What is the point of 5e Traveller

[Bartleby]

You have a consistent and very particular version of what Traveller is and isn't. I don't agree with it, but I understand it.

FTR I am a proto-traveller disciple. Which I am not sure fits in your narrow definition of Traveller. Not that it really matters what either of us think.

 

[mike wightman]

Let's take a look at what we are being told:
"All of Traveller’s classic themes remain: free traders chasing profit on the edge of civilization, mercenaries taking contracts in bizarre, alien conflicts, explorers pushing beyond the frontiers, interstellar adventurers jumping from port to port, job to job, making their mark upon whole worlds, systems, and sectors."

Sounds like Traveller to me.

Next we have key points:

• 65+ starships with reference deck plans
• 20+ small craft with reference deck plans
• Complete ship creation rules
• Adapted space combat with vector movement options
• Complete world creation rules
• 45+ illustrated alien animals with rules to create thousands more
• 85+ illustrated vehicles with design rules to make more
• 100+ illustrated robots with rules to make more
• Player Character robot options: androids, cyborgs, avatars and clones

Still sounds like Traveller to me. How about their setting?

"The CivX Primer ​

Millennia ago, slower-than-light vessels carried human colonists to distant worlds. Descendents of the oldest colony prospered, mastered the jump drive, and settled dozens of nearby systems. Now this thriving civilization wants to learn the fates of the other colonies spawned by that ancient effort.

The CivX Primer PDF introduces adventures, worlds, and aliens of a whole new Traveller 5E setting.

• Mission One: Beyond the Trailing Gap A dangerous, deep-space stunt could blaze a trail to an unexplored region of space.

Unlocked stretch goals, more content added to the CivX Primer!

• Mission Two: Hot Rocks, Cold Rocks A survey team is about to close the file on an unremarkable star system when they discover a surprising opportunity.
• Mission Three: An Anchor in Deep Time A puzzling anomaly seems almost too tempting to ignore, but diverting to investigate could leave the travellers stranded forever. "

This reminds me of the Islands cluster, the settlement of Hinterworlds and Spica before jump travel.

Traveller 5E holds onto the iconic lifepath character creation for which Traveller is well known.

"Traveller’s iconic character generation and other rules are seamlessly merged into 5E"​

"Every mission, risk, and job you take in Traveller 5E impacts the worlds around you. Chase profits on the edges of the universe, take interstellar jumps from port to port in search of bizarre contracts, or maneuver your starship into deep-space combat to make your mark on the cosmos. Traveller 5E meshes all these science-fiction elements into the most adventurous, heroic game system ever devised!"

 

[mike wightman]

"Starships and Space Travel​

With over 65 starships and 20 small craft, all presented with a reference deck plan, you can take to the stars.

The Traveller 5E Starship book includes complete rules to create your own custom ships to jump and maneuver drives, and weapons from lasers to meson guns. Detailed rules for ship operations cover power systems, life support, sensors, drives, repairs, and more!

Traveller's space combat rules are skillfully tweaked into familiar 5E play, including missiles, mines, gravitic shielding, and even vector-based space combat.

Every key interstellar activity is brought to life, from trade and commerce to exploration and encounters, plus sector and system creation and mapping, jump travel, and more!"

I'm not sure about gravitic shielding, but since MgT has already introduced it into Chartee Space (read the description of energy screens)...

the rest reads like a starships supplement for any version of Traveller. Who knows, the design system may fix some of the issues...

"Worlds and Vehicles​

Game systems reflect real-world astrophysics and let you create each star and its many worlds, from size to atmosphere to special considerations of gravity, vacuum, temperature, terrain and movement, and animal encounters.

The Traveller 5E Worlds and Vehicles book includes:

• 45+ illustrated alien animals with rules to create thousands more, along with guidance for exotic planetary encounters and dangers
• Rules governing planetary surface exploration, including terrestrial composition and density, exotic world oceans, mapping tools, and population considerations like cities, governments, laws and society
• 85+ illustrated vehicles with complete design rules for chassis, armor, locomotion, drones, and even biotech!"

So very familiar to Traveller in its many incarnations...

"Gear and Robots​

A cornucopia of science-fiction equipment, the Traveller 5E Gear and Robots book includes armor, comms, computers, medical gear, sensors, survival gear, and weapons from swords to fusion guns.

Choose from 100+ illustrated robots, from nanobots to giant war bots, with extensive robot construction rules for chassis, brains, locomotion, power, sensors and more.

Rules for robots - including androids, cyborgs, avatars, and clones - as player characters!"

Nothing that can't be found in MgT supplements these days...