Traveller: which is best?

[jeff37923]

Honestly, the version of Traveller that I use is dependant upon the players I have and what kind of campaign I am going to run. Each version of Traveller has its strengths and weaknesses, most of which have been listed above. I will say that lately I've been using Classic Traveller and d20 Traveller for games with background information supplied by GURPS: Traveller suppliments, extra gearhead and vehicle stuff provided by T4 and TNE, and adventure/plot path ideas from MT. Traveller is one of those games that is like a salad bar, you take what you like and then just leave the rest.

As long as you and your players are enjoying themselves, its all good.

 

[Shadowdancer]

That's not 1100 years, dude... The classic era is ~1100 Imperial, the rim war starts in 990.

Oops, my bad. Meant to type 110 years, not 1100 years.

 

[S'mon]

I have 3 versions - I started with TNE (which was unfortunate) then bought an ancient copy of the classic Traveller starter set, then Traveller20. The classic Traveller definitely exuded the most coolness; although a few rules seemed wonky it mostly had just the right level of detail. While TNE is the only version I've actually used, players never really seemed to enjoy it much. The setting lacks the openness & excitement of Traveller "go anywhere do anything", replacing it with tightly scripted "kill the natives & take their stuff" missions. The morality is a bit queasy too, since in TNE Killing The Natives & Taking Their Stuff is presented as unequivocally A Good Thing (and For Their Own Good). I'm fine with playing interstellar vikings but I don't like being told they're the good guys - with frequent reference to Kantian morality!

 

[S'mon]

Never, in any version of Traveller, have I been able to understand the starship combat rules. Must be my fault - the only Starship combat rules I 'get' are those in Star Wars d6; though D20 Future's treating starships as monsters seem workable if dull.

Traveller20 I bought eagerly but found uninspiring; it suffers from the over-detailness of 3e D&D in terms of stat blocks I think; I have trouble with 'typical' NPCs being 6th level with scads of hit points (stamina). The Stamina/Lifeblood mechanic I dislike; I did greatly prefer TNE's approach where high Initiative (Level) characters could take lots of hit points damage before going down, but still died at a fixed finite limit.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

It's not just you. I groan whenever it comes up. Thus, I try to avoid starship combat whenever possible.

Never, in any version of Traveller, have I been able to understand the starship combat rules. Must be my fault -

 

[Angel Tarragon]

I'm a fan of Traveller in all it incarnations. I have the MegaTraveller Boxed Set, which I bought at eBay about a year ago. It is a pretty neat system. I like GURPS Traveller for the Generalness of its info., and since I'm a d20 buff, I have T20 as well.

 

[Treebore]

If you can, do what I did, own the classic Traveller books, use its history and better ideas, and then also have MegaTraveller and use its rules set. However, Mega Traveller Combat rules are confusing for the spaceships. This confusion was greatly cleaned up in a MegaTraveller Journal issue. I don't know enough about todays online fan support to say where you could get theses rules clarifications and such, but they are out there. I also used to be a member, about two years ago, of a site much like this site that is dedicated to Traveller.

I can't help you with the rules myself, I just boxed up all my Traveller stuff this past Saturday for moving to Arizona. It will be months before I get that stuff back out.

 

[HellHound]

Just one MegaTraveller book isn't much use, there were three in the box set way back when. But anything you can't find in hardcopy will be available fairly cheaply on drivethrurpg.

I disagree here.

I played MegaTraveller for a year and a half using only the Player Book. Then I finally broke down and bought the others.

 

[Treebore]

Oh yes, GURPS. Get it. The starship stuff, most if not all, is statted out for the "classic" and MegaT versions. The other material is just great (idea generating) setting material. The GURPS system itself is pretty good, especially if you ignore what you don't like. Besides, you should notice a good number of GURPS mechanics that are adapted into 3E D&D. Can't be an all bad system if 3E stole parts of it.

 

[RFisher]

Personally, I love CT sticking--for the most part--to Bks 1-3 & leveraging other bits as desired. In particular, I'm using Citizens of the Imperium, The Spinward Marches, & Starter Traveller. (I find both Bks 1-3 & ST incomplete on their own. Together, they do the job, though.)

YMMV.