Non-GDW adventure recommendations

[BigJackBrass]

After patiently nurturing my gaming group to the point where they will not run screaming to the hills the moment I unveil Traveller to them I'm looking through old adventures to find the good stuff.

I have all of the GDW material, either in thumbed-to-destruction LBBs or on the official CD-ROM collection, and a few books from BITS, but I'm particularly interested in recommendations for adventures from other sources, either on-line, in old magazines or other print sources. Naturally not every adventure will suit every group, but at this stage I'd rather find out what other GMs regard as the scenarios worth running.

Judges Guild materials are easy to find (although I never thought much of what I saw from them for other games) and copies of Dragon, White Dwarf etc. are also widely available. Even if an adventure is likely to be difficult to obtain, however, I'd still be interested to hear about it, assuming it's something you can really recommend.

Many thanks for your help.

 

[BigJackBrass]

After patiently nurturing my gaming group to the point where they will not run screaming to the hills the moment I unveil Traveller to them I'm looking through old adventures to find the good stuff.

I have all of the GDW material, either in thumbed-to-destruction LBBs or on the official CD-ROM collection, and a few books from BITS, but I'm particularly interested in recommendations for adventures from other sources, either on-line, in old magazines or other print sources. Naturally not every adventure will suit every group, but at this stage I'd rather find out what other GMs regard as the scenarios worth running.

Judges Guild materials are easy to find (although I never thought much of what I saw from them for other games) and copies of Dragon, White Dwarf etc. are also widely available. Even if an adventure is likely to be difficult to obtain, however, I'd still be interested to hear about it, assuming it's something you can really recommend.

Many thanks for your help.

 

[Supplement Four]

If you're looking for fully fleshed out adventures, with weapon stats, fleshed out NPCs, and room/starship maps...adventures in the old D&D style (TSR always knew how to put together a good adventure), then I've got a few ideas for you...

The old Space Master adventures are out of print and should be cheap to find. They're incredible. Easily convertible to Traveller (and they even come with a conversion chart for 2D6 systems). And, they always have neat, spacey-plots that fit adventure in the far future. I love those old things.

The old Star Frontiers modules are an idea, although I don't think as well suited to Traveller as the old Space Master stuff.

D6 Star Wars has some incredible adventures--you'll have to find the ones with less of a "Star Wars" stamp on them.

Also, don't forget that there are some fantastic old (and not so old) Traveller adventures out there.

The Traveller Adventure is incredible.

BITS' recent Cold Dark Grave is probably the best Traveller adventure I've ever read.

Disappearance on Aramat comes to mind.

So does the Keith Brothers' (published by FASA) Sky Raider trilogy.

Also, for MT, there's a couple of very good adventures: Flaming Eye and Knightfall.

FASA also did Rescue on Galatea and Ordeal By Eshaar.

Get your hands on a Traveller's Digest magazine, published by DGP. Each and every TD featured a well designed adventure. If you can put your hands on one of the four published MegaTraveller Journals, you'll find yourself in excellent adventure-land.

Also, for T4, BITS' dual adventure starting with Long Way Home and ending with Gateway are both well designed adventures, well worth playing.

While we're talking about BITS', I've been very impressed with most of the adventures they've published. Delta 3 Is Down is no slouch.

Duneraiders, published by Gamelords, written by William Keith is an excellent example of a Traveller adventure.

Gamelords also published Acent to Anekthor and The Drenslaar Quest.

Believe it or not, Judges Guild published some fair-to-good adventures (content...not presentation).

And, let's not forget Avenger. They're putting out some CT adventures, although I'm not as familiar with them.

Question: Except for Avenger and BITS offerings, why is it that most of the very good adventures for Traveller were published 20 years ago? I can't think of one GURPS Traveller or T20 adventure that is worth mentioning. And, besides the two BITS efforts, official T4 hasn't a good selection of adventures either.

GDW couldn't write a good adventure to save their souls (yeah, I know there are a couple of diamonds in the rough...but their adventures were always what I'd call adventure outlines--not full-fledged adventures).

I've always felt this hurt Traveller.

But, I digress.

That's a pretty good set of choices above to set you off, selecting that right one for your group.

Also, check the net. Surf the various Traveller web sites. There are a couple of Traveller adventures online out there in the ether. Argonaut and Deep Shadows (sequel to the GDW adventure Shadows) comes to mind.

-S4

 

[Supplement Four]

If you're looking for fully fleshed out adventures, with weapon stats, fleshed out NPCs, and room/starship maps...adventures in the old D&D style (TSR always knew how to put together a good adventure), then I've got a few ideas for you...

The old Space Master adventures are out of print and should be cheap to find. They're incredible. Easily convertible to Traveller (and they even come with a conversion chart for 2D6 systems). And, they always have neat, spacey-plots that fit adventure in the far future. I love those old things.

The old Star Frontiers modules are an idea, although I don't think as well suited to Traveller as the old Space Master stuff.

D6 Star Wars has some incredible adventures--you'll have to find the ones with less of a "Star Wars" stamp on them.

Also, don't forget that there are some fantastic old (and not so old) Traveller adventures out there.

The Traveller Adventure is incredible.

BITS' recent Cold Dark Grave is probably the best Traveller adventure I've ever read.

Disappearance on Aramat comes to mind.

So does the Keith Brothers' (published by FASA) Sky Raider trilogy.

Also, for MT, there's a couple of very good adventures: Flaming Eye and Knightfall.

FASA also did Rescue on Galatea and Ordeal By Eshaar.

Get your hands on a Traveller's Digest magazine, published by DGP. Each and every TD featured a well designed adventure. If you can put your hands on one of the four published MegaTraveller Journals, you'll find yourself in excellent adventure-land.

Also, for T4, BITS' dual adventure starting with Long Way Home and ending with Gateway are both well designed adventures, well worth playing.

While we're talking about BITS', I've been very impressed with most of the adventures they've published. Delta 3 Is Down is no slouch.

Duneraiders, published by Gamelords, written by William Keith is an excellent example of a Traveller adventure.

Gamelords also published Acent to Anekthor and The Drenslaar Quest.

Believe it or not, Judges Guild published some fair-to-good adventures (content...not presentation).

And, let's not forget Avenger. They're putting out some CT adventures, although I'm not as familiar with them.

Question: Except for Avenger and BITS offerings, why is it that most of the very good adventures for Traveller were published 20 years ago? I can't think of one GURPS Traveller or T20 adventure that is worth mentioning. And, besides the two BITS efforts, official T4 hasn't a good selection of adventures either.

GDW couldn't write a good adventure to save their souls (yeah, I know there are a couple of diamonds in the rough...but their adventures were always what I'd call adventure outlines--not full-fledged adventures).

I've always felt this hurt Traveller.

But, I digress.

That's a pretty good set of choices above to set you off, selecting that right one for your group.

Also, check the net. Surf the various Traveller web sites. There are a couple of Traveller adventures online out there in the ether. Argonaut and Deep Shadows (sequel to the GDW adventure Shadows) comes to mind.

-S4

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
The old Star Frontiers modules are an idea, although I don't think as well suited to Traveller as the old Space Master stuff.

You can download EVERY Star Frontiers adventure module (and rule books too) from THIS web page.

BTW, the old Gamma World modules come to mind as well--though I'd put them lower on the list. And, don't forget TSR's defunct Alternity. They had a few adventures that could be translated into Traveller.

Oh yeah, there's the old Space Opera stuff too.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
The old Star Frontiers modules are an idea, although I don't think as well suited to Traveller as the old Space Master stuff.

You can download EVERY Star Frontiers adventure module (and rule books too) from THIS web page.

BTW, the old Gamma World modules come to mind as well--though I'd put them lower on the list. And, don't forget TSR's defunct Alternity. They had a few adventures that could be translated into Traveller.

Oh yeah, there's the old Space Opera stuff too.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
Also, check the net. Surf the various Traveller web sites. There are a couple of Traveller adventures online out there in the ether. Argonaut and Deep Shadows (sequel to the GDW adventure Shadows) comes to mind.

Deep Shadows can be found
HERE.

Argonaut can be found downloaded HERE.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
Also, check the net. Surf the various Traveller web sites. There are a couple of Traveller adventures online out there in the ether. Argonaut and Deep Shadows (sequel to the GDW adventure Shadows) comes to mind.

Deep Shadows can be found
HERE.

Argonaut can be found downloaded HERE.

 

[BigJackBrass]

Thanks for the suggestions. I already have things like The Traveller Adventure and the adventures from BITS as well as a fair number of odds and ends I've found on-line: Deep Shadows and Argonaut are new to me, though, so I'll certainly check those out.

Older magazines such as Space Gamer have been very useful for finding recommendations for products, but of course not everything was widely reviewed. I'm less interested in converting material at this stage (partly down to lack of preparation time) but if things pick up then I shall be doing more in the way of conversions and writing my own adventures for the group. Adventure frameworks (the Double Adventure style, for instance) are fine, as I tend to make up a lot of details as I go, but I'd certainly prefer something that wasn't entirely a bare skeleton on which to hang your own plot. I've plenty of those hanging around already.

What would be especially helpful is suggestions of one or two adventures that refs have found to be really worth hunting down. The GDW stuff is a bit variable, so I'm having to spend a lot of time working my way through it to spot any obvious flaws or anything I know won't work for my group (such as trekking across a planet to get to the spaceport... Oh dear, I'd have a riot on my hands) , and having a more specific recommendation for third party adventures would be very useful.

Thanks again for the help; some good suggestions so far.

 

[BigJackBrass]

Thanks for the suggestions. I already have things like The Traveller Adventure and the adventures from BITS as well as a fair number of odds and ends I've found on-line: Deep Shadows and Argonaut are new to me, though, so I'll certainly check those out.

Older magazines such as Space Gamer have been very useful for finding recommendations for products, but of course not everything was widely reviewed. I'm less interested in converting material at this stage (partly down to lack of preparation time) but if things pick up then I shall be doing more in the way of conversions and writing my own adventures for the group. Adventure frameworks (the Double Adventure style, for instance) are fine, as I tend to make up a lot of details as I go, but I'd certainly prefer something that wasn't entirely a bare skeleton on which to hang your own plot. I've plenty of those hanging around already.

What would be especially helpful is suggestions of one or two adventures that refs have found to be really worth hunting down. The GDW stuff is a bit variable, so I'm having to spend a lot of time working my way through it to spot any obvious flaws or anything I know won't work for my group (such as trekking across a planet to get to the spaceport... Oh dear, I'd have a riot on my hands) , and having a more specific recommendation for third party adventures would be very useful.

Thanks again for the help; some good suggestions so far.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by BigJackBrass:
I'm less interested in converting material at this stage (partly down to lack of preparation time) but if things pick up then I shall be doing more in the way of conversions and writing my own adventures for the group.

The Space Master stuff really requires very, very little conversion. Like I said above, the SM authors write SM materials so that conversions to other systems is easy.

There's a 2D6 conversion chart in the front of each module, and SM uses a task system that is easily used with many Traveller task systems: MegaTraveller's Universal Task Profile, T4's task system, or even the Universal Game Mechanic.

I'd still recommend the Space Master stuff, because of this.

Otherwise, check out the Traveller's Digest. DGP always did a great job on adventures. They even published a set, taken from the TD's, called The Early Adventures. They're very good.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by BigJackBrass:
I'm less interested in converting material at this stage (partly down to lack of preparation time) but if things pick up then I shall be doing more in the way of conversions and writing my own adventures for the group.

The Space Master stuff really requires very, very little conversion. Like I said above, the SM authors write SM materials so that conversions to other systems is easy.

There's a 2D6 conversion chart in the front of each module, and SM uses a task system that is easily used with many Traveller task systems: MegaTraveller's Universal Task Profile, T4's task system, or even the Universal Game Mechanic.

I'd still recommend the Space Master stuff, because of this.

Otherwise, check out the Traveller's Digest. DGP always did a great job on adventures. They even published a set, taken from the TD's, called The Early Adventures. They're very good.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by BigJackBrass:
What would be especially helpful is suggestions of one or two adventures that refs have found to be really worth hunting down.

If you want just one suggestion, though, I'd say track down BITS' Cold Dark Grave. I'd say that it's THE Traveller adventure to own. It's got everything: Space Combat; Personal Combat; Politics; Down-n-out Traveller rogue heroes; Company intrigue; a plot that is integrated with established Traveller history. It's got it all.

Great freakin' adventure.

If your players don't like that one, then they won't like Traveller.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by BigJackBrass:
What would be especially helpful is suggestions of one or two adventures that refs have found to be really worth hunting down.

If you want just one suggestion, though, I'd say track down BITS' Cold Dark Grave. I'd say that it's THE Traveller adventure to own. It's got everything: Space Combat; Personal Combat; Politics; Down-n-out Traveller rogue heroes; Company intrigue; a plot that is integrated with established Traveller history. It's got it all.

Great freakin' adventure.

If your players don't like that one, then they won't like Traveller.

 

[BigJackBrass]

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
If you want just one suggestion, though, I'd say track down BITS' Cold Dark Grave.

That one is in the mail, on its way to me from BITS. Whether it arrives in time for the first session is anyone's guess, so I'm thinking of starting things off with Chamax Plague until I can get on with something more subtle

 

[BigJackBrass]

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
If you want just one suggestion, though, I'd say track down BITS' Cold Dark Grave.

That one is in the mail, on its way to me from BITS. Whether it arrives in time for the first session is anyone's guess, so I'm thinking of starting things off with Chamax Plague until I can get on with something more subtle

 

[Renard Ruche]

I haven't read through them, but I know Freelance Traveller has a section on adventures:
http://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/advents/index.html

 

[Renard Ruche]

I haven't read through them, but I know Freelance Traveller has a section on adventures:
http://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/advents/index.html

 

[rancke]

Originally posted by BigJackBrass:
After patiently nurturing my gaming group to the point where they will not run screaming to the hills the moment I unveil Traveller to them I'm looking through old adventures to find the good stuff.

I have all of the GDW material, either in thumbed-to-destruction LBBs or on the official CD-ROM collection, and a few books from BITS, but I'm particularly interested in recommendations for adventures from other sources, either on-line, in old magazines or other print sources. Naturally not every adventure will suit every group, but at this stage I'd rather find out what other GMs regard as the scenarios worth running.

I'm surprised (and a lil' bit hurt ( >>sniff<< )) that no one has suggested JTAS Online[*]. Granted, it will cost you $20 to get a two-year subscription, but in addition to about 150 articles published fortnightly over the next two years, those twenty dollars will buy you access to seven years' worth of archives, which currently means 936 articles, including 66 Campaign Settings, 51 Short Adventures, 106 Amber Zones, and 114 Casual Encounters. As a contributor, I'm a bit biased, of course, but you should be able to find twenty dollars' worth of stuff you can use in that lot.

[*] http://jtas.sjgames.com/login/


Hans

 

[rancke]

Originally posted by BigJackBrass:
After patiently nurturing my gaming group to the point where they will not run screaming to the hills the moment I unveil Traveller to them I'm looking through old adventures to find the good stuff.

I have all of the GDW material, either in thumbed-to-destruction LBBs or on the official CD-ROM collection, and a few books from BITS, but I'm particularly interested in recommendations for adventures from other sources, either on-line, in old magazines or other print sources. Naturally not every adventure will suit every group, but at this stage I'd rather find out what other GMs regard as the scenarios worth running.

I'm surprised (and a lil' bit hurt ( >>sniff<< )) that no one has suggested JTAS Online[*]. Granted, it will cost you $20 to get a two-year subscription, but in addition to about 150 articles published fortnightly over the next two years, those twenty dollars will buy you access to seven years' worth of archives, which currently means 936 articles, including 66 Campaign Settings, 51 Short Adventures, 106 Amber Zones, and 114 Casual Encounters. As a contributor, I'm a bit biased, of course, but you should be able to find twenty dollars' worth of stuff you can use in that lot.

[*] http://jtas.sjgames.com/login/


Hans