 Goto [ Index ] |
Be aware that I have never read Traveller before, and that I’m judging it based on how it performs compared to other modern RPGs.
The Good: Character creation generates an interesting background and involves meaningful decisions. The alien species, star ships, and setting have a strong classic science fiction feel to them. The core system is easy to learn and teach. A simple hex grid system allows for the GM to easily create an area of the galaxy filled with detail. Rules for trade allow for interesting and meaningful tracking of character income which, combined with ship and other costs, provides focus for a merchant game.
The Bad: Some players may not enjoy the randomness of character creation, and the alternative point buy method is only satisfactory at best.
The Physical Thing
Very expensive at $39.95 for a 192 page black and white hardcover, Traveller makes up for its high cost by packing in a large amount of useful material. The index was somewhat useful in character generation. The artwork, formatting, and general presentation do a good job of informing me about Traveller and of setting the tone for the game generally.I’ve been critical of the production values of past Mongoose products. While Traveller isn’t perfect and does suffer from a high cost / small page count problem, I’m very pleased with this book and consider it to be a quality gaming product.
Under the Cover
Traveller seeks to enable readers to play free traders and similar sorts of, well, travelers who journey across the galaxy in search of profit and adventure. Right off the bat, however, some readers are going to hit a snag. While the book does a very good job of including all the mechanics you need to build characters and run adventures, it provides almost no setting information. This makes it well suited to groups who want to generate their own universe as they go, but anyone interested in playing in the Traveller setting will have to look to another product for information on the universe.Starting off with character creation, Traveller makes use of a Characteristic + Skill system to modify a roll of 2d6. The six Characteristics include Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Intelligence, Education, and Social Standing. These values range from around 1 to 14 for starting characters, and higher values add to dice rolls. A 12, for example, adds +1 to dice rolls. Characteristics are also important in character creation because they allow for characters to qualify for special opportunities.
Characters start out at age 18 with a few background Skills and players choose career paths for them. These paths each represent 4 years spent working in a specific profession (Agent, Army, Citizen, Drifter, Entertainer, Marines, Merchants, Navy, Nobility, Rogue, Scholar, Scout), and they provide a variety of benefits based on random rolls. Did the character get promoted? Were they a part of an interesting event? What skills did they learn? All is answered with a few rolls of the dice.
Building a few characters with the lifepath system included here, I have to say that it’s fantastic. The characters start play with an interesting background, and while players may not get everything they want they do have meaningful choices during the process. Will your Agent leave service and join another group? How old are you willing to make your Naval Officer? Unlike previous versions of Traveller, which included the possibility of character death, the current version only allows for injuries and enemies to be acquired from the random tables.
The only real problem with this character generation system is that some players may not end up with the character they want, or with Skills that they’re particularly interested in. While there is a point buy method included, I can’t say that I’m a fan. The lifepath system just creates such interesting people from the start that it would be a shame to lose it. It may be that the best option for groups that have trouble with the randomness of the lifepaths is to set a number of rerolls or auto-successes so that players can be certain to get the general character that they’re striving for.
When a player is done they have an experienced veteran with around 1 to 3 ranks in a few key Skills. Speaking of Skills, the Skill system has a nice spread. There are enough Skills that it feels like each one showcases an area of expertise, but there aren’t so many that they become burdensome to keep track of. In general, characters tend to not have a lot of high Skills and it’s entirely possible that a band of free traders may have to rely on NPCs to fill certain rolls that they just can’t do. In this way the game has a harder science fiction feel to it. The Skill resolution system is a simple 2d6 roll + Characteristic Modifier + Skill Rank +/- modifiers against a difficulty of 8. This means that Skills are a very big deal, and the difference between having no Skill or Modifier and having just a single rank in a Skill is almost a 17% greater chance to succeed!
Before we move on to Combat, let me take a moment to mention the alien species here. Only a handful of aliens are included, but they’re wonderfully strange. While the Aslan (cat people) may not excite the science fiction fan as much, creatures like the Hivers are extremely strange and are accompanied by an equally alien mindset. The beautiful thing about Traveller is that these aliens can be alien without significant rules modifications. Most have a few tweaks to help give them a distinct feel in the universe, but otherwise even the strangest aliens easily function under this system.
Combat is a simple affair, with initiative being rolled and characters attacking and defending with a simple 2d6 + Skill + Characteristic Modifier. The important thing to take away about differences in Traveller as opposed to other Skill + Attribute combat systems is that an initiative penalty is applied to defenders such that going first in combat may be even more valuable here than in other games. With that said, there are two other things here that I find worthy of mention. First, armor does flat damage reduction. This can be a big deal if the characters end up with fairly advanced armor. Second, the Tactics and Leadership Skills are interesting because they can apply Initiative boosts to characters. This could be particularly valuable in a variety of situations, not the least of which being where one character is under fire and has to take several defensive actions.
Combat comes up in all RPGs, but what interests me most in science fiction games like Traveller is the opportunity to explore. I want to visit alien worlds and discover lost civilizations. Rules for quickly building environment appropriate creatures and aliens are included, along with quick generators and lists for building environments. As if that didn’t help the GM enough, tables for random encounters and numerous pregenerated NPCs can be found to really cut down on the GM’s prep work.
This leaves us with four topics: Equipment (including spacecraft), Psionics, Trade, and World Creation. The Equipment section covers all of the basics and then some. Weapons of all types, computers, and the sort of equipment you’d expect to see appear in a classic science fiction novel can be found here. Note that Traveller doesn’t embrace transhumanism or modern science fiction but seeks to evoke more of an Imperial science fiction atmosphere. The starships are incredibly well done. While the artwork is definitely retro in appearance, it maintains a functional look that works well with the hard science fiction feel of the game. Full deck plans and detailed information on a host of different ships can be found here. This is wonderful because it results in starships really feeling like home and it can also result in interesting boarding actions and other aboard ship encounters. What’s more, the starships include a lot of different systems and it’s entirely possible to upgrade and otherwise alter these systems in order to give each ship a unique feel.
Along with the spacecraft themselves, spacecraft operation and combat receive considerable attention. The rules and discussion clearly focus on making the ship of great importance to the characters, and plenty of interesting and appropriate minutiae are included. For operations rules for debts owed on ships, life support systems, and general ship maintenance are focused on. For combat, the goal seems to be to make sure that all the players have something interesting to do even if they’re aboard the same ship. Gunners, engineers, commanders, and others are all making different rolls and are important for successful survival against an attack. All of this focus is well done and addresses all of the concerns that come to my mind when I think of starship combat.
Switching gears slightly, Psionics are included here but I’m a little surprised to see them. Starting characters have a remote chance of being Psionic and, if they are, then they get to progress down a specific career just for psychics. Younger characters are better at psychic powers than older characters, thereby encouraging players of psychics to not spend nearly as long in a career path (thus forcing an interesting balancing element into play). Psychic powers cover all of the classics – telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation, and others – and are performed by spending psychic points and making a simple roll. On the whole psychic powers are easy to adjudicate and not terrifically powerful. With the exception of mind reading, most aren’t doing anything that technology couldn’t do in their place.
Our final two topics worthy of discussion are Trade and World Creation, and I find them to be fantastic. There is an entire, detailed system for Trade and earning money presented here. How purchase price is determined, what sells on different worlds, how to go about trading, examples of goods, and more information is included. I like it a lot because it allows players to have a meaningful system to track their earnings and gives incentive to characters that have developed more social and bargaining oriented Skills. With debts as a major motivation for many characters, the Trade system means that characters will always be on the lookout for more business (adventure) opportunities.
World Creation covers both the specific topic (creating worlds) and setting creation more generally. Star systems are represented on a hex grid and a well thought out series of symbols quickly informs the reader of what’s going on there. Because of this a GM can easily create a local cluster, and no doubt future products will be easy to use thanks to this system. Creating worlds specifically can be done randomly or through careful choice, but a variety of tools and ideas are included here to really aid the GM. Thinking through things like “how much of the surface is covered with water” and “what cultural taboos do the locals have” can ensure a unique experience every time the crew lands.
