Traveller: the iconic science fiction roleplaying game

Not DnD is a weekly show discussing tabletop roleplaying games. In September we are looking at tabletop RPGs for a sci-fi setting!

Traveller is a long-beloved science fiction roleplaying game first published in 1977. The game has had several editions published over it's almost 50 year history, including GURPS and d20. It's difficult to discuss sci-fi ttrpgs without mentioning this iconic game.

The Traveller Core Rulebook Update 2022 by Mongoose publishing provided new careers, equipment, hazards, world creation, psionics and shipbuilding. Come learn more about Mongoose Traveller 2nd Edition with Matt and Chris from Mongoose Publishing on this weeks (29th September) episode of Not DnD.


Not DnD is a weekly show discussing tabletop roleplaying games. Each week EN Publishing’s @tabletopjess interviews the creators behind different tabletop roleplaying games that aren’t D&D!

You can watch the live recording every Monday at 5pm ET / 10pm BST on YouTube or Twitch, or listen on the podcast platform of your choice.

We've had many other sci-fi TTRPGs on Not DnD over the last three years such as Salvage Union, Terminal, Orbital Blues, You're In Space and Everything is F***ed, Day Trippers, Alien, Paranoia, Blade Runner, Star Trek Adventures, and Dune.

You can watch any of these previous interviews on youtube here. Or listen to the podcast episodes here.

 

[dragoner]

Not really. It carried forward for quite awhile. It's in 81, the Traveller Book, the Starter Set, etc. I'm not sure when it disappeared, but it lasted longer than just the original.

Yes, it was only optional later, I have played it since 79.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

It's a little like why movie adaptations like Dick Tracey and The Phantom didn't do wonderfully.

I saw Dick Tracy with my Traveller referee.

 

[TrippyHippy]

Traveller is, basically, my favourite game.

In terms of why it didn’t become as mainstream as D&D, I think you have to respect that D&D was the first RPG and the fantasy genre has always been bigger than the sci-fi genre (in general literature sales, in any case).

The exceptions to this ‘rule’ were Star Wars and Warhammer 40,000 and both have a relationship with Traveller’s historical success. Star Wars came out in 1977 just about a month after Traveller was released and arguably drove a lot of its sales in as much as Traveller was the closest facsimile of Star Wars in rpg form at the time. Similarly, Games Workshop’s White Dwarf magazine took an active interest in the Traveller game with rules developments, reviews, scenarios and even an ongoing comic strip. However, in 1987, WEG made an official Star Wars RPG while GW also produced Warhammer 40K - Rogue Trader. These two games were hugely successful, arguably at the expense of Traveller sales. One could also site the increasing popularity of Cyberpunk and Shadowrun in the late 80s too - making the 'classic sci-fi’ of Traveller seem less fashionable.

The new edition, Mega-Traveller also released in 1987 was never as successful and GDW (Traveller’s original publisher not to be confused with GW) started to decline from that point I feel. They released a few more titles but the company went totally belly up within a decade, leaving Steve Jackson Games to keep it going as a GURPS supplement from the late 1990s onward.

All said, however, when Mongoose picked up the Traveller license in 2008 it was hugely successful for them, transforming them from a D20/OGL-based company into focussing more and more on the Traveller line. I think the key to their success with the game has been keeping the simple structure and innovations of the Classic Traveller rules, but also expanding their versatilty to adapt to different settings and sub-genres.

Incidentally, I don’t really buy the argument that D&D has a more intuitive or archetypal default game play than Traveller. Traveller is adventures in a spacecraft - that is pretty archetypal and easy to get into.

 

[Morrus]

and the fantasy genre has always been bigger than the sci-fi genre (in general literature sales, in any case).

Although TV and movies, it's reversed. Fantasy is the unpopular one, and sci-fi rules supreme (LotR and Game of Thrones notwithstanding).

 

[pemerton]

Book 1 (1981), p 10:

Survival: Each term of service involves some danger; during the term, a character must successfully throw his service's survival number to avoid death in the line of duty. Each service also has DMs which may apply. Failure to successfully achieve the survival throw results in death; a new character must be generated.
-Optional Rule: If the referee or player so indicates prior to character generation, then a failure of the survival roll can be converted to injury. The character is not dead, but instead is injured, and leaves the service (after recovery) having served only two years of the four year term.

 

[TrippyHippy]

Although TV and movies, it's reversed. Fantasy is the unpopular one, and sci-fi rules supreme (LotR and Game of Thrones notwithstanding).

I put that down to the earlier development of scifi SFX in the 70s and 80s, while the effects in fantasy movies lagged behind for decades (till LotR and Harry Potter, basically). I’m not sure there has been a more popular sci-fi TV series than Game of Thrones in recent years though.

 

[andyvanhout]

I'm a day late to the show, long time and usual lurker.

I'm a year and a half into a Pirates of Drinax home campaign, and I've completed two six-month campaigns for a local FLGS using the latest incarnation of Mongoose's rules. I don't have a long history with the genre or system and only started running Traveller in the past couple of years. I'm happy I've picked it up, and I enjoyed the interview!

If I had my own nit to pick about the latest incarnation of Traveller it would be around module, campaign, and adventure design. For October 2025 I'm running a four session mini campaign of Mothership -- and I'm blown away by how Mothership materials are a masterclass in information design compared to adventures and modules put out by... well... almost anyone, but Mongoose included.

That's a criticism that comes from a place of love and fondness for Mongoose Traveller. The OSR movement and their compact zines with easy to read bullet points and minimal exposition have won me over. What's more, some of the wildest moments in my home game for Pirates of Drinax come from randomly rolled or generated encounters that have sparked crazy moments of improv.

The interview talks about the modularity of all the systems and subsystems and that's definitely how I've run it, with only a very loose and vibes-based mastery of the rules that's a bit by the seat-of-my-pants and definitely erring on "rulings not rules" during the game, but out of the game I have a tracking Spreadsheet of Doom™ that I don't know if it actually adds any value to my game prep or not. None of the groups I've run games for ever cared to engage in speculative trade or freight or cargos. My Pirates of Drinax game -- which is more along the lines of Hobnobbing with Planetary Business Associations and Antiquities Dealers of Drinax -- barely engages in combat rules (space or otherwise) and I'd probably struggle to remember what the heck we were doing if we actually had a fight break out.

Thanks again for the interview!

 

[overgeeked]

I'm a day late to the show, long time and usual lurker.

I'm a year and a half into a Pirates of Drinax home campaign, and I've completed two six-month campaigns for a local FLGS using the latest incarnation of Mongoose's rules. I don't have a long history with the genre or system and only started running Traveller in the past couple of years. I'm happy I've picked it up, and I enjoyed the interview!

If I had my own nit to pick about the latest incarnation of Traveller it would be around module, campaign, and adventure design. For October 2025 I'm running a four session mini campaign of Mothership -- and I'm blown away by how Mothership materials are a masterclass in information design compared to adventures and modules put out by... well... almost anyone, but Mongoose included.

That's a criticism that comes from a place of love and fondness for Mongoose Traveller. The OSR movement and their compact zines with easy to read bullet points and minimal exposition have won me over. What's more, some of the wildest moments in my home game for Pirates of Drinax come from randomly rolled or generated encounters that have sparked crazy moments of improv.

The interview talks about the modularity of all the systems and subsystems and that's definitely how I've run it, with only a very loose and vibes-based mastery of the rules that's a bit by the seat-of-my-pants and definitely erring on "rulings not rules" during the game, but out of the game I have a tracking Spreadsheet of Doom™ that I don't know if it actually adds any value to my game prep or not. None of the groups I've run games for ever cared to engage in speculative trade or freight or cargos. My Pirates of Drinax game -- which is more along the lines of Hobnobbing with Planetary Business Associations and Antiquities Dealers of Drinax -- barely engages in combat rules (space or otherwise) and I'd probably struggle to remember what the heck we were doing if we actually had a fight break out.

Thanks again for the interview!

All this about the OSR is one reason I love Classic Traveller 1977. It's very old-school design in the "rulings not rules" sense, but holy Spaceballs would it benefit from some OSR-style graphic and information design. I'm not as familiar with the Cepheus Engine stuff, but I'd be surprised if there weren't a few that modeled their stuff after that kind of visual design.

Mothership is a masterclass in just about every regard. Design, intent, form, layout, feel, etc. It just utterly nails everything. I especially love the death mechanic. Roll 1d10 under a cup. Only reveal it when the body is checked. Consult the chart. Chef's kiss.

 

[Koloth]

Have played Traveller since the 1st ed black bock set. Most of the folks I game with now have done enough of the Accountants in Space type games that we really don't want to do that anymore. I don't like doing my own taxes or balancing my checkbook in real life. Why would I want to run a set of double entry accounting books for ship finances in my escape from real life RPG? If we run Traveller now, we mostly hand wave away the finance side of things. If we have our own ship, we are under contract/assignment/etc from some higher authority that covers the basic expenses.

I think another reason why Traveller hasn't captured as much player base as D&D type games is a lot of player groups are murder hobos at heart and Traveller combat is very harsh and brutal toward murder hobos. Players don't want to deal with combat where their characters can die in one round from a rifle/laser shot from an untrained sci fi peasant.

 

[TrippyHippy]

Have played Traveller since the 1st ed black bock set. Most of the folks I game with now have done enough of the Accountants in Space type games that we really don't want to do that anymore. I don't like doing my own taxes or balancing my checkbook in real life. Why would I want to run a set of double entry accounting books for ship finances in my escape from real life RPG? If we run Traveller now, we mostly hand wave away the finance side of things. If we have our own ship, we are under contract/assignment/etc from some higher authority that covers the basic expenses.

I think another reason why Traveller hasn't captured as much player base as D&D type games is a lot of player groups are murder hobos at heart and Traveller combat is very harsh and brutal toward murder hobos. Players don't want to deal with combat where their characters can die in one round from a rifle/laser shot from an untrained sci fi peasant.

Well, that’s how Pirates of Drinax works. The PCs are gifted a state-of-the-art spacecraft that is in a state-of-disrepair, and given a licence to pirate with it! So, instead of them paying off a mortgage on their craft, they use their ill gotten gains to repair and enhance their craft (and then possibly build a fleet).

If you want to survive Traveller combat, then save up and purchase some powered armour. It costs a lot, but you can pretty much walk around a battle field like a W40K-style space marine.