Traveller:Frequently Asked Questions
Welcome to the Traveller Wiki and Traveller. This page is a list of frequently asked questions and, hopefully, useful answers. This page will be updated on occasion. If you have a question not answered here, please ask on the Talk Page, and we'll get a good answer and post it here on this page.
Introduction
Questions in this section are for people new to Traveller. If you have not previously heard of Traveller, or are just hearing about it now and want to know more, this is the section for you.
What is Traveller?
Traveller is a table top role-playing game (TTRPG). First published in 1977, it was focused on letting player recreate the science fiction adventures of the pulp SF novels of the 1940s to the 1960s. It has since evolved to include many of the SF tropes found in novels, films, television, and video games.
The answer to the question is expanded upon in the full What is Traveller? article.
Which edition should I get started with?
This list is in order of price, and all of them should be easily available.
- Classic Traveller Facsimile edition - The original Classic Traveller rules set. It includes rules on creating characters, resolving combats, handing interstellar trade, and other actions, includes building starships, generating worlds, and a good selection of interesting equipment.
- Cepheus Deluxe Enhanced Edition - A derivative of the Classic Traveller rules, updated and expanded. Includes all of the cool stuff in the Facsimile edition, plus more.
- Mongoose 2nd: Core Rulebook Update 2022 - Mongoose is the primary publisher for Traveller. The Core Rule book update is the latest edition of the Mongoose rules. As above this is a complete set of rules to get started.
What are good published adventures to get started?
- Mongoose 2nd: High and Dry - The players are given a ship, the downside is they need to go get it.
- Mongoose 2nd: Stranded - The players are stranded on a glacier and must make their way across desolate wilderness to survive.
- Twilight's Peak (book) - The player's follow clues from an old book to uncover a deadly secret.
What are the inspirations for Traveller and me?
There is a long list of books and other media in More Reading. If you come across something not on the list, please let us know.
History of Traveller
This section is for background of Traveller rules and setting materials.
How many versions of Traveller have there been?
There have been 11 major versions of Traveller. These are explored more in Versions of Traveller.
Why is Traveller spelled the British way with two L's?
The two primary reasons were giving it a British spelling allowed the title to stand as a Trademark. It would also allow finding potential copyright infringement problems easier.
Setting questions
These are questions about the general setting that Traveller posits, or the Third Imperium specifically.
The following subjects have previously been discussed -- often in great depth -- on the various Traveller forums. They invariably had staunch defenders on both sides, and led to some fiery debates. So, unless you have some new and inspired material, please don't stoke the coals.
When does Traveller take place?
The classic or golden era of the Traveller setting is the year 1105, counting from the founding of the Third Imperium. This is approximately the year 5,627 in the Gregorian Calendar or about 3600 years in the future.
Some published material deals with other points in time such as the Interstellar Wars, the aftermath of Terra's (Earth's) invention of jump drive and its subsequent first contact with extraterrestrial life in -2422, or the Galaxiad, looking back from circa 1902 when the Third Imperium is ancient history that heroic tales are told of. Further, most editions of Traveller can be used to run campaigns in other timelines and universes, with no connection to the Third Imperium.
Is the Third Imperium Good or Evil?
Speculations on the nature of the Third Imperium include:
- The 3I is a massive juggernaut, with an amazing tax base and thousands of spacecraft in even minor systems. Interplanetary trade is robust. Many starports are huge city-sized affairs.
- The 3I is a powerful force to reckon with, with good control over most of its member worlds and the power to back its authority. Interplanetary trade is good on many worlds. Starports are planetary trade centers.
- The 3I is a stable confederation, held together by the nobility of its population, but not all-powerful and overall not wealthy. Interplanetary trade is regular. Starports are common.
- The 3I is a loose, vulnerable sprawl of worlds, which by the way is no worse off than the other interstellar states. Interplanetary trade exists on major worlds. Starports are significant on major worlds but not so massive.
- The 3I is a picture of gross mismanagement over impossible distances. It's a wonder it held together so long. Interplanetary trade exists on only the best worlds. Starports are, on the whole, rather weak things.
What is a Feudal Technocracy?
The definition of a Feudal Technocracy (Government Type 5) is poorly explained in the original rules. Making that more complicated is Marc Miller's statement that the Third Imperium itself is one.
It became clear that different people had very different ideas about what was and was not a Feudal Technocracy. One side favored emphasizing the feudal aspect while another emphasized the technocratic aspect, using the term 'practice of technology', defined this as requiring industrial activity in all possible areas for a certain TL, producing sufficient surplus resources to support research, development, production and operation and support the expansion of the economy and stated that he regarded this as the prime requirement of a technocracy.
Also, a number of people had expressed the preference that 'critical technology' governments, who govern by virtue of control of some critical technology, be possibly describable as Feudal Technocracies. This type of society is possible at the lower population levels at which FT's commonly occur in the Imperium.
Since Trillion Credit Squadron, fans have wondered just what sort of budget worlds have to field naval fleets. TCS takes reasonable-looking percentages and comes up with a generous budget for building wartime vessels. If used in normal, non-wartime game settings, these budgets seem to cheapen capital ships with their raw ubiquity. Clearly there are economic controls hidden from the basic view that limit naval construction. What those are is not clear.
This conversation spills over into the question about piracy.
Is piracy economically feasible in the Third Imperium?
"If your getaway vehicle was a Spacecraft (including starships), it was piracy." - Jim Kundert
See Piracy for background information.
This is one of the more flame-war-inducing topics.
In short, while the setting itself acknowledges piracy in some form, referees may ignore this without problems.
Every version of Traveller has included corsair ship designs, and classic Traveller has a "pirate" entry for the starship encounter table. Classic Traveller, MegaTraveller, and TNE have "Pirate" or "Corsair" careers. This reinforces the intent that piracy exists and pirates make interesting gaming experience. Further analysis by fans (e.g. Colin Michael in the 1990s) observed that piracy is quite economical and worth the risk. For example, a merchant need only pick high-value but ubiquitous cargoes, and do it on a relaxed schedule -- for example, capturing and reselling one smallcraft per year -- to live comfortably off of piracy without inviting a fatal reaction from law enforcement.
The argument against piracy is a cipher for the larger problem of economics and security in large interstellar states in Traveller. Detailed economic and military analyses of the Third Imperium show that empire navies have the money, ships, and manpower to, should they choose to do so, place a flotilla of anti-piracy system defense patrols in every owned system, of overkill strength to deter any possible ship-based crime.
Unfortunately, detailed economic analysis also conflicts with military details (e.g. based on the Fifth Frontier War and the Rebellion) of relatively sparse and manageable fleets fielded by the Imperium, the Zhodani Consulate, and others. This indirectly suggests that navies are not actually flush with cash and manpower -- regardless of empire. This promotes the Traveller assumption of laissez-faire interstellar governance which (a) allow piracy but (b) can counter invasions.
Relativistic Weapons
The reactionless drive postulated in MegaTraveller (Thruster Plates) allows unlimited acceleration times, so long as fuel and power are available. Given this fact, what's to stop players or GMs using asteroids (or small craft such as lifeboats) as relativistic (i.e. near the speed of light) projectiles against unsuspecting worlds? Doesn't this capability give any spacecraft owner access to a weapon of unbelievable power?
It's not impossible, and it has happened - but very rarely, for many good reasons discussed at length on the Relativistic Weapon page. Most travellers in the Third Imperium have heard these tales, so GMs whose players are considering doing this may wish to consult that page and drop it in as lore the travellers know even if it is new information for the players.
What is the Smallest Possible Jump-Capable Ship?
Ships cannot achieve jump unless they displace at least 100 tons. If ships break up during jump, their individual sections drop out of jump at various random spots along the jump course.
How do Jumps less than one parsec work?
What happens if you jump less than 1 parsec? Many people have asked if it is possible to jump within a system, or to just outside the system.
Basically, it is possible and it works exactly like a one-parsec jump. It takes a week with the normal uncertainty factor. The amount of fuel used is also the same as for 1 parsec - (1 divided by the maximum jump range) times the total amount of jump fuel for a full length jump. e.g. A one parsec jump in a Jump-3 capable ship will be 1/3 of the fuel required for a 3 parsec jump. A point to remember though, in a week the solar system may have moved a bit.
What are Jump Governors?
The Jump Governor is a subsystem that allows a jump drive to jump fewer parsecs than its stated rating. For example, a Jump-5 drive with a governor is capable of making Jump-1, Jump-2, Jump-3, or Jump-4, with typical fuel usage at 10% hull volume per parsec.
Every standard jump drive has a Jump Governor.
However, non-standard jump drives may exist, which by definition do not have a Jump Governor. For example, a prototype Jump-7 drive could be installed in a ship. Since it is not a standard, off-the-shelf jump drive, it might only be able to make Jump-7.
The Jump Governor was originally an invention of the step between the initial publication of Classic Traveller Book 2 and High Guard. You can review the history.
What Burns the Jump Fuel?
There has always been open speculation on how jump drive fuel is burned. Officially, most of the fuel goes to inflate the jump bubble, and most of the rest is used by the power plant in a very inefficient "high power mode" that generates a spike that powers the jump drive. Unofficially, alternate theories are often used.
Can a Starship be Completely Automated?
Yes and no. This question is actually related to the nature of machine intelligence. A ship cannot be completely automated, but it can be entirely operated by machines. Characters operate a starship, whether biologic, or a robot with a brain, or a high-tech ship's computer with an implanted personality.
How Do Drop Tanks Work?
Drop tanks are designed to feed fuel rapidly into a power plant, then eject into space, reducing the ship's effective volume and improving its performance capability. Their typical purpose is to increase a ship's jump range for one jump.
For example, a 300t ship may have an additional 100 tons of drop tanks attached. By draining and then ejecting these tanks, it could power one jump-5. Of course, the tanks are left behind, and are typically destroyed by the ship's jump field.
Do Drop Tanks Foster a "Tankless" Setting?
Discussions on drop tanks often head for edge cases. The intent of drop tanks is to allow temporary long-range jump capability. Clever engineers, however, consider that a starport fuel tank could charge up the jump drive for a fuel-less jump. As noted, this is an edge case, since the setting does not accommodate this capability and would be completely changed by it. However, as an edge case, it could operate in fringe situations, and is likely to be unstable. In short, it would make a great plot device for a game.
Are Collectors Canonical?
Collectors, first used in the very early adventure "Annic Nova", appear to be game-breaking devices. However, they are clearly edge-case uniques in that adventure. Later canonical treatment of collectors as starship components (in Traveller5 and ported to Mongoose Traveller) are less troublesome and provide a niche capability.
Are Computers Large or Small?
Starship computers are mainframe-sized affairs, taking up a ton or more of volume. Some rule sets abstract this volume from starship design; however, the tonnage is still there. It is subsumed into other components, which removes a step from ship design. Regardless of how the tonnage is accounted for, ship computers are hardened multitasking machines in a large physical network.
Are Fighters Effective Against Capital Ships?
Fighters exist in the Traveller universe. Therefore, they are effective in certain roles in squadron combat -- even against capital ships. Note that they are likely not cost effective against capital ships, even though they could pose a risk against them. Considering a Tigress dreadnought costs 360 billion credits and a Sylean heavy fighter costs 100 million credits, it is likely that significantly more than 3600 well-organized Syleans are needed to take down a Tigress. Assume that 7200 Syleans have a 50% chance of defeating a Tigress, and a 50% chance of being defeated.