Suggestions for content of a free T20 Lite module

[flykiller]

I love the look of those deckplans, but I'd have to get permission from Ed M if I were to use them.

so ask him. if you don't have the time I can ask him for you, if you like.

as for characters, here's an idle thought. instead of fully pre-generated skill sets, have a list of characters with pre-generated core skills, and allow the player to select from a list of pre-generated auxilliary skill sets.

example:

scout
core skills:
pilot 3
navigation 1
computer 1
laser pistol 1

aux skill set A:
+1 to navigation
+1 to computer
vacc suit 2
airraft 2

aux skill set B:
+1 to laser pistol
interrogation 2
bribery 2
streetwise 2

aux skill set C:
hunting 2
rifle 2
survival 2

etc.

this could allow a player to select the kind of character he wants to play, without having to go through the whole chargen process. also lets you make sure skills necessary for the adventure are in fact available.

 

[Berg]

There is the free T20 adventure Odyssey offered at QLI already...

Maybe bundle it with a deckplan, Ley Subsector Map and some random encounter tables... and cool cover art

 

[Jeff M. Hopper]

Originally posted by flykiller:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />I love the look of those deckplans, but I'd have to get permission from Ed M if I were to use them.

so ask him. if you don't have the time I can ask him for you, if you like.
</font>[/QUOTE]I assure you, I'll talk to Ed M about using his deckplans if the situation warrants it.

A little extra information on my answer. I like the look of the deckplans, that doesn't mean that they would be appropriate for a module that I am in the beginning stages of writing.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Originally posted by Jeff M. Hopper:
The majority of tabletop gamers are d20 players used to DnD

Is that actually true? I'm completely out of the loop re. the current state of the hobby. I know d20 threatened world domination, but AFAICT there are still plenty of other systems still around. (I know it is popular, but's not something I'd ever willingly touch without a barge pole or large quantities of alcohol, and I can't be alone).

I accept that T20 is a good way of attracting new players, but I don't think you can assume that all gamers know d20.

 

[Jeff M. Hopper]

Originally posted by Andrew Boulton:

I accept that T20 is a good way of attracting new players, but I don't think you can assume that all gamers know d20.

An interesting quibble, can we discuss it in another thread?

 

[Pickles]

Originally posted by Jeff M. Hopper:
The quick run down of the setting may be the most difficult part to write for me.

I agree with whoever said that the background should be ultra low calorie in a product like this. No more than a paragraph. The important background information will be part of the adventure, and you don't need to know too much about the rest of the universe to get into it. A little, but not a lot.

 

[SgtHulka]

Everyone talks about communication being slow in the TU, and I agree, but I seldom see it highlighted in an adventure...it's more of a background thing.

So how about an adventure where the player(s) are hired by a multi-sector megacorp to travel to a system and deliver a message to the offices on that planet. The message is that one of the employees is a traitor working for another corp. But when the PC's arrive no one believes they're really working for the MegaCorp and the PC's have to survive an assassination attempt from the traitor and unmask him before the regular X-boat arrives with confirmation that the PC's are legit.

Or some variation of the above involving something other than corporations.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Can we take a step back and clarify exactly what this is? Who is it for? How/where will they see it? How will it be used? How does/should it differ from the existing T20 freebies?

 

[Malenfant]

Originally posted by Jeff M. Hopper:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Malenfant:
Yeah, but the point of this exercise is to promote T20, using T20 Lite - so everything else is pretty much irrelevant.

The above is completely incorrect.

The point of this exercise is to promote TRAVELLER using the free rules of T20 Lite as a vehicle for that. The majority of tabletop gamers are d20 players used to DnD, so that is the fanbase this will be trying to appeal to.

Traveller will be shown as a setting which is available for multiple rulesets, not just T20. That is why I'm suggesting the back page entries, to show that while we may be a fractious bunch - we all still play Traveller. </font>[/QUOTE]The above is completely incorrect.

Think about it for a second - for all the talk and evidence lately about how the Traveller market is fractured, you're still coming into this assuming that there even is some big over-arching thing called "Traveller" that people should be interested in? I don't think that's remotely valid at all - people who play the game are going to be primarily interested in the version of the game that's right in front of them.

New people who want to play Traveller don't really give a damn about the game's history or its other versions - they'd just want to play a specific ruleset. They don't want a history lesson, they want to run/play an adventure, so if you're choosing T20 as your vehicle then just focus on that. You'd just be wasting space explaining the other stuff (particularly since pretty much none of it is directly relevant to T20 at all).

And like I said, why would Hunter even be interested in promoting other versions of the game? He'd surely want people to go and buy T20, not GT or T4 or CT or anything else, because the T20 sales are what he'd be making money from.

 

[far-trader]

Originally posted by Andrew Boulton:
Can we take a step back and clarify exactly what this is? Who is it for? How/where will they see it? How will it be used? How does/should it differ from the existing T20 freebies?

An excellent call Andrew. More on that later...

Let's not get all fractious about this even before it's out there

I agree, concentrate on hitting the target D20 audience with this, stick to T20. Once we have them they'll soon find their way here and learn of all the other systems, for good or ill.

Valarian had it bang on I think (with my Cr2):

A demo of the game should include the following:
- A quick run down of the setting
(Marc's intro to Traveller might do the trick)
- A quick run down of the rules
(just the ones needed to run the adventure)
- A set of stock characters
(as suggested by klaus Merchants to match T20 Lite)
- An introductory adventure
(and also as klaus suggested a little trader intrigue scenario)

Now back to Andrew's mission statement call...

Who is it for?

People who have NEVER played Traveller.

How/where will they see it?

I suggest it be kept small enough that it can be easily printed out. Make it available as a free download and Citizens should be encouraged to print it out and leave copies where it will be found. FLGS, University commons, Cons, etc.

How will it be used?

Not sure about this question. It should be circulated so that people get it and play it. So it needs to be small (a dozen pages at most), fast (an hour or less to run), complete (except for dice* and pencils)

* I'd even include a page of chits to substitute for dice, just cut out and draw from a pile/hand. Color coded to make sorting by die type easy.

Finally mention that more adventures await with the full game. Scouts exploring, Navy fighting space battles, Marines with heavy energy weapons, etc.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Originally posted by Malenfant:
And like I said, why would Hunter even be interested in promoting other versions of the game? He'd surely want people to go and buy T20, not GT or T4 or CT or anything else, because the T20 sales are what he'd be making money from.

Because it's not a zero-sum game. I, like many people, buy supplements for all versions - even though I don't play GT or T20 the books always have something in I can use. The bigger the Traveller market is generally, the better it is for everyone. Tell 10 people about T20, maybe 5 will buy it, but tell them about GT as well, and maybe 3 of the others will buy that AND THEN ONE OF THOSE WILL COME BACK AND BUY T20 AS WELL.

 

[Malenfant]

but tell them about GT as well, and maybe 3 of the others will buy that AND THEN ONE OF THOSE WILL COME BACK AND BUY T20 AS WELL.

Do you have any evidence that this ever actually happens though?

I mean, say I'm new to Traveller. and I see T20 Lite sitting on a shelf in an FLGS. One of two things will happen - either I think "cool, I'm looking for a decent scifi game for d20, I should take a look at this" and pick it up, or I ignore it because I'm not interested in SF or d20 or both.

But when I pick it up, I'm doing so because it's d20 AND because I'm looking for a SF game for that system. That's the hook right there. So spending time talking about other systems or Traveller's history isn't really going to interest me at all is it.

And if I already know about Traveller - so that when I see it I'd say "cool, Traveller's still around, I should take a look at this!", then I'd be aware of that history anyway.

I think what should really happen here is that this product should focus entirely on T20. Then have an easy-to-remember/transcribe link in the back of the book to a webpage that describes the history, other versions etc. That way if people are interested in "Traveller" as a whole, they can go find out about it in their own time and not have it waste undue space in the book.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

It comes down to whether you're trying to attract people to Traveller in general or T20 specifically. The former is a larger potential audience.

 

[Jeff M. Hopper]

Originally posted by Andrew Boulton:
It comes down to whether you're trying to attract people to Traveller in general or T20 specifically. The former is a larger potential audience.

I'm trying to attract people to the setting, using T20 Lite as the vehicle for that purpose.

Why T20 Lite and not some other version? First, the d20 market is the largest demographic of gamers, thus that is the target demographic. Second, T20 is the only version of Traveller that has produced a free sampler of its rules for people to try - no other version of Traveller has a free sample of its rules out there.

If you read the first two posts of this thread, I've already stated that all the other versions of Traveller will be mentioned so that people may pick and choose what they would like. The T20 Lite adventure is to get new players in the door, what they do in the Traveller room afterwards will be up to them.

 

[far-trader]

Originally posted by Jeff M. Hopper:
Second, T20 is the only version of Traveller that has produced a free sampler of its rules for people to try - no other version of Traveller has a free sample of its rules out there.

I seem to recall getting a set of GURPS Traveller Lite off the web years back. Just, ya know, FYI, IIRC.

 

[Jeff M. Hopper]

Originally posted by far-trader:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Jeff M. Hopper:
Second, T20 is the only version of Traveller that has produced a free sampler of its rules for people to try - no other version of Traveller has a free sample of its rules out there.

I seem to recall getting a set of GURPS Traveller Lite off the web years back. Just, ya know, FYI, IIRC. </font>[/QUOTE]So where is it now?

 

[Malenfant]

Before you do any of this you surely need to make sure people are even aware of T20 Lite. So far it's just another random download on a random internet site - how are you even going to get people interested in it to start with? And also, you most likely can't find a T20 rulebook in the shops nowadays, so how are are any curious folk going to follow up? How many people do you think would use a three-part PDF download as a rulebook? And doesn't T20 come with an adventure anyway? And aren't there already freebie adventures for T20?

And obviously everyone here knows about it, so where else are you going to go to publicise it? Are you going to post on rpgnet banging its drum?


Oh and Dan, I don't think there was a GURPS Traveller Lite... there was a general GURPS Lite and special scifi version done for Transhuman Space, but that's it I think.

 

[Jeff M. Hopper]

Originally posted by Malenfant:
Before you do any of this you surely need to make sure people are even aware of T20 Lite. So far it's just another random download on a random internet site - how are you even going to get people interested in it to start with? And also, you most likely can't find a T20 rulebook in the shops nowadays, so how are are any curious folk going to follow up? How many people do you think would use a three-part PDF download as a rulebook? And doesn't T20 come with an adventure anyway? And aren't there already freebie adventures for T20?

And obviously everyone here knows about it, so where else are you going to go to publicise it? Are you going to post on rpgnet banging its drum?

Mal, instead of talking about this and getting bogged down in an online discussion, I'm doing it. So, if you have a suggestion for how to do this that could help, please make it.

 

[Malenfant]

OK, fine. I just see a lot of the usual superkeen fanboy idealism here and very little actual consideration for how to make this work in reality.

Heck, I can't even see what you could possibly offer that T20 Lite doesn't already have (if packaged with a freebie adventure that already exists, like Odyssey). Hell, I'm looking at T20 Lite now and it doesn't even mention any other versions of Traveller at all. Why reinvent the wheel? Just use what's there and tout the heck out of that instead.

 

[far-trader]

Originally posted by Jeff M. Hopper:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by far-trader:
I seem to recall getting a set of GURPS Traveller Lite off the web years back...

So where is it now? </font>[/QUOTE]

Originally posted by Malenfant:

Oh and Dan, I don't think there was a GURPS Traveller Lite... there was a general GURPS Lite and special scifi version done for Transhuman Space, but that's it I think.

Yep, I think Mal has it right. I was probably remembering the basic GURPS Lite... but I recall something GURPS Traveller related being the reason I grabbed the Lite pdf Maybe it was the free GT adventure "Flare Star" by the Keiths? (LINK)

That might serve as another model for what you're after Jeff.