New to Traveller? Some tips...

[RogerN]

More helpful hints from a old Traveller grog:

1. Don't worry whether or not you are always on-point with the lore of the game. The Official Traveller Universe is literally as old as Greyhawk and there's a lot of stuff in there. Don't worry if you see us old grogs arguing about this point or that. It's what we do but at the end of the day these are just our opinions. There is a phrase we use a lot on the board here, 'IYTU' and 'IMTU'. It means 'In Your /My Traveller Universe'. How you play Traveller [or any other game] is gonna be different than the way I do it. That's. Just. Fine. If it's fun for your players, do it. If you want the Imperial Marines to look like Killer Clowns from Outer Space [with Fusion Rifles], have at it and enjoy.
2. Once you gather your players, take a moment to read your audience. Some players are gun nuts and want to blast their way through the universe, others want a 'heist movie' a'la Ocean's Eleven. The Q and A for this will take up much of Session Zero.
3. I'd suggest setting up a sandbox. Pick a subsector... any subsector where the majority of planets are J-1 or J-2 from each other is good.
4. If you want to use the OTU for your Traveller game, I suggest buying one of the regional books [Behind the Claw, Trailing Frontier, etc.] and setting up your sandbox there.
5. Don't be afraid to ask questions on the board here. We're happy to help.

Welcome aboard the Beowulf.

This is so important to remember. I've owned this game in its many guises since 1984 and it took me a long time to recognise the importance of IMTU. Everything i tried to do i was very conscious about the pre-written canon and lore. These days i utilise Alpha Crucis subsector and its subsectors and systems only in terms of the maps and names - pretty much everything else is mine. Yes its on the border of the Third Imperium and the Solomani Confederation but thats the key fact that remains. All other stuff is pretty much made up from scratch by either myself or my players.

 

[RogerN]

I just wish Mongoose would make more setting-agnostic books. Yes, there are a ton of resources out there such as Stars Without Number or Savage Worlds The Last Parsec, but no one comes close to the design and ... gravitas that Mongoose brings to its books. They could start a sub-line of products with small-batch print runs (or PDF only) that I think would work.

I'm so with you on this one. I'd love a book that allows me to design and replicate technologies from any sci-fi setting i can imagine or replicate. I know some rules exist across different books but id love a setting agnostic sourcebook that pulls it all together and adds more stuff.

 

[Endie]

I'm so with you on this one. I'd love a book that allows me to design and replicate technologies from any sci-fi setting i can imagine or replicate. I know some rules exist across different books but id love a setting agnostic sourcebook that pulls it all together and adds more stuff.

I suppose the T5 folks would say that that’s exactly what their game is designed to achieve.

It’s also a cautionary tale for Mongoose and others as to just how niche-of-a-niche the market for that is, and how hard it is to make something so open-ended actually playable by normies.

 

[Condottiere]

Pretty sure that this is a general comment I wanted to make somewhere else, or several times.

The reason we rely, or should, on consistency in the rules, and give money to Mongoose, is that we all like to inhabit a shared universe, and at certain points within it, are all on the same page.

 

[Sigtrygg]

I suppose the T5 folks would say that that’s exactly what their game is designed to achieve.

T5 is the roleplaying game for Marc's vision of the Third Imperium and its various eras. There is no variant technology from other sci fi franchises or sources. It is as closely tied to the setting at MegaTraveller, TNE, and T4 are.
Of those only TNE tried to offer variant technology and setting tropes.

It’s also a cautionary tale for Mongoose and others as to just how niche-of-a-niche the market for that is, and how hard it is to make something so open-ended actually playable by normies.

In the general roleplaying community if you say Traveller people think of the Imperium setting first, then that you die during character generation.

Traveller has so much more to offer than just the Third Imperium setting and its constraints.

I am of the opinion that a new referee should not worry at all about the Third Imperium setting, run the game and the setting as you and your players want it to be.

 

[Endie]

T5 is the roleplaying game for Marc's vision of the Third Imperium and its various eras. There is no variant technology from other sci fi franchises or sources. It is as closely tied to the setting at MegaTraveller, TNE, and T4 are.
Of those only TNE tried to offer variant technology and setting tropes.

In the general roleplaying community if you say Traveller people think of the Imperium setting first, then that you die during character generation.

Traveller has so much more to offer than just the Third Imperium setting and its constraints.

I am of the opinion that a new referee should not worry at all about the Third Imperium setting, run the game and the setting as you and your players want it to be.

In Discord the T5 chat has had people mention several times that their T5 mechanics ("makers"?) are precisely for things like "I'd love a book that allows me to design and replicate technologies from any sci-fi setting". There's discussion about it being a game construction kit as much as a game in itself.