On Second Thought

Message:

I looked at Traveller. It has no redeeming qualities. Maybe a nice source book on some world building and a trade table that includes Fruit.

The combat is a series of +1 and minus two that in the ends means 2D6 above, say eight. The HPs are first three Stats, next three have no use outside Character creation, like most of the colorful weapon details. As a Guns, Guns, Guns game it fails. As a ship building game, it fails.

I started to make the Hack -- unearthed my copy of first four books -- only to look at the amount of simplification this would take. The character creation could take an hour alone (more since few of our group truly has rulez). Most all the choices lead to you wanting Battle Armor w/ man portable plasma rifle. i.e. Battle Born. Yet Traveller as a Starship Trooper set of rules remains cumbersome at best.

GDW was good at digesting war. They made a good bit of money on a booklet (scary-warning heads-up!) about first Gulf War (before being proven wrong). The Traveller model of moving through services is okay, very much like En Gard showing French Regiments of Three Musketeers. But the material has little to sustain itself.

You have about 6d6 HPs and take about 3D6 damage anytime you are hit. That is cyberpunk deadly.

More I fiddle, the more the material looks like GURPS, balancing chance to hit with chance to avoid hit.

I'd rather run 2-page Sci-Fi if I get a very serious story I want to tell. Otherwise, all the best tales have been done for the Traveller ruleset.

I shall put Traveller back in the coffin and let it stay dead. Gygax was a genius. Miller was merely competent for the seventies. Plus they spelled the Title wrong.







Yours,