Newb questions (skill increase, campaign musings)

[Animation]

All,

I'm new to the forums here, and to the Mongoose version of Traveller.

A super brief bit of background: I've bought (probably) every version of Traveller since the game originally came out in the 70s (I was 10 at the time). However, I've never been able to actually play because I was always the only guy I knew who wanted to play it. I'm in a cool group of gamers now though. They are open to various pick-up games or side campaigns when the main game runner needs a break, so I'm hoping to maybe run a side game. After all these years of owning Traveller, and having spent .... unknown or unspeakable amounts of money on it just for the fun of reading ... I may actually get a chance to play or run.

With that out of the way ... I have a few questions.

1) Are there any character creators for Mongoose Traveller? I should Google this, I just haven't yet. I'm really here to ask other questions, just figured I'd throw this one in.

2) I see in the core book that it takes as many weeks of training to get a skill-up as you have skill point totals greater than zero. Is that really the case, and what constitutes a week of practice or training?

I'm just thinking, lets say most players do an average of 4 Terms, and each term they can get 1 skill for sure, and a chance at a second skill if they get promoted and survive, and a smaller chance for a skill during a life event, at a rough average of 2 skill points per Term. You also pick up 1 or 2 skills as you (if you) advance ranks, and you might get a skill as you muster out.

Am I correct then that a typical character will have something like around 8-12 points in their skills (say Pilot 2, Gunner 1, Computers 1, Gun Combat 1, Vacc Suit 2, Zero G 1, Broker 1, Melee 1) and that it will take (in this example) 10 weeks of "practice" to pump any of them up by a point? And then 11 weeks to pump the next point?

I'm just wanting to make sure I'm understanding the way it typically works for campaigns.

3) As I look at the traveller map site and ponder all the Canon that has come out over the years, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. As long as I've been reading about the Spinward Marches, I'd like to run a game there, but darned if those UPP (or I guess now its the UWP since UPP is for characteristics now) numbers dont make me feel that ... well ... the whole darned universe is known. Even in the Marches. I mean, there is no true "beyond" or unknown near the Marches is there? I guess my question is this ... where exactly and how exactly do you run a campaign with a little mystery in it, when everything is so well established?

I cant psychologically change campaigns. I either use them or chuck them and make my own. So, I'm very much leaning to just doing my own thing, but then all the Careers, and stigmas about Psionics, and justifications for Humaniti and other races being as they are due to the Ancients (or the Ancient) ..... well it would make the core rules and additions seem out of place. Of course I could just make my own stuff and go with it anyway.

I dunno. That last section wasn't too focused.

Hopefully you folks can maybe comments or make suggestions. I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

 

[Baeron Gredlocke]

Regarding your last point:

I generally tell my PC's that planetary profiles (especially in the less-travelled areas) aren't updated as often as they are along the more central trade routes, even to the tune of a few years between updates.

This is an in-game justification for using law level, government type, population and trade codes that suit my campaign more conveniently then they serve canon.

 

[rust]

I'm new to the forums here, and to the Mongoose version of Traveller.

Welcome, Animation.

1) Are there any character creators for Mongoose Traveller?

I am not aware of any, but fan projects of that kind have been discussed,
and perhaps someone has already something of that kind.

2) I see in the core book that it takes as many weeks of training to get a skill-up as you have skill point totals greater than zero. Is that really the case, and what constitutes a week of practice or training?

It takes as many weeks of training as the character has skill levels grea-
ter than 0 plus the skill level he is learning. For example, if he has a total
of skill levels of 10 and wants to improve one of his skills from level 2 to
level 3, this would take him 10 + 3 = 13 weeks.

A week of training is what you as the referee want it to be. You can allow
the characters to train during their weeks in jump space, if they do not
have to work as crew members, or use any other system that fits into
your campaign.

By the way, the skill learning rules of Mongoose Traveller are not very
convincing (the more you know, the longer it takes you to learn some
more ...?), so you might consider a house rule.

3) As I look at the traveller map site and ponder all the Canon that has come out over the years, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.

No need for this. You bought the game, it is yours to do with as you plea-
se. If you have a problem with any part of "canon", you can modify, re-
place or delete it any way you like - just make sure that your changes
do not create too obvious contradictions and inconsistencies which could
damage your setting.

 

[Baeron Gredlocke]

3) As I look at the traveller map site and ponder all the Canon that has come out over the years, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.

No need for this. You bought the game, it is yours to do with as you plea-
se. If you have a problem with any part of "canon", you can modify, re-
place or delete it any way you like - just make sure that your changes
do not create too obvious contradictions and inconsistencies which could
damage your setting.

When I first started running traveller this worried me also- I was scared I was at risk for getting an old grognard in my group that would be kibitzing me at every turn, or have my players get the modules and start second-guessing me.

I decided to just dub these people assholes and treat them accordingly.

 

[AndrewW]

3) As I look at the traveller map site and ponder all the Canon that has come out over the years, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. As long as I've been reading about the Spinward Marches, I'd like to run a game there, but darned if those UPP (or I guess now its the UWP since UPP is for characteristics now) numbers dont make me feel that ... well ... the whole darned universe is known. Even in the Marches. I mean, there is no true "beyond" or unknown near the Marches is there? I guess my question is this ... where exactly and how exactly do you run a campaign with a little mystery in it, when everything is so well established?

Well, UPP was both back then (Planetary and Planet)... Not everything is well established, the Spinward Marches is a frontier region. Plenty of systems out there that haven't been covered by existing material.

 

[Animation]

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

When I first started running traveller this worried me also- I was scared I was at risk for getting an old grognard in my group that would be kibitzing me at every turn, or have my players get the modules and start second-guessing me.

Oh, I'm not scared or worried. I just can't / won't do it. It is a personal limitation. I either have to use the whole setting as-is, or I have to go 100% custom. It is a quirk.

Not everything is well established, the Spinward Marches is a frontier region. Plenty of systems out there that haven't been covered by existing material.

In which direction, from the Spinward Marches, should I look? Vargr Extents are core and core/trailing, Imperium is trailing and rim/trailing, Zhodani is core/spinward and spinward. Aslan are rim/spinward and rim. Tho that is from memory, so I'm probably off a bit.

I guess on some level I feel as if, well, if I'm gonna have Humans and what-not and its somewhere totally off the map but in the same galaxy/universe, then I have to kinda figure out what races I want and what goes where, and how it fits into Humaniti ... so I almost should just go from scratch.

Thing is, I really dig the Ancient(s) thing and the history behind Humaniti and the Vargr. So I'd almost certainly lift that, so why not stay in the Imperium?

Ah well. I can dwell on it. I've got time.

While I'm thinking about it, what rationale, if any, do you guys use for a flat 2-D galaxy? Do the stars used in Traveller even remotely correspond to our actual galaxy layout or did the creators just say "screw it" and place things in a way that fit the story?

I was thinking that my excuse for the 2-D star maps would be that there are layers, kinda like heat layers in a lake or in atmosphere, in hyperspace, overlapping our universe. Lets call it X Density. It is some kind of energy field parallel to the main universe and interacting with it in a way. As you go "above" or "below" the side-view slice in the middle of the galaxy, the X Density gets lower. Basically, matter can't survive it if enters hyperspace and re-enters reality with a different X Density. Even the Ancients (and Primordials) can't overcome this. So while there may be stars a few parsecs "above" or "below" you can't ever survive to reach them. Maybe it isnt even a matter of survival, its just that hyperspace has horizontal layers like an onion for no reason, and you just cannot cross them.

Actually, that'd be a good mechanism for using some of the same stuff but "Starting over" with your own campaign. Generational ships can cross these layers in normal space only, so other Empires / Worlds / campaigns could be going on above and below with no other way to interact with the main campaign layer other than super long sub light generation ships. So you could borrow the parts you want but otherwise ignore everything else.

Anyway, I've always wondered what people do to explain this, or if people simply dont explain it and roll with it out of a desire to maintain simplicity.

Thanks!

 

[rust]

Anyway, I've always wondered what people do to explain this, or if people simply dont explain it and roll with it out of a desire to maintain simplicity.

In my universe the "flat" star charts are a representation of the distance
in time, not necessarily in space. A hex marks a certain flight time requi-
red to cross it, not so much a specific distance, although there is a corre-
lation. As a result, my universe's star charts are more like the symbolic
maps of the kind used for subway lines, not pictures of the actual astro-
nomical relations between stars.

 

[AndrewW]

In which direction, from the Spinward Marches, should I look? Vargr Extents are core and core/trailing, Imperium is trailing and rim/trailing, Zhodani is core/spinward and spinward. Aslan are rim/spinward and rim. Tho that is from memory, so I'm probably off a bit.

You don't even have to leave the Spinward Marches, it's made up of lots of systems, not all of which are detailed. You can pick one and make it your own.

 

[rinku]

The 2nd Grand Survey was completed in 1065. I've usually taken the line that the UWP data available to the players is basically that, updated only in the case of major reported events (such as the Fourth Frontier War. Planets changing owenership tends to make it into the starmaps). A lot of it is going to be out of date after 40 years.

Also, the mainworld UWP can often be misleading. Nothing is recorded regarding climate, bizarre local conditions or anything but the barest political and cultural information. For example:

C777777-7

This world could be a tropical hell with deadly airborne spores, a glaciated freezer world with a dangerously high level of oxygen, a semi-industrial world choking on pollution or anything else that meets the stats. It's balkanised, so the tainted atmosphere might be the result of active warfare (perhaps nuclear?).

There is no real reason for you to make ALL of the map data available to the players anyway. Blank out marginal areas and change the details. District 268 is a good one to do this with, or take them into those subsectors off the map (there's official data for most, but no-one cares if you generate your own).

On top of that, there are other planets of interest apart from the mainworlds in most systems. Regina (officially) has about 5 habitable ones (resulting from a far binary and a gas giant orbitting in a habitable zone).

 

[Rev503]

Where to start?
I always assumed the maps were projections of 3d space onto a 2d map to show the most important thing..Jump range. If anyone asks about the geometry of the situation I justify it as the way the drive works and if they were planning on going teh distance STL I'd get back to them about true distance in a couple of years game time.

As for the Spinward marches, pick your starting point to account for the adventures you want to lead off with...exploring? start outside the Imperial borders. Want psi? start them near the Zhodani. Feel like some Politics and Social Interaction? start them at Regina? Want the small empire and space war feeling? Theres always the Darrians and Sword worlders

No UWP can really describe a world. Earth qualifies as a Garden World (I seem to recall, havn't got my books nearby) but try telling that to someone walking across Antarctica!

Look for the offbeat UWP's for some real fun - low tech normally uninhabitable worlds could be a small base shipping everything in, or a lost colony with survivors eaking out a miserable existance - a Hi tech low pop world could be totally automated, or have a nanobot infestation or even something stranger. The point is all the map stuff is a springboard for you, not a cage. You can spend a year of gametime just wandering through different story arcs depending on where you are (and many do).

 

[Animation]

Cool. I'll try to absorb and use all the comments.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Cleon the Mad]

One idea if I may. Set the year to 1107 instead of 1105. Why is that signifigant? Well, a little thing like the Fifth Frontier War starts in 1107 for instance. Everything from straight military or Starmerc campaigns to espionage ones to possible political ones can be had with such. Or the players could at first just try to stay your run of the mill travellers in a Type S scout or Type A Free Trader or whatever ship they got (if any) and do their best to ignore the war around them until fate sucks them in somehow or another (or not..maybe they do end up staying mostly out of the war too). With the Darrian book almost out, one could set a campaign around them, either helping them or opposing them during the war. (or make a mostly or all Darrian party..could be fun..remember the Darrians have some Aslan citizens for those who want to play one...). And, why not deviate from canon too with regards to the outcome of the Fifth Frontier War. If the players do something to change a result, big or small..go with it. Still makes it a mostly canon TU but with a notable change in the campaign the players can point to and say "Hey, we did that!".

Anyway, IMO that could be a lot of fun. As an aside, this might be a lot easier said then done but finding a used copy of the Fifth Frontier War boardgame and playing it with one of your players as a way to chart what is happening in the war (assuming the players don't again do something to change an outcome), and using that as what happens as opposed to actual canon could be neat too. I don't know if FFE did a reprint of the game, but could see if they did as an aside.

Addendum: Another idea, look into Foreven sector. It's meant to be a GM's preserve for the most part. On places like the various online Traveller maps people have mapped it out, but I don't know if that's canon or just the most accepted maps. Regardless, it could be a place for your players to go that is "uncharted" in a way but at the same time still sticking with canon. Other then the placement of where the stars are located and some major borders (The Zhodani do have some control of a few subsectors there for instance), it's almost a blank slate of a sector to play with. As an aside, if you're again going to tie in with the Darrian book being almost out, it is possibly the one direction the Darrians would go if they were going to try to expand their borders now.

 

[rinku]

Hmm... I'd reccommend the opposite re the Fifth Frontier War. The lead up to it is probably a better environment for a starting group, with just as much espionage, and more manageable conflicts (i.e. the border patrols are getting trigger happy, but you're not routinely running from BatRons and CruRons). It's a cold war environment; during the FFW and after there's not as much scope for mercenaries to be used as proxy tools by either side - during the war mercenaries become supplemental troops and afterward everyone's in a cool-down period.

The Tripwire adventure is designed to fill in precisely this environment (even if you don't use the artifact adventure in it).

 

[Cleon the Mad]

Hmm... I'd reccommend the opposite re the Fifth Frontier War. The lead up to it is probably a better environment for a starting group, with just as much espionage, and more manageable conflicts (i.e. the border patrols are getting trigger happy, but you're not routinely running from BatRons and CruRons). It's a cold war environment; during the FFW and after there's not as much scope for mercenaries to be used as proxy tools by either side - during the war mercenaries become supplemental troops and afterward everyone's in a cool-down period.

The Tripwire adventure is designed to fill in precisely this environment (even if you don't use the artifact adventure in it).

Possibly so, but it also depends on where you're at with regards to the Fifth Frontier War. Not every squadron is capital ships. Some backwater system might have a lot of commerce raiders and blockade runners for instance. The PC's could decide if they want to just avoid that, join in and become a blockade runner or commerce raider, or something else.

Also imagine being part of the team being sent by Norris to find the warrant so he can take over commanding the Imperial side of the war effort.

Anyway, to me it has a lot of potential.

 

[rinku]

Anyway, to me it has a lot of potential.

Oh, for sure! Totally agree on that. Both start dates have lots of potential

I wasn't having a go at your post as much as giving a boost to the 1105 date. In any case, depending on how quickly the game time kicks over in the campaign, 1107 comes around quickly enough. You can even skip forward a bit if you want - either say "six months goes by without any unusual events. Work out your trading and skill increases." or send the group to a destination a subsector or two distant and back (that burns weeks like anything).

 

[Cleon the Mad]

Rinku: Oh, I never took it as a slam of my suggestion, just as a friendly discussion over our potential preferences for a hypothetical new campaign. That and if I can find the people I want to do a "Darriancentric" one as a new campaign when I do get the new MGT Darrian book, and I have mostly decided to set it around 1107 or so, so that is on my mind as well.