In December 2023 we presented two offers featuring the Second Edition Traveller SFRPG line from Mongoose Publishing. The revived May 2021 Mongoose Traveller 2E Bundle had the Starter Set and essential supplements. And its all-new companion, Traveller Mercenaries, added recent soldier-for-hire supplements and adventures including the new three-book Mercenary 2E.
TRAVELLER MERCENARIES [all-new]
Mercenary has been part of the Traveller line since the 1978 Little Black Book 4. Mongoose published Mercenary 1E (2008) as the first supplement for its Traveller 1E. This Traveller Mercenaries offer presented the newest and largest version, the three-book Mercenary Second Edition boxed set (2021). Funded in a February 2021 Kickstarter campaign (1,026 backers, £100K) and designed by longtime Traveller writer Martin J Dougherty, Mercenary 2E presents expanded systems for recruiting merc units of any size from squad to battalion; new mass-combat rules; defined equipment levels from Basic to Standard, Generous, Lavish, and Excessive; and a new ticketing system that lets you line up Commando, Striker, Warfighting, Cadre, Support, and Specialist contracts. A full support line adds tickets, equipment, adventures, and an entire theater of operations, the Solomani Front.
There were three titles in this offer’s Player Collection (retail value $97) as DRM-free .PDF ebooks, including the complete Mercenary 2E, Mercenaries of Charted Space, and the Field Catalogue.
Those who paid more than this offer’s threshold (average) price also got this offer’s entire Referee Collection with five more titles worth an additional $101, including Specialist Forces, Solomani Front, and three Mercenary Adventures: 1: Verloren Hoop, 2: Bug Hunt, and 3: Must Travel, Need Guns.
MONGOOSE TRAVELLER 2E [from May 2021]
This revived May 2021 Mongoose Traveller 2E Bundle once again presented the 2E Starter Set and key supplements – everything you need to play any science fiction RPG campaign: desperate battles across the stars – free traders operating on both sides of the law – grungy cyberpunk cities – or campaigns spanning entire galaxies where mighty empires clash and suns explode. Traveller lets you explore the universe the way it suits you.
There were three titles in this revived offer’s Player Collection (retail value $100), including the complete Mongoose Traveller 2E Starter Set, with the rules and the Fall of Tinath campaign; the versatile Traveller Companion rules expansion; and the newly released Central Supply Catalogue Update 2023.
(This version of the Central Supply Catalogue replaced the older version in this offer’s original May 2021 run. If you purchased this offer during its original run, you received the new version of the Supply Catalogue automatically on your Wizard’s Cabinet download page and in your linked DriveThruRPG Library. When you buy a Bundle of Holding early, you never worry about missing a title added later – even much later.)
This revival’s Referee Collection added ten more titles worth an additional $114, including the essential ship-design supplement High Guard Update 2022 – and again, all previous purchasers of the original run automatically receive this new update – along with the High Guard Deployment Shuttle, the Vehicle Handbook, six short Referee’s Briefings (1: Companies & Corporations – 2: Anomalies and Wonders – 3: Going Portside – 4: Mercenary Forces – 5: Incidents and Encounters – 6: Garden Worlds), and the Referee’s Screen.
Ten percent of each payment (after gateway fees) went to these two Mongoose Traveller offers’ designated charity, Direct Relief. Direct Relief sends protective gear and critical care medications to health workers, with emergency deliveries to medical facilities across the US and to regional response agencies across the world.
