Category: Ref’s Notes

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Into the Void Ref’s Notes Session 39

Another fun session.

Two hours of roleplaying got the PCs back out on a mission.

I was very happy with this session. A number of good things happened. Before I get into specific great incidents of play, I want to say that all five players were doing smart things, interacting with the setting, asking the right questions, seeking out NPCs to talk to without my prompting, etc.

Since they were likely heading back to the planet Uetonah I had suggested they re-read the previous sessions on that planet, but David went beyond that. When his character, Flint, said he was going to seek out their newest frenemy, Alro Rupalian, and ask for help keeping an eye on the ship, I was delighted! I love seeing a player taking advantage of existing relationships with NPCs. That is just really good playing that is totally unrelated to character stats, yet it’s a powerful resource. Super, super good. It’s the kind of thing that is really only possible in long-form campaigns where an in-game history really develops.

In all the years of this campaign, and all my previous years of playing Traveller, I have never once use the rules for trading. Adding a bureaucrat to the mix of PCs has opened up a lot of possibilities in the game. I was reading the rules for trade and commerce and saw that the Admin skill can be used as a positive modifier when selling good. Well, Caliban has Admin-4, so that is a huge modifier on a 2d6 roll.  I also like that he used his Recruit-1 skill not exactly to recruit dock workers into employment, but to sort of recruit them as allies. I always talk about how Traveller skills should be thought of as “big”. This was a great use of that skill.

Fardt, the alien Gluck NPC, has Streetwise-1. In the past he has used that skill to the party’s advantage, but in pretty obvious ways. “Locate a sketchy hacker to do some work for us? Sure.” Fardt was out with William’s character, Barney (the engineer). Barney suggested that Fardt go eavesdrop on the Samson mining recruiters. So that was a good use of the skill. Then Barney asked him to use his Streetwise to start a rumor in the city that the Samson guys were not being honest – that the mission they are recruiting for is certain death! I let William make the roll for Fardt. He made it. I decided on the fly that this brilliant and creative idea should bear fruit, so I had him roll 1d6 to find out what how long the Samson guys would be delayed due to the rumor creation. He rolled a 4. So that simple action set the Samson buys back four weeks, giving the PCs a massive lead on them. Awesome stuff.

The examples above, I think, demonstrate why Classic Traveller is simply a great system. It gives you just enough rules to make it work, but gives the Ref lots of room to work. It is flexible.

As usual, I used a flexible round-robin method of running the game. I make a list of the players, and I simply go through the list, in order, asking each player what they are doing. We can break out of it whenever we need, but I always go back to the round-robin to make sure each player is getting a chance to do stuff.

I’m finding that as each player does something inventive and fun it is spurring that same kind of play from the others. They are feeding off each other’s play in a way that’s improving everyone’s game.

I have to admit that this kind of game is a little harder to run than simpler stuff. And simple can be a hell of a lot of fun, but this is just really satisfying.

For the record, what is “going on” is really quite simple, but will take some time to sort out. It could involve action and fighting, but I can think of other ways to move forward. I have created a lot of the NPCs they may deal with, rough descriptions of places, and thought about possibilities, but the players will almost certain do something I’ve not thought of. I hope the players are having fun. They keep coming back.

I’ve been thinking a lot about a more “defined” way of letting them improve the characters through experience, but now I’m questioning if it is even necessary. I don’t think it will improve the game at all.

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Into the Void Ref’s Notes Session 38

The last couple of sessions have been post-Big-Adventure/Setup sessions. Giving the players a chance to do some housekeeping, pursue some loose ends, and fiddle around a bit in-character.

After opening up the Mongoose 2e Central Supply Catalog to the players, I have already “but the brakes on it” a bit. A lot of the stuff in the book is fine to add to Classic Traveller. Survival gear, tools, etc. All good. The weapons and armor? Not so much. For one thing, Mongoose uses a totally different system for to-hit and damage. The weapons assume this. One of the players discovered the section on buying finely made weapons that do higher minimum amounts of damage, give bonuses to hit, etc.  Initially I said fine, but after talking about it we decided against it. I do think having really nice weapons be a little better than a stock weapon is fine in CT, but I will have to come up with some suitable rules for it.

I feel like Mongoose 2e potentially really opens the floodgates for powerful weapons. Also, since Classic Traveller is nearly 50 years old, it is of course true that even the ideas involved in science fiction are a lot different now.

The guys found the Universal Translator program in the catalog. In my game, it was a big deal when the PCs found an alien artifact that functioned as a universal translator. Clearly, based on that, a UT would be at a very high tech level in my universe — beyond what the PCs have access to. So we backed that out too.

The Mongoose stuff is very cool. It is just not what our campaign is about. For the most part I want the PCs to stick to the Classic Traveller weapons and armor. I’ll just use the Mongoose stuff to embellish the game.

A couple of my players, running Caliban and Flint, have offered up some ideas that are helping make the setting seem a bit more fully realized. Very happy about that. I love it when players think about the game and their characters. Both are super cool about it — offering the ideas up but totally good if I change them a bit or say “no, that’s a bit too much collaboration.” But it is a big universe, and one Ref can’t possibly think of everything.

Back when they were dealing with the bugs on Chamax, Barney displayed evidence of arachnophobia. His player just came up with that, based on the many disgusting bug monsters they have encountered. It makes sense, and it’s cool. The character gets no points for it. There is no advantage. It’s just fun and good roleplaying. I liked it.

But yeah, I am threading the needle with regard to available tech and whatnot. So far we’ve had a good campaign without going hog wild about new tech, but I’d like them to have cool stuff available and to take the initiative. I liked it when they wanted a drone, so they built one. That was cool. We figured it out.

I have created character record sheets for each of the PCs grav bikes in Roll20. I’d love it if they each customize the bikes with software and whatever they want. Where you get into trouble is at higher tech levels onboard computers can be intelligent agents. Not sure about that. Not sure I like it. Probably won’t go there. But improving the control systems on the bikes, installing databases — that is all good.

I decide we’ll use the Cepheus Engine Vehicle Design Guide for vehicle design details and the very simple systems it contains for low-speed fights, dogfights, and chases. It seems to be very compatible with Classic Traveller, and I like the aesthetics of the vehicles.

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Into the Void Ref’s Notes Session 37

I keep saying this with every new session, but I am really amazed we just finished Session 37. My D&D game is on session 36 in just over a year. Both of these campaigns are now much longer both in real time and in game sessions than anything I’ve done before.

I’ve been talking to people about the benefits of long-form campaigns, as well as listening to some podcasts about it. I am not averse to a good one-shot game. They can be super fun. But the stuff we’re doing in these two long-form campaigns with no defined end points is just so fun and so great, and really couldn’t happen in a shorter format.

Session 37 was perhaps the closest to a no-roll roleplaying session I’ve run. Most of the two hours was spent with the characters in conversation with each other or interacting with NPCs. Other than a few Gunnery rolls practicing with the laser turrets on the ship and two Admin rolls, it was all talk and roleplaying. I feel like the players are getting better at the in-character roleplaying part of the game. No, they aren’t acting like voice actors or entertainers. They are just playing their characters. Maybe I’m affording them more opportunities for this? I’m not sure, but it was fun.

This was still a very busy 2-hour session. I had considered throwing some action into it, or working in the start of a new adventure, but decided not to rush it. Everyone seemed engaged, so I decided to take my time and let things play out. The game will be better for it.

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Into the Void Ref’s Notes Session 36

So, we have finished the Chamax Sessions in our Classic Traveller campaign. I used the Double Adventure /the Chamax Plague/Horde as source material, and the group actually discovered the Chamax origin planet and dealt with bugs on the surface and an alien escape ship in orbit around the planet.

This adventure actually took seven play sessions to do. Most of them were 2-hour sessions, so that is understandable.

I made a real effort to have potential skill use in this adventure beyond just bug killing. In particular, allowing PCs to add their Jack of All Trades modifier to rolls when I felt it appropriate. For example, when their background would indicate some kind of intuition in the area. As I have gone on and on about in person and online for years, most Traveller skills are BIG. They often encompass multiple implied sub-skills or entire professions. Players need to be able to use them. I’m doing what I can as Ref to nudge the players into thinking bigger with regard to their skills.

We are taking next week off, which will give me a breather and time to work on the next steps of the campaign. I want to do a better job describing things to increase “immersion” and I want to find some good non-AI imagery on the web to use during the sessions.

The players discussed a couple of items of unfinished business at the end of last night’s session, so we may go those directions depending on what they decide.

I love this campaign.

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Into the Void Ref’s Notes Session 35

When we started this series of Chamax games I had no idea we’d now be 6 sessions into them and still going strong.

If you are familiar with the Classic Traveller Double adventures Horde and the Chamax Plague, you know I am using them as source material, but his is it’s own adventure cobbled together with elements of that book.

It’s going well. The frequent 2-hour play sessions are working out nicely.

I love Traveller.

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Into the Void Ref’s Notes Session 34

This adventure is taking way more session than I expected! That’s fine. We’re only playing for two hours at a time, and we usually spend about 10 minutes catching up before we play. I’m enjoying these sessions a lot, and I hope the players are too. It is great to not feel like we are rushing through an adventure “just to get it done.”

One challenge I had in last night’s session was keeping the one character who stayed on the ship (to make sure someone was there at the ready) engaged. William is a great player. He often is the one who goes up to the balcony to keep an eye on things, lags behind to make sure no one is following them, etc. Sometimes, as in these last few sessions, it means his character, Barney, isn’t  in the middle of the action.

However, over the last seven years of playing Traveller he understands how to keep his character busy, and find productive things to do, in this case supporting the away team. I can’t believe we’ve been playing this campaign for over seven years now, but we have, and all the guys are seasoned Traveller players. Well, Todd is new, but he’s an experienced gamer and it’s like he’s been with us the whole time.

I had a good time with last night’s session. I made a random table to determine how the alien ship they are on might malfunction. Gravity going in and out, information videos suddenly playing, lights on and off, maneuvering/attitude thrusters suddenly firing. It was also fun to have the PCs in vac suits – an added level of danger, as well as some zero-g antics.

When I review my own performance as Ref after these games, I continue to be dissatisfied with the descriptions I give of things. Like the interior of the ship. I feel like I’m paying a lot of attention to the big things in a session, but could spend more time thinking of atmospheric details. I will work on that.

Going on vacation for a week. More Traveller after that.

 

 

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Into the Void Ref’s Notes Session 33

A few notes.

Playing approximately once a week, online, for two hours, seems to be working out. It seems easier for the whole group to find two hours and not have to travel at all than to find travel time, then two hours or more, then more travel time. And it’s easier than finding three or four hours for online play. We’re having a good time with it, and it feels like the campaign is regaining its momentum.

In last night’s game I had decided that each time I went through the entire party, asking them what they are doing and then having them do it, would equal 10 minutes in the game, and that each of those 10 minutes would raise the interior temperature of the alien ship by 10 degrees C. The team, however, was very cautious. The time scale ended up not making any sense. I stuck to it, but it was obvious that it was all out of sync with what was actually happening. I told my players that obviously I had messed it up, but we were sticking with it rather than me retconning the session. What I should have done was either make each time through the lineup 5 minutes, or just dropped the time period all together and tied each full trip through the rotation to a temperature raise, and then GM’ed it .

Lesson learned.

As I wrote up last night’s game, I realized that as a GM, writing up the sessions in this way might be my best GM practice. It is a great tool for remembering what happened, obviously, but also keeps us kind of enthusiastic about the campaign. It is cool to look back and see all the stuff the team has done.

I have been physically kind of exhausted lately. Allergies are bad this time of year, and work has been busy. Last night I was not sure I was ready in terms of prep or just physically, but we played and my players gave me the energy to do a good job. Good players make the game.

 

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Into the Void Ref’s Notes Session 31 and 32

I have been running a modified version of the classic Traveller adventure “the Chamax Horde” for the last few sessions. I say “modified”, which means I used a lot of the structure of the adventures but made it fit into our campaign a bit better. This is the second time in the history of our campaign that I’ve used someone else’s adventure, the first being the Energy Leech adventure which came from Michael Brown’s 1-page adventure Energy Transfer.

It has taken a long time to do this particular adventure due simply to not playing very often. It’s hard for players to remember important details which might help them if you wait too long between sessions.

Now that we are playing online again that may change. Last night I proposed weekly or bi-weekly sessions, Tuesday nights from 7pm – 9pm. For in-person games I always feel like two hours is not enough. Everyone has made time to go to the game location, and then you only play for two hours? That doesn’t seem right. But playing online it feels different. No one has to travel. It is more convenient. And spending two hours a week online for the campaign is not too massive a time requirement. I think it may work. We’re going to try it. Everyone wants to play more. I’d like to as well. And it is easier to prep for two-hour sessions. It’s also easier to keep the Referee-Mind sharp and on-task for shorter sessions. I think that will benefit everyone.

Last night’s game was another zero combat session. Lots of exploration, planning, problem solving. I was very happy with the way all the players were active and engaged. I didn’t have to “find stuff” for each character to do. They just got in there and made it all happen. Before the game I asked them to all review the previous few sessions for important loose ends and details. One player in particular really took that seriously and was on-point with it. I have great players, and I appreciate it!

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Into the Void Ref’s Notes Session 30

It took almost a year to get back to the campaign, but I never end a campaign. Ever.

Session 30 was really fun, and was a reminder why I love this group so much. Since William moved to San Antonio last year we are taking the game back to Roll20 rather than in-person. I’ve not run or played a game on Roll20 since the pandemic lockdown, though I’ve kept my account  and all the stuff in there. The biggest issue I’ve had with it is that putting things online is an added layer of preparation. I really like doing everything in a small notebook and using that with my small ring binder that has all the campaign materials and playing in-person. I spend a lot of time on the computer already. BUT — I have made some progress on Roll20.

I got an iPad Mini for Christmas 2024, and recently added and Apple Pencil and the application Procreate to it, and it makes creation of maps for the online game much easier. I no longer want to go jump in front of a bus every time I start working on one. I can sit in my chair, in the front room with my family, and work on the iPad. The pencil works really well too, and the application does exactly what I need it to do.

Now, while I haven’t been running this campaign for nearly a year, I have been running a D&D campaign for three players for about 8 months, so I’ve been getting a lot of GM practice. So jumping back into the Traveller game was not that hard. I was very pleased with the roleplaying done by the group. They give me so many things to riff off of during the game. I had no intention of introducing an NPC computer hacker, but they wanted to find one, so I whipped one up. The things they did that I wasn’t expecting, which was nearly everything, gave me so many options as the referee. It is kinda funny that now, at 60 years of age, I am finally understanding that if you LISTEN to your players and ride that wave the game will be a lot better, and a lot easier to run.

Classic Traveller is a great system for this kind of play. There are enough rules to get the job done, but not so many to make the game oppressive and hard to create and adjust on the fly. Cepheus Engine is the same way.

After the game we started a discussion about the Cepheus Engine, and possibly converting the campaign to the CE System Reference Document. I have already ported a lot of CE mechanics to this Classic Traveller game. I think making it official might help the players, as they’d have all the rules I’m using easily available. So I asked them, if they have the time, to fiddle around with character creation using the online version.

I do, however, ask myself how much this would improve our game. Would it improve it at all? Is it necessary? The honest answer is probably not. Classic Traveller has served us well for many years now. I really enjoy saying I run Classic Traveller. That means a lot to me.

 

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Into the Void – Ref’s Notes 3.

We’ve now played three sessions of my classic Traveller campaign, “Into the Void.” I really should say “our” campaign, because at this point the players are starting to make it their own as well.

A few thoughts.

  • It’s pretty damned amazing how much fun you can have with those three little black books. In some ways they are the barest outline of a game system. Nowhere in them is there even an example of play! And yet they are amazingly complete and flexible. Back in the old days when my friends and I played Traveller one a week, I don’t think we had the experience to appreciate just how well the rules work. Frankly, there weren’t really many complex, “crunchy” systems out there to compare it to.
  • The ship combat system is actually really good. It seems like a ship combat system from a war game, that’s been simplified to fit into a roleplaying game. With small ships at least, combat is something to avoid. In our most recent session (#3), the PCs ship got into a skirmish with a slightly larger ship. We had one round of combat, resulting in the PCs hull taking a hit and depressurizing and the enemy ship having it’s maneuver drive disabled, putting it dead in space. That’s in one round of combat. We didn’t even get to draw the movement vectors on my game mat!
  • The time scales are way different between ship combat and personal combat, so with PCs running around inside the enemy craft during the ship combat, we first did some personal level stuff inside the enemy ship, then the ship combat round, then more inside the enemy ship. The effect was actually really good – very cinematic. I think we all liked it. As Ref, I thought it all fell together well.
  • I’m trying hard not to turn these sessions into dungeon crawls. Now, I think that can be fun sometimes, but it seems too lazy. But I’ll admit — it is tempting. When I’m sitting there, writing, working on ideas, I do sometimes thing “man, it would be easy to have them explore a complex building.” But that’s not the direction I want to go with this. It needs to be about action, ideas, drama, conflict, and story.