Basic Scenarios for Traveller?

[Spinward Scout]

What are the basic scenarios for Traveller?

I've been looking through other gaming books and several have listed scenarios for their game.

In the Basic D&D book, they have:

1.) Exploring the Unknown
2.) Investigating a Chaotic Outpost
3.) Recovering Ruins
4.) Destroying an Ancient Evil
5.) Visiting a Lost Shrine
6.) Fulfilling a Quest
7.) Escaping from Enemies
8.) Rescuing Prisoners
9.) Using a Magic Portal
10.) Finding a Lost Race

Now, in the Kult rpg (which is a Horror rpg similar to Call of Cthulu) they also have a list of very basic scenarios:

1.) Stop a bad thing from happening
2.) Find someone or something
3.) Revenge
4.) Solve a riddle
5.) Travel
6.) Gather information and wisdom
7.) Expose and stop a cult
8.) Make something happen
9.) Run for your life

So, I've thought about this and I think I've come up with some basic scenarios for Traveller:

1.) Trade an Exciting Cargo - this is the basic Trader scenario and what a lot of Traveller is based around.
2.) Explore a New World - the basic Scout scenario
3.) Fulfill a Patron's Mission - you get a job, you do it, then you get paid (hopefully!)
4.) Find an Ancient Artifact or Ruins - and make yourself famous!
5.) Defend an Outpost - a basic Mercenary ticket
6.) Travel to an Interesting World - for various reasons
7.) Fight an Exotic Creature - or maybe not fight one. This could be a Safari scenario
8.) Become a Noble - and be one of the Imperium's elite!
9.) Blast Enemies in Space - don't forget your VACC suit!

This is mostly for new players. Ideas that can get someone interested in Traveller. Make it easier to write up an adventure.

Can anyone think of any more?

 

[rancke]

Can anyone think of any more?

I don't have to. S. John Ross has already done it for me: The BIG LIST of RPG Plots.


Hans

 

[Spinward Scout]

I don't have to. S. John Ross has already done it for me: The BIG LIST of RPG Plots.


Hans

True. But those aren't specifically geared towards starting Traveller games.

 

[rancke]

True. But those aren't specifically geared towards starting Traveller games.

Some years ago I set out to make an Amber Zone for each of the 33 plots, but I didn't get very far. I can't remember what distracted me.


Hans

 

[Spinward Scout]

I forgot an important one:

10.) Answer a Distress Call - because Free Trader Beowulf is calling

Some years ago I set out to make an Amber Zone for each of the 33 plots, but I didn't get very far. I can't remember what distracted me.

That would be awesome!

 

[rancke]

Some years ago I set out to make an Amber Zone for each of the 33 plots, but I didn't get very far. I can't remember what distracted me.

Here we go. I checked my notes. I stopped with the very first AZ because I needed to reality-check some things and never got around to it.

1-3 *Any Old Port in a Flare*

[1st paragraph explains why the PCs are on Dinom and why they're crossing the Bright Face. (Fetching something, delivering something, searching for something?)]

The PCs are crossing the surface of Dinom when an impending solar flare makes it necessary to seek shelter. Only chance is to head for the nearby mountains and hope to find a cave or an outcropping big enough to shelter them. When they get to the mountains they find some old rubbish piles and a track that leads to an old, abandoned mine. When they get inside they meet another group (A) that is already there. A third group (B) shows up a bit later.

It's not obvious, but the mine is an abandoned zucchai crystal mine.

Group A pretends to've arrived shortly before the PCs. Actually they've been there for several months, wresting a few more crystals out of the exhausted mine. They have a stash of crystals and are afraid the strangers will steal it. Raw crystals are worth Cr1000 per kg (Cr450 per pound). The GM must decide how many the miners have collected.

Group B is there to stop the PCs from doing whatever it is they're aiming to do. They are Bad Guys and will steal the crystals if they find them.

[Check out:
* How big does the solar flare have to be to be dangerous inside an ATV?
* Will such a flare also harm people inside a standard shelter? (My guess is yes).
* Will the flare disrupt communications?
* What would be a reasonable duration for such a flare?
* Any canon about zucchai crystal mining?]
​

Hans

 

[rancke]

That would be awesome!

It's also a lot more work than I thought it would be.


Hans

 

[Spinward Scout]

I'm sure. I always liked designing adventures, but I suck at finishing them.

 

[Timerover51]

Another one would be a Belter scenario, setting up an asteroid mining operation on a shoe-string and hoping for that big strike (if properly run, this should get the players thoroughly into the ship economics and operation, along with a lot of space time, and a medium strike to bankroll heading for the stars.)

Then you have ship salvage, such as the Annic Nova, or a modified Twilight Peak, with the Gyro Cadiz potentially recoverable (and abandoned not so long ago), or Kinunir.

The aim of any beginning scenario should be to accustom the players to the game mechanics, get them to begin to develop their characters beyond the paper framework into more of a flesh-and-blood personality, give them a meaningful challenge for their beginner status, and reward them if they do well, so as to encourage them to keep playing.

 

[Timerover51]

[Check out:
* How big does the solar flare have to be to be dangerous inside an ATV?

Given Dinom's lack of atmosphere, a medium-sized flare should be sufficient.

* Will such a flare also harm people inside a standard shelter? (My guess is yes).

Toast them worse than when inside the ATV.

* Will the flare disrupt communications?

The big problem with solar flares and communications on Earth is the effect on the Ionosphere, messing up communications. So, with no atmosphere, Dinom would not have that problem. However, no atmosphere also means that all communications are pretty much line-of-sight, as you have no ground wave effect or atmospheric bounce for radio waves. Communication satellites may have problems with the flare.

* What would be a reasonable duration for such a flare?

Given the nature of the star, described in the "Across the Bright Face" adventure as "a very large, very bright giant", I would say 36 to 48 hours.

* Any canon about zucchai crystal mining?]
[/INDENT]
Hans

None that I know of.

 

[Spinward Scout]

Another one would be a Belter scenario...
Then you have ship salvage...

11.) Strike it rich on an Asteroid - and make a ton of Credits
12.) Salvage an Abandoned Starship - and sell the goods on the Black Market

another could be:

13.) Beating a Space Pirate - but more likely getting beat by a Space Pirate

I think part of the problem with beginning scenarios is making them exciting. Honestly, hauling cargo isn't that exciting, but it is when it's a rare cargo. Setting up a mining operation isn't exciting, but it becomes exciting when you hit 'the big one'. With D&D you had the goal of 'Us against The Monsters' with side goals like 'Finding a Lost Sword' and such. The basic premise of D&D is already exciting as there is a built-in adversary - even if it's a generic 'Monster'. It's different with Traveller. The rewards are more along the lines of making money than beating a monster and taking its horde. Even Star Wars had 'Us against The Empire'.

So how do you get that excitement going in a beginning Traveller scenario?

 

[aramis]

14) Survive this mishap
be the mishap crash, alien monster, imprisonment, or sabotage.

EG: Marooned/Marooned Alone, Prison Planet

 

[Timerover51]

I think part of the problem with beginning scenarios is making them exciting. Honestly, hauling cargo isn't that exciting, but it is when it's a rare cargo. Setting up a mining operation isn't exciting, but it becomes exciting when you hit 'the big one'. With D&D you had the goal of 'Us against The Monsters' with side goals like 'Finding a Lost Sword' and such. The basic premise of D&D is already exciting as there is a built-in adversary - even if it's a generic 'Monster'. It's different with Traveller. The rewards are more along the lines of making money than beating a monster and taking its horde. Even Star Wars had 'Us against The Empire'.

So how do you get that excitement going in a beginning Traveller scenario?

First, you have a big difference between starting players in D & D and starting players in Traveller. In D & D, your players are Level 1, just starting out, with no significant background and a limited number of skills. Part of the excitement is simply seeing if you can survive your first series of adventures and make it to another level or two, when things get a bit easier (you have a lower likelihood of dying fast). In Traveller, your players already have had at least one career, and have likely compiled a wide range of skills and abilities. They are not just striking out for the first time, so the challenge is different.

Next, your career choices in D & D, and I am most familiar with the original series of books and what was called Advanced D & D, along with the Blue Book edition and the follow-ons, are much greater, and less structured. You can also play not just humans, but elves and half-elves, dwarves, halflings (hobbits), and gnomes, along with anything else your DM will allow. You can argue that in Traveller you can play Aliens, but they are just that, Aliens, not part of Man's cultural heritage. Unless you play Traveller, you have no knowledge at all of things like Zhodani, Droyne, Vargr, or Hivers, and Aslan is a Magical Lion in Narnia (He is much more that than, but I will avoid religion in the discussion). For Elves and Dwarves, you have Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, and movie trilogies of each.

In Traveller, you can have a party with a 5-term Merchant with a Free Trader, an Other doing whatever Others do, a 3-term Army captain, a 1-term Navy spacehand, and a 6-term Navy Captain who is also a Marquis. And all of that without playing a single minute of the game. How do you write a beginning scenario that is going to excite every one of those players. You almost have to write a scenario and then have the players generate appropriate characters for it.

Having said all that, how do you go about writing a generic Traveller adventure? Given the proponderance of military types, a generic adventure is going to have to appeal to that group, with bias either to the Army (ground) or Navy (Space), figuring the Scouts and Marines could go either way. A Scout may give you a ship, but limits the number onboard, while the rest are dependent upon someone else supplying stellar transportation. That means a Patron, and having to do what someone else wants the group to do. Making that something else highly attractive is needed.

For a Merchant, the bottom line is paying his ship expenses, PERIOD. That can be through lawful trading, or through illegal means, with clearly the illegal means being the more exciting and lucrative. However, not every one wants to be a Crook, nor does every Game Master want to promote and reward criminal activities. And a Merchant character almost has to have a ship. Who wants to be adventuring as ships crew?

For currently existing material, I would view the Annic Nova as a thinking person's beginning adventure, Mission on Mithril as a generic beginning adventure, and something like Night of Conquest your military beginning adventure. The problem then is, when the adventure is over, where do you go and what do you do?

In a D&D scenario, just about every player can contribute. In Traveller, what use is all of your Army skills if you are in a space battle, or your Merchant skills if you are in the middle of a war, or your Navy skills if you are wrecked on a jungle planet and need to try to make civilization?

As I have been falling asleep while trying to write this, I will add more later. For some ideas for beginning adventures to my way of thinking, readers might want to look at the Timerover Space: 1889 discussion threads, especially the 6 adventure choices.

 

[rancke]

Given Dinom's lack of atmosphere, a medium-sized flare should be sufficient.

Toast them worse than when inside the ATV.

The big problem with solar flares and communications on Earth is the effect on the Ionosphere, messing up communications. So, with no atmosphere, Dinom would not have that problem. However, no atmosphere also means that all communications are pretty much line-of-sight, as you have no ground wave effect or atmospheric bounce for radio waves. Communication satellites may have problems with the flare.

Thanks for the help. Here's the expanded version:

1-3 Any Old Port in a Flare

The PCs have been to a mining camp on Dinom's Bright Face to find evidence that will clear an innocent man currently being tried for murder in Medianne and are on their way back with the evidence, which is being carried in a locked and sealed evidence container the size and shape of a briefcase.

As there is no day and night cycle on Dinom, all settlements go by the Imperial clock. Dates in this Amber Zone are expressed as Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, etc.; the referee should determine the actual dates and use them. The adventure could take place before or after the Revolution of 1106, but not during the revolution unless the referee wants to deal with the added complications.

at 16:39 on Day 1, the radio sounds the emergency signal and announces that astronomers have detected signs of an impending major solar flare -- a flare beyond the capacity of the ATV's armor to shield the PCs, making it necessary to seek shelter. The only chance is to head for the nearby mountains and hope to find a cave or an outcropping big enough to shelter them. When they get to the mountains they find some old rubbish piles and a track that leads to an old, abandoned mine. Towards the evening of Day 3, a couple of hours before they reach the mine, the radio announces that the communication sattelite is going dormant in an attempt to survive the flare. The flare is now predicted to reach lethal intensity in six hours and to last for 38-48 hours (The referee can roll 2D and add 36 to get the number. (Which the players should not know)).

When the PCs reach the mine and get inside, they meet a group of miners that is already there. The miners grudgingly welcome the PCs, but they are edgy and unfriendly.

It's not obvious, but the mine is an abandoned zucchai crystal mine. The miners pretend to have arrived shortly before the PCs. Actually they've been there for several months, wresting a few more crystals out of the exhausted mine. They have a stash of crystals and are afraid the strangers will steal it. Raw crystals are worth Cr1000 per kg (Cr450 per pound). The referee must decide how many the miners have collected.

The miners are fairly decent people, but they are more than a little unsure of the PCs, and on the Bright Face the law all too often resides in a gunbarrel. They are all armed and keep a sharp eye on the PCs.

The mine is a huge warren of interconnected tunnels and shafts with the occasional larger room hewn out of the rock. The miners have set up camp in one such room. Clues to them having been here for more than the day they claim abounds, mostly in the camp but also here and there in the tunnels.

Shortly before the flare reaches lethal intensity, a third ATV arrives. It carries two men who present themselves as lawmen and have the badges to prove it. In reality they are private agents of the most undsavory kind, willing to commit any act as long as the risk is low enough and the pay high enough. They are working for someone with an interest in having the innocent man convicted (presumably the true culprit, but who cares? Not the agents). Their job is to make sure the evidence does not reach Medianne.

The three groups are now stuck in the mine for 38-48 hours. The period spans a night (aka sleep period), a day (aka wake period) and another night. The miners will be anxious to protect their treasure, the agents will want to destroy the evidence, and the PCs will no doubt come up with plenty of plans of their own.​

Given the nature of the star, described in the "Across the Bright Face" adventure as "a very large, very bright giant", I would say 36 to 48 hours.

Possible canon conflict there. The T5 UWP says the star is an A4 V. Bright indeed, but as I understand it not particularily big.

The original color text says that Dinom's orbital period is 800 years and makes it clear that it orbits in its star's life zone. I haven't checked, but I wonder if that fits with an A4 V star?


Hans

 

[DaveChase]

You could take a look at Through the Veil free linked adventure series to get a feel of one way to start new players into Traveller.

Yes, it is designed around Mongoose Traveller but is left open enough that any SciFi game other than Jump mechanics will work for it.

It is not a direct railroad A to Z game but it has a definite start and finish to the 10 episodes.

The ship hires a crew and is headed out for parts unknown (you start near the border of typical edge of the known and the ship is planning on going deeper into the unknown)

The PC get things presented to them at the various stops the ship makes and they are basically on their own as long as they make the depart time for the ship leaving.

Some basic interaction with locals from gambling, to limited combat (brawling) and some sticky NPC/PC background/past catching up with some of the crew.

By the end of the 10 episodes, the GM and Players should not only be familiar enough with the rules, but have set the background for more (expanded) play.

They can stay at the end destination, get a ride back to known space, or what ever else the GM decides to present to them.

Like I said, it is just one way to present Traveller game play. The episodes read like a TV view of a series. It leaves plenty of room for the GM to add to or take away as needed, with out railroading the players directly.

Dave Chase

 

[Blue Ghost]

Venturing for new horizons for stories and adventure concepts, I think, is a matter of being inventive. One of my favorite game series are the "Thief" first-person-sneaker games, where you play Garret, master medieval "steampunk-ish" thief. There's a map at a light house with a submarine that is a kind of loose translation of Jules Verne with a twist. The whole atmosphere has a kind of haunted "North American northern Oregon-Washinton or New England" kind of feel to it, minus the swords, bows and arrows aspect to it. Anyway, before I ramble too much here, the concept of the map is to find certain objects and X-amount of treasure so you can move onto the next mission.

The point here is that people who made that game took a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and added their own concepts as to what would make "a good adventure" for the player by dumping all those elements into the world they had already created a few years before.

Sometimes you have to be careful though. DOOM, as an example, used the same basic plot element for both the first iteration of their first DOOM game, and the latest installment from 2004; DOOM 3 (DOOM Cubed). The graphics and scare-factor were sexier in the more advanced DOOM3 game, but the same basic story was at work.

Traveller has a challenge in that there's a desire to have new adventures lean towards real science. Me, I'm tossing that out the window. If something's good, then it ought to be given a chance, and let the audience decide whether they like it or not.

You may be able to distill down some basic plot elements, but I'm not so sure that it's a simple mathematics' exercise to find what you can do to create an adventure. Oh sure, you can go that route, but I'm not sure you're going to discover anything new. Then again, all mythology has been done before, so to speak.

 

[rancke]

Tentative ideas for an introductory adventure:

* The adventure provides a set of six or eight characters that have the skills to fill out the crew positions on a suitable small starship, either one of the old standbys or (if there is space for a writeup) a new starship. Not better or worse than the old ones, but different, so that there's something for Old Hands to enjoy too.

* Players choose a character apiece. The remaining characters become friendly NPCs.

* The characters have just finished a tour of duty on a ship owned by Ekatur, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tukera that operates feeder lines in the Duchy of Regina just the same as Akerut does in Aramis Subsector. Ekatur has the charming cheeseparing habit of firing its junior crew when its ships goes in for their annual overhauls and rehiring them for the next voyage, thus getting out of paying them salaries for the two weeks the ship is out of commission. The PCs and NPCs are all on friendly terms and take lodgings in the same spacer hostel. [Not TAS].

[* A couple of days' touristy activities getting to know Regina Startown?]

* The gang comes across a starship captain with a problem. He has a chance of getting a permanent contract to carry some kind of luxury goods between Regina and Yori/Extolay/Dinomn (Which?). Such a contract would enable him to get a bank loan and start up a fledgeling line of his own. But getting the contract depends on convincing the supplier that he can do the job, which means going to Yori/Extolay/Dinomn, loading a cargo of the goods, and delivering them safely on Regina. And a rival company has just frightened his crew into abandoning him. If the gang offers to sign up with him, he'll be very grateful.

[Having the rival firm be Ekatur might be stretching coincidence a bit too much. OTOH, it might provide justification (if any is needed) for the gang to leave Ekatur. Otherwise, use another of the canonical companies.]​

* Passengers and cargo for the destination must be gathered. If the players enjoy Accountancy in Space they can handle it; otherwise the Captain will. In the meantime the rival company will put its frighteners on the gang, who will, hopefully, prove more than a match for them. Guarding against sabotage and other shenanigans could also provide some entertainment. [Suggestions for other shenanigans].

* The ship departs carrying a handful of passengers. Stats and thumbnail descriptions should be provided. One or two will (of course) be working for the rival company, but if the players are reasonably paranoid, they will probably not get any chance to sabotage anything. The other passengers are simply a chance to make some contacts or just learn a bit about the destination world by chatting.

* Well arrived and the cargo delivered, the captain will contact the supplier. The rival company's agents will try to incapacitate the crew with various schemes [Like what?].

* [Some sort of proper climax? What?]

* Safely back on Regina, the Captain gets his contract. He reveals that he has decided to buy another (old) ship and put it on the regular run to service the contract. As his new company's bread and butter, he plans to captain that one himself. This means he will need someone to run this ship, and he offers to employ the PCs and their friends in that capacity. All he asks is that they earn enough money to keep the ship in the black.

* The new players now have the use of a ship with reasonable freedom of action, but subject to occasional orders from the company. They know a bit about Regina and environs. They have a bitter enemy in the rival company. They have an unfriendly company in Ekatur (who resents their "disloyalty").

Comments? Ideas?


Hans

PS. Usually when I post these ideas, I'm perfectly willing to let others grab the ball and run with it (Though as far as I know no one has done it yet). This one I may actually want to be involved in myself, so if you feel inspired to develop this idea, contact me. And please do not comment or suggest ideas if you're not willing to let me (or someone else) use your ideas (with proper acknowledgements, of course).

PPS. You are, of course, perfectly welcome to use this outline for your own private campaigns.

 

[Drakon]

[Having the rival firm be Ekatur might be stretching coincidence a bit too much. OTOH, it might provide justification (if any is needed) for the gang to leave Ekatur. Otherwise, use another of the canonical companies.]​

On the 3rd hand, the fact that their old company who screwed them out of 2 weeks salaries, forcing them to find new employment, might be considered icing on the cake.

* Passengers and cargo for the destination must be gathered. If the players enjoy Accountancy in Space they can handle it; otherwise the Captain will. In the meantime the rival company will put its frighteners on the gang, who will, hopefully, prove more than a match for them. Guarding against sabotage and other shenanigans could also provide some entertainment. [Suggestions for other shenanigans].

One of the Robert Aspirin "Myth Adventures" book involved a tiny helpless character who turned out to be a hired troublemaker. She would innocently let slip how one person felt about another, simple innoculous actions proved to start fights, or damage equipment. She played a child, so no one suspected her. "Little Myth Marker" is the name of the story

* Well arrived and the cargo delivered, the captain will contact the supplier. The rival company's agents will try to incapacitate the crew with various schemes [Like what?].

Lets see, drugs will knock a person out, and some forms of electricity. Bullets will incapacitate most folks and equipment that is not properly sheilded. But things like EMP gernades, malware in the jump computer, rats in the cable harnesses, all sort of things.

* [Some sort of proper climax? What?]

Can you break it out into a chase or a sprint to the customs house? The Bad Guys are on your tail, just outside of weapon's range. You are on the last leg/sprint of this run, and if you can just get to the highport/Jump point or whatever, the Imperial Navy and/or local constabulary will arrest/stop the bad guys. If you can't, the bad guys will blow your ship to smithereens (which is no where near Regina)

 

[Timerover51]

Why is it an automatic assumption in most of the adventures in Traveller that all companies are crooked or evil and with no morals or compunction about using violence, including lethal force?

* The ship departs carrying a handful of passengers. Stats and thumbnail descriptions should be provided. One or two will (of course) be working for the rival company, but if the players are reasonably paranoid, they will probably not get any chance to sabotage anything. The other passengers are simply a chance to make some contacts or just learn a bit about the destination world by chatting.

* Well arrived and the cargo delivered, the captain will contact the supplier. The rival company's agents will try to incapacitate the crew with various schemes [Like what?].

And I have to assume that the local law enforcement and/or Star Port authorities will take absolutely no action whatsoever with respect to this type of criminal activity? And if so, WHY?

This is almost a stereotype in the game. To tell you the truth, if a GM asked me to play in a scenario like this, I would just look at him/her and ask if they were kidding. Then say that I have no interest whatsoever.

 

[rancke]

Why is it an automatic assumption in most of the adventures in Traveller that all companies are crooked or evil and with no morals or compunction about using violence, including lethal force?

You seem to be jumping to conclusions here. It's definitely not an assumption I make. I just make the assumption that some companies are crooked and with no morals or compunction about using underhanded methods. Though in this case not to the point of murder. That's why I speak of frighteners and not murderers.

I wanted the PCs to be qualified to crew a free trader. Hence I made them ship's crew. I wanted them to know each other beforehand. Hence the serving together on the same ship. I wanted them to have a break with their past so as not to get bogged down with what they knew because they had served on their ship before. Hence not starting them off already crewing the free trader. And I wanted them to feel free to leave their old ship, with no loyalty or contractual obligations to prevent that. Hence the not-worthy-of-loyalty company. And I chose Ekatur because I'd already made use of it in an old campaign where one of the PCs had worked for them before the campaign started. As a subsidiary of Tukera, I think it perfectly plausible that Ekatur partake of the Tukera culture, and if you've read The Traveller Adventure, you know what that means in terms of company morals.

And I have to assume that the local law enforcement and/or Star Port authorities will take absolutely no action whatsoever with respect to this type of criminal activity? And if so, WHY?

Do you really have to? I would just assume that the Bad Guy agents would have to keep their activities hidden from the local law enforcement and/or Starport Authorities.

Or I might lower myself to employ the stereotypical corrupt police force and let the agents use bribery to cover up their transgressions.


Hans