Category Archives: The Base

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Zhodani Base Awards 2019

2019 ZhobieWelcome to the Zhodani Base Awards 2019! 2019 has been another amazing year for Traveller products. Lots of new stuff from the small publishers (and Mongoose).

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The first category is “Best Cover“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Cover” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2019 is: Crew Expendable from Zozer Games

There were lots of Traveller products with nice covers this year. Lots of love for all nice covers. A cool gritty starship image and an otherwise well designed cover with a really good looking font was what won this year.

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Next category is “Best Fanzine or Online Magazine“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Fanzine/Online Magazine” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2019 is: Freelance Traveller

Freelance Traveller has once again proved that they are the best fanzine by publishing bimestrial issues with lots of good contents for free.

Freelance Traveller has won this category every year since 2011!

But the competition was quite tough this year. Zine Quest at Kickstarter will be back in February, so maybe there will be some more good Traveller fanzines in 2020.

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Next category is “Best Adventure“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Adventure” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2019 is: The Zhodani Candidate from Stephen J. Ellis.

There were lots of fine Traveller Adventures for different settings published. This year The Zhodani Candidate was the most interesting one.

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Next category is “Best Ship or Deckplan“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Ship or Deckplan” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2019 is: Liberty Ship from Stellagama Publishing.

There were lots of fine ships for Traveller published this year. I found the Liberty Ship very inspiring since I am planning a naval adventure for my new gaming group.

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Next category is “Best ATU Product“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best ATU Product” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2019 is: Dirtside from Zozer Games.

This category always make me happy since you can always find so many cool ideas and useful books.

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Next category is “Best OTU Product“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best OTU Product” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2019 is: Behind the Claw from Mongoose.

Mongoose continues to churn out good quality products for the OTU.

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A final bonus category this year is “Best Free or Pay What You Want Traveller Product“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Free or Pay What You Want Traveller Product” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2019 is: HOSTILE Technical Manual from Zozer Games.

There were a lot of great free products this year. The HOSTILE Technical Manual was the most useful for me.

Now, go and download all of the free Traveller Products. Why? They are free!

Florensa Subsector

One of the more popular pages at the Zhodani Base is the Random Subsector Generator. With the help of the generator, some text editing and the post function at Traveller Maps and some editing using Gimp, I created this subsector.

I made this subsector to try out the region xml-tag that is used at TravellerMap for nebulas. But then I liked the subsector that I have made, so I decided to make it prettier using an image of a real nebula.

Florensa Subsector
The Florensa Nebula is in the center of the subsector. This nebula is a navigational hazard. (Add +2 for misjump to/from Florensa and +1 for misjump to/from any of the six surrounding hexes.)

Three interstellar powers are present in the subsector. The Portuna Federation, the Caponiana Free State, and the Elekto Zardom.

All three interstellar powers have signed an agreement that have defined the Florensa Nebula as a space preserve. No ships are allowed to go there except for scientific missions.

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Short Write-Ups:

SILESTINA B6889BC-B

Silestina is the local capital of the Portuna Federation. Trade in illegal gems from the Florensa system has attracted lots of settlers. The planet is ruled by Duke Ostretto who is not very popular and that have risen the law-level to C to protect himself.

Florensa X000000-0

At Florensa there is a thin asteroid belt orbiting a neutron star at 80 AU. There are a few research stations in the belt. These stations observe the neutron star and the nebula. The stations are usually unmanned.

In some areas of the Nebula, there are lots of valuable minerals. It is possible to find gems like Diamonds or Sapphires. There are also noble metals like Platinum, Gold, Iridium, and Osmium. Some radioactive  can also be found.

In a few locations in the nebula, 2000-year-old (non-human) mining equipment have been found. Due to micrometeorites and radiation, these doesn’t work anymore, but they seem to have been more advance than what any of the current interstellar powers can produce.

PALERIA B500964-B

Paleria is the local capital of the Caponiana Free State. Trade in illegal gold from the Florensa system has attracted lots of settlers. Paleria is controlled directly from Caponiana.

ARMIONA B000979-B

Armiona is working as some kind of local capital of the Elekto Zardom. Armiona is a huge asteroid belt and each asteroid have its own government. There is no central control. Trade in illegal radioactives from the Florensa system has attracted lots of settlers.

[tabs]
[tab title=”Florensa Subsector Data”]

@SUB-SECTOR: Florensa SECTOR: Sadobi
# 
#--------1---------2---------3---------4---------5-------
#PlanetName   Loc. UPP Code   B   Notes         Z  PBG Al
#----------   ---- ---------  - --------------- -  --- --
Seelio        0107 E654564-6    Ag Ni              321 Pf
Signes-3      0205 D100277-5  S Lo Ni Va           323 Pf
Silestina     0206 B6889BC-B  N Hi Cp              224 Pf
Alkmesis      0208 C454775-8  S Ag              A  122 Na
Salora        0210 X000000-0    As Na           R  325 Na
Ekardina      0306 C878244-4  S Lo Ni              223 Pf
Roxandory     0307 D510210-5  S Lo Ni              723 Pf
Herlina       0310 X667000-0    Lo Ni           R  324 Na
Ornalda       0402 C100355-8  S Lo Ni Va           800 Ez
Armenete      0408 D520646-2    De Na Po           513 Cf
Irisek        0409 E634424-3    Ni                 123 Cf
Yurstea       0410 D797235-7  S Lo Ni              302 Cf
Isaraston     0501 C000776-6    As Na              503 Ez
Koronia       0503 C424110-A  S Lo Ni              903 Ez
Florensa      0505 X000000-0    As Ba Lo Ni     R  000 Na
Paleria       0508 B500964-B  N Hi In Na Va Cp     132 Cf
Ludoran       0510 E542425-2    Ni Po              723 Cf
Frington      0601 X9B4000-0    Ba Fl Lo Ni     R  024 Ez
Annelope      0602 C110125-7    Lo Ni              124 Ez
Armiona       0703 B000979-B    As Hi In Na Cp     314 Ez
Bavardina     0706 E524200-9    Lo Ni              813 Cf
Euphelene     0707 B10065A-9    Na Va              223 Cf
Restriam      0708 E69A665-8    Wa                 624 Cf
Rhodica       0709 X679000-0    Ba Lo Ni        R  034 Cf
Ullacin       0801 D210132-4    Lo Ni              122 Ez
Harmula       0804 C649420-7    Ni                 103 Ez
Clorian       0809 D695330-3  S Lo Ni              811 Cf

[/tab]
[tab title=”Meta Data”]

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<Sector>
  <Stylesheet>
    border.Pf { color: #000099; }
    route.Pf{ color: #00CC00; }
    border.Cf{ color: #990000; }
    route.Cf{ color: #00CC00; }
    border.Ez{ color: #009900; }
    route.Ez{ color: #00CC00; }
  </Stylesheet>
  <Regions>
    <Region Color="gold" LabelPosition="0504" Label="Florensa Nebula">0404 0504 0604 0605 0506 0405 0404</Region>
  </Regions>
  <Borders>
    <Border Allegiance="Cf">0408 0508 0607 0707 0706 0707 0708 0808 0909 0910 0911 0811 0711 0611 0512 0411 0410 0409 0408 </Border>
    <Border Allegiance="Ez">0400 0500 0600 0700 0800 0900 0901 0902 0903 0904 0804 0803 0703 0602 0503 0402 0401 0400 </Border>
    <Border Allegiance="Pf">0005 0106 0205 0306 0307 0206 0107 0007 0006 0005 </Border>
  </Borders>
  <Routes>
    <Route Start="0206" End="0005"/>
    <Route Start="0707" End="0508"/>
    <Route Start="0510" End="0508"/>
    <Route Start="0510" End="0512"/>
    <Route Start="0703" End="0801"/>
    <Route Start="0801" End="0839" EndOffsetY="-1"/>
  </Routes>
</Sector>

[/tab]
[/tabs]

Other Versions:

State of the Base

What has happened at The Base in 2018? A lot of things, but not as much as I had hoped!

Highlights

Orange and NotThe Zhodani Base now has reached over 850 fans at facebook.

Season 2 (8 new episodes) of the Adventures of the Starship Notorious.

The Mnemosyne Sourcebook by Dylan Lee was added.

SSL (https) added.

Chat (connecting to the original #traveller IRC) added.

Lowlights

All the things I didn’t have time to write or finish.

There was no Amber Zone Contest this year.

There were no reviews.

I had to change web host.

Site Stats

The Zhodani Base has about 6200 proper visitors each month. That is a little better than last year. (Even though my web host had major problems in the last months.)

The 5 most popular posts on the blog was:

  1. Cepheus Engine (1)
  2. New big blank subsector maps (3)
  3. Traveller Inspiration: Free e-books (4)
  4. What makes a subsector popular? (new)
  5. Spherical Space Ships (2)

The 5 most popular pages on the blog was:

  1. Random Subsector Generator (2)
  2. Free pdf-files (1)
  3. Generators (4)
  4. Maps and Data (3)
  5. Amber Zone (5)

The 5 most popular search words/phrases for finding the blog was:

  1. traveller rpg (1)
  2. traveller rpg blog (new)
  3. amazon (new)
  4. traveller rpg pdf (2)
  5. traveller rpg tools (new)

We can see that the pdfs and generators are still very popular. Both in searches and in the popular pages list.

To-do List

  • Run an Amber Zone contest this year.
  • Write reviews of Science Fiction books and Traveller Products.
  • Repost some stuff from the defunct Traveller Freeport website.
  • Post season 3 of the The adventures of Starship Notorious.

Pulp-O-Mizer State of the Base

Zhodani Base Awards 2018

Welcome to the Zhodani Base Awards 2018! 2018 has been another amazing year for Traveller products. Lots of new stuff from the small publishers (and Mongoose).

[divider style=”icon-center” border=”small” color=”#339933″ icon=”rocket”]

The first category is “Best Cover“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Cover” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2018 is: Spacecraft Design Guide from Moon Toad Publishing.

There were lots of Traveller products with nice covers this year. Lots of love for all nice covers. A cool starship image and an otherwise well designed cover was what won this year. (Ian Stead did three of the nominated cover images and one of them won.)

[divider style=”icon-center” border=”small” color=”#339933″ icon=”rocket”]

Next category is “Best Fanzine or Online Magazine“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Fanzine/Online Magazine” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2018 is: Freelance Traveller

Freelance Traveller has once again proved that they are the best fanzine by publishing bimestrial issues with lots of good contents for free.

Freelance Traveller has won this category every year since 2011!

[divider style=”icon-center” border=”small” color=”#339933″ icon=”rocket”]

Next category is “Best Adventure“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Adventure” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2018 is: Grand Safari from Gypsy Knights Games.

There were lots of fine Traveller Adventures for different settings published. But Grand Safari was outstanding. I love that there are six linked adventures in this book.

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Next category is “Best Ship or Deckplan“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Ship or Deckplan” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2018 is: Hercules-class Heavy Freighter from Gypsy Knights Games.

There were lots of fine ships for Traveller published this year. I really liked the winning design that looks a bit like the Voyager II / Connestoga from TTA.

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Next category is “Best ATU Product“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best ATU Product” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2018 is: Cepheus Light from Stellagama Publishing.

This category always make me happy since you can always find so many cool ideas.

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Next category is “Best OTU Product“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best OTU Product” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2018 is: Element Class Cruisers from Mongoose.

Mongoose continues to produce good quality products for the OTU.

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A final bonus category this year is “Best Free or Pay What You Want Traveller Product“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Free or Pay What You Want Traveller Product” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2018 is: Starship Geomorphs from Robert Pearce.

Starship Geomorphs wins because it is an amazing fan produced product that is also a work of love for the game.

State of the Base

What has happened at The Base in 2017? A lot of things, but not as much as I had hoped!

Highlights

The Zhodani Base now has reached over 750 fans at facebook.

A new adventure.

Lowlights

All the things I didn’t have time to write or finish.

There was no Amber Zone Contest this year.

We only did two reviews.

Spinward Traveller is a Kickstarter that still hasn’t delivered. Ken Whitman, please finish this project!

Traveller Ascension: Imperial Warrant Boardgame is another Kickstarter that still hasn’t delivered.

Greg Lee and Donavan Lambertus and Loren Wiseman 🙁

Site Stats

The Zhodani Base has about 6000 proper visitors each month. That is a little better than last year.

The 5 most popular posts on the blog was:

  1. Cepheus Engine (1)
  2. Spherical Space Ships (2)
  3. New big blank subsector maps (new)
  4. Traveller Inspiration: Free e-books (3)
  5. Spinward Marches upside down (new)

The 5 most popular pages on the blog was:

  1. Free pdf-files (1)
  2. Random Subsector Generator (2)
  3. Maps and Data (3)
  4. Generators (5)
  5. Amber Zone (4)

The 5 most popular search words/phrases for finding the blog was:

  1. traveller rpg (3)
  2. traveller rpg pdf (2)
  3. zho berka (new)
  4. cepheus engine (new)
  5. zhodani (new)

We can see that the pdfs are still very popular. Both in searches and in the popular pages list.

It is interesting to see that Cepheus Engine is becoming more popular.

To-do List

We will run an Amber Zone contest this year. (Be prepared!)
Sorry for not running one in 2017. I will probably do this without sponsors.

Expect to see at least some more reviews of Science Fiction books and Traveller Products. We have a huge backlog now.

We will repost some more stuff from the defunct Traveller Freeport website.

We will post season 2 of the The adventures of Starship Notorious.

Pulp-O-Mizer State of the Base

Zhodani Base Awards 2017

Zhodani Base Awards 2017Welcome to the Zhodani Base Awards 2017! 2017 has been another amazing year for Traveller products. Lots of new stuff from the small publishers (and Mongoose).

[divider style=”icon-center” border=”small” color=”#339933″ icon=”rocket”]

The first category is “Best Cover“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Cover” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2017 is: A Life Worth Living from Stygian Fox.

There were lots of Traveller products with nice covers this year. Lots of love for all nice covers. A cool action image and an otherwise well designed cover was what won this year.

[divider style=”icon-center” border=”small” color=”#339933″ icon=”rocket”]

Next category is “Best Fanzine or Online Magazine“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Fanzine/Online Magazine” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2017 is: Freelance Traveller

Freelance Traveller has once again proved that they are the best fanzine by publishing bimestrial issues with lots of good contents for free.

Freelance Traveller has won this category every year since 2011!

[divider style=”icon-center” border=”small” color=”#339933″ icon=”rocket”]

Next category is “Best Adventure“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Adventure” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2017 is: The Pirates of Drinax from Mongoose.

There were lots of fine Traveller Adventures for different settings published. But The Pirates of Drinax was outstanding.

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Next category is “Best Ship or Deckplan“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Ship or Deckplan” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2017 is: DeVass Class Private Starship from Moon Toad Publishing.

There were lots of fine ships for Traveller published this year. Moon Toad Publishing made a TTA inspired one for this category and won.

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Next category is “Best ATU Product“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best ATU Product” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2017 is: Mindjammer from Modiphius.

This category always make me happy since you can always find so many cool ideas.

[divider style=”icon-center” border=”small” color=”#339933″ icon=”rocket”]

Next category is “Best OTU Product“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best OTU Product” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2017 is: The Great Rift from Mongoose

Mongoose continues to produce good quality products for the OTU.

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A final bonus category this year is “Best Free or Pay What You Want Traveller Product“. The nominees are:

The winner of the “Best Free or Pay What You Want Traveller Product” category of the Zhodani Base Awards 2017 is: The Encyclopedia of Dagudashaag from Signal-GK and GDW.

The Encyclopedia of Dagudashaag wins because it is an amazing fan produced product.