[Fanzine Focus XLIII] The Travellers’ Digest Number 10

On the tail of the Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed how another Dungeon Master and her group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will be compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. However, not all fanzines written with the Old School Renaissance in mind need to be written for a specific retroclone. Although not the case now, the popularity of Traveller would spawn several fanzines, of which The Travellers’ Digest, published by Digest Group Publications, was the most well known and would eventually transform from a fanzine into a magazine.

The publication of The Travellers’ Digest #1 in December, 1985 marked the entry of Digest Group Publications into the hobby and from this small, but ambitious beginnings would stem a complete campaign and numerous highly-regarded supplements for Game Designers Workshop’s Traveller and MegaTraveller, as well as a magazine that all together would run for twenty-one issues between 1985 and 1990. The conceit was that The Travellers’ Digest was a magazine within the setting of the Third Imperium, its offices based on Deneb in the Deneb Sector, and that it awarded the Travellers’ Digest Touring Award. This award would be won by one of the Player Characters and thus the stage is set for ‘The Grand Tour’, the long-running campaign in the pages of The Travellers’ Digest. In classic fashion, as with Europe of the eighteenth century, this would take the Player Characters on a tour of the major capitals of known space. These include Vland, Capitol, Terra, the Aslan Hierate, and even across the Great Rift. The meat of this first issue, as well as subsequent issues, would be dedicated to an adventure, each a stop-off on the ‘The Grand Tour’, along with support for it. The date for the first issue of The Travellers’ Digest and thus when the campaign begins is 152-1101, the 152nd day of the 1101st year of the Imperium.

To best run ‘The Grand Tour’, the Referee will need access to The Atlas of the Imperium, Supplement 8: Library Data (A-M), Supplement 11: Library Data (N-Z), Supplement 7: Traders and Gunboats (or alternatively, Supplement 5: Azhanti High Lightning), as well as the core rules. In addition, other supplements would be required depending on the adventure, in the case of this issue, The Travellers’ Digest Number 9, that would only be Book 8, Robots. For ‘Reference Point’, the tenth part of ‘The Grand Tour’, the Referee will also want access to The Travellers’ Digest Number 8 and The Travellers’ Digest Number 9 for the subsector maps that appear in those issues. CHALLENGE Magazine No. 27 will also be useful. Of course, that was in 1987, and much, if not all, of the rules or background necessary have been updated since. The campaign is also specifically written for use with four pre-generated Player Characters. They consist of Akidda Laagiir, the journalist who won the Travellers’ Digest Touring Award; Dur Telemon, a scout and his nephew; Doctor Theodor Krenstein, a gifted-scientist and roboticist; and Doctor Krenstein’s valet, ‘Aybee’, or rather, ‘AB-101’. The fact is, AB-101 is a pseudo-biological robot, both protégé and prototype. Consequently, the mix of Player Characters are surprisingly non-traditional and not all of them are easily created using the means offered in Traveller or MegaTraveller. This is addressed within various issues of the fanzine.

The Travellers’ Digest Number 10 was published in 1987. One major change announced in the editorial is the magazine will no longer print the Universal Task Profile. In past issues, this has explained the mechanical format used in The Travellers’ Digest, but with the publication of and its application in MegaTraveller, it seems redundant. This gives the magazine two extra pages to play with! In previous issue, The Travellers’ Digest Number 9, and ninth part of ‘The Grand Tour’ brought the Travellers to Capital, the heart of the Third Imperium, and the Emperor’s court at ‘Before the Iridium Throne’. When ‘Reference Point’, the tenth part by Gary L. Thomas, opens, the Travellers found themselves with a problem. To get to Capital, the four Travellers were granted Imperial space-required travel vouchers. However, the Emperor’s largesse does not run in the opposite direction. Thus, they find themselves on Capital, the core of the Third Imperium, with nowhere to go and now way of paying for it! Fortunately, three of the four have transferable skills aboard ship and the other is a member of the Traveller’s Aid Society and so can begin make their way. They decide to see more of the Third Imperium and head Rimward towards Sol in the Solomani Sphere.

This is fun set-up, shifting the adventurers of the Travellers into something that is more peripatetic and more like a classic Traveller campaign. In ‘Reference Point’, the Travellers find themselves husbanding a difficult species from one zoo to another, pulling a few strings based on their various reputations, and so on, until they receive a message from Eneri Balan, who had been the protocol assigned to them on Capital. He has a task for them that he can pass on from the Moot, the primary deliberative assembly of the Third Imperium, composed of all nobles holding the rank of Baron or higher. The Baron of Wolton holds his patent on Kigaru in the Ilelish subsector, but it was destroyed along with other records in a fire. Fortunately, copies of all such records are held in the computers on the Scout Base underground on the world of Reference. Here, the records of the Third Imperium go all the way back to the First Imperial Grand Survey and the Second Imperial Grand Survey. Unfortunately, when copies of the records about Kigaru were returned, there was no mention of his barony and it was in fact, public property. This effectively strips him of his title, so he sought help from the Moot. The Travellers are to travel to Reference and investigate this discrepancy, as two of their number are computer specialists. Besides investigating this problem, the Travellers’ arrival on Reference will trigger another couple of plots, which though small, are quite interesting. The Referee will develop some of the NPCs and scenes in the mini-adventures that the Travellers will encounter and so bring them to life, ‘Reference Point’ serves up a thoroughly enjoyable slice of life with small stories that push the Travellers onwards on ‘The Grand Tour’.

‘Reference Point’ is followed by a second adventure, ‘Plague of Perruques’. This is by Gary L. Thomas and Marc W. Miller and is set in the Regina Subsector following the end of the Fifth Frontier War. The party, led by Baron Ganidiirsi hault-Reitan, are touring his holdings, surveying them for damage, when he has arranged a hunting trip for the Rebacked Slonth on Uakye in Regina Subsector. The scenario is divided into two parts. In the first half, the Player Characters go hunting, but in the second, they return to the capital to discover that a strange and unfortunately deadly plague has broken out. Its symptoms include grey fibres appearing at the roots of suffers’ hair and covering the skull in a few days, followed by a film growing over the eyes, leading to blindness and fever. It kills half of its sufferers. This is an investigative scenario in which the Player Characters need to travel to various locations, sifting rumour from fact. It is challenging and needs some set-up by the Referee to ensure that the players have some pointers to get started, but this is a solid scenario, and like ‘Reference Point’ before it, has its world data presented in same format as for The Grand Survey. Task details are provided for the hunting half of the scenario, and whilst the scenario was originally written as a tournament scenario, it does not come with any pre-generated Player Characters.

The ‘Library Data of the Core Sector’ is surprisingly extensive, paying particular attention to Cadlion and Chant Subsectors which are also detailed, compete with maps. There is a lot of detail here, and some of the entries are marked with Referee suggestions for their use. The ‘Playing the Characters’ series comes to close with an examination of Akidda Laagiir, the journalist whose Travellers’ Digest Touring Award at the start of ‘The Grand Tour’ sets the campaign off. This is useful, more so if the Referee is starting the campaign from the start. The ‘Traveller Q & A’ provides answers to the readers’ questions. These include a very detailed explanation of what MegaTraveller and Traveller: 2300 are and what the differences are between (and the original Traveller); why nobles are actually banned from taking anagathic treatments (useful in conjunction with the later article in the magazine); the stats for the Princes Lucan and Varian, and Margaret, Grand Duchess of Delphi; and much more. Some of the information here is quite technical, entirely in keeping with Traveller as a roleplaying game.

This is followed by a series of departments, old and new. For the ‘Tech Briefs’ department, any player of Akidda Laagiir will be pleased to see that the device detailed is ‘Holorecorders’. This is a recording and playback device as well as an editing suite using holocrystals. It is a highly detailed description and also suggests other applications too, such as holographic recording robots for hazardous environments, medical imaging, police crime scene recording, and more. The next department is ‘The Gaming Digest—Referee’s Tips—Part 1’ for which Gary L. Thomas explores ‘More Effective Roleplaying’. He observes that the quality of roleplaying varies wildly, especially in Traveller, but points out that actually roleplaying is a skill and can be made better with practice. This is a surprisingly deep examination of roleplaying, exploring the differences between character and player, the limitations of player knowledge in what they know and do not know, tailoring content to players’ interests, and more. The article is aimed at both the player and the Referee and is actually informative and useful, possibly more so when the issue of the magazine was published.

‘Anagathics, the Drug of the Ages’ by Joe D. Fugate Sr. examines the development of the anti-ageing drugs and how they are obtained, what their possible side effects are, and more. Anti-ageing treatment becomes available at Tech Level 12 and rules are provided for this, and then again at subsequent Tech Levels up to 15. There are fewer side-effects as the science advances, but the article also examines what happens if a Player Character takes a break between treatments or runs out and suffers withdrawal symptoms. However, the article is more technical than social, so the social consequences are not explored, which is a pity. Otherwise, this comprehensive guide and useful should players have their character seek out anagathics. ‘Statistics From the Second Imperial Grand Survey’ brings the support for Traveller in the issue to a close. It consists mostly of numbers so is not that interesting.

The last few pages of The Travellers’ Digest Number 10 are devoted to Traveller: 2300. First, William Connors describes ‘Pentapod Constructs for 2300’, a number of biological devices available on the open market from the alien species. They include a ‘Breather’, a lifeform that when worn enables the user to breathe freely underwater (the lifeform does look like a Facehugger though…); the ‘Hibernation Inducer’, a black blob that when placed on the back of an injured person induces unconsciousness and a greatly lowered metabolism to enable the person to be transported to medical safety; and ‘Atmospheric Filter Symbiots’, tiny creatures that can be injected into the lungs to filter out trace elements that would normally harm the host. The ‘Briefcase Library for 2300’ by Robert Parker describes a briefcase-sized device that uses optical storage drives to store vast amounts of information suitable for personal use and transportation to the frontier. Of course, it looks vastly outdated by modern standards, being the equivalent of the modern laptop. Nancy Parker gives a very detailed breakdown of the ‘Medical Kit for 2300’, detailing what medical kit contains and must be carried by vehicles with a passenger capacity of thirty or more and also by emergency workers. Lastly, Robert Parker also describes ‘The Life Foundation “Squid” for 2300’, a relatively cheap and easily customisable submersible for frontier use. Unfortunately, there are no technical details or deck plans, but otherwise, this is a nice description.

Physically, The Travellers’ Digest Number 10 continues the physical improvement begun in the previous issue. The artwork is improved too and overall, this is a much more professional looking issue.

After the tumultuous events explored in The Travellers’ Digest Number 9 with the assassination of Emperor Strephon, The Travellers’ Digest Number 10 settles down and concerns itself with providing solidly gameable support for both MegaTraveller and Traveller: 2300. The scenarios in the issue are good, ‘Reference Point’, the tenth part of ‘The Grand Tour’ is really quite enjoyable. The Travellers’ Digest Number 10 is simply a good issue with good support for both roleplaying games from Game Designers’ Workshop.

[Fanzine Focus XLII] The Travellers’ Digest Number 9

On the tail of the Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed how another Dungeon Master and her group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will be compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. However, not all fanzines written with the Old School Renaissance in mind need to be written for a specific retroclone. Although not the case now, the popularity of Traveller would spawn several fanzines, of which The Travellers’ Digest, published by Digest Group Publications, was the most well known and would eventually transform from a fanzine into a magazine.

The publication of The Travellers’ Digest #1 in December, 1985 marked the entry of Digest Group Publications into the hobby and from this small, but ambitious beginnings would stem a complete campaign and numerous highly-regarded supplements for Game Designers Workshop’s Traveller and MegaTraveller, as well as a magazine that all together would run for twenty-one issues between 1985 and 1990. The conceit was that The Travellers’ Digest was a magazine within the setting of the Third Imperium, its offices based on Deneb in the Deneb Sector, and that it awarded the Travellers’ Digest Touring Award. This award would be won by one of the Player Characters and thus the stage is set for ‘The Grand Tour’, the long-running campaign in the pages of The Travellers’ Digest. In classic fashion, as with Europe of the eighteenth century, this would take the Player Characters on a tour of the major capitals of known space. These include Vland, Capitol, Terra, the Aslan Hierate, and even across the Great Rift. The meat of this first issue, as well as subsequent issues, would be dedicated to an adventure, each a stop-off on the ‘The Grand Tour’, along with support for it. The date for the first issue of The Travellers’ Digest and thus when the campaign begins is 152-1101, the 152nd day of the 1101st year of the Imperium.

To best run ‘The Grand Tour’, the Referee will need access to The Atlas of the Imperium, Supplement 8: Library Data (A-M), Supplement 11: Library Data (N-Z), Supplement 7: Traders and Gunboats (or alternatively, Supplement 5: Azhanti High Lightning), as well as the core rules. In addition, other supplements would be required depending on the adventure, in the case of this issue, The Travellers’ Digest Number 9, that would only be Book 8, Robots. Of course, that was in 1987, and much, if not all, of the rules or background necessary have been updated since. The campaign is also specifically written for use with four pre-generated Player Characters. They consist of Akidda Laagiir, the journalist who won the Travellers’ Digest Touring Award; Dur Telemon, a scout and his nephew; Doctor Theodor Krenstein, a gifted-scientist and roboticist; and Doctor Krenstein’s valet, ‘Aybee’, or rather, ‘AB-101’. The fact is, AB-101 is a pseudo-biological robot, both protégé and prototype. Consequently, the mix of Player Characters are surprisingly non-traditional and not all of them are easily created using the means offered in Traveller or MegaTraveller. This is addressed within various issues of the fanzine.

The Travellers’ Digest Number 9 was published in 1987 and is a very special issue, published at a momentous point in the history of Traveller and a momentous point in the history of the setting of Traveller. It is special because it marked the move to a larger format, both in terms of size and page. It is special because it was the first to have a full colour cover, for this issue depicting a member of the Emperor’s Guard, standing under the Imperial Palace in sight of the Moot Spire, the seat of power for the Third Imperium’s nobility. It was the first to cover content for Game Designers’ Workshop’s other Science Fiction roleplaying game, Traveller: 2300, hence the issue also carrying the tagline, “The quarterly adventure magazine devoted to GDW’s science fiction role playing game”. It was special because it brought the fanzine’s ongoing campaign, ‘The Grand Tour’, to Core, the capital of the Third Imperium. Which was highly pertinent because The Travellers’ Digest Number 9 was published for the tenth anniversary of Traveller, an event marked by that momentous point in the history of Traveller and a momentous point in the history of the setting of Traveller. The former was the publication of MegaTraveller, effectively the second edition of the roleplaying game which the team at Digest Publications had been developing. The latter was the assassination of Emperor Strephon and its calamitous consequences.

However, the momentous occurrences at the heart of The Travellers’ Digest Number 9 would have consequences upon the fanzine—arguably now a magazine—itself. The publication date for the issue is 144-1116, the 144th day of the 1116th year of the Imperium, but the events of the issue take place in 1104. This is because the journalist, Akidda Laagiir, is actually publishing the stories anew over a decade after they happened, long after his Grand Tour is over and with the benefit of hindsight. That year, 1116, is also the year when Emperor Strephon is assassinated. In fact, all of the key figures involved in that assassination appear in the issue’s feature adventure, ‘Before the Iridium Throne’. Which will be odd for any Traveller fan playing through the scenario, knowing what will happen in twelve years’ time and knowing that their characters can do nothing about it.

Since The Travellers’ Digest is now “The quarterly adventure magazine devoted to GDW’s science fiction role playing game”, the other major consequence is that there will be a dichotomy in its support for Traveller. This is that the magazine will continue to tell the story of ‘The Grand Tour’, taking place from 1101 onwards, whilst also providing content that supports the official timeline from 1116 and the assassination of Emperor Strephon. Which also means a dichotomy between the support for Traveller and MegaTraveller—although the magazine’s development and continued use of the ‘UTP’ or ‘Universal Task Profile’ offsets that. Of course, this is in addition to the dichotomy between the content for Traveller and Traveller: 2300!

After introducing the quartet of Player Characters for the ‘Grand Tour’, ‘Before the Iridium Throne’ sets up them with a deep concern as detailed in a lengthy bit of fiction, ‘Knight Falls on Capital’. This is the fact that ‘Aybee’, or rather, ‘AB-101’ is a robot and therefore not human, and technically should not have been knighted and inducted into the Order of the Emperor’s Guard. Akidda Laagiir, Dur Telemon, and Doctor Theodor Krenstein are guilty of deception at the very least. ‘Knight Falls on Capital’ is meant to be read out by the Referee, which is a lot of exposition to expose. The scenario is short, representing a chance for the Player Characters to explore Capital and the parts of the Imperial Palace complex as well as actually attend the audience with the Emperor himself. However, there really is not a lot for the Player Characters to do and not a lot of actual adventure. So, it can be completed in a single session. If the Referee wants more, the scenario suggests that Emperor Strephon actually asks the Player Characters to arrange a sixteenth birthday part for his daughter, Princess Cencia Iphegenia. Which is an interesting social challenge, but one that the Referee will have to develop herself—and there is not a lot of advice to that end.

The dichotomy in The Travellers’ Digest Number 9 comes to the fore with the second scenario in the issue. This is ‘Lion At Bay – A MegaTraveller Scenario’ by Gary L. Thomas. Being written for use with MegaTraveller, it is set in 1116. However, it is set on Capital and it is set against the backdrop of the assassination of Emperor Strephon. The Player Characters are the crew of the trade vessel, Eiriakh, an Aslan Khtukhao class transport which has ferried an Aslan trade mission from the Yerlyaruiwo clan to Capital. The trade mission is interrupted by the events in Imperial Palace, for which initially, the Aslan are blamed. As the events are reported on the news channels—again leading to a lot of exposition—the Aslan crew, currently tourists, quickly become subject to anti-Aslan sentiment and realise that they have to get off-world. Complicating this  is the need to get one of their colleagues out of gaol. Beyond that, although challenging, there is not a great deal for the Player Characters to do, expect be aghast at the news coming out of the Imperial Palace. Given this limitation, the scenario is actually a better read for its historical detail than it is for giving the Player Characters much to do.

To further support the setting of Capital and the Imperial Palace, The Travellers’ Digest Number 9 presents four more articles. ‘Crack Troops: The Imperial Guard’ by Terry McInnes details the history, guard life, dispositions, and organisation of all eleven regiments that protect the emperor and his family as well as serving elsewhere. It suggests the possibility that a Player Character might have served in the Imperial Guard. ‘The Imperial Palace’ by Rob Caswell and William W. Connors describes the Grand Palace of the Third Imperium in the city of Cleon on Capital, including the previous palaces, facilities, and history. This is accompanied by the description of the spire that is ‘The Moot’ by Gary L. Thomas, as well as a good map of ‘The Imperial Palace Grounds on Capital’. Pertinent now to the Player Characters of ‘The Grand Tour’ is Bob Swarm’s ‘Noblesse Oblige: The Imperial Nobility’, which examines the role and place of the noble class in the Third Imperium. It draws a clear distinction between the orders of knighthood, honour nobles (knights, baronets, barons, and maquis), rank nobility, and high nobility, and the broad responsibilities of each. It gives guidelines too on creating nobles as Player Characters and NPCs, and a more granular means of determining status within the nobility. This is very well done article that gives a guide to one of the archetypal NPCs (and potentially Player Characters) in Traveller. 

There was element of humour in ‘Knight Falls on Capital’, the ‘Grand Tour’ scenario in the issue in its depiction of Emperor Strephon. This humanised him, as does the subsequent ‘An Interview with the Emperor’, conducted and written in game by the journalist, Akidda Laagiir. Again, it also touches upon what is regarded—in game and out—as ‘Strephon’s worst decision’, the appointment of Dulinor Ilethian as Archduke of Ilelish. He defends the action, of course, but as we know, the Emperor’s critics were proven to be right. Nevertheless, an interesting read that gives his view of the Imperium.

‘The Core Sector: XBoat Routes’ is a simple blocky map, and it is followed by Dale L. Kemper’s ‘Library Data of the Core Sector’. Given its history and prominence in Third Imperium and Charted Space, it should be no surprise that entries do detail a larger number of the great and the good, battles, wars, and the like than is the norm. There is a particular focus on the founding of the insular Interstellar Confederacy (a major opponent to the rise of the Sylean Federation) and the Civil War of the Interstellar Confederacy (both hundreds of years before the foundation of the Third Imperium). It is accompanied by maps of the ‘Bunkeria Subsector’ and Cemplas Subsector’ in Core sector, where the Interstellar Confederacy was established.

‘The Gaming Digest: Let’s Get Physical’ by Gary L. Thomas and Bill Paley examines the definitions, uses, and limitations of the Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance attributes in Traveller. This is a follow up to the earlier examinations in previous issues of the fanzine, providing basic skill rolls, using the UTP—or ‘Universal Task Profile’—for all three. 

The issue is rounded out with two last articles. One is ‘Traveller Q&A’ in which both Joe D. Fugate Sr. and Marc Miller answer questions about Traveller. Such as what does the Imperial flag look like and what is the colour is the flag of Third Imperium? The answer being that it is the symbol and shape of a star—originally Capital’s G3 star of yellow on a black background—that matters, not the colour.  The other questions cover assigning task difficulties in scenarios and differences between the distribution of high-tech, high starport-rated worlds in the Sol subsector versus the Vland subsector. The answer to the latter is interesting again from an in-game points of view and an out of game one too, examining how worlds are distributed across sector and subsector maps. The other is ‘Civilian Vehicles for Traveller: 2300’ by Rob Caswell. This describes the Saab-Sikorsky ‘Condor VX’ VTOL, which is found on Earth and across the colonies, and the Renault ‘Pioner’ HUV, which is an ATV found on many frontier worlds, but especially those of the French Arm. This is the only support for Traveller: 2300 in the issue.

Physically, The Travellers’ Digest Number 9 feels cleaner and tidier than previous issues. Some of the artwork is also much better and overall, this is a much more professional looking issue.

There is another dichotomy to The Travellers’ Digest Number 9. On the one hand, as a gaming fanzine, there is little to actually game with in the issue. The two scenarios are both short and very specific in their content. On the other, background content is excellent, expanding the world of Traveller and the Third Imperium with intriguing details, from a very high level, but also showing how little that the average Player Character or ‘Traveller’ can do to change things. The Travellers’ Digest Number 9 gives a fascinating prelude of things to come, is a fantastic read about the state of the Imperium years before any of those things come to pass, and will be enjoyed by the Traveller fan for its background rather than its playable content. If The Travellers’ Digest has always been an interesting read, with The Travellers’ Digest Number 9, it becomes a genuine historical artefact as much as it is slice of history.

[Fanzine Focus XLI] The Travellers’ Digest #8

On the tail of the Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed how another Dungeon Master and her group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will be compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. However, not all fanzines written with the Old School Renaissance in mind need to be written for a specific retroclone. Although not the case now, the popularity of Traveller would spawn several fanzines, of which The Travellers’ Digest, published by Digest Group Publications, was the most well known and would eventually transform from a fanzine into a magazine.

The publication of The Travellers’ Digest #1 in December, 1985 marked the entry of Digest Group Publications into the hobby and from this small, but ambitious beginnings would stem a complete campaign and numerous highly-regarded supplements for Game Designers Workshop’s Traveller and MegaTraveller, as well as a magazine that all together would run for twenty-one issues between 1985 and 1990. The conceit was that The Travellers’ Digest was a magazine within the setting of the Third Imperium, its offices based on Deneb in the Deneb Sector, and that it awarded the Travellers’ Digest Touring Award. This award would be won by one of the Player Characters and thus the stage is set for ‘The Grand Tour’, the long-running campaign in the pages of The Travellers’ Digest. In classic fashion, as with Europe of the eighteenth century, this would take the Player Characters on a tour of the major capitals of known space. These include Vland, Capitol, Terra, the Aslan Hierate, and even across the Great Rift. The meat of this first issue, as well as subsequent issues, would be dedicated to an adventure, each a stop-off on the ‘The Grand Tour’, along with support for it. The date for the first issue of The Travellers’ Digest and thus when the campaign begins is 152-1101, the 152nd day of the 1101st year of the Imperium.

To best run ‘The Grand Tour’, the Referee will need access to The Atlas of the Imperium, Supplement 8: Library Data (A-M), Supplement 11: Library Data (N-Z), Supplement 7: Traders and Gunboats (or alternatively, Supplement 5: Azhanti High Lightning), as well as the core rules. In addition, other supplements would be required depending on the adventure, in the case of this issue, The Travellers’ Digest #8, that would be Alien Module 2, K’kree (though it is actually listed as ‘Alien Module 3, K’kree’ in the introduction) and Alien Module 7, Hivers. In addition, Book 8, Robots will be very useful. Of course, that was in 1987, and much, if not all, of the rules or background necessary have been updated since. The campaign is also specifically written for use with four pre-generated Player Characters. They consist of Akidda Laagiir, the journalist who won the Travellers’ Digest Touring Award; Dur Telemon, a scout and his nephew; Doctor Theodor Krenstein, a gifted-scientist and roboticist; and Doctor Krenstein’s valet, ‘Aybee’, or rather, ‘AB-101’. The fact is, AB-101 is a pseudo-biological robot, both protégé and prototype. Consequently, the mix of Player Characters are surprisingly non-traditional and not all of them are easily created using the means offered in Traveller or MegaTraveller. This is addressed within various issues of the fanzine.

The Travellers’ Digest #8 was published in 1987 and is the last to be published in digest format. From the ninth issue it would be larger and have an increased page count, but these were not the only planned changes announced in The Travellers’ Digest #8. They included coverage of Game Designers Workshop’s other Science Fiction roleplaying of the Traveller: 2300. The editorial also highlighted the strengthening relationship between Marc Miller, the creator of Traveller, and Digest Group Publications, and announced the then forthcoming publication of Grand Census, a companion to Grand Survey.

The eighth part of ‘The Grand Tour’ in The Travellers’ Digest #8 is ‘Feature Adventure 8: Shoot-Out at Shudusham’, written by Gary L Thomas and Joe D. Fugate Sr. The publishing date for the adventure is 060-1113, or the sixtieth day of the year 1113, whilst the starting date for the campaign as a whole is 014-1103, or the fourteenth day of the year 1103. The adventure takes place in the Shudusham system of the Core subsector of the Core Sector. The four travellers are just four weeks’ travel away from Capital where they are due to knighted by Emperor Stephon himself! Shudusham is a water world best known for the location where the Shudusham Concords were signed by the Sylean Federation, a century before the founding of the Third Imperium, which governed the types of weaponry which could be mounted on robots. For the past seven hundred years, it has been the venue for the Shudusham Robotics Conference, a year-long event which takes place every ten years and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors and delegates from across explored space. The Shudusham has even built an underwater arcology specifically designed to host the event. OF course, given the nature of the event, both Doctor Theodor Krenstein and ‘Aybee’ are interested to attend.

Of course, nobody expects anything to happen at the Shudusham Robotics Conference, but when a K’kree delegate is accused by the staff of the Hiver Six Eyes booth, relations between the K’kree and the Hiver sour. The travellers get to witness this, but things get stranger when Akidda Laagiir, the journalist, is inadvertently passed a note about a planned theft of a robot. The players and their travellers may think that the intended target is ‘Aybee’, but it turns out that the target is the ‘Baby Bruiser Robot’ model warbot being demonstrated by the Hiver Six Eyes booth. Are the K’kree taking their revenge by stealing the Hiver’s robot? Well, yes, and no. The K’kree are not the only ones interested in stealing the ‘Baby Bruiser Robot’; there is also a local protest group which has decided to take direct action. It will take a bit of work to get all of the travellers involved –and the scenario makes this clear—and to the climax of the scenario. The scenario is quite short, likely taking no more than a couple of sessions to complete, because ultimately, there is not a huge amount of plot to get the travellers involved in. Indeed, almost half of the plot to the scenario takes off-screen and the travellers are likely to be completely unaware of it. Which is exactly how the Hivers like it…

The scenario is decently supported. This includes details of both Shudusham and the Shudusham Robotics Conference as well as full stats and details for the ‘Baby Bruiser Robot’ (it is a tough opponent as you would expect for a warbot), the various NPCs (including both Hiver and K’kree), and the Hiver Explorer starship and the K’kree Xeekr’kir! merchant vessel. There is not a map of the Shudusham Robotics Conference given, but there is a cutaway of the arcology where it is held.

As with previous issues of the fanzine, The Travellers’ Digest #8 details the Subsector where the scenario takes place. This time it is the Core Subsector of the Core Sector, including both a map and its data listing, which notably includes Capital, the capital of the Third Imperium. The corollary to this is ‘Core Sector: Library Data’, which provided expanded information for the whole sector. It highlights how the world of Ameros in the Ameros subsector is being used by the megacorporation Hortalez et Cie, LIC to test a fast, century long terraforming project, which is not going as fast as projected, whilst at the Imperial Navy base on Sabsee in the Apge subsector, an advanced fusion/plasma hybrid, dubbed the FGMP-16, has been unveiled. It is full of fascinating details covering an area which is not generally visited as part of Traveller campaigns.

Gary L. Thomas continues the exploration of the characteristics that are part of Traveller’s UPP, or ‘Universal Personality Profile’. In ‘Brains, Not Brawn’, it is the turn of Intelligence to be examined in Traveller. It explores how exactly to view Intelligence in the context of the rules for Traveller and actually takes the Education characteristic into account, looks at how to handle the gap between the players’ own mental acumen versus that of their characters. In this, the Game Master will need to account for what a character knows versus what his player knows, such as Doctor Theodor Krenstein’s skill of Robotics-5 versus what his prospective player will know. Ultimately, the article differentiates between Intelligence as brains, common sense, and quick-wittedness and Education as accumulated knowledge and training, and presents basic skill rolls, using the UTP—or ‘Universal Task Profile’—for both. The article may well be obvious in its conclusion, but it is interesting to see what how parts of the UPP were considered at the time.

The Travellers’ Digest #8 comes to close with a pair of technical articles. The first of these examines the transmission of information in much of Charted Space. ‘Hand Computers’ (actually wrist-mounted) by Gary L. Thomas looks at how the hand computer is used in the Third Imperium and beyond, how information is updated on it, and so on. This is a ‘future tech of the past’ type article looking at how an advanced technological device works in the then very far future, when today, we have very similar devices widely available. The technical specifications are given and how the information is accessed is explored, primarily through a subscription service, which is updated when new starships, typically the Scout Service’s X-Boats, arrive and transmit new data packets to local servers. Of course, there are limitations too, including how a user might search available databases and that does not take into account network problems. The ramifications feel very familiar to today, such as checking a fact to settle an argument or getting the latest weather details, but at the time, this would have been quite literally Science Fiction.

The second and last is ‘Beyond 101 Robots’. In what feels like a very robot-focused issue, The Travellers’ Digest #8 expands upon the supplement 101 Robots with more examples. Five designs are given from the Naasirka corporation. They include a ‘Ship’s Boat Pilot Robot’, a ‘Clerk Robot’, a ‘Servant Robot’, and so on. All decent designs and would fill certain niches in a campaign if so needed.

Physically, The Travellers’ Digest #8 is, as with all of the issues so far, very obviously created using early layout software. However, there is a marked improvement in the quality of the artwork, even so.

The Travellers’ Digest #8 is an enjoyably readable issue. The scenario is perhaps a little too short, but the supporting material is excellent and the ‘Hand Computers’ article is delightfully prescient and archaic at the same time. Overall, a solidly put together issue.

Archaeology & Appreciation

The world of Spume is hellhole and you definitely would not want to live there. Most of the few hundred that do live on the planet reside in the single dome settlement of Dryavis, where they conduct mining operations via remote drones and vehicles. Outside of the dome, the planet, with its thin, tainted atmosphere, is subject to near constant seismic activity, widespread volcanic activity, and a near constant rain of ash and rocks, all at extremes of temperature and intermittent radioactivity. Located within the Darrian Confederation in the Darrian Subsector of the Spinward Marches, just two parsecs away from the capital and one parsec away from the homeworld, nobody would willing want to visit Spume. Except that the planetary population has risen by a handful with the arrival of a team of scientists from the departments of geophysical sciences and engineering at Idikelin University to conduct field research. Unfortunately, the site designated for the expedition’s base was highly prone to seismic activity and a sudden landslip upended the base and made it uninhabitable, forcing the surviving members of team to flee across the highly inhospitable surface of Spume. This is the set-up for and plot of Ashfall, the first part of a trilogy of scenarios published by March Harrier Publishing for use with Traveller, Second Edition from Mongoose Publishing. Having reach the safety of Dryavis, the mining base that is the only settlement on the planet, the Player Characters are given a chance to recover and recuperate, perhaps go over the the scientific data they have gathered so far, and even get involved in the daily lives and culture of the people that make the base their home. This and the discovery of a corporate conspiracy to replace the current crew with cheaper, genetically modified miners played out in Ashfall II: Under the Dome, the sequel to Ashfall.

The third final part of the trilogy, Ashfall III: Into the Crust, takes place barely a day after the events of Ashfall II: Under the Dome have been investigated and settled. Although they are neither miners nor technical staff at the base, the Player Characters have become accepted as part of the community. Especially if they helped undercover the conspiracy. As the Player Characters await the arrival of a vessel to return them home to their university life, they are contacted directly by an old ex-miner, recently retired. Ldok asks them to join him on the slopes of a volcano some five-hundred-and-fifty miles from Dryavis as he wants their help in analysing the sensor readings he has taken, checking the immediate area to determine if it is safe to explore further, and then investigate what he thinks he is found. What Ldok thinks he has found is a Maghiz-related base. The Maghiz was a catastrophic event that occurred two millennia ago when scientists triggered stellar flares that devastated the Darrian Confederation and significantly reduced both its Tech Level and population base. Exact details of the event that triggered the Maghiz are subject of much conjecture and secrecy as the government wants to understand how it was done so that it cannot occur again. There are rumours of Maghiz-related sites throughout Darrian space—and beyond, and all manner of conspiracy theories and absurd ideas have grown up about the so-called ‘Star Trigger’, and for the most part, anyone obsessed with anything Maghiz-related is dismissed as being at best harmless, at worst as a crank. Ldok falls into the former category rather than the latter, but is still respected for his knowledge and experience from working on Spume for decades.

Also respected are the Player Characters. This is due to both their survival trek across the surface of Spume and their involvement in the undercovering of the conspiracy, and it means that the administration will equip the Player Characters with a Survey/Repair G-Carrier and survival gear. This time, unlike their previous isolation on their own original research basis, they are told to get in contact if they have any problems. Ldok will be pleased to see the Player Characters and together they can confirm that he has detected a dense object hundreds of meters below the surface. They will need to blast their way down, but it is relatively safe (though of course, Ldok will break a leg because that is always what happens in this kind of adventure), and after manoeuvring their way down several shafts and through often tight crevasses, the Player Characters will make a discovery. Potentially, an astounding discover—and one that is not at all related to the Maghiz.

The fact that the secret in Ashfall III: Into the Crust is not at all Maghiz-related is refreshing in a scenario set within or connected to the Darrian Confederation. However, the discovery is ultimately underwhelming because once made, there really is no more story to tell beyond a possible incursion by the genetically modified miners making a protest. The Player Characters can report the site and once done, that really is it. The scenario is over and the Player Characters are likely to become famous because of the discovery. However, to offset that, the scenario offers other ways in which to continue the story, potentially to a more satisfying conclusion. They include the possibility that an ancient A.I. or robots start stalking the Player Characters; the Darrian navy could intervene with a squad of marines; and even the discovering of pre-Maghiz scientists still alive in low berths. In the case of the marines, full stats and background for the squad are given so that they can be used as NPCs or roleplayed as Player Characters, the squad being sent down to rescue a group of scientists and take control of their discovery, whilst for the pre-Maghiz scientists, there is list of adventure ideas which the Game Master use for inspiration when it comes to portraying the pre-Maghiz scientists and what they were doing or even develop into separate adventures.

No matter which the Game Master decides to run Ashfall III: Into the Crust, there is plenty of support. Besides the stats and descriptions for the aforementioned Survey/Repair G-Carrier and Darrian Navy marines, there are details for the Tech Level 16 Darrian robot, robot technology details beyond Tech Level 15 for Book 9: Robot, and of course, library data.

Unfortunately, none of the possible endings to Ashfall III: Into the Crust are very interesting. Having an A.I. or robot go rogue and start hunting the Player Characters is a cliché, but perhaps if the Player Characters are truly concerned about getting the information out and in the process, making themselves famous, the scenario could shift to one of survival horror. Yet it does not feel like a natural shift in terms of the storytelling, either for the scenario itself or the trilogy as a whole. Perhaps the ancient Darrian scientists waking up after two thousand years asleep in Low Berths and reacting poorly to the presence of the Player Characters might have been a more interesting alternative. It does not help that the final discovery that the Player Characters is given a very poor map as it does nothing to help the Game Master visual the discovery and relate its wonder to her players and their characters, or being usable for when a very advanced robot goes on the prowl.

Physically, Ashfall III: Into the Crust is decently presented and well written. The only poor aspect about the scenario is the quality of some of the maps.

Ashfall III: Into the Crust brings the Ashfall trilogy to a close. Not so much with a classic three-act story, but with two acts, the first one of anticipation as what the discovery might be and the second one of the fantastic sense of having made an amazing discovery. As to the third act, the climax of Ashfall III: Into the Crust, there is not one given that is really going to satisfy the players and their characters. Instead, the Game Master is expected to come up with something and for the finale of a trilogy, that just seems to ask too much. There are some interesting elements to Ashfall III: Into the Crust, but for an end to the scenario and an end to the trilogy, there should have been an ending, not a toolkit.

Perfidy & Profitability

The world of Spume is hellhole and you definitely would not want to live there. Most of the few hundred that do live on the planet reside in the single dome settlement of Dryavis, where they conduct mining operations via remote drones and vehicles. Outside of the dome, the planet, with its thin, tainted atmosphere, is subject to near constant seismic activity, widespread volcanic activity, and a near constant rain of ash and rocks, all at extremes of temperature and intermittent radioactivity. Located within the Darrian Confederation in the Darrian Subsector of the Spinward Marches, just two parsecs away from the capital and one parsec away from the homeworld, nobody would willing want to visit Spume. Except that the planetary population has risen by a handful with the arrival of a team of scientists from the departments of geophysical sciences and engineering at Idikelin University to conduct field research. Unfortunately, the site designated for the expedition’s base was highly prone to seismic activity and a sudden landslip upended the base and made it uninhabitable, forcing the surviving members of team to flee across the highly inhospitable surface of Spume. This is the set-up for and plot of Ashfall, the first part of a trilogy of scenarios published by March Harrier Publishing for use with Traveller, Second Edition from Mongoose Publishing. As Ashfall comes to close, the Player Characters have managed to make their way to Dryavis and safety.

Ashfall II: Under the Dome is the sequel to Ashfall and the middle part of the trilogy. In addition to the core rulebook, the Game Master will need access to Alien Module 3: Darrians or Aliens of Charted Space Vol. 3, whilst the Central Supply Catalogue and Book 10: Cosmopolite may also be useful. Similarly, access to various issues of The Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society may also be helpful, but are not crucial to running the scenario.

For the most part, Ashfall II: Under the Dome is a locked room, or rather ‘locked dome’ affair. The inhabitants of Dryavis, consisting of miners, technicians, and administrators readily welcome the arrival of the Player Characters and even celebrate their survival with a banquet. After that, the Player Characters are free to wait out the period between their arrival and their eventual collection and departure off world as they wish, although they are encouraged to take part in the community life of the mining base. There are mechanical issues to fix, a tournament to participate in, and other events to get involved in. As they go about their daily lives in the mining base, perhaps even spending time preparing their research notes and data (gathered in the previous scenario, Ashfall) for publication, it becomes clear to the Player Characters that all is not well in Dryavis. There is some friction between the old timers and new commers in the settlement, and some between the employees of the five companies that make up the conglomerate, the Pihrund Corporation, that controls the settlement, but most friction is between the Pihrund Corporation and the miners as they suspect that the Pihrund Corporation is operating a ‘fire and rehire’ programme to bring in a new workforce that will accept cheaper wages. The Player Characters will learn of this right at the start of the scenario when a miner approaches them and voices her concern about the state of the Pihrund Corporation’s accounts.

Ashfall II: Under the Dome is not only a radical change of pace from Ashfall, but also a difficult change of pace. The hook is simply not as strong in Ashfall II: Under the Dome as it is in Ashfall, shifting from, ‘To survive, I must march to safety across this dangerous landscape’ to ‘I have reached safety, but someone is telling me her worries about some accounts’. The players and their characters are not motivated to get involved unless they decide they want to. It is entirely possible that the scenario could play out with the Player Characters involving themselves in the community and life of the mining base and nothing more. The conspiracy, as small scale as it is and as nasty as it is, could simply pass them by and remain uncovered and unnoticed. Depending upon how the scenario is being run, this can present the Game Master with a challenge because the hook relies too on player and character curiousity. As a one-shot and on its on rather than as part of the trilogy, Ashfall II: Under the Dome needs the conspiracy hook to keep the players and their characters interested because they have not been through the crucible of Ashfall, whereas as part of the trilogy, Ashfall II: Under the Dome is such a contrast of tone to Ashfall, that the conspiracy almost seem superfluous.

Whether or not the Player Characters decide to investigate the rumours and the accounts of the Pihrund Corporation, the scenario is solidly supported. Besides the description of Dryavis and its facilities, including the mining equipment, there are full write-ups of various NPCs, a detailed explanation of the politics of the mining base, a description of the rules to Pamboyra, or Darrian chess (this is the game for the tournament), lots and lots of rumours to drive any plot or distract from it, and even Occupation tables for the Miner/ROVer (remotely operated vehicle operators) and Technicians working on Spume. The latter allows for possible replacement Player Characters as there is the possibility of their being killed in the scenario. It also allows for the scenario to be run as one-shot with the Player Characters as Miners/ROVers and Technicians rather than as scientists seeking the safety of the mining base after a disaster. In many ways, this set-up makes better use of the scenario’s plot, because as Miners/ROVers and Technicians, the Player Characters would have a greater sense of investment in the future of the mining operation.

Physically, Ashfall II: Under the Dome is a tidy affair. The plan of the mining base is serviceable, but the illustrations of the animals on the base are sort of cute.

Ashfall II: Under the Dome is a scenario with two plot strands, one an amiable slice of mining base life, the other a corporate conspiracy. Getting the players and their characters interested and involved in the first is straightforward, but getting them interested in the other is much more of a challenge. So much of rests on the curiosity of the players and their characters, and for some players that will be enough to get involved, but for others, the Game Master may need to work harder to trigger that involvement.

Secrecy & Survivability

The world of Spume is hellhole and you definitely would not want to live there. Most of the few hundred that do live on the planet reside in the single dome settlement of Dryavis, where they conduct mining operations via remote drones and vehicles. Outside of the dome, the planet, with its thin, tainted atmosphere, is subject to near constant seismic activity, widespread volcanic activity, and a near constant rain of ash and rocks, all at extremes of temperature and intermittent radioactivity. Located within the Darrian Confederation in the Darrian Subsector of the Spinward Marches, just two parsecs away from the capital and one parsec away from the homeworld, nobody would willing want to visit Spume. Except that researchers in the departments of geophysical sciences and engineering at Idikelin University have discovered new properties of certain materials when exposed to the magma of an active volcano and want them further investigated. To that end, it has mounted an expedition to Spume consisting of a planetologist, vulcanologist, seismologist, two materials specialists, and a technician to conduct in the field experiments. The fully equipped expedition will establish a base and conduct field experiments on Spume and report back with its findings within a few months.

This is the set-up for Ashfall, the first part of a trilogy of scenarios published by March Harrier Publishing for use with Traveller, Second Edition from Mongoose Publishing. Together, they form a mini-campaign for six players who will roleplay the six pre-generated scientist or technician characters. In addition to the core rulebook, the Game Master will need access to Alien Module 3: Darrians or Aliens of Charted Space Vol. 3, whilst the Central Supply Catalogue will also be useful. Access to various issues of The Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society may be helpful, but are not crucial to running the scenario.

The plot to Ashfall sees the Player Characters arrive on Spume and set up their camp with three possible choices given as to the site. Contact with Dryavis is possible, but limited, and for the most part, the Player Characters will be alone. That is, until they receive a most unexpected knock on the door to the survival dome which has been constructed over the Advanced Base (Pressurised) they have set up. Until the scenario plot kicks in, the Player Characters spend their time conducting field research and analysing the results, having spent some time constructing and setting up the camp. This plays out over several days using the rules given to handle the results of the research. This is fairly dry, and although there are some minor rivalries between the expedition members, as the scenario notes, Darrian community ethic means that means there is much less likely to be inter-departmental or inter-faculty rivalry than there might be within an expedition from a university from the Third Imperium. This is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of a trio of Special Arm agents, who want to investigate the activities of the various academics. Each of them does have a secret, which a player is free to reveal or not during his character’s interrogation, but none of them are truly terrible or shocking. In fact, they are minor at best and reflect the Darrian cultural conservatism at worst. For the most part, the Player Characters will find the presence of the Special Arm agents a distraction from their ongoing work.

The other role that the Special Arm agents can play in the scenario is as a source of replacement Placement Characters. This is because the scenario takes another, sudden swerve which sets up the last, much more challenging third act. This occurs after the expedition’s base suffers a sudden catastrophe in the form of a landslip! The Player Characters have only minutes to get into their vacuum suits and grab what equipment they can before fleeing. Unfortunately, the expedition’s ATV is also destroyed in the accident. This leaves the Player Characters with little choice, but to make their way across Spume on foot. It possible to ask the miners at Dryavis to help rescue them, but contact is limited due to the environment and the equipment at the mining base not being entirely suited to such a role. The last third of the scenario is a gruelling trek across Spume’s barren, cracked, and often venting landscape. Multiple encounters are suggested, through problematically, one of the encounters does require access to Ashfall III: Into the Crust.

In terms of support for the players, Ashfall not only includes the six pre-generated scientists and technicians, but also six sets of roleplaying notes. These have been created using Myers-Briggs type indicators and are intended to be handed out randomly, meaning any time the Game Master runs Ashfall, the Player Characters remain the same, but the personalities are random. That said, not everyone is going to want to use these personality indicators, though if they were, it is a pity that they are not presented as handouts. Otherwise, Ashfall is a technical scenario. There are maps of the planet, a list of equipment assigned to the expedition, rules for handling research, and details of the vehicles used by the miners at Dryavis. There is a list of the personnel at Dryavis, though the Game Master will need access to Ashfall II: Under the Dome for the full details.

Ashfall can be played as is, but it is written to be the first part of a trilogy. There are discoveries to be made in the scenario, after all, what is a science-themed adventure without discoveries? However, these discoveries are dry at best and it does not help that a hint at a potentially interesting discovery requires access to Ashfall III: Into the Crust.

Physically, Ashfall is a tidy affair. The plan of the expedition base is somewhat threadbare, but the illustrations are serviceable and planetary maps decent enough.

Ashfall is a classic survival scenario for Traveller, the Player Characters forced to trek across hostile territory and make the best of what they have with them. This is going to be challenging since Spume is hostile to life and the Player Characters lack the Vacc Suit skill, whilst only one of them has the Survival skill. Which sets up an interesting dynamic as this is the technician, whose role is seen as less worthy than that of the scientists. Although the Player Characters should have remained in the office, Ashfall should be a bonding experience for them and it will set them up for Ashfall II: Under the Dome. Ultimately, Ashfall is a dry, technical adventure that requires a higher degree of engagement from the players in order to get through what is the first act of a trilogy to get to the potentially more interesting second and third parts.

Salvage & Secrecy

Ernsteyn Industrial Materials (EIM) is a thriving concern operating a pair of Type J Seekers out of the orbital starport of Yres in the Regina subsector of the Spinward Marches. Or was until a week or so ago. Losing a contract with Ling Standard Products came at the wrong time when one of the company’s vessels, the Evan’s Endeavour, suffered a drive failure, and whilst insurance will cover the cost of some of the repairs, it will not cover them all. The company needs a good contract, one that will cover the bills that are due soon. Fortunately, one of the shareholders, Neal Slessinger, a senior starport administrator, got EIM a job. This is to salvage cargo from the Deutsche Post, a merchant tender lost in the wake of the Fourth Frontier War some thirty years ago, with long term plans to go back and salvage the rest of the vessel. However, the Deutsche Post’s location is at the edge of the Menorb and Yres systems. Getting to the site of the lost ship will not be easy and will require Sydni’s Search, EIM ‘s only operational ship, to be fitted with demountable tanks to fuel the necessary Jumps to get into the system and out to its edge. Unfortunately, the company’s only demountable tanks are aboard the Evan’s Endeavour, the vessel in dry dock, undergoing extensive repair… This is only the start of the problems for the crew of Sydni’s Search and the set-up for Cold Dark Grave.

Cold Dark Grave is a scenario of salvage and secrets for Traveller, the Science Fiction roleplaying game and setting published by Mongoose Publishing. The scenario itself is published by BITS UK Limited, or ‘British Isles Traveller Support’, a British organisation dedicated to supporting Traveller, especially at conventions. To that end, Cold Dark Grave began life as the BITS tournament adventure From a Cold Dark Grave for Gen Con UK 2005. It is designed to be played in a single session with six players, though can be run with less, and is both demanding technically and in terms of roleplaying. The technical nature because the players and their characters will need to think about refitting their ship, getting it out of the Yres system without looking suspicious, locating the Deutsche Post, getting on board it, and not only finding the cargo to be salvaged, but also get it off the ship and back to the Sydni’s Search. The roleplaying challenge comes in the form of roleplaying and trusting Neal Slessinger. He is designed to be a Player Character—though with fewer players, he need not be—and despite being (or because he is) a major shareholder in Ernsteyn Industrial Materials, he is hiding a lot of secrets. Secrets that the player roleplaying him has to cover for lest the other Player Characters either beat the hell out of him or simply space him… The likelihood is that one of those will occur by the end of the scenario, but until then, the player roleplaying Neal Slessinger really needs to be good for the others to maintain a degree of trust in him. That said, it both helps that the crew of the Sydni’s Search are desperate to make enough money to keep EIM a going concern and that the scenario is designed to be played in a single session and therefore at some pace, since the players and their characters are unlikely to have the time to worry too much about Slessinger’s caginess. However, if Cold Dark Grave is played in longer, multiple sessions, the danger is that it gets bogged down into the other Player Characters trying to get answers out of Slessinger. And if they do, then the scenario, depending upon what the players and their characters decide to do, will either be truncated or go in another direction and potentially fizzle out.

The plot of Cold Dark Grave kicks into gear once the Sydni’s Search has made its first Jump and arrives at the edge of the system where the crew find themselves on the edge of a huge battlefield of dead and broken ships. This is the first of the physical dangers that the crew will face, but as the physical peril grows so does the moral—and legal, peril. The story is presented as a series of nuggets that in turn give the basic situation and then explore the likely options that the Player Characters might choose. The scenario presents several possible resolutions to the situation that the Player Characters find themselves in and these should bring the scenario to a satisfying solution. That is, for everyone except Neal Slessinger…

To support the scenario’s plot and set-up, Cold Dark Grave includes six detailed pre-generated Player Characters, details and deck plans of both the Type J ‘Wobbegong’ Class Seeker operated by the Player Characters and the Maagukii Class Bulk Carrier operated by the pirates. There are details of the Deutsche Post ‘Earth Mail’ Class Tender, primarily in its current state, though no deck plans are provided. Its internal, highly damaged state is described in some detail as is getting aboard her, finding their way around, and finding the cargo are the most physical challenges that the Player Characters will face in the scenario.

To support the play of the scenario, Cold Dark Grave does include some slightly alternative rules. The ‘BITS Generic Task System’ is designed to handle Classic Traveller, Mongoose Traveller, Traveller 4, GURPS Traveller, MegaTraveller, and Traveller T20, and despite all of those games systems were available in the noughties when Cold Dark Grave was first published, its inclusion has really been superseded by Mongoose Traveller as the dominant rules for Traveller. The ‘BITS Generic NPC System’ is more useful since it simplifies the handling and presentation of NPCs in the scenario.

Physically, Cold Dark Grave is solidly presented. The illustrations are all of a technical nature as is the writing in many places.

Cold Dark Grave is a good convention scenario, played at pace and emphasising the physical peril as much as the moral peril that the Player Characters are placed in. All backed up with the technical detail that you would expect of a scenario for Traveller.