How Quickly Do You Bounce Off a System?

[Thomas Shey]

I'm not against tech, I also have heavily hyperlinked, and bookmarked pdf's. Character gen recently:
View attachment 346215

I mostly just noted that because its usually a lot easier to back up things that primarily exist on a computer (and frankly, if its a rules book or the like, its usually going to be easier to read, though for casual reading a tablet is probably the sweet spot) as compared to a mobile device. I realize probably most people don't do my "backup both laptops (mine and my wife's) to do different portable hard drives kept in different rooms once a week" but a simple USB drive can back up a lot of gaming material these days.

 

[dragoner]

I back stuff up frequently, though I also work off computers. Which is why I also like to get away from them, plus the font I use, roboto 11 pt 13 pt spacing is big and easy on the eyes, I probably could go smaller, though I don't really want to.

 

[Wolfpack48]

I gave up carrying a compass to games after one too many puncture wounds.

There's a lot to be said for characters whose vitals fit on an index card too. I managed to get through six levels as a 13th Age paladin before I was finally forced to use a proper page of paper - but that is one of the "easy mode" classes without much to track.

I'm a big fan of Moleskine grid journals for notes, scenario writing and maps. Versatile and not too messy. We still go for paper and pencil character sheets, though printing from a PDF is much nicer than photocopy. I almost always go for the extra pdf file when I buy the printed rules.

I've seen pure pdf, printed rules with duplicate pdf, but have yet to come across printed rules with extra online-only content. Thanks for mentioning Scum & Villainy will have to check that out.

 

[dragoner]

I give the pdf away free if you buy the book. Here is the font size, I mean I wear bifocals, so I like big readable font:

 

[demoss]

I'm conflicted there. To some extent unless you do a "Here's a bunch of potential FTL related technologies, pick one" approach, FTL is a big enough counterfactual that almost any decision is going to look weirdly specific, ...

IMO it is also one of the really easy things to change. "Nope, we have jump gates instead." "Nope, we transition into hyperspace and use regular engines there." "Nope, we have ansibles."

Yeah, the ship construction changes, and if you want a good variety of ships with consistent numbers you have your work cut out for you, but that would be true even if there had been "here's a dozen different FTL-paradigms, pick one": there would not be lots of ready made ships for all of them anyhow.

 

[aramis erak]

So do I, but it's not great to have baked into a hypothetical toolbox. A lot of scifi franchises expect it, and how common and reliable it is is a Big Deal. Similar problem with different FTL approaches (including "none") not fitting the jump drive model. A lot of people wanted Traveller to be more versatile out of the box than it really was. I can still remember reading magazine reviews rating Gamescience's Space/Star Patrol as better than Traveller because it was "easier to adapt to Star Trek and other scifi settings."

Which it was, but it was also a nearly-unplayable everything-and-the-kitchen-sink rules set that gleefully cribbed from every sf/f book the designers had ever read. Even got approval from some of the authors involved, although certainly not all of them. Really the kind of game that could only exist in an era when IP rights were a casual concern, but it's an interesting read if you can ever find a copy.

Star Patrol didn't have a kitchen sink approach to rules; only to equipment and species. And in the later case, not presented readily as species, but filling in slots on the multiple charts. (Yes, I'm looking at it.) It doesn't have ships in any form other than as a means for the landing party to get beamed down from.
It does have a mission generator, and is padded out because the char gen tables are replicated more compactly in the mission generator...

Many people seem to think there was a lot more there than there was. The following year's Starships & Spacemen from FGU was the far superior "Not Traveller" SF game. Easier to read, easier to run, actually has ships, has some very clearly "serial numbers painted over because we didn't get the license" aliens, some PC and 2 NPC-only.

Combine the three (SP, Traveller, and S&S) and you can actually get a decent chance of kitbashing many of the space opera genre staples.

Traveller and S&S both have the most important lacks of Space Patrol covered: ships, and non-combat capabilities meaningfully included.

 

[aramis erak]

Are there companies doing online only portions of a book? I have only seen duplicates of the print version in pdf.

A number have dead tree core, but no further dead tree available.

 

[aramis erak]

Man, I was born in 1957. But I know that finding a photocopier is harder than finding a printer in most places now, so I'm going to have to assume your view on this one is kind of historical at this point. I mean, seriously, I'm 66 but I can't think of the last time a character sheet in a physical book (which, admittedly, I don't buy often any more but its still not unknown) would have done me the least good.

FedEx and UPS offices have copiers for public use.
Office Max/Office Depot has a copycenter in some locations.
Many public libraries still have copiers; some have public use scanners and printers. One of the local colleges here has a public use 3d printer (FDM)...

 

[demoss]

FedEx and UPS offices have copiers for public use.
Office Max/Office Depot has a copycenter in some locations.
Many public libraries still have copiers; some have public use scanners and printers. One of the local colleges here has a public use 3d printer (FDM)...

Our library has an "Urban Workshop" - basically a public makerspace:

• 3D printers
• Laser cutter
• Engraver
• Vinyl printer
• UV printer
• Heat press
• Wire binding machine
• Sewing machines
• Large format paper printers
• Large format scanner
• Electronics workstations
• Embroidering machine
• Button badge machine
• Acoustic instruments studio
• Rehearsal studio
• Multiple digital media workstations
• Multiple game rooms with consoles
• Big kitchen and dining room
• Team work rooms

....but I'm not sure there's a photocopier to be found

 

[aramis erak]

....but I'm not sure there's a photocopier to be found

Flatbed Scanner and Printer = photocopier.

When I was an admin assistant, our copier was literally a laser printer with a sheet-feeder on a scanner bed. 90ppm laser printer at 600dpi+. It was also our office network printer. And my desktop had a driver to scan from it. (this was in 1995-1999.)