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T20 Lite is by no means a complete RPG system like GURPS Lite, with the information presented it's difficult to run anything but a very limited campaign. If this limited campaign is to your liking (such as an Escape Velocity based campaign) then it would work, but otherwise there aren't enough options. Of course, as this is a Lite product, it isn't intended to be complete, and is designed to entice you to buy the full version of the product.
As far as style goes, T20 Lite is average. The cover is interesting but nothing special. The pages are non-glossed and are all black and white. Perfectly acceptable considering it is a Lite version. The artwork is sub-par, at the same level as the GURPS Basic Set. It screams 80s (which might be the intent as T20 is a rules conversion from Classic Traveller to D20). If I considered art to be important in a RPG product I would have given it a 2. As it is there's nothing special about the layout, it's clear and easy to understand, but doesn't have much more going for it.
The content is quite good. The Table of Contents takes up 2 pages, with a quarter page illustration that's completely unrelated obviously there to take up space. Considering it's one of the better illustrations I prefer it over blank space. The next two pages are "About this Book" It basically explains what Traveller is about, it's well done and I would hope that the full Traveller's Handbook Doesn't spend any more time on it. Any less and it would be incomplete, any more and it would be too much. There is also a 1/6th page illustration that is reasonably good and is actually relevant to the content.
Chapter 1: Traveller Characters This chapter goes over character generation. It gives a quick explanation of what they're allowed to say without violating the d20 license. If you know the d20 rules you'll be happy that it doesn't waste much space on this, if you don't, then T20 Lite isn't for you. The innovative part about creating Traveller characters is the Prior History Procedure, in which you roll up your characters past history and gain XP and in game advantages and sometimes disadvantages along the way. It provides an example along with the provided Merchant class. There are no other classes presented, but the Merchant class is complete. It only deals with the Human race as it requires the least amount of explanation.
Chapter 2: Skills and Feats This chapter gives a brief overview of Skills and Feats used in the Traveller setting. There isn't much, but there's plenty to make a character with the Merchant class.
Chapter 3: Combat Rules Here is where T20 takes a deviation from the standard D20 system. Most of it is with regards to Futuristic weapons and combat as opposed to fantasy, however there is a significant difference. The Stamina/Lifeblood system instead of Hit Points. I personally think this is a great implementation and would use it in any campaign. In essence, Lifeblood is a fixed value and is based on Con, Stamina goes up with experience and is the same as HP. Minor damage is done to Stamina, such as a barroom brawl, major damage like being hit by a shotgun or laser rifle deals damage directly to the lifeblood. This is a more realistic implementation of the HP system than provided normally under D20 rules (even with Call of Cthulhu D20's critical dammage of 10) while it still makes use of the HP system. This along with the prior history system makes T20 Lite worth it for any D20 campaign. And considering it's for free you should be getting it right now. With a little modification it will fit any genre and should prove to be quite interesting.
Chapter 4: Equipment Pretty standard fare. It lists some futuristic equipment and weapons and provides an explanation for every piece of EQ. A nice change from books that expect you to know what something is. The Tech Levels are obviously taken straight out of Classic Traveller, a Hand Computer that is clunkier, more expensive and less capable than a modern PDA would only be available after we have achieved FTL technology. The TL system could definitely use an update, although I understand the writers desire to maintain backwards compatibility. An update has to happen SOMETIME though.
Chapter 5: Travel and Daily Life This chapter provides a brief overview of travelling in the Traveller universe, but the main content is Vehicles, and would have been a better title for the chapter. It provides a few sample vehicles, including a Jeep, a futuristic ATV, a Anti-Grav Air Raft, and two Starships. Basically enough for a complete starting character if you got a starship and a fair sum of money during character creation (while rolling your prior history). The chapter also explains starship operations, such as crew and salaries. It also has a brief blurb on trade and using jump drives (Traveller's FTL solution).
Chapter 6: Worlds and Adventures The Worlds part of this chapter is quite interesting. It basically presents a UWP (Universal World Profile) which allows pertinent information about a planet to be explained in a string of hexadecimal numbers. IE a planet with an average quality small starport, average size and gravity, thin atmosphere, 40% surface liquid, a population in the billions, run by a feudal technocratic government, moderate laws and early interstellar technology would be displayed like this: C-854957-A. Quite a neat space saving method. The Adventures part is half a page at the end, which briefly goes over what kind of adventures a Merchant might be involved in (makes sense, as no other classes are presented) and also outlines what is covered by the full Traveller's Handbook.
The last page is a 2-sided robust character sheet.
Overall this book is good, it has enough information to make a complete Merchant character, and in fact there are enough options (especially with Prior History) that several people could make quite different Merchants from it and still not use everything up. Quite nifty from a Lite system. It did one thing well and usable instead of providing a brief but incomplete overview of a dozen classes and races.
It is a well written guid so I give it a 4 for substance. The only reason it doesn't get a 5 is because there was nothing revolutionary about it. The Prior History and Stamina/Lifeblood are very neat, but the Prior History system has been around since Classic Traveller and the Stamina/Lifeblood system isn't unique to T20. Besides, if I give it a 5 then what will I rate a product that outclasses it in every way?
