Re; Mike Basinger, who wants to know which books of old lore to look for.
(Sorry-new mailer with copy command coming soon!)
Well it's good to see that T-TNE has gotten at least one person interested
in Traveller. I haven't actually met any of the hordes of them GDW keep
telling us exist- maybe it's better in the colonies :)
Now- which books you might want to look at depends on what you want to
know (wow- what a profound statement). If you wanted to see what the old
Traveller rules were like, then you would have to check out a lot of the
old Classic Traveller books Peter Brenton mentioned yesterday, and most of
MegaTraveller, and then you would probably find that Classic Traveller had
the best rules and end up playing with rules written 15+ years ago...
(ha ha only serious)
However, I assume that what you want is information on what the Imperium
was like before Skippy the Virus reduced it to dust, to help you actually
play the game, so I'm just going to mention a few books that may help
1) Anything by Digest Group Publications, ie
MT Aliens Books 1+2 - info on 2 important races per book
The MegaTraveller Digest 1-4 - big magazines
The Flaming Eye - Rebellion Era adventure book
World Builders Handbook - more world details and survey rules
This stuff is probably your best bet, since it's fairly recent, DGP did
some of the best stuff ever written for Traveller, and it is unlikely to
be republished by GDW soon. Not many superceded rules in them either.
2) For a guide to the Imperium, look for either the CT Supplements 8+11
that Pete mentioned, or it could well be easier to find the MegaTraveller
book 'The Imperial Encyclopedia' - one of the books in the MT box but
available seperately. Basically a revised reprint of the earlier Library
Data Supplements.
3) For a guide to the Rebellion, try the MegaTraveller book 'The Rebellion
Sourcebook'. Not perfect but lots of background, and it's better if you
don't have the piles of older material it repeats. And Survival Margin
of course....
I'll stop there before the list gets too big. It really does depend on what
you want, and how much effort you are prepared to spend finding it.
Really, except for the old adventures it's probably not worth getting
any CT material (even if it hurts me to say it). MT gives you most of the
same information but is easier to find. Peter Benton gave a good guide to
what's worth getting from the good old dsys if you are able.
WARNING- There is a dangerous product still on the loose, called
'Fighting Ships of the Shattered Imperium' for MT. This product should not
be approched. Not a single ship design is error-free, and it is of course
useless for TNE. Report to the Errata-Police if found.
Finally- If you have any general Traveller questions don't forget that the
TML is full of old Traveller players for whom the phrase 'GET A LIFE' means
rolling up a new Traveller character- what more background do you need?
Anyone else got 'I'd even murder the previous owner' books?
Anthony K.
(someone has been telling lies about me)