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Early Access: Mysteries on Arcturus Station (Patreon)

Published:
2021-11-08 14:28:56
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

Hello Patrons, my overview for the Traveller collection Mysteries on Arcturus Station is up for early viewing. For those who don't know, Mongoose Publishing allowed me to update the classic Murder on Arcturus Station, which I reviewed last year, as well as write a prequel adventure for it, which I titled The Hunt for Sabre IV. It was a cool honor not only being able to employ every one of my criticisms about the original adventure and update it for the new edition, but also getting to add my own adventure to the Traveller Universe.

Video will go live tomorrow for the general public. Hope you all enjoy it.


Thank you for all your support, and have a great day.


-Seth

Files

Previews only

Traveller: Mysteries on Arcturus Station - RPG Overview

This collection of two investigative adventures aboard a space station can be played individually or as a series. 'The Hunt for Sabre IV' is written by myself, as the Travellers must uncover the conspiracy behind and locate a stolen ore carrier. The second scenario is my revised and updated version to J. Andrew Keith's 1983 classic 'Murder on Arcturus Station.' You can pick up a copy on the Mongoose Website: https://www.mongoosepublishing.com/us/solomani-adventure-1-mysteries-on-arcturus-station.html Or a PDF on DriveThru RPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/350034/Solomani-Adventure-1-Mysteries-on-Arcturus-Station?affiliate_id=1017650 My review of Murder on Arcturus Station is here: https://youtu.be/HZ6M8pGa138 __________ DID YOU KNOW I'M A NOVELIST? If you want to support my channel, or just want to read an action-packed Urban Fantasy about modern-day monster hunters and their sentient weapons, check out my four-novel Valducan series. They feature gun fights, sword fights, chases, monsters, and a smattering of horror. You might notice Book 1: Dämoren not-so-subtly behind me in this video. Audio book editions narrated by the badass R.C. Bray: https://amzn.to/3mTCuXh I also write pulpy Sword & Sorcery thief adventures in my Tales of the Black Raven series. It's 21 short adventures packed with action, intrigue, and daring heroics. Audio editions read by R.C. Bray. https://amzn.to/3faj4cX And if you want a kickass and dark revenge story about a modern-day sorceress hunting for lost Carcosa, check out my novel Ashes of Onyx. It features monsters, drug addiction, horror, other worlds, and my own take on the King in Yellow. Available in print, ebook, and audio book: https://amzn.to/3sfh1IA If you enjoyed my stories, please leave a rating or review on Amazon, Audible, and/or Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4088554.Seth_Skorkowsky __________ MY OWN PUBLISHED ADVENTURES A Mother's Love (Call of Cthulhu 7e): https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/299661/New-Tales-of-the-Miskatonic-Valley--An-Anthology-of-Call-of-Cthulhu-Scenarios-set-in-the-1920s?affiliate_id=1017650 Mysteries on Arcturus Station (Mongoose 2e): https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/350034/Solomani-Adventure-1-Mysteries-on-Arcturus-Station?affiliate_id=1017650 __________ FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER I mostly ramble about movies and random things as they occur to me: https://twitter.com/SSkorkowsky __________ I HAVE A PODCAST NOW Check out the Modern Mythos Podcast where veteran RPG writer Jon Hook and I discuss gaming, especially Call of Cthulhu: https://modernmythos.libsyn.com/?fbclid=IwAR1_wArr3cKQhXj5GNv52s2Q-_gdM9yyq-0O-_dugpOYp3CsevyZiir5mBU You can find the podcast on YouTube as well (You should totally subscribe): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmk5Y_OheFJL7-Xgvx-REJA __________ My Patreon (tip jar): https://www.patreon.com/SSkorkowsky Guest starring Jack the NPC.

Comments

Anonymous

In your review of the original Arcturus Station adventure I remember you commenting how it was disappointing that the party just started off being owed $50k with no explanation of how it happened. When I bought this updated version I was really happy to see you included a prequel of sorts to plug that plot hole. Fantastic job!

Michal

Can you shed some light how does updating/re-releasing of such older adventures work? Especially given that there were some previous authors for this?

Seth Skorkowsky
>>71492234

Sure. This has become an area that I'm weirdly specialized in, but I can't say more until publishers announce, but I'll say that I have done this type of thing six times now. First thing is it depends on the Publisher's contract with the original author, if they still retain certain rights or if the publisher owns the full rights. If the publisher doesn't own the rights, then they need to contact the original author (or current rights owner) and secure rights to reprint an update. This can be messy, as in the early days of RPGs rights were all over the place, as no one thought this would be a thing where an adventure comes back in future editions, or even the concept of this industry being around 40+ years later. Chaosium has had to chase down several authors or their estates for their early work being updated and re-published. I know of one old Chaosium adventure that they can't update because no one can locate the original author. Once rights are secured, then the publisher can assign whoever they wish to re-do the adventure. The original author should always get credit, no matter what has changed. With Mongoose I had them specifically credit J. Andrew Keith for the original Arcturus Station adventure. Now with Traveller, Marc Miller owns the rights to everything in Classic Traveller (save for some FASA and other non-GDW stuff). Mongoose evidently (I don't know the specifics) has the right to update and change anything from Classic Traveller to Mongoose Traveller. So when I asked about the rights I was told, "Don't worry. We have permission per our agreement with Marc Miller." With all the adventure update jobs I've done (I really wish I could name specifics here) I was told that I have full control over the changes. I assume that part of that is I walked in as both an experienced game reviewer and author. That's both awesome and scary. Awesome because in addition to being able to correct any issues I had with the original scenario, I can add new things, such as the 10th Suspect in Murder on Arcturus Station). Scary because I don't want to hurt the original by having my changes damage what made the original so good. There's also fan backlash if you change too much, but that just goes with the territory of fandom. I try to keep as much of the original intact as I can, meaning that I only change what I feel is a true improvement. The process I've followed is I first take the original as a full Word Document. That sounds easy, but some of the old modules aren't in Word. I've been sent scans where the PDF tried to read the text, but large portions are just gibberish. Then there's the hard line-breaks after every single line. If the original was a double-column printing, that means I'm deleting a lot of extra line-breaks. I've had to have an open copy of the original scenario beside me just to verify where the real paragraph-breaks are supposed to be. Depending on the adventure length, this has taken me anywhere from 1-3 full day's work just to get the manuscript in a workable form. I wanted to kiss my editor when they sent me one where that was already done. After it's in a workable text format I'll modify all sections where game mechanics appear, updating them to the current edition. Then I'll start moving sections into a better layout format, such as a Dramatis Personae, moving NPC stat blocks to the back, adding a Backstory section, and the large formatting changes. I'll also tighten text to be less wordy or less... technical, I suppose. Some older adventures read a lot like radio instructions, especially early Traveller. Verbiage is changed to the game's current language format, so "Adventurer" or "Hero" is changed to "Traveller" or "Investigator," any gender pronouns for Player or GM are changed from "he" to a neutral "they" or the sentence is reworded so that no pronoun is necessary (that's my preferred method). Older adventures almost always assumed the players would all be male. If you're ever bored, there is a YouTube review some guy did on Mysteries on Arcturus Station where he ranted about my changing of pronouns. I'll also add my own flairs, such as descriptions of smell or other things to help paint scenes. During all this I'm also adding my larger personal changes (such as the new characters, the section on Security Cameras, or the Baronetess's staff). After that, it's playtest to be sure nothing is broken, fix it if it is, then shoot it back to the publisher. After that is waiting. This can take months before the Publisher gets back to me. Eventually, the Publisher sends back edit requests for typos I missed, weird errors, or suggestions. After that they publish. Probably a lot longer of an answer than you wanted, but that's the process I've experienced.

Michal
>>71492234

Awesome. I'm always curious how this looks behind the scenes. Thanks for sharing your perspective.