Quote from: Ian AbsentiaThanks.  As I said before, though, the cover mock-ups are "all fur coat and no knickers".  
!i!

You say that like it's a bad thing! :O

-clash

Btw, my earlier suggestion regarding a sunken Japanese submarine filled with gold was something I pulled from my cobwebbed memory.  After doing some digging I found the story of the real deal:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_submarine_I-52

The fact that the Japanese were building these huge cargo-carrying submarines and trying to get them all the way to Germany and back is fascinating, and natural fodder for RPG adventure.


TGA

I learned about this idea on another message list and just had to come over and say something.

This is a great idea (and an obvious one at that).  The comparisons between Traveller and this are many.  Little doubt that many Traveller adventures could be easily converted.  I especially love the "Covers" that have been done.  Hats off to some very imaginative folks!

Some additional information that may be of help.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f57/firearms-regulations-by-country-1641.html

That one is a very well researched listing of firearm regulations by country, though not complete.  Note that characters would have a lot of trouble in many places.

I would also recommend looking through other parts of Cruisers Forum.  Even though it is primarily for private cruisers, there is a lot of great "flavor" type information there.  And let's face it, private cruisers would be a fairly common encounter (and possible adventures there).  Especially look at this thread http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f51/whats-your-opinion-firearms-or-not-90.html  The thoughts of people from around the world on the subject are interesting and something that characters would run into.

Next http://www.noonsite.com/ good site with lots of info, the pirate pages are good.

Another good site on the Yacht Piracy subject.  http://www.yachtpiracy.org/en/index.htm

A company that should provide some inspiration.  http://www.maritimesecurity.com/

A couple of security items for ships.
http://www.shiploc.com/html/about_shiploc.html
http://www.secure-marine.com/yacht/index.shtml

Someone was advertising a RPV for personal use on private ships a couple years ago, but I can't find it now.

I would also suggest looking at any of the large numbers of boat and ship manufacturers web sites for some specific information on various private and commercial boats/ships currently available.  Some examples are -
http://www.barges.com/
http://www.swiftships.com/mil.html
http://www.geminicatamarans.com/
http://www.cheoyleena.com/
http://www.voyageyachts.com/
http://www.mantacatamarans.com/
http://www.rosboroughboats.com/
http://www.shannonyachts.com/

And there are lots of others!  There are of course a good number of sail boats out there that are not manufactured anymore, but are in large numbers.  A google search should turn up quite a bit of information on them (more variety to encounter).  There are a good number of sites that advertise many boats for sale, again useful for adventure ideas and atmosphere variety.

Hope this info helps inspire some ideas!

Holy cats, SionEwig.  This is great stuff.  Just this evening* I've been playing about with converting the Universal Planetary Profile to the Universal Port Profile, and that link to the firearms regulations is great help in working out an equivalent to Law Level.  Tech Level is still going to be a ball breaker.

Out of curiosity, on what other message list did you read about this idea?

!i!

(*Really, I do have a life, but I'm still getting over the flu -- which has killed two grade school aged children here inside the last two weeks! -- and my family has abandoned me to go out on their own.)

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaTech Level is still going to be a ball breaker.
[/QUOTETraveller Tech Level had many interpretations but one that may be useful to Mariner is the idea that Tech Level represent what a place can produce.

Perhaps what you need to do is produce not a Tech Level but a Tech Profile for a Universal Port Profile. It is a still a single digit but some up what group of Good are available.

For example Tech Level 0 means that there is little demand beyond basic subsidence good like food and clothing. A means the ful range of present Technology. BCDEFGH etc are specialized code. For example in Somalia it could be tech code E. Which is Basic subsidence + light weaponry + small scale luxury  goods (for local warlords).

Wow, I see these ideas have really taken off in people's minds, I'm really interested to see the final results!

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaHoly cats, SionEwig.  This is great stuff.  Just this evening* I've been playing about with converting the Universal Planetary Profile to the Universal Port Profile, and that link to the firearms regulations is great help in working out an equivalent to Law Level.  Tech Level is still going to be a ball breaker.

Out of curiosity, on what other message list did you read about this idea?

!i!

(*Really, I do have a life, but I'm still getting over the flu -- which has killed two grade school aged children here inside the last two weeks! -- and my family has abandoned me to go out on their own.)

The Traveller Mailing List, where it was said about this thread "I think these guys are on to something."

Glad the information is useful.  Most of it I have had for a while since my wife and I are planning a possible circumnavigation next year with our kids and some friends.

Some things that may help with the various "tech" levels is to look at web sites of people who are or have sailed through the areas.  Here is one set of links on a bunch of them.
 
http://www.sailzora.com/links.htm

But there are many out there who have cruising logs.  A lot of them will give all kinds of "atmosphere" of the various harbors, anchorages, etc.  One thing that may surprise people is how many people there are out there who do these long distance voyages with their young children.

In most cases, if you noticed, the Law Levels are (in Traveller terms) very high.  Most places either do not allow firearms at all. or will keep them while you are there, or (if you are lucky) simply seal the safe on your craft.  And look carefully at some of those places; even spear guns, flare guns, and other such things may be not allowed.

Something else to remember to add in is who actually administers many of the islands and places.  A lot of them would be (again in Traveller terms) "captive governments" since many of them are not independent.

As to rules set for this, may I suggest just playing fast and loose with rules.  While the Traveller character generation rules worked well for it and other sets worked well for what they were set in, I have only found ONE set that actually came close to realistically showing what potentially large number of skill people may have in (relatively speaking) "modern" settings.  And that rules set is Timelords by BTRC.  Think about it, Traveller, Twilight 2000 (of any edition), and several others basically say that you have few to no skills at age 18.  I think that the case can be made for that being way off base.  You may not have high levels of skills (probably), but you certainly have some.  Call of Cthulhu did a better job of giving out skills, but even it was a bit stingy.

The best rules set - reference for firearms and such was Guns, Guns, Guns and Guns, Guns, and More Guns by Kevin Dockery, most others just really miss out (no pun intended).  Failing that a copy of Jane's is great.  And players will want GUNS!!!!

Combat systems for modern actions are many and varied.  There are some exceptionally complex and realistic ones out there (as I am sure you know), but those are also incredibly slow in actual use.  My personal favorite for modern is Call of Cthulhu, you might tell that I like that game!

Anyway, enough of this epic (I tend to run on and on when I get really interested in something).  Hope this stuff is of help, use what you want, and ignore the rest!  Any other help I can be, just ask, this could be fun.

I do know about the "flu" syndrome with family members.  It's like you have a "leper" sign around your neck.:hehe:

Watching the History Channel today - there's a show on about the Pacific counterpart to the Bermuda Triangle, called the "Dragon's Triangle" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil's_Sea

Alas, not much info online that I can suss out, but there's a good supplement or adventure for the game. I call dibs.  

Also - I found a (the?) LBB making page, but how did you get it to read as "Mariner" rather than "Traveller"? Photoshop or somesuch?

Quote from: WerekoalaI found a (the?) LBB making page, but how did you get it to read as "Mariner" rather than "Traveller"? Photoshop or somesuch?

Photoshop, InDesign, and too much time on my hands as I had to stay away from the office this last week.  I did, however, use the zho.berka cover rendering site to get the basic placement and dimensions of the color blocks.  Also, finding an approximation of the Traveller cover font, Optima, was a bit of a bitch, but I've discovered that if you keep looking long enough and hard enough, sooner or later you'll find what you want for free, bundled up in a .tar file on a university server somewhere in the world.

!i!

Couple of more useful links.

First, a thread on another forum about ships/boats/etc.  Primarily useful cause it has a good number of links in it, some extremely nice.

http://forums.rpghost.com/showthread.php?t=30031

Second, one of the links from there that deserves very special attention.  Chino has come up with a fair number of very useful ship plans.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeedox4/

And just for atmosphere, think of the scene in last year's remake of King Kong where the arms were being passed out.  First you've got the "known" arms room with all the mausers (IIRC) and then the hidden locker under the berth with the 1928s.  When that scene came on my friends looked over at me and my wife and commented, "Oh look, your cruise ship."

My original table set is modern day, hence computer skills, for a 1930s one I would make a few changes.  I just thought it might help Ian get started.

Love the cover mockups.

Quote from: BalbinusMy original table set is modern day, hence computer skills, for a 1930s one I would make a few changes.  I just thought it might help Ian get started.

Love the cover mockups.

Great start, and more than I could have done (I still have trouble making tables).

I do have some comments, please don't take them harshly.

In the Ranks section, go on and use real ranks on the tables, it's easy enough to look up the stuff on even some of the lesser known countries militaries.  You can always have 2 or more ranks as having the same "Rank Number" like Traveller later did in the later books.  Also, rank should be harder to obtain as you go up, especially when you get into Field Grade.  And no enlisted tables?

In the Mustering Out section, I think that the material benefits need a bit of work.  I have always thought that Blade was a really cheap benefit and Gun should be highly restricted.  Most other countries are highly restrictive on private ownership of firearms and military weapons are even more restricted.  The Cash table is pretty good, only it may need some adjustment depending on what country the character served in.

In the Skills section there is work needed.  As I said in an above post, I really think that the vast majority of games do not come anywhere close to representing the skills and levels that characters should possess, especially in games in "modern" settings and that are more reality based.  There should without a doubt be a good number more of automatic skills and Blade should be much more rare.

As I started with, this is a very good start.  You have at least started the ball rolling and I say "Thank You" for that.

Balbinus was going for a very "old school" Traveller feeling, thus skilled careers beginning at 18, the lack of a table for enlisted ranks, the particular mustering out benefits, and the skills array.

Personally, I'm not a great fan of the "more is better" philosophy of skills attributions.  One thing that should be borne in mind -- and it's a topic that we've discussed here in other threads regarding classic Traveller -- is that the skills shown are, in many ways, an abbreviated summary of an individual's competency.  On the scale of the 2d6 mechanics, Skill-1 is actually pretty impressive, and Skill-3 (mastery) does a right fine job.  Take a broader application of specific skills to related tasks, and I think that classic Traveller characters prove quite competent.  Later Traveller books (like Mercenary, High Guard, etc.) were attempts to make character creation a closer simulation to real careers, rather than an emulation, which is what Book 1 and Citizens of the Imperium were going after.

!i!

Quote from: SionEwigGreat start, and more than I could have done (I still have trouble making tables).

I do have some comments, please don't take them harshly.

In the Ranks section, go on and use real ranks on the tables, it's easy enough to look up the stuff on even some of the lesser known countries militaries.  You can always have 2 or more ranks as having the same "Rank Number" like Traveller later did in the later books.  Also, rank should be harder to obtain as you go up, especially when you get into Field Grade.  And no enlisted tables?

In the Mustering Out section, I think that the material benefits need a bit of work.  I have always thought that Blade was a really cheap benefit and Gun should be highly restricted.  Most other countries are highly restrictive on private ownership of firearms and military weapons are even more restricted.  The Cash table is pretty good, only it may need some adjustment depending on what country the character served in.

In the Skills section there is work needed.  As I said in an above post, I really think that the vast majority of games do not come anywhere close to representing the skills and levels that characters should possess, especially in games in "modern" settings and that are more reality based.  There should without a doubt be a good number more of automatic skills and Blade should be much more rare.

As I started with, this is a very good start.  You have at least started the ball rolling and I say "Thank You" for that.

Hey, feedback is always welcome.

On Ranks you have a point, and I likely shall.  I'd probably use US ranks for ease of convenience.

On Mustering out Benefits, in original Traveller Blade and Gun made more sense.  In this context not so much, so I'll think on that.

Re skills, the idea is that only those skills for which one might get paid are really covered, and skills are quite broad.  Ian addresses this quite well, were I to want to cover skills in more detail as you suggest I wouldn't actually use Traveller as a base.  Something like Gurps or Corps would be far more suitable IMO.

Quote from: JimBobOzMadness or genius? What do you reckon?

Genius.  You HAVE to get this published.

Mind if I recommend a couple of books?

Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas by John Burnett.  A damn good book on the subject.  He did a radio interview on NPR a few months ago which made me buy the book.  There are DOZENS of adventure ideas in there.  Edit: A quick check shows it going for $2.42 for a paperback on Amazon.

The Outlaw Sea : A World of Freedom, Chaos, and Crime by William William Langewiesche.  Another very good book, also available on Amazon.


Edit:  Also, have you ever seen the TV show "Deadliest Catch?"  It's about crab fishermen working off the coast of Alaska.  It isn't Indian Ocean/Pacific Rim, sure, but it does show working conditions on a ship pretty well.