SAFCOcast - a Traveller RPG Podcast

We're back again! It's that time of the year. Mayday is near, and thus it is time to talk about it. Joining us is the organizer of the online Traveller celebration, Frank Succardi, also known as CyborgPrime. We talk about Mayday, and we talk about some of Frank's other projects, including some work he's doing with AI. All the information about this year's Mayday Mayday can be found on Frank's website, here. And of course, Franks product can be found as well on CyborgPrime Games. You can find Che Webster's Roleplay Rescue blog/podcast here. This episode's theme music is Crystal Math, by the Speculative Machines podcast. Send us a voicemail on Speakpipe! https://www.speakpipe.com/SAFCOcast

In this episode Bob interviews the creators of the Scoundrels of Brixton Cepheus Engine/Traveller setting and books, Jeffrey Jones of the RPG Ramblings podcast and writer Adam Kovac. Relevant Links RPG Ramblings 66 on which Bob was a guestRPG Ramblings 100: with Bob and Adam talking about Traveller Jeffrey Jones RPG Ramblings publications on DriveThru RPG

In this episode I read a quick message from Greg Caires and Ken Patterson regarding the passing of Keith Frye the upcoming online memorial game for him, and then we interview CyborgPrime (Frank Succardi) about the upcoming Mayday Mayday 2023 online Traveller celebration. Relevant links for this episode: here on Frank's blog https://www.gofundme.com/f/call-to-the-travellers-aid-society-for-keith-fryehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrqBOk7gquAhttps://soundcloud.com/speculative-machines

In this episode we talk to Ken Patterson about the upcoming MayDay 2023 online Traveller celebration. The yearly online MayDay celebration is one of the highpoints of the year for Traveller players, so listen and learn! Relevant Links: www.youtube.com/@travellersaidsocietyhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087385957632https://fb.me/e/2dQewzwkPhttps://tabletop.events/conventions/mayday-traveller-online-celebration-2023

In this episode we discuss the last two "longest campaign" submissions, talk about the Parry rule in Classic Traveller Combat, go through a lot of great Internet Finds, and briefly touch on the OGL debacle. Relevant links: https://www.gaming.concretelunch.info/itv-session-24-one-night-at-the-happy-gluck/http://thirdimperiumfanzine.info/Men's Tactical Jacket, on which the fictional Scout jacket was based. https://www.wayrates.com/products/mens-all-terrain-versatile-tactical-jacket-5688118.html“Any Dice” website - Online dice probability calculator: https://anydice.com/Honor Thy Grandfather board game: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/373921/honor-grandfatherAndroid Arts:http://androidarts.com/Traveller/Traveller.htmhttps://twitter.com/androidarts http://androidarts.com/Traveller/Traveller.htmhttps://mastodon.gamedev.place/@androidarts https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/407601/Random-Character-Generation-for-Cepheus-Deluxe-Enhanced-Editionhttps://www.burntcitygames.com/The Speculative Machines podcast: https://soundcloud.com/speculative-machines

In this episode we interview Ken Patterson of the Virtual Traveller Facebook group about the upcoming online streaming game to benefit Mr. Keith Frye, one of the pillars of the Traveller community as he battles serious illness. Relevant links are as follows: Static web page: www.travellercon-usa.com/fundraiser TAS Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087385957632 TAS YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@travellersaidsociety Gofundme page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/call-to-the-travellers-aid-society-for-keith-frye YouTube Channel Livestream Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoKyEzc0q8Uzqi7ujoaxUWg/live Our theme music for this episode can be found at: https://on.soundcloud.com/YfmH7

In this episode we do internet finds, rules finds (in which Bob gets even more confused about the Bribery skill in the little black books), xboat transmissions, two from our longest campaign event, and we review our own campaign 4.5 years into it. Relevant links: Maritime Executive NewsletterLog of the GrayswandirDragon Magazine #532nd Dynasty 3D Print STLs Classic Traveller Harsh BeginningLuke Gearing's interview with Marc MillerWriting Traveller Adventures Using the Hero's Journey Method" by CyborgPrime MegaTraveller (DGP) Adventure: Manhunt Traveller Facsimile EditionTravellerCon 2022Lone Star Game Expo2022Cepheus Journal 11

In this episode Jeff and Bob read some much appreciated email from listeners, go over from great finds from the internet, talk about some rules finds, announce the winner for the random drawing from the Longest Campaign submissions, and read the first six of the twelve submissions! Relevant links: RPG Ramblings Podcast, with Jeffrey Jones Traveller RPG Mayday Mayday 2022 Official Event PageThe Log of the GrayswandirStargrave - miniatures A Less-Travelled Road: The Three Creeps - blog entry from Omer Golan JoelFB post about IISS H2A Revolver and ISS ME7 Field Jacket for scouts, created by Brannon Boren Subsector Editor and Mapper - Cepheus JournalTSAO: Liberty Ship” from Stellagama Publishing, and Felbrigg's video review Bob's "Mesh-Plus" armorSpeculative Machines podcast Longest Campaign Submissions Thomas of Kingston MegaTraveller w mods 8-10 Months (detail is a bit fuzzy) It was set in the JG Glimmerdrift Reaches on an Imperial planet (Petra). The planet was balkanized and there were many tensions among the double handful of nations but the big players were 2 or 3 larger nations. The tech level of the planet was 9, but there was another Imperial planet (TL-12) not far away. The time period was about 1114, but in this particular setting, the Solomani were pushing into the open spaces in Glimmerdrift reaches. It would have been a more typical game if one of the players hadn't rolled up a retired Imperial Marine who had Soc 12 (Marquis). He ended up being the Marquis of Petra and being the Imperial representative. The other characters were a mix of retired Marines, Navy, and some active duty, with one being a local noble. The Marquis was, to the eyes of some of his senior people, a bit erratic. So much so that his Security Chief rapidly decided that if this was what the Imperium would put in charge, the Solomani were welcome. That led to the Security Chief running a Solomani-sympathizer campaign against the Imperium. He was also the funnel and organizer who managed data flow to the Marquis. So on the one hand, he organized an underground flyer that regularly knew a lot about Imperial business and failures, he recruited like minded PCs and NPCs who had Solomani sympathies, and he set the Imperials against the local governments. It got worse as time went on: The high port blew up (the only GM-inflicted campaign event I can think of) and then shipments of high tech offworld arms and vehicles were sabotaged, the Marquis' family was assassinated, and a few PCs and NPCs who were Imperial sympathizers were fingered as being behind the Solomani underground (leading to their execution by the Security Chief after convincing the Marquis he needed to kill these guys who were actually on the Marquis' side). In the end, the Solomani invaded, had local support, and the Marquis had to flee for his life. The Security Chief wrote a full explanation in a letter categorizing every step he took against the Marquis and how at every turn, he turned allies against the Marquis or fingered them for troublemakers, and how he managed to deflect suspicion falling upon himself by having the underground flyer make fun of the Security Chief (and the Marquis immediately felt this made him not in with the Solomani because he seemed the sort to never make himself look foolish... except that's exactly what he was doing to avoid suspicion). There was a lot time spent individually (because of the nature of intrigues) and there were many views and motivations that clashed, intersected, or sometimes passed like strangers in the night. It wasn't easy to GM. I gave the Marquis chances and enough of the other players tried to warn him or help him, but the person he most trusted was the mastermind that he should have normally suspected and that set him against those who were actually trying to help (some were playing both sides and deserved what they got....). I've run a fair few 8-12 month campaigns of more traditional Traveller, but this one ended up...

In this episode we talk to CyborgPrime, the main organizer of the upcoming Mayday 2022 Online Traveller event, and Greg Caires of Virtual Traveller, who (along with Ken Patterson) is organizing the online game sessions for event. The main event day is, of course, Sunday May 1, but there will be virtual games going Friday and Saturday (so as not to waste the weekend!). We'll learn a bit about the event's history, how it is organized, who is involved, what is going on, and most importantly -- how to keep track of it and be involved! You can find all the links here on the official event page, on CyborgPrime's site. Episode artwork by the legendary William H. Keith Jr.

In this episode Jeff and Bob dig into a couple of listener emails, announce a new event, review their last Traveller Session, and dig into a tiny fraction of the greatness that is Cepheus Deluxe. This episode is dedicated to the great Ron Stepp, a devoted member of the Traveller community, who recently died. Ron emailed us often, and his friendship was indeed valued. Relevant Links include: https://moriturimax.artstation.com/Our "Your Longest Campaign" event submission form Michael Brown's "New World" cyberpunk setting and game based on Cepheus EngineDistress Call pdf - found on Paper Dice Games Marc Miller interview at Gary Con X, from Tales to Astound blog - from 2018 The Bureaucrat career, from Ancient Faith in the Far Future blogTraveller Robots from Research Station Gamma resin printer files FASA's Starport Module Number One Hotel Complex, on DriveThru RPGThe Miller Milk Bottle, on p16 of this pdf Our last Traveller Session -- To Kill A God Part 2 Graham Spearing's review of Cepheus Deluxe, from his podcast Gaming in the First Age Cepheus Journal #8 Freelance Traveller Nov/Dec 2021Link to all Rob Eaglestone's issues of XBOAT, on Drive-ThruPatrick Kanouse's writing on Black GateThe Speculative Machines Podcast

Our main topic in this episode is sources of inspiration for your Traveller or Cepheus Engine campaign! Where do you get your ideas? How best to use those ideas? Of course, we cover more than that in this episode too, with X-boat Transmissions, Internet Finds, and Imperial News. Here are the relevant links mentioned in the show: Thought Eater Podcast Ice Planet Horror Hugh O’Donnell's Masters ThesisOther links from Hugh:http://thetroubles.uk https://www.de.ed.ac.uk/news/digital-education-informed-games-making https://mesadeguerra.com/entrevista-hugh-odonnell-the-troubles/Traveller RPG Character BarracksBridge of Spies Cepheus Light: Upgraded Cepheus DeluxeInfo on Cepheus Light: Upgraded on Omer's blogLong video review of Cepheus Deluxe Cepheus Deluxe short written review Hostile setting revised Felbrigg's Game PlannerType S Scout/Courier 3d print projectThe Speculative Machines PodcastPatrick Kanouse reviews a new SF RPG - Death in Space - on the Dark Gate website. Linking here to all of Patrick’s articles there.https://www.blackgate.com/author/patrick-kanouse/

In this episode, we discuss the "boring, useless" skills that as teenagers we cringed if we got when we rolled up Traveller characters, and explore the possibilities of these skills with a little creativity. We also do a quick recap of the online Mayday! even run by Cyborg Prime, Greg Caires and Ken Patterson, and Patrick Kanouse, as well as internet and rules finds. We also found ourselves in the midst of a tornado warning! We're OK. North Texas is like that. Relevant links for this episode: Cyborg Prime’s Youtube channelPatrick Kanouse's Two Brothers Gaming Hammer class 100 ton merchantAngle of Incidence Vacc Suit: the New SpacemanThe Carcinoid Cancer FoundationClassic Traveller - One Shot SaturdaysWayne Peters - Deviant Art Page Interview with Christopher Rice, a GURPS guru, on the Roleplay Rescue podcast.A Random Subsector Generator for Cepheus Engine and a Subsector Editor Getting started in Classic Traveller blog post- Alegis DownportValue of Vacc-1 in Behind the Claw Podcast episode 3. New issue of Freelance TravellerNew issue of Cepheus Journal StarForce: Alpha CentauriMayDay! 2022 - a weekend-long Celebration! of Traveller through online roleplaying Quarter Share - a novel (audiobook link)the Speculative Machines Podcast

In this episode we interview Ken Patterson and Greg Caires about the upcoming Mayday! event. The first day of May – May Day – has special meaning to Traveller players due to the infamous Mayday call from the Free Trader Beowulf that has appeared on box and book covers of various variants of the game since its earliest years. In 2021, May Day will be a Saturday – an ideal time to play Traveller. To help the global Traveller community celebrate May Day, three groups of players have teamed up to create a unique day of Traveller-related programming. Operating from its home base on Facebook, the Virtual Traveller group – the same people who organized the weekend-long online “non-convention” last October – will organize “MayDay! a Celebration of Traveller through online roleplaying.” GMs from across the globe will be invited to run Traveller games online using whatever communications tools they prefer and during any suitable time period based on their locale. The only requests are: Based on lessons-learned from the Virtual Traveller weekend, MayDay! will be organized using Tabletop Events for simplicity game submission, player registration and communication. To cover the expense of using Tabletop, a nominal fee (likely $3) will be charged. That fee buys players their convention badges, and they can then join and play as many games as their schedules will allow. More about MayDay!: https://tabletop.events/conventions/mayday-celebration https://www.facebook.com/groups/virtualtravellerhttps://discord.gg/3WRUjXk Both GMs and players are sought. Questions can be submitted via the links above. If online gaming isn’t your thing, CyborgPrime is organizing the 3rd annual “Mayday! Mayday!” event, which consists of live interviews of Traveller authors and others who contribute to keeping the game popular and replenished with fresh material. Last year, CP interviewed both Matthew Sprange and Marc Miller, and generous prizes were awarded to members of the audience. This year, CP intends to interview a variety of new voices, giveaway more and better prizes, give a platform to Ken Burnside of AdAstra Games to host some Traveller Squadron Strike vector combat simulations. The marquee event will be – like last year – the live broadcast of Patrick Kanouse’s Traveller game to benefit his charity The Carcinoid Cancer Foundation (https://www.carcinoid.org/). Joining him as players are Two Brothers Gaming, High Shelf Gaming, and The Death Die Club. They will be playing Michael Brown’s Angle of Incidence: “A routine cargo run leads to a station orbiting a black hole and one man’s world of obsession, secrets, and madness. As the heroes help an intelligence agent investigate the mad scientist’s activities, they come to realize that they may bear witness to the ultimate adventure…or become just more bits of matter crushed by the black hole’s gravity.” The Carcinoid Cancer Foundation’s mission is to increase awareness and educate the general public and healthcare professionals regarding carcinoid and related neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), to support NET cancer patients and their families, and to serve as patient advocates. We’ll be giving away a bunch of things, and you can even have an effect on the game. The game will stream on High Shelf Gaming’s Twitch channel (https://twitch.tv/highshelfgaming/profile) at 8:00 pm Eastern. The game will include giveaways and opportunities to influence the game.

First, thanks to all our listeners for sticking with us! It has been two months since the last episode, which of course is not our goal, but life got in the way! In this episode, besides the usual sections, our main topic deals with non-violent/non-combat Traveller (and other RPGs) sessions. Not arguing against a good shoot-em-up, but just using other kinds of challenges to create a good game. We also mention Jeff's table of 2d6 outcome probabilities, so here it is! Relevant Links Amber Zone Contest https://amber.zone/2021/02/14/amber-zone-contest-2021/Greg Caires’s Classic Traveller One Shot Saturdaysis still going strong!SciFiAtmospheres on Intagram. https://www.instagram.com/scifiatmospheres/Vintage Sci-Fi Art.https://www.instagram.com/vintage_scifiart/Vintage_scifi. https://www.instagram.com/vintage_scifi/Alegis Downport has a nice review of the Traveller Book, if you would like to see what it looks like before purchasing.Gamicon Zinc: https://tabletop.events/conventions/gamicon-zincCepheus Journal 4 is available for download - https://cepheusjournal.com/downloads/Jan/Feb 2021 Freelance Traveller: https://www.freelancetraveller.com/magazine/index.html The Traveller BibliographyYet Another Traveller Blog: the State of the Blog post! http://www.safcocast.com/traveller-podcasts-blog-companies-and-their-humans/

In this episode we talk to Greg Caires about the October 2020 Virtual Traveller non-con that he and Ken Patterson organized. Always fun to talk to Greg! Relevant links: Virtual Traveller on FacebookGreg's Classic Traveller One Shot Saturdays FB groupFreelance Traveller ZineSpeculative Machines Podcast

In this episode we read some great email's from listeners! Lots to think about! We also cover Internet Finds and Rules Finds, and discuss the latest session of our Into the Void Classic Traveller campaign! Relevant links: http://www.gaming.concretelunch.info/itv-session-19-the-alien-complex/ https://cepheusjournal.com/downloads/ https://takeonrules.com/series/lets-read-traveller-core-rulebook/ https://www.twitch.tv/mark_cmg http://gurpsland.no-ip.org/geomorphs/ http://gurpsland.no-ip.org/ https://andromedaln2.space/ https://soundcloud.com/speculative-machines/event-listener

In this episode Jeff and Bob discuss the basic elements of a Traveller game, as detailed by Marc Miller in the Traveller Book. Before that Bob does a short correction from the previous episode, we do Internet Finds, and some fun Rules Finds, as well as present the last of the planets submitted in our Random Planet Generation Smackdown! (that system appears below, under the relevant links). Relevant links: Freelance Traveller 'zineReaver's Deep:https://www.reaversdeep.com/Cepheus Journal is now online:https://cepheusjournal.com/Independence Games has released the Opportunity-class Light Trader, with art by Ian Stead. https://independencerpgs.com/collections/new/products/opportunity-class-light-trader?fbclid=IwAR0Lc5QzV-UnhF5zZuqIfOumMuPkZZ6tViODkr6sr74XveUKWQtYwdt39LMAlbacon, a UK-organized online con, has 3 Traveller session, including one by Greg Caires (who alerted us to this con). https://albacon.co.uk/ Oct 3-4Of course, the Virtual Traveller non-con is coming up in October as well. Here’s the link again:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1205944649744350For anyone wanting to do some Swords & Sorcery with a Traveller/CE style system, Omer Golan-Joel’s Sword of Cepheus is now available in print from DrivethruRPG. I was looking through my PDF last night, and it is really good. I ordered the printed version.https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/304840/The-Sword-of-CepheusAdventure Class Ship Designer. I have not tried it yet, as I hate turning on my PC, but knowing Ron’s work I’m sure it is good.https://www.facebook.com/groups/512380172987060Speaking of Ron, he is a prolific creator of Traveller content, especially incredible settings and ship designs, and has started a blog on which to keep his work in a place less ephemeral than social media posts (I wonder how much he lost when G+ was disappeared?)?https://andromedaln2.space/https://soundcloud.com/speculative-machines Faddle - from Pete Burke C589632-8 Ni Faddle is a cold, icy world with most of the surface covered in permafrost. There is a band approximately 400 miles wide around the equator that is comfortable and is actually considered pleasantly tropical. The atmosphere is dense which helps create the effect Faddle is famous for - the floating "Udrassi" mats. Udrassi is a native organic lifeform that straddles the line between fungus, plant and animal life. The udrassi combine into large circular floating mats that organize around a central hub. On each hub, three pools of amino acids are arranged in a triangular pattern - early colonists to the planet were able to quickly determine that by adding saline water of specific concentrations to the pools in certain sequuences, the mats could be raised, lowered or steered and also directed to attract or repel other floating mats. The mats are extremely strong - some colonists built houses and larger buildings anchoring into the mats themselves. It wasn't long until early colonial families created resort hotel compounds for tourists by assembling larger mats together - and by manipulating the hub pools on the mats, small towns developed by combining mats together. The planet is mostly a recreation destination - the floating lifestyle of the permanent residents is very laid back . Some floating resorts stay in the tropics all year round, while others float to a mountain range south of the equator in the permafrost region where a ski resort has been set up.

In this episode we are focusing on two more of the random planets submitted during our Random Planet event a few months ago, this time from Dwayne "Hiverlord" Walstrom and Jonathan Daylett (check out his Desert World RPG - a great adaptation of a Mad Max style setting). Before that we dig into a couple of items from X-Boat Transmissions, and end with a recap or our own last gaming session from our Into the Void campaign. Here are the planet/system writeups... From Hiverlord Planet/System: Not Assigned Rolled with T5 rules. FV main star (no companions). Standard orbit. Temperate climate. B735BDG-9 Hi In GG=0 PB=3 No bases. Importance (Ix)=2 Ranks worlds within a region Economics (Ex)=BA9(-2) Culture (Cx)=6D68 Population= 102 Billion Hi=Hi population In=industrial With an extremely high population level and poor atmosphere, this overwhelmed planet is run by an accepting, yet overbearing and stern, Religious Dictatorship. The religion itself promotes, perhaps even encourages, Free Love, and has strict rules against contraceptives and most forms of abortion. Birth (and survival) rates are high, given the planet's TL of 9. Combined with longer lifespans associated with higher technology, the world quickly reached and exceeded its purported capacity. Several nearby Agricultural worlds have a ready-made market with this extremely overpopulated system. This world is located in a 'Dumarest'-style setting, with no significant interstellar powers. The reasons why this world hadn't begun expanding (aggressively or otherwise) is simple to deduce: with over 100 Billion citizens to support, it doesn't have any resources to spare for expansionist activities. From Jonathan Daylett Planet/System: Aristodma CAB2654-9 R Ni Large, extremely hot planet with a corrosive atmosphere and scant water. Rich in phosgene and hydrogen chloride, very valuable chemical compounds used in plastics and technology manufacturing. Due to the high gravity, the densest parts of the atmosphere are much lower to the ground, allowing for research stations, collection facilities and refineries to be built on the highest points of elevation. The primary authority is a feudal technocracy. What began countless rotations ago as a corporately owned resource, Aristodma is now home to millions of people who live in ports, research stations, and other dense plastic fortresses. They are governed by those with the highest level of understanding of the environmental hazards present. People came here for the high risk, high reward lifestyle of gas-farming. Over the years, however, it became apparent that there were those more suited to the dangers involved, and they soon became leaders among the people. Generation by generation, the highly profitable gas-farmers have gained a reputation of shrewd but fair governance. It has worked well enough, until recent years as a few other factions started to see the cracks in the system and decided to try and make their own ways of life beyond the confines of primitive feudalism. Now those in command have to contend with not only an environment that is actively trying to kill them every second of every day, but with a contentious minority group that steals technology and parts for building new facilities as well as a political faction that seeks to upend the centuries-long reign of those who see themselves as de facto rulers of Aristodma.

Our main topic, inspired by one of our SAFCO Mail Bag submissions, is a discussion of the combat procedure from Classic Traveller. We also go through some great mailbag submissions, discuss the Central Supply Catalog supplement for Classic Traveller, Timothy Collinson's Generation-X Traveller book, and Internet Finds! Thanks to everyone for listening. Relevant links: Nuts & Bolts Scrapheap Rumble: Robot Battle RulesDragon #59Exonidas Spaceport - A Traveller Adventure by Jeff Swycaffer (p34 - 48) A Cepheus Light Vehicle ChaseJuly/August 2020 Freelance Traveller Starship Geomorphs 2.0 Independence Games has Wendy's Guide to the Fleets of Earth Sector, Volume 1Virtual Traveller: A weekend of virus-free online roleplaying

This episode is an interview with Ken Patterson, regarding the event he and Greg Caires are organizing for October 2020 -- Virtual Traveller: a Weekend of Virus-Free Roleplaying. The event can be found here, on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1205944649744350/ Jeff and I had a good time talking with Ken! We appreciate him coming on, and hope you enjoy the interview.