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Warwidowhammer
2010-10-23, 12:26 PM
Hey guys,

It looks like our gaming group will be starting Traveller in possibly a few weeks. Being a big fan of the Sci-Fi (Star Trek/Star Wars) It would seem Traveller is a system for me. I know it's a gritty look on the future with space travel, Shadowrun in space? (Correct me if wrong).

So who has played Traveller, what did you think of it, what did you like about it, what did you not like about it. If it helps its not the d20 version.

Thanks guys & gals!

jmbrown
2010-10-23, 12:33 PM
Combat is something to be avoided which is a difficult concept especially for people coming out of D&D or other heroic RPGs where you're expected to slaughter everything in sight. Traveler works best as something like Star Trek vice Star Wars. You're space explorers who hop from planet to planet (and I always loved Traveler's planetary creation system), tangle with locals, run afoul of the law, and escape by the seat of your pants. Much of the conflict should be interparty so the referee should try his best to engage each player on a personal level.

El Dorado
2010-10-23, 10:31 PM
Played it years ago with some added house rules (so my experience is probably skewed). Is this the one where your character can die during character creation (tours of duty or somesuch)? That was an especially neat twist. :smallwink:

I really enjoyed it. I remember our group having to take a lot of shady jobs to earn enough to equip our ship. Makes for great plot hooks.

jmbrown
2010-10-23, 10:38 PM
As with any lifepath system, the more experienced your character is to start out with the higher the chance he cripples himself. You can start the game really rich and powerful but simultaneously old and weak. Time plays a greater role than in most RPGs so months and years will fly by pretty quickly.

Zeta Kai
2010-10-23, 10:41 PM
Is this the one where your character can die during character creation (tours of duty or somesuch)?

Yes, yes it is. And that makes it awesome. :smallcool:

Reverent-One
2010-10-23, 11:52 PM
Yes, yes it is. And that makes it awesome. :smallcool:

This. I got the books sometimes back, but never had a group around to play it with. :smallfrown:

Malfunctioned
2010-10-24, 09:13 AM
It may be one of the best games I've played ever.

In the first three sessions my group managed to expose a psychic serial-killer, blow up an Imperial space station, take out most of the pirate in a large subsector by turning an abandoned mercenary cruiser ship into a large beacon filled with explosives and free an entire planet from a dictator known to them as 'Doggy Hilter' (They even created art of him afterwards. He was a Vargyr who was given a likeness to a Schnauzer....).

It also gave us such great moments as this: A large scavenger planet filled with terrorists/freedom fighters (depending on who you ask) known as The Red Men, the group is trying to negotiate the release of slaves for weapons.

Red Man Leader: You think we need weapons? We've got plenty of them, show 'em boys.
(The group of five are now having around a hundred assault rifles pointed at them)
Sallador Saan (team face and merchant): Gentlemen, gentlemen. Do not make us trade blows over a matter such as this. Besides, it would be unfair of us, you are not armoured against such blows.
RML: What the 'ell are you talkin' about?
Marty (ship navigator and gunner): (Over ships speakers) This.
He proceeds to wipe out a large portion of the force with the weapons designed for ship to ship combat, the end up getting away with both the slaves and several shiny tonnes of new cargo.


Also the teams resident scientist (Known as Professor Doktor Science PHD) ended up in an dramatic swordfight on the hull of the ship with a pirate captain whilst trying to avoid a meteor shower.

In space.

akma
2010-10-24, 09:23 AM
Is this the one where your character can die during character creation (tours of duty or somesuch)? That was an especially neat twist. :smallwink:


Sounds awfull.
Why do you like it?

jmbrown
2010-10-24, 09:32 AM
Sounds awfull.
Why do you like it?

Character creation follows the progression of your character from birth to the beginning of his adventuring career. You can play it safe with a civilian job, decide that drifting or mercenary work is better suited, join the military, or some other dangerous or mundane task. Staying in your career for longer periods of time makes you more powerful but carries the risk of crippling or possibly killing your character.

I love games that use a lifepath system like Mechwarrior/BattleTech and Burning Wheel. Unlike other RPGs where a character's back story is meaningless, these games combine mechanics with fluff and tells your character's story as you're rolling dice.

FelixG
2010-10-24, 09:39 AM
I love the game just so much.

Combat...is a dangerous choice, just as it should be!

Character creation in some ways can be more dangerous than actual combat which i fund fun and hilarious at the same time.

@ Akma

Characters created through the life path system seem more organic, they can have interesting stories and turns of events in their life. It gives substance to a back story and character interactions as opposed to fluff people come up with

When your character looses and eye or arm in character generation you come up with a sweet story to come up with it ~.^

I just wish i had more people to play it with :smallfrown:

jebob
2010-10-24, 10:07 AM
I like the system, but stuggle to find players. I tried setting up a couple of games online that quickly faded away... and my home audience is a bit young...

Heh, reminds me of a conversation I had with their parents. I promised to up the law levels to make it more suitable for children. When they asked what that meant, I said;

"On planets where protitution is legal, it shall become regulated. On planets where its regulated, it shall be illegal. And on planets where its illegal it shall all be done in test tubes!"

FelixG
2010-10-24, 10:28 PM
Finding a suitable party for Traveller, i just realized is actually more difficult than the game itself. XD

Most of my RL friends have come into my traveller game from the d20 mentality then get slaughtered when they try to fight every situation out.

akma
2010-10-25, 03:35 AM
I like how the character generation work (at least in the way you described it), but still, why not cut out the risk of dying during character creation?

FelixG
2010-10-25, 04:56 AM
Well, in all honesty the risk of "you died" is fairly low...the problem is that a character concept can die instead of the character.

For example if you planned to be a big bad marine that boarded space ships you roll to enter that path, well you didnt quite cut it, go some other route. Character concept dead from the get go

Or you are being a spy, you botch an operation in your life path and you loose your legs, well either pay the tremendous amount for cybernetics, or your character is in a wheelchair

One of my favorite GMs let us use a d6 to determine how many "reroll" points we had and could reroll a botch if we chose to so that our character concepts didn't get too mauled in the character creation. NOTE this is not standard for traveller.

Zeta Kai
2010-10-25, 05:31 AM
One of my favorite GMs let us use a d6 to determine how many "reroll" points we had and could reroll a botch if we chose to so that our character concepts didn't get too mauled in the character creation. NOTE this is not standard for traveller.

Ooh, that's a good house-rule. I'll have to use that the next time that I run a game with a lifepath-style chargen. Fun stuff.

Tyrrell
2010-10-25, 06:24 AM
I like how the character generation work (at least in the way you described it), but still, why not cut out the risk of dying during character creation?

It was cut out of the rules some time around 1982, some people just never payed attention.

Since Mercenary (that's little black book #4) came out failing a "survival" roll has always meant getting discharged due to injury.

That does sort of mess with the character creation mini-game of betting what you've got so far against the perils of having to start over but most find it more to their liking.