Why Did You Use A Different System To Play Traveller?

[Nathan Brazil]

...Traveller did start as a campaign-less system, but to your point RAW with specific Tech tropes. A campaign universe has evolved as a logical extension of that ruleset. But like Mike, I did homebrews with other tech assumptions and tropes (my nickname ^^^ comes from my WellWorld homebrew) and even a TL7 spy game with the "gadgets" being TL8 and 9 devices. In the last in the last 10 years "Traveller" has evolved beyond that origin. We even have magic now (thanks Samardan Press!).

The tech tropes and jump drive are the same in every edition. the details vary a bit, but the tropes generally remain.
The Jump Drive is near-unique - the few authors whose universes have a similarly constrained FTL mode are connected with Traveller - most notably MJD, Jeff Swycaffer, and Chuck Gannon.

And, to be blunt, if you use the jump drive as written, it provides a large part of the feel.

This discussion with aramis got me thinking in a reverse sort of way. Over the years, I have done many conversions. Many of us have done them. But....

Why did you use a different rule system and convert the OTU into it?
What was Traveller as a set of rules lacking that the other game had or what was the zeitgeist in your group?

Like right now I am doing the OTU in Vortex System (Doctor Who). My reason is I want to represent the OTU in a simple tabletop system for pre-teens where characters don't die quickly to get/keep them interested in RPGs. Vortex has Story Points (get out of death or change the story a little). There are only 12 skills in Vortex. Dice mechanics very similar to MgT1e/Cepheus.

and, I like mashups. Who doesn't want to see Imperial Marines vs. Sontarrans or Daleks?

What say you?

 

[mike wightman]

The main reasons for using different systems for me and my groups over the years:

some people didn't like using just 2d6 when all those polyhedrals are sitting on the table

preference for a particular rule system

to try out a new sci-fi rules system in a setting I was comfortable with

 

[Nathan Brazil]

That is a good general answer. I was looking more towards the specific situations, rules systems, motivations for doing so, and outcomes from doing so.

 

[aramis]

In my case,

1. testing a system in a familiar setting when the author had already done the heavy lifting... (EABA has a Jump Drive compatible with Traveller in the core.)
2. Had a group of players unwilling to learn a new system
3. wanted to have something done to compare to the soon to be released official conversions

That last is interesting. Porting characters capability/probability by difficulty label, the odds don't match well with GURPS, and the conversions in the book are no better than my own were - but are also smaller. Converting Psionicists became interesting. A PSR 12 character with TP can reach out to half a parsec under MT... which is stupidly expensive under GURPS... The GURPS rules siply don't have the same range of capability, so the conversions are always going to be lopsided in some direction...

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Why did you use a different rule system and convert the OTU into it?
What was Traveller as a set of rules lacking that the other game had or what was the zeitgeist in your group?

Some players I'll game with like to roll different dice than just 6-sided ones. So I'll use Serenity's mechanic for a 3rd-Imperium setting game. But if they are only interested in rolling different dice, and are not role-players, I won't bother running any game for them.

 

[Kilgs]

Silhouette system (Heavy Gear/Jovian Chronicles)

Main reason is that I prefer a character with more skills so I needed a system that kept the levels low (and difficult to obtain) but gave the ability to gather more of them. I like larger skill lists or, more accurately, complete skill lists.

The combat/damage system for Traveller was okay but I greatly prefer Silhouette's which moves away from "hit points" and into wounds/wound effects. The treatment of weapons, hand-to-hand combat, combat sense/tactics and other things are all better suited for my style.

The hexadecimal attribute system made little sense to me. The 2d6 roll is capable of great highs and lows but rarely consistent so skill difficulties seemed off or unattainable. I prefer systems that deliver consistent results rather than extremes. (Silhouette is essentially a d6 dice pool, take highest).

Silhouette also has Advantages/Flaws which allow some flexibility in Mustering Out or other Benefits/Life Events.

Furthermore, Silhouette's vehicle construction system/combat system was a huge draw. However, I should note that my hack uses Mongoose ship construction/combat with a few mods and have playtested it nicely.

It was originally adopted as my go-to system for 2300AD. As I spent more time monkeying around with it, I realized it could work just as well for 3I gaming. But it's perfect fit is 2300AD as technology levels are equivalent so you can port over pretty much anything published into the 2300 world... including Gears ;-)
====
Outcome... still pending as I've only playtested it with SOLO. But I really, really, really like it. Really.

My earlier CharGen documents are in the Library. You can see sample characters here... http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=37416

Some things have changed and the skill list is shrinking.

Also, once I'm moved into new place. I'll post the SOLO playtest notes.

 

[Timerover51]

The combat system is complex, and essentially re-inventing the wheel. I use the Skirmish Wargaming rules from Don Featherstone's book of the same name, supplementing as necessary. As I do not allow personal energy weapons, the system works quite well. For heavier weapons, I use my own data derived from US Army ballistics tests. I am still working on adapting the system to animals, as the chance for slight and severe wounds is higher with them, based on the average ability of the shooter.

 

[Kilgs]

...For heavier weapons, I use my own data derived from US Army ballistics tests. I am still working on adapting the system to animals...

https://therearenosunglasses.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/b076a-rabbits.jpg

It had to be done.

Can't you see that... HAD.TO.BE.DONE.

 

[LiNeNoiSe]

https://therearenosunglasses.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/b076a-rabbits.jpg

It had to be done.

Can't you see that... HAD.TO.BE.DONE.

Bunnies & Burrows?

 

[Dulinor]

Bunnies & Burrows?

No, they're hoops from Gamma World.

 

[jackleg]

Ran the adventure Rapid Repo using the FUZION rule set. Easier for my players. Also I was able to print out the rules and give each player a copy. I gave them the background for the current Imperium. They all created mustered out Scouts with no problem.

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

Why did you use a different rule system and convert the OTU into it?

Good question. In no particular order...

... the players would be unable to pick up a commercially-made adventure and ‘cheat’ their way through it.

... a mashup of Traveller and Stargate:SG1 was too cool NOT to produce.

... my own creativity was tested past what I thought were my limits at the time on numerous occasions.

... the players and i had enough familiarity with both systems that developing the story-arc was a cooperative effort that allowed the milieu to grow organically, rather than deterministically.

... bragging rights.

What was Traveller as a set of rules lacking that the other game had or what was the zeitgeist in your group?

1) Stargates. Plot devices that put the PCs out of touch with home for days or weeks at a time, or that could allow them to have “nine-to-five” jobs that got them back home in time for supper.

2) Familiarity. We were all fans of the Stargate franchise, and understood the possibilities and the limitations from the start. Introducing a new group to the Traveller universe sometimes involves a long and steep learning curve.

3) Availability. Since Sony cancelled all of the Stargate gaming contracts, there were no rule sets being expanded upon, even though a five-book rulest had been available for a while.

That’s about it.

 

[sgt_sevya]

I tried converting it to D6 Star wars to try to get my group interested in switching to Traveller. It didn't work. They just wanted to play Star Wars.

Sevya

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

I tried converting it to D6 Star wars to try to get my group interested in switching to Traveller. It didn't work. They just wanted to play Star Wars.

Sevya

"Star Wars" in the name helps players put up with whatever die mechanics are in the game.

 

[Tiikeri]

I didn't like the level of abstraction in Traveller's combat system, so I converted it first to Morrow Project and then to Phoenix Command.

 

[mike wightman]

The first game I converted to run Traveller was RuneQuest/BRP.

At the time most of my friends and I had three games under our belts - D&D, Traveller and RuneQuest. Runequest became our firm favourite game system for a long time so it was a natural thing to adapt the rules to run a Traveller game.
We preferred the RQ combat system, the use of polyhedral dice, and the simplicity of the skill % system.

 

[infojunky]

Heh, how about using different dice, I have pondered both using a d12 and 2d10 instead of 3d6 with basil you the same rules.

Though the yet unpublished Stargrunt rpg and Savage Worlds both have been runners up system.

 

[Blue Ghost]

This discussion with aramis got me thinking in a reverse sort of way. Over the years, I have done many conversions. Many of us have done them. But....

Why did you use a different rule system and convert the OTU into it?
What was Traveller as a set of rules lacking that the other game had or what was the zeitgeist in your group?

Like right now I am doing the OTU in Vortex System (Doctor Who). My reason is I want to represent the OTU in a simple tabletop system for pre-teens where characters don't die quickly to get/keep them interested in RPGs. Vortex has Story Points (get out of death or change the story a little). There are only 12 skills in Vortex. Dice mechanics very similar to MgT1e/Cepheus.

and, I like mashups. Who doesn't want to see Imperial Marines vs. Sontarrans or Daleks?

What say you?

The feeling for the scifi genre, for me at least as a young boy to pre-teen, was this kind of nebulous all encompassing world where Forbidden Planet could reside next to the Star Trek TV series without much interference from "crossover" attempts. So stuff like "The Day the Earth Stood Still" sat alongside with later stuff like Space 1999 and so forth. It wasn't until Lucas's Star Wars that things like property rights began to become important, and therefore that kind of amorphous "try any flavor of the genre" became more manifest.

What that has to do with Traveller is that when I first saw it (1979? Maybe 1978) it was billed as a GURPS like scifi RPG that could tackle any film, TV show, book or comic. I think one of my earliest play groups tried to port it to Basic D&D because the guy running the show understood D&D better than something like Traveller which had no level-experience mechanic/system.

My Champions group and some guys in my drafting class really liked Traveller, but the rules weren't hammered out. Around 1981 there was no more proto-Traveller, though that's how we still played it. With Keith's FASA Starport modules and ACS ships, for us, the Imperium was still optional so using something like the Champions' system or SJ Game's GURPS became a consideration. Let's be honest, in Traveller you could fire all kinds of weapons, but characters passing out because they got hit with a bullet, or the equivalent of a Derringer .22 hitting and damaging an Imperial marine in TL15 Battledress, just became really annoying.

And you couldn't find variations on armor or weapons' tech, so essentially the reason we considered using other systems was because Traveller didn't have that many rules to it. Vargr, Zhodani, the Low Lottery, visiting the Sword Worlds, Keith hijacking other scifi art for his sketches in both the rulebook and for his FASA stuff ... it just seemed really raw and unrefined. The FASA Hotel module uses art from Syd Mead, the Soli scout looks like a B-wing fighter from Jedi, one of Keith's sketches for a Soli fighter is lifted from the TTA. So, you get this sense that you can visit all the settings in all the films you watched, all the books you read, but it's like how do you handle a light saber in a proto-Traveller setting where you're trying to mimic Star Wars? Aren't there other versions of combat armor and BD that offer less or more protection? What about a anime like battle suit the size of a van or even a house? What about superhero stuff?

That's why.

 

[Fovean]

Heh, how about using different dice

Slowly, over the years, we’ve incorporated polyhedrals for different Traveller mechanics. Mostly a d4 to determine the length of short terms and d8+d10 to place things on a subsector map. Right now, inspired by T5, we’re looking at spacecraft hit locations using flux based on d12. Sometimes the 2D6 curve is just too anemic.

But we’ve never used a different system to play in the Traveller universe, or vice versa.

 

[Fovean]

but it's like how do you handle a light saber in a proto-Traveller setting where you're trying to mimic Star Wars?

Dude, we made light sabers, blasters, personal defense shields like in Lynch’s Dune movie… we just made it up and played. We had worlds based on Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, Blade Runner, The Road Warrior… for us it was true - Traveller could do anything.

Sometimes it was silly but most of the time it was really cool and tons of fun. I guess many would say we were “doing it wrong” but screw that. Point is, we built things that worked for us. We really liked the Top Secret melee combat rules so we used a simple version of those in our Traveller games.