No, that's not true. I did run a very brief Traveller: The New Era campaign when I was 15 or 16 but:
1. TNE is its own weird thing and doesn't feel like proper Traveller.
(Although I do quite like the updates it made to the setting. I think they restore a bit of fun OSR-type exploration and uncertainty to a setting that sometimes felt stale and static, and also sidestep around some of the issues regarding how real world technology has outstripped the predictions of 70s science fiction.)
2. I was teenager and had no idea what I was doing. It was equal parts Bablyon 5, Call of Cthulhu, and utter rubbish.
Anyway, I would quite like to play proper Traveller one day, and this excellent series of posts from Sir Poley on the "four table legs" of classic Traveller only makes me want it more. Go and have a read; they are very good pieces and make a lot of sense.
Those Sir Poley posts were pure gold, really nice explanations for someone (like me) who's never played Traveller.
ReplyDeleteThat mortagae-debt-travel-conflict loop feels eerily familiar as an adult...
(That was me!)
DeleteSorry for spamming, but reading Sir Poley's post(s) has piqued my interest in Traveller (once again). But what version is the best to start with? From Poley's posts, it seems they run Mongoose 1ed. I quite like the look of the original books (red letters, black background), and since I pick my RPG books like I buy wine, I'm gravitating more towards those books...
ReplyDeleteNo need to apologise!
DeleteI have a print on demand version of The Traveller Book, which is a sort of mini-Rules Cyclopedia-style compilation of early Classic Traveller material in a single hardcover (with the red and black design).
It's quite a neat little package with everything you need to get started with Traveller, but it does show its age in terms of layout and design. For example, it has what is more or less a universal mechanic (2d6, get 8+ to succeed) but doesn't quite realise it, so every skill explains that you roll 2d6 and try to get 8+ to succeed. It's fine if you can overlook that sort of thing.
Mongoose Traveller 1 is a modern (ish; it's from 2008) updating of Classic, so I think it's mostly compatible with older stuff but it benefits from 30+ years of game design, so this time it *does* have a universal mechanic. It has a bit more "stuff" in it than The Traveller Book, too, but nothing major. A few more careers, a more detailed trade system, and so on.
Mongoose Traveller 2 has been tweaked but is mostly the same as MT1, but this time they have abandoned the Classic design and it looks like a modern rpg in terms of layout.
Tim Brannan has a good look at the various different versions here.
DeleteGreat stuff, thanks for the link!
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