CT Only: What One Thing Would You Change About Classic Traveller?

[robject]

If you could tweak one thing, what would it be?

UPDATE. Here's a short list of responses to that question through page 20 (Jan 9, 2022).

Book 1:

• armor soaks damage (e.g. AHL)
• weapons could have "high" or "low" pen (high = halves AV. low = doubles AV.)
• a separate pen from damage non-table-driven combat system based upon striker
• restore the missing section from '77 that explains that skill throws are not "set in stone" and are subject to referee making stuff up.
• include "all" of the careers
• equalize the expected skill totals between advanced and basic gen
• use the DGP/2300/MT task system
• port in the section in The Traveller Adventure on dice throws (Page 28 and 29 - the use of dice rolls).
• emphasize that players make "task throws" not "skill checks", and that their skills are bonuses to the task throws. That's just a clarification that makes the system make more sense.

Book 2:

• use High Guard-style powerplant fuel consumption.
• specify a hexgrid for the vector space combat system.
• HG equipment mapped to CT - military drives, barbettes, armor, screens, PA weapons
• include the ST range band movement system as an option
• include robots/synthetics in the equipment section
• add guidelines on augments for characters
• include airframe design costs/benefits
• "stage effects"

Book 3:

• have gravitics and Jump occur at a later TL.
• add small arms and equipment from LBB4 and LBB5.
• use the T20 trade system.
• add in the concepts of wafer tech and "makers".
• "sophont maker"

 

[mike wightman]

Get rid of the combat matrices and replace them with an armour as damage reduction system - see AHL, Striker, MT, T4 all of which have easily adaptable systems, although I go with T4 for my CT+

And now for something that isn't a change as such - replace the missing section from 77 CT that explains that skill throws are not set in tablets of stone and that the referee should make stuff up.

 

[whulorigan]

Get rid of the combat matrices and replace them with an armour as damage reduction system - see AHL, Striker, MT, T4 all of which have easily adaptable systems, although I go with T4 for my CT+.

THIS.

 

[atpollard]

GAME MECHANICS:

Simplify, simplify, simplify.

Rule 68A is a first step.
Replace tables with simple arithmetic
... (-1 hit per 10m range; -1 Die Dam per Armor Factor; MD/JD/PP = % of ship)
The rules needed for basic play should fit on a single sheet of paper.

 

[robject]

And now for something that isn't a change as such - replace the missing section from 77 CT that explains that skill throws are not set in tablets of stone and that the referee should make stuff up.

Is it this one?

Skills and the Referee: It is impossible for any table of information to cover all aspects of every potential situation, and the above listing is by no means complete in its coverage of the effects of skills. This is where the referee becomes an impor- tant part of the game process. The above listing of skills and game effects must necessarily be taken as a guide, and followed, altered, or ignored as the actual situ- ation dictates.

 

[atpollard]

THE TRAVELLER UNIVERSE

Delay "gravitics" and Jump-1 to TL 10.

This would free up TL 7 ("today" since we still do not have soldiers shooting Laser Carbines from their Flying Jeeps) through TL 9 for all of the cool SCI-FI tropes like SSTO and Space Planes and Rotating Habitats and Space Elevators and Nuclear Thermal Rockets and Solar System infrastructure development/settlement without ...

"or they could just use a cheap Air Raft and eliminate all of that"

... crushing most of the near-term Sci-Fi in Traveller.

 

[Timerover51]

The combat system along with weapon specifications and armor effects on damage.

 

[Spinward Flow]

LBB2.81, p12-15 and p17-41 ... would be my highest priority to just simply ditch entirely. The only page within that stretch that I consider useful is p16, which details crew requirements.
So out of 45 content pages in LBB2.81 (p4 to p44) ... I would ditch 30 pages ... because I consider only 15 of those 45 pages to be useful. o:

The rest of it ... starship construction, starship vector combat (on maps!), planetary gravity vectors (for vector combat), starship combat (original version), computer programming ... all of that stuff I (personally) consider JUNK TEXT in light of the far more versatile and useful/usable LBB5 starship construction and combat systems (in my experience). So basically I would replace most of the starship related material in LBB2 with the starship related material from LBB5.



I would also want to move star system generation from LBB6 into LBB3 as well as move ALL of the more detailed character generation systems from LBB4-7 and LBB S4 into LBB1 as an editorial reorganization of data and info.



Striker weapon and vehicle design would also be consolidated with personal gear tables from LBB1 and LBB4 into a single LBB of its own.



LBB1 (new) = Characters
LBB2 (new) = Starships
LBB3 (new) = Worlds
LBB4 (new) = Equipment and Combat

Delay "gravitics" and Jump-1 to TL 10.

Agree. :coffeesip:

 

[Grav_Moped]

One thing? As others have suggested, use an AHL/Striker type of personal armor mechanic (armor soaks damage rather than reducing hit probability). At the very least, it makes describing what happened in an incident simpler -- you don't have to work backwards to see if a missed shot actually struck the target but failed to do damage.

One thing per book? Ok, Book 2, I'll go with my (long-since beaten-to-death) hobby horse, the 10Td/Pn power plant fuel requirement. Make fuel consumption proportional to power output. Might even go so far as to track energy points a la High Guard and allow Pn higher than 6. Book 3, realign TLs as per ATPollard's suggestion, mostly.

 

[mike wightman]

Is it this one?

Yes, that's the one. It could do with being in its own box in bold text.

 

[mike wightman]

THE TRAVELLER UNIVERSE

Delay "gravitics" and Jump-1 to TL 10.

This would free up TL 7 ("today" since we still do not have soldiers shooting Laser Carbines from their Flying Jeeps) through TL 9 for all of the cool SCI-FI tropes like SSTO and Space Planes and Rotating Habitats and Space Elevators and Nuclear Thermal Rockets and Solar System infrastructure development/settlement without ...

"or they could just use a cheap Air Raft and eliminate all of that"

... crushing most of the near-term Sci-Fi in Traveller.

CT was/is a toolkit - you are free to change the TLs as you see fir for the setting you wish to run. The rules as written don't need changing, but perhaps 'the referee is free to make such decisions for themselves' should also be highlighted by being boxed and in bold in LBB3...

 

[mike wightman]

GAME MECHANICS:

Simplify, simplify, simplify.

Rule 68A is a first step.
Replace tables with simple arithmetic
... (-1 hit per 10m range; -1 Die Dam per Armor Factor; MD/JD/PP = % of ship)
The rules needed for basic play should fit on a single sheet of paper.

CT already has a simple event resolution systems, once yo finally realise how it works.

The section in The Traveller Adventure on dice throws is required reading for a CT referee IMHO and should somehow have made it into a revision of the CRB - say The Traveller Book 2.0

 

[mike wightman]

LBB2.81, p12-15 and p17-41 ... would be my highest priority to just simply ditch entirely. The only page within that stretch that I consider useful is p16, which details crew requirements.
So out of 45 content pages in LBB2.81 (p4 to p44) ... I would ditch 30 pages ... because I consider only 15 of those 45 pages to be useful. o:

I wouldn't - I like LBB2 ship construction and use it more than any of the others for quick ship design. Just out of curiosity I suppose you would replace LBB2 construction with LBB5? LBB5 has its own idiosyncrasies and plenty of things that don't make sense.

The rest of it ... starship construction, starship vector combat (on maps!), planetary gravity vectors (for vector combat), starship combat (original version), computer programming ... all of that stuff I (personally) consider JUNK TEXT in light of the far more versatile and useful/usable LBB5 starship construction and combat systems (in my experience). So basically I would replace most of the starship related material in LBB2 with the starship related material from LBB5.

LBB5 is even worse for PC scale ship combat encounters than the vector system of LBB2 - you obviously have not actually gamed this with a group of players or would know this.
Ship combat for a PC scale encounter can be handled well by expanding the ship's boat skill combat resolution - add stuff for the other crew to be doing - and if you want a bit more detail the range band system from Starter.

I would also want to move star system generation from LBB6 into LBB3 as well as move ALL of the more detailed character generation systems from LBB4-7 and LBB S4 into LBB1 as an editorial reorganization of data and info.

I would not have any extended character generation that produces more skills than LBB1 or S4

 

[robject]

The section in The Traveller Adventure on dice throws is required reading for a CT referee IMHO and should somehow have made it into a revision of the CRB - say The Traveller Book 2.0

What's the page number for that, Mike?

 

[Nathan Brazil]

:coffeesip:Fix the TL tables in LBB1-3 relating to drive drive letters and performance vs the TL for drives in HG or provide better explanations for each beyond some BS about "civilian design" vs "military design".

As it stands I COULD design a Jump 6 ship at TL 9 using LBB2 (Jump Drive C is TL 9, 100dTon Hull, Performance Table says 6) but in HG it takes TL 15 design to make a J6 military ship?o:

 

[whartung]

CT already has a simple event resolution systems, once yo finally realise how it works.

The section in The Traveller Adventure on dice throws is required reading for a CT referee IMHO and should somehow have made it into a revision of the CRB - say The Traveller Book 2.0

Apparently it's not that simple if you have to "realize it" and then have another section explaining it.

 

[BRJN]

Dump the LBB2 vector space combat system (which requires an IRL Model1+ computer on hand if you want to "land on planet' or "use gas giant for sharp turn" or "skim gas giant for fuel") in favor of a grid or hex system.

In 1977 - 1981, people thought in terms of Star Trek or Star Wars for space combat anyway, so write rules to let them do that. Re-enact the Millenium Falcon in that asteroid field FTW!

 

[Spinward Flow]

LBB5 has its own idiosyncrasies and plenty of things that don't make sense.

Every rules system does.
Even ordinary mathematics has its own idiosyncrasies, including things that don't often make much sense (enter the Incompleteness Theorem).
Nature of the beast, and all that jazz.

LBB5 is even worse for PC scale ship combat encounters than the vector system of LBB2 - you obviously have not actually gamed this with a group of players or would know this.

I have yet to see a situation in which LBB2 ship combat is a superior playtime experience than LBB5 ship combat ... even when pitting a pair of Scout/Couriers against each other in a "duel" situation. Vector combat is a tabletop wargaming pastime, which is great if you have multiple m² lying around to use as your map space. If you're dealing with a table full of "game stuff" in front of Players and nowhere clear to lay out a map of space (let alone ENOUGH SPACE to map ... space) then LBB5 is hands down superior for resolving space combat without needing to "map" anything on a tabletop (or in a model/1+ computer).

 

[mike wightman]

Apparently it's not that simple if you have to "realize it" and then have another section explaining it.

The crucial bit was missed out of the 81 revision...

 

[mike wightman]

What's the page number for that, Mike?

Page 28 and 29 - the use of dice rolls.

I have a word version of it that I keep meaning to ask if I can post to the referee section of the board.