Running CT at thee local con...

[aramis]

Motivated by an empty schedule slot, at a local convention. I ran CT Char gen (basic only) and the start of Shadows...
This is the first time I've run Traveller in a while (about 14 months.). It's the first time I've run CT in about 18 years...
I've also been showing off the Little White Book - and using it in playu
@Avery Local paper should be sending you a couple photos.

In a four hour block, 7 people generated characters, 6 people got a cargo lot and 2 freight lots to fill a seeker, and took off... I'm running shadows, but moved it to Wypoc/Lanth... (I love Wypoc.)... got shot down (Fuel Hit and then Hull Hit.) Made it into the pyramid...and time ran out. Everyone wants more. They bout 7 tons of Electronics at 30000/Td. (Actually 33000, since they were splitting a lot.)

6 of 7 became very attached to characters very quickly... A pirate, a flyer, a sailor, a belter, a diplomat, a Barbarian. Belter is 18, has a seeker, and Nav.

Point out that there is no standard task system, here's what I'm using:

Difficulty	Trivial	Simple	Routine	Challenging	Difficult	Formidable	Improbable
Base Dice	1d	2d	3d	4d	5d	6d	7d

TN = Attribute + Skill
Dice = (Base - skill)dice
Unskilled: +1d.
Working beautifully so far.
Using standard combat rolls.

Am using HG versions of all ships. This may turn into something local and regular.

 

[whulorigan]

Motivated by an empty schedule slot, at a local convention. I ran CT Char gen (basic only) and the start of Shadows...
This is the first time I've run Traveller in a while (about 14 months.). It's the first time I've run CT in about 18 years...
I've also been showing off the Little White Book - and using it in playu
@Avery Local paper should be sending you a couple photos.

In a four hour block, 7 people generated characters, 6 people got a cargo lot and 2 freight lots to fill a seeker, and took off... I'm running shadows, but moved it to Wypoc/Lanth... (I love Wypoc.)... got shot down (Fuel Hit and then Hull Hit.) Made it into the pyramid...and time ran out. Everyone wants more. They bout 7 tons of Electronics at 30000/Td. (Actually 33000, since they were splitting a lot.)

6 of 7 became very attached to characters very quickly... A pirate, a flyer, a sailor, a belter, a diplomat, a Barbarian. Belter is 18, has a seeker, and Nav.

Point out that there is no standard task system, here's what I'm using:

Difficulty	Trivial	Simple	Routine	Challenging	Difficult	Formidable	Improbable
Base Dice	1d	2d	3d	4d	5d	6d	7d

TN = Attribute + Skill
Dice = (Base - skill)dice
Unskilled: +1d.
Working beautifully so far.
Using standard combat rolls.

Am using HG versions of all ships. This may turn into something local and regular.

When you say "Unskilled: +1d", do you mean a CT zero-level default skill, or totally unskilled?

 

[whartung]

You roll under the target number?

Dice = (Base - skill)dice

I don't understand this along with the table of difficulties.

 

[whulorigan]

You roll under the target number?

I gather he means roll target number or less, so it is roll low for success.

I don't understand this along with the table of difficulties.

Base is the number of dice of difficulty inherent to the task. Greater diffculty is represented by throwing more dice (like in T5).
Your relevant skill level subtracts from the number of dice you need to roll.

So what is in general a Challenging task (4D), becomes a Routine task (3D) to someone with skilll level-1.

So relevant skill both ADDS to the target number (TN), AND SUBTRACTS from the number of difficulty dice.

 

[whartung]

Ah I see, thanks

 

[Spinward Flow]

So relevant skill both ADDS to the target number (TN), AND SUBTRACTS from the number of difficulty dice.

Both of which are "helpful" in a roll low to succeed system.

 

[aramis]

When you say "Unskilled: +1d", do you mean a CT zero-level default skill, or totally unskilled?

Totally unskilled

You roll under the target number?

Yes

I don't understand this along with the table of difficulties.

How I derived the labels...
Basically, for a character of stat seven and skill 1, the label is based upon progressive increases in difficulty.
In addition to skill: extra time removes a die; rushing adds one.

Trivial: can't be failed. Shouldn't be rolled unless wounded, unskilled, or inherently inept (Low att). Base difficulty of 1d. Skilled characters autosucceed.
Simple: Unlikely to be failed unless inherently inept or wounded. The Base of 2d means the default 7&1 character is going to still succeed without bothering to roll.
Routine: Base of 3d, reduced to 2d for skill, under the relevant att+skill; default skilled character is rolling 8- on 2d. Automatic if taking extra time unless inept or injured.
Challenging: THe default 7 & 1 has long odds... base of 4d, reduced to 3d. So he's shooting for 3d6<=8. Around 25%. Extra time makes it over 60%, by reducing another die.
Difficult: Default need to take extra time or get lucky...
Formidable. 6d base, reduced to 5d for skill, and to 4d by skill & extra time... still, 4d <9 (same as 4d<=8) is about 5%. But for a master level tradesman or PhD level scientist... (3 skill levels) that 6d drops to 3d, and 7+3=10, so <11 - right at 50%.
Improbable: the Post-Doc skill 4 and att 9 is reducing the base 7d to 3d, and shooting for 13- to have around 60%, but the 7&1 default guy is rolling 6d for <=7 for 12/(6^6)= 2/(6^5) He might just be lucky enough to do it... and if taking extra time, he's got under 1%...

So, pick the label based upon a qualified apprentice of average attribute.
(That's how to use the DGP system, too - Pick the difficulty it should be for a guy with att 7 and skill 1.)

 

[aramis]

About the Con...
This was the absolutely worst convention experience I've had, be it either gaming or not. (I had more fun at the convention on prosecution of sexual assault, where I was the support technician, not an active participant.)

Here are the issues:

• None of the signups said anything other than the title. Not even who the GM was
• All of the groups were isolated across 3 available rooms. So only 3 activities at a time.
  • One of which was, for saturday, taken up by Cosplay contest
• Vendor space was about 5× play space (2 large rooms)
• No space for pickup games
• No non-participants allowed in game rooms
• No food nor snacks allowed
• Friday had 3 timeslots; saturday had 2.
• the workshops (which took one of the 3 playsites) were esoteric and not of much interest to me. (Costuming for CosPlay, and basing miniatures.)
• no official place to mingle except the vendor space. (vendors were allowed access to the Staff Lounge)
• No pre-con pre-reg for events, only for the weekend.
• Location too small for the vendor density present. (The aisles in the vendor space were about 4 to 4.5 foot wide (about 1.3 to 1.4m) This discouraged stopping to engage with the vendors.
• only 8 seats total in non-allocated areas
• No one under 14 allowed to play any games
• Short hours. Friday 1300-2000, Sat 1100-1800.
• most of the con staff have no background in attending, let alone running, a games con.

My demo was a fill-in...
and it was full. It was fun... but I couldn't get a spot secured for follow-on.
Nothing on the saturday events was of any interest to me.

There was one demo that, had I not talked to the designer, I might have gotten in on, but he was unable to communicate effectively to me, Ive seen the pitch elsewhere, and while the art is nice, the rules don't seem well written.
So, I skipped the rest of Saturday.

I had a good time getting 7 people through character gen. It was, flat out, one of the most effective showings of CT's strengths.
Explaining to them how I developed the above task approach showed that it's a toolkit, and it gave them a toolkit!

So, it got killed by the con. If any of them come here an see this, It wasn't you're fault. If people want me to run more, we'll pick a night at Matt's and finish. That load of Electronics can't sell for less than you paid...

 

[whartung]

Yea that sounds like a kind of lousy con.

I haven't been to one in decades, but ours were always pretty big down here. The open gaming room was 2 ballrooms connected in the hotel, for example.

 

[aramis]

Yea that sounds like a kind of lousy con.

I haven't been to one in decades, but ours were always pretty big down here. The open gaming room was 2 ballrooms connected in the hotel, for example.

Vendor space was in a roughly 10×30m room and a 10×20m room.
RPG rooms were 5 to 6 m wide, 8-10m long.
The one I used was set up with 6 1.4×1.2m tables, in a semicircle, and a 1.5m GM table at the focal.

It immediately put me in teacher mode, since I didn't have the whiteboard, and I had to go from small table to small table to assist people.

For reference, my preferred setup is 2 1.8×.75 m tables, in a V shape, with me inside the vertex. (they positions shown are normally seated...