Flatlined/Death Station

[Robin Low]

Having managed to get a small group of people together (3), I'm planning to run some Traveller for them. I've decided to followed Seth Skorkowsky's suggestion and have the scenario Flatlined run into Death Station (likely with some interlude stuff at Neon's spaceport/township. I'm also planning on encouraging the PCs to see about repairing and stealing the laboratory ship Calendula. The scenarios offer some additional plot threads, which I'll leave for the players to consider. Depending on what happens during play, I hope to have one or two scenario NPCs join the party.

I'm planning on using the Background/Career rules from the Traveller Companion for character creation, as I think they would work better for the initial premise of Flatlined.

Just wondering if anyone here has any experience of doing the same or is just familiar enough with the scenarios to offer some advice or ideas, especially for someone fairly new to the game and setting.

Regards,
Robin

 

[Arkathan]

Zozer Games has several free scenarios on DTRPG. One of them is Hostile Situation Report #004 Psychosis. I ran that (modified) after the characters evacuated to the main mining site after Flatlined. If you have seen the movie "The Ruins" this is that, sort of.
One of the things I added to Flatlined, was several personal items floating in the water near the bunk area. I put a roughly hand-sized bug with a long tail and folded legs drifting upside down in the hallway. The girl NPC saw it and shouted, "Oh Cool!" and ran over and picked it up. The legs opened up when she picked it up. Then she put her face up to it. The tail wrapped around her throat and the legs grabbed her head tightly.

The characters had already found the gun by then, and they nearly shot her.

It was a cosplay respirator.
When they arrived at the main mining site, between adventures, She was able to remember enough about her identity to access the banking system. She was taken to the Bwap's office alone and arranged for a ride on the pinance that was at the mining site doing a supply run. The others started doing security patrols and odd jobs to pay for their keep, including helping to solve Psychosis above.
Next game, the players found her hanging in the freezer on the station...

 

[ottarrus]

When you're new to the setting it's really easy to get overwhelmed by the lore of the OTU.
Here's a couple things to help out with that:
1. Don't worry about 'canon-compliance'. No setting has ever survived contact with player characters anyway. Your Traveler Universe will be different from anyone else's, and that's just fine.
2. Pick a subsector to 'sandbox' in. Just one. Players don't need the whole universe to muck about in. There's plenty of interesting stuff to be found in any 8x10 parsec zone. My particular preference is Dist. 268 in the Spinward Marches. It's mostly unclaimed/unaligned territory, with just enough Imperial influence to be interesting, and enough politics to keep things going. There's some material published for it to use or discard at your preference over several editions of the game.
3. Last thing.... giving the players a ship is all well and good, but I'd advise that you don't give them one in perfect working condition. Make them use up ship shares for repairs and make sure that they have a constant expenditure for maintenance and so on. This keeps the adventurers hungry.

 

[Robin Low]

Thank-you both for your replies.

With regard to picking just one subsector, having gained a handle on the setting, that makes a lot of sense! Assuming I stick with the location that Flatlined offers, which straddles two subsectors, I may be tempted to buy Pirates of Drinax. I have picked up quite a number of other books - I was so impressed by the core rules, I wanted to look deeper.

The scale of the setting has prompted a thought, but I'll save that for another thread.

Regards,
Robin

 

[ottarrus]

Drinax is a good campaign.
I'm not 100% in love with the Trojan Reach... there's more than a little 'Buck Rogers' in it for my tastes... but I'm an Old Geek who's been a Traveller grog since before rocks got hard so....
Your sandbox can be as large or as small as you like. The best way to size it up is to look a the player's ship and it's Jump performance. You cross reference that with a sector map. Look for world clusters that has an area of empty space around that their ship can't jump past... for example, you've set your characters adventure in a small cluster of worlds that are all Jump-1 apart. That cluster is surrounded by a empty space 2 parsecs wide. If the players had a Type A Free Trader [J-1 performance] their 'sandbox' would be those three worlds. With a standard J-2 performance Type L lab ship, all of Tobia Subsector becomes their sandbox.

 

[Arkathan]

Also, remember that ANY planet in a scenario can be relocated. System stats reference ONLY the main world. Many systems are binary, and the OTHER star may have planets. You have free license on those.
My guys are Sword Worlders tracking down human smuggling rings linked to LOKI and a faction in the Merchant Princes of Skull. So they operate in an area including the Trailing side of Sworld Worlds, Lunion, and the Rimward-Trailing corner of Lanth.
I relocated both Flatlined and Death Station to a secondary world in the La'Belle system, due to its future (in my setting present) ties to the Merchant Princes of Skull.
Don't let locations get in the way of a good story.

 

[Vormaerin]

The other side of Neon is the Islands subsectors. That's a fun little spot with only some Imperial influence and a lot of factions. If you are less into the 'low tech backwater of the week' style of the Reaches, but want less imperial overlords action, that's a good place to start.

And I wholly second Arkathan's suggestion of secondary planets for all your backwater action

 

[Giorgio3025]

When you're new to the setting it's really easy to get overwhelmed by the lore of the OTU.
Here's a couple things to help out with that:
1. Don't worry about 'canon-compliance'. No setting has ever survived contact with player characters anyway. Your Traveler Universe will be different from anyone else's, and that's just fine.
2. Pick a subsector to 'sandbox' in. Just one. Players don't need the whole universe to muck about in. There's plenty of interesting stuff to be found in any 8x10 parsec zone. My particular preference is Dist. 268 in the Spinward Marches. It's mostly unclaimed/unaligned territory, with just enough Imperial influence to be interesting, and enough politics to keep things going. There's some material published for it to use or discard at your preference over several editions of the game.
3. Last thing.... giving the players a ship is all well and good, but I'd advise that you don't give them one in perfect working condition. Make them use up ship shares for repairs and make sure that they have a constant expenditure for maintenance and so on. This keeps the adventurers hungry.

Can I copy and paste this into a "New Traveller 2E GM Guide" Word doc for future reference?

 

[ottarrus]

Can I copy and paste this into a "New Traveller 2E GM Guide" Word doc for future reference?

Not a problem. Just spell my name right

 

[JustEastOfTheEdge]

I have found using most prewritten adventures in an ongoing campaign is often more trouble than its worth. Especially for the GM. Maybe it's just our players, but they normally go down a radically different route from what the writer expects. Especially in more "morally fluid" groups, they often feel no obligation to do what is intended, and nudging it too much can make it contrived.
Some players seem to naturally "play along" knowing full well its a set up. They are ideal for GMs, but I think experienced players look beyond to almost subvert a situation using their knowledge or resources.
Sometimes the key plot can be extracted and rebuilt but its grisly open-heart surgery. Making your own tailored scenarios feels easier to me, and has chore of leaning, but using others' ideas for plot and so on is invaluable.

 

[ottarrus]

I have found using most prewritten adventures in an ongoing campaign is often more trouble than its worth. Especially for the GM. Maybe it's just our players, but they normally go down a radically different route from what the writer expects. Especially in more "morally fluid" groups, they often feel no obligation to do what is intended, and nudging it too much can make it contrived.
Some players seem to naturally "play along" knowing full well its a set up. They are ideal for GMs, but I think experienced players look beyond to almost subvert a situation using their knowledge or resources.
Sometimes the key plot can be extracted and rebuilt but its grisly open-heart surgery. Making your own tailored scenarios feels easier to me, and has chore of leaning, but using others' ideas for plot and so on is invaluable.

Well, it isn't as if any milieu or scenario survives contact with Player Character as written. Sometimes it's like herding cats.

 

[Vormaerin]

Ideally, your players aren't going to do what you expect whether you write your own adventure or adapt a written one. It would be pretty boring if you knew what they were going to do.

The purpose of pre written adventures is to provide the GM with a catalyst for ideas and an assortment of useful resources like maps, gear, NPCs, and the like. What that ends up looking like in your particular campaign is what makes this a game and not a visual novel.

 

[JustEastOfTheEdge]

Well, it isn't as if any milieu or scenario survives contact with Player Character as written. Sometimes it's like herding cats.

Yes indeed! In think some types of game tend to have the players acting more in a common cause , like D&D where they tend to be heroes, as playing evil maniacs gets boring fast in that.

Ideally, your players aren't going to do what you expect whether you write your own adventure or adapt a written one. It would be pretty boring if you knew what they were going to do.

The purpose of pre written adventures is to provide the GM with a catalyst for ideas and an assortment of useful resources like maps, gear, NPCs, and the like. What that ends up looking like in your particular campaign is what makes this a game and not a visual novel.

Exactly.

 

[Robin Low]

Getting closer to the point where I might actually get to run something - availability of the players every week is not guaranteed. As mentioned at the start of this thread, the plan is to run Flatlined and Death Station, with a view to nudging the players towards Drinax. I don't, of course, expect it to be that simple. I can imagine being stuck on Neon for a while, in which case, the location will have to become considerably more interesting...

I'll cheerfully make something up myself, but I'm wondering if any other supplements mention Stenmore Minerals Incorporated, the Florian-Aslan Trade Consortium and Transactions (FATCAT), or Lysani Laboratories?

Also, how effective are air/rafts at heavy lifting? I have a hypothetical situation where salvaging the smallhauler might become necessary. Are there specially designed versions of air/raft or grav lifters for this kind of task? I'd get the vehicles book, but I can't help feeling that's going to get an Update at some point.

Regards,
Robin

 

[Condottiere]

Usually, it's a question of rated performance against overall weight involved.

And if the equipment used is suited for that type of lifting.

 

[Vormaerin]

Your standard air/raft is just a flying Honda Civic. But there are grav forklifts and other heavy lifters in existence in the game world, though I don't know if any have been statted out anywhere.

 

[Robin Low]

So, still not managed to get the group together, for various reasons.

Meanwhile, I've been lazily prepping and a couple of things in the Flatlined scenario have awoken my inner pedant. Nothing that can't be changed or worked around, but if they're crossing my mind I expect my details-focused player is going to notice, too.

SPOILERS follow...

Exits from the the smallhauler include:

Maintenance hatch (upper deck aft): buckled in crash and unusable

Maintenance hatch (upper deck central): functional, but blocked by elevator, with insufficient power to elevator

Main airlock (upper deck central): closed and unpowered.

Maintenance hatch (upper deck forward): functional, but closed and hidden by false ceiling.

Cargo lock (lower deck): closed and unpowered.

Given that the exits are all closed, and either buckled, unpowered, or hidden, how did the surviving crew escape?


Now, I'm just going to say that the false ceiling concealing the maintenance hatch in upper deck forward has been removed, and the hatch is open - the crew got out this way. Even with this quick way out, I suspect players will still search the smallhauler for stuff, especially given they don't even have any shoes to start with! The slow but steady flow of water will provide a degree of urgency, and if they start taking too long a few sudden lurches as the vessel settles into the lake mud can chivvy them along.

I had another issue related to angle of tilt, position of hatches, and stated water-coverage of hatches and main airlock, but I think I'll just say the main influx of water are the open maintenance hatch described above and the hatch that's obscured by the lift (which is slowly filling the main hold).

I wish my brain didn't latch onto stuff like this, but it does.

Regards,
Robin

 

[Vormaerin]

Since the crew would likely have been at the bridge, you could assume that they escaped out of the forward most airlock/hatch and conscientiously closed it so their own ship would be less likely to flood? Or they went out the airlock before it was underwater?

The Airlock in particular is a good option, since it can be manually operated and the outer door won't cycle with the inner door open.

 

[Robin Low]

Since the crew would likely have been at the bridge, you could assume that they escaped out of the forward most airlock/hatch and conscientiously closed it so their own ship would be less likely to flood? ?

The bridge hatch certainly makes sense. As written, it's the main source of water, explained by the buckling.

Or they went out the airlock before it was underwater?

The Airlock in particular is a good option, since it can be manually operated and the outer door won't cycle with the inner door open.

The airlock is closed and unpowered, so my presumption was this wasn't an option for the crew, even before it was underwater.

It was my first choice for PC exit, until I reread and realised it was underwater. I hope they'll still try to open it with a mechanics roll to get the vacc suit and the cutlass I'm also going to put in there (the latter prompted by Seth Skorkowsky).

Have you run the scenario? If so, how did it play out for you?

Regards,

Robin

 

[Vormaerin]

None of my players questioned how the crew got out. They assumed that the crew got out a while earlier, before the ship was as far underwater as it was now and there was more emergency power left. They explored the ship as best they could, gathered some resources, escaped out the roof, and are now hunting their kidnappers across the Islands subsectors. I didn't really follow the script at the camp, as I was setting up stuff for my actual campaign and the bugs were just local color to the NPC interactions.

I'd have to look it up again to be certain, but my recollection is that all air locks have manual controls. Emergency escape requirements and all that. But even if the crew had to use the manual controls, they'd still have to shut it behind them to open the outer door. So the PCs wouldn't be n a different situation. The fact that it has settled and is now underwater is easily explained as a change in the situation from when the crew left.