5150 Campaign Guidelines

(rev 01-12-2006)
Start Date: 200-1110

The Campaign
This campaign is a background within which players may play games and
progress their groups. Players’ groups are may be adventurers, gangs, police,
free companies, corporate lackeys, or a variety of other types of civilian.

The rules used for this campaign are 5150 from THW. Modifications and
expansions to those rules are detailed below. The campaign uses the Spinward
Marches map from Traveller for movement between worlds.

The basic concept behind the campaign is one of co-operative storytelling. Each
scenario played adds another story to the campaign and they can all be linked to
tell a history of the campaign worlds.

Time in the campaign

There is no formal time structure per se, although it may be assumed that time
passes approximately equal to real time. Encounters will occur whenever players
get together. Games should be arranged so that all players’ groups get to play
the same number of encounters.

Time will therefore move with the needs of the campaign.

Movement in the campaign

All groups will begin on the planet Flexos (District 268) in the Bowman Arm of the
Spinward Marches. Details about Flexos are available in Spinward Marches
System Guide 2 FLEXOS published by Comstar Games. Additional details may
also be found in the campaign wiki ( http://ermtony.pbwiki.com)

Interstellar travel permits groups to move up to 2 hexes on the map between

game sessions. The movement must begin and end in a planetary system
because the ships need to refuel between jumps. A group that moves will still
have an encounter in their new system, if they wish.

Victory in the campaign

There are a number of goals in the campaign, depending upon what role players
take for their characters. Victory may be adjudged as follows:

1. The first Star to reach REP 7 wins.

2. The Free Company with the largest assets (points value of characters,
weapons, armour and banked points) at the end of the campaign wins.

Other victory conditions may be added. In addition to these, an overarching plot

for the campaign may be developed through game play. Also, minor victories may
be achieved through completion of quests or conquest of planets.

Group creation
Adventurer groups are created with 500 points. Points may be saved for spending
later if the player wishes, e.g. if they have a particular purchase they wish to
make that they cannot yet afford. A 500 point force should consist of 4 to 6
figures. Adventurers are limited in what weapons they can buy as military
hardware is not available to them. For details of costs see later.
When creating your group, you should try to ensure that the figures match the
characters you want. Alternatively, pick the figures you want and create the
characters around them.

In all cases, Stars begin at REP 4 and no figures may be purchased with a higher
REP than the Star.

When buying your group, you must still pay the cost of your Star as part of the
cost of your group.

The basic cost of a figure is determined by adding up the cost of its REP, any
ranged weapons it is carrying, the cost of its armour and the cost of its mode of
unarmed combat. E.G. a REP 3 figure with a Semi-Automatic Rifle, Soft Body
Armour and using Unarmed Combat would cost 109 points (REP 3 costs 50
points, Semi-Automatic Rifle costs 28 points, Soft Body Armour costs 27 points
and Unarmed Combat costs 4 points)

Scenarios
Players may agree a scenario between them or roll on the appropriate tables in
the rules book. They should always try to fit the scenario into the ongoing
narrative of the campaign. It is anticipated that the scenarios played will create a
story and that players will adopt a creative and co-operative approach to telling
that story. Players whose groups are in the same area may fight each other if
they wish, although players who pick on much weaker players will be sent to
Coventry.

When playing scenarios, there are two opportunities for improving your group.
The first is in an actual scenario after a successful Talk the Talk. Player groups
will not join other player’s groups through this mechanism, because the players
have the choice over whether to fight or not. Non-player groups may join player
groups. These will be randomly generated characters, for whom you will have to
provide the figures. The second means of recruiting is through scenario victory
points (see below).

N.B. There is no need for a player to use their group in every scenario they play.
In many cases, it will be more appropriate for one player to take the role of a
non-player group against a player’s group.

Salvage
The player that controls the field at the end of a scenario may salvage the
weapons of the figures left lying on the field. Armour may not be recovered as it
is considered full of holes and not worthwhile. This may not be the same as the
winner if the objective is to recover an object and get it off the table. It also
makes it more important to try to retrieve your wounded. You should record any
weapons that you recover because you can equip new or old characters with
them.

Victory Points
Points awards are as follows:

• 50 points for achieving the scenario objective

• 50 bonus points if this completes a Quest (see 5150 for Quest rules)
• 10% of the points value of all enemy characters that you down (OOF/OD).
Figures that are KD at the end of the game will need to be diced for to see
if they become OOF.
• 20% of the value of all enemy characters that you capture, as you ransom
them back to their original owner
Points and weapons can be stockpiled against future purchases, so there is a
need to record what you have recovered and any unspent points. This could give
rise to a raid scenario as one player tries to steal another player's supplies.

Recovery
Any world with an ER of 3 or higher automatically offers medical services for
purposes of recovery. Otherwise, it would be too easy for one player's team to
get completely wiped out in a game. Travelling to ER2 or less worlds is hazardous
and there are no medical services there, unless a character has the medical skill.

5150 Adventurer Group Creation

Unless players wish to play a military campaign, each player will create a group
that consists of 1 Star and 1 or more Grunts. The Star is your personal character
and will begin with a REP of 4. The Grunts are your followers / sidekicks / minions
and may not begin with a REP higher than that of your Star.

5150 REP

REP COST

4 66

3 50

5150 Tech Level and Law Level

Tech Level (TL) refers to the level of industrial development on a planet and the
goods that can be manufactured and maintained there. If an item of equipment
has a Tech Level higher than that of the planet then it will need to be imported
there and will thus cost more when purchased there. E.G. Flexos is TL 6 so any
equipment of TL 7 or higher would cost twice the base cost; therefore an Assault
Rifle with a base cost of 41 would cost 82 points on Flexos.

Law Level (LL) refers to the level of state control of personal weapons for the
purposes of this campaign. If a weapon has a LL rating lower than that of the
world on which you wish to purchase it then it will cost twice the base cost. E.G.
Flexos is LL 2 so any equipment of LL 1 or lower would cost twice the base cost;
therefore an Assault Rifle with a base cost of 41 would cost 82 points on Flexos.

The above cost increases are cumulative. Thus, in the examples given above the
Assault Rifle is TL 7 and LL 1, while Flexos is TL 6 and LL2. Therefore the Assault
Rifle would actually cost 164 points on Flexos because it is neither legal nor
produced on Flexos.

A guide to relative Tech Levels can be found in the Traveller books. Law Level is
broadly defined as follows with reference to what might be openly carried on the
streets.
LAW DESCRIPTION
LEVEL

1 No restrictions

2 Military weapons prohibited

3 Semi-automatic weapons
prohibited

4 All firearms prohibited

5 No personal weapons allowed

5150 Weapons & Armour

In the following tables, the base cost of weapons and armour, their TL and their
LL is defined. Don’t forget to multiply the cost by any multipliers for TL or
LL when purchasing equipment.

RANGED WEAPONS BASE TL LL

COST

Cannon (Canister) (10) 63/14 3 2

Pistol 4 4 3

Machine Pistol 7 5 1

SMG 9 5 1

BA Pistol 14 5 3

Bolt Action Rifle 15 5 3

Shotgun 22 5 3

Semi-auto Rifle 28 6 2

Assault Rifle 41 7 1

Laser Carbine 18 8 2

Laser Rifle 20 9 1

Hand Webber 5 11 4

Laser Pistol 16 12 3

Rapid-fire Laser Pistol 52 14 1

Hand Thrown Weapons (14) 1 0 5

Blowgun (13) 1 1 4

Crossbow (12) 6 1 4

Bow (11) 4 1 4

Horse Bow – Composite 5 1 4

(11)

Long Bow (11) 6 1 4

Cannon (Ball) (10) 63/10 3 2

Blunderbuss (8) 18 3 3

Swivel Gun (8) 24 4 2

Musket (7) 6 3 2

Flintlock Pistol (7) 2 3 3

Satchel Charge (6) 41 6 3

Rocket Launcher (5) 116/40 7 1

LAW (4) 91 7 1

LMG (3) 86 6 1

Grenade (2) 14 6 1

SAW (1) 58 7 1

(1) Only Law Enforcement, Corporates, Criminals, and Colonists have access to
this weapon.
(2) Only Law Enforcement and Colonists have access to this weapon and only in
limited numbers.
(3) Limited to one per Free Company.
(4) Limited to medium sized and higher Free Companies.
(5) Limited (up to one) to larger sized Free Companies.
(6) Available to all Free Companies.
(7) Flintlock Pistol and Musket may fire only once per turn. Next Activation they
may reload if figure does nothing else.
(8) Blunderbuss and Swivel Gun may fire only once per turn. Takes two
Activations to reload if figure does nothing else
(10) Cannon may fire only once per turn. Takes four figures three Activations to
reload if they do nothing else. If fewer crew members then reload will be slower.
Three figures 4 Activation, 2 figures 6, while 1 figure would take 12.
(11) Bow, Horse Bow, and Long Bow can fire once per turn.
(12) Crossbow may fire only once per turn. Next Activation they may reload if
figure does nothing else.
(13) Blowgun is usually combined with poison and this is reflected in the Impact
values. May be fired once per turn.
(14) Hand-Thrown Weapons are thrown once per turn and “reloading” counts as if
changing a weapon.

MELEE WEAPONS COST TECH LAW

LEVEL LEVEL

Unarmed combat 4 0 5

Combat Knife / One-handed Weapon 8 0 3

Rifle/SMG + Bayonet / Two-handed 12 0 2

Weapon

Shields count as if figure has HB.

ARMOUR COST TECH LAW

LEVEL LEVEL

Soft Body Armour (SB) 27 5 5

Hard Body Armour (HB) 68 7 4

Ablative Armour (AB) 102 9 3

Reflec (REF) 55 10 3

Terrain in 5150

Terrain types are defined in 5150. This table summarises that information and
supplements it with terrain rules from other THW rules as well as my own ideas.
In all cases, common sense should be applied. It is also wise to agree the effects
of terrain with your opponent at the start of the battle.

Terrain type Effect on Effect as Effect on Examples

movement cover Line of Sight

Open ground None None None Meadow

Bad going Half move Yes 1” into / 12” Woods

within

Impassable n/a Possibly Possibly Cliff

Linear -2” Yes Blocks Hedge

obstacle (Low)

Linear Whole move Yes Blocks Large wall

Obstacle
(High)

Door -2” Yes No Door

Window -2” + end Yes No Window
move

Stream Half move No No Bannockburn

River varies No No The Rhine

Building None Yes Blocks Store

Changing Whole move n/a n/a Staircase

levels in
building

For larger games, more generalised terrain rules may be used. Built up areas and
other terrain features will be defined by templates.

Rules Clarifications and Amendments

The following clarifications or house rules apply.

Recovery Roll
Stars do not have to roll on the recovery table after a battle. They are the Stars,
so they will suffer no material consequences of being horribly mangled or
mutilated during a game.
Optional / Experimental Rules

Police intervention
Scenarios often take place in urban areas, where there may be the possibility of
police intervention. Once shots have been fired, there is the possibility that police
will turn up. Each turn the activation die rolls of both players will be compared to
the law level of the planet using the normal test procedure. If two successes are
scored, the police will arrive next turn. The number of police arriving will be
determined using the ‘How many of them are there?’ table. Their armament will
be based on the tech level of the planet and any background material for that
planet; e.g. police on Flexos are serving members of the planetary militia. They
will be armed with TL7 or less weaponry and will have soft body armour.

Once police have arrived they move towards the nearest shooter until they can
see them. Once an armed character is in sight they will attempt to take them out.
If there are multiple targets, each policeman will target a different target until all
targets have someone shooting at them. If there are too many targets, police will
choose targets based on OG rating first. If there are too many targets with equal
OG rating, dice to see which of them is targeted.

Police Activation
Roll one die for police activation as well as the players’ dice. This will determine
who moves first. If doubles are rolled, those two groups may not activate. If
triples are rolled nobody activates.

Unless players are lucky enough to have an umpire or third person to take the
role of the police, they will need to move the police to their best advantage.
Police have the following priorities when active:

1 – Move to cover
2 – Shoot at armed target
3 – Move towards closest armed targets

This means that if the police have targets and are in the open, they will move to
cover first before shooting. If they are in cover and have targets, they will open
fire. If they have no targets, they will move towards the nearest armed targets. If
there is more than one target equidistant from the policeman, dice to see which
target he moves towards.

When activating police, please apply common sense, and remember that they
have been trained to deal with just this sort of situation, so they will not do
anything suicidal.

Police leadership
Police will always use the buddy system unless their partner has been taken out
of the fight. This means that police will always activate as groups of two, and
sometimes more figures.

Police Vehicles
If you have them, police may arrive in vehicles in best TV fashion, screeching to
halt in the middle of the fire-fight and using the vehicles as cover.

Police reinforcements
The police will get reinforcements when their activation die plus either of the
other activation dice adds up to seven providing that the police die roll is higher
than the one to which it is added. Police reinforcements will usually consist of a
two man team. On some planets, the police may be helped by armed civilians.
Background

THE BOWMAN ARM

The segment of the Spinward Main that diverges at Caliburn in the direction of
the Five Sisters subsector is normally known as the Bowman Arm. The Arm
meanders onward into the next subsector but Flammarion and the worlds beyond
are not considered to be part of it. The chain of systems leading to Mirriam, Jone
etc is normally referred to as the Sisters’ Reach.

The underdeveloped nature of the 10 worlds of the Bowman Arm has long been a
barrier to Jump-1 trade through into Five Sisters. This, and the fact that these
frontier worlds are not Imperial members, makes it difficult at best and more
often hazardous for Imperial traders to operate in the area. However, some do,
and there are numerous non-Imperial vessels operating in the region.

The Arm does see some traffic, mainly from non-Imperial traders and a small
group of subsidised liners that cater to traffic through it. Because of its
underdeveloped nature, the Arm is more suited to small traders and merchants
than to the larger combines and galactic corporations. The main exception to this
is trade from the Darrian Confederation to Glisten subsector, which is almost
universally carried through the Arm. The Arm is also home to a large number of
Belters and the occasional larger mining operation hoping to make that lucky
strike.

Pirates are a problem in the Arm because it lacks any significant System or
Interstellar Police Force. Some of the worlds, as Imperial Client States, benefit
from the occasional visit from the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service or the
Imperial Navy. However, these are few and far between, and since the Fifth
Frontier War the Imperial Navy has been significantly weakened due to the need
to reinforce the Core. Some of this slack is taken up by Free Companies, who
patrol the area with an Imperial warrant but many of these are no better than the
pirates anyway.

All of this means that the Bowman Arm is an apple ripe for the plucking, if only
the right person can get a lucky break. It is a new frontier where the brave and
bold can make their fortunes or die trying, although more have done the latter
than the former.

The Great Land Grab

Walston, Datrillian and Flexos have all been worked up in detail. None of the
other worlds have supplements for them. Some may have been detailed online
but the post-Fifth Frontier universe is very different to the pre-Fifth Frontier War
universe. Therefore, any player that wishes to work up the background for any of
the worlds in the campaign area may do so, and will be rewarded with bonus
points per world for each of the worlds that they provide background for, subject
to approval by the Peoples Committee for Campaign Security (me). The
background details should fit into and correspond to the Traveller universe,
including the UPP from the Spinward Marches supplement, but within those
bounds they can be as creative as you wish. They should also be presented in
such a manner as to inspire scenarios.

It is important that people register with me their intention to produce background

details for world so that effort is not duplicated. Worlds will be allocated one at a
time on a first-come-first-served basis. You may only grab one world at a time for
expansion, and may only grab a second world once you have submitted and had
approved the background for your first world. Subject to the limitation that you
must complete work on one world before starting another, you may grab as many
worlds as you wish and you will get credit for each one.

Bonuses are as follows:

10 points for an overview of a world (250 words or more)
30 points for detailed background of a world (1000 words or more)

Planets currently available for land grab and the level of detail required are:

Planet Subsector Background required

(points)

Asteltine District 268 Detailed (30)

567-908 District 268 Detailed (30)

(Shvreeyiyi)

Enos Sword Worlds Detailed (30)

Faldor District 268 Detailed (30)

Bowman District 268 Detailed (30)

Squallia District 268 Detailed (30)