Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
I've got a thought...
This is just something that you can do if you think it will be fun. You can also use it to create more background for your characters. In a way, you can create short-cut rules for a second career, allowing the actual game to be the character's third career.
Here's how it works.
1. You allow a player to create a character.
2. Then, as you are developing that character's "story" and muster him out, you pick up the rules for Asteroid Mining in JTAS 3.
3. You do the asteroid mini-game for a while. That time could represent years, and once done, the character will be segueing from the asteroid mining into the actual adventure.
Example.
You can use the Asteroid Mining mini-game as a model to create all sorts of careers.
Let's say that a PC is on Aramis. He joins the Imperial Marines at the Naval Base on the world and goes through normal character generation, then musters out.
Once the chargen is over, the character becomes a beat cop in the city of Leedor.
As Ref, you create a flow chart for the beat cop. You can list major cases, promotions, getting shot, survival, all sorts of stuff. It will be a mini-game, like the Asteroids.
And, once that is done, you start the campaign in earnest--with this ex-Marine, ex-Leedor Royal Security character.
Adventure Class Ships and Typical Travellers
Let's look at The Traveller Adventure. The players create their PCs which are destined to be the crew of the March Harrier.
The way the adventure is written, the crew has been aboard the ship for a while. Why not dice out a couple of years or so?
First off, you don't really need a flow chart as with the Asteroids game above. The Harrier, in that adventure, is a subsidized vessel charged with servicing the Aramis Trace within the Aramis subsector.
Well, that's only four worlds: Aramis, Natoko, Reacher, and L' oeul d'Dieu.
So, what you do is basically roleplay (in a quick fashion) the ship going to each of those worlds. A week in jump, then a week in port.
Aramis-->Natoko-->Reacher-->Aramis--L' oeul d' Dieu-->Aramis
On a trip, the Harrier arrives at Aramis twice and each of the other three worlds once.
Or, you can set it up to where the Harrier returns to Aramis after each trip.
Aramis-->Natoko-->Aramis-->Reacher-->Aramis-->L' oeul d'Dieu-->Aramis
The point is to get the players familiar with the monotony of a subsidized route. You roll passengers and cargo. Have the players keep track and follow finances. Make up some NPC contacts for each world so that the PCs are on a first name basis with these people, and the players get a good feel for each world.
Go through the rotation three times or so.
If a player starts to go off to a starport lounge and get into trouble--then so be it! Let it happen!
Just don't start anything long term. Let the players have some fun roleplaying with the locals. Let 'em have a bar fight. Throw 'em in jail. Normal stuff.
You can even lay down some foreshadowing for the adventure when it really starts. Maybe the crew starts a rivalry with another freighter crew. Maybe they spot the Wolblutn from the adventure?
Just don't get into too much. This part of the game should be fun, but you also want the players to start to get bored and wonder what it is like elsewhere.
If you are lucky, they will ask about jumping to other worlds. That's when you can detail the ship's subsidy to them--that the ship is charged with servicing these four worlds, year in, and year out.
But...the ship does have some time built up to go off-subsidy route. And a good time to do that is after the annual maintenance, which is due...
Float right into the adventure--starting the Traveller Adventure.
PCs might think that, after the real adventure starts, that they're still just impromptu roleplay.
But, they're going to be ready for something new, and when they see the Vargr Gvoudzon getting beat up, they'll be dying to investigate.
And, boom, you're in the Traveller Adventure, playing away.
This is just something that you can do if you think it will be fun. You can also use it to create more background for your characters. In a way, you can create short-cut rules for a second career, allowing the actual game to be the character's third career.
Here's how it works.
1. You allow a player to create a character.
2. Then, as you are developing that character's "story" and muster him out, you pick up the rules for Asteroid Mining in JTAS 3.
3. You do the asteroid mini-game for a while. That time could represent years, and once done, the character will be segueing from the asteroid mining into the actual adventure.
Example.
You can use the Asteroid Mining mini-game as a model to create all sorts of careers.
Let's say that a PC is on Aramis. He joins the Imperial Marines at the Naval Base on the world and goes through normal character generation, then musters out.
Once the chargen is over, the character becomes a beat cop in the city of Leedor.
As Ref, you create a flow chart for the beat cop. You can list major cases, promotions, getting shot, survival, all sorts of stuff. It will be a mini-game, like the Asteroids.
And, once that is done, you start the campaign in earnest--with this ex-Marine, ex-Leedor Royal Security character.
Adventure Class Ships and Typical Travellers
Let's look at The Traveller Adventure. The players create their PCs which are destined to be the crew of the March Harrier.
The way the adventure is written, the crew has been aboard the ship for a while. Why not dice out a couple of years or so?
First off, you don't really need a flow chart as with the Asteroids game above. The Harrier, in that adventure, is a subsidized vessel charged with servicing the Aramis Trace within the Aramis subsector.
Well, that's only four worlds: Aramis, Natoko, Reacher, and L' oeul d'Dieu.
So, what you do is basically roleplay (in a quick fashion) the ship going to each of those worlds. A week in jump, then a week in port.
Aramis-->Natoko-->Reacher-->Aramis--L' oeul d' Dieu-->Aramis
On a trip, the Harrier arrives at Aramis twice and each of the other three worlds once.
Or, you can set it up to where the Harrier returns to Aramis after each trip.
Aramis-->Natoko-->Aramis-->Reacher-->Aramis-->L' oeul d'Dieu-->Aramis
The point is to get the players familiar with the monotony of a subsidized route. You roll passengers and cargo. Have the players keep track and follow finances. Make up some NPC contacts for each world so that the PCs are on a first name basis with these people, and the players get a good feel for each world.
Go through the rotation three times or so.
If a player starts to go off to a starport lounge and get into trouble--then so be it! Let it happen!
Just don't start anything long term. Let the players have some fun roleplaying with the locals. Let 'em have a bar fight. Throw 'em in jail. Normal stuff.
You can even lay down some foreshadowing for the adventure when it really starts. Maybe the crew starts a rivalry with another freighter crew. Maybe they spot the Wolblutn from the adventure?
Just don't get into too much. This part of the game should be fun, but you also want the players to start to get bored and wonder what it is like elsewhere.
If you are lucky, they will ask about jumping to other worlds. That's when you can detail the ship's subsidy to them--that the ship is charged with servicing these four worlds, year in, and year out.
But...the ship does have some time built up to go off-subsidy route. And a good time to do that is after the annual maintenance, which is due...
Float right into the adventure--starting the Traveller Adventure.
PCs might think that, after the real adventure starts, that they're still just impromptu roleplay.
But, they're going to be ready for something new, and when they see the Vargr Gvoudzon getting beat up, they'll be dying to investigate.
And, boom, you're in the Traveller Adventure, playing away.
