I acquired the Starter Edition of Classic Traveller last year, and although I rolled up a character or two and generated a sub-sector, I never really played the game. So, as part of my Save a Dead Tree goal in which I make an effort to use those items I already have, I decided to pack it along on the trip.
Last night I managed to roll up two characters and both survived character creation. Since I'm not sure I understand what a Traveller game is supposed to be like, I really wanted to use a published module. I chose to send them on the Mission on Mithril module, as it looks well suited to solo gaming.
Essentially, it's a limited hex crawl set in a sci-fi world rather than a fantasy one. There are three sites, the PCs objectives, that I'll have to explore a bit and I'm not sure how I'll handle those at the moment, but I suspect Mythic will play a part in that.
As the module is structured, each day is broken down into 7 phases including randomly generating an Encounter for each hex crossed, as well as Temperature and Weather which can effect movement rates.
So far, it feels a lot like playing Adventures in Jimland, without miniatures, and set on a frozen planet instead of on a Lost World island. In fact, I've gone so far as to document journal style which probably explains the feeling of similarity:
"Day 1, we set off for the location marked B on our map. The ATV is as warm as it is cramped, a blessing when the temperature outside hovers near freezing. Unfortunately, as the day passed, the temperature soared to 4 degrees above freezing and turned the snow to slush, the very ground giving way beneath the weight of the transport. We are, in a word, stuck."
I'd be really interested in seeing actual-play reports of Traveller, actually.
ReplyDeleteHi Rush,
DeleteI hope to continue Traveller posts regularly, for this module at the very least. I also acquired a few other modules - one from GDW and two from Judges Guild, that I'd like to give the same treatment.
-John
John, I always wanted to play Traveller (and I still have multiple versions of it) . . . but the only chance I ever had was 30-some years ago with a group of teens . . . *sigh*
ReplyDeleteAll they did was shoot up everything in sight, including the system patrol boat that made a routine greeting when they entered the system . . . that's when I got up and left.
I would still like to play it with a group that was more interested in exploring or free trading ala Andre Norton's "Solar Queen" novels.
But I doubt that that will ever happen.
-- Jeff
Hi Jeff,
DeleteI confess to probably not having a clear vision of science fiction for Traveller (although it definitely isn't kill everything in sight), having been shaped primarily by Space Opera fare like Star Wars and Firefly. I have watched and read some "true" sci-fi, but my lopsided experience is, in large part, my motivation for using modules.
As for playing with a group, you might want to check out the Google+ Traveller community or check roll20.net.
Virtual tabletop gaming is in my very limited experience, a great time and feels very close to playing face to face, only you can play in your pajamas (at least with Google+ gaming, as you can display a picture instead of a video feed) from the comfort of your favorite chair. And, at least in my case, with your cat on your lap.
With the newest version of Traveller shipping, I suspect there will be an increase in frequency of those games.
If I ever get comfortable enough to run such a game, I'll be sure to let you know!
-John
This ages me, but in my college days I used to go to Games Design Workshop's office to buy Traveller books! We used to have as much fun designing characters, starships and subsectors as we did playing the game.
ReplyDeleteHi Chris,
DeleteI haven't tried designing a starship yet, but I love creating subsectors. I intentionally avoided that section of the book while on my trip because I knew I'd get distracted and spend my time doing that instead of playing the module!
-John
Sorry, I meant Game Designer's Workshop.
ReplyDelete