"Traveller- which version?" Topic

I ask as I've been out of the loop as regards Traveller since about 1990 or so. I've seen Taveller d20 but is that the current set? Where can I find out about the current background etc? I've had a quick look here:

travellerrpg.com

but coudn't find any description of the current situation. Not asking for an exhaustive explanation, just a few pointers.

Doesn't GURPS have this sewn up right now?

sjgames.com/gurps/traveller

The most recent version of Traveller is T20, or the d20 version of the game. Support for it has been slow, from what I recall (editorial caveat – I don't like the version at all, so I may not be up on the latest).

SJG also has a GURPS version of Traveller out, with extensive sourcebook support. And while I don't like GURPS terribly much, they're some of the best Traveller material, period. Far Trader, First In and Spaceports are exceptional examples. GURPS Traveller is set, mostly, in what is technically a variant timeline; Strephon is never assassinated, and the Imperium doesn't collapse into civil war. There are plenty of things going on, though. The Solomani Rim looks to erupt again sometime soon, there's stirrings of dissent against the nobility in several areas of the Imperiuim, etc. Soon, SJG is going to release another setting book, the Interstellar Wars, set in the chaotic, expansive times after Humaniti and Vilani first ran into each other. GURPS Traveller stuff is good, but publication is still slow as well.

Interestingly enough, almost all of the GDW Traveller line (Classic and Mega) is available, either in collected reprints (Classic) or as PDFs (Mega). farfuture.net for the former, drivethrurpg.com for the latter.

I own them all (chuckles as an addict).

D20 is the most recent. SJG is the best supported. Of all the editions, I have enjoyed MegaTraveller the most and find myself going back there, using the SJG for ideas and deckplans.

A 5th edition is in the works… for 2007…

The 'T4' version i think is the strongest, and latest true version (T3 'the New Era' and "T20" are other game systems, not really related to the classic traveller series; as well of course the Gurps version).

I think it depends entirely on what sort of game you're planning to run.

If you enjoy the good old "Scum of the Universe" doing it for the credits, run classic Traveller. I've run it recently and it is GREAT fun. I actually used my two sons as guinea pigs for the scenario and it was excellent….tow players who have NEVER played Shadows, Annic Nova or Night of Conquest…..awesome. (Almost as good as running a Call of Cthulhu scenario for my wife who'd never even heard of HP Lovecraft: now that was NEAT!!!).

MegaTraveller is cool with slightly more development but the civil war background is less appealing personally.

TNE I disliked on the grounds that smashing the Imperium for the sake of a new edition seemed to lack imagination.

T3 published by Marc Miller was very interesting but the rules stank. Setting it at the rise of the Third Imperium was a good idea.

Personally, I normally run a campaign set at the time of the Rule of Man in the Solomani Rim using a cross between Traveller2300 and Jorune rules.

Another vote for classic Traveller. I too liked the background in Miller's T3 edition. Most of my gaming was done in the well supported Spinward Marches sector.

A Solomani – Vilani setting would be fun too!

And I've been gaming starship battles using the Power Projection rules from BITS.

ARG

Thanks everybody. I'll have another look at Megatraveller. I seem ro remember playing it once or twice a long time ago, before ancients and GW snared me.
I ran a five year plus campaign using Classic Traveller in the 80's but I'd like to try a differnet backgroumd. Same universe, different period.

Don't forget Classic Traveller doesn't have to use their universe-it states you can set it up for others-like Firefly, Star Wars etc.

Classic. My 11 yr old has been reading my "black books".

I would recommend the GURPS version, I think it has the best written books (and unlike many, I actually like the GURPS system). I have owned bits of all the versions except T20 and I think if I were to run a Traveller game again it would be with GURPS.

Duncan

Marc Miller's Traveller (from the ill-fated "Imperium games") is more commonly refered to as "T4", not T3, Since Classic, Mega, and TNE came before it.

Skippy is half right, Classic didn't *start* with a setting, but it is where much of the setting first appeared, though the long list of supplements and adventures.

MegaTraveller is set in the Rebellion era (1116-1128) though of course it can be used for any period. Make sure to track down the errata, even for a late edition of the rules, and avoid "Fighting Ships of the Shattered Imperium". There is a vast array of support for this edition floating about the web. In particular, if you plan on using a lot of vehicles, do a search for Rob Dean's vehicle collection.

TNE ("The New Era") is set after the Rebellion, and is the target of a lot of acrimony by people who disliked the plot device used ("Virus") to get there. The chief architect of this era (Dave Nilsen) vanished at the death of GDW with many secrets about this period still untold, but recently popped up on the boards maintained by the T20 authors and revealed much of it. QLI, the publishers of T20, have a TNE timeline project in the works.

T4 had serious issues, not least being that the publisher (Imperium Games) were run by the gaming industry's most infamous snake oil salesman and were releasing products so fast that quality checking was all but non-existent. Some of the setting continuity was consciously chucked as well. Despite this, T4 did produce some excellent books, but it also produced some real bombs. The rules in the core book are quite acceptable despite an odd task system, just make sure you check the reviews that abound on the web before investing in the add-ons.

T5, which is Marc Miller's further reworking, is a work in progress, and has been for nearly 8 years now.

T20 is QLI's effort to bring WotC's D20 mechanics and Traveller together, with D20 being adjusted to meet the setting. As with every edition, people have strong opinions about this, but it IS worth a look. QLI recognized early on that their ability to release additional print books would be slow, so they packed as much as possible into the one book. Get a 2nd printing, and check out the discussions on their message board. The line includes print books for firearms, vehicles, and a setting book which covers four sectors during the Solomani Rim War period. Their PDF support includes a number of adventures.

GURPS:Traveller brought the GURPS mechanics and the Traveller setting together, but this time the setting was what got adjusted. G:T posits a variant timeline in which the Rebellion didn't happen. That said, source material that isn't date sensitive is still quite useable in other editions of Traveller, though they did some mighty odd things to the Spinward Marches in the name of revision, and allowed the addition of some elements by authors that don't fit a lot of folks' view of Traveller (note that every edition since Classic is guilty of this to some extent, since the fanbase is fractious and stubborn).

GURPS:Traveller will soon be getting it's first glimpse of GURPS 4th edition with the release of an Interstellar Wars book or books. This is a historical period for the setting, and I am hoping the fickle hand of revision that gave the stars a swirlie in T4 doesn't strike this version as well.

I've GM'd most of the Traveller variants but always come back to "classic". For me, it's simply the most fun.

Gypsy,

Thanks for the heads up on Dave's postings! That Empress Wave thing had been bugging me for the last ten years.

ARG

This is free trader Beowulf….. I like the original version the best. I used to own the T-Shirt too.

This is Firefly-class transport Serenity. We have experienced an engine explosion that has knocked our life support. We are in need of a catalyzer on our port compression coil to restore auxilliary. Have trade goods available and some currency to offer in exchange for assistance.

Capt Harbatken sends:

This is Firefly-class transport Serenity….

I actually started running a GURPS Traveller game a couple of months ago. So far it has gone great and we've had a lot of fun. GURPS seems to be a pretty good system for SciFi games. I haven't run a Ship to Ship combat yet, but the system presented in the GURPS traveller book looks sound.

Here is a link to our campaign website:
traveller.bofthebb.com

Classic Traveller gets my vote. MegaTraveller had some excellent rules ideas but was in such desperate need of proof reading that the errata had errata — no joke. The skills resolution system was excellent, but I found the vehicle design rules comprehensive but a complete mess to actually try to use.
The long planned T5 should take Classic Traveller where it should have gone.
And yes, Firefly is just like every game of Traveller me and my friends ever played!

Classic traveler…has always been a favorite…have most of the OLD fasa stuff/suppliments and the two book game….
Lt DWW

Mergowyn: "The long planned T5 should take Classic Traveller where it should have gone."

I'd like to hope so, but I fear Marc's views on game mechanics are 20 years out of date, and his ideas about the setting (as manifested in some of the T4 material that he *did* have a hand in) are guarantied to displease a lot of people. The "Traveller community" isn't one, and Marc may not realize that.

Another edition with another set of mechanics is not what Traveller needs.

Thanks for the vote of confidence on the Vehicle Design collection—at this point it's been so many years since I've done one that I don't think I could still work my way through the charts…