General Traveller with other systems?

[Spinward Scout]

You left out several levels...

I did.

On-the-fly difficulties are easier just to do the 3 I posted.

Adding in Modifiers, then you want to go the full range.

But just for quick difficulties, you can just use the 3.

 

[Hemdian]

I don’t think this is precisely what the original question meant, but a few years ago, I sort of ran Traveller with DnD 4e. Or, rather, I ran a DnD 4e campaign that drew inspiration from elements of the Traveller universe:

I wanted to create some history and mythological backstory for Yori (Spinward Marches) before ‘first contact’. So, using DnD as a base … removed all magic except ‘divine’, limited races to Human and Dragonborn (as a substitute for Zhurphani), limited classes to fighter/cleric/thief, banned equipment made of wood (or found alternative materials), etc.

Adventures included a visit to some mysterious religious ruins (the remains of the generation ship used to populate the planet), and getting caught in the middle of a political struggle brought on by the introduction of steam power. Later, some Vargr traders did turn up and attempted to become TEDs … I allowed some magic items as a substitute for their technology. And so on.

Allowing ‘divine’ magic meant this campaign generated myths rather than accurate histories. Myths that I could then use as background in subsequent Traveller games.

Again, this wasn’t a conventional Traveller campaign, so maybe it doesn’t count. But it did get some of the DnD-only players interested in trying my current T5 campaign ... and they get a thrill when they spot an in-game reference to something from the other game.

 

[Silverhawk]

The worst pointmongers I've ever encountered were fans of Champions 3 and DI. The Goodman Says sidebars made many champions players VERY point-mongerish. And most of the people I know who used DI (myself included) used Champions prior.

Champions always called out how to min-max so that the distance twixt rules-raping point-whores and more normal players had less difference. It also weeded out the "just print the price list for me" types

Many GURPS players go deep into the math, too... but until very late in 3rd, there was a huge break in the fanbase between "buy only the atts which are character appropriate" and "If the skills are more expensive than the attribute, up the attribute," min-max.

I was once one of those. Then I played in a convention tournament with a pre-generated PC. realized that I had been maximizing the character abilities without focusing on the 'Character' to roll play. After that it became less about trying to get every ability you can and have a character that was fun to play.

 

[Badenov]

Diaspora is a Fate-based love letter to Traveller. It also works great as a replacement for the Traveller engine.

Only if you like fate. Which many don't. At least it covers heat...

We played a FATE -based Traveller campaign with the same main chars for over 4 years. We didn't know about Diaspora, so the DM basically hand-cobbled FATE stats for Traveller things together. FATE is kind of opposite Traveller in that there is no gritty realism, it's all about drama and storytelling, so our genre-savvy group rode it kind of hard. After over 4 years, we all said the PCs were way too powerful for the game to work.

 

[RossWinn]

There was a lovely Action! System Traveller Variant that I was rather fond of as well. I might have a copy somewhere, but it is printed and there is literally nowhere I can find it online. A lovely piece of apocrypha, if I do say so.

 

[aramis]

We played a FATE -based Traveller campaign with the same main chars for over 4 years. We didn't know about Diaspora, so the DM basically hand-cobbled FATE stats for Traveller things together. FATE is kind of opposite Traveller in that there is no gritty realism, it's all about drama and storytelling, so our genre-savvy group rode it kind of hard. After over 4 years, we all said the PCs were way too powerful for the game to work.

Diaspora puts a good bit of grit into Fate. Especially ships.

 

[Badenov]

Diaspora puts a good bit of grit into Fate. Especially ships.

We could have used that badly. Our cobbled together system was OK at the character scale. At the ship level, it didn't feel quite right, though I guess I haven't played enough actual CT to get a feel for how it should play. On later analysis, it was actually a bit more dangerous than CT for player-scale ships, so I guess it was good we didn't fight in them very often.

 

[Kilgs]

I went to Silhouette (Heavy Gear/Jovian Chronicles) and haven't looked back. I keep trying to get back to standard MGT since Traveller players are hard to find and, if found, I doubt they'll suddenly agree with me. But the system works almost perfectly. I prefer the damage better as well plus all the additional rules from later HG/JC supplements. (ie unarmed fighting etc.). When in doubt, just use the Traveller rules with the Silhouette difficulty levels (Average=Average). Only three things keep driving me back to attempt MGT2E...
1-The bloody Skill-0. It's one of my favorite parts of Traveller... 'know how to do it but no good' and there is no real way to emulate it in Silhouette. It really, really irks me.
2-With all the new mini-rules from various Traveller supplements, it's hard to port them over. Specifically Mercenary.
3-With the new Mongoose Vehicles, Robots and Mercenary... I feel like I need to get back to MGT 2E but i keep postponing.

The original reason for it was to run a Great Game/Mercenary/2500AD setting. With the transitional quality between the RPG and the wargame systems, it was perfect and the tech level was where I wanted it. That was fun and I was able to hack BT's Merc system as well.

But now Traveller has all those systems that I converted to run on Silhouette so I want to change back... and don't. So confining myself to solo gaming for eternity with that decisions...

NEW IRON RULE--Even if I do go back to MGT, I'm keeping the HG attributes. I love them with Traveller. Way more versatile and on-point, it also spreads out those killer stats better.
Agility (Dex), Appearance, Build (Str), Creativity (INT), Fitness (CON), Influence (no equivalent), Knowledge (EDU), Perception (no equivalent), SOC (replaces Psyche), and Will (no equivalent).

 

[mike wightman]

I am tempted to give a 2d20 version a go, so far I have looked at characteristics and skills.

Spoiler:

Characteristics:

• Agility: Physical and manual dexterity, sense of balance, body control, hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, and reflexes.

• Brawn: Strength, toughness, endurance, and the ability to apply physical force.



• Intelligence: Wit, intellect, logic, reason, the ability to apply knowledge or interact with technology, ability to apply logic, and learned facts to a situation.

• Willpower: Grit, determination, psychological resilience, sense of self, mental strength, and their sense of self-discipline.



• Awareness: Perceptions, sensory acuity, gut feelings, and instincts, ability to comprehend the world around them

• Personality: Charisma, comfort in social situations, and the ability to be threatening or charming as required.



• Social Standing: encompasses the people a Traveller associates with, the way they live their lives, and the circles of influence they enjoy. Some aspects of Social Status may be inherited, but most for a Traveller are acquired and subject to change.


Skills

Admin – This rates a Traveller’s experience with bureaucratic agencies and understands the requirements of dealing with them and managing them.

Athletics – This rates a Traveller’s physical conditioning, and their ability to exert force and move their body in a variety of ways.

Brawling – This defines a Traveller’s ability to use close combat violence and to defend against it, including the use of improvised weapons and small blades.

Computer – This rates a Traveller in the programming and operation of computers, both ground and ship based.

Education – This covers a Traveller’s academic leanings and is also useful when trying to study new information, and when trying to recall facts about a subject.

Engineering – This describes a Traveller’s technical, electronic and mechanical expertise as well as their ability to operate and maintain complex equipment,

Gun combat – This rates a Traveller’s ability to use and maintain handguns, rifles, shotguns etc.

Heavy Weapons – This rates a Traveller’s ability to use and maintain crewed heavy weapon systems such as gunship and starship lasers, energy weapons and missiles.

Melee combat – This rates a Traveller’s ability to use melee weapons in close combat

Medicine – This designates a Traveller’s ability to alleviate pain, illness, and suffering. It is used to treat both physical and mental injuries.

Navigation – This designates a Traveller’s training and expertise in the art and science of interplanetary and interstellar navigation.

Recon – This defines a Traveller’s ability to avoid notice and pass undetected and unhindered through hostile territory and to survive in inhospitable conditions and environments.

Streetwise – This designates a Traveller is acquainted with the ways of local subcultures and can deal with strangers without alienating them.

Tactics – This covers a Traveller’s ability to perceive the overall situation and devise a plan appropriate to it, including military strategy and tactics, team dynamics and leadership in some contexts.

Vacc Suit – The Traveller has been trained, and has experience, in the use of standard vacuum suits (space suits), including armoured battle dress and suits for use on various planetary surfaces in the presence of exotic, corrosive or insidious atmospheres.

Vehicles – This skill rates the operation, care, and maintenance of vehicles of all kinds.

 

[aramis]

I am tempted to give a 2d20 version a go, so far I have looked at characteristics and skills.

Just remember, no two 2d20 games have the same array of attributes, skills, and momentum spends.

I went to Silhouette (Heavy Gear/Jovian Chronicles) and haven't looked back.

I like Silhouette; I ran HG 2e... for a oneshot. I like it... but the lore is so good I'd feel guilty porting other lore in...
Oh, and as an FYI: they remastered the PDFs from the original files...

 

[mike wightman]

Just remember, no two 2d20 games have the same array of attributes, skills, and momentum spends.

I know, I have them all and the SRD.

I decided on the characteristics that I use most often and the skills are AC/Infinity+CT

Still debating if I should put forgery and JoT back in and move Edu back to being a characteristic...
Ideally I want three blocks of six skills...

 

[mike wightman]

So it could end up like this, if I allow extra lines for specialisation in vehicles I get three blocks of eight - good enough.

Spoiler:

Characteristics:

• Agility: Physical and manual dexterity, sense of balance, body control, hand-eye coordination, spatial awareness, and reflexes.

• Brawn: Strength, toughness, endurance, and the ability to apply physical force.



• Intelligence: Wit, intellect, logic, reason, the ability to apply knowledge or interact with technology, ability to apply logic, and learned facts to a situation.

• Willpower: Grit, determination, psychological resilience, sense of self, mental strength, and their sense of self-discipline.



• Awareness: Perceptions, sensory acuity, gut feelings, and instincts, ability to comprehend the world around them

• Personality: Charisma, comfort in social situations, and the ability to be threatening or charming as required.


• Education – This covers a Traveller’s academic leanings and is also useful when trying to study new information, and when trying to recall facts about a subject.

• Social Standing: encompasses the people a Traveller associates with, the way they live their lives, and the circles of influence they enjoy. Some aspects of Social Status may be inherited, but most for a Traveller are acquired and subject to change.


Skills

Admin – This rates a Traveller’s experience with bureaucratic agencies and understands the requirements of dealing with them and managing them.

Athletics – This rates a Traveller’s physical conditioning, and their ability to exert force and move their body in a variety of ways.

Brawling – This defines a Traveller’s ability to use close combat violence and to defend against it, including the use of improvised weapons and small blades.

Computer – This rates a Traveller in the programming and operation of computers, both ground and ship based.

Electronics – The Traveller has skill in the use, operation and repair of electronic devices.

Engineering – This describes a Traveller’s technical, electronic and mechanical expertise as well as their ability to operate and maintain complex equipment,

Gambling – The Traveller is well informed on games of chance, and wise in their play. They have an advantage over non-experts, and is generally capable of winning when they play.

Gun combat – This rates a Traveller’s ability to use and maintain handguns, rifles, shotguns etc.

Gravitics – The Traveller has skill in the use, operation and repair of gravitic devices

Forgery – The Traveller has skill in faking documents, both electronic and papers, sufficient to pass general inspection.

Heavy Weapons – This rates a Traveller’s ability to use and maintain crewed heavy weapon systems such as gunship and starship lasers, energy weapons and missiles.

Jack of all trades – The Traveller is proven capable of handling a wide variety of situations, and is resourceful in finding solutions and remedies.

Mechanical – The Traveller has skill in the use, operation and repair of mechanical devices.

Melee combat – This rates a Traveller’s ability to use melee weapons in close combat

Medicine – This designates a Traveller’s ability to alleviate pain, illness, and suffering. It is used to treat both physical and mental injuries.

Navigation – This designates a Traveller’s training and expertise in the art and science of interplanetary and interstellar navigation.

Recon – This defines a Traveller’s ability to avoid notice and pass undetected and unhindered through hostile territory and to survive in inhospitable conditions and environments.

Streetwise – This designates a Traveller is acquainted with the ways of local subcultures and can deal with strangers without alienating them.

Steward – The Traveller is experienced and capable in the performance of the duties of a Ship’s Steward.

Tactics – This covers a Traveller’s ability to perceive the overall situation and devise a plan appropriate to it, including military strategy and tactics, team dynamics and leadership in some contexts.

Vacc Suit – The Traveller has been trained, and has experience, in the use of standard vacuum suits (space suits), including armoured battle dress and suits for use on various planetary surfaces in the presence of exotic, corrosive or insidious atmospheres.

Vehicles – This skill rates the Traveller for the operation, care, and maintenance of vehicles of all kinds.

 

[aramis]

I know, I have them all and the SRD.

I decided on the characteristics that I use most often and the skills are AC/Infinity+CT

Still debating if I should put forgery and JoT back in and move Edu back to being a characteristic...
Ideally I want three blocks of six skills...

JoT really belongs as a talent. not a skill
Edu as a characteristic is characteristic of Traveller.

 

[Quint]

How did I miss this thread..?

I've run Traveller most successfully (and for several campaigns) using the Cyberpunk 2020 rules, though currently I'm using CE as I think it's a decent enough engine - though, heresy-wise, I'm using Full Thrust for Starship building and combat and Dirtside for Vehicle combat (and have scrapped many of the design assumptions of Traveller in exchange for the Tuffley-verse - though I kept the week in transit and either the need for large amounts of hydrogen, or some other exotic particle collection)

I've also run Traveller using Space Opera (a million years ago, not very successful) plus WEG Star Wars (similar experiences at @aramis ), and another old game called Expendables (also, not super successful). I've also run CT, MT, TNE, T4, and MGT1 before finally settling on CE. I am looking forward to the Alien 2E Kickstarter later this month as a time to jump into that engine as I have refrained thusfar.

D.

 

[RossWinn]

I've run Traveller most successfully (and for several campaigns) using the Cyberpunk 2020 rules, though currently I'm using CE as I think it's a decent enough engine - though…

That’s coincidental. Since I was a freelancer for 2020 and one of my players was actually an employee we discussed using Mekton Zeta for characters and developing. We decided to just use Mongoose Traveller 2e because it would be so much less work.

 

[Quint]

That’s coincidental. Since I was a freelancer for 2020 and one of my players was actually an employee we discussed using Mekton Zeta for characters and developing. We decided to just use Mongoose Traveller 2e because it would be so much less work.

Yeah. I recognized the name (and the old tag) from one of the old, old CP2020 listservs (Blackhammer? IDK, we were both much, much younger at that point and memory fades - I just, IIRC, vaguely remember you emailed me your rules for Spinners once when I asked). The Cyberpunk Lifepath was always a fantastic matchup to the advanced chargen of Traveller but a couple of campaigns back I wanted to be able to point folks to an actual rules set rather than my increasingly homebrewed monstrosity so I did CE (which is/was basically a more generic MGT1 SRD at that point).

D.

 

[Badenov]

So, this may be the opposite of the intended question, but I ran a Traveller MUCK, which is a text-based multiplayer game, for a couple years (before the host let the machine die with no backups ) that used the Hammer's Slammers book, so used MgT1 game mechanics with Hammerverse particulars. It was a homebrew world, but it played pretty well. Rather than playing as people who'd mustered out of a service, my three players were active duty mercenaries.

 

[Spinward Scout]

I am looking forward to the Alien 2E Kickstarter later this month as a time to jump into that engine as I have refrained thusfar.

I've wondered if ALIEN v1 would have worked for Traveller. Mothership as well. There's a "Screams Among The Stars" rpg that looks similar to Mothership that could probably work for Traveller, too.

 

[aramis]

I've wondered if ALIEN v1 would have worked for Traveller. Mothership as well. There's a "Screams Among The Stars" rpg that looks similar to Mothership that could probably work for Traveller, too.

ALIEN the RPG? It's got ships, cargos, missions, and quick character gen. It's not quite Traveller, but for me, it can and does scratch the same itch.

Don't confuse it for Leading Edge Games' (much older - 1990s) ALIENS Adventure Game. That focused almost exclusively on Marines, and was using a lightened up version of Phoenix Command.

I can't speak to mothership.

 

[RossWinn]

Don't confuse it for Leading Edge Games' (much older - 1990s) ALIENS Adventure Game. That focused almost exclusively on Marines, and was using a lightened up version of Phoenix Command.

Ah yes, Phoenix Command. A game by engineers for engineers and with engineers.