Topic: Traveller Background to Spacemaster

[David Johansen]

Personally, the SPAM races are a little too, exceptional for Traveller.  Traveller is very much low fantasy and the SPAM races border on Anime-like insanity.

[Gadrin]

Personally, the SPAM races are a little too, exceptional for Traveller.  Traveller is very much low fantasy and the SPAM races border on Anime-like insanity.

Yes but the Traveller non-sense like the YOUPNIYIOTIAUWVHT clan, for instance, just leaves me with a
mouthful of goop, I'd just as soon spit out.

Using Falanar or other more "speak-friendly" terms makes it a little easier  I can drop the
strict adherence to SPAM race and actions as needed.

I also like the Kzin from Niven's books and I don't mind incorporating a little of that into a Traveller
Aslan campaign. A little more bite, so to speak.

I'd been re-reading my Grimes (A Bertram Chandler) stuff and have thought about shoehorning some
of his PCO stuff into Traveller and dropping the "psionics is evil" routine. Naturally the Kzin-Aslans
could fit too. But that's still in the "this might be cool" category for now.

>

[David Johansen]

Youeomfellw shemlskmoik dsldkfjlywejtk?  Why would a random word generator be a bad thing?

Well, if you want a more cinematic feel the dials on the SPAM races certainly are turned to 11.

Mind you a battle of wits between a Hiver and an Oort would be something else.

Hiver - Here we are at last as I always knew we would be!

Oort - Would you give the soothsayer routine a rest already I'm here because I chose to come.

Hiver - The best manipulation is the one that cannot be seen.

Oort - That stuff may impress the monkeys but I know better.  I've modelled thirty trillion possible variables and narrowed my course of action to this one.

Hiver - oooh neat!  You'll have to show me the entrails of the pig you used.

Oort - I brought a gun you wriggly bastard!

Hiver - I brought an Ithklur with a gun you emotional hamster spawn.

Oort - I've got a personal force field that'll even the odds.

Hiver - I've got a hair depletion aeresol.

Oort - You, you wouldn't dare!

Hiver - Wouldn't I?

GM - Roll for initiative.

[markc]

All they while the Xaotian who is controlling the Oort is laughing his chitten off.
MDC

[Gadrin]

Hiver - I brought an Ithklur with a gun you emotional hamster spawn.

 

Sounds like a Traveller scenario I once concocted where the Hiver envoy a Za'Tachk lures
the pcs out during a card game into talking about a Manipulation Device he's got from his
Hiver overseer. The pcs get interested and start tossing out ideas on how they'd use it
and the Za'Tachk says "SOLD!" and summons 4 or 5 Ithklur into the game room to collect
the rent on the superscience spy device while the pcs close their mouths.

Oorts are that smart/sophisticated (from your post) eh? I love that artwork where one of
them is working the computer/holographics sitting at the console.

Maybe tame them down to something more inline with Traveller though. A hacker or scientist
would fit nicely and Trav could use a few more aliens.

Does SPAM offer anything like the Sydites (4 armed giants from T20) ? They're pretty tame
from Traveller point of view (nothing like the Rahu Man from Rifts/Palladium) much more in
line with Traveller.

>

[markc]

  No SM:P does not have a 4 armed giants like you described but you can make one using the race creation rules. I would also look to some of the other games that have 4 armed races for inspiration on talents and other things.
 The main one that comes to mind for me is the 4 armed killing machine from Fading Suns. I have only read the rules but they seem to be very effective tank.

MDC

[David Johansen]

Mind you , the Kagoth are huge and durable pascifist bear people who are slowly going insane as a race.  They might fit the bill.  Just say "yup they've got four arms" and you're good to go.

Now how smart are Oorts?

Well, a human with a stat of 100 gets a +10.  Oorts have a +10 in Memory and Reasoning as racial stat bonuses so, they'd have +20.  Einstein and Edison were average IQ for an Oort and maybe even a little on the slow side.

[Gadrin]

Now how smart are Oorts?

Well, a human with a stat of 100 gets a +10.  Oorts have a +10 in Memory and Reasoning as racial stat bonuses so, they'd have +20.  Einstein and Edison were average IQ for an Oort and maybe even a little on the slow side.

Zow, reminds me of Palladium and their massive bonuses. Easily get PCs with 200+ IQs. Of course you're
talking about a crafted race of massive intellects, something that Palladium may or may not do on purpose
but the game system really doesn't reflect well. I don't know SPAM that well to judge.

The Vorox from Fadng Suns, yep thought of that shortly after I signed off here.

I'm not really looking for "monster type" just some variety. Traveller surprised the heck out of me
with 4 armed giants (well, 7 to 8 feet tall anyhoo).

Traveller also has the Drakarans (GURPS Traveller) which I noticed made its way over to SPAM too.
Same with the Giant Manta Rays and the teeth bats (names escapes me for the moment). Ah
written by David Pulver, that's why  

>

[markc]

 I was thinking about a 4 armed large humanoid race for a space game but I decided against it in the long run.

MDC

[David Johansen]

I'm thinking about doing up the Starfrontiers races, I'd probably file the names off them since I suspect Hasbro is more litigious than Marc Miller.

So there'd be Berserk Glider Apes, Blobs, Centipedtaurs, and Evil Worms from outerspace or some such thing.

[providence13]

Dralisite blobs could have four arms...
Check out the http://www.starfrontiersman.com
Really nice work on the races.

[David Johansen]

I'm not quite sure how I'd handle Dralasites.  I mean, just for starters, normal critical results are meaningless to them.  Sure they can bleed, well, drip anyhow, and they can be stunned but not really easily.  Possibly a level of critical reduction against krush and impact?  No bones to break but limbs are more easily severed.  I'd probably just give them one level of extra limbs though, their brain can't easily run a dozen arms or anything like that.

[providence13]

Does anyone have the old Psionics teleporting on a sphere (planet) ranges/formulas?
I'm thinking "it's spinning and wobbling" so you're bound to have two different speeds... which might look messy when you land.

How about some temperature/pressure variations for the same?
Somebody should at least get a nose bleed, IMHO.