Traveller 5th Edition

[Vargrz]

There is little doubt that many will be excited about T5.

I however agree that T5 looks cumbersome and I continue to love what Mongoose is doing, warts and all!

Face it, Mongoose has had to really put up with a lot of guff since putting out Mongoose Traveller. Like any game company they have had some problems with editing and some disappointing content. The basic rules, however, and the majority of their material is the best thing to happen to Traveller since the original! I played what is now referred to as "Classic Traveller" when it was a new game. I loved it then, but I am willing to say that Mongoose has made it a better game.

I hope that all goes well for Marc Miller, but I hope that Mongoose Traveller continues. I for one think the critics have been too harsh to Mongoose. Their version is playable from the single Core Rulebook! Everything else is just gravy anyways!

 

[Treebore]

Yeah, I love Classic and MegaTraveller, and I am very happy with what Mongoose has done as well. Otherwise I wouldn't own nearly every Traveller book.

 

[2330ADUSA1]

I will buy T5 regardless when I can get it just to have it and add to my gaming Library. Now I must say I own everything and such have all the printed Mongoose Traveller stuff and think they have done a awesome job and hope they continue to keep printing much more to come.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

I'm a collector of all things Traveller. And I have to say that Mongoose Traveller is the best of my collection. It's the one I play and grab off the shelf first. I only got T5 because, well, I'm a collector. I will never ever play T5 though. I don't think I'll use it for reference even. It's not a fun book to read like Mongoose Traveller books are.

 

[Pyromancer]

My understanding was Mongoose had a 10 year license with a 5 year review point (which it passed). So if the contract is worth the paper it's written on, we should have Mongoose Traveller for another 5 years.

So that may be the time T5 is published.

As for T5, I think the very important point about Kickstarters is that they don't take your money if the product is not actually produced; It's a pledge that is called on only when the goods are finished. Thus, there shouldn't be a risk of being burnt from the inevitable vapourous nature I suspect T5 will exhibit.

That is not how Kickstarter works. If the project reaches its goal, the money is passed to the artist/autor/whatever. Sometimes, this is the time they really only START to work at the project, and it is entirely possible that they will take a few years to complete it - or never.

 

[BP]

Goal has been reached!

T5-CDROM has been added to the $51+ level.

 

[Jean]

Forgive my ignorance, please. For those in the know, how different is T5 from Mongoose Traveller? Would it be easy to use a sourcebook from one for the other?

Jean

 

[Pyromancer]

Forgive my ignorance, please. For those in the know, how different is T5 from Mongoose Traveller? Would it be easy to use a sourcebook from one for the other?

They were supposed to be released at the same time and were also supposed to be pretty compatible, with T5 being some kind of "advanced" version of the Mongoose rules. But they told us that five years ago...

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

T5 rules and Mongoose Traveller rules look like two different RPGs. T5's rules on resolving tasks goes on for 13 pages. Rolling for "8+" to succeed is gone. Average tasks in T5 involve adding an attribute value to a skill level (say DEX + Small Craft) and rolling under that total using 2d6. If it's a harder task, 3d6 is rolled instead. Roll under the total using 4d6 for even harder tasks.

The task rules are much more complicated than I summerized.

For Traveller Careers there is:
Craftsman
Scholar
Entertainer or Performer
Citizen
Scout
Merchant
Spacer (or Navy)
Soldier (or Army)
Agent
Rogue
Noble
Marines
Functionary

You can use an existing homeworld from the Traveller Universe, or create one of your own (to be added to the TU).

Reducing physical and mental attributes to 0 results in death. Your clone is activated upon news of your death if you have life insurance.

Fights are handled by rolling a 2d6 under Attribute + Skill + Speed + (Size - Range) + Status - Range

Unskilled characters roll 3d6.

Failure if 12 was rolled (whether 2d6 or 3d6 was used).

If Size - Range < 0 then the target cannot be attacked.
Status is a modifier for stealthy, evading, crouched, unaware, surprised, obvious

There are hit location damage charts for humans, hivers, animals, and objects.

I do like bell curves in my die rolls. But a 4d6? The chance of rolling a 14 is 11.26%, while a 4 or a 24 is only 0.07%! And for a 5d6, the chance of rolling a 17 or 18 is 10%, while a 5 or a 30 is only 0.01%!!!

I prefer Mongoose Traveller's Die Modifier idea. Its die curve doesn't mutate for harder tasks. I come from GURPS, where the die curve doesn't change either. Just DMs get +/- and you don't have to add up so many dice. The curve may shift left or right, but not outright change.

 

[BP]

I like the simple Effect mechanic... that doesn't work well with variable dice count.

 

[andrew boulton]

What I fear is that if this becomes a reality, Miller will stop Mongoose from making more books, making his the only version available.

Why would he do that? He's making a fortune from the MGT royalties!

Neither side has any wish to end the deal that I'm aware of. It may even be extended beyond 10 years.

 

[tneva82]

What I fear is that if this becomes a reality, Miller will stop Mongoose from making more books, making his the only version available.

Why would he do that? He's making a fortune from the MGT royalties!

Neither side has any wish to end the deal that I'm aware of. It may even be extended beyond 10 years.

Logic is not always deciding factor...He might even think he would make more money without mongoose's comptetition!

However I doubt he can cut it off just like that until the 10 year license runs out at least so what...3-4 more years?

 

[Eisenmann]

I really like Mongoose Traveller and I'll be picking up T5. It just looks too danged interesting not to.

 

[JRoss]

Those tier rewards are pretty lame until you get to the land grant/patent of nobility deal. Seriously, for 1 or 2 bucks you just get to give money, essentially.

 

[Jacqual]

I jst wanna know how much an actual printed book will run at my locla game store. As a playtester I get an updated CD for free or at least I should.

 

[2330ADUSA1]

I am guessing it will be $100.oo US dollars in the United States...I will pick up a copy of it regardless to add T5 to my shelves.

Penn

 

[Darzoni]

I suppose I'll back it, mostly because I collect RPG books. Says it's scheduled for delivery by December 2012.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

From Marc Miller today:

Our Stretch Goals:

When we reach $100,000, we’ll be able to create a deck plan sheet and guide to the Scout Courier. We’ll have an artist draft a 17x22 inch deck plan (half-inch deck squares) of an Imperial Scout. In addition, he’ll do several interior views of the ship (stateroom, central corridor, bridge, drive room, common room, and some others). Then we’ll surround it with descriptive text and print the whole thing on a 23 x 35 inch sheet (both sides). It folds to 8.5 x 11 and fits nicely with the T5 book. We have hopes of doing several of these Folios about Traveller’s classic starships: the Beowulf, the Close Escort. And we’ll include it with each T5 book shipped.

When we reach 2,000 books, we will be able to add a Knighthood every book. There are 9074 worlds in the Imperium and each Knighthood will be randomly associated with a world. Since a Baron or a Marquis or a Count or a Duke should also be a Knight, the Knighthood will also be added to the Noble editions as well.

When we reach 1500 Backers, we’ll produce a Players’ Book: a subset of the Core rules tailored for use by Players but without the (primarily) Referee’s rules. We expect to produce a printed version in Spring 2013, every Backer who orders a Book will receive a link to an Ebook version when it is complete.

We will also be posting available options by the end of the week (by June 8): T-shirts, a second book with your order, dice, an option for the CDROM on a Jump Drive instead, and more.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

I jst wanna know how much an actual printed book will run at my locla game store. As a playtester I get an updated CD for free or at least I should.

Yes. At the end of the year we playtesters will be getting a final release copy of T5 on CD-ROM in our mail.

 

[locarno24]

Why would he do that? He's making a fortune from the MGT royalties!

And hopefully will be getting an extra kick when Prime Directive gets going...Mongoose turning it into a 'generic ruleset' is one of their smarter moves - 2000Ad is good stuff...