Best and worst Classic Traveller adventures?

[Gray Lensman]

Fixed your typo.

:rofl: Since we are being picky...

Issue 5: Foodrunner, by Mike Metlay

Issue 8: A Dagger at Efate, by John Lewis

Both are also in Best of JTAS #2

 

[by_the_sword]

Thank you Vargas and Gray Lensman.

If I were home and had my books in front of me instead of out at sea, I would have cited those references properly.

 

[iron warrior]

Just get the CD's...

For me, TTA is THE campaign. some of the best removable bits, however, includ Zilan Wine and the incident on Psaydi.

Worst is a toss up between exit visa, Signal GK, and Prison Planet, in a 3 way tie.

Most of the stuff in JTAS is good to very good.

Hey! Signal GK was my very first traveller experience!

 

[iron warrior]

Research Station Gamma is a good way to gently wean D&D types out of the dungeon by sticking them in a Sci Fi 'dungeon'. Once you've got them hooked, then you can drag them out ot the stars.

Excellent observation! If this board supported rewards I'd toss you one.

 

[iron warrior]

I'm astounded that no one's mentioned "secrets of the ancients" as a worst, which was, frankly, a total railroad and just an excuse to get people to stop bugging GW with questions re the ancients.

 

[Hyphen]

Worst CT adventures?

Shadows (too much like a dungeon-crawl to me).

This one's good if you want to transition players who have only ever played dungeon-crawls to an SF RPG. They get to dungeon-crawl and snipe at things, only they have rifles instead of bows.

Prison Planet (takes too long; really a mini-campaign).

Also forces the DM into somehow making the characters into criminals. As Loren has pointed out, many early (CT) scenarios assumed the PC's were crims, regularly involved in criminal activity. Probably not the best basis for a long-term game.

Best?

Some of the JTAS scenarios by the late, great John M. Ford, such as "Aces & Eights" and "Veedback".

_Twilight's Peak_ is also fun, and work well if you're running _Adventure 0_ (scouting the Marches) as an introduction.

Lastly, I agree that most CT scenarios cannot be run off-the-shelf, and you have to pad them out with your own creations (whether they be maps, NPCs, etc).

 

[NW_Paul]

I would agree w/ the previously mentioned Exit Visa and Prison Planet as worst - Exit Visa was just annoying, and Prison Planet is a tough one to throw at players who simply may not be interested in playing this type of scenario.

For best, there are a lot of good ones, but I'd vote for The Sky Raiders Trilogy (though Fate is much weaker than Legend and Trail); and Twilight's Peak.

In terms of Judges Guild, I'm actually a big fan of their offerings - I don't think there's anything I couldn't live without, but many have some good ideas. Darthanon Queen is a pretty good interpretation of Alien. I also like the four sectors (Ley, Glimmerdrift Reaches, Maranatha - Alkahest, and Crucis Margin) to be the existing sectors in that portion of my interpretation of the Imperium.

 

[Vargas]

For best, there are a lot of good ones, but I'd vote for The Sky Raiders Trilogy . . .

I'm not quibbling with you on your choice, I'm merely curious: What was it about Sky Raiders that everyone seems to love so much? I never played it back in the day but I've heard more than a few people extol it's virtues.

 

[NW_Paul]

It was just a really neatly done trilogy. The flavor was almost Indiana Jones with aliens. Had a good plot line; good (meaning pretty detestable) villains; interesting patron/NPCs. I had a thoroughly enjoyable time playing them back in Jr High.

They're definitely worth picking up if you can find them used.

 

[The Oz]

I'm not quibbling with you on your choice, I'm merely curious: What was it about Sky Raiders that everyone seems to love so much? I never played it back in the day but I've heard more than a few people extol it's virtues.

Good story line, well-written characters, the usual superb Keith artwork, maps that were useful, and an interesting background that allowed for other adventures.

I would say the Keith Brothers provided the most consistently useful materials for Traveller.

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

Shadows will always hold a special place as an intro into SFRPGs for DnD players (as has been mentioned before), especially since I've run it "as is" each time -- only the characters have changed.

Yorbund is a great place to be from, it seems, since the Mob (IMTU) runs practically everything there, and if you don't fall in with them by the end of your first term, then you're bound to have a falling out with them, sooner or later. It seems that anyone with any sense gets off-world as soon as they can.

Even when played out, 'Shadows' can still be useful. IMTU, the Forboldn Project features a colonial HQ inside a similar alien structure ... "Yeah, we had to do a lot of scraping and painting inside, and it seemed to take forever to get that antique power plant back on line...". Also, for years afterwards my players would check the serial numbers on all of their equipment and scan the library data for recall notices.

 

[beowulf2044]

Ah, Sky Raiders. It's a great campaign with good surprises and a sense of 'This is BIG' for the players.

I'd call it the Keith Brothers at their best; truly alien sophonts and critters, (semi) ancient history and a variety of enviroments (though nothing as extreme as Ordeal by Esharr)

 

[Vargas]

They're definitely worth picking up if you can find them used.

They're on the CT FASA CD for those who are interested.

And thanks for the info.

 

[Hyphen]

Shadows will always hold a special place as an intro...

Agreed. IMTU, the forerunner of Adifux was created when the PC's found the pyramids and decided to stake out a landclaim, later selling the whole shebang off to the U of R for lots of credits.

The original company? Yorbund Exploration and Development, Inc...

(g, d & r!)

 

[NW_Paul]

They're on the CT FASA CD for those who are interested.

And thanks for the info.

Good info to know if I ever lose my hard copies!