MT vs. CT

[Pickles]

Having never laid eyes on a copy of MT, can anyone convince me of its merits as opposed to the LBBs? What does MT have that CT doesn't?

In other words, should I be trying to get my hands on a copy?

 

[Pickles]

Having never laid eyes on a copy of MT, can anyone convince me of its merits as opposed to the LBBs? What does MT have that CT doesn't?

In other words, should I be trying to get my hands on a copy?

 

[Pickles]

Having never laid eyes on a copy of MT, can anyone convince me of its merits as opposed to the LBBs? What does MT have that CT doesn't?

In other words, should I be trying to get my hands on a copy?

 

[zakrol]

Before I rattle on, a bit about where my inevitable bias comes from. I first came across Traveller in the late 70s reading LBBs 1-3 but never playing. I've recently come across Traveller again and hoovered up a fair amount of CT stuff on ebay. I was then offered a copy of the MT box set on the cheap. I'm running a campaign that started as CT but has pretty much migrated to MT now.

My experience of MT was that it was an attempt to bring together all the far flung bits of CT into a core set of books, fixing a few things and adding a few new portions. Personally I think it did an excellent job (aside from the infamous errata).

A good example is character generation. Basic chargen contains 18 careers(the 6 from book 1 and the 12 from supplement 4(?)) but with adjustements to increase the skill counts so they are comparable with those from books 4-7. Later chapters then have the advanced chargens from these books (pretty much as they were). The result is a more balanced system where you have more choice in that basic chargen is no longer a second class citizen so you can seriously consider the other 12 careers.

New systems are introduced such as the Task system which brings descriptions of tasks into a uniform setup, standardises how to use skills and character stats. The benefit is that you don't have loads of different rules scattered amongst many LBBs to describe different tasks - though some people find the uniformity restrictive in itself. Depends on your views really.

Another big change is combat - the main difference is that armour no longer reduces the chance of being hit, but rather lessens the amount of damage that a hit will do (often down to 0). The effect seems to be that long range gun combat isn't necessarily quite as deadly but short range can be devastating - a pistol against an unarmoured opponent close up can easily kill in one shot. Higher 'to hit' rolls will do more damage.

There's also an excellent equipment list in the imperial encyclopaedia.

Other than that I'd say that MT is trying to fill in many of the gaps in CT, there are lots of worksheets in the books - such as the procedures and tasks involved in making a journey from one system to another. Sometimes it works beautifully, sometimes it seems just to complexify (I'm still not sure about MT ship design for instance). If you like the wide leeway/lack of rules that CT sometimes gives the referee then maybe it's not for you. If you want a bit more help at times then maybe MT is the one.

A large part of it will look very familiar though. Personally I think MT is a significant improvement and you can always pick and choose the parts you want to use in YTU.

Hope this helps.

Chris

 

[zakrol]

Before I rattle on, a bit about where my inevitable bias comes from. I first came across Traveller in the late 70s reading LBBs 1-3 but never playing. I've recently come across Traveller again and hoovered up a fair amount of CT stuff on ebay. I was then offered a copy of the MT box set on the cheap. I'm running a campaign that started as CT but has pretty much migrated to MT now.

My experience of MT was that it was an attempt to bring together all the far flung bits of CT into a core set of books, fixing a few things and adding a few new portions. Personally I think it did an excellent job (aside from the infamous errata).

A good example is character generation. Basic chargen contains 18 careers(the 6 from book 1 and the 12 from supplement 4(?)) but with adjustements to increase the skill counts so they are comparable with those from books 4-7. Later chapters then have the advanced chargens from these books (pretty much as they were). The result is a more balanced system where you have more choice in that basic chargen is no longer a second class citizen so you can seriously consider the other 12 careers.

New systems are introduced such as the Task system which brings descriptions of tasks into a uniform setup, standardises how to use skills and character stats. The benefit is that you don't have loads of different rules scattered amongst many LBBs to describe different tasks - though some people find the uniformity restrictive in itself. Depends on your views really.

Another big change is combat - the main difference is that armour no longer reduces the chance of being hit, but rather lessens the amount of damage that a hit will do (often down to 0). The effect seems to be that long range gun combat isn't necessarily quite as deadly but short range can be devastating - a pistol against an unarmoured opponent close up can easily kill in one shot. Higher 'to hit' rolls will do more damage.

There's also an excellent equipment list in the imperial encyclopaedia.

Other than that I'd say that MT is trying to fill in many of the gaps in CT, there are lots of worksheets in the books - such as the procedures and tasks involved in making a journey from one system to another. Sometimes it works beautifully, sometimes it seems just to complexify (I'm still not sure about MT ship design for instance). If you like the wide leeway/lack of rules that CT sometimes gives the referee then maybe it's not for you. If you want a bit more help at times then maybe MT is the one.

A large part of it will look very familiar though. Personally I think MT is a significant improvement and you can always pick and choose the parts you want to use in YTU.

Hope this helps.

Chris

 

[zakrol]

Before I rattle on, a bit about where my inevitable bias comes from. I first came across Traveller in the late 70s reading LBBs 1-3 but never playing. I've recently come across Traveller again and hoovered up a fair amount of CT stuff on ebay. I was then offered a copy of the MT box set on the cheap. I'm running a campaign that started as CT but has pretty much migrated to MT now.

My experience of MT was that it was an attempt to bring together all the far flung bits of CT into a core set of books, fixing a few things and adding a few new portions. Personally I think it did an excellent job (aside from the infamous errata).

A good example is character generation. Basic chargen contains 18 careers(the 6 from book 1 and the 12 from supplement 4(?)) but with adjustements to increase the skill counts so they are comparable with those from books 4-7. Later chapters then have the advanced chargens from these books (pretty much as they were). The result is a more balanced system where you have more choice in that basic chargen is no longer a second class citizen so you can seriously consider the other 12 careers.

New systems are introduced such as the Task system which brings descriptions of tasks into a uniform setup, standardises how to use skills and character stats. The benefit is that you don't have loads of different rules scattered amongst many LBBs to describe different tasks - though some people find the uniformity restrictive in itself. Depends on your views really.

Another big change is combat - the main difference is that armour no longer reduces the chance of being hit, but rather lessens the amount of damage that a hit will do (often down to 0). The effect seems to be that long range gun combat isn't necessarily quite as deadly but short range can be devastating - a pistol against an unarmoured opponent close up can easily kill in one shot. Higher 'to hit' rolls will do more damage.

There's also an excellent equipment list in the imperial encyclopaedia.

Other than that I'd say that MT is trying to fill in many of the gaps in CT, there are lots of worksheets in the books - such as the procedures and tasks involved in making a journey from one system to another. Sometimes it works beautifully, sometimes it seems just to complexify (I'm still not sure about MT ship design for instance). If you like the wide leeway/lack of rules that CT sometimes gives the referee then maybe it's not for you. If you want a bit more help at times then maybe MT is the one.

A large part of it will look very familiar though. Personally I think MT is a significant improvement and you can always pick and choose the parts you want to use in YTU.

Hope this helps.

Chris

 

[Pickles]

Thanks for the detailed summary, Zakrol! This clarifies the little crumbs of information I've picked up about MT so far. I may be tempted to investigate this further ...

So, does anyone know of any web locations for MT errata?

 

[Pickles]

Thanks for the detailed summary, Zakrol! This clarifies the little crumbs of information I've picked up about MT so far. I may be tempted to investigate this further ...

So, does anyone know of any web locations for MT errata?

 

[Pickles]

Thanks for the detailed summary, Zakrol! This clarifies the little crumbs of information I've picked up about MT so far. I may be tempted to investigate this further ...

So, does anyone know of any web locations for MT errata?

 

[philippe tromeur]

Originally posted by Zakrol:
Basic chargen contains 18 careers(the 6 from book 1 and the 12 from supplement 4(?))

Not exactly. The careers included the 12 CAreers from Supplement 4, but the "Other" career was abandoned and replaced by the new career "Law Enforcer".

 

[philippe tromeur]

Originally posted by Zakrol:
Basic chargen contains 18 careers(the 6 from book 1 and the 12 from supplement 4(?))

Not exactly. The careers included the 12 CAreers from Supplement 4, but the "Other" career was abandoned and replaced by the new career "Law Enforcer".

 

[philippe tromeur]

Originally posted by Zakrol:
Basic chargen contains 18 careers(the 6 from book 1 and the 12 from supplement 4(?))

Not exactly. The careers included the 12 CAreers from Supplement 4, but the "Other" career was abandoned and replaced by the new career "Law Enforcer".

 

[robject]

Zakrol's synopsis is good.

I'd summarize MT's usefulness (to me) as:

(1) The Task System
(2) Consolidation of Chargen
(3) Nice forms and charts

I use CT for starship design and combat, mainly out of laziness.

I'd recommend acquiring MT's Player Manual and Referee's Companion, and if you like them go find the Referee's Manual and Imperial Encyclopedia. Of the four, the Ref's Manual is the least useful for me.

 

[robject]

Zakrol's synopsis is good.

I'd summarize MT's usefulness (to me) as:

(1) The Task System
(2) Consolidation of Chargen
(3) Nice forms and charts

I use CT for starship design and combat, mainly out of laziness.

I'd recommend acquiring MT's Player Manual and Referee's Companion, and if you like them go find the Referee's Manual and Imperial Encyclopedia. Of the four, the Ref's Manual is the least useful for me.

 

[robject]

Zakrol's synopsis is good.

I'd summarize MT's usefulness (to me) as:

(1) The Task System
(2) Consolidation of Chargen
(3) Nice forms and charts

I use CT for starship design and combat, mainly out of laziness.

I'd recommend acquiring MT's Player Manual and Referee's Companion, and if you like them go find the Referee's Manual and Imperial Encyclopedia. Of the four, the Ref's Manual is the least useful for me.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Having very recently acquired the MT boxed set, I will concur with Zakrol's synopsis. I love CT, but the MT chargen is more even. I haven't looked at the combat system, yet.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Having very recently acquired the MT boxed set, I will concur with Zakrol's synopsis. I love CT, but the MT chargen is more even. I haven't looked at the combat system, yet.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Having very recently acquired the MT boxed set, I will concur with Zakrol's synopsis. I love CT, but the MT chargen is more even. I haven't looked at the combat system, yet.

 

[Pickles]

Damn. Ebay, here I come ...

 

[Pickles]

Damn. Ebay, here I come ...