The question has come up in the thread as to what type of solo adventure am I talking about?
I'm talking about one that emulates a real face-to-face Traveller game session.
I've played some of these things before. The James Bond rpg had this fabulous solo adventure called On Her Majesty's Secret Service. This thing's got chases, firefights, fist fights, and all types of things that happen in the game.
I imagine a good Traveller solo adventure could do the same. The adventure would probably take shape of one of those numbered paragraph books. You might see something like: You approach the man and find out he is indeed Regmar Plunkins, the broker to whom you were referred. Roll 6+, using Admin skill to blah, blah, blah. If you fail the roll, turn to paragraph 61A. If you fail the roll by only one point, then turn to paragraph 101C. If you roll exactly 6, then turn to paragraph 42A. If you succeed on the throw with a total of 7+, then turn to paragraph 55C.
But, I think other types of solo gaming could be included in the product. Certain, a starship battle could take place. If needed, rules could be provided (abstract) for large scale skirmishes. Maybe even a High Guard encounter with two small squadrons of ships.
The text of the adventure would outline general strategy for the bad guys (or bad ships) the character faces. There would need to be some sort of hidden information system too. I've seen this done with cards before, where the player draws a card and reads the info telling him how the NPC, bad guy, or bad guy ship will react (so that the player's choice is made without knowing what the bad guy will do).
You know, some long term gaming could be achieved, too, in the adventure. Players could be surprised. "Hey, we skipped a whole year! The war is over now!" Rules as seen in T4's Pocket Empires (not as detailed or complicated as that) could make some parts of the solo adventure cover multiple years.
And, back to a regular type game session, gunfights would be fairly easy to include. The player would run both his character and the bad guys. Notes in the text might say something like, "The character encounters four thugs emerging form the darkness. It's the same four street kids from this morning's encounter, and they don't look happy. All of them carry autopistols, and the fourth has a machinepistol tucked into his waistband. During this fight, these thugs will have the goal of blah, blah, blah. They will use cover and advance cautiously. If one of the thugs is incapacitated or killed, roll a standard morale check. If a second thug goes down, then roll morale a second time using a penalty -2 modifier. Blah, blah, blah."
Maps for the encounter would be provided.
And, think of it. There could be some neat adventures presented in solo format. What about an adventure that takes place entirely aboard an Azhanti High Lightning class cruiser with the main character being a fresh faced lieutenant on his first duty station? That could be very interesting indeed, giving the "feel" and atmosphere of serving aboard an Imperial Naval vessel.
There's a lot of "stories" that could be told this way in the Traveller universe. What if the Master At Arms aboard that vessel is found dead, and the Lt. is put in charge of the investigation? What if High Guard is used to engage the vessel with the Zho's at the outbreak of the Fifth Frontier War? What if the AHL is boarded?
There's all types of things that could happen.
I believe that a well designed and implemented solo adventure would be incredible--could be incredible, in the hands of the right author.
very sad.) Right now, even, there's a thread discussing Solo Traveller adventures--and it's not the first one on CotI.
