Typically of Forsaken Areas: Hill Giants

The various true giants are iconic monsters of Dungeons and Dragons, most having been in the game since those original three booklets way back in 1974. The G, or Giant, series of modules (1978) were some of the most popular adventures ever published for 1st edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.

The 2nd edition AD&D designers decided that giants needed a significant boost in order to justify their fearsome reputation, as well as to provide readily available monsters for higher level characters, since demons had been removed from the game. So the true giants were all given additional HD to make them tougher for 2nd edition. This power boost was preserved in the 3e revision.

Back in 2002 Daniel R. Collins wrote a persuasive analysis that suggested 3e giants had too many HD for their type and size, at least when compared to other 3e monsters. I would further argue that, in 3e, where all monsters get ability scores and can readily take character classes, the additional HD are unnecessary and actually limiting. A standard 3e fire giant, for example, has 15 HD and a level adjustment of +4, making it very nearly an epic character right out of the gate. I say better to scale the base HD back to more reasonable levels and thus give DMs and players more opportunities to add classes and templates to these monsters.

Dan did a very nice 1st edition conversion of the true giants for 3e. I built on this work, updating the monsters to 3.5e and adding advanced versions that were comparable to the 3e Monster Manual versions, for those DM who wanted to have their cake and eat it, too.

5e increased the size of all the true giants, moving the hill giant from Large to Huge size. I understand the impulse to make giants really “giant” and it’s not without precedent: the old Cook/Marsh Expert set also boosted the size of giants compared the AD&D versions. But that said, I prefer to keep the giants smaller—if only because my miniatures are all based as Large creatures. Below is a smaller version of the 5e hill giant.

These two hill giant miniatures were an option to the Reaper Bones 4 Kickstarter. Both of these figures were sculpted by Bobby Jackson and consist of the Hill Giant Lowland Warrior and the Hill Giant Lowland Chief. These were a lot of fun to paint.

The following text is Open Game Content.

Hill Giant

This creature appears to be a gigantic, primitive human dressed in rough hides and furs. Its filthy, warty skin is deeply tanned and its shaggy hair is pitch black.

Reckless Brutes of Incredible Strength but Little Wit. Hill giants are never truly accepted into society, yet they do well on its edges and frontiers, forging a strong and profitable existence. Despite their rugged appearance and great size, their basically humanoid shape makes it easy for them to relate with more civilized folk.

Boulder Throwers. Hill giants prefer to fight from high, rocky outcroppings, where they can pelt opponents with rocks and boulders while limiting the risk to themselves.

Towering Bullies. Hill giants love to make overrun attacks against smaller creatures when they first join battle. Thereafter, they stand fast and swing away with their massive clubs.

Skin color among hill giants ranges from light tan to deep ruddy brown. Their hair is brown or black, with eyes the same color. Hill giants wear layers of crudely prepared hides with the fur left on. They seldom wash or repair their garments, preferring to simply add more hides as their old ones wear out.

Adults are about 10-1/2 feet tall and weigh about 1,100 pounds. Hill giants can live to be 200 years old.

3.5e

Hill Giant CR 5

Often CE Large giant

Init -1; Senses low-light vision; Listen +2, Spot +3

Languages Giant

Defense

AC 16, touch 8, flat-footed 16
(-1 size, -1 Dex, +5 natural, +3 hide)

hp 68 (8 HD)

Fort +10, Ref +1, Will +2

Offense

Spd 30 ft in hide armor (6 squares); base speed 40 ft.

Melee* greatclub +10/+5 (2d8+11)
or 2 slams +10 (1d4+7)

Ranged rock +5 (2d6+6)

Space 10 ft; Reach 10 ft

Special Attacks rock throwing (40 ft increment)

*1-point Power Attack

Statistics

Str 23, Dex 8, Con 19, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 7

Base Atk +6; Grp +16

SQ rock catching

Feats Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Power Attack

Skills Climb +6, Jump +6, Listen +2, Spot +3

Ecology

Environment temperate hills

Organization solitary, gang (2-5), band (6-9 plus 35% noncombatants), hunting/raiding party (6-9 plus 2-4 dire wolves), or tribe (20-24 plus 1-6 hill giant brutes plus 35% noncombatants plus 12-30 dire wolves, 2-4 ogres, and 12-22 orcs)

Treasure standard

Advancement by character class; Favored Class barbarian

Level Adjustment +4

Special Abilities

Rock Throwing (Ex) Adult hill giants are accomplished rock throwers and receive a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls when throwing rocks. A hill giant can hurl rocks weighing 40 to 50 pounds each (Small objects) up to five range increments of 40 feet.

Rock Catching (Ex) A hill giant can catch Small, Medium, or Large rocks (or projectiles of similar shape). Once per round, a hill giant that would normally be hit by a rock can make a Reflex save to catch it as a free action. The DC is 15 for a Small rock, 20 for a Medium one, and 25 for a Large one. (If the projectile provides a magical bonus on attack rolls, the DC increases by that amount.) The hill giant must be ready for and aware of the attack in order to make a rock catching attempt.

Hill Giants as Characters

Hill giant characters possess the following racial traits.

• +12 Strength, -2 Dexterity, +8 Constitution, -4 Intelligence, -4 Charisma.
• Large size. -1 penalty to Armor Class, -1 penalty on attack rolls, -4 penalty on Hide checks, +4 bonus on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits double those of Medium characters.
• Space/Reach: 10 feet/10 feet.
• A hill giant’s base land speed is 40 feet.
• Low-light vision.
• Racial Hit Dice: A hill giant begins with eight levels of giant, which provide 8d8 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +6, and base saving throw bonuses of Fort +6, Ref +2, and Will +2.
• Racial Skills: A hill giant's giant levels give it skill points equal to 11 x (2 + Int modifier). Its class skills are Climb, Jump, Listen, and Spot.
• Racial Feats: A hill giant's giant levels give it three feats.
• +5 natural armor bonus.
• Natural Weapons: 2 slams (1d4).
• Special Attacks (see above): Rock throwing.
• Special Qualities (see above): Rock catching.
• Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A hill giant is automatically proficient with simple weapons, martial weapons, light and medium armor, and shields.
• Automatic Languages: Giant. Bonus Languages: Common, Draconic, Elven, Goblin, Orc.
• Favored Class: Barbarian.
• Level adjustment: +4.

Advanced Hill Giants

Hill Giant Brute CR 7

Hill giant warrior 4

CE Large giant

Init -1; Senses low-light vision; Listen +2, Spot +3

Languages Giant

Defense

AC 16, touch 8, flat-footed 16

hp 102 (12 HD)

Fort +13, Ref +2, Will +3

Offense

Spd 30 ft (6 squares)

Melee* greatclub +14/+9 (2d8+16)

Ranged rock +9 (2d6+7)

Space 10 ft; Reach 10 ft

Special Atk rock throwing (40 ft increment)

*3-point Power Attack

Statistics

Str 24, Dex 8, Con 19, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 7

Feats Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Sunder, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (greatclub)

Skills Climb +9, Jump +9, Listen +2, Spot +3

Base Atk +10; Grp +21

SQ rock catching

Possessions hide armor, greatclub

5e

Hill Giant

Large giant, chaotic evil
Armor Class 14 (natural)
Hit Points 95 (10d10 + 40)
Speed 30 ft.
Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
21 (+5)	8 (-1)	19 (+4)	5 (-3)	9 (-1)	6 (-2)
Skills Perception +2
Senses passive Perception 12
Languages Giant
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
Actions
Multiattack. The giant makes two greatclub attacks.
Greatclub. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (3d6 + 5) bludgeoning damage.
Rock. Ranged Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, range 60/240 ft., one target. Hit: 21 (3d10 + 5) bludgeoning damage.

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15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE
    
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Mercenaries in The Deep and the Dark

The founders of Game Designers’ Workshop—including Marc Miller himself—were avid wargamers, and the player base of Traveller continues to include a large number of military veterans and wargamers. So it is probably no surprise that one of the first supplements out of the gate in 1978 was Book 4: Mercenaries, which dealt with ground forces in Traveller. Book 4 also introduced advanced character generation, which immediately proved to be a popular if controversial extension of the original game.

I don’t have any data to back this up, but I suspect that the mercenary campaign might be even more popular than the free trader campaign, which is often considered the default Traveller game. In any case, I was looking forward to reading Martin J Dougherty’s treatment of mercenaries in Mongoose Traveller. MJD is consistently good and always strong on military topics. Mongoose ran a successful Kickstarter a few years ago to fund a deluxe three-book boxed set treatment of mercenaries. Although I didn’t get in on the Kickstarter, I did pick up the Mercenary PDFs after the fact. Mongoose has also published several follow-up products, including the excellent Mercenaries of Charted Space, which I picked up a couple of weeks ago during the recent Bundle of Holding sale.

Mercenaries are extremely common inside the Aslan Hierate and within the Buffer that separates the Hierate from the Third Imperium. In fact, the Keith Brothers almost certainly developed Reaver’s Deep with mercenary campaigns in mind.

Given all this, Mongoose Traveller Mercenary is another book that would work very well with The Deep and the Dark. Below are the mercenary companies mentioned in The Deep and the Dark statted out using the MgT mercenary system.

Mercenaries of The Deep and the Dark

Caledon Highlanders

A human-owned mercenary regiment (pg. 47) active in Reaver’s Deep and into adjoining Imperial and Solomani territories.

Caledon Highlander

STR 8	DEX 7	END 9	INT 7	EDU 6	SOC 5
Athletics (endurance) 1, Drive 0, Gun Combat (slug) 2, Melee 0, Recon 0, Survival 0, Vac Suit 1
Weapons: Gauss Rifle with auxiliary grenade launcher (4D, AP 5, Auto 3, Scope), RAM grenade (5D, Blast 9)
Armor: Chameleon Combat Armour (+13, +4 Stealth)

Characteristic	Value	DM
Force Name	Caledon Highlanders	–
Unit Size	Brigade	–
Unit Type	Motorised Infantry	–
Unit TL	13	+2
Mobility Type	Partial Grav	+4
Combat	6	+0
Bombardment	6	+0
Aerospace	5	-1
Support	6	+0
CEI or DEI	7	+0
Morale	10	+1
Reputation	9	+1

Caledonian Highlanders (Colonel Sir William Fraser, KC)

• 1 x Regimental Headquarters
• 1 x Battery of Regimental Artillery
• 2 x Sections
• 5 x Multiple Rocket Launcher or drone missile vehicles
• 1 x Fire Direction Centre vehicle
• 1 x Regimental Logistics Unit
• 1 x Pioneer Battalion
• 1 x Battalion Headquarters
• 1 x HQ Staff
• 1 x Battalion Squad
• 1 x Battalion Aid Station
• 1 x Battalion Artillery Battery
• 1 x Grav Tank Company
• 13 x tanks
• 1 x Engineering Company
• 1 x Lift Recon Company (Elite)
• 3 x Infantry Battalions
• 1 x Battalion Headquarters
• 1 x HQ Staff
• 1 x Battalion Squad
• 1 x Battalion Aid Station
• 1 x Battalion Artillery Battery
• 1 x Grav Tank Company
• 13 x tanks
• 4 x Infantry Companies
• 1 x Command Staff
• 4 x Platoons
• 5 x Squads

E’al Htoukha

A large, private Aslan military company (pg. 49) controlled by the Hlaotiyoiho clan.

Characteristic	Value	DM
Force Name	E’al Htoukha	–
Unit Size	Division	–
Unit Type	Lift Infantry	–
Unit TL	14	+2
Mobility Type	Grav	+8
Combat	7	+0
Bombardment	8	+0
Aerospace	6	+0
Support	7	+0
CEI or DEI	6	-1
Morale	8	+0
Reputation	7	+0

Kaha a’huye

The Brotherhood of the Rose-Tinged Waters (pg. 50) is a storied Aslan mercenary company sponsored by the Afaikhiyoi clan, operating out of Kusyu.

Characteristic	Value	DM
Force Name	Kaha a’huye	–
Unit Size	Brigade	–
Unit Type	Expert/Specialist	–
Unit TL	5	-1
Mobility Type	Infantry	-3
Combat	2	-2
Bombardment	0	–
Aerospace	0	–
Support	5	-1
CEI or DEI	11	+2
Morale	15	+3
Reputation	13	+2

Ktiriy’eirl

One of the larger mercenary companies operating in the Hierate, Ktiriy’eirl (meaning, roughly, ‘relentless attack’) provides armoured grav units to client clans. The company is managed by females of the Hrasua clan (pg. 120) and known for the high quality of its armoured vehicles, most of which are manufactured by Hwyroar, the clan corporation. Mercenaries are usually Ground Forces veterans of the Hrasua clan or one of its many allies. The mainstay of Ktiriy’eirl units are Khtachwel assault grav tanks supported by infantry in combat armour. Ktiriy’eirl maintains several large troop transports allowing the company to rapidly deploy assets wherever a client desires.

Characteristic	Value	DM
Force Name	Ktiriy’eirl	–
Unit Size	Division	–
Unit Type	Grav Armour	–
Unit TL	14	+2
Mobility Type	Grav	+8
Combat	7	+0
Bombardment	8	+0
Aerospace	7	+0
Support	8	+0
CEI or DEI	9	+1
Morale	12	+2
Reputation	7	+0

Longshot Inc.

A mercenary artillery company (pg. 51) operating in Reaver’s Deep with headquarters located on Solomon in Eakoi subsector.

Characteristic	Value	DM
Force Name	Longshot, Inc.	–
Unit Size	Brigade	–
Unit Type	Artillery	–
Unit TL	14	+2
Mobility Type	Grav	+8
Combat	4	-1
Bombardment	13	+2
Aerospace	7	+0
Support	7	+0
CEI or DEI	6	-1
Morale	9	+1
Reputation	9	+1

Sellswords of Gilead

An unusual human mercenary company (pg. 53) based on Sequel in Khtoiakta subsector of Dark Nebula.

Characteristic	Value	DM
Force Name	Sellswords of Gilead	–
Unit Size	Battalion	–
Unit Type	Security	–
Unit TL	2	-2
Mobility Type	Infantry	-3
Combat	1	-2
Bombardment	0	–
Aerospace	0	–
Support	4	-1
CEI or DEI	10	+1
Morale	14	+2
Reputation	11	+1

Teahleikhoi

‘The Soldiers of the Falling Night’ are an Aslan mercenary company (pg. 55) associated with the Iyhlua clan. Organised and operated as a regiment, Teahleikhoi is based in the Uhtaa subsector of Reaver’s Deep.

Teahleikhoi Trooper

STR 10	DEX 5	END 9	INT 7	EDU 6	SOC 5
Athletics 0, Drive 0, Gun Combat (slug) 2, Melee (natural) 1, Recon 0, Survival 1,Tactics 0
Weapons: Gauss Rifle with auxiliary grenade launcher (4D, AP 5, Auto 3, Scope), RAM grenade (5D, Blast 9)
Armor: Cloth (+8)

Characteristic	Value	DM
Force Name	Teahleikhoi	–
Unit Size	Brigade	–
Unit Type	Armoured Infantry	–
Unit TL	14	+2
Mobility Type	Grav	+8
Combat	7	+0
Bombardment	8	+0
Aerospace	7	+0
Support	8	+0
CEI or DEI	8	0
Morale	11	+1
Reputation	9	+1

Teahleikhoi (Siylakht Iyhli)

• Regimental Headquarters
• 1 x Command Ship
• 1 x Fighter Squadron
• 15 x Fighters
• 3 x Combat Platoons
• 1 x Commando Platoon
• 1 x Recon Platoon
• 1 x Engineering Platoon
• 2 x Artillery Batteries
• 3 x Battle Groups
• 1 x Tleiatre Battle Leader Starship
• 1 x Headquarters Platoon
• 3 x Companies
• 1 x Company Command
• 1 x Logistics Squad
• 1 x Repair Section
• 1 x Casualty Station
• 4 x Infantry Platoons
• 2 x Fire Support Vehicles
• 1 x Eiaikeiar Intruder Transport (pg. 70)

A Tleiatre Battle Leader is a TL14, 3,000-ton starship with J-3 and 4g capabilities used for command and control. The regimental command ship is a 5,000-ton vessel designed to coordinate large-scale operations. It also carries a small fighter squadron, and transports various other support units as required when the regiment as a whole is committed in combat.

Wolmarans Black Jackets

An infamous Solomani mercenary company currently based out of Damiel in Danvers subsector of Dark Nebula.

Characteristic	Value	DM
Force Name	Wolmarans Black Jackets	–
Unit Size	Brigade	–
Unit Type	Armoured Infantry	–
Unit TL	14	+2
Mobility Type	Motorised	+4
Combat	7	+0
Bombardment	2	-2
Aerospace	6	+0
Support	6	+0
CEI or DEI	9	+1
Morale	14	+2
Reputation	10	+1

Copyright Information

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Press Clippings

It’s been a busy couple of weeks here in the Great Dungeon of the North.

Anthony Miller of the excellent Page 121 YouTube channel posted a thoughtful and favorable review of The Deep and the Dark. I really enjoy Page 121, which covers many similar topics as this blog: lots of Classic Traveller and Dungeons and Dragons material. Page 121 is currently doing a series on AD&D Creature Features which, as you might imagine, is near and dear to the Great Dungeon.

The January/February 2024 issue of Freelance Traveller reprints an article that first appeared here, Wafer Tech in Mongoose Traveller. Editor Jeff Zeitlin has been publishing this most excellent fanzine for fifteen years, which is an amazing run. Among the many things I like about Freelance Traveller is that he’s been curating and republishing useful Traveller articles from around the web, such as Christopher Thrash’s analysis of “Ship Structure and Hull Size Limitations.” So much good Traveller material has quietly disappeared over the years that it’s nice to see someone trying to preserve these pieces before they are gone.

The Type U Armed Packet

I was very happy that a Mongoose Traveller version of the Type U Armed Packet made it into The Deep and the Dark, and not just because this starship fits very well into the Buffer setting covered by the book. The Packet is, of course, a ship design that I’ve been tinkering with for going on five years now. The published version tweaks the math for the latest version of High Guard and sports new art and a two-level deckplan.

As I’ve written before, I think the Type U is a great ship for player characters: it’s got a little armor, some guns, decent maneuverability, and a relatively high jump range. But best of all, its mission—unscheduled passenger service into dangerous systems—is made for gaming. Clients who can afford to charter such a vessel usually arrive at the docks with an adventure in the making.

As far as I can tell, the Armed Packet is first mentioned in the in the Ship Recognition Guide of the 2013 draft of Traveller⁵. The text explains that the Armed Packet provides

unscheduled passenger service for those in a hurry. The crew can be trusted, but these little ships still find themselves jumping in harm’s way.

I’m not sure if Marc Miller or Robert Eaglestone conceived of the Armed Packet, but I suspect the ship was developed to either test or fill out a missing niche in the Traveller⁵ starship mission/modifer codes, a system that goes all the way back to CT High Guard. While the 2013 draft does not provide a detailed ship design, the Quick Ship Profile (UF-CA33) tells us that the Packet is a 300 ton (C) vessel with an airframe hull (A), 3g maneuver (3) and Jump-3 capability (3). The Deep and the Dark version conforms to these general specifications.

For my own Into the Interface campaign, the player characters operate a modified Type U, the I.M.V. Starjammer. So I was pretty excited to sign up for the Traveller RPG Starship Miniatures Kickstarter from 2nd Dynasty, which included a 3D model of the Armed Packet. While I thought at first I might invest in a 3D printer, in the end I opted to have a third party print me resin versions of the ship at both tactical scale (which fits on a 1-inch base) and 1:270 scale.

Painting the larger model really kicked my butt. Going in I was feeling relatively confident about my painting abilities and what I learnt working on this project, to my sorrow, was that model-making and miniature painting are two adjacent hobbies with an overlapping but largely different skill set. As this recent Reddit thread helps explain, the tools and techniques are different. With organic figures or natural materials like stone you are using washes and shading to introduce the illusion of small variations in the surface of the miniature. With inorganic, manufactured materials like a starship hull you are trying to eliminate variations, at least until the weathering stage, to create the illusion of smooth, machined surfaces.

The model was cast in several different pieces and when I started to assemble the parts I realized that some of the resin pieces were warped and didn’t fit very well together. Further, some of the pieces seemed to have poor print quality: some sides had many surface defects, and two of the three turrets had broken gun barrels. At first I thought some of this was just normal for 3D printers but after some more research I think these are just poor quality prints. Even lots of sanding and filing and plastic putty couldn’t completely address all of these flaws. 

I primed the model with Vallejo gray primer in the airbrush, then looked at some Ian Stead artwork of the Type U for reference on color schemes. I had picked up the Vallejo Star Fighter Colors set, which had a pretty good selection of base colors. I started laying down a base coat with the brush but quickly found the coverage looked uneven. I decided to switch over to the airbrush, but needed to do a lot of masking. Too late I realized that Tamiya makes lines of masking tape specifically made for models, which would have made this stage far easier.

With the base coat down, I then gave the entire model a coat of Tamiya Gloss Clear. I then applied Tamiya gray panel liner. It’s a pretty amazing product that quickly fills the gaps and unfortunately spreads into some of the flaws as well. In hindsight I wish I had gone with the black panel liner to create a greater contrast.

I wanted to try my hand at some custom decals to better resemble the Starjammer. The nature of the model is such that it doesn’t have many empty panels where a registration number or even hazard stripes would easily fit. I did find a couple of spots on the wings to place a Starjammer crest. I bought some custom waterslide paper for my aged inkjet printer, which didn’t have great resolution but did the job.

Applying decals is a tricky maneuver, even with the aid of microsol and microset. I probably should have found a spare model to practice on, but I was ok with the results. I definitely didn’t want to press my luck with more decals than the crest. Once dry I hit the whole thing with a layer of Testor Dullcote.

Overall, this project was frustrating and I’m not very satisfied with the results, which look a bit messy to my eye. But I certainly learned a lot and could probably do much better on my second model. My single biggest mistake was probably not appreciating the differences between painting a monster miniature and painting a starship model. My second biggest was not having a better plan for approaching this project: a more efficient workflow would have reduced the need for retouches and would have made the end result smoother.

Copyright Information

The Traveller game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises. Copyright © 1977 – 2024 Far Future Enterprises. Traveller is a registered trademark of Far Future Enterprises. Far Future permits web sites and fanzines for this game, provided it contains this notice, that Far Future is notified, and subject to a withdrawal of permission on 90 days notice. The contents of this site are for personal, non-commercial use only. Any use of Far Future Enterprises’s copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks. In addition, any program/articles/file on this site cannot be republished or distributed without the consent of the author who contributed it.

Materials produced by Digest Group Publications (DGP) are copyright © Roger Sanger. Any use of Digest Group Publications’ copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this Web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights. Usage is intended to follow the guidelines announced by Roger Sanger on the Traveller Mailing List for preserving the overall Traveller milieu.

Adventure Class Ships

The one downside of having so much support for Traveller right now is the difficulty in just reading, assimilating, and utilizing even a fraction of this material. For months after I turned in the manuscript for The Deep and the Dark I kept finding useful bits and pieces in other books that I wished I could have acknowledged or incorporated.

Adventure Class Ships, released back in early October 2023, is a particularly strong match for The Deep and the Dark. Large areas of Reaver’s Deep and Dark Nebula sectors have been set aside as a buffer zone between the Aslan Hierate and the Third Imperium. Consequently, this region is a fairly backwards, small ship environment.

Adventure class ships, defined as sub-2,000 ton vessels, are right in the sweet spot for PC use—and are the largest ships likely to be encountered inside the Buffer. Further, the astrography of the region lacks the great, winding mains of the Spinward Marches or the Solomani Rim, requiring ships with jump-2 or even better, jump-3 capability. And the lower tech nature of the Buffer means TL12 or 13 is the most common maximum.

Fortunately, many designs in Adventure Class Ships fit the bill perfectly and are likely used throughout Reaver’s Deep and Dark Nebula.

The Third Imperium employs several designs with jump-4 or better for missions into the Buffer and Hierate space, including the Far Scout (pg. 12), Far Reach Survey Scout (pg. 16), Express Packet (pg. 78), and Long Range Courier (pg. 82).

Many independent human governments in the Buffer use the Frontiersman-class Scout (pg. 10), Assault Gunship (pg. 104), and the Mercenary Carrier (pg. 112) in their planetary navies.

Aslan clans both inside and outside the Hierate rely upon the Stayaow Combat Scout (pg. 134) and the Aihaiyo Hunting Ship (pg. 136), which are fairly common in both sectors.

Small commercial interests and independent operators inside the Buffer use the Merchant Trader (pg. 30), Long Trader (pg. 38), Large Freighter (pg. 54), Passenger Cruiser (pg. 66), and Prospector (pg. 88). These ships are often plagued by criminals and pirates who have adopted designs such as the Shadow Trader (pg. 28), Fast Smuggler (pg. 34), Pirate Carrier (pg. 102), and Kteahearl Raider (pg. 138).

Starship Encounters in the Buffer

The following tables incorporate ships from both Adventure Class Ships and The Deep and the Dark.

The referee should use this encounter table for Buffer worlds with Population 6+. Encounters occur on a 6+.

Moderate and Densely Populated Buffer Worlds

2D	Result
2	Pirate Carrier arriving in system, engaged in piracy.
3	Aslan Aihaiyo Hunting Ship standing by, waiting to receive a charter.
4	Dakaar-class Freighter standing by to receive a load of freight bound for the Carrillian Assembly.
5	Type U Armed Packet arriving in system with cargo goods and passengers from the Imperium.
6	Aslan Merchant Trader owned by the Khtyuwi’ corporation, standing by to receive new speculative cargo.
7	Passenger Cruiser with passengers, waiting for clearance to land.
8	Type A2 Far Trader carrying cargo and passengers, leaving the system.
9	Large Freighter arriving in system with passengers from the Principality of Caledon.
10	Assault Gunship on patrol, arriving at starport.
11	2 Avenger-class Patrol Frigates on manoeuvres, leaving the system.
12	Mercenary Carrier, standing by.

The referee should use this encounter table for Buffer worlds with a Population of 5-. Encounters occur on 8+.

Sparsely Populated Buffer Worlds

2D	Result
2	Aslan Stayaow Combat Scout operated by an exohierate clan.
3	Aslan Kteahearl Raider engaged in piracy.
4	Express Packet operated by the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service, carrying a diplomatic pouch to an embassy on a client state.
5	Fast Smuggler carrying goods to port.
6	Aslan Prospector operated by an exohierate clan, scouting out potential mining claims.
7	Type A2 Far Trader operated by trade pioneers out of Caledon in search of new markets and novel goods.
8	Large Freighter operated by Carrillines Ltd., carrying unrefined ore to the Carrillian Assembly.
9	Type K Safari Ship arriving with a charter of Imperial tourists from Daibei sector.
10	Aslan Long Trader operated by the Tlasayerlahel corporation, arriving in search of speculative cargo.
11	Shadow Trader carrying a corporate charter from Imperial space to Marlheim.
12	Avenger-class Patrol Frigate departing, on patrol.

Copyright Information

The Traveller game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises. Copyright © 1977 – 2024 Far Future Enterprises. Traveller is a registered trademark of Far Future Enterprises. Far Future permits web sites and fanzines for this game, provided it contains this notice, that Far Future is notified, and subject to a withdrawal of permission on 90 days notice. The contents of this site are for personal, non-commercial use only. Any use of Far Future Enterprises’s copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks. In addition, any program/articles/file on this site cannot be republished or distributed without the consent of the author who contributed it.

Materials produced by Digest Group Publications (DGP) are copyright © Roger Sanger. Any use of Digest Group Publications’ copyrighted material or trademarks anywhere on this Web site and its files should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights. Usage is intended to follow the guidelines announced by Roger Sanger on the Traveller Mailing List for preserving the overall Traveller milieu.