Hey all! We greatly appreciate all the feedback we got on yesterday's crunchy update. A lot more where that came from is coming soon! New Art Today, we wanted to take a moment to share a look at some of the new art coming to Traveller 5E.
This video highlights a range of pieces from across the project, including creatures, gear, environments, and more.
We’ll have more to share soon, both on the art side and with upcoming gameplay-focused updates.
Choose Your Jump - Entry 003
We’re also continuing the story.
Choose Your Jump - Entry 003 Winning Choice: Check the Cargo “You Shouldn’t Have Opened That”
You don’t wait. The hold cycles open with a low hiss, colder than it should be. Your breath fogs as you step inside.
The crate that shifted is easy enough to find because of the reinforced casing. No markings. No registry tags.
You break the seal. Inside is a stasis pod.
Frost clings to the inside of the glass. Power levels fluctuate - stable one second, dipping the next. The readout flickers, trying to resolve something it doesn’t want you to see. Life signs maybe?
Engineering tries to pull a clean scan, but the system fights back - data loops, error codes, partial readings that don’t line up. Whatever’s inside is being deliberately obscured.
Then the ship shudders. Proximity alert.
The contact that was trailing you is now close and it’s not alone. Two more returns appear across the sensor screen.
Back in the hold, something changes. The pod’s internal display stabilizes for half a second, long enough to show a silhouette.
Humanoid?
Then it glitches out again. The hail comes through again more insistent this time.
“Unregistered vessel, cut power and prepare for boarding.”
You’ve got seconds. What’s your call, Captain?
A - Answer the hail Play it straight. Buy time. See who you’re dealing with.
B - Run for it Push the drive. Risk it. Anything’s better than getting boarded.
C - Secure the cargo Lock the hold down. Whatever’s in that pod might matter more than the ship.
Before we get into the crunchy munchy of gameplay, we wanted to thank our backers for helping us surpass 575K! Another CIVX Content Expansion has been unlocked! Our next stretch goal is 600K, at which we'll unlock book ribbons for all regular-edition books!
Time for Some Crunch We know a ton of you want to dig deeper into how this actually plays at the table, so it's finally time to start getting into some gameplay details. Expect many more of these updates - but here's where we're starting:
Character Creation in 5E We've put together a video with designers Tim Brown and Josh Kelly, along with John-Matthew DeFoggi walking through how character backgrounds and lifepath creation work in Traveller 5E. It covers:
How Traveller ability scores translate into a 5E-style system
How careers and prior service still shape your character
How Traveller skills are adapted into 5E proficiencies
How that classic Traveller character creation risk is still part of the experience
More soon - we’ve got a lot more to share as we keep digging into the system.
Vector Movement Hex Map(added to all physical pledges)
Special Edition Page Gilding
Gear & Robots VTT Compendium
Another CivX Content Expansion
We’re now less than $1,000 away from $550K, where we’ll unlock:
Character Prebuild & Backstory PDF
We’ve been paying close attention to your feedback on stretch goals - and this latest round reflects that.
We’ve shifted toward bonuses that benefit all backers, and we’ll keep that approach in mind as we move forward.
We really appreciate everyone who’s pledged so far and helped shape the campaign.
More Crunch Is Coming
We also know a lot of you are looking for more detailed, mechanics-focused updates.
Those are coming.
We’ve been collecting your questions and are building out a 12-update plan focused on delivering the most useful, in-depth content we can between now and the end of the campaign.
If there’s something specific you want to see, leave a comment here! We want to make sure we don’t miss anything.
Choose Your Jump - Next Update
You made your call.
In our last Choose Your Jump, the crew voted to check the cargo.
We’ll be opening it up in the next update - so keep an eye out to see what’s actually inside.
That means Special Edition page gilding is now included.
We’re also less than $3,000 away from $500K.
At $500K, we’ll unlock the Gear & Robots VTT Compendium, expanding the Roll20 support even further for those using the VTT module.
Alien Lifeforms We wanted to take a moment to show off a couple of the alien creatures you’ll encounter - first up is the Exopilosan! And we also wanted to show off the Carrion Kite. These are just a small sample of the creatures included across the campaign content. Choose Your Jump - Entry 002 One Jump. Three Surprises. You take the patron’s job. The crates arrive just before departure with no markings and no paperwork. Just weight, seals, and a tight-lipped cargo handlers who quickly leave once they're done loading.
The patron’s payment is split: half now, half on delivery. The first installment is enough to ease the financial pressure of the ship’s mortgage, and from the patron’s point of view, it got you to stop asking questions. You clear the starport with no export or inspection hassles; that's the first surprise.
In no time you maneuver to a safe jump point and engage the drive. It’s still making that unnerving noise, so the engineering logs it … again.
Then comes the second surprise. Halfway through the jump, internal sensors show that the cargo hold is warmer than it should be. Not by much, just enough to ping the sensor. You drop out of jump on schedule and on point, so no misjump, at least not this time.
The destination has a C starport, which, when you arrive, will be busy enough to blend in and quiet enough that people mind their own business. That's when you get this message from an incoming security pinnace: "Do not dock. Hold position. Await further instructions."
And the third surprise: one of the crates shifts. The bay cameras picked it up, and you watch it over and over again, just to be sure. No impact, no turbulence, but the crate definitely moved. You've got a decision to make:
