Friday Faction: This is Free Trader Beowulf: A System History of Traveller

“This is Free Trader Beowulf, calling anyone … Mayday, Mayday.” are the most famous lines in Science Fiction roleplaying and quite possibly some of the most famous lines in roleplaying, first appearing as the strapline on the black and white and red box that contained what would become the famous ‘Little Black Books’ for the roleplaying game, Traveller, when it went on sale on July 22, 1977, at the Origins III Game Fair. Not the hobby’s first Science Fiction roleplaying game, that would be TSR, Inc.’s Metamorphosis Alpha: Fantastic Role-Playing Game of Science Fiction Adventures on a Lost Starship, or indeed the second, which would be Starfaring, from Flying Buffalo, Inc., both published the previous year. However, Traveller would be the first Science Fiction roleplaying game to have an effect upon the hobby, the first roleplaying to explore the concept of a metaplot upon a whole game line, and as we approach 2027, the oldest Science Fiction roleplaying game to be in print and to have remained in print in one edition or another for nearly all of those fifty years. It is these past four decades—and a bit—of Traveller history that are explored in This is Free Trader Beowulf: A System History of Traveller.

This is Free Trader Beowulf: A System History of Traveller is written by the author of Designers & Dragons and is a described as ‘A Designers & Dragons System History’. Published by Mongoose Publishing—the current publisher of Traveller—it takes the reader from the late fifties to the twenty-twenties in recounting the story of the many editions and designers of Traveller, from the 1977 ‘Little Black Books’ of Classic Traveller to the 2013 Traveller⁵ from Far Future Enterprises to the 2016 Traveller, Second Edition from Mongoose Publishing. The origins lie—as much of early roleplaying does—in the wargaming hobby, first in designs from Avalon Hill, but then in GDW’s own wargames and its Science Fiction board games such as Imperium and Dark Nebula. Elements of these Science Fiction board games would eventually be incorporated into the Charted Space setting that would eventually become the setting for Traveller.

The first five years of Traveller’s history very much involves its original creators and developers, but after that, thanks to the largesse of the its creator, Mark Miller, the roleplaying game and its setting begins to be developed by other publishers and creators—FASA, Paranoia Press, Gamelords, and others—most notably brothers, J. Andrew Keith and William H. Keith Jr. This is where the book is at its most interesting examining the influence of others upon Traveller and its development, in particular by the staff of Digest Group Publications, first through their fanzine, The Traveller Digest, followed by supplements that they would publish themselves and those they would write and develop for GDW. If it was not quite as obvious at the time, it is made clear that the relationship between GDW and Digest Group Publications was very strong, the latter effectively serving as a design house for the latter. Equally as interesting is the exploration of the response to Traveller and its development by its fandom, especially to the major changes wrought in the latter editions of Traveller published by GDW. First with MegaTraveller and the assassination of Emperor Strephon and its repercussions, and second, with its most far-reaching repercussion, Traveller: The New Era. This takes the reader deep into the development and complexities of the History of the Imperium Working Group, out of which would grow the next writers and developers of Traveller.

Part of the conceit of This is Free Trader Beowulf is that as much as it explores the history of Traveller and its setting of Charted Space, it maps that history onto the structure of the book. In the timeline of Charted Space, the period of economic collapse between the Rule of Man and the foundation of the Third Imperium is known as the Long Night, inspired by the collapse and subsequent interregnum detailed in Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, but in This is Free Trader Beowulf, the Long Night is the decade between 1998 and 2007 following the collapse of Marc Miller’s Traveller or T4. Much like the collapse of the Third Imperium and Asimov’s Galactic Empire, support for Traveller in the early twenty-first century collapsed into Pocket Empires, each specialising in different treatments of the intellectual property. Thus, it collapses from one history into several—GURPS Traveller from Steve Jackson Games which kept Emperor Strephon and the Third Imperium alive, QuikLink Interactive which developed Traveler T20 based on the d20 System, Comstar Games and Avenger Enterprises which pushed the history of Charted Space even further into the future with the 1248 Sourcebook 1: Out of the Darkness, and even another ruleset with Traveller Hero. Yet like the Long Night and the Pocket Empires that hung on, their history is swept away with the coming of Mongoose Publishing, which since 2007 has been the publisher of Traveller, bringing about as This is Free Trader Beowulf alludes, a new golden era of content and support for both the roleplaying game and Charted Space. It ends the history on a hopeful tone, noting that Mark Miller is still creating his own content with Traveller⁵ in parallel with the extensive support from Mongoose Publishing.

Throughout, with every era, ‘A View From The Industry’ gives context into which each new version of Traveller is published, paying particular attention to the state of Science Fiction roleplaying, whilst ‘What Could Have Been’ details different roleplaying games, supplements, scenarios, rulesets, and board games which might have been published by GDW, had things been different. Then, as a reference, every chapter in This is Free Trader Beowulf concludes with its own list of main references—the latter consisting of URLs, original sources, maps that mark the locations of various scenarios, and more. There is a checklist too of titles released, useful, no doubt, for the collector.

However, it does feel odd that This is Free Trader Beowulf, as a history of Traveller, was published in 2024 rather in 2022, which would have been the forty-fifth anniversary of the founding of GDW, or in 2027, which would have marked the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Traveller. Further, the lack of interviews—although many interviews are referenced throughout the book—lends This is Free Trader Beowulf an impersonal air, even a feeling of austerity that dare I say it, echoes that of the original ‘Little Black Books’. That said, if This is Free Trader Beowulf lacks the personal touch, it is never less than clear on what the designers of and contributors to Traveller intended and what they achieved. Perhaps that personal touch might be celebrated for the roleplaying game’s fiftieth anniversary with a book of interviews and retrospectives that could be a welcome companion to This is Free Trader Beowulf?

Nevertheless, This is Free Trader Beowulf is a physically attractive book. The layout is clean and tidy, and it is illustrated with a wide range good art, including individual pieces that date back to the early years of Traveller and all the way to the present, as well as lots and lots of covers from the roleplaying game’s numerous editions and eras. That said, it does need an edit in places, including—amusingly—on the spine.

Of course, the author of This is Free Trader Beowulf has already presented a history of GDW in the pages of the first volume of Designers & Dragons: A History of the Roleplaying Game Industry. Some of that history is repeated here, which is understandable and unavoidable, but This is Free Trader Beowulf is in part, also the history of other publishers and their specific role in keeping Traveller in print, if not always successfully. The combination of the old and the new is a fascinating read, an exploration of the hows and the whys of not just the original contributors, but also the fans and the fans who became contributors. This is Free Trader Beowulf is not book for the casual fan of roleplaying necessarily, and it is possibly too specialised for many players and Game Masters. Whereas, for anyone with an interest in roleplaying history it is a volume that they should have their shelf and for the Traveller fan, it is a volume that they will appreciate above all, exploring as it does both their past and that of the hobby. This is Free Trader Beowulf: A System History of Traveller is the definitive guide to the history of the roleplaying hobby’s most popular and longest running Science Fiction game and certainly lays down a template for other roleplaying games of a similar vintage and varied story.

[Fanzine Focus XXXI] Loviatar No. 2

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 another DM and 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 every fanzine has to be for the Old School Renaissance.

Loviatar No. 2 was published in September, 2011. Written and published by Christian Walker, it follows on from, and expands upon, Loviatar No. 1, which was written as a response to the Old School Renaissance, but rather as a means to focus the author’s mind when it comes to running fantasy games. That initial issue was not written for any of the then available retroclones, such as Labyrinth Lord or Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay. Instead it is a hybrid between Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder, First Edition. Not mechanically, but rather between rules and setting, the author’s campaign being set in the Dungeons & Dragons setting of Forgotten Realms using Pathfinder, First Edition. If that sounds like Loviatar No. 1 was a mongrel of a fanzine, there might be some truth in that, but that is the author’s choice, and anyway, the point of the early gaming fanzines of the nineteen eighties which the modern fanzine revival so heavily draws from, was to present content from the editor’s own campaign world. Which is what the author is doing in the pages of Loviatar No. 1. However, Loviatar No. 2 goes further than simply continuing support for author’s fantasy gaming by providing support for other roleplaying games in fashion not often seen in today’s fanzines, let alone those of 2011.

Loviatar No. 2 carries the tag, “a zine about tabletop role-playing games”, as did the first issue. It did not really apply to that first issue, focusing as it did upon the one roleplaying game, but it certainly apples more to Loviatar No. 2, although this second issue begins where the first left off—with a scenario set in the Forgotten Realms city of Baldur’s Gate, but written for use with Pathfinder, First Edition. ‘Number Three Pigeon Street’ describes another building in the fashion of ‘At the Corner of River Street and Craft Way’ and provides a number of reasons why the Player Characters would want to visit the rundown down dwelling which stinks of bat guano. The first reason is that neighbours of the occupant of the house, the wizard, Thaddeus Blythe, have complained about the bats and the Player Characters have been hired to rid the house and thus the neighbourhood of them. It is simple enough set-up, but the local thieves’ guild has an interest in Thaddeus Blyth and because he refuses to move, then in the house. So it will take an interest in what the Player Characters are doing. The house and its occupants have a seedy, run down feel to them that adds another slice of life to any city-based campaign. Perhaps a bit long, ‘Number Three Pigeon Street’ would work well with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar Boxed Set too. The location includes full stats and descriptions of the NPCs as well every room in the house.

The fanzine then makes a radical change of tone and game style with ‘A Lonely Dance on the Cold, Northern Shore, Part 1’. Inspired by Saint Fina, this is a setting article for the World of Darkness, so specifically designed for storytelling play. It describes the city of Santa Fina, a California town on the Pacific coast astride the mouth of the Russian River, combination of Victorian-era architecture and blue collar industrialisation in decline, it has been designated a sort of retreat for the Kindred of San Francisco. It is also used as a dumping ground for members of the other factions which do not fit with the coteries found in San Francisco or further south in Los Angeles. Often cold and drizzly, the town is only accorded an overview here, the reader having to wait for future issues to explore any of its secrets. Nevertheless, a good start and hopefully worth the wait for the revelations.

The third and final piece in Loviatar No. 2 is ‘Eclipse, Lord of the Mountain’ and it is written for Steve Jackson Games’ GURPS! It describes the giant-like creature called Eclipse whose masters grew him in a vat and assigned him to watch over the small village of Silent Vale and its human inhabitants in the mountains and ensure that they do not explain why. He has no idea why and neither does the article really explain. Nor does it explain who the Masters are. Complete with full stats and details as you would expect for GURPS, Eclipse is and is not a monster. The task he has been set curtails the activities of the humans, but he only follows the rules as he has been programmed to do, so he is not necessarily a monster—though if the rules are broken he does do monstrous things. Eclispe is a really nicely designed NPC and should make for an interesting encounter for the Player Characters, their being none the wiser until the villagers explain how to live under the aegis of the giant so as to not antagonise him. Much like the earlier ‘Number Three Pigeon Street’, this situation is easily adapted to other settings, but the Game Master will need to supply the missing explanation as to who the Masters are.

Physically, Loviatar No. 2 is neat and tidy, and in general, well presented. Artwork is very light, but is fairly heavy in its style, as is the cartography. Photographs are used for the World of Darkness article. The oddity is that again, like Loviatar No. 1, the fanzine does carry a number of adverts for roleplaying games and things, many of them long out of print, even in 2011. These include the Dragonbone electronic dice device, Gen Con XI (from 1976!), and Car Wars. There are far fewer of them this time, so they do not give the fanzine a weird, out of time feel as they did with the first issue.

Loviatar No. 2 is better than Loviatar No. 1, reaching for a surprisingly broad audience. After all, there are few groups who would have played all three of the roleplaying games catered for the pages of the issue. ‘Number Three Pigeon Street’ is still the standout, a run down, slice of life in a seedy city that could still be run today and nobody would question it. The other entries are not as useful, but serviceable in themselves. Overall, Loviatar No. 2 is a good little read.