Old Judges Guild Traveller

[Otto Harkaman]

I've been going through old files on an external hard drive I've had and I was having fun looking at these old Judges Guild books for Traveller. Ah the good ole days :coffeesip:

 

[soloprobe]

Ah the good old days.....I remember Many adventures aboard The Singing Star. That Module Has 11 scenarios/adventures, so both player and G.M. get many uses out of it.

 

[Otto Harkaman]

I hadn't realized until I started searching that Wiki Traveller lists all the JG Traveller products. I love all the old art work, it was a good time, ah I am getting old
http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Judges_Guild

Fun little review about Judges Guild Traveller products on youtube
https://youtu.be/u6pwPbUAKa0

 

[agorski]

These things turn up on eBay all the time at cheap, cheap prices.

 

[soloprobe]

I Know, Because I've sold mine on Ebay

 

[Otto Harkaman]

Yes probably not many people interested in them. It's nostalgia for me, a time when amateurism was still acceptable.

 

[samuelvss]

Yes probably not many people interested in them. It's nostalgia for me, a time when amateurism was still acceptable.

Well, what was professional then seems amateur now, but some of the JG products had some useful and even inspiring content. I am sure the number just of new MgT products sold probably outpace the number of JG resales by well more than two if not three orders of magnitude, not even considering the price differentials. I am also sure that for content and ideas, the bang for the buck in the old JG stuff is therefore relatively better.

It is still relevant for the GM looking for inspiration and content rather than a complete, turn-key product to which nothing needs to be added.

 

[BlackBat242]

Well, what was professional then seems amateur now, but some of the JG products had some useful and even inspiring content. I am sure the number just of new MgT products sold probably outpace the number of JG resales by well more than two if not three orders of magnitude, not even considering the price differentials. I am also sure that for content and ideas, the bang for the buck in the old JG stuff is therefore relatively better.

It is still relevant for the GM looking for inspiration and content rather than a complete, narrowly-defined, straight-jacketed into an overdeveloped minutely-detailed "one-size-fits-all" master "only this exact setting exists" turn-key product to which nothing needs to be or can be added.

Some of us prefer material that is mostly (or all) "setting-neutral" that can be easily used in OUR OWN Traveller game setting.

 

[Otto Harkaman]

Having fun going through the old JG Pegasus magazines, looking at the ads, artwork and reading the articles. I guess some of these game accessories would have seemed pretty pricey to me in the day when I was young. Doom of the Singing Star is listed in the 1st Pegasus as $11.98

Yes its refreshing looking at a different area of the galaxy.

 

[GypsyComet]

Well, what was professional then seems amateur now

I was buying new at the time, and JG was at the low end even then. They traded polish for volume, and their production values never really evolved past the 1970s.

 

[aramis]

JG was low production value even for the 70's. The only other 70's/early 80's publisher to go so cheap on materials had much better art, and is still in business - Palladium. My copies of Mechanooids are almost ruined from the poor paper quality.

 

[Otto Harkaman]

Yes I think what turned me off to them at the time was the kind of paper they used. I think if they would have used better paper I would have been more kean on purchasing them. Also looking inside I think if they would have gone to a double column format it would have been easier to read and looked more professional. But I guess this was before the small computer desktop publisher software explosion. Also looking at the sector books what was there to compare with them at the time? The CT S3 Spinward Marches book?

OH! I found a glorious heresy in Pegasus magazine #3, an article containing ideas about using SHIELDS in Traveller ships. :coffeegulp:

 

[kilemall]

OH! I found a glorious heresy in Pegasus magazine #3, an article containing ideas about using SHIELDS in Traveller ships. :coffeegulp:

 

[Otto Harkaman]

Yes! I like Science Fantasy

 

[samuelvss]

Some of us prefer material that is mostly (or all) "setting-neutral" that can be easily used in OUR OWN Traveller game setting.

That was always a beef I had with JG and GDW products when I was a teenager, but I have subsequently decided that I would do with them as I wished. I did not say I preferred JG, and indeed, I do not. I did say they were relevant for inspiration and a relative bargain.

I do enjoy the creative process of adapting things to make them fit, but I don't expect that everyone does.

 

[samuelvss]

I was buying new at the time, and JG was at the low end even then. They traded polish for volume, and their production values never really evolved past the 1970s.

They were certainly on the shoddy end. My point is that they stand out all the more today in juxtaposition to what we are now used to.

 

[ian54]

These things turn up on eBay all the time at cheap, cheap prices.

I've seen the Judges Guild booster/campaign pack turn up several times for a good price on eBay and it contains a number of Traveller items, well worth a look.

 

[Otto Harkaman]

I've seen the Judges Guild booster/campaign pack turn up several times for a good price on eBay and it contains a number of Traveller items, well worth a look.

Drivethru has pdfs, they had a deal a while back with the Gateway sectors free so they might have other deals at other times.

 

[Scratches]

I bought a "box of random Traveller stuff" on eBay a decade ago for something ridiculous like $5, it turned out to be exclusively JG. I spent about two minutes looking at it all and then shook my head.

 

[rancke]

Some of us prefer material that is mostly (or all) "setting-neutral" that can be easily used in OUR OWN Traveller game setting.

Some of us feel that you can treat most setting-specific adventures as setting-neutral by ignoring the specific bits. Not all of them, granted. I myself have a lovely adventure set on Sprague de Camp's Krishna that just won't work anywhere but on Krishna . But in most cases, a setting-specific adventure combines the best of both worlds. Less bland and boring than generic adventures tend to be but still useable as a generic adventure.


Hans