Re: Mongoose Traveller or Cepheus Engine

On 6/21/2024 12:52 AM, Kyonshi wrote:

On 6/20/2024 10:07 PM, Alex Schroeder wrote:

I have run Mongoose Traveller, the first one; years later I ran Classic
Traveller and it felt similar but also a bit weirder because the civil
careers aren’t there. But that betting element during character creation is
there, of course. I don’t know if many people play that way, however.
People click on generators until they get a character they like, I fear.
>
I started thinking about a short Traveller replacement based on
conversations with Frotz. I never had any concrete plans and so it never
went anywhere.
>
https://alexschroeder.ch/pdfs/Halbardier.pdf
>

 Yeah, I have to say the character generation system really is one of the best parts of Mongoose Traveller, as it gives you a fully-fledged backstory. It's not quite OSR though, as it involves too much investment into the character at the beginning.

It does work as a sort of party game though: everybody sits around the table and tries to create their character, and sometimes you manage to get connections with the other players. That's all very neat and easy, and I think it would be a great way to spend a first session.

I only played Traveller once (if you don't count Megatraveller CRPG which I enjoyed too) and the session consisted of making a character. Never actually did anything.  I found it fun anyway.
I used Heroes of Legend in 2e AD&D quite a bit which has a similar background generation (no betting though, and no chance of death, unplayable characters yes) for fantasy.  I eventually found it a bit too complicated and long and affecting character power and pared it down considerably.  I stopped using it sometime in 3e altogether, but occasionally fondly reminisce about 'session 0' where we'd spend a good portion of the first session making backgrounds with it.
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-Justisaur
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