History TabletopGame / Traveller

** The first supplement in the original game, ''1001 Characters'', had stats for nine characters in the back that were "drawn from the pages of science fiction." They weren't named, but the background notes provided enough clues to guess who they were.[[note]]The nine characters were: [[Literature/JohnCarter John Carter of Mars]], [[Literature/{{Lensman}} Kimball Kinnison]], [[Creator/HarryHarrison Jason dinAlt]], [[Literature/DumarestOfTerra Earl Dumarest]], [[Literature/KnownSpace Beowulf Shaeffer]], [[Creator/AlexeiPanshin Anthony Villiers]], [[Literature/TechnicHistory Dominic Flandry]], [[Literature/TheDemonPrinces Kirth Girsen]], and [[Literature/TheStarsMyDestination Gully Foyle]].[[/note]]

* {{Planetville}}: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig Zagged]]. While many planets have [[JustifiedTrope only one city of interest to starfarers]] they often have a highly developed civilizations and complex local politics that has only tangential relation with interstellar goings-on. Except at those times when it's a PlanetOfHats. All more or less peacefully coexist, as based upon the needs of the tabletop game. Many systems remain unsettled because with jump drive it can often take no longer to get to the neighboring star system than to the outer planets, leaving the outer worlds barren (and a good place for adventures). Then too, some planets just have one small settlement on them and are therefore literally a planetville.

* MonsterMunch: In Double Adventure 5 ''The Chamax Plague'', one of the {{NPC}}s who accompanies the [[PlayerChacter PCs]] on their mission is Cal Yotisk. The referee is encouraged to use him as the first victim of the alien Chamax to show the [=PCs=] what they're up against.

* MonsterMunch: In Double Adventure 5 ''The Chamax Plague'', one of the {{NPC}}s who accompanies the {{PC}}s on their mission is Cal Yotisk. The referee is encouraged to use him as the first victim of the alien Chamax to show the {{PC}}s what they're up against.

* TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask: Empress Arbellatra is the most notable example. She was the admiral in charge of a frontier region while a series of military leaders fought a civil war over the Imperial throne. After fighting and winning another frontier war against the Zhodani she led her fleet to the capital and defeated the last pretender. Rather than taking the throne herself, as all of the other "Barracks Emperors" had, she held it as regent while a search was performed for any legitimate heirs of the last empress before the Civil War. Seven years later the nobles of the Imperium decided that Arbellatra was doing such a good job as regent that they asked her to accept the crown, which had probably been her plan all along. She founded the dynasty that ruled the Imperium for the next four centuries.

* DoubleSidedBook: Classic's "Double Adventures" were like this. Each book had two mini-adventures, printed upside down to each other.

* MadeOfIron: TNE gave player characters a ridiculously high number of HitPoints relative to the damage of even the heavier weapons in the setting. When you can survive a direct hit from an [[{{BFG}} FGMP]], it's time for HouseRules.

** The fourth Supplement, ''Citizens of the Imperium'' provided 8 more characters, some of whom were from science fiction films and TV series instead of books, and then the answers as to who the nine characters in ''1001 Characters'' were. [[note]]The eight characters were: [[Franchise/StarWars Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader]], [[Literature/TheStainlessSteelRat James "Slippery Jim" di Griz]], [[Literature/CoDominium Sargeant Major Calvin]], [[Literature/SectorGeneral Senior Physician Conway]], [[Literature/{{Retief}} Jame Reteif]], [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Harry Mudd]], and [[Creator/IsaacAsimov Simok Artrap]].[[/note]]

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: The essence of Vargr political philosophy.

* NeuralImplanting: A possibility with the Wafer Jack augmentation though not much is made of it.

* NewTechnologyIsEvil: This was the general attitude of the Vilani Imperium after they decided they had expanded enough, thank you very much.

** The Ithklur, a ProudWarriorRace of {{Boisterous Bruiser}}s that serves the Hivers.

** Some star systems in the Spinward Marches are choked with wrecks left from ''hundreds of years'' of war after war. This is a good place for the adventures of teams of SalvagePirates
** The Sword Worlds in general pretty much had a broken jaw from the Fifth Frontier War. Some districts were nearly depopulated of young males. But the whole Spinward Marches is still recovering as of Emperor Strephon's time and damage is splattered all about.

* PressStartToGameOver: One of the things ''Classic Traveller'' is famous for is that character generation involved making a survival roll at the beginning of each term of service in a career. "Failure to successfully achieve the survival roll results in death; a new character must be generated." This was supposed to be a game balance rule, with careers that provided more benefits being more dangerous. The Scouts had the worst survival roll (7+) because they also automatically got the Pilot skill, had the best chance of gaining the Jack of All Trades skill, and had the best chance of getting a ship at the end of character generation.

* ArbitraryMinimumRange: Classic Book 4 ''Mercenary''. Several new weapons could not be used at Close or Short range (from 0 to 5 meters away), such as the various PGMP's and FGMP's. There was no reason given for this.

* SpaceCossacks: The dissident kimashargur movement advocates a partial relaxation of restrictions on exploration and innovation. By yar 3700, it slowly becomes influential in the rimward portions of the Grand Empire of Stars, aka the Ziru Sirka.

* SpaceCossacks: This tabletop game has a lot of examples of this. Among them are the Vilani Kimashargur, The Classic Traveller volume "Pocket Empires". And much of the history of the Sword Worlds as well as a sample campaign from the Gurps volume of that name. Many others.

* SpaceCossacks: Several variations of these.

** The beginning of the volume ''Sword Worlds'' shows a scene where a Sword Worlder soldier returning to find his house blown to bits, and his wife desperately trying to [[DeterminedHomesteadersWife rebuild it]]. Then they greet each other and,as the book puts it [[GladToBeAliveSex "Spend the night celebrating being together after all they had been through"]].

%%* ProudScholarRace: The Darrians. They are in a ForeverWar with Sword Worlders who are a ProudWarriorRace.%%How are they an example?

* ProudScholarRace: The Darrians. They are in a ForeverWar with Sword Worlders who are a ProudWarriorRace.

** The Island subsectors in the great Rift were these before a misjump by an Imperial cruiser brought them jump technology.
** The Sword Worlds were colonized by STL ships from Earth long before they were found again by the Third Imperium early in their colonization of the Spinward Marches sector.

** By contrast ''Mongoose 2nd Edition'' has only done two Alien Race splatbooks so far, and they each feature several aliens, rather than giving each race a seperate book.