Traveller General-Vargr Anarchy Edition

>>53238204
>Anyone have a favorite career, from a fluff standpoint? A mechanics standpoint?
I tend towards Army, Scouts,or Merchant for general play, though I'll go Navy if I'm trying to build an Engineer.

I know nothing about traveller, sell me on it

>>53241257
Set in a ten-thousand year history spanning thousands of planets, while also providing the tools to build your own from scratch.

Technology arranged to support an Age of Sail feel for the big picture (no communications faster than travel), allowing those border worlds to be home to plenty of shenanigans.

Aliens ranging from funny foreheads and talking dogs to telepathic fungi, mustache twirling starfish, and messianic virii.

Game mechanics through many editions that hit several popular universal (and "universal") systems as well as variations on their own in three flavors.

Started as one of the first bell-curve systems (2d6 sorta bell-curve) and also is one of the oldest skill systems (vs class-level systems) and the first lifepath mini-game for character generation.

Can handle, at some level and with varying amounts of adaption, many of the popular SF TV and movie worlds.

Defaults to detailed but not truly "hard" SF.

>>53242031
sold, what books do i need?

>>53242031
>telepathic fungi, and messianic virii.

Explain.

>>53238204
Citizen, with all rolls in personal development aiming for that jack-of-all trades. Even if you miss you still get stats and if you get to JoaT lvl 3 it's like having all the skills without using up your skill limit at all.

>>53242887
For most editions just the core book (or books, in a couple cases) to get the tools. Some editions have pushed ship building into a specialized book.

The licensed systems were Hero, GURPS, and D20. All three take liberties with their adaptions, but are playable and approachable for the fans of those systems.

The original version of Traveller (referred to as "Classic"), its "expert mode" revision called MegaTraveller, and the two editions by Mongoose are the aforementioned 2d6 roll-high rule sets. Classic's "The Traveller Book" or first edition Mongoose are one book starters, while MegaTraveller spread out the core into three books (Player's Manual, Referee's Manual, and Imperial Encyclopedia), and Mongoose 2e pushed shipbuilding to a second book.

Traveller The New Era, generally shortened to TNE, uses a d20 roll under mechanic, similar to that used by Twilight 2000 and Dark Conspiracy. It also pushed shipbuilding into a separate book, but that is because this was the gearhead's edition, and ship building is extremely detailed.

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It's my turn to DM for my group and after playing 2016 traveler on the side with a group from our IT department at work I have decided it's going to be the system I run.

Picture is my campaign inspiration. Wish me luck.

>>53243268
The last two are T4 (aka "Marc Miller's Traveller") and Traveller 5. Both use variable dice/roll under mechanics. T5 is, as published, a bit dense and not really for a first timer. T4's core book is reasonably complete, though expansions to ship building came later. T4 has other issues if you are looking for the default setting, as it is set in a historical period and not in the "modern" era. It was also written and published in so much of a hurry that it makes Mongoose look slow and careful.

>>53243289
If Luke Skywalker can drag Vader five miles across an exploding Death Star to a shuttle, you should have no problems getting PCs to the exits whenever they blow up something.

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>>53238204
>Anyone have a favorite career, from a fluff standpoint?
Hunter, because I just love the concept

How do you treat SOC when visiting different planets and communities? Does being a high SOC character in a pirate station makes you less persuasive? How do you treat human SOC with regards to Vargr CHA for example?

>>53244631

SOC is hinky because it's very different from the other 5 stats. SOC is non-cumulative and situational.

1st, SOC isn't cumulative. A STR or INT of 8 also includes STRs and INTs of 2, 3, ,4, etc while a SOC of 8 does not. Someone with a SOC of 8 does not act, look, think, etc. like someone with a SOC of 2. That's why the game has a Streetwise skill.

2nd, SOC is situational. You always have a STR or INT of 8 no matter where you are and it always gives you the same benefits. A SOC of 8 in the 3I isn't going to help you in the Vargr Extents. Also, a SOC of 8 can benefit you in one situation and hurt you in another. As you note, a high SOC in an underworld situation is going to hurt rather than help.

SOC is more of a referee ruling than a written rule which is why sperglords usually have trouble handling it.

>>53238204
>Anyone have a favorite career, from a fluff standpoint? A mechanics standpoint?

Fluff? Scouts definitely thanks to the good chance of getting a ship when mustering out.

Mechanics? Scouts, Merchants, Navy in that order because of the mix of skills each chargen provides. Of course, none of those careers are much good for a mercenary campaign, so any choice regarding mechanics will be driven partly by the campaign's genre.

I recently bought a copy of Solo by Zozer Games for CE and am enjoying it very much. It's worth looking at, especially the scout and naval campaign rules.

BTW, I'm not Paul Elliot and I do not work for Zozer!

>>53243113

They're both "races" in the game. (Traveller uses "races" when it usually means species.) Whether both are "PC-ready" or not is debatable, but they both are definitely NPC ready.

The fungi can be found in the Alien books for the GURPS version while the virii are a HUGE plot point in TNE.

>>53245233
>>53243113
I was referring to the Valkyrie, also from a GURPS book, which are just one example within the setting of sentient diseases. The Imperium has a long history of being willing to scrub planets to bedrock to be rid of such things, but the Valkyrie emerge in Solomani space first.

Im terrified of opening high guard, how difficult is the ship building in mongoose 2e?

>>53247660
No idea, but if it needs more than basic calcs I would be surprised.+-x/ and dealing with percentages should be the extent of the math. That doesn't mean using Excel or equivalent to juggle those numbers is a bad idea, though

>>53247660
>>53247830
Traveller subreddit has an excel file that calculates most things, so you're just left with picking and choosing.

>>53248303
Good to know.

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>>53238204
I like scavenger career, though it's pretty weak.

How often do you people encounter careers like Enterteiner or Dilletante?

Any tips for a new game master? i am using mongoose traveller 1e

Anyone know anything about Imperium naming regulations? are there any regulations?

>>53254167
New to Traveller or new to GMing in general?

>>53255009
Traveller

I never like sci fi a lot but after reading mongoose traveller i am quite excited to try this game, and i ask myself why this system hasn't been used for other genres/games?

>>53253119
>How often do you people encounter careers like Enterteiner or Dilletante?

I've only used them or seen them used for NPCs.

>>53254224
>Anyone know anything about Imperium naming regulations? are there any regulations?

They seem to be a mixture of UK and US methods. There are "letter" classes where all the name of all ships in the class begins with a certain letter. There are "genre" classes like the Broadswords named after melee weapons or the Gazelles named after fast herbivores. There are also "political" classes like the US old city=cruiser rules with Planet and Ocean classes. Finally there's a whole load of "grab bag" classes in which any old name is used, just look at the AHL.

>>53254167
>Any tips for a new game master? i am using mongoose traveller 1e

1st, switch to 2e as it's cleaner.
2nd, run a few "test drive" sessions so both you and your players can get the feel of things.
3rd, keep it small & simple to begin with. There are 40 years of materials out there and you can very easily drown in them.
4th, when you do begin your campaign, you'll need to guide the players' chargen so their PCs "fit" your game.

>>53255904
>I never like sci fi a lot but after reading mongoose traveller i am quite excited to try this game, and i ask myself why this system hasn't been used for other genres/games?

Two reasons.

1st, GDW never licensed it for use in other genres/games, pulled nearly all licenses by the mid-80s, and never used it themselves for other genres/games. Early on there were licensees like FASA and GW, but their work had to fit GDW's OTU more or less. It's worth noting that after losing their Trav licenses FASA developed BattleTech and GW WH40K, both of which have significant Trav "DNA" in them.

2nd, there have also been no "official" OGL version of the game until very recently. People have always used Trav for other purposes, a fantasy version called Mertactor has been around for some time and a guy at COTI posts about using Trav to run a 1930s pulp game. There was no published & distributed rules set available for all that.

Everyone homebrewed their own different uses and homebrews aren't widely shared.

Do the upper echelons of Imperial military have some form of, or equivalent to, Zhodani Psionic Commandos?

>>53256595
>Do the upper echelons of Imperial military have some form of, or equivalent to, Zhodani Psionic Commandos?

Yes, It's hinted at in earlier versions and finally made explicit in TNE's Regency Sourcebook (RSB). 3I psionics are fundamentally different than the Zho version however.

The 3I couldn't hope to catch up with the Zho's multiple millennia head start, so it deliberately went all in on what can be described as "mechanical/cybernetic" psionics. The 3I has devices which use psionics, devices which help psions used psionics, devices which allow "dead heads' to use psionics, and devices which prevent the use of psionics.

The last part is very important. The 3I has devices which prevent all the usual psionic "tricks" within their area of coverage. No telepathy, clairvoyance, teleportation, etc.

RSB presents the issue in ECM/ECCM terms with the 3I military talking about " escalation", "denying spectrums" and "spectrum dominance" while also knocking Zho psionics "off the air".

This mechanical/cybernetic psionic research has also led to seamless man-machine interfaces like those used by the Longbow projects. The upper limit of a human brain's processing power was also learned, along with just what amount of input could cause a "burn out". That means that while some "organic' psions can perform Classic's 2D6+6 Assault, the 3I has an Assault device which can inflict much more damage.

In many ways, RSB made the 3I and later Regency a much darker and scarier place.

>>53257099
Why didn't people like TNE and Rebellion? I think it's a better idea than just stagnancy...even if it was somewhat poorly executed

Was there a proper Fourth Imperium?

>>53257365
>Why didn't people like TNE and Rebellion?

There are as many reasons as there are people. Virus is a huge reason, simply too much of a suspender snapper for most. The fact that TNE also used a new rules system - the GDW House System - was perhaps just as important if not talked about as much. I think most people were expecting Hard Times to slide into a 2nd Long Night comprised of several middling powers surrounded by a lot of Wilds. No one wanted or expected the genocidal slate wiper of TNE.

>> I think it's a better idea than just stagnancy...even if it was somewhat poorly executed

Classic and Mega were both stagnant and vibrant depending on location and perspective. GDW's mistake was in focusing everyone on the Imperial Big Picture instead leaving it vague. Because the Big Picture was stagnant, people began to think of all the smaller "pictures" being stagnant too.

>Was there a proper Fourth Imperium?

It's part of M:1248 from Avenger. Whether it amounts to anything or not isn't known. TNE poisoned the story line to such an extent that even Miller prefers to ignore the centuries immediately after Virus and instead talks about the Galaxiad Era 1000s of years afterward.

>>53253119
Played on character who was both at different times: Reporter, gets Knighted, goes Dil, then into play.

>>53256286
>It's worth noting that after losing their Trav licenses FASA developed BattleTech and GW WH40K, both of which have significant Trav "DNA" in them.
In both cases the success of those games caused those companies to cease licensing, not the other way around.

>>53256009
Where i can download 2e with the art?

Also how does this system handles computer hacking and things like that?

>>53258099
>GDW's mistake was in focusing everyone on the Imperial Big Picture
A lot of that was actually DGP, who were the drivers behind MegaTraveller. GDW had the big black and red map, but the data that went into the Atlas of the Imperium was driven by DGP.

>TNE poisoned the story line to such an extent that even Miller prefers to ignore the centuries immediately after Virus and instead talks about the Galaxiad Era 1000s of years afterward.
Cycles of civilization, more likely. 1300 to 1900 is probably another Night.

>>53260307
>computer hacking and things like that?
Hopefully in ways that don't drag the game session to a halt, like every cyberpunk game ever.

>>53260307
>>53260424
It's not super-involved, although I'm sure there's some supplement somewhere to make it involved.

I vaguely recall seeing a diagram concerning nodes, lockouts, and backdoors, but a quick search gives two hacking skills:
A single check to attempt to hack a system (lasting 1D6x10 minutes) and an attempt to break sensor lock in ship combat. You might allow an attempt to backdoor through the enemy's comms or something if you're not in combat.

Anybody know if Alien Realms is up in the archive?

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>>53260307
>Where i can download 2e with the art?

Why the fuck does ART matter? Rules matter, not pictures by illustrators who most often have never seen or even played the game.

>Also how does this system handles computer hacking and things like that?

It depends. Here's that Q&D system the other anon mentioned. While hacking can be fun, it rarely is. Too many sperglords want to play off their single online Cisco sysadmin course than the actual rules of whatever game is on the table.

>>53260400
>A lot of that was actually DGP, who were the drivers behind MegaTraveller.

True, that's why I mentioned Classic too.

>>53245211
p-pdf?

Yeah, I'll probably buy the hardcopy in a couple of weeks when lulu cough up a decent bloody code and I have money.

>>53263858

I got it as a pdf and printed it off. It's only 150 pages or so and there's more written "meat" than pretty but mostly useless artwork.

It's all of 10 bucks. Most people spend more than that on fancy coffee every day.

The navy/scout campaign rules are excellent. I hope Elliot/Zozer find a way to do the same with mercs.

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>53264457

>>53238204
i checked out the library and don't know where to start.
which books should i download if i have never played traveller, and in fact im an RPG beginner?

>>53270041
I'd recommend the MGT2 Corebook or Cepheus Engine for a completely fresh person. (There are simpler systems, but there are bits that you'd want to change on the others. I've got my own favorite (as I imagine we all do here) but that's both current, good, and accessible.

>>53271373
Anybody know if Ashes of Empires will ever be a thing? Like These Stars are Ours?

There was a thread on COTI where they decided to pick one of the two

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Would Traveller be a good system for running XCom in? What do you anons think the best system would be for running it? I saw the one mongoose homebrew in the archive, how's it function, if anyone's played it?

>>53270041
>which books should i download if i have never played traveller, and in fact im an RPG beginner?

MgT2e or Cepheus Engine. To be honest, your lack of any RPG experience means you're going to have troubles with any version.

>>53277567
>Would Traveller be a good system for running XCom in?

It would possible with a lot of work.

The real questions are how much work can you do, how much work will you want to do, and how much work will you do well? In my experience with homebrews, the answers to those three questions are "Some", "Very Little", and "Next To None".

>>What do you anons think the best system would be for running it?

Something like Delta Green or Night's Black Agents with DG's eldritch horrors or NBA's vampires reskinned as XCom's aliens. Those games already have the eerie. spooky, weird, beyond human comprehension bits you'll be hard pressed to recreate for Traveller.

>>53277567
When you say XCOM, do you mean fairly quick combat with high-lethality?
Traveller is good at that, you just want a roster of spare characters

https://stellarreaches.wordpress.com/ a blog full of campaign ideas

So all players have the same age? or how do you establish relationships?

>>53281860
Setting the age is a fairly straightforward way to balance the PCs, but is not necessary unless your players are balance freaks.

Relationships can be handled several ways, Mongoose 1 does a reasonable job of it, by having an Event roll each term, and allowing PCs to form "oh yeah, I was there too!" connections with each other based on those events. Voluntary and freeform, and worth a skill level.

>>53281860
>So all players have the same age?

There's no need for them to be of the same age. In fact, aboard a ship the captain should be more experienced and thus older than a "mere" drive lackey.

>>or how do you establish relationships?

You could try using your imagination. It's what RPGs are all about.

However, if you're a sperglord millennial with little experience in social situations and even less of an imagination, MgT and other versions of tables which can help you pretend you know how normal people interact with each other.

Give them a try.

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>>53238204

Traveller sounds like such a fun system to imagine and play in. Too bad I can't run it with my group; last time I did all they did was focus on shooting things and if the situation didn't include shooting things then they simply walked away. So frustrating.

>>53282298
Hahahahaha

Yeah i can be a little autistic with numbers, as >>53282202 said , characters can be in the same events, but to be in same events they have to be almost the same age or something like that but he i know what you mean

>>53282639
>characters can be in the same events, but to be in same events they have to be almost the same age or something like that

No, they don't. I ran an active duty campaign once in which one PC was 10 years older than another. The players decided - without having to resort to life events or table, believe it or not - that the younger PC had attended a service school when the older was a instructor there.

>> i know what you mean

No, you don't. You simply can't imagine why people of varying ages may know each other thanks to employment, training, social situations, introductions, and the like.

>>53282912
Example from Mongoose: Merchant character can have a "business deal gone bad" event, and a Navy character can have a Piracy Suppression event at vastly different ages that were the same event, as long as they occurred the same number of terms prior to play.

>>53282912
I think you are not understanding, in the book all players start rolling dice for career and that when they are 18 years old, so i though hey if everyone is 18 years old they will have the same age at every event

>>53282349
maybe the randos at /tg/ could get a game together?

[x]I know I'd be down for it[/x]

I don't know how to spoilers

>>53282966
Also, there is no requirement for Event coordination. The Event I rolled and decided to hang a Connection from may have simply been business as usual for the other PC, and not related to their Event at all.
It can be fun trying to weave the events together, but it is not necessary to do so.

>>53282985
The "EVENT" that defines a term in Mongoose can happen at any point in the four years.

You can decide to randomize your last term if it was a failed one. "Career Exploded, out on the streets at 33."

Why are the Imperial Marines considered so elite? They're just another branch of service, the vibe I'm getting is that Marines>>>>>>all the other branches of service, from a lore perspective, why is that?

>>53283244
Cutlasses.

>>53282985
>I think you are not understanding,

Believe me, any misunderstanding here is ENTIRELY on your part. Yes, chargen begins at 18, yes, each successful term adds 4 years to the PC's age, and, yes, chargen ends when the PC musters out.

However, what you've failed to understand is that different PCs spend different amounts of time in chargen which means one could be 22 and another 50.

>>53282966
>Example from Mongoose:

That's an excellent example and one that >>53282639/>>53282985 might have a chance of understanding.

>>53283378
that's it?

>>53283604
Battledress boarding party actions?

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>>53283604
Well I imagine it comes from the era when space warfare was relatively new, and the daring zero-G antics of Marine Commandos would have been the stuff of legend, which they've cultivated since. They're the guys in heavy battledress plummeting from orbit like human nukes to 1-v-1 an army of tanks, that's pretty stirring stuff.

>>53283244
They're far more picky about who joins them?

In my copy of the Traveller Book I can join the Army if I can roll a 5+ whereas I have to roll a 9+ to join the Marines.

Selective entry and high entry requirements is a characteristic of elite military units, among others.

>>53283244
>Why are the Imperial Marines considered so elite? They're just another branch of service, the vibe I'm getting is that Marines>>>>>>all the other branches of service, from a lore perspective, why is that?

As with so many things in Traveller, it depends on the version.

While battledress training is the usual answer to your question, in early Classic there is no separate battledress skill. Instead, the vacc suit skill is used and getting that skill as a marine isn't automatic. A separate BD skill is later introduced in LBB:4 and, while only marines have a chance to get it, it still isn't automatic. Later versions, especially GT, made battledress the big difference between the marines and army.

Apart from BD, the marines are more likely to fight in PROFORS situations, aboard ships, and in zero-gee. GT, following LKW's influence, made the marines the 3I's rapid deployment force while the bulk of the army was "demoted" into something more like a national guard role.

As >>53284120 points out, the marines across all versions have tougher enlistment, commissioning, promotion, survival, and reenlistment rolls than the army, something which is characteristic of elite formations. As an elite group and thanks to serving aboard ships, the marines are more likely to engage in PROFORS operations, fight aboard ships, and in zero-gee.

An in-game in-character comment by a marine describes boarding a ship as akin to fighting in the dark, in vacuum, in zero-gee, in a nuclear power plant.

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Thinking of starting a Traveller game (Mongoose 2). Any suggestions? Ideas? Splendid advice?

As I love world building it will be set in a custom setting. For the campaign, the current plan is to keep it quite sandbox and down-to-earth.

>>53285797
What's your setting like?

>>53285797
I personally recommend having the players go through some sort of prologue dungeon of sorts, a crumbling space station under attack by aliens for example. This helps them learn the basic mechanics of the game before they set out into the subsector of your design and can also work as a justification to them traveling together. What Ive also done is look at each character's skills and put things that they excel at into the prologue so they can all feel like their character isnt useless even if they dont have high combat skills.

Im not a great referee but this approach has been well liked so far.

About how powerful is battledress? I've seen estimates from 'just vacc-sealed power armor' to 'punch down a house and survive MBT weapons' so, on average? Is it more Heinlein Mobile Infantry or Iron Man?

>>53285797
>>Any suggestions? Ideas? Splendid advice?

Anon >>53288274 has already made two excellent suggestions: Run introductory session(s) and make sure the PCs' skill sets fit the campaign.

You yourself have already been smart enough to start simple with the DTE sandbox campaign.

The only things I can add are: Don't be a hurry to add stuff, keep things small, and think about a Hub & Spoke set-up

Traveller is 40 years old and, to be honest, there is TOO much stuff for it out there. One of your players will show up with a book and innocently ask "Why not add this?" Don't add stuff just to add stuff. You can quickly bury your setting and yourself.

Classic talks about a single subsector containing years of adventures and it's completely correct in that. Even a simple 3 parsec radius cluster of 23 hexes and 12 or so worlds is more than enough to start with.

Using the cluster example above. pick an important world at make it your "hub". Spend time detailing it and have the players adventure there 1st. Only detail the other worlds when they visit them and make sure to draw the players back to the "hub" world.

Good luck and have fun.

>>53289703
>About how powerful is battledress?

Once again, and like most things in Traveller, it depends on the version.

Classic's BD is mostly an armored vacc suit that allows the wearer to handle weapons like PGMPs & FGMPs.

MegaT's BD is perhaps the most powerful and Heinlein-like with built-in grav belts, sensors, comms, etc.

TNE & GT dial back Mega's take somewhat but not down to the level of Classic. Both have more detailed descriptions of BD and thus have more specific rules for BD's various components. ForEx: the embedded sensors now have ranges, ratings, tasks, etc.

While it's up to you to pick the level of detail you want, that detail comes with a price - namely speed or ease of play.