Traveller Notes from NTRPGcon

[robject]

Last night, at the North Texas RPG Convention, was my first night at a 'con, ever. And it was enjoyable.

I am impressed with NTRPG Con, and I heartily recommend it to anyone into the OSR/Classic Traveller scene. I am tempted to run a CT game there myself next June.


Cozy

It's small, so you don't get overwhelmed, but there's enough going on that you don't get bored. NTRPGcon is capped at 300 tickets (and sold out early). There are six tables outside the main room, and another six inside the main room, and vendors along the periphery.

OSR-friendly

I didn't get New System Shock. While there were new systems there that I hadn't known of, the focus appears to be OSR, so there was Paranoia, D&D of all editions (from 0 through 5), Top Secret, Gamma World, Classic Traveller.

People-friendly

Since it's specialized, people fly here to play, luminaries and fans. Apparently this raises the caliber of gamers, and our table was no exception. There seemed to be no annoying people - everyone was here to have a good time gaming.

Classic Traveller-friendly

Of course, there was Classic Traveller. Stan Shinn ran a new adventure using CT for a full table -- him as referee plus eleven players. I helped answer questions during character generation, and fielded a couple of rules questions during the game.

Eleven people is too many for full involvement. But again, these are good-natured gamers, considerate and good humored.

Reflections on Classic Traveller

Basic CT chargen is spartan, yet has that one bit of useful overhead: it prepares the player for how Traveller expects dice to be used. As a system, it is clearly "beer and pretzels" -- good for conventions, but a bit sparse for a regular group. Maybe that's a "these days" fact.

 

[Stan Shinn]

I had six or seven people at the con who said they wished they could have gotten into my game but it sold out before they could get in (this is in addition to the eleven people who I did let into the game). My game booked up in about 5 minutes after registration opened. Lots of demand for Classic Traveller at this con! If only I could have cloned myself. o:

Here are my photos -- if you flip through you'll see the Traveller game I ran (with Rob's help as rules consultant) and also a game by Mike Kelly

https://goo.gl/photos/z1wZstTENMm9AHYA7

If anyone wants to attend next year and run Classic Traveller, you will get a crowd!

 

[aramis]

By the way, nice CT GM notebook. (Stan uploaded a video on google plus.)

He's got a rumors table, the adventure, and lists of ready to use names and technobabble.

The thing I found most interesting is that there are commercially made 5.5x8.5" page protectors.

 

[Stan Shinn]

Here's how you assemble my Classic Traveller Referee binder. I get the clear sheet protectors in bulk from Amazon -- 100 sheets for around $16 with free shipping from http://www.amazon.com/Top-Load-Sheet-Protectors-Heavy-Gauge/dp/B004EU4HA6/. Binder was from Staples. Here is a blog post for a similar Staples binder I used for a Savage Worlds game: http://swshinn.com/rpg-hobby-games/amazing-savage-worlds-binder-with-a-free-rpg-template/. This blog post has a link to the binders at Staples.com, and also an OpenOffice template to create docs for this binder.