Classic Traveller Stats for the other crew members of My Other Option:
Edward Collins -- Ship's Pilot and Imperial Spy
Scout 6A9AA8 Age 46 7 Terms Cr 110000
Computer-1, Gun Combat-1, Jack-o-T-1, Mechanical-2,
Medical-2, Navigation-1, Pilot-3, Scout-0, Vacc Suit-1, Vehicle-1
Blade, Gun
Lloyd Edgerson -- Navigator
Merchant 4th Officer 4A8366 Age 34 4 Terms Cr 65000
Bribery-1, Electronic-1, Gun Combat-1, Merchant-0, Navigation-1,
Streetwise-1
Blade
"Helpful" (Aslan nickname) -- Steward
Merchant 3rd Officer 7777D7 Age 46 7 Terms Cr 61000
Administration-1, Bribery-1, Computer-2, Medical-1, Merchant-0, Tolerance-1
Steward-2, Streetwise-2
Jake Hudson -- Gunner
Merchant 2nd Officer A6486A Age 46 7 Terms Cr 35000
Gun Combat-1, Gunnery-2, Merchant-0, Navigation-2, Streetwise-3,
Vacc Suit-1, Vehicle-1
Gun x3, Low Passage x2
Samantha (Sam) Hudson -- Gunner
Merchant 3rd Officer C8646A Age 46 7 Terms Cr 51000
Blade Combat-1, Electronic-1, Gun Combat-1, Gunnery-1,
Jack-o-T-1, Merchant-0, Streetwise-1, Vacc Suit-1
Blade, Low Passage x2
Showing posts with label Behind the Curtain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Behind the Curtain. Show all posts
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Star-Charts
With the help of The Traveller Map, I've created an image of the basic area of operations for Nathan Fletcher and My Other Option.
You can see it here.
The area in the upper-right is the Imperium. The red lines around the hex edges forms the boundary. The area in the lower-left is the Aslan Hierate. The yellow lines around the hex edges form their border. In between them is the Boarderlands. The orange line running between the two empires is the Aslan-Imperial trade route. Because of the volume of traffic between the Imperium and the Hierate, the major route doesn't bother with local traffic (except for Tech-World and Pandora, but those items are usually headed to the Imperium anyway).
Because of the stellar gaps between the star clusters in the area, only long-haul subsidized liners (with Jump-3 capacity and lots of cargo room) can easily make the run. Far traders can operate in the area, but they sacrifice a lot of cargo room for Jump-2. Nathan's big idea is to modify a Subsidized Freighter (a Fat Trader) and provide local trading services to worlds within the Borderlands region.
You can see it here.
The area in the upper-right is the Imperium. The red lines around the hex edges forms the boundary. The area in the lower-left is the Aslan Hierate. The yellow lines around the hex edges form their border. In between them is the Boarderlands. The orange line running between the two empires is the Aslan-Imperial trade route. Because of the volume of traffic between the Imperium and the Hierate, the major route doesn't bother with local traffic (except for Tech-World and Pandora, but those items are usually headed to the Imperium anyway).
Because of the stellar gaps between the star clusters in the area, only long-haul subsidized liners (with Jump-3 capacity and lots of cargo room) can easily make the run. Far traders can operate in the area, but they sacrifice a lot of cargo room for Jump-2. Nathan's big idea is to modify a Subsidized Freighter (a Fat Trader) and provide local trading services to worlds within the Borderlands region.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
The numbers behind the man
Nathan Fletcher -- Our Captain and Hero:
Merchant 1st Officer 686CE9 Age 46 7 Terms Cr 46000
Administration-1, Bribery-1, Electronic-3, Gunnery-1,
Medical-2, Navigation-1, Pilot-1, Vacc Suit-2, Merchant-0
Blade, Low Passage x2
Linda Stone -- The Engineer:
Merchant 2nd Officer 685599 Age 34 4 Terms Cr 75000
Electronic-1, Engineering-2, Gunnery-1, Pilot-2, Steward-1, Merchant-0
Gun x2, Low Passage
Notes: In my game, I assume an average human lifespan that's easily twice as long as today's and plenty of anti-aging drugs are available meaning that aging rolls don't come up as soon as they normally would. I also give everyone a [Service]-0 skill which basically acts as a Jack-of-all-Trades skill for anything that you might expect an average member of a given service to know. So everyone with Army-0 can shoot a gun, for example. In this case, Merchant-0 basically means knowing how to use a VaccSuit, being able to make crash landings in ship boats, repair small technical problems and just generally be useful aboard ship and on shore leave. Although Nathan and Linda are both pretty damn competent, the [Service]-0 skill makes everyone not a complete doofus at things they really should know how to do (even if it's without any real skill).
Merchant 1st Officer 686CE9 Age 46 7 Terms Cr 46000
Administration-1, Bribery-1, Electronic-3, Gunnery-1,
Medical-2, Navigation-1, Pilot-1, Vacc Suit-2, Merchant-0
Blade, Low Passage x2
Linda Stone -- The Engineer:
Merchant 2nd Officer 685599 Age 34 4 Terms Cr 75000
Electronic-1, Engineering-2, Gunnery-1, Pilot-2, Steward-1, Merchant-0
Gun x2, Low Passage
Notes: In my game, I assume an average human lifespan that's easily twice as long as today's and plenty of anti-aging drugs are available meaning that aging rolls don't come up as soon as they normally would. I also give everyone a [Service]-0 skill which basically acts as a Jack-of-all-Trades skill for anything that you might expect an average member of a given service to know. So everyone with Army-0 can shoot a gun, for example. In this case, Merchant-0 basically means knowing how to use a VaccSuit, being able to make crash landings in ship boats, repair small technical problems and just generally be useful aboard ship and on shore leave. Although Nathan and Linda are both pretty damn competent, the [Service]-0 skill makes everyone not a complete doofus at things they really should know how to do (even if it's without any real skill).
Monday, March 24, 2008
Real-Time Traveller
No game player with commitments to school or work ever has enough gaming opportunities. Large blocks of free time are rare. Congenial opponents with matching schedules are even rarer, especially for campaigns, which require several players to show up regularly. Too many games end before they are properly resolved.
The boardless nature of Traveller, however, permits greater flexibility. With some small adjustments, a satisfying solitaire Traveller campaign can be conducted on the basis of a few minutes each day, by playing the game in "real-time" terms. Make one day in your life match one day in the game. After breaking down Traveller events into daily steps, most actions (a patron search, selling cargo) can be handled in the few minutes it takes to throw dice, consult a table, and note the result in a continuing log.
Such a procedure can do more than just add flavor to your coffee-break, however. Both referees and players can gain empathy with their characters by experiencing their lives in real-time terms; long days in hyperspace, the excitement of planetfall, anticipation of that next encounter with the unknown.
The real-time player soon learns that time hangs heavy while in vacuum. Maritime sailors took up scrimshaw and the hornpipe for good reason; space travellers will do the same. Some obvious shipboard pastimes include music, crafts, the martial arts, gambling, and language study (an as-yet untapped feature of the Traveller universe). Some of these mesh easily with existing skills (gambling, brawling), others imply new ones, perhaps minstrelsy as a career, or as a source of casual work. Something like twenty in-flight weeks of successful practice seems reasonable per level of expertise, success achieved by a die-roll measured against the UPP (throw dexterity or less for musical skill, for example, intelligence for languages, and so on). One might similarly generate existing skills on mustering out, one throw per service term.
Days spent planetside will be just as long, especially for the action-oriented ersonalities assumed in Traveller. In addition to self-improvement, characters without patrons will soon turn to gambling, money-making schemes and even crime to pass the time. One could even assume that a character without work will ship out after two to three weeks in a prospectless backwater; the real-time player will certainly be ready to leave. Obviously, the points made have implications for regular Traveller as well.
Real-time play also offers the opportunity for as much attention as the player wishes. There is ample time to generate planetary descriptions and maps of upcoming ports. Incorporate necessary bookkeeping into the game by drawing up landing papers, bills of lading, registration forms, and so on. These can lend flavor as well as provide clear records as playing aids. One can also fully develop non-player characters met as encounters, passengers, or crew.
Some attention to detail becomes necessary in real-time play, in particular the day-to-day sequence of starship operations and commerce. The following chart covers the typical two-week travel cycle, broken down into daily actions, and suggests activities for both passengers and crew:
Day 1: Pre-launch actions. Passenger boarding. Lift-off and begin flight to jump-point (this may take several days depending upon the system's geometry). Check for possible hi-jacking attempts.
Day 2-5: Jump to hyperspace (whatever day it occurs). Work out crew and passenger UPPs as needed, resolve any possible encounters and misjumps.
Day 6: Throw for self improvement.
Day 7: Seek possible patron among crew or passengers.
Day 8: Leave hyperspace. Resolve any ship encounters, hi-jack attempts, and so on.
Day 9: Flight to port (may take several days). Prepare landing papers.
Day 10-12: Land, debark, pay crew, maintenance work, and other costs. Sell cargo, deliver any messages. Ship's masters assess cargo awaiting shipment, contract as carriers and accept fees. Crew to starport bars, hotels, etc. Resolve possible encounters.
Day 13: Ship's masters seek passengers to next port of call. Load cargo. Pick up possible messages for delivery.
Day 14: Buy or generate navigation tapes. Buy and load fuel. Buy cargo for speculation, if any space left. Last visit to bars for possible encounters.
Day 1: Cycle repeats.
Real-time adaptation of Traveller works best where the player most carefully controls his own actions; a foot-loose wanderer, or the operator of a starship. It is less suitable for static situations, or those in which a character is merely a subordinate, for example, in a mercenary campaign played at an abstract level. Of course, such situations could also be broken down into daily events, if desired.
Sometime in the third week or so, the new real-time player may experience an overwhelming urge to accelerate the pace, perhaps to skip over five days in flight to reach the next port. Resist this temptation. You began this whole thing with the idea of experiencing real-time play, stick it out.
Real-time play may not be suitable for all Traveller players, but for the solitaire player, or the player with no time to engage in a regular campaign, it can provide an insight and appreciation of the size and complexity of the universe that few games can.
- Steven Sowards Journal of the Traveller Aid Society #13
The boardless nature of Traveller, however, permits greater flexibility. With some small adjustments, a satisfying solitaire Traveller campaign can be conducted on the basis of a few minutes each day, by playing the game in "real-time" terms. Make one day in your life match one day in the game. After breaking down Traveller events into daily steps, most actions (a patron search, selling cargo) can be handled in the few minutes it takes to throw dice, consult a table, and note the result in a continuing log.
Such a procedure can do more than just add flavor to your coffee-break, however. Both referees and players can gain empathy with their characters by experiencing their lives in real-time terms; long days in hyperspace, the excitement of planetfall, anticipation of that next encounter with the unknown.
The real-time player soon learns that time hangs heavy while in vacuum. Maritime sailors took up scrimshaw and the hornpipe for good reason; space travellers will do the same. Some obvious shipboard pastimes include music, crafts, the martial arts, gambling, and language study (an as-yet untapped feature of the Traveller universe). Some of these mesh easily with existing skills (gambling, brawling), others imply new ones, perhaps minstrelsy as a career, or as a source of casual work. Something like twenty in-flight weeks of successful practice seems reasonable per level of expertise, success achieved by a die-roll measured against the UPP (throw dexterity or less for musical skill, for example, intelligence for languages, and so on). One might similarly generate existing skills on mustering out, one throw per service term.
Days spent planetside will be just as long, especially for the action-oriented ersonalities assumed in Traveller. In addition to self-improvement, characters without patrons will soon turn to gambling, money-making schemes and even crime to pass the time. One could even assume that a character without work will ship out after two to three weeks in a prospectless backwater; the real-time player will certainly be ready to leave. Obviously, the points made have implications for regular Traveller as well.
Real-time play also offers the opportunity for as much attention as the player wishes. There is ample time to generate planetary descriptions and maps of upcoming ports. Incorporate necessary bookkeeping into the game by drawing up landing papers, bills of lading, registration forms, and so on. These can lend flavor as well as provide clear records as playing aids. One can also fully develop non-player characters met as encounters, passengers, or crew.
Some attention to detail becomes necessary in real-time play, in particular the day-to-day sequence of starship operations and commerce. The following chart covers the typical two-week travel cycle, broken down into daily actions, and suggests activities for both passengers and crew:
Day 1: Pre-launch actions. Passenger boarding. Lift-off and begin flight to jump-point (this may take several days depending upon the system's geometry). Check for possible hi-jacking attempts.
Day 2-5: Jump to hyperspace (whatever day it occurs). Work out crew and passenger UPPs as needed, resolve any possible encounters and misjumps.
Day 6: Throw for self improvement.
Day 7: Seek possible patron among crew or passengers.
Day 8: Leave hyperspace. Resolve any ship encounters, hi-jack attempts, and so on.
Day 9: Flight to port (may take several days). Prepare landing papers.
Day 10-12: Land, debark, pay crew, maintenance work, and other costs. Sell cargo, deliver any messages. Ship's masters assess cargo awaiting shipment, contract as carriers and accept fees. Crew to starport bars, hotels, etc. Resolve possible encounters.
Day 13: Ship's masters seek passengers to next port of call. Load cargo. Pick up possible messages for delivery.
Day 14: Buy or generate navigation tapes. Buy and load fuel. Buy cargo for speculation, if any space left. Last visit to bars for possible encounters.
Day 1: Cycle repeats.
Real-time adaptation of Traveller works best where the player most carefully controls his own actions; a foot-loose wanderer, or the operator of a starship. It is less suitable for static situations, or those in which a character is merely a subordinate, for example, in a mercenary campaign played at an abstract level. Of course, such situations could also be broken down into daily events, if desired.
Sometime in the third week or so, the new real-time player may experience an overwhelming urge to accelerate the pace, perhaps to skip over five days in flight to reach the next port. Resist this temptation. You began this whole thing with the idea of experiencing real-time play, stick it out.
Real-time play may not be suitable for all Traveller players, but for the solitaire player, or the player with no time to engage in a regular campaign, it can provide an insight and appreciation of the size and complexity of the universe that few games can.
- Steven Sowards Journal of the Traveller Aid Society #13
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
