CaptKraken
Mongoose
Long-time RPGer. Relatively new Traveller player. New Forum Poster.
Read all of the past 16 pages of posts, and I’m glad I already enjoy the game. If I’d found this first, I would have backed out slowly.
IMO, the comments around visibility are key. Getting the game out in front of new people is critical, but it also matters WHO is an ambassador to the game. A look at some of the comments here reinforces that point. Let me share my Traveller experience.
Around 15 years ago, I attended a con and signed up for a “Learn to play Traveller” event. The person running this event is moderately well-known in the Traveller community, which seems worth noting. I sit down for the game, and I’m handed a character sheet. The premade character is an engineer. Cool, I can certainly run with that. I’ll fix stuff and rig up some tech. The game starts with our ship already on the planet. The crew sets out. But “wait,” says the referee. The engineer stays with the ship. Ok, there must be a reason for this, so I stay with the ship.
An hour goes by, and I do nothing. During the second hour, I get to support a sensor roll or something. This whole time, I’m thinking, surely there must be a plot reason for this, and I’m going to get to do something at the end of the mission. Hour three is rolling along. The rest of the crew makes a roll for something, I don’t remember what. They succeed. “Congratulations!” the referee says, “You’ve completed the mission.” After the game, the ref said to me, “Sorry, there wasn’t much for you to do.” WTF, you set up this game as a teaching opportunity and told me to stay on the ship. Not only did I not want to play Traveller, but I also told other gamer friends not to play it either. Last I checkied this person is still running games...
Running a game poorly in a teaching environment drove me away from the game for over 10 years. What changed? YouTube, particularly Seth Skorkowsky and Glass Cannon. I watched Seth for Call of Cthulhu content, and because of him, I gave Traveller another shot. Both he and Glass Cannon made the game actually seem fun. Some people may not like it, but a lot of players are finding new games through actual plays that are fun to watch. That might mean the game runs a little too narrative or improv-driven for some; however, it does get people watching the content. Critical Role, Glass Cannon, and others don’t just get views because they are voice actors, but because they understand pacing and how to hook an audience. Hook your players and make it interesting. A fair amount of Traveller content available online doesn’t do that. (Now that I know the game, I do watch that content, but it isn’t what brought in a new player.)
Now I’ve just finished running a ~2.5-year campaign with 10 players. Episodic and drop-in/drop-out in nature. These are all new players ranging in age from 13 to 50. I made many mistakes, but they had a good time. We plan to play Cluster Trucker next. New players unlocked.
Now I still want to play as a PC, and I’ve tried a few online games, both paid and unpaid. My experience there has been average to subpar, much like the experience that drove me away from the game in the first place. The games just weren't FUN or ENGAGING. To draw in more players, the games available have to be more interesting than the other game that’s right around the corner.
All of that to say, too much of the previous conversation focuses on player and setting concerns rather than on how to RUN a better game of Traveller.
A game with a more appealing presentation will be more popular. The last couple of releases achieve that. Look at Cluster Trucker. Just from the cover, I know what this is going to be about, the tone of that game, and what to expect. Things are heading in a good direction.
What the game needs are tools that make it easier for referees to run and for players to understand. More how-to-play videos that are well-produced. VTT tools that work smoothly and don’t require me to buy every book I already own again. Maps that are both labelled for the GM and unlabelled for the players. FREE online character creation tools, system generators, trade generators, easy ship construction tools, and really anything that streamlines the game and makes it visually appealing to look at. Even better, house them in one place instead of scattered across the internet. Lots of games with smaller player bases and less history have those tools. Star Trek Adventures, for example, has beautiful resources, but there are others without IPs attached.
I’m kind of shocked MOTHERSHIP hasn’t been mentioned yet. The Mothership Warden’s Operation Manual is an exceptional book for any GM with a clean articulation of how to run games, especially space games. While I’m at it all also add that I’d love to see mission/adventure generation tables for popular sectors for when you need something on the fly. That could be a separate book or included in future releases. Look at what popular hex-crawl fantasy settings like Dolmenwood are doing right now.
Make Traveller easier to run. Provide better guidance for referees on hosting fun, appealing games, so players will want to play them.
Read all of the past 16 pages of posts, and I’m glad I already enjoy the game. If I’d found this first, I would have backed out slowly.
IMO, the comments around visibility are key. Getting the game out in front of new people is critical, but it also matters WHO is an ambassador to the game. A look at some of the comments here reinforces that point. Let me share my Traveller experience.
Around 15 years ago, I attended a con and signed up for a “Learn to play Traveller” event. The person running this event is moderately well-known in the Traveller community, which seems worth noting. I sit down for the game, and I’m handed a character sheet. The premade character is an engineer. Cool, I can certainly run with that. I’ll fix stuff and rig up some tech. The game starts with our ship already on the planet. The crew sets out. But “wait,” says the referee. The engineer stays with the ship. Ok, there must be a reason for this, so I stay with the ship.
An hour goes by, and I do nothing. During the second hour, I get to support a sensor roll or something. This whole time, I’m thinking, surely there must be a plot reason for this, and I’m going to get to do something at the end of the mission. Hour three is rolling along. The rest of the crew makes a roll for something, I don’t remember what. They succeed. “Congratulations!” the referee says, “You’ve completed the mission.” After the game, the ref said to me, “Sorry, there wasn’t much for you to do.” WTF, you set up this game as a teaching opportunity and told me to stay on the ship. Not only did I not want to play Traveller, but I also told other gamer friends not to play it either. Last I checkied this person is still running games...
Running a game poorly in a teaching environment drove me away from the game for over 10 years. What changed? YouTube, particularly Seth Skorkowsky and Glass Cannon. I watched Seth for Call of Cthulhu content, and because of him, I gave Traveller another shot. Both he and Glass Cannon made the game actually seem fun. Some people may not like it, but a lot of players are finding new games through actual plays that are fun to watch. That might mean the game runs a little too narrative or improv-driven for some; however, it does get people watching the content. Critical Role, Glass Cannon, and others don’t just get views because they are voice actors, but because they understand pacing and how to hook an audience. Hook your players and make it interesting. A fair amount of Traveller content available online doesn’t do that. (Now that I know the game, I do watch that content, but it isn’t what brought in a new player.)
Now I’ve just finished running a ~2.5-year campaign with 10 players. Episodic and drop-in/drop-out in nature. These are all new players ranging in age from 13 to 50. I made many mistakes, but they had a good time. We plan to play Cluster Trucker next. New players unlocked.
Now I still want to play as a PC, and I’ve tried a few online games, both paid and unpaid. My experience there has been average to subpar, much like the experience that drove me away from the game in the first place. The games just weren't FUN or ENGAGING. To draw in more players, the games available have to be more interesting than the other game that’s right around the corner.
All of that to say, too much of the previous conversation focuses on player and setting concerns rather than on how to RUN a better game of Traveller.
A game with a more appealing presentation will be more popular. The last couple of releases achieve that. Look at Cluster Trucker. Just from the cover, I know what this is going to be about, the tone of that game, and what to expect. Things are heading in a good direction.
What the game needs are tools that make it easier for referees to run and for players to understand. More how-to-play videos that are well-produced. VTT tools that work smoothly and don’t require me to buy every book I already own again. Maps that are both labelled for the GM and unlabelled for the players. FREE online character creation tools, system generators, trade generators, easy ship construction tools, and really anything that streamlines the game and makes it visually appealing to look at. Even better, house them in one place instead of scattered across the internet. Lots of games with smaller player bases and less history have those tools. Star Trek Adventures, for example, has beautiful resources, but there are others without IPs attached.
I’m kind of shocked MOTHERSHIP hasn’t been mentioned yet. The Mothership Warden’s Operation Manual is an exceptional book for any GM with a clean articulation of how to run games, especially space games. While I’m at it all also add that I’d love to see mission/adventure generation tables for popular sectors for when you need something on the fly. That could be a separate book or included in future releases. Look at what popular hex-crawl fantasy settings like Dolmenwood are doing right now.
Make Traveller easier to run. Provide better guidance for referees on hosting fun, appealing games, so players will want to play them.
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