It's a classic I unforunately know little about, and in this thread I want to change it. The end result is to see if it's worth me digging up the cash to buy a copy. I know there a few Traveller fans out there so I appreciate your input. Tell me how Traveller works well as a game of space adventures, and what types of games they do best.

Well first off, there are a few different flavors of Traveller. I won't try to speak to GURPS Traveller or TNE, as they have slightly different mechanics. But for the purposes of economics and character moviations, CT, MT, and T20 are fundamentally similar.

The most common traveller adventuring models are the "small starship crew" or "small troubleshooter team" model. Characters are often motivated by money or making ends meet, and typically run into adventure-inducing complications along the way.

The "mercenary squad" is another common classic adventuring model, and a bit more rigorous/organized. Often, the players are retired military, soldiers of fortune, and the GM presents them with a number of "tickets" or job offers. Each job often has its own unique hidden benefits and complications.

If you want a great example of a longstanding traveller campaign, check out the Bray Keevan story hour over on ENWorld:

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=68150

Hail Caesar! Thanks for the link.

As for versions of the game, I was thinking of classic Traveller, which if This link is still correct, is available for purchase without having to find the little black books on ebay.
Am I right that in classic Traveller, the chargen is a random lifepath? Does that bring any particular fun to the party?

Quote from: JamesVAm I right that in classic Traveller, the chargen is a random lifepath? Does that bring any particular fun to the party?

Hell, it's often what brings most of the fun to the game. Adventuring parties can be pretty disparate groups, as elderly naval veterans travel with real greenhorns who've barely made it to the age of majority. You can have penniless drifters running around with noblemen, or retired scouts on detached duty allowing mustered-out space marines to work off passage aboard their scout ship.

Traveller was, and still is, the first RPG to really make its setting seem big and limitless. Supplements like The Spinward Marches and The Solomani Rim contain literally hundreds of worlds to which the PCs can travel, the details of which - government, tech level, atmosphere, etc. - are condensed down into a alphanumeric code.

Quote from: JamesVTell me how Traveller works well as a game of space adventures, and what types of games they do best.

Foundational Description of Traveller
Introduction to The Traveller Adventure - Traveller Introduction
Traveller Motivational Posters (original artwork used with permission by Bryan Gibson)

QLI's book 1-3 reprint is a nice handy version of Classic Traveller. It does require a lot of winging it, uses weapon vs. armor matrixes, and really inspires houseruling. Which worked for OD&D and look what that's spawned. :pundit:

Personally I prefer Traveller d20 for having the feel of Classic Traveller but being very complete ruleswise in one book. With previous versions I keep wanting to add in bits from more and more books and houserule until I'm better off just writing my own set. T20 covers all I need right out of the book.

Traveller focuses on playability first and foremost. It nods to science but puts players in charge. Works best for lower powered human focused campaigns with an emphasis on being heros not Heros. Power, influence, money and goods are the goals, not experience points and killing stuff. Combat is lethal and best to be avoided.

It does Millenium Falcon or Firefly very well, military campaigns, first contact (limited by the Third Imperium being very old and surrounded by other states), tomb raiding (two previous empires, an age of darkness, long gone Ancients), and to some extent political intrigue.

Foundation, H. Beam Piper, Hammer's Slammers, Pournelle, touches of Alfred Bester. Legend of Galactic Heros. Banner/Crest of the Stars. Cowboy Bebop. The game system has some assumptions about the universe that can be difficult to deviate from so it's not quite a generic space toolkit.

Don't be intimdated by the Third Imperium setting (which isn't in Books 1-3 anyway), it's really REALLY big and areas not directly covered in a book tend to badly random generated. Has a lot of material, printed and online, which is good and bad. Focus in on a group of worlds and don't add in all the major aliens at once. Keep it simple. Might be better off just generating a few worlds, a party, putting them on a ship and have a go.

Well, let's say this: Traveller is the exact opposite of things like star trek or Rifts. In each case the gadgest and technobabble rubber science overwhelms the characters and dominates the plot.

In traveller, the tech is very limited in most areas (Hell, an M-16 would be an effective weapon in most traveller settings) to keep the focus on the players, their decisions and a little thing we used to call roleplaying.

Also in traveller the situations tend to be more real. Instead of savind a planet, a world or the whole funcking universe like in trek or rifts, the players will usually be more concerned with making the monthly payment on their 30 year old free trader.

To kind of touch on what Casey777 said; not only do you need not be intimidated by the third imperium setting, you can easily ignore it all together. Traveller is quite easy to do homebrew with.

one thing- I have an unreasoning love for the game it was the second RPG I ever played and unlike the first, it still reside within my top five of all time.

If you run a game using Books 1-3 as Casey recommends, then I strongly urge you to go to eBay and get a copy of Supplement 4: Citizens of the Imperium.  It'll add some groovy basoc careers to the mix and probably won't set you back much.

Quote from: JamesVHail Caesar! Thanks for the link.

As for versions of the game, I was thinking of classic Traveller, which if This link is still correct, is available for purchase without having to find the little black books on ebay.

wow...and thanks for that link!  Haven't played Traveller since buying the original lil black box many years ago, and have fond memories of it.  ahh 'mustering out'...


-k

Quote from: jrientsIf you run a game using Books 1-3 as Casey recommends, then I strongly urge you to go to eBay and get a copy of Supplement 4: Citizens of the Imperium.

Also Book IV: Mercenary and/or Traveller's Aide #1 Personal Weapons of Charted Space (QLI). Mercenary adds lots of guns & some armor to books 1-3 but starts down the slippery slope of advanced chargen (more detail but more skills). TA1 is more focused on civilian weapons, usage, and ascessories. I consider it essential for T20 and useful for CT.

I see The Traveller Book as a coulda been perfect all-in-one book of CT. Rules, setting, adventure. But it didn't fold in the skills, gear, or extra careers post book 3. :mad: (and MT added in too much stuff)