May 1 is known the world over as May Day. May Day commemorates the struggles of labor movements the world over. For the tabletop roleplaying (RPG) community, especially fans of the Traveller RPG, May Day is better known as “Mayday” to commemorate the birth of the original Traveller boxed set with the iconic “Mayday” call on the cover.
For my Traveller Mayday I took advantage of a Bundle of Holding offer to pick up the publishing history of Traveller in Shannon Appleclines’s Free Trader Beowulf.
First, I appreciate Applecline for putting together this book. I will say, however, that I am very glad I paid the BoH price and not the full Mongoose Publishing overcharge. As a long-time (since 1979) Traveller-traveller there was not much between the covers that surprised me. For those who are not in the know they might find a juicy tidbit here or there but even the potentially juicy parts are, frankly, a bit dry. Applecline seems to go out of their way not space anybody out of an airlock.
Second, the book was delivered as a pdf which is not bad except the layout uses two-page spreads. I understand —and agree—that the look in a book is awesome but on a tablet or computer screen the text gets a bit small. The emphasis on graphical appearance over text in Free Trader Beowulf is symbolic of where Mongoose Publishing has taken the Traveller franchise. Gone are the days of a few, simple black & white drawings that were just enough to whet your imagination. Now you need a full color anime or cartoon or AI-like spread that leaves nothing to your imagination. In an RPG set in an iconic IP, like ALIENS or Blade Runner (both from Free League Publishing) the art-heavy look is understandable as a tool to immerse you into the setting. Other times, a RPG publisher finds an graphical motif that compliments the setting, like Pirate Borg again from Free League. In an IP, however, that is more defined by the players than the publisher I find the art-heavy approach less inspirational and more of a distraction.
If anything, reading Free Trader Beowulf confirmed to me what I have felt for several years now but was unable to really face: Mongoose Traveller is dead to me. The future—my future—for Traveller is being carried upon the shoulders of Cepheus Engine. I understand that Mongoose and the Cepheus Engine community are estranged; look no further than the mere 3+ pages (out of nearly 300 in Free Trader Beowulf) that deigns to talk about CE.
I get it: Free Trader Beowulf was almost certainly commissioned and paid for by Mongoose Publishing so of course it touts the newest edition. While many have congratulated Marc Miller for signing over the Traveller IP to Mongoose, I see that not as an accomplishment but a death kneel. I mean, for a company that tries so hard to look snazzy to justify their exorbitant prices the failures are just as obvious. Here, for example, is the director for marketing at Mongoose Pub that cannot even turn the camera the right way.
Yes, My Traveller adventures will continue, but I am taking a separate path from Mongoose. On this Mayday I bid you, Mongoose, a farewell. To those looking for Cepheus Engine-powered adventuring, welcome aboard!
Feature image courtesy theotherside
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Rocky Mountain Navy Gamer 
Happy Mayday, celebrating Classic Traveller. I don’t play any of the other editions, but Mongoose as a company always seemed to have a bad reputation in what I’ve read over the years. The whole SRD thing also made me uncomfortable; not sure how I’d react to a licensee turning around and releasing my IP to the world. Wait, yes, I am sure. So yeah. Classic Traveller, an amazing game, been in my top three since 1981. I use CT products or write my own. Still haven’t used all the published ones because there’s already so much. I should probably start up another adventure soon…