Adventure 1: Escape From Outpost 14

Introduction
Escape from Outpost 14 is the first introductory adventure for Traveller: Liftoff! It can be played as a quick
standalone game or as the first part of an adventure series that will take the travellers into danger of
many kinds as they unravel the mysteries unfolding along the Imperial frontier.

This adventure can be played with the pregenerated character, with characters created by the players or
with a mix of both. There is no one way to play out the adventure. Many different skills will be useful along
the way and different players will take differing approaches to solving the problems in front of them. Some
ideas might work better than others but overall there is one simple goal to this adventure to get out of a
bad situation alive. Characters who manage this have succeeded, no matter how they went about it.

Background
This information is commonly known or easily accessible through a search of the datanets. There are no
secrets or spoilers in this section, so it can be made available to the players in any form that the referee
wishes. However, the information available on the nets or facts that everyone knows might not always be
100% correct. It is almost never the full story. Wise players will treat this information as a general
overview of the situation and keep their eyes open for details that emerge along the way.

The Big Picture

The Third Imperium is over a thousand years old. It has suffered wars against its rivals and even civil war,
and while the core regions might be stable and safe, the frontiers are a lot more turbulent. The army and
the navy do their best to protect the citizens of the Imperium from raiders, criminals, pirates and foreign
invaders but there are only so many troops and so many warships. Resources are stretched thin along
the frontiers, and sometimes serious trouble flares up.

Spinward Marches sector is very far from the Imperial capital. It lies right at the Coreward (i.e. towards
the Galactic Core) and Spinward (in the direction of the galaxys spin) edge of the Imperium and has
borders with several foreign powers including:

The Zhodani Consulate, a very powerful state ruled by telepathic humans. The Imperium has
fought several wars with the Zhodani. At present the situation is tense (as usual) but few people
think there is any real chance of another war.
The Vargr Extents, a region of space containing many small states and independent worlds which
are mostly home to the Vargr, a race developed from Terrain canines. The Extents can be a
troubled region, with many petty wars and frequent raids by pirates.
The Sword Worlds, a small power that is generally hostile to the Imperium and its allies. The
Sword Worlders have fought alongside the Zhodani on several occasions.
The Darrian Confederation, a small power allied to the Imperium. The Darrians are great
scientists and have clashed with the Sword Worlders on several occasions.

There are also many independent worlds along the borders. Many worlds (within and outside the
Imperium) are populated by a mix of humans, Vargr and other races. Vargr are the second-commonest
race in Spinward Marches sector (after humans) and many serve alongside humans in the Imperial armed
forces. Vargr from the Extents, on the other hand, are not Imperial citizens but they do come into
Spinward Marches sector to trade and conduct business.

Aramis Subsector is part of Spinward Marches sector. It lies right on the Imperial border, with the
Zhodani Consulate to Spinward-Coreward and the Vargr Extents to Trailing-Coreward. The subsector is
not very important to the Imperium, and many worlds are backwaters that have seen little investment.

Aramis subsector is the home of the Imperial 214th Fleet, an under-strength force which rarely sends its
more powerful ships into the Coreward end of the subsector. Cruisers and destroyers are held back to
protect the key worlds of the subsector, leaving the frontier worlds very lightly protected.

One reason for this is politics. The Tukera family, a very powerful noble house, rules the world of Aramis,
which is also the subsector capital. The Tukera family owns Tukera Lines, a massive fleet of merchant
ships and liners that operates all across the Imperium, and naturally wants to protect its holdings and
ships. Thus the Tukera family have used their influence to persuade the navy to base its fleet at Aramis
and to concentrate on protecting the Rimward end of the subsector.

Navy patrols into the Coreward end of the subsector have been very sparse in recent years, and the
region is becoming increasingly lawless. In addition to local troubles, bands of raiders from the Vargr
Extents have begun slipping across the border to attack poorly protected shipping lanes and isolated
settlements on various planets.

Operation Drawbridge is a response to the situation in Aramis subsector. It is a joint project involving
Imperial Army, Navy and Scout Service personnel plus some independent merchant ship crews and
private forces including mercenaries funded by Tukera Lines. The aim of the operation is to improve the
security of the region by finding and dealing with trouble spots that include pirate bases and any other
centres of crime and lawlessness.

One element of Operation Drawbridge is a joint army/scout service/mercenary task force deployed to the
world of Jesedipere. The task force is just arriving to investigate reports of attacks on outlying
settlements. At present nobody really knows what to expect.

Jesedipere is a world lying right on the Coreward edge of Aramis subsector. Its Universal World Profile
(UWP) is C775300-7, which means that it is an average-sized planet with a breathable atmosphere and
reasonable amounts of water. The atmosphere is tainted, requiring visitors to wear a filter mask when
outdoors, but the world is welcoming enough that a few thousand people have settled there. Most live
close to the small starport, with the remainder scattered in small farming communities all over the planet.
Jesedipere is a mid-tech world with no real government or law enforcement outside the starport, just a
bunch of scattered farmers living their lives and as a rule not bothering anyone. Yet someone has been
attacking them.
Referees Guidance
The information in the next section is for the referee only. The players will find out some of this
information by experience as they go through the adventure. They may not really know what is going on
which is an important part of the adventure. The referee should not explain the situation to the players
directly, but could have a knowledgeable character tell them what he or she thinks is happening in-game.
Of course, this source of information might not always be reliable people do make guesses and get it
wrong or tell lies for their own purposes.

One important rule of running a game is:

What you say directly to the players as referee must be true, but what your characters say to their
characters need not be.

So if you (as referee) tell the players that they can see a starship on the landing pad, then there should be
a starship on the pad. As they get closer they might find out that its actually badly damaged and wont fly
if they could not see that from a distance then you are not obliged to tell them. But it needs to be there;
you mustnt lie to the players. On the other hand, if a character you play tells the player-characters that
there is a ship on the pad when there is not, thats different. Youre playing a character whos a liar, not
lying directly to the players.

This concept might not be too critical during this adventure, but it is possible that some of the people the
characters meet might have wild theories about what is happening that turn out to be nonsense. That can
create all kinds of interesting situations if the characters try to act on incorrect information.

Referees Information
The situation on Jesedipere does not look too bad as far as the Imperial authorities can see. They are
aware of increased piracy and raiding in the area, and have heard that some outlying settlements have
been attacked. This is pretty awful for the people who live there, but it is a small-scale problem or
rather, it looks like one.

In fact Jesedipere has been targeted by more than raiders. A political organisation called Free Marches
has used the worlds settlements to train its troops and to test a terrifying weapon, and is planning on
launching a campaign of terror across the subsector and perhaps beyond. The goal of the Free Marches
movement is to overthrow Imperial authority and replace it with their own leaders. Free Marches is known
to the Imperial authorities but up to now has been little more than a nuisance. The situation has changed
recently.

Free Marches has vastly increased its power for two reasons. The first is that it has managed to take
control of a large pirate group that operates close to the Imperial borders. This has given Free Marches a
base and huge amounts of money as well as starships and ground forces. The organisation is nowhere
near powerful enough to attack a major world, but it could pose a serious threat to minor settlements
along the frontier and its power is growing.

Much worse, the Free Marches organisation has gained access to a terrifying biological weapon. Far to
Spinward, just beyond the Imperial border, lies the devastated world of Chamax. Chamax was overrun by
mysterious bugs which ate every living thing on the planet. Most of the bugs died out for lack of food, but
some have been captured and bred. If they were introduced onto a planet with life, the bugs would breed
enormously fast and might wipe out everyone who lived there.
There are more than one types of bug. Hunters search for food but cannot breed, whilst Maternals do
nothing but produce more bugs if they are fed. The Free Marches movement has figured out how to force
the bugs into hibernation (intense cold causes them to become dormant) and have landed small numbers
of Hunters on Jesedipere to see what they will do. With no Maternals to direct them, the Hunters ran
amok and killed everyone they encountered which is exactly what the Free Marches leaders wanted.

If this field test proves successful, the next step might be to drop Hunters into a city somewhere, or even
set up a nest with a Maternal and let it breed. If not halted in time, the bugs could even breed more
Maternals and create more nests eventually killing all life on the target planet.

Of course, the Imperial authorities do not know any of this. They think they are sending a force in
investigate pirate raids and some wild rumours that have started. Once the scouting force is on the
ground, events begin to unfold which will lead to a new understanding of the situation.

Playing out the Adventure

The basic storyline of the adventure goes like this:

The characters arrive on Jesedipere as part of the scouting mission

The characters look around a town that has been attacked and find some clues about what has
happened.
The characters are attacked by bug-like alien monsters and see a starship crash just after takeoff
A radio message is received saying that the main camp has been overrun
The characters see a force of bugs on the move and realise that they need to escape
The best chance for escape is the damaged starship they saw; the characters need to reach it
before they are overrun by the bugs
The characters travel overland to the ship, encountering other dangers on the way
The characters reach the ship and patch it up enough to fly themselves to safety.

In short, the story is about escaping from a disaster. The characters have a lot of freedom of action but if
they hang around too long theyre bug food. So they have pressure to get moving. The referee can use
this if the group starts to faff about too much or loses direction. For beginning player groups, having a
clear goal and a time constraint (some fiction writers call this having a clock) helps keep the game from
getting side-tracked or bogged down.

The adventure is presented in segments, much like scenes in a play or TV show. Each segment is played
out before the next begins, but it is up to the referee and the players what happens in between. If the
characters want to start wandering around the countryside rescuing kittens from trees (or whatever) then
they have the freedom to do so. However, they are on a time limit and may have to choose between
doing something they consider interesting and making it to the extraction point in time.
 Escape From Outpost 14
Remember that what is presented here is just the key elements of the storyline. The referees dramatic
flair and the actions of the players will combine to create a memorable story.

Players Introduction
The story is the same for pretty much everyone in Task Force Jesedipere. The details vary a bit but
basically they heard about something called Operation Drawbridge and volunteered or were
assigned or saw there was a big bonus payment and signed on as a freelancer. Any way it happened,
the task force assembled at the Scout Service base on Nasemin, then boarded a bunch of small starships
for the journey to Jesedipere.

Now youre roaring down through the atmosphere towards a small farming town. Everyone is checking
their issued equipment and trying to look businesslike. The mission is about to begin and nobody really
knows what to expect.

You go back over what you do know as you wait for the ship to land.

Jesedipere is a habitable planet with just a few thousand people living on it. Its atmosphere is
tainted, which means you need a filter mask to breathe it safely. Youd be all right for a while but
then youd get sick, so keep your mask on!
Several towns on Jesedipere have been raided by pirates landing from starships. You are part of
a task force assigned to investigate.
Your target is designated Outpost 14. You are part of a small team assigned to meet the locals or
investigate what happened to them. You will then report in by radio and be told what to do next.
There are several small teams like yours. The main force will be landing at a larger settlement
about 20 kilometres away. The starships will drop off the ground teams and then land at the
worlds starport on the other side of the planet.
The task force is a mix of Army, Scout Service and other personnel with a mix of skills. Nobody is
really sure what to expect, so stay alert and watch for anything out of the ordinary.

The ship hits the ground pretty hard and the cargo doors slide open. Your team steps down onto a
new world and looks around.

Operation Drawbridge has begun.

Referee: This adventure begins a bit like a movie or TV show, straight into the action. The characters can
get to know one another along the way, just like a TV show doesnt spend two episodes telling you all
about each character before something happens. There is one non-player character with the group; a
Scout Service operative named Evan Caalinii. Evan is detailed in the Characters section, below.
On The Ground
As the ship takes off behind them (Its a Type A2 Far Trader, if anyone asks), the characters find
themselves on the ground, a couple of hundred metres from a small collection of buildings that grandly
calls itself a town. There are four dwellings; typical frontier-world buildings of local timber. They are
probably sealed against the atmospheric taint using resin or something; its hard to tell from here. There
are also a couple of barns and an equipment shed.

Its strangely quiet.

As the characters approach, they can see that something is wrong here. There are no people around.
Nobody working in the fields, no tractors or agrobots (agricultural robots) trundling about no signs of life
at all. Some of the house doors stand open, which is odd on a tainted-atmosphere world. Most people are
careful to avoid getting much of the outside air into their homes.

As the characters investigate, the referee should play for tension and mystery at first, and then slowly
reveal the horror of what has happened here. One of the house doors has been smashed in, and inside
there are parts of bodies scattered around. At first it is not obvious what has happened; the flesh has
been picked clean and most of the bones are missing, but there are some bits and pieces scattered
around. There is also the remains of a shotgun on the floor, with some empty shell casings. Someone
tried to fight back, but not successfully. And one other strange thing. The barrel of the gun is warped
and melted.

While the characters are searching, their radios pick up a garbled signal. It is very difficult to make out,
but the word hole is repeated several times, and maybe nest, and then something about someone
being bitten by bugs. Reception might be better outdoors; for now the signal is not much help.

When the characters search the equipment shed they see that its walls have numerous bullet holes and
larger breaches where shotguns have punched a hole in the wall. Clever characters may notice that the
shots seem to have come from inside, as if a fight took place inside the shed. If the characters walk
around the outside they see that there are a couple of big breaches in the walls big enough to walk
through and that they have been blocked with agrobots and a tractor. The metal of these seems oddly
twisted and like the shotgun earlier melted.

Inside the shed there is a foul stink that is part acid and part blood. It even gets through filter masks.
Again there are body parts scattered around, and ammunition cases from farmers rifles and shotguns.
There is also a hole burrowed into the ground under the tractor, which is big enough for someone to
clamber into.

As a character approaches the hole, they see something moving inside. A spider-like creature the size of
a large dog skitters out of the hole and lunges at the characters, clearly intent on attacking them. It has no
head as such, just a huge maw filled with teeth and there are still bits of blood and bone on those teeth
from its last victims on the front of its body and grasping, spidery limbs.

Referee: This is a Chamax Hunter, one of a species of very nasty creatures that devastated the planet of
Chamax on Foreven sector. Thats very far away, and the presence of a hunter on Jesedipere might raise
some questions but right now the task at hand is not to get eaten!
When the hunter is killed, it begins to dissolve almost immediately, leaving just an unpleasant puddle of
gooey matter on the ground. Once the characters know what to look for, they will recognise other puddles
around the town the locals put of a fight at least.

The referee might decide that there are other hunters in the town if the characters have too easy a time
with just one. Dont swamp them though this encounter is a warning of what is to come rather than a
major fight to the death.
Bugging Out
In the aftermath of the fight, the referee should give the characters a short time to swap theories and
information, and if necessary Evan can provide the basics about the Chamax theyre nasty bug-like
creatures that have devastated at least one whole planet, but theyre not intelligent and could not have
got to Jesedipere without someone transporting them. He also knows that the Chamax hunters collect
food for a breeder type called a Maternal. Those breed more hunters scary-fast if there is one on
Jesedipere then the locals are in real trouble.

The debate is interrupted by a radio signal. The called is breathless, clearly wounded, and at first doesnt
make much sense.

Base camp has been overrun everyones dead. Bugs closing in on the outposts. They can hear our
radios... stay off the air if you can. Get out of there. Emergency extraction coordinates to follow. Its the
Chamax. Dont know how, but its them. Shoot for the centre of body mass, avoid contact if you can,
make for the extraction point. Get out. Survive.

The signal is coming from a Scout/Courier vessel that can be seen climbing away from the main camp to
the south. It is flying erratically, and as the characters watch it rolls over and begins to spin out of control.
The ship rights itself close to the ground, flies low for a while and then disappears behind a hillside. It
does not reappear, but a few seconds later the characters receive a short transmission:

Down hurt. Bad. Flyable but I cant. Got wounded aboard. Need help. Anyone

If it is true that the Chamax can home in on radio signals, the people aboard that ship are going to have
company sooner or later, and the ships hull will protect them for only so long. The ship is down not very
far from the characters, whereas the emergency extraction point coordinates are further off.

The characters are going to have to make some decisions, and real soon. They will be able to see
movement in the distance; strange, skittering movement like no creatures they are familiar with. Anyone
with binoculars can see that there are a few hunters in the distance, some of them moving rather
aimlessly and going after cattle or even devouring bushes and other vegetation. Others are moving fairly
purposefully towards the characters.

The choice is between trying to reach the downed starship and help the crew or heading for the extraction
point and hoping that rescue arrives in time. The ships that delivered the task force will have to come
back from the starport, which might take too long. More importantly, there are too many Chamax between
the characters and the extraction point. The downed scout ship is their only real chance.

If the characters think to search, they can find one of the farm vehicles still in working order. It is an
electrically powered pickup truck suitable for offroad driving. With it, their journey will be quicker and
hopefully safer.

Alternatively, they will need to travel on foot. Either way, they will have to get moving before the Chamax
reach the farm.

Referee: This segment is the calm before the storm. It provides an opportunity for the characters to get to
know one another and to discuss their plans. Changing the pace of an adventure is a good idea; believe it
or not, non-stop action gets boring after a while.
Overland
The characters need to travel quickly overland towards the downed starship. This is not a huge challenge,
though offroad driving on a frontier world can be hazardous at the best of times. The characters can
encounter as many setbacks and minor difficulties as the referee thinks appropriate, or the journey can be
glossed over if that seems preferable.

There will be a couple of contacts with Chamax hunters along the way. These are hunters moving alone,
and should not be too much of a hazard unless the characters have got themselves into other difficulties.
For example, a lone hunter is not a problem, but one that sneaks up while the characters are trying to get
their vehicle out of a ditch might be a serious threat.

Along the way, the characters pick up the occasional fragmentary radio transmission. The story is the
same each time small parties from the other outposts cut off from the main camp, cornered by Chamax
and yelling for help on the radio. They call for a ship to pick them up or other survivors to come to the
rescue, but nobody comes and one by one the other groups go off the air.

The characters will sometimes hear automatic gunfire on the radio or the distance, and occasionally
someone calls out a warning that the Chamax can detect radio and to get off the air. Then another voice
comes over the airwaves, a woman talking breathlessly as if running.

They can hear the radio, so were using it as a decoy. Weve got a party of seven, three wounded,
headed for the extraction point. Theyre staying off the air but theyll be there. We spotted a big mob of
bugs in the way so Im broadcasting continuously to draw them off. Oh yeah, and its working real well.

There are occasional shots over the radio as the unknown hero dashes away from her comrades and
draws off the horde. She keeps up a near-constant transmission, mixing a running commentary of how
shes climbing over hedges and jumping over streams, shooting bugs and cussing out her boots for
chafing. She swears quite a lot, yells a lot of incoherent insults at whatever shes shooting at, and even
makes up a poem at one point. (Its not very good but what do you expect?). Every now and then she tells
anyone listening to stay off the air.

This epic performance goes on for quite a while, until the inevitable happens. The breathless but
strangely cheerful voice on the radio goes quiet and professional all of a sudden.

Uh, theyve got me. Im surrounded and short of ammunition. So listen. Im gonna toss the radio over
there and climb these rocks. Hold them off for a while maybe. Ill keep their attention for as long as I can.
The others will be at the extraction point by now. Somebody get to them before its too late, will you?

There are some shots, then a last transmission.

This is Sergeant Patricia Kimball, Second Independent Rifle Company. Down to my sidearm, up on a pile
of rocks. Im here for the duration. If anyones still out there, good luck and stay off the air. Kimball out.

The radio goes dead soon afterward.

The characters have been making their own way overland towards the scout ship while this is going on.
Theyre getting close but theyre about to run into a problem.
Referee: This segment is all about overcoming the minor difficulties of the journey. If the players can
think on their feet and keep moving they should be able to make good time. Sgt Kimballs adventures on
the radio serve to both show how dangerous the situation is and also to provide a clue that will be useful
soon.
Escaping the Bugs
As the characters get close to the downed ship, it becomes obvious that several bands of Chamax
hunters are moving towards it. Presumably they detected its last transmission and are moving in to find a
meal. They are not moving all that fast, but it is becoming difficult to avoid contact with them.

With several bugs closing in, the characters have a real problem. There are many bugs between them
and the ship and it will not be possible to slip past. There are various approaches to this situation. The
characters might try to punch through, using the vehicle if they have one as a battering ram (it might be
disabled by acid though) and fighting from it in a sort of rolling assault, or they might try to draw some of
the bugs into attacking them when they are set up ready to defend. Having thinned the bugs out the
characters should be able to make a run for the ship.

Alternatively, they could come up with an alternative strategy. One option might be to drive just ahead of
the bugs and make a lot of noise on the radio, getting them to chase the truck, and then cut back ahead
of the pack or maybe some of the team could be decoys while the others reach the ship. This would be
safer if they have a vehicle to run away from the bugs in, but there are many bugs coming from all
directions so that plan is not foolproof.

Any way they tackle it, the characters problem is reaching the ship through the bugs, and then of course
fending them off while they get ready to take off. They do not know how badly the ship is damaged.

The referee should let the players solve this problem themselves. They have many options and should be
able to come up with a plan that might work. If they end up tackling the entire bug horde head-on theyll
be swarmed, but a fast-moving team should be able to fight their way through and get to the scout ship.
The referee should make it a tough fight but not suicidal.

At the ship, it is clear that it has made a mostly-controlled crash-landing rather than slamming into the
ground. It is damaged but flyable. Paranoid characters will probably want to search the ship for bugs once
they get in; there may or may not be time for that.

The ship has three badly wounded personnel aboard; the least hurt of them can barely stand but is trying
to tend the others in one of the cabins. None of them can fly a starship. The pilot is dead at the controls.
Apparently he was wounded during the fight at the base camp and somehow got his ship into the air
before his wounds overcame him.

The ship itself is flyable, though it is damaged and the jump drive is inoperable. It will take just a few
minutes to get the ship ready for liftoff. However, the bugs cannot just detect radio, they will also feel or
hear the ships engines starting up and will move rapidly towards the vessel. If they get on the hull their
acid might cause disastrous damage, so the characters will have to fend off the attack while the pilot
prepares the ship. When the ship is ready, everyone will have to rapidly pile in while the pilot makes a fast
takeoff.

If the referee wants a final challenge, some of the bugs jump up at the ship as it lifts, some of them
scrabbling at the scouts hull and maybe getting a grip. Rolling the ship could dislodge them but might kill
the wounded people in the cabin. The bugs will have to be dislodged some other way. Maybe a character
might use the airlock to climb out ion the hull and fight the bugs or even kick them off. Maybe they players
will come up with another solution the scout ship carries an air/raft that could be used to fly alongside
and shoot the bugs off.
However they do it, the characters will be able to escape the bugs in this ship. As they do, they see
starships from the starport coming down to rescue at least some of the survivors from the extraction point.
But what about Sgt Kimball?

If the characters want to try for a rescue, shes stuck atop a tumbled pile of boulders surrounded by bugs.
Lots of bugs. She has a pistol and a knife, plus a grenade that she has been saving for whenever it
might be most useful.

Kimball could be rescued from the air using the air/raft or the scout ships belly cargo hatch. This would
make an excellent dramatic finish to the adventure, with the damaged scout ship swooping in and Sgt
Kimball leaping up to be hauled aboard. Its also a great way for the characters to win themselves a loyal
and extremely badass friend whos part of a well-known mercenary unit.

Referee: This is the climax of the adventure. It should be played fast and hard, with drama and tension as
the characters get past the horde, defend the ship and then blast off to safety just in time. Exactly how
tough things should be is up to the referee.
Epilogue
Task Force Jesedipere (whats left of it) retreats to the starport to figure out what has happened. It is
certain that things are much more serious than anyone suspected, and starships will have to be sent to
get help heavy-duty help from the Imperial Army and Navy. In the meantime, the survivors compare
notes, rest up and consider their next move.

There is no big cash payout to be had for this mission the characters reward this time is to keep
breathing. Nor will they be able to keep the scout ship it belongs to the Scout Service. However, they
have made some friends and established a reputation as people who can get things done. Thats going to
be important in the near future as the authorities look for answers to two big questions: who brought the
Chamax bugs to Jesedipere, and how many other worlds are in danger?

The characters might well be part of the attempt to answer these questions and to deal with the
threatbut that is a story for another time. For now, the characters can take a rest, heal up, and plan
their next move.
 Characters and Opposition

Evan Caalinii
STR: 6 DEX: 5 END: 7 INT: 8 EDU: 8 SOC: 6

Skills:
Survival-3, Engineering-2, Gun Combat-2, Pilot-2, Sensors-2, Streetwise-2, Vacc Suit-2
Athletics-1, Drive-1, Navigation-1

Evan Caalinii is assigned to the Exploration Office of the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service. He is a
typical multi-skilled Scout who can fly starships or explore planets on the ground. He has been around a
bit and has some experience of tight spots, so will be able to advise the characters on what to do if they
cannot come up with a plan. However, Evan is not the leader type and will prefer to follow the characters
lead unless they are doing something really stupid.

Evan is dressed in grey Scout Service field coveralls which are tough and have many pockets for useful
items. He is armed with a Blade (Damage: 2D) and a shotgun (Damage: 4D) for which he carries 12
spare shells in belt loops, plus the 6 in the weapon. He has a small pack containing typical field
expedition equipment such as a small medikit, water bottle, ration bars and the like, and a flashlight.

Evan can be used by the referee to give the players information (but remember that not everything he
knows is actually right) and to nudge them in the right direction. However, the adventure should not
become the Evan Caalinii Show; the players should be making the key decisions.

Chamax Hunters
Hunters are the most common type of Bugs (as the Chamax are often known). They are vaguely spider-
like creatures the size of great danes. Hunters are virtually mindless, but can sense radio signals and will
usually move towards them in search of food. They will eat anything organic and can hibernate for long
periods when insufficient food is available or temperatures drop too low.

Chamax do not take damage like humans and most other creatures. Shooting bits off a hunter will not do
much more than slow it down. In order to kill a hunter, it is necessary to hit its vital organs, which are
located deep in the creatures torso and protected by natural armour. Twelve points of damage in a single
attack will kill a Chamax; less than that just makes a mess.

Chamax have an acid sac that enables them to tunnel through rock (or starship bulkheads), and this is
one of the ways they attack their foes. Chamax can grab an opponent and spew acid onto him, but they
normally use their teeth instead since dissolving enemies is a waste of food. Normally a hunter will grab
its enemy and basically start eating him. They do not fight as such, they just eat until the foe dies and
then usually go right on eating him until there is nothing left but a few bone fragments.

A hunters bite-and-eat attack does 3D damage per round. The acid splash does 3D damage the first
round, 2D the second round and 1D the round after that until the acid is used up. Armour protects the
character until it is dissolved.

When a Chamax dies its acid sac ruptures and it quickly dissolves along with whatever is nearby. This
can be a problem aboard a starship! There is also a danger when hitting a Chamax with hand weapons
that the character might get splashed with acid. An Average (8+) DEX roll will allow the character to avoid
a splash.

There are other types of Bug, but the characters will not encounter them in this adventure.
Sidebars

Showing Your Players the Future

There are some good tricks the referee can use to make the game feel like the future is real. Wierdness
for its own sake is just distracting, but the referee can use familiar concepts and change a few details to
create a futuristic feel. For example, most worlds will have something like the internet, but we can call it
something different like a datanet. Most of the time it functions just like todays internet, so players will
sometimes get spammed with ads for luxury grav cars and cheap starship repairs. When the characters
go somewhere really remote, and the referee tells them theres no datanet access here, they know
theyre really far from civilization.

It might seem hard to come up with little details that make the future come alive, but a lot of ideas can
come from real life. The bustle of a starport is a lot like an airport, only the planes are shuttles going up to
orbit or scruffy free traders looking for cargo. People will still be arguing about who has the tickets or
getting into trouble for trying to bring illegal stuff through customs, only now the customs agent is a Vargr
or some other non-human species.

Dropping in little details to show the players part of the setting and to remind them that they are in the far
future is better than delivering a lecture about the local culture and then never mentioning it again.
Players rarely remember much of an info-dump, but they will remember that family getting a ticket from
the cops because their baby was crying too loudly. Why would that happen? Well, maybe the world the
characters are on has a very high law level with strict rules about noise pollution. You could just tell the
players, but a bizarre scene like a baby getting a fined for crying will stay with them.

Likewise, instead of telling the characters they are on a low-population world with a Class D starport,
show them it. Describe how the landing pad is cracked, with weeds growing up through it, and there are
scrapped starships around the edge of the landing area. The main control building is a hut that has been
patched up several times, with antennae sticking through holes in the roof, and the port officials are
scruffy, depressed and inefficient because they havent seen a ship through the port for two weeks.

Later the characters might go to a massive Class A port, which is basically a city in its own right. Theyll
see the sleek and shiny corporate vessels coming though, and the smart and efficient ground crews
attending to them, and theyll really notice the difference. This is how you make the future come alive
little details, but not too many at a time.

Characters and their Motivation

The Traveller game does not insist that characters behave any particular way. There are laws in the
game world of course, and penalties for breaking them, but the characters can choose whether to respect
local laws or not. They can also choose whether to help someone or not, or even whether or not to go on
the adventure that the referee has created. This can be a bit of a problem when creating adventures.
However, its not as bad as it seems.

Some players consider getting as much money as possible to be the goal of the game and are not
motivated by anything that does not further this aim. Although people like that do exist, it is a pretty boring
way to play a game. Adventures can grind to a stop because the player does not see a financial gain in
carrying on. The answer is to get the players involved in the game world as much as possible, and to help
them find goals and motivations within the world.

An in-game goal could be something as straightforward as getting a starship and still lead to many
adventures. Amassing money is still useful but it is a means to an end now; cash buys parts to fix up the
ship. Characters might have to go on adventures to find rare spares or in return for an official providing
the right documentation and permits for the ship.

Ideally, however, character motivations are not just material. If the referee works at creating an interesting
game world, the players will become involved in it. They will help out a friend for free or fight to defend a
world from invasion just because its the right thing to do. Motivations can be quite comical sometimes; a
group of travellers might go on an epic adventure to prevent their favourite bar & grill from getting closed
down, or for similar oddball reasons.

None of this will happen unless you, the referee, give the characters something to care about. A bland
game world will not inspire heroes the way a vibrant, lovingly-created setting with interesting places and
recurring characters does. The effort you put into creating your setting and helping the characters
experience it will be paid off in terms of better stories for you and your players to tell.

Which of these is more interesting?

An unremarkable man in a grey suit offered the characters some money to do a job for him. They
do the job and get paid.
The characters hear that their buddy from an earlier adventure is in big trouble and needs help,
so they drop what theyre doing to rescue him even though it leads to another adventure as they
then have to fix the mess they made when they rushed off to help.

Sometimes, characters that dont seem to be motivated by anything but cash are the players fault some
players are like that. But surprisingly often its because the referee didnt give the character anything to be
motivated by. Dont let that happen.