An Example of Solo Play with a familiar Patron

Michael Thompson over at the Traveller Adventures blog recently posted a report from a solo play session which featured a familiar face. Back when I posted the Casual Encounter with Adelaide Thrupp, Michael asked in the comments if he could use the character, and I said please do! Here's a snippet from the results:

            A middle-aged woman dressed in professional attire approached her, “Excuse me, Petty Officer? I’m Third Secretary Thrupp, formerly of the Diplomatic Corps. I think you may need my help here.”

            “Madam, I’m quite sure that anything like that- “

            “Can go through your Captain, and the Station Officer. I know the channels. I also know somebody in the Station Office has been compromised. If I can talk to your Captain, you can help me make a big bust here.”

            “What?”

            “People are listening. Aboard ship, it’ll be clear.”

Read the entire post here.

Thanks Michael!

New Traveller game, new Traveller players

I have begun a Traveller campaign (sandbox, so far) with my two boys and their friends. This motley crew of odds & ends:

• Commander McGee – ex Marine
• Lt Landreth – ex Navy
• Ca'al – ex Navy petty officer, carries a halberd!
• Major Reaper – ex Army

  along with

• Joe Blasterson – ex Army
• Jay Maverick – ex Hunter
• Longfinger – a Barbarian from a genetic offshoot of humanity

are off to explore Holtzmann's Corridor. For some of them, I think, their exposure to Science Fiction is limited to the Trek/Wars franchises. All of them, with the exception of my boys, are new to Traveller and some to role-playing as a hobby.

This will be an opportunity to introduce them to some different sci-fi concepts and some older works of fiction. Will they acquire a starship?  Will they be heroes or space bums?  Will they change the world?  We shall see.

A Review of The Wreck in the Ring

Hey, I think I can see my ship from here!

This fellow calling himself Pookie UK has posted a review of The Wreck in the Ring. It's good to know that people have noticed. The review is generally favorable, while acknowledging some things that I could have done better.

Here's a quote:

"The technical aspects of the adventure are not its only challenge. There is at least one NPC who has ulterior motives and two NPCs who have motives other than salvage. In fact, one of the interesting NPCs is a member of the Brothers of St. Cuthbert, which is dedicated to recovering the bodies of those lost in space and returning them home for proper burial. This nicely adds a degree of faith and purpose not always present in adventures for the Cepheus Engine Core Rules and other 2D6 OGL SciFi mechanics. There is one other danger in Borderlands Adventure 1: Wreck in the Ring, one that suffuses both the ship and adventure with a sense of unease. Now, in scenarios like these, the cause of this unease, perhaps paranoia, might be some alien thing or crazed survivor, either ready and hungry to stalk and slaughter first the NPCs and then the player characters. And so it is here, but in Borderlands Adventure 1: Wreck in the Ring it does not feel like a cliché because it does not have to play out like a survival horror movie in space. Only if the player characters make every effort to interfere will the scenario turn into one of survival horror in space rather than one of salvage and recovery."

I admit I didn't think of the potential cliche in the element he mentions, as 'survival horror' is not on my list of genres I enjoy. I wanted a surprise and a mystery to present a challenge so the adventure would have more to it than the abstract dangers of working in hard vacuum. 

It was not my intent to make this a killer scenario, but if the referee applies the rules and situations hard enough, it could be.

The takeaway for me is 'next time write up a handout for the players' - give the 
Ref something tangible to show the players that quickly transmits some relevant information. Also, spend just a little more time giving important NPCs some background and personality, again to help the Referee build the situation.

Thank you Pookie UK for the review, and the ideas for improvement.  

Lancaster Subsector

Why oh why oh WHY didn't I ever think to do this?  I grew up in Harrisburg, and 'explored' most of the Lancaster subsector as a young man. BeRKA over at the Zhodani Base has produced this very-close-to-home-brew subsector. Behold:

 

It didn't take four weeks in Jump to get to Baltimore in MY day!

 You can read about the Lancaster Subsector and the planets therein at the Zhodani Base:  http://zho.berka.com/amberzone/notorious/lancaster-subsector/ 

Jumpin' Out/Jumpin' In

I have found the soundtrack for all future Traveller play sessions that involve interstellar travel. Travelling through jump-space sounds like this:

Jumpin' Out

Unstoppable Momentum

Joe Satriani

Or maybe it sounds like this:

Jumpin' In

Unstoppable Momentum

Joe Satriani

What's your soundtrack for space travel?

Laser weapons are coming

Beam Lasers are designated at TL-9 technology in Classic Traveller, as heavy weapons. TL 9 is noted on the Technological Levels chart as being approximately 1990-2000. Okay, so they were off the mark with that one. We were supposed to have fusion and contra-gravity by now. (Don't I wish) However, the tech of the Far Future is getting closer. Take a look:

What else could they call it except Dragonfire?

Behold the UK Dragonfire laser weapon system, currently on display at the 2017 DSEI exposition (Defense and Security Equipment International). According to the Janes' 360 website:

"The system aims to offer highly accurate targeting, allowing it to hit specific parts of an aircraft, for example. Such accuracy gives greater flexibility in target engagement, potentially allowing an LDEW [laser directed energy weapon] system to disrupt or dazzle the target, as well as to destroy it."

The Dragonfire is mounted aboard naval vessels and serves as an anti-aircraft and anti-missile platform. Sounds like the fore-runner of starship turret weaponry to me.

If your PCs are operating as mercenaries or involved in Striker battles on TL 8-10 worlds, the Janes' site offers information on real-world tech that can be upgraded and imported into your Traveller games. Check it out and find some inspiration.