Dear Graham, 

I got the Pirates of Drinax series about 3 months ago (though not yet the separately published side adventures), and am currently compiling the information from there into my Traveller Timeline Addendum.

May I just encourage all Traveller players and referees to go and purchase this campaign.  In my opinion, this is some of the best adventuring material seen for Traveller since the CT/MT era.  (Some scenarios for T20 not withstanding; and excluding the GURPS material which, by and large, was background material rather than plotted adventures.)  After rather pointless and flavourless adventures throughout the T4 and original MgT edition, I found it hard to put the books down.  We are speaking "one more chapter before bed - I need to see how this turns out" level of suspense.

The strengths?

a)  It is a true sandbox.  Yes, there is a general plot line that the narrative is expected to follow - and there would have to be a good 25-50 gaming sessions here just resolving the main plot and leaving side adventures out.  But there is plenty of leeway to skip over some chapters, do others out of order, and resolve each chapter in a variety of satisfactory ways that do not "ruin" the narrative.  Of course, in the final few chapters, the consequences of how the earlier chapters resolve themselves come back to help/hinder the players.  Lastly, even if the players make an 180-degree turn in scene 1 of chapter 1, the stage for the game (3 subsectors or so over a span of a few years) is still one that builds background tension while the PCs live their self-directed lives.  Just have a group of NPCs live out the main plot in the background, just as the 5FW played out in the background of the CT adventures.

b)  Characterisation.  Each of the individual NPC's (and indeed each of the large historical forces that are on a collision course here) are sketched somewhat sympathetically.  There are no "baddies for badness' sake".  This of course dovetails with point (a): it leaves the players in freedom to make significant choices: not just WHAT should we do (because most choices are reasonable and morally justifiable ones), but WHY are we doing it?  It also means that the most rewarding option may be to reason with an antagonist, and not just blow them away with FGMPs.  So although the campaign can be used as a "who are the bad guys the ref has sent us to kill this week?", there is enough information provided to also run the campaign as a more "adult" one with moral shades of grey.

c)  Quirkiness.  Remember the first time you read about the crystallice of Mithril, or the Chamax, or Pavabid's theocracy?  My love of Traveller is based upon those "huh!" moments, when I try to imagine what it must be like for "Americans in space" like you and me (and our surrogate Travellers) to deal with weirdness like that.  If your Traveller campaign cannot elicit a few "we're not in Kansas anymore" moments, then really you are just playing D&D (or Twilight 2000) in space.  Pirates of Drinax has quite a few of those flavour moments: the necroliths and Psychopomps of Clarke, the Widows of Blacksand, and the god-AIs of Neumann.

Even the little things are worthwhile.  For the first time in ages we have illustrations (both pictorial and textual) of sufficient quality that make individual characters stick in one's mind for months after reading the material.  

On that point, yes, King Oleb = BRIAN BLESSED, but I encourage referees to take a look at him in "I, Claudius" if you want to play the King Oleb character in a more touching, poignant way.

Anyway, that is just my 2 cents' worth.  I found the Pirates of Drinax folio thoroughly enjoyable and thought-provoking to read.  Reminded me of nothing so much as my original viewing of Babylon 5, but without a fixed plot.  I hope those of you who take the plunge find it likewise!

Cheers,

KenB