Overview

History: 1993-1997

Just as The MegaTraveller Journal (1991-1993) was winding down, a new Traveller periodical debuted, Kevin Knight's The Traveller Chronicle, which began publication from Sword of the Knight Publications around July 1993 as a quarterly digest — a familiar format that had been trailblazed by Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society (1979-1985) and The Travellers' Digest (1985-1990). Technically, The Traveller Chronicle was a fanzine, as it was licensed under a fanzine license that had been issued by Marc Miller himself. Though this classification would shortly cause troubles, it was a fair description of editor Kevin Knight's initial intent: he felt that DGP had abandoned Traveller and that Seeker had disappeared, thus it fell on fans to keep the game alive.

The release of the first issue of The Traveller Chronicle could not have been more poorly timed. It was published shortly after the debut of Traveller: The New Era (1993), but had obviously been produced prior to the new game's release, meaning that it was focused entirely on MegaTraveller (1987) and the Rebellion. Knight managed to turn this into a virtue, advertising that The Traveller Chronicle was "a magazine devoted to Traveller in al of its forms". This would prove impressively true, as The Traveller Chronicle would not only stand astride the chasm between the MegaTraveller and T4 (1996), but would also publish an impressive amount of Golden Age material.

Though Kevin Knight was sequestered on GEnie, without direct access to the rest of the nascent internet, that still gave him access to the HIWG and the HIWG-focused GEnie boards of the era. Thus, some of Traveller's most notable freelancers from the era showed up from the first issue: Charles Gannon continued his Diaspora stories that had been cancelled by the advent of the New Era; Tiffany Star (1987-1992) editor and Imperial Lines v1 (1992-1993) contributions editor Mike Mikesh wrote a Spinward Marches-focused adventure; and STarport member and Traveller artist Paul Sanders offered not just art, but marketing expertise as well. HIWGers James Holden and Mark Gelinas would also show up in later issues.

However, The Traveller Chronicle may have been most impressive for how it located and printed a number of lost Traveller manuscripts. That began in The Traveller Chronicle #2 (Oct/Nov/Dec 1993) with Dale Kemper's look at "The Far Frontiers", which was setting material that had originally been intended as a FASA book and that had later been partially released in Ares Special Edition #2 (1983). Kemper's view of The Far Frontiers was followed by a modern update by James Kundert that ran into 1995; afterward the sector would be the closest the magazine had to an "official" setting (though it would always remain very scattered thanks to its support for "Traveller in all of its forms").

In early 1994, Knight considering expanding the scope of Sword of the Knight's publications when he was offered an extensive adventure set in the "Grayln Union". This was to be the work of the TNE-POCKET mailing list, an internet-based creative collective administered by George Herbert. The group had begun exploration of the New Era back in December 1992 with a focus on the Gralyn Union, a Pocket Empire that they'd created in Reavers' Deep. Though The Traveller Chronicle had just two digest-sized issues under its belt at the time, TNE-POCKET members convinced Knight to publish their Gralyn Union material as a forty-eight page full-sized supplement.

When Knight approached GDW about producing the sourcebook, it didn't go well, although different parties have different rcollections of what happened. GDW's Dave Nilsen recalls it as Knight calling GDW up to say that he was "going to publish various official sourcebooks on the basis of the fanzine license", while those that Knight later told about the contact remember Knight saying that GDW was upset that The Traveller Chronicle was competing with GDW's own Challenge magazine (1986-1995) and that GDW was afraid Sword of the Knight might produce better material than their own. It seems likely that neither of these recollections is entirely accurate. When GDW's Loren Wiseman wrote an official reponse to Knight, it simply said that the Graylyn Union product couldn't be produced under GDW's licensing policy. And so there was no sourcebook. Some Garyln Union material would instead appear in Traveller Chronicle #6 (Oct/Nov/Dec 1994).

The inability for Sword of the Knight to produce supplements didn't stop The Traveller Chronicle from quickly growing beyond the label of "fanzine". By The Traveller Chronicle #3 (Jan/Feb/Mar 1994), the 'zine was being released into the gaming mass-market thanks to distributors such as The Armory and Wargames West. What were just 300 copies of issue #2 became 1500 by Traveller Chronicle #5 (July/Aug/Sept 1994). At the same time, the fanzine truly became a magazine, adopting a full-color cover with Traveller Chronicle #4 (Apr/May/June 1994) and then a full-size with issue #5. By that point you could definitely classify Traveller Chronicle as Traveller's sixth fully professional magazine. (In the process, Traveller Chronicle also removed its "The"; definite articles have rarely done well in magazine titles, just ask The Dragon and The Space Gamer.)

That fifth issue also contained the magazine's other Golden Age coup. It featured the first part of a serialization of "A Pilot's Guide to the Caledon Subsector", a long-lost J. Andrew Keith manuscript that had originally been intended for publication by Gamelords. Paul Sanders announced to the Traveller Mailing List that Sword of the Knight also had Keith's manuscript for "Letter of Marque", the famous "Rogues in Space" supplement intended for Gamelords, so there was hope that there'd be more to come.

By Traveller Chronicle #7 (Jan/Feb/Mar/Apr 1995), Knight revealed that the magazine had to cut back to three issues a year lest their increasing circulation cause them to violate their agreement with GDW. Likely that meant that they had a limit to how many copies of their magazine they could produce each year, perhaps a total print run of 10,000 or so, which would suggest the magazine was by then doing more than 2,500 copies an issue. This wouldn't have been astounding given the trajectory of their first year and a half but would have marked a high level of success for a gaming periodical at the time.

Sword of the Knight was undanted: they started publishing other magazines instead. The Earthdawn Journal (1994-1997) had already begun publication in mid-1994 and Shadowland (1995-1997) for Shadowrun would follow at the end of the next year.

Some remember Traveller Chronicle best for Harold Hale's "Children of Earth" setting in Traveller Chronicle #10 (June 1996) and Traveller Chronicle #11 (October 1996), which depicted the Solomani Rim in the New Era. Hale, who'd done extensive work for HIWG on the area (and by 1996 was the chairsophant of the organization) had originally prepared the work for publication by GDW, but Dave Nilsen had found the Solomani's new empire too large and powerful in comparison with the Reformation Coalition and too likely to pull the metaplot in a different direction and had thus declined the material, so to Traveller Chronicle it went, alongside Gannon's Diaspora, Kemper's Far Frontiers, and Keith's Caledon.

By 1997, Traveller Chronicle seemed to be reaching new heights. It was selling the remaining stock for a variety of classic Traveller products and seemed to be on better terms with Imperium Games, who had become the new publisher of Traveller following the demise of GDW. But Traveller Chronicle #13 (September 1997) saw a surprising changing of the guard, with Harold Hale taking over editorship from Kevin Knight. Similar things were happening at both The Earthdawn Journal and Shadowland, each of which picked up a new editor in the Fall of 1997.

A 14th issue of Traveller Chronicle was largely prepared and would have included an article talking the increasing problems of Imperium Games, particularly their poor treatment of freelancers. It was delayed when word first leaked on Imperium's shutdown in early February 1998, and would ultimately never be sent to the printer.

Instead, those Fall 1997 issues would mark the end of Sword of the Knight's magazine-focused publishing empire. Apart from the Imperium-related delays of Traveller Chronicle, the major reason appears to have been quite simple: a child. Kevin Knight and his wife (and associate editor) Brenda Knight had a new baby, and so Traveller Chronicle came to an end. There was brief talk of a revival under Starjoy Publishing, with Hale still editing, but that never emerged.

Traveller Chronicle had lasted from the twilight of MegaTraveller to the twilight of T4. As such, it also lasted straight through the short two-issue tenure of Traveller's seventh professional magazine, JTAS v2 (1996-1997). In fact, depending on how you classify periodicals such as Steve Jackson's web-based JTAS v3 (2000-2016), Mongoose's book-focused JTAS v4 (2019-Present), Far Future's PDF-based Imperial Lines v2 (2014-2015), and Robert Eaglestone's Kickstarter-supported Xboat (2019-2022), Traveller Chronicle #13 might have been the last professional magazine ever published for the game. It was certainly the last fully traditional 'zine.

Though Sword of the Knight never finished published the Keith Brothers' other lost material, Paul Sanders would do so a few years later as Cargonaut Press.

Theme Issues

• #6: Special Gralyn Union Issue
• #10: Children of Earth Vol. 1
• #11: Children of Earth Vol. 2

Obtaining the Magazines

This index is © Copyright 2023 by Shannon Appelcline. It is released under a cc-by-4.0 license, allowing reuse with attribution.

Main Index

🎞️ Adventures: Misc

1. This adventure can be linked to "Power Centers" in CHALLENGE #66 (November 1992).

🎞️️ Adventures: Geographic, Imperium, Domain of Deneb¹

1. The Domain of Deneb is the most Spinward of the Domains. It includes the Deneb Sector, the Reft Sector, the Spinward Marches, and the Trojan Reach. It's the most traditional location for adventure in the Imperium. It is also known as the region "Behind the Claw".

🎞️️ Adventures: Geographic, Imperium, Domain of Ilelish¹

1. The Domain of Ilelish lies between the Solomani Sphere and Aslan Space and was the home of the Suerrat Republic. It includes the Daibei Sector, the Ilelish Sectyor, Reaver's Deep, and the Zarushagar Sector, and also administers the Verge Sector.

🎞️️ Adventures: Geographic, Imperium, Domain of Sol¹

1. The Domain of Sol, formerly the Domain of Diaspora, contains the Solomani Sphere. It includes the Alpha Crucis Sector, the Diaspora Sector, the Old Expanses, and the Solomani Rim, and also administers the Hinterworlds and the Magyar Sector.
2. This adventure can be linked to "Power Centers" in CHALLENGE #66 (November 1992).

🎞️️ Adventures: Geographic, Imperium, Domain of Vland¹

1. The Domain of Vland dates back to the Ziru Sirka and is the home of the Vlani. It includes Corridor Sector, Dagudashaag Sector, Gushemege Sector, and Vland Sector, and also administers Reft Sector.

🎞️️ Adventures: Geographic, Imperium Outskirts

🎞️Adventures: Historic

🌱️️️ Adventures: Seeds, Misc

🛸 Aliens: Misc

🛸 Aliens: Humaniti

1. Some fixes for the Known Star List can be found in "Children of Earth Errata and Additions" in TRAVELLER CHRONICLE #12 (Sword of the Knight, 1997), on page 27.

🛸 Aliens: Major Races

1. An addition for SOLOMANI & ASLAN (DGP, 1991).

🛸 Aliens: Minor Races

1. Vegan chargen can be found in "Children of Earth Errata and Additions" in TRAVELLER CHRONICLE #12 (Sword of the Knight, 1997), on page 27-28.

📚 Background: Misc

🌌 Background: Geographic, Imperium, Domain of Deneb¹

1. The Domain of Deneb is the most Spinward of the Domains. It includes the Deneb Sector, the Reft Sector, the Spinward Marches, and the Trojan Reach. It's the most traditional location for adventure in the Imperium. It is also known as the region "Behind the Claw".

🌌 Background: Geographic, Imperium, Domain of Ilelish¹

1. The Domain of Ilelish lies between the Solomani Sphere and Aslan Space and was the home of the Suerrat Republic. It includes the Daibei Sector, the Ilelish Sectyor, Reaver's Deep, and the Zarushagar Sector, and also administers the Verge Sector.
2. Supplemental to A PILOTS GUIDE TO THE DREXILTHAR SUBSECTOR (Gamelords, 1984) and material on the Ea Subsector and Scotian Deep appearing in FAR TRAVELLER (FASA, 1982-1983). Later collected as A PILOTS GUIDE TO THE CALEDON SUBSECTOR (Far Future Enterprises, 2009).

🌌 Background: Geographic, Imperium, Domain of Sol¹

1. The Domain of Sol, formerly the Domain of Diaspora, contains the Solomani Sphere. It includes the Alpha Crucis Sector, the Diaspora Sector, the Old Expanses, and the Solomani Rim, and also administers the Hinterworlds and the Magyar Sector.
2. Some fixes for the Known Star List can be found in "Children of Earth Errata and Additions" in TRAVELLER CHRONICLE #12 (Sword of the Knight, 1997), on page 27.

♾️ Background: Geographic, Imperium Outskirts

1. Dale Kemper's Far Frontiers articles were originally prepared for FASA, who held the land grant. About a quarter of it later appeared in ARES MAGAZINE SPECIAL EDITION #2 (TSR, 1983).
2. These follow-up articles by James Kundert returned to the subsectors not covered in Kemper's originals.

⌛ Background: Historic

🖊️ Campaign Design

🛠️ Equipment: Misc

🤖 Equipment: Artificial Life

⚔️ Equipment: Combat

🚀 Equipment: Transport

🧶️ Fiction & Multimedia

1. Chapters 1-16 of the serialized novel were published in TRAVELLER CHRONICLE #11-13. The whole 34-chapter book was later published as a PDF (Comstar/Avenger, 2007).

⬆️ Meta

🗣️ NPCs

📜 Rules

1. A response to "Spicing Up Brawling" in TRAVELLERS DIGEST #18 (DGP, 1990).
2. An addition for SOLOMANI & ASLAN (DGP, 1991).

Covers