Traveller Reading

My Documents of Interest

• House Rules - Includes character generation and equipment notes.
• Supplement 4 Alternate Skill Tables - Skill tables for use in my campaign to replace those in Supplement 4 - Citizens of the Imperium.
• Classic Traveller Section by Section Comparison - A comparison of the four versions of Classic Traveller (1977, 1981, The Traveller Book, Starter Traveller).
• Traveller Adventure Resources - An in-progress listing of Traveller adventures and what I find useful from them.
• Supplement Resources - Similar to the document for adventures, but listing the various non-adventure supplements I have available.
• Articles in my Traveller Binder - A listing of the articles I have in my Traveller binder and where they came from.
• Deck Plan Sources - Locations available to me of deckplans for various Traveller ships.
• JTAS Notes - List of articles in Journal of the Traveller's Aide Society of interest to me.
• Traveller Magazine Article Index - A listing of Traveller articles in various magazines (does not include reviews).
• Supplement Implications - A study I did at the beginning of my Classic Traveller work to understand what each additional Traveller book brought in.
• Traveller Chargen Skills Comparison - A spreadsheet showing the Classic Traveller basic character generation skill allotments.
• Worlds from Adventures - A list of worlds and what adventures they are detailed in. Useful for placing adventure worlds into a randomly generated sub-sector.

Other Interesting Sites and Blog Posts

Interesting Sites

• Classic Traveller Character Generator - This page will roll a character up for you, you can hit refresh a few times looking for one you like. Cut and paste and e-mail or otherwise post to me.
• Source for Classic Traveller Character Generator
• Classic Traveller Java Character Generator - This one is not as convenient as the first (you have to download and run it locally), however, it does allow making choices.
• Traveller Character Generator - This is a Windows app that allows choice. Here's another link with a screen shot, however, this binary did not work on Windows 8 64 bit.
• Character Generation Tables - This is a Google Sheet with all the tables for Classic Traveller. For my campaign, if subject to the draft, you should just roll 1d6 for Navy, Marine, etc. (assume the 1st die on the draft table in that sheet is 1 or 2). Of course if you use one of the Citizens careers, you need to use my skill tables.
• Young Thugs NPCs - Cepheus Engine generator for thugs, due to limited nature of skills provided is easily usable for Classic Traveller.
• Deciphering the Text Foundations of Traveller

Inspirational Blog Posts

Here is a short list of inspirational reading.

• Death is on the Table
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box-The Skill System (which I don’t think is a Skill System)
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box-Character Creation
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–Making a Character, Playing to Find Out
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box – The Remote, Centralized Government – “Where the Adventures Aren’t”
• In Defense of Dying in Traveller Character Generation
• What is Proto-Traveller?
• How to make a Traveller Sandbox
• 1981 Weapon Cards (corrected, extended, and modified from Christopher Kubasik's cards linked below)

More Inspirational Blog Posts

Here is a list of other inspirational blog posts (all of the various blogs mentioned here have more Traveller material, exploring it will give you some good reading):

• ON THE TABLE: Encountering Proto-Traveller
• ON THE TABLE: Straight Up Proto-Traveller
• Classic Traveller: Freetrader Economics
• Classic Traveller: Scout Ship Economics
• Classic Traveller: Session Report
• ON THE TABLE: Honest to Goodness Classic Traveller
• The Classic Traveller Skill System
• An Interview with Gregory P. Lee, author of “Lee’s Guide to Interstellar Adventure”
• Traveller: Where to start

Victor Raymond's "The Sandbox of Doom" with his Traveller Tuesday series

• The Other "Three Little Booklets"
• Traveller Tuesday: The Influence of D&D
• Traveller Tuesday: Our Original Inspiration
• Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Edition Characters
• Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Edition Combat
• Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Edition Starships
• Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Edition Experience
• Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Edition Worlds, Part One
• Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Edition Worlds, Part Two
• Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Edition Tech levels
• Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Edition Tech levels Part 2
• Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Edition Tech levels Part 3
• Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Edition Encounters
• Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Edition Animal Encounters

Omer G. Joel's Space Cockroach

• Make Room for the PCs
• In Defense of Dying in Traveller Character Generation
• The Hidden Initiative System in Classic Traveller
• Regarding skills in Classic Traveller
• On the Beauty of Classic Traveller
• Why doesn't Traveller have an OSR?
• So what *ARE* the Classic Traveller skills?
• Monday Monster - Resurrected Dinosaurs for Classic Traveller!
• Monster Monday - Cave Squid for Classic Traveller
• Monday Monster Take 2 - Aboleth and Skum for Classic Traveller!
• Monster Monday: the Dragon and Flying Eye for Classic Traveller!
• Monster Monday - Tentacled Worm for Classic Traveller
• Monster Monday: Giant Roaches for Classic Traveller!
• Traveller Book 2 Expansion part #1 - additional fittings
• In praise of lethality in old-school RPGs
• Effective use of Lethality in Old-School RPGs
• In (Classic Traveller) space, no one can hear you scream!
• What is Proto-Traveller?
• Empty-hex jumps and space topography
• Quick and dirty Classic Traveller vehicle combat
• Simple mass-combat rules for Classic Traveller - draft
• Once again on Classic Traveller skills
• Even more musings on Traveller and CE skills
• On Star Empires
• Quick and Dirty Classic Traveller vehicle combat- UPDATED
• Classic Traveller Variant Rules: Grunts, Mobs, and Monsters
• Cepheus Engine Variant Rules: Grunts, Mobs, and Monsters

Christopher Kubasik's Tales to Astound

Christopher Kubasik has a blog where he spends a lot of time writing about Classic Traveller. One day, perhaps he will collect it all and write a book. In the meantime, this collection is one of the best guides to the play style I aim for with Traveller.

• Games to Pitch: Traveller / Noble Houses at War
• Modified Character Sheet for Classic Traveller and Some Notes on Traveller Skills
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box – Introduction
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box – A Single Subsector is Enough
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box – Subsector Basic Assumptions
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box – How the Text of LBBs 1-3 Teaches How to Make Awesome Part I
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box – How the Text of LBBs 1-3 Teaches How to Make Awesome Part II
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box – The Remote, Centralized Government – “Where the Adventures Aren’t”
• RPG Settings – The Useful and the Not So Useful
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box – Interlude: Two Points Where I Prefer the 1977 Edition Over the 1981 Edition
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box – Interlude: Differences in Classic Traveller Rules Sets
• Classic Traveller and the Structure of Play
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box – Interlude: How People Played Traveller in 1977
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box – Rules as Tools Play
• TRAVELLER : Book 4 Mercenary – The Implicit Setting Made Explicit
• TRAVELLER and “Hard Science Fiction” — I don’t think so…
• Traveller: Out of the Box–The Tools Are Not The Setting
• Death is on the Table
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box-The Skill System (which I don’t think is a Skill System)
• The Qualities of a Group of Traveller Player Characters
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box-Character Creation
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–Some Thoughts on Skill Use in Classic Traveller
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box: Why I’m Not Fond of Rolling of Characteristic Throws
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–The Setting and The Setting of Play
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–Why a 2-Dimensional Map of Space?
• Traveller: Out of the Box–Multiple Characters and Hirelings
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–Notes on the Personal Combat System
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–The Distant, Isolated Worlds of Original Traveller
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–Rewards for the Player Characters
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–The Casual and Improvisatory Nature of Early Traveller Play
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–Making the Sister’s Reach Subsector [Underlying Design Philosophy]
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–Making the Sister’s Reach Subsector [Removing Communication Routes]
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–Making the Sister’s Reach Subsector [Adding the Space Lanes]
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–What We Mean When We Say “Encounter”
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–More On the Value of Tables, Improvisation, and Lack of Plot
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–“Book 2 Starship combat is not a tactical game. It is a resource management game.”
• An OSR Forum Makes a Subsector
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–Automatic Competency & Proving Competency
• More Classic Traveller Literary Inspiration!
• Even MORE Literary Inspirations for Original TRAVELLER
• Referee Screen Sheets for Classic Traveller and a Smart Referee Screen
• Prepping for my Classic Traveller Convention Game–A Character Sheet and 24 Pregen Characters
• Prepping for my Classic Traveller Convention Game–Gear Sheets
• Prepping for my Classic Traveller Convention Game–Weapon Cards
• The Covers for My Classic Traveller Binder
• Making Traveller Subsector Maps with the Awesome Poster Maker
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–“Giants of the Imagination”
• Work on SPACE: 1977 continues at The Ruins of Murkhill
• A Great Post About the Value of Skills in Original Traveller
• Free Traveller 5 Deck Plan Set
• Another Great Post About Skills in Original Traveller
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box-An Approach to Refereeing and Throws in Original Traveller (Part I)
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–An Invitation to Invention
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–Start Small
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–Another Difference Between the 1977 Edition and the 1981 Edition
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–A Subsector Map and a Cluster
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–Making a Character, Playing to Find Out
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–The Rules are Not Your Friend
• From TRAVELLER: Out of the Box to the Third Imperium
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–Marc Miller Talks about the Development of Traveller
• HALLOS SUBSECTOR: Notes for a Setting for Classic Traveller
• Classic Traveller: About those Ship’s Computers…
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–An Approach to Refereeing and Throws in Original Traveller (Part II)
• My Favorite SF RPG…
• An Improvised Classic Traveller Convention Game
• An Interview Marc Miller
• A Tales To Astound! Post Is In This Month’s Freelance Traveller
• Classic Traveller: Making a World from the Universal World Profile
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–The Use of Planetary Government in Traveller
• Happy Birthday Traveller!
• Classic Traveller Rules In Action, But Not In Space
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–The Expectations of a Traveller Referee at the Start of the Hobby
• Using Original TRAVELLER Out of the Box — E. Tage Larsen’s Alien Legion Inspired Setting
• TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–You are Not Your Numbers
• The Heart of the Classic Traveller Rules — For Me

Robert Weaver's Ancient Faith in the Far Future

Philosophy and Procedure of Play

Skills

• Another Career option for Classic Traveller - School
• What do Skills tell us about Traveller's Setting?
• Traveller Skills and Setting part 2
• Traveller Skills and Setting part 3
• Traveller Skills and Setting part 4
• Traveller Skills and Setting Part 5
• Avoid Skill Bloat! - Using Characteristics in CT
• How do you search for things in Traveller?
• Medical Skills for Medical Adventures
• Other Thoughts on Zero-G combat Skill
• More on Skills - Ship Tactics and Fleet Tactics
• Marines and Vehicles
• More on Skills - Gambling Skill
• Expanded Rules for Military Skills from CT Book 4 Mercenary

Procedures for Play

• What Gamers need to know about Surveillance
• Character Experience and Development in Traveller
• What Travellers need to know about fighting smart
• How to Lose a Battle
• Expanding the Reaction Table
• Rewarding the PCs in my Traveller game
• Gravitational Effects and Combat

Philosophy

• Why are there no Experience Points in Traveller?
• Battleships and Traveller
• Duct Tape makes you smart
• Four, no Five, no Six posts for understanding Classic Traveller
• Ancient Faith at the Gaming Table
• What does Game Balance look like in Traveller?
• But I Don't Like That Rule!
• Protagonists and Morality
• You really can do anything in Traveller!
• Traveller is not a Power Fantasy

Encounters

General Encounter Ideas

• A Powerful Tool for the Referee - The Random Encounter
• Random Encounters part Two: Random Events
• How to Win Friends or Antagonize People - The Reaction Table
• Stop! In the Name of the Law! - Legal encounters in Traveller
• Armed Groups in Traveller
• Red Tattoo Description Technique
• Secret Police forces in Traveller Governments
• Random Encounters: The Rulers of Worlds

Animal Encounters

• A surprising (or obvious) Animal Encounter
• The creatures of Little Fuzzy
• Animal Telepathy in Traveller
• Lions and Tigers and Bug-eyed Monsters, Oh My!
• More than four legs and Nasty Pointy Teeth
• Animal Encounter - White Apes of Barsoom
• Fighting the White Apes - A Combat Example
• Frightening Animal Encounters

Motivated Villains

• Equipping the Effective Villain
• Motivated Villains for Traveller #1
• Look Out! Here come Motivated Villains 2 & 3
• Motivated Villain #4 The Dreadful Doctor

Adventure Hooks

• Solar power from space for Traveller
• 66 Missions for Traveller

Setting Ideas

The following sections are Robert's take on setting

World and Setting

• All at Sea (or in Space)
• A Classic Traveller Guide to Planet-building
• Food - We need Food! Four reasons why food is The Big Trade Item
• An Outstanding World Building resource for your game
• It's All About Atmosphere
• Naming Astronomical Objects
• National Memorials in Traveller
• Science for your Game - The Habitable Exoplanets Catalog
• Science for your Game - Stellar Luminosity and Spectra
• Infographic of the Day: Ocean Worlds
• New Horizons spacecraft first photo of Pluto
• Hold the Line, Please! Distance and Communication in space
• Is space still dangerous in the Far Future?
• The Frontier is closer than you think - exploring a solar system
• Dictatorial Governments
• Planet of Dread! and Traveller World-Building

Social Status and Nobility

• A Guide for the Social Climbing Traveller
• Lords of the Imperium - revisiting the Noble Career in Traveller
• Seven steps to designing Noble Houses for Traveller

Expanding The Travellers Aid Society

• More than just High Passages - the TAS in my TU
• Mercy Ships for the TAS
• Gear for TAS Wardens
• Where do I sign up? Becoming a Warden in my TU

Psionics

• A dozen unusual psionic talents for Traveller
• Psionics and Technology and My Traveller Universe

Pirates

• Who are you calling a Pirate?
• One Way to Deal with Pirates

Religion

• What has Orthodoxy to do with Traveller?
• The Religion Index - a way to bring religion into the game
• Prayers and Blessings for Travellers in space
• Prayers for those who Travel
• The Religious Landscape in my Traveller Universe
• Non-humans in the Church in the Far Future?
• Clerics in my Traveller Universe
• Non-human Aliens and the Church, take two
• The Brothers of St Cuthbert - an NPC group in my TU

Other Setting Bits

• Who are the Whisperers?
• The Curious Case of the Other Service
• Why are there no Ranks in the Scout Service?
• Of Robots and Clones

Practical Stuff for Play (Gear and more)

Gear

• A Cool Medical Device for Your Game
• Grenades for Traveller
• Intel and Tech Briefs for Adventure Inspiration
• When you don't want lethal force - stunning weapons
• EXTERMINATE!! Daleks as a Traveller Variant
• Updating Classic Traveller Computers, sort of
• Say No to generic equipment
• Why have high-tech Jack armor?
• Unique and Valuable Objects, AKA Treasures
• "Drat. It's armored with collapsium."
• The Armor of St. Oswin

Starships

• Starship Combat!
• Bring me the Hydrospanner! Using Spare Parts on Starships
• On the Nature of Book 2 Space Combat
• I found Jump Torpedoes!
• Danger Aboard! Hazards of exploring derelict starships

Striker

• Battle Report - GDW's Striker
• Battle Report - GDW's Striker Part Two
• How to Create Striker Battle Maps
• Meet the Armata - a brand new TL-8 MBT
• Battle of Reservoir Valley part 1

Patrons, Adventures, and Casual Encounters

76 Patrons Adventures

• Downward - a 76 Patrons Adventure
• The Thing in the Telescope - a 76 Patrons adventure
• The Oncoming Storm - a 76 Patrons Adventure
• The Failed Colony - A 76 Patrons format adventure
• Diplomatic Service - a 76 Patrons style adventure

Amber Zones

• Amber Zone Opening Contest
• Amber Zone Adventure Contest Entry #1
• Hostile Takeover - Amber Zone Adventure Contest Entry #2
• I won Second Place! Again!
• And the Winner is . . . Me!
• Amber Zone - a Hostile Takeover
• The 2015 Amber Zone Contest is on

Casual Encounters

• Casual Encounter - Fr. Meffodi
• Casual Encounter - Fenton Tukachevski
• Casual Encounter - Vincent Poul
• Casual Encounter - Michael Westen
• Casual Encounters - Fiona and Sam
• Casual Encounter - The AVENGERS!
• Casual Encounter Nazir Kobayashi
• Casual Encounter - Adelaide Thrupp and An Example of Solo Play with a familiar Patron
• Casual Encounter - Dane Buckminster

JTAS Amber Zone Reviews

• Introducing the Amber Zone Reviews
• Top Ten and Bottom Ten Amber Zones
• Rescue on Ruie - Amber Zone # 1
• The Ship in the Lake - Amber Zone # 2
• Asteroid P-4836 - Amber Zone Reviews #3
• Salvage on Sharmun - Amber Zone Reviews #4
• Foodrunner - Amber Zone Reviews #5
• The Werewolf Disease - Amber Zone Reviews #6
• Loggerheads - Amber Zone Reviews # 7
• Ticket to Swords - Amber Zone Reviews # 8
• Scam - Amber Zone Reviews # 9
• Pursue and Destroy - Amber Zone Reviews # 10
• Crystals from Dinom - Amber Zone Reviews # 11
• Dagger at Efate - Amber Zone Reviews # 12
• Rule of Man Commemorative - Amber Zone Reviews # 13
• Soft Bunk - Amber Zone Reviews # 14
• Geria Transfer - Amber Zone Reviews #15
• Cout D'etat - Amber Zone Reviews # 16
• Thunder on Zyra - Amber Zone Reviews # 17
• Work of Art - Amber Zone Reviews # 18
• Tarkine Down - Amber Zone Reviews #19
• Royal Hunt - Amber Zone Review #20
• Lockbox - Amber Zone Reviews # 21
• Thoughtwaves - Amber Zone Reviews # 22
• Aces & Eights - Amber Zone #23
• Foxhound - A Striker variant Amber Zone Reviews # 24
• Drannixa Gambit - Amber Zone # 25
• Chill - Amber Zone Reviews # 26
• Last Flight of the Themis - Amber Zone Reviews # 27
• The Day of the Glow - Amber Zone Reviews # 28
• Chariots of Fire Amber Zone Revies # 29
• Without a Trace - Amber Zone Reviews #30
• Small Cargoes - Amber Zone Reviews # 31
• Pride of the Lion - Amber Zone Review # 32
• Critical Vector - Amber Zone Reviews # 33
• Raid on Stataorlai - Amber Zone Reviews # 34
• Homesteader's Stand - Amber Zone Reviews #35
• The Thing in the Depths - Amber Zone Reviews #36
• Ventures Afar - Amber Zone Reviews # 37
• The Birthday Plot - Amber Zone Reviews # 38

The Holtzmann's Corridor setting

• Introducing Holtzmann's Corridor
• Planets of the Corridor - The Imperial Client States
• Planets of the Corridor - Lanzhou and its Allies
• Planets of the Corridor - Stavanger
• Planets of the Corridor - Stavanger and its Allies
• Planets of the Corridor - The Non-Aligned Planets
• The Empire vs the Triplanetary
• World Leaders and Hot Zones in the Corridor
• The Church in the Corridor
• Masters of the World - the Barons of Stavanger
• Shaking Up my Traveller Universe
• Non-State Actors in the Corridor

Actual Play Reports

• Path of the Lioness - Campaign Journal #1
• Path of the Lioness - Campaign journal #2
• Path of the LIoness - Campaign Journal #3
• Path of the Lioness - Campaign Journal #4
• Joe & Jay's greatest mission ever!
• New Traveller game, new Traveller players

Product Reviews

• Clement Sector - New Frontier of Exploration and Adventure
• Special Supplement Four - The Lost Rules
• Product Review - Quick Decks Starter Pack
• Product Review - Startown Liberty
• Product Review - 21 Plots III
• Product Review - The Bronze Case
• Product Review - From the Ashes
• Guest Post - Review of Mongoose Traveller, Second Edition
• From Stellagama Publishing - These Stars are Ours!
• The Wreck in the Ring Now Available and A Review of The Wreck in the Ring
• Lancaster Subsector

Miscellaneous Posts

• A Failure of Diplomacy
• Firefly and Classic Traveller with Andy Slack!
• Several Travellers walk into a bar IMTU
• Blog Carnival May 2014 What does Star Wars mean to you?
• Falling, a sci-fi short story
• Traveller Motivational Posters!
• Merry Christmas from AF3!
• 85 Reasons why CT rocks
• Inspirational Artwork for Sci-Fi
• Requiem In Pace - Fr Thomas Hopko
• Classic Traveller Ship Builder
• Did you see this issue of Freelance Traveller?
• Watch a Super Star Destroyer Get Destroyed
• Book Review from National Review Online
• The Traveller Index
• Behind the Claw and AF3
• New Issue of Freelance Traveller #75
• Snowball Part Three
• Snowball, Part Two
• Snowball - a Traveller-inspired short story
• Freelance Traveller # 76
• Snowball - the Conclusion
• Snowball part Four
• A Traveller meme poster for your amusement
• Freelance Traveller #77 is out!
• Merry Christmas!
• My Favorite Posts at AF3
• More literary Traveller history

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Page last updated May 16, 2017

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