The Inside Scoop on Gaming

GURPS Traveller Deck Plan 3: Empress Marava Class Far Trader is the set of deck plans covering what could possibly be the most popular ship in Traveller- the Far Trader.

This particular variant was first seen in Supplement 7, Traders and Gunboats, and has remained a perennial favorite in the Traveller Universe. It is built on a two-deck arrangement, with passengers, air-raft, and some enginering spaces aft plus fuel on the upper deck, and crew, cargo, turrets, and (most) of engineering on the lower deck. These plans accentuate easy on/off access for cargo handling, and the separation of passengers from the critical parts of the ship.

As with all the GT ship plans, the sheets are slick 17x22" double sided paper, with hex grids on one side, and square grids on the other. The maps are clearly illustrated and marked, with useful infomation printed on the margins. There are sixteen sheets in this set, with six each for the upper and lower decks, and four sheets featuring variations of the Far Trader. These variations are essentially overlays for the cargo hold, including a fighter bay, a hold filled with misc cargo, a hold full of low berths, and a 1G variant of the Far Trader. A new sheet of Cardboard Heroes is also included.

It should also be noted that the decks are printed so that they slightly (3") overlay each other near the forward edge of the cargo hold.

Playtest results: My players liked the look and feel of the maps- up to the point where the sheets overlapped each other, and started to slide off. It's all too easy to cause a 3 hex change in range when somebody sets a book down on a map edge.

It's also a good thing that our group has access to a double ping-pong table sized area to play on. When fully unfolded, each deck map takes up a 63x34" space. (That's 160 cm x 86 cm area). With both decks in use- and I've *never* seen players not use both decks in 23 years- that's a minimum of a five by six foot playing area.

Conclusion: This is the most useful set of deckplans published to date by SJG for Traveller. There's quit a lot of value in this set- just don't forget to go by Home Depot and get a 6 x 5 foot sheet of Plexiglas to put the plans under...

Dave.

GURPS Traveller Deck Plan 3: Empress Marava Class Far Trader
GURPS Traveller Deck Plan 3: Empress Marava Class Far Trader Playtest Review by U Dog on 29/05/01 Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty) There's quit a lot of value in this set- just don't forget to go by Home Depot and get a 6 x 5 foot sheet of Plexiglas to put the plans under... Product: GURPS Traveller Deck Plan 3: Empress Marava Class Far Trader Author: Kieren Yanner, Jesse DeGraff, et al. Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Steve Jackson Games Line: GURPS Traveller Cost: 22.95 Page count: N/A Year published: 2001 ISBN: 1-55634-508-9 SKU: SJG 6621 Comp copy?: no Playtest Review by U Dog on 29/05/01 Genre tags: Science Fiction Far Future Space Generic	GURPS Traveller Deck Plan 3: Empress Marava Class Far Trader is the set of deck plans covering what could possibly be the most popular ship in Traveller- the Far Trader. This particular variant was first seen in Supplement 7, Traders and Gunboats, and has remained a perennial favorite in the Traveller Universe. It is built on a two-deck arrangement, with passengers, air-raft, and some enginering spaces aft plus fuel on the upper deck, and crew, cargo, turrets, and (most) of engineering on the lower deck. These plans accentuate easy on/off access for cargo handling, and the separation of passengers from the critical parts of the ship. As with all the GT ship plans, the sheets are slick 17x22" double sided paper, with hex grids on one side, and square grids on the other. The maps are clearly illustrated and marked, with useful infomation printed on the margins. There are sixteen sheets in this set, with six each for the upper and lower decks, and four sheets featuring variations of the Far Trader. These variations are essentially overlays for the cargo hold, including a fighter bay, a hold filled with misc cargo, a hold full of low berths, and a 1G variant of the Far Trader. A new sheet of Cardboard Heroes is also included. It should also be noted that the decks are printed so that they slightly (3") overlay each other near the forward edge of the cargo hold. Playtest results: My players liked the look and feel of the maps- up to the point where the sheets overlapped each other, and started to slide off. It's all too easy to cause a 3 hex change in range when somebody sets a book down on a map edge. It's also a good thing that our group has access to a double ping-pong table sized area to play on. When fully unfolded, each deck map takes up a 63x34" space. (That's 160 cm x 86 cm area). With both decks in use- and I've never seen players not use both decks in 23 years- that's a minimum of a five by six foot playing area. Conclusion: This is the most useful set of deckplans published to date by SJG for Traveller. There's quit a lot of value in this set- just don't forget to go by Home Depot and get a 6 x 5 foot sheet of Plexiglas to put the plans under... Dave.