Significant Others In Traveller

[fusor]

I don't really see a point to having these rules.

That is not my problem. You'll gain experience. Hopefully without having to slay kobolds in order to do so. It ain't all buttons and charts, little albatross.

Is that sort of snark really necessary? Especially from a moderator who should be setting an example in their behaviour?

As described, the SO is basically a player-owned NPC who can do anything the player wants, who can magically supply them with money whenever needed (um, what?) and is immune to harm. I think they're rather over-powered as described.

 

[Synther]

I don't really see a point to having these rules.

That is not my problem. You'll gain experience. Hopefully without having to slay kobolds in order to do so. It ain't all buttons and charts, little albatross.

A significant other could easily fall under Contacts/Allies/Enemies and should be handled through regular role play.

No, they really can't. Allies and Contacts appear as recurring characters in the credits that roll after the theme sequence. Either that, or they would appear in the end credits if they were one-offs. S.O.s appear in the opening credits right after the top billing.

There's absolutely no need to carve this kind of thing into stone.

Ah, but if everybody believed that, there would have been no Traveller versions released other than the GDW LBBs and, with GDW a phantom of games past, Traveller would be a half-forgotten legend among old tabletop gamers.

The reason the details of your rules didn't make it into the book is because they're inane. Significant Others can be handled through role play as standard NPCs. In the normal course of a campaign, what happens to these NPCs is either going to be a story plot point or it is going to fall by the wayside and not spoken of at all. Nobody plays Traveller to come home and say, "Hi honey. How was your day?" So having hard and fast rules for this are completely unneeded. I don't need experience and don't go making presumptions about me. I don't need your rules for how to handle a non-issue.

 

[alex_greene]

The reason the details of your rules didn't make it into the book is because

they never got the rules. I never sent them, but I forgot to put in a different entry instead. I think it was one where you got stranded when your crew abandoned you at the Startown after a raucous night out, because a duplicate you had somehow sneaked aboard after incapacitating you.

That entry also got left behind.

I'm going to expand S.O.s into something new, combining it with "Old Flames" from Signs & Portents.

 

[Synther]

My style of game:

"Sweat ran down the side of Tamar's face inside his helmet. He eyed the corridor cautiously and checked the heads-up-display. The H.U.D. read that he had 30 minutes of oxygen left. 'More than enough to take care of this thing,' he thought. Suddenly, his motion tracker started to show movement up ahead, deeper into the derelict. 'Maria, look sharp. That Charmax is on the move and it's getting closer.'

'Affirmative,' was Maria's only response as she locked the bolt on her autorifle. With a crash, the Charmax fell through the decrepit air duct over the center of the corridor. Maria was quick on the draw and the staccato report of her autorifle filled the corridor with a hail of bullets. Flashes of light strobed through the corridor as bouts of flame licked from the barrel of the rifle.

Tamar took his time and aimed carefully. Squeezing the trigger on his laser carbine caused a snapping sound as air, dust, and ozone was vaporized between the gun and his target. The Charmax took the hit dead center and caught fire from the laser...."

That game brings players to my table. This is my game with your S.O. rules:

"Tamar stepped off the Far Trader and waved his goodbyes. He quickly hailed an air taxi that would take him back to his flat. It would feel good to spend a week of down time at home with is wife Lucy and their son little Timmy. Tamar chewed is lip in contemplation. He really hoped that Timmy wasn't still hanging out with that Vagr kid. 'Vargr are bad eggs,' he thought.

Stepping from the air taxi, he strode to the door and put his thumb to the door lock. The door swished open and he was home. A delicious smell assailed his nostrils upon entering his flat and the sound of the new Hoover Vacuum cleaner could be heard from the living room. 'Lucy, I'm home! Boy, those Aslan are pistols! Something sure smells delicious! How was your day?'

'I'm just vacuuming the space apartment!' Yelled Lucy. 'I have a fantastic roast in the oven! Dinner will be on the table in a couple of hours! Can you take Scout for a walk?'

'Sure can honey! Boy howdy, this is going to be a great week off....'"

That is *not* the game that will bring players to my table.

 

[alex_greene]

My style of game

Everybody has a style of game. This is for people who are happy to expand their repertoire beyond shooting people, heists, piracy, warfare or dungeon delving.

Funny how some people always assume that just because they don't like meat, nobody else should be allowed to try eating meat ...

 

[Synther]

My style of game

Everybody has a style of game. This is for people who are happy to expand their repertoire beyond shooting people, heists, piracy, warfare or dungeon delving.

Funny how some people always assume that just because they don't like meat, nobody else should be allowed to try eating meat ...

People can play any game they want. But I'll tell you that in over 38 years of playing role playing games and with all the conventions I've been to, I've never once seen a party get excited about role playing babysitting while their significant other and her friends go to the see the latest trid at the cinema. Not once. Ever.

 

[alex_greene]

My style of game

Everybody has a style of game. This is for people who are happy to expand their repertoire beyond shooting people, heists, piracy, warfare or dungeon delving.

Funny how some people always assume that just because they don't like meat, nobody else should be allowed to try eating meat ...

People can play any game they want. But I'll tell you that in over 38 years of playing role playing games and with all the conventions I've been to, I've never once seen a party get excited about role playing babysitting while their significant other and her friends go to the see the latest trid at the cinema. Not once. Ever.

That's not what the S.O. role is about, and frankly, you are aware of this too, which makes your attitude one of antagonism for its own sake.

 

[Synther]

That's not what the S.O. role is about, and frankly, you are aware of this too, which makes your attitude one of antagonism for its own sake.

Significant Others Come With Obligations
Your Traveller might not like having his S.O. around, demanding a long evening of wine and cuddles when he wants to study for his Pilot 2 certificate. But sometimes, the S.O.'s needs would have to come first, even if it means that he misses out on going to see the Patron because he has to babysit his S.O.'s best friend's infant daughter while the S.O. and the best friend take off together to see the latest trid in the cinema.

So, somebody else wrote that, right?

 

[-Daniel-]

Ok, both of you need to stop. Alex, as a moderator you should know when you are being trolled. Let it go. And Synther, in my 37 years I have seen several times when Players wanted to have either NPCs or other PCs be played as if they were in a relationship beyond that found in just contacts or allies. And no, none of these were like you described. And I suspect if you really have been playing 38 years then you have too. Stop please. Just don't buy his product if you are not interested.

 

[Synther]

Ok, both of you need to stop. Alex, as a moderator you should know when you are being trolled. Let it go. And Synther, in my 37 years I have seen several times when Players wanted to have either NPCs or other PCs be played as if they were in a relationship beyond that found in just contacts or allies. And no, none of these were like you described. And I suspect if you really have been playing 38 years then you have too. Stop please. Just don't buy his product if you are not interested.

You're right. No. I'm not interested. I'm so not interested that if this even gets offered as an optional rule that I'll go look for another system. No, in my 38 years of gaming I've NEVER once seen someone want to role play and live out the humdrum-boring, oh my god I want to kill my self, style of real life. The entire reason people play role playing games is to get away from that. There was a reason this was on the cutting room floor: It's garbage. Nobody wants to deal with that. They deal with that all day every day. If it is really going to come down to this kind of rule structure, I'll go back to playing the American version that was called Alternity. At least those rules made sense.

 

[Synther]

And it's not trolling someone when you are simply calling them on their B.S.

 

[-Daniel-]

Ok, both of you need to stop. Alex, as a moderator you should know when you are being trolled. Let it go. And Synther, in my 37 years I have seen several times when Players wanted to have either NPCs or other PCs be played as if they were in a relationship beyond that found in just contacts or allies. And no, none of these were like you described. And I suspect if you really have been playing 38 years then you have too. Stop please. Just don't buy his product if you are not interested.

You're right. No. I'm not interested. I'm so not interested that if this even gets offered as an optional rule that I'll go look for another system. No, in my 38 years of gaming I've NEVER once seen someone want to role play and live out the humdrum-boring, oh my god I want to kill my self, style of real life. The entire reason people play role playing games is to get away from that. There was a reason this was on the cutting room floor: It's garbage. Nobody wants to deal with that. They deal with that all day every day. If it is really going to come down to this kind of rule structure, I'll go back to playing the American version that was called Alternity. At least those rules made sense.

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate your willingness to be honest about this situation. Sorry to see you leave the Traveller family. I hope you enjoy what ever rule set you end up with. :mrgreen:

 

[mancerbear]

You're right. No. I'm not interested. I'm so not interested that if this even gets offered as an optional rule that I'll go look for another system. No, in my 38 years of gaming I've NEVER once seen someone want to role play and live out the humdrum-boring, oh my god I want to kill my self, style of real life. The entire reason people play role playing games is to get away from that. There was a reason this was on the cutting room floor: It's garbage. Nobody wants to deal with that. They deal with that all day every day. If it is really going to come down to this kind of rule structure, I'll go back to playing the American version that was called Alternity. At least those rules made sense.

Jeez, butthurt or what? So in 38 years you've seen very game ever played and know every gamer that plays a game? Dude, you are amazing.

 

[Synther]

You're right. No. I'm not interested. I'm so not interested that if this even gets offered as an optional rule that I'll go look for another system. No, in my 38 years of gaming I've NEVER once seen someone want to role play and live out the humdrum-boring, oh my god I want to kill my self, style of real life. The entire reason people play role playing games is to get away from that. There was a reason this was on the cutting room floor: It's garbage. Nobody wants to deal with that. They deal with that all day every day. If it is really going to come down to this kind of rule structure, I'll go back to playing the American version that was called Alternity. At least those rules made sense.

Jeez, butthurt or what? So in 38 years you've seen very game ever played and know every gamer that plays a game? Dude, you are amazing.

I'm not butthurt, but I'm not going to play with stupid rules either. And, reality check, it's not like Traveller is so popular that it can bleed players. Get actual print books out to the game shops and on Amazon, that's one thing...but that isn't the case right now. If you start allowing these kinds of ridiculous rules, the game is going to die rather quickly.

 

[fusor]

You're right. No. I'm not interested. I'm so not interested that if this even gets offered as an optional rule that I'll go look for another system. No, in my 38 years of gaming I've NEVER once seen someone want to role play and live out the humdrum-boring, oh my god I want to kill my self, style of real life.

You realise you're talking about a game that has rules for paying off mortgages for ships, right? Whose creator thought it was a good idea to write a whole adventure about dealing with bureaucrats to get an exit visa?

 

[-Daniel-]

Whose creator thought it was a good idea to write a whole adventure about dealing with bureaucrats to get an exit visa?

LOL, I forgot about that. Funny things that show up in Traveller. :mrgreen:

 

[mancerbear]

I'm not butthurt, but I'm not going to play with stupid rules either. And, reality check, it's not like Traveller is so popular that it can bleed players. Get actual print books out to the game shops and on Amazon, that's one thing...but that isn't the case right now. If you start allowing these kinds of ridiculous rules, the game is going to die rather quickly.

So why do you care? Go play Alternity. Traveller has survived just fine for almost 40 years without you. It's not as if we need you.

And yeah, you're butthurt.

 

[alex_greene]

Whose creator thought it was a good idea to write a whole adventure about dealing with bureaucrats to get an exit visa?

LOL, I forgot about that. Funny things that show up in Traveller. :mrgreen:

I can't remember the title - I always remember it as "The Nightmare Scenario" - but when I played it, it opened my eyes to untold vistas of horror.

At least you can run away when Cthulhu pops his head up over the parapets.

Research has come through. The version I played was indeed called "Exit Visa" and it was a one-off from The Traveller Book. It made my adventure "The Thing In The Pit" feel like a sunny day at the beach by comparison.

 

[Condottiere]

My suggestion is for Traveller, as it probably would be for a lot of other RPGs (though not necessarily all), is two paths.

One, it gets discussed with the Dungeon master, and both of you draw up a family tree and relationship chart, which can act as plot hooks later on.

Two, it's semi randomized, but each event has several paths it can take and the player chooses which he prefers; if the end result looks unpalatable, some manual manipulation is then undertaken.

 

[alex_greene]

My suggestion is for Traveller, as it probably would be for a lot of other RPGs (though not necessarily all), is two paths.

One, it gets discussed with the Dungeon master, and both of you draw up a family tree and relationship chart, which can act as plot hooks later on.

Two, it's semi randomized, but each event has several paths it can take and the player chooses which he prefers; if the end result looks unpalatable, some manual manipulation is then undertaken.

Everything gets discussed with the Ref, naturally. If a player wanted to be a psion, or have a term or two spent in the Prisoner career rather than a Drifter, chat with the ref starting from before the first dice are rolled for characteristics and continuing all the way through to the final scenario.

If the player wanted a Significant Other who tragically dies during character generation, make sure to ask the Ref. That tragedy would shape the Traveller's personality considerably in play, as well as offer plenty of loose ends for the Referee to exploit - consider the fate of Anna Sheridan in Babylon 5. Ditto, if you want an ex-wife who is still around, and has an almighty complicated past of her own - look at Captain Elizabeth Lochley in Babylon 5.

That does remind me - I wrote an article, "Old Flames," for Signs & Portents. Time to dust that one down too.