book 3 Equipment Has anybody looked at the cost of Terran Empire / Spacers' Toolkit gear vs. the cost of Traveller equipment? It looks like, on my first pass, that TE-STK equipment is about 5 times as expensive as the corresponding Traveller equipment. This is only a rough estimate. Some of the weapons, in particular, the multiplier looks more like 7-9 times. (It's also probable that the multiplier varies by category, as the costs given in STK do.) I thought that we ought to include a note about converting the cost, when we reference TE-STK.

Re: Traveller Book 3 Equipment That's where we have to be careful, all right. I had to go back to my doc and prefab and remove more stuff than I had to work up. My vote would be, if it's in TE, STK (or even Alien Wars), don't include it, just reference it. If a piece of equipment is only in a Traveller book, or is used differently in Traveller, include it. If the write-up in Traveller is significantly different than that in the Hero book, include it. My Cr2.

Re: Traveller Book 3 Equipment Thank you; just trying to do my part. I'm sure there are bunches of stuff from the other books that could and should be added. I only have the LBBs, so I started there. We definitely need to include a note to look at Terran Empire and Spacers' Toolkit. I haven't quite figured out the cost multiplier, though; it looks to me like the TE-STK equipment is about 5 times as expensive as the Traveller gear. (Which would mean you should divide the cost of TE-STK gear by 5 to use it in Traveller, if I'm guessing right.) Also, I think we should note that the Nanotechnology and Body Modifications don't fit Traveller, at least not Classic Traveller. Although they could be an interesting variant.

The attached file has a Word doc and a HD prefab for most of the equipment listed in Book 3 of Traveller. It does NOT include armor of any kind, only the other equipment (communicators, survival gear, tool kits, etc.).

Re: Pulp Film Recommendations

Re: Pulp Film Recommendations FYI, the local Sam's Club just got in a bunch of boxed sets of new (old) movies. One set was of three Bogie and Bacall movies, including To Have And Have Not (the other two titles escape me at the moment). I was gonna get that one, but went with the set of The Thing, Them, and Forbidden Planet (I've wanted Forbidden Planet for years). There was also a set of WWII movies, with They Were Expendable (John Wayne) and two other classics (the names just left me again). What I love most about DVDs is all these old movies coming back that you haven't been able to get in any format for years. Steve, if they're here in Charlotte they're bound to have them there in Greensboro too.

Re: TravellerHERO PDF in the works Eodin mentioned early on that there's no permission to sell this, so it will be a free download. My bet is that it will be available on StarHeroFandom.com. There is also a forum with plenty of discussion on this topic.

Re: Pulp Reading Except for Edgar Rice Burroughs, I haven't read much pulp-era fiction (a sad deficiency that I need to correct). But there is one, quite IN-obvious book that I can highly recommend: Dydeetown World, by F. Paul Wilson. Technically speaking, it's not pulp-era; it's set in the future. (And one of the main characters is a clone.) But the feel is very gritty, Sam Spade like. It is written like a classic film noir. A REALLY fun read.

Re: Traveller Psionics (long) Oh, I wasn't complaining about the nitpick. (If I came off that way, apologies to all.) After all, without the question I wouldn't have bothered to go look up the data. I just wanted to be sure we got a COMPLETE correction, while we were at it. (I knew scanning and consolidating the Library supplements would come in handy some day.)

Re: Traveller Psionics (long) Actually, the Library Data supplement (#11, IIRC) says that one of the original two Institutes remains on Sol, and its revocation order was cancelled in 1014. The other (in the Spinward Marches) was relocated from Regina to Wypoc/Lanth. Both are under Imperial military control, and the existence of both is described as "of the utmost secrecy." Also, the entry for psychohistory has it as restricted that the Psionics Suppressions were in fact an experiment in psychohistory.

Re: Traveller Laser and High Energy Weapons Here is the exact description of the PGMP-13 from Book 4: Mercenary: (emphasis mine) PGMP-13: A high gain light plasma gun designed exclusively for use with battle dress. Of similar general configuration to the PGMP-12, the PGMP-13 may only be fired by an individual wearing battle dress and only when the firer is stationary and firmly braced in one of several standard firing positions. This allows the suit’s normal strength enhancement units to function as a recoil carriage. Instead of a conventional stock, the PGMP-13 has a recoil cylinder terminating in a computer link to the battle dress. The computer link engages when placed in the PGMP socket integral into the battle dress (placed over the upper right or upper left chest/shoulder). The weapon may not be fired unless the socket is engaged. Sounds like BD Required is appropriate to me.

Re: Traveller Non-Energy Weapons That has always bugged me too. Energy weapons HAVE to be more difficult/expensive to make, as well as requiring more maintenance than any possible slugthrower, even gauss weapons. The not-having-to-transport-ammo argument has some merit, but THAT much? Another thing that really bugs me is the lack of continuity between Alien Wars, Spacer's Toolkit, and Terran Empires. The early laser weapons listed in STK and TE are far LESS capable than those used in Alien Wars. (Some of the early TE lasers have Activation Rolls, for example.) I wanted to run a game set in the very beginning of the TE era, and bought Alien Wars to figure out what would still be around technology-wise. The lack of consistency between the two settings is intensely annoying. Don't get me wrong, I really like the background and settings, but the drop in continuity just irks me.

Re: Traveller Non-Energy Weapons I think you're completely right. This will be truly useful to both Traveller and Hero fans, and maybe even help sell a few books. Speaking of which, I like the way you did the package deals, and I'm not going to create prefabs for them. The way you wrote them up, anyone who wants them can get the Star Hero HD pack and quickly make the appropriate changes. We also should be sure to refer those wanting more equipment to the Spacer's Toolkit. I need to haul out my copy of Striker, and see if there are any more weapons we should add from there.