Convention Game 1: The Hunt
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Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
Since you specifically include the Fifth Frontier War, I assume that this is taking place in the Spinward Marches. That sort of limits the planets that you can consider, along with the chance of being nailed by a Zhodani or Sword World raider. You also have the possibility of becoming a "friendly fire casualty". How close to the major zone of combat are you thinking of sending your clay pigeons?
Vanejen is not too close to the combat area, and already has some background. It does have a Chirper population, but I assume that is not what you are thinking of. It is not that well populated, and with a Tech Level of 5, a ship can get in and out without being detected fairly easily. The northern continent has been pretty much left to the Chirpers, so may have some interesting critters, along with the small north-south running continent, based on the Wiki Map, and some of the larger islands. Given the interesting fauna of Madagascar, the Indonesian archipelago, New Guinea, Australia, and New Zealand, you could make up something quite interesting for Vanejen. A Giant Moa equivalent would be good, as would something like the Terror Bird Phorusrhacos. With the northern climate, a polar bear equivalent might be possible, or for that matter, a collector with a predilection for sea mammals like the white whale. The Komodo Dragon, one of the varieties of the Bird of Paradise, a Tasmanian Wolf or oversized Tasmanian Devil give some ideas. Or you could be really nasty and send them after a Jabberwock.
If you use Vanejen, your party could also get all sorts of credit from the Droyne for letting them know about the large Chirper colony, which the local government would be very unhappy about. Helps to keep the party on their toes is the local government decides that they need to be thoroughly educated regarding the Chirpers. I just came across online a really good report on Soviet disciplinary battalions by a member just prior to the German invasion of 1941 to give you some good ideas on the education process.
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Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
You could also get really creative and set up something like the short story "The Most Dangerous Game", and have the party find out that they are the hunted, not the hunters. It you have never read it, you can find it on archive.org.
Consider having the tasking occur before news of the war reaches the patron and players.
Will the patron still care about the trophy, if their world is under attack by the Zhodani or Sword Worlders? Will they even be around to pay for it?
What will the PCs make of the fleets moving into position or actually attacking?
Will the patron still care about the trophy, if their world is under attack by the Zhodani or Sword Worlders? Will they even be around to pay for it?
What will the PCs make of the fleets moving into position or actually attacking?
That's a nice twist. I was thinking of patrols from one or other antagonistic forces showing up in the system. Something like that. Of course the players can always go looking for trouble.
A variant of this I think is, surprise, in one of the Dumarest books.
So I will be sketching a regional map of the hunting grounds. I'll place highlands, ravines, what passes for forest or jungle cover, seas, and clearings. The direction to the starport, its offered services if any, and how far away it is.
I think the atmosphere should be exotic, or worse. Tundric or hellworld would be nice touches. A highly eccentric orbit might be nice, but it would tend to play havoc with an ecosystem, so meh.
Then I'll populate the area with an animal encounter table. Short descriptions of the resulting critters will breathe some life into them.
Then I'll design an enemy ship. Zhodani are exotic "evil", so they would tend to force attention.
I need to make sure that this isn't all just a planet-side adventure, or else it may just feel like Gamma World.
I think the atmosphere should be exotic, or worse. Tundric or hellworld would be nice touches. A highly eccentric orbit might be nice, but it would tend to play havoc with an ecosystem, so meh.
Then I'll populate the area with an animal encounter table. Short descriptions of the resulting critters will breathe some life into them.
Then I'll design an enemy ship. Zhodani are exotic "evil", so they would tend to force attention.
I need to make sure that this isn't all just a planet-side adventure, or else it may just feel like Gamma World.
Wypoc Dragon
Have you considered capturing a Wypoc Dragon? They're on the wiki. Dangerous. Hostile Environment. High Security world. The beast is found roaming near a certain INI Psionic Intelligence training grounds. Patrols. Fifth Frontier War potential encounters of Zhodani and Imperial vessels. Competition with other hunters (who want to make a glorious kill instead of capture). Other dangerous predators such as a power-diving Swoop (think pterodactyl with a thrusting beak, impaling action). The capture and containment. Hauling it aboard the ship. Transporting it to Patron. Releasing the Wypoc Dragon into a proper pen. Keeping it alive.
Just tossing out issues that came to mind.
Have you considered capturing a Wypoc Dragon? They're on the wiki. Dangerous. Hostile Environment. High Security world. The beast is found roaming near a certain INI Psionic Intelligence training grounds. Patrols. Fifth Frontier War potential encounters of Zhodani and Imperial vessels. Competition with other hunters (who want to make a glorious kill instead of capture). Other dangerous predators such as a power-diving Swoop (think pterodactyl with a thrusting beak, impaling action). The capture and containment. Hauling it aboard the ship. Transporting it to Patron. Releasing the Wypoc Dragon into a proper pen. Keeping it alive.
Just tossing out issues that came to mind.
Travellerspud
SOC-12
...and then there is the Dragon Liberation Front (DFL) that opposes all attempts by humaniti to hunt or capture Dragons (sometimes using terrorist tactics or suicide bombers)
A psionic critter opens up a nice plot angle - the Zhodani want to capture one for military / research purposes.
Why can't the PCs and Zhodani both grab a creature and go home? Maybe there is only one or one breeding pair on the world - they escaped from some undocumented research base.
The Patron stumbled across a reference to the creature and research base somewhere but has no idea what he is messing with.
I'd also recommend Grafenwalder's Bestiary, a short story by Alastair Reynolds, for inspiration - a really dark take on insanely-rich collector subculture.
Why can't the PCs and Zhodani both grab a creature and go home? Maybe there is only one or one breeding pair on the world - they escaped from some undocumented research base.
The Patron stumbled across a reference to the creature and research base somewhere but has no idea what he is messing with.
I'd also recommend Grafenwalder's Bestiary, a short story by Alastair Reynolds, for inspiration - a really dark take on insanely-rich collector subculture.
BRJN
SOC-12
The group could be hunting a Bandersnatch. This might be Larry Niven's version, if you want an exotic atmosphere. Or if could be something big / nasty enough that being "armed for bear" is laughably under-equipped.
A frumious bandersnatch is like a regular bandersnatch but it is ready to breed, or is claiming a territory, or just has too much adrenaline and is trying to burn it off. It might be mildly psionic to detect minds (Which it interprets as rivals / intruders) from just out of earshot. It also might have a short range natural weapon.
A frumious bandersnatch is like a regular bandersnatch but it is ready to breed, or is claiming a territory, or just has too much adrenaline and is trying to burn it off. It might be mildly psionic to detect minds (Which it interprets as rivals / intruders) from just out of earshot. It also might have a short range natural weapon.
One should always wear psi-shielded battledress...
They use life-detection as a targeting sense, in addition to metal-ion smells. PSR 2d6, Int 1d3. 1d6 skills (age=(Skills+1)*4).
Yes, the dragon is a sentient.
Players will probably not know Traveller well. Maybe only by reputation. So I expect to show them a few Tropes of Traveller.
Death during chargen.
Visiting a starport.
Gambling in the TAS hostel bar.
Jump travel; High and Low Passage.
EVA in a vacc suit.
Piloting a ship.
Wilderness refueling.
Doing space combat.
Shotguns and cutlasses alongside monomolecular axes and Laser Rifles, together in combat.
Fighting alien creatures.
Solving a cosmic enigma.
Some of these. Probably can't squeeze in all of 'em. And the list is longer than that.
Four hours is time enough for a romp without extensive planning.
Hr 1 - chargen
Hr 2 - travelling
Hr 3 - setback
Hr 4 - climax
Death during chargen.
Visiting a starport.
Gambling in the TAS hostel bar.
Jump travel; High and Low Passage.
EVA in a vacc suit.
Piloting a ship.
Wilderness refueling.
Doing space combat.
Shotguns and cutlasses alongside monomolecular axes and Laser Rifles, together in combat.
Fighting alien creatures.
Solving a cosmic enigma.
Some of these. Probably can't squeeze in all of 'em. And the list is longer than that.
Four hours is time enough for a romp without extensive planning.
Hr 1 - chargen
Hr 2 - travelling
Hr 3 - setback
Hr 4 - climax
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I or the players can steer this in unusual directions. In other words, the adventure title can be a slight misdirection.
"The Hunt" might be an evocative title. However, the most exciting hunt I can think of that feels like Traveller is one that involves Man hunting Man. Whether that's a bounty-hunter job, or The Most Dangerous Game, or something else, is open to conjecture. Animal hunting can be interesting, but it doesn't resonate with me.
Or in other words, I have to decide where to spend my time in preparation for the game, and choose the actual plot.
Consider a misdirected title, with The Hunt being The Hunt For Red October, and in particular its captain, some flavor of Captain Nemo. Maybe Captain Nemo is assumed to be a Zhodani in his Shivva-class Patrol Frigate, harassing Imperial logistics. "Sinking" that ship would be a satisfying end to the adventure, but the "hunting" part might feel like a drag unless it were led around by Indiana-Jones-style action.
And just because the Hunt is about one particular thing doesn't mean the theme can't recur. The Fifth Frontier War has a lot of hunting going on on many levels, though the players may not know anything about that.
"The Hunt" might be an evocative title. However, the most exciting hunt I can think of that feels like Traveller is one that involves Man hunting Man. Whether that's a bounty-hunter job, or The Most Dangerous Game, or something else, is open to conjecture. Animal hunting can be interesting, but it doesn't resonate with me.
Or in other words, I have to decide where to spend my time in preparation for the game, and choose the actual plot.
Consider a misdirected title, with The Hunt being The Hunt For Red October, and in particular its captain, some flavor of Captain Nemo. Maybe Captain Nemo is assumed to be a Zhodani in his Shivva-class Patrol Frigate, harassing Imperial logistics. "Sinking" that ship would be a satisfying end to the adventure, but the "hunting" part might feel like a drag unless it were led around by Indiana-Jones-style action.
And just because the Hunt is about one particular thing doesn't mean the theme can't recur. The Fifth Frontier War has a lot of hunting going on on many levels, though the players may not know anything about that.
The title and byline are flexible:
Traveller: The Hunt
Making money during the Fifth Frontier War can be dangerous...
Who's being hunted?
What are they hunting?
Both questions are wide open, leaving me room to decide what I really want the adventure to be about. All they know at this point is the verb.
Traveller: The Hunt
Making money during the Fifth Frontier War can be dangerous...
Who's being hunted?
What are they hunting?
Both questions are wide open, leaving me room to decide what I really want the adventure to be about. All they know at this point is the verb.
Two things I need to keep in mind:
1. Keep It Simple.
2. Give Everyone Things To Do. That almost certainly means that if they go hunting for a Rogue Ship, Zhodani or otherwise, that most of the adventure will be "dungeon crawl" aka boarding action, rather than a space chase where the only actions are by the pilot an gunner(s).
1. Keep It Simple.
2. Give Everyone Things To Do. That almost certainly means that if they go hunting for a Rogue Ship, Zhodani or otherwise, that most of the adventure will be "dungeon crawl" aka boarding action, rather than a space chase where the only actions are by the pilot an gunner(s).
Don't forget that other party members could be engineering crew, medics, or damage-control parties. Space combat damage isn't just ship stats reduction, it's things going "boom" or "zap" next to and through the tin can in which they're riding.
