Starter Traveller (Classic circa 1980's) is free at DTRPG

Classic "Starter Traveller" is currently free at DriveThruRPG. This is an introductory version of the original "die in chargen" Traveller. Tech is as noted "1970's" style -- creator Marc Miller mentioned in conversation that imagining future technology was one of the harder things to do. Traveller is fairly gritty sci-fi like from the movies Alien or Outland.

This product becomes free periodically, so grab it now, as it may not be free later.

The download contains a core rulebook, a set of charts, and a book of adventures, making three separate PDFs.

You can see character generation here with this character generatorI prefer to do character creation by hand, because it's a fun mini-game, but the above generator is also neat to see what characters pop up.

There is also a Consolidated CT Errata PDF by Don McKinney floating around that is good to have.

 

[R_Chance]

GURPS Traveller took the tack that Strephon wasn’t assassinated. Basically retconned out the entire New Era.

Both Gurps and T20 took the Traveller setting, and plopped it on top of existing systems. To varying results imo.

I've never run the GURPS version although I have a couple of the books. I have all the T20 material, but generally just use a version of CT with crunchy bits from MT thrown in (mainly in ship and equipment design). I pretty much skipped the assassination of Strephon myself Just a failed attempt that made a short splash in the TAS News. Oh, and I use a year by year generation system for every profession. Otherwise the characters that use the year by year Mercenary style character generation tend to out skill the 4 year term characters. Mixing the two just seems... I don't know, "off" somehow. The downside is longer character generation time of course, although it doesn't seem like a problem compared to newer games.

 

[R_Chance]

Also, looking at the Imperium setting, it looks like a lot of ground work for that was laid by Games Workshop, in Adventure 1, The Kinunir.

Pretty much, although the GDW board game Imperium was the clash between the Villani (1st) Imperium, or Ziru Sirka, and the Terran Confederation. That game came out about the same time as Traveller iirc (c. 1977-78?). I'm not sure how much of that was intentional or how much of that was written back into the situation later. It does make for an interesting bit of history / universe building as the progressive campaigns show the strengthening of the Terrans leading to the (further?) decline of the Villani.

 

[dragoner]

Pretty much, although the GDW board game Imperium was the clash between the Villani (1st) Imperium, or Ziru Sirka, and the Terran Confederation. That game came out about the same time as Traveller iirc (c. 1977-78?). I'm not sure how much of that was intentional or how much of that was written back into the situation later. It does make for an interesting bit of history / universe building as the progressive campaigns show the strengthening of the Terrans leading to the (further?) decline of the Villani.

I loved Imperium, bought, and played it in my school's chess club. Though I think Traveller's Imperium was only adapted, the main timeline for the Third Imperium is 2,500 years later than the events of the board game.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

I had a friend back in grade school that had the Traveller RPG. The one thing I remember is how freaking old you felt you had to make your character for him to have skills and that once character creation was done you gained new skills at a very slow pace that also made your character very old.

One thing I do not remember is what life expectancy was like in the game. For all I know the rules assumed that in the "future" being in your 60's was like being in your 20's by todays terms health wise.

 

[R_Chance]

I loved Imperium, bought, and played it in my school's chess club. Though I think Traveller's Imperium was only adapted, the main timeline for the Third Imperium is 2,500 years later than the events of the board game.

Traveller's Imperium is the Third Imperium and it's, as of Classic Traveller, over 1100 years old. The First Imperium, the Villani Ziru Sirka "Grand Imperium of the Stars", fell in the wake of the Interstellar Wars with the Terran Confederation. The Second Imperium was built on the body of that by the conquering Terrans. The Second Imperium, also known as the "Ramshackle Empire", continued what was apparently a slow collapse the Villani had been undergoing. Then there was an interregnum, followed by the Silean Federation rising and becoming the Third Imperium. One of the fascinating things, froma history nerds point of view, about Traveller is the depth of the historical background of the setting. If you want to take it back to the mystery of the Ancients you get 300,000 years of archeological and historical fun

*edit* So, yeah, 2500 years sounds about right Just nerding out over the history of the setting. Though the Third Imperium considers itself the legal successor of both the First and Second Imperiums.

 

[R_Chance]

I had a friend back in grade school that had the Traveller RPG. The one thing I remember is how freaking old you felt you had to make your character for him to have skills and that once character creation was done you gained new skills at a very slow pace that also made your character very old.

One thing I do not remember is what life expectancy was like in the game. For all I know the rules assumed that in the "future" being in your 60's was like being in your 20's by todays terms health wise.

Unless you had a steady source of anagathics (drugs countering old age) at 200,000 CR a dose / month you were just... old. Age didn't seem to be easily conquerable in the Traveller universe although medicine had made serious advances. Age was the price of skill. Looking back on it from the age of 60 (which I just turned in October) it doesn't that bad The only real cure for aging is death. Aging sounds like a better deal You start aging effects at 34 in Travaller saving at various aging milestones or having different characteristics reduced. It gave a certain balance and symmetry to characters. Young and healthy vs. old and skilled. On the other hand given how lethal combat was in Trafveller aging significantly after play started wasn't one of your major problems...