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They've also produced a Revised Edition of the original Setting Sourcebook, which I'll be covering in this review. My review shares some text with my original, but also notes the differences between the two releases.
The Twilight Sector Campaign Setting Sourcebook Revised Edition (henceforth, Twilight Sector) is a 128-page book that provides background for the whole Terra/Sol universe, as well as the smaller Twilight Sector that's the main focus for the campaign.
An Overview of the Book
Twilight Sector defines a totally new campaign universe for Traveller--for those who don't want to play in the "Original Traveller Universe" (OTU)--or any of the other settings thus far published. Beyond just being different, Twilight Sector offers a very different take on a Traveller setting.
Twilight Sector's setting is much more Earth-centric and the technology (which includes references to biotech, cybertech, and nanotech) feels more modern than that presented in OTU. I'd describe it as "Transhuman"--meaning that it's about the transition from human to posthuman. Thus you have a mutating human race, uplifted animals, artificial intelligences (AIs) which are taking on bodies of their own, long-lived "centenniels", deceerbrate clones (which have no functioning brain), and more.
If you look at the other current Traveller settings, you can find: a Golden-Age-SF feel (the OTU), a militaristic feel (Hammer's Slammers) or a dark-and-gritty feel (Judge Dredd of Strontium Dog), but I'm not immediately aware of any other publishers offering up a more modern science-fiction setting, let alone a Transhuman one.
The Twilight Sector setting also contains one very strange peculiarity. Far, far from Earth, in the distant Twilight Sector, lies a planet that's been named Terra/Sol because it's an identical copy of the planet Earth. Yep, it's another Traveller Universe with mysteries, a topic I'll return to.
Chapter by Chapter
With that background out of the way, let me address the contents of the book in a more organized fashion. Twilight Sector is a big picture overview of the Terra/Sol universe that chapter-by-chapter zeroes in on the area that's intended for immediate play.
Following a very brief introduction, which gives a quick overview of the setting, Galactic History describes what happened in space from the 21st to 30th centuries. There are three main focuses in the history: how exploration of the stars has been conducted over a number of waves; how a variety of interstellar states have broken away from the original Terra Union as time has gone on; and how mutants have begun to arise among humanity, creating new problems for human society.
The scope of history reminds me more of 2300AD than the OTU (which goes toward that aforementioned more-modern SF feel). I thought of Gamma World a bit when I read the original Twilight Sector book, but as I reread this new edition, I decided that the mutations of Twilight Sector were more biotech in feeling, not the random mixture of changes you'd find in Gamma World.
A few pull-out boxes on FTL travel and Conspiracy Theories helped to give additional views on the setting. As I read, they made me increasingly believe that the authors have imagined a lot more to the setting than we can see from this first book.
Stellar Nations: 2991 is an extensive chapter that discusses the half-dozen or more nations that fill known space. They're all well differentiated from each other, giving the GM easy handles on each. For example, you have the independent Orion Confederation, the bigoted Oster Confederation, and the AI-controlled Deramus Enclave. To a certain extent, I feel like the various nations are too differentiated; each one tries so hard to be unique that it ends up a little one-note. However, that could be corrected as the various nations were given more depth in future releases.
Life in the 30th Century offers a big picture look at how the Twilight Sector setting works as a whole. Its broadly divided into two parts.
Living and Being discusses all the different entities that appear in the campaign, from Artificial Intelligences to Mutants and Uplifted Animals. It really underlines how the setting works as Transhuman SF. I wish there was more crunch (which is relatively absent--other than some info on mutants and centennials which appears later in the book), but as an outline of the different sentients available for play, this works well.
Society and Technology then offers a brief 5-page summary on communications, economics, clones, forensics, gravplate technology, the internet, religions, 'bots, and transportation. Though that sounds some scattered, it offers enough views on the 30th century that a GM will be able to introduces lots of interesting details.
The only section of Twilight Sector with much in the way of crunch is the Playing Mutants section. It includes rules for creating both natural mutants and "scientifically induced" mutants, along with about 20 positive mutations and 15 negative ones.
The actual rules for selecting mutations are a little weak, primarily because they're laid out in paragraphs rather than clearly stating the rules in a box or outline. However, the mutations themselves are quite nice (with my main complaint being that I wanted more than the three dozen or so mutations listed in this book, though some of those mutations are variable enough to actually offer a lot more possibilities). The chapter ends with "mutation packages", which I like quite a bit. They show off how some of the variable mutations can be specialized to produce thematic and practical sets of mutations, like "aqua mods" and "belt mods". It fits in nicely with both Transhuman leanings and the idea of mutations breeding true.
A page on "Playing a Centennial" adds a bit more crunch by offering up rules for playing older characters that have forgotten as much as they know. As with the rules for mutants, I found some of these rules a bit unclear, but after a couple of reads, I figured out what was intended.
A Brief Overview of the Twilight Sector takes up almost half of the book. It details the six known worlds and two known space stations of the Twilight Sector (which would actually be a subsector in the OTU, by the by).
The planets of the Twilight Sector are nicely detailed and definitely varied. At first, when I read the synopsis of the sector, I thought they were a bit one-note (as you have an entertainment planet, a food planet, etc.). However, as I read the individual world writeups, I was impressed by the additional depth that was offered.
Each planet's writeup contains at least a couple of adventure hooks, and though I would have liked to see more (as I have in other Traveller products), these are a great start. The overall "sector" suggests an interesting, somewhat combative environment centering on the world of Terra/Sol.
I've already touched upon Terra/Sol, that mysterious Earth clone. Twilight Sector summaries it with 12 pages. It's a nice overview. I would have liked to see a world map, but otherwise I can't complain too much, since this Sourcebook is only an overview of the setting.
The final section of Twilight Sector is the Encyclopedia Galactica. Like Traveller's Library Data, it offers up details on various elements of the gaming universe. It's one of the most successful portions of the book because it has lots of evocative details and does a good job of clarifying how details scattered throughout the book really fit together.
Before I finish I should talk an element that can be found scattered across these chapters, and which I quite liked: the mysteries. I think one of the great elements of the original Traveller game was that it was full of mysteries, the greatest of which was, "Who or what are the ancients". Though Traveller: The New Era endured a lot of well-deserved criticism, editor Dave Nilsen did do some great setting work, bringing back mystery to the Traveller universe by introducing things like the Black Curtain, the Vampire Highway, and (most importantly) the Empress Wave.
Authors Cross & Hope have done the same things here, with at least three major mysteries set up in this sourcebook:
- Where are the aliens?
- How and why were Terra/Sol created?
- Why have mutation rates increased greatly for humanity?
Substantial Conclusions
Overall, the top-down organization of Twilight Sector--moving from global history, to the Twilight Sector, to Terra/Sol, to the Republic of the Plains on Terra/Sol--provides a good overview of the setting. Nonetheless, I'm left wanting more.
Combine that deep background with intriguing mysteries, and I think you get a very interesting setting for Traveller adventure. I've thus given it a "4" out of "5" for Substance.
Applicability to Mongoose Traveller
Twilight Sector is a sourcebook for Mongoose's Traveller that 's set in a new universe. It might be a nice alternative for those looking for a more scientifically realistic Traveller universe. It also may be a good choice for those looking for a campaign arc, if the additional books to define the campaign come out. (Thus far a few adventures have appeared and a few crunchy sourcebooks.)
Style & Design
Stylewise, the Twilight Sector Campaign Setting Sourcebook has some good points and some bad ones.
Most notably it's got an evocative and interesting setting that should leave you wanting more.
Moving on to the graphic design, we find a layout that's minimalistic, but generally up to the sparse style of the Mongoose books. The art varies from so-so black and white art to grayscale art that runs the gamut from so-so to quite good. This is complemented by system and planetary maps which are very good quality.
If I had to ask for one thing, it'd be for the copyediting to be stronger. Some of the writing is rough, with errors involving apostrophes being particularly common.
Putting together the good and the bad results in a pretty average score, so "3" out of "5" for Style.
Updates from the Original Sourcebook
Twilight Sector was released in one previous edition to this "Revised" version.
The main changes are graphical and organizational. The layout is dramatically better than the previous edition, which was a somewhat amateur effort. As just noted, the new layout is still fairly minimalistic, but looks much more professional. Problems like overly-dark grayscale art that appeared in the previous edition are now gone.
The organizational changes most benefited what's now the "Life in the 30th Century" chapter. Not only is the result more coherent, but it also helps to push the transhuman focus of the setting which is one of the things that I think makes it unique.
I had some qualms about recommending the previous edition, though I thought it had potential. This new edition more completely fulfills that potential and makes me more interested in seeing where the line will go.
Final Conclusions
The Revised Edition of the Twilight Sector Campaign Setting Sourcebook is a well-intended and successful revision of Terra-Sol's premiere release. It portrays an interesting alternative Traveller setting that distinguishes itself with its Transhuman leanings and its mysteries. If the line gets enough support, it'll go interesting places.
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