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Who else would go crazy for a Traveller MMO?
sludgebeard
Member RarePosts: 788
I just recently got into Traveller, and in fact will be running my first DM Campaign next weekend because of it. For those that arent familiar, Traveller is a Tabletop RPG that centers around a slightly different Science Fiction universe than were used to these days.
Basically in Traveller, Hyperspace was founded early in humanity's technological expansion, and thus space travel exists, but earlier technology like Swords, Rifles, Grenades are still being used for their rudimentary combat efficiency.
Things like Interstellar communications dont exist yet, thus the universe is run by Dukes, Counts, and all sorts of Feudal Lords and Ladys, with an emphasis on centralized government.
At the same time this Space Expansion is also experianced by other Races, thus you get a central human character creation, but also receive some very strange Alien and Sub-races that range from the Omnivorous-Six Limbed Hivers to the Winged Reptilian Droynes and even the Psionic-Telepath Humans "The Zhodani".
One of the main features that Traveller has been famous for is its Character Creator, which put you in a small mini-game where although your personal choice is limited, there is a wide range of character paths that are decided on multiple dicerolls of 2D(6). Not only that, but in that mini game your character your creating can actually DIE IN CC, by failing to survive a 4 year term of service and you will have to start the process all over again.
To me all of these things would make such a fresh and exciting MMORPG. Imagine an MMO that isnt based around character Min/Maxing everything because rather than focusing on making the perfect character, they are rather guided towards a character with multiple Strengths AND Weaknesses, and the collective use of multiple characters really makes all the difference in a story's outcome.
Anyone else think Traveller would make a great MMORPG?
Comments
nah .. i don't go crazy over an idea of how to make a video game. Even if a dev is going to make a traveller mmo, the translation can be very good, or very bad .. it is all in the details.
I will judge when there is actually a game.
Depending how it is "handled", Traveller could make a GREAT MMORPG
I had a thread on this a few months ago. You should be scared as my mind is certifiably nuts
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
Well from what ive found everyone who plays Traveller is pretty nuts in one way or another. Also we all seem to have that goofball sense of humor where we dont take much seriously :P
Its awesome that you still have the classic books, I have a few of the supplements I found at a local game store, but mostly I just have PDF's of all the other core rulebooks. I actually got alot of them from a HumbleBundle sale a while back, where you could get the core rulebooks and some adventures for $1. I mean I paid them $6 to get the bonus stuff but I also wasnt fully "aware" of the purchase at the time. Best 6 bucks I spent to this date!
All die, so die well.
I agree, the sense of isolation you get when journeys take weeks and even months (in game time that is) is incredible and really drives the story for a lot of us that play traveller. The fact that it's also fairly easy to "mis-jump" and end up in the middle of nowhere or worse os also a great immersion builder (especially if you don't have the fuel to get back).
So on that note I have two possible solutions to that.
#1 Make the in-game travel take a bit longer (think spaceports in SWG) when you enter hyperspace, and allow the characters to actually coerce and gamble and whatever they want in the ship while it's jumping.
or
#2 Make travel instantaneous but with the RNG putting you in a set of "situations" should you misjump. As in falling into a pirate nest, finding a derelict ship with zombies, or simply being thrown into a dead space area and having to plot a course out.
Although in my mind Traveller The MMO would be a very alt heavy game, with characters rolling new characters constantly to try new builds and missions. Almost like every character is a throw away char but seeing how far you can go (IE roguelike games) being the main goal.
Third option ... do it like in SP game (instance, may be) ... just tell the player that a few month has passed, but in real life time, it is only a few seconds. Not unlike "wait" button in SKYRIM.
I fondly remember the various Traveler campaigns I was in. Built an orbital resort hotel around a dinosaur ridden planet and offered Big Game Expeditions. Smash all the butterflies you want.
I even remember the CRPGs based on Traveler. The basic plot in those was pretty interesting, but the interface was beyond horrific. The interesting plot, character origins and detailed equipment were soon forgotten once the character became able to trade between systems. It should have been an interesting squad-based game, much like the Gold-Box D&D games. They weren't.
I'd love to see someone revisit and revamp one of the CRPGs -- better graphics, a usable interface, etc. Lose the interstellar trading aspects, and keep the plot moving on the ground.
The original PnP system had a variety of problems, too. One campaign, saw a big firefight at a space docks, where a ship's pilot turned its full exhaust engines on a guy in a simple vacc suit, and the guy (and vacc suit) survived. A well armed soldier was able to take a full burst from any ship weapon, with a very good chance of survival. Talk about your inconsistent rules. (And loose wording that allowed GMs the opportunity to think 2d6 from a ship's main weapon was the same 2d6 from a pistol).
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
O I completely understand your point of view, even after only being with Traveller there is slot of flaws. My major gripe, skill progression, because we'll, there is none. Which forces the Ref to come up with his own rules and system for any sort of skill advance for the characters.
Traveller is just one of those games though, I mean it's strange because as odd as the rules are and inconsistencies, I was never able to get into DnD like Traveller. And from what I've found it just honestly attracts a different kind of player. Like you said, people who want to make a space hotel or hunt Dino's or even make it with a hiver through their "spores mating". Alright look that last one might be TMI traveller but it's a solid point non the less.
In the above post about ship based weapons not killing players, sEems like a young/inexperienced GM or just weak GM'ing. A simple rule like what paladium games have is mdc and sdc. No person can survive a mdc blast, no mater the strength. Also, the GM should not be afraind to kill players who do stupid.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
The reviewer has a mishapen head
Which means his opinion is skewed
...Aldous.MF'n.Huxley
Yes and no, a GM should not be afraid to dish out punishment for stupidity, but should never let player stupidity distract or dominate game direction.
Many players will attempt to use stupid actions to make the story all about them to be the center of attention, never give them what they are looking for.
My solution would be along the lines of welp poof you have have been turned to ash Ralph scoops up your ashes and sticks you in his pocket clone-o-matic the process will take a week, have a great night and thanks for coming see you next week.
Punishes dismisses the player and moves the game along for the other players.
Yes I think Traveller's "jump drive" idea (where it takes an average of two weeks to jump from system to system) lends itself very well to an mmorpg because it creates the basis for isolated feudal planets with their own unique and possibly weird political setup but in a space context - systems are both self-contained and at the same time connected to a vast network.
Another aspect of Traveller that might be interesting is the idea of a character starting at different ages with a lower or higher level of skills and then aging with each jump. So you could start at age 40 with high skills (maybe good fro raiders) and avoid too many jumps whereas an explorer player might want to start at age 20 with low skills but more time (age 40 would take 500 jumps). Aging would drop your stats and fix the end game problem. Your character would have to have a kid and start at 20 again.
Lots of cool alien critters and planets, moon bases, refueling stations at gas giants, could be great.
(Lends itself to a very non-linear game play as well.
I think the way to do it would be to either
a) make the travel fast but simulate it by adding to character age then at say 50 the player's stats start to drop until their high skill is outweighed by their lower stats. That then adds a whole new set of game motives as the player hunts down organic implants, cyborg parts, longevity drugs etc that give them more time but eventually you just pass on your alien blaster rifle to your kid and start again at 20.
although
b) the idea mentioned of making certain activities in game happen only during travel might also work - random encounters, social skills, gambling, crafting (aka ship maintenance) etc - although i think that might have to be optional. I'd be into that but players desperate to see the next system might get annoyed.
yeah it would have to start pretty small but at the same time that would make it infinitely extendable.
I'd like it done in terms of "systems" so the main systems would have both a main (or more than one) main planet with moon colonies, asteroid miners, hollowed out pirate bases etc (for anyone that doesn't know the Traveler idea is a bit like the Age of Sail in earth history so although there are big planets with big navies it might take a naval squadron four months to patrol from one end of their territory to the other end so there are cracks for pirates etc to exist in) so the big systems might have a ton of different things to do and then have a chain of little backwater systems in between with (initially) just a refueling station so you get the sense of scale without an impossible amount of work and then add more detail later.
So for example imagine a sector of 30 systems in a network with six fully developed systems and the rest just gas giant refueling stations (at first).
The problem is as mentioned already the Traveller universe is based around the premise of jump travel taking time, and also no faster than light communications. Therefore news travels only at the rate of the greatest available jump drive, rendering centralized government next to impossible and necessitating things like a feudal system of nobles empowered to act as the situation demands while the news of the situation is still travelling to the capital.
Aside from purely travel time, this has implications for things like being able to react to events and changing economic conditions. For an MMORPG, this creates problems if for example one person can check out news or prices in one system and instantly broadcast that via out of game means to his friends elsewhere, thereby evading one of the fundamental constraints of the Traveller setting.
Also let's not forget Low Passage, which basically puts the character in a stasis during travel so they don't age. Obviously with the appropriate risk if you don't have a trained medic to bring you back out.
It makes me think of a system where you pay a Captain a premium to take you with them on a ship and then have a medic available for you when you get out.
Wikipedia says that Eve was inspired by Traveller and I can see how that can be.
I still have my Traveller books from my youth in the late 70s
A digital pen and paper traveller would be a must buy for me.