Scenarios For Traveller

[alex_greene]

I find all the emphases on spaceship hulls, armour, turrets, weaponry and war somewhat tiresome at times. If I wanted a game of endless space wars, I'd hire a video game.

What other kinds of scenarios would you like me to write in Traveller? Some of my inspirations are listed below.

- The Body In The Library, by Agatha Christie
- "The City On The Edge Of Forever," Harlan Ellison
- "Marionettes, Inc.". by Ray Bradbury
- "The Borderlands of Sol" (the short story - I'm not suggesting setting a scenario at Terra/Sol), Larry Niven
- The Magician, by W Somerset Maugham
- Stranger In A Strange Land, Heinlein
- Lucifer's Hammer, Larry Niven
- The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed, by Ursula K LeGuin
- Lifeforce by Colin Wilson

After my Traveller scenario in Signs & Portents, The Thing In The Pit, saw publication, I found myself wondering what else I could do for Traveller, that would retain the SF elements without delving into the realm of fantasy, while at the same time steering away from endless wars and battles and missiles.

Hence, the question. What do you want?

 

[Dave Chase]

After a recent fast escape from a limited battle (no damage or hits to the ship) and quick Jump, the crew discover that they do not come out of Jump space at the end of 7 days, 8 days, 9 days, 10 days, midway through the 11 day they come out of Jump space.

After the taking care of the bodies of those individuals who killed them selves while staying in Jump space and believing that they would never leave, the crew then determines where they are.

They are 120 light years from where they first started the Jump. They are on the border between the Imperial and X alien race.
The ship still has 20 months of payments left, its only a J2 capable ship and they have little to no cargo for sale on board.

This is the bare bones of a mini campaign that I ran. Had a few more twist in it than is listed but don't they all.

Dave Chase

 

[alex_greene]

A prime example of the sort of thing I want to try and avoid:-

Empire Of The Earth - Eastercon 2011 Lecture

You'll find pretty much every theme found on these boards brought up here.

 

[rust]

What other kinds of scenarios would you like me to write in Traveller?

I would appreciate everything that deals with cultures and cultural diffe-
rences, the Ursula LeGuin novels are excellent examples of the kind of
stuff I like to read and play (including "The Word for World is Forest", if
combat has to be a part of a scenario - I usually can do well without it).

 

[carandol]

Hence, the question. What do you want?

Don't know if you've read any of C.J. Cherryh's Alliance/Union books, but they're great inspiration for Traveller games. Hard science but with the emphasis on the people; lots of politicking and wondering who the good guys are, in a world of different factions involved in a complicated civil war. Her "Chanur" books are great stuff too - a bunch of Hani (not dissimilar to Aslan) traders with one human crew member getting involved in dodgy deals with aliens with weird cultures and finding themselves in more and more fur-raising situations. "Never a dull moment, and rarely a safe one," as one review said - a good basis for Traveller adventure design!

I don't think I've ever run a ship-to-ship combat in Traveller - my players just aren't interested. Last campaign I ran, I *started* with the Prison Planet campaign and they spent weeks and weeks planning an escape before they even saw a spaceship. Then they got blackmailed into taking part in Tripwire, which all went horribly wrong (as far as the Imperium was concerned) because they were, after all, escaped criminals rather than heroes!

 

[phavoc]

Hence, the question. What do you want?

Don't know if you've read any of C.J. Cherryh's Alliance/Union books, but they're great inspiration for Traveller games. Hard science but with the emphasis on the people; lots of politicking and wondering who the good guys are, in a world of different factions involved in a complicated civil war. Her "Chanur" books are great stuff too - a bunch of Hani (not dissimilar to Aslan) traders with one human crew member getting involved in dodgy deals with aliens with weird cultures and finding themselves in more and more fur-raising situations. "Never a dull moment, and rarely a safe one," as one review said - a good basis for Traveller adventure design!

Hmm, what size tonnage do you think Norway would be? And the outriders?

Would suck to try and run from Mallory... she's a good captain.

 

[carandol]

Hmm, what size tonnage do you think Norway would be? And the outriders?

Would suck to try and run from Mallory... she's a good captain.

No idea, like I said, I never run starship combat! If I were running something in that universe, the PCs would probably be refugees dumped on Downbelow Station. Or possibly youngsters trying to make a name for themselves on Dublin Again.

I have heard there's an Alliance/Union board game, but that its so complicated that by the time you've set it up its time for everyone to go home...

 

[Dave Chase]

Well, you could always have the misjump take them to the close to the center of the galaxy and they have to find their way home (Kind of like some ST Tv series.) LOL

Dave Chase

 

[Burocrate]

What other kinds of scenarios would you like me to write in Traveller? Some of my inspirations are listed below.
snip
Hence, the question. What do you want?

Alex,

Thank you for the open request! I am always looking for adventures that require the PCs to interact with different cultures/world environments etc. Personally, I think a good source of Traveller inspiration are the SF books by A. Bertram Chandler. I can't remember if I read about his works on these boards or over on COTI but he is well worth the read. His Rim World and John Grimes series have influnced my Traveller settings. And there are well over 30 books to draw your research from as well as enjoy.

 

[IanBruntlett]

I find all the emphases on spaceship hulls, armour, turrets, weaponry and war somewhat tiresome at times. If I wanted a game of endless space wars, I'd hire a video game.

What other kinds of scenarios would you like me to write in Traveller? Some of my inspirations are listed below.

(cut a bit out)

Hence, the question. What do you want?

There are different kinds of player out there. According to the "Gamemastering" book sold by Mongoose (which I am still reading), there are at least 7:-

Powergamers
Butt-kickers
Tacticians
Specialists
Method Actors
Story Tellers
Casual Gamers

I'd like to second the suggestion for C J Cherryh stuff.

I'd like to see a STL campaign in the style of Kim Stanley Robinson's Martian Trilogy.

I'd like to see a hyper-tech campaign in the style of Iain M. Bank's Culture novels.

 

[zero]

For Traveller my inspirations atm are Dune, the '80s version (though I wouldnt mind checking out the two new miniseries) because of the various planetary politics in a specifically dictated FTL setting and also funnily enough Clone-Wars era (the times not the 'toon) Star Wars for a similar reason.
I also take inspiration from Alien, mainly that film for the '70s outlook on spaceship workings which to me seemed quite hard scifi past the FTL. Plus I use homebrew Aliens in some sessions.

Planets we jump to can give me various inspirations to use in a session and I also have a liking for the way things were done in Dead Space and Event Horizon (which I loved for the hard scifi start and the horror end).

I dont think it'd be too hard to make a Trav version of Dead Space for example.

 

[FreeTrav]

I find all the emphases on spaceship hulls, armour, turrets, weaponry and war somewhat tiresome at times. If I wanted a game of endless space wars, I'd hire a video game.

What other kinds of scenarios would you like me to write in Traveller?

{propitiation of bandpass deities}

I like contact scenarios. Not necessarily first contact scenarios, though those are often interesting if done right, but the kind of contact scenario where an exceptional individual on one side or the other suddenly realizes that the cause of the longstanding friction or even war between them was the result of a misunderstanding, or of failing to perceive a way out of a no-win situation, and then reaches out and makes the other side see the possibilities.

Three books that use this theme are Triple Detente by Piers Anthony, and The Course of Empire and The Crucible of Empire, both by Eric Flint and K.D. Wentworth.

 

[GamerDude]

Powergamers
Butt-kickers
Tacticians
Specialists
Method Actors
Story Tellers
Casual Gamers

Add:
Min-Maxers
Rules Lawyer
Spotlight Hogs

Bottom line? Year's ago SJ Games published "The Powergamer's Guide to Munchkins" It's good, very good.

 

[IanBruntlett]

Bottom line? Year's ago SJ Games published "The Powergamer's Guide to Munchkins" It's good, very good.

You've got me sold on it. Will buy a copy soon

 

[GamerDude]

Bottom line? Year's ago SJ Games published "The Powergamer's Guide to Munchkins" It's good, very good.

You've got me sold on it. Will buy a copy soon

Umm... I hope you mean the Mongoose one, or both. Both is good.

 

[IanBruntlett]

Bottom line? Year's ago SJ Games published "The Powergamer's Guide to Munchkins" It's good, very good.

You've got me sold on it. Will buy a copy soon

Umm... I hope you mean the Mongoose one, or both. Both is good.

I'm not sure I follow you... I've already mentioned I've got the Gamemastering book. Will soon be buying the Powergamer's Guide to Munchkins (PGTM), as recommended earlier on in this thread. I presume PGTM has only been published by SJ Games - is that assumption correct?