August. Let’s not talke about RPGaDay. Let us rather embark on a journey into K-Space and through a selection of the endless possibilities for campaigns.
SLA Zero
This is an old idea, and I thus want to introduce it with two old texts (newly translated):
“Before the World of Progress the Known Universe was home to uncounted species and cultures. Before being brought to an end by the company, the Conflict Wars devastated entire solar systems and set the galaxies ablaze. Before the technological conformity of Progress Control, the universe was a playground of unimaginable marvels. Before the massproduction of Stormers individuals still could make a difference on battlefields and command bridges. Before the founding of Cloak Division there might still have been freedem or justice. Before the Big Picture. Before the Null.
SLA Zero.”
“A time when as a freetrader you would have told an obscure suit with a white lock in his mane to his face that you are not carrying his cargo at such a price. A time when the Kilneck were not mythical demigods bit just another company of mercenaries just as yourself and your multispecies crew travelling the Known Universe in an old Ion-Drive in search of the next score.
SLA Zero.”
SLA Industries in general is one of my core systems for doing (sometimes radical) experiments in house rules and re-building, up to and including total replacement. Converting to a version of Traveller is one change I am thinking about for some time now.
SLA Zero specifically has recently come to the forefront of my mind again in that context, as the ideal test campaign for a switch to Traveller. Not only does it minimize some of the aspects of the change that would be the most labour-intensive, but at the same time it stresses some of the major strengths of Traveller itself. After all, even the original SLA Zero texts above (especially the second) already read like Traveller.