Heh. This is Traveller: 2300 (1986). Despite the name, it has nothing to do with Traveller, the far future science fiction RPG. Rather, 2300 grows out of the then near-future military RPG Twilight 2000. Basically, that game involves small scale nuclear conflicts that take three centuries for humanity to recover from, at which point the tech level has advanced far enough to seriously explore space (and, you know, get into an interstellar war). There is a space elevator and new fangled FTL engines, but the tech is not very much more advanced than what we currently contend with. Earth is still divided into national loyalties that are reflected in an interstellar colonial system. Improbably, France is top dog, though their colonies are in conflict with the alien Kafir. There are other alien species as well — like Star Frontiers and unlike regular Traveller, they mostly seem pleasingly, well, alien.

The system is essentially the same as Twilight 2000. In the ‘80s, people seemed pretty positively disposed toward Twilight. I find that mystifying and I don’t think the focus on detailed realism holds up in the 2020s. I like the world though, I think it is an interesting (if highly militarized) take on what would surely be an exciting period of history to live through. It never really took off with players, though — initially that was probably due to brand confusion but the appetite for this sort of science fiction was eroding in the face of brighter settings like Star Wars and grittier ones like Cyberpunk.

(The posing on that Steve Venters cover always makes me chuckle)