The top 10 archetypal traveller plotlines.

[The Thing]

I was trying to come up with a list of the 10 most common traveller adventure plotlines.

So far I seem to have these, listed in no particular order:


Let's smuggle some neat stuff and to make money: A lot of traveller adventures seem to involve smuggling various things past various people who's job is to stop smugglers.

Let's keep people from stealing our stuff: Again, fighting off or escaping pirate attacks seems to be common in traveller.

Let's steal somebody's stuff: Sometimes some megacorps just have too much stuff while everyone else has too little. Addressing these imbalances and redistributing stuff seems to be a popular pastime.

Let's run around shooting at things and get paid for it: Mercenaryism is so popular in traveller it even gets it's own books in most traveller game systems.

Let's dig up some neat old stuff: What could politely be called "archeology" gets done a lot in traveller, especially in sites about 300,000 or so years old. Usually the scenarios involve keeping people from stealing what you dig up, or finding ways not to get your @$$ blown off by the stuff you've dug up.


Those seem to be some of the most popular traveller plotlines, summarized concisely if irreverently. Any other suggestions for the top 10 list?

 

[Valarian]

How about: weird stuff happening on a derelict ship

 

[The Thing]

How about: weird stuff happening on a derelict ship

Good, good. Add in "base" or "site", of course.

 

[Spinward Scout]

Don't forget the 'Someone needs to hitch a ride to someplace and trouble comes of it'. But that probably would include any passenger, wouldn't it?

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Oh no, Spinward, the "Someone needs to hitch a ride" is very important. Just any ole passenger won't do it. There has to be a sob story or the needs of the Imperium or something.

...Otherwise, it becomes the "problems with cargo/passenger during jump" classic plotline. :smirk:

 

[whartung]

Oh no, Spinward, the "Someone needs to hitch a ride" is very important. Just any ole passenger won't do it. There has to be a sob story or the needs of the Imperium or something.

...Otherwise, it becomes the "problems with cargo/passenger during jump" classic plotline. :smirk:

Or, of course, the ever popular "cargo becomes passengers" plot line...

 

[Spinward Scout]

You also have 'the passenger becomes cargo' until the coroner can see to the body.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Those work, too...

Or, of course, the ever popular "cargo becomes passengers" plot line...

Heh. :devil: That's the one major variation....

You also have 'the passenger becomes cargo' until the coroner can see to the body.

That only happens if you successfully deal with the "problems with cargo/passenger during jump" scenario. Otherwise, it becomes "crew becomes popsicles until emerging from jump and being intercepted by a really good med team" scenario.... :nonono:

 

[The Thing]

One thing that needs to be dealt with is being careful not to let some traveller adventures turn into screwed over, half-@$$ed D&D ripoffs.

The easiest ones for this to happen to are the "let's explore the derelict/ancient ship/base. it's way too easy for those to turn into "dungeon crawls".

 

[Fritz_Brown]

it's way too easy for those to turn into "dungeon crawls".

Sadly, that's true.

Related to the "archeology" scenario is the "world survey" scenario - "Please go here and tell me about the planet when you get back."

 

[Spinward Scout]

I just remembered the 'there's something attached to his face and it's scaring the ship's cat' scenario.

EDIT: Which happens just before the 'yup, it's a bughunt' adventure.

 

[The Thing]

The bughunt. How could I have forgotten that one?! D'Oh!

 

[Spinward Scout]

The easiest ones for this to happen to are the "let's explore the derelict/ancient ship/base. it's way too easy for those to turn into "dungeon crawls".

So how do you make it so it doesn't turn into a dungeon crawl? That's pretty much how always saw Shadows.

 

[Droyne668]

How about...

"Where'd all those @#$!@!!! K'Tring paratroopers come from?"

or

"That's not a Godking! That's some guy with TL9 stuff!"

Best,
Will

 

[Icosahedron]

Er, you could always try 'lets take some of this from here and sell it over there at a profit'.

Or what about 'How much of this universe can we carve out as a personal pocket empire?'

Or classically 'I wonder what's out there?'

Or 'This planet is not very hospitable'.

 

[Golan2072]

'You're on this or that planet when the sh!t hits the fan - get off-world ASAP'

'You're on a pleasure cruise when the sh!t hits the fan - get out alive'

'Evil Zho's/Sollies have kidnapped the good researcher - get him back'

'There's a war on Planet X -smuggle'em guns for a fat profit'

 

[Kharum1]

Or "I was drinking in a bar and woke up on board a starship a.k.a. Where the $*&^ am I"

Or "There really are aliens and what are they doing with that long metal rod? Run!"

 

[navywarlord]

And then there's

Misjump!! Got to find our way home (or to something familiar)....

This plot can be added to any of the others if the GM is feeling evil that day

 

[DElrick]

Sadly, that's true.

Related to the "archeology" scenario is the "world survey" scenario - "Please go here and tell me about the planet when you get back."

...and related to that is the 'long walk back to the spaceport' scenario (sometimes known in our group as the MAMBA scenario - Miles And Miles of not very much).

 

[aramis]

Must get this news from the Baron to the Sector Duke or Domain Archduke.
He's supposed to be over there....

Here's a writ of replevin on this starship. Find it, take it, and bring it back. The crew are disposable.