Good video. I've been reffing Traveller since 1981 and still have active campaigns. If you can find a copy of the GDW 1985 book (or pdf) "The Spinward Marches Campaign" I highly recommend it. Inside you'll find a full sector map and description, a history of each subsector and history of the (at the time for play setting) recent 5th Frontier War with the Zhodani Consulate. They also lay out the concept of the Imperial Battle Carrier/Battle Rider plan for fleet actions, a sample the the fighting 4529th Light Infantry Division to give you an idea of Imperial military layout for troops, and then a campaign for use.
As a new player to Traveller, this kind of sourcebook is exactly what I'm looking for. I really like the Mongoose stuff as being a lot more accessible to the average role-player than the analytical-metrics focused original. Most of my experience with Mongoose Traveller has been with their scenario books, and I've always felt that they are too text-dense. The variety of art, diagrams and content in this book really impresses me.
I have mixed feelings about their adventures, which I'll save for a future video. Pirates of Drinax is pretty great but could have used a better presentation.
So Behind the Claw - is it THE sourcebook to start with when getting into Traveller? I've just got the core rulebook and starting to dig into the setting. While eventually I will create my own lite subsection, I'd like to get a good grasp of the Traveller OVERVIEW and how a large chunk of the world fits together.
Assuming you want to run in the official setting or something close to it, then yes, I'd say so. The other sector books that are out for the current edition (Solomani Front and Spinward Extents, plus the forthcoming Trailing Frontier) are all excellent, but the Spinward Marches is *the* quintessential starting location to set Traveller campaigns in. Lots of high-level political stuff going on, and a lot of backwater space the crew can get into trouble in. Plus a vast amount of adventure material if you want it. (Remember that older material can be used with the current edition with negligible effort.)
Also, Spinward Marches are right next to Foreven sector, long set aside as a "referee's preserve", and the natural place to put your own custom subsectors in the official universe. And it's only a jump away from Five Sisters in the Marches.
GDW did publish another version of the spinward marches with a navy campaign and the Book 6 Scout details. Here it is on Drivethru RPG: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/80196/CTM03The-Spinward-Marches-Campaign
Being a first gen player too... I'd say very much, YES! I'm able to use all my old material from the OTU GDW and also most of MgT1. I have a group of players which we all remember learning this when it was 'new' and it plays the same way with a few fresh (but in the right spirit of classic traveller) the same.
Nuts. GURPS had the right idea even if their execution was a bit iffy. Give us little blurbs on almost every system or don't bother printing a book at all. If I wanted to play "interpret the UPP" I'd make all my own worlds from scratch and not bother paying some lazy writer for strings of alphanumeric characters. The other approach where they cover a handful of worlds in moderate detail in each subsector while leaving the rest as bare UPPs is the worst of both worlds, locking in some details while leaving the rest to be done by the buyer, so even the UPP fans have their hands tied on exactly what their can make up while "interpreting" things. UPPs suck anyway, they never could deal with complex systems with multiple significant populated worlds or extensive spaceborne communities infrastructure. They're an artifact of the early days of the game when page space was precious and word processing software crude or nonexistent. Be perfectly happy to see them chucked in the waste bin of history along with things like multi-ton starship computers that had less practical processing power than a 2020 smartphone.
Lots of folks feel beholden to the OTU when they shouldn't. Keep what you like, ditch what doesn't work. All those mechanisms and UPPs and the like are just there to be sparks for the imagination.
@@ardwulfslair Agreed. But if you're going to sell setting books, flesh them out to a useful level of detail. Bare UPPs are pointless, they require more prep to make useful than just leaving the system as a total cipher so the GM can make up what he wants. It's way easier to build a system from scratch and (if you even want to bother) write the UPP for it than it is to take an alphanumeric string and spin it into a useful setting.
"I predict that within 100 years, computers will be twice as powerful, 10,000 times as large, and so expensive that only the 5 richest kings of Europe will own them." Professor John Frink, GDW game designer.
Good video. I've been reffing Traveller since 1981 and still have active campaigns. If you can find a copy of the GDW 1985 book (or pdf) "The Spinward Marches Campaign" I highly recommend it. Inside you'll find a full sector map and description, a history of each subsector and history of the (at the time for play setting) recent 5th Frontier War with the Zhodani Consulate. They also lay out the concept of the Imperial Battle Carrier/Battle Rider plan for fleet actions, a sample the the fighting 4529th Light Infantry Division to give you an idea of Imperial military layout for troops, and then a campaign for use.
Nice overview, Arwulf. Great feedback on the product. Impressed with your ability to critique it on the fly.
Darn these Mongoose guys, I have purchased pretty much everything and was never given any notice this existed, great video.. has me excited
It's been available in PDF for a little while, but the print edition is spanking-new.
As a new player to Traveller, this kind of sourcebook is exactly what I'm looking for. I really like the Mongoose stuff as being a lot more accessible to the average role-player than the analytical-metrics focused original. Most of my experience with Mongoose Traveller has been with their scenario books, and I've always felt that they are too text-dense. The variety of art, diagrams and content in this book really impresses me.
I have mixed feelings about their adventures, which I'll save for a future video. Pirates of Drinax is pretty great but could have used a better presentation.
Fascinating. I'd had and didn't like the original 'Behind the Claw' years ago. Your review here has convinced me to purchase this new edition.
So Behind the Claw - is it THE sourcebook to start with when getting into Traveller? I've just got the core rulebook and starting to dig into the setting. While eventually I will create my own lite subsection, I'd like to get a good grasp of the Traveller OVERVIEW and how a large chunk of the world fits together.
Assuming you want to run in the official setting or something close to it, then yes, I'd say so. The other sector books that are out for the current edition (Solomani Front and Spinward Extents, plus the forthcoming Trailing Frontier) are all excellent, but the Spinward Marches is *the* quintessential starting location to set Traveller campaigns in. Lots of high-level political stuff going on, and a lot of backwater space the crew can get into trouble in. Plus a vast amount of adventure material if you want it. (Remember that older material can be used with the current edition with negligible effort.)
Also, Spinward Marches are right next to Foreven sector, long set aside as a "referee's preserve", and the natural place to put your own custom subsectors in the official universe. And it's only a jump away from Five Sisters in the Marches.
Now this was an unexpected bonus! This sounds like what I am looking for. Thanks!
you should do more traveller
Nice video! Thank you.
Did you have an opportunity to create that upp video? Keep the Traveller videos coming! These are great!
GDW did publish another version of the spinward marches with a navy campaign and the Book 6 Scout details. Here it is on Drivethru RPG: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/80196/CTM03The-Spinward-Marches-Campaign
Great video!! For those of us raised on the original GDW versions, is this the edition to get?
Being a first gen player too... I'd say very much, YES! I'm able to use all my old material from the OTU GDW and also most of MgT1. I have a group of players which we all remember learning this when it was 'new' and it plays the same way with a few fresh (but in the right spirit of classic traveller) the same.
Yes. It's getting fantastic support and is very closely akin to Classic Traveller.
Is this strictly a setting book or does it have adventure hooks as well?
It's a setting book, but there are trons of adventure hooks.
@@ardwulfslair Thank you! That makes it a buy for me.
Nuts. GURPS had the right idea even if their execution was a bit iffy. Give us little blurbs on almost every system or don't bother printing a book at all. If I wanted to play "interpret the UPP" I'd make all my own worlds from scratch and not bother paying some lazy writer for strings of alphanumeric characters. The other approach where they cover a handful of worlds in moderate detail in each subsector while leaving the rest as bare UPPs is the worst of both worlds, locking in some details while leaving the rest to be done by the buyer, so even the UPP fans have their hands tied on exactly what their can make up while "interpreting" things.
UPPs suck anyway, they never could deal with complex systems with multiple significant populated worlds or extensive spaceborne communities infrastructure. They're an artifact of the early days of the game when page space was precious and word processing software crude or nonexistent. Be perfectly happy to see them chucked in the waste bin of history along with things like multi-ton starship computers that had less practical processing power than a 2020 smartphone.
Lots of folks feel beholden to the OTU when they shouldn't. Keep what you like, ditch what doesn't work. All those mechanisms and UPPs and the like are just there to be sparks for the imagination.
@@ardwulfslair Agreed. But if you're going to sell setting books, flesh them out to a useful level of detail. Bare UPPs are pointless, they require more prep to make useful than just leaving the system as a total cipher so the GM can make up what he wants. It's way easier to build a system from scratch and (if you even want to bother) write the UPP for it than it is to take an alphanumeric string and spin it into a useful setting.
"I predict that within 100 years, computers will be twice as powerful, 10,000 times as large, and so expensive that only the 5 richest kings of Europe will own them." Professor John Frink, GDW game designer.