Solo (Duo?!) Traveller

[realistik]

Hi all, I'm new around these parts. I have one local friend that I roleplay with, and for our next game I'm going to run MgT. He's currently running a modern CoC game which I'm playing. We've been running "solo" games for each other for years now, so I'm not at all concerned about coming up with a story that he'll like. I was curious though, about any experiences any of you have had with Traveller games, especially MgT, with a Ref and one player, any tips or suggestions, pitfalls to look out for, etc.

I don't yet know what kind of character he's going to settle on, so no idea what kind of story it's gonna be, but I'll most likely document the game once it starts somewhere for everyone to see.

Thanks for your time and comments (if any)!

 

[far-trader]

Welcome aboard realistik

I think Traveller will be a good fit for your game. There are many ways to run solo, with and without a ref. Without specifics on the character and your own story desires it's hard to offer specifics.

Keep it simple. Don't generate a lot of details (worlds, persons, etc.) that the player may simply pass by. But do have some background sketched out for the area of play. Your own creation or a supplement or two. See what you both find interesting then work on that.

It might be exploration. A lone Scout (they are the ultimate loner Traveller) on Detached Duty with a Type S Scout/Courier can find all kinds of interesting things to do.

It might be trade. The Captain of a Type A Free Trader. Wheeling and dealing, taking the odd special job to cover a payment. Hiring and firing crew, hoping one of them doesn't turn out to be mutinous or worse.

It might be patrol. An active duty Commander piloting and commanding a Type T Patrol Cruiser for the Imperium. Or maybe a retired officer with a Letter of Marque and his own ship. Hunting Pirates. Policing Merchants. Rescuing Nobles.

Or speaking of Nobles. What's better than cruising the stars in your Yacht. Going to parties. Going on safari. Jumping in as a diplomat in the nick of time when some locals get out of line.

Ideas are multitude. Pick a story and run with it Looking forward to your experiences retold.

 

[impala]

I think you should also find out what your player wants out of the game. I am working up some stuff for my wife to play, her big thing is archaeology. So a "one man army" mercenary game would be pointless. But working with the old FASA "Sky Raider" trilogy is about perfect. So finding out what will be fun for them is an important concern to make sure you have fun.

Just my opinion, of course.

 

[ShapeShifter]

My background at university was Archaeology as well. I've tried coming up with a 'xeno-archaeologist' career, but, from what I can recollect my posted efforts were received with a hearty round of scorn from the local grognards.

I've got the ruleset Mythic Game Master Emulator which I recommend and may also be of utility at helping solo players or even small groups where a GM may not be in attendance.

 

[far-trader]

My background at university was Archaeology as well. I've tried coming up with a 'xeno-archaeologist' career...

That intriquied me...

...but, from what I can recollect my posted efforts were received with a hearty round of scorn from the local grognards.

...and that begged a search

Not so much "a hearty round of scorn", not even a hint of on a quick read. A little topic drift but I think you just didn't catch the right crowd at the right time. And somehow I seem to have missed it entirely.

Ressurect it if you want. You never know (I'm off the net for a few days again though so I'll probably miss it again... )

 

[Malinor]

When our rpg group broke up for various reasons only myself and a friend were left in the neighborhood. We were still interested in playing, so I ran a one-to-one Traveler campaign based on MTU. My friend played a scientist/diplomat aboard a custom-built Scout with a crew of three NPCs. Loosely based on TNE the mission was to explore outwards from a pocket empire, re-establishing contact and primary diplomatic ties with worlds left isolated by Virus.

I was careful to get feedback from him before setting the campaign in motion. As impala said, finding out what will be fun for the player(s) is an important concern to make sure you both have fun. In the above case, there was no percentage in creating slam-bang military action when the player preferred to talk his way out of trouble.

 

[realistik]

Oh fear not, there's no way I'd so much as start writing up a storyline without having discussed what we're after, both as player and GM. Like I said, we've been doing this several years now, and we're both pretty attuned to that particular rule.

At this point I'm creating NPCs (because even if I'm not going to play, I like rolling up characters hehe) and familiarizing myself with the OTU little by little since I'm planning on sticking pretty close to it in MTU. The excitement of running a Traveller game has been steadily building for 2 weeks or so and shows no sign of stopping, which is good in my experience. There have been other games one of us would get really excited about but before we decided what kind of game we wanted to play with it, the excitement would be gone. The few times we've gone ahead and played anyway, it usually wasn't a good fit for us, and we prematurely quit.

 

[impala]

My Search-Fu is bad, can you please post a link to your Xeno-Archaeologist notes? I found 3 pages of posts after I searched the term, but none seemed to have the actual rules. If I missed it, I do apologize

 

[Supplement Four]

I was curious though, about any experiences any of you have had with Traveller games, especially MgT, with a Ref and one player, any tips or suggestions, pitfalls to look out for, etc.

You don't have to look far to find something about Traveller that will fit your needs. Unlike D&D, which requires a little work to get away from the "party" aspect of the game (unless your one player is running multiple characters), Traveller has a "built in" scenario that has been a favorite of one-on-one gamers since Traveller first saw print.

Your player runs a Scout, piloting a single-person scout vessel.

There's all sorts of stuff you can get into with that scenario, from plain old "running mail", to discovering new systems, blockade runner during war time, special courier where the cargo can be anything you can make up that is exciting: A Diplomat, or Admiral, or strange alien; a dangerous cargo (think the first Alien movie); vaccines that are desperately needed somewhere; psi drugs, but why is the Scout Service running illegal drugs from the Navy anyway; and on an on.

The character can be still actually in the Scout Service, or he can be mustered out, using the ship on the Scout loan program. Maybe he's called back up for duty because of that program.

The possibilities are endless, and you can do it with one character and one small ship.

Heck, maybe use Book 8 and make him a robot companion that you can run as an NPC! Meet Harv-E the Cargo Loader!

Where'd Harv-E get those pop-out weapons, anyway? That's not standard on a cargo loader model...

 

[ShapeShifter]

That intriquied me...



...and that begged a search

Not so much "a hearty round of scorn", not even a hint of on a quick read. A little topic drift but I think you just didn't catch the right crowd at the right time. And somehow I seem to have missed it entirely.

Ressurect it if you want. You never know (I'm off the net for a few days again though so I'll probably miss it again... )

Perhaps the scorn I remember was voiced on another forum out there in the vastness of the Interwebz. I may bring the idea back to life eventually. RL is draining my precious, precious hobby hours.

My Search-Fu is bad, can you please post a link to your Xeno-Archaeologist notes? I found 3 pages of posts after I searched the term, but none seemed to have the actual rules. If I missed it, I do apologize

I just got the HC JTAS books and noticed a nice article on Scientist careers (#29, p. 16 ff.). I will very likely study that and rewrite the Xeno-Archaeologist write-up.

 

[kafka47]

Picking up from S4 said... X Boat pilot jumps out and there is no Tender in sight. There is something bliping at the extreme scanner range but without Maneuver Drive. How to get there? Is the Tender? Is it Pirate waiting to retrieve a copy of the plans for new battle station the Navy is building? Is it a derelict drifting in the Bermuda Triangle of Space? Or is it a portal (a Stargate, if you will) that grounds the X-Boat on a desolate remote world?

While, I don't endorse duo play (much more fun) to have others but whatever works...the secret would be to run it MacGiver or Swiss Army Knife fashion, have the X Boat have a partially working tool for every occasion. Otherwise, the Ref formulates a number of uses for what is in the Ship's Locker and the player with some luck and ingenuity will apply this to the particular problem.