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Traveller Main Rulebook $23.99
Average Rating:4.3 / 5
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Traveller Main Rulebook
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Traveller Main Rulebook
Publisher: Mongoose
by Michael G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/15/2023 17:58:03

I've found my Traveller vibe again. :-) After many years of being hopeful that the game could return more to it's roots, I've found that the latest Mongoose iteration really scratches the itch I have for the game. I know it definitely isnt for everyone, but for me it is a perfect blend. It simplies some items that I found had just gotten a bit too cumbersome in the other systems and it improves in some of the areas that OG Traveller had some issues with. Overall very happy with the purchase of this. I've just upgraded to 2nd Edition Mongoose Traveller, which I think is even better.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Traveller Main Rulebook
Publisher: Mongoose
by Timothy B. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/23/2022 12:19:20

Originally posted here: https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2022/05/review-traveller-main-rulebook-2008.html

We are getting to the end of our journey into the various editions and versions of Traveller. Today I am bringing us to the modern era and will spend some time with the various Open Gaming editions of Traveller. That's right. Traveller has hit the retro-clone stage of development. 2008 was not all that long ago. This blog was up and running at this point and I was beginning work on a lot of the projects you know me well for. So consequently I was not really paying all that much attention to what was going on in the world of Traveller.

While I mentioned that we are hitting the "retro-clone" phase of Traveller's development, it was not (as far as I can tell) Mongoose that released the Traveller SRD. That was the work of Jason Kemp. But I will get to all of that in a bit when I review the Cepheus Engine.

Traveller Main Rulebook (2008)

PDF. 192 pages (plus covers). Black & White art with a red accent.

Traveller has had a long history. This new version from Mongoose celebrates that history by essentially going back to the beginning with the look and feel of Classic Traveller.

How much does this feel like Classic Traveller? So much so that I am kinda struggling with what to say other than "wow this is like Classic Traveller!" Not in a "they copied The Traveller Book" way but more in a "These are people that began playing this game 30 years ago and now want to introduce new gamers to that game" way.

Everything about this book is a serious nostalgia trip. And given that I have been spending all this time with all versions of Traveller, a serious case of déjà vu.

Introduction

Our introduction to the Traveller game. There are some minor references to "The Third Imperium" but much like the LBBs this game is largely setting-free. Some examples of play are given and the various Technology Levels (TL 0 to 15) are given.

Character Creation

This is very, very similar to the Classic Traveller Character Creation even down to our good friend Alexander Jamison returning.

Side note: I have decided that once a character musters out of one of the services (Army, Marines, Merchant Marines, Navy) they are gifted a sword. Seems like something that should happen and explain why Jamison here has a cutlass in a universe full of lasers.

The big changes here (and see throughout this book) are better layout for looking at options and checklists and guides. This version does an amazing job of getting a new player up and going fast.

You can't die in character creation, but there is still a lot going on. Also there is a point-buy feature for assigning your points to your six abilities. We are again back at an average of 7 for abilities and the UPP is back.

There are still a lot of careers to choose from, more than in The Traveller Book. Life events follow. Someone close to your character can die, but not your character. Though you can muster out and be in medical debt.

There is a section on aliens. Here we get the Aslan, Droyne, Hivers, K'kree, Vargr, and the Zhodani. Given the way the rules of this version are written, I can't see why the older Alien Modules couldn't still be used here.

Skills and Tasks

Skills are very familiar but seemed to be pared down a little. Die Modifiers (DM) are discussed as well as how to do a task check right away. Each skill is detailed along with any specialties under that skill.

Combat

This chapter gets an upgrade in my mind and shows the familiarity Mongoose has had with d20 and other modern systems. Actions are divided into Minor and Significant Actions along with Reactions and any number of Free actions. These are made very clear. Combat actions (a significant action) is detailed on what needs to be rolled. All of this was in previous versions, but now they are more upfront and bolded.

Encounters and Dangers

This is the analog to the older Encounters and Animals sections. Plenty of charts and boxed text to help a referee out when building encounters. Encounters are more than just strange new animals on weird worlds. There are rivals, other humans, and corporate actions just to give some examples. Quite a lot really. True to Traveller there are plenty of d66 tables for all these encounters.

Equipment

Your characters' shopping lists. It looks like this is very similar to other equipment lists of other editions. I will note (because this is me) that computers finally feel right. They, and a lot of the other equipment here feel like futuristic equipment. Computers are tiny and powerful. There are "smart guns" that help you hit your target, holographic displays, and robots and drones in their own sub-section.

Each bit of equipment comes with a TL rating.

Spacecraft Design

Distinctions are made between interplanetary and interstellar spacecraft. Like character creation, there is a helpful checklist.

Common Spacecraft. This is less of a chapter section and more of a sub-section of Design. This list of common ships with their details, some maps, and a picture.

Spacecraft Operations

An alphabetical listing of everything (mostly everything) that can go on in a ship.

Space Combat

Similar to other versions and the combat chapter above. This details how ships can fight including movement, targeting, and firing phases. Along with damage and reactions. The chapter is not large but remarkably detailed.

Psionics

Ah. Psionics. Stuck out into the back half of the book again. Psions are given a "career" write-up as the other character types.

Trade

Covers basic trade between the worlds/systems/colonies.

World Creation

This chapter feels more like Classic Traveller than the others. Sadly no equations to apease the math geek in me but a lot of information all the same.

Index

A pretty good index (not hyperlinked), a character sheet and a hex grid.

--

So this might be the best version of Classic Traveller to date. Same rules more or less (I admit I could not spot any major differences), the feel of Classic Traveller and in a cleaned up and reorganized fashion. I know there is a 2nd Edition coming up (I have already started on that) but there is a simple elegance to this edition.

There is also a Book 0 to get you started. It is a cut down version of the Core Rules at 32 pages and is Free. I have both in the same three ring binder I have The Traveller Book in.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Traveller Main Rulebook
Publisher: Mongoose
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/28/2015 09:05:45

Traveller has been around for a long time, with the three original 'little black books' appearing in 1977, and this incarnation of the ruleset recreates the excitement of the first, with the same simple and elegant ruleset underpinning everything, streamlined to meet contemporary gaming tastes.

It opens with introductory material including a bare-bones introduction to the concept of role-playing games, thoughts on suitable campaign types and a discussion of technology levels, which vary across known space. We then move directly into Character Creation, which as old hands will know, can be an absorbing pastime of itself never mind essential preparation for participating in an actual game. Starting by rolling characteristics, you then choose a homeworld and the career(s) your character has pursued before embarking on an adventuring career, the main purpose being to gain skills. It also builds a backstory for the character, who is generally quite a mature individual compared to other games. The backstory is based, like a lot of the career progression, on die rolls... and yes, it is possible to perish before you even start play! There's quite a wide range of careers available, over and above the predominantly military ones from the original game - as well as Navy, Marines, Army, Scouts and Merchants there are diverse careers like Entertainer, Rogue, Scholar, Agent (law enforcement), Drifter, Nobility and Citizen from which to choose. A neat addition is the 'skill package', a list of skills appropriate to the campaign type you want to play from which the characters take turn choosing skills that they lack, thus ensuring that the party can at least handle basic tasks that will arise. Add the mustering out benefits and you are ready to go. For those who do not like the basic system, there are variants such as point-buy characteristics and even skills, and details on generating alien characters. So far, a human has been assumed. This talks in general terms to begin with, but also introduces the standard Traveller races quite briefly, noting that each could fill a book by itself. (Over the course of time, these books have been brought out, you'll find them in the Third Imperium line.)

The next section is Skills and Tasks which opens with a explanation of 'Task Checks', the way in which actions are resolved. Most are either skill or characteristic based, with a standard 2d6 roll being modified according to the skills or other factors being brought to bear (brute strength, for example) and situational modifiers. For standard tasks, you need to get an 8 in total to succeed, but difficulty modifiers may be applied at the Referee's discretion to make it harder or more easy. There are plenty of examples, and these continue through the ensuing discussion of all the skills available and how they can be used to effect during the course of a game. This is followed by an extensive section on Combat, again well illustrated with examples and with a wide range of possible actions being presented.

Combat is not the only danger characters face, of course, and the next section - Encounters and Dangers - look at all manner of things other than brawls that could threaten life or limb or spoil your whole day - animals and environmental dangers (natural and unnatural), as well as how you heal, creating NPCs and more. The animals bit provides enough detail to let you invent strange critters to be encountered on the planets that you visit. Within the NPC section there are notes on giving them memorable personalities and a collection of ready-made Patrons to give the party something to do. This section rounds out with a wealth of random encounters and events that may be something going on in the background or else may turn into a complete adventure if not campaign.

Next comes a vast Equipment section which will let your character get his hands on virtually anything he might need for the forthcoming adventures. Not just weapons and armour (although there's plenty of those), there's all manner of stuff from drones to survival gear, medical equipment to communications and entertainment systems... you name it, it's probably there... apart from that necessity, a spaceship. This is dealt with comprehensively in the next section, Starship Design - again something that can be as much fun as creating characters. Examples are given, which can be used straight away if you do not wish to go through the whole process. Once you have a ship the following section, Starship Operations, explain the rules and concepts underlying its use, including operating costs and various dangers... and this is followed in turn by the Space Combat section.

The final sections deal with Psionics (powers of the mind, which you may or may not choose to allow in your game), Trade (with lots of tables to enable you to automate the process considerably yet model it fairly well) and finally World Creation. This provides an elegant system for devising planets in an awesome variety for the party to visit in their travels.

Well conceived and updated from the originals, this work recaptures all the excitement and sheer potential for adventure presented by those Little Black Books. A neat addition is little snippets of information scattered throughout in grey text boxes - anything from the tradition of Jump dimming to an adventure seed you could develop into a complete adventure - which are well worth ready. A worthy successor to the original Traveller which maintains its flavour, its essence, well.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Traveller Main Rulebook
Publisher: Mongoose
by Philip W. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/13/2014 21:59:35

This is a fair attempt at updating what is essentially classic Traveller (CT) little black books to 8. I say 'fair attempt' because although the basic idea was there, it was rather sloppy in it's execution. Overall production quality and layout is no improvement over rpgs from the late 1980's to early 1990's. Artwork consists of basic monochrome drawings in a style of the same vintage, yet other rpgs have moved on with a much more sophisticated level of production. With modern computer graphics available to us all these days, there is really no excuse for such sloppy and lazy production. Character generation is ok - somewhere between little black books 1- 3 and books 4 - 8. Starship construction is essentially books 1 - 3. Larger ships require 'High Gaurd. '

Overall, considering that this is just a core rule book, it is farly expensive for what you get if you pay full price for it. I actually purchased it on special when it was really cheap. At the price I paoed ot was actually a bargain! At full price, however, it is as with a lot of othe Mongoose 'Traveller' rpg products, overpriced.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Traveller Main Rulebook
Publisher: Mongoose
by John G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/27/2014 09:43:52

This is an expensive product for something that was ripped straight out of the d20 3.5 SRD with just the mechanic changed from d20 to 2d6. It's very much like CT in what it does and only the mechanic and skill lists are new, really.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
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Traveller Main Rulebook
Publisher: Mongoose
by Kevin M.
Date Added: 06/10/2014 10:38:08

The art work is crap. Sorry but this is what helps set the pace and feel of the game. It had no connection to the past art of the game, too much FANTASY looking, not very Science Fiction looking.

And the ship floor plans are a nice touch, adding even the fighter. BUT they changed too much and non for the better.

This is first impression once I looked at it. Now I have not read the content, its surface glance. (It looks like the mechanics of the game match up with the old....) BUT this is often a indicator of if it would get a person to pickup the game and run with it.

The character sheet is TOO busy, I liked the clean simple form from the Classic Traveller. It s like who ever wrote the book and commissioned the art has no idea what Traveller is.

I am happy it is not the crappy Steve Jackson version.... but it has so much wrong:

  • Poorly organized. Its hard to tell when one section ends and another begins.
  • Art is HORRIBLE CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!- !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • The floor plan are NOT matching the ones already established. If you are going to deviate that much offer more then one, so to give players the notion that these varry...
  • PSION? Not Psionics? And my gawd! You make it over powered looking! It suppose to be rare, subtle, and well.... WTF happened!
  • The editors and authors need to look at what Classic Traveller is, even Mega Traveller, and maybe Digest Group Publishing's past works....
  • Clean up the silly stupid character sheets.

Regretting I bought this majorly.... Sticking to Classic Traveller now. In the immortal works of Eric Cartman: "Fudge you guys, I am going home!"

I am going to re-edit this crap to a tolerable level on my own.... wow..... I was expecting improvements, better art then even before.... ARGH! Absolute opposite!

So I ask: What happened? No, I mean it.... what happened???????

(There are players who do not care or seen to notice the art in a book, but I do. What are you trying to do? Make it look like Dragon Ball Z?) Where is the soap? Need to wash out my eyes....



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
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Traveller Main Rulebook
Publisher: Mongoose
by Sean D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/07/2013 14:50:17

Excellent - a wonderful re-working of a classic! It's clear and succinct, but has a lot of depth and flexibility. My only niggle is the illustrations - they're too 'cartoonish'



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Traveller Main Rulebook
Publisher: Mongoose
by Peter T. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/27/2012 21:53:49

Great update to an old classic. I now have an original version, the GURPS version and this one. For playability this version wins hands down.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Traveller Main Rulebook
Publisher: Mongoose
by Gunther B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 10/21/2011 14:53:39

I have been playing Traveller since the late 70's and early 80's. If its not broke don't fix it. The classic game Books 1,,2,3 and the detailed Branches 4 Mercs 5 Navy, 6 Scouts, 7 Merchant Marine was the peak. Character creation was a mini game in itself. Unlike the this one. The current book covers the basic ideas but loses the flavor. My main reason for buying was to use with the Hammers Slammers expansion. Sorry but this one missed the mark.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Traveller Main Rulebook
Publisher: Mongoose
by Dara T. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/29/2011 19:33:30

Interesting character background generation. The jumping around the book was a little bit confusing but the searching capabilities helped a lot.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Traveller Main Rulebook
Publisher: Mongoose
by Ryan B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/12/2010 13:53:07

What an amazing book! I've always feared Space Opera style RPGs, but this thing is... Amazing! A total gem to find RANDOMLY while I was just looking around on the website. Excellent.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Traveller Main Rulebook
Publisher: Mongoose
by Dominic A. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/10/2010 21:47:11

An excellent release of the rules. In feel, it goes back to the original 3 small books before High Guard and Striker (not that those were bad products). The power is somewhere between the original and the later supplements, but all the character bases of the supplements are covered in the one book. The overall publishing quality is good. For the Traveller fan (or any Sci-Fi loving RPG player) a must buy.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Traveller Main Rulebook
Publisher: Mongoose
by Rory H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 01/07/2010 05:35:04

Thousands of sci-fi worlds at your fingertips with this toolbox. Everything is concisely and comprehensively written into this book, meaning it's the only one you will ever need to own. The layout is simple, but very easy to follow (this being the point), and it's as felxible as you want to make it. Totally recommended - and the first truly progressive update on the Classic game.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Traveller Main Rulebook
Publisher: Mongoose
by Nicholas B. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 09/02/2009 15:46:03

This is the single best reinvention Traveller has yet experienced. The core rules are everything you could ever want, and does a fine job of selling me on the supplements by virtue of its polished and complete nature....put another way, the core book is so well done it compels me to by the supplements.

LIKES: provides an excellent ruleset from which to run classic science fiction campaigns, and touches on expanding to settings outside of the classic Traveller universe setting of the Imperium.Clean layout, good index, and the V2 edition has some very nice art. This edition is spiritually and mechanically closer to the original CT and MT than any later editions, as well...a good thing for me.

DISLIKES: not much to complain about. Early purchasers for the first print dealt with a few odd bits of errata, but those are all fixed in the PDF edition.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Traveller Main Rulebook
Publisher: Mongoose
by Miguel d. L. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 11/23/2008 08:52:52

The old Traveller updated, exactly as what you'd expect. A bit overprized for a pdf, though.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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