CT Only: CT Adventures You Enjoy?
- Thread starter robject
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I wanted to love all those Traveller adventures when they were published, and I eagerly bought all of them, only to be disappointed almost every time. I wanted more action . . . or ANY action, in too many cases.
But I've reread all of them over the last decade, and actually ran some that I had no regard for back in the day, and my opinion of most of them has improved considerably. I still think they have significant weaknesses, but when they're good (I'd put Twilight's Peak and Safari Ship at the top of the list), they're excellent. I still say that they have too little action, but at least they get some SCI in the sci-fi, which all too many SF adventures don't bother to do.
Still, I think the Keith brothers outdid GDW with the Sky Raiders trilogy and Flare Star.
Steve
But I've reread all of them over the last decade, and actually ran some that I had no regard for back in the day, and my opinion of most of them has improved considerably. I still think they have significant weaknesses, but when they're good (I'd put Twilight's Peak and Safari Ship at the top of the list), they're excellent. I still say that they have too little action, but at least they get some SCI in the sci-fi, which all too many SF adventures don't bother to do.
Still, I think the Keith brothers outdid GDW with the Sky Raiders trilogy and Flare Star.
Steve
I agree with your comments. These adventures typically had no specified action. This made them boring, unless the referee could spice things up. JTAS typically had more punch.
I think the Keith Brothers' adventures will be in a separate poll. Maybe JTAS Amber Zones, too.
I think the Keith Brothers' adventures will be in a separate poll. Maybe JTAS Amber Zones, too.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
There is one that is starting to stand out as not very well liked
...and I think I know why. Prison Planet is an interesting setting, but players HATE being imprisoned, no matter what the game is. You lock 'em up and...worse...take their beloved equipment away from them.
I have a copy, but my groups never did anything seriously illegal enough to land them in prison. On the contrary, they liked being the heroes of the story. It was difficult enough running "The Gash" section on The Kinunir and we used the old "go undercover as a convict to find the innocent man locked up there" plot device. Once we had played that out, there was little enthusiasm to run a similar scenario.
It's hard to beat Twilight's Peak as the best Traveller adventure ever. It had everything in it and the revelation was terrific. I'd kept hearing great things about it before I bought a copy and it didn't disappoint.
I've always tried to play to the spirit of the adventures, rather than run what was exactly in them. For example, when playing Leviathan we had fun with the seriously technologically backward planet where everyone lived underground and the players ended up being seen as devils and almost being sacrificed (and eaten). The Belgardian Sojourn I played up as local bullies and although Leviathan was a chunky ship, it was a long way from home (and back up). In most other games action is represented by fights, for the most part. With the CT adventures, we got a lot of mileage and action from vac suit breaches, fires aboard ships, surviving airless worlds, EVAs in space and such like. My most recent group were terrific at coming up with scenes they wanted to play out on planet as well. So the CT adventures were the framework to hang more ideas on to.
One aspect of the Amber Zones and 76 Patrons I found difficult to deal with were those generally written by Loren Wiseman because they had the characters doing highly illegal or immoral actions that would land them in prison. "Scam" was a prime example. Someone else ran that one and all of us players said "no" to the patron and ruined the Ref's session: None of us were prepared to a) smash up an office and erase some records and b) accept as payment the name of a merchant ship we could hijack later. When I ran it for another group, and realising they weren't the sort of players to accept the mission as written either, I rewrote it so that the players had the ship that was going to be hijacked and a bunch of NPCs were the ones being scammed. Once it was clear both parties were being set up, a hunt began for the patron. It was more satisfying that way around.
I have a copy, but my groups never did anything seriously illegal enough to land them in prison. On the contrary, they liked being the heroes of the story. It was difficult enough running "The Gash" section on The Kinunir and we used the old "go undercover as a convict to find the innocent man locked up there" plot device. Once we had played that out, there was little enthusiasm to run a similar scenario.
It's hard to beat Twilight's Peak as the best Traveller adventure ever. It had everything in it and the revelation was terrific. I'd kept hearing great things about it before I bought a copy and it didn't disappoint.
I've always tried to play to the spirit of the adventures, rather than run what was exactly in them. For example, when playing Leviathan we had fun with the seriously technologically backward planet where everyone lived underground and the players ended up being seen as devils and almost being sacrificed (and eaten). The Belgardian Sojourn I played up as local bullies and although Leviathan was a chunky ship, it was a long way from home (and back up). In most other games action is represented by fights, for the most part. With the CT adventures, we got a lot of mileage and action from vac suit breaches, fires aboard ships, surviving airless worlds, EVAs in space and such like. My most recent group were terrific at coming up with scenes they wanted to play out on planet as well. So the CT adventures were the framework to hang more ideas on to.
One aspect of the Amber Zones and 76 Patrons I found difficult to deal with were those generally written by Loren Wiseman because they had the characters doing highly illegal or immoral actions that would land them in prison. "Scam" was a prime example. Someone else ran that one and all of us players said "no" to the patron and ruined the Ref's session: None of us were prepared to a) smash up an office and erase some records and b) accept as payment the name of a merchant ship we could hijack later. When I ran it for another group, and realising they weren't the sort of players to accept the mission as written either, I rewrote it so that the players had the ship that was going to be hijacked and a bunch of NPCs were the ones being scammed. Once it was clear both parties were being set up, a hunt began for the patron. It was more satisfying that way around.
Looking at it now, I think Prison Planet would work as a one-off game with characters generated specifically for it rather than force my squeaky clean campaign characters into it.
If any succeed in getting out, well maybe there would be a crossover with the regular campaign at some point.
If any succeed in getting out, well maybe there would be a crossover with the regular campaign at some point.
Loved ANNIC NOVA!
I have the same frustration with many JTAS Amber Zones and the criminal emphasis. Now I recall "Chill" was a good adventure in JTAS #15. It was written by John Ford.
A fun little adventure was "Sorry" that appeared in White Dwarf #28.
I have the same frustration with many JTAS Amber Zones and the criminal emphasis. Now I recall "Chill" was a good adventure in JTAS #15. It was written by John Ford.
A fun little adventure was "Sorry" that appeared in White Dwarf #28.
It's interesting, the JTAS adventures that stick in my mind are ones like:
Werewold Disease, Loggerheads, Rescue on Ruie, Foodrunner, Day of the Glow, Birthday Plot, Roadshow, Salvage on Sharmun, Pride of Lions, Lost Village, Ship in a Lake, Rule of Man Commemorative, Coup D'etat, Aces & Eights, Chill, Thoughtwaves, Embassy at Arms, Homesteader's Stand & Last Flight of the Themis Plus all of the various Casual Encounters, which were some great adventure seeds.
Maybe I'm just getting crazy forgetful in my old age, but I really don't remember Amber Zone as being dominated by explicit "break the law" scenarios like Scam. Quite a few that had the players end up on the ragged edge of the law by accident, or running afoul of the authorities due to misadventure. Personally I was always annoyed by the (what seemed to me) preponderance of Mercenary Tickets.
Review my old JTAS' to get the titles of adventures right I think that I was as wrong about that as it seems to me to be that the perception that the old JTAS Amber Zones were dominated by criminal activity.
D.
Werewold Disease, Loggerheads, Rescue on Ruie, Foodrunner, Day of the Glow, Birthday Plot, Roadshow, Salvage on Sharmun, Pride of Lions, Lost Village, Ship in a Lake, Rule of Man Commemorative, Coup D'etat, Aces & Eights, Chill, Thoughtwaves, Embassy at Arms, Homesteader's Stand & Last Flight of the Themis Plus all of the various Casual Encounters, which were some great adventure seeds.
Maybe I'm just getting crazy forgetful in my old age, but I really don't remember Amber Zone as being dominated by explicit "break the law" scenarios like Scam. Quite a few that had the players end up on the ragged edge of the law by accident, or running afoul of the authorities due to misadventure. Personally I was always annoyed by the (what seemed to me) preponderance of Mercenary Tickets.
Review my old JTAS' to get the titles of adventures right I think that I was as wrong about that as it seems to me to be that the perception that the old JTAS Amber Zones were dominated by criminal activity.
D.
