Okay have publicly stated the goal of ending up with a setting I can run I suppose I need to organize my thoughts a little better. The first thing is which rule set I am going to use. Or a more appropriate description would be what the base system I am going to house rule the crap out of and why. I have pretty much all the version with the exception of Mongoose Traveller. Not that I have anything against it I just don't feel like justifying to myself buying another set of Traveller rules. My choice for the base set is Starter Traveller as it was one of the last CT rule set produced so should be pretty typo free. I own it in print and on PDF and the way I end up running it is inconvenient to have Roll20 up and try and use the same laptop to look at PDF's and Starter is the easiest version to find the base rules in. In case it is helpful to anyone I will give a quick review of the other rules sets and why I went against them. The abbreviation in parenthesis is what I will call them if I mention them again and the links take you to where you can buy them. Another large factor was that I like the G+ Classic Traveller group so if I am using them to improve my ideas I need to use a CT rule set.

1) LBB (LBB) More or less I am using these rules just with a better layout and Starship combat being far easier to run.

2) The Traveller Book (TTB) Again the same rules but somewhat more unwieldy in format also I don't own a dead tree version of this one.

3) MegaTraveller (MT) A very close second on my final choice and one I will be stealing actual rule stuff from. Layout; Typos and a realization that a bunch of the things that changed don't strike me as adding to the fun of playing the game. And again it is still pretty much the same rules.

4) Traveller the New Era (TNE) The version that I feel guilty about. They worked hard on it and I never gave it a chance. 2D6 is Traveller to me and other things are games using the setting. If I am going to game in the Traveller universe it is going to be by playing Traveller. I also hate the setting and can't conceive of how to fix it enough for me to buy into and run. If anyone is reading this who worked on it accept my apology for my prejudice.

5) Marc Miller's Traveller (T4) I love the additional background but failed to expend the effort into learning the system well. It should be an awesome time to adventure but I didn't work out to my satisfaction how much the Imperium should be controlling expansion. Without a unified currency only people without ship payments could go exploring. Even with all that BITS "Space Dogs!" is probably still my favorite published adventure if Scopes where real I would kick them in the ding ding A-hole D-bags.

6) Traveller20 (T20) Again awesome additional background but a completely different game in the Traveller setting. I could bash on this some more because it is so different than Traveller but that is just me being whiny.

7) GURPS Traveller (GT) Setting = Yes Game = No. This one however has a ton of awesome stuff to steal from. I think the SPA originated in the "High Passage" magazine but the Starport book was pretty cool. I consider "Behind the Claw" a vital resource for lootable ideas. Seriously consider if you want any of these publications as the GT license is expiring so they could soon be no more. I still wish they had re-issued the Traveller Cardboard Heroes sets in PDF though. Crap trying to find a link for the "High Passage" magazines I found instead I can get the Cardboard Heroes from FFE <sigh>

8) Comstar's 1248 books don't present a set of rules and the setting tries to recover from TNE so maybe it would be okay. The books are well written and the premises made I can live with I just am not sure I understand wanting to play Sci Fi where tech is actively trying to kill you.

9) Traveller5(T5) <sigh> So many very cool ideas presented in a way I can't wrap my feeble little brain around. I have been told this is because I only have the PDF/CD version but if I am unwilling to spring for the E-version of Mongoose there is no way I am spending for the dead tree version of this unless I win the lottery. I don't see anything I hate I just can't find the time or desire to see how it works together as a system.

In addition to Starter Traveller I am going to use Supplement 4 Citizens of the Imperium to give needed depth to career choices. If anyone is looking for advice on what to get I would say get the CT CD from FFE if you can/want to afford it, The JTAS pdf and all the Challenge Magazines and you are pretty much set with a ton of ideas waiting to distract the crap out of you.