Great Beginnings: or how do you avoid clichés

[Enoki]

Another way is to use the tools the game gives you. If you don't have a specific adventure already in mind try the extended system generation and detail the system the players are starting in.

Ask yourself, "Why does this system exist the way it does? What's the reason for the main world and any occupied secondary or satellite worlds?"

That often will result in a whole range of possible scenarios presenting themselves to you in a way you might not have considered.

Maybe add a randomly generated patron encounter to the mix or even just some randomly generated event to get the players started.

With that they might not even need a ship right off...

 

[jawillroy]

I'm starting an adventure now. The players are all recent hires to crew a Lab ship assigned on station in a very sparsely settled, cursorily surveyed system. They're not in charge of the mission, but they're more or less in charge of operations to facilitate the mission.

So in crises, they're in charge - for broader goals, however, they're under the authority of the institutional director assigned to administrate the survey.

It's important that I be able to impart a lot of initial direction: all the players thus far are new to Traveller, and at any rate it's an ATU, so a deep knowledge of the OTU wouldn't necessarily help (though there's understandable overlap in tropes.) So I'm trying to scaffold them with background as best I can so things start to look familiar to them.

There's built-in conflict between Operations, Administration, and the actual scientists assigned to the survey. There's liable to be conflict between Institutional goals, vying governmental goals, and areas that the locals will identify as Their Business.

I'm hoping I can just stir the pot a little, and let them go.