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.
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 the state of the Imperium years before that does come to pass, and will be enjoyed by the Traveller fan for its background rather than its playable content.
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