Unlike my B/X stuff, I still have the box that my Classic Traveller set came in. It’s beat to hell and held together with silver duct tape, but it still holds everything I ever owned for the grandaddy of science fiction RPGs.
Though the Little Black Books aren’t really all that photogenic, I have always adored the simplicity of their graphic design.
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- A Well-Worn Box
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- Books 1, 2 and 3
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- Favorite Supplements
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- Mercenary & High Guard
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- Adventure & Adventure Seeds
I never really messed around with any of the books after 1-3, though I did own Mercenary and High Guard. Citizens of the Imperium was my absolute favorite supplement, and the Paranoia Press Scouts & Assassins got a fair amount of use in my games, mostly owing to the Martial Arts rules contained within. Supplement 1 was always good for grabbing an NPC or two from when needed.
I had one official adventure (the double-adventure Marooned/Marooned Alone) and the book of adventure seeds known as 76 Patrons, though I never really used either. Homebrewed settings and adventures have been my focus pretty much from day 1 of my gaming life.
I never owned the little black books (snagged the black Traveller hardcover at some point), but I remember a sleepover at a friend’s house where we spent most of the night making characters. He had books 1-3. We listened to Rush’s Moving Pictures album and I made a Scout who somehow survived 4 terms before mustering out. Not sure if we ever took the characters through any adventures, though . . .
That story jibes with a lot of my own experiences, G-Man. I think I mentioned once before that even though I played a fair amount of Traveller I’m certain I played the sub-games of character creation and subsector generation even more. And somewhere I’ve got a spiral notebook full of characters who never saw even so much as the beginning of an adventure. It’s kinda like being stuck in cold sleep, I guess.