Traveller Troubles

Have you considered running traveler using “stars without number”?

I haven’t played traveller since 1985 so I guess that was classic traveller.

Honestly TTNE is a hot mess and I would go there at all. MgT is very good tbh and I’d say that dispite the bad it’s well worth it otherwise. The Cephestus rules are a clone rule which I’d check out if I were you it’s a reworking of CT and quite fine for that.

For old school feel I’d also highly recommend;
Stellar Wind rule set dispite the cringe worthy 3D art it’s actually a soild set of rules in a very Traveller play style way.
Stars With out Numbers, actually plays quite a bit like Traveller too
Thousand suns too is ok
Mindjammer gives a really, solid Traveler like experience too and thy actually have a Traveller rules version coming if you don’t want to use Fate.
Finally Firefly cortex+ rules will give you quite the traveller game too and we had a surprisingly good game of Traveller set in the Imperium using these rules.
Uncharted Worlds is a good PbTA Traveller Synthesis – highly recommended.
M-Space is Traveller via Mythras and is pretty damn slick tbh.

I feel your desire to run Traveller. I come back to it every few years and nearly always settle on CT because in the end it’s just a little simple rule set, which powers your cool space opera story.

Here is the link to the Cepheus Engine a CT clone with some small changes you may like.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/186894/Cepheus-Engine-System-Reference-Document

TNE is a perfectly usable system, though I’d note that the space combat system is the most complicated for any version of Traveller. It’s certainly usable for other Traveller periods, and last time I played with it was in the Interstellar Wars period (with the GURPS: IW background).

I would suggest using your own subsector/sector if you want to use the original time period. I’ve run a couple of games that way. What made it interesting was that the players were effectively creating a policy as they went along, since the systems they came from were set up to be just restarting efforts to explore further. With only a couple of ships they were going out without backup as well. There were plenty of options for things other than combat – helping a barely-surviving colony repair its decaying life support equipment, repairing an old A2, resolving a medical emergency – which has always been my players preferred type of Traveller.

TNE is great but complex.
I propose you “Uncharted Worlds” a pbta game centered on characters, their ship, the factions and links, debts and obligations between characters and factions.
Simple System, ideal for Firefly/Traveller type game.

Yeah, the “problem” with TNE is that converting any other Traveller content is going to be a PITA. The other major complaint is that ultimately, rules-wise and flavor-wise, it doesn’t really “feel” like Traveller – and the science behind the mechanics is often at odds with every other edition of the game.

TNE might actually be the only set of the rules for Traveller that I pitched, though I have a handful of the supplements still in my library.

There is probably still floating around the MgT SRD for their 1E, it’s probably the nicest of the systems out there. I’ve sworn off buying anything MgT 2E – mostly because I’m tired of paying for the same material over and over again. T5 has some nice pieces, but overall is a hot mess.

D.

Re PbTA & Uncharted Worlds; Sean has done a fair job with the game. I’m not a fan of the way chargen involves mixing three careers to make up a playbook. I get it, I just want the clean PbTA iconic template rout – Sean’s aproach works fine. That said during play of a PbTA game you play like any other rpg, favouring the narative. Following your blogging for a while now, I’d say this actually would fit your playing style fairly well – so during the game when something comes up that makes you think “hum how should this turn out” you go with what’s been said in game then find the move that most closely equates to what’s been said and has been happening in the narration. Not the other way around! This is where I see the most mistakes with PbtA. Its not a menue that controls your aproach to the game, so to speak … It’s a set of …algorithms you use after you’ve spoken your intention in game, to see how things will turn out. So the game narration is going along and that thing comes up where you think “hang on there” the Players – and only the players – pick up the dice and roll and you use the 10+,9-7,6 or less, break points from the move that best equates to the stated narative, fitting it with the most appropriate “move” which will alow you to game that narrative; the move gives its inputs to the game narative, the things continue to happen with new wrinkles in the game and thing play on. It’s cool. You’d get it dead easy actually – it’s a great alternative way to play ( as opposed to strictly simulation rules). There’s a good reason it’s popular, it just works, it’s really easy and it makes the game sing in all the right ways as you all play; and yet it feels much less mechanistic than FATE and much more like a traditional rpg experience.

I’d say gather for a one shot of UW and see how it works for you, I think you will be surprised if you just play it the same way you normally play any rpg and just reference the “move” to get rules for what you already know is happening – it’s crazy fun actually. Just remember don’t you as the GM roll dice, and don’t let anyone use the moves as a menue in a frontloaded maner. You never go “_I launch an assult_” you instead say ” so I’m sick of listening to this local so called big shot shooting off his mouth and trying to intimidate us or whatever? So I lash out at him kicking his knee and as he buckles I punch him in the throat” you ” whoa that sounds like your making a move roll it! Look up the results using _launch assult_”. So tell the game narative and then backload the algorithm to resolve the situation. That’s the hardest part of PbtA actually just groking that’s it’s not a menue via which you play but that it powers or enables play ..so they are a step removed.

As to TNE – I think the only thing that worked against it at the time was the Vampire virus which was an idea ahead of its time, looking back it’s actually a totally ok conceit, the grognards did a lot of jumping up and down for nothing. GDW need to listen to its audience though and should have not gone that way. It was all a bit of a shame really. The other key problem with TNE is it’s a bit wonky in places – the combat is possibly the cleanest part of the rules (lol) but even that has its issues. The rules being a version of what became the defacto house rule set for GDW means you can draw in bits from its sister games should you want.

Tbh – if the only hold back for CT is the to-hit calculations then that’s a small complaint easy managed by small hacks of the rules.

I ran one TNE campaign: a mercenary campaign based in Deneb sector of “The Regency.” I never got into the Reformation Coalition setting. Something about it stunk of betrayal to the OTU to me.

I found the rules a bit cumbersome but my players really loved it. A few of them were big fans of Fire, Fusion & Steel, the TNE tech design system. It was kind of fun to tinker around with, enabling you to create everything from experimental TL16 starships, to vehicles, to guns, to a suit of battle dress. It was flawed, but the online community provided errata faster than GDW did. In addition, one of my players was a big “rules lawyer,” so any time something was unclear to me, he jumped right in and made sure we did things by the rules. Some refs might find this irritating, but I found it refreshing that I could concentrate on the story and leave rules issues to the players.

In the end, that merc campaign was probably the most enjoyable Traveller campaign for my players. They still talk about it and reminisce about their battlefield achievements. But I think it was more the scenario they enjoyed than the rules we used.

TNE was fine, but a simpler game system like CT or Mongoose Trav 2nd edition is better. I’m currently using the latter and I love it!

FYI, since Marc Miller is a fan of H.Beam Piper and even included the Sword Worlds (by name, at least) in the Spinward Marches, I’d say another fairly obvious inspiration for Star Vikings trying to restore civilization must be Piper’s novel Space Viking. If somehow you’ve missed out on this and other works of Piper’s Terro-Human Future History, you’re in for a treat. Through some twist in copyright law, most of Piper’s books, including Space Viking, are available for free from the Gutenberg Project. Other favorites of mine include Uller Uprising, Four-Day Planet, and Omnilingual (novella).