Traveller Mod: Wounds

Too frequently in games, we see our own characters' life as a numerical statistic.  This runs true from video games to tabletop RPGs.  Despite magical full-body healing, or the ready availability of cybernetics and limb replacements, DMs are hesitant to do anything that makes players feel their characters are "crippled."  Yet this is one of the easiest steps to take to show the lethality of combat, while making players at least simulate damage taken.  Traveller's damage is taken from statistics, which is a good start -- but even then, it doesn't feel particularly real.  I want players to think before they get into combat, and consider whether or not a gunfight is particularly worth it.

Mongoose Traveller Cheat Sheet

The Traveller books have always had some editing issues.  The layout leaves you flipping through the combat chapter to identify where all of the rules you're looking at are, and there is inconsistent usage of terms in the Mongoose books.  There are also a lot of things that are left unsaid.  I made a cheat sheet to walk players through combat.  The one thing I had to extrapolate was unarmed damage -- that part was left completely unexplained.  I got the damage from the creature damage chart, but I guessed (and I might be wrong) that player damage is locked at d6+Effect damage.  If it's wrong, I'm more than glad to correct it.  But for now -- a download link.

Competing with an IP

Competing with an established IP is difficult.  Even with players generally unfamiliar with source material, a quick search on Google can net a wealth of information, effectively spoiling plot.  This leaves gamemasters with a wealth of background knowledge that could be exposed at a moment's notice, or leaves the gamemaster heading into uncharted territory in a manner that leaves the players feeling like the GM has moved too far away from the established IP.