svensson Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 I'm sure many of you are aware of the Traveller RPG. Like RQ, it is in the Granddaddy category as one of the first hard sci-fi RPGs out there. We're all aware that the generation of OGs [Original Gamers] is getting smaller and smaller as they leave us to take their seats at The Great Table. Well, Marc Miller, the designer of Traveller as you all know, is very much still with us but isn't getting any younger. He's rapidly approaching 80 years old. Naturally when someone reaches that age they start thinking about memory and legacy. That a normal impulse with anyone, but just like with Greg Stafford, Marc has the additional responsibility of leaving a legacy for the game he started and guided for nigh-on 50 years. So he's taken a page out of Greg's script. After giving the company access to his notes and thoughts about the game and it's Charted Space milieu, he has signed over the rights of Traveller: Science Fiction Adventure in the Far Future to Mongoose Publishing. This wasn't an instant decision. There was a period of vetting and curating to ensure that Mongoose understood the underlying themes and ideas he had for the game. In his announcement, he specifically named Greg Stafford's plan and pathway for RuneQuest and Glorantha as the impetus for his decision. Seems you can't keep a pioneer from looking over the next ridge. Here is Marc's announcement as posted for the Emperor's Birthday. "Some years ago, fellow game designer Greg Stafford died, and I was impressed that his company announced almost immediately that he had a succession plan in place, and that his legacy and his designs would live on. His example was an inspiration to me, and I resolved to emulate him. It would be a terrible loss if Traveller were encumbered, or somehow restricted in its outreach to present and future fans. With that in mind, I have worked to make Traveller an asset to science-fiction role-players... with our user-friendly Fair Use policies, with the Travellers’ Aid Society programs, with the Cepheus editions of Traveller, and with Mongoose as a primary publisher of their edition of Traveller. Over the past several years, I have turned over more and more responsibilities to Mongoose, and I have collaborated actively with them as they work to realize the Traveller dream. Earlier this year I passed full ownership of Traveller to Mongoose in order to secure its future. With that in mind, I point out that, following the example of Greg Stafford, I have a succession plan in place: day-to-day decisions about the Traveller game system are already being made by Mongoose Publishing (with my co-operation and approval), and if anything should happen to me, they would carry on with my full knowledge and blessing. That doesn’t stop me from speaking my mind: expressing opinions about Traveller, writing stories and lore, and even revealing secrets about the universe. But Traveller is in good hands, now, and far into the far future. And I thank you for your (continuing) support for Traveller. Marc" 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Absentia Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 That's good of Marc, and I appreciate his gesture of good faith. I do not appreciate the direction Traveller has taken with Mongoose. That said, go with grace -- I'll not be a fellow traveller. !i! 3 Quote ...developer of White Rabbit Green Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svensson Posted August 30 Author Share Posted August 30 On 8/28/2024 at 4:43 PM, Ian Absentia said: That's good of Marc, and I appreciate his gesture of good faith. I do not appreciate the direction Traveller has taken with Mongoose. That said, go with grace -- I'll not be a fellow traveller. !i! Well, I understand that earlier ownership of Mongoose and Chaosium had a... um... 'poor relationship'. But I've been told by both Matt Sprange and @Jeff Richards that the two companies have a much improved relationship. For whatever that's worth, of course. To their credit, Mongoose has done a fine job with both their Traveller efforts and their handling of the 2300AD milieu. I don't think anyone can fault Mongoose Traveller 2nd ed. Yes, there are small ticky-tack things here and there an old grogs like me will disagree with [just small flavor text type stuff], but the rules mechanics and setting information is very internally consistent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Absentia Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 7 minutes ago, svensson said: Well, I understand that earlier ownership of Mongoose and Chaosium had a... um... 'poor relationship'. [...snip...] To their credit, Mongoose has done a fine job with both their Traveller efforts... Opinions vary. My bitter fruit is rooted in their editorial direction with Traveller some years before they took a similar approach with Glorantha. Let's just say that some people are convinced that more is not only better, but best. And now I'm airing old grievances. Shame on me, and shine on. !i! 2 Quote ...developer of White Rabbit Green Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svensson Posted August 30 Author Share Posted August 30 1 minute ago, Ian Absentia said: Opinions vary. My bitter fruit is rooted in their editorial direction with Traveller some years before they took a similar approach with Glorantha. Let's just say that some people are convinced that more is not only better, but best. And now I'm airing old grievances. Shame on me, and shine on. !i! I understand. There are certain issues for which I still grind an axe years later. You'd think the sum'bitch'd sharp enough my now but.... And yeah, there was some stuff in Mongoose's first Traveller edition that did not meet with this old grog's approval either. And I still think the Trojan Reach is too 'Flash Gordan-ish' for my tastes. So I feel ya on that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali the Helering Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 i never did get to run through Hard Times, such a shame, the breakdown of a society with all the misery and tera-deaths involved offered such fertile fields of play... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
svensson Posted August 30 Author Share Posted August 30 24 minutes ago, Ali the Helering said: i never did get to run through Hard Times, such a shame, the breakdown of a society with all the misery and tera-deaths involved offered such fertile fields of play... As my group called it back then... "T2K in SPAAAACCCCE!" 🤣 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g33k Posted September 2 Share Posted September 2 (edited) On 8/30/2024 at 12:09 PM, Ian Absentia said: ... their editorial direction with Traveller some years before they took a similar approach with Glorantha. Let's just say that some people are convinced that more is not only better, but best ... I think they have taken the lesson; if you used to love Traveller, it may be worth revisiting the Mongoose line... Glorantha was a failing setting, under Mongoose; Traveller is thriving. The Pirates of Drinax campaign gets much praise, and the general Cepheus Engine is being adopted by other companies, and other settings (even at least one High-Fantasy setting). Edited September 2 by g33k 2 Quote C'es ne pas un .sig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Questbird Posted Wednesday at 07:02 AM Share Posted Wednesday at 07:02 AM I haven't played Traveller for a long time, but I've kept an interest and I have downloaded bits of Cepheus and Mongoose Traveller (including 2300) when they were on special. As the grand-daddy of all sci-fi games there is just so much useful stuff that's been published that is adaptable to other games, even Free League ones like Coriolis: The Third Horizon, which is the last science fiction game I refereed. My dream is to run a solar-system only future space game, but I've not found quite the system I want to run it. 2300 is probably close, maybe Infinity or High Colonies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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