Freelance
Traveller
September 4, 1997
Steve Jackson Games is proud to announce that it has acquired the rights to create a GURPS version of the classic Traveller, the oldest and most popular outer-space roleplaying game ever.
"This is something we and our fans have wanted for a long, long time," Steve Jackson said. "I'm very happy to finally be able to do it, especially since we'll be working with the same people who made Traveller great in the first place."
Long-time Traveller editor and writer Loren Wiseman will serve as Line Editor for the GURPS Traveller series of books and will write the first release. "Loren and (Traveller original author) Marc Miller are the real deal," Managing Editor Scott Haring said. "With their help, we're going to do books that the die-hard Traveller fans will love."
The license from Sweetpea Entertainment -- owners of Traveller after original publishers Game Designer's Workshop went out of business in 1995 -- sets GURPS Traveller in an "alternate timeline" from the one currently being published by Imperium Games. Haring said, "In our timeline, Emperor Strephon doesn't get assassinated, and the `virus' that was the entire basis for Traveller: The New Era did not devastate the Imperium. Our timeline is a continuation of the original Traveller, though with Wiseman and Miller's help we'll be taking it in some interesting directions."
The first GURPS Traveller volume will include a description of the basic Traveller gameworld, GURPS rules for characters, equipment and spacecraft of the Traveller universe, and conversion rules between the two systems. "We want players to be able to convert any Traveller material -- and there's a lot of it out there -- to GURPS right off the bat, and we want Traveller players to be able to play in our alternate timeline," Haring said.
The first GURPS Traveller release is tentatively scheduled for an early 1998 release. Scheduling for subsequent books in the series is yet to be determined.
For more information, contact Steve Jackson at (512) 447-7866.