I've got 8 players!

[PoppySeed45]

So, yeah, I've got eight players for my Traveller game this Saturday! What "positions" would you have with such a crew?

Assume they'll have a Far Trader. I figure:

1. Pilot
2. Engineer (2?)
3. Medic
4. Gunner (1-2)
5. Soldier types
6. Sneaky/Investigative
7. Space operations (like with vacc suits, navigation, etc).
8. Trader (who can use the tading rules to make them money).

That's all I got. Other ideas? It'll be a joint ship with ship shares of course, though there's one player who might want to be a "captain," such as it is.

Also, I'm wondering, what sort of adventures/missions/random tasks would you have that would engage a group that large. I won't have a co-gm per se (though who knows...?) but I want to keep folks interested. Ideas?

 

[Walker]

So, yeah, I've got eight players for my Traveller game this Saturday! What "positions" would you have with such a crew?

Assume they'll have a Far Trader. I figure:

1. Pilot
2. Engineer (2?)
3. Medic
4. Gunner (1-2)
5. Soldier types
6. Sneaky/Investigative
7. Space operations (like with vacc suits, navigation, etc).
8. Trader (who can use the tading rules to make them money).

That's all I got. Other ideas? It'll be a joint ship with ship shares of course, though there's one player who might want to be a "captain," such as it is.

Also, I'm wondering, what sort of adventures/missions/random tasks would you have that would engage a group that large. I won't have a co-gm per se (though who knows...?) but I want to keep folks interested. Ideas?

It depends on the type of ship and the kind of game, But I would say most ships should have the following Skills:

Pilot
Astrogation
Sensors
Engineer/ Jump
Engineer/Manoeuvre
Engineer/Power (maybe)
Mechanic
Comms

If you are going to speculate on cargo, you need:

Broker
Streetwise

If you are going to carry passengers, you need:

Steward
Medic

If you expect trouble, you need,

Gunner
Tactics (naval)


Other skills would depend on the type of adventures, but some kind of Security/Ship's troops are always good.

Given the above, crew break down might be:

Primary pilot
Secondary pilot/astrogator
Sensors/ Comms
2 Engineers sharing various specialties
Purser (Broker/Steward)/Medic
2 gunners


Hope that helps. I'm interested to see other opinions.

As far as types of adventures, I've run trade, intrigue, merc, and naval adverntures with groups that size before and they worked well. the only thing is that it gets interesting when the group splits up (and what group doesn't). :wink: Then they need to be willing to a certain amount of waiting.

 

[alex_greene]

A prime example of a motley crew would be to look at the TV series Firefly. The crew didn't have ranks or positions, yet they gravitated towards their natural positions depending on their skills.

Simon Tam, naturally, a Medic; Jayne, erm, public relations. Kaylee in the engine room, Wash as the pilot.

Not to mention River Tam as the ship's albatross ...

Let the characters come across their ship for the very first time. Let them roam around the decks, checking out all the places they're going to get to know as "home" for a while. The broker will be looking for hideyholes to store stashes of the "small packages" he'll be trading in; the medic will look at the sickbay and the pharmacy in the Ship's Locker; the pilot will want to check out the bridge, the Engineer will take one look at the drives and despair and the computer guy will laugh at the eyeball-achingly primitive clockwork computer he'll have to work with.

That's after they've all made a rush for the staterooms. "Bags I this room here!" *points to the room on the deckplan*

Give them one crisis outside the ship, one crisis in transit in their vessel, and get them to work together. And after that, it won't really matter who does what. They'll be a crew.

 

[Dave Chase]

Deckhand,
someone has to move the cargo.

And if you can avoid it don't appoint the player to be Capt. Unless they are the major owner of the ship.

Dave Chase

 

[Walker]

and the computer guy will laugh at the eyeball-achingly primitive clockwork computer he'll have to work with.

WHACK! *Hand strikes Head"

Computer Guy ... how could I forget the Computer Guy?!

You definitely need one of those.

 

[Zemekis]

That's after they've all made a rush for the staterooms. "Bags I this room here!" *points to the room on the deckplan*

hahaha..so true. First thing my players did was to divide up the rooms and arm wrestle about the captain's quarters.

 

[Zowy]

With 8 players, I would have them get a 300 dTon FarTrader. Unless you want them to be overcrewed?

Allso some of them could be long term passengers, with a TAS membership and a fistfull of High Passage tickets?

Alot depends on the type and number of pre-set encounters you are going to put in front of them.

 

[kafka]

If they have not played rpgs before...then a simple adaptation of an existing adventure could do the trick. If not, typing "introductory adventure" +rpg in Google should give you a slew.

I like to start off something in which there is a countdown, so that it can be played over several game session and they can measure their success by coming close to the deadline. Convention games are good for this purpose. Start dirtside with only elements of star travel...as before you throw the Traveller Universe at them...they need to learn what they can and cannot do.

 

[GamerDude]

If you think about it, Walker hit the nail on the head.

It's a matter of what skills are needed. One gunner for each gun, at least one person with engineering (two is better), the pilot can be the astrogator (like on Firefly).

One lesson 20 years in the US Air Force taught me is that having people overlap their skills and training is very important since you never know when someone is going to not be available (deployment, death, etc.)

 

[alex_greene]

If you think about it, Walker hit the nail on the head.

It's a matter of what skills are needed. One gunner for each gun, at least one person with engineering (two is better), the pilot can be the astrogator (like on Firefly).

One lesson 20 years in the US Air Force taught me is that having people overlap their skills and training is very important since you never know when someone is going to not be available (deployment, death, etc.)

That's how it should be: each crewmember having a range of skills, enabling an overlap of competence such that every crewmember can take over, should any given individual be unable to carry out their regular duties.

 

[Shiloh]

Cook. Having one primary cook is feasible in an 8-sophont crew, and probably a large part of the "Steward" duties needed when carrying paying passengers. Sure, everyone can take their turn, but in any group of 8 *someone* will be the cook everyone wants to see on the rota...

 

[PoppySeed45]

Everybody, thank you - awesome suggestions.

We;ll be doing the group character burning this Saturday - might take the whole time with this many people, but when I tried it out with just two players it was a blast, so I expect this will go over quite well. Plus, it's a great chance to meet the new people (6 of them are new to me) and we'll be able to get folks warmed up to each other. We might even have a two hour actual game there depending on how fast this goes.

 

[alex_greene]

Try and work in one common element into the makeup of each character's past, some element that each one remembers from their private backgrounds.

I dunno, it could be that at one point one person served briefly aboard a Saint-Class hospice ship, and another one's mother went off on that same ship on a pilgrimage to some shrine somewhere.

Or at some point, every last one of them fell foul of the same con artist - a sneaky little Droyne thief with nimble fingers and a penchant for vanishing before people's very eyes.

Let them all think that this element is unique to them ...and then spring the surprise on them all when, say, the hospice ship arrives in the port, or that little Droyne's face appears on a wanted poster in the TAS bar ...

 

[PoppySeed45]

I was actually going to let THEM do that with the whole connections rule thing - make them really use it to tie to one another and do that sort of thing. Naturally, I'd note it all and then spring things on them like "Remember that time you and MK were in that warzone together? There was a quartermaster who totally gave you a hard time. That's the gal who's now the port master for this planet. HAve fun convincing her to give you an exit visa!"

 

[Epicenter]

Also, I'm wondering, what sort of adventures/missions/random tasks would you have that would engage a group that large. I won't have a co-gm per se (though who knows...?) but I want to keep folks interested. Ideas?

I usually break parties down into smaller groups. Give each party something to do, and devote equal time. If you can't give party members in these sub-groups equal time or things to do they're equally interested in, just deal with the fact they'll be moving in a vast a horde down the street. This doesn't mean they have to all move in one huge minivan everywhere they go. Eight players could get into two vehicles, which presents its own interesting situations and can make can car chase scenes pretty fun - what if one vehicle breaks down, one vehicle gets shot up, one vehicle gets detained by the cops, etc.

For instance, four players might go in to meet a contact. The four others might run surveillance/security around the meeting place (be sure to have them see something interesting, even if it isn't a double-cross), or they might be off buying supplies, or are trying to sell/buy cargo.

The big thing to avoid in my experience is starship combat:

Perhaps you've mastered running space combat so this doesn't happen, but my experience is that space combat is like sleeping pills for players. The more players, the more players falling asleep. The reason is simple. Besides the pilot and the captain, once the shooting starts, what everyone else does is pretty much meaningless narrative chrome around a single die roll.

That's just dull.

Of course, that you can die without having any control over it, makes it even worse.

Even if my character has some relevant skill, I usually just leave my character sheet with the pilot / captain and go read a book, go to lunch, go play the XBox, or whatever. If it bugs the GM, they can run fewer scenes that only involve one or two players.

 

[whtknght]

Deckhand,
someone has to move the cargo.

On a small ship, everyone helps load and unload cargo.

Probably no deckhand. Unless you have a character that has no useful skills, nobody will want to be a deckhand

 

[AndrewW]

Deckhand,
someone has to move the cargo.

On a small ship, everyone helps load and unload cargo.

Probably no deckhand. Unless you have a character that has no useful skills, nobody will want to be a deckhand

Could have a cargo master or a loader.

 

[whtknght]

Could have a cargo master or a loader.

If you are going to haul Hazardous or "special" cargo, that would be a good idea.

 

[BP]

Expendable crewman 8) [Note: requires character to wear red outfits]

 

[GypsyComet]

Expendable crewman 8) [Note: requires character to wear red outfits]

Or wearing Red Shirt http://trekmovie.com/2009/03/04/tre...iew-first-look-at-genki-star-trek-fragrances/.