Wrath of the Ancients is a campaign book for Traveller. I suggest you read part 1 of my review before continuing. (And if you are hoping for things to get better, maybe just stop now.)
And more spoilers!
Across the sector
As part of the last section of the adventure, the PCs were given two words as a clue to the next piece of the puzzle: Omicron and Gamma. “Omicron” refers to the Omicron Division, whom they crossed paths with during Mysteries of the Ancients. “Gamma” refers to Research Station Gamma, which is located on Vanejen. (If your players aren’t seasoned Traveller fans, you might have to help them with “Gamma” as a clue.)
Oddly, it’s entirely possible for the PCs to reach Research Station Gamma before the Omicron snatch team. The PCs have a TL25 jump-6 ship that requires no refuelling nor resupply of provisions and can (probably) use empty space between jumps. The ship that Omicron uses is never stated, but it’s unlikely to be anything like jump-6, and even if it is, it has to refuel and resupply regularly. As the PCs are probably only a week or two behind Omicron at best when they set off for Research Station Gamma, they could arrive weeks before...
(Even though Ancients ships are TL25, and even though they have sector-spanning teleportation technology (I’ll get to that), their ships are only jump-6. That seems oddly underwhelming.)
As far as I can tell, it is never explained why (or how) Omicron Division evaded the Andor interdiction fleet, landed on Andor, kidnapped some very specific Droyne, and then dropped them off at Research Station Gamma. And the NPCs at the station have no idea what to do with them - they’re just a plot McGuffin to attract the PCs.
Research Station Gamma
Anyway, the PCs arrive at Research Station Gamma, grandly described as the “crossroads of the campaign”. If you’re familiar with the original Adventure 2: Research Station Gamma, you’ll recognise much of this part of the campaign. The design of the station is similar (even down to the submarine dock); there are Chirpers and unethical experiments are taking place.
On the submarine dock, I did wonder why it had one as it didn’t seem to make much sense. So I went back to Adventure 2 and found that it talks about the storms and ice on Vanejen, prompting the development of submarine travel. So, it is not the secret lair I first thought, but it is not explained by Wrath either.
Unlike Adventure 2, there are NPCs present that the PCs have already met - from Mysteries. One of these, Mercedes (whom we last saw giving the PCs directions to Twilight’s Peak), arranges it so the PCs have access to the station, posing as Omicron agents.
(These books make the Imperium security services seem utterly incompetent. Research Station Gamma is conducting secret research and has powerful Ancients’ technology lying around - and yet the PCs can just waltz in. It was the same in Mysteries in Hell at Perihelion. It’s most peculiar.)
Anyway, the PCs can wander around and talk to everyone and nobody really gets curious. Mercedes tells them about the Ancient that has returned and where they should go next (lazy signpost #4).
And then, the Ancients attack (timely coincidence #5). It’s a really underwhelming attack by Tsyamoykyo’s standards (given what he unleashed at Andor). Given that their objective is to destroy the kidnapped Droyne, he really didn’t put much effort into it. You’d think the least he would do is drop a planetbuster on the station. Just to make sure, as another franchise might put it.
It’s also not at all clear how Tsyamoykyo knew to come here. None of this is explained - I can’t help but feel that it would be much better if the PCs knew there was a clock ticking and they were on a deadline to rescue the Droyne. As it is, Tsyamoykyo’s forces attack only when the PCs have done as much as they need to do.
Once all that is done and dusted, according to Wrath, “The Travellers now know that events are unfolding on Braudel in the Trojan Reach” Really? There’s nothing in the previous chapters that suggests that to me. Instead, Mercedes merely says that the hidden Oytrip on Braudel may hold the clue to defeating Tsyamoykyo. There’s no sense that “events” are doing any sort of folding or unfolding.
So anyway, it’s off to the Trojan Reach we go.
Braudel
Some weeks later, even in their jump-6 Ancients ship, the PCs arrive at Braudel where they find that events have indeed been unfolding and Tsyamoykyo has invaded the planet. Luckily, there are a few friendly Droyne ships hiding in the outer planets. Even more luckily, Mercedes is there - and she has a plan! (Is this a coincidence or a lazy signpost? I’ve lost track.)
How did she get to Braudel so quickly? By a sector-spanning teleport jump!
(I find Traveller’s teleportation a bit confusing. The core rules talk about teleportation as a psionic power and note the problems of conserving momentum. Teleporter portals get around that by dumping excess energy into a pocket universe. But occasionally, Wrath uses a portal to teleport to somewhere that isn’t another portal. How does that work? Anyway, the Ancients have sector-spanning teleporter technology but the campaign doesn’t lean into that.)
Tsyamoykyo has created a forward base on Braudel in advance of pushing into Imperial space. (Why? Well, Tsyamoykyo wants to take control of Chartered Space and use its population to create great works and maybe even meet God!)
Mercedes’ plan is to sneak onto the planet, seize control of the ship teleporter Tsyamoykyo has handily left on the planet (which is at the top of the ugly 4km-high war machine they’re building), and teleport into Tsyamoykyo’s pocket universe - and somehow kill him.
This complicated plan uses a ship caught in the blast from a temporal dislocation device. That ship, the Rustic Idyll, not only contains one of Mercedes’ old crew mates but also doesn’t have long before it is completely out of phase with the universe and is unavailable. So that’s a mega coincidence combined with yet another plan the players haven’t had to come up with!
The lack of player agency in this campaign is horrific. All the main decisions, ideas and plans are given to the players. They don’t need to work anything out - they just follow the signposts and do the things the NPCs tell them to do.
The next 60 pages (!) cover the first part of this plan - up to entering the pocket universe. Challenges include getting onto the planet without being detected, persuading whatever locals haven’t been subjugated to help fight back and raise an army, storming and taking control of a 4km high war machine (which is oddly ugly, compared to most other Droyne/Ancient technology) and using the Rustic Idyll (somehow) to take a strike force into the enemy pocket universe.
This is so epic that I have no idea how I would run it.
To help the players, the campaign introduces “advantages” that the PCs can set up to help them in the final battle. Things like a loyal friend who might sacrifice themselves or understanding the villain’s psychology to give them an edge. Suddenly, we’re playing Fate!
Making the game feel even more like Fate, the PCs should be pretty powerful by now. As they’ve been “enjoying” the uplift process for some months, they are likely to be powerful psionic adepts. The campaign probably isn’t feeling much like Traveller any more. This is all to prepare them for the final battle. (Hopefully, the GM is equally prepared.)
The pocket universe
Having taken control of the teleporter on Braudel, the PCs can break into Tsyamoykyo’s pocket universe for the final battle. (Some minor pedantry: according to Adventure 12: Secret of the Ancients, the only way in and out of a pocket universe is via portals (effectively teleporters). Wrath, however, suggests that pocket universes can be accessed via their anchor points. Luckily it’s a minor point and can be safely ignored.)
This involves getting into the pocket universe, wandering around until they find the right bit (luckily, nobody back on Braudel has thought to raise the alarm), and then confronting Tsyamoykyo in his lair.
Then there’s another dream battle, and either the PCs defeat Tsyamoykyo, or they don’t.
If they fail, well, it’s bad luck Chartered Space. If they succeed - they have an entire Ancients workshop to play with! The universe really is their oyster - what they choose to do with it is up to them.
But either way, that’s the end of the campaign.
Overall
As you can probably tell, I don’t think much of Wrath of the Ancients. My review of Mysteries of the Ancients was pretty scathing, and I think Wrath is worse. Which is a shame, because I’m a fan of Traveller’s Ancients: I like wonder and mystery in my science fiction.
I’m not quite finished, though. Next time I will think about railroads and think about changes I might make.
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