IanBruntlett said:
I've run AD&D2e exploration scenarios but they tended to be combat heavy. I'd like some ideas re: running Traveller exploration scenarios.
It is basically the same, you only have to replace "monsters" with native
wildlife and environmental dangers. :wink:
Take a look at what exploration and survival skills the characters have,
then at the kind of environment or terrain they will have to survive in,
and think about what could plausibly happen and go wrong under these
circumstances, and how the characters' skills might save them.
It is not necessary to come up with implausible events, "realistic" dan-
gers are more than sufficient - if necessary, do a little research on the
Internet to see what a specific environment's dangers are.
For example, if a character has a well developed Navigation skill, a mi-
nor sandstorm in a desert environment or a "white out" in an arctic en-
vironment would give that character an opportunity to shine (or get the
party killed).
As for animals, let them behave like real ones, not like fantasy monsters.
For example, predators do not have to fight to the death, they normally
retreat when they feel in serious danger - unless they have something
really important to defend, like their young ones.
So, give animals a reason to do what they do, and the characters a chan-
ce to find out about those reasons and act accordingly, using their skills.
Take care to use the many minor dangers of an environment, too, not
only the big problems. Things like thorny plants or swarms of moskitos
add colour to the adventure and make it feel more real.
Finally, use all the characters' senses for your descriptions. Strange noi-
ses, the smell of flowers or a rotting carcass, the vibrations of the floor
when a stampeding herd of whatever runs by, the rainbow on the horizon
also help the players to imagine and "feel" the adventure.
Just some thoughts ...
