Can you tell me more about Traveller? (Forked Thread: Space RPGs?)

[Desdichado]

Personally, I think Traveller is best as a setting instead of a full game. I'm not overly enamored of the system (I have CT and MT and T20---and I'd probably run it in d20 Modern or something else if I were running it today) but the setting is what's interesting.

Not terribly original, mind you, but interesting. It kinda captures that old school Isaac Asimov, David Niven, etc. era of science fiction. Think Foundation plus Man/Kzin wars and you're on the right track.

The one subsystem of the rules with which I am absolutely enamored, however, is the star system generation and hex mapping conventions. I've ported that over entirely, nearly word for word, into other games.

 

[Storm Raven]

Not terribly original, mind you, but interesting. It kinda captures that old school Isaac Asimov, David Niven, etc. era of science fiction. Think Foundation plus Man/Kzin wars and you're on the right track.

Nitpick: Larry Niven is a science fiction author. David Niven is an actor.

And you are completely correct about the Man-Kzin Wars, the setting has a not very well disguised version of the Kzin in the Aslan (think bipedal, honor obsessed, warlike, intelligent Lions). The Hivers are a little like the Puppeteers too. Some of the backstory of the setting has a passing resemblance to the Known Space backstory, with stasis globes and so on. It wouldn't be that hard to use the system to do the entire Known Space setting.

There's also a little bit of Poul Anderson (the Vargyr especially).

 

[RFisher]

Here’s my classic Traveller pages.

I think cT Book 0 is both a decent introduction to Traveller and to the hobby in general.

One of the great things about cT, IMHO, is the modularity. There’s an awful lot of rules, but you can use as many or as few of them as are applicable to the current situation.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

A very nice summary of Traveller there Shades of Green. I'm having a pleasant wander down memory lane. But I wish you hadn't put in that link to the Classic Traveller CD Rom. Am fighting urge to reach for credit card...

 

[Shades of Green]

A very nice summary of Traveller there Shades of Green.

Thank you for your kind words

But I wish you hadn't put in that link to the Classic Traveller CD Rom. Am fighting urge to reach for credit card...

It's a very good product at a very low price compared to its scope of contents - it gives you ALMOST ANYTHING ever published for CT. However, if you want to play Traveller and have limited funds, I'd recommend the Mongoose book instead; its a modernized version of CT and is very well done.

 

[Woas]

Well thanks to you all! I ordered a copy of Mongoose Traveller. I'm not sure when exactly I will be able to get a game of it started, but I know there is some interest in it with my group. So after our current game we'll give it a whirl. I'll probably be back here as I read and digest the book when I get it and have more specific questions than "is it fun?!"

 

[WayneLigon]

The best favor you can do yourself with regards to Traveller is to find and pick up everything done by Digest Group, who did a magazine and several adventure books for Megatraveller. The magazines contain massive amounts of cool info on the Third Imperium and shed light on several areas of the background. Their Starship Operator's Manual made Traveller starships come to life for me with detailed descriptions of just what a ship was like and how it operated.

 

[Desdichado]

Duplicate post

 

[Desdichado]

Nitpick: Larry Niven is a science fiction author. David Niven is an actor.

D'oh! I know that.

Bad Hobo. That's almost as bad when I said Martin Fry (lead singer for ABC) was the guy who played opposite Hugh Laurie as Jeeves.

 

[qstor]

The best favor you can do yourself with regards to Traveller is to find and pick up everything done by Digest Group, who did a magazine and several adventure books for Megatraveller. The magazines contain massive amounts of cool info on the Third Imperium and shed light on several areas of the background. Their Starship Operator's Manual made Traveller starships come to life for me with detailed descriptions of just what a ship was like and how it operated.

There all out of print and it would cost an arm and a leg lol

Some of the material is in the GURPS Traveller books like the Alien books and the Rim of Fire book.

Mike