Eodin

Re: TravellerHERO PDF in the works bump - just to keep this unforgotten.

Re: Trek Hero PDF available bump - since I'm starting to see Star Trek type questions show up again.

Re: A phaser in hero Steve has a "phaser inspired" weapon called a "Multi-Purpose Energy Weapon" in Star Hero, page 154. I have write-ups for phasers and other weapons in my Trek Hero books at http://www.starherofandom.com/h_trekhero/index.php Seenar also has write-ups for phasers in his "Prime Directive Hero" I'm sure.

Re: VPP and Advantages Ummm.... Thanks for checking on this for me. I didn't have my book at the office, and had an idea during a coffee break. Didn't mean to start a controversy...

Don't have my book available to look it up... Anybody remember if I can apply Reduced END and Variable FX to the Control Cost of a VPP so that all powers created in it have those advantages?

Re: Your "2006" Pet Gaming Projects Once I get things back on track, I will continue with TravellerHERO 1.x. I'm slowly working on Star Hero Adventures as time permits, hoping it becomes a book for sale, but if not we'll see what becomes of it. With the foster kids and work, life is somewhat more complicated

Re: TravellerHERO PDF in the works Our article is now available at: http://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/rules/convert/travhero.html

Re: Question for you Traveller fans. Go to the StarHero Fandom website to the Traveller Hero page http://www.starherofandom.com/h_traveller/index.php[/url] or go to the Freelance Traveller site http://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/rules/convert/travhero.html

Re: TravellerHERO PDF in the works I sent them a note last night. We'll see what they say in the next day or two.

Re: TravellerHERO PDF in the works Nope, it fell off my radar I'll have to remember to send them a note when I get home from the office this evening.

Re: TravellerHERO PDF in the works Looks good to me too

Re: Your "2005" Pet Gaming Projects As a way of recharging my creative batteries, the muses have moved me start on "Star Hero Adventures". I've sent a proposal in to Steve to see if there's any interest, but even if there isn't at this time, it'll be a good exercise for me. If nothing else, it may turn into a large series of Digital Hero articles. It's sort of Villany Amok for Star Hero. The first few sections, which are just thoughts at this point, are SECTION ONE: Adventures In Time and Space Chapter One: In Memory Of, covers the classic dead civilization scenario. Chapter Two: Time And Again, covers the classic time loop scenario. Chapter Three: It’s Just An Interphase, covers the interphase or dimensional rip story. Chapter Four: We Aren’t Supposed To Be Here, covers the alternate universe scenario. Chapter Five: Save The Past, covers the travel back in time to fix things scenario. SECTION TWO: Aliens Chapter Six: Alien Manipulations, covers alien illusions and manipulation scenario. [Man Trap, Day of the Dove, Wolf In The Fold, etc.] Chapter Seven: With Power Comes…, covers the powerful alien scenario. [squire of Gothos, Organians, etc.] Chapter Eight: No Longer Human, covers the transition scenario [What Are Little Girls Made Of, Metamorphosis, Charlie X, etc.] Chapter Nine: First Contact, covers the tense First Contact scenarios [Corbomite Maneuver, Spectre of the Gun, etc.] There's more in my head, but it hasn't formed words for the ideas yet. Here's a small excerpt from the first chapter, prior to edits of course, just as a whet your whistle kind of thing. CHAPTER ONE: IN MEMORY OF <1>DEAD CIVILIZATION ENCOUNTERS The discovery of civilizations that developed, thrived, and then died out long before man reached the stars is one of the standards of science fiction. It’s a facet of science fiction that speaks to the vastness of time and space. These extinct civilizations are often mysterious, lending a sense of wonder, and sometimes terror, to a story. A dead civilization may be encountered by accident, its remnants discovered while exploring a previously unexplored world. There may be legends about the dead civilization, and the legends may lead to searches for lost cities and expeditions of treasure hunts. Remains of the dead civilization – probes, robots, etc. – may wander about and discover the characters by accident. Often, the dead civilization has something of value – information, art and treasure, ancient technology – and this something of value causes problems. There may be others after the same valuables, there may be an ancient guardian protecting the valuables, or the valuables may take on a life of their own with ideas contrary to what the characters had in mind. <2>DEAD CIVILIZATION BASICS First consider what kind of civilization it was. Was it peaceful and artistic, or militaristic conquerors? Did they travel the stars or never leave the confines of their world? Did they have enemies that wiped them out, or were they victims of a natural disaster? Each type of encounter is different; compare And The Children Shall Lead (ST:TOS) and its horror component to The Inner Light (ST:TNG) and its romantic component. <2>PLAYERS SEEKING DEAD CIVILIZATIONS Player characters may be seeking a dead civilization for a number or reasons. Decide what it is about the dead civilization that the characters need or want. <5>Buried Treasure The dead civilization may have been quite wealthy, either from its artistic or technological abilities, or from the acquisition of wealth from other civilizations. Star Trek’s Iconians and Traveller’s Sky Pirates are examples of wealth through piracy. **************** I never know what the muses are going to inspire me to write, which is fun but troublesome too. It also means that Master of Orion Hero, Arcanum Hero, etc. are low priority to my creative energies this year, since the muses moved me in a different direction.

Re: RIP: James Doohan Just got back from the family vacation and found out. Farewell Jimmie Doohan, we'll miss you.

Re: Traveller Hero is ready for Download Thanks Steve, we appreciate that! But the question is, have we earned the Experience Points needed to build even better noses

Re: Traveller Hero questions That's one of the core concepts of the Traveller universe... it would take a year to travel from the core to the outer worlds in a Jump5 or Jump6 capable ship.

Re: Traveller Hero is ready for Download And Shadowcat, if you don't have a copy of the racial files that Tancred created, let me know, and I'll zip them up and send them to you this evening. Those need to go on the TravellerHERO page as well.

Re: Traveller Hero questions That's one of the things we may change in 1.0 as to the writeup... it takes one week to make the jump. So you initiate the jump ( 1hour) which takes 1 week to arrive (1ch for 1 week), and when you come out of the jump you could jump again if you have enough fuel.

Re: Traveller Hero is ready for Download Sure. What sort of article do they want? Our inspiration? The effort we put in? What we hope the pdf will do? any or all of the above?

Re: Traveller Hero is ready for Download It feels so good to finally get this out for general viewing. And I can refresh my batteries a little before working on 1.0 In the meantime, please provide feedback to Shadowcat, Tancred, or me. There are some things we can't do because of licensing restrictions and copyrights, but if there's something you'd like to see, let us know.

Re: A more realistic feel for SH In the various merchant campaigns I've run, unless the plot said otherwise, characters kept track of their money. We assumed that while aboard ship they didn't spend any money, and while in port they spent x credits per day for food, shelter, etc. Because they kept track of how much money they had, they were inspired to be clever about obtaining special weapons or sensors, and so forth. The captain of the merchant vessel also kept track of the company funds, so that on the few ventures that went particularly well financially, he could invest money in upgrading the ship. After one adventure, he visited a stardock and was able to upgrade the ship's transporter from a 2-man to a 6-man transporter, which later saved some lives. They also kept a list of what some would call personal equipment: weapons, sensors, communicators, guitars, whatever (life aboard ship doesn't allow for a lot of belongings). In another campaign, the captain invested some of the earnings in the interstellar stock market, which formed a plot hook for several adventures. Personally, the point is not to be anal about "you spent 6 credits at Starbucks and 23 credits at O'Reilly's ", but if they're on a desert world with no access to an ATM, buying or trading for a hyperspace fluxor may prove challenging. My 2 cents. Also, in the Star Fleet campaign I ran, characters kept track of money only because it influenced what they could afford to do at shore leave. But in such a campaign, money is not that important, since the service provides all the basic needs. If your running a campaign where money does have influence (merchant, bounty hunters, pirates, mercenaries, diplomats, etc.) I'd have them keep track of the grand total and just use up a fixed amount for daily expenses, which gives them the incentive to work on jobs that earn them their money. On the other hand, if it's a campaign where money has little effect (military/war campaign, TNG-style economy, and so forth) I'd say to let them keep track of funds only lightly. Again my 2 cents.

Re: A more realistic feel for SH Keep in mind that these are suggestions on how a GM can run a particular style, in this case a realistic rather than TV or movie style, and how to do so without changing the cost structures. If a GM house-rules any of the skill level costs, that's perfectly in his/her right to do so.

Re: TravellerHERO PDF in the works

Re: TravellerHERO PDF in the works Something to keep in mind is that I've had to scale back or remove some chapters I was going to include, because Marc Miller doesn't want us to give away the Traveller universe for free (and rightly so). I would love to have deck plans and timelines and other good stuff, but some of that would lose the need to own Traveller books, which is not a good thing. So lot of good conversion stuff, packages, gadgets, ships and such. Black Lotus - if you want to do some weapon illustrations, that would be cool. I've got an autoshotgun and a magnum revolver in the thing, but no others so far. As far as money, it's handled as per most heroic campaigns, though I think resource points could be useful. But until we hear back from Marc Miller, I'm not working on the thing except for smatterings of insight and formatting. Speaking of which, Shadowcat, any word at all yet?

Re: A more realistic feel for SH And in the TravellerHERO pdf we will be releasing (whenever we can get Marc to get back to us) we have this bit of wisdom for more realistic characters, using 75+50 or 100+50... Characters in a TravHERO setting have primary characteristics mainly in the 8-13 range, with some rare 15s. But most characters have aged through the military service route, and have had most of their characteristics lowered through aging (Age 40+ and Age 60+). To maintain this feel, most characters should have no more than one or two characteristics in the 15 range, and most in the 8-13 range. Strength Except for HTH Combat and STR Min for weapons, STR is less important in a TravellerHERO game. With cargo-loading robots and heavy-work machinery, most humans in the Imperium will have STR in the 8-13 range. However, geneering (genetic engineering) was practiced by the Ancients ( see the Vargr) and even by other human races in the past. The GM may design genetically engineered humans (such as the Heavyworlders, Martians, and Selkies) on far off worlds with enhanced characteristics. Dexterity As with STR, DEX in the Imperium is not usually important except in combat and certain skills. If the GM wishes to keep the DEX in the 8-13 range, he can allow characters to buy 5-point levels with DEX-Based Skills, 3-point levels with a cluster of skills (e.g. Light On His Feet: +1 with Acrobatics, Breakfall, and PS: Dance ), Lightning Reflexes, or additional DEX with the limitation Only For DEX Rolls (-1). This keeps character’s CV within the norm, but allows the DEX-Based skills to become heroic. Intelligence In a high-tech universe like Traveller, INT is very important, since so many tech skills are INT-Based. If the GM wishes to allow higher rolls but not have everyone running around with an 18+ INT, he can allow the character to buy 5-point levels with INT-Based Skills, or 3-point skill levels with clusters of skills (e.g. Specialist: +1 with Electronics, Mechanics, and Computer Programming). The point of that excerpt is that if you stress skills and keep the stats reasonable, you'll have a more realistic feel. Hope that helps.

Re: TravellerHERO PDF in the works I've looked at them, and they look good, but haven't tried to integrate them yet. Too much other life stuff going on...