Freelance Traveller

Introductory Adventure: The Imperial Fringe

reviewed by Paul Anuni

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2024 issue.

Introductory Adventure: The Imperial Fringe. Marc Miller & John Harshman
Game Designers’ Workshop (defunct; most Traveller material preserved under Far Future Enterprises https://farfuture.net)
36pp. PDF, originally digest-sized softbound
Currently available from FarFuture Enterprises on the Classic Traveller CD-ROM.

There have been several adventures over the years – decades – that Traveller has been published (in one form or another) that have been called “introductory”; this is one of the earlier ones.

It is my belief that an “introductory” adventure should be set up to show the ‘essence’ of the system for which it is written – that is, what sort of activities should the characters expect to be most involved in, from a game-mechanic point of view. It should, to some extent, try to ‘hold the hand’ of the referee as the table proceeds through the adventure.

One might say that this adventure fails that test. That’s not to say that it doesn’t have a place on your Traveller bookshelf, but rather than being an introductory adventure, it’s more of framework from which several different adventures – and different types of adventures – can be hung. Those adventures can themselves be anywhere from introductory to ‘seeds’ (where the referee is expected to do most of the development). In fact, as presented, there are already some ‘seeds’ hung from the framework, or perhaps less than ‘seeds’ (‘spores’?), but ideas that the referee can build from. Additionally, some previously-published adventures are noted as possibilities for using within this adventure’s framework, but none of those are truly introductory adventures, either.

Most of this folio is less about adventuring directly than it is background information about Traveller and the Spinward Marches setting. While none of the data is as extensive as other topic-dedicated folios (such as Supplement 3: The Spinward Marches), you do get useful information, such as a listing of the Spinward Marches UWP data and a deck plan with descriptions of the iconic Type S Scout/Courier. As such, it therefore makes a good base for familiarization with the setting, and recognition of the value of the more detailed supplements when they come to one’s attention.

Given that its only availability at present appears to be on the FFE Classic Traveller CD-ROM, any interest in this folio would have to be mostly historical; the material that supplemented and supplanted this is also included on the CD.