Who's been Solo'ing Traveller during the Pandemic?

[Spinward Scout]

Has anyone been Solo gaming using Traveller during the Pandemic?

I saw someone mentioned Traveller on Reddit the other day. I'm just getting back into Soloing, after putting it off for about a year. I get a little bored with the non-Combat aspects of Soloing. And last year, I posted the Sparring Match that I created when I was down.

I need to find some good adventures to play Solo. Many of the older Traveller adventures were made for groups. Not a lot just for one.

Any recommendations?

 

[Beerfume]

If you haven't looked into it already, I highly recommend SOLO (for Cepheus Engine/Traveller) by Zoser games. It uses a scene resolution mechanic vs the traditional task resolution mechanic, which greatly simplifies game play. It also allows (even encourages) you to play multiple characters, so any adventure should be able to be adapted for it.

The rules may not be for everyone and may seem counterintuitive at first - especially if you really enjoy turn based combat (which judging from your work on The Sparring Match you might). I was skeptical after my first reading because it felt like the system was taking out the actual role-playing, but after going through a few scenarios and adventures I saw that it can greatly increase the speed at which the storytelling occurs, without diminishing the enjoyment.

 

[Ulsyus]

Had you thought to try and use the Ironsword system or Starforged beta-system with your preferred T-mechanics? The oracle system there might work well at pointing the way forward, though conflict and competition would have to be handled differently to normal but I've been playing with workarounds.

 

[coliver988]

If you haven't looked into it already, I highly recommend SOLO (for Cepheus Engine/Traveller) by Zoser games. It uses a scene resolution mechanic vs the traditional task resolution mechanic, which greatly simplifies game play. It also allows (even encourages) you to play multiple characters, so any adventure should be able to be adapted for it.

The rules may not be for everyone and may seem counterintuitive at first - especially if you really enjoy turn based combat (which judging from your work on The Sparring Match you might). I was skeptical after my first reading because it felt like the system was taking out the actual role-playing, but after going through a few scenarios and adventures I saw that it can greatly increase the speed at which the storytelling occurs, without diminishing the enjoyment.

I've been using SOLO and it does allow for some semblance of Traveller solo play. Using it mostly to expand out MTU (which, as when I run I usually do OTU but anyway...) It is a good resource and I have enjoyed using it.

If you look at my blog & check for traveller and solo tags it should show most of that journey. A very sporadic journey...

 

[Spinward Scout]

Awesome!

I've had SOLO for a while and that reminds me that I should go out to their website to look for new stuff. And I just bought Hostile and Zaibatsu. Haven't read them yet.

I just downloaded the free pdf off the Ironsworm website the other night. Still need to look through that, too.

Something I was thinking, and maybe SOLO can help with this, is: what does that Detached Scout with that Scout ship all to his or herself do? With a team it's easier. Buying a Robot companion helps, too.

Here are some resources that could help:

MgT Supplement 9 - Campaign Guide

Magic 8 Ball Oracle - I posted a while ago.

In fact, I've gotten a bunch of questions answered on the r/Solo_Roleplaying subreddit. They're very helpful.

Glad to see that people are still Travelling during the pandemic.

 

[hfrumblefoot]

Awesome!

I've had SOLO for a while and that reminds me that I should go out to their website to look for new stuff. And I just bought Hostile and Zaibatsu. Haven't read them yet.

I just downloaded the free pdf off the Ironsworm website the other night. Still need to look through that, too.

I've been attempting a bit. My thoughts from what I've been doing so far are (obviously your kilometer-age may vary):

• SOLO - Nicely written framework, but I found that the 'scene' resolution mechanic was too high level for me. I wanted to get into more detailed actions. So I parked it.
• Ironsworn - This is very nice. I like the way that the 'task resolution' mechanic drives a narrative forward. For example a weak pass when going on a journey is going to lead you to think about a complication or something which causes a problem for the character.
• Two hour wargames 5150 'products' - '5150' is the science fiction range from THW. I like the lightweight approach of these products, and it's possible to have a satisfying game in half an hour or so. The approach lets you add as much background/ complications as you wish. I expect it would be quite easy to re-skin 5150 products for Traveller pretty easily.
• Location crafter/ Mythic - I found that these two products were fine, but didn't help me to drive the story too well. I found myself wondering 'what next' a bit too often.

To my knowledge the guy who's doing 'solo' the best is Andy Slack on his 'halfway station' blog (hws3.wordpress.com). If you read his solo entries it seems like he's having a ball.

What I'm moving towards is 'tweaking' the task mechanic in (for me) Cepheus engine to make use degrees of pass/ failure to drive a story (for example Ironsworn's ideas of weak passes). I was thinking something like:

Roll Effect	Result
-3 or less	Failed, and some other complication happens.
-1 to -2	Failed, but another possible avenue is opened.
+2 to 0	Succeeded, but some complication has happened.
+3 to ..	Succeeded and something else good has happened.

So, an example to clarify my thinking:

Task: Trying to get some information about a missing person.

Results:

Failed, and some complication happens	"No idea who you're talking about, but my friends here would like a word...."
Failed, but another avenue opens	"No idea who you're talking about. But there was someone else asking the same question..."
Succeeded, but some complication has happened.	"Yeah, they were here last night. Left with Big Eddie - you know, the gangster?"
Succeeded and something else good has happened.	"Yeah, they were here last night. I remember them because they left a bag ...."

Then I can use something like Mythic to fill in any other details (like "what's in the bag?")

Dunno if this is interesting or useful, but for what little it's worth....

I'd be interested if you have any great successes with other approaches.

Cheers
Hambut

 

[infojunky]

Mostly I have been puttering about with Starship combat.

Lots of pencil and paper combats dipping into trade rules for cargos.

 

[Spinward Scout]

Here's a simple GM emulator that's been going around.

MUNE
https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/rkmo0t9k4Q

It uses d6 so I'd think it would go well with Traveller.

 

[Black Vulmea]

I started a solo trader campaign a few weeks ago, with a number of different goals in mind:

• I like the count-every-credit school of Traveller mercantile adventures way more that most gamers I know, so I'm honestly better off playing pretend space tycoon by myself
• Toward that end, I'm trying to better understand starship operations, from portside routines to bridge and engineering control panels - the Traveller resources with which I'm familiar don't quite get that done with the level of detail I'm after
• I'm using this as an opportunity to detail a subsector from the inside-out, through the characters' perspective
• I'm doing this more-or-less in real time, playing a little each day, which gives me a chance to build out the setting in small bites
• Something I don't think I've ever really explored well-enough is what a rootless free trader's life is like, so I'm really trying to put myself in the characters' shoes, exploring inner monologues that come with playing a character's outward responses

I'm not trying to tell anything that resembles a 'story' - it's a logbook, and TNS bulletins, and the only thing that doesn't deal with operations is the captain's daily personal log entry.

 

[whartung]

I started a solo trader campaign a few weeks ago

Are you just "trading"? System hopping with a box full of goods and running the mechanics?

Are you doing any random encounters, or mishaps, or anything like that? How does that work?

 

[Black Vulmea]

Are you doing any random encounters, or mishaps, or anything like that? How does that work?

Definitely.

For encounter generation, I hit up Starport Planetfall and Startown Liberty for day to day dirtside routines, generic Traveller randomness - patrons, rumors, checks to avoid the law, malfunctions, ship encounters - as needed, and random events in jump space.

I use oracles like Mythic GME, TCE's SOLO, and MUNE, kinda grabbing whichever one's handy at the moment, to resolve encounters in unexpected ways.

To represent the 'living universe,' I generate random TNS bulletins, to provide a background which I can then tie in to encounters. Frex, a bulletin discussed a tsunami striking a starport; a couple of weeks later, a random charter encounter became transporting relief to tsunami victims on that same world.

It's fun weaving it all together.