Quote from: jeff37923;285982Canon really only matters to the people who are writing for a setting . . .

. . . and even they don't mind introducing new stuff that violates canon sometimes (see jump torpedoes).

Quote from: jeff37923. . . it shouldn't matter to anyone else who is just playing in a setting - if you think that an aidea or concept would make your game more enjoyable, then grasp it and attach it to your game.

Absotively posilutely.

Quote from: jeff37923Deciding what is or isn't canon in a game is usually left up to the owner of the IP rights to the game, in the case of Traveller that is Marc Miller. Now, canon may be fluid, so what is canon one year may be changed the next year. The ATU of G:T may become canon as time goes on, but that does not look likely at this time.

I seem to recall hearing that Mongoose is going to introduce the Fifth Frontier War to the Marches setting down the line. I wonder it they're also going to keep to the Rebellion timeline?

Ah, Traveller flamewars...let's start talking about the viability of piracy!

To ME, Real TRAVELLER is classic TRAVELLER (up until Imperial year 1112) and the GURPS: TRAVELLER version.

The whole Assassination/Civil War/ Rebellion/Virus story was the dumbest things they ever did.

The G:T timeline is a better continuation of the original Third Imperium stuff. It also doesn't thrust a meta-story down the throats of player characters.  (like the whole assassination/Rebellion crap did)


The GURPS: TRAVELLER corebook reads and feels like True TRAVELLER  - the Mega-death/TNE/ Virus silliness never did.

Also the artists and artwork that SJG has used to illustrate their TRAVELLER books is some of the best stuff thats ever been done for the TRAVELLER universe.


- Ed C.

Quote from: KenHR;285987Ah, Traveller flamewars...let's start talking about the viability of piracy!

Or my favorites, Female Aslan In Comfortable Shoes and Near-C Rocks.

Quote from: Koltar;285997To ME,
- Ed C.

Thank you for finally acknowledging that.

Because, in spite of Koltar's obfuscation of the truth and tapdancing around the answer, each game of Traveller that you play will ultimately be Your Traveller Universe to pick and choose parts as you please that will exist in it. As it should be.

(Just don't start claiming that your particular vision of Traveller is everyone's True Vision of Traveller.)

you you guys think Traveller 20 was  a bad joke?

....back to the original topic or question.....:

Since someone asked, here is a URl link thing that leads to an after battle report:
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=14392&highlight=Battle

Here are some highlights......

When last we left our Heroes...

It had been decided that 6 of their recently hired Mercenaries would be hidden inside the crates on another Empress Marava class freightere. The ship is commanded by their friend Gam...and is known as either the "Dark Princess " or sometimes called the Pope Joan. That ship left for Mewey from Inchin on 043-1118 (MAY 26, 5638 AD)

o46-1118 or May 29, 5638 A.D.

The crew of the Margaret Thatcher has dinner and meeting with the remaining mercenaries and their two New Doctors. Plans for the upcoming battle are discussed.

Angel McCoy and her husband Dliant Discuss a possible weakness of the Leviathan -class design. IF they can get the smallcraft hangar doors open...and get one really good shot off , the structure of the Marcucci may weaken enough to cause massive internal problems for their adversary .

Its decided that Dliantiepr will be back-up damage control for Kilroy Fitzpatrick , the Navigator B.J. Scott and the Mercenaries
The Mercenaries who are staying on the Maggie are:Gunny Castillo (Paladin), Sam Cade (Sam Cade), "Ed the Orbie" /Roland Hamilton (Ed the Coastie), Grace Baker, Pvt. Stefani Jensen, and Kelly Fields.

The MERCS in the Crates are: Private Blynt (Lochemet), K'haurt the Vargr (Six Gun Sam), Private Sam Budak (Sambudak), Sgt. Stonebender (Stonebender), Cpl. S.K. RAY (Sumner Kai), Sgt. Keith FALK (Draknoir2) These are the ones that hope surprise the Marcucci from within.

Ship and crew are all prepared...Cmdr.Anat Nesher wants drills and other preparations to cointinue while they are in JumpSpace.

32 hours to the Jump Point..... then 6 days in Jump space.

The I.M.S. Margaret Thatcher arrives in the Mewey/Five Sisters system on

053-1118 OR JUNE 5, 5638 A.D.

They are now in-system at least 2 days early for the chosen battle date.

The power on the Maggie goes out for 17 minutes. (they expected this - but thats another story) The Mercs are a touch startled... the crew failed to tell them this sometimes happens. Everyone had their VACC suits on - no worries.

Akiri Kazonyi The sensors officer detected 8 ships within range of communications ..when their power blinked out. After power is restored, 4 are revealed to be local Aslan system defense and patrol craft (this was expected - they are acting as "referees")

The crew and Cmdr Nesher decide to head for Mewey itself...and have Kilroy try to make contact with his Aslan friend from the earlier recon mission. As they head there the other ships can be identified. One is the Laughing Dolphin (another Marava class ) , one they think might be the "Pope Joan" another is a 400 ton Merchant ship that their friend Nigel Tsung is the commander of . (The subsidized Merchant type ship) The last one is the Marava class ship "Crystal Doll" commanded by their new aquaintance and friend Capt. Kerry Swatson .

They spend 3 hours in orbit of Mewey, the Aslan tell them that a ship called the Dark Princess was attacked, and there were no survivors. Three dead bodies were found onboard ... and an empty cargo hold. This happened barely two days ago. The other ship was painted almost the same as the Maggie .

The Aslan inform that they will monitor the battle - and if either side uses a dishonorable tactic - they will step in and stop both ships. (the Margaret Thatcher crew agree to this - but not sure what the Aslan consider dishonorable)

While in orbit of Mewey ...Akiri gets a private communication intended only for them There is some kind of Nuclear Device planted underneath Mewey Downport and the main city near the Starport. The message was sent by their Imperial Marine friend Ferguson. There is suspicion that the Marcucci crew and allies may have planted the device and devices.

The crew informs the Aslan authorities .They are of course quyite disturbed by this news ...the search is intensified to find and disable the devices.

Commander Nesher then decides after consulting with Kilroy Fitzpatrick to head for the system's Gas Giant - as that was the Marcucci's favorite place in the past to lay in wait and attack ships.

Its a 20 hour trip from Mewey.

They get within range of the Gas Giant...minutes away.
Kilroy requests range estimates from BJ Scott (The Navigator)..within 15 minutes of the gravity well of the Gas Giant ..they release the Weapons Platforms from their Cargo hold ...they drift /float out , then maneuver into positions.
A Vessel that may be their adversary is detected in the upper clouds of the Gas giant.
Kilroy Suggests Anat start taunting the Marcucci over the radio.
Weapons platfoirms are 1 minute from being within range of the Marcucci
ANAT: "Hey You in the Big Boat there ..you need any help ..you look like you're limping"

The pirate ship fires the first missiles ..the Marcucci is engaged in combat at 0800 hours on :
055-1118 or JUNE 7th, 5638 A.D.

The taunting continues... Anat says her little nephew can shoot a bow and arrow better than they can shoot missiles.

The Pirate ship is not firing within her effective range....

BJ, Maggie and Cassie wonder at once "Should we get closer??"

Cmdr. Nesher orders the Maggie's Pilot to "drift" them closer to the Marcucci...So far the Pirates appear not to have detected the small weapons platforms...

Nesher wants to really tick them off ...and to taunt them so far ... and let them get closer to their weapons....

Gunny Castillo is in charge of firing the remote Missile platforms.

Jason "Kilroy" Fitzpatrick orders that the ship be de-pressurized and everyone to finish donning their VACC suits - if they haven't already.
__   __   __   __

Angel McCoy and Akiri Kazonyi are in the turrets,..they fire! (yay!!) Akiri hits the smallcraft with laser beams from her turret - its a massive hit.
Angel's shot hits as well and singed boidies floating out of the other ship can be seen.

The small craft targets the Margaret Thatcher and blows a hole in the Thatcher's Starboard turret . Akiri is now floating and drifting out into space.
Dliantiepr and two of the Mercenaries pull Akiri back inside the ship and rush her to the sickbay.
Akiri patches the hole in her VACC suit.

Kilroy tells the Gunny to fire 2 of the weapons platforms at the Marcucci ....and then fire off 5 MORE. (Paladin - is having FUN)

The Marcucci is off guard.

"Am I 6!!" Akiri yells this..."MaggieCode" is initiated.
- starts scanning the Marcucci for life forms. FULL-WALL tactical maps in many colors show up all around the interior of the Margaret Thatcher . Every two meters a perfect as you might wish cutaway diagram of the Leviathan -class vessel is displayed..where the crew is and where they are moving around...what weapons are going "hot" and which ones are offline. It also shows that the Smallcraft hangars of the Marcucci are empty ..at the moment.

Gunny Castillo has had a good clear signal with his group of warriors from inside for some time now - at least more than 5 minutes, Private Blynt, the Vargr, and Sgt. Keith FALK were the first 3 out of those crates. Gunny orders them to get control of the deck they are on, take over Engineering - and get those damn Doors open!! (and get them before they GET you. )

The Marcucci crew transmits an image of Doctor MazhurQa as a hostage with a gun pointed at his Virushi head. He appears to be drugged and a few scars are visible on his neck and head. (yep its the original Doctor of our heroes...)

Dliantiepr looks at a tactical map of the Pirate vessel - then he just POPPED OUT!! (imagine a blink he's there ..then he isn't..BAMF!!)

The Hangar Doors of the Marcucci start to open...are now all the way open.... the Chief Engineer of the Margaret Thatcher then orders ...

The cockpit crew of Cassie and B.J. Scott are ordered to RAM the Marcucci ..as soon as the doors open up...

The Margaret Thatcher is now going almost full throttle into the starboard Hangar area of Deck G.

All remaining crew and Mercenaries and Crew are suited up and with their weapons running off the forward cargo ramp of the Marava class freighter.

Angel hears that her husband Dliant is missing ..and she sort of goes into a BERSEK mode while running around the Marcucci . She is armed ...with a PGMP. (!!) Anat Nesher has also boarded the Pirate ship with 3 mercenaries backing her up. One of them is the Gunny.

Okay MUCH beams fire, gun fire and yelling and screaming going on onboard the Marcucci ....meanwhile back on the Thatcher.....

Young Dliant pops back into existence with his arms and one leg wrapped around Dr. MazhurQa. Dliant is NOT Breathing !!Doctor "Sandy" and the Bwap doctor do their best to revive them. (remember ship de-pressurized ..hurry up breathing devices and pulling them inside the sickbay airlock quickly happened here. )

Dliant 'ported back with ...

Quote from: vomitbrown;286007you you guys think Traveller 20 was  a bad joke?

I liked it a lot. I was considering giving up on gaming, but that game rekindled my interest and brought me back in to the hobby. I think it is one of the best d20 incarnations out there.

How the company that published it handled things, was pretty bad for a whole host of reasons (only a few of which relate back to the owner).

Quote from: KenHR;285987Ah, Traveller flamewars...let's start talking about the viability of piracy!

Oh, let's not.

I wasn't trying to arouse controversy, only to show that stuff published for any roleplaying game may have internal inconsistencies.

And nothing should ever detract from what you and the players in your group find fun around the table.

Just playin', Shaman.

IMO, canon schmanon...I honestly dislike the 3I setting and use the world creation systems to generate my own settings.

Speaking of which, I finally finished my subsector generation spreadsheet.  Maps, encounter tables, cargo and passenger calcs, and star system generation in one crappily-programmed Excel file!  Still working out a few bugs and mis-directed references, but the important stuff works just fine.  If anyone wants to take a look, I have posted it here.

For those of you interested ...

This is what it looks like on deckplans when a Marava-class trader rams into a Leviathan-classc Merchant Cruiser:


http://www.caddocourt.com/traveller/Marcucci.gif




- Ed C.

...continuing.....

Dliant teleported back with both his arms and one leg wrapped around the Virushi Doctor MazhurQa. Also half a human that was trying to strangle MazhurQa with barbed wire. Dliant is not breathing ..they are rushed into the Sickbay ...airlock quickly opened and closed behind them. Doctor "Sandy" and the Bwap do their best to revive them.

..back onboard the Marcucci ...:
Sgt. Keith FALK runs into Angel McCoy while she is still in full rampage mode with her PGMP...firing away.
He tries to calm her down..and has to duck and grab her...

FALK : "Angel , Calm the HeQ down I've had dinner with you and your crew for Frak's sake!! "

Falk : "Nesher needs that weapon of yours outside of their bridge NOW ...they can't get in. " (the Ship is mostly now controlled by the mercenaries and the Maggie Thatcher crew. )

Angel and Sgt Falk get to the common area just outside the Marcucci Bridge ... Angel blows a hole in the door... They see the Pirate ship cammand crew. Turns out the Marcucci commander is an odd looking blonde haired woman...they both fire weapons..... EXPLOSIONS....
BIG gaping Hole through the front wall of the Marcucci Bridge deck.... and the Pirate commander is now missing HALF of her body. Two of the other Pirate Crewmembers on the Bridge are also killed.

Angel?? she just lost her left leg from just above the knee, and Anat Nesher is now missing her right foot.

Angel & Anat pass out. The nearby Mercenaries jump out through the hole in the Marcucci holding the vacc-suited bodies of McCoy and Nesher. Maneuver their way through the vacuum of Space in their Battlesuits...in through the starboard side cargo hold door of the Margaret Thatcher and quickly into the Maggie's Med Bay.

A THIRD of the Marcucci's 53 crewmembers are left alive or survive after the battle. Half of the Pirate Ship's crew was Vargr.

A captured Piate crewman named Magnus Roricksen Thornum (or "Mags") is babbling to the Mercenaries. The Woman killed on the bridge of the Marcucci was named Camereon ...many of the crew were terrified of her. She used her second in command as a front or "Male voice" for the shoip when it needed one. She had been the REAL power for the past 2 years on the Marcucci

Kilroy asks Akiri to send out a message to the remaning small attack crafts out there. They are to come in and surrender and they won't be killed.... "We have many more missles"

The small craft come in after the Maggie Thatcher attacking...

Aslan ships start approaching.

The smallcraft attack ships are destroyed , but they get one shot off and add another hole into the Maggie . She now has a gaping hole between the Starboard side airlock and the cabin right behind the cockpit. Several chairs abd other items go floating off into space from the ship's primary dining area.

The prisoner "Mags" is placed in a stateroom under guard. Becase he is giving information freely its decided to give him decent meals and a good bed....the other prisoners will be a different story....

__     __     __     __     __     __     __     __     __


So - yeah that was the battle I referred to earlier in this thread.

-Ed C.

Quote from: KenHR;286043Just playin', Shaman.

IMO, canon schmanon...I honestly dislike the 3I setting and use the world creation systems to generate my own settings.

I can't say that I dislike it, but I've grown out if it.

I usually just create my own stuff now and use that. I still buy modules to mine for material and ideas, though.

Quote from: KenHR;286043Speaking of which, I finally finished my subsector generation spreadsheet.  Maps, encounter tables, cargo and passenger calcs, and star system generation in one crappily-programmed Excel file!  Still working out a few bugs and mis-directed references, but the important stuff works just fine.  If anyone wants to take a look, I have posted it here.

Thank you!

Much more useful than oversized images posted to a thread.

Not a problem!  My plan is to complete all of these half-finished (or just plain ugly because I'm the only one using them) Excel generators I've been building over the past couple of years...it's slowly happening.

If you do get to take the subsector sheet for a spin, let me know of any issues that aren't documented on the first tab.  Once I straighten all of that out, I'm going to get rid of a lot of the repetitive formulae and make them VBasic subroutines, which I think will make the file smaller and calculate a little more efficiently than it does now.

No problem, as has been shown with the Random City Generator, I can break anything.