How is Traveller? Looking for a Space RPG...

[Pseudonym]

GURPS also put out a series of Traveller books, but they took their universe off in a bit of a different direction timeline-wise. Still good for mining for fluff though.

There is also a d20 version of Traveller that might be worth looking at for those more comfortable with that mechanic. I prefer the original system myself.

 

[Psion]

You have practically defined what Traveller is all about. The game has gone through several versions over the years, and quite a few of them are quite good.

Yeah, pretty much that.

If you go with Mongoose Traveller, it sounds as if you want a heavily exploration driven game. You might want to pick up the Scouts supplement early on, as it adds more detail to such games.

In the standard Traveller setting, the Scouts are much like a military service, though it wouldn't be hard to tweak it into a corporate service for your home game.

 

[Psion]

There is also a d20 version of Traveller that might be worth looking at for those more comfortable with that mechanic. I prefer the original system myself.

The OP said they were trying to get away from D20, but it is a decent system that has some strengths. In particular, I think they did a bang-up job on making starship combat in a way that involves as many PCs as possible. I also like the skill/proficiency relationship for describing ability with vehicles better than the CT skill setup, which always seemed a bit off to me.

I also think their Gateway to Destiny setting (Imperium at the time of the Solomani Rim War, far from the front) is one of the best published OTU setting books to be had, and I am using it for my Mongoose Traveller game.

 

[rgard]

I'd like to run a science fiction game once our current D&D arc wraps up, and I've been looking at a few systems. The name 'Traveller' comes up an awful lot, but I know almost nothing about it mechanically. So, to those who've played it; how is it? Is the system good? I'd really like a certain lethality to the combat; these characters are not meant to be gun-toting space marines who can storm an enemy compound on their own (though they would know how to handle a weapon in a pinch). Also, I would like to get away from a d20 system... we've been playing a fair bit of d20 lately, so a change would be nice.

My plan is to run a game of space exploration with infrequent combat. The PCs would be on a ship, and that ship would explore uncharted star systems, dealing with hazards both in space and on planets, clash with rival explorers, set up claims for valuable commodities or land, and generally explore the cosmos.

Does Traveller work well for this sort of game?

Any of the Traveller incarnations should do the trick for you. I haven't played Mongoose's version, but combat is always quite deadly.

I know you want to get away from D20, but I like Traveller T20 (disclaimer: my two oldest and I did playtest T20). I prefer the familiarity of the D20 system to speed things along (assumes those you are DMing are familiar with D20).

With T20 you have the main time line to play with. Traveller 2320AD is a setting that uses T20, but the main adversary can be the 3rd French Empire. I plan to run this one day with the PCs doing most of what you describe, but giving them the opportunity to be privateers as well.

The lite version of the T20 game is free here:

Traveller T20 Lite - QuikLink Interactive, Inc. | DriveThruRPG.com

Your players can get by with this pdf as it is the first chapter that covers PCs and combat:

Traveller20 - Book 1 - Characters and Combat - QuikLink Interactive, Inc. | DriveThruRPG.com

The second two pdfs cover equipment and worlds/adventures.

In any case, whatever the system you decide on, you can mine the fluff and published adventures from the other versions.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[donm61873]

I also have the early drafts of Traveller 5 by Marc Miller. Wow, is this stuff seriously cool! I can't wait till this one comes out.

Do you have the T5 CD, or the much older drafts which were on the internet?

Lots of things are very different if you have those old drafts. If you're really interested in T5, I'd encourage you to buy the T5 CD, and check out the development of the new edition of Traveller.

 

[Ariosto]

In the original game, Supplement 4: Citizens of the Imperium adds 12 character types compatible with the Book 1 generation system: pirates; belters; sailors; diplomats; doctors; flyers; barbarians; bureaucrats; rogues; nobles; scientists; and hunters.

Books 4-7 include "advanced" systems for Army and Marines; Navy; Scouts; and Merchants. Those not only get into more detailed, year-by-year resolution but tend to produce on average characters with more (I think between double and triple) the number of skill levels -- plus introducing skills not in the original game set.

As I recall, MegaTraveller did a good job of consolidating the different approaches and adding options in ways similar to what I had done with my own house rules. I'm sure it addressed one of the problems that leaped out to me off the bat: a science-fiction game should include scientific (and other academic) skills! Gotta have at least the occasional physicist, historian, and so on.

I'll bet that "Riki Tiki Traveller" has carried forward something like that. It's probably still a big change from the "character build" approach familiar to folks accustomed to playing "d20 System" or similar, though.

 

[Psion]

In the original game, Supplement 4: Citizens of the Imperium adds 12 character types compatible with the Book 1 generation system: pirates; belters; sailors; diplomats; doctors; flyers; barbarians; bureaucrats; rogues; nobles; scientists; and hunters.

Books 4-7 include "advanced" systems for Army and Marines; Navy; Scouts; and Merchants. Those not only get into more detailed, year-by-year resolution but tend to produce on average characters with more (I think between double and triple) the number of skill levels -- plus introducing skills not in the original game set.

As I recall, MegaTraveller did a good job of consolidating the different approaches and adding options in ways similar to what I had done with my own house rules. I'm sure it addressed one of the problems that leaped out to me off the bat: a science-fiction game should include scientific (and other academic) skills! Gotta have at least the occasional physicist, historian, and so on.

I'll bet that "Riki Tiki Traveller" has carried forward something like that. It's probably still a big change from the "character balancing" approach familiar to folks accustomed to playing "d20 System" or similar, though.

Well, MegaTraveller kept the advanced systems (which could produce extremely competent characters) and tried to bolster the basic system a little to compensate.

Mongoose Traveller (which Ariosto is calling "Riki Tiki Traveller", a fun name someone gave it) goes for a unified middle ground. It starts with something a bit more like CT basic generation (term by term generation instead of year by year), but adds:

1) events. Each term you roll for one event, which could also yield additional skills or other benefits. This gives you some of the deeper detail that the CT/MT advanced generation gave you, but it doesn't require year-by-year generation (which while some fun fun, other find tedious) and can reflect a more chaotic reality.
2) connections. Each character has a chance to get backstory connections with other characters.
3) skill packages. A bit more "activity targeted", the skill package rule gives the group a package of skills to make sure basic requirements are met for the activity the GM intends. This helps hammer down the "omission by randomness" problem that sometimes cropped up in CT and MT. And:
4) Level 0 skills. CT had a level 0 skill rule that was mostly realized as an addition chargen rule in CT adventures. MongT makes this a more explicit part of the chargen, making sure that all characters have a smattering of sensible basic level skills appropriate to their background and homeworld.

I'll mention that the players in my MongT game love making characters for it. Enough so that when I made them make a second set of characters for a more combat oriented mission, they relished the opportunity.

 

[sjmiller]

Do you have the T5 CD, or the much older drafts which were on the internet?

Lots of things are very different if you have those old drafts. If you're really interested in T5, I'd encourage you to buy the T5 CD, and check out the development of the new edition of Traveller.

I have the T5 CD-ROM. I am an early adopter of this, having purchased the disk as soon as it became available. I occasionally read the T5 forums, but I do not go there on a regular basis. I should, really, but my time is rather limited at the moment.

 

[darjr]

I really like Mongoose Traveller. I really like the light touch approach they went with. The feature where in character gen the players share events is very cool, and actually portable to classic.

I like being able to run classic adventures with mongoose without any conversion. I mean, I might have done some on the fly during game play, but I didn't have to.

 

[Dyson Logos]

While I'm a MegaTraveller fan of ages past, I'm looking forward to playing Mongoose Traveller. I like the little tweaks to the chargen system they did.

One of the first Traveller adventures I ever played was 100% exploration with no combat whatsoever. The challenge was in figuring out how the place worked and why it worked.

Then we went back there two games later, and had to deal with the fact that we hadn't actually figured it all out like we thought we had, this time with a deadly blob stuck in the place with us.