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christiansorrell · 3 months

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TTRPG Read-Through: Traveller - Book 1

Here is a read-through I did about a year and a half ago (originally posted on Twitter) of one of the all time classics: Traveller by Game Designers' Workshop! This read-through just covers Book 1 - Characters and Combat from the original Traveller box set trio of books. - Christian

This is the 1981 Second Edition printing of the classic Traveller three zine box set! Been wanting to read this for ages now. It's discussed A LOT in Mothership circles.

Really interesting to see GM-less and solo play options here. Didn't realize that was being done explicitly at this time. Also, nice to see "he or she" language here rather than the just "he" you see a lot in older games.

The UPP is clearly the creation of an utterly deranged mind. This seems like a huge overcomplication of just listing stats (unless all your players are proficient in hexadecimal).

[Hi, it's me from the future here (aka now - 2024): I've learned to embrace and love the UPP (or more specifically the planet stat version from one of the other books). It's complicated at first but really quick and cool once you know how to read it.]

I really like Social Standing as a stat replacement for charisma or charm or other social skills you tend to see. Feels like it would have more impact on the story and less of a "Roll to see if you convince him, I guess" sort of anticlimax social skills have most of the time.

I'm now into the "you can die during char creation in Traveller" bits. Really cool in some ways. Really comical in others. It recommends you enlist your bad stat characters into the Scout service because of it's high mortality rate (so you can roll a diff char before play), lol.

Essentially, you roll stats and that's your entire character but to give them some experience they can enlist in a Service. You have to roll to get in and may get rejected. If so, you submit to the draft (get into one at random). You can die. You can gain skills and promotions.

Honestly, the char creation feels like a solo game unto itself. Risk v reward of how far to push your enlistments to boost your skills and standing and benefits. You could have a whole story in your head by the end of it. Great Session 0 material.

As a 34 yr old, this hurts. Apparently, I have -1 Strength, Dexterity and Endurance now...

I admire commitment but asking GMs to use this full char creator for all NPCs (which means generating chars until you get one capable of filling the role you need) is truly too wild. Best part: at the end, it just says you can also pick whatever you want for stats and skills.

The weapons and intro text have much more of a space as a new age of sail vibe to them than I was anticipating. It's cool. Far more Dune than Alien (so far).

Interestingly (unless I missed something), skills are detached from your stats. Your base stats make getting into a Service easier and help you with Saving Throws and such, but skills have their own modifiers based on the situation and your expertise. It's cool (if a bit dense)!

In case you were wondering, there is absolutely no art in this entire book. I'm hoping we'll get some in one of the other two books with vehicles and ships and such but won't be holding my breath. Gives the whole thing a very Serious vibe.

Always interesting to see how older games chose to handle this (or not).

Here's the UPP in action along with quick listing of other character info. Interesting even if it is just too overcomplicated for my tastes.

Can't overstate how much char creation feels like a whole solo game of its own. You can roll a character at age 18 and have them go through seven 4-yr terms in a Service before retiring and having substantial cash, specific possessions, memberships and social standings. Wild.

The character sheet mentions PSIONICS which is exciting (but I'll have to wait till Book 3 for more on that apparently).

Combat is straightforward but has some unique bits: a focus on stealth as an option and movement/attacks occur by all parties simultaneously which means everyone (enemies too) gets to move and then everyone chooses who to attack and you roll them all. Sounds really fun.

Stats have cool effects in battle. Your Endurance stat is the number of attacks you can make before needing to rest (can you imagine if DnD just didn't let you do a base attack at a point?). Strength and Dex can boost or lower certain weapon rolls like you'd expect.

If trained in a weapon, you can give your expertise as a negative mod to your enemy's rolls to attack you to reflect parrying and blocking which is cool. The skills also add to your attack rolls. Skills just seem really useful overall here.

I just love that we get stats for broadswords, revolvers, and laser carbines. Plus, there are even special tables for archaic weapons for when encountering lower-tech civilizations. It feels like a really wide open interpretation of what space could look like. Feels exciting.

A few more equipment tables and a final quick reference page at the back and that's all for Book 1. I'll be back with Book 2 and 3 in the coming days!

Main thoughts: Character creation is very involved but really cool - its own game practically. Skills are very deep in a way that feels refreshing when compared to more stat-focused games. Combat has some fun, chaotic twists. Feels like a wide universe of possibility here so far.

I'll add Books 2 and 3 to this thread when I give them their own read-throughs. In the meantime, here's my newsletter (last two months have Mothership freebies): https://meatcastle.substack.com

And here's my website (with links to my games and modules and all that good stuff): https://shop.meatcastlegameware.com/

Thanks for reading!

#traveller #ttrpg #rpg #science fiction #scifi #long post #read through #ttrpgs #roleplaying #roleplaying games #tabletop #classic

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mickmundy · 9 months

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i am now hooked on bushmedicine bc of your fics, would u happen to have fic/blog recs? 👀

OH MY GOSH EEE THANK YOU SO MUCH MY FRIEND ;__; I'M SO HAPPY YOU'RE ENJOYING MY SERIES!!!! ;u; as for recs.. ohoho... yes... i do.., fortunately i have amazing talented friends whose work i admire and adore!!! just going to say that this list is by no means exhaustive or complete and is being done completely off of the top of my head, so PLEASE don't feel bad if i leave anyone out!! ;__; <333

also i'm really not super active on here so i mostly know twt accounts but i'll do my best! i'll firstly advise you to just look through my bushmed tag on my blog. lots of great folks in there!! ^v^ so much talent!! aoguaougaaa!!! and to my friends who have supported me with my own fics thank you so much ;;; i owe u all everythign!! <333 going to stick this under a cut since it's kind of lengthy!!

for fic recs, i actually don't have a lot of time to read many, sadly!! ;_; BUT i'll gladly point you in the direction of some of my besties' fics that i have read and absolutely adore!!:

see that my grave is kept clean by @fairyouth.... my favorite. john is a freaking MASTER of writing them and i love his big huge creative mind!!

heatstroke by @eurovamp... kat is so talented!! i LOVE her interpretation and they have so many fun au's!! i haven't gotten a chance to read it but she also wrote a bushmed naga fic that they've been talking to me about and AAHHH IM SO EXCITED TO READ!!

as for fanart, i'll also use this as a chance to promote my lovely talented friends!! i don't speak for them of course but i believe some of them (myself included) might be more active on twitter, i'm not sure! :( but i'll rec them here regardless hehehe!! some accts are ns/fw too so just a heads up!

@lovey2dovey2 YESSS FELLOW MEDSNIP LESBIAN!!! HEHEHE!! she's SO talented and kind, and all of her interpretations are SO fun and creative!! absolutely adore her art style!!

@5piecechickendinner / @5piececockdinner DEEEEEE absolutely stunning pieces, great moody art and a joy to talk to!! a blast to talk headcanons with too!!

@rabidratbaby -> twitter acct! amazing pieces, conveys such tenderness and sweetness in their art, both nsfw and sfw!! super chill and immaculate vibes in general!!

@radioactive-gremlin -> support her on patreon! char's got it all... lighthearted silliness and super sexy comics!! a total delight to follow and befriend!

@lubby-beez LUB!! so sweet to know, and the queen of saucy medic art!! amazing coloring and body type representation and super fun ocs!!

@poisonedflame if you follow me on here you've probably seen me reblog ren's amazing sfms quite a few times hehe... so kind and talented, huge-brained and a wonderful friend!!

@skymacaroon fantastic art and super fun to talk to, absolutely love how he draws medic and sniper!!

@oldkamelle one of the accounts that warmly welcomed me to tumblr.. ;u; very kind and so great to talk to, totally wonderful artistic talent!!!

as for folks who i am not very close to but whose works i still adore and cherish and scream so normally and lovingly any time i see them on my tl and who i want to still give some spotlight to! i hope it's okay that i'm tagging you in this! ;-;

@goo-p absolutely no notes... ellís's style yields so much range for whimsy And more somber/serious pieces... absolutely stunning!! a joy to work with creatively and to speak with!!

@hootsimedes such cute style and so many amazing creative ideas!! and so kind!! ^u^

@halfhihat SUUCH a cute style!! absolutely love the cute little comics he draws!!

#asks #anonymous #dutchfoolery #medsnip

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