Travel Through The History Of An Influential Science Fiction RPG

Forbes

05-05-2025

The history of the Traveller role playing game, This Is Free Trader Beowulf, is not available in ... More print anf electronic formats.
Marc Miller created the Traveller role playing game in 1977. It is often mentioned in the same breath as Dungeons & Dragons and Call of Cthulhu as a game that has influenced generations of gamers. It has seen many different adaptations and iterations in the 48 years of its existence.
This week, Bundle of Holding is offering several deals to celebrate the game's May Day holiday. Several of the deals feature material from different points in the game's history. One of them is a real life history by one of tabletop gaming's most celebrated historians.
Traveller is a game of deep space exploration and futuristic commerce. In a typical game, players are the crew of a small ship that flies the frontier, takes on cargo and gets into adventures. For players that have ever wanted to be Han Solo, Malcolm Reynolds, James Holden or Peter Quill, Traveller remains a top choice.
One of the most interesting aspects of Traveller is the character creation. Players roll through a series of charts to build their characters, putting together a history, allies and enemies as the character comes together. In many versions it becomes a minigame of risk and reward because there's a chance that the character won't survive another term on the charts.
Gaming historian Shannon Appelcline produced Designers & Dragons, a fantastic four volume set that covers the first four decades of tabletop roleplaying games. He applies his scholarly focus to Traveller in This is Free Trader Beowulf which details multiple versions of the game. It is currently available as a discount PDF deal on Bundle of Holding through May 7th, 2025.
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The book traces its origins at Game Designers Workship which also created several other well known games in the 80s. At one point, Traveller was connected to the timelines of th companies other games such as 2300 AD or Twilight: 2000. It also tried to adapt to the changing science fiction landscape of the era with MegaTraveller.
Traveller is a frequent feature on the Bundle of Holding website. Six bundles have been revived this week to celebrate the release of This is Free Trader Beowulf. These bundles show the evolution of the game as well as the industry.
For example, FASA, one of the included bundles, began as a licensee producing ship blueprints and adventures for Traveller. The name is a reference to the 1933 Marx Brothers film Duck Soup as the letters stand for the Freedonian Air & Administration. FASA would go on to become a powerhouse in the industry in the late 80s, creating such games as Shadowrun and Battletech.
Mongoose Publishing began putting out its edition of the game in 2008 with two bundles representing it in this offer. The essentials bundle contains the main rules, expansions and guidelines for building your own ship. Pirates of Drinax offers a freewheeling campaign where players recieve a ship in exchange for becoming the scoruge of space to help a planet win its freedon.
The original designer hasn't left the game behind either. Marc Miller released Traveller5 as a take that leans into the harder aspects of science fiction. This is the version of the game for the physics fans and armchair astronauts.
The light mechanics means the Traveller books in all these collection are easily compatible with one another. The game books are all available through the end of the week in digital format. The history book is available through May 7th, 2025.