The Pitch

[Eris]

The Spinward Main

--Summary

This will be a Classic Traveller Style campaign set in the 3rd Imperium just after the Fourth Frontier War. No prior experience with Traveller will be required.

--Background

When it looked like war was likely to break out between the Imperium and the Zhodani you were conscripted out of your career or reassigned to the Spinward Expedition, dropped into a low berth and shipped out to the frontier as part of a huge battle fleet. The Expedition traveled dozens and dozens of parsecs from the Core regions of the Imperium to the far frontier of the empire. This took well over a year for the fleet, but you slept all the way deep in your cryogenic chamber.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending upon how you look at it, the war was over and an armistice signed even before you arrived. Now, the Imperial Navy has to return that huge fleet to the Core Systems, but it is not going to return all the "popcicles" it brought along. Too expensive! Much cheaper to demobilize most of the "frozen watch" in place, give them a couple of thousand credits, the thanks of the Emperor, and let them shift for themselves.

So, here you sit on Regina, way out on the Imperium's frontier, with a 2kCr card in your pocket and a cheap suit of clothes on your back. There's no way you're ever going to make it back to where you started from, and besides you've really got nothing back there calling you anyway.

You've always longed for an adventurous life on the wild frontier and now you've found a way to get out here...on the Emperor's credit, too!

Let's go find an adventure!

--Flavor

This is going to be an old-style, little-black book Classic Traveller game. If you don't know Traveller, think Firefly across multiple star systems. The focus of the game will be on trade and exploration, with a bit of troubleshooting and skulduggery thrown in for good measure.

The PC's will probably become the crew of a tramp freighter, a small merchant ship, that has no regular routes and makes its money going places that the big corporations won't. PC's with skills in piloting, navigating, looking after engines, trading, looking after passengers, etc, are going to be useful. And because "it's dangerous out here" skill with firearms and blades might be useful, too.

--Rules

I'll be using The Traveller Book, the "pay what you will" Cepheus Engine with some slight mods, and some mods like the 68A Task System. For those not in the know, Cepheus has a very Classic Traveller feel to it, which I like.

You can build PC's with any version of Traveller or the Cepheus Engine, subject to Referee approval, but I prefer something very CT...few and broad skills. There is a good Character Generator at https://www.batintheattic.com/traveller/. You can choose any of the Careers, but I'd prefer you focus on Army, Navy, Scouts, Merchant, and Marines. If you use this app, turn on Verbose Report so you can see all the rolls.

If your PC dies or fails reenlistment that's where the PC was conscripted by the Navy/Marines, otherwise no more than 5 terms in a career before the PC is pulled into the game and shipped to the frontier.

No matter how many terms your PC serves you will only get 1 roll on the Retirement Benefits Table. You left almost everything you might have had back in the Core Sector, out here you're all starting over again.

I'll trust you to create your character, but remember Traveller is about average joes doing adventurous things, not super heros. A Skill level of 1 means you're good enough to get hired at something and a level of 3+ means you're a real expert. Don't worry if your PC seems light on skills, it just means you'll have to be creative...and that's where the fun is!

During the game I will roll almost all the dice and let you focus on role playing.

--Number of Players

I will start the game with as few as 2 players and won't accept more than 6. Lurkers will be welcome, but only players may post.

As soon as I get 2 people to say "I want to play" we'll get started.

--My RPG "Chops"

I started with D&D sometime in 1974 with the white box. I was DMing right from the start as I couldn't convince any of my friends to DM...ever. I have been playing and refereeing Traveller since it first came out in 1977. I was part of the Fidonet RPG forums playing and GMing games (mostly Startrek) in the 80's and 90's and moved to the internet with PBEM and PBP forum games after that.

Eris,
An Old Coot & The Traveller Heretic

[Eris]

You received an invitation to attend a meeting where a possible job is going to be discussed. Seeing as you've been recently demobilized here on Regina and haven't had any luck so far finding work this invitation interests you.

The meeting is at the Traveller's Aid Society building in the middle of the busy Starport, "Fourth floor, suite B, arrive promptly at 1300 hours." said the invite. From the wording you think Navy, but from the location more likely some Corporate interest. You'll just have to wait and see.

When you enter the lift you are joined by several others. All exit with you and all walk into Suite B at the same time. OOC: Do you know any of them?

Suite B is a small conference room with a large table in the center with comfortable chairs arranged around it. A video board in on the wall behind one end of the table and there is another video board embedded in the surface of the table.

A few minutes later you are joined by a pair of people who introduce themselves as Mr. Jones and Miss Smith. Miss Smith seems to be in charge, because she takes the seat at the head of the table and Mr. Jones looks to her before sitting down. However it is Mr. Jones who speaks to you.

"We have a simple retrieval operation that needs to be handled." Jones begins, "Our organization, for several reasons, can't be seen to be involved in this operation and so we are looking to 'Contract It Out' to a group such as yourselves."

Jones steeples his fingers and looks at each of you before continuing, "If you are interested in hearing the details of this operation, you will need to 'thumb' a Non-Disclosure Agreement.", an image appears on the table in front of each of you, "Take a few moments to read it over, but in summary, if you thumb your agreement you are agreeing to not disclose any of what you are about to be told to anyone for any reason for a period of 2 years. If you aren't willing to agree to that, we would ask that you leave."

Once everyone has thumbed their agreement, or left, Jones continues.

"During the run up to the False War that brought you out here, a specific cargo was shipped from the Arden system aboard The Brown Boot, a small merchant vessel. The Boot was bound for Imperial Space, here to Regina, actually. The Boot disappeared, along with its cargo. A cargo we very much wanted to acquire. We were sure this cargo was lost to us...until recently."

He taps the table and a map displays showing the systems of Arden and several others along the main that extend back to Regina.

ArdenToRegina.png (117.52 KiB) Viewed 385 times

"Recently, we acquired unexpected access to a source of information that told us exactly what became of The Boot. It was attacked and forced to make a crash landing in the southern deserts of Pequan." he taps that world on the displayed map, "Pequan is a rabidly non-aligned world. They don't trust the Imperium, they hate the Zhodani, and barely tolerate Arden, and only because they trade their agricultural produce for industrial and tech goods with them."

"TAS has designated Pequan as an Amber Zone due to their hostile attitude toward outsiders. However, as there is no gas giant in the Pequan system ships passing through and needing fuel, by necessity, do Ocean Skimming."

"Independent merchant ships do make occasional stops on Pequan to trade. The operation we have in mind is for you to crew such an independent merchant ship stopping at Pequan to trade goods they need for agricultural goods they sell, and then leave their makeshift port to refuel. However, rather than simply refueling you would fly to the location of the crashed ship in the southern deserts and recover our cargo."

"Frankly, we don't care about anything that was aboard The Boot, except the container marked A-47/B. Recovering that container and returning it to the contact we will give you on Tremous Dex is all we are interested in. You can salvage any other cargo, even the entire ship, if you want. We just want A-47/B."

"If you agree to undertake this mission, you will be provided with a ship. It is flagged out of Arden, so the Pequanians will be less suspicious of you." Jones says, "Once you have delivered the cargo, A-47/B, into our hands, we will transfer the title of that ship to you to do with as you like."

"In addition, we will provide 1,000 credits to each of you for agreeing to undertake this mission."

"Are you interested?", Jones and Smith await your response.

OOC: If you are interested in forming a crew to recover the mysterious A-47/B from The Boot you will need to create characters with:

Shipboard Skills (Pilot, Navigation, Engineering, Mechanics, Medic, Steward)
Naval, Merchant, and/or Scout careers
Other skills like Gun Cbt, Streetwise, Liaison, and Survival would also be helpful