Intro to CT: Top 10

[Commander Drax]

Use 1960s-70s assumptions about the technology - don't expect modern concepts like pocket computers or nanotechnology.

I would say that all modern and predicted technologies exist though may not be obvious as its a hard science universe, after all those broad spectrum antibiotics available at tech level 12 may be nanotechnology, how else could it fight the many varied and nasty pathogens that exist in a gigantic game universe like the OTU.

Other things I would tell them are:

1. If you don't role play in character you dont get any experience points.
2. If your a munchkin expect to die early.
3. With responsibility comes liability, your actions good or bad will have repercussions.

4. There's no orc slaying, if you kill something you're a murderer and may be aprehended by the authorities as even low-life scum enjoys the same rights of protection as you.

5. You get the reputation you deserve.

 

[Commander Drax]

Use 1960s-70s assumptions about the technology - don't expect modern concepts like pocket computers or nanotechnology.

I would say that all modern and predicted technologies exist though may not be obvious as its a hard science universe, after all those broad spectrum antibiotics available at tech level 12 may be nanotechnology, how else could it fight the many varied and nasty pathogens that exist in a gigantic game universe like the OTU.

Other things I would tell them are:

1. If you don't role play in character you dont get any experience points.
2. If your a munchkin expect to die early.
3. With responsibility comes liability, your actions good or bad will have repercussions.

4. There's no orc slaying, if you kill something you're a murderer and may be aprehended by the authorities as even low-life scum enjoys the same rights of protection as you.

5. You get the reputation you deserve.

 

[RobertFisher]

Thanks for the replies. They've been very helpful.

Although, maybe I should've stessed "played various RPGs" more. I'm the one in the group who always gets chastised in the super heroes campaigns for trying to "kill them & take their stuff."

The group has been wanting to play a CT game for a long time, but it hasn't reached the top of the queue yet. It will probably still be a while before we get to it, but I've just been figuring I should use more of my time not-behind-the-screen preparing for it.

Hopefully others will find this thread as helpful as I will.

Thank goodness for Firefly. When the group first expressed interest in Traveller, I was at a complete loss of how to describe it to them. Then Firefly came out, but I never got them to watch it. Since the DVDs have been out, though, they've all seen it now & love it.

We never played missing a survival roll as actual death in the old days, & I don't see any reason to do so.

I probably won't let them pick their skills for their 1st PCs. I want to give them--& I think they want--the "full" CT experience. I'll probably suggest more flexible chargen--maybe even entirely freeform--if we play more CT campaigns. I won't be surprised if this group decides to stick with random chargen, though.

In the same vein, they're really going to be looking to me as to what kind of game it is. I think it's going to be more me trying to set the "typical CT tone" (where "typical" really means how my old group played it

). Still, there are a lot of options within that to choose from based on the players' proclivities. I think there are only a couple of players in the group that would really enjoy a straight military-style campaign.

Thanks again, & additional thoughts are welcome!

 

[RobertFisher]

Thanks for the replies. They've been very helpful.

Although, maybe I should've stessed "played various RPGs" more. I'm the one in the group who always gets chastised in the super heroes campaigns for trying to "kill them & take their stuff."

The group has been wanting to play a CT game for a long time, but it hasn't reached the top of the queue yet. It will probably still be a while before we get to it, but I've just been figuring I should use more of my time not-behind-the-screen preparing for it.

Hopefully others will find this thread as helpful as I will.

Thank goodness for Firefly. When the group first expressed interest in Traveller, I was at a complete loss of how to describe it to them. Then Firefly came out, but I never got them to watch it. Since the DVDs have been out, though, they've all seen it now & love it.

We never played missing a survival roll as actual death in the old days, & I don't see any reason to do so.

I probably won't let them pick their skills for their 1st PCs. I want to give them--& I think they want--the "full" CT experience. I'll probably suggest more flexible chargen--maybe even entirely freeform--if we play more CT campaigns. I won't be surprised if this group decides to stick with random chargen, though.

In the same vein, they're really going to be looking to me as to what kind of game it is. I think it's going to be more me trying to set the "typical CT tone" (where "typical" really means how my old group played it

). Still, there are a lot of options within that to choose from based on the players' proclivities. I think there are only a couple of players in the group that would really enjoy a straight military-style campaign.

Thanks again, & additional thoughts are welcome!

 

[flykiller]

If these cats have been hip to the heroic and cinematic games such as DnD, then you may want to chuck most, if not all, canon, and play in whatever setting you choose.

what first attracted me to traveller was that the referee said it tried to be more scientific than d&d. one might want to check what former d&d players want - more of the same, or something more realistic.

You want [insert something here]? Well, BLAMMO...there they are.

(smile)

May your first adventure in the far future be the first of many!

 

[flykiller]

If these cats have been hip to the heroic and cinematic games such as DnD, then you may want to chuck most, if not all, canon, and play in whatever setting you choose.

what first attracted me to traveller was that the referee said it tried to be more scientific than d&d. one might want to check what former d&d players want - more of the same, or something more realistic.

You want [insert something here]? Well, BLAMMO...there they are.

(smile)

May your first adventure in the far future be the first of many!

 

[clementk]

Just a note. I'd add Cowboy Bebop and possibly Outlaw Star alongside Firefly for recent shows. Bebop doesn't have jump drives but the feel is right and it's an excellent show all around. Great soundtracks too! The bebop movie is good but really benefits from having seen the show. Outlaw Star's a bit more wacky Star Warsish but has its moments.

Bebop's still on Cartoon Network and both are on DVD.

General suggestion: Don't get bogged down in the details of the OTU or "canon" if you choose to use it. Fun's the name of the game.

Casey

 

[clementk]

Just a note. I'd add Cowboy Bebop and possibly Outlaw Star alongside Firefly for recent shows. Bebop doesn't have jump drives but the feel is right and it's an excellent show all around. Great soundtracks too! The bebop movie is good but really benefits from having seen the show. Outlaw Star's a bit more wacky Star Warsish but has its moments.

Bebop's still on Cartoon Network and both are on DVD.

General suggestion: Don't get bogged down in the details of the OTU or "canon" if you choose to use it. Fun's the name of the game.

Casey

 

[Ran Targas]

I would include blanket statements like:

"If you still can't figure out how the Rebel Alliance defeated the Empire; you'll probably love Traveller"

"If you think OUTLAND was a great sci-fi movie, even if they used shotguns; you'll probably love Traveller"

"If you prefer a good mystery-thriller to an action film regardless of whether it's in a future setting or not; you'll probably love Traveller"

"If you own the DVD of SILENT RUNNING; you'll probably love Traveller"

"If you think ALIEN is a superior film to ALIENS; you'll probably love Traveller"

"If you think PC's should die horribly when they attempt to do the impossible; you'll probably love Traveller"

"If you think space travel should actually require a period of time to accomplish; you'll probably love Traveller"

On the converse:

"If you think piloting a spacecraft is just like cropdusting; you'll probably hate Traveller"

"If you want a PC whose destiny is to defend the innocent against the evil minions of the dark overlord while ascending to godhood; you'll probably hate Traveller"

 

[Ran Targas]

I would include blanket statements like:

"If you still can't figure out how the Rebel Alliance defeated the Empire; you'll probably love Traveller"

"If you think OUTLAND was a great sci-fi movie, even if they used shotguns; you'll probably love Traveller"

"If you prefer a good mystery-thriller to an action film regardless of whether it's in a future setting or not; you'll probably love Traveller"

"If you own the DVD of SILENT RUNNING; you'll probably love Traveller"

"If you think ALIEN is a superior film to ALIENS; you'll probably love Traveller"

"If you think PC's should die horribly when they attempt to do the impossible; you'll probably love Traveller"

"If you think space travel should actually require a period of time to accomplish; you'll probably love Traveller"

On the converse:

"If you think piloting a spacecraft is just like cropdusting; you'll probably hate Traveller"

"If you want a PC whose destiny is to defend the innocent against the evil minions of the dark overlord while ascending to godhood; you'll probably hate Traveller"

 

[mike wightman]

Originally posted by Malenfant:
What, it's impossible to locate a psi institute during all those game years of character generation?!

Unless you want to change the character generation system (and fix "death during character generation" by using the optional rule - oh, and let players pick the skills they want rather than roll) then the answer's no.
Or is it yes???

 

[mike wightman]

Originally posted by Malenfant:
What, it's impossible to locate a psi institute during all those game years of character generation?!

Unless you want to change the character generation system (and fix "death during character generation" by using the optional rule - oh, and let players pick the skills they want rather than roll) then the answer's no.
Or is it yes???

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

"Magic exists, but is beyond the reach of starting PC's... Unless they're psionic, of course." -- various.

Psst! Magic ain't Psionics, and Psionics ain't Magic!

 

[Keklas Rekobah]

"Magic exists, but is beyond the reach of starting PC's... Unless they're psionic, of course." -- various.

Psst! Magic ain't Psionics, and Psionics ain't Magic!

 

[mike wightman]

Is psionics in Traveller super high-tech science, labelled as "powers of the mind" because at TL's less than 25 it isn't understood any other way?
Or is it really that the mind can tap into some higher dimensional reality in order to cause its effects?
Either way it sounds like magic to me

 

[mike wightman]

Is psionics in Traveller super high-tech science, labelled as "powers of the mind" because at TL's less than 25 it isn't understood any other way?
Or is it really that the mind can tap into some higher dimensional reality in order to cause its effects?
Either way it sounds like magic to me

 

[aramis]

Any technology whcih doesn't work by scientifically understood principles is magic.

Jump Drives are Magic to the players.
T-Plates are Magic to the players.
Black Globes and Meson Guns are Magic.
Psionics are Magic to all but psionic researchers.
TL17+ goodies tend to be Magic.

In CT & MT: You can't get Psionics in CG. Exception: Zhodani.
In TNE: You can, but it's not safe nor easy.
In T4: you have one career with psionics available, but it's way more than likely to make one a powerful psion.
T20: it's doable, but not mainstream, to have Psi gains dueing CG.
GT: You simply can't afford Traveller style psionics using G-Psionics. (If you buy them instead as Spells, and take the innate modifier, you can replicate low-PSR psion-characters fairly well)

I like to think that Psionics is a relic of Gradfather's forcing a 3D universe into a 2D jumpgrid....

 

[aramis]

Any technology whcih doesn't work by scientifically understood principles is magic.

Jump Drives are Magic to the players.
T-Plates are Magic to the players.
Black Globes and Meson Guns are Magic.
Psionics are Magic to all but psionic researchers.
TL17+ goodies tend to be Magic.

In CT & MT: You can't get Psionics in CG. Exception: Zhodani.
In TNE: You can, but it's not safe nor easy.
In T4: you have one career with psionics available, but it's way more than likely to make one a powerful psion.
T20: it's doable, but not mainstream, to have Psi gains dueing CG.
GT: You simply can't afford Traveller style psionics using G-Psionics. (If you buy them instead as Spells, and take the innate modifier, you can replicate low-PSR psion-characters fairly well)

I like to think that Psionics is a relic of Gradfather's forcing a 3D universe into a 2D jumpgrid....

 

[Malenfant]

Originally posted by Aramis:
Any technology whcih doesn't work by scientifically understood principles is magic.

You somewhat misquoted Arthur C Clarke there. It should be:

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

"sufficiently advanced" is not the same as "which doesn't work by scientifically understood principles".

A flamethrower would be magic to a stone age primitive. A time machine would be magic to us.

 

[Malenfant]

Originally posted by Aramis:
Any technology whcih doesn't work by scientifically understood principles is magic.

You somewhat misquoted Arthur C Clarke there. It should be:

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

"sufficiently advanced" is not the same as "which doesn't work by scientifically understood principles".

A flamethrower would be magic to a stone age primitive. A time machine would be magic to us.