The classic 1977 science-fiction roleplaying game Traveller is officially receiving a 5e conversion. Driven by veteran designer Timothy Brown through a publishing entity called World’s Largest RPGs, the project has the full coordination of current Traveller stewards Mongoose Publishing and is already on BackerKit for crowdfunding on the 31st of March.
Adapting a skill-heavy, sandbox sci-fi game to the class and level framework of 5e is a significant undertaking. The designers note that iconic elements of Traveller, such as jump space starships, interstellar commerce, and sector-level worldbuilding, have been integrated into the familiar 5e engine. Interestingly, 5e backgrounds are being wrapped into the classic Traveller career paths. Fans of the original will also note that the famous quirk of Traveller where a character can perish during the character creation process has survived the translation.
Timothy Brown is no stranger to either system, having worked on previous editions of Traveller, its spin-off 2300AD, and iconic Dungeons & Dragons settings like Dark Sun. Under the World’s Largest RPGs banner, the goal is not just to port the rules, but to create a toolkit for new interstellar campaigns.
In a press comment, he said;
This 5E version introduces Traveller to an enormous new audience. Starships, strange worlds, exotic alien creatures … every aspect of the sci-fi classic is faithfully recreated using the new edition’s rules. Will the existing Imperium and all its sourcebooks be updated to the new rules? If there’s demand for that, then yes, of course, but the primary objective is to make a sandbox game that feeds the pent-up demand for whole new game universes. Equally exciting, we’re tracking some of our favorite sci-fi novels and series to license as whole new Traveller 5E settings … stay tuned!”
The crowdfunding campaign will run on BackerKit rather than Kickstarter. Fans who register their interest on the pre-launch page ahead of the March launch date and subsequently back at a physical tier will receive an exclusive Traveller 5E coin and patch. Backers can also expect digital and physical rewards, ranging from deck plans to miniatures, along with early access to the conversion rules.
For players who prefer the original mechanics, Mongoose Publishing’s current Traveller catalogue remains widely available in digital formats over at DriveThruRPG.
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