The Imperium Staple Index

UMP: 224E8A-F

Version 1.16: Issues 1-12

by Shannon Appelcline

Overview

History: 1986-1987

The story of The Imperium Staple begins with Herb Petro, who discovered science-fiction roleplaying in 1984 with Star Frontiers (1982), but was so won over by Traveller (1977) when he received it three months later for Christmas that he immediately dumped his Star Frontiers game and began playing Traveller instead.

Petro became connected to Traveller fandom when he began buying issues of Working Passage, the first Traveller fanzine in the United States, from its founding editor, Ed Edwards. On January 9, 1986 Petro received a fateful letter from Ed Edwards: it sadly stated that Edwards' computer had broken down, and due to a lack of money to repair that computer, Working Passage was coming to an end as well.

Petro, a student at South Point High School of Belmont, North Carolina decided to pick up the torch by founding The Imperium Staple the third major American fanzine, following Working Passage and the recently inaugurated Between Worlds (1985-1986). And perhaps there was one more: Even at the time, there was contention whether Elmer Hinton's PBM-related 'zine, The Travellers' Aide (1985-1987), belonged on the list. If so it would have been the third American fanzine, as it was first published in December 1985, preceding The Imperium Staple. Petro was also following in the footsteps of the creators of the British Alien Star (1981-1982) and the professional High Passage magazine (1981-1982), because like Petro, all of their creators had been in high school โ€” by now an actual tradition in Traveller pubication.

Ed Edwards helped with contributions to the new fanzine and even suggested the title: The Imperium Staple. The "Imperium" revealed that the focus was on Traveller and the "Staple" said that the fanzine would cover the "staple types of Traveller articles". Edwards' work would be extensive over the 'zine's run and he'd eventually be named the head of the Star Port Authority department. Alan M. Nuss, another regular contributor, would similarly be handed the Trade & Commerce department. A few other contributors came from the wider Traveller fandom, among them Mike Mikesh (soon to be a major force in the HIWG), Jefferson Swycaffer (author of the "Concordat of Archive" novels), ... and Elmer Hinton.

The 'zine continued on a shockingly fast monthly schedule from its debut in March 1986 through its tenth issue, published in January 1987. Whenever he was short on content, Petro just filled the space himself. Major topics included a point-based character creation system and a delve into the Foreven Sector.

By the end of '86, Petro was finding his Traveller-focused time decreasing, and so he decided to bring his work on the fanzine to an end. Enter W. Elmer Hinton. Much older than Petro, Hinton had been running a Diplomacy PBM 'zine named Kaissa for almost ten years, as well as his own Traveller PBM 'zine, The Travellers' Aide. He'd also been long associated with The Imperium Staple.

Now, Petro agreed to turn over The Imperium Staple to Hinton beginning with issue #11. Meanwhile, Petro was starting a new magazine focused on news and out-of-continuity material; he expected the new magazine, Continuum, to take up less of his time than The Imperium Staple had because it would be a more casual endeavor.

What happened next was perhaps foreshadowed: some of Hinton's earlier content for The Imperium Staple had been a very strident set of arguments about whether grav drives were used in low-TL Traveller ships. The back and forth of several articles wasn't quite a pre-internet flame war, but it was close. When Hinton began publishing The Imperium Staple, things got worse very fast.

First, Hinton trashed the first issue of Petro's new Continuum magazine in The Imperium Staple #11, Then Hinton sent correspondences to Petro that Petro found "VERY offensive" and called him a liar in The Imperium Staple #12 for a misunderstanding about subscription rates. Hinton even refused to send Petro copies of his two issues of The Imperium Staple (though Petro also ellgedly received to fill a subscription request from Hinton for ContinuumThe Imperium Staple (Hinton said he was fired), and everything fell apart. The Imperium Staple, suffice to say, was DOA after two Hinton issues.

It wasn't intended to be. The last issue contained a long adventure called "The Omega Gambit", which was the first of three parts, to be followed by a five-part "Call fo Arms" and then by "Second Coming". They would never appear, and in fact Hinton would disappear from fandom.

Obtaining the Magazines

The first 11 issues of The Imperium Staple have been made officially available. They're all on The Traveller Wiki under the Imperium Staple entry. Just click through an individual issue, scroll down to "External Links" and click on the PDF link.

Foreven Subsector Index

About the Contents

This index only covers all 12 issues of The Imperium Staple. Thanks to Mark William Poles of The Shop on the Borderlands for giving me the 12th issue, so I could complete it!

This index is © Copyright 2022-2024 by Shannon Appelcline. It is released under a cc-by-4.0 license, allowing reuse with attribution.

Main Index

๐Ÿงฐ Accessories

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Forms
Cargo Manifest Traveller 1e 9 14
Passenger Manifest Traveller 1e 9 13
TAS Form 2b: Personal Data/History Traveller 1e 8 11-12

๐ŸŽž๏ธ๏ธ Adventures: Geographic, Imperium, Domain of Sol1

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Solomani Rim
Solomani Rim. Capella Subsector [N]
The Omega Gambit Part I: Mirabilis Dictu [Mirablis: 1332] Traveller 1e Golden Age W. Elmer Hinton 12 3-5+
  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.

๐Ÿ’ก Advice

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Construction, Starships
The Best Combat Ships Part I Traveller 1e Craig Sheeley & Ed Edwards 3 7-8
The Best Combat Ships Part II Traveller 1e Craig Sheeley & Ed Edwards 4 11-12
Tournaments, Trillion Credit Squadron
J-4 Battle Fleets TCS Ed Edwards 1 11

๐Ÿ›ธ Aliens: Major Races

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Ancients
Known Ancient Sites Golden Age John C. Meyers 5 5

๐Ÿ“š Background: Misc

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Organizations, Corps, Trade
North Star Lines Golden Age Alan M. Nuss 9 15
Organizations, Espionage
Interstellar Confederation for Law and Order Golden Age David Knatcal 9 4
Organizations, Military, Navy
Depots of the Imperium Golden Age John C. Meyers 6 4
Space Travel
The Number Monger Traveller 1e Golden Age Ed Edwards 2 8
Technology, Anti-Grav
The Physics of Grav Units and Plates Herb Petro 4 10-11

๐ŸŒŒ Background: Geographic, Charted Space

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Misc, Listings
Depots of the Imperium Golden Age John C. Meyers 6 4
Known Ancient Sites Golden Age John C. Meyers 5 5
Research Stations of the Imperium Golden Age John C. Meyers 6 4

๐Ÿงช Background: Geographic, Hive Federation

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Kaa G!'kul Sector
Kaa G!'kul Sector, Discord / Regal Subsector [N]
Map/Subsector: Discord Golden Age Michael Mikesh 10 4
UWPs/Subsector: Discord Golden Age Michael Mikesh 10 3

๐ŸŒŒ Background: Geographic, Imperium Outskirts1

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Foreven Sector
Foreven Sector [Intro] Herb Petro 6 10
Foreven Sector, Reidan Subsector [L]
Map/Subsector: Reidan Golden Age Herb Petro 6 11
UWPs/Subsector: Reidan Golden Age Herb Petro 6 12
Reidan Subsector Golden Age Herb Petro 6 10
Foreven Sector, Reidan Subsector [L], Hold [2824]
Map/World: Hold Golden Age Ed Edwards 9 12
Profile/World: Hold Traveller 1e Golden Age Ed Edwards 9 11
The Planet of Hold Golden Age Ed Edwards 9 9-12
Foreven Sector, Piah Subsector [O]
Map/Subsector: Piah Golden Age Herb Petro 11 9
UWPs/Subsector: Piah Golden Age Herb Petro 11 8
Foreven Sector, Uranian Subsector [P]
Map/Subsector: Uranian Golden Age Herb Petro 7 13
UWPs/Subsector: Uranian Golden Age Herb Petro 7 12
Uranian Subsector Golden Age Herb Petro 7 10
  1. The Imperium Outskirts are places lying near the Third Imperium and not claimed by another entity.

โŒ› Background: Historic

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Misc, The Rebellion, Misc, Imperial Maps
The Rebellion Begins [1116-1121]1 Rebellion GDW 12 8-9
  1. This map was probably part of the announcement packet sent out by GDW on April 15, 1987. It also appears in CONTINUUM #2 (JUNE 1987). Another map produced in the same manner can be found in TIFFANY STAR #1 (HIWG, 1988).

๐Ÿ–Š๏ธ Campaign Design

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Misc
Alternate Settings/Adventures Herb Petro 9 5-6
Sectors
Adding the Third Dimension Traveller 1e Michael Mikesh 8 9-10
Three Dimensional Traveller, Revisited Traveller 1e Jefferson P. Swycaffer 9 7-8
Worlds
Tech Level Expansion [UWP: TL] Traveller 1e Herb Petro 7 3

๐Ÿ› ๏ธ Equipment: Misc

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Psionics
Sibilian Crystals Traveller 1e Herb Petro 5 4
Trade, Cargoes
Small Cargo: Anagathic Traveller 1e Alan M. Nuss 9 15
Small Cargo: Diamonds Traveller 1e Alan M. Nuss 8 14
Small Cargo: Dust Spice Traveller 1e Alan M. Nuss 8 14
Small Cargo: Genetic Material Traveller 1e Alan M. Nuss 9 15
Small Cargo: Groat Furs Traveller 1e Alan M. Nuss 2 13
Small Cargo: Sibilian Crystals Traveller 1e Alan M. Nuss 4 13
Small Cargo: Singing Crystals Traveller 1e Alan M. Nuss 4 13

๐Ÿค– Equipment: Artificial Life

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Robots, Misc, Construction
Robot Agility Traveller 1e Herb Petro 6 9
Robots, Misc, Programming
Robot Programs Traveller 1e Herb Petro 6 9+

โš”๏ธ Equipment: Combat

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Weapons, Melee
Laser Weapons Traveller 1e Herb Petro 2 6-7
Laser Weapons Part 2 Traveller 1e Herb Petro 3 6

๐Ÿš€ Equipment: Transport

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Starships, Misc, Construction
The Best Combat Ships Part I Traveller 1e Craig Sheeley & Ed Edwards 3 7-8
The Best Combat Ships Part II Traveller 1e Craig Sheeley & Ed Edwards 4 11-12
Economy Sophont Traveller 1e Ed Edwards 9 4
High Guard Weapon Designators Traveller 1e Ed Edwards 3 6
The Standard Configuration Starship Traveller 1e Ed Edwards 1 9-10
Standard Configuration Starship, Part 2 Traveller 1e Ed Edwards 2 7-8
The Best Combat Ships Part IV /
The Standard Configuration Starship, Part 3
Traveller 1e Craig Sheeley & Ed Edwards 8 7-8
Starships, Components
Starship Maneuverability Traveller 1e Ed Edwards 5 6
Starships, Components, Anti-Grav Drives
Maneuver Drives Traveller 1e Charles R. Hensley 7 7-8
Maneuver Drive Changes Traveller 1e Charles R. Hensley 8 4
A Matter of Gravity W. Elmer Hinton 7 4-6+
The Physics of Grav Units and Plates Herb Petro 4 10-11
Ship Grav Landing Traveller 1e Golden Age Craig Sheeley 4 9-10
Starships, Components, Computers
Robotic and Shipboard CPU Relationship Traveller 1e Joe Fugate Sr. 8 7
Starships, Components, Weapons
Circular Meson and Particule Accelerators Traveller 1e Bob Carter 5 11-13
Starships, Designs, Civilian, Misc
Longevity Classes I Lifeboat [RV: 100T]1 Traveller 1e Ed Edwards 10 5-8
Value Class Merchant [A: 100T] Traveller 1e Alan M. Nuss 4 2
Starships, Designs, Civilian, Darrian
The Darrian Merchantman [AP: 300T] Traveller 1e Golden Age W. Elmer Hinton 3 9-12
Starships, Designs, Military, Misc
Attacking Vulture-Class Defense/Security Ship [HB: 4kT] Traveller 1e Herb Petro 6 5-6
Valiant Garhawk-Class Defense/Security Ship [HK: 4kT] Traveller 1e Herb Petro 6 5
The Best Combat Ships Part III [Mega Dreadnought: 200kT] Traveller 1e Craig Sheeley & Ed Edwards 5 5
The Best Combat Ships Part IV [Mega Dreadnought: 200kT] Traveller 1e Craig Sheeley & Ed Edwards 8 7-8
  1. Previous iterations of the Longevity-Class Lifeboat appear in WORKING PASSAGE #5 (1985).

๐Ÿงถ๏ธ Fiction

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Misc, Comic Strips
Traveller Mini-Zine (TMZ) Issue #1 Ed Edwards 3 13
Misc, Micro-Fiction
97-1112 Golden Age Ed Edwards 2 12

โฌ†๏ธ Meta

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Awards
First Annual Good Travellering Awards Ed Edwards 10 13-14
Commentary
Speculation Herb Petro 1 3
Editorial
Introduction Herb Petro 1 2
Introduction Herb Petro 2 2
Introduction Herb Petro 3 2
Introduction Herb Petro 4 2
Introduction Herb Petro 5 2
Introduction Herb Petro 6 2
Introduction Herb Petro 7 2
Introduction Herb Petro 8 2
Introduction Herb Petro 9 2
Introduction Herb Petro 10 2
Greetings W. Elmter Hinton 11 2
The Editor is Dead; Long Live the Editor! W. Elmer Hinton 11 4
To Err is Human ... W. Elmer Hinton 12 2
History
Traveller Spirit of '86 Ed Edwards 2 15
Index, Products
Major Race References Traveller 1e Herb Petro 6 3
Traveller Publications Checklist Traveller 1e Ed Edwards & W. Elmer Hinton 11 12-13
Index, Products, Sets
Traveller Set: Merchant Activities Traveller 1e Herb Petro 1 13
Mailings
Traveller Round Robins Herb Petro 1 12
Round Robin Update Herb Petro 2 11
News
News Items Joe Fugate Sr. 8 3
News & Views W. Elmer Hinton 11 13
News & Views W. Elmer Hinton 12 7
News, Releases
News Items [Combat Module & Delta Force] Alan M. Nuss 8 3
Preview [DGP] Herb Petro 1 3
Traveller Database Available 7 3
Traveller Spirit of '86: Alien Series Ed Edwards 3 15
Traveller Spirit of '86: Gamelords Herb Petro 1 15
Projects
Traveller Spirit of '86: Atlas Ed Edwards 2 15

๐Ÿ—ฃ๏ธ NPCs

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Careers, Bounty Hunter
Girkaasi Sokolov Traveller 1e Golden Age Herb Petro 1 5
Careers, Criminal
Girkaasi Sokolov Traveller 1e Golden Age Herb Petro 1 5
Terrorists Traveller 1e Herb Petro 2 13
Careers, Entertainer, Musician
Three Dog Night in Road Show1 Traveller 1e Golden Age Steve Kohler & Craig Sheeley 5 10
Careers, Hunter
Lanon Talor [Hunter] Traveller 1e Golden Age Herb Petro 6 13
Careers, Merchant Prince
Gadagkhup Kampf Traveller 1e Golden Age Alan M. Nuss 11 10
Careers, Military, Army
Edard Josef Shaw Traveller 1e Golden Age Magnus M. Abel 8 5-6
Careers, Military, Historian
Cpt. Josue Lopez de Don Diego III Traveller 1e Golden Age Lawrence Apodaca 9 3
  1. Intended for use with "Road Show", an Amber Zone in JTAS #23 (GDW, 1985),/td>

๐Ÿ“œ Rules

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Misc, Unofficial Errata, Book 7: Merchant Prince
Merchant Prince Error Traveller 1e Alan M. Nuss 2 5
Character Creation, Misc, Characteristics
Simulating the URP and PRP Golden Age Ed Edwards 1 8
Character Creation, Careers, Advanced, High Guard
Low Berth Naval Duty Traveller 1e Herb Petro 6 7-8
Low Berth Naval Duty Pay Changes Traveller 1e Herb Petro 8 4
Character Creation, Careers, Basic, Solomani
The Solomani Home Guard (Revised)1 Traveller 1e Bob Carter 5 14
The Entertainer Traveller 1e Steve Kohler & Craig Sheeley 5 10
Character Creation, Point-Based
New Skills Traveller 1e Herb Petro 5 9
At the TAS: Skill Additions Traveller 1e Herb Petro 6 8
TIS Character Generation System Traveller 1e Herb Petro 4 3-8
TCGS Errata Traveller 1e Herb Petro 5 3
Characteristics, Misc
Agility - Dexterity Traveller 1e Herb Petro 2 5
Report of the Imperial Society for the Preservation of Religion Ed Edwards 1 6-7
Combat, Melee
Martial Arts and Traveller Traveller 1e Bob Carter 2 9-11
Errata for Martial Arts Traveller 1e Bob Carter 5 8-9
Psionics
Psionic Additionts Traveller 1e Herb Petro 5 7-8
Religion
Report of the Imperial Society for the Preservation of Religion Ed Edwards 1 6-7
Simulating the URP and PRP Golden Age Ed Edwards 1 8
Skills
New Skills Traveller 1e Herb Petro 5 9
Sensors Skill Traveller 1e Alan M. Nuss 2 5
At the TAS: Skill Additions Traveller 1e Herb Petro 6 8
  1. Revising the career from ALIEN MODULE 6: SOLOMANI (GDW, 1986)

โญ Reviews: Misc

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Misc, Fanzines
Between Worlds #2 Traveller 1e Golden Age Ed Edwards 1 8
Continuum #1 Traveller 1e Golden Age W. Elmer Hinton 11 11
Misc, Magazines
Challenge #25 Herb Petro 4 2
Challenge #26 Herb Petro 8 13
Challenge #27 Herb Petro 10 9
DGP, Classic Traveller
101 Robots Traveller 1e Golden Age Herb Petro 10 10
Grand Survey Traveller 1e Golden Age Herb Petro 6 15
The Travellers' Digest #4 Traveller 1e Golden Age Herb Petro 2 3
The Travellers' Digest #5 Traveller 1e Golden Age Herb Petro 5 2
The Travellers' Digest #6 Traveller 1e Golden Age Herb Petro 8 13
The Travellers' Digest #7 Traveller 1e Golden Age Herb Petro 10 9
FASA
Star Port Module Number One: The Hotel Complex Traveller 1e Golden Age Herb Petro 7 13-14
GDW, Classic Traveller
Alien Module 6: Solomani Traveller 1e Golden Age Ed Edwards 2 12
Alien Module 7: Hivers Traveller 1e Golden Age Herb Petro 6 14
Alien Realms Traveller 1e Golden Age Herb Petro 6 14
Book 8: Robots Traveller 1e Golden Age Herb Petro 6 14
Traveller Club Package Traveller 1e Golden Age Ed Edwards 3 15
The Spinward Marches Campaign Traveller 1e Golden Age Herb Petro 2 12
Reilly Associates
Aboard the Death Ship Traveller 1e Herb Petro 10 10
Seeker
Building Module 2: R&D Facility Traveller 1e Golden Age Ed Edwards 1 5

โญ Reviews: Fiction

Title System Era Author # Pgs
ATU, Concordat of Archive
The Praesidium of Archive, Jefferson Swycaffer Concordat Ed Edwards 4 13

Appendix I: Other GDW RPGs

๐ŸŒ 2300AD

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Reviews
Energy Curve T2300 Rob Caswell 12 16

Appendix II: Other RPGs

๐Ÿ”บ Delta Force

Title System Era Author # Pgs
Reviews
Delta Force Delta Force Herb Petro 10 10-11
Terror at Sea Delta Force Herb Petro 10 11

Covers