What's Traveller5 like?
- Thread starter Hakkonen
- Start date
Sigtrygg
Emperor Mongoose
I keep forgetting we can actually be critical of T5 here, such negativity is banned at CotI...
T5 in the form of the big black book is an unplayable mess. The revised electronic version which never got a print edition fixed a couple of things but not others.
I dislike T5's task system, the combat rules are a complete mess, character generation is awful, skill bloat and skill inflation make T5 characters incompatible with CT/MT/MgT.
There is a positive side to it - the makers, the rules for synthetics, technology in general is very well done. It is a useful toolkit to describe the universe of possibilities Traveller offers.
I'm looking forward to the revised edition.
T5 in the form of the big black book is an unplayable mess. The revised electronic version which never got a print edition fixed a couple of things but not others.
I dislike T5's task system, the combat rules are a complete mess, character generation is awful, skill bloat and skill inflation make T5 characters incompatible with CT/MT/MgT.
There is a positive side to it - the makers, the rules for synthetics, technology in general is very well done. It is a useful toolkit to describe the universe of possibilities Traveller offers.
I'm looking forward to the revised edition.
NOLATrav
Cosmic Mongoose
+1 on T5 being unplayable. It's filled with contradictions, typos and systems that don't work.
Also +1 on the toolbox nature of the work - there are some great little gems in the rough, which when massaged a bit can be folded into your MgT 2e game with very little hassle.
For instance, the Makers let you design weapons, armor, vehicles, sensors, etc from scratch. We've changed the shipboard sensors (well, all of them actually) in our game to be more similar to T5, range-based (longer ranges are bigger and more expensive but easily possible) as opposed to the generalized packages of Mongoose Core.
Also +1 on the toolbox nature of the work - there are some great little gems in the rough, which when massaged a bit can be folded into your MgT 2e game with very little hassle.
For instance, the Makers let you design weapons, armor, vehicles, sensors, etc from scratch. We've changed the shipboard sensors (well, all of them actually) in our game to be more similar to T5, range-based (longer ranges are bigger and more expensive but easily possible) as opposed to the generalized packages of Mongoose Core.
Reynard
Cosmic Mongoose
For all the glitches designing such a massive work, I have always found it the best Traveller toolbox. I frequently use the various systems, especially star system building, sophont and expanded character type creation from synths to clones to chimeras and robot design. I use other systems such as ship and vehicle tools in conjunction with Mongoose material.
I understood from the beginning that T5 was not a comprehensive game but a detailed manual for creation of all the elements for a Traveller game without an Official Traveller Universe. I expected there would be later supplements doing that such as a ship book and a vehicle book plus varieties of alien creatures and races. With the Traveller map, we see the system builder in extensive use.
Personally I can't wait to see what the new edition will bring whether as stand alone or side by side with Mongoose Traveller.
I understood from the beginning that T5 was not a comprehensive game but a detailed manual for creation of all the elements for a Traveller game without an Official Traveller Universe. I expected there would be later supplements doing that such as a ship book and a vehicle book plus varieties of alien creatures and races. With the Traveller map, we see the system builder in extensive use.
Personally I can't wait to see what the new edition will bring whether as stand alone or side by side with Mongoose Traveller.
Hakkonen said:
You need an advanced degree in Traveller to make it work with everything piled on....
Actually it has the GURPS problem you need to decide what bits you are using and got from there. Right now the best primer for T5 is T4.
My choice is to use what I have been using the longest which is solidly based in CT but parts lifted from every edition behind it.
Old School
Mongoose
If you want lots of tools to build various things for traveller, T5 might be for you. If you want to actually play traveller, vs. play with traveller, just stick with Mongoose. Mongoose is far from perfect, if such a thing even exists, but it is playable.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Maybe because I spent a lot of time designing spaceships I understand that design sequence, but it isn't intuitive in Tee Five.
Reynard
Cosmic Mongoose
A bit like MegaTraveller and Fire, Fusion and Steel weren't intuitive. They were meant to be detailed. MgT is like a lot of RPGs today, fast and simple in designing everything. Both styles have their attraction. T5 is attractive to the advanced detailist digging into a design manual.
ShawnDriscoll
Cosmic Mongoose
I like Traveller 5.09. And I like Traveler 5.10 even better. I use both Mongoose and T5 rules for my gaming.Hakkonen said:
baithammer
Mongoose
Reynard said:
Also called masochists.
But T5 is a goldmine for ideas / concepts, needs a bit of editing and smoothing on presentation for rules / systems but a lot of good bones.
From COTI:
Traveller5 Update
Apr 24, 2019
Since this Traveller5 Kickstarter competed, we have been working a variety of projects:
We released an errata fixed version which also added an index (called Traveller 5 dot 09).
I wrote (and many of you supported) the Traveller novel: Agent of the Imperium.
We published Loren Wiseman's memoirs: Grognard.
Other things happened as well: heart surgery; recovery. (I am doing well now.)
But all along, I have been working on Traveller5 (dot 10). And it’s ready.
Some of you have been with Traveller5 since its Beta release in 2008. Others since this Kickstarter. And others have come on board since. To all of you, thank you for your support and your patience. (and alas, some of you have been impatient, for which I sympathize).
Backers for this Kickstarter received (among other things) electronic download PDFs though DriveThruRPG. When we post the updated Traveller 5 (dot 10), you will receive those new files automatically. We will post an update here when the files are in place. If you got a T5 CDROM, we can provide the new CDROM at no cost (free!) with any order for a CDROM from our site at farfuture.net. OR, as a stand-alone replacement for $7 (covers duplication and shipping).
We’re doing a new Kickstarter to promote and back physical printing of the new version: three Big Black Books in a slipcase. Total usable page is around 800 pages, but more usable in the new three book format.
May Day!
You may see Star Wars promotions around May The Fourth, but Traveller’s Day is May 1: May Day. That’s when we’ll kick off the new Kickstarter on May Day (probably at 12:01 AM, and I’ll probably jump the gun a little bit and make it GMT. I’ll post appropriate updates here as well.
And now for some details about Traveller5 (dot 10):
We have broken it into three books reminiscent of the original Little Black Books (Book 1 Characters and Combat; Book 2 Starships; Book 3 Worlds and Adventures).
We have significant added content, most visibly a space combat system that incorporates Role-Playing in resolution, and a similar personal combat system.
There are lots of examples. An index in each book.
The New Kickstarter will include an introductory adventure set: The Voyages of the Free Trader Insert-Name-Here, covering operations on Regina subsector.
And more. Lots more.
I’ll end with my appreciation: for you as backers of this Kickstarter, and of the ones since. For all Traveller players and writers and just fans. Thank you to one and all.
Marc
Traveller5 Update
Apr 24, 2019
Since this Traveller5 Kickstarter competed, we have been working a variety of projects:
We released an errata fixed version which also added an index (called Traveller 5 dot 09).
I wrote (and many of you supported) the Traveller novel: Agent of the Imperium.
We published Loren Wiseman's memoirs: Grognard.
Other things happened as well: heart surgery; recovery. (I am doing well now.)
But all along, I have been working on Traveller5 (dot 10). And it’s ready.
Some of you have been with Traveller5 since its Beta release in 2008. Others since this Kickstarter. And others have come on board since. To all of you, thank you for your support and your patience. (and alas, some of you have been impatient, for which I sympathize).
Backers for this Kickstarter received (among other things) electronic download PDFs though DriveThruRPG. When we post the updated Traveller 5 (dot 10), you will receive those new files automatically. We will post an update here when the files are in place. If you got a T5 CDROM, we can provide the new CDROM at no cost (free!) with any order for a CDROM from our site at farfuture.net. OR, as a stand-alone replacement for $7 (covers duplication and shipping).
We’re doing a new Kickstarter to promote and back physical printing of the new version: three Big Black Books in a slipcase. Total usable page is around 800 pages, but more usable in the new three book format.
May Day!
You may see Star Wars promotions around May The Fourth, but Traveller’s Day is May 1: May Day. That’s when we’ll kick off the new Kickstarter on May Day (probably at 12:01 AM, and I’ll probably jump the gun a little bit and make it GMT. I’ll post appropriate updates here as well.
And now for some details about Traveller5 (dot 10):
We have broken it into three books reminiscent of the original Little Black Books (Book 1 Characters and Combat; Book 2 Starships; Book 3 Worlds and Adventures).
We have significant added content, most visibly a space combat system that incorporates Role-Playing in resolution, and a similar personal combat system.
There are lots of examples. An index in each book.
The New Kickstarter will include an introductory adventure set: The Voyages of the Free Trader Insert-Name-Here, covering operations on Regina subsector.
And more. Lots more.
I’ll end with my appreciation: for you as backers of this Kickstarter, and of the ones since. For all Traveller players and writers and just fans. Thank you to one and all.
Marc
A
Anonymous
Guest
I think I'm still banned from COTI because I have a gmail address. This results in me having a poorer opinion of their product and management than I would normally.
Old School
Mongoose
After the last two releases, there is no way I would support a kickstarter. I’d need to get positives reviews at this point.
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