CD character creation is superb

[nats]

Got to say I love the Cepheus Deluxe character creation system - just so smooth and takes all the best bits from CT/MgT whilst still retaining a progressive career system that remains fairly faithful to Classic Traveller.

I really like the fact you are encouraged to use cybernetics to repair injuries and recover lost characteristic points during your career. That's really good.

I also like the way you can pick your skills and there are few limitations to mustering out throws so you can pick money to pay for cybernetics etc but you cant go mad on them eityher without becoming Darth Vader.

The traits are superb as well. They encourage you to flesh out the cahracter and start thinking what you will want to do with them.

Really makes for an interesting experience creating a character. Most important, you end up with a character you will like to play, as opposed to a semi-randomised character that you have to live with - which happens with all the other Traveller systems in my experience.

Great stuff.

 

[coliver988]

I have it and I am not particularly a fan. But then I played in the early 80s and so changes like that are hard. I like the random path. I do steal parts of it for my games but overall I tend to stick to mostly classic

 

[nats]

Hmm well I can undertand that as nostalgia is powerful. But then I played CT in the 80s too. I still have my little black box and all the rule books except Robot. And I loved them then. I still look at them from time to time. But they are old fashioned and well out of date. These rules make a lot more sense especially removing the random chargen. It is Classic Traveller brought up to date.

Although I admit I probably would stay with Mongoose if it was a better product but MgT has never grown on me. Soon as I read through these CD rules I was hooked. Reminds me of how I felt in the 80s actually, so that's nice.

 

[Timerover51]

Hmm well I can undertand that as nostalgia is powerful. But then I played CT in the 80s too. I still have my little black box and all the rule books except Robot. And I loved them then. I still look at them from time to time. But they are old fashioned and well out of date. These rules make a lot more sense especially removing the random chargen. It is Classic Traveller brought up to date.

Although I admit I probably would stay with Mongoose if it was a better product but MgT has never grown on me. Soon as I read through these CD rules I was hooked. Reminds me of how I felt in the 80s actually, so that's nice.

Calling Classic Traveller "old fashioned and well out of date" is stretching it more than a bit. It reflects an earlier and simpler style of gaming. Having been in the military, Classic comes better to matching the way a military career works. You do not always get what you want, or go where you want to go. I have the 1977 edition of Traveller in both hard copy and PDF. I also have Cepheus Deluxe Enhanced Edition, along with the earlier versions, including the Cepheus Engine System Reference Document. I find myself looking at the 1977 rules as much as the Cepheus ones, if not more. It has nothing to do with nostalgia, but more towards a simpler version of the game. Do you really need Life Events to roll up a character? Do you really need the cybernetics to build an optimized character? What is more challenging, playing a character that you have optimized or a character that has limitations that you have to deal with?

As I am working on my own set of rules, using the Cepheus Engine SRD as a starting point, I keep referring to the 1977 rules for guidance in simplifying the game.

It is sort of like starting D&D with the 1974 Blue Book edition of the rules. Everything that you needed to play was contained in a 48 page rule book. Agreed that the book did not include world generation rules, as that was left up to the imagination of the Dungeon Master. The Enhanced Cepheus rules run 200 pages, not counting the intro and OGL at the back. Which is easier for a beginner to the game use? Do I still use the Blue Book edition? Yes, as it is far easier to use for a beginner in the game.

 

[mike wightman]

I agree with Timerover51, CT is not outdated as a game system (the tech tree on the other hand )...

CT skill use boils down to roll 2d and make stuff up taking into account the effects of characteristics, skills, experience, tools, negative effects, the environment etc.

A rather popular modern game uses roll 2d and the target number is 10, 10+ is a success, 7-9 is a success but... (make stuff up)

Want more? You could always add stuff like snake eyes, doubles and boxcars have special effects, boon/bane, and pushing the roll but it still all boils down to roll 2d and make stuff up.

What is so grat about including cybernetics in character generation? What if your setting doesn't include them or prohibits them, or uses synthetic biological replacement parts or rejuv or...
CE actually limits player choice to cybernetic.
The life events tables get very boring after a few characters

 

[Spinward Flow]

I really like the fact you are encouraged to use cybernetics to repair injuries and recover lost characteristic points during your career. That's really good.

What probably isn't appreciated enough today (some 45+ years later!) is that in 1977, these TV series were both still airing new episodes ...

Both series were cancelled (by ABC and NBC respectively) in 1978.
My point being that "cybernetic replacements for injuries" was extremely contemporary as an idea in 1977 (and for a while thereafter).

 

[nats]

Yeah lol I had a Six Million Dollar Man figure which could lift up a whole engine with one arm, look miles, and if you rolled back the skin in the arm and leg you could see the Cybernetics. Very advanced for its age ...

I think Classic Traveller was a superb game, I loved it, still do. But you can't say it really stands up very well today. It was a simple game with a very limited view of the future, but it had a charm of its own. Doesn't mean I want to play it now though. I could still use quite a few of its adventures and supplements, not to mention the later books like Scout and Mercenary. But it has serious faults and this is why I was looking for a new system along the same lines, but updated to the present time in terms of technology and mechanics.

I am pretty sure I've found it.