The standard Traveller setting is often analogized to the Age of Sail on
Earth. The universe of David Drake's Republic of Cinnabar Navy series, also
called the Leary/Mundy series, may actually be a better far-future match
for the Age of Sail than the Third Imperium.

As in 'stock' Traveller, the speed of travel is the upper limit on the
speed of interstellar communication. The general 'feel' of the universe is
that of being a 'small ship' universe, and the interstellar 'drive' system
really does make for 'sailing' ships, complete with a starship having
masts, spars, and sails, and being handled by riggers. Crew sizes tend to
be large as compared to Traveller; because of the nature of 'the matrix'
(you might as well think of it as a hyperspace), managing the rigging must
be done through manual, mechanical, and hydraulic means, not electrical or
electronic. Navigation uses the 'Sailing Directions' or 'Fleet Handbook'
(depending on which empire you adhere to), which are, for all intents and
purposes, combinations of a compilation of previous trips' 'rutters'[1] and
the CIA Factbook, and one can get There from Here by simply following the
Sailing Directions - but a good navigator can go out on the hull with the
riggers, look at the matrix, and perhaps shave some time off the 'rated'
trip time from the Directions.

Technology is clearly above what we're familiar with - but it feels like
it's only 'just' beyond the familiar, and perhaps its penetration into
society is not so thorough as one would like. Ship weapons are missiles,
with plasma weapons for point defense and 'point-blank' range; personal
weapons are slug-throwers, either conventional chemical propulsion or
'impellers', which can answer to the description of coil guns except for
not having huge power packs. Power for ships is fusion-based; power plants
planetside include fusion, but aren't obviously exclusively fusion; while
it's not discussed except where needed for story, it's clear that some
worlds have a low-enough level of technology that one can assume
lower-technology solutions to the power question.

One of the early books in the series mentions that there are nonhuman
spacefaring species, but, with one exception for one individual in one
story, they do not appear; the setting can be treated as a human-only
setting.

There is enough detail of the setting presented that Traveller adventuring
in the classic modes is possible: mercantile, mercenary, exploratory/
scientific, intrigue, politics, … it's all there, and against a backdrop of
an intermittently hot-and-cold war between two major 'imperial' powers (the
Republic of Cinnabar and the Alliance of Free Stars), with client states,
tributary possessions, and independents - and even an empire's clients and
tributary possessions may be involved in activities that the empire may
disapprove of, such as piracy or slaving. Actions at the 'player-character'
level can have ramifications at high levels, possibly even unintentionally;
it's not like the Third Imperium setting where the player-characters really
can't make a difference in the universe.

While the gradations of social status aren't as clearly drawn - or as
finely divided - as in the stock Third Imperium setting, Social Status in
the Traveller sense really is a Thing, and while one's social status isn't
firmly coupled to wealth, there is a general expectation that one will act
like it is (which means that a high-SOC character could very well be quite
beholden to others who are in fact funding his public face). High SOC also
implies a certain attitude toward one's own privilege vis-à-vis those of
lower status; while treating one's lowers as slaves or peons isn't entirely
acceptable (they're peasants, not peons), the American view of equality
simply is well outside everyone's worldview, including those who are on the
bottom of the social heap (and who would lose respect for those at the top
if they didn't act like they were at the top). Within the RCN, it certainly
takes "interest", which rises from one's own social status and/or that of
one's patrons, to get good assignments and promotions, even if one has an
exceptionally good record.

[1] Rutter, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutter_(nautical)

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