GURPS Traveller

What a great way to play Traveller. I just picked this up, and I was blown away by all the detail and crunch in this book. I get why some people say that when they first played Traveller, the game felt flat and like there wasn't enough to hold their interest. The 2d stats and the abstract nature of the rules make the game feel a step removed from realism. I still love the 2022 Mongoose edition of Traveller, but playing in this universe with GURPS feels much more complex, sci-fi, and authentic.

This is a 3rd Edition book, but that does not matter since converting is pretty simple.

This is excellent stuff in GURPS, with a realistic combat system where you could get stabbed in the leg and lasered in the face, and melee combat matters. The universe feels dangerous. It does feel a little less like Classic Traveller and more like a "realistic Traveller simulator."

The immersion is incredible, and you go from looking at a 2d6 character card with "plus skills" and a few pieces of gear - to feeling you are in the ship's cockpit with your character. Other people have said this, and I have no idea what it is. The streets of cities feel grittier, the starports feel large and ominous, and survival on far-flung worlds feels much more risky and dire. Even the NPCs change feeling, from names with abstract jobs and roles - to real people trying to survive and make a living.

And your character has weaknesses and problems, disadvantages and hangups.

Again, it is hard to put the finger on what this is. GURPS is a much lower-level game, and you get that feeling of standing at the feet of giants, looking up. There is much more investment in building a GURPS character, and I felt this when playing Palladium. Crunchy, detailed, complex characters with a lot put into the design make for a much more low-level and exciting game than games where you roll 2d6 or 3d6, take what you get, and pick a class or roll for skills.

I am picking my skills and abilities in GURPS, or at least my template. I am not at the mercy of charts; I have exactly the character I am imagining. Granted, character creation takes a long time, but what you get out of it immerses you in the universe. I still love Traveller character creation, but when I want to build the starship captain in my head and feel like I am there, I choose GURPS any day.