Mongoose's New IP: Traveller is BACK

[Gez]

Once they expire they will not be renewed and the Mongoose Traveller and T5 will be the only two system available, one as the 'basic rules' the other the 'advanced'. In the case of T20 we still have a few years to go.

Well, the OGL itself won't expire so all the open parts of T20 could stay available, legally.

 

[Prime_Evil]

Once they expire they will not be renewed and the Mongoose Traveller and T5 will be the only two system available, one as the 'basic rules' the other the 'advanced'. In the case of T20 we still have a few years to go.

Personally, I rather like the fact that Traveller is available for a range of different game systems ... so I consider this a bit of a step backwards. I'm primarily a GURPS fan, but I've bought just about everything released for T20 as well. Nonetheless, I understand the reasons why it may be seen as desirable to end the current fragmentation of the Traveller fan base. I just find the decision...disappointing.

Same as it does for our Gateway material. We'll be able to continue to publish under our current license after which we can pick up a TTL license and continue under it.

This is good news. IMHO, the Gateway setting is very classy.

Incidentally, it will be interesting to see what Mongoose does with the Classic Traveller rules to make them work as a generic SF game system. The classic rules suit the Traveller Universe just fine, but it will be interesting to see how well they work for properties such as Starship Troopers and Strontium Dogs (Mmmm....Durham Red).

Traveller is largely based on the hard SF of the 1940s and 1950s (Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Poul Anderson, etc) with some influences from the authors of the 1970s (Larry Niven et al). It would be interesting to see how well the classic Traveller rules work with a SF setting based on the current wave of British 'transhumanist' space opera - Iain Banks, Alastair Reynolds, Peter Hamilton, Charles Stross, Ken Macleod, et al.

 

[Flynn]

Woohoo! This is fantastic news! Yay! As a bona fide Traveller fanboy, I am pleased as punch to see that Traveller is going OGL. This could mean great things for Stellar Reaches.

This is a great day,
Flynn

 

[Emryys]

This could mean great things for Stellar Reaches.

It certainly could, Flynn

 

[Prime_Evil]

Woohoo! This is fantastic news! Yay! As a bona fide Traveller fanboy, I am pleased as punch to see that Traveller is going OGL. This could mean great things for Stellar Reaches.

This is a great day,
Flynn

Although I sometimes grumble about the physical quality of books produced by Mongoose, I've gotta admit that they have always been extremely generous with OGC. And this is outstanding news for the Traveller community as a whole.

Although I felt that some of the early d20 stuff put out by Mongoose was a bit dodgy, the quality of the material that they have been putting out for Runequest / Elric / Hawkmoon recently has won me over.

Is it any wonder that they seem to be thriving when so many RPG companies are in financial trouble?

(I love Stellar Reaches by the way )

 

[s.j. bagley]

yay!

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I posted this elsewhere, but I'll post it here as well. I'm not one of those who bash Mongoose relentlessly. Sure, they've produced some error-riddled books. But then they've redeemed themselves by producing a cool line like Conan. But this bit in the Traveller announcement caught my eye:

We have pioneered this concept already with Runequest, publishing a rules set and supporting adventures and sourcebooks, then using the Runequest rules as the basis for other alternative fantasy role-playing settings, such as Hawkmoon, Elric and Lankhmar.

Huh-wha? They pioneered that concept? How do they rationalize that? Chaosium did that very thing 25 years ago, with the exact same games and settings.

This is mildly interesting news to me. I mean, I like Traveller, but I have to admit to feeling a mild distaste for how Mongoose gives GURPS Traveller and T20 short shrift in their announcement. I was always more interested in the Traveller setting rather than the actual game system itself. I dunno how it'll work as a universal scifi system, but I'm willing to give it a chance.

I also agree with Prime_Evil - I thought that it being available in various different systems was a feature, not a bug.

 

[rgard]

Well, to be honest... I will probably stick with d20 version. I am tired from learning new system. But I will definitely check this thing out, if it will have good and useful fluff, I might use that pieces from it...

Me too. I like T20. No reason to switch over unless my brain gets bigger and I have the inclination to learn a new system. Also, I own D20 Starship troopers too.

Thanks
Rich

 

[Piratecat]

I've never seen a Mongoose product that really good elements of game design.

Paranoia XP was rock solid.

This is really interesting to me. I've never played Traveler, but I've always wanted to -- and after seeing so many execrable conversions to d20, like Adventure! d20 and Deadlands d20, I went nowhere near T20. If Mongoose does a good job, I'll definitely buy it.

 

[vongarr]

I actually like learning new systems. And playing them too. It just seems wrong to me to play pretty much anything other than D&D as D20.

So I'm glad to see this. I've been wanting to play Traveler for some time now.