MegaTraveller (1987-92): An update to the original rule system, complete with a controversial metaplot shift involving the assassination of the Emperor and collapse of the Imperium into civil war, called "The Rebellion".Each of these licensees was given their own "land grant" of a sector or two (four in the case of Judges Guild) to develop in their own products how they saw fit. Several other game companies also produced materials for the line under license, including FASA note Which got its start producing Traveller materials, Gamelords, Judges Guild, Paranoia Press, and even Games Workshop. note The books were nearly all half-size "pamphlets" featuring a mostly black cover with a narrow colored stripe The line began as a rather generic sci-fi system, and added detail to the setting as it went. It has also been called the "Little Black Books" because of the printing format and minimalist covers used. Then just called Traveller but it has since acquired the "Classic" qualifier to distinguish it from the later editions. Classic Traveller (1977-86): The original.But Traveller isn't a role-playing system, because you can play GURPS Traveller, which is a different system entirely.
The system wasn't static, though the release of supplements and of subsequent editions of the system brought more detailed character generation, task systems, rules for skill improvement, and additional skills and rules for them. While there were some assumptions about the campaign world, an interstellar setting called "the Spinward Marches", little actual information was initially provided, leaving the campaign world to the Referee's fertile imagination. This was generally perceived as giving the game a more "three-dimensional" feel. Characters did not enter the campaign young and untrained rather, they had careers during which character development occurred. Traveller was probably the first game of its kind to divorce the concept of skills from that of occupation or class.
The publishing license has passed through a number of hands since then. Forty years later, it still has a rabid pack of followers, despite the fact that GDW closed down in 1996. Traveller was one of the earliest published role-playing-game systems, originally designed by Marc Miller and first published by Game Designers Workshop (GDW) in 1977.