Quote from: thedungeondelver;390960Boy there'd be a powergamer's wet dream: dice up "personalities" in the Traveller ruleset, then tell the players they're BOLO Mk. XXX Continental Siege Unit AIs!

I wondered about this and looked over the Mongoose Traveller rules. There is nothing stopping you from doing this although you would have to use the Core Rulebook, Book 1 Mercenary, and Supplement 6 Military Vehicles.

Disturbingly, I also found that by using the Core Rulebook and Book 4 Psion, you can create a reasonable facsimile of Doctor Who and the TARDIS. :eek:

I have to go now, thanks to this thread I have to read up on A. Bertram Chandler....

Quote from: jeff37923;390900No, Asimov and Foundation was an influence, but not the same.

If anything, Niven and Pournelle's The Mote in God's Eye is Traveller's LotR. There is more in common with the OTU and the CoDominion background of Pournelle then there ever was with Asimov.

I'm not seeing this. I agree that the CoDominion seems to be an influence, but I see more of the Foundation series in Traveller than CoDominion (then again, maybe it's because I read Foundation more recently than MiGE), although still nowhere near the level of LotR's influence over most fantasy, including DnD. I don't think Trav (or most other sci-fi) has a single influencing work equal to the level of influence LotR has had over modern fantasy.

Quote from: Sigmund;391058I'm not seeing this. I agree that the CoDominion seems to be an influence, but I see more of the Foundation series in Traveller than CoDominion (then again, maybe it's because I read Foundation more recently than MiGE), although still nowhere near the level of LotR's influence over most fantasy, including DnD. I don't think Trav (or most other sci-fi) has a single influencing work equal to the level of influence LotR has had over modern fantasy.

I agree completely on both points.

-clash

Quote from: jeff37923;390900No, Asimov and Foundation was an influence, but not the same.

If anything, Niven and Pournelle's The Mote in God's Eye is Traveller's LotR. There is more in common with the OTU and the CoDominion background of Pournelle then there ever was with Asimov.

Well, if you say so, but the Foundation series and its Empire was always what I felt as the direct inspiration for MY Traveller, anyways.

RPGPundit

Quote from: jibbajibba;389966I would have chose Gordon Dickinson's Drenai novels,

I found myself thinking "What about Dickson's Dorsai/Childe Cycle books?"  This must be what you're talking about.

The thing is... I haven't read them.  I just have them sitting around.  Does anybody else have any comments about the series, including its relevance to the Traveller spirit?

Quote from: TAFMSV;391545I found myself thinking "What about Dickson's Dorsai/Childe Cycle books?"  This must be what you're talking about.

The thing is... I haven't read them.  I just have them sitting around.  Does anybody else have any comments about the series, including its relevance to the Traveller spirit?

Not sure if you mean the OTU or using the author's setting. The Dorsai can be easily be done as its own setting using Traveller.
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Relevant to this discussion, is this link: http://traveller.wikia.com/wiki/More_Reading

In my game alot of Heinlein and Phil Dick bleeds through, but through a lens of 30's and 40's space opera and 70's hard SF. Plus whatever I have recently read or watched. Also I don't get to play enough Traveller...

Quote from: SgtSpaceWizard;391697Relevant to this discussion, is this link: http://traveller.wikia.com/wiki/More_Reading

Hey, this may be a bad link. I just clicked on it and my antivirus went off.

Quote from: jeff37923;391714Hey, this may be a bad link. I just clicked on it and my antivirus went off.

My AVG didn't. Nice page.
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Quote from: Greentongue;391726My AVG didn't. Nice page.
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I'm running AVG too, double-checked, and it popped it again (I'm using the Free 9.0 if that means anything).

Quote from: jeff37923;391745I'm running AVG too, double-checked, and it popped it again (I'm using the Free 9.0 if that means anything).

My AVG Pro didn't trip.

Back to the subject at hand, probably the single best way would be to simply ask Marc Miller himself.  He ain't dead!

To my POV, Dumarest of Terra is the first major influence. The whole traveling star to star, striving to make a basic living concept matches up perfectly.

Placing this all within an old Empire, and the later addition of High Guard certainly comes from Asimov's Foundation.

The actual merchanting thing, though, I don't see as coming from Poul Anderson, but more Andre Norton and Heinlein.

The Dorsai, CoDominium, and parts of Starship Troopers flavored the Traveller Mercenary trope.

Traveller's aliens all have different inspirational sources, too. The Aslan are no doubt heavily influenced by Niven's Kzin. The Vargr seem descendants of Ed Hamilton's Starwolves. Not real sure about the Hivers, Centaurs and Droyne, though.

Just my view of it. Like I said earlier, someone should just drop a line to Miller and ask.

Quote from: BillDowns;392153Traveller's aliens all have different inspirational sources, too. The Aslan are no doubt heavily influenced by Niven's Kzin. The Vargr seem descendants of Ed Hamilton's Starwolves. Not real sure about the Hivers...

While physiologically very different, the Hivers are a direct take on Niven's Known Space Puppeteers -- social engineers on a vast and long-term scale.

I think the Droyne/Ancients are an amalgam of any number of different sci-fi/UFO concepts, but I don't know of a particular source from which they were drawn.

I haven't read or seen or heard of anything quite like the Centaurs/K'kree, whom I think ended up as really inspired interstellar bad-guys.

!i!