Starships

Starships
Classic Traveller Book 2
Author		Marc Miller
Publisher		Game Designers Workshop
Version		Classic Traveller
Edition		1st
Format		LBB (Digest)
Language		English
Pages		48
Year Published		1977
Canonical		Yes
Available from		RPGNow
Also See		Starship
TBD

Book 2 Starships is a Game Designers Workshop product.

• It is a primary rules source book, a core book, designed for Classic Traveller.
• This book has errata for the 1977 and 1981 editions:

1. Errata Basic Traveller 1977 Edition
2. Errata Basic Traveller 1981 Edition

Description (Specifications)

Travellers travel. They move between worlds as well as on their surfaces. The distances such travel covers may be interplanetary or interstellar in scale. It details interstellar travel and starships for Classic Traveller.

---

Book 2 contains details on starships. Players can travel on them using the basic transportation rules, and may find it interesting to engage in trade and commerce in order to make some money. Later, they will become involved in ship design and construction.

• One can find more information here: Starships/Content

Table of Contents

Classic Traveller Book 2 Starships
Section	Page/s
Travelling	1
Starship Economics	5
Starship Construction	9
Starship Combat	22
Drugs	38
Experience	40
Trade and Commerce	42

Library Data Entries (Public)

• Beam Laser
• Computer Software
• High Passage
• Jump Drive
• Low Lottery
• Low Passage
• Megacredit
• Mail Vault
• Maneuver Drive
• Middle Passage
• Misjump
• Missile Rack
• Naval Architecture
• Power Plant
• Pulse Laser
• Sandcaster
• Ship Fuel
• Ship’s Computer
• Ship's Papers
• Terra
• The Travellers' Aid Society AKA TAS
• Working Passage

Selected Drugs (Pharmaceuticals)

• Anagathic Drug
• Combat Drug
• Fast Antidote Drug
• Fast Drug
• Medical Drug
• Medical Slow Drug
• Psi-Booster Drug
• Psi-Double Drug
• Psi-Special Drug
• Slow Antidote Drug
• Slow Drug
• Truth Drug

Selected Equipment (Ship)

• Beam Laser
• Computer Software
• Fire Control Computer
• Fuel Purification Plant
• Fuel Scoops
• Grav Plate
• Hardpoint
• Inertial Compensator
• Jump Drive
• Mail Vault
• Maneuver Drive
• Missile Rack
• Power Plant
• Pulse Laser
• Sandcaster
• Ship Fuel
• Ship’s Computer
• Ship Sensor Suite
• Turret

Selected Form/s & Terms

Forms:

• TAS Form 3 Ship’s Paper’s (Commercial)

Terms:

• Naval Architecture

Selected Organizations

• Corporate Bank
• Travellers' Aid Society
• World-State Government

Selected Computer Programs

Offensive Programs:

• Double Fire Program
• Gunner Program
• Launch Program
• Multi-target Program
• Predict Program
• Select Program
• Target Program

Defensive Programs:

• Anti-Missile Program
• Auto/Evade Program
• ECM Program
• Maneuver/Evade Program
• Return Fire Program

Routine Programs:

• Anti-hijack Program
• Generate Program
• Jump Program
• Library Program
• Maneuver Program
• Navigation Program

Selected Ship Types

1. Type A class Free Trader
2. Type C class Mercenary Cruiser AKA Broadsword class Mercenary Cruiser
3. Type M class Subsidized Liner
4. Type R class Subsidized Merchant
5. Type S class Scout/Courier
6. Type T class Patrol Ship AKA Type T class Patrol Cruiser AKA Type TP class Patrol Cruiser
7. Type Y class Yacht

Selected Smallcraft Types

1. Cutter (50-ton)
2. Fighter (10-ton)
3. Launch (20-ton)
   1. Damgarrii class Passenger Launch
4. Pinnace (40-ton)
5. Ship's Boat (30-ton)
6. Shuttle (95-ton)
7. Slow Boat (30-ton)
8. Slow Pinnace (40-ton)

Selected Technology

• Computer Software
• Ship’s Computer

Selected Vehicles

• Air/Raft
• ATV, Tracked
• ATV, Wheeled
• GCarrier
• Speeder

Selected Worlds

• Terra AKA Terra (SR 1827) (world)

Meta-history & Background (Dossier)

Classic Traveller Books 1 through 3 provided the cornerstone for all future Traveller publications.

• Books 1, 2, and 3 came together to provide a great, well-developed sci-fi RPG.

---

The Classic Traveller core rules actually exist in three different rulesets. Logic would suggest using the most recent released edition; but in this case, there are rules elements of interest to the collector which would not be included.

The original 1977 release of Traveller contained three books – Characters and Combat, Starships, and Worlds and Adventures. This set of rules contains everything needed to play Traveller. However, in 1981, GDW took advantage of a need to reprint the core rules to also address and clean up the rules. This "second edition" actually adds quite a bit to the rules, but there are also some items dropped from the rules. This second edition also incorporated errata printed in Book 4 – Mercenary for the original 1977 edition.

This cleaned up "second edition" would be used for producing The Traveller Book in 1982, along with some additional material, including a special introduction for new players, two adventures, and additional details on what was becoming the Official Traveller Universe (OTU). Some additional rules did slip into The Traveller Book that appear nowhere else.

Finally, in 1983, GDW released Starter Traveller, intended at giving a younger audience a streamlined and simpler set of Traveller rules. This release dropped some of the more complicated rules, but added a different starship combat system (using range bands, much like the personal combat system, as opposed to vector movement) which many consider a great improvement on the original. Except where noted, Starter Traveller uses the 1981 edition rules.

Finally, other minor Classic Traveller rules appeared in other releases (notably Mayday, Snapshot, and the Alien Modules) which some referees and players of the Classic Traveller rules will find useful without adopting the game models in those products. This document presents a collection of rules elements for purchasers of FFE's The Classic Books 0 - 8 to give them access to these lost rules not available in the Classic Reprints collection.

Credits (Primary Sources)

Credits (Primary Sources)
Credit	Authors & Contributors
Original Concept and General Game Design	Marc Miller
Supplemental Design	Frank Chadwick, John Harshman, Loren Wiseman, Darryl Hany
Playtesting	Winston Hamilton, Tony Svajlenka, Scott Renner, Doug Po, David MacDonald, and Wayne Roth
Art Direction	Paul R. Banner
Publisher	Game Designers' Workshop

External Link/s

COMMENTARY & DATA ARTICLES:

1. EXTERNAL LINK: RPG GEEK Entry
2. EXTERNAL LINK: RPG NET Entry
3. EXTERNAL LINK: Library Thing Classic Traveller
4. EXTERNAL LINK: Beyond Book 2: Expanding the Basic Classic Traveller Starship Design System
5. EXTERNAL LINK: Illustrations of Classic Traveller Starships

REVIEWS:

1. EXTERNAL LINK: Interstellar Overdrive: Starship Design In Classic Traveller
2. EXTERNAL LINK: TRAVELLER: Out of the Box–“Book 2 Starship combat is not a tactical game. It is a resource management game.”
3. EXTERNAL LINK: Travelling Heavy
4. EXTERNAL LINK: Classic Traveller Ship Builder
5. EXTERNAL LINK: All kinds of good ship stuff from Peter Trevor

Other Articles:

1. EXTERNAL LINK: None

References & Contributions (Sources)

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Far Future Enterprises or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science