Traveller 2022 Update and Limited Edition Release

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So, this ought to annoy some fans who can’t afford the asking price, but:

240954114_4243824002337285_4849861349393848973_n.jpg

Not a new edition, but an update. It will now include new art, including a different way of presenting ship deck plans, basic ship and vehicle building rules and an index (hurrah!).

It will still be 100% backwards compatible (same rules), so you don’t need to change your old books, it just includes a bit more information from the CSC, High Guard and Vehicles books than before. There will be a standard book release and this image is just a pre-published copy of what the limited edition will look like.

I note that the 2300AD box set is having info added too at the moment, and I think we may see some changes in the High Guard book at least as they alter the deck plans in that too. My campaign next year to my players will definitely be Traveller now - although I don’t know whether to run 2300AD, Deepnight Revelation or some bespoke campaign in the Spinward Marches or Solomani space. We could also return to Pirates of Drinax which we got about half way through (before switching over to a Masks of Nyalthotep campaign which took the best part of 2 years to complete) or even potentially a Star Wars campaign with that unofficial PDF. Not really that interested in the Mercenary and Frontier Wars stuff, tbh, although I wonder if they’ll crank up a miniatures line to support it.
 
So, this ought to annoy some fans who can’t afford the asking price, but:

View attachment 35123

Not a new edition, but an update. It will now include new art, including a different way of presenting ship deck plans, basic ship and vehicle building rules and an index (hurrah!).

It will still be 100% backwards compatible (same rules), so you don’t need to change your old books, it just includes a bit more information from the CSC, High Guard and Vehicles books than before. There will be a standard book release and this image is just a pre-published copy of what the limited edition will look like.

I note that the 2300AD box set is having info added too at the moment, and I think we may see some changes in the High Guard book at least as they alter the deck plans in that too. My campaign next year to my players will definitely be Traveller now - although I don’t know whether to run 2300AD, Deepnight Revelation or some bespoke campaign in the Spinward Marches or Solomani space. We could also return to Pirates of Drinax which we got about half way through (before switching over to a Masks of Nyalthotep campaign which took the best part of 2 years to complete) or even potentially a Star Wars campaign with that unofficial PDF. Not really that interested in the Mercenary and Frontier Wars stuff, tbh, although I wonder if they’ll crank up a miniatures line to support it.
Where is this listed?
 
I find that cover to be very unappealing.
Well, I like having iconography on covers rather than art, a lot of the time. Not sure if its faux-leather with a silver imprint or not - but if it is, I’ll be there. The should post the standard cover at some point, and I’ll post it here if they do.
 
It has kind of a corporate document look to it, IMO. Like an annual report or something.
Yes it does - it’s a style I quite like, in the same way I like Classic Traveller’s minimalistic look. Traveller is 'serious business' - as a game premise - as explained here:

 
Might be one of the reasons why I’ve never actually owned any edition of the game.
 
Might be one of the reasons why I’ve never actually owned any edition of the game.
Well, it is very versatile - even if you stick with the (fairly generic) Third Imperium setting.

That also reminds me that Amazon are debuting their Foundation show this month. Asimov’s work was a pretty....um....foundational text for Traveller’s sci-fi setting so it will be interesting whether it could serve as some inspiration for game play. That said, the default is still Firefly/Serenity really.
 
Yes it does - it’s a style I quite like, in the same way I like Classic Traveller’s minimalistic look. Traveller is 'serious business' - as a game premise - as explained here:



I'm very familiar with Classic Traveller, Mongoose First Ed, and the various Cepheus Engine games. These days I tend to go for Cepheus stuff (especially Hostile), with occasional dips into Classic.

While I also really like the original Classic cover styles, I am not sure what I think about the cover. I think it might specifically be the "2022 Update" text that turns me off. Too dry and formal for what I see as essentially an adventure game in a space opera setting with mild hard SF overtones.
 
Well, it is very versatile - even if you stick with the (fairly generic) Third Imperium setting.

That also reminds me that Amazon are debuting their Foundation show this month. Asimov’s work was a pretty....um....foundational text for Traveller’s sci-fi setting so it will be interesting whether it could serve as some inspiration for game play. That said, the default is still Firefly/Serenity really.
Everybody say 'Cleon.'
 
If they’re including ships and core rules into one book I may actually get it.
 
Well, it is very versatile - even if you stick with the (fairly generic) Third Imperium setting.

That also reminds me that Amazon are debuting their Foundation show this month. Asimov’s work was a pretty....um....foundational text for Traveller’s sci-fi setting so it will be interesting whether it could serve as some inspiration for game play. That said, the default is still Firefly/Serenity really.
I feel that the E.C. Tubb Dumarest books had just as much if not more influence on Marc Miller back at the time he was designing Traveller.

D Dyrnwyn agreed. I'm a fan of the Hostile setting as well.
 
Eh updated rulebooks that are hardbound is something more people should do I think. Everyone updates their PDFs, but the people who buy the hardbound early (in some cases actually funding the project) get screwed for doing so because their book is always flawed. The smart play is to buy the PDF only first, then just eat that cost when you buy the hardbound later (thus not getting the PDF for free). At least then you have a hardbound book that hasn't been made practically obsolete by Errata and FAQs.

Publishing just the updates gives you the 40k effect, where to play the game you have Core Rules, Codex, Core Rules FAQ, Codex FAQ, Chapter Approved (year), Chapter Approved (year) FAQ, Warzone (where ever)#, and Warzone (where ever)# FAQ, just to have the rules for your army. At least the FAQs are free, for the moment.

Having a rulebook updated for the year isn't too bad, although buying most of the game all over again for the people that already have it will get pretty old, even if it's good for the new buyers to have a good, current book. Making a collector's version is good idea. The overemployed programmers can amass their hoard and fund the normal version for the plebs. :devil:
 
Traveller is about 5 years out from having a 50th Anniversary, so I guess this could be seen as a stepping stone towards some sort of similar product.

Nobody needs to buy it, of course, as it hasn’t changed the rules in any major way. It does include basic ship building rules though and an index (finally). It doesn’t include the example sub-sector anymore, although I’m not sure anybody will really miss it. You can generate your own.

Visually, I guess it puts the product on a par with something you might expect from Wizards of the Coast, and the like (full colour illustrations), although it has its own style still. If you get the limited edition, with the leatherette cover, gilded pages, bookmarks and metallic corner protectors, interior page art, etc - I’m pretty certain it will look impressive at the game table. As a Traveller fan, a must buy for me.
 
The lack of ships in the core kept me from getting the last book. So this is definitely on my buy list.
Oh, they had ships rules and several iconic ships included before. What is added this time is the basic ship construction rules taken from High Guard. So yes, that makes it more ‘complete’ in line with previous editions of the game. My understanding is that High Guard is also probably going to get a visual update soon, if you want more options. I think they may have a gradual program of updating all their core books over time, with the same graphic approach.

Other notable things upcoming are a Robots book (allowing you to play PC robots and AI), an intro book, more Aliens of the Imperium, the Third Imperium and other 'Charted Space' Empire books. Also new settings: including 2300AD (already a PDF release), Prime Directive (for crypto-Star Trek fans) and others apparently (not sure what).

Mongoose are actively soliciting suggestions and ideas for future products currently on their website and there is an upcoming State of Mongoose which will discuss more. Wish they could have done a Traveller version of Space: 1889, but I think the license is elsewhere.
 
Is this for their product line that closely resembles Classic Traveller, or is does it depart substantially from the original?
 
Is this for their product line that closely resembles Classic Traveller, or is does it depart substantially from the original?
It is based on Classic Traveller, and you could possibly still use Classic Traveller supplements to run scenarios from to a degree. A number of their titles are adapted from the original Classic Traveller books. The conventions of 2D6 rolls, term-based character generation, UPPs, Tech Levels, planetary design, etc are all familiar. The Charted Space of the Third Imperium is still the default setting, although you could use it to run any sci-fi setting.

However, it expands on the game in a number of ways and is deliberately made to be more accessible to new audiences. This includes the changes in graphic presentation, but also the rules:

- There are more Career choices in the basic rules, and character generation has more detail in things like Pre-career Education, listed Events and Mishaps. There are 12 Career options in the core, with three Assignments for each, plus the Psion (optional) and Prisoner careers. It is less likely that you will die in character generation (though still remotely possible, you generally just get medical bills) although you could land in prison at some point.

- Most characters have more skills. This includes the provision of Basic Training - a set of six 0-Level skills given for each Career (in the starting term only). They also expand out character generation as more of a collective group affair, with characters given extra skills for sharing backstories, etc, and Traveller packages at the end of the process (which ensures groups have required skills for a particular type of campaign).

- There are more standardized mechanics. While Classic Traveller tended to have a lot of specific sub systems and special cases, Mongoose Traveller has more universally applicable ways of doing things.

- Particular subsystems are simpler to run. This is notably true of space ship and vehicle based conflict, which is more in tune with ground combat rules.

- There are more customizable rules options in supplements. The Traveller Companion includes alternative character generation (packages and points build) and alternative combat rules, etc. The Central Supply Catalogue has more options in technologies such as cyber wear and DNA manipulation.

Beyond that, the campaign books are great - in my view Pirates of Drinax is the best science fiction roleplaying campaign I know of.
 
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So this is not T5 compatible?
No there been three major threads of Traveller Development in the last couple of years. Traveller5 by Marc Miller, Mongoose Traveller 2nd edition, and Cepheus an adaptation and continuation of Mongoose Traveller 1st edition that is also open content.

Parallel to this is the TravellerMap, TravellerWiki, and the Second Survey project to solidify the data behind the Third Imperium setting.
 
Marc Miller is apparently no longer a fan of T5 (his own work), according to some commentary I picked up on a Traveller site on Facebook. It isn’t really supported anymore anyway.
 
Marc Miller is apparently no longer a fan of T5 (his own work), according to some commentary I picked up on a Traveller site on Facebook. It isn’t really supported anymore anyway.
That doesn't surprise me. It reminds me of the weaker parts of AD&D, where Gygax was trying to give people everything they said they wanted, rather than making the game he actually wants to play.
 
That doesn't surprise me. It reminds me of the weaker parts of AD&D, where Gygax was trying to give people everything they said they wanted, rather than making the game he actually wants to play.
If one reads Miller's descriptions of his own GMing it's extremely rules lite, basically just the characteristics, no skills at a mechanical level. Skill rolls are adjuticated based on the PC's career and a relevant characteristic sort of like DCC.
 
So I've heard about Traveller since forever (early 80s, when I began RPGs), but I've never played a game of it, nor cracked open any book, so I've nary read a line from it.

The only things I know is that's supposedly a great game, there's this great campaign called "Pirates of Drinax" (by an RPG author which I quite dig), and something called "the Third Imperium" :-).

What I'd like to know, gentle gamers community is : if I buy this newfangled

Traveller Core Rulebook Update 2022

will I be able to read all the old stuff (Classic Traveller ?) and make sense of it, based on this new iteration ?
will I be able to master Pirates of Drinax with it ?
will I be able to run Deep Night Revelation with it, because it made my eyes tinkle with stars when I watched the ad for it (it's been kickstarted some time ago, if I remember correctly).
 
Yes you can run Pirates of Drinax and Deep Night Revelation with this 2022 corebook.

Classic Traveller was a more complex rule system but still fairly similar to this current one. The stats and everything from old adventures can be fairly easily ported to this one and in fact people will have already done so, either officially or in fan PDFs.
 
Damn, I haven't been to the Mongoose site in a long time. They're still supporting Deus Vult, that's awesome. Anyone play the Sea of Thieves RPG?
 
Yes you can run Pirates of Drinax and Deep Night Revelation with this 2022 corebook.

Classic Traveller was a more complex rule system but still fairly similar to this current one. The stats and everything from old adventures can be fairly easily ported to this one and in fact people will have already done so, either officially or in fan PDFs.
How is Classic Traveller a more complex rule system? I'd say that Mongoose Traveller is a significantly more complex system than the original Classic Traveller.
 
How is Classic Traveller a more complex rule system? I'd say that Mongoose Traveller is a significantly more complex system than the original Classic Traveller.
I'd curious to this as well. I've been viewing CT as the simpler of the group. The group I'm looking as being CT, Mega Traveller and Mongoose Traveller.
 
How is Classic Traveller a more complex rule system? I'd say that Mongoose Traveller is a significantly more complex system than the original Classic Traveller.
Space flight and combat for example is significantly more complex in Classic Traveller, using vector displacement and gravity well calculations instead of just a basic "range" system. How attributes modify skill rolls is skill specific, rather than standardised. There are more examples.
 

Traveller Core Rulebook Update 2022

will I be able to read all the old stuff (Classic Traveller ?) and make sense of it, based on this new iteration ?
Yes, the difference between Classic Traveller and this is the similar to the difference between AD&D 1e and something written for D&D B/X. The stats are the same but the numbers for the older version are slightly different.
will I be able to master Pirates of Drinax with it ?
Yes
will I be able to run Deep Night Revelation with it, because it made my eyes tinkle with stars when I watched the ad for it (it's been kickstarted some time ago, if I remember correctly).
Yes
 
How is Classic Traveller a more complex rule system? I'd say that Mongoose Traveller is a significantly more complex system than the original Classic Traveller.
When it came to what you could do as your characters, Classic Traveller was full of one off exceptions.

The attached PDF (Version 02) took me a bit but I came up with this summary. But when it came to specific skills I had to go back to the text to see if there was anything special.

Eventually we house ruled it to Version 04 adapting some of the ideas behind Mongoose Traveller.

If you look at the Traveller Weapon and Armor you will see why Classic had some further issues. So on a per shot basis you had to find the range modifer for your weapon and add in the armor modifier to get a final modifier for your 2d6 roll.
 

Attachments

  • Traveller Referee Reference Ver 02.pdf
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  • Traveller Referee Reference Ver 04.pdf
    68.2 KB · Views: 9
robertsconley robertsconley Thanks for sharing those references Robert, I'll have to read them tonight. I'd been under the misunderstanding that Mongoose Traveller overall was more complex in comparison to Classic Traveller.

Especially if you weren't using the optional Snapshot or 10,000 Trillion credit Squadron, which added a lot to the game mechanics as if I recall correctly. (if my memory isn't failing me on the name of those two CT supplements.)

I'd snagged 1st edition Mongoose Traveller but found the book lacking in layout, tone, errors, quality etc. If I recall I think it also lacked an index which you really need in Traveller.

Overall my opinion of Mongoose and Catalyst Labs (two companies who currently hold the IPs of four rpgs that I'm fond of) rather lacking. I'm at the point that I refuse to buy anything from Catalyst Labs.

I'm on the fence with Mongoose though I think I will purchase the updated version of Traveller 2nd edition next year since the improvements look pretty solid. I'm hoping that they'll have their act together for 2300 2nd ed. which is the one that I really want to check out.
 
robertsconley robertsconley Thanks for sharing those references Robert, I'll have to read them tonight. I'd been under the misunderstanding that Mongoose Traveller overall was more complex in comparison to Classic Traveller.

Especially if you weren't using the optional Snapshot or 10,000 Trillion credit Squadron, which added a lot to the game mechanics as if I recall correctly. (if my memory isn't failing me on the name of those two CT supplements.)
Classic Traveller had three distinct combat systems. The first two are related, the system presented in Book 1 and then Snapshot which added more defined structure to the combat round with action points. But Snapshot used the same way of resolving attacks and damage.

Then there was Striker and Azhanti High Lightning which had a different way of resolving combat. Where armor mitigated damage rather than provide a modifier to the to-hit roll like in Book2.
I'd snagged 1st edition Mongoose Traveller but found the book lacking in layout, tone, errors, quality etc. If I recall I think it also lacked an index which you really need in Traveller.
Go with Cepheus it is the more current "version" of Mongoose Traveller 1e.

Full Version

Lite Version by a different author and even more approachable

Overall my opinion of Mongoose and Catalyst Labs (two companies who currently hold the IPs of four rpgs that I'm fond of) rather lacking. I'm at the point that I refuse to buy anything from Catalyst Labs.
I am a reluctant Mongoose Buyer. I feel their product are nearly always $10 too high for what you get. The most recent release of 2300AD is a good example. Although I felt better with the $30 I spent on the 2022 Core Rule Update. Still I would not have had to think about it if it was $20 for the PDF.

I want to get the Deepnight Relevation Line but I can wait until it starts appearing on bundle of holding. I did that with Pirate of Drinax and I am glad for it.

However if you want independence go with Cepheus. ;)

I'm on the fence with Mongoose though I think I will purchase the updated version of Traveller 2nd edition next year since the improvements look pretty solid. I'm hoping that they'll have their act together for 2300 2nd ed. which is the one that I really want to check out.
In general Mongoose upped their game with Mongoose Traveller 2e. With the 1e line it was pretty much a pass on everything due to being charged too much and the meh quality of the layout and look. I did think the digest sized version of the 1e core was nice and worth the money. So far the only 2e thing I been disappointed with is 2300 AD. Even there it just more a cause it kinda of OK but it could ben done better.

The 2022 update looks solid and a better values than the original Core 2e release.

But then again there is Cepheus (in several grades of complexity) and you can just buy the adventures and Third Imperium stuff off of Mongoose.
 
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