Traveller News Service.

[ruhalla]

Back in the day when playing Traveller and Megatraveller the Regular Traveller news service that came with Jtas and Challenge!
was a great way to give my players a way to see what was happening in the wider Empire.

Now running PoD i have been using TNS pieces to bring them news of the Trojan Reach and beyond does anyone have such news
from their campaigns to share ?

Here's one from mine

Trojan Reach/Sindal/Thebus
A recent attack against an Imperial Cruise ship the Koaunev IV during a stop over in the Thebus system has been identified as an attack by Oghman Raiders.
Originally suspected of having been committed by pirate bands operating from Theev. The attack which saw the Cruise ship boarded and a number of its crew
and passengers taken prisoner has caused the Cruise Line to suspend further visits to Thebus until a thorough investigation has been done.

When approached on the matter the Imperial Navy Spokesman at Pax Rulin was quoted saying "this attack shows a unexpected and worrying escalation of Oghman
Raids until now their depredations have been limited to the Jump-1 cluster of Oghma, Marduk and Borite that Oghman ships are now raiding up to jump-2 away
from their base of operation is worrying.

when asked what the Navies response to these aggression would be the spokesperson refused to comment.

 

[paltrysum]

I've posted a few. The first one was actually not the TNS but an Ahroay'if clan press announcement. The two after it are TNS news announcements that I dropped on my players as enticements.

TYOKH/TLAIOWAHA 301-1106
¶ An Ahroay’if clan Iyeliy-class messenger out of Hliyh (Trojan Reach 1323 B200AB7–E) arrived in Tyokh with news that the Glorious Empire has mounted a major coreward assault toward the Sindalian Main.
The Iyeliy public data feed included eye-witness reports and holographic scenes of planetary assaults in the Delta Theta (Trojan Reach 1220 B501610–9) and Torrance (Trojan Reach 1219 E560256–4) systems with additional reports of scout forces in Lacidaeus (Trojan Reach 1319 D100786–7). The size of the fleets is indeterminate. In an official announcement, the Imperial ambassador on Tyokh said, “The Hierate asserts that these events do not represent a break of the Peace of Ftahalr, but it is cause for concern nonetheless.” Ω

⑆ TKTK/DPRES 335-1106
¶ The Garrigue, a Galoof-class megafreighter out of Gazulin, was turned back at the Sagan system on a spinward voyage to the Florian League. The crew of the Garrigue claimed that they were boarded by Aslan warships who have purportedly annexed the system and renamed it Tihtoa. Borjean Halifax, chief liaison on the Garrigue, said that the warships bore the markings of the Tokoueáwe clan of the Glorious Empire. There have been unconfirmed reports of additional incursions in other systems along the Sindalian Main. Representatives from the Hierate Yásoisthea have yet to comment. Ω

⑆ HRADUS/TOBIA 025-1107
¶ Sector Scout Leader Altuna Iolovia held a press conference at IISS headquarters, declaring that the interdiction of Tktk (1618 Tktk/Dpres) was complete. “I’m proud to announce that the Scout Service has completed the interdiction of Tktk. Among our many missions is the protection of vulnerable sentient species. Much as we did decades ago protecting the Chirper populations on Andor and Candory in the Spinward Marches, we have now extended the Scout Service’s protective shield over the tktks of this system. This operation could not have been carried out with such speed and efficiency without the aid of our scout sisters and brothers on Kydde who sent the first wave of operational personnel to get things going. They are truly champions of sentient life and I want to make sure they are recognized. Brazen assaults such as the one perpetrated by Glorious Empire mercenaries and the subsequent enslavement of hundreds of tktks will never occur again on this world. This system is now under the protection of the IISS and backed up of course by the Imperial Navy. With the cooperation of the local population, Tktk is now officially a red zone.” Iolovia did not take questions but promised to publish a complete public brief in the coming weeks. Ω

Our PoD campaign is just going into the year 1109, so the Fifth Frontier War is running full steam one sector away. It rarely affects events in PoD other than a reduced Imperial Navy presence in the region. That's about to change, though, since we're just getting "Game of Sun and Shadow" under way.

 

[ruhalla]

Awesome i really like using the TNS both just for flavour and for seeding ideas

Here are two i just dropped on my group

Trojan Reach/Tlaiowaha/Hilfer
A Brutal attack against a convoy of Hierate ships traveling to the Imperium has been carried out by ships of the Infamous Pirate Petyr Vallis in the Hilfer system .
The attack which left all crew and passengers of the Hierate Ships dead has caused outrage among the Aslan and has increased support among those Aslan Clans
who say that the Treaty of Fhaharl fixing the borders of the Imperium and Hierate is outdated and no longer applies. In response to this attack Imperial Forces will
be moved to stage out of the Byrni system and in cooperation with the Star Navy of Byrni will increase their patrols along the voidrim reach.

The players are in the Paal system so they are going to jump over to Hilfer and see whats what.

and
Trojan Reach/The Borderlands/Acrid
The PRQ Megacorporation has announced an Expansion to its Mining operation on Acrid.
Gareth Woldt VP for PRQ-Acrid announced that following the discovery of new deposits
Upon the world the Corporation would be expanding its operations on the planet to meet
Demands for raw materials within the Imperium.


this one caused them to perk right up the idea of a couple of freighters filled with mining equipment that they can use to kickstart Drinax's economy is something they
want to get their hands on

 

[paltrysum]

Nice! Those make great hooks to draw your players in. The idea of TNS reporters in the Void makes sense. It’s a dangerous place so they would be the equivalent of modern-day war correspondents.

 

[ruhalla]

Thats a good analogy and i might at somepoint steal that for a short campaign
a bunch of players working as TNS reporters working in the reach

 

[Ursus Maior]

During the last couple of days I used a free website and some random art found on the internet to make "breaking news" screens. I converted the PNG files the website offers for download to PDF and edited them somewhat, then reconverted them to PNG for use with Roll20. I do not own the original artworks, so I cannot share them with everyone, but this site is certainly helpful for GMs: https://breakyourownnews.com/

 

[ruhalla]

Thats really cool thank you !