Customer Reviews

Traveller: The New Era (Deluxe Edition boxed set)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In my opinion, TNE, was a victim of the times in which it was written. It is transparent that many Traveller players of 1993 wanted a new iteration of the simpler, more predictable rule set of Classic Traveller (1977). After years of playing games in the Rebellion milieu of MegaTraveller, many Traveller players simply wanted the old game back. Instead, what they got was Frank Chadwick's crowning achievement. Chadwick has yet to write a better gaming system(compare this to his wonderful Space:1889 game). Now, in 2009, it is clear why TNE never became wildly popular as other versions of Traveller did (i.e. MegaTraveller, T4, GURPS, Mongoose and T5). The classic milieu returned in 1996 with T4 and so did the old players of the original game. So it seems that no matter how well Chadwick did with this work, it was destined to upopularity.

Taken at face value, the game is an outstanding example of how to create a good rpg. Character and world generation are done the same way with enough changes to make the process enjoyable again. Character generation is done in almost the same way as it is done in Space:1889 with cascade skills, skill improvement and career templates. Alien racial templates are included for every major race of charted space in this one book (unlike GURPS, T4, Mongoose or MegaTraveller) and that means that the core rules are, as a result more complete than virtually any other version of Traveller. The book described above is a complete product. For the price of the one book, it is possible to create any campaign or scenario in the universe without having to spend hundreds of dollars on countless (often tattered and expensive) supplement books through eBay or other used book sources. I give all the more credit to Chadwick for writing an honestly good, tightly written rpg that is easy to learn, play and share with any group of friends who desire an easy, positive gaming session. Hopefully the game will be reprinted someday and it can get another chance at achieving popularity among gamers who are more "ready" to receive this type of game. I highly recommend this book to all fans of Frank Chadwick and his work and especially to fans of the Space:1889 gaming system. As a supplement, there is a book called "Fire, Fusion and Steel" that contains exacting information about designing new craft for use in your TNE gaming sessions.