I have heard that there exists other games that might be easer to adapt for Halloween. There is even a horror game from GDW. But I want to play Traveller. So what are my options?
If you want to play a horror scenario for Traveller, then I would say that you should have a look at Challenge #46. It is a Special Horror Issue.
Photo of my own Challenge #46. (DrivethruRPG is showing the wrong issue)
In this issue you can find a 6-page article about scary wizards and witches, with three interesting adventure hooks. There is a four page scenario with some nasty surprises about salvaging a haunted scout-ship. The final (and maybe most scary) scenario is about encountering a ghost ship in jump space. It is written by Mike Mikesh. This scenario also includes deckplans of a 600-ton subsidized liner. All of these articles for Traveller are very good and usable. But there is more…
There is a scenario for Twilight: 2000, one for Space: 1889, one for 2300 AD, one for Cyberpunk, two for Shadowrun, one for Torg, two for Call of Cthulhu, one for Star Wars and one other (for fun). The one for 2300 AD would be easy to adapt for Traveller if you need another scenario.
Other horror scenarios for Traveller can also be found in:
Challenge #54: This is another Special Horror Issue.
Double Adventure 5: The Chamax Plague / Horde that could be turned into an Alien style bug hunt. (Also in JTAS #17)
JTAS 16: An Amber Zone scenario (called The Day of the Glow) about “Vampires”.
JTAS 15: An Amber Zone scenario (called chill) also about “Vampires”.
JTAS 5: An Amber Zone scenario (called The Werewolf Disease) that isn’t about vampires.
Now go find those pumpkins to get some free stuff from DriveThruRPG.
EDIT: DriveThruRPG has now updated the cover image. Challenge #46 is now number 1 in the Top 100 Products list.
It wasn’t that long ago that I would never have imagined that so important of a friendship could be struck via the internet. Maybe that’s the way the future will be. That sounds like something that John and I would discuss via our almost daily emails. We talked about what the future would hold as much from a sense or curiosity as the desire to flesh out what had become our joint passion the Twilight Sector Setting.
At first it was odd that someone would buy into something not of their own creation with such passion. But that was a clue revealing the true genius of John. For it was in the perfection of the form not necessarily in its creation which was his special skill and frankly I’m not sure I could imagine any human who could be better at that task.
It was the happy accident of a chance internet encounter that lead to our friendship as well. I only had the pleasure of meeting John in person twice. Both occurred at GenCon, once in 2010 and again in 2011. It was there I learned much about the man. As much as the internet has extended our reach so that a man in Flint, Michigan and one in Kansas City, Missouri might meet and exchange ideas I believe it is by meeting someone in person that you can take their true measure. It was here that I was introduced to John’s warm nature, quick wit and a palpable intelligence that could not be denied. I’ll be the first to admit that John could be prickly at times. His opinions he held dear but the beauty is that he always approached them with a determined logic. It was often disagreements that lead to our best work.
We were in the midst of just such an occurrence this week shooting emails back and forth discussing how best to approach a design issue. I received his last email at Midnight and by the next morning my colleague and friend was gone. John D. Lees passed away on October the 2nd, 2012. For me the world is a much dimmer place. A man who might have been unknown to many but who is the very embodiment of the best that is tabletop role-playing has left us.
It was so difficult to decide the winner of the 76 patrons contest this year. There are 15 good entries. Of these, there are 13 that I want to use, and of these there are 6 that I think are really good. I must say thank you to all the participants for all the interesting, fun and playable entries!
I have now finally picked the winner. The winner of the fourth Summer Zhodani Base 76 Patrons Writing Contest is Greg Videll with the Patron called “Tourist Trap“.
The runner-up is Library Bob with the Patron called “Renovations“.
The winners will be contacted.
Another winner: image from wikimedia, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
This years 76 Patrons contest was a success. There was 15 entries. That is more than the number of entries we had received the last three years added together. 🙂
Patron: any Required Skills: none Required Equipment: starship
Players’ Information:
The group is asked to deliver some cargo by a person called “Alan/Alana” (it can be either a man or woman) who represents a small consortium called the Long Haulers. They typically bring in cargo from the Imperium and attempt to distribute it throughout the Foreven. The group is in the Inpota system of the Reidain Subsector. The increased tech level for the independent and neutral system of Reidain and the systems that Reidain controls allows for a broader range of cargo to be delivered and Alan sees a possible avenue for profit and is looking into the types of cargo that would be most valuable and cargo haulers, such as the group, that would be able to make said deliveries. They pay well and Alan has treated the group well. They start their J-2 run from Inpota on their way to Reidain.
Referee’s Information:
On their way to Reidain the group receives a mayday call originated in subsector hex 0604 right between Inpota and Reidain. The group comes upon a Darrian warship ship called the Invincible firing upon an Avalar cargo ship called the Dependable. The Avalar ship is clearly under matched and it is they who have sent out the distress signal.
When they come upon the scene the group is still receiving the pleas of help from the Dependable. The Darrian ship has an Admiral called Castellar’s. He declares to the group that this is a legal action against an enemy of the state and to stay out of the interchange. He continues on that even though they were told to heave to for boarding the cargo ship decided to fire upon them.
The Darrian ship is closing for boarding upon Dependable. Castellar’s calls the Dependable asking once again to give up the information concerning the plague they are carrying to Reidain. They won’t let them destroy the tenuous peace in this subsector. As they close the Dependable explodes destroying the cargo hauler and severely damaging the Invincible.
Castellar’s calls the group and asks them for their help. They were able to wirelessly download some valuable information from the cargo haulers computer before they exploded. He wants to get to Reidain with this information as soon as possible. His ship has been severely damaged and he doesn’t want to wait for repairs to be completed. Would they help?
1. All is as represented, correctly. Castellar’s has stumbled upon an Avalar plot to sway Reidain to ally them with Avalar by saying the Darrians want to cause a plague on Reidain and providing false “information” that is was the Avalars. This is of course a pre-emptive move by Avalar to strike against Darrian systems. There is no plague.
2. As 1, but there really is a plague. People from the Dependable escaped and Castellar’s has picked up the survivors who are also plague carriers. It could be Avalars or the Darrians who are doing it. Referees choice.
3. Castellar’s is insane and he has split into two personalities. He has spent his whole career as a protector of the Darrian people. His hatred of Avalar and all things Avalar has put him over the edge of sanity. Even though this is a high tension subsector there is a Darrian movement to have peace with Avalar and even trade with them. This has put him over the edge. One personality is totally amoral and intends on spreading a plague to the Reidain system and then blaming Avalar. He even has created proof. His other personality has “found” intelligence about the plague and Avalars involvement and he will do anything to protect his people. The Dependable never fired upon his ship; the Admiral merely thought they did.
4. There is no plague. Castellar’s is being setup as the bad guy. He has recently retired and a well-known hater of all things Avalar. He has “stumbled” upon some intelligence about a plague and the Avalars and he will do everything in his power to see it stopped, including destroying innocent cargo ships that have nothing to do with any plot. There is no plague though. Again, it could have been started by Avalars or the Darrians. Referees choice.
5. As 4, except people on the Dependable have been deliberately infected in the hope that at least one survivor will be rescued by Castellar’s thereby infecting his crew and then the group as well delivering the plague right to the doorstep of Reidain.
6. “Alan” is not who he claims to be. He is a cleaner for the megacorp conglomeration called the Corporate Expanse. They are a ruthless group who board members are composed of notorious and evil megacorporations. They have been using subsector hex 0406 to experiment with new and radical ideas on encrypting their communication traffic so they can continue to conduct business without people being aware that they are even here. There is a problem and now the ship is a liability. He has orders to destroy the ship by any means as long as nothing gets back to the Corporate Expanse. He has planted false intelligence information so that Castellar’s will destroy the Dependable, saving the day. The data he downloaded has a time delay worm virus that will destroy itself and any information related to it in the computer it resides. Castellar’s will be vilified as someone who try to concoct a ludicrous story about plague and then “save” everyone so he could return and become a hero to his people. Elections are soon and he would be able to run and the supposedly the people will elect him with little opposition. Alan is making sure his plan is running smooth and will disappear when done leaving the group wondering about future Long Hauler contracts.
In all cases the referee should determine the flow of subsequent events.
