Posts Tagged: RPGs
Traveller T5 first impressions
The PDF files for the recently concluded Traveller T5 3 big black books have been released to backers via drivethrurpg. I’ve read through Book 1 and here are my initial impressions:
Wow. It feels like the little black book. These PDFs are visually similar with a simple black and white presentation and a writing style that is concise and focused. For modern RPG people this will be a very different experience from the glossy full color pages with rules explained in great detail in multiple sections. I have started on Book 2 and the same feel and style are consistent.
One of the reasons I’m a fan of Traveller is that the game is imbued with science. The science fiction theme is an obvious reason, but the game system uses a base 33 numbering system (Original aka Classic Traveller uses hexidecimal) to represent stats for players, monsters, planets, and vehicles. The rules include mechanics for things like item quality and durability. Something lacking in most other RPGs. I’m D&D I can just wander around stabbing and slashing with my short sword adventure after adventure and never wonder about it breaking or needing to be sharpened. If I wander into a town and the blacksmith is making swords there’s no reason to upgrade from what I have because a short sword is a short sword is a short sword in D&D.
In Traveller that’s not the case. I have a cutlass that I’m using in an adventure and I stop in at a space port with a higher tech level than the planet where I bought my cutlass I can compare QREBS scores and see that the new carbon fiber aluminium cutlass is lighter and more reliable that my old steel one. QREBS includes quality, reliability, ease of use, bulk, and safety. Objects get a score and the referee and players can use this value to determine what equipment is good and if you have to use that chainsaw with the low QREBS score what may happen to you…
Having metrics and mechanics for things like planetary composition, item quality, and space travel that are based on physics and realism creates the impression of a science based game for me. I’m sure others may find the system overly nit-picky.
Book 1 does not have a lot of fluff and feels like a series of tables connected together with prose and examples in key places, but in general the book does not do a good job of explaining some basic rules clearly. I could not find character death rules in the book. In the combat chapter somewhere near the assigning damage rules you would expect to find a sentence or two about how to handle character death. There isn’t one. There is a rule for assigning damage and then a rule for assigning massive damage (nuclear explosion, decompression, vehicle impacts) and then a mention that if all stats are reduced to zero you die. I felt like that should have had its own paragraph.
As I continue working through the PDFs I find myself thinking about writing software to implement some of the tables and help with the game mechanics. I find this very thematic and yet another reason while Traveller is my favorite Sci-Fi game. I can see how that sort of mathy experience could be off putting to people used to some of the more modern RPGs.
Traveller vs Starfinder
Sci-fi role playing games have been around for a long time and I have been a fan since I first found the Traveller box set in the 1980s. A few decades later I found myself caught up in the Starfinder release by Paizo and ran a year of Starfinder Society play. I found that both systems had strengths and weaknesses and may appeal to different groups of players.
Starfinder is a science-fantasy RPG that is based in the Pathfinder universe. The game is very much a mixture of science fiction and fantasy. There is magic in this game and hi-tech. It’s a neat game with many interesting stories. I found it to be a little too fantasy and the rules seemed to be focused more on role playing and less on depicting sci-fi worlds. The planets descriptions don’t include gravitation constant or air pressure or atmospheric composition. I think this stems from the Pathfinder roots of the game where fantasy characters don’t leave the planet and never have to contend with three times normal gravity or an atmosphere that’s mostly ammonia. If you like role playing in a futuristic setting using a familiar ruleset that isn’t over loaded with science then Starfinder is a game for you.
Traveller is a much more realistic sci-fi role play game with actual physic equations in the book for interplanetary travel. The rules support all the realities that Starfinder glosses over. There is no fantasy, no magic, and no pantheon of semi involved deities. I think the challenge for new players is the dearth of materials and editions and meta-plots. I tend to play RPGs in localized settings and situations and original Traveller lends itself to this as well. The Imperium is always a large impenitrable backdrop in my games that players don’t interact with directly unless they are dealing with government issues. Akin to how I deal with the the DMV in real life. The universe in Traveller is giant, but since communications travel at the speed of spacecraft you can have local and isolated places that follow their own rules and social norms.
I like both systems. I enjoy Starinder when want to play Pathfinder in space and when I need a more crunchy science fiction adventure I head for Traveller.