Classic mercs
Traveller: Science Fiction Adventure in the Far Future by designer Marc Miller (annoyingly referred to as Classic Traveller these days) was my first roleplaying game (RPG) dating all the way back to 1979. I started with the boxed Little Black Books (first published 1977) and quickly acquired titles. Two popular expansions in my gaming group were Book 4 Mercenary (1978) and Book 5 High Guard (1980). While Book 5 High Guard was the more popular of the two back in the day (Starships!), Book 4 Mercenary also got plenty of love, in no small part because of my discovery of David Drake’s Hammer’s Slammers novel that also arrived in 1979.
Book 4 Mercenary was the first Traveller RPG book to introduce an expanded character generation process. A major premise of the book is that player characters, once they muster out, will continue to seek fortune and adventure through joining a mercenary outfit. As such, rules for Tickets (missions) as well as an expanded combat system along with more ironmongery were introduced.
The Traveller RPG has gone through many versions/editions over the years. Not long ago, the original designer of Traveller, Marc Miller, sold his rights to the original version of Traveller to Mongoose Games. As much as I dislike the Mongoose Games business model, I am forced to admit that some elements of their Community Content license are working. One example is the Spearpoint series of adventures published under the Travellers’ Aid Society (TAS) Community Content Agreement.
Spears for free
As of the the time I write this post, there are four Spearpoint adventures available for download from DriveThruRPG. All the titles are written by the author Ekofisk and available for FREE. As the ad copy proclaims, “Spearpoint and Spearpoint Solo are a series of military adventures for Classic Traveller. Inspired primarily by Amber Zones and other Classic JTAS [Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society] articles, this series hopes to provide fully detailed, ready to play adventures.”
Adventure spearpoints
Spearpoint Solo: Yellow Ribbon (20 pages). The only solo adventure in the series to date. As the introduction explains:
“Yellow Ribbon” is a solo adventure for Traveller set on the planet Raschev (C867C4-6) in the year 1107 during the Chamax invasion. It was inspired by the article “Hunting Bugs” by John Marshall in JTAS 17. The article is not required for play, although it does make useful background reading.
The adventure was written using “The Traveller Book”, “Book 4: Mercenary, and “Double Adventure 5: The Chamax Plague/Horde” and these or their equivalents will be required for play. Conversion to other systems should be possible, but will be left up to the player. It is intended primarily as a solo adventure, but referees should have little difficulty running this for a group, if desired.
Be advised that this adventure contains spoilers for DA5.
Yellow Ribbon, Introduction, p.2
Double Adventure 5: The Chamax Plague/Horde was first published in 1981. It is no real secret (SPOILER ALERT) that the Chamax are the Traveller RPG version of the Xenomorph from the movie ALIEN. The Plague adventure also has one of the better notes for a referee I can recall in an ALIEN-inspired game. In this case it is the description of Yotisk, a useful NPC:
Yotisk is an example of a classic and very useful character type known as the “spear carrier’ or “extra”, The referee is encouraged to use Yotisk as a first victim, to show the characters what they are facing.
Double Adventure 5: The Chamax Plague, p. 11
Although Yellow Ribbon is designed for Classic Traveller, this ALIEN-inspired adventure could equally find a home in the Cepheus Engine-driven, ALIEN-adjacent HOSTILE setting from Zozer Games. Likewise, with a bit more conversion work, it makes a great first-encounter adventure for use in ALIEN: The Roleplaying Game from Free League Publishing.
Spearpoint: White Knights (56 pages). The introduction for White Knights describes itself this way:
White Knights is a military adventure for Classic Traveller. Set in the Spinward Marches on the planet Saurus/Vilis, it deals with the crew and ship’s troops of the Type-C Paramilitary Cruiser Cestus during a security mission in support of compassionate relief efforts following a major seismic event on the planet.
This adventure, as written, requires Basic Traveller booklets (Books 1, 2, and 3), Book 4: Mercenary and Supplement 4: Citizens of the Imperium.
Inspiration for this adventure was primarily drawn from Uller Uprising by H.Beam Piper with influences from Star Guard by Andre Norton. GDW’s Adventgure 7: Broadsword and any number of Golden Age and Pulp sci-fi sources.
While written for Classic Traveller, conversion to other systems should be possible but will be left up to the referee.
White Nights, Introduction, p. 4
White Knights draws upon some of the most golden of the Golden Age of Sci-Fi. Uller Uprising was the first novel by H. Beam Piper published in 1952. It was also the first novel in what became known as the Terro-Human Future History universe. The Apple Books edition of Uller Uprising delivers this description:
General Carlos von Schlichten is overseeing operations of the Chartered Uller Company on the colony world of Uller when a violent riot breaks out between native Ullerans and colonist Terrans. As the conflict expands to a full rebellion he must restore order to the planet while managing the complex political dynamics of the different alien factions.
Uller Uprising, Book 1, Federation
A cursory look at the reviews of Uller Uprising at goodreads.com or even on Amazon shows that the contemporary reactions to this book are less-than-positive. White Nights, though seemingly in a setting derived from Uller Uprising, presents a much-different perspective. Whereas in Uller Uprising you have a rebellion loosely based on the historical Sepoy Munity of 1857, White Nights gives you non-governmental organizations, but with security.
The influence of Star Guard by Andre Norton is a bit harder to see in White Knights but it is there. Andre Norton, by the way, was a pen name for Alice Mary Norton, a true literary giant in Golden Age sci-fi. A good portion of Star Guard is based on The Anabasis of Xenophon which shows, once again, how history and sc-fi together make interesting stories.
There are numerous, perhaps even an endless, list of other RPG systems that the White Knights adventure could be translated to. Given the emphasis, however, on player character leadership skills converting the adventure to support a skirmish or small-scale wargame such as Striker—the Traveller miniatures wargame rules—or Stargrunt II from Ground Zero Games likely will be an enjoyable experience.
Spearpoint: The Hardest School (53 pages). Drawing again from the Introduction of The Hardest School:
The Hardest School is intended as an aid to referees wanting to run the “Cadre Mission” ticket from Book 4 Mercenary. It provides maps, NPC [Non-Player Characters], and character UPPs [Universal Player Profiles, or stats] and a variety of situations intended to flesh out the basic description in Book 4.
Classic Traveller Books 1 through 4 and Supplement 4 are required for play. Referees using other systems should have little trouble converting.
The Hardest School, Introduction, p. 4
A “Cadre Mission,” as defined in Book 4 Mercenary, “generally provide training personnel for local forces and provide a high proportion of officers and senior NCO’s [Non-Commissioned Officers]” (p. 23). As the sample Cadre Mission ticket in Book 4 explains, “Large purchases of modern equipment are beyond their [the client’s] means, as are mass hiring of mercenary units. ‘Clave Belcherferus decides to hire a small mercenary cadre company to train an lead its military” (p. 23). The Hardest School builds off a similar premise and dials up the adventure.
If one wants to convert The Hardest School to another game system, the key seems to be to find one that emphasizes individual player character leadership skills. Given the mixing of player characters and combat, an Adventure Wargame such as Five Parsecs From Home: Solo Adventure Wargaming also makes a great conversion candidate.
Spearpoint: Thermal Shock (48 pages). In Thermal Shock we return to adventuring with the Type-C Paramilitary Cruiser Cestus:
Thermal Shock deals with the crew and complement of the Type-C Paramilitary Cruiser Cestus sent on a mission to reestablish contact with a deep-space research facility. This adventure was drawn primarily form Double Adventure 3: Death Station. This adventure, as written, requires Classic Traveller Books 1, 2 and 3 and Book 4: Mercenary. While written for Classic Traveller, conversion to other systems should be possible but will be left up to the referee. Rules citations refer to the 1981 edition of Classic Traveller.
Thermal Shock, Introduction, p. 4
Double Adventure 3 Death Station is, at it’s most basic level, a starship crawl. The job calls for a group of adventurers to investigate an incommunicative laboratory ship. In Thermal Shock the scale is stepped up from a single ship to a station.
Thermal Shock could make an excellent conversion to another RPG system like The Expanse Roleplaying Game from Green Ronin. Nothing like a group of do-gooders trying to explore a dangerous location…
Modern twists on classic adventures
The Spearpoint and Spearpoint Solo series is an excellent, highly affordable way to bring military adventures to your sci-fi roleplaying games. While designed for the original Traveller RPG game system, with almost no work the titles can be converted for use in Mongoose Traveller First or Second Editions, as well as Cepheus Engine-driven games like HOSTILE! or The Clement Sector. With some additional work conversions to ALIEN: The Roleplaying Game or The Expanse Roleplaying Game can be made. Even Adventure Wargames like Five Parsecs From Home or straight-up wargames such a Striker or Stargrunt II may find these supplements useful.
The Spearpoint and Spearpoint Solo series are yours—for free—to adventure with.
Feature image courtesy rare-gallery.com
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Rocky Mountain Navy Gamer 
Good post. It’s funny that my group never seemed that interested in mercenary or military adventuring or campaigns. I’d be more interested today. I’d still prefer a one player, one character campaign, but I suppose I’d also be interested in trying something where you run mercenary bands.
I guess that also goes for High Guard. We never created fleets and such, either. Might be fun to try.
Spearpoint Solo: Yellow Ribbon may be a good start for you.