Fellow Travellers, I feel very ashamed, but I didn't manage to read the T5 Core Book and fully understand it. Yes I did my best, I had a lot of time and very high motivation (I am Baron after all so noblesse oblige), but still failed. Was it really my fault or not - you decide.
Surely I was very disappointed. I've read and analyzed nearly all GURPS Traveller books and most of Mongoose Traveller books, so I can compare.
The GURPS Traveller Rulebook was too light on rules, and that made the whole line unplayable for me. I understand that characters cannot have UPP in GURPS system, but why the planets couldn't have UWP? The lack of special combat rules for Traveller was the last nail into the coffin for me, since the generic GURPS Ultra-Tech is completely unbalanced and not suited for Traveller, not even talking about GURPS Vehicles. The attempt to define space combat using actual physical numbers (kilometers, GJ etc) was doomed from the very beginning, since the players don't want to know such things. All they want to know is "what are my chances to hit this, and what are its chances to hit me".
The Mongoose Traveller Core Book is almost ideal. It has all the rules the players need to start playing, and it actively motivates them to do so! The book says: "here are your possibilities, here are your goals, here are your rules - they are quick and simple, so you're welcome!" There are some things I'd change, like the inadequate Psionics rules. I also feel that 2D is an obsolete system, as it's difficult to add modifiers without breaking the system, but the book is still amazing.
Now returning to the T5 Core book... May I say it's the worst role-playing core book I've ever seen? The core book is addressed to both the players and the Referee. It should describe infinite possibilities and actively attract players to the game. This book is more like a scientific course of Travellerology, not a game book at all. It emphasizes things that are mostly irrelevant for the players, like the difference between metric tons and dtons, or the difference between Edu and Tra, but lacks the things very useful for the players like ship operation costs. It contains dozens of the very serious tables that should probably make the role-playing easier, but as long as nearly all these tables have exceptions (distance and size R/T, for instance) they only make it harder.
Can I say that the very idea of variable dice is bad? Yes it is! The core mechanics should be as simple as possible, and this mechanics is more complicated than the classic 2D, d20 and even the GURPS 3D. Why the Referee should choose TWO parameters each time - the number of dice and the Dice Mod? The game could work on 3D even if MM wanted to keep the old stats in 2-15 range. Less complication = less unneeded probability tables. Still, I like the Flux idea, it's simple and has many uses.
The Genetics section finally stopped me. I am still failing to understand WHY this could be useful in a game book??? Every Traveller will get a clone now? Even if he will, that could be done without hitting a reader with a wall of text: "you're awakened in a medical lab". That's all.
Guys, I really jealous of you for being able to read this book. Seriously. I wish I had the ability too.
Surely I was very disappointed. I've read and analyzed nearly all GURPS Traveller books and most of Mongoose Traveller books, so I can compare.
The GURPS Traveller Rulebook was too light on rules, and that made the whole line unplayable for me. I understand that characters cannot have UPP in GURPS system, but why the planets couldn't have UWP? The lack of special combat rules for Traveller was the last nail into the coffin for me, since the generic GURPS Ultra-Tech is completely unbalanced and not suited for Traveller, not even talking about GURPS Vehicles. The attempt to define space combat using actual physical numbers (kilometers, GJ etc) was doomed from the very beginning, since the players don't want to know such things. All they want to know is "what are my chances to hit this, and what are its chances to hit me".
The Mongoose Traveller Core Book is almost ideal. It has all the rules the players need to start playing, and it actively motivates them to do so! The book says: "here are your possibilities, here are your goals, here are your rules - they are quick and simple, so you're welcome!" There are some things I'd change, like the inadequate Psionics rules. I also feel that 2D is an obsolete system, as it's difficult to add modifiers without breaking the system, but the book is still amazing.
Now returning to the T5 Core book... May I say it's the worst role-playing core book I've ever seen? The core book is addressed to both the players and the Referee. It should describe infinite possibilities and actively attract players to the game. This book is more like a scientific course of Travellerology, not a game book at all. It emphasizes things that are mostly irrelevant for the players, like the difference between metric tons and dtons, or the difference between Edu and Tra, but lacks the things very useful for the players like ship operation costs. It contains dozens of the very serious tables that should probably make the role-playing easier, but as long as nearly all these tables have exceptions (distance and size R/T, for instance) they only make it harder.
Can I say that the very idea of variable dice is bad? Yes it is! The core mechanics should be as simple as possible, and this mechanics is more complicated than the classic 2D, d20 and even the GURPS 3D. Why the Referee should choose TWO parameters each time - the number of dice and the Dice Mod? The game could work on 3D even if MM wanted to keep the old stats in 2-15 range. Less complication = less unneeded probability tables. Still, I like the Flux idea, it's simple and has many uses.
The Genetics section finally stopped me. I am still failing to understand WHY this could be useful in a game book??? Every Traveller will get a clone now? Even if he will, that could be done without hitting a reader with a wall of text: "you're awakened in a medical lab". That's all.
Guys, I really jealous of you for being able to read this book. Seriously. I wish I had the ability too.