Traveller: Part 1 - Introduction
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- Опубліковано 16 лип 2024
- The first in a 10-part series where I discuss Mongoose Traveller Second Edition (MGT2). I give my thoughts on the game, and dispel one persistent myth about it.
You can find it on the Mongoose website:www.mongoosepublishing.com/co...
DriveThru RPG: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
Amazon: amzn.to/3w3jnOf
Traveller Wiki: wiki.travellerrpg.com/Main_Page
Traveller Map: travellermap.com/?p=-0.76!4.0...
Fan-Made Index: drive.google.com/drive/folder...
If you want one of those sweet shirts I showed, go here (enter the code SKORKOWSKY and get 10% off!): www.armorclass10.com/products...
If you want to support my channel, or are in the mood for some kickass Urban Fantasy, you can find my novels and audio books here: amzn.to/346y44k
My Patreon: / sskorkowsky
"You haven't lived until you've died during character creation." Love the shirt
Loved playing Traveller and MegaTraveller in the 80s and early 90s.
LMMFAO outstanding comment that statement crystallized all the good memories of playing the first edition for me succinctly.
Early Role master was nearly as bad.
Seth: "It's just like a firefly game"
Me: "Meh"
Seth: "You can die during character creation"
Me: "You have 100% of my attention"
$
Me: the exact opposite
Harn in space
I remember my friend and I losing several characters during the creation phase in one afternoon. I kept asking him what we were doing wrong.
You guys just don’t understand space travel with characters in the future .
"It has artificial gravity and humanoid aliens so it's a space opera" I loved that line!
Fun story about Traveller character creation: when my play group tried out Traveller we rolled up our characters and most of the party ended up getting some sort of disability or injury or tragic backstory. I played it safe and stopped rolling after I got enough stuff to where I thought the character might be "good." What ended up happening was everyone else in the party had backstories and motivations that actually even encouraged some of the less RP leaning members of the group to engage while my character ended up as just kind of boring.
Next time I'm rolling till I lose a limb!
Had a friend try to get in to the naval academy and failed. Then was immediately drafted as a grunt. He tried for a promotion was dishonesty discharged. It kept going on like that. It was great. .. my character dis get injured but I lucked out at was 95% healed of that injury on the companies dime.
My last character went to prison and spent 16 years inside before he managed to get paroled. Was quite funny.
That’s incredible hahah I’ve noticed that as well. The longer you go the more complete you actually become
@@jackietomblin1700 Kind of like real life.
Have you ever evaluated your real life as a Traveller character generation?
Seth - Please don't take this the wrong way, because it's meant as a compliment. Over the last couple of nights, instead of listening to rainstorms or 80s new wave music, I've been falling asleep listening to videos in this series. That's not a slam on the content - it's that I want to fall asleep listening to Traveller stuff, and this is the best. So...thanks. You're welcome. Whichever one applies. Yeah.
Remembered how we played Traveller in the Eighties: If your semi-random character creation did not turn out as you wanted, then you just shifted to the Belter track where the risk of dying was much higher... and if you did not die there, then benefits accumulated was generally much higher...😀
What sort of monster wouldn’t put an index in a core rule book! We have the technology.
In fact we’ve had that particular technology for THOUSANDS of years.
It's Mongoose. Editing, layout, proofreading, and playtesting are *not* their strong points. Actually, I'm not sure what their strong points are... :\
@@richmcgee434 Overpricing...
@@Dracopol Heh. Also very talented a cancelling entire lines the same day they promise a bunch of new releases and ongoing support, then deleting all related discussion groups from the forums to hide the evidence.
@@richmcgee434 AAAAH...yep! I'm thinking about LEGEND! No wonder the Design Mechanism struck out on their own.
Another game showcase series? Nice.
Stay safe and healthy, everyone.
+
Q+
"Yeah dude, stacks of bodies, 20 characters high."
The GM, if clever, would collect those stacks of dead characters, and use 'em as NPCs. =^[.]^=
Hide behind the mound of dead bards!
You just wait till the fighting starts!
@@CaptainJellyBS Traveller doesn't have bards. Did you mean entertainers? 🙄
@@pablohammerly448 ah, no. I was quoting the movie "The Gamers 2: Dorkness Rising".
Heads up for anyone wanting to get into this game, humble bundle is currently doing a bundle on this game right now until around the 22-23 of this month so its definitively worth checking out
I'd recommend that Character Creation be held as it's own game session before trying to start an adventure. We've always played with the "Iron Man" rules that you might die while rolling up the characters; it just added a lot of suspense. If they did die, we threw a mini-wake for them, coming up with ignominious or silly ways they got capped, and everybody goes around the table giving little eulogy speeches for the lost character.
" I remember "Sniffy" fondly. He had a never-quit approach to life. Lost his right arm in that training accident, said it was no big deal, got a mechanical arm, with enhanced strength and a built-in laser finger; that guy was badass. I remember the day he got the arm, he was so ready to get into battle. But he just couldn't stop picking his nose... (shakes head)..."
LOL
In the first episode of Firefly, Wash says something like "Hang on Travellers". Kind of stood out to me as an odd comment that only really makes sense if it's a callout to the game. IMHO.
Yep...noticed this the other day when re-watching Firefly on Hulu. Says it at about 10 minutes into the episode.
There is an Internet rumor that Firefly was based on or inspired by a homebrew Traveller setting.
Yep. Whedon reportedly mentioned getting some inspiration from "a sci-fi RPG" he played in college, in the early 80s, for Firefly. Not sure how much of that is truth, but supposedly mentioned it in an interview a long time ago. Most speculated it was almost guaranteed to be Traveller since he went to college in the UK and Traveller was practically the only sci-fi RPG around, there, at the time.
Jaynesville the guy spent 4 years in jail … firefly numerology.
So glad you're reviewing Traveller, the best TRPG that no one in my group wants to play
("Cmon guys, what's wrong with it? Is it the leveling system? Do you really expect to roundhouse kick capital ships or something?")
The level system is really ingrained in some people. I'm glad that my first system was skill based so I never got stuck with that mentality.
@Dizzy Gear
Oh you still get to progress your character. Your skills improve even without character levels. Usually you can train or increases skills from experience. You just dont have inflatad HP pools and insane power creep. It's a much more realistic system where you become better at what you do not just because you killed 10 goblins.
The person who downvoted this lost a 58 year old Merchant Captain during character creation...
That is why the rule was changed to injury in lieu of death.
I always thought the risk was part of the fun... but then, I was in my early teens when I started playing it.
@@PhoenyxAshe I think the risk is part of the "art". When you have to judge whether or not to go for that extra term, when there are real consequences on the line. Absolutely brilliant mechanic. Much better than a million cookie cutter Paladins with the same starting characteristics...
@@michaelcottle6270 To that end I once had a run of dead characters. I just kept getting unlucky on the survival rolls. So I ended up using all the dead characters as part of my eventually successful character's back story. They were his relatives, and ancestors. That character started the game more flushed out as a "person" than any other character I have ever played with.
Some of us who GM'd in the v1 GDW days (and still have the box set and additional books) changed death to loss of a limb or other significant career ending injury. It gave a good backstory and a reason why the character left that career without having stacks of dead characters.
RIP Rutger Hauer, you burned so bright.
He revered in his times.
@@danielgoldberg5357 True, and many more
When I've tried playing Traveller, we made characters on that system that you could die. Literally it was the thing that attracted me to the game.
The possibility of death and radical changes to your PC was amazing and the group was on board with it.
"Do you want to enlist to a service?"
Yes. Navy.
"They laugh in your face and call you names. You get kicked out of the building. You get a job on a garbage scow."
Blade Runner reference. Solid.
and taken
"Memories...lost, like tears in the rain"
@@bluekashus2499
RIP Rutger Hauer
@@Tony-dh7mz indeed, one of the most underrated actors of all time.
@@bluekashus2499 agreed,
Everyone gives Scott the credit for Blade Runner but Rutger is the one that gave Batty most of his most memorable lines, they weren’t scripted, even the quote used by Seth in this video came from Rutger, not the script, not Scott, but who takes the credit?
It’s criminal
I have been running classic traveller via play by email since 2002. I love Seth's content and I find it interesting that people are discovering it and new players are coming aboard and enjoying it. A component which I add to Traveller is mustering out is actually played as part of the game. Instead of starting after you muster, the game starts with you deciding to leave the service. You have a party, receive a plaque from your buddies and maybe a custom sword or hand gun as a going away gift. Then you transfer to a courier, trader or liner to travel to the administrative HQ to perform the admin stuff like setting up your retirement pay etc. Usually there is an adventure hook, tempting rumor or something that gets your attention and can lead to adventure.
10:40 take my love take my land
take me where i cannot stand
I was first introduced to this game back in the late 80's. Loved it, unfortunately no one today to play it with. Glad you like it. Tyvm for the video.
Traveller got me 1987 and it will always have a very special place in my heart. THX for the introduction.
I played Traveler back when it was just a little black books. Very much enjoyed the game. Having a possibility of your character dying in creation was just part of the thrill. Hard to believe that actually kept people from wanting to play it.
Very much looking forward to the rest of this review.
Wow, after watching your BHT-SHT series I was thinking of trying to talk my group into playing some Traveller! Perfect timing as always Seth! I can't wait to get into this system :D
I've been Refereeing Traveller since 1977, and only Marc Miller could have given a better nuts and bolts overview of Traveller, than the one you have here. Outstanding review, great graphics, presentation, all of it.
For what it's worth, as the author of that particular index, thank you for sharing it more widely than the rather cloistered FB groups where it normally lives. I made another tweak or two to that index as well as making a version for the Starter Set, which has some of the chapters jumbled about. Let me know if interested, I can send you the PDFs directly.
Awesome. Shoot me the PDF and I'll update it. BTW, if you have it up as Pay What You Want on DriveThruRPG or anything, let me know and I'll post the link instead. Thanks.
@@SSkorkowsky Excellent... sent you a direct e-mail with all of the relevant versions of that index attached. Enjoy!
I started Traveller with the original set, aka LBB (Little Black Books). Played and ran other editions of the game. Looking forward to the next video.
Same, started as a school kid, now got every edition,
I actually think the little black books were easier to play than MegaTraveller when it came out. I played Twilight2000 and Dark Conspiracy modded to the V2.2 version all through the '90s, so we ended up playing the MegaTraveller civil war with Traveller The New Era rules (which were V2.2).
Yep, me too. Now my 15 yo is GMing Mongoose V2 for his D&D group every other week. A new generation corrupted. My work here is done...
@@michaelcottle6270
Good God man! Think of the KARMA!!!
(Btw, in real life I’m often reluctant to get people in to the hobby due to the addiction element,)
I made a Sci-fi game setting years ago that I have wanted to play but I could never get anyone to agree on a system to run it on. Thanks for this Seth my game may actually happen now.
You could also try mutants and masterminds for that.
@@jordentaylor2455 Oddly enough, that was my first thought too. I do own it, however, I don't really like the system all that much. The damage and death rules are not very intuitive for me I guess. But thanks for the suggestion.
Perfect, something to take my mind off things while I recover from COVID. you made my day, stay healthy everyone!
Damn. I'm sorry to hear this. Hope you have a safe and quick recovery.
Got my books a couple weeks ago. Can't wait to get a campaign up and running! Going to have players start in the Trojan Reach, and see where they go from there.
the motto for every session I ref ; "play like the dice are trying to kill you!"
Great video! As a “UA-cam influencer” it’s great to see some make sense of the some of games on the hobby store shelves- I know you will do for the rpg system“traveler” what fantastic work you did for Call of Cthulhu! Can’t wait for more episodes!
Traveller was my first RPG. I bought my first box of Little Black Books in the Fall of 1980. That led to meeting new people and playing my first actual game in January of 1981. All of those first players, and many that followed, are still friends. I first ran into you, Mr. Skorkowsky, on UA-cam while looking for Traveller reviews. That was a few months ago. I have viewed much more than Traveller on your channel. Your content is entertaining and informative. I expect to be viewing your output for the foreseeable future, and, thanks to my Kindle, I will soon learn whether your authorship is on a par with your video creation. Must close for now if this message is going to catch this week's X-Boat.
It's because of this series and Call of Cthulhu that I got both rulebooks on my birthday. I am loving reading them. Thanks for vids like this.
We occasionally died during character creation back in the day, but our GMs were also aware of the *optional rule* whereby failing the survival roll results in merely a serious injury and you fail to complete the full term of service. For humans, that was an end to your official career (unlike Vargr, humans could not enlist in other services after mustering/failing out) and time to take your scarred bod and such benefits as you managed to accrue in your shorter-than-planned service and start adventuring.
Some of my fondest memories are of our Traveller games.
YES! Finally a competent looking series of videos about Traveller, I have been awaiting this day ever since I got into Traveller! :D
I don't know what else to say but....
Thank you. Truly, thank you.
Thank you for this series very much. This entire series is very helpful. I played old school Traveller back in the dino age and now going to be starting a Mongoose Traveller game and can point them to this series to understand Traveller. Thanks for this channel. IMO it is one of the best RPG channels out there and always seems to cover relevant and interesting RPG topics. Wishing you much success with it.
A month or so back I stumbled across one of your other Traveller related videos which inspired me to run a Traveller game! I haven't played Traveller for nearly 40 years and haven't played an RPG for at least a decade. Now I am refereeing a game on Roll D20 and having a blast - thanks Seth.
An excellent introduction to Traveller, regardless of rule system used! Thank you very much Seth!
We played through Mongoose character creation last week for our next game (previously having played classic Traveller). Love Traveller universe so much.
Love seeing other systems in actuon. Brings me back to the 80s when I had friends.... wait... that sounded bad. Before my friends joined the military and then scattered across the country. There, that sounds better. Anyway, it makes me happy to hear about your adventures so I can live vicariously through them. 😜 Moving 2000 miles from home didn't help much either... Sure is quiet living the rural life now.
I got the starter set about a month back. I have been trying to talk my wife into playing.
Thanks for starting this series.
Looking forward to the rest of them should help me learn the game.
keep us posted on your progress in converting her, your experiences could prove vital in men all over the world convincing their significant other to try some roleplay.
I love channel. I watched almost all. I'm GM and your channel gives me a lot of inspiration. Pls give me more Traveller videos. Greetings from Poland!!
Hello, have you had a chance to play some Traveller ? I am starting a new chapter in a campaign I have been running for 20 years ... playing with the help of Discord.
discord.gg/qyh9u2Jz
I started with the original version, as a teenager, and it was a blast! One of the first groups I played with was wild. We figured out early that our GM had the more difficult adventures planetside... so being snots that we were, we kept trying to stay in space. In order to force us planet-side, he would roll to see if there was "a problem with the ship". "Jump coil failure" was a particular favorite. You couldn't fix it, it had to be replaced. Thus, we would have to make planet-fall, where things would inevitably happen to us. (Yay?)
But not only were the crew snots, we were imaginative snots. And since the majority were first term Airmen overseas, the first option is one well known in the military - overstock. Since the coils were initially about a cubic foot, they suddenly became part of the ships decor. I can't remember all the zany uses they were put too (it was - yikes - almost 40 years ago), but the one that did stick was the use of a coil and some cordage to make... a hanging planter.
Poor Smitty had to keep increasing the size of the coils until they were no longer usable as storage, furniture, etc.
Traveller was my first RPG system, when I started roleplaying in February of 1982. I never even touched D&D until late '89, by which time I'd played/run dozens of system. Still not a big fan of D&D now.
I started on D&D, but quickly got into other systems. Then I found MERP and Rolemaster and simply cannot enjoy D&D now unless the DM is great and heavily into roleplay.
@@somebloke3869 I GM'd Rolemaster for about 20 years lol ... I love it!
I first got Rolemaster in the middle of 89. It wasn't until the 90's came around that we clued on to this parry thing, many characters died and we nearly went back to mundane D&D. Another thing I love about it is the world that was made for it, the Shadow World.
@@somebloke3869 The proto-material for that. Vogmur... Shade of The SInking Plain etc. Was great too. MERP was also excellent, with Moria being their crowning achievement. A module that showed Moria in each age. SO good. MERP also had solitaire play books, which is never a bad thing.
The old Loremadter series are fantastic modules. I got Cloudlords with the boxed RM rules set, and bought the Iron Wind a little later. I only got Vog Mir a couple of years ago. I doubt I'll ever run it, but I just wanted it in my collection.
Have you and Jack been socially distancing? Don’t think I could survive quarantine w/o these weekly vids
Love the shirt!
Two things you always hear about non-D&D RPGs:
You can die in Traveller character creation and Ducks are a playable race in Runequest.
Both always come up when suggesting either of those games to a group, at least for me.
Olschoolgamer we had a Humakti duck
I 'liked' before watching... I know it's going to be good.
I do the same. Often I get caught up in the clip and the comments and forget by the end.
Thanks for finally making this Video. I'we been ready to watch it for about a year. And I need a gm. And some fellow players! 😉
Hello ! I am starting up a new chapter in campaign I have been building for 20 years ... playing via Discord now
discord.gg/qyh9u2Jz
I see Seth. I press like.
Thank you for these videos! I've purchased CoC and Traveller because of your great and thorough reviews.
I've done the same with Traveller due to Seth's reviews, haven't gotten into CoC yet, mostly due to the fact that i don't want to run that game, i don't think i'd be a good GM to make the mystery and horror fun, i'm much better at combat and dungeon exploration, i would love to play it some day though.
Back in the 1980s, Traveller was my favorite RPG. I must have wast...er...spent hundreds of hours playing and running games. And yes, character death during creation was a very real possibility, especially using the Mercenaries book. I picked up a Mongoose edition a few years ago and yes, that is now a thing of the past.
I've mentioned this before, but my first two RPG games (in one day) were D&D and Traveller (way back in '78 or so). And yes, my first character died in character creation! Really looking forward to this series. Stay safe!
I think that having those two as your first RPGs is a pretty common experience for folks who started in those days. I know it was for me, followed by Runequest and Tunnels & Trolls. The market was much, much smaller back then.
OMG!! Did you just drop in a Blade Runner quote ..........." his eye's glazed over while he remembered....off the shoulder of orion....".
How convenient !! I am currently reading Traveller rule book and preparing myself to play with some friends. I am happy you are making this series of video on Traveller, it sure will be helpful.
i'm doing the same thing, taking a break from my usual game to run some Traveller for my group, we've gotten character creation out of the way and once we've wrapped up the current mission of theirs on Mandalor (in our Star Wars game) we'll be officially starting the Traveller game.
Enjoyed this series immensely. I ran Traveller games for 20 years with 3 different groups and this brings back a lot of memories. The openness of the system really lets the creative out. We even used the High Guard and Striker books for stand-alone military matches. I did have to make my own Psionic rules to incorporate Earthly cultural lore into the story, but it made for a nice hybrid of spells and science. You could hang most any story on the basic game framework and have a good time.
I got an order in the other day for the main rulebook and the screen, and I'm so stoked! I've been reading the included PDFs already to start getting ready, and I already know I'm gonna be snagging the other core books once money is actually stable.
Hope you enjoy Traveller as much as I have.
Very much looking forward to this series! Now I just need some friends to play with.
I am starting a new chapter in a campaign I have been running for 20 years, beginners are most welcome.
Playing via Discord
discord.gg/qyh9u2Jz
There's a version of Traveler that uses the GURPS rules, interestingly enough. Excited to start watching this!
Great video. I've been curious about Traveller for a while, I'll be keeping up with this series. Thanks, Seth!
Seth, I have to add my congratulations to those already piled up. Thanks for convincing one of my players (who I believed disliked Traveller intensely) to not only like the game, but bug me to run it.
So glad you’re doing this series
The dying in character creation thing is actually one of the things that attracted me to traveller. It's a pretty crazy concept and made me want to see how it worked.
It's not like it's that big of a deal if they die. You aren't going to be emotionally invested in a character that you started making a few minutes ago, and it probably helped prevent the thing where everyone's character is a senior citizen.
Your review of the starter set was actually what got me off square one and picking up the system. Now I've got the great rift set as well, the companion, the supply catalogue, and some others. Ran the "High and Dry" spinward marches starter adventure, and then the PCs went on a half-year voyage to the New Islands so I could keep running with the Great Rift adventures.
I thought the long voyage would be boring, but it actually worked out well. The party contracted some helper NPCs, had encounters, and shipped VIPs around - nearly ran itself.
The crew: a Wash Hoban type ex-navy vargyr pilot (helper npc), a Colonel O'Neill type seasoned military commander with high status, a weakling mad scientist, a vargyr brute/medic, a tragic washout aslan junior officer, and a former researcher/ trader.
I am so happy you're doing this. I've been curious about traveller but didn't have time to look into it.
Great video as always and I can't wait to check out the rest of the series.
Thanks for the Traveller love! I got some of the books right around the time you started your videos helped push me into it.
This new series brightened my day.
Yesssss, I have been waiting for this for so long.
Very hyped for this. I played a few games of some version of Traveller in the 90's (can't remember which one), and it was a huge amount of fun. Instantly hooked, but hard to find a game since. I hope this gets more people into it.
Your CoC series sold me on upgrading from old 5ed to 7th. I already own and (from time to time) play 2nd Moongose Traveller, but I'm hyped on having such a well-presented rundown of the system to point my players to.
My group is considering trying this out, thanks for the video! can't wait to see more of these vids
Thanks for the introductory video! I’ve been wanting to get into Traveller, great launching point!
Just rewatching because i got a upcoming traveller project and need a refresher.
Cant wait for this series, I've always wanted to learn!
Hello , did you ever get to play some Traveller ?
I am starting another chapter in a campaign I've run over 20 years.
discord.gg/qyh9u2Jz
another great series to come
Always with the sweet geek shirts. Looking sharp and a fun extra references to see in your vids, that I look forward to seeing as a fun bonus.
YAY. I'm getting ready to start a Traveller campaign for my group and your videos will help a LOT.
A great intro to a system I've been wanting to play for a while. Looking forward to the rest of the series.
Awesome intro Seth. Can't wait to learn more 😁
Love the Roy Batty quote
OMG OMG OMG THIS IS AMAZING I AM SO EXCITED !!!!!
Oh heck yeah, this is everything i dreamed for, the call of cthulhu series is what made me find your channel
hi thanks for the great content. looking forward to learning more about traveller. might be something i want to get in the future.
I didn't realize how excited I was for this until I saw it.
The only unfortunate thing for Traveler for me is that I was all set to start running it, and then this plague happened, damnit. Oh well, we'll start it up soon!
I am starting up another chapter in my 20-years-in-the-making Traveller universe . . . Come join in ! Playing with support by Discord
discord.gg/qyh9u2Jz
Great new series Seth!
I have to come back to this one, thank you for reminding me about this system.
Just got Damoren on Audible, excellent work man! 100% my kind of story, made my trip to Costco an actual pleasure. Loving the world, characters, and the feel of what the weapons are. Really enjoying the way you built the lore into the narrative. Wanted to let you know how much I appreciate it.
Man, I love these kinds of rpg videos and for Traveller no less! Thank you!
Awesome! And I didn't even die watching your description of character creation!
Literally, like four days ago, I was hoping you'd do something like this for Traveller. I was given that original black box edition back in the early 80s but have never had a group that wanted to play Traveller. I'm excited for this! Thanks Seth!
One of my favorite games ever; currently running a Traveller campaign. Good intro, and +1 for FIREFLY reference!
You have me hooked.
Seth's previous videos inspired me to buy the Core book for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. Looking forward to playing it, either with one of my regular groups or online.
Just wanted to say thank you so much for the fantastic video series, Seth! As a long-time CP2020 player, it was really cool to see the origin of the lifepath genetics, so to speak. I believe I've found my new sci-fi RPG of choice, can't wait to take it for a spin!
Love the game reviews, keep them coming!
Good introduction to the game! I appreciate the writing and production effort you make on your videos. The characters you portray are entertaining and emphasize your points well.
Love ya work!
I just bought this rule book, and ur video is the best instruction for me. nice to see korean subtitles