Campaign Idea

[spidersrepublic]

Session 1: PCs are chilling in a medium-sized class C space station.
Suddenly a huge explosion and the emergency bulkheads seal.
PCs find themselves cut off from the main core of the station, in one of the living/recreation arms. They have the option of heading into the Cargo section, or trying to find a way through the ducts back into the core. Finding and opening the ducts will be tricky for first time Travellers.
In the Cargo area, pirates have released 2 Human-Replicant Robots, and are using them as a distraction to siphon a shit ton of Creds from a docked Imperial ship.
The PCs come across an injured guard who splutters something then dies in the airlock, then enter the cargo area.
They hear firing and yells from one side, so assumedly check it out. They find two men in the hallway. one man is cradling the head of the other, but then tears it off and advances on the PCs without saying a word, hands raised menacingly - He's a replicant!
As soon as the PCs are getting ready for initiative, an explosion rocks the cargo bay, and another replicant walks out of a smoking hole in the wall.
The second replicant has a Grenade launcher, but most of its head is missing, including the optical sensors. Its code reader is still functional, and the first replicant will attempt to communicate the PCs position via Light flashing binary code.
So the PCs fight them and hopefully win.
I will roll scatter for the blinded replicant with the grenade launcher, so it doesn't hit well, unless guided by the unarmed replicant.

The pirates will appear after the PCs finish off the robots. They will catch a glimpse of a 40 something gnarled old pirate, who fires a laser rifle at them, then disappears on his ship with his Vargr boarding party.

The pirates will also set a plasma fire before they leave, forcing the PCs out of the cargo bay (unless they somehow know how to fight and put out a plasma fire)
The PCs can head back through the ducts, or get creative and jump out an airlock to another part of the station. There are plenty of Vacc suits around.


So: How does this sound for a first session for newbie traveller players? They are all seasoned D&D roleplayers, but sci fi will be new for all of us.

 

[Egil Skallagrimsson]

Sounds fine, good way to get the players familiar with the game system. More of a one off adventure rather than a campaign, but after the dust has settled the authorities might approach the players and offer them a reward to track down the pirates?

For added fun, ensure that the PCs don't have any weapons, these have been booked into the station armoury when they arrived, so they will have to deal with grenade launcher equipped replicants with whatever they can pick up in hurry.

Egil

 

[spidersrepublic]

Oh yeah i Should have included my overarching plan:

These things are gonna happen, no matter where the PCs go. They'll jump around a bit, thinking they're free, and then I'll drop an even from the mega-plan

-Fire at the Space Station/Replicants

-Distress call - 3 deck Luxury Yacht. mostly vented. Blood and refuse everywhere. 1 survivor.
Survivor says he was going to meet a friend planetside... PCs inform him he wasn't in orbit around anything. THE ENTIRE PLANET IS GONE!

-Survivor suggests a nearby research outpost, PCs head there to confirm planet destroyed, and the use of some powerful new weapon.... Someone is trying to kill the professor the PCs are working with

-PCs are sent to investigate an underwater mine on distant planet. Rumors of exotic material needed to test theories about the uber-weapon

-Massive Underwater mine complex. deep sea stuff/oil rig/many layers... Manned by Aslani. Heavy Aslan Security, and PCs will have to get creative to get in and out with the 'Bosonite'

-PCs are leaving underwater mine when PIRATES! - its the same one from the Station. (is that too cheesy?)

-PCs hopefully escape pirates and head back to the research outpost. Professor accompanies them (if he's still alive) to a larger Research station, with high tech equipment, and begins an experiment. PCs have some time to chill, but before long, the experiment explodes!
PCs escape with the blueprints to the weapon.

-Zhodani Navy Shows up. They're invading the imperium. Its that time of century
PCs hoplessly outgunned in a massive melee of imperial and zhodani ships.
Imperium is hopelessly outnumbered. and losing badly

-Dyson-sphere sized entity appears, and starts teleporting in alien ships from the other side of the universe. Alien ships attack all.
Zhodani and imperium retreat

-PCs have had their engines disabled by this time, and they are alone with the mega entity.

-Mega entity destroys the PCs blueprints for the uber-weapon... (they can't have it!)
Then mega entity disappears back to wherever it came

-PCs are left to scavenge the graveyard of ships, inlcuding Zhodani, Imperial, and alien ships

-IF They find a cute little pet on one of the alien ships;
-Pet eats the PCs passengers then goes into a chrysalis and metamorphoses into some kind of mute stealth trouble maker.


If the campaign's still going by this point, I'll think up some more stuff, or just let the PCs do their own thing for a while.

 

[AndrewW]

-Survivor suggests a nearby research outpost, PCs head there to confirm planet destroyed, and the use of some powerful new weapon.... Someone is trying to kill the professor the PCs are working with

But:

The entire starfleet couldn't destroy the whole planet. It'd take a thousand ships with more fire power than I've...

 

[CosmicGamer]

I'm more of a sandbox guy with just a general outline and I "wing it" often incorporating the players ideas. But if you need more structure, here are my thoughts.

or trying to find a way through the ducts back into the core

If an area is designed to seal in case of fire, vacuum, dangerous airborne gasses, or whatever, I'd think that it would be designed to cut off all the ducts and other maintenance type accesses to the area too.

PCs find themselves cut off from the main core of the station, in one of the living/recreation arms. They have the option of heading into the Cargo section, or trying to find a way through the ducts back into the core.

My first thought was why isn't staying put an option? Bulkheads generally seal for safety and barring some input to the contrary, where they are may very well be the best place to be while properly trained station personnel handle whatever situation caused the explosion.

I did not find in your details an overwhelming need for the players to choose the option you seam to want them to take - fighting the bots and pirates.

What is everyone else in the area doing? Staying calm waiting for instruction? Trying to flee? What way?

Players have a tendency to come up with their own ideas and if it is plausible can feel railroaded if the GM is always blocking their path. On an orbital station or even a down port where there is no livable atmosphere, I'd think there would be some form of emergency egress, especially in the living area that is designed to be closed off in emergencies. Last thing anyone wants is a station designed to trap people to their doom. You say yourself

The PCs can head back through the ducts, or get creative and jump out an airlock to another part of the station. There are plenty of Vacc suits around.

. Why would they not take this option sooner?

Seams likely that if an area can be closed off that there would still be some access (and not through mazed maintenance access ways), even if just for the emergency personnel.

Other than the main bulkheads, emergency hatches between spaces?
Emergency hatches to the outside?
Emergency bubbles or other gear available?

Maybe there is an NPC that somehow initiates the players actions. It's how I usually redirect players. It's a role playing game. Start working that element in and determine what motivates the players characters (money, power, hero type, coward, help the child, fall for any pretty girl that bats her eyes). This will be helpful as you continue adventuring. You can often use an NPC to help keep the players moving in the direction of a pre planned plot.

An engineer saying they are needed somewhere and need help getting some debris moved from an access.

A child crying "where's my mommy".

A wealthy looking man panicking "someone get me out of here!".

Someone with some official capacity actually trying to organize and direct people "You two go down that corridor and see if access panel A27 is blocked."

A criminal plotting with the player "Everyone's preoccupied, lets go check out what's in the cargo area."

So the PCs fight them and hopefully win.

Again, an area I use NPC's. "Reinforcements" can come for either side of the combat to help even it out if things seam lopsided. The law or other emergency responders arrive, other NPC adventurous types come to the aid of one side or another, an criminal organization takes interest in what is going on... but the longer you let combat go on, the more likely something will happen to one of the players characters. See my next comment

So: How does this sound for a first session for newbie traveller players? They are all seasoned D&D roleplayers, but sci fi will be new for all of us.

For folks with a D&D background, it might seam to be a good idea to have a combat oriented starting adventure. In the D&D games I've played, they have been more about the combat, almost a tabletop fantasy war game, more than a role playing game.

What is your intentions as a group, what direction are you leaning? Looking for a futuristic, sci fi, combat game? Looking to have a futuristic, sci fi, role playing adventure?

For the combat game:
A problem I see is that Traveller combat rules are designed realistically and not with Hollywood like heroism built into the game mechanics. They can be quite deadly. This can put off new players if their characters are dying. If you think this is something that might turn off your players, have some emergency response in case players need medical or other rescue.

Something both GMs and players sometimes forget - when the odds are against you, you can try to flee or surrender and survive.

For the role playing game:
Dive right in. Show them what it's all about. Players role playing their characters in adventurous situations. Find out sooner rather than later if this is what the players would like. For a quick example, the group is hired by a corporation to guard their facilities from locals who have been destroying equipment and causing all kinds of trouble.

NPC situations like I described earlier arise.
Local bribing players characters for access.
Business competitors want characters to steal information.
While off duty, a character gets involved with a pretty young local and she ends up being one of those against the company.
During a peaceful demonstration blocking the entrance you are told to disburse them. Other non player characters also doing security start getting overly violent in their methods. Do player characters ignore, join in, or try to deter such?
If the players toe the company line, things can lead to the company instructing them to wipe out a village that is not willing to relocate. Can the characters do this?

My Advice
I'd say that the biggest danger in the beginning would be to isolate the players. In a "your the only ones around and need to survive" type scenario it is too easy for the players and GM to get someone killed or into a situation they could really use help getting out of.

 

[Wil Mireu]

-Dyson-sphere sized entity appears, and starts teleporting in alien ships from the other side of the universe. Alien ships attack all.
Zhodani and imperium retreat

-PCs have had their engines disabled by this time, and they are alone with the mega entity.

-Mega entity destroys the PCs blueprints for the uber-weapon... (they can't have it!)
Then mega entity disappears back to wherever it came

I'm pretty sure this won't go down well with most groups.
First, it's an obvious Deus Ex Machina. Second, it's totally random. Third, it's made everything the PC have fought for completely worthless since Random Godlike Aliens just destroyed their weapon plans.

 

[Infojunky]

The pirates will also set a plasma fire before they leave, forcing the PCs out of the cargo bay (unless they somehow know how to fight and put out a plasma fire)
The PCs can head back through the ducts, or get creative and jump out an airlock to another part of the station. There are plenty of Vacc suits around.

A little science, Plasma Fire is kinda redundant, unless you are burning a plasma, Fire is often considered a Plasma. So In your case it really reads like you have a Fire Fire.... Now Plasma discharges can be very energetic and as such set alight many things that are combustible (go look up Class D fires). Any fire in a Station/ship/Sealed Habitat is very dangerous as you are in the oven with the fire so to speak.

So: How does this sound for a first session for newbie traveller players? They are all seasoned D&D roleplayers, but sci fi will be new for all of us.

Sounds fun, go for it....

 

[spidersrepublic]

hey thanks for the replies guys! this is why i like to bounce ideas around.

1 Zhodani Navy and Mega Entity are out. Too crazy/large scale

2 I'm thinking about the Traveller universe as defined by CT books 1-3.

So no starship exceeds 5000 tons, and the Imperium is a loosely-held-together force. not some mega civilization.

This would make the ships the PCs use more relevant to other ships they'll encounter, and will allow for more scum-of-the-universe smuggling and pirate activities.

I want a dirty, gritty traveller universe, kinda like Mos Eisley on Tatooine...

also thanks for the info on plasma fires. from my experience with ss13, the plasma ignites flammable things in the vicinity, but isn't actually a fire itself.

So lets just say its a normal fire, and the PCs have access to some environmental controls; would dumping N2 gas into the fire put it out?