Traveller is a classic science fiction system first released in 1977...

They aren't dead. I was just there checking the title of a broken pdf.

Always use the snip li links because the mega sites get a DCMA every so often. So:

snip DOT li /Traveller

calm down, im uninvolved in it. i just wanted to keep it alive as it had 0 replies and i can't stand that the board is filled with irksome nonsense. but i'm certainly not getting involved if its playerbase is filled with pretentious trash who think they are better than others.

The "Incoming Jan 15" folder in the Archives has an interesting pdf titled "A Star For Queen Zoe". While the material is very poorly written and the sandbox campaign plot it presents badly constructed, the idea behind that campaign is one well worth borrowing. If you've ever read Jerry Pournelle's "King David's Spaceship", you'll recognize the idea: A recently recontacted world needs to accomplish some feat which will grant it a better bargaining position vis a vis the interstellar empire.

In Pournelle's book, the world needs to launch a ship into orbit in order to qualify as "space-faring" and thus avoid being colonized and having off-world nobles appointed to rule it. In the "Queen Zoe" campaign, a monarchy on the recently recontacted world of Essex needs to establish an off-world colony to avoid being forcibly unified with a rival on-world monarchy the interstellar empire has decided to support.

The ace up the Queen's sleeve is an ancient scout ship a party of polar explorers in her service discovered a few years ago. The ship and it's base have been studied, a few crewmen have been more or less trained, and the rest of the exploration party needs to be filled out by the players. The interstellar region around Essex completely unknown to people there. The "map" is entirely blank apart from the hex containing the Essex system and it will be the players' job to fill it in while finding someplace where Queen Zoe's kingdom can setup a colony.

While the idea is an excellent one, the materials describing Essex, it's history, and it's politics are very poor. So poor, in fact, that you can use various tables in rules like SWN to quickly replace Essex and it's details with something far better.

I'm glad I didn't pay the few bucks the pdf sold for because it is quite wretched. I'm also glad that the sandbox campaign idea in the pdf can be easily 'ported into a better setting.

>That hasn't been part of the game since 1981

Odd. I have a core rulebook with a 2008 date and it has a whole sub-section for dying during character creation (Injury Crisis).

>it's another That Guy chases people out of Traveller General episode

Thanks, this should be a good time sink for the near future

IF HE DOES IM GOING TO KEEP BRINGING THIS GENERAL UP EVERY FUCKING DAY I SWEAR TO GOD

Won't change anything. The loser clearly likes Traveller a lot, but he also likes to play the bully in the sandbox, probably because his dad didn't love him enough or some dumb shit.

ill finf him and [REDACTED]

So my gaming group wants to play Traveller, but we are new to the system and the character creation is a little blurry for us. Can somebody more experienced tell me how it works step-by-step?

Literally the only thing we could figure out for certain was that you can't ride with a Career without succeeding on a roll.

Which edition are you doing? There are differences between them.

The latest one I guess. Black cover, 2008, and Mongoose?

If you're super lazy there are various chargen utilities for the different editions. Other than that, I'd find a PDF of the edition you have and print the character creation sections to make a cheat sheet.

>Direct link:
Link doesn't work?

That's MGT 1e, a very popular edition. Did you read through the chargen example in the core book? The checklist on page 5 should help, too.
Is there anything specific you didn't get, or just the whole thing?

If the latter, we could roll up a character right here.

The OP text hasn't been updated since the last DMCA strike, use the snip link.

I'm actually super annoyed. Like, we really can't wrap our heads around it, no matter how hard we try. Some help would be deeply appreciated.

Yeah, try this a few times. When I first started it made next to no sense for me but after rolling a few characters on this, the process clicked.

munsondev.com/chargen/

>Oh hey traveller, I've heard of that.

>ALL THESE PDFS!

Jesus Christ... where the fuck do I start?

Try the helpful Getting Started with Traveller pdf, located in the root folder. Assembled by some of the more helpful anons around here.

Here's the checklist. Where are you guys getting lost?

>Odd. I have a core rulebook with a 2008 date and it has a whole sub-section for dying during character creation (Injury Crisis).

Read the section again. You only die if you choose not to pay the money and you can "pay" the money by starting the game in debt. It's a way for you to ditch a crippled PC you don't want to waste anymore time on.

In the original '77 version, when you failed the roll the PC were dead. Period. No choices, no medical debts, nothing. It really sucked if you wanted to be a belter!

On the other hand, Mongoose Core page 40. Death in chargen has been an optional part of the game ever since it was taken out of core.

>Death in chargen has been an optional part of the game ever since it was taken out of core.

The key word being optional. It wasn't optional at first, but it's been optional for nearly 40 years.

The original idea was that players needed to risk death to load up on skills. Traveller wasn't going to have levels and XPs. GDW loved D&D but didn't want to slavishly copy it. They wanted their game not only to be a different genre but also be different mechanically. RPGs were also played very differently in '77 than just 5 or 6 years later. Rulings, not rules, were the standard. Also, what players wanted waas going to change and what they wanted was more skills, stats, etc.

Memes and derping aside, death in chargen has been optional for decades now so it's no hurdle for play.

>death in chargen has been optional for decades now so it's no hurdle for play.

Nobody said otherwise, though, so I'm not sure why you felt the need to rattle on about it.

>mega.nz/#F!lM0SDILI!ji20XD0i5GTIUzke3iv07Q

mea link is gone

The OP text hasn't been updated since the last DMCA strike, use the snip link.

(Well, this is one way to keep the thread bumped, I guess)

I'm on a mega binge all night. Stuff that mega cloud drive and take a walk for snacks

>use the snip link

What's that? The third time now?

MgT's "Pirates of Drinax" campaign got a lot notice in last year's generals. Is anyone running it now or run it recently?

#MeToo

i never heard of it and i'm been dropping by TG for 5 years

It's been all the rage in the PDF share thread over the past year. Snip li lets you create easy-to-remember redirect links so when a DMCA takedown hits, you just reupload and swap the link over. The snip link stays good no matter how many times the thing it's pointing to goes down, provided somebody's there to put it back up again.

Yeah, the snip links have been godsend for the share threads here and elsewhere. There were a flurry of DCMAs a little over a month ago which took some huge troves, but the "curators" were able to slowly recover it all while the snip links kept everyone pointed in the right direction.

All this music and the synopsis are making me super intrigued. How should I start reading through the rulebooks? Or should I start with something different?

I'd recommend giving Agent of the Imperium a read. It's good, and I don't mean "good for an RPG tie in." Like actually well written SF.
It's way above the level of what I'd consider a playable campaign, though. It's more like super secret agent adventures at the highest levels of interstellar government.

If you want to read a rulebook, Classic and Mongoose are the big two. Pick one and have at. (I'm partial to Classic. The Traveller Book is really nice)

>How should I start reading through the rulebooks?

Look at the "Getting Started" document first, choose which version you think you'll like, and start with it's core book. It's really that simple.

Tried a character, looks pretty fun.
Guess I'll have to check those pdfs now.
Worth bumping.

Santa Maria 16 GB wtf

Yeah, it's a big library. You don't need to check out all the books though, just browse and see what catches your interest.

The mega link seems dead to me (phone user)

Hey there, I've been working on a traveller setting for a while but I just recently started putting it down. Its not much but I'll bet you can guess my influences/shit I shamelessly ripped off. Give me some feed back yeah?

docs.google.com/document/d/1TW3lz9khf8YUwJPMfINviuQKDBmGrkP6j-ukY_8dzmc/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=100169895645685315720

If im going to be putting these generals up im going to endeavor to clean up the copied stuff and actually use a su ject next time

...

>The mega link seems dead to me (phone user)

Read the thread next time and use the snip DOT li link.

Hmm... let's see...

- You certainly crammed in as many tropes as you could!
- The various populations seem insanely high. Two billion people on Mercury alone?
- There's no FTL which can be fun. See Orbital in the Archive.
- What is it that your players will actually be doing? I see a lot of cyberpunk/noir action. There are plenty of RPGs more focused for that kind of play than Traveller.

>Santa Maria 16 GB wtf

You only need a tiny fraction of it as the "Getting Started" document explains. Choose a version, d/l that version's core book(s), and then only add what you really need.

No one uses all of it. No one can use all of it. Even the people paid to keep track of all of it have a hard time doing so. It's like D&D. No one uses Holmes, AD&D, 3.5e, Pathfinder, and 5e all at the same time.

I'm not complaining. Just briefly taken aback.

I didn't think you were complaining. I just didn't want you to drop the game when you came face to face to all the "lore" - what Traveller calls canon.

It's not WH40K. You don't need to pay attention to the canon at all. While some setting stuff is baked into the rules, like jump drive and no FTL radio, all the rest can be easily ignored. The game was designed from the beginning for what we now call sandbox play. The official 3I/OTU (think Blackmoor or Greyhawk) didn't even exist for a couple years after the rules came out. Over the years, GDW did make a mistake in wrapping the rules and setting together. You never needed to use the setting however.

One of the best parts about CE isn't the fact that it's OGL, but the fact that it has left the 3I/OTU behind.

This one is good, thank you!

>EMP Blackout event
>Epstein Drive
>TITAN crisis

You are doing God's work, user.

...

Imagine the tides that planet must have. I'll be even the ground flexes enough to be noticeable.

- Yep.
- Yeah, the populations are way off, I'm still working on my sense of scale.
-I'll check it out.
- Well for starters you can always run classic traveller action of just flying around and getting odd jobs ala Firefly. Everything beyond Mars is low controlled.
If you want more Western and less Space, you're looking at the Martian Outback.
There is currently a cold war going on between Mars and Earth, so plenty of political and spy intrigue.
If you're looking for a war campaign thats a bit hotter, there is currently a puppet civil war on Ganymede. It's space vietnam.
If you want something more exploration, Venus is 90% unexplored and is all uncharted outside it's major city. A few prison ships crashed there over 200 years ago and the convicts regressed into natives.
If you want something more alien and horror the exoplanets beyond the pandora gates have been the genetic playground for a massively intelligent alien AI and it left some toys behind.
If you want more survival horror those same toys have been left out in the badlands of Earth, it's also pretty Mad Max out there.
Also on Earth is that noir action you mentioned in the sprawl.

But that's only a few options. I'm still working on it.

Still not sure how this snip link works...can someone please explain?

Here you go, friend.

Out of curiosity, anyone ever tried to stat out any of the standard fantasy races/monsters in some version of Traveller (other than GURPS, I guess)?

How'd they work in gameplay?

Anybody got the updated version of Outer Veil by Spica Publishing?

Stupid fucks published the same UWP's on two different subsectors.

What size class would you call a 500 ton ship?

Haven't seen it yet. I gotta say, it sucks that the first printing is bad, but I wouldn't be so hard on them. Sometimes shit happens.
But I'll admit that if they made a habit of fucking up like this over and over for twenty years the way Mongoose has, I'd be less forgiving.

/DropOff is now up on snip li, so folks can send me Traveller PDFs.

I'm also accepting PDFs for Fiasco and Two Hour Wargames.

...

Hey folks I'm looking to get into Traveller and wondering what books to buy since there is a sale on at drivethuRPG. Don't have much experience in RPGs but almost 20 years back my father and his friend ran a game and let me play. So I'm somewhat interested in getting into it and starting a group. So if anyone could point me in the right direction, I'd be much obliged.

See the "Getting into Traveller" PDF in the Library, and maybe download a couple of books and give 'em a skim to see which ones you might prefer to use at the table.

>Stupid fucks published the same UWP's on two different subsectors.

That's nothing compared to T4 and Mongoose. Spica is going to have to fuck up several products over several years to catch up.

>What size class would you call a 500 ton ship?

Class depends on role and not size.

Excellent news and glad to see you back.

...

>Excellent news and glad to see you back.

Oops, that was meant for

>500 tons

It is between an Assault Gunship (400 tons) and an Escort Frigate (600 tons). So fast attack or patrol craft if military or medium auxiliary if civilian.

>It is between an Assault Gunship (400 tons) and an Escort Frigate (600 tons). So fast attack or patrol craft if military or medium auxiliary if civilian.

It's between a Patrol Cruiser (400 dTons) and a Missile Corvette (600 dTons). It's also between a Subsidized Merchant (400 dTons) and a Subsidized Liner (600 dTons). It's just slightly larger than a System Defense Boat (400 dTons) too. So, what is it? Cruiser, corvette, trader, liner, or boat?

A ships's class is determined by it's role, not it's size. Traveller was created by wargame designers who were by necessity autodidact historians. They knew that size doesn't equate equating class.

>So, what is it? Cruiser, corvette, trader, liner, or boat?

Neither, that's why I said it would be a fast attack craft (missile corvette), a patrol craft (patrol cruiser, SDB), or a medium auxiliary craft (subsidized ships). If it is around 500 tons then it is most likely one of these three.

>If it is around 500 tons then it is most likely one of these three.

What if it's a commercial design rather than the military or paramilitary designs you assume?

Medium auxiliary. A big courier, a salvage ship, stuff like that. Purpose-built ships that do some sort of side-job that does not require a lot of tonnage in terms of equipment and gear. It is a fickle class, but I can't remember a lot of ~500 tons civilian ships from the top of my head.

>>Medium auxiliary.

Auxiliaries are paramilitary.

>>A big courier, a salvage ship, stuff like that.

Jump6 couriers the military and megacorps use. The IISS has the 400 dTon Donosev-class too.

>It is a fickle class

Once again, size doesn't equate class. Role does.

>>but I can't remember a lot of ~500 tons civilian ships from the top of my head.

Check the archive. There are dozens across all versions. Their size doesn't classification them. What they do classifies them.

>Auxiliaries are paramilitary.

Obviously, it is not in a military sense. But if it is confusing to you then call it medium subsidized.

>Once again, size doesn't equate class. Role does.

Yes, that's my point too, but the two (role and size) are interlinked. There ain't many 1000 ton fast attack crafts, so to speak.

>Obviously, it is not in a military sense.

All auxiliaries are paramilitary by definition. They may or may not be subsidized.

>>But if it is confusing to you then call it medium subsidized.

I think the confusion is on your part. You don't seem to understand what the terms paramilitary, auxiliary, and subsidized mean. You also seem to believe 500 dTons is somehow "medium" when it fits within a bracket formed with the two smallest subsidized designs in canon; the 400 dTon trader and 600 dTon liner.

>>Yes, that's my point too, but the two (role and size) are interlinked.

Not in the way you seem to believe. A certain role, or mission if that makes it more understandable for you, requires certain capabilities. Those capabilities require certain equipment which in turn require a certain volume which in turn mandates a certain size. Despite this casual link however, the 400 dTon Patrol Cruiser and 60K dTon AHL Frontier Cruiser are still classified as cruisers because they're meant to operate independently. Role, or mission if you prefer, determine class. Not size.

>>There ain't many 1000 ton fast attack crafts, so to speak.

Yes there are. They're called heavy SDBs and there are several versions of them from 1000 dTons on up.

Planning on picking up the Vehicle Handbook for you guys since it doesn't look like we have it. Beofre I do so does anyone know if

drivethrurpg.com/product/127805/2300AD-Hard-Suits-Combat-Walkers-and-Battlesuits

Is compatible? And if so do we have it in the mega?

The mega already has the MgT2e Vehicle Handbook.

Also, the mega only has the GDW versions of 2300AD so anything from the Mongoose version would be great.

I must have missed the Mgt2e Vehicle Handbook.

So that's the Mongoose version I posted above? Is it compatible with the base system?

>I must have missed the Mgt2e Vehicle Handbook.

It happens. There's a lot of stuff to scroll through.

>So that's the Mongoose version I posted above? Is it compatible with the base system?

There's no "base" system. It will be compatible with Mongoose's stuff and, seeing as more people are probably using MgT than any other version, it will be a great addition.

Do you happen to know when the sale will end? I'll make the buy of both
drivethrurpg.com/product/127805/2300AD-Hard-Suits-Combat-Walkers-and-Battlesuits

and

drivethrurpg.com/product/109366/2300AD-Tools-for-Frontier-Living

But I'll have to do so after I get back from school.

Sorry, I don't know when the sale ends, but thank you anyway for buying both books. I'm certain many anons will get excellent use out of them.

Screw it, I just bought them now just incase the sale decided to suddenly end. Just tell me who to send them to and I'll do so after class.

Do me a favor and give me feedback on my shitty little setting, I fixed some of population numbers I messed up. Should be a bit more believable now.

>mega.nz/#F!lM0SDILI!ji20XD0i5GTIUzke3iv07Q

Thanks for the advice.
link is dead, OP.

Sorry. Link is dead.

Woo, four times in one thread! Use the snip dot li link instead, that Mega went down months ago.

>link is dead, OP.

As previously explained in
and
use the snip link.

>Just tell me who to send them to and I'll do so after class.

The Librarian created /DropOff snip link for donations and thank you very much.

>my shitty little setting

It isn't shitty so don't call it that. It looks like a helluva lot of fun. I'll take a peek and get back to you tomorrow, okay?

>Woo, four times in one thread!

Six now.

does anyone have "Vast Imperium, Bold Travellers" from the online JTAS?

I think - think, mind you - that a very recent FFE kickstarter offered the entire online JTAS run as a stretch reward. If so, the files should show up soon.

that would be wonderful

Attached here and sent to /DropOff is a slightly updated version of "Getting Started with Traveller."

I removed the direct links to the troves leaving just the snips, fixed a typo, and made a couple of minor word changes.

So happy that people are finding this useful.