General Picking up strays...

[Spinward Scout]

I don't know why I pick 3am to do this, but I was looking at The Traveller Adventure and realized they picked up a Stray. Funny that I think of it that way, since it was a Vargr.

I don't mean Patrons or Charters. Just NPCs that you meet or help along the way.

I am wondering how many times that non-crew end up on your Starships?

 

[Condottiere]

All that is bold begets litter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The young that is strong does go thither,
Deep space is breached and crisscrossed.

From the engines a fire shall be woken,
A push from the thrusters shall spring;
Renewed shall be Ihatei that was token,
The landless again shall be king.


Lord of the Ring Worlds

 

[gchuck]

Picked up quite a few along the way; 129 clones who were being trafficked, 6(non clone) field inductions, about a dozen criminals (including an actively sought assassin whom the player has no clue who it is), who have accepted exile rather than prison.
About 2/3 of the clones have opted to join the IISS to help their 'brothers & sisters'.

Of course, these numbers are for a campaign that started in 2018, and is in it's 12th year game time.

 

[Commander Truestar]

Nice.
IMTU, in 1113, my players were enroute to Wypoc from Regina in the Spinward Marches when they misjumped.

They came to in a crippled ship nearly 1 parsec spinward of the Inthe system(in Regina, because there are 2 Inthe systems in the Marches)
Desperate for some way to survive, they realized there was another hulk drifting near their position and burned for it.

While exploring/looting it, they found a low berth still sealed and operating on battery power.
They got the berth back to their crippled ship, because it still held atmo, and got the woman in it out and revived her.
She is now part of the crew.

 

[whartung]

So, they revived her so that she can die with them in the dead of space trillions of miles from anywhere?

 

[Commander Truestar]

So, they revived her so that she can die with them in the dead of space trillions of miles from anywhere?

No,
in fact, the equipment she was able to lead them to helped them get one of the ships "barely" jump capable, and they all made it back to the Inthe system, to some fanfare.
The Imperial Navy also rewarded them for locating the missiong naval wreck

 

[mike wightman]

If had been a bloke would they have awoken the occupant of the cold berth?
I'm guessing attractive, mid twenties to early thirties...

 

[Daidoji Dave]

I am wondering how many times that non-crew end up on your Starships?

It's always looked to me like the game assumes players can hire more ship's crew to fill out missing skills or roles, or just to do jobs they don't want to do (Steward). So I always make that option available.

I've only been taken up on it once though. Modern players especially have been conditioned to expect PC-only parties. Plus that's before any negative experiences with NPCs who betray the party. Which my hired crew won't do as long as they're paid and not required to go on off-ship adventures, but it's still a concern for some players.

 

[gchuck]

It's always looked to me like the game assumes players can hire more ship's crew to fill out missing skills or roles, or just to do jobs they don't want to do (Steward). So I always make that option available.

Kudos Dave!
I consistently hand my 'player' an NPC sheet, "You're running 'Racheal the clone' (or whoever) for this one!"
Make them work! Most players will have an above average understanding of the NPC, if they interact with them regularly.

 

[Commander Truestar]

Kudos Dave!
I consistently hand my 'player' an NPC sheet, "You're running 'Racheal the clone' (or whoever) for this one!"
Make them work! Most players will have an above average understanding of the NPC, if they interact with them regularly.

With nine players, I constantly have some players healing from combat and others not attending the monthly game.
So, I often hand a player sheet for an absent player's character to another player so I don't have to NPC them.

This prevents me hamstringing what they can do because, as an NPC, they could try to mine the GM for information...