Freelance Traveller - Columns - Essay Question - Where do you, personally, draw the line between “Traveller” and “not Traveller”?

Where do you, personally, draw the line between “Traveller” and “not Traveller”? Why? Is your focus more on the rules, or on the setting? Again, why?

Originally posted in the July 2010 issue of the magazine

“Leitz” answered in the August 2010 issue:

2d6 is Traveller. More than 2d6 is Champions. In light of the wide range Traveller covers I like story development. A good setting really helps provide depth for the story. Rules keep us players from running rampant, but should not cripple a good story.

“kafka” answered in the August 2010 issue:

Traveller is only limited by my own imagination; therefore, lines are relatively meaningless. However, that said, I don’t believe in an ‘anything goes’ approach. Traveller must be grounded in science, as opposed to superstition or the supernatural. Notwithstanding, our understanding of the physics, biology, chemistry of today and as we can extrapolate trends into the future where feasible paradigms can be broken in favour of (re)new(ed) understanding of how the universe works must be the baseline. Therefore, there is no Magic In My Traveller Universe but there are phenomena that might be mistaken for magic.

I am also strongly against player stupidity – which is a fine line between heroics and folly. So, if an action ventures too far into silliness, players will be punished. I stick to the rules, save where the rules interfere with good play. For instance, I don’t believe it is necessary to role play the week in Jump Space unless something significant is planned. Hence, travel may seem instantaneous, when in fact, it is still being clocked.

Setting is the most important thing. For rules can be improvised and created but capturing a different mood or getting me to think differently than stereotypical archetypes is the key. I absolutely love the Original Traveller Universe (OTU) as the 11,000 worlds of the Imperium provide ample sandbox…and should I run out there is lots of adjacent real estate in the Zhodani Core Expeditions, Dark Nebula, Stargates, Pocket Universes, etc. that I am never likely to find myself limited not to fail to remember that the OTU has over 700,000 years of history to play around in.