Traveller General--Generally Travelling Edition

>Is Traveller 5 still supported...

Define "supported".

Only one supplement has been released for use with it - a campaign featuring an interstellar circus - and the author died soon afterward. Nothing else has been released since.

>or has it run out of steam?

Pretty much. A players' handbook is supposedly in the works, but there have been fewer and fewer comments about that at COTI. There's a project slowly converting the Traveller Map entries to the T5 standard. There's been a few rumbles about ACS/BCS ship combat systems and/or game too. There's been little talk and less action.

Mr. Miller turned 70 this year and had a quadruple bypass around Thanksgiving. During a Q&A session at a 'con earlier this year, which can be found on Youtube, he told everyone he doesn't play anymore. He's writing instead. An AotI sequel is in the works, he recorded an audio book version of AotI, and he just finished editing a number of columns by the late Loren Wiseman.

That bit about Wiseman is telling. Much of the Miller/Traveller "inner circle" has died in the last few years. Wiseman, Lee, Mooney, Rancke, and others. Others like Chadwick and Harshman moved on with their own projects long ago and still others like Whitman can't be trusted with anything at all.

The future of the game is OGL releases like Cepheus Engine.

>>I remember it didn't review very well and it's been out of print for ages.

The reviews were skewed because people were expecting a game and not a game building kit. It was only physically printed via a Kickstarter effort.

>>Has anybody actually tried it?

People are using various bits and pieces of it. I haven't heard of anyone playing a tabletop session with it.

Thanks, I will.

I want to buy some physical books to use at the table. Are any of the MgT 2E supplements essential? High Guard seems to be the most useful. Others like the Central Supply Catalog look just as easy to use in PDF format.

Physical books? If you go with MgT2e you will need High Guard 2e. Mongoose followed their usual business practices by ensuring the 2e "core" book wasn't complete. Anything beyond those two is good enough in pdf.

Start small and stay that way. There's 40+ years of canonical materials and supplements out there. Your game can drown in it all. Classic wrote about how a subsector can provide years of play. That is still true. Add only what you really need and think twice even then.

All those years ago, the game was designed for sandbox and homebrew play. Keep that in mind and make the game your own. Make it fun for you and your group and ignore all the rest.

Thanks for the great advice. I think I'll start with the Starter Set's adventure from the trove to get us all familiar with Traveller, then take it from there.

I run Trav intro sessions at my FLGS most months. The biggest issue I've seen D&D/d20 players have with Trav are A) combat and B) skills. Combat is lethal no matter what a PC's skills or experience may be. That's why I generally run a "lite" stand alone session first, something like Classic's Death Station or Chamax Plague. I use pregens at first too and for a couple of reasons.

1st, chargen involves many decisions about careers, skills, etc. If you're only familiar with the fighter, thief, cleric, magic user tropes, you often get analysis paralysis with Trav. Playing a pregen PC first lets you see what different careers and skills amount to and make better choices during later chargen.

2nd, because combat is lethal, I don't want new players to lose their first ever Trav PC. A pregen is a nice test drive PC, they don't need to worry about breaking it. If their pregen dies, they can swap over to another quickly.

3rd, using pregens lets me jump right into playing the game. We don't spend 30 minutes or an hour in chargen. We start playing and learning right off the bat.

You're starting with an existing group, so you're going to want to do things differently. Sitting down as a group and running chargen together could be a good way to start. You as the GM may need to keep reminding them about careers/skills they may want to take.

>a campaign featuring an interstellar circus
So I'm getting a campaign idea here, and it involves a LOT of space juggalos, juggalettes, and other juggalophonts.

>chargen involves many decisions about careers, skills, etc. I

Classic's chargen does not. You pick what career you hope to get into, find out whether or not you get in, then your choices are "which table do I feel like rolling on?" and "do I try for another term?"

...I am intrigued, go on

...

Is the archive link broken or is it just me?

works fine for me, remember, snip.li is case sensitive

The Master Archive went down a while back. There was a DMCA and Mega blocked my account. I've got a new account and I'm working on fixing it.
Snip is temporarily pointing to a backup archive someone else made while I try to reup 18 gigs at ~60-90kbps, and maybe see about reordering things. I need to go over that backup archive and see if he's got anything I'm missing, too.

who'd report it?

I don't know for sure since the email site I made that account with closed down. I kept meaning to switch the email on my Mega account, but procrastination overwhelmed my feeble defenses. (New account has a less obscure mail address attached, so I'll have less to worry about on that front)
I assume the DMCA was on something in one of the other smaller archives I ran.

what else did you run, out of interest?

I would like to run a Stronzium Dog campgain. I figure I should use Traveller since there is a setting book. Never run Traveller before.
Which edition should I go for?

The setting book references 1st ed so it would be easier but I cannot deny that I like the look of 2e.

Any thoughts?

Would it help you if I had imported the whole shebang into a burner mega, and merged your incoming folders in case something happened? Could save you an upload.

Specifically, taken 7/11

Yes, it would, and I've thought about doing so, but see my previous post re: procrastination's might.
Actually it occurs to me I could have saved a great deal of upload time by importing the other guy's archive first - Mega skips upload on files that are already present elsewhere in your storage -- but it's almost done uploading now anyway.
I just have to rifle through the other archive for any missing things and then decide if and how I'll reorder anything before I put my archive back on-line.

b64 - aHR0cHM6Ly9tZWdhLm56LyNGIVJlSUhDSlRhIW4ySzN4Tm9SNWV2WVJPYi1ZUEFxeHc=

The very book you posted the image of is the Mongoose Publishing Strontium Dog RPG, it has the Traveller rules baked into it so you can just use it whole cloth. It works fine

I ran a handful of minor Troves for stuff like Fiasco, Burning Wheel and a few others, which I'm not putting back up because they were mostly done to fill reqs on the PDF share thread, and because other people have subsequently done a less half-ass job on them.

I also do the Two Hour Wargames Stockpile, because nobody else was doing it and I think THW is pretty cool.

Thanks, user!

gonna put the 2 hour wargames trove back up? they sound cool, based on what I read about them

That was the first thing I put back up, right after I swapped the /Traveller link over to the other guy's archive. It's at /TwoHourWargames.

thanks

>Classic's chargen does not.

MgT's does and the conversation you jumped into involved MgT2e.

>>The setting book references 1st ed so it would be easier but I cannot deny that I like the look of 2e. Any thoughts?

There was a small doc in the Archive discussing the changes between 1e and 2e. FWIU, you can use 2e with Strontium Dogs without any problems.

>There was a small doc in the Archive discussing the changes between 1e and 2e.

I thought I had it on my laptop, but no

...

>I think THW is pretty cool.
Same.

I'm less of a huge fan of the systems than I used to be, but they do put out some cool stuff regularly and I've sent Ed a whole bunch of money over the years. He's one of my top five rpg/wargame/campaign publishers these days, along with Ivan wossname of FiveCore/Five Parsecs from Home fame. "Fame."

Thanks, user. I misplaced my copy.

Did someone acquire the new updated Traveller Bibliography?

Someone is selling one? You can find that info for free at the Traveller Wiki.

They mean this: drivethrurpg.com/product/229568/The-Traveller-Bibliography

>Massively expanded from the previous edition, this (the 3rd edition) contains nearly 2,000 items and every era of Traveller, alternate universes and even Cepheus Engine

>It has four indexes (author, date, publisher & title) and in the future we hope to bring you even more detailed subject indexes (although this PDF is, of course, fully searchable). Hopefully it will help fans know what’s out there (albeit some items are long out of print), which books connect with others, and where to find those obscure references to ships, worlds or adventures.

>A bulleted list of the main contents (separate components, as well as what's in the main publication, including rules, ships, main characters, etc.)

>We hope this will be a valuable addition to every Traveller's bookshelf, whether you want to find the origin of an obscure Traveller text, learn what freebie was distributed at the UK TravCon convention in 2010, or search for which book has the details of a particular world or subsector.

Actually sounds kinda useful if you want to look up something specific or cross-reference things, but it's not a product I particularly need.

Fifteen bucks?!!? Holy shit...

And to think, it was out of date the moment he finished it.

Collinson has no fucking shame.

Well, they are saying they'll update it, and a lot of Traveller nerds prefer older material... and I know from experience that assembling something like that well is a hell of a lot of work for a tiny audience.

The target market is about three people. I don't think "no shame" applies when you know you'll sell fuck-all copies and never make back a fraction of the hours you spent.

That said, I'm still not buying it. I can handle my preferred Trav ('79 edition of books 1-3, supp 4) myself, and don't give a shit about the canon or post-book 5 ship designs.

>I know from experience that assembling something like that well is a hell of a lot of work for a tiny audience.

>>I don't think "no shame" applies when you know you'll sell fuck-all copies and never make back a fraction of the hours you spent.

Which is why you do it for yourself and not because there is a possibility of selling it.

Not too long ago a project like that would have been shared freely on the TML or at COTI.

Collinson is fucking shameless.

You and me both, user, you and me both.

So I heard a while back that some sort of robot handbook was supposed to come out for MgT2e, but it's nowhere to be found in Mongoose's release schedule. Was it chanceled?

I have been reading the pdf and you still need the Core, hence my request for help deciding.

You find both 1e and 2e core in the Archive. A kind user has also posted the "Mongoose Traveller changes" pdf.

Download all three, look them over, and make up your mind. It's your game, it's your call.

Thanks I’ll look for the pdf with the edition changes.

Will do.

Please let us know which one you choose and why.

We can add that to the "Getting Started" pdf and help out some future anons with the same question.

Is the general trove up? I tried 3 different browsers but it gets stuck at loading. (I’m on mobile btw)

The snip li is working here, I've got it pointed at the other guy's archive until I get mine back up. I'm not on a mobile device though.
Check your mail, perhaps? I had that spin-forever problem when they blocked my previous account.

My bad I had not tried the snip. Works fine.

>it was out of date the moment he finished it
Why? All mongoose does is re-hash classic stuff, mostly, and Traveller5 is all but dead

Thanks for the temporary redirect, user.

...

I've seen Chadwick's "If I were king..." game mentioned before, but no details other than the name. Makes you wonder if it was an ACKS system decades before ACKS. Miller's own "Companions of the Road" sounds fascinating too. Again, there was seemingly no development past the "messing around in house" stage.

GDW absolutely LOVED D&D. Miller and others have mentioned how they had to make a rule banning it's play during working hours because nothing was getting done.

It's also interesting that Miller back then had already noticed what Jeffro Johnson wrote about in his recent book "Appendix N"; That any gamers hadn't read any of the books which inspired both the designers and design of the game they were playing.

...

...

...

...

...

Traveller, like D&D, is like a sewer. What you get out of it depends on what you put into it.

Like we say in the sewer: "Time and tide wait for no man."

Shawn Driscoll has grown into a decent artist, but is a petty little shit in person.

Well that's a shame

I'm looking to GM my first game of Traveller tomorrow. I plan on starting in medias res, the Travellers will all be aboard a TAS space hotel, in a convention room full of high society types, celebrating Space Christmas. Bad guys disguised as caterers will pop out of the kitchen, blast a few people & blow the observation windows. While everyone is gasping in the Thin atmo they will pile all the valuables into a crate & Chuck it out the window. A passing ship will grab it & take off. Bad guys will extract the same way. Players will be in the room & can react however they like. Hopefully they foil the robbery & if not they can get a job tracking them down. Does this sound coherent? What is the minimum equipment needed to survive thin atmo for a short time & then throw yourself onto a getaway ship? I was thinking pressure sleeves & masks. Easy to smuggle in & change into. What items should the players have access to in the room themselves? They will be dressed for a party, not combat. Should breather masks drop down from the ceiling etc?

bit of an odd metaphor

...

Jumpspace is full of phlogiston

the snip unfortunately has a wrongly named MgT2 Core rulebook in it. It downloads the "Lunion Shield Worlds" book instead. Do you happen to have an ETA for your reupload?

"Meet George Jetson..."

Norton once talked about winning money in a "floating crap game" while at work. I always wonder how that got past the censors.

Never met him, wouldn't know, still like his art.

>Does this sound coherent?

Not in the slightest, but it only need make sense to you and your players.

For example, your "idea" about a ship just "passing by" betrays a conceptual problem many of those new to Traveller have in that you can't quite grasp how BIG even "small" ships actually are. I've attached a comparison chart from Project Rho which might get the idea across. The Type S scout is #42, the space shuttle #41, and a 747 jetliner is #14.

Something that size isn't going to be "passing by" a JTAS banquet room. Nor will a banquet room on a world with a thin atmosphere have windows which are so easy to blow out.

As for the atmosphere, Traveller's "thin" atmo codes (4 & 5) require no equipment while "very thin" (2 & 3) only require compressors. You don't need suits until your drop to "trace" and "none" (1 & 0).

If the planet's atmosphere requires it AND if the infrastructure is as shoddy as you suggest, people will carry most likely carry rescue balls in "fanny packs" wherever they go.

None of this matters in YOUR game however. All you need to do is make the session fun for YOUR players.

Yeah, my first thought was it's either some wanker in a type s/type j doing something very stupid, or far more likely, an air/raft.

All that matters is whether YOUR players will question the situation as presented. Some people won't even notice let alone be bothered and some people will immediately go OOC to complain about the implausible nature of it all.

You know your players better than anyone here, so only you can know which way they'll go.

And before anyone asks:

0 - Human
1 - Horse
2 - School bus
4 - Millennium Falcon
38 - ISS
39 - X-wing
40 - Eagle (Space 1999)
43 - Serenity (Firefly)
44 - Arleigh Burke DDG

Can't place 5 & 36 off the top of my head, but I'm sure some other user will.

I have no idea what 5 is but 36 is the Rocinante from the Expanse

Thanks, user. I'm ashamed to admit I haven't watched "The Expanse" yet. I want to binge it and haven't found the necessary time.

It's the first good scifi (that's actually scifi and not some current year with gadgets thing) show in recent years in my opinion. Killjoys is decent though it won't be something that I rematch often, dark matter was cheesy as shit so no wonder that got cancelled.

>I have no idea what 5
Some googleing reveals it's the rocketship "Polaris" from the 1950's comic strip Tom Corbett — Space Cadet.

>It's the first good scifi (that's actually scifi and not some current year with gadgets thing)

Arrrgghhhh... now I regret putting off watching for as long as I have!

Definitely do it, it is really good. The books are also absolutely worth reading, in my opinion better than the series actually.

Thanks, user.

And thanks again, user. I didn't know there were books too.

They blow the windows with military grade explosives
The crate has a propulsion jet on it to get it clear of the station
My "idea" is a space heist, the ship isn't "just passing by" its a getaway vehicle.
I've played Traveller for a long time. Just running for the first time now. Wanted a second opinion on the differing levels of atmo the players could experience, the room will vent, but not all that fast & how badly that would effect the guests in the room. & also the range of emergency measures the hotel could have

>And thanks again, user. I didn't know there were books too.
6 of them by now actually. The series so far covers events of the first and second book, but not in the same order they are presented in the book - which is a good thing, in my opinion, since it increases the enjoyment of reading the book after watching the series (or vice versa).

>Never met him, wouldn't know, still like his art.
He has a bunch of YouTube vids if you really want to view a couple of Veeky Forumss worst stereotypes in action.

I wandered into a Barnes and Noble a few weeks back looking for these. Found only a set of trade sized overpriced floppybacks with substandard cover stock. I'll pass for now.

Indeed the show does good in it's deviations. The timeskips in the books would not really work in a tv series so an accelerated story progression is good for this medium. And since the writers are on board with the show it's done in a way that could honestly have happened in the books themselves.

That said I'm not sure how the skip between book 3 & 4 should be handled as those events I can't see happening on an accelerated timeline.

>They blow the windows with military grade explosives

They're carrying weapons AND explosives around on an orbital station despite customs, sensors, monitoring, etc.? Okay.

>The crate has a propulsion jet on it to get it clear of the station

So no one and no sensors notice several armed guys carrying a crate is actually a rocket pack? Okay.

>My "idea" is a space heist, the ship isn't "just passing by" its a getaway vehicle.

Vehicles and ships aren't kept away from the habitat portions of the orbital station where the TAS hostel is located by traffic control, regulations, and other methods because no one wants to risk any "bumps"? Okay.

>Wanted a second opinion on the differing levels of atmo the players could experience, the room will vent, but not all that fast & how badly that would effect the guests in the room.

The TNE core book has a good discussion on blowouts, decompression, physiological effects, etc., etc. You may find it helpful.

>>also the range of emergency measures the hotel could have.

Other than using traffic control and other regulations to keep ships and other vehicles away from that part of the structure? The personal rescue balls already mentioned plus X number of rescue balls in each compartment, air hoods, etc.

All that really matters is what YOUR players find fun and plausible. Different groups have different needs and can suspend their disbelief at different levels. If I tried to run the bank robbery scene from "Heat" on an orbital habitat let alone what you've described my players would immediately drop into OOC and call me on it.

All that matter is what YOUR players need and want. Go with it. They'll either play through or call you on it. If the latter happens, you make a few fixes on the fly and keep playing.

Good luck!

>He has a bunch of YouTube vids if you really want to view a couple of Veeky Forumss worst stereotypes in action.

Okay, now I just HAVE to watch them!

>The timeskips in the books would not really work in a tv series

That's one of the reasons why I believe Traveller hasn't made it on TV, apart from that "stealth" Trav show "Firefly".

Having a 168 hours "down period" every time you move between systems is a hell of a narrative "skip" to work around.

It worked pretty well in Firefly, which, to my knowledge, also doesn't have FTL travel. Hell, even Game of Thrones did it (multiple times) - skipping travel time where nothing happens is pretty common afaik.

I framed my question to give someone a reasonable explanation of what was going to happen. A Cliffs Notes version. You gotta be an asshole about it that's fine.

The crate obviously has a way of getting out away from the station. The air/raft, ships boat or Scout Ship is not hanging right outside with its window down. Yes it enters a restricted zone but people are dying & explosives have gone off so I don't think its gonna be a concern to tipping off security.

I meant things like vacuum shutters that come down after a window breaks, or if it makes sense to have rescue bubbles etc. stashed under the tables or such.

Well my upload finished yesterday, though with some files missing due to Mega's upload thing crashing.
Still, between that and the merged folder from a kind user earlier, I've got 99% of everything back in now. I'm doing a final upload of all the folders, which will skip over anything that's already present and only upload the last few missing files.
I should be able to have the whole thing up this afternoon. Once I've got a decent amount of stuff ready I'll switch the snip link over.

In the meantime:

#!M3JGFb7K!zNzUqJYaVmrw7k9tMSQH0a7C9EXKykubrgStgae3GpA

That's the black and white print version. I thought I had the color one too, but I don't see it. I'll have to check and see if it's misplaced or something.

Many thanks! I actually found it in a different MEGA in Da Archive in the meantime, but your effort is definitely appreciated!

Even Star Trek consigns boring travel time to the space between episodes. It's a writing challenge, not a death sentence.