The Chef said:
agrees with GamerDude,
(snip!)
also get the players to do the work. they should be learning the rules as well, take the load off you, it maybe your game in the fact your gming it, but you can't do that and play teacher as well...
chef
1. I've written up some guidelines for the newer players (see below) However the punctuation didn't make it. If you want a copy with formatting in it, send me a PM with an email address to send it to.
2. Given the churn rate of players, I may ask the more reliable players if they would mind me running some adventures again.
About Traveller.
Traveller is a game where you take on the role of people, known as “Player Characters”
Traveller is a type of game known as a “Role Playing Game” (RPG)
One person takes the role of “Referee”, and “runs” the game for the players.
When something has to be decided (did I pick the lock?, did I break down the door?), the person involved rolls some dice, as guided by the Referee. See the section on Skill Checks in a later paragraph.
Player Characters are the key players in an episode/adventure ran by a referee. Each character is written up on a character sheet which records things like
Name, Profession, Age, Career etc
Innate characteristics – Strength, Intelligence etc
Skills – Athletics, Driving, Engineer, Gun Combat, Pilot etc
Usually the most experienced person takes on the role of referee however, as time goes by, some Players nay decide to try Refereeing.
Books.
RPGs are well known for having lots of books to be read by the GM.
Players, however just need to know the basics (Character Generation, Skills and Tasks, Combat) which can all be found in the Core Rulebook. Copies of the Core Rulebook and pencils etc will be provided by Ian at the start of the gaming session.
When and Where is Traveller?
Traveller is set in the far future.
Man has travelled to the stars and found more people and some aliens.
Humanity is a major player in interstellar space. There are, however, other influential aliens out there.
The main home of Traveller games is the O.T.U. (Original Traveller Universe), in a large area of space known as The Third Imperium. The Third Imperium is so big that the Traveller game takes place in a sector called The Spinward Marches. In fact the Spinward Marches are so big that the adventures take place in a sub-sector, The Sword Worlds.
(Player) Character Generation.
Player Characters are sometimes referred to as PCs.
The Referee is sometimes referred to as the GM (Games Master).
In this adventure, the player characters come from a common agricultural planet, Gungnir, in the Sword Worlds sub-sector and are working on Planet Steel to get some experience prior to embarking on a career as an Imperial Scout.
A word about Dice.
Everyone knows what a die is. Its a small plastic object you roll to get a number from 1 to 6.
That is true for the Traveller RPG. It uses dice a lot. Because of that, it has some abbreviations. Instead of saying “roll two dice, add them up and tell me the answer”, players are asked to “roll 2d6”. For three dice, you get asked to “roll 3d6” etc.
Did I succeed? See the Core Rulebook chapter on Skills
There are two different types of check – Characteristic check and Skill check.
Characteristic Check. This is determined by using your natural abilities (Strength, Intelligence etc).
A check may have dice modifiers (DM). For instance if you are trying to break down a door and are exceptionally strong, you get a bonus (aka a positive DM). If you were exceptionally weak then you would get a penalty (aka a negative DM). Here is a list of DMs:-
Characteristic score DM
0 -3
1-2 -2
3-5 -1
6-8 0
9-11 +1
12-14 +2
15 +3
Skill check. This is determined by your education and experience. Skills have levels and some skills may have specialities for example Engineer has specialities for Jump-Drive, Life Support etc.
If you have no experience in a skill you are using, you have a penalty of -3 when making a skill check. If you have the first level of a skill (confusingly referred to as level 0), you get a DM of 0. If you have the appropriate speciality for a skill, you get that level as a DM. For instance trying Drive Wheeled you get a DM of -3 if you've never driven in your life. If you are a trained Driver, you get a DM of 0. If you are a trained driver and have a specialisation of Drive Wheeled 1 then you get a DM of +1.
Combat Dice Rolls -See the Core Rulebook chapter on Combat
All Combat Dice Rolls are Just Another Type of Skill Roll, using 2d6 + DMs. See below:-
There are three types of attack:- Melee/Hand to Hand, Shooting, Thrown/Missile.
Missile attack. Uses the Melee Skill + either the character's Strength or Dexterity DM
Shooting Attack. Uses the Gun Combat skill + Dexterity DM
Thrown Attack. Uses the Athletics (Co-ordination) skill + Dexterity DM.
