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Message: <blockquote data-quote="aramis erak" data-source="post: 8064991" data-attributes="member: 6779310">It's quite possible to wind up with a party incompatible with a trader game. Think firefly, but even less competent overall. Traveller's default assumptions for PC's is that they've exited the daily job phase of life. The rules tend to provide more interesting bits in merchant shipping and in mercenary type games, but really, it's a fairly generic space opera genre game. It's harder SF than most TV space opera (Trek, Orville, Disney Star Wars), more on par with the various Stargate series. It took no modifications to use CT nor MT for active duty OTU military games, for troubleshooters for hire games (think Leverage, The A-Team, or Magnum PI), merchant shippers of both sizes (Small tramps and large ship crews), even for criminals on the run.Note that all of the non-mongoose editions are available on CD or thumb drive from FarFuture.net. Including the Hero System 5th ed version and the GURPS version.Each system in the line has its fans (tho' 4th ed's fans seem scarcest), T5 isn't a good start point for anyone...Classic: no unified actions mechanic. table driven combat system for personal combat, Speculative Trade module in core, bulk hauler rules in supplement. gear to TL15. (Some gear to TL18 in supplements) Alternate combat systems in boardgames and the minis game. Integration not seamless, but not hard. Combat attack actions are 2d6+Skill+AttMod for 8+MegaTraveller (Abbr. to "MT"): unified action mechanic, called the "Task System". 2d6+AssetA+AssetB vs 3/7/11/15/19 + (simple, routine, difficult, formidable, impossible - way to remember it? A character with Attribute 6 and skill 1 can do the simple in 10 units of listed time, routine nigh automatically at 20 units or with good odds in 10 units. They have a high failure rate at Difficult, can't hit formidable without taking the extra time, and even with extra time, can't do the Impossible.) Allows more choices in Character Gen. Uses the Book 7 Merchant Prince trade system from CT as the corebook one. Merchant games become EXTREMELY hard... Traveller The New Era: the setting reset via an AI Computer Virus...Different task mechanics: 1d20≤((Att+Skill)× DifficultyMultiplier). Difficult is ×1, routine is ×2 and formidable is ×1/2; I'm too lazy to look up the other two. Same mechanics as Twilight:2000 2.2 and Dark Conspiracy, Core includes no vehicle design of either kind. Skill levels about 1.5x those in CT, and 1.3x those in MT.T4: Mark Miller's Traveller: set in the past of the other editions. First Post-GDW edition. task system 1.5/2/2.5/3/3.5/4 d6 for  ≤ Att+Skill. Skill levels about 4x those of CT. Simple/Routine/Difficult/Formidable/staggering/Impossible are the labels.Errata moved it to 1.5/2/3/4/5/6 d6. The undid that.Then added "If skill < dice, add 1d to difficulty" calling that the "Harder than it looks" rule.The consolidated errata makes it  1.5/2/2.5/3/4/5 & Harder than it looks Thus a routine task for a guy with Att 7 (the average) and 1 skill is 3d ≤ 8, but a simple check is 1.5d ≤ 8. For Att 7 skill 2 (the expected for competentcy) routine is 2d6 ≤ 9...T5 uses the same values as T4, but officially removes an upper limit on task difficulties... still, the core levels are labeled the same... but are 1d/2d/3d/4d/5d/6d/7d/8d for Easy/Average/Difficult/Formidable/Staggering/Hopeless/Impossible/Beyond Impossible; again, This is hard applies, and Easy requires no roll if the character is skilled, even if their attribute is below 6. It's Xd6 ≤ Characteristic + Skill+mods1+Mods2  T20: Traveller's Handbook is a d20 version - atts scale per D&D, ACs are low because they don't include armor, armor reduces lifeblood damage. It uses a CT Bk2 Trade System variant for the trade system, and a CT Bk5 variant for then ship construction... The Hero System version is a set of books for adapting 5E Hero System to do Traveller.GURPS Traveller was an extensive line of supplements for GURPS to do the OTU setting, but it can be used just as well for other traveller settings. The license ended, and no new products are coming, but the existing ones are available on the CDs.Mongoose Traveller is a different core system, skill levels tend to be slightly higher than in CT, a unified task system but not one that uses the same steps as MT (which said, those same steps were used in T:2300 and 2300AD - versions 1 and 2 of the same game, btw).... Where it has lacks, CT is easily enough imported...MGT2E - reduces the combat skills, and a number of other changes, basically for Edition Churn.2300 AD (initial release was called Traveller:2300) - uses 1d10 instead of 2d6 for the same task system overall as MegaTraveller. Incompatible combat mechanics to the others, too.Note that every edition has different ratings for weapons and damage from every other edition, including the change from the 1st edition CT to 2nd edition CT (1981 and later printings)I loved MT and 2300, but I can't bring myself to run MT anymore due to the excess details in many places I don't want them: Ship Construction and Ship Combat, and I don't like the HG bulk freight rules.I'm fond of the MGT1 trade rules, but not the rest of the system. MGT2 added nothing I liked, and did away with the details in the few places I wanted them...And for full disclosure... I playtested T20, MGT1E, and have been involved in the T5 process... I participated in the MGT2 playtest but was not credited to my knowledge. I also am the lead admin for the official traveller boards.Note: if you want thumb-drive instead of CD when ordering from FFE, make note of that in the notes to shipper.</blockquote>

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