Review of Traveller Core Rulebook Beta Playtest

I need to start somewhere...

About the Reviewer:

Someone who has only discovered Traveller within the last 3 years but then dove in head-first, exploring all the editions and the 30+ years of work. Someone who loses interest in a game quickly if the systems fail to support the proposed dramatics, or the ability of a group to have fun (e.g. systems not supporting fluff, rolls becoming superfluous due to trivially high modifiers, etc...)

About the Review Approach:

As a Second Edition, this will naturally be compared to the previous edition. I will also be highlighting where massive improvements (to rules or otherwise) have been implemented. This is in addition to what I personally like and do not like.

Background - What is Traveller?

Traveller is a Space-Opera game. Characters typically journey between various star systems and engage in activities such as exploration, ground and space battles, and interstellar trading. The Official Traveller Universe (OTU) is dominated by a massive polity known as The Third Imperium. The Third Imperium is the largest and human-dominated interstellar empire in Charted Space. It is a feudalistic union of worlds: local nobility operate largely free from oversight, restricted by convention and feudal obligations. There other major alien races (4), and hundreds if not thousands of minor alien races. Traveller tries (successfully) to take itself seriously, with respect to being hard-scifi in that it makes an attempt at being internally consistent. Personally, internal consistency is key to me when it comes to hard(ish) scifi, not how realistic the technology is (how probable something is compared to today's technology).

Overview:

One of the first things I notice is the size, almost 60 pages greater than MGT1 indicates a lot of more detail and focus in the edition. How is that possible? Certain important aspects have been moved to follow-up books (to be release soon, within 60 days I believe), while more details have been added to what is rightfully deemed "Core". The art and production values have come forward decades. The previous MGT1 could easily be identifiable with a mid-80s, black and white RPG "document". MGT2 looks modern, with a great layout and adequate art (a challenge for most of the recent Traveller RPGs).

The base system for the game is a 2D6 system, with positive and negative modifiers. The target number is 8 by default, but can range from 4 to whatever. Opposed rolls are kept to a minimum, but the same effect and balance is reached by having opponents skill levels/defense values subtracted from the one roll. This is a massive improvement from the previous version which either ignored opponents' defensive ability/skills (or spent significant time on opposed rolls). In some cases, a new mechanic (Bane/Boon) will apply - this means you roll 1 more die, and drop either the highest or lowest roll before determining total.

Character Creation:

Note: The section can be very easily house ruled to create more or less powerful characters. Whether it is simply roll one more die and drop the lowest, or simply pick your skills rather than randomize - it is totally up to you and obviously depends on the game you wish to play (random dudes in the universe vs heroes).

After a quick but useful introduction to universe, terms, "tech levels", the book dives right into character creation. Players begin by rolling their 6 stats, also known as Characteristics. These define Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Intellect, Education, Social Standing. My little gripe with this is that I wish their was a dual-stat or a second value for Social Standing that covered Charisma. Not all social interactions are covered by Social Standing, some will rely on pure small talk and charm. Characters then go through Life-Path style creation where the following steps are observed (starting age 18):

a) Select career and attempt to qualify. Increment Age by 4 years. b) Select sub-career within that master table. c) Gain a skill or characteristic d) Determine "Survival" (aka do you wash out,or continue) e) Determine the random event f) Determine advancement (improving "ranks" in your career.. basically becoming better) - resulting in another skill/characteristic g) Determine next step (retire from career or move one to another: gaining benefits of cash or items. OR stay in career, continuing on... improving benefits down the line and possibly gaining other free skills).

There are some new key, very beneficial changes. First - the idea of "academies" for your first term (or maybe even later). This basically going to college/university/military academy. It gives you a lot more control over your first term as you get to select skills rather than roll randomly. It also guarantees your entry in your career of choice, assuming you graduate. A very nice and flavourful option that was only introduced in a supplement outside of core MGT1 rules. Not much changes within the career skills and options themselves except that skill-bloat has been cleaned up which I'll discuss later.

Careers haven't changed and cover 12 Career choices, with 3 assignments each. Example of different Career assignments: a) Navy - Crew b) Navy - Engineer c) Navy - Flight

All-in-all, covers many of the stereotypes that players would want in a space opera.There is actually a Psionic career with 3 assignments - but I'll get to that in the Psionics section. An interesting "Prisoner" Career also exists should you end up going to prison at some point in time during your character generation experience. The game retains the "connection" rule - which my group really, really likes. It is functionally two free skill ranks gained from connecting events between characters. It is a huge help to building up the role-playing connection between characters as it can get very detailed with a quick bit of imagination. Players aging going over their 4th term (34 years) need to make aging rolls (and risk losing some physical stats). Obviously, being the year 5,000 AD or so, there are risk mitigation options. Super expensive Anagathics! Available both during and after character creation! Careful... dont go to jail!

A couple of things that I had hoped would change have not. Jack of all Trades is still an amazing skill that can be gained ONLY during character creation; it removes penalties for using skills that you dont actually possess. You know... so when you suddenly have the need to pilot a capital ship, plot a jump, while giving a lecture on Philosophy. You still cannot increase Characteristics post chargen. I'm looking forward to the Traveller companion which will have many new rules, including these (I'm again, almost sure).

After all is done, a group of players selects a skill package that matches the adventure style they want. Each package has 7 skills all at rank 1. These skills can be divided among the group to further round them out (again - another great implementation here).

Skills

A self explanatory section, but one that is much improved nonetheless. Things have been tightened up considerably here.

As per MGT1, some skills has specialties. When you have a skill at rank 0, you have all the specialties. However, increasing it from then on, will only increase that particular specialty. This creates the feel of "Sure I can pilot a fighter, but i'm just basically competent at flying a freighter or a capital ship". Skills have been grouped into specializations to remove skill bloat. For example, Electronics skill now has 4 specializations (Comms, Computers, Sensor Ops, Remote Ops) - These were previously 4 seperate skills and would only come into play in specific scenarios. Now, my groups "Sensors guy" is actually the electronics guy. This is a very welcome change. Gun Combat is now reduced to 3 specialties, Archaic, Energy & Slug. Clean and effective. Battle Dress is now part of Vacc Suit, and zero-G is gone and part of the new Athletics. Athletics (with it's 3 specialties, Dex/Str/End) is now a VERY useful Skill (more on this later). I am slightly annoyed with the Melee skill, in that the 4 specialties Unarmed, Blade, Bludgeon, Natural could really have been 3 (Natural folded into Unarmed), but this is a minor nuisance that is easily house-ruled. The examples given under each skill/specialty are very detailed and informative. This is a nice change from MGT1. So, once again, definite improvement for the skills sections.

Personl Combat

Just to recap - previous MGT1 personal combat: Characters got a minor and a significant action. Attacked using 2D + Characteristic modifier + skill Applied common modifiers for cover, range, range, scopes, dodge, etc... Success delta added to damage. Subtract armour.. remaining is damage!

Over all - no change from this method at all. Which is great, because it worked. What has changed however, are the modifier values. Here is an example:

We finally have a character ability figuring out into their ability to evade fire. This is only logical because their ability figured into their aiming/trying to hit! So while a character is using Dex+Gun Combat(energy) to try to hit a target. The target is giving him a penalty of either Dex modifier or Athletics(dex)- whichever is higher. This works out well functionally in that unlike MGT1, combat is no longer plagued with trivial to-hit rolls. Combat does not devolve into a miss-fest either because a highly skilled, and outfitted combatant will have slightly higher bonuses than an agile ninja hiding popping in-and-out from cover (not by much though). Although, if that Ninja pops some prismatic smoke, it's gonna be tough again! You can now also shoot through cover, at a hiding target, taking into account the type of cover in the way and just subtracting that from the damage. Trying to shoot the parts of the target that are not in-cover gives you a -2 (granted, I would have like to see a bigger range of penalties depending on how much of the target is covered.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that balance is inherent here. There are no runaway modifiers on either side of the equation, which is something that plagues a lot of systems. This rock-solid section ends up with the rules on explosive weapons, burst/auto weapons (much improved), scopes, smart weapons, bulky weapons, radiation.. and everyone favourite: Dual Wielding!! (Which was not in the previous rules at all).

Encounters & Dangers

Section received a major overhaul. It is now significantly longer, and is more than just your random encounters and contacts. It covers poisons, diseases, alien life ranging from predatory birds to giant dinosaurs. It has tables on damage from environmental affects, medical care, animal traits, etc... It is a definite step in the right direction that pulls from lessons learned previously and the supplements created for MGT1.

Equipment

One of the most improved sections of the book. Maybe tied for second (with Personal Combat) and just shy of the Space Combat section.

The section starts off with a much needed explanation Credits, Standard of Living & Encumbrance (I had an Aslan that routinely traveled with 3 heavy weapons, 2 rifles, and 2 two-handed weapons. He was fine - but the rest of the skinny-human party tried to emulate him...)

Afterward, we delve into the Armour section. Suddenly they're balanced! Not just by TL.. but by cost too?! What is this shenanigans?! Whatever happened to the 3 million credit battle dress that could be defeated by the 300 credit AK47? Gone you say? Well... that made me smile! Armour values are generally up (good), and costs are down (good). We even have nice pictures now to go along with the armour types and even the battle dress modifications listed in core!

The second section is Augments. The way this section is done is really attractive. You have a table with the meager 10 or so augmentation types (several variants, such Dex +1, Dex +2 and Dex +3, bring it up to 20). But what is a real breath of fresh air is how each of the augment details is illustrated in a advertisement style graphic. Very cool :) The Augments are well thought out and has only the core basics as I'm sure the upcoming CSC will expand greatly on this. Again - great section, great crunch, very well illustrated.

The next two sections deal with Communication and Computers/Computer software. Things here have been updated and clarified (from previous supplements too). Computers are now crystal clear in describing how software and bandwidth works. The system is very intuitive. Medical Care, Supplies, Sensors, Survival gear form the next small few sections prior to weapons.

Weapons! Weapons! Weapons! Weapon illustrations are actually quite appropriate - in-line with the entire Equipment section. Melee weapons give us the basics, and have varying qualities and uses - so there isn't a "this is the best" in all cases. Slug throwers. From antique pistols to advanced combat rifles and Gauss Rifles. The old favourites are here, with the Gauss Rifle reigning supreme as it should (given it's TL level). These are the bursty-weapons that are great in laying down a hail of fire. Gauss also has some inherent armour penetration! Energy weapons. Zero-G friendly. Hard hitting. Lasers, Stunners, and the odd super advanced Plasma Rifle. Heavy Weapons, Explosives and Grenades! Dont get hit by these things unless you're in a vehicle. AT least the FGMP... well... make sure you're in a damn well armoured vehicle too!

Vehicles

Something is odd about this section. Odd in a good way. Very little has changed, but a TON has effectively changed.

First off, the way a vehicle is described - from hull value to "traits" indicates that things are moving forward organizationally. You have traits that indicate certain rules, and you have a clean hull-value. You now have Speed-bands for the vehicle speed, an abstract speed value that clearly allows you to compare "classes" of vehicles". You have dog-fighting rules, evasive action, maneuver, ramming collisions, etc... all clean and well defined, even if they haven't changed from the previous version in some cases.

The biggest change that will be immediately noticeable is combat systems. You are no longer trying to figure out how much damage means how much actual "hits". Thank God for that!! You now go directly into X damage, means X hull lost, with possibility of a critical. That's it! It is actually a very intuitive and MUCH faster system. This is a bit of tease into what Space Combat is like now (more later). The second biggest change, for me and my group, is the streamlined armour values that now exist between Vehicle/Personal/Ground system and space system. No more wondering why I can't use my space-craft armour to make a tank, or vice versa. No more weird conversion values or multiplication/division by abstract numbers (50 sometimes, less other times) required.

Vehicle Armour Values are the same as personal, but where the power armour can only reach 25 or so, the vehicle can reach over 100. This makes perfect sense and easily translates into space scale. Space-scale weapon damage and armour are multiplied by 10 when hitting vehicles. Vice versa (div 10) when vehicles/individuals are shooting at space ships. It is so simple it just makes you shrug and kind of appreciate this move from the previous MGT1 system.

Sample vehicles and weapons are given allowing you to use these for your Core Campaign, or fudge your own according to guidelines. No vehicle construction rules are provided however (same as per MGT1).

Space-craft Operations and Combat

I'm grouping these two sections together because I'm going to take a different approach here. First I will begin with a quick description of how Space Ops and Combat feels for new players; then I will list the changes for people looking to see how this has had major changes from MGT1 (in my opinion, every single one of them good).

Description:

Space Operations and Combat are that same classic, space-opera feel where you have a bridge, engineering, gunners and so on. Drawing heavily from Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5, etc..

Ships have power, which they used to feed certain systems ranging from drives, to weapons. There are no FTL-Communications. FTL travel is done via "Jump" which takes a week in Jump-space. So basically, your FTL communications is a mail-ship equivalent. Your pilot flies, dodges fire, docks, and so on Your engineer routes system power, repairs damage, etc Your gunners "man" your turrets Combat takes places at distances ranging from 5km to 50,000km Character Skill plays a big part (thankfully, it is not just watching two computers fight it out) Weapons in the core book include missiles, lasers, pulse lasers. There are no ship-construction rules in the core book (Actually happy about this). This is a change from MGT1.

That is about it for a quick rundown of the space section, which I've listed as just "meat" above - since I figure that is the most important to a lot of people! Now, for the list of changes from MGT1. Again I am of the opinion that this is all positive. In order of appearance:

a) Triple and Double Turrets dont fire per "barrel" now, they basically increase damage for the 1-shot. Much more streamlined and more tactical value (to penetrate armour). b) Effect adds to damage! Inherent bonus to-hit added to beam lasers and pulse lasers. A + B really drive the value of lasers up (previously near useless). c) Spacecraft damage is incredibly faster, and this was much needed. X damage removes X hull (hull values have been significantly increased). Critical happens very accurate hits and at certain damage-taken thresholds. d) Evasive action by the pilot is actually based on pilot skill! The 16 year old cadet no longer evades as well as your experienced frontier war veteran! e) Missiles are actually threats again! Previously.. 12 armour means you ignored anything from 1 to 5000 incoming nukes. Not anymore! f) Missile defense is now very expedited, accurate and fun. Each turn your EW takes out some missiles. Before they strike, your point defense will help you as well, and then you get to see what finally makes it past your evasion to strike you! g) Power! Ships now create power based on how many tons of "power-plant" they have (and their TL). h) More engineer duties! Getting more power from the plant or the engines! i) Sensor ops is even more important now! First - the lock-on mechanic grants you a BOON on all to-hit rolls. (roll 3D, take best 2) This means your Sensor Ops crew better be in top shape - because you also dont want the enemy to get a sensor lock! Also, with missile damage being non-trivial, you want your sensor ops to be jamming as many missiles as possible. j) Dog-fights! Getting within 10km of your target means you are dog-fighting. Opposed piloting rolls, significant penalties, much harder for larger ships versus small craft! A lot more flavor added here and much needed too! k) Basic Boarding Action Resolution. Quick System included.

We were all really very impressed with the improvements here. Then we saw the next section...

Common Spacecraft

I'm going to keep this short. Wow. Professional spacecraft detail cards, with colourful floor plans. You can't even begin to compare this to what was in MGT1. Magnitudes above in terms of quality. Just great illustrations :)

Psionics

Another area where clarity and cleanliness have struck home. A streamlined system to for the range, and cost of all psionic powers is implemented here. Powers either remained the same, improved in duration or effect (or both), or had their difficulty reduced. As per previous, psionics were always powerful - now even more so. Abilities range from teleportation, to having people spontaneously combustion, to psionic blasts and so on.

Trading & World Creation & Sample Sector

Rules for finding a supplier, a massive list of good to transport between planets, sale and purchase pricing. World creation rules as rich as before and a fully detailed sample starting sub-sector from the Third Imperium's Trojan Reach. I Haven't finished reviewing but the need for a review of the material thus far was required. So at first glance, this section looks solid and my key critical concern from MGT1 Trading is addressed. You can no longer buy a good for 25% and sell for 400% of base price ( at least it is limited to 200% now).

Conclusion

MGT2 took a good stern look at the problems with MGT1. Unrealistic armour values and costs (why would anyone spend 3 mil on something defeated by 300 credits), Space/Vehicle Combat too slow, Trivial rolls because of positive modifiers easily outpaced negative/defensive ones, out-dated art, useless missiles in space combat, Space/Vehicle combat too slow!!, skills for some reason affecting offensive ability but not defensive ability, Space/Vehicle Combat too slow!!!, disparity between vehicle and spacecraft armour (why? When I'm building two objects from the same material??), and finally, Space/Vehicle Combat too slow!!!!

MGT2 too a look at those items, and flat out addressed them in an eloquent and effective manner, while introducing new and innovative ideas from the supplements that worked previously. While the core rule book has also lost ship-construction rules, I view this as a significant positive step in the right direction as they should have never been there. Previously, I did not build a single ship without using high-guard. Now I look forward to seeing complete ship construction rules there!

Go and get the PDF (or wait for the book).