Starter Traveller

[Olschoolgamer]

I purchased starter Traveller from Drive thru RPG a while back when it was free. My question is what is missing from this set?
The title "Starter" Traveller would suggest that it is bare bones, but from looking at it the only thing I can see is that the charts are separate from the rules.
Also, is one set, LBB Book or Deluxe, better than another?

 

[aramis]

Starter is 95% the same content as CT Bk 1-3 or The Traveller Book.

• The Core rules are Bk 1-3. Two major editions; pre-1981 and post-1981 printings. Several iterations of difference in the pre-1981 rules; post 1981, it's CT2.0
• Deluxe adds Bk0 and Adv 0, and the Marches Map. (Marches data is included in A0). Every Deluxe I've seen is post-1981
  CT2.0
• The Traveller Book includes the post-1981 B1-3 content formatted for letter size, most of B0, two adventures (Exit Visa and Shadows), and the Regina Subsector.
  CT2.1 - some minor rules updates from the LBBs
• Starter Traveller includes the post-1981 B1-3 content, again formatted for letter size, same chunks of Bk0 as TTB, but alters the ship combat system from minis on map to range bands. Inlcudes 2 adventures (Shadows and Mission on Mithril) (But the PDF might not include the actual adventures; the one on the CD doesn't, but both are in LBB format on the CD...)
  Rules are CT2.2 - some updates and corrections to both TTB and CT2 (post-1981)

 

[DonM]

What Starter Traveller is missing is the Experience and Drugs chapters; what it contains that the others do not is the Range Band starship combat system.

I have all of them, but when RUNNING CT, Starter is my ruleset. I think it's the most cleanly edited CT ruleset.

 

[aramis]

It also contains the pulse laser rules, Don...
Did you catch that the CDROm one is missing the adventures booklet?

 

[Finarvyn]

And the free PDF of Starter Traveller isn't OCR, which makes it particuarly difficult for me to organize, make notes, and tweak systems. (I think I have OCR PDFs of the LBB, and that makes that version a lot more useful to me.) I like to assemble "player's notes" with parts of the rules that my players need. That's harder to do if I have to re-type everything.

The material in the two versions does look pretty similar, however, in quick inspection.

 

[Olschoolgamer]

So really to have everything it would be best to have all versions?
I take it that Drivethru RPG has all the most up to date versions.

 

[aramis]

Just get the $35 CT CD from farfuture.net (Marc Miller's site)... gives you Bk0-8, TTB, and Starter Traveller (except the adventures book), Adv0-12, Supp1-13, SplSup1-3, DA1-DA7, AM1-8, Snapshot*, AHL*, Striker, Invasion Earth**, Imperium**, Fifth Frontier War**, Dark Nebula**, Tarsus, Alien Realms, Beltstrike, Atlas of the Imperium

* playable game, just need to make the counters and maps, and integrates into RPG play.
** Rules can be used easily with a virtual board, but making the board and counters is gonna be a pain.

 

[Olschoolgamer]

I have heard there have been some issues with the CD having missing pages and poor type, have these issues been fixed?

 

[aramis]

I've not noticed any missing pages; I got my CD this summer. Several are rotated wrong...

 

[beowulf2044]

You also get the added equipment in the adventures section that includes the laser pistol and the medikit, a couple of my favorite bits of personal gear.

 

[DonM]

I've not noticed any missing pages; I got my CD this summer. Several are rotated wrong...

Hmm... are those rotations on the list of problems with the CD?

 

[Supplement Four]

What Starter Traveller is missing is the Experience and Drugs chapters; what it contains that the others do not is the Range Band starship combat system.

I have all of them, but when RUNNING CT, Starter is my ruleset. I think it's the most cleanly edited CT ruleset.

I agree. Starter Traveller was my first ruleset. That's what got me addicted to Traveller.

I've since switched to the Traveller Book, since it tends to be the most complete ruleset, but you can't go wrong with Starter Traveller. They did a great job on set when it came out.

 

[hdan]

I purchased starter Traveller from Drive thru RPG a while back when it was free. My question is what is missing from this set?
The title "Starter" Traveller would suggest that it is bare bones, but from looking at it the only thing I can see is that the charts are separate from the rules.
Also, is one set, LBB Book or Deluxe, better than another?

I grabbed that one too, even though I have TTB and MgT (and a few of my original LBB's, though they're in a sad state of disrepair from too much love), and it seems pretty complete to me. The separate tables and charts "book" is really a great idea for running a game, though maybe not so much for learning unless you print it for reference while reading the main rules.

I haven't actually tried to cross-reference it with my TTB to see if things like Engineering being one skill instead of a family of 3 is Classic Traveller or not. I've been using MgT lately, so my CT chops are rusty.

 

[BlackBat242]

LBB1 has it as one skill.

LBB5 High Guard is where it is cascaded into separate jump, maneuver, and power plant skills.


I can't remember how TTB has it, and don't have Starter Traveller.

 

[DonM]

Where in Book 5: High Guard (CT) is the Engineering skill broken up by drive? I've looked through both HG1 and HG2, and cannot find such a breakdown. (I'd never seen such, so I had to go look!)

And I've confirmed that in MT, Engineering definitely covers all three drives as a single skill. It's still combined in T4, as well.

 

[mike wightman]

It's not cascaded in HG. Gunnery is but Engineering most definitely isn't.

 

[aramis]

It is cascaded in MGT, not MT.

 

[spinwardpirate]

What Starter Traveller is missing is the Experience and Drugs chapters; what it contains that the others do not is the Range Band starship combat system.

COOL! I had no idea! I just figured it was the same rules re-packaged, so I never bothered even looking at it! Thanks for the info!

 

[BlackBat242]

Where in Book 5: High Guard (CT) is the Engineering skill broken up by drive? I've looked through both HG1 and HG2, and cannot find such a breakdown. (I'd never seen such, so I had to go look!)

That's weird... I couldn't either.

Its been such a part of how we always rolled up LBB56 characters I guess I must have thought it was there when it wasn't.

The very first character I rolled up was in April 1983, with TTB and LBB5 (Navy engineering type), and her engineering skills were cascaded... it must have been a house-rule of that ref that I thought was in the book, and never noticed it wasn't!