Overview

History: 1991-1993

When "The Grand Tour" that was the heart of The Travellers' Digest came to its planned end in issue #21 (1990), publisher DGP decided it was time for something new. In particular, they decided to move beyond the scattered focus of the Digest, which had given considerable continued support to Classic Traveller, three years after it had been replaced, as well as the Traveller: 2300 game. Instead, DGP wanted to create a new magazine that was entirely directed toward GDW's newer MegaTraveller (1987) game – which of course, DGP had designed themselves. Thus, The MegaTraveller Journal was born, with its name purposefully calling back to the original Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society,

Despite the fact that it was a new magazine, The MegaTraveller Journal was very much a continuation of Travellers' Digest, with the first issue even referred to as "The Travellers' Digest #22" at one point. However, there were also notable changes. To start with it was no longer edited by Joe Fugate Sr. & Gary Thomas: by that time, Thomas had sold his ownership in DGP and Fugate was very busy administering the company. Instead Art Director Rob Caswell, who had joined DGP in its early days, stepped up.

The goal of MegaTraveller Journal was described as an "inside-out" Grand Tour. Where The Travellers' Digest had provided the first overview ever of the Third Imperium, The MegaTraveller Journal instead was meant to provide MegaTraveller with a foundation in space that it was otherwise missing during that period of publication, something to help players and GMs avoid getting lost in the "meta-politics" of the Rebellion era. The Domain of Deneb was chosen as that foundation, both because it included Traveller's traditional home of the Spinward Marches and because it was seen as a rich area for Rebellion activity. (In actuality, most of the details of MegaTraveller Journal focused on the two sectors trailing of the Spinward Marches: the Deneb Sector and Corridor.)

Unfortunately, the MegaTraveller Journal never found its footing. The quarterly magazine published just four issues between February 1991 and March 1993. That was in part because the periodical doubled its size from 56 to 104 pages after issue #2 (1991), announcing that it was becoming an "anthology/product" rather than a magazine. Meanwhile, Caswell left after #3 (1993) to pursue a freelance career, leaving Fugate to take over for the final issue.

With that said, there was strong material in the new Journal, including the main details on the Domain of Deneb for the Rebellion era and perhaps most importantly the "Lords of Thunder" adventure in issue #4 (1993), a K'kree-related adventure written by William H. Keith Jr. for a rebooted Gateway sector. It was originally comissioned by Seeker Gaming Systems, but ultimately published by DGP instead.

The MegaTraveller Journal ended after issue #4 because DGP had decidedto get out of the Traveller business, in large part because of GDW's decision to reboot the game yet again with Traveller: The New Era (1992). DGP planned to stay in the roleplaying industry with a new game of their own, "AI", but it was never published.

In all, The MegaTraveller Journal was the fifth fully professional Traveller magazine, following Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society (1979-1985), High Passage (1981-1982), Far Traveller (1982-1983), and The Travellers' Digest (1985-1990). It would be followed by The Traveller Chronicle (1993-1997), a magazine of the New Era.

Theme Issues

• #4: Lords of Thunder

Obtaining the Magazines

Roger Sanger bought out DGP after their closure, and has entirely kept their books out of print, either physically or electronically. The first two issues of MegaTraveller Journal are thus only available on secondary markets for low collector's prices.

However, the third and fourth issues of MegaTraveller Journal, produced as DGP was shutting down, were copyrighted to GDW instead of DGP. Copies of MegaTraveller Journal #3 and MegaTraveller Journal #4 are thus now widely available in electronic form at DTRPG and through Mongoose Publishing.

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

🧰 Accessories

🎞️ Adventures: Misc

1. LORDS OF THUNDER was originally commissioned as a standalone supplement by Seeker Gaming Systems. When they decided not to publish it, it instead appeareed as the majority of the content of THE MEGATRAVELLER JOURNAL #4 (DGP, 1993)

🎞️️ 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". It was theoretically the heart of THE MEGATRAVELLER JOURNAL (DGP, 1991-1993).

🎞️️ Adventures: Geographic, Imperium, Domain of Gateway¹

1. The Domain of Gateway is the most Trailing of the Imperial Domains, and in fact lies largely outside of Imperial control, with the exception of the Ley Sector. It also includes the Gateway Sector, the Glimmerdrift Reaches, and Crucis Margin. The Domain of Gateway was originally detailed by Judges Guild, then decanonized, and later reintroduced by LORDS OF THUNDER (DGP, 1993) and GATEWAY TO DESTINY (QLI, 2004). Ironically, the Domain of Gateway was the only Imperial Domain not visited in the Grand Tour of the original TRAVELLERS' DIGEST (DGP, 1985-1990).
2. LORDS OF THUNDER was originally commissioned as a standalone supplement by Seeker Gaming Systems. When they decided not to publish it, it instead appeareed as the majority of the content of THE MEGATRAVELLER JOURNAL #4 (DGP, 1993)

🎞️️ 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: Seeds, Random Nuggets¹

1. These brief adventure ideas were probably intended as an alternative to GDW's own Amber Zones, based on the cinematic nugget form that DGP introduced in KNIGHTFALL (GDW, 1990), but because of the short life of THE MEGATRAVELLER JOURNAL (DGP, 1991-1993), they never got any traction.

💡 Advice

🛸 Aliens: Humaniti

🛸 Aliens: Major Races

🛸 Aliens: Minor Races

📚 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". It was theoretically the heart of THE MEGATRAVELLER JOURNAL (DGP, 1991-1993).

🌌 Background: Geographic, Imperium, Domain of Gateway¹

1. The Domain of Gateway is the most Trailing of the Imperial Domains, and in fact lies largely outside of Imperial control, with the exception of the Ley Sector. It also includes the Gateway Sector, the Glimmerdrift Reaches, and Crucis Margin. The Domain of Gateway was originally detailed by Judges Guild, then decanonized, and later reintroduced by LORDS OF THUNDER (DGP, 1993) and GATEWAY TO DESTINY (QLI, 2004).

🌌 Background: 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.

⌛ Background: Historic

🛠️ Equipment: Misc

1. Data Sheets are full page layouts combining equipment pictures and data. They were first used in the REFEREE'S GAMING KIT (DGP, 1989)

⚔️ Equipment: Combat

1. Data Sheets are full page layouts combining equipment pictures and data. They were first used in the REFEREE'S GAMING KIT (DGP, 1989)

🛰️ Equipment: Infrastructure

1. Data Sheets are full page layouts combining equipment pictures and data. They were first used in the REFEREE'S GAMING KIT (DGP, 1989)

🚀 Equipment: Transport

1. Data Sheets are full page layouts combining equipment pictures and data. They were first used in the REFEREE'S GAMING KIT (DGP, 1989)

🧶️ Fiction

🎤 Interviews, Memoirs & Notes

⬆️ Meta

🗣️ NPCs

📜 Rules

Appendix I: Other DGP RPGs

🤖 AI

Covers