Traveller, still popular

[Old timer]

Just though i would share this experience with other traveller players. I am in the process of setting up a traveller PbP game on another forum, and i have been very surprised by the numbers of people wanting to play, i have had to cap the limit of players at 8, yes, 8. I have for the first time in my role play 'life' had to turn people down from joining the game (had 10+ request to join). Some of these players are also very new to roleplay, but have heard of and where interested in Traveller.

All i can say is traveller is still very popular, so keep up the good work mongooses, you got yet another product that is well liked and popular.

 

[Gypsy Knights Games]

I can report much the same thing. I attended a convention last weekend in Chattanooga, TN, USA and there was a guy running Traveller there.

He had a full table of ten people and he could have taken more. Happened both times he ran it.

 

[mattman]

Had the same situation a few weeks ago when we started putting together a live online game. We instantly filled up with the limit of 6 and probably won't have any trouble filling in later.

Pure speculation but Traveller seems to be growing legs after 30 years. Here's to the RPG renaissance.

 

[Jak Nazryth]

I'm running a game with people brand new to Traveller and they really enjoy it.
I have several more interested but they cannot show up on the nights I run.

 

[andreav]

LMAO, well out here I've not been able to put together a group for over a year. Of course a large part of the city was destroyed by an earthquake during that time... :mrgreen:

 

[Rusty_Unycorn]

My dad is introducing the family to Traveller. He actually got me the core rulebook a few years back and I've been pestering him for a game.
Until recently, when he started one up.
Yes, a new generation starts... Trained by one of the old ways, from the olden days where the players went "OH SHI-" whenever the dice started rolling...

Seriously, we're saying that when he rolls. Pavlov's gamers, anyone?

 

[andreav]

Sigh been trying to interest my kids... seems sims 3 is more their style

 

[jedavis]

We had more prospective players than we could handle, too... It's always a sad thing to turn people away.

 

[nats]

I would love to play a Traveller game without family being involved but have yet to live near a Traveller group in the UK. I would love to set one up but I couldn't possibly referee a game. Too many rules to remember, I don't know how people do it.

D&D 4ed seems so easy to play in comparison. But I would prefer to play sci-fi.

 

[IanBruntlett]

Hi Nats,

I would love to play a Traveller game without family being involved but have yet to live near a Traveller group in the UK. I would love to set one up but I couldn't possibly referee a game. Too many rules to remember, I don't know how people do it.

D&D 4ed seems so easy to play in comparison. But I would prefer to play sci-fi.

At the moment I'm taking a reading break from running Traveller adventures.

While it is true you need to be familiar with the Core Rule Book, perhaps a setting book, perhaps Campaign Guide (still reading that one), as a referee you can choose adventures to match your strongest points. See the Signs & Portents PDFs on http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/signsnportentsarchive

For my earliest Traveller adventure, there was me as the GM, a friend running a group of PCs, a plot stolen from the film Alien and a floor plan from the Core Rule Book (CRB).

And for the rules you don't know but suddenly need to know - ad lib, ad lib! Whilst in the meantime try to read more of the CRB etc during free time.

HTH,


Ian

 

[Gypsy Knights Games]

Well, I can tell you that I ran three games at MystiCon (a convention in Roanoke, Virginia) this weekend. All three filled up (had 8 slots for each game) in no time.

And we all had a blast!

We had a lot of folks stop by the table, look in on the game, and then make a lot of favorable comments about Traveller. (And three people gave me the obligatory "Hey...that's the one where you can die in character generation!") Only one detractor was encountered. A young woman who came by, asked what we were doing, and when we told her it was Traveller, announced in a very loud voice that if she wanted to do "space gaming" she'd play Rolemaster!

So I can report that Traveller seems to still be alive in well in both Tennessee last weekend and Virginia this weekend.

 

[Stainless]

D&D 4ed seems so easy to play in comparison. But I would prefer to play sci-fi.

Me thinks you jest sir.

The "core 4e rules" (DM Guide, 224 pages; Players Handbook, 320 pages and Monster Manual, 288 pages) seems a tad heavy going compared to the Traveller core rule book. Plus, if memory serves me correctly, one of the contentious issues surrounding 4e was that WotC stated that all supplements were also "core rules". Mongoose Traveller bloat, although it's there, has nothing on D&D bloat.

 

[Captain Jonah]

D&D 4ed seems so easy to play in comparison. But I would prefer to play sci-fi.

Me thinks you jest sir.

The "core 4e rules" (DM Guide, 224 pages; Players Handbook, 320 pages and Monster Manual, 288 pages) seems a tad heavy going compared to the Traveller core rule book. Plus, if memory serves me correctly, one of the contentious issues surrounding 4e was that WotC stated that all supplements were also "core rules". Mongoose Traveller bloat, although it's there, has nothing on D&D bloat.

D&D 3 was to replace the earlier version with quick easy new version that removed many of the complexities and made for a better game.

D&D 3.5 Was the attempt to streamline 3.0 and make it more manageable.

D&D 4.0 Was the entirely new system to wipe away the bag of books that 3.0 and 3.5 became with a new simpler system, easier to play, less complex. This system currently has, what, refs guide, 3 players guides, core rules, several monster manuals, a divine spell expansion, an arcane expansion, a non spell user expansion, two race books. :shock:

D&D 5.0 will replace all of these with a single system, easy to learn and play, capable of emulating any previous version. Light, streamlined.

What could go wrong. :wink:

At least here in the 21st century you can get PDFs to go on a laptop and no longer need to put your back out with 20 or 30 kilos of rule books. Oh wait, didn’t WotC stop PDFs because they were being pirated.

Then there is Pathfinder which I find a better game than 4.0 by a long shot, much better supported as well. I love the idea of the complete campaigns in 6 parts.

Anyway then we have traveller. A core rule book and a number of little rules expansions but generally specific to a theme. High guard for ships, Agents for, well, Agents etc. Much less hassle in terms of refing or playing.

Nothing I hate more than being a ref and having to carry a ton of books with me to cover every possible thing or to deal with players who have one more book than me and start quoting sudden new supper powers, Oh but they forgot to bring their copy along today…………………

I like a good game of Pathfinder, epic high fantasy fun or down and gritty stuff, but at heart I always find my self back at the same rules I started playing so many years ago, sailing the sea of stars, making a (mostly) honest pile of credits and having adventures. 8)

 

[nats]

D&D 4.0 Was the entirely new system to wipe away the bag of books that 3.0 and 3.5 became with a new simpler system, easier to play, less complex. This system currently has, what, refs guide, 3 players guides, core rules, several monster manuals, a divine spell expansion, an arcane expansion, a non spell user expansion, two race books. :shock:

Well there are of course the D&D4e Essentials products that actually do streamline the D&D 4e rules a lot. You can play the game with the Essentials DM Guide and an Essentials Heroes Book and a grid of some sort. I find that I can sit down with an hour of preparation - picking some creature and doing a dungeon - and play the game with my kids quite easily. Of course it all revolves around just fighting different scary monsters and there isn't much else in it unless you actually put a lot of thought into the preplanning and buy some other books.

With Traveller I find that I have to remember far more and keep re-reading to remind myself of the rules because there are so many options in play - practically a universe full rather than just a dungeon full. Also Traveller depends a lot more on preparation or creativity on the ref's behalf because the rules are not half as prescriptive as those of D&D - for example the creatures are pretty unexciting unless you add some flavour to them yourself, unlike D&D. But it is true you can play the game with the Core Rule Book, a subsector map and a few creatures/pregen characters if you are inclined. There is far more variety in Traveller than in D&D.

And I suppose there is nothing stopping you from just fighting a few quick combats if you want to in Traveller, much like D&D. Certainly I like the combat far more in Traveller than in D&D which considering combat is 90% of D&D is pretty damning actually I have to admit.

 

[Stainless]

I see where you're coming from Nats. With a fantasy RPG you tend to detail one specific world/nation/city/dungeon/etc. With Traveller, you could be on a new world every session and in a true sandbox manner, each world is a lot of development. However, I think you need to avoid the common mistake of detailing stuff in anticipation but which may never be used. The good thing about Traveller I personally find is that, living in a modern age, it's far easier to ad lib because of personal familiarity. If you know a bit about the diversity of real world human cultures, and a bit about science, you can generally concoct something believable on the fly. In fact, because of the relative lack of proscription in Traveller, I find it the easiest system to run in an unprepared state. The important and most difficult thing in any RPG is to come up with engaging story hooks, otherwise it ends up just being a series of loosely connected combats (kinda like 4e :wink: ).

 

[tneva82]

You can play the game with the Essentials DM Guide and an Essentials Heroes Book and a grid of some sort.

You can happily play just with the core rulebook of traveller and IMO they are LOT lighter than D&D4 core rules.

Heck for character "sheet" traveller just needs few short lines of text. strength, dex, end, int, wis, soc, some skills, equipment, there.

D&D 4e char sheet takes couple pages and filling takes more time.

I'm hard pressed to create full character sheet on D&D on the fly. No problem in traveller.

I specifically was drawn to Traveller BECAUSE it's so easy and lightweight rule. GM can easily wing it on the fly. Have trouble figuring how the rules went? Just assign some difficulty value and have player roll 2d6+modifiers vs 8+. Darn easy. Compare to say grabble rules of D&D3.5(don't remember what they are like in 4th ed so won't compare to them)...Brrrrr....

I find that I can sit down with an hour of preparation - picking some creature and doing a dungeon - and play the game with my kids quite easily. Of course it all revolves around just fighting different scary monsters and there isn't much else in it unless you actually put a lot of thought into the preplanning and buy some other books.[/(quote]

I don't enjoy idea of trying to teach D&D4e to kids. For one it requires lots of heavy math crunching to play. Then they need to learn how to use all the combo's properly. Of course kids I would be teaching are in slight disadvantage in that they aren't yet that fluent in english. But try to teach all the combat/encounter/daily moves so they know how to use them all...Brrr. Lot easier to simply state the modifier and have him roll 2d6 vs 8+.

But of course YMMV. For me D&D is too crunch heavy, too detailed attack-combo min-maxing combat game. Don't enjoy that sort of game but of course I know some do. Fair enough

 

[Darzoni]

As the local Traveller GM in my shop, I have had to turn people away. There are definitely new players interested in the game, since most of my group never played Traveller before. The main appeal is the simplicity of the system (even if there are a billion options for said system...).

Plus more than a few of them are eagerly awaiting Prime Directive Traveller...

 

[locarno24]

I'm hard pressed to create full character sheet on D&D on the fly. No problem in traveller.

Agreed. You can pull a tailored 'villain' out of your back pocket in five seconds, if you have to. 777777. Add two '9's for areas of competence. Add one skill/2 and two skill/1s. Give him a handgun. Give him some body armour. Done.

 

[nats]

You can happily play just with the core rulebook of traveller and IMO they are LOT lighter than D&D4 core rules. Heck for character "sheet" traveller just needs few short lines of text. strength, dex, end, int, wis, soc, some skills, equipment, there. D&D 4e char sheet takes couple pages and filling takes more time. I'm hard pressed to create full character sheet on D&D on the fly. No problem in traveller.

True.

I specifically was drawn to Traveller BECAUSE it's so easy and lightweight rule. GM can easily wing it on the fly. Have trouble figuring how the rules went? Just assign some difficulty value and have player roll 2d6+modifiers vs 8+. Darn easy. Compare to say grabble rules of D&D3.5(don't remember what they are like in 4th ed so won't compare to them)...Brrrrr....

Well a DM screen will help you there. There are plenty of rules in Traveller that you need a DM screen for as well.

I don't enjoy idea of trying to teach D&D4e to kids. For one it requires lots of heavy math crunching to play. Then they need to learn how to use all the combo's properly....
For me D&D is too crunch heavy, too detailed attack-combo min-maxing combat game.

My kid of 11 enjoys it...but she likes Traveller more I think.

Overall I personally prefer Traveller far more than D&D. Either way I would be very glad to get some of my kids into some kind of RPG game eventually as I think something like Traveller or D&D can stay with you all your life.

 

[Stainless]

My kid of 11 enjoys it...but she likes Traveller more I think.

Overall I personally prefer Traveller far more than D&D. Either way I would be very glad to get some of my kids into some kind of RPG game eventually as I think something like Traveller or D&D can stay with you all your life.

I have two daughters, too young to roleplay at the moment who I also have hopes of inculcating into RPGs one day. One I'm particularly looking forward to is "Bublegumshoe" which Ken Hite is planning to write. It's a Gumshoe system adaptation for teenage girls with Nancy Drew type adventures as its genre. I suspect that kind of game will appeal to young girls much better than orc slaying.