buzz said:
I downloaded the free PDF of Traveller 2300 from DTRPG. Browsing through it, it looks kind of like the sort of "hard-ish", vaguely Firefly-esque RPG that I'd probably really like. I also saw that it was succeeded by a GDW SFRPG called just 2300AD.
2300 is, indeed, a "Hardish" Sci-Fi. It is rather rules light, with enough "Tasks" for the combat system, but requires the GM to make tasks for most other things (sneaking past guards, etc.).
buzz said:
What's the difference between these two?
That's like asking what are the difference between D&D 2 & 3! There are quite a few! Indirect Fire skill disappeared, and several new ones popped up. The basic mechanics pretty much remained constant. Characters are now able to advance in skills, past character generation...
buzz said:
I think so (as you can probably tell by my .sig). Tastes vary.
buzz said:
What products in the line were worth buying?
Pretty much all of them, except
Kafer Dawn, in my opinion. I have copies of everything. It depends upon what you like. The
Colonial Atlas has all the info on the inhabited "Garden" worlds. There are a couple of Cyberpunk adventures (one of which is not available in .PDF, for some reason), and the
Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook needed to run them. There are quite a few adventures, of various types. More on my site.
buzz said:
Do any of the GURPS Trav poducts cover this era?
No. 2300 is unrelated to Traveller/MegaTraveller, etc.
buzz said:
Also, it looks like QLI is working on a T20 update of the game called 2320AD. Anyone with some inside knowledge want to tell us more about it?
In 2300AD, mankind has met several species of sophonts, and fought interstellar wars with two of them. The Sung War was really only a stellar war, as their sub-light tech couldn't leave their system. The Kafers, however, have been in space longer than man, and the war with them has been going on for some years. By 2300 AD, they are winning...
2320 extends the future-history of the Twilight War (from Twilight:2000) past 2300, and into the future-history of the same universe, concluding the Kafer War, and going on from there. As it hasn't been published, yet, no telling what the author will do with it...
2300AD Game Mechanics:
A Task statement lists what is to be accomplished, the type of task, assets, base time, and notes. Here's an example:
To hit a target with aimed fire: Difficult. Combat Rifleman. Absolute (1 action). Referee: Standard range is difficult, half that or less is routine, up to twice standard is formidable, and up to four times standard range is Impossible. If this task is attempted with a sidearm, instead of a rifle, Sidearms skill should be used instead of Combat Rifleman.
This is a "Standard" task (there are other types). The "To..." part tells you what it is for. "Difficult" is the difficulty level, requiring a total of 10 on 1D10 + Asset(s) to succeed. Combat Rifleman skill is the only asset that can be added to the roll (but see below). The time is "Absolute (1 action)", meaning that it ALWAYS takes one action, no matter what. The notes then tell you that you can perform this task with a pistol, and substitute Sidearms skill instead of Combat Rifleman, and modify the difficulty at various ranges...
So, Scout, with Sidearms 2, is shooting at some Kafers at Close range. The difficulty is Routine, so he needs a 6+ on 1D10+2 (his Sidearms skill). Assuming that there are seven Kafers, and his weapon has a rate of fire of 10, he shoots at them, rolling:
4, 6, 2, 8, 2, 2, 8, 4, 7, 3, giving him totals of 6 (barely a hit), 8, 4 (Miss!), 10 (hit on the third Kafer), 4, 4 (Both misses!), 10 (four down), 6, 9, and 5. Scout has managed to hit six, and left one to attack him back, if it can.
Next, he would usually have to roll for effect, subtracting their armor value from his weapon's DPV (Damage Point Value), and determine what type of damage each wound caused. I'll skip all of that...
Anyway, tasks determine success or failure. The GM can set up a task for anything. There are 13 or so types of tasks, such as Hazardous, Hasty, etc.
Skills are acquired based on Careers (kind of like Classes), and are a mixture of picks from a list, and a little "Basic Training". There are many different careers in 2300 (and I have added a bunch more, on my site). A character can start off in one career, then switch to another (once) to gain a few more skills. They also receive a few pre-career "Background Skills" based on where they grew up.
Once a character has been generated, they can slowly improve in some skills, based on their final career. The cost to increase skills not related to their final career is prohibitive, however.
Anyway, the Referee (GM) sets up task
a PC tries something, you can figure out success or failure pretty quickly, and tell the players what happens.
I liked 2300, which is why I have a web site for a game that's been out of print for almost 20 years! Stop by my web site, and see the "What's New?" page, which has links to all the .PDFs of the 2300 products, where you can get more information of each of them. Sorry my site's still not fully back up, but I've been working on it!
