Online/ Automated Traveller Tools - A holistic product view

[Rich]

Realm Works - Abundant features for the Referee

Like many of you, I have been facilitating game play for decades. One tool that has become a permanent addition to my toolkit is Realm Works by Lone Wolf Development.

There are plenty of high quality reviews and inspections of this product (see below), so I won't attempt to reinvent the wheel. Instead, I offer the executive summary (tl;dr) pitch:

• Realm Works is not free -- currently a 49.99 flat fee + plus an ill-defined 6-month subscription for cloud services. Presently, the subscription is being held in suspense as LWD has not completed the backoffice offering.
• Realm Works is REALLY not free -- There is also a one-time ($10) fee for each player should they wish to avail themselves of perpetual downtime access with the Players Edition.
• Realm Works is not a VTT -- it is a data management tool with a patented Fog of World® presentation layer designed for face-to-face gaming.
• Realm Works offers commercial opportunity for content -- while the Content Market is well past its scheduled delivery date, the prospects look promising for content developers and partners.

Ultimately, this is a tool that aggregates, indexes, and presents data. While the presentation layer is compelling, I personally find the cross-referencing and linking of data to be the feature that makes the tool indispensable. While other tools (e.g. wikis, databases, spreadsheets, etc) and dedicated referee tools offer similar capability, Realm Works automates the linking process without placing constraints on how YOU want to visualize your data or how you want to present data to your PLAYERS.

My only complaint :rant: is that the support community, while knowledgeable, is populated largely by curmudgeons of the self-righteous sort. LWD is an organization of well-intentioned folks with good ideas. Unfortunately, they have very little chops for community management and possess scant understanding of marketing, perception, or brand. They are a shoestring operation well out of their depth. The result is a lurching fanboi-army of walking wounded.

That said, the tool is so spectacular. And like the VTT Fantasy Grounds, I simply avoid the toxic support community.

Third-Party Reviews (Good and Not-So-Good):

• What do I know? - Crawl Inside Realm Works
• 5-Minute Workday - Realm Works Review
• Ramblings of Jacob and Delos - Realm Works Review
• Points of Light - Realm Works Review
• Gnome Stew - Sneak Peak at Realm Works
• ENWorld - Sneak Peak of Realm Works
• Anna B Meyer - Realm Works, A New Era
• Late Night Session - How to Handle Players and Characters (more of a how-to -- demonstrates a technique)
• RPG.works - First Impressions of Realm Works
• Paizo.com - Going Digital with Realm Works
• IO9 - Gizmodo - Best RPG Tools

Search results from the "Purple Place" - RPG.net - Realm Works (potentially unstable link)

Some thoughts on the Players Edition - RPG Knights - Realm Works, Player Edition

If you find Realm Works offensive, here are some alternatives:

• The Keep 2.0 is another campaign and game management system for Windows, though it looks like it could use an update and costs around $35 to buy. I'm not a fan. It is aging poorly. :nonono:
• DM Genie is a Windows tool for players and game masters running the third edition (or revision 3.5) of Dungeons and Dragons. It’s no longer supported by developers and thus free to download. I'm not a fan. It is past its expiration date. :nonono:
• Scrivener is a comprehensive writing project management package used by screenwriters, novelists, and anyone who needs a hand organizing a big project. It can also be used to create a comprehensive overview of your campaign, story, characters, NPCs, and more (though there’ll be a lot of manual work involved). I am a fan. I like this product. It is well designed and fit for purpose; that purpose being (professional) writing.

I look forward to any feedback.

 

[Wintertree]

A quiet toot of my own horn:

TableMaster is a "random everything generator" that can be used with any Traveller random generation table, and perhaps more important, anything you can think of that nobody has written a paper-and-dice table for yet. The add-on Science Fiction Table Pack has a Traveller-ish feel to it for a reason: it was written by an old Traveller ref, namely me. TableMaster is not free -- I need to buy groceries -- but it's cheaper than the averagel RPG rulebook.

The URL is www.wintertreeredux.com -- you can pick up a TableMaster demo there, too.

 

[savage]

Add any Pros/Cons/Recommendations or missing sites. Let us know of any dead or changed links. COTI is the first mentioned.
For the most part, I have excluded product sites, non-tool product/ game manufacturer, and store sites.

Traveller Discussion Boards/ RPG Tools Lists
1. COTI - http://www.travellerrpg.com This board & WIKI
Pros- Far Future owned, Imperial Starport links to fansites &. blogs, Polls, File library, PBP, Imperial Encyclopedia (Wiki), PBP dice roller and Art gallery.
2. Mongoose http://www.mongoose.com Pros MT focus
3. Steve Jackson's GT http://forums.sjgames.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16 - Pros GT focus,
4. Google+ Traveller Community: http://goo.gl/1j9rN
Pros: Good amount of lively discussions about all aspects and versions of Traveller, excellent forum in which to organize Google Hangout based games, as well as other virtual tabletop solutions. Google+ is a very popular gaming venue. Cons: Some might not find the feed-like format to their liking.
https://plus.google.com/communities/...68568045?pli=1 -> Traveller the Rpg - the main and most active one.
https://plus.google.com/communities/...11087251?pli=1 -> Classic Traveller - Focused on Classic Traveller
https://plus.google.com/communities/...22942503?pli=1 -> Traveller RPG - The slight less active one.
http://archives.simplelists.com/tml -> The Traveller Mailing List. The granddaddy of all Traveller discussion areas. Rule agnostic but always helpful.
5. Yahoo Groups - Pros Very old CT/MT groups focused on Traveller.
6. RPGGeek http://rpggeek.com
Pros Comprehensive database with discussions at the Family, RPG, and product levels. Cons Limited amount of Traveller traffic.
7. http://www.battlegroundsgames.com/links.html Pros - An extensive list of Win/Linux/Mac gaming tools
8. Facebook pages for many products and companies
9. Power Projection http://www.powerprojection.net

PBEM - Cons requires distribution of email address to players.
1. http://www.shoestring-graphics.com/traveller/ - fan site and game
2. http://www.urbin.net/t20pbem/ - fan site and game
3. http://cyberboard.brainiac.com/index.html - Pros Effort to simplify PBEM boardgames.

Game Master Documentation WebSites
1. http://www.ObsidianPortal.com - Referee Game Websites library & PBP.
2. http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Main_Page - Traveller Canon/Non-Canon Wiki of printed and electronic documentation.
3. Scrivener - https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php - popular tool with writers
4. The Keep 2.0 - http://nbos.com/products/the-keep - documentation system in windows.

Game Play Websites
2. GRIP - Pros Traveller centric, Cons - (2000s) CT/T20 only, unsupported?
3. Roll20 http://Roll20.com - Pros support for various dice systems, might work well with T20/SCIFI20.
4. Tabletop Forge(found on Kickstarter) - Pros Google+hangout app. Cons Halted! Kickstarter resources focused on Roll20.
5. OpenRPG http://www.openrpg.com - Pros appears to have Traveller groups Cons Requires chat tool
6. Fantasy Ground http://www.fantasygrounds.com - Pros Work was going on 2 years ago for a CT/T5 extension. COTI play groups have used this site.
7. EpicTable http://www.epictable.com - Pros easly to use, MS tools compatible, Supported, Flexible dice tool, chat sessions and handout features. Cons Windows Only. Ref must license but players are free.
8. Maptool http://www.rptools.net - Pros US and EU (French/German) sites, some Traveller games Cons requires Chat tool
9. VTable (Game Table Project) at Sourceforge http://Gametableproj.sourceforge.net - Cons requires configuration alterations for Linux systems
10. Klooge http://kloogeinc.com/ Pros Klooge Good, very versatile. You can do almost anything with it. Ben Bell build a Traveller definition for his campaign. Cons: It can be complex for a newbie to get into. Doing your own definitions and tweaks is daunting to those not experienced in doing it. You have to have a map, and character icons on the map. Also this is a commercial product... License fee.
11. http://www.battlegroundsgames.com/
12. http://itabletop.com/ Pros - Claims the most sophisticated 3D tabletop tool for any tabletop game. Feature rich. Cons License fee
13. http://www.vassalengine.org/ - Vassal has a few Traveller games and modules.
14. http://www.wolflair.com/realmworks - Real Works
15. http://nbos.com/products/skwyre - Skwyre - open table top ( with the keep)
16. ?? There are probably more sites. Do mention them if you see one missing.

Play By Post
1. COTI - Pros NEW dice roller feature. Character sheets/messages can be privately shared in private messages. No advertising.
2. Guild Portal http://www.guildportal.com/
3. Roleplay Online www.rpol.net
Pros: Built in dice roller with secret or publicly logged rolls. Character sheets that only the GM and the owner see. A character list with details that everyone can see. A map or image area. People post as their character not their log in name. Multiple threads for the same game. Within a post you can insert private lines that only certain people can see. GM can control which players can see which threads and whether or not they can post in it. GM can post "in character" for each of the NPCs. People can send messages to individuals separate from the game threads. The site allows advertising and searching for games also can post GM wanted ads. Not just PbP games, there are RPG forums. No advertising other than on the home page. Multi-rooms as needed, hidden room, NPC's, private messages-off scene. PM as part of in-game messages. Coloring of any typing allowed on posts.Cons: Issues adding custom avatar but there is a fairly large number provided and divided in multiple categories from which to choose from. There is a limit to the number of posts in a thread - but you just start a new one.
4. Mongoose.com
Con: You need a board admin to set up a thread for a new game. No functionality beyond normal forum posting tools.
5. Obsidian Portal http://www.ObsidianPortal.com - Player Websites library & PBP. Planning a major upgrade before August 2013.
6. RPGGeek http://rpggeek.com
- Pros Play by Forum or Geeklist, comprehensive dice roller
7. Skype - Pros widely used personal, business visual/text communications tool. Can share files, have group discussions. Cons Fee for group users. Not directly intended/supported for gaming.

Mapping and Campaign Data Generation-Tracking Tools
1. Campaign Cartographer/Cosmographer - http://www.profantasy.com/products/cc3.asp
Pros addresses mapping and deckplans, Con Windows only
2. Starbase - Release date TBD
3. Universe1 - (v2 release date TBD) - Available through http://bitsuk.net/ Pro Extensive game data tracking.
4. Heaven and Earth - http://www.downport.com/wbd/HEAVEN_&_EARTH.htm (1990s) Cons: Windows only
5. http://www.travellermap.com - Pro Very good view of known space. API uses GM's defined information.
6. Traveller Navigator - 1980s Windows product automating navigation.
7. Planet Maps http://www.diku.dk/hjemmesider/ansatte/torbenm/Planet/
Pros Multiple views available, Web or Windows based. Cons Lacks some of the H&E features.
8. PlanetMaker http://planetmaker.wthr.us/#
9. TAS Access Terminal - http://www.liberated-technologies.co...traveller.html (MS Windows)

BLOGS/ Player sites with community tools
1. Galactic- http://www.mypbem.com/Vassilakos/index.html First generation mapping. Replaced by H&E, travellermap.com, and others. Jim Vassilakos also has an MT Character Generator and other tools. Cons DOS based.
2. http://zho.berka.com/stuff/
LLB cover tool, map generators, counter generators and more...
3. Group Dice Roller http://www.catchyourhare.com/diceroller/
4. Troll Dice Roller http://topps.diku.dk/torbenm/troll.msp
5. System, Planet, Random Names Generator http://donjon.bin.sh/scifi/tsg/
6. T5 Ship design spreadsheet http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Dis...ad.php?t=32838 - posted here on COTI.
7. Table Master - http://www.wintertreeredux.com/ - Random everything generator

Scientific Tools for a better Game
1. Earth Orbit perspective maps
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagrangian_point
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Fea...OrbitsCatalog/
2. Space Settlements
http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/
http://www.spacehabs.com
http://mars-one.com/en/mission/mission-and-vision
http://en.cyclopaedia.net/wiki/L5-Society
3. Shake and Bake Colonies
http://opensourceecology.org/ Terran civilization for 3rd world countries. Offworld colonies need a few more machines but here are the basics but start with the Global Village Construction Set.
4. National Space Society http://www.nss.org/

SCIFI Tools for better Games
Starlog Magazine archive https://archive.org/details/starlogmagazine

 

[savage]

Added NASA software website and Orbital Yards and other apps..


Add any Pros/Cons/Recommendations or missing sites. Let us know of any dead or changed links. COTI is the first mentioned.
For the most part, I have excluded product sites, non-tool product/ game manufacturer, and store sites.

Traveller Discussion Boards/ RPG Tools Lists
1. COTI - http://www.travellerrpg.com This board & WIKI
Pros- Far Future owned, Imperial Starport links to fansites &. blogs, Polls, File library, PBP, Imperial Encyclopedia (Wiki), PBP dice roller and Art gallery.
2. Mongoose http://www.mongoose.com Pros MT focus
3. Steve Jackson's GT http://forums.sjgames.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16 - Pros GT focus,
4. Google+ Traveller Community: http://goo.gl/1j9rN
Pros: Good amount of lively discussions about all aspects and versions of Traveller, excellent forum in which to organize Google Hangout based games, as well as other virtual tabletop solutions. Google+ is a very popular gaming venue. Cons: Some might not find the feed-like format to their liking.
https://plus.google.com/communities/...68568045?pli=1 -> Traveller the Rpg - the main and most active one.
https://plus.google.com/communities/...11087251?pli=1 -> Classic Traveller - Focused on Classic Traveller
https://plus.google.com/communities/...22942503?pli=1 -> Traveller RPG - The slight less active one.
http://archives.simplelists.com/tml -> The Traveller Mailing List. The granddaddy of all Traveller discussion areas. Rule agnostic but always helpful.
5. Yahoo Groups - Pros Very old CT/MT groups focused on Traveller.
6. RPGGeek http://rpggeek.com
Pros Comprehensive database with discussions at the Family, RPG, and product levels. Cons Limited amount of Traveller traffic.
7. http://www.battlegroundsgames.com/links.html Pros - An extensive list of Win/Linux/Mac gaming tools
8. Facebook pages for many products and companies
9. Power Projection http://www.powerprojection.net
10. Traveller Apps https://itunes.apple.com/us/developer/art-gorski/id1086485068 - Orbital Yard, HG book5 starship construction app for IOS devices. Form 2, Vehicle Armor and Gun Makers for T5

PBEM - Cons requires distribution of email address to players.
1. http://www.shoestring-graphics.com/traveller/ - fan site and game
2. http://www.urbin.net/t20pbem/ - fan site and game
3. http://cyberboard.brainiac.com/index.html - Pros Effort to simplify PBEM boardgames.

Game Master Documentation WebSites
1. http://www.ObsidianPortal.com - Referee Game Websites library & PBP.
2. http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Main_Page - Traveller Canon/Non-Canon Wiki of printed and electronic documentation.
3. Scrivener - https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php - popular tool with writers
4. The Keep 2.0 - http://nbos.com/products/the-keep - documentation system in windows.

Game Play Websites
2. GRIP - Pros Traveller centric, Cons - (2000s) CT/T20 only, unsupported?
3. Roll20 http://Roll20.com - Pros support for various dice systems, might work well with T20/SCIFI20.
4. Tabletop Forge(found on Kickstarter) - Pros Google+hangout app. Cons Halted! Kickstarter resources focused on Roll20.
5. OpenRPG http://www.openrpg.com - Pros appears to have Traveller groups Cons Requires chat tool
6. Fantasy Ground http://www.fantasygrounds.com - Pros Work was going on 2 years ago for a CT/T5 extension. COTI play groups have used this site.
7. EpicTable http://www.epictable.com - Pros easly to use, MS tools compatible, Supported, Flexible dice tool, chat sessions and handout features. Cons Windows Only. Ref must license but players are free.
8. Maptool http://www.rptools.net - Pros US and EU (French/German) sites, some Traveller games Cons requires Chat tool
9. VTable (Game Table Project) at Sourceforge http://Gametableproj.sourceforge.net - Cons requires configuration alterations for Linux systems
10. Klooge http://kloogeinc.com/ Pros Klooge Good, very versatile. You can do almost anything with it. Ben Bell build a Traveller definition for his campaign. Cons: It can be complex for a newbie to get into. Doing your own definitions and tweaks is daunting to those not experienced in doing it. You have to have a map, and character icons on the map. Also this is a commercial product... License fee.
11. http://www.battlegroundsgames.com/
12. http://itabletop.com/ Pros - Claims the most sophisticated 3D tabletop tool for any tabletop game. Feature rich. Cons License fee
13. http://www.vassalengine.org/ - Vassal has a few Traveller games and modules.
14. http://www.wolflair.com/realmworks - Real Works
15. http://nbos.com/products/skwyre - Skwyre - open table top ( with the keep)
16. ?? There are probably more sites. Do mention them if you see one missing.

Play By Post
1. COTI - Pros NEW dice roller feature. Character sheets/messages can be privately shared in private messages. No advertising.
2. Guild Portal http://www.guildportal.com/
3. Roleplay Online www.rpol.net
Pros: Built in dice roller with secret or publicly logged rolls. Character sheets that only the GM and the owner see. A character list with details that everyone can see. A map or image area. People post as their character not their log in name. Multiple threads for the same game. Within a post you can insert private lines that only certain people can see. GM can control which players can see which threads and whether or not they can post in it. GM can post "in character" for each of the NPCs. People can send messages to individuals separate from the game threads. The site allows advertising and searching for games also can post GM wanted ads. Not just PbP games, there are RPG forums. No advertising other than on the home page. Multi-rooms as needed, hidden room, NPC's, private messages-off scene. PM as part of in-game messages. Coloring of any typing allowed on posts.Cons: Issues adding custom avatar but there is a fairly large number provided and divided in multiple categories from which to choose from. There is a limit to the number of posts in a thread - but you just start a new one.
4. Mongoose.com
Con: You need a board admin to set up a thread for a new game. No functionality beyond normal forum posting tools.
5. Obsidian Portal http://www.ObsidianPortal.com - Player Websites library & PBP. Planning a major upgrade before August 2013.
6. RPGGeek http://rpggeek.com
- Pros Play by Forum or Geeklist, comprehensive dice roller
7. Skype - Pros widely used personal, business visual/text communications tool. Can share files, have group discussions. Cons Fee for group users. Not directly intended/supported for gaming.

Mapping and Campaign Data Generation-Tracking Tools
1. Campaign Cartographer/Cosmographer - http://www.profantasy.com/products/cc3.asp
Pros addresses mapping and deckplans, Con Windows only
2. Starbase - Release date TBD
3. Universe1 - (v2 release date TBD) - Available through http://bitsuk.net/ Pro Extensive game data tracking.
4. Heaven and Earth - http://www.downport.com/wbd/HEAVEN_&_EARTH.htm (1990s) Cons: Windows only
5. http://www.travellermap.com - Pro Very good view of known space. API uses GM's defined information.
6. Traveller Navigator - 1980s Windows product automating navigation.
7. Planet Maps http://www.diku.dk/hjemmesider/ansatte/torbenm/Planet/
Pros Multiple views available, Web or Windows based. Cons Lacks some of the H&E features.
8. PlanetMaker http://planetmaker.wthr.us/#
9. TAS Access Terminal - http://www.liberated-technologies.co...traveller.html (MS Windows)

BLOGS/ Player sites with community tools
1. Galactic- http://www.mypbem.com/Vassilakos/index.html First generation mapping. Replaced by H&E, travellermap.com, and others. Jim Vassilakos also has an MT Character Generator and other tools. Cons DOS based.
2. http://zho.berka.com/stuff/
LLB cover tool, map generators, counter generators and more...
3. Group Dice Roller http://www.catchyourhare.com/diceroller/
4. Troll Dice Roller http://topps.diku.dk/torbenm/troll.msp
5. System, Planet, Random Names Generator http://donjon.bin.sh/scifi/tsg/
6. T5 Ship design spreadsheet http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Dis...ad.php?t=32838 - posted here on COTI.
7. Table Master - http://www.wintertreeredux.com/ - Random everything generator

Scientific Tools for a better Game
1. Earth Orbit perspective maps
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagrangian_point
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Fea...OrbitsCatalog/
2. Space Settlements
http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/
http://www.spacehabs.com
http://mars-one.com/en/mission/mission-and-vision
http://en.cyclopaedia.net/wiki/L5-Society
3. Shake and Bake Colonies
http://opensourceecology.org/ Terran civilization for 3rd world countries. Offworld colonies need a few more machines but here are the basics but start with the Global Village Construction Set.
4. National Space Society http://www.nss.org/
5. Software.NASA.gov http://software.nasa.gov/ - NASA publishes it's software catalog.

SCIFI Tools for better Games
Starlog Magazine archive https://archive.org/details/starlogmagazine

 

[JimMarn]

I didn't see it, but you might add Atomic Rockets. A site on FTL, ships, solar systems, gravity, space suits, etc.

His site navigation is at the bottom of each page:

http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/index.php

And if anyone needs help with Campaign Cartographer/Cosmographer, I and others are at the Profantasy forums:

http://forum.profantasy.com/

 

[savage]

I didn't see it, but you might add Atomic Rockets. A site on FTL, ships, solar systems, gravity, space suits, etc.

His site navigation is at the bottom of each page:

http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/index.php

And if anyone needs help with Campaign Cartographer/Cosmographer, I and others are at the Profantasy forums:

http://forum.profantasy.com/

CC is on the list.

 

[savage]

Add any Pros/Cons/Recommendations or missing sites. Let us know of any dead or changed links. COTI is the first mentioned.
For the most part, I have excluded product sites, non-tool product/ game manufacturer, and store sites.

Traveller Discussion Boards/ RPG Tools Lists
1. COTI - http://www.travellerrpg.com This board & WIKI
Pros- Far Future owned, Imperial Starport links to fansites &. blogs, Polls, File library, PBP, Imperial Encyclopedia (Wiki), PBP dice roller and Art gallery.
2. Mongoose http://www.mongoose.com Pros MT focus
3. Steve Jackson's GT http://forums.sjgames.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16 - Pros GT focus,
4. Google+ Traveller Community: http://goo.gl/1j9rN
Pros: Good amount of lively discussions about all aspects and versions of Traveller, excellent forum in which to organize Google Hangout based games, as well as other virtual tabletop solutions. Google+ is a very popular gaming venue. Cons: Some might not find the feed-like format to their liking.
https://plus.google.com/communities/...68568045?pli=1 -> Traveller the Rpg - the main and most active one.
https://plus.google.com/communities/...11087251?pli=1 -> Classic Traveller - Focused on Classic Traveller
https://plus.google.com/communities/...22942503?pli=1 -> Traveller RPG - The slight less active one.
http://archives.simplelists.com/tml -> The Traveller Mailing List. The granddaddy of all Traveller discussion areas. Rule agnostic but always helpful.
5. Yahoo Groups - Pros Very old CT/MT groups focused on Traveller.
6. RPGGeek http://rpggeek.com
Pros Comprehensive database with discussions at the Family, RPG, and product levels. Cons Limited amount of Traveller traffic.
7. http://www.battlegroundsgames.com/links.html Pros - An extensive list of Win/Linux/Mac gaming tools
8. Facebook pages for many products and companies
9. Power Projection http://www.powerprojection.net
10. Traveller Apps https://itunes.apple.com/us/developer/art-gorski/id1086485068 - Orbital Yard, HG book5 starship construction app for IOS devices. Form 2, Vehicle Armor and Gun Makers for T5

PBEM - Cons requires distribution of email address to players.
1. http://www.shoestring-graphics.com/traveller/ - fan site and game
2. http://www.urbin.net/t20pbem/ - fan site and game
3. http://cyberboard.brainiac.com/index.html - Pros Effort to simplify PBEM boardgames.

Game Master Documentation WebSites
1. http://www.ObsidianPortal.com - Referee Game Websites library & PBP.
2. http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Main_Page - Traveller Canon/Non-Canon Wiki of printed and electronic documentation.
3. Scrivener - https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php - popular tool with writers
4. The Keep 2.0 - http://nbos.com/products/the-keep - documentation system in windows.

Game Play Websites
2. GRIP - Pros Traveller centric, Cons - (2000s) CT/T20 only, unsupported?
3. Roll20 http://Roll20.com - Pros support for various dice systems, might work well with T20/SCIFI20.
4. Tabletop Forge(found on Kickstarter) - Pros Google+hangout app. Cons Halted! Kickstarter resources focused on Roll20.
5. OpenRPG http://www.openrpg.com - Pros appears to have Traveller groups Cons Requires chat tool
6. Fantasy Ground http://www.fantasygrounds.com - Pros Work was going on 2 years ago for a CT/T5 extension. COTI play groups have used this site.
7. EpicTable http://www.epictable.com - Pros easly to use, MS tools compatible, Supported, Flexible dice tool, chat sessions and handout features. Cons Windows Only. Ref must license but players are free.
8. Maptool http://www.rptools.net - Pros US and EU (French/German) sites, some Traveller games Cons requires Chat tool
9. VTable (Game Table Project) at Sourceforge http://Gametableproj.sourceforge.net - Cons requires configuration alterations for Linux systems
10. Klooge http://kloogeinc.com/ Pros Klooge Good, very versatile. You can do almost anything with it. Ben Bell build a Traveller definition for his campaign. Cons: It can be complex for a newbie to get into. Doing your own definitions and tweaks is daunting to those not experienced in doing it. You have to have a map, and character icons on the map. Also this is a commercial product... License fee.
11. http://www.battlegroundsgames.com/
12. http://itabletop.com/ Pros - Claims the most sophisticated 3D tabletop tool for any tabletop game. Feature rich. Cons License fee
13. http://www.vassalengine.org/ - Vassal has a few Traveller games and modules.
14. http://www.wolflair.com/realmworks - Real Works
15. http://nbos.com/products/skwyre - Skwyre - open table top ( with the keep)
16. ?? There are probably more sites. Do mention them if you see one missing.

Play By Post
1. COTI - Pros NEW dice roller feature. Character sheets/messages can be privately shared in private messages. No advertising.
2. Guild Portal http://www.guildportal.com/
3. Roleplay Online www.rpol.net
Pros: Built in dice roller with secret or publicly logged rolls. Character sheets that only the GM and the owner see. A character list with details that everyone can see. A map or image area. People post as their character not their log in name. Multiple threads for the same game. Within a post you can insert private lines that only certain people can see. GM can control which players can see which threads and whether or not they can post in it. GM can post "in character" for each of the NPCs. People can send messages to individuals separate from the game threads. The site allows advertising and searching for games also can post GM wanted ads. Not just PbP games, there are RPG forums. No advertising other than on the home page. Multi-rooms as needed, hidden room, NPC's, private messages-off scene. PM as part of in-game messages. Coloring of any typing allowed on posts.Cons: Issues adding custom avatar but there is a fairly large number provided and divided in multiple categories from which to choose from. There is a limit to the number of posts in a thread - but you just start a new one.
4. Mongoose.com
Con: You need a board admin to set up a thread for a new game. No functionality beyond normal forum posting tools.
5. Obsidian Portal http://www.ObsidianPortal.com - Player Websites library & PBP. Planning a major upgrade before August 2013.
6. RPGGeek http://rpggeek.com
- Pros Play by Forum or Geeklist, comprehensive dice roller
7. Skype - Pros widely used personal, business visual/text communications tool. Can share files, have group discussions. Cons Fee for group users. Not directly intended/supported for gaming.

Mapping and Campaign Data Generation-Tracking Tools
1. Campaign Cartographer/Cosmographer - http://www.profantasy.com/products/cc3.asp
Pros addresses mapping and deckplans, Con Windows only
2. Starbase - Release date TBD
3. Universe1 - (v2 release date TBD) - Available through http://bitsuk.net/ Pro Extensive game data tracking.
4. Heaven and Earth - http://www.downport.com/wbd/HEAVEN_&_EARTH.htm (1990s) Cons: Windows only
5. http://www.travellermap.com - Pro Very good view of known space. API uses GM's defined information.
6. Traveller Navigator - 1980s Windows product automating navigation.
7. Planet Maps http://www.diku.dk/hjemmesider/ansatte/torbenm/Planet/
Pros Multiple views available, Web or Windows based. Cons Lacks some of the H&E features.
8. PlanetMaker http://planetmaker.wthr.us/#
9. TAS Access Terminal - http://www.liberated-technologies.co...traveller.html (MS Windows)

BLOGS/ Player sites with community tools
1. Galactic- http://www.mypbem.com/Vassilakos/index.html First generation mapping. Replaced by H&E, travellermap.com, and others. Jim Vassilakos also has an MT Character Generator and other tools. Cons DOS based.
2. http://zho.berka.com/stuff/
LLB cover tool, map generators, counter generators and more...
3. Group Dice Roller http://www.catchyourhare.com/diceroller/
4. Troll Dice Roller http://topps.diku.dk/torbenm/troll.msp
5. System, Planet, Random Names Generator http://donjon.bin.sh/scifi/tsg/
6. T5 Ship design spreadsheet http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Dis...ad.php?t=32838 - posted here on COTI.
7. Table Master - http://www.wintertreeredux.com/ - Random everything generator

Scientific Tools for a better Game
1. Earth Orbit perspective maps
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagrangian_point
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Fea...OrbitsCatalog/
2. Space Settlements
http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/
http://www.spacehabs.com
http://mars-one.com/en/mission/mission-and-vision
http://en.cyclopaedia.net/wiki/L5-Society
3. Shake and Bake Colonies
http://opensourceecology.org/ Terran civilization for 3rd world countries. Offworld colonies need a few more machines but here are the basics but start with the Global Village Construction Set.
4. National Space Society http://www.nss.org/
5. Software.NASA.gov http://software.nasa.gov/ - NASA publishes it's software catalog.

SCIFI Tools for better Games
1. Starlog Magazine archive https://archive.org/details/starlogmagazine
2. Atomic Rockets http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/index.php - Science and SciFi website. Everything about rockets, space travel as they relate to SCIFI.

 

[flykiller]

great list of sites savage. thanks.

 

[GrayPennell]

There are some bad links in the list I have bolded them. Plus Traveller map at https://travellermap.com is missing from mapping or somewhere.

Add any Pros/Cons/Recommendations or missing sites. Let us know of any dead or changed links. COTI is the first mentioned.
For the most part, I have excluded product sites, non-tool product/ game manufacturer, and store sites.

Traveller Discussion Boards/ RPG Tools Lists
1. COTI - http://www.travellerrpg.com This board & WIKI
Pros- Far Future owned, Imperial Starport links to fansites &. blogs, Polls, File library, PBP, Imperial Encyclopedia (Wiki), PBP dice roller and Art gallery.
2. Mongoose http://www.mongoose.com Pros MT focus
3. Steve Jackson's GT http://forums.sjgames.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16 - Pros GT focus,
4. Google+ Traveller Community: http://goo.gl/1j9rN
Pros: Good amount of lively discussions about all aspects and versions of Traveller, excellent forum in which to organize Google Hangout based games, as well as other virtual tabletop solutions. Google+ is a very popular gaming venue. Cons: Some might not find the feed-like format to their liking.
https://plus.google.com/communities/...68568045?pli=1 -> Traveller the Rpg - the main and most active one.
https://plus.google.com/communities/...11087251?pli=1 -> Classic Traveller - Focused on Classic Traveller
https://plus.google.com/communities/...22942503?pli=1 -> Traveller RPG - The slight less active one.
http://archives.simplelists.com/tml -> The Traveller Mailing List. The granddaddy of all Traveller discussion areas. Rule agnostic but always helpful.
5. Yahoo Groups - Pros Very old CT/MT groups focused on Traveller.
6. RPGGeek http://rpggeek.com
Pros Comprehensive database with discussions at the Family, RPG, and product levels. Cons Limited amount of Traveller traffic.
7. http://www.battlegroundsgames.com/links.html Pros - An extensive list of Win/Linux/Mac gaming tools
8. Facebook pages for many products and companies
9. Power Projection http://www.powerprojection.net
10. Traveller Apps https://itunes.apple.com/us/developer/art-gorski/id1086485068 - Orbital Yard, HG book5 starship construction app for IOS devices. Form 2, Vehicle Armor and Gun Makers for T5

PBEM - Cons requires distribution of email address to players.
1. http://www.shoestring-graphics.com/traveller/ - fan site and game
2. http://www.urbin.net/t20pbem/ - fan site and game
3. http://cyberboard.brainiac.com/index.html - Pros Effort to simplify PBEM boardgames.

Game Master Documentation WebSites
1. http://www.ObsidianPortal.com - Referee Game Websites library & PBP.
2. http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Main_Page - Traveller Canon/Non-Canon Wiki of printed and electronic documentation.
3. Scrivener - https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php - popular tool with writers
4. The Keep 2.0 - http://nbos.com/products/the-keep - documentation system in windows.

Game Play Websites
2. GRIP - Pros Traveller centric, Cons - (2000s) CT/T20 only, unsupported?
3. Roll20 http://Roll20.com - Pros support for various dice systems, might work well with T20/SCIFI20.
4. Tabletop Forge(found on Kickstarter) - Pros Google+hangout app. Cons Halted! Kickstarter resources focused on Roll20.
5. OpenRPG http://www.openrpg.com - Pros appears to have Traveller groups Cons Requires chat tool
6. Fantasy Ground http://www.fantasygrounds.com - Pros Work was going on 2 years ago for a CT/T5 extension. COTI play groups have used this site.
7. EpicTable http://www.epictable.com - Pros easly to use, MS tools compatible, Supported, Flexible dice tool, chat sessions and handout features. Cons Windows Only. Ref must license but players are free.
8. Maptool http://www.rptools.net - Pros US and EU (French/German) sites, some Traveller games Cons requires Chat tool
9. VTable (Game Table Project) at Sourceforge http://Gametableproj.sourceforge.net - Cons requires configuration alterations for Linux systems
10. Klooge http://kloogeinc.com/ Pros Klooge Good, very versatile. You can do almost anything with it. Ben Bell build a Traveller definition for his campaign. Cons: It can be complex for a newbie to get into. Doing your own definitions and tweaks is daunting to those not experienced in doing it. You have to have a map, and character icons on the map. Also this is a commercial product... License fee.
11. http://www.battlegroundsgames.com/
12. http://itabletop.com/ Pros - Claims the most sophisticated 3D tabletop tool for any tabletop game. Feature rich. Cons License fee
13. http://www.vassalengine.org/ - Vassal has a few Traveller games and modules.
14. http://www.wolflair.com/realmworks - Real Works
15. http://nbos.com/products/skwyre - Skwyre - open table top ( with the keep)
16. ?? There are probably more sites. Do mention them if you see one missing.

Play By Post
1. COTI - Pros NEW dice roller feature. Character sheets/messages can be privately shared in private messages. No advertising.
2. Guild Portal http://www.guildportal.com/
3. Roleplay Online www.rpol.net
Pros: Built in dice roller with secret or publicly logged rolls. Character sheets that only the GM and the owner see. A character list with details that everyone can see. A map or image area. People post as their character not their log in name. Multiple threads for the same game. Within a post you can insert private lines that only certain people can see. GM can control which players can see which threads and whether or not they can post in it. GM can post "in character" for each of the NPCs. People can send messages to individuals separate from the game threads. The site allows advertising and searching for games also can post GM wanted ads. Not just PbP games, there are RPG forums. No advertising other than on the home page. Multi-rooms as needed, hidden room, NPC's, private messages-off scene. PM as part of in-game messages. Coloring of any typing allowed on posts.Cons: Issues adding custom avatar but there is a fairly large number provided and divided in multiple categories from which to choose from. There is a limit to the number of posts in a thread - but you just start a new one.
4. Mongoose.com
Con: You need a board admin to set up a thread for a new game. No functionality beyond normal forum posting tools.
5. Obsidian Portal http://www.ObsidianPortal.com - Player Websites library & PBP. Planning a major upgrade before August 2013.
6. RPGGeek http://rpggeek.com
- Pros Play by Forum or Geeklist, comprehensive dice roller
7. Skype - Pros widely used personal, business visual/text communications tool. Can share files, have group discussions. Cons Fee for group users. Not directly intended/supported for gaming.

Mapping and Campaign Data Generation-Tracking Tools
1. Campaign Cartographer/Cosmographer - http://www.profantasy.com/products/cc3.asp
Pros addresses mapping and deckplans, Con Windows only
2. Starbase - Release date TBD
3. Universe1 - (v2 release date TBD) - Available through http://bitsuk.net/ Pro Extensive game data tracking.
4. Heaven and Earth - http://www.downport.com/wbd/HEAVEN_&_EARTH.htm (1990s) Cons: Windows only
5. http://www.travellermap.com - Pro Very good view of known space. API uses GM's defined information.
6. Traveller Navigator - 1980s Windows product automating navigation.
7. Planet Maps http://www.diku.dk/hjemmesider/ansatte/torbenm/Planet/
Pros Multiple views available, Web or Windows based. Cons Lacks some of the H&E features.
8. PlanetMaker http://planetmaker.wthr.us/#
9. TAS Access Terminal - http://www.liberated-technologies.co...traveller.html (MS Windows)

BLOGS/ Player sites with community tools
1. Galactic- http://www.mypbem.com/Vassilakos/index.html First generation mapping. Replaced by H&E, travellermap.com, and others. Jim Vassilakos also has an MT Character Generator and other tools. Cons DOS based.
2. http://zho.berka.com/stuff/
LLB cover tool, map generators, counter generators and more...
3. Group Dice Roller http://www.catchyourhare.com/diceroller/
4. Troll Dice Roller http://topps.diku.dk/torbenm/troll.msp
5. System, Planet, Random Names Generator http://donjon.bin.sh/scifi/tsg/
6. T5 Ship design spreadsheet http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Dis...ad.php?t=32838 - posted here on COTI.
7. Table Master - http://www.wintertreeredux.com/ - Random everything generator

Scientific Tools for a better Game
1. Earth Orbit perspective maps
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagrangian_point
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Fea...OrbitsCatalog/
2. Space Settlements
http://settlement.arc.nasa.gov/
http://www.spacehabs.com
http://mars-one.com/en/mission/mission-and-vision
http://en.cyclopaedia.net/wiki/L5-Society
3. Shake and Bake Colonies
http://opensourceecology.org/ Terran civilization for 3rd world countries. Offworld colonies need a few more machines but here are the basics but start with the Global Village Construction Set.
4. National Space Society http://www.nss.org/
5. Software.NASA.gov http://software.nasa.gov/ - NASA publishes it's software catalog.

SCIFI.

 

[savage]

There are some bad links in the list I have bolded them. Plus Traveller map at https://travellermap.com is missing from mapping or somewhere.

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[savage]

new:
https://rpgideaseeds.blogspot.com/search/label/traveller - adventure seeds
correction:
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/ - MgT focus with a blog


Aparently, there is now a limit on post sizes? I cannot update the list.
:CoW:

 

[savage]

great list of sites savage. thanks.

your welcome.

 

[Matt123]

Another one for your list, per my signature. Probably for under community tools.



Cheers
Matt

 

[chrisaukcam]

Traveller online software

Here is a site that I have developed and maintained. Mainly online tools for the gamemaster/referee: Vandeet Traveller

 

[Topaz172]

Links to 'Heaven and Earth' appear to be dead ( it may be the entire webarchive that has died)

 

[Leitz]

Unseen Servant tends to have several Traveller PbP games going.

Also, if you're hitting a size limit for updates, maybe break each group into its own thread? One for PbP, one for Discussion forums, one for Game Tools. Or whatever works best for the list.

 

[BeRKA]

There is a Subsector Generator and a Subsector Editor at the Cepheus Journal Website:

Generators

RPG Generators at the Cepheus Journal. Random Subsector Generator Subsector Editor and Mapper Random Hostile Subsector Generator Hostile Subsector Editor and Mapper There is a list of more generato…

cepheusjournal.com

 

[BeRKA]

This is what a map generated at the Cepheus Journal website could look like.
(This is also a test of uploading images)

 

[Kilgs]

Can't believe someone hasn't tooted this horn...

Traveller Tools by Grauenwolf -Fully functional Trade generator that uses Traveller Map data (of all eras) to show cargos, passengers etc. The site remembers your location so it facilitates a trading campaign. In addition, for those same locations you can generate available market items (weapons, equipment, electronics etc.) including black market items. Variable input to match skills/roll results of particular characters, excellent print-outs for a tabletop trading game etc.
-Personal Note-Grauenwolf is uber-friendly and supportive of the community. I contacted him a few years ago about his drop-down sectors not allowing access to anything but the Golden Age as I was running a 992IY campaign. In under two weeks he coded it so every Traveller Map Era was available.

 

[phorner]

Kilgs, thanks for posting this. Very impressive tool.