Game Report: A humbling experience.

[loudriver23]

As promised in my other thread, here's a report from my first session keeping a Traveller game.
The party consists of 3 players, plus myself, the intrepid keeper.
I decided to start off using the Tripwire campaign/scenario as it sounded like fun as I read through it.
Having not done a game report before, I'll just go over the highlights.

Things that went well:
The players all arrived on time with characters in hand ready to go.
They were enthusiastic
We made great progress in devising a logical reason for the group to be together in the first place.
The soundtrack I put together was a hit.
I believe I kept the players attention as they all seemed to be on the edge of their seats and looking for every opportunity to role-play.
I encouraged them to play in character as close to 100% of the time.
They took that and ran and started developing accents for their characters.
That in turn allowed me to do likewise for the NPC's they met.

Things that are in need of dire improvement:
I need to improve my understanding of the game mechanics, especially
Combat system
spacecraft operations
Psionics

Things I thought I had down but didn't:
Developing surrounding areas as to not railroad the players along plot lines.
I need to develop my starports better. So far the players limited themselves to the dock and didn't call me on my lack of preparation. I would however like to make it clear to them that some of the SP's are truly cities in and of themselves, and their exploration is definitely to their benefit.
While I'm not too big on using too many Red-Herring diversions, I think I should provide a few extra layers that published scenario doesn't. Perhaps some offshoot mini-adventures. Contacts that can provide other jobs for our travellers, etc...
While going through part of the scenario, I must have misread a section and had an NPC perform an activity upon re-reading it specifically said he wouldn't do..... I made a good save and had the NPC cease said action without having to tell my players... Um the last 5 minutes ... Let me start over.

In general the players all said they had fun, hopefully they weren't just being polite. I suppose I'll see if I have a difficult time scheduling a follow up night or not.
I am optimistic that with more prep-time and knowing what the holes were in this session are I can do a much better job next time.

 

[Rover]

being a GM is more art than science imho. and getting good at it can take time.

Personally I do not focus too much on details in my settings and npcs. I tend to have guidlines and outlines and improvise stuff as I go along.

to get better at running combats, don't just read the rules but run some mock combat sessions. maybe even invite one of the players over for some Out of character practice sessions.

R

 

[loudriver23]

to get better at running combats, don't just read the rules but run some mock combat sessions. maybe even invite one of the players over for some Out of character practice sessions.

R

Thanks Rover, this is a great idea!

 

[saundby]

Ditto to Rover. I get used to a new set of rules by running simple set-piece scenarios of combat, tasks, etc. either solo or with a member of my family shanghaied into playing side B. Sometimes I bribe them with some small in-game gimme to make it more interesting (e.g. if you survive the next five battles I'll let your character have the gun.)

When checking out new adventures, find the bits that have lots of die rolling and do a dry run on just those bits with a character who's all sevens and skill-1 in everything or using a handy NPC. If time is limited, focus on the first sticking point and the climax scene of the scenario assuming they're likely to get that far in the next game.

For side adventures, leading characters to explore, etc., character's pets are a DM's best friend. Beaker monkeys are a traditional Traveller item, but other species can work, too. They can do anything and are totally unaccountable. Beakers are a good critter, because they're very intelligent, a bit psionic, and there aren't any real ones here on Earth for players to compare them to to say, "They wouldn't do that!"

Send them into the air system while the ship's being serviced. Have them take off across the tarmac into Startown on their own. Have them react positively or negatively to NPCs. Have the PCs find out their bar tabs are already covered when they go to pay--the beaker's credit chip has them covered. What?

They're a goldmine of motivation for the PCs.

My daughter likes using dogs as PC pets in her campaign, I've used them and foxes and various sorts of cats, too. Often with an unknown past, so maybe they're actually some geneered critter that got away, or an experiment that had to be gotten rid of as part of a cover up, or something.

It's a simple and obvious to the players mechanic when running a campaign, but it works.

Also, good job on setting up your relationship with the players. Having them be part of the process is important. When they feel like they're coming for you to put on a show for them it makes it tougher on you and makes it easier for them to get discontent and whine or otherwise feel distanced from the events of the game.

It sounds to me like you're off to a really good start. I've found players can be a lot more tolerant of refs having to look up rolls and rules than it feels like when you're the flustered ref.

Also, when looking to schedule follow-up games, dropping a few hints and reminders of the past game helps motivate people to commit a bit more easily, I find.

 

[loudriver23]

Also, good job on setting up your relationship with the players. Having them be part of the process is important. When they feel like they're coming for you to put on a show for them it makes it tougher on you and makes it easier for them to get discontent and whine or otherwise feel distanced from the events of the game.

It sounds to me like you're off to a really good start. I've found players can be a lot more tolerant of refs having to look up rolls and rules than it feels like when you're the flustered ref.

Also, when looking to schedule follow-up games, dropping a few hints and reminders of the past game helps motivate people to commit a bit more easily, I find.

Thanks Saundby,
I'm hoping you're right about the players being tolerant at my lack or rules knowledge. I definitely felt flustered at several points, having to wing it and use my best interpretation of the rules.
With some practice as you and Rover suggested, I'm confident things will continue to go more smoothly each time we play.
I also like the pet idea very much. Maybe I'll have a stray sneak on board while they're at some downport.

 

[BytePro]

Sounds like a great time - wouldn't worry too much about the mechanics, when playing, they should really just be there to support the roleplaying.

Some excellent advice here - not much to add, but a resource for your starports - www.columbia.edu/~mbk2109/traveller/Starports!.pdf

When nothing seems to fit - just use a 'universal game mechanic' - 2d6 with a target number and DMs for difficulty, situation, skills, attributes, timing - or just make one up. It really helps to know the odds of rolling. Try http://anydice.com/ (ex: enter output 2d6+4, select calculate and at least to see the odds of hitting a target number with the +4 DM).

Hehe - beakers (beaked monkeys) on ships... that's an old concept:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_hh7Y_mOyQH8/S5mw9fgwqJI/AAAAAAAABzA/_ERLa-xPFuI/s1600-h/poster67275604.jpg

 

[loudriver23]

Thanks BytePro! Very cool resources there! I actually purchased the new Mongoose Starports PDF, I guess I'm still getting used to keeping again. I guess once I get more comfortable I'll be able to incorporate a more rich/fun starport experience. Cantinas, pubs, casinos, restaurants, ship modification shops, brothels, law enforcement and business offices. I have all kinds of ideas and adventure seeds, I just need to be more calm at keeping, be more focused in my preparation.
I'm really looking forward to my second session.

 

[BytePro]

No problem - love to hear about the next session.

Have used audio effects in Traveller since the '80's - but have never used background music. Sounds like a good idea (soundtrack from 2001: A Space Odyssey going through my head...).

Took a beat (pun) to realize 'keeper' = referee.

 

[loudriver23]

I actually used a little bit of Strauss. Mostly movie soundtrack stuff.
Cowboy Bebop
Escape from New York
The Terminator
Predator
A Clockwork Orange
Conan the Barbarian
Akira
Daft Punk
Miles Davis
I even recorded a track of my own using Garageband.
I separated the music into 2 categories:
Travellin' & Tension
I would switch playlists to the tension one at an opportune time, trying not to make things too obvious. I try to get some action started first then change feels. If i change the music first the players are like "Uh Oh... here it comes!"

I still dunno what Traveller folk call the person who runs the game.
I use keeper obviously, but referee, GM, architect, I thought were all pretty much synonymous.

 

[saundby]

Background music...

I remember when I had to get up and flip sides every 15-20 minutes. Always been part of the game for me. CDs made things so much easier, especially since my first player was a 5-disk auto-changer. Now it's all in MP3 playlists, of course. All that's missing is that in 1977 much of my music was quadraphonic, and today we still don't have a decent standard for 4 or more channel music that I can really use.

I've added plenty to the playlist over the year, but there are quite a few of the originals still being played. I favor light or no lyrics, but there are exceptions, especially for jazz:

Mike Oldfield: Ommadawn, Tubular Bells
Synergy: Sequencer, Electronic Realizations, Semiconductor
Jean-Michel Jarre: Oxygene, Equinoxe
Tomita: all of them
Tangerine Dream: Stratosfear, Mars Polaris
Brian Eno: just about anything but not too much or people go to sleep
Glenn Miller Band,
Shelley Burns + Avalon Swing or whoever by album
Franck Symphony in D Minor
lots of Bach and Mozart
a bit of Wagner
and some Sibelius and Richard Strauss.

A lot of new prog rock gets mixed in, and some newer stuff the younger players bring to enlighten we crusty old-timers.

 

[Icosahedron]

I still dunno what Traveller folk call the person who runs the game.
I use keeper obviously, but referee, GM, architect, I thought were all pretty much synonymous.

Officially, it's Referee.

I've never used soundtracks or other gizmos. The problem is that once you've started, the players expect it, it gets increasingly difficult to create without getting stale, and it reduces your other prep time.

And you always get the loud bit when the PCs are using stealth...

Still, if you enjoy it, why not?

 

[Nightwind1]

My daughter likes using dogs as PC pets in her campaign, I've used them and foxes and various sorts of cats, too. Often with an unknown past, so maybe they're actually some geneered critter that got away, or an experiment that had to be gotten rid of as part of a cover up, or something.

Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Fay Valentine and Ed can attest to the interesting adventure possibilities of a dog who's been engineered in some way.