I'm surprised that this is my favorite Reach module after going throug the first 3. I wasn't that crazy about it. Well, I actually LOVED the first half of it. But it's the same encounter over and over and over and over and over ... again after that. It really started to become a sad joke even to the point where the NEXT reach module starts out with THE EXACT SAME ENCOUNTER AGAIN! Are you KIDDING me!? Granted, they change a thing or two every time they throw the encounter at you; for example, once it's maybe indoors and the next time it's outdoors!

Then again, it's $9; you get what you pay for. And some parts of this module really make up for it. Certainly some oppurtunities for some heroic action and some emotional narrative! Like I said, I think it's my favorite Reach module out of the first 3 as parts of it I keep remembering fondly. But it IS short, especially if you count the repeating encounter as one encounter.

It also annoys me quite a bit on these modules how vauge the encounters are. No maps really for any of the encounters. Granted, it's theater of the mind, but as a story teller you have to invent the scene in your mind from scratch. You're given an extremely vauge scene such as "you're in a ruined building" and then YOU the story teller have to map at least the important parts out yourself. How many exits does this room have? What walls are the exits on? What obstacles are in the room to use as cover? What's in the adjacent rooms? You're going to have to run a combat in here and all this matters! But Mongoose isn't going to help you answer these questions; it's all on you to map the world out and populate it.

So, as long as you're okay filling in all these details yourself, there's some really good material here in a few scenes. Certainly enough to keep a group of travellers busy for 4 to 8 hours of game play.

I also didn't like this nearly as much as High and Dry, which has been my favorite Mongoose module so far. But I really do love the human encounters in it for the drama.

4 stars for being short and repetative, but overall delivering a decent story as long as you can spice up the repetativeness and flesh out the encounters and scenes yourself.

Traveller Reach Adventure 1: Marooned on Marduk Author: Martin J Dougherty Publisher: Mongoose Publishing ISBN 978-1-908460-58-5

Price: £8 Pages: 33

I received this as a complimentary copy from Mongoose for review purposes.

Overview: "This adventure takes place on the world of Marduk, in the Oghma Cluster which lies at the Rimward (bottom) end of Sindal Subsector. The adventure is suitable for almost any group ofTravellers, with or without a starship. Inventive Travellers can get through this adventure using almost any skills set, though ‘planetside’ skills such as survival and combat skills will be useful. No matter how much weaponry the Travellers possess, they will be deprived of most of it, and will find themselves outgunned if combat breaks out. Clever tactics and use of the environment will be necessary to level the odds."

This an adventure book that explores the oft explored 'lost on a hostile planet' adventure. This scenario is not novel, but the author, Martin J Dougherty, expands and delivers it well, and in doing so reveals more about the wider setting in which Marduk lies. Whilst quite linear, and using a limited set of components, the book delivers an excellent evening's gaming, with re-use and links to further travelling in the Sindal sub sector. It is well illustrated with recognisably 'Traveller' like 3D imager, shuttle plans, and competent character illustrations. It follows the high quality of Traveller 2.0 layout and graphics, and has no apparent typos or grammatical problems.

It comprises of the following chapters:

"Introduction": a top level introduction and a potential hook linked to GeDeCo, the Imperial corp of note in the Trojan Reaches. "Referee's Information": This is an excellent and concise summary of the Trojan Reach, the role of the Aslan Hierate and the Third Imperium; as well as a summary of GeDeCo's role as starport builder and operator through the Reach. The Sindal Subsector is then described and mapped, before moving onto the 'collapsed' worlds in the Oghma Cluster: the titular Oghma, Marduk, and Borite. The adventure is set on the ultra balkanised world of Marduk, but the raiders of Oghma prove to be key. The detail on the Marduk Highport is crisp and useful, and gives insight that can be used elsewhere. This is a great introduction to the setting. I have read and run the Reach extensively, from the 'Pirates of Drinax' campaigh and elsewhere, and I appreciate how Dougherty delivers such flavout in 8 pages. "Arriving on Marduk": a 3 page arrival introduces 3 NPCs that will travel with the PCs, they are interesting, and in fact they would also make perfectly good pre-generated PCs if the referee wanted to deploy them as part of a one-off. "Downed on Marduk","Into the Wilderness", "Rule The Ruins" and "Holding On For Daybreak": These are the key Acts of the adventure. The core is set in a dark, rain swept night; cunning and vicious predators roam long abandoned ruins; xenophobic locals stumble into offworlders; translation comm computers struggle with barely recognisable dialects. Above, debris from a fatal collision light up the sky as shooting stars, and all the emergency comms channels are silent.. Without spoiling amything, all is here for a tense, genre appropriate SF adventure that could be from Star Trek, Doctor Who or HG Wells. All the bits are there.. and Dougherty keeps the advice coming: the sidebar entitled: "Going Off Script? What Script?"; is quite charming. "Characters": Stats and ships and all you need.. as mentioned before, many NPC would repurpose as a PC.

Summary: Well crafted, well illustrated, well laid out, well written, high potential for an evening of tension, great for a con one-off. 5/5

This adventure is set on a planet called Marduk which is in the Sindal Sector referenced in the Mongoose Traveller II Core Rulebook. It's a bit of a backwater on a major trade route, the sort of place you pass through rather than go to. It has a Highport in orbit, and the action takes place when the party take a shuttle to the Downport... the reason why they do this is left open, although one suggestion is given, which could lead to further adventures.

There's a fair bit of Referee information, much of which may be shared as seen fit - if people consult library files or ask around a bit, most likely. It should help you make the place come alive a bit. Remember, Marduk is not within the Imperium, so the party may find that they are a bit outside of their comfort zone, although it's close enough that much will be familiar. There isn't very much here beyond the confines of the Downport's Star Town, apparently the indigenous people on the populated islands are not very friendly and the main continents are mostly inhabited by Downport folk who farm fresh produce for the starport.

The adventure proper begins when the party takes the shuttle to the Downport, although if they and you want they can explore the delights of the Highport first. A few other people are also taking the trip. It's not allowed to take your own transport to the surface, so dissuade anyone who suggests that. Enough of a 'big stick' is provided in notes on how to deal with errant transports that only the most foolhardy parties will try it... and even if they do, there's scope to weave this adventure in anyway. Neat! The trip ought to take the better part of three hours.

Unfortunately, the next system along (Oghma) is home to a fairly low-tech bunch of raiders who are just about Jump-capable, and today is the day they've embarked on their most daring raid yet, an attack on the Highport. The shuttle the party is on gets caught up in this, getting damaged sufficiently that it crashes. What was a jaunt planetside turns rapidly into a survival exercise...

The opposition may include raiders following up on the downed shuttle, the weather, and the local wildlife. There are also some locals - the native types who do not like contact with outsiders. It may descend into a brawl very quickly (which the party is likely to loose) or saner heads may prevail with running away or trying to communicate as better tactics. Hopefully the adventure ends when a rescue shuttle turns up, although it may be a mad dash across country to get to it.

That's it. A quite short adventure, but one in which the party have free reign to do what they please - remebering of course that every action has its consequences, never more so than here. Everything is well-developed and atmospheric, however, and could provide a nice side-adventure. Hopefully the party will not be marooned for too long!

This is the very definition of an adventure on rails. While there are some interesting characters and a nice one-page map / stats for a shuttle, the adventure is presented like the outline of a novel. The product could be enhanced by having some meaningful choices given to the players. It cries out for a local area map with locations to explore and a range of possible solutions to the situation set up. To run, the Referee will undoubtedly want to use the core ideas but flesh out at least a small part of the described world in more detail.

Short adventure that can be included into any campaign and any remote location. I would like to have seen at least a few ready do use maps of the environment and the combat sceenes. Also would have been nice with a bit more information about the planet to make aftermat and follow up adventure easier.