Yet another, deckplan book --- almost, meh...as Mongoose keeps turning these things out. But, wait this is an extraordinary ship with amazing details. Furthermore, it contains phenomenal art by the incredibly talented Ian Stead - back when deckplans were re-invented by Mongoose. I was incredibly excited. But, as ship began to resemble another ship...my frustration. GKG must have heard my sighs and moans - for they have created a phenomenal traveller ship not seen the likes of CT FASA Traveller deckplans - and even those - the best illustrations were on blueprint sized boxes. Kudos to GKG for creating a truly beautiful looking ship and interesting capacities that I want to plunk into My Traveller Universe - right now! Wait, there is more, the deckplans come with mock recruitment posters in English and German! (although, why there are beefeater hats in the future...when berets seem more practical in a zero-g setting). And, the best part - purple pose...I love when there is a bit of narrative that gets me in the mood of events as they unfold. Too much of Traveller has been about Tables & Charts and deckplans - GKG combines the best of both worlds -- keep this high standard -- please. If you are looking for a cool ship - this is it. Criticism: well some of the renderings could have been done two per page as there are some small areas or additional craft that leave lots of white space - might save on toner but looks odd.

Another quality product form Gypsy Knights Games. A detailed little world that isn't your typical cookie cutter world for Traveller or any sci-fi game. Don't let the cover art fool you this isn't Hoth. This is a fully realized world that is just waiting for adventure. So check your ammo and set course for Winston just remember to pack your thermal long underwear.

William

Located in a quiet corner of Gypsy Knights Games's Clement Sector, Winston is a ice-bound world in an otherwise uninhabited system. Indeed it is only marginally habitable, with an atmosphere that requires a filter mask as well as being on the chilly side of cold.

Some 88% of the world is ocean, but an ocean completely covered by sheet ice. It thins a bit in places, but never enough to actually leave the ocean open to the air although these so-called 'blue spots' do allow for photosynthesis by aquatic life. Four major landmasses (and a few minor ones) poke through the ice, however, and this is where settlements are to be found... even though they too are inhospitable with glaciers, rocky landscapes and active volcanoes to contend with.

Rather surprisingly, over four million people have settled here in the 40 years since Winston was first colonised, initially following the promise of rich mining. Indeed the first settlements were sponsored by mining companies. Following the collapse of the mining companies, a weak democracy was overthrown by the last president declaring himself king. His son was less successful at ruling than he was, and a civil war ensued. The leader of the strongest armed group involved in the war has recently placed herself on the throne.

The rule of General Mary Webster is quite strict and completely despotic, yet she is hailed as more fair than her predecessors. Visitors to the planet need to be aware that firearms are prohibited and visas are needed to travel outside of the downport areas. Most recreational drugs are also banned apart from alcohol. However, the locals do enjoy playing a game called rugby, and a bizarre event called a tomato hurl. Life otherwise is quite tough, and death is commonplace especially in the government-controlled mines.

Temperatures are low, below freezing even in daytime, so most people live in domed settlements which are maintained at a more amenable temperature. There are three main domed cities which are described in reasonable detail. There is also a section on adventure ideas for this planet... should anyone actually want to go there. Many are based around the harsh regime, involving characters either in supporting roles (perhaps mercenaries hired to train local troops) or mixed up in a rebellion. Other worlds are quite curious and might sponsor a spy mission to find out what's really going on in a difficult-to-access world, whilst merchants will find profit selling off-world products - legal or otherwise - to the natives. If nothing else, they might need to import tomatoes for the tomato hurl.

Never thought so much could happen on a rocky ball of ice? Think again, and visit Winston. Just take care: misbehaviour can lead to imprisonment or even being shot out of hand, and it is said that not everyone survives a gaol term here.

Ain't no misbehaving...this is a close as the OGL will allow independents to push the limits. Yes, players can get into all sorts of mischief hooks - and now the Referee can have 21x6 plots. Invaluable as fillers between a campaign or one-shots. They are fleshed out as the setup and the 1D6 possible resolutions. These series are good additions for Referees caught in a pickle - all adventures are set in the Clement Sector which is best described as a Hard Space Opera. Excellent hooks, although, I wish the OGL would be a little bit more lax in allowing publishers to explore the darker realms of Traveller that fanzines long exploited. Come on, Marc - what do you say.

"No."

Thought as much, however, keep up the excellent work, GKG...

Purple pose, intelligent design, nice art art. What is wrong...well it is a single deckplan...plus, I would have expected some adventure seeds and variants of the starship (for all Starships are multipurpose in Traveller - A Scoutship may be pressed into the theater of war or a merchant ship may be tasked to do a survey) - none of these variants are explored. Let us hope when they get compiled into print form that these bells and whistles get added in.

Newly established colonies that are more Hard SF than traditional Space Opera Traveller thus making a better fit for Hard SF variants like Traveller 2300 or other SF games out there. Well reasoned and well thought out worlds that do a great job of making worlds realistic. There is the suggestion of something mysterious waiting - so for Referees who need to introduce engimas - look no further than the Dawn Colonies. Excellent poser art and world renderings complete the package.

Presented in the classic Traveller style of plot hook and six possible outcomes (roll or choose as you please), the 21 adventure seeds presented here are linked by a common thread - all the jobs on offer are of dubious legality. Some adventures are set in Gypsy Knights Games's Clement Sector, but they are readily relocated elsewhere if you are not using that setting.

The adventure ideas themselves are inventive and ought to appeal to normal ethically-challenged Traveller characters. It's often a case of a rogue needing help to double-cross or outwit other rogues, and if there's profit in it, most characters will consider going along. Naturally, there is often (depending on the option you choose) more than meets the eye, and some present some excellent moral dilemmas for more thoughtful players to chew on. Quite a few have the potential to have longer-term ramifications with the opportunity to make friends or enemies, annoy a crime family or perhaps find themselves unwelcome on a particular planet.

There is scope for many sessions of cracking adventures here, perhaps best interspersed with other adventures unless of course your group are particularly shady individuals happy to misbehave as a regular thing. Recommended for all Traveller Referees.

If there is one thing a good Traveller referee needs above loads of planets to visit, it is a bunch of ships to travel between them. I've always taken the view that there will be a vast range of different types of craft out in the black, and look to reflect this in the ships my players encounter in their travels. (If you are dubious, just take a look at the diversity of cars in the nearest parking lot... and that's before you get into specialist vehicles from tankers to trucks, earth-movers and miliary vehicles!)

Beginning with some evocative fiction - a day in the life of a patrol vessel - complete stats for the Kiviat Class Patrol Corvette are given. These are followed by detailed plans, including the ship's boat which does duty as a boarding craft whenever inspections or other interventions are needed... and a glorious full-colour banner for the Hub - an area whose heritage in both German and British roots are clearly seen. There are also some external views of the ship.

More details follow, about the development of the class and tales of some of the corvettes in Hub service. This also includes a detailed description of the interior, which can be matched to the plans already provided to have a walk-through of what is to be found there. It is full of tidbits, from the life history of one young British officer trapped in the region by the collapse of links back to Earth, the formation of the Hub's armed forces from German and British naval vessels stranded there and notes on typical duties assigned to vessels of this class.

Even if you are not using the Clement Sector in your game, there is scope for incorporating this class of ship into the forces serving a given planet or group of planets. Perhaps characters served aboard, if they were in the Navy, or they may have encountered such ships in their travels. As a fairly specialised naval vessel, it is unlikely to be the party's ship (unless you are running a 'serving navy' game) but it is possible that they could meet one during their adventures - or just see it in port, a little local colour to add variety.

“So…you meet in the Starport Bar and in walks in…” that is the standard basic setup for many of a Traveller/SFRPG adventure. But, there are countless other locales other than the lounge, bar, holo-brothel, warehouse district and hanger to a Starport that good Referees usual can wing it. However, if the Referee is stumped in steps Gypsy Knight Games with this nice little supplement that gives more places to fuel the Referee’s imagination. Often there is a debate – what is a Starport – the consensus is that that it is a small urban conglomeration growing up around the landing areas – thus, it is akin to an airport or seaport. This supplement takes the viewpoint that it is a seaport littered throughout are useful services for players as well as traditional hives of scum and villainy. This product is highly recommended to round out descriptions of Starports for Traveller or any SFRPG.

Gypsy Knight Games has produced yet another impressive adventure – this one more Star Trek-like involving the investigation of a ship and in particular a crew member gone missing in the frontier edges of the Clement Sector. The adventure is well written with interesting pregens supplied and a standard mystery to be uncovered. If I do have one criticism of the adventure is that it is rather linear rather than soapbox thus, it might be better suited for a convention game rather than campaign play and some of the basic premises require the suspension of belief – all these are addressed in the playtest notes. However, it is a solid adventure that does require a couple of readings and a little preparation by the Referee and hence cannot simply be run out of the box. It is hoped when the adventure migrates to deadtree/hardcopy that player’s aids in the form of visual ads and more art can be employed to invoke a greater sense of isolation and alien-ness of the environment. However, I understand that these add-up in terms of cost but they would give the adventure – a sense of wonder that is the essence of Science Fiction.

New, recently-established colonies can offer lots of opportunity to those interested in taking advantage of them... the opportunities, I mean, not the colonies - although, knowing some Traveller players... hmm.

This resource covers the whole of the Dawn Subsector in Gypsy Knights campaign setting, although only four of them actually have been settled so far - and these four are all relatively new colonies, settled within about 50 years or so ago.

Two are mineral-rich worlds, settled for obvious reasons; the others have both attracted settlers of particular ethnic groups - one is full of Italians and the other contains Greeks and Slavs.

For each there is a full write-up of the system in astronomical terms, followed by copious details of the main world - history, geography, politics, local customs and festivals... just about anything a visitor might want to know. There are also illustrations of all worlds in each system, plus maps of the main ones that could be landed on (vacc suit recommended in some cases, of course).

The product rounds off with notes on what 'homeworld' skills someone from any of these worlds is likely to have, notes on likely adventure possibilities and encounter tables for each location. Think I'll fire up my Jump drive and go visit...

See our review on The Gamer's Codex

http://thegamerscodex.com/index.php/core-setting-clement-sector/

Continuing my look at Gypsy Knights Games and Traveller supplements, 21 Organizations is a strong outing into an area where Traveller has always excelled. It's not without some areas where it could be improved, but it's an excellent supplement nonetheless.

First, the downsides. No bookmarks of any kind. Very few adventure hooks or means by which a typical group of Traveller characters would get involved with the 21 organizations that are described.

But overall, the book is very detailed. From a colonial service to a crime syndicate gone (semi-)legit, the world of Traveller comes to life in a way that is fun and exciting. The clear implication of the work is that in the lawless space frontier, fortunes are made, then used to various purposes to consolidate its own power - the libertarian ethos of Traveller is thoroughly on display in these organizations.

Perhaps the strongest point of the book are the career paths for each organization. Various editions of Traveller have used these career paths in different ways, but the most important thing about them is that they show what characters in the setting - whether NPCs or PCs - experience, the types of mishaps and positive experiences they have while pursuing the organizations' goals.

If I wanted to improve the book, I could certainly put in a "current events" section detailing what specific thing each organization was pursuing and how the PCs could be employed for or against that goal. But overall, the career paths give a uniquely "Traveller" feel to how the 21 Organizations will fit into your setting and game.

An interesting adventure that is guaranteed to appeal to Space Opera and Hard SF enthusiasts alike yet accuse it being ruined by the other. Maintains the nice balance between hard and soft SF in a Traveller adventure that takes place in the ATU. Provides lots of cinematic details (not unsurprising as the writer is a screenwriter) that take you from this world and into a completely different world. Lots of stock and schlock villains/NPCs that are guaranteed to keep players amused for hours. It is geared toward organized sandbox play - in which the basic premise of the adventure is laid out but multiple possibilities reside in its execution and conclusion. Excellent job for GKG for tying so nicely together with their ATU. Look forward to more offerings. Only beef is the lack of character portraits and that it took a couple of re-readings (as any good adventure needs anyhow).

This location supplement for Traveller has a great deal of potential, and the raw material to help GMs in many ways. However, it misses the mark of a truly great supplement with insufficient attention to how the product will be used at the table. Let's break it down.

Subsector Sourcebook 3 is meaty: At 108 pages, there is hardly one that doesn't contain information - this isn't a supplement that wastes a lot of time with artwork or frills. Many pieces of artwork I did spot were on pages all to themselves - easy to skip for those who want to print some or all of the sourcebook. The artwork of the planets seemed somewhat badly thought-out - if used on a tablet to display to the players (for that sf feel), there shouldn't be three of them to a page. If meant to print out, they shouldn't have a black background and dark colors. But they are a cool idea!

Most of the planets are simply catalogued as lists of organized facts - not in itself a bad idea, especially for Traveller. It may seem inconceivable to modern gamers, but in early Traveller editions, you didn't roll to see what information you could find about a planet using some kind of computer skill, you just picked up the book that told you what was in your computer and turned there and read it! (At the time everyone thought computers were going to be limited in the data they could effectively use.) I've found that when this mechanic gets used, it really makes things immersive, and preserves the mysteries of the setting. So at first I was excited, thinking that this supplement was taking this angle. When players asked what was up with a planet, I could just pass across a couple of pages of printout to them and let them discuss it among themselves. But...it doesn't actually take this approach. Out-of-character sidebars, and occasionally even out-of-character commentary in the planet descriptions themselves mean that I can't really take this approach at all.

I feel like the supplement was reaching for that classic Traveller feel of having extremely basic factual information on how big a planet is and how long the day is, and then letting players find out the rest themselves, but wasn't secure enough in this approach to really pursue it by separating GM information from "what's in your database" information.

Please don't take from the negative comments that I've made above that there is nothing in this supplement worth pursuing. It's a solid, thorough look at many planets in a subsector; the societies described are interesting and I would want players to explore them. The natural world is detailed and exciting. The hex maps are fun and beautiful. It certainly pushes hard for a classic Traveller feel! It isn't trying to "update" Traveller, it really pushes after the core idea of a Traveller setting - a broadly drawn sandbox with many interesting places to explore. Each planet has a couple of solid hooks - in another supplement, maybe I'd look for more, but that's not what Traveller planetary supplements have ever been really about. (Buy one of the Patrons books for that!) All my commentary above is trying to get at is how close to a bullseye Subsector 3 gets!

The one unmitigated negative is that almost inexcusably, the 108 pages of this supplement have no bookmarks, no hyperlinks, no use of the electronic format of any kind. I'd rate this a four-star supplement despite its flaws if this wasn't true. For a book whose main advantage is the systematic organization of data, the lack of these features is just a straight oversight.

In any event, Subsector 3: Hub fits right into the pantheon of classic Traveller location books. If you want to see what a Traveller location is like, this is a great place to start. You'll just need to work a bit harder to get it to your table.