How to make Traveller more popular with TTRPG players
- Thread starter MarcusIII
- Start date
In any case, I do think Mongoose is doing a good job with core Traveller. It's a thankless job to keep a nearly 50 year old game fresh, and I have always been impressed with how they stayed centred on Classic Traveller, while incorporating the best elements of later editions. A better thought out version of the MegaTraveller task system, a more evolved and streamlined version of Classic, MegaTraveller and TNE character creation.
But that doesn't bring in the new players much. I'm possibly the WORST person demographically - I'm in a small minority whose first RPG was 1977 Traveller, when I was 14 in 1980, with no one to show me the ropes. I devoured those three black books. It's in blood so much that d20 or percentage systems have always seemed odd. 3D6 vs target ones like HERO or GURPS feel far more natural.
However, even with all that, I can see it's not about the mechanics much. Yeah, d20 is King, but dice pool is popular, Savage world style is popular, Cthulhu is popular despite being both percentage and non-Fantasy. I seriously doubt many that try the Traveller skill use or combat system are confused by them.
Probably the real sticking point, or perceived sticking point, is what has been mentioned earlier in the thread - up front character generation, instead of the more common incremental progress as a game reward for success. Traveller is not the only game that has this - the Superhero ones mostly do it that way. GURPS characters are commonly older ones, although that IS a matter of player choice, and only marginally effects character design. Nonetheless, ongoing growth is fairly slow, comparable to Mongoose Traveller... but allowing you to have a 20 year old with superior stats and skills. And of course, those games aren't exactly topping the charts either. All the popular games are ones where success in play is directly rewarded with experience, either as a value to increase level, a currency to spend, or by having the skills used successfully levelling up.
And it's also what players expect from non-tabletop RPGS. Almost all of them with progression are "play the game, succeed at stuff, get better at playing the game". Not "play the game, succeed at stuff, stay the same unless you take time out to train up". The only major counter example I can think of is EVE Online, which uses a real time skill training queue unconnected by what you do in the game. Not coincidentally, EVE is a very Traveller-like game. Although ELITE - which has no skill up system at all - is a closer match.
But that doesn't bring in the new players much. I'm possibly the WORST person demographically - I'm in a small minority whose first RPG was 1977 Traveller, when I was 14 in 1980, with no one to show me the ropes. I devoured those three black books. It's in blood so much that d20 or percentage systems have always seemed odd. 3D6 vs target ones like HERO or GURPS feel far more natural.
However, even with all that, I can see it's not about the mechanics much. Yeah, d20 is King, but dice pool is popular, Savage world style is popular, Cthulhu is popular despite being both percentage and non-Fantasy. I seriously doubt many that try the Traveller skill use or combat system are confused by them.
Probably the real sticking point, or perceived sticking point, is what has been mentioned earlier in the thread - up front character generation, instead of the more common incremental progress as a game reward for success. Traveller is not the only game that has this - the Superhero ones mostly do it that way. GURPS characters are commonly older ones, although that IS a matter of player choice, and only marginally effects character design. Nonetheless, ongoing growth is fairly slow, comparable to Mongoose Traveller... but allowing you to have a 20 year old with superior stats and skills. And of course, those games aren't exactly topping the charts either. All the popular games are ones where success in play is directly rewarded with experience, either as a value to increase level, a currency to spend, or by having the skills used successfully levelling up.
And it's also what players expect from non-tabletop RPGS. Almost all of them with progression are "play the game, succeed at stuff, get better at playing the game". Not "play the game, succeed at stuff, stay the same unless you take time out to train up". The only major counter example I can think of is EVE Online, which uses a real time skill training queue unconnected by what you do in the game. Not coincidentally, EVE is a very Traveller-like game. Although ELITE - which has no skill up system at all - is a closer match.
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Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
The Terrans developed Sildenafil.
Micky
Emperor Mongoose
Studio Cat
Cosmic Mongoose
This is why the Solomani are always so cocksure in their, attitude......
actionman
Emperor Mongoose
Absolutely right.
Absolutely right. Excellent quibble.
Counter-quibble:
The Terrans developed Jump 3 and meson guns before the Ziru Sirka or any other group. These Terran advances, severe political and social strife within the Ziru Sirka, and the general ineptitude of Vilani strategy and leadership is what killed the First Imperium.
The Terran Confederation had about 27 worlds by the later period of the Interstellar Wars. For many of the Interstellar Wars, it was Terra and its colonies against only the resources the Vilani provincial governor decided to deploy. What Terra considered 'wars', Vilani provincial governors considered 'engagements' or 'punitive expeditions'.
There was a civil war in the Ziru Sirka between the first and second wars with Terra.
Vilani fleets operating near Terra were at the end of their logistical chains.
Terran diseases devastated numerous Vilani worlds between the Third and Fourth wars between Terra and the Ziru Sirka.
The Vargr only became a problem on the Vilani coreward frontier after the seventh Terran-Vilani war.
The Vegans revolted against the Vilani, giving the Terrans a powerful stronghold in the rimward province.
Only after nine wars with Terra did the Vilani emperor send a massive fleet to crush Terra once and for all. This fleet, the bulk of Vilani fleet power, was destroyed by new Terran meson gun armed battleships. After this loss the Vilani were on the defensive until the Ziru Sirka fell.
I completely agree. I consider the Solomani to have been similar to the British in India or Africa. Many Solomani populations would've been completely assimilated by much larger Vilani populations during the Long Night, or remained distinct Solomani populations in instances where there was a viable Solomani population to sustain itself if it did not assimilate. Only in regions closer to Terra, where Vilani worlds were depopulated by Terran plagues, would there be majority Solomani populations or mixed Solomani-Vilani populations. By the time the Long Night ended, a "Solomani" in the former Imperial core would be a Vilani with a fraction of Solomani heritage, and would be unrecognizable to the Solomani of the Solomani Sphere.
