The Cepheus Engine Science Fiction RPG is still one of the best versions of the game to get, and you can get a very inexpensive print-on-demand version. This has no art, bookmarks, or hyperlinks, but it is still a great, bare-bones, just-the-rules reference with as few changes as possible.
While other editions and later versions introduced changes and additions to the system, this one keeps everything as clean and to-the-point as possible. The ship sizes are limited to 5,000 tons, with no capital ships, so this is a pure small-ship game, which fits the original little black books of the original Traveller game.
There are times I like a small-ship only universe, where technology limits the size of ships to a certain limit, and the largest ships can only go so far. This puts a premium on adventure and scout ships, and makes the game a bit more fun for those adventure-class vessels.
You do not get a universe! Where Traveller is the best for Imperium based gaming, this book does generic 2d6 universe gaming just about perfectly. There are times when I just want a familiar core system to explore an idea, and I don't need a lot of premade ships, worlds, weapons, gear, or any of the Traveller set-dressing.
All I want is a fast, generic, 2d6 science fiction system to quickly explore an idea or scenario. The Cepheus Engine RPG is the game's SRD, and the simple presentation makes this a very fast and easy resource to reach for. And this SRD-based version is perfect for using as a base to build other 2d6-based games from.
If all you want is a quick rules-reference for Open 2d6 science-fiction gaming, you don't need a ton of expanded content or bells-and-whistles, and you don't want a complete setting and history, this is your game.
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