Solomani Campaign

[mancerbear]

Hoping to get my small Traveller group together next weekend to roll up characters. The plan is to have them as SolSec/Navy troubleshooters who are tasked to deal with "difficult" issues, such as assignations dissident leaders, hunting down Imperial agents, that sort of thing. Most of the time they will be under cover and have a huge amount of jurisdiction.

Now, my question. They will have mustered out of their respective careers, but be acquired by SolSec to act as their agents. How does this sound? Does it have legs? What adventures can you see around this?

 

[Torbyne]

It is as sound as the players want it to be. If they like it then they wont fight the scenario... too much. You could go a lot of ways with it too, are they willingly working for SolSec or being blackmailed/coerced into it? what do they want out of it and how far will they have to go to get it? I am thinking of inspiration such as Burn Notice or the Thunderbolts comic. Or Rambo even. Lots of ways to tell a story with a start like yours.

 

[Condottiere]

As a one shot or mini campaign, probably not.

It's usually recommended to talk with the players first, to find out what they want, what goals they want want their characters to achieve, and how they would like their characters to develop; though you can still present them the concept that it's all achievable within the context of being agents or hirelings of SolSec.

 

[mancerbear]

I've been GMing a long time, so I know the basics of discussing campaign ideas with players, but thanks for coving that.

The characters have been designed and we'll hopefully have our fist session next weekend. All the players seem to be right into this campaign idea, so I think it may be a long lasted.

 

[Jame Rowe]

Remember to involve Aslan clans, Imperial citizens and agents and Hive Federation individuals. Start off stressing that these would be opposed to the Solomani on the basis that they think that Sollies are thought to be an oppressive racist regime, and that the Solomani think of them as untrustworthy.

And then give a chance to show that the Solomani are not oppressive racists, and that the others are not completely untrustworthy. Then follow it up by someone else from the specific government backstabbing them.

 

[mancerbear]

Imperials definitely, Hivers occasionally, but probably not Aslan. The team are stationed in Alpha Crucis sector, so it's a bit far for the Aslan. I will have the disrupting trade in the Vegan Polity though

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Hoping to get my small Traveller group together next weekend to roll up characters. The plan is to have them as SolSec/Navy troubleshooters who are tasked to deal with "difficult" issues, such as assignations dissident leaders, hunting down Imperial agents, that sort of thing. Most of the time they will be under cover and have a huge amount of jurisdiction.

Now, my question. They will have mustered out of their respective careers, but be acquired by SolSec to act as their agents. How does this sound? Does it have legs? What adventures can you see around this?

You have David's Solomani Alien book?

 

[mancerbear]

Well, that was a disappointment. I had worked towards and planned a serious military/political espionage-style Traveller game. What I got was Monty Python meets the three stooges. The more I tried to impart the serious feel of the game, the more in character quips, jokes, and insubordination the players gave back. Wrong group of people for this game.

I'm not the joke-style gamer. I don't enjoy a game where every action is accompanied by a quip. I don't enjoy a game where players don't even attempt to get into character. I don't enjoy a game where the players can see the game master trying to develop an atmosphere and they just completely ignore it.

I really think it's time to give up role playing. I just cannot get a group of people together with the same mindset as me.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Well, that was a disappointment. I had worked towards and planned a serious military/political espionage-style Traveller game. What I got was Monty Python meets the three stooges. The more I tried to impart the serious feel of the game, the more in character quips, jokes, and insubordination the players gave back. Wrong group of people for this game.

I'm not the joke-style gamer. I don't enjoy a game where every action is accompanied by a quip. I don't enjoy a game where players don't even attempt to get into character. I don't enjoy a game where the players can see the game master trying to develop an atmosphere and they just completely ignore it.

I really think it's time to give up role playing. I just cannot get a group of people together with the same mindset as me.

Non-role-players will ruin any game session. What I do is watch how people role-play first before inviting them into a game. Do YouTube videos and good role-players will find you.

 

[mancerbear]

I live in a town of 700 people. The nearest large town is 60km away. I just don't get the option of watching anyone play first. I really have no option but to take who turns up. Even after discussion with the group, getting straight what it was that we all wanted, it went pair-shaped. It's like the people who I had the pre-game set up with were not the ones that gamed.

 

[TriOpticon]

Have you thought about online RPG using something like Fantasy Grounds? While I am not in a small town or live too far away from a larger city, finding the right group for an RPG that you want to run/play is hard. At least with the online option you have a larger pool and it seems easier to get across the type of game you want. I guess if they see it in writing they are more likely to understand?

 

[mancerbear]

I've done the online gaming thing in the past. Wasn't really for me, but thank you for the suggestion.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

I live in a town of 700 people. The nearest large town is 60km away. I just don't get the option of watching anyone play first. I really have no option but to take who turns up. Even after discussion with the group, getting straight what it was that we all wanted, it went pair-shaped. It's like the people who I had the pre-game set up with were not the ones that gamed.

Ok. So you don't have the option to role-play in G+ Hangouts then. That is where you can find quality players. Especially if you have a social contract that players will agree to. They always do, since they want in on a quality game. If I run a Mongoose Traveller one-shot in a game store, I don't expect players to be role-players in any way. But I have two simple rules for role-playing that makes games run smoothly and new players learn good habits they can pass on to their players when they referee their own games.

 

[AndrewW]

Have you thought about online RPG using something like Fantasy Grounds?

Just to expand upon this a bit there are multiple options for online role playing. Fantasy Grounds and other programs such as MapTools like it is one. IRC is another option, along with forum based.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Let me deconstruct your original post and point out the good bits/bad bits.

Hoping to get my small Traveller group together next weekend to roll up characters.

Great idea. Now stop there. Seriously, use the whole first session to get the players to roll a couple of characters and get them used to the idea of building a back story and linking it with the other player character back stories. Give them a bit of setting background but don't hi them with the secret stuff - the first rule of fight club...

The plan is to have them as SolSec/Navy troubleshooters who are tasked to deal with "difficult" issues,

So give each of them a secret instruction that they are a member, don't let them know the rest of the group are too initially.

such as assignations dissident leaders, hunting down Imperial agents, that sort of thing.

I'm assuming you mean assassinations - so you expect every member of the group to be an undercover special forces assassin...

Most of the time they will be under cover and have a huge amount of jurisdiction.

if you are undercover you have no authority without breaking your cover, even then if your control disavows all knowledge of you then you are left high and dry.

Now, my question. They will have mustered out of their respective careers, but be acquired by SolSec to act as their agents

Both could work - they could have been recruited during their prior career or they may just be getting recruited now. Mixing it up a bit would probably be best.

How does this sound? Does it have legs? What adventures can you see around this?

I can see lots of potential. But what happens when they realise SolSec are a bunch of Nazi bad guys?

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Let me deconstruct your original post and point out the good bits/bad bits.

Hoping to get my small Traveller group together next weekend to roll up characters.

Great idea. Now stop there. Seriously, use the whole first session to get the players to roll a couple of characters and get them used to the idea of building a back story and linking it with the other player character back stories. Give them a bit of setting background but don't hi them with the secret stuff - the first rule of fight club...

The plan is to have them as SolSec/Navy troubleshooters who are tasked to deal with "difficult" issues,

So give each of them a secret instruction that they are a member, don't let them know the rest of the group are too initially.

such as assignations dissident leaders, hunting down Imperial agents, that sort of thing.

I'm assuming you mean assassinations - so you expect every member of the group to be an undercover special forces assassin...

Most of the time they will be under cover and have a huge amount of jurisdiction.

if you are undercover you have no authority without breaking your cover, even then if your control disavows all knowledge of you then you are left high and dry.

Now, my question. They will have mustered out of their respective careers, but be acquired by SolSec to act as their agents

Both could work - they could have been recruited during their prior career or they may just be getting recruited now. Mixing it up a bit would probably be best.

How does this sound? Does it have legs? What adventures can you see around this?

I can see lots of potential. But what happens when they realise SolSec are a bunch of Nazi bad guys?

That only works with quality role-players though, which you need up front first.

 

[mancerbear]

So, a brief (very brief) discussion with the players (well two of them), and we've decided that perhaps the premis was a bit much for two newbies (one player is new to Traveller while the other two are new to role playing). I concur, so we have decided to pull back and start again. This time though, the characters are going to be freelance troubleshooters (re adventurers).

I won't run the game in the Solomai Confederation. I will probably use the Sindal Subsector to start with as detailed in the core rule book and move on from there. This way I can also use published adventures easily, which will mean less prep work overall.

My other option though, is to use the Gateway Domain as detailed in the old Traveller T20. That's nicely developed too, and in an interesting and volatile area of space as well.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Sorry, I should have read further down and I would have noticed your outline of how the session went.

Glad to know you are going to try and resurrect it, better still by getting the players to contribute ideas about what they want their characters to be up to - at least initially