Whispers on the Abyss - on PDF & Pre-Order

[MongooseMatt]

The latest mini-campaign for Traveller is now out on PDF & pre-order - and Whispers on the Abyss looks like it will lead into something much greater for the Spinward Marches as powerful forces are on the move...

You can grab your own copy right now: https://www.mongoosepublishing.com/products/whispers-on-the-abyss



A complete mini-campaign for Traveller, setting the stage for great events to come!

The Travellers are offered a lucrative contract to showcase a prototype starship to potential clients along the Spinward Main. Their route takes them around the periphery of the Abyss Rift, a region with a sinister reputation for starship disappearances and mysterious events.

They soon discover they are not the only players in the game. An Imperial megacorporation is pushing its own designs and playing hard for big contracts. As if competing with General Products was not enough, there is sabotage and revolt on the worlds of the Spinward Main. A simple promotional cruise becomes a fight for survival, and all the while there are whispers of something big happening on the fringes of the Abyss…

 

[Vormaerin]

Loving the adventure so far. The sales rep premise might be a hard sell for some groups, but the content around it excellent and easily reskinned if necessary. Lots of actionable details and cool ideas that can be readily used in all kinds of campaigns. Cool insight into how Virtual Crew works and isn't "AI ship" and plenty of other cool stuff. Definitely pleased.

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

Loving the adventure so far. The sales rep premise might be a hard sell for some groups, but the content around it excellent and easily reskinned if necessary. Lots of actionable details and cool ideas that can be readily used in all kinds of campaigns. Cool insight into how Virtual Crew works and isn't "AI ship" and plenty of other cool stuff. Definitely pleased.

I bought it for this comment alone....

 

[Bill Sheil]

Already jumping into the proof reading.

Deckplans (p16) state "1 square= 1 ton". There are about 750 squares in the deckplans (excluding the wings) so the scale looks more like the Traveller standard 1 square = 0.5 tons.

For the ship description taking the numbers stated, the 57 tons (actually 57.6) available for cargo, plus 20 tons designated as "Concealed Compartment" looks correct on p15, for a total of 77 tons.

However p14 states

The Type R2A4 has 74 tons of unallocated space, of which 20 tons are located in the dorsal bulge where the launch used to be.

on p17:

The forwardmost section of the deck is a secure cargo area, surrounded by armoured bulkheads, with a capacity of 20 tons...

Aft of the secure cargo area is most of the unallocated tonnage. If this area is not repurposed it can hold about 50 tons of cargo in addition to any in the secure area...

If no systems are installed in the bulge it remains as a 20-ton open space which could be used for stowage...

If the concealed compartments and secure area are used in conjunction with the remaining cargo hold, the vessel has a nominal capacity of 114 tons.

All of these quoted numbers are inconsistent. From the actual design sheet I think there should be 20 tons of secure cargo, 37 tons of normal cargo and the bulge with potentially 20 tons of concealed cargo. (For a total of 77 tons).

Edit: If you can create a dedicated errata thread somewhere then I will try to contribute more over the holiday.

 

[ottarrus]

GOT IT!

 

[Midnightplat]

Loving the adventure so far. The sales rep premise might be a hard sell for some groups, but the content around it excellent and easily reskinned if necessary. Lots of actionable details and cool ideas that can be readily used in all kinds of campaigns. Cool insight into how Virtual Crew works and isn't "AI ship" and plenty of other cool stuff. Definitely pleased.

I can see your point on the set up, but then again when is hard credits ever a hard sell for most Travellers? I could definitely see a capable crew taking what they see as a milk run that gives them bank to finance more interesting endeavors, not realizing that the milk run actually becomes the adventure. Unless the ship itself is particularly interesting, but I don't want accidentally trigger spoilers.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Already jumping into the proof reading.

Deckplans (p16) state "1 square= 1 ton". There are about 750 squares in the deckplans (excluding the wings) so the scale looks more like the Traveller standard 1 square = 0.5 tons.

For the ship description taking the numbers stated, the 57 tons (actually 57.6) available for cargo, plus 20 tons designated as "Concealed Compartment" looks correct on p15, for a total of 77 tons.

However p14 states



on p17:


All of these quoted numbers are inconsistent. From the actual design sheet I think there should be 20 tons of secure cargo, 37 tons of normal cargo and the bulge with potentially 20 tons of concealed cargo. (For a total of 77 tons).

Edit: If you can create a dedicated errata thread somewhere then I will try to contribute more over the holiday.

There is a whole forum for feedback to send errata to.

Feedback

Let us know your thoughts on any of our books and any issues!

forum.mongoosepublishing.com

 

[RajunCajun3025]

How many players do you need for this mod to work? Right now I have three real world players. I would prefer them to each run one character but we can do two if need be. Which raises a related question, what is the "standard" Traveller party size? Is that stated anywhere? If so I have missed it. Thanks in advance for any info and feedback. Can't wait to "drop" this adventure on our group. Currently we are playing Pirates of Drinax and this will be a nice change in many ways.

 

[CordwainerFish]

what is the "standard" Traveller party size?

Enough.

But seriously, folks. I think table size is more of a social thing than a game mechanics thing. Back in the day I found the sweet spot was four plus or minus one, but I won't call that a universal. Above a certain number - and that number will depend on who is at the table, and probably on whether there even is a table or you're just throwing IP datagrams at each other - things get unwieldy. If you have so few players that skill coverage is an issue ("hey, anyone landed a starship before?"), you can bring in meat puppets retainers.

 

[Vormaerin]

You need 1 player to make the adventure work. 4 or 5 is the usual expectation.

 

[Vormaerin]

All you *need* from the PC group is someone with social skills. It is useful to have people with general ship skills and, depending on how your players like to solve problems, some combat skills could be helpful.

 

[Bill Sheil]

You have three company employees with various ship skills accompanying you with all-round skills and "virtual crew" software. No reason why you could not subcontract more key crew but it should not be a problem for any three-PC group with a smattering of ship-board/social skills.

 

[RajunCajun3025]

My question about party size reflects the fact that as far as I can tell there is no encounter balancing mechanism in Traveller. I don't want a party wipe the first time they run into a bunch of bad guys. And I agree that four is a good number. I also find it useful to have enough real world players to cover critical ship roles. Right now we have pilot/astrogator, engineer, and steward/gunner covered.

 

[CordwainerFish]

If your players find themselves in a balanced encounter, they have screwed up badly.

 

[Vormaerin]

My question about party size reflects the fact that as far as I can tell there is no encounter balancing mechanism in Traveller. I don't want a party wipe the first time they run into a bunch of bad guys. And I agree that four is a good number. I also find it useful to have enough real world players to cover critical ship roles. Right now we have pilot/astrogator, engineer, and steward/gunner covered.

So, like.. that's the point of Traveller's encounter design? The players are supposed to be proactively ensuring they are NOT in a balanced encounter. It very seriously needs to be significantly in their favor or they should be looking for the exit. A "balanced" combat means you take a bunch of damage because the other guys had an actual chance to win. And there aren't clerics in Traveller, so taking a bunch of damage is rather bad.

That said, there are no mandatory combat encounters in this adventure and the most likely direct combat situation the players will get into is one where they have plenty of opportunities to use terrain, NPCs, and other factors to avoid being hosed over.

 

[RajunCajun3025]

Good advice all, thanks!

 

[alex_greene]

How many players do you need for this mod to work? Right now I have three real world players. I would prefer them to each run one character but we can do two if need be. Which raises a related question, what is the "standard" Traveller party size? Is that stated anywhere? If so I have missed it. Thanks in advance for any info and feedback. Can't wait to "drop" this adventure on our group. Currently we are playing Pirates of Drinax and this will be a nice change in many ways.

That ought to be enough, with as many additional NPC crew as there are players, plus one more as a spare. Recommending that one of your Travellers be designated the Captain of the vessel.

 

[alex_greene]

I am putting my comment behind a spoiler.

Spoiler: No, seriously, there are spoilers.

I think everybody needs to buy this and run it. Seriously, this is the start of something big. The Travellers end up unwittingly starting The Fifth Frontier War.

 

[Sigtrygg]

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what happens when far too much eggnog is consumed...

 

[alex_greene]

Okay, it isn't a musical. It is definitely something else. Let's just say this book leads into something else.