CT Double Adventures You've Played In/Run?
- Thread starter Vargas
- Start date
Never used them except as general idea generators. Too many players have read them so they know what to expect. Kind of negates why you'd run one...
Very true. The Classics are long in the tooth now and rather well known.
Very true. The Classics are long in the tooth now and rather well known.
This is sometimes offset by the fact that there are younger players, (a relative term these days
), who have had no exposure to Traveller for whom it is all fresh. I know that was the case when I adapted Death Station for Thousand Suns.
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
This is sometimes offset by the fact that there are younger players, (a relative term these days
That would be correct, and if you do not tell them about DriveThru, they probably would not try to find all of them. Plus, you can always change a few things, and really confuse them, if they think that they know what is coming at them.
Bob Weaver
SOC-12
Almost all of the Traveller play I've been involved with over that last few years has been with people who are unfamiliar with Traveller and its published adventures. All the same, I do have to tell my boys to stay out of my 2 Big Floppy Books, lest they ruin the surprises.
Last year I did a one-shot of Horde with some friends, and was able to keep the lid on the adventure's big surprise (the outbreak of the Chamax). I found an illustration of a Chamax at Deviantart, and put it up on our big computer monitor, with the screen powered off. At the moment the outbreak began I said "oh, and they look like this . . ." and switched the screen on. General freaking-out and a mad scramble for the vehicles ensued. They did get it back together and defeat the Horde, and we all had a great time.
Last year I did a one-shot of Horde with some friends, and was able to keep the lid on the adventure's big surprise (the outbreak of the Chamax). I found an illustration of a Chamax at Deviantart, and put it up on our big computer monitor, with the screen powered off. At the moment the outbreak began I said "oh, and they look like this . . ." and switched the screen on. General freaking-out and a mad scramble for the vehicles ensued. They did get it back together and defeat the Horde, and we all had a great time.
BRJN
SOC-12
If you have a character that you want to retire from the game without killing him, and he has any Wilderness Survival skills at all, play Marooned Alone and force-roll several 2's in a row upon the pursuers; they will never find him.
(Alternately, he could fake his own death after landing.)
Your character can be a Robinson Caruso / Old Ben Kenobi for your next group to encounter.
(Alternately, he could fake his own death after landing.)
Your character can be a Robinson Caruso / Old Ben Kenobi for your next group to encounter.
I'm surprised more people haven't done Night of Conquest. It's one of the better adventures of the lot.
In a 1980s frame of mind, it is. And as designed, it's great.
Problem with it is that with modern tech assumptions, it's over in 15 minutes and most of that is explaining to the ref how you did it. Unless the ref decides to railroad the PCs through the scenario as written, it's over.
To pull this off, the PCs will need a Hand Computer each, and one Medium-Range Communicator. Modern assumptions would take having a combined Hand Computer/Short-Range Communicator as a given (you have one in your pocket right now, most likely).
You've already guessed it, haven't you?
In 1982, nobody would have thought that you could fly your starship by remote control from a cellphone-equivalent the way you can operate even a cheap toy quadcopter (or have your car un-park itself and meet you at the store's front door) today. Back then, it would have taken a crazy-high-tech (and maybe untrustworthy?) AI or a brain-in-a-jar pilot to do that.
This isn't 1982. So:
Establish an encrypted, secure connection to the ships computer using the med-range comms and a hand-comp. Engineer starts the ship's drives from his hand-comp. Gunner links his hand-comp in and when there's enough power, starts sweeping the area with the ship's lasers to drive away the bad guys. Link in the Pilot's hand-comp so he can bounce the ship to 10km altitude and have it circle the city at 900km/h (high subsonic) running auto/evade so it's untouchable by the locals. Victory conditions achieved, scenario ends.
Land the ship in a convenient sportsball field at leisure.
You've already guessed it, haven't you?
In 1982, nobody would have thought that you could fly your starship by remote control from a cellphone-equivalent the way you can operate even a cheap toy quadcopter (or have your car un-park itself and meet you at the store's front door) today. Back then, it would have taken a crazy-high-tech (and maybe untrustworthy?) AI or a brain-in-a-jar pilot to do that.
This isn't 1982. So:
Establish an encrypted, secure connection to the ships computer using the med-range comms and a hand-comp. Engineer starts the ship's drives from his hand-comp. Gunner links his hand-comp in and when there's enough power, starts sweeping the area with the ship's lasers to drive away the bad guys. Link in the Pilot's hand-comp so he can bounce the ship to 10km altitude and have it circle the city at 900km/h (high subsonic) running auto/evade so it's untouchable by the locals. Victory conditions achieved, scenario ends.
Land the ship in a convenient sportsball field at leisure.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Many of the double adventures are quite sandboxy and can be run many times. I have lost count of the number of times I have run Death Station.
There is a pretty good adventure in the introduction to Marooned - ignore the actual adventure and run the events of the back story leading up to the actual scenario.
There is a pretty good adventure in the introduction to Marooned - ignore the actual adventure and run the events of the back story leading up to the actual scenario.
Bob Weaver
SOC-12
The Referee might be able to partially nerf that idea. Our modern cell phones require satellite link-ups, which a TL-4 planet won't have. So the comms need direct LOS to reach the ship. What if that's only possible at specific spots in town? I can't say I'd enjoy the Adventure of Finding Cell Service, but it is a reasonable explanation for the PCs having to venture out into the town & face the invaders.
Medium range communicator doesn't have line of sight limitations in its specs, but it claims only a handful of channels. Looks like a 100W ham radio (or a CB with a linear amp) to me.
That said, sure. There are dirigible mooring towers, and those might be where LOS to the ship is available if required (and frequencies in the WiFi or even cellphone range might require it).
Still, the idea of having to raid a nearby restaurant for a wok (as an improvised antenna reflector dish) or hand-winding a Pringles-can antenna in order to connect to the ship might be amusing.
Wikipedia for wok antenna and Pringles-can antenna:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WokFi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantenna
On the other hand, why wouldn't the ship's crew have parked a few cheap relay cubesats in orbit before they landed? At the very least they'd want something up there for basic weather forecasting.
Even large metallized Mylar balloons as reflectors would do if you had a long range communicator (but you can't, since they're too heavy for the scenario).
Wikipedia for a passive-reflector communication satellite:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Echo
As another data point, there's no reason that an orbiting ship has to, you know, orbit.
It can pick an altitude and just perform a station keeping maneuver. This allows the starship to act as an ad hoc relay.
Similarly, there should be a mini-constellation (3-5) of station keeping "GPS" satellites that can be deployed in "wilderness" scenarios. No reason to blanket the globe with 'em, when they can follow the party around.
It can pick an altitude and just perform a station keeping maneuver. This allows the starship to act as an ad hoc relay.
Similarly, there should be a mini-constellation (3-5) of station keeping "GPS" satellites that can be deployed in "wilderness" scenarios. No reason to blanket the globe with 'em, when they can follow the party around.
I have an additional turret rack 'weapon' called a satcaster, plopping satellites into orbit for comms or survey work. Main orbital vector acquired by launching ship maneuver, station keeping done by the satellite, months or years depending on the stability of the orbit. Pretty standard stuff on scout and merc ships.
Great idea. I’ve been using a drone variant but this has a grittier feel. I like.
Condottiere
SOC-14 5K
At this point, unless you want military quality sensors, I would have thought a commercial drone would be enough.
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