Alex Holt asked:
>1) Which one of the Traveller rules sets is the best in terms of
>playability?
I'd say it's a mixed bag. I use subsystems from each of the eras
of Traveller. The task resolution system of TNE seems the
easiest to use for me, though I employ a more gradiated
difficulty scale than they do, modifying their chart by adding
intermediary levels of difficulty (a modifier at each interval of
1/8th).
The character generation systems of each of the games are too
cumbersome and time consuming for me, plus players tend to wind
up with characters they aren't happy with, so I use the following
2 methods:
Method 1: I determine what careers, skills, skill-levels, and
equipment would be unacceptable for the scenario/setting to be
played in, and make these off-limits. Then I let each player
choose his character's career and the number of terms he's been
in it (sometimes I put a cap on terms). Stats are rolled
normally on 2d6, ignoring entrance requirments. Then each player
rolls a 6-sider to determine the number of skills he gets per
term, then he spends his skill points on whatever skills he wants
from the the skill charts for his class in the MegaTraveller
Player's Manual, except for chart 4 unless or until he has the
requisite education level. Mustering out is done normally. I
find that this system cuts out a lot of dice rolling.
Method 2: Takes more prep-work on the ref's part, but once the
prep-work is done, this saves precious game session time, and
gets the players into play much faster. The ref simply generates
a bunch of characters in advance (the more the better), and lets
his players choose which ones they want to be. Variations on
this theme I've used successfully are giving discretionary skill
points for the players to spend to customize their characters a
bit, or a limited number of edits for the same purpose. I keep
the changes allowed down to minimum (say 2d6 points worth) to
reduce time spent in character generation.
The experience system in TNE is a good concept, but much too
generous. I basically use the same system, but grant smaller
rewards.
As for combat, I often just wing it. The players don't know the
difference, as my nose is always in the book. I like the TNE
combat system best. In my game, I use the task-resolution system
with several modifications. As for ship damage, I note the
game's rules as guidelines, but above all try to keep it
cinematic.
2) Do people enjoy playing in space (ie from world to world) vs. on a
single world?
In my experience, both. It all has to do with how good your
background material is.
For instance, Glisten/Glisten/Spinward Marches was written up in
one of the Traveller's Digests. It makes for a very rich
campaign setting: A high-tech high-population civilization
living in an asteroid system, with lots of in-system traffic.
One of my campaign branches deals with a pair of Scout
Intelligence Operatives posing as employees of a company based
there, for the purposes of finding and tracking enemy spies.
There's been so much activity there, that they've had no need to
leave the system.
On the other hand, travelling around is handled well in The
Traveller Adventure, with encounters and mini-scenarios along the
way.
Hope that helps,
Roger Sanger.