All these years of Traveller RPG collecting, and I’d thought I’d seen everything. Never seen this Travellers’ Aid Society Alien Encyclopedia that somebody’s got up for auction at the moment. If you already have all of the Traveller Alien Modules, then you don’t really NEED this reprint book, but it’s still an eye-catcher.
Below are images pulled from the auction for posterity
See Also: TRAVELLER (Spanish language edition)
LOST SUPPLEMENTS Collection – Traveller – Cargonaut Press
Japanese Edition: Traveller Spinward Marches Map
Hey Wayne, I was browsing the site and came across this article and it made me laugh. That’s my book that was up for auction! It was hard tompart with it but I was in some lean times then.
Let me know if you have any questions for the “historical record” and I’ll share what I can remember.
Nate
“DJ DungeonMaster”
Hi Nate. That’s funny! All these years later.
Would you please share the story behind this volume?
Hi guys – beware wall of text –
I found your site by sheer chance and as Lady Luck pleases it i can share some storytime about this treasure of a traveller relic – as good as I do remember it:
Arne and Andreas were two friends who shared their love for the Traveller RPG since school. They did play Traveller with friends in a club where geeks who were into this strange thing called “tabletop role playing games” & “strategy board games” found a place of likewise minded individuals to delve into the realms of high adventures. Lets say it was aweseome.
Back in the day in germany it was kind of hard to find a copy of any Alien Books at all and the lucky guys who snatched one kept these as treasured possessions.
The possibillity of anybody being able to own like all of these books was next to nil. Like even on big conventions throughout germany like e.g. Games Fair in the city of Essen you might get lucky and find an Alien Book, but some turned out to be especially rare like e.g. the K´kree book – which i knew no one to have even seen it in person anywhere.
It was a mystery to me where all these Traveller players might be hiding and playing K´kree based campaigns. It for sure must be one of the Ancients Puzzels left for us to wonder about.
But i digress…
Thus these two friends went for it to make a crazy idea come true: making a special collectors reprint. Getting all the required permissions including the sending sheets to be signed by Marc Miller himself to the US and back again to Germany.
In the leather bound book you find all the 8 Alien Books and the Alien Realms Supplement as well as the “Aliens for Traveller Draft Material” from 1981 right in the start of the book. The Covers and Backcovers are in full color too.
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing your history of the Alien Encyclopedia!