What are the biggest differences between the Third Imperium sector books? I know Mongoose released The Spinward Marches, The Reft Sector, The Deneb Sector and the Solomani Rim. And the Sword Worlds perhaps?
Or should I try to get my hands on some previous sector books if they exist?
Quote from: jan paparazzi;808569What are the biggest differences between the Third Imperium sector books? I know Mongoose released The Spinward Marches, The Reft Sector, The Deneb Sector and the Solomani Rim. And the Sword Worlds perhaps?
Or should I try to get my hands on some previous sector books if they exist?
There is an ongoing massive clean-up of the original sector data created for all previous versions of
Traveller. The
Mongoose Traveller sector books contain new official errata'd information on the sector. The Traveller Map (http://www.travellermap.com/)also contains new and official errata'd data on the sectors although it is still being worked on because the galaxy is large.
Now, when I say a clean-up, that is what I mean. This is not a complete reboot of the Official Traveller Universe. It is a way of taking care of some minor contradictory information that has been floating around out there.
That Traveler map is amazing. It seems like such a huge area to play in. Thousands of worlds, a hundred governments and races. Yet when you pull back it becomes a small dot on the galaxy.
The Imperium spent all that time exploring, colonizing, engaging in wars, but has barely gone anywhere.
Quote from: Doughdee222;808591That Traveler map is amazing. It seems like such a huge area to play in. Thousands of worlds, a hundred governments and races. Yet when you pull back it becomes a small dot on the galaxy.
The Imperium spent all that time exploring, colonizing, engaging in wars, but has barely gone anywhere.
Hehehehehehehe.......
Keep watching that space.....
That's a very nice map. Does anyone know more about the characteristics of the sectors. I know that Spinward Marches is frontier and that it is the default setting for third imperium. Deneb is frontier as well and bordering the void. Reft is in the void and Solomani Rim is where earth is and it's the most political setting/spy setting. Deneb and Reft are probably good for exploration.
And then there are some more sectors like Alpha Crucis, Gvurrdon, Ziafrplains and Trojan Reach, but I read they are included in some of the alien books as well. So that's confusing.
Mongoose has sector books, alien books, adventure book, etc. By the way, all the maps take place during the 3rd Imperium. All the maps work the same. There is no "this sector is for spy games" or "this sector is for frontier games". Such games can happen anywhere in any sector.
Just buy a book if your game takes place there. Otherwise, you don't need the book. If you're a collector, you'll have all the books already. That's just how things work.
Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;808665Mongoose has sector books, alien books, adventure book, etc. By the way, all the maps take place during the 3rd Imperium. All the maps work the same. There is no "this sector is for spy games" or "this sector is for frontier games". Such games can happen anywhere in any sector.
Just buy a book if your game takes place there. Otherwise, you don't need the book. If you're a collector, you'll have all the books already. That's just how things work.
Nope I am just a traveller noob and I am trying to find out which book to buy to place my campaign in. Which sector is more geared towards something or maybe has a special vibe.
"A perfect setting for campaigns that focus on espionage, trading or political machinations" says the Mongoose website about Solomani Rim.
Quote from: jan paparazzi;808680Nope I am just a traveller noob and I am trying to find out which book to buy to place my campaign in. Which sector is more geared towards something or maybe has a special vibe.
What is the main thrust of your campaign?
Actually, better yet, tell me what kind of campaign that you would like to run. What adventure possibilities do you want to have available for your Players? What things do you want to include because they are what has attracted you to Traveller?
Quote from: jeff37923;808681What is the main thrust of your campaign?
Actually, better yet, tell me what kind of campaign that you would like to run. What adventure possibilities do you want to have available for your Players? What things do you want to include because they are what has attracted you to Traveller?
Probably a freelance type of campaign. Traders/smugglers or possibly mercenaries. I think the first. Now I know you could do that anywhere with Traveller. I was just hoping for some info and then I could make up my mind about where to place the campaign on the map.
When I started playing the game, my sector choice tended to be where a prefered alien race was. Read up on the wikis for various sectors to help decide.
Quote from: jan paparazzi;808684Probably a freelance type of campaign. Traders/smugglers or possibly mercenaries. I think the first. Now I know you could do that anywhere with Traveller. I was just hoping for some info and then I could make up my mind about where to place the campaign on the map.
The Spinward Marches has the most material created for it with a frontier somewhat
Firefly feel. The Solomani Rim is an older area of the Imperium and has more institutions set in stone there plus part of it is occupied territory by the Imperium with some friction with the Solomani Sphere (Terra). Deneb and Reft are both pretty thoroughly explored, but being near the Great Rift leaves a lot of area where nothing is at and ships require either a lot of fuel or high powered jump drives to get through the emptiness between worlds, not very good for free traders. Gvurrdon is Vargr territory and home to pirates and raiders, not very stable. Ziafrplains is in Zhodani space and extremely restricted in movement and freedoms by the Zhodani government. Alpha Crucis is similar to the Solomani Rim, but has not been developed as much.
The Trojan Reach is interesting and something you may wish to look into. The sector contains two major interstellar polities, the Third Imperium and the Aslan Hierate plus several smaller nations of a few worlds and many independent worlds. It is a borderland area similar to the Spinward Marches, but not nearly as developed with canon so there is still plenty of "wiggle room". There is also a complete freely downloadable campaign called The Pirates of Drinax available at this link (http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpgs/traveller/adventures-and-campaigns/campaign-2-the-pirates-of-drinax.html)set in the Trojan Reaches. Here is a link to the Traveller Wiki entry on the Trojan Reach. (http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Trojan_Reach_Sector) My only complaint about the Trojan Reach PDF so far is there are some formatting errors that happened when they made the PDF and some tables are on the next page over when they should be on the same page - a minor quibble because it is still a good product IMHO.
I hope that helps some.
Quote from: jan paparazzi;808684Probably a freelance type of campaign. Traders/smugglers or possibly mercenaries. I think the first. Now I know you could do that anywhere with Traveller. I was just hoping for some info and then I could make up my mind about where to place the campaign on the map.
The Spinward Marches is hands down the best for that type of campaign. With multiple polities, a frontier and a settled core it has the diversity.
Historically third party companies favored sectors that were on the edge of the Third Imperium AND had a lot of polities within the sector. Or they just pick a sector with a lot of small states.
Solomani Rim was the big early exception. While it was on the Imperial Frontier it is in the middle of some of the most highly advanced, highly populated regions of known space. Mostly due to the fact it contained Terra (Earth).
Today the Traveller Map can print out booklets for any sector. For most area there is some library data to get started with. And the way Traveller world generation shakes out there a lot of out of the way places to have adventures in even in long settled sectors.
The Spinward Marches is still the best place to find support for your type of campaign.
Solomani Rim feels very suited for politics or for a spy game. The Reft sector is in the void and isolated and feels suited for an Aliens type of horror sf game. So I guess I like Deneb en Spinward Marches the best. They are neighbouring sectors so ... I could combine. Deneb feels like there is still more to explore. Spinward feels more like there is still some fighting here and there.
So again, material-wise it doesn't make huge leaps from the original traveler material?
Quote from: RPGPundit;809493So again, material-wise it doesn't make huge leaps from the original traveler material?
Just reboots is all.
Quote from: RPGPundit;809493So again, material-wise it doesn't make huge leaps from the original traveler material?
Yes and no. The errata fixes have some very interesting consequences that make the area much more playable for adventuring.
Quote from: RPGPundit;809493So again, material-wise it doesn't make huge leaps from the original traveler material?
No, one of the virtues of the various incarnation is that they avoid for the most part invalidated past lines information on the setting. If they radically alter something it is either in the past or the in future of the original. Notably the Rebellion of MegaTraveller, Virus from Traveller New Era, and the Early Imperium from Traveller 4.
In general the stats, and the Classic Traveller Library Data supplement 8 and 11 are the core of what is canon about the Third Imperium. What later editions tend to do is focus on detailing local level details like worlds or a subsector's nobility.
That may be invalidated and in some cases had.
Then there are mistakes with the stats which have to fixed with errata. That is the main reason behind the Second Survey project associated with Traveller 5.
But in general older products that detail an aspect of the Third Imperium work pretty easily with new supplement. Even supplement from SJ Games which uses a alternate timeline where the rebellion never happened works pretty well. The method of mapping trade routes that is commonly used is from GURPS Traveller: Far Trader.
All Mongoose books are revised and updated but almost nothing in Traveller invalidates anything that went before from GDW or DGP, although some Judges Guild sectors went by the wayside.
For general Firefly type games one has to recommend Spinward Marches. Loads of sources from Mongoose or classical stuff.
For an utterly freebooting action game with a touch more aliens and the awesome Aslan, try the Trojan Reaches and the Pirates of Drinax free adventures.
For spying, intrigue, and espionage, Spinward Marches and Solomani Rim offer a lot.
Quote from: tzunder;810202For general Firefly type games one has to recommend Spinward Marches. Loads of sources from Mongoose or classical stuff.
For an utterly freebooting action game with a touch more aliens and the awesome Aslan, try the Trojan Reaches and the Pirates of Drinax free adventures.
For spying, intrigue, and espionage, Spinward Marches and Solomani Rim offer a lot.
Yeah, I have been looking into the Trojan Reaches and the Gvurrdon sectors as well. One has the Aslan and one has the Vargr. Both sound interesting and those two sectors and Spinward Marches and Deneb are all connected. It's all in the same place. Interesting. I got the Spinward Marches PDF, because that book contains most of the general Third Imperium info.
My $0.02 till now about Third Imperium: I like the canon. Not that strange, I like canon in general. I like the GM's advice and the different campaign types. Not so fond of all the rules for spaceships and the elaborate hexcrawls. That's not my cup of tea.
It's a very modular game.
You can handwave spaceship travel quickly.
I would recommend avoiding excessive hex crawling since it can overpower a ref.
Remember that the Traveller map combined with the online Traveller wiki are your friends!
Quote from: tzunder;810623It's a very modular game.
Yes, indeed. It's very broad, but also very focused. And practical. Coming from a WoD background I find this a lot more practical than the (also modular) WoD books. For example I like the campaign types they offer to me. Do you want to be a trader, mercenary or an explorer? Or maybe a spy or a diplomat? You get a clear idea what you will do when choosing a campaign type. They handle the alien races the same way. Want them to be a threat (pirates), an enemy, a loyal friend, a mercenary or the mysterious other? Again it provides clarity to what you will do with them and gives multiple options how to play them. Broad, but focused.
And it's more detailed as well. I like settings with a lot of canon and I like timelines with major events (all those wars). It makes it easier for me to come up with campaign ideas based on past events. I also like picking a spot in the universe to place my campaign in.
Quote from: tzunder;810623I would recommend avoiding excessive hex crawling since it can overpower a ref.
Yes, I find these hex crawls offering more of the same. A lot breadth, but not so much depth.
Quote from: tzunder;810623Remember that the Traveller map combined with the online Traveller wiki are your friends!
Yes, it's more organised than the books. All the info in the third imperium books is a bit spread out between them.