Let's Read: Traveller, 1977 Edition, Worlds & Adventures, page 22

School is coming to an end, thankfully, and I'll have more time to post regularly in a couple of weeks. For now, I'm going to continue this series, because I'm halfway through the last book and I want to get it finished.

So, page 22 gives us a patron encounter table. And the first one on the list is...an arsonist. Really? So...the PCs can get hired to, what, start a fire? Actually, the whole first row of 'patrons' are nasty people. Arsonist, cutthroat, assassin, hijacker, smuggler, and terrorist. So, don't roll a '1' for the first patron roll, unless your crew is comprised primarily of 'Other' careerists.

The 6-6 entry on the table is 'rumors,' which is basically no patron, just some information that might be useful in starting an adventure. The rest of the patrons are a mixed bunch, with peasants all the way to nobles, diplomats and officers, governors and scouts, etc. Lots of variety, and sure to inspire some sort of adventure seeds.

Next up are some details on employees and hirelings. Basically, if you want them, you have to find them. The players tell the ref who they are looking for (in general terms: crew members, mercenaries, etc.), and the referee tells them who is available and looking for work. The 'interview' basically means rolling up the NPC to see what they can do, and the PCs can hire them or not, depending on whether the hireling suits their needs.

Next up is nobility, and we get titles for those high social standing scores. An 11 is a knight/dame, followed by baron, marquis, count, and duke at 15. This is an interesting sidelight in the game; instead of an enlightened, democratic 'federation of planets,' we've got imperial nobles and feudalist titles. I like it. The titles are hereditary and show high standing; even for non-governmental roles, nobles matter. They might even have ancestral lands and fiefs, and some of them do rule. There are princes and kings, even emperors, but you're not rolling one up.

Finally, we have non-player character reactions when encountering the PCs, which are just two-dice rolls that may or may not be modified. Rolls of 2 and 12 don't get modified; anything else does, which can push them above 12 or below 2 sometimes. However, the section ends before giving us the DMs or the table, so that will have to wait for the next page.