Traveller Plan: Cloud 9

Here’s another deck plan I’ve created using Rob Pearce’s excellent geomorphs. I definitely went a bit overboard on this as it only featured in the intro/outro for a Traveller adventure I created called Smash & Grab!

This is the blurb I read out to my players…

As you approach Lagrange 2, the ship’s comm buffer floods with chatter and dozens of other ships appear on short range sensors. In the middle of it all sits an old 1000-ton Scout Service Express Boat Tender, now clearly retired from active service, the Cloud 9.

The old tender appears heavily modified from its original design with various modules and airlocks slotted into the huge vehicle bay that used to run its length. It also seems to have its maximum compliment of ten turrets installed.

A variety of small craft are arriving or leaving the local area, or parked up in matching orbits. Holo-emitters dotted across the Cloud 9’s hull are projecting advertisements out into space offering everything from nachos to cybernetic implants, casino games to stage shows.

It’s Vegas baby, Vegas in space!

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Call of Cthulhu Name Card

I often lose track of who’s who around the table, especially at convention games when I’m meeting players for the first time.

Here’s a game aid I created for Call of Cthulhu: a name card which can be placed on the table in front of each player. Print it out and cut the edges as marked. Players can add their name, their investigator’s name, and any preferred pronoun for themselves and/or their investigator.

I’ll include a couple of links at the end of this blog post to download a couple of different versions, one with a QR code to the Cult of Chaos code of conduct page. Feel free to download and print whichever one you want to use.

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Weird Science Gadget: Sleeve Gun

Here’s another Weird Science Gadget for Pulp Cthulhu (p.86ff, Pulp Cthulhu rulebook). Scroll down for a PDF to download and print.

The Sleeve Gun is a concealed, spring-loaded weapon which extends a small firearm from a specially designed bracer worn around the wrist. This device can be used to quick draw a firearm.

During combat, an attacker with a Sleeve Gun may draw their hidden firearm and attack without needing to have their weapon “readied” to gain +50 DEX when determining position in the DEX order for combat (as per the Quick Draw Talent, p.25 Pulp Cthulhu rulebook). A Sleeve Gun is typically used with a .22 Short Automatic or .22 Derringer (causing 1D6 damage, p.402 Keeper Rulebook or p.251 Investigator Rulebook).

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Traveller Plan: Lady Lovelace Airship

Not everything in Traveller has to be spaceships and lasers. There is plenty of opportunity for adventure in a variety of lower tech environments.

Vanejen is a Tech Level 5 world which you might recognise from the Classic Traveller adventure Research Station Gamma. A few months ago I ran an adventure, imaginatively titled Return to Research Station Gamma, set in the year 1116, with my Travellers on the trail of a kidnapped child. During the adventure they visited Vanejen and took passage on an airship, the Lady Lovelace.

This blog post features an A1 printable PDF of the Lovelace and an A4 sheet with a description of her crew and the various locations onboard. I’m using Robert Pearce’s excellent geomorphs again.

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Call of Cthulhu Prop: Fortune Cookie

I love handouts in Call of Cthulhu: old photographs, diary entries, half-burned letters, telegrams or business cards. I enjoy making my own if a scenario doesn’t come suitably equipped.

I’m also a fan of physical props. I recently ran a scenario set in my 1929 Chicago campaign where my investigators were following clues around town, eventually leading to a Chinatown opium den.

One of my investigators has a dog called Highball with the Scent Something Interesting skill. During the scenario Highball sniffed out a fortune cookie kicked beneath a bookshelf. I handed over a fortune cookie to my players, which they broke open, discovering the address of a Chicago Chinatown restaurant hidden inside.

My players loved it! But they wanted to know how I’d managed to pull off this magic trick from here in the UK. Here’s how…

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Weird Science Gadget: Night Vision Goggles

Here’s another Weird Science Gadget for Pulp Cthulhu (p.86ff, Pulp Cthulhu rulebook). Scroll down for a PDF to download and print.

Night Vision Goggles are a cumbersome headset mounted on a leather harness with a large disk worn across the chest. The disk projects a beam of infra-red light, illuminating the target, which is then visible through the headset.

When worn, this device allows the user to see in complete darkness to a range of 50 yards without being detectable by other individuals (unless they are similarly equipped). Movement is hampered whilst wearing this device: subtract 2 points from Move, and apply a penalty die to melee, Dodge, ranged combat, Climb, Jump or any other physical activity.

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Big Pharma Plans for Traveller

Here’s a set of plans I created for a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant using Robert Pearce’s geomorphs. There are two basement levels and a ground floor, with two points of entry. The plans are fairly generic so you could use them for any kind of medical or scientific base. I printed them out on A1 paper for my players to use with miniatures.

This location featured in a homegrown adventure written for my current campaign. The adventure was called ‘Air Zamine’, a nod to a certain 90’s film

I’ll include PDF and PNG files further down in this blog post for you to download and print.

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Weird Science Gadget: Mind Control Helmet

This is the first in a series of short blog posts detailing Weird Science Gadgets from Pulp Cthulhu (p.86ff, Pulp Cthulhu rulebook). Each of these posts will include a PDF for you to download and print.

The Mind Control Helmet looks like a traditional pith helmet covered in a web of thick tubes. When worn over the head, it allows the user to attempt to control the actions of another individual. This device functions in an identical fashion to the Dominate spell (p.254, Keeper Rulebook) including range (10 yards), opposed POW roll, magic point and SAN point cost. Stepping inside the mind of another is an unnerving experience.

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Call of Cthulhu Single Player Scenarios

I’m currently running a Call of Cthulhu campaign for a single player. I was struggling to find a list of suitable scenarios, so I did a little digging, which turned into a list, which became this blog post! I hope you find it useful.

If the idea of running a single-player scenario seems odd, then you’re in good company. I’ve always been a “3 or 4 players and the GM” kinda guy, but it seems to work well in Call of Cthulhu.

This isn’t a long list. Feel free to comment or message me if you know of anything I could add. Every week I see people asking about single-player scenarios. Couples, often, running a game for their significant other. There’s clearly demand for more!

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Printing Traveller Plans

I like using 28mm miniatures when I’m Refereeing Traveller and I’ve found a cheap method of printing A1 and A0 paper plans for less than £2 each.

For my US friends, A1 is about 23 x 33 inches, A0 is 33 x 47 inches, and £2 is about $2.50. I’ll admit up front that this blog post is aimed at those of us in the UK, but hopefully you can find somewhere similar for printing your own plans over on that side of the planet.

The deck plan preview you can see on the left is the Amun Ra, a modified 100-ton Scout/Courier I designed using Classic Traveller Book 5: High Guard, my favourite Traveller ship design system. I drew the plans in Microsoft Visio, dropping in some Traveller Geomorphs from Robert Pearce.

I’ll include a PDF for the Amun Ra at the end of this post plus another bonus PDF. Feel free to print and use in your own games.

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