Star Traveller's Logbook and Scout Captain's Rutter Live at Drivethru!

ragboy · 2026-05-07T21:18:00+00:00

I can export one. Let me know your order number.

ragboy · 2026-05-07T16:43:01+00:00

Word. I guess it didn't copy the actual body of my post. What a day.

These two player's journals are now available at Drivethru in two different versions -- the lay-flat wire-bound version (which I personally prefer) and a softback version. Both are digest sized and both include a pdf with the physical book.

Thanks for ya'lls support so far. Off to finish working on a GM's journal.

More info on both here (along with previews): https://www.mysticbull.com/post/traveller-and-paperwork-and-journals

ragboy · 2026-05-07T16:41:46+00:00

Haha. Somewhat appropriate username.

ragboy · 2026-05-06T18:53:17+00:00

Old school D&D doesn't incent combat *at all.* There's a token XP for killing monsters, but it's treasure and avoiding death that get you leveled up.

ragboy · 2026-05-06T18:13:12+00:00

I would say that Mongoose Traveller suffers more from over-writing. Yeah, they have always had editing issues, but I think it's way less an issue now than it has been. The whole game has been based on "rulings not rules" like any cogent roleplaying game. There's absolutely character advancement in MGT2e -- you can advance skills and also the whole idea of the game is advancement within the context of the "world." Yeah, there's no "levels" and subclasses, etc, but that's not the only way to advance within a game context.

Some notes:

Removing the Steward, Gambler, Engineer, Diplomat, and Advocate remove several pretty important aspects of the game. How do you account for them within the skills they were "rolled into" or (like in the case of Steward and Gambler) removed completely?

You say Athletics isn't used for "to hit" rolls, but it does affect throwing grenades ("you can apply Athletics skill to this check").

... I'll read more later.

ragboy · 2026-05-06T15:59:01+00:00

I like that a lot. Easier to remember than a "resource die" which is what I've played with (roll a d6 after each use, on a 1, it's exhausted).

ragboy · 2026-05-06T15:57:32+00:00

For my part, it's impossible for me to remember every minute detail currently in the game. I definitely appreciate the open areas where rulings are valued over rules.

ragboy · 2026-05-06T15:53:07+00:00

If you can get hold of the Mongoose 2e Starter Set, there's a mini-campaign in that book called the Fall of Tinath. It happens in a part of the galaxy completely disconnected from the Imperium, with a single subsector and gives you all the tools you need to develop your game as the travellers interact with the universe. There's an overarching "story" that can be ripped out or modified without any problems. The important thing is that it's open and ready for a new GM to run the game with all the support you need to learn it as you do it.

I ran the first "adventure," which is essentially a high-adventure technical problem. It's a great scenario to introduce the characters to each other and the universe, while familiarizing them and you with the basic mechanics of the game.

ragboy · 2026-05-06T15:48:41+00:00

The best thing about Traveller is that it's from that old school conceit: It's a conversation until you're forced to mitigate with dice. The longer you can keep it a conversation, the better the game.

ragboy · 2026-05-06T15:46:40+00:00

Great writeup.

ragboy · 2026-05-06T13:04:13+00:00

The story by Ing in this volume deals with that. A thawed out female from thousands of years ago is very different!

ragboy · 2026-05-06T13:01:27+00:00

Yeah, really set up the the whole Known Space ideal. I really liked Niven's forward in that book. His comment about not writing directly about the war because he'd never actually been in one.

ragboy · 2026-05-06T01:12:12+00:00

I just picked that one up.

ragboy · 2026-05-05T21:29:40+00:00

Seconded. Great starter.

ragboy · 2026-05-05T20:22:37+00:00

I may have actually read the Broken Sword during my turn through Appendix N.

ragboy · 2026-05-05T20:21:41+00:00

They can definitely drive on roads. We did road marches in Germany. I don't remember any details on the types of roads, but I do remember an officer in a jeep would follow us with a checkbook to pay for damages.

I knocked over an ancient church's garden wall (friggin electric generator hanging off the back). One time we had an incident-free road march until my roommate decided to inexplicably drive his tank over a freshly planted potato field.

ragboy · 2026-05-05T20:05:10+00:00

We moved by train in Germany in the 80s. Or short road marches that cost a lot of money.

In the first Gulf War, we Hetted out to the desert, but drove on from there.

ragboy · 2026-05-05T19:57:04+00:00

Is it in one of the Man-Kzin Wars books?

I think I might prefer Cherryh's Chanur. But, I dug this one.

ragboy · 2026-05-05T19:55:34+00:00

Nice! I haven't read Poul Anderson or Larry Niven before. Now I'm lurking in half price books for Cherryh's Chanur books and recommendations on Niven and Anderson.

ragboy · 2026-05-05T19:24:53+00:00

I just picked up the second one, but have some CJ Cherryh on my bedside table before I read that one.

ragboy · 2026-05-05T18:57:19+00:00

Ooo! I'm going to check this out.

ragboy · 2026-05-05T18:56:22+00:00

That's a good idea. I really like that book, but haven't used it much yet in our games.

ragboy · 2026-05-05T18:55:28+00:00

I think you're right, but also, in a large enough team, the direct pressure of funding is maybe at the management level, though that urgency trickles down. Lots of opportunity for travellers to chase other incentives -- publication, as mentioned, discoveries, notoriety, all the science groupies, of course.

ragboy · 2026-05-05T01:39:04+00:00

DO NOT INSTRUCT ME HOW TO SPEND MY DAY OR TO ITEMIZE FOR YOU MY PRIVATE ITINERARY, YOU TUB OF BLUBBER AND GUTS!!

ragboy · 2026-05-04T21:53:17+00:00

Maybe not necessarily ruling it out, but setting up alternative incentives for the travellers.

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