Traveller: which is best?

[Tolen Mar]

Once again, I have the opportunity to pick up some older used manuals at a cheap price, and among them are some traveller books. There are 2 Traveller: The New Era books and a Megatraveller book.

This got me to thinking: Traveller is one of the most revised games out there, with it seems a new version every coupla years. Which one is your favorite? If I were to start trying to collect traveller materials, which version should I focus on?

Of course, Id also like to know why you feel that way.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I'd go with the the "basic" Traveller boxed set over those two options. It's much more elegant, if simplistic. But I'm much more into rules-lite games these days, so I'm biased in that regard.

But between TNE and Megatraveller, I'd pick TNE. I think the whole world in collapse is a little more appealing. Plus, while TNE is rules-heavy, Megatraveller is even moreso.

 

[WayneLigon]

I would pick up the MegaTraveller book. If you can find it, the Starship Operations Manual is the gem of the MT edition. It really lays out what a Traveller starship is like, what it's like to run one, what it's like to live and work in one, etc.

 

[CarlZog]

I'd go with the the "basic" Traveller boxed set over those two options. It's much more elegant, if simplistic.

Seconded.

 

[Steverooo]

Personally, I'd go with the 2300AD rewrite of the Traveller 2300 rules, myself. Not the star-spanning empire of Traveller, but nice enough.

On the two versions mentioned, no opinion.

 

[billd91]

Did you say just one of the Megatraveller books? There were 3 in the core set, all paperback. You'd be better off with all 3 rather than just one.

That said, I'd still go with Megatraveller. It's much closer to classic Traveller but with a nice task resolution system that pretty easy to use.
TNE is my least favorite version of Traveller. Very much the wrong revision at the wrong time for the game. It's the first version that breaks radically from classic as far as the rules go. It's based on the old Twilight: 2000 game mechanics.
It also turned me off with its flavor. While Traveller has always had lots of military characters and focus, it used keep that in check as far as flavor went with the setting and writing style. TNE was much more blantantly militarized, even in its flavor text, and that turned me way off.

 

[Shades of Green]

Another vote for Classic traveller - sure, it's an old system, but a very good one. Try getting the "books 0 to 8 in one booklet" reprint version; it will get you all the expanded rules in one easy to get to package.

There is also a D20 version of Traveller (T20) - I haven't tried it out yet, though.

 

[trancejeremy]

I like Classic Traveller the best. The rules are light, but they do work, though character generation can be weird (which is either a plus or a minus, depending on your point of view).

Mega Traveller probably has better rules, but I never liked them much. And I disliked the setting - basically, they broke up the Imperium.

T:TNE basically destroyed the Imperium through a very very implausible (even for Traveller standards) plot device. I had a hard time buying it. But I liked the rules, being a fan of the GDW "house" system (they also used the rules in Dark Conspiracy).

Marc Miller's Traveller (or T4) was set before TNE, at the very founding of the Imperium. The rules were basically an inversion of the D6 rules. But not very well done, so despite being a fan of the D6 system, I found T4 to be unplayable.

Gurps Traveller suffers from being, well, Gurps. But has perhaps the best setting of all, one in which the Imperium never fell (so a continuation of the "Classic" era). Most GT are well done.

Traveller 20 suffers from IMHO, broken rules. Not unplayable, but IMHO, close to it. It's otherwise somewhat close to classic Traveller. I'm not entirely sure when it's set, as there wasn't much background material in the corebook, but I think it's the Classic era, just in a weird location. If I were going to run a d20 version of Traveller, I would probably borrow the SG-1/Spycraft rules.


(Also, as mentioned, 2300 is pretty good, but not actually Traveller. GDW just tried to cash in on the Traveller brand name)

 

[Psion]

MegaTraveller. It is basically a cleaned up version of the classic game, with a marvelously simple yet robust task system that is to this day one of the best I have seen. Scratch that: the best.

TNE scraps the imperium and replaces it with a wild west in space in which you get to be fascist empire builders. And the rules aren't as slick.

There is also a D20 version of Traveller (T20) - I haven't tried it out yet, though.

It's decent. Chargen is a little on the tedious side, but it's still a lot of fun. The big major plus I'd give it is the starship combat system. One of the best I have seen for a d20 space game. It gives almost all characters a role in space combat, and so nobody gets bored, and it's mapless (though there is an optional version that uses a map.) We ran it at GenCon last year and DC Enworld gameday last fall and it was a lot of fun.

 

[sjmiller]

Personally, of your two choices I would pick MegaTraveller over The New Era. Why? MT is not only a better rule set (in my biased opinion), but it is a much better overall background. I am one of those old-time Traveller players (started in 1979) who think that GDW threw away a perfectly good campaign background for one that is a sad and pale imitation. Heck, Marc Miller himself says that TNE is probably the worst incarnation of the game.

Now, personally, if I can pick from ANY version, I would pick the original, but that is completely for selfish nostalgia reasons.