Welcome to the Element family of cruisers, one of the mainstays of the Imperial Navy and a common sight throughout the Third Imperium and beyond.
This Kickstarter project is to create a brand new box set for the Traveller roleplaying game, detailing the three main classes of cruiser within the Element cruiser family, together with 10 massive double-sided blueprints that will allow you walk through each deck of the ships as if you were there...
You can download preview PDFs showing some of the content right here:
Excerpt from Handbook
Fore Section Blueprint
The Element Cruiser Ship Builder's Blueprints box set will contain:
- Ten gigantic (28" x 40") two-sided, full colour blueprints, laying out every deck of the ship.
- One full colour, 64 page book covering the three main cruisers of the Element family, along with full High Guard game rules and optional ship equipment.
Serving On Board A Cruiser
We have done deck plans for every ship covered in this edition of Traveller, but we have seen a chance to really knock the ball out of the park and 'super detail' one of the largest ships in the Imperial Navy.
Each blueprint has been meticulously worked upon, and includes revisions and optional equipment, allowing you to tailor your own Element cruiser to specific mission roles.
The accompanying book sets the scene for cruisers and how they are used in Charted Space in general and the Imperial Navy in particular, then follows the design process of the Element family, from initial navy specification to maiden voyage.
The Element cruisers have a highly flexible 'pod' system that allows them to be configured for specific mission roles, and we have covered them in this book - from the 'standard' missile pod fit most commonly used on these ships, to long-ranged strike craft, light carriers, troop transports, and orbital assault ships, all are possible with the Element cruisers and have been included.
This has necessitated the introduction of an expansion to High Guard, detailing the new ship options now available.
However, this box set is about more than the hardware, and the duties of each individual crew member are examined, along with their integration into the full complement of the ship, commanding officers and security access.
We have gone into a lot of detail with these ships, in the handbook as well as the blueprints themselves!
Defence Procurement Systems
However, we see the potential to go much further with this box set, and we would very much like to add a second book - one laying out, chapter and verse, how you can run a Navy-style campaign, with Travellers taking the roles of bridge crew on the largest ships in the galaxy (which the Element cruisers will be perfect for, though you will be able to use any capital ship in Traveller).
This is the first stretch goal we have planned for this set but, as with the recent Great Rift Kickstarter, we are hoping your support will allow us to take what is already a good box set and turn it into a true cornerstone of Traveller - something that will be remembered and used for years to come.
Stretch Goal 1 - Complete!: This will be a 64 page (at the moment at least, veterans of Traveller will know our projects have a habit of growing in size!) book giving referees everything they need to know to create and run a navy bridge crew campaign, with the Travellers in command of an Element cruiser (or any other capital ship) as they explore the galaxy and become the front line of defence for the Third Imperium.
Stretch Goal 2 - Complete!: With the naval campaigns book now in the bag, we need to get an adventure sorted so you can start using the Element cruisers in your games straight away! Naval Adventure 1: Shakedown will be a 32+ page scenario that throws your Travellers straight into the deep end, putting them on board a cruiser as it suffers a great disaster. Will they end up becoming true leaders of the crew?
Stretch Goal 3 - £40,000: If we get this far in the project, we would like to expand the utility of the Element cruisers by adding some versatile pods that can dramatically change the function of a ship. In doing this, we will add to the page count of the main book to include them, plus add another giant double-sided poster so you will receive the blueprints for the pods. The pods themselves will include a Foreward Communications pod (which, among other things, will house a brand new 200-ton long-ranged courier ship), a pod dedicated to intelligence gathering, and an Exploration pod that will draw from the material in the Great Rift box set - have one of these and a Fuel pod or two on a ship, and you can start heading off into deep space on a true five year mission!
Core Rulebook Discount
As with the Great Rift, we wanted to avoid a long and complex Kickstarter with multiple pledge levels - this Kickstarter is for the Element Cruiser box set and nothing else (though it may well grow in size with your help!). However, we also realise that some Travellers out there may not be completely equipped for using the Element cruisers, and we would not want to send you off into battle without adequate support!
Therefore, we are also offering backers the chance to pick up any of the current Traveller hardback rulebooks at a discounted rate of £30 each, with the PDF copy of the book thrown in! These include:
- The Traveller Core Rulebook
- High Guard
- Central Supply Catalogue
- Vehicle Handbook
Simply add £30 to your pledge for each title you are after, and we will take care of the rest. We'll get in contact with you after the Kickstarter is complete to see which titles you want, and will send them to you immediately (no waiting for the Element cruisers, you will get them straight away).
As with the Element Cruiser box set itself, shipping is free worldwide.
Navy Commander Pledge Level: Note that you can get all four hardbacks and the Element Cruiser box set with additional savings by pledging at Navy Commander level!
After More Traveller?
Several existing backers have asked us to offer more Traveller items. You may add any of the following to your pledge, simply by increasing the amount you have pledged by the appropriate amount (no need to increase your pledge level, just the pledge amount!). These items will be dispatched to you post free after the surveys for the Kickstarter have been sent out, or when they are available, whichever is soonest.
Pirates of Drinax: £70
Pirates of Drinax with all 10 Drinaxian PDF books: £95
Traveller Starter Set: £50
The Great Rift: £50
The Great Rift with all 3 Rift Adventures: £90
Marches Adventure 2: Mission to Mithril: £15
Reach Adventure 5: The Borderland Run: £15
Behind the Claw: £45
Behind the Claw is a big hardback book combining the Spinward Marches and Deneb sectors, along with a huge full colour sector map. It will be printed after the Element cruisers set, so expect to see it at the bottom end of the year, but we have included it for completeness.
Risks and challenges
We have always delivered on our Kickstarter projects and if you were to ask one of our previous backers of, say, the new Paranoia or previous Traveller project The Great Rift, we believe you would hear that the quality of our Kickstarter projects is always worth it.
That said, we have taken steps to ensure the Element Class Cruisers box set does not over run its projected completion date.
For a start, all the text of the box set has already been written (and we have started on additional material) and work has already begun on the blueprints - this is where the preview PDFs have been drawn from, and you will see more previews throughout the Kickstarter as we are working on the Element Cruisers right now.
Second, we have brought Traveller-writer Martin J Dougherty on board to pen the Element Class Cruisers. Not only is Mr Dougherty a regular fan-favourite among veteran Travellers, he is also a true professional and one of the most reliable writers Mongoose has ever worked with in our 16 years of business - backers of the Great Rift Kickstarter project saw that he delivered the manuscript on time, and it was most excellent!
If Martin says a manuscript is going to be finished by a certain date, you can be sure you will see it by then, and he will be popping into the updates we will be doing throughout this Kickstarter to let you know just what he is working on and to gauge your opinion on previews.
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Funding period
- (30 days)