Traveller

[Matt Stich]

I'm currently on my way to looking at the Traveller RPG and all it has to offer and I'm wondering if anyone else has played it and what they think of it

[Grand Magus]

Traveller is one of the great RPG games.

What I learned playing Traveller...

Never get into a bar fight in a high port that involves the following:
...a 20mm Light Assault Gun;
...a teleporting Droyne Scout NPC;
...and a PGMP 14!

[DM Wellard]

Traveller

CON

You can die during character creation

The Combat System is clumsy

After 30 years I still don't fully understand the Psionics rules..
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PRO

The setting is great, basically you can tell any story you want from Gritty Realism to Planetary Romance.

The Alien Races are well developed and are not just 'Humans with a different shape'

It has Plasma Guns

The Zhodani are the best bad guys in any RPG ever.

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Basically Fluff great, Crunch good but not great and sometimes the rules are a bit obscure
I actually prefer the Gurps version of Traveller for Crunch.

[Matt Stich]

DM Wellard wrote:

Traveller

CON

You can die during character creation

The Combat System is clumsy

After 30 years I still don't fully understand the Psionics rules..
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRO

The setting is great, basically you can tell any story you want from Gritty Realism to Planetary Romance.

The Alien Races are well developed and are not just 'Humans with a different shape'

It has Plasma Guns

The Zhodani are the best bad guys in any RPG ever.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Basically Fluff great, Crunch good but not great and sometimes the rules are a bit obscure
I actually prefer the Gurps version of Traveller for Crunch.

I have downloaded some gurps stuff but for my players I think it'll be a bit to complicated and they would go crazy with a system like that. I'd be seeing ridiculous characters that end up being useless but they're all alcoholic druggie half-aliens or something. They're used to playing pathfinder and I was thinking of starting them on T20 but after reading some of the reviews for T20 it seemed like it's a system that's just...there. Not good, not bad, but nothing stands out. I'm also kind of wanting to try something else other than D20, and my players and I all love scifi

[Bluenose]

There are multiple version of Traveller. It depends a bit on the edition you're thinking of playing.

Classic Traveller. The original version, the "Little Black Books". The originals, which initially had a rather clunky 'system' for determining success/failure of actions which more or less required keeping the rule books to hand to check what exactly you needed to roll in this specific situation. Later the Task Resolution System was developed (by DGP) and has been used in Traveller ever since, and made things run with a lot less fuss. Also, the classic era for the background material, leading up and including the Fifth Frontier War. The Third Imperium, a brutal military dictatorship or benevolent feudal monarchy depending on your interpretation (somewhere inbetween works) fought and defeated the Zhodani Consulate, evil mind-controlling aristocrats or benevolent socialist psionics that they are. The amount of background material is massive, and while the quality is variable a lot of it is very good by any standard. Especially, look out for anything by Digest Group Publications and for adventures by FASA.

MegaTraveller. The second version, attempting to clean up some of the sprawl that had developed in CT. It pretty much succeeded at that, although there were some large changes in the rules concerning vehicles and equipment. Background wise, the emperor got assassinated (or not) and the Imperium broke up into separate warring factions, with some foreign invasions too. This led into the Hard Times, when the factions had fought themselves to a standstill and retreated to their core territories, with the area inbetween in a state of economic and political collapse.

Traveller: the New Era. Used GDWs house RPG system, which is different to the system previously used in Traveller but close enough for character conversion to be practical. The most noticeable changes are, as they were in MT, in the vehicle and equipment sections where there was a serious attempt to allow designers to build anything and generate stats for it with Fire, Fusion and Steel. Background wise, the original era started in year 1100 of the Third Imperium; this is Year 1 of the New Era, equivalent to 1200. As you might surmise from that, some rather large changes took place after the Hard Times. People are starting to rebuild.

Marc Miller's Traveller, aka Traveller 4e or T4. Horribly, horribly edited to the extent that some of the books are literally unusable. System-wise, modified CT. Background, early in the rise of the Third Imperium. Yes, you can say "Hi" to the first emperor. Some of the changes in technology (yes, they did that again) are very much based on the newest scientific discoveries that were coming out at the time.

Gurps Traveller. If you're familiar with GURPS as a system, then this is a mild modification of it. Vehicle and equipment rules are different to the other versions. This is an alternative timeline, where the person who assassinated the emperor died on the way (this is not at all suspicious) and the Third Imperium carries on with business as usual. There's some very good setting material, which I'd recommend to anyone playing any edition if they have money to spare.

D20 Traveller, aka T20. Take the D20 system and apply it to Traveller. Where it doesn't really work that well, imo. Vehicle rules are noticeably different to other versions. The setting is the late 10th century Imperium, in one of the regions that hadn't previously had much attention, which is rather a backwater in most respects. Not much material for this version.

Mongoose Traveller, MgT. The version that Mongoose Publishing are producing, which is closest to late-era Classic Traveller system wise. Vehicle rules are very similar to CT. Resets the timeline to the same period as CT too. Most CT material can be used as is, which is great if your shelves groan under the weight as mine do. There's a fair amount of background material available, as well as rules expansions. The Alien books are my favourites, all the ones I've seen being excellent.

In general, the tone of Traveller is more scientific realism than Space Opera. Larry Niven or Poul Anderson would probably be in a list of inspirational material, Lensmen or Star Wars or even Star Trek would seem unlikely. Campaigns can cover a wide variety of things. Military/mercenary work, explorers, traders, criminals of various sorts, espionage, police/security, And with such a wide universe even in the official setting, it's easy enough to include your own material.

[Chris Mortika]

Bluenose did an excellent summation of the history of Traveller.

I'd just like to add that Asimov's FOUNDATION novels are among the essential inspirational reading.

And with one exception, all the GURPS Traveller material is for 3rd Edition GURPS. SJG has published one Traveller book in 4th Edition GURPS, set when the 2nd Empire meets Earth, millenia before the Classic Traveller setting.

[Face_P0lluti0n]

The Mongoose Traveller has some additional pros and cons IMO.

On the good side, it's still in print in a major way, for those who prefer games with continuing support. There are several books a year coming from Mongoose itself, and on top of that, most of Mongoose Traveller is OGL, and there are some 3PP making interesting Traveller supplements, including several alternate settings. There's a Judge Dredd setting from Mongoose, and a Lovecraftian setting called Cthonian Stars coming from the same people as Cthulhutech, and that's just scratching the surface. Traveller has a wide selection of settings to rival D&D/PF.

IMO, the cons are the extremely randomized, old school character creation system, which might be tough for people used to something like storyteller to adapt to. You get more starting background and context than in most d20 games where you only choose your abilities, not your friends and contacts, but your life before starting the game is completely up to the dice. A point system is included, but even in the point system you buy rolls on the benefit table.

In addition, it doesn't have much to offer the crunch hungry crowd. Character stats are straightforward to the point of minimizing detail - characters are just stats and skills, there really aren't any crunchy bits like feats, talents, tricks, or powers (except for psionics, which is rare and illegal in the core setting). The gear and ship systems are a bit more detailed but it does turn out that the gear really makes the man or woman. here.

Just my 2 cents.

[Crimson Jester]

Matt Stich wrote:

I'm currently on my way to looking at the Traveller RPG and all it has to offer and I'm wondering if anyone else has played it and what they think of it

not in many a year.

[FuelDrop]

currently making a game, going to gm some mercs to gather up interest and familiarise them with a fairly railroaded adventure.
i like the system, particularly the fact that you're so frail. most weapons can down you in a single hit if you're unwise or unlucky, cutting out any character who can just stand around getting hit and not noticing it *cough* 20th level fighter *cough*
i also like the fact that gear is customisable, and that everything is skill based. it lets you have characters who are distinct, gives veterans a benifit without making them unkillable/unstoppable.
the difference between a first level fighter and his twentieth level counterpart is big in pathfinder. in traveller, if it bleeds you can kill it. if it doesn't bleed, you're going to need a bigger gun.

for reference, i play mongoose publishing's traveller.

[CourtFool]

An alternative approach would be to find a good universal system you and your players enjoy. Then, whenever you feel like a new setting, you do not have to worry about learning a new system.

[Tarondor]

A little thread necromancy here.

I'm thinking about running a TNE (Traveller: The New Era) game, because I love that setting, but think that the mechanics are terrible. Would the Mongoose Traveller rules work well for TNE?

[R_Chance]

Tarondor wrote:

A little thread necromancy here.

I'm thinking about running a TNE (Traveller: The New Era) game, because I love that setting, but think that the mechanics are terrible. Would the Mongoose Traveller rules work well for TNE?

TNE used different mechanics from other Traveller games. It was related to Twilight 2000 and/or Traveller 2300 (which had nothing to do with Traveller) iirc which was not my favorite GDW game. You should be able to use the setting for TNE with any Traveller rules set. One thing I suggest, figure out if the Virus is hardware or software. They talked about it originating with a crystalline substance used in computers (a kind of naturally occurring intelligence) and then they had it being transmitted by communication (as if it were an AI program / virus)... it makes more sense in the frame of the setting for it to be a software virus imo but ymmv.

Anyway Mongoose should work fine and Marc Miller just turned out the T5 rules as well. The Core T5 rules book is over 650 pages of everything you could possibly want in a Traveller game. It makes the Pathfinder core book look petite (I'm not joking). It is supposed to be compatible with Mongoose Traveller. When I have a spare week I may figure that out. T5:

http://www.farfuture.net/

[Pan]

T5 is a nice comp but it is really expensive. The mongoose Traveller has an SRD so you can always give it a shot for free.

[R_Chance]

Pan wrote:

T5 is a nice comp but it is really expensive. The mongoose Traveller has an SRD so you can always give it a shot for free.

Thanks for bringing the SRD up. I thought of that later. T5 can be had on a CD-Rom for $35 but that's still expensive compared to "free" :)

[Pan]

R_Chance wrote:

Pan wrote:

T5 is a nice comp but it is really expensive. The mongoose Traveller has an SRD so you can always give it a shot for free.

Thanks for bringing the SRD up. I thought of that later. T5 can be had on a CD-Rom for $35 but that's still expensive compared to "free" :)

Yeah dont get me wrong I have bought a bunch of PDFs from Mongoose for Traveller. I support the small guys. However, if I have the chance to try before I buy a new system I will do so.

[R_Chance]

Pan wrote:

R_Chance wrote:

Pan wrote:

T5 is a nice comp but it is really expensive. The mongoose Traveller has an SRD so you can always give it a shot for free.

Thanks for bringing the SRD up. I thought of that later. T5 can be had on a CD-Rom for $35 but that's still expensive compared to "free" :)

Yeah dont get me wrong I have bought a bunch of PDFs from Mongoose for Traveller. I support the small guys. However, if I have the chance to try before I buy a new system I will do so.

Makes sense to me. I was onboard with the T5 kickstarter - I knew I wanted Marc Miller's new version. On the other hand I have a pile of Mongoose Traveller stuff too. And every other edition of Traveller except TNE. I have a couple of TNE items, but I didn't care for the mechanics or what they did to the setting for that matter. TNE was an attempt to unify their rules across all GDWs RPGs (not a good idea imo) and, again imo, wipe a setting and create a new line with an old name.