News: Traveller Companion Update 2024

[MongooseMatt]

We have some good news for owners of the current Traveller Companion!

Over the past few months, we have not made much of a secret that a Traveller Companion Update book will be on its way, though it would likely not appear on shelves until the bottom end of 2024. It currently looks like this prediction is accurate.

However, we had some space pop up in our production schedule, so new graphic designer Abby began work on what will be the Traveller Companion Update 2024. This edition has all the updated formatting and art you have seen in previous Update books but, unlike the others, has not required any serious changes to the text (though we have included a brand new chapter on vector movement of spacecraft, penned by Chris Griffin).



We are therefore going to be updating all the current Traveller Companion PDFs on both our website and Drivethru to include the Update 2024 edition - for free! And, even better, this will be very soon, likely within the next month or so! When we give the word, you will simply need to re-download your Companion and Update 2024 will be there waiting for you...



Everything else in the Traveller Companion Update 2024 will be pretty much as you know it now, just looking much, much prettier!



It looks like we have had a rather busy week here at Mongoose HQ - as well as this announcement on the Traveller Companion, we also had the preview on the World Builder's Handbook and, tomorrow, you will be seeing a preview of The Imperial Navy, which is on course to be released next week.

It is a good time to be a Traveller!

 

[Annatar Giftbringer]

Sounds great - looks great!
You know, an updated companion could - space allowing - be a great place to clarify a few things concerning vectored thrust and planetary landings…

 

[astrokiwi]

Just to clarify - the pdf release is expected super imminently, but the print release is still expected to be in the latter half of next year? (Totally understand that publishing print stuff is a different beast with different blockers, just double checking I'm reading the post correctly)

 

[Omnipresent]

Increased event options during character creation...? Not likely but I can hope.

 

[GabrielGABFonseca]

Beyond the addition of the Vector Movement chapter (extremely excited for that one!) and the new formatting, while there were no 'serious changes to the text' per see, where any of the rules in the book tweaked?
I'm particularly curious about the gas giant fuel scooping ones, as the ones in the original Companion had a tendency to be a bit, well... lethal, heh

 

[MongooseMatt]

Just to clarify - the pdf release is expected super imminently, but the print release is still expected to be in the latter half of next year? (Totally understand that publishing print stuff is a different beast with different blockers, just double checking I'm reading the post correctly)

That is correct. Normally we would not release the PDF this early but you all have the existing Companion, so we thought 'why not'!

 

[MongooseMatt]

I'm particularly curious about the gas giant fuel scooping ones, as the ones in the original Companion had a tendency to be a bit, well... lethal, heh

We did take a look at that but, for now, decided to keep them as is. If we go deeper (sorry) into gas giants, we may take another look then. For now though, yes, they are quite lethal places to be. Consider purchasing a Pressure Hull from High Guard

 

[astrokiwi]

That is correct. Normally we would not release the PDF this early but you all have the existing Companion, so we thought 'why not'!

Thanks! Side question - would you ever consider allowing "print-by-demand" through drivethrurpg? (I have difficulty with pdfs, and I don't own the current Companion yet, so I'm tossing up whether to buy the old one now as it has 90% of the same content, or wait over a year for the print update)

 

[MongooseMatt]

Thanks! Side question - would you ever consider allowing "print-by-demand" through drivethrurpg? (I have difficulty with pdfs, and I don't own the current Companion yet, so I'm tossing up whether to buy the old one now as it has 90% of the same content, or wait over a year for the print update)

We did/do for many of our first edition Traveller books, but POD just has not quite got the quality for full colour printing. If that changes, we will take another look!

 

[CrispyGM]

AWESOME! You guys rule.

 

[paltrysum]

...though we have included a brand new chapter on vector movement of spacecraft, penned by Chris Griffen.

Credit where credit is due: the author is Dave Dyson, who also helped redesign High Guard with me. Dave's vector piece is excellent! I edited it and helped shape it for him, but he's the writer.

 

[Tupper]

There are a couple of bits in the old companion chapter 4 that always bugged me.

For the psionic upbringing, the qualification is PSI 8+. However, the traveller doesn't discover his/her PSI until being tested. If the character successfully qualifies, then presumably he/she has been tested, and learns his/her PSI. If the character "fails* to qualify, though, presumably the referee now knows the character's PSI even though the character never got tested, and the player can guess that it's *probably* low.

Colonial upbringing is odd in not involving a round 4 year term. And every other career uses 4 year terms.

Lastly, in that chapter, it would be cool to see the old medical/flight school from classic traveller come back!

 

[Peleliu]

Increased event options during character creation...? Not likely but I can hope.

I for one would love to see loads of 11-66 event tables for characters. Especially detailed ones down to the assignment level for each career. I would happily pay for such a supplement.

 

[RYXlord]

Oh, this is great! I always enjoyed the extra ship guns in the last chapter, but it felt like that chapter was missing a page - there was no tonnage given for anything that wasn't a bay, the General-Purpose Mass Driver section leaves off mid sentence, and there was a table entry for a Torpedo Interceptor Cluster that didn't have a write up. I'm super excited to see this updated version!

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

Am I the only person who wants to see 25-ton weapon bays? Or, as I like to call them, “micro-spine weapons” because they usually end up in fixed-mounts on ships that are <1000 dtons.

I am also the guy who wants to see a little more refinement in the custom weapon rules from “The Field Catalogue”, as the energy weapon description is clumsy.

I would happily forward a draft example of said rules, if requested.

 

[Sigtrygg]

HG79 had 10t weapon bays...

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

HG79 had 10t weapon bays...

That is what I remember

 

[Arkathan]

Since you are doing an update of the Companion, Pg 164-165.

Can we get tonnages for the weapons listed?

 

[Grognardia]

If I could make one suggestion that would make me happy, it would be this: a comma between numbers to make it easier to distinguish 20,000 from 200,000 etc. With some tables, it would be very helpful. As it is now, I have to count zeroes

 

[Condottiere]

You can use a space for the separator, though I prefer an apostrophe.