What to put in an introductory adventure?

[rancke]

As a spin-off from the 'Why don't new people play Traveller?' discussion, I'd like to ask you all what you think should be in an adventure designed to be played by players who are new to Traveller?

You see, I've been working with a couple of other people on writing a set of interlocking articles that, put together, would comprise a package of introductory material for new players (and new referees).

The setting is well under way. It is going to be Regina Startown (the law-challenged area just outside the starport extrality fence). We have a half dozen of PCs suitable for beginning characters. The next step is the adventure. We have some PCs newly arrived in Regina Startown. They all happen to stay at the same boarding house, which is how they meet each other.

Now what?

NB! Please don't post any suggestions unless you're willing to let us use them in a submission to JTAS Online (or elsewhere, if it comes to that). Please note that I will in no way claim ownership of anyhing you suggest, but I do ask for your explicit permission to use any idea you post here.


Hans

 

[Malenfant]

You see, I've been working with a couple of other people on writing a set of interlocking articles that, put together, would comprise a package of introductory material for new players (and new referees).

Please don't post any suggestions unless you're willing to let us use them in a submission to JTAS Online (or elsewhere, if it comes to that).

I don't really see how posting something like this to JTAS online would be useful for new players or referees. Have you considered proposing this to QLI as an Adventure or TA - I think it'd be much more likely to reach new players/GMs that way.

As for ideas... what are you after here - I presume you want an introduction to the OTU rather than to Traveller? Something that shows off what you can do in the OTU instead of what you can do with Traveller?

You could always go with the Firefly approach - have some PCs be the crew of a starship landed at Regina, and then other PCs being passengers they take onboard. Sounds less contrived to me than "you all meet in a boarding house and have no reason to trust eachother at all".

 

[rancke]

Originally posted by Malenfant:
As for ideas... what are you after here - I presume you want an introduction to the OTU rather than to Traveller? Something that shows off what you can do in the OTU instead of what you can do with Traveller?

Yes, something that can ease a newcomer into the OTU.

You could always go with the Firefly approach - have some PCs be the crew of a starship landed at Regina, and then other PCs being passengers they take onboard. Sounds less contrived to me than "you all meet in a boarding house and have no reason to trust each other at all".

<<Shrug>>. That ship has sailed. Regina Startown is the setting. One reason is that the starship setting (an alternative that we considered) requires a lot of different writeups (one for each new system you jump to), which often reduce each world to a cardboard cutout. Instead we decided to focus on a very small setting, in this case a city neighborhood. The idea is that a newbie can ignore the rest of the universe at first and concentrate on one circumscribed spot. Once he is comfortable with that he can gradually expand his horizons.


Hans

 

[spank]

Give the PC's a ship, but make it broken, abandon or salvage. This will give them a base to revolve around, They can go offworld or outsystem to earn money and get parts, as they fix the ship they can ease into space, then jumping outsystem. They can have some adventures along the way, at first on the planets surface before the ship is space worthy, then in near orbit or the asteroids.

This approach works well because the PC's don't have to know all about every aspect of the game at once, and new things can be introduced in a controlled manner.

 

[BetterThanLife]

SInce you already have the characters. Which set of rules?

 

[Malenfant]

<<Shrug>>. That ship has sailed. Regina Startown is the setting. One reason is that the starship setting (an alternative that we considered) requires a lot of different writeups (one for each new system you jump to), which often reduce each world to a cardboard cutout. Instead we decided to focus on a very small setting, in this case a city neighborhood. The idea is that a newbie can ignore the rest of the universe at first and concentrate on one circumscribed spot. Once he is comfortable with that he can gradually expand his horizons.

Hrm. I think you're going to have a hard time showing off the OTU if the PCs are based in one startown. I'd have thought the point of a
"starter adventure" is to show off the unique points about the game - and your options for doing that are going to be very limited if you set it in one startown. Most plots confined to such a setting are probably going to be your standard generic urban adventure, with the antagonists made furry, psionic, starfishy, or whatever. You could run such a thing in any scifi setting - wouldn't it be better to find something unique about Traveller and focus on that to hook people in?

I know you want to start small, but I think one startown on one planet is far too small. Why not start with a single system instead? Regina's got the distant binary companion, maybe you could have the players head out there or to other worlds to chase someone. That at least shows off the interstellar side of the game.

 

[mike wightman]

I'd try to give them plenty of options so that they can do lots of different jobs and experience the stereotyped Traveller adventures.
Have a library terminal "Jobs" board, or/and a middleman who does the hiring.
Suggested adventures:
1. Security guards/bodyguards - watching over something or someone;
2. Repo men - someone has hidden in Startown, find them and recover whatever;
3. National Guard - the characters sign on as weekend warriors and find themselves in hot water somewhere (this could be in another system because they are tranported there and back in low berth );
4. Search and Rescue/Coast Guard - similar to the above, the characters sign on as part time members of said organisations (allows the use of ships but keeps them in system);
5. Merchant - they are hired as crew for an insystem merchantman that runs between the various worlds in the Regina system.

Then there are all the illegal activities that Traveller used to be famous for...

 

[BetterThanLife]

Originally posted by Sigg Oddra:
Then there are all the illegal activities that Traveller used to be famous for...

What do you mean "used to be"

 

[flykiller]

[QBYou see, I've been working with a couple of other people on writing a set of interlocking articles that, put together, would comprise a package of introductory material for new players (and new referees).[/QB]

yeah, I have something similar.

what do you want the introductory material to introduce? a hodgepodge of everything, or a planned sequence of rules and applications? imperial background info? cargo hauling or mercenary action or special tasks, or something else?

do you want the new players to follow a controlled set of actions like a d&d dungeon corridor, or should they be free to act as they please and go anywhere, or will they be free to act within a limited pre-planned but unchanneled area?

lots of things to specify here.

 

[mike wightman]

Or how about;
6. Transport a person or package (wanted by the bad guys) across a continent using a variety of transport methods (opportunity to run vehicle chases and the like);
7. Search for "Ancient" ruins in the jungle or in the polar wastes;
8. Search for a psionic institute;
9.Stumble upon a Zhodani spy ring/criminal gang/ terrorist cell...

 

[mike wightman]

10. link several of the above together to gradually reveal the secrets within secrets nature of Traveller

 

[mike wightman]

Originally posted by Bhoins:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Sigg Oddra:
Then there are all the illegal activities that Traveller used to be famous for...

What do you mean "used to be"

</font>[/QUOTE]Ok then:
11. smuggling goods across the starport extrality line;
12. bank robbery;
13. computer fraud;
14. corporate espionage;
15. burglary to obtain plans e.g of an experimental Navy sh... sorry, it's been done already;
16. hijack a ship;
17. sign on as pirates...

 

[jchurchill]

Any first rate introductory adventure should start off in a nearly deserted city infested with flesh eating zombies infected with a mysterious virus. The players must flee from these undead until they run into a pair of supermodel quality women clad only in Victoria's Secret underwear. These women must be highly trained commando/elite law enforcement characters with shiny new machineguns.
Together with these super vixens they must rescue someone or something -- a young child perhaps before the city is destroyed by some deus ex machina -- say a nuclear cruise missle.

Call the adventure something catchy like Night of the Residually Evil Living Undead.

 

[hirch duckfinder]

i think an introductory adventure should have some action early on (a fight, a persuit?).
it should have some aliens in it .
it should have a mystery introduced early.
there should be some space travel.

 

[etherflyer]

Originally posted by rancke:
As a spin-off from the 'Why don't new people play Traveller?' discussion, I'd like to ask you all what you think should be in an adventure designed to be played by players who are new to Traveller?

Are you thinking a single-session?

I've found that the best two ways to introduce players were Annic Nova or Shadows. Both essentially SF dungeon crawls, which makes them a familiar metaphor for D&D players. Both contain SF tropes, and both imply a larger universe without requiring you to detail it.

In any case, from a strictly game-mechanical standpoint I would say that this should have a lot of handouts. Pregenerated character sheets. Nice extras like ID cards or resumes to introduce the character to the other players without worrying about game stats. Cardboard heros and floor plans for combat and exploration, to add visual impact. Definately have illustrations if you can (the old "picture is worth 1000 words thing").

 

[flykiller]

Definately have illustrations if you can (the old "picture is worth 1000 words thing").

deckplans, floorplans, etc. you'll need regina starport and highport detailed, in addition to at least an outline of startown.

I've found that when a player can hold a copy of a deckplan in his hand and say, "that's my ship", it means more to them.

 

[spank]

I've found that when a player can hold a copy of a deckplan in his hand and say, "that's my ship", it means more to them.

plus you can use it for all kinds of boarding action.

 

[rancke]

Originally posted by flykiller:
what do you want the introductory material to introduce? a hodgepodge of everything, or a planned sequence of rules and applications? imperial background info? cargo hauling or mercenary action or special tasks, or something else?

I've heard complaints that the sheer amount of information available about the TU is so daunting that many newcomers leave again in a hurry. One such complainer pointed out that there is no 'Starter Pack' available. I decided to see if I could come up with a starter pack. The tramp starship was considered, but decided against because (IMO) it is too generic, plus it requires not one but a lot of different settings. A starter pack is a place to start. Right or wrong, I decided that I wanted one place detailed enough to be immediately useful, with lots of potential, not a dozen two-page writeups that the newcomer referee would have to work on before he could get started..

Do you want the new players to follow a controlled set of actions like a d&d dungeon corridor, or should they be free to act as they please and go anywhere, or will they be free to act within a limited pre-planned but unchanneled area?

I want an adventure that takes place in Regina Startown and gives new players a first taste of the Traveller Universe that I know and love. Since it is going to be a first taste it is not going to feature everything. But it should make the player want to learn more.


Hans

 

[rancke]

Originally posted by Sigg Oddra:
I'd try to give them plenty of options so that they can do lots of different jobs and experience the stereotyped Traveller adventures.
Have a library terminal "Jobs" board, or/and a middleman who does the hiring.
Suggested adventures:
1. Security guards/bodyguards - watching over something or someone;
2. Repo men - someone has hidden in Startown, find them and recover whatever;
3. National Guard - the characters sign on as weekend warriors and find themselves in hot water somewhere (this could be in another system because they are tranported there and back in low berth );
4. Search and Rescue/Coast Guard - similar to the above, the characters sign on as part time members of said organisations (allows the use of ships but keeps them in system);
5. Merchant - they are hired as crew for an insystem merchantman that runs between the various worlds in the Regina system.

Thanks. They're good ideas and I'm definitely going to save them (and the rest you posted). But it's not an overall adventure idea I want (I have one: 'Seven Samurais' - a gang is trying to put the squeeze on the local small business owners. The PCs must track them down and discourage them. Afterwards they'll have a base of operation and some friends and allies among the locals). What I wanted was suggestions for things to include. A fight, a library data search, an Imperial official? Or not?


Hans

 

[rancke]

Originally posted by hirch duckfinder:
i think an introductory adventure should have some action early on (a fight, a persuit?).
it should have some aliens in it .
it should have a mystery introduced early.
there should be some space travel.

Thank you, Hirch. That's just the kind of suggestions I was hoping for.


Hans