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How long does it take to complete the task?

D

daniel_t

SOC-2
MT, 2300AD and MgT all include time increments in their task systems. (Does TNE?)

Let's say my players are driving a vehicle that is capable of going 100kph max, and they need to travel 100k. So I draw up a task for it, and the minimum possible time should be 1 hour.

For MT, that means a 20 minutes time increment for MT and 2300AD. Assuming the driver has a +2 DM his driving time will be (min: 60, avg: 170.5, median: 170, max: 320.) If he declares the attempt hasty, then it drops to (min: 60, avg: 133.2, Median: 130, max: 280.)

It seems that for MgT the time increment has to be 36 minutes. So that same driver has times like (min: 360, Avg: 1260, Max: 2160,) and hasty times of (min: 60, avg: 210, max: 360.)

Does anybody actually use the time portions of the UTPs? Do you see any problems with my calculations above? Has anybody come up with other/better time calculation systems?

In general, I’d like this thread to be about answering the question “How long does it take to complete the task?”
 
I play CT.

Typically, time isn't an issue. When it is, I, as the GM, will either estimate how long the task took, declare it, and keep the game moving.

Or, sometimes I use the MT method (that was originally devised for CT): Estimate task time; take 10%; roll 3D6; multiply the total of the roll by the 10% figure to find the total time taken.

Example: Changeing the autofluxer on the air/raft usually takes about an hour, given proper tools. 60 min / 10 = 6 min.

Roll 3D6: 3, 5, 4.

12 * 6 min = 72 min.

So, it takes the PC an hour and 12 min to change out the autofluxer.





Again, I rarely do this. Time is usually not an issue, and when it is, my gut feeling (about an hour for this task) is good enough.

"You get the tools out of the storage compartment, and it takes you about an hour to fix the autofluxer."

But, there have been occasions when I've used the more detailed system explained above.

I remember we had a game, one time, where a big fight was coming, and the PCs were attempting to convert vehicles to semi-fighting machines by tacking on armor plates and bolting on some weapons.

They were in this warehouse, and they only had somewhere around 3 hours before the enemy hit. They were on this desert world, and it was this whold Mad-Max/Road Warrior kind of scene.

I had decided that the attack would happen in 2 hours 45 min--15 min early. And, what I did was take each PC and NPC, and we actually role played the almost three hours of conversion.

This was an instance that I used the 3D6 mechanic explained above. Time was critical--it would show how many vehicles they got running.

We threw a lot of tasks. Role played the entire "construction" segment (which was quite fun as I threw in different personalities for the NPCs and the players came up with different things that they wanted to do to the vehicles as time wore on). We spent about 3/4 of an entire game session on it, and then the attack started.

The players weren't quite "ready" for the attack yet, but it sure felt "real" given the way we had role played it all out.

The next game session was entirely combat, but, based on our previous session, there were no questions in the form of, "Hey, since we had all that time, couldn't we have don this..."

They knew what they had time for. We played it all out.

Man, that was a fun game.

The players won, btw, but it was almost a pyrick (sp?) victory.
 
On topic...

I vaguely recall a very complicated (well it seemed so) time mechanic to the task in some version of Traveller (MT? T4?) but it dragged the game on so long always looking up the stupid mechanics to find the time component, rolling a whole bag of dice adding it up, dividing by Pi, factoring the phase of the moon and the height of tides and...

...ok, I'm exaggerating a bit. The tides could be ignored, on desert worlds.

;)

The thing is, it was a bunch of work that added nothing and most of the time seemed wrong. After trying it out I seem to recall just chucking the whole time part of the task system and falling back to "it takes as long as it takes" or just making stuff up on the fly.

We also rarely rolled for routine stuff, like the simply drive you mention in the original post. Unless there is some circumstance to make the task unusual something like that would simply be "You arrive at the destination in 1 hour".
 
daniel_t said:
MT, 2300AD and MgT all include time increments in their task systems. (Does TNE?)

Let's say my players are driving a vehicle that is capable of going 100kph max, and they need to travel 100k. So I draw up a task for it, and the minimum possible time should be 1 hour.

For MT, that means a 20 minutes time increment for MT and 2300AD. Assuming the driver has a +2 DM his driving time will be (min: 60, avg: 170.5, median: 170, max: 320.) If he declares the attempt hasty, then it drops to (min: 60, avg: 133.2, Median: 130, max: 280.)

It seems that for MgT the time increment has to be 36 minutes. So that same driver has times like (min: 360, Avg: 1260, Max: 2160,) and hasty times of (min: 60, avg: 210, max: 360.)

Does anybody actually use the time portions of the UTPs? Do you see any problems with my calculations above? Has anybody come up with other/better time calculation systems?

In general, I’d like this thread to be about answering the question “How long does it take to complete the task?”
Click to expand...

I use MT when I run, and yes, I use the the time increments.

I've not found better than MT. My players just rolled 2d6 of one color, 3d6 of another.

FYI, TNE includes a fixed time, which is adjusted only for hasty/cautious.
 
This is exactly why I'm a CT player - 3D6 x 10% is sooo much easier than tide tables. :)

The short answer to your question - it takes as long as the GM says it takes. :devil:
 
I only use the times for the portions of the task that require skill checks, and where there are viable options for changing the timing or pacing of the actions performed by the player having an effect on outcome.

This lets me deal with the idiosyncrasies of timing systems easier, too (especially those using Babylonian sexagesimal math ;) ). Using your example, I don't roll for the whole drive. I roll for the hazards on the drive and the effects they have on overall time and progress.
 
far-trader said:
Since you're asking (or so I'll presume :) ) it is Pyrrhic. Capitalized, as it's named for King Pyrrhus.

Full details courtesy of wiki for those wondering:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhic_victory
Click to expand...

Knew the story...well, knew the basics. Knew what a Pyrrhic victory was. Didn't know how to spell it, and I did do a quick google, but I guess I didn't put enough effort into it as I was spelling it wrong.

Neat to see the details, though.
 
I like the MT time system and used it quite a bit, but it seemed like professionals were routinely getting 40-50% of the "standard" time even on hard tasks... So I decided to come up with my own house rules for time modifiers based on MgT.

Core Rulebook
Pg. 50 (modification)

Going Faster or Slower
You can choose, before you roll, to take an additional DM of up to +- 3. The modifier you take will help determine how long the task will take.

In the following chart, find the row for the modifier you took, and cross reference it with the column for the time die roll. The result is the multiplier to the time increment listed for the task.
Code: 
	   Time Die Roll
DM      1 2 3 4 5 6   Avg.
--      -----------
+3      3 4 4 5 6 6   4.67
+2      2 3 4 5 5 6   4.17
+1      2 3 3 4 5 6   3.83
 0      1 2 3 4 5 6   3.50
-1      1 2 3 4 4 5   3.17
-2      1 1 2 2 3 4   2.17
-3      1 1 1 2 3 3   1.83

GM: When defining tasks, determine the time increment using one of the following two methods:
  1. Decide the average time the task should take and divide by 3.5
  2. Decide the minimum time the task should take and set the time increment for that.
 
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