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.