Getting started as a GM in Traveller

[mr_m0nks]

Hi guys, I have been thinking about getting a copy of Traveller and running a game or two at our local club but apart from the core rulebook, what other "essential" books are there?

My budget would be limited to maybe the core book plus one or two others so I would have to prioritise.

BTW I have no knowledge of any of the official Traveller settings

any ideas?

Ben

 

[AndrewW]

Nothing beyond the core book is essential. It depends on what you and the players are going to want to do. The various books beyond the core rulebook expand upon the career options anywhere from mercenary careers to robots (not yet out).

The alien modules cover some of the other races.

Supplements depend on your needs, you should be fine without those to start off with.

Then there's some published adventures which could be a starting point, though you can get some for free in Signs & Portents, along with some other Traveller material (ships for example). Might want to download some of the recent issues to take a look at the Traveller material in there, it might help you to get a sense of things.

 

[rust]

Hi guys, I have been thinking about getting a copy of Traveller and running a game or two at our local club but apart from the core rulebook, what other "essential" books are there?

None of the other books is essential, although there are three I would
recommend.

The Spinward Marches supplement would introduce you to Traveller's
most often used setting, so if you intend to use the Third Imperium for
your game, this would be a good start. On the other hand, if you plan
to use another setting or to design your own, you do not need it.

High Guard is an excellent choice if you intend to design lots of starships,
because it expands on the ship design system of the core rules and also
includes some errata for them. However, if you are not into ship design,
you do not really need it.

The Central Supply Catalogue describes all the equipment available in
a typical Traveller setting, although muc of it are weapons. If you and
your players are interested in all those useful gadgets and gimmicks ty-
pical for science fiction, this supplement is most useful.

As for all the other supplements, I think it would be best to start without
them, learn the ropes of the basic rules, and then to decide which of the
supplements fit into your campaign.

 

[rinku]

Welcome to the community!

Core rulebook is all you'll need as others have said. Other rules volumes really depend on what sort of game you plan to run; Agent for an espionage themed one, Merchant Prince for a trader one and so forth. However, these simply build on what is in the core rulebook and aren't strictly *required* - they expand a few careers and have extra rules and ideas based on their themes.

Mongoose Traveller is very compatable with the classic GDW version as well. There is a huge wealth of old adventures, supplements and so forth that you can still make use of, in addition to the Mongoose line, which are mainly still in print in collected form.

 

[Garuda]

If you're looking for a background setting then I highly recommend Terran Dawn. Everything on the site is free download material.

Terran Dawn

 

[Captain Jonah]

Hello there

I would suggest you try the beltstrike module, it contains a mini campaign with exploration, intrigue, ship action, ground combats, boarding action and more.

It is not setting specific so you can move from there to anywhere you like but as a startup adventure it allows you to run your group through just about every aspect of the rules and is a fine jump off point to spread into a full blown Traveller campaign.

It should take a while to run through which allows you time to get more books or to download all the free stuff plus by half way through your players should be hooked on Traveller and from there they will be joining the ranks of the fanatics Mwahahahahahaha.....

 

[zero]

Hi there, new member here, I've recently got hold of the Traveller Core Book in preparation for the upcoming Chthonian Stars supplement.

Ive been recommended the Central Supply Catalogue, but from the previews Ive seen it doesnt look like much new stuff has been added, is it worth the £25 for it or is the gear in the Core enough to get by in a game (the list is pretty expansive already IMO)?

 

[Stainless]

Welcome to the forums Zero.

It depends on how gear-driven your games are going to be. Yes, the Core Rule Book has enough depth and breadth of gear to get you by and you can always extrapolate a bit if you come up against the boundaries. If you find your group wanting more gear, then invest in the CSC, it's a good read. But keep in mind, no matter what source you choose, there will always be some incongruous equipment stats/descriptions, so be prepared to do a little massaging.

Hi there, new member here, I've recently got hold of the Traveller Core Book in preparation for the upcoming Chthonian Stars supplement.

Ive been recommended the Central Supply Catalogue, but from the previews Ive seen it doesnt look like much new stuff has been added, is it worth the £25 for it or is the gear in the Core enough to get by in a game (the list is pretty expansive already IMO)?

 

[Stainless]

Welcome to the foums Mr_m0nks,

Aside from books, there is a wealth of free stuff on the Net for Traveller.

For instance, my own MGT Combat Flow Chart may be of particular use for you and your players in getting your head around the combat system.

See this thread for links;

http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=44147

Also, you may find the MGT GM Screen very useful, although in my opinion, 50% of it is wasted by artwork where it could have been used for useful player-centric info (I suppose you can always pin photocopies to it).

Hi guys, I have been thinking about getting a copy of Traveller and running a game or two at our local club but apart from the core rulebook, what other "essential" books are there?

My budget would be limited to maybe the core book plus one or two others so I would have to prioritise.

BTW I have no knowledge of any of the official Traveller settings

any ideas?

Ben

 

[rust]

Ive been recommended the Central Supply Catalogue, but from the previews Ive seen it doesnt look like much new stuff has been added, is it worth the £25 for it or is the gear in the Core enough to get by in a game (the list is pretty expansive already IMO)?

If your group is interested in a wide choice of weaponry of all kinds, the
Central Supply Catalogue is most useful. However, it does not add that
much new equipment from the various other fields of technology to what
the core rules do already have.

 

[Hopeless]

Hi guys, I have been thinking about getting a copy of Traveller and running a game or two at our local club but apart from the core rulebook, what other "essential" books are there?

My budget would be limited to maybe the core book plus one or two others so I would have to prioritise.

BTW I have no knowledge of any of the official Traveller settings

any ideas?

Ben

First off what kind of game were you fancying?
By that I mean when you picked up the core rulebook and started thinking about running this at your club what kind of thoughts crossed your mind regarding the kind of game you'd really like to run?

It might not answer what books would be worth your while but as I found out in a couple of other threads I started discussing them here will really help!

For example I've been planning and recently test run a game based in the spinward marches where the x-boat route actually marked a series of Jump Gates (think Babylon V except more instantaneous and more based on a series of novels called the Lost Fleet) and the test run game merely marked when the Gates blew up taking a large number of the most advanced and populated systems including the resident government and its military.

You could also have this et on Earth or even Mars and have it be a Ghost in the Shell style series with them investigating a series of crimes that eventually lead to the season main villain or reveal who the real villain actually is.

There's absolutely loads of ideas you can use that this system can cope with.

I think I've gone a little too far and off the original topic of this thread, but I hope this helps!

 

[rust]

I think I've gone a little too far and off the original topic of this thread ...

Not at all, the type and style of the intended setting and campaign really
does determine which of the supplements will be useful. For example, if
the characters are Dumarest style space tramps, Scoundrel would be a
fine source, while Dilettante would not be of much use.

 

[Egil Skallagrimsson]

Hi Mr M0nks!

As someone who was in your position fairly recently, I agree with most of the posts above, i.e., you only really need the core book, everything else will be useful for some types of campaigns, but not for others, so have a good think about what the spirit and ethos of your game is likely to be.

I have bought most of the books, but interms of those we actually use, the core rules (a lot!) and the Spinward Marches (but only because the campaign is set there!). I found traders and gunboats and high guard useful as a source of ships, deckplans and ideas for vessels (that in some cases I then modified anyway), but, again, we do a lot of space flight.

At some point you will probably want a CSC, but read it through carefully and check which bits you want to use. Just introducing it wholesale and unmodified would throw up a mass of different interpretations, misprints, and some downright inaccuracies, compared to the core book.

On the various career books, including the career sections in High Guard, I have gone from being very keen to becoming quite agnostic, though full of ideas they tend to create over specialised characters, if I ever run a specifically naval game, will generate characters from High Guard, but for a more general game, the navy section in the core rules works just as well. Again, at some point have look at one of them, and see what you think.

The core book is all you need! Thereafter, it all depends on where your campaign heads. Increasingly I have found myself disregarding or re-writing a lot things in the other books anyway (have worn out several pencils on the CSC).

Egil

 

[mr_m0nks]

Thanks for the info guys, I should be getting my copy of the core book within the next week and then I will pick up the spineward marches (next payday).

BTW is there a brief synopsis of the spineward marches setting anywhere on the site? I couldnt see one apart from the basic description of the product itself



Ben

 

[hdan]

The Spinward Marches is a sector within what is called the "Third Imperium" setting for Traveller. It's the one that the guys who first wrote Traveller came up with, sort of a Grehawk for Traveller, if that means anything to you.

http://traveller.wikia.com/wiki/Spinward_Marches_Sector has some good information in it. Click on subsector names, and then on world hexes. Some of them are full of lots of data, others not so much.

Many people start play in the Regina subsector of the Marches (http://traveller.wikia.com/wiki/Regina_Subsector) since that was the first subsector published by GDW back in the early days.

There are MANY sectors in the universe, and Traveller has rules for (and encourages you to) make your own subsectors and worlds.

 

[rinku]

As a point, though, the basic rules have all you need to generate worlds and subsectors. Back in the day (c.1980) with only 1st edition original Traveller, we had no trouble just using the one subsector I rolled up, well before I got my hands on any of the supplements.

Typically one subsector is going to have about 40 systems - even if you treat a world as a city/nation-substitute, that a LOT of astrography from a practical gaming point of view. Even one detailed world is capable of providing as many plots and adventures as you wish it to (look at rust's Pandora campaign as a prime example).

 

[zero]

About the CSC, I'll be running a campaign or series of one-shots that wont actually go over TL 9 gear for the players (it'll be mostly TL 8 stuff at that). The feel I'm going for is an Alien-Event Horizon crossover, hard sci-fi tech, used look spaceships, that kinda feel.

There will be higher TL stuff shown, but it'll be mostly fossilised or generally just broken stuff from "Ancients".

I'd like my players to have a nice choice of gear, including armour and weapons, but if its mostly the laser stuff in the CSC, thats not what I'm after.

 

[Hopeless]

About the CSC, I'll be running a campaign or series of one-shots that wont actually go over TL 9 gear for the players (it'll be mostly TL 8 stuff at that). The feel I'm going for is an Alien-Event Horizon crossover, hard sci-fi tech, used look spaceships, that kinda feel.

There will be higher TL stuff shown, but it'll be mostly fossilised or generally just broken stuff from "Ancients".

I'd like my players to have a nice choice of gear, including armour and weapons, but if its mostly the laser stuff in the CSC, thats not what I'm after.

Would Babylon V supplement have anything along those lines?
Would Traveller 2300 be more appropriate?

 

[rust]

Would Traveller 2300 be more appropriate?

At least I would very much recommend to take a look at this one:
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=418&it=1&filters=0_0_40050_0

It has lots and lots of comparatively low tech equipment, the equipment
is described quite well, there are illustrations of all the equipment (nice
to show the players what stuff actually looks like), the stats are not dif-
ficult to translate into Mongoose Traveller terms, and with a price tag of
only 5 USD it is really affordable.

I have used this quite often for my own settings, including my current
Pandora setting, and consider it one of the best materials available for
"mid tech" settings.

 

[mr_m0nks]

Thanks for the link hdan i will check it out when i have a free minute



Ben