Traveller: which is best?

[HellHound]

As far as I'm concerned, Traveller hit its pinnacle rules-wise with MegaTraveller, by far my fave Traveller edition.

The MegaTraveller edition has a very workable rules set, but remains simple and consistent, and doesn't switch over to the GDW house system (a la Twilight 2000 second edition, Dark Conspiracy, Cadillacs & Dinosaurs, etc). This is an excellent rules set without being overly rules-light like classic Traveller.

For setting, I'm a fan of GURPS Traveller, actually.

 

[Tolen Mar]

Ok, thanx for the comments, keep'em coming.

One thing: I was asking about any edition...the two I mentioned are just the ones in the cheap binat the FLGS...given enough advice, Ill ignore them if the concensus comes up with a different one.

I gotta admit, looking over the TNE book, it just seems like something is missing...

 

[Ranes]

Little Black Books...

Okay then, here comes another one.

I've been a Traveller fan since lasers first flashed across the bow of Free Trader Beowulf and my favourite version is... the original. Having said that, MegaTraveller is a slightly better set of rules. But classic Traveller is flexible, easy and great fun (to play and collect).

T4 was a let down but it wasn't as bad as TNE. I didn't play GURPS Traveller, because I don't like GURPS but I've sometimes been tempted because of the way it treated the original ('core', if you like) Traveller setting.

There are always some Traveller sets - for various incarnations of the game - for sale on Ebay but, unless you're into collectibles, I'd splurge out on the re-prints by FFE (so you can get all the rulebooks in one). If nostalgia means nothing to you, MegaTraveller might be more satisfying. It's a matter of personal taste, obviously.

Somebody else mentioned 2300, which I also liked, actually. But you can't build a ringworld with it.

 

[Shadowdancer]

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.

I'm curious what you think makes T20 unplayable. It's just D20 with some rules changes to cover the science fiction setting, and to make the combat more deadly and more realistic, which is in keeping with the setting. I play it on a regular basis, and have never found it to be unplayable or close to it. Far from it -- it is very playable and very enjoyable.

Also, T20 is set a little over 1,100 years prior to the Classic Era -- during the start of the Solomani Rim War -- and in another section of the Imperium not fully developed in other versions of the game. Basically it's on the other side of the Imperium from the Spinward Marches, the setting for much of Classic Traveller.

As others have stated on here, my favorite version of Traveller is Classic, but that might be nostalgia talking -- it was the second RPG I learned to play, and the first science fiction RPG. It was also the first game in which I was the GM, or Ref, full time and planned the whole campaign.

I like MegaTraveller as well. Alot of its books are still usuable for background and flavor. I'm not very familiar with TNE, but what I've seen of it I have not been impressed with. T4 has a good setting, but bad mechanics, and all of its books were poorly written and edited, from what I remember.

I like the GURPS supplements for detailed fluff. Alot of the books are just background flavor, and we still use them when we play T20.

T20 I like, and play on a regular basis: a PbP game which is chronicled in the storyhour linked in my sig and a FtF game. Because of some poor choices in the character design sequence (using the same names for classes and careers, which causes some confusion), creating your first character can be problematic. But the versatility of the setting and the rules make it a very fun game.

One of the great things about Traveller in any of its incarnations is that if you don't like the "default" setting, you can always create your own. And it gives you the means to do that.

 

[T. Foster]

MegaTraveller is my favorite overall Traveller ruleset, but it's pretty complicated in a couple areas (combat and craft design specifically) and IMO works best with some of the simpler rules from the original edition (now called Classic Traveller but back then it was just Traveller) ported back in. I'm willing to grant (in much retrospect) that the designers' intentions were honorable, but IMO TNE was a huge botch -- the rules were kinda Traveller but not quite, and so was the setting. IME this edition is most popular among people who either never knew or didn't really like the previous editions. Traveller 4 sucked -- it was billed as a "return to Classic Traveller" but was shoddy and poorly done in just about every possible way. GURPS Traveller is popular and of generally high quality, but it's GURPS -- and IMO is better suited to gearheads, tinkers, and 'setting historians' than actual players. Traveller 20 (d20 Traveller) is garbage (IMO, of course). Even if you like d20 (which, since you're posting here, you probably do) you'll probably find this game severely lacking.

My recommendation is to get as much Classic Traveller and MegaTraveller stuff as possible and mix and match it to suit your desired level of detail and complexity. Also check out the GURPS Traveller supplements -- if you don't find the level of detail presented in them excessive and unwieldy (which I do) you'll probably enjoy them.

 

[Tolen Mar]

Complexity isnt really an issue for me (when I think back on how many hours Ive burned playing Star Fleet Battles, the Tax..I mean Captain's Edition...), in fact done right, it is even more interesting to me if the system is a bit complex.

GURPS on the other hand is a decent game by itself, but I rarely get to play it. It remains the only game system Ive ever owned and DM'ed, but never played.

And T20...Does EVERYTHING have to be ported over?

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I have tons of the Classic Traveller black booklets, and we played it quite a bit way back when. I prefer that version simply because the adventures were bare bones, yet still were able to give you everything you needed to build an experience. Plus, the game was fairly easy to play, compared to other games of its time period. I also think that the bare bones nature of those old booklets makes them easier to use with other editions. I never really got into later editions, though I like T20 (but have yet to get a chance to play).

2300, while called Traveller: 2300 for a while, was really an entirely different game and setting. Absolutely one of my favorite scifi RPG settings. Spectacularly good sourcebooks/adventures like the Kafer Sourcebook and Ranger made the line very strong. I think that setting deserves reviving.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Thought I'd mention that the MegaTraveller players guide is avaliable for free over at DTRPG in watermarked PDF.

 

[billd91]

To build on what T. Foster posted, if you can find any supplements for MegaTraveller GET THEM! Particularly the Digest Group Publications ones. They are fantastic in providing rich detail of selected places in the Imperium as well is providing interesting insights into the rules they had a lot of input in devising.

Getting ahold of 2nd hand copies of the main rulebooks for MegaTraveller shouldn't be too hard from online used game retailers. They were fairly common. And you can supplement them with the old classic materials that have been compiled and republished as well as the GURPS settings books (just use the game rule content for ideas rather than specifics). The GURPS stuff gives you a good idea how the Imperium could have developed if Dulinor had not assassinated the Emperor.
Really, the most controversial aspect of MegaTraveller was the changes to the setting. It was hard for a lot of Classic players to take the Imperium cracking apart during a civil war. But it sure could drive lots of adventure hooks! And, it's also optional since you could set the time frame at many other parts of imperial history... with a bit more creative work.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

And T20...Does EVERYTHING have to be ported over?

Why not, if people want it? There's been so many different versions of Traveller that a d20 version seems natural to me, as much as a GURPS version does.