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.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

If you want to survive Traveller combat, then

cheat. Have more than the other guy. Have it where the other guy doesn't expect it. Be where the other guy doesn't expect you. If even remotely possible, don't even be there at all. If you are in a fair fight, you have only yourself to blame.

 

[overgeeked]

cheat. Have more than the other guy. Have it where the other guy doesn't expect it. Be where the other guy doesn't expect you. If even remotely possible, don't even be there at all. If you are in a fair fight, you have only yourself to blame.

Exactly. Take all that underhanded survival at all costs experience from those dungeon crawling games and apply it here. Prepare. Drop a ship on their head. Rig the briefcase with explosives. Fight at long range from reinforced positions from behind cover. Etc.

The game's mechanics for combat are deadly, so avoid using them at all costs.

 

[payn]

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.

My players did have a very good time pimping out the Harrier ship. For Pirates of Drinax I made battle armour nearly impossible to get and no station was going to let you wear it anyways. The players never even tried to get it. Combat was like maybe every other session becasue there was so much more to do than murder hobo.

My players made a great comment about my recent run at PoD. Many of them had not played Traveller before. So, im not sure if its the system or my GM style (probably both) but they feel like the game is about exploring and investigating and when a combat finally breaks out, they feel like they earned it. I thought that was an interesting anyways.

 

[Koloth]

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.

The law level system in Traveller often limits the weapons and armor you can carry around town. Start a fight in a high law level bar and the PCs might be limited to high tech cloth and maybe a knife. The bar owner might counter with a shotgun or ACR. A 3 round burst from the ACR @ 3d6 per round will put down most cloth armored PCs in one shot. Not exactly the type of fight the murder hobo player wants. So they go back to D&D type games with the fully armed everywhere mentality and HP attrition mechanic. Not a fault with Traveller, but it isn't what a lot of modern players want.

 

[Gradine]

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.

Technically, you can still die during chargen in Mongoose Traveller, you just kind of have to try a lot harder to do it. But if you roll really low physical stats and end up stuck in prison? Yeah, you can die.

 

[Parmandur]

Technically, you can still die during chargen in Mongoose Traveller, you just kind of have to try a lot harder to do it. But if you roll really low physical stats and end up stuck in prison? Yeah, you can die.

Even in Classic Traveller, it was more of an escape valve than a "gotcha!" thing. And one of the earliest changes they made was to change "you due" to "the character is done and ready to go".

 

[BovineofWar]

Even in Classic Traveller, it was more of an escape valve than a "gotcha!" thing. And one of the earliest changes they made was to change "you due" to "the character is done and ready to go".

That's actually one of the complaints about Mongoose Traveller. The lack of lethality during character generation makes it more beneficial to serve endless terms before entering the game. I.e. Starting the game as a 8 term general or scientist emeritus with huge skills and collected wealth. A frequent house rule is automatical retirement after four terms.

I'm also in the middle of refereeing a PoD campaign and enjoying it. The whole gameplay loop is very different from the D&D style, much more exploration and emergent situations. Really enjoyed the interview, thanks for queuing that up!

 

[payn]

That's actually one of the complaints about Mongoose Traveller. The lack of lethality during character generation makes it more beneficial to serve endless terms before entering the game. I.e. Starting the game as a 8 term general or scientist emeritus with huge skills and collected wealth. A frequent house rule is automatical retirement after four terms.

I'm also in the middle of refereeing a PoD campaign and enjoying it. The whole gameplay loop is very different from the D&D style, much more exploration and emergent situations. Really enjoyed the interview, thanks for queuing that up!

5-6 career terms (38-42 years old) seems to be the average for my games.

 

[dragoner]

Even in Classic Traveller, it was more of an escape valve than a "gotcha!" thing. And one of the earliest changes they made was to change "you due" to "the character is done and ready to go".

It is also "player's choice" such as if they want to keep that character, or decide they aren't feeling it, and want to roll another.

In some ways the lethality of combat is overstated, low level D&D combat is just as lethal or moreso, though with Traveller, the character never levels up or gets more hit points, so day 1000 combat for a trav character is as lethal as day 1; that is the difference.

 

[Parmandur]

That's actually one of the complaints about Mongoose Traveller. The lack of lethality during character generation makes it more beneficial to serve endless terms before entering the game. I.e. Starting the game as a 8 term general or scientist emeritus with huge skills and collected wealth. A frequent house rule is automatical retirement after four terms.

I'm also in the middle of refereeing a PoD campaign and enjoying it. The whole gameplay loop is very different from the D&D style, much more exploration and emergent situations. Really enjoyed the interview, thanks for queuing that up!

They definitely tipped the scales more towards creating seasoned and experienced starting characters.

5-6 career terms (38-42 years old) seems to be the average for my games.

Yeah, honestly the fact that Traveller chargen comes up with hardened veterans with a life story is one of my favorite parts.