Would you buy ATOW scenarios/adventures?

[bytedruid]

The Companion was cool but what I really need and want to see is something like the book "First Run" for Shadowrun. I realize AToW is definitely a small subset of BT like the Aero side of things is, but I really think we need a BT version of that book. 
As it is now its okay if you are a veteran RPGer, but if BT is your first foray into RPGs its very easy to feel overwhelmed.

If you can get your hands on the old "Royalty and Rouges" adventure from the early '90's do it.  It's a perfect starting story that can drop in anywhere.  Just change the planet names and calendar dates if your group isn't near Bryceland around 3050.  The adventure will provide maps, NPC's and plot for about 6 game sessions. 

Many times I feel overwhelmed, and I've been at it for years!  Anyhow, don't get discouraged, and don't try to live up to some perceived "right way to do things", it's okay to wing it.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

  I've had to draw my own Scout class Jumpship and Leopard class dropship interiors and it takes alot of effort.

I agree.

[landryan]

Shadowrun works because it uses a fixed structure as well as small, self-contained szenarios.

The most basic formular would be:

Step 1: Negotiate a job offer, haggle for payment, use social skills to look for hidden traps
Step 2: Call in Favours, make background checks, use bribe money, get to know the target
Step 3: Planning session
Step 4: Execute the job. Now all the above factor come in, earlier successes will factor in big time, especially concerning the hidden traps.
Step 5: The Complication. Yes, that´s cliche, but there is always one.
Step 6: The getaway.
Step 7: Meeting your employer
Step 8: The betrayal. (Optional, would lead to another mission w/o planning)
Step 9: Counting your cash, maybe expanding your contracts, depending on whom you met and how you handled them.
Rinse, repeat.

That format works because it is pretty much self-contained and generic enough to be independent of the characters themselves.
With a group that is used to playing together, that should be doable in a 4 hour bracket. Note that shadowrun has the habit of breaking the action down to scenes and suggesting relevant skill checks to forward the action.

As you mentioned the old WEG Star Wars adventures. Have you read the Darkstryder campaign? The actual story was rather strange but the framework was terrific.

Darkstryder completely passed me by... I'd moved onto d&d by 2nd edition WEG SW. Could you elaborate on what that was and how it worked please?

[Col Toda]

Products need to be supported . Even if it is a tool kit like Last Unicorn Games used for
Star Trek RPG to give guidelines in making your own . They have to do at least some
otherwise it is going to die on the vine like so many other RPG s . I would like to do
a mini Campaign setting book like the Periphery etc.

[Coldwyn]

Darkstryder completely passed me by... I'd moved onto d&d by 2nd edition WEG SW. Could you elaborate on what that was and how it worked please?

A short preamble, if I may:
There´re three kinds of campaigns: Freedom (sandbox, like Red Tide), Faux Freedom (like Kingmaker) and Pathed (like Serpent Skull).
Darksyder falls into the faux freedom categorie, as it is mapped out, but gives the illusion of freedom of choice. It also works with each player running a number of characters on different levels, where only higher levels count.
So, you´re running an entiry ship and crew, with "high" level characters acting as command staff, "medium" level characters acting as warriors and "lower" level characters acting as support. Most of the time, you won´t be sending "high" level characters into lethal actions, so they should stay the course of the campaign, whereas "mid" and "low" level characters are sent into the direct action and their death would not impact the story, but their survival has some merrits, as they have contacts, connections, and so on.

Translated to a AToW campaign, this´d mean I hand you 1 Commander, 1 L/R jockey, 2 mechwarriors and 3-5 Support staff to run as your part of the crew, inclusing all their special perks and flaws. The goal is to get those commanders along the story line, whilst being able to replace the rest of the staff, whilst the staff survival gives boni.

To make this a bit clearer, take an "low" level technician with an Circinian background. He´s a former pirate and slaver (dark secret) and as long as he survives, you can use his background knowledge with other pirate bands that come up. You, as controlling player, must weight the Dark Secret against possible insider information gained in encounters. The same would hold true to a WoB-trained and enhanced Mechwarrior, wo is secretly a Manei Domini. That character has tremendous inside knowledge, can be blackmailed, sometime has problems with upcoming enemies but has some "specials" to keep her around. Juggle and judge that, that´s the gaming issue here.

[mike19k]

L/R jockey? I have no idea what this is.

[adamhowe]

I don't know if the companion or other books has it but I'd like to see faction life module information for other time periods.

[Coldwyn]

L/R jockey? I have no idea what this is.

Lol, really sorry there, I used a local acronym without thinking. L/R means Luft/Raum, so Air/Space, meaning an aerotech pilot.

I don't know if the companion or other books has it but I'd like to see faction life module information for other time periods.

You´ll find some in each newer era report.

[adamhowe]

You´ll find some in each newer era report.

What about previous Era's such as the star league, succession wars and the like?

[Coldwyn]

What about previous Era's such as the star league, succession wars and the like?

The Star League era has been covered in Era report 2750 in quite some detail. For Succession Wars 1-4, I think this´ll never come. You can use the 2750 info for SW1 and extrapolate from the newer era reports and basics in AToW for SW4, but my guess is that we´ll never see more official stats for things that have happened more than 20 years ago.

[Paul]

Era specific support will be in Era Reports.
Not every Era has its Report yet.

[adamhowe]

Era specific support will be in Era Reports.
Not every Era has its Report yet.

Thank you!

[YingJanshi]

The Star League era has been covered in Era report 2750 in quite some detail. For Succession Wars 1-4, I think this´ll never come. You can use the 2750 info for SW1 and extrapolate from the newer era reports and basics in AToW for SW4, but my guess is that we´ll never see more official stats for things that have happened more than 20 years ago.

Actually there is an Historical: Early Succession Wars in the works. Believe I read that in the last BttleChat. Also (at least at one point) there are plans for an Era Digest also.