Traveller 2300AD - Core Box Set First Impressions (Mongoose Publishing)

I recently picked up a few bits for Traveller 2300AD, in their latest incarnation for Mongoose Traveller 2e. This is the core box set, which includes three books on building characters for the setting, weapons and equipment, the worlds of explored space so far, and a selection of ships. Note that this set is NOT standalone: you need a copy of the Mongoose Traveller 2e Core Rulebook 2022 to play!

I was lucky enough to get a much better price than the retail of £75 on this box set, and I must say the contents are really exciting. The setting itself is more 'hard' sci-fi than regular Traveller; there's no artificial gravity or jump drives, though FTL travel still exists within strict limits. Getting out of a gravity well is significantly more challenging than in Charted Space, and space travel in general is more detailed, complex, and dangerous. The feel is rather similar to The Expanse, except with FTL and several alien species; in terms of mechanics, I personally would rather play a game set in The Expanse universe using this game rather than the actual Expanse TTRPG!

However, the price point of £75/$99.95 is a big problem, IMO. Personally I'd much prefer the contents of this box to be in a standard £45 hardcover format, with the awesome map included in the back (which is what regular Traveller does for every Charted Space setting book, so it's a perfectly normal format for Mongoose). I honestly don't see any added value of putting this in a boxed set, especially at such a high price point; plus, box sets tend to deteriorate much faster over years of use than robust hardcovers.

That being said, the contents are great, and the two hardcover supplements I have so far are very good (albeit with a few too many typos for my taste, at least in the Vehicles book). I just wish the buy-in were substantially less, so that this fascinating setting would be more affordable (and hence playable) by a much wider audience!

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Every little bit helps -- in my day job as a scientist, I make enough to pay the rent, but not much more! RPGs and tabletop games are my escape. I guarantee every quid you send my way will be spent producing more and better content for you fine folks :)