Some 'street' food

 Groat burgers/sliders/gyros

- Groat is a meat source in the Spinward Marches. Most Sophonts think the taste is agreeable.

Noodles and Beak
- using a beak from a Beaked Monkey, some find the cooking of Noodles and Beak a detestable practice. Those who don't, think it's an excellent street food.

Ruuta Spines
- covered with a spicy sauce made from the body of the Ruuta, the Spines are eaten similar to the Terran dish called 'Ribs'.

Roasted Peak or Roasted Floaters
- The Peak Floater is a creature whose internal gas bladder can be ignited in a controlled room and the collected pieces are chopped and roasted longer to cook completely. Eaten with a Lemon-ish sauce.

Mongoose Traveller version 2 Core Rulebook Update (2022)

 Mongoose has released an Update for their version 2 of Traveller.

It's really nice.

New Art.

More Ships. 

An index!

The PDF scrolls up and down much better/easier than the last one.

And a Free PDF when you buy the book!

 OCR Character Recognition so you can copy and paste.

New Animals - the ones in the original 2nd edition should still work.

More Vehicles, I think.

All in all, a very nice Update for the Core Rulebook.

You can get it here:

Core Rulebook Update 2022.html

Does your ship have a Pet?

Did you leave your cargo door open too long while unloading and now have a bat-equivalent predator flying around your ship?

Did an Opossum-like creature crawl into a hatchway while you were making repairs?

Did your ship's cat let you know that there was a 7 foot tall creature behind you?

Ship's Pets 1d6

1.) a House Cat walks up the ramp one day
2.) a Tree Kraken from Knorbes
3.) an Unidentified Alien Plant that eats bugs
4.) a Robotic Critter
5.) a Llellewyloly stowaway until you figure out it's a Sophont
6.) an Alien Iguana starting to make a chrysalis

Roll every time you open your boarding hatch... if you dare.

I'm sure there's a lot more. Use or re-write the table to use in your game.

A different look at Task Difficulty (MgT2)

Try this to make Task Difficulties (MgT2) a bit easier to remember and use.

2+  Simple

4+  Very Easy
6+  Easy

8+  Average or Normal difficulty

(A)10+ Hard
(C)12+ Very Hard

(E)14+ Formidable

Just a different way to look at it.

An outline for navigating the Shadows adventure (Spoilers!)

I decided to remove this because of the Spoilers. I don't want to spoil anything.

Retiring so soon?

<click>

Begin recording

I decided early on that I didn't want to be a Comet Counter. I wanted to be an honest, VACC Boots on-the-ground, Explorer. And I was. I was good at it. Thirteen years as an Exploration Scout Pilot. New Suns. New Worlds. New Creatures that I've seen. And even named.

See the Galaxy, they said.

It'll be fun, they said.

And then it hit me.

Or rather, it hit my Engines.

Sensors didn't catch the small asteroid until the last second. Because it was on a different trajectory until it ricocheted off of the rock I was scanning. And right into the aft section of my Scout ship, the Splendid Horizon.

And after I finally got the Horizon somewhat stabilized with thrusters, I was too far in the world's gravity well to Jump out-system. At least to have any chance of surviving the Jump.

Thirteen years. Thirteen is still an unlucky number back on old Earth. And unlucky for me as well.

I had plenty of time to load up the GravTruck with survival supplies and personal trinkets that I really wanted to keep. The scanners said it was an almost perfect atmosphere. Plants. Animals. But no higher intelligence. Not a lot of geologic instability, so there would be few Quakes or Volcanoes.

Temperate zones where I can set myself up are probably my best chance.

I'd better like it. It'll be my new home for a while.

I sent out a Distress Beacon. Not that it would do much good this far off the beaten path. But it should run in orbit for about a century, if it doesn't suffer the same fate as my ship.

I set Navigation for a water landing near to a shoreline. With any luck, I'll be able to tow the ship with the GravTruck closer to shore and still use it for shelter, or at least spare parts. If the thrusters don't give out.

As I got in the GravTruck, I looked around for anything extra. Nothing I could think of.

I was ready.

I pressed the button to evacuate the air. The dashboard dinged loudly when the vehicle compartment was in vacuum.

It's now or never, I thought to myself. I pressed the button to open the compartment door.

Nothing.

Frak! Did it buckle from the crash? I pressed it again. Still nothing.

Oh, no! What if I can't get the GravTruck out of the ship? I've got no other way to get to the surface except along with the ship.

That's when I finally got mad. Some people would have plugged their ears rather than listen to the words coming out of my mouth at that moment. And I started banging the wheel and throwing things. And I accidentally hit the button with the edge of the electronic clipboard.

A small spark and the doors to the vehicle compartment started to open.

That was close. Wonder what else will go wrong?

After that, things went pretty much as expected.

The ship did land in the ocean. Surprisingly, not a lot of water got inside. But it was more than 17 miles from the island that looked promising.

A rope worked well for towing until it snapped. Then I used 3 ropes and went at half the speed from before. I reached the island with a little time to spare before sundown.

Chopping up some fallen wood with a cutter torch, I built a fire. Maybe something the local wildlife had never seen. The torch will come in real handy.

And the ship isn't at too bad of an angle. But I couldn't get it very close to the shore. I think I can make a walkway with some of the trees around here.

But that can wait until tomorrow. I'll sleep in the GravTruck until I figure out shelter and the creatures in the area.

All-in-all, it could have been much worse. But I'm stranded. The Mission was for Exploration - I'm in the middle of nowhere. It'll be a miracle if anyone picks up the Beacon's signal.

Not the way I wanted to spend my Retirement. But it could have been much, much worse.

Getting sleepy.

End recording.
<click>

Lava Made™

Wherever there is open volcanic activity, and sometimes where there's not, Lava Made™ Corporation moves in modular fabricating facilities to use the Lava to make parts and materials from high-temperature molds and gravitics. Citizens think Lava Made™ just makes bricks, but they have probably made more than a few parts in your Starship.

For a free catalog, just send an X-Mail to: Lava Made Corp. at your closest Subsector Capital. A Data Wafer Catalog will be sent to your nearest X-Boat Route World in 5-8 weeks.

Get the best made parts - get Lava Made™ parts!

MgT2e Target Practice using Effect

So, a Target is a (usually) stationary object with concentric circles on it. The smaller the circle, the higher the score. Therefore, using Effect (Table on pg. 59 / pg. 61 in the Update), the Target would look like this:

0 - Outer Circle (Marginal Success)
1+ - Inner Circle (Average Success)
6+ - Bullseye (Exceptional Success)

Joe Traveller was a Scout and only learned a little about Gun Combat. So, if Joe has Gun Combat-0 and a DEX DM of 0, he can only Aim and use LaserSights for a Bonus to Attack. He decides to Aim for one whole Round of 3 Minor Actions, and Aim for his Minor Action in his second Round, giving him a +4 Aiming Bonus. Add the LaserSights Bonus of +1 and he adds a +5 to his roll. He needs an Average check of 8+. The Target is 10 meters away - Standard Range for a Gauss Pistol.

He rolls a 5 + 2 for 7 and adds the +5 Bonus for a 12!

Joe hits the Inner Circle on the Target with an Effect of 4.

He Aims again, and after Aiming for one Minor Action in the second Round, fires again with a +5 Bonus.

He rolls a 4 +1 for a 5 and adds the +5 Bonus for 10, hitting the Inner Circle again with an Effect of 2.

So now Mary Traveller walks up to take a turn. She was in the Imperial Army. She has Gun Combat-2 and a DEX DM of +1. Using a Gauss Pistol with LaserSights like Joe, she Aims just like Joe did.

She rolls 2 + 2 for 4, adds Gun Combat-2, DEX DM +1 for 7, and the Aiming and LaserSights Bonus of +5 for a total of 12, hitting the Inner Circle with an Effect of 4.

She Aims again, the same as before.

She rolls 2 +4 for 6, adds Gun Combat-2 and DEX DM of +1 for 9, and the Aiming and LaserSights DM of +5 for a total of 14, hitting the Bullseye! with an Effect of 6!

You can see what's important for Firing a Ranged Weapon:

Gun Combat skill
High DEX score
Aiming
LaserSights

And if the Target is at Short Range, you even get another +1.

All of those DMs and Bonuses add up.

Try the Target out with your own characters. Keep one on your ship for downtime.

You could use this for throwing Darts in a Starport Bar, too. Swap out Gun Combat for whatever skill Darts falls under (I think it's Athletics) - or just a DEX check.

Combat is on pg. 73 in the Updated Core Rulebook.

If you want, you can change the placement of the target at Short Range or Long Range or try other variations from the Combat chapter.

Immortality Drugs

An offshoot of Anagathic research, some researchers tried to create Immortality Drugs, with several degrees of success which was then suppressed by the Imperium. An underground market began with two leading "brands": Eterna, and Methuselex

Most Citizens don't know this exists.

Immortality Drug I - Methuselex
Increases life span of most beings.
Reproductive drugs could help keep population down, if used.
Add d1000 (3d10) to life span, before aging rolls start.
Street value Cr10,000 per dose

Immortality Drug II – Eterna
Extremely increases the life span of most beings.
Newer reproductive drugs could help keep the population down, if used.
Add d10000 (4d10) to life span, before aging rolls start.
Street value Cr1,000,000 per dose

High Credits, Low Weight Cargo

When your Cargo Hold is small, but your ship is fast.

Ask your Broker for these fine goods cargos.
Many of these goods are not bought and sold.
Your cargo hold is being chartered for the trip.

Roll a 1d6.
Odds are Perishable Goods.
Evens are Non-Perishable Goods.


Perishable Goods (1d6)

1.) Illicit Goods
- Certain goods that may be banned by a religion or other organization. But not Illegal.

2.) Prisoners
- This could be a transfer of a a Prisoner between Worlds or Security Forces. Or something less legal.

3.) Rare Spices
- Mainly flavoring enhancements for food or aphrodisiacs.

4.) Ultra-expensive Foods
- A wine aged for 327 years, an Aslan caviar, Terran catnip.

5.) Wild Animals
- Possibly for a Zoo or a rich Noble.

6.) Museum-worthy Relics
- Relics recently bought by the Museum of Rhylanor, The Royal finery of an extinct race.


Non-Perishable Goods (1d6)

1.) Engineering Prototypes
- These are manufactured items that may be dangerous or lucrative. A Transparent Globe

2.) Exotic Curiosities
- These are strange items that may only be found or produced on one or a few Worlds

3.) Classified Documents or Information
- Analyses of Enemy movement, the Emperor's bathroom schedule, schematics for a Jump-7 Drive

4.) Jewelry
- a necklace for the Duchess of Deneb

5.) Artwork
- the only Picasso in the Spinward Marches, a Llellewyloly sculpture

6.) Illegal Cargo
- Guns, drugs, stolen goods.

EXPANDED BACKGROUND SKILLS

Expanding the pre-Career Background Skills

All applicable Homeworld Skills

1 0-level Imperium Knowledge (History, Law, Races, Worlds, Banking and Currency, Starships and Starports, TL-14 Technology, Nobles and Celebrities, etc...)

1 0-level Known Space Knowledge

1 0-level Background School Skill

1 0-level Background Hobby Skill

EDU DM in 0-level Background Skills

Level in Language (Anglic) equal to your EDU DM

EDU DM in 0-level Language Skills