Freelance Traveller

Traveller: 1700 Gazetteer

by Greg Caires

Volume I: North America
Issue I: Northern New England

Maine

In 1700 CE, this vast territory is not yet known by that name. Since the Glorious Revolution installed King William and Queen Mary onto the throne of England less than a decade ago, the Duke of York has been granted these lands, and in return he has lent his name to them: Yorkshire – at present the northernmost and largest county of Massachusetts Bay Province.

Yorkshire is sparsely populated by English settlers but teaming with flora and fauna: ancient forests of tall hardwood trees; taller, rugged mountains; lengthy, difficult rivers; huge, deep and cold lakes; rocky coastlines; large dangerous animals like bear and moose, and even more dangerous Indigenous peoples who have lived here for thousands of years before Europeans arrived.

There hasn’t been an attempt to census the settlers since 1650; at that time there were only about 1,000 English here. A half-century later, and after a quarter century of constant warfare, it’s doubtful there are still even that many Europeans living here.

Yorkshire is under constant threat by the natives looking to dislodge English settlers, often at the urging of – and with support from – the French Canadiens in bordering Arcadia. Until recently this was the frontlines of the North American theatre of a global war known as the Nine Years’ War in Europe, King William’s War in the Colonies. The borders of Yorkshire are in dispute and constantly changing; each native raid sends the survivors scrambling to safety and pushes the English colony back while growing French Arcadia.

In 1692, Abenaki Indians – one of the most fearsome Wabanaki tribes – raided York town, killing 100 settlers, kidnapping another 80, and burned the town. Some survivors were eventually released after ransom was paid.

In 1696, Fort William Henry at Pemaquid, on the border with Arcadia, was attacked by the French and Indians. Besieged by shipborne and land-based cannon, the English were quickly forced to surrender, and the fort destroyed. In exchange for freeing their prisoners, the survivors were paroled and marched back to Boston. 

But two years later, Abenaki warriors travelled to Andover in Massachusetts Bay Province to extract revenge against the failed fort’s commander, Captain Pasco Chubb, for the killing years earlier of several Abenaki chiefs while meeting under a flag of truce. The natives killed Chubb and massacred his entire family in their home.

The Peace of Ryswick in 1697 may have ended the war for the Europeans, but it wasn’t until 1699 that the Natives agreed to a truce with the English of Yorkshire. There are today only a handful of settlements clinging to the unforgiving coast. Tension is in the air. The people are constantly on watch for hostile natives, while simultaneously praying for the return of kidnapped loved ones. It will likely take generations for the settlers here to forget the fighting and deaths they endured. Vast and difficult to traverse, this land may never be fully tamed.

Yorkshire towns:

Kittery (1647): along the Piscataqua River that defines Yorkshire’s border with the Province of New Hampshire, the ghost of Rachel – an enslaved African woman murdered in 1695 by her enslaver Nathaniel Keen – is said to haunt the town. Keen was tried and acquitted of the murder but made to pay a fine for the crime of cruelty – as one might be cited for mistreating a horse – instead.

York (1652): the town shares its name with the river that flows beside it. Still deeply scarred by the 1692 Candlemas Massacre, the rebuilt town is on higher ground further away from the York River. Hauntingly, many of the grave markers in the cemetery simply read “A child” because they could not be identified, their relatives dead or kidnapped, their names not appearing in town records. Locals believe their ghosts haunt the town, seeking to somehow make their identities know.

Biddeford (1653): on the banks of the Saco River, where just below the fall line a stone fort has recently been erected to protect the county’s only sawmill and provide a refuge for settlers against Indian attacks.

Wells (1653): next to the Weaned river, Wells has a history of successfully fending off Abenaki raids. The last was in 1692, which began with a cattle stampede through the town. Outnumbered 10-1, English militia resisted a three-day siege, which included natives firing flaming arrows to set the town ablaze and sink small boats used by reinforcing troops. The townspeople still sing songs about Captain James Converse and his victory despite such overwhelming odds.

Kennebunkport (1653): where the Kennebunk River meets the ocean, the town has only recently been reclaimed by settlers after a 10-year absence due to Abenaki raids.

Scarborough (1658). Abandoned since 1690, the town sits where the Spurwink River meets Saco Bay. In 1699 a truce between the Natives and the Province of Massachusetts Bay was signed; there is talk of resettlement but not much interest, the former inhabitants long dead or long gone.

North Yarmouth (1680). Another abandoned ghost town, but nearby, settlers are constructing what they call Harraseeket, named for the nearby river.

Rumors & Adventure Seeds (Roll D66)

New Hampshire

Far smaller in size but no better settled than neighboring Yorkshire, the Province of New Hampshire has about 5,000 English settlers and shares its governor – the Earl Bellomont – with Massachusetts Bay Province. With its eastern, western, and southern borders defined by rivers and mostly respected by fellow English North Americans, only New Hampshire’s far northern border is ill-defined and in dispute with French Canada. The White Mountains occupy the upper half of the province. With a narrow coastline, and with its major river – the Merrimack – crossing into Massachusetts before it emptied into the sea, New Hampshire struggles to export its wealth of timber through its sole seaport, Portsmouth. In 1700 CE, while “Maine” is one single Massachusetts Bay county, this province has no counties.

Settlements:

Dover (1623): inland from the coast, where the Piscataqua and Bellamy rivers meet, site of the 1689 Cochecho massacre that saw a quarter of the town’s inhabitants murdered or kidnapped by Pennacook Indians. Most chillingly, this raid was revenge for an incident that had occurred 13 years prior, and against a different tribe. Eleven years later, the town’s population hasn’t yet rebounded, and the remaining inhabitants are watchful, fearful and suspicious of strangers.

Portsmouth (1631): In 1696, Indians raided the town, burning nine barns, five houses, and killing 14 settlers and an undetermined number of captives (later rescued, see Hampton). Settlers are constantly asking Travellers for information about possible hostile natives in the area. Despite the loss, the town is moving on. The Honorable Richard Wibird, an officer in the British Royal Navy, wealthy merchant, member of The King's Council and a benefactor of Harvard College, is building a grand home called Oracle House. And local Charles Peirce has, with backing from Wibird, begun publishing a daily newspaper–New Hampshire’s first–called the Daily Oracle.

Exeter (1638): the town is currently undergoing local political turmoil due to the construction of a new, larger meeting house necessary to accommodate the growing populace. The building’s cost swelled tremendously during construction, and the town’s locally elected Selectmen are all pointing fingers at each other, demanding to know who knew what when. To cover the greater costs, it has been suggested that pew purchase prices be raised from 11 to 21 pounds, further aggravating the situation. The issue could result in a splitting of the parish, with once faction using the old meetinghouse as their church while the other uses the new meetinghouse as their place of worship. Nothing like this has ever been seen before in New Hampshire, and risk dividing the small, interrelated community in ways previously unimaginable.

Hampton (1639): the only New Hampshire woman “convicted” of witchcraft is buried in an unmarked grave somewhere nearby. Goody Cole was much maligned – as “ill-natured and ugly, artful and aggravating, malicious and revengeful” – but never found guilty; twice acquitted and jailed a third time without being indicted, she died in prison in 1680. She was then hastily buried, and a stake was driven into her body after her death “in order to exorcise the baleful influence she was supposed to have possessed”, and a horseshoe hung on the stake, just for good measure.

In 1696, the Hampton militia – responding to word of the raid on Portsmouth – intercepted the marauding Indians, who quickly abandoned their plunder and prisoners. The locals refer to the event as “the battle of Breakfast Hill” because the militia interrupted the native’s breakfast following their raid.

New Castle (1693): perhaps the most interesting thing to happen to date in New Hampshire occurred here during 1682 – the “Stone-throwing Devil” that showered Quaker George Walton’s tavern with rocks.

Hundreds of stones mysteriously rained down on Walton’s tavern, as well as onto him and others in the area over the entire summer. Windows were smashed, and the spit in the fireplace leapt into the air, then came down with its point stuck in the logs, before flying out a window. Demonic voices were heard, and items were flung about inside Walton’s tavern. Sometimes a dismal hollow whistling would be heard, and sometimes the trotting and snorting of a horse, but nothing to be seen. One man was much hurt by some of the stones, yet no one ever came forward who saw anyone throwing the stones.

Walton is a successful innkeeper, merchant, and lumberman, and the largest landowner in the area, envied by his less industrious neighbors. His tavern customers included a variety of rowdy outsiders, including “godless” fishermen, who were considered undesirables by others. And, as Walton was a Quaker – a criminal act – his Puritan neighbors look upon with great suspicion. He also had two Native American employees, which would have caused great concern so soon after King Philip’s War with the Indians, and because of the uneasy peace that existed. He was involved in a number of lawsuits over business and property disputes, and in one property boundary dispute with his neighbor, he was accused of being a wizard: he counter-accused her of being a witch.

Regardless of what caused Walton and his inn to be the victim of a months-long rain of stones, it was the first major outbreak of apparent witchcraft in Colonial North America.

Kingston (1694): the good people of the town have recently taxed themselves for the formal education of their children, enough to pay for a Harvard educated preacher to begin teaching grammar school in the town’s garrison house several days per week. Reverend Choate would appreciate word from the wider world to help further educate his pupils.

Rumors and Adventure Seeds (roll 1d6)

Vermont

In 1609 French explorer Samuel de Champlain led the first European expedition of the territory encompassing present-day Lake Champlain. He laid claim to the area, dubbed it Verd Mont (Green Mountain), named the lake after himself, and made the first known map of the area.

In a bid to forge alliances with the Abenaki people, Champlain famously killed an Iroquois chief with an arquebus on July 29, 1609. This act, while earning the enmity of the Iroquois, solidified the French-Abenaki alliance. However, it also sparked lasting animosity between the French and the Iroquois.

The French staked their claim to Vermont as part of New France and maintained a military presence around Lake Champlain, since it was an important waterway,[20] but they did very little colonization during the first half of the 17th century. In 1666 they erected Fort Sainte Anne on Isle La Motte, marking the first European settlement in the region, but it was abandoned by 1670. Much of the eastern shore of Lake Champlain was mapped out for settlement, but settlers were unwilling to populate the area, possibly because of continual warfare and raiding there.

There were years of conflict between the French and English in North America as they competed for power, territory, and the fur trade. With sparse numbers of colonists, both sides made allies among Native American peoples to aid them in their warfare.

In the latter half of the 17th century, non-French settlers began to explore Vermont and its environs. In 1690, the British governor of New York sent Captain Jacobus de Warm from Albany with orders to watch the French and Indians from Canada on Lake Champlain and to “endeavor to despoil, plunder and do them all injury as enemies, according to the usages of war.”

These Dutch-British settlers established the De Warm Stockade at Chimney Point, a small stone defense that he, 12 soldiers, and 20 Mohawk allies occupied for about a month. This settlement and trading post stood in close proximity to Crown Point, New York, fostering trade and interactions across Lake Champlain.

Throughout this period, intermittent skirmishes occurred between English colonies to the south and the French colony to the north, rendering Vermont a volatile and unsettled frontier region.

In 1700 CE, there are no settlements in this vast, trackless land between the Hudson and Connecticut Rivers, and divided by the Green Mountains. There are half-hearted competing claims by the New York and New Hampshire colonies, but no one is actively pursuing them. However, due to its proximity, New York colonists are often more likely to encounter and defend against incursions into Vermont by French Canadien.

New Career: Trapper

Part Ranger, part Merchant, these were some of the first Europeans to leave the safety of settlements and explore the interior of North America. Motivated by the profit of hunting animals for more than just their meat, these men would later become known as Mountain Men as America moved West. During this period, they are the bearded, grizzled, fur-and fringe-clothed explorers, focused on collecting beaver pelts for wealthy European markets. In French Canada, they have the more lyrical name of coureurs des bois – “the runners of the woods.” Due to market forces, they often purchased pelts from Natives, frequently making them the first non-lethal encounter with whites many Natives experienced; often marrying Natives to seal the business deal. A century later, Sacagawea would guide Captains Lewis and Clark to the Pacific while carrying her infant child, the son of her French trapper husband. Wise to the ways of the Native, tolerated by settled Europeans for the product they provide, Trappers could be considered the embodiment of prototypical Travellers roaming North America at this time.

Ethnicity: Roll 2D6 to determine ethnicity/background:

2D6	Results
2 or 12	Metis (“may-Tee”) – half-Native / half European (likely French)
3-9	English North American
10-11	French Canadien
If the player prefers, they may select their ethnicity/background.

Universal Personality Profile (UPP): Because different character types begin their careers at ages younger than 18 (the default starting age in Traveller character generation), the UPP is generated per the table below:   

Ethnicity	Metis	English America	French Canadien
STR	1D6	2D6	2D6-2
DEX	1D6	2D6	2D6
END	1D6	2D6	2D6-2
INT	2D6-2	2D6	2D6-1
EDU	2D6-2	2D6+1	2D6-1
SOC	2D6-4	2D6	2D6
Note:	Begin career at age 8	Begin career at age 16	Begin careers at age 12
Note – any die roll modified to less than 2 becomes a 2.

Maturing: Through age 20, a character’s UPP can improve to reflect their growing-up. Per the table below, at the end of each term of service, increase the character’s characteristics accordingly:

Ethnicity		Metis	English American	French Canadien
Age at start of term	8	+2 STR, DEX ,END; +1 INT	n/a	n/a
	12	+2 STR, DEX, END; +1 INT, EDU	n/a	+2 STR, DEX, END; +1 INT, EDU
	16	+1 all except SOC	+2 STR, DEX, END; +1 INT, EDU	+1 all except SOC
	20	+1 STR, DEX, END, INT	+1 all except SOC	+1 all except SOC

Terms of Service: Each term of service is 4 years long; Metis begin at age 8, French at age 12, English at age 16. All characters earn Hunting-1 and Survival-1 prior to beginning their career.   

In the unlikely event a character fails to enlist as a Trapper, assume they became a captive servant of another ethnicity (capturing children and raising them as their own was common during this period of perilously high child mortality). Adjudicate their four-year term of servitude with Maturing UPP improvements, award them Jack of All Trades-1, and then AUTO enlist them as Trappers during the next term.   

Trapper Career Progression
Enlistment	4+
DM +1 if	STR 8+
DM +2 if	DEX 8+
Survival	7+
DM +2 if	INT 8+
Position	7+
DM +1 each if	STR, INT and/or SOC 8+
Promotion	8+
DM +1 if	SOC 8+
Re-Enlistment	6+

Trappers who fail a Survival roll should deduct 2 points from any characteristic other than EDU, or from a combination thereof, to reflect their injury. Failing the survival roll does not mean the character must end their career: they can choose to attempt to re-enlist, or to end this career and try to start another or retire to begin a new life as a Traveller. When rolling for re-enlistment, a result of 12 means the character cannot end their career and must continue their career for another term.

Table of Ranks:

Rank	Name	Skill Awarded	Benefit
1	Apprentice	Recon-1	Archaic Weapon
2	Runner	Liaison-1	Matchlock Rifle
3	Trader	Trader-1	Native Wife
4	Scout	Survey-1	Flintlock Rifle
5	Guide	Riding-1	Horse
6	Voyageur	Leader-1	Canoe

Skills: Upon enlistment, the character achieves Rank-0, and the following skills are automatically earned:

• Navigation-1
• Small Watercraft-1

Trappers earn skills during each term of service. Roll 1D6 twice against the tables below to acquire skills related to the character’s career.

Die Roll	Personal Development	Professional Skills	Professional Education	Advanced Education (if EDU 8+)
1	STR +1	Carousing	Instruction	Recruiting
2	DEX +1	Riding	Tactics	Broker
3	END +1	Blade Combat	Trader	Mechanical
4	Artisan	Archaic Combat	Mathematics	Medical
5	EDU +1	Brawling	Recon	Administration
6	Swimming	Gun Combat	Leader	Navigation
7	SOC +1	Large Watercraft	Medical	Leader
DM +1 if	INT 9+	INT 8+	EDU 7+	INT 7+

Archaic Combat, Blade Combat, and Gun Combat are cascade skills and characters must select a specific weapon. Refer to the following table to determine which weapon is appropriate for each character career:

1d6 Roll	Archaic	Blade	Gun
1	Dart Slinger	Spear	Harquebus
2	Stone Axe	Javelin	Matchlock Musket
3	Bolo	Dagger	Flintlock Musket
4	War Club	Axe	Matchlock Pistol
5	Sling	Blade	Flintlock pistol
6	Bow	Bayonet	Flintlock Rifle

Weapon Descriptions

Blade: Essentially a short-bladed cutlass. This is a specific type of sword, not a generic bladed weapon.

Harquebus: A crude firearm, ignited by hand using a glowing match (rope)

Matchlock Musket: A heavy, smoothbore longarm ignited by a match in trigger-operated clamp.

Flintlock Musket: A smoothbore longarm ignited by an improved sparking mechanism more suitable for shipboard use.

Matchlock Pistol: A heavy, smoothbore sidearm ignited by a match in trigger-operated clamp.

Flintlock pistol: A smoothbore small arm suitable for self-defense or dueling

Flintlock Rifle: Similar to a flintlock musket but with a rifled (spiral grooved) barrel interior for increased accuracy at longer ranges.

	To Hit / Damage:
Weapon	Close	Short	Medium	Long	Very Long	Notes
Axe	6+ / 3d6	8+ / 2d6+3	10+ / 2d6	-	-	Can be thrown Medium Range
Bayonet	8+ / 2d6+3	6+ / 3d6	-	-	-	When attached to Musket/Rifle
Blade	8+ / 2d6	6+ / 2d6	-	-	-	Detached Bayonet is a Blade
Bolo	10+ / 1d6	8+ / 1d6+3	6+ / 2d6	10+ / 1d6+3	-	Thrown weapon
Bow	10+ / 1d6	8+ / 1d6+3	6+ / 2d6	9+ / 1d6+3	11+ / 1d6	1 arrow per turn
Dagger	6+ / 2d6	8+ / 2d6	10+ / 1d6-3	12+ / 1d6	-	Can be thrown Medium / Long
Dart Slinger	-	10+ / 1d6	8+ / 1d6+3	6+ / 2d6	9+ / 1d6+3	1 dart throw per turn
Flintlock Musket	9+ / 3d6	8+ / 3d6	7+ / 3d6	8+ / 2d6+3	9+ / 2d6	1 shot per turn, includes reloading
Flintlock Pistol	9+ / 3d6	8+ / 3d6	7+ / 3d6	-	-	1 shot per turn, includes reloading
Flintlock Rifle	8+ / 3d6	7+ / 3d6	6+ / 3d6	7+ / 2d6+3	8+ / 2d6	1 shot per turn, includes reloading
Harquebus	10+ / 3d6	9+ / 3d6	8+ / 3d6	-	-	1 shot per turn, 1 turn to reload
Javelin	9+ / 2d6	7+ / 2d6+3	8+ / 2d6+3	8+ / 2d6	9+ / 2d6-3	At Close, treat at Polearm
Matchlock Musket	9+ / 3d6	8+ / 3d6	7+ / 3d6	8+ / 2d6+3	9+ / 2d6	1 shot per turn, 1 turn to reload
Matchlock Pistol	9+ / 3d6	8+ / 3d6	7+ / 3d6	-	-	1 shot per turn, 1 turn to reload
Sling	10+ / 1d6	8+ / 1d6+3	6+ / 2d6	8+ / 1d6+3	10+ / 1d6	1 shot per turn, includes reloading
Spear	10+ / 2d6	9+ / 2d6+3	8+ / 2d6	7+ / 2d6	8+ / 2d6-3	At Close, treat at Polearm
Stone Axe	8+ / 2d6+3	6+ / 3d6-3	10+ / 2d6	-	-	Can be thrown Medium Range
War Club	6+ / 2d6	8+ / 2d6	10+ / 2d6	-	-	Can be thrown Medium Range

Trappers can choose to end their career rather than re-enlist at the end of their 2nd successful term (consistent with the concept of apprenticing). They may then attempt to Enlist in another career. If successful, they can choose to end their new career rather than re-enlist at the end of any successful term. They may not embark upon a 3rd career.

Mustering Out: There are no Mustering Out Benefits for Trappers.

 

‌