Grand Fleet Academy

[BlackBat242]

Precisely - the various military academies, military colleges, and military prep schools have a book's worth (a large book, or even an encyclopedia) of incidents where students/cadets were punished or shunned by other students/cadets for reporting dishonorable or criminal behavior on the part of other students/cadets.

It is a fact of human social structure that any peer group will, unless actively controlled, develop an identity that favors "insiders" over "outsiders - and the instructors and their rules/laws often become categorized as "outsiders" to be worked against.

In this case of the killing of a species outsider (the vargr), the culprit was a popular student/cadet figure, and many students would refuse to believe that he had actually killed the "outsider" - they would believe that Flashy was being framed by the PTB, and that the informer student/cadet was aiding that frame-up and cover-up of the actual killer's identity.


Therefore, many of the students would look down on or shun the informer due to their own beliefs and social structure without regard to the objective truth or correctness of the informer's actions, or of their own.


Besides - most students/cadets eventually do something that is a violation of the rules - most times it is so minor that no one thinks of reporting it to the staff - but a "known informer" would be expected (rightly or wrongly) to report every violation, no matter minor or harmless - thus no one would want him in close association.



This is simply a reality of human social interaction, and I am NOT saying it is "right" in any way - I am just admitting that it is reality.

 

[gregcaires]

Consider what you taught your son and his friends.

they learned its better to study than look cool by "not studying"

they learned to stand up to bullying -- both their own and what they witnessed done to the Vargr (at one point, my son (mis)quoted MLK to Flashy to get him to recognize the Vargr as a fellow sophont / cadet worthy of respect..."judge him by the content of his character and not the color of his fur).

they learned that doing what is right has consequences.

they learned that violence (dueling) never solves anything (outside of RPGs) .

I hope it is through RPGs like Traveller that my son and his friends get a taste of real life and hopefully remember these lessons during real life.

My son clearly "played" the game looking for the most dramatic outcomes and he found them. 3 kids "played it safe" -- which included studying hard BUT obeying the code of silence -- and were rewarded. they actually had a lively and informative debate about whether it was their "job" to get involved with the Vargr's bullying. When my son accepted the duel they had a big argument about his acceptance and whether or not any of them should second him.

In the end were a little uncomfortable knowing they had done nothing to bring the guilty to justice or help a friend or fellow cadet.

Lastly, artistic license wiped away issues about civil vs. academy rules, and the Vargr died so late in the year and his clan was so far away that year's class would be long gone before they learned of his death.

Next game will be Horde so if anyone has concerns about systematic destruction of a misunderstood alien race ("they're just trying to feed and protect their offspring!") I welcome that discussion.

My thanks to all for finding this topic so interesting and having such a lively discussion about it.

 

[Piper]

they learned its better to study than look cool by "not studying"

they learned to stand up to bullying -- both their own and what they witnessed done to the Vargr (at one point, my son (mis)quoted MLK to Flashy to get him to recognize the Vargr as a fellow sophont / cadet worthy of respect..."judge him by the content of his character and not the color of his fur).

they learned that doing what is right has consequences.

they learned that violence (dueling) never solves anything (outside of RPGs) .

I hope it is through RPGs like Traveller that my son and his friends get a taste of real life and hopefully remember these lessons during real life.

It's hard to imagine any better use for or outcome of an RPG session.
Congrats and hopes for continued good gaming.

 

[CliffBates]

Opps a big mistake.. sorry wrong place..

 

[CliffBates]

he broke the cadet code of silence and testified against another cadet.

Actually the Honor codes at the Service Academies (and schools like VMI, Citadel and Norwich [which I have been teaching for over a decade] actually requires students not only confess, but force students who know of the infraction but fail to confess to be equally as guilty. So rat'ing is not a breach of the code but a part of it.

 

[gregcaires]

UPDATE

I'm running this at TravellerCon 2017 if anyone is attending - look for "Grand Fleet Academy" Sunday morning. Mr. Miller is scheduled at attend this year's con, in Lancaster PA, 29-30 Sept & 1 Oct.