Scouting a System Process

[RevReese]

Hi all!, I have a quick question about Scouting/Surveying a system.

I have the Scout Book 3 and am looking at pages 88-91 where it details the process of scouting/surveying a new system.

I was wondering how exactly to translate this into "game terms" as in how do i walk my players through the process of scouting a new system when they jump in?.

Is it all done using sensor checks? do I keep getting them to roll checks until the UWP for each world in system is gained and presence of Gas Giants detected etc?.

I know this sounds silly but I want to create my own "home" system and slowly expand outwards, surveying and such as we go.

Any help would be gratefully received!.

Thank you for your time!

 

[simonh]

I think the question is, how to make a game mechanical process like that interesting?

Suppose the players fail the first 4 or 5 rolls, how would that produce interesting in-game consequences? If it can't, I wouldn't set up a situatiuon where that could very well happen. Much of surveying a system is basic routine tasks that nobody competent in their field should be able to fail.

UWPs are an extremely crude set of stats. You should be able to determine most of the physical attributes of a world, and a decent estimate of it's population and even some broad ranges of Tech Level, by just eyeballing it from orbit, no advanced sensors required. The only tricky issues would be tainted or exotic atmospheres and the lower pop digits, but even very basic sensor readings should give you those at the press of a button. Trickier issues would be things like unusual geological features, rare chemistries and tracking down and characterising native biologicals.

Simon Hibbs

 

[Rick]

Given what information we can observe of a distant system with our TL8 equipment, the PC's will probably already have most of the system information before they arrive, so the first step would usually be to confirm existing data, fill in any blanks and note any anomalies or irregularities. Most of that would be completely routine - the only dice roll that they could make for that process might be to see if they can speed up the process - a good or exceptional success might indicate shaving a bit of time off, a failure that it takes a bit longer.

 

[simonh]

...a good or exceptional success might indicate shaving a bit of time off, a failure that it takes a bit longer.

That's a good option, but again it depends on how important shaving a bit of time off is. If the survey takes only 5 hours instead of 10, what difference does it make in the game?

Another option is that a very good success means the character has discovered something unusual and important such as rare mineral deposits, evidence of unusual life forms on an otherwise apparently dead planet or moon, etc. It can't be 'the scenario' though because if the character fails then you don't get to run the scenario, and that's no good.

So lets look at it from the other direction. Let's assume there's a scenario the GM has in mind in this system. How do you run the survey such that the characters get involved in it, but doing the survey well gives them an advantage?

Let's assume the scenario involves discovering and making contact with is a small steam-age colony of the descendents of a lost civilization, living in a deep underground cave on one of the inner planets.

* A good survey roll on one of the outer gas giants will reveal a derelict landing site on one of the moons where the lost civilization surveyed one of the gas giant's moons and left behind some tools, equipment and maybe a drilling rig to exploit a mineral deposit.

* Good roll examining the asteroid belt reveals one of the asteroids is an abandoned planetoid hull base, stipped of most of it's equipment but with some clues to the existence of a colony on the inner planet and whre it used to be.

* A failed roll surveying the main planet means the players find the old base, but are told it's long dead but there might be old equipment or something to scavenge, when they land, they get to fight some local animals but later are blindsided by steampunk natives that ambush them, or whatever. Failed survey rolls meant they got the red herring info, not the real info.
* A basic roll surveying the planet identifies the site of the colony, how long it's been there, etc.
* A good roll surveying the planet identifies a shaft leading deep into the planet's crust.
* An excellent roll identifies signs of activity deep underground such as slight seismic vibrations from machinery, or faint electromagnetic disturbances in the planet's magnetic field from primitive electrical equipment. There might even be a second shaft somewhere so the players might ahve a choice of how to approach - through the front door or via a route that partly goes through natural caves.

You'd probably want to throw in some other stuff for the players to find, such as life forms on one of the planets, etc that aren't directly related to the scenario. I realise this set up is very cheesy, but it's just an example and anyway I like cheese.

Simon Hibbs

 

[Nathan Brazil]

Shaving the time frame can be handled "in game" per p.50 with a -1 on the task roll. As to a failure, misinformation. As to what type of misinformation, well that could lead to "fun" roleplaying opportunities...

 

[Reynard]

First off, the Survey and Exploration section should be considered a really detailed guideline for the referee to plan an adventure. Traveller loves details for the ref. It helps a ref for creating color during a survey and determining when and where the interesting encounters or events will occur. NEVER have the players forced to do EVERY step from start to end. Keep it cinematic. No one has a military adventure describing every step though the terrain making recon and search checks every kilometer... we'll not mention Marooned or Marooned Alone.

You're trying to keep you players awake so, as they run their SOP, throw in the details they're expected to find as reward for doing what they there for. Either for color or as a clue to an upcoming event, you can add a detail that require a Task roll for more information. Remember to use the Effect (pg 50) for greater information. As long as they don't get a -1 or less, they get some info OR you get clever with misinformation.

Never bog down the players or the referee with long streams of facts.

 

[RevReese]

Wow, so many replies!

Based on what has been said here, I was thinking it all wrong (I was thinking you needed to "act out" every step!).

I have a lot more to think about and I am definitely a lot clearer on the subject than I was!.

Thanks again to each and every one of you!

Now to finish that Subsector map and start planning! :wink:

 

[alex_greene]

By an amazing coincidence, MJD has come up with two Referee's Aids, 1 and 5 - Among The Trojans and A Guide to Star Systems.
There is plenty of material in those two guides, alongside the Space Stations supplement, to flesh out solar systems for your survey characters.