What's Coming in T5

[aramis]

Depends upon how it's handled.

I've seen flux done by a method that uses no addition/subtraction:
Roll a "red" die and a "white" die. The lower die is read, and ties are read as 0; if the red die's read, the result is negative, if the white is read, it's positive.
So Red 6, white 4 is +4
r4 w6 = -4
r4 w4 = 0

It's pretty quick. (Chameleon Ecclectic used it in the Babylon Project.)

Players adapt to it really quickly.

There are real psychological differences between the CE version of flux and the 2d6-7 and the 2d6 vs TN+7... but the are primarily psychlogy and math capabilities.

(People add faster than subtract, as a general rule, BTW, but compare faster than add...)

 

[scout_harris]

I have on my shelf, <looks at shelf> 6 different versions of Traveller, of which I have played with 5.

I currently GM two campaigns, one using the T20 rules witha set of newer players (who have made the jump from DnD) and using MT rules with a group of players I have been playing with for around 20 years now.

I've played TNE, T4 with my groups as well.

I have found, from personal experieice, that a roll over mechanic is easier to use for both player and GM than a roll-under mechanic.

As far as a roll-under mechanic goes, TNE did it better than T4. And increasing the number of d6 to resolve higher difficulty tasks, while it might meet some mathematical model, misses the feel of CT, which is a roll-over and add mods system. (Which is also T20, which is why T20 feels more like traveller to me than T4 did).

Anyway, I may buy a copy of RTT and T5 for my shelf, but I doubt I will be using it.

 

[Anthony]

(People add faster than subtract, as a general rule, BTW, but compare faster than add...)

Also, people learn to simply recognize combinations; it's really not that hard to memorize what all the results of 2d6 are. Of course, this gets into the issue that people have already memorized the results of 2d6 (adding them up), so trying to use a different interpretation is likely to run into memory space pollution.

 

[Tim Soholt]

Surely the 'basic' set should precede the 'advanced' otherwise why buy a basic version?

Because you haven't yet picked up the advanced version? Because you want a simple rulebook to loan out to your players? Because the advanced version isn't yet available in dead tree format? Because you're a completist? Because the advanced version is too confusing and you want something simpler to help you learn it?

I think there's ample reason to buy both, but I think the main expectation is that Mongoose can market its version to more people. If they really like the system, they can then pick up the advanced version from Far Future.

 

[Tim Soholt]

I have to say that *if* the final result is well and truly edited and playtested, I expect to be impressed with T5. The outline looks impressive, but I'm worried it might be more a "list of things I'd like to put in my game" than the outline of a nearly-finished product.

 

[Cryton]

Wow. I just read the little T5 preview.

It's absolute CRAP!!

Flux? Convoluted rules? A multi dice system that DOSN'T work any better tha T4s did?

I'm done waiting for a new Traveller system. It has become painfully obvious that Marc Miller WILL NOT be putting one out.

As per our phone conversation Aramis...Basic Traveller and MegaTraveller have been the only fully functional Traveller systems to date, and as they are not house systems (as TNE, Td20 & Gurps Traveller are/were), and actually worked as games (playable and saleable ,unlike T4), I do not know why the design team didnt start with something that works and go from there.

Who knows. I dont and I no longer care.

 

[aramis]

Remember, Cryton, Mongoose is releasing under an OGL.

We might not be able to call it Traveller, but we can probably enough pull an "OSRIC" or "GORE" for MT compatible rules...

And that homebrew setting you've been talking about.

 

[Vargas]

. . . I do not know why the design team didnt start with something that works and go from there.

Maybe they thought they did.

Trying to 'update' Traveller is a daunting task, to say the least, because of the number of constituencies there are to answer to. Having said that, I'm more than a little leery of T5 based on this preview. (In fact having a 1000 page rulebook is off putting in and of itself). I'm hoping the Mongoose edition provides all the basics needed by a majority of the consumer base so that we can standardize on that.

 

[aramis]

Problem #1 with T5: there is no design team; there is only Marc.

Marc has built a great setting, but a careful look through the credits shows that the setting was built as much by Loren and Bill Kieth...

Marc, further, seems much more "stuck in the 70's" as far as game mechanics than Loren, Bill, or the DGP guys.

My hope for T5 is that it won't be turning people away.

Mongoose is planning (tentatively) a 2d6 task system, with stat/X stat contributions.

 

[zonk]

Remember, Cryton, Mongoose is releasing under an OGL.

We might not be able to call it Traveller, but we can probably enough pull an "OSRIC" or "GORE" for MT compatible rules...

Hi. Just curious. I understand what OSRIC is, but what is GORE? A hint that's better than 'a percentile' based system please.

Wait. Possibly BRP?

 

[aramis]

GORE is to BRP as OSRIC is to AD&D-1E

It's an OGL ruleset designed to be fully compatible but yet using nothing but open source materials to avoid infringement.

 

[gbooth]

The TSR polyhedral set (5 really horrible dice, .

I remember those butter dice. not fondly.

 

[Renaissance Man]

About the setting...

Correct me if this is covered somewhere else, but what about the setting of T5? The T5 website talked about a Milieu 200 that wasn't as Imperium-centred. I really liked Milieu 0, though it took awhile to grow on me after my days of MT. I'm excited at the prospect of something 200 years down the road, but if the Imperium takes a back seat, I'm a little lost.

Anyone have the inside track on that? What's the dominant TL? What are the major interstellar-political movements? It seems to me that after 200 years of expansion, it's going to be ALL ABOUT the Imperium and the rest of the known galaxy's reaction to it.

 

[robject]

Correct me if this is covered somewhere else, but what about the setting of T5? The T5 website talked about a Milieu 200 that wasn't as Imperium-centred. I really liked Milieu 0, though it took awhile to grow on me after my days of MT. I'm excited at the prospect of something 200 years down the road, but if the Imperium takes a back seat, I'm a little lost.

Anyone have the inside track on that? What's the dominant TL? What are the major interstellar-political movements? It seems to me that after 200 years of expansion, it's going to be ALL ABOUT the Imperium and the rest of the known galaxy's reaction to it.

So far, we've not had to assume a milieu. The core rules are milieuless.

But the milieux we've wondered about are all Imperiocentric.

 

[robject]

So far, we've not had to assume a milieu. The core rules are milieuless.

But the milieux we've wondered about are all Imperiocentric.

With one exception: the Faraway Sectors, which would be fan-based, not FFE-based.

 

[Renaissance Man]

Cool, thanks for putting my mind at ease.

 

[Vanyon]

Hi all I am very new here, but used to play traveller when what is now called Classic Traveller was first coming out. I never managed to get in to the later versions of the game.

However now I am looking for a version to play, and I was wondering is this
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/series.php?qsSeries=51

The new Traveller 5th edition? If so it does not appear like the things in this thread are there. It appears more like the classic rules and not the Fist-full-of-dice methods etc...

Am I way off?

 

[Renaissance Man]

From what I understand there are two concurrent versions of Traveller being developed and released in the coming months.

1) is the aforementioned Mongoose Traveller, which should be released in real-life book form fairly soon. I haven't bothered to check for a date, but I'm sure some folks around here have a good idea. It is what you might call a "consumer" version of Traveller's fifth edition.

2) is Traveller 5 proper, being developed by Far Future Enterprises. Which is really just one dude, the original developer of Classic Traveller, Marc Miller. This has been a long, long term project, without the resources of Mongoose publishing, and will eventually be a kind of expanded, advanced version of Traveller's fifth edition. These two versions are expected to have a high degree of compatibility. Currently, the wide-release playtest version of T5 is set for shipping next month, but the date has been pushed back a few times already. It will be a CD with around 1000 pages of text. Many interested buyers on this site have already pre-ordered the CD.

Many wait with baited breath for either version. There has been much speculation, both positive and negative, about the quality of the products.

 

[Raibert]

Has FFE released T5?

Just wondering if anyone knows Mark was able to make the March 31st release date.. Should I be checking my mail box everyday in anticipation?

 

[atpollard]

Just wondering if anyone knows Mark was able to make the March 31st release date?

No 'Official' word from Marc, but the word from 'people in the know' is:

No, it has not been released.