 December 18, 2013 - 11:38am | I don't remember this one, despite reading White Dwarf quite often: http://oldschoolfrp.tumblr.com/post/70199685183/tsrs-star-frontiers-game-the-playable-one The ships look like a cross between something from Flash Gordon and Car Wars...  |
 December 18, 2013 - 2:15pm | Was travellers "unplayable"? ----------------------------------------------- |
 December 18, 2013 - 2:36pm | As someone who played both back when they were new, there were a lot of jokes about the playability of Traveller. I was fine with it, but it was definitely more complicated. It emphasized realistic dymanics and hard science, whereas Star Frontiers was just simple, quick and fun. Personally, I play Star Frontiers with a lot of hard science. Quick & fun, but with a realistic edge. |
 December 18, 2013 - 5:39pm | Was travellers "unplayable"? It was possible for a PC to die during character generation (or was that another game?). I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
December 18, 2013 - 5:43pm | Traveller had a different feel to it than Star Frontiers, but it wasn't unplayable. I like both, and was never interested in mixing themes from one to the other. The only thing I don't like in Traveller is the alien races, as to me they seem more 'pulpy' than those in Star Frontiers. However, the aliens in Traveller:2300 are really interesting IMHO. Well, apart from the Sung. |
December 18, 2013 - 5:45pm | Was travellers "unplayable"? It was possible for a PC to die during character generation (or was that another game?). Yes, you can die during character generation in Traveller. The whole rationale about generation in that RPG is different. |
December 18, 2013 - 5:56pm | I was curious to see a sung alien and didn't get far with a quick google search but the wikipedia page for Traveller 2300 had something interesting: Every sentient species has certain mysteries that are unknown to humans in 2300 AD and which can be unlocked through adventure and research. One of the main parts of the drama in 2300 AD campaigns is the unfolding of these mysteries.
Some of these mysteries can help Mankind in its "Battle for the stars", while others are simply curiosities, and a few are dangerous and even potentially disastrous for humankind.
In many cases Human nation states would be willing to go to war with each other to get some of these secrets and some are a necessity for humankind to survive the future war with the Kafers. Now that is an interesting idea. To a certain extent you could say that the Beyond the Frontier campaign did this in that we learn through the course of the modules that there are sathar clans that vie for supremecy in the overarching political organizaiton of sathar society. This sort of thing would be cool when introducing new races. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 December 18, 2013 - 6:10pm | First time I've seen that ad. I have to say that I'm confused about the graphics...I certainly don't recall anything in that ruleset detailing vehicle mounted weaponry, let alone anything space worthy. |
December 19, 2013 - 3:14am | I was curious to see a sung alien and didn't get far with a quick google search but the wikipedia page for Traveller 2300 had something interesting: Every sentient species has certain mysteries that are unknown to humans in 2300 AD and which can be unlocked through adventure and research. One of the main parts of the drama in 2300 AD campaigns is the unfolding of these mysteries.
Some of these mysteries can help Mankind in its "Battle for the stars", while others are simply curiosities, and a few are dangerous and even potentially disastrous for humankind.
In many cases Human nation states would be willing to go to war with each other to get some of these secrets and some are a necessity for humankind to survive the future war with the Kafers. Now that is an interesting idea. To a certain extent you could say that the Beyond the Frontier campaign did this in that we learn through the course of the modules that there are sathar clans that vie for supremecy in the overarching political organizaiton of sathar society. This sort of thing would be cool when introducing new races. The only problem with those mysteries is that the Wikipedia article gives those secrets away. For example, it describes the main 'baddies' in the RPG, the Kafers, and their slightly odd physiology. By doing so it negates what any T:2300 referee may want to do in order to preserve those mysteries. As it's still an RPG for which material is being published (by Mongoose) this tends to negate any surprises. Playing the game in the mid-80s, luckily we didn't have the internet to get in the way, but if I wanted to run the game nowadays my options would be somewhat limited. The cat's out of the bag, so to speak! |
December 19, 2013 - 5:55am | In general games where you can die during character creation is meant as a limiting factor to make it harder to min/max your character. ----------------------------------------------- |
December 19, 2013 - 6:19am | In Traveller it's really more of a random thing. Before you character starts in the game, he or she has had a career in one or more areas that can last for several decades. During that time there's always a risk that you can get killed, as would be the case if you role-played that whole period of time. Min/max stuff doesn't really happen in Traveller, in terms of creating uber-characters as the character creation rules don't steer things that way. |
December 19, 2013 - 7:34am | I've heard the traveller PC creation phase refered to as a mini game and if that is so then what is the point of the game? To survive creating a PC? To win you have to create a PC? The chance of death sounds low and I'd expect it to be less then 10% otherwise PC death during creation would be a bigger gripe about traveller. I would simply ignore the death result or role. The point is to create a PC to play a game. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 December 19, 2013 - 8:53am | The point of the Classic Traveller chargen mini-game is to have an entertaining time, and produce a character (of course). The entertainment comes from gambling with the odds; rolling the dice, risking it all, literally. Do you settle for a less experienced character by playing it safe, having them participate in a shorter career, and muster out at a younger age? Or, do you take on more risk in the hopes of producing and older, and more experienced, character? The risk of death depends on the career that your character qualifies for (or is drafted into). Some careers have high survival chances (Merchants), and some have lower survival chances (Marines, Belter). By the time of the "Traveller Book" release (1981), an optional rule came about that allowed for death results to merely be interpreted as 'injured in the line of duty'. Characters would end up ejected from the careers, serving only half a standard term, and not being eligible for skills and mustering out benefits for that specific shorterned term. This optional rule eventually became the standard for future editions of Traveller. |
December 19, 2013 - 8:53am | It's not a mini game. It just represents time passing in the character's life from one age to the age at which they begin as a playable character. Skills are developed in that time period. Death is something that can also happen in that time. You can chose to step out of the process and stick with what you have after a certain period of time. However, the longer you stay in the process, the more likely the opportunity to gather better and more varied skills. Death is just a risk that you have to face. It may sound odd but it does work well and creates rounded out characters with interesting histories. The point of the game is to then take a character forward to face the challenges thrown at you buy the referee, as is the case with any RPG. Through the character creation process you may start off playing an older, experienced person or a younger person with less experience. Both still have the potential to have varied backgrounds, which can help in the long run. Either way, you do have more of a fighting chance than - for example - a 1st level D&D character  |
December 19, 2013 - 10:09am | I suppose, character creation can be a fun activity as i seem to remember rolling up a slew of MERP characters in 1986 since I could not find any players at college. Character creation was pretty much my only outlet for exploring middle earth at that time other than reading Tolkiens books for the 14th time. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
December 19, 2013 - 2:53pm | I actually enjoyed the character creation process in Traveller, and found that my character had a great deal more depth than in most RPGs. I agree about the aliens seeming more "pulpy", such as the Vargr and Aslan. To me (as a then-teenager), they seemed more like fantasy creatures. However, now I understand what they are meant to be about, and they are not quite as pulpy as they seemed then. Still, they do make a poor first impression for such a serious game. |
December 19, 2013 - 5:17pm | They never seemed very 'alien' to me. Traveller:2300 did a better job. |
 December 19, 2013 - 6:34pm | Traveller is definitely a different animal. I just joined a pbp Mongoose Traveller game and Chargen was a REAL grind... That ad is a cool find. I love the pre KH ship design there. |
December 20, 2013 - 12:30am | That ad is a cool find. I love the pre KH ship design there. Speaking of cool KHs ships there is an unpublished Elmore painting for Star Frontiers in his new art book that would have made an awesome KHs cover. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
December 20, 2013 - 2:43am | Traveller is definitely a different animal. I just joined a pbp Mongoose Traveller game and Chargen was a REAL grind... Traveller and Traveller:2300 are very different RPGs ;) Come to think of it, Mongoose Traveller isn't really as good as original Traveller. Mongoose now own the rights to both RPGs, and I'm not a fan of what they've done with them. |
December 20, 2013 - 8:28am | Speaking of cool KHs ships there is an unpublished Elmore painting for Star Frontiers in his new art book that would have made an awesome KHs cover.
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December 20, 2013 - 12:02pm | Speaking of cool KHs ships there is an unpublished Elmore painting for Star Frontiers in his new art book that would have made an awesome KHs cover.
might be hard and illegal for him to post it since it is in a book. I admit, I want to see it. ----------------------------------------------- |
December 20, 2013 - 12:02pm | Speaking of cool KHs ships there is an unpublished Elmore painting for Star Frontiers in his new art book that would have made an awesome KHs cover.
Need to photo or scan it but work schedule is a witch between here and Christmas. I was actually planning to type in some thing in the book that Larry said about the SF aliens that were interesting and include the unseen pic. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
December 20, 2013 - 12:11pm | I got an idea... Type it up as an ANSI image! ----------------------------------------------- |
December 20, 2013 - 1:25pm | It bears a WOTC copyright mark. I'll take a picture and post that since its just a picture of my new book that way its not a scan. I rather doubt, though that anyone is going to complain. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 December 20, 2013 - 2:25pm | Actually, I think I'm going to send Larry Elmore a note and see if we can use it for a cover for the Frontier Explorer. Worst he can do is say no. Ad Astra Per Ardua! My blog - Expanding Frontier Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine |
December 20, 2013 - 2:27pm | awesome ----------------------------------------------- |
December 20, 2013 - 7:36pm | Actually, I think I'm going to send Larry Elmore a note and see if we can use it for a cover for the Frontier Explorer. Worst he can do is say no.
He could send a squad of ninja cat assassins... |
December 22, 2013 - 6:05pm | http://www.somethingawful.com/dungeons-and-dragons/traveller-artwork-steve/1/ |
