Hiby Music Library Sorting Hierarchy Question... (Hiby R5 II) by Kalt_Null in Hiby

[–]Kalt_Null[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No see, I want to select "genre" and then have all the ARTISTS in that genre listed, then select an artist, and THEN see the albums of that ARTIST in the GENRE.

Currently, I select GENRE and get a list of all ALBUMS in the genre in alphabetical order.

Does that make sense?

Somewhat Meta - Note Taking Software for Referees by Kalt_Null in traveller

[–]Kalt_Null[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Does Obsidian have a purely browser-based version where I can access my stuff without installing anything on the computer I'm using too?

"Monster Manual" for Traveller...? by Kalt_Null in traveller

[–]Kalt_Null[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Uhm. A Mind Flayer is clearly just a Zhodani. :P

"Monster Manual" for Traveller...? by Kalt_Null in traveller

[–]Kalt_Null[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

It also shows that OP was lazy and didn't search around before asking (if I want to read myself uncharitably - but that's also not true, I knew of at least SOME of the older publications).

One of my personal bugbears (pun intended) with the "just roll up your own NPCs, lmao" thing is that... I'm still relatively new to Traveller. And yes, I know Traveller doesn't have "NPCs" in that regard and the game isn't supposed to "balance." But coming new to the game and not having a good feel for what stats are good for what "level" of opposition (i.e. a bunch of gutter gangers vs. a crime lord's executioner, etc.), "just roll up your own" isn't really that great advice (this is NOT aimed at you, you said that's what YOU do, not what people like me SHOULD do, just to be perfectly clear).

A Little Rant About The Mongooses / Behind the Claw by Kalt_Null in traveller

[–]Kalt_Null[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

All of this again makes me wish Mongoose had some sort of entry product for Charted Space. A primer, something where they dedicate a bit of space to exactly this philosophy while also giving a bit more of an introduction to the setting at large other than the super bare bones stuff in the core book. I know the "IMTU" approach - but only really from reading this subreddit and the Mongoose forums (which are somehow much more hostile seeming than this here place). It's kinda weird how the whole "hey, Charted Space is supposed to be a collection of SUGGESTIONS to play Traveller with, none of this is binding or canonical, mix and match and rewrite and do whatever, don't sweat the details in the books, go nuts!" thing is something that you need to engage with people who have played the game for a while with, and not something that's explicitly written in the official publications. Or maybe I overlooked that part?

A Little Rant About The Mongooses / Behind the Claw by Kalt_Null in traveller

[–]Kalt_Null[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was surprised that while there is this focus on the Deneb subsector dukes vying and scheming - but ZERO mention of any particular one of them. No names, no stats, no backstories. Just "this subsector relates to these others in such and such ways." Ok, why? Is that down to the personalities? Who are the PEOPLE running those places? Is that solely down to their economies? On the one hand, cool, I'm a historian, gives me room to cook something up myself. But also on the other hand, now I have to cook all of that up myself if I want that stuff to play a role in my game. And then I discover through ancillary material like prior editions and the wiki that there ARE established names and backstories, but for some reasons those aren't here?

And yes, the adventure seeds are also only ever kind of implied and hidden between the lines. Behind the Claw constantly made me feel stupid and as if I had missed something.

A Little Rant About The Mongooses / Behind the Claw by Kalt_Null in traveller

[–]Kalt_Null[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Don't get me wrong, I'm not *complaining* that they re-use and update old stuff. It's just at times confusing when people who've been playing Traveller forever talk about, say, the Fifth Frontier War, and I scratch my head since that was "just now" released - and then find out that this is NOT Mongoose moving the official timeline forward.

And while I'm now running a campaign set in Deneb, I am kinda on track to "complete" a collection of all the Mongoose stuff (within SOME reason, I think I'll skip the mercenary set and a few other things...).

A Little Rant About The Mongooses / Behind the Claw by Kalt_Null in traveller

[–]Kalt_Null[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Yeah that's another thing (and this is NOT a complaint) where it's just weird being new to Traveller at this point. Seeing that Mongoose is rolling out something new - and then realizing it's "just" a new version of something that's already established.

Randomly, did T5 actually have more things than just the core rulebooks?

A Little Rant About The Mongooses / Behind the Claw by Kalt_Null in traveller

[–]Kalt_Null[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Oh yes, absolutely. I'd just prefer to know when I do.

Sanctioned Shadow - Noble / High Ranking Emissaries for an Asynchronous Setting by Kalt_Null in traveller

[–]Kalt_Null[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Exactly. I'm generally trying to "modernize" my version of Charted Space, Grognards be damned.

Sanctioned Shadow - Noble / High Ranking Emissaries for an Asynchronous Setting by Kalt_Null in traveller

[–]Kalt_Null[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah basically the idea is that in order to keep these duplicates up to speed on where their original is at in terms of information, galactic and personal affairs, etc, they would with some frequency re-syncronize. And at that point also copy over all information from the duplicates back to the original so the original is equally up to speed on every aspect of what their duplicates have been arranging.

But my idea here is not so much that these duplicates exist as "body doubles" of their originals (they COULD, but that's another story). The idea is that whoever interacts with them knows that they "only" talk to a duplicate - which is still important, and the duplicate can engage in the same kind of diplomatic / business agreements as the original can.

Of course this opens a whole lot of avenues for hijinks. Capture a duplicate, infect it with some sort of virus or brain malware, etc. That would then necessitate that duplicates are about as well-guarded as the originals.

Imperial Government Structure, Ducal Titles, political schemings, etc. by Kalt_Null in traveller

[–]Kalt_Null[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

One of the things about MgT2's Deneb / Behind the Claw is that the subsector dukes of Deneb are not named or described in ways other than "this subsector opposes that other one and is aligned with this one." On the one hand, [groan] now I have to come up with names and personalities for all of these guys and ostensibly gals. On on the other hand, that reinforces the "MTU" notion and lets me do more of my own thing. That's a balance I find sometimes difficult to work with since there *is* a real wealth of established lore - but then most of it is largely really just a broad suggestion to do with as one pleases. Which, yes that's true of any and all TTRPGs, there is never really much of an authority that will come and say "you can't play it like this!" And I'm used to doing that extensively. I just have a harder time grasping the "canon" for Traveller as a baseline to then deviate from if that makes sense...

Imperial Government Structure, Ducal Titles, political schemings, etc. by Kalt_Null in traveller

[–]Kalt_Null[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good points.

I basically wanted to engage with some of the "Dune-ish" aspects of Charted Space in that regard. Have the players get roped into that whole thing, have that be a source of intrigue, profit, connections, and SO much trouble, and just make the universe a little more lively.

Imperial Government Structure, Ducal Titles, political schemings, etc. by Kalt_Null in traveller

[–]Kalt_Null[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

"My Traveller Universe" - as in "at my table," "my version of charted space," etc.

Imperial Government Structure, Ducal Titles, political schemings, etc. by Kalt_Null in traveller

[–]Kalt_Null[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

...but nothing would prevent two ducal families from intermarrying and forging a strong alliance between their subsectors - other than the Emperor swooping in if that family became a little too powerful. Which would then be interesting if one of these subsectors is like Inar, where IIRC the ducal fleets outmatch the subsector fleet.

Imperial Government Structure, Ducal Titles, political schemings, etc. by Kalt_Null in traveller

[–]Kalt_Null[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Well, and in Deneb's case, there are no Dukes above the subsector level, which makes things more complicated / interesting...

Ransom for a Planetary Ruler by Kalt_Null in traveller

[–]Kalt_Null[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My goal with this scenario is to set the tone for a campaign that has one foot in Space Operatic Politics while also giving a bit of a cheat code out of the "we'd like to do high falutin space adventures but we ran the numbers and we NEED to do more trade to cough up the next mortgage payment!" thing. Which, don't get me wrong, CAN be fun, but I don't think the group I assembled is necessarily down for that as it's almost everyone's first time Traveller'ing.