To get back on topic, to get this game thriving again, so I can find players and actually play instead of tinkering here on this site and SJGames, one of the points made in the video was that D&D had the level mechanic.
We all know about gaining experience to level up so you can get bonuses and better gear to kill nastier monsters and bigger numbers of bad guys.
In TTB Miller mentions that giving players a ship and large gobs of cash and equipment at the outset is not a good idea. Well, okay, but there's no limitation on what you can buy, and there's no mechanic to regulate or modulate a progression to keep the players interested in gaming, unless you're like us here and have a love of both the genre and the game itself.
It seems like starting out younger, as per the video, so that you can gain experience and add to your skill, as opposed to being a seasoned vet, would turn the game on its head in a good way, attract younger players, and create that level mechanic without creating the pitfall that D&D fell into by letting the players create uber-characters.
This way you can have a young team of IISS service people assigned to a scout ship, or a fire team of army men or marines, who, as they accomplish goals, can gain experience to add to their skills, and eventually they can purchase that high powered ACR or LASER carbine ... or that starship as opposed to relying on a loaner.
That's what I think should have happened way back when, was probably intended, but not articulated as such.
Your players can start as young as grammar school (Newt from "Aliens" or Will Robinson from "Lost in Space") and progress through teenage years into young adulthood, at which point they might have something like a Vacc Suit- 1 or CmbtRifleman - 1 or pilot - 1, or all of thee above and more (computer, mechanic, medic, and so forth), and their money and gear would be reflective of people that age; maybe the teenager has a car and a rudimentary electronics kit or something. Maybe he's got a 22 that his parents bought him or something.
So, that's kind of my take. Other games start you off as a young adult, ready to take on the world with some kind of kit and training, and that would not be a bad example to follow.
Take the old JTAS / Challenge char gen rules of how to gen a character from those ages, and either go ahead and play them as they are in a "low level" adventure, or let them progress through chargen until a desired age (16? 17?) is reached, and then start their adventuring career there.
The game as it's structured now is designed for retirees to play out their retirement. As per some of my blog ramblings that was probably intentional, but, if that's the case, and you want to create a kind of "training tool" for young people to be inspired for whatever, then tearing a page from other RPGs might be the way to go.
The other option is to leave it as is, and let us monkies beat on it with monkey wrenches and just let it fester.
If I were to redesign Traveller from the ground up, that's how I would do it;
1) char gen from any age
2) adventures appropriate to skill level; i.e. "For Skill Level 1- 2 Characters"
3) Set the Imperium aside as an optional rule after the rules are explained.
None of this, in my opinion, is likely to happen, but that's how I would approach it, and the guy in the video has inspired me to write this.
Truth be told since I can't find a gaming group, as much as I loved playing (when I could play) I'm tired of it because I haven't been able to play nor write, other than post thoughts here.
Having said that, this is what I think would serve the system well, and put it back in the lime light with SJ's GURPS line (even though they publish a GURPS Version of the game) along with all the other stuff that's out there, even the SW and ST RPGs.
Over the years I've come to rediscover the "magic" of exploring the Imperium and all that it is in a fictional vein, and had hoped that it would thrive with some better writing and better graphics with a cleaner, more well organized, rule set.
But, it is what it is, and I thought I'd start this thread to see what other people think.
In the meantime I'm going to jump into my Wayne Peter's Florian class scout ship for a while, shut the cabin door, seal up both ramp and airlock, and kick back and watch a few holo vids for a while. Maybe the "really good" kind, *wink wink, nudge nudge, say anymore* (no, I'm not a big Monty Python fan, but that line does seem to be understood by my age bracket).
p.s. it is disheartening that younger blood has not come to this website to share and exchange thoughts and what they would like. But, whatever.
. There are limitless planets and systems to explore, discovered, not yet discovered and even very well settled. Their is intrigue, espionage, and just plain back alley trade offs and throat cutting... This is Traveller!
