Would You Buy a Solo Traveller Product?

[castiglione]

I like the use of cards.

They basically take the place of tables.

They do the same thing but it's less tedious to draw a card and read off the directions compared to rolling some dice and cross-referencing stuff in tables.

I really LIKE how NPC actions are done. That's important in a game that it "tactical". I think that's one of the reasons why T & T solitaires worked so well - combat was VERY abstract. With more detailed combat, writing solitaires becomes a little bit tricky. I think some of the other games which had solitaires which had more tactical combat went the "play the bad guys to the best of your ability" route but that kind of precluded the interesting, diverse yet believable stuff you described.

Was that Her Majesty's Secret Service?

 

[Supplement Four]

Was that Her Majesty's Secret Service?

Yes. On Her Majesty's Secret Service. It's a four part campaign--a massive solo adventure of which there is no way in hell you could complete it in a single night's gaming. It's a boxed set, and I expect it will take me several game sessions to complete.

If you end up getting it, there's some errata that you absolutely need to complete the adventure. To my knowledge, this solo adventure is the only one created for the James Bond rpg besides the short solo included in the core rule book.

One thing I like about the game is that it includes the full gamut of "Bond" activities. There's sneaking around. Gun fights. Fist fights. Chases (on foot and in vehicles). Detective work. All of this uses the same game rules as the regular Bond rpg. You need the core rule book to play the solo adventure.

If a Traveller solo is to be created, care has to be taken to do a lot of Traveller activities.

Plus, OHMSS is very, very long...as I mention above. I'd like a Traveller adventure, if created, to keep me up at nights for several gaming sessions. I wouldn't want something I could play in just one or two sessions.

The Actions Cards I mention in my previous post are used for more uses than the two I describe. There's all sorts of things that happen, depending on what the text says.

For example, a player can keep up to five Action Cards in his "hand". Certain cards are marked, and if one of those cards are marked in your hand, the player can play it to influence favorable results on things. Playing one of these cards, if the player has the card, can net the player a negative DM when rolling the number of enemies, for example.

 

[Rhialto the Marvelous]

That sounds absolutely brilliant, have to track it down.

It helps that when the Bond RPG came out I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. I played it with a friend, one-on-one, and unlike any other RPG I knew then, that set-up was not only survivable but a great deal of fun. It must have been one of the very first RPGs to use "mook rules." Usually, I don't even like these, but hey, it's Bond.

 

[Supplement Four]

It must have been one of the very first RPGs to use "mook rules." Usually, I don't even like these, but hey, it's Bond.

You must be talking about the "Hero Points". Yeah, I agree. Typically, I don't like them. But, it depends on the game. They fit beautifully with Bond. And, "Force Points" fit beautifully with the D6 Star Wars game. Top Secret/SI has "Luck Points".


They all do the same sort of thing: alter die roll results. I don't think Traveller would be a game where I'd want the use a mechanic like that, but, yeah, with Bond, it just fits.

I think the key is to keep them sparse.

In Bond, for example, rookie characters start with 0 Hero Points, and they only obtain them when they roll a Quality Rating 1 on non-combat tasks. That'll keep the number of Hero Points each character has low. Remember, Bond himself only has 13 Hero Points, according to his write-up in the main rule book (and he's an uber-character). If someone shoots you with a QR 1 shot, it takes 4 Hero Points to make it a "miss". In a deadly gunfight, 13 Hero Points will go fast.

In keeping with the "key", and using Bond as an example of an uber-character, figure that most player characters will only have a handfull of Hero Points at any one time.

If you stick to the rules and don't allow Hero Point inflation, I think the HPs are a good idea for this particular genre.

Combat in Bond can be pretty deadly. It's kind of like LBB2 starship combat. There can be a strike after strike to a starship's hold, and then the next thing you know, a damage roll indicates the ship blew up. Same thing with Bond combat. The character can take hit after hit, making pain resistance rolls, blocking, etc, but then that QR1 damage comes in and incapaciates the character. Hero Points, if saved wisely, can help prevent that from happening.

An alternate rule for this type of thing is to follow what Top Secret does Luck Points--that is, the GM keeps this total secret from the player. Playing this way, a Bond player will never know how many Hero Points he has...

 

[jrmapes]

I fondly remember playing that game (not the solo though). Fun system for sure.

I even like the solo idea transposed to Traveller.

However - (yeah I always have a "however" or "but")

What I see in going with type of system is a series of solo games that have to potential to get very expensive, very quickly. Especially if you have to have all new cards for each new published adventure. Quality cards are not cheap and they would need to be of good quality to hold up over time.

An alternate would again be to go back to a PDF based product where you could print the game and cards off as many times as you would need to. This would reduce production cost by leaps and bounds.

However (don't you just hate that word),

Doesn't most gamers prefer dead tree product over PDF or even home printed dead tree?

I know I sure do and when I see a new product release announcement the very first question that always appears is, "is this going to be made available in print/dead tree?"

I know I am happy to have a printer that will accept card stock, and I also have a nice high end laminator to take care of those pesky PDF only releases. But those who don't and don't buy PDFs due to not being able to print them off properly without having to pay above and beyond for printing at the local Kinkos would be left out in the cold - and that means lost sales.

Just some thoughts.

Jerry

 

[Supplement Four]

What I see in going with type of system is a series of solo games that have to potential to get very expensive, very quickly. Especially if you have to have all new cards for each new published adventure. Quality cards are not cheap and they would need to be of good quality to hold up over time.

I don't remember OHMSS being any more expensive than the other Bond adventures. IIRC, they were around $10 bucks each, and that was back in the 1980's (I purchased every Bond item ever published back then).

Let's say that translates to $20 bucks today. I'd pay that, if it was a quality product, and if it was something as meaty as OHMSS.

As for the quality of the cards, the ones that came with OHMSS are just printed on thin card stock, perforated. You punch 'em out, stack 'em, and play with 'em.

They're holding up fine for over 20 years.

Yes, I do think different cards would be needed for different adventures, but I think thin card-stock punch-outs will be fine.

Doesn't most gamers prefer dead tree product over PDF or even home printed dead tree?

I know I do. PDF releases seem "cheaper" to me. I think the PDF releases should be so much more less expensive than the dead tree printed counterparts.

If a dead tree book costs $20, I think the pdf should be less than ten...like $8, for it to be a value in my eyes.

 

[jrmapes]

As for the quality of the cards, the ones that came with OHMSS are just printed on thin card stock, perforated. You punch 'em out, stack 'em, and play with 'em.

They're holding up fine for over 20 years.

I know what you are talking about. I have similar cards for my Enemy in Sight (Avalon Hill) and Naval Wars game. Of course the Enemy in Sight game cards are holding up well, but they weren't played with for nearly 25 of the 30 years they have been around. On the other hand my Naval Wars (AH as well) games cards (both games done on the old semi-gloss card stock) have not held up all that well but are still playable.

What I am getting at, is that it is hard to judge durability on old games. It all hinges on how often they were out of the box.

But I do think a good modern glossy card stock would hold up well enough. What I was thinking when I originally posted was not so much "card stock" as the high end playing card stock used in many of the CCGs or even the plasticoat cards like your normal decks of playing cards. But it wouldnt be necessary to make them that durable I don't believe.

I think I will have to look around for the JB solo adventure, the solo system sounds really interesting.

Jerry

 

[Icosahedron]

I haven't played any of these games, so I'm just guessing from what is written here, but would it be possible to create some 'generic' action cards that could be used in any game: 'shoots from the hip', 'runs away', etc?

 

[castiglione]

Plus, OHMSS is very, very long...as I mention above. I'd like a Traveller adventure, if created, to keep me up at nights for several gaming sessions. I wouldn't want something I could play in just one or two sessions.

I think there are pros and cons to this.

As programmed solitaire adventures get longer, the difficulty in writing and editing them doesn't increase linearly; it rises polynomially or exponentially. There are almost 50 T & T solitaire adventures floating around. Most of them are pretty short (around 200 paragraphs or even less). I think one part of their appeal is that enough were published to achieve a kind of "critical mass" and that there were short enough that someone could write them in a reasonable length of time which also probably keep costs down (T & T solitaires were and still are pretty cheap so long as they aren't OOP). And going back to one thing you - Victory Games only published one solitaire adventure for the James Bond 007 system. Shorter adventures also meantthat you could finish one in one or two sessions, put the game away, and then come back again much later and put your character through another adventure.

However, I do understand the appeal of longer adventures. They seem more "epic". One thing I found recently whilst poking around on the internet was "Fabled Lands". These were probably the most ambitious solitaire adventure books every published. Each one contained over 700 paragraphs. The books were completely open-ended - you could start on any book and you just wandered the land, going on "mini quests" (which you weren't obliged to go on) and could wander from one book to another (each book covered a different geographical area of the game world). The books were part of a proposed 12 book series but only half were published. I could easily imagine something on this epic a scale being pretty fun to play.

 

[Klaus]

Did anyone ever read/play the Falcon timecop series, by Mark Smith and Jamie Thomson, again.

Think it was the only sci fi gamebook series out there. Pretty damn good, too, even if the ending was a bit of a downer.

You got to play with starfighters and battledress, a quality recurring villain, and you even get a "henchman" at one point, choosing from 3 candidates.

The historical stuff was well researched too. Got me an A+ on my Battle of Borodino school project, after paraphrasing their summary of the battle.

Lone Wolf ran to 28 consecutive titles, pretty epic by any standard.

An episodic format is probably the only viable way to do it. And they do need to be fairly scripted; as long as there is an illusion of non-linearity and freedom, then it doesn't really matter how scripted it is.

 

[castiglione]

An episodic format is probably the only viable way to do it. And they do need to be fairly scripted; as long as there is an illusion of non-linearity and freedom, then it doesn't really matter how scripted it is.

I would vote against them being scripted; I've played scripted solitaires and they just don't work very well. Adventures like "Fabled Lands" and the recent "Dark City Games" solitaires have "triggers" which allow events to advance even if you do wander from A to B back to A. The concept is similar to the triggers used in the old Victory Games AMBUSH game; they basically advanced the "story" while leaving players free to just wander around.

 

[Supplement Four]

I haven't played any of these games, so I'm just guessing from what is written here, but would it be possible to create some 'generic' action cards that could be used in any game: 'shoots from the hip', 'runs away', etc?

Absolutely.

The OHMSS Action Card looks like this...



Upper Left Hand Corner: Action Number

Upper Center Middle: Fire Combat

Lower Center Middle: HTH Combat

Bottom Right Hand Corner: Possible note.



The Action Number is used in different ways (as I mention earlier in the thread). The ANs run 1-10, so, if you find yourself without dice, you can actually use the Action Cards for dice. Bond rolls percentile. So, shuffle the cards, draw a "tens" digit, then draw a "ones" digit, and you have your d100 throw.

I prefer the dice, of course.

The two combat sections in the middle of the card show a matrix like this--

             A     B   C   D
Fire Combat  SU   MF  MF  TB
HTH Combat   SBT  K   K    P

Remember the four boxes labled A-D on the play mat? Those boxes have different uses, too. But, in combat, the A-D boxes stand for danger level. NPCs from Box "A" will be less dangerous than those from Box "B", and so on.

You simply cross-reference the box the NPC is from on the grid. For example, if an NPC is from Box "C", and this action card above is drawn for him, then he will move and fire that round (MF = move and fire).

The abbreviations are on the play mat for easy reference. There are more abbreviations than there are on this one Action Card I've used as an example.

SU = Surrenders.

TB = Takes a bead (aims for a positive modifier) and fires next round.

SBT = Specific Blow Trip (the NPC will try to trip or flip the PC with his attack)

K = Kick

P = Punch (and if the NPC is armed with a HTH weapons, P = attack with melee weapon).



There are several other "codes" too that can appear on an Action Card. Things like ACF (Continuous Fire with Automatic weapon), SS (Specific Shot to disarm), SBK (Specific Blow to Knockout), R (Runs away), and such can be listed on the card as well.

 

[Supplement Four]

One thing I found recently whilst poking around on the internet was "Fabled Lands". These were probably the most ambitious solitaire adventure books every published. Each one contained over 700 paragraphs.

FYI, OMSS is close. It totals 649 paragraphs.

 

[Supplement Four]

From Russia With Love

BTW, you Bond rpg fans out there may like this download. It's a Bond rpg mission, http://www.modus-operandi.co.uk/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=5&Itemid=26, From Russia With Love.

It's a fan-made mission (not an "official" mission by Victory Games), but it is sure done-up well to look like an "official" mission.

Download and enjoy!

 

[castiglione]

Would no combat at all be a "game killer" for a solitaire adventure?

 

[Supplement Four]

Would no combat at all be a "game killer" for a solitaire adventure?

I think so. I think you need a little bit of it all--starship combat, personal combat, trading, investigation, role playing...the works...in order to make a good solitaire adventure.

What is needed for a good solitaire adventure is the same as what is needed for a good face-to-face adventure plus an intuitive, excellent method of replacing the Game Master.

 

[Supplement Four]

I just had a thought. Let's see what the crowd thinks.

What would you think of a series of solo adventures based on previously published adventures?

Research Station Gamma - The Solo Version.

Cold Dark Grave - The Solo Version.

Broadsword - The Solo Version.

Across The Bright Face - The Solo Version.

Marooned Alone - The Solo Version.

ETC...



Or, the big grand daddy of them all...

The Traveller Adventure - The Solo Version.



I do believe I'd have to buy those, especially if Classic Traveller rules were used*.

Would you buy them?







*An alternative would be to follow the BITS lead. Write your adventure for a specific set of rules but use a conversion chart in the back of the adventure should the player wish to use one of the other Traveller rule sets.

 

[Rhialto the Marvelous]

Quite frankly, the answer is HELL YEAH.

Even so, I'd prefer brand new solos. With most of the above, many of us will kinda sorta remember what they're about even if we haven't touched them in 20 years. I just recalled a certain detail about Marooned, for example.

 

[castiglione]

I was thinking of ways to "push the technology" in terms of programmed solitaire adventures.

S4 brought up one innovation of the James Bond game where the tactics used by NPC's was pseudo-randomized (important in a game involving fire-arms where tactics involve more choices than simply a) run away and b) run to the bad guy and starting getting stabby).

The solitaire T & T adventure Amulet of the Salkti had an "object matrix" where you cross referenced an object found in the adventure that you were attempting to use with the paragraph/location. This allowed something close to having actual objected oriented "puzzles" in an adventure.

An article in Sorcerer's Apprentice about pushing the state of the art in solitaire adventures talked about a possibility of using a matrix of "standard options", i.e. look for secret doors, listen for suspicious noises, etc. could be cross-referenced with paragraph/location; thus, you avoided the big give-away of having a specific option in a paragraph of "if you want to look for a secret door here go to XX". Instead, you cross-referenced that "standard option" with the paragraph which directed you to another paragraph.

Another innovation was in the AMBUSH solitaire games by Victory Games; the innovation was activation level...basically a number or letter which determined what's going on. To give an example, an activation level of "1" could mean that the bad guys were totally unaware anything was amiss whereas an activation level of the maximum would mean that the bad guys were completely alert as to what was going on and were probably loaded for bear.

However, one thing that hasn't been addressed has been replayability...except in the case of the SPI game "The Return of the Stainless Steel Rat". Basically, the game involved a mystery where you try to figure out the identity of a bad-guy. The ID of the badguy is determined by two random factors which also determine the types of clues you can find. You could play the game a dozen times and the game would still be replayable. It would take much more plays to exhaust all possibilities.

Now ALL of these can possibly contained in an adventure: Here's a possible adventure. The PC's are hired by someone who's been analyzing some signals that he's been receiving; he's ascertained that these signals are coming from an ancient alien derelict ship floating off somewhere. The PC's are hired to investigate it and bring back whatever ancient artifacts they can. The mechanism used in "The Return of the Stainless Steel Rat" is used to determine HOW the various instruments on the derelict ship work and what clues are scattered around the ship. The object matrix mechanism from Amulet of the Salkti is used to determine how the PC's interact with the ship (hmmm...okay, we pressed this button...wait a sec...what's that voice saying? It almost sounds like a countdown...) with various clues being found around the ship as to what everything does. The "activation level" is used to determine when and if the team hired by a rival of the patron show up (when the other team shows up can be pseudo-random with the chance of them showing up getting higher and higher as the "activation level" climbs up)...they can show up while the PC's are wandering around the derelict ship trying to figure how things work...or they may show up after (if) the PC's figure out how to get all the ship's systems on-line and they decide to fly the whole thing back to their patron. If (and when) they show up, the card system used in the James Bond adventure can determine how they handle themselves tactically, how aggressively they attack and when they decide to cut their losses and run.

 

[jrmapes]

S4,

I love the idea!

I know they are old and usually well played adventures but in my case that is a selling point. I can't count how many times I have ran those adventures for groups over the years. But I have only played only a couple of them and only part of the Traveller Adventure. (Too many years of being the only Ref in the area.)

Another thing that makes them the perfect starting places for solo games in my opinion is that they ARE already established adventures. You or whomever were doing the conversion to a solo game would not be under the burden of having to design a whole new adventure. This would also allow you or whomever to focus more on the "solo system" and get the kinks worked out again without having to worry about the actual meat of the adventure design taking up time.

I am sure some would think that well we have played those to death. But seriously, how many times have they been played without the Ref adding this bit or that bit or skipping this bit or that bit - I have never ran one of those adventures that went 100% step by step by the book. To me, this means if they are turned into a solo game as well, then even if you have ran them or played in them they still will come off as fresh or at least kinda fresh - fresh enough to play.

Then of course if you take a few liberties and come up with a handful of alternate endings then even if you remember a few things and "cheat" there is no guarantee things will turn out as remembered.

Also, as I have always contended - using the BITS style of rules system is IMO the best way to go be it for a solo adventure, group adventure, or campaign adventure publication. This, for those that don't know, will allow you to play with which ever flavor of Traveller rules you prefer by using a ver simple little conversion chart. This IMO is what makes BITS adventures so great (aside from them being just damn good and well written). I can run one in Classic mode for my group and my buddy Nimrod who is a player in my group and an MIB for Steve Jackson Games can turn around the next month and run it for his GURPS game group without having to rewrite half the adventure due to rules conversions.

Jerry