On Fri, Aug 28, 2020 at 08:18:44AM -0400, Thomas Jones-Low wrote: > On 8/28/2020 6:27 AM, Timothy Collinson - timothy.collinson at port.ac.uk > (via tml list) wrote: [ ...snip... ] > > > > On Fri, 28 Aug 2020 at 04:11, David Johnson <xxxxxx@zarthani.net > > <mailto:xxxxxx@zarthani.net>> wrote: > > > > Hear, hear! > > > > > > This would be my take too. The librarian in me *loves* the idea of > > expanded UWPs (and even the UPP expansions that Traveller Companion > > adds) and the extra detailing of systems such as Book 6: Scouts > > offeres. I also love the idea of having everything electronic and > > instantly available. > > > > But very rarely in my experience does it add much to either: > > a) gameplay and fun > > b) latitude for the Referee to do their own thing > > > > Marc, in the Traveller 5th edition book, repeatedly make the statement > "Make only as really needed" and "Map only as really needed". The T5 book > has a great many rules for creating everything from characters to solar > systems in great detail. So take the advice from the Master, generating all > the things, as you point out, isn't always useful. > I agree with the sentiment of this but I've found that if I defer some things for too long, I lose consistency. Having some things pre-generated and recorded helps to maintain consistency when you are ad-libbing in response to the movements of the players. It's a balance, over-generating is bad, but so is under-generating if it leads to inconsistency. -- Chris __o "All I was trying to do was get home from work." _`\<,_ -Rosa Parks ___(*)/_(*)_____________________________________________________________ Christopher Sean Hilton [chris/at/vindaloo/dot/com]