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P-O "BeRKA" Bergstedt is the Zhodani Ambassador. :-) BeRKA started the Zhodani Base in 1994.
The Base

State of the Base

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What has happened at the Base in 2014? A lot of things!

Highlights

The top highlight of 2014 was the 23 entries in the 76 Patrons Writing Contest. 🙂 I’ll hope we can beat 23 entries in 2015. Sponsors are Welcome!

Another highlight was the opening of the Amber Zone web-site.

Site Stats

I have about 5700 proper visitors each month. That is about 40% more than last year.

The 5 most popular posts on the blog was:

  1. Spherical Space Ships (3)
  2. T5 Review (1)
  3. Oh my God, it’s full of Tables! (5)
  4. Traveller RPG playlist for Spotify (new)
  5. What makes a subsector popular? (new)

The only post from 2014 on this list is Traveller RPG playlist for Spotify.

The 5 most popular pages on the blog was:

  1. Free pdf-files (3)
  2. Random Subsector Generator (5)
  3. Maps and Data (1)
  4. Amber Zone (new)
  5. The Spinward Marches (4)

The 5 most popular search words/phrases for finding the blog was:

  1. traveller rpg pdf (new)
  2. traveller rpg (1)
  3. zhodani base (2)
  4. spinward marches (new)
  5. the zhodani base (new)

We can see that the pdfs are popular. Both in searches and in the popular pages list.

To-do List

Looking back at last years to-do list I can see that I haven’t done everything of what I planned to do. But instead I opened the Amber Zone web-site. If I had more time, I would have done more.

For 2015 I plan to do the things I didn’t have enough time to do in 2014. Maybe, something else as well. I have some plans, but I cannot say anything yet.

Pulp-O-Mizer State of the Base

Adventures, Starships, The Base, Traveller

Zhodani Base Awards 2014

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trophy-2014Welcome to the Zhodani Base Awards 2014! 2014 has been a very good year for Traveller. There have been lots of new publications.

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The first category is “Best Cover“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Cover” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2014 is: Power Projection Fleet : From BITS

There were lots of Traveller products with nice covers this year. Lots of love for all nice covers.

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Next category is “Best Fanzine or Online Magazine“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Fanzine/Online Magazine” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2014 is: Freelance Traveller

Freelance Traveller has once again proved that they are the best fanzine by publishing monthly issues with lots of good contents for free.

I really like the new Imperiallines. Looking forward to the next issues of this one.

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Next category is “Best Adventure“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Adventure” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2014 is: Cirque from From Greylock Publishing

There were lots of fine Traveller Adventures for different settings published. Cirque is a fantastic but unorthodox adventure in classic style.

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Next category is “Best Ship or Deckplan“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Ship or Deckplan” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2014 is: 2300AD: Ships of the French Arm : From Mongoose 

There was lots of fine ships for Traveller published this year. Lots of great new designs with good art from the small publishers. But this year, my favorite was from Mongoose.

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Next category is “Best ATU Product“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best ATU Product” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2014 is: Grand Safari : From Gypsy Knights Games

GKG wins with some nice adventures. But next year I would really like to see more interesting ATU products from other small publishers.

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Next category is “Best OTU Product“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best OTU Product” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2014 is: The Traveller Adventure : From GDW

The Traveller Adventure is one of my favorite adventures (except the beginning that is problematic). When it was re-released the other OTU products couldn’t beat it.

Better luck next year 13Mann. I really like your products.

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A final bonus category this year is “Best Free Traveller Product“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Free Traveller Product” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2014 is: Three Blind Mice : From 13Mann Verlag

Now, go and download all of the free Traveller Products. Why? They are free!

Adventures, The Base, Traveller

And the winner is…

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It was very difficult to pick the winners of the 76 patrons contest this year. Even more so than last year. There were 23 good entries to choose from.

However, I thought one of them was a bit better and more playable than the others. It also had some nice feel-good qualities. In this Patron you get to know the locals at a very British island. Maybe you will be sitting in a small pub, talking to the major of the village. There are so much more that can happen in the contest entry I am thinking about. Things that don’t fit the 1000 word limit. The winner is of course The Oncoming Storm by Library Bob. Well done and Congratulations!

Second place goes to The Bank Job by Mark McCabe. Third place goes to Game Time by Sifu Blackirish.

  1. The Oncoming Storm (by Library Bob) $70
  2. The Bank Job (by Mark McCabe) $40
  3. Game Time (by Sifu Blackirish) $20
Another Winner - Image from wikimedia - Public Domain
Another Winner – Image from wikimedia – Public Domain

Thanks to all who participated! The winners will be contacted.

Adventures, The Base, Traveller

23 new Patrons this year

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23This years 76 Patrons contest was a success. There were 23 entries. That is seven more than the number of entries we had received last year.

This years entries:

  1. The Foreign Agent (by Lluís)
  2. Ferrero Rocher (by Marchand)
  3. Downward (by Library Bob)
  4. The Fringe (by Marcus Maximus)
  5. The Noble’s Bobble Head Doll (by Marcus Maximus)
  6. Scabs (by Marcus Maximus)
  7. Star Gypsies (by Jason E. McNully)
  8. Prisoner Exchange (by Marcus Maximus)
  9. SuSAG vs. Slavers (by Jason E. McNully)
  10. The Bank Job (by Marcus Maximus)
  11. C.O.D. (by Greg Videll)
  12. The Thing in the Telescope (by Library Bob)
  13. A Mighty Fortress (by Marcus Maximus)
  14. The Oncoming Storm (by Library Bob)
  15. Game Time (by Sifu Blackirish)
  16. Boxing Day (by Marcus Maximus)
  17. Similitude (by Michael Brown)
  18. Elegance Never Forgotten (by Michael Brown)
  19. Salvage! (by Eric Bergmueller)
  20. The Venatorian Club (by Alegis Downport)
  21. The Tumult (by Michael Brown)
  22. The Exile (by Friz)
  23. The Aslan Mercenary Fleet (by Jim Vassilakos)

Now I have a lot to think about. I will announce the winner tomorrow. Until then, please comment, like and share. Tell us which entry you like the most and why! Both here and on other sites.