Freelance Traveller

Supplement 1: 760 Patrons, Second Edition

reviewed by Megan Robertson

This originally appeared on rpg-resource.org.uk in September 2012, is reprinted here and in the August 2015 issue with permission.

Supplement 1: 760 Patrons, Second Edition. August Hahn.
Mongoose Publishing http://www.mongoosepublishing.com
408pp, hardbound
US$49.99/UK£34.99

This is an incredibly useful Referee resource. It’s usually billed as something to grab when you have players badgering for a game and haven’t had time to plan an adventure for them, but it’s just as useful as a planning tool, a jumping-off point for inspiring your own adventures by looking over the suggestions under the type of adventure or location that you have in mind. The ideas herein are also ideal as ‘filler’ adventures between elements of a plot arc in a longer campaign. Or indeed, you can run them as one-off quick adventures, provided you are happy winging it from a bare-bones idea.

The core idea is that in each instance, the characters are approached by someone who wants them to do something, usually for some kind of reward. They have been organised by type—some classified by the job that is to be done, some by the location in which the characters are when they get offered it. It’s not something to read through cover-to-cover, it is a book to dip into for inspiration or for something ready-made, pick and mix as you please.

A common layout is used. First, the patron is described, and there is a section giving the information as given to the characters. There’s more information for the Referee, especially about what can go wrong! Finally there is a table on which you can roll 2d6 to determine the outcome… or of course if one of the outcomes listed catches your eye, go ahead and use it!

There is a wide variety of tasks to be done, from the trivial to the arduous. Many will make a whole adventure, even a series of adventures, if you want; others just an amusing side-trip between other events. You will find yourself returning to it again and again; it’s worth consulting even when you have some idea of what you want to do… and if you are bereft of inspiration, you won’t be for long after flipping through a few of the patron encounters!