"I'll Give You What You Want, IF You Do This For Me ..."

[tytalan]

I don't like referees who control the Travellers. It's not their power fantasy. It's the players'.
As a player myself, I play Traveller to experience what it's like to be free. And I think there should be an understanding that there are many other players who live for that vicarious experience to wander where they will without the chains of debt, slavery, or obligation to hold them back.
After all, what is the name of this game?

I actually hate this attitude it basically says that the GM is there only to fulfill the desires of the players and is not a player themselves. The game should be nobody “Power Fantasy” it’s a story created by the interaction between the PC and the GM each has their role and neither is more importance than the other. As for free you obviously don’t understand reality it doesn’t exist.

Traveller while being sci-fi has always tried to keep some parts grounded in reality. Guns can kill in a single hit, people die, and there’s no free lunch. So think of this where did you get the ship (hint there’s a Debt or Obligation connected to it because nobody giving you a free ship). Fuel and food cost money (what do you know more debt or obligation).

Yes the name of the game is Traveller and guess what all travel has its costs always has and always will.

 

[ottarrus]

Why are we all back to this?
The conversation was over 7 months ago.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Referee guidelines all the way back in 77 - from LBB:1

Traveller may be played in any of three basic configurations: solitaire, scenario, or campaign. Any configuration may be unsupervised (that is, played without a referee; the players themselves administer the rules and manipulate the situation). Recommended instead is the refereed game (wherein a separate player administers the rules and secretly creates and manipulates situations).
The use of a separate, independent referee allows a large degree of flexibility and continuity often not possible of the players themselves control the game. In addition, the referee inserts some measure of uncertainty in the minds of the players as they travel through the universe.
Anyone can play, but generally an experienced person should assume the post of referee. The referee must make some preparations before he assembles the characters and begins actual play.
The referee should generate the basic facts of his universe before play begins. If no referee is used, the universe may un-fold randomly using the world generation tables in Book 3.
As the campaign unfolds, the players may range far and wide through the un-iverse, perhaps beyond the referee's original boundaries. In such cases, the campaign may be temporarily halted as the referee expands his data (or, the referee may be forced to work through the night getting ready for the next day's adventures).

THE REFEREE
Crucial to the continuing campaign is the referee; he actually creates a universe, and then catalogs the creatures and societies which populate it.
In order to begin, the referee creates a star map and generates the specifics of the worlds noted on it (Book 3 gives details for this procedure). Initially, however, only clues (sometimes misleading or false) as to the nature of the universe will be available to the players.
The referee may also indicate possible quests for the characters, using rumor, barroom conversation, or so-called general knowledge. For example, rumor may indicate the sources of potential wealth or power; subtle or not-so-subtle clues might exist which could lead to devices or techniques to save the world from cataclysm. The possibilities are endless.
In any case, the referee can make or break a campaign, as it is his imagination which the other players use as a springboard to adventure.
The referee is responsible for maintaining the master maps and charts of the universe, and for determining the various effects of natural forces, chance, and non-player characters on the adventures. He must settle disputes concerning the rules (and may use his own imagination in doing so, rather than strictly adhering to the letter of the rules). He also acts as go-between when characters secretly or solitarily act against the world or their comrades.
Skills and the Referee: It is impossible for any table of information to cover all aspects of every potential situation, and the above listing is by no means complete in its coverage of the effects of skills. This is where the referee becomes an impor-tant part of the game process. The above listing of skills and game effects must necessarily be taken as a guide, and followed, altered, or ignored as the actual situation dictates.
In some game situations, actual die roll results must be concealed from the players, at times allowing them to misconstrue the reasons for their success or failure. In other situations, the referee may feel it necessary to create his own throws and DMs to govern action, and may or may not make such information generally available to the players.
In order to be consistent (and a consistent universe makes the game both fun and interesting), the referee has a responsibility to record the throws and DMs he creates, and to note (perhaps by penciling in) any throws he alters from those given in these books.
The actual circumstances of each encounter are governed by the referee, in accordance with the encounter provisions of Book 3.
A non player character party will attempt to escape at the option of the referee, based on the situation.
Referees may feel free to create other weapons to suit the needs and desires of Traveller society.

 

[Sigtrygg]

And now LBB:3

The referee has the responsibility for mapping the universe before actual game
play begins.
The referee may elect to alter the normal chances of worlds, making them more
frequent or less frequent to correspond to specific regions of the galaxy
the referee is also free to create his own starports tables, perhaps as many as one
for each subsector.
reserving letters for use by the referee to describe extraordinary situations
Each world should be allocated at least one (and preferably several) pages in a central notebook maintained
by the referee. As characteristics are generated, they should be recorded along with the name of the world and its location (generally its subsector and hex number). In addition, the referee should generate other information which may be pertinent; this may include details of other planets in the star system, radiation characteristics of the star, the types of terrain present on
the planetary surface, unique encounter tables (as prescribed by the section on animal encounters), data on
flora and fauna, industrial or agricultural capacity, data on social structure and government, or possibly actual maps of the planetary surface.
At times, the referee (or the players) will find combinations of features which may seem contradictory or unreasonable. Common sense should rule in such cases; either the players or referee will generate a rationale which explains the situation, or an alternative description should be made.
Finally, the referee should always feel free to impose worlds which have been deliberately (rather than randomly) generated. Often such planets will be devised specifically to reward or torment players.
COMMENTS ON BASIC PLANETARY CHARACTERISTICS
Some comments and several exceptions, are possible to the basic characteristics
indicated above. Their use and implementation are up to the presiding referee.
Alternate World Forms: Several alternatives to the traditional spherical world
form are possible. Most occur when a civilization wishes to trap and use energy from
its central star, and needs great land surface to do so. In addition, population pressure
(especially on a civilization unable to develop interstellar travel on a large scale)
may be a contributing factor. Alternate world forms are not included in the world
creation sequence, but may be provided on a sparing basis by the referee. They are
ideal for large population worlds, but may also be populated by smaller numbers, as
in degenerate or decimated worlds.
The technological level tables have several spaces or holes, and such gaps
should be filled in by the referee or the players when they discover items or devices
of interest.
The referee is always free to impose encounters to further the cause of the
adventure being played; in many cases, he actually has a responsibility to do so.
The referee should always be prepared to alter or restrain prescribed procedures
if it is felt that they contravene logic or reason.
modifications to this frequency may be instituted to cover greater or smaller
probabilities based on planetary or local conditions.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Finally the 81 revised

A Final Word
Traveller is necessarily a framework describing the barest of essentials for an
infinite universe; obviously rules which could cover every aspect of every possible
action would be far larger than these three booklets. A group involved in playing a
scenario or campaign can make their adventures more elaborate, more detailed,
more interesting, with the input of a great deal of imagination.
The greatest burden, of course, falls on the referee, who must create entire
worlds and societies through which the players will roam. One very interesting
source of assistance for this task is the existing science-fiction literature. Virtually
anything mentioned in a story or article can be transferred to the Traveller environment.
Orbital cities, nuclear war, alien societies, puzzles, enigmas, absolutely
anything can occur, with imagination being the only limit.
The players themselves have a burden almost equal to that of the referee: they
must move, act, travel in search of their own goals. The typical methods used in life
by 20th century Terrans (thrift, dedication, and hard work) do not work in
Traveller; instead, travellers must boldly plan and execute daring schemes for the
acquisition of wealth and power. As for the referee, modern science-fiction tradition
provides many ideas and concepts to be imitated.
Above all, the players and the referees must work together. Care must be taken
that the referee does not simply lay fortunes in the path of the players, but the
situation is not primarily an adversary relationship. The referee simply administers
the rules in situations where the players themselves have an incomplete understanding
of the universe. The results should reflect a consistent reality.
Welcome to the universe of Traveller

 

[Garran]

Thanks for the explanation. My only real exposure to the UK's legal system is getting the news from Canada.

That'll only give you an impression of the Canadian system.

Like a lot of things Canadian, the legal system here will usually look a bit like the British one (if you're watching from the US), or the US one (if you're watching from Britain), but it is its own beast and is a very misleading way to learn about either of the others.