Mongoose release their annual report you can read it here. I am glad Traveller is doing well for them and I pick up various products in the line from time to time. Because of past and continuing editing problems their stuff is not an automatic buy for me. I mostly stick to the small format books.
I find the release of GDW's 2300AD exciting. I always like the line. For those of you don't know what it is; 2300 AD is a separate sci-fi RPG from Traveller. It is a continuation of the Twilight 2000 timeline. Mankind recovers and expands to the stars. What make it's different that it's tech feel more like Aliens, and other 80s/90s sci-fi movie than the classic sci-fi of Traveller. It also notable for using the best data for it's star map and for using three dimensions. Earth is still fragmented into nation-states which until then wasn't commonly used in Sci-fi RPGs. The leading power is France, following a by several second tier powers like the United States, Russia, United Kingdom, Manchuria and so on. The empire France rules is the result of a federation of territories that France united after the Twilight War and spans the globe. As of 2300AD they are on the wane.
Another interesting point about 2300AD is that it's background wasn't created arbitrarily. GDW created what became known as the Great Game moderated by a referee. Each player play one or more countries. Turns were taken until the timeline reached 2300 AD. I guess the French player did really well.
2 comments:
I love the idea of a Great Game helping to define the future of a game's timeline!
The Game was an excellent tool, and a similar game is being played to define the 10 Worlds background of Attack Vector: Tactical.
The person who played France was John Harshman. You can find the rules outline that was used for The Game (remember that all of the players were extremely experienced wargamers, so an outline was all they really needed, since it was refereed) here.
Post a Comment