Sample File and Tasks That Need Accomplishing – the Direct Counterparts of the Players

trAveLLer stArport enCounters Credits Contents Classic Traveller Introduction 2 Marc Miller Starcrews 3 Loren Wiseman, John Harshman, Frank Chadwick, Darryl Scouts/Couriers 6 Hany, Winston Hamilton, Tony Svajlenka, Scott Renner, Traders 16 Doug Poe, David MacDonald, Wayne Roth, Paul R. Banner. Other Ships 35 Naval Ships 39 Mongoose Traveller Cargoes 45 Authors Natural Resources 54 Andy Lilly and Sarah Lilly Processed Resources 57 editor Manufactured Goods 61 Matthew Sprange Information 65 LAyout Novelties 69 Will Chapman Generating Cargoes 71 Fellow Travellers 76 interior iLLustrAtions Nuno Nobre, Carlos Nunez de Castro Torres, JohnSample Koelepp fileMiddle Passage (Individuals) 77 Middle Passage (2-4 Individuals) 89 speCiAL thAnks Middle Passage (Group) 93 Dave Elrick for the original starcrews concept and Keith Hornsblow for additional starcrew plot inspiration when High Passage (Individuals) 96 Andy’s brain started to run out of ideas. High Passage (2-4 Individuals) 103 High Passage (Group) 106 Library Data 109 Starport Encounters ©2013 ©BITS UK Limited 2013. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without written permission from BITS UK Limited. All art herein is 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. introduCtion It happens to every referee at one time or another. The players cargo is typically treated as a pile of boxes which sit in the jump in-system, dock at a starport, offload passengers and hold and simply has a different value on one world compared cargo, and then ask a string of questions. to another. ‘So, what other ships are in the port?’ The objective of this chapter is to address those boxes, to make them into more than just random rolls on a table. ‘This cargo of pharmaceuticals – which does it actually These will be cargoes your players do not forget quickly. contain?’ ‘I go to the bar for a few drinks. Who else is around right FeLLow trAveLLers now?’ Just as the players wander from world to world, so too do many billions of other people. If your players own a ship, This book will allow you to answer those questions with the they may carry passengers to help pay for its upkeep. If minimum of effort, giving every appearance to your players they travel on liners, they will inevitably mingle with other that you have created your universe down to the very last passengers. Whatever the situation, the players deserve detail. You come off looking like a World Class referee, while something more exciting than simply rolling the number of your players have the joy of experiencing a bustling universe passengers available and calculating their ticket fare. where there are plenty of other people around who clearly have their own lives to lead, making it feel like a real, living, There is always one passenger who just is not satisfied with breathing place. the service, or who is a total bore to his fellow passengers. Children and pets (even genetically engineered dragons) To this end, this book covers three key areas where referees are sources of trouble, especially when confined within a can always use a little help. starship for a week-long jump. A well designed NPC, with a strong background and stArCrews character, can bring a game to life. This chapter has many This chapter is intended to make sure a referee need never fellow travellers who can be inflicted upon your players. make up names on the fly again (and hoping he has not already used them recently). Here, you will find a selection of ready-made crews, each with their own goals, motivationsSample file and tasks that need accomplishing – the direct counterparts of the players. These starcrews will interact with your players, through trade or conflict, by carousing with the players in the starport bar, pass on useful local knowledge, or provide the stimulus for a new adventure – or perhaps simply provide colour for the latest world the players have arrived at. CArgoes Trade is the foundation of any empire and a significant portion of many Traveller campaigns are centred around trade. The carriage of goods between planets is often useful as a ploy to get the players to the right place for the next adventure. Players may be traders themselves, carrying freight, providing an escort for trade goods, or seeking to acquire (legally or illegally) speculative trading merchandise. Alternatively they may be pirates, who want to know what is in the hold of the ship they have just boarded. Either way, 2 stArCrews ‘So what’s Blixt port like, Buth?’ an X-Boat is sometimes known as Newsbox or Scandal- caster. Fat Traders have been known to be called Fat Boy or ‘Normally quite quiet – which is the way I like it. However, Plumpy, while Subsidised Merchant can be termed Subbers given the ship’s listing we received on the way in I’m hopeful or Noprofs (from ‘no profits’). it could be productive.’ Crew: Crew are normally listed in order of seniority, generally ‘Anyone in particular we should worry about?’ with the ship’s owner or captain first. If any crew are not human, this will be mentioned here. ‘Well, I know Gigen of the Kuuaarni. A bit of a hard so-and- so when trading and absolutely paranoid about pirates, but Passengers: Passengers may provide background colour honest with it, so you know if he sells you Parhus fur you’re or need onward travel from this ship to that of the players’. not getting Offah skin with a bit of orange dye on it.’ They may carry useful information or be potential patrons. ‘Ok, are we going to talk to him?’ The numbers shown usually assume single occupancy, so feel free to add an extra 1d6 or more passengers if some of ‘Maybe, but I also noticed the Leaping Lizard is berthed. them are couples or groups of people happy to double-bunk. That’s a weird ship; a Hyumian and a human. That woman – Maria Charles – seems to always have some trinket or Cargo: This is, of course, an ideal time to use some of the other that she’s bartering; always very valuable, always ‘no cargoes detailed in the next chapter… questions asked’, so she’s always worth a look.’ Description: A general description of ships will include any ‘But what if she’s selling stolen goods?’ interesting aspects of their background, construction or usage. Note that many starships have panels or large areas ‘Anna! You may be an expert in your ‘field’, but one of the first of the hull which can change colour or display messaging things you need to get into your head when trading is that under computer control, using a range of technologies rules are made to be bent. I do not break rules myself but from electrophoresis to holography. Beyond the description I have known some remarkably flexible rules in my time...’ given, feel free to add advertising panels, moving pictures, holograms, chameleon qualities, etc. You will notice the majority of ships detailedSample here are file merchants, mainly small traders; these are the most Plots: Each of the ships has at least one sub-plot or secret common types of ship the players will come across in associated with it. Some of these plots may be used as red- their adventures. More exotic ships, such as alien traders herrings, sidelines to the main adventure, or as leads into a or military battle-cruisers are not included, partly because completely new adventure. They may also indicate how the of their rarity, but mostly because we wanted to include as players might benefit now (or in the future) from interaction many common ship types as possible. Rare ships are likely with the crew. They can be used to provide continuity when to be present because the referee has already written them passing through the same starport (‘Hey, I see the Yolande is into his adventure. in port again – do you think they’ll want to play us at Pokertel again given how much we stung them for last time?’). The Remember, all the information in this book is for you to use players may also think twice about fighting a ship’s crew and adapt as you feel appropriate to your gaming group. If if they know they may bump into those same starfarers at you want to move crew between ships, or change a ship another port; similarly the loan of spare parts to a ship in type, it is up to you – whatever makes your game more need may later pay dividends if the players run into financial enjoyable! issues and the ship they helped turns up in port. All of the ships and their crews follow the same format, but These plots but can be used as a learning exercise even if there are a few things worth bearing in mind. they do not directly involve the players – by witnessing the misfortunes of other crews, the players can be reminded of Ship Name and Type: Remember that a crew may abbreviate what can go wrong and hint at precautions they should take their ship’s name or have a nickname for it.

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