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.

 

[kronovan]

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.

I own 5 different flavors of Cepheus Engine and the approach to graphic design varies a lot. I will say, none of them have the production quality of Mongoose Traveler 1e, which the CE SRD is based upon. Of those 5, for the 3 that are close to the MGT1E/CE SRD, Stellegama Publishing's Cepheus Deluxe would be closest to an "OSR-style graphic and information design" - OSR style graphics definitely seems to be an influencing factor. While Moon Toad Publishings CE crb is devoid of any graphics whatsoever with a very utilitarian design, but remains my favorite flavor due to the quality writing, good organization and adhering closer to the SRD. Zozer's Hostile Rules crb -a CE edition tailored to their terrific Hostile setting- would be the closest to a more modern graphic and design style.

That said, they all to some extent have a fan-made, done-on-a-budget look to them - Hostile being lesser so than the other 2.

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

I was a kid in the 60's and became a young adult at the close of the 70's. I can say the Fantasy genre was very much overshadowed by SciFi at that time. For TV we had original Star Trek on every day, Battletar Gallactica and Space 1999. At the theatre we had 2001, the return of Star Trek in 79 and of course the blockbuster Star Wars in 77. There was Planet of the Apes at the theater too, but you could argue it was SciFi as much as Fantasy - I consider it Fantasy SciFi. Even for novels, while there was some well-selling Fantasy series like the Conan continuations, Narnia and LotR, there was far more SciFi. Other than the Ray Harryhausen Sinbad movies, I can't recall much memorable Fantasy at the cinema. Albeit, Burrough's Tarzan was popular for saturday matinees.

As a teen in the 70s, I was craving and asking about anything Fantasy or SciFi. Despite having some quality bookstores in my city that stocked a dizzying number of pocket books, I never had Vance's Dying Earth, Borough's Pellucidar, Norton's Witch World, Lieber's Fafhrd & Gray Mouser or Morcock's Elric pointed out to me. I did however have Azimov's Foundation trilogy, Niven's Ringworld, Herbert's Dune and Clarke's many novels recommended. Martin's GoT, Cook's Black Company and Thieves World, among many other quality Fantasy series, hadn't arrived yet. There's no arguing LotR was a block buster - many folks had the unlicensed Ace Publishing print, it got lent around and it often came up in conversations. It wasn't that old though, having only been published in the late 60s and The Silmarillion which came out in the late 70s disappointed many fans - personally, I ate it up.

I actually think the sucess of D&D was in part due to the lack of the Fantasy genre in the different media. While not a novel series, a TV show (least not until 83), or movie, it still filled a void for a genre that was lacking. It also wasn't all that clear in the late 70s that it wasn't based upon LotR - first time I sat down to an AD&D table I just assumed with elves, dwarves, rangers and dungeons that sounded like Moria, that it was about Middle Earth. Then there was the demonic hysteria around D&D in the mid 80s, which at least in my area did nothing but make it more popular. In my recollections, it was the 80s that was the big decade for Fantasy, as we had Excalibur, Conan, lots of Sword & Sorcery movies and many new novel series.

That a SciFi based TTRPG like Traveler didn't share the same success as a Fantasy one is somewhat perplexing to me, considering the popularity of SciFi when it debuted. On the other hand, it had a lot of other SciFi media to compete against. I didn't encounter Traveler until the mid 80s, despite being a regular player at a college gaming club that had TTRPG tables. And even then it was in a campaign that mixed AD&D1e with Gamma World and CT - yes our club had some GMs with weird ideas, but thankfully the skill to pull them off.

Anyhow...didn't want to side track to much. Traveler has been a bit there, then and now for me. Having 1st encountered it at the above mentioned club, but then not experiencng it again until the early 90s. At that 90s session a player died during PC creation and I wondered if it really was a RPG for me. I really came to regular Traveler player play due to my disappointment with the Battletech RPG - A Time of War. One of my players mentioned that Traveler was similar - also claimed it was inspired by Traveler.

So...with Mongoose Traveler 1 being the current edition then, I browsed the book, bought it and it's the edition I've run and played the most. I've since moved on to MGT2E. I've mostly homebrewed in the Foreven Sector of the Traveler verse, with campaigns featuring heavy metal like Mechs in ground-based action and lots of courtly intrigue and politics like the Battletech verse. That hasn't proven to be so easy though and I arrived at a point where Traveler and it's 3rd Imperium setting and focus didn't seem like a very good fit. Cepheus Engine on the other hand, with it's massive library of 3rd party companions and supplements has proven well suited to it and its what I now use the most.

 

[overgeeked]

So...with Mongoose Traveler 1 being the current edition then, I browsed the book, bought it and it's the edition I've run and played the most. I've since moved on to MGT2E. I've mostly homebrewed in the Foreven Sector of the Traveler verse, with campaigns featuring heavy metal like Mechs in ground-based action and lots of courtly intrigue and politics like the Battletech verse. That hasn't proven to be so easy though and I arrived at a point where Traveler and it's 3rd Imperium setting and focus didn't seem like a very good fit. Cepheus Engine on the other hand, with it's massive library of 3rd party companions and supplements has proven well suited to it and its what I now use the most.

Of the Mongoose editions, I liked 1E because it at least looked and felt closer to the original. Of the various editions over the last almost 50 years there’s nothing I’ve seen that will pull me from the original 1977 Traveller. It’s just too streamlined, too light, too open of a system. Everything since just seems to want to remove everything I like about the original. Add clunky rules, add more clunky rules, close things off, make a rule for everything, etc.

 

[kronovan]

Of the Mongoose editions, I liked 1E because it at least looked and felt closer to the original. Of the various editions over the last almost 50 years there’s nothing I’ve seen that will pull me from the original 1977 Traveller. It’s just too streamlined, too light, too open of a system. Everything since just seems to want to remove everything I like about the original. Add clunky rules, add more clunky rules, close things off, make a rule for everything, etc.

It's not doubt easier for me to embrace the Mongoose editions...Other than 1 session and the brief campaign I mentioned in which Traveler was 1 of 3 rules used, I have no connection to the earlier editions. I did browse a print version of Traveller5 around the time I was looking at MGT1E, but TBH I couldn't make much sense of it. IIRC it was the organization, writing and layout that turned me away, but might have been something else I'm not recalling.

I've mostly played MGT2E via VTT and I quite like some of the changes, like the new skill ladder. I've also noted that Stellegama's Cepheus Deluxe devirges from the SRD and implements a similar ladder. The 2E vehicle rules were also stronger than the previous edition and the MGT2E Vehicle Handbook is quality stuff. That's important for a Referee like me that wants to have lots of ground unit action in the mix. It's probably safe to say I have an uncovential use/approach to Traveler, so modern takes on the rules possibly suit me better than other editions.

That said, Moon Toad Publishing Vehicle Handbook for Cepheus Engine is a perfect fit for my needs and a terrific book. It's the book that supports my hunger for ground action the best. Albeit, it adds a fairly heavy level of crunch, but most of my players are also Battletech minis fans, so it's not really a problem.

 

[TrippyHippy]

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!

You do have the optional ‘iron man’ rules, where any failed survival rolls in career development is character death. Also, of course, you can just limit the number of Terms served and take note that some careers (military) are more dangerous than others.

I did have a problem with some players doing the interminable character generation through multiple terms in some of my games, but they can actually come unstuck in the following game-play. For example, I advised players to opt for hardy characters in the build up to a Pirates campaign, but one player ignored that and chose to create an ageing player (in their 70s) before they stopped generating. The character was highly knowledgeable (a Doctor of Medicine) but ageing rolls had reduced all his physical stats to very low scores. If the very first combat of the first session he was killed. The player was a bit resentful, but he was warned.

 

[Endie]

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.

Funnily enough, at the end of tonight’s Pirates of Drinax session I said to my group, converts from 5e, “you’ve only had one fight in twelve sessions, are you ok with that? Is it frustrating you?” There was a general “wow has it been that long?” response then they pointed out that they could get into a fight any time they liked, but that combat was a last resort. I was so proud of them…

 

[Parmandur]

Funnily enough, at the end of tonight’s Pirates of Drinax session I said to my group, converts from 5e, “you’ve only had one fight in twelve sessions, are you ok with that? Is it frustrating you?” There was a general “wow has it been that long?” response then they pointed out that they could get into a fight any time they liked, but that combat was a last resort. I was so proud of them…

Amusingly, given what a hardcore bunch of classic wargamers the folks ast GDW were, Traveller really did provide the poaaibof non-combat gameplay in a very revolutionary way at the time.

 

[TrippyHippy]

Amusingly, given what a hardcore bunch of classic wargamers the folks ast GDW were, Traveller really did provide the poaaibof non-combat gameplay in a very revolutionary way at the time.

I think this is true of a lot of aspects of Traveller design - they quietly revolutionised aspects of play through quiet inference rather than explicit fanfares.

We always get people suggesting that the game doesn’t have an experience system, when it has always had a system included for training skills and developing characteristics. The difference is that characters had to choose to actually do things to develop, rather than just get abstracted XP and Levels. Character generation created actual narrative back stories for characters. Similarly, the game implies a troupe style play, to be able to crew up bigger spacecraft. None of these things were explicit, but they were there (as long time fans will tell you).

 

[pemerton]

the game implies a troupe style play, to be able to crew up bigger spacecraft.

When I started a Traveller game in 2017, I took the advice of one of the early White Dwarf Traveller authors - I think Andy Slack - and had each player roll up two PCs. For some of the players this lead to a main/secondary approach, although for one or two of them both PCs have been "mains".

The group has also picked up more characters along the way - to crew their ship and for other reasons - and some of these "NPCs" have really become parts of particular players' "positions". Although because they are still notionally NPCs, as GM I have the authority to occasionally mess with them in ways that I wouldn't with a PC.

 

[payn]

When I started a Traveller game in 2017, I took the advice of one of the early White Dwarf Traveller authors - I think Andy Slack - and had each player roll up two PCs. For some of the players this lead to a main/secondary approach, although for one or two of them both PCs have been "mains".

The group has also picked up more characters along the way - to crew their ship and for other reasons - and some of these "NPCs" have really become parts of particular players' "positions". Although because they are still notionally NPCs, as GM I have the authority to occasionally mess with them in ways that I wouldn't with a PC.

That is an interesting idea and you could even link events between the main and secondary Traveller. For my last PoD game I made up a handful of NPCs to round out the ship crew in case somebody bought it and wanted to use one or at least to finish the session.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Boxed Traveller set is yet another RPG treasure that I really regret giving away when I "quit" RPGs around 1990.