Other than that, tips on setting the scene, creating obstacles, and other story-related errata that seem to work for you would be appreciated.
welcome to the game. here is something I put together on how to run adventures. hopefully it will be as useful to you as it is to me.
The Seven Adventure Components
1) Action
Combat, the chase, evasion, recon, disaster, rescue, romance,
moral dilemas, whatever. Something should happen that sets the
stage for players to interact with your world. It need not be
violent or earth-shaking. Even small things can be very
effective.
2) Player Choices
Yes/no, this way/that way, bribe this person/go in the back
door. Players should have options to influence the game and
write the story. Times when the referee forces the players
into certain courses of action should be rare.
3) Choice Effectiveness
Player choices should have an effect on the course of the game.
The effects need not always be positive - if a player character
pulls a gun on the spaceport administrator, who happens to be a
son of the local dictator, then it's time to roll up a new
player character - but something should happen to let the player
know that he made some kind of difference.
Effectiveness should be heavily influenced by player stats and
skills. The player characters worked hard to get their skills
and they have them for a reason - always apply benefits for
relevant skills and penalties for their absence.
4) Possibility of Success
The game referee should not dispense success or failure at his
whim, nor should he allow the players to do impossible things,
but given boldness or hard work or ingenuity or luck or, perhaps,
a little help from a friendly non-player character, the players
should have an opportunity to succeed. Like the Bible says;
"...desire fulfilled is a tree of life."
5) Game Responsiveness
The game referee should be ready to respond to any course of
action the players take, and incorporate it into his game if
possible.
6) Color / Mystery
Each game session should have some interesting bit of local
color or inscrutible mystery to it. It need not be profound
or affect the course of the adventure, but it should leave the
players feeling they are in a world different from their own.
Some examples are:
"When you approach the maneuver drives you suddenly feel sick
and nauseous. The engineer says that the drives are out of
calibration."
"You meet two women in the dock office who look exactly
identical. They happily relate that they are one of the
results of genetic experiments that have since been shut down.
Their names are Fifty-Five and Fifty-Six."
"At the bar you see a group of large and very ugly women moving
close. One of the guys says, 'Watch out boys, we're being
reconoitered by elements of the 31st Amazon Battalion.'"
7) Carry-Over
The players should always look forward (with happiness or dread
or simple curiosity) to things that will be happening in the
next game session. Will Inocencia say yes to marriage, will the
players meet with the important official before the incriminating
evidence is found, will the battle with the Vargr take place?
The game referee need not impose a cliff-hanger, but the
players should have some kind of anticipation.
The Four Referee Approaches
They say space is big, but space has nothing on Traveller. It's
huge. No matter how much you prepare you will start each game
with the realization that you are completely unprepared. No
matter how much you guide your players they will constantly
run off in directions that you never expected and cannot
control. Here is how to cope with that.
1) Set Major Themes
Decide on the Big Picture for your universe, or rather the little
corner of it in which the players start. What is the history of
the area, who are the nobles and the corporations and the crime
bosses and the other major players, what do they all want and how
do they interact? That way when the players run off in an
unplanned direction you will have some idea of how to procede.
There is no need for any great depth to this, just an ability to
expand and accomodate changes. Details will come later.
2) Set the Adventure Stage
Minimize rigid plans. Maximize opportunities for the players
to act. Start with where the players are. Draw up important
people, sketch important places, place significant equipment,
schedual important events. Think of what the players will want
and need, and make it available (though not necessarily obvious,
of course). Your job is not to plan the adventure, but to set
the stage. Consult the Seven Adventure Components. Is there
action? Do the players have choices? Will their choices be
effective? Can the players possibly succeed? If the players
do something weird can you respond? Is there a bit of color?
Is there enough going on and are there enough goals to last
more than one game session? Put brief descriptions and sketches
on paper (clearly written) and have this ready to consult during
the game.
3) Let the Players Take the Stage
When the game session begins this should be the time you relax
and let the players do all the work. Sit back and smile. If
you have set the stage and have included the Seven Adventure
Components in your preparations then the players will have
everything they need to generate a successful adventure. Act
the non-player characters, run the events, operate the stage -
let the players run the game.
You will usually find that much of your preparation is untouched,
as the players never get to it. That's OK. Just keep the
materials and use them in a later game. Soon you will find you
have more material than you can keep track of.
4) Let Your Universe Grow
Your first game universe will be sparse and thin, but every game
session will generate choices, decisions, events, rulings, people,
and thoughts that can be incorporated into the Big Picture to
expand your universe. Keep a record of these. As you fill in
the gaps you will find that each game session not only paves the
way for the next but also suggests many other adventures.
As your universe grows contradictions may arise. Resolve them as
logically as you can but don't spend too much time at it. The
goal is not to generate a realistic economic and political
simulation for yourself, but for the players to adventure in your
universe.
The Seven Practices
1) Roll the Dice
You can't prepare for everything. Every step of the way the
players will ask for and attempt things you never anticipated.
When they do, just roll the dice. "Do I overhear the
conversation?" Roll the dice. "How many ships are docked at the
port?" Roll the dice. "I steal the dump truck and crash it
through the gate." Roll the dice. Ocassionally roll them just
to keep the players wondering what is going on. If the players
are active you might be rolling dice once or twice a minute.
Roll them behind your hand so the players don't see how you are
interpreting them. If necessary stop and write down the results
so that you can keep track of what your game is becoming.
Most die rolls should be general and not bother with any
modifiers. Just throw them. High is success, low is failure,
middle is partial success or failure. For extreme situations
look for very high or very low. Don't slow down the game.
Many die rolls should be based on stats. Rolling intelligence or
less for success, rolling higher than dexterity for failure, and
so on, are standard. Add modifiers as appropriate. These are
very quick, and reward high character stats. Many rolls involving
skills can be handled the same way.
Some die rolls deserve deliberation and formal modifiers if they
greatly affect the game's course. If they are important then
the players won't mind you taking the time to do them right.
Usually they require only consulting the character's stats and/or
skills, but sometimes a chart of modifiers is appropriate. Listen
to the player's suggestions for modifiers as well, and remember
to specifically account for player stats and skills. Then roll
the dice and implement the decision immediately.
Feel free to overrule any die roll (one reason to hide die
rolls), but letting them stand usually results in a better game.
2) Minimize Details
Trying to sound and act like non-player characters can be
exhausting after a few hours, and most people aren't good at it
anyway. As much as possible keep characterizations on a "he says
this, he does that" level and don't try to act out anything
unless it greatly enhances the game at a certain point.
Don't try to draw up every building, every ship, every wilderness
the players may find themselves in. You can't. Use general
descriptions as much as possible.
Don't try to draw up and describe every person the player
characters interact with. There are too many of them. Try to use
the most general descriptions you can.
The reason for this is because the best description you can offer
of any character or structure or ship or landscape is that which
is in the players' own minds. When you use general descriptions
you allow the players to apply their own visualizations which will
be richer than anything you can verbalize or illustrate. Of
course frequently you will need to determine specifics to run
the game, or your players may simply ask for details, and you
should then supply them without hesitation. But as much as
possible leave the players to their imagination.
3) Maintain Lists and Charts
Draw up and keep on paper large lists of names, characteristics,
stats, skills, families, ages, and other game details that might
be needed. When necessary during a game just point your finger,
drop it onto the paper, and there it is. This is much easier
than thinking up such details one at a time.
(One joke amoung players is that you can always tell who the
important non-player characters are - they are the only ones that
have names. Using this method will cut down on that meta-game
shortcut.)
4) Maintain and Read Game History
At the end of every game session write up a quick review of the
game's events, and keep it as a history of the players' actions.
Use this to prepare the next session, and have the players
review it before each new game. Sometimes many days pass
between games and it helps to jog everyone's memory about what
they were doing and why.
5) Be Straightforward
If the players wander off into an area that you are not
prepared for, simply tell them that you aren't ready and that
you will need to postpone that portion of the game until later,
and ask them if in the meantime there's anything else they want
to do in the remainder of the game session.
If a major contradiction develops in your game, admit it and make
the best repair you can. Then move on.
Never hesitate to stop the game to think a minute, if you need
to. Such pauses make good snack breaks anyway.
6) After-Game Preparation
After each game session write the game history and immediately
prepare the next session. Update the Big Picture Major Themes.
Think of where the players are now and where they might go,
consider their intentions and yours, and see if new details such
as names, deckplans, or descriptions are warranted. Then reset
the stage while consulting the Seven Adventure Components.
7) Have a Good Time
This is important. If you are not enjoying the game then chances
are your players aren't either. Set up good situations, add
interesting characters, develop game themes that last from session
to session ("Watch out for the 31st Amazon Battalion."). If the
players do things you don't enjoy then try to work it out with
them, or else set them up with another referee while you look for
other players. If you get tired then see if someone else will
referee for a while. Refereeing should be a hard-work hobby, not
a hard-work job.
Useful Websites
http://www.kleimo.com/random/name.cfm
http://www.spacecorsair.com/wordgen.html
http://www.freelancetraveller.com/
http://www.mega-traveller.com/
http://www.sff.net/people/kitsune/traveller/
http://www.sff.net/people/kitsune/traveller/peter/
http://homepage.mac.com/vutpakdi/RonsDeckPlans.html
