creativehum
SOC-14 1K
First -- I will correct later today!
Second -- you wrote it! Do what you want with it!
Second -- you wrote it! Do what you want with it!
advice for refs
- Thread starter flykiller
- Start date
When a group of PCs shows up at a starport, whether they came by their own ship or were just decanted out of cold storage--er, I mean, low passage--you have to decide one thing first:
Is this an unusual circumstance here?
If it's NOT a run-of-the-mill occurrence that people with the characters' experience (lots of ex-military, right?), skills, and lack of affiliation show up, then people will notice. They will seek out the characters and try to involve them in their schemes.
The Patron system in the Mongoose Traveller book is useful for handling this.
If the PCs just landed in a pretty hugely populated and trafficked place, where people like them pass through every day, then it's less exciting for the natives. In fact, the natives might prefer that they move along, and will apply gentle legal force to encourage it. How?
Or maybe foreigners in a big place are potential rubes.
Of course, if they fall for any of those, someone lets them know about the ruse after the fact, and then the PCs can work on righting things.
Is this an unusual circumstance here?
If it's NOT a run-of-the-mill occurrence that people with the characters' experience (lots of ex-military, right?), skills, and lack of affiliation show up, then people will notice. They will seek out the characters and try to involve them in their schemes.
The Patron system in the Mongoose Traveller book is useful for handling this.
If the PCs just landed in a pretty hugely populated and trafficked place, where people like them pass through every day, then it's less exciting for the natives. In fact, the natives might prefer that they move along, and will apply gentle legal force to encourage it. How?
- Can't leave the downport without special passes.
- Or, in general: taxes, fees, bureaucracy.
- Quarantine! Invasive medical checks.
- A high Law Level in the UWP suggests restrictions that are especially applied to foreigners. Time for "random" searches.
- Outright hostility in the form of bullying or attacks.
Or maybe foreigners in a big place are potential rubes.
- "Need a place to stay tonight? I know the best places."
- "Here's a deal you can't pass up... come with me into this alley."
- "Hold this briefcase for a minute while I check through security."
- "Welcome to Bigworld! Let me wash the viewport on your starship. For free!"
- "You're ex-Navy? I'm ex-Navy! I just got dumped on this planet and I'm trying to raise $1000 for low passage to Regina. Can you help a fellow spacer out?"
Of course, if they fall for any of those, someone lets them know about the ruse after the fact, and then the PCs can work on righting things.
In general, being a referee is a set of skills that transfer across many different RPGs. If you have done it in other games, you can probably do it in Traveller. Some games offer more GM tools than Traveller; others, less.
The biggest tool you have is asking the players what they want to do. They'll often have things they want to accomplish. Then your job is to put every reasonable obstacle in their way of doing that. If there were no obstacles, then it would already be done. Be fair and don't push it. The Rule of Three often applies: In this case, three obstacles of varying difficulty works well. Obviously, you don't want to extend their pain forever; eventually, they should succeed.
For really huge goals, though, it's fair to say, "That's a huge goal and will take a long time. What's your plan for getting there? Okay, what's the first step?" For a large goal, see if they can break it into 2-5 smaller goals. If any of those goals seems too large, or if the plan for accomplishing it seems too nebulous ("Step one is steal a dreadnought? How exactly are you going to do that?"), it's okay to keep asking them "HOW?" and making them lay out a multi-step plan.
Then treat the first step like a goal, with three or so obstacles. When they accomplish that, then ask what the next goal is. Maybe the plan changed.
The biggest tool you have is asking the players what they want to do. They'll often have things they want to accomplish. Then your job is to put every reasonable obstacle in their way of doing that. If there were no obstacles, then it would already be done. Be fair and don't push it. The Rule of Three often applies: In this case, three obstacles of varying difficulty works well. Obviously, you don't want to extend their pain forever; eventually, they should succeed.
For really huge goals, though, it's fair to say, "That's a huge goal and will take a long time. What's your plan for getting there? Okay, what's the first step?" For a large goal, see if they can break it into 2-5 smaller goals. If any of those goals seems too large, or if the plan for accomplishing it seems too nebulous ("Step one is steal a dreadnought? How exactly are you going to do that?"), it's okay to keep asking them "HOW?" and making them lay out a multi-step plan.
Then treat the first step like a goal, with three or so obstacles. When they accomplish that, then ask what the next goal is. Maybe the plan changed.
Another tool every Traveller referee has is a threat. Something in the universe comes along and shakes up the lives of the characters. It's something they cannot ignore without saying something about who they are.
Google "36 dramatic situations" or poke around DriveThruRPG.com for similar products that list tables of these things. Make a list of 1-6 things that might happen in a place the PCs visit. Roll a die. Boom. Action.
Sometimes the players ignore prompts, for various reasons. When the dude shows up and begs for help, or else the mob boss will murder him, the PCs might shrug. "Not my problem." "What's in it for me?" "Mob boss? Out of my comfort zone." You can handle that in lots of ways.
You can shrug with them. Think about why it doesn't hook them. Heck, ASK them why it doesn't hook them. Learn more about your players that way. Pick another thing. Or ask them what they want to do instead.
You can nod and apply consequences. Later on, the dude's body is found dead. Better, it's found dead on their ship. Or if they don't have a ship, then the local police want to question the PCs, because they were the ones last seen talking to him. See, here's the video. Now they're suspects. Or maybe the mob boss saw the PCs talking to him, and now they're targets, too.
You can pivot. The mob boss saw the PCs talk to the dude. He pulls them in for a talk, and once he finds they refused to help him, offers them 10KCr to kill him. Of course, there are great reasons NOT to kill this guy. He's the son of a Duke. He's a diplomat. He's undercover law enforcement. He's carrying in his brain the plans to destroy that battle station, or to cure Space Cancer.
Basically, think "What's an interesting thing that could happen?" and apply the consequences, over and over.
Resist the temptation to tell Your Story. This is the characters' story. You're there to find out what THEY are going to do, so make the players face interesting choices, and then find out what happens through play. If you find yourself frustrated that the players are ruining the story you planned out, then you need to let go and stop planning stories so much.
Consider the elements you prepare as prompts for action. The players are toodling along, minding their own business, seeing what is in this nice system, and BOOM, WHAM, BANG! Something happens. Then ask them, "What do you do?" Half the time, you will have the correct ideas about how they will react, and might have thought through, "If they do X, then I'll do Y." But the other half of the time, they'll surprise you with fantastic or pitiful ideas, and then you have to improvise.
Okay, so they're doing Q, and Q is amazing and will solve this neatly. So reward them. I like to let them succeed outright if they have a great idea. Make them roll for anything that is tricky or likely to fail, of course, but then let it work.
Another trick is offer a juicy alternative, with a price. Sure, you can follow your amazing "Plan Q," but while you're doing that, "Plan V" presents itself. It's a lot harder, but you'll [win over a powerful diplomat / screw over that dude who has been harassing you / get blackmail on the mob boss / get an upgrade to your jump drive]... You get the idea. They may pass on the opportunity, and that's okay.
If their idea is stupid, be nice, but tell them what they would know in-character, and in that vein, why it is a "suboptimal" plan. If it's not outright impossible, maybe even put a series of steps in place that could succeed, if they are really lucky. Some really difficult die rolls / skill checks, and maybe just put a hard step in there that they need to give you a plan to deal with.
The biggest threat you have in your arsenal is taking away their stuff. Players love their stuff. Don't overuse this.
Don't ever just take their stuff without a warning and a set of obstacles for them to overcome.
OKAY: "You land your freighter on the pad, and the base team comes out to meet you. They're armed, as usual here... They want to inspect your ship... They found some substandard wiring in the jump drive, and want it all redone before your ship can fly again... they are going to charge you daily pad fees until it's fixed... they're impounding your ship because you can't show maintenance logs for the last three months..." Each of those is a problem that challenges them to come up with a solution. They might just try to shoot their way out.
NOT OKAY: "You land your freighter on the pad. They take your ship away from you at gunpoint. It's an overwhelming force. If you fight, you die." That doesn't give them several warnings and opportunities to react and try to prevent it. It's not a fair challenge.
OKAY: "You want to land on Xyzzyfuss? Your data banks tell you that the system has draconian laws and you're pretty sure your ship will never pass inspection there. It could end up impounded. Yes? Okay, as you near the pad, you see a crazy arsenal of robotic laser turrets, and a white-robed bureaucrat with a clipboard and his small army of inspection engineers..."
Google "36 dramatic situations" or poke around DriveThruRPG.com for similar products that list tables of these things. Make a list of 1-6 things that might happen in a place the PCs visit. Roll a die. Boom. Action.
Sometimes the players ignore prompts, for various reasons. When the dude shows up and begs for help, or else the mob boss will murder him, the PCs might shrug. "Not my problem." "What's in it for me?" "Mob boss? Out of my comfort zone." You can handle that in lots of ways.
You can shrug with them. Think about why it doesn't hook them. Heck, ASK them why it doesn't hook them. Learn more about your players that way. Pick another thing. Or ask them what they want to do instead.
You can nod and apply consequences. Later on, the dude's body is found dead. Better, it's found dead on their ship. Or if they don't have a ship, then the local police want to question the PCs, because they were the ones last seen talking to him. See, here's the video. Now they're suspects. Or maybe the mob boss saw the PCs talking to him, and now they're targets, too.
You can pivot. The mob boss saw the PCs talk to the dude. He pulls them in for a talk, and once he finds they refused to help him, offers them 10KCr to kill him. Of course, there are great reasons NOT to kill this guy. He's the son of a Duke. He's a diplomat. He's undercover law enforcement. He's carrying in his brain the plans to destroy that battle station, or to cure Space Cancer.
Basically, think "What's an interesting thing that could happen?" and apply the consequences, over and over.
Resist the temptation to tell Your Story. This is the characters' story. You're there to find out what THEY are going to do, so make the players face interesting choices, and then find out what happens through play. If you find yourself frustrated that the players are ruining the story you planned out, then you need to let go and stop planning stories so much.
Consider the elements you prepare as prompts for action. The players are toodling along, minding their own business, seeing what is in this nice system, and BOOM, WHAM, BANG! Something happens. Then ask them, "What do you do?" Half the time, you will have the correct ideas about how they will react, and might have thought through, "If they do X, then I'll do Y." But the other half of the time, they'll surprise you with fantastic or pitiful ideas, and then you have to improvise.
Okay, so they're doing Q, and Q is amazing and will solve this neatly. So reward them. I like to let them succeed outright if they have a great idea. Make them roll for anything that is tricky or likely to fail, of course, but then let it work.
Another trick is offer a juicy alternative, with a price. Sure, you can follow your amazing "Plan Q," but while you're doing that, "Plan V" presents itself. It's a lot harder, but you'll [win over a powerful diplomat / screw over that dude who has been harassing you / get blackmail on the mob boss / get an upgrade to your jump drive]... You get the idea. They may pass on the opportunity, and that's okay.
If their idea is stupid, be nice, but tell them what they would know in-character, and in that vein, why it is a "suboptimal" plan. If it's not outright impossible, maybe even put a series of steps in place that could succeed, if they are really lucky. Some really difficult die rolls / skill checks, and maybe just put a hard step in there that they need to give you a plan to deal with.
The biggest threat you have in your arsenal is taking away their stuff. Players love their stuff. Don't overuse this.
Don't ever just take their stuff without a warning and a set of obstacles for them to overcome.
OKAY: "You land your freighter on the pad, and the base team comes out to meet you. They're armed, as usual here... They want to inspect your ship... They found some substandard wiring in the jump drive, and want it all redone before your ship can fly again... they are going to charge you daily pad fees until it's fixed... they're impounding your ship because you can't show maintenance logs for the last three months..." Each of those is a problem that challenges them to come up with a solution. They might just try to shoot their way out.
NOT OKAY: "You land your freighter on the pad. They take your ship away from you at gunpoint. It's an overwhelming force. If you fight, you die." That doesn't give them several warnings and opportunities to react and try to prevent it. It's not a fair challenge.
OKAY: "You want to land on Xyzzyfuss? Your data banks tell you that the system has draconian laws and you're pretty sure your ship will never pass inspection there. It could end up impounded. Yes? Okay, as you near the pad, you see a crazy arsenal of robotic laser turrets, and a white-robed bureaucrat with a clipboard and his small army of inspection engineers..."
creativehum
SOC-14 1K
I think Adam's point were really awesome. But this one struck me as really interesting and I never saw it stated so clearly before.
The Player Characters in a Traveller game are men and women with a particular set of skills. They are good at what they do. In certain setting they will definitely draw attention -- for good and bad. And they will certainly draw the attention of anyone who has means and needs help and is looking for someone he can get the job done. And if they're not connected to the world he lives on even better.
The reason this point is particularly cool is that it highlights how awesome the characters are. They do stand out. They are worth a lot. If they show up, with a certain bearing, with a certain competence clear in even how they unload cargo, then they will be noticed. They are worth noticing.
Don't be afraid to let that happen. Let them stand out. The PCs aren't like most people. People on a given world might well seek them out and treat them as special. Let the Players enjoy that.
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Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
creativehum
SOC-14 1K
Exactly!
At one point, many years ago during a D&D campaign I made a point of writing out the appearance of each character as regards dress, equipment, etc. I wanted to make the point to the players that they "didn't look like everyone else" and when they attacked by bandits or whatever I could reference the sheet to target what made sense to people simply viewing them as group as opposed to me, who knew who could do what or was equipped with what.
I think sort of things really applies in something like Traveller (or most games frankly), that where things like Scout Coats or spacer tattoos or unit flash or the fact that they wear their stillsuit like a Freman matter. The PC's should stand out, unless they are making a real effort not to.
This is also where, in my campaigns, nobles really come out to shine. There was a mystery I read years ago which had this great bit where the (not known to be noble) noble started talking to the snooty other nobles and the mere accent sent them into a tizzy because they suddenly realized they were snubbing a peer of the realm (an Earl actually, IIRC).
Let the players shine!
D.
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Over the summer I ran D&D Expeditions for my FLGS which is geared for people who are completely new to D&D or even RPGs. The purpose is to introduce them to the game. During these sessions I would tell people that playing a RPG isn't so much playing in a game as it is participating in an interactive story-telling session.
The GM sets the stage and then asks the players what they want to do. They come up with something and you either say "You do XXX and YYY happens", "You can't do that because....", or "Roll the dice" and tell them the result. The point is that you are always making stuff up.
Sure, you can have a general idea, a bunch of planned encounters, an overall campaign and "big thing" the players need to do, but we all know that no matter which rules we are using that all the GM planing in the world won't survive initial contact with the players. I find that the best thing is to have a lot of little encounters that can be slotted in anywhere prepared. This way you are not making up everything on the spot. But for when you do need to think on your feet there is nothing better than random encounter tables and the D66 Tables by Jon Brazen Enterprises for helping add details to things.
My players have told me that two of their favorite sessions over the past 18 months are ones where I ad-libbed most of it. One night they had a misjump and I used this amazing set of tables to resolve it. They ended up jumping into the cargo area of a 2000 year old derelict Villani Dreadnaught. Another was a session that the only thing I had prepped is that they heard a rumor about a derelict ship near an asteroid and I had a deckplan from one of the FASA products. Everything after that I made up.
Embrace the chaos, it's way more fun that way. :devil:
The GM sets the stage and then asks the players what they want to do. They come up with something and you either say "You do XXX and YYY happens", "You can't do that because....", or "Roll the dice" and tell them the result. The point is that you are always making stuff up.
Sure, you can have a general idea, a bunch of planned encounters, an overall campaign and "big thing" the players need to do, but we all know that no matter which rules we are using that all the GM planing in the world won't survive initial contact with the players. I find that the best thing is to have a lot of little encounters that can be slotted in anywhere prepared. This way you are not making up everything on the spot. But for when you do need to think on your feet there is nothing better than random encounter tables and the D66 Tables by Jon Brazen Enterprises for helping add details to things.
My players have told me that two of their favorite sessions over the past 18 months are ones where I ad-libbed most of it. One night they had a misjump and I used this amazing set of tables to resolve it. They ended up jumping into the cargo area of a 2000 year old derelict Villani Dreadnaught. Another was a session that the only thing I had prepped is that they heard a rumor about a derelict ship near an asteroid and I had a deckplan from one of the FASA products. Everything after that I made up.
Embrace the chaos, it's way more fun that way. :devil:
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
Like fortune tellers, it's up to the dungeon master to interpret the numerology results.
One of the problems with organized play, especially of D&D, is that a significant number of GM's and Players are running it as little more than a boardgame with connecting narration. (I am sometimes guilty of this.)
Or basically like a computerized RPG quest on rails.
If you think about it, that's the default modern gamer experience- the adventure that MUST be coded, that CAN'T go into a sandbox world and jump into entirely different genres or interests.
For something that is an introduction to RPGs that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's kind of like easing into the pool slowly.
Burt the whole point of the story was that making stuff up on the fly is part of the challenge of being a GM.
For something that is an introduction to RPGs that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's kind of like easing into the pool slowly.
Burt the whole point of the story was that making stuff up on the fly is part of the challenge of being a GM.
It's a false premise, Dick. Many make up little to nothing and still have fun. When I've chosen to be a player (In DDAL) here in Corvallis, I've had fun, even tho the GM was roughly incapable of dialogue in-character, and relied upon the scripted narratives highly.
Breaking one of my players of that mentality over the last few years has been a pleasure - the rest of the players have really enjoyed his growth as a player who embraces the role-playing and the chaos that often ensues. He's actually become one of my better role-players.
D.
you can. it's a realistic application of the navigator's skill - nav 1 is somewhere in system (this can be a helpful excuse if you want them to come down in a particular location), nav 2 is pretty close, nav 3 is spot-on with minimum transit time, etc. and the transit time in can be a very good gaming opportunity - transmit port information, show a picture of the world, brokerage negotiations, pick up buyers/sellers not necessarily associated with the starport, contacts with old friends in other ships transiting in and out ("watch out for whatshisname"), naval inspections, players making plans, and so on. but if you make it too long the players can get bored - they just spent a week in jump, they won't find spending two weeks in transit after a bad jump very enjoyable. I usually say, "you're there, here's what you pick up on comms" and the players either spend six hours plotting and planning or they just say "we arrive".
you don't tell. you decide. space combat is a major deal, it can leave a ship crippled or destroyed, making it difficult to get your players to your next planned encounter. (or, of course, crippling the ship could be part of your plan to get them to the next encounter planetside ....) you can roll a die and pretend they randomly do or don't have an encounter, but unless your players are looking for a fight then really it should be up to you.
not saying you should avoid it either. sometimes taking away the players' ship is a good move.
(grin) why not?
if there's going to be a fight, then you have two ways to run the encounter. 1) tailor the opponent to them. this is rough - evenly matched ships is no guarantee of a balanced outcome as even a lesser ship can cripple its opponent and kill lots of player characters with a lucky shot. 2) tailor the opponent according to what would make sense at the port - big patrol ship at a big port, little police boat at a minor port, or robust pirate if that seems appropriate - and if the players want to fight it then that's their decision and their problem.
in general you should have two or three standard designs for opponent ships (this is not unrealistic at all), and be ready to play them if and when called for. there are many designs here on this board and on the web, pick a few and get to know them. that way when the situation arises you can just smile and grab one and say, "ok, here we go".
and by the way. your players may be new to traveller, but their characters are not. their characters will have years of experience and quite a bit of knowledge already. if it's a bad idea to have a fight with a particular opponent, they'll almost certainly know it already, so feel free to tell them.
that's why referees get paid the big bucks.
first, tell your players to chow down on some snacks while you think for a few minutes.
you'll have to make up a lot on the spot, but the uwp can help. basically you just ask yourself, "what could be?" and follow what comes to mind. some people do this well, some can't do it to save their lives, but most can learn to do it passably.
let's look at the uwp piece by piece and give some examples.
A and B are not just ports, they're star or space ship construction yards. on high-population worlds they're "just" big yards, but some low-population worlds have A or B yards. they may be hopeful or underbooked and looking for business, maybe from your player characters. they may send representatives to give discounts for maintenance, or they may be working with "port inspectors" who say the ship can't leave until certain "safety improvements" are installed. they may be totally inexperienced and ask high-skill pc's for help - this lets the pc's see other people's ships, meet old friends or get inside contacts or pick up on insider information, and so on. high-population worlds with A/B ports may have lots of scrap equipment - parts, robots, tools, vehicles - laying around available at cut rate prices or even for outright scavenging, but you never know what you'll get.
C/D are just ports, no construction, but there's still lots going on. union disputes and cargo slowdowns, rival ships in port, festivals and religious obligations, vargr-lives-matter blockading the port, vermin infestations, political/ribbon-cutting ceremonies, ladies night at the all-these-worlds tavern. any or all and more besides. just ask yourself "what happens in real life?" and set it at the port.
C/D/E ports on high-population high-tech worlds are a treat. why don't these people have a yard? don't they like the rest of the universe? are they lazy? are they hostile? are they simply old-fashioned and stick to the old ways? are they scholarly and theoretical and simply aren't interested in business? are they jaded and just don't care? there are endless cultural possibilities here.
...
...
X low population. hoo boy, you can go whererever and do whatever you want. what do your players want to do? safari? prospect? explore the ancient ruins?
atmosphere 5/6/8. shirtsleeve world, people can wander around out in the open - so they will. anything you can imagine happening on earth will be happening there.
atmosphere 4/7/9. tainted atmosphere. restricted movement, people generally will live inside. this will affect their view of life and they will look on the player characters as being free, or weak, or alien.
population 1-3. why so few on this world? are they miners? hate-filled libertarians who reject humanity living out their lives as solitary as they can be? what kind of guard dogs/robots/aliens will they have? or are they researchers communing with whales and crystals? perhaps criminal psionicists practicing for years on end to exact their revenge when they return to normal society? or ... perhaps the 1-3 is the OFFICIAL population, the owners, the enlightened, the humans, surrounded by hundreds of millions or billions of illegal aliens or temps or legal nobodies slaving away for the privileged 1-3.
population 4-8. non-crowded, lots of room, go west young man, california dreaming. in fact it may be TOO nice and the citizens may be bored out of their everloving minds and want to see what life is like in the big bustling universe ("can I come with you? please?")
population 9/A. how do people who are crowded together get along? extreme courtesy, extreme deference (better crowd back when the important people walk towards you), regimentation, computer-controlled movement, computer-controlled living, religious ritualization, teams, permissions for everything, they'll pay and do anything to live as free men.
hydrographics 0/1. star wars portrays this rather nicely. these people are very careful of their resources, they will be highly hostile to anyone who pumps water from their world for fuel. sparse and isolated populations that will fight at the drop of a hat over resources. highly patriarchal/matriarchal and clannish, or loners.
hydrographics 9/A. we never think about the dirt beneath our feet, but these people will think about the corroding decks beneath their feet every minute of their lives. not to mention the sea life that supports them and feeds them and that may possibly feed on the humans every chance it gets. you've heard of army ants, what about army flying fish that roam the seas and board every ship they find?
government. no matter what the government is, no matter how new or old or competent or incompentent or religious or anti-religious or straight or weird it is, you can count on three things: 1) some will love it, 2) some will hate it, and 3) everyone will think they can do a better job.
law level. normally this is the laws/expectations/practices/obligations/rituals/courtesies/bathing/scent-wearing that apply to narod and hoi polloi. insiders will have their own law level. off-worlders may be more restricted - or possibly less, as they may be viewed as incapable of conforming to the world's norms and thus are indulged, perhaps overly. like mediaeval japanese that may tolerate european barbarians to a point but then suddenly chop off their heads if the caucasians become unendurable.
simply looking at what the world is should take you a long way towards who and what might be there. once you get a general feel for what the world could be like, there is one thing left to do. roll the dice for specifics. "are they tolerant or rigid?" (roll) "do they view the offworlders as saviors or contaminants?" (roll) "is there anyone who would want to interact with them as friends/manipulators/patsies/businessmen/whatever?" (roll) if you don't like a roll, ignore it, or roll again, whichever seems to work. don't worry too much about making it all fit together yet (does our world fit together?), just set the stage and let the players take the stage.
simple. what's in it for them? if they think there's something in it for them then they'll interact, if not then they won't and they'll move on. let them, there's a whole universe out there.
oh, one more thing. at the end of the gaming session write down everything you decided for this world. almost certainly you'll use it again.
so to sum up how to deal with unknown worlds:
1) have some encounters and situations drawn up already for use as needed
2) snacks
3) what could be there?
4) roll the dice
5) set the stage, let the players take the stage
6) write it down afterwards
this approach works with worlds, governments, corporations, religions, ports, ship crews, and individuals.
X low population. hoo boy, you can go whererever and do whatever you want. what do your players want to do? safari? prospect? explore the ancient ruins?
atmosphere 5/6/8. shirtsleeve world, people can wander around out in the open - so they will. anything you can imagine happening on earth will be happening there.
atmosphere 4/7/9. tainted atmosphere. restricted movement, people generally will live inside. this will affect their view of life and they will look on the player characters as being free, or weak, or alien.
population 1-3. why so few on this world? are they miners? hate-filled libertarians who reject humanity living out their lives as solitary as they can be? what kind of guard dogs/robots/aliens will they have? or are they researchers communing with whales and crystals? perhaps criminal psionicists practicing for years on end to exact their revenge when they return to normal society? or ... perhaps the 1-3 is the OFFICIAL population, the owners, the enlightened, the humans, surrounded by hundreds of millions or billions of illegal aliens or temps or legal nobodies slaving away for the privileged 1-3.
population 4-8. non-crowded, lots of room, go west young man, california dreaming. in fact it may be TOO nice and the citizens may be bored out of their everloving minds and want to see what life is like in the big bustling universe ("can I come with you? please?")
population 9/A. how do people who are crowded together get along? extreme courtesy, extreme deference (better crowd back when the important people walk towards you), regimentation, computer-controlled movement, computer-controlled living, religious ritualization, teams, permissions for everything, they'll pay and do anything to live as free men.
hydrographics 0/1. star wars portrays this rather nicely. these people are very careful of their resources, they will be highly hostile to anyone who pumps water from their world for fuel. sparse and isolated populations that will fight at the drop of a hat over resources. highly patriarchal/matriarchal and clannish, or loners.
hydrographics 9/A. we never think about the dirt beneath our feet, but these people will think about the corroding decks beneath their feet every minute of their lives. not to mention the sea life that supports them and feeds them and that may possibly feed on the humans every chance it gets. you've heard of army ants, what about army flying fish that roam the seas and board every ship they find?
government. no matter what the government is, no matter how new or old or competent or incompentent or religious or anti-religious or straight or weird it is, you can count on three things: 1) some will love it, 2) some will hate it, and 3) everyone will think they can do a better job.
law level. normally this is the laws/expectations/practices/obligations/rituals/courtesies/bathing/scent-wearing that apply to narod and hoi polloi. insiders will have their own law level. off-worlders may be more restricted - or possibly less, as they may be viewed as incapable of conforming to the world's norms and thus are indulged, perhaps overly. like mediaeval japanese that may tolerate european barbarians to a point but then suddenly chop off their heads if the caucasians become unendurable.
simply looking at what the world is should take you a long way towards who and what might be there. once you get a general feel for what the world could be like, there is one thing left to do. roll the dice for specifics. "are they tolerant or rigid?" (roll) "do they view the offworlders as saviors or contaminants?" (roll) "is there anyone who would want to interact with them as friends/manipulators/patsies/businessmen/whatever?" (roll) if you don't like a roll, ignore it, or roll again, whichever seems to work. don't worry too much about making it all fit together yet (does our world fit together?), just set the stage and let the players take the stage.
simple. what's in it for them? if they think there's something in it for them then they'll interact, if not then they won't and they'll move on. let them, there's a whole universe out there.
oh, one more thing. at the end of the gaming session write down everything you decided for this world. almost certainly you'll use it again.
so to sum up how to deal with unknown worlds:
1) have some encounters and situations drawn up already for use as needed
2) snacks
3) what could be there?
4) roll the dice
5) set the stage, let the players take the stage
6) write it down afterwards
this approach works with worlds, governments, corporations, religions, ports, ship crews, and individuals.
Sandbox play?
For sandbox play, I just put myself in the mindset of uncaring universe. The universe includes all the people and societies and their stuff. These things WILL react to player character actions when the players upset the apple carts.
For example P.C. party blows up the stock exchange on Extolay just because they did not like some aspect of the Extolay culture. P.C. party leaves the system by J-2. In the next week J-4 messengers go to EVERY system in range, with the evidence against the P.C. party and a request for them to face Imperial High Justice for acts against commerce. Pleas for assistance sent to the subsector Duke, and so on.
So the party starts having things like the refueling tech refusing to disconnect and calling for a patrol ship to come take them into custody, or getting recognized in town and having to flee before they can get paid for their cargo. The adventure becomes one of a hunted party, and it was totally sandbox, player's choice.
For sandbox play, I just put myself in the mindset of uncaring universe. The universe includes all the people and societies and their stuff. These things WILL react to player character actions when the players upset the apple carts.
For example P.C. party blows up the stock exchange on Extolay just because they did not like some aspect of the Extolay culture. P.C. party leaves the system by J-2. In the next week J-4 messengers go to EVERY system in range, with the evidence against the P.C. party and a request for them to face Imperial High Justice for acts against commerce. Pleas for assistance sent to the subsector Duke, and so on.
So the party starts having things like the refueling tech refusing to disconnect and calling for a patrol ship to come take them into custody, or getting recognized in town and having to flee before they can get paid for their cargo. The adventure becomes one of a hunted party, and it was totally sandbox, player's choice.
Thanks for the loads of advice, everyone! As a longtime GM of many games, I'm familiar with most of the typical techniques for running games, including the ubiquitous "wing it". Robin's Laws of Gamemastering is a nice little SJG booklet which summarizes most of them.
I guess where I've been struggling is with the extreme open nature of GMing in Traveller. In a fantasy world, it takes days or weeks to travel between locations. If your gaming group wants to head off the reservation, it's easy enough to keep them occupied with wandering creatures, bandits, etc. while you figure out what's on the other side of those mountains.
In Traveller, you set your waypoint and push the button. Advance the calendar a week or two and you're in a new system. Lather, rinse, repeat, and you can be in a whole new sector or region.
And boy are there lots of regions! Each has their own political entities, travel and trade dynamics. Having even a high-level understanding of the dynamics of Charted Space is a big job.
I want to use the OTU for my game. Most of my GMing has been in worlds which I've developed myself, from the ground up. So if I decide a desert plain is on the other side of those mountains, I'm not running the risk of contradicting anything. In thinking about it more, I suppose an "onion" technique might work here (focusing on the local environment, but with decreasing amounts of study moving outward.) Even that is a large task.
I like the ideas of the rumors table, so I'll whip one up with some notes on where the rumors might lead. I think I'm going to invest some time into an encounter table for starports. I really don't want starports feeling like so many truckstops. I don't know about you, but when I'm in a place far from home and I stop to get gas, I actively avoid interacting with the locals (unless she's really attractive, of course)!
Any crunchy bits folks can include along these lines is appreciated. I've gotta think others have put some effort into these things long before I came to the game, but there is SO MUCH material in Traveller, it's hard to keep track of it all.
Thanks to everyone, keep the ideas coming!
I guess where I've been struggling is with the extreme open nature of GMing in Traveller. In a fantasy world, it takes days or weeks to travel between locations. If your gaming group wants to head off the reservation, it's easy enough to keep them occupied with wandering creatures, bandits, etc. while you figure out what's on the other side of those mountains.
In Traveller, you set your waypoint and push the button. Advance the calendar a week or two and you're in a new system. Lather, rinse, repeat, and you can be in a whole new sector or region.
And boy are there lots of regions! Each has their own political entities, travel and trade dynamics. Having even a high-level understanding of the dynamics of Charted Space is a big job.
I want to use the OTU for my game. Most of my GMing has been in worlds which I've developed myself, from the ground up. So if I decide a desert plain is on the other side of those mountains, I'm not running the risk of contradicting anything. In thinking about it more, I suppose an "onion" technique might work here (focusing on the local environment, but with decreasing amounts of study moving outward.) Even that is a large task.
I like the ideas of the rumors table, so I'll whip one up with some notes on where the rumors might lead. I think I'm going to invest some time into an encounter table for starports. I really don't want starports feeling like so many truckstops. I don't know about you, but when I'm in a place far from home and I stop to get gas, I actively avoid interacting with the locals (unless she's really attractive, of course)!
Any crunchy bits folks can include along these lines is appreciated. I've gotta think others have put some effort into these things long before I came to the game, but there is SO MUCH material in Traveller, it's hard to keep track of it all.
Thanks to everyone, keep the ideas coming!
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