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Re: [RPG]: Traveller , reviewed by Jon 45 (2/4)
At risk of being the guy who won't let the other guy have the last word...
1) Part of the publicized intent of Mongoose Traveller has been to provide a platform for a variety of SF settings, including a reboot of the Starship Troopers setting and Strontium Dogs. Given that Mongoose also has had the license for Babylon 5, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it reappear as part of the new Traveller set of games. So to say that the new Traveller isn't really being sold as a generic ruleset seems kind of odd.
2) We might be using the word "generic" differently. I'm using it to mean "tied to a genre" rather than "without genre or setting assumptions." Yes, D&D and Traveller rules both have hardwired assumptions about the kind of stories, characters, and settings they will support. They don't pretend to be GURPS or Savage Worlds, and yes, they expect you'll DIY if you want to adapt it to something else. There are lots of gamers who are fine with that, and even consider that kind of design a feature, not a bug.
3) Yes, Fading Suns had a lot more setting in the core book. My point was that there's still a point at which you have to pick up the setting and make it up yourself, even with humpty-zillion splatbooks. You want more filled in from the start, and you want it filled in deductively--starting with the big picture and working down to details in splats. I get that, that's fine, but it's not the only way to do it, and there are plenty of us out here who like Traveller's approach and don't feel it's a mistake, much less that it's somehow unhealthy.
4) That said, the first two supplements for Traveller, shipping this month (or so the story goes), are 760 Patrons (the adventure book) and the Spinward Marches setting. There you go. Instant setting support.
OK, I'm letting this thread go now, so you get the last word if you want it. (I promise I'll read it.) Thanks for the conversation.
Jack
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