No Starship Campaigns

[Vormaerin]

I'm interested.

Glad to hear. At the time, although I'd gotten some likes on the topic, all the actual discussion was arguments about how ships were just easier/better/cheaper.

One thing that I haven't mentioned yet is that, at least in my experience, you get a wider range of characters when the players aren't thinking about a ship. YMMV, but I find that once the players are decided on having a ship, they immediately start thinking of their characters in terms of the role they want on the ship and how best to make that happen. So scouts, navy, merchants, get heavily favored.

When there isn't a ship in the picture, I see a lot more agents, colonists, and other careers that don't immediately feed into ship jobs. Like, whenever the PCs have a ship, I can be reasonably certain that the soldier themed character (if there is one) is going to be a Marine. Whereas if the ship isn't a thing, I get a mix of army and marine characters.

It's rare, in my experience, that no one in the party can fly a shuttle or otherwise get a ship going around in system. But getting a full ship's crew tends to focus the attention of the players. The Mongoose "team package" helps with that, but I don't generally see players wanting to rely on that, so they tend to make characters from the shipboard careers.

 

[swordtart]

Although the game does not specify what specific tasks the crew are undertaking during jump, I find it highly implausible that they are essentially doing nothing.

There's two types of working passage. The most common use of that term means the character is filling in the role of one of the regular crew who is no longer available. So then that person *IS* the Engineer or the Pilot or the Astrogator until you get back to somewhere you can hire a longer term worker. So they would clearly be doing whatever that person does during jump.

The other type of working passage would be some kind of non standard task, such as additional entertainment, security, or some other role needed because of some peculiarity of the passengers or cargo.

It is important to keep in mind that most of us are used to working for a proper business, in a world with instant communications, and fast travel. This is not the world of tramp traders in a jumpspace universe. If your pilot chokes on clams and dies when you are on some backwater with a type D starport, you are going to hire whomever is available that doesn't seem like a greater risk than going bankrupt stuck on that planet. And most of these free traders are barely staying afloat financially, so saving on crew expenses (salary and any revenue sharing) isn't anything to sneeze at either.

Don't forget that Simon Tam was 'working passage' on the Firefly. Yeah, he was a permanent cast member, but he was serving as ship's doctor to pay for his and River's transport, not for wages. They just never got off.

I think a common role when working passage might be Steward. Depending on how many High passengers you happen to get this time around the number of required stewards might vary from trip to trip. Stewards are definitely busy all trip. As you say the other position is Medic and again if you get extra Low passengers you might need a few extra bods to revive them in a sensible timeframe. Astrogator is such a well paid role (and with so little work) that saving the salary would be very beneficial. Gunners as I said previously might be considered a luxury except in know dangerous space and you may take them on only for that area.

 

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

Gunners as I said previously might be considered a luxury except in know dangerous space and you may take them on only for that area.

Or only when you had mail or valuable cargo.

 

[Anstett]

I am running a campaign with four different cohorts currently off on their own ships.

I would be very happy to run an additional cohort that is a single system group that is working all the angle for the various groups that intersect through the Reach. Especially around Cordan where the Hierate Route and the Florian Trade Route intersect, or Torpol with the Florian Route, Drinax, and so many close by system adventures.

 

[MarcusIII]

To me as a player it doesn't matter if it is a game where the PCs do or don't have a ship. As long as it's a good adventure that's all I care about.

 

[rinku]

Leviathan is another one with the players acting as crew on a ship they don't own.

 

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

That could form the basis of a game, corporate agents unblocking labour disputes, legal issues, personnel issues etc. You could take any of those published patron adventures set on random systems and just make the patron your parent company. You wouldn't need your own ship as you could just hop on the next company vessel going that way.

Imperial Agents/Sector Agents/Subsector Agents/Planetary Agents/Corporate Agents/Agents for hire/Working for a criminal gang. All investigating anything of concern at the level/group they work at. They could be anything from homicide squad to SWAT squad to espionage/counter espionage or criminal enforcers.

It would work as a game where they are ALL playing the career as they roll it up. Do a group roll for events each term (might need a custom table D66 maybe) and play it out.

If they need a ship the "Agency" provides an Agent ship capable of carrying at least a 6 man team, armed and armoured as needed, stealth if needed. Perhaps a 100 - 300 ton vessel, capable of a variety of roles from customs to fighting a pirate. Assigned on a per mission basis so the ship (if any) can vary mission to mission.

Give the ship modules and they can be customized for prisoner transport or carrying a few troops to provide muscle beyond normal agents or vehicles for local transport on low TL worlds whatever they need. If they don't have crew skills the ship comes with a minimal crew (to leave room for the agents). The bigger the ship the more flexible.

You could have agents working for a colony (which they don't need to have ever visited) helping the colonies broker get the colony what they need at a price they can pay and making sure their ability to sell is not compromised, hirelings who can also do side jobs between missions. Helping the colonies diplomatic corp if needed (espionage/counter espionage) at other times.

They could be believers/agents working for the Churches interests, knocking heads if needed to stop opposition or gathering blackmail information against those who would suppress the Church.

Truthers using their agent skills to gather data proving their Truth. Those lizard people invader WILL be revealed and humanity will be freed!

Agent campaigns could be great ship or no ship with the right players.

 

[Condottiere]

It does tend to come down to where, and when, they have to travel.

If the game requires being railroaded, then the plot likely provides the means to traverse time and space.

If they have options, having their own ride provides a great deal of that potential.

 

[Sigtrygg]

"Your prior career is over, you have mustered out of your service"

"What do you want to do now?"

 

[MasterGwydion]

It is just an illustration that you don't really have to chose. Even if the PCs don't have a starship they can have alter egos that do or allies that do.

To me, that is not roleplaying. How are you supposed to grow attached to a character if you are playing like three different characters? That seems more like roll-playing to me. Select whichever character has the skills needed for the mission, and go. Works fine I guess if the goal is to complete the adventure, but most of the enjoyment for me is in discovering who a character is, to see how they might grow as people over time. It is all character-driven, but with multiple characters, you never get to spend enough time together to develop that relationship.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Anstett]

To me, that is not roleplaying. How are you supposed to grow attached to a character if you are playing like three different characters? That seems more like roll-playing to me. Select whichever character has the skills needed for the mission, and go. Works fine I guess if the goal is to complete the adventure, but most of the enjoyment for me is in discovering who a character is, to see how they might grow as people over time. It is all character-driven, but with multiple characters, you never get to spend enough time together to develop that relationship.

Just my 2 cents.

Come write with us

 

[MasterGwydion]

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