Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Hello Traveller Classic!

I've always been more of a wargamer than an RPG gamer.  I suspect I'll always love wargames.  Lately, I've been feeding an RPG habit more than wargaming.  I find I can get involved in RPG's more with the OGL D20 and D6 crowd (more so with the the BFRPG over at basicfantasy.org, see earlier postings...).

Space however has been my biggest gaming interest.  Travelling the stars and finding new species and contacting them, fighting them, or trading with them has always been big since before I even played wargames.  So, when this opportunity from Bundle of Holding came up, I could not resist.  Bundle of Holding is having a special in conjunction with Marc Miller himself: https://bundleofholding.com/presents/TravellerLBBs!  You can pick up the core of Classic Traveller Little Black Books for a simple donation, and part of your proceeds go help the poor of this world with Mr. Miller's charity of choice, Heifer International (they donate heifer live stock so families get access to milk across the globe).

What I like most about the LBB's can be aggravating at the same time.  These books are from the late 70's and early 80's, the infancy of RPG's, and therefore have little in the realm of high quality artwork.  Sure, that drives people nuts...  But at the same time, you IMAGINATION is engaged dreaming up what these worlds, peoples, and ships look like.  For those with a desire to see the ships, fear not, for the supplements come with some great black and white images of many of these ships, worlds, aliens, and other assorted things.

I enjoy the simplicity of Traveller Classic.  I've read through the games that follow (Mega Traveller, Traveller New Era, and of course Traveller 4 and 5), and I can't say they have any of the same charm in all the expanded features.  Mr. Miller has never outdone his first set of rules, and frankly neither has Mongoose or Steve Jackson Games (though I like the GURPS 3e and 4e ports in their own right).  LBB's are Miller's Masterpieces in spite of any flaws (who knew computers wouldn't take up that much tonnage on a starship in 1977?).

At any rate, if you can read this, get over to Bundle of Holding and make a donation to improve the lives of some family around the world, and then go build yourself a few new worlds to explore with your friends.

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