Using Books 1 - 10 in games

[gerzel]

I’m thinking of running a Traveller game either around privateering, free/wild trading and/or exploration (depending on player input), and I’m wondering what books I should allow in play for character generation and what if any house rules/caveats I should put on those books. I’m already leaning towards nixing Book 4: Psion and Book 9: Robot, but I’ve not decided yet. Other books might be limited depending on the type of game we decide upon.

What restrictions or limits do you use when using the Core Rules + Books 1-10 for Character Generation?

I’m mostly asking to try to find and avoid any pitfalls before they happen as I’ve only played using the Core rules before.

 

[DickTurpin]

I think you are on target, those two books are the most likely to cause problems for the campaign. Book 8: Dilettante could also be a problem because characters can become too wealthy to need to go adventuring.

 

[dragoner]

I’m thinking of running a Traveller game either around privateering, free/wild trading and/or exploration (depending on player input), and I’m wondering what books I should allow in play for character generation and what if any house rules/caveats I should put on those books.

Scoundrel is good, I have been finding it quite useful of late in my campaign. Generally I allow them all with caveats, eg things like the handpacs in Scout can cause some problems because the don't detail their use very well, such as with range and such. I try to give anything the players use the once over first, sometimes something slips past and I try to just roll with it. It is better trying to spend your time finding ways to say yes, rather than no. I have been lucky to find players who know the rules too, which is a big help.

 

[AndrewW]

It can depend on the players. If they want to use something you aren't comfortable with, go over things and see what might work. Might need to modify something if you don't like the way it works, or if that's not possible disallow it but maybe not exclude the whole book. What's important is a game everyone enjoys.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

I allow all the books, as long as they are Mongoose books and not the other editions which would cause confusion. A social contract clears up any conflicts before they happen.

 

[CosmicGamer]

What restrictions or limits do you use when using the Core Rules + Books 1-10 for Character Generation?

As with almost all issues - it depends.

Some guidelines I have.
1) Only skills and specializations that are in the core rules are used. No new features that are not integrated for all. For example: Why should only Book 1 (version 1) mercenary characters get Instruction? And I'm not going to re write all the careers so that they can have "Networks" of contacts and allies like in Book 5 Agent.
2) For chargen, I only allow use of books I own and I'm familiar with unless I know the player is experienced in chargen and I'm confident they can get through chargen on their own after discussing #1) and how to handle re rolling or substituting book specific skills and other issues.
3) Equipment from books I and/or other players don't own is submitted and subject to GM approval. For example: Why should the player with Book 3 Scout get cool gadgets the core book scout doesn't?

If this is for a game where everyone sits at a table and has access to the books there is more freedom than in an online game.

 

[-Daniel-]

As with almost all issues - it depends.

Some guidelines I have.
1) Only skills and specializations that are in the core rules are used. No new features that are not integrated for all. For example: Why should only Book 1 (version 1) mercenary characters get Instruction? And I'm not going to re write all the careers so that they can have "Networks" of contacts and allies like in Book 5 Agent.
2) For chargen, I only allow use of books I own and I'm familiar with unless I know the player is experienced in chargen and I'm confident they can get through chargen on their own after discussing #1) and how to handle re rolling or substituting book specific skills and other issues.
3) Equipment from books I and/or other players don't own is submitted and subject to GM approval. For example: Why should the player with Book 3 Scout get cool gadgets the core book scout doesn't?

If this is for a game where everyone sits at a table and has access to the books there is more freedom than in an online game.

This is an issue I have seen in many games, not just Traveller. Pathfinder or D&D for example have whole libraries filled with crunch books and god forbid we add in the 3rd party publishers on top of that. There is no way a GM could be expected to buy and understand all that material.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

I toss out anything that is not appropriate for the campaign setting, but kitchen sink a lot of the rest. Character generation is the least of my worries in this regard. If branch of a career does not sound appropriate for the setting in mind, I just toss the branch outright. Tech and items are usually what bear a deeper level of scrutiny. For example, I am not likely to do time travel so Time Drives are out the window. Same with warp-drives if they are not appropriate. I am not big on mercenary campaigns, but if you want to be a detailed ex-merc, he may be a fish out of water, but ok have at it. Had that once, you should have seen the joy though when that player finally got into a firefight. Like giving Rocket Raccoon a gun. :lol:

I give players a heads up on what won't be in the game an make no apologies for it. That is the important thing.

Each of the books brought in great ideas, some I regularly use:
Tech Familiarity is a regular so I always use that from Book 6.
Legal system from Book 5
Networks from Books 5 and 10 (6 if your character went that way)

 

[vladthemad]

Using all the books, even for character generation, can overwhelm your players and you. What I'd suggest is to pick your theme, then use the book plus the core rule book based on that. If you're going to do scouts, use the scout book for extra careers. Privateers? Scoundrels. Traders? Merchant Prince. This will also help your players focus on the task at hand, as the expanded character options will mostly be in the direction you want the campaign to go. Sure, you're always going to have that one guy that makes an ex-pirate in a scout campaign even if you give him 20 extra scout related careers to choose from, but there's nothing you can do about that! (Well, actually there is...house rule, last two terms have to be scouts...I've done that before, it also easily explains why the players all know each other, they spent the last four to eight years together prior to the campaign starting)

Each of these books will also greatly expand information and rules for those specific types of campaigns, but will have limited usefulness if the campaign direction is unrelated. There's really no reason to use ALL of the books, as most of the material inside them isn't very useful unless you're running a campaign specifically geared in the direction of each book.

High Guard isn't really useful for adventurer type ships/characters/campaigns, apart from expanding ship building with some new stuff and a few changes to space combat rules. Merc doesn't add much either for a standard campaign besides equipment and some extra combat rules. v2 does have the entire list of weapons from all the books at the back, with corrections, which is nice though. Adding either of these shouldn't change your campaign much.

Other than that, unless someone REALLY wants to play say a psychic or a robot, or anything else for that matter, leave the rest of the books out that aren't related to the campaign. Bring things in when they are relevant perhaps, like if your scouts start trading regularly you can start using the expanded rules in Merchant Princes.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

There's really no reason to use ALL of the books, as most of the material inside them isn't very useful unless you're running a campaign specifically geared in the direction of each book.

All the books make for great inspiration when thinking of ideas for the next game session, either as a player or as a referee.