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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Psion" data-source="post: 5316873" data-attributes="member: 172">Greetings!By way of gaming resume, I'm an old Traveller hand that started playing back in Classic. I also picked up Mongoose Traveller (MongT for short, please, as MT implies MegaTraveller! Great game, but a different game!) and ran a very successful campaign under it. Here's a summary I wrote up over on the Citizens of the Imperium forum:<a href="http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=18081" target="_blank">Mongoose Traveller Mini-AP - Citizens of the Imperium</a>It was a lot of fun. It did drive one thing home though (as you will understand if you read the log): the combat strength of the group varies HIGHLY with makeup of the group, which is why I let the players make a second group of characters once I knew that some fierce combat was in the offing.I'd decide up front what sort of game you wish to play,  the playstyles targeted by the skill package you gave the characters under the skill package rules to make sure you don't overwhelm them.Traveller characters have a variety of skills but are rarely omni-competent. I think the best way to handle this is to provide multiple "paths to success" for any problem you throw in their way.The adventure path did touch on some points earlier posters touch on:My experience is that Combat Armor is where armor starts to get too good for most readily available weapons in MongT. However, I think the balance between armor and weapons gets a bit better if you pick up the Central Supply Catalog. (While I'm recommending books, let me say 760 patrons is another great book, loaded with NPC ideas and plot seeds.)Grenades can be pretty deadly as well; be aware of the "dive out of the way" rule.Other things to watch out for/consider:1) The "Mercantile Player": Some players quickly discover that with some good skills and shrewd deals, their character can earn cash quickly through the trade system. The problem is that flying around playing Papers & Paychecks is boring for the rest of the group.In my group, I insist that all trade calculations be done away from the table. Other things you can do is make every trade a chance for adventure. If players start spending most of their time trading, make the adventure about the trading, and add complications EVERYWHERE. Have players run into teamsters when offloading their cargo. Have passengers that cause problems or raise suspicions (a good tool here: <a href="http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=20573&it=1" target="_blank">http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=20573&it=1</a> , check out their other offerings, too), etc.2) Making your own worlds? Meh. Depends on your tastes. I would at least consider starting out with the published Traveller setting unless you are already jazzed about rolling and interpreting worlds.Personally, I really like Gateway to Destiny (for Traveller d20), but it's probably a bit hard to find in print these days, as I beleive QLI no longer has a license to put out Travellr stuff.But Spinward Marches is a classic, and there is a Mongoose book for it. It's by Martin Dougherty, who IMHO is the best Traveller designer out there right now. I'm not real fond of the subsector maps in the book, but I understand there is a map pack for it which may be better (I don't have it):<a href="http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=56953&filters=0_0_0_0" target="_blank">Spinward Marches - Mongoose | EN World PDF Store</a><a href="http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=79661&filters=0_0_0_0" target="_blank">Spinward Marches Map Pack - Mongoose | EN World PDF Store</a>3) MapsMaps can be loads of fun in Traveller and help players to visualize the situation (and for you to create scenarios).One type of map I think players find particularly cool is the ship map. It gives them something tactile that gives them a sense of ownership.Unless you like making maps yourself or scrounging stores/websites for old Steve Jackson and other vendor floorplans, I'm not necessarily talking about full mini-scale maps. On trick I did is to get the Traders and Gunboats supplement and printed out ship maps (8 1/2 x 11 size) for players to scrutinize and roam around in, and laminated them so we could draw on them with wet-erase marker:<a href="http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=59403&filters=0_0_0_0" target="_blank">Supplement Two: Traders & Gunboats - Mongoose | EN World PDF Store</a>4) Old materialsOne advantage of Traveller is it has a long history and a pretty high level of compatibility. With the exception of The New Era, most editions have a pretty good level of compatibility with MongT. Even T20 is highly compatible except for the characters. So once you've examined the basics, if something interests you, there is a lot of extra material you can plug into out there.5) Other supplements.The base book is a good starting point that should keep you in good stead for a while. As mentioned above, the first supplements you may want to plug into are:Central Supply CatalogSpinward Marches760 PatronsTraders and GunboatsThe "Book X" books are overall pretty mixed, but get better as they go along. High Guard and Mercenary frustrated me the most, but if you want to play the sorts of game targeted by the book (High Guard for Navy, Mercenary for Mercenaries, Agent for Espionage, etc.), there is still useful info in there.Overall, you have less to fear from letting players make characters from supplements than you would in D&D. I'll go on record saying that the large ship combat rules in High Guard are really not good compared to predecessors. Ug!Well, I've rambled on enough. Traveller is an old favorite and I could say lots about it. But that should get you started. Have fun and good look.In closing, I'd say pay special attention to point #1. Seriously. It's the #1 complaint I hear from people who have had bad experiences in Traveller.</blockquote>

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