If you’ve read this blog for a while, you will probably already know that Mongoose Traveller (MgT) is not a favored member of my beloved Traveller roleplaying game franchise. Admittedly, I really enjoyed Mongoose Traveller 1st Edition (2008) and it was that edition of Traveller more than any other that got me “back to Traveller” in the late-oughts after mis-jumping around the RPG universe for a decade or more. My problem with Mongoose Traveller 2nd Edition (2016 to now) is not that I don’t like the changes to the Traveller game engine (mostly for the better or harmless) but I dislike the sales and licensing model Mongoose Publishing uses (expensive and restrictive).
Mongo-pricing
Hobby gaming can be expensive, and even more so when you consider that the digital edition of the Mongoose Traveller Core Rulebook Update 2022 sets you back $30 or when the hardback takes $59.99 to acquire. Simply put, Mongoose Traveller 2E is more expensive than many science-fiction roleplaying games available on the market today.
| Product | Hardcover Cost | % Difference |
| Mongoose Traveller Core Rulebook Update 2022 | $59.99 | -Baseline- |
| The Expanse Roleplaying Game (Green Ronin) | $49.99 | -17% |
| Cortex Prime (Direwolf, digital + hardcover) | $49.99 | -17% |
| ALIEN: The Roleplaying Game (Free League) | $48.94 | -18% |
| Coriolis – The Third Horizon Core Rulebook (Free League) | $46.11 | -23% |
| Genesys Core Rulebook (FFG) | $44.99 | -25% |
| Cepheus Deluxe Enhanced Edition (Stellagama Publishing) | $28.54 | -52% |
| Classic Traveller Facsimile Edition (GDW, softcover, B&W) | $9.00 | -85% |
Sure, I understand that the Mongoose books are lavishly illustrated and artwork is expensive. I know they owe licensing fees to Marc Miller at Far Future Enterprises. Yeah, you can [spoiler alert] always shop around and wait for a deal. But the pricing model starts so high to begin with.
I’ll take that…
While we’re talking, don’t get me started on the Community Content Program, aka Mongoose – The Travellers’ Aid Society (TAS) which allows you to use the Third Imperium (whoops) “Charted Space” setting but not if you’re a third-party publisher and don’t want to surrender your IP (and a good chunk of your income) to Mongoose Publishing. Even if you aren’t a publisher, simply placing your “product” in TAS gives Mongoose rights to it that maybe you want to keep for yourself.
I also strongly advise those who wish to publish any Traveller RPG-related material (even for personal and non-commercial use) to read the Fair Use Policy at Far Futures Enterprises. Be warned, however, that this policy appears dated to 2008 and it seems unclear to me how the highly restrictive Mongoose Traveller 2E non-open license that debuted in 2016 is treated.
Humble Bundle
So after that diatribe, you are probably going to be astonished that I took advantage of a 2023 Humble Bundle book package on Mongoose Traveller. Well, for the $18 dollar minimum the full bundle included digital copies of:
- Traveller Core Rulebook Update 2022
- Central Supply Catalog 2023
- Field Catalog
- Traveller Explorer’s Edition (i.e a “player’s handbook;” already had it)
- The Pirates of Drinax (Campaign)
- The Drinaxian Companion
- The Pirates of Drinax soundtrack (uh, that’s not a book…)
- Glorious Empire (Adventure)
- The Shadows of Sindal (Adventure)
- Marooned on Marduk: Reach Adventure 1
- Theories of Everything: Reach Adventure 2
- Incident of Calixcuel: Reach Adventure 3
- Last Flight of the Amuar: Reach Adventure 4
- The King is Dead (Fiction)
- Rachando (Fiction)
- The Once and Future Prince (Fiction)
Why?
Pirates of Drinax. The Pirates of Drinax campaign is long-recognized as an excellent campaign. Getting the core campaign book along with the Companion was worth the cost of entry by itself. Of note, the fiction is fair, and the soundtrack absolutely unessential to me.
Honestly, I will probably never to get to run a Pirates of Drinax campaign but the setting material makes excellent fodder for the solo campaigns that dominate my RPG play these days.
Cost. At $18 for the bundle (30% cost of the hardcover core rulebook, or only 60% of the cost for a single digital copy) this was an inexpensive way to get the MgT 2E books. I hear the arguments that players can take advantage of deals like this to acquire Mongoose Traveller 2E at a lower price so my other complaints of high pricing are just whining. I will just note that these versions are “frozen” and not subject to updates like digital products purchased through DriveThruRPG, though admittedly that’s no different than if I acquired deadtree version anyways.
The rest of it. The rest of the bundle is OK. The catalogs are useful in any Traveller or Cepheus Engine setting. I already had a copy of The Player’s Handbook the Explorer’s Edition. Remember that the Core Rulebook Update 2022 does not fall under the Open Game License. As the front matter of the Core Rulebook announces:
Traveller ©2021 Mongoose Publishing. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this work by any means without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden.
All significant characters, names, places, items, art and text herein are copyrighted by Mongoose Publishing.
This game product contains no Open Game Content. No portion of this work may be reproduced in any form without written permission. To learn more about the Open Game License, please go to http://www.mongoosepublishing.com.
Mongoose Traveller Core Rulebook Update 2022, p. 1
Concerns over the Open Game License surfaced earlier this year when Wizards of the Coast had their little legal excursion. I’ll point out (again) that Mongoose Publishing was actually ahead of WotC when it comes to a restrictive license. Even in the aftermath of the WotC conflagration, the Open Game License issue as it applies to the Traveller RPG world remains in a 2016 stasis.
Feature image courtesy Mongoose Publishing
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