Introducing a new player to Traveller

[caramida]

I came to a love of Traveller (and the OTU) over several years, and through reading many scores of pages of Traveller books and supplements. I need to impart some of that love on a player who's not played Traveller before. I'm not sure where to start, so I'm going to ask y'all.

In your opinion, what are a few hyperlinks that would best introduce a new player to the OTU?

Best,
~B

 

[Majestic7]

This piece from Freelancetraveller is pretty good:

http://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/advents/ttaintro/travintro.html

Perhaps together with this:

http://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/culture/reference/power.html

...and for TL's, maybe this...

http://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/culture/reference/tech.html

 

[FreeTrav]

Thanks for the references!

I think, though, that most of Freelance Traveller is oriented not at bringing the new player into Traveller and 'spreading the love', but at bringing new ideas to the player who already loves Traveller. As such, there really isn't a lot of stuff there that does impart the love. And it's the latter that caramida seems to be looking for - so, how do you bring someone into Traveller, in such a way that they'll come to love it as we do?

Why should I invest my time and creative energy into Traveller, rather than WH40K or D&D?

What are the tropes that Traveller plays to? What makes them preferable to other tropes?

How do I show the new player who is drawn by those tropes that Traveller plays to them?

 

[Paladin]

http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=37356&highlight=

 

[caramida]

http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=37356&highlight=

See, Book 0 is a wonderful piece of work, but it does little to step outside the mechanical and capture the essence of Traveller. Even the "Free Trader Beowulf" text, which is so evocative (especially they way the guys at Steve Jackson modified it) is missing. Book 0 has a use, but I think as a tool for spreading the love, it falls a little flat.

The Freelance Traveller links, especially the Intro piece, are very useful though, as a quick and dirty primer on the basics of the Third Imperium setting. Thanks.

 

[FreeTrav]

It occurs to me that it might be worthwhile to draw connections between Traveller and SF - there is quite a lot of stuff out there that inspired the creation of Traveller, provides inspiration to the Traveller player/referee, or simply plays to the same emotional (for lack of a better word) tropes that Traveller does.

On that assumption, I should post a reference to the reading list at the Traveller Wiki, http://traveller.wikia.com/wiki/More_Reading - it lists books in all three categories, and it turns out that it's quite the eclectic collection.

A not-insignificant fraction of that reading list is available in e-book form for free or cheap (cheap means US$4 to US$6 per book - and you can get certain bundles of five-to-seven books for US$15) from Baen Books, http://www.baen.com - they have the Baen Free Library at http://www.baen.com/library, the online store at http://www.webscriptions.net, and a nice fellow named Joe Buckley has, with Baen's full knowledge and acquiescence, put the full contents of all of the CDs that Baen has bound into selected hardcover editions of certain past new releases on a website at http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com. All of the Baen e-books are distributed completely without DRM. (And you can sometimes 'chat' - forums, really - with some of the authors, editors, and even the publisher, at Baen's Bar, http://bar.baen.com)

 

[Paladin]

http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=37356&highlight=

See, Book 0 is a wonderful piece of work, but it does little to step outside the mechanical and capture the essence of Traveller. Even the "Free Trader Beowulf" text, which is so evocative (especially they way the guys at Steve Jackson modified it) is missing. Book 0 has a use, but I think as a tool for spreading the love, it falls a little flat.

The Freelance Traveller links, especially the Intro piece, are very useful though, as a quick and dirty primer on the basics of the Third Imperium setting. Thanks.

I know. I just read the other thread right before this one and couldn't resist.

 

[iainjcoleman]

Just tell them it's like Firefly, but with more accounting and fewer whores.

 

[zanwot]

Wow! Now that sounds like you have a chip against Firefly...

The man meant in terms of atmosphere, of shotguns in space, trade and contraband, etc. Relax.

 

[Pyromancer]

Oh yes, great. Traveller has almost NOTHING in common with Firefly. Neither technology nor governments nor background.

A ragtag band of travellers with a shady past but a heart of gold travel the 'verse in their spaceship and try to pay the bills by hauling cargo or doing dubious jobs on backwater planets.

There is artifical gravity, you need a few days to travel from planet to planet, you fight with pistols or shotguns and only the wealthy own things like laser pistols or hovercars, the government is vast, powerful at the core but weak at the border worlds, it is bureacratic but not outright evil, oh, and there are nobles that fight duels with swords.

Sure, there are many differences, but it took me four or five episodes until I gave up hope that finally a Vargr would appear.

Firefly feels just like Traveller.

 

[iainjcoleman]

Wow! Now that sounds like you have a chip against Firefly...

The man meant in terms of atmosphere, of shotguns in space, trade and contraband, etc. Relax.

Actually I find Firefly watchabel for a modern TV show. But I am tired of hearing "Traveller is like Firefly" because Firefly lacks

+ FTL travel
+ Aliens
+ 3. Empire and the other political entities
+ The concept of Freeports etc

It also has a totally different outlooks on armed spaceships, ship weapon technology etc. About the ONLY thing it has in common with Traveller is that the commonly used weapons are slugthrowers.

The original three Traveller books also lack three of your four bullet points. Perhaps they aren't much like Traveller either.

Firefly comes across just as if it was Joss Whedon's Traveller campaign circa 1978. The accoutrements of the Third Imperium or spacecraft weaponry aren't important: the kinds of characters and plotlines that you get in Firefly are familiar from many a game of Traveller.

 

[MongooseMatt]

See, Book 0 is a wonderful piece of work, but it does little to step outside the mechanical and capture the essence of Traveller. Even the "Free Trader Beowulf" text, which is so evocative (especially they way the guys at Steve Jackson modified it) is missing. Book 0 has a use, but I think as a tool for spreading the love, it falls a little flat.

I disagree, for just one reason - Book 0 allows you to create characters, and in our experience, just running through the new character creation system with new players is usually enough to hook them completely! Everything else follows on from that - after all, they already know each other, already have a set of allies and enemies. Time to see 'what is out there!'

 

[iainjcoleman]

The original three Traveller books also lack three of your four bullet points. Perhaps they aren't much like Traveller either.

Firefly comes across just as if it was Joss Whedon's Traveller campaign circa 1978. The accoutrements of the Third Imperium or spacecraft weaponry aren't important: the kinds of characters and plotlines that you get in Firefly are familiar from many a game of Traveller.

Since I never owned the original three books and only started with MegaTraveller, I can't care less about ClunkyTraveller / Original 3 Books. Both ClunkyTraveller with the books past B3 and ALL later incarnations (except maybe Mongoose "Traveller") DID use the 3I setting as the background and that is what the average gamer will see if he looks at most Traveller forums (again maybe except "MGT")

So when people who are familiar with Traveller in its original form say "Firefly is a lot like Traveller", you simply haven't been in a position to understand what they are talking about. I hope this thread has been useful to you in that regard.

 

[Shiloh]

Q: Why should I invest my time and creative energy into Traveller, rather than WH40K or D&D?

A: because Traveller provides the opportunity to adventure in a world that's atmospherically closer to what we know than either D&D, with its dungeons and enforced "Hero's Journey", or the stark, unremitting grimness of the WH40K universe, while providing a broad canvas with a well-defined and believable background with which the players can engage on many levels. It can provide ultimate freedom, because the background is predicated on light regulation, but there are structures within the background that can provide a more directed game experience if that's the group's desire.

What are the tropes that Traveller plays to? What makes them preferable to other tropes?

Freedom of action: you can go anywhere. Sometimes there will be reasons not to and people who want to stop you, but you can go nevertheless if you have the travel means.

Personal reliance: you can't call in reinforcements or ask for clarification of your mission parameters from off-world.

The Unknown: all news from off planet is at least a week out of date. It is known that the scout surveys are more doillie than fig leaf for the IISS...

People are people: even most of the commonly-encountered aliens have recognisable psychologies and comprehensible biologies. Supply and demand interact in recognisable ways...

Stuff is stuff: really the only concessions to "breaking the laws of physics" are FTL travel and manipulation of Gravity. There's assumption about some materials science and abttery power-density improvements built-in, but the basis of the tech is pretty much "hard science" rather than "sub-ether rays" or "tech as magic". Chemical-powered slug throwers still have their place.

Edit: thought of another one...

You're an adult: you start play, usually as a fully grown adult with a decent skill set, rather than some wimpy kid clawing themselves up out of inadequacy.

For me, it's the package of them all that's attractive.

How do I show the new player who is drawn by those tropes that Traveller plays to them?

Have 'em skim through the basic rules. If you're not planning to use them, have them have a look at Freelance Traveller.

 

[RedBeardSean]

Sorry but that is a VERY stupid argument:

+ MGT by it's choice of titles is WELL past Book 3 (Merc is B4, Spinward Marches is 6 or 7, High Guard is B5) so they obviously DON'T target a "pure" book 3 setting

+ For most of it's time and due to print-run sizes for most of the players Traveller has been the OTU/3I setting

So I stand by my reasons that Serenity/Firely is NOT Traveller

You make some good points, but if I were to run MGT as written from the Core Rulebook, where the characters had a ship and the means to seek their own livelihood, it would be a matter of hours, at most, before one of them asked, "Why are we not just playing Serenity? I can see it right on your shelf, there."

Of course, though I played Megatraveller, most of my characterisation of the game stems from the LBB phase of the game.

 

[iainjcoleman]

Since I never owned the original three books and only started with MegaTraveller, I can't care less about ClunkyTraveller / Original 3 Books. Both ClunkyTraveller with the books past B3 and ALL later incarnations (except maybe Mongoose "Traveller") DID use the 3I setting as the background and that is what the average gamer will see if he looks at most Traveller forums (again maybe except "MGT")

So when people who are familiar with Traveller in its original form say "Firefly is a lot like Traveller", you simply haven't been in a position to understand what they are talking about. I hope this thread has been useful to you in that regard.

Sorry but that is a VERY stupid argument:

+ MGT by it's choice of titles is WELL past Book 3 (Merc is B4, Spinward Marches is 6 or 7, High Guard is B5) so they obviously DON'T target a "pure" book 3 setting

+ For most of it's time and due to print-run sizes for most of the players Traveller has been the OTU/3I setting

So I stand by my reasons that Serenity/Firely is NOT Traveller

Has your education to date covered the distinction between "X is like Y" and "X is identical to Y"?

 

[zanwot]

Hey let's not get carried away over that.

Ok so BenGunn you don't like people comparing Firefly to Traveller as the background is not the same, and the atmosphere of Firefly is only one of possible atmospheres in Traveller. So maybe you think it is a little reductive to limit Traveller to Firefly, and encourages some stereotypes.

Well, you are right, even though the "Firefly" type adventure is a bit of a classic in Traveller. But you must agree that somewhere between the description of the universe and the description of the adventures, there is a fuzzy area where Traveller and Firefly have more in common than say with StarWars, StarTreck, etc. That specific low high tech, that gritty and a little wacky apprach to psychology, etc.

And to be honest, AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED, that is by far the most important. Just the same as in L5R it is not the number of clans the most important but the concept of honor, that is what describes the playing style, at least on first approach (ie you present L5R by saying it is a sort of japanesy game before defining it as a clan/tribe/nation game, at least that is what I would do)

So giving Firefly as an analogy is more appropriate, on certain aspects, than the vast majority of what Mr Joe Blogs will know about Sci fi, which will be essentially Star Wars and Star Trek. At least it gives a base on which you can start describing the universe's specificities.

 

[Shiloh]

Actually I find Firefly watchabel for a modern TV show. But I am tired of hearing "Traveller is like Firefly" because Firefly lacks

+ FTL travel

But it still has Travel. Whether it's FTL is, frankly, irrelevant. They visit several distinct worlds, each with a different flavour. They are *effectively* in a Free Trader; the whole method of travel is entirely glossed over in the series ("it's a spaceship, innit?" is about the extent) and unless you've read background material, which, from what I know has some pretty dodgy astrography to fit the needs of the story) it could very well be FTL. The feel of days between planetfalls, and the use of parasite shuttles for "detail work" all fit into Traveller tropes.

+ Aliens

There are plenty of Traveller campaigns where aliens appear not at all, or at most as background.

+ 3. Empire and the other political entities

While I'm a fan of 3I, I don't think it's completely necessary for Traveller. There are plenty of Traveller games that aren't set in it.

+ The concept of Freeports etc

Huh? Because they never visited a thing called a Freeport, there aren't any? How do you figure that? There's plenty of areas not fully under the control of the Authorities; the bar that Summer breaks up; that's not in "Impy" control, now, is it? And how are "Freeports" so central that a game of Traveller has to have them?

It also has a totally different outlooks on armed spaceships, ship Weapon technology etc. About the ONLY thing it has in common with Traveller is that the commonly used weapons are slugthrowers.

Some of the tech looks different, sure. But it has AG, spaceships, gangsters, corporations and wandering merchants making ends meet by dabbling in the illegal/treasonous, eventually leading to a "worthy" cause and a resolution. Meat and drink of a Traveller campaign in (one of) the classic veins.

Firefly is closer to Traveller than pretty much any science fiction series or film I've seen, and no other show is as close to Firefly as it is to the archetypical idea of Traveller.

 

[dmccoy1693]

To sum up both arguments:

Side 1
Firefly does not hold the trappings of Traveller so it is not Traveller, but you can play a Firefly type game with it and it is not uncommon.

Side 2
Firefly holds true to the feelings and flavor of Traveller while not having any of the fingerprints of it.

As I see it, you're both right. It just all depends on which you feel is more important, the trappings (aka, the specifics of the setting) or the flavor (aka, what the system is more built for).

Now can we get back to the topic of how to introduce new players to Traveller?

 

[Pyromancer]

Now can we get back to the topic of how to introduce new players to Traveller?

I ran convention games with the playtest document, doing only character generation with 5-7 players. We had so much fun, people from other rooms came over to check what we were playing.

So, my advice: To introduce new players to Traveller, make characters together!