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Critics’ CornerMongoose Traveller Alien Module 3: Darriansreviewed by “kafka”Mongoose Traveller Alien Module 3: Darrians. Pete NashMongoose Publishing http://www.mongoosepublishing.com168pp, hardboundUS$34.99/UK£24.99Again, due to Amazon cock-ups, I am late reviewingthis item that I have long had a pre-orderfor but Amazon deciding when there is a publishingdelay because they had not ordered enoughcopies decides unilaterally to cancel my order forcingme to go to a FLGS 800km away…I must admit, I felt great trepidation when I sawthis product announced. The Darrians had unfairlygained the reputation of being ―Space Elves‖ and Ifeared that I might see yet another ―Dragonstar‖ or―D&D in Space‖ rendition. As much as I lovedMongoose‘s race books for D&D, they have noplace in my Traveller universe. However, I knewmuch of fandom clamoured for ―Space Elves‖.My own view of the Darrians was that theywere a minor human race, found in the SpinwardMarches, that managed to struggle against all oddsto become one of the dominant minor players in theMarches – that is, they were in some ways the Israelisof Chartered Space – whether they hadpointed ears or not was irrelevant. Not that onetakes exception to looking at pictures of Darrian/Elven babes/beaus. Thankfully, I was rewardedwith an excellent product.Like the other race books that Mongoose hasproduced, it follows a similar pattern: New careersfor aliens, a smattering of history, some starshipsand other toys, the worlds of the Darrian Confederation,possible patrons and encounters and a sectionon how to play them.The careers section is well flushed out and containedexcellent descriptions of the differences betweenthe Darrians and the Imperial norm. Here,the right balance between skill acquisition and timespent in a career was perfectly balanced. The authorclearly had GDW‘s original alien module as aguide but his own interpretation of it reconciles theinternal contradictions and makes the society seemmore ―real‖. For example, equating Social Stand-ing with knowledge acquisition was an absolutelybrilliant move in the Darrian sphere.There are deck plans but there are also illustrationsof the starships; sadly, the pictures of the starshipsare sensor profile and in no way resemble thephenomenal starship art of the main rulebook.While on the topic of art, the art in this book istruly some of the best Traveller art that I have seenin a very long time. Yes, the Darrians are portrayedas Elfinesque, but I was so impressed that Iwould routinely ignore the hypertrophic ears forthe quality of the art contained within. Gone arethe cartoonish and silly art that has marked muchof Mongoose‘s line up to now. Hopefully, it marksa new era where gritty realism and photo-like illustrationscome to the fore for at least their Travellerline. Especially commendable was their illustrationsof the different character careers. True, thereweren‘t any Darrian babes/beaus but I understandthat their agreement with Marc prevents that.Pete Nash did a great job reconstructing Darrianhistory, eliminating many of the grey areasthat marked the original Alien Module and updat-(Continued on page 3)2
Critics’ Corner(Continued from page 2)ing it to more current understandings of science.For example, the super flares that were so much aparanormal fear in the 1970s get a realistic reexaminationthat is less paranormal although tracescould still be found there - this is sad. I realize thatPete Nash would have had the limitations of theoriginal module to contend with but there was apparentlyno consultation with some the old Traveller―grognards‖ who could have at least vetted themanuscript and perhaps incorporated some of thework that SJGames has done on the Darrians.Some of the tech such as the Meson egg cooker isquite fun but really is not Traveller. But other innovationslike Pandora‘s Box were excellent andwell thought through.If there was one thing lacking which was presentin previous Mongoose Alien Module products,it would be a series of tropes or caricatures of howto actually play the Darrians from popular(Science) Fiction films/books. So, I was still leftwondering whether the Darrians are ―Space Elves‖or not… I also would have liked to see more onthe Sword Worlds-Darrians conflict played out – IFifth ImperiumThis column is intended to be areferee's guide to Mongoose'sTraveller, the fifth incarnation ofthe Traveller game system. Oftenit'll talk about the many printedresources out there and availableto the gamemaster, supplementingmy own reviews on those topics,but sometimes it'll offer more specificadvice for GMing the game.Editor’s Note: The initial Fifth Imperium column was publishedon the RPG.Net website in July 2009, and appeared in FreelanceTraveller’s initial issue in November 2009. This column originallyappeared on the RPG.Net website in January 2011.got the sense that the Darrians were as much akinto the Nordic countries who were facing off againsta rising Germany as they were Israelis. Travellerclaims that it does not ground itself in real worldpolities but as many know, the war gaming roots ofTraveller often show up of simulacra of ―the realworld‖.All-in-all this is an outstanding product. I lookforward to future offerings and hope that Mongoosecan keep the excellent cadre of writers thatare now emerging on staff. Mongoose‘s Third Imperiumis starting to look more and more like theImperium that I know and love…their first independentcampaign (Tripwire) left a bad taste in mymouth. Even though I am a big fan of the gamesystem and the changes that Mongoose has made init…they have to respect the history of Traveller aswell as build the future. Despite its high price, Ifeel this product was worth every penny spent uponit.Keep up the excellent work, Mongoose!Style 5/5Substance 5/5Shannon AppelclineA few months ago I finished running a year anda half long campaign of Mongoose Traveller. I‘llagain point you to my complete AP of all twentyweeks of play at http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=451150. Along the way Ilearned a few lessons applicable to similar campaigns.In my last article, I talked about some ofthe things I learned about Traveller publications,while this month I‘m going to talk about more personallessons learned about GMing Traveller.A Few More Lessons Learned: AboutGMing Traveller6. A little bit at a time works well. I‘ve beenliving and breathing Traveller on-and-off for thelast twenty years. I skimmed through the littleblack books in my youth, voraciously read aboutthe Rebellion in the 1980s, and enjoyed the awesomebooks put out by DGP in the years thereafter.So, I can pretty readily identify the difference betweena Hiver and a K‘kree and can otherwise thoroughlydetail the universe of the Third Imperium.That‘s a pretty good background to have as theGM of a setting, but I knew from the start that if I(Continued on page 4)3
Page 1 and 2: FREELANCETRAVELLERThe Electronic Fa
Page 3: ContentsFreelance Traveller #014: F
Page 7 and 8: Fifth Imperium(Continued from page
Page 9 and 10: Up Close and Personal(Continued fro
Page 11 and 12: Critics’ Corner(Continued from pa
Page 13: Active Measures(Continued from page
Page 16 and 17: Doing It My Way(Continued from page
Page 18 and 19: In A Store Near YouEF2 Emergency Fl

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