ISO A4 format - Freelance Traveller

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