RPG Thursday – Traveller Dynasty

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Traveller Supplement 12: Dynasty is very much unlike other Traveller publications. In the words of Mongoose themselves:

A complete guide on founding, growing and running your own world in Traveller, this book enables the creation of sociologically diverse solar systems or even empires. Covering a wide range of aspects involving governments, infrastructure, trade, military defences and even religion, it also allows the development of these unique polities over time; investments, conflicts and random events driving their growth – or indeed, possible collapse!

Whether you are a band of adventurers colonising or conquering their own planet, or seeking to play out a generational game of developing sector-wide dominions, Dynasty will add depth and colour to any Traveller campaign.

Dynasty is a cross between a “dynasty” chargen system and a metagame for fleshing out background. Say your favorite character is a spy. A spy for who? What does that agency want? Why does that Megacorporation oppose you at every turn? With Dynasty all those questions can be answered. Using Dynasty, a GM can create “a succession of rulers from the same family or line; also a family or group that maintains power for several generations” (p. 2).

Dynasty can be viewed as having two parts. The first part is Dynasty Generation. Dynasties are described using characteristics (Cleverness, Greed, Loyalty, Militarism, Popularity, Scheming, Tenacity and Tradition) as well as traits, aptitudes, values, boons and hindrances. Like Traveller chargen itself, a dynasty can be created using a mini-game (alternatively, a point-buy option is provided).

After creating the core characteristics, each dynasty much chose a power base which gives trait and attribute modifiers. At this point, a dynasty archtype is chosen which determines base traits and attributes. To get the dynasty started, the First Generation (actually the first 100 years) is covered, which is also where boons and hindrances are developed. The management (or leadership) of the dynasty is also created. Basic dynasty creation ends with the calculation of First Generation values as well as determining background and historic events in the first 100 years of a dynasty.

Now that the core dynasty is created, the layers or GM can work through the generations. Each generation is 30 years long. For each generation, a goal must be chosen. There are ten goals given and for each there is a checklist of aptitude checks or defined checks or end-of-generation factors that must be met. Every five years the dynasty must check for Threats and Obstacles, and every 10 years there can be decade events. Finally, at the end of every generation there is an accounting step to determine how the dynasty grows – or if it fails to survive.

The generations “game” is where Dynasty begins to fall apart. For each generation, the dynasty must complete Aptitude Checks to meet goals. The Aptitude Checks in the book are not all inclusive; indeed they represent only a very limited selection meaning a GM will have to be very creative. Some checks are opposed, meaning you have to have more than one dynasty being created. This is fine with multiple players but hard to solo – a past hallmark of Traveller games.

The second part of Dynasty focuses on when dynasties clash. Five mini-games are introduced, each replacing the regular generation process. Rules are also provided for dynastic influence on Traveller chargen. The book concludes with a GM guide to role-playing with dynasties and sample dynasties.

The process of creating a dynasty works fine through the creation of the core dynasty (the first 10 years). In the generation process, the Aptitude Checks provided are limited and the GM will have to create may of their own, but very guidance on how to do this is provided. When dynasties clash is also a bit confusing, because there are prerequisites to starting each mini-game and their relationship to the regular generational Aptitude Checks seems unclear.

I don’t really want to declare that the generational development game and the clashes mini-games are broken, but in the (few) dynasties I have tried creating it seems difficult to get the requisite accumulated effects (anywhere from 50-80 or so) each generation. Odds are if you spend an entire generation on Aptitude Checks you may meet your goal, but no clashes would be possible. Indeed, clashes early in the life of a dynasty appear deadly.

Since I am still working on creating dynasties I have not had the chance to play around with heroes and villains of dynasties. I worry that the changes to chargen may upset player character balance. Will have to keep an eye on that.

In conclusion, Dynasty is interesting but not without its issues. Rules could be clearer; the format Mongoose uses for books is difficult to follow. That said, Dynasty is interesting because it allows creation of background and backstory. It is integrated with chargen, but it is not very clearly interchangable with other Traveller mini-games such as Mercenary or High Guard; nor is it intuitively obvious how to relate to Classic Traveller games like Striker or Trillion-Credit Squadron (which just screams dynasty!).

RPG Thursday – Traveller Vehicle Handbook Review

A squadron of Imperial Marine Trepida grav tanks on patrol (by A. Boulton at www.traveller3d.com)

BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT – QUALIFIED FAILURE

The new Supplement 5-6: The Vehicle Handbook from Mongoose Publishing (MGP 3868, published 2012) has three major sections. In order they are New Vehicle Rules, the Vehicle Design System, and Vehicle Examples. My review will address each in a slightly different order.

The Vehicle Design System is more streamlined than the older Supplement 5 Civilian Vehicles (MGP 3821/2009) and Supplement 6 Military Vehicles (MGP 3822/2009) which generally makes it faster and more useful. As noted in the Introduction, the authors bought into the “design for effect” school and dropped much of the “gearhead” details. I like this – as a GM one needs to be able to quickly design vehicles to support the story. Unfortunately, the text is often hard to follow and the design process can be difficult to understand. Somebody needs to introduce Mongoose to bullet lists! The (sadly) traditional Mongoose editing/proofreading/format errors are here which means it is that much more challenging to make sense out of rules.  Even given all that I rate this section 4 out of 5.

The Vehicle Examples are a mess. Most examples have errors. Cargo and armor and weapons ranges and stacked modifiers for price are often done incorrectly. So much so that I cannot trust any example. I will admit I haven’t checked every entry, but I have looked at 20 and found only one correct.

I was happy to see Hammer’s Slammers vehicles in this book. I was hoping that Mongoose would finally live up to the back cover of Hammer’s Slammers (MGP 3817/2009) where they stated “With all vehicles created using the Traveller Vehicle Creation System, this book is guaranteed to be fully compatible with every other Traveller book, allowing you to mix and match supplements as you desire!” Alas, Mongoose has failed yet again to live up to that “guarantee” since it is still impossible to recreate the Hammer’s Slammers vehicle designs since many weapons are missing or details are poorly translated/updated between products. I am not sure the designer of the Hammer’s Slammers vehicles actually understands the source material since many design decisions are at odds with the source literature (like no Fusion powerplants and Explosive Reactive Armour vice Explosive Belt). Indeed, it looks like many vehicles don’t add the cost of the weapons, a bit understandable since none of the weapons are described in any Traveller product beyond Hammer’s Slammers which didn’t give cost.

I also tried to recreate the Sword Worlds vehicles but that too proved impossible since several weapons are not to be found in the new Vehicle Handbook, the Sword Worlds guide (MGP 3865/2011), the Central Supply Catalogue (CSC, MGP 3819/2009), and even Mercenary (MGP 3801/2008).

Given all the errors in the vehicle examples and the inability to recreate iconic vehicles, I rate the Vehicle Example section 1 out of 5.

Lastly, there are the New Vehicle Rules. The most significant new rules in my mind are vehicle movement, extended ranges for vehicle weapons, and interactions between Tech Levels. The vehicle movement rules are simplistic yet not very clear with some rules found in the construction section rather than with the new rules. Weapon ranges are messed up with many at odds with CSC or other previous publications. In contrast, the new Tech Level interactions rules are nice but there are many skill check or hit modifiers spread out through the book they are never brought  together in an easy to understand way.

Mongoose had previously published an expanded set of vehicle combat rules in Hammer’s Slammers, but it appears the new Vehicle Handbook was written without referencing that work at all. Indeed, the vehicle movement rules and expanded ranges are at odds with Hammer’s Slammers (comparing ranges in CSC and the new Vehicle Handbook is also difficult to follow – and mostly wrong as noted above). Mongoose missed the chance to bring in useful items from Hammer’s Slammers like Crew Roles, new Actions, as well as Special Considerations like Air Defense, Booster AI to explain the usefulness of computers, and Expanded Damage Rules. The net result is a further weakening of the “Hammer’s Slammers guarantee” and (IMHO) a missed chance to make vehicle combat better. It seems quite clear that Mongoose has abandoned the Hammer’s Slammers product so why bother to put the vehicle examples in?

I fully believe Mongoose could have incorporated expanded vehicle combat rules in this product. Within the Vehicle Design section there is much repetition and it is possible more space could have been used for new rules. This book also screams for an index which is not to be found.

I rate the new rules 2 out of 5. Too many missed opportunities!

At the end of the day I am torn on what to recommend my fellow Traveller players and GMs. The Design System is useful, but the actual vehicle designs are riddled with errors and the new rules are a mixed bag. Don’t buy the hardcover! At $40 it is not worth it. Wait for the softcover? Maybe. Buy the .pdf? Probably your best bet but be ready to do a lot of (re)work on your own.

Oh, I know that if the Mongoose forums see this I will get crucified by the Mongoose Traveller Fanboys for being too nit-picky. After all, I bought the product, eh? Actually, I took advantage of the forum offer where buying the new book gets two free books to replace the older vehicle supplements. Well, shame on me for being greedy. It doesn’t change the fact that Mongoose has quality control issues. Burying one’s head in the sand doesn’t help fix the Mongoose’s problems.

 

I am (cautiously) looking forward to Prime Directive: Traveller but have to admit that after this disaster with the new Vehicle Handbook I am not optimistic.

RPG Thursday – Broadsword Mercs in Tomorrow’s War

Broadsword and ATV (biomassart)

Looking to create a small unit in Tomorrow’s War, I drew inspiration from Classic Traveller Adventure 7 -Broadsword. The Broadsword-class mercenary cruiser is an 800 dton spherical-hull ship (an obvious nod to Nemesis from H. Beam Piper’s Space Viking novel). The ship carries a 28-troop mercenary contingent along with a pair of modular cutters and an air raft and ATV for the ground force.

The Vargr require special rules. Treat the Vargr squad (Third Squad) as an Irregular Unit. Vargr attributes are Augmented Senses (see exception) and Natural Weapons. Generally speaking, a Vargr unit has higher morale but lower confidence than a human unit. Vargr units use the Morale of the Leader for all Morale Checks. If the Leader dies the next-highest leader assumes command. If there are multiple leaders of the same rank the unit takes on the Animosity Attribute, though Vargrs will only snipe amongst themselves. Vargr have Augmented Senses except for at night where the Night Fighting rules (TW p. 80) apply unless using night vision equipment. Twice per game, a Vargr may use Special Rapid Movement which is 2x the usual Rapid Movement distance. Once both Special Rapid Moves have been used, the unit can only use Tactical Movement (no more Rapid Movement allowed) for the remainder of the scenario.

Using the data and personnel presented in the adventure, the unit  in Tomorrow’s War terms could looks like this:

Basic Force Attributes
Initiative Level: D8
Confidence Level: High
Supply Level: Normal
Body Armor: Combat Armor (TL2/2D)
Fusion Gunners wear TL2 Standard Power Armor (3D)
Troop Quality/Morale: D10
Overall TL: 2 On Grid: Normally, No.
Attributes: Medic, Old School
(Vargr use special rule; see Third Squad)

Broadsword Mercenary Contingent
Command Element
Troop Commander w/Auto Pistols (Gauss Rifle Available) (Leader +2)
Leading Sergeant w/ Gauss Rifle
Runner (Vargr) w/Gauss Rifle

First Squad
Squad Leader w/Gauss Rifle
Fire Team Leader w/Gauss Rifle
3x Trooper w/Gauss Rifle
ATV Driver w/Auto Pistol
Medic (Unarmed)
Fusion Gunner w/FGMP-14 (TL3, Hvy. AP: 4/AT:4 (H)

Second Squad
Squad Leader w/Gauss Rifle (Leader +1)
Fire Team Leader w/Gauss Rifle (Leader +1)
3x Trooper w/Gauss Rifle
ATV Driver w/Auto Pistol
Medic (Unarmed)
Fusion Gunner w/FGMP-14 (TL3, Hvy. AP: 4/AT:4 (H)

Third Squad
Squad Leader w/Gauss Rifle (Leader +2)
Fire Team Leader w/Gauss Rifle
3x Trooper w/Gauss Rifle
Demolitions Specialist (Carries Breaching Charges, Sticky Bombs, Satchel Charges/Limpet Mines)
Medic (Unarmed)
Fusion Gunner w/FGMP-14 (TL3, Hvy. AP: 4/AT:4 (H)

Available Assets
[Asset/Operational Momentum Points Expended]
ATV/4
Man-Portable Tac Missiles/2 (Different versions available: Anti-Air – treat as Light AD Environment; Anti-Armor – treat as TL2 ATGM; Anti-Personnel – TL 2 ABW Lt AP:2; each soldier can carry a single round; can be fired in lieu of regular weapon)
Modular Cutter in Interface Strike Mode/12
Modular Cutter with Assault Boat Module/10
Modular Cutter with ATV Module/10
Modular Cutter with Weapons Module/8

Vehicles/Landers
ATV
TL:2, Wheeled
Armament: Gatling Laser (TL 1 EWS, Lt. AP: 2/AT:1 (L)
Front/Side/Rear/Deck Armor: each 3D8
Crew: 1+15
Attributes: TL2 Armor, Amphibious
Note: The ATV does not carry a dedicated gunner; gunner must come from carried passengers

Air Raft
TL 2, AGV (but treat as DTV for movement)
Armament: Light MG (TL2 ABW, Lt AP: 2)
Armor: Soft-Skinned 1D6
Crew: 1+3
Attributes: Open-topped

Modular Cutter
As Interface Strike (6x Medium PGM)
As Dropship – Combat Modules Carried:
- ATV Module (1xATV)
- Assault Boat Module (16x troops in 2x sections; upon landing power spades scoop out entrenchments and troops drop through bottom doors; troops in entrenchments are in Improved Cover (+2D))
Other Combat Modules Available:
Weapons Module (Triple Laser Turret, TL2 EWS, Hvy AP: 4/AT:2(H); can only fire when Cutter is grounded)

Gauss Rifle

I originally made the design decision to ignore the 4cm RAM GL but now am thinking twice. Some of the color commentary from Central Supply Catalogue (CSC p. 81) is needed to understand a few of my (new) design decisions:

“Rifle, Gauss 4mm…The round itself consists of a dense armour piercing core…excellent stopping power and good armour penetration…A single-shot RAM grenade launcher is fitted…takes two full combat rounds to load a new grenade…either the rifle or the grenade launcher may be fired in a given round….”

Comparative damage in Traveller terms is 4d6 AP for the Gauss Rifle and 6d6 for a 40mm grenade (CSC p. 81/p. 109).

With all that in mind, I propose:

Gauss Rifle w/4cm RAM GL, TL2 (Lt. AP:0*/AT:1(L) *Note: Armor Piercing – When used in Infantry Combat target reduced by 1D of armor/cover; Grenade Launcher can be used as Support Weapon (Lt. AP:1) in lieu of Gauss Rifle in ONE Round of Fire or Close Assault per turn (no armor piercing bonus)

The Lt. AP:0 looks funny but this is to avoid making the Gauss Rifle a super weapon. With Lt. AP:0 each figure has a Firepower of 1D when firing the Gauss Rifle; whereas if I call it Lt. AP:1 each figure gets 2D Firepower (Number of Figures + Special Weapon Dice – see Firepower Table on P. 62 of Tomorrow’s War). Also, by making it Lt. AP:1 (representing the 4cm GL) the weapon gets the advantages of a Support Weapon – making it worth 2D FP in combat (TW p. 60-61) – but not so much that it counts as an Advanced Support Weapon (TW p. 74-76).

Sources Used: Adventure 7 Broadsword (Classic Traveller), Alien Module 3 Vargr (Classic Traveller), Mongoose Traveller Pocket Rulebook, Mongoose Traveller Supplement 4: Central Supply Catalogue

The Traveller game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises. Copyright 1977 – 2008 Far FutureEnterprises.

Traveller Tech – Manned X-37B?

According to sUAS News, Boeing engineers have suggested a 165% scaled-up version of the X-37B space drone for manned spaceflight. The cool graphic below  shows two configurations each with five or more astronauts.

My original Traveller X-37B design was only five dtons. Scaled up at 165% makes it roughly 8.25 tons. In both designs it looks like the all “cargo” is replaced by “crew.”

(EDIT) Here is the ship card from High Guard Shipyard (HGS 1.20.17) using Book 2 design rules. A few obvious problems are the automatic fuel scoops and the 1 dton of fuel.

Ship: X-37M
Class: X-37B+
Type: Shuttle
Architect: Boeing
Tech Level: 8
USP
         XM-0101101-000000-00000-0 MCr 7.640 8.25 Tons
Bat Bear                           Crew: 6
Bat                                TL: 8
Cargo: 1.250 Fuel: 1 EP: 0.083 Agility: 1
Fuel Treatment: Fuel Scoops
Architects Fee: MCr 0.076   Cost in Quantity: MCr 6.112

Boeing Manned X-37B Concepts (Courtesy sUAS News)

RPG Thursday – Bond vs. Hugo

Courtesy RPG Geek

One of my favorite RPGs on the bookshelf is James Bond 007 published by Victory Games in 1983. I still think the Example of Play, which puts a well-known scene from movie Goldfinger against the same scene played out in the RPG may be the best Example of Play ever written.

Although the source material is dated, the basic game mechanics are still sound; they just need some modern missions to go against. Looking at the news in recent days (and with a little research into a few older articles) I present to you the following adventure seed.

BACKGROUND/INSPIRATION

• US Personnel Join Hunt for Missing Missiles in Libya
• Iran to Send Navy Ships Near U.S. Coast: Commander
• A new Missile Crisis? Iran is building a missile base in Venezuela

MISSION OBJECTIVE

Discover the truth behind rumors that missing Libyan SAMs have made their way to Iranian brokers and are being sold to Venezuela.

ACT I – Persian Gulf Express

The agents arrive in Bermuda (a classic Bond location!) and obtain information that known drug smugglers are assisting Iranian agents to smuggle items to Caracas.

Obstacle: Smugglers have a warehouse/safehouse location that is possibly being used. Break-in and get the truth.

Villains: Drug smugglers supported by a “Senor Hugo” in Venezuela…but not Hugo Chavez!

ACT II – In the Jungles

Following leads gained in Bermuda, the agents end up combing the jungles of northwest Venezuela only to find the enigmatic “Senor Hugo” and his Iranian accomplices.

Obstacle: Infiltrate the secret headquarters of Senor Hugo and find the SAMs.

Villains: Senor Hugo, unknown evil twin of Hugo Chavez and the real power behind a new highly radical form of Bolivarism.

The Big Reveal: Senor Hugo has secretly worked with the Iranians to build underground missile silos in Venezuela…and is getting ready to launch a nuclear EMP warhead against the United States!

ACT III – Countdown

After escaping the clutches of the evil Senor Hugo, the agents must go back and stop the missile launch.

There you have it; the bare bones of a James Bond 007 or Spycraft or Wilderness of Mirrors or whatever your cuppa Secret Agent RPG is.

RPG Thursday – A Little History (Space: 1889 Red Sands)

21ST LANCERS. LANCER IN SUDAN KIT Original watercolor signed by C.Y. (after Caton Woodville), reproduced in The Illustrated London News, Sept. 3, 1898; mounted lancer in campaign dress,

A while back I was working on a RPG setting I called Savage Aeronef, which was a matchup of the Savage Worlds RPG and Wessex Games Aeronef seting. In the course of developing the setting, I created a character named ‘Ace’ Woodley who had a burning desire to get to Mars where his explorer Uncle died. His only connection; his Uncle’s Radium Gun.

More recently, I got a copy of the RPG Space 1889: Red Sands. This fits well with my Savage Aeronef setting and actually requires little change to use. So when I decided to draw up a Space: 1889 character it was logical that I would draw up Ace’s dead uncle.

In Space: 1889 you start character generation with a concept. In this case, I had a (now) dead uncle that died on Mars. Looking over the book and chargen tables, I decided that “Uncle Martin” had been an Army Cavalryman who ended up on Mars and eventually invented his own Radium Gun. In game terms he can be described as a Veteran-level character:

Attributes:
Agility – d8/Smarts – d10/Strength – d6/Spirit – d6/Vigor – d4
Skills:
Fighting – d8/Knowledge (Battle) – d6/Notice – d8/Persuasion – d6/Repairs – d6/Riding – d8/Shooting – d8/Survival – d6/Tracking – d8/Weird Science – d6
Hindrances:
Airsickness (Major)/Disowned (Minor)/Enemy (Minor)
Edges:
Army Cavalryman/Arcane Science

Space: 1889 also introduces the concept of “status” which roughly equates to social class.  Given that Uncle Martin has the “disowned” hindrance, this reduced his social status to 1, or the underling class.

Looking to flesh out his life history a bit, I went looking for some background information. As one of his languages was Russian I at first imagined that he may have been involved in the Crimean War and the “Charge of the Light Brigade”. This event took place in 1854, or 48 years before ‘Ace’ and seemed to me to be a bit of a stretch. So I kept looking for something else.

One of the books I looked at for the “Charge of the Light Brigade” was Men of War which was edited by Ernest Hemingway. This book is a collection of short stories. One story that jumped out immediately was “The Cavalry Charge at Omdurman” by Winston Churchill.

The Battle of Omdurman took place on 2 September 1898. The key event of the battle was the charge of the 21st Lancers which included a young Winston Churchill. In Churchill’s account, the battle was exciting, but other accounts point to the slaughter of helpless Dervish troops. Churchill wrote to his mother, “I shall merely say that the victory at Omdurman was disgraced by the inhuman slaughter of the wounded and that Kitchener was responsible for this.” (Cited in Farwell, Bryan; The Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Land Warfare: An Illustrated World View; W.W. Norton Company, New York; 2001; pp 613-614.)

So what could have turned Uncle Martin into the wild Martian explorer? Maybe he was repulsed by the slaughter at Omdurman and left the service in disgust. This could account for his minor enemy (Winston Churchill?) and being disowned – or in this case turning his back on society. Eventually he ended up on Mars, “invented” his Radium Gun, and then met his death. Two or three years for all that to happen is a bit tight but not unrealistic. It also explains how ‘Ace’ and his uncle were close.

In the end, creating Uncle Martin turned into a bit of historical exploration that helped flesh out a character. If one had to play Uncle Martin in the time after the Battle of Omdurman and before his death, the little bit of history creates several interesting hooks. Is Churchill his enemy? What does he do on Mars? Does he join the opposition to the British? How did he invent his Radium Gun? Looks like Space: 1889 and Savage Aeronef are a good match!

RPG Thursday – Traveller Sword Worlds, or, I Did What Again!?

Courtesy Mongoose Publishing

Product:Sword Worlds (Mongoose Publishing, 2011).

System: Mongoose Traveller. Set in the Third Imperium era at year 1105.

Appearance: Full-size (8.5″x11″) softcover. Cover art is amongst the better of recent Mongoose Traveller offerings with less of a carton-feel and equipment kit that actually looks like it may be out of the book (unlike Mongoose Traveller’s Hammer’s Slammers). Contents is packed into 128 double-column pages. Text-boxes and tables use a lighter shade of gray for offset which is easier to read than the darker shades used in previous books. Interior art is black-and-white or greyscale. The tone of many images screams “fantasy” and not “science-fiction.”

Content: Seven (7) chapters along with Introduction, Credits, and Index. Three pages of Mongoose advertisements at the end.

• Introduction (2 pages) – Bland introduction with little to draw the reader in. No acknowledgement of previous Sword World supplements, though the Credits do allude to a prior work.
• Chapter 1: Sword World Characters (17 pages) – Covers character generation and information such as physiology, culture as it affects chargen, career path modifications, as well as three new Sword Worlds specific careers; Aesirist Church, Confederation Patrol, and Jager Kommand
• Chapter 2: Life Among the Sword Worlds (21 pages) – Background information on physiology (again), Sword Worlds society, Sword Worlds pride and prejudice, language, relations, reputation and honor, military pragmatism, spiritual beliefs, governments, money, law, and history as well as “10 Points of Great Interest Within the Sword Worlds”
• Chapter 3: The Sword Worlds (26 pages) – Details th planets in the Sword Worlds subsector
• Chapter 4: Sword World Equipment (14 pages) – Ironmongery section devoted to equipment invented, created, or utilized by the Sword Worlds
• Chapter 5: Spacecraft (21 pages) – Ship design and new ship components along with five Sword World ships complete with stats and deck plans
• Chapter 6: Encounters (19 pages) – Random encounter tables, sample patrons, NPCs and animals
• Chapter 7: Classified Information (2 pages) – Potential adventure seeds
• Index (1 page)

Comment: Remember that I an a long-time RPG player and GM (playing Traveller since 1979). I am also a great fan of H. Beam Piper’s Space Viking book which is where the inspiration for the Sword Worlds in Traveller came from. I am very disappointed that none of this credit is given in the book, nor even alluded to.

Verdict:  BLUF – I know Mongoose Traveller material is poor, so why do I keep buying it?

Given the amount of formatting errors that Mongoose is known for you would think they would get one book right but NOOOOOO. Take for example page 46, which has oversize apostrophes in the second column that make OBVIOUS format errors. So obvious they should have been caught!

Now some people can forgive format errors when the content is good enough. I found this book difficult to read and have to suspect whole parts were lifted from other products. For instance, the “History of the Sword Worlds” starts with a sentence that talks about Loyalists. Loyal to what? Then they lose the civil war. What civil war? The Mongoose Traveler setting takes place in year 1105, just before the Fifth Frontier War. Yet on page 31-32 there is reference to the Border Worlds Authority, set up AFTER the Fifth Frontier War! Where did that come from? In the section on money (p. 32) there is mention of “Class III or better starports.” Isn’t that GURPS Traveller, which is not credited anywhere?

There are also a few issues when you compare Sword Worlds to The Spinward Marches. In a few places dates don’t match. In some places you have to wonder if the author bothered to read the previous work. For instance, with regards to Sword Worlds ship design, this is how the two books describe it:

• The Spinward Marches, p. 95; “What both types [of ships] have in common is a generally blocky and extremely tough design….”
• Sword Worlds, p. 83; “Sword World ships are streamlined and borrow a great deal of aesthetics from Imperial and Aslan sources….”

Looking at the designs here and elsewhere, I think The Spinward Marches got it right which makes me wonder where the authors of Sword Worlds got their text from.

The deck plans are once again too small for use. They also take up too many pages, such as the Jarl-class Fleet Command ship using (part of) one page for a description and image – with lots of white space left – one page for the stat block, and four pages for those too-small-to-use deck plans.

I do like the Encounters section, especially the animals tables. The Classified Information chapter is only mildly interesting as it introduces some seeds that may or may not be relevant to your style of play.

Finally, and most difficult for me to describe, I personally just don’t like the “swords in space” vibe this book gave me. Maybe it was the artwork with the Conan-like barbarians but this was not the Sword Worlds I have always imagined.

In the end, I can only recommend you get this supplement if you are willing to accept “swords in space” and overlook the format quality issues and rectify yourself the differences and lack of explanation this book has. I surely would avoid the the printed book, because at $24.99 you are not getting your moneys worth. Wait for the lower price digital download if you have to.

RPG Thursday – Trade in Mongoose Traveller

Courtesy Toucan Virtual Museum

As much as I have played Classic Traveller and now Mongoose Traveller over the years I have never really tried the trade rules. So today I changed that. Looking at the online forums, there are many voices in the internet wilderness that proclaim the trade rules are broken. The rules are a bit clunky but with the help of a simple spreadsheet it actually makes the accounting easy. For my sample, I created a random map using SignalGK and had a Far Trader (Pocket Rulebook p. 117-118) commanded by the sample character, Jamison who is found on page 40 of the core rulebook. I also made the assumption that Jamison and his crew had pooled their money for initial start-up costs (unlimited bank account).

Looking over the subsector, I started out at what was the obvious capital. Leaving from this A-Starport, Low Population, Non-Industrial but High Tech world Jamison and his crew took on a cargo of Machine Parts, Manufactured Goods, and Textiles. The destination world was a A-Starport, Non-Agricultural, Non-Industrial, Vacuum world.  After all the trading was done, Jamison looked at a profit on only Cr158,200; barely half of his ship’s mortgage payment alone. Worried already about meeting his financial obligations, Jamison worked harder to find a broker and get a more profitable cargo for his next run.

Working his way down a Jump-1 line, the next world was a B-Starport, Low Population, Non-Industrial planet. Fortunately for Jamison, there was a load of Biochemicals needing to be shipped.  Buying low (85% of value) and selling very high (175% of value) netted a profit for this run of Cr1,840,000. After paying the monthly dues, Jamison’s net profit for the month was a very healthy Cr1,702,210.

Feeling like he was getting the hang of things, Jamison decided to take a bit of a risk and chose a C-Starport, Low Population, Non-Industrial world as his next port. Apparently, there was some sort of a medical crisis at hand because there were 30 tons of medical supplies needing to be shipped. The medicine and textiles brought in Cr546,000 for the trip.

Jamison now had a choice to make. He was at the end of a communications route and could go back the way he came. So far, all his trips had been Jump-1 travel. Jamison resolved to take advantage of his Jump-2 Far Trader and so he left the communications route and struck out for a B-Starport, Asteroid, High Tech, Industrial, Non-Agricultural, Vacuum world. Gambling, he took on a cargo of Raw Materials and Radioactives. Amazingly, he was able to turn a hefty profit on the Radioactives. He also took on a full load of High Passage passengers. Total profit for his gamble – Cr1,932,000. This brought his second months profit to Cr2,182,010.

In two months Jamison and his crew made a total of Cr3,884,221. Assuming Jamison splits the profits into 19 shares, his crew would get the following:

• Captain (Jamison) – 6 Shares or Cr1,226,596
• Navigator – 5 Shares or Cr1,022,163
• Engineer – 4 Shares or Cr817,730
• Steward and Gunner – 2 Shares each or Cr408,865

At this point, even the Gunner and Steward could retire to a very comfortable life. They could live a Luxuriously Rich life for almost 2-years, or have a High standard of living for the next 20 years.

So, do I think the trade rules are broken? Well, after two months Jamison has certainly made a hefty profit. Looking back, I probably should have limited the start-up costs to something like Cr250,000. This would have limited Jamison and not allowed him to buy the large Biochemical shipment or the Medical Supplies or Radioactives that made the greatest profit. I think Jamison would have eventually got to this level, but not as fast.

All told, a very interesting experiment!