Traveller, the granddaddy of sci-fi tabletop RPGs first published in 1977, is getting a D&D 5E conversion on BackerKit. The campaign hit its funding goal in under two minutes and has since sailed past $466,000 with over 1,300 backers, all with six weeks still on the clock.
The project is spearheaded by Timothy Brown, a veteran of both GDW (Traveller's original publisher) and TSR, working in full coordination with Mongoose Publishing, who currently hold the Traveller licence. The result is a four-hardcover slipcase set covering core rules, gear and robots, starships, and worlds, all adapted to D&D 5E's framework using the SRD.
What makes this interesting beyond "classic RPG gets 5E treatment" is how much of Traveller's identity they've kept intact. Yes, the infamous lifepath system is here, and your character can still die during creation before you ever roll initiative. All fourteen original careers work as backgrounds, and nine new subclasses cover the spacefaring archetypes, from xenobiologists to hackers. The books promise over 65 starships with reference deck plans and more than 100 illustrated robots with construction rules.
The big question is whether this is for Traveller veterans who want to onboard their 5E group, or for 5E players who want sci-fi. The answer seems to be both. The lifepath system and career structure should feel familiar to Traveller grognards, while the 5E chassis gives D&D groups a painless way into hard sci-fi without learning a new system from scratch. The campaign runs until May 15.
Sources: BackerKit Campaign | Bell of Lost Souls | Geeknative
