TEXT: Traveller
  Compendium 1
  
  Traveller Compendium 1 ©2010 Mongoose Publishing. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this work by any means without the written permission of the 
  publisher is expressly forbidden. All significant characters, names, places,items, art and text herein are copyrighted by Mongoose Publishing.
  This game product contains no Open Game Content. No portion of this work may be reproduced in any form without written permission. To learn more about 
  the Open Game License, please go to www.mongoosepublishing.com.
  This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United Kingdom and of the United States. This product is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual 
  people organisations, places or events is purely coincidental.
  Traveller is a trademark of Far Future Enterprises and is used under licence. Printed in the USA.
  Credits
  Classic Traveller
  Marc Miller
  Loren Wiseman, John Harshman, Frank Chadwick, Darryl 
  Hany, Winston Hamilton, Tony Svajlenka, Scott Renner, 
  Doug Poe, David MacDonald, Wayne Roth, Paul R. Banner.
  Mongoose Traveller 
  Authors
  Simon Beal, James Desborough, Paul A. Dutton, Alex 
  Greene, August Hahn, Gareth Hanrahan, Richard 
  Hazlewood, Uri Kurlianchik, Dale C. McCoy Jr, Alan Oliver, 
  Courtney Parsons, Benjamin Pew, Nick Robinson, Bryan 
  Steele, Carl Walmsley
  AdditionAl text
  Matthew Sprange
  editing & lAyout
  Mischa Thomas
  AdditionAl lAyout
  Will Chapman
  interior illustrAtions
  Evan Shipard, Jason Banditt Adams, Nuno Nobre, Carlos 
  Nunez de Castro Torres, Julien Taintmont Pierat, Tony 
  Emson, Ricardo German Ponce, Angga Satriohadi, Mariusz 
  Gandzel, Dan Masso, Aneke Murilo & John Koelepp
  Contents
  traveller
  Compendium 1
  Introduction 
  2
  The Road So Far Travelled 
  3
  The Rescue 
  4
  The Starchild 
  10
  The REPTII Assault Triax 
  36
  Fair Game 
  44
  Adapt and Overcome 
  52
  Jury – Rigging 
  54
  The Fall of Rigella Namsey 
  57
  Medic! 
  61
  Systems Defence 
  74
  The Levall Affair 
  79
  The Sad Death of Sadder Villin 
  89
  KRESDEKKA I 
  95
  The Arhiyao Clan 
  99
  Creating Kinships 
  105
  The Derelict 
  112
  Psionic Healing 
  117
  A Friend in Need 
  122
  Fuel Efficiency 
  124
  Duelist 
  125
  Beserker 
  127
  Conditioned Soldier 
  130
  Information Warfare Specialist 
  133
  Gods of the Space Age 
  135
  The Gangsta 
  141
  Ship’s Locker 
  147
  Referee’s Emergency Toolkit 
  167
  Signs & Portents 
  176
  
  2
  introduCtion
  Welcome to the first volume of Traveller Compendiums!
  Our free online magazine, Signs & Portents, has been going for 
  many years now and while every issue is still available on our web 
  site, we constantly have fans of our games ask for us to compile the 
  best articles into a more ‘solid’ form.  Since the release of Traveller, 
  we have accumulated a great many articles for the game, and you 
  can find the best of them within these pages.
  In the Traveller Compendium 1, you will find patrons and 
  full blown scenarios you can drop into your campaign at a 
  moment’s notice, new alien races, new ships, interesting new 
  items of equipment to expand the Central Supply Catalogue, 
  new careers to enhance your characters, detailed background 
  pieces set in the Third Imperium, and much, much more!
  These Compendiums will be a semi–regular releases, 
  appearing every year or two as we accumulate enough good 
  material from Signs & Portents, but you can always stay up to 
  date by downloading the latest issue of the magazine on the 
  first of every month.  Simply take a trip to our web site and click 
  on Signs & Portents. 
  If you are of a creative mind yourself, we are always looking 
  for good quality Traveller articles.  So, if you have an idea for 
  such a piece, drop us a line (details at the back of this book). 
  We cannot promise you fame and fortune, but you will likely 
  earn the gratitude of other Traveller gamers, and will have the 
  chance to see your work in print within Signs & Portents and, 
  maybe, the next Compendium!
  
  3
  the road so Far travelled
  Some games are easy to write. You’ve got a single clear vision, 
  a single authoritative voice and no expectations about how well 
  it will do. You write them for yourself. Traveller started out that 
  way but that was a long, long time ago. Doing a new edition of 
  Traveller was hard. Take your pick of clear visions – ‘it’ll be just 
  like the Little Black Books and it is also Traveller 5/it’ll be just like 
  it used to be but also it’ll be brand new/it’ll be uniquely Traveller 
  and a generic sci–fi system’. There were lots of voices, especially 
  when we opened the game up to open playtest.
  Expectations? It’s Traveller. I have a copy of an original schedule, 
  which called for the book to be done in December. I’m writing this 
  in late March and the book is still in final proofing. Jumpspace is 
  tricky that way. In some ways, we met our goals. It’s got all the 
  content of the Little Black Books but it is also a whole new thing.
  It is even closer to Classic Traveller than I originally intended it to 
  be but is also a foundation for a long game line covering multiple 
  settings. It’s not a generic sci–fi system but the bits that are not 
  generic are easily modified or replaced with sections customised 
  to whatever game you want to play. The open playtest was an 
  astonishing… experience. A success, definitely, in terms of the 
  feedback we received and the improvements that were made to 
  the game as a result. Fans did more than just test a few rules and 
  say whether or not they liked them – they wrote whole subsystems, 
  re–edited sections, did statistical analyses and spent thousands of 
  hours discussing the game. It made the game better. It was also 
  a baptism of fire.
  The Traveller community has been around for a long long time and 
  Mongoose Publishing’s involvement is a very recent development. 
  I wondered, when I started, why friends warned me that Traveller 
  fans care about the game. What’s wrong with caring for the game, I 
  wondered? It is not wrong. It is just that everyone’s platonic ideal of 
  Traveller is unique to them and various editions must be measured 
  by how far they deviate from that unreachable ideal. To borrow 
  from Greg Stafford’s Glorantha; YTWV
  (Your Traveller Will Vary). The final game may not be that platonic 
  ideal Traveller but I hope that it occupies a position roughly 
  equidistant from a lot of those perfect games. Now, make it your 
  own. Project your own single vision of what you want from Traveller 
  onto the framework of the new rules.
  They will, I hope, complement each other. (This article is far from the 
  fluff ‘isn’t new Traveller great?’ piece I was supposed to write, so the 
  next paragraph is for people who have not played Traveller before 
  and want to know what it is all about and why it is so great. Existing 
  Traveller fans can skip on a bit.) Traveller posits a big, big universe, 
  a living universe that is more than a backdrop for the characters’ 
  adventures.
  You can be the guys who save the world but one world is almost trivial 
  in Traveller terms. The galaxy is always bigger than you are. You do 
  not shape Traveller and the universe does not exist to showcase or 
  benefit your characters. You live in it. It is drama played out on a scale 
  that is both vast and intimate – you are dealing with the wild expanse 
  of space but it is also confined to your small ship, your speck of warm 
  matter. It’s Firefly and Ringworld and Mass Effect and Foundation.
  I am currently working on the High Guard supplement, with expanded 
  rules for ship creation and combat as well as lots of naval material. If 
  you want to run games inspired by Honor Harrington, this will be the 
  book for you. Mercenary is mostly done too and Scout and Merchant 
  Prince are lurking in outline form somewhere. 
  Elsewhere, Traveller stalwart Martin Doherty has finished The 
  Spinward Marches setting guide and both he and Lawrence Whitaker 
  are working on adventure support for the line. It has taken us longer 
  than planned to get here but we are travelling fast now.
  By Gareth hanrahan
  An introspective look at the return of the longest running science–fiction roleplaying game by its creator, 
  Traveller genius Gareth Hanrahan.
  
  4
  The universe is not a hospitable place for life. Humans can 
  live naturally in a microscopic band, a thin film on rocks that 
  happen to be the right distance from the local star and have 
  the right combination of gases. Go beyond that little niche of 
  viability and you must rely on life support systems and artificial 
  shelters, trusting your life to hulls and airlock seals. The 
  Rescue explores what happens when all of that goes wrong.
  It is suitable for a beginning group of Traveller characters and 
  can serve as the kick–off for a whole campaign.
  Mariposa & Sahal
  Mariposa is a minor world on the fringes of the Imperium, a 
  backwater ignored by most. It is primarily an agricultural world, 
  producing textiles and luxuries for richer planets. The planet’s 
  large moon, Sahal, is mined for tritium, an isotope of hydrogen 
  used in fusion reactors. Over the decades, the concentration 
  of industry and technology has led to Sahal becoming the 
  most influential and wealthy region in the system. The nobility, 
  industrialists and corporate executives of Mariposa live on 
  Sahal’s underground cities and domed settlements, looking 
  down at the benighted world below.
  The main settlement on Sahal is Oculus, a city of a few thousand 
  people that expanded out from the first tritium harvesting 
  operation. The city is built into the floor and walls of Oculus 
  Crater. Underground tunnels link Oculus to outlying settlements 
  and bases. The richer nobles have mansions built into upper 
  crater walls; the higher up the crater, the more prestigious the 
  location. Factories, shuttle ports, fusion reactors and lower–
  class housing are located on the crater floor.
  The Disaster
  The fusion reactors powering the lunar city have all manner 
  of safety features and emergency systems but nothing is 
  infallible. A shuttle, Flight 10, coming in from Mariposa lost 
  control of its thrusters and accelerated as it approached 
  its landing platform. The shuttle slammed into the Oculus 
  Number Three reactor, causing a massive explosion. The 
  blast itself did comparatively little damage.
  The twin blows to Oculus’ stability were the loss of power 
  throughout the city and the moonquake caused by the reactor’s 
  destruction. The shockwave caused dozens of access tunnels 
  to cave in and caused part of the crater wall to collapse.
  The shockwave also sent vast amounts of dust flying up 
  and it would take weeks for the moon’s weak gravity to drag 
  the dust clouds back to the ground. The city was suddenly 
  shrouded in an opaque grey dust, disrupting laser and radio 
  transmissions. Oculus had grown up organically, without any 
  central planning and the contingency plans were no match 
  for a disaster of this magnitude.
  In the chaotic hours after the disaster, the characters will be 
  the only ones who can save dozens of lives.
  Involving the Characters
  If the characters have their own ship, then they just need to 
  be near Mariposa. Perhaps they were trading at Mariposa’s 
  spaceport or even visiting Oculus City. When the disaster 
  strikes, then all ships nearby will be called in to help with the 
  evacuation of Oculus. If the characters do not have their own 
  vessel, then they need to be in Oculus City when Flight 10 
  crashes into the reactor. 
  There are five sub–plots in this adventure, which the 
  characters can pursue in any order:
  The Morningside Dome: Dozens of people are trapped 
  in an outlying dome, running out of air. Worse, rumours 
  are spreading about the cause of the disaster and panic is 
  beginning to take hold.
  The Deep Tunnels: An underground tunnel complex was 
  struck by the shockwave, trapping workers within. Rescuing 
  them will require a perilous journey through unstable shafts.
  The Mansion: One of the wealthy nobles demands that he 
  be rescued first. At the same time, a gang of thieves is taking 
  advantage of the confusion by looting the rich homes on the 
  crater wall.
  The Shuttle Port: The Oculus City shuttle port was severely 
  damaged by the disaster but if the characters can free some 
  of the ships there from the debris, they will greatly aid the 
  evacuation effort.
  the resCue
  By Gareth hanrahan
  A starting scenario that will see the players become heroes of a doomed lunar city. The Rescue is an ideal 
  scenario with which to start an entire campaign.
  
  5
  the resCue
  Life Support: Truly brave characters can head into the 
  disaster area and repair the damaged power grid, restoring 
  life support to Oculus City. 
  The characters are obviously not the only group trying to 
  rescue survivors from Oculus but the other rescuers are 
  concentrating on other survivors. The five tasks above are 
  solely the province of the player characters – if they do not 
  save those people, no–one will.
  Failing Life Support
  With the main reactors offline, life support in Oculus City is 
  fading. Air recyclers have stopped, heaters are shutting down. 
  Characters will start feeling the effects of the lack of life support 
  an hour after the disaster, as the city becomes noticeably 
  colder and the air feels thinner. Two hours after the disaster, 
  the survivors in the Morningside dome will begin to run 
  out of air. The miners have three hours of air, as does the 
  mansion. Artificial gravity has also failed throughout the 
  city, reducing the gravity to one–sixth normal.
  Mariposa is 400,000 kilometres away from Sahal, so it will 
  take over three hours to fly from the moon to the planet 
  below at 1g. There are other places to deposit survivors, 
  if the characters think of checking. They could drop them 
  off at orbital factories at the LaGrange point, which is only 
  half an hour away from the moon or just move them to less 
  damaged parts of the city. If the characters reactivate the 
  main reactors, then life support is restored to the whole city.
  movinG around oCulus City
  There are several ways for the characters to get around Oculus 
  City:
  The Tunnels: Tunnels are the main way to get around the city. 
  The major thoroughfares are wide boulevards, which under 
  normal circumstances are designed to look like a street on an 
  Earth–like world. The ceiling has holograms of blue skies and 
  plants grow along the sides of the walkways. Now, the only 
  illumination is from emergency lights. Some of the tunnels have 
  collapsed and others are choked with fleeing refugees. There 
  are tunnel carts but these run off power from the main reactor 
  and so are currently non–functional. If the characters find a 
  suitable power cell, then an Engineering or Mechanic roll allows 
  the characters to charge a cart. 
  There are also numerous side access tunnels, which are 
  narrow ferrocrete tubes lined with cables and pipes. Every part 
  of Oculus City is accessible by the tunnels. It takes 30 minutes 
  to get from one place to another via the tunnels but the Games 
  Master should also roll 1D6 on the Tunnel Encounter Table 
  each time.
  The Surface: Characters with vacc suits and a good 
  sense of direction can move along the surface, through 
  the dust cloud, by making a Navigation test taking 10–60 
  minutes. There are numerous airlocks leading down into 
  Oculus, all of which can be operated mechanically when 
  the power is off.
  By Ship: The fastest way to get around the city, obviously, 
  is by spaceship. The dust cloud does not impede flying.
  FliGht 10 is down
  The scenario begins moments before Shuttle Flight 10 crashes 
  into the reactor complex. If the characters are in Oculus City, 
  they hear the crash and the ensuing explosion. The ground 
  quakes, the lights go out, then are replaced by sickly emergency 
  lights. The city’s computer system begins reciting emergency 
  procedures, telling everyone to report to the nearest emergency 
  shelter and wait for instructions from security. Unfortunately, the 
  main security tower was destroyed in the shuttle crash and it will 
  take some time for junior security staff to respond to the crisis. 
  If the characters are in their ship, then they receive distress 
  messages from Sahal soon after the shuttle crash. Automated 
  systems announce that there is an emergency at Oculus shuttle 
  port and that all vessels in Mariposa orbit should stand by for 
  further instructions. 
  The characters are soon contacted via their ship or comms by 
  Rai Astasi, a communications officer at Oculus City’s security 
  centre. She is young and inexperienced but she is also the 
  ranking officer left after the crash and she is taking charge in 
  this crisis. She has identified the Player Characters’ ship as one 
  of the few vessels within range that can aid in the crisis. If the 
  characters do not have their own ship, then she call upon any 
  ex–military characters to aid the rescue effort.
  Assuming the characters agree to Rai’s requests for aid, she 
  fills them in on the current situation – a shuttle has crashed 
  and somehow disabled main power across Oculus City. She 
  is co–ordinating the rescue effort and is calling in aid from 
  the planet below and from other settlements on Sahal but 
  there are two groups of people who are trapped and she 
  wants the characters to aid them. Life support is failing, so 
  the characters will have to act quickly. The first group are in 
  the outlying habitat dome, Morningside Dome. Three dozen 
  people took shelter there but the dome is damaged and slowly 
  leaking air. Rai wants the characters to get the people there to 
  Result
  Encounter
  1–3
  No encounter.
  4
  Collapsed tunnel – the characters will have to find another path, taking another 1D6x5 minutes.
  5
  Panicked refugees, looking for help.
  6
  Dangerous tunnel – collapsing, fire, looter gang and so on.
  The Tunnels
  
  6
  the resCue
  the shuttle port, where they can be picked up. No–one in the 
  dome is answering their comms.
  The second group is a group of workers in a new set of tunnels 
  beneath the city. They are trapped down there – an airlock 
  has sealed itself behind them and refuses to open. One of the 
  workers, Herik, has a comm and Rai can put the characters in 
  touch with him; he will guide them down into the tunnels. As 
  soon as the characters agree to help Rai and are discussing 
  where to go first, they get another call. It is from Yaj haut–Epp, 
  a noble of Oculus City. He was monitoring the characters’ 
  communications with Rai and knows they are competent and 
  mobile. He demands that they come and rescue him first of 
  all; he is trapped inside his mansion and wants an escort to 
  the shuttle port. He will pay them handsomely if they aid him, 
  offering them 5,000 credits immediately but he is prepared to go 
  as high as Cr. 20,000 each.
  the morninGside dome
  The Morningside Dome is located on the eastern edge of 
  the crater, in the shadow of the rocky walls. The moonquake 
  caused tons of debris to collapse on top of the dome, damaging 
  its outer shell. The dome contains new housing modules, as 
  well as one of the larger open indoor spaces in Oculus City, 
  an artificial garden. When the impact of the shuttle crash and 
  reactor explosion rocked the dome, the inhabitants gathered 
  in this central space. One of the loudest voices in the dome 
  was that of Roget Viers, a former marine, who assumed that 
  Oculus City was under attack by Ine Givar terrorists or even 
  alien invaders. Viers has convinced the other survivors to 
  remain in the dome and prepare for a siege instead of leaving. 
  He has whipped them into a frenzy of paranoia and they now 
  believe that the rest of the city is filled with rapacious terrorists 
  and thieves.
  Entering the Dome: The airlocks connecting the dome to the 
  rest of the city have been locked from the inside. Characters can 
  override the locks with a successful Mechanic or Engineering 
  (electronics) check or they can don vacc suits and climb up 
  the dome (easily done in one–sixth gravity) to one of the upper 
  access hatches. While on the dome, the characters will see the 
  fractures in the dome shell. Once the characters have entered 
  the dome, they can make their way through the curved corridors 
  towards the central area.
  Firefight: In anticipation of an attack of the invaders, Viers 
  has sent small armed groups to watch the entrances and set 
  up ambushes. These are not trained soldiers, just frightened 
  citizens who have been told they are under attack. Wary 
  characters (Recon 1 or more) will notice the ambush up ahead 
  – two of the doors along the corridor are slightly ajar, as there 
  are armed citizens lurking in there. 
  If the characters walk past the doors, the citizens spring out and 
  challenge them. If the characters do not react by drawing guns 
  or firing back, then the characters may be able to talk their way 
  out of the ambush. If they do fight, then the ambushers start 
  at Initiative 6 and have 1/2 cover when they fire out from the 
  doorways.
  Citizens
  Str 6 Dex 8 End 8 Int 7 Edu 6 Soc 6
  Stealth 0, Gun Combat (slug handgun) 0 Snub Pistol, C/S 
  x3D6–3
  If the characters convince the ambushers that they are not Ine 
  Givar terrorists, then they are brought into the central dome 
  where they can speak with Viers. If they leave smoking bodies 
  behind them, then convincing the terrified survivors to trust 
  them will be almost impossible (‘we just shot your friends, but 
  seriously, we’re here to rescue you’).
  Viers: In the central area, the characters find Viers surrounded 
  by several dozen frightened citizens. Viers is standing on the 
  plinth of an ornamental statue in the garden, shouting about how 
  the city is under attack and they have to hold their ground. They 
  must dig in and wait for relief from the surface. If the characters 
  are going to evacuate the people here, they will need to get 
  Viers to stand down. Viers is not crazy or delusional but he has 
  completely misinterpreted what is going on and believes that 
  the city is under attack. If the characters tell him that it was 
  just a shuttle crash, he will be suspicious – terrorist sabotage 
  of a shuttle as it lands is eminently possible. He suggests that 
  it could be the characters who are wrong about the attack and 
  that they should wait here until they can get a secure channel to 
  Mariposa and confirm what is going on.
  Convincing Viers will require roleplaying but he will lend more 
  weight to the words of military characters or those with the 
  Advocate skill or high Social Standing. The biggest risk is that 
  the players will try to bully or overrule Viers, in which case he 
  will become convinced they are slavers or kidnappers, trying 
  to lure the people of the city out to their ship.
  Viers
  Str 10 Dex 8 End 10 Int 8 Edu 8 Soc 7
  Athletics 1, Battle Dress 0, Tactics 1, Heavy Weapons
  0, Gun Combat (slug rifle) 2, Stealth 2, Leadership 1, Recon 1. 
  Snub Pistol (3D6–3), ACR (3D6/Auto 6)
  Evacuation: If the characters convince the survivors in the 
  dome to leave, then they still need to get them to safety. 
  There are 37 survivors, some of which are lightly injured. The 
  characters can cram survivors into their ship and carry them to 
  another dome on Sahal’s surface or the LaGrange factories or 
  guide them through the tunnels to the shuttle port.
  
  7
  the resCue
  the deep tunnel
  From its humble beginnings as a tritium mine, Oculus City has 
  expanded in all directions, especially down.
  Thick layers of regolith protect the citizens from the lethal 
  radiation of space. When Flight 10 crashed, Herik and his work 
  crew were excavating a new section of tunnel 50 metres below 
  the surface. The impact caused an airlock to shut behind them, 
  trapping them underground. Herik was able to patch his comm 
  into a fibre–optic line and contact the surface. Rei can connect 
  the characters to Herik, who explains the situation. He and two 
  others were repairing a damaged mining robot when the impact 
  hit them. Herik warns the characters that the deep tunnels are 
  dangerously unstable and that they really shouldn’t risk their lives 
  by going that far underground. Instead, he suggests they head to 
  the control room for the mining robots. The characters will have 
  to put on vacc suits and filters, as the caves are freezing cold and 
  airless. The tunnels are also outside the artificial gravity of the 
  city, so the gravity drops from one–G to one–sixth G.
  Moving Through The Tunnels: Herik has mapped the tunnels 
  and while the disaster has caused a few caveins, there is still a 
  clear route down to him. There is a danger of more cave–ins. 
  Characters moving through the tunnels must make Dexterity+ 
  Stealth tests. The time frame is 10–60 minutes. 
  If the characters successfully make it through the tunnels, they 
  find their way to a control room. There are computer terminals 
  here; Herik and his crew were using these computers to remotely 
  manage the robot miners. Over the comm, Herik suggests that 
  the characters go no further into the caves. Instead, they can 
  use the computers to send the mining robots down into the deep 
  tunnels to cut through the airlock and free Herik and his crew.
   If the characters examine the computers, the display 
  shows a map of the tunnel network and there is a flashing 
  warning icon beneath the shuttle port. 
  According to the computer, the tunnels beneath the port 
  are in danger of collapsing and need to be reinforced. 
  There is no way for the characters to get there in time but 
  they can send the mining robots to repair the problem.
  They have gravitic supports that they can deploy to shore up 
  the damaged area. However, if they send the robots to save the 
  shuttle port, then they will have to save Herik and the other two 
  Effect
  Result
  Event
  Failed with 0 or less
  Disaster
  Huge Cave–In: All PCs suffer 4D6 damage, and the miners are 
  trapped begin tons of rubble.
  Failed with 1–5
  Average Failure
  Cave–In: The character suffers 3D6 damage.
  Failed with 6+
  Marginal Failure
  Minor rock–fall: The character suffers 2D6 damage.
  workers themselves. If they ask Herik, then he will urge them to 
  send the robots, then escape themselves.
  The Robots: The two functional mining robots are also 
  in the control room. They are large cylinders that float in 
  the air and are covered in drills, particle beams, probes 
  and other sensors. The deployable gravitic supports are 
  stored along the flanks of the robots and can be removed 
  manually. These are dumb robots, with only minimal 
  initiative or intelligence of their own.
  If the characters send both robots to support the shuttle 
  port, then the danger there is dealt with easily. The robots 
  race through the access tunnels and deploy gravitic 
  supports, shoring up the tunnels and saving the city from 
  further collapse. If they only send one robot, have a player 
  roll 1D6. On a 5 or 6, a single set of gravitic supports was 
  not enough and the tunnel collapses again, wrecking 
  one of the few functional landing pads in the city. With 
  this port gone, escaping from the city will be much more 
  difficult and the characters have doomed hundreds of 
  people. Obviously, if they don’t send any robots, the port 
  automatically collapses.
  Rescuing Herik: If the characters send one of the mining 
  robots down into the deep tunnels, then they can rescue 
  Herik at no risk to themselves. On the other hand, if they 
  descend into the depths, they risk further cave–ins.
  If the characters go deeper again, then they must make 
  another Stealth test, this time with a –1 DM. Again, if the 
  test is failed, they suffer a cave–in as above.  Once the 
  characters reach the blocked doorway, they have to open 
  it, which requires either a Hard (–4) Strength test or a 
  Mechanic Skill Test. Once out, they need to make their way 
  back to the surface, again risking cave–ins.
  Herik & Workers
  Str 8 Dex 7 End 9 Int 7 Edu 6 Soc 6
  Engineering 0, Stealth 1, Mechanic 2, Trade (civil 
  engineering 2)
  the mansion
  The haut–Ebb mansion is located in the crater wall, overlooking 
  the Morningside Dome. Normally, visitors arrive by air/raft or 
  
  8
  the resCue
  by the high–technology grav shaft that rises from the tunnels 
  on the crater floor to the mansion high above. With main 
  power down throughout the city, the obvious way up is via the 
  emergency access stairs that wind around the grav shaft. If the 
  characters ask Rai or another citizen, they are told that haut–
  Ebb is a rich and eccentric nobleman who lives alone. Rumours 
  claim that he suffers from an auto–immune disease that makes 
  him vulnerable to infection or that he hates other people or 
  that he is insane or that he has got a secret psychic ability and 
  finds crowds of people agonizingly painful people. He is very 
  unpopular within Oculus City. He is certainly very wealthy.
  The Gang: Four criminals are taking advantage of the current 
  crisis to loot the mansion. They were already plotting to raid one 
  of the nobles of Oculus City; the disaster is a windfall for them. 
  They are:
  Trager, a thug and mercenary who wanders from world–to– 
  world. Trager is a gun for hire.
  Ripper, his Vargr pal. Bloodthirsty and cruel, Ripper lives to 
  fight and kill.
  Orri, a political activist from Mariposa. She believes that her 
  world suffers from the predations and greed of the Sahal nobility 
  and that wealth is being drained from the world below by the 
  moon vampires. She has no interest in stealing from haut– Ebb, 
  she wants to make a political statement.
  Yance, a denizen of Oculus City. He is a coward and a petty 
  thief and is in the gang as a local guide and locksmith.
  Trager
  Str 7 Dex 10 End 9 Int 7 Edu 6 Soc 6
  Athletics 1, Gun Combat (slug handgun) 1, Gun Combat (slug 
  rifle) 1, Recon 2, Melee (brawl) 1, Tactics
  2 Autopistol (3D6–3, Auto 4), Accellerator Rifle (3D6), Flak 
  Jacket (Armour 6)
  Ripper
  Str 9 Dex 10 End 8 Int 5 Edu 5 Soc 3
  Athletics 1, Melee (blade) 2, Recon 1, Stealth 1, Gun Combat 
  1 (slug pistol) Autopistol (3D6–3, Auto 4), Blade (2D6), Flak 
  Jacket (Armour 6)
  Orri
  Str 6 Dex 7 End 6 Int 9 Edu 10 Soc 5
  Advocate 2, Stealth 1, Gun Combat (slug handgun) 0 Snub 
  Pistol (3D6–3)
  Yance
  Str 6 Dex 8 End 6 Int 8 Edu 6 Soc 6
  Stealth 1, Streetwise 2, Mechanic 2 Gun Combat (slug handgun) 
  0 Snub Pistol (3D6–3)
  The gang’s plan is to break into the mansion, incapacitate or 
  kill haut–Ebb, then make their way across the surface of the 
  moon to safety. They have lightweight environmental suits 
  that will get them to a nearby outpost. Currently, the four gang 
  members are making their way to the mansion. There are a lot 
  of stairs; Orri’s endless ranting about the evils of the nobility is 
  annoying and Ripper is getting bored. It is never a good thing 
  when Ripper gets bored. If the characters head straight to the 
  mansion, they will get there before the gang. If they go to one 
  of the other locations in the city first, then the gang makes it 
  to the mansion first and the characters will either encounter 
  the thieves at the top of the stairs as they disable the door or 
  inside the mansion itself.
  Accessing the Mansion: If the characters have restored 
  power to the city, then they can use the grav shaft to bypass the 
  stairs and get to the front door. Otherwise, they have to take the 
  stairs and it is a long and boring climb even in one–sixth gravity. 
  Through plassteel windows in the stairwell, they can see the 
  city covered in a thick dust cloud, like a burial shroud. At the 
  top of the stairs is the main entrance – a blast door. It’s a richly 
  decorated, ornate and very pretty and elegant blast door but 
  it is still a blast door. The sort of blast door that says ‘I value 
  my privacy, especially where tactical nukes are concerned’. If 
  the characters are the first on the scene, then they can contact 
  haut–Ebb and he will open the door for them.
  If the characters do not go straight to the mansion, then haut–
  Ebb will contact them periodically and complain that they have 
  not rescued him yet. He is insistent on this point. When the 
  criminal gang start breaking through his blast door, haut–
  Ebb’s comm messages will change from whiny and insistent to 
  terrified and screechy. The gang get through the blast door by 
  disassembling it, which takes them almost an hour.
  Haut–Ebb: His Excellency Yaj haut–Ebb is a rake–thin, wild–
  haired man who wears flowing robes decorated with golden 
  peacocks. He has a horror of all forms of footwear; it is quite 
  hard for him to talk to the Player Characters while they are 
  wearing shoes or boots and the thought of putting on a vacc 
  suit fills him with nausea. Getting haut–Ebb out of his mansion 
  and down to safety should be incredibly frustrating. 
  Haut–Ebb
  Str 6 Dex 7 End 4 Int 8 Edu 10 Soc 12
  Carouse 0, Medic 1
  Fighting the Gang: There are two possible places for the 
  characters to encounter the gang: on the stairs or in the 
  mansion. When fighting on the stairs, then Ripper will hold 
  their stairs with his blade, while Trager and Orri shoot from 
  above. Yance will lurk at the rear, either cutting through the 
  door mechanism or holding haut–Ebb hostage, depending on 
  whether the Player Characters turn up before or after the gang 
  breaks into the mansion. 
  
  9
  the resCue
  The thieves will avoid using their grenades unless the 
  Player Characters are proving especially tough. The stairs 
  provides ½ cover to everyone. Trager will try to snipe at the 
  most dangerous looking characters, while Orri will just try to 
  keep them pinned down with wild bursts of fire.
  If fighting in the mansion, then the gang will attempt to grab 
  haut–Ebb and use him as a hostage. There is plenty of cover 
  in the mansion and the characters can hide behind antique 
  First–Imperium furniture and antiques from Sol, causing 
  thousands of credits worth of damage with every shot.
  the shuttle port
  The shuttle port consists of four large landing pads 
  surrounding a control tower. The large passenger concourse 
  is located beneath the control tower. Flight 10 clipped the 
  control tower as it crashed, sending chunks of debris 
  plummeting onto the concourse below but the port is still the 
  centre of the evacuation effort. 
  Refugees from all over the city are gathering here, waiting for 
  shuttles to carry them away. Others are putting on vacc suits 
  and risking the overland crossing to outlying domes. If the 
  characters are escorting the survivors from the Morningside 
  Dome or haut–Ebb, then they will have to come here.
  Rai informs the characters when they arrive that there is an 
  extra shuttle in a hangar but fallen debris has trapped has 
  damaged the roof. If the shuttle is moved, the hangar will 
  begin to collapse. 
  None of the pilots at Oculus City are willing to risk moving the 
  shuttle but if it can be flown out intact, then it will help speed 
  the evacuation immensely. 
  If any of the characters are expert pilots, they can try flying 
  the shuttle out. This requires a Difficult (–2) Dexterity+Pilot 
  (small craft) test. If the test fails, then the character fails to 
  get the shuttle out before the hangar collapses on top of it.
  If they get the shuttle out, then a trainee pilot, Noral, 
  volunteers to fly it back to Mariposa with a load of refugees. 
  If the tunnels below the port collapse, then the remaining 
  landing pads become too unstable to use.
  Life Support
  Once it becomes clear that the shuttle crash was not a 
  deliberate attack or terrorist plot, the players may ask about 
  the city’s backup power. Surely a moonbase has a massively 
  redundant power supply that should have kicked in when the 
  reactor was destroyed – and they are right. Oculus City’s 
  backup power should be able to power life support indefinitely. 
  The problem is that the backup power supply never activated 
  and the city is currently running off the secondary backup. If 
  this discrepancy is pointed out to her, Rai checks the computer 
  and discovers that the backup power controls were damaged 
  by the crash. The backup reactors are working but they are 
  not connected to the city’s power grid. Someone will have to 
  go in to the crash scene and reconnect the backup. There are 
  two ways to approach the crash site – from the tunnels and 
  overground.
  From the tunnels: This close to the impact, many of the 
  tunnels have cracked or collapsed. Fires smoulder in other 
  corridors, mostly snuffed out by the low oxygen levels. The 
  main threat, though, is the cargo of the shuttle. Among the 
  cargo containers is a shipment of radioactives, which have 
  spilled out into the tunnel.
  Characters approaching the reactors from below will absorb 
  2D6x10 rads. Vacc suits reduce the rad count by 50. This may 
  be enough to cause nausea and burns.
  Overground: Characters travelling overground will have to 
  climb over the jagged rubble and melted, twisted metal of 
  the crash site. The danger here is ripping a vacc suit on a 
  broken rock or protrusion. Characters need to make Dexterity 
  + Vacc Suit tests to avoid damaging their suits as they clamber 
  through the wreckage. If a character does break his suit, he 
  takes 1D6 damage immediately from the cold and another one 
  damage each round until they patch the suit (self–sealing suits 
  patch themselves).
  Backup Power: Activating the backup power systems requires 
  an Education + Engineering (power) test.
  Once backup power is activated, then the limits on life support 
  are removed and the only rescue with a time limit is haut–
  Epp. Clever characters might send the robots from the deep 
  tunnels, once the
  aFtermath
  A few hours after the crash of Flight 10, rescue ships from 
  Mariposa arrive in force and take charge of the city. The final 
  death toll is between two and three hundred, depending on the 
  actions of the Player Characters. If they saved Herik, then they 
  are heroes of Oculus City. If they dealt with Viers violently, 
  though, they may face legal problems later.
  
  10
  STANDARDS AND ASSUMPTIONS
  The Starchild is an introductory adventure for use with he 
  Mongoose Publishing rules set for Traveller. It serves as an 
  excellent introduction for players and Referees who are new 
  to Traveller, to The Third Imperium of Man, one of the most 
  venerable campaign settings in the history of Science Fiction 
  gaming. 
  The Starchild deals with a group of adventurers who find 
  themselves rather suddenly embroiled in the search for a 
  missing girl on a mining installation operated by an Imperial 
  Ministry of Defence contractor. What at first appears to be a 
  simple act of domestic terrorism gone wrong suddenly thrusts 
  the adventurers into the heart of an interstellar conspiracy 
  perpetrated by back–stabbing double agents on both sides of 
  the Fringe. Events force the group to confront a mysterious 
  Zhodani operative who is said to be a restless, inhuman spirit 
  denied the peace of death so he can wreak vengeance upon his 
  Imperial enemies.
  Time and Place
  The adventure begins in the Spinward Marches Sector of The 
  Thrid Imperium on the 300th day of the 1106th year since the 
  Coronation of Emporer Cleon I and the founding of The Third 
  Imperium. The date is expressed as 300–1106.
  This adventure takes place in the Rhylanor Subsector. It 
  begins on Jae Taellona (0404–A560565–8 Rhylanor/ Spinward 
  Marches) but can theoretically expand to nearly any planet in 
  the Rhylanor subsector. To that end, the Referee may wish to 
  have access to an Official Traveller Universe (henceforth, OTU) 
  copy of The Rhylanor Subsector jumpgrid map like the one 
  found in The Spinward Marches supplement for Traveller from 
  Mongoose Publishing. If the Referee does not have access 
  to this supplement, he should create his own subsector map 
  according to the procedure given in the World Creation chapter 
  starting on p. 167 of the Traveller Core Rulebook and place Jae 
  Taellona as desired on the map.
  Requirements
  This adventure is written for 3–5 characters of beginning to 
  moderate experience. At least 2 of the characters should have 
  ground combat experience; it will be difficult for the players 
  to complete the adventure if this is not the case. Experience 
  with starships is also recommended, although it makes 
  little difference whether this is acquired through a military 
  background, such as the Scouts or the Navy or whether it is 
  acquired through a civilian career such as the Merchants or the 
  Rogues. Note, however, that if the players are creating new 
  characters specifically to complete this adventure, it is far more 
  likely that they will achieve the recommended skill set through 
  military experience or by joining the Merchant Marine than 
  through a “knocking around” career such as Drifter or Rogue.
  The Traveller Core Rulebook contains all the ship data and 
  deckplans for every vessel critical to the completion of this 
  adventure. The Suleiman (Type S) Scout/ Courier, The Beowulf 
  class Free–Trader and The Type R Subsidized Merchant 
  (‘Subbie,’ or ‘Fat Trader’) are all detailed in the Traveller Core 
  Rulebook starting on p.114. The Tigress–Class dreadnought and 
  the Vargr Corsair will be detailed in upcoming supplements. For 
  now, the Referee, if he does not have access to any information 
  about the Vargr Corsair, may assume it to be equivalent to the 
  standard Corsair on p. 129 of the Traveller Core Rulebook. 
  The Tigress–class dreadnought is mentioned later but it is not 
  necessary to have a deckplan or even a description of this 
  vessel to run this adventure.
  BACKGROUND
  Shalini’s Tale
  Note that this information can be pieced together by the 
  adventurers by searching through X–boat feeds, library data 
  and by talking to the girl and her father. It should not, of course, 
  be given to them all at once. Shalini A’ssynii is a young girl (age 
  10) whose family hails from the agricultural world of Belizo 
  (3015– B895646–5 Rhylanor/Spinward Marches). The world’s 
  atmosphere is naturally tainted, requiring filter masks for most 
  normal humans but the populace has acquired a natural immunity 
  over time. Agricultural and hydration techniques borrowed from 
  higher technology worlds have allowed their crops to flourish 
  and Belizo has grown into a beautiful and prosperous farming 
  community. It is said that the world is not completely unpleasant 
  if one can adapt simultaneously to the hot climate and the 
  the starChild
  By Courtney parsons
  Set in the Spinward Marches, this adventure can be used to start an entire campaign. Starting with a missing 
  child on a mining installation, the players will soon find themselves tangling with a powerful Zhodani operative.
  
  11
  the starChild
  atmospheric taint. The atmospheric pollution is caused by a 
  naturally–occurring alkaline dust that causes severe irritation 
  of exposed soft tissue, including lungs and eyes. Before the 
  journey that took them to Jae Taellona, Shalini’s family consisted 
  of herself and her parents. Her mother and father (Jaye and 
  T’niri A’ssyni) were respectable Thiti Nut farmers who managed 
  to eke out a modest but comfortable living for themselves. Jaye 
  had one brother, Shallum A’ssyni, who left Belizo many years 
  ago. Shallum was considered something of a black sheep by 
  his brother’s family, having forgone honest work in favour of the 
  somewhat shady dealings involved in the life of an adventuring 
  scoundrel. In addition to accruing a rather lengthy police record, 
  he somehow managed to acquire a starship, a Type A Free 
  Trader named The Empress Iolanthe (see the Traveller Core 
  Rulebook p.117 for details), that some would later say he won in 
  a high–stakes poker game. Several years from now Shallum’s 
  body is destined to wash up on the shores of the Regina 
  Starport River but the precise details of his demise are to remain 
  a mystery and not a very interesting one at that, at least, not 
  to the Regina Starport Authority, under whose jurisdiction the 
  case of Shallum’s disappearance legally fell. Nevertheless, at 
  the time of this adventure, Shallum has not been found and the 
  details of his disappearance are of no particular import. What 
  is important is that, according to Regina law, the ownership 
  of the vessel defaults to Shallum’s next–of–kin in the event 
  he is declared dead. Since Jaye had neither need nor desire 
  for star travel, nor a wish to so much as speak to his brother, 
  Shallum’s disappearance was to go unnoticed and the Empress 
  Iolanthe was to sit rusting in a warehouse storage hangar for 
  the next 6 years. At the same time, since Shallum was legally 
  still alive, the storage fees were automatically withdrawn from 
  the remainder of his somewhat large – at least, large six years 
  ago –bank account. Jaye, a man of deep conviction, wanted 
  no part in his brother’s likely ill–gotten booty, so he took little 
  interest when the Regina authorities notified him that they were 
  about to declare Shallum dead during the first half of 1105, nor 
  did he bat an eye when the Minsitry of Ships and Shipping sent 
  him an official Xmail notification that he would have to come to 
  Regina to claim the Empress Iolanthe because Regina SPA had 
  just declared the owner dead. Further, Jaye had every intention 
  of letting the rapidly accruing debt go into default at the end of 
  the mandatory one–year grace period, at which time the ship 
  would be auctioned off to the highest bidder. Then everything 
  changed. About 6 months ago Shalini fell ill. She began to 
  complain of severe headaches and her strength began to wane. 
  She would often be bedridden for days only to suddenly wake 
  up one day and be fine. She began to have horrible nightmares, 
  which Jaye and his wife discounted as merely feverish dreams 
  at first. 
  However, one day, after Shalini had been bedridden for days, 
  she suddenly recovered and told her father that she had 
  dreamed of a terrible monster that had ridden in on the wind 
  and wreaked a massive amount of damage while it ate 224 
  people. She described in lurid detail how the creature was 
  spitting air and water between its long fangs as it wandered 
  along its hideously destructive path. A day or two later a 
  record breaking hurricane laid waste to a small continent on 
  the southern hemisphere of Belizo, doing millions of credits 
  worth of property damage and killing hundreds. A few days 
  later, the family was gathered at the kitchen table when the 
  final death toll was announced: 224. 
  Shocked, her fearful parents took her to a well–trusted doctor 
  friend of theirs, who after great difficulty, determined that she 
  was most likely suffering from a brain tumour. His primitive TL5 
  diagnostic equipment did not seem to work on her and indeed, 
  all sorts of electronic equipment began to malfunction around 
  her. He began to suspect that there was more at work in the girl’s 
  illness than a simple tumour, so he consulted the interstellar 
  medical database at the local Class B Starport installation 
  and happened upon an obscure medical paper penned by 
  a Dr. L’leel Thorne, a corporate doctor with a background in 
  medical research. After dealing with an unprecedented number 
  of illnesses with strikingly similar symptoms on his own world, 
  Dr. Thorne used the X–boat database at his world’s local Scout 
  base to detect similar patterns on worlds all across the Domain 
  of Deneb.
  Although the Belizan doctor was from a bucolic background, he 
  was no idiot. He managed to infer from Thorne’s paper that the 
  tumours were causing the activation of latent psionic talents in 
  the afflicted girl and knowing little (yet enough), Imperial Law 
  to understand that the girl would be in danger from far more 
  than just a tumour if this were ever to be discovered by the 
  authorities, he warned her parents to remain silent. Also, Dr. 
  Thorne had had experience with tumour removal during his 
  posting on Jae Taellona and the A’ssynii family physician made 
  contact with him through the Xboat network. Dr. Thorne replied 
  that he would be glad to meet with Shalini and her family and 
  responded that he felt he could treat the girl discreetly and 
  perhaps remove the tumour, if that were indeed what was 
  causing this illness. Jaye took out a small mortgage on the 
  Empress Iolanthe and bought passage for himself, his wife 
  and their child aboard an agricultural transport headed for Jae 
  Taellona, which was the only available transportation at such 
  short notice. The ship was called The Rainbow Sun, a 400–
  ton subsidized merchant owned by Tukera lines. The A’ssyniis 
  had to stay in cramped crew quarters just above the engine 
  compartment and Shalini suffered greatly during jumpspace, 
  at least, during the time when she was awake between doses 
  of sedatives. The Rainbow Sun suffered an endless series of 
  malfunctions and mysterious electronic fires during this time 
  and the crew were far from sad to see the journey end when the 
  ship finally landed on the dust–blown surface of Jae Taellona. 
  The A’ssynii family disembarked the Rainbow Sun, believing 
  themselves to be finished with that vessel forever. However, 
  the forces that govern the cruel fate of those who would travel 
  between the stars would not have it thus. Even as the family 
  navigated their way through the unfamiliar environment of 
  Jae Taellona’s vast underground complex, the captain of The 
  
  12
  the starChild
  Rainbow Sun, Lars Granhault, began to set events in motion 
  that would fuel the gossipmongers who haunt the jumplanes 
  and the Xnet for many Standard Years hence. Lars was an ex–
  scout and seasoned wanderer of the Imperial Fringe who knew 
  psionic talent when he saw it. Granhault also recognised when 
  an opportunity for profit presented itself that was too good to 
  pass up. He discreetly let himself onto the bridge while no one 
  was watching and downloaded what was left of the vessel’s 
  surveillance data and logtapes and (illegally) removed the 
  organic core of the Rainbow Sun’s primary flight data recorder – 
  the only piece of equipment that had recorded all of the events 
  aboard the Sun and remained undamaged. 
  Granhault then contacted an underworld associate of his who 
  had connections to the Zhodani spy network on Jae Taellona 
  and sold it to him for a rather sizeable fee. Unfortunately, 
  Captain Granhault did not live long enough to enjoy his profits 
  once the Zhule operatives grasped the full implications of what 
  they had been brought.
  The swiftness of the spy network’s response would have 
  received grudging admiration from even the most efficient 
  Zhodani–hating Imperial Intelligence officer. Within 6 hours 
  of selling the information, Captain Granhault’s personal air/
  raft mysteriously exploded about 10 minutes after departing 
  from a rather seedy area of East Startown, scattering burning 
  wreckage uniformly over the partially abandoned town below.
  Granhault’s underworld contact, N’ort Tume, was arrested 
  soon after for the crime and was found hanged in his cell after 
  only a few hours in custody, presumably the victim of suicide. 
  Meanwhile, as the A’ssynii family visited the offices of Dr. 
  L’eel Thorne,who, unbeknownst to them, had worked in an 
  Imperial Research Station on Vanejen years before and had 
  direct experience dealing with psionics. He verified to his own 
  satisfaction that that the girl was one of the most powerful 
  precognitive psions he had ever encountered, though he did 
  not entirely reveal what he knew to the family. He immediately 
  contacted the Imperial Intelligence Service (IIS) who wasted no 
  time sending a pair of agents to the office even as the family 
  were waiting. The family was being told that a treatment did 
  exist and that although it was experimental, that there was still 
  some cause for hope.
  Thorne immediately referred them to a doctor on Vanejen 
  who, the family were told, was the man who had developed 
  the original treatment and was therefore the most qualified to 
  perform the surgery. 
  Further, Thorne assured the A’ssyniis that public funds existed 
  to assist cases like Shalini’s. The family were told that time was 
  of the essence and that the funds had already been approved 
  by the local Ministry of Medical Affairs and the IIS officers 
  were actually medically trained Ministry personnel, there to 
  facilitate their trip to Vanejen. The family was assured that 
  the government had their best interest at heart and that they 
  must depart to a waiting starship quickly before Shalini’s case 
  got any worse. Once aboard, the plan was to put Shalini into 
  medical cold sleep for the journey, to prevent her condition from 
  degrading any further and to alleviate her suffering and psionic 
  outbursts. For the first time in many months, Shalini’s parents 
  had begun to feel hope that everything was going to be alright. 
  It was then that everything quite literally exploded…
  planetary data
  JAE TAELLONA (0404–A560565–8 Rhylanor/
  Spinward Marches)
  Physical Description
  Jae Taellona is the only inhabited world of the single star Jae 
  Taellona system. In addition to the mainworld, the system 
  contains 3 gas giants and an asteroid belt as well as a number 
  of unremarkable planetoid–sized bodies scattered between. 
  There is a single large gas giant locked in a solitary orbit and a 
  pair of twin gas giants, which are fairly small. The pair of small 
  gas giants are in possession of an unusually high periodicity, as 
  well as being closely linked in their stellar orbits, making them 
  all but inaccessible throughout most of the Jae Taellonan year. 
  The remaining gas giant, which accommodates a reasonably 
  impressive satellite system of its own, is the only other major 
  body in the system that will remotely interest most visitors. 
  Refueling within the large Jovian system is perfectly legal, 
  even encouraged, since the lone pair of class A Downports 
  on the system’s mainworld see more than their fair share of 
  traffic, indeed, sometimes even more than they can comfortably 
  accommodate. 
  Plans have been in the works for quite some time by the Jae 
  Taellonan Starport Authority to add multiple orbital elements 
  to help alleviate the overflow of traffic but thus far, none have 
  progressed past the planning stage and SPA officials are 
  notably adept at avoiding questions. To this date, the only orbital 
  elements that can handle any significant traffic belong to the 
  Navy, who notoriously loathe opening its facilities to civilians. 
  However, on more than one occasion the Navy has been forced 
  to open at least one station to larger commercial vessels when 
  traffic flow threatened to strain the Downport capacity to unsafe 
  levels. Although Jae Taellona boasts a Standard atmosphere, it 
  is a desert world and daytime temperatures can become torrid 
  and even quite deadly, even in the so–called temperate regions. 
  There is no free standing water on the planet whatsoever 
  and most offworlders will find the environment outside the 
  underground complexes quite uncomfortable. Needless to say, 
  crossing the desert is lethal without a vehicle or environment 
  suit. Those not acclimated to the harsh wind and the absence 
  of moisture in the air will find that exposed skin quickly chaffs 
  and blisters, often causing moderate to severe damage before 
  the afflicted is even aware of the problem; and during the day, 
  dehydration and heat stroke often quickly follows.
  To minimize exposure to the harsh desert sun, the world has 
  two Starport facilities, one at each polar region. Jae Taellona 
  
  13
  the starChild
  has a period of revolution of about 2.2 standard years and a 
  250 axial tilt. A day on Jae Taellona lasts about 36 hours in the 
  mid–latitudes but days at the polar regions are a little over an 
  Imperial Standard year long. Many inhabitants, at least those 
  who can afford to, fly to the opposite pole every 13 months or so 
  as to always live on the nightside, which, although frigid and just 
  as deadly to the unprotected, many still feel is much preferable 
  to the blistering daytime heat.
  There is a powerful magnetic field present at both poles, 
  approximately two orders of magnitude greater than that of 
  Terra and three orders of magnitude greater than that of Capital 
  and the night months are often lit by spectacular dances of 
  colour caused by ionized particles in the atmosphere as they 
  are ignited by powerful solar winds. The light is often so bright 
  that it is possible to see, even navigate, without visual aid. 
  Many Travellers feel that this spectacular display makes up 
  in some small way for the fact that this tiny (8,109 km) low– 
  G (0.625g) world has no moon. Mining colonies exist mostly 
  underground, periodically dispersed throughout the regions of 
  desert and mountains.
  Government and Law
  Although the law level is nominally 5 (moderate), Jae Taellona 
  is made up of rough–cut miners who, as long as they work hard, 
  the government generally allows to play hard. Recreational 
  drugs, some of which are categorically banned on many worlds 
  elsewhere in the Imperium, are freely available upon Jae Taellona 
  and prostitution has evolved into an institution with benefits and 
  pensions. Jae Taellona has become a haven for miscreants, 
  including human pirates, Vargr corsairs and strangely enough, 
  Zhodani agents. Zhodani spies and operatives have found 
  Jae Taellona an ideal world on which to blend in amongst this 
  motley assortment of criminals of varying races; indeed, the 
  fact that many smugglers and criminals of their own race tend 
  to operate out of Jae Taellona serves to draw attention away 
  from the activities of the professional agents and towards the 
  less than– subtle methods and far more colorful backgrounds of 
  their criminally–inclined compatriots. Against this lurid backdrop 
  of criminals, scam artists and thieves, the Zhodani operatives 
  find that they are able to conduct an unprecedented amount of 
  business while remaining relatively unmolested. Nominally, the 
  colony falls under the edicts of Imperial Law and is operated 
  under charter by Sternmetal Horizons, LIC, at the behest of 
  the Imperial Navy. The Majority of the planetary police force 
  are probably best described as corporate security personnel, 
  without a lot of real power but just enough to make them better 
  avoided by would–be adventurers. A drunken miner who is 
  involved in a bar brawl is far more likely to be given a ride home 
  and an admonition than to be taken to jail. This would not be 
  a problem if the same miners were not taken home by police 
  nearly every weekend. Many on the force are corrupt and a 
  large portion of police and economic power is controlled by 
  criminal organisations. Anyone crossing the Affiliation, as it is 
  commonly called, is usually driven to the desert in an air raft 
  near the equator and left there, where death comes quickly, if 
  not easily. 
  If there is any real trouble it can usually be attributed to groups 
  of miners who either take part in terrorist activities or simply 
  hold up production through the timehonoured method of civil 
  disobedience. Sternmetal has full legal authority to request 
  Imperial troops, should they feel that a particular situation 
  warrants it and they have yet to be denied such a request. It 
  is generally believed that Sternmetal has never made such a 
  request lightly. The troops usually try to capture and imprison 
  the labourers but in some extreme situations, they have been 
  known to break up gatherings of dissidents with lethal force.
  Environment and Ecology
  There is very little animal life on Jae Taellona. Except for the 
  humans that exist in the above and belowground cites, the 
  planet is largely free of muticellular life–forms and most of 
  those that do exist are insects. The dominant form of life on the 
  world is the motile desert algae that grows in vast carpets in 
  the temperate zones and the variety of single–celled organisms 
  and insects that exist in tandem with it. It is this algae that is 
  largely responsible for maintaining a breathable atmosphere on 
  a world with no water and a minimal ecosystem. A typical motile 
  carpet and the parasites it hosts can be expected to move up 
  to 10 km a week – too slow for the human eye to perceive, 
  yet fast enough to quickly remove all doubt as to its mobility. 
  Though vast carpets of algae move across the surface, they 
  never approach the polar or equatorial regions, so the majority 
  of the world’s population lives and dies on Jae Taellona without 
  ever even seeing it.
  Powerful solar winds charging the densely–packed ions in the 
  atmosphere sometimes cause great problems in with sensors, 
  contragrav function and communications. Occasionally, ships 
  are grounded by Starport authority because of the interference 
  of powerful magnetic storms. To lift off during an emergency 
  grounding is a serious offense and the offenders will be 
  hunted down and charged large fines or even find themselves 
  sentenced to a penal mining colony under horrendous 
  conditions for months or even years. The exact punishment for 
  violating a flight ban is well within the SPA JAG Officer– On–
  Duty’s discretion but ranges from a Cr10,000 fine up to 3 years 
  hard labour.
  Hazard Advisory
  The primary hazards on Jae Taellona are the inhospitable 
  climate, occasionally angry and/or drunken miners and a well–
  established criminal underground. However, most travellers 
  need not be overly concerned with these issues, since crimes of 
  a violent nature against tourists or travellers just passing through 
  are exceedingly (not to  mention surprisingly, to some) rare. The 
  few incidents that have occurred in such cases have almost 
  exclusively happened when curious offworlders have ventured 
  to places in which they knew full well beforehand that they had 
  
  14
  the starChild
  no business. Of realistic concern to travellers, however, are the 
  ion storms. While the SPA has become quite adept at detection 
  and early warning, more than one traveller has found himself 
  grounded on Jae Taellona for indefinite periods of time; some 
  for so long that their travel funds have dwindled away and they 
  were forced to find local employment until they could afford 
  passage.
  Population Centres
  The two major population centres on Jae Taellona lie at the 
  extreme magnetic poles of the planet and each experience 
  extremely long periods of alternating darkness and light, with 
  six local months of each. A Jae Taellonan solar month is just a 
  little over two Imperial Standard Months. While each Starport 
  remains operational throughout the year, most civilian traffic 
  is routed to the one that is currently in darkness. Since 
  military and corporate traffic are exempt from this rule, the 
  Starport that is currently in daylight maintains a small but 
  effective work force and just enough residents remain behind 
  to serve their needs, while a large majority of the remainder 
  migrate to the other side of the world.
  There are various installations all over the planet serving as 
  access points to the rather extensive network of mines and 
  tunnels that are laced throughout the planet’s crust. These 
  access points often function as cities, though the buildings and 
  installations of which they consist are often of a very temporary 
  nature. Most of the access points are in the equatorial and 
  tropical bands and are often concentrated in the hilly and 
  mountainous regions. Sternmetal Horizons does not freely 
  distribute information as to their active mining sites, however, 
  so information on these installations is sparse at best and 
  subject to change without warning. The northern city is known, 
  somewhat archaically, as Stargate Artica, while the southern 
  is known as Stargate Antartica, in accordance with a tradition 
  that became popular among planetary scientists during the 
  Rule of Man. A migratory population of approximately 90,000 
  people exists between the two cities, while Stargate Artica 
  has a stationary population of about 2,090, while Stargate 
  Antartica has a slightly smaller statonary population of 1,999. 
  While both cities have some die–hard surface dwellers who 
  tend to see living on the surface and braving the elements 
  as a sign of superiority, the major portion of each city exists 
  underground. Of the two, Stargate Artica is older and therefore 
  slightly larger and has a much more developed underground 
  complex. Stargate Artica is thought to have been the landing 
  site of the original settlers of this world. The underground 
  complex of Stargate Artica is divided into eight Sectors, which 
  are named for the colours of the visible electromagnetic 
  spectrum (eg, “Red Sector,” “Orange Sector” and so forth). 
  Each sector has its own identity, purpose and culture. For 
  example, Yellow Sector consists of offices and housing of 
  people who work within the bureaucracy of the Imperial 
  government, all official government offices on Jae Taellona can 
  be found here. Red Sector contains the underground element 
  of the Starport and the apartments and hives that house SPA 
  personnel and civilian employees. The sectors are connected 
  by an extensive and somewhat quaint underground electrical 
  railway system, somewhat reminiscent of the subways, which 
  used to (and, in many cases, still do) grace the undercities of 
  larger population centres such as Old New York of Terra and 
  New Nashville of Barnard. Stargate Antartica has the same 
  system of classification but it is far less developed. Only five 
  sectors (Red through Blue) exist there.
  Referee’s Notes
  In the desert, another environmental concern is the rare 
  but dreaded occurrence of terrible windstorms (generated 
  by pockets of pressure differential due geomagnetic and 
  gravimetric flux) where winds powerful enough to shred flesh 
  are accompanied by beautiful but deadly bolts of multicoloured 
  lightning. For every two weeks travel in the desert, roll 1d6. A 
  roll of 1 indicates a windstorm. These winds will whip up the 
  extremely fine sands that make it impossible to breathe unless 
  the unfortunate traveller’s mouth and nose are covered or if he 
  is in a sealed environment.(see suffocation rules, TCR142) and 
  cause 1d6–2 damage per minute to unprotected skin. If the 
  group is flying, a piloting roll must be made every 20 minutes 
  to keep the vehicle in the air. There is also a respectable 
  chance of being hit by lightning: roll 2d6 if in the air: a 2 or 
  3 indicates the craft is struck by lightning. On the ground, roll 
  2d6; a roll of 4 indicates a randomly determined party member 
  is struck by lightning. The bolts are small but very energetic; 
  they do 3d6 of damage and may short out unshielded electronic 
  equipment, at the Referee’s option. Recently, the Affiliation 
  has been cooperating with a Zhodani Director who controls a 
  small group of expert Zhodani commandos specially trained 
  for the task of working deep undercover in the Imperium, far 
  beyond the Fringe. The Director and his group are working 
  with The Affiliation to establish a permanent base here so they 
  can weaken the Imperial infrastructure for the upcoming Fifth 
  Frontier War.
  enCounter i: terror in the tunnels  
  The adventurers find themselves stranded in Stargate Artica 
  during the night months, all but broke and looking for work to 
  find some way off this hellish rock. They are fortunate enough 
  to be on the nightside of the planet at the moment but the cold 
  is barely tolerable and they discover that it is probably wise 
  to go underground. At some point, they will find themselves 
  unable to avoid travelling on board one of the underground 
  electric railways, perhaps during a journey to an as yet unvisited 
  startown bar or to the latest in a series of increasingly cheap 
  motels as their capital inexorably dwindles away.
  Read (or paraphrase) the following to the players: You have 
  spent yet another day fruitlessly searching for work to gain 
  enough capital to get you off this dustball; now, you slowly leave 
  the underground portion of the starport where you have spent 
  your day. Exhausted, you wait impatiently for the evening’s 
  
  15
  the starChild
  last monorail, as you muse angrily over how silly it is to have 
  a closing time for public transportation in an underground city 
  where the mines operate in round–the–clock shifts and it is 
  going to be night for six more standard months anyway. Finally, 
  the train arrives and you take your seat, stopping to briefly brush 
  away the thin coating of metallic dust that covers everything in 
  this godforsaken city. Looking about, you see that the train is 
  fairly crowded with workers on their way home from the mines 
  (presumably, the source of most of the dust) as well as a couple 
  of other offworlders from the starport, who also look as though 
  they would rather be anywhere but here. Finally, after about 15 
  minutes, you hear a hiss and barely catch yourself yet again 
  as the primitive electric train lurches to a halt. The doors open 
  with a clumsy screech and five people step on board (Shalini, 
  her parents and two Imperial Intelligence agents). Two of them 
  appear to be a couple, obviously offworlders, judging by the 
  simple woven tunics of vegetable fibres and the colourful 
  headbands that they wear. The third, dressed in a similar 
  manner, is a child, a beautiful girl with big, brown eyes and a 
  thick, flowing mane of hair who, despite her beauty, looks pale 
  and shuffles along as if she were not feeling well.
  The remaining two are dressed in business suits and sport 
  glasses with mirrored lenses. You wonder briefly if the glasses 
  are offworld lenses fitted with microUV detection and thermal 
  imagers, then decide that it is probably none of your business.
  Unbeknownst to the passengers, a bomb has been strategically 
  placed in the underground tunnel ahead by a disgruntled miner 
  who has been recruited by the Zhodani forces. Five strike squad 
  agents wait in the tunnel, in fire teams of two and three. The 
  team of three has orders to board the railcar, while the other 
  two wait outside and cover all possible escape. Suddenly, the 
  travellers’ world is thrown into chaos as the bomb detonates, 
  partially collapsing the tunnel. The windows of the train shatter 
  as it is thrown from track, lurching sickeningly on its broadside 
  along the tunnel. Finally, with the gut–wrenching squeal of 
  steel, the car turns over on its side. Adventurers who still have 
  their senses about them (an Average check of Endurance, 
  followed by a Difficult Recon Check) can barely make out three 
  unusually tall and lithe figures in dark clothing, scampering up 
  the side of the capsized railcar through the shattered window. 
  The individuals’ faces are covered but those who passed the 
  Recon check can see that they are cradling weapons. A second 
  Routine Recon check identifies the guns as laser rifles with 
  grenade launchers. With fluid, graceful motions, the figures 
  drop into the railcar through a shattered window. These strange 
  men are in fact elite Zhodani special ops agents (See table 
  overleaf for details).
  Read the following to the players:
  You are not sure what just happened. Your ears are still ringing 
  and the world around you has lost its focus. You become 
  increasingly aware of the fact that you are laying on your side 
  and someone is on top of you. You hear the sounds of screaming. 
  It is dark but your eyes are already beginning to adjust to the 
  dim emergency lights that illuminate the vaulted subterranean 
  passage that you can just barely make out overhead between 
  the jagged shards of thick safety glass where the window used 
  to be. You are not surprised when you become aware of the 
  sputtering, carefully controlled rat–a–tat burst of automatic 
  gunfire somewhere to your left.
  The crowd panics, trying all at once to get out of the railcar. The 
  troops are wearing advanced (TL12) hyperspectral headgear 
  equipped with a heads–up display. Treat as TL 12 PRIS (The 
  Traveller Core Rulebook, p.96) that gives a +2 DM to hit. They 
  immediately track (their equipment negates the negative DM 
  due to poor lighting) and lock in on their targets, using laser 
  rifles to minimise collateral damage. Note that experienced 
  players will realise that if the adventurers jump up and attempt 
  to open fire in the crowd they are far more likely to hit an 
  innocent bystander than their targets. One of the two Imperial 
  Intelligence agents lies in a pool of blood on what has become 
  the floor; as the group tries to collect their senses, they see a 
  burst of coherent light lance through the darkness, cutting down 
  the remaining agent even as he reaches in his jacket for his 
  sidearm. Immediately Shalini’s father grabs her and attempts to 
  herd her through a shattered window but they are blocked by 
  two Zhodani agents waiting outside. Shalini’s mother lies on the 
  floor, her body twisted, broken and not breathing. Before Jaye 
  and Shalini can make it out of the window, Jaye is cut down 
  by another burst of coherent light from outside the railcar. The 
  operatives will then attempt to grab Shalini. The group may try 
  to interfere but if the squad gets their hands on her, every control 
  panel, surveillance system and light source both in the tunnel 
  and aboard the subway vehicle suddenly explodes in a shower 
  of sparks, adding to the confusion. Surprised, The Zhodani will 
  release her and she scampers off down the corridor. The squad 
  will attempt to avoid fighting with the group in favour of chasing 
  Shalini, who they find is no longer detectable by vision or their 
  multirspectral goggles.
  If the agent in charge decides that the mission is a wash out, 
  they will release smoke and stun grenades to cover their retreat. 
  Note that if the EMP also shorted out the laser rifles – GM’s 
  discretion or separate random rolls, 2 in 6 chance, since they are 
  military weapons and probably have hardened circuitry) – then 
  the commandos will switch to their gauss pistols if confronted 
  by armed resistance from the adventurers. If the group is having 
  a difficult time defeating the Zhule agents, then the Referee 
  may choose to make this ruling in order to give them all the 
  edge that is needed to come out victorious – after all, it is the 
  opening scene of the adventure. The Zhule agents had planned 
  to run down the tunnel for about half a mile to where they have 
  secured a maintenance access ladder to the surface, at the top 
  of which awaits an open–air ground vehicle. However, since 
  they had not anticipated the girl’s ability to be invisible to their 
  hyperspectral goggles, they will probably abandon that plan 
  and they are quite willing to remain behind and die if necessary. 
  The Referee should keep in mind that the Zhule agents are 
  professionals and while they may be dismayed by this turn of 
  
  16
  the starChild
  events, they are fully capable of improvisation. If captured, the 
  agents are equipped with a microcapsule filled with a deadly 
  liquid hydrogen cyanide–concentrate held in a hollowed–out 
  molar, which is activated by first using the tongue to manipulate 
  the capsule into place (a safety measure to prevent accidental 
  breakage) then by the application of a substantial amount of 
  pressure by biting down. The microcapsule is carefully placed so 
  that it is virtually impossible to break should the host experience 
  an accidental impact.
  When the Zhule agents are finally defeated or if they escape 
  or should the Transit Authority arrive in time (careful – many 
  players feel such timely arrivals appear contrived) to assist the 
  adventurers, the chaos eventually begins to die down. If they 
  are not already there, the Transit Authority personnel will finally 
  manage to arrive and the group finds that Shalini has utterly 
  vanished.
  Investigation of the security cameras and video imaging devices 
  find that they are all shorted out and though there are a limited 
  number of access points, no one seems to recall seeing Shalini 
  pass through. A search is instigated immediately through the 
  tunnels with the assumption that she remains in the railway 
  system while all stations are notified to be on the lookout for her.
  Of course, any such search will ultimately prove to be fruitless, 
  since the girl’s telepathic skills are of sufficient strength to 
  erase any memory of her presence. Shalini’s mother is long 
  dead when the medical personnel arrive and her father is very 
  likely to be dying but conscious – unless the group has been 
  very diligent. As Jaye is being led away in a stretcher, he grabs 
  one of the character’s hands with the strength of a desperate 
  man. He asks that they visit his hospital room as soon as 
  possible, for he is certain that he does not have long to live 
  and even if he survives his wounds he is certain that “They” 
  will return to kill him as soon as possible. His need is of the 
  utmost urgency, he claims.
  As he is being wheeled away, Jaye begs the group to find his 
  daughter, claiming that he will give them all that he has if they 
  can succeed. “Hsh!” admonishes the medic, as he wheels Jaye 
  away.
  Character
  Career Path
  Strength
  Dexterity
  Endurance Intelligence
  Education
  Social
  Standing
  Psionic
  Strength
  Zhule Sodality
  Strike Squad
  Agent (law
  enforcement) 3,
  Army (infantry) 1
  9
  10
  8
  9
  8
  7
  5
  Athletics (co–ordination) 1, Athletics (endurance) 1, Deception 1, Gun 
  Combat (energy rifle) 2, Gun Combat (slug pistol) 1, Melee (blade)1, 
  recon 1, Stealth 1; Telepathy 1
  enCounter ii: the oFFer
  The hospital room is cold and sterile and the dying man is 
  attached to a breathing machine, so he cannot speak – if the 
  group somehow has prevented the strike squad from shooting 
  Jaye, then the nurse tells them that severe internal injuries 
  from the impact will prevent him from surviving the night. The 
  group can deduce that Jaye must have been moving on pure 
  adrenaline when he tried to push his daughter out the railcar 
  window. A well–dressed man sits in a chair next to the bed, 
  pouring over a datapad and rises to meet the adventurers 
  as they enter. He introduces himself to the group as Jeel 
  Tormé, a litigation specialist whose primary field is Interstellar 
  Processes. He hands the pad to his client and the group looks 
  on as the datapad shakes violently in Jaye’s hands. Eventually, 
  though, Jaye manages to outline his proposition for the group 
  on the rather primitive holographic display. The details are 
  fairly straightforward – the Empress Iolanthe for the rescue of 
  Shalini and her safe delivery to the specialist on Vanejen. The 
  first catch that the players notice, however, is that the ship is 
  warehoused on Regina, which means that the adventurers will 
  have to get themselves there. If the group agrees, then all legal 
  documents are drawn up via hand computer. Once the group 
  has fulfilled the terms of the contract, the lawyer will issue the 
  new registration documents for the ship, which can be done, if 
  necessary, via Xmail.
  If the group agrees to take the job, Jaye downloads the family’s 
  last Cr8,000 into their accounts to cover any expenses that they 
  may have during the search. Also, Jaye gives the adventurers 
  the girl’s ragged teddy bear and his religious symbol (the 
  Belizan Triple Cross), so Shalini will know that the group is 
  acting for him. He also gives them a data chip that contains 
  a single audio file: the short, pained final message of a dying 
  father to his daughter, since the doctors have predicted that he 
  will not survive the night.
  If pressed for tips on where to begin, the man scrawls down 
  that she usually goes to “places where she feels safe” but 
  that he would not know where that would be, on this world. 
  The family had stayed in a motel the previous night; perhaps 
  the adventurers should begin there. A nurse suddenly arrives 
  
  17
  the starChild
  to inject a syringe of Hydramorph into Jaye’s IV tube and he 
  succumbs to a deep slumber from which he will never awake. 
  Jeel remains for a few moments to insure that the group has 
  no further questions and to explain that he has heard that not 
  only are the local authorities on the search but that Imperial 
  Intelligence is also diligently looking for the girl and that the 
  father told him that he was no longer sure who could be trusted. 
  Since the adventurers (presumably) did their best to stop 
  the Zhule operatives from taking Shalini or hurting any more 
  innocents, Jaye felt that they were perhaps the best candidates 
  in which to place his trust.
  Enemies
  Following the failed operation in the rail tunnels, the adventurers 
  will be watched by the operatives of the Zhule Sodality – some 
  of whom are psionic. The abysmal failure of the extraction team 
  to return with the girl and due to all of the unwanted attention 
  that has suddenly been drawn from that particular operation, 
  the commandant of the local Zhule cell has decided to bring 
  out his most terrifying weapon: a psionic operative who is so 
  effective and therefore so valuable, that he is kept in cold sleep 
  until he is needed. This operative is the legendary Spectre, who 
  is whispered to be a ghost amongst Jae Taellonan underworld, 
  returned from the grave to exact revenge upon his human 
  murderers. Legend has it that 150 years ago, The Spectre was 
  cornered and surrounded by Imperial agents who were leading 
  a combined task force of local police and security personnel 
  and burned to death with plasma weapons. It is said, however, 
  that his body was never found; that he has become pure energy 
  and that he is now more powerful than ever. Much to the chagrin 
  of more than a few of his Sodality colleagues, The Spectre has 
  been brought out of cold sleep and is now in command.
  The local police have been infiltrated and are under the 
  influence of the Jae Taellonan underworld, which is in turn under 
  the influence of the Sodality, so their help will be ineffective 
  at best; at worst, they may actively interfere with the group’s 
  investigation. 
  The local Imperial Intelligence Service office is a wildcard, to be 
  played as the Referee sees fit; perhaps some of the adventurers 
  are even agents themselves or perhaps they can be used to 
  point the group in the right direction should the trail grow cold. 
  The IIS on this world, however, is underfunded and severely 
  undermanned; they will be of little help to the group but by the 
  same token, they will not be able to interfere with them much 
  either. It is possible that the adventurers may be questioned 
  once or twice by the local police, perhaps even brought in for 
  interrogation, until The Spectre gives the order to leave them 
  alone, at which point they will be inexplicably released and no 
  further trouble will be had. The Spectre’s plan is to allow the 
  group to operate unhindered, in the hopes that they will have 
  better luck locating Shalini, hopefully having far more subtle 
  methods than his operatives.
  The local Director of the Sodality is Heinrich P’tr’ar, a Zhodani 
  who has undergone genetic conversion to appear to be a 
  normal Imperial human. The PCs are not likely to encounter 
  him in this adventure. They will, however, encounter The 
  Spectre, who will catch them unawares unless they are very, 
  very careful. During this time, it is important for the Referee to 
  be aware that the group is being watched by Zhule agents and 
  their human informant network. The Zhule operatives have four 
  SPA security personnel in positions ranging from low to mid–
  level on their payroll, as well as a mechanic that is currently 
  performing repairs aboard The Rainbow Sun. It is simply a 
  matter of time before the Sodality locates her but they prefer 
  to allow the adventurers to do the legwork for them in order to 
  minimize exposure. 
  While the group is investigating, they will be tailed by three 
  field operatives of the Sodality; use the statistics given in 
  the NPCs section for the Zhule Sodality Strike Squad if the 
  group becomes aware of them and combat ensues. If the 
  players do not state that their characters are watching for 
  suspicious characters, the Referee should not worry about 
  rolling; if, however, a player indicates that his character is 
  (rightfully) being paranoid, the Referee may wish to make a 
  secret Stealth check for the agents vs. the characters’ Recon 
  skills. If the character succeeds, he may notice a suspicious 
  individual (or two or three) watching the group from a corner 
  booth in the Starport bar or from behind a newspaper in a 
  rail kiosk and so forth. If the agents think they are made, 
  they will flee. If cornered, they will fight 
  but they will not let 
  themselves 
  
  18
  the starChild
  be taken alive and will use the poison capsules described in 
  Encounter I if captured.
  enCounter iii: avenues oF 
  investiGation
  There are several ways that the adventurers can go about their 
  investigation. The first that will likely come to mind will be to question 
  Transit Authority personnel in case the local police cannot be 
  trusted. Allow them to do so but after a day of information gathering 
  and a few successful Investigate, Diplomacy or Carousing checks 
  the Referee should make it clear to the group that this avenue of 
  investigation is a dead end. Any electronic security equipment that 
  might have caught what happened in the tunnel that night has been 
  shorted out and while there may be remnants of data recorded 
  before the pulse, they will, of course, be of little value. Next, the 
  group will probably think to check when the family arrived from 
  offworld. Hopefully, this will then lead them to look for the ship that 
  the girl arrived in and ask questions of the crew. Other methods 
  would be to search out the local taverns and bars, along with public 
  and police records for clues as to who is chasing her and why. The 
  most common methods that can yield clues are detailed below but 
  this list is by no means exhaustive; the Referee will have to adapt 
  to his players’ styles.
  Finally, should the players think of something that is not covered 
  here, do not immediately discount it; the Referee is encouraged 
  to evaluate the players’ ideas in light of the information given in 
  Background, the information below and that given in the NPCs 
  section and finally to ascertain for himself whether or not the 
  players’ ideas will be effective.
  The Lion’s Den
  Asking questions at the local Starport facility and checking prior 
  arrival and departure records (which are public information and 
  should require no rolls should the group think of it) will reveal that 
  the girl arrived aboard the 400–ton Akkigish–class Subsidised 
  Merchant The Rainbow Sun, which was, at the time of arrival, 
  under the command of one Captain Lars Granhault. Tracking 
  Captain Granhault’s last movements may lead the adventurers 
  to The Lion’s Den, a spacer’s bar on the surface outside the 
  underground complex, amongst the squat, crumbling and 
  mostly abandoned buildings that were part of the original colony 
  when that was built by the first settlers to land here.
  The Lion’s Den, at first glance, appears to be a hangout for 
  drug dealers, addicts, alcoholics and seedy underworld types. It 
  is quite successful in this respect, due to the fact that the local 
  police do not like the extreme temperatures and therefore do 
  not go up to the surface often. Besides, they believe that little 
  goes on in The Lion’s Den that could possibly interest them, 
  since nearly everything on Jae Taellona is legal anyway.
  In fact, The Lion’s Den is little more than a front for the 
  Zhule Sodality. Agents of the Sodality will recognize the PCs 
  immediately but no one will alert them to this. The bar patrons 
  and employees will appear to be very helpful at first but the 
  adventurers will soon realise that the folks they meet here are 
  masters of talking much and saying little. One of the Zhule 
  operatives involved in the subrail attack is posted here but the 
  PCs have no way of knowing that. For a price, of course, they 
  will be offered drugs, sex and even information but none of any 
  real value. After talking to a few people, a successful Routine
  Streetwise check reveals that although the patrons and 
  employees seem friendly on the surface, no one wants the 
  group here and would rather that they left and that there is little 
  to be gained by questioning them further.
  The Stellar Wind
  The local spacer’s bar is called The Stellar Wind and is filled 
  with a mixed crowd and therefore, information of a more useful 
  nature than that gleaned in the Lion’s Den might be encountered 
  here. The Stellar Wind is in Red Sector of Stargate Artica, 
  about a 10 minute walk along the Concourse from the Starport, 
  making it a natural place to begin. There are two types of 
  rumours encountered in The Stellar Wind: Mandatory Rumours 
  and General Rumours. Mandatory rumours are automatically 
  encountered in the first instance of the group spending any 
  significant amount of time in the bar and are only encountered 
  in The Stellar Wind. General rumours are assumed to occur 
  in The Stellar Wind but theoretically can occur in any of the 
  starman’s bars in the Red and Blue Sectors of Stargate Artica. 
  If the group wishes to split up, allow them to do so and each 
  subgroup or lone adventurer may make a separate check. Each 
  hour spent searching for rumours in The Stellar Wind requires 
  the seeker to spend at least 2d6 credits on drinks and nets a 
  single Easy Streetwise or Carousing check, which, if successful, 
  garners a roll on the Rumours Table below. Each extra Cr10 
  spent on drinks allows the adventurer an extra attempt per hour, 
  to a maximum of 3 attempts. ‘
  Group members may also make untrained attempts to garner 
  rumours using the Soc skill but the difficulty then rises to Average 
  and the costs for drinks are doubled. An abysmal result (four 
  or more less than the target number) on any attempt means 
  that the seeker has incurred some resentment and may not 
  check for rumours in that particular location any longer without 
  instigating potential violence. If the result is especially poor, the 
  Referee may also wish to impose an encounter with a group of 
  resentful belters, drunk and looking for a victim to administer a 
  severe beating to. 
  The Referee should feel free to chose rumours from the table 
  rather than rolling, especially if he feels that the group is stuck 
  in their investigation but he should be mindful of the DMs that 
  apply to each character type when doing so. Rumours 1–6 
  are more likely to be obtained by Rogues and Drifters using 
  the Streetwise skill while 10–13 are more likely to be obtained 
  by professional, ex–military starmen and women through the 
  use of the Carousing skill. Rumors 7–9 are common, everyday 
  rumours, which are more likely to be gleaned by those using the 
  Soc ability with no DMs to their table roll.
  
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  the starChild
  Random Rumors
  DMs: Ex–Scouts, SPA or Naval personnel receive a DM +1. If, for 
  some reason, the adventurer making the roll is actively enlisted 
  in one of these services, the DM is +2. Ex Rogues and Drifters 
  are awarded a DM of –1, –2 if they are still active members of 
  that profession. Referees should feel free to choose a rumour 
  from the table rather than rolling; an especially good result 
  should automatically net them a true, useful rumour, such as 
  Rumour 2 or Rumour 12 or if the result is very good, Rumours 1 
  or 13, depending on the skill (Streetwise or Carousing) and the 
  character type involved in the attempt.
  Mandatory Rumors
  The Corsair Crew
  It is here in The Stellar Wind that the PCs will have their first 
  encounter with Commander Klaargh, captain of a Vargr corsair 
  parked some distance away at a makeshift base in the desert. 
  Klaargh will enter the bar accompanied by 1d6 crewmembers 
  some time while the adventurers are there. After they have had 
  a few drinks, Klaargh and his crew will begin barking loudly in his 
  guttural language.
  Eventually, they will take notice of the group and Klarrgh, as the 
  Alpha, will approach them, pick the strongest looking one and 
  try to start a fight, unarmed. If the adventurer who is challenge 
  accepts, then, according to the unwritten Code of Honour 
  amongst Vargr Corsairs, the fight should be unarmed and fairly 
  evenly matched. Klaargh and his crew are armed (see their 
  statistics in the NPCs section) with knives and even pistols 
  should the adventurers violate the unwritten edicts of the code, 
  including trying to help a comrade who has lawfully accepted but 
  is losing or should a group member try bring weapons into the 
  combat. The adventurer who is challenged is free to decline but 
  will probably have to endure a series of rather scathing insults 
  from the Corsairs – most of which, fortunately, will be in Vargr.
  If, however, the adventurer challenged by Klaargh accepts and 
  fights honourably, even if he loses, he will have (probably) earned 
  the respect of Klaargh and his crew. A successful Average test of 
  Social Sciences (Alien Cultures) will reveal exactly what those 
  codes are; for more information, consult the section on Vargr in 
  The Traveller Core Rulebook, p.46, though the Referee should 
  feel free to improvise. For more information on the Corsair’s 
  Code, see the Library Data entry Dh’oughz Khfae. The Corsairs 
  will then invite the adventurers to stay up all night drinking with 
  them and depending on how they have conducted themselves, 
  will likely have won a valuable group of allies.
  The Referee should note that the Vargr are aware of the location 
  of The Spectre’s vessel and are looking for someone to help 
  them break in. The Vargr see it as an easy credit but using 
  their vessel’s weapons could damage whatever is inside and 
  cause any spare parts they wish to salvage to decline in value. 
  Klaargh is violent but he is anything but stupid and wishes to try 
  to enter the vessel through finesse before trying brute force. If 
  Klaargh likes the group, he may ask them to join this endeavour. 
  Of course, the critical importance of this rumour will likely only 
  become obvious in retrospect.
  The Spectre
  While searching for rumours or just drinking in the bar, the 
  adventurers overhear a pair of trader crewmen having a heated 
  discussion at a corner table. One claims that The Spectre is 
  real and the other claims that it is a story to scare children. 
  The argument will eventually die away – this is of course at the 
  Referee’s discretion but one barfight, with the Corsair crew, is 
  probably enough for one adventure – and the crewmembers will 
  walk away, each quietly fuming. If the adventurers approach one 
  of them and ask about the Spectre, they will find the crewman 
  more than willing to talk as long as they continue to buy drinks. 
  Almost any local or spacer who is a regular at Jae Taellona has 
  heard the legend that The Spectre is the vengeful ghost of a 
  Zhodani agent who was caught and burned alive by marines 
  and security officers at the Naval Base during the Fifth Frontier 
  War. Legend has it that The Spectre has killed thousands; 
  children and even some of the more superstitious starfarers 
  say that staring into the naked jump field and speaking his 
  name 10 times will summon him. He can walk through walls, 
  it is said and his mere touch can melt an armoured man.
  The crewman who argued in favour of the Spectre’s existence 
  does not believe all of that but he does think that The Spectre 
  is still alive, maybe through drugs or cold sleep and he is 
  convinced that he has powers beyond the comprehension of 
  the average man.
  The Galactic Census and Records Bureau
  The more officious members of the party may think to check 
  with The Galactic Census and Records Bureau, a department 
  of the government operated under the auspices of the Imperial 
  Ministry of the Interior. If this is the players’ first experience 
  with Traveller, the Referee may assume that, although the 
  players may not know about the existence of the Bureau, their 
  characters, as citizens of the largest bureaucracy in the galaxy, 
  most likely do. You may allow some or all of them a Routine 
  difficulty INT check to think to look at the Bureau (DMs: +1 if 
  the character rolling has Admin, Investigation or the Advocate 
  skill, +3 if he has two or more of these). A quick check of the 
  information database at the Starport (or simply asking someone, 
  such as an SPA official) will reveal that the Ministry of the Interior 
  indeed holds an Archives and Census office on Jae Taellona. 
  The Bureau holds similar offices on most planets under Imperial 
  control with a Class C or better Starport. On many Imperial worlds, 
  the Bureau offices mainly document and analyze demographic 
  and statistical data, most of which (but not all!) would probably 
  be of little interest to a group of adventurers. Since, however, Jae 
  Taellona is nominally an Imperial protectorate, the chances that 
  the Bureau holds government records that are possibly salient 
  are actually quite good. A Difficult check of the Advocate skill will 
  reveal that any corporation that operates under the Imperium as 
  
  20
  the starChild
  Die 
  Rumour
  1
  A couple of shady figures who work for Big Name crime lords have been overheard recently hiring local thugs to watch 
  the crew of a freighter known as The Rainbow Sun, which sits in the repair yard at the Starport.(T)
  2
  Captain Granhault was a well–known alcoholic and sex addict. He frequented a place called the Lion’s Den, known to 
  be a front for the local underworld. They say he dabbled in smuggling and had plenty of underworld contacts, including 
  one N’ort Tume, who killed himself while under arrest recently. (T)
  3
  Mysterious, shady–looking individuals who are definitely of Zhodani descent are said to have been seen in the company 
  of several Big Name crime figures at their hangouts in Orange Sector. Some say they are part of a deep–cover cell 
  known as The Zhule Sodality and they are getting ready for Something Big. Anyone that goes around repeating this 
  information to the Wrong People may find himself buried behind a wall of thermal concrete in the Purple Sector when 
  the next dead mine in sealed up. (T)
  4
  The Rainbow Sun was carrying an expensive cargo and Captain Granhault was forced to eject it into space near to the 
  gravity well of a moon of the system’s large gas giant while being pursued by a customs vessel. It is said that the cargo 
  was worth millions and was packaged so it could have possibly survived re–entry. He was killed because he arrived 
  without the cargo. Whoever finds that cargo will become rich. (F)
  5
  A petty criminal tells the group that a crew of Vargr Corsairs (see below) is looking for a security hack or a mining expert 
  help him cut or break into a security–sealed ship buried halfway in the sand somewhere in the desert, a pretty good 
  ways off. Only Captain Klaargh and the Corsairs know where it is, and they are not talking, because they want whatever 
  loot may be aboard. If nothing else, the ship is said to be in good shape and the spare parts alone would make a decent 
  haul. (T)
  6
  The miners are planning a revolution very soon (within the month) and it will not be a good idea to be around when they 
  rise up. (F)
  7
  One of Granhault’s contacts was N’ort Tume, who was arrested and died in a locked cell under mysterious circumstances. 
  (T)
  8
  There is Something Big going down in Purple Sector and the government and Sternmetal are behind it; else, why all the 
  secrecy? Why are only miners on an active shift allowed down there? What is behind all of the sudden, mysterious and 
  last–minute changes to the work schedules of Sternmetal employees? Theories range from the sudden discovery of a 
  hidden cache of alien technology to the planning of a secret defence strategy that involves killing all of the workers and 
  their families involved in the coming uprising.
  9
  Over 200 miners a month are killed or injured because of the deadly working conditions on the planet and the Imperium 
  refuses to give compensation or medical care to the disabled. (F)
  10
  Over 200 miners a month are killed or injured because of the deadly working conditions on the planet and the Imperium 
  refuses to give compensation or medical care to the disabled. (F)
  11
  The miner terrorists are actually just a bunch of thugs hired by the Underworld to stir up chaos and force the Imperium 
  closer to negotiations for Taellonan independence, a situation which the Consulate–aligned worlds on the Border would 
  certainly enjoy seeing. (T)
  12
  Both Imperial Internal Intelligence and Naval Intelligence reports agree in the belief that there is an active deep–cover 
  cell present on Jae Taellona, known as The Zhule Sodality. The Sodality is spreading money and influence to establish 
  itself amongst the Jae Taellonan criminal element, in the hopes of eventually adding Jae Taellona to the Consulate’s 
  growing list of allies in the upcoming war. (T)
  13
  A ship known as The Rainbow Sun recently put into port after having several mysterious system failures in jumpspace. 
  The ship is docked at the Starport repair yard and is still having the same mysterious failures.
  14
  The Zhule Sodality’s best operative is codenamed The Spectre. Although it sounds incredible, Imperial Intelligence 
  believes The Spectre to actually be the same battle–dress wearing operative that somehow infiltrated the Naval base 
  here in 984, sabotaging several key battle cruisers and made the repair facilities all but useless for several weeks. It 
  was not enough to cause the Imperium to lose the War but it certainly did not help us win any. Reliable sources confirm 
  that The Spectre is very real, however legendary his exploits have become. The Spectre is old and wily and most 
  clearheaded folk believe that a regimen of anagathics combined with cold sleep is responsible for his longevity. It is true, 
  however, that his mental powers are formidable and he can defeat nearly any security measure imaginable.
  Rumours Table
  
  21
  the starChild
  a colonial administrator is in fact defined as functioning as a 
  “government ad litem.” As such, the corporation is required by 
  law to file copies of any internal documentation that is produced 
  as a result of any action that it takes, which falls under the fairly 
  narrow legal definition of this function. While this may seem 
  to be an example of overly convoluted legal terminology, it 
  merely means that documents such as demographic data, life 
  support expenditures, terraforming projects, public building and 
  housing construction, population control, as well as any future 
  construction projects that have reached the planning stage 
  must be filed with the Bureau. 
  Of particular interest to the characters may be the fact that any 
  and all documents dealing with the creation and maintenance 
  of a local or planetary police department are also required to 
  be filed – since, legally speaking, the planetary police are a 
  corporate security force who, at the end of the day, answer to 
  primarily to Sternmetal, LIC and its shareholders. 
  Although the corporation is encouraged to keep these documents 
  up–to–date by the Imperial government through the receipt of tax 
  breaks on ‘ad litem’ expenditures in order to promote colonisation 
  and development, the only way for the adventurers to find out for 
  certain just how closely the company has adhered to Interstellar Law 
  is through a visit to the Bureau itself. A successful Routine check 
  of the Admin or Advocate skill will remind the character that, by 
  law, Bureau records are supposed to be freely available to any 
  Imperial Citizen who asks to see them. The Bureau’s offices 
  can be found in the underground portion of the city in the 
  Yellow Sector, a portion of Stargate Artica that contains the 
  offices of the Imperial Bureaucracy and the dwellings of 
  those who work for it. Yellow Sector is about a 5 minute rail 
  ride away from the Starport.
  The group will find that the Records office is tucked away 
  down a dark, narrow, twisted corridor just off the main 
  Concourse of Yellow Sector. The windows of the offices are 
  coated with dust and it is only identifiable by a small plaque 
  bearing the Imperial starburst to the left of the antique door. 
  Upon entering, the adventurers may be dismayed to see filing 
  cabinets, stacks and reams of dusty paper and files and a row 
  of ancient microfiche machines along the back wall of the office. 
  A dour, bespectacled woman sits behind a desk just inside the 
  door, clacking away on an archaic typewriting machine. Her 
  name is Nora Childers and she is none too thrilled at the idea 
  of strange offworlders poking through what she considers to be 
  her records. She rises to challenge the adventurers and upon 
  finding that they wish to poke about unsupervised in “her” office, 
  she demands that they leave. 
  She is nonplussed by arguments concerning the legal rights of 
  Imperial citizens – such claims will only serve to make her more 
  determined in her denial. If the group does not comply with 
  her demand that they leave, she will call the police who will be 
  equally deaf their protestations and they will be ejected or even 
  jailed if they continue to resist. Such a fate can be avoided if 
  one or more of the adventurers can make a smooth, persuasive 
  argument accompanied by a Difficult (–2) check of Diplomacy 
  or Persuade. Feigning interest in her work – a Routine check 
  of Administration or Persuade – might also serve to get on her 
  good side. She is vulnerable, however, to moderately attractive 
  older (45+ Standard Years) men. If the party contains such an 
  individual, then a mere showing of kindness from him can win 
  her over, giving the group unfettered access without a roll. This 
  challenge is a pure test of roleplaying skills; the Referee should 
  not allow the players to sidestep it by making dice rolls. Once 
  the group has dealt with Ms. Childers, they can then turn their 
  
  22
  the starChild
  attention to the records. A major portion of the public records 
  are actually kept on paper and microfiche. Investigators from 
  the Imperial Core or other high (12+) TL regions of the Imperium 
  who are used to holographic storage units and neural shunts 
  might be aghast at being confronted by this primitive file–and–
  card method of record–keeping. In such a case, the adventurer’s 
  skill in Administration might actually be a hindrance– at least at 
  first. Apply a DM of –1 to the roll per TL over 12 that can be 
  attributed to a character’s background if he has Administration 
  skill. Otherwise, he need not be penalised, since a lack of rank 
  in the Admin skill also indicates that he has not spent enough 
  time in libraries or offices to accrue the kind of bad habits that 
  are the result of an overdependence on technology. In that 
  case, the lack of any ranks in Admin to assist the search should 
  be penalty enough. 
  The records are in such disarray that they will take quite a 
  long time to sift through, even if the searcher is familiar with 
  the archaic record–keeping system employed here. Searching 
  the records is a Very Difficult (–4) check of Administration or 
  Advocate. If the investigator has both skills, he may add a DM 
  of +2 to the roll. If he has both skills and a level of 2 or greater 
  in the skill not being used, he may add a DM of +4 instead. 
  Further, the investigators can employ the rules contained in The 
  Traveller Core Rulebook for task chaining and assistance to 
  further improve their chances. A successful roll and 1d6 hours 
  of searching through records and microfiche files will reveal 
  a single item listed below. If the roll was especially good, the 
  group may deduct up to 2 hours from their search time. If the 
  group has failed to convince Nora Childers of the worthiness of 
  their cause, this will serve to add a DM of –3 to their roll, as she 
  rearranges records, hides things and generally makes things 
  as difficult as possible for them to work. If, on the other hand, 
  they have won her over, they may ask for her assistance and 
  receive a DM of +4 and decrease their search periods to 1d6–2, 
  down to a minimum of three. Whether or not a group already 
  on her bad side deserves a second chance is entirely up to the 
  Referee and Ms. Childers.
  There have been large, unscheduled shipments of cargo and 
  personnel into the starport for which the customs and legal 
  papers are missing. The group has noticed a prodigious amount 
  of Zhodani living and working on Jae Taellona, yet there is no 
  documentation to be found for them in this office. There has 
  been a large amount of criminal activity that has never been 
  investigated. Captain Granhault had an extensive police 
  record, including smuggling, drugs, petty larceny and other 
  fairly minor offenses. He should have been in jail but he was 
  not and his Master’s Licence was never revoked; presumably, 
  his transgressions were never reported to the Ministry of Ships 
  and Shipping. N’ort Tume also had a record but his was far 
  worse. He had been arrested for murder three times but the 
  court records for the disposition of these cases are missing. He 
  also died by hanging himself, alone in a locked cell.
  The local Starport seems to be using far more of its resources than 
  are being documented. This would suggest that far more ships 
  are coming and going than is being recorded. The Crime Statistic 
  compilations show that there are an inordinate amount of murders 
  that occur when the victim seems to be well–protected in locked 
  rooms, aboard secure starships, in secure places with recording 
  devices and guards all around them – and nothing ever gets 
  recorded nor is any evidence left behind. Most of the murders are 
  committed using a knife or similar blade– like weapon, although 
  some have been committed with gauss or energy weapons.
  A Sternmetal Horizons security report remarks on the 
  disappearance of a decorated Imperial Captain (Captain 
  Locke–Stromwell) locked in his own cabin aboard a Tigress–
  class dreadnought, one of the largest, most well–armed, secure 
  vessels in the Navy, surrounded by crewmen and security 
  personnel. The report remarks that there was no record in his 
  log or from SPA customs officials on duty that he ever went 
  ashore and security and crew of the vessel that were questioned 
  claimed he never left his cabin. The report concludes that 
  Captain Locke–Stromwell somehow managed to leave without 
  his crew knowing about it or that they were lying about it for some 
  reason. However, nothing could be proven and the investigators 
  eventually gave up, though the case remains open. There is no 
  evidence of any follow–up investigation, ever, nor any indication 
  that this fact ever appeared in the local media.
  The Bureau Office also contains a rather extensive news 
  morgue with printouts from the Xnet and planetary datasphere 
  (such as it is) as well as from the local newspapers, used to 
  compile and correlate various statistics for the Imperial Census. 
  While searching the morgue, the group manages to uncover an 
  ancient news article about a devastating series of explosions at 
  the naval base here during the Third Frontier War, on 161–984. 
  The article claims that a single Zhodani agent was responsible; 
  he was cornered by an intrepid group of Special Tactics police 
  supported by Imperial Marine contingent in battle dress; 
  nevertheless, before he was incinerated to a crisp, the article 
  claims that the Zhodani killed eight brave officers involved in 
  his pursuit. It does not specify whether these “officers” were 
  Sternmetal security personnel or military. At this point in the 
  investigation, this piece of information may seem irrelevant to 
  the adventurers and the Referee should not make too much of 
  it; just note that it catches the characters’ interest.
  The Trail of the Rainbow Sun 
  If the group decides to check out the Rainbow Sun, they are 
  on the right track, for that is indeed where the girl is hiding, 
  secretly under the care of the ship’s engineer. There are several 
  indications of this; the first may be gleaned if the group thinks to 
  question the crew. If they do not, all is not lost; after 1d6 days 
  from the beginning of the investigation, the series of system 
  failures and accidents at the Starport will begin to seep into the 
  local datasphere and newsbytes, not to mention the Starport 
  rumour–mill. Further, the group will probably be in or near the 
  
  23
  the starChild
  Starport at some point during their investigation and may perhaps 
  witness a power failure or other systems malfunction. Should 
  this happen, the Referee may allow them to make an INT check 
  (Average difficulty, DM +1 for any adventurer with direct 
  experience with psionics, +2 if an adventurer is a trained 
  telepath himself). The Starport has redundant systems 
  aplenty, so while the failures are certainly a nuisance, they 
  are not enough to force a fullscale investigation… yet. If the 
  group does not act fast, they will soon, however and SPA 
  officials and/or Imperial Intelligence will eventually make the 
  connection with psionic abilities – after all, the inhabitants 
  of the Imperial Fringe have been fighting the Zhodani for 
  500 years and many of them know psionics when they see 
  them.
  If the girl vanishes into the custody of local authorities or 
  the Ministry of Defence, the adventurers can fully expect to 
  kiss the girl goodbye, quickly followed by their commission. 
  While this eventuality is completely up to the Referee, as 
  a guideline, SPA can be expected to launch a full–scale 
  investigation 1d6–3 days after the first mysterious systems 
  failure and to locate her 1d6+3 days after that investigation 
  begins.
  Once the group has decided to focus on the vessel, they 
  may wish to play it cool and first visit the SPA records office. 
  There, they can access a ship’s registry, a current or recent 
  flight plan and/or a crew manifest, all of which are public 
  information and require no roll. 
  If the players do not think of it, an Average check of INT 
  might allow their characters to; any ex–scouts, naval 
  personnel or merchants in the group can receive a DM of +2 
  to this roll. The group might first try to speak to the captain 
  and thereby learn his fate.
  The First Mate
  Perhaps the will think to attempt to approach the ships first 
  officer, Lyliian Arducci, who will prove, at first, anyway, to 
  be unhelpful and rude. She is not the ship’s steward, she 
  says, so she has nothing to do with the passengers. In 
  truth, however, she remembers the girl quite well but she 
  wants nothing more to do with her and in her superstitious 
  starfarer’s mind, that includes speaking of her. She feels 
  that further discussing the girl might make the jinx she 
  brought upon The Rainbow Sun permanent. 
  As it stands, she feels that the ship’s crew has a good chance 
  of throwing the jinx off and will say as much to any adventurer 
  who can succeed in a Difficult Carousing roll, while buying her 
  enough drinks. After she has had a few, she will even tell the 
  adventurers that the jinx is still in effect; the systems failure 
  rate seemed to stop for about four days after the docking 
  but started right back up a couple of days ago. The Referee 
  should take care to convey that the date the ship’s troubles 
  began anew should coincide with the exact the day that
  Shalini disappeared in the rail tunnels. Of course, this 
  should be the group’s first hint that Shalini is still aboard 
  the Rainbow Sun. At this point or sometime later, the group 
  might consider bribing Lyliian into letting them search, to 
  which she might consent, if she is drunk enough. 
  On the other hand, she may just as quickly report the group to 
  the authorities or both, depending on the result of an Average 
  check of the characters’ Persuade skill (DM +1 per multiple 
  of Cr1000 greater than 4000 offered, –1 for each multiple 
  under). If the persuade attempt fails by more than five, she 
  will report them to the authorities.
  Whether or not she takes their money anyway is up to 
  the Referee. The group might also deduce that the girl is 
  somewhere aboard and try to convince her that they can 
  solve her jinx problem – this is more difficult, because Lyliian 
  is always wary of bar conmen and starport rats with ulterior 
  motives. If the group is good, however, the Referee should 
  not be resistant to the possibility that the group could get her 
  to pay them.
  The Steward
  The ship’s steward, Tomiasi V’rii, has a far more helpful 
  attitude. V’rii is a long–standing TAS member and can be 
  found most of the time he is dirtside relaxing in the bar of 
  the local TAS hostel, indulging in his taste for Sirian congnac 
  and Terran tobacco. Though not particularly wealthy, V’rii 
  thinks of himself as a gentleman of refinement and taste, 
  an adventurer of the Old School and is more likely to be 
  impressed with the group if a member has a reasonably high 
  Soc ability (9 or better) or if they are fellow TAS members. 
  He remembers feeling sorry for the girl. The whole crew liked 
  her, for she was a sweet little girl. 
  A couple of crewmembers, he tells the group, including 
  the first mate, believed she was responsible for all of the 
  electrical malfunctions and were scared of her. Most of them, 
  however, remember a nervous, frightened little girl who was 
  very sick at times but also excited to be on her first space 
  voyage. She liked to go down to Engineering because it was 
  noisy down there, which “drowned out the loud voices”. 
  She also liked to hang out in the crew commons area just 
  above the j–drive machinery. The Chief Engineer liked her, 
  too and he often took her under his wing and allowed her to 
  hang out in the engine room. 
  If prodded or questioned about the bizarre series of 
  malfunctions while en route to Jae Taellona, he replies he is 
  not a technician but he does know that the Captain and the 
  First Mate were worried that the Ship might never make it to 
  planetfall.
  If prodded further, he will reluctantly admit that the failures 
  seem to have returned for some reason but he asks the group 
  to keep this tidbit to themselves, because it could cause the 
  ship to lose passengers, which could in turn affect V’rii’s job.
  
  24
  the starChild
  enCounter iv: the rainBow sun 
  The Rainbow Sun is at underground docking bay 13 and security 
  at the starport is tight at the moment due to the recent “terrorist 
  attack” in the rail tunnels. It will not be possible for the group to 
  walk up to the ship and simply saunter aboard. They may be 
  able to obtain a crew ID badge by bribing or even assaulting 
  another crewmember. The Referee should be mindful that he 
  does not press the group here – experienced players will have 
  their own ideas and newcomers will be anxious to try. This 
  portion of the adventure, planning and executing an operation, 
  is the responsibility of the players and experienced Referees 
  will know to take care not to pressure them into a particular 
  course of action or the game will feel contrived. For this portion 
  of the adventure, the Referee should refer to the details of the 
  Type R Subsidized Liner on pg. 119–120 of the Traveller Core 
  Rulebook and might–if, for example, the adventurers think to 
  check a relevant Library Data program– photocopy it for their 
  perusal.
  The Engineer (Chief Yardin Anois), a tall, part–Vilani spacer 
  with a friendly disposition and a twinkle in his eye, will be 
  helpful as well. He will not let the PCs aboard but he will offer 
  to look himself. When he returns, he says he cannot find her. 
  Yardin is in fact well aware that the girl is aboard, because he 
  is hiding her in his cabin, which is adjacent to the commons 
  area and directly above the j–field mechanism, which seems 
  to have a calming effect on her, even when in low power 
  state. His partial Vilani heritage makes him notoriously difficult 
  to read but a successful Difficult (10+) check of Deception, 
  Social Sciences (Psychology) or Investigate, indicates that he 
  is hiding something but little else.
  There are other crewmembers who might be more easily 
  persuaded or perhaps the group will come up with an entirely 
  different plan – posing as a maintenance crew, for instance. 
  This would involve some computer hacking and the theft or 
  manufacture of uniforms. The exact method of getting aboard 
  is completely up to the group but silly or unrealistic plans will 
  quickly land them in jail or even get them killed.
  aBoard the ship
  Before the group reaches this portion of the adventure, a bit 
  of preparation and forethought by the Referee will make it 
  flow much more smoothly. Begin by examining the map of the 
  Subsidized Merchant on p.120 of the Traveller Core Rulebook 
  and decide just where any intercom terminals and intercoms will 
  be; each separate area of the vessel has one and some – such 
  as the Bridge and Engineering – have several; the passenger 
  and crew cabins and common areas all have at least one. Also, 
  the Referee may wish to prepare by taking a few moments to 
  create a simple map of the maze–like grid of access tunnels 
  that run beneath the crew deck and between the bulkheads on 
  which Shalini is hiding; should the group be careless with her 
  in the initial encounter, she may well lead them on an extensive 
  chase through the grid.
  The Referee should again refer to p. 120 for assistance in this 
  endeavor. The grid may be as simple or as complex as you wish 
  it to be. It is not necessary for the two decks to be connected 
  via the grid, should you wish to keep things simple. If, however, 
  you foresee a lengthier chase – perhaps to teach the group 
  a valuable lesson in forethought and planning for the next 
  adventure – then by all means, make the tunnels a veritable 
  maze with numerous outlets on every deck and room.
  Most of the crew is on leave but there are a few still working 
  aboard. Though several options are given on the table, only six 
  or so crew members are likely to be aboard; the Referee should 
  take care to mark off each encounter as it occurs and roll no 
  more after six crewmembers and the passengers have been 
  encountered. If the PCs are there at night (during the graveyard 
  watch), there is one couple who are here for a layover who are 
  staying in their quarters. The Chief Engineer is also aboard. 
  Encounters aboard the ship will be random by nature – roll 1d 
  every few rounds while the party is aboard or each time they 
  enter a new area. A 1 indicates an encounter. Roll below for the 
  results, DM –2 if at night. Count a result of zero as a one. Partial 
  statistics are given for each below, as they relate to combat 
  or any reasonable interaction that might occur between the 
  adventurers and the individual; these are guidelines only and the 
  Referee should feel free to flesh them out further as necessary. 
  If the encounters below are armed (Referee’s discretion), it will 
  be with the sidearm types with which they have greatest skill.
  Otherwise, encounters will be unarmed. 
  1. Insomniac Passenger (1–3, the man, 4–6 the woman, use the 
  same statistics for either)
  565889 Citizen
  Gun Combat (Body Pistol)–1; Trade (Architect) –2; Persuade–1
  2. Working Passenger
  467677 Ex–Rogue
  Melee (Blade Combat) –2; Streetwise –2; Melee (Unarmed) –1
  3. Working Passenger Citizen
  789A96 Gun Combat (Auto Pistol) –3; Carousing –2; Diplomat –1; 
  Persuade –1
  4. Assistant Engineer
  878B98 Ex–Scout
  Gun Combat (Auto Pistol) –1; Engineer (M–Drive) –1; Engineer 
  (J–Drive) –2
  5. Crewman
  AAB977 Ex–Marine
  Gun Combat (Energy Pistol) –3; Carousing –2; Persuade –2
  6. Engineer
  878B98 Ex–Scout
  
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  the starChild
  Gun Combat (Auto Pistol) –1; Engineer (M–Drive) –1; Engineer 
  (J–Drive) –2
  7. Crewman
  787986 Citizen Investigate –1; Diplomat –0; Computers –3
  8. Cheif Engineer Yarin Anois
  See NPC section for the Chief ’s statistics
  9. Sensors Officer
  988A98 Ex–Navy
  Gun Combat (Slug Pistol) –2; Sensors –2; Computers –1
  10. Steward
  567987 Citizen
  Steward –3; Diplomat –1; Investigate –1; Deception –2
  11. Astrogator
  668997
  Astrogation –1; Computers –3; Pilot –1
  12. Executive Officer Lyliian Arducci
  979BA8 Ex–Navy
  Gun Combat (Gauss Pistol –3) Leadership –2; Astrogation –1; 
  Deception –2; Investigation –2; Melee Combat (Unarmed) –2; 
  Melee Combat (Blade) –2
  Hopefully, the adventurers have authorisation (false or 
  otherwise) to be aboard, in which case they can expect little 
  trouble from the crew and passengers. If, however, they have 
  sneaked aboard, hopefully they will have brought snub pistols 
  with tranq rounds or other nonlethal (and quiet) weapons, with 
  which to dispose of the potential witnesses. If not, the group may 
  find themselves at odds with local police as well as the Sodality 
  and The Spectre–making their objectives considerably more 
  difficult to achieve. If the individuals encountered above have 
  reason to become suspicious of the group, their first action will 
  invariably be to sound an alarm rather than directly confronting 
  the group. Most of the encounters above will avoid combat at 
  all costs – only fighting if cornered. If an encounter is successful 
  in sounding the alarm, the crew will attempt to evacuate the 
  vessel and a heavily armed Starport Authority task force will 
  arrive in 1d6 minutes. If the characters are caught and have 
  shot and killed somebody, they will be arrested for murder or at 
  the very least, assault – and this particular adventure, as such, 
  is pretty much over for them. If the group is arrested for Criminal 
  Trespassing and Breach of Security on Starport property they 
  will pay a fine of Cr100,000 and do 1d months in jail, or 2d years 
  if they do not have the money to pay the fine. Any jailbreak 
  attempts are strictly the purview of the Referee.
  Shalini
  The final goal of the group is to reach the crawlspace behind 
  the hidden access panel in the Engineer’s cabin where Shalini 
  is hiding. Chief Engineer Yardin Anois’ cabin will be one of the 
  cabins labeled ‘area 3’ on the deckplan on The Traveller Core 
  Rulebook, p.120. The Engineer may or may not be in his cabin; 
  if he has not yet been encountered, he will be in the cabin on a 
  1–3 on 1d6. If he is there, Shalini will be out of the crawlspace 
  and he will be playing with and talking to her when the group 
  arrives. If they press the buzzer and ask to be let in, the Chief 
  will stall them while he quickly opens the access panel (see 
  below) and hurries her inside.
  If Chief Anois is not there, getting inside the cabin should not be 
  too difficult for a group of relatively experienced adventurers. 
  Defeating security measures and doors on board a vessel is 
  covered on pp. 143–145 of The Traveller Core Rulebook. Most 
  of the vessel’s security systems are TL 10 and her security 
  measures are Electronic in nature.
  Once the group has gained access to the cabin by whatever 
  means, there is evidence inside that two individuals have 
  in fact been living in this single–occupant officer’s cabin. A 
  successful Average check of Investigate or Recon (or Int, if 
  none of the adventurers have either skill) will allow the group 
  to notice that the trash receptacle contains candy and ice 
  cream treat wrappers. The bed is missing a blanket and a 
  pillow and finally that there are scrape marks across the floor, 
  leading from the small desk against the wall to the corner of 
  the room. Moving the chair reveals an access panel and that 
  the paint has obviously been worn away around the screws 
  from where they have been removed repeatedly. 
  Listening closely, followed successful Average check of Recon 
  (or the Int skill again) may reveal the sound of someone moving 
  or breathing quietly behind the wall.
  If the group opens the accessway and barges in, they may 
  find themselves in for a shock. Shalini is waiting on the other 
  side with a makeshift blade (a scissor–like implement used for 
  clipping gel microconduits that the engineer gave her with which 
  to amuse herself ) and the minute she sees a body part appear 
  around the corner from which she is hiding, she will stab at it 
  in terror and then flee further down the access tunnel, which 
  branches out in several different directions. If the group is not 
  quick, they might lose her very quickly. If she feels cornered, 
  she may use her psionic abilities to thwart the group’s pursuit.
  If the adventurers make too much noise or stay too long in the 
  cabin, there is a 2 in 6 chance every round that the Engineer will 
  stop by to either check on the girl or come running if he has heard 
  noise. If the adventurers attempt to reason with the Chief, he may 
  stop to listen; the Referee may call for a successful Average to 
  Difficult Persuade check to prevent him from immediately going 
  
  26
  the starChild
  for the alarm on the intercom panel by the door. If the group can 
  get the Chief to listen and they have thought to bring the datachit 
  with Shalini’s father’s last message (and something to play it on, 
  of course), the teddy bear and/or the religious symbol (which 
  he will recognize, as Shalini wears one just like it) and explain 
  that they are trying to help, he will agree to assist them. See the 
  description of Chief Yardin Anois in the NPCs section for more 
  information on dealing with him. Shalini will come to his call; she 
  will be wary of the group at first but will warm to them once she 
  sees the symbol or hears her father’s voice.
  If for some reason the Engineer does not, or can not,– appear 
  to assist the group, hopefully they have brought the items Jaye 
  gave them or they may be in for a long and difficult chase 
  indeed.
  enCounter v: the speCter
  If the group manages to escape the vessel without being 
  arrested or being taken down by SPA security forces and if they 
  have Shalini in tow, they are about to discover that their life has 
  become quite a bit more difficult. Sometimes, fortune favours 
  those who would travel the stars but more often, it scorns 
  them. Within the hour after the group has Shalini, the Starport 
  will issue an ion storm advisory (see Planetary Description 
  for more information on ion storms and the Solar Winds that 
  cause them). The Starport Authority will initiate a full Level 5 
  (maximum) lockdown before another hour is passed and no one 
  will be allowed to leave– legally, anyway.
  The group will be forced to hole up on Jae Taellona until they 
  can find transport off the planet. Perhaps this is a good time 
  for a member of the group to recall Captain Klaargh and his 
  corsairs. If the adventurers have earned their respect, through 
  combat or otherwise, Klaargh will be more than willing to assist 
  them with leaving the planet – for a fee, of course. Whether or 
  not the Corsairs are ultimately to be trusted is an issue for the 
  Referee to decide, certainly they can be up to a point. If the 
  group has not befriended Klaargh, they will have to make other 
  arrangements or wait the storm out, which will last for six solar 
  days. Meanwhile, the Zhule Sodality has been watching The 
  Rainbow Sun and unless the group has taken precautions to 
  prevent it, they will be getting ready to take Shalini from them. 
  This time, The Spectre intends to see to the matter personally. 
  If the group has somehow taken care of the agents tailing them 
  and the human informants that are watching The Rainbow Sun 
  or if they have managed
  to somehow exit the ship with Shalini without anyone seeing 
  them, The Spectre will resort to his Clairvoyance ability in an 
  attempt to locate them. Note that although Shalini, due to her 
  Neutralize Psionic Ability power, is immune to this search, the 
  characters themselves are not. See Shalini’s description in the 
  NPCs section for more information about Shalini’s Neutralize 
  Psionic Ability power.
  The likelihood is, however, that no matter where the adventurers 
  go, The Spectre will find them as that is what he does and he 
  does it well. Eventually, probably while the group is holed up in 
  some seedy hotel somewhere (perhaps on the surface?) The 
  Spectre and his men will attack. If the group has managed to set 
  up a defence, The Spectre will initiate a Zhule Sodality Strike 
  Squad to initiate a frontal assault, while he attempts to teleport 
  in behind the group, probably catching them by surprise.
  He will use his stunner on Shalini to prevent her from using 
  her psionic abilities, grab her and teleport out. Later, he will 
  lock an anti–psionic helmet over her head to prevent her from 
  accessing her abilities. If the attack succeeds, The Spectre will 
  teleport (or run) to an air/raft parked nearby and fly away. As 
  soon as he is able, he will transport Shalini to his ship, hidden in 
  the desert some 500 km. south of Stargate Artica and prepare 
  to take off as soon as the storm lets up just enough that he can 
  do so relatively safely. Meanwhile, he has left orders with the 
  remaining Strike Squadron members that the adventurers are 
  to be disposed of for good.
  The Spectre’s vessel is a modified Type S Seeker (see The 
  Traveller Core Rulebook, pp. 114–116); the Zhodani version of 
  this vessel is essentially the same as the Imperial one on the 
  pages indicated. The storm will slowly begin to abate over the 
  next several days but it will be a minimum of six days before 
  anyone can lift off reliably. If the group (or the Spectre, in the 
  Referee’s opinion) wishes to lift off before the six days are up, 
  then it requires three successive tests of Pilot skill. The first day, 
  no flying is possible, no matter how skilled.
  The second day, the difficulty level becomes Formidable and the 
  third day, Very Difficult and so forth, until the storm is abated. If 
  The Spectre manages to make it into space with Shalini aboard, 
  he will head directly for the large gas giant (see the Planetary 
  Description section) to refuel, then, if he is being pursued, he 
  will risk misjump by entering jumpspace as soon as his grid 
  is powered without travelling to an optimum jump point. If the 
  characters have allowed him to get this far, then the characters 
  will have to resort to space combat in order to resolve the 
  situation and a possible boarding action. All the data necessary 
  to play out this scenario is given in The Traveller Core Rulebook. 
  If the group is aboard the Vargr corsair, the Referee should not 
  allow them to pass off all the work onto the Vargr. Klaargh may 
  allow them to take up crew stations (gunnery position, even the 
  pilot’s station) so they can have an active role in stopping The 
  Spectre’s flight. If the group is of no assistance, then Klaargh 
  may claim all booty recovered for himself and crew, including 
  Shalini. Of course, should a space battle become necessary, 
  the adventurers will want to be careful to selectively disable 
  the Seeker’s engines without seriously damaging the vessel, 
  else they could hurt Shalini.
  ConClusion 
  This adventure may conclude in any number of ways; this is 
  deliberate, since nothing is worse for the players than a game 
  with a predetermined outcome. If the players feel that no action 
  they can take can possibly affect the conclusion, then it detracts 
  
  27
  the starChild
  greatly from their enjoyment of the game. There is enough 
  information given here for the Referee to accurately predict how 
  the NPCs will react to the player characters’ actions and to keep 
  the game alive and fluid, instead of stilted and rigid.
  This adventure is presented so that it can be organic and 
  evolving. The most minor of the players’ actions early on can 
  have an enormous effect on how things turn out later. If the 
  Referee has done his homework and fully familiarized himself 
  with the characters and information presented herein, then he 
  should have no trouble running this adventure and keeping it 
  alive and interesting for the players and most important of all: 
  responsive to their actions.
  It is, of course, entirely possible that the group abandoned their 
  search for the girl early on to follow Rumour 5 in Encounter 
  III. If they have done this, then certainly, The Spectre’s vessel 
  might no longer be in perfect working condition. It is also likely 
  in this event that The Spectre and his men have spread enough 
  money around to discover that the Engineer is keeping Shalini 
  on The Rainbow Sun and that they already have her. 
  If this has happened, the Referee should take care not to reward 
  the adventurers for so quickly abandoning their mission objectives 
  for unlikely tales of possible treasure in the desert, regardless of 
  whether that treasure is real or not. Perhaps the group might pick 
  up a bit of information on the streets when they return about a girl 
  being hidden in an abandoned warehouse on the surface; the 
  possibilities are myriad. When, or if, the group deserves a second 
  chance in this case is entirely up to the Referee.
  Rewards
  If the group manages to be observant and has taken heed of 
  the rumours and information to be gleaned from the Census 
  bureau, then it is likely they have set an effective trap for 
  The Spectre–by researching methods and gathering enough 
  materials to construct an antipsi field, for example. If they have 
  managed to keep the Spectre from capturing Shalini and making 
  off into space with her, then they have done exceptionally well. 
  As a reward and at the Referee’s discretion, they may find The 
  Spectre’s PDA or map box with the coordinates and security 
  codes to his vessel. If the Referee does not wish them to 
  have the entire vessel, then perhaps they can arrive just after 
  the Vargr raiders have left, leaving them just enough parts to 
  salvage to make a tidy profit in addition to the Free Trader they 
  now legally own on Regina, as well as what is left, if any, of the 
  Cr8000 they were paid for expenses by Jaye A’ssynii.
  If the Spectre gets away with Shalini in spite of (or due to a lack 
  of ) the group’s preparations, then they will most likely be forced 
  to enlist the aid of either the Vargr corsairs or some equally 
  disreputable crew with a fast ship and knowledge of the desert 
  and the solar system.
  After all, there very few above–board starship crews who would 
  be willing to take on a group of strangers in the middle of a 
  storm claiming to be on a secret (or contrived) mission, unless 
  they were of course willing to pay far more than the adventurers 
  could afford. If the group is mistrustful of Vargr and chooses to 
  team up with a disreputable human crew of the sort found on 
  the surface of Jae Taellona, then it is likely their “allies” will wait 
  patiently until the group kills The Spectre for them, then they 
  will rise up and kill the adventurers in turn. At the very least, 
  they will probably try to abandon them in space with very little 
  air and even less hope of rescue. If, on the other hand, the 
  group has elected to team up with Klaargh and his men, they 
  will not be betrayed. Klaargh will, however, demand payment 
  for his services, preferably in the form of The Spectre’s scout 
  vessel, if it becomes available. If, for some reason, the scout 
  vessel does not become available and the group cannot pay 
  Klaargh a reasonable fee (at least Cr10,000) upon arrival at 
  their destination or at the completion of the mission, then this 
  adventure could have a very nasty end indeed.
  Further Adventures
  If the Referee and the players have enjoyed this adventure 
  wish to play on, then that is certainly recommended. The 
  Starchild was designed as an introduction to the Traveller 
  campaign setting of The Third Imperium. There are more 
  than enough elements here on which to found a campaign. 
  In the most immediate future is the journey to Vanejen and 
  seeing Shalini safely to the “specialist.” If the group decides 
  they are finished with this adventure and wish to pursue the 
  matter no further, then it is recommended that this “specialist” 
  indeed be a master healer and he takes Shalini as a patient. 
  The group might wait anxiously in the hospital for 16 or so 
  tense hours of emergency surgery, until the doctor comes 
  out, still in his surgical gown and pronounces the procedure 
  a success. Shalini then returns to Belizo to continue her life 
  as if nothing had happened and the Referee and the players 
  can venture on to Regina using the space travel and trade 
  system in The Traveller Core Rules. 
  If, on the other hand, the Referee and players wish to continue 
  with this particular story arc, then it is recommended that the 
  group find out, preferably after they have dropped Shalini off, 
  that the “specialist” is none other than Sir Gerrold Viscervis, 
  head of research at Imperial Research Station Gamma. In this 
  case and on the heels of some very disturbing rumours about 
  what goes on there, a second rescue may prove to be in order. 
  This adventure will be one in which the group may discover 
  many things, including their first encounter with the enigmatic 
  beings known as the Droyne. Referees and players wishing 
  to proceed down this route are urged once again to obtain a 
  copy of FFE003: Traveller: The Classic Adventure, and refer to 
  Adventure 2: Research Station Gamma. Further adventures on 
  Jae Taellona are suggested by the Library Data section at the 
  end of this adventure. The Referee is encouraged to read it and 
  if he finds any of the adventure hooks contained therein useful, 
  to flesh them out into full–fledged adventures.
  Finally, if the group has managed to play their cards right and 
  if they have been prudent, then they will not only now be legal 
  
  28
  the starChild
  shipmasters but they may have a few credits in their pockets 
  besides. If the group has utterly failed in their task, then hopefully 
  they have retained enough of the advance to buy tickets off of 
  Jae Taellona, and quickly. Otherwise, their adventuring days 
  might very well end before they really even began…
  dramatis personae
  Referee’s Notes: The following gives statistics for all the major 
  NPCs encountered in this adventure. To use these NPCs, the 
  Referee will of course need access to a copy of The Traveller 
  Core Rulebook from Mongoose Publishing. 
  The characters described here were generated using the point 
  allocation system given in the Alternate Character Generation 
  Rules on page 40. The point value of each character is given in 
  their statistics, just before the UPP value. For characters with 
  multiple careers, the current career is shown in bold and that 
  character’s current rank in that career is in bold as well. Note 
  that the number after the dash in the UPP indicates the Psionic 
  Strength characteristic, which for most (untested) characters is 
  left blank. The Psionic Strength characteristic is described on p. 
  152 of The Traveller Core Rulebook on p. 152.
  It is strongly recommended that the Referee familiarise himself 
  with the Psionics chapter on pp. 152–159 of The Traveller Core 
  Rulebook prior to running this adventure. 
  Take note of the fact that Shalini’s psionic faculties are a 
  special case and due to a matter of unprecedented raw talent 
  and natural ability. If a Player Character wishes to develop 
  psionic aptitude, he is consigned to do so by the rules given in 
  the Psionics chapter; that is, by first locating an underground 
  Psionics Institute faction and convincing them to allow him to 
  undergo testing.
  Shalini A’ssunii
  Notes: The abilities given under “Special Abilities” are the 
  powers that Shalini has access to in addition to all the powers 
  that are normally accessible due to her Talents.  
  A description of these new powers, in addition to a short 
  explanation of the Electrokinesis ability, is given in the New 
  Equipment section of the Appendix. Shalini is a sweet young 
  girl with the same dark–skinned, rich complexion that all those 
  from the equatorial regions of her world possess. She is very 
  beautiful, with luxurious, flowing hair with a slightly kinky 
  quality due to her mixed African ancestry.
  Shalini is quite bright and catches on quickly, despite the bucolic 
  nature of her upbringing. Her capacity for problem–solving is 
  quite remarkable and she may surprise the adventurers with 
  her immediate grasp of the nature of their situation. She may 
  even have some useful insights into the problems faced by the 
  group, if the referee feels that the characters need it. She might 
  even be of some limited use if the characters are ambushed 
  by The Spectre or his men. Keep in mind, however, that no 
  matter how mature, she is still a ten year– old child who has just 
  lost her parents and is scores of light–years away from home. 
  Her grief should be just incapacitating enough to keep the 
  characters from having unlimited access to her psionic abilities 
  and thus serve as an excellent method for Referee to prevent 
  the characters from abusing them. By the same token, however, 
  she should not hinder the group too much from completing their 
  goals. Keep in mind, also, that even she is not aware of the 
  full extent of her powers and they tend to only manifest when 
  she feels frightened, nervous or is under duress. Jump space 
  is extremely unpleasant for her, due to spatial distortions and 
  temporal variances that are imperceptible to most people, even 
  those with psionic abilities, thought there are others who are 
  similarly sensitive and they are prone to jump sickness. This 
  fact can be deduced by the adventurers from the rumours 
  given them by the Rainbow Sun crew members in Encounter 
  III: Avenues of Investigation and they would be well–advised to 
  take heed and make preparations when they enter j–space with 
  her on board, or her electrokinesis ability may wreak havoc that 
  is not within her powers to prevent, just as it did on the journey 
  from Belizo.
  The Spectre
  Point Value: 100
  Age: 154 (34 Terms)
  UPP: DCEAA8–B
  (See NPC Table)
  Notes: The Spectre was once a handsome, young Zhodani noble 
  with a bright future ahead of him. He was a skilled psionicist 
  and had the very rare teleportation ability. The Spectre, whose 
  
  29
  the starChild
  true name was forgotten long ago and now only known to 
  him, became a professional psion and thus began a long and 
  successful career as a gladiator in the Psionic Games. For many 
  years he was the Golden Child, a Hero of the Consulate. During 
  this halcyon time he married a beautiful young wife who bore 
  him a daughter, Zuey, who was his entire world. One day, his 
  wife and daughter were travelling to visit her mother when the 
  orbital Starport where they were changing flights came under 
  the attack of a group of “freedom” fighters, Zhodani proles who 
  were backed by Imperial Foreign Intelligence Service. The 
  terrorists had in their possession a nuclear warhead stolen from 
  a naval base and when Consulate Commandos boarded the 
  station to take it back, they detonated the warhead. On that day, 
  The Spectre swore vengeance against the Imperium and all of 
  Humanti that was not of Zhodane. 
  When the Consulate once again clashed with the Imperial Fringe 
  during the Third Frontier War, The Spectre (who was not called 
  such then) volunteered and served 4 terms in the Consulate 
  Special Forces. His skills in Stealth and Recon and his success 
  at impossible missions on enemy soil earned him the nickname 
  The Spectre, so dubbed by his enemies. This nickname entered 
  the realm of  legend nearly 122 Imperial Standard Years ago, 
  when The Spectre was on a mission to sabotage a naval repair 
  yard at Jae Taellona. He was caught by a contingent of Imperial 
  Marines and Sternmetal Horizons security forces who were 
  stationed there; they chased him down and nearly burned him 
  alive – only his ability to teleport, which he thought had long 
  deserted him, activated by some instinct and saved him. Now 
  he works as a deep cover agent for the Zhodani government, 
  the Zhule Sodality and occasionally, Ine Givar. His face is 
  deeply scarred and hideous and he has become a twisted, 
  hateful shade of his former self; now, he calls himself “The 
  Spectre” in earnest and is never seen outside of his Zhodani 
  Commando battledress, which is specially modified to enhance 
  his psionic abilities. His existence is maintained through the 
  use of powerful anagathics, psionics–enhancing steroids and 
  the Zhodani equivalent of medical opioid derivatives; all of 
  these drugs are powerful euphorics and numbing agents but 
  the issue of addiction is long been moot for him. In addition to 
  the genetically–engineered psi drugs he takes daily, his brain 
  has been pin cushioned with psienhancing implants, not only 
  bringing his psi powers to an unprecedented level for his age 
  but also staving off their inexorable decay as well. He is well–
  paid for his services, though each day he lives on past his years 
  requires more and more drugs to sustain him.
  About 80 years ago, when the Zhule Sodality first gained a 
  permanent foothold on Jae Taellona, he was put into cold sleep 
  until he was needed again. He has only been awakened a handful 
  of times since then but when the Sodality’s leaders first received 
  their data chip containing the logtapes of The Rainbow Sun, they 
  knew that this mission would require a special operative.
  The Spectre used to live only to see the Marches burn and the 
  Imperials suffer for the death of his wife and daughter but now, 
  he only wishes to die. The Sodality and therefore, his beloved 
  Consulate, needs him and he is too well–trained to allow his 
  own desire for death to override his duty, however much he 
  might wish for the quietude of death. It is not, however, beyond 
  impossibility for the adventurers to detect this tendency in this 
  otherwise relentless killing–machine and to use that to their 
  advantage. The Spectre makes a powerful foe – the Referee is 
  urged to use his abilities wisely.
  Combat Notes: In combat, The Spectre is never concerned 
  about defeating his foes as he is with the success of the 
  mission. He has no wish to kill indiscriminately; in fact, he 
  abides by a strict chivalric code of honour that the ancient 
  Zhodani nobles adhered to before the development of 
  star travel. He is likely to leave his opponents alive if their 
  death has no bearing on the success of this mission. If, 
  on the other hand, he has orders to leave no witnesses 
  or if he deems it critical to the ultimate success of the 
  mission, he is quite capable of killing in a chillingly 
  calculated manner. His nickname is indicative of his 
  tactics; he usually travels alone but for this mission, he is 
  taking no risks and there is a 3 in 6 chance he will have 
  1d6+1 Zhule operatives (like those described below) with 
  him. His favourite tactic is to teleport in quietly, then use 
  his stun and smoke grenades to create confusion, then 
  teleport to a short distance away while his enemies are 
  distracted. Then, depending on the mission objective, he 
  will use his PGMP–13 to hose down his stunned targets, 
  complete his objective, then perform one last teleport out 
  of the area. If a Strike Squad is with him, he will have 
  them distract Shalini’s guardians with cover fire whilst he 
  teleports in behind them to retrieve the girl.
  Equipment Carried: Zhodani Battle Dress (TL 13, see The 
  Traveller Core Rulebook, p. 88) with Vislight
  Chameleon laminate and Multispectral HUD, PGMP– 13 
  with Intelligent, Xaser, and Gyrostabilization options(see The 
  Traveller Core Rulebook, p. 102), Gauss Rifle, Laser Pistol, 
  Stunner, Commdot, 6 grenades (2 frag, 2 stun, 1 smoke), 
  Combat Utility Webbing (see Library Data)
  Zhule Sodality Strike Squad
  Point Value: 40
  Age: 34 (4 terms)
  UPP: 9A8987–5
  (See NPC Table) 
  Notes: These are the statistics for the extraction team first 
  encountered by the group in the rail tunnels.
  Further, since this is the type of Zhule Sodality operative that is 
  most likely to be encountered by the group during this adventure; 
  these stats may be used as needed for multiple encounters. 
  Although the initial team encountered is armed with laser rifles, 
  the ACR is also a common weapon for these squads. The 
  
  30
  the starChild
  Referee is encouraged, if he wishes to tweak these stats as 
  necessary so that there will be more variation in the types of 
  agents encountered. Note that only 1 in 4 of these operatives 
  will have psionic abilities; those that do not may substitute the 
  2 points spent on the Telepathy ability for anything the Referee 
  wishes – an extra gun combat skill, for example.
  Equipment Carried: Laser Rifle–11 or ACR, Blade (bayonet), 
  Gauss Pistol, Tactical Bodysuit (treat as Smart Fabric that 
  functions as full–body Cloth with layer of Reflec and IR 
  Chamelion), Multispectral goggles (Combination IR and Light–
  Intensifying, see The Traveller Core Rulebook, p. 96), TL8 
  portable Comm, 6 Stun grenades, Combat Utility Webbing (see 
  Library Data)
  Chief Engineer Yardin Anois
  Point Value: 90
  Age: 54 (9 terms)
  UPP: 9A8987–5
  (See NPC Table)
  Notes: Chief Anois (on–WAH)– or, “the Chief,” as he is called 
  by his friends and co–workers– is an effervescent, friendly man 
  with a perpetual twinkle in his grey eyes and a smile on his lips. 
  His head is clean–shaven and he sports a bushy, white beard. 
  The Chief is getting on in years and some say he is far older 
  than his apparent age, because time out in the space lanes 
  tends to slow to a crawl but nevertheless his characteristics 
  are slowly but surely declining with age; he is no longer as 
  strong as he used to be, nor as nimble. His impressive array of 
  skills, qualify him for a far better job than that of Chief Engineer 
  aboard the Rainbow Sun; he could easily be a Department 
  Chief aboard a major corporate freighter or passenger liner 
  for Tukera, Oberlindes or any of the Imperial Megacorps or 
  government contractors.
  Character
  Career Path Strength
  Dexterity
  Endurance
  Intelligence Education
  Social
  Standing
  Psionic
  Strength
  The Spectre
  Agent, Army
  Special 
  Forces
  13
  12
  14
  10
  10
  8
  11
  Rank: 4 (Special Agent); Marine NCO 5 (Gunnery Sergeant)
  Skills (92 points): Heavy Weapons (Man Portable Artillery)–4 (+8), Gun Combat (Slug Rifle)– 2(+4), Gun Combat (Slug Pistol)–2 
  (+4) 16 pts.
  Gun Combat (Energy Pistol)–2 (+4) Flyer (Grav)–2(+4), Recon–3 (+6) 30 pts., Stealth–4 (+8), Leadership–1 (+2) 40 pts., 
  Athletics (Endurance)–
  2 (+4), Athletics (Coordination)–2 (+4), 48pts. Athletics (Strength)–1 (+2), Melee (Blade)–3 (+6), Melee (Unarmed)–2 (+4), 
  Comms–0 (+1),
  Medic–0 (+1), Persuade–2 (+4), 66 pts. Deception–2 (+4), Computers–2 (+4), Investigate–3 (+6), Streetwise–2 (+4), Battle 
  Dress 4 (+8)
  Psionic Abilities (20 points): Awareness–2 (+4), Clairvoyance–4 (+8), Teleportation–4 (+8)
  The acquisition of wealth, however, at the expense of freedom, 
  has never held much attraction for the Chief. The Chief speaks 
  with a thick accent, faintly reminiscent of Terran French–
  Canadian, like all those do who hail from Heya, his homeworld, 
  a farming planet in the Regina subsector. His agricultural 
  upbringing is the reason he immediately took a liking to Shalini 
  and when he saw that there were people out to get her, he 
  was eager to help. His plan was to hide her in the crawlspaces 
  between decks when he was on duty, then spend time with her 
  in his cabin when he was not, since he never had a daughter 
  of his own. 
  He has given even given her crayons, construction paper and 
  a pair of something like scissors to amuse herself with when 
  he is working. The Chief only wants what is best for the girl 
  and is willing to do whatever is necessary to see that she is 
  protected. He is an old, wary spacehand and bribing, tricking 
  or intimidating him is all but totally impossible; honesty and 
  forthrightness is the only way to impress an old stardog like the 
  Chief. 
  If the adventurers approach him as a potential ally, however and 
  are candid and convincingly sincere with him, he will reluctantly 
  let them take Shalini, since he has no way of getting her to 
  Vanejen on his own.
  Equipment Carried: TL–11 Electronics Toolkit, TL–12 
  Engineering Pocket Toolkit, Cr40, Utility Blade The Chief keeps 
  a small automatic pistol in his desk in his office.
  Commander Klaargh
  Point Value: 90
  Age: 46 (7 terms)
  UPP: 8DBA9B
  (See NPC Table)
  
  31
  the starChild
  Notes: Commander Klaargh has clawed, bit and fought his way 
  to the top every bloody, vicious step of the way; such is the way 
  of life for a Corsair and he does not regret it for a Trexalonian 
  second. He has been serving on Corsairs since he was born. 
  His broodmother was a Captain and out of her entire litter, she 
  knew he would be special and she told him so. He did not inherit 
  her ship; when she became old and weak and too long in the 
  teeth to bear any more young, she met The Challenge bravely, 
  jaws first. Her first officer called her out and told her she smelled 
  old and of weakness; as is tradition, she could have stepped 
  down from her command and lived, but in shame. That is not 
  life. So she died by the point of her own first officer’s (who was 
  Klaargh’s father, some say, though he was not even half her 
  age) knifepoint and Klaargh watched as his teeth ripped the 
  warm flesh of throat and blood spewed forth from her punctured 
  jugular. Klaargh prayed to the Allmother that he might be strong 
  enough to be granted such a worthy death as she. Klaargh, 
  since he was on the losing side, was given the chance to join 
  the winners. In honour of his mother, he did not accept, even as 
  all who had stood with him gratefully embraced the quarter that 
  was proffered and changed sides. Klaargh was stubborn and as 
  to be expected, he was abandoned on an asteroid with nothing 
  but his wits, a Vacc Suit and six hours of air. 
  He was fortunate, under the Code they could have chosen to kill 
  him outright. Klaargh wandered found an old, long–abandoned 
  mining installation and enough air for several weeks. He 
  managed to repair the anicent comm system and call for 
  help. Eventually, he was rescued by a human crew and spent 
  three years aboard their ship, learning their soft, weak ways. 
  Eventually, he returned to a Vargr world near the border of the 
  Imperium and the Extents and worked his way into the crew 
  of a Corsair ship as a lowly Comms officer – the same posting 
  he had aboard his original vessel. Klaargh was patient, chose 
  the right mate and the right companions this time and planned 
  his coup very carefully. Eventually, he took the second officer’s 
  place when he met with an unfortunate accident during an EVA 
  repair mission – not an entirely lawful method of ascension but 
  an effective one. He took on his predecessor’s role fully, quickly 
  becoming a proficient starship pilot. Eventually, the first mate 
  experienced an accident as well, one with a defective Vacc Suit 
  and Klaargh rose in his stead.
  When it came time to challenge his captain, he did so by lawful 
  combat. Klaargh prefers to use his laser pistol in combat if 
  he can, though if there is a boarding action he will use his 
  Gauss Rifle until he is out of clips, then toss it aside and draw 
  his Laser Pistol. Both weapons are ancient, almost antiques, 
  both fashioned in the same ornate, unusual style. The most 
  noticeable feature is the rococo spiked fin that decorates the 
  cooling vent along each weapon’s dorsal length. The entire 
  effect, along with his double–bladed dagger and spiked 
  armour, which hand–painted with blood–red Vagr runes and 
  death–lord symbols is fearsome and vicious–looking, and is 
  Character
  Career Path
  Strength
  Dexterity
  Endurance
  Intelligence
  Education
  Social
  Standing
  Chief 
  Engineer
  Yardin Anois
  Merchant (5 
  Terms)
  Imperial Navy 
  (3 Terms)
  6 (+1)
  9 (+5)
  7 (+2)=8
  10 (+6)
  11 (+8)
  8 (+3)=17
  Rank (20 points): Merchant 4 (2nd Mate); Navy NCO 6 (Master Chief )
  Skills (45 points) : Engineer (J–Drive)–3 (+6); Engineer (M–Drive)–3 (+6); Engineer (Power)–2 (+4); Engineer 16 
  (Electronics)–1 (+2); Engineer (Life Support)–2 (+4); Gun Combat (Slug Pistol)–3 (+6); Pilot (Small Craft)– 2 (+4); Vacc Suit–1 
  (+2); Computers–4 (+8); Zero G–1 (+2) Admin–0 (+1)
  Character
  Career Path Strength
  Dexterity
  Endurance
  Intelligence Education
  Social
  Standing
  Psionic
  Strength
  Zhule 
  Society
  Strike 
  Squad
  Agent (3 
  Terms),
  Army (1 
  Term)
  8
  10
  8/12
  9/5
  7/2
  5/7
  5/0
  Rank (1 point): Agent 1
  Skills (18 Points): Gun Combat (Slug or Energy Rifle)–2 (+4); Gun Combat (Slug Pistol)–1 (+2); Stealth–1 (+2); Recon–1 (+2); 
  Melee (Blade)–1
  (+2); Deception–1 (+2); Athletics (Endurance)–1 (+2); Athletics (Coordination)–1 (+2)
  Psionic Abilities (2 points): Telepathy–1
  
  32
  the starChild
  enough to frighten many would–be challengers and victims 
  into submission. Klaargh is strong for his race but his real 
  strength in battle is his speed; the ability to strike first and aim 
  true has won him a great many battles. 
  Equipment: TL 12 Ornately Decorated Combat Armor,
  Gauss Pistol, Gauss Rifle, Double–Bladed Combat
  Dagger (does 1d6+4 instead of 1d6+2), TL8 Personal
  Communicator
  Pack Leader Ghzyrkha
  Point Value: 60
  Age: 34 (4 terms)
  UPP: 8DBA9B
  (See NPC Table)
  Notes: Lady Ghzyrkha has been Klaargh’s mate for 20 years and 
  his first officer for 10. Her loyalty and love for her Chosen is deep 
  but she is a Vargr, after all and she worries that she has caught the 
  scent of indecision a few times recently. She is young and has felt 
  a few times that Klaargh’s days may be numbered, though she is 
  far from decided on this. Just in case, however, Lady Ghzyrkha 
  has her eye on a junior officer, who she intends to sponsor and 
  assist as she did Klaargh – she was the one, after all, who took 
  care of the First Officer’s Vacc Suit. Ghzyrkha prefers to be the 
  “power behind the throne,” so to speak, rather than to be the one 
  to directly challenge Leaders who have grown soft. After all, the 
  penalties for miscalculation are far less permanent that way. The 
  arrival of the adventurers into the volatile situation on board the 
  ship may serve as a catalyst for a decision – whether to make 
  her move now or wait a few more moon–cycles until Klaargh has 
  grown so soft that everyone can see it. The only problem with the 
  second choice is that, if she waits too late, someone else who 
  she has not got her claws into may decide to act first, leaving 
  her in the unenviable position of having a new Captain in power 
  over which she has no influence. Perhaps one of the humans 
  that Klaargh has foolishly taken aboard and chosen to aid out of 
  some misguided sense of male loyalty could be made suitable to 
  the task at hand…
  Equipment: Vargr Tactical Bodysuit (TL 10 Cloth with reflective 
  weave) or TL–11 Combat Armour; Shotgun, Blade, Personal 
  Comm
  Vargr Corsair Pack Member
  Point Value: 35
  Age: 30 (3 terms)
  UPP: 597877
  (See NPC Table)
  Notes: These are generic statistics for the Referee to use for 
  members of Klaargh’s crew as needed. These are general 
  guidelines only; the Referee should feel free to adjust this basic 
  template as needed to reflect individuality among the crew 
  members. The crew is fiercely loyal to Klaargh for the moment 
  and will gleefully die at his command, although that could 
  change in a second. Equipment: Vargr Tactical Cloth Bodysuit 
  (TL 10 Cloth armor), Accelerator Rifle or Laser Rifle, Gauss 
  Pistol or Medkit, Blade, Personal Comm
  Library Data
  Anathium: An exceedingly rare, valuable, iridescent metal 
  ore with a low degree of radioactivity that is highly valued for 
  its ability to achieve superconductivity over a broad range of 
  temperatures. Its free electron pairs can therefore be easily 
  stimulated into a superconductive state without the use of a 
  liquid supercoolant or extreme heat, the primary obstacle to the 
  widespread implementation of superconductor applications from 
  their discovery at TL 6 and prior to the discovery of the gravitic 
  wavefunction that leads to the development of contragrav at TL 
  9. Anathium is extremely valuable due to its versatility; it has 
  recently come into very high demand due to a recent initiative in 
  by the Minister of the Interior in the Domain of Deneb to assist in 
  the development of planets of TL 5–8, through the construction 
  of largescale public transportation systems. 
  Anathium makes large maglevs, hoverrails and monorails at 
  TLs 5–7, previously inconceivable on such worlds, feasible and 
  maintainable with the materials and techniques at those TLs. 
  Before that, however, Anathium was and still is, primarily used 
  in the construction of high–quality and precision contragrav 
  modules. While other metals can, in theory, be made to work 
  almost as well, they do so only after a gruelling, painstakingly 
  fastidious process of refinement and materials synthesis. The 
  process is prohibitively expensive at TLs lower than 12 and the 
  final result almost never performs to expectation. The resulting 
  schism in demand has strained labour relations on Jae Taellona 
  Character
  Career 
  Path
  Strength
  Dexterity
  Endurance
  Intelligence
  Education
  Social
  Standing
  Commander
  Klaargh
  Corsair 
  (7 Terms)
  8/3
  13/12
  11/8 = 23
  10/6
  9/5
  11/8 = 19
  Rank (12 points): Captain 6
  Skills (36 Points): Gun Combat (Energy Pistol)–3 (+6); Leadership–3 (+6); Comms–2 (+4); Gun Combat (Slug Rifle)– 2 (+4); 
  Melee Combat
  (Natural Weapons)–2 (+4); Melee Combat (Blade)–1 (+2); Tactics (Naval)–4 (+8); Pilot (Spacecraft)–1 (+2)
  
  33
  the starChild
  and has all but led to an all–out trade war between Oberlindes 
  Lines and Sternmetal Horizons.
  Other applications of a more experimental nature are reportedly 
  being investigated as well. By far, the largest exporter of 
  Anathium in the Domain of Deneb is Jae Taellona in the 
  Rhylanor subsector, with Macene and Glisten being distant 
  seconds. Combat Utility Webbing: A combination shoulder 
  harness/utility belt that uses TL 12 materials technology to 
  firmly secure items, similar to the Velcro cloth of earlier TLs 
  but far more advanced, allows the wearer to comfortably carry 
  and quickly access up to four weapons – two sidearms and two 
  rifles. There is also room for 4 smaller items, such as a melee 
  weapon and extra clips or ammo packs. The CUW also holds up 
  to 6 grenades or items of similar size. 0.5 kg, Cr900. Dh’oughz 
  Khfae: Literally translated as “The Duellists’ Honour,” Dh’oughz 
  Khfae is an ancient invention of Vargr WarPacks, an unwritten 
  code of behaviour dating back at least as far as their known 
  pre–contact history. Dh’oughz Khfae is generally frowned upon 
  by modern Vargr mainstream society, since they have tried to 
  suppress some of the more barbaric practices that date back to 
  their pre–history as pack animals in order to make themselves 
  more palatable to interstellar society as a whole. The code is 
  practiced unapologetically among the corsairs as well as Vargr 
  isolationists; however, as are many of the other unwritten laws 
  of pack social structure. Dh’oughz Khfae governs the many 
  situations under which a Vargr may challenge his alpha, as well 
  as the appropriate codes of behaviour during a duel among 
  equals and inferiors.
  There are literally hundreds of thousands of subtleties and 
  nuances that govern Dh’oughz Khfae, from the stance chosen 
  by the challenger, to the choice of weapons and how they are 
  grasped, to the expression on one’s face and the exact pitch 
  range of one’s bark of victory, most of which are beyond a 
  human’s capacity to comprehend. Fortunately, however, those 
  humans who have been unlucky enough to find themselves 
  challenged have reported that the Vargr do not expect the 
  “ignorant monkeys” to fully grasp the depths of Dh’oughz Khfae. 
  In general, a human who has been lawfully challenged under 
  Dh’oughz Khfae is expected to conduct himself honourably, to use 
  only honourable insults to taunt his opponent. In an “acceptable” 
  insult, for example, the opponent’s mate and pack members 
  are fair game but insults directed at the opponent’s mother are 
  not, since Vargr are born in litters and the challenged may be 
  unwittingly insulting half the spectators as well. Interestingly 
  enough, insults to the opponent’s father are reportedly met with 
  puzzlement, since a Vargr invariably has no idea who his father 
  is, nor does he care – family consists of siblings and mother, as 
  far as he is concerned – it is considered a social faux pas for a 
  Vargr to show interest in his litter. In general, it is reported that if 
  the challenged sticks to a Gentleman’s code of conduct similar 
  to that practiced by Terrans in their second millennium AD (ca 
  –3500 to –2500 Imperial) then that will, for the most part, be 
  satisfactory to the Vargr.  
  dX: A microscopic tablet–style data storage medium for 
  recording and storing datastreams of enormous magnitude and 
  of extremely high frequencies. The mostcommon use for dX 
  is the storage of super–high THz X–boat network feeds. Each 
  tablet can store hundreds to thousands of terabytes of data, so 
  it is widely used to transport datastreams, for media applications 
  and for physical backup and storage of planetary X–boat feeds.
  Character
  Career 
  Path
  Strength
  Dexterity
  Endurance
  Intelligence
  Education
  Social
  Standing
  Pack 
  Leader
  Ghzyrkha
  Corsair 
  (4 Terms)
  7/2
  10/6
  9/5 = 13
  11/8
  7/2
  8/3 = 13
  Rank (10 points): Corsair 5 (Leader)
  Skills (24 Points): Astrogation–3 (+6); Leadership–2 (+6); Sensors–2 (+4); Gun Combat (Slug Rifle)– 2 (+4); Melee Combat 
  (Natural
  Weapons)–1 (+2); Melee Combat (Blade)–1 (+2);
  Character
  Career 
  Path
  Strength
  Dexterity
  Endurance
  Intelligence
  Education
  Social
  Standing
  Vargr 
  Corsair 
  Pack
  Member
  C o r s a i r 
  (3 Terms)
  5/0
  9/5
  7/2=7
  8/3
  7/2
  7/2=7
  Skills (17 Points): Gun Combat (Slug or Energy Rifle)–2 (+4); Astrogation, Comms, or Sensors–2 (+4); Melee Combat (Natural 
  Weapons)–2
  (+4); Engineering (any)–2 (+4) or Medic–2; Carousing–0 (+1)
  
  34
  the starChild
  It is important to note that dX tablets vary wildly in their capacities 
  and write speeds, because they are “grown,” not manufactured, 
  by a nanomolecular process that closely resembles a living 
  organism. The dX tablet possesses a remarkable faculty to 
  hard–write high–capacity data configurations at astoundingly 
  high frequencies that would normally require a mainframe to 
  process, such as dedicated encryption subroutines and cipher 
  patterns. This makes it the most secure data storage medium in 
  existence and the medium of choice for intelligence–gathering 
  and investigative operatives both in and out of the field.
  Unfortunately, its size as well as its compatibility with a standard 
  Wafer Jack (adapter required, TL 14, Wt. neg. Cr500) make it 
  a prime candidate for illegal data trafficking as well as a host 
  of other illegitimate uses. dX is forbidden to civilians on many 
  worlds, since it has a notorious reputation as the only storage 
  medium capable of retaining and processing the notorious 
  Endorphin–Cascade Induction Stimsim programs.
  ECIS: Acronym for Endorphin Cascade Induction Stimsim; a 
  powerfully addictive virtual reality simulation that can only be 
  accessed with a Wafer Jack neural shunt. The “wafer” (generally 
  a dX tablet) is sold to the user, who places it in a preinstalled 
  Wafer Jack interface with a dX adapter (see above), who then 
  experiences the reality simulation (called a “stimsim”) digitally 
  encoded on the tablet. This “stimsim” is different from normal 
  programs of its type in that it uses direct electrical impulses 
  to stimulate neural centres in the cerebral cortex for the 
  express purpose of initiating an endorphin “cascade,” which 
  begins with an overwhelming discharge of endorphins from 
  the hypothalamus. Other electrical impulses stimulate natural 
  neurochemicals into a by a slow, self–sustaining exothermic 
  reaction in the neural matrix. This reaction effectively causes 
  a sort of feedback loop that can reportedly hyperstimulates 
  the endocrine system, keeping the cascade of endorphins 
  passing through the receptors and the brain’s natural reuptake 
  mechanism for up to 22 hours.
  The ecstasy reportedly experienced by users is without parallel. 
  Of course, this process is extremely dangerous, as it can 
  utterly deplete the user’s entire supply of natural pain blockers, 
  leaving him vulnerable and overly sensitive to any external 
  stimuli. There have been reports of users, many of who were 
  first–time users, whose endocrine systems are damaged by 
  the hyperstimulation and are rendered utterly incapable of 
  replenishing the natural endorphin supply. Those who are so 
  afflicted generally succumb to suicide but the few who were 
  unfortunate enough to live on – or too physically weak even 
  to take their own lives – are stricken irrevocably insane. Their 
  minds continuously process what would normally be a trivial 
  discomfort as searing, unbearable agony. Finally, death is 
  not an uncommon side effect of “Skading” though it does not 
  happen as often as one might expect.
  Still, when it does happen, it is often due to sloppy, amateurish 
  software coding or black–market dX chips of shoddy cultivation 
  or materials. In either case, the result is generally the same: 
  the electrical impulses are directed to the wrong neural cluster, 
  yet they still retain their characteristic micro–surgical precision, 
  resulting in wildly unpredictable brain–to–body command 
  signals.
  These signals can be as catastrophic as the selective failure 
  of a CNS–regulated organ function – such as breathing or 
  heart regulation – or even total system failure or they can be as 
  innocuous as false sensation of itching in a random body part 
  or a feeling of irresistible drowsiness. There is no known way to 
  determine if a given tablet or software is defective.
  Despite 
  the 
  well–publicised 
  risks 
  and 
  its 
  legendary 
  unpredictability, “Skading” continues to be an enormously 
  popular pastime with young, rebellious types. Experts and 
  medical researchers remain befuddled by the relative rarity of 
  devastating catastrophic incidents when compared to the sheer 
  volume of ECIS abusers. In the Spinward Marches sector, 
  Jae Taellona is the only world that does not prohibit the sale 
  or production of ECIS software and paraphernalia, except in 
  situations where it has been discovered that a minor is involved. 
  Viasuit: This suit, designed specifically by Sternmetal Horizons, 
  LIC for use in its mining facilities on Jae Taellona, is especially 
  designed to improve the survival rate in underground mining 
  accidents. It has also proven to be useful to those stranded 
  or otherwise forced to make long treks across the arid Jae 
  Taellonan. Its primary purpose is to keep the wearer alive in the 
  event of a cavein, which used to happen quite frequently. More 
  often, however, it is used in the desert and few on Jae Taellona 
  dare enter the desert, even in a sealed vehicle, unless they are 
  wearing one. In reality, the Viasuit can be used to survive for 
  an extended period of time in nearly any hostile environment 
  save hard vacuum.
  The advantage of the Viasuit is that it can run for an extended 
  period of time before it requires recharging and that it is not 
  hampered by a limited air supply. Though it is lightly armoured 
  to prevent damage to the wearer from falling rocks and debris 
  (treat as Cloth), it is certainly not intended to be used in place 
  of armour in a combat situation. The Viasuit is equipped with 
  four TL–11 CO 2 scrubbers that actually continue to convert 
  CO2 back into oxygen, using from several thin layers of cations 
  on the surface of the filter and water molecules taken from the 
  body’s secretions. The cation layers are eventually depleted in 
  this process and scrubber filters need to be exchanged once 
  every 139 hours – the CO2 scrubbers have a window that 
  slowly turns from green to red as they get closer to needing 
  replacement. The suit also draws moisture from the body and 
  the ambient air and filters and recycles it for use to keep the 
  wearer alive in the event there is no water source to be found.
  In general, a wearer should be able to survive for up to two 
  weeks when wearing a Viasuit, as long as there is a trace or 
  more of oxygen to breathe. The suit maintains power through 
  organic cells that recharge themselves when exposed to body 
  heat, sunlight and nearly any natural heat source imaginable. 
  
  35
  the starChild
  The suit does have its limitations, however, as it must undergo 
  a full maintenance cycle once a month – during which time 
  it cannot be worn – and its power cells must be connected 
  to a major power source, such as a starship power grid, or 
  an industrial power outlet and be exposed to a current for 12 
  hours once every two weeks. This repolarises and realigns 
  the cathode–anode configuration; otherwise the batteries will 
  begin to fail within one to six days of missing the two week 
  maintenance date as polarity fades and they can no longer 
  hold a charge. Despite these limitations, however, the Viasuit 
  is a prized survival gear and technically illegal to buy or own 
  if the possessor is not an employee of Sternmetal Horizons, 
  LIC. This inconsistently–enforced restriction only serves to 
  make the suits more expensive – not less available. 5 Kg., 
  Cr5500.
  Antisedition and Fidelity Act of 908: Generally considered to be 
  the most draconian, restrictive piece of legislation in the history 
  of the Third Imperium, the Act is generally thought to have 
  begun in 907 when the Archduke of Deneb travelled to Capital to 
  attend a special emergency session of the Moot of High Lords. 
  Records from many Moot meetings (including this one) of the 
  time are vague at best but it is thought that during the meeting, 
  the Archduke successfully managed to whip the embers of fear 
  into open flame by exacerbating dual concerns over the Scylla 
  and Charybdis of the increasingly hostile Solomani Autonomous 
  District coreward and the militant build–up of Consulate forces 
  along the Fringe rimward. In response to the Archduke’s 
  intimations that the enemy was infiltrating Imperial culture 
  on both fronts, the Moot passed the Antisedition and Fidelity 
  Act of 908. The Act criminalized many things which could not 
  be enforced, often to what many felt were ridiculous lengths. 
  Speaking out against the war – either one – was forbidden, as 
  well as criminalising the possession of reading materials which 
  the Archduke’s appointed “Council of Treasonous Activities” 
  deemed as “seditious” or “pro–Zhodane.” This act managed 
  to stifle the exchange of popular music, theatre and art by the 
  worlds of the Fringe, which, up until then, had flowed freely. 
  Suspicion and mistrust began to fester in the border worlds, as 
  those of Zhodani descent were jailed for no other reason than 
  their heritage. 
  To the relief of many, the Act was repealed in 986 almost 
  simultaneously with the signing of the Armistice, in the wake 
  of a quarter century or more of an almost unilateral failure to 
  consistently enforce the terms of the legislation. Although most 
  scholars today consider the Act an unequivocal blunder, it has 
  left a legacy that persists to this day. No longer do Imperial 
  and Consulate citizens mix or exchange culture, trade routes 
  that once bound the worlds of the Fringe to each other now lay 
  silent and untraversed; tourists and visitors from the Consulate 
  are closely watched on Imperial soil and vice versa. Suspicion 
  and paranoia run unchecked, as the citizenry know nothing 
  about their neighbours. The TAS has considered issuing an 
  Amber Zone advisory for the entire District 268 and Chronor 
  subsectors but thus far, this has only been a suggestion. 
  Thiti Nut: A nut that is raised on trees that have so far only 
  been grown successfully on Belizo. The nut is considered to 
  be a delicacy only affordable by the most affluent; it sells for 
  Cr5000 an ounce. 
  Tukera Lines has a contract with the planetary government 
  giving them a monopoly on the shipping of the Thiti Nut. By 
  the time the company and the planetary government take 
  their share of the profits, only a few credits manage to trickle 
  down to the relatively poor farmers of Belizo. Xnet: An informal, 
  rather loose association of regular topics discussed by Scouts, 
  members of the Imperial Postal Administration, computer and 
  communications enthusiasts which are grouped into literally 
  billions of different “headers,” based on topic. Each header can 
  be thought of as a sort of chain letter, which gathers comments 
  and branches out into other headers as the mail packet 
  proceeds to each subsequent destination. This practice can 
  trace its roots to the “Usenet” communication network that still 
  exists on Terra, as well as Usenet’s lesser imitators on other 
  worlds, as well as the ultimate evolution of the peer–to–peer 
  commentary network, better–known great FlameNet that exists 
  within the planetary datasphere on Core. Zhule Sodality Name 
  derived from an obscure Zhodani dialect taken by or given 
  collectively to a resistance movement that exists in localized 
  pockets in various subsectors of the Domain of Deneb. The 
  movement is generally believed to have originated on Jae 
  Taellona about 80 years before the Third Frontier War as a 
  labour equality movement, which was crushed by Sternmetal 
  Horizons when the Antisedition and Fidelity Act came into 
  effect. It is thought that a core group of highly–trained, deep 
  cover Zhodani agents managed to assimilate the desperate 
  remnants of the movement. 
  Over the course of the Third Frontier War, this core group 
  managed to grow into a full blown resistance movement by 
  managing multiple small cells of true believers who were always 
  ready to sacrifice themselves for the cause of Jae Taellonan 
  independence and the workers’ freedom from corporate greed 
  and Imperial oppression. The terrorists were responsible for 
  the deaths of thousands and countless delays and supply line 
  disruptions that might have cost the Imperium the war, had their 
  leader not been hunted down and destroyed by a small, poorly–
  armed group of intrepid marines and security personnel trapped 
  and killed their leader while he was attempting to sabotage the 
  Naval repair yard in 984. The last of the Sodality was thought 
  to have been arrested in 991 and he died in prison in 1022. 
  There have been rumours of time to time of a resurfacing of 
  the Sodality but although a new, rejuvenated labour movement 
  seems to be in progress on Jae Taellona at the time of this 
  entry, so far authorities have met such rumours with little more 
  than cynical amusement.
  
  36
  The Traveller universe is a huge place with galaxies upon 
  galaxies that contain countless stars, many of which contain 
  habitable worlds that have produced alien life over the eons. 
  Some of these life forms evolved into sentience, becoming 
  civilised and eventually even reaching for the stars. One of 
  these races – the Reptii – invented their own spacecraft and 
  took to the space lanes in order to do what they have always 
  done best – prey on the weak and make meals of them.
  Reptii Deathclaw–class Assault Ship
  The Reptii are a physically powerful species that specialise 
  in close combat and ship–to–ship assaults The ‘Deathclaw’ 
  is a troop delivery vessel that is sent out after the missile 
  banks of the Reptii larger ships have crippled their enemies. 
  The Deathclaw is piloted up against the other ship, magnetic 
  harpoons are launched and a breaching team of armoured 
  Reptii warriors are sent across to deal with survivors and to 
  take the spoils and remains.
  Deathclaw Assault Ship
  Tons
  Price (Cr.)
  Hull
  100 Tons
  Streamlined
  Self–Sealing
  Hull 2
  Structure 2
  3,200,000
  Armour
  Titanium Steel
  2 Points
  5
  100,000
  Jump Drive A
  Jump 2
  10
  10,000,000
  Manoeuvre Drive B
  Thrust 4
  3
  8,000,000
  Power Plant B
  7
  16,000,000
  Bridge
  10
  500,000
  Computer
  Model 1/bis/fib
  Rating 5 (10 for Jump
  Control)
  60,000
  Electronics
  Military Sensors
  2
  1,000,000
  Weapons
  Hardpoint #1
  Double Turret (Magnetic
  Harpoons)
  1
  500,000
  Fuel
  28 tons
  One Jump–2 and four 
  weeks of operation
  28
  Cargo
  9 tons
  9
  2,000,000
  4 Staterooms
  4 Staterooms
  16
  Extras
  Assault Barracks
  10 Low Passage Berths
  Fuel Scoop
  Ship’s Locker
  4
  5
  400,000
  500,000
  —
  —
  Software
  Jump Control/2
  Manoeuvre/0
  Evade/1
  1,200,000
  Maintenance Cost 
  (monthly)
  3,622
  Life Support Cost 
  (monthly
  13,000
  Total Tonnage and Cost
  100
  43, 460,000
  the reptii assault triax
  By Bryan Steele with assistance from Nick Robinson
  New ships from a rapacious alien race that has recently appeared in the space lanes of civilised worlds.
  
  37
  new ships
   
  New Extra – Assault Barracks
   
  Any ship equipped with state-
  rooms can turn them into As-
  sault Baracks at the additional 
  cost of one ton of volume and 
  Cr. 100,000. An assault barracks 
  houses double the normal occu-
  pancy and the personal gear of 
  its occupants but removes all of 
  the commonplace amenities in 
  favour of a weapon rack, cell re-
  charging station and workbench.
  new weapon – maGnetiC harpoon
  Only usable at short range, the magnetic harpoon is used to pull a targeted ship closer so that a seal can be made and assault 
  troops sent across in a boarding action. Any ship successfully hitting its target with magnetic harpoons before boarding will receive 
  a +4 DM bonus to the roll used to initiate the boarding action itself.
  Weapon Type
  TL
  Range
  Damage
  Cost (MCr.)
  Magnetic Harpoons
  7
  Short
  D6
  0.1
  
  38
  new ships
  Reptii Voracious–class Gunship
  The primary vessel of the predatory fleets of the Reptii, the Voracious gunships are vessels layered with thick armour and bristling 
  with gun turrets. They are designed to serve as the primary offensive force in a Reptii attack, hurling missiles and laser strikes 
  at enemy vessels to incapacitate them so a swarm of Deathclaws can swoop in and finish them off. The ample cargo space of a 
  Voracious is used to hold salvaged and stolen loot and bodies from Deathclaw assault teams, however they are also sometimes 
  used to house living cargo as well.
  Reptii Voracious–class Gunship
  Tons
  Price (Cr.)
  Hull
  500 tons
  Standard
  Self–Sealing
  Hull 10
  Structure 10
  37,000,000
  Armour
  Titanium Steel
  6 points
  75
  9,600,000
  Jump Drive E
  Jump 2
  30
  50,000,000
  Manoeuvre
  Drive C
  Thrust 1
  5
  12,000,000
  Power Plant E
  16
  40,000,000
  Bridge
  20
  2,500,000
  Computer
  Model 2/fib
  Rating 10
  240,000
  Electronics
  Military Sensors
  +0 DM
  2
  1,000,000
  Weapons
  Hardpoint #1
  Hardpoint #2
  Hardpoint #3
  Hardpoint #4
  Hardpoint #5
  Double Turret (Twin
  Pulse Laser –7)
  Double Turret (Twin
  Pulse Laser –7)
  Double Turret (Twin
  Beam Laser – 7)
  Double Turret (Twin
  Missile Rack)
  Double Turret (Twin
  Missile Rack)
  5
  10,500,000
  Fuel
  140 tons
  Jump–1 and eight
  weeks of operation
  140
  Cargo
  82 tons
  82
  10 Staterooms
  40
  5,000,000
  Extras
  30 Low Passage
  Berths
  Ship’s Locker
  2 Repair Drones
  Escape Pods
  Cutter
  15
  —
  10
  10
  50
  1,500,000
  —
  400,000
  1,000,000
  28,000,000
  Software
  Auto–Repair/1
  Fire Control/2
  Jump Control/2
  Library
  Manoeuvre/0
  9,200,000
  Maintenance Cost 
  (monthly)
  17,328
  Life Support Cost 
  (monthly
  23,000
  Total Tonnage and Cost
  500
  200,740,000
  
  39
  new ships
  
  40
  new ships
  Reptii Horde–class Command Ship
  Only three in existence, the Horde Command Ships are the largest ships in the Reptii fleets and represent a mobile space 
  headquarters that slowly roars across the galaxy in search of ripe worlds and small fleets to descend upon and devour – both 
  figuratively and literally. The banks of weapons built into a Horde protect it from minor threats and the normal escort of several 
  Voracious Gunships and a veritable swarm of Dreadclaws make nearly anything a potential target for their predation. 
  Reptii Horde–class Command Ship
  Tons
  Price (Cr.)
  Hull
  1,200 tons
  Distributed
  Self–Sealing
  Hull 12
  Structure 12
  120,000,000
  Armour
  Titanium Steel
  10 points
  300
  30,000,000
  Jump Drive J
  Jump 2
  50
  90,000,000
  Manoeuvre Drive J
  Thrust 2
  17
  36,000,000
  Power Plant K
  31
  80,000,000
  Bridge
  40
  6,000,000
  Computer
  Model 2/bis/fib
  Rating 10 (15 for
  Jump Control)
  320,000
  Electronics
  Military Sensors
  +0 DM
  2
  1,000,000
  Weapons
  Hardpoint #1
  Hardpoint #2
  Hardpoint #3
  Hardpoint #4
  Hardpoint #5
  Hardpoint #6
  Hardpoint #7
  Hardpoint #8
  Hardpoint #9
  Hardpoint #10
  Hardpoint #11
  Hardpoint #12
  Triple Turret (Three
  Beam Lasers – 7)
  Double Turret (Twin
  Beam Lasers – 7)
  Double Turret (Twin
  Beam Lasers – 7)
  Double Turret (Twin
  Beam Lasers – 7)
  Double Turret (Twin
  Beam Lasers – 7)
  Double Turret (Twin
  Beam Lasers – 7)
  Single Turret
  (Sandcaster)
  Single Turret
  (Sandcaster)
  Single Turret
  (Sandcaster)
  Single Turret
  (Sandcaster)
  Weapon Bay 
  (Missile Bank)
  Weapon Bay 
  (Missile Bank)
  1
  1
  1
  1
  1
  1
  1
  1
  1
  1
  51
  51
  4,000,000
  2,500,000
  2,500,000
  2,500,000
  2,500,000
  2,500,000
  450,000
  450,000
  450,000
  450,000
  12,000,000
  12,000,000
  Fuel
  340 tons
  Jump–2 and ten
  weeks of operation
  340
  Cargo
  125 tons
  125
  10 Staterooms
  D o u b l e
  Occupancy
  40
  5,000,000
  Extras
  50 Low Passage Berths
  Ship’s Locker
  Probe Drones
  2 Repair Drones
  Escape Pods
  Shuttle
  25
  —
  1
  12
  10
  95
  2,500,000
  —
  100,000
  400,000
  1,000,000
  33,000,000
  Software
  Auto–Repair/2 Fire Control/2
  Intellect Jump Control/2 Library
  Manoeuvre/0
  15,200,000
  Maintenance Cost (monthly)
  38,568
  Life Support Cost (monthly
  Total Tonnage and Cost
                  1,200
  462,820,000
  
  41
  new ships
  
  42
  new ships
  
  43
  new ships
  
  44
  The myriad worlds of known and unknown space are full of 
  opportunities for explorers and entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, 
  humanity’s technological progress has not always been 
  matched by advancements in ethics and morality. Some of 
  those who trade in the far reaches of known space are little 
  more than pirates and smugglers. Delivering contraband or 
  acquiring illegal materials is the lifeblood of their trade.
  Amongst the darkest of all such operations is the capture and 
  sale of slaves – both human and alien. In the time of the Third 
  Imperium, the slave trade is not dead: it has simply moved to 
  the stars.
  Adventure Background
  Matthew Rexel is a wealthy businessman, based on the planet 
  Hashanah. Officially, he runs an organisation that surveys and 
  maps remote mineral deposits for large mining corporations. 
  These operations are just a front, however: Rexel’s real 
  interest is in the capture and sale of exotic species.
  Many worlds have restrictions on the sale or captivity of alien 
  creatures. Wilfully imprisoning sentient beings – human or 
  alien – is outlawed in just about every known settlement. 
  Despite this – or perhaps because of it – there is a huge 
  market for Rexel’s wares. Illegal Fighting rings make use of 
  ferocious alien beasts – and what better subjects to pit them 
  against than humans or sentient aliens? 
  Wealthy nobles like nothing more than to populate their 
  grounds with exotic species in order to display their wealth – 
  regardless of how it might impact on the indigenous wildlife. 
  There are even private zoos that obsessive collectors fill with 
  oddities from across the stars. Rexel’s skills and merchandise 
  are in constant demand. Four weeks ago to the day, Rexel 
  dispatched a ship – the Brook – to a remote world called Sinai. 
  The crew, lead by Captain Jensen Cole, was charged with 
  acquiring a list of indigenous plants and animals and returning 
  with them to Hashanah. They are now one week overdue.
  Rexel suspects that the mission has run into difficulties – 
  and he is correct. However, the difficulties are not anything 
  that he could have anticipated. Assigned to the crew is a 
  xeno–biologist named Kate Anderson. It is the first time that 
  she has worked for Rexel and she believed, rather naively, 
  that the mission was a legitimate attempt to gather research 
  samples.
  The day before the crew was set to leave, Anderson realised 
  that one of the plants that they had gathered was a sentient 
  life form. She relayed this information to Captain Cole but was 
  appalled when he seemed not to care. As far as Anderson 
  is concerned, this fundamentally changed the nature of the 
  mission: the crew are no longer smugglers, they are slavers. 
  The following day, as the ship lifted into orbit, Anderson 
  sabotaged key systems on board the ship – forcing it to return 
  to the planet. It was a bumpy landing, further damaging the 
  Brook and weakening some of the cages used to hold the 
  captured animals.
  Cole was furious but before he could deal with Anderson she 
  jumped ship and escaped into the jungle. To make matters 
  worse, several of the caged beasts escaped, killing a member 
  of the crew. Stranger still, Cole’s head of security – a man he 
  has worked with for six years – released the sentient plant and 
  fled with it into the jungle.
  Cole and his remaining crew are now trapped on the planet. 
  They are attempting to recapture the escaped beasts, to track 
  down Anderson – who has stolen some key components from 
  the Jump drive – and to locate the missing head of security, 
  Zolo Renick.
  Adventure Synopsis
  The PCs are hired by Rexel to track down his missing 
  shipment of alien plants and animals. Whilst the exact nature 
  of the animals is not revealed, they are told that some of them 
  are dangerous.
  Upon arrival on Sinai, they will need to work out whom they 
  can trust and why there has been such friction between the 
  crew. 
  Captain Cole is determined to gather up every lost animal and 
  complete his mission. Stalking some of the escaped beasts 
  Fair Game
  By Carl Walmsley
  An adventure that sees the players trying to track down a missing shipment on a remote world filled 
  with natural dangers.
  
  45
  Fair Game
  through their natural habitat is not easy. The PCs will find that 
  Anderson, the xeno–biologist, is hidden in the forest: she will 
  try to contact them and enlist their aid.
  Chief Renick is being psionically dominated by the Bohfa plant. 
  His senses have been altered so that he perceives the plant 
  as an injured comrade. He will do all that he can to protect it, 
  driving away any intruders with whatever force is necessary.
  One way or another, the PCs will need to help gather up some, 
  if not all, of the missing creatures and help repair the Brook 
  if they are to complete their mission and earn the payment 
  promised to them by Rexel.
  Chapter one
  Characters who ply their trade either as explorers, mercenaries 
  or traders can be introduced to this adventure quite easily. The 
  PCs will need to have access to a Jump capable ship. One 
  of Rexel’s employees will get word to them – either in person 
  or electronically – that Mr Rexel would like to meet with them 
  and discuss a business opportunity. In order to legitimise this 
  meeting, it will take place in the offices of RexelTech.
  This building is located in Kynan, an industrial city on Hashanah. 
  Kynan has a Class B starport and despite its rather built–up 
  and hectic environment, is home to any number of prosperous 
  organisations.
  Mr Rexel is a charismatic host of mixed Asian and Caucasian 
  heritage. 
  He will treat his guests well, ensuring that they are comfortable 
  before negotiations begin.
  Read or paraphrase the following. About a month ago, one of 
  my ships – the Brook – was sent to the planet Sinai to gather 
  plant and animal samples. These are of interest to various 
  pharmaceutical companies looking to develop new drug 
  treatments.
  The Brook was due to return a week ago but has failed to report 
  in. I am increasingly concerned for the safety of the crew. 
  I would like you to travel to Sinai – it is a pretty remote world 
  and whilst the atmosphere is breathable, there are some 
  indigenous life forms that are quite dangerous. Locate the 
  Brook, ensure that the crew is ok and then help them to 
  complete their original mission. If you can do that for me, you 
  will be generously reimbursed for your efforts. 
  The PCs will no doubt ask Rexel why he does not send some 
  more of his own people to locate the Brook. He will state that 
  any other vessels he owns that are suitable for this task are 
  off–world performing survey–work. There is some truth in this 
  but Rexel’s real reason for hiring outside help is that if Sinai 
  has turned out to be more dangerous than he had anticipated 
  he does not want to lose any more men and equipment.
  Rexel is reluctant to provide full details of all the plants and 
  animals that the Brook was sent to collect. He claims that a 
  confidentiality agreement with the nameless (and bogus) 
  pharmaceutical company prevents him from doing so. Rexel will 
  state that most of the samples are harmless, though there will 
  be a large predator amongst the shipment.
  Rexel should offer enough money to make this a tempting 
  assignment – notwithstanding any reservations the PCs might 
  have about Rexel’s refusal to reveal exactly what the Brook was 
  sent to collect. He can be persuaded to cover expenses such as 
  fuel, if the PCs haggle.
  Investigation
  Cautious PCs will likely wish to do some checking up on their 
  prospective employer, Mr Rexel. They will find nothing official 
  to indicate he is anything more or less than a respectable 
  businessman – taxes paid, no criminal record and so on. More 
  inventive means, such as rumour gathering in the local black–
  market hot spots, may turn up the following:
  * Employees of RexelTech are surprisingly well–armed for 
  planetary surveyors (Effect total 2+).
  * Employees of RexelTech have a habit of getting injured or 
  even killed whilst out on missions (Effect4+).
  * Rexel’s ships are sometimes used for smuggling contraband 
  (Effect Total 6+). 
  If the PCs confront Rexel with any of these rumours, he can 
  shrug off all but the accusation of smuggling. He will make no 
  secret of the fact that surveying work – and occasional side 
  missions to acquire organic samples – can be dangerous. If the 
  PCs call Rexel a smuggler, he will advise them to keep such 
  thoughts to themselves.
  He insists that free trade is the lifeblood of the universe. If the 
  characters are foolish enough to threaten Rexel – either with 
  blackmail or a report to the authorities – they will be making a 
  powerful enemy. Rexel has more than 200 employees, many of 
  whom are capable of eliminating interfering characters.
  Sinai
  Assuming that a deal can be struck with Rexel, the PCs can 
  make the Jump from Hashanah to Sinai – a distance of one 
  parsec. Rexel provides co–ordinates to where the survey team 
  was due to land.
  However, once the PCs arrive they will find that the Brook is no 
  longer there – the ship originally left the planet and then was 
  forced to return when Anderson sabotaged several systems.  
  If the PCs ship has powerful enough sensors, they may be 
  able to locate the downed Brook from orbit. Alternatively, they 
  will need to make contact using their ship’s communications 
  system. If they identify themselves as in some way working for 
  Rexel, Captain Cole will answer the hail and provide the PCs 
  with landing co–ordinates. However, Cole is not the only one 
  
  46
  Fair Game
  listening: Anderson has a portable transceiver. Once the PCs 
  are within her 500 km range, she will send them the following 
  message in a panicked tone:
  ‘Don’t trust him! He’ll lie to you – just like he lied to me!’
  At this point, Cole will jam Anderson’s signal using equipment 
  on the Brook. The PCs will now most likely be very suspicious. 
  Cole will try to placate them with a promise to explain everything 
  once they land. If this does not work, he says that a rogue 
  member of the crew, who caused the ship to crash, sent the 
  signal.
  If the PCs follow the co–ordinates provided by Cole, they will 
  see that the Brook has crash–landed atop a rock promontory 
  that sticks up above the surrounding jungle. Cole himself stands 
  outside and waves them in.
  Chapter two
  Once the PCs make planet fall, Cole will invite them inside 
  the damaged Brook to talk. He explains that after his crew 
  had gathered the plant and animal samples they were sent to 
  collect, they tried to leave the planet.
  However, whilst still in orbit, the ship lost several key systems. 
  The pilot managed to make an emergency landing on the 
  plateau of rock where the Brook now rests. They have been 
  here for two weeks. According to Cole, the crash damaged the 
  holding cages and released some of the captive beasts. One of 
  these – Subject Five – killed a member of his crew. Two other 
  crewmembers have gone AWOL – the team’s xenobiologist 
  (Anderson) and the head of security (Renick). Cole speculates 
  that Renick might have received a concussion during the rough 
  landing (causing him to act irrationally) or that he is suffering 
  from post–traumatic stress brought on by his years in the star 
  marines. He wants to locate and safely recover his friend.
  Cole will state his belief that Anderson is a saboteur. Her radio 
  message is, he claims, further proof of this. He says that she 
  caused the crash by sabotaging key systems and has now fled 
  taking with her some key components from the Jump Drive. Until 
  these are recovered, the Brook is grounded. Cole wants the parts 
  returned – but not Anderson.
  Cole will ask the PCs if they can help with a number of things:
  * Capturing Subject Five and Subject Twelve (the Bohfa Plant) 
  – the last two escapees
  * Locating Renick
  *Locating the spare parts Anderson stole
  * Finishing repairs to the Brook
  The Brook
  As the PCs are working for Rexel, they will be given more or 
  less free reign of the Brook in order to utilise any equipment 
  stowed on board and to help with repairs. Cole says that only 
  two areas are out of bounds – the crews’ quarters (specifically 
  his cabin) and the specimen cages. This latter restriction is for 
  the PC’s own safety. The Brook is a ‘Fat Trader’ (Traveller Core 
  Rulebook, pages 119–120).
  The Main cargo bay has been specially converted to hold 20 
  specimen cages. All but one of these is full when the PCs arrive 
  on Sinai – leaving room for the Bohfa plant. 
  The Forward Cargo Bay is converted into a single reinforced 
  caging area to hold Subject Five. This part of the ship was 
  damaged during the crash, allowing the beast to escape.
  The Rear Cargo bay contains a thruster pack, a tent, a large 
  net, a Geiger counter, six vacc suits (one of which is damaged), 
  a medkit, a stunner (TL10) and an artificial gill. All of these items 
  can be found in the equipment section of the Traveller Core 
  Rulebook.
  Access to the crews’ quarters is restricted by a keypad lock. 
  A character with Engineer (Electronics) can try to bypass this 
  device. The DM for the check is –2. An Exceptional Failure 
  triggers a ship–wide alarm. Cole’s room is secured with a 
  biometric lock. Any attempt to open this suffers a DM of –4. Any 
  failure activates the alarm. Stashed away beneath Cole’s bunk 
  is a collection of plant samples that he plans to sell on for his 
  own personal gains. If the PC’s learn about this, Cole will be 
  desperate to prevent Rexel from finding out what he is up to. 
  Of course, whether this means the PCs are able to manipulate 
  him or that he tries to take them out of the picture will depend 
  on how they play their hand. Cole can certainly be persuaded 
  to share the profits from the sale (2d6 x 1000 credits) but he will 
  not simply do whatever the PCs might demand. If he needs it, 
  he has the backing of the crew – and he is a ruthless man.
  Along with Captain Cole, there are currently six other surviving 
  members of the crew, one of whom is his copilot, Seth McKay. 
  With the exception of Anderson, everyone aboard the Brook 
  has taken part in a range of smuggling and slaving operations.
  Captain Jenson Cole
  Str 9, Dex 10, End 9, Int 8, Edu 8, Soc 7
  Astrogation 2, Carouse 0, Comms 2, Deception 2, Gunner 
  (Turrets) 2, Mechanic 1, Pilot (Spacecraft) 3,
  Recon 0, Sensors 1, Stealth 1, Gun Combat (Slug Rifle) 2, 
  Melee (Unarmed Combat) 1
  ACR (3d6, Auto 6)
  Co–pilot Seth McKay
  Str 7, Dex 9, End 8, Int 8, Edu 7, Soc 7
  Astrogation 2, Comms 1, Deception 1, Engineer (Jump Drive) 2, 
  Gunner (Turrets) 2, Mechanic 2, Sensors 2, Pilot (Spacecraft) 
  1, Gun Combat (Energy Pistol) 2, Melee (Blade) 1
  Laser pistol (3d6, TL9), Blade (2d6)
  
  47
  Fair Game
  Brook Crewmembers (5)
  Str 7, Dex 8, End 8, Int 7, Edu 6, Soc 6
  Deception 1, Stealth 1, Gunner or Sensors 1, Gun Combat 
  (Slug Rifle) 2, Mechanic 0, Melee (Unarmed Combat) 2
  Assault Rifle (3d6, Auto 4)
  Repairs
  Having had two weeks to work on the damage sustained during 
  Anderson’s sabotage and the subsequent crash, the crew have 
  got the Brook more or less in working order. There is a single 
  point of Hull Damage still to be restored that a mechanically 
  minded PC can help iron out. What is really needed, however, 
  are the irreplaceable components from the Jump Drive that 
  Anderson took with her – having taken the time to destroy all 
  the onboard spares.
  The Environment
  The region of Sinai where the PCs find themselves is extremely 
  hot and humid. Up on the rock promontory, there is at least 
  a cooling wind. Down beneath the canopy it is as hot as hell: 
  masks steam up, metallic objects become hot to the touch and 
  characters will find that they sweat constantly. Even at night, 
  when the temperature drops by a good 10 degrees, it is still in 
  the high twenties.
  Subject Five
  The dense jungle surrounding the rocks where the Brook set 
  down is extremely humid and littered with primeval pools. 
  Consequently, one of the dominant predators that have managed 
  to evolve in this region is a giant purple–skinned amphibian. 
  This creature has regenerative capabilities, not unlike an earth 
  salamander and a long prehensile tongue loaded with toxin, 
  which it uses to hunt. Imagine a cross between a bullfrog and 
  a hippo.
  The crew of the Brook originally captured Subject Five using a 
  tranquilliser gun. Unfortunately this was destroyed in the crash. 
  Added to that, the crewmember who died was the team’s expert 
  hunter. Without his skills, they have been unable to recapture 
  Subject Five – or another of his species. Cole will suggest 
  
  48
  Fair Game
  staking out one of the large pools in the forest floor and waiting 
  for subject five to show up. There are known to be a number of 
  dangerous life forms down in the jungle, so up until now he has 
  not been willing to risk any more of his crew. With the PCs help, 
  he feels it should be safe…ish.
  Subject Five Type Habitat 
  Str         Dex     End       Int         Instinct      Pack
  Pouncer   Jungle  Amphibious     14                 12(6)*
      11              1                 7                  3
  (Carnivore)
  Recon 1, Athletics (Co–ordination) 2, Survival 2, Melee (natural 
  weapons) 2 Teeth (3d6), Tongue (1d6), Thick skin (4). Number 
  encountered: 1
  The toxin in subject five’s tongue reduces the target’s Int and 
  Dex by 1D6 if an Endurance check is failed. The DM for this is 
  –3. The effect lasts for 1–6 hours. The effects of multiple hits 
  are cumulative.
  *On dry land, subject five is more cumbersome than when in 
  water, hence the reduction in Dex. Its Movement is half that of 
  a human on land (3 metres) but it is much faster in the water 
  (7 metres).
  If the PCs follow Cole’s plan, they will have to hide beneath the 
  layer of mouldy detritus that blankets the forest floor and wait 
  1D6 hours for a member of Subject Five’s race to show up. A 
  successful Stealth check is required to locate a suitable hiding 
  place. The beast will eventually show up, moving slowly across 
  open ground before entering the pool.
  One method of capture that the PCs could use is to utilise the 
  large net from the cargo hold of the Brook to rig up a snare. A 
  Survival check Opposed by Subject Five’s Recon skill will be 
  required to set this up effectively.
  This will at least immobilise the creature long enough to 
  medicate it or subdue it physically. If the PCs badly injure or 
  even kill Subject Five, the despairing captain will tell them that 
  a dead or mutilated specimen is of no use to him. Cole will not 
  give the order to leave the planet until he is in possession of 
  either a member of Subject Five’s race or the Bohfa plant. The 
  PCs might therefore find themselves repeating their hunt.
  What the Hell is This Thing?
  Every new planet that the PCs visit should seem strange and 
  unfamiliar: stepping out of that airlock onto alien soil should be 
  an exhilarating but daunting experience.
  One way to accomplish this on Sinai is to have the characters 
  encounter peculiar animals that they have no idea how they 
  should react to. Two examples are included below but feel free 
  to invent some oddities of your own.
  A Hair–Raising Encounter
  Within the dense forest canopy is a breed of nestbuilding 
  deconids (think 10–legged insects). Human hair is perfect 
  weaving material for their nests. At some point, when the PCs 
  are stationary – possibly whilst laying in wait for subject five 
  – one descends from the trees and begins plucking. Given 
  that the deconids are 20cm across, this might sound like a 
  terrifying encounter. However, these creatures emit a song that 
  has a lilting, lullaby quality. Any character that cannot pass an 
  Endurance check with a –2 DM is compelled to stand around 
  and listen to it – and thereby serve as a willing source of bedding 
  material for baby deconids.
  With enough of these critters around, a character could 
  conceivably wind up bald. If attacked, these timid creatures 
  immediately flee and the tone of their song alters. Soon, untold 
  voices ring out through the forest. Whether this is a warning 
  to other deconids to beware the PCs or something altogether 
  more sinister is entirely up to you.
  Sleep Tight
  A species of microscopic bugs infests every inch of the planet. 
  These tiny creatures feed almost exclusively on salt. When the 
  human body perspires it releases enough sodium chloride to 
  feed a veritable colony of these things. Added to this, human 
  tears are extremely salty. Consequently, the tear ducts form a 
  perfect feeding ground for these bugs, which flock to them like 
  animals to a watering hole.
  As these creatures feed, they excrete. Not a lot individually, but 
  en mass, they are surprisingly productive. A character who falls 
  asleep with a colony of these bugs on him will wake up covered 
  in a crusty residue. This is not enough to immobilise him – the 
  residue can be picked off like a scab – however it will seal his 
  eyelids with the equivalent sticking power of super glue. The 
  realisation that he has been to sleep encased in a shell of tiny 
  alien bug faeces should be enough to remind any character that 
  the universe is a strange place.
  Rogue Biologist
  Cole’s men have been trying, without success, to locate 
  Anderson for almost a fortnight. Her knowledge of xenology and 
  survival has allowed her to find shelter and to scavenge enough 
  food to stay alive.
  If Cole or any members of the crew are questioned about 
  Anderson, they will state that she did not fit in with the team from 
  the word go. Cole speculates that she might be some enviro–
  freak set on protecting this world from outsiders. Cole makes it 
  clear that he does not care whether Anderson is found or not – if 
  she is, Cole will refuse to allow her back on the Brook. All he 
  cares about is locating the missing components. Note that the 
  PCs should not simply be able to take parts from their own ship 
  and use them to patch up the Brook. The parts required must 
  be a perfect match.
  
  49
  Fair Game
  Searching for Anderson
  If one or more of the PCs has the appropriate skills, he might 
  try to locate Anderson’s tracks. She is camped out only 1 km 
  from the plateau where the Brook is located and has made 
  daily visits to check up on the crew. Any character with Recon 
  can conceivably look for tracks but those from primitive worlds 
  are likely far better suited. You should apply a –2 DM to checks 
  made to locate Anderson’s camp for characters from worlds 
  with TL 8+. Attempts to pick up Anderson trail using Recon are 
  Opposed by her Stealth skill.
  Kate Anderson
  Str 6, Dex 8, End 10, Int 9, Edu 10, Soc 8
  Animals (Veterinary) 2, Comms 1, Deception 0, Life Sciences 
  (Biology) 3, Mechanic 1, Medic 1, Space Sciences (Xenology) 
  3, Stealth 2, Survival 2, Gun Combat (Shotgun) 1, Melee 
  (Blade) 1 Shotgun (4d6), Dagger (1d6+2) As soon as one of 
  the PCs is out in the forest unaccompanied by a member 
  of the Brook’s crew, Anderson will approach him and ask 
  for help.
  Anderson’s Story
  Anderson will claim that Cole and his men are slavers and that 
  at least one of the organisms they wish to transport off world 
  – the Bohfa plant – is sentient. According to Anderson, the 
  plant ‘spoke’ to her; through a series of what she believes were 
  psionic images.
  Anderson will freely admit to sabotaging the Brook and still 
  has the stolen Jump Drive components stashed at her camp. 
  She will admit that she acted rashly but claims that she had no 
  alternative. She really does not know what to do now that the 
  Brook is stranded. She does not want to see anyone get hurt 
  but she feels that she must protect the Bohfa.
  As you may have gathered, Anderson has no idea that Renick 
  has taken the plant and fled the ship. If she learns this, she will 
  willingly give up the Jump Drive components so that the Brook 
  can leave.
  As Anderson will not be allowed back on the Brook, the PCs 
  may represent her only chance to get off Sinai. If the opportunity 
  presents itself, she will request passage and whilst she has 
  
  50
  Fair Game
  no funds to offer, she can earn her keep with her medical and 
  scientific skills. She may even make a useful addition to the 
  crew.
  Kate Anderson is a tough, outdoor–type who has roughed it on 
  a number of harsh alien worlds. If the PCs try to take her by 
  force, she will do everything she can to defend herself – and 
  she certainly knows which end of a shotgun is which.
  we don’t leave our people Behind!
  Zolo Renick was Captain Cole’s right–hand man for six years. 
  Now – thanks to the psionic influence of the Bohfa plant – 
  he believes that he has been betrayed by his crewmates. 
  More than this, he perceives the Bohfa not as a plant but as 
  a wounded comrade that needs to be protected until help 
  arrives.
  Until an attempt has been made to rescue Renick – from himself 
  if need be – Cole is unwilling to leave the planet. If an attempt 
  is made and it fails, resulting in casualties, Cole will reluctantly 
  agree to leave his old friend behind.
  If asked whether there was anything odd about Renick’s 
  behaviour before his disappearance, Cole says that he was 
  suffering with bad dreams. Cole believes these might be a result 
  of Renick’s military experiences, which were quite taxing. The 
  truth is that the dreams were an early sign of his latent psionic 
  talents picking up on the unhappiness of the Bohfa plant.
  The crew of the Brook are reluctant to go after Renick – they 
  know how well trained he is and how hard it will be to capture 
  him. Cole would, genuinely, like to search for him himself but 
  feels he has a responsibility to remain with the ship. Renick is 
  an expert survivalist and soldier. He served two terms in the star 
  marines and received numerous commendations for bravery.
  Zolo Renick
  Str 10, Dex 9, End 11, Int 7, Edu 7, Soc 7
  Battle Dress 1, Comms 1, Deception 0, Drive (Wheeled) 2, 
  Explosives 2, Gunner (Turrets) 1, Gun Combat (Slug Rifle) 3, 
  Heavy Weapons (Launchers) 1, Leadership 0, Melee (Blade) 2, 
  Recon 3, Stealth 2, Survival 2, Tactics 2
  ACR (4d6, Auto 6), Grenade Launcher (Frag: 5d6/3d6/ 1d6), 
  Blade (2d6), Flak Jacket (TL 8, Protection 6) 
  Renick’s Snares
  Renick has set up a series of snares designed to detect and 
  ward off intruders. There will be no talking him down – he is 
  willing to defend the Bohfa plant with his life, rather than let it be 
  captured by ‘the enemy’. The crew of the Brook already knows 
  the approximate location of Renick’s camp but so far no one has 
  dared to try to capture him. Renick has established a series of 
  perimeter tripwires. Spotting these requires a Recon check. If 
  triggered, these tripwires rattle wind chimes and alert Renick to 
  the presence of intruders. Beyond the tripwires are a variety of 
  snares:
  Staked pothole: This covered pit is only 0.5 metres deep but it 
  is enough to impale and possible break someone’s leg. Damage 
  2d6. If this damage reduces the target to Endurance 0, any 
  further damage must be subtracted from Dexterity.
  Leg Snare: A sprung trap that uses a bent branch, this snare 
  closes a noose around the target’s leg and catapults him into the 
  air. As the target turns, his head is smashed into the ground. This 
  trap immobilises a target until he is cut down. Damage 1D6+2. 
  If this damage reduces the target to Endurance 0, he is knocked 
  unconscious as his head connects with the ground.
  Grenade Trap: Far and away the most lethal snare that Renick 
  has set, this simple tripwire pulls the pin from a grenade. 
  It detonates one second after this occurs. A character who 
  immediately throws himself prone suffers 3d6 damage. 
  Otherwise, the poor soul who triggers this explosive takes 5d6 
  damage. Each of these snares can be spotted with a Recon 
  check. The staked pothole has a DM of –2.
  The exact location of these traps is not marked on the map, 
  in order that you can use it with your players to keep track of 
  their positions as they go after Renick. You should have each 
  character involved in the hunt encounter a tripwire and one of the 
  snares as they approach his camp.
  The Trench
  Renick is hunkered down inside a trench that he has dug for 
  himself. It provides him with ¾ cover (Traveller Core Rulebook, 
  page 63). If the PCs have managed to get through the tripwires 
  and snares undetected, there is a chance that Renick is sleeping. 
  Roll 2d6 – on a result of 2 to 6, he is catching some shuteye. If not, 
  the PCs will need to make a Stealth check Opposed by Renick’s 
  Recon skill to get close enough to the see the old soldier. The area 
  around Renick’s camp is thick with vegetation, providing ample 
  cover for anyone sneaking around (+1 DM on Stealth checks).
  If Renick detects intruders, he will use every skill and weapon 
  in his arsenal to take them out. If Renick can be isolated from 
  the Bohfa plant for 24 hours, he will go through a sort of psionic 
  withdrawal. Once he has endured this, he will be back to normal.
  The Bohfa Plant 
  This large green and yellow plant has an intelligence that is 
  comparable with a human child. Whilst it needs to remain in soil, 
  it is able to uproot itself and move – very slowly – to new areas. It 
  has remained near Renick as it senses that he wishes to protect 
  it.
  How much the Bohfa can communicate with the PCs is up to 
  you. Any character with psionic abilities should be able to receive 
  its thought projections quite clearly. Any characters with latent 
  
  51
  Fair Game
  psi–abilities will understand some of what the creature is trying to 
  communicate (both Anderson and Renick fall into this category). 
  If your campaign is making use of psionics, this could be a 
  significant first–contact meeting that might lead on to other 
  adventures: an entire race of psionic plants could be of interest 
  to all sorts of people.
  The PCs will have decide for themselves whether they are 
  comfortable handing over a sentient creature to Cole so that it can 
  be examined in a laboratory. If they do so, Anderson will still try to 
  get the PCs to help her off world – she has the good sense to stay 
  quiet until then – but she will go her own way at the first opportunity.
  Return to Hashanah
  If the PCs help Cole and his crew to fix the Jump Drive and the 
  Brook returns safely to Hashanah, Rexel will accept that the PCs 
  have carried out their end of the bargain and pay them for their 
  services. However, this payment can be modified – up or down – 
  according to certain considerations:
  * Neither the Subject Five nor the Bohfa plant are included as 
  part of the shipment (–30%)
  * Either Subject Five or the Bohfa plant is not included in the 
  shipment (–10%)
  *The PCs played a major role in helping to subdue Renick and he 
  is now able to resume his duties (+20%)
  Mr Rexel could be a useful contact for the PCs and if their work 
  was good, further offers of smuggling or acquisition work might 
  well be forthcoming. As the man said, free trade is the lifeblood 
  of the universe…
  
  52
  Evolution
  For several years, the bio–genetic corporation Janus Tech has 
  been trying to develop creatures that can mimic the abilities and 
  behaviour of other species. The corporation’s goal is to produce 
  rapidly evolving creatures – called biomorphs – that can be 
  introduced to new environments and adapt quickly enough to 
  form part of a stable food chain. The corporation’s first biomorph 
  is now at the stage where it needs to be field–tested – and the 
  world chosen for this experiment just happens to be the place 
  where PCs are currently docked.
  The Experiment
  24 hours ago, the lead scientist on the first biomorph field test – 
  Dr Walter Kraig – oversaw the release of seven specimens. His 
  team has set up a monitoring station in the forests surrounding 
  the port, from where they can monitor how well the creatures 
  adapt. To facilitate this, each creature has a tracking device 
  located beneath its skin so that the scientists can keep tabs 
  on them. The biomorphs have a genetic safeguard, which 
  means that they can only adapt their genetic code for the 
  first 24 hours after their release – after this, their form and 
  abilities ‘lock’. This is to prevent them working their way all the 
  way up the food chain and dominating an ecosystem. In their 
  un–changed form, biomorphs are rather featureless, grey–
  skinned quadrupeds.
  The Test Site
  The site chosen for the experiment can be any quiet 
  backwater world with a small starport. Besides the limited 
  industrial hub around the port, the surrounding environs are 
  based on agriculture and include vast swathes of untamed 
  forest where off–worlders occasionally come to hunt.
  If the PCs need a reason to visit such a place, any of the 
  following is suitable:
  * The PCs are lured to the planet with an offer of work – perhaps 
  transporting rare merchandise to another world.
  *The PCs are tempted by a reward for the capture of a criminal 
  who is hiding out on this world.
  * The PCs have been forced to land in order to effect repairs 
  or to re–fuel. Whatever the PCs reason for being here – 
  and it is best to provide them with an incentive to leave this 
  world as soon as possible – the adventure begins when they 
  attempt to depart and find that every ship in the starport has 
  been grounded.
  Quarantine
  Unfortunately for Dr Kraig and his team, two of the biomorph’s 
  released into the forest have mimicked the abilities of some 
  dangerous indigenous creatures that they were not aware 
  of and have started to attack the local population. One of 
  these attacks occurred inside the port itself. As a result, the 
  authorities – who fear that a hazardous alien life–form might 
  have been smuggled in – have sealed off the port. They have 
  also ordered a search of all docked vessels.
  The PCs can huff and puff as much as they like but the port’s 
  bureaucratic head of security – Marrick Waller – will not allow any 
  ships to leave; not until the strange attacks have been explained.
  Unexplained Attacks
  A couple of hours before the PCs make their attempt to leave, 
  a security guard working within the port is critically injured in an 
  animal attack. The wounds correspond to those that would be 
  inflicted by a taythar – a large scorpion–like creature that lives 
  deep in the woods. It is inconceivable that one could have made 
  it into the port unobserved, however, so the locals are baffled as 
  to what could have happened.
  Hopefully, the PCs will realise that the quickest way for them to 
  get off–world is to clear up this mystery. If necessary, Waller will 
  offer a small reward – or may turn a blind eye to any questionable 
  merchandise that he has discovered on board the PC’s ship.
  If the PCs decide not to intervene, further attacks will occur 
  within a matter of hours and the local populace will become 
  increasingly concerned. The finger of blame may even start to 
  be turned towards strangers.
  Picking Up the Trail
  As soon as the PCs decide to get involved in the search, they 
  will receive word that another attack has just occurred – this 
  adapt and overCome
  By Carl Walmsley
  Stranded on a backwater world, the PCs become embroiled in an effort to explain a series of bizarre 
  attacks and to capture some very unusual creatures.
  
  53
  adapt and overCome
  time, inside a factory. The victim of the attack – Kalem Pierce 
  – was an employee of Bensen Agri–Farms. Unfortunately, this 
  attack has been fatal and there is evidence that Pierce’s dead 
  body has been fed upon. A blood trail leads fromthe body, down 
  into the port’s sewerage system.
  The local constabulary will seal off the area but it will not be 
  difficult for the PCs to talk their way in if they are offering to 
  help.
  The First Hunt
  Following the trail down into the sewers presents the PCs with 
  a number of problems. Firstly, Bensen Agri–Farms has been 
  illegally stowing pesticide canisters in the tunnels directly 
  beneath the factory. Most of these are intact but a few have 
  leaked, producing a toxic spill that is strong enough to burn 
  skin (1 point of damage per round of exposure). Secondly, the 
  biomorph has adopted the sewers as its home and will attack 
  any characters that search for it.
  Sewer Biomorph
  Type: Killer
  Habitat: Sewers
  Str: 14, Dex: 10, End: 12, Int: 3, Instinct: 10, Pack: 1
  Recon 2, Melee (claws) 2, Stealth 2 Pincers (3d6), Sting (1d6 + 
  neurotoxin poison*), Hide (2)
  * Traveller Core RuleBook (page 74)
  This particular biomorph has taken on the features of a taythar 
  scorpion (providing it with pincers and a stinger) and a sort of 
  predatory eel (known as a narok). It is now about three metres 
  long. The biomorph remains beneath the surface of the sewer 
  water until prey comes close enough for it to attack.
  Encountering the Team from Janus Tech
  Once the PCs have killed or captured the sewer biomorph, a 
  recovery team from Janus Tech will immediately arrive. Dressed 
  in hostile environment suits and armed with stunner weapons, 
  it should be clear that they are searching for the biomorph 
  themselves.
  The leader of the team is Dr Kraig’s assistant, Catherine Belvue. 
  She and her men will try to take the biomorph back to their 
  monitoring station using a specially prepared transportation 
  vehicle that they have waiting nearby. If the PCs are not willing 
  to surrender the creature, Belvue will firstly try to ‘buy’ it from 
  them and if this does not work, admit that the creature is part of 
  an experiment and that her company created it. Given that the 
  PCs have managed to capture or kill the first biomorph, Belvue 
  will ask for their help in tracking down the second that has gone 
  astray. Again, a payment of some kind will be forthcoming if 
  necessary. If the PC’s ask Belvue about the biomorph, she will 
  explain its adaptive abilities to them and admit that things have 
  not gone according to plan.
  The Biomorph Lair
  Using the locater hidden beneath the second biomorph’s skin, 
  Belvue has narrowed down its location to a cave complex at the 
  edge of the forest. If at all possible, she will persuade the PCs to 
  go in and capture the creature – or at least flush it out. She can 
  provide the PCs with a scanner that allows them to locate the 
  transmitter to within a few metres. What Belvue does not know 
  is that the biomorph – and its locater – has been swallowed by 
  an enormous indigenous predator called a maklith.
  Maklith
  Type: Trapper
  Habitat: Caves and Forests
  Str: 17, Dex: 10, End: 20, Int: 1, Instinct: 9, Pack: 1
  Recon 1, Melee (tentacles) 2, Stealth 3 tentacle (1d6 + paralytic 
  poison), Bite (2d6), Hide (1) 
  Paralytic poison – any character that suffers at least 1 point 
  of damage from the maklith’s tentacle attack must make an 
  Endurance check or become paralysed for 1d10 minutes.
  The maklith resembles a huge black jelly–fish with a large circular 
  mouth located on its back. Thanks to internal air–sacks it is able 
  to float through the air and attack prey from above. It spends most 
  of its time, however, hidden within a muddy pool, absorbing the 
  gases it needs to fill its flotation sacks.
  The rock around the central chamber where the maklith dwells 
  is honey–combed with storage holes where prey is stored until 
  such a time as the creature is hungry.
  The Maklith attacks intruders that stray too close to its mud–
  pool. It will seek to paralyse them and then drag them beneath 
  the mud, where it can drown them – and then place them in its 
  food store.
  Quarantine Lifted
  Once the rogue biomorphs have been captured or killed, 
  Dr Kraig will do all that he can to hush things up. His 
  experiments will continue – only now in greater secrecy and 
  on a more isolated world. Marrick Waller will receive a hefty 
  bribe from Janus Tech to keep quiet about recent events. 
  Within a matter of hours the quarantine will be lifted, allowing 
  the PC’s to leave. Whether they happen to have a biomorph 
  stowed away on board their ship or not is entirely up to you…
  
  54
  Jury–Rigging is an infrequent series of articles about the 
  Traveller rules and how to hack them for different universes 
  and styles of play. All of the rules here are entirely optional. 
  One of the goals of the new edition of Traveller was to marry a 
  variation on Classic Traveller’s roll 2d6 system with the stat+skill 
  roll seen in later editions, including Traveller 5, while also 
  making the skill system a little more consistent and removing 
  special–cases and exceptions where possible. (There are still 
  a few legacies, like the Battle Dress skill, which is rarely rolled 
  but determines the penalty for using armour when unskilled).
  The core system of ‘2d6+ skill + stat modifier + other DMs, get 8+’ 
  works very well for one–off skill checks – did the Player Character 
  hit the target with a gunshot? Did he persuade the guard to let 
  him into the TAS hostel? – However, Traveller encounters often 
  call for more detailed task resolution rules. A scene where the 
  characters repair a starship is just as important to the game as a 
  firefight and should have the same level of detail and scope for 
  player input.
  Task Chains
  Task chains are explained in the Traveller rulebook on page 
  51. The idea is that each check in the chain gives a bonus or 
  penalty to the next check, so several Player Characters can 
  contribute to the same task. Each check in the chain gives a 
  bonus or penalty (up to +/–3) to the next one. Most task chains 
  are only going to be two or three links long.
  Breakable Task Chains: Most task chains assume that the 
  final goal can also be completed – the previous skills just make 
  things easier. The gunner with the vehicle–mounted gun can 
  always fire the gun; the driver may make things easier, by 
  driving smoothly and lining up a nice shot or harder by slewing 
  the vehicle wildly and forcing the gunner to compensate but the 
  gunner can always fire.
  Task Chain Examples
  Check #1
  Check #2
  Check #3
  Aiming a Vehicle mounted gun Drive (to put the vehicle into 
  position)
  Heavy Weapons
  (to fire)
  Finding a buyer for stolen 
  goods
  Streetwise (to find the buyer)
  Persuade (to get in to talk to 
  him)
  Broker (to seal
  the deal)
  Digging up rumours about an 
  enemy
  Carouse (to find
  someone willing to
  talk)
  Deception (to
  pretend to be
  someone else)
  Investigate (to
  wheedle out the
  right rumours)
  Making your way across a 
  desert
  Navigate (to find
  the way)
  Survival (to cross the 
  wilderness
   successfully)
  Jumping a
  ship
  Astrogation (to plot the 
  course)
  Engineering (jump) to activate 
  the engines
  Breakable Task Chain Examples
  Check #1
  Check #2
  Check #3
  Disarming
  a bomb
  Investigate (find
  the bomb)
  Explosives
  (disarm the bomb)
  Stealing a
  shuttle
  Stealth (sneak
  onto the starport)
  Engineering
  (electronics) (overcome
  the electronic locks)
  Pilot (small
  craft) (to fly the
  shuttle)
  Jury – riGGinG
  By Gareth Hanrahan 
  The creator of Traveller takes a look at Task Chains and how you can use them to bring serious 
  drama into your games.
  
  55
  Jury-riGGinG
  In some task chains, though, any break in the chain 
  makes future checks impossible.
  In both of the above examples, if any link in the chain 
  fails, the whole chain fails. If the characters do not find 
  the bomb, they cannot disarm it. If they fail to sneak onto 
  the starport, then all of the piloting skill in the world will 
  not let them fly a shuttle that they do not have.
  Breakable chains are very risky for the players – the 
  chances of failure multiply with every link in the chain – 
  but some tasks are that risky.
  Combined–Effort Chains: Normally, each link in a task 
  chain only affects the next task by +/– 3. This means that 
  one check can fail dismally but with a good roll in the next 
  link, the character can still get a huge success and pass 
  on a big positive DM to the final check. Often, the only 
  ones that really matter are the second–last and the last 
  check.
  Combined–effort checks allow multiple characters to 
  affect the final roll – instead of a chain; it is a combined 
  effort, with lots of checks contributing to the final roll. 
  Each supporting check in a combined–effort check raises 
  or lowers the difficulty by one step on the difficulty table.
  Difficulty
  DM
  Ridiculously Easy
  +8
  Simple
  +6
  Easy
  +4
  Routine
  +2
  Average
  +0
  Difficult
  –2
  Very Difficult
  –4
  Formidable
  –6
  Impossible
  –8
  For example, if the characters are trying to impress clients at 
  a party, then everyone could make Carouse or Diplomacy or 
  Perform rolls. These rolls would affect the final difficulty of the 
  Broker role to seal the deal. If the final
  Broker check was going to be Very Difficult and two 
  characters succeed at their supporting checks while 
  another one fails, then the final check moves down one 
  step on the difficulty ladder to merely Difficult (–2).
  Open Chains: For a more free–form game, let the players 
  come up with skills to fill a task chain. For example, the 
  characters are trying to break into a prison camp. The 
  Referee announces that this will be a Formidable (–6) 
  Stealth skill check. The players can now suggest and 
  implement ways to bring this difficulty down. One player 
  might say ‘I’m going to use Comms to intercept the 
  guards’ radio traffic’, another might suggest using Recon 
  to spy on the camp from a distance, another might use 
  Deception to disguise himself as a guard or Clairvoyance 
  to observe a guard entering the code into an electronic 
  lock.
  Each of these checks would be at a much lower difficulty 
  than the final check but if the characters succeed, they 
  bring the difficulty down for that final check. (If they fail, 
  of course, they raise the difficulty.) The Referee should 
  encourage creative use of skills in an open chain. 
  Competency
  Not every use of skills needs to involve a skill check. Sometimes, 
  randomness does not factor into a situation – the character 
  either has the skill or he does not. For example, if a character 
  has a Medic or Life Science skill of 2+, then he has heard of 
  some obscure disease. Otherwise, he simply has never heard 
  of it. Competency checks should be used when the Referee 
  wants to avoid interrupting the game with dice rolling.
  Risk & Consequences
  To make skill checks more interesting, the Referee can specify 
  a risk involved before making the check. This risk is in addition 
  to any normal consequences for failing the check. For example, 
  if a Player Character is trying to repair a damaged subsystem 
  on his spacecraft. The Referee says that this will be a Hard (–4) 
  check or a merely Difficult (–2) check if the character takes the 
  risk that if the check is failed, he will get fried by an electrical 
  discharge and take damage.
  Offer the player a greater chance of success – at a cost.
  Alternatively, the Referee can offer the player a reduced 
  success in exchange for a reduced difficulty. When making a 
  Stealth roll to sneak past guards, offer the player a choice of ‘it 
  is Difficult to sneak past the guards and they don’t spot you at 
  all. Alternatively, it is only Routine to sneak past them, but they 
  will spot you after you go past and they might chase you.’
  The point of risks and consequences is to give the players more 
  choice on important skill checks. If a check is a key moment in 
  an adventure, then there should be room for more input than 
  just a dice roll.
  Keep Dice Modifiers Under Control
  Several of the optional rules presented here can give 
  considerable bonuses to the player’s skill check. Keep the 
  Probability of Success table (Traveller rulebook, page 49) in 
  mind – too many DMs will make a check too easy. It is generally 
  better to make a check too hard and let the players find a 
  creative way around the problem than make every check too 
  easy. 
  Opposed Checks
  When two characters are acting against each other, the simplest 
  solution is that the character with the highest Effect wins. That 
  
  56
  Jury - riGGinG
  Condition
  Required Skill
  Qualified to fly a spacecraft
  Pilot 2+
  Can recognise a particular obscure 
  brand of gun
  Gun Combat 3+
  Automatically avoids leaving a trail 
  when moving through the wilderness
  Stealth 2+ or Survival 2+
  Knows contacts in town
  Streetwise 3+
  Can operate a vacc suit
  Vacc Suit 0
  Can operate battle dress
  Battle Dress 0
  Situation
  Skill
  Risks
  Falsifying records
  Admin
  A trivial investigation will uncover the false records
  In a firefight
  Gun Combat
  The ship takes a point of Structure damage due to the stress of dodging
  Treating a wounded 
  character
  Medic
  The patient loses a limb
  Example Competency Tests: 
  Risk & Consequence Test Example
  Round
  Result
  Advantage
  0
  The conflict begins. Lucius accuses Zarek of allying with the Zhodani.
  0
  1
  Zarek wins with an Effect of 4. Zarek easily dismisses Lucius’ accusations.
  –4
  2
  Lucius wins with an Effect of 1. He brings up evidence of strange comm traffic from 
  Zarek’s ship (offensive).
  –3
  3
  Both sides fail.
  –3
  4
  One of Lucius’ allies demands that Zarek answer the question. Lucius wins with Effect 
  2 (offensive).
  –1
  5
  Zarek snaps that there’s no evidence that he is a Zhodani traitor, winning with Effect 2.
  –3
  6
  Zarek again wins the argument with Effect 3 by bringing up an occasion when Lucius 
  was psionically influenced by a Zhodani agent.
  –6
  Situation
  A t t a c k
  Rolls
  A t t a c k
  Characteristic
  D e f e n d
  Rolls
  D e f e n d
  Characteristic
  Bluffing past a guard
  Social Standing + Deception
  Social
  Standing
  Intelligence
  Intelligence
  A court case
  Education + Advocate
  Social
  Standing
  Education
  + Advocate
  Social Standing
  Wrestling on a cliff
  Strength + Melee
  Endurance
  Strength +
  Melee
  Endurance
  Extended Conflicts
  works perfectly well when a quick resolution is needed but some 
  dramatic scenes call for an extended conflict between the two. 
  For example, if two characters are wrestling on the edge of a 
  cliff or arguing in a murder trial, then a single roll is not enough.
  In an opposed check, both sides keep making skill checks. 
  There is also a running total called the Advantage. A positive 
  Advantage benefits the attacker, a negative total benefits 
  the attacker. If the attacker wins, his Effect is added to the 
  Advantage; if the defender wins, his Effect is subtracted from 
  it. The opposed check ends when a positive Advantage equals 
  or exceeds the most appropriate Characteristic of the defender 
  (or a negative total equals or exceeds the most Characteristic 
  of the attacker). The character with the Advantage has a +1 DM 
  to all opposed checks in the conflict.
  For example, Lucius is arguing with Zarek. Lucius has Social 
  Standing 6, Zarek has Social Standing 8. Both characters make 
  opposed Intelligence + Persuade checks. Zarek is the defender. 
  As the Advantage now equals Lucius’ Social Standing, 
  Zarek has won the extended conflict.
  
  57
  Referees Information: This adventure is designed for four to 
  six travelers on a mid to high tech world. The world will have a 
  fairly relaxed law level, large population (certainly in the tens of 
  millions, preferably more) and with a tainted atmosphere that 
  require filters of some sort. 
  It should be based somewhere within the Imperium, since 
  the main protagonist is on the run from a number of alien 
  governments, however it can be very easily converted to any 
  setting that features aliens who would be upset if people started 
  to eat them...
  In my own campaign I used the (slightly modified) world 
  of Persephone in the Lunion subsector of the Spinward 
  Marches.
  introduCtion
  The contact is an ape. Not exactly what you expected from 
  the well educated and privileged tones that made contact 
  with you via an audio only link. An intelligent chimpanzee 
  – go figure. He met you in a park on the planet’s capital, 
  Erskine. You are all wearing filter masks to keep out the 
  harmful pollen that is always abundant in the air of the planet 
  and the ape, Mr Tidds, has quickly gotten down to business.
  ‘I have a simple job for you. Locate a person who is of interest 
  to my employers. If you are able to find out where they are 
  then I will have more work for you. You will get a 10,000 credit 
  payment upon receipt of the information required.’
   (Assuming the players agree to the terms).
  ‘Excellent. The person you are looking for came to this world 
  under the pseudonym Delores Vashinelli. This is not her real 
  name, safe to say. We know she stayedat the Starborne Hotel 
  for a couple of nights before disappearing. Apart from the hotel 
  the only lead I have is that one Max Janthar is an old friend of 
  hers and also lives in this city. Once you have tracked her down 
  contact me on this number immediately and payment will be 
  directly sent to your bank accounts and any further instructions 
  for additional work will be provided at that time. Any questions?’
  Mr Tidds has little other information for the characters. Vashinelli 
  is described as a middleaged woman of some means; 5’6”, talk 
  of a slightly dumpy build. She is not dangerous but may have a 
  bodyguard or two in her employ. All that the characters have to 
  do is find her.
  The Hotel
  The staff here are generally friendly to potential guests but are 
  not that well paid. As a result they will not be overly suspicious of 
  enquiries made by the characters as long as the party provides a 
  plausible reason for any requests and do not give them any cause 
  for alarm (turning up at the hotel lobby kitted out in combat gear 
  would certainly be cause for alarm and the hotel staff will try to 
  escape or hide in panic if the party were to decide to put on such 
  a show of force. Any information that might be gathered can be via 
  the appropriate use of bribery (for hotel staff (and bank staff if they 
  try to find out more about the account)) or Computer, by hacking 
  into the computer records of the hotel (or bank). The only leads 
  that the characters might be able to come up with are Vashinelli’s 
  bank account details and vidphone records. The account is now 
  closed and the only contacts that she had with outsiders was with 
  Max Janthar and another private citizen, Chloe M’banda.
  The Bank Account
  Vashinelli had a very healthy balance in excess of 20,000 
  credits at a local bank, Shavathans but this account was only 
  active for a very short time. It was opened days before Vashinelli 
  came to the world until two days after she left the hotel. There 
  were no regular payments; it was used for payment in some 
  shops near the hotel and the hotel bill itself. The funds were 
  eventually transferred into another (unnamed) account, which 
  the characters cannot access no matter how hard they try.
  Max Janthar 
  Max Janthar is an elderly, retired chef, who once owned a small 
  chain of restaurants on the planet and was the star of several 
  cookery shows on the local entertainment networks. He now 
  lives in the penthouse apartment of a reasonably well kept 
  building in the capital of this world. 
  The security for the building is minimal, although Janthar’s 
  apartment can only be reached via a security door. It might be 
  possible to trick the old man into letting the party through or a 
  player can use either his computer or electronics skill to get past 
  the relatively simple security system, causing the door to open.
  the Fall oF riGella namsey
  By niCk roBinson 
  A tongue in cheek adventure that can be set on any civilised world, and will have your players wondering 
  just what  exactly is in their food…
  
  58
  the Fall oF riGella namsey
  Janthar is easily scared and will help the party as well as he can 
  if they threaten him. If the party gets too carried away with their 
  threats of or actual physical acts of violence Janthar will suffer 
  a heart attack, which may or may not, cause the players to 
  panic. He has known the target for a great many years, having 
  appeared alongside her in some old cookery shows many years 
  back. Now an aging man he is aware the Vashinelli is actually 
  Rigella Namsey, but has no idea where she is. He does have a 
  mobile vidphone number, though.
  There is little of interest in Janthar’s apartment, with mementos 
  of his past fame and (of course) an exceptionally well stocked 
  kitchen. A thorough search will turn up some panic buttons 
  located around the apartment, which could also cause the 
  players to panic. Fortunately for them Janthar has forgotten 
  about their existence (never having had to consider using them 
  in the 30 or so years he has called his apartment home) and he 
  will not have set off the alarm even if he has had the opportunity 
  to do so.
  Chloe M’banda
  Chloe M’banda is an attractive woman in her early thirties with 
  previous experience in both the military and as a government 
  intelligence agent. When the government of her home world 
  was overthrown in a violent revolution she fled and joined the 
  private security industry using her personal contacts to secure 
  a fairly senior position and she has prospered ever since. She 
  takes the role of a senior co–ordinator for clients, ensuring that 
  her team is ready at all times to deal with threats as and when 
  they arise.
  She currently resides in a pleasant neighbourhood with a large 
  yard surrounding a well kept three bedroom, two storey home. 
  The property has a panic room and a small security room and 
  the tall fences around the property are constantly monitored by 
  discreetly hidden security cameras.
  None of her neighbours know anything about her; other than 
  she appears to be a professional lady, has always driven a new 
  and immaculately kept vehicle and keeps herself to herself. No 
  neighbour has ever seen the interior of her property and they 
  just think that she is a private person. Her garden is nothing 
  more than an immaculately mowed lawn, which means there 
  is no cover in the 30 yards from the edge of her property to her 
  home.
  Currently her private security firm employers have been hired 
  to protect Vashinelli/Namsey. When the players approach her 
  she will be cautious and claim to know nothing, whilst secretly 
  getting help sent to her via a personal panic button that she 
  carries at all times. If she is made aware of intruders on her 
  property (through laser or ground sensors and/or security 
  cameras) she will hit her panic button immediately and take up 
  her position in one of the upstairs rooms, using an assault rifle if 
  she has the opportunity. A back up team will arrive in less than 
  10 minutes. There are four men, all well armed and armoured, 
  arriving in a pair of fast vehicles. They will turn up with guns 
  blazing. Whilst the characters may have no idea as to what 
  they have gotten themselves into these mercenaries are well 
  prepared to deal with any possible threats and always assume 
  the worst in any given situation due to their previous experience 
  in the personal protection industry.
  If captured M’banda or one of the mercenaries can be made to 
  talk via intimidation/torture and know the location of Vashinelli, 
  plus the details of her security detail. M’banda also has 
  Vashinelli’s vidphone number should she need to contact her. 
  She is well aware of the reason that her client needs protection, 
  although she will not reveal this information (or any other 
  information) unless asked directly and tortured/given drugs to 
  force the truth from her.
  The vidphone
  With the right skills and equipment it is possible to trace the 
  location of Namsey using her phone. Since Namsey is an old 
  friend of Janthar it will prove easier to do this if the travellers 
  use her old friend’s vidphone or M’banda’s. Calls from other 
  vidphones will be ignored since as far as she is aware no one 
  else has her number. She will inform her bodyguards of this and 
  they will then seek to trace any vidphone that tries to contact 
  Rigella subsequently, to ensure it is a wrong number call.
  Using tracing equipment (if the travellers have access to it), 
  bribing vidphone company employees or hacking into their 
  computers, are all methods that have a chance of working.
  Primary Threat Security
  The only other way to find Vashinelli’s location is to enter 
  M’banda’s office at Primary Threat Security. PTS is a respected 
  mercenary outfit that operates throughout the sector, being 
  considered a top end (and expensive) company that can be 
  relied on to do the job better than most of their competitors. 
  Totally professional, they understand that they can come up 
  against rival mercenaries who may one day be allies or even 
  employees or employers, so it is all very business–like once the 
  bullets stop flying.
  Their offices are well guarded with two roving security officers 
  plus a pair of large canines inside a perimeter fence, one man at 
  the reception and a response team of four men always on site. 
  It is worth noting that these four men are those who will respond 
  to any distress call from either
  M’banda or Vashinelli. If they have already been dealt with 
  elsewhere they will not reappear here. The offices themselves 
  are fairly small and if the security is dealt with it is easy to find 
  M’banda’s office and find out Vashinelli’s address by simply 
  accessing her file (either the hardcopy or via M’banda’s 
  computer). M’band’s computer does have a password set up 
  and will require a very difficult skill check to get past the security 
  she has on her machine. It is possible to get this information 
  from M’banda if she is interrogated.
  
  59
  the Fall oF riGella namsey
  Neither M’banda or any of the other employees can be bribed 
  to turn over this information. Threats will work in the right 
  circumstances but they are utterly professional in their work, 
  reflecting their employer’s own standards in this regard.
  Vashinelli Found
  Once the travellers have found Vashinelli/Namsey they should 
  contact Mr Tidds immediately. His vidphone will answer after 
  two rings and they will hear an automated message (Mr Tidds 
  has already escaped off planet).
  ‘This is a recorded message. If you are calling this number you 
  have managed to track down the package for me. You are to be 
  commended. You can either send me the details via the vidphone 
  messaging service and upon confirmation that you have tracked 
  down the package you will be paid or you can deal with the 
  package yourself. You will be paid a bonus sum of 50,000 credits 
  if you eliminate the package. Upon confirmation that you have 
  done so you will be paid this sum. If you do not wish to go ahead 
  with this contract you will not be hearing from me again and I bid 
  you good day.’
  ‘To accept this contract you will need to ring this number again 
  five minutes from now and just say the word yes. I look forward 
  to hearing this response. Good luck.’
  Vashinelli is protected by a team of three security officers. 
  There is also a reaction team half an hour away, of four men (at 
  the PTS offices). The local police will respond to initial reports 
  of fighting but will back off once they realise that this is some 
  sort of major actions, for which they are not trained or equipped 
  to deal with. 
  They see the business of mercenaries as something that does 
  not require them to get shot at by professional killers. If there is 
  an extended firefight then better organised paramilitary police 
  and/or military may be sent (arriving in an hour at the earliest, 
  such a quick response would involve the players wounding or 
  killing the first local police officers at the scene (before they 
  have had a chance to evaluate the situation and back off )). 
  The Safe House
  Half an hours drive away from the capital the safe house 
  is where PTS hide their clients. This is normally only 
  for short term use, there are better facilities elsewhere 
  that are better protected. Located in a glacial valley 
  the property is in an area that has higher than normal 
  amounts of hazardous pollen in the air. It is overlooked 
  on one side by a steep glacial cliff several kilometers 
  from the property. The house is also screened by large 
  bushes and trees that stand on the perimeter of the 
  grounds and can not be seen from the winding road that 
  passes almost half a kilometre away from the building. 
  Within the grounds there is little cover from the edge 
  of the grounds to the building itself, providing a good 
  killing ground, although there are small dips and rises 
  in the land that will provide a minimal amount of cover 
  for attackers.
  The house itself has a bunk room, bathroom, ready 
  room, security room, three en–suite bedrooms (for 
  clients, sometimes families use the property and 
  PTS), armoury, kitchen area, lounge, a large 
  garage is attached to the main building. The walls 
  are especially reinforced to be able to withstand 
  any small arms fire, giving those within a distinct 
  advantage when it comes to combat.
  
  60
  the Fall oF riGella namsey
  If captured alive Namsey will beg for her life, explaining it was 
  all a joke and it was not her fault that some people actually used 
  the recipe for K’Kree a l’Orange!
  Payment
  Mr Tidds has long left the planet by the time that this contract 
  is over. Upon the confirmed death of Namsey payment will 
  be made to the Player Characters. They will have the funds 
  transferred into their accounts (unless they have specified 
  another method of payment). Depending upon the chaos the 
  players might have caused on the planet they may wish to leave 
  the world. If they do so they will no doubt be contacted by Mr 
  Tidds or another middleman of his employers again at some 
  future date with another contract to fulfil.
  Rigella Namsey
  A popular celebrity chef, Rigella has been in the entertainment 
  industry for over two decades, with her cookery shows 
  being syndicated across many worlds. Her career came to a 
  shuddering half four years ago with the ill–advised publication 
  of an electronic cookbook ‘The Intergalactic Cookbook’ which 
  featured recipes involving sentient alien species. Since 
  publication (and the assassination of both her publicist and 
  publisher) Namsey has been on the run and is believed to be 
  hiding out in the near Vland, in the belief that the nature of 
  Imperial space there will protect her.
  The Intergalatic Cookbook
  The only cookbook in history thought to have pushed so many 
  races close to war! Written by top chef Rigella Namsey the book 
  was an underground cult hit, supposedly as a spoof for all the 
  other cookbooks out there that featured unusual ingredients 
  from the worlds beyond the Imperium.
  It was the K’Kree who first brought to light the problematic 
  nature of the book with its recipes featuring various sentient 
  races. Unsurprisingly the Aslan and various Vargyr governments 
  soon added their voices in protest, the Hivers initially thought it 
  was a great joke until it became clear that some enterprising 
  traders had been capturing hiver young and shipping them far 
  from their homeworlds to farms where they grew to adulthood 
  destined for the pot.
  Namsey is still on the run after her publicist and printer 
  were both assassinated by freelance agents, the K’Kree are 
  prime suspects, although the cookbook’s notoriety made 
  her many enemies.
  As a footnote – the recipe for K’Kree is Orange Sauce was 
  considered a classic by several (now deceased in unusual 
  circumstances) top gourmands.
  NPC Statistics:
  The main protagonists are presented below. The vehicles 
  and equipment for the mercenaries may vary according to 
  the Referees preference to take into account the Tech Level 
  they may be operating at. All of their equipment will be well 
  maintained and in excellent condition. Neither Janther nor 
  Namsey will be equipped with any weapons of their own, 
  neither has any personal experience of the more brutal side of 
  the Traveller universe.
  Rigella Namsey
  Entertainer Entertainer (performer) 6 terms
   4         7             5              10         11         9
  Advocate 1, Athletics 1, Carouse 1, Melee 0, Steward 4, 
  Streetwise 1
  Cloth Armour (TL10). Comm
  Max Janther
  Entertainer Entertainer (performer) 7 terms
  3             5             3            9           9        8
  Carouse 2, Deception 1, Investigate 1, Melee 0, Steward 3,Comm
  Chloe M’banda
  Army (infantry) 2 terms, Security 2 terms 8
  8                9           11        7               7
  Melee (unarmed) 1, Gun Combat (slug pistol)1, Gun Combat 
  (slug rifle) 2, Athletics (coordination) 1, Streetwise 1, Tactics 
  (Military) 2
  Comm, Cloth Armour (TL10), ACR 
  Typical Mercenary
  Army (infantry) 3 terms, Security 1 term 9
  8               10            6          6            6
  Melee (unarmed) 2, Gun Combat (slug rifle) 2, Athletics (co–
  ordination) 1, Sensors 1, Stealth 1
  Comm, Flak Jacket (TL 8), ACR
  
  61
  Introduction 
  The role of the Medic in Traveller is mostly undervalued. If a 
  character takes a wound in combat, usually the healing process 
  takes place in downtime, a process involving a glossed–over visit 
  to a local hospital unit and a rapid discharge with a clean bill 
  of health and a hefty medical bill or a quick once–over by the 
  Ship’s Medic and a few hours’ confinement to a low berth while 
  the Medicinal Slow kicks in. Little attention is paid to the role of 
  the ship’s medic in the game: the focus on combat and trading 
  puts the science and healing on the back burner for the majority 
  of the time. This article begins by charting the development of 
  medicine through the technological levels, to suggest to referees 
  what might be available locally for injured characters. Next, the 
  role of the medic in a Traveller campaign is highlighted; along 
  with possible fees that a ship’s medic can claim as a roving 
  private medical consultant. Some Patrons with a medical theme 
  follow, rounding off this part of the article. The second half will 
  describe specific issues regarding medicine and medical practice 
  in a Traveller campaign, including the possibility of an entire 
  campaign based on the adventures of characters who happen 
  to be physicians. 
  mediCal innovations By teCh level 
  As societies develop technologically, not only do they make 
  new discoveries – they develop new tools, also. So it is in the 
  field of medicine. The cultural and technological developments 
  listed here are derived from human history on Terra. Other 
  alien races may have developed in different ways. The Hivers, 
  for instance, have little concept for OB–GYN and Droyne 
  medical technology varies from world to world, sometimes from 
  individual to individual, with a staggering range of sophistication 
  from the primitive to the positively magical dizzy heights of the 
  tech levels above 15 and 16. 
  Cap on Available Skills: At lower tech levels, the availability of 
  reliable knowledge is extremely limited. Referees are advised to 
  cap levels in all the Sciences and Medic to the suggested skill 
  cap level for NPCs at that tech level. Thus, if a TL 8 soldier were 
  wounded on a TL 3 world, the presiding medic’s skill could be 
  no more than Medic–2 and at that level of skill said medic would 
  be the highest ranking physician on that planet. 
  Tech Level 0 
  Firemaking is invented. Early weapons used for hunting 
  provide protein to allow brain growth and increasing sentience. 
  Trepanning (drilling a hole in the head) is invented: it is used 
  in some surgeries up to TL 10. Some communities have a 
  designated wise woman / herbalist / midwife or shaman figure, 
  generally knowledgeable in herbal lore, though somewhat hit 
  and miss. Bone implements and animal gut and plant glues 
  are used to fashion crude surgical implements including the 
  heyssaw (a stone pick used in trepanation). Medic and Sciences 
  skills are capped at 0. 
  Tech Level 1 
  Physicians appear in the historical records. Primitive 
  descriptions of anatomy and herbalism appear. Anatomists 
  begin to dissect cadavers and animals out of scientific scrutiny 
  rather than divination. Physicians can bind wounds, cauterise 
  extensive injuries with fire and boiling oil, perform cataract 
  surgery and use leeches to relieve blood pressure. Egg yolks 
  and sponges provide ophthalmia. Massage therapy and bone 
  setting techniques are developed. Hemlock and henbane are 
  known poisons. Alcohol is invented, providing the first chemical 
  anaesthetic in surgery as well as everywhere else.
  Milling produces the first bread from grain flour. Grain also 
  yields the first beer. Soap is invented, along with an early form 
  of vaccination. Public sanitation is invented: bathing, latrines 
  and clean running water delivered along pipes and channels. 
  Surgical tools of surprising sophistication are developed during 
  this time from metal, bronze and other materials. Obsidian is 
  discovered to hold an edge sharper than steel and finds use 
  in surgery as primitive scalpels. Antimony is used to staunch 
  bleeding cuts. Medic and Sciences skills are capped at 1. 
  mediC!
  By alex Green
  A detailed look at how medics and other medical personnel can operate in Traveller, across 
  worlds of differing Tech Levels.
  
  62
  mediC!
  Tech Level 2 
  The first authoritative treatises on anatomy are published. 
  Physicians know how to treat lacerations and bone fractures. 
  Dressings, poultices and bandages are invented, replacing 
  cauterisation of wounds. Alchemy is developed: distillation 
  and other techniques yield refined spirit alcohol, perfumes and 
  medicines extracted from various materials. Several elements 
  are discovered, among them arsenic and phosphorus. Medic 
  and Sciences skills are capped at 2. 
  Tech Level 3 
  Cures for diseases such as scurvy are found. The first treatises 
  on pathology as a science are written. The invention of the 
  optical microscope and the discovery of bacteria and micro–
  organisms revolutionise medicine, paving way for the future 
  inventions and discoveries of TL 4. Medic and Sciences skills 
  are capped at 2. 
  Tech Level 4 
  Further developments in medicine lead to the germ theory of 
  disease propagation and the policy of antiseptic procedures 
  in surgery and general hygiene in medicine. Hypnosis is 
  discovered. The first blood transfusions take place. Early 
  experiments in heredity lay the ground for modern genetics 
  and the study of evolution. The structure of cells is analysed, 
  leading to the discovery of white blood cells and the first 
  analyses of diseases such as yellow fever, typhoid and malaria 
  are made. Cancer is identified as uncontrolled cell division. The 
  ophthalmoscope, stethoscope, sphygmomanometer (blood 
  pressure monitor) and syringe are invented. Experiments 
  to determine the chemical composition of air lead to the 
  discoveries of chemical anaesthetics such as ether, chloroform 
  and nitrous oxide, leading to their use in surgery. Marijuana, 
  cocaine and opium are routinely prescribed to patients suffering 
  chronic pain. The discovery of radioactivity promises a whole 
  new field of medical technology. Medic and Sciences skills are 
  capped at 3. 
  Tech Level 5
  The genetic basis of heredity is confirmed. Hormones are 
  discovered, as is blood typing. Transplant surgery is pioneered. 
  Vitamins are discovered. The role of the pituitary gland and 
  other parts of the brain are outlined. Psychoanalysis begins 
  to treat the mind as medicine treats the body. The first true 
  ranges of medicinal drugs are invented, ranging from aspirins 
  to anti–cancer treatments and general and local anaesthetics. 
  Insulin is isolated and prescribed to diabetics. The first truth 
  drug is invented. Doctors routinely carry medical kits around 
  with them, in distinctive black bags. Rubber gloves, masks 
  and gowns enter the operating room for the first time. The 
  invention of the electric light bulb offers a more efficient method 
  of lighting operating theatres and autoclaves routinely sterilise 
  surgical implements. X–rays provide a new diagnostic tool for 
  physicians. The ECG is invented to monitor heart activity and 
  the EEG monitors brain activity. Ambulances appear, along with 
  a new type of physician: the paramedic. Medic and Sciences 
  skills are no longer capped at this or higher tech levels. 
  Tech Levels 6 – 8 
  Modern medicine, as practised on Earth c. 1930 through to the 
  21st century, is a bewilderingly vast subject. Human anatomy has 
  been studied down to the genetic level, with the structure of DNA 
  laid out along with its role in genetics and heredity well mapped. 
  Cloning, transplant surgery and gene therapies are developed. 
  Even neural and hepatic (liver) tissues can be made to regenerate. 
  The mind, also, is undergoing scrutiny as psychoanalysis matures 
  and develops. The rational scientific community meets early 
  experiments with psionics with scepticism, leading to surprise 
  and finally acceptance as psionics capabilities are proven. 
  The first Panaceas and stim drugs are invented and anti–rad 
  drugs developed for use by astronauts to counteract long–term 
  exposure to solar radiation. Psi–standard drug boosts telepathic 
  ability at TL 8, establishing verifiable psionics for the first time. 
  Air ambulances appear at TL6, first helicopters and eventually 
  VTOL thrust–powered vehicles. Full body scanners, electron 
  microscopes, ultrasound and ever more sophisticated surgical 
  procedures overtake one another with great speed, each offering 
  ever more sophisticated diagnosis and treatment of diseases 
  and medical conditions. At TL 8, the first computerised modern 
  Medkit is invented, combining many of the above technologies’ 
  functions in a handheld unit. 
  Tech Levels 9 – 10 
  VTOL propulsion gives way to grav assist and eventually full 
  grav propulsion, rendering ground based ambulance obsolete. 
  Reliable cloning and cybernetic replacement of limbs enables 
  the most severely injured patient to get up and walk. Tissue 
  samples can now be grown into cloned organs to replace 
  those lost to disease or accident. Amputated limbs can be 
  regenerated with a simple medical treatment and prosthetic limb 
  replacements now routinely outperform patients’ natural limbs, 
  to the point where disabled athletes are banned from attending 
  able–bodied sporting events for fear of upstaging the other 
  competitors. Advances in cryogenics lead to the development 
  of cryoberths at TL 10, along with low passage berths. At TL 
  9, Psi–inhibitors and Psi–double drug are invented; and TL 
  10 sees the development of Psi–special drug. The greatest 
  advances come from the invention of metabolic accelerators, 
  leading to the invention of Fast Drug, Slow Drug and Combat 
  Drug. 
  Tech Levels 11 – 12 
  Medicinal Slow Drug provides the ultimate tool in the medical 
  treatment of injuries. Coupled with cryoberths, modern cloning 
  and regenerative techniques and speedy grav ambulance 
  services, death as a result of accidental injury becomes almost 
  unheard of, except amongst the poor. TL 12 sees the invention 
  of the autodoc – a specialised, immobile robotic physician. 
  Combined with the cryoberth and contemporary medical 
  procedures, autodocs become available on most worlds of this 
  
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  mediC!
  tech level and make most doctors obsolete at a stroke. 
  Sickbays from TL 12 onwards comprise rows of cryoberths 
  and autodocs who perform required surgical procedures. 
  No further human intervention is needed. There are still 
  no caps on Medic or Science skills, although for treating 
  simple injuries and replacing lost organs and limbs human 
  physicians start to become increasingly obsolescent at 
  this time. 
  Tech Levels 13+ 
  Medical treatment by autodoc becomes routine in civilised 
  society at this time. Physicians focus on finding cures and 
  treatments for diseases and poisons for which there is yet no 
  cure; and as human beings venture further and further into 
  uncharted space, visiting worlds where no man has gone 
  before, they find plenty of brand new pathogens to test their 
  immune systems. 
  At TL 15 medical treatment becomes economical enough to 
  bring its benefits to even the poorest disenfranchised among 
  the population, who can be cured and healed of almost anything 
  except death itself. With smarter and smarter computers 
  being invented and Expert, Agent and Intellect software being 
  developed for the Medic and Life Sciences skills, human doctors 
  find computers at first to be a blessing, and later a curse as the 
  intelligent software begins to outstrip the humans’ capabilities. 
  The invention of the bioscanner and neural activity sensor at 
  TL 15 merely crowns the list of technical achievements made 
  by humanity at this time: the shining achievement, by this era, 
  is the long history of medical tech itself, not any new tools man 
  may invent.
  doCtor on Board – the ship’s mediC 
  Qualifications 
  A ship’s medic must have at least Medic–0. Usually, the only time 
  a Medic–0 is designated a ship’s medic is if the only available 
  qualified medic has been killed or incapacitated and no other 
  qualified personnel are available. If a ship has more than one 
  physician, the character with the highest Medic skill is assigned 
  the position of chief medical officer and can draw an extra Cr. 
  1000 above and beyond what her staff earn. Characters with 
  Medic–0 know basic first aid and can stabilise severe wounds; 
  characters with Medic–1 or 2 can operate as paramedics and 
  are qualified to perform life saving field surgery. A character 
  with Medic–3 or more is a full doctor, can prescribe medical 
  treatments and has earned the title ‘Doctor’ with their name, 
  e.g. Dr Zahevis. If the character also has Dexterity 8+, he is 
  qualified as a surgeon and has the title ‘Mister,’ ‘Miss,’ ‘Mrs’ or 
  ‘Ms’, e.g. Mr Roget. If assigned 
  to a ship, they may be referred 
  to as the ship’s surgeon. 
  The Physician’s Role 
  Physicians appear when a 
  character 
  suffers 
  wounds, 
  dispense a magical curative, 
  restore the character’s health 
  within a few minutes and 
  send them back out onto the 
  battlefield to incur more injuries. 
  When needed, the medic is 
  the ship’s crew’s best friend. 
  Between the frantic calls for 
  aid, they are best seen but not 
  heard. Aboard ship, however, 
  the ship’s medic has a wide 
  range of duties which can bring 
  her character to the fore in a 
  number of scenarios. 
  Doctor’s Orders 
  In science fiction TV shows, 
  the medic character is often 
  portrayed as being grumpy and 
  irritable. Perhaps, considering 
  the 
  typical 
  behaviour 
  of 
  
  64
  mediC!
  Traveller Player Characters, their grouchiness is not without 
  good reason. In accord with an ancient Maritime law, the orders 
  of a ship’s chief physician supersede those of the captain where 
  the health and wellbeing of the crew or the competency of the 
  vessel’s commanding officer, are concerned. A ship’s physician 
  can have a captain declared incompetent and unfit for duty 
  and have her relieved of her post until such time as the captain 
  can receive a full medical check–up and be given a physical 
  and psychological clean bill of health. The physician can order 
  all ship’s crew to undertake regular physical examinations, 
  testing for the usual bodily functions – temperature, pulse, 
  blood pressure, respiration, weight, cholesterol levels and 
  substance abuse. This includes regular checks of cybernetic or 
  other augments or implants the characters may have. Regular 
  ship’s crewmembers are required to have a physical once 
  every six months; augmented crewmembers are required to 
  have a physical monthly. 
  A ship’s physician has a legal responsibility to maintain 
  the crew’s health. Apart from the physicals, they do this by 
  monitoring the crew’s diet and ensuring that they eat the 
  proper balance of vitamins, minerals and proteins to keep 
  them healthy and sane. Medics are often seen wandering 
  the length of the ship dispensing vitamin pills, supplements 
  and regular anti–rad shots to the crew in Engineering or even 
  adding the appropriate nutrient packs to food dispensers in 
  the ship’s galley. On arrival at a new world, the physician 
  will usually insist on providing the landing crew with broad 
  spectrum inoculations to bolster their immune systems against 
  any strange new diseases they may encounter. Finally, the 
  ship’s medic has the duty of looking after all of the passengers 
  in low berths, as well as the more onerous duty of having to 
  write the death certificates for those crew and low passengers 
  who do not make it. 
  Low Berth Maintenance 
  The ship’s medic must roll 8+ for each low berth patient. The 
  DM is –3 for characters with Medic 0, –2 for characters with 
  Medic–1 and –1 for characters with Medic–2. If the medic fails 
  this roll, the low berth patient dies in transit. Characters with 
  Medic–3 and above do not need to roll: they automatically 
  succeed in keeping all of their low passengers alive. A ship’s 
  medic can look after any number of low passengers at a time 
  but on larger vessels a chief medical officer usually has staff at 
  hand for this task.
  Research and Diagnosis 
  Ship’s doctors are generally fiercely proud of their profession 
  and do not suffer conflicting opinions readily. At the higher 
  tech levels, with the rising threat of expert systems and 
  automated medicine rendering a human medical opinion 
  worthless, doctors have become very territorial. An NPC 
  physician is likely to feel aggrieved if his medical opinion is 
  contradicted by a machine; and characters are frequently 
  treated to the amusing sight of their ship’s medic furiously 
  screaming at a wall panel. If a new disease or ailment 
  strikes the crew, the ship’s medic has to research the cause 
  of the sickness and a possible treatment that will not kill the 
  patients. 
  This is one function which a machine cannot serve and the 
  main reason why ships still require a living medic even at TL 
  15 or higher. If an unknown illness strikes a crew between 
  worlds, the medic has to conduct tests using what facilities 
  that are available on board ship, including using stricken 
  crewmembers as guinea pigs to test any treatments and 
  conducting autopsies on deceased crewmembers. 
  The ship’s medic has an absolute right to perform these 
  experiments. If the disease seems immune to known 
  treatments, that same ancient Maritime law that gives the 
  physician power over the vessel’s captain also requires that 
  she declare the vessel under quarantine. Nothing leaves the 
  ship, nothing enters it. 
  private ConsultanCy: the mediCal 
  traveller 
  Sometimes a Player Character chooses a full time Physician 
  career path but instead of setting up a practice planetside or 
  joining a ship’s payroll as its medical officer, they choose to 
  make their own way through the universe, using their medical 
  skills and abilities as and when. The ground under their feet 
  is their practice and their medical equipment is whatever is to 
  hand in their medicinal bag or local supplies. With the advent of 
  autodocs and medicinal slow drug, elective surgical alterations 
  to the face and body have become ludicrously routine, with 
  patients going under the knife and emerging with new faces and 
  surgically enhanced bodies just 24 hours later. Yet still, on many 
  lower tech worlds, surgeons from high tech planets are heavily 
  in demand for operations such as remedial plastic surgery on 
  burns victims and on children with congenital defects such as 
  cleft lips. A ship’s medic with a decent high–tech medkit and 
  access to ship’s facilities can offer his services while his ship is 
  grounded and a private medical consultant can potentially earn 
  incredible amounts of money if his reputation is good. 
  Elective Surgery 
  As a rule, private elective surgery (plastic surgery, implanting 
  or removing augments, removing tattoos and so on) can 
  earn a doctor Cr. 500 x her Medic skill x the tech level of the 
  equipment available, plus expenses. 
  Operating privately as a consultant, performing procedures such 
  as gender reassignments and face lifts, a medic can potentially 
  charge Cr. 1,000 per day x his Medic skill x the highest tech level 
  of locally available accessible equipment, again plus expenses. 
  That does not even take into account expenses such as drugs: 
  
  65
  mediC!
  part 2: more mediCal matters  
  In Part 1, the cultural role of the physician in the Traveller universe 
  was examined. Part 1 outlined the historical development 
  of medicine through the technological levels, and looked at 
  elective surgery, obstetrics and those complications which take 
  Traveller medicine out of the realm of “cure light wounds.” Part 
  2 brings further expansions to the repertoire of the physician in 
  a Traveller game, in the form of new specialities, new tasks and 
  new medical technology. The article also presents material for 
  the Referee. 
  New Specialities and Tasks 
  New Specialities 
  The Medic skill, as described in Traveller, was presented without 
  specialities. However, medicine is a field rife with specialities, 
  and this article can only present a few of the major branches, 
  the ones of greatest relevance to the player characters. 
  • Neurology: The study of the brain and nerve function. 
  Required for specialist neurosurgeons. 
  • Cardiology: The study of the cardiovascular system (the 
  heart and blood vessels). Required for specialist cardiologists. 
  • Psionology: The practice of psionic medicine; covers both 
  the use of psionics in medicine and the practice of treating 
  deterioration or injury of a patient’s psionic talents and abilities 
  and the study of things which affect them for good or ill. 
  • Epidemiology: The study of diseases and pathogens, and 
  how they spread in a population. 
  • Immunology: The study of the body’s immune system, and 
  how it fights off infections and pathogens. 
  • Pathology: The study of how the body’s systems fail, and the 
  causes of death. Coroners and medical examiners develop this 
  speciality. 
  • Forensic Medicine: The practice of medicine as it relates 
  to determining causes of wrongful or unlawful death, and the 
  presentation of evidence in court. 
  • Triage: The practice of assessing the survivability of patients 
  in battlefield situations or after disasters. 
  • Obstetrics: The practice of medicine concerning pregnancy, 
  birth and the reproductive system. 
  a medic with a reliable source of anagathics could easily earn 
  enough money just from delivering courses of injections alone 
  to be able to retire in his late 20s. That, of course, brings up 
  one other benefit of having medical qualifications: medics and 
  physicians can legally carry and prescribe, a variety of drugs and 
  controlled substances that could get a non–medical character 
  arrested, imprisoned or even executed if found in his possession. 
  A medic can even carry Psi–drugs, if he can make the claim 
  that they are of use for the “psychopharmaceutical treatment of 
  psychiatric patients.
  OB–GYN 
  A competent medic knows how to deliver a baby. A physician 
  who specifically qualified in Obstetrics and Gynaecology can 
  potentially find clients in every starport and human colony. This 
  aspect of the Medic Skill is not without risks. A qualified medic 
  knows as much about preventing and terminating pregnancies 
  as she does about fertility and midwifery and this can land 
  a medic in serious trouble if she is not careful. Some parts 
  of the universe, particularly those worlds ruled by the more 
  xenophobic theocracies or oligarchic societies founded on 
  misguided concepts of genetic purity and eugenics, sometimes 
  have peculiar, inconsistent and intolerant views on physicians 
  who terminate pregnancies and even those who preach the 
  use of contraceptives and birth control methods. 
  Many an otherwise benevolent physician has found himself 
  the subject of a witchhunt by ignorant locals and ended their 
  life at the end of a noose or even tied to a burning stake, for 
  this dangerous knowledge.
  Some of the more barbaric cultures practice medical 
  procedures outlawed in other parts of the Imperium, such 
  as lobotomies on suspected psions, State–enforced genital 
  mutilation or sterilisation of citizens considered by “the 
  majority” to belong to a disenfranchised minority (the criteria 
  does not matter; underpinning each such culture is a bigotry 
  that is sadly universal even in the Traveller universe) or 
  termination of citizens above a certain age, e.g. 60 years. 
  It is entirely possible that characters can come from such 
  cultures and have acquired such shadowy medical knowledge 
  as part of their medical repertoire. Referees are encouraged 
  to steer Player Characters away from this path, mostly out of 
  respect for other players in the party. 
  Gerontology 
  No doctor has ever found a cure for death. However, 
  anagathics have managed to stave off the Grim Reaper for 
  a select few. Research into aging and dying also continues 
  apace. A medical character could make the study of aging her 
  primary focus in her travels throughout the galaxy. Drawn by 
  medical reports of naturally long–lived “Lazarus Longs” and 
  Methuselahs to the sad sufferers of progeria – a medical 
  condition that forces children to grow old rapidly and die at a 
  tragically young age – a wandering physician can find plenty 
  of adventure hooks in his search for immortality (even if that 
  immortality is just his own). 
  The Holy Grail of medical characters pursuing this line of enquiry 
  is, of course, the discovery of the perfect anagathic that delivers 
  immortality with just a single shot. To date, this treatment remains 
  elusive – but progress in the field of anagathics suggests that 
  the quest is not a futile one. 
  
  66
  mediC!
  • Cryomedicine: The operation of cryoberths, low berths 
  and the administration of fast drug and other techniques of 
  suspending animation. 
  • Cybernetics: The practice of implant medicine, usually found 
  among medics whose crew relies on combat implants. Also 
  covers nanomedicine, nanotherapy and nanotechnological 
  augmentation procedures. 
  • Genetech: The practice of genetic medicine, including gene 
  therapy and genetic augmentation procedures. 
  • Xenomedicine: The practice of medicine concerning alien 
  species.
  New Tasks 
  These tasks expand upon the repertoire of tasks from Traveller. 
  The difficulty rating for some of the procedures varies with the 
  technological level: see below. 
  Diagnose new disease or poison, Intelligence, 1–6 hours, 
  Special. Identifies a disease. 
  Stabilise serious injury, Intelligence, 1–6 minutes, Average (+0) 
  (Patient will no longer deteriorate and is considered injured 
  rather than seriously injured). 
  Remove foreign object, Education, 1–6 minutes, Routine (+2). 
  Foreign object removed; healing improves by +2. 
  Implant cybernetic / genetic / nanotechnological augmentation, 
  Education, 1–6 hours, Special. 
  Perform transplant surgery, Education, 1–6 hours, Special. 
  TL 2
  Set a bone, deliver a baby
  TL 4
  Simple vaccination
  TL 5
  Surgery with anaesthetics
  TL 5
  Blood typing
  TL 5
  Truth Drug
  TL 5
  Medicinal Drug
  TL 6
  Mass inoculation program
  TL 6
  Chemotherapy
  TL 6
  Eye and ear surgery
  TL 7
  Laser surgery
  TL 7
  DNA typing
  TL 8
  Panacea Drug
  TL 8
  Anti–Rad
  TL 8
  Stim Drug
  TL 8
  Transplant organ / bone marrow
  TL 8
  TL 8 Medkit (p. 93, Traveller)
  TL 8
  Remote surgery
  TL 9
  Regenerate nerve tissues
  TL 9
  Clone new organ from stem cells
  TL 10
  TL 10 Medkit
  TL 10
  Slow Drug
  TL 10
  Combat Drug
  TL 10
  Cryoberth
  TL 10
  Fast Drug
  TL 10
  Synthesise organ
  TL 11
  Medicinal Slow
  TL 12
  TL 12 Medkit
  TL 14
  TL 14 Medkit
  TL 15
  NAS
  TL 15
  Bioscanner
  Perform cosmetic surgery, Education, 1–6 hours, Special. Alters 
  patient’s appearance or eliminates negative Social penalties 
  due to appearance, e.g. battle scarring, tattoos. 
  Perform remote surgery, Education, 1–6 hours, Special. 
  (Character performs surgery by text message or via a local 
  internet, or by giving verbal instructions to another doctor over 
  the telephone or comm – the operation must be some distance 
  from the calling physician).
  Conduct autopsy, Education, 1–6 hours, Average (+0). Identify 
  cause of death or study anatomy of decedent. 
  Antique and Advanced Medicine 
  In the previous article, the stages of medical development by 
  technological level were outlined. Just as with other forms of technology, 
  medical developments begin as groundbreaking procedures at these 
  technological levels, become routine as technology improves and 
  ultimately become simple procedures, usually replaced by more 
  advanced therapies only just coming into being. 
  Blood typing leads to transplant surgery, ultimately being 
  replaced by stem cell organ cloning and full organ tissue 
  synthesis, for instance. 
  The difficulty of a medical task check depends on the difference 
  between the local technological level and the technological 
  level of the procedure being conducted. For reference, the 
  technological levels for certain procedures, drugs and equipment 
  are listed below. These are the levels at which tasks involving 
  these procedures and drugs are considered Average (+0) checks.
  
  67
  mediC!
  Local TL
  Procedure TL
  Procedure
  Task Check
  Example
  TL – 3 
  Groundbreaking
  Formidable (–6)
  Germ theory; first test tube baby
  TL – 2
  Pioneering
  Very Difficult (–4)
  First heart transplant
  TL – 1
  Advanced
  Difficult (–2)
  Open heart surgery
  TL +0
  Average
  Average (+0)
  Setting a bone; battlefield triage
  TL +1
  Routine
  Routine (+2)
  Blood transfusion
  TL +2
  Easy
  Easy (+4)
  Delivering a baby
  TL +3
  Simple
  Simple (+6)
  Prescription of aspirin
  new mediCal teChnoloGy and 
  teChniques
  Drugs and Medicines 
  Regeneration Drug (TL 9): Cheaper than Medicinal Slow, 
  and available at an earlier Technological Level, Regeneration 
  Drug (“Regen”) is a useful alternative. Regen accelerates the 
  metabolism, but more slowly than Medicinal Slow and not 
  requiring a Cryoberth. A resting patient (bed rest’s) natural 
  healing rate (see p. 75, Traveller) is doubled. An active patient 
  regains 1d6 + Endurance DM (if positive) per treatment but 
  all tasks are performed at a –2 DM from the pain. Frequently 
  Regen is administered with a sedative to keep the patient 
  quiet; given the intense pain that comes with treatment, the 
  patient typically finds sleep welcoming. Cr 300 per dose. 
  Dermal Patches (TL 8): Dermal patches are perfect for slow 
  release delivery of Medicinal Drugs through the skin. Costs 
  are per drug, except derms take one hour to take effect and 
  last four times as long as pills or injections. TL 9 Slap Patches 
  deliver a quicker dose; these are used to tranquillise patients 
  quickly (1d6 + Endurance DM combat rounds). 
  Youth Serum (TL 8): A weakened form of a toxin such as 
  Botox, delivered by facial injection, this drug paralyses the 
  facial muscles, thus tautening the skin. Has no effect on aging 
  or aging rolls; but does offset some negative reactions to aged 
  appearance – eliminating a negative Social DM brought about 
  by Social characteristic loss due to aging. Cr. 150 for a single 
  shot lasting about 12 hours. Sometimes produces a mask–like 
  appearance; on a failed Average Social check, the negative 
  DM is actually doubled instead and the character suffers 1d6 
  Dexterity damage. 
  Oxytocin (TL 8): An advanced form of Truth Drug, this 
  undetectable liquid increases the bonds of trust between a 
  subject and his interrogator. The patient fi nds it harder to resist 
  attempts at Carouse, Deception, Leadership and Persuade 
  tasks performed against her (–2 DM). This drug lasts for one 
  hour and costs Cr. 100 per dose. 
  Fertility Drug (TL 7): Increases fertility. Patients are more likely 
  to conceive through sexual activity. On an Endurance roll of 8+, 
  a female patient undergoing treatment is more likely to conceive 
  multiple births. Cr. 1,500 for a course. 
  Contraceptive Drug (TL 6): At TL 5, simple contraceptives 
  become available. TL 6 is the fi rst technological level at which 
  they are available by prescription to the general public. Taking 
  the form of a regime of pills, initially a female human takes 
  one pill daily over the course of a single fertile cycle (period to 
  period, typically about 28 days). At TL 8, a contraceptive patch 
  is available, which has the same effect; at TL 9, a contraceptive 
  implant becomes available which is a Routine task to inject, and 
  lasts for six months between injections. Cr. 5 for a regime of 
  pills; Cr. 10 for a patch; Cr. 50 for an implant. 
  New Medical Equipment 
  Biobed (TL 10): An open bench lined with a variety of sensors, 
  onto which the patient lies. The biobed provides the equivalent 
  readings of a TL 12 medkit. The TL 12 version has the equivalent 
  of a TL 14 medkit. Not portable; usually found in a sickbay. The 
  TL 10 version is immobile and bolted to the ground; the TL 12 
  version can be wheeled around like a trolley. A TL 14 version is 
  a simple frame which is mounted around a bed; that is portable, 
  weighing the same as a TL 14 medkit but requiring 1–6 minutes 
  to set up, and providing a bonus DM of +2 to uses of the Medic 
  skill. 
  
  68
  mediC!
  TL 10: Cr. 2,000. 
  TL 12: Cr. 8,000. 
  TL 14: Cr. 16,000. 
  Disintegrator Therapy (TL 16): This technical equipment is 
  more advanced than the highest Technological Level of the 
  Imperium but is available as a bulky prototype as low as TL 
  14 where is fi rst appears as a piece of immobile equipment 
  the size of an ATV into which the patient is inserted. Scans 
  and pinpoints foreign objects such as lodged bullets, pieces of 
  broken off melee weapons and tumours and applies a fi eld 
  which suppresses the strong nuclear force. The targeted object 
  sheds neutrons and disintegrates harmlessly in the body. The 
  TL 14 version is immobile and costs Cr. 1,000,000; at TL 15, it 
  weighs 100kg and can be wheeled around the patient. Cost Cr. 
  250,000. The TL 16 version is the size of a briefcase, weighs 10 
  kg and costs Cr. 50,000 on a TL 16 world. 
  Medical Nuclear Damper (TL 13): Eliminates radioactive 
  particles in the patient’s body. A single treatment by this device 
  eliminates all accumulated rads in the patient’s body. Patients 
  may still require further treatment to restore any radiation 
  damage to their systems. Usually carried into a disaster scene, 
  at TL 13 the apparatus is the size of a shower cabinet. It is 
  immobile when set up, weighs 50kg and costs Cr. 25,000. At 
  TL 14, the mass is 25kg and the cost Cr. 12,500; at TL 15, the 
  mass is 10kg and the cost Cr. 10,000. 
  Medical Robot (TL 14): A mobile, autonomous medical robot unit 
  combining the best features of the Autodoc (p. 95, Traveller) with the 
  mobility of a Servitor robot (“Robots and Drones,” p. 94, Traveller). 
  Often purchased by rich, paranoid Nobles who prefer to trust a 
  machine when it comes to medical treatments. As with Autodocs, 
  medical robots are traditionally exempt from laws against robotics 
  due to their utility. Strength 7 (+0), Dexterity 9 (+1), Hull 2, Structure 
  2 Intelligence 9 (+1), Education 12 (+2), Social Standing 7 (+0) 
  Traits: Integrated System (TL 14 medkit), Specialised Computer/3 
  (running Intellect/1 and Medic/2) Weapons: Surgical tools (Melee 
  (scalpel), 1d6 damage) Cost: Cr. 150,000 
  Antique Medtech 
  Surgical Equipment (TL 5): Old–fashioned scalpels, 
  hypodermic syringes, forceps, separators, a bone saw, 
  trepanning apparatus, needles and sutures. Low technology, 
  unpowered and still capable of saving lives even at Technological 
  Levels as high as 15. 10kg. Cr. 1,000. 
  Doctor’s Bag (TL 4): Basic equipment to check the patient’s 
  condition. Includes thermometers to measure temperature, a 
  sphygmomanometer to measure blood pressure and a selection 
  of Medicinal Drugs of various kinds. Also includes bandages 
  and other fi rst aid appraatus. 8 kg. Cr. 1,000. 
  Autoclave (TL 5): Apparatus to sterilise surgical apparatus for 
  a procedure by subjecting them to high temperatures. 10kg. Cr. 
  500. 
  First Aid Kit (TL 5): Apparatus specifi cally to provide first aid 
  on an injured patient, stabilising the patient and preparing her 
  for transportation to hospital. Includes bandages, gloves and 
  other apparatus, including a few doses of Medicinal Drugs. 5lg. 
  Cr. 150. Resuscitation Kit (TL 8): A portable defibrillator and 
  vials of adrenalin to be injected directly into the heart. Comes 
  with syringes and other supplies to bring patients who have 
  suffered a severe injury crisis (see p. 37, Traveller) back to 
  life. 15kg. Cr. 1,500. Intensive Care Equipment (TL 4): Oxygen 
  tents, traction frames and stirrups. +1 to long term medical care 
  tasks. Cr. 2,000. Dialysis (TL 6): Antique medical technology for 
  patients whose kidneys have failed. Requires being hooked up 
  to the machine for hours at a time.
  Initially the size of a large, immobile cabinet, they reach 
  briefcase size by TL 8 before being phased out by efficient 
  transplantation, organ cloning and tissue synthesis. Cr. 50,000. 
  X–Ray Machine (TL 5): Provides primitive internal examination 
  of patients. Detects foreign objects, broken bones and tumours, 
  and permits dental identification of corpses. Cr. 10,000.
  The machine weighs 20kg; the articulated frame is immobile. 
  Someone subjected to this machine accumulates 1 rad per 
  hour of continued exposure. Ultrasound Scanner (TL 7): Using 
  the sonar principle, the ultrasound scanner is primarily used 
  in OB–GYN, or where X–rays are contraindicated (such as 
  testicular scanning). A handset is placed against the abdomen 
  of a pregnant patient, and the foetus is imaged on a screen. 
  TL 8 provides full 3D imaging, computer – generated: at TL 9, 
  the handset is wireless: at TL 10, the display is holographic. Cr. 
  25,000. 20 kg. 
  Full Body Scanner (TL 7): From the earliest CAT Scanners 
  to NMR and PET scans, full body scanners work the same 
  way. The patient is immobilised on a trolley, and inserted 
  into a machine which scans the patient, detecting tumours or 
  abnormalities undetectable to X rays. At TL 8, 3D computer–
  generated imaging is feasible: at TL 10, imaging is holographic. 
  Immobile. Cr. 100,000 to Cr. 500,000. Anatomical Skeleton (TL 
  3): Usually mounted on a frame, the joints held together by wire, 
  the anatomical skeleton is a useful guide to the human skeletal 
  structure. 
  At the lowest technological level, the skeleton is often that of 
  a real deceased person. Cr. 500 (Cr. 250 as a prop from a 
  theatrical shop). Where available, alien anatomical skeletons 
  provide useful guides to the skeletal structure of alien sophonts 
  (endoskeletal sophonts, that is). Cr. 1,500 to Cr. 50,000, 
  depending on rarity of the specimen. 
  new auGmentations 
  The following are new cybernetic implants and augmentations, 
  adding to the list of augmentations on pp. 89–90 of Traveller. 
  Memory Augmentation: By enhancing the brain’s ability 
  to process stored knowledge and learned experience, the 
  
  69
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  character is able to make better use of his experiences. This 
  augment enhances the character’s Education characteristic in 
  the same way as the Intelligence Augmentation implant (p. 89, 
  Traveller). Apply the same TLs, characteristic increases and 
  costs for Intelligence Augmentation to the character’s Education 
  characteristic instead. 
  Enhanced Hearing (TL 13): The character’s ears are 
  enhanced, giving her superlative balance (+1 to all Athletics 
  tasks) and enhancing her ability to hear (+1 to all tasks using 
  hearing) as well as the ability to pick up ultrasonic and infrasonic 
  cues beyond the range of human hearing. Cr. 25,000. 
  Enhanced Kinaesthesia (TL 14): The character’s senses 
  of taste, smell, balance and touch are enhanced. The 
  character makes task checks for the following skills as if 
  her characteristic DM were doubled (positive only): Animals, 
  Athletics, Deception, Investigate, Medic, Stealth, Survival. 
  If her Dexterity DM is negative, this implant eliminates the 
  modifier. 
  Biotechnology and Genetechnology 
  Technically these are just as much Augmentations as the 
  cybernetic modifi cations above; but these Augmentations 
  tend to operate on the genetic structure of the patient directly 
  and thus produce more far–reaching alterations. Biotech and 
  genetech therapies involve the creation of viral creches in the 
  patient’s thymus gland and bone marrow tissues, nanofactories 
  producing modifi ed T–cells in the bloodstream and lymphatic 
  system which house tailored retroviruses. These retroviruses 
  partially rewrite the patient’s DNA, altering certain genetic, 
  cellular and chromosomal structures which result in the desired 
  outward phenotypical changes (the augmentation). 
  All of the augmentations listed in Traveller on pp. 89–90 and 
  below are available through this kind of treatment. However, 
  the most potent and most desired use of genetech and biotech 
  augmentation is in the control of the processes of aging. 
  Organ Regen (TL 9): Eradicates conditions such as diabetes 
  or kidney or liver disease. Through cultivated stem cells, the 
  patient is given a new kidney, liver or other organ to replace the 
  failed organ. At TL 9, the organ is grown outside the body from 
  the patient’s own stem cells. At TL 11, genetically neutral organs 
  are developed, which can be implanted into any recipient. At TL 
  14, the organ is grown inside the patient. Cost Cr. 50,000 – Cr. 
  150,000. 
  Restoration (TL 14): Restores damage brought about through 
  a failed aging roll. The patient’s age remains unchanged, 
  and aging rolls are made as normal: but this therapy permits 
  restoration of the patient’s health and the eradication of the 
  accumulated deterioration brought about by age once the aging 
  roll has been made. Costs Cr. 100,000 plus Cr. 10,000 per 
  term; a patient aged 46 (7 terms) will pay Cr. 170,000 for the 
  procedure, rising to Cr. 180,000 when he reaches age 50 (8 
  terms). Typically as illegal as regular anagathics but available 
  more widely and at lower Technological Levels. 
  Rejuvenation (TL 15): Through intensive genetic therapy and 
  immersion for more than a week in a tank of bubbling fluids 
  connected to oxygen and life support, the patient’s physiological 
  age is reset back to age 18. aging rolls no longer apply to the 
  patient until the fourth term after this procedure (physiological 
  age 34) whereupon they begin again as normal for the patient. 
  The patient cannot receive a further rejuvenation until he has 
  once again reached the chronological age at which he received 
  the first rejuvenation treatment: if the patient received his first 
  rejuvenation at age 66 (11 terms) he cannot receive another 
  rejuvenation treatment for a further 11 terms, resuming aging 
  after 4 terms (physiological age 34, chronological age 100). 
  The patient may not take anagathics during this time, though 
  she may have Restoration therapy (above) to alleviate aging 
  damage sustained with each aging roll. Cost Cr. 1,000,000 plus 
  Cr. 100,000 per term; a patient receiving rejuvenation at age 38 
  (5 terms) will pay Cr. 1,500,000. 
  Aging Slow (TL 13): This course of drugs does not prevent 
  the character from aging, nor from the ravages of aging rolls. 
  What it does do, however, is slow it down to a crawl. Each year 
  from the first that the character receives this treatment, the 
  character ages one year for every four. At TL 14, this increases 
  to one year for every 8; at TL 15, this is increased to one year 
  for every ten. In effect, while the character ages, he only needs 
  to make an aging roll once every 16 years at TL 13, 32 years at 
  TL 14 or 40 years at TL 15. Neither rejuvenation nor restoration 
  treatments are effective to a patient under the infl uence of this 
  therapy. One year’s supply of this treatment costs Cr. 12,000; 
  the character resumes aging at the normal rate if the supply is 
  interrupted for one month. 
  Nanotechnology 
  Nanotechnological developments allow for the creation of 
  temporary augmentations. These have the effects of regular 
  implants, but their effect is temporary; at the end of their course, 
  the nanotechnological devices dissolve and are ejected from the 
  body as harmless chemicals. Such augments leave a distinctive 
  and visible pattern on the skin while they last, resembling a kind 
  of tattoo of living silvery circuitry running just beneath the skin. 
  The following augments are available as temporary implants: 
  Neural 
  Comm, 
  Physical 
  Characteristic 
  Augmentation, 
  Intelligence Augmentation, Skill Augmentation, Enhanced 
  Vision, Memory Augmentation (above), Enhanced Hearing 
  (above), Enhanced Kinaesthesia (above), Psionic Shield 
  (above), Psionic Strength Augmentation (above). Temporary 
  implants are available at 1 TL below the standard level for 
  each augmentation listed – a temporary Neural Comm with 
  a duration of 1 week, providing basic audio reception only, 
  can be obtained at TL 11. Cost is 50% of the cost of a full 
  implant, and the duration is one week: each extra week adds 
  
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  mediC!
  that amount again to the cost. The above audio only neural 
  comm would cost Cr. 500, but one that lasts one month would 
  cost Cr. 2,000. Even shorter–term implantation is possible: a 
  temporary augment lasting just one day costs as little as one 
  fifth the listed cost. If the patient desires an augment which 
  lasts for longer than four days, it is more cost effective to 
  purchase a one week duration treatment instead. 
  reFeree’s seCtion 
  Not all Referees like the idea of running medical–themed 
  scenarios. Stories of diseases, wounds and wandering about 
  clad in blood stained scrubs aren’t to everyone’s tastes. However, 
  some Referees might like the idea of setting challenges for 
  medic characters. Perhaps a rich Patron approaches the medic 
  looking for a supply of anagathics, or a plague might require an 
  urgent delve through a trap–riddled Ancient base in search of a 
  cure for a germ thought to be millennia dead. One’s crewmates 
  are always urgently demanding the medic’s attention: despite 
  medical advice, most characters prefer the sort of lifestyle 
  where getting shot at is very common, and frequently they have 
  to be on call to patch up their friends, only to send them right 
  back onto the battlefield again – or join them there. Some ideas 
  were offered in last issue’s article. The following are some more 
  challenges to present to a medic character. 
  Medicinal Slow ... And When To Say No
  Most player characters rarely have to worry about injuries. 
  One shot of Medicinal Slow (or Regen – see below) takes 
  care of everything. But that reduces medic characters 
  to mere dispensers of healing postions. Referees need 
  to challenge physician characters – that means masks, 
  bloodstained scrubs and arms sunk deep into gaping wounds. 
  The Referee is advised to think of circumstances in which 
  Medicinal Slow cannot be used, requiring player characters 
  to actually perform surgery (see p. 56 and 75, Traveller) 
  on their patients. Some suggestions include: The patient is 
  allergic to Medicinal Slow; administering it would inflict 2d6 
  damage; No Cryoberth, low berth or other cryogenic facility 
  (including Fast Drug) are available, or their power sources 
  are unreliable and erratic; Medicinal Slow is unavailable 
  anywhere, including the characters’ own supplies, due to 
  low Tech Level or too high a local Law Level; The wound 
  is infected with a pathogen which thrives on the drug; A 
  foreign object is lodged in the patient, requiring removal; 
  The patient suffers a medical crisis (heart attack, stroke, 
  aneurysm), requiring immediate stabilisation; – The patient 
  is a child, a pregnant female or infirm from natural old age, 
  high blood pressure or diabetes; The patient has a congenital 
  condition, and is too frail for the Cryoberth; The patient has 
  been prescribed a drug which reacts with Medicinal Slow, 
  or is under the influence of recreational substances or Psi 
  drugs; The patient has a combat implant which interferes with 
  Medicinal Slow; The patient has a religious objection (e.g. 
  the drug may be made from a natural herb which the patient’s 
  religion considers taboo, or conversely the Medicinal Slow 
  could be purely synthetic, and the patient’s religion forbids 
  treatment by any medicines not derived from Nature); The 
  patient is an alien. 
  Xenomedicine 
  Much of these articles has involved humans practising 
  medicine upon other humans. Traveller being a science 
  fiction game, humans aren’t the only species – so sooner 
  or later, either an alien medic may have to treat a wounded 
  human, or an alien requiring medical treatment may end up 
  on a human surgeon’s table. Each alien species has its own 
  cultural approaches to medicine. Human medics require a 
  licence to practise medicine, but some alien cultures may 
  not. 
  The Droyne, for instance, have a strict caste system – and 
  a Droyne doctor might not have a license as such, as her 
  career has been picked out for her at her Coyning (casting) 
  ceremony. Zhodani doctors, being mostly drawn from the 
  ranks of the psionically–gifted Intendants and Nobles, 
  don’t rely so much on mechanical technology to scan for 
  deep injuries, as they consider their Psionic abilities to be 
  far superior to any Imperial scanner. Hivers do not have 
  Maternity wards in their hospitals or OB GYN specialists, 
  due to the unique manner of Hiver reproduction; and the 
  Dice (2d6)
  Type
  Earth equivalent
  2–3
  Bacterial
  Plague, MRSA
  4–6
  Viral
  Influenza, the common cold
  7
  Retroviral
  HIV (any kind of virus that rewrites the patient’s DNA)
  8
  Fungal
  Thrush, athlete’s foot
  9
  Parasite
  Malaria
  10
  Pollen
  Hay fever
  11
  Prion
  CJD
  12
  Other
  Nanotech; Psionic possessor entities from the movie 
  Ghosts of Mars
  Nature: The type of pathogen.
  
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  mediC!
  Dice (2d6)
  Vector
  2–3
  Airborne
  4–5
  Skin contact
  6–7
  Bloodborne
  8–9
  Waterborne
  10
  Animal vector
  11
  Genetic / Congenital (and thus cannot be transmitted except 
  through heredity)
  12
  Psionic (e.g. Teleportation) or Other (e.g. infectious bite from a 
  cadaver animated by a parasite)
  K’Kree prefer non invasive surgery – whatever avoids 
  breaking the skin and exposing the scent of spilled blood 
  and meat.
  A physician encountering an alien from a new species 
  will find the alien’s anatomy, physiology and psychology 
  baffling. Regardless of the character’s Medic skill, without 
  the  Xenomedicine speciality initial treatment of the alien 
  species suffers the following drawbacks: The very first task 
  check, whether it is an initial examination or first aid or medical 
  Virulence
  DM
  0
  –3
  1–2
  –2
  3–5
  –1
  6–8
  +0
  9–11
  +1
  12–14
  +2
  15
  +3
  Virulence
  Damage
  0–2
  1d6–6
  3–4
  1d6–4
  5–6
  1d6–2
  7
  1d6+0
  8–9
  1d6+2
  10–11
  1d6+4
  12–14
  1d6+6
  15
  1d6+8
  Dice (1d6)
  Interval
  1–3
  1d6 weeks
  4–5
  1d6 days
  6
  1d6 hours
  Vector: How the pathogen travels from patient to patient.
  Exposure: The DM applied to the character’s Endurance check to shake off the disease.
  Damage: How much harm the pathogen causes each interval after exposure.
  Interval: The interval between Endurance checks.
  care, will initially be a Formidable check for a Groundbreaking 
  procedure; All task checks involving medical procedures on a 
  member of this species suffer a –2 DM. After each encounter 
  with a member of the species, including the first, the character 
  has a chance to learn from the encounter and eliminate the 
  –2 DM. This requires a Very Difficult (–4) Education check. 
  Success means that the medic learns enough about the 
  species encountered that he can treat further members of 
  this species with confidence. The Xenomedicine speciality 
  benefits medics in two ways. 
  
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  mediC!
  Firstly, rather than a Groundbreaking procedure and a 
  Formidable task, the initial task check is Difficult (–2) instead. 
  Secondly, the Education check to learn from the encounter and 
  eliminate the –2 DM is Average (+0). Another way of learning 
  about aliens is, sadly, to examine alien corpses – providing 
  the aliens’ culture permits such examination. Success with this 
  task automatically eliminates the –2 DM. The task check, in 
  this case, is:– Perform alien autopsy, Education, 1–6 hours, 
  Difficult (–2). These limitations apply to humans treating aliens, 
  to aliens treating humans, and to alien medics treating aliens 
  of entirely different species. It is as hard for an Aslan surgeon 
  attempting to treat their first Droyne patient as for a human 
  attempting the same treatment on that same Droyne.
  Diseases 
  On occasion, you may have to come up with an alien disease or 
  pathogen. Perhaps the ship’s crew come down with something 
  while in Jump, or a plague is spreading across the planet they 
  just landed on. The following tables can help you to generate 
  a nasty bug to trouble your characters. These expand upon p. 
  73 of Traveller.
  You can modify the disease to affect a characteristic 
  rather than Endurance. A disease that affects Strength 
  causes muscle atrophy; a fungus that produces a 
  neurotoxin that induces a tremor in the hands affects 
  Dexterity. 
  Education can be affected by a sickness that affects memory, 
  and Psions dread the onset of Targea’s Syndrome, which 
  causes a progressive reduction of Psionic Strength at a rate of 
  1 point of Psionic Strength per month. 
  patrons 
  The following are six Patrons with a medical theme. Three are 
  Protagonists, and three Antagonists. These Patrons follow the 
  same format as the Patrons in the supplement 760 Patrons.
  Protagonists Loyal Intern 
  Required Skills: None 
  Required Equipment: None 
  PLAYER’S INFORMATION 
  Motivated, helpful and skilled, this loyal intern is the character’s 
  understudy and a quick student of medicine. 
  REFEREE’S INFORMATION
  The loyal intern is (roll a d6) ... 
  1: – a social networker who can procure drugs and medical 
  technology at an advanced technological level and a good 
  price, no questions asked. 
  2–4: – from the character’s old neighbourhood, and a 
  childhood friend. 
  5: – a relative of the character’s old Mentor, who is indebted 
  to the character for giving her daughter the practical medical 
  experience she needs. 
  6: – a powerful Psion with a Talent for healing (treat as the 
  Regeneration ability of Awareness, with a maximum Range of 
  Close (range cost 0) and each Psionic Strength point healing 
  a number of a patient’s characteristic points lost equal to his 
  Psionic Strength characteristic DM of +2). 
  Medical Ship’s Captain 
  Required Skills: Medic 
  Required Equipment: None
  PLAYER’S INFORMATION 
  This captain runs a Saint–class hospice ship (Traders and 
  Gunboats, p. 52) who is taking on shipboard medical staff. He 
  is rich and bored, a former Noble, and his mission is to travel to 
  Poor worlds in his sector to help communities who can’t afford 
  fancy and expensive medical treatments. 
  REFEREE’S INFORMATION 
  The medical ship’s captain is (roll a d6) ...
   1–2: – an eccentric ex–Noble who, true his word, wants to help 
  others, even if his motivation is boredom at first. Perhaps the 
  characters can inspire him to genuine empathy.
  
  73
  mediC!
   3–4: – a former rakehell who has turned to religion and wants 
  to make amends for his past life. 
  5–6: – actually running a flying brothel. The characters are paid 
  well, and get to do some work dispensing contraceptives and 
  broad spectrum inoculations to the “nurses,” but they are mostly 
  only there to make the ship’s mission seem legitimate to the 
  authorities. 
  Medical Archaeologist 
  Required Skills: Medic, Science 
  Required Equipment: Ship 
  PLAYER’S INFORMATION 
  This doctor has heard a rumour that an Ancient site may lie on 
  an alien world a few Jumps away. He needs the characters to 
  take him to the rumoured site so he can see if it is there – and, 
  if so, that the rumours of a piece of Ancient medical technology 
  are true. He is generous with funds and equipment, and his 
  evidence appears solid. 
  REFEREE’S INFORMATION 
  The Patron is (roll a d6) ... 
  1–2: – desperate to find a cure to a disease that is killing his 
  wife, currently resting in a Cryoberth in the hospital. 
  3–4: – hoping that the discovery will be the break that assures 
  his fame in medical circles. 
  5–6: – honest and earnest, but fears that he could be wrong 
  in spite of all the evidence. The characters may be needed to 
  prove him right. If they do, they gain a skilled and knowledgeable 
  Medic as a staunch Ally with access to a collection of Ancient 
  medical artefacts. 
  Antagonists Drug Trial Victim 
  Required Skills: Investigate, Medic 
  Required Equipment: None 
  PLAYER’S INFORMATION 
  This unfortunate guinea pig was a participant in a drug trial which 
  failed, leaving him looking monstrous. The only survivor of the 
  trial, he claims that he is fleeing agents of the pharmaceutical 
  company who have been sent to kill him to cover up their failure. 
  REFEREE’S INFORMATION 
  The Patron is (roll a d6) ... 
  1: – slowly dying from the effects of the non infectious disease 
  he was being treated for. 
  2: – a Typhoid Mary, carrying an infectious disease and immune 
  to it. 
  3–4: – bitter with the company, a favoured Patron of the 
  characters, and wants to expose their activities. If he does, the 
  characters will no longer be able to count the company for work.
   5–6: – a con artist who has run this scam before, and is looking 
  to rip off the characters.
  Advanced Tech Physician 
  Required Skills: Streetwise 
  Required Equipment: Medicinal Drug, any medical technology 
  PLAYER’S INFORMATION 
  This arrogant physician comes from a world with a far higher 
  Technological Level than the characters’, and likes to rub the 
  characters’ noses in it at every opportunity, showing off his 
  advanced technology and medicines at every turn. 
  REFEREE’S INFORMATION 
  The advanced tech physician is (roll a d6) ... 
  1–2: – secretly a heavy drug addict, hooked on the stims the 
  characters’ world is producing. 
  3–4: – a dreadful bore, and some nurses are planning on taking 
  down this buffoon a peg or two. They need the characters’ help 
  to prescribe some sedatives and procure a couple of hookers. 
  5–6: – actually a worse medic than the characters, with a lower 
  Medic skill. Without all his fancy tech toys he’d be little more 
  than a glorifi ed general practitioner. 
  Angel of Mercy 
  Required Skills: Investigate 
  Required Equipment: Forensic toolkit 
  PLAYER’S INFORMATION 
  Patients are dying in the hospital where the characters are 
  currently working. This Angel of Mercy is killing them. 
  REFEREE’S INFORMATION 
  The Angel of Mercy is (roll a d6) ... 
  1–2: – a licensed euthanist offering a voluntary service from the 
  hospital. She has a hard job to do, but her world’s government 
  and Law Level sanction her activities to those who wish to die 
  with dignity. 
  3–4: – a religious freak killing patients he deems “unclean,” such 
  as women having abortions or people taking anagathics.
   5–6: – a psychopath who has been killing people for years, and 
  is on the verge of becoming a spree killer and cutting patients up 
  at random in a bloody rampage. 
  
  74
  The MSDB is rarely left to its role without a decent amount of fighter or escort presence. It is an offensive powerhouse, launch-
  ing waves of missiles and torpedoes into multiple targets with impunity. It is heavily reliant on its ammunition stores and MSDBs 
  without proper fleet resource support will quickly become little more than flying targets. The normal crew consists of the captain, 
  pilot, 2 engineers and 5 gunners.
  Missile Systems 
  Defence boat
  Tons
  Price (MCr)
  Hull
  500
  Hull 10
  32
  Armour
  Crystaliron
  8 pts
  50
  12.8
  No Jump Drive
  –
  –
  Manoeuvre Drive Q
  Power Plant Q
  Rating 6
  46
  120
  Bridge
  20
  2.5
  Computer
  Model/3fib
  Rating 15
  3
  Electronics
  Advanced
  DM +1
  3
  2
  Weapons
  Hardpoint #1 Hardpoint 
  #2 Hardpoint #3 
  Hardpoint #4 Hardpoint 
  #5
  Missile Bay–9 Torpedo 
  Bay–9 Torpedo Bay–9 
  Triple Turret (Beam 
  Laser–8 x3 accurate) 
  Triple Turret (Missile 
  Rack x3)
  300 Standard Missiles
  48 Basic Torpedoes
  31 
  31 
  31 
  1
  1
  25
  120
  24 
  24 
  24 
  4.3 
  3.25
  Fuel
  60 tons
  Four weeks of operation 60
  Cargo
  2 tons
  2
  5 Staterooms
  20
  2.5
  Extras
  Fuel Scoops
  1
  Ship’s Boat
  30
  17.694
  Fuel Scoops
  1
  Software
  –
  Library
  –
  Intellect
  Rating 10
  1
  Fire Control/3
  Rating 15
  6
  0.0284
  Life Support Cost 
  (monthly)
  0.010
  Total Tonnage & Cost
  500
  systems deFenCe
  By Bryan Steele
  Two new ships for players to encounter, defending systems from their rapacious and 
  predatory intentions!
  
  75
  ships 
  
  76
  ships 
  Using advanced technologies on the original defence frigate chassis, the DCF is at its best service at the centre of a small defence 
  picket or fleet, running all of the actions of the system’s defence from its high tech command and control (which replaces the hangar 
  bay of the more common defence frigate). It is jump capable, with these normally being part of a subsector Navy which are then 
  often ‘lent out’ to planetary navies that need such a starship to coordinate the system’s defences. The normal crew is the captain, 
  pilot, navigator, 3 engineers, 8 gunners and 5 flag staff 
  Systems Defence 
  Command Frigate
  Tons
  Price (MCr)
  Hull
  800
  Hull 16 
  Structure 16
  80
  Streamlined
  8
  Armour
  Crystaliron
  8 pts
  80
  32
  Jump Drive G
  Jump 2
  40
  70
  Manoeuvre Drive R
  Thrust 5
  31
  64
  Power Plant R
  Rating 5
  49
  128
  Bridge
  20
  4
  Command Bridge
  6
  Computer
  Model /5 fib
  Rating 25
  80
  15
  Electronics
  Counter–measures 
  Suite 
  DM +4
  7
  6
  Weapons
  Hardpoint #1 Hardpoint 
  #2 Hardpoint #3 
  Hardpoint #4 Hardpoint 
  #5 Hardpoint #6 
  Hardpoint #7 Hardpoint 
  #8
  Particle Beam Bay–10 
  (High Yield) Missile 
  Bay Missile Bay Triple 
  Turret (Pulse Laser–9 
  (accurate) x3) Triple 
  Turret (Pulse Laser–9 
  (accurate) x3) Triple 
  Turret (Pulse Laser–9 
  (accurate) x3) Triple 
  Turret (Sandcaster 
  x3) Triple Turret 
  (Sandcaster x3)
  51 
  51 
  51 
  1 
  1 
  1 
  1 
  1
  25 
  12
   12 
  2.875 
  2.875 
  2.875
   1.75 
  1.75
  Ammunition
  420 Standard Missiles
  35
  120 Sandcaster barrels
  6
  Fuel
  224 tons
  One Jump 2 – Four 
  weeks of operation
  224
  Cargo
  3 tons
  3
  13 Staterooms
  52
  6.5
  Extras
  Escape Pods
  13 Pods
  13
  2.6
  Fuel Scoops
  –
  1
  Fuel Processor
  40 tons per day
  2
  0.1
  Software
  Manoeuvre/0
  –
  Library
  –
  Intellect
  Rating 10
  1
  Evade/2
  Rating 15
  2
  Fire Control/4
  Rating 20
  8
  Jump Control /2
  Rating 10
  –
  Maintenance Cost 
  (monthly)
  0.0413
  Life Support Cost 
  (monthly)
  0.026
  Total Tonnage & Cost
  800
  495.325
  
  77
  ships 
  
  78
  ships 
  
  79
  This adventure is designed so that a Referee may drop it into 
  an existing campaign. The PCs need to be travellers who 
  scratch a living from taking whatever jobs will pay the bills. 
  Whether trading, ferrying, smuggling, mercenary work or in 
  this case – bounty hunting. It is assumed that the PCs have a 
  starship. If the Referee invents a reason to provide one, then 
  a 200 ton Fast Trader would be the most ideal. 
  Setting 
  The worlds presented in this short adventure are not the 
  primary planets of their system; therefore this adventure may 
  conceivably be placed in almost any appropriate star system. 
  Many of the scenes give minimal information of their immediate 
  surroundings in order that all of the “fluffy” details of the setting 
  may be filled out from the Referee’s imagination to suit his or 
  her campaign style. 
  Background 
  Elliot Powell is on the run. He was convicted of murder on his 
  home world and sentenced to death for his crime. After the trial, 
  he managed to escape off world. Powell is an innocent man, 
  wrongly convicted. 
  The true murderer is the local Police Chief who, in cahoots with 
  his two senior officers, Piers Dugarry and Robert Dawns, is 
  smuggling drugs onto the planet of Levall and forcing a string 
  of petty crooks to peddle his illegal wares on the streets of 
  Dassas. Chief Round exerts threats of violence and blackmail 
  on the crooks to ensure their compliance. 
  Once smuggled onto Levall, Round used a warehouse owner 
  named Ambas Lazarczuk to store his drugs near to Dassas 
  Starport. One day Lazarczuk, tired of Round’s constant threats, 
  made the fatal error of threatening to expose Round to his 
  superiors in government. Round stabbed Lazarczuk in the 
  chest and left him to bleed to death. 
  Round and his officers were still in the vicinity when the 
  unfortunate Elliot Powell discovered Lazarczuk’s body. Powell 
  made the perfect scapegoat when Round’s officers arrested 
  him at the scene. Now that Powell has escaped, Chief Round 
  is desperate for a sense of closure on this whole affair. He 
  is employing bounty hunters to bring Powell back to face his 
  sentence. Enter the PCs. 
  the adventure aCt one 
  Levall UWP D553734–10 Port D, poor starport; Size 5, medium 
  (8,200 km); Atmosphere 5, thin (breathable, 0.55ATM); 
  Hydrographics 3, wet world 32%; Population 7, (45 million); 
  Government 3, self perpetuating oligarchy; Law 4, moderate 
  law; Tech Level 10 (early stellar). 
  Levall is a planet that lays 0.85AU from its primary star. Unrefined 
  fuel and limited repair services are available at its starport and 
  some of its municipal spaceports. Scooping from open bodies 
  of water is prohibited by law as this deprives the government 
  of fuel taxes. The air and temperature are pleasant in the Polar 
  Regions, which boast rugged mountain ranges, dark forests 
  and many large lakes. Yet the equatorial zone is mainly arid, 
  dry–rock desert with soaring temperatures during the summer 
  months. There is no human habitation in the equatorial zone. 
  Apart from the small cities and towns of its northern hemisphere, 
  Levall remains largely undeveloped. Its government is a forum 
  whose members are selected from among the rich land–owning 
  families rather than being democratically elected. Positions of 
  power and officialdom are meted out amongst the members 
  of the richer classes. Prejudice against the lower classes is 
  commonplace. Levall’s judicial system allows defendants to 
  be judged by appointed forum officials. How fair the trial might 
  be depends upon the prejudices of the judges. Most of Levall’s 
  towns are dusty, fly–speck mining settlements and farming 
  communities. Many towns have seen little change since the 
  time of the first prospectors arriving to colonise the world. In 
  contrast, Dassas, the capital and largest city of Levall, is a 
  shining jewel of commerce and modern living. 
  Employment on Levall 
  Julius Round is the Chief of Police in Dassas. A stocky man 
  of about 50 years with a balding head and a piercing stare 
  in his eyes that makes most people feel uncomfortable in his 
  presence. His office is located on the first floor of the Dassas 
  Police Bureau building in the heart of the city. His demeanour 
  the levall aFFair
  By paul a. dutton
  A bounty hunting task for players that, being set on minor planets within a system, can be 
  quickly dropped into any campaign.
  
  80
  the levall aFFair  
  tells of a man who enjoys his position of power and yet loathes 
  the work responsibilities that come with it. 
  Though he recognises the importance of hiring experienced 
  personnel with the necessary skills to complete the job, he 
  none the less finds it difficult to hide his arrogance and disdain 
  toward the working classes when interviewing them. A fact not 
  lost on the PCs gathered in his office. Chief Round briefs the 
  PCs of the situation: An escaped criminal convicted of murder. 
  After sentencing at his trial he managed to overcome his guards 
  when being transferred back to gaol. This was five days ago. 
  Powell is described to the PCs as a dangerous killer who cannot 
  be allowed to escape justice. 
  The PCs are one of a small group of bounty hunters hired to find 
  Powell. Each group receives a retainer of 5,000 Cr for expenses 
  to undertake the job but only one group will receive the full 
  bounty of 50,000 Cr for the return of Elliot Powell to justice on 
  Levall. Chief Round refuses to be drawn on how many bounty 
  hunters are already on the case. He does though furnish each 
  PC with temporary credentials. These credentials, until revoked, 
  will afford minor privileges to the PCs in their pursuit of Powell. 
  The status bestowed upon the PCs by these credentials is 
  ambiguously termed ‘Agent of Law’. The credentials may allow 
  PCs to enter and search Powell’s home, access shipping lists at 
  the starport or may be produced as a warrant if arresting Powell 
  on another world with which Levall has an extradition treaty. 
  The credentials will not allow PCs to poke their noses into 
  official police records or business. Chief Round will inform the 
  PCs that Powell’s last reported sighting was four days ago at 
  Dassas Starport where he was caught on security camera. The 
  port is located just 8km south of the city. Powell is assumed to 
  have evaded security and smuggled himself on board a vessel 
  to escape off–world. 
  Investigations 
  Though Powell may conceivably have smuggled himself aboard 
  any random starship, he has actually headed to Eca IV, a mining 
  colony in–system where his sister lives and works. The PCs can 
  learn of the existence of Powell’s sister from investigations at 
  his home. This is the only lead they will have and should be 
  enough to send them on their way. If PCs decide to investigate 
  the crime scene, the Referee should make sure that the PCs do 
  not gain easy access until much later, when investigations here 
  play an important part in Act Four of this adventure. 
  Work – F. J. Sai Storage Company 
  Powell worked as a warehouse labourer near to Dassas 
  Starport. He travelled to work on public transport (wheeled 
  vehicle, bus). The warehouse hires storage space to merchants 
  operating from the port itself. Powell’s boss, Folson Sai, regards 
  Powell as an honest and diligent worker. Sai was truly shocked 
  when Powell was arrested; he adds that “It just goes to show, 
  you just can’t tell about some people”. Powell’s work colleagues 
  all agree that Powell was a popular guy, everybody seemed to 
  like him. 
  When talking with any of Powell’s work colleagues, a Streetwise 
  check (8+) reveals that they believe Powell is an innocent man. 
  PCs will learn that another colleague claims to have witnessed 
  what really happened. The witness is Arran Kitzler who can be 
  found hard at work in the warehouse. Kitzler is initially reluctant 
  to talk to the PCs but some good roleplay and a Persuade 
  check (10+) is enough to prize information out of Kitzler: He was 
  with Powell when the murder occurred: “We were walking by 
  Lazarczuk’s warehouse when we heard the sounds of a scuffle. 
  Elliot went in to investigate and found Lazarczuk lying dead 
  already. I looked in to see Elliot holding a knife but I can assure 
  you he didn’t have the knife when he went inside. Then the 
  police arrived and arrested him. But Elliot would never do such 
  a thing. I filed a full witness report but it was never submitted 
  in defence at the trial because they say I didn’t see the actual 
  murder”. 
  Kitzler is holding information back. A few days after Powell’s 
  arrest, one of Round’s officers approached Kitzler and warned 
  him not to speak with Powell’s lawyer. Kitzler was not to become 
  a witness for the defence. Although a Deception check (8+) will 
  allow a PC to realise that Kitzler is holding back, no amount of 
  coercion will convince Kitzler to reveal this. Development If PCs 
  approach the authorities regarding Kitzler’s story they will get 
  nowhere. 
  Police will dismiss Kitzler’s original statement as inconclusive 
  evidence. Kitzler will mysteriously disappear the next day, never 
  to be seen again. Trade If the PCs wish to engage in trade, they 
  may broker a deal with Folson Sai. Most of the stored goods 
  belong to merchants but Sai has 20 tons of basic consumables 
  available for 1,200 Credits per tonne and 15 tons basic 
  manufactured goods at 8,000 Cr per ton. A PC can barter with a 
  successful Broker check (8+) to reduce the price by 100 Cr per 
  tonne for every 1+ of effect on the check. For resale value – see 
  base price on p165 of the Traveller Core Rule book.
  Home – 89b Lingholme Apartments, Sector 
  19, Dassas. 
  Powell lived with his wife, Mina and young son, Parker, in a 
  small apartment in a run down tenement block in a poor sector 
  of Dassas. Mina is at her wits end with worry. Her husband is on 
  the run from a death sentence. The media, the authorities and 
  even her neighbours are making her life a misery and without 
  an income she and Parker are struggling to get by. Mina will 
  not be happy to receive the PCs, especially if she finds out that 
  they are bounty hunters. She has received no contact from 
  Elliot and does not know of his whereabouts. If PCs search the 
  apartment an Investigate check (6+) is enough to find several 
  letters addressed to Elliot from off–world. 
  The letters are from Elliot’s sister, Hannah Gravesson who 
  corresponds every few months to keep in touch with her 
  
  81
  the levall aFFair  
  brother. Her return address is given as Habitation Block 
  2, Station 23, Eca IV. On a Persuade check (8+) Mina will 
  confirm that apart from her and Parker, Hannah is Elliot’s 
  only living relative. She is married to a mine worker on Eca 
  IV. 
  Crime Scene – Lazarczuk Storage 
  More than two months after the murder, this small warehouse 
  is still sealed off as a crime scene. Round has ordered it so. 
  PCs will be prevented from entering by a security patrol or 
  night watch. If PCs do enter and attempt a search they will 
  be interrupted by the arrival of police called by someone who 
  witnessed them breaking in. PCs will be ushered away from the 
  crime scene. If the PCs return here in Act Four of the adventure 
  they may get luckier. 
  Defence Lawyer 
  Kal Persalis is a forum appointed yes man. As a defence lawyer 
  his job is to make the Levall judicial system look fair instead of 
  the class prejudiced farce that it truly is. Persalis did little to no 
  work on providing any sort of defence for Powell. He is only 
  ever appointed to defend the poorer classes and in his entire 
  career he has never won so much as a single case, nor does 
  he ever expect to. Persalis’ offices can be located on an Admin 
  or Streetwise check (8+). 
  The stencilled letters on the glass–paned door of his private 
  office read ‘K.J.Persalis. Attorney at Law.’ Kal is a lanky, frail 
  looking man who will be flustered by a visit from the PCs and 
  if necessary will contact Chief Round directly to have someone 
  come round and remove them. Persalis will refuse to engage 
  with the PCs stating that client confidentiality prevents him from 
  entering into any discussion of individual cases. Persalis’s case 
  files on Powell were confiscated by Chief Round. The PCs will 
  learn nothing here. 
  The Starport 
  Starport records list 171 vessels departing Dassas on the 
  day that Powell was last sighted. This is narrowed down to 
  18 departures within the hour or so immediately after Powell 
  was filmed on security camera. 
  All vessels on arrival are required to state their last port of 
  call and on leaving to state their intended destination. If PCs 
  cross reference departures for Eca IV, they will find only one 
  flight listed: A free lance trader called the Vogel. An Admin 
  (6+) locates the Vogel’s manifest. It was carrying a cargo of 
  fabrications required for essential repairs to one of Eca IV’s 
  mining stations. 
  Eca IV 
  Once PCs discover that Elliot Powell has a sister on Eca IV, 
  it will provide the only clue as to where he may have headed. 
  One of the moons of Eca, Eca IV is a mining colony with several 
  corporate owned mining stations. It lays some 450 million km 
  from Levall, an approximate journey of some 50 hours at thrust 
  4 or 80 hours at thrust 2. 
  Rival Bounty Hunters
  There are three rival groups of bounty hunters to the PCs. 
  Each has conducted their own investigation to find clues that 
  may lead them to Powell. Only the Delgado brothers, Tye and 
  Kanwar Delgado and their crew hands have learned about 
  Powell having a sister – information they discovered from 
  threatening Mina Powell. For now they remain one step behind 
  the PCs but they will soon catch up on Eca IV. 
  aCt two
  Eca IV UWP X224300–9 Port X, no starport; Size 2, small 
  (2,900 km); Atmosphere 2, very thin, tainted, 0.35ATM; 
  Hydrographics 4, ice world 44% (frozen); Population 3, 
  (3,700); Government 0, no government; Law 0, no law; Tech 
  Level 9 (early stellar). 
  Laying 4.7AU from the system star, Eca IV is the fourth of 11 
  moons orbiting the huge planet Eca. Eca IV is a fledgling colony 
  being established only in the last 60 years. The colony is only 
  habitable due to its proximity between the main planet and 
  another moon, Eca IX. Both worlds exert a gravitational influence 
  on Eca IV, which results in Eca IV having a decidedly elliptical 
  shape and the conflicting forces serve to warm the world’s core. 
  Small mining settlements of colonists huddle together on the 
  equatorial belt to harvest as much surface warmth as possible, 
  though at its best it hardly rises above freezing. It takes a hardy 
  or desperate kind of fool to wish to settle on Eca IV. 
  Most of the inhabitants are employed by various off–world 
  corporations who own the mining stations. Daylight is dim 
  due to its distance from the system star and its slow rotation 
  means Eca IV’s day and night cycle lasts 52 standard hours. 
  Mining settlements, termed stations, operate landing strips that 
  are often little more than a clearing on the rock bed. Corporate 
  freighters bring in essential supplies and take out unrefined 
  minerals and ores. Large freighters remain in orbit and use 
  shuttles to ferry cargo from the surface. 
  There is no government, each station is autonomous and 
  managed by a corporate appointed governor. There is no 
  recognised law, only company rule. The surface is a barren and 
  frozen wasteland of rock formations. A typical mining station 
  consists of a clump of buildings in near proximity to a quarry or 
  drilling facility. 
  Residents live in steel structures known as habitation blocks, 
  their private quarters separated from each other across 
  corridors. There may be as many as four or five habitation 
  blocks in a station, each housing up to 100 people. Outbuildings 
  may include small temples and bar–diners, as well as power 
  terminals, water processors, food vats, recycling plants 
  and storage silos for ore, minerals and fuel. The average 
  temperature at the equator is a cool – 15°C (258K), though at 
  the Polar Regions it dips significantly further. 
  
  82
  the levall aFFair  
  Volcanoes occasionally spew plumes of frozen sulphurous 
  dioxides into the thin atmosphere, requiring a respirator and 
  filter to aid in breathing. Any character exposed to the air 
  without a respirator and filtration mask can breathe satisfactorily 
  for a short while but must make an Endurance ability check (8+) 
  every minute. On the first failed check, the body’s respiratory 
  system begins to fail and the character begins to suffer 1d6 
  damage every minute. 
  Station 23 
  With sensors, it is not hard to locate Station 23 on the world 
  surface. Winds in Eca IV’s thin atmosphere pick up speed 
  quickly and can blow flurries of sulphur dioxide frost which 
  obscure vision. Landing in such conditions requires a Pilot 
  check (8+) to set down without causing damage to the ship. 
  Any damage incurred is largely superficial and fixed after two 
  successful Mechanic checks (8+) taking 1d6 hours per check. 
  On arrival the landing strip is vacant but station workers will 
  attempt to open comms and hail the PCs in their approaching 
  vessel. The PCs are not expected and landing permission is 
  denied. PCs may attempt to smooth things over and with a 
  plausible reason, gain permission to land on a Comms check 
  (10+). However, in the end, the station has no way of stopping 
  determined PCs from landing anyway. Station workers may 
  own a few side arms between them but are not in the habit of 
  carrying them around. 
  Trade opportunities 
  If PCs landed without permission then trade is refused. 
  Otherwise they might be able to broker a deal to buy and sell 
  cargo. Available cargo, priced per ton: uncommon ore 4,000 
  Cr and uncommon raw materials at 17,000 Cr. A PC can barter 
  with a successful Broker check (8+) to reduce the price by 200 
  Cr per tonne for every 1+ of effect on the check. Base prices for 
  resale value are on core rulebook p166. 
  Governor Zak Carver 
  Zak Carver is Governor of Station 23, appointed by its owner 
  – the Metallia Corporation. On arrival, PCs will be escorted to 
  Carver’s office. He will act decidedly disgruntled towards the 
  PCs if they landed at the station without permission. However, if 
  PCs did gain permission then Carver will be far more respectful 
  in greeting his visitors. Station 23 has a community of 228 
  inhabitants and Carver knows them all well. He is very aware 
  that Elliot Powell came to visit his sister. He is also aware that 
  Powell left again shortly after. PCs can search the station if 
  they wish and may interview Hannah and her husband Grieg 
  Gravesson once they finish their shift at the rock face. As the 
  investigation continues Carver will be begin to co–operate more 
  with their requests as he comes to realise it is the quickest way 
  of getting the PCs to leave again. 
  Hannah Gravesson, Habitation Block 2, Sta-
  tion 23, Eca IV.
  Hannah may once have been described as pretty but since 
  working here her looks have become rugged, her skin coarse 
  from exposure and frost burns. Hannah was most surprised to 
  see her brother. She had no idea of what had happened to him 
  on Levall. She confides that Elliot suffered severe culture shock 
  at the conditions on Eca IV and was heart broken to find his 
  sister labouring at the rock face to eke out a meagre living. He 
  stayed only a couple of standard days before chance arrived to 
  secure passage on a freighter by working as a volunteer deck 
  hand. He had no wish to endanger his sister in case the likes of 
  the PCs were to trace him here, so he moved on. 
  
  83
  the levall aFFair  
  Vessel Log 
  PCs will be shown the station’s vessel log, at the end of which 
  they will note the name of their own vessel has been added. 
  The last freighter to be recorded in the log was a Metallia owned 
  heavy freighter called the Tregarn. The freighter held in near 
  orbit whilst its shuttle ferried cargo. Carver assures the PCs that 
  Elliot Powell boarded the Tregarn as a deck hand. The Tregarn 
  left orbit 50 hours before PCs arrived. It will have taken about 25 
  hours to reach the planet Eca’s 18 million km jump limit before 
  making the jump 1 journey to Balfor, an industrial world in the 
  next system. If the PCs check the log for a vessel called the 
  Vogel it is listed as arriving on the day Powell arrived. It first 
  dropped its cargo at another station before ferrying Powell to 
  station 23. 
  The Delgados arrive on Eca IV 
  The Delgado brothers with two crew members arrive at Station 
  23 shortly before the PCs make ready to leave. Amid the frost 
  flurries, the Delgados and PCs share an uneasy look across 
  the landing strip. The Delgados are engaging the landing strip 
  workers in conversation. Over the sound of the wind, a Recon 
  check (10+) is enough for a PC to overhear a worker saying out 
  loud, “That Powell must be a popular fellow, those folks over 
  there have been asking about him too”. PCs may decide to 
  confront the Delgados or simply ignore them and board ship to 
  leave Eca IV. If they confront their rivals, the two brothers stand 
  tall and arrogant whilst their two crew hands stand back. The 
  elder brother, Tye Delgado, does the talking. He will warn PCs 
  to back off: “Elliott Powell and the bounty for his head belong 
  to us”. If a fight breaks out now the PCs may avoid having to 
  battle it out in space. If the PCs simply leave, the Delgados will 
  soon follow. There are ample crates and outbuildings around 
  the landing strip to provide cover in a fire fight. The weather too 
  contributes to cover with obscured visibility due to the dimness 
  of Eca IV’s daylight and the almost constant wind driven 
  flurries of frost. If PCs are forced to finish repairs to their ship, 
  the Delgados may leave Eca IV first. The Delgados, seizing 
  an opportunity to remove their rivals, will wait in space using 
  another of Eca’s moons as cover from which to ambush the 
  PCs – run the Space Engagement. 
  Tyrone Delgado 
  Str 8, Dex 8, End 10, Int 10, Edu 8, Soc 7; Deception 1; Drive 
  0; Engineer (electronics) 1; Gun Combat (slug pistol) 2; Pilot 
  (spacecraft) 1; Recon 1; Stealth 1; Streetwise 2; Gear: auto pistol 
  (3d6–3), armour –cloth (5), respirator/filtration (mouthpiece), 
  wrist restraints, a photograph of Elliot Powell; 800 Cr; 
  Kanwar Delgado 
  Str 7, Dex 8, End 8, Int 10, Edu 9, Soc 6; Admin 0; Astrogation 
  1; Comms 1; Computers 1; Drive 0; Engineer 0; Gun Combat 
  (slug pistol) 1; Gunner (turret) 1; Pilot 0; Recon 1; Streetwise 1; 
  Gear: stunner (energy pistol, 2d6+3 non–lethal), armour –cloth 
  vest (3), respirator/filtration (mouthpiece); 500 Cr; 
  Delgado Crew Hands 
  (x2) Str 7, Dex 7, End 8, Int 6, Edu 7, Soc 6; Engineer (jump 
  drive 1); Gun Combat 0; Gunner (turret) 1; Mechanic 0; Melee 
  (blade) 1; Gear: auto pistol (3d6–3), dagger (1d6+2), respirator/
  filtration (mouthpiece); 120 Cr; 
  Development If the Delgados are losing in a fire fight they will 
  retreat to their ship and lift off in a hurry. Unless severely injured 
  or under–crewed they will re–engage the PCs, this time in a 
  space battle. If the Delgados are alive but severely wounded 
  they will withdraw from the competition for Elliot Powell’s bounty. 
  The PCs though have gained an enemy. If the PCs left Eca IV 
  without fighting with the Delgados, the brothers will be quick 
  to find the leads they need and will hasten after the PCs and 
  engage them in a space battle. Either run Space Engagement 
  or move directly on to The Tregarn as appropriate. 
  Space Engagement 
  The Delgado’s ship is an A3 Fast Trader named the Medusa. 
  Depending upon the type of vessel the PCs are using, Referees 
  should feel free to replace the Medusa with another ship if more 
  appropriate for game balance. The Delgado’s ship must be 
  jump capable and at least match the PC’s vessel in tonnage 
  and thrust. 
  Moments after leaving orbit from Eca IV the sensors on 
  the PCs’ vessel will pick up a contact. It is the Medusa. The 
  Delgados hail the PCs on comms to warn them off. If the PCs 
  don’t withdraw, a space engagement ensues at short range 
  (<1250km). Tactics The Medusa will be quick to fire missiles 
  to force PCs onto the defensive. The Delgados will not think 
  twice about leaving defeated foes dead–in–the–water or even 
  destroyed. The PCs simply must win this engagement. If things 
  go badly for the Delgados they will withdraw from combat and 
  from the race to bring in Elliot Powell but the PCs will gain the 
  Delgados as an enemy. 
  The Medusa – Fast Trader, Type A3 – 200 tons 
  Hull 4, Structure 4; streamlined (aerofins); Armour titanium 2 
  ; Jump Drive B, jump–2; Manoeuvre Drive D Thrust 4; Power 
  Plant D, rating 4; Bridge: Computer model/2 (rating 10); 
  Electronics basic military +0 DM; Fuel 48 tons (1xjump–2 & 2 
  weeks of ops); Cargo 42 tons; Staterooms 8; Low Berths 6; 
  Extras: air/raft; fuel scoop, fuel processors (20t/day); Software: 
  maneouvre/0, library; jump control/2 (rating 10); intellect (rating 
  10); Weapons Systems: 2 Hardpoints, #1 double turret (pulse 
  laser x1/ sandcaster x1) #2 double turret (pulse laser x1/ missile 
  rack x1). Ammunition 20 sandcaster barrels; 12 basic missiles. 
  Crew 4; Crew Skill Average +1DM; Pulse Laser fires bursts of 
  energy; optimum range is short, –2 DM to hit, (damage 2d6). 
  Basic Missile thrust/5, endurance/10, (damage 1d6). 
  
  84
  the levall aFFair  
  aCt three
  After leaving Eca IV, to continue the pursuit of Elliot Powell, 
  the PCs must follow the heavy freighter Tregarn through jump 
  space to the industrial planet of Balfor.
  Balfor UWP X484510–9 
  Port X, no starport; Size 4, small (5,700 km); Atmosphere 
  8, dense, 1.55ATM; Hydrographics 4, wet world 44%; 
  Population 5, (322,000); Government 1, corporate, power–
  sharing assembly; Law 0, no law; Tech Level 9 (early stellar).
  Viewed from space Balfor appears burnt orange in colour. Its 
  entire economy revolves around the corporate owned industrial 
  townships. Townships are established on high plateaus where 
  humans may breathe unassisted. In contrast, the lowlands and 
  sandstone canyons suffer from a dense, humid atmosphere 
  and its oceans are shrouded by warm, humid cloud. Balfor’s 
  government is a multi–corporate assembly in which seats are 
  obtained by the purchase of shares, not the polling of votes. 
  Balfor offers the ideal solution to corporations looking to avoid 
  the heavy tax tariffs of polity worlds. It can prove far more 
  profitable to produce goods on a world which you own. 
  The Tregarn
  If the PCs follow the Tregarn through jump space they will 
  discover her in orbit around Balfor. The Tregarn’s shuttle is in 
  the lengthy process of ferrying ore and minerals down to the 
  Metallia Corporation’s refineries on the planet surface. Powell 
  is still on board the Tregarn. He does not get to jump ship until 
  the last of the cargo is off loaded. Once alongside the Tregarn it 
  is a relatively simple act to retrieve him. 
  If the PCs hail the Tregarn, Captain Angela del Schaff will open 
  comms. She is a confident captain but is fully aware that she 
  is in no position to stave off the determined assault of a pirate 
  ship; which is initially what she will assume the PCs to be. PCs 
  need to convince del Schaff that she is harbouring a dangerous 
  criminal, Persuade check (10+).Once convinced she will gladly 
  be rid of Powell who is endangering her crew just by his very 
  presence. If PCs convinced del Schaff on the first or second 
  attempt at the persuade check, then she will agree to the PCs 
  docking with the Tregarn and boarding to collect Powell who 
  she will hand over without a fuss. Docking requires a Pilot check 
  (6+) taking 1d6 minutes. If it took more than two persuade 
  checks or if warning shots were fired across the Tregarn’s bow, 
  del Schaff will not have enough trust in the PCs to allow them 
  to board. Instead she will have her crew subdue Powell, force 
  him into a vacc suit and flush him out of the air lock. Powell is 
  now free–floating in space. To rescue Powell from space, a PC 
  will need to don a vacc suit and thruster pack from the ship’s 
  locker and go for a ‘spacewalk’. A task chain of three Zero–G 
  (8+) checks (or (6+) if the PC has the Vacc Suit skill) is required 
  to successfully retrieve Powell. Failure to succeed within six 
  checks may signify the PC has got into trouble and will need 
  rescuing too.
  The Tregarn – Heavy Freighter – 1,000 tons 
  Hull 20, Structure 20; Armour none; Jump Drive H, jump 2; 
  Manoeuvre Drive E, Thrust 1; Power Plant H (rating/2); Bridge: 
  Computer model/2 (rating 10); Electronics standard sensors, 
  –4 DM; Fuel 216 tons (1xjump–2 – 2 weeks of ops); Cargo 
  552 tons; Staterooms 8; Extras: shuttle (95 tons), Software: 
  maneouvre/0, library; jump control/2; Weapons Systems: 2 
  Hardpoints: #1 and #2 double turrets (sandcaster x1/ pulse laser 
  x1); Crew 10; Crew Skill Green +0 DM; Based on the heavy 
  freighter on core rule book p125.
  Refueling on Balfor
  Should PCs descend to Balfor a Pilot check (6+) is required to 
  ride some choppy weather in its heavy atmosphere. A failed 
  check results in overheating and systems damage requiring an 
  Engineering check (8+) and 1d6 hours to repair. If PCs need to 
  refuel they may scoop from an open body of water beneath the 
  lower cloud level. 
  To scoop requires a vessel capable of hovering in gravity and 
  four successful Pilot checks (8+) to complete the operation. 
  Each attempted check signifies one hour of time. Scooping is 
  not welcomed by the corporate government. PCs will eventually 
  be detected on sensors (within 1d6 hours of arrival) at which 
  time a pair of government fighter drones will be despatched to 
  investigate. This means that PCs may complete the operation 
  in time; otherwise the amount of water scooped for hydrogen 
  separation is reduced proportionately.
  Drones will engage the PCs to chase them off but will not 
  pursue beyond near orbit. Engagement begins at short range. 
  To avoid confrontation, PCs may purchase fuel legitimately. 
  A Comms check (8+) receives permission to enter Balfor 
  airspace and land at a township to purchase refined fuel at an 
  extortionate 600 Cr per ton. A Broker check (8+) can reduce this 
  to 500 Cr. Despite the humble landing pad being the height of 
  sophistication for receiving starcraft, Balfor has many refineries 
  and refined fuel is always available.
  Drone Fighters (x2) – 20 tons 
  Hull 0, Structure 1; streamlined, Stealth; Armour crystaliron 
  6; Manoeuvre Drive sK Thrust 10; Power Plant sK (rating 10); 
  Drone Command Unit TL12: Computer model/2 (rating 10); 
  Electronics military sensors +0 DM; Fuel 1 ton (1 week of ops); 
  Software: maneouvre/0, evade/1; fire control/2; Weapons 
  Systems: Fixed Mount railgun; Missile Mount 3x basic missiles; 
  Ammunition railgun rounds x20; Remote Operation DM+1; 
  Based on the Assault Fighter – Traders and Gunboats p24.
  
  85
  the levall aFFair  
  Railgun fires bursts of ferrous bullets; optimum range is short, 
  (damage 2d6). Basic Missiles thrust/5, endurance 10 turns, 
  (damage 1d6).
  Powell’s pleas of innocence
  Elliot Powell is living on the edge of his nerves. Despite 
  the reputation given to him by Levall’s authorities, he is 
  not violent and poses no danger whatever. He knows that 
  a life on the run would mean there will always be bounty 
  hunters on his trail. 
  He cannot keep on running and he misses his family very 
  much. He makes a plea to the PCs: he is an innocent man 
  and they are taking him back to face a death sentence for 
  a crime that he did not commit. He desperately hopes that 
  they might help him prove his innocence. A Deception 
  check (6+) is enough for a wary PC to be convinced that 
  Powell may be telling the truth. 
  Powell’s Story
  After finishing his work shift, he and a colleague named 
  Arran Kitzler headed to the bus terminus to catch transport 
  home. Whilst passing by another warehouse they heard 
  a scuffle. After a few moments of daring each other to 
  investigate, Powell looked into the warehouse to find the 
  warehouse owner, Ambas Lazarczuk, lying face down in 
  a pool of blood. Powell bent down and turned him over. 
  There was a knife in his chest. Without thinking, 
  Powell removed the knife – he was trying to help. The 
  next thing Powell knows is the sound of approaching 
  footsteps. The police had arrived on scene and they 
  arrested him. He was later convicted of murder. The 
  knife, with his fingerprints, was submitted in evidence, as 
  were the witness statements of the police officers who 
  found him leaning over the body, knife in hand. 
  A Moral decision
  The PCs have three choices. They can let Powell go, in 
  which case he will eventually be tracked down by other 
  bounty hunters. They can simply hand Powell over to the 
  authorities on Levall and collect their bounty. Or they can 
  sympathise with Powell’s plight and forge ahead with an 
  attempt to prove his innocence.
  aCt Four
  What to do with Powell?
  Once back on Levall, PCs need to decide what to do with 
  Powell. If they decide to sneak him into Dassas then PCs 
  are required to make a task chain of three successful 
  Stealth checks (6+), this abstracts the PCs’ efforts to 
  sneak Powell through the starport. A failed check brings 
  discovery but security officers will initially assume that 
  the PCs have brought Powell back to claim the bounty. 
  However, if Powell is not restrained or if the PCs were 
  caught in suspicious circumstances, then it will require 
  a very convincing story and a Persuade check (10+) to 
  alleviate any suspicions that spaceport security may 
  have. If security is suitably convinced, Chief Round 
  will be informed of the PCs’ arrival and their success 
  in bringing back Powell but if security officers remain 
  suspicious they will attempt to arrest the PCs – see 
  Trouble at the Starport. 
  If PCs hand Powell over, whether voluntarily or after 
  failing to sneak him through the starport, Round will take 
  him into custody and pay the bounty to the PCs (as long 
  as they are not wanted fugitives now). The PCs now 
  have just three days until Powell’s execution to solve the 
  murder and prove his innocence. The 50,000 Cr bounty 
  is paid over in Chief Round’s office at the Police Bureau. 
  He will inform the PCs that their temporary status as 
  agents of law is now revoked and they should hand their 
  credentials to his secretary before leaving the building. 
  The PCs must pass through the adjoining secretary’s 
  office on the way out. If, when the secretary requests 
  the PCs to return their credentials, a PC tries to keep 
  his credentials back, a Deception check (8+) is enough 
  to convince her that the PC was never issued with 
  credentials in the first place. She will still expect at least 
  PC to have a set of credentials to be returned. 
  Trouble at the Starport
  If things go wrong, port security will attempt to arrest the PCs. 
  If PCs escape the port they will become wanted fugitives. Chief 
  Round will be panicked if he hears that the PCs are helping 
  Powell and will issue a ‘shoot to kill’ policy against the PCs – a 
  very harsh and unusual step, even by Levall’s standards. If PCs 
  decide to continue to conduct an investigation to prove Powell’s 
  innocence (and their own) then from now on they will have 
  to keep a low profile and avoid the authorities. The Referee 
  is encouraged to complicate investigations as appropriate. If 
  arrested, the PCs’ fate is sealed. There will be no charges and 
  no trial. To protect himself, Round will have them killed.The 
  following stat block may be used at the Referee’s discretion for 
  Security Officers and Police alike throughout the remainder of 
  this adventure.
  Security and Police Officers
  Str 6, Dex 6, End 7, Int 8, Edu 8, Soc 7; Admin 0; Comms 
  0; Drive 0; Gun Combat (slug pistol) 1; Investigate 0; 
  Melee (bludgeon) 1; Recon 1; Gear: auto pistol (3d6–3) 
  or ACR Advanced Combat Rifle (3d6), stunstick (1d6 
  normal + 2d6 non lethal), cloth armour (5), comm, wrist 
  restraints;
  Investigations
  If PCs intend to prove Powell’s innocence, they need to 
  solve the crime for which he has been wrongly convicted. 
  The starting points for investigations should be apparent 
  
  86
  the levall aFFair  
  –the crime scene and the victim. If the PCs are struggling, 
  a benevolent Referee may call for Intelligence checks to 
  help guide the PCs.
  Ambas Lazarczuk
  The murder of Ambas Lazarczuk took place two months prior 
  to Powell’s trial. Lazarczuk had just been forced to take in yet 
  another shipment of drugs that had been smuggled through 
  Dassas Starport. Over the last two years Lazarczuk had cheated 
  on his tax payments. When legal proceedings were imminent, 
  Chief Round offered him a deal. Round could arrange for the 
  debts to be expunged and the evidence of tax evasion erased. 
  This established Round’s hold over Lazarczuk. Lazarczuk grew 
  tired of being used and tried to force his way out of Round’s 
  influence with a foolish attempt at blackmail; threatening to 
  expose Round to his superiors. An indignant Round stabbed 
  Lazarczuk to silence him. 
  Home Lazarczuk lived alone and his former home has been 
  emptied and is now for sale. There is nothing at Lazarczuks 
  home for PCs to find.
  If PCs check the background of Ambas Lazarczuk they may find 
  evidence of the proceedings against him for tax evasion and 
  the subsequent dropping of those charges from one of three 
  sources: media archives, legal records or locals who knew him. 
  Media Archives are public and can be accessed from any 
  computer, a Computer check (6+) locates the relevant detail – a 
  column containing a story on Lazarczuk being charged with tax 
  evasion offences. An Investigate check (8+) notices many stories 
  of citizens who break the law and their subsequent sentencing 
  is always sensationalised. Such coverage is encouraged by 
  the Levall Forum in order to show the lower classes that they 
  cannot get away with crime. Oddly, there is no follow up media 
  story to explain why Lazarczuk’s case never came to trial. 
  Legal Records are held at forum offices and are confidential. 
  Making subtle enquiries and a successful Admin or Advocate 
  check (8+) locates the correct offices. PCs cannot access the 
  offices, not even with credentials. A few hours of surveillance 
  outside the offices confirms that bypassing the building’s 
  security is nigh on impossible. PCs can, however, attempt 
  to hack into the forum computer system. Three successive 
  Computer checks (10+) taking 1d6 hours gains remote access 
  to all relevant files.  Failure to complete the checks within six 
  attempts results in the PC’s hack being detected and security 
  software locks the PCs out. The attempted hack will be traced 
  to the remote computer used. PCs can later try the hack again 
  but now the checks are (12+). If the PCs are successful they 
  can learn on an Admin or Advocate (6+) that Lazarczuk was 
  being taken to trial for cheating 40,000 Cr from the Levall tax 
  office. The proceedings against him were halted just before his 
  trial, the case file finishes with the words “Evidence: Deleted. 
  Charges: Dismissed. Case File: Closed – Chief J. Round”. 
  Locals Streetwise checks close to Lazarczuk’s business or 
  home reveal locals knew all about his impending trial but for 
  some unknown reason all charges were dropped just days 
  before the trial was due. “It’s a rare thing indeed for a low class 
  citizen to escape criminal prosecution”.
  Crime Scene – Lazarczuk Storage
  If the PCs did not visit here before departure to Eca IV, the 
  description remains the same, a small warehouse still sealed 
  off as a crime scene as per Round’s orders. The place is empty, 
  all goods have gone and all business records confiscated from 
  the warehouse office. This time, PCs may enter undisturbed. An 
  Investigate (8+) discovers a small sack of grain that has slipped 
  into the cavity between the outer wall and a low, inner storage 
  wall. If PCs remove the sack from the cavity for a closer look, 
  grain will begin to spill from a tear in the sack, closely followed 
  by several small, sealed packets containing a grey powder. 
  These are Round’s drugs, smuggled through Dassas Starport in 
  sacks of basic consumables. The sack has a label sown onto it 
  which gives basic information on the origin of the shipment. This 
  information allows the cargo to be traced to a ship’s manifest. 
  The information includes world of origin (Referee’s choice) and 
  a batch number. If the PCs still have credentials they can gain 
  free access to the Starport’s manifest records, an Admin check 
  (8+) and 1d6 hours traces the cargo to a vessel named the 
  Autumn Star; registered to a free lance merchant, ‘Captain’ 
  Royce Caine. The cargo of 40 tons of grain, was brought in 
  to Dassas Starport just over two months ago, the week before 
  Lazarczuk was murdered in fact. The Autumn Star has not 
  returned to Levall since but records show that it visits Levall 
  on a fairly regular basis, once every three to four months. The 
  drug is a highly addictive narcotic called Berrozine – colloquially 
  known as ‘grey’. It has a street value of 150,000 Cr a ton. Each 
  40 ton grain cargo potentially includes a hidden cache of 2 tons 
  of grey.
  
  87
  the levall aFFair  
  Lazarczuk’s warehouse is one of several on a site. Call for a 
  Recon check (not if the PCs are here prior to bringing back 
  Powell) to notice that the warehouse opposite has security 
  cameras. PCs may, with a Persuade check (automatic if the PCs 
  still have credentials), gain access to recorded footage from the 
  day of the murder. PCs will find footage of Round entering the 
  warehouse just five minutes before Powell and Arran Kitzler 
  walk by. Round is then seen exiting a side door as Powell goes 
  in through the front. Seconds later Round is seen directing his 
  two senior officers, Dugarry and Dawns, into the building. 
  The two officers re–emerge with Powell in restraints. Minutes 
  later a crowd has gathered and more officers arrive, Kitzler can 
  be seen giving a statement and finally a police vehicle arrives to 
  take Powell into custody. 
  The Streets of Dassas
  Streetwise checks will locate street dealers of black 
  market goods and drugs in Dassas’s more deprived 
  districts. If PCs have sample drugs, any drug pusher, if 
  bribed or threatened, will identify the substance as ‘grey’. 
  Many of the street dealers are under the thumb of corrupt 
  police, especially of Round and his senior officers. Every 
  crook is aware of the consequences of ratting on their 
  police handlers. If interrogated, it takes more than simple 
  threat to make a street dealer talk. PCs will need to get 
  physical and inflict sufficient injury plus a Persuade check 
  (10+) or Interrogation check (8+) to force a dealer to talk. 
  A dealer will then inform PCs that he is provided the drugs 
  by “Chief Round and his buddies” and forced to sell them. 
  Bank Records
  Investigating Round’s bank account is not easy. The bank 
  will not knowingly give out any personal information. Good 
  role play, the showing of credentials and a successful 
  Persuade check (10+) might convince the bank manger 
  that the PCs are agents of law conducting an official 
  investigation. If PCs can access Round’s account details, 
  all is found to be in good order. Round does not launder 
  his dirty money through his personal bank account. 
  Round’s Home and Offices
  The easiest way to find Round’s home address, should 
  PCs decide to go there, is to follow Round home. The 
  Referee may call for Stealth checks to successfully 
  tail Round. The house can be searched once there is 
  nobody home. The only clue to be found is a discarded 
  envelope. The letter it contained is missing but the 
  envelope itself has a printed address on its reverse 
  side: M. Round Accountancy, 19 City Offices, Sector 4, 
  Dassas. If PCs break into Chief Round’s office at the 
  Police Bureau (a much harder task) the Referee may 
  decide that the PCs discover the envelope there instead.
  Round’s Accountant
  Miles Round is the elder brother of Julius. He is a 
  crooked accountant with the expertise to launder his 
  brother’s dirty money. The money is channelled into a 
  dozen different accounts in the name of fictitious off–
  world businesses. Miles keeps records of all his client’s 
  accounts on his personal computer. A task chain of three 
  skill checks (8+) in Admin and/or Computer at 1 hour 
  per attempted check is enough to locate the pertinent 
  accounts. PCs can break into the offices at night or 
  blatantly threaten Miles in the day. If Miles is confronted 
  he will warn his brother. If the PCs weren’t fugitives 
  already, then they are now and Chief Round issues a 
  shoot to kill policy on the PCs. 
  Going to the Authorities
  Round’s immediate superior is Mayor Joran Parkes. 
  Despite being part of the privileged classes, Mayor 
  Parkes is a decent man. If PCs approach him without 
  evidence, the PCs will be told that making serious 
  allegations against a senior police officer without proof 
  is a very dangerous thing and he will advise that the PCs 
  should keep quiet and maybe leave Levall before they 
  get themselves into big trouble. 
  The PCs need to gather evidence to substantiate their 
  claims against Round and his officers. An Advocate (6+) 
  check is enough to know when the evidence collected 
  is enough to take to the Mayor’s Office. In the face of 
  overwhelming evidence the Mayor will eventually be 
  forced to act. With corruption at such a senior level he 
  will be unsure of who exactly to trust amongst the ranks 
  of police. Not wanting to alert Round, it is best to keep 
  regular police out of the equation and the Mayor will ask 
  the PCs to form part of the arresting team. The Mayor 
  has a small contingent of four Forum Agents who are 
  attached to the Mayor’s Office and remain separate 
  from the Police Bureau. These may be the only agents 
  of law he can trust at the moment. The PCs are sworn 
  in as temporary agents to augment the Mayor’s circle of 
  trustees. Each PC will earn a retainer of 5,000 Cr from the 
  Mayor’s Office for their temporary employ. If PCs have 
  no weapons of their own, the Mayor’s Office will issue 
  some basic firearms on loan. Forum Agent Jack Silas is 
  placed in charge of the operation to arrest Chief Julius 
  Round and his accomplices.Development: If PCs do not 
  voluntarily go to the authorities (most likely because of 
  issues with not knowing who to trust), have Agent Silas 
  contact the PCs surreptitiously. The Mayor’s Office may 
  already have a distrust of Chief Round and having been 
  alerted to the PCs investigations are looking to use any 
  evidence discovered to bring down corruption in the 
  Police Bureau. 
  
  88
  the levall aFFair  
  The Arrest of Julius Round
  Agent Silas decides upon a plan to catch Chief Round, 
  red handed if possible. He assigns three agents to follow 
  Dawns and Dugarry. Silas himself remains with the 
  PCs who will keep Chief Round and the Police Bureau 
  building under surveillance. Within a few hours Silas 
  receives a report from his agents that Dawns has been 
  shadowed to an apartment in District 9. The apartment 
  checks out as a listed safe house sometimes used by 
  Dassas police. Dawns is seen leaving the apartment 
  with a carry case and is followed back to the Dassas 
  Police Bureau by a single agent; two agents remaining 
  behind to check out the apartment. By the time Dawns 
  arrives back at the Bureau, the two agents have entered 
  the apartment and confirmed the find of a drugs haul. 
  The PCs are informed by comms that Dawns is being 
  followed back to the Bureau and he has a carry case. 
  A few minutes later Dawns comes into view of the PCs. 
  He parks his car (wheeled road vehicle) and enters 
  the Bureau, he leaves the case locked in the car. Silas 
  instructs the PCs to wait. 
  Half an hour later Chief Round, Dawns and Dugarry exit 
  the Bureau and get into the car, Dawns is in the driver’s 
  seat. As Round and his officers drive away, Agent Silas 
  and the PCs follow. Dawns drives to District 11, a deprived 
  and over crowded hive of the lower classes. The Referee 
  may call for a Drive (wheeled) (6+) check for a PC to 
  successfully shadow Dawns in the traffic without being 
  detected. If the check fails the PCs are spotted and a car 
  chase and vehicle shoot out may develop. 
  At District 11, when Dawns parks the car, he and Dugarry 
  will get out, Round stays in the car. The two officers cross 
  the street and approach a street dealer, Dawns is carrying 
  the case. Their intentions are to enter the dealer’s nearby 
  building to collect cash from previous drug sales and 
  supply him with the next cache of grey. If PCs have not 
  leapt into action already, Agent Silas now gives them the 
  go ahead. Its time to apprehend Round and his senior 
  officers.
  Julius Round 
  Str 7, Dex 8, End 10, Int 10, Edu 11, Soc 11; Admin 
  0; Advocate 2; Deception 2; Drive 0; Gun Combat (slug 
  pistol) 2; Flyer (grav) 1; Recon 1; Stealth 1; Streetwise 1; 
  Gear: auto pistol (3d6–3), armour –cloth (5), credentials, 
  comm., 800 Cr; 
  Senior Officers (Robert Dawns and Piers Dugarry)
  Str 8, Dex 9, End 9, Int 8, Edu 9, Soc 9; Athletics 0; 
  Drive 0; Gun Combat (slug pistol) 1; Melee 0; Recon 
  1; Stealth 1; Streetwise 2; Gear: auto pistol (3d6–3), 
  armour –cloth (5), credentials, wrist restraints, comm., 
  220 Cr; Dawns has a carry case containing 12 x 0.5kg 
  of packets of grey.
  Street Dealer
  Str 8, Dex 7, End 8, Int 6, Edu 5, Soc 5; Gun Combat 0; 
  Melee (blade) 1; Recon 1; Stealth 1; Streetwise 3; Gear: 
  auto pistol (3d6–3), knife (2d6);
  Agent Jack Silas 
  Str 8, Dex 8, End 9, Int 9, Edu 8, Soc 9; Athletics 0; 
  Drive 0; Gun Combat (slug pistol) 1; Investigate 2; Recon 
  1; Persuade 2; Stealth 1; Streetwise 1; Gear: auto pistol 
  (3d6–3), credentials, wrist restraints; comm.;
  Tactics Dawns and Dugarry will slug it out in the street 
  whilst Round attempts to make his escape. Round is 
  sat in the car when combat begins but it will take him 
  two rounds to move into the driver seat before he can 
  attempt to drive away. Round is finished on Levall; his 
  only chance of escaping justice is to get off world. Round 
  and his officers will fight it out until dead or incapacitated. 
  If there is large party of PCs then the referee may wish to 
  add the street dealer and maybe one or two petty thugs 
  who are part of the street dealer’s gang to the combat.
  Conclusion
  Afterwards, the PCs will receive thanks from the Mayor’s 
  Office. If still alive, Julius Round, Robert Dawns and Piers 
  Dugarry all face a bleak future. The accountant, Miles 
  Round will be arrested, as will Captain Caine when the 
  Autumn Star next lands at Dassas Starport. Elliot Powell 
  will be freed. 
  On some worlds Powell might hope for some compensation, 
  on Levall he must instead console himself with the fact 
  that he is the first low class citizen ever to have a death 
  sentence revoked and conviction quashed. Elliot and 
  his family will have eternal gratitude toward the PCs for 
  what they have done. The PCs reward is their promised 
  payment from the Mayor’s Office and the stern request 
  that they leave Levall with all haste. The Levall Forum 
  needs to sweep this incident under the carpet as soon as 
  possible and under no circumstance can they allow the 
  PCs to remain as role models for the lower classes.
  
  89
  The new Traveller adventure, Prison Planet, describes the 
  hellish Tarkwall Prison. Player Characters convicted of a crime 
  may be condemned to that irradiated pit and forced to remain 
  there for long years until they escape (or die and are buried 
  in the yard). Most Player Characters commit enough crimes 
  to warrant a prison sentence six times before breakfast but if 
  your group are morally upright and law–abiding and then the 
  first part of this adventure will get them sent to Tarkwall. In the 
  second part, the character’s erstwhile patron is murdered and 
  the characters must find the killer before he comes for them, 
  too. You can run the second part of the adventure for a group 
  who are already in Tarkwall, in which case they may befriend 
  Sadder Villin and then investigate his death. 
  introduCtion 
  This adventure takes place in the Lanth and Rhylanor 
  subsectors of the Spinward Marches (The Spinward Marches, 
  pages 82 and 86 respectively). Tarkwall Prison is located on 
  Keanou (0801/ Lanth), an obscure desert world on the edge of 
  Lanth, Rhylanor and Regina subsectors. It is assumed that the 
  Player Characters have their own spacecraft and are looking for 
  employment. Skills like Pilot, Sensors, Zero–G and Vacc Suit 
  are needed in the first part of the adventure. 
  The Macene Bureau 
  The Macene civilisation is a ring of high technology settlements 
  carved out of the rocky asteroids. The belt’s shipyards produce 
  a sizeable proportion of the new civilian ships and high–tech 
  components for Rhylanor and Lanth subsectors, especially 
  jump drive cores (the belt is high in lanthanum deposits, a vital 
  part of the drive). The system is home to several naval bases, 
  including the sector reserve fleet. Macene is a key factor in the 
  security of the whole Spinward Marches. The outer reaches of 
  Macene have a less salubrious reputation – the belter population 
  of the system were once involved in piracy and some older 
  rocks in Macene still welcome raiders and ‘ethically challenged 
  merchants’. Ishta Rahm is a naval counter–intelligence agent; 
  her primary duty is to ensure that nothing interferes with 
  naval operations. The Zhodani have tried to infiltrate Macene 
  in the past; especially daring Vargr raiders covet the wealth 
  and technology of Macene and there are always ambitious 
  local nobles who might make trouble. Six months ago, Rahm 
  discovered evidence of a conspiracy; old, worn–out naval 
  components including weapons are vanishing from the Macene 
  shipyards instead of being destroyed. This is a serious security 
  breach – someone could be building their own warships or 
  gathering information about the capabilities and readiness of 
  the Sector fleet. She was about to bring this information to 
  her superior Hoster, when she noticed an alarming correlation 
  between transactions in a watched bank account and Hoster’s 
  movements around the belt. If an Intelligence bureau’s chief is 
  corrupt, then… well, Rahm sleeps with a body pistol under her 
  pillow, just in case. Before she can make any such accusation, 
  though, she needs proof of the conspiracy. Her mole inside the 
  conspiracy has passed on a shipping schedule. A consignment 
  of naval parts has been transferred to an old storage depot on 
  the edge of the Macene belt. According to the computer records, 
  these should be junk parts, useless to anyone. Rahm suspects 
  that the computer records have been tampered with and that the 
  parts in the depot are actually weapons components. With her 
  superior under suspicion, she cannot use agency resources, so 
  she has to use other avenues of investigation – specifically, a 
  contact of hers named Sadder Villin. 
  Sadder Villin 
  Sadder Villin is an old spacehand a former merchant whose 
  battered old free trader, the Lunion Queen, finally gave up the 
  ghost ten years ago. He now lives in the remains of his ship, 
  which is permanently stuck in orbit of a planet that the Player 
  Characters regularly visit (Risek is a good choice). Villin makes 
  a living as a broker and informant. He has dozens of friends in 
  spaceport bars across the Marches and he can put free traders 
  in touch with patrons who need goods moved discretely. Villin 
  has spent 50 years living on board the Lunion Queen and has 
  grown rather eccentric. 
  He sometimes has conversations with long–departed crew 
  members and has a paranoid terror of leaving the confines of 
  the ship. When he has to go planetside for business, he wears a 
  vacc suit and takes sedatives and whiskey. Despite his obvious 
  quirks, Villin has a reputation for honesty and an encyclopaedic 
  the sad death oF sadder villin
  By Gareth hanrahan
  An addition to Prison Planet that will get your players sent to Tarkwall, and then give them 
  something to do during the long years of their incarceration!
  
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  the sad death oF sadder villin
  knowledge of the tramp ship network in the Marches. Rahm 
  has hired Villin to get a non–traceable ship and retrieve the 
  components from the depot. 
  If the cargo stored in the depot really is junk, then she is on the 
  wrong trail. If Villins recovers weapons parts, though, then she 
  has proof that there is a conspiracy afoot. Ideally, the Referee 
  should introduce the wreck dwelling hermit to the campaign 
  several sessions before running this adventure. The players 
  should know and trust Villin before he contacts them with a new 
  and curious mission. 
  Sadder Villin 
  Str 4 Dex 8 End 6 Int 9 Edu 7 Soc 6 Skills: Broker 3, Pilot 
  (spacecraft) 1, Streetwise 2, Vacc Suit 1, Zero–G 1 
  Villin contacts the characters by radio if they jump into the same 
  system as the Lunion Queen or else by leaving messages for 
  them at the starports they frequent. He informs them that if they 
  visit him in the next few weeks, he can put a highly profitable 
  piece of work their way. He can’t say any more except in person. 
  on shipping timetables, computer screens and unidentifiable 
  stains. Villin floats some foil squeeze–bottles of booze over to 
  the Player Characters and pulls a sheaf of printouts out from 
  what used to be an engineering access panel. ‘Don’t ask too 
  many questions about this job, all right? The patron wants 
  it kept very dark, very very dark. It’s in the Macene system. 
  There’s a small rock there called, er, M129–AP–299. I guess 
  that’s a name if you squint at it. The patron’s got a load of cargo 
  sitting in a vault there. She needs someone to pick up the cargo 
  and drop it here, without going through a starport or running into 
  any patrols. I know the patron and the cargo’s not illegal, just… 
  it has to be handled discretely, understand?’ 
  The fee is Cr. 5,000 per ton per parsec and Villin says there 
  should be around 10 tons of cargo at M129–AP–299. A quick 
  check of Library Data will alert the characters to the fact that 
  Macene is primarily a naval outpost and that avoid patrols might 
  be difficult. Villin replies that M129–AP–299 is on the fringes of 
  the system and should be far from any naval patrols. 
  The only tricky bit will be refuelling; Villin suggests either visiting 
  Macene port first and filling up there or else skimming from the 
  gas giant before heading into the belt. Either way, they should 
  be ready to jump out immediately after loading up at M129–
  AP–299. If the characters agree to the job, Villin gives them a 
  data cassette with a code on it. 
  This code will open the dock at M129–AP–299. Villin again 
  emphasises that the job is totally legitimate and that he trusts 
  the patron, although he will not reveal her name. Paranoid 
  players may assume they are being set up, which is accurate 
  up to a point – neither Villin nor Rahm is planning to betray 
  the characters but events are about to overtake everyone. A 
  successful Difficult (–2) Comms check suggests that the code 
  on the data cassette looks like an old naval code, probably 
  years out of date. 
  Jump In… 
  The voyage to the Macene system is uneventful. If the characters 
  refuel at either Macene starport or the gas giant, Hau, they 
  spot several huge naval warships that dwarf their own vessel 
  hundreds of times over, as well as dozens of smaller escorts 
  and patrol boats. Most of the activity in Macene is concentrated 
  around the moons of the gas giant and at the Trojan points
  . …Grab The Cargo… 
  M129–AP–299 is 45 million kilometres from the starport, so it 
  will take several days to reach the asteroid. It’s a lonely speck 
  of matter, a mix of ice and rock, sitting well outside the orbit of 
  Hau. As the characters approach, they detect no other ships 
  nearby but sensors do pick up a structure within M129–AP–
  299. The asteroid has been partially hollowed out to serve as a 
  depot. There are two airlocks, one standard size and one larger 
  portal for loading cargo. Transmitting the code on the cassette 
  opens either airlock.
  The Macene Run 
  When the characters arrive at the drifting hulk of the Lunion 
  Queen, Villin signals for them to come aboard. He greets them 
  in what was the common area of the ship, back when it was 
  a ship and not a wreck. He keeps the gravity switched off to 
  save power. The bulkheads are covered with star charts, notes 
  
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  Inside, the asteroid base consists of only a few rooms. It is 
  obvious that the base was carved out of the rock centuries ago 
  and has been visited only a few times since then. 
  1. Small Airlock. This airlock can only be opened if the 
  characters transmit the code from the data cassette. 
  The airlock bears the words ‘NAVAL PROPERTY – DO 
  NOT ENTER WITHOUT AUTHORISATION’. 
  2. Access Corridor. The walls of this corridor are 
  polished stone. There is no gravity but there are metal 
  plates glued to the floor and walls every metre or so, 
  allowing a character wearing magnetic boots to walk. 
  There is no heat or atmosphere when the characters 
  arrive but as soon as the airlock is activated, the 
  environmental controls in room 4 switch on, heating 
  the rooms and filling them with a breathable mix of 
  gases. It will take several hours for the environmental 
  adjustments to be completed. 
  3. Central Chamber: There are six exits from this cubic 
  room, one in the centre of each wall. There are also 
  vacc suits and a pair of unloaded accelerator rifles in a 
  locker next to the access corridor entrance, along with 
  extremely out of–date medical kits and rations. While 
  the equipment is functional, the lockers and other 
  fittings are obviously very old.
  4.  Fuel: This automated fuel cracker melts the ice of the 
  asteroid and converts it into hydrogen and oxygen, 
  which are then stored in the fuel cells surrounding the 
  cargo bay. 
  5. Security: This upper chamber contains a security 
  robot, an autonomous combat drone equipped with an 
  accelerator rifle. The drone will attack any trespassers 
  unless the code from the data cassette is transmitted 
  to it. The droid uses a small thruster pack to move; the 
  port–side thruster is damaged and fires with much less 
  force that its counterparts, so the droid has trouble 
  turning in zero gravity. 
  6. Environmental Controls: This chamber contains a 
  small fusion reactor and other life–support systems. 
  Hydrogen fuel cells are honeycombed into the rock 
  around this room. The equipment here is also centuries 
  old but still works. 
  7. Computer Control: The computer system in this 
  chamber logs visits to the depot. A quick check shows 
  that after the depot was constructed 310 years ago, 
  there was approximately one visit per decade – up 
  until two years ago. Since then, robot tugs have been 
  showing up every few months and depositing cargo. 
  There are also records of the main airlock being used, 
  usually a week after the tug’s visit. No ship is logged 
  as having arrived at those times. (The smugglers have 
  not bothered to log their illegal visits to the depot.) 
  8. Large Airlock: There are two automated cargo–
  handling robots waiting in this airlock. If commanded, 
  they will move cargo containers from the bay to a 
  docked ship. 
  9. Cargo Bay: This cavernous zero–g cargo bay is filled 
  with one–dton cargo containers. There are obviously 
  two groups of containers. One set of containers are 
  stacked at the edges of the bay and have not been 
  touched in centuries. The second set of a dozen 
  containers is in the middle of the bay and is much 
  newer. This second set of containers holds the stolen 
  naval components. 
  10. Fuel Umbilical: This tube can be connected to a ship 
  to tap the asteroid’s hydrogen reserves. The asteroid 
  has 50 tons of fuel available. 
  …and Jump Out 
  Soon after the characters arrive at M129–AP–299 (ideally, while 
  the characters are loading cargo), the smuggler ship arrives. 
  The smuggler vessel is a Far Trader that just made a Jump–1 
  in from Kinorb. Their plan is to pick up the cargo and jump out 
  again, as their ship still has the fuel to make a Jump–1 back. 
  Far Trader 
  Hull 4, Structure 4 Double Turret: Two Beam Lasers (2d6 
  each) Double Turret: One Beam Laser (2d6), Sandcaster 
  Pirate Crew 
  Str 6 Dex 8 End 7 Int 6 Edu 7 Soc 7 Skills: Pilot (spacecraft) 
  1, Gunnery (turret) 1, Gun Combat (rifle) 1, Engineering 0, 
  Mechanic 1, Recon 1 Vacc Suit (Armour 6), Accelerator 
  Rifle (3d6) 
  This plan does not include another ship sitting right on top 
  of the asteroid. The smugglers’ reaction depends on that of 
  the players. They will ignore any attempts at negotiation and 
  instead attempt to threaten them using the turret–mounted 
  laser cannons. However, the last thing the smugglers want is 
  a firefight right on the doorstep of their secret drop–off point. 
  Therefore, after a few rounds of combat, the smugglers will 
  jump away unless the Player Characters surrender. If there 
  are characters on M129–AP–299 when the smuggler vessel 
  arrives, they may have to fight off boarders. 
  Searching the Cargo Containers 
  Inquisitive Player Characters will doubtless search the cargo 
  containers. According to the electronic manifest on each 
  container, they all contain ‘scrap and salvage’ recovered from 
  decommissioned naval vessels. If the crates are opened, they 
  are found to contain naval weapons components. There are no 
  complete weapons here but there are parts for meson guns and 
  other alarming weapons (these count as Illegal Weapons for the 
  purposes of trade). 
  Return to Villin 
  Assuming the characters recovered any cargo from the 
  asteroid, their next step should be to return to the Lunion Queen 
  and collect their payment from Sadder Villin. Unfortunately for 
  the characters, Hoster the corrupt intelligence agent is no fool. 
  
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  the sad death oF sadder villin
  He suspected someone in his organisation was onto him and 
  made a list of likely pawns who might be used to sabotage his 
  smuggling ring. Sadder Villin was one of the top names on that 
  list. A military vessel, the Kestrel, has been dispatched from 
  Macene to the Lunion Queen, with orders to capture Villin and 
  the characters. (The ship dispatched should be big enough 
  to overpower the Player Characters’ vessel – a Gazelle class 
  escort should be more than enough in most cases.)
  Dead or Alive, You’re Coming With Us 
  The Gazelle may be waiting for the characters, lurking in 
  a powered–down state in orbit or it could jump in as the 
  characters are meeting with Villin on board the Lunion Queen. 
  The characters are hailed: ‘LUNION QUEEN, [PLAYER 
  CHARACTER VESSEL], THIS IS THE IMPERIAL SHIP 
  KESTREL. IN THE NAME OF THE EMPEROR YOU ARE 
  ORDERED TO SHUT DOWN ALL DRIVES AND WEAPONS 
  AND PREPARE TO BE BOARDED. ANY RESISTANCE OR 
  SUBTERFUGE WILL BE MET WITH LETHAL FORCE!’ The 
  Kestrel closes in and launches a squad of Imperial marines 
  in grav–assisted battle dress armed with gauss rifles. Villin 
  signals his surrender – he is got friends in Naval Security or 
  so he thinks. He is gotten out of scrapes before thanks to his 
  naval allies. The Player Characters can fight back if they want 
  but their chances of survival in a stand–up fight should be slim. 
  If they flee, they become wanted criminals. 
  part 2: tarkwall 
  After their capture, the characters are transferred – without trial 
  – to a prison transport. Their ship and any weapons, armour 
  or other notable equipment is impounded at Macene. The 
  characters spot Villin in another cell on board the transport but 
  are unable to speak to him. After several weeks of confinement 
  aboard the prison transport, the characters find themselves in 
  the Keanou system. The transport lands at Keanou spaceport, 
  where the prison shuttle waits to bring them to Tarkwall Prison. 
  Protestations that they have not had a trial are ignored – Hoster 
  has enough sway with the Ministry of Justice to have the 
  characters and Villin quietly buried at Tarkwall Prison. Hoster 
  wants to find out who hired Villin to hire the Player Characters 
  and Tarkwall is the best place to do so.
  The First Weeks 
  The first weeks in Tarkwall should unfold as normal. Prison 
  hits Villin hard – he is not used to either high gravity or open 
  spaces. His new cellmate is 1119 Morian Gosh, a violent 
  thug who is spending 20 years in Tarkwall for murder. Gosh 
  is trying to curry favour with 7057 Big Rolf. Villin initially 
  assigned to light work in the Upper Mining Level but then 
  9047 Rand Gurish recognises Villin; he claims that Villin 
  ratted him out five years ago to the authorities and attacks 
  Villin with a mining pick. If the characters do not intervene, 
  then Gurish beats Villin hard enough to send the old spacer 
  to the infirmary for a month. If they do save Villin, then he is 
  reassigned to the machine shop as it is clear that he is in no 
  condition to survive the mines (and he has yet to incur the 
  dislike of a prison official who would send him back to the 
  mines regardless of his survival chances). Guirish spreads 
  the rumour that Villin is a snitch and untrustworthy bastard; 
  several other prisoners, including 1215 Ward Stamboul, 
  1217 Talbot Vinge, 1935 Felip Karageorge, 8046 Satoshi 
  Honig and 3064 Berndt Khanugir listen to this rumour and 
  also take a dislike to Villin. If the characters ask Villin about 
  his connection to 9047 Rand Gurish, he admits that he did 
  know Gurish out in the real world; Gurish was part of a pirate 
  crew who raided shipping on the fringes of Lunion subsector.
  Gurish approached Villin, looking for a fence to shift some stolen 
  cargo but Villin reported Gurish to the authorities. The rest of 
  the pirate gang escaped but he was pleased to see Gurish put 
  away for thirty years. Villin’s obvious distaste for piracy may be 
  surprising to the Player Characters, given the job he hired them 
  to do. In the machine shop, Villin tries to befriend 3006 Azax 
  Hamid, believing that the clerk can get a message out to Rahm. 
  Unfortunately, Hamid charges Cr. 500 to even attempt sending 
  a message and Villin has no cash. He asks the characters to 
  help him gather the money but refuses to tell them what he 
  wants it for (to preserve Rahm’s secrecy). In fact, Azax is 
  scamming Villin – he is pocketing the cash and telling Villin that 
  his contact in Circle City will relay the messages ‘any day now’. 
  Villin also befriends 6724 Jaime Giligis, who comes from an 
  asteroid colony and shares Villin’s problems with high–gravity. 
  Giligis has a stash of bone–density drugs which he shares with 
  
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  Villin. Characters who investigate may come to the conclusion 
  that Villin has become addicted to drugs supplied by Giligis. 
  A Visitor 
  The next incident occurs several weeks later, when Hoster visits 
  the prison. This is an unofficial visit – Hoster is not here in his 
  capacity as director of security for Macene, he is simply popping 
  in to have a little chat with the prison warden. Warden Grice 
  is quite star–struck by his visitor and is so awed that he will 
  do anything for Hoster’s approval. The characters may glimpse 
  Hoster as he lands in a private shuttle. He is a fat man with 
  a florid, multi–coloured moustache and cybernetic eyes. He is 
  well dressed and pops vitamin tablets constantly. He speaks 
  very quietly, in a voice just above a whisper. Hoster interviews 
  Villin privately but Villin refuses to tell him who ordered the 
  break–in. Characters with connections among the guards will 
  learn that a secret interview took place and that no–one in the 
  prison knows what the strange visitor wanted. 
  Breaking Villin 
  Having failed to extract the information he needed from Villin, 
  Hoster departs, leaving instructions with Assistant Warden 
  Voller to break Villin’s will. The old spacer is reassigned to the 
  Danger Zone and the word goes forth that it is open season on 
  Sadder Villin. Those who make Villin’s life hell – without killing 
  him – will be rewarded. If anyone does kill him, though, then 
  they will answer to Assistant Warden Voller. All the major gangs 
  start hunting Villin. If the spacer is caught, they beat him, he is 
  carted off to the Infirmary and goes from there to the Hole. Once 
  he is out of the Hole, it starts again. The guards only intervene 
  to keep Villin alive. His every waking moment – and those of 
  the Player Characters, if they help him – is a nightmare. His 
  food in the canteen is unimaginable slop. His cell is sabotaged, 
  spilling the contents of the chemical toilet everywhere. In the 
  repair shop, his equipment is smashed, every day’s work 
  ruined. Anyone who publicly associates with Villin suffers the 
  same fate. 
  The one advantage of all this is that Rand Gurish can no longer 
  threaten Villin. The ex–pirate complains about the warden’s 
  ‘favouritism’ of Villin to anyone who listens, insists that Villin is 
  actually a snitch and claims that the attacks on Villin are all 
  faked to give him some credibility among the prison population. 
  Villin holds out for a few weeks. By the end, his nerves are 
  frayed to the verge of insanity and he is skeletally thin. Death 
  hangs on him like a shroud – but he has not given in. 
  Villin’s Plea 
  Sadder Villin knows that he can’t endure much longer – either 
  he will be killed by the torments of the other prisoners or he will 
  crack and give in, revealing Ishta Rahm’s identity to Hoster. He 
  still believes that if he can only get word to Ishta Rahm, she 
  will be able to rescue him from prison. He sends word to the 
  characters by bribing G10 Semyon Wainrite, telling them that 
  he wants to meet them in Area I of the Danger Zone tomorrow. 
  It is vitally important that they meet him, if any of them are to 
  escape Tarkwall. 
  The Murder 
  When the characters make it down to the Danger Zone, they 
  find Villin’s body lying in the dirt. He is been brutally beaten, 
  his head smashed against the wall over and over until his 
  skull fractured. It’s a horrible, bloody way to die and whoever 
  did it must have been remarkably quick and strong. A quick 
  Investigate check shows that Villin’s body was searched after 
  he died – his pockets were inside out and his boots were stolen. 
  If the characters linger here too long, they will be discovered by 
  the guards and possibly blamed for the murder. 
  What Really Happened: Gurish could not attack Villin directly, 
  because of the Assistant Warden’s proclamation that anyone who 
  killed Villin would be punished. Therefore, Gurish approached the 
  insane 1470 Jack Shansir and told Jack that Villin was actually 
  a Zhodani spy who was broadcasting thoughts into Shansir’s 
  head. The crazed Shansir tried to break into Villin’s cell that 
  night but couldn’t get through the bars and was beaten back by 
  1119 Morian Gosh. Shansir tracked Villin down the next day in 
  the Danger Zone and murdered him, smashing him against the 
  walls until the older man went limp. Shansir then wandered off 
  into the caves, talking to himself. He claimed, when asked by the 
  guards, to have cut his hands on sharp rocks and bled all over 
  his clothes. A few minutes later, 8144 Eneri Shadashi found the 
  body and he looted everything he could find. The characters will 
  presumably investigate Villin’s death – during this investigation, 
  Hoster will show up again, in You’re Next! 
  Investigating the Death 
  There are several routes that the characters can take when 
  investigating the death. Warden Voller is also investigating the 
  death and will dispatch G4 Cesmo Wallenstein and G3 Gorod 
  to find the killer. Cesmo begins by bringing the body to the 
  infirmary and having the doctors perform a full autopsy. Gorod 
  just beats people up. Within a week, Cesmo will identify 1470 
  Jack Shansir as the killer and the psychopath will be thrown in 
  the hole to rot. 
  Witnesses: No–one is willing to admit they saw anything 
  initially. A few bribes, threats or rumour gathering gets the 
  following information: • There was a furious racket outside 
  Villin’s cell last night (caused by Shansir’s attack on the cell) 
  • Villin obtained pen and paper from 3006 Azax Hamid during 
  the week and the two had a fierce argument (Villin wanted the 
  paper to write a note, explaining the situation to the characters; 
  he took the opportunity to berate the clerk about his failure to 
  pass messages onto Rahm) • Rand Guirish has been spreading 
  rumours about Villin • 8144 Eneri Shadashi has been lurking 
  around the mining level lately, he is probably trying to steal 
  gemstones • One of the guards visited Villin’s cell yesterday. 
  
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  the sad death oF sadder villin
  Villin’s Autopsy: If the characters obtain a copy of Villin’s 
  autopsy, they learn that the body was disturbed at least once 
  after the death. Furthermore, there were traces of a second 
  blood type on the body, suggesting that the killer was injured 
  in the struggle. 
  Villin’s Cell: His cellmate reports that Jack Shansir tried to 
  break into their cell the night before the murder. Shansir was 
  raving that Villin was ‘in his damn head’. 
  Villin’s Boots: Eneri sells Villin’s heavy magnetic boots to 6724 
  Jaime Giligis; the boots have good ankle support, necessary for 
  those who have bone density problems. Characters who know 
  Giligis or are searching for Villin’s boots will discover this and 
  Giligis will inform them where he got the boots. 
  The Note: Eneri Shadashi has the note he stole from Villin’s 
  corpse. He will give up this note with a bribe of a few hundred 
  credits or the threat of violence. The note reads, simply ‘ISHTA 
  RAHM, MACENE TRANSIT – CONTACT HER.’ 
  You’re Next! 
  As soon as news of Villin’s death reaches Hoster, he returns 
  to Tarkwall. He is furious – few visitors have both the authority 
  and the courage to berate both Warden Brice and Assistant 
  Warden Voller. After castigating the prison authorities for losing 
  an important prisoner, Hoster calls any Player Characters 
  who is a known associate of Sadder Villin for an interview. If 
  the characters played through the first part of this adventure, 
  then Hoster demands they reveal who hired them to steal from 
  asteroid M129–AP 299. If they have not, then Hoster asks if 
  Villin told them anything about M129–AP–299. If the characters 
  refuse to answer or lie (and as the characters have no idea 
  who hired Villin, those are the only two options), then Hoster 
  sighs and releases them. If the characters have found Villin’s 
  note, they can give Hoster Rahm’s name. If they do this, then 
  Hoster leaves Tarkwall forever; Rahm is spaced in a convenient 
  accident and the smuggling ring continues. Otherwise, after 
  failing to get an answer from the characters, Hoster departs. He 
  orders Assistant Warden Voller to do to the characters what he 
  did to Villin – make their lives hell until one of them cracks and 
  talks. Hoster makes it clear that a few casualties are permitted 
  this time, as long as one of the characters survives long 
  enough to breathe the name of Villin’s contact within Hoster’s 
  organisation. 
  Contacting Rahm 
  At this point in the scenario, the characters are in big trouble in 
  Tarkwall. Any attacks on them have Voller’s blessing, so they will 
  be assaulted, stolen from, insulted and threatened by every other 
  prisoner. Anyone who injures them will be rewarded by the prison 
  authorities. Every minor infraction on their part, by contrast, 
  will result in vicious beatings by the guards, a spell in the Hole 
  or both. Hoster will return to the prison after six months. If the 
  characters have survived to this point, then he will question the 
  characters again and if they still do not know who hired Villin, he 
  will finally believe them and give up on this route of investigation. 
  If the characters can get word out of the prison through a more 
  reliable channel than 3006 Azax Hamid, then Rahm will visit the 
  prison after a few weeks. She will pose as Sister Mari, a nun from 
  a charitable organisation that sponsors promising inmates for 
  eventual release and redemption. She seeks out the characters 
  and has a private interview with them; during this interview, Rahm 
  reveals who she is and asks the characters about Villin’s death. 
  If the characters have made contact with Rahm, then she will aid 
  in getting them released (if they were illegally incarcerated because 
  of Hoster) or in aiding them otherwise (if they were in prison for other 
  reasons). Once the characters are eventually released, Rahm may 
  even employ them in other schemes to bring down Hoster.
  
  95
  Planetary Readout 
  Planet Statistics: D4E2469–B, Ni Size/Gravity: 4 (7,000km 
  in diameter, about 40% standard gravity) Atmosphere: 3 
  (Very Thin, N/O mix) Surface Water: 2 (17%, 100% of which 
  is frozen) Population: 4 (43,000, 48% human, 21% Canine, 
  18% Feline, 8% Insectoid, 5% Various.) Government/Ruler: 6 
  (Prison Planet, Thomas Sals – Warden and Corporate Rep.) 
  Classifications: Non–Industrial 
  Major Population Centres 
  Subterranean Factory I (prison facility). Population 18,000. 
  Class D starport (Berthing fee: Cr 100). Subterranean Factory 
  III (prison facility). Population 15,000. Class D starport (Berthing 
  fee: Cr 100). Subterranean Mine VII (prison facility). Population 
  10,000 (Berthing not permitted).
  Local Law Summary 
  Weapons: All weapons illegal outside of spaceport for non–
  prison personnel. Drugs: Medical drugs tightly controlled. 
  Information: All data from offworld censored. Technology: All 
  tech above TL 4 evaluated. Offworlders: Offworlds must remain 
  in visitor areas. Psionics: Psions not permitted on world. Other: 
  All traffic near planet must respond to communications or may 
  be shot down. 
  System Details
  Kresdekka I is the largest moon orbiting the third gas giant 
  in this system, Kresdekka. Kresdekka II has an elliptical orbit 
  around the planet. The ice moon melts slightly as it skims the 
  giant’s atmosphere, giving it a halo appearance every four 
  months. Kresdekka IX has a refuelling station and serves as 
  a trading post for planets deeper in the system. Closer to the 
  sun reside two dwarf planets; these warm weather worlds orbit 
  each other. Both dwarf worlds house small colonies. A total of 
  12 worlds and dwarf worlds orbit the star Pesridian. Station 
  Quinn rests inside a planetoid along the Berkelium Belt. Miners 
  extract the naturally occurring Berkelium (Bk–247). Additional 
  bodies in the system: 58 moons and seven comets. A cloud of 
  micro–asteroids throughout the system gives the system a hazy 
  appearance. Sun Color: Orange. 
  Known Imports/ Exports 
  Basic Consumables (Food) – Major Imports Basic Machine 
  Parts (Manufacturing Equipment) – Major Imports Basic Raw 
  Materials (Iron Ore) – Major Imports Basic Machine Parts 
  (Mining Equipment) – Minor Imports Advanced Machine Parts 
  (Jump Drive Parts) – Major Export Advanced Electronics 
  (Sensor Equipment) – Minor Exports Advanced Machine Parts 
  (Engine Parts) – Minor Exports 
  Major Corporations and Contacts 
  Falcore Prison Facilities (Prison Management Corporation) – 
  Kade Smith (Assistant Manager), Rek’sar (Family Relations), 
  (Sales) Titan Securities (Security Service) – Paskira Finch 
  (Assistant Manager) 
  Threats 
  Criminal/Pirate Activity: Minimal outside of facility. Heavy 
  inside facility War Threat: Minimal. Radiation Level: Moderate 
  (Berkelium Belt emits high levels of radiation but is only 
  dangerous at close range).
  reFeree’s eyes only 
  Description and Characteristics 
  Kresdekka I possesses an atmosphere so thin that facilities 
  had to be built underground to take advantage of the increased 
  pressure the moon’s bedrock provides. Even with this increased 
  pressure factories must be pressurized to allow humans and 
  similar races to comfortably operate. Falcore Prison Facilities 
  finds this quality optimal for their business. Since pressure on 
  the surface is so low that most races cannot survive unaided, 
  few prisoners attempt an escape without an elaborate plan for 
  survival. New prisoners are paraded before the bodies of those 
  that tried to escape and died a horrible death on the surface 
  kresdekka i
  By dale C. mCCoy, Jr.
  A new moon orbiting a gas giant for players to explore, with plenty of adventure hooks to get 
  their teeth into.
  
  96
  kresdekka i
  waiting for an escape ship that was shot down. On the moon’s 
  surface rest countless micro–craters. 
  Countless impacts from the micro–asteroid cloud throughout 
  the system damage all surface features on planetary bodies 
  without atmospheres or those with an atmosphere too thin 
  to adequately protect them. Unarmoured ships and facilities 
  on such worlds require constant upkeep. Titan Securities 
  calculated this would be an excessive financial burden and 
  placed their base on Kresdekka IX, a moon with an existing 
  refuelling station and an atmosphere thick enough to burn 
  off the continual bombardment of tiny rocks throughout 
  the system. The total population of Kresdekka 1 oscillates 
  around 43,000. Of that figure about 2,000 are guards and 
  another 1,000 handle support functions such as coordinating 
  shipments, scheduling prisoner transfers, cooking meals, 
  washing clothes, educating inmates, inspecting manufactured 
  goods and so on. Kresdekka I holds the high security prisoners 
  from every world within eight parsecs. Of these the most 
  dangerous serve their time in the mine. Inmates frequently try 
  to escape but few succeed. 
  Those quick enough to slip past the guards and smart enough 
  not to get shot by the automated security systems tend to 
  die from exposure before a vessel arrives. Various caverns, 
  craters and cracks on the moon’s surface allow for relatively 
  easy access to altitudes low enough not to require an oxygen 
  supply. The largest ones allow for a 50 ton craft to pass through 
  such an opening. Other such cracks allow for a person to 
  climb through and arrive on the surface. Players standing on 
  the surface without an air supply should use the suffocation 
  rules but take damage every ten minutes. Those with an air 
  supply but without a vacc suit take suffocation damage every 
  30 minutes from the insufficient pressure the thin atmosphere 
  provides. 
  Recent History 
  Subterranean Mine VII opened last year and was forced to 
  become fully operational within four months. The lower reaches 
  of Mine VI collapsed during a prisoner riot killing 352 prisoners 
  and ten guards. With no alternative until Mine VII came fully 
  online, Falcore ordered prisoners to continue to work in Mine 
  VI. The mine claimed about one life every week due to various 
  accidents resulting from the earlier collapse. The labour union 
  representing the workers at all three of Kresdekka’s prison 
  facilities are currently negotiating for a better contract with 
  Falcore. The corporation’s negotiators angered union members 
  by belittling the work they perform. The union plans to implement 
  a strike the moment their contract runs out. Without the union 
  cooking meals, cleaning laundry and maintaining the health of 
  the facility, Falcore Prison Facilities could be looking at a deadly 
  riot. Given the opportunity, the Blood Fangs already have their 
  plans to use such a riot to further their plans. One of Titan 
  Securities’ fighters crash landed on the surface of Kresdekka 
  I opening up a sink hole into the remains of Subterranean 
  Factory II. Titan’s standard procedure is to retrieve the downed 
  fighter and conduct an investigation into the cause of the crash. 
  Because the crash entered one of the old prison facilities, 
  Falcore is forbidding the investigators entry. Titan does not 
  have the resources to investigate in secret but is searching for 
  alternative means to conduct their investigation. 
  Points of Interest 
  Subterranean Factory I: The main shipping facility. Shipments 
  to and from the mine pass through this facility. While only 
  authorised personnel may gain access beyond the visitor’s 
  area, corporate representatives frequent the restricted areas. 
  Their presence maintains the quality of the products produced 
  and ensures that an adequate quantity leaves the facility. 
  After a few inspectors were roughed up by inmates while 
  guards were not looking, corporate reps no longer enter this 
  area without their own muscle. Even though the number of 
  incidents continues to increase, corporate representatives feel 
  safer and continue the practice. 
  Subterranean Mine VI: Even though this mine is closed, 
  protocol still requires that the collapse be investigated. A small 
  team of excavators operate several robots from the surface 
  as the machines slowly chip away at rocks. They operate with 
  slow precision in order not to cause another cave in; their 
  instructions are to repair the mine so that additional resources 
  can be extracted. Bringing in relief workers and supplies via 
  ground vehicles to this operation requires special permission 
  from the main factory on the planet, as well as paying off the 
  right guards. The alternative involves vacc suits and carrying 
  supplies on foot. Landing space craft at the old space port is 
  strictly forbidden. Even the excavators are not permitted to 
  take ground vehicles there. 
  Defences
  Fighters: ten Wings of 48 multi–mission fighters. Two wings of 24 
  bombers armed with basic torpedoes, stationed on Kresdekka 
  XI. Gun Boats: Five 1,400 Ton spacecraft optimised for heavy 
  combat, stationed on Kresdekka XI. Satellite Defense System: 
  20 remote operated satellites each equipped with Beam Lasers.
  Groups 
  Guards: The guards working for Falcore supplement their 
  meagre incomes with bribes from prison inmates that want a 
  favour as well as from those that want to smuggle items in to 
  the inmates. Credits, drugs and information are the guards’ 
  preferred currencies. All new inmates know to watch their back 
  when the guards happen to look away. 
  Blood Fangs: The Blood Fangs represent the largest gang on 
  Kresdekka I. Over 90% of the Canine population belongs to 
  this gang. These are some of the toughest inmates and they 
  frequently brawl with the other gangs. Their signature move 
  involves savagely biting their opponents in order to spill blood. 
  
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  kresdekka i
  The Blood Fangs arrived on Kresdekka I when one plant tried 
  to break up a small street gang by sending them to work in 
  the mines. Instead it served only to strengthen the gang and 
  increase their membership to numbers the original politicians 
  could not have imagined. Several original members will finish 
  serving their time soon. They plan to continue to spread the 
  gang’s influence to nearby worlds. 
  King Cobras: While the other gangs fight with each other, 
  squabbling for scraps, the King Cobras sit back and watch. They 
  have all the drugs they could desire and live lives more comfortable 
  then any of the other inmates. This gang happens to have the 
  dirtiest lawyers and friends on the outside willing to do whatever 
  they ask. Whenever a guard or inmate needs to apply pressure 
  to someone’s family or a prisoner wants to maintain control over 
  the gambling operation he left behind, the King Cobras handle 
  that operation with few fingerprints leading back to the facility for 
  investigators to pursue. Admittance to the Cobras requires the 
  inmate to order a hit on someone on the outside and without it 
  being found out by the Warden until the deed is over. 
  Torch Bearers: Among the educators, cooks, janitors and other 
  staff workers resides a group of missionaries that work to help 
  rehabilitate the prisoners. Their goal is to spread their religious 
  beliefs and help turn the criminals from their life of crime to being 
  productive members of society. Individual members that believe 
  in the conversion of a particular inmate will frequently speak 
  on their behalf at their parole hearing. Some prisoners use the 
  Torch Bearers as a means to get released early. If an inmate can 
  convince several members of the religious community that their 
  conversion is genuine, express the right amount of remorse and 
  so on they may be able to wrangle a reduction in their sentence. 
  Patrons 
  Balkins Hedilson: Corporate Representative
  Required: Admin, Advocate, Melee, Streetwise Reward: Cr. 
  12,000 
  Players’ Information 
  Balkins Hedilson works for Rogers Industries, a company that 
  hires Falcore Prisons to produce Sensor Equipment. Falcore 
  reported several delays to Rogers; Rogers instructed their 
  representative in the region to perform an immediate inspection 
  of Falcore’s bookkeeping. With his main crew inspecting another 
  facility’s books for another two weeks, Hedilson needs another 
  crew to handle the inspection work. He requires the crew to be 
  able to handle themselves in a fist fight since weapons are not 
  permitted onsite. Hedilson will accompany the crew to provide 
  them access but he hires the players to perform all other duties.
  Referee’s Information 
  When Hedilson and the players arrive, Falcore Prisons attempts 
  to delay them as long as possible. During the course of their 
  investigation, the players discover: 
  1–2. A prison riot resulted in several key components going 
  missing. Prisoners involved have been in lockdown since that 
  time while guards search for the missing components. Falcore 
  is within their contract to delay for this reason but simply does 
  not want to admit the problem and potentially lose their contract. 
  3. Prison guards used production equipment to maim a 
  dangerous inmate. Falcore would prefer to pretend the incident 
  had not happened and are still cleaning up. 
  4–5. A competitor of Rogers Industries hired Falcore to ship 
  three fully functioning copies of their sensor arrays. The units 
  shipped while Falcore delayed the crew. 
  6. An inmate received a shipment of drugs inside some new 
  machinery shipped to the facility. Unfortunately he sabotaged 
  the machine to extract his goods. Production has subsequently 
  been delayed. Falcore does not want to face a fine and attempts 
  to hide the incident.
  Charles Peznix: Member of the King Cobras 
  Required: Gun Combat, Stealth, willingness to assassinate a 
  judge. Reward: Cr. 125,000
   Players’ Information 
  Charles Peznix is a member of the King Cobras and has paid 
  off a guard to permit him a private conversation with the players 
  for five minutes. He asks the players if they have any problem 
  performing a hit on a corrupt public official, one that has sent 
  several people to Kresdekka I needlessly. If they agree, Peznix 
  gives the players a plastic capsule, instructs one of them 
  to swallow it and retrieve it once they are safely off world. If 
  questioned about payment, Peznix tells the players that the 
  interested party promises Cr. 125,000 and all the information 
  necessary to retrieve such a payment is inside the capsule. 
  Referee’s Information
  The capsule includes three small scraps of paper with something 
  on each. Having a computer scan the information and increase 
  the magnification is the only way to read them. The first piece of 
  paper is a picture of a middle–aged feline female with the name 
  “Judge Rasser Hak’Zes” and the name of a nearby planet. 
  The second scrap of paper instructs the players to seek out 
  Kamal Chazren, provides his address, and tells them to give 
  him the third piece of paper. The second scrap also informs the 
  players that a hit will go out on them should they fail to take care 
  of their mission within one month. The third scrap is a letter to 
  Chazren that it is time for him to pay for his freedom and to give 
  the group Cr. 125,000. The following are several possibilities 
  that could happen to the players while they work this mission. 
  1. Chazren went to ground after being released from 
  Kresdekka I. The players need to track down Chazren if 
  they want to get paid. The King Cobras are less interested 
  
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  kresdekka i
  in the players getting paid then they are in the mission 
  getting accomplished. Should the players fail to complete 
  their mission, the Cobras will send out a hit on them. 
  2. The players discover that Judge Hak’Zes is not “corrupt” 
  but routinely hands out excessively strict punishments 
  for even the most minor of infractions. Kresdekka I is 
  suppose to be reserved for the harshest of criminals only. 
  She sentences embezzlers to 15 years on that rock. The 
  public likes these punishments as it serves their desire 
  for vengeance, but other judges and prosecutors do not 
  like her style of “justice” as it breeds resentment among 
  families and friends of those improperly sentenced. Finding 
  individuals that will assist gaining access to Hak’Zes (for a 
  small price) is not a difficult task. 
  3. Judge Hak’Zes survived several prior assassination 
  attempts and does not take security for granted. Her home 
  is armed with several alarm systems, her personal vehicles 
  are heavily armoured, and she employs security guards 
  that travel around wherever she goes. One of the guards 
  frequents a local singles bar when off duty. 
  4. While the players investigate Judge Hak’Zes they discover 
  she possesses trinkets from every inflated prison sentence 
  she hands down and acquires them by hiring local thieves 
  to break into the person’s home and steal them. Each 
  trinket is a personal possession of the convicted. A Simple 
  Advocate check will reveal this to be highly illegal and a 
  window of opportunity for the players to reach the judge. 
  5. As the players search for information, they uncover that 
  Kamal Chazren and Charles Peznix are both friends with 
  a local politician. An investigation into the politician’s office 
  continues to be lead by Judge Hak’Zes.
  Sk’tzak’kst: Escaped Inmate 
  Required: Investigation, a spaceship Reward: Cr. 15,000
  Players’ Information 
  The players return to their ship after doing business on 
  Kresdekka I. After entering jump space, the players notice 
  food missing from the galley and various supplies missing 
  from the rest of the ship. From time to time, a player thinks 
  they see something human–sized moving throughout the ship. 
  Eventually the players discover an insectoid creature standing 
  in a torn prison uniform identifying himself as Sk’tzak’kst. He 
  admits to being an escaped convict and tells the players a hard 
  and difficult story of his wrongful conviction. He claims to know 
  the location of a long forgotten pirate treasure and promises the 
  players a cut of Cr. 15,000 if they assist him to retrieve it and 
  drop him off at a civilized world afterwards. 
  Referee’s Information 
  As the players probably guess Sk’tzak’kst’s story of a false 
  conviction is not exactly true. He murdered several men who 
  tried to steal this very same treasure before he had a chance 
  to hide it. Now he is willing to part with some of his stolen 
  treasure as the price of his freedom. But the Five Guns pirate 
  organisation kept tabs on his time in prison and watched for his 
  re–emergence. Their people inside the facility watch departing 
  ships for suspicious activity and pay guards to inform them of 
  any developments. They heard of his disappearance from the 
  prison facility some time ago. 
  1. Some of the prison inmates working for the Five Guns 
  released a micro–drone that latched itself to the player’s ship. It 
  transmits the coordinates of the jump the players programmed 
  into their computer and a long range scout ship launched to 
  meet the Five Guns a few hours later. 
  2. The players arrive on the asteroid that Sk’tzak’kst hid the 
  treasure and they find the entryway relatively quickly. They 
  activate the defences that Sk’tzak’kst set up years ago and has 
  since forgotten about and the players must fight their way in. 
  3. The asteroid has long since been pulverized by collisions over 
  the years. While scanning for what happened to the money the 
  players’ sensors will detect tiny pieces of gold and other metals 
  about the size of coins scattered among the other asteroids in 
  the area. They also encounter an active mining base which has 
  no doubt collected some of these metal “chunks”. 
  4. The stolen pirate treasure is in fact Sk’tzak’kst’s mate. He 
  freed her from the pirates before being sent off to Kresdekka I. 
  When the players arrive at his mate’s hiding place they discover 
  the pirates raided the safe house and recaptured her. Sk’tzak’kst 
  reveals that it is almost his mate’s time of year to lay her eggs 
  and they need to rescue her before that begins. 
  5. The treasure is on a world that has since been conquered. 
  The government is now held captive by an off–world power 
  and the people have no personal freedoms to move around as 
  they wish. The players must pass through several check points 
  simply to get close to the treasure. 
  6. The players encounter few difficulties retrieving the treasure. 
  Afterwards, Sk’tzak’kst asks the players to stay with him to 
  help him get revenge on those that sent him to prison falsely. 
  Sk’tzak’kst doe not simply want to kill them but wants to have 
  everything they have and hold dear slip away from them 
  before their eyes. Their new friend offers to pay them for their 
  efforts. His initial requests are simply to have the players gain 
  information on old associates of his but as time wears on 
  Sk’tzak’kst’s request become more hate–filled and vengeful.
  
  99
  The Arhiyao are a minor Aslan clan, presented here to 
  illustrate the political and territorial dynamics of a typical clan. 
  They have holdings in Ranib subsector in the Trojan Reach. 
  The Arhiyao can be used as a ‘home clan’ for Player Character 
  Aslan or as patrons or even foes. 
  History
  The Arhiyao are a young clan by Aslan standards. They cannot 
  trace their lineage back to Kusyu; they have never been 
  accounted among the Twenty–Nine Great Clans, nor were their 
  glorious deeds recorded in the Grand Conclave. Their history 
  begins during the Aslan Border Wars.
  The Deeds of Klraiyo
  The earliest account of an Arhiyao landholder is in 1733, when 
  a warrior named Arhiyaoaiftlaiyhruuhru is recorded as having 
  seized the western islands of a world in the Reaver’s Deep 
  in a series of lightning raids. He captured a Human warship 
  and used it as his flagship in the Border Wars, launching 
  surprise attacks on Human–occupied worlds. According to 
  the folk–tales of the clan, Arhiyaoaiftlaiyhruuhru possessed 
  supernatural powers and was capable of teleporting and 
  reading the minds of his enemies. He could ‘step between the 
  shadows’ and bore the title of the ‘Laughing Lightning–Ghost’. 
  Descendants of Arhiyaoaiftlaiyhruuhru served honourably in 
  the armies of several lords and vassals of the Hrasua but the 
  sons of Arhiyaoaiftlaiyhruuhru never held enough territory to be 
  accounted an independent clan. 
  In 2577, one of these descendants, Klraiyoarhiyaoaiftlaiyhruuhru, 
  quarrelled with his Hrasua lord over a point of honour. Klraiyo 
  and his followers hired a colony ship belonging to the Wahtoi 
  clan and crossed the Great Rift. Klraiyo was accompanied by 
  his new wife, a stolen female of the Hrasua line. The Hrasua 
  have never forgotten nor forgiven this slight – for a vassal to 
  kidnap a Hrasua bride is an insult that will burn longer than the 
  stars. Further, Klraiyo lacked the money to pay for the colony 
  vessel, so he and his followers had to indenture themselves 
  to fight on behalf of the Wahtoi as soon as they arrived in 
  the Trojan Reach. Although Klraiyo is recognised as the true 
  founder of the Arhiyao clan, he is also a cautionary example. If 
  Arhiyaoaiftlaiyhruuhru teaches his descendants to seize what 
  they desire with cunning and ferocity, then Klraiyo shows them 
  to consider what they desire carefully and not to overreach.
  The years immediately after crossing the Great Rift were hard 
  ones for the young clan. The Wahtoi used Klraiyo and his 
  followers as scouts and then as cannon fodder in their wars 
  with their Aroaye’i rivals. Of the 4,000 males who followed 
  Klraiyo into the Trojan Reach, no more than 800 survived the 50 
  years of indentured servitude. They had acquitted themselves 
  heroically against the Aroaye’i in battle but all their victories 
  were on behalf of the Wahtoi. Klraiyo was among those who 
  died in battle under a Wahtoi banner but his twin sons Jaklraiyo 
  and Hruklraiyo took up their father’s cause and his dreams of a 
  free clan. From him, they learned to dream and plot; from their 
  Hrusua mother, they learned how to fight. 
  As soon as the 50 years of forced service were at an end, 
  Hruklraiyo immediately declared war on the Wahtoi.
  The Wahtoi, never a strong military clan, had come to depend 
  on Klraiyo’s followers as shock troops. Their own house 
  armies were no match for Hruklraiyo’s warriors and the Wahtoi 
  were forced to cede the world of Uitasoayaw (0810/Ranib) to 
  Hruklraiyo. With this much territory at his command, Hruklraiyo 
  was able to declare his followers to be an independent clan, the 
  Arhiyao. Hruklraiyo became the first Arhiyaoko.
  Back in Hierate space, such a declaration would have been 
  considered little more than a joke. The clan had less than 600 
  adult males, no money, no industrial base and no ships apart 
  from a few battered and poorly–maintained scouts. They had 
  a world but the two most influential clans in the region – the 
  Wahtoi and the Aroaye’i – considered the Arhiyao to be enemies 
  and one of the Twenty–Nine still held a blood feud with the new 
  clan over the kidnapping of Klraiyo’s bride. Back in Hierate 
  space, the Arhiyao would have been put back in their place 
  within a decade by some long–established traditionalist clan. 
  the arhiyao Clan
  By Gareth hanrahan
  A complete Aslan clan based in the Trojan Reaches, complete with important characters, 
  politics and worlds.
  
  100
  the arhiyao Clan
  The Trojan Reach is a land of opportunity and new possibilities, 
  though – even the possibility that such a weak clan could thrive. 
  The Arhiyao had one advantage that their enemies had not 
  considered and it was this advantage that would save them.
  In the Imperium, the Scout Service is a notoriously dangerous 
  occupation. Exploring the fringes of settled space, dealing with 
  hostile environments or bizarre cultures, encountering alien 
  races and inexplicable phenomena – it is a rare scout who 
  survives for too long in the service. Such a rare scout almost 
  always leaves the service a rich man, though, as a successful 
  scout will know about mineral deposits and valuable alien plants 
  or animals, about rich worlds and alien relics, about potential 
  short cuts and trade routes. The Arhiyao had been used as 
  scouts by the Wahtoi for 50 years and they had not shared all of 
  their discoveries with their erstwhile masters. 
  The Arhiyaoko’s twin brother, Jaklraiyo, became the clan envoy 
  to the Aslan corporations who were eager to exploit the newly–
  discovered worlds in the Trojan Reach. Instead of repeating his 
  father’s mistake and tying the fortunes of the clan to a single 
  master, Jaklraiyo (and his mates Kaaus and Ihkauiai, who 
  are the unsung heroines of the Arhiyao’s survival) played the 
  corporations off against each other. Trading the location of a 
  lanthanum deposit to one company got the Arhiyao more ships 
  and weapons to fend off attackers; the secret of harvesting 
  valuable biochemicals from a dangerous jungle planet got them 
  the herdstocks and farming equipment they needed to survive. 
  Klraiyo died in battle under another clan’s flag, having led his 
  kin into near–slavery. One of his sons died in the great palace 
  on Uitasoayaw, old, fat and surrounded by young wives and 
  grandsons, surveying the vast territory under his claw. The 
  other son vanished in a misjump aboard his custom vessel, 
  the 1,000–ton Salouwealryekha but was accounted one of the 
  wealthiest Aslan in the Trojan Reach before his disappearance. 
  The Wahtoi Strike Back
  Over the next two centuries, the Arhiyao consolidated what they 
  had won. Their population grew as they tamed Uitasoayaw and 
  they maintained their reputation as excellent warriors, although 
  advancing technology put their troops at a disadvantage against 
  more powerful clans. Their trove of valuable secrets ran out as 
  Aslan expansion in the Trojan Reach went past the borders they 
  had scouted but the clan continued to send scout–ships out into 
  unexplored space and worked with the trade corporations in 
  exploiting new worlds. 
  After a generation’s work, Uitasoayaw was a usable agricultural 
  world. They seeded the planet with Kusyuan bacteria and built 
  huge automated factories to subtly adjust the atmosphere. 
  Livestock purchased from the corporations were set loose 
  and within a decade of colonisation the Arhiyaoko was able 
  to hunt aua’ka through the young forests. The planet was 
  unremarkable in terms of resources, though, and the Arhiyao 
  were rapidly falling behind the technological development of 
  other clans. This technological gap would prove devastating 
  to the clan’s fortunes.
  In the Hierate, the Great Clans invariably possess the most 
  advanced technology, as they have the resources to pour 
  money into research. New developments are then passed on 
  to their vassal clans in exchange for service. The Arhiyao were 
  independent for centuries and both their previous suzerains 
  were hostile to them. While the rest of the Hierate pushed 
  towards TL13, the Arhiyao were slipping back towards TL9. 
  In 2660, Uitasoayaw was attacked by Wahtoi forces. The Wahtoi 
  were accompanied by mercenaries and ihatei bands. As soon as 
  the Wahtoi fleet jumped in, their envoy informed the Arhiyaoko 
  that the two clans were now at war – a limited war for control of 
  Uitasoayaw’s fertile western continent and spaceport. 
  The Wahtoi had significant advantages both on the battlefield 
  and in the initial challenge – as they already had ships in the 
  system, they could force the earleatrais to accept that space 
  forces would be part of the conflict. The Arhiyao had few 
  warships and nothing that could defeat the considerably more 
  advanced Wahtoi ships. On the ground, the Arhiyao warriors 
  were better trained and had more stomach for battle than their 
  foes but were using yeheal autorifles against wye’oiheasarl 
  plasma cannons. 
  The war lasted six weeks. The Wahtoi and their allies suffered 
  more losses than they anticipated but the earleatrais declared 
  them the victors nonetheless. Over a third of the territory on 
  the Arhiyao homeworld was seized by the invaders. The shame 
  led the current Arhiyaoko to commit ritual suicide, passing the 
  leadership of the clan to the next generation. 
  Over the next decade, the clan rebuilt its military forces and 
  sought out allies. Two of these new alliances would lead to the 
  reclamation of Uitasoayaw and the rise of the Arhiyao; the third 
  alliance would nearly destroy them.  
  The first of these new allies was the Tru’shan, another offshoot 
  of the once–mighty Trui’kt. The Tru’shan faction hived off from 
  the larger clan during the Cultural Purge; they were a clan of 
  scientists and researchers who advocated the use of robots 
  in battle instead of risking Aslan lives. The fundamentalist 
  khiraokhaor’ya clans wiped out the Tru’shan drone armies in a 
  series of apocalyptic battles, forcing the Tru’shan to flee Hierate 
  space. The Tru’shan established a new colony on Ewyeyal in 
  Silraaihe subsector but were isolated from the rest of the Aslan. 
  Most of the clans in that region were on the khiraokhaor’ya 
  during the civil war, while the Tru’shan were tainted by their 
  tseyko roots. The Tru’shan were pariahs but they were pariahs 
  with advanced technology and a formidable industrial base. 
  The Arhiyao offered to act as intermediaries, reselling Tru’shan 
  technology to khiraokhaor’ya clans. A new corporation, the 
  Ekhoaoiarl (Brother–Making Commercial Endeavour) was 
  founded to pursue this trade. The Arhiyao owned a third of the 
  shares, the Tru’shan another third and the final third was traded 
  
  101
  the arhiyao Clan
  openly on the Aslan markets (but most of these shares were 
  quickly purchased by Arhiyao traders). 
  The income from the company allowed the clan to pursue even 
  greater fortunes. The nearby world of Hkakh, a marginally 
  habitable frozen world, was colonised and established as a trade 
  nexus. Hkakh freeport, with its state–of–the–art spaceport, its 
  automated cargo handling and its regular security patrols made 
  it attractive to the growing number of traders passing through 
  Ranib subsector on their way to the Imperium. The company 
  expanded quickly; from its foundation of trading solely in 
  Tru’shan technology, it diversified into dust–spice, terraforming 
  technology, agricultural products and cosmetics. 
  The third alliance was with the Glorious Empire. Like the 
  Tru’shan, the Aslan of the Glorious Empire were unable to trade 
  freely with the Hierate. The Arhiyao offered them a back door 
  into the Hierate market, in exchange for military support and a 
  sizeable share of the profits. It was not smuggling per se but 
  it certainly skirted the boundaries of both legality and honour. 
  An alliance with the Glorious Empire was extremely 
  controversial within the clan but the Arhiyaoko’s word was 
  law. The Arhiyaoko of the period was a young warrior named 
  Khtoarlyu, the Steel Cat, who lost an eye and both legs during 
  the battles for Uitasoayaw. He was fitted with Tru’shan–built 
  cybernetics to restore his strength and for the rest of his life he 
  was accompanied everywhere by Tru’shan technician–maidens 
  to maintain and adjust his machine parts.
  The second war for Uitasoayaw saw a combination of Arhiyao 
  and Glorious Empire troops descend on the Wahtoi territories 
  like fiery tigers. The Wahtoi crumbled and fled into space; the 
  new Tru’shan–built Arhiyao fleets pursued them and the war 
  ended with the Wahtoi ceding the world of Ehaealir to the 
  Arhiyao. 
  The Glorious Empire
  The clan’s alliance with the Glorious Empire was always going 
  to be a troublesome one. Ever since the Tokouea’we clan broke 
  away from the Aslan Hierate, conflicts and territorial wars were 
  virtually constant along the border. The Ahriyao approached the 
  Glorious Empire during a time of comparative peace but soon 
  the wars started up again. 
  The Ahriyao were under no legal obligation to send warriors 
  to fight on either side but they were dragged into the conflict 
  anyway. The Ekhoaoiarl company freighters needed escorts 
  if they were to continue trading with the Empire. Often, these 
  escorts were attacked by Hierate forces from the Wahtoi or a 
  Hrusua–related clan, as old enemies of the Ahriyao took the 
  opportunity to inflict some damage on the clan. Other attacks 
  were from previously neutral clans who objected to any trade 
  with the Glorious Empire.
  The clan was bitterly divided between those who believed 
  that the alliance with the Glorious Empire was a mistake and 
  those who argued that the clan must hold true to its word, no 
  matter what the cost. The Tru’shan and the executive board 
  of the Ekhoaoiarl both added their voices to those arguing 
  against the alliance but the aging Khtoarlyu, still ko of the clan, 
  refused to contemplate any diminishment of the clan’s ties to 
  the Empire, even when it became clear that the alliance had 
  ceased to be a benefit and was now an invitation to war to any 
  clan with a grudge against the Empire.
  In 3066, Khtoarlyu was murdered by an assassin. The two 
  strongest candidates for ko were Sauhkesi, the commander 
  of the clan’s space fleet, and Yahefiy, the wealthiest and most 
  powerful male on Hkakh. 
  Sauhkesi was young to be considered for ko but his prowess 
  in space combat had won him great honour. He was a strong 
  advocate of the alliance and considered the Glorious Empire to 
  be the model that future Aslan clans in the Trojan Reach should 
  follow. The weak human worlds of the sector begged to be 
  conquered and the clan who reached out and put them under 
  the claw would be invincible! He was an honoured friend of the 
  Glorious Empire and even hunted with the Glorious Empire in 
  the palace gardens on Syoukh.
  Yahefiy was a great landowner, who counted most of Hkakh 
  as his personal fiefdom. Three of his wives were on the board 
  of the Ekhoaoiarl, while his sons were powerful generals and 
  
  102
  the arhiyao Clan
  captains in the clan’s armed forces. Yahefiy was seen by most 
  as Khtoarlyu’s inevitable successor, a safe pair of claws to 
  guide the clan into a brighter future.
  The two fought a bloody duel on Uitasoayaw and the elder 
  Yahefiy was the victory. Rather than accept his new lord, 
  Sauhkesi accused him of being behind the assassination of 
  Khtoarlyu. Yahefiy countered by claiming that a secret war of 
  assassins had been declared months earlier by the Hrakoea, 
  blood–kin of the Hrasua and so therefore another traditional 
  enemy of the Ahriyao. The Hrakoea were also among the clans 
  attacking the Glorious Empire.
  Sauhkesi returned to his ship and jumped away. Yahefiy’s 
  first act as ko was to break the alliance with the Glorious 
  Empire and add the forces of the Ahriyao to the war. 
  Surprisingly, Sauhkesi agreed to lead the invasion force, 
  striking at his former friends with all the fury of an Aslan 
  warrior.
  Within months, the clan had their first victory over their erstwhile 
  ‘allies’. The world of Souftea in Nora’a subsector was ceded 
  to the Arhiyao by the Glorious Empire after a shockingly brief 
  war. The Glorious Empire commander at Souftea surrendered 
  directly to Sauhkesi, who took possession of the world. The 
  human slave population of Souftea, numbering some three 
  million, were abandoned to their new Arhiyao overlord.
  The conflict with the Glorious Empire rumbled on for another 
  four decades but as the advancing borders of the Hierate 
  pushed the war zone out of easy reach of Ahriyao forces, the 
  clan’s involvement in the war diminished. An uneasy peace 
  lasted for the remainder of Yahefiy’s reign.
  Recent Troubles
  While the Ahriyao claim four worlds as theirs, only the well–
  established planets of Uitasoayaw and Hkakh are the clan’s 
  core territory. Ehaealir is shared with several other clans, most 
  of whom have more resources than that Ahriyao. Souftea is 
  wholly owned by the clan – or, more accurately, the pride of 
  Sauhkesi, who treat the world as their private fiefdom and 
  have only limited contact with the rest of the clan.
  In 3618, some 20 years ago, three warships from the clan’s 
  space forces vanished near the Glorious Empire. These three 
  vessels – two Aositaoh–class cruisers and one Halaheike–
  class pocket warship – were all under the command of officers 
  from Souftea. An investigation into the disappearance revealed 
  no signs of sabotage or hostile forces operating nearby. Either 
  all three vessels simultaneously misjumped or they defected to 
  the Glorious Empire.
  The Tru’shan clan is undergoing its own internal difficulties. A 
  blight on their homeworld of Ewyeyal has destroyed much of 
  their food production capability, forcing them to trade for basic 
  foodstuffs via the Ekhoaoiarl. Unless a cure for the blight is 
  found, the Tru’shan economy may collapse or they may be 
  conquered by another clan who can feed their citizens.
  Clan Structure
  The clan Ahriyao numbers some 29 million Aslan, divided 
  between seven major prides who make up the aristocratic 
  tier of the clan (and hold most of the territory) and another 
  four dozen lesser prides. The head of the Ahriyao pride is the 
  Ahriyaoko – the dominance of the Ahriyao pride has gone 
  virtually unchallenged throughout the clan’s history, with only a 
  few exceptions such as the Yahefiy dynasty that ruled for three 
  generations.
  The seven major prides are as follows:
  Ahriyao Pride: The oldest of the prides, the families of the 
  Ahriyao can trace their lineage back to Arhiyaoaiftlaiyhruuhru 
  himself. They hold the territory in the east of Uitasoayaw. The 
  Ahriyao are traditionally the leaders of the clan and even when 
  they are out of power, they wield considerable influence over 
  the clan’s politics. Most of the clan’s priests, envoys and poets 
  come from this pride and the current Ahriyaoko is from this 
  bloodline. 
  Homeworld: Uitasoayaw
  Strengths: Territory, Tradition, Politics
  Yahefiy Pride: Originally a family within the Fiyatrusha, the 
  Yahefiy broke off from the older pride when Yahefiy became 
  the Ahriyaoko and moved his family and holdings to the world 
  of Uitasoayaw. The Yahefiy are the young turks of the clan and 
  are the most ambitious and aggressive of the families. They are 
  feuding with the Sauhkesi and are closely allied with the Arhiyao 
  through intermarriage. They have eclipsed their former kin, the 
  Fiyatrusha and today the two prides have little in common. 
  While the head of the pride dwells on Uitasoayaw, the family 
  still has extensive holdings on Hkakh.
  Homeworld: Uitasaoyaw
  Strengths: Wealth, Territory, Military
  Sauhkesi Pride: The Sauhkesi rose to prominence within 
  a single generation. Their founder, Sauhkesi, was born to 
  a landless awkhea family. He managed to win a place in the 
  space service, where his genius for military tactics and lust 
  for conquest won him great honour. When the ahriyaoko died, 
  Sauhkesi was able to mount a serious claim for the clanship. 
  When Sauhkesi was defeated by Yahefiy, he returned to space 
  and followed the clan leader’s command to make war on the 
  Glorious Empire. He conquered the world of Souftea from 
  the Glorious Empire and claimed it as his own. The pride of 
  Sauhkesi has held that world ever since. The ruling family of 
  the Sauhkesi are of Sauhkesi’s own bloodline; the other families 
  are the descendants of his loyal crew.
  The Sauhkesi are mistrusted by most of the other families. They 
  are seen as isolated and strange and have little contact with the 
  rest of the clan. Their culture is closer to that of the Glorious 
  Empire than the Hierate. In effect, the Sauhkesi are a clan 
  within a clan and some fear that it is only a matter of time before 
  
  103
  the arhiyao Clan
  the Sauhkesi leave the clan – or are driven out. The thought of a 
  Sauhkesi claiming the clanship is a dreadful one to the Ahriyao 
  and Yahefiy prides.
  Homeworld: Sauftea
  Strengths: Territory, Military, Slave Labour
  Jaklraiyo Pride: This pride claim descent from one of the 
  explorer who started the clan’s tradition of scouting. The 
  Jaklraiyo are explorers still but they also have considerable 
  interests in the clan’s trade and diplomatic circles. The 
  Jaklraiyo have only minimal territories, which means they will 
  never be contenders for the political leadership of the clan 
  but they are immensely wealthy. The Jaklraiyo traditionally 
  support the Ahriyaoko in most matters but have played 
  kingmaker in the past, throwing their wealth and power 
  behind a challenger from the Yahefiy or Haurenahar. 
  The Jaklraiyo are peacemakers and pragmatists; they have 
  argued against expanding the clan’s holdings, arguing that the 
  clan lacks the military resources to hold another world.
  Homeworld: Uitasoayaw
  Strengths: Space Fleet, Wealth, Trade
  Haurenahar Pride: The Haurenahar are another branch of 
  the Ahriyao. The pride was founded when the clan conquered 
  Ehaealir. They are somewhat isolated from the rest of the 
  clan and see themselves as above the petty squabbles of the 
  Ahriyao, Yahefiy and Sauhkesi. The Haurenahar have a strong 
  military tradition and agitate for the clan to improve its space 
  fleet and expand once more. 
  Homeworld: Eheaalir
  Strengths: Territory, Military, Trade
  Fiyatrusha Pride: The Fiyatrusha Pride was born of a political 
  marriage between elements of the Ahriyao and the Tru’shan 
  clan and they have inherited the technological aptitude of their 
  Tru’shan forebears. The Fiyatrusha produce the most skilled 
  technicians and scientists of the clan and are the backbone of 
  the clan’s spacefleet. The Fiyatrusha’s htahyu (clan stronghold) 
  is in orbit of Hkakh; it is a huge habitat, more than 600 years old 
  and supporting more than 10,000 Aslan. It is the clan’s primary 
  shipyard.
  The pride has always harboured ambitions of greater influence 
  (and the Tru’shan clan would very much like to see their kin rise 
  to command the Ahriyao clan) but lacks both the territory and 
  the warrior spirit to win such power.
  Homeworld: Hkakh
  Strengths: Technology, Trade
  Ahriusha Pride: This pride is almost as old as the clan but 
  has never been close to power. The Ahriusha families are the 
  descendants of the warriors who accompanied Klraiyo across 
  the Great Rift. They are the backbone of the clan’s military and 
  have a considerable amount of territory on all four of the clan’s 
  worlds but the pride is too divided to mount a serious challenge 
  for the leadership. The rest of the clan keeps playing Ahriusha 
  families against each other; there are Ahriusha who are sworn 
  to support the Ahriyao and the Fiyatrusha and the Yahefiy and 
  even the Sauhkesi.
  Homeworld: Uitasoayaw
  Strengths: Territory, Military, Population
  Politics
  Internal politics within the Ahriyao is cut–throat in a restrained 
  way. In other clans, the fight to determine which pride will 
  dominate the clan is a brutal, bloody one and any of a half–
  dozen strong prides could rise to rule over the rest. The Ahriyao 
  are a small clan and (a few rare examples notwithstanding) the 
  Ahriyao family of Ahriyao Pride rules over the Ahriyao clan. 
  The major political struggle, then, is between the Yahefiy 
  warriors and the Jaklraiyo merchants for control of the clan’s 
  direction. When the clan goes to war, the Yahefiy grow in power; 
  when it is peaceful, the Jaklraiyo benefit. 
  The other prides have their own limited interests and switch their 
  support between the two major prides as circumstances dictate. 
  The Sauhkesi are always on the fringes of clan politics – no pride 
  likes them but they are powerful enough to be cultivated as allies.
  Military Forces
  The clan is too small to support any capital ships, so the 
  Ahriyao specialise in smaller, more agile forces. They have 
  significant numbers of Ekawsiykua escorts for light duties 
  and local defence, augmented by monitor ships. The clan 
  possesses two dozen Aositaoh cruisers and ten Halaheike 
  warships. Their ground forces number some 30,000 warriors. 
  Growing Up Ahriyao
  Arhiyao characters will be intimately aware of the small size 
  of their clan. Other clans control hundreds of worlds and have 
  populations in the billions but the Ahriyao have only four lonely 
  worlds. They are a tiny part of the Hierate and the clan’s future 
  is uncertain. The Player Characters have a good chance of 
  shaping the destiny of the clan.
  This does make character generation much more interesting. 
  Choices made during character generation will not only 
  determine the nature of the Player Characters but also the future 
  of the clan. If the players all play naval officers and warriors, 
  then their military adventures will push the clan into conflict with 
  its neighbours. If they concentrate on merchants and diplomats, 
  then they can expand the clan’s corporate holdings.
  
  104
  the arhiyao Clan
  Pride Modifiers: 
  Ahriyao: +1 Social Standing, –1 Endurance
  Yahefiy: +1 Strength, –1 Intelligence
  Sauhkesi: +1 Endurance, –1 Social Standing
  Jaklraiyo: +1 Intelligence, –1 Strength
  Haurenahar: +1 Intelligence, –1 Social Standing
  Fiyatrusha: +1 Education, –1 Social Standing
  Ahriusha: +1 Endurance, –1 Social Standing
  Worlds
  Uitasoayaw (B5796J7–9, Ni) is the oldest of the clan’s planets. 
  It is a poor and unremarkable world. Its native biosphere 
  was wiped out by the Aslan terraforming efforts, although 
  aborigine flora still persists in isolated regions. To most visitors, 
  Uitasoayaw has nothing to recommend it except for breathable 
  air and the capital city of Yairtyrl but to the Ahriyao, this is the 
  promised world that their ancestors fought for.
  Hkakh (A3245J6–E, Ni) is a frozen ice ball but beneath the 
  ice are rich reserves of iron and other metals. Orbital factories 
  produce the majority of the clan’s industrial goods and starships. 
  Hkakh is also situated on a major trade route and is the seat 
  of the Ekhoaoiarl Corporation. It is the economic engine that 
  drives the clan. It is, unfortunately, a hellish place to live – the 
  major cities are all under domes of packed ice and most homes 
  are in old mining tunnels. The Aslan of Hkakh are miserable, 
  denied the wide open spaces and hunting grounds that their 
  blood calls out for. 
  Ehaealir (B6365HB–9) is right on the border of the Glorious 
  Empire and is regularly attacked by slaver ships. The clan’s 
  holdings there are in the Mountains of Glass. There is a sizeable 
  human population on Ehaealir; tribes of wild humans live in 
  the foothills, driven back to a primitive level of development to 
  survive the slavers.
  Souftea (A2517K4–D) is a small, nearly airless moon but was 
  heavily industrialised by the Glorious Empire. The factories of 
  Souftea are as productive as those of Hkakh (possibly more so, 
  although there are rumours that the Sauhkesi use slave labour 
  in the underground mills). The Sauhkesi want clan funding to 
  expand the old shipyards in orbit of the moon, upgrading them 
  to allow the construction of warships. So far, this proposal 
  has been blocked in the clan council by the Yahefiy but the 
  Haurenahar believe it is the best way to secure the coreward 
  frontier. 
  Important Characters
  The Ahriyaoko today is an elderly male of the Ahriyao family. His 
  mind is fraying and he is rumoured to be increasingly paranoid 
  about the clan’s ancient foes, the Hrasua. His youngest wife, 
  G’aulai of the Yahefiy has taken over more and more of her 
  husband’s duties.
  The most influential voice on the board of Ekhoaoiarl is another 
  female, Iwala. She believes that the clan has grown stale and 
  needs to invest in explorers and free traders to bring in new 
  opportunities. The unexplored and untamed sections of the 
  Trojan Reach hold the future of the clan and she is looking for 
  ambitious young cubs to sponsor. Unusually for a female in her 
  position, she has not yet taken a siyajkhoara oath to remain 
  unmarried.
  The commander of the clan’s space fleet is Yesyakhei of the 
  Ahriyao but many in the navy believe that young captain Tolirah 
  – the victor at Uao, the warrior who slew the pirate queen 
  Khitlaa – is the true leader of the clan’s military forces. Tolirah is 
  an inspiring leader and a brilliant tactician – but he is Sauhkesi, 
  so the clan’s elders mistrust him. 
  Adventure Ideas
  • The Tru’shan Famine: The Tru’shan clan are on the brink 
  of famine. An Arhiyao researcher just discovered that a new 
  form of plant engineered by Syoisuis scientists will thrive on the 
  Tru’shan worlds. If this plant can be obtained, then the famine 
  can be averted. The characters must acquire these seeds, by 
  fair means or foul, before the Tru’shan starve or some other 
  clan uses the seeds to drive a wedge between the Ahriyao and 
  their allies.
  • Civil War on Ehlaealir: The border world of Ehlaealir breaks 
  down into civil war. The Ahriyao clan’s holdings on that world 
  are secure and easy to defend, so the war poses little threat to 
  them. Militant leaders in the clan suggest that this is the time to 
  go on the offensive, to take territory from other clans – but what 
  if the Glorious Empire takes this opportunity to attack.
  • New Frontier: The Ekhoaoiarl want to begin trading directly 
  with the Florian League and to do that they need to establish 
  a waystation somewhere in Yggdrasil or Dpres subsector. The 
  player characters are given a scout ship and sent to find a good 
  colony world.
  
  105
  Alien Module 1: Aslan introduces the Aslan concept of 
  kinships. Kinships can be likened to human guilds that focus 
  on a particular skill or career. This article expands on what has 
  been established in the book to provide you with a framework 
  for creating your own kinships. Following these guidelines are 
  some example kinships that you can use in your games and 
  some scenario ideas that can be used for any of your players 
  that are members of a kinship.
  Kinship Design
  When creating a new kinship, try to add as much detail as 
  possible and cover as many aspects as you can. These 
  guidelines will help you define the important areas of a kinship 
  and are broken down into the following elements:
  Name
  Purpose
  Organisation
  Territory
  Membership
  Benefits
  Rules
  Traditions
  History
  Further Information
  Name
  The name of the kinship can be anything you like, but 
  traditionally the name is descriptive of the guild’s purpose. 
  It is also quite common to add the suffix ‘Kinship’ to the 
  descriptive element of the name. Some example names 
  include Fellowship of Poets, Diplomatic Kinship, Spacer’s 
  Kinship.
  Purpose
  Next you must define the purpose of the kinship. What are the 
  aims and objectives of the kinship? Try to keep the purpose 
  as specific and concise as possible; many elements of the 
  kinship’s purpose are likely to be detailed in later sections.
  Common purposes include providing train and mastery of skills, 
  networking members, sharing information on particular topics 
  and providing a sounding board for new ideas and projects.
  Organisation
  The organisation section should detail how the kinship is 
  structured and administered. This should include the internal 
  hierarchy of the organisation, describing the role of each 
  position. 
  You can also list who currently holds any positions of note such 
  as the leader. Most kinship’s have a single leader position with 
  a number of advisory and administration roles. Aslan traditions 
  prevail here, so leader roles will generally be limited to males 
  only, whilst administration positions will be filled by females 
  unless the kinship is limited to a single sex.
  You can also use this section to detail any internal politics. 
  Again, most organisations reflect Aslan society, so positions of 
  power within a kinship are highly sought after and can even 
  improve one’s Social Standing.
  Territory
  This section should list the subsectors, systems and worlds 
  where the kinship is currently active. You can also detail any 
  locations of note such as the main headquarters or any large 
  facilities the organisation might have.
  Most kinships will have a number of buildings for running the 
  kinship and also to provide member facilities such as meeting 
  rooms, training areas and accommodation. Such places are 
  usually owned by families of the founding or ruling member (if 
  male) or his descendants. Kinships that are run by females are 
  either rented or owned by the manager’s immediate family.
  As a kinship grows and expands, additional territory is usually 
  provided by other members and their families. Members who 
  grant the use of their territory for kinship expansion will always 
  gain some standing within the organisation, which will usually 
  be a promotion within the kinship or some additional benefits.
  CreatinG kinships
  By simon Beal
  Advice for adding Aslan Kinships into your campaigns, along with some sample Kinships for 
  you to add immediately.
  
  106
  CreatinG kinships
  Membership
  The membership section should describe who is eligible for 
  membership and how new members are found and invited into 
  the kinship. Kinships that restrict membership to people with 
  a particular skill or career will often restrict membership to a 
  specific sex if appropriate. For example, a kinship of traders 
  would only have female members and a kinship of warriors 
  would be exclusive to males. 
  Membership to a kinship cannot simply be purchased. New 
  members are usually invited to join a kinship if they show a 
  natural aptitude or particular talent that can be nurtured. Many 
  kinships will also allow existing members to invite family as 
  long as the candidate qualifies for membership. If an invite is 
  accepted, new members must often undergo a rite of passage 
  or indoctrination procedure before being accepted into the 
  kinship. Any initiation procedure should be detailed here. 
  Rites of passage and indoctrinations usually exist to ensure that 
  all members have the necessary skills and aptitude, so make 
  sure the proceedings are appropriate to the kinship.
  Most kinships require funding in order to provide the facilities 
  and benefits to its members. If the kinship requires members to 
  pay a joining or recurring fee then it should be detailed in this 
  section.
  Benefits
  The benefits that members gain by being in the kinship will most 
  likely have been stated in the purpose section. However, a more 
  detailed description can be included here with any additional 
  information not already listed in previous sections. Most kinship’s 
  will allow members to seek shelter and aid from other members. 
  Additional benefits will depend on the purpose of the kinship 
  but might include training, guidance, support, libraries and 
  knowledge, facilities, discussion and sharing of ideas.
  For kinships that do not charge membership fees (as detailed 
  in the previous section), they will often require payment on a 
  per use basis. These fees are required to maintain and run the 
  facilities and are heavily discounted, often providing a much 
  cheaper alternative to similar facilities in the area.
  Rules
  Depending on the size and nature of the kinship, it might have 
  simple and informal guidelines or it could have a strict set 
  of rules and principles in the form of a constitution or similar 
  document. As one would expect from the Aslan, most kinships 
  tend to have a more formal set of rules that must be strictly 
  adhered to. The rules should describe how the kinship expects 
  its members to behave and what is expected of them. They 
  should also detail what the member can expect of the kinship. 
  Certain types if kinships called hoaawli (secret schools) will also 
  specify that knowledge of the organisation must remain a secret 
  and should never be discussed with non–members.
  Failing to abide by the rules of the kinship will fall under 
  one of the three classes of offensive behaviour (familiarity, 
  impoliteness and discourtesy) as appropriate and incurs the 
  same consequences (refer to the Duelling & Honour section of 
  Alien Module 1: Aslan for details).
  Traditions
  Many kinships, especially the older ones, will often follow a 
  number of traditions. You do not have to include anything 
  here but traditions will help flesh out the kinship and can often 
  provide additional roleplaying opportunities. Traditions can be 
  special events, ceremonies and even specific attire that must 
  be worn at certain occasions.
  History
  The history of a kinship can tell you much about it, and like the 
  traditions it can really help to fl esh out the kinship and make it 
  more realistic. Key historical facts should include:
  * How and why the kinship was created.
  * When the kinship was created.
  * The founding members.
  You can add in other historical information as required. 
  Additional details might include events within the kinship’s 
  history, changes to the kinship (such as new rules or traditions) 
  and any notable members.
  Further Information
  You can add any additional information as required in this 
  section. This can be anything relevant to the kinship that does 
  not fit in any of the previous sections. You can also use this 
  section to detail any new skills or items of equipment that are 
  available to the members of the kinship.
  leaGue oF explorers
  Purpose
  The League of Explorers is a kinship for explorers to exchange 
  details of places they have been and systems they have 
  discovered. A central library stores all data pertaining to its 
  members discoveries, except in instances where the explorer 
  is duty bound not to reveal information.
  Organisation
  The kinship is organised into independent chapters. Every 
  chapter has its own data library and periodically sends new 
  information to its neighbouring chapters. Each chapter of the 
  League is self regulated and has the following positions:
  * Head: The person in charge of the chapter.
  *Archivist: A number of archivists are responsible for logging 
  new data into their chapter library. 
  * Administrator: The head will usually appoint one or two 
  administrators to take care of the day to day running of the chapter.
  
  107
  CreatinG kinships
  * Recruiter: Recruiters actively seek out potential candidates 
  for membership of the League.
  In the interest of organisation and efficiency the League only 
  allows one chapter per world, however each chapter may 
  have more than one facility per world if required. Chapters are 
  funded by charging members for the use of the facilities. Use by 
  nonmembers is usually restricted but they are able to purchase 
  library data.
  Territory
  The League of Explorers has chapters on most colonised Aslan 
  worlds. On highly populated and frequently visited worlds, there 
  are often several chapter facilities located at key locations. 
  The headquarters of each chapter is usually located near that 
  world’s starport for the convenience of visiting members.
  New chapters are usually donated by the head or the head’s 
  family however, where the kinship sees the need for a new 
  chapter in a popular system, other chapters will often invest 
  their own funds as a donation or on a loan basis.
  Membership
  Any Aslan with experience of exploration or who is embarking 
  on such a career is a potential candidate for membership. All 
  new members must be approved by the head, who will then call 
  one of the administrators to handle the paperwork.
  There is no rite of passage to join the kinship and there is no 
  membership fee. The League of Explorers is extremely active 
  in finding new members. Recruiters (usually retired explorers) 
  are appointed to seek out potential candidates and invite them 
  to the kinship. 
  Many new members are found at the spaceport where the 
  recruiters are always on the lookout for new explorers, others 
  are found through word of mouth or head hunting. All members 
  of the League are also encouraged to invite anyone in their 
  family or clan who meet the requirements. Anyone invited in 
  this way must still be approved by the chapter head.
  Benefits
  The data collected by the League of Explorers is regarded as 
  the definitive collection of historical data on Aslan systems. This 
  information is freely available to members and sold to anyone 
  else who wishes to find a new world to colonise or mine. Once 
  a system or world has been colonised, the library is updated but 
  no further details on that world are recorded.
  Most chapters will provide accommodation and other facilities 
  for travellers. Since there is no membership fee (the kinship 
  wants to attract as many members as it can), members must 
  pay for the use of the kinships facilities but costs are around 
  half the price of similar facilities on that world.
  Members who have limited funds may petition the chapter 
  head for shelter. As long as the member makes a convincing 
  case, the head will usually waive the fees for the duration of the 
  member’s stay. However, if this service is abused it can result in 
  dismissal from the kinship.
  Rules
  The rules of the League of Explorers are as follows:
  * All chapters are self regulated and financed, under the control 
  of the chapter head.
  * Members are requested to log any new exploration data with a 
  chapter archivist unless that member is under obligation to keep 
  their findings out of the public domain.
  *Members may access the League data libraries free of charge 
  but are not permitted to pass this data on to any third party 
  without permission from the chapter.
  * Non–members may purchase library data at an agreed fee 
  directly from a chapter or from a member authorised to do so.
  * Members may use the chapter common areas free of charge 
  but must pay for food and drink as appropriate.
  * Members may bring up to two visitors into chapter common 
  areas.
  * Visitors must be supervised at all times.
  * Members are permitted to use other chapter facilities at the 
  discounted rate set by that chapter.
  * Members may request free shelter from a chapter head. If a 
  satisfactory reason is given, the head may waive accommodation 
  and related fees.
  Traditions
  All new members to the kinship are given a League Emblem, 
  which is a small metal badge with the League’s logo on it. 
  Members are encouraged to display the emblem on their person 
  but this is not compulsory.
  History
  The League of Explorers was founded in 142 Aslan, roughly 46 
  years after they reached the stars. The kinship was conceived 
  by two explorers, Khaliki and Sakea who established the 
  first chapter on the Aslan homeworld. As the Aslan Empire 
  expanded, new chapters were created on the colony worlds 
  providing safe harbour for explorers and access to the League’s 
  data library. Khaliki and Sakea created a sensible set of rules 
  for the League, which have not changed in the history of the 
  kinship.
  masters oF alr’soi
  Purpose
  The Masters of Alr’soi is a secret school that teaches the 
  ancient art of Alr’soi. Alr’soi translates to ‘one with the blade’ 
  
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  and is a martial art that teaches the student how to master a 
  number of bladed weapons. Alr’soi is becoming a forgotten 
  art and the purpose of the kinship is to keep the skill alive by 
  passing the knowledge on to elite warriors and gifted students. 
  Details on using the Alr’soi fighting style are given in the Further 
  Information section.
  Organisation
  Unlike most kinships, the Masters of Alr’soi has no internal 
  structure to speak of. There are no leadership or administrative 
  roles; instead there are just four positions that relate directly to 
  the warrior’s profi ciency in Alr’soi as follows:
  * Master (Alr’soi level 4)
  * Adept (Alr’soi level 2–3)
  * Journeyman (Alr’soi level 1)
  * Student (no skill level)
  Students are always mentored by a master in a one to one 
  relationship. Rarely will a master take on more than one student. 
  Once proficient in the art of Alr’soi (at skill level 1), the student 
  attains the rank of journeyman and no longer needs a mentor. 
  Journeymen and adepts are free to do as they wish but they 
  can only request further training once they have real combat 
  experience using Alr’soi. A journeyman or adept may approach 
  any master for further training but most will seek the guidance 
  of their original mentor. Only if the warrior has shown progress 
  through experience will a master train them further.
  Territory
  The Masters of Alr’soi has no territories, buildings or facilities 
  but members can be found throughout Aslan space. Training is 
  done in any appropriate location that is free of distractions and 
  prying eyes; this can be anywhere from a secluded valley to an 
  empty cargo hold.
  Membership
  Only a master may invite a new member to the kinship but 
  adepts may make recommendations to any of the masters. After 
  completing the rite of passage, the student will be mentored 
  by the master who invited him. The rite of passage exists to 
  prove a student’s worthiness before being accepted into the 
  kinship. The student must show skill, determination, honour and 
  obedience. The rite consists of three separate trials.
  The first trial is a test of the mind and at this point the prospective 
  student will not even be aware he is undergoing a trial. The 
  masters will ask questions and pose philosophical dilemmas to 
  test the sharpness of mind and the suitability of the candidate. 
  Only if they pass the first trial will the master formally invite the 
  student into the Masters of Alr’soi.
  If the student accepts the invitation, he must first swear to obey the 
  rules of secrecy, even if they fail the remaining trials. If they agree 
  to this, the trials will continue. The second trial is a duel to first 
  blood. This is not a duel of honour but simply a test the student’s 
  skill and courage with the blade. No master has ever lost a duel 
  in the second trial. If the master is satisfied that the student has 
  a natural aptitude, the fi nal trial will begin in the form of a task. 
  The nature of the task is determined by the master and it will not 
  be easy as it must test the resourcefulness and determination 
  of the student. The task might be to survive for three days in the 
  wilderness with nothing but the clothes on their back, or it might be 
  to deliver or retrieve an item with little or no resources.
  There are no membership or training fees of any kind. Members 
  of the Masters of Alr’soi will willingly share techniques and 
  training with any other member and most mentors will provide 
  food and accommodation for their students.
  Benefits
  The benefits of joining the Masters of Alr’Soi are quite simple; 
  members get the opportunity to learn this rare, ancient and 
  deadly martial art. Although many warriors will recognise the 
  style of Alr’soi, few people outside of the kinship have the 
  knowledge to use it. 
  Rules
  The rules of the Masters of Alr’soi are as follows:
  * Members must never disclose any information about the 
  Masters of Alr’soi or the martial art with anyone outside of the 
  kinship. The only exception to this rule is when a master invites 
  a candidate after the first trial.
  *Students must obey their mentors without question.
  * All masters must seek out and mentor at least one student. New 
  students must be suitable and the rite of passage must be adhered to.
  * All members are must attend the annual Arena event unless 
  extreme circumstances prevent them from doing so.
  * Failure to abide by these rules will result in dismissal from the 
  kinship. Any breach of the first rule will be considered an act of 
  discourtesy and can result in a duel to the death.
  Traditions
  The Masters of Alr’soi have only one tradition called ‘Arena’. 
  Arena is an annual tournament held at a different location each 
  year for members only. The event lasts for six days and is the 
  only time that members get the opportunity meet each other 
  outside of chance encounters. The tournament pits contestants 
  against each other in fights of first blood to see who has the 
  greatest skill and mastery of Alr’Soi. The tournament works on 
  a knock out basis divided over a number of rounds. Each round 
  is divided into heats and each contestant fights in one heat 
  per round, with the winner of each heat advancing to the next 
  round. Due to the amount of contestants, the first heats pit 10 
  warriors against each other to thin the numbers.
  
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  Subsequent rounds are one–on–one duels. Any member who 
  has attained the rank of journeyman or higher may participate 
  in the tournament but this is not compulsory.
  There are three classes to the tournament, one for journeymen, 
  adepts and masters. The winners of each class then face each 
  other in a free–for–all fight to determine the overall winner of the 
  tournament. The victor is most often a master but adepts have 
  been known to win on occasion. It is a great honour to be the 
  victor of any class and the host of the event will always supply 
  prizes of money or weapons; in rare cases territory has been 
  given as a prize. The tournament winner must host the following 
  year’s event at a location of his choosing.
  In addition to the main tournament, Arena is an opportunity for 
  members to meet each other, get further training from masters, 
  exchange tales and catch up with old friends. Although the 
  event traditionally lasts six days, some members will remain for 
  weeks to complete their training.
  History
  As the Aslan made technological advances, guns and other 
  advanced weapons became the favoured tools of war and the 
  use of martial arts slowly began to diminish. Over the centuries 
  Alr’soi and other fighting styles were all but forgotten. Those 
  masters who remained saw that their art would be lost forever 
  unless they took action and so the Masters of Alr’soi was born. 
  The Masters of Alr’soi do not keep records; their traditions are 
  passed down orally from master to student. The exact date that 
  the kinship was formed is unknown but most masters believe it 
  was sometime during the Border Wars.
  Further Information
  Alr’soi is visually distinct and any warrior who recognises it as 
  such will usually have great respect for the practitioner. The 
  style is fast and fluid with deadly attacks and quick parrying 
  moves. To represent the use of the Alr’soi martial art in 
  Traveller a new skill, Melee (Alr’soi), is now available. Upon 
  attaining the rank of journeyman, the warrior learns the Melee 
  (Alr’soi) at level 1. Melee (Alr’soi) can be used with any bladed 
  weapon and works much the same way as Melee (blade). To 
  reflect the fact that Alr’soi is a more refined and deadly fighting 
  style, all damage dealt when using Melee (Alr’soi) gains a +2 
  DM. The defensive advantages also reduce the cumulative 
  penalty for parrying by 1.
  merChant kinship
  Purpose
  The Merchant Kinship exists to facilitate trade between Aslan 
  and other races. It also serves to provide networking and support 
  services for its members. Members are able to discuss the 
  customs of any race they do business with and provide help for 
  members who plan to deal with these cultures.
  Organisation
  The Merchant Kinship is built on a hierarchical structure 
  that is necessary to manage its vast network of branches. 
  Merchant branches make up the bottom layer of the 
  hierarchy and provide facilities to members and visiting 
  clients.
  Above the branch level are the subsidiary offices, which 
  are usually responsible for every branch in that subsector. 
  Systems with high populations or popular trade routes will 
  often have several subsidiary offices if there is sufficient 
  need.
  At the top level of the kinship structure is the head office. This 
  office manages all of the subsidiary offices and governs the 
  entire kinship, setting the rules and regulations for its members. 
  Each level within the Merchant Kinship has a number of 
  positions as follows:
  * HEO (Head Executive Officer): Stationed in the head office, 
  the HEO runs the Merchant Kinship.
  * HAO (Head Advisory Officer): HAOs work directly under the 
  HEO to aid and advise her in the running of the kinship.
  * HFO (Head Financial Officer): Manages the finances of the 
  kinship.
  
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  * SEO (Subsidiary Executive Offi cer): Each subsidiary 
  office has an SEO to oversee and run the office. An SEO is 
  responsible for every branch under her control and reports to 
  the HEO.
  * SFO (Subsidiary Financial Officer): SFOs manage the 
  finances that come in from each branch in that subsidiary. 
  SEOs report to the HFO.
  * BEO (Branch Executive Officer): The manager of a single 
  branch. BEOs report to their appointed SEO.
  *BFO (Branch Financial Officer): BFOs manage the 
  finances of a single branch and report to their appointed 
  SFO.
  * Administrator: Administrators work at every level in the 
  kinship and deal with the day to day running of the branch 
  or office. With the kinship positions spread over three levels, 
  there is plenty of scope for politics as members endeavour to 
  rise up through the ranks. Neighbouring branches are often 
  competitive, recruiting more members and bringing in more 
  clients in the hope of being promoted to the subsidiary office.
  Territory
  The head offi ce is located on the Aslan homeworld. Branches 
  have been established on most Aslan worlds (usually near the 
  starport) and there are even branches on some Imperial worlds. 
  Subsidiary offices are located in most subsectors where there 
  are Merchant Kinship branches.
  Membership
  The Merchant Kinship is always looking to expand its portfolio 
  of businesses and is one of the few kinships that does not 
  require members to be invited. Due to the nature of the kinship, 
  membership is only available to females but any business may 
  apply to become a member.
  Applicants must detail the nature of their business, together 
  with recent accounts and references. Only successful or 
  potentially successful businesses will be granted membership. 
  A business in financial trouble or with a bad reputation will 
  be rejected, only the best qualify to be part of the Merchant 
  Kinship. Once an applicant has been approved they must pay 
  an annual fee of Cr. 50,000 to be a member and gain access 
  to all the benefits the kinship provides.
  Benefits
  The benefits of joining the Merchant Kinship are numerous. 
  Firstly, all members are given a data wafer containing a 
  business guide to negotiating and doing business with other 
  races. The information on this guide is collected from members 
  and can be updated any time a member visits a branch. The 
  guide also contains a directory of all member businesses.
  Each branch has a common room where members can meet 
  and swap advice on the customs of other races and how this 
  can affect business negotiations. Many members also do 
  business with each other as a result of their discussions and 
  will often provide training for a small fee.
  Members also get full access to all branch facilities including 
  conference rooms and trade networks. Conference rooms 
  can be booked by members to meet clients of any race in 
  a safe environment with the support of other members if 
  necessary.
  Non–members are also allowed in the branches to facilitate 
  negotiations and client networking. Visitors can be invited by 
  Merchant Kinship members or they may visit branches looking 
  for Aslan traders and merchants. Many Aslan companies get 
  new business this way.
  Rules
  The Merchant Kinship presents itself as a professional business 
  and expects its members to conduct themselves and their 
  affairs in accordance with the following rules:
  * Members are free to use the common area in any branch to 
  meet and discuss any business related topic.
  * Members requiring the use of other branch facilities must book 
  in advance.
  * Non–members may request the use of branch facilities for 
  business purposes with Merchant Kinship members. The 
  branch will charge a fee as deemed appropriate.
  * Members are requested to submit any new information 
  on alien customs and cultures that will be of use to other 
  members.
  * Any information contained within the business guide is for 
  use by members only. This data may not be shared, sold or 
  otherwise released into the public domain.
  * Members are required to submit reports of all business 
  activities that take place within Merchant Kinship facilities. 
  These reports are used for statistical purposes to improve the 
  services of the branch and the kinship. *All officers must submit 
  quarterly reports as appropriate (such as branch activity and 
  finances).
  * Any member or visitor found to be trading in illegal goods 
  or services (according to local law) will be reported to the 
  authorities as appropriate and membership will be revoked.
  Traditions
  There are no formal traditions in the Merchant Kinship but over 
  time the members have developed a certain way of doing things. 
  When visiting a world that has a branch, most members will 
  spend some time in the common area if time permits. This has 
  become a great social aspect to the kinship where the members 
  can relax and drink whilst sharing any business related news.
  
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  During these talks, many details about alien cultures can be 
  confirmed and refined. This provides an excellent sounding 
  board for members before they submit their findings for possible 
  inclusion into the business guide.
  History
  The Merchant Kinship was founded in 2929 Aslan by Tali Aohoa 
  Yahrel. Taliran several successful businesses in Aslan space 
  but when she expanded and started to deal with alien races, 
  her negotiations failed and her businesses began to decline. 
  Realising her lack of understanding with these alien cultures was 
  the reason behind this, Tali conceived the idea for the Merchant 
  Kinship. The kinship began as a simple setup with the single 
  objective of sharing the customs of alien races, thus improving 
  business negotiations with them. However, in the early days 
  many people would sign up simply to get the business guide 
  and then cancel their membership after the first year. 
  When this issue became apparent, steps were taken to provide 
  additional services to members and ensure that their continuing 
  membership had value. The kinship soon grew to include all the 
  benefits that members currently enjoy.
  Scenarios
  A well thought out and detailed kinship can provide a wealth of 
  roleplaying opportunities, scenarios and even form the basis for 
  campaigns. Some suggestions are listed here that can be used 
  with your own kinships or those detailed in this article. Most of 
  these ideas can either be run as a personal side story for one 
  of your players, or for an entire party who are all members of 
  the same kinship.
  Event
  Kinships that have large gatherings or events (such as the 
  Arena event detailed in this article for the Masters of Alr’soi) 
  can provide a number of possibilities for your game. Such 
  events can serve as a nice break in a long running campaign or 
  perhaps the players need to win a tournament to improve their 
  Social Standing. Events are also a great way to bring a party 
  together or to bring new characters into the group.
  Politics 
  Kinships that are steeped in internal politics are another great 
  source for scenarios and campaigns. Perhaps the players wish 
  to increase their standing or make a play for a higher position. 
  Alternatively, the players might discover that a rival seeks to 
  dominate the kinship and the players must take steps to prevent 
  this from happening.
  Rites of Passage
  This scenario is ideal for a small party of players who have all 
  been invited to join a kinship and can provide a nice way to 
  bring your party together. The rite of passage could be shared 
  or something that each player must achieve on their own. Once 
  the players have passed the rite, they will most likely begin 
  training together and through their shared experiences the 
  characters would naturally be drawn together to form a party. 
  As the players’ training comes to an end you can even combine 
  this with one of the other scenario ideas or a plot device of your 
  own to begin a campaign.
  Secrets
  Whilst delving into the history of the kinship one or more of the 
  players will discover a secret, be it a small piece of information 
  that alludes to some conspiracy, or a section of the history is 
  missing and most likely removed to hide the truth of a dark past.
  Shelter
  One of the players is approached by a member of their kinship 
  who asks for shelter or sanctuary. The newcomer might just 
  be down on his luck or trouble might be following a few steps 
  behind. This scenario can work as a side story or it can be the 
  start of a campaign.
  Task
  High ranking members within a kinship request a meeting 
  with one or more of the players. The players are informed 
  of a situation and their assistance is required or requested. 
  The nature of the task is entirely up to you and can be a side 
  story or form the basis of your campaign. Ideas for tasks 
  include finding someone, retrieving some data or an item, 
  investigating a situation within the kinship and recruiting new 
  members.
  Other Ideas
  Feel free to expand on these ideas or add your own. If you plan 
  to design a campaign around a kinship then you will need to be 
  very descriptive but you can add specific hooks that will provide 
  opportunities for your players to get involved as well as side 
  quests and encounters.
  
  112
  This short adventure is suited to a group of three to five players 
  and is ideal as a ready–to–go scenario should a Referee find 
  that his players misjump and emerge in deep space with not 
  enough fuel to jump away again. For the heavy freighter that is 
  encountered, the Referee may use any design and deck plan 
  to suit his or her own need. If the travellers’ ship has reserve 
  fuel then a Referee may decree that their ship has suffered a 
  massive fuel leak after experiencing a rupture to a fuel tank 
  on exiting jump space. Now, aside from the problem of finding 
  more fuel, one PC at least is going to have to don a vacc suit 
  and venture outside the ship to repair the ruptured tank.
  Synopsis
  The stranded travellers will encounter a heavy freighter floating 
  through deep space, which provides a fortuitous opportunity to 
  obtain fuel. The ship has the name ‘d’chaell’ visibly painted on 
  its hull. The d’chaell is of an unknown alien (humanoid) origin 
  and has been floating through space since it was abandoned 
  700 years ago. 
  The original crew, whilst on their last trip, had picked up 
  a small stone pyramid which they hoped to sell for profit. 
  Unfortunately, the pyramid did not turn out to be the priceless 
  art object they had hoped for. Instead it affected their mental 
  states and threatened to send them insane or destroy them. 
  Now the travellers have discovered the d’chaell, will they 
  too fall victim to the strange stone pyramid?
  The Stone Pyramid
  In one of the freighter’s holds is a crate containing the pyramid 
  shaped stone. The stone is black, like polished obsidian, eight 
  inches tall and weighs about four kilograms. The crew of the 
  d’chaell came into possession of the stone during their last trip 
  and thought such a curious object might fetch a nice price in the 
  collectors’ markets of their home world.
  The stone pyramid exudes an aura that might be mistaken for a 
  form of intelligence. The aura interacts with the brainwave patterns 
  of sentient beings and can produce some very strange effects; as if 
  the subject were under the influence of some form of hallucinogen. 
  The crew never realised that the stone was the cause of their ills 
  and instead of jettisoning it, they themselves fl ed in the lifeboat to 
  escape the madness of the d’chaell. All fled that is except for one 
  crew member who it was felt had become so crazed as to be a 
  perilous danger to himself and his shipmates. 
  This poor unfortunate was locked inside the clothes locker in 
  his stateroom and left there to die. When dormant, the stone 
  pyramid has a very low electro–magnetic field, so low as to be 
  imperceptible to even the most high tech of sensor sweeps 
  made from outside the freighter. However, EMF readings 
  spike considerably in periods when the stone’s aura becomes 
  active. The stone proves impervious to all attempts of dealing 
  physical damage to it. It absorbs energy, including laser and 
  ballistic and then slowly dissipates that energy.
  The d’chaell
  There will be no reply from the d’chaell to any attempts at 
  communication. Depending upon the type of sensor array being 
  employed, a sweep of the d’chaell will reveal some or all of the 
  following information: 
  There are no life forms on board the ship, no signs of movement, 
  the ship’s life boat is absent, there is no power source, no heat, 
  the engines are cold, there is no jump drive and no armaments 
  – it is what salvagers call a derelict. The d’chaell’s fuel tanks 
  remain partially full and currently hold 118 tonnes of refined 
  hydrogen fuel. Its holds are full or ores and minerals and there 
  are also biochemical fuels which are masked from most sensors 
  by the metal barrels that they are stored in. Radiation levels 
  are safe and the air has an oxygen–nitrogen mix in suffi cient 
  quantities to provide a thin, breathable atmosphere. However, 
  after being so long abandoned, the air has become stale and 
  requires venting.
  Boarding the d’chaell
  As the PCs prepare to dock with the d’chaell, encourage them 
  to assign duties in order to get them to split up. It is most likely 
  that the PCs will split themselves between a boarding party 
  and those remaining on board the travellers’ ship to oversee 
  the operation and to operate fuel hoses. The boarding party 
  will probably explore the freighter, locate the bridge to restore 
  power and life support systems and then investigate the holds 
  and fuel tanks.
  the dereliCt
  By Paul Dutton
  Have your players foolishly misjumped?  No need to scatter their atoms to the far ends of the 
  galaxy – this adventure will get them back on track after suitable trials and tribulations.
  
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  the dereliCt
  The airlock of the d’chaell is alien and incompatible with the 
  travellers’ vessel and docking will require an extendable 
  flexitube to achieve a seal. The airlock is not only totally alien, 
  it has no power and to bypass the locking system will require 
  a PC to successfully set up an external circuit on an Engineer 
  (electronics) or Physical Science (electronics) check (8+) or 
  a Mechanic check (10+). Otherwise the only alternative for 
  docking is to clamp to a hard surface and burn through the hull. 
  Docking with a free floating ship requires a Pilot check (10+) 
  and 1d6 minutes. PCs might avoid docking altogether if they 
  elect to exit their ship using vacc suits, then cross the void to 
  the d’chaell and manually open the air lock to gain access. 
  They will still be required to bypass the non-powered airlock 
  as described previously. On board the freighter, the ship is in 
  complete darkness and most surfaces have a layer of frost due 
  to the extreme cold. Zero gravity is in effect and various loose 
  items hang effortlessly in mid air. If breathing is unassisted, then 
  exhaled breath noticeably frosts in the cold and the aged air has 
  a definite metallic taint that hits the back of the throat. Once on 
  the bridge a PC can access redundant power systems, including 
  life support. Unfortunately the computer systems andcontrols 
  are in an unfamiliar alien language.
  A PC well versed in ships’ computers should be able to 
  intuitively locate the primary systems with a Computers check 
  (10+). If the PC has translation software that can be linked to 
  the alien computer system then the check is unnecessary as 
  navigating the controls becomes routine. Lighting, power and 
  artificial gravity can all be restored. Also, the air can be vented 
  and a fresh oxygen mix introduced to facilitate unassisted 
  breathing; likewise the internal temperature can be raised to 
  a more comfortable level. A PC with a translation programme 
  may access the ship’s log on an Admin (6+) or navigate through 
  ship’s schematics to locate the operations controls for the fuel 
  tanks, Computers (8+). 
  Pumping the Fuel Whether by checking the schematics on the 
  computer system or by personally investigating the tanks, it 
  becomes evident that fuel cannot be transferred from the tanks 
  unless the valves are operated manually from the engineering 
  bay. To refuel the travellers’ ship requires hoses to be guided in 
  to connect to the external seals of the tank. Guiding the hoses 
  from the travellers’ ship takes 1d6 minutes with a Pilot check 
  (10+) or Remote Operations check (8+). Continuous checks 
  may be made until successful, each check adding another 1d6 
  minutes to the operation.
  Once a seal is achieved the valves that control the flow of fuel 
  may be opened to begin pumping and gauges are present to 
  ensure valves are adjusted correctly to maintain safe working 
  pressure. The fuel begins to pump rather laboriously at a rate 
  of two tons per minute. The fuel will not pump at all if PCs have 
  not restored power to the freighter. As soon as a PC sets off to 
  find the engineering bay, begin running the strange occurrences 
  that effect the travellers as detailed later.
  Cargo In the holds there are 200 containers of ores and 
  minerals. Each container weighs 1,000 kilograms, a total of 
  200 tons (uncommon ore Cr 5,000 per ton). There is also a 95 
  ton cargo of biochemicals sealed inside metal barrels. A total 
  of 950 barrels weighing 100 kilograms each (biochemical Cr 
  50,000 per ton). Salvaging the cargo is not going to be easy; 
  even the lightest containers are far too bulky and too heavy to 
  man handle around the ship and transfer through the airlocks.
  Ship’s Log 
  The computerised log will require a translation programme in 
  order to read and understand it. The date system is not standard 
  Imperium and means nothing to the PCs. The d’chaell was on a 
  routine run to pick up a cargo from a mining colony and return 
  it home. Captain v’llant reports in the log that some of his crew 
  believed there might be a stowaway or stowaways on board 
  and reports that strange happenings had befallen several crew 
  members during the previous few hours. There are no details in 
  the log that might give a clue as to what these strange happenings 
  were. The next entry reports that a’keeda had gone crazy and 
  attacked one of his shipmates; it took four of them to overcome 
  a’keeda and calm him down. Later he had gotten into another fight, 
  this time with a crewman who had begun shouting and screaming 
  at shadows or maybe something in the shadows. However, nobody 
  else could see what it was he was shouting at. There would appear 
  to be a gap in the log reports because the next and final entry is 
  very abrupt: ‘Taking the lifeboat. Abandoning ship. Having to leave 
  a’keeda behind, his mind is broken’.
  The State Rooms and the Dead Crewman
  If the state rooms are searched, a Recon check (8+) will fi nd the 
  remains of a humanoid alien body trapped in a clothes locker. 
  The locker itself has several deformations to the door where 
  the metal has been forced outwards due to the unfortunate 
  crewman hammering his fi sts against the inside of the door 
  in an attempt to escape his tiny prison. Clad in a blue cloth 
  uniform, the almost skeletal remains still retain some vestiges 
  of darkened skin and internal organs. Decomposition was in 
  an advanced state before life support systems powered down 
  allowing the ambient temperature to drop below freezing which 
  preserved the last of the body’s soft tissues. The remains are 
  humanoid, about five feet and three inches tall, with a slightly 
  stooped stance, overlong arms that reach to the knees and a 
  cranium that exhibits a distinct slope of the forehead. A PC with 
  the medic skill may spend 1d6 hours in medical and forensic 
  examination to determine that the remains exhibit various minor 
  skeletal defects from repairs made to heal old wounds but there 
  is no sign of trauma that might tell of a violent death or any 
  residual of a viral infection. The alien actually died of starvation, 
  but this would be pretty much impossible to conclude through 
  medical examination.
  A Medic check (8+) may help to establish how long the alien 
  has been dead. The greater the effect on the check, the more 
  accurate the estimation; the alien has actually been dead for 
  
  114
  the dereliCt
  
  115
  the dereliCt
  700 years. In his final days he went mad due to the aura of 
  the stone pyramid and his fellow crewmates locked him in the 
  clothes locker for their own protection.
  the stranGe oCCurrenCes
  The following sequence of strange occurrences should affect 
  one PC at a time and will work best if the PCs have split up their 
  party and if these occurrences are run in quick succession. The 
  stone pyramid stored in the hold will begin to exert its influence 
  on the minds of the PCs who succumb to hallucinations and 
  other mental effects with profound consequences. It may quickly 
  become obvious to PCs that all effects are illusionary but simply 
  allowing illusions to happen and pass without reacting to them 
  may not always prove the best policy.
  The First Occurrence
  When a PC heads off to the freighter’s engineering bay to locate 
  the valves for the fuel tanks have him lose communications with 
  his fellow travellers. The PC loses all track of time, it feels as 
  if he has spent no time at all on his way to engineering but 
  in truth he will be gone for much longer – in fact for as many 
  minutes or hours as it takes for another PC to go and look for 
  him. However it happens, one PC will be temporarily lost to time 
  in the engineering bay. Next, any other PC or PCs that were 
  with him at the time or came after to look for him will inexplicably 
  find themselves standing in another part of the ship without any 
  recollection of how he (or they) got there – see the second 
  occurrence.
  The Second Occurrence
  After splitting up members of the boarding party, one PC 
  is temporarily lost to time in the engineering bay whilst his 
  companion or companions who were either with him or went 
  looking for him, are now standing in a bewildered state in 
  another part of the ship not knowing how they got there. If only 
  one PC has boarded the d’chaell and nobody else follows to 
  investigate, then that PC is automatically the victim of the first 
  two occurrences which will require the occurrences to happen 
  several hours apart from each other. The second occurrence is 
  experienced by one bewildered PC, if he is accompanied then 
  his fellow travellers just see the affected PC begin to panic 
  in absolute dread and fear, reacting to an invisible menace. 
  The affected PC begins to feel that he is being watched, a 
  claustrophobic oppression overtakes him and the room or 
  corridor in which he stands begins to darken. The shadows 
  around him grow and lengthen with strange angular shapes 
  that reach toward him. 
  A snaking tentacle begins to form in the shadows which takes 
  on a solid form of putrid flesh and exudes a nauseating aroma 
  of death. The tentacle lashes out at the PC followed by another 
  and the full form of some alien nightmare manifests before 
  him. A heaving, bulbous body with no discernable head, just a 
  gaping slavering maw filled with rows of jagged teeth. Around 
  the body, its tentacles writhe and make ready to strike again. 
  A second creature rises up from the shadows, either before or 
  behind the PC, to cut off any hope of his escape. These alien 
  creatures are hallucinatory manifestations of the PC’s own 
  mind. If the PC is ‘killed’ he is actually rendered unconscious 
  for d66 minutes. If he destroys the creatures, then when the 
  combat encounter ends the PC will be left standing unharmed; 
  although his adrenaline pumped body is likely suffering from 
  the after effects of an extreme panic attack or shock. If the PC 
  opened fire, damage to the ship’s internal structure or systems 
  may have occurred and will require damage control. The PC 
  will have suffered no physical injury unless inadvertently self–
  inflicted or perhaps received from a bump to the head if he fell 
  unconscious. No traces of the nightmarish creatures are to be 
  found. The Referee might decide not to allow the PC to recover 
  consciousness or realise the truth until after running the third 
  occurrence.
  Tentacled Nightmare
  Str 12 (+2), Dex 10, End 10, Int 4, Instinct 7, Pack 2; Melee 
  (tentacle) 1, Melee (teeth) 2; Tentacle (4 attacks) 2d6 damage 
  per tentacle or Bite 3d6 damage; Armour (Hide) 2.
  The nightmare has no creature classification as it appears 
  as a hallucinatory effect and is a figment of the victim’s own 
  imagination. It requires no stealth skill or movement statistics 
  as the victim cannot escape from his nightmares while the 
  hallucination is in effect.
  The Third Occurrence
  PCs remaining on board the travellers’ ship will be suddenly 
  surprised by a proximity alert. Ship’s sensors will be tracking 
  two inbound missiles that have ‘locked on’; though there is 
  no sign of a hostile vessel on the sensors. Missiles begin at a 
  range of 15,000 kilometres, travel at thrust 5 and will impact in 
  two turns. Those PCs aboard the travellers’ ship may correctly 
  believe that the missiles are not real – just phantoms. They 
  might engage the incoming missiles with ECM or attempt to 
  destroy them using point defence but neither action will have 
  any effect. The alternatives are to either ride out the attack or 
  to begin evasive manoeuvres. The Referee should keep in 
  mind that if the travellers’ ship has a direct hard seal with the 
  d’chaell, employing evasive manoeuvres will leave the d’chaell 
  compromised as the burned hole in its hull becomes exposed to 
  open space. If the PCs decide to ride out the phantom missile 
  attack, then impact will feel very real. 
  At the moment of impact, all PCs on board will be rendered 
  unconscious as the pyramid’s infl uence shuts down their 
  minds. PCs on board the d’chaell will not be affected and will 
  not be able to pick up any incoming missiles on the freighter’s 
  sensors and after the phantom impact, the travellers’ ship will 
  disappear from the freighter’s sensor readings. If however, 
  PCs on the d’chaell have the possibility of checking visually, 
  they will be relieved to see their ship still along side, intact and 
  
  116
  the dereliCt
  safe. Looking back to the freighter’s sensors, their ship will now 
  have reappeared but they will still be unable to contact it. PCs 
  on board the travellers’ ship will remain unconscious for 1d6 
  hours or for d66 minutes if a PC from the freighter returns and 
  successfully renders medical aid with a Medic check (8+).
  The Fourth Occurrence
  The Referee should ensure the PC who falls victim of the 
  fourth occurrence understands that his character is helpless 
  to resist the influence of the stone and will quickly develop an 
  infatuation for it. Indeed, it may be prudent to take the player 
  to one side for a brief moment to explain the effect upon his 
  character. Alternatively, this occurrence will also work well if 
  there is an NPC amongst the traveller crew that the Referee 
  can take control of. One PC (or NPC) aboard the freighter can 
  hear beautiful music and feels drawn towards the source of 
  it; nobody else will be able to hear it. Amongst the cargo of 
  the main hold, there is a crate that contains the black, stone 
  pyramid. The affected PC will become charmed by the stone 
  pyramid and will take it and want to keep it for his own. 
  If any other PC shows interest, the Referee informs the 
  charmed PC that his character stakes a claim over it; violently 
  soif necessary. If the charmed PC is keen to role play, he may 
  come to blows with any other who asks to see the stone for 
  himself or tries to persuade him to part with it – whether this 
  infers handing it over or leaving it behind. 
  The charmed PC will cradle the stone in such a way that it 
  becomes obvious he treats it as something precious. Every time 
  the charmed PC feels challenged by one of his fellow travellers 
  he reacts angrily. Each time his ire is invoked, the stone’s 
  EMF readings will spike. Any traveller close to a sensor will 
  be able to pick up these readings as they go off the scale and 
  any traveller near to the charmed PC will feel an inexplicable 
  sense that the stone is emanating some sort of powerful aura. 
  As the aura continues to grow in response to the charmed PC’s 
  raised temper, it becomes powerful enough to induce feelings 
  of nausea and also a humming vibration in the heads of all PCs 
  except for the one who is charmed by it.
  dealinG with the stone pyramid
  During the fourth occurrence, the Referee should have seen 
  to it that one PC (or NPC) will insist on keeping the stone and 
  will refuse to give it up or leave it behind. He should become 
  angry, even violent if his will is opposed. If the stone is taken 
  aboard the travellers’ ship it could spell disaster as everyone 
  begins to fall further under its maddening influence. Eventually, 
  everyone will end up going insane. The PCs need to relieve 
  their charmed comrade of the stone pyramid and unless they 
  have a moment of genius, there would seem to be only one 
  of two ways to proceed with the problem at hand: Either to 
  overcome the charmed PC by physical means or to attempt to 
  instil some sense into the charmed PC in order to make him 
  realise what is happening to him. This second option may 
  require the Referee setting a task chain of difficult skill checks 
  (10+), typically involving Deception and Persuade checks and 
  possibly Leadership checks too. Failure will likely leave the PCs 
  with only the first option – physical action against their charmed 
  shipmate.
  The pyramid itself proves impervious to all attempts of dealing 
  direct damage to it. PCs may decide to simply leave the pyramid 
  and the d’chaell behind when they are refuelled and ready to 
  depart deep space. Alternatively, the pyramid can be jettisoned 
  into space or the travellers may decide to destroy the d’chaell 
  with the pyramid on board.
  Ending the Adventure
  Following the strange occurrences and when PCs have relieved 
  their charmed shipmate of the stone pyramid, they should 
  gather their wits about themselves and complete the operation 
  of siphoning fuel. Refuelling follows the procedure and skill 
  checks as detailed in Pumping the Fuel. 
  The Referee may decide that the PCs have already had 
  enough strange experiences and allow the refuelling to go 
  ahead smoothly so that they may complete the task and leave. 
  Otherwise, unless the PCs have had the forethought to jettison 
  the pyramid into space already, the Referee might choose to 
  harass the PCs with one more experience – space pirates are 
  suddenly loose about the freighter, armed to the teeth and out 
  for blood. Of course they are merely phantoms. On leaving, the 
  PCs might decide to destroy the d’chaell with the pyramid on 
  board.
  But if they left the d’chaell and the stone intact or if they jettisoned 
  the pyramid into space, then it will simply fl oat through the void 
  – for all eternity. Unless, maybe one day, some poor unlucky 
  crew of travellers will be unfortunate enough to discover it.
  
  117
  This article will provide rules for psionic healing and introduce 
  another psion career, the Psionic Healer. Psionic Healing is 
  an advanced talent. The learning DM for this talent is –1. 
  Psionic Healers do not use their psionic powers to heal 
  another person, called the  patient. The healer uses their 
  psionic abilities to cause the patients own body to heal itself. 
  As such, the Healer must be in physical contact with the 
  patient. Skin to skin contact is required for any of the healer’s 
  abilities to be used. If direct physical contact with a patient 
  would normally cause damage, then the Healer would suffer 
  that damage.
  Psionic healing may be used by a psion on himself; however, 
  Mental Healing may not be used by the psion on himself. Since 
  the patient is healing themselves, during the healing process 
  they need to eat twice as much food as normal, in certain 
  situations, this condition may be important.
  Healing
  The advanced psionic talent of Healing allows a psion to use a 
  patients own natural healing ability to heal themselves. Healing 
  has no range and the psion must physically touch the patient to 
  use this talent.
  Triage
  Using a Significant Action during combat, a Healer can perform 
  the psionic equivalent of First Aid on a patient. See Medical 
  Treatment in the Traveller Core Rulebook. One important 
  aspect of Triage is that it can be used to completely block pain. 
  Any limitations on actions by the patient due to pain would not 
  apply after the patient had been triaged. The Psion expends 1 
  PSI point to administer the Triage. Medic skill may be added as 
  a positive DM to the roll.
  Triage a Patient: Healing, Psionic Strength, 1–6 Seconds, 
  Average (+0). Cost: 1 PSI.
  Physical Healing
  Patient wounds and injuries may be healed rapidly. The patients 
  Strength, Dexterity and Endurance lost to injury, disease, poison or 
  other trauma may be healed using this ability.  The psion expends 3 
  PSI points and can heal 1d6 points of damage to one characteristic 
  at a time. Multiple healings to a characteristic may be made but if 
  the rolled amount of healing exceeds the amount of damage to 
  that characteristic, then the additional healing points are lost. This 
  ability may not be used to restore permanently lost characteristics. 
  Medic skill may be used as a positive DM to the roll.
  Heal 1d6 Physical Damage: Healing, Psionic Strength, 10–60 
  Minutes, Average (+0). Cost: 3 PSI.
  Mental Healing
  Psionic Trauma and mental instability can be healed. The 
  process to heal mental damage is long and complicated 
  but a psionic healer can heal mental illness faster and more 
  completely than normal psychological techniques. Psionic 
  Trauma is healed at a cost of 10 PSI points to heal each level of 
  psionic trauma. Psionic Trauma is explained in detail in Book 4: 
  Psion under Psionic Trauma.
  Mental Instability can also be healed with this ability but the 
  process is significantly more involved. The type of mental illness 
  must be defined on the Behavioural Effects table in Psion. The 
  dice roll for the particular mental illness is the number of PSI 
  points that must be expended and the number of successful 
  rolls to heal that particular illness. One roll may be made per 
  day. If three rolls are failed in a row, the healing has failed and 
  the entire process must begin again. 
  For example, to heal a patient of Schizophrenia, a 6 on the 
  Behavioural Effects table, requires 6 PSI points be expended 
  for 6 days. If the Psion does not have enough PSI points to 
  complete one days healing at a single attempt, he may split 
  the healing into two or more sessions but each session must 
  be rolled for and successful for the healing of that day to count 
  as a success. Mental Healing may not be used by a psion on 
  himself, only on others. Skill in Social Science (Psychology) 
  may be used as a positive DM to each roll.
  Heal One Level of Psionic Trauma: Healing, Psionic Strength, 
  1 day, Diffi cult (–2). Cost: 10 PSI. Heal Mental Illness: Healing, 
  Psionic Strength, 1 day for each Behavioural Effects roll, Difficult 
  (–2). Cost: Behavioural Effects Roll per day.
  psioniC healinG
  By riChard hazlewood
  New psionic talents and a new psionic career that use the power of the mind to heal the most 
  terrible of wounds.
  
  118
  psioniC healinG
  Refereeing Mental Healing
  The process of healing Mental Trauma should be used by 
  the Referee as a roleplaying opportunity. The Healer must 
  actually enter the mind of the patient and help the patient face 
  the underlying cause of the trauma. There have been several 
  science fiction movies and TV shows that have had a character 
  enter the mind of another individual. Movies like Nightmare on 
  Elm Street or The Matrix can be used as inspiration. The Healer 
  should have to help the patient overcome whatever form their 
  Mental Instability has taken. 
  Severe Mental Instability should present potentially dangerous 
  and frightening scenarios within the patient’s mind. The Referee 
  should award DMs based on good, or bad, roleplaying, as 
  appropriate.
  Characteristic Boost
  The Psionic Healer can boost the physical characteristics 
  (Strength, Dexterity or Endurance) of a patient for a short 
  time. Characteristics may not be boosted higher than the 
  racial maximum (15 for humans) nor can the number of 
  characteristic points gained exceed the Healers current level 
  of Psionic Healing. The characteristic boost reaches its new 
  level immediately, remains at that peak for 10 minutes and 
  then declines at the rate of 1 point per minute until the normal 
  level is reached. This power works as normal on wounded 
  characters but their Characteristic returns to the wounded level 
  rather than the normal value. It cannot be used as a ‘quick heal’. 
  Boost a Physical Characteristic: Healing, Psionic Strength, 
  1–6 Seconds, Average (+0). Cost: 2 PSI points per point of 
  characteristic increased.
  Rejuvenation
  Similar to the basic psionic talent of Regeneration, Rejuvenation 
  allows a healer to help a patient restore permanently lost 
  characteristic scores and to regrow lost limbs or body parts. 
  With the Referee’s permission, Rejuvenation may be used 
  to recover lost characteristic points due to aging, providing a 
  psionic form of anagathics. A characteristic may be restored by 
  the expenditure of a number of psionic points per day equal to 
  the new value of the characteristic. The healing proceeds for a 
  number of days equal to the new characteristic. 
  For example, to restore a characteristic from 7 to 8, a psion 
  would have to expend 8 PSI points and make 8 successful rolls. 
  Each day the Healer must make a successful roll and if the 
  healer fails to make the roll three days in a row the rejuvenation 
  fails and must be started over again. If a psion does not have 
  enough PSI points to expend at one time for a days healing, he 
  may divide it up into several sessions but each session must 
  be rolled for and all the rolls for that day must be successful for 
  the day’s healing to be successful. Radiation damage may also 
  be healed with this ability. One psionic point is used to heal one 
  Rad of exposure. Medic skill may be used as a positive DM to 
  each roll.
  Restore Permanently Lost Characteristic: Healing, Number of 
  days equal to the new characteristic value, Difficult (–2). Cost: 
  PSI points equal to new characteristic value per day. Heal 1 
  Rad of Radiation Exposure: Healing, 10–60 Minutes, Average 
  (+0). Cost: 1 PSI.
  Career: psion healer
  Psionic Healers are those rare people that can use their mental 
  powers to aide a patient to heal themselves. In societies that 
  do not condone psionics, a Psion Healers can hide their ability 
  behind the belief that they are incredibly skilled medics or 
  psychologists.
  Even societies that fear psions and telepaths will often allow the 
  psionic healer to practice openly.
  Qualification: Intelligence 7+ –1 DM for every previous career 
  +1 DM if Psionic Strength 8+
  Assignments: Choose one of the following:
  • Churgion: You are a Healer from a society that does not fully 
  understand your abilities.
  • Physicalist: You are skilled in the healing of physical injuries.
  • Mentalist: You are trained in the healing of mental illness and 
  psionic trauma.
  
  119
  psioniC healinG
  Survival
  Advancement
  Churgion
  Intelligence 6+
  Education 7+
  Physicalist
  Education 6+
  Intelligence 7+
  Mentalist
  Intelligence 7+
  Education 6+
  Career Progress
  Roll
  Cash
  Benefits
  1
  1,000
  Ally
  2
  2,000
  Psionic Equipment
  3
  5,000
  +1 Intelligence
  4
  10,000
  +1 Education
  5
  20,000
  Scientific Equipment
  6
  30,000
  Ship Share
  7
  50,000
  TAS (or Equivalent)
  Mustering Out Benefits
  Churgion
  Skill or Benefit
  Physicalist
  Skill or Benefit
  Mentalist
  Skill or Benefit
  0
  1
  Medic 1
  Medic 1
  Social Science 
  (any) 1
  Social Science 
  (any) 1
  2
  3
  Any Science 
  (any) 1
  Life Science 
  (any) 1
  Life Science 
  (any) 1
  Social Science 
  (any) 1
  4
  5
  Admin 1
  Admin 1
  Admin 1
  Admin 1
  Personal Development
  Service Skills
  Advanced Education (Minimum Edu 8)
  1
  +1 Endurance
  Healing
  Advocate
  2
  +1 Intelligence
  Deception
  Life Science (any)
  3
  +1 Education
  Athletics (any)
  Any Science (any)
  4
  +1 Psionic Strength
  Medic
  Computers
  5
  Streetwise
  Survival
  Engineer (any)
  6
  Melee (any)
  Stealth
  Leadership
  Specialist: Churgion
  Specialist: Physicalist
  Specialist: Mentalist
  1
  Healing
  Healing
  Healing
  2
  Streetwise
  Medic
  Social Science (any)
  3
  Deception
  Life Science (any)
  Social Science (any)
  4
  Medic
  Stealth
  Diplomat
  5
  Stealth
  Comms
  Persuade
  6
  Talent
  Talent
  Talent
  Ranks and Benefits:
  Skills and Training
  Healing: Gain one level in Healing skill. Talent: Gain one level of skill in any psionic talent possessed by the character.
  
  120
  psioniC healinG
  Mishaps:
  2d6
  Mishaps
  2
  Severely Injured – Roll twice on the Injury table and take the lower result.
  3
  You suffer Psionic Trauma as a result of your efforts to help others. Gain one level of Psionic Trauma.
  4
  You are injured while trying to save a patient. You are exposed to 1d6*10 Rads of radiation.
  5
  You encounter something that your healing powers cannot heal. Your confi dence is shaken and you leave your 
  career in disgrace.
  6
  You learn something while trying to heal a patient that you shouldn’t. Gain an Enemy.
  7
  Injured – Roll on the Injury Table.
  8
  Your powers uncover a traitor in your ranks. You cannot prove anything and are driven from your career by the 
  traitor. Gain an Enemy.
  9
  You save a rogue psion, an enemy or criminals. You are forced to leave your career. Gain the patient as a 
  Contact. Gain 1d3 Rivals.
  10
  Your talents are exposed and you are forced to flee for your life. Gain an Enemy.
  11
  You discover that one of your patients has been the subject of government experimentation. Gain an Enemy 
  and 1d3 Rivals within the government.
  12
  Traumatised – After years of healing other people’s trauma, you are psychologically unable to continue. Roll on 
  the Behavioural Effects table in Psion and gain that mental illness.
  Events
  D66
  Event
  11–12
  Disaster! Roll on the Mishap table but you are not ejected from this career.
  13
  You are called upon to heal a vicious criminal or murderer and you are placed in a moral quandary. If you 
  save their life, gain them as an Ally but also gain 1d3 Rivals. If you choose not to save them, you still gain 1d3 
  Rivals.
  14
  You are sent to the sight of a plague or major natural disaster. Roll Intelligence 8+ or Psionic Strength 8+. If 
  you succeed, gain one of the following: Medic 1, Any Science (any) 1, or Survival 1. If you fail, roll on the Injury 
  Table.
  15
  A criminal gang tries to recruit you to their organisation. If you accept, you may join the Psion: Rogue career 
  next term without rolling for Qualifi cation. If you refuse, gain the gang as an Enemy.
  16
  You become very close to one of your associates. Gain an Ally.
  21
  You are part of an experiment in psionics. Roll 1d6 for the result:
  1.Gain +1 Psionic Strength 2.Gain one level of Investigate 3. Gain one of the following: Sensors 1, Comms 1, 
  Engineer (Electronics) 1 or Mechanic 1 4.Roll for a new Talent with a +1 DM on the Learning roll. 5. Gain one 
  level of any Talent you already possess 6.Permanently reduce your Psionic Strength by one
  22
  You are seconded to the military. Roll for Survival, Skill and Event on the Psion Army, Psion Navy or Psion 
  Scout career tables. You may transfer to that career next term without rolling for Qualifi cation if desired.
  23
  You are given advanced training in a specialist field. Throw Education 8+ or Psionic Strength 8+. If you 
  succeed gain one level in any skill you already possess.
  24
  You become involved in a feud between rival psionic groups. Throw Psionic Strength 8+ or Investigate 8+. If 
  you succeed, gain a +1 DM on a Benefit roll. If you fail, roll on the Injury Table.
  
  121
  psioniC healinG
  25
  Your healing abilities gain you renown and fame. Gain a +1 Social Status.
  26
  You serve aboard a space ship or station. Gain one of the following: Vacc Suit 1, Pilot (Small Craft) 1 or 
  Zero–G 1.
  31–36
  Life Event. Roll on the Life Event Table.
  41
  You are part of a close group of friends. Gain 1d3 Contacts.
  42
  You inadvertently scan someone and discover a deep secret. Roll 1d6 to determine that secret:1.Has been 
  unfaithful to their spouse 2.Is a traitor to the government 3.Is involved with a criminal gang 4.Is working for a 
  rival interstellar government 5.Is a government spy within your organization 6. Knows the location of a valuable 
  treasure (1d6*50,000 Cr.)
  43
  You are lost or abandoned in the wilderness and must learn to survive on your own until rescued. Gain one 
  level of Survival or gain Recon 1 or Navigation 1.
  44
  You are given advanced training. Throw Intelligence 8+. If you succeed, raise any level 0 skill to level 1.
  45
  The psionic underground contacts you and asks for your help. If you accept, throw Intelligence 8+ or 
  Deception 8+. If you succeed, gain one level of Streetwise or Stealth. If you fail, you must take the 
  Rogue or Psion Rogue career next term. If you refuse to help, gain a +1 DM on your next Advancement 
  roll and 1d3 Rivals.
  46
  Working in a war zone, you desperately try to save as many people as you can. Throw Intelligence 8+ or 
  Psionic Strength 10+. If you succeed, gain one level of Medic, Healing or Social Science (any). If you fail, gain 
  one level of Psionic Trauma due to the stress.
  51
  You undertake a course of intense physical fi tness. Throw Intelligence 8+. If you succeed, make an extra roll 
  on the Personal Development Table.
  52
  You are invited to join a psionics advisory board, along with other psions. If you accept, roll 1d6 for the benefits 
  of membership: 1.+2 DM on your next Advancement roll 2.Gain one level of skill with any psionic talent you 
  already possess 3.+1 Social Status 4.+1 Psionic Strength 5.Gain one level of Advocate or Admin 6.Mishap – 
  Roll on the Mishap table but you are not ejected from this career
  53
  You have the chance to trust another psion. Throw Intelligence 8+. If you succeed, gain an Ally. If you fail, your 
  trust was misplaced and you are betrayed; gain an Enemy.
  54
  Your work has hardened you to the psionic trauma. If you have any psionic trauma, reduce it by one level. 
  If you have not received any psionic trauma, you may ignore the first level of trauma that you receive in the 
  future.
  55
  You heal a Noble or other important person. Gain either +1 Social Status or a Noble Ally.
  56
  You are assigned to a secret project. Gain one level of one of the following: Investigate, Deception, Sensors or 
  Any Science (any).
  61
  You receive a bonus for your hard work. Gain a +1 DM to one Benefit roll.
  62
  You spend a lot of time working with very injured patients. Gain a level to your Healing skill.
  63
  One of your superiors takes an interest in your work. Gain a +2 DM on your next Advancement roll due to their 
  help.
  64
  One of your patients is very grateful for your healing. Gain an extra Benefit roll.
  65
  Your work with psionics has exposed you to many different talents. You may roll for a new Talent with a +2 DM 
  on the Learning roll.
  66
  Your healing talents are greatly appreciated and you are automatically promoted.
  
  122
  patrons For traveller
  The galaxy is really big. There are hundreds upon thousands of 
  known worlds, many of them explored to some degree or other. 
  From balls of rock to gas giants, corporate colonies to toxic 
  jungle worlds, they all have one thing in common. No matter 
  where people go, they always have needs. Some are small and 
  easily handled. 
  For the bigger tasks a helping hand is sometimes required. 
  Need and conflict are the driving forces behind adventure. Confl 
  ict creates itself once players get involved. Need is what patrons 
  are for. A patron is anyone or anything with a direct need and the 
  means to both communicate that desire to others and a way to 
  reward them for the task’s completion. This can be as simple as 
  a gourmand ordering a meal and paying for it or as complex as 
  a distraught noble hiring freelance operatives to infiltrate a war 
  zone and rescue his captured son from an enemy stronghold. 
  Patrons provide both the source of an adventure and the benefit 
  for undertaking it. 
  This article series will present a pair of patrons each issue, 
  providing all the background needed to incorporate them into 
  an existing campaign and the details required to use them in 
  several different ways. Patrons may not always be forthright, 
  or even honest, in their dealings with players but in every case 
  they serve to get the ball rolling on a great adventure!
  Dermont Calaway, Human
  Entertainer
  Requires: Broker, Persuade, Streetwise
  Rewards: Cr. 10,000 or more if the characters can bargain their 
  fee higher.
  Player’s Information: Dermont is better known as Dermy, a 
  name any character with knowledge of current music culture 
  will know without need for a skill check. Dermy is a master of 
  the aerosynth, a complicated instrument pioneered by him in 
  his much younger days and now a common sight in bands 
  across the known stars. Dermy is a living legend and though 
  his musical days are mostly behind him, he still lives well off 
  royalties and the very occasional personal appearance.
  Dermy is well known for just reaching out seemingly at random 
  and hiring strangers to do things for him with little explanation 
  and often for obscenely large rewards. Most people assume it 
  to be a sort of dependability test. Many of Dermy’s most famous 
  associates and band mates were once strangers he pulled in 
  and trusted with some mundane task. Others think Dermy does 
  it because it amuses him to watch people scurry around at his 
  slightest whim. The truth may be a little of both.
  Referee’s Information: Dermy is actually in a bind this time. 
  Though he is not in any great need of money he is in dire 
  a Friend in need
  By August Hahn
  A selection of new patrons to drop into your regular Traveller campaign.
  
  123
  a Friend in need
  straights where his anti–aging drugs are concerned. Dermy 
  has developed a rare allergy to normal grade anagathics. 
  Without a steady supply of cutting edge ‘youth juice’ Dermy’s 
  long, hard years will start catching up with him in a hurry. His 
  normal supplier is willing to make a special trip to bring him 
  his drugs but he wants a bonus this time – one of Dermy’s 
  original Calaway aerosynths. Since anyone who actually knows 
  Dermy would be able to fi gure out that something huge must 
  be happening to get him to part with one of only three such 
  instruments in existence, he has to rely on total strangers to 
  make the exchange for him.
  1. Dermy is a little eccentric but he is also a straight shooter 
  with no intentions of backing out on his part of the bargain. The 
  same cannot be said of his supplier, a chemist in the pocket of a 
  large criminal cartel. Now that his supplier knows how desperate 
  Dermy is to get what he is selling, negotiations are liable to 
  get heated. A rare instrument just will not be enough when the 
  characters arrive to make the exchange. Bargaining skills might 
  diffuse the situation before guns are drawn but going into the 
  meeting strapped would still be a good idea.
  2. Though he seems pretty honest, Dermy has everyone fooled. 
  His reputation is a sham, a construct of a public relations firm and 
  some well paid word of mouth. He has no intentions of trading 
  one of his priceless aerosynths for black market anagathics. 
  If his supplier wants to raise his prices it is time to get a new 
  supplier. The characters will be shadowed by a trained assassin 
  and framed for the chemist’s death after the exchange is made.
  3. In a cutthroat world like the music industry, a secret is worth 
  100 hit songs. Gerry Gallows, one of Dermy’s rivals, has found 
  out about his debilitating allergy and would like nothing better 
  than to tamper with the supply that the characters are about 
  to deliver. When the characters finish with the exchange Gerry 
  will spring into action. How she approaches the characters 
  will depend on how they handle themselves with the chemist. 
  A reasonable, conversational group might actually haveGerry 
  come speak to them and offer them twice what Dermy paid 
  them for the drugs. A seemingly violent or difficult party might 
  have to deal with an ambush or three before they make it back.
  4. Dermy’s supplier arrived on time but, as smugglers are wont 
  to do, he is in trouble with the dock authorities and his cargo is 
  locked down. If the players want Dermy’s drugs they are going 
  to have to either find a way to clear up the Cr. 60,500 fine the 
  supplier has outstanding or retrieve the metal chemical case 
  from his ship’s hold on their own.
  5. The anagathic allergy Dermy has is actually caused by a 
  drug interaction with a ‘recreational’ chemical Dermy enjoys on 
  a fairly constant basis. If the characters manage to handle the 
  exchange properly and do not try to haggle him for more money 
  he may decide to keep them on as ‘procurement’ specialists. 
  He gets his drugs from several different suppliers on a dozen 
  other worlds and if the characters are amenable to playing fetch 
  he could become a long term patron. They keep him high, he 
  keeps them loaded.
  6. Sooner or later the Reaper always catches up. Moments 
  after the characters hand over his anti–aging medicine Dermy 
  takes a dose, has a violent reaction and falls over dead. Their 
  arrangement was a secret, Dermy’s guards just outside the 
  door have no idea why the characters were let in and the rock 
  star just screamed loudly and died at their feet. Cue the drama.
  
  124
  A typical starship in the Traveller universe is powered by a fusion 
  power plant. This power plant requires purified hydrogen for fuel 
  and will consume it fairly hungrily. The earliest commercially–
  viable fusion plant is built at late TL–8, even though experimental 
  models exist earlier (however, these are fuel–swilling monsters 
  that do not put enough energy out to be worthwhile). A TL 8 
  starship–grade fusion plant will consume two tons of fuel per 
  level of ship drive per week, that is to say a TL–8 plant A will 
  use two tons of fuel in a week, while a plant B will use four tons. 
  Many plant designers feel that this is still very inefficient, even 
  if it is cost–effective for their purposes and try to increase the 
  efficiency of their designs. A standard TL–9 fusion plant design 
  will be able to make that power plant A use two tons of fuel in 
  four weeks – effectively doubling its endurance; likewise, larger 
  power plants will be able to be twice as efficient. This doubling 
  of efficiency will remain the same up until about TL 15 or so, 
  when the fusion plant is efficient enough to run for several years 
  straight before needing to be refuelled. 
  Most designers will generally include several weeks’ fuel 
  tankage in their designs in order to provide for long–term 
  operations. Fusion Power Plant Efficiency: 
  TL 8: A Fusion power plant A requires 2 tons of fuel to get 2 
  weeks worth of operation; multiply this by the size difference of 
  the power plant in use to get the amount of fuel required for that 
  period. For example, a power plant B is twice as big as a power 
  plant A and as such requires 4 tons of fuel, while a power plant 
  E, being five times as big, requires 10 tons of fuel, while a power 
  plant N, being 13 times as big, requires 26 tons of fuel. This 
  is the standard table listed on page 107 of the Traveller Core 
  Rulebook. Note that the factor of difference between the power 
  plant used and power plant A will determine the fuel required for 
  each succeeding Tech Level. 
  TL 9: A Fusion power plant A requires 2 tons of fuel to get 4 
  weeks worth of operation. As with TL 8 plants of greater size, 
  increase this by the factor of difference between the power plant 
  utilised and a power plant A. Therefore, a power plant B will still 
  use 4 tons of fuel, while a power plant N will still use 10 tons and 
  a power plant N will use 26 but each plant will get 4 weeks worth 
  of power from that amount of fuel. 
  TL 10: At this TL, a power plant will get 6 weeks worth of 
  operations for a certain amount of fuel; as with all listed TLs, 
  fuel requirements will remain the factor of difference between 
  the power plant used and power plant A. A power plant A will 
  get 6 weeks worth of operations for 2 tons of fuel, while a power 
  plant N will still use 26 tons for that same 6 weeks. 
  TL 11: Power plants of this TL will get 8 weeks for a certain 
  amount of fuel tonnage. This is the standard effi ciency for most 
  civilian power plants, although most plants built at later TLs will 
  be built using methods, materials and costs appropriate their 
  TL. 
  TL 12: Power plants built at TL 12 will generate 12 weeks of 
  power for their required fuel tankage. Most high–grade civilian 
  power plants are built to operate at this level and many non–
  military plants are also. 
  TL 13: A breakthrough in efficiency causes power plants built 
  at this tech level to generate 24 weeks of fuel for the tonnage 
  required. Most power plants will contain two–thirds of their 
  required tonnage in order to provide backup fuel in case of 
  combat damage. This becomes the standard efficiency for 
  military vessels until TL 15. 
  TL 14: Power plants of TL 14 manufacture will provide 50 weeks 
  of operation for their required fuel tonnage. This is fairly common 
  on long–range scientific and survey vessels and intruder–style 
  military vessels, as it provides them with nearly a year’s worth of 
  power plant operation. Power plants greater than E will usually 
  only carry their full load of fuel in order to counter loss through 
  combat and accident. 
  TL 15: The Tech Level 15 power plant will provide 76 weeks 
  worth of operation for the required fuel tonnage. Indeed, the 
  primary reason that the TL 15 power plant is not more common 
  among space faring vessels is its expense and relative rarity. 
  TL 12 and 13 power plants and indeed TL 15 power plants 
  built to TL 12 and 13 specifications, are much cheaper, even if 
  they are larger and less efficient. TL 15 plants are the desired 
  standard for all ships in important fleets, such as the Core 
  Fleet that protects Capital and for important vessels such as 
  the Emperor’s Yacht. 
  TL 16: At TL 16, fuel efficiency is practically indefinite. But it 
  is a very rare ship that will have such a power plant, as it is 
  notoriously hard to find. A power plant of this manufacture will 
  be 70 percent the size of a standard TL 12 power plant but will 
  be 400 percent more expensive. 
  Fuel eFFiCienCy
  By Benjamin Pew
  A discussion on the efficiency of starships in Traveller.
  
  125
  Duellists are experts in personal, one–on–one combat, 
  fighting for their own personal honour or that of their ship, 
  unit or even their society. In some societies whole battles 
  can be settled in personal combat and even in interstellar 
  society, different naval vessels can establish their pecking 
  order and superiority to other vessels through the quality 
  of the ship’s duellist.
  Duellists usually appear around TL 3, as planetary 
  societies establish patterns of nobility and mercantile 
  activity as well as personal weapons technology that 
  begin to favour personal expertise and demonstrate the 
  necessity of avoiding too much collateral damage to 
  expensive businesses and cities.
  Enlistment: Dexterity 8+. The duellist must enter the 
  career from a military tour (Army, Marines, Navy) or one 
  as a Noble. Successful applicants retain their military 
  rank, or are commissioned at rank 1 of their service 
  (Army, Marines, Navy).
  Assignments: Choose one of the following
  Fencer
  The fencer is an expert in bladed combat, typically 
  favouring the rapier as their weapon of choice, 
  technologically enhanced or not. While they might be 
  trained primarily for sport they are still deadly in a melee 
  fight.
  Pistoleer
  The pistoleer is a master of the quick draw and a 
  marksman with hand weapons. They fight deadly pistol 
  duels with other pistoleers and engage in marksmanship 
  competitions to determine their ranking.
  Champion
  Champions fight with sword, pistol or both at once, usually in 
  matters of honour that are considered to be life or death, rather 
  than sporting events or friendly bouts between rivals. In many 
  eyes this is only one step up from an assassin.
  Roll 
  Personal Development 
  Service Skills 
  1
  +1 Str
  Leadership
  2
  +1 End
  Carouse
  3
  +1 Dex
  Melee (blade) or Gun Combat (any pistol)
  4
  +1 Soc
  Athletics
  5
  Melee (blade) or Gun Combat (any pistol)
  Persuade
  6
  Diplomat
  Diplomat
  Roll 
  Fencer
  Pistoleer
  Champion
  1
  Melee (blade)
  Gun Combat (slug or energy pistol)
  Gun Combat (slug or energy
  2
  Athletics (any)
  Athletics (any)
  Melee (blade)
  3
  Carouse
  Carouse
  Athletics (any)
  4
  Diplomat
  Diplomat
  Carouse
  5
  Leadership
  Leadership
  Leadership
  6
  Gambler
  Gambler
  Gambler
  Skills and Training:
  Roll 
  Rank
  Skill or Benefit
  0
  —
  —
  1
  —
  —
  2
  Duellist
  Melee (blade) 1 or Gun Combat (slug or energy pistol) 1
  3
  Duellist third class
  Ally
  4
  Duellist second class
  Contact
  5
  Duellist first class
  Ally
  6
  Duelling Master
  Contact
  Ranks and Benefits:
  duelist
  By James desBorouGh
  A new career featuring a true protagonist skilled in the use of weapons in one–on–one combat.
  
  126
  duelist
  Roll 
  Mishap
  1
  Severely injured in action. (This is the same as a result of 2 on the injury table). Alternatively roll twice on the 
  injury table and take the lower result.
  2
  Injured. Roll on the injury table.
  3
  You are involved in a bout–fixing scandal. Lose one Social Standing.
  4
  You form a rivalry with another outstanding duellist. Gain a Rival.
  5
  A rival duellist attempts underhanded tactics to get you out of the fight. Roll End 8+. If you fail, roll on the injury 
  table.
  6
  You are passed around from place–to–place as a duelling asset, preventing you from settling down or forming 
  attachments. You do, however, gain a Contact.
  2d6
  Events
  2
  Disaster! Roll on the Mishap table but you are not ejected from this career.
  3
  You are brought in to fight a particularly prestigious duel. You have no choice but to accept. Roll Melee (blade) 
  8+. If you succeed gain 1 Social Standing and a bonus of 10,000 credits. If you fail, roll on the injury table 
  twice, taking both injuries.
  4
  Being a duellist gives you plenty of opportunity to travel and take in unusual experiences. Gain a level in any 
  skill.
  5
  You are feted and festooned with gifts from your patrons thanks to your performance. Gain a +1 DM to any 
  one Benefi t roll.
  6
  You become a political pawn as the champion of two rival patrons. Gain a level in Advocate, Carouse or 
  Diplomacy as they vie for your services but also gain an Enemy.
  7
  Life Event. Roll on the Life Events table.
  8
  An officer from a rival service (Army, Navy or Marines) attempts to poach you from your current service to fight 
  for his force’s honour. If you accept change the service to which you are attached and a +2 DM bonus to any 
  one Benefit roll. If you refuse gain a +2 DM bonus to your Advancement check and gain an enemy, the officer 
  who tried to recruit you.
  9
  You make a great deal of money betting on yourself in fights through intermediaries. Gain a +1 DM bonus to 
  any one Benefit roll, a level in the Gambling skill and gain an Enemy in the underworld.
  10
  You capitalise on your fame as a duellist to gain media exposure and even greater fame. Gain a level in 
  Carouse, Diplomat, Persuade or gain a +2 DM to a single Benefi t roll. Your media exposure also gains you a 
  Rival.
  11
  You become the personal champion of a powerful officer or noble. He becomes your Ally and you 
  gain a +4 DM bonus to your next Advancement check.
  12
  A bout that you’re involved in becomes the talk of the quadrant and is studied by other duellists. You are 
  automatically promoted.
  Events:
  Mishaps:
  Survival
  Advancement
  Fencer
  End 7+
  Dex 7+
  Pistoleer
  Dex 7+
  Dex 7+
  Champion
  End 8+
  Dex 6+
  Career Progress
  Mustering Out Benefits
  Roll
  Cash
  Benefits
  1
  5,000
  Blade or pistol
  2
  10,000
  +1 Social Standing
  3
  20,000
  +1 Dex
  4
  30,000
  +1 Str
  5
  60,000
  +1 End
  6
  75,000
  Personal vehicle
  7
  150,000
  Yacht
  
  127
  A Berserker works themselves up into a battle frenzy in 
  combat, for the duration of which they are more resilient 
  to damage, can exert more of their natural strength and 
  can take a great deal more punishment than usual before 
  succumbing to their wounds. While more common in 
  primitive societies (TL 0–2) some advanced societies 
  retain Berserkers due to tradition or use combat drugs 
  and implants to get a similar effect from their soldiers, 
  trained or not.
  Berserkers, high tech or low tech, are specialists in close 
  quarters combat and are generally armed with heavy, 
  simple melee weapons, short range, powerful side arms 
  and heavy but simple armour, equipment that they can 
  use in their frenzied state.
  Enlistment: Endurance 8+, must come to the berserker 
  from a Drifter (Barbarian) tour for low–tech societies 
  (TL 0–2), or from a military career for higher technology 
  societies (TL 3+). The character must have Melee (blade 
  or bludgeon) at 0+ to enter the career.
  Assignments: Berserkers only have one speciality, that 
  of the Berserker itself. Low–tech Berserkers take the 
  Animals skill and use the left hand rank designation while 
  high–tech berserkers take the Drive skill and use the right 
  hand ranking. High–tech Berserkers that use chemicals 
  or implants to enter the berserk state can substitute Gun 
  Combat (any) for the new Berserker skill should they so 
  wish.
  Roll 
  Personal Development 
  Service Skills 
  1
  Melee (any)
  Athletics
  2
  +1 Str
  Melee (any)
  3
  +End
  Survival
  4
  +1 Dex
  Carouse
  5
  Survival
  Animals/Drive (any)
  6
  Carouse
  Berserker 
  Skills and Training:
  Roll 
  Berserker 
  1
  Berserker
  2
  Melee (any)
  3
  Survival
  4
  Athletics 
  5
  Carouse
  6
  Animals/Drive (any)
  Roll 
  Berserker
  Skill or Benefit
  0
  – / Private
  Melee (any) 1
  1
  – / Lance Corporal
  Survival 1
  2
  Warrior / Corporal
  3
  –/ Lance Sergeant
  4
  Chieftain / Sergeant
  Leadership 1
  5
  / Gunnery Sergeant
  6
  – / Sergeant Major
  Ranks and Benefits:
  Beserker
  By James desBorouGh
  For players looking for a character that is a bit more primal and low tech, we present the Berserker…
  
  128
  Berserker
  Mishaps:
  Roll 
  Mishap
  1
  Severely injured in action. (This is the same as a result of 2 on the injury table). Alternatively roll twice on the injury 
  table and take the lower result.
  2
  Injured. Roll on the injury table.
  3
  You are the only surviving member of your unit, following a disastrous engagement. You carry the blame and are 
  pushed out. You may not continue in this career and receive no benefits or mustering out bonuses from this career.
  4
  Your frenzy causes you some brain injuries through stress on your system and a near embolism. Lose 1 point of 
  Intellect.
  5
  You lose control of your rage and assault and nearly kill an offi cer or chieftain, gaining them as an enemy.
  6
  You are prone to slipping into your red–rage at inopportune moments. When you are under stress the Games 
  Master may call for you to make an Int 6+ roll or fly into a berserk rage.
  Events:
  2d6
  Events
  2
  Disaster! Roll on the mishap table but you are not ejected from this career.
  3
  Your chieftain or officer offers to put you forward for special duty. If you accept you get a +2 DM to your next 
  qualification and advancement rolls but you owe them a favour.
  4
  You are involved in a number of vicious battles. Gain one level of Melee (any) or Survival.
  5
  Your unit is involved in the sacking of a defeated enemy settlement. Gain a +1 DM to any one benefit roll.
  6
  You take part in a truly brutal and bloody campaign. Roll End 8+ to avoid injury, if you succeed gain one level 
  in Melee (any) or Leadership.
  7
  Life Event. Roll on the Life Events table.
  8
  A chieftain/officer takes a personal interest in your training. Increase your Berserker or Melee (any) skill by 1.
  9
  You fight with exemplary courage and skill in an important battle. Gain a +2 DM to your next advancement 
  check.
  10
  A constant life of battle highs and peacetime lows hones your skill and temper to a fine edge. Raise one of 
  your existing skills by 1 level.
  11
  You are tempered by battle and injuries becoming hard and scarred and brutal. Gain +1 Str or End.
  12
  You are without peer in battle and are automatically promoted on your next term.
  Career Progress 
  Survival
  Advancement
  Berserker
  End 8+
  Str 7+
  Mustering Out Benefits
  Roll
  Cash
  Benefits
  1
  1,000
  +1 End
  2
  3,000
  +1 Str
  3
  6,000
  +1 Dex
  4
  7,000
  Melee Weapon
  5
  8,000
  Armour
  6
  12,000
  Contact
  7
  20,000
  Ally
  
  129
  Berserker
  Berserker Skill The Berserker skill is used by Berserkers 
  to enter their state of frothing frenzy and combat strength. 
  Entering the state of frenzy is normally an Average (+0) 
  roll but this can be made more difficult through the use 
  of tranquilisers and other means of interfering with the 
  berserker’s state of mind, including psionic influence.
  While in a frenzied state the Berserker’s Str and End are 
  considered to be one higher and they are considered to 
  have a natural armour Protection of 1, representing their 
  ability to shrug off minor wounds. These temporary bonus 
  points vanish at the end of the frenzy – typically at the 
  end of combat – and it is possible for this to cause the 
  death of the berserker. 
  While in their frenzy Berserkers may not use complex 
  weaponry, such as fi rearms, or equipment such as 
  computers. Anything more complex than opening or 
  closing a door is simply beyond their faculties in such a 
  state and they are limited to the use of melee weapons. 
  The Berserker skill may only be learned through 
  the Berserker career or through the repeated – and 
  dangerous – use of Berserker combat drugs or implants. 
  Most high tech Berserkers do not learn the skill at all 
  and can only enter their frenzies through technological 
  means.
  Berserker Combat Drugs Crude Berserker drugs 
  become available at TL 6 and have the same effect as 
  the skill (given in the previous section) but the occurrence 
  of the frenzy is not controllable and may result in the user 
  turning on their friends and allies. It also requires an End 
  8+ roll not to become addicted to the drug, requiring a 
  daily dose or progressively taking 1 damage every day. 
  Low tech Berserker drugs cost 100 credits a dose. 
  These primitive Berserker drugs are generally replaced 
  with stim, metabolic accelerators and combat drugs until 
  TL 11 when advances in medical technology and tailored 
  pharmaceuticals make a more powerful and controllable 
  form of Berserker drug possible. These high tech 
  Berserker drugs have double the effect of the skill or the 
  crude drugs and come with regulator harnesses, worn on 
  the neck or wrist, that administer the drug precisely – or 
  remotely – to avoid problems with attacks on friends and 
  allies. The tailored drugs are much less addictive with the 
  roll being reduced to End 6+. High tech Berserker drugs 
  cost 500 credits a dose. Injection regulators costs 1,500 
  credits and are available from TL10. Military Berserkers 
  using these drugs are inured and conditioned to their 
  use and can withstand addiction and other ravages with 
  relative ease. 
  Berserker Implant An alternative to the drugs and the 
  training is a cybernetic implant. These are available in 
  a crude form from TL 8, all the way through to TL 16. 
  These implants work through various methods, combined 
  together, from flooding the body with adrenalin and 
  electrochemically stimulating aggression, to releasing 
  engineered hormones and fleets of nanites into the 
  bloodstream and even cutting off the body’s pain receptors 
  and hijacking the nervous system with pre–programmed, 
  high speed actions. The implant can only be turned on 
  once per day with a maximum duration of 1d6 hours, the 
  body’s biorhythm being unpredictable. This rises to twice 
  per day at TL 10, three times at TL 12, four times at TL 
  14 and it becomes possible to constantly run it at TL 16. 
  Running the frenzy for more than three hours at a time and 
  every three hours causes 1 point of damage which can 
  only be healed by natural rest. Military Berserker implants 
  are often placed in penal troops, alongside explosive ‘kill 
  switches’ and can be activated remotely with the correct 
  signal and codes.
  Berserker Implant
  TL
  Cost
  Str
  End
  Dex
  Initiative
  Armour
  Other
  8
  5,000
  —
  +1
  —
  —
  1
  –1 Int from implantation.
  9
  6,000
  +1
  +1
  —
  —
  1
  –1 Int from implantation.
  10
  8,000
  +1
  +1
  —
  1
  11
  9,000
  +1
  +1
  +1
  +1
  1
  12
  10,000
  +1
  +2
  +1
  +1
  1
  13
  12,000
  +2
  +2
  +1
  +1
  1
  14
  15,000
  +2
  +2
  +1
  +1
  1
  15
  20,000
  +2
  +2
  +2
  +2
  1
  16
  25,000
  +2
  +2
  +2
  +2
  1
  The character regenerates 1 End 
  of damage each turn through 
  nanotechnological healing 
  technology, unless they are 
  rendered dead.
  
  130
  Conditioned Soldiers (TL7+) are those who are exposed to 
  the absolute, hardest training and psychological preparation 
  known to sentience. Almost all humanity is stripped away 
  leaving a conditioned and controlled killing machine with all 
  the subtlety of a brick. Most sentient species have a degree 
  of empathy for other intelligent beings and ‘wince’ at harming 
  them, so much so that this is a real problem for militaries who 
  try to train a kill–response into their soldiers so that they fire 
  without thinking. Conditioned Soldiers take this a step further, 
  creating conscienceless, functioning sociopaths that have no 
  compunctions about killing – or sometimes dying – and as a 
  result are all the more deadly.
  Enlistment: Fanatics can come from any walk of life but must 
  roll End 6+ to enter the career. The Excised can either be born 
  and raised to it, automatically entering but being unable to 
  choose any other career until they exit, otherwise they must 
  come from a Military or Agent career and roll End 8+ to enter. 
  Manchurians must have completed a previous Military or Agent 
  career tour and roll End 8+.
  Assignments: Choose one of the following
  Fanatic
  Fanatics are so devoted to a religion or an ideology that their 
  own personalities and sense of worth are completely suborned 
  to the political or spiritual system that they advocate. Fanatics 
  are capable of great feats of heroism and foolhardiness where 
  their own personal safety does not even come into the equation. 
  Everything is given up to the cause.
  Excised
  The Excised are people who have had their normal human 
  psychological values of empathy, fellow feeling and conscience 
  severely truncated through deliberate traumatisation, meme–
  implantation and medical, chemical or cybernetic tinkering. The 
  Excised are high–functioning sociopaths with increased levels of 
  obedience and in–group loyalty to compensate but they are, in 
  essence, leashed serial killers. The ultimate cold–hearted killers.
  Manchurian
  Manchurians are programmed with deep, subliminal, hypnotic 
  or psychic conditioning to switch them from their docile, public 
  personas to that of a deep–seated and hidden killer personality. 
  Manchurians can be triggered remotely by their controllers or 
  others who know the necessary triggers – usually a nonsense 
  phrase calculated not to be uttered by accident – or by 
  being placed in dangerous situations where their survival is 
  threatened. A Manchurian may not even be aware that they 
  are one until their training kicks in.
  Skills and Training:
  Roll
  Personal Development
  Service Skills
  1
  +1 Str
  Athletics (any)
  2
  +1 Dex
  Gun Combat (any)
  3
  +1 End
  Explosives
  4
  Gun Combat (any)
  Melee (any)
  5
  Melee (any)
  Stealth
  6
  Athletics (any)
  Jack of All Trades
  Roll
  Fanatic
  Excised
  Manchurian
  1
  Athletics (any)
  Athletics (any)
  Athletics (any) / Drive (any)
  2
  Deception
  Gun Combat (any)
  Gun Combat (any) / Mechanic
  3
  Explosives
  Melee (any)
  Melee (any) / Trade (any)
  4
  Gun combat (any)
  Battle Dress
  Stealth / Engineer (any)
  5
  Melee (any)
  Heavy Weapons
  Deception / Trade (any)
  6
  Leadership
  Survival
  Survival / Science (any)
  Conditioned soldier
  By James Desborough
  Characters with a shady past might find they were once conditioned or brainwashed into a killing machine.
  
  131
  Conditioned soldier
  Ranks and Benefits:
  Roll
  Rank
  Skill or Benefit
  0
  Military and Agent background advance by 
  rank title within their parent careers. Fanatics 
  have no formal ranking.
  1
  Gun Combat (any) 1
  2
  3
  Melee (any) 1
  4
  5
  Athletics (any) 1
  6
  Mishaps: 
  Roll
  Mishap
  1
  Severely injured on an operation. (This is the same as a result of 2 on the Injury table). Alternatively, roll twice on the Injury
  table (Traveller Core Rulebook page 37) and take the lower result.
  2
  A rival group tries to extract you. If you go along with them you leave the career path immediately without benefit. Refuse 
  and you fi ght them, rolling twice on the Injury table and taking the lower result. You also gain an Enemy and a level in 
  any skill of your choice.
  3
  The intense training and mental programming does something harmful to your brain, severely limiting your mental 
  faculties. Lose a point of Int.
  4
  Regular soldiers and agents do not like conditioned soldiers, nor do regular folk, gain an Enemy from your own side.
  5
  Your conditioning breaks down in public and you turn on your friends or family – if you have any – or an innocent 
  bystander.
  Roll twice on the Injury table for them and gain them as an Enemy.
  6
  Injured. Roll on the Injury table.
  Events:
  2d6
  Events
  2
  Disaster! Roll on the mishap table but you are not ejected from this career.
  3
  You get involved in a difficult operation. Roll 8+ on any of your career skills and if you succeed raise that skill by 1, 
  otherwise roll on the Mishap table.
  4
  You successfully complete an operation to your superior’s satisfaction. Gain a +1 DM to either your next Benefit roll or 
  your next Advancement roll.
  5
  You are linked with others like yourself in a decentralised network. Gain 1d3 Contacts like yourself.
  6
  You are given advanced training/conditioning to hone you to a fine edge. Roll End 8+ to raise Str, Dex or End by 1.
  7
  Life Event. Roll on the Life Events table (Traveller Core Rulebook page 34).
  8
  You are given advanced training to raise your skills and abilities. Roll Edu 8+ to raise an existing skill by 1.
  9
  Exemplary performance earns you a +2 DM to your next Advancement check.
  10
  You are given supplementary training specific to your mission, gain a new skill at 1.
  11
  A superior takes a special interest in your career, either gain them as an Ally or take a +4 DM to your next 
  Advancement roll due to their patronage.
  12
  You take part in a major operation and come through unscathed and lending credence to the whole programme. You 
  are automatically promoted.
  
  132
  Conditioned soldier
  Manchurians gain a ‘double’ skill set, their Manchurian skills 
  not being accessible unless their Manchurian personality kicks 
  in, the other skill set typically coming from a low key career 
  path and forming their cover. The skill table presumes a Citizen 
  (worker) cover identity but others can be assumed. 
  When rolling, the Manchurian’s skills should be noted separately 
  from the cover personality skills. Manchurian mustering out 
  benefits come from their cover identity. The gains they get from 
  being a Manchurian are held, secretly and only accessible to 
  the Manchurian personality. 
  Will to Kill
  Capability is only one part of the equation in how much 
  harm one human being can do to another, being willing 
  to shoot, to punch, to break, to cripple, these are as – if 
  not more – important. All conditioned soldiers do an extra 
  point of damage against living targets with any weapon or 
  with their bare hands.
  Manchurians
  Manchurians are a little more complex than other career 
  paths, particularly where it comes to their skill sets and 
  their mustering out benefi ts. To help clarify an example 
  follows: Ben completes a tour as a Corporate Agent and 
  then a tour as a Manchurian. 
  Ben’s skills:
  Computers 1
  Streetwise 1
  Drive (wheeled) 1
  Career Progress
  Survival
  Advancement
  Fanatic
  End 8+
  End 6+
  Excised
  End 7+
  End 7+
  Manchurian
  Int 6+
  Int 7+
  Mustering Out Benefits
  Roll
  Cash
  Benefits
  1
  1,000
  Weapon
  2
  4,000
  +1 End
  3
  8,000
  Combat Implant
  4
  9,000
  One ship share
  5
  10,000
  Contact
  6
  40,000
  Ally
  7
  75,000
  Two ship shares
  Investigate 1
  Recon 0
  Gun Combat (slug pistol) 1
  Deception 1
  Manchurian Skills:
  Athletics 0
  Stealth 1
  Gun Combat (slug pistol) 1
  Melee (blade) 1
  Cover Identity Skills:
  Trade 0
  Mechanic 2 
  His Cover Identity skills integrate with his pre–existing 
  skills, so they are available all the time. He can add Trade 
  and Mechanic to his repertoire.  His Manchurian skills are 
  only available when he is triggered but they do add to his 
  main identity skills cumulatively. When activated he gains 
  access to Athletics, Stealth and Melee (blade) and his 
  Gun Combat (slug pistol) skill increases to 2. 
  As a Corporate Agent he left their service with 5,000 
  credits. When he leaves service as a Manchurian he 
  leaves with 10,000 credits from his cover identity, for 
  a total of 15,000 credits. His Manchurian identity is 
  implanted with a Combat Implant but it only operates 
  when his Manchurian identity is activated. 
  
  133
  Enlistment: Intelligence 8+, must have completed a tour as 
  a Scholar or Rogue in addition to a military tour or a pirate/
  rebellion oriented life event or career as well as Computer at 0+.
  Assignments: Choose one of the following
  Combat Hacker
  Combat hackers are strictly limited to computer interactions but 
  they are the very best at subverting and controlling computer 
  systems, extracting data from them or repurposing them to their 
  own ends. 
  EW Specialist
  An Electronic Warfare Specialist’s remit is even broader than 
  that of the Combat Hacker. As well as retrieving data from 
  enemy systems the Electronic Warfare Specialist also needs 
  to learn how to detect leaked signals and scan interference 
  from different sensor suites and how to assault, baffle or hide 
  from enemy scanners and sensor sweepers. A good Electronic 
  Warfare Specialist can blind and cripple an enemy ship or war 
  machine before a single shot is even fired.
  SIGINT Specialist
  A Signals Intelligence Specialist is all about intercepting and 
  decoding enemy signals and chatter, breaking their ciphers, 
  tracing their locations and using drones, satellites and other 
  means to track down enemies, pinpoint their locations and 
  project their movements. Signals Intelligence Specialists are 
  also charged with securing their own side’s signals, protecting 
  them from interception and encrypting them in creative ways so 
  that they cannot be understood.
  Skills and Training:
  Roll
  Personal Development
  Service Skills
  1
  +1 Int
  Comms
  2
  +1 Edu
  Computers
  3
  Computers
  Engineer (electronics)
  4
  Comms
  Investigate
  5
  Engineer (electronics)
  Remote Operations
  6
  Science (electronics)
  Science (electronics)
  Roll
  Combat Hacker
  EW Specialist
  SIGINT Specialist
  1
  Computers
  Comms
  Comms
  2
  Deception
  Computers
  Computers
  3
  Engineer (Electronics)
  Engineer (electronics)
  Engineer (electronics)
  4
  Investigate
  Science (electronics)
  Remote Operations
  5
  Persuade
  Sensors
  Sensors
  6
  Science (electronics)
  Tactics
  Tactics
  Roll
  Rank
  Skill or Benefit
  0
  —
  —
  1
  —
  —
  2
  Specialist 3rd Class
  Computers 1
  3
  4
  Specialist 2nd Class
  Comms 1
  5
  6
  Specialist 1st Class
  Tactics 1
  Ranks and Benefits:
  inFormation warFare speCialist
  By James desBorouGh
  The best hackers can be found not in the darkest corners of low–rent bars but among the military.  This 
  career will turn a character into a terrible weapon in any modern society.
  
  134
  inFormation warFare speCialist
  Mishaps:
  Roll
  Mishap
  1
  You are arrested along with some other hackers. Lose one benefit roll and you must take the Draft in your next 
  career – if any.
  2
  An electronic infiltration goes wrong, forcing you to flee the planet. Gain one of Deception 1, Stealth 1 or Gun 
  Combat (any) 1.
  3
  You form a rivalry with another Info War specialist, gain an Enemy.
  4
  You are injured in a deep strike or terrorist bombing of your Ops centre. Roll on the Injury table.
  5–6
  Specialist 1st Class
  Events:
  2d6
  Events
  2
  Disaster! Roll on the Mishap table but you are not ejected from this career.
  3
  You are put in the position of working against former friends or allies. Accept and gain an extra Benefit roll, a level 
  in Computer and Comms and 1d3 Enemies.
  4
  You are inserted into a frontline unit to provide electronic support. Gain one of Gun Combat (any) or Survival.
  5
  You are given special training. Roll Education 8+ to raise any skill listed in the Skills & Training tables for your 
  career by +1.
  6
  Life Event. Roll on the Life Events table (Traveller Core Rulebook page 34).
  7
  You code some essential software that becomes part of the combat suite of your faction. Gain a +2 DM to your 
  next advancement check.
  8
  You stumble upon some compromising information about a politician or a ranking member of the military. You can 
  hand it over to them and gain a +2 DM to your next advancement check and an extra Benefi t, or you can hold onto 
  it, holding it over them to gain them as an Ally.
  9
  You are mentored by one of the greats of the electronic underground. Increase any of your existing career skills by 
  1 or take a +4 DM to your next Advancement roll due to his advocacy of your ability.
  10
  You are brought in to work on a strange alien computer in an attempt to decrypt what is inside it. Roll Intelligence 
  8+ to raise your Int or Edu by 1.
  11
  You intercept some key intelligence resulting in an extra Benefit roll as a reward and a+2 DM to your next 
  Advancement roll.
  12
  You are involved in a legendary operation, you are automatically promoted.
  Career Progress
  Survival
  Advancement
  Combat Hacker
  Int 7+
  Social 7+
  EW Specialist
  Int 6+
  Edu 7+
  SIGINT Specialist
  Int 6+
  Int 7+
  Mustering Out Benefits
  Roll
  Cash
  Benefits
  1
  3,000
  +1 Intelligence
  2
  8,000
  +1 Education
  3
  12,000
  Computer Equipment
  4
  20,000
  Electronics Equipment
  5
  30,000
  One ship share
  6
  50,000
  Two ship shares
  7
  75,000
  Two ship shares
  
  135
  ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is
  indistinguishable from magic.’
  — Arthur C. Clarke
  While deities and religion often take a central role in fantasy 
  settings, they are usually pushed to the very back of the stage 
  in sci–fi games. In an era where Man has conquered the stars, 
  contacted aliens and achieved a technological level that makes 
  Biblical miracles look like cheap tricks, who needs superstitious 
  clerics and vague shamans? But if the miracles of yore can be 
  reproduced technologically, why not do the same with the gods? 
  Why throw away religion and mysticism and all the depth they 
  add to your game, when they can be upgraded, updated and 
  revamped to suit the Space Age? ‘Gods of the Space Age’ 
  presents players with the Miracle Engineer career, the skill and 
  technology he uses to perform his ‘miracles’ and a couple of 
  exemplary patrons who might be interested in his service. 
  The Religious Campaign
  The players are all members of some religious organisation bent 
  on spreading its dogmas across the stars. While occasional 
  internal intrigues or battles with heretics are possible, the majority 
  of this campaign focuses on discovering new worlds populated 
  by sophonts and attempting to convert them. 
  This can take the form of training local miracle engineers to 
  undermine existing beliefs, coming as Gods and messiahs, 
  running theological arguments with the competition and 
  sometimes even the violent occupation of stubborn areas. 
  Inspiration could come from Dune’s Bene Gesserit or Ra from 
  the Stargate film.
  The Alien Intervention Campaign
  The players are alien miracle engineers sent to Earth for some 
  purpose. Such a campaign would work best with a preindustrial 
  Earth, when humanity is still seeking mystical explanations to 
  various phenomena. Such a campaign could focus on the ‘truth 
  behind the myth’, in which the PCs will get to play the great 
  magicians and prophets of the past and battle rival aliens and 
  opportunistic humans in order to steer humanity in the ‘right’ 
  direction. Another interesting alien intervention campaign 
  could be an ‘alternate history’ game, where the PCs get the 
  chance to try to fix humanity’s historical mistakes or prevent 
  some famous catastrophe. Inspiration for such campaigns can 
  come from Roger Zelazny’s Lord of Light or Harry Turtledove’s 
  Tosev Timeline.
  The Miracle Engineer
  The miracle engineers are professional messiahs, insidious 
  wizards or genies in a spaceship. They are masters of disguise 
  and brilliant engineers, men of science and religion, tricksters, 
  guests from the future and prophets of the Space Age. These 
  adventurous individuals blend faith, technology and psychology 
  to affect primitive and superstitious civilisations; some work for 
  governments who desire to steer pre–stellar societies to more 
  beneficial directions, others are missionaries who help God to 
  impress the natives, still others are sophisticated conmen who 
  cheat entire nations out of their wealth. Contrary to the popular 
  conception of the miracle engineer as a lone preacher going 
  from planet–to–planet is a shiny spaceship, miracle engineers 
  usually work in well coordinated teams – playing God is usually 
  too much for only one person, talented and well–equipped 
  though he may be.
  Qualification: Int 7+
  –1 DM for every previous career
  Assignments: Choose one of the following:
  •	
  Preacher: The preacher is a religious figure who uses 
  technology to imitate divine miracles. He is not a cynical 
  conman but rather a man who literarily worships science 
  and wishes to use it to spread his faith. The highest–
  ranking preachers travel from planet–to–planet, creating 
  local deities and directing the progress of entire races.
  •	
  Wizard: The wizard is a more advanced illusionist; a person 
  who uses cutting edge technology to achieve effects most 
  viewers could only explain as magical. Equal parts scientist 
  and adventurer, the wizard wishes to perfect his art through 
  Gods oF the spaCe aGe
  By Uri Kurlianchik
  Spread the word of the greatest deity among the stars, with the help of technology.
  
  136
  Gods oF the spaCe aGe
  Skill and Training
  Roll
  Personal Development
  Service Skills
  Advanced Education (Minimum Edu 8) 
  1
  +1 Edu
  Advocate
  Art (any)
  2
  Carouse
  Any Science (any)
  Astrogation
  3
  +1 Int
  Computers
  Investigation
  4
  Survival 
  Deception
  Language (any)
  5
  +1 Social
  Diplomat
  Leadership
  6
  Jack of All Trades
  Engineer (miracle)
  Nevigation
  Roll
  Specialist: Preacher
  Specialist: Wizard
  Specialist: Trickster
  1
  Social Science (philosophy)
  Art (holography)
  Carouse
  2
  Admin
  Explosives
  Streetwise
  3
  Art (holography)
  Art (acting)
  Gambling
  4
  Explosives
  Carouse
  Art (holography)
  5
  Medic
  Remote Operations
  Remote Operations
  6
  Remote Operations
  Sensors
  Stealth
  Roll
  Preacher*
  Skill or Benefit
  Wizard
  Skill or Benefit
  Trickster
  Skill or Benefit
  0
  Initiate
  1
  Novice
  Persuade 1
  Apprentice 
  Engineer (any)
  Engineer (Miracle 1)
  2
  Teacher
  3
  Master
  Admin 1
  Seeker
  Social Sciences 
  (archaeology) 1
  Deception 1
  4
  Prophet
  5
  Messiah
  Leadership
  Jack of all Trades 1
  6
  God–Maker
  Social Standing 12 or 
  +1 Social Standing, 
  whichever is higher.
  Enlightened
  Artefact 
  * Different religions have different hierarchies; feel free to replace these with space–rabbis, cyber–imams, nuclear–
  priests or anything else that suits your campaign.
  1D6                 Mishap 
  1
  Injured. Roll on the Injury table.
  2
  Your teaching is horribly distorted by some bloodthirsty dictator who goes on a genocide crusade against his 
  infi del neighbours. You gain an Enemy in the form of the genocide’s survivors. You are vilified by mass media, 
  which reduces your Social Standing by 1.
  3
  3 Due to a tragic misunderstanding, the natives decide to reward you for the peace and wisdom you brought 
  them by martyring you. You survive but just barely; reduce all physical characteristics by 1 and increase your 
  Social Standing by 1.
  This mishap does not cause you to leave the career.
  4
  4 The superstitious natives of a less–advanced planet declare you a witch and begin to hunt you, forcing you to 
  flee and hide for a long period of time. Gain Deception 1, Pilot 1 or Survival 1.
  5
  5 Your miracles are exposed by competitors or investigating journalists. You may try to hastily invent new tricks 
  and go on (lose all Benefit rolls from this career but you do not have to leave) or retire and start anew (leave the 
  career but retain this term’s Benefit roll).
  6
  6 You are betrayed by an ambitious apprentice, who escapes with your secrets and spreads false rumours about 
  you. You may challenge the apprentice to a miracle duel. Roll Engineer (miracle) 8+. If you succeed gain a Rival 
  but retain your career. If you fail roll on the Injury table.
  
  137
  Gods oF the spaCe aGe
  Events:
  2d6                 Event
  2
  Disaster! Roll on the Mishap table but you are not ejected from this career.
  3
  A criminal/terrorist organisation wants to hire you to assist them in committing some serious crime. Accept and 
  gain two extra Benefi t rolls and 1d3 Enemies.
  4
  As you delve deeper and deeper into ancient secrets and arcane matters you begin to lose your grip on reality. 
  Increase your Education by 2 and reduce your Intelligence by 1.
  5
  You invent an impressive new miracle by accident. Gain +1 DM to any one benefi t roll.
  6
  You witness a phenomenon previously considered impossible. If you choose to study it, you quickly become 
  obsessed and neglect all other pursuits in an attempt to uncover this mystery. Roll Investigate 8+ and Engineer 
  (miracle) 8+. If you succeed on both gain an additional Benefi t roll, +2 DM to your next Advancement roll and 
  one level of Engineer (miracle). If you fail lose all your allies and contacts and reduce your Social Standing and 
  Intelligence by 1.
  7
  Life Event. Roll on the Life Events table (page 34 in the Traveller Core Rulebook).
  8
  primitive alien tribe worships you as a deity and caters to your every whim. You may abuse their trust and gain 
  two extra Benefit rolls and an Enemy or guide them to happiness and gain the tribe as an Ally and +2 DM on 
  your next advancement roll.
  9
  You find a race suffering from a horrible humanitarian crisis and can try to help them. Roll Admin 6+. If you 
  succeed gain an Ally and one level of Admin. If you fail gain an Enemy.
  10
  You convert a prominent alien leader to your cause. Gain an Ally and +2 DM on your next advancement roll.
  11
  You befriend a brilliant aging miracle engineer who wishes to pass on his wisdom to a worthy student. Gain an 
  Ally and either gain a level in Engineer (miracle) or take a +4 DM to your next Advancement roll thanks to his 
  aid.
  12
  You manage to perform a miracle that was previously considered impossible. You are automatically promoted.
  Career Progress
  Survival 
  Advancement 
  Preacher 
  Int 5+
  Soc 6+
  Wizard
  Int 6+
  Edu 7+
  Trickster
  Dex 4+
  Int 7+
  Roll
  Cash
  Other Benefits 
  1
  5,000
  +1 Edu
  2
  10,000
  Miracle Device
  3
  20,000
  +1 Soc
  4
  30,000
  +1 Int
  5
  40,000
  TAS membership
  6
  60,000
  Minor cult following
  7
  80,000
  Ancient Technology
  Mustering – Out Benefits 
  
  138
  Gods oF the spaCe aGe
  the research of futuristic technologies and the uncovering 
  of ancient artefacts.
  •	
  Trickster: Unlike the preacher and the wizard, the trickster 
  has no noble aspirations of achieving spiritual or scientific 
  perfection through advanced technology. Instead, he uses 
  tricks to pretend to be a demon, a genie, a deity or some 
  other powerful creature.
  arts, as well as a bit of psychology. The greatest challenge of 
  this skill is not merely to construct an effective device but also 
  to design it in such a way as to make it appear magical or divine 
  rather than technological. 
  Because of this, miracle devices tend to have mythical rather 
  than commercial titles. Even mundane items used by miracle 
  engineers gain romantic names and designs; a common 
  flamethrower might be designed to look like a petrified dragon 
  and be referred to as ‘The Dragon’s Breath’, while antibiotics 
  are most likely to be handed in archaic–looking glass bottles 
  and be called ‘The Tears of the Martyr’ or ‘Magic Potions’.
  Repairing damaged miracle devices functions the same way as 
  any other mechanical repair (see page 56 in the Traveller Core 
  Rulebook).
  Constructing a miracle device is usually a Difficult task, while 
  altering an existing mechanism to appear miraculous is an 
  Average task.
  Every miracle device has a rating which indicates how effective 
  it is in convincing onlookers it is magical. This rating is equal to 
  the skill check’s Effect plus any bonuses the 
  Referee may designate for clever construction and knowledge 
  of the target civilisation. This rating is applied as positive DM to 
  the illusion roll.
  The Illusion Roll
  An illusion roll is an opposed check made to convince onlookers 
  that a miracle device or its owner are magical. The miracle 
  engineer’s Deception or Persuade (whichever is better) are 
  contested by the target’s Science, Engineering or Investigate 
  skills (whichever is better). The miracle engineer adds his 
  miracle device’s rating to this roll as a positive DM, while the 
  target adds half of his society’s TL (rounded down) to the roll. 
  Other modifiers might be applied in case of favourable or hostile 
  conditions. 
  For example, Father Larensen (Education 11, Engineer 
  (miracle) 2, Persuade 1) tries to convince the natives of 
  a TL 3 planet that he was sent by the Gods to lead them to 
  enlightenment. He chooses a clichéd miracle and constructs 
  a pair of anti–gravitational boots that enable him to walk on 
  water. His Engineer (miracle) roll is 10, which means his miracle 
  device’s rating is 2 (10–8). The Referee decides that since 
  this miracle is not particularly impressive and has no roots in 
  the planet’s culture, Larensen’s gets no other bonuses to its 
  miracle rating. Now the hour of the test comes and after giving 
  an inspiring sermon (an Exceptional Success on a Science 
  Device
  Miracle Rating
  TL
  Mass (Kg)
  Cost (Cr.)
  The Staff of Wonder
  2
  11
  4
  10,000
  Genie in a Bottle
  5
  12
  1
  5,000
  The Sacred Halo
  7
  15
  0.5
  80,000
  the sCienCe oF maGiC
  This section describes the most important weapon in the miracle 
  engineer’s arsenal, the Engineer (miracle) skill, and presents a 
  few examples of the various products of this skill.
  Engineer (Miracle)
  The Engineer (miracle) skill is used to design, construct and 
  repair miracle devices. As the name might imply, it mostly deals 
  with advanced engineering, mainly optics and electronics. 
  However, it also includes a fair amount of theatrical and visual 
  
  139
  Gods oF the spaCe aGe
  (philosophy) check), father Larensen confi dently walks over a 
  lake. The Referee decides the sermon is worth +2 DM and so 
  the total DM for Larensen’s roll is +4 (2 miracle rating +2 for the 
  excellent sermon). One of the natives present is a famous local 
  philosopher and has Social Science (philosophy) 1. His total 
  DM is +2 (1 from TL 3 divided by 2, and 1 from his Science skill). 
  Larensen’s player rolls a total of 13, while the Referee rolls 11. 
  The natives believe Larensen is a messenger of the Gods and 
  are ready to follow his divine commandments... for now. 
  Note that a successful illusion roll means the miracle engineer 
  has managed to convince a person or a group of people of 
  his supernatural powers. It does not guarantee their positive 
  disposition or reverence. Quite often, a successful illusion roll 
  results in fear, envy or open aggression. The following are 
  examples of some miracle devices:
  The Staff of Wonder: Staffs of Wonder are a dramatic 
  and relatively cheap way to impress the natives. These 
  metal staffs are usually 4–5 feet long and are designed to 
  look like petrified snakes. Either through a voice command 
  or by pressing a hidden button, the staff can perform one 
  of two functions; transform into a snake–shaped drone 
  (see stats below) or shoot a powerful laser beam. The 
  beam has the same properties as a laser carbine but has 
  only eight charges due to the weapon’s small size and 
  imposes a –1 DM on all attack rolls because of the staff’s 
  awkward form.
  Snake Drone
  Strength 8 (0), Dexterity 10 (+1), Hull 3,
  Structure 3
  Traits: Tiny, Integral System (comm, audio/visual)
  Weapons: Bite (Melee (unarmed), 1d6 damage + 
  optional poison) While these miracle devices are unlikely 
  to impress anyone living in a TL 7+ society, they are 
  extremely effective on less advanced worlds and so are 
  standard issue in many missionary organisations, where 
  they are used for self defence as well as miracle making.
  Genie in a Bottle: The genie in a bottle is often used 
  by miracle engineers who wish to make spectacular 
  entrances into underdeveloped civilisations or enchant 
  gullible individuals in more modern societies. The name 
  is a bit of a misnomer because the ‘bottle’ is usually 
  shaped like a common household receptacle in the target 
  civilisation and therefore rarely takes the form of an Earth 
  bottle. This item is activated by chafing and creates a 
  stunning show of colourful gases and dancing lights 
  which culminates in the user’s enlarged holographic 
  image appearing hovering above the bottle. 
  The bottle is equipped with an audio/video system that 
  enables the user to interact with his surroundings. On rare 
  occasions these bottles are also installed with miniature 
  laser pistols (six charges) to enable the user to be more 
  than just smoke and mirrors. This costs 5,000 additional 
  credits. Fancier upgrades also exist, such as invisible 
  tractor beams that enable the apparition to manipulate 
  objects, teleportation devices to send in items or abduct 
  natives and so forth. Their price and complexity, however, 
  puts them far beyond the reach of all but the wealthiest 
  and most powerful miracle engineers. 
  The Sacred Halo: The scared halo is quite literary the 
  crowning achievement of miracle engineering; an item 
  so immensely complex and potent that even Space 
  Age citizens find it hard to believe it is technology and 
  not magic. When activated, this item resembles the 
  halos traditionally painted over Christian saints – a flat 
  luminescent ring floating above the user’s head. The halo 
  creates an invisible, nighimpenetrable force–fi eld around 
  the user. This force–fi eld can carry up to 500 kilograms 
  and move in any direction at the speed of six kilometres 
  per hour, creating the illusion of fl ight. Additionally, it can 
  generate intense heat rays that function like plasma gun 
  shots, only with Pistol range and 10 charges. Some halos 
  also include matter transformers that enable the user to 
  change the atomic structure of one kind of material into 
  another (such as lead into gold), with the most common 
  applications being cheap metal into precious metal or 
  non–edible material into edible material. Note that matter 
  transformers are impossible even for TL 15 societies 
  to create on their own and must be somehow reverse 
  engineered from ancient technology or acquired from 
  even more advanced alien civilisations.
  reliGion 2.0
  This article often refers to religious activists who fabricate 
  miracles through the use of advanced technology to further their 
  beliefs. While in some instances these are indeed fraudulent 
  actions done for economic or political gains, this is not always the 
  case. Future religions view the very existence of the technology 
  that enables Man to perform miracles as a manifestation of 
  God. In their eyes, God is technology. Spreading technological 
  progress is akin to spreading the scriptures and inventing ever 
  more incredible devices is the ultimate form of worship. Heaven 
  is an allencompassing cosmic scientific network that includes 
  all sentient life forms while Hell is when stubbornness and 
  ignorance bring progress to a halt. Space Age clerics realise it 
  may take a civilisation centuries, maybe millennia, to reach the 
  level of enlightenment required to embrace this kind of religion. 
  For this reason, “airy tales”about mystic Gods, demons, angels 
  and so forth are used to guide the developing civilization in 
  the right direction. Other clerics view mythology as more than 
  just allegories designed to steer believers in the right direction. 
  These clerics believe that alien miracle engineer have visited 
  their worlds ages ago and that these visits were recorded by 
  their primitive ancestors in the form of mythological stories. Now 
  that these worlds are sufficiently advanced to send out miracle 
  
  140
  Gods oF the spaCe aGe
  engineers of their own, it is their moral duty to do the same for 
  younger races and to become the heroes of future mythologies 
  themselves.
  Have Divine Powers, Will Travel: Most miracle en-
  gineers work as freelancers who offer their services to the high-
  est bidder. Some customers want to spread their faith through 
  the countless stars in the heaven, some need a dazzling dis-
  traction to carry out the perfect crime, some are wealthy parents 
  looking for someone to entertain children who have seen every-
  thing and some are not at all what they seem...
  Rims Rom Ramon Ra
  Required: Engineer (miracle); Diplomat
  Reward: Cr. 15,000 in precious stones and metals
  Players’ Information
  Rims Rom Ramon Ra is an inquisitive and brilliant priest 
  in the all–powerful cult of the Goddess of the Seven Suns. 
  After decades of research, he uncovered the secret behind 
  his people’s religious unification and the sudden accelerated 
  technological progress which started about a century ago. They 
  were visited by a human miracle engineer who entranced them 
  with many miracles and good works before setting them on the 
  path of unity and peace. Unfortunately, the miracle engineer’s 
  decrees were horribly subverted since then and her disciples 
  became tyrants who forced an oppressive theocracy on the 
  planet. This has halted all progress and made life hell through a 
  series of arbitrary and vicious ‘divine’ laws. After years of hard 
  labour, Rims managed to construct a primitive transmission 
  device and send a message into space, requesting a miracle 
  engineer to come and fix this mess as soon as possible.
  Referee’s Information
  Rims is not nearly as benevolent as he appears to be. While he 
  resents the ruling theocracy, his own plans for his species and 
  the PCs are not much better...
  1. Rims plans to topple the ruling theocracy in order to become 
  the sole priest of the goddess and subject the entire plant to his 
  cruel and sudden whims.
  2. Same as above, only to make sure he is never thwarted, 
  Rims plans to keep the miracle engineers imprisoned under 
  his palace to supply him with new miracles to use against his 
  enemies.
  3–4. Rims is in fact the secret master of the theocracy and 
  wants to capture a ship full of miracle devices to spread his 
  violent religion across the stars.
  5. Rims plans to escape with the miracle engineers’ spaceship, 
  leaving them stranded on the planet while Rims and his 
  associates take over the engineers’ jobs and rewards.
  6. Rims honestly wishes to release his people from the shackles 
  of the horrible tyranny under which they live. He plans to expose 
  the ancient miracles for what they were, technological frauds, 
  and then put the visiting miracle engineers on trial for the crimes 
  of their colleagues.
  Kilala Bogina
  Required: Engineer (miracle); Investigation
  Reward: Cr. 5,000 plus all expenses covered
  Players’ Information
  Kilala is a young widow who moved back to her family’s ancient 
  estate after her husband was killed in a deep–space mission. 
  She hoped that a change of scenery and pace would help 
  her and her children deal with this sudden trauma. However, 
  instead of peace, Kilala found horror – soon after her arrival, 
  strange and terrifying events started happening in the castle, 
  appearing very much like traditional ghostly haunting. Being 
  a sceptical person, Kilala first turned to the local police. 
  After the police failed to find the culprit, she put an ad for an 
  experienced miracle engineer to come and help her uncover 
  the mystery behind the nocturnal apparitions.
  Referee’s Information
  Many years ago Kilala worked as a nurse on a cargo ship. A 
  mistake she did during a standard revival procedure had cost 
  a passenger travelling by cryoberth his life. She has not told 
  anyone and has been living with the guilt ever since. This has 
  nothing to do with her current plight but can add an interesting 
  dimension of doubt and supernatural dread to the adventure.
  1. Kilala’s wayward brother is a miracle engineer who wants 
  to drive her out of the castle with these apparitions. He might 
  resort to some dirty tricks but will take the uttermost care not 
  to kill anyone.
  2. Same as above, only the brother is so disgruntled that Kilala 
  inherited everything after he was disowned by their father that 
  he is willing to kill anyone who stands in his way to regain the 
  wealth that he considers his birthright.
  3. An alien creature that exists partially in another dimension 
  was brought to the castle by Kilala’s father shortly before his 
  death. Starving and disoriented, the creature wanders the 
  castle, desperately looking for a dimensional exit.
  4. Same as above, only the creature is intelligent and feeds on 
  the psychic energies generated by fear. If anyone attempts to 
  drive the creature out of the castle or expose its existence to 
  the world, it will try to kill this person.
  5. Kilala’s father was a known trickster and left a series of 
  non–lethal traps scattered across the castle as one fi nal joke. 
  The last entry in his diary looks like the scribbling of a madman 
  but is in fact the key to locating and defusing the traps.
  6. Same as above, only Kilala’s father went completely mad in 
  the last few months of his life and made the traps quite lethal. 
  
  141
  In any society with laws, there are always things that are 
  prohibited. And in any society where people with money want 
  that something, criminals will rise to the challenge of servicing 
  that need. Whether its prohibition and the organised crime 
  families that got rich from it, or the war on drugs and the drugs 
  dealers that fuel it, there is always money to be made when 
  the government decides that the public cannot have something. 
  These careers produce hard men and women who are not law 
  abiding citizens, however that’s not to say that some of them 
  don’t reform later in life when it is no longer ‘in them’ to be 
  players. There are many careers to be had on the criminal side of 
  things but for the moment we will look at three specialities within 
  this field; Drugs dealers, Smugglers and Criminal Celebrities.
  Drugs Dealers
  Drugs dealers are a classic example of the supply end of this, 
  dealing directly with the consumer. For a contemporary example 
  of how the industry changes with the technology just look at the 
  drugs scene  in a large city, Baltimore for example. The product 
  being sold will vary from placeto– place and the tech level of 
  the society involved will help shape how things are done, which 
  means that drug dealers will vary across the galaxy within this 
  general framework. 
  This is the sharp end of the business as between law 
  enforcement and competition on the streets the survival rates 
  are not high, however serious money can be made here. One 
  serious advantage to this career is that characters can get an 
  early start. Most will have started at around 14 but some start 
  even younger, starting at 10 is possible. 
  Obviously if the character can survive into their 30s they will 
  have a greater range of experience. On top of that a drugs 
  dealer who survives and keeps their head in the game can 
  make huge amounts of money, assuming that their luck holds.
  It’s not all guns, girls and money though, there is a fl ip side to 
  the career. Survival rates are not high and the trick is always 
  getting out with your stash intact before the game kills you. 
  Furthermore, starting that young will permanently damage 
  your education, making entry into other careers and progress 
  through them more difficult. Dealers may know the corners but 
  few manage to understand science, technology and those who 
  start really young might not even be literate or numerate. 
  This in itself can present some interesting roleplaying 
  possibilities, playing a veteran street soldier with tons of street 
  smarts and killer combat skills, who struggles to read the 
  simplest manual could make for good game play.
  A successful drug dealing organization will require tight 
  discipline throughout the operation, from the top right on down 
  to the bottom. Between the authorities trying to build evidence 
  for a case every step of the way and the rivals looking or any 
  opportunity to shut you down, with slugs if necessary, every 
  member of the organisation has to stay tight at all times. Every 
  organisation that goes down can be traced back to a discipline 
  failure somewhere. This discipline also applies to the product 
  as well. Few drug dealers are regular users of the product that 
  they sell; some never touch the product, others only on special 
  occasions.
  Smugglers
  It is very rare for the restricted commodity, whether it is booze, 
  drugs, women or whatever, to be available in the location where 
  it is prohibited. This means that someone’s going to have to 
  get it into the country, state, planet or system. That’s where the 
  smugglers come in. Smuggling is not such a dangerous game 
  as running the corners but there is less money to be made as 
  you are dealing with the product wholesale. Starting out in the 
  business is not easy and will probably involve low level tasks 
  to begin with, working as a mule or security. Progressing up 
  the ladder to eventually handling your own product will take 
  time, loyalty and luck. On the up side though, smugglers are 
  less likely to get involved in gunfights over territory on a regular 
  basis. Instead the main dangers come from the authorities, or 
  war when two rival operations clash.
  The downside of smuggling is that there is less money to be 
  made and less room to make it in. A city might support dozens 
  of drugs crews employing hundreds of people. That same city 
  might only support two or three major smuggling operations, 
  which means only half a dozen or so men and women getting 
  rich and employing only a couple of dozen people. The quantities 
  smuggled are such that the authorities are likely to inflict harsh 
  punishment on those caught with the product. Discipline with a 
  smuggling organisation is more likely to be a top down thing, with 
  the GanGsta
  By  Alan Oliver
  A look at the stars of the criminal hierarchy, and new careers for players to take part.
  
  142
  the GanGsta
  the bosses using enforcers to maintain order among common 
  security and mules. Independent smugglers, who have made 
  enough money to buy a ship, or more likely acquired it through 
  some under the counter action, are their own bosses. For them 
  discipline is a personal thing. However they know that missing 
  a delivery or ditching a cargo is likely to be a very dangerous 
  mistake.
  Criminal Celebrities
  Throughout history certain criminals have been able to turn their 
  criminal activities into celebrity status. Whether it is Robin Hood, 
  18th century highwaymen, Dillinger or the modern gangsta rappers, 
  they play to the public fascination with the criminal world to elevate 
  themselves above the rest of the common criminals.
  Unfortunately to become a criminal celebrity you first have to 
  be a criminal, this career is only open to characters who have 
  already done at least one term as a gangsta or rogue earlier in 
  their career. Criminal celebrities can start out as kids slinging 
  drugs on the streets, so you can start out early as a drugs 
  dealer then make a shift into this career. Smugglers generally 
  rely on being inconspicuous so will find it difficult to break into 
  the career. 
  Thieves are rarely that well known, however it is not impossible 
  to turn a career of high profile crimes into celebrity status. Pirates 
  are naturally flamboyant and can easily become celebrities if 
  they can avoid the bounty on their heads. Enforcers rarely have 
  the charisma and social skills to make the grade, but again it is 
  not impossible. The advantages of turning your criminal career 
  into celebrity status are obvious, firstly you are a lot less likely 
  to die from it, survival is generally less of an issue. Secondly 
  you can still make a lot of money, assuming that you can make 
  the right media contacts along the way. The Hells Angels 
  of California in the 1960s tried to do this and failed, blowing 
  their chance to make money off their celebrity status at the 
  time. Thirdly if still practicing your chosen form of crime your 
  reputation can play in your favour. For example a reputation for 
  robbing stash houses and leaving a trail of bodies behind you 
  can mean that eventually the corner hoppers will just be giving 
  you their package to keep you away from them, even if your just 
  going down to the store for milk and cereal.
  The disadvantage of this as a career choice is that you will loose 
  your friends in the real criminal world quickly, most will see you 
  as a sell out. This can lead to bitterness and from a naturally 
  violent criminal subculture that’s not something you want. As 
  you become well known your crimes become well known as 
  well, which makes it easier for the authorities to arrest, convict 
  and punish you for them. Your celebrity status will protect you 
  for a while, however the public are a fickle bunch and once they 
  loose interest in you that public knowledge of your past can 
  become a millstone around your neck. Finally being well known 
  for a particular type of crime can bring in rivals seeking to prove 
  themselves better, tougher and more ‘in your face’ than you are.
  Gangstas in play
  For the most part a career as a gangsta is more likely to be 
  part of a characters background than what they are currently 
  doing. However a whole game based around the drugs trade 
  offers plenty of opportunities for good drama and roleplaying, 
  not to mention plenty of action against other criminal groups 
  and the police. Working smugglers are more easily inserted into 
  a mixed group of characters, especially if they are providing the 
  transport. Criminal Celebrities naturally fit into a high society 
  based game, or could be the focus of play.
  Drug dealer ranks
  Younguns are the kids who are just starting in the career. They 
  are used as lookouts, runners and often do the actual handover 
  of the drugs to the customer. This is their apprenticeship in 
  the career, if they can survive this without messing up the 
  count or getting killed over turf, then they have a good chance 
  to progress. Most younguns are aged between 10 and 14. 
  Hoppers are the core staff of a corner chief. They have greater 
  responsibilities but still get paid a set amount no matter how 
  much selling is done. They might be watching the street stash, 
  getting the re–up, taking the money and similar jobs. 
  Some of them will be armed but at their level the violence is 
  often limited to knives and fists rather than guns. A corner chief 
  runs a corner, will have his own crew of hoppers and younguns 
  doing the work and may even have points on the package 
  himself, although many are still just getting paid for their work. 
  They don’t handle the money or the drugs themselves but 
  watch operations looking for trouble and if it arrives have to deal 
  with it. They are likely to be armed, with some sort of pistol in 
  most cases for easy concealment and disposal. A stash house 
  is where the drugs for several corners are kept; ready to provide 
  a re–up as necessary. The chief’s job is to keep security tight 
  on the stash and keep it moving every few days. This keeps 
  it hidden from the authorities and from other criminals who 
  will want to steal it. They will be armed, either with pistols or 
  possibly shotguns, as will the enforcers they employ as muscle 
  to protect the stash.
  They normally have little or no contact with actually selling the 
  drugs other than providing the re ups to the corner chiefs. They 
  are normally on a paycheck rather than points on the package. 
  Soldiers are the heavy hitters of the drugs world. Their main 
  roll is protecting their organisation from their rivals, whether it 
  is the package or territory. Some are employed specifically to 
  kill people, while others are trouble shooters for the corner and 
  stash chiefs. They will normally have access to guns but will be 
  careful about carrying them and will dispose of them as soon as 
  they use them, assuming the local authorities are equipped and 
  willing to use trace evidence to go after drug dealers. 
  They are much more than just enforcers or thugs, they are the 
  backbone of the drugs organisation. They will have points on the 
  package, sometimes tied to specific corners, sometimes off the 
  
  143
  the GanGsta
  Career Progress 
  Survival
  Advancement
  Drug dealer
  End 8+
  Int 6+
  Smugglers
  Dex 7+
  Soc 6+
  Crim celebrity
  Soc 6+
  Soc 7+
  Mustering Out Benefits
  Roll
  Cash
  Other Benefits 
  1
  10,000
  Blade
  2
  10,000
  Blood brother
  3
  25,000
  Gun or ground car
  4
  50,000
  Contact
  5
  75,000
  Air/raft
  6
  100,000
  Package
  7
  150,000
  3 ship shares
  Qualifications
  Dex 7+ –1 DM for every career +1 DM for every Rogue or Gansta career 
  Automatic qualification if social standing 6 or lower.
  Criminal Celebrity requires at least 1 term as gangsta or rogue.
  If drug dealer and starting at 14, then character doesn’t get the automatic education skill.
  If drug dealer and starting at 10, then character also looses 2 from their Education stat.
  Skills and Training
  Roll
  Persona development
  Service Skills
  Advanced Education (Minimum Int 10)
  1
  Athletics
  Deception
  Comms
  2
  +1 End
  Gun combat *
  Computers
  3
  Gambler
  Persuade
  Flyer
  4
  Gun Combat *
  Streetwise
  Investigate
  5
  Melee **
  Drive (any)
  Gun Combat (any)
  6
  +1 Dex
  Recon
  Tactics
  Roll
  Specialist: Drug Dealer
  Specialist: Smuggler
  Specialist: Criminal Celebrity
  1
  Gun Combat *
  Admin
  Carouse
  2
  Leadership
  Gun Combat *
  Advocate
  3
  Recon
  Flyer (any)
  Art (any performance)
  4
  Stealth
  Pilot (small craft & 
  spacecraft)
  Gun Combat (any)
  5
  Streetwise
  Mechanic
  Persuade
  6
  Comms
  Broker
  Deception
  * Any pistol or shotgun
  ** Unarmed or blade
  For every two jail terms on your record, gain a +1 DM to advancement rolls as Gangsta, Rogue or Drifter, or –1 DM 
  to advancement rolls on all other careers.
  Blood brother; very close bond formed between you and another in your career who is within 1 rank of yourself.
  Package; value at wholesale 100,000, value if distributed on the streets 500,000 but with the obvious risks.
  
  144
  the GanGsta
  whole thing. Lieutenants are the inner circle of the kingpin. They 
  are advisors, brothers in arms, bankers and are often direct 
  family to him or her. In many cases a kingpin’s Lieutenants will 
  be specialists in different areas, one might handle personnel, 
  another violence while a third handles business dealings and 
  the money. They are all going to be rich, having a direct share in 
  the business but they are getting to the level where they handle 
  so much money that it is no longer an issue.
  The kingpin is the main man. He will be a known name on 
  the streets, even if the authorities have no idea who he is. 
  And he or she better hope that they don’t because once 
  they do know who they are, then their time is running out. 
  Roll
  Dealer
  Skill/benefit
  Smuggler
  Skill/benefit
  Celebrity
  Skill/benefit
  0
  Youngen
  Mule
  Implant
  1
  Hopper
  Recon 1
  Name
  Deception 1
  2
  Corner chief
  Streetwise 1
  Soldier
  Weapon
  3
  Stash house
  Persuade 1
  Rapper
  Art 1
  4
  Soldier
  Gun (pistol)
  Independent
  Pilot 1
  5
  Lieutenant
  6
  Kingpin
  Chief
  Admin 1
  Robin hood
  Mishaps
  1d6
  Mishap
  1
  Fatal injury: Recovered through medical assistance however your crew all believe you are dead and your 
  reappearance will be taken as proof of snitching. Roll 1 injury and leave the career.
  2
  Severely injured (as result 2 on the injury table) but recovered by own people so can continue on career.
  3
  Organisation crashes and burns: You survive but have to seek new career in different system.
  4
  Police shoot out goes badly: Arrested and drafted as below and a roll on the Injury table.
  5
  Arrested: Spend next term in confinement, develop level of streetwise, then return to this career in 4 years time. Add 
  one jail term to record.
  6
  Arrested: Loose one benefi t roll from this career and drafted into the military as your next career. Add one jail term to 
  record.
  Events
  2d6
  Event
  2
  Disaster. Roll on Mishaps table but can remain in this career.
  3
  Arrested and spend 6 months imprisoned alongside major criminal fi gure, either take them as a Contact or take a +3 
  to next promotion roll. Gain another jail term on your record.
  4
  Your organisation goes to war with another organisation. You survive with fresh scars, war stories and 1d3 enemies 
  from the opposing organisation.
  5
  Two more powerful organisations go to war and wipe each other out, your operation is able to step up and take their 
  territories, take either a +3 roll on a benefits roll or automatic promotion.
  6
  Subordinate messes up the count, leaving you to fi t the bill, either loose a benefit roll or gain an injury roll.
  7
  Life Event. Roll on the Life Events table (page 34 of the Traveller Core Rulebook).
  8
  Arrested and convicted, minor offences, spend 6 months in prison and gain a jail term on your record.
  9
  Rumours circulate of your involvement with the authorities, take a loss of two ranks or a roll on the Injury table.
  10
  Multiple minor arrests and jail terms, evading serious prosecutions. Add three jail terms to record.
  11
  Arrested and imprisoned for a year, enemies set you up on the inside for assassination. Gain 1 roll on the injury table 
  and 1 jail term.
  12
  Incredible heroics leads to automatic promotion.
  Every kingpin is constantly juggling how long they can 
  stay in the business and so how much money they can 
  get, against the odds that a rival will take them down or 
  the authorities will catch up with them.
  Drug Dealers in game play
  A character whose current profession is a drugs dealer is going 
  to be tied in to a specific location, so they would only be able to 
  be played in a game set within that location. If that is the case 
  then they will have certain advantages. Firstly depending on 
  their rank they will have subordinates who will do their bidding, 
  often without fear or hesitation. A corner chief will have a 
  number of hoppers and younguns on the payroll and can call on 
  
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  the GanGsta
  1d6 hoppers and 2d6 younguns at short notice. A stash house 
  chief will be supplying several corner chiefs and could call on 
  2d6 hoppers and 3d6 younguns from them. In addition they will 
  have several Enforcers as muscle for the stash house who are 
  on their payroll. A soldier answers directly to the high command, 
  acting both as muscle and management for the corner chiefs 
  and stash houses. They are expected to be able to bring forces 
  to bear on a situation and will have 2d6 enforcers who answer 
  to them, as well as being able to bring 2d6 stash houses and 
  corners running at short notice. A Lieutenant will have 1d6 
  soldiers that take their orders from them but are unlikely to be 
  well known to the lower orders, only corner and stash house 
  chiefs are likely to know them. Lastly a Kingpin will have 1d3 
  Lieutenants and their soldiers under their command, as well as 
  1d6 soldiers that answer directly to him. In their own territory a 
  dealer is always making money. This will involved at least six 
  hours work a day, at whatever level they are at in the structure. 
  This is the minimum amount of time that they will have to put 
  in to maintain their position, most are working all the time. This 
  leaves little time for adventuring. However they will have a 
  constant revenue stream to tap into.
  Smugglers in gameplay
  Smuggling comes in two basic forms, either smuggling 
  contraband on legitimate transports or illegal runs in specialist 
  smuggling ships. Smuggling can also involve many different 
  kinds of product, ranging from illegal drugs to people trafficking. 
  The nature of the product being smuggled will have a major 
  impact on the methods used.
  At the lowest level a mule will have a smuggling implant at TL 
  8 or above, to enable them to carry relatively small quantities 
  of high value cargo while travelling as a passenger on 
  commercial transports. Some might be permanent employees 
  of a larger organisation, others might be freelancers who’ve 
  had the implants put in at their own cost. Either way they are 
  the pack animals of the smuggling world and their careers are 
  often short. Whether it is a faulty implant dumping an entire 
  shipment of drugs into their blood stream leading to death by 
  overdose, or getting picked up by the authorities, the turnover 
  rate among mules is very high. At lower tech levels mules have 
  to conceal the contraband on or in their person, which can also 
  lead to problems, such as cavity searches. On a larger scale 
  contraband will be hidden inside commercial shipping units in 
  any
  number of ways. This might be disguising the product as 
  something harmless like cocaine in talc bottles, or hidden 
  inside legitimate cargo. Even concealed spaces within the 
  containers themselves, which is generally the only way to ship 
  a live cargo. This sort of larger scale smuggling will involve 
  more people along the way, as manifests will need to be 
  altered, dock hands to ensure that the right container goes 
  in the wrong place, minders on the ships crew to ensure 
  that the container is not tampered with en route. All this 
  makes this sort of smuggling the purview of large smuggling 
  organisations only. The second form of smuggling involves 
  using non registered transports to carry
  the cargo from supplier to distributor. This might be on a 
  planetary scale, surface ships or aircraft moving product from 
  cityto–city. Or it could be on a planetary scale with starships 
  running cargo from systemto– system. This is actually one of 
  the easiest forms of smuggling if you have the funds to purchase 
  and operate a smuggling ship, as pickup and delivery can be 
  done from anywhere within the systems involved in most cases. 
  This makes discovery by the authorities a negligible risk unless 
  there is a leak within the operation. Ship smugglers may be 
  independent owner operators who run their own ships and work 
  on a job–by–job basis, or they might be employees of a large 
  smuggling operation, just paid to make the runs themselves. If 
  it is the later however the organisation will want to have some 
  pretty heavy security on that ship to make sure it comes back. 
  Ships being signifi cantly more expensive than any individual 
  cargo.
  Independent smugglers will make for more useful Player 
  Characters in a game, as they can easily be hired by the other 
  players to get them from A to B and get tangled in the story 
  along the way. If they are part of a larger operation, then they 
  will be unlikely to have the freedom to pick and choose which 
  smuggling runs they are on, which limits their usefulness to the 
  rest of the party.
  Criminal Celebrities in gameplay
  The most important aspect of these characters is how they 
  have turned their criminal exploits into celebrity status and are 
  they still celebrities when they enter game time. For example a 
  flamboyant enforcer who makes his living hitting stash houses 
  and has a name on the streets only has celebrity status through 
  what he does, which limits it to the criminal and police world. But 
  a gangsta who has become a musician and is selling music to 
  the general public will be much more widely known. However to 
  do that they have to actually be able to do something more than 
  just be a gangsta. Some form of performing art is the normal 
  route taken to get out of the game and become a celebrity, 
  however that is only one way. For example being a witness for 
  the authorities will get you some celebrity status and if that is 
  played up to the media this can lead to a whole career change. 
  If the character is still an active celebrity then they are going 
  to have to spend a significant amount of time maintaining 
  their public image. Whether this involves doing performances, 
  holding outrageous parties or committing high profile crimes, 
  they will have to maintain a high enough profile to keep their 
  name in the media. They are likely to sweep other characters 
  along with them, as they are likely to have an entourage of some 
  sort, so making them the focus of the game. If not then they 
  are going to have to be operating close enough to the media 
  and fan base to maintain their profile while the characters as a 
  whole are adventuring.
  
  146
  the GanGsta
  equipment
  For the most part gangstas don’t have much need for specialist 
  equipment but there are some things that do make their jobs 
  that little bit easier.
  Augments
  Mule implant (TL 8–9): This is a storage space inserted into 
  the body normally somewhere in the torso. Space is made 
  by shifting the internal organs around, or in more extreme 
  cases removing them. They are undetectable to most forms 
  of scanning from an equal TL but higher TL scans are likely 
  to discover them. They come in two varieties, either access 
  through an existing orifice in the body or assessed through a 
  concealed skin zip. The former are limited to the normal orifices 
  of the body, limiting where they can be hidden, while the latter 
  are more easy to detect with a full strip search until you reach 
  TL 12, where the skin zip technology is such that they can only 
  be detected by TL 13 or above scanners. Most mule implants 
  are inserted in illegal clinics, which increases the chances of 
  infection or complications. A Streetwise roll at 8+ is necessary 
  to find a safe clinic where infection is unlikely.
  Communications
  The form of communications used by a drugs or smuggling 
  operation is always going to depend on the TL environment and 
  the current status of the law in keeping up with the technology. 
  The authorities might be able to tap comms and comdots but 
  not have access to Transceivers, in which case they will be the 
  comms method of choice. Or getting a comms tap may take 
  several days, in which case they will use disposable comms 
  and ditch them each day.
  Disposable comms (TL 9): Whatever the state of play, 
  one use disposable comms are likely to be useful for most 
  gangstas and in most cases they will want to be using audio 
  only for obvious reasons. With these devices the issue 
  becomes wether the authorities can track where they are 
  being purchased in order to get a tap on them before they 
  are used, so the source of these disposable comms will be 
  important.
  Typically a disposable comms will cost Cr 5–10, depending on 
  source.
  Computers: Options
  Voice/bio–metric activated data burner (TL 9): Any computers 
  used by gangstas are likely to have data on them that would 
  incriminate them should it fall into the hands of the authorities. 
  This option will operate some mechanism to render the data on 
  the computer unrecoverable when triggered. 
  This might be accomplished in any number of ways, explosives, 
  acid, EM pulse, data virus, in extreme cases even an AM 
  charge. However it is done, once activated the data held on 
  the computer will be permanently destroyed, only recoverable 
  with more advanced technology at least 2 TL higher than the 
  computer itself. Whatever the system used to destroy the data, 
  what is important is the trigger mechanism. This can range 
  from hot–key combination, through voice activation to a bio–
  metric system that destroys the data if the user dies or moves 
  more than 2 metres from the computer. The exact trigger is 
  programmed in when the computer is constructed and the 
  system installed.
  Augments
  TL 8
  Orifice accessed only
  Cr 10,000
  TL 9
  Orifice or skin zip accessed
  Cr 5,000
  TL 10
  Orifice or skin zip accessed
  Cr 1,000
  TL 11
  Orifice or skin zip accessed
  Cr 500
  TL 12
  Skin zip accessed even from 
  orifices
  Cr 100
  Computers: Options
  TL 9
  Hot key activation
  Cr 5,000
  TL 10
  Voice activation
  Cr 7,500
  TL 11
  Bio–metric activation.
  Cr 10,000
  TL 13
  Thought activation
  Cr 20,000
  
  147
  Only a few extremist cults in the Universe and some 
  species of alien or isolated savage human societies, wear 
  no clothing at all. Clothing provides, at the very least, 
  mobile warmth and shelter from the elements against 
  unprotected skin and in its highest expression clothes, in 
  the form of fashion and haute couture, mark one’s status 
  and Social Standing in society like nothing else.
  Yet little thought is actually given, most times, to what 
  characters may wear whilst on their missions. The 
  assumption is that characters just put on “whatever is 
  appropriate” to the mission and that’s it.
  The following are items of apparel, accessories and other 
  items. These can be purchased as cargo items, used by 
  the player characters, included as luxuries in a ship’s 
  manifest or used as McGuffins by the Referee.
  The Rag Trade
  Even in the far future, fabrics only originate from three 
  sources: animal origin, plant–based and synthetic. 
  Leather is the treated skin of an animal and wool is the 
  processed fleece of an animal such as a sheep or similar 
  creature. Silk originates from insects such as silkworms.
  Cotton–like plants can be harvested, sap from trees 
  extracted to make latex for rubber and plant materials 
  found even in the wildest worlds of the Spinward Marches 
  which produce fabrics with the look and feel of linen, 
  calico or burlap.
  High tech advances in polymers create synthetic 
  analogues for wool, silk, rubber and all of the above 
  fabrics without coming anywhere near a living animal, as 
  well as smart fabrics never found in Nature, yet mimicking 
  some of Nature’s tricks such as chromatophores to alter 
  colour.
  However far in the future Mankind goes, the look and 
  feel of clothing will generally remain timeless, even if the 
  silk in a Naval officer’s shirt came from some sentient 
  arboreal spiderlike creature the size of a small bear, or 
  even from a vat.
  And silver lamé jumpsuits which make the wearer look 
  like a walking frozen dinner pack may never be taken 
  seriously.
  Categories of Clothing
  Costs per unit are for individual items. Referees can use 
  the cost and mass guidelines to make up small cargo 
  shipments for trade (see pp. 160–166, Traveller). Broker 
  skill can be used to haggle costs of individual items up or 
  down, depending on whether a character is buying the 
  items or selling them to others.
  The four main categories considered in this article 
  are:
  Shipboard: Clothing worn at work – which, for Travellers, 
  means on board a ship of some kind, whether a Starship, small 
  craft or in–system explorer.
  Dress: Formal clothing, uniforms, dinner jackets – one’s 
  Sunday best clothing, washed, starched and pressed.
  Outdoor and Leisure: Clothing worn away from the ship, 
  usually outdoors. Covers sports clothes, ordinary clothing and 
  outdoor clothes.
  Speciality: Clothes a character would wear on a job, or in 
  performance of their trade. Includes specialist clothes such as 
  laboratory coats and surgical scrubs, among other utilitarian 
  clothes.
  apparel
  Shipboard
  Ship’s Jumpsuit (TL 6+): A one–piece coverall made of 
  a synthetic fabric, that zips up the front. Plain but functional, 
  jumpsuits are designed with lots of pockets for tools, ID and 
  other items. Jumpsuits come in a variety of colours. Sleeveless 
  and fully–sleeved versions are available. Jumpsuits provide 
  no protection against rough weather and they cannot be 
  environmentally sealed. Ship’s Captains purchase standard 
  jumpsuits in bulk to reduce unit costs. Individually, a jumpsuit 
  costs Cr. 30. Mass 2kg.
  ship’s loCker
  By  Alex Greene
  The Ship’s Locker can be a treasure trove of useful items.  We present a selection of new 
  equipment for players.
  
  148
  ship’s loCker
  Insulated Ship’s Jumpsuit (TL 6+): An insulated version of 
  the standard jumpsuit, these provide some limited protection 
  against cold shipboard environments. Costs Cr. 40, mass 3kg.
  Ship’s Uniform (TL 6+): Stylish, two–piece synthetic suit: a 
  full sleeved jacket and pair of trousers. Available in a variety of 
  colours. This is worn planetside. Typically worn by Travellers 
  while on shore leave, these clothes are known as “Patron 
  catchers” by those experienced in the Travelling life. Cr. 75. 
  Mass 3kg. Travellers are required to buy their ship’s uniforms 
  and are responsible for their replacement. Experienced 
  Travellers keep sets of spares with them.
  Ship’s Underwear (TL 6+): Lightweight ventilated vest and 
  shorts. Functional but uninspiring. Costs range from between 
  Cr 5 and Cr 15, with an average of Cr. 10 per unit Ubiquitous on 
  board any ship, because their purchase in bulk is factored into 
  the ship’s monthly maintenance costs. Mass less than 400g.
  Dress
  Dress Jacket (Lightweight) (TL 5+): Lightweight waist length 
  dress suit jacket. Sometimes known as a “blazer.” Beloved of 
  Nobles with Yachts, whether spacefaring or ocean–going. Cost 
  Cr 200. Mass 2kg.
  Dress Jacket (Heavyweight) (TL 5+): Heavyweight dress suit 
  jacket, knee length. Epaulettes and brocade optional, depending 
  on Rank and Social Standing. Cost Cr 250. Mass 3kg.
  Dress Coat (Lightweight) (TL 5+): Lightweight coat, worn over 
  uniform to keep the rain off. Cost Cr 250. Mass 3kg.
  Dress Coat (Heavyweight) (TL 5+): Heavyweight long grey 
  military coat, worn over uniform to keep rain off. Cost Cr 350. 
  Mass 4kg.
  Evening Jacket (TL 4): Also known as a “smoking jacket,” this 
  is a long jacket, fashioned from an expensive material like silk, 
  lined with satin. Still sometimes worn by flamboyant members 
  of the nobility indoors and by some of the more eccentric 
  Travellers. Costs Cr. 150. Mass 2kg.
  Dress Shirt (TL 5+): Silk shirt for a dress suit. Cost Cr 40. Mass 
  1kg.
  Dress Shirt (TL 5+): Somewhat more flamboyant silk shirt with 
  ruffed front, sharp lapels and cuffs. For the more extravagant 
  and flamboyant Travellers, Nobles and other eccentrics. Cost 
  Cr 45. Mass 1200g.
  Dress Pants (TL 5+): Standard trousers for a dress suit. Cost 
  Cr 70. Mass 2kg.
  Dress Vest (TL 5+): A sleeveless waistcoat worn between the 
  dress shirt and dress jacket. Cost Cr 50. Mass 1kg.
  Kilt: A skirt–like item of apparel worn by men, made of a 
  heavy, patterned cloth called tartan. Traditional to a remote 
  region of Terra, sometimes worn by gentlemen who wish to 
  claim ancestry from that region, however distant. Worn with a 
  traditional dress dinner jacket top and silk ruffed shirt with ruffed 
  cuffs and a small purse–like item called a sporran. Costs Cr. 
  100. Mass 5kg.
  Slinky Silk Dress (TL 5+): A lightweight one piece dress item 
  worn to conceal and to reveal in equal measure. Styles vary 
  greatly, as do costs, ranging from Cr. 25 to Cr. 4500. Mass 100g 
  – 500g.
  Heavy Evening Gown (TL 4+): A full length formal ballgown, 
  comprising a floor length skirt and long sleeved top. Looks 
  heavier than it is, because the materials of which it is made 
  are lightweight, such as silk and satin. Costs from Cr 100 to Cr. 
  5000, depending on style and material. Mass 2kg–10kg.
  Power Suit (TL 8): Worn by corporate and business types, the 
  power suit is designed to intimidate the competition and show 
  customers that the wearer means business. Cost Cr. 250. Mass 
  3kg.
  Outdoor and Leisure
  Coat (TL 4+): A lightweight coat, full sleeved and waist length, 
  with outer and inner pockets. Costs vary. A basic light coat costs 
  Cr. 30. Mass 2kg.
  Heavy Coat (TL 4+): A heavier coat, knee–length, full sleeved 
  with outer and inner pockets. Provides better protection against 
  poor weather conditions. Cost Cr. 50. Mass 4kg.
  Cape (TL 3+): A short–length lined synthetic cape. Provides 
  additional protection against rain. Cost Cr. 35. Mass 1kg.
  Cloak (TL 3+): A floor–length, hooded cloak. Provides protection 
  against rain. Cost Cr. 60. Mass 3kg.
  Hood (TL 4+): An option for coats and capes, hoods provide 
  protection against rain and weather. Add +50g and Cr. 5 to 
  mass and costs. Insulated coats have insulated hoods.
  Unitard (TL 5+): A skintight bodystocking, available full sleeved 
  and full–length or short sleeved and/or short–legged. Figure 
  hugging, preserving modesty while at the same time maximising 
  mobility, unitards are worn by entertainers and performers of 
  the arts, notably dance. Cost Cr. 30–90. Mass less than 1kg. 
  Available in all sorts of colours and fabrics.
  Swimming Costume (TL 8+): Designed to maximise swimming 
  performance and minimise friction in the water, these costumes 
  are worn by professional athletes in competition. Cost Cr 100. 
  Mass less than 1kg.
  Bathing Costume, Antique (TL 4–5): Made of a light cotton–
  like fabric, covering the entire body from neck to ankles, this 
  is more designed to preserve the wearer’s modesty than to 
  improve upon swimming performance. Cost Cr 30. Mass 2kg. 
  Wet, mass is more like 4kg due to water absorption.
  Gown, Hospital: There is no sight less dignified than that of 
  a hospital patient wearing a gown, shuffling about in the ward. 
  Cost around Cr. 10. Mass 500g.
  Pyjamas and Nightgowns: Typically made of a lightweight, 
  
  149
  ship’s loCker
  light coloured fabric, these are worn at night, often with a 
  heavier dressing gown. Costs Cr. 10. Mass 1kg. Dressing gown 
  costs Cr. 15. Mass 1200g.
  T – Shirt (TL 5+): A light, short–sleeved single piece shirt, 
  T–shirts bear a host of stylish designs. Can be worn in lieu of 
  vests, sweaters or shirts in a shirtsleeve environment such as a 
  ship. Costs from Cr. 10. Mass 1kg.
  Cardigan (TL 3+): A thick, chunky, soft, long sleeved upper 
  body cover, made of processed animal fleece and available in 
  any of a range of colours and designs, a cardigan provides good 
  protection against cold weather: the equivalent of 2 points of 
  armour against characteristic loss through exposure to the cold 
  (see p. 74, Traveller). Cost Cr 10. Mass 2kg.
  Shorts (TL 4+): Short length trousers, no longer than knee 
  length. Worn by joggers, amateur sports enthusiasts and by 
  people in a variety of shirtsleeve environments. Cost Cr. 25. 
  Mass 750g.
  Pants (TL 4+): Ordinary trousers, jeans or slacks. Come in a 
  variety of materials, colours or styles. Cost Cr. 30. Mass 1500g.
  Underwear (TL 5+): Come in a variety of styles, for a variety 
  of purposes. Costs range from between Cr 5 and Cr 35. Mass 
  less than 500g.
  Long Underwear (TL 5): Insulated long thermal underwear, 
  these provide some protection against cold. Cost Cr. 25. Mass 
  1kg. 
  Heated Underwear (TL 8): As long underwear above, but 
  heated by a special battery pack to provide even better 
  protection against cold. Cost Cr. 65. Mass 1kg, not including 
  the battery pack.
  Speciality
  Working Uniform (TL 4+): Specialist clothing which not only 
  performs a utility function; it identifies the trade to which the 
  wearer ostensibly belongs. These include:–
  Lab Coat: Long, heavy white jacket with long sleeves and 
  pockets. A lab coat is an essential garment to wear in a 
  laboratory, because the material of which it is made is usually 
  treated to be chemical–resistant, providing some measure of 
  protection to the wearer from chemical spillages. Cost Cr 100. 
  Mass 2kg.
  Chef’s Clothes: The traditional uniform of a Vilani Shugili 
  (chef) is unmistakable. Similar in design to the traditional Terran 
  chef’s garments, the Shugili’s uniform comprises traditional 
  heavy trousers, an undershirt, a heavy front–buttoning jacket 
  and protective pinafore or apron. Given the similarities in 
  function between Vilani Shugili and Terran chefs, the first real 
  connection was made between the two human races when 
  their respective catering staff first encountered one another and 
  instantly recognised their commonality through the similarity of 
  their uniform designs alone. Cost Cr 150. Mass 2–3kg.
  Surgical Scrubs (TL 5): A waist–length gown and pants, 
  worn for surgery, these keep the medic from contaminating the 
  patient and vice versa. Cost Cr. 50..Mass 2kg.
  Martial Arts Gi: A jacket and pants worn by martial artists, 
  fastened with a traditional belt. The colour of the belt typically 
  denotes the level of mastery of the martial art, ranging from 
  white (Melee–0) to black (Melee–4 or higher), with various colour 
  gradations in between. Lightweight fabrics chosen for contact 
  sports such as Karate and more sturdy fabrics are chosen for 
  martial arts styles involving throws, pins and grapples, such as 
  Aikido and Judo. Aikido masters also require the wearing of 
  a special pair of loose trousers, called a hakama. Martial arts 
  gi range from Cr 25, mass 4kg (Karate), to Cr. 35, mass 6kg 
  (Judo, Aikido); hakama weigh 4 kg; and the specialised outfit for 
  Kendo, called a bogu, costs Cr. 250 and has mass 10kg.
  Clown Suit: From the TL 2 court jester to modern clowns, the 
  tradition of clowning extends back to the most primitive TL 0 
  cultures, where even the most savage communities always had 
  a Fool who lived apart from the rest. The theatrical development 
  of the clown suit comprises a wild and garishly coloured, 
  usually baggy, one piece or sometimes two piece patchwork 
  uniform called a motley, covering the body from neck to ankles. 
  Accessories include clown boots, heavy gloves, lots of makeup 
  and a conical hat of some sort. An export from Terra, the antics 
  of clowns are recognised in every human culture thus far 
  encountered. 
  Clown suits are mentioned here for another reason: sometimes, 
  crimes have been committed in the most unlikely clothing, and if 
  characters decide to try and, for instance, turn over a bank whilst 
  wearing clown suits, at least now they will know how much to 
  expect to fork out for these uniforms. Cost Cr 250. Mass 5kg. 
  Clown makeup (pancake or “slap”) costs Cr. 50. Mass 2kg. 
  Replacement slap costs Cr. 10, and has mass of a few grams.
  Vestments: Worn by priests, religious leaders and Psions. A 
  heavy robe. May be accompanied by a variety of items worn 
  over the base vestment, which is alsocalled a cassock. Costs 
  Cr 1500. Mass 10kg.
  Antique Diving Suit (TL 4–5): A heavy, cumbersome sealed 
  unit of heavy, waterproof rubberised cloth with a large spherical 
  brass helmet mounted on a screw mounted shoulder plate, 
  thick gloves and lead–lined boots providing a completely sealed 
  environment, the antique diving suit is described as “the Vacc 
  Suit of Technological Levels 4 and 5.” Not much use below 20 
  metres or so, the actual depth of dive is equal to the maximum 
  length of air hose available, connected to an external airpump 
  mounted above the water on a boat of some sort. Heavy boots 
  allow for extremely clumsy and slow walking on the bottom of 
  a body of water – Speed and Dexterity are penalised –4 each. 
  Romantic images of steampunk alternative futures aside, 
  however, these suits provide no protection against the vacuum 
  
  150
  ship’s loCker
  of space. Cost Cr. 5000. Mass 125kg.
  Wetsuit (TL 6): A lightweight full body length rubberised 
  unitard designed to be worn by SCUBA divers. Provides 
  limited protection against hypothermia: in really cold waters, 
  leisure wetsuits are useless and heavier, insulated wetsuits 
  are needed instead. Cost Cr. 150–350. Mass 5kg or 10kg.
  Infiltration Suit (TL 8+): Specially designed to minimise an 
  infiltrator’s presence on the target premises, an infiltration kit 
  comprises a solid black one piece costume, designed for silent 
  movement and stealth. Cuffs on collar, sleeves and ankles are 
  elasticated and have adhesive strips designed to provide a 
  tight seal with the supplied gloves, moccasins and cowl and 
  minimise the chances of leaving forensic evidence (hairs, skin 
  samples or other trace evidence) behind at the scene of a crime. 
  Cost Cr. 800. Mass 4kg. Options available include Computer 
  Weave, Smart Fabric, IR Chameleon and Visilight Chameleon, 
  as described on p. 88–89, Traveller.
  Equestrian Outfit: Specialised endurance equestrian suit, 
  gloves and pants designed for wearing whilst riding a beast 
  of burden. Provide protection to the wearer’s inner thighs and 
  backside and prevent chafing from becoming too unbearable. 
  Some cultures also require leather leg chaps, and possibly a 
  leather tabard too. Costs Cr. 100. Mass 5kg.
  Urban Night Camo (TL 10): Specialised fatigues – outer 
  jacket and pants – designed specifically for nocturnal urban 
  environments. The material has been treated to absorb the 
  specific colours of artificial light sources, making the wearer 
  harder to spot if he hides in shadows cast by that light: +2DM 
  to Stealth skill task checks. Cost Cr. 500. Mass as standard 
  fatigues.
  Municipal Work Uniform (TL 5+): Coveralls made of a heavy 
  synthetic fabric, municipal work uniforms are worn by city 
  workers. They provide identification of status and purpose as 
  well as protection against the usual accumulations of dirt and 
  hazardous materials with which the wearers typically come 
  into contact. Completed by heavy boots and thick gloves, a 
  character in a municipal worker’s uniform can easily be ignored 
  by people accustomed to seeing work gangs busy digging holes 
  in the road, pushing a broom through a corridor or wandering 
  through maintenance areas of offices and facilities. Add +2 
  DM to attempts by the wearer to escape notice (via Stealth or 
  Deception). Automatically lowers one’s Social Standing DM to 
  –2 for any other purpose. Costs from Cr. 150. Mass 2kg.
  Still Suit (TL 11): A sealed suit designed for long–distance 
  desert crossing, the still suit is worn beneath outer desert 
  clothing and has been developed to conserve water. Powered 
  by the muscular action provided by walking, the still suit 
  processes perspiration, bodily wastes and breath and extracts 
  the water, storing it in shin pads; the wearer draws in the water 
  through a drinking tube. Adds +4 to all Survival task check DMs 
  to avoid dehydration and exposure in desert conditions. Costs 
  Cr. 4000. Mass 15kg.
  Arctic Survival Suit (TL 11): Designed to protect against 
  extreme cold weather, this sealed suit combines insulated outer 
  and inner clothing; a hooded outer jacket, one piece survival 
  suit and inner underwear, gloves, socks and boots. With this 
  high tech version, the vest, gloves, hood and socks are heated 
  by a battery pack worn on the waist, typically hanging from a 
  belt. Adds +4 to all Survival task check DMs to avoid exposure 
  in extreme cold conditions. Costs Cr. 500. Mass 10kg.
  Gravity Suit (TL 12): A combination of grav–assist technology 
  and servomotors similar to those deployed in Battle Dress, a 
  gravity suit enables a character from a lower–gravity world 
  (e.g. UWP Size code 3 or less) to survive in a high–gravity one 
  (UWP Size code 8 or higher). Worn by a character in her native 
  gravitational field, a gravity suit provides the full Strength and 
  Dexterity bonuses of Battle Dress (p. 88, Traveller) but without 
  the bulk. Regular armour would have to be worn to provide 
  protection and gravity suits are not compatible with Combat 
  Armour or Battle Dress. Costs Cr. 120,000. Mass 10kg.
  Power Infiltration Suit (TL 14): Combining the options 
  available for infiltration suits, above and gravity suits, above, this 
  advanced powered form of infiltration suit grants the infiltration 
  options listed on p. 88 – 89 of Traveller and the advantages 
  of gravity suits and infiltration suits, above. Costs Cr. 150,000. 
  Mass 10kg.
  Footwear
  Shipboard
  Ship Socks (TL 5+): Ankle–length socks. Cost Cr 5. Mass less 
  than 100g.
  Ship Shoes (TL 5+): Soft slippers with non–slip soles. Cost Cr. 
  5. Mass 200g.
  Ship Boots (TL 5+): Low–top boots . Worn with ship 
  uniforms. Cost Cr. 10. Mass 400g.
  Dress
  Dress Socks (TL 4+): Knee–length standard socks, worn under 
  dress boots. Cost Cr. 10. Mass less than 200g.
  Uniform Boots (High–top Lace) (TL 5+): Shiny standard 
  uniform boots. Cost Cr 50. Mass 2kg.
  Dress Boots (High–top Slip–On) (TL 5+): Shiny uniform 
  boots. Worn with full dress uniform for ceremonial occasions. 
  Cost Cr 70. Mass 2kg. 
  Uniform Boots (Low–top Lace) (TL 5+): Shiny uniform boots. 
  Cost Cr 40. Mass 1500g.
  Dress Boots (Low–top Slip–On) (TL 5+): Shiny slip–on 
  uniform boots. Cost Cr 40. Mass 1500g.
  
  151
  ship’s loCker
  Outdoor and Leisure
  Common Socks (TL 4+): Standard socks, high–top and low–
  top varieties available in a range of colours. Costs from Cr. 5, 
  mass less than 100g.
  Athletic Socks (TL+): Long sports socks worn by athletes. 
  Costs Cr 5. Mass less than 100g.
  Insulated Socks (TL 4+): These socks provide a little protection 
  against cold. Cost Cr. 10 a pair. Mass less than 200g.
  Heated Socks (TL 7+): These socks are warmed with a 
  miniature battery pack, good for 18 hours’ continual use. Cost 
  Cr. 30 a pair. Mass 150g.
  Slippers (TL 4): If you’re in command of a million ton Capital 
  Ship, carrying the biggest meson spinal mount emplacement 
  Charted Space has ever seen, nobody will dare tell you that 
  you’re wearing carpet slippers with your uniform. Cost Cr 5. 
  Mass 500g.
  Hiking Boots (TL 4+): These heavy low–top laced boots are 
  designed for long–distance walking, hiking, climbing and other 
  long–duration ambulatory activities. Sealed against water, 
  these boots keep feet from frostbite and trench foot alike over 
  long hikes overland. Cost Cr. 50 a pair. Mass 2kg.
  Citizens’ Boots (TL 4+): Heavy boots worn on construction 
  sites, reinforced with steel toecaps. Protect feet with 1 point of 
  armour. Cost Cr. 20. Mass 1kg.
  Speciality
  Infiltration Moccasins (TL 10): High–top thick–soled sealed 
  split socks designed for use with infiltration suits, above. The 
  options available to infiltration suits are available to these socks, 
  too. Designed to form a tight seal with the elasticated ankle cuffs 
  of infiltration suits to prevent shedding of incriminating forensic 
  evidence. Costs and mass incorporated in the infiltration suit.
  Equestrian Boots: High–top, slip–on boots designed for 
  equestrian wear. Costs and mass incorporated into equestrian 
  outfit.
  Performance Shoes (TL 6): Worn by dance performers, these 
  high–top socks have non–slip soles for gripping on polished 
  surfaces such as the boards of a stage. Cost Cr. 40. Mass 100g.
  Ballet Shoes (TL 5): Worn by dance performers. Cost Cr. 40. 
  Mass 100g.
  Tap Dancing Shoes (TL 4+): Tap shoes with steel taps on the 
  toes and heels, worn by performers in the archaic dance form 
  known as “tap dancing.” Cost Cr. 50 pair. Mass less than 500g.
  Flippers (TL 6): Webbed rubberised diving footwear. Dexterity 
  DM and Speed are reduced –2 while on land. Costs Cr. 50 a 
  pair. Mass 4kg.
  Clown Boots (TL 5+): Oversized shoes, deliberately designed 
  for absurdity. Worn by clowns as part of their act. Dexterity DM 
  and Speed are reduced –2 while worn. Cost Cr. 40. Mass 2kg.
  headGear
  Shipboard
  Cap: Baseball–style cap. Typically carry the insignia of the ship 
  or service to which the wearer belongs. Cost Cr. 10. Mass 50g.
  Dress
  Uniform Cap: Peaked uniform cap bearing insignia of service. 
  Worn to formal functions. Cost Cr. 150. Mass 1kg.
  Outdoor and Leisure
  Hat: Available in a variety of styles, hats include Stetsons (large 
  hats with broad rims), fedoras (smaller hats with broad rims), 
  bowler or Derby hats (hemispherical rigid hats) and top or silk 
  hats (stovepipe hats), as well as more exotic types such as 
  jester’s caps, skull caps, clown hats and others. Costs range 
  from Cr 30 to Cr 200. Mass 1kg.
  Knitted Ski Cap: Just covers the top of the head. A variety of 
  colours and styles. Cost Cr. 5. Mass 100g.
  Insulated Cap (TL 8): Provides thermal protection. Covers the 
  head, neck and ears. Cost Cr. 15. Mass 100g.
  Heated Cap (TL 8): As for insulated cap but also heated with 
  a miniature battery pack. Cost Cr. 45. Mass 100g, not counting 
  the pack.
  Motorcycle Helmet: A rigid full–head covering, the helmet is 
  a protective device worn to protect the head of a motorcycle 
  rider. Provides 2 points of armour against impacts aimed at the 
  head and obscure facial details, preventing identification. These 
  helmets do not protect against bullets. Cost Cr 50. Mass 2kg.
  Speciality
  Ski Mask (TL 6+): Worn over the entire face to prevent facial 
  identification. Cost Cr. 10. Mass 100g.
  Infiltration Cowl (TL 10): Worn as part of an infiltration suit, 
  the options available to the infiltration suit are available here 
  too. Provides a full seal with the suit’s collar. Costs and mass 
  incorporated in the infiltration suit. Completed by eye protection/ 
  visual enhancement goggles and a filter mask over the lower 
  face. See p. 96–97, Traveller.
  aCCessories
  Shipboard
  Utility Tabard (TL 5+): A sleeveless vest which is worn over 
  a jumpsuit or uniform. Contains many pockets for tools and 
  several utility loops. Cost Cr. 20. Mass 1kg.
  Gloves (TL 4+): Lightweight gloves, providing limited thermal 
  protection. Cost Cr 5 a pair. Mass less than 100g.
  Insulated Gloves (TL 4+): Heavyweight gloves, providing 
  more protection when handling hot items. Cost Cr. 15 a pair. 
  Mass 500g.
  
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  ship’s loCker
  Belt (TL 4+): A heavy utility belt, with multiple utility loops for 
  tools. Cost Cr. 20. Mass 1kg.
  Dress
  Dress Belt (TL 5+): White uniform belt. Costs Cr. 20. Mass 
  250g.
  Dress Sash (TL 5+): A sash (worn over the shoulder) or 
  cummerbund (worn about the waist), usually to hang medals 
  or decorations on. In some cultures, a red silk sash denotes 
  Noble Social Standing. Come in a variety of colours. Cost Cr 
  30. Mass 100g.
  Dress Gloves (TL 4+): Lightweight white gloves. Cost Cr 15 a 
  pair. Mass less than 100g.
  Neckerchief: A wide strip of cloth worn about the neck. At a 
  moment’s notice, it can be placed about the face to keep out 
  trail dust … or to obscure the face and prevent identification. 
  Costs Cr 1. Mass 5g.
  Dress Tie: Straight silk tie. Cost Cr. 10. Mass 15g.
  Dress Tie: Bow tie. Cost Cr. 25. Mass 5g.
  Cravat: A silk kerchief worn with a smoking jacket and 
  sometimes a ruffed silk shirt. Cost Cr. 25. Mass 5g.
  outdoor and leisure
  Surcoat (TL 2): A sleeveless apron that slips over the shoulders. 
  Costs Cr. 25. Mass 500g.
  Apron / Pinafore: This provides some protection against 
  spillages. Heavy aprons are worn by craftsmen. Cost Cr. 5 or 
  Cr. 50. Mass 150g or 5kg.
  Utility Belt (TL 6): A sturdy canvas belt with utility loops for 
  items. Cr. 15. Mass 100g.
  Webbing Harness (TL 5): A sturdy canvas harness, worn over 
  shoulders and around the waist and crossing at the back, with 
  utility loops to hold items. Cost Cr. 20. Mass 200g.
  Handbag: Stylish carry bags for storing money, IDs and 
  cosmetics. The more extravagant handbags are made of 
  expensive leather, encrusted with semi–precious stones or are 
  similarly outlandishly designed. Costs vary widely, from Cr. 30 to 
  Cr. 20,000, depending on the reputation of the brand. Forgeries 
  of brand label goods are common. Mass from 100g to 5kg.
  Backpack (TL4): A rigid H frame with straps to secure a rigid 
  bag to the back of the wearer, with a main compartment and 
  two smaller side compartments. Can support contents weighing 
  up to 30kg. Fabric treated to resist harsh wilderness and most 
  environmental conditions. Cost Cr. 75. Mass 2kg.
  Chest pack (TL 4): A chest pack with an internal capacity of up 
  to 5kg. Cost Cr. 10. Mass 500g.
  Towel: Costs Cr 5. Mass 1kg. The good ones cost Cr. 10 and 
  mass 1500g.
  Speciality
  Sunglasses: Available in a variety of styles. They provide 
  protection from harsh light, although some brands of sunglasses 
  are more for style than for any practical use. Costs range from 
  Cr. 15 to Cr. 150. Mass 100g.
  Eye Goggles: Protective eyewear, these are required by law 
  in engineering areas and laboratories. Cost Cr. 40. Mass 100g.
  Face Shield: A full face shield, this protection is required by 
  arc welders to protect their faces and eyesight. Cost Cr. 150. 
  Mass 4kg.
  Tights, Nylon (TL 6): Normally worn as leggings, these can 
  be worn drawn over the face to obscure features and prevent 
  identification. Cost Cr 1. Mass 1g.
  Mask, Theatrical: A rigid face mask. Worn over the face and 
  held by a loop of cord around the head, it provides an effective 
  disguise. Cost Cr 5. Mass 10g.
  Mask, Rubber: A rubber face mask, worn over the entire head. 
  Rubber masks tend to be designed to look like caricatures of 
  notable personalities. Among the favourites currently in vogue 
  are Duke Norris, Emperor Strephon, an Aslan, a Droyne, a 
  Vargr and the head of the Church of the Stellar Divinity. Cost 
  Cr 15. Mass 50g.
  Infiltration Gloves: Completing the infiltration suit, these are 
  long gloves with fasteners allowing a seal between the gloves 
  and the elasticated cuffs of the infiltration suit’s sleeves, 
  ensuring that stray epithelial cells, hairs etc. remain sealed in. 
  Costs and mass incorporated in the infiltration suit.
  kits and aCCessories
  Clothing Maintenance Kit (TL 2+): All the tools to repair and 
  maintain clothes, from lint brushes to needles and thread. The 
  quality of repair depends on the skill of the repairer and the 
  materials available. Costs Cr. 10. Mass 5kg.
  Footwear Maintenance Kit (TL 2+): Boot polish, boot brushes 
  and replacement shoelaces. Costs Cr. 10. Mass 4kg.
  Suit Travelling Case (TL 5+): Made of heavy–duty synthetic 
  fabrics. Used to carry suits in good condition. Costs Cr. 25. 
  Mass 2kg, not including the suit.
  Luggage (TL 4+): Cases made of impact – resistant plastic, 
  designed to hold up to 50kg of clothing and gear. Cost Cr. 30. 
  Mass 5kg per unit, not counting contents.
  Duffel Bag (TL 4): A large fabric carry–all bag with a capacity 
  of up to 50kg. Costs Cr. 30. Mass 1500g.
  Heating Battery: Battery pack worn on a utility belt, the battery 
  pack provides the power for all heated apparel (heated thermal 
  underwear, heated socks, gloves, hood and other clothes). 
  Duration: TL 6; 1 hour. TL 8; 6 hours. TL 10; 12 hours. Costs Cr. 
  45. Mass 1kg.
  
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  Clothes Maketh the Man
  Most times in a Traveller scenario, what a character wears 
  is insignificant. When looking for a Patron, interacting with 
  passengers on board ship or performing the usual sort of 
  adventuring activities Travellers get up to, besides armour or 
  Battle Dress or vacc suits, what they wear never really bears 
  close scrutiny. But that’s not always the case.
  From Imperial Marines in full Battle Dress to the Emperor in all 
  his finery, from a scientist in a white lab coat to a stern corporate 
  Agent in a sharp power suit, what a character or NPC wears 
  can identify them long before the character makes any sort of 
  significant action, or even opens their mouth to speak.
  A Referee can take advantage of this list to generate scenarios 
  and Patron encounters for Player Characters. For instance, 
  a world the characters visit might have a religious taboo 
  against people showing their faces, requiring everybody, male 
  and female, to have to wear very specific kinds of masks 
  and headgear – cowls, for example, covering the head and 
  shoulders with integral rigid masks. Another world might have 
  a taboo against the use of animal–based fabrics such as wool, 
  silk, satin or velvet but have no objection to clothing made of 
  plant–based or synthetic fabrics (cotton, linen and so on).
  On some worlds, possession of an infiltration suit is grounds 
  for arrest because the local law level of the world considers 
  such possession as admission of intent to commit crimes. On 
  other worlds, wearing an all–black skin–tight costume might be 
  considered a sign of someone available and willing to marry a 
  local. And ancient theatrical tradition declares that characters 
  wearing black are supposed to be invisible, so some people 
  will respond to the character accordingly and ignore them, no 
  matter how urgently he needs their attention.
  Some science fiction shows have marvellous technologies such 
  as devices which can fabricate clothing out of nothing. Traveller 
  does not presume the existence of such marvels of garment 
  generation and assumes that characters in need of clothes in a 
  hurry will need to find a store that supplies it, or make do with 
  whatever alternatives are available. Characters could potentially 
  become highly attached to their uniforms from their career days, 
  lavishing attention on “the old dress uniform” as they bring it out 
  of mothballs for a special occasion. And of course, where they 
  go, their uniforms and clothes will have to go too. The more they 
  carry, the more they have to pay for passage.
  Stewards have to make sure they have good quality formal 
  wear and accessories handy for entertaining the high passage 
  passengers. Scientists have to be wearing their lab coats. 
  Adventurers exploring hostile terrains need to make sure that 
  their apparel is suitable for crossing that terrain and so on.
  The world of Traveller does not generally pay close attention 
  to the minutiae of such trivial activities as laundry and clothing 
  repair. Like the rules for character generation, world building, 
  ship design and trade, the amount of detail a player wishes to 
  apply in describing the activities of day–to–day clothing and 
  apparel maintenance depends on how much detail they are 
  willing to apply.
  But consider, for example, the Referee potential if a Player 
  Character’s NPC girlfriend suddenly started to wear floaty 
  maternity smocks, or an Agent formerly thought loyal turns up 
  wearing the uniform of an enemy force’s military and professes 
  their loyalty to the enemy’s cause – and that they have been 
  loyal to the foe all along. 
  A mercenary or High Guard Naval scenario can be spun 
  out of a character being punished for not maintaining 
  their uniform properly, or the characters could be paid 
  handsomely if they could but transport a cargo of spare 
  uniforms to a Naval base (just as the base was subject to 
  an invasion, for instance).
  Consider a scenario where the world the character visit is under 
  the control of a rigid, mechanistic oligarchy which maintains 
  strict bureaucratic control over its citizens, through the clothed 
  that they wear: every profession has a unique and identifying 
  style, from the highest Nobles to prisoners and mental patients 
  in hospital wards, and each uniform has a Social Status 
  assigned to it which limits the people they can talk to. Consider 
  a matriarchal world, such as Mora in the Spinward Marches or 
  the world Angel One from the episode of that name of Star Trek: 
  the Next Generation, where women might wear the aggressive 
  business suits and men the lightweight, flouncy fabrics other 
  cultures associate with women’s clothing.
  Sometimes, all it takes is a change of clothing to change one’s 
  entire perspective on things. And it is the ability to change 
  perspectives at will that define the very nature of Travellers.
  Sample Patron
  Tailor
  Required Skills: Broker, Trade (Tailoring) 
  Required Equipment: None
  Players’ Information
  This elderly tailor is on the cusp of retirement. He knows that his 
  better days are behind him now, and he wants to go out in a blaze 
  of glory with one final outfit design. He has secured a contract 
  to design a Noble’s daughter’s wedding dress and he wants the 
  characters to help him with a quick run to a neighbouring star 
  system to secure some bolts of a material which would be ideal 
  for this dress: a fabric of an advanced Technological Level that 
  the competition have never heard about, and which has just 
  come on the market.
  Referee’s Information
  The tailor is … (roll 1d6):
  1–2: unaware that the material is far more expensive than 
  he thought but he is willing to bankrupt his whole business to 
  secure the shipment.
  
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  ship’s loCker
  3–4: actually dying and he is looking for someone with good 
  tailoring skills to take on the business;
  5–6: going to cheat – there’s a dress available on the market 
  the next star system over, made of this wonderful fabric but it is 
  ready–made, and all he is going to do is cut off the brand names 
  and sew on his own. 
  non–lethal weapons
  desiGned to suBdue, not to kill
  Combat in Traveller is usually lethal. It requires little effort to 
  terminate a life; and some of the weapons available from a 
  disturbingly low technological level, can terminate thousands, 
  even millions, of lives in an instant. However, sometimes, 
  characters need to take their targets down and keep them alive 
  for some reason.
  A bounty contract might stipulate no collateral casualties; a 
  criminal may need to be brought back to life to face justice. 
  Security personnel on a ship or space station might be outfitted 
  with low–impact stun rounds to avoid puncturing hull walls or 
  viewports.
  Criminal abductors might need to subdue their victims; a corrupt 
  government might equip its riot control forces to subdue rioting 
  crowds, putting down insurrections while keeping dissenters 
  alive for “trial and exile” (for which read “torture and secret 
  execution away from the media gaze”).
  Of course hunters, conservationists, scholars and zookeepers 
  need rounds designed to incapacitate fretful or fugitive animals 
  harmlessly, for capture, rescue, or for tagging, measurement 
  and study.
  Whatever the reason, the following non–lethal devices are 
  available to Travellers, the Law and criminals alike.
  Using Mercenary
  The Mercenary sourcebook lists heavy artillery and support 
  weapons, as well as other weapons more suited for heavy 
  deployment in a military context. Referees are likely to need 
  Mercenary as a reference for some of the weapons listed here.
  Incapacitants and Restraints Manner of 
  Incapacitation
  A non–lethal weapon may subdue a target or targets in a 
  number of ways.
  Sedation: Exposure to a chemical agent induces a state of 
  sedation or unconsciousness.
  Paralysis: Exposure to the agent induces immobilisation, or a 
  state of muscular relaxation in which physical actions are no 
  longer possible.
  Shock: A current flows through the target’s tissues or a 
  sudden release of energy in some form jars the subject (e.g. 
  an intense burst of sound or light or release of kinetic energy). 
  The target is immediately sent into a state of shock and may 
  lose consciousness – but will certainly be stunned and at a 
  disadvantage to all physical actions whilst in shock.
  Restraint: The target is physically restrained, as if grappled by 
  an overwhelming force.
  Knockback: The target suffers a physical impact which knocks 
  him down.
  Means of Incapacitation
  Chemical Restraint: The weapon exposes the target to a 
  chemical agent that induces sedation, paralysis or even shock. A 
  chemical agent takes time to act upon the subject’s metabolism 
  but it is thorough and hard to resist. Chemical restraints cannot 
  induce knockback.
  Binder: An agent which physically restrains the target in a mass 
  of strands of some kind of material, often adhesive, most often 
  a synthetic polymer but sometimes a natural product such as a 
  discharge of silk–like threads.
  Electrical: The weapon discharges an electrical current, 
  inducing shock and unconsciousness.
  Sonic: The weapon discharges a combination of an ultrasound 
  burst and a plasma discharge. The target exposed to this 
  weapon will be stunned and may also be knocked back.
  the stun eFFeCt
  Stun Rating
  A non–lethal weapon’s damage rating is its stun rating. A weapon 
  whose rounds inflict 2d6 damage can deploy non–lethal rounds 
  that inflict 2d6 + Effect stun damage instead. Some weapons 
  inflict minor physical damage as well, usually if deployment of 
  a non–lethal chemical agent requires piercing the target’s skin.
  The round usually takes 1d3 + End DM (minimum 1) rounds 
  to begin working on the target, unless stated otherwise. 
  If a chemical stun round’s damage exceeds the target’s 
  Endurance DM (if positive), the target must roll End each 
  round to avoid losing consciousness. Sometimes a chemical 
  stun round’s damage does not exceed the Endurance DM; 
  the target is often not knocked out but remains fatigued for 
  2d6 – Endurance hours (minimum 1 hour); the target is at 
  a –2DM to resist further similar attacks, as well as other 
  actions.
  Mercy Rounds
  Chemical stun rounds are available for a range of slug throwers. 
  Non–lethal sedative rounds for slug throwers are known as 
  mercy rounds. In some circles, they are also known as street 
  sleepers, goodnight specials, jelly babies, hush bullets and 
  other similar nicknames.
  Action: A mercy round inflicts no more than 1d3–2 (minimum 
  1) physical damage when it strikes (this is not part of its stun 
  
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  ship’s loCker
  rating). It must bypass armour and penetrate bare flesh, which 
  requires that the wielder of the weapon must take an aiming 
  action against an armoured opponent. Armour that fully 
  encloses the target cannot be bypassed.
  The mercy round takes effect 1d3 + End DM (minimum 1 round) 
  rounds after striking the target. Targets roll End each round for 
  the next hour or fall unconscious. Unconsciousness lasts 2d6 – 
  the target’s Endurance in hours, minimum 1 hour.
  Availability and Cost: Mercy rounds for each type of slug 
  thrower are available at a +2 DM to the availability roll and 
  mercy rounds cost 10% – 60% less than standard, lethal, 
  rounds.
  Technological Level: Mercy rounds become available for 
  each weapon at the technological level at which the weapon 
  becomes available. At the same technological level, the mercy 
  round comprises a hollow metal hypodermic flechette that 
  pierces the skin and injects the chemical payload.
  At two technological levels above the weapon’s level, mercy 
  rounds take the form of flechettes of a water–soluble gelatine 
  laced with the sedative agent. The tiny needles enter the body 
  and leave a tiny, quickly healed mark on the skin. When they 
  dissolve, the round releases the payload.
  Mercy Shot: Available for shotgun rounds, a mercy shot round 
  contains, not regular shot pellets but tiny pellets of semi–
  rigid gelatine laced with an agent such as DMSO (dimethyl 
  sulphoxide) and a metabolic rate–controlled anaesthetic. The 
  DMSO allows the anaesthetic round to penetrate the skin 
  without piercing it; thus, mercy rounds only inflict 1d6 physical 
  damage, halved, in addition to its full stun rating.
  A mercy shot round affects all targets in the weapon’s cone of 
  fire, exactly the same as for regular shot. However, the mercy 
  shot rounds automatically bypass any armour that offers only 
  partial cover, such as flak jackets, cloth or jack armour. Mercy 
  shot grenades are grenades filled with the same mercy shot 
  pellets and affect all targets within the blast radius.
  Paralysis Rounds
  Similar to mercy rounds, a paralysis round works on the central 
  nervous system and muscles. The target must exceed the 
  weapon’s stun rating with Dexterity instead; failure means that 
  the character remains conscious but paralysed and incapable 
  of taking any action, even to defend himself. The character 
  becomes fatigued if the Effect is less than or equal to the 
  target’s current Endurance DM, if positive. Paralysis lasts for 
  the same duration as for mercy rounds. Availability, costs and 
  technological levels are as for mercy rounds.
  Other Sedation Techniques
  Spiked Drinks and Food: A character can surreptitiously 
  spike the target’s food or drinks with a sedative. Lacing the 
  drug requires a successful Dexterity characteristic check: the 
  target can detect the presence of the adulterant on a successful 
  Intelligence check against the rating of the drug.
  Once ingested, the drug takes effect in 1d6 minutes. The target 
  suffers fatigue and makes Endurance checks each minute or 
  fall unconscious for 2d6 – Endurance hours, minimum of 1 hour.
  Gas: Tranquiliser gases become available at TL 4 with the 
  invention of nitrous oxide, laughing gas. Gas release systems 
  take time to disperse a volume of gas within the atmosphere 
  of an enclosed space: enough to fill a single stateroom with an 
  effective concentration of gas within 10–60 seconds or a larger 
  enclosed space such as an office block or hospital complex 
  within 10–60 minutes.
  The effect of the gas is as for tranquilisers in drinks or food but 
  onset is within 1–6 seconds and all affected targets must roll 
  Endurance each round to stay awake.
  Drug–Soaked Pad: The character soaks a volatile chemical 
  such as chloroform onto a pad and then applies it over the 
  victim’s mouth and nose. This requires a successful surprise 
  attack and a successful melee grapple attack. The drug’s rating 
  is 2d6 and onset is in 10–60 seconds, with fatigue if the target 
  wins the Endurance roll against the rating but with an Effect less 
  than her Endurance DM if positive. Unconsciousness lasts for 
  2d6 – Endurance hours, minimum of 1 hour.
  Injection: This requires a successful surprise attack and a 
  straightforward Melee attack to deliver the chemical payload, 
  either through a hypodermic syringe (delivering 1 point of 
  damage and requiring that the attacker bypass any armour the 
  target is wearing) or through a slap patch. Onset begins in the 
  next combat round, with effects as for mercy rounds.
  Physical Incapacitation
  Stunners, Stunsticks and Shock Rounds
  These are the weapons listed in the Equipment section of 
  Traveller. At the technological levels at which these weapons are 
  introduced, stunners (also known as tasers) use compressed air 
  to shoot two tiny metal darts at short range. Thin copper wires 
  connect these darts to the taser weapon: when discharged, the 
  stunner delivers an electrical current to the target.
  The target must roll the weapon’s stun rating or greater on 
  Endurance for each round the taser continues to discharge into 
  him; if the target succeeds, the taser has no effect on the target.
  Stunsticks, another form of stunner wielded like a melee 
  weapon and known as stun guns, inflict the same damage but 
  are wielded as melee weapons.
  Shock rounds become available for slug throwers at the same 
  technological level as the level at which the weapons become 
  available.
  Sonic Weapons: At TL 12, sonic stunners become available 
  in pistol, carbine and rifle form. These weapons have the same 
  statistics, including availability and costs, as laser pistols, 
  
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  ship’s loCker
  carbines and rifles but have a maximum range of Medium. 
  These energy weapons discharge a bolt of superheated plasma 
  and ultrasound designed to knock down and disorient the target; 
  these weapons’ damage rating (which is the same as for laser 
  pistols, carbines and rifles) is their stun rating.
  If the target succeeds with the Endurance roll against the rolled 
  stun damage of the weapon, he still must roll against the same 
  stun damage with his Dexterity or be knocked down: a target 
  knocked down ends all actions for the current combat round 
  and begins the next round prone.
  TL 12 stunsticks operate under the same principles as TL 12 
  stunners but are still melee weapons.
  Beanbags and Binders
  Beanbag Rounds
  Available for the police combat shotgun, a beanbag delivers 
  stunning and knockback damage as for TL 15 sonic stunner 
  weapons. These rounds have no effect on targets armoured 
  with any armour stronger than jack.
  Binder Rounds
  Binder rounds envelop the target in a fine cloud of nanofibres. 
  These fibres cling together in a binding cocoon, immobilising 
  the target for 1d6 hours. The target can attempt to break free 
  by exceeding the rolled rating of the round with his Strength; he 
  may attempt this once a minute.
  Binder grenades have the characteristics of frag grenades (p. 
  101, Traveller) but roll the listed damage ratings to provide the 
  effective grappling Strength rating of the binder agent. TL 9, 
  Availability 10+, Cost 200 Cr.
  Binder rounds and grenades come with a spray which dissolves 
  the fibres. Cost Cr. 50; mass 0.5 kg. The spray dissolves the 
  fibres within 1–6 seconds.
  weapons
  Blowgun: A long tube for launching darts at targets up to Medium 
  range, blowguns are powered by breath and are surprisingly 
  accurate. Darts must bypass armour; against a target wearing 
  armour, the character must aim the attack. Blowguns use 
  the Athletics (archery) skill described in Mercenary.
  Police Combat Shotgun: These are short (95 cm), smoothbore 
  specialised shotguns used by police forces. Available as single 
  – shot, breech–loading shotguns at TL 7 and as automatic 
  shotguns with a 10 round clip from TL 8, the police combat 
  shotgun is a larger version of the cartridge pistol that takes 
  a large calibre shot shell which is incompatible with standard 
  shotgun shells. With a simple bead sight, the police combat 
  shotgun has a flip–up sight for ranged shots. 
  Round types include beanbag rounds, shock and stun rounds, 
  mercy shot and binder spray, flashbang and gas grenades 
  of various types (smoke, aerosol, knockout, tear, irritant and 
  incapacitant). Bulky 3 kg drums are available containing 30 rounds.
  Heavy Weapons
  Law enforcement forces with access to large scale incapacitating 
  shells can subdue whole areas at a time. Frequently, law 
  enforcement officers deploy tear gas grenades and beanbag 
  rounds with police combat shotguns.
  Tear gas grenades and mercy shot grenades for police combat 
  shotgun rounds inflict their stated stun rating on all exposed 
  targets within a 1d6 metre blast radius of the point of impact.
  Police forces engaging in riot control have access to heavier 
  weapons, such as water cannon, shot grenade and gas mortar 
  shells and, at TL 15, mounted stun cannon.
  Water Cannon: Vehicle mounted, a water cannon delivers 
  a spray of high–pressure water at the same range as a 
  flamethrower. Targets resist the rolled stun rating with Dexterity 
  to avoid knockback from the water. A water tank inside the 
  vehicle supplies the water: the vehicle can fire continuous 
  bursts for 10 minutes before the tank needs to be refuelled.
  sample npCs
  Marion Bolivar, The Huntress
  Agent, Age 36, 4 terms
  Str 8 Dex 11 End 8 Int10 Edu 9 Soc 9
  Admin–1, Advocate–2, Deception–3, Diplomat–2, Gun Combat 
  (snub pistol) –3, Stealth–2.
  Snub pistol with two full clips of mercy rounds, Allies (her two 
  partners), 3x tranq spray, several doses of liquid chemical 
  TL
  Rating
  Detection DM
  Availability
  Cost (Cr.)
  2
  1d6
  –2
  10
  15
  6
  1d6
  +0
  8
  10
  8
  2d6
  +0
  10
  15
  8
  2d6
  +2
  8
  10
  14
  3d6
  –2
  10
  50
  Gas
  TL
  Rating
  Availability 
  Mass (kg)
  Cost (Cr.)
  Nitrous Oxide
  4
  2d6
  6
  4kg bottle
  250
  Halothane
  8
  3d6
  8
  4kg bottle
  600
  Petrizine
  10
  4d6
  10
  1 kg bottle
  800
  Drugs
  Gas
  
  157
  ship’s loCker
  restraint (knockout drops, chloroform pad), petrizine bottle and 
  dispersal mechanism, van, 1 low passage ticket per character, 
  3 medium passage tickets – one for herself, one for her partners
  Appearance: Marion looks like a typical harassed stay–at–
  home mother. Her hair and makeup are slightly dishevelled and 
  her clothes a little behind current fashion trends. To all intents 
  and purposes, she looks like someone out to do the shopping. 
  She is, however, a ruthless man hunter.
  Encounter: At some point in the characters’ career, they will 
  get on the wrong side of some powerful and influential person 
  or other. That person will be very determined to see that the 
  characters suffer for their presumption: however, he is a hands–
  on sadist and he will want to torment the characters in person.
  Mortar Mercy Shot Rounds: These shells spray bursts of 
  mercy shot across a wide area. Used in standard mortar 
  Weapon
  TL
  Range
  Damage
  Recoil
  Auto
  Mass 
  (kg)
  Maga – zine
  Availa– 
  bility
  Cost 
  (Cr.)
  Ammo Cost (Cr.)
  Blowgun
  0
  Ranged 
  (thrown)
  1d6
  0
  No
  1
  0
  8 +
  0
  Negligible
  Police 
  Combat 
  Shotgun
  7
  Ranged 
  (shotgun)
  2d6
  4
  No
  0.9
  0
  8 +
  800
  Special
  Police 
  Combat 
  Shotgun
  9
  Ranged 
  (shotgun)
  3d6
  4
  2
  0.9
  0.9 /3.9 with 
  drum 01/10 /30
  8 +
  850
  Special
  Mercy and Paralysis Rounds
  Weapon
  Rating
  Revolver
  3d6–3
  Cartridge Pistol Mercy Shot
  2d6+3
  Autopistol
  3d6–3
  Flechette Pistol
  3d6–2
  Snub Pistol
  3d6–3
  Body Pistol
  3d6–3
  Gauss Pistol
  3d6
  launchers. Mortar launchers’ minimum range, effective range, 
  rates of fire and operating crews are listed in Mercenary.
  Vehicle–Mounted Sonic Stunner: At TL 8, a vehicle–mounted 
  heavy sonic stunner is available. The effect is the same as for 
  the TL 12 sonic cannon, with a maximum range of Medium. Too 
  large to be carried by hand, the vehicle’s power source also 
  powers the device.
  The field of fire of the vehicle mounted sonic stunner is the 
  same as that of a shotgun, affecting a cone spreading out from 
  the point of fire and affecting all targets within that area.
  Referee: Use Marion as your quick and dirty railroading agent. 
  If the players are bored with the current adventure, have an old 
  enemy of theirs hire Marion. She will track them down and, one 
  by one or all at once, incapacitate the characters, hauling them 
  all off before her Patron.
  Carbine
  3d6–2
  Autocarbine
  3d6–2
  Flechette Carbine
  3d6
  Gauss Carbine
  3d6
  Rifle
  3d6
  Autorifle
  3d6
  Sniper Rifle (TL 4)
  2d6+6
  Sniper Rifle (TL 8)
  3d6+3
  Flechette Rifle
  3d6
  Gauss Rifle
  4d6
  Assault Rifle
  3d6
  
  158
  ship’s loCker
  Marion charges a hefty fee for her services. As a Patron, she 
  could approach the characters asking if they can aid her to pull 
  off an elaborate scheme she is running to bring in an elusive 
  target: a banker whose incompetence brought a major sector 
  ACR
  3d6
  Gauss Rifle
  4d6
  Shotgun
  4d6
  Police Combat Shotgun
  4d6
  Shotgun Slug
  4d6
  Police Combat Shotgun 
  Slug
  4d6
  LMG
  4d6
  LAG (TL 5)
  6d6
  LAG (TL 8)
  8d6
  Corporation to its knees two sectors away. She stands to gain 
  Cr. 500,000 from the banker’s capture.
  Marion is ... (roll 1d6):–
  1–2: True to her word. The banker is physically harmless but he 
  has been extremely lucky. Marion suspects he may be a psion.
  3–4: Honourable and generous. She has to be. The banker has 
  already managed to kill both of her regular boys.
  5–6: Actually planning on subduing the characters: they are 
  her real prey. And with a bounty of Cr. 100,000 apiece, she 
  is not going to give up the pursuit, even if her true plot is 
  revealed.
  nuClear dampers and 
  disinteGreators
  Introduction
  Of all the ultra – high technology devices available beyond 
  Technology Level 15: antimatter, teleportation systems, pocket 
  universes, psionically active AI: no advanced technological item 
  is more popular among Player Characters than disintegrators. 
  Weapons that make their targets literally disappear forever are 
  deeply coveted by many Player Characters. 
  This article looks at two types of tool, which use the same 
  principle in different ways: nuclear dampers and disintegrators. 
  Since the fi rst launch of Traveller, these devices have been 
  considered to be signature technologies and the purpose of this 
  article is to take an in–depth look at these marvellous devices.
  Recommended Traveller Books
  You will need the Traveller Core Rulebook. Nuclear dampers 
  and disintegrators also appear in Book 1: Mercenary and 
  Supplement 4: Central Supply Catalogue. If you have Book 4: 
  Psion and Book 5: Agent, you might fi nd these books useful 
  Weapon
  TL
  Stun Rating
  Recoil
  Magazine
  Auto
  Availa– bility
  Cost (Cr.)
  Water Cannon
  7
  3d6+6
  3
  25
  water tank
  10+
  2,500
  Weapon
  TL
  Stun Rating
  Radius
  Availability
  Cost (Cr.)
  Mortar Mercy Shot Shell
  11
  5d6
  9 metres
  8
  1,250
  Weapon 
  TL
  Range
  Stun Rating
  Auto
  Mass
  Magazine
  Availability 
  Cost (Cr.)
  Heavy 
  Stunner
  8
  Medium
  3d6  + 
  knockback
  Yes
  –
  Vehicle
  10+
  5,000
  Heavy 
  Stunner
  10
  Medium
  4d6  + 
  knockback
  Yes
  –
  Vehicle
  10+
  8,000
  Heavy 
  Stunner
  12
  Medium
  5d6  + 
  knockback
  Yes
  –
  Vehicle
  10+
  10,000
  
  159
  ship’s loCker
  as well. However, you do not need any of these sourcebooks to 
  use this article.
  Author’s Note to Readers
  Some of this article outlines a plausible theory to explain how 
  these devices work. The theory covers abstruse scientific 
  subjects such as atomic structure, particle physics and so on. 
  The article may therefore, in places, seem to positively drown in 
  technobabble. Conversely some readers may deride the article 
  for the opposite reason, considering the same technobabble to 
  be excessively simplistic. To both kinds of reader, I offer my 
  apologies.
  Without A Trace
  The invention of the nuclear damper is but one step in a quest 
  into the study of the fundamental structure of matter: a topic 
  with a long history.
  Nuclear Science
  TL 0
  Early sophonts might, at this primitive stage, know of the yellow 
  stinking powder that comes from the fiery mountain, the black 
  powder left behind after a tree is struck by lightning, or the hard 
  white crystal and yellow metal that make jewellery. 
  They know of the grey metal and the red metal that make bronze 
  and the heavier metal used in swords. And that’s it.
  TL 1
  The fi rst stabs in the dark are made at this level, when 
  philosophers theorise that matter is composed of atoms. 
  At this technological level, the idea that atoms can be split 
  is unthinkable. Science might seem to take a wrong turn at 
  this point, by theorising that matter is composed of only four 
  elements – earth, air, fire and water. Later scientists might 
  look back at this simplistic thinking with derision, little realising 
  that what these early natural philosophers were describing is 
  actually the then known states of matter – solids, liquids, gases 
  and plasmas. Scientists discover Archimedes’ Principle – a 
  means of measuring the purity of certain substances by water 
  displacement. This is called specific gravity.
  TL 2
  At this stage, early experiments in chemistry lead to the 
  discovery of a variety of different substances, many of which 
  require extraction from oxides or minerals. Some substances 
  which cannot be further refined are called elements. Carbon, 
  iron, gold, sulphur, silver, arsenic, phosphorus and a handful 
  of others are known or discovered: towards the mature TL 2 
  stage, early chemists create lists and make the fi rst fumbling 
  attempts to order them. But the basic idea of the indestructible 
  atom developed at TL1 persists.
  TL 3
  The cataloguing of elements becomes a rush, as new kinds of 
  physical experiments yield new ways to refine elements from 
  the raw materials. Matter is formally described as composed 
  of molecules – combinations of different kinds of elements in 
  specific ratios, such as water (H2O) – two atoms of hydrogen to 
  one of oxygen. The modern science of chemistry is born.
  At this stage, science has uncovered enough elements to begin 
  to see a pattern forming. The listing of different kinds of elements 
  leads to the development of the first periodic tables. Towards the 
  mature TL 3, scientists discover radioactivity for the first time, 
  along with the realisation that the atom can be split.
  TL 4
  Discoveries come thick and fast in this era. Scientists identify 
  different kinds of particles being emitted by radioactive materials: 
  alpha particles, beta particles, neutrons, gamma rays and so on. 
  At this point, scientists know of the existence of protons, neutrons 
  and electrons. The structure of the atom – a nucleus made up 
  of protons and neutrons, surrounded by a cloud of electrons – 
  is laid bare to them. At this stage, science now has the fullest 
  understanding of why elements are all different: each element 
  has a unique atomic number, the number of protons in its nucleus. 
  Hydrogen is hydrogen because its nucleus is a single proton: 
  uranium is uranium because of the 92 protons in its nucleus. With 
  this, the periodic table reaches its final form. Scientists make the 
  final discoveries and determine that only 92 elements can exist in 
  nature. And then they make more elements. Towards the mature 
  TL 4 era, nuclear chemistry splits off from its parent, as scientists 
  begin to pursue divergent interests: some continue to play with 
  the molecules, and the others play God.
  TL 5
  At TL 0, primitives banged bits of rock together and made sparks. 
  This era is marked by a single event: when the primitives bang 
  together lumps of metal and produce a spark that levels cities. 
  A deceptively simple formula, E = mc2, leads to the discovery 
  of nuclear fission and then nuclear fusion. The possibility of 
  nuclear power is broached; it becomes a reality at the next tech 
  level. But a major step towards nuclear damper technology has 
  also been made, as science discovers for the first time that 
  matter can be converted into energy.
  TL 6
  The knowledge that the atom can be split and that matter can 
  be converted into energy, drives the development of nuclear 
  power: and also begins to pose a problem, that of the disposal 
  of nuclear waste. Sadly, the answer to this problem eludes 
  scientists for a few tech levels.
  TL 7
  Nuclear science matures considerably, as neutrinos are first 
  hypothesised and later confirmed with experimentation. Particle 
  
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  accelerators make increasingly exotic discoveries and the first 
  hints, which form the foundation of nuclear damper theory, are 
  laid down.
  TL 8
  During this era, the next discoveries are made, not in the atom, 
  but out in the depths of space. Astronomers begin to hypothesise 
  about the existence of dark matter. At first a curiosity, planet–
  bound scientists are unable to make much headway in studying 
  dark matter at this point. Also discovered is dark energy, a 
  theory first laid down as early as the mature TL 4 but only now 
  beginning to be taken seriously.
  TL 9–11
  The development of gravitics and the Jump drive open up a 
  number of possibilities. Fusion drives and power plants become 
  practical thanks to gravity pinch fields and containment bottles; 
  gravity technology also permits scientists to create reliable 
  particle containment systems for particle accelerators. Gravity 
  accelerators allow neutrons to be used in accelerators for the 
  first time. The expansion of society into the stars also allows 
  science the opportunity to go out and hunt down dark matter 
  and dark energy, rather than create it in the lab.
  TL 12
  It isn’t until this technological level that dark matter is finally 
  encountered and the first experiments with dark matter and 
  dark energy can begin, leading to the development of the 
  first nuclear damper units. Nuclear dampers are initially put 
  to work decontaminating the legacies of the past: regions 
  contaminated by old fallout from nuclear weapons and waste 
  dumps containing remnants of experiments with nuclear 
  medicine, which still pose a hazard centuries afterwards.
  Nuclear dampers become available as ship–mounted screens. 
  Nuclear damper installations spring up to protect cities. Damper 
  proliferation becomes the major political issue of the day, as 
  emotive a subject as the threat of nuclear weaponry poses to 
  society back in late TL 6 to 8.
  Medicine, too, makes use of nuclear damper technology 
  to decontaminate citizens exposed to radiation, as well as 
  to minimize the side effects of medical treatments such as 
  radiotherapy.
  TL 13
  Nuclear dampers make their appearance on the battlefield, 
  increasing the lethality of warfare as, in response, military 
  forces stock up on weapons which cannot be stopped by a 
  damper field.
  The nature of the interactions between dark energy and matter 
  continue to be studied. Scientists make breakthroughs in their 
  understanding of how damper fields work, but the ultimate 
  breakthrough – the disintegration of stable nuclei – remains 
  theoretical. Damper boxes are developed as a reliable method 
  of transporting nuclear matter and warheads.
  TL 14–15
  Nuclear damper technology evolves, the damper units 
  themselves getting smaller and cheaper to run. Further 
  advances lead to the first experiments with disintegration 
  technology but the first practical advances in disintegrator 
  technology do not occur until TL 16. Damper technology has 
  advanced as far as it can go by this stage; with damper boxes 
  containing radiation and dampers becoming small enough to 
  carry by hand, the containment of radiation hazards becomes 
  almost completely routine.
  TL 16
  The first working disintegrator weapons are large and bulky, fixed 
  weapons the size of spinal mounts protecting large installations 
  and cities. Disintegrator therapy is developed on a small scale, 
  an advancement on nuclear damper decontaminators that 
  allows the safe destruction of foreign bodies or tumours inside 
  patients’ bodies.
  TL 17
  The first ship mounted disintegrators appear: large spinal 
  mounts on capital ships. Ranges and power efficiency increase 
  with each new tech level. On the battlefield, vehicle–mounted 
  disintegrators appear; like the introduction of the nuclear 
  warhead and the first battlefield nuclear damper screen, 
  disintegrators change the face of war yet again, as society 
  worries about the potential for atrocity: an army equipped with 
  disintegrators can conceal its war crimes in a whiff of smoke, 
  leaving nothing but silent dust and nothing to point to them at 
  the war trial afterwards.
  Fortunately, damper box technology develops apace with 
  disintegrators, eventually leading to disintegrator screens, 
  fields which set up a disruptive resonance that interferes with 
  disintegrators.
  TL 18 +
  At this stage, man–portable disintegrators become available. 
  Hand held disintegrators and disintegrator small arms are 
  the ultimate expressions of weaponry. Defence technology 
  catches up with weaponry at this stage, with the introduction 
  of the personal anti–disintegrator screen, a portable device 
  that interferes with the functioning of disintegrators.
  nuClear damper theory
  How Dampers Work
  Nuclear dampers strip the radioactivity away from radionuclei 
  harmlessly. No nuclear by–products such as radioactive gases 
  and no harmful radiation. How does this work? As far as the 
  scientists who develop nuclear dampers are concerned, when 
  a damper field is applied to a radioactive nucleus it works 
  continuously on the nucleus for as long as it remains unstable.
  
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  Decay Chain
  For instance a nucleus of uranium undergoes a number of 
  decays, each to  another radioactive element which in turn 
  decays still further until the nucleus changes to a stable isotope 
  of lead: the final product of uranium decay. This process of 
  continued radioactive decay from element to element is known 
  as the decay chain. In the process, the uranium changes to 
  radium and even to gaseous radon, another dangerous 
  radioactive element.
  The Damping Process
  Under the influence of a damper field, the decay chain is 
  completely bypassed. The uranium decays straight away to 
  stable lead and from that point the nuclear damper has no 
  further effect on the nucleus, so the process stops. This would 
  release a huge amount of energy and many particles and 
  gamma photons all at once; but the damper process instead 
  releases that energy harmlessly in the form of neutrinos. This 
  happens regardless of whether the atom is a super heavy 
  nucleus like plutonium or a lightweight element such as tritium 
  (a radioactive hydrogen isotope with two neutrons and one 
  proton in its nucleus).
  understandinG damper theory
  In order to understand how nuclear dampers work, science 
  has to proceed far enough along in its understanding 
  of particle physics to come up with a working model for 
  the structure of atomic nuclei, the processes of nuclear 
  chemistry and an understanding of the strong and weak 
  nuclear forces, as well as gravity and the electromagnetic 
  force.
  Science may come to a plateau of knowledge and stumble 
  blindly for generations before crossing the threshold of 
  understanding which leads to the development of the damper 
  field. Some cultures never develop the understanding fully, 
  instead discovering the principles through examination of found 
  alien devices or through random chance: they might uncover 
  a nuclear warhead left behind from an ancient war, which was 
  transmuted into lead before it could detonate; or one of their 
  own nuclear warheads might pass through an anomalous 
  energy field and be rendered inert. One thing is, however, 
  clear. The development of the nuclear damper begins with the 
  discovery of dark matter and dark energy, discoveries made as 
  early as TL 4.
  Dark Matter and Dark Energy
  Dark matter exists in greater abundance in the universe than 
  the regular matter which makes up every living being and 
  object. Dark matter does not interact with normal matter; only 
  with gravity. Dark matter interacts with dark energy in the same 
  way as normal matter interacts with photons. Dark energy is 
  postulated as the force driving the universe to expand and in 
  fact accelerating its expansion. Dark energy is understood to be 
  a kind of repulsive force, partial understanding of which leads to 
  the development of gravitics, manoeuvre drives and ultimately 
  the Jump–drive. Although dark energy, focused and directed in 
  a coherent beam, has another effect; it weakens the strong and 
  weak nuclear forces.
  Directed against unstable matter, dark energy has the property 
  of destabilising that matter without the usual release of particles 
  or gamma photons. Instead of the energy being released as 
  harmful ionizing radiation, the dark energy converts all that 
  energy into a burst of neutrinos.
  Quantum Level Interactions
  Damper theory posits that the influx of dark energy creates a 
  quantum–level vacuum fluctuation, the result of which means 
  that the unstable matter instantly reaches its most stable 
  “ground state” configuration; and the surplus excitation energy, 
  rather than be converted into gamma photons or a nuclear 
  release, is converted instead into neutrinos – and some dark 
  matter, which harmlessly passes through the normal matter.
  Only at around TL 12 does it become possible for a space 
  faring civilisation to begin to make use of dark energy, through 
  containing particles of dark matter in damper emitters. The 
  initial experiments at TL 10 and TL 11 yield promising results 
  but dampers only become practical at TL 12.
  mode oF operation
  Damper Emitters
  Nuclear dampers operate in pairs of emitters, programmed to 
  work together. One emitter is the master and the other a slave – 
  the latter module is operated remotely from the vehicle housing 
  the master module. The emitters focus their dark energy beams 
  on a region to be decontaminated. Where the beams intersect, 
  they create a node. The beams’ frequencies heterodyne 
  (reinforce one another) and reach a threshold value, above 
  which the damper effect activates. At TL 12 and 13, damper 
  pairs are short ranged – their maximum range is only about 
  100 times the distance separating them, up to a maximum 
  of 200 metres. TL 14 dampers have a much better range of 
  1,000 times the separation distance. TL 15 dampers have a 
  maximum range up to 10,000 times the separation distance. 
  Because early dampers operate at such a short range, it makes 
  them almost useless for defusing flying nuclear ordnance. Early 
  dampers are usually developed for use in military and civilian 
  HAZMAT and decontamination vehicles, designed to enter 
  regions of high radioactivity such as those produced by nuclear 
  fallout or accidental spillage of nuclear cargoes. Larger, fixed 
  mount dampers have sufficient range and power to protect 
  cities from incoming warheads.
  Damper Boxes and Containment Fields
  Damper theory requires that, in addition to nodes where the 
  damper effect is enhanced, damper beams can intersect at 
  antinodes where the opposite effect occurs: the strong and 
  weak nuclear forces are reinforced, rather than disrupted. 
  Damper boxes are specialised containment boxes designed 
  to store and transport radioactive material in relative stability. 
  
  162
  ship’s loCker
  Commercial damper boxes are used to transport hazardous 
  radioactive cargoes. Military damper boxes are used to store 
  depleted uranium rounds and ammunition, as well as tactical 
  and strategic nuclear warheads; the warheads retain their 
  potency over long periods. It is possible for someone to tamper 
  with a nuclear warhead inside a damper box, or even to devise 
  a warhead where the payload is designed to be detonated 
  within a damper box. The effect is up to the Referee but one 
  recommendation is that the effective yield of the warhead could 
  be multiplied by the square of the technological level of the 
  damper box: a 50 kiloton tactical warhead detonated from within 
  a TL 15 damper box (a multiplier of 15 x 15 = 225) would have 
  an effective yield of 11.25 megatons instead!
  Disintegrators
  From the development of the nuclear damper, it is only a 
  matter of time before the next leap to the development of the 
  disintegrator.
  The Threshold
  The development of a nuclear damper that works on stable 
  matter marks the threshold beyond which nuclear dampers 
  become disintegrators. Up until this point, the concentration 
  of dark energy was not strong enough to disrupt the strong 
  nuclear bonds in stable matter. Disintegrators change all that.
  Invention
  In his book Profiles of The Future, the late science fiction author 
  Sir Arthur C Clarke wrote three famous laws concerned with 
  predicting technological advances. The Third Law states “Any 
  sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from 
  magic,” and the mechanisms and devices of Technological Level 
  16 and above may appear to be just that – magical. Arthur C 
  Clarke’s Second Law states “In order to explore the limits of the 
  possible, we must venture a little way beyond it into the realm 
  of the impossible.” So it is with the invention of the disintegrator, 
  which crosses a threshold previously considered impossible 
  – the successful application of a damper field against stable 
  matter, effectively causing it to decay completely into a spray of 
  neutrinos, leaving nothing behind.
  Disintegrator weapons begin as clumsy, bulky spinal mount 
  cannons fitted to capital ships at Technological Level 16. 
  Disintegrators are built progressively more compact at higher 
  technological levels, becoming available as ship–mounted bay 
  weapons and then eventually as turret weapons, vehicular 
  weapons for military support and ultimately as small arms; 
  disintegrator rifles and pistols appear at the dizzying heights of 
  Technological Levels 17 through to 19 and beyond. However, 
  disintegrators appear as tools for far more peaceful purposes at 
  earlier technological levels and find a variety of uses.
  Art
  Disintegrators work in the same way as dampers: two emitters 
  focus beams of dark energy at a targeted point. At that focus 
  point, matter disintegrates. In the case of disintegrators, each 
  weapon casing houses both emitters. Because the individual 
  dark energy beams can penetrate into matter without harming 
  it except at the focus point, it becomes possible to hollow 
  out objects without having to drill into them or open them up. 
  Sculptures have been discovered at the sites of particularly 
  advanced alien cultures, such as the Ancients in the Official 
  Traveller Universe, which appear to be solid and intact on the 
  outside but have been hollowed out in an intricate pattern; how 
  this is done is a mystery unless one realises that a disintegrator 
  had been used to make it.
  Medicine
  Foreign bodies and tumours can be removed if their locations 
  within a body can be pinpointed accurately enough. This is the 
  principle behind disintegrator therapy, a form of treatment which 
  becomes available at TL 16.
  Just as importantly, disintegrator therapy can help eliminate 
  another problem: heavy metal contamination by contaminants 
  such as lead, mercury and thallium. Heavy metals accumulate 
  in the bones and organs of patients and are hard to remove. 
  However, disintegrator beams are more effective against 
  denser, heavier atoms than against lighter atoms such as 
  carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Attuning the beams to a 
  particular spectrographic signature, such as that of lead or 
  cadmium, disintegrator therapy can prove beneficial here too.
  Society
  The likeliest place a culture’s civilian population is going to 
  find disintegrators is in the hands of miners and construction 
  workers. Short range beam disintegrators make excellent and 
  efficient mining tools; selectively attuned to eradicate the lighter 
  rocks, a mining beam can cut away at the rock and expose the 
  veins of valuable minerals which have a different signature.
  Smoking Boots – Types of Disintegrator
  The principles behind disintegrators may vary from the version 
  presented for the Original Traveller Universe. Here are some 
  exotic variations on the narrative theme of wishing unwanted 
  items – and people – to the cornfield.
  Structural Destruction
  The principle is simple. Sound makes objects resonate. If 
  one finds the right sound, one can make an object ring like a 
  bell, or shatter into pieces. Experiments with coherent sound 
  waves produce a device called a saser – a sonic laser, capable 
  of projecting a focused beam of sound that disrupts inorganic 
  matter such as walls, doors and armour. For that reason, these 
  weapons are often called sonic disruptors. Disruptors are 
  available as hand weapons at Tech Level 14 to Tech Level 16. 
  They cannot be mounted as shipboard weaponry and cannot 
  function in Very Thin, Trace and Vacuum atmospheres.
  Molecular Decohesion
  Another form of disintegrator operates on a different principle: 
  even the most perfect crystalline structure contains flaws and 
  
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  inclusions. No substance is entirely chemically pure and so on 
  the molecular level everything solid has at least some points of 
  structural weakness.
  This weapon focuses a beam of coherent dark energy and 
  a stream of neutrinos into the target. This has the effect of 
  causing the matter to lose structural cohesion, becoming 
  physically brittle; the lightest touch may cause the affected 
  material to shatter. This device can operate selectively on a 
  specific element or molecule to devastating effect. Removing 
  all of the iron in a sophont’s bloodstream will kill the target in a 
  few seconds; removing all the calcium will cause the target to 
  collapse as its skeleton vanishes. 
  Deleting the water molecules will cause the target to turn into 
  a loose pile of dry chemicals. In game terms, the former device 
  affects a vehicle’s Hull and Structure points, including space 
  going vessels’ Hull and Structure. Armour is bypassed and 
  living things are not directly affected. The latter device, which 
  eliminates organic matter, operates in the same manner as the 
  neutrino detonator (p. 115, Central Supply Catalogue).
  Chronon and Antichronon Bombardment
  Chronons are hypothetical particles measuring disruptions in 
  time. In some versions of Traveller chronons can be controlled 
  and directed like lasers or particle beams. A burst of concentrated 
  chronons shot at a target could cause the target’s matter to age 
  physically, accelerating physical decay at an alarming rate. 
  Conversely a beam of coherent antichronons could unravel a 
  target’s history, effectively erasing the target from time as if it, 
  or he, never existed.
  Morphic Field Disruption
  All matter exists. The presence of a given particle at a particular 
  point in the Universe is a point of data; it exists as much as a 
  field of data as energy or matter. The morphic field disruptor, a 
  psionic weapon, erases the field of data, making the Universe 
  forget that the particle was ever there at all.
  The Argand Gun 
  This variation on the theme of the disintegrator is the most 
  exotic: the Argand Gun kills its targets with mathematics. 
  Using a principle similar to psionic teleportation, this weapon 
  eliminates its target by rotating it dimensionally out of the 
  universe and out of existence altogether. The target seems 
  to recede from the observer at high speed as if from a video 
  effect no matter what angle the observer views the target, as 
  if he were rotating 90 degrees away from everything else. The 
  Argand Gun is a unique Artefact. Its name refers to a Terran 
  mathematician who pioneered a form of mathematics involving 
  imaginary numbers.
  skills and speCialities
  Art
  Mystery Carving: At the highest technological levels, sculpting 
  reaches its height with the development of so–called “mystery 
  carving”, where an object has been intricately hollowed out 
  apparently without cutting into the thing.
  Engineer
  Damper Technology: This is the speciality covering the 
  manufacture, maintenance, repair and calibration of nuclear 
  dampers, from the shipmounted screens to the civilian damper 
  emitters on decontamination vehicles. This speciality also 
  covers damper boxes and the long–term storage of nuclear 
  materials within them. 
  Disintegrator Technology: This is the speciality covering 
  the manufacture, maintenance, repair and calibration of 
  disintegrators.
  Gunner
  Nuclear Dampers: A specialisation of the Gunner skill, this 
  covers the operation of nuclear damper bay weapons aboard 
  a ship.
  Disintegrators: This speciality covers control and use of 
  disintegrators, whether as spinal mounts, bay weapons or turret 
  weapons.
  Gun Combat
  Disintegrators: This speciality of Gun Combat skill specifically 
  covers the operation of hand held disintegrator weapons in 
  combat.
  Exotic Energy Weapons: This speciality of Gun Combat skill 
  specifi cally covers the operation of exotic, high technology 
  weapons in combat other than neural weapons or disintegrators.
  Heavy Weapons
  Disintegrators: This speciality of Heavy Weapons skill 
  specifically covers the operation of vehicle–mounted battlefield 
  disintegrator weapons.
  Life Science
  Nuclear Medicine: This speciality of Life Science skill covers 
  the development of nuclear medicine; the use of radioisotopes 
  and other radioactive sources as diagnostic tools and as a 
  treatment of cancers (radiotherapy).
  Damper Decontamination: This speciality of Life Science 
  skill specifically covers the issue of nuclear dampers and 
  their function in decontaminating the environment, as well as 
  medical application of dampers in the medical decontamination 
  of patients.
  
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  ship’s loCker
  Disintegrator Therapy: This speciality of Life Science skill 
  specifically covers the operation of disintegrator therapy devices 
  in therapeutic medical treatment.
  Physical Science
  Nuclear Physics: This speciality of Physical Science skill 
  covers all aspects of the study of matter on the atomic and 
  subatomic scale, from the study of protons, neutrons and 
  electrons to the processes of nuclear decay and radioactivity, 
  from nuclear fission and nuclear fusion through to the study of 
  quarks and more exotic particles, such as neutrinos.
  Nuclear Damper Theory: This speciality of Physical Science 
  skill specifically covers the physical principles and current 
  theories behind nuclear dampers.
  Disintegrator Theory: This speciality of Physical Science skill 
  specifi cally covers the physical principles and current theories 
  behind disintegrators.
  Space Science
  Cosmology: This speciality of Space Science skill specifi cally 
  covers the study of the cosmos as a whole. Everything from the 
  size of the Universe, to theories as to the nature of reality, are 
  covered by this speciality. This does cover the presence and 
  role of dark matter and dark energy but these are covered in 
  greater detail by the speciality.
  Dark Matter and Dark Energy Theory: This speciality of Space 
  Science skill covers the study of dark matter and dark energy, 
  and their relationship with regular matter and regular energy.
  tools and equipment
  Advanced Technology
  The following items of technology are mostly of an incredibly 
  high technological level. Matter disintegrators as hand held 
  weapons, covered in Central Supply Catalogue, are available 
  at a minimum of Tech Level 18; some of the more esoteric tools 
  and exotic weapons are only achievable at TL 20 or higher, 
  beyond the limits of even theoretical knowledge at TL 15. As 
  always, allowing Player Characters unfettered access to such 
  advanced technologies has serious implications. Sometimes, 
  though, it can be satisfying to run a story where Player 
  Characters equipped with regular technology have to face off in 
  desperate, one–sided combat against hostile aliens equipped 
  with far more advanced devices. The Borg were far more fun 
  when they outclassed the weapons of Starfleet in Star Trek, 
  and one–sided conflicts have been a staple of science fiction 
  authors since H G Wells first wrote The War of The Worlds
  Nuclear Damper Equipment List
  Vehicular Nuclear Damper (TL 13): Available for civilian and 
  military vehicles for nuclear decontamination. Emitters come in 
  pairs – a master module and a slave module. Each module is 
  fitted to a single vehicle and decontamination dampers have 
  a range of up to 500 metres. Modules draw current from the 
  vehicle’s power plant.
  Vehicular Nuclear Damper, Improved (TL 15): Much 
  lighter and more powerful than lower technology versions, 
  the TL 15 damper module comprises of a master and 
  slave module operated from a single vehicle. The range 
  is the same as before but mass and costs differ greatly. 
  The modules draw current from the vehicle’s power plant.
  Damper Box (TL 12): The first damper boxes are 
  large, bulky containers used to carry radioactive cargo 
  payloads. Both civilian and military versions draw current 
  from vehicular power plants, or from external battery 
  packs. 
  Small Damper Box (1m3 capacity): Wt.: 50 kg.Cost: Cr. 
  5,000. 
  Cargo Damper Box (50m3 capacity): Wt.: 250 kg. Cost: 
  Cr. 25,000.
  Damper Box (TL 14): Damper boxes at this level have 
  their own internal miniature fusion power sources, 
  allowing them to run for up to five years. Small Damper 
  Box (1m3 capacity): Wt.: 50 kg. Cost: Cr. 15,000. 
  Cargo Damper Box (50m3 capacity): Wt.: 250 kg. Cost: 
  Cr. 75,000.
  Disintegrator Equipment List
  Sculpting Tool (TL 17): A bulky tool used in the art form 
  called “mystery carving,” this device includes a holographic 
  densitometer readout that enables the artist to see the interior 
  of the object being carved. Safeties prevent it being used on 
  living tissues. 
  Mass: 4 kg. Cost: Cr. 30,000.
  Sculpting Tool, Advanced (TL 19): A tool shaped like a short 
  baton, this mystery carving tool interprets the interior of the 
  object and psionically transmits it into the wielder’s mind. A 
  psion can add his Psionic Strength characteristic DM to the Art 
  roll.  
  Mass: 250g. Cost: Cr. 50,000.
  Mining Tool (TL 17): Looking like a sawn–off double–barrelled 
  shotgun and powered by a belt battery pack with a duration of 
  1 hour’s continuous operation, this mining tool can disintegrate 
  solid rock at a rate of 1m3 per round. Safeties cause the mining 
  tool to disengage if living tissues enter the beams. Sensors can 
  also program the beams to operate selectively, disintegrating 
  valueless rock and ignoring veins of valuable minerals, which 
  are exposed. An ideal tool for Belters mining asteroids because 
  it has no recoil. 
  Mass: 2 kg.  Cost: Cr.60,000.
  Breacher (TL 18): A short–barrelled device the size of a heavy 
  fl are gun, the Breacher is used to open portals in walls, quickly 
  and efficiently. Drawing power from a standard belt – mounted 
  battery, the Breacher is good for 10 shots. Each shot will open 
  
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  ship’s loCker
  a single two metre tall portal in a wall or bulkhead almost 
  silently. Safeties mean that the beam refuses to activate if 
  aimed at a living being. The default shape is a circle, though 
  the Breacher can be preset to a couple of other geometric 
  shapes: square, diamond, oval or pentagon.
  Mass: 2 kg. Cost: Cr. 25,000.
  Disintegrator Screens (TL 17): A modification of ship–
  mounted nuclear damper screen weaponry creates a screen 
  proof against shipmounted disintegrators.
  Matter Transmuter (TL 20): The ultimate tool of matter 
  manipulation, matter transmuters use a combination of 
  nuclear dampers and disintegrators and damper box / 
  disintegrator screen technology to manipulate matter 
  on the subatomic scale. Any kind of stable element 
  can be transmuted into any other kind of stable 
  element. The transmuter draws its power from matter 
  conversion and could run forever. The source element 
  may be no more than three atomic numbers above 
  or below the target element on the periodic table: to 
  make lanthanum, the transmuter could use barium 
  or neodymium. The transmuter converts a flat rate 
  percentage each hour. 
  These legendary Artefacts are coveted for all the 
  obvious reasons.
  Disintegrator Weapons
  Handheld disintegrators have been covered in Mercenary 
  and Central Supply Catalogue. The following 
  weapons are somewhat more exotic. Some of 
  these devices are from tech levels so high as to 
  qualify as virtually magical. The Referee should 
  use discretion in introducing them. All disintegrators 
  do damage the same way; the Effect is determined by the 
  armour or Hull rating of the target, rather than by the die roll. 
  Patron: The Dauphine Estrellita Markov
  Noble, 50, 8 terms
  Str8  Dex8  End9 Int11
  Edu12  Soc13
  Admin–2, Athletics (climbing)–2, Athletics (endurance)–2, 
  Art (sculpture)–3, Diplomat– 2, Leadership–2, Recon–2, 
  Item
  M3
  Mass (kg)
  Cost (Cr.)
  Note
  Master Module
  10
  100
  7,500
  Includes slave controls
  Slave Module
  10
  100
  4,500
  500 m range
  Item
  M3
  Mass (kg)
  Cost (Cr.)
  Note
  Master Module
  2.5
  25
  30,000
  500 m range
  Social Science (archaeology)–3, Social Science (linguistics)– 3, 
  Survival–3. TAS, survival kit, Contacts (academic), Cr. 150,000.
  Player Information
  A physically fit, imposing woman whose hair is only now 
  beginning to grey, stillyouthful belying her age, the Dauphine 
  is a keen archaeologist. All her life she has heard rumours of 
  wonderful Ancient devices in strange sites in out–of–theway 
  
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  ship’s loCker
  Screen
  TL
  Effect
  Tons
  Cost (MCr.)
  Disintegrator Screen
  17
  Reduces disintegrator damage by 2d6, 
  removes automatic crew hit
  50
  100
  Item
  TL
  Payload (kg)
  Rate
  Mass (kg)
  Cost (Cr.)
  Desktop Transmuter
  20
  10
  10%
  25
  185,000
  Desktop Transmuter
  20
  10
  20%
  25
  270,000
  Cargo Transmuter
  20
  10,000
  10%
  30,000
  220,000
  Cargo Transmuter
  20
  10,000
  20%
  30,000
  500,000
  Weapon
  Cost (Cr.)
  Mass (kg)
  Ammo Cost 
  (Cr.)
  Notes
  Saser
  30,000
  4.5
  —
  Will not operate in Thin, Very Thin, Trace or 
  Vacuum atmospheres.
  Water Disintegrator
  50,000
  2.5
  —
  Uses time as a weapon. Target rolls End vs. 
  damage rolled. If the target fails, he is permanently 
  erased from history or aged 1,000 years in 1 
  round.
  Chronon Gun
  120,000
  3
  —
  Draws on 1 Psionic Strength point per shot; has a 
  “magazine” of 10 points.
  Morphic Field Disruptor
  200,000
  1
  —
  Draws on 1 Psionic Strength point per shot; has a 
  “magazine” of 10 points.
  Morphic Field Disruptor
  300,000 or more
  1.5
  —
  Target rolls End vs. damage rolled. If the target 
  fails, he is permanently rotated out of the space 
  time continuum.
  Matter Transmuter
  places and strange planets and she has devoted her entire life 
  to seeking them out.
  One story in particular has fascinated her: the story of the 
  Argand Gun, a legendary Artefact which her father used to 
  describe to her while she sat on his knee as a little girl. A small 
  object, looking like a featureless solid gold tetrahedron, her 
  father held it in his hand before he was forced to leave the site in 
  a hurry. Estrellita remembers her father’s great regret in never 
  taking the time to take the object with him, and when her father 
  disappeared without a trace when she was 17, the Dauphine 
  resolved to follow in his footsteps.
  She now has a mission for the characters. She has located the 
  site and she is prepared to fund an expedition there to find the 
  Argand gun and maybe find out what happened to her father.
  Referee’s Information
  The Dauphine is ... (roll 1d6):
  1–2: ... actually a ruthless and ambitious woman, who will not 
  hesitate to turn the Argand Gun against the characters once 
  she gets her hands on it. Dead men tell no tales.
  3–4: ... concerned that her father may have returned to, and 
  fallen victim to, the Argand Gun.
  5–6: ... being pursued by a Rival. Use the Dauphine’s 
  characteristics. The Rival is a male and he has backup in 
  the form of a force of NPCs equal in capability to the Player 
  Characters.
  Last Word
  The major theme of damper technology and disintegrators 
  has never been about their use on the battlefield. Deep 
  down, it has always been about matter transmutation and 
  manipulation; the end goal of primitive alchemy. Knowledge 
  of the periodic table and particle physics must always precede 
  these tools. The properties of dark matter and dark energy are 
  not suffi ciently understood to establish whether or not it could 
  be used in the manner described here. However, dark matter 
  and dark energy were not even known to theoretical physicists 
  in 1977. Who knows what could be possible in the far future. 
  Whatever developments occur, however, they will always 
  use the discoveries of the periodic table and the fundamental 
  particles as their foundation.
  
  167
  As in any setting some games are morelikely to end up ‘in the 
  rough’ than others, depending on how much background detail 
  the ref has to hand. Those games running to a heavily scripted 
  story being the most vulnerable when the players do decide to 
  go ‘off script’. However even in a more sand box style game 
  there are times when you need to slow the players down or 
  distract them. For the most part these ideas are not aimed at 
  a specific game system, although the Travellers Aid Distress 
  Signal section is obviously aimed at the Traveller game system. 
  Doesn’t mean the ideas there cannot be used in other game 
  systems of course, they will just need a little more work. Ideas 
  have been grouped together by type.
  Firstly there are some basics on traveling in space, which will be 
  generally useful. Then we have Time Fillers, Delays, Side Bars, 
  Travellers Aid Society SOSs and Bar Fluff.
  spaCe travel
  First of all, it is worth remembering that space itself is a 
  hazardous environment that most PCs are not able to survive 
  in on their own. There are three different ways that space will 
  kill you, unless you have suitable protection, and they are 
  pressure, temperature and radiation. Once that protection 
  fails, the players will die unless they are able to do something 
  about it, which means dropping whatever else they are doing 
  and dealing with the situation. This can be a very useful way 
  of stopping the party doing something else and keeping them 
  busy for a time as they deal with the problem. The fourth 
  serious threat in space does not come from space itself but the 
  environment that most characters need to survive. This threat is 
  fire, as most ships must keep an oxygen rich atmosphere just to 
  keep the crew alive. Fire is always a risk, not only from directly 
  damaging characters but also from the damage to the habitat 
  that otherwise keeps them alive.
  Pressure
  This is possibly the most obvious threat, as everyone knows 
  that space is a vacuum. Exposure to open space without some 
  form of protection will kill almost any character, although some 
  machine characters might be able to function in space. To 
  protect against this the characters must maintain the integrity of 
  the ship around them, as any breach will lead to a slow leak, if 
  small, or a massive explosive decompression if large. Exposure 
  under 90 seconds will generally be survivable, unless it is in 
  the form of rapid decompression, where the pressure drops 
  very suddenly. Exposure over 90 seconds is not survivable with 
  current day medicine but the more advanced medical practices 
  available in a SF game may change this. However as each 
  game universe has access to different medical technology 
  it is impossible to generalise as to how long a character can 
  be exposed for and still be recovered. Most ships are going 
  to have some automated systems to help protect against this. 
  Pressure doors are the most obvious, automatic doors tied to 
  pressure sensors; they will seal off sections of the ship when 
  they detect a radical drop in pressure. All ships will need some 
  way of repairing incidental damage to the outer hull, which can 
  range from a crew man in an EVA suit to nanotech self repair 
  systems. The other aspect of pressure is that organic crew will 
  need a specific mix of gasses to survive. Humans need just the 
  right amount of oxygen, too much and they get high, too little 
  and they suffocate. Either way the life support systems of the 
  ship must maintain not just the correct atmospheric pressure 
  but the correct balance of gasses as well.
  This will be automated to a degree on most ships but damage 
  or poor maintenance can lead to failures. As to how a ship can 
  start to loose pressure, the players are a likely cause. For a 
  start any time that a weapon is fired inside a ship, it has to hit 
  something. In most cases player weapons are unlikely to be 
  able to punch a hole straight through the hull of a ship, unless 
  they carry personal anti–ship weapons. But they can hit pipes, 
  pressure sensors, perhaps even the interior bulkhead of an 
  airlock, any of which could lead to a leak. Space combat of 
  any sort is going to be a major risk to the pressure integrity 
  of the ship. Most ship–to–ship weapons are basically a way of 
  puncturing the hulls of other ships to kill the crews inside them, 
  so if the ship takes any damage directly from enemy weapons 
  there will have to be repairs. However even if the ship is not 
  reFeree’s emerGenCy toolkit
  By  Alan Oliver
  Have your players gone off piste again, venturing into an area of the galaxy you ave not yet 
  prepared?  Don’t panic, simply use this Emergency Toolkit!
  
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  reFeree’s emerGenCy toolkit
  hit directly, there is a good chance that the outer hull will take 
  some damage from debris and this might not make itself felt 
  immediately. The bulkhead might hold out for days, even weeks, 
  before finally rupturing. And given the nature of stories and story 
  telling games, it will of course fail when there are characters 
  nearby to be cut off by pressure doors. Even without any space 
  combat, traveling at high speeds through space makes even 
  grains of sand dangerous. A micro meteor strike can rupture the 
  hull of all but the heaviest armoured ships and if the players are 
  flying around in a battleship then you can always throw a bigger 
  rock at them.
  Temperature
  Space is not only a vacuum, it is also very cold. The fact that it 
  is a vacuum actually helps here, as a ship can only radiate heat 
  away, there is nothing to conduct it away and no air convection 
  to cool the ship down. Even so, ships loose heat to space at a 
  sufficient rate that without insulation and heating, most normal 
  organic crew will die of the cold. This means that the ship must 
  maintain a habitable temperature. Insulation inside the hull will 
  help maintain internal temperature but the heat still needs to 
  be generated. Depending on the engine technology this might 
  come directly from the engines, waste heat from reactors 
  being used to maintain the internal temperature of the ship. As 
  engines get more advanced and efficient, waste heat becomes 
  less available, so for more advanced ships they must actually 
  convert other energy into heat to keep the crew alive.
  temperatures, or maybe even pipes full of plasma. Any of these 
  can cause a lot of damage if they accidentally get shot, crack 
  due age or otherwise get broken by boisterous characters. If 
  the ship is too advanced to have waste heat, then it will require 
  powered heating systems of some sort. Not only can these 
  heaters fail, dropping the temperature, they can also go wrong 
  and start raising the temperature of the ship. Want to force the 
  players to have to dump their heavy armour and equipment 
  while stomping around the ship, have the heating system go 
  wrong and raise the internal temperature to about 45 C, that 
  should get them sweating in their swimsuits.
  Radiation
  Open space is a harsh environment, without protection from 
  it the radiation given out by most stars will kill you sooner or 
  later. This isn’t as quick as pressure or temperature but it is 
  also not as obvious when it is happening. Ship hulls will include 
  protection against the radiation in space that is harmful to their 
  normal crew but beware if you are using an alien ship. You 
  should make sure that they are vulnerable to the same forms of 
  radiation that you are, otherwise they might not have protected 
  against them. Ships will also have radiation detectors in most 
  sections of the ship. This raises the alarm if damage to the hull 
  floods part of the ship with dangerous radiation. However if 
  radiation does enter the ship there is generally little that can 
  be done to counter it. Once radiation does get in the crew will 
  The biggest threat here is if 
  the ship looses power for an 
  extended period. Damage to the 
  insulation of a ship will increase 
  the heat lost to space but not 
  so much that a ship with power 
  cannot easily compensate. But 
  a ship without power is going to 
  slowly cool, eventually reaching 
  temperatures 
  where 
  survival 
  isn’t possible. The simplest way 
  to mess with this is to have the 
  engines go offline for some 
  reason. 
  Not only will the crew have some 
  issues with temperature over the 
  next few hours, they will also 
  not be going anywhere till the 
  engines are operating again. It 
  doesn’t end there though. If the 
  ship is heated by waste heat 
  from reactors, then that heat 
  has to be carried through the 
  ship somehow. Is it boiling water 
  piped through the ship, or pipes 
  full of high pressure gas at high 
  
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  reFeree’s emerGenCy toolkit
  have two things to deal with, firstly they will need to handle 
  the medical situation.
  This might be anything from taking antiradiation drugs to 
  advanced nanotech depending on the technology available. 
  Whatever they are doing, it will take time and could leave 
  members of the crew out of action for a while. Secondly they 
  will need to get the ship radiation proof again, resealing the hull 
  and repairing whatever anti–radiation systems the ship has. As 
  for how radiation can become a problem on a ship, there are 
  a number of possibilities. For a start damage to the hull from 
  previous combat could lead to a breach in the external radiation 
  protection, flooding parts of the ship with radiation near to the 
  hull. Externally there could be radiation storms caused by 
  local stellar activity that overwhelm the radiation defences of 
  the ship. This would lead to radiation floodingmuch of the ship 
  and most of the crew are likely to need treatment. Depending 
  on the technology of the engines, they could have a breach of 
  containment themselves which could flood some or all of the 
  ship with radiation. This is most likely to a failure to maintain 
  the engines sufficiently over an extended period but sabotage 
  is another possibility.
  Fire
  Any ship that has an oxygen atmosphere is going to run 
  the risk of fire. While the hull and structure of the ship is not 
  going to burn, there is a good chance that plastics are used 
  extensively in the interior of the ship and these may well be 
  highly combustible. The dangers caused by fire are many. First 
  and most obvious is that those characters actually caught in the 
  fire will be burnt to death, or at least badly injured by the fire. 
  Secondly smoke from the fire is going to fill the confined spaces 
  on board ship quickly, at the least hampering vision but possibly 
  choking the crew. If there are lots of plastics and petrochemicals 
  on the ship, there is a good chance that the smoke is going to 
  be toxic as well. The fire is also going to generate a lot of heat, 
  which may overload or otherwise damage the environmental 
  systems which may push the temperature inside the ship above 
  that which can easily be survived. Given that ships are well 
  insulated from the cold of space, it will be difficult to get the 
  temperature inside the ship back down quickly. This means 
  that the crew may survive the initial fire but still be cooked by 
  the heat. The fire may also damage the fabric of the ship itself, 
  melting seals, rupturing pipes and generally destroying all those 
  systems that keep people alive in space. 
  After a fire there may be pressure loss, or even radiation issues 
  as the ship protection against this is damaged. Obviously fire is 
  a risk everywhere but in space it is lethal. It can be started in 
  any of the usual ways, so smoking on board ships is likely to be 
  very restricted or banned. Weapons fire on board ship obviously 
  has the capacity to start fires, especially if laser weapons are 
  used as they do their damage through superheating the target. 
  Electrical faults from poor maintenance are another good way 
  of starting a fire, especially if the techs on the crew do not carry 
  out much essential maintenance on the ship. As you can see, 
  space is a dangerous place to be and it is quite easy to find 
  ways of putting the characters lives at risk and keeping them 
  busy just through use of their environment.
  time Fillers
  These are ways of keeping the players busy for a few minutes 
  while you look something up or do some frantic bad guy 
  generation for an encounter that’s just around the corner. These 
  fi ll players’ time without necessarily interrupting the actions of 
  the characters.
  Net presence
  Get each of the players to go through what steps they take to 
  control their presence in the internet/web/dataverse. In any 
  SF setting there is going to be a massive information network 
  spreading across from planet–to–planet and every normal 
  member of society is going to be a part of this. Everything from 
  medical records to tax records, military history to legal status is 
  going to be appearing on a computer somewhere. Unless you 
  take steps to hide yourself. Each character should go through 
  what they have done to hide, disguise or alter their dataverse 
  records. This serves several purposes, for a start it will take 
  the characters half an hour or more to run through all of this, 
  especially if you ask a pertinent question or two to make them 
  worry about it. Secondly it will make the players paranoid about 
  who might be checking up on their identities and past. Is this 
  the authorities closing in on them, or are old enemies on their 
  trail again. Thirdly it may highlight some interesting facts about 
  the players that can later be converted into useful plot points in 
  their own right. For example if a player uses an old contact to 
  wipe out their criminal record, then that contact is the weak link. 
  Later you can leak news that this contact has been themselves 
  arrested or kidnapped, which threatens the player’s new clean 
  identity and may force them to rescue this contact. You don’t 
  have to take advantage of these potential plot points straight 
  away, just make a note of the good ones in case you need them.
  Pressure Temperature Radiation Checks
  This only works if the players are operating their own ship. Get 
  them to run through what pressure, temperature, radiation, fire 
  and atmospheric sensors there are on the ship and who has 
  the duty to maintain them. Then you can have these characters 
  make a few skill rolls to see how good their maintenance has 
  been recently. This may not take the players long to sort out 
  but it does buy you a few minutes and it may highlight some 
  areas of maintenance that are not at their best, which you can 
  take advantage of later. If maintenance is particularly bad, you 
  are best off not jumping on it with both feet straight away but 
  taking a note of it and using it a couple of sessions down the 
  line. Using it straight away would be obvious and the players 
  will see it coming.
  
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  Virus Protection
  Get the players to go through all their electronic hardware, 
  detailing the virus protection that they are using and how often 
  this is upgraded. This serves several functions. For a start they 
  will have to stop and think about what protection they have 
  and how they upgrade it. This will buy you time to be doing 
  whatever prep work you need. However it also will make the 
  players paranoid about possible viral attack coming in on their 
  computers, communicators, cybernetics or other hardware. 
  This will also give you a current picture of their electronics. 
  There may be much in this that you can use, gaps in their 
  communications network, players who don’t bother to update 
  their virus protection regularly enough or players who rely 
  on a single computer for their electronics and are therefore 
  vulnerable to loosing it. These could provide starting points for 
  sub–plots or new ways for their enemies to track or attack them.
  delays
  Generally for use when the team is travelling through space and 
  you need to distract them with something to keep them from 
  arriving on time at their destination. For the most part these will 
  not involve a huge amount of additional gaming, they will just 
  affect the time of arrival at the destination. These are the opposite 
  of time fillers, as they waste characters time while not taking up 
  much of the players’ time.
  The Holy Day of Whojamiflip
  This works best if you have an alien character among the crew. 
  Have some obscure religious rite turn up which requires the alien 
  character to not do anything useful for the day. They might even 
  have to stop the ship, especially if they are the pilot or navigator. 
  Of course this requires players who will play along with it. They 
  can easily get out of this by having their character be non–
  religious so doesn’t honour the holy day, or just not playing their 
  character that sincerely. If you do have players who won’t play 
  ball, you can always add that if rumours of their character not 
  observing the rites get back to their race then ‘bad things’ will 
  happen to them. 
  This can of course be done with human characters as well but 
  the players might be a bit suspicious if you suddenly tell them 
  that it is the 25th of December, they might feel entitled to a little 
  more warning than that. This is why alien characters are better 
  for this one.
  Engine Failure
  This is most risky when travelling interstellar but would still 
  cause delays if traveling within a solar system. For whatever 
  reason the ships main engines fail. This will not only stop 
  them getting to where they are going, it may also threaten 
  their lives, as without the engines they may loose life support 
  and either freeze, suffocate or both. If they have the capacity 
  to repair the engines, then this is just going to keep them busy 
  for a few hours and thereby delay their arrival to the time that 
  you need them there. If they cannot repair it themselves then 
  the entire team is at risk. 
  They will have to look at doing whatever they can to get 
  rescued by another ship, putting out whatever the current 
  form of SOS is over whatever communications they have. Be 
  careful however if they don’t have the means to repair their 
  own engines, as if they are not rescued this could easily kill off 
  the entire team. There are other things that can go wrong with 
  the ship without necessarily putting the entire team at risk. 
  Computer failure could stop them without killing them all, while 
  a sensor malfunction could leave them flying blind.
  And now the Shooting’s Started
  Have some sort of armed conflict break out in the area of 
  space that they are moving through. This might be a boarder 
  clash between two interstellar federations or just the Empire 
  struggling to maintain control over a few outlying systems. 
  Whatever the nature of the war there are now a number of fully 
  armed warships moving around in this part of space and any 
  ship that isn’t escorted is likely to be destroyed. 
  Obviously if the players are in command of a huge interstellar 
  battleship then they might be up for just flying through the 
  middle of the warzone killing whatever they meet along the 
  way. However if they are in possession of such a powerful unit, 
  then they will have to face both sides in the conflict trying to 
  recruit them to serve their cause, as their involvement could 
  easily tip the balance one way or another. Instead of delaying 
  them by forcing them to go around the problem you can delay 
  them with diplomatic approaches from the different factions. 
  However most groups don’t have access to huge warships and 
  will not want to get caught up in a warzone. This gives them two 
  choices, either sit and wait for an escort through the warzone 
  and hope that the enemy doesn’t start shooting neutral ships, 
  or go around the entire warzone. Either way they are going to 
  take longer to get to where they are going than they would have 
  otherwise.
  This might even prevent them reaching their destination at all, 
  if it is actually within the warzone. Which converts this from a 
  delay to a roadblock.
  Traffic Control
  This relies on the game universes interstellar travel having 
  narrow routes that have choke points, whether wormhole portals 
  or hyperspace jump gates. If these exist then it is possible for 
  traffic to build up. This might be just through normal heavy traffic 
  or could be a ship in distress that is blocking the entire choke 
  point for hours. This isn’t a delay that the players can do that 
  much about, short of blasting their way through all the ships 
  ahead of them.
  
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  They can try arguing or bribing the traffic control officials but 
  every ship caught in the delay is going to be doing this so 
  this could easily get expensive and may result in them taking 
  longer to get through as traffic control punishes them for 
  being rude or threatening. Similar delays can occur when the 
  players are trying to dock or undock their ship from a station. 
  This again can just be down to heavy traffic congesting the 
  docking areas, or if a greater delay is needed some minor 
  problem on the docks, spilt chemicals for example, might 
  leave a couple of the docks out of action. 
  This can easily cause the traffic to back up and lead to a few 
  hours of delay again. This also works if interstellar travel doesn’t 
  involve fixed routes and choke points. On the same lines there 
  can easily be some delays with customs and border security. 
  This could be through staff shortages, heavy traffic or just 
  players being typically obnoxious and having to wait till the end 
  of the line to get processed.
  Loose Cargo
  Whatever type of ship the players are on there is going to be 
  something in storage that if loose would cause complications. 
  This could be the cargo itself on a civilian freighter, a dangerous 
  and exotic pet getting loose on a luxury liner or just explosive 
  ordinance on a military ship. Whatever it is if it is not stored 
  correctly it can lead to problems later.
  The delay comes about when the cargo gets loose during heavy 
  manoeuvring, sounding alarms on the bridge and forcing the 
  ship to slow down or halt while the situation is resolved. If the 
  ship doesn’t slow there is a good chance that the loose cargo 
  will do some damage to the ship, which will cause the players 
  to have to stop anyway.
  When they do slow down or stop they will still have to get the 
  cargo under control and stored properly, which could take some 
  time. This can also be expensive for the players if their own 
  hardware is part of the cargo. Hardware can easily be damaged 
  or destroyed, which might be just expensive to replace or might 
  not be replaceable at all.
  road BloCks
  Sometimes the players decide to go somewhere that you 
  just don’t want them to. You need to stop them going there 
  for the foreseeable future but don’t want to make it too 
  obvious. Sometimes you can just hit the destination system 
  with something nasty, making it uninhabitable and removing 
  whatever the players wanted to go there for. However this is 
  not always possible or might have too many ramifi cations for 
  the overall game universe, in which case you need to stop the 
  players without destroying the system or turning it into a war 
  zone. Road blocks are a lot more effective in game universes 
  where space travel happens down specific routes. Whether it is 
  from navigation beacon to beacon through hyperspace, such as 
  Babylon 5, or jump routes from system to system in Traveller, 
  specific routes lead to choke points and these can be blocked 
  without making the destination system unusable itself. 
  Choke points are the key systems that anyone travelling to the 
  target planet must pass through along the way and if they are 
  unusable for some reason then the entire route is rendered 
  inoperable. Where ships are free to navigate their own route, 
  not necessarily passing through inhabited systems, then it 
  becomes more difficult to establish external road blocks. Instead 
  you have to look inside their vessel for ways of stopping them. 
  One alternative is always to take out their Faster Than Light 
  drive, of whatever sort and strand them in the current system, 
  however that forces you to keep running games in that system 
  for a while, which may not help the overall plot progression. 
  Instead you need ways of stopping them going to the target, 
  while still leaving them their freedom.
  Plagues
  Always a good way of blocking a choke point system. Some 
  deadly plague is loose, capable of infecting members of different 
  species and for which there is either no  cure, or the cure is very 
  expensive. No ships will be allowed to enter the system and 
  those that do arrive will be quarantined and not allowed to leave, 
  to prevent the spread of this plague to other systems. Even if 
  the players are not themselves susceptible to this plague the 
  authorities are unlikely to allow them to just fly away, potentially 
  carrying the plague with them. The down side of this option is 
  that it relies upon there being authorities with sufficient military 
  clout to enforce this. Where the local or galactic authorities are 
  not powerful enough to enforce a system wide quarantine then 
  this option becomes a little more risky.
  Technical fault
  This is a good way of temporarily blocking a choke point 
  system. It’s an external fault that directly affects FTL travel. In 
  Babylon 5 it might be the hyperspace beacons for the system, 
  in a universe that uses wormholes to travel between systems 
  it would be the wormhole itself. This is a good way of stopping 
  the players because it doesn’t offer any arguments, it is just 
  impossible to go through the system in question. However it 
  can be reversed at a later point if you want to give the players 
  access to the system later.
  Nav Comp Error
  This is a way of blocking off the players if there isn’t a choke point 
  to use. Have their vessel’s navigation computer suffer some 
  incidental damage somewhere along the line, whether from virus 
  attack or physical damage, which means that the navigational 
  data for the system that they want to go to is destroyed, erased 
  or corrupted. Depending on the nature of the damage they 
  might just need to buy the navigational coordinates again but 
  
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  you can hamper that in any number of ways. Charging them a 
  high price, lack of availability, uncooperative sales assistants 
  are all just examples. However the damage might be a lot 
  more serious. Whole circuits (crystals?) within the navigation 
  computer may need to be replaced, or in a worst case scenario 
  the entire navigation computer. This means getting in the techs 
  to do the job, finding spare parts, hiring in specialist equipment, 
  all of which will be expensive and time consuming. If you want to 
  make things even worse the ship might have a design fl aw that 
  means that the ships navigation computer cannot be repaired 
  without cutting through the hull. This will probably require work 
  in a shipyard, maybe even a drydock and will certainly tie up 
  the ship for days, even weeks. Not to mention costing a bomb.
  sideBars
  These are mini sub plots and items that can easily be dropped 
  into a game but have the potential to develop into major sub–
  plots or even hijack the entire game. However they can just 
  as easily be ignored completely. They are particularly useful 
  if targeted at characters or players that don’t otherwise get 
  much air time as it brings them to the foreground.
  Bounty 
  The group become aware that there is a bounty out on the head 
  of one of the team. This might be through word of mouth, the 
  dataverse, holographic projectors left in the market square or 
  through whatever sort of technology is used within your game 
  world. The bounty is for the capture, or death if your feeling 
  vicious, of one or more members of the team. It will not give them 
  any idea who’s set it or what it is for at first, however with some 
  investigation it will be revealed that the bounty is for something 
  that they did earlier in the campaign and thought they had gotten 
  away with. The bounty could be official, with police and licences 
  bounty hunters coming after the PC, or it might be entirely 
  illegal and lead to criminal bounty hunters gunning for them. 
  This serves several uses. Firstly it gives the players something 
  to think about and investigating why they have bounties on 
  them should take up some time, giving the Ref a chance to 
  breath. Secondly it enables you to throw bounty hunters at the 
  team whenever you need to up the pace and introduce a little 
  action. Thirdly it opens up possible plotlines where the players 
  seek to resolve whatever has caused the bounty to be placed 
  to begin with. Fourth it may also teach players that there are 
  always consequences to their actions. Even if they think that 
  they have gotten away with something, it can come back to 
  haunt them later. This works particularly well in a longer running 
  campaign that hasn’t had too high a casualty rate so that there 
  are still several of the original characters left, who will be the 
  targets of the bounty. In a long running game they might have 
  difficulty remembering just what they did to cause this. Fifth, if 
  targeted at a character that otherwise dominates the group and 
  is unpopular, it may actually provoke a revolt within the team 
  leading to that characters expulsion from the team or death.
  Distress Call
  The ship picks up the message shell of a ship in trouble 
  somewhere close at hand. Analysis of the message shell 
  indicates that they are likely to be the first ship to have heard 
  the call. The question is what they should do about it. They 
  might go in on a rescue operation, looking to evac survivors and 
  save lives. Maybe they are more interested in the salvage that 
  the ship represents. Perhaps the message is encoded, some 
  high end military scrambled signal so they don’t know what it is 
  saying or who’s sending it, other than it is high up in the military. 
  Curiosity may get them interested, that and the promise of 
  cutting edge military hardware. Alternatively the message could 
  be of alien origins, which may be a big thing if alien races have 
  yet to be encountered. Here the bounty is likely to be scientific, 
  although opening trade with an alien race is likely to be lucrative 
  as well. And there is always the possibility that it isn’t a distress 
  call at all, it might be awarning…..
  Kid Siblings; Always a pain in the butt
  Through rumours, internet, old boys’ network or whatever 
  sources of information the players have access to, they learn 
  that the younger sibling of one of the players is in trouble. This 
  could be that they are now in prison, possibly for something that 
  their older sibling actually did, or that they have been drafted 
  into the military and are serving in a high attrition rate military 
  unit off fighting a war somewhere. 
  Whatever has happened to them, they are obviously in it over 
  their heads and will be facing harsh treatment and a high risk of 
  death. The situation is bad enough that the sibling player should 
  be considering dropping everything to go to the rescue but 
  without this being immediately practical. That might be because 
  the prison is too tough for the players to crack without serious 
  preparation, or that the war is some distance away. The point is 
  that the players cannot go and deal with this immediately but it 
  can become an ongoing sub–plot for them to be worrying about 
  later. Gathering the resources or information for them to be able 
  to rescue the sibling later can become a major motivational 
  factor, especially for a character who doesn’t have much reason 
  to do anything else. Eventually the players will be in a position 
  to go and rescue their kid brother or sister. This is likely to be the 
  core of a major scenario.
   If it is a prison break, then they will have to fight their way in, 
  find their sibling and get them out again, while possibly dealing 
  with all the other prisoners in there as well. If it is rescue from 
  the military then they will either be attacking a military base, 
  not known for being easy, or meeting up with the sibling in the 
  middle of a war zone, with all the potential for problems that 
  this entails.
  
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  He is doing What now?
  This one works best in a campaign that has been running for 
  some time. Find an enemy that they defeated during an early 
  fire fight or scenario that they are going to remember and who 
  survived the experience. Now reintroduce this enemy in a 
  completely different context from last time.
  For example if he, or she, was a criminal thug that they took 
  down in a shoot out he, or she, should turn up as a politician 
  who’s just been elected to some serious office. Or if he was 
  a commercial rival last time, they should learn that he is now 
  a professional assassin working for a powerful crime family. 
  The point is that whatever he or she is now doing it should be 
  something that could make them a threat to the players again 
  but in a completely different way than he was the first time.
  travellers aid soCiety s.o.s.
  Now this is a specific type of distraction aimed at characters in 
  Traveller who have membership of the Travellers Aid Society. 
  Not only does membership offer assorted benefi ts, it does put a 
  bit of duty onto the players. A member of the society that did not 
  answer the SOS of another member would be severely looked 
  down on, if not expelled from the society entirely.
  This means that if the players get an SOS from another society 
  member the character with membership will be under a lot of 
  pressure to answer it. This not only provokes debate within the 
  team as he or she argues for answering the call, which may buy 
  you some time but also will keep the group busy as they go and 
  deal with the emergency.
  Ship in Distress
  One of the simplest SOS possibilities. The TAS member is on 
  board a small ship that has suffered some sort of damage or 
  malfunction and is in need of urgent assistance. The ship is 
  either loosing pressure or has suffered a power failure and 
  is slowly freezing, so they need assistance within X hours or 
  days. X should be longer than it will take the players to reach 
  the ship in distress but shorter than the travel times for any 
  rescue service or other ship to reach them. The point is that if 
  the players don’t go, then the crew on the ship in distress will 
  likely die.
  Assuming that the players do the ‘right thing’ and go to the ships 
  rescue it shouldn’t be difficult to do. Repairs to the  ship should 
  be something simple, it is just the ship in distress doesn’t have 
  the right parts, equipment or skills to do the job. This may require 
  skill rolls and a degree of hazard, if for example they have to 
  do an EVA to perform the repairs, but the main point is that it 
  will take them time to get to and from the ship in distress. The 
  society member will obviously be grateful for the rescue. What 
  sort of reward they give the players for it will depend on your 
  team. Perhaps they are an attractive member of the relevant 
  species and are willing to express their gratitude privately. Or 
  they may be rich and will give the team money for their aid. 
  Another option is that they provide the team with some useful 
  information, perhaps as the starting point to your next sub–plot. 
  This is a great opportunity to give the players whatever they 
  need to keep the game running smoothly.
  Missed Flight
  A less urgent option this one and not one that is going to delay 
  the team particularly. When in port they get word that there is 
  a society member who’s missed their connecting ship to the 
  system that the team are heading to next. As fellow members 
  of the Travellers aid society, they are called upon to give this 
  person a lift to the next system so that they can make their next 
  connection. While nobody is going to die if they don’t, it is going 
  to harm their reputation with the society if they don’t do this.
  The point of this is that it gets an NPC onto the ship for the 
  next leg of the journey. This can fi ll game time if you make 
  them someone with interesting stories to tell, assuming your 
  players are interested in the conversational side of roleplaying. 
  Or they may have useful information on where hardware can 
  be acquired. They can be there to further the plot, if they have 
  information that will be of use to the ongoing story. The one 
  thing that shouldn’t happen is that the players kill their fellow 
  traveller for their money, hardware or whatever. The society 
  knows that they boarded the players’ ship, if they aren’t there 
  at the other end, well the player with the society membership 
  can kiss it goodbye just for starters. The alternative is that the 
  stranded traveller isn’t who he or she claims to be. They might 
  be an escaped criminal or even a psychotic serial killer. This 
  will make the journey to the next system a lot more interesting. 
  The players will be trapped on their own ship with a dangerous 
  killer, who should be tough enough to give them some trouble 
  at the very least.
  Spaced
  The SOS comes from nearby their ship but not in the direction 
  that they want to go. Travel time shouldn’t be too long but 
  enough that they will notice the delay. What they are coming 
  for is someone who’s been spaced out an airlock in their vac 
  suit. They only have air for a few hours, long enough for the 
  players to reach them but not with that much time to spare. This 
  combines elements of the first two, as they have to go out of 
  their way to rescue someone and then they will have a stranger 
  on board their ship for the remainder of the journey. Of course 
  the biggest question is why they were spaced in the first place 
  and as with the missed flight, this could open up whole new 
  sub–plots.
  Bar FluFF
  In any game, sometimes the players are looking for a little more 
  detail on the patrons of the local bar, restaurant, drugs den or 
  whatever than you have time to cater to. This is where bar fluff 
  comes in useful. Each of these is a thumbnail description of 
  a bar patron that can be dropped into a game at short notice. 
  
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  Some of these may spark off ideas that can be built into subplots 
  later. 
  These are split into four groups, men, women, aliens and 
  machines for ease of finding the appropriate type to add to a 
  bar. The aliens will not be race specific so that they can be 
  used with any game system. The machines will only be of use in 
  games where there are sentient machine life or at least pseudo 
  sentient droids.
  The Men
  ·  Menial working men, 2d6 of them, in after a hard day’s work 
  at some menial job. Rough and loud.
  ·  Office workers, shirt and tie brigade, 1d6 of them, in after work 
  for a quick drink.
  ·  Military grunts, 1d6 of them, on shore leave and looking for 
  fun. Not armed.
  ·  Mercenary, young and green, clean and fresh military surplus 
  and a basic rifle. Loud and got a point to prove.
  ·  Mercenary, middle aged, good quality armour and battlescars. 
  Heavy battlefield rifle. Quiet and dangerous.
  ·  Mercenary, old veteran, top notch defensive gear but odd 
  choice of weapon, net gun, grenade launcher or the likes. Old 
  and tired, just wants to drink.
  ·  Mercenary, looks young (actually very  old with rejuvenation 
  treatment), very good power armour or similar with small but 
  powerful inbuilt weapons. Good natured and cheerful.
  ·  Middle aged man with a belly, smoking cigars and drinking 
  expensively. Well dressed but radiates violence, actually highly 
  placed figure in organised crime and has a temper.
  ·  Street criminals, 1d6 young men in shabby clothes, drinking 
  lots of cheap booze. Hidden weapons and a tendency to shoot 
  first and not ask questions.
  ·  Students, 1d6 young men in shabby clothes, drinking lots of 
  cheap booze.
  ·  Frontier lawman, middle aged and in good shape. Slightly 
  worn clothing and obviously armed. Righteous and just but has 
  a quick temper.
  ·  Professional gambler, early middle age, well dressed, armed 
  with powerful sidearm of some sort. Sat playing poker or 
  whatever card game is available.
  ·  Gargoyle, man with extensive worn or cybernetic sensory 
  recording devices. Sat in the corner of the bar watching and 
  recording everything for someone.
  ·  Underage boy, dressed in stylised sailors uniform. Drinking 
  navy rum and chatting to the most available looking women. 
  Either extensive rejuve work or adult personality downloaded 
  into child’s body.
  The Women
  ·  Office workers, secretaries in skirts, 1d6 of them in for after 
  work drinks, ages vary.
  ·  Shop assistants, 1d6 of them, still in their uniforms. Mostly 
  young and boisterous. In for after work drinks.
  ·  Students, 2d6 of them out on the town, major partying and all 
  dressed up, all teenagers/early twenties.
  ·  Escort, not with client. Older than the usual and somewhat 
  past her prime. Driven to work by addiction. Likely to be capable 
  of violence if threatened and to be armed with something small 
  but lethal.
  ·  Technician, pretty but oil stained, dressed in worn overalls 
  with tools, drinking heavily and swearing a lot.
  ·  Navy offi cers, 1d6 young women in smart uniforms. Drinking 
  and out on the pull. Will be armed.
  ·  Professional gambler, middle aged but looking good through 
  genetic mods or surgery, dressed in casual clothing but 
  obviously has money. No obvious security.
  ·  2 jet bike cops, skin tight uniforms, powerful sidearms at their 
  sides. Sat drinking at a table in deep conversation but aware 
  of the rest of the room. Partners, possibly in several senses of 
  the word.
  ·  Mercenary cyborg woman, much of her body replaced with 
  military grade cybernetics or prosthetics. Quietly drinking at the 
  corner of the bar.
  ·  Foul mouthed and smelly woman, age difficult to tell under 
  the dirt. Arguing with the bar staff on whether she is going to 
  drink here.
  ·  Little old lady sitting in a dark corner drinking spirits, dressed 
  in multiple layers of cloaks and shawls. Hidden beneath these is 
  an artificial combat body packed with weapons. Looks harmless 
  but actually lethal assassin.
  ·  Mercenary, middle aged but fit woman lovingly holding a 
  powerful sniper rifle. Will be hanging with whatever other 
  military types are around. Likely to be smart and quiet.
  The Aliens
  ·  Alien, known for aggression, drinking alone at the bar, armed 
  with ceremonial blade of some sort.
  ·  Full environment suit, vaguely humanoid in form but 
  not recognizable as one of the known alien races. Sat 
  in the corner not doing anything, might be mistaken for 
  decoration. Or perhaps is decoration mistaken for a 
  customer.
  ·  Alien with reputation for peacefulness or cowardice, drunk or 
  intoxicated in some other way. Stumbling around the bar being 
  loud and aggressive.
  
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  ·  Alien, reputation for deviousness, sitting at a table playing 
  poker or other card game. Well dressed by their standards and 
  obviously wealthy.
  ·  Alien, dressed in human style suit and speaking human 
  languages, obviously very taken with the human race. Will be 
  keen to speak to any humans present.
  ·  Alien, naturally or artificially looks like a human woman 
  in important aspects, dressed in slinky dress or similar and 
  cruising among the human male population of the bar. Might 
  be an escort, pick pocket or just into inter species relations.
  ·  Alien, known warrior species, heavily armed and wearing 
  combat armour of some sort. Stood at the side of the room 
  watching events. Probably bodyguard for someone in the 
  room.
  ·  Ugly alien sitting at a table eating, has disgusting table 
  manners or is eating vile food. Tables all around are clear.
  ·  Alien crew of a freighter, 1d6 aliens of same species, all grimy 
  from extensive flight, drinking and talking together.
  ·  Alien priest in robes, very quiet and serene. Looks lost and out 
  of place in the bar.
  The Machines
  ·  Serving droid of some sort, waiting patiently by the door for 
  someone. Polite if spoken to.
  ·  AI android in the bar preaching for improvements in AI rights. 
  Small and polite machine with near human appearance.
  ·  Small flying droid with annoying manners and high pitched 
  voice floating around the bar examining things.
  ·  Large AI war machine of some sort, self aware and armed, sat 
  playing cards or gambling in some other way.
  ·  Sexbot, dressed as a streetwalker, owned by the bar to 
  provide special entertainment to draw customers.
  ·  Cluster of specialist droids or AIs, gathered around a table 
  communicating in machine language, reason for being there 
  unintelligible.
  ·  Small and fast looking humanoid AI war machine sat up high 
  somewhere in the bar watching events. May be bar security or 
  personal protection for someone here.
  ·  Camera drone, fl oating around the room filming everyone in 
  the bar. Might be security or some sort of spy.
  ·  Medical droid, selling services to counter the intoxicants being 
  sold or provide hangover cures for later.
  in ConClusion
  This article is intended to do two things. Firstly as it says it 
  provides ready snippets that can be dropped into a game at 
  short notice when you need them in an emergency. Of course it 
  doesn’t matter how good this material is, it still has to be adjusted 
  to suit the players and characters involved in the game. Material 
  written by others can never match up to the quality of material a 
  ref writes specifically for their players, designed to play directly 
  to their strengths and weaknesses. 
  But if you don’t have anything of your own, these will be better 
  than nothing. However beyond that these little vignettes may be 
  good seeds from which to grow your own sub–plots, scenarios 
  and games. This might happen through including something 
  detailed here that the players then bite on and so it develops 
  into something bigger, or reading this inspires fresh ideas of 
  your own that can be developed in their own sub–plots.
  
  We hope you have enjoyed this first Traveller Compendium, and have found all sorts of new ideas to insert into your campaigns.
  If so, remember that a new issue of Signs & Portents appears on our web site on the first day of every month, packed from 
  cover to cover with new rules, scenarios and other juicy articles to support all of our games.  Better yet, it is completely free to 
  download, so you can start using the material immediately!
  Hopefully, this Compendium has also inspired you to add your own creations to the Traveller universe.  That being the case, you 
  can be pretty certain that other players will want to see what you have done and add your material to their own games!
  Writing for Signs & Portents could not be easier – simply send in any articles in Word format to the address below, and we will 
  review what you have done.  If the article makes the grade, we will soon be in touch with any suggested changes and then, these 
  completed, you may well find yourself in print soon after!
  We pay for every article that makes it into Signs & Portents, either in more Traveller goodies to complete your collection or cold 
  hard cash, so you really don’t have anything to lose.
  So, what are you waiting for?  Thousands of Traveller players want to see what you do in your campaigns!
  siGns & portents
  MONGOOSE PUBLISHING PRESENTS
   • Signs & Portents 74 • November 2009 • MGP 5574 • 
  You can find issues of Signs & Portents, all free to 
  download, at  http://www.mongoosepublishing.com
  Send your Traveller articles in to 
  msprange@mongoosepublishing.com
  he Victory    •    Paranoia -  Interactive Purchase Guide   •    Runequest -  Plunder of the Dwarfs   
  
  US $34.99
  This first volume of the Traveller Compendiums collates all the most 
  popular articles that have appeared in Signs & Portents over the years, 
  and presents them for the tabletop! Inside you will find new careers, new 
  ships, adventures, patrons, advice on running games, new equipment, 
  newly revealed aspects to Aslan society, and much more!
  Compendium 1
  MGP 3845
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Traveller/01 - Classic Traveller/Traveller - Compendium 1.pdf