MegaTraveller was the first RPG I really spent time with (after my parents intervened when my friend and I tried to play D&D in the late 80s). I will always appreciate Marc Miller for his game and hope he is enjoying his golden years!
I got a blue box and a black box under the tree back in 81. Everyone wanted to play the Blue Box so that's what I played the most with my friends. But my time alone I spent with the black box, creating characters, worlds and stories by myself that stick with me to this day. A couple of buddies even noticed and decided to come along. Now I'm bringing my kid into Traveller using the T5 system and it's good to know that the future is secure for the legacy of Traveller and Marc Miller.
That is likely true. Although Marc specifically states Greg in his announcement, that looks more to be centred on the way Greg had future-proofed his legacy.
Loren passed away 7 years ago. From my understanding, that is why Traveller books stopped getting made for GURPS, though that seems to have happened quite some time before that, as there was only the one made for 4th edition.
@@slaapliedje Greg was 6 years ago. Time and contemplation of one's mortality is an ongoing thing. The GURPS licence ended with Mongoose picking its licence up in 2007, and SJG's distribution licence of GT ended in 2015. The last GT book was Interstellar Wars in 2006. There was something separate for the GURPS version of JTAS, but that ended before Loren's passing, too. I think the licence had probably just run it's course, especially with Mongoose coming into play.
@@WillyMuffinUK Yeah, it is interesting to note that the one 4e book also was set in the past, as the name implies, Interstellar Wars. Ha, time is weird, it doesn't feel like 4th edition GURPS is 20 years old...
Gamers like you and I (judging by the grey in your beard and the pedigree of your gaming history) are fully in the era of watching that generation which preceded us pass into history. I owe a debt to Marc for kindling my imagination that I can only pay forward because it's far to large to be repaid. I'm so grateful that he has the foresight to ensure the future of Traveller while still being plenty young enough to shape it's development. As for T5, whether Mongoose chooses to move that version forward or not, it is whole in and of itself as a game system. It's all of Marc's career poured into a capstone edition. Mongoose Traveller will continue to evolve in new and exciting ways I'm sure, and T5 is simply so complete that any material released can be adapted to that version, should one wish. And let's be honest, if a gaming group is already invested in playing Traveller with T5, they are not in the least afraid of banging around any new material to adapt it to the game engine.
We're definitely of an age that we see more and more of those who helped to shape us pass over their own horizons. It seems that T5 is going to remain Marc's baby for as long as he wants it to be, which is a good thing. And yes, I concur - those of us that play T5 are among the most tinkery of tinkerers out there. Conversions hold no fear!
Mongoose are now selling all the old Traveller products as pdfs on their site. I suppose it is good to have access to these products as pdfs, expecially because the books on Ebay are becoming quite expensive. Mongoose will be able to do updated versions of the old adventures and they have started doing some already. I guess it gives them the opportunity to adapt other books into their Mongoose Traveller and use the old material in new ways like the Fifth Frontier War they have started recently. So some good is coming of it. As long as Mongoose continue to learn from the past and produce future products of high quality. It has to be said their early Traveller stuff was pretty dire, but its got a lot better lately.
Don't forget that FFE have been selling Traveller PDFs for years, directly and via DriveThru. This is just Mongoose continuing that which already existed. Some of the peripheral old 3rd party materials that FFE/GDW ended up with the rights to is interesting. For example, I note that Sky Raiders is on the Mongoose future releases list. Things like that falling into Mongoose's sphere is good, as they really do need to be brought out of the relative shadows and updated.
I've received that message this morning and I also think it's a good thing for Traveller's legacy (overall). Unrelated, but I just learned this morning that a new edition of Hârnmaster was coming out, and it came out today. I am thinking of that because it is the legacy of N. R. Crossby that also lives on through Keléstia Productions. It is BTW, a gorgeous edition, and you might be interested in doing a review eventually (at least, I'd be interested in hearing what you think of it). :)
That might explain why Columbia have been cycling through discount packets of Hârn material on DriveThru. I will check it out - Hârnmaster is another of those all-too-overlooked games.. By coincidence, Hârn itself is next up in my Milieu series.
not surprised Marc miller is getting old and his health waning so he wants to put Traveller in good hands and Mongoose has done an excellent job with Traveller.
I have a question for everyone as I have never played but respect original Traveller. Has Mongoose Publishing done right by Traveller and kept the legacy and feel of original Traveller? I have only played Mongoose Traveller 2E and their newish 2300ad. I do wish to collect the classic books at some point and even play them. Traveller became my favorite TTRPG in quick fashion. I feel that Mongoose has done a great job with the IP.
Be interesting to see what answers you get! For me, I think they've done a good job in keeping Traveller buoyant. The feel of play, for me, is comparable. The feel of reading the books has changed. In that regard, Mongoose have "pitched down" to make things more accessible, as opposed to the more technical presentations extant in previous editions (and in T5). That is a good thing, but still feels a tad jarring, sometimes, for an old hand used to a game that speaks with a different default level of audience in mind. Not only is that a good thing, I think it's a necessary thing for the long-term health of the game. In SF terms, newcomers to Traveller are much more likely to have arrived with a movie and TV show SF experience, while in the beginning that audience was more likely to have come from an SF reading foundation. Pun intended.
@@WillyMuffinUK Well thus far just you have responded. I think they have done a great job in the presentation of the game. Its in the minds eye again and is well supported. From what I understand Mongoose Traveller 2E is pretty close to the original Traveller. I wasn't even aware of Traveller until the start of the pandemic. That being said my enjoyment on TTRPGs has waned a lot since I got into them in 1999. I still stick with AD&D 2E, BECMI and very glad I found Traveller even if it was only a few years ago.
Traveller - a game you could literally spend 45 minutes rolling up a character for it to die before you actually started playing the game - genius. For the life of me - I can't understand why it wasn't more popular.
Hey - character generation in Traveller is a game unto itself. One of the things I love is how players create narratives around the data the generation process produces. Besides, dying in chargen is a rarer phenomenon than the mythology suggests.. Unless you went down the Scout route. There's a lot of dead Scouts out there.
Mongoose Traveller is very good, but I feel that the business model is resembling DLC's. The rules are spread amongst many books and sometimes you have to do some research what books will you need. Maybe the book naming is not clear enough or something. This is a bit of a rant, so sorry about that. Still I think this is good news.
I think that's their default mode - lots of releases vs. compact references. I think they do a good job on the whole, with a few "misses" in their bulk output, perhaps because of their prolific schedule.
Wait what? So what will this mean for the Cepheus Engine? I mean technically it should mean nothing considering that was one of the lessons learned from the OGL debacle back in 2023, you can't copyright mechanics. But we'll see.
@@WillyMuffinUK That's good. I may have not always agreed with many of the Cepheus community but they did good work towards expanding the number of settings the system could be applied to.
I think Traveller 5 is already pretty dead. It will most likely be incorporated, in parts, into Mongoose Traveller, as with the rest of the older material. I personally do not see Mongoose producing specific Traveller 5 products. There is no need for it. Traveller 5 was the final breath of Marc Miller before he let go of Traveller for good. Whether that was a purely financial decision only MM will know. But it certainly was a complete mess.
@@NatsSt No game completely dies... Anyway, the general point of T5 - at least, the point it evolved into, rather than what was envisaged - is that it's a toolkit for anything. It doesn't need specific support, because it is a "nexus", of sorts - complete in and of itself enough for any material, old or new, to be used with it. I agree, it's unlikely Mongoose will directly publish for it - but, now they have ownership of, essentially, all editions, they may well put it within the JTAS domain for 3rd parties to write for. If that happens, I may well do just that.
Ive held off from Mongoose Traveller. I still hold my MegaTraveller in high regard. (perhaps nostalgia) Almost like a divine relic I dare not have its purity tarnished! I feel like Mongoose are a low-quality publisher (by today's standards). I have their Paranoia (previous edition) & PDF of Traveller (2016). To me the art & presentation is off-putting. Its childish, poor graphic design & cartoony. Although the content may play fine, it really doesn't inspire me to play in the universe presented. (or make a purchase) I know both these Mongoose games have been updated since, its an improvement, but im still a long way from being excited by it. Traveller, for me, is the ultimate sci-fi RPG but its being published in a low-budget way. Just look at the Dune (Modiphius) or Alien (Free League) books :: they suck you in to the vast blackness of space & your imagination swirls at the possibilities. Thanks for this video. Its great to hear trustworthy opinions & advice from a true stalwart of Traveller.
I do agree that Free League and Modiphius have put together some excellent production values. Alien and Twilight: 2000 from Free League I am especially enjoying. I don't share disdain for the art and layouts Mongoose goes for - I wasn't overly impressed by their first Traveller and RuneQuest attempts, but they have improved greatly and upped their game since, and continue to do so. Products such as the Great Rift and Deepnight Revelation I find as exciting as the best materials from any edition. But, I feel, they do suffer from volume of output. I would, by far, prefer Mongoose to slow down in favour of raising quality. No idea how possible that is for them. Anyway, my two favourite versions of Traveller - T:NE and T5 - aren't particularly known for friendly layouts and colourful art, so... what do I know 🙂
MegaTraveller was the first RPG I really spent time with (after my parents intervened when my friend and I tried to play D&D in the late 80s). I will always appreciate Marc Miller for his game and hope he is enjoying his golden years!
A sentiment echoed, hopefully, by us all here 🙂
Yah been playing Traveller since the early 80s. Love it.
One of the best :)
I got a blue box and a black box under the tree back in 81. Everyone wanted to play the Blue Box so that's what I played the most with my friends. But my time alone I spent with the black box, creating characters, worlds and stories by myself that stick with me to this day. A couple of buddies even noticed and decided to come along. Now I'm bringing my kid into Traveller using the T5 system and it's good to know that the future is secure for the legacy of Traveller and Marc Miller.
I hope said kid is effectively brought into the Traveller fold and has a lot of fun 🙂
It is important to point out the passing of Loren Wiseman may have had a big influence on Mark's decision.
That is likely true. Although Marc specifically states Greg in his announcement, that looks more to be centred on the way Greg had future-proofed his legacy.
Loren passed away 7 years ago. From my understanding, that is why Traveller books stopped getting made for GURPS, though that seems to have happened quite some time before that, as there was only the one made for 4th edition.
@@slaapliedje Greg was 6 years ago. Time and contemplation of one's mortality is an ongoing thing.
The GURPS licence ended with Mongoose picking its licence up in 2007, and SJG's distribution licence of GT ended in 2015. The last GT book was Interstellar Wars in 2006. There was something separate for the GURPS version of JTAS, but that ended before Loren's passing, too.
I think the licence had probably just run it's course, especially with Mongoose coming into play.
@@WillyMuffinUK Yeah, it is interesting to note that the one 4e book also was set in the past, as the name implies, Interstellar Wars. Ha, time is weird, it doesn't feel like 4th edition GURPS is 20 years old...
@@slaapliedje Scary, isn't it! 😱
Gamers like you and I (judging by the grey in your beard and the pedigree of your gaming history) are fully in the era of watching that generation which preceded us pass into history. I owe a debt to Marc for kindling my imagination that I can only pay forward because it's far to large to be repaid. I'm so grateful that he has the foresight to ensure the future of Traveller while still being plenty young enough to shape it's development. As for T5, whether Mongoose chooses to move that version forward or not, it is whole in and of itself as a game system. It's all of Marc's career poured into a capstone edition. Mongoose Traveller will continue to evolve in new and exciting ways I'm sure, and T5 is simply so complete that any material released can be adapted to that version, should one wish. And let's be honest, if a gaming group is already invested in playing Traveller with T5, they are not in the least afraid of banging around any new material to adapt it to the game engine.
We're definitely of an age that we see more and more of those who helped to shape us pass over their own horizons. It seems that T5 is going to remain Marc's baby for as long as he wants it to be, which is a good thing. And yes, I concur - those of us that play T5 are among the most tinkery of tinkerers out there. Conversions hold no fear!
Mongoose are now selling all the old Traveller products as pdfs on their site. I suppose it is good to have access to these products as pdfs, expecially because the books on Ebay are becoming quite expensive. Mongoose will be able to do updated versions of the old adventures and they have started doing some already. I guess it gives them the opportunity to adapt other books into their Mongoose Traveller and use the old material in new ways like the Fifth Frontier War they have started recently. So some good is coming of it. As long as Mongoose continue to learn from the past and produce future products of high quality. It has to be said their early Traveller stuff was pretty dire, but its got a lot better lately.
Don't forget that FFE have been selling Traveller PDFs for years, directly and via DriveThru. This is just Mongoose continuing that which already existed.
Some of the peripheral old 3rd party materials that FFE/GDW ended up with the rights to is interesting. For example, I note that Sky Raiders is on the Mongoose future releases list. Things like that falling into Mongoose's sphere is good, as they really do need to be brought out of the relative shadows and updated.
@@WillyMuffinUK Yeah Ive never read any of the Keith adventures I would imagine they will be pretty good.
Excellent news; my game group occasionally plays Mongoose Traveller and we have a blast. Been playing since I got the larger sized black box in '84.
The two aren't so far removed 🙂
I've received that message this morning and I also think it's a good thing for Traveller's legacy (overall). Unrelated, but I just learned this morning that a new edition of Hârnmaster was coming out, and it came out today. I am thinking of that because it is the legacy of N. R. Crossby that also lives on through Keléstia Productions. It is BTW, a gorgeous edition, and you might be interested in doing a review eventually (at least, I'd be interested in hearing what you think of it). :)
That might explain why Columbia have been cycling through discount packets of Hârn material on DriveThru. I will check it out - Hârnmaster is another of those all-too-overlooked games.. By coincidence, Hârn itself is next up in my Milieu series.
@@WillyMuffinUK Oh cool, I look forward to your look at Hârn. KP is also running a sale at the moment if you want to grab other regions of Lýthia btw.
From what I read T5 will be supported but as a T5 content creator I need to get on top of this.
I hope so. Mongoose's Q&A seems to suggest that.
not surprised Marc miller is getting old and his health waning so he wants to put Traveller in good hands and Mongoose has done an excellent job with Traveller.
It makes sense to me. From the CotI post, it sounds as if Greg Stafford's passing was something of a wake-up call.
I have a question for everyone as I have never played but respect original Traveller. Has Mongoose Publishing done right by Traveller and kept the legacy and feel of original Traveller? I have only played Mongoose Traveller 2E and their newish 2300ad. I do wish to collect the classic books at some point and even play them. Traveller became my favorite TTRPG in quick fashion. I feel that Mongoose has done a great job with the IP.
Be interesting to see what answers you get! For me, I think they've done a good job in keeping Traveller buoyant. The feel of play, for me, is comparable. The feel of reading the books has changed. In that regard, Mongoose have "pitched down" to make things more accessible, as opposed to the more technical presentations extant in previous editions (and in T5). That is a good thing, but still feels a tad jarring, sometimes, for an old hand used to a game that speaks with a different default level of audience in mind.
Not only is that a good thing, I think it's a necessary thing for the long-term health of the game. In SF terms, newcomers to Traveller are much more likely to have arrived with a movie and TV show SF experience, while in the beginning that audience was more likely to have come from an SF reading foundation. Pun intended.
@@WillyMuffinUK Well thus far just you have responded. I think they have done a great job in the presentation of the game. Its in the minds eye again and is well supported. From what I understand Mongoose Traveller 2E is pretty close to the original Traveller.
I wasn't even aware of Traveller until the start of the pandemic. That being said my enjoyment on TTRPGs has waned a lot since I got into them in 1999. I still stick with AD&D 2E, BECMI and very glad I found Traveller even if it was only a few years ago.
Traveller - a game you could literally spend 45 minutes rolling up a character for it to die before you actually started playing the game - genius. For the life of me - I can't understand why it wasn't more popular.
Hey - character generation in Traveller is a game unto itself. One of the things I love is how players create narratives around the data the generation process produces.
Besides, dying in chargen is a rarer phenomenon than the mythology suggests.. Unless you went down the Scout route. There's a lot of dead Scouts out there.
This is great news. Thanks for share!!
From the Mongoose Q&A (link added to description now), it looks pretty well thought out, now and into the future.
How about T20 traveler ?
That falls under the umbrella... Only GURPS Traveller and Traveller HERO don't.
Mongoose Traveller is very good, but I feel that the business model is resembling DLC's. The rules are spread amongst many books and sometimes you have to do some research what books will you need. Maybe the book naming is not clear enough or something. This is a bit of a rant, so sorry about that. Still I think this is good news.
I think that's their default mode - lots of releases vs. compact references. I think they do a good job on the whole, with a few "misses" in their bulk output, perhaps because of their prolific schedule.
@@WillyMuffinUK I do agree. And don't get me wrong, I like that Mongoose is supporting Traveller heavily.
I like Mongoose Traveller 2nd Edition. I play it on a regular basis.
It's not a bad edition at all.
@@WillyMuffinUK it's certainly coherent mechanically, and they are putting out a ton of updated material but also new material.
@@martinbowman1993 They are indeed. I use quite a chunk of it myself.
Wait what? So what will this mean for the Cepheus Engine? I mean technically it should mean nothing considering that was one of the lessons learned from the OGL debacle back in 2023, you can't copyright mechanics. But we'll see.
I think they're good. Marc specifically mentions Cepheus in his CotI missive, so I'm pretty sure it's all good on that front.
@@WillyMuffinUK That's good. I may have not always agreed with many of the Cepheus community but they did good work towards expanding the number of settings the system could be applied to.
Hopefully Mongoose won't neglect Miller's Traveller in favor of it's own.
Hopefully. Putting all main editions into the TAS programme would be an easy thing to do, I feel, that would keep up support.
There is only traveller!
Rule books are your choice background books and are interchangeable . Apart from the terrible new era rules ( my opinion )
@@neilfrier3754 Hey, I like the New Era rules! 😜
I think Traveller 5 is already pretty dead. It will most likely be incorporated, in parts, into Mongoose Traveller, as with the rest of the older material. I personally do not see Mongoose producing specific Traveller 5 products. There is no need for it. Traveller 5 was the final breath of Marc Miller before he let go of Traveller for good. Whether that was a purely financial decision only MM will know. But it certainly was a complete mess.
@@NatsSt No game completely dies... Anyway, the general point of T5 - at least, the point it evolved into, rather than what was envisaged - is that it's a toolkit for anything. It doesn't need specific support, because it is a "nexus", of sorts - complete in and of itself enough for any material, old or new, to be used with it. I agree, it's unlikely Mongoose will directly publish for it - but, now they have ownership of, essentially, all editions, they may well put it within the JTAS domain for 3rd parties to write for. If that happens, I may well do just that.
Soon MGT 3rd edition; how many more books? .... I will stick with classic.
Classic won't be going away any time soon. In fact, with it being put into the TAS programme, Classic's future looks bright.
First
First?
Ive held off from Mongoose Traveller. I still hold my MegaTraveller in high regard. (perhaps nostalgia) Almost like a divine relic I dare not have its purity tarnished!
I feel like Mongoose are a low-quality publisher (by today's standards). I have their Paranoia (previous edition) & PDF of Traveller (2016). To me the art & presentation is off-putting. Its childish, poor graphic design & cartoony. Although the content may play fine, it really doesn't inspire me to play in the universe presented. (or make a purchase)
I know both these Mongoose games have been updated since, its an improvement, but im still a long way from being excited by it. Traveller, for me, is the ultimate sci-fi RPG but its being published in a low-budget way. Just look at the Dune (Modiphius) or Alien (Free League) books :: they suck you in to the vast blackness of space & your imagination swirls at the possibilities.
Thanks for this video. Its great to hear trustworthy opinions & advice from a true stalwart of Traveller.
I do agree that Free League and Modiphius have put together some excellent production values. Alien and Twilight: 2000 from Free League I am especially enjoying.
I don't share disdain for the art and layouts Mongoose goes for - I wasn't overly impressed by their first Traveller and RuneQuest attempts, but they have improved greatly and upped their game since, and continue to do so. Products such as the Great Rift and Deepnight Revelation I find as exciting as the best materials from any edition. But, I feel, they do suffer from volume of output. I would, by far, prefer Mongoose to slow down in favour of raising quality. No idea how possible that is for them.
Anyway, my two favourite versions of Traveller - T:NE and T5 - aren't particularly known for friendly layouts and colourful art, so... what do I know 🙂