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Traveller seems to be the Game That Will Not Die. After going through at least four seperate editions by two different companies, the venerable science fiction game has improbably landed in the lap of Steve Jackson Games. Guided by GDW alumni Loren Wiseman, they wisely sidestep the more painful plot machinations of Shattered Imperium storyline, instead opting to set things in an alternate universe where Emperor Strephon escapes assasination by the mysterious death of the Archduke Dulinor.

The universe is set up nicely with a large Library Data chapter, along with various sidebars describing the history and function of the third Imperium. Another neat addition is the occasional designer's note in the sidebars, explaining whys and wherefores of how the Traveller Universe created.

Character design relies heavily on the new template system SJG is experimenting with. Here it works well with Traveller's character class system, giving GURPSian interpetations to the traditional Scout, Merchant, Marine, Navy, Army, and Rogue characters, along with a wealth of others (but who'd _want_ to play an Attorney?) There are also stats for designing Vargr, Hiver, and other aliens as PCs.

Also included is a chapter for translating characters from the different editions of Traveller in GURPS. This isn't as effective as it could be, because it fatally omits a critical table for translating physical stats. It's the unforgivable goof in an otherwise excellent supplement. Hopefully this will be fixed by the time the hardback edition of the book comes out.

Ship design relies on an extremely simplified version of the GURPS Vehicles rules, adapted to Traveller's unique design system. Basically you plug in modules (bridge, engineering, staterooms, ect) into a hull, trying not to exceed a limited numbder of spaces (shades of Car Wars). Included with the supplement are designs for the most familiar Traveller ships, along with deck plans for the Scout and Free Trader starships.

Ship to ship combat is covered in an all new combat system, that allows players to game things out on a hex grid. This portion of the rulebook is the only place where things fall flat, as some of the rules concerning vectors and gravity aren't adequetly explained.

Graphically, the book seems better than the average GURPS supplement, with plenty of artists' drawings interspersed with computer graphics.

Overall, GURPS Traveller is a worthy addition to one of the first role playing games to ever come on the market. SJG seems ready to begin an aggressive campaign of additional Traveller related GURPS books, which means they may also finally have a game world with a respectable level of company support.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)