I loved Dave's work in H&I. I treated the Hivers with less
skepticism wrt manipulation in my campaigns and designs (have a
bunch if them on my site) and even had the Hivers tweaking the
Ithklur back some, but love the ambiguity and treat it as an
ideal more than something with effective outcomes most of the
time (though the Manipulators are always trying to spin success
stories out of it).
The Ithklur are one of my favorite scifi species ever because
they're so quirky and break the stereotype of warrior species,
yet can still be lethal while deep and entertaining
---
from my T989
alanbgam wrote:
One of the things Dave did right in TNE was the Ithklur. In their
first appearance in classic Traveller, they were hapless victims
of the Hivers.
The TNE version was much more interesting. They raised the
interesting question of "who was manipulating who"? Is hard core
integrity a more effecient manipulation technique than being
someone whose society and values can change at the drop of a hat?
Are chauffeurs in charge, or are the people who ride in the back?
And why do the Ithklur do things that they know make humans feel
uncomfortable? They're not ignorant of human (Solomani) society,
so why, exactly, do they do things that bother Solomani humans,
like wearing Santa Claus caps? (Of course, those are icons of a
particular human society, not of humaniti in general).
Coincidence, of course. Or are they better manipulators than the
Hivers?
Like I said, I really like the Ithklur.
Unfortunately, I've never really had a chance to use them in a
game.
Who has, and have you ever messed with your players heads while
doing so?