Traveller Tuesday - Bonus Thanksgiving Edition

Filling in the details for the generated types of ships can be a good task for random tables, as well as an additional input vector of campaign info into the game.  Some extra tables are provided here for Traders, Scientists, and Mercenaries.

Traders give a nice selection of recurring small ship encounters that provide a source of allies, rivals and potential patrons available on all worlds in the campaign.

Scientists give a series of encounters that provide details on some of the research institutions of the campaign.

Mercenaries fill the same niche as Traders, but with a more militaristic flair.  And given the amount of mercenary training that goes on in Sphere Fenix (mercenary services to the Imperium and elsewhere is a large part of the Sphere's export economy), these encounters are likely to play a decent role in the game.

Traders are presented below, Scientists and Mercenaries will be in the next Traveller posting.

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Traders

This category represents independent operators (or at most small groups, owning typically only one ship).  The following table gives some examples of those that might be encountered in or around Sphere Fenix.  To generate an encounter, roll 1d6 for column A.  Then, if the nearest world is within 1 parsec, roll 1d6 for column B, or if the nearest world is 2 parsecs away (or more), roll 1d6 for column C.

Traders in Sphere Fenix
Die A	Die B	Die C	Captain	Ship
1	1	-	Val Vondas (m)	"Zorga Wayfarer" Free Trader
	2	-	Eelynn Javik (f)	"Raven" Fat Trader
	3	-	Venka Jissard (m)	"Broma Heavy" In System Hauler
	4	1-2	Konia (Danin)	"Mudai Express" Far Trader
	5	3-4	Venka Brimarch (m)	"Pathfinder" Merchant Trader X
	6	5-6	Airax Haruss (f)	"Stellar Endeavor" Armed Free Trader
2	1	-	Hysio Thule (m)	"Flying Squid" Free Trader
	2	-	Pakmi Aneen (exotic)	"Valentina Tereshkova" Free Trader
	3	-	Iarred Bibble (m)	"Solar Ranger" Antique Trader
	4	1-2	Lantha Grandes (f)	"Empress of Ventai" Merchant Trader
	5	3-4	Arden Alken (m)	"Star Samurai" Far Trader
	6	5-6	Alam Ahdar (cyborg)	"Red Robin" Far Trader
3	1	-	Winford Sabine (m)	"Mondy's Opportunity" In System Hauler
	2	-	Jaina Madar (f)	"Blue Dragonfly" Free Trader
	3	-	Nolan Centrich (m)	"Rani of Lahore" Fat Trader
	4	1-2	Jesma (Danin)	"Yreek Wanderer" Fast Trader
	5	3-4	Damien Bentzen (m)	"Star of Yuvek" Far Trader
	6	5-6	Cerria Vane (f)	"Celestial Trade" Armed Free Trader
4	1	-	Merrill Sarratt (m)	"Starlight Express" Antique Trader
	2	-	Clement Richards (m)	"Waynio's Freedom" Free Trader
	3	-	Clara Whedon (f)	"Slow Ambush" Free Trader
	4	1-2	Meteor Smith (m)	"Big Endeavor" Far Trader
	5	3-4	Winnifred Brown (f)	"Clearwater II" Merchant Trader
	6	5-6	Nelson Quasar (m)	"Fire Beetle" Far Trader
5	1	-	Millu Sissal D7(Hiver)	"Santo Envoy" Fat Trader
	2	-	Waymire Wilkinson (m)	"Flint's Jackpot" Fat Trader
	3	-	Delila Quintan (f)	"Yuri Gagarin" Free Trader
	4	1-2	Dyer Carmichael (m)	"Destiny of Lazarus" Fast Trader
	5	3-4	Dia Desai (f)	"Nathan's Wanderer" Armed Free Trader
	6	5-6	Rharo Olier (m)	"Jiu Wan Po" Far Trader
6	1	-	Genko Hal (exotic)	"Ariel Lift" Free Trader
	2	-	Rhoro Melne (m)	"Slow Maser" Antique Trader
	3	-	Elizabet Stasny (f)	"Iron Wagon" Free Trader
	4	1-2	Isaias Zephyr (m)	"Fair Particle" Far Trader
	5	3-4	Nellie Jones (f)	"Good Omen" Far Trader
	6	5-6	Issac Klepton (m)	"Harsh Language" Merchant Trader

Here are the details on the different types of Trader ship classes:

• In System Hauler (J0) 800T (Traders and Gunboats, p.37)
• Free Trader (J1) 200T (Main Rulebook)
• Fat Trader/Subsidized Merchant (J1) 400T (Main Rulebook)
• Antique Trader (J1) 400T (Merchants and Cruisers, p.69)
• Far Trader (J2) 200T (Main Rulebook)
• Fast Trader (J2) 200T (Traders and Gunboats, p.42)
• Merchant Trader (J2) 300T (Merchants and Cruisers, p.85)
• Armed Free Trader (J2) 200T (Merchants and Cruisers, p.88)
• Merchant Trader X (J2) 500T (Merchants and Cruisers, p.93)

Traveller Tuesdays - Encounters in Sphere Fenix (3)

This week for Traveller Tuesdays, Gaming with Chuck is continuing in a series of articles on random encounters in Sphere Fenix - a star government in the first quadrant of the Crucis Margin sector that spans approximately 15-20 parsecs across.  The reason for this approach was to generate enough background information about the organizations and ships in and around Sphere Fenix to be useful for a sandbox type game.  All of this will be gather up into a pdf once it is finished.

There are times when a random starship needs to be determined (as a floating hulk, derelict, victim of a pirate, or other reason). The following table, which is keyed to starport type (and is modified from the table found in The Traveller Book) is useful for this.

Starships, by Starport Type
dice	A	B	C	D	E	X
2	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	-	-	-	-	K	-
5	-	-	-	-	-	L
6	S	A	-	L	-	-
7	A	S	R	K	-	-
8	R	A	A	S	-	-
9	M*	R*	R*	SP	S	T
10	Y	M	Q	A	A	Q
11	T	R	T	R	Q	CP
12	R*	C*	Y	M	CP	C
13	M*	Y*	A	Y	-	-
14	C*	T*	S*	Q	-	-
15	T*	C*	Y*	-	-	-
DM +2 if Naval Base in system DM +1 if Scout Base in system

A letter code indicates a standard ship class, as indicated by the following list. If a ship class is accompanied by the letter P that indicates that the ship, while not specifically a pirate vessel, is engaged in pirate activities. An asterisk indicates that there are also small craft (1d3) present. Roll for them on the Small Craft table below. A dash means something non-standard, roll on the Special table below.

• A - Trader
• C -Mercenary Cruiser
• K - Safari Ship
• L - Laboratory Ship
• M - Passenger Liner
• Q - Pirate Vessel
• R - Merchant Vessel
• S - Scout Vessel
• T - Patrol Cruiser
• Y - Yacht

If small craft are indicated, roll on the following table. If located in a system with a ship that could carry the craft, then it is part of that ship's complement. Otherwise roll on the small craft disposition table.

Small Craft Table
Die	Vessel
0	20t Launch
1	30t Ship's Boat
2	30t Slow Boat
3	40t Pinnace
4	40t Slow Pinnace
5	50t Cutter
6	95t Shuttle
7	10t Fighter
DM+1 if Naval base in system DM-1 if Scout base in system

Once the vessel(s) are determined, consider the accompanying starship that was already determined. If the small craft can be carried by that starship, then that is its source, otherwise the role of those not assigned to starships in the system is determined by the following table.

Unassigned Small Craft
Die	Role
1	Derelict
2	Marooned Crew
3	Survivors
4	Smugglers
5	Survey
6	Patrol
7	In-system Cargo
8	In-system Liner
9	Courier
DM +1 if Pop 6+ DM +2 if TL 8+

Each one of the ship types listed above can be given more information on the appropriate subtables either already developed, presented below, or to be developed.

Pirates, for instance, have already been covered in this posting.

Traveller Tuesdays - Encounters in Sphere Fenix (2)

Okay, working with the encounter chart posted last week, I started to flesh out some of the organizations, and so on, that might come up on the different entries.  I will begin presenting those, and then collate them into the overall encounter chart.

First, one of the things that comes up a few times is the idea of a Pirate. Towards that end, I created a few tables for randomizing Pirates operating in and near Sphere Fenix.

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Pirates!
Several tables are required for generating a pirate encounter. First, decide if it is a (1-3) single pirate ship, or (4-6) pirate organization. Then roll on the following tables.

First Die	Second Die	Pirate Captain	Vessel
1,2,3	1	Neef Tragor (human, M)	"The Grinning Star" 400t Corsair
	2	Baronet Laucion (human, M)	"Final Rose" 400t Corsair
	3	Teela Racken (human, F)	"The Black Widow" 400t Armed Salvage Ship
	4	Abonar Solinga F3 (hiver)	"Event Horizon" 400t Corsair
	5	Raxinar (Danin, M)	"Night Song" 1200t Salvage Hauler
	6	Red Deezl (human, F)	"Rogue's Luck" 400t Corsair
4,5,6	1	Urnit Sable (human, M)	"Faleenin Queen" 600t Pirate Raider
	2	Chauvon (human, M)	"Red Shift" 400t Fast Smuggler
	3	Honer Unk (exotic, M)	"Man's Destiny" 400t Cruiser
	4	Tingu Ferraeowl (aslan, M)	"Predator King" 600t Pirate Cruiser
	5	Lady Ponda (human, F)	"Flying Knife" 400t Corsair
	6	Jared Onal (human, M)	"Ironheart" 400t Antique Trader

Some notes on these individuals.

• Baronet Laucion believes himself to be the surviving heir to the Throne of Municar, one of the original three factions that combined to make Sphere Fenix.
• Teela Racken has an all-female crew.
• Abonar Solinga F3 commands a mixed crew of Hivers and Humans.
• Chauvon believes he is the reincarnation of an ancient hero from the early settlement myths on Achmeta (1215/Olsztyn), one of the oldest settled worlds in the Sphere.
• Honer Unk is an Exotic, a curious development of mankind that has adapted, physically, to living in low, and artificial, gravities.  His muscles have atrophied, but he has AI enhancements to his mind.
• Tingu Ferraeowl commands a mixed crew of Aslan and Human.

The Antique Trader is in the Mongoose supplement, "Merchants and Cruisers", and all of the other classes (except the Corsair) are from "Traders and Gunboats".

These are all dangerous criminals, who have taken to piracy for a variety of different reasons, but typically they all have ships with large (over-berthed) crews, for the purpose of taking prizes and manning them.  Having extra crew helps in raids and boarding actions as well.  These ships are also larger than most typical adventure class ships (usually in the 100-200 ton range), and as is typical of Pirates, have all sorts of camouflage enhancements, like duplicate transponders, and minor cosmetic changes to the hulls (performed with a minimum effort, and short amount of time) - as described for the standard 400t Pirate Corsair.

Next we'll take a look at some common pirate organizations. These are more complex, larger operations than the individual pirates listed above. Each of these organizations is like a corporation, or mercenary company. They have rules governing membership some hierarchy of leaders; armed ships, warehouses, and other equipment; arrangements with local government; and finally some planetary base (one or more).

Die	Pirate Organization	Base World
1	The Red Flag	Djebeha 0810/Ark
2	Raider's Alliance	Parma 0910/Negoiul
3	The Brotherhood	Prosser 1502/Negoiul
4	Space Wolves	Sembilen 1606/Negoiul
5	Final Liberty	Taginae 2008/Souris
6	Star Cartel	Prudnik 1206/Negoiul

More next week . . .

Traveller Tuesdays - Space Encounters in Sphere Fenix (1)

As a place to start in looking at the Sphere Fenix star nation of the Crucis Margin sector, I decided to start with encounter tables.  This is a great way to inject some basic sandbox material.  The idea is simple, take a basic encounter table, and then provide details for many of the entries that are specific to the campaign being run.


As this column assumes the Mongoose interpretation of Classic Traveller, we can start by taking a look at the random space encounter tables from that rule book.

This is a table that goes from 01 to 96 (a total of 60 entries, derived from reading two dice as two sets of digits).  The numbers below 11 and above 66 are achievable by a sequence of modifiers that apply to the first die in the sequence.  Those modifiers can range from -1 to +3 (modifications outside that range are truncated down or up, as appropriate).  Then read the following table:

Consult the Mongoose book for the modifiers.

Some of these entries -
 02 Solar Flare
 03 Asteroid
 04 Ore Bearing Asteroid
 14 Comet
 23 Micrometeorite Store
 32 Space Junk (possible...)

Are "terrain" or objects that belong to the environment, rather than sophont-made (man-made?) objects (with the possible exception of Space Junk, depending on what it is...).

Now, taking a look at the rest of the chart, the many man-made objects all have a sort of implication about where they might be appropriate, if a referee were to start putting in specific information.  That specific information could include (1) ships (either specific Classes or types, or specific named Ships), (2) NPCs (which includes, but is not limited to, patrons, enemies, rivals, contacts, etc), or (3) Organizations (mercenary companies, mega corps, pirate cartels, religions, alien cultures).

In order to make things simple, we can identify each of these as being appropriate for a certain level of scoping for the campaign - if specific detail on the chart is desired.  That detail can be (1) Quadrant or Sector level, (2) Polity or Sub-sector level, or (3) Planet or World System level.  This gives us a road map to determine which specific NPCs or Ships need to be referenced.

Take a look at the chart, split out to a single column, with each entry having a flag indicating if specifics for that entry would get their information from a resolution appropriate to Quadrant/Sector level (QS), Polity/Sub-sector level (SS), or Planet/World System level (WS).  In addition, if the encounter aims itself at a named Ship (type or instance), a named NPC, or a named Organization is identified as a second flag.

01 Alien derelict (possible salvage) (QS) (Ship)
02 Solar flare are (1d6 100 rads)  (WS)
03 Asteroid (empty rock) (WS)
04 Ore-bearing asteroid (possible mining) (WS)
05 Alien vessel (on a mission) (QS) (Ship)
06 Rock hermit (inhabited rock) (WS) (NPC)

11 Pirate (SS) (NPC) (Org?) (Ship?)
12 Derelict vessel (possible salvage) (SS) (Ship)
13 Space station (1–4: derelict) (WS)
14 Comet (may be ancient derelict at its core) (WS)
15 Ore-bearing asteroid (possible mining) (WS)
16 Ship in distress (SS) (Ship)

21 Pirate (SS) (NPC) (Org?) (Ship?)
22 Free trader (SS) (NPC) (Ship)
23 Micrometeorite storm (collision!) (WS)
24 Hostile vessel (roll again for type) (QS) (Ship) (NPC) (Org)
25 Mining ship (SS) (Ship) (Org)
26 Scout ship (SS) (Ship) (NPC) (Org)

31 Alien vessel (1–3: trader, 4–6: explorer, 6: spy) (QS) (Ship)
32 Space junk (possible salvage) (WS)
33 Far trader (SS) (Ship) (NPC)
34 Derelict (possible salvage) (QS) (Ship)
35 Safari or science vessel (SS) (Ship) (NPC) (Org)
36 Escape pod (SS) (Ship)

41 Passenger liner (SS) (Ship) (Org)
42 Ship in distress (SS) (Ship)
43 Colony ship or passenger liner (QS/SS) (Ship) (Org)
44 Scout ship (QS) (Ship) (NPC) (Org)
45 Space station (SS)
46 X-boat courier (QS) (Ship) (NPC) (Org)

51 Hostile vessel (roll again for type) (QS)
52 Garbage ejected from a ship (SS)
53 Medical ship or hospital (SS) (Ship) (Org)
54 Lab ship or scout (SS) (Ship) (NPC) (Org)
55 Patron (roll on the patron table, page 81) (??) (NPC)
56 Police ship (WS) (Ship)

61 Unusually daring pirate (SS) (Ship) (NPC)
62 Noble yacht (QS) (Ship) (NPC)
63 Warship (QS) (Ship) (NPC) (Org)
64 Cargo vessel (SS) (Ship) (Org)
65 Navigational buoy or beacon (WS)
66 Unusual ship (QS) (Ship)

71 Collision with space junk (collision!) (WS)
72 Automated vessel (SS) (Ship) (Org)
73 Free trader (SS) (Ship) (NPC) (Org)
74 Dumped cargo pod (roll on random trade goods) (SS)
75 Police vessel (WS) (Ship)
76 Cargo hauler (SS) (Ship) (Org)

81 Passenger liner (SS)(Ship) (Org)
82 Orbital factory (roll on random trade goods) (WS) (Org)
83 Orbital habitat (WS) (Org)
84 Orbital habitat (WS) (Org)
85 Communications satellite (WS) (Org)
86 Defense satellite (WS) (Org)

91 Pleasure craft (SS) (Ship) (NPC)
92 Space station (WS) (Org)
93 Police vessel (WS) (Ship) (Org)
94 Cargo hauler (SS) (Ship) (Org)
95 System defense boat (WS) (Ship) (Org)
96 Grand fleet warship (QS) (Ship) (Org)

There you go - I'll start filling in the details for next time, and some of the interesting stuff that will come out of that is that some feel for the organizations in and around Sphere Fenix (to include the whole sector or quadrant, or beyond) will begin to emerge.