Category Archives: Traveller

Anything about traveller.

Mapping, The Base, Traveller

New style for the Random Subsector Generator

Leave a comment

The Random Subsector Generator has been updated. It now outputs an image in PNG format instead of ASCII.

Old and New Style
Old style to the left | New style to the right

The new style outputs a quite large image, 2066px × 2922px. The hexes are big enough include UWP and Trade Class. I have used a purple colour for UWP and Trade Class so that this extra information won’t stand out to much.

For the new style there are 10 types of planets. These are the same types that are used in the Traveller Universe program.

Mapping, Science, Traveller

Solomani Rim rotated

Leave a comment
Solomani Rim rotated 90 degrees CW

Solomani Rim Sector rotated 90 degrees, so that it matches many other maps which has the coreward direction to the right.

Also added are:
The Local Interstellar Cloud and other nearby clouds. (blue)
The Strömberg Sphere for Sirius and 40 Eridani. (purple)
The Scorpius–Centaurus Association or the Sco OB2 in the lower right corner. (purple)

These Clouds can also be seen at the Galaxy Map site.
10 pc Map
6000 pc Map

Size: 45.8 MB
Version: 1.1
Published: February 9, 2021
Download Now!72 Downloads
Adventures, Rules, Starships, The Base, Traveller

Zhodani Base Awards 2020

2 Comments

2020 ZhobieWelcome to the Zhodani Base Awards 2020! 2020 has been a strange year. For Traveller products it was another good year. Lots of new stuff from the small publishers (and Mongoose).

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

The winner of the “Best Cover” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2020 is: Star Battles: Space Map Bundle from Jon Brazer Enterprises.

There were lots of Traveller products with nice covers this year. Lots of love for all nice covers. An image with a starship and hexes was a perfect cover for a product like this.

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 2020 is: Freelance Traveller.

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

Freelance Traveller has won this category every year since 2011!

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

The winner of the “Best Adventure” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2020 is: Skandersvik from Mongoose.

There were lots of fine Traveller Adventures for different settings published. This year, Skandersvik was the most interesting one.

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

The winner of the “Best Ship or Deckplan” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2020 is: Colonial Freighter from Zozer Games.

There were lots of fine ships for Traveller published this year. Colonial Freighter was the coolest and most inspiring design.

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

The winner of the “Best ATU Product” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2020 is: The Sword of Cepheus from Stellagama Publishing.

This category always make me happy since you can always find so many cool ideas and useful books.

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

The winner of the “Best OTU Product” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2020 is: Aliens of Charted Space Vol. 2 from Mongoose.

Mongoose continues to churn out good quality products for the OTU.

A final bonus category this year is “Best Free or Pay What You Want Traveller Product“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Free or Pay What You Want Traveller Product” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2020 is: The Zero Gravity Olympics from Old School Role Playing.

There were a lot of great free products this year. In 2020, I have seen lots of questions about futuristic sports. This years winner may answer some of these questions.

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

Rules, Traveller

Laws and Order

2 Comments

Traveller’s Law Level only shows one aspect of the law to  player characters. It only answers the question, “Can I take my assault rifle off the starport?”

Law level has a very American feel to it, in that it says what weapons you are allowed to carry. In Europe you’d hardly ever see a person with a firearm in the street, unless they were members of the  police or the military. Recent news video  showed protesters in the USA with rifles in front of a government building, yet the USA has well developed laws, so how would you resolve this?

If the US was a Traveller nation,  population is 328 million (2019), so that would be 8. The government type is 3 or 4, the law is … a problem. Lots of lawyers, a very well-developed legal system, but you can carry a rifle in the street? Law level 4 (no light assault weapons or sub-machine guns) seems right, but that makes the general law too low.

In the UK we have about 68 million people, (7),  The government type is again probably 3 or 4, the law is 8 or 9. This seems to fit better, but it’s still not accurate. The UK has different laws to the USA, but not different enough to have one as Law Level 4 and the other as 8.

Let’s imagine a TL 5 world. It’s actually the same level as the USA in the 1930’s, in that it has fairly well developed laws and culture. It has accepted a D Class starport not too far from the centre of government. The first traders start arriving and a group of adventurers wanders down the street with weapons and armour much better than the local police department (who only have Thompson SMGs and shotguns available).

The first law they write is “you can’t import higher tech weapons than we have ourselves”. There’s an element of protectionism in this too. If the Thompson SMG costs $225 (in 1930), you don’t want the same or better weapons imported at lower prices. If they are going to import better weapons, your government wants exclusive rights.

Inspection
Inspection – Copyright Neil Lucock

Continue reading Laws and Order →