04 August 2025

#RPGaDay2025 - 4 - Message

A picture of a bookshelf with the #RPGaDay2025 prompts shown on the spine of books. There's also a crystal ball and a bottle there. Full details here: https://www.autocratik.com/2025/07/announcing-rpgaday2025-in-august.html

It's RPGaDay season again. Here's a link to the blog post with the current year's prompts.

Today's prompt is Message. I've answered this previously in the 2020 RPGaDay.

I'll do something different this time. My forever game, Traveller, had a message on the box set front cover which still resonates with me today.

This is Free Trader Beowulf,
calling anyone... 
Mayday, Mayday... we are under attack... main drive is gone...
turret number one not responding.. Mayday. .. losing cabin pressure
fast... calling anyone... please help...
This is Free Trader Beowulf...
Mayday...

It still sends a shiver down my spine when I read it, as the message sits there, pregnant with potential for adventure.

Much later, GURPS Traveller did a lovely thing with it's advertising campaign which went something like 

Hang in there Beowulf... Help is on the way...

That was a clever play on things at the time as Traveller was between publishers, and the GURPS edition reverted back to the classic / golden era before the Imperium is shattered by the second civil war as described in MegaTraveller.

That's my favourite gaming message.

The cover from the deluxe box set of Traveller with the iconic Beowulf message in white: "This is Free Trader Beowulf, calling anyone...  Mayday, Mayday... we are under attack... main drive is gone... turret number one not responding.. Mayday. .. losing cabin pressure fast... calling anyone... please help... This is Free Trader Beowulf... Mayday...". The box is black, bisected with a red line and text "Traveller". This has a white subtitle "Science Fiction Adventure in the Far Future". The bottom of the box has "Game Designer's Workshop" in red.





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