Hi, I am relatively new to Traveller, but not to RPG's in general. I know 5.10 has been contentious, with some saying it's quite useful as a toolkit and others saying it is unplayable. I've been squinting at the few videos of people flipping through it, trying to decipher if it was a good fit for me. Sadly this method could only take me so far, which is why I'm now making this post to go over what I'm sorta looking for that, my chief concern, as well as touching upon my tastes, in the hope that people with experience in these books can help set my expectations right.
1. I am in the market for a "textbook-like" reference manual. This seems to be a main sticking point for a lot of people with 5.10 (other than 5th edition's history of kickstarter disappointment, that is). I admit, the thing that attracted me to Traveller in the first place years ago was its minimalist graphic design in Classic. Not only is 5.10's B&W text-heaviness not a problem for me, but I could see it as a boon if it's actually a good reference manual. But that leads me to one of my chief concerns:
2. I am worried 5.10 might not be a good reference work. I am aware there's a long thread concerning possible errata, though I am unsure how much affects its utility. A growing discomfort I had while watching people flip through the books was the idea that a lot of the text I was seeing might be unneeded information that serves little to no purpose other than to fill the pages. Of course, this is from just freezing on videos to squint at the pages, so it's hard to say how much merit these concerns have. An entire page gets devoted to demonstrating "size" and ranges, only for it to look like the chart is repeated just a few pages later--does this chart actually serve any useful purpose? The definition of the word "knowledge" looks like it gets repeated several times without seemingly any mechanical details on how it functions differently from a "skill". Why is an entire page devoted to daily sleep cycles? Why is an entire page devoted to repeating mostly the same adjectives over and over for the different Characterstic levels? It looks like there are a good number of mostly blank pages for world mapping that look like they are there just to be xeroxed. If I am buying a reference manual, I think I will feel disappointed if I'm only referencing less than half of the printed material. How is the ratio of "meat" to "flaff" in these tombs, really?
3. I think I prefer roll low on 2d6? A silly preference I know, but it does sound like 5.10 might have a more "fun" task resolution system than Classic Traveller with both roll low and flux dice. I do wonder how contentious it might with CT fans that 5e puts more of an emphasis on Characterstics (-5 to +5 vs. I think -2/-3 to +2/+3?) I've also seen some people complain about having to roll eight or twelves d6's at once, but from what I've seen, it looks like you're usually only rolling 2, maybe a max of 4?
4. I am not interested in owning many Traveller books, which is why I hadn't really bothered looking at Mongoose Traveller, as its main benefit seemed to be having ongoing support. I have considered getting PDF's of Classic Traveller to print out and staple bind, but I'm not sure how much I'd actively use CT other than as a curio.
5. I like the idea of the Third Imperium as a concept but not really all that interested in delving into its history or details, just looks like a nice idea to springboard off of to take my own game.
6. The only sci-fi game I currently own with interest in running is Diaspora. This Fate-based game is open about having a Traveller background, with the main difference of Diaspora's clusters being cut off from the rest of the galaxy and relying on slipknots instead of jump engines. Other than that inspiration being worn on its sleeve, however, it leaves much of the finer details to the players. If 5.10 proved to be a useful reference manual, I have wondered if its material would be beneficial in running Diaspora, or vice-versa.
7. No online support? Okay, I know what I said in item 4, but it is rather off-putting that I cannot find a 5.10 character sheet to download; is one really not available?
1. I am in the market for a "textbook-like" reference manual. This seems to be a main sticking point for a lot of people with 5.10 (other than 5th edition's history of kickstarter disappointment, that is). I admit, the thing that attracted me to Traveller in the first place years ago was its minimalist graphic design in Classic. Not only is 5.10's B&W text-heaviness not a problem for me, but I could see it as a boon if it's actually a good reference manual. But that leads me to one of my chief concerns:
2. I am worried 5.10 might not be a good reference work. I am aware there's a long thread concerning possible errata, though I am unsure how much affects its utility. A growing discomfort I had while watching people flip through the books was the idea that a lot of the text I was seeing might be unneeded information that serves little to no purpose other than to fill the pages. Of course, this is from just freezing on videos to squint at the pages, so it's hard to say how much merit these concerns have. An entire page gets devoted to demonstrating "size" and ranges, only for it to look like the chart is repeated just a few pages later--does this chart actually serve any useful purpose? The definition of the word "knowledge" looks like it gets repeated several times without seemingly any mechanical details on how it functions differently from a "skill". Why is an entire page devoted to daily sleep cycles? Why is an entire page devoted to repeating mostly the same adjectives over and over for the different Characterstic levels? It looks like there are a good number of mostly blank pages for world mapping that look like they are there just to be xeroxed. If I am buying a reference manual, I think I will feel disappointed if I'm only referencing less than half of the printed material. How is the ratio of "meat" to "flaff" in these tombs, really?
3. I think I prefer roll low on 2d6? A silly preference I know, but it does sound like 5.10 might have a more "fun" task resolution system than Classic Traveller with both roll low and flux dice. I do wonder how contentious it might with CT fans that 5e puts more of an emphasis on Characterstics (-5 to +5 vs. I think -2/-3 to +2/+3?) I've also seen some people complain about having to roll eight or twelves d6's at once, but from what I've seen, it looks like you're usually only rolling 2, maybe a max of 4?
4. I am not interested in owning many Traveller books, which is why I hadn't really bothered looking at Mongoose Traveller, as its main benefit seemed to be having ongoing support. I have considered getting PDF's of Classic Traveller to print out and staple bind, but I'm not sure how much I'd actively use CT other than as a curio.
5. I like the idea of the Third Imperium as a concept but not really all that interested in delving into its history or details, just looks like a nice idea to springboard off of to take my own game.
6. The only sci-fi game I currently own with interest in running is Diaspora. This Fate-based game is open about having a Traveller background, with the main difference of Diaspora's clusters being cut off from the rest of the galaxy and relying on slipknots instead of jump engines. Other than that inspiration being worn on its sleeve, however, it leaves much of the finer details to the players. If 5.10 proved to be a useful reference manual, I have wondered if its material would be beneficial in running Diaspora, or vice-versa.
7. No online support? Okay, I know what I said in item 4, but it is rather off-putting that I cannot find a 5.10 character sheet to download; is one really not available?