Traveller - the last past months

So, where do we actually stand in the Traveller campaign. Here a writeup from the gamemaster about the major events of the campaign. Pending are the smuggle runs of the last two sessions.

Chapter 1 - Rat Hive Exodus

The Travellers are in the backwater Inchin system, in the Spinward Marches. Inchin is a poor desert planet owned by a guy named Iarl Rowri, an eccentric rich guy who bought his own planet, sure he could make a lot of money there. He has met a lot of setbacks and has not succeeded as of yet. Inchin now has a kind of totalitarian regime. Rowry apparently lives in a palace at the only town on Inchin, called Rowri's Folly by people off-planet.

Takeda Station orbits Inchin, clutered with neon signs. All the Travellers are stranded there one way or another. It used to be a mining/industrial base, but Rowri sold it to the mysterious Takeda because he needed the money. This was 15 years ago. Takeda station has the greatest bar this side of the galaxy, Murphy's Bar and Grill, completely filled with old-earth memorablia and culture. He even has a radio station that broadcasts Solomani songs (especially Creedence and Hank Williams).

Of course there is a rat problem in the cellar. The Travellers find the (radioactively mutated) pests, extend the range of the radio station and discover that Takeda Station contains a lot of scrap metal, including pieces of a huge ship called "The Galactic Dragon".

Chapter 2 - Beetlejuice

Old man Finkle is a drunk and completely broke. He loses his ship, Beetlejuice, to the Travellers in a poker game (but his pilot and stripper slash mechanic daughter keep their share). The Travellers also inherit the mortgage on the ship.

The Beetlejuice is a weird, green, 100 ton experimental ship, without jump capabilities. It is filled with non-standard tech.

In the meanwhile the only Traveller with a set goal is Max. A few years back, he received a mysterious marble of mercury-like substance through his girlfriend (later referred to as “Vril”). He researched this material at his university, far away in another sector. All his research, including the strange material, was stolen however. He traced the crime back to the Inchin system, and wants to retrieve his life's work.

Chapter 3 - Spacetruckers

Together, the Travellers launch the “Lone Star Trading Company”. Their first job entails doing some mining runs for an independent group of miners. These old geezers try to keep independent from the League of Miners and Prospectors, which slowly destroys their business. During the mining runs, the Travellers are bugged by a trader named Bachus, who owns a 500 ton far trader "Predator" and works for the League.

Chapter 4 - The Lion and the Dragon

Security Inspector Reichmann of the Inchin Police asks the Travellers check out Bachus, because he appears to deliver weapons to the Inchin resistance. They break into the Predator to discover a small ships boat inside, which could be used for smuggling runs. The Travellers engineer a makeshift tracking device with short range. They want to try to catch Bachus red-handed.

More importantly, the Travellers discover that their ship, the Beetlejuice, used to belong to an alien (Aslan) named K'syah. He discovered the ship in the system, at a dangerous place he refers to as the "Galactic Dragon". His journal claims that there are many more parts available for the ship at that location. The Travellers conclude that it must be a vessel, because Takeda station contains scrap metal belonging to a ship with the same name.

The Aslan apparently was murdered about 10 years ago, right after he hid the Beetlejuice on a Junkyard moon. It's unclear who murdered him or why, but he was very paranoid just before he was murdered, saying he was being followed because of something that had to do with the ship.

Furthermore, the Travellers discover that K'syah had a girlfriend (Pam) who might still be on the station. She should be employed at the upper section, which is off limits to lower section residents. She is the only lead who might lead the Travellers to the Galactic Dragon, to upgrade the Beetlejuice with parts that might be present there.

Chapter 5 - Deadly Choices

Bachus approaches the players in person, and asks them to make a delivery to Inchin. He has discovered the tracking device the Travellers planted on his ship. He assumes, however, it was put there by the Inchin Police. He intends to kill two birds with one stone by sending the players to make his final delivery.

At the drop-off point, the Travellers hide and wait for the “resistance” (who are plain smugglers and drifters) to pick up their shipment. They follow them into a large canyon. The smugglers inhabit a large technical facility, long since abandoned. The Travellers start their assault on the drifter’s base.

In the meanwhile, Bachus flees the system.

Chapter 6 - Assault

The Travellers continue to gain access to the facility. After defeating the drifters located there, they discover it used to belong to a cooperation named TechNet. They also find out that it's a back up power station to another facility. They follow the power traces to that second facility, deep in Inchin's dessert.

Chapter 7 - Biodome

The Travellers clear out the second abandoned TechNet facility on Inchin, which has been overtaken by insectoid predators. Their hivemother resides in the giant bio dome in the centre of the facility. They kill the aberration by flooding the dome. After that they discover the main function of the site: it's an archeological dig, a huge shaft that descends deep into Inchin. They discover that the site is meant to recover ancient artefacts. More specifically, they dug for the same strange substance that was stolen from Max by Takeda. It is reffered to as "Vril". Furthermore, they mine the computers and find an intact datalink with the Galactic Dragon, enabling them to find its current location.

They return to Takeda station and find that Bachus has fled. Instead, they are approached by a beautiful woman named Pam. She was the Aslan's girlfriend, before he got murdered by Takeda. She tells them Takeda is after them because they have information about Vril in their possession. The Travellers flee the station, accompanied by Pam. They locate the Galactic Dragon in the Inchin system, with the information they obtained in the TechNet facility, and decide to pay it a visit.

Chapter 8 - Enter the Dragon

After Baron Rowry of Inchin discoverd the presence of TechNet sites on his planet, he attacked the sites and destroyed most of them. The TechNet employees sent SOS messages, and the cooperation responded by sending their prime vessel, the Galactic Dragon. But the paranoid Rowry anticipated retaliation, and invested heavily in surface-to-space defence systems. While their mission was diplomatic, Rowry attacked the Dragon the moment it was in range. The vessel was not equipped for warfare on that scale, and was destroyed. The loss of the Dragon was the downfall of the struggling TechNet cooperation. Remaining employees were fired, the main assets were sold, and everything else was abandoned.

When the Travellers visit the Galactic Dragon, they discover it has since then become a town of sorts, home to Spacecowboys, Drifters and Pirates. It's led by a one armed Pirate named Ramsey. They trade with the locals and upgrade the Beetlejuice. Also, they hack the ships database and find out a lot more about their ship. It was an experimental TechNet ship employing the power of Vril as an alternative to normal Jump Technology.

The actual drive that is needed to jump with Vril was present in the Dragon, but it was sold to the three notorious junkers, and brought to their Junkyard moon of Elthan. Coincidentally, this was the same Junkyard where the Aslan hid the Beetlejuice, some 10 years ago. Luckily, one of the brothers visits the city, and takes some of the Travellers and Pamela to the moon to get the so-called "Fridge". With that device, the Travellers will finally be able to jump.

Chapter 9 - Takeda

On the Junkmoon of Elthan, things go horribly wrong. While Jack and Stacey are lifting the Vril drive into the spacetruck, Charles is out riding a space bike with one of the brothers. They discover a small fighter vessel, which attacks them. At the same time, Pam reveals herself to be Takeda. Obsessed by Vril technology, she attacks the Travellers on the junkmoon. Powered by Vril, her cybernetic body is capable of immense feats. Two of the brothers die in the battle, but in the end the fighter crashes into the junkyard, and Takeda is defeated with a huge amount of explosives. The Travellers flee the blazing moon, leaving the charred cybernetic remains of Takeda, but not without retrieving the piece of Vril that powered her. After returning to Dragon City, the Vril Drive is installed on the Beetlejuice, along with a gatling gun. They've defeated their opposition and are free to go where they want.

Session 10 - First Jump

When making the jump, it becomes apparent that jumpspace is fundamentaly different when using the Vril drive. Halfway the jump, the Beetljuice co-exists with another vessel for some 8 hours. The laws of physics are abandooned completely as they are able to pass through walls between the two ships. They explore the other ship, a huge, abandonned generation vessel from centuries ago. The horror ammounts to a climax as the see the shape of a huge, leather clad soldier through one of the doors. They escape the ship, and safely return from Jumpspace in the Tarsus system.

Another Youtube treasure

See here another Youtube treasure. A seriously misguided, tendentious, piece. Kind of funny to see after all these years. Nowadays it's video games taking the blame, but back then it was Dungeons and Dragons.



Have half an hour to spare, look at the following review of Mazes and Monsters:

Longbow vs Crossbow

Magnum, the dwarven ranger of our party is currently wielding a crossbow instead of a longbow. Hopefully, the next clip will pursuade him to change to longbow.


Unless he opts for the following weapon: Badass Automatic Crossbow, or even this one.

The first two sessions

The partymembers were busy repairing their keep following the defeat of the orc warlord Gruumsh. One night, Zull was studying the stars when he saw a bright white light passing some 60 ft over his head. This light was also seen by Rupert devaillier de fleur, a halfling rogue that was travelling the lands in search of experience and new tales. The day following the light, the adventurers are visited by Thauster, Jelleneth and Rupert. Thauster requests to investigate the strange light, and the adventurers, bored stiff, happily comply.

Battle for the Caravan

After travelling for a few days, the party spotted a caravan that was under siege by a group of bandits. The adventurers quickly chose sides with the caravan and managed to fight off, actually kill, all of the attackers. During the battle, Rupert saw a figure silently observing the battle. Assuming the figure was the spellcaster of the attacking party, he attacked him with his slingstaff. The pellet stopped in mid-air and fell to the ground. The figure smiled at Rupert, waved and then dissappeared. The battle was a hard one, especially because Bronco was stunned. Fortunately, Zull came to the rescue with his pit-spell, entraping some of the attackers. When Gladwin was inspecting the battle site, he found out that his detect magic spell did not function near the wagon.

The caravan consisted of three wagons and an armoured carriage. The armored carriage was made of thick oak wood, and did not have any windows. Members of the caravan included: - Lisara, a noble on her way to her uncle Flavius - Lenore, het maid - Phinneas, the personal bodyguard of Lisara. Phinneas has worked as a mercenary before he selleled down as guard with Lisara's family. - Thomas, A very cocky and cowardly member of the caravan. Easy to get in conflict with

The caravan was set up in a circle and the party spend the night there.

Ambushed

The next day, the party decided to travel south with the caravan. Several days were uneventful, until one of the party members spotted an ambush. It quickly became clear that this ambush was not staged by the same group as had attacked the caravan several days before. These were mercenaries in uniform, all had the same red skull on their breast. The adventurers decided to use stealth over strength and to ambush the ambushers. Unfortunately, Gladwin stepped on a twig, setting off the events too early. During the battle, the party was aided by a dwarven ranger, who chose sides with the party after some observation. The battle was a particularly hard one on Bronco as he was knocked out and was brought to the brink of death. Fortunately, Gladwin brought some healing potions with which Bronco was revived. All of a sudden, the woods where the party was ambushed were filled with smoke. Some investigation by Zull learned that the smoke was not magical in nature, but was some simple alchemic mixture. When the smoke cleared, the party became aware that the caravan itself was under attack, so they rushed there to help. They found the armoured carriage in flames and rushed in to stop the fire.

Clearing up the mess, Gladwin realised that his detect magic spell was working in the proximity of the carriage. He mentioned this to Phinneas, and they requested an audience with Lisara. From her he learned that the magic cancelling effect was due to a magic lantern that was hanging on the carriage. It was an old family artifact, that was crafted hundreds of years ago by the wizard Malnoc. It seems like the magic item was the main target of the ambushers as the offence stopped the moment the item was stolen.

Naturally, the party offered to track the lantern to help Lisara. Zull ordered his familiar Edgar to scout for the fleeing mercenaries. With the aid of Edgar and the tracking skills of Magnum, the party soon found their trail. This trail led to an old ruin. Rupert sneaked up to the ruin. About halfway there he saw a boundary made of ash or salt. Since he doesn't have any spellcraft skills, he sneaked back to check with Zull and Gladwin where that was all about. Zull knew that these kind of barriers are commonly used to lock out outsiders, such as demons or devils. Reassured that it is not a trap, Rupert apporached the ruins once more and learned that there were about 20 mercenaries in camp. The leader of the mercenaries was clearly recognisable, a tall and exceptionally broad woman. She was accompanied by a cleric, who was carrying the holy symbol of Lathander.

Rupert decided that their best chance was to approach the opposing party in the open. He together with Zull and Magnum approached the camp with their hands above their heads. They told Chiva, the female leader of the mercenaries and Markos the human cleric of Lathander that they were escorting the caravan, and that they were searching for the magic lantern. But, that, on seeing that the mercenaries were supported by a cleric of Lathander, they realised they were fighting for the wrong side. The party and the mercenaries negotioated a trade of information. The party gave information about the caravan, the mercenaries about their mission.

It turned out that the mercenary corpse, the red company, was hunting down the caravan because Lisara killed a nobleman in the nearby city of Everlund. Chiva also told that the quiet maiden look of Lisara is just a facade. In reality, she is a vampire, kin to a family of vampires. To make matters more complex, this particularly family of vampires is known to worship demons. Thats why the mercenaries have taken the necessary precautions to lock demons out of the camp using the salt barrier.

The day after, the party helps the mercenaries in their attack on their former allies. When they arrive at the spot where they have left the caravan they find all of the caravan members murdered. The armoured carriage is searched by Bronco. He smashes the floor of the carriage and finds a double floor with a coffin underneath. Lisara is nowhere to be seen, however, the party finds a charred skeleton with a stake in its chest.

Outside, the rest of the party sees the silent observer again. He uses an area spell to kill off all of the mercenaries in one blow, with the exception of Chiva, their leader. Again, the silent observer is spotted, but unlike during the first encounter, he summons an aberation, smiles and moves away. What followed was a fierce battle with the aberation. During the battle Chiva died, leaving only the cleric of the original mercenary squat.

Outstanding questions:

• who is the silent observer?
• What is the white light
• Who was Malnoc?
• Is anything known about Lisara's vampire family?
• What about the noble in Everlund?

Update: Some corrections and additions by the DM, and with some links to Forgotten Realms lore

DnD Next: A new edition of Dungeons and Dragons

The word is out, Wizards are working on a new edition of Dungeons and Dragons. After Basic Dungeons and Dragons, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, 2nd edition, 3rd edition, 3.5 and 4th edition, the stage is now for DnD Next. Below are some of my favorite comments on the news (will add new ones when i find new favorites):

• ENworld. Morris was building up anticipation for a long time, only to have the NY times negate the embargo, but still, he has the best story!
• The escapist: Speak Your Mind in the Next Version of Dungeons & Dragons
• Sarah Darkmagic's take on the news
• Robert J. Schwalb explains why he has been quiet on the blog lately
• Excellent in depth discussion on must have features in DnD:Next
• MJ Harnish has a more sceptical approach on Wired's Geek Dad

Personally, I'm excited to see where this goes. I'm a big fan of 3rd edition (and Pathfinder for that matter), and never really cared for 4th edition. I'm excited to see where the player input is going to take us. I'd love to see at least the following points:

to see a rule set that is very basic and sparse, and that is expanded with extra, optional rules. This would set back the trend of overregulating in pathfinder and 4E, and still satosfy groups and DMs who like to play with a large body of rules.
• Respect for the content of previous editions.I understand that support for settings as Al Quadim and Ravenloft is not commercially viable, but I would like to be able to integrate the stuff into my campaigns with not too much effort.
• I'm a big believer in the OGL. I think that the major revival of RPGs in the last 10 years is thanks to this mechanism. I hope Wizards bring it back
• I hope they let go of the tight integration with a battle map. I don't like playing with miniatures too much, and to my taste this gets too much emphasis in 4E

I like the following quote from the original wizards article:

Our mission is to ensure that D&D enters its next 40 years as a vibrant, growing, and exciting game.

A great positive thing about todays news is the amount of commitment that Wizards shows to the future survival of Dungeons and Dragons. If you want to join the discussion, Twitter is on fire at the moment. Look for the hash-tag #dndnext. And look at the #5Erumors hashtag for the more humourous contributions UPDATE: Enworld is collecting al the information about the new edition on a single page

The Dungeons and Dragons Experience

Browsing on youtube I found the documentary The Dungeons and Dragons Experience. The documentary is originally showed at Gen Con. The resolution is fairly low, but it is still amazing. Do yourself a favor and watch it:



RPG.net has a review of the DVD edition of this documentary.