Federation Commander

Finarvyn · Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2011 2:13 am Post subject:

Well, a little more than 30 years since Prime Directive Traveller isn't out yet. Laughing

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Marv (Finarvyn)
Captain, U.S.S. Lexington -- NCC 1703
United Federation of Planets

Rick · Ensign Joined: 10 Jul 2011 Posts: 5

ericphillips · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 12:20 am Post subject:

Or you guys could do it. Shapeways.com is the print on demand of 3d objects. It can print plastic, metals, etc.

If someone can make a few good designs in a 3d modeling program, this could make some sales with very little setup.

Here is a nice set of space marines I am thinking of getting. Though the pic is in color, it does need to be painted.

http://www.shapeways.com/model/148756/terran_powered_infantry_squad.html?gid=mg

It sells for $30 for the set of 5 figures in white strong flexible plastic, which works well for painting. A 25mm figure is usually 5-6 bucks.

ericphillips · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 12:40 am Post subject:

Oh, here is a good set from Victory Force. They are not really Star Fleet, but by painting it right, you can get the look. Check the site here:

http://www.victoryforce.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=VFM&Category_Code=spacefarers

They got the crew:

Generic Aliens:

Females (often overlooked in minis):

"Red shirts":

Even an Admiral yelling because he's been "connnnnnnnnned."

And more. Space marines. Deck crews in orange outfits. Individual figs.

Rick · Ensign Joined: 10 Jul 2011 Posts: 5

I have quite a few of the Victory Force mini's, most of them I've converted to a non-SFU Trek look (let's just leave it as that, lol!), as the only Klingon, Romulan and other aliens I've found are in the same scale and era! I also have some slightly smaller figures that look very good as SFU miniatures, but the only aliens I've found that would go with them are Gorn! This seems to be the pattern for most mini companies that do these figures - a few bridge crew, possibly a random alien, but nothing more than that. What would be absolutely fantastic would be a set of 28mm mini's that were consistent across the whole range of SFU races/empires.

boneguard · Lieutenant JG Joined: 09 Jul 2011 Posts: 26

May be a stupid question...I'm full of them:

With the arrival of PD Traveller (which is -I think- a good think since it opens up a third market of players) does it mean no more D20M/GURPS book or will the three system by written more or less simultaneously??

Because looking at what is expected to come for PD (the various races, deck plans and other expected GM sourcebooks) I would love to have them without having to buy a new sytem...although worse come to worse I do own the original Travellers rules.

mjwest · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 1:32 pm Post subject:

The point is that this is an additional game system, not a replacement game system. The idea is to support all three systems (and potentially more) as things go forward. So, once Traveller Prime Directive is out, the next book (Tholians? Orions? Something?) will be done to support all three versions.
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Federation Commander Answer Guy

boneguard · Lieutenant JG Joined: 09 Jul 2011 Posts: 26

I was pretty sure that it was what I read but I wanted to clarify to make sure.

This will be good, Mongoose Travellers is fairly close to the old (pre-GURPS) Traveller rules and it will get both an older and younger market, which will greatly help.

ericphillips · Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2011 2:57 pm Post subject:

IMHO, I think Prime Directive, and it more realistic approach to sci fi, works best under GURPS or Traveller. D20/D20M is much more cinematic and combat oriented, while GURPS and Traveller tend to play with more realism and can easily run more cerebral adventures and keep them exciting.

Between GURPS and Traveller you have two different styles: GURPS is very detailed in just about all aspects, while Traveller is a bit more generic. An example is guns. In GURPS you have distinct versions of a gun, like several semi-automatic handguns, each modeled in loving detail. Traveller just has a generic gun to represent all automatic pistols.

The basic combat system of GURPS is on par with Traveller in complexity, but the advanced GURPS combat system has an amazing level of detail. What I like about both over d20/d20M is that death is realistic. A single shot from a gun can kill. This leads to game play where combat is not the first choice. In d20/d20M as hit points go up you become kind of like a superhero, being able to take a bunch of hits. Combat is usually the first choice for me in those games.

So, Traveller PD should be... awesome!

boneguard · Lieutenant JG Joined: 09 Jul 2011 Posts: 26

I would agree here. The d20 system is a good one, but it does indeed 'encourage' combat a bit more -especially at high level- since a "1 shot, 1 kill" scenario become less likely. Whereas in GURPS and Traveller it's always a real concern.

There is 1 D20/OGL system that I own that kind of mitigate this point by reducing the starting HP at level 1 (IIRC betweeen 3-6) and only increase by 1 or 2 every level. Since weapon are fairly powerful, even mid level character could get killed in one shot, discouraging combat as first option.

This is always an option that could be added -as a house rule- if it's not already part of the D20M system.

ericphillips · Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 1:21 pm Post subject:

Rick · Ensign Joined: 10 Jul 2011 Posts: 5

I was looking at some TOS deckplans last night - the Saladin, I think - and thinking that trying to shoehorn the deckplans of the SFB ships into a Traveller PD book (MGP did it with the B5 and High Guard books) would be a monumental task, and I think you'd lose a lot of detail.

Then I thought that maybe having full plans for the entire ship wouldn't be necessary, given that turbolifts can be accessed near to most major locations. All you'd need would be a cutaway, side view, of each ship, showing the deck layout and a key telling you what was on each deck.

You could then do a series of detailed plans of the major locations (bridge, sickbay, engineering, etc) that could be used for nearly all of the ships.
For example, if you had a large, medium and small example of each location, you could just indicate which ships had a medium bridge or a small sickbay.
I'm willing to bet that a large bridge on a CA and a large bridge on a DN don't look too dissimiliar.

Of course, this would be for the larger ships, smaller ones would have full deckplans, but you'd only be looking at 2-3 decks in most of those cases.

domingojs23 · Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 6:56 pm Post subject:

Yesss !!!!! Prayers have been answered !!!!! Very Happy

domingojs23 · Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2011 8:15 pm Post subject:

Wow, am I in some kind of holodeck fantasy, or are we really finally getting SFU / PD Traveller ?!?

This is indeed a dream come true, and as many have pointed out, this is coming home full circle for us 40-something gamers, who did play both Traveller and SFB back in the day (the 1980s). Back then, my group would indulge in an RPG campaign whose setting was essentially a cross-over between the SFU and the OTU ! What fun we had with duelling Kzinti vs Aslan, psionic battles between Zhodani and Vulcans !!!

After getting back in somewhat into gaming the past few years, I tried setting up a play-by-forum PD using Gurps ("Cardinal of Klinzhai"), but never could find the time and needed motivation to see it through. With due respect to Gurps, D20 and D20m, Traveller is my first and enduring RPG system love, the SFU my most beloved setting. PD Traveller is like rediscovering and getting married to your high school sweetheart - after losing touch for three decades !

With that said, I'd like to ask Steve, Jean and the other fine folks at ADB, what would be a rough estimate for the release schedule for MGT versions of the other PD sourcebooks ?

I must also say that I am pleasantly surprised that ACTA will also get the SFU treatment. Which then also leads me to ask:

1. Is there, or will there be, ACTA treatment of MGT/ OTU -setting ships ?
2. Will there be some kind of interface between another eagerly awaited game - Starfleet Marines - and the PD line ? Same question for SFU Battlestations.

Steve, Jean and Mongoose, Maraming, Maraming Salamat Po !!!

aramis · Lieutenant JG Joined: 25 Jul 2011 Posts: 60