Traveller (role-playing game)
Traveller was one of the first major role-playing games. Set in a far, far future world that seems to draw strongly from Asimov, Dune, Star Trek, Star Wars, and countless other science fiction literature, Traveller provides a game universe where player characters can travel from world to world, engage in battle on the ground or in the sky, and involve themselves in interstellar economics.
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2 Original Setting 3 Editions 4 External links |
Traveller uses a character generation and advancement mechanism, whereby the player goes through a design process to determine the character's history, career experience, and so forth. Unlike Dungeons & Dragons and its derivatives, in Traveller, character skill and ability advancement is downplayed in favor of positional-advancement - gaining of wealth, gadgets, titles, and power.
The original Traveller gamebooks were distinctive half-size black pamphlets (the so-called "Little Black Books" or "LBBs" for short) produced by Game Designers Workshop (GDW), and many of these half-size pamphlets were printed. Later versions of the game system introduced full sized booklets and new political twists, as the emperor was assassinated and many sectors of the galaxy thrown into strife (in MegaTraveller), or the universe is rediscovered and retamed (in ), or the Third Imperium is begun (in Marc Miller's Traveller), or an alternate history is followed where the emperor is not assassinated (in GURPS Traveller).
The spelling 'Traveller' is what was used on the books printed and distributed in the U.S., even though it is a spelling more commonly used in Commonwealth English than American English.
Traveller takes place in the distant future, over three thousand years removed from our own time. Interstellar travel is facilitated, and limited, by the use of a technology known as the jump drive. Jump drives are capable of propelling a starcraft between one to six parsecs, depending on the machine's specifications. Regardless of the distance of a jump, the duration required for the trip is approximately one week. Communications are limited to the speed of travel; there is no "sub-space" or other form of FTL information transfer. This leads to a central principle of Traveller's original setting. The restraint on the speed of information leads to decentralization and the vestment of significant power in the hands of local officials.
The primary nation state in Traveller is the Third Imperium, currently ruled by it's 43rd emperor, Strephon Alkhalikoi. The Imperium is the most powerful interstellar polity, but it is surrounded on all sides by potentially hostile neighbors. A government of men rather than laws, local nobility operate largely free from oversight, restricted by convention, feudal obligations, and the fear of being caught.
The setting itself underwent significant changes as each new edition was introduced. MegaTraveller told the story of the great Rebellion, begun when Archduke Dulinor assassinated the emperor in a bid for the Imperial throne. This touched off a terrible conflict involving not only an imperial dynastic struggle, but also seeing the advance of foreign powers at the empire's expense. The Rebellion was only finally ended by the inadvertent release of Virus, an electronic superweapon that caused computers to go insane and turn against its masters.
The Rebellion is an extremely controversial topic for Traveller fans. Some feel that the civil war, and the resulting apocolypse ruined role-playing's most dynamic and developed setting. This sentiment eventually gave rise to GURPS: Traveller, an alternate timeline in which Emperor Strephon lives. However, the established canon line has its own dedicated fanbase, and has recently enjoyed additional development by Quicklink Interactive's 1248 material.
See also: MegaTraveller, , Marc Miller's TravellerOverview
Original Setting
Editions
Despite the title, GDW's Traveller: 2300 RPG was not part of the same universe, and was later retitled as 2300 AD.