leo knight
SOC-12
I've read a few blog posts regarding "seat of your pants" gameplay, and the, "What do you HATE..." thread, and it had me thinking about my early days of Traveller. First, the blog links:
http://hillcantons.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-play-d-like-its-1980.html
http://crushingskulls.blogspot.com/2011/03/narrativist-roleplaying-or-⌧-dice.html
Two others, the blog is "D&D With ⌧ Stars", so maybe NSFW:
http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/2011/02/entire-old-school-renaissance-explained.html
http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/2009/10/wargames-for-anarchists.html
In each case, they played off the cuff, with half remembered rules, ad hoc rulings, and almost no reference to the actual books during play.
Back in the day, D&D was the main event, but sometimes when we were bored, or someone didn't show up, someone, usually Ben, would shout, "Leo! Run Traveller!" Out would come my trusty black box, we'd roll up some Book 1 or CotI characters, and off we'd go. Sometimes, I didn't even have my books with me, just dice.
Last weekend, my friend Gordon pulled out the Traveller D20 book, and we had a go at rolling up characters. As we were unfamiliar with the rules, it took quite a while. We also rolled characters that might not actually be able to run our ship effectively. We shall see. (I spent most of the time drooling over Gordon's awesome spaceship deckplans, which he had drawn on 1" grid paper: imagine the Serenity swallowed a watermelon, then mated with a Babylon 5 Starfury; cool.)
But all the above made me long for the innocent days of yore. In that vein, here's how I used to play Traveller, most of the time.
1. Roll up your 6 stats as normal.
2. Pick a career from Book 1, or Supplement 4.
3. Roll 2d6, this is how many skill levels you can pick. No skill can start higher than 5.
4. Add the above number to 18, or 14 if you're a Barbarian or Belter. This is your age.
5. Subtract #3 from 12, this is how many points you can increase your stats by. Don't go over 15.
6. Multiply #3 above by 1000cr. This is your starting money.
7. You get a ship if I say so, if not, no whining!
8. All other skills default to level 0. Medical? Engineering? Piloting? Yup.
9. No cascade skills. Gun combat means all guns. Blade combat means all blades.
10. Task resolution: roll 2d6, add skill, bonus for Strength or Dex, 8+ succeeds. 10+ for hard stuff, or long range, 12+ for very hard or extreme range.
11. I never really figured out how to rule armor. I hated that no armor made you easier to hit, so I rarely used it. I think I just said cloth needed 10+ to be hit, reflec, ablat needed 12+ for lasers, and battle needed 12+.
12. Spacecraft were made up on the fly. I boiled them down to multiples of 10, 100, or 100 tons. Usually, I never used anything bigger than an 800 ton cruiser. Add Maneuver, Power, and Jump, good to go.
13. I never used computers. Gunnery skill added to your roll to hit, Pilot or Ship's Boat to your maneuvers. Done.
There may be more, but that's all I can remember right now. It may have been completely daft, but I sure had fun.
http://hillcantons.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-play-d-like-its-1980.html
http://crushingskulls.blogspot.com/2011/03/narrativist-roleplaying-or-⌧-dice.html
Two others, the blog is "D&D With ⌧ Stars", so maybe NSFW:
http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/2011/02/entire-old-school-renaissance-explained.html
http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/2009/10/wargames-for-anarchists.html
In each case, they played off the cuff, with half remembered rules, ad hoc rulings, and almost no reference to the actual books during play.
Back in the day, D&D was the main event, but sometimes when we were bored, or someone didn't show up, someone, usually Ben, would shout, "Leo! Run Traveller!" Out would come my trusty black box, we'd roll up some Book 1 or CotI characters, and off we'd go. Sometimes, I didn't even have my books with me, just dice.
Last weekend, my friend Gordon pulled out the Traveller D20 book, and we had a go at rolling up characters. As we were unfamiliar with the rules, it took quite a while. We also rolled characters that might not actually be able to run our ship effectively. We shall see. (I spent most of the time drooling over Gordon's awesome spaceship deckplans, which he had drawn on 1" grid paper: imagine the Serenity swallowed a watermelon, then mated with a Babylon 5 Starfury; cool.)
But all the above made me long for the innocent days of yore. In that vein, here's how I used to play Traveller, most of the time.
1. Roll up your 6 stats as normal.
2. Pick a career from Book 1, or Supplement 4.
3. Roll 2d6, this is how many skill levels you can pick. No skill can start higher than 5.
4. Add the above number to 18, or 14 if you're a Barbarian or Belter. This is your age.
5. Subtract #3 from 12, this is how many points you can increase your stats by. Don't go over 15.
6. Multiply #3 above by 1000cr. This is your starting money.
7. You get a ship if I say so, if not, no whining!
8. All other skills default to level 0. Medical? Engineering? Piloting? Yup.
9. No cascade skills. Gun combat means all guns. Blade combat means all blades.
10. Task resolution: roll 2d6, add skill, bonus for Strength or Dex, 8+ succeeds. 10+ for hard stuff, or long range, 12+ for very hard or extreme range.
11. I never really figured out how to rule armor. I hated that no armor made you easier to hit, so I rarely used it. I think I just said cloth needed 10+ to be hit, reflec, ablat needed 12+ for lasers, and battle needed 12+.
12. Spacecraft were made up on the fly. I boiled them down to multiples of 10, 100, or 100 tons. Usually, I never used anything bigger than an 800 ton cruiser. Add Maneuver, Power, and Jump, good to go.
13. I never used computers. Gunnery skill added to your roll to hit, Pilot or Ship's Boat to your maneuvers. Done.
There may be more, but that's all I can remember right now. It may have been completely daft, but I sure had fun.
