If you’ve been following the recent episodes of Roleplay Rescue, you’ll know I’ve been spending a lot of time testing my ‘Priors‘ and exploring the architecture needed to sustain a high-fidelity, long-form campaign. Traveller was my very first roleplaying game back in 1977, and the sheer gravity of the Official Traveller Universe (OTU)—particularly the Third Imperium—has always held a deep fascination for me.

But as I sit here looking at my collection of sourcebooks, I’ve been trying to parse out exactly what it is that makes me want to run a game in this massive setting. I know in my heart that the traditional mercantile free-trader campaign—hauling agricultural parts to pay off a ship mortgage—isn’t what I’m seeking. Instead, I realise I am profoundly drawn to the ‘Discovery’ engagement. I want that thrill of stepping into the unknown, whether that’s exploring the bleeding edge of the early Terran expansion or sifting through the ashes of the Long Night.

To help clear the fog and figure out what specific flavour of the OTU might actually entice a group of players to commit to the Infinite Game, I’ve put together three distinct campaign pitches. As I looked at these three options, I realised they aren’t just random settings; they are deliberately constructed to support the “Priors” I’ve been talking about on the podcast. They each provide a different way to ground the Otherworld, giving me the tools I need as a Gamemaster to avoid ‘The Drift’ and stay focused on discovery.

Pitch One: The Crumbling High Port 

Set on a dilapidated Class B orbital station on a disputed border. The premise is that the players are the senior staff trying to hold the station together amidst severe budget cuts, desperate refugees, and shady corporate interests. The core hook here is local and political discovery. Instead of the players travelling the stars, the mysteries of the universe come right to their docking bays, providing a fantastic Deep Space Nine vibe.

This setup is a gift to the Sentinel and the Sojourner. By circumscribing the play space to a single, massive orbital station, it provides immense substance. I don’t have to constantly invent new planets; the universe comes to our docking bays. This allows me to deeply prep the local factions and social fabric , meaning as the Sojourner, I can slip into the masks of recurring NPCs—smugglers, weary port officials, and corporate agents—and truly inhabit them over a long-form campaign. It’s local, political discovery in a highly stable sandbox.

Pitch Two: The Terran Explorers 

Set in the early days of Terran expansion, just before the Interstellar Wars. The premise focuses on a privately funded Terran vessel pushing into ancient Vilani space, where the locals view humanity as backward upstarts. The hook is cultural discovery with a dash of espionage, allowing a mixed crew to snoop around the edges of a stagnant, monolithic empire without the heavy footprint of a naval fleet.

This pitch fires up my internal Discovery Engine. Setting the game just before the Interstellar Wars throws the players into a situation where humanity are the upstarts facing a monolithic, stagnant Vilani empire. It completely bypasses the mercantile drudgery of hauling freight. Instead, the engagement is about cultural discovery. It gives the Scout stance incredible fuel to describe the awe, tension, and texture of sneaking around the edges of a vastly superior alien bureaucracy.

Pitch Three: Dawn of the Third Imperium 

Set in the Milieu 0 era as the Sylean Federation expands to end the Long Night. The premise involves an eccentric noble or an emerging trade syndicate bankrolling a solitary, highly capable scout ship. The hook is pure geographic and archaeological discovery. The crew is out in the deep black, charting anomalies, recovering lost First Imperium technology, and staking claims before the slow-moving bureaucracy can catch up.

This is the quintessential ‘Infinite Game’. It satisfies my urge for deep-black exploration but keeps the focus incredibly intimate—just a privately funded crew alone in the dark. It strips away the heavy Imperial bureaucracy and fleet mechanics that normally intimidate me. Every jump is a new horizon for the Scout to explore alongside the players, describing the sensory details of First Imperium ruins or strange anomalies. It’s pure geographic and archaeological discovery, letting us map the ‘sketched space’ together, hex by hex.

Seeking Players

I have had a great call-in from Thorlik via Speakpipe recently, and some tentative interest from another player, but the truth is, I don’t really have a full group assembled right now. If I am perfectly honest with myself, I don’t even have complete confidence that I possess the personal time and creative energy required to spin up and run a second game alongside the current Karameikos campaign.

But, as I said on the podcast recently, life is growing ever shorter. I am not getting any younger, and I am done waiting to play the games I used to dream of playing. I really want to find a way to make a campaign in the Traveller universe a reality. Building an architecture for play is only half the battle; the other half is finding the right people who share your Priors and want to wander the Otherworld with you.

I’m putting these ideas out into the wild because I want to see what resonates. Which of these sparks your own Discovery Engine? Are you drawn to the heavy substance of the High Port, the cultural tension of the Terran Explorers, or the deep black of Milieu 0?

Drop a comment below or hit the Speakpipe link to send me a voice message. Let me know which pitch bites and why it grabs you. Finding the right hook is the first step to stopping the drift.

Game on!