By the way, thanks, Marc...

[Daneel Olivaw]

I'm going to get my kids into a Traveller campaign this summer. I might throw together some CT-inspired, very basic rules, because my kids really need to just play. In the meantime, I'm trying to automate world-building, ship-building, NPC-creation and other background functions so that I have a decent universe for them to Travel in. All in the spirit of the original...

 

[Daneel Olivaw]

Here's an account of my first experience with RPGs in general and Traveller in particular, back in 1981, when I was in Grade 7.

I had noticed some kids at lunch one day playing D&D, which I took for a boardgame of some kind. When I asked what the object of the game was, one of the players said "to survive". This piqued my curiosity tremendously, but I still had no real idea of how an RPG worked. I had trouble fitting in and was not invited to join them, so my understanding of this odd new game remained limited.

Later that year (I think) the deluxe Traveller boxed set appeared on the shelf of a local toy store. I would visit the store daily, reading the now-famous final transmission of the Free Trader Beowulf, still unsure of what kind of game I was looking at, but increasingly determined to find out. I remember actually feeling a little intimidated by the box's spare, black design. My God it was cool! Less was much, much more.

When I finally saved enough of my allowance to buy the thing, I opened it on the way home and began reading. The huge map of the Spinward Marches blew me away. When I saw "Gas Giant" noted on the map's legend, I remembered my friends' D&D banter and wondered if star systems in the game might be inhabited by fantasy-type giants made of gas. Star Wars, it seemed, had not been the most enlightening introduction to real science fiction.

Needless to say, Traveller was, for me, the key to my inner nerd. I've had immeasurable heaps fun running (and sometimes playing in) Traveller campaigns and other RPGs. Traveller was - and still is - an excellent introduction to science fiction. It motivated me to read Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, Niven, Herbert, Sheffield and many other classic writers.

Anyhow, I just had to write a bit about my favourite game. Thanks, Marc!

Now I'm luring my kids to that lonely signal from the Beowulf...

 

[Andrew Boulton]

For me, it was about the same time ('81-82). I'd just started going to a wargames club, and reading a lot of the solitaire gamebooks that were around then, and then I saw an ad for Traveller in a magazine. It sounded interesting, so I saved up my pocket money and bought a copy (again, the just-released Deluxe Edition).

I was hooked instantly, and it's been an important part of my life ever since.

 

[Daneel Olivaw]

Originally posted by Andrew Boulton:
I was hooked instantly, and it's been an important part of my life ever since.

I need to apply the lesson from CT's packaging and your writing: less is more!

 

[Andrew Boulton]

I'm the strong, silent type

 

[kafka47]

Not these days, I am afraid, I would have to say more is more. Whilst, the black box would intrigue me...I would be happier if covers were more like the Rebellion Sourcebook, First In, T20 Handbook, Rats & Cats, Cogs & Dogs, The Traveller Book, Marc Miller's Traveller rulebook (I know most people don't like Foss, so I will not include other T4 titles), LargeBB, many of the Challenge, JTAS & Traveller Digest covers and perhaps more importantly, I would like interior art to match that sense of wonder.

One of the reasons that I was turned off Fading Suns so long was the weird covers. But, when I got to get a sampling of art inside, I was instantly hooked.

Heck, I would love to gather all the classic AD&D artists and get them to do Traveller. But, I am afraid, it might end up something like Star*Drive, so I would turn to the Internet as well as book publishing to recruit good artists.

I know, all of this costs serious money, but it would cause me to retain and treasure my books and make me more willing to surrender my precious dollars.

As for dialogue and mood, I would have to select the prose of Hard Times or if I am feeling in a more cheerful mood, TNE. Those snapshots really inspire me. The Little Black Book's quote was good but it stopped there. I liked when a story is being told around me, as I read otherwise, dry reading - rules & tables...without going to funny extremes like GT products often do.

 

[Ishmael]

I bought the LBB's with the change left over from buying SPI's Airwar. LBB was $12 back then and Airwar was $15.....about '78 I think ( I recall buying the update for Airwar with game stats for the hypothetical mig-29 )

I had a ball just making characters and ships and worlds even if I had noone to play with ( gee..sounds familiar...the more things change, the more they stay the same sigh )

First RPG to pull me away from TFT

 

[Daneel Olivaw]

Originally posted by Ishmael James:
I had a ball just making characters and ships and worlds even if I had noone to play with ( gee..sounds familiar...the more things change, the more they stay the same sigh )

Oh my God, that's me! I had a group going now and then, but I found myself world-building and ship-designing more than actually playing. But for me, that was playing.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

That's always been the great thing about Traveller - there are so many things you can do on your own. I don't know of any other game like that.

 

[Darkhstarr]

The memories. MY first RPG was D&D, first played by the SF Worldcon in Kansas City back in the 70's. I discovered Traveller from some friends in 1981, been playing off & on ever since. It was a great simple system and an even better universe to adventure. It was the first RPG game my wife really liked as a game system. She doesn't game anymore but she still has input on my site & any games I run. Though there wasn't any way to increase skills, the lack of 'experience points' avoided the usual amount of competitive manuvering between players. That made for a better game atmosphere. Dated though much of Traveller is, it is still the best SF RPG. It's a great ride.

 

[Icosahedron]

Originally posted by Daneel Olivaw:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Ishmael James:
I had a ball just making characters and ships and worlds even if I had noone to play with ( gee..sounds familiar...the more things change, the more they stay the same sigh )

Oh my God, that's me! I had a group going now and then, but I found myself world-building and ship-designing more than actually playing. But for me, that was playing. </font>[/QUOTE]Sounds like me too. Except I also did (do) LOTS of house rule mods. (Several LBB-worth).

Problem is we're too spread out for FTF games. What we need to do is persuade some mega-rich person who owns his own island to become a Traveller player and set up a commune for us - sound like an adventure plot??

 

[aramis]

I started with wargames: AH Survival, 1776, and then Tactics II. THEN I got into D&D... in 1979.

 

[Ptah]

I started with wargames as well, several I can't remember but do recall Squad Leader, Panzer Blitz, and Tactics II rings a bell.

Started with the three brown books of D&D in very late 1976. Christmas of 1977 got Traveller and it blew me away. We started using the Traveller skill system ideas to resolve the many arguements/game stopping situations we came across in D&D that a simple skill-based approach could have solved.

Thank you Marc for a game that not only covered all of personal combat and character definition, but also star ship construction, starship combat, world design and creature generation. Sure it has flaws but so much usefull information in such a short space, classic!

 

[Ishmael]

grognard..AH and SPI ( Blitzkrieg rules! ) GDW had some nice games too.TacForce was good and I love and still play the Assault series too. Thank you F. chadwick for "boots and saddles"

I bought Traveller with money left over from buying SPI's AIRWAR. Traveller LBB's were my first RPG....it led me to try others..TFT was fave for fantasy...I did aDD in my one year of college. At game cons, me and friends specialiszed in self destructive gaming ( every man in party for himself ) that made munchkins cry when they died ( assuming they firgured out which character murdered them for their gems ).

but Trav is my favorite and spurred me to learn more and even odd/esoteric stuff. I have no group to play now so I just tinker with stuff.
Someday, I might just give all my AHL and FASA deckplans to someone just so they'll be used again instead of gathering dust.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Might be a way of keeping kids occupied on long trips.

 

[kafka47]

Originally posted by Andrew Boulton:
Might be a way of keeping kids occupied on long trips.

To GenCon, perhaps? I seem to remember there was a series of hokey choose your own adventure/path books that resembled RPGs that involved invisible ink. Might be a market to bring something like that back but with a digital interface for sounds and what not.