Greetings,

All Referees seeking knowledge, insight, feedback, encouragement, and help.  This is the place to post concerning your needs as a Referee, whatever they might be.

Players considering becoming Referees may also post any questions, concerns, etc. about how to get started.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:24, Mon 01 July 2019.

OK, since this was my idea (and thank you all for agreeing to it!), I will kick things off.

There are a plethora? Myriad? Congeries? of versions of Traveller. I myself know LBB (Classic) myself, and have a copy of the Megatraveller books that I use for reference. I've seen a lot of adverts for Mongoose Traveller and GURPs as well on RPOL.

This seems... counterproductive for what is probably a pretty small slice of the active gaming community here. Just how compatible do you feel the various versions are, and does it make sense to put a game on offer as 'Traveller' instead of narrowing it down by version, and put the specifics of how you run the game in the Game Info?

maybe some of you with more versions under your belt than me can chime in and let me know how lost a player of version A would be in a Version B game?

In reply to Altho (msg # 2):

A lot of it, in my opinion, depends on how much traffic you want to your game.  Those interested in Traveller will investigate.  Those only interested in a certain version of it will go and check it out if not said in advert but then will go in the RTJ info and see what it is. By that time, etc. you might have lost them or get them a little ticked off for going and spending that time only to realize that it isn't a version they want to play.

Well, that's a lot of my question, I guess. Just how compatible are the different versions?

In reply to Altho (msg # 4):

Once you get going i think they are pretty compatible.  It's in the character generation that you might find your biggest differences.

Hey Montez....give you opinion on this since you had to help me get going in Traveller.

In order from the farthest to closest to the LBB

GURPS Traveller is quite a bit different in the character generation aspect.  I would say it is the farthest away from the real Traveller vibe.  It's probably going to be the hardest and most likely to turn off people who have played other versions of Traveller.

T20 is also quite a bit different from the more mainstream Traveller.  They did a pretty decent job at simulating terms with level advancement.  If you know D20 it's a pretty easy system to use.  I liked it once I got the hang of it.

I know little about T4 and T5.  I heard T4 was a mess and T5 is a steaming mess...

Mongoose Traveller and MegaTraveller are probably equally difficult for a LBB player.  Actually both are easy and MongTrav is a joy IMHO.

I, too, am most familiar with Classic Traveller and MegaTraveller.  I've seen some stuff in Mongoose Traveller that intrigues me, but I'm not ready to make an investment yet.

I especially like the way MegaTraveller breaks down how the task system works.

For many years now, I've been using Traveller Plus for character creation, and find it useful on a number of levels.

There are people here who actually play Traveller 5 who haven't chimed in yet.  I'm sure we'd love to hear from them concerning why they like it.

The inevitable splintering of Traveller into several systems over the years might be a bit counterproductive, but it has helped keep Traveller alive for all these years, so we take the good with the bad.  I won't tell anyone who plays a different system from me that he or she is not playing "real" Traveller, because "real" Traveller exists, after all, in our hearts and minds.

As for Introductions and RTJs:  The more specific you can be in the earlier stages of uptake, the better.  Players deserve an informed choice and all the respect we as GMs can give them.  This includes respect for their time and their right to choose what they play.

As for what Traveller system any of you might prefer, as the song says, "it's your thing -- do what you're gonna do.  I can't tell ya who to sock it to..." or how, or with what game system.  Rest securely in the knowledge you will have a place here to talk about it with friends who love Traveller as much as you do.

Eh... I've probably said too much, but that's what I do...

Much depends on how crunchy your game is. The more crunch you want, the more the differences show up. My games (and the games I like) tend to be more about the story than the mechanics, so it doesn't matter that much which system is used, provided it's all made compatible, and it features Traveller tropes such as Jump Drives, Free Traders and Gauss Rifles. I prefer CT, but I take rules from all versions and make up more of my own. They're all pretty compatible at the story level.

Even the setting may not be that important. I set my games in MTU rather than the OTU, but if the game is about a group of people searching for a hidden relic, or about a group of mercenaries armed with gauss rifles on a jungle hell-hole, or about the crew of a Free Trader trying to scratch a living in a six-world backwater main, it doesn't really matter who the Emperor is, or what the planets in the next sector are called, or whether or not a distant subsector called Lanth exists.

For me, this is what Traveller is about - ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the Far Future - not the rules version, nor the grand political setting of the universe.

It's all Traveller.

In reply to Beowulf (msg # 8):

Beowulf does bring up a point.  No matter what you put as your universe you are going to play with, there will be supplemental material available from other versions that you can borrow from.  The latest version is a bit more different to run and capability is a little crunchier BUT I still was able to adjust NPCs and such with a little work.

After posting, I have found a copy of the Mongoose Traveller Corebook among my vast library of PDF documents.  It seems I received it in a bundle I purchased from DriveThruRPG.com a while back.

As I get time, I'm going to give this a closer look, if only to settle for myself the question of why so many here like this system.

You'll probably find that a good many people like the Mongoose version because it was the first one they were introduced to (just as we prefer the LBBs).

Anyone under the age of 25 wasn't even born when Virus destroyed the OTU, and they'd have to be nearer 35 to have actually played TNE when it came out.

And the other versions are older still...

It's like 'Who is the best James Bond?' Everyone votes for the Bond they first saw. A lot of people hadn't even heard of James Bond before Daniel Craig hit the screen.

And that was about the same time Mongoose Traveller came out...

In reply to Beowulf (msg # 11):

So you're telling me I'm an old *raspberry*?  No news there, friend.  My first experience with Mongoose Traveller was actually here on RPoL, so I kinda owe it to myself to do some reading and get more familiar.

I had the emotional response initially that GDW was the only way to go, but they are, regrettably, a thing of the past now.  It's time for me to adapt, improvise, and overcome that, I suppose.

I mean, I'm kind of a home-brew freak anyway, so it ain't much of a stretch...

Heh, we're both old 'raspberries', and home-brew freaks. :)

This is some shameless self-promotion, to be honest, but I've become comfortable that within a private discussion group like Travellers' Aid Society it is permissible to let everyone know about one of my other discussion groups:

From the game description for Heru's Tinkertoy:


Anyone here is welcome to use Heru's Tinkertoy for experiments that may contribute to game development.  Shoot me an RTJ if you wanna play in my sandbox.  It's all in the name of Science!

link to another game

The advertisement for this game is located at:

link to a message in another game

With what have you been tinkering?

In reply to Montezgvegh (msg # 15):

With features like the dice roller (for which I've developed a rather extensive amplified help file that includes how to use the dice roller to simulate any sort of card deck).  (Take a look in Topics 1000 and 2000, please.)

We've also conducted experiments recently with using identically named NPCs so that players can post as that NPC and share the load of running hirelings with the GM collaboratively.

I've got a topic on Where do I Find... and another for Tips and Tricks

Stop by when you get a chance.

Did anyone here GM The Pirates of Drinax? I'm looking for an online companion or guide to the campaign, so I can skip the mistakes everyone else made.

In the Game Proposals forum, there was a negative reaction to an idea for trading/mercantile campaign in Traveller Mongoose. While some bookkeeping is required, I thought I would put out the best resource for such a campaign that is available on the interwebz.

Welcome to the Azure Traveller Tools Site!
http://travellertools.azurewebsites.net/

Now this site can do lots of things but let's focus on how it used in a trading game.

A. LOCATION
>Azure runs off the TravellerMap so anything published for it is included here except for a few non-canon sectors and such.
>Note you can change the Era as well.
>Original Systems (see note below on Original System Play)

B. CHARACTER
>This allows you to enter pertinent scores that will make all of the rolls for you to determine available freight, passengers etc.
>If your scores are NOT entered, it still calculates base prices and roll modifiers for every trade good returned. So if you like to roll or are using it on the tabletop for your players, you can leave this blank and it will still do all of your work for you.
>This is not required but saves rolling as noted above if your GM/you are not allowing Roleplay/Scene modifiers such as previous relationship with dealer etc.

C. TRADE CALCULATOR
Trading System Choices
>Mongoose 2, obvious.
>Advanced, this is Mongoose 1-Merchant Prince supplement rules (which I prefer).

Allow Illegal Goods
>A must for your smugglers and gun-runners.
>This list is a first step in setting up a small scene between the smuggler and a dealer!

Advanced Characers
>This will expand your Passenger applicants with skills and a bit more detail.
>This assists in generation of NPCS in lower tables as well.

Jump Distance
>Set this for the max jump of your ship.
>>By doing that, it will return data on all cargos and passengers heading to any system within that range. Do this!

D. GENERATE TRADE INFO
Just clicky that button and boom! You have everything at your fingertips.

IMPORTANT-
The site will store and track this information for later use. You can get a link to post it, save it, etc.
In addition, the site stores where you are… so when you move to the next planet, we just click the offered link and away we go!

Here is an example

INITIAL RESULTS
I entered starting location (Efate/Spinward Marches). Golden Era.
No character scores.
Advanced Mode (MGT.1, Merchant Prince)
No Illegal Goods
Jump/2, Standard Far Trader


At the top of the results, there is a PERMALINK tab. By grabbing that URL, I can now send the data out to whomever. I can also store it for later use if the session ends or whatever.

http://travellertools.azureweb...e=0&milieu=M1105

So what do we have…
A. PLANET INFO
Basic Data
>The boxed info are links to online resources such as the Traveller Wiki at COTI (Planet, Subsector, Sector). The Coordinates open a link in the Traveller Map.
>>Super easy to just pull the six parsec jump map and quick-post it for the players… but there’s an easier way! See below.

UWP
>Pulled from Traveller Map for the Era you indicated.

Shopping
>Bonus! It also pulled average prices and available goods for personal shopping. Just downloaded from the planetary commerce system from the comforts of your cockpit… go ahead and order that new laser pistol!

Starport Info
>Fun and expensive details regarding stopping at this port.

Travel Info
>Yeah, Time to Jump Point calcs based on planetary size from UWP.
>Oh and look, our J2 map that I can click on and save or link to Rpol for players in a split second!

Available Goods(Get Rich or Die Trying)
>This is the meat of it!
>Note that it made rolls for me based on my scores which were (zero)
>Information is self-explanatory.
>But because I am ignoring the completed rolls since I like to roll myself (and to keep the number of inquiries down in-game as indicated in SOLO rules and elsewhere. I ignore Modified Roll, Modifier, Current Price.
>NOTE: If you did enter your scores, this would all be accurate. But it’s not for me.
>So now I can do my own rolls but all of the data is right there. Base Price, Tonnage and Price DM.

Desired Goods(Get Rich or Die Trying pt2)
>Okay since this is our initial start, I don’t have any speculative goods at the moment.
>But the NEXT PLANET, this page will be very useful.
>Same use as above (Use/Ignore Modified Roll, Price if scores were not entered)

Yes… that’s a lot trade goods. Aren’t you glad this super-awesome Traveller programmer created a free site for you? You should send him a thank you.


DESTINATION

(to be continued as it’s time to log into work…)
This message was lightly edited by the player at 13:11, Tue 23 Mar 2021.

Cool..  can you build your own maps for it.
and how picky is it as I developed 3d sector maps?

? Nope.

It runs off the Traveller Map (https://travellermap.com). You can enter Origin/Destination data by hand but that's all it will do to generate mercantile stuff.

In reply to Kilgs (msg # 20):

Very nice to see something that automates all the tedium!  Now you need to marry it to a way to track starship expenses.