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I've been waiting for this book since 1988, and I'm not disappointed. I loved the old Traveller Little Black Book #4 "Mercenary" and when MegaTraveller, Traveller The New Era and T4 all came out, I waited through each edition hoping for an update of "Mercenary", but it never came, and I kept using my Little Black Book.

Now Steve Jackson Games has issued Star Mercs, which is an expansion of Mercenary and an adaptation of it for GURPS Traveller rules. It is fantastic. If you want to run a Sci-Fi mercenary game this is a useful, highly readable and entertaining book. It contains all the rule for hiring on to a mercenary unit, raising such a unit, training it and engaging in missions, just like the original "Mercenary." Star Mercs, however, adds some new dimensions. Now you have the rules for mercenary Starship crews and Aerospace units. Furthermore, there are a number of sample units, personalities and missions, all of which can be profitably used in any Sci-Fi mercenary campaign that doesn't involve giant robobts. I found the "tickets" which are mercenary missions (adventure outlines in brief) are very good and provide enough material for an outline of an entire campaign.

If you are playing in a GURPS game then the equipment, character templates and tech-level analysis will give you just what you need. But if you don't use the GURPS rules, as I don't, 100 of the 128 pages of the book are still extremely useful for running another version of Traveller. In this way it is more useful for old-style Traveller players (any edition) than the main Gurps Traveller rulebook. The only confusing thing for a "real" Traveller player is that GURPS and Traveller tech levels don't match, and so you must consult the conversion chart from time to time.

There is also a mission resolution system for figuring out the results of battles that are beyond the scope of a role-playing session. This can also be adapted to old style Traveller as well, although some rating for mass combat skills will have to be cobbled together.

In sum, if the words "John Christian Falkenberg" or "Dorsai" ring a chord in your heart, then this is the book for you.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Gurps Traveller: Star Mercs
Author: Martin J. Dougherty and Neil A. Frier Category: game Company/Publisher: Steve jackson Games Cost: $19.95 Page count: 128 ISBN: 1-55634-3364-7 Capsule Review by David L. Nelson on 02/06/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Far_Future Space	I've been waiting for this book since 1988, and I'm not disappointed. I loved the old Traveller Little Black Book #4 "Mercenary" and when MegaTraveller, Traveller The New Era and T4 all came out, I waited through each edition hoping for an update of "Mercenary", but it never came, and I kept using my Little Black Book. Now Steve Jackson Games has issued Star Mercs, which is an expansion of Mercenary and an adaptation of it for GURPS Traveller rules. It is fantastic. If you want to run a Sci-Fi mercenary game this is a useful, highly readable and entertaining book. It contains all the rule for hiring on to a mercenary unit, raising such a unit, training it and engaging in missions, just like the original "Mercenary." Star Mercs, however, adds some new dimensions. Now you have the rules for mercenary Starship crews and Aerospace units. Furthermore, there are a number of sample units, personalities and missions, all of which can be profitably used in any Sci-Fi mercenary campaign that doesn't involve giant robobts. I found the "tickets" which are mercenary missions (adventure outlines in brief) are very good and provide enough material for an outline of an entire campaign. If you are playing in a GURPS game then the equipment, character templates and tech-level analysis will give you just what you need. But if you don't use the GURPS rules, as I don't, 100 of the 128 pages of the book are still extremely useful for running another version of Traveller. In this way it is more useful for old-style Traveller players (any edition) than the main Gurps Traveller rulebook. The only confusing thing for a "real" Traveller player is that GURPS and Traveller tech levels don't match, and so you must consult the conversion chart from time to time. There is also a mission resolution system for figuring out the results of battles that are beyond the scope of a role-playing session. This can also be adapted to old style Traveller as well, although some rating for mass combat skills will have to be cobbled together. In sum, if the words "John Christian Falkenberg" or "Dorsai" ring a chord in your heart, then this is the book for you. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Gurps Traveller: Star Mercs