JOURNAL

The

Vol. 12
of the Travellers’ Aid Society
CREDITS ARTICLES
Classic Traveller ADVENTURES
Marc Miller The Erline Home System 57
Adrift 108
Editors ALIENS
Matthew Sprange, Caprisaps 19
Isabella Treccani-Chinelli Hhkar 90
BESTIARY
Graphics & Layout Preenyok 2
Katrina Hepburn Aknaitr 128
CENTRAL SUPPLY
Illustrations Suits You, Sophont 38
Sergio Villa-Isaza, Alejandro Palacio, CHARTED SPACE
Quentin Soubrouillard, Alessandro Starports of the Imperium 65
Belgiovine, Amy Perrett, Alexey ENCOUNTERS
Rubakin, Christos Karezis, Gabriel The Wolf of the Marches 4
Diniz, Jonathan Torres HIGH GUARD
The Triplebrick 15
Proofing Geonee Ships 73
Charlotte Law Hhkar Sublight Drive Systems 104
PATRONS
Traveller Inner Circle Milo Van Ulrik 24
Andrew J. A. Welty, Colin Dunn, TRAVELLING
M. J. Dougherty, Rob Eaglestone, Sam Games for Gamblers 36
Wissa, Joshua Bell, Maksim Smelchak, Campaign Bloat 52
Geir Lanesskog, Christopher Griffen VEHICLE HANDBOOK
Airships of the Imperium 44

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Printed in China.
1
 Bestiary
Preenyok
(Avarus Saepiae Mus)
By Katrina Hepburn

Hailing from the Persephone system (Spinward Marches, Lunion), the

preenyok is a small tentacled cuttlefish-like creature that has a high-
pitched scream and discharges a vapour that smells like rotten citrus
when startled. The vapour stings eyes and sinuses but is otherwise
innocuous, mainly used as a deterrent to attackers.

Infatuated with anything shiny, preenyok are often referred to as

thieving vermin. The males will go to great lengths to decorate their
nests with as many shiny things as possible in an effort to attract
a mate. However, attracting a mate is not without its dangers. The
female of the species is twice the size of the male, has large pincers,
which the males lack, and will only mate with the male that has the
most extravagantly decorated lair. Females often fight over the most
fabulous nest, sometimes killing the male or destroying the nest in
the process. Males tend to be vibrantly coloured in purples, pinks and
reds that assist in attracting a mate, whilst females are a mixture of
blacks and blues.

Despite their classification as vermin, some people keep them as pets

as they have a relatively high intelligence and require little in the way
of care. They will eat almost anything, favouring strong flavours and
scents, and are incredibly easy to clean due to both urine and faeces
being expelled in a single membrane-coated pellet.

Inquisitive by nature, the male preenyok will often go exploring for

treasure, sometimes wandering into the hold of a starship and being
transported offworld. Because of this, it is not uncommon for preenyoks
to be found on other worlds local to Persephone. However, due to the
lack of females and perfect breeding conditions, they are rarely found in
abundance in places other than their homeworld.

Preenyok
Animal Hits Speed
Preenyok 3 12m
Skills Athletics (dexterity) 2, Melee (natural) 1, Recon 2,
Survival 2
Attacks Bite (2D), Acidic Vapour (1D-3), Claws (D3, female only)
Traits Alarm, Fast Metabolism, Heightened Senses, Small (-3)
Behaviour Omnivore, Scavenger

2
3
 Encounter
The Wolf of the Marches
By Katrina Hepburn

Travellers may encounter the Triplebrick (see page 15) or members

of its crew anywhere within the Spinward Marches. With Kyriani being
a prolific figure of the underworld, they are likely to be found in the
seedier starports and systems.

RUMOURS OF THE WOLF

If Travellers are looking for discrete transport for themselves or sensitive
materials, they may wish to try contacting the crew of the Triplebrick. If so,
make an Investigate or Streetwise check and consult the Rumours table.

Rumours
Check Effect Information
Investigate +0 ‘I may know a thing or two. If you have the coin…’
Investigate +2 The Travellers notice one of their possessions
is missing. Something small and shiny. They
see Mao scuttling away with it. With an Average
Animals (8+) check, they might be able to track
him back to the ship.
Streetwise +0 ‘Information is pricy these days. Tell you what I’ll
do, you do a little errand for me and I’ll point you
in the right direction.’
Streetwise +2 ‘So, you’re looking for her are ya? Last I saw
she was rollin’ dice at the casino but that was a
couple of days ago. She might still be in port. If
you see her, tell her she still owes me…’
Streetwise +4 ‘I spotted the Wolf just recently at a local port.
Here, let me give you directions.’

POSSIBLE ADVENTURES
• The Triplebrick has been hired to transport some sensitive material
and will pay the Travellers a cut of the profits to act as extra hands.
• Kyriani has been hired to kill one of the Travellers. Evading her will
be difficult. However, there is always the possibility that she will
give you a head start if you offer her enough coin.
• The Triplebrick has been grounded at a local port and the crew
need someone who is savvy with bureaucratic matters to get the
ship out before Kyriani returns.
• ‘O’ is after a specific bottle of aged whisky but the only person to own a
bottle is a local noble who has it locked away in his private collection.

4
5
 KYRIANI ‘THE WOLF OF THE MARCHES’ NAKAMURA
When looking at Kyriani,
one would never expect
the ‘Wolf of the Marches’
to be standing before
them. She walks with
confidence and dresses
her svelte frame in fine
brocade clothing which,
while looking a little old
fashioned and slightly
worn, leans more towards
nobility than anything
resembling a cutthroat,
smuggler or pirate. With
a silver tongue and
quick wit, she speaks
softly, elegantly and is
unnervingly polite.

6
Despite appearances, her nickname is well earned. Having spent the
last 17 years working exclusively within the Spinward Marches, she
is utterly mercenary by nature. When it comes to business, Kyriani
is ruthless and seems to care little about who hands out the contract
as long as the Credits are flowing in the right direction; her direction.
Favouring an occasional visit to the local gambling establishments of
whatever port she is passing through, Kyriani won the Triplebrick in a
game of lunion stud. Her disgruntled opponent later tried to muscle and
threaten Kyriani with a small group of hired thugs in an effort to regain
ownership of the vessel. The minor noble and his thugs were never
heard from again.

Originally used as a mining vessel, Kyriani has made modifications to

the ship over the years to better suit its current line of work and, despite
being a competent pilot, prefers being chauffeured over taking the helm
herself. Valuing the loyalty of her crew above all else, Kyriani has come
to trust them to not only get the job done without question but have no
qualms about getting their hands dirty in the process.

KYRIANI ‘THE WOLF OF THE MARCHES’ NAKAMURA

SPECIES GENDER
Human Female
CHARACTERISTICS SKILLS
STR 7 INT 12 Astrogation 0, Athletics (dexterity) 1, Broker
DEX 13 EDU 8 0, Carouse 1, Deception 1, Diplomat 0,
Explosives 1, Gambler 2, Gun Combat
END 8 SOC 11 (energy) 3, Investigate 1, Leadership 0,
Melee (unarmed) 3, Pilot (spacecraft) 2,
Recon 1, Stealth 1, Vacc Suit 1
EQUIPMENT Weapons: Gauntlet Laser, Laser Sniper Rifle
Armour: Diplo Vest (+3), Protec Suit (+4)

7
 NATAYA ‘NAT’ CLASS
The youngest sophont of
the crew, Nat is the main
pilot and astrogator of the
Triplebrick. Born and raised
on Pavabid (Spinward
Marches, District 268) as
the youngest child of a
remote homestead, she
lived in a stagnant and
inflexible society that stifles
intellectual and economic
growth. The Triplebrick
made a stopover on the
planet in order to lay low for
a while and was discovered
by Nat, much to the surprise
of both parties, while she
was on her weekly ramble.

8
The young girl snuck rations to Kyriani and her crew, which allowed
them to extend their stay and completely avoid being discovered. In
exchange, Kyriani regaled her with tales of adventure on other worlds
and in the blackness of space. Nat became completely infatuated with
the Triplebrick and her crew, having her mind opened to the possibilities
of life beyond her restrictive little world, she stowed away on board the
ship when it came time for the crew to leave. It was three weeks before
she was discovered onboard.

After learning the truth about the repressed nature of the society she
was raised in, Nat pleaded to stay onboard. With little choice other than
abandoning the young girl on a dust ball somewhere, Kyriani decided
to keep Nat on as a deckhand for a year or two. She taught the girl the
basics of starship operations with the intention of sending her on her
way when she accrued enough knowledge to make it on her own.

That was seven years ago.

With long dark hair tied back into a ponytail, an old leather jacket
which she insists ‘looks cool’, and still young at the age of 23, Nat is
now an integral part of the crew. She spends her free time soaking
up as much knowledge as she can about Charted Space and has
shown a natural affinity for piloting starships. She idolises Kyriani
and despite sometimes trying to imitate her cold demeanour, she
often fails miserably and reverts to child-like excitement.

NATAYA ‘NAT’ CLASS

SPECIES GENDER
Human Female
CHARACTERISTICS SKILLS
STR 5 INT 11 Animals 1, Astrogation 1, Gun Combat 0,
DEX 8 EDU 5 Medic 1, Navigation 0, Pilot (spacecraft)
1, Profession (farmer) 1, Science
END 7 SOC 7 (philosophy) 1, Stealth 1, Steward 0
EQUIPMENT Weapons: Snub Pistol
Armour: Diplo Vest (+3)
Equipment: Pocket Computer/3 with Database
and Digital Friend

9
 ODUGARRESSAK ‘O’ VAKULLAKKEGUNG
Odugarressak has spent
most of his life as a pirate,
despite the fact that as an
engineer he rarely sees
combat. Born on Gzuga
(Tuuglikki, Anfharsgzo)
in the Vargr Extents, he
was indoctrinated onto a
Vargr pirate vessel at a
young age. He spent the
majority of his life jumping
from ship-to-ship in an
effort to find a place to
settle. Unfortunately, due
to his malcontent nature,
he never stayed on any
vessel for more than a
couple of years.

10
Kyriani found him on the planet Walston (Spinward Marches, District
268). Having been abandoned by his latest crew, Odugarressak
was deep into his fifth bottle of a very foul-smelling local intoxicant
and shouting slurred obscenities at anyone who passed by. Verbally
abusing the Wolf of the Marches was a bad idea. However, when
Odugarressak regained consciousness, he found Kyriani waiting there
with a cold towel for his bleeding eye and a hot coffee to sober him up.
When Kyriani queried as to why he had been so vexed, Odugarressak
spent the next hour or two revealing the story of how he ended up on
the backwater world.

In dire need of a crew for her ship, Kyriani demanded his services
in exchange for her wounded ego and, since that day 16 years ago,
Odugarressak has been the engineer of the Triplebrick. With his
greying hair and consistent grumbling, the Vargr has been adopted as
the ‘father’ of the ship. Affectionately known as ‘O’, the crew frequently
go to him for his no-holds-barred advice. Even Kyriani appreciates
his experience and council and, over the years, Odugarressak has
grown to respect her deeply. In fact, she is the only person to whom
Odugarressak never raises his voice.

Kyriani gives him free reign over any decision pertaining to the
modification and maintenance of the ship, and makes sure he is well
supplied with whatever he asks for. When not fixing or tinkering with the
ship, he can usually be found in his hammock, lounging with Mao on
his lap, a hip flask of expensive whisky in hand and watching whatever
holovid movies he can find.

ODUGARRESSAK ‘O’ VAKULLAKKEGUNG

SPECIES GENDER
Vargr Male
CHARACTERISTICS SKILLS
STR 8 INT 9 Admin 0, Drive 0, Electronics (computers)
DEX 9 EDU 9 1, Engineer (J-drive) 3, Gun Combat
(slug) 1, Jack-of-All-Trades 1, Mechanic
END 11 SOC 5 1, Recon 1, Streetwise 2, Survival 2, Vacc
Suit 1
EQUIPMENT Weapons: Heavy Revolver
Armour: Diplo Vest (+3), Cloth Armour (+8)
Equipment: Engineering Toolkit

11
 ESRIANKA ‘ESRI’ ERLING
Born and raised on Joyeuse
in the Sword Worlds, Esri was
conscripted into the military
at a young age. Whilst her
family were overjoyed at
this news, her only desire
was to make the best of a
bad situation. During her
training and years of service,
she developed an interest
in starship weaponry and
became proficient in their use.

When civil war broke out on

her homeworld in 1098, Esri
was on the front line. After
two years of watching kin kill
kin she had seen enough.
Her years of discontent
and growing distrust of
the command structure
had taken its toll and she
decided to run. It was
relatively easy to find a ship
willing to take her offworld. It
was sheer luck that the one
she found was also offering
a job for a decent gunner.

12
Standing at a height of 6’4” and with a brawny build, Esri is an imposing
woman. Whilst she does not always agree with the nature of some
of the contracts the Triplebrick takes, she has found a home and
extended family amongst the ship and its crew. Her acceptance has
only solidified her decision and, despite the occasional run-in with the
authorities when doing jobs within the Sword Worlds Confederation,
Kyriani considers this a small price to pay for such an effective soldier.

ESRIANKA ‘ESRI’ ERLING

SPECIES GENDER
Human Female
CHARACTERISTICS SKILLS
STR 11 INT 7 Athletics (strength) 1, Drive (wheel) 1,
DEX 8 EDU 7 Electronics 0, Explosives 1, Gun Combat
(slug) 2, Gunner (turret) 2, Medic 1,
END 10 SOC 7 Melee (unarmed) 1, Recon 0, Survival 0,
Tactics (military) 1, Vacc Suit 1
EQUIPMENT Weapons: Heavy Advanced Combat Rifle
Armour: Diplo Vest (+3), Combat Armour (+17)

MAO
The Triplebrick picked up Mao, a preenyok, after a stop-off on his home
world of Persephone (Spinward Marches, Lunion). Mao quickly made a
new home in the warm ducts near the manoeuvre drive and has been
there for the past two years. Odugarressak found him one day trying to
steal his freshly spiced lizard-on-a-stick and, after a tussle, a few near
breakages and eventually giving up his lizard-on-a-stick as lost to the
ducts of the ship, the two have been near inseparable.

It was almost three months before Mao would take food from his hand
and another two before Mao would let himself be stroked without
screaming and puffing O in the face with an obnoxious cloud of vapour.
Despite several attempts to vacate him from the ship, O has recently
put his foot down on the matter, stating that ‘If the rat goes, I go!’ After
this declaration, no more attempts have been made to remove Mao
from the Triplebrick.

Despite the crew’s eagerness to throw him out of the nearest airlock,
attempts have been made on his part to make more friends out of the
people who frequent the area around his home. He regularly brings
Kyriani bits of dead bug, which he leaves in her bed in case she gets
hungry during the night, he dips his tentacles in Esri’s morning coffee
to make sure it is not too hot for her, which she never appreciates, and

13
 some evenings he will just sit in the corner of a room and sing to Nat.
He believes she should be more appreciative at hearing the song of his
species but to Nat it is just annoyingly loud screeching.

Magpie-like in nature, Mao is a thief and infatuated with anything

shiny. He steals trinkets from throughout the ship to decorate his nest,
usually the possessions of the crew or baubles from whatever port the
ship is currently frequenting. Once or twice a month, O needs to climb
into the bowels of the ship to clean out Mao’s ‘lair’ and on numerous
occasions some very odd things have been found, including a Cr1000
casino chip from a casino that nobody remembers visiting, a solid
gold button with what looks like a royal emblem embossed into it and
somebody’s cybernetic eye.

These days, Mao has learned to recognise his name when called but
he only ever comes scuttling along when it is O’s voice that calls him.
He spends most evenings laid on O’s chest, sleeping off a full belly
of whatever spicy food that O had decided to cook that evening and
making soft, happy ‘nyeek nyeek’ noises whilst O rants about how
terrible the acting is in the holovid he is watching.

Mao
Animal Hits Speed
Preenyok 3 12m
Skills Athletics (dexterity) 2, Melee (natural) 1, Recon 2,
Survival 2
Attacks Bite (2D), Acidic Vapour (1D-3)
Traits Alarm, Fast Metabolism, Heightened Senses, Small (-3)
Behaviour Omnivore, Scavenger

14
High guard
The Triplebrick
By Katrina Hepburn

Passed down through the decades, the Triplebrick is a specially

designed smuggling ship. Having evaded the piercing eyes of the
Imperium, the 10-ton concealed cargo hold contains all manner of
treasures. The current captain, Kyriani Nakamura, won it during a
game of Lunion stud.

When scanned by Imperial ships, the true nature of this ship is not
clear but the forced linkage apparatus and breaching tube imply a
darker purpose. Charismatic as ever, Captain Nakamura is a delight
when dealing with any officials she encounters but the underworld
knows another side of her. Dubbed the ‘Wolf of the Marches’,
Nakamura’s reputation precedes her wherever she travels.

The Triplebrick

15
 THE TRIPLEBRICK
TL 11 Tons Cost (MCr)
Hull 200 tons, Close Structure — 9
Heat Shielding — 20
Radiation Shielding — 5
M-Drive Thrust 2 6 12
J-Drive Jump 2 15 22.5
Power Plant Fusion (TL8), Power 140 14 7
Fuel Tanks 8 weeks of operation 44 —
Bridge Holographic Controls 10 1.25
Computer Computer/5bis — 0.045
Sensors Civilian 1 3
Life Scanner 1 2
Mineral Detection Suite — 5
Shallow Penetration Suite 10 5
Weapons Pop-up Triple Turret (pulse 2 2
lasers)
Single Turret (laser drill) — 0.15
Systems Fuel Processor (40 tons/day) 2 0.1
Fuel Scoops — 1
Breaching Tube 3 3
Cargo Crane 2.5 2.5
Heavy Grappling Arm 6 3
Cargo Scoop 2 0.5
Forced Linkage Apparatus 2 0.075
(TL9)
Tow Cable 2 0.01
Concealed Compartment (10 10 0.2
tons)
Probe Drones x10 2 1
Staterooms Standard x4 16 2
Software Manoeuvre/0 — —
Jump Control/2 — 0.2
Library — —
Intellect — —
Evade/2 — 2
Fire Control/2 — 4
Common Areas 4 0.4
Cargo 45.5 —

16
 Crew Power Requirements
Pilot, Astrogator, Engineer, Basic Ship Systems
Gunner 40
Manoeuvre Drive
Hull: 88 40
Jump Drive
Running Costs 40
MAINTENANCE COST
Sensors
Cr9494/month
1
PURCHASE COST
Weapons
MCr113.93
16
Fuel Processor
2

2 3 2

DECK 2

17
 1. Shallow Penetration Suit
2. Forced Linkage Apparatus
3. Life Scanner
4. Bridge
5. Breaching Tube
6. Heavy Grappling Arm 4
7. Cargo Bay
5
8. Cargo Scoop
9. Fuel Processing
10. Concealed Cargo Bay
11. Tow Cable

8 7

10

11

DECK 1

18
ALIEN
Caprisaps
By Adrian Tymes and Sabrina Westerman

Caprisaps are a nomadic people originally uplifted from Terran goats.

Often stereotyped as common workers, they frequent the space around
the Vilani-Vargr border, mining, trading and employed enough by both
species to be considered a neutral buffer between the two. They are
natural astrogators, as their temperament and culture compel them to
seek out better food sources, as well as to search for things to barter
for more food.

The Solomani scientists who uplifted them created two subspecies.

While they can interbreed, their genetics were designed such that all
children may only be one subspecies, rather than a mixture. Initially
named just A and B, they were eventually designated Alpine and Boar.
Alpines were modelled after wild mountain goats with more emphasis
on dexterity, whilst Boars were modelled after domestic goats bred for
muscle density.

Both were initially adapted with strong and wide ankles to allow for
bipedal or quadrupedal movement as needed. Although their rear legs
still have the classic split hoof of a goat, albeit larger and more flexible
than the typical Terran goat, the front limbs end in fully functional hands
designed to use human equipment. Both male and female Caprisaps
grow horns from their temples, about half as long, to as long, as their
heads, although some Caprisaps shorten or entirely remove them.
Buds appear around six months to a year, with full length achieved
around puberty, making short but extant horns a symbol of childhood.
Horns continue to grow throughout a Caprisap’s lifetime but become
thicker each year instead of longer. If damaged but not permanently
removed, they grow back to the original length over the course of a
year but may not be as thick until many years later.

Caprisaps have full body fur, similar to Vargr although not extending as
far from the body. Shearing this to provide fibre for clothing or duvets is
sometimes done for close friends, family or lovers. For anyone else to
attempt to steal large amounts of their fur is seen as abuse and cause
for violence. Fur colours range from white to red or tawny to black.

19
 With a heightened sense
of taste, Caprisaps
are considered ideal
prospectors, often
employed by belt mining
companies. Although
not as good a sensor as
technological aids, one
taste can quickly identify
the contents of a sample
of ore. Caprisap vacc
suit helmets sometimes
include miniature
airlocks to facilitate this
action. This has also led
several Caprisaps to
study ancient alchemical
practices and although
acknowledged more as
art than chemistry, there
are numerous texts of
alchemical philosophy
written by Caprisaps.

20
Caprisaps are predominantly seen as low-intelligence workers,
interfering with their rise to social status and better jobs. Their tendency
to physically fight for a better job or challenge superiors for their
positions of authority does not work well with most human cultures.
Many find work as astrogators or prospectors and most are quite
happy to perform if paid well in quality food. Vilani shugili cooks took
advantage of this shortly after the Solomani uplifted them, enticing the
majority of the nascent Caprisap population coreward into Vilani space
to work for them.

However, if one accepts a Caprisap into their herd they will show
themselves as great protectors of the weak, standing up for those they
view as having lower social or physical standing than themselves. There
is a legend of their first meeting with the Vargr where one Caprisap,
backed into a corner with a broken leg, defended an entire herd until the
Vargr realised they were sophonts. Due to this, Caprisaps have found
better integration into Vilani and Vargr cultures than most others.

Although they employ a variety of ships for their nomadic voyages,

Caprisap ships normally devote one area, commonly termed an Arena,
to settling arguments via physical combat. This is used to determine
their status as the strongest for the job but spectators have been
known to join in. The process is similar enough to Vargr infighting
that many, even Vargr, make little to no distinction save for the exact
forms and styles used and the potential for audience interference.
An Alpine versus Boar match up can provide an interesting display of
the difference in skills and emphases between the subspecies, with
some of the best fighters paid to provide entertainment in this way and
sometimes taking on Vargr fighters for show. A horn parrying a bite has
become an iconic symbol for these matches.

Although they tend to travel in herds on their nomadic paths

throughout Charted Space, they are a highly individualistic species.
If a Caprisap is interested in promotion, they may keep an eye on the
person in the position they want and train to take over that position. If
they think another Caprisap has something they want, the way they
procure the item depends on their social standing within the herd. If
the other Caprisap is below their social standing, they may take it by
force or just demand it. If they are a social standing above them, they
will try to flatter the other Caprisap until they determine it is actually
something they want.

Whilst they have a strong herd mentality, a Caprisap is comfortable being

alone and can survive long voyages by themselves or with other species
they do not deem as being a part of their herd. This nomadic tendency

21
 is credited as a by-product of their low reproduction rate (despite
fraternal twins and triplets being common), rarely becoming a sizeable
portion of any colony. Most Caprisaps are born in space and, including
time in jumpspace and on space stations, spend the majority of their
lives off planet. What few large Caprisap ships exist are primarily ‘herd
arks’, essentially large migratory residences that act as motherships for
workers that venture across a system to support their family.

Caprisaps have been pejoratively labelled ‘garbage disposals’ due

to their ability to digest a staggeringly broad range of substances.
When left to their own devices, Caprisap chefs tend to come up
with dishes that other species judge anywhere from unappetising to
lethal. However, Caprisaps actually have very discerning tastes and
prefer only the choicest of foods. They have a wider palette than most
species, eating plants and minerals that others find toxic, irritating
or unsafe to eat, although they prefer the freshest and tenderest
samples. If one is setting a table for Caprisaps and other species, it
is recommended that said food is set aside first for the Caprisaps. In
many cases where different diets might suggest different foods for
different species, Caprisaps are often willing to have whatever their
hosts are having, be it live prey for Aslan meals or the multicultural
cuisine of Hiver feasts.

CHARACTERISTICS
Alpine Caprisap Travellers have the following modifiers applied to their
characteristics: STR-2, DEX+2.

Boar Caprisap Travellers have the following modifiers applied to their

characteristics: STR-1, DEX+1.

Traits
Caprisap Travellers all possess the following traits:

Headbutt: Most Caprisaps possess pronounced horns usable as

bludgeoning weapons. These horns use the Melee (natural) skill and
inflict 1D damage.

Heightened Taste: Caprisaps have an enhanced sense of taste. They

receive DM+1 to any Survival checks they make.

Improved Digestion: Caprisaps can eat a wide range of

substances, including most metals, with no ill effects, although this
does not necessarily provide nutrition. They gain DM+4 for checks
made to resist poison.

22
Natural Starfarers: Caprisaps have a cultural affinity for travelling the
stars and may choose Astrogation 0 as one of their background skills.

HIGH GUARD
Caprisap ships of 100 tons and three listed crew positions need at
least one arena. For larger ships, one arena must be built for every full
10,000 tons. The arena cannot be used for occupancy and incurs no
life support costs.

An arena consumes 4 tons and costs MCr0.5.

23
 Patron
Milo Van Ulrik, Noble
By Geir Lanesskog

Location: The Beyond, Garr (Garrport Starport) or Centrum (Grand

Centrum Station)
Required Skills: Pilot, Astrogation, Medic, Steward or Engineer;
Gunner optional
Reward: Standard salary +25% per skill level above 1, plus Cr500 per
month if Gunner (turret) 1+

Mission: Sign on as a substitute crewmember for the Excelsior II

racing yacht

Summary: Milo Van Ulrik is the owner of the Excelsior II racing yacht
and six-time winner of the annual Navarre Rally between Corella
and Navarre. Returning from a practice run, one or more members
of his crew contracted Krazni Fever, a nasty intestinal bug native to
Talmut. While Milo and the remainder of his crew are immune, the
crewmembers with skills matching the Travellers are violently ill and
out of action for at least two weeks. Milo needs to finish his practice
run and return to Corella via Chulte in time for the start of the rally. The
Travellers are the best crew available at the port and Milo promises
them employment at least back to Corella, with one month’s salary paid
in advance and two months total salary as a minimum. Well-qualified
crewmembers who ‘work out’ may be asked to remain as crew for the
rally but this is entirely optional, as Milo says he is sure to be able to
find qualified crew back at Corella.

The ship’s normal complement is six crew: pilot, astrogator, medic, two
engineers and a steward. The yacht has two turrets for self-defence
but does not carry dedicated gunners. Milo is a good pilot, passible
astrogator and can operate the turrets and drives in a pinch. The
ship has six staterooms for the crew, a luxury suite for Milo and two
unoccupied high staterooms for guests.

The jump-2 ship’s itinerary from Centrum is for gas giant refuelling at
Garr (diverted to the planet if the Travellers sign up there), a gas giant
refuelling at Chulte and then a jump in towards Corella’s orbital starport.
The ship is capable of early jumps and 9G acceleration, and Milo
intends to push Excelsior II to its limits all the way back.

Emerging at Chulte, the ship dives in for a fast refuelling at the medium-
sized gas giant that sits inside the edge of the M1-type star’s 100
diameter limit but Excelsior II can jump safely at 80 diameters and
emerges seven million kilometres from the gas giant, a five-hour flight in.

24
Chulte (B310555-B) is a moon of this gas giant and orbits 1,500,000
kilometres above its clouds. As Excelsior II enters the gas giant’s
atmosphere and begins a rapid refuelling run in the Deep region, it
receives a distress call from the trader Brannigan’s Virtue, which has
experienced turbulence and engine trouble during refuelling. Excelsior
II is within 5,000 kilometres and the only hope of rescuing the crew or
saving the ship.

REFEREE’S INFORMATION
Roll 1D or choose from one of the options below:

1: All is as stated. Flying within the gas giant’s atmosphere limits even
the aerofin-equipped Excelsior II to 2,500 kilometres per hour but if
the Travellers do not suggest it, Milo will insist on performing a ballistic
hop in and out of the atmosphere, which will cut travel time from two
hours down to 18 minutes (three space combat rounds). Hopping
up the atmosphere zones and back down will require Average (8+)
Pilot checks (DEX): from Deep (DM-2) to Shallow (DM-1) to Extreme
Shallow (DM+0) and back again.

If Milo is the pilot, he has a total DM+3 from Pilot and DEX. Failed checks
add one minute per negative Effect to transit time and an exceptional
failure bounces the ship up one layer, taking 1D damage and requiring
another attempt to cross the level after considering the time lost by the
Effect. See the Traveller Companion pages 155–157 for more detailed
rules on gas giant flight dynamics but the gist is covered here.

Brannigan’s Virtue is a Soho-class light freighter (see JTAS Volume

1, page 76). The crew has managed to restart the fusion plant at half
power, which is not enough to do more than maintain minimal life
support and less than 1G acceleration. The power plant is currently
considered at critical hit Severity 3. The onboard batteries are drained.

After 30 minutes elapsed time from the distress call, the ship will slip
into the Extreme Deep (Pilot checks at DM-3). It has already taken 40
points of damage and has 40 remaining. If power fails again, it will take
an additional 2D damage every round.

Subsequently, it will fall into the Depths in two rounds if power

completely fails or in four rounds with current power levels – unless
someone can repair at least one power plant Severity level. In the
Depths (DM-4) any ship, powered or not, will sustain 2D damage each
round and one that loses power will sustain 6D damage per round from
turbulence and pressure.

The ships can manage a docking attempt with an Average (8+) Pilot
check (1D minutes, DEX), with negative DMs associated with the gas
giant layer. It is a Difficult (10+) task if Brannigan’s Virtue loses power
completely. The Brannigan’s five crewmembers can be evacuated in a
single space Combat Round.

25
 Each Attempt to repair the power plant takes one round using rules in
the Traveller Core Book, page 161. The power plant begins at Severity
3, with the manoeuvre drive treated as Thrust 0, enough for contro
but not to maintain level flight or escape the gas giant. Repairing to
Severity 2 will allow Thrust 1 but only by overloading the power plant,
while Severity 1 will allow Thrust 1, enough to escape without an
overload. Higher power levels could also allow charging the batteries as
an option to temporarily protect against another failure.

Excelsior II can cross three atmospheric layers in one round but

returning to orbit will require one round per layer for the Brannigan
with an Average (8+) Pilot check at each level with appropriate DMs
at each layer: Depths (-4), Extreme Deep (-3), Deep (-2), Shallow
(-1), Extreme Shallow (DM+0) and Wisp (no check assuming at least
Thrust 1 available). Reaching the Extreme Shallows allows enough
time for a rescue craft from the starport to arrive and put Brannigan’s
Virtue under tow.

If the Travellers assist in rescuing the crew but do not save the ship,
they will receive the thanks of crew and starport authority and get free
drinks in bars for some time. If they assist in recovering Brannigan’s
Virtue, they will receive Cr10000 each from the owners and temporarily
be treated as heroes throughout the Corellan League as the news
spreads. Exceptional work in the rescue will make Milo likely to offer
them a permanent position even if they are not the most skilled
individuals available for the next Navarre Rally.

2: All is stated as in 1 but there are also five passengers aboard

Brannigan’s Virtue, doubling the time required for evacuation. The
passengers may panic in the process, adding further complications.

3–4: All is as stated in 2 but there are also four low passengers aboard
Brannigan’s Virtue. To physically remove the low berths requires an
Average (8+) Mechanic check (1D hour, INT or EDU). To revive a low
passenger requires a Medic check as per the Traveller Core Rulebook,
page 149, which can be rushed by making it one level more difficult.
The low berths are TL12. Rescuing the low passengers from a failing
ship is the right thing to do but adds no additional reward beyond the
gratitude of those passengers rescued.

5: The entire incident is a ruse. Once aboard the Brannigan’s Virtue,

the ship’s engineer is able to completely ‘fix’ the power plant, although
the ship really has taken 16 points of damage and Severity 1 critical hits
to a turret and its armour, so it is possible the incident could become
real if it takes too long to begin the ‘rescue’. The entire purpose of the
operation is to allow the transfer of 20 kilograms of illicit drugs onto
Excelsior II, since the ship was cleared through to Corella by customs
officials at its last departure as it was not expected to make any stops

26
before reaching Corella. Milo will board the Brannigan and make the
transfer by replacing his life support unit with the hidden drugs. This
allows him only 15 minutes of breathable air, which could become an
issue if the ruse goes awry. The Travellers may notice the Brannigan’s
power plant was not really damaged – with a Difficult (10+) Engineer
(power) check – or the transfer on a Difficult (10+) Recon check, or may
otherwise become suspicious. In any event, Milo is likely to try some
other smuggling ruse in the future if the Travellers remain in his employ.

6: The entire incident is a ruse. The crew of the Brannigan’s Virtue are
mercenaries hired to remove Excelsior II from the race. Their ship is
partially damaged as in 5 but they will attempt to hijack and scuttle the
Excelsior II and kill its crew. The six mercenaries are equipped with
boarding vacc suits and accelerator rifles. The Excelsior II has standard
TL12 vacc suits for each crewmember. The Excelsior II’s ship’s locker is
equipped with one shotgun, one accelerator rifle, four snub pistols and
four TL12 stunners. Milo is armed with a diamond-tipped duelling foil.

MILO VAN ULRIK

Milo Van Ulrik is the son of Rupert Van Ulrik of House Ulrik – the
famed five-time winner of the Navarre Rally who was lost with his
ship Excelsior in 1087 while attempting a risky jump above Hilkiah,
Jeremiah’s gas giant.

The head of House Ulrik is Milo’s Aunt Eveline Van Ulrik and although
Milo has an executive position in the Ulrik-Passergin Shipping
Consortium, he is unlikely to gain a leadership position in the family
enterprise. He is, however, extremely wealthy. Following in his father’s
footsteps, he commissioned the Excelsior II racing yacht and used it to
win six of the seven Navarre Rallies he has contested since 1095.

Flamboyant – most would say eccentric – Milo is as well known in

the gossip media as in racing circles. Several spectacularly failed
romances, one ending in the suicide of his fiancé, have led him to
become ostracised by higher Corellan society, although this does not
seem to faze him. He spends most of his time aboard Excelsior II,
racing or practicing to race, or travelling across the Corellan League
in style. Rumours that he uses his extremely fast yacht for smuggling
are completely unsubstantiated but do not endear him to his family any
more than his romantic escapades. Rumours that his aunt cut him off,
leaving him in crippling debt, are also unsubstantiated.

Milo can be extremely charming, although he does tend to focus

conversation on himself and his racing. He dabbles in many things
and seems to know a little about everything. Sometimes he thinks
he is more expert than he is but is very aware of his strengths and
weaknesses as a racer and, despite being a fairly adept pilot, generally
employs the best professionals he can hire as crew and focuses on
race strategy and logistics, not piloting his ship. Besides, he drinks a
bit too much and would probably lose his license if he were the primary
27
 pilot. His employees
past and present praise
him as a tough but fair
boss, although one with
an odd sense of humour
and a melancholy
streak. His luxury
suite contains a dozen
Navarre Rally trophies
– five are replicas of
the awards given to his
father and lost with the
first Excelsior. His suite
also contains a multi-
million Credit collection
of sculpture, most of
it incomprehensibly
abstract, with many of
the pieces coming from
obscure alien artists.

When Milo drinks, he

begins to grow paranoid,
blaming the deaths of his
father and his fiancé on
unspecified ‘enemies’ and
muttering about revenge.

MILO VAN ULRIK

SPECIES GENDER
Human Male
CHARACTERISTICS SKILLS
STR 8 INT 9 Advocate 0, Astrogation 1, Broker 0,
DEX 9 EDU 9 Carouse 1, Deception 1, Diplomat 1,
Drive 0, Electronics 0, Engineer (j-drive)
END 5 SOC 12 1, Flyer (grav) 1, Gambler 1, Gun Combat
(energy) 1, Gunner 0, Jack-of-all-Trades
1, Mechanic 1, Medic 1, Melee (blade) 1,
Persuade 1, Pilot (spacecraft) 2, Science
0, Steward 0, Streetwise 1, Vacc Suit 0
EQUIPMENT Weapons: Duelling Foil (2D+2, AP 2)

28
EXCELSIOR II RACING YACHT
The Excelsior II is a ship built with a single purpose; winning the
Navarre Rally, an annual seven-jump race between Corella and
Navarre. Designed by the famed Heraklion Yard, it is a state-of-the-art
replacement for the original Excelsior, lost in 1087 after a presumed
misjump from 12 diameters above Jeremiah’s gas giant Hilkiah.

Completed in 1093, Excelsior II – as it is commonly known – defeated

its nearest rival by nearly three full days in its first Navarre Rally in 1095
utilising a combination of an extremely fast manoeuvre drive, rapid
atmospheric transits, fast fuel processing and a custom-tuned jump
drive. While Milo has not repeated his father’s rashness of jumping far
too close to a planet with only partially refined fuel, he has used every
technological advantage and an expert crew to win six of the seven
rallies in which he competed, only prevented from a perfect record
by maintenance problems in 1102. Despite its focus on performance,
Excelsior II is among the most luxurious small yachts out of Corella.

The Excelsior II utilises custom high technology engineering. Its 9G

manoeuvre drive – sometimes pushed to 10G during a race – is a
modified high-thrust engine designed for a cancelled Corellan League
Star Fleet interceptor programme. The power plant is a custom
Heraklion design with well-insulated redundant feeds to the monolithic
engine block. High efficiency batteries supply power to a one-of-a-kind
Heraklion jump drive unit rated for safe transits at only 80 diameters
from the bottom of a gravity well.

Heraklion architects did not neglect design considerations with the

Excelsior II. The ship resembles a sleek sunfish, with vertical fins
stretching 78 metres tip-to-tip a body only 56 metres long. The hull is
essentially an extremely elongated sphere with a varying-width cylindrical
cross-section, reaching nine metres maximum diameter, with two decks
accessible from the bridge by stair. The bridge and forward owner’s suite
on the upper deck are topped with transparent crystaliron, delivering
an uninterrupted view of space. The lower deck is cramped, with crew
staterooms abutting the curved hull but the upper deck is spacious, with
two high staterooms in addition to the owner’s luxury suite.

A small pressurised cargo bay with vehicle loading lift separates the
lower deck living quarters from the engineering compartment. The
lower deck also contains fittings for ventral and starboard pop-up
turrets. While the interior is well laid out and furnished with high quality
fittings, the engineering section is focused on performance. The tight
quarters are only partially accessible to the crew, who must rely on
computer-guided or remotely controlled drones for maintenance work
on manoeuvre drive and fuel system equipment.

29
 Finally, although the upper fin contains most of the fuel skimming and
processing equipment, the fuel-filled lower fin is sliced into two sections,
allowing it to split and fold horizontally for landing and atmospheric
operations. The upper fin and the split lower fins are designed with
morphable alloys to allow extra manoeuvrability in atmospheres.

The Excelsior II is a custom one-of-kind ship. While Heraklion has

received several requests for additional orders, an exclusivity contract
with Milo Ulrik prevents another ship of this design from being
produced until 1110.

Excelsior II
Racing Yacht

30
 EXCELSIOR II RACING YACHT

TL 13 Tons Cost (MCr)

Hull 200 tons, Streamlined — 12
Heat Shielding — 20
Armour Crystaliron, Armour: 2 5 1.2
M-Drive Thrust 9 18 36
J-Drive Jump 2 (early jump x2) 15 28.125
Power Plant Fusion (TL12, reduced size), 15 16.5
Power 250
Fuel Tanks J-2, 8 weeks of operation 43 —
Bridge Holographic Controls 10 1.25
Computer Computer/25 (primary) — 2
Computer/10 (backup) — 0.16
Sensors Military Grade 2 4.1
Weapons Pop-up Double Turret (long 2 4
range pulse lasers)
Pop-up Double Turret (missile, 2 2.5
sandcaster)
Systems Fuel Scoops — —
Fuel Processor (200 tons/day) 10 0.5
Aerofins 10 1
High Efficiency Batteries 1 0.2
(Power 60)
Craft Docking Space (4 tons) 5 1.25
Draco Valiant Grav Saloon — 0.779
Staterooms Standard x6 24 3
High x2 12 1.6
Luxury 10 1.5
Software Manoeuvre/0 — —
Library — —
Jump Control/2 — 0.2
Auto-Repair/1 — 5
Intellect — 1
Virtual Crew/0 — 1
Common Areas 9 0.9
Cargo 5 —

31
 Crew Power Requirements
Pilot, Astrogator, Medic, Basic Ship Systems
Engineer, Gunners x2 40
Manoeuvre Drive
Hull: 80 180
Jump Drive
Running Costs 40
MAINTENANCE COST
Sensors
Cr12847/month
2
PURCHASE COST
Weapons
MCr154.164
10
Fuel Processor
10

Landing Configuration

Flight Configuration BRIDGE

1. Bridge
2. HE Batteries
3.Cargo Bay
1
Fuel Processing located in
upper Aerofin.

Additional Fuel Storage located in

upper and lower Aerofins.

Staircase to Staircase to
Upper Deck Lower Deck

32
 Staircase to
Bridge

UPPER DECK LOWER DECK

33
 DRACO VALIANT GRAV SALOON
The Draco Consortium produces high quality grav vehicles for personal
and business use, and some light combat vehicles for governments
contracts. Across their entire line, Draco emphasises style – even in
armoured personnel carriers – and builds vehicles capable of operating
in a variety of environments.

The Valiant series of grav saloons – basically fancy enclosed grav

cars – benefits from cross-over with some combat lines, providing
basic armour and security systems as well as an active multi-chromatic
camouflage system normally programmed for flashy colour schemes,
artwork or logos on the saloon’s sleek hull.

The base model provides life support, vacuum protection, grav chute
ejection systems and a sophisticated electronics suite. Available
upgrades include more advanced communicators and sensors, stealth
coatings and electronic countermeasures. An electrostatic armour
option is also available but illegal for civilian use on most worlds.

The specialised features and equipment can be temperamental and

require maintenance from Draco-certified technicians and service centres.

Able to cruise in comfort at near sonic velocity and capable of orbital

travel – although without an integral airlock – the Valiant is a substitute
for the standard air/raft on many luxury yachts built at Corella.

TL 13 Armour
SKILL Flyer (grav) FRONT 24
AGILITY +5 REAR 24
SPEED (CRUISE) Subsonic (Very Fast) SIDES 24
RANGE (CRUISE) 4000 (6000)
CREW 1
PASSENGERS 4
CARGO 250kg
HULL 16
SHIPPING 4 tons
COST Cr779000

34
Traits Streamlined
Equipment Autopilot (advanced), Communications system
(advanced, increased range), Computer/4 (Digital
Friend, Security/2), Controls (advanced), Ejections
Seats, Entertainment System, Fire Extinguishers,
Life Support (short term), Multi-Chromatic Advanced
Camouflage, Navigation System (improved), Sensors
(improved), Vacuum Environment, Wet Bar

Equipment
Autopilot (skill level) +3
Communications (range) 10,000km
Navigation (Navigation DM) +2
Sensors (Electronics (sensors) DM) +1
Camouflage (Recon DM) -4
Stealth (Electronics (sensors) DM) 0

35
 Travelling
Games for Gamblers
By Gareth Hanrahan

There are thousands of different gambling games played across the

Imperium; every starport bar has a unique game being played at some
corner table. A Traveller with the Gambler skill can usually intuit the
basic principles behind most of these games but others are so bizarre
that they must be explained before they can be played successfully.

GAMES OF CHANCE
Runestones: Common in the Sword Worlds of the Spinward Marches,
runestones is derived from a popular divination method. Players
throw small flat or cubical stones, each face of which is marked with
a particular mystic rune. The combination of runes shown determines
who wins. Players take turns to pick up some of the runestones and
throw them once more to make new combinations, so there is a little
skill in the game. Superstitious pilots from the Sword Worlds believe
that toying with the mystic runestones is dangerous and unlucky.

Fusor: A gambling game based around a polyhedral crystal with a

radioactive isotope at its core. As the isotope decays, it sends out an
alpha particle every few seconds. This alpha particle collides with one
of the facets of the crystal, causing that facet to fluoresce. Gamblers
bet on which facet will be the next to flash.

Hiver’s Chess: Technically, this is a game of skill from Hiver space but
the rules are so complex as to be utterly incomprehensible to humans.
Therefore, Hiver’s chess is normally played as a game of chance, with
players moving pieces almost at random until one of them wins.

GAMES OF SKILL
Psi-Topple: Traditionally, psi-topple is played with a small crystal tablet
that is a psionic resonator. This tablet is especially easy to move with
telekinesis and even a latent psion with undeveloped powers can push
the tablet. Two players put the tablet between them and both try to push
it over using the power of their mind alone.

A common variant of this game replaces the tablet with a playing card
and puts the playing card on top of a bottle of alcohol (typically, that ‘ol
Janx spirit). The loser takes a drink.

Zero-G Dicing: Dice games are games of pure chance, except in zero
gravity. It takes tremendous skill and dexterity to throw a pair of dice so
they come to rest on a surface instead of just bouncing around the cabin.

36
Lunion Stud: A variant on poker, Lunion Stud is played using the standard
spacer’s deck (suits of Ships, Suns, Blades and Coins, cards from Ace (or
Low), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Knight, Empress and Emperor).

WAGERS
Low Lottery: The low lottery is a macabre tradition but still practised on
many worlds. On a passenger ship with low berths, the captain donates
Cr10 of the passage price for each low passenger to a pool. Each
passenger, before they are placed in suspended animation, guesses
how many of the low passengers will survive the journey. If they guess
correctly, they get the pot. If no-one guesses correctly or the winner
dies, the captain takes the pot.

Travel Speed: Popular on worlds with regular space traffic between

them, the participants bet on which ship will arrive back first. Rival
shipping companies can become bitterly competitive when bets are at
stake, with captains ordered to do anything they can to shave a few
minutes off travel time in order to land first. The skill of the astrogator (to
bring the ship back into realspace close to the 100-diameter limit) and the
randomness of jump space are the deciding factors in these contests.

Duels: On worlds with sufficiently advanced medical technology, having

a limb chopped off is a minor (if still painful) inconvenience. Duelling
with swords tends to enjoy a resurgence in popularity within such
cultures. Duellists become prized athletes and gamblers wager on the
outcome of a duel as they would on any other sport.

37
 Central Supply
Suits You, Sophont
By Pete Nash & Matthew Sprange

Projecting the correct image is an important aspect of authority or

power, so dressing well is vital for a Traveller, but fashion changes
constantly. Therefore, the wardrobes of social climbing Travellers are
constantly replenished. The best clothes are still those which are hand
tailored, giving that extra touch of quality that off the peg, pre-fabricated
clothing cannot match.

None of the garments listed here are described in particular detail

because the range of styles, patterns and colours is effectively limitless.
Where one culture’s suit may comprise of shirt, jacket and trousers,
another may favour wearing kilts or one-piece jumpsuits.

NOBLES AND CLOTHING

Travellers with noble rank, or who enjoy celebrity, must look the part
if they wish to continue their lifestyle. The SOC Price Modifier table
shows how much more a Traveller should be paying (as a minimum) for
their clothing to reflect their status.

SOC Price Modifier

SOC Price
10 +100%
11 +125%
12 +150%
13 +200%
14 +300%
15 +500%

38
Ball Gown: Formal dresses, required for balls, ceremonies and
other official events, these often possess full skirts and outlandish
decorations, making them rather heavy and encumbering.

Item TL Kg Cost
Ball Gown 3 6 Cr1500

Business Suit: Whether attending meetings or working at the office,

the business suit is ubiquitous with white collar workers throughout
the galaxy. Wearing a suit automatically demonstrates one’s rank and
position in the workplace.

Item TL Kg Cost
Business Suit 4 — Cr500

Casual Suit: Used to attend informal parties or venture out on the town,
the casual suit has a great deal of latitude in style, cut and fashion.

Item TL Kg Cost
Casual Suit 3 — Cr200

Cocktail Dress: The female equivalent of a casual suit, cocktail

dresses are normally worn for informal events. They are delineated
from evening gowns by the length of the skirt, which is usually knee
length or higher. Otherwise they can be any colour and are often light
and figure hugging.

Item TL Kg Cost
Cocktail Dress 4 — Cr250

Dress Uniform: Used by the military, the full dress uniform is a brighter
and more gaudy version of service uniforms, and considered a proper
alternative to a formal suit. Some dress uniforms permit the wearing of
a sword or sidearm.

Item TL Kg Cost
Dress Uniform 3 — Cr1500

Evening Gown: Worn for semi-formal occasions, evening gowns can

possess a dazzling range of colours and styles but always have full
length skirts.

Item TL Kg Cost
Evening Gown 4 — Cr750

39
40
Formal Suit: Formal suits are reserved for important social events and
ceremonies. Although restrictive to wear, it is always very impressive
and indicates precisely the standing of the wearer by cut, colour and
awards worn with it. Failing to wear full formal dress when it has been
expressly stipulated on an invitation usually prevents admittance.

Item TL Kg Cost
Formal Suit 3 — Cr1000

Grav Gown: A ball gown tailored to include a miniaturised grav belt.

The cut down harness is incorporated into the body of the dress and
has limited effect, only partially negating the weight of the ensemble
and the wearer herself. However, this enables the woman to remain
light on her feet and thus able to dance. At higher Tech Levels the
increasing efficiency of the micro grav belt allows ball gowns to grow to
outlandish proportions. A battery pack hidden within the skirts or bustle
of the dress provides power for up to six hours use.

Item TL Kg Cost
Grav Gown 12 2 Cr10000

Grav Waistcoat: Using a similar technology to that incorporated in

grav gowns, at TL14 the circuitry becomes small enough to hide within
a padded waistcoat. It does not permit the wearer to float exactly but
greatly reduces their mass, allowing the wearer to perform incredibly
acrobatic dances with little strain (although skill and talent are still
needed). Lacking room for larger batteries in the cut of the garment, it
only provides an hour of use before needing to be recharged.

Item TL Kg Cost
Grav Waistcoat 14 — Cr5000

Psionic Shielding Hat: A step beyond a psionic shield helmet, mind

protecting technology can be incorporated into innocuous looking headwear.
This can be anything from a turban to a flat cap, as long as it covers at least
the top third of the skull. The wearer becomes immune to telepathy powers.

Item TL Kg Cost
Psionic Shielding Hat 13 — Cr6000

Psionic Shielding Toupee: For subtle defence, this shield is woven into
the filaments of artificial hair. Ostensibly it cannot be detected unless the
toupee is electronically or psionically scanned, at which point it vibrates
gently to alert its wearer. Whilst worn it blocks all telepathy powers.

Item TL Kg Cost
Psionic Shielding Toupee 14 — Cr10000

41
 Thermal Overcoat: An encompassing overcoat that is designed to give
protection against adverse temperatures and weather. They can be
tailored for any gender and incorporate circulatory systems connected
to tiny heater-refrigerator units, keeping the wearer at a perfect
temperature, no matter what they are wearing underneath. A normal
charge lasts up to six hours and can cope with conditions of up to +/-
50o Celsius.

Item TL Kg Cost
Thermal Overcoat 9 1 Cr1000

42
CLOTHING OPTIONS
The following choices can be applied to custom clothing during its
manufacture.

Armoured Cloth: Suits and dresses made of this anti-ballistic material

grant Protection +3 at TL7 and Protection +5 at TL10.

Item TL Kg Cost
Armoured Cloth 7 — x2

Chameleon Cloth: An offshoot of military technology, suits and dresses

made from chameleon cloth have the ability to change both colour and
pattern; this allows the same article of clothing to be worn repeatedly in
society, simply changing decoration on a daily basis. Although capable
of simulating any colour or surface in the visible light range, it must
be programmed manually. Since it lacks sensors to sample and meld
with its current environment, it cannot be used for stealth. At higher
Tech Levels the material can change colour almost instantaneously,
allowing the fabric to project a series of changing patterns or display
two dimensional movies if connected to a hand computer.

Item TL Kg Cost
Chameleon Cloth 10 — x3

Gel Cloth: Woven from ballistic cloth, this fabric incorporates an extra
layer of sheer thickening gel. When impacted the gel becomes rigid,
dispersing the force of the blow over the entire panel of cloth. Clothing
made from this advanced fabric provides Protection +5 points at TL12
and Protection +7 points at TL14.

Item TL Kg Cost
Gel Cloth 12 — x5

Zap Cloth: Zap cloth incorporates a fine metallic mesh into its weave.
Suits or dresses made from this fabric can be electrified, inflicting damage
on anyone handling the wearer or attacking them with a conductive
weapon. The damage incurred is automatic and equivalent to as a stunner
of equivalent Tech Level (see page 129 of the Traveller Core Rulebook).
Clothing made of zap cloth necessitates the use of insulated underclothes;
otherwise the wearer will zap themselves when the suit is activated.

Item TL Kg Cost
Zap Cloth 8 — x2

43
 Vehicle Handbook
Airships of the Imperium
By Tim Heiderich

Despite the prevalence of grav plate technology, dirigibles remain

useful for a number of specific tasks, as they are vastly less expensive
to produce.

AUTOMATED REFINERY DRONE

The ARD is little more than a fuel processor and storage tank attached
to an enormous balloon. They are deployed to gas giants to drift and
process atmospheric hydrogen. A typical drone is able to process 100
tons of refined fuel a week. When its tanks are full, the drone is directed
by an orbital controller to rendezvous with a starship for refuelling or to
offload its fuel at the nearest starport.

They are popular among pirates and frontier scouts as sustainable fuel
depots but with no defensive abilities and underpowered controls, they
are vulnerable.

TL 9 Armour
SKILL Flyer (airship) FRONT 3
AGILITY -2 REAR 3
SPEED (CRUISE) Very Slow (Idle) SIDES 3
RANGE (CRUISE) —
CREW —
PASSENGERS —
CARGO 100 tons
HULL 200
SHIPPING 100 tons
COST MCr1.1189

Equipment
Autopilot (skill level) —
Communications (range) 5,000km
Navigation (Navigation DM) +1
Sensors (Electronics (sensors) DM) —
Camouflage (Recon DM) —
Stealth (Electronics (sensors) DM) —

44
Traits Lifting Body
Equipment Actuation System, Communications Systems
(improved, increased range, satellite uplink),
Computer/1, Control Systems (improved), Navigation
Systems (basic), Refuelling Plant, Robot Brain (basic),
Sensor Sytem (basic)

45
 BONHAM-CLASS LUXURY AIRSHIP
These luxury liners are suited to trans-oceanic air cruises for those who
enjoy the journey as much as the destination. They are equipped with
10 staterooms, including a luxury suite, as well as room for gaming and
socialising, a gourmet galley, holo-suite and a hot tub. For the noble
who wishes to entertain guests at a more relaxed pace, this vessel
makes a larger-than-life impression.

TL 7 Armour
SKILL Flyer (airship) FRONT 2
AGILITY -2 REAR 2
SPEED (CRUISE) High (Medium) SIDES 2
RANGE (CRUISE) 8000 (12000)
CREW 3
PASSENGERS 8
CARGO 1 ton
HULL 200
SHIPPING 100 tons
COST MCr2.3912

Equipment
Autopilot (skill level) 1
Communications (range) 5,000km
Navigation (Navigation DM) +1
Sensors (Electronics (sensors) DM) +1
Camouflage (Recon DM) —
Stealth (Electronics (sensors) DM) —

Traits —
Equipment Autopilot (improved), Computer/0, Communications
System (improved, increased range), Control System
(improved), Freshers x9, Holo-suite, Hot Tub, Galley,
Internal Bay, Large Fresher, Navigation Systems
(basic), Sensor System (improved), Stateroom x10,
Wet bar

46
47
 ZRM AIRSTRIKE PLATFORM
A large airship for bringing light attack aircraft to the combat theatre,
this versatile platform is capable of bombing targets from high altitude
whilst remaining undetected. It is faster and cheaper to operate than an
aircraft carrier, with the ability to strike targets further inland.

One third of the airship’s cabin is hangar space, which can deploy and
retrieve six light fighters or three conventional dropships via its heavy
crane or be converted to a bomb bay with a capacity for 30 medium
bombs, 15 heavy bombs or one devastating earthquake bomb.

TL 7 Armour
SKILL Flyer (airship) FRONT 3
AGILITY -2 REAR 3
SPEED (CRUISE) High (Medium) SIDES 3
RANGE (CRUISE) 6000 (9000)
CREW 3
PASSENGERS 14
CARGO 4.5 tons
HULL 200
SHIPPING 100 tons
COST MCr1.7579

Equipment
Autopilot (skill level) 1
Communications (range) 500km
Navigation (Navigation DM) +1
Sensors (Electronics (sensors) DM) +1
Camouflage (Recon DM) -2
Stealth (Electronics (sensors) DM) —

Traits Lifting Body

Equipment Airlocks x2, Autopilot (improved), Bunks x16,
Camouflage (improved), Communications System
(basic, increased range, encrypted), Control System
(improved), Crane (heavy), Fire Control, Fresher,
Galley, Life Support (short term), Navigation System
(basic), Sensor System (improved, hardened, increased
range), Stateroom
Weapons Bay (60 Spaces)
Fixed Mounts x3 (light anti-air missile)
Pintle Mounts x2 (light autocannon)

48
Weapons Range Damage Magazine
Light Anti-Air Missile 5 6D 1
Light Autocannon 1 6D 500
Weapons Magazine Cost Traits Fire Control
Light Anti-Air Missile — One Use, —
Smart
Light Autocannon Cr1000 Auto 3 DM+2 to attack roll

49
 HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH OUTPOST
When a starship is not available to conduct a thorough, weeks-long
survey of a gas giant or planet with a corrosive or insidious atmosphere,
the brave or foolhardy crew of a HERO blimp are sent to float through
the toxic atmosphere to conduct in-depth planetological studies of its
surface and climate.

A dedicated laboratory is available for conducting atmospheric

experiments, while a full-time engineer maintains the seals vital to
protecting the crew during a 90-day tour. Afterwards, the crew’s data is
collected and the balloon is retrieved or discarded.

TL 7 Armour
SKILL Flyer (airship) FRONT 2
AGILITY -2 REAR 2
SPEED (CRUISE) High (Medium) SIDES 2
RANGE (CRUISE) 6000 (9000)
CREW 3
PASSENGERS 14
CARGO 4.5 tons
HULL 200
SHIPPING 100 tons
COST MCr1.7579

Equipment
Autopilot (skill level) 2
Communications (range) 5,000km
Navigation (Navigation DM) +2
Sensors (Electronics (sensors) DM) +2
Camouflage (Recon DM) —
Stealth (Electronics (sensors) DM) —

Traits Lifting Body

Equipment Airlocks x2, Atmospheric Sampler, Autopilot (enhanced),
Computer/2, Communications System (improved,
increased range, satellite uplink), Control System
(advanced), Crane (medium), Fresher, Laboratories
x2, Life Support (long term, insidious environment),
Mini-galley, Navigation System (improved), Sensor
System (improved, increased fidelity, increased range),
Staterooms x4

50
51
 Travelling
Campaign Bloat
How Limiting It Opens New Plot Possibilities
By Martin J Dougherty

Bloat is a real problem in an ongoing story. A series of movies, novels

or a TV show will, over time, gradually bloat; that is, the characters
become more powerful and influential, so they need greater threats.
Eventually a series of slim but highly entertaining novels about a flawed
but clever character somehow becomes a set of 1,000-page epics
with whole chapters dedicated to political arguments or interactions
with pets. The giant, apocalyptic battle set up along the way may be
impressive but what comes next? What is there for the super-powerful
characters to do tomorrow?

The equivalent in Traveller can occur when the Travellers are all
equipped with battle dress and a full set of psionic powers, flying
around in a super-starship or leading a veritable army of minions. One
question that leaps to mind is ‘why are these people Travelling?’. They
could be doing something safer and more productive whilst their vast
wealth pays for someone to do whatever it is needs doing. Assuming
the Travellers want to continue adventuring, what is there for them to
do? What threat is worth their attention? Creating a challenge for these
superheroes either requires a setting-changing level of opposition or
increasingly contrived plot devices to remove their advantages.

52
There are two ways bloat will commonly occur. One is to allow the
Travellers to achieve far too much on a single skill check. If the
Travellers can talk the architect into giving them the plans to the
planetary bank with a single check, they are advancing too fast towards
a huge payoff. Another check to crack the vault door, which the getaway
driver succeeds, and the Travellers are millions richer. This is, quite
simply, not much of an adventure and far too great a reward for a few
simple checks.

If the Travellers do decide to rob a major financial installation, that is

fodder for one or more full adventures. The Travellers will have to figure
out a plan, obtain information, set up the operation and finally carry it
out. The payoff will still be huge but the Travellers will have earned it by
playing through their preparations and the heist itself. Campaign bloat
can thus be countered by paying attention to what can realistically be
achieved by a given check.

It is worth considering the implications of a given check. Causing a

relatively minor change in the subject’s outlook seems entirely plausible
and this could be built upon over time. Likewise, defeating the security
on a door is entirely acceptable as the outcome of a single check.
However, it is not reasonable to use a single check to open all the
doors in a building or to bring someone to a radically different viewpoint
on a permanent basis. Getting someone to make an instant life-
changing decision might be possible but they are likely to re-evaluate
that decision and try to back out, or to resent being manipulated and
actively work against the Travellers.

The bigger picture must also be considered. The Travellers might

convince a government official to help them but that official is part of
a much larger organisation. This creates inertia, in the sense that the
official’s actions will be noticed and opposed by others. The Travellers
might somehow talk the planetary defence minister into giving them the
exclusive contract to ship arms into the world but that does not mean
they will actually get the contract. It must still be pushed through the
usual legal processes, which will lead to questions being asked. The
minister would know this and is unlikely to agree, even if the Travellers
are extremely persuasive.

In short, major changes and large pay-outs are the result of ongoing
efforts requiring Travelling, roleplaying and perhaps some skill checks.
Some actions simply will not happen, no matter what the Travellers roll,
and others will produce rather minor results. However, working towards
a goal in a gradual manner will spawn adventures and roleplaying
opportunities. Travellers who are permitted to cause enemy warships to
defect with a single skill check will soon begin to suffer campaign bloat,
whereas those who work to suborn the vessel’s officers over time will
eventually achieve a result without breaking the game’s setting.

53
 The second reason for campaign bloat is allowing Travellers to have
everything they want, usually as a result of too much money. One
common cause of death for campaigns is the deadlock between
Travellers refusing to do anything without asking ‘what’s in it for me?’
and the need to give them ever-increasing amounts of money. This in
turn leads to a situation where the Travellers can buy anything they
need and require even more cash to motivate them.

It is wise to place limits on what can be bought and what it costs.

Generally speaking, military hardware is restricted to those who have
the proper permits – for legal purchase, anyway – or the right contacts
if the Travellers are not choosy about legality. Law Level 0 does not
mean everything is on sale at the standard price. Some items will
simply not be available at that location due to scarcity or restrictions
elsewhere and anything hard to come by will be for sale at a greatly
inflated price.

The Travellers may have a pile of Credits but they must either part with
an eye-wateringly high percentage of it – which might still require the
right connections – or obtain some other component of the procurement
process such as permits or contacts. This small shift in mindset from
success as the ‘ability to buy things’ to ‘ability to obtain things’ can
change the value of Credits and creates a whole new array of possible
rewards. Travellers might be flying a starship crammed full of money
but if they still cannot get the upgrades they want, the Credits have a
lesser value. Getting that shiny new particle accelerator requires more
than paying the shipyard price and perhaps the Travellers might be
willing to undertake a mission in return for being put in contact with
someone who can arrange the necessary permits.

54
By enforcing a sensible level of restrictions and inflated prices for
desirable items, the Referee can implement a whole new set of possible
rewards for the Travellers, requiring them to undertake missions in
order to obtain a contact, then more missions to develop a relationship
with the contact before finally they can buy what they want – at an
inflated price of course. This is not in any way ‘robbing’ the Travellers; it
is a reflection of reality. A rich real-world person might be able to afford
to have an expensive car imported but would realistically expect to pay
more for it than if it were common in their home region. No matter how
super-rich someone is, they will have a hard time obtaining an attack
submarine. It is the same in Traveller; money can buy any amount of
mundane items but if the Travellers want something unusual they may
have to work for it.

There is an additional advantage to making it difficult for the Travellers

to obtain restricted items. It is hard to present much of a challenge
or barrier to heroes equipped with battle dress and fusion guns. A
typical band of Travellers, finding their way blocked by a platoon of
TL7 infantry and a tank, might have to get creative. Instead of simply
incinerating the obstacle, they will have to find a way around or trick the
enemy into letting them through.

At times, the Referee will wish to create a barrier or a clock using a

threat or obstacle the Travellers cannot counter. This is impossible
if their equipment, weaponry, armour or psionic powers allow them
to simply wander through and complete their objectives. Restricting
access to high-end advantages allows the Referee to create far more
interesting situations in which the Travellers have to take a convoluted
path, perhaps having extra adventures along the way. If there is no way
to survive the coming ice storm in the open, the Travellers may decide
to take shelter in the curiously-shaped building they have found. If they
cannot resist the advancing enemy platoon, they will have to take their
chances with the alien base’s defence systems.

This sort of push, clock or barrier is a staple of Traveller adventures,

and fiction in general, but can be impossible to implement if the
Travellers are overpowered. The Travellers might be up against a tight
time frame if they have to reach the starport before the overpowering
enemy force gets there… but if they outgun the entire planetary army
there is no urgency and therefore little drama. By limiting the Travellers’
resources, the Referee can create more plot opportunities or limit the
ability of the Travellers to simply push them aside.

This is not to say the Travellers should not have access to the ‘big
toys’. If they want psionics or battle dress, getting them can spawn
adventures without much creative effort on the part of the Referee.
Battle dress is heavily restricted, so the Travellers will have to decide
whether to go down the legal path or get armour any way they can.
They will need to make contacts and build trust, or find out where they
can buy or steal what they want. Once the Travellers have their armour,

55
 they must maintain it and obtain spare parts – and avoid attracting the
attention of agencies dedicated to keeping such powerful hardware out
of the hands of random Travellers. Keeping the suits running might be
the stuff of future adventures.

The same applies to psionics, advanced starships and any other item
or ability that gives the Travellers a huge advantage. Whichever the
Travellers choose to pursue should become a focus of the campaign.
Not necessarily the focus but a major factor. Not only will the Travellers
have to work at getting what they want but they will also have to deal
with the consequences. If they are looking for a psionics institute they
may attract attention from others doing the same or those trying to
eradicate such institutions. They may be drawn into the troubles of the
institute, which might include incredibly petty internal politics as well as
major external events.

Making it hard to get what the Travellers want gives them an incentive
to get involved in the setting, cultivate contacts and follow up rumours.
Even Travellers who are mostly concerned with rolling the dice and
collecting the reward, and who rarely take any notice of the roleplaying
aspects, can sometimes be induced to become involved – if only out of
self-interest. Thus, making the Travellers work for what they want rather
than simply buying it creates all manner of new plot opportunities,
causing them to go places and do things they would not otherwise
consider. Best of all, the Travellers may do these things because they
want to rather than because they have a deal with a quest-giver. They
may spend vast sums to obtain information rather than demanding
money for everything they do. By making it hard to obtain battle dress,
psionics, grav tanks or whatever the Travellers want, the Referee has
created a situation whereby they become self-motivated and start
generating their own adventures.

Eventually, if the Travellers put in enough effort, they will get what
they want or at least a part of it. This represents growth rather than
bloat, if it is handled correctly. It will also lead to new adventures.
The Travellers’ quest for psionic testing might lead on to a new mini-
campaign where they follow rumours of lost techniques or obscure
teachers. This represents a curious situation in which the Travellers
have set themselves a goal, achieved it and become sufficiently
invested in that aspect of the campaign that they continue climbing
mountains of their own choosing. The original focus of the campaign
might be downplayed or the Travellers might continue to pursue it using
their new advantages. The reason this is growth rather than bloat is that
the process is gradual and the Travellers have had to work hard to get
where they wanted to be.

Ultimately, putting the brakes on campaign bloat is in everyone’s interest.

Almost everyone, anyway. There will always be those who just want to
‘win’ the current adventure and move on to the next set of loot drops.

56
Adventure
The Erline Home System
By Tim Scharnweber

This article supplies information needed to visit Erline home system,

after its position has been extracted from the citadel database captured
in the Alpha 0607 system. The events take place in the Near Side
of Yonder chapter of the Deepnight Revelation campaign. After the
conquest, the position of the lost Erline home planet is found deep
within the ship’s data banks. As the Prime Citadel was built here, it can
be assumed that knowledge surrounding the issues met by the Erline
may remain.

THE HOME SYSTEM

The home system consists of a central K4 star, orbited by a total of six
large planets, four small planets and two gas giants. Between the third
and fourth worlds exists an enormous asteroid belt, within which the
greatest amount of activity can be seen. Extensive mining operations
are visible here and, judging by the debris and punctured asteroids,
have been for a significant amount of time. Countless small units fly
tirelessly back and forth between large mobile ore-mining factories
and a dock where other specialised factories produce the components
for the citadel currently under construction. A large amount of traffic
between the construction site and fourth planet can also be seen,
as the planet is used as a fuel supply for the fusion reactors of the
production site.

The three notable structures within the asteroid belt are the shipyard
where a new citadel is under construction, another citadel with many
bulky extensions, as well as a large asteroid moving with preternatural
precision. A large number of smaller debris floats with a similar sense of
sentience, although this is miniscule in comparison to the larger asteroid.

Life sustaining conditions only exist on the second planet but planetary
scans provide no signs of this. The surface itself is pockmarked by
countless craters and the world seems to be very tectonically active,
with at least several visible volcanoes. Numerous satellites can be
seen in orbit, with sensors scanning the surface and weapon systems
aimed into space to deter potential visitors. This is ostensibly due to the
quarantine maintained over the Erline homeworld by the Prime Citadel.

57
 ERLINE HO ME SY STEM
Citadel Prime
Large Asteroid
Active Shipyard
Tectonically Active
Artifical Satellites
Colony Ruins

58
THE CITADEL
The Prime Citadel faithfully follows its initial programming to this day,
taking all measures possible to preserve the Erline species. Other
citadels are still being built with the goal of eradicating the disease
suffered by the Erline and once completed will begin their patrol
flights catapulting between stars. Never being designed to multiply
systematically, the shipyard it built was not optimised for efficiency,
taking decades to complete a new citadel. Due to their lack of a natural
lifespan and careless respect for time, over the last millennia over 100
newer citadels have been built, the majority of which are still active.
Some return to the place of their creation after a certain time to transfer
their findings to the central database and a thorough overhaul of the, by
then, ancient systems. Others have yet to return at all. The aim of the
data collection is to increase the efficiency of the patrol flights, because
space is limitless, the number of citadels is finite and the Erline must be
protected at all costs.

Over the years the Prime Citadel has made some modifications to
itself, less with the aim of self-optimisation and more out of necessity.
Amongst other things, it drastically increased its processing power and
databases for the purpose of data analysis, as well as the integration
of all the obtainable information about the Erline. Computers from the
former colony, as well as from exploration ships stranded here, served
as sources for this.

THE FORMER COLONY

The fourth planet of the system, a large gas giant, is orbited by a total
of nine smaller and larger moons. One of those moons housed the only
in-system colony of the Erline that was not affected by the purge of
the Prime Citadel. Quarantined as a precautionary measure, it was for
the most part self-sufficient and populated with enough skilled workers
to be able to maintain itself. Over the centuries long detainment
knowledge was lost and with it the ability to maintain the systems
necessary for survival on this less-than-ideal world.

With cold precision the Prime Citadel noted the population was steadily
declining and would, in the near future, flatline. Its programming did
not allow for it to deduce the nature of the problem, instead it devised
new protocols through trial and error to communicate with those inside.
Once it was clear what the inhabitants lacked, it was easy to produce
the necessary items for their survival. In the course of the mutual
communication efforts, the remaining information from the colonies’
databases was copied to the Prime Citadel.

Analysis of this data revealed that the colonists did not exist in ideal
living conditions on the moon, as a solution to which the Citadel began
construction of a habitat. Upon its completion the Erline were relocated
under its command; the prime directive ignoring the idea that some
inhabitants had no intention of leaving their homes. Those who refused

59
 were forcibly moved and although the measures taken did not cause
permanent harm, they were less than humane. In the years following
the relocation the buildings fell into disrepair and now only bear witness
to the remains of a civilisation that the Citadel had attempted to save.

THE HABITAT
To create an ideal living space for the colonists, the Citadel drew on
concepts found in old Erline databases; a cylindrical artificial habitat
created inside a large asteroid. The chunk of rock chosen to realise its
endeavour is ellipsoidal with a diameter of 3.4 kilometres and a length
of 5.7 kilometres. The cylindrical cavity measures just over a kilometre
in diameter and is over three kilometres long. Work to complete it took
more than a century, followed by decades of optimising life support and
cultivating vegetation suitable for sustaining life.

Lighting within the habitat comes from a tubular filament pulled through
the centre of the cavity, with no natural light reaching the interior. There is
no artificial gravity, with external thrusters keeping the asteroid in a precise
rotation that creates the illusion of such within at a measurement of 0.9G.

The Prime Citadel has come to regard the habitat as an essential

backup for its main goal of preserving and protecting the Erline species.
Simple statistical calculations make it clear that the citadels will never
be able to protect all potential settlements in the sector at all times
and places. The habitat dwellers, on the other hand, are subject to the
absolute control and protection of the Citadel at all times.

A total of nearly 20,000 Erline have been relocated from the colony, with
the habitat having a capacity of one million occupants. The excessive
interference in the lives of the inhabitants is to blame for the miniscule
amount of population. In its efforts to preserve, care for and protect the
Erline, so much control is exerted over the lives of those within that they
have no chance to flourish.

The Erline in the habitat may not lack the necessities of daily life but
their lives lack meaning. This is having an increasingly fatal effect on
the population, which has been steadily declining for some time. Since
they do not have any duties within the habitat the Erline have stopped
taking an interest in their environment, at the detriment of their intellect.
They live dully, forced to respect the rules imposed upon them but are
little more than savages vegetating in a golden cage.

The Prime Citadel registers this development but is not able to

recognise the cause. Moreover, the remaining Erline have degenerated
to such an extent that meaningful communication is no longer available.
The descendants of the former colonists are not the only ones who
populate the habitat, as during the past millennia exploration ships have
repeatedly come across this system. Each time, the crews were gently
coerced by the Citadel to join the habitat inhabitants, due to the belief
that Erline can live nowhere as safely and well as there.

60
61
 TRAVELLERS WITHIN THE HOME SYSTEM
Shortly after arriving in the system, the sensors may obtain basic
information, especially on the armaments aboard the many devices
flying between the asteroids. In the vicinity of the habitat, their
frequency is striking. Nearby, the sensor officers can detect seven
spaceships, all energetically dead and cold. Two of them have
similarities to Erline ships, and one could be from the Sovreigndoms,
but the other ship types are unknown.

Should the Travellers wish to examine these spaceships more closely,

the Prime Citadel will not prevent them from doing so. Four of the ship’s
engines have been destroyed by targeted fire and traces of a battle can
be found onboard. From the data memories their age and origin can be
determined with some effort; the oldest has apparently been here for
over 1,000 years.

The Citadel has set up an extensive sensor network within the system,
so the new arrivals will not remain undetected for long. For its part,
the Citadel scans the intruder and activates its defence systems
as a precaution but otherwise remains passive. Presumably, since
the conquest of the Citadel at Alpha 0607, the Travellers have been
studying the programming and communication protocols in order to
signal they come in peace and harbour no hostile intentions (see
Deepnight Revelation: The Near Side Of Yonder, page 110).

From there, it may come as a surprise when the Citadel makes contact
and not just with the usual technical requests for identification and report
queries; rather on an audio-visual channel. The language is a barely
intelligible form of Erlish spoken by a digital avatar in the shape of an
Erline. The Citadel requires identification and will only speak to an Erline,
the nature of its programming not allowing for the possibility of contact
with alien peoples. Provided there are representatives of all three factions
aboard, it should not be a problem to find a suitable speaker.

Communication with the Prime Citadel is difficult due to its inherent

one-dimensionality. Even when it does respond to questions, it
is not done verbally but in the form of a matter-of-fact report. If
Travellers ask about the habitat, for example, they receive a file with
all technical specifications and measurement data that has been
collected since it was put into operation. Requests for details are
answered by sending the status report again as it holds, at least for
the Citadel, all necessary information.

On the issue of the habitat there might be an opportunity for

dialogue, as the Citadel is desperate to reverse the decline of the
population. A request for help would only be issued to the Erline on
board to bring more of their kind to the habitat or for some problem-
oriented analysis of the data.

62
Some time after the delegation has made contact, the Citadel demands
that the Erline – after a quarantine period of at least two years – move
to the safety of the habitat. A negative answer is not accepted, because
only in the habitat are the Erline truly safe. The Travellers’ ship sensors
detect a sudden appearance of energy signatures all over the asteroid
belt, as many pieces of rock have been rigged into small armed drones
and are now being activated. These drones try to cut off the Deepnight
Revelation’s path and shoot it out of manoeuvre but they are slow
compared to the ship and the Citadel is more concerned with pressing
its case than causing serious damage.

DEALING WITH THE CITADEL

An armed confrontation with the Prime Citadel would of course be
conceivable but it has so many resources in the system that such
an option would be lengthy and dangerous, despite the Deepnight
Revelation’s technical superiority.

One possibility would be to hack into the Citadel, as by now the

Travellers know the computer code of the citadels and could smuggle
in control commands or specially designed malware. This would
not be difficult in principle, because the citadels do not expect such
attacks. To avoid data corruption, all systems and data storage within
the citadels have multiple redundancies and are only connected
via physical interfaces. If errors occur, a system is isolated and
only reactivated after the cause of the error has been identified and
corrected. A virus would thus have no chance of infecting the entire
system. Of course, the builders had stored an elementary command
code in its memory, which gives the sender absolute command.
Unfortunately, this was lost during the destruction of the homeworld
and the Citadel will not reveal it voluntarily.

The most elaborate but more promising choice is to convince the

Citadel. This can only be done by feeding it extensive data material,
that when analysed might lead to a change of its assessment of the
situation. For example, Travellers could share earlier findings on
the Deepnight Entity, pointing to the data that rests unused in the
Citadel’s databases. Alternatively, they could share knowledge on
how to detect infections with the Deepnight Entity, using observation
of an ecosphere and measuring biochemical and medical cues.
This would allow the Citadel to improve its detection routines of an
infection, eliminating the need for long quarantines and such an
uncompromisingly violent approach.

WHAT COULD BE GAINED

The Erline people stand to gain the history of their origins, for much
of this information can be recovered from the Citadel’s data stores.
Additionally, the mentally neglected Erline of the habitat could be freed
from their captivity or at least slowly brought back into a caring society
through intensive psychological care.

63
 If the Citadel can be persuaded, there is a chance of turning an
unpredictable threat into a supporting factor for the whole sector, due to
its massive amount of knowledge on the sector. With its help a software
update could be created to be uploaded to the patrolling citadels, after
which they could become true guardians of life rather than glorified
exterminators. The Sovreigndoms and Tenipal will insist that they also
benefit from such a changed situation.

The production abilities of the citadels and military potential offer great
opportunities for rapid development of this sector. They also present a
large temptation factor for control of the entire sector, meaning that an
accord must be made such that no one species may control them all, in
the hopes that a new golden age might be reached.

The asteroid belt offers more than enough raw materials and the
Prime Citadel has the means to convert this into building materials
and basic spare parts. It would take a further effort of persuasion
but if successful the resources would be integral to performing an
overhaul of Erline society.

The Travellers have it in their hands to set the course for the future of
an entire sector, for their significant part in events they have gained
respect and influence to be able to bring about a settlement. Will they
take the time to help forge a lasting alliance or move on as quickly as
possible to fulfil their own mission?

64
Charted Space
Starports of the Imperium
By Carl Walmsley

Starports fit into one of five classifications designated by the Travellers’

Aid Society. Within each class, they share certain features, allowing
visitors to anticipate the types and levels of service available.

CLASS E
True frontier outposts, these are lonely bastions in the far reaches of
space, often many days travel from even minor trade routes. They are
typically equipped with a single landing area big enough for a few small
craft or a heavy freighter. The largest Class E ports have additional
pads that each accommodate a craft no larger than 1,000 tons.

A simple structure – either a pre-fabricated building deposited on the

planet when the port is constructed or something crafted from local
supplies – sometimes serves as the port headquarters. Circling the
perimeter will be some form of fence. This line, no matter how crude, is
significant as it marks the edge of Imperial territory.

Very little in the way of landing guidance can be provided by a Class E

port. On approach, port personnel may offer basic advice and switch on
landing lights but that is all. This can make setting down a rather hair-
raising experience in high winds, fog or cloudy atmospheres.

65
 Class E ports on worlds with a Standard atmosphere have no hangers
and only the most basic holding facilities for cargo. It is rare indeed
to find a Class E port with a proper warehouse – and even then its
capacity rarely exceeds a few hundred tons. Ports on planets with
Tainted, Exotic or Corrosive atmospheres will include an airlock for
passage in and out of the headquarters. Enough vacc suits for the port
personnel plus 1D spares will be kept inside this building.

On worlds with Insidious atmospheres, the main landing pad will be

equipped with a simple hanger, which may be sealed against the corrosive
or toxic gases in the air. The headquarters will be equipped with enough
hostile environment vacc suits for port personnel, plus 1D spares.

Class E ports have no refuelling or repair facilities, although port

personnel may have contacts in the local population that can provide
these services. It is also common practice for the port to house a scrap
pile – an assortment of odds and ends from discarded ships. Most
components are rusted and broken but from time-to-time, a Traveller
can get lucky and unearth something useful.

Given the isolated location of most Class E starports, rules governing

possession of weapons tend to be relaxed. On the fringes of civilised
space, it makes sense to look like you can take care of yourself.
Accordingly, port employees turn a blind eye so long as a visitor is not
acting suspiciously or aggressively.

CLASS D
The key additions that elevate a starport to Class D status are a
landing strip (on planets with an atmosphere) and the ability to refuel
visiting craft. In practice, these ports are usually considerably larger,
housing a dozen or more landing pads. At least one pad will be able to
accommodate a 2,000 ton vessel. The rest will be a mixture of small
(up to 200 tons) and medium (up to 500 tons) sized pads.

In appearance, a Class D starport looks more permanent, housing

a cluster of buildings, a checkpoint for those entering the site and
properly surfaced landing pads. The boundaries of the port will be
clearly delineated with metal fencing or concrete walls.

Unlike a Class E starport – which works on a first-come, first-served

basis – craft wishing to land must contact the port on approach. They
will be directed to a particular pad and given (albeit rather limited)
landing guidance as required.

Starports in this class can usually provide a limited amount of warehousing

space for traders to store cargo – 1,000 tons capacity is standard.

66
Simple repair work may be carried out, although there is often a
delay of a few hours before this can begin. A few of the more down-
at-heel starports will maintain a scrap yard but this lends the port an
unfortunate ‘Class E air’ and is therefore usually avoided.

CLASS C
Starports in this class see a regular flow of traffic and are equipped
to deal with all manner of craft, from industrial transports to pleasure
yachts. More significant than that, and the feature which elevates them
to Class C, they have the ability to provide refined fuel. Far more so
than smaller stations, these ports have a feeling of solidity and activity.
They are able to do more than tend to the basic needs of frontier
traders and outlying worlds, and are places where employment is
sought, meetings arranged and deals struck.

A typical Class C starport has 50 or more landing pads, a couple of

which will be large enough to handle ships as large as 5,000 tons.
Most pads provide a hanger and on worlds with hostile atmospheres
these will be sealed and equipped with an airlock allowing safe egress
for both ships and crew. A runway for non-VTOL craft will be present if
there is an atmosphere.

67
 A starport in this Class will be equipped with a purpose-built HQ
complex, housing flight and traffic control, customs and other essential
services. The port’s communications and radar network is sophisticated
enough to facilitate multiple take-offs and landings, and offer guidance
to incoming ships.

The largest Class C starports contain a modest shipyard capable of

manufacturing craft no larger than 100 tons.

Approximately half of Class C starports include a highport. These

tend to be little more than refuelling and repair stations, with docking
platforms allowing shuttle transfers to and from the planet below.
A highport in this class may be able to berth relatively small capital
ships but this is unusual. A more popular alternative is the provision of
tanker ships – essentially large fuel tanks that can dock with a waiting
ship and refuel it.

Docking facilities in the downport are able to load or unload standard

cargos with only minimal waiting time. For more exotic supplies (such
as hazardous materials or explosives) special equipment will need to
be moved to the landing area before disembarkation can begin, which
slows down the process.

68
CLASS B
Once a starport reaches this size, it becomes a significant hub within
the local – and even planetary – economy. Many Class B starports
are at the centre of a major, and possibly capital, city. They contain
hundreds of landing pads of various shapes and sizes, most of which
have hangers fitted with dedicated storage and unloading facilities.
A Class B starport is large enough to be a settlement in itself and
will have an indigenous population, supplemented by a stream of
passengers and visitors.

To earn the status of a Class B starport, a facility must provide an

(effectively) unlimited supply of refined fuel. It will also contain a
shipyard, capable of producing spacecraft and small craft. This, in turn,
provides excellent repair facilities.

There is no standard design for a Class B starport but the downport

usually spans an area of at least one square kilometre and may well
include a range of underground areas. Around this a startown will
almost certainly have sprung-up, covering an area that is at least as
large as the port itself.

95% of Class B starports include a highport, with regular shuttle

services to and from the planet. The highport will be large enough to
include some private concerns – specifically entertainment venues for
the crews of large ships so that they do not need to travel planetside.

Class B starports have access to sophisticated satellite networks

providing expert guidance and telemetry to incoming and outgoing
ships. A mixture of expert personnel and computerised traffic control
systems will handle multiple flight plans, ensuring airspace around the
port is a hub of activity.

69
 Unlike their smaller brethren, Class B downports are large enough
to accommodate a full range of independent businesses. As well as
raising considerable revenue, this encourages visitors to do more than
simply re-fuel their ships and move on. With luxury hotels, fine dining,
casinos and popular shows, ports of this size can serve as holiday
destinations in their own right.

At this size, some starports begin to suffer problems with organised

crime. The mixture of profitable businesses and a steady supply of
‘easy marks’ provides an attractive environment for all sorts of illegal
activity. Accordingly, the port will operate a range of undercover
operations to deter or unearth organised crime.

CLASS A
With the capacity to accommodate an entire star fleet, Class A starports
are the true crossroads of the stars. In fact, many are more famous
than the worlds that accommodate them – and can be the reason that
Travellers and merchants visit a system.

In order to achieve the accolade of Class A status, a starport must

include both a highport and downport, provide unlimited refined fuel
and house a full commercial shipyard. Inevitably, to house and sustain
such a weighty infrastructure, the port must be a colossal enterprise,
orchestrating vast quantities of trade and travel. The economies of
starports this size can exceed those of entire planets.

The downport of a typical Class A starport can be seen from orbit,

its patina of lights shining into space. More poetic Travellers have
described them as beacons held aloft to the stars, beckoning strangers
in from the cold and endless void. Downports are invariably ringed by
a startown, a great sprawl of homes and businesses sustained by the
flow of passengers and trade.

The highport of a Class A starport is a sight to behold. Typically, it

embraces an armada of ships, both great and small, which swarm
about it. Only a top-notch flight control system can cope with the
hundreds, if not thousands, of ships that come in and out of a highport
every hour of the day.

Landing pads of every conceivable shape and size are available, fully
equipped with hangers and airlocks. The loading and unloading of even
the most exotic or dangerous cargoes is fully catered for. Loading times
of five minutes per ton are the norm – although specially equipped
industrial hangers reduce this to one minute per ton.

The repair facilities aboard a Class A starport are second to none. An

unlimited supply of spare parts is readily available, often at a reduced
price. This is a result of the fierce competition and the never-ending
scale of demand.

70
The starport’s commercial shipyard ensures that all sorts of ships are
available for purchase – from compact lighters to colossal capital ships.
Alongside these gleaming new models, a healthy trade in reconditioned
and second-hand craft tends to thrive, with ships available to suit every
wallet. Given this wealth of manufacturing talent – and the interested
parties it attracts – a market in custom-models is also present. Those
seeking to modify their standard craft will find all manner of innovative
technicians convinced that they can squeeze just a little more out of the
engines or increase the efficiency of screens.

Flight control aboard a Class A starport offer precise guidance to the

hundreds of incoming and outgoing craft, so that accidents (or even
long hold-ups) are extremely rare.

The facilities in a Class A starport rival – and often exceed – those

of a major city. Every manner of entertainment is available from the
glittering shows of plush entertainment districts to more questionable
diversions in the habitation zones. If you know where to look, it is
amazing what you can find.

Accommodation is readily available, often at a reasonable rate. Many

hotels include super-casinos and make enough profit at the gaming
tables to subsidise the price of rooms. There are, of course, more
exclusive suites that will set guests back thousands of Credits a night. In
return, visitors can enjoy an exceptional quality of service, with access to
exotic delicacies that only a hub of galactic trade can hope to provide.

71
 STARTOWNS
Starports – particularly the larger ones – attract people from near and
far, from all levels of society. To many they are like honey-pots filled
with the promise of something sweet. It is not uncommon for members
of an indigenous population to migrate to a port seeking work and the
promise of a better life. For some, this hope never materialises. There
are others who arrive at a port from offworld, then find themselves down
on their luck and unable to move on.

Such people invariably end up in a startown – a shabby, generally

unplanned settlement that rises from the dust surrounding a starport.
Lacking the glitz or respectability of most starports, these towns provide
cheaper versions of the goods and services available within the port.
Many of these are only ‘semi-legal’ (a popular phrase among those who
ply their trade in a startown) and available at knock-down prices. It is
fair to say that most are stolen or faulty and there are no guarantees
included – at least, none worth the paper they are written on. Still, in a
startown the old adage ‘buyer beware’ is a maxim that people live by.

In an effort to prevent the growth of a startown, some governments

liaise with starport authorities to set up a perimeter area where a
properly planned and managed conurbation can be established. With
enough political will and funding, this can work. All too often, however,
this official area is simply seen as part of the starport and an unplanned
startown springs up around this, housing all the ne’er-do-wells and
shoddy businesses the government was seeking to eliminate.

Whatever the feelings about startowns, they present a number of

unique business opportunities. Accordingly, they are often places that
Travellers will elect to visit, even if they are simply passing through.

72
High guard
Geonee Ships
By Darren Bulmer

ZORKOTE LIGHT CRUISER

At 17,500 tons, the Zorkote stretches the boundaries of a light
cruiser but has been more than favourably accepted by those who
have served aboard one. A spinal meson mount is the ship’s main
weapon, with secondary batteries consisting of four missile bays and
three high technology particle bays. Defensively, it boasts both triple
beam turrets and sandcasters, providing excellent protection against
missiles and lasers. Secondary defences include both meson screens
and nuclear dampers.

Zorkote
Light Cruiser

73
 ZORKOTE LIGHT CRUISER

TL15 Tons Cost (MCr)

Hull 17,500 tons, Streamlined — 1050
Reinforced — 525
M-Drive Thrust 4 (size reduction x3) 490 1470
J-Drive Jump 4 (decreased fuel, 1,579.5 2961.56
size reduction)
Power Plant Fusion (TL15), Power 19,220 961 1922
Fuel Tanks 4 weeks operation, J-4 6,747 —
Bridge Holographic Controls 60 109.375
Computer Core/100fib — 195
Sensors Advanced 5 5.3
Distributed Array 10 10.6
Enhanced Signal Processing 2 8
Military Countermeasures 15 28
Suite
Sensor Stations x4 4 2
Weapons Spinal – Meson (TL15) 6,000 2600
Medium Particle Bays (size 140 120
reduction x3) x2
Medium Missile Bays x4 400 100
Triple Turrets (accurate, high 10 32.5
yield beam lasers) x10
Triple Turrets 10 17.5
(sandcasters) x10
Ammunition Missile Storage (720 60 —
missiles)
Sandcaster barrel storage 50 —
(1,000 canisters)
Screens Meson Screens x3 30 60
Nuclear Dampers x2 20 20
Systems Armoury 7 1.75
Brig 8 0.5
Docking Space (50 tons) 55 13.75
Modular Cutter — 10.287
Boarding Pod — 27.98
Repair Drones 175 35
Fuel Processor (6,740 337 16.85
tons/day)

74
Systems Fuel Scoop — —
Medical Bay 8 4
Staterooms Standard x47 188 23.5
Barracks x10 20 1
Software Advanced Fire Control/2 — 15
Anti-hijack/2 — 8
Auto-repair/2 — 10
Electronic Warfare/2 — 18
Evade/2 — 2
Launch Solution/2 — 12
Library — —
Manoeuvre/0 — —
Intellect — —
Common Areas 58 5.8
Cargo 34 —

Crew Power Requirements

Captain, Pilots x3, Basic Ship Systems
Astrogator, Engineers 3,500
x33, Maintenance x12,
Manoeuvre Drive
Medic, Gunners x44,
Administrators x6, Officers 7,000
x10, Marines x10 Jump Drive
7,000
Hull: 7700 Sensors
16
Running Costs Weapons
MAINTENANCE COST 1,270
MCr10398/month Fuel Processor
PURCHASE COST 337
MCr11433.252

75
 1 sq. = 10 ton

Command
1
Weaponry

Engineering

Accommodation

1. Spinal Meson
2. Fuel Processing
3. Medium Missile Bays
4. Medium Particle Bays
5. Meson Screens & Nuclear Dampers
6. Brig, Advanced Sensors,
Sensor Stations, Enhanced Signal
Processing, Distributed Array &
Military Countermeasures Suite
7. Medical Bay & Armoury
8. Barracks
9. Modular Cutter Docking Space
2

DECK 1

76
1 sq. = 10 ton

3 3

3 3

4 4

5 6
7 8

9
DECK 2

77
 GORTE-CLASS BATTLE RIDER
Deemed obsolete by the Imperial Navy in favour of newer, more
advanced versions, the Geonee Self Defence Force purchased 15
such vessels along with their two associated tenders and proceeded
to upgrade them. The Gorte-class TL15 refit successfully extended the
lifespan of this venerable class of vessels. Stripped back to the keel
and superstructure, they were rebuilt from the spinal mount up.

The updates replaced a large majority of the systems and weapons

on board, concluding with adding superior armour. As the battle rider
has no jump drive, it is reliant on a tender to deliver it to the theatre
of action. Operating in groups of three, it is an effective and decisive
addition to the Geonee Navy.

Gorte-class
Battle Rider

78
 GORTE-CLASS BATTLE RIDER

TL15 Tons Cost (MCr)

Hull 30,000 tons, Streamlined — 1800
Reinforced — 900
Armour Bonded Superdense, Armour: 15 3,600 3240
M-Drive Thrust 9 2,700 5400
Power Plant Fusion (TL15), Power 34,820 1,741 3482
Fuel Tanks 6 weeks operation 263 —
Bridge Holographic Controls 60 187.5
Computer Core/100fib — 195
Sensors Advanced 5 5.3
Distributed Array 10 10.6
Enhanced Signal Processing 2 8
Military Countermeasures 15 28
Suite
Sensor Stations x5 5 2.5
Weapons Spinal – Meson (TL15) 6,000 2600
Large Particle Bays (accurate, 6,000 2160
high yield) x12
Large Missile Bays x12 6,000 1500
Triple Turrets (accurate, high 70 227.5
yield beam lasers) x70
Triple Turrets (sandcasters) x100 100 175
Ammunition Missile Storage (1,440 missiles) 120 —
Sandcaster barrel storage 50 —
(1,000 canisters)
Screens Meson Screens x10 100 200
Nuclear Dampers x10 100 100
Armoured Manoeuvre Drive, Power Plant, 450.1 90.02
Bulkheads Bridge
Systems Armoury 62 15.5
Briefing Rooms x8 32 4
Brig 20 1.25
Docking Space (170 tons) 187 46.75
Modular Cutter — 10.287
Boarding Pods x8 — 223.84
Repair Drones 300 60
Fuel Scoops — —

79
 Systems Holographic Controls — 37.50
Medical Bay 20 10
Staterooms Standard x332 1,328 166
Barracks x80 160 8
Low Berths x50 25 2.5
Software Advanced Fire Control/2 — 15
Anti-Hijack/2 — 8
Auto-repair/1 — 5
Evade/2 — 2
Launch Solution/2 — 12
Library — —
Manoeuvre/0 — —
Intellect — —
Common Areas 412 41.2
Cargo 63 —

Crew Power Requirements

Captain, Pilots x3, Basic Ship Systems
Engineers x33, 6,000
Maintenance x20, Medics
Manoeuvre Drive
x3, Gunners x216,
Administrators x10, 27,000
Officers x10, Marines x80 Sensors
16
Hull: 16500 Weapons
5,510
Running Costs
MAINTENANCE COST
Cr21067/month
PURCHASE COST
MCr22980.247

80
1 sq. = 10 ton

2 2

2 2
1

2 2

2 2

2 2

2 2

DECK 1

81
 1 sq. = 10 ton

3 3

3 3
1

4
5 3 3

3 3

3 3

3 3

DECK 2

82
1 sq. = 10 ton
1. Spinal Meson
2. Large Particle Bays
3. Large Missile Bays
4. Missile Storage
5. Sandcaster Barrel Storage
6. Barracks
7. Docking Space
8. Brig, Medical Bay and Cargo Bay
9. Briefing Rooms, Armoury and Low Berths
10. Advanced Sensors,
1 Sensor Stations, Enhanced Signal
Processing, Distributed Array and
Military Countermeasures Suite
11. Meson Screens
12. Nuclear Dampers

10

11 12

DECK 4

Command
6 6
7 Weaponry
8 9
Engineering

DECK 3 Accommodation

83
 GORTE-CLASS BATTLE TENDER
Three battle tenders were sold to the Geonee Self Defence Fleet
as part of their purchase of the battle riders. The tenders have
not undergone such an extensive refit as the battle riders but the
manoeuvre drives, power plant and jump drives have been upgraded
to bring them up to current standards. The battle tender only boasts
defensive weaponry but carries 10 heavy fighters to aid in its defence.

The addition of a command bridge makes the tender the ideal vessel to
direct a fleet, with a high stateroom provided for a fleet captain or admiral.

Gorte-class
Battle Tender

84
 GORTE-CLASS BATTLE TENDER

TL15 Tons Cost (MCr)

Hull 200,000 tons, Close Structure — 9000
Reinforced — 4500
M-Drive Thrust 3 (size reduction x3) 4,200 12600
J-Drive Jump 6 35,005 45007.5
Power Plant Fusion (TL15), Power 11,124 22248
222,480
Fuel Tanks 4 weeks operation, J-6 121,113 —
Bridge Bridge, Holographic 60 1250
Controls
Command Bridge 80 1500
Computer Core/100fib — 195
Sensors Advanced 5 5.3
Distributed Array 10 10.6
Enhanced Signal Processing 2 8
Military Countermeasures 15 28
Suite
Sensor Stations x5 5 2.50
Weapons Triple Turrets (accurate, high 70 227.5
yield beam lasers) x70
Triple Turrets 100 175
(sandcasters) x100
Ammunitions Sandcaster barrel storage 50 —
(x1,000 canisters)
Screens Meson Screens x3 30 60
Nuclear Dampers x2 20 20
Systems Armoury 81 20.25
Briefing Room x4 16 2
Brig 16 1
Docking Clamps (type v) x5 250 40
Docking Space (660 tons) 726 726
Modular Cutters x2 — 20.574
Gigs x3 — 21.816
Heavy Fighters x10 — 663.3
Repair Drones 2,000 400
Holographic Controls —

85
 Systems Fuel Processor (60,000 3,000 150
tons/day)
Fuel Scoops — —
Staterooms Standard x527 2,108 263.5
High 6 .8
Barracks x40 80 2
Low Berths x50 25 2.50
Software Advanced Fire Control/3 — 18
Anti-hijack/2 — 8
Auto-repair/2 — 10
Battle System/3 — 36
Broad Spectrum EW — 14
Library — —
Manoeuvre/0 — —
Intellect — —
Common Areas 613 61.3
Cargo 910 —

Crew Power Requirements

Captain, Pilots x3, Basic Ship Systems
Astrogator, Engineers 40,000
x496, Maintenance x133,
Manoeuvre Drive
Medics x9, Gunners
x216, Administrators x67, 60,000
Officers x93, Marines x40 Jump Drive
120,000
Hull: 146666 Sensors
16
Running Costs Weapons
MAINTENANCE COST 1,140
Cr91025/month Fuel Processor
PURCHASE COST 3,000
MCr99291.44

86
1 sq. = 20 ton

1 2

DECKS 1-2 DECKS 3-4

2 2

DECKS 5-6 DECKS 7-8

2 2

DECKS 9-10 DECKS 11-14

87
 1 sq. = 20 ton
1. M-Drive
2. J-Drive
3. Brig, Briefing Rooms and Armoury
4. Barracks
5. Docking Clamps (type v)
6. Fuel Processing
7. Sandcaster Barrel Storage
2
8. Docking Space
9. Bridge
10. Advanced Sensors,
Sensor Stations, Enhanced Signal
Processing, Distributed Array and
Military Countermeasures Suite
11. Meson Screens and Nuclear Dampers
12. Command Bridge
DECKS 15-16

DECKS 17-34: FUEL DECKS

Command

Weaponry
5 5
Engineering

Accommodation

5 3 5
4

DECK 35

DECKS 36-52: FUEL DECKS

88
1 sq. = 20 ton

6 6

DECK 53 DECKS 54-56

DECK 57 DECK 58

9
10 11
12

DECK 59 DECK 60

89
 ALIEN
Hhkar
By Geir Lanesskog

A species once thought extinct, the Hhkar are large dinosaur-like

humanoids who control the Hhkar Sphere, a territory of more than 20
systems within the Julian Protectorate. They are not native to Charted
Space but in -222 a massive sublight fleet of Hhkar returned to a world
their species had occupied and abandoned more than 10,000 years
before. Aggressive, disdainful of other species and possessing peculiar
magnetic senses and mental states, the Hhkar have slowly learned
to coexist within the protectorate and lone Hhkar males often travel
far beyond its borders. The location of the Hhkar homeworld remains
unknown, as do the chances of another Hhkar armada arriving at some
unsuspecting world.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
With a tail for balance, an adult Hhkar averages 2.5 metres in height
with a mass of 250 kilograms. Aesthetic variations are common,
although within a ssaaahk, a family or clan grouping, individuals retain
similar features. Hhkar have no external sexual characteristics and
do not normally wear clothing. They are warm-blooded and suited to
temperate conditions, wearing body coverings only to protect against
environmental extremes.

The Hhkar head roughly resembles that of a carnivorous dinosaur,

dominated by a mouth full of sharp teeth. Their eyes can see
wavelengths ranging from green into the infrared but blue light is
invisible to them. Both taste and smell are accomplished by their
tongue, which provides no better sense of smell than that of a human.
Their hearing is worse than human and their rough-sounding language
is expressed loudly to compensate. Hhkar are able to both detect
and generate magnetic fields, which help them identify individuals
and determine their mental states. Significant communication occurs
magnetically and other sophonts are often oblivious to interactions
occurring between Hhkar.

Hhkar hands each have three fingers and one opposable thumb. Legs
end in four clawed toes and their tail’s end can be whip or club-like
or, less commonly, spiked. A variety of features are present in Hhkar
encountered outside their homeworlds. While the appearance within
any one ssaaahk is essentially without variation, the features tables
indicate the frequency of these differences.

90
Skin Colour Features
3D Colouring 3D Marking
3–13 Olive 3–13 None
14 Dark olive 14 Small spinal ridge
15 Brown 15 Large spinal ridge
16 Maroon 16 Small horn
17 Light brown 17 Armour plates
18 Grey 18 Other

Markings Tail
3D Marking 1D Tail
3–13 None 1–4 Whip-like
14 Mottling 5–6 Club-like
15 Flecks
16 Striping Special Features
17 Wide band along spine 1D Special Feature
18 Other 1–4 None
5–6 Special feature

Special features may be variations of other features or additional

features including long snouts, double ridges, webbed hands and
feet, wrinkled skin or spiked tail.

The eight major Ssaaahk rarely travel beyond their worlds, leaving
everything from diplomacy to military service to lesser ssaaahk. If
encountered, the major Ssaaahk have the following features:

Ssaaahk Feature
Nhroossrt Olive skin, small spinal ridge, whip tail.
Ghkaazk Gray skin with dark striping, whip tail.
Hhkrrask!h Olive skin with black mottling, club tail.
Bruunhazk Olive skin, webbed feet and hands, whip tail.
Hrnarskii Dark olive skin, large spinal ridge, club tail.
Skkeerihrk Maroon, small horn, whip tail.
Cahkrr!zkh Olive skin, club tail.
Hhakrriizk Gray and maroon-striped skin, spiked tail.

91
92
The Hhkar can experience several different states, which act almost
like separate personalities. Triggered voluntarily by external stimuli,
these states are used for learning, combat, labour and oration (for more
information, see page 100). In addition, Hhkar do not require regular
sleep. Hhkar dream states are a major part of Hhkar spirituality. They
are lucid dreamers and can use sleep for recreational or practical
purposes. Deep dream states are spiritual aspects of Hhkar religions,
which involve varying ‘planes’ of existence, although different religions
often interpret or define these differently. The Hhkar interpret their
waking existence as the lowest plane but this ‘reality’ is the plane that
links to all the others. Pahhkirs – Hhkar priests – can guide spiritual
journeys using magnetic sense and body fields. This is often done in a
communal setting allowing many Hhkar to serve as guides.

Hhkar medicine makes use of the close connection between mental

and physical states and the healing energies of magnetic fields. Hhkar
doctors – Hhroossska, healers of the body and soul – use triggers,
hypnotism and magnetic field manipulation to treat their patients.
Humans may view Hhkar medicine as little more than shamanism or
witchcraft but for the Hhkar, this is the technique that works best to heal
both body and mind.

EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT
Little is known of the Hhkar’s lost homeworld of Ssrar. Evolving from
carnivorous hunters, the Hhkar are thought to have developed a semi-
nomadic existence, migrating over the course of generations as climatic
conditions changed. Ssrar is known to have been very geologically active
with an atmosphere tainted by sulphur compounds. These conditions
account for a major trait of Hhkar now living far from this lost home:
smoking. The Hhkar smoke almost constantly, receiving vital nutrients
and cultural cohesion from the practice of smoking, which substitutes for
the social function of eating shared meals common among other species.
Hhkar meals are eaten quickly, either raw or only slightly cooked.

LIFE CYCLE
Those Hhkar travelling outside their home systems are all male. The
Hhkar are serially hermaphroditic, born male and able to change genders
later in life. Females enter oestrus approximately once per standard
year and lay one to six eggs after mating. They deposit these eggs in a
communal area, where they remain for 21 weeks until hatching.

At birth, Hhkar are capable of locomotion and soon put to work,

supervised by females and older children. Whilst females provide
guidance, they do not favour their own children and raise the young
in a harsh regimented manner. Young who do not conform to ssaaahk
features or who are too slow or too difficult to control are often culled.
The juveniles start by performing simple tasks, such as weeding, and
graduate to more complex tasks, eventually learning useful skills. After
22 standard years a Hhkar is considered an adult.

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 The Hhkar male will leave his communal home – an ahr!guuhrt’k or cave
of life – and set out on a career, sometimes wandering to join a military
service, Hhkar or Julian, a local merchant service or even travelling
beyond the Julian Protectorate in search of adventure. These males are
often solitary, remaining apart from their species for years or decades.

As a Hhkar male grows older, he will eventually return to Hhkar

space, often with a wealth of skills and knowledge gained from
experience. A male can begin a transformation to the female form
at will. This process takes only a few days but at the end the Hhkar
is not only physically rejuvenated but loses access to most of the
skills and memories of her former male self. As a female, she will
take on female roles, raising children and performing other services
within the community. When she is ready, she may transform again to
male, regaining many of the skills and memories of his former male
life within a few weeks. These gender cycles can occur as often as
six times over the course of a Hhkar’s life. With each transformation
comes regeneration but the Hhkar are not immortal. Their natural
life span is approximately 200 active years, sometimes stretched to
centuries or millennia by the ability to enter a hibernation state called
ghraa!ks or the long sleep. As a Hhkar ages, he or she will tend to
enter this state more often and, as the end of life approaches, the
Hhkar may choose to die of their own will during a final ghraa!ks.

HISTORY
With their homeworld far beyond Charted Space, much of Hhkar
history is based on their mythologies, stories and religious writings.
From these, xenohistorians can surmise that Ssrar was an extremely
geologically active world, with a strong sulfuric taint and changing
geological and climatological conditions brought upon by tectonic
shifts and massive volcanic eruptions. The Hhkar are an old species,
with their civilisation developed over roughly 75,000 years. Early
monumental structures such as pyramidal and stone circle gathering
places were built to withstand geologic events but the climatic fallout
from those events caused the early Hhkar to migrate over the course
of decades or centuries. Over time, the same or another group of
Hhkar would reclaim these damaged or altered regions, repairing the
abandoned structures as a sign of respect to their vanished builders
and erecting new settlements around them.

As population increased on Ssrar competition for viable land was rife,

leading to frequent wars that became more deadly as technology
progressed. During this era, to limit the frequency and damage of war
the Hhkar evolved a hierarchical system of dominant and subordinate
ssaaahk based on the many subspecies of Hhkar. Scouts, Hhkar
males travelling in small groups or alone, surveyed their world for new
places to settle. By -60000 the Hhkar developed spaceflight and these
scouting expeditions travelled to new worlds and eventually the stars
using sublight ramscoop ships.

94
In approximately -50000, the Hhkar abandoned Ssrar. They
remain vague about this exodus, perhaps shamed by uncontrolled
industrialisation driving their world into uninhabitability but they
set out travelling aboard vast fleets of ramscoop vessels both as
residents of generation ships and as sleepers in ghraa!ks waiting to
awakening in new systems.

SECRET HISTORY: SSRAR, THE LOST HHKAR HOMEWORLD

Beyond a few priests and scholars, the Hhkar do not know the true
story of the loss of their original world. Sixty thousand years ago
Ssrar was a dying world, driven toward a runaway greenhouse
effect by overindustrialisation. The Hhkar built huge colony ships to
take away as many people as they could and built domed cities to
protect those they had to leave behind. Migration fleets departed for
the stars, leaving behind their brethren on a doomed world.

For the next 1,000 years, Ssrar continued to die, with the
remaining Hhkar turning inward to spend more of their time in
dream states. A few chose instead to expand their minds and
came to realise they had psionic abilities. These gifted Hhkar
learned to control their talents and enhance them by technological
means. Over the next 9,000 years, they transformed their society
and learned to heal their world using their newfound powers.
These ‘new’ Hhkar lacked the wanderlust of their predecessors
and were content to remain on their restored home.

In about -50,000, a fleet of migrating Hhkar returned to Ssrar. The

‘new’ and ‘old’ Hhkar met each other with mutual incomprehension.
To the ‘old’ Hhkar, psionics was a perversion that introduced ‘hells’
into the spiritual planes. The ‘new’ Hhkar recognised the threat to
their very existence and a war of mutual annihilation began. The
‘new’ Hhkar disrupted the minds of the ‘old’, causing chaos aboard
their ships, but the once the fleets were beyond the range of psionic
influence they retaliated by tossing asteroids at the world. The
powers of the psionic Hhkar were strong enough to divert some
of these rocks but those pushed faster by mass drivers often got
through. Eventually enough ordinance fell to heat the planet’s
atmosphere and surface beyond the melting point of lead. Ssrar and
the ‘new’ Hhkar species were irrevocably dead.

Those who know the story feel shame at the death of their world and
horror at the thought of psionics poisoning the mind. After the war,
the story of Ssrar’s death spread among select priests of the far-flung
Hhkar fleets and none have returned to the grave of their world.

95
 Over 10,000 years ago, a group of Hhkar settled on the world they
now call Skkyhrk. They build an extensive array of giant pyramid-
like structures on Skkyhrk and some in nearby systems, then
vanished, apparently becoming extinct by -10000. Early Ziru Sirka
xenoarchaeologists were unable to translate the pictographic language
and believed the species had died from disease. The system was a
backwater during the First Imperium. During the Long Night, Vargr
settled the world, naming it Urinir. The Vargr population eventually
reached more than 10 million.

In -222 a fleet of huge Hhkar sublight ships arrived at Urinir, laying

siege to the world. Urinir’s defenders had a technological advantage
over the invaders but the Hhkar had numbers and the ships kept
coming. By -219 the Vargr of Urinir surrendered. Their emissaries were
able to negotiate a fate only slightly better than extermination for the
defenders. Instead, the Hhkar enslaved and sterilised the inhabitants,
soon killing those they deemed unproductive, including the elderly,
disabled and unemployed. By -160, no Vargr remained on the world the
Hhkar had renamed Skkyhrk.

SECRET HISTORY: VARGR DEADENDERS

Not all Vargr are gone from Skkyhrk. Before the fall of their
world, a small group of elite military personnel established a
stronghold deep within a massive cave system in the remote
south of the planet. Armed with carefully maintained equipment
and surviving off hydroponic gardens, the descendants of these
holdouts continue their vigil with a fanaticism indistinguishable
from religion. Despite loss of contact with outside forces for the
past three generations and equipment no longer technologically
superior to the Hhkar above ground, the holdouts continue to plan
for the reclamation of their world. Being vastly outnumbered, their
leadership has chosen to pursue biological warfare as the only
means of victory. If they succeed in unleashing a plague lethal and
virulent enough to retake their world, it may spread to threaten the
entire Hhkar Sphere.

The Hhkar at Skkyhrk were not related to those who had occupied the
world 10,000 years earlier and could not, or would not, shed light on
their fate. After conquering Skkyhrk the Hhkar gained knowledge of
jump drive technology. By the late 300s they had slowly raised their
Tech Level from 9 to 11 and had conquered nearby systems, replacing
conquered populations with their own with genocidal efficiency as their
sphere of control expanded to encompass more than 20 systems.

96
Hhkar expansion ended at the Battle of Kargar in 377. After a difficult
fight, the Hhkar defeated a small but tenacious Star Legion fleet
commanded by Commodore David Lindquist. Although they had
captured Lindquist, they were so impressed with his skill that they
granted him an honourable execution and withdrew from the system.

After Kargar, relations with the Julian Protectorate gradually improved.

The Menderes Corporation, trying to broker peace and eager to acquire
Hhkar magnetic technology eventually established a presence on
Skkyhrk, building manufacturing plants to export Hhkar tech to the rest
of the Protectorate.

SOCIETY
Known Hhkar civilisation consists of the 25 systems of the Hhkar
Sphere, although an unknown number of Hhkar systems and fleets
exist beyond Charted Space. Sublight fleets may be transiting Charted
Space and could arrive at nearly any system at any time. Within the
Hhkar Sphere, a significant percentage of Hhkar have never adjusted to
planet-bound life. These Hhkar live on ancient habitat-sized ships, now
equipped with updated technology and jump drives, allowing them to
set off on new migrations at faster-than-light speeds should they want
to depart the Sphere.

Hhkar society is a hierarchy of distinct ssaaahk, a grouping somewhat

like an extended family or clan but based on common characteristics,
often enforced by selective culling of non-conforming juveniles. Those
non-conforming individuals who survive to adulthood are ejected and
considered clanless or raaabr. The raaabr are the lowest rung in Hhkar
society, relegated to menial and unpleasant tasks. If a raaabr matches
characteristics of a ssaaahk other than that of their birth, they may
apply to join this ssaaahk but this privilege is only granted to those who
accomplish great deeds that will bring glory to their new ssaaahk.

Males are dominant in Hhkar society, performing the roles of leaders,

warriors, diplomats and travellers. When a male transforms into
female, she takes on female roles, losing the power and influence she
may have earned as a male but these may be regained when she
transforms back to male.

Male society is government by honour and obligation. Offenses of

honour may lead to duels but these unarmed fights are rarely to the
death. Prestige among males often governs mating rights, according
to communal principles that vary among the ssaaahk. For the Hhkar,
the needs of the ssaaahk come before the needs of the individual.
Honour requires absolute obedience to the will of a patriarch but it also
assumes a social superior is worthy of respect. A superior who has
lost the respect of a subordinate may become the subject of a duel.
Likewise, Hhkar assume recognition and respect will come from their
own achievements; failure to receive respect may also lead to a duel.

97
 The ssaaahk form a feudal hierarchy of patron and client ssaaahk, with
the Nhroossrt ssaaahk as the governing clan of the Hhkar Sphere. Just
below them in the hierarchy are the other seven major ssaaahk and
below them are the uncounted number of minor ssaaahk. The raaabr
have no place in this hierarchy. Still, other sophont species are even
lower than raaabr and treated with disdain, and only honour and treaty
obligations prevent them from being slaughtered like vermin.

Within this framework, individual ssaaahk have considerable autonomy

and often come into conflict. These disputes can become limited wars,
usually restricted to the use of small arms, although what a Hhkar can
carry and fire may be what a human considers a heavy weapon. Some
conflicts are resolved by a duel of honour or Srriikka!ki, a ritual duel to
the death between the leading warriors of each ssaaahk with weapons
and rules determined by the patriarchs of the respective ssaaahk.

98
EXTERNAL RELATIONS
The Hhkar Sphere has been considered a member state within the
Julian Protectorate since the late 600s. The Hhkar do not formally
acknowledge any limits on the sovereignty of the Hhkar Sphere but in
a series of carefully worded treaties the Sphere has delegated most
extra-Protectorate relations to the Julian Protectorate and has allowed
Hhkar to serve aboard Star Legion vessels, often acting as gunners
and maintainers of Hhkar-manufactured equipment or as shock troops.

The Hhkar conduct diplomacy within the Protectorate through the use
of envoys chosen from minor ssaaahk, although these often owe fealty
directly to the Nhroossrt. Relations with the Menderes Corporation are
more binding than those with other Protectorate states. Menderes owns
a quarter of industrial capacity on Skkyhrk itself and more in some parts
of the Sphere, although the vast majority of its employees and local
managers are Hhkar. The Hhkar, nor even the raaabr, do not willingly
take orders from non-Hhkar. The only exception is for those Hhkar
sworn into a military or paramilitary service, such as serving members
of the Star Legion or those few Hhkar serving in the Imperial Interstellar
Scout Service.

Hhkarn, the human name for the Hhkar language, is difficult for non-
Hhkar to speak as it involves loud punctuated sounds such as hisses,
growls, coughs, snarls and sharp inhalations and exhalations. The
Hhkar speak with mouth wide open and pronounce some words with
a jaw snap translated as a ‘!’. Hhkar have poor hearing, often not
understanding everything a human, Vargr or other sophont says, even
if they understand the language. Translator pads (see page 102) are
often required for successful communications. Written Hhkarn is a
pictographic script without a strict one-to-one correspondence between
a word and its representation, making it difficult for even a translation
device to interpret.

CREATING HHKAR TRAVELLERS

Most Hhkar who venture beyond their worlds are first iteration males. It is
recommended that Travellers should assume that background. Females
do not venture outside their worlds or space habitats and later iteration
males tend to remain within their ssaaahk, often in leadership positions.

Characteristics
Hhkar Travellers have the follow modifiers applied to their
characteristics: STR +3, END +3.

Maximums for STR and END are 18. Make a record of the initial values
for characteristics, as these will be restored by a gender transformation.

Hhkar SOC is based on their ssaaahk; SOC 11+ indicates membership

in one of the eight major ssaaahk, while 7–10 indicates a lessor
ssaaahk and SOC 6- indicates raaabr status.

99
 Traits
Hhkar Travellers all possess the following traits.

Armour: The thick skin and musculature of a Hhkar provides Protection +1.

Perception: Hhkar perceive magnetic fields. This is most useful in

detecting other nearby Hhkar and reading their emotional state but
a Hhkar with Mechanic skill gains DM+2 to any repairs of equipment
using magnetic components, such as gauss weapons or magnetic
levitation transportation.

Suspended Animation: Hhkar may voluntarily enter ghraa!ks, an

extended period of hibernation. During this period they do not age,
although they may enter one or more dream states.

Weapons: A Hhkar may attack with clawed hands causing 1D+2

damage, plus any STR modifier. A Hhkar may perform a tail strike
against opponents to the rear and side with DM-2 to attack rolls,
causing 1D damage. Those with spiked tails cause 1D+2 damage.

Mental States
Four mental states of the Hhkar grant them special abilities. These
states require a full minute of mediation and a chemical, visual or
magnetic trigger to initiate. A Hhkar may exit the state immediately at
will or by external trigger.

State Result
Learning Hhkar in this state have an eidetic memory. This state
cannot be sustained long enough to learn a skill but
stories, documents, complex cyphers and other information
can be learned and retained.
Combat This state is only used in fights to the death. Hhkar in
the combat state gain DM+2 to Initiative and DM+6 to all
Morale checks but are even more aggressive than normal,
resulting in DM-2 to reaction checks.
Labourer When faced with repetitive tasks or poor working
conditions, a Hhkar in this state will not experience fatigue
or lose efficiency. The Hhkar will make for poor company
and will have a DM-2 to any Recon checks.
Oration In this state, the Hhkar gains great oratory skill. This
equates to DM+2 to Carouse checks among other Hhkar.
Amongst other species, this grants DM+1 to reactions
to the Hhkar but does nothing to alleviate the Hhkar’s
reaction to them.

100
Lucid Dreaming: A Hhkar can plan future actions using directed dreams.
If consciously preparing for a specific operation, this lucid dreaming
allows the Hhkar to achieve DM+2 to checks related to the event.

Tolerance Skill: The Hhkar do not relate well to other sophonts. By

default, any interaction between Hhkar and other sophonts will result in
DM-2 to reaction checks. This can be offset by the Hhkar’s Tolerance
skill but an unskilled individual will suffer the usual DM-3. During
Traveller creation, Hhkar in careers that interact with non-Hhkar earn
the skill of Tolerance rather than Carouse and whenever EDU+1 is
rolled as a skill result, they may choose to take Tolerance instead. Any
Hhkar who successfully complete one term in a career dealing with
non-Hhkar will receive Tolerance 0.

Careers
All careers from the Traveller Core Rulebook are suitable for Hhkar
within their own society and amongst other members of the Julian
Protectorate, although raaabr may not enter the Noble career unless
first raising their SOC to 7 and achieving membership in a ssaaahk.
There is no Julian scout service but Hhkar occasionally join the
Imperial Interstellar Scout Service. Hhkar are not eligible for pre-career
education. Their childhood is their pre-career education and grants a
standard number of default skills but the Hhkar receive an additional
default skill of Melee 0.

Hhkar Travellers begin their first term at age 22. They will begin to
suffer aging effects after their fifth term, although these will be reversed
by their next transformation. Hhkar emerging from a transformation are
effectively age 22 again, with the same physical characteristics scores
they had at that age. Characteristic increases gained by experience or
lost by injury and aging are reset, and all skills learned as the opposite
gender are lowered to level zero. Skills from an earlier period as this
gender will be retained. However, characteristic increases in STR,
DEX and END will not transfer. INT, EDU and SOC characteristics are
always retained, regardless of gender.

All Hhkar will refuse to undertake psionic testing or training.

HHKAR EQUIPMENT
Most equipment designed for Hhkar is extremely durable and generally
masses twice that of the equivalent human-designed equipment. Hhkar
civilisation is mainly at TL13 but gravitic technology is no greater than
TL11 and medical technology is no greater than TL10, as the Hhkar
often eschew advanced medical procedures.

Armour
Hhkar armour and protective suits are customised for their species. They
do not like to wear restrictive clothing and metal clothing or fasteners
‘itch’ their magnetic sense. Hhkar favour poly carapace and ceramic
armour and none of their armour is equipped with gravitic technology.

101
 Translator Pad
Any Hhkar interacting with another species will carry a translator
pad. The basic version of the pad translates Hhkar to and from the
Anglic dialect Transform. The improved version adds five major Vargr
languages, Galanglic and Vilani, although translated grammar for Vilani
and Gvegh is notoriously atrocious.

Translator Pad TL Kg Cost

Basic 10 — Cr100
Improved 10 — Cr500

Hrrak!k Battle-axe
A curved great axe nearly two metres long, the mass and sharpness of
these blades can cause catastrophic wounds, meaning they are often
used in Srriikka!ki death duels and boarding actions. These axes are
sometimes crude weapons stamped from industrial machines but can
be works of art, handcrafted and worth tens or hundreds of times their
base cost, especially if they have a history.

Weapon TL Range Damage Kg Cost Traits

Hrrak!k Battle Axe 10 Melee 5D 12 Cr1000 AP 4, Bulky,
Smasher

102
Sraaa!k Gauss Rifle
The sraaa!k is a heavy battle rifle firing a 6mm projectile along a
two-metre barrel, able to penetrate armour at considerable distance.
These are available through the Menderes Corporation to qualified
non-Hhkar buyers certified as mercenary units by the Julian
Protectorate at twice standard cost.

Weapon TL Range Damage Kg Cost

Sraaa!k Gauss Rifle 13 800 5D+5 12 Cr4000
Weapon Magazine Magazine Cost Traits
Sraaa!k Gauss Rifle 128 Cr200 AP 8, Auto 3,
Bulky, Scope

Sraaaprt Gauss Pistol

A bulky long-barrel gauss pistol, the sraaaprt is a standard firearm
worn by Hhkar officers and paramilitary enforcers. This weapon is also
available through the Menderes Corporation and can be purchased
at a premium on some low Law Level worlds. Humans and Vargr and
similar-sized sophonts attempting to fire this pistol with one hand suffer
DM-2 to attack rolls.

Weapon TL Range Damage Kg Cost

Sraaaprt Gauss Pistol 13 30 4D+4 2.5 Cr3000
Weapon Magazine Magazine Cost Traits
Sraaaprt Gauss Pistol 64 Cr100 AP 5, Auto 2,
Bulky

103
 High guard
Hhkar Sublight Drive Systems
By Geir Lanesskog

The Hhkar have crossed interstellar distances for more than 50,000
years without access to jump or manoeuvre drive technology. Instead,
they used their superior knowledge of magnetic engineering to develop
drive systems that accelerate up to significant fractions of the speed of
light and replenish their fuel supplies during voyages.

These drive systems are slow compared to jump and manoeuvre drive
technology but the Hhkar have refined them over millennia to make
them both fuel efficient and durable. Once underway, these drives
require little maintenance nor dedicated engineering staff, allowing a
single Hhkar scout to undertake a voyage aboard a relatively small
sublight ship in a state of suspended hibernation.

The huge ships that brought the Hhkar to Skkyhrk now have manoeuvre
and jump drives installed but many of them retain their older magnetic
and fusion drive systems. Hhkar fleets still crossing the void are likely to
arrive in some distant system with only this technology available.

In cooperation with the Hhkar, the Menderes Corporation manufactures

magnetic and fusion drives by special order. Neither is operable within
a planet’s atmosphere. A magnetic drive cannot be easily retrofitted;
they are generally installed during a ship’s construction. All ships
with a magnetic drive installed are at double cost and considered
unstreamlined. Whilst invented at TL9, Menderes Corporation
manufactured drive units are considered TL13 and cannot use advanced
and primitive technology rules ( see High Guard, pages 48–49).

104
STARSHIP SYSTEMS
Hhkar starships have the following features and limitations:
• Most Hhkar vessels employ non-gravity hulls but these vessels
have no size limitation and require only 10% of hull tonnage in
Power to operate.
• Many Hhkar ships utilise fuel efficient (x3) reaction drives for propulsion.
• Many Hhkar ships achieve artificial gravity through rotation, thrust
or both (using tilting segments).
• Manoeuvre drives are limited to TL11 and Thrust 5.
• Armour is limited to TL12 crystaliron.
• Hhkar vessels often install deflector shields (see High Guard, page 69).
• Hhkar generation ships traditionally used both magnetic drives and
fusion drives to cross vast distances at sublight speed.

WEAPONRY
Hhkar ships favour railguns and mass drivers, and produce superior
versions of these weapons at all scales, including spinal mounts. All
Hhkar railguns and mass drivers are TL15. Compared to baseline
models, these weapons (including spinal mounts) are double the cost
and cannot be reduced in size but have the following advantages (see
High Guard, page 49): Accurate, Long Range and Very High Yield.
Spinal railguns and mass drivers (see Element Cruisers, page 76) have
no size limits.

HHKAR MAGNETIC DRIVE

A Hhkar magnetic drive is a multimode unit, which can provide
propulsion, braking or gas collection, using magnetic fields to manipulate
both the solar wind and interstellar medium. Changing modes requires a
full hour of drive inactivity whilst the spines reconfigure.

The drive consists of the controller/collector/containment (3C) unit and

an array of flexible spines extending from the spacecraft. The magnetic
drive requires installation of a 40-ton 3C unit and dedication of 1% of
a ship’s displacement tons to spines for each unit of Thrust produced.
The effects of a Thrust Unit vary by mode.

Magnetic Drive Requirements

Magnetic Drive Units Effect Tons Cost
3C Unit Required for control 40 MCr4
Spines Required for thrust 1% per MCr0.1
and gas collection Thrust Unit per ton

105
 In System Propulsion Mode (Magnetic Sail)
Within a solar system, the magnetic drive can operate as a magnetic
sail, creating a bubble of plasma around the spacecraft and using it
to ‘sail’ the solar wind and/or the magnetic fields created by the stellar
bodies in the system. The magnetic sail cannot operate once the
spacecraft reaches interstellar space. For simplicity, interstellar space
can be assumed to begin at 100 AU from a star.

To initiate the plasma bubble, the magnetic sail requires a one-time

expenditure of hydrogen fuel equal to 1% of ship tonnage per Thrust Unit.
Each Thrust Unit provides 0.01 of Thrust while within the region dominated
by a star system’s solar wind and magnetic fields. While in operation, the
magnetic sail requires power points equal to 1% of the ship’s tonnage per
Thrust Unit but uses no additional fuel after initiation. Once in interstellar
space, the magnetic sail provides no Thrust and the bubble dissipates.

Magnetic Sail Requirements (per Thrust Unit)

Thrust Fuel (to initiate only) Power required (operating)
0.01 G 1% ship tonnage 1% ship tonnage

Magnetic Braking Mode

The magnetic sail can act as a powerful brake by creating drag both
within the interstellar medium and within a star system. This braking
mode requires no fuel and produces 0.1G braking effect per Thrust
Unit, requiring 1% of the ship’s tonnage per Thrust Unit.

Magnetic Braking Requirements (per Thrust Unit)

Thrust Fuel Power required (operating)
0.1G — 1% ship tonnage

106
Gas Collection Mode (Ramscoop)
Gas collection mode is actually two modes, one for use inside
solar systems and one for use in interstellar space, but except for
a reconfiguration of the spines, these two modes have identical
performance. However, the interstellar mode only functions if the
spacecraft is travelling through interstellar medium at velocities
exceeding 1,200km/s. Beyond velocities of 180,000km/s, the interstellar
gas collector generates too much drag to continue operation, effectively
limiting the spacecraft to that velocity if it wants to continue to fuel
its power plant during a long voyage. Gas collection mode gathers
rather than expends fuel, with each Thrust Unit collecting 1% of a
ship’s tonnage in hydrogen gas per day of operation. It requires power
equivalent to its other modes to continue collection.

Gas Collection Mode Requirements (per Thrust Unit)

Fuel Collected (daily) Power required (operating)
1% ship tonnage 1% ship tonnage

HHKAR FUSION DRIVE

A fusion drive magnetically confines hydrogen to extreme pressure and
temperature to initiate a fusion reaction while the fuel is accelerating
within the drive unit. This drive is very fuel efficient compared to a
conventional reaction drive but requires a large amount of energy to
operate and produces a much smaller amount of thrust.

A fusion drive requires 1% of ship tonnage for each 0.1G of Thrust

generated. A full 1G unit requires 10% of a ship’s tonnage but few
fusion drive ships operate at this Thrust. Each ton of fusion drive costs
MCr2, requires 20 Power Points per ton installed while operating and
uses two tons of fuel per day of operation.

Fusion Drive (per 0.1G thrust)

Power required Fuel required
Tons required per ton per ton per day Cost per ton
1% 20 2 MCr2

A fusion drive can operate from internal fuel tanks or straight from a
magnetic drive operating in gas collection mode if the latter can acquire
enough fuel to sustain propulsion.

When magnetic drives and fusion drives are used in conjunction to

power an interstellar vessel, the ship usually installs three Thrust Units
per 0.1 Thrust fusion drive capability, allowing adequate fuel intake to
both feed the fusion drive and provide fuel for the onboard power plant.

107
 Adventure
Adrift
By David Sansom

INTRODUCTION
In the year before the start of the Fifth Frontier War, the systems in the
Spinward Marches are awash with rumours of war and incursions by
the Zhodani. Tensions are high and cat and mouse games between
Zhodani and Imperium secret services play out, unseen by the public
eye. In the confusion, other opportunistic players including Vargr
corsairs take advantage of these distractions for their own gain.

The Travellers have all taken very lucrative contracts for an

experimental mining operation by Sternmetal Horizons on Whanga
(Spinward Marches, Regina). However, each have their own reasons
for being on this ship (see page 126). The contracts include passage
on the Amaranthine Haven, a modified Empress Marava far trader (see
High Guard page 116). The Amaranthine Haven is on route from Alell
to Whanga and then onwards to Regina. As the Amaranthine Haven
was the only vessel available at short notice, and all the passenger
staterooms were already taken, the Travellers have been forced to take
low passage for the trip.

THE HAVEN
The Amaranthine Haven is a typical independent operator owned
by Bartholomew Crane. The current crew consists of the pilot Chuck
Baine, the medic Dr Kavenor, the steward Jesse Lopet and a new
engineer named Oliver Vincent. There are a number of passengers
onboard, including a wealthy socialite named Joyce Carpenter who has
arranged passage for herself and some cargo to Regina.

Ship Locations
External airlock hatches, except the hatch used by the boarding
party, are all deadlocked closed. Opening requires keys found in
lockers within engineering or the bridge. All keys and hatches are
numbered to identify them.

Key lockers have combination locks, which all crew members know,
and are fairly sturdy. Breaking them open requires an Average (8+)
Mechanic check with suitable tools, taking 1D minutes.

108
Internal hatches are closed and deprived of power, so will not open
normally, but each has a manual override behind a panel next to the
hatch. Manually opening a hatch requires a successful Difficult (10+)
Mechanic check, taking D3 minutes.

The artificial gravity is off, leaving the ship interior in zero-G. DEX checks
are required for physical activities done under pressure. For example,
navigating around the ship or performing simple actions will not require a
check but moving at speed or making a melee attack would.

All ship locations are numbered, for the Amaranthine Haven’s deck
plans see page 113.

The Amaranthine
Haven

109
 THE AMARANTHINE HAVEN

TL12 Tons Cost (MCr)

Hull 200 Tons, Streamlined — 12
Armour Armour: 0 — —
M-Drive Thrust 1 2 4
J-Drive Jump 2 15 22.5
Power Plant Fusion, Power 90 6 6
Fuel Tanks Four weeks of operation, J-2
41 —
Bridge 10 1
Computer Computer/5bis — 0.045
Sensors Civilian Grade 1 3
Weapons Double Turret (beam laser) x2 2 3
Craft Air/Raft 5 1.5
Systems Low Berth 2 0.2
Fuel Processor (40 tons/day) 2 0.1
Loading Belt 1 0.003
Cargo Airlock x2 6 0.6
Staterooms Standard x 10 40 5
Software Manoeuvre/0 — —
Library — —
Jump Control/2 — 0.2
Intellect — —
Common Areas 10 1
Cargo 57 —

Crew Power Requirements

Pilot, Astrogator, Engineer, Basic Ship Systems
Medic, Steward, Gunners 40
x2
Manoeuvre Drive
Hull: 80 20
Jump Drive

Running Costs 40
Sensors
MAINTENANCE COST
1
Cr4511/month
Fuel Processor
PURCHASE COST
2
MCr54.1332

110
 9

11 5

12

10
2
8
7 7

13

3
1

DECK 1
111
 15 15

15 15

15 15
14

DECK 2
112
1. Low Berth Compartment
This is the room where the Travellers awaken.

In addition to the low berths, the room has a number of cabinets

with some supplies and a control panel. Supplies available include
spare jumpsuits, basic refreshments for passengers waking
(energy drinks, water, protein bars and so forth) and some medical
supplies to aid reviving passengers.

2. Low Passage Locker

Several secure wall mounted lockers are found in or near the crew
areas. The Travellers’ equipment and other possessions are stored
here during the voyage. These are all locked and require either a key or
an Average (8+) Mechanic check to open.

3. Engineering (Drives)
Both drives are shut down. The emergency controls have limited
power but all access is locked out. To gain access requires a
suitable code or key card from one of the crew. If the Travellers
want to hack the control panel, they must succeed a Difficult (10+)
Electronics (computers) check.

Unless power has been restored the drives cannot be started

and access only provides logs and diagnostics for the drives. The
diagnostics reveal the drives are in good condition but have insufficient
fuel for a jump.

A key store locker is mounted on the wall, it is locked with a mechanical

combination lock and can be opened as described in location 2.

4. Engineering (Power Plant)

Immediately apparent on entering this compartment is the body of a
Vargr boarder floating in the middle of the room. Nearby floats a snub
pistol, the clip spent, shell casings drifting about. Two full clips can be
found on the body. The Vargr is wearing a vacc suit (TL10), his helmet
is off and clipped to his suit and there are no signs of punctures or
tears in the suit. However, the Vargr has significant bleeding from
mouth, eyes and ears.

The power plant is not running but it can be started with an Average
(8+) Engineer (power) check, taking 1D minutes. Doing so restores
lights and power to the doors but whilst the lockdown is still active
nothing else functions.

113
 The engineer, Oliver Vincent, is hiding in here. He has squeezed into
a maintenance crawl space and is well hidden from view. As soon as
he hears anyone except Marcus, he calls out softly, hoping they have
come to the rescue.

Oliver can start the power plant but is afraid of attracting ‘him’ and needs to
be cajoled or forced into doing so. He is terrified and close to a complete
breakdown but can be easily intimidated or convinced to help, only
requiring a Routine (6+) Persuade check. If questioned, he explains all
other systems must have been locked from the bridge. He will not willingly
leave the compartment and retreats to his hiding place as soon as he can.

5. Bridge
The bridge door is closed but the manual override still works. Inside,
the body of the pilot is sprawled across the console. It is clear from his
wounds that he was shot and died of blood loss. Nearby is the pilot’s
empty snub pistol.

The console shows the ship is on lockdown. Until the lockdown is

cleared the ship has no basic systems, including gravity and life
support, and cannot use the engines. If power has been restored,
the lockdown can be cleared at a bridge console with an Average
(8+) Electronics (computers) check (1D minutes). Once cleared,
ship systems can each be turned back online with any Routine (6+)
Engineer or Electronics check (1D minutes). Ship systems include life
support, artificial gravity, manoeuvre drive, jump drive and security.

Checking the logs show the ship plotted and executed a jump to
Whanga but a mis-jump is recorded resulting in their arrival in Grant.
However, a successful Difficult (10+) Electronics (computers) or
Investigate check (1D hours), will spot discrepancies indicating the log
has been tampered with. Comparing various system logs finds that
the jump solution was switched to Grant shortly before the jump drives
were engaged and then scrubbed from the main log on arrival. The
change was actioned from a console in engineering.

6. Main Cargo Hold (6)

The hold is about three quarters filled with a variety of freight, a
significant part of which is destined for the mining outpost on Whanga.
Most of the freight is in sealed containers, securely fastened down.
There are a number of walkways between the rows of containers.

Towards the starboard side several containers have been opened

where the Vargr boarders had started recovering the anagathic drugs.
There is evidence of a firefight there, with spent shell casings drifting

114
about and laser burns on containers. Some of the contents from the
open containers, packing materials, packs of medical supplies and so
on, are also floating about.

Examining the open containers reveals mundane supplies have been

removed to uncover hidden compartments containing a large number of
ampules loaded with anagathic drugs.

Two bodies are in the hold. The bullet riddled body of the steward lies
near the door leading towards the bridge, his snub pistol with three
rounds left is close by. Near the door to engineering, the body of a
Vargr boarder is floating, what killed him is unclear, possibly a heart
attack. He was killed by Marcus using his psionic assault but identifying
the true cause requires a Very Difficult (12+) Medic check (1Dx10
minutes) without an autopsy. The Vargr had a laser carbine, which is
still connected to the Vargr by the cable to its power pack on his back.

7. Express Cargo Hold

On the Amaranthine Haven, the space reserved for the turrets has
been repurposed as express hold and the ship is unarmed. The port
side express hold is empty.

The starboard side express hold contains a single container. The

container looks to have been forced open, a successful Routine (6+)
Investigate check can determine it was forced open from the inside.
Examining the contents of the container finds an empty, portable low
berth wrapped in some woven metallic material, recognisable to anyone
with Engineer or Electronics skills as being useful for sensor shielding.

8. Crew Common Area

In the area between the main hold and the bridge lies the captain’s
body. He has a serious bullet wound but anyone with the Medic skill
will see there is not enough blood for him to have bled out and that
it is more likely his heart stopped before then. His heart was actually
stopped by a psionic assault from Marcus.

The captain still has a revolver gripped in his hand; all chambers spent.
He has one spare magazine in his coat pocket.

9. Captain’s Stateroom
The room is clean and tidy, and a collection of mementos is arrayed
on shelves. A wall safe is mounted on one wall with a mechanical
combination, which only the captain knew. Cracking the safe requires a
Very Difficult (12+) Mechanic check (1D hours).

115
 If opened, the safe contains deeds to the ship and other ship’s papers.
There is also Cr33400.

A drawer under the desk holds some general odds and ends, including
Cr375 and an opened box of shells for a revolver, with 38 left.

10. Pilot’s Stateroom

The room looks ‘lived in’, with a number of personal effects on display.
Searching the room finds Cr400, 100 autopistol rounds (boxed) and an
empty clip for an autopistol.

11. Engineer and Steward’s Stateroom

This room is set up as a double-occupancy room. It is reasonably tidy
and there are a few personal effects on view. It has the look of a room
only recently occupied.

12. Medical Officer’s Stateroom

The door to this room has been locked from inside.

Dr Kavenor is hiding inside, he is terrified and will not come out or

unlock it without some tempting. A Difficult (10+) Persuade check will
be needed to coax him out. If left alone, the doctor will become one of
Marcus’ victims ‘off screen’.

He has a body pistol and two full spare magazines. Cr2700 can be
found stashed in a locker.

13. Ship’s Locker

The ship’s locker is located near the bridge and kept locked unless needed.

The Amaranthine Haven’s locker contains; four vacc suits (TL12), spare
tools appropriate for the ship, four mobile comms (TL10), two medikits
(TL12), two shotguns, four snub pistols, 50 shotgun shells and eight
magazines for the pistols.

14. Passenger Common Room

The common room is in some disarray, as if some sort of struggle took
place. There are two bodies here, floating if the artificial gravity is still
off. Both were killed by Marcus, the first by a physical attack and the
second using a psionic assault.

Inspecting the victims identifies they are both older people, possibly a
couple, one has died from a blunt force trauma and the other could be a
heart attack. They have a key card for one of the staterooms.

116
15. Passenger Staterooms
One stateroom is open and was occupied by the deceased couple
in the common area. There are a few personal effects and a small
quantity of credits. The clothes and jewellery indicate the occupants
were modestly wealthy.

A second stateroom is found with the door ajar. Inside lies an

unconscious passenger, Relton Dalley, a junior executive for Sternmetal
Horizons destined for Whanga. He is unresponsive and will not wake up
for several hours. Dalley has been infected by Marcus and a parasitic
larva is slowly taking control of his brain functions. When Dalley wakes
up, he is very hungry, manic and confused. He will not be a real danger
for few days but he may manifest psionic effects.

XG-1734
XG-1734 is a non-intelligent larva, driven entirely by simple instincts.
Its primary instinct is to find a suitable host, then to invade the body
through any available orifice, wound or burrowing through the skin then
following the neural pathways to the brain. Once there it releases a flood
of psiactive chemicals to subjugate the host’s brain, allowing it to develop
greater psionic abilities, albeit at significant physical cost to the host.

Without a host, the larva can only live for a few days. Once established
in the host’s brain, it will quickly develop its psionic strength calculated
by adding XG-1734’s Psionic trait and the hosts INT. The parasite’s
psioactive excretions mean the host recovers 2 PSI per hour, after one
hour has passed since the last use of a psionic talent.

In addition, the host can feed on the mind of intelligent living

beings, killing them to regain 2D PSI or implanting parasitic larva
into new hosts. This involves extending tendrils from the host’s
nose and mouth into the victim’s eyes, ears, nose and mouth,
leaving feint marks on the skin. It takes three minutes to feed or
one minute to infect a victim, during which time sedatives released
by the tendrils keep the victim unconscious.

XG-1734 is able to use its hosts intellect and physical abilities but
does not understand what the host knows. For example, whilst
it may use the host to open a door, it does not understand that
leaving an airlock door open is a potential problem.

117
 Animal Hits Speed
XG-1734 1 1m
Skills Athletics (dexterity) 1, Awareness 3, Melee (natural) 2,
Telepathy 3
Attacks Burrow (1)
Traits Psionic (3), Small (-1)
Behaviour Carnivore, Hunter

The remaining staterooms are all closed and locked from the inside,
within each is one or more passengers hiding from Marcus. Many of
them witnessed the attack by Marcus and fled into the relative safety of
their rooms. If queried about the events of the attack, one witness reveals
the creature stopped its attack and fled as soon as it saw Joyce.

One of these staterooms is occupied by Joyce Carpenter. When the

Travellers meet or talk to her, she asks if they have seen Marcus
and is hoping to hear he is still alive. She is feeling frightened for,
and extremely guilty about, Marcus. She will not leave her stateroom
without some careful coaxing.

16. Boarding Small Craft

The Vargr ship’s boat is attached to the Amaranthine Haven via
a breaching tube and both vessels are tumbling together. If the
Amaranthine Haven attempts to stop its tumble or manoeuvre quickly,
the strain shears the docking connections. This seriously damages
the airlocks on both craft, making an air-tight seal impossible without
some emergency repairs. Decompression alarms sound throughout
the ship if this happens.

118
The airlock doors between the two craft have been left open by
Marcus when he found his way to the small craft. If the breaching
tube is damaged while the airlock doors are still open this results in
a serious decompression of the Amaranthine Haven and a complete
decompression of the small craft.

The main cabin of the ship’s boat is fitted with just two rows of jump seats
and is clearly a military vessel. Basic systems are working in the small
craft, including life support and artificial gravity. At the front of the main
cabin the door to the bridge is open and blood can be seen coating the
floor. In the bridge, a dead Vargr is still strapped into their seat. There are
signs of bleeding from their eyes, nose, mouth and ears.

The small craft’s power plant is running and the manoeuvre drive is on
standby. In principle this craft could be used to escape the ship. However,
all the controls are designed for a Vargr and all control panels and labels
are in a Vargr dialect. Any non-Vargr Traveller attempting to use the craft
will incur DM-1 to all checks. If the small craft is used to escape, the
approaching corsair attempts to hail and intercept it.

THE STORY SO FAR

The Travellers boarded 12 hours before departure, attended by the
ship’s medical officer. They saw next to nothing of the ship, crew or
other passengers when boarding, being taken straight from the main
passenger airlock to the low berths. Unknown to the rest of the crew,
the engineer Oliver Vincent is deep in debt to the wrong people. To
clear his debt, he has made a deal with a Vargr captain to smuggle a
shipment of stolen anagathics aboard. These are hidden in the hold
and Oliver has been well paid to arrange a ‘mis-jump’, leaving them
in Grant. There it will be met by the patrol corvette Raersthog (see
Traveller Core Rulebook, page 174), which will relieve the Amaranthine
Haven of the shipment.

However, stolen drugs are not the only item being unwittingly
smuggled on the Amaranthine Haven. One of the passengers, Joyce
Carpenter, has arranged for passage to Regina for herself and some
extra cargo. Disguised as a non-descript container, the cargo actually
contains a portable low berth, shielded from prying scanners. Within
the berth lies her husband, Marcus. For a substantial sum, Joyce
arranged for her husband’s berth to be ‘lost’ and discretely delivered
to a downport warehouse on Alell for her to collect. Joyce is not aware
of the details of his condition, other than he needs specialist care,
which she is hoping to find at Regina.

119
 Unbeknownst to Joyce, the ‘good samaritan’ who aided her sold the
information on Marcus to a Zhodani spy. This resulted in the Zhodani
agent activating a sleeper unit, which is now tailing Joyce. When Joyce
boarded the Amaranthine Haven, the unit shadowed her in a well-
equipped Type-RQ Subsidised Merchant (Pirates of Drinax: Ships of
the Reach, page 18), the Hopeful Wanderer. The Hopeful Wanderer
used their advanced sensors to analyse their quarry’s jump flash and
followed the Amaranthine Haven to Grant.

Seven days later, the Amaranthine Haven drops out of jump into
the largely uninhabited Grant system. The engineer, Oliver Vincent,
blames a mis-jump on poor quality fuel from Alell. While preparing to
start refuelling, the Haven is ambushed by the Raersthog, which had
been running silent in distant orbit. A small craft, aided by the engineer,
docks with the Amaranthine Haven and the boarding party try to seize
the ship. The captain negotiates with the pirates but a jittery steward
accidently discharges his sidearm, starting a brief firefight. Marcus
wakes in his hidden berth in the express cargo hold and escapes from
the container. The mortally wounded pilot escapes to the bridge and
locks down all the ship’s systems including, by accident, all life support
and the power plant.

Over the next hours, using maintenance crawl spaces, Marcus prowls the
ship looking for prey. He kills some of the crew, passengers and boarding
party, including the Vargr pilot. He infects one passenger but when he
discovers Joyce, vestiges of Marcus’ mind recognise her causing him to
retreat into hiding. The remaining Vargr take up a defensive position in
the hold to wait for the Raersthog to come to their rescue.

During this time, with atmospheric drag in the lower orbit and without
crew or a navigation system active to compensate, the ship and
the attached small craft start to tumble. If control of the ship is not
regained within 24 hours, it begins to fall in towards the gas giant
and its destruction. About 12 hours after shutdown, with the ship’s
old batteries fading, low power triggers the automated emergency
revival of the low berth passengers. The Travellers awake, confused
and alone. Meanwhile, the Zhodani Q-Ship emerges from jump
space and starts heading towards the gas giant while scanning for
the Amaranthine Haven.

120
COMPLICATIONS
As the Travellers start to explore the stricken ship, they will meet the
following challenges.

Waking up
Dim lights within the pods give a little illumination and except for a
flashing red light the room is dark. No one else is in the room and as
the Travellers start to extricate themselves from their berths, they find
themselves in zero-G. The air in the room is cold and a little stale, the
silent ship giving no signs of life. They are wearing simple jumpsuits but
know all of their clothing and personal possessions are stored in secure
lockers aboard the Amaranthine Haven.

A quick assessment identifies there is no main power, no artificial

gravity and the life support is offline. The flashing red light warns them
of low emergency power reserves from the ship’s batteries. A security
alert indicator reports the ship is in full lockdown.

Restoring the ship’s functions will require the Travellers to reach two
compartments, engineering and the bridge. Due to the mishandled
lockdown, the bridge systems will be inaccessible until power is
restored from engineering. However, the Travellers will have no way
to determine this without visiting these locations. Some crew remain
aboard the Amaranthine Haven but are slowly being picked off…

121
 MARCUS CARPENTER
Dr Marcus Carpenter was an ambitious and accomplished
xenobiologist, with somewhat flexible morals. The discovery
of an apparently psionic-capable parasitic lifeform recovered
from a distant planet would be the pinnacle of his career and a
launch pad for his advancement in the Xenogene Enterprises
Corporation. His hubris was his downfall however, leading to a
containment breach in his laboratory in which he was infected by
the specimen under investigation, ‘XG-1734’.

Now his appearance is

of a gaunt, dishevelled
man with bloodshot,
widely dilated eyes and
tumour-like growths over
his skull. He is wearing
a plain jumpsuit similar
to those used for low
berth passengers. Once
he escaped the confines
of his low berth in the
express hold, Marcus
started exploring the
environment seeking
minds to feed on or
infect. Whilst most of
his mind has been
dominated by the
parasite, his memories
remain and these may
be triggered by strong
emotions, giving some
limited control back to the
human host. Seeing his
wife is one such trigger.

122
 MARCUS CARPENTER
SPECIES GENDER
Human Male
CHARACTERISTICS SKILLS
STR 7 INT 12 Admin 1, Awareness 1, Deception 1,
DEX 9 EDU 13 Electronics 0, Persuade 2, Profession
(biologist) 3, Science (biology) 2,
END 8 SOC 9
Science (chemistry) 1, Science
PSI 15 (xenology) 3, Telepathy 3

Psionic Stalker
Initial encounters with Marcus should comprise fleeting glimpses and
noises from the ceiling, under-floor or behind inaccessible panels.
This should be accompanied by feelings of being watched. Thereafter,
recurring encounters may occur anywhere in the ship.

His previous victims can be found across the ship and any surviving
crew run the risk of being victims of a psionic or physical assault,
using psionic enhancement of his strength. At first, this should be ‘off
screen’ for the Travellers, who perhaps rush to the sound of a scream
to see Marcus disappearing into a crawl space and the victim dead or
unconscious. If an attack is out of view of the Travellers roll 2D for the
result. On an 9+ they are killed, on 6–8 they are used to feed and on 5
or less they are infected and left unconscious.

Later, Marcus may get bolder and try to pick off a solitary Traveller or
be surprised while feeding. Marcus will attempt to drive off or knock out
the Traveller, using a psionic assault before fleeing.

Boarding Team
The surviving members of the Vargr boarding team are hiding in the
main hold. There are four of them, two armed with submachine guns
and the others with laser carbines, each also carries a snub pistol
sidearm. After the firefight with the crew and repelling the creature
Marcus, they are low on ammo, having one magazine for each firearm
and 10 charges in their laser carbines. They are wearing vacc suits
(TL10, Protection +8).

123
 They are holding out for rescue by the corsair, which arrives once the
boarding party fails to return after the expected time. Anyone passing
through the hold can attempt a Difficult (10+) Recon check, success
hears or sees one of the boarding team in hiding. Effect 2+ or more
reveals there is more than one in hiding. If actively searching, reduce
the task difficulty to Average (8+).

If shot at, they defend themselves and return fire. If spotted and
called to or approached, a boarder warns the Travellers to keep back,
declaring reinforcements are on the way. They may fire a warning shot
if needed to emphasise the threat. If seriously threatened or attacked,
the boarders try to retreat to the small craft. They would prefer to
negotiate an escape, rather than risk another fire fight. They just want
to recover the anagathics and get back to their ship.

Raersthog Arrives
About four hours after the Travellers wake, the corsair Raersthog
reaches the Amaranthine Haven. If the Travellers have restored power
and are manning the bridge, they may detect it approaching with an
Average (8+) Electronics (sensors) check. The captain, Fadanghk, aims
to recover his team, the small craft and the contraband anagathics. If
they are unopposed by the Travellers, the new boarding party rescues
their teammates and transfers the contraband to their ship. If the
Travellers resist, the boarders defend themselves but aim to drive the
attackers back or incapacitate them rather than kill everyone outright.

If unaware of the presence of Marcus, during the recovery operation

the Vargr captain has one of his crew sabotage the engines, nothing
dangerous but enough to prevent the ship following them. As the
Vargr engineer is completing the sabotage, Marcus attempts an attack
starting with a psionic assault. The engineer’s cries quickly bring help
and Marcus retreats. On hearing of an aggressive creature on board,
the captain orders a rapid evacuation of his crew and the remaining
contraband. Repairing requires an Average (8+) Mechanic or Engineer
check to fix and takes 1D hours.

If informed about Marcus, the captain performs the recovery as fast as

possible, gathering only as much of the contraband as can be easily
obtained, leaving about 20% behind. He also forgoes trying to sabotage
the ship’s engines and will rely on the corsair’s fire power to deter any
attempt to follow them.

124
Hopeful Wanderer
The Zhodani Q-ship arrives in the system many hours after the
Amaranthine Haven and immediately starts searching the ship
whilst heading for the nearest gas giant to refuel. The ship will be
progressively easier to find if power is restored, manoeuvre drive
engaged and sensors being active. Once found, they set an intercept
course. The Zhodani should arrive shortly after the encounter with the
Vargr corsair, perhaps just as the Travellers are relaxing a little.

The Zhodani ship hails the Amaranthine Haven if there are signs of
life; if power has not been restored, they dock with the ship and board
it. If the hail gets a response, they announce they are aware of the
bio-hazard onboard the Amaranthine Haven and want to negotiate
for the recovery of any infected individuals, dead or alive. In return for
the Travellers’ cooperation, they offer assistance and possibly some
compensation for their trouble, up to Cr50000.

An agent, going by the name of Zaran Hekia, states they are working on
behalf of an unnamed Imperial corporation. Either way, they intend to
board and recover all infected individuals they discover, including Marcus
and Relton Dalley. The boarding party consists of at least four marines in
boarding vacc suits (TL12, Protection +10) without any insignia, armed
with stunners and integrated laser pistols. Another four crew, in vacc suits
(TL12, Protection +10) and armed with stunners wait at the docking port
in case they are needed. Their pilot remains on the bridge at all times.

If the Travellers attempt to run, the Hopeful Wanderer is armed with two
pop-up turrets, one fitted with double pulse lasers, the other with a double
missile rack. The crew of the Hopeful Wanderer fire warning shots at first
but are quite prepared to cripple or even destroy the Amaranthine Haven
to recover what they need or at least deny anyone else recovering it.

If using the Assignments (see page 126), a Zhodani sleeper can, if

they wish, jump ship and board the Hopeful Wanderer by using the
challenge. The Zhodani crew know not to seek them out; the sleeper
may have other objectives and want to maintain their cover.

125
 ASSIGNMENTS
For the purposes of a one-off adventure, each Traveller may be
assigned a secret ulterior motive.

Zhodani Sleeper
You did not sign on for a contract on Whanga like the others. You are
a Zhodani sleeper agent and have recently received new orders; travel
with a group heading to Whanga seeking work in the mining colony.
There is something valuable to the Consulate aboard the ship and if
the Amaranthine Haven does not arrive at the expected destination,
you must signal your location. To do so, you have been given a
storage device with a Trojan virus to use on the ship’s computer or
communications system.

You suspect another agent or sleeper may be on the mission but you
cannot be sure. If you need it, you can use a challenge phrase to
identify a fellow agent. The phrase ‘nothing but fire and ice in the night’.
should receive the response ‘and souls gone to an early reward’.

Imperium Agent
During your last army term, your talents and loyalty lead to recruitment
into the Imperial secret service. They are concerned about Zhodani
agents infiltrating ships within Imperial space. Your orders are to join a
group travelling to the Whanga system for work in the mining colony.
There is reason to believe a Zhodani agent may be among them.
Find out who and what their mission is, then report it. They may use a
challenge to identify collaborators, possibly mentioning ‘fire and ice’.
The response should include ‘reward for lost spirits’.

You do not need to intercede unless you think action is required. You
have been given an encrypted comms device, which should be able to
piggy-back messages on any commercial vessel’s comms equipment to
send reports or request help.

Diehard Military
Your last tour was hard. Your squad was ambushed while patrolling on
a border world, without warning several men fell screaming. Rushing
to their aid, the rest of you came under fire. You lost three good friends
that day. The report uncovered the attackers as Zhodani insurgents.

After mustering out, the contract with Sternmetal should give you a
change of pace and maybe some time to think about the future. With
war brewing, joining a mercenary company and getting some payback
on the Zhodani is very tempting.

126
Recruiter
Mining is a tough and unglamorous job. Few people choose it and most
fall into it when nothing else is available. Still, there is always a new
bunch of hopefuls each muster out. That is where you come in. Hang
out in a few bars, tag along with the newcomers, seed the conversation
with tales of fortunes to be made and hopefully take a bunch of new
workers back to Whanga to claim the recruitment bounty.

However, after several bad calls, you are on your last chance. Blow
this one and Sternmetal will not have anything to do with you again. If
anyone ruins this run, you are going to make someone pay.

On the Lamb
Mustering out was great, lots of new faces with plenty of money. Since
you mustered out, things did not quite go as planned. The funds dried
up quickly and the debts started mounting. Now there is a price on your
head from the loan sharks and the heat is on. Better get offworld for a
while as you raise the money. Or just leave and do not come back.

For now, you have managed to tag along with a group heading to
Whanga. Maybe you can all get lucky with a rich claim, as long as
you do not have to be doing too much hard work of course. Whatever
happens, the important thing is to keep your eyes peeled for an
opportunity to make some good money, preferably a lot of it.

CONCLUSION
Ultimately, the Travellers’ main goal is survival but they may be able
to make the most of a bad situation and come out on top. Dealing with
the Vargr and Zhodani could be a case of keeping out of their way and
hoping to be left alive with the Amaranthine Haven intact.

The Travellers may be able to negotiate something extra to their

advantage. For example, Zaran Hekia could be persuaded to offer
patronage, helping the Travellers out of their situation and providing
work. Should the Travellers want to turn to piracy, a deal with the Vargr
could perhaps be struck by extending the arrangement of the engineer
to smuggle anagathics.

Finally, just escaping alive with the salvage rights to a far trader may
be reward enough.

127
 Bestiary
Aknaitr
By Craig Bunting

These are duvet-sized creeping masses of translucent grey-brown

tissue that slide across the ground digesting anything biological. They
have three-metre-long adhesive pseudopods, which whip out to snare
anything they sense is close and draw the prey onto their central mass
to be suffocated and digested. They can creep up the walls and cling
to the underside of the causeways as well as swim across water. If the
aknaitr makes a successful grapple, it always moves the target towards
its central mass. Once inside, the aknaitr excretes acidic digestive
enzymes that corrode, burning away one point of Protection from
armour every round in addition to any damage.

Aknaitr sense both vibration and heat, and their amorphous form
allows them to squeeze through small gaps, so they can travel at will
within a biosphere.

Animal Hits Speed

Aknaitr 20 2m
Skills Melee (unarmed) 1, Recon 1, Stealth 2
Attacks Digest (2D), Pseudopods (grapple)
Traits Amphibious, Camouflage (+2)
Behaviour Omnivore, Eater

128