Starting a new campaign

[jhulse]

Hello all. I haven't been on the boards in a long time. Very busy at work and renovating a house.
I have fallen in with a group of around six people who are both fantasy and Sci-fi gamers. Starting in September I will begin a new Traveller campaign. Since these players have never played Traveller before, having heard of it at least, I would like some input on how best to introduce them to the Traveller universe. Here is my plan (so far)

Once in the past, I did this. After rolling up characters, I made the players roll-play their last term (or at least last event of their last term) This allows a little more control by me as a GM via the captain of their ship, so as to introduce them to the do's and don'ts of this game system. The campaign will start aboard a merchant cruiser. I plan (for now) on using the Leviathan as a template.
The leviathan is detached to a planet to help quell an insurrection/revolt/take over of a company town. As of now I plan on using and "second son" Aslan as the main villain. He is out to nab land/down port/whatever, and the Leviathan's client is in the way. Once the ship jumps into the system, there will be space combat.
This first fight will introduce the space combat mechanics of traveller to the new players. I want to get space combat out of the way in the very beginning... But I need some ideas as to what kind of ships the Leviathan should go up against.

The next phase will be insertion. The Captain pulls together a ground force (including all the PC's surprise, surprise...) A Sergeant will lead the strike force. The PC's will be given a basic briefing of the objective... The company that hired the Leviathan needs to have their CEO and staff rescued off world before he is over run. The players will know the landing site, and last known location of the guy. Once on the ground, and the LZ secured, the sergeant will fill the PC's in on the rest of the plan. On the way down, (scripted) a missile takes out their landing craft, and it crashes in a different part of the city. The Sergeant is killed (again scripted) in the crash, and the PC's have to figure out how to find the guy and get off world again.

That's the basics. Once this mission is over, the PC's will be able to muster out. They can then begin "the real game". The will already know each other because of their service together and they will already have a good understanding of how the game is played.

So, any thoughts? It's been a while since I've run and traveller game. Should I use something else besides the Leviathan? A larger ship? Any ideas?

What type of fights and encounters should the players expect on world?

Should I use something other than Aslans? As of now I'm thinking of a large clan of Aslans with hired mercs to overthrow the city / down port.

Anyway, any ideas would be great! Remember, I want to start off the campaign with order and slight GM control, (to get them used to the rules) then have all hell break loose and have them think on their toes! But the idea is to have as much fun as possible. Since this starter game is "theoretically" the PC's last term of character creation, should I as a GM give them a little script immunity, so if the do something really dumb, they don't die, but just get a hard know and learn from it?
Ok, that's enough questions for now.
JakNaz

 

[Maladominus]

I cannot fathom why a newbie party would need a larger ship right away. Even a 200t to 400ton trader is plenty big for a band of first-time adventurers.

In fact, if you dare to SPOIL them with a huge 'starter ship'..... well then you just spoiled them. And once spoiled and they learn more about the game, their next goal is they will start craving much larger ships... like their own personal Azanti High Lightning.

IMTUs, the players should never start out with anything close to "the best weapons", the "best technology", the biggest and baddest ships. If they want 'the good stuff', then make them earn it! Give them long term goals... give them something to look forward to in the future (like a nice beefy starship they can be proud of), and they have a better chance of staying with your campaign for the long-term.

I do like your idea of having tight control on their first adventures. That makes sense so that their learning of the game is orderly. But also keep in mind that later on... you have to give them more freedom, and not let their Universe feel like it's always scripted and outcomes always pre-determined. Other than that, you seem to have things well thought out.

 

[Maladominus]

Oh and one last comment:

You (the GM) should think of a concrete reason WHY the players are a team.

Why are they a team? Why are they even cooperating with one another?

What do they have in common? Are they a band of Solomani Loyalists who all have a common Cause? Or are they a well-integrated band of Human mercenaries that are proud of their brigade?

Give them (the player party) a sense of identity. Give them a team spirit. Give them an esprit d'corp. This way you let them have immersion, you let them really feel their characters sense of belonging. And when this happens.... the players WILL get more attatched to their characters, and will be more enthusiastic and willing to play your campaign every week.

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

But then there's the draw of adventuring all the time , like what life on a really big starship would be like... the campaign on the COTI board is like this, my character just stepped out of his cabin and stuff was already happening. I have no idea what's next! This monster has 16,000+ staterooms!

 

[jhulse]

The idea is that the players don't "start" with a big ship. They are simply part of the crew. The reason they know each other is because they are part of a crew. That's all, nothing else. A Naval character who is in the Navy 4 or more terms probably didn't serve on a 100 or 200 ton ship. More like a light cruiser at least. Does that spoil a Naval character when he tries to buy a lowly far trader? Probably not. Did anyone ever wonder what the dice roles meant as they were developing a character? That is what's different about this starter campaign. I am allowing the characters to role play their last term, instead of simply rolling dice. So in a sense, they get to role play their survival roles. It makes for a better background and a way to introduce them to the game. Especially for new players. And on a merchant cruiser, anyone from any kind of background from any world could be part of the crew. That's how they meet... Other than... "you guys are hanging out in a space bar..." or some other typical situation. Serving as a crew aboard a large ship will not spoil anyone in the party. They won't be on it long enough, they wont be in command, and besides, it is a setting simply to demonstrate how space combat works in traveller.
I would like this starter adventure to take place in a single night of game play to let them understand the mechanics of Traveller and help introduce them to the Traveller universe. I want it to be fast paced, and exciting, like a movie. I want them to almost hear the sound track in the background!
After the adventure, they muster out normally. They will already have a history together, perhaps some camaraderie. That will give them a team spirit, esprit d'corp and immersion all in one night. Then they can start pooling their resources together to buy their own merchant ship or what ever they want. I will have a list of cannon "starter" ships, plus a few I've designed. This will give them time between games to plan, scheme, discuss, argue, and just get excited about what to do, what ship to bye, to become merchants, pirates, or smugglers. They ALL love firefly, so it won't be hard to guess what they will want to do...
They will then be able to continue "the real game" with a lot more understanding and confidence. It will also allow them to developed friendly contacts, or even make enemies that they might encounter later on in the campaign.
So for this introductory adventure for new players, I think it will work.
Here are my main objectives. I want to introduce them to three types of combat, starship, vehicle, and man-to-man. I want them to get use to Jump Space, and purge the "hyper space or warp drive" mentality. And especially, just the flavor of the universe, and to have fun.
Any thoughts?

 

[Maladominus]

Originally posted by Jak Nazrith:
The idea is that the players don't "start" with a big ship. They are simply part of the crew.

Ahh I misunderstood, and I stand corrected. I thought that you were commisioning the players with some big ship to fly on their own so they can start blowing up these Aslan warships.... LOL

But yes, I agree you have a good premise for a starting adventure.

 

[flykiller]

Any thoughts?

a well-thougth-out and methodical approach. some things you may want to keep in mind.

1) new players especially can be whacky, and their actions may place them out of range of the learning experiences you hope to implement. you'll want to have alternative ways to implement them, or be willing to postpone them until later.

2) you might not want to teach them everything in one game session. they could forget some things, and then later you'll wind up putting them in situations you think are easily navigated but that will kill them because they won't remember something.

2a) be careful about making the first session too action-packed. the players may find subsequent sessions draggy - unless of course you can make every session a slam-fest, in which case go for it.

3) decide on how your infantry comm systems will work - ranges, interference, channels, chain-of-command. can the corporal call in an artillery strike, or does he not have access to that channel? this will heavily affect game play but can get complex and be more of an irritant than a good game factor, so you may decide to ignore it and just let the players comm at will. up to you.

4) imtu the navy provides support teams to marine squads - electrician, mechanic, damage control expert, medic, comm specialist - that go with the marine combat unit throughout its operations and provide technical expertise as needed. they may also attach gunners' mates or masters-at-arms to do the odd jobs like guarding prisoners or babysitting critical components like bridges or engineering control stations. a good way to get marine and naval personnel together.

5) it's easy to generate decision actions for pilots and soldiers. it's harder to come up with decision actions for co-pilots, navigators, engineers, gunners, and stewards. try to ensure such character types have some auxilliary skills that can put them in the action and be prepared to make a special effort to include material for them in as many game sessions as you can.

 

[BrennanHawkwood]

The 'twist' I thought of for your idea just changes the circumstances slightly. I was thinking, why would a merchant cruiser be deliberatly sent in to deal with the nasty situation you describe. Then it occured to me that you could give the whole thing a more accidental/coincidence slant. That planet is a stop on the cruiser's normal route. When they arrive, they discover to their dismay that the local government has dissolved and the planet is in the midst of an outright shooting civil war.

The ship's captain probably was intending to just skip that stop until the ship receives the distress signal from the company's downside trade outpost...not only are there other company employees hiding for their lives, but a major company executive happened to be on world for an inspection when the whole thing erupted. Now the captain of the ship has no choice but to try to do something...so they fight their way into orbit and insert an ad hoc rescue party made up of the PCs and a handful of other crew with previous military experience in attempt to save the VIPs (and others).

The one other thing that occurs to me is that you may want to think through the in character reasons why the PCs are going to muster out after this incident. Afterall, if they just managed to rescue a major company VIP, wouldn't that leave them something of an inside track and incentive to stay with their employer? I am sure you can think of many things to push them in the right direction , but you should probably make sure that you've thought it through a little ahead of time in case the issue comes up.

 

[Chaos]

Originally posted by BrennanHawkwood:
The 'twist' I thought of for your idea just changes the circumstances slightly. I was thinking, why would a merchant cruiser be deliberatly sent in to deal with the nasty situation you describe. *snip*

I think he meant to write "mercenary", not "merchant".

 

[BrennanHawkwood]

Originally posted by Chaos:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by BrennanHawkwood:
The 'twist' I thought of for your idea just changes the circumstances slightly. I was thinking, why would a merchant cruiser be deliberatly sent in to deal with the nasty situation you describe. *snip*

I think he meant to write "mercenary", not "merchant". </font>[/QUOTE]I'd agree except that he specifically says merchant cruiser several times and that the Leviathan he is thinking of using is a merchant cruiser.

 

[Sifu Blackirish]

Greetings, Jak!

Very impressive initial adventure!

Now on to the tough stuff...planning for the future.

Do you have any great ideas that are floating around in your head? Something that you want to reveal little hints to the characters each session, leading to a grand encounter/conclusion? Maybe the characters have some lofty ambitions.

Keep track of your, and their, random aspirations. You can use them as hooks to get them to go in a desired direction. Trade and speculation rules are good for this, just fudge/fake rolls so that the direction of profit is where you want them to go.

 

[jhulse]

Originally posted by BrennanHawkwood:
The 'twist' I thought of for your idea just changes the circumstances slightly. I was thinking, why would a merchant cruiser be deliberately sent in to deal with the nasty situation you describe. Then it occurred to me that you could give the whole thing a more accidental/coincidence slant. That planet is a stop on the cruiser's normal route. When they arrive, they discover to their dismay that the local government has dissolved and the planet is in the midst of an outright shooting civil war.

The ship's captain probably was intending to just skip that stop until the ship receives the distress signal from the company's downside trade outpost...not only are there other company employees hiding for their lives, but a major company executive happened to be on world for an inspection when the whole thing erupted. Now the captain of the ship has no choice but to try to do something...so they fight their way into orbit and insert an ad hoc rescue party made up of the PCs and a handful of other crew with previous military experience in attempt to save the VIPs (and others).

My friends are experienced roll players. The have played Starwars, all the fantasy stuff, champions, and even LARPed. They just haven't played Traveller, so luckily for me, the probably won't do anything 7th gradish... I hope...


Your idea comes close to my fluid introduction concept. The merchant cruiser has several clients. One of them is the corporation in this adventure. (Now I just need a name and a product... chemicals, weapons, medical supplies, bobble head dolls... The leviathan ships high priority cargo/top secret company research/ (what ever the case may be), and it acts as it's own deterrence against pirates and corporate raiders. My original idea was that it was on a delivery run, and was contacted by the company to veer off it's course to go rescue their CEO on the planet/moon in question. I actually like your idea a bit better.
The merchant cruiser could be in route to the world delivering supplies and have VIP's on board. I can drop hints about "the trouble with the local Aslan clan lord" or something like that. The possibility of trouble is on all the VIP's minds. When the Leviathan comes out of Jump, the poop hits the propeller! I like the idea of a hastily assemble rescue team. Since it is a merchant cruiser, it would be set up for this possibility anyway. The reason the players will leave after this mission will be part out-off-game knowledge. Me explaining... "This is how you typically roll up a character, but this is how I'm going to introduce the game to you..."
In-game, the characters would have already submitted the resignation papers months ago, and their replacements have already been hired. This just happens to be the players last mission of their final term before perusing their own private careers.

So, what type of ships should I through at them?
Any thoughts of the type of company?
What type of vehicles should I use, simple ATV mounted guns, or something more substantial?
All gear will be supplied from the captain, so the players will get to play with equipment they may not be able to afford at first once they muster out.

I also agree with the variety of Naval/Marine specialists that can cover all character classes. The only difference is that this mission won't involve any official government, Navy, Empire, or what ever. I wanted to use a private Merchant cruiser so that characters not in the Emprial Navy / Marines can be part of the crew. I have ideas on how anyone could be on the cruiser.

So I have a little over a month to prepare. Any ideas, or critiques will be greatly appreciated!
JakNaz

 

[jappel]

The Leviathan-class ship could have been called up into active service (the Scouts have at least one, it could have been transferred to or grabbed by the Navy), leased by the navy (perhaps the Fifth Frontier War is still hot or heating up, and the regular vessels are too busy), etc. Heck, it could be the Scout's Leviathan with a Scout crew & commander and a mixed pick-up force of troops dispatched when earlier word of potential trouble reached the authorities, and they arrive to find the situation has exploded. That angle would allow your characters to come from a variety of services. The boat crew could be Navy & Scouts, landing party could be a mix of any Army & Marine ground troops with Navy or Scout technical or medical folks (or simply another body who's been through Basic and knows which end of the weapon to point downrange).

As an alternative, consider a Broadsword-class mercenary cruiser, although those have a lot of punch, especially if you pack a fighter frame for one of the cutters.

For opposition - hmm, Leviathans have four or six turrets and those wacky ur-Traveller launch tubes if memory serves. Depending on how tough you want to make the fight, maybe an armed 400-ton merchant ship and couple of fighters? If you go with a Broadsword the opposition would have to be a lot tougher.

Brennan makes a good point - seems kind of a bit of a stretch that a whole group would muster out at the same time. If you go with a Fifth Frontier War scenario, perhaps it's at the very end of the war and the services are trying to scale back. Or it's a cut-back before the war - sounds like the kind of thing Santanocheev would do!

IMTU it's entirely possible a naval character could spend an entire career in small ships. There's a lot of Gazelles and Fierys out there, and some are going to be captained by long-service lieutenants, or have senior chiefs as chief engineers for example. Same kind of thing for the ground pounders - lots of little detachments of ship's troops and starport guards out there, and small Army garrisons as well. Then there's the scouts...

From a general game-mastering perspective, don't have any adventure or situation hinge on a particular event. Scripting the shoot-down and death of the sergeant is fine, but I don't like to do too much railroading of players. They always seem to come up with alternatives I hadn't thought of, and if the adventure is strictly scripted a lot of deux ex machina is required to keep things on track. IMHO that's not a lot of fun. People like to have choices when role-playing.

Always have two options for the key situations - one if they succeed, and one if they fail.

Have a bunch of NPC names (lots of good random name generators out there) and quick stats handy. You don't need much detail for grunts, so stick with combat stats for them.

Since you haven't run a game for a while, you might want to put aside some time in advance and run through a space battle and a ground fight. You could do this solitaire but I'd try and do it with at least one other person, even if he or she doesn't know the rules. You can refamiliarize yourself with the mechanics, and explaining how things work to another is a good way to reinforce your own knowledge.

Lastly, I heartily recommend the little book "Robins Laws of Good Gamemastering" from Steve Jackson Games. Great tips for constructing scenarios and campaigns and ideas for keeping game sessions fun.

Have fun!

- John

 

[jhulse]

Originally posted by Dominion Loyalty Officer:
Greetings, Jak!

Very impressive initial adventure!

Now on to the tough stuff...planning for the future.

Do you have any great ideas that are floating around in your head? Something that you want to reveal little hints to the characters each session, leading to a grand encounter/conclusion? Maybe the characters have some lofty ambitions.

Keep track of your, and their, random aspirations. You can use them as hooks to get them to go in a desired direction. Trade and speculation rules are good for this, just fudge/fake rolls so that the direction of profit is where you want them to go.

I generally run my games by giving the players two or three plot hooks. I will always have enough written down of each plot hook to end the night, and then I finish developing their chosen path for the next game. This allows the players to have flexibility for choosing their own adventure, and allows me a bit of control without being too controlling. I generally have a scripted end to each plot hook if the players don't intervene. They will hear something on the news later about how the plot hooks ended that they didn't follow. This helps create the sense of a larger universe outside what the choose to do. Their actions, or inactions, will have consequence.
As far as a theme... It will be in the Classic era, and several swordwolrds are in revolt. In fact no matter what plot hook the chose in the beginning, they will all start out the same.
They will be caught in a terrorist attack / assault by swordworlders on a downport. The ship the decide to buy will be docked there. The main contact for their chosen plot hook will meet them at one of the bars to discuss the terms. The the attack happens. So the characters will have to fight their way to their brand new ship, and blast their way off the planet, just to get to the plot hook! Should be fun!

After several plot hooks (4-6) eventually I want to lead them to the abyss in the Lanth sector. Much of this will be scripted... to allow the character to get aboard the research station...
The reason there is "the abyss" is because of a black hole. The players will deliver scientists, equipment to an orbiting research station. (or sneak in to try and steal research depending on how they take the plot hook)
Once they are aboard, the adventure goes normally. If they screw up, the get blasted...
But if they don't do anything too dumb, the last phase of the spinward marches campaign will end...
Somehow (I'll think of a reason) the research station has a major malfunction / explosion. The station begins to plummet into the black hole. By the time the characters get back to their ship, they will already be within the 100 diameter danger zone. No mater how well the piloting / engineer rolls are, the characters will misjump (again scripted)
They end up across the Empierum in the Gateway Domain, AND IN THE PAST!!
Then I will begin to use all the nice stuff from T20! I will let them slowly figure out the fact that they have jumped back in time. I can't wait to see their faces when they realize it!
Anyway, that's my long-range goal for the campaign...
JakNaz

 

[jappel]

Jak,

Also, keep in mind how deadly combat is in Traveller (all varieties - and by the way, what rules are you planning to use?) If the party doesn't have a medic, I suggest sending an NPC medic along. Or maybe have a doctor with the party to be rescued.

As far as ground opposition - what kind of resources does your villian have? From your description it sounds like this planet is fairly low-pop with a single big population center. Perhaps he's got a few of his cronies with moderate weapons and some training, some disaffected locals with small arms and little training, and a small team of mercs for heavy muscle?

A couple of scout cars, each with a gatling gun and a small cannon or tac missle launcher would be potent but could still be taken out with a single well-placed RAM grenade each. Taking on these with limited resources could lead to a really fun battle like the last big fight in "Kelly's Heroes".

- John

 

[BrennanHawkwood]

Originally posted by Jak Nazrith:
In-game, the characters would have already submitted the resignation papers months ago, and their replacements have already been hired. This just happens to be the players last mission of their final term before perusing their own private careers.

Ah...given the delays in long distance communications and how much effort may go into making sure a ship has sufficient crew in a reasonably large corporation, that actually works pretty well.

 

[jhulse]

Rules? Probably GURPS for combat mechanics, but I will merge elements of T20 and CT as well. Most of the guys I play with don't like level based game systems.
For the location I am thinking a moon with a type two high port and a type three down port.
There will be very little, if any, official Emperial support, perhaps a light cruiser setting in high orbit observing and recording until it receives official orders. Other than that, it's all local defense force and private company security forces. The Leviathan shows up shortly after the Aslan clan has gained control. They operate two patrol curser size ships, perhaps a SDB, and a number of fighters.

The company town will be on the outskirts of the main downport city. The main downport has been taken by the Aslan Clan and their hired mercenaries. They have taken all the key control elements but don't fully control the streets. The Aslans have also over run the company town and sacked the mansion in hopes of kidnapping the CEO and his important staff to use as a bargaining chip. The CEO and his important staff are in hiding somewhere in the small city protected by the remnants of the company security force. It's up to the players to successfully locate and rescue him.... Strike that... rescue HER. It might sound sappy, but since most the people in the group are guys, I'll tug on the old "I must rescue the princess" emotion.
I like the idea of scout cars or other paramilitary vehicles the Aslans and their mercs use to patrol/sweep the streets. The PC's can get help from the locals who are in terror of their apparent new ruler. An air raft or Grav-Ford F150, could be easily barrowed from one of the locals. The players landing craft is completely out of commission, so they will have to think, locate, and steal another ship to get off world.

What kind of mercs would an Aslan Clan lord hire?\

JakNaz

 

[mike wightman]

Would an Aslan clan need to hire mercs at all?

One of the biggest problems a clan has is what do do with all of its restless "second son" males - ihatei.

How about the Aslan Clan has bolstered its forces by hiring mercs from a different Aslan Clan?

 

[jhulse]

Actually the name of the adventures working title (as of now)is "Second Son Syndrome"

Never thought of one Aslan clan leader hiring mercs from another Aslan clan. To my understanding, all second sons desire land/property of their own, and will go to extremes at times to attain it. I'm not sure how many male Aslans will work together to help prop up one single Aslan leader. So my idea was that the Biggest, baldest Aslan has promised all of his followers a piece of the pie, or at least this moon. I guess that would make it a moon pie?
Speaking of the moon. Does this make any sense to paleontologist...
To make the adventure more local to the main downport and city, I am thinking of making the atmosphere thin. The moon is covered with many craters in various states of weathering, and most of the surface is covered in algae, lichen, moss, etc... But several larger, deeper impact craters are able to sustain life a little better, because the atmosphere is denser. These would be between 10 and 40 kilometers in diameter. Not sure how deep though, 4 0r 5 kilometers? Anyway, the main downport and towns would be located in these large craters. The crater is home to mining and manufacturing. Agricultural products are grown in craters not devoted to mining or manufacturing to help make the moon a bit more self sufficient. The only way you could survive "up top" is with a vacc-suit or some other breathing assisted apparatus.
This is why the CEO and his staff just didn't run somewhere else to hide on the surface of the moon. They didn't have time to get the proper gear tougher to survive topside. So the had to stay in the crater and hide somewhere in the town.
This would also make it easier for me when drawing scaled maps etc...
That's about all my ideas for now. Time to start putting pen to paper.
Jak

 

[jhulse]

Originally posted by Jak Nazrith:
So my idea was that the Biggest, baldest Aslan has promised all of his followers a piece of the pie, or at least this moon.

OOPS! Darned spell checker! BADDEST, not baldest... sheesh...