Federation Commander

[Steve Cole]

Yes, Jean has been a Godsend. She needs to learn that 95% perfect and released on time is better than99.99% perfect and six months late, but she'll mature in the job, I'm sure.
This RPG line should have always been a major part of the Star Fleet Universe, but did not reach that goal due to a lack of leadership. Somebody had to be in charge, and that job fell to me, and I am over-worked (and under-qualified to be in charge of RPGs). Even I knew that this was a recipe for failure. With too much to do, all of the product lines I was in charge of got short-changed, RPGs most of all. Without any working knowledge of RPGs, I was unable to tell when a writer had turned in finished work (or if the work was missing major elements) and was unable to resolve conflicts between writers and playtesters.
That changed when Jean Sexton was hired to be in charge of RPGs. She actually knows the subject matter, and could focus on these important products. RPGs are important! The RPG segment of the “adventure game” industry is easily two or three times the size of the “boardgame” segement, and any decent RPG should out-sell our boardgame products. While our releases went well, the lack of timely follow-on products meant we kept having to build up momentum after losing it. Jean set out to build a system of writers and playtesters who could deliver quality work, and the Board of Directors established that no further books would be “announced” or “scheduled” until they were finished.
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The Guy Who Designed Fed Commander

[Nerroth]

Oh, I just noticed something in a store copy of PD20M - I think it's something in my copy of GURPS PD, too.


The section detailing interesting planets lists Circle Trigon - but the paragraph describes it as being on the Fed-Gorn-Romulan triple border... when, of course, it is on the ISC-Gorn-Romulan one instead.
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FC Omega Discussion (v3)
FC LMC Discussion

[Steve Cole]

I thought it was on the Fed border?
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The Guy Who Designed Fed Commander

[Nerroth]

It's the one in hex 5109, as listed in GPD4, page 157 - and according to the map of the region in question, there is no on-map neutral planet in the area where Fed, Gorn and Rom space interacts (3909, 3910, 4009).

(I remember asking in a thread about diplomatic teams for Fed and Empire whether CT, as a world in a neutral hex adjacent to the Interstellar Concordium, was inaccessible in a scenario where (503.2) is in effect, rather than having an active ISC player involved.)
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FC Omega Discussion (v3)
FC LMC Discussion

[Jiraiya1969]

First of all, I too would like to welcome Jean and her RPG experience. I completely agree with Steve's reasoning in that a dedicated RPG person working on these lines will both improve these products and free him up to work on SFB and FC!

As a Cincinnati Bengals fan, I wish Mike Brown would similarly see the light and hire a GM that knows what he is doing, but that's for a sport's board

Anyway, a couple of clarifications, please, some of which were asked upthread but never answered:

Will PD20M and PD20 both be supported? Are D20 Klingons and Romulans compatible with PD20M or will there be updated guides down the pike?

Thanks,

Sar

[Steve Cole]

>Will PD20M and PD20 both be supported?

Yes. Jean want to do a new PD20 edition which would fix the typos and the mistakes.

>Are D20 Klingons and Romulans compatible with PD20M

Jean would have to answer that.

>or will there be updated guides down the pike?

If Jean thinks we need them. Not sure how big they would be or how they would be provided. A page or two might be a free download. A 70-page overhaul might as well mean a new book is printed, but I don't think there is that much "game" stuff in those books.

I am not sure what Jean plans to do for FEDS. It might be done to fit both, or just one (with some kind of update for the other) or two books. Just depends on the number of "extra" pages it takes.
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The Guy Who Designed Fed Commander

[Jean]

Well, there seems to be a light at the end of the Captain's Log #38 tunnel! Now I can turn again to Prime Directive.

Remember that I am doing this in addition to a Real Life job, so it will take a bit to get everything done that I would like to do and that needs to be done.

First, I really need to get PD20 Federation out. You guys have been waiting for it (patiently or im), you need it, you deserve it, and you will have it. Because of the nature of the book, that means GURPS PD Federation will probably be next. While this may not make your heart sing, I also need to get out a core rulebook for another gaming system. When I do that, we will also produce Klingons and Romulans for that gaming system. During that time, I will have the "guts" of those books in my hands and can determine how compatible they are with PD20M.

Then I can give SVC a good estimate on what I think I need to have done to make Klingons and Romulans compatible with PD20M.

And yes, I do want to do a new edition of PD20. Some of the typos in my copy make my teeth hurt! I need to cross-check the skills and feats to make sure they are all available. If we tell you that you need X skill as a prereq, then we'd better have that skill somewhere!

Does that answer your questions?

[mjwest]

[Jean]

Mike,

Do you realize there is likely to only be a month delay between PD20 Feds and GURPS PD Feds? SJ Games must approve our GURPS books (while no one cares what we do with our PD20 books, except ADB, Inc.), so that possible delay is built into the schedule. I also need to have the books spaced out so I have a bit of time to breathe (and the printers don't burn out either)!

As it is, SVC has a very ambitious schedule planned for Prime Directive.

[djdood]

Since I've been buying the GURPS versions, I was kind of hoping GURPS Federation would be coming out for it first. I can't have it all though...
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[drwibble]

Looking forward to GURPS Federation too.

Jean... the other core rulebook.. this wouldn't be the long-discussed D6 version of PD, would it? That would really be great!

[Nerroth]

Agreed on the concern over GURPS Federation - since all of my pre-existing PD books are GURPS (since they were first, and I wanted the extra species in GPD4) I'm much more keen on its release rather than that of PD Federation in one of the other game systems.


But, if it can't be helped, it can't be helped...


(I just hope it doesn't become a recurring pattern for future sourcebooks.)
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FC Omega Discussion (v3)
FC LMC Discussion

[Jean]

[mjwest]

[Jean]

But Mr. Federation Commander Answer Guy, Sir, you said No Slytherin allowed.