SAFCOcast 20: the Elements of a Traveller Game!

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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 ‘zine: https://www.freelancetraveller.com/index.html
• Reaver’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-UnhF5zZuqIfOumMuPkZZ6tViODkr6sr74XveUKWQtYwdt39LM
• Albacon, 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 3-4
• Of course, the Virtual Traveller non-con is coming up in October as well. Here’s the link again: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1205944649744350
• For 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-Cepheus
• In his FB group, Traveller Gaming in the Future, Ron Stepp has posted a spreadsheet tool called Adventure 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/512380172987060
• Speaking 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/
• The Speculative Machines Podcast, home of our music! https://soundcloud.com/speculative-machines

Random Planet #9!

Faddle – from Pete Burke

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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.