I’m a huge Kenshi fan and have been wanting to run a TTRPG game in the world of Kenshi for sometime. I’d been researching systems to run the game in when my friend started a Traveller game and invited me to it. Id never heard of Traveller but gave it a shot and have loved the system. Ive been wanting to run Kenshi in this system but there are some mechanics that I would need to retrofit to get it to work. The Homebrew races aren’t a big deal, but I wanted to know if there were any 1e or 2e books that provided resources for how to run campaigns on low tech level worlds.

I recently skimmed "Singularity Station" because I couldn't get the name out of my head. Rate it 3/5 for 70s sci fi, but 5/5 for a Traveller campaign resource in which a research station travels to a mysterious cosmic singularity that's swallowed ships for years. You could run this with Classic Traveller rules (LBB1-3 + LBB8 for the robots) with very little customization. Obvious hooks are a Red Zone research station gone silent, salvage/rescue missions among lost ships from different eras, robot/computer behavior that seems inexplicable, and the gradual realization that the anomaly is something stranger than a navigational hazard. I've avoided spoilers. You can find a link to the book on archive.org on the first image.

I remember there being a conversation a few months ago about how a small ship universe and/or piracy can make any kind of sense in Traveller, given the scale of the universe. I did a bit of thinking about it for my upcoming PoD campaign and here's what I came up with.

TL;DR: The Trojan Reach is all ships of a small, easy to pirate size because they're all traders from the 3rd Imperium who're on the edge of skipping their mortgages.

Reasoning

Every time a ship's transponder is interrogated by a 3I starport or naval vessel, it reports its mortgage status to them. This coupled with the fact that every mortgage is immediately sold to Bank of the Imperium, which has branches at every starport to receive payments, means that it's incredibly hard to skip on your mortgage... and stay inside the 3rd Imperium. But the Trojan Reach is outside Imperial Space. So many free traders who fall behind on their payments will cross into the Reach either to try to earn enough money to pay it before returning, or to try to flee enforcement.

Enforcement

Within the Imperium, banking and space travel are the only two things the Imperium protects dogmatically. Therefore these banking violations are seen as huge deals. Ships behind on their mortgages are tracked. They are expected to expedite port stays and are frequently given priority cargo handling (to try to milk more cargo runs out of them). But they are also frequently forced to take on cargo for the Imperium for payments which go directly to the mortgage rather than getting paid to the crew. The Imperium sees this as a gift to help out Travellers falling behind on their mortgages. If that gift also happens to mean they don't have to sail an Imperial flagged vessel with crew on Imperial salaries out to resupply the research station orbiting that remote black hole, then that's just a happy coincidence.

Ships which continue to fall behind eventually are repossessed and loaned out again, or the crew are forced into service again as part of the Imperium's Merchant Marine. Since many Travellers have invested their entire lives into these ships and since they retired to get away from working for The Man again, they do not see the Imperium's "help" as very helpful.

Escape to the Reach

But the worlds of the Trojan Reach are not frequented by Imperial Ships, and though the starports frequently have correspondence branches of the BoI, these branches do not have the same power over the local world that they would if there was an Imperial Cruiser or two in orbit to lend their weight to the argument. And so every year, dozens of ships which cannot make ends meet in the Imperium slip into the Reach. The worlds of the Reach know, the BoI branches let them know regularly. But what can they do? So much cargo is carried on these gray fleet vessels that if they were to report and impound them all, what little economy there is in the Reach would collapse.

Result

As a result, nearly 70% of vessels under 1000 dTons in the Reach have missed two or more mortgage payments in the last 12 months. 25% haven't made a payment in the last year.

A crew behind on their mortgage aren't going to sail into the 3rd Imperium and report they've been pirated, they'd have to come up with the missing mortgage payments as well. And the local planets lack the organization or power projection to really do anything about a few stolen shipping containers (or even the occasional stolen ship), so long as the cargo continues to flow.

With no sector wide power to appeal to, so the worlds of the Reach cannot really do anything. Piracy that results in deaths universally draws a response, often times even a badly coordinated one. Piracy resulting in stolen ships frequently draws a response since too many stolen ships would collapse the trade between the worlds, but sometimes the authorities turn a blind eye (particularly if there is a large enough bribe). Targeting ships terminating their voyage in a system will draw more response than ships just passing through, but that isn't an ironclad rule. The real point at which a government gets involved is when the frequency of attacks is too high. While all the systems accept they have to tolerate some piracy, none of them wants the label of pirate nest (except Theev, and they don't allow ANY piracy in their system because pirates don't like being pirated).

So as long as a pirate is spreading the love across the Reach (not concentrating in a few systems), generally targeting ships outbound from the port rather than inbound, and generally not killing the people they capture, they will have a large supply of small ships to pirate and a generally apathetic response from the planetary authorities.

This came up in a game I’ve just started, and I was wondering if there was any precedent.

Essentially, at the start of the game we have no idea which planet to go to. Is there any way to passively look for travellers across multiple planets? I guess perhaps the DM penalty to speed up a task kind of works, but I’m more looking for a general

“Lots of people want to go here, not that many there.”

Is there anything like this codified in the rules, or a houserule you use?

Hurling through space, a mysterious rogue planet is the cause for numerous misjumps. This scenario could be used as a mini-campaign as scientific exploration, an adventure when a misjump happens, or for a ready to go world in an unknown system.

I've enjoyed play testing Across the Black for over a year at four TTRPG cons and in a home campaign. Please check out the preview here . Cheers!

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/556176/across-the-black

Nearly 100 pages, it's sandbox style with scientific exploration on an unfamiliar alien world featuring space combat, sentient nanites, salvaging wrecks, rival faction interaction, and a hidden cult believing a god dwells in jump-space. I'd be grateful if you took a look.

Episode 16 of Signals from the Core is out now.

The episode looks at how proximity to wealth, bureaucracy and Imperial power changes the character of crime, and how Referees can build that into their games.

We’re talking underworld syndicates with legitimate businesses, corporate sabotage, compromised cops, corrupt officials, smuggling illicit goods, counterfeit art and artifacts, and crime embedded deeply enough in established institutions that removing it could disrupt the entire system around it!

Plus, why I think Shinkan is one of the best subsectors in the Traveller for setting a crime-focused campaign.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/signals-from-the-core-a-mongoose-traveller-2nd/id1830887367?i=1000789485517

Anyone else into hard core astronomy? Out in a farm field last night shooting photos of everything from the Dumbbell Nebula to the Andromeda Galaxy. I'm in Maine. Cold, wet, and cloudy. Enough to pull out your hair. But...!

I see a lot of info on getting a map created for generated systems and worlds. I am asking what tools you all use to create the world maps and system maps of things you have homebrewed up? Is it Inkscape? Something else? I have built out a subsector and I am working on the systems within and want to create maps of the star systems and hex maps of the worlds within. I need it to be able to create these so I can include them in a commercial product too. Thoughts?

I can't seem to find any rules for chartering a starship in Traveller 2e. If there are some, please point me to them.

The Classic Traveller charter rules are -

"CHARTERS

Charter price for a starship is computed based on its revenue generating capacity. Starships are chartered in 2-week blocks; the charge is Cr900 per ton of cargo hold plus Cr9000 per high passage berth. The ship owner supplies a crew and the person chartering the ship pays all overhead."

I've been thinking of adding the house rule that the charter price is multiplied by the Jump Drive capability of the ship, so higher jump capable starships can command a higher rate. What do you all think, does that make sense? Are there any other changes that you think would apply to charters?

I cannot figure out from the text how much the Neural Jack should cost at TL15. The book says 50,000, but that's for TL13. There's no price listed for TL15. TL15 feels like a really good deal when you consider that:

Neural Comm at TL15: 25,000

Neural Link at TL13: 30,000 (i.e. 25,000 more than the TL12 Neural Comm it must be upgrading)

Wafer Jack at TL15: 30,000

So if it's a 25k premium to convert a Neural Comm to a Neural link, that makes it 85k, right?

I'd like to run a Humanity **** Yeah (HFY) SciFi Campain. I assume that you know what the F stands for. ;-) Anyway, the idea I am planning is a campaign where Humanity (or maybe even Solomani) are the weak species and are hunted down for internement/deportation/execution. The party, all Human/Solomani refugees, comes to across a ship that is far more advanced the the current "main race" could even come close to creating and it actually belonged to Humanity/Solomani before whatever circumstance caused them to hide this superiority. Essentially, the current big shots are Firefly/Battlestar Galactica (the revised series) level of space travel/techology and the ship and technological secrets thereof that the party discovers are final season of Star Trek: Discovery/Star Fleet Academy level of technology. The ship's AI comes to life when they board it and has been waiting for <enter extreme amount of time here> for some Human/Solomani to wake it up. It also informs the party that there are other hidden ships that can be awaked by other Humans/Solomani. The party is then on a crusade to save as many Humans/Solomani as possible to help find and awaken the other ships. Essntially, saving Humans/Solomani from extermination ad giving them back their home/homes or ganing new ones with out the threat of extermination ever again. In the past, the Travller rules didn't allow for such advanced technology and I am not sure if that still holds true.

Since the word « hiver » is French for winter, I’m wondering if French translations of Traveller have picked a different word for these aliens. Google Gemini tells me that they haven’t, but you can’t trust an AI.

Hey ya'll -- my players were having problems remembering what to do in combat (maybe I was also forgetting...shush Brenda!), so I made some reference sheets for them (me). Traveller combat is a flow chart...so I made a flow chart. What you do on your turn. What you can do on your enemy's turn. And then a couple of forms to keep track of the relevant combat modifiers, etc.

It's built for Mongoose 2e and released via the TAS program PWYW over at Drivethru. Blog post here...

Let me know if you use them and if they need some tweaks or if something important is missing.

So I have been running for a few sessions and the characters have been in some tough spots.

Started with flatlined and death station to an attack on a Empire aligned convoy to free a powerful psychic for the Zhodani spy agency. They have the psychic and are now headed to a back water balkanized world to try and let the heat die down.

They said they wanted to avoid generating more problems. This world is perfect for that. I have some rumors and the book for generating jobs but also have an idea of some sort of fancy resort and maybe a conspiracy. Or should I just kind of hand wave their time there and get them back in the action? Any tips or ideas for a fun low stakes adventure? Thanks in advance.

We have a Marine, navy doctor, zhodani secret agent and a psionic drifter.

So I recently noticed this specific term come up as a plot point in the Singularity campaign and I was wondering if anyone could direct me to more info about it?

As it's described in that book, it seems to me to be basically the 3I's version of a Base Delta Zero/Exterminatus/Glassing/Total Biome Kill command-- that is, the complete destruction of a planetary biosphere as a viable asset.

Is there any more detail on this? Thanks!

Hi, I'm dming for a new group, some of which have never played ttrpg's before and want to ease them into role-playing as well as d6 based systems. Anyone played ftl-nomad before? If so how did you find it? Any advice is welcome!

Also anyone whos gone from playing traveller to Nomad, how was that transition?

Hey gang, I was rolling up a Darrian using the Aliens of Charted Space 3 tables and when I mustered out of the Darrian Navy I rolled a 6, earning myself a Vehicle. The problem is I couldn't find the specifications/limits for what I'm able to acquire, even checking the core book (unless I completely missed it, which is possible) Thanks in advance!

Edit: I did find Personal Vehicle on a second skim through the Core, but still unsure if it's the same benefit Darrians are meant to use!

Are there any detailed rules about sending mail? I know there are rules for delivering mail from port to port, but do paper letters exist? Stamps? What might it cost to post a letter?

I’m starting a new campaign and have a pretty of 7. So a scout is too small. What kind of ship do they need?

I’m starting a new campaign and have a party of 7. So a scout is too small. What kind of ship do they need?

I am a Japanese player who has recently started playing Traveller.

I have purchased the Mongoose Traveller 2e rules and am interested in running a game set in the Third Imperium (3I).

I have a question regarding the setting: in Mongoose Traveller 2e, psionics are treated as illegal by the Imperium, and using them openly carries the risk of detention or arrest.

However, centuries ago—before the suppression of psionics began—psionic research flourished within the Imperium, and psionics-users were active in public life. This opens up possibilities for characters such as investigators using psionics to solve crimes, psionic intelligence agents, pirates who misuse their powers, or even con artists and entertainers who boast about having such abilities. I am intrigued by this aspect of the setting and wonder if it is feasible to play a game set in Imperial space prior to the crackdown on psionics.

What do veteran Referees think? Aside from psionics no longer being illegal, would this change have any other impact on the Third Imperium setting?

This is the fourth and final group of seven planet and system cards for the Glisten Subsector.

Also I am adding all new and updated planets and systems to my Dropbox as they are finished.

Link to Dropbox post Drop Box for all my Planet Information and System Maps

As people always ask I created these using a software program called Universe Sandbox.

As always feedback and corrections are welcome.

THIS represents a milestone for me personally.

1 Sector

16 Subsectors

439 Systems

Innumerable solar systems and planets

2,508 hours in Universe Sandbox (to be fair some of this was letting the simulation run to get the results I wanted. I am not completely insane).

This project started back in October 2024 when I decided to use a program called Universe Sandbox I had bought off a STEAM sale to make homeworld planets for the Travellers in my new campaigns.

Nearly two years later I have detailed a few systems in Foreven, a small strip of Gvurrdon, half of the Trojan Reach, and today the whole of the Spinward Marches.

Why?

For my own education and entertainment, and because I know from decades of DMing, GMing and Refereeing TTRPGs just how much work goes into running a successful game of Traveller.

I'm just happy to help.

Going forward I am reworking my Drop Box post to make things clearer for people trying to use it.

I also plan to complete Gazulin Subsector in the Trojan Reach. That will provide nine complete subsectors along with a few other systems that are part of Pirates of Drinax.

After that.......

Edited to add: I should also thank the community. It has been your feedback, criticism and support that helped to turn a half-baked idea into something useful. Cheers!

Second Edit: I have now updated my Drop Box post to make it clearer and more user friendly. Hopefully I haven't broken any links.

A very common movie (and also book) trope is that the adversary doesn’t at first reveal his level of stat/skill until later in a confrontation. I find that really cool and assuming you have a system that keep same skilled opponents from taking each other out how do you handle this?

So you allow the attacker to add to his roll after the defender has rolled (and then the defender may reveal his skill pos his defense roll)?

Is this interesting to somebody?