I appreciate the detailed reply, although it didn't really dispel my confusion lol
Suffice it to say, if/when I run Traveller, it will probably be mostly RAR; but probably also a smattering of other systems. Even now I'd probably run my task resolution system more like 6- is a fail; 7-9 is mixed success, 10+ is success
Well, he's the editions in order for the Traveller and mechanically related lines
| Main Sequence | 2300 Spur | T2K spur | Licensed OTU Ports |
| CT-77 aka CT 1E | | | |
| CT-81 aka CT 2E | | | |
| The Traveller Book (1982) | | | |
| Starter Traveller (1983) | | [Twilight 2000 1E (1984)] | |
| MegaTraveller (1987) | Traveller: 2300 (1986) | | |
| 2300 AD (1988) | | |
| | Twilight 2000 2e (1990)
Cadilacs and Dinosaurs (1990) | |
| | Dark Conspiracy (1991) | |
| Traveller: The New Era (1993)❀ | | Twilight 2000 2.2e (92?)
Traveller: The New Era (1993)❀ | |
| 1996: GDW disbands. | | | |
| Traveller 4 (1996) | | | |
| | Dark Conspracy 2e (1998) | GURPS Traveller (1998) |
| Traveller T20 (2002) * | | | Traveller T20 * |
| | | GT Interstellar Wars (2006) |
| 2320 AD (2007) ** | | Traveller for Hero (2007) |
Mongoose Traveller 1E (2008) ****
Traveller 5 Beta (2008) | | Twilight 2013 (2008) *** | (All mongoose) |
| Traveller 5 Release (2013) | Traveller 2300 AD (Mongoose) (2012)✫ | | |
| Mongoose Traveller 2E (2016) | | | |
| Traveller 5 Revised (2019) | | | |
| Mongoose Traveller 2e 2022 version | Traveller 2300 AD (2021)✫ | Twilight 2000 4e (2022)⊚ | Twilight 2000 4e (2022)⊚ |
[] T2K 1E isn't a traveller derivative, but like CT-77, drawns on En Garde! (1975)
❀ TTNE uses T2K 2.2 as its core rules
* T20 is mainline for setting info, but is also a licensed port, hybridizing CT-81 and d20 SRD 3.0
** 2320 is a sourcebook for T20. It's also a timeline advancement 20 years after the original boxed set.
*** T:2013 is a totally unrelated engine, shifting the timeline of T2K forward 13 years. It was not well received.
**** Mongoose's license makes it mainline for setting. Gareth Hanrahan built a new engine derived from CT-77 & HG-79. It also ends the T20 license and the Traveller for Hero License.
✫ These use MGT rules.
⊚ T2k 4e is a license out to Free League, but has a traveller-style character gen option...
The mainline is really two lines after T4: Traveller 5 is an expansion of T4, and super crunchy
Mongoose is a modernized CT in the eyes of Mongoose Staff; Traveller Grognards are (even to this day) divided about it, and grumblers will grumble. (I find it a decent enough flavor, but not compatible with the OTU...)
The OTU (Official Traveller Universe) setting does not exist before 1979; it was created for the adventures; staff of GDW, GW (UK), FASA, and what would become Gamelords were all involved in developing it. By 1980, GDW was licensing patches of the OTU to 3PP; GW was also licensed to locally print CT... amongst a number of other well known second tier games (Tunnels and Trolls, RuneQuest)...
Now, in timeline of OTU order (TIY Third Imperium Year)
GTIW: -3000 TIY
T4/Millieux 0: 0-100 TIY
T20 990 TIY
CT, MgT 1e/2e 1100-1115 TIY
MegaTraveller 1116 , GT 1116 (Alternate Universe)
TTNE 1200 TIY
T20 1248 sourcebook 1248 TIY
T5 1900 TIY
In MT (MegaTeaveller), the 3rd Imperium goes into a civil war, leading to a number of disasterous effects. In GURPS Traveller, the rebellion and its disasters don't happen.
TTNE takes the OTU and uses a couple of throwaway library data elements to effect a new "Dark Age" for the area of the 3I. A few successor states survive. New polities, and a focus moved to the opposite end of the setting.
Note: T2K, 2300 (any), Dark Conspiracy (DC), Caddies and Dinos are not tied to the OTU setting, despite 1986 rumors of T2K and 2300 being the past.... T2K and DC are not the same setting, but the two are fully compatible mechanics. So, if you want tons of gun stats for DC 1E or 2E, grabbing the guns books for T2K 2.x are your tool,
T2K was instrumental in the setup for the "Great Game" which was used to develop the 2300 history, but it's not canonically the future of the T2K universe.
Cepheus Engine was a reaction to the lack of OGL 1.0a SRD for MgT 2e. It makes a number of moves to make it closer to CT/MT than stock MGT, as well. It is essentially to MgT 1 as Pathfinder was to D&D 3.5 and to MgT2 as Pathfinder was to D&D 4e.... I don't keep close tabs on CE, tho' Marc Miller and I agree that it's close enough to get support on COTI. Its fans consider it great; the OGL 1.0a deauthorization scare lead to a lot of concern. The CE community is thrilled that Mongoose is going to provide a MGT 2 SRD, using a different open license.
Task mechanics
CT none; combat is 2d6+skill, ±1 for attribute, + weapon vs armor matrix + weapon vs range matrix
T: 2300/ 2300AD: 1d10+AssetA+AssetB for 3/7/11/15/19+ by difficulty label (simple/routine/difficult/formidable/Imossible). Assets are either a skill level, or 1/5 of an attribute
MT 2d6 (instead of 1d10), but otherwise same as 2300.
T2K 1E - 3 levels (Simple/routine/difficult) for ×2/×1/×0,5, using percentile skills and 1d100
T2k 2E 1d10, same 3 levels/multipliers, but skills reduced to 0-10 range.
T2K 2.2 & DC 1d20 for ≤ (att+skill)×(4/2/1/0.5/0.25 by difficulty), difficulty labels as per MT/2300
T4 diff labels Simple, Routine, Difficult, Formidable, Staggering, Impossible, setting a number of dice for Att+Skill or less
T4.1 adjusts the number of dice.
T5 adjusts the number of dice from 4.1
MGT uses 7 labels, I don't remember them, and they're 2 points apart, vs 2300/MT's 4 points. It also gives about the same number of skill levels as MT.
T2K 4e: d(Att)+d(skill) each for 6+ (=1s)/10+ (=2s), difficulty modifies dice sizes.
CT, MT, T4, MGT 1 & 2, T5 use 2d6 for atts, and a trainable/aging/lasting injury loss range of 1-15
T2K1e and T20 use 3d6 atts
T2300/ 2300 AD are 4d6-4 reroll a result of 0.
GT and GTIW use standard gurps 8-18 human range
T2K2, T2k2.2, DC, and T:TNE use 2d6-1
T2k4 uses no-die, d6, d8, d10, d12 for skills, and atts d6, d8, d10, d12.
In terms of complexity... CT has a toolkit mindset. Some sections are crunchier than others.
T5 is the most complex, daunting even some GURPS fans.
Mongoose is middling; TTNE, T4, and MT just a bit higher,
T20 is just a bit over D&D 3.5, a bit under Pathfinder 1e as expanded...\
TFH is hero system 5; that also means no needed changes for HSR 3, It's only in PDF, and unless you're a hero system fan, not a good choice. (But it's the best concise description of the OTU and its in-setting history)
T2K 1e is on par with RQ 3... simple in principle, but lots of special cases
T2K 2.0 and 2300 are slightly more complex than CT and slightly less than MT.
T2K 4e is on par with Alien or MYZ, and is built on the MYZ framework.
