Traveller referee advice and other soul searchings

[Woas]

Hey gang. Back again with some referee advice questions and looking for feedback.

So I've been running a Traveller game since... January or so. It's pretty sandboxy. The player's originally decided during char gen to make it a 'bounty hunter' themed game. They used ship shares and purchased their own ship and I made a sub-sector with the broadest since of history/current events to give them plenty of room for adventures. One thing I've noticed in the past months trying to digest "The Way of Traveller", visiting message boards and other Traveller websites and reading everything I can, there seems to be a lack of good 'how to run Traveller' advice out there. Not that I'm expecting there to be a list of commandments, carved in stone somewhere about how to run a succesful Traveller game. There are always going to be variations and such. I mean look at rust and his game which is located on just one world. But I mean, pick any current, popular table-top RPG and you'll notice many, even most have a sort of feng shui in play style. And right now (especially based on the in-game events of the past 4-5 game nights) I feel like the Traveller feng shui is not flowing through me.

Maybe I'm just hitting some Referee material writers-block. After all it's been real rainy and blah the past couple days and that always makes me feel blah too. But regardless of the weather it seems like I can't grab hold of a good 'story' and the characters just pinball bounce around one-dimensional, sort of dull situations....
I fell that some of the issue may comes from the assumptions about gameplay that are attached with a Traveller game. On one hand the characters are obviously the star of the show. That's just basic RPG requirement. But on the other hand I feel its sort of silly to assume every time the characters jump into a system there is a semi or major- catastrophic problem that needs them to solve. As if there aren't hundreds, thousands, millions or even sometimes billions of people, and the infrastructure and services (police, EMS, space patrol, etc.) to go along with those population sizes all ready to solve the problem themselves.

I'd really love to read some Actual Play write-ups. I mean that's really the way I learn how to play RPGs. I find GM/DM/Refs/Story Tellers who do it well and just try pick their brain, really grasp into their style and emulate them. As Picasso said, "Good artists copy; great artists steal."

I realize this is kind of long and rambly. Maybe you guys would like to spill some helpful advice or personal anecdotes? Or just point me somewhere else?

Thanks,
Woas

 

[BP]

It sounds like you need to better define the scope of your play - narrow it down to something more on the individual level rather than looking for system and sector level scope (this is what it sounds like rust has accomplished).

Perhaps try Prison Planet adventure module it might fit with your existing bounty-hunter theme (others on this board should be able to answer this - I don't have it yet).

If your players are bounty-hunters - that sounds ideal for giving them challenging jobs. For instance - they could be hunting a fugitive who happens to be the favorite nephew of the local planetary admiral (oops). There is now opportunity for starship combat and using capital ship deckplans when hunting down their payday! Maybe they can end up finding the skeletons in the admiral's closet while about it - and get tangled up in a larger Imperial investigation...

[I know I have seen a good play-by-play for Traveller game recently... if I find the link I'll pass it on...]

 

[Corvus]

I have played RPGs for many years, and one thing I have come to believe is that sandbox-style settings, where the players can do whatever they want, don't work.

At first they sound attractive to players because they can do "anything", and attractive to referees because the players can drive the adventure. But, like an author facing a blank page, players get blocked on what to do. They don't know the background, they disagree with each other, they can't make NPCs do what they want.

Sandboxes are no fun for referees either; you can't prepare because you don't know what is going to happen, you make inconsistent rulings because the last time you tried something it didn't work, you waste time looking up rules.

To be a good referee you are going to have to do a lot of up-front work. You have to nail the setting down before starting the game. You need the adventure ready before you start, and you need to know the script. You need all the maps, NPCs, enemies, and a bunch of dialog ready before you start because you are not going to get time to do it during the game. No, you won't.

You need a patron or someone who can tell the players what to do, and who can lower the boom on them when they screw up. You need an enemy who will not stand around waiting for the players to do something before he reacts. If they players know nothing will happen until they do something, then they will do nothing.

And the players will like it more, it takes a lot less effort to only run their characters than to run the whole game. It's a lot easier to score a goal when someone passes you the puck.

 

[Sturn]

I have played RPGs for many years, and one thing I have come to believe is that sandbox-style settings, where the players can do whatever they want, don't work.

While I agree with your basic point, open-ended campaigns can and do work. I've refereed several. A sandbox setting is my first assumption in any campaign. BUT, there are of course several things to consider before doing so.

...players get blocked on what to do. They don't know the background, they disagree with each other, they can't make NPCs do what they want.

You make sure the players DO understand the background. I include "what a typical person knows" handouts at the start of any campaign. I make it a point to continually educate the players on the campaign setting. If you see that the characters should know something that the players don't, it's easy enough to RP the information to them. In scifi settings I have even provided a "computer database" (via a laptop and website I created) for players to look up information they may need.

Sandboxes are no fun for referees either; you can't prepare because you don't know what is going to happen...

It's a sandbox, not a desert. While my players can attempt anything realistic, I rarely have problems with players running off into the desert beyond the sandbox I prepared for them.

It seems you mean your sandbox is completely without any prepared adventures - you have nothing prepared and respond to what the players do? What I mean is I DO have several things prepared that may attract the players' attentions, but I also have backup plans and can act on the fly if need be. I never, ever want my players to think, "I can't do that because the GM has something else for us to do". It becomes an adventure on rails that is just a story the GM is telling to the players...instead of a story the players are creating around the setting provided by the GM. Part of the fun for me is also finding out how the story ends because often it is different from what I planned.

You need a patron or someone who can tell the players what to do, and who can lower the boom on them when they screw up.

Every group I have ever refereed has this exact NPC amongst their ranks. It's a great GM tool to have. The veteran warrior, ship captain, etc.

.....

Even in our campaign of "real life" where we obviously have a sandbox, there are many things that limit us - bosses, friends, and families (NPCs), laws (but you can't go to planet X yet, you don't have a jump 5 ship), and randomn life events (referee prepared adventures) that take us places we never imagined.

 

[dmccoy1693]

I've had positive experiences with sandbox setting in the past, but I also recognize that they require a certain group of players that are willing to take the initiative to achieve their goals. If they are not the initiative grabbing type (which it sounds like to be them), then I recommend:

1) sitting down with your players and talking. Ask them what they would like to accomplish with their characters. Ask them if they would like a stronger plot line. Would they like stronger character development or more intrigue. Which brings me to my next suggestion.

2) Build off existing material. You've gone this far with the setting. Think of everything you've done this far as setting the ground work for what is going to come next. Have your players stopped a rebellion? Rebellions require funding from someone with lots of money. The American Revolution was funded by France, 9/11 was funded by Saudi oil revenue (very indirectly, but still), the current talaban fighting in Pakastan is being funded by heroine. Everything gets their funding from somewhere. And they may try again, through different people this time. Have an old war buddy show up and talk about how he found some kind of clue to an old missing friend's location. Tie it in with someone the players currently love to hate.

3) Kill off an NPC. This works best if the players are close to the NPC. Deep Throat on X-files, Kosh on Babylon 5, Cedric in Harry Potter IV. All of these left the PCs impacted. The setting felt darker and more dangerous afterwards. It changes the tone and gives the PCs a sense that they need to avenge the NPCs demise.

 

[BP]

...It's a sandbox, not a desert. While my players can attempt anything realistic, I rarely have problems with players running off into the desert beyond the sandbox I prepared for them.

it seems like I can't grab hold of a good 'story' and the characters just pinball bounce around one-dimensional, sort of dull situations... characters are obviously the star of the show. That's just basic RPG requirement. But on the other hand I feel its sort of silly to assume every time the characters jump into a system there is a semi or major- catastrophic problem that needs them to solve. As if there aren't hundreds, thousands, millions or even sometimes billions of people, and the infrastructure and services (police, EMS, space patrol, etc.) to go along with those population sizes all ready to solve the problem themselves.

How big is you sandbox? You speak of deserts, but Traveller provides a Universe...

How does that compare to other games you have played?

Typical games involve maybe a city even continents - but stars with billions of beings spanning tech from stone knives to flying cities and beyond?

Perhaps you are having difficulties managing individual tree branches given the immensity of the forest?

 

[Infojunky]

Gee I was just in this boat too, consider just starting to shoot at the PCs until they bite a hook.

Or have them build a second set of characters to bounce through out the setting.

 

[rust]

Our campaign consists of a very detailed sandbox setting with lots of
background events beyond the player characters' control, a clear ge-
neral task for the characters, many problems they have to solve, and
also many options and instruments they can use.

The setting is a new human colony on a water world, Anuira. The player
characters are tied into this setting as some of the leaders of the colony
project. Their task is to establish the colony and guide its development.
Their problems include all that is important for the colony: Exploration
of the planet, encounters with hostile native wildlife, internal politics of
the colony, diplomacy and trade with neighbouring planets - you name
it, they have the responsibility for at least a part of it. The options and
instruments at their disposal are the colony's finances (never sufficient),
the colony's equipment (never enough) and a network of allies and con-
tacts.

My job is to provide the independent background events (e.g. an impor-
tant shipping line going out of business, closing down a trade route used
by the colony to import supplies) as well as the immediate problems (e.g.
a visit by bureaucrats of the Colonial Office, a series of attacks by native
predators, the mysterious disappearance of a colonist), and of course I
also roleplay the setting's reactions to the characters' activities.

The players are free to choose which of the many problems of the colony
their characters will try to deal with next, and how they will try to do so.
The players tell me this at the end of a session, to enable me to prepare
whatever is necessary until the next session.
If the players decide to ignore one of the problems I designed, this prob-
lem will be dealt with by nonplayer characters, but the result will never be
as good as it could have been if the player characters had handled it, and
sometimes the nonplayer characters fumble badly.

So the "secret" of our sandbox is that the characters have responsibilities
within the setting (no carefree wanderers here) and that they have a lot of
choices and decisions to make - meaningful choices and decisions impor-
tant for the future of the setting, actions that have (often unforeseen) con-
sequences.

 

[Anonymous]

Try running a well established high quality pre written adventure to give you an idea of the flow of the game. I would recommend the traveller adventure, twilights peak, the linkworlds cluster, snowfall by joe webb (this one available on freelance traveller), project steel, in search of angels (when it arrives).

The "open-ended" vs "on-rails" issue is the oldest problem in rpging. In order to have a good story, a certain amount of railroading is necessary. The trick is to make the players feel like they are making the choices - they are always free to choose a less sensible course but of course the possible consequences will be their responsibilty. It is very effective to use the story to trap them on a planet or in a group of planets. Look at the way the traveller adventure "leads" players from situation to situation. They feel they are making choices - and they are, but in reality there is only one sensible option. They will of course, stray from the sensible path at times. Then it is your job to bring 'em back on course or run with their idea if it seems good....

The best solution to this I have seen is the "epic system" which was originated by our own Marc Miller (I believe). It involves stories with "key scenes" which are integral to the story and are triggered by the players actions (often as simple as arriving somewhere). There are other scenes too which are optional and should be used to add adventure and colour as required by the ref. It should not always be easy for the players to know if a scene is "key" or not. The linkworlds is a fabulous example of this.

 

[alex_greene]

For inspiration, perhaps you ought to look at SF TV shows.

Don't rip off, say, The Trouble With Tribbles directly: but include a scene where the characters get into trouble for getting into a fight with a group of Zhodani proles in a bar ('Half the sector knows it! That's why they're learning to speak Zhodani!'). Throw in a teleporting Intendant for that aggravation factor before having the most aggravated character get in one good swing and clobber him one.

Then land them into that trouble. Don't shy away from it; let the characters get barracked by their Captain ('Who threw the first punch?' 'I don't know, Sir.' '"I don't know, Sir." You're all confined to quarters until further notice! Dismissed!")

Get inspirations from any source. Have the characters get thrust into a situation straight out of Die Hard: some villain takes over the arcology on the day of its opening ceremony, trapping the Zhodani Ambassador, his wife and a dozen Imperial hostages on the top floor. The security force is either all dead or they were working for the enemy undercover, and worst of all, there is no way of warning anybody outside the building.

Just because it's a sandbox, it doesn't mean you can't drop something nasty into the middle of it and force the characters to deal with the mess.

 

[Chronus]

But on the other hand I feel its sort of silly to assume every time the characters jump into a system there is a semi or major- catastrophic problem that needs them to solve.

Then don't assume it.

When you think about it, most RPGs take place on one world. Since Traveller opens up many worlds, it's tempting to think that story-lines must transcend several worlds. Maybe you should start a story that sticks to one world?

Try running a well established high quality pre written adventure to give you an idea of the flow of the game. I would recommend the traveller adventure, twilights peak, the linkworlds cluster, snowfall by joe webb (this one available on freelance traveller), project steel, in search of angels (when it arrives).

Having read Twilight's Peak and the first two parts of Project Steel, I would heartily recommend both.

Twilight's Peak is a good example of how many worlds can (and should) be nothing more that a stopping point for fuel (a series of such stops could be easily summarized in a paragraph or two) with the occasional rumor or clue thrown in. Not every world needs to be saved.

Project Steel is a good example of a single world campaign. The newly acquired Imperial world of Steel is undergoing colonization. The characters get mixed up in both the mundane and the extraordinary ... nicely balanced IMOHO. I'm looking forward to reading the final "Mouth of Hell" installment.

Oh, and I really enjoyed reading the mini-campaign in Beltstrike. This is another great example of interesting scenarios without the "save the world/universe" mentality. It all takes place in a single system. Not only did I find the scenes interesting, the authors left some of them open-ended for the GM to fill.

There's also some games going on over at rpg.net. I just got involved in "The Spinward Blues" and looking forward to more. However, keep in mind that you have to register in order to enter the Play By Post forums.

I hope you find what you're looking for!

 

[Woas]

Thanks for the replies so far. Let me rebound some of the feedback for further refinement.

@ BP: Yes, Space bounty-hunters was the theme the group picked as the over-riding structure to the game on the outset. Although it was made clear other interests were there too.
To date they have hunted two bounties. The one... hang out I guess you could call it, I have found with the issue is when I offer up a bounty scenario and the target is on another system. With the price of operating a ship the only bounty worth suggesting to the characters are ones that are basically the equivalent of "Space Osama Bin Ladin" or other "Most Wanted Men in the Galaxy". Not there is anything wrong with that an eventually I definitely want that to happen eventually cause it sounds fun, but lately offering up a bounty worth anything less than 500k credits that can't be case-closed with in a in-game week or less just doesn't get the player's (or their characters) attention.
On the flip said, you might say to me, "Well duh! Keep the bounty in the system so they don't have to waste a bunch of time and fuel looking for them!" And I do. But I keep scrapping ideas cause I continually think to myself, if the system has all these people and police forces and motivated people, why exactly are these outsiders being sent to do the dirty work?
Maybe I just need to get over myself. They say we are own worst critic!

@ dmmcoy: Maybe you're right and I need to have "one of those talks" with the group. I've done it before with other games that start to flail about but usually it didn't manifest in the inability to create provocative adventure/scenarios for the characters. From my past experiences I feel as though a scheduled, campaign style table top RPG eventually hits a 'game fragmentation' point where you need to just sit down, recap what's happened since the last recap, and herd the players back together and get them back on the same page.

@BP Again: My sandbox is 1 sub-sector big. I guess that doesn't really say much since there could be anywhere from 0 to 80 systems in a sub-sector. Specifically the sub-sector I made has 22 systems. You can visit it actually: http://mytraveller.pbworks.com.

@rust: Always welcome insight to what seems a really great game you run, each time I hear about it. At the outset of the current game when the players an myself were grasping what a "Traveller" game was all about initially, carefree wanderers was a theme that seemed to be pretty important. So, unlike you I do have party of carefree wanderers who all want to make a buck and pay off their ship loan...

@hirch_duckfinder: I believe I saw this "epic system" in play when I initially ran the free adventure The Rescue from Signs & Portents (issue 55) as a one-night, get familiar with the new system, game.
The setup of events and the timing/pacing worked great on the micro level and something I have had success with myself recently.
I feel, now having given it more thought, the problem is with the macro level. Taking The Rescue as an example if I were to drop that into my game... I would feel like it was a stretch to assume those events are always taking place "right now and only you guys can save them!" and break the feel of the game. I mean what kind of a game world do the character's live in when every time they jump to a system, their Comms are ringing off the hook for help cause Space Station A has a reactor leak! And there is another asteroid on a collision course with Startown and you're our only hope!
Now I'm adding a good dose of hyperbole in there but I think you get what I'm saying, yeah?

@alex_greene: Oh we definitely have great source inspiration material. We draw a lot on Firefly and Cowboy Bebop, just to name two off the bat.
I think the players and myself are good at getting the characters into trouble as you suggest. Now thinking about it further, I find the follow up the hardest part. With Traveller so many lose ends can develop. In say for example a D&D game after a typical adventure though, the evil dragon lay slain, the treasure taken an the day is saved. There is a clear end. Where as thus far in Traveller I think every time we've culminated a scenario/adventure, there are so many variables still open I feel a little overwhelmed, and perhaps the players feel underwhelmed more hasn't happened?

@Chronus: Ideally I would like to rope the characters into a system and try to keep them there for awhile. On the other hand they have their own ship and short of Hand-of-God-Micrometer-damages-your-ship-so-your-stuck-in-the-system-for-the-next-ingame-month-for-repairs, they are free to roam the stars. I felt that was part of the Traveller persona. But perhaps I need to re-evaluate that view...

 

[alex_greene]

Thanks for the replies so far. Let me rebound some of the feedback for further refinement.

The bounty is only the smallest part of the mission. The main part of the mission is, of course, the transport of a rich cargo from the source world to the destination world. All the characters have to do once they get to the destination is to haul the miscreant up before the local law enforcement. Transport of the bounty off-planet is a different arrangement, already in hand. That way, even if the characters feel that they're not making much on the bounty, the profit they make from the cargo run ought to make up for any cashflow shortage.

And besides, they might just score something even more lucrative on the destination world as an incidental result of their bounty hunting bringing them into contact with another rich Patron ...

 

[BP]

... I keep scrapping ideas cause I continually think to myself, if the system has all these people and police forces and motivated people, why exactly are these outsiders being sent to do the dirty work?...

There are billions of people on this planet - with lots an lots of police forces and money motivated individuals - yet we still have bounty hunters!

And nothing says the player's can't have some competition! Also, police forces don't generally track down bounties - they aren't motivated by the monies (they didn't give the bond in the case of those types of bounties) - they will pick them up or investigate if reported and may even keep track of movements (though false IDs generally thwart this).

And regarding skiptracer style ship bounties - the books specifically say that the Imperium doesn't waste its resources on such - so I can't really see a problem. These are likely to be bounties placed by financial/ government/ megacorps/ Insurance - so they should be big money (read % of ship cost)!

Plus - bounties aren't necessarily public - most are not, in point of fact. Authorized bounties don't go out to all and sundry - they are specifically handed out. So the players, even if they have no specific background/experience as such might appeal for their individual career backgrounds and ship and willingness to do the job cheaper than others (or ignorance to accept the job no one else would touch)!

Why outsiders? - Politics or mistrust of locals or trickery (maybe the so called legal bounty ain't really that kosher and the players are being made party to a kidnapping or being made the stooges who locate an assassination target).

BTW: Nice site - I particularly love the 'Ryobotics (RYBO)' and the starship name!

P.S. - if you enjoy reading and want a good laugh I would highly recommend the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich (One for the Money.. Two for the Show... etc, etc - not SciFi) - that might give you some 'bounty hunter ideas'

 

[Maccat]

Heh first thing came to my mind regarding the bounty hunters is skiptracing!

They have their own ship (big ship fan: post it!) only thought i have especially if sandboxing is have it not be too fast (high jump number) elsewise they could me a sector away in 'bout a month.

So those in arrears in their payments (ship theft), those lost to hostiles (pirates, highjacked ships) or whoever (knowingly or not!) got them after they were resold. LOTS of possibilities. To say nothing of stranded (we last heard when they shipped out of regina, go find em!) or misjumped.

Easiest is have the ship they're trying to catch, have it *be* somewhere, while your group is where they are, chase ensues! system to system, any word of ship X? if/when they find it what say 10% return if salvage or 1% (or whatever) finders fee. In some cases the ship and it's crew are legit, bought it proper but they were bilked it's a "hot ship", other times it's an actual pirate crew (aka dangerous! boarding actions!) or are they morally grey, kill all and in essence become sorta-pirates themselves to get the higher "salvage" value rather than the "finders fee"? (great moral dilemma!) "But i swear! we have the payment just our ship broke down here, we're waiting for parts, there's no facility to make payments here is all!" (do they fix it, take it and keep it, or what?)

Just dealing with various system defense / planetary navy vis subsector vis imperial to say nothing of the inherent hazards of space travel. "Yes, we are armed, well we're bounty hunters, we're after pirates sometimes. what?! no! *we're* not pirates, we're *after* pirates! Well, no, actually this case we're on they're just behind in their payments. What?! no, we aren't planning on shooting them... *because*, like i said, we're *after* pirates (sigh) Impoundment? Hey buddy, we need to be after these guys gotta catch em in like 3 weeks, ain't got no time for a month planetside while you 'work out the paperwork'..."

Side adventures 'cause passnger "Joe" who came in three weeks ago went home, he's over on the other continent, local law level doesn't allow you to visit (or call?! i rather don't like the way it's set up bah!)

Heck even tracking down a smuggled/lost/stolen/misdirected cargo (10t of ship's computers! 20MCr! 200k finders fee! 1MCr if 5%!) could be a big adventure. So mega bad guy not needed then, help any?

 

[AndrewW]

Might want to take a look at Book 5: Agent (once it's released, due in June) this covers bounting hunting including skip tracing.