Windward, Game 3

While my regular RPG gaming group is on a hiatus for some indeterminate time (I am 80% certain we will regroup, but with additional soft rules in place), I am still playing with another friend. We played our 3rd game of Windward today. I started off strong, then through some good strategic playing as well as luck, he pulled ahead. Far ahead for most of the game. He played the achievement cards well! He got to notoriety points to win, but the game allows all remaining players get a last turn. As we had added the achievements, I had 3 pieces of luck: 

1. the wind was going in a good direction for me, allowing me to get the just turned over "move 15 spaces in a single turn" achievement
2. I actually managed to get 2 red cresters in a pair of turns, and process them (their teeth are worth 4 notoriety apiece)
3. I actually had a fuel card, that allowed me that one extra move to get to the port and trade in everything

So I actually came out ahead at the end despite thinking I had lost 2 turns earlier. Now - we both forgot that this was his last turn, and rather than trade in gas for more notoriety, he opted for canons. I think had we remembered, it would have either been a tie or he would have won.

The funny thing was that, as I was setting up the game, I read the battle cheat cards. And realized we had not been doing battles correctly the first 2 games! There is a bit more strategy than luck: the attacker and defender both have to allocate any canons before rolling the dice. But both sides can hold off using cards and any other bonuses until after the rolls. That changes things a good deal. Regardless, we had a good time. Next game we may try one of the expansions that came with the 2nd Kickstarter: pirates with their own trading post and money, the white crester, scouts and the drifts. A few more variations have yet to be played. We're hoping one of his kids will want to play as a 3rd player would also change the dynamics. And who would not want to hunt flying whales in a fictional world? And I am also glad I backed that 2nd project, as it came with game trays so that the setup and takedown is very fast now: I can get the game set up in 5 minutes or so and take down 5-10 minutes. Though everything, despite being a much larger box. does not quite fit into the big box. The original board does not fit but we use the neoprene one. So that works out okay honestly.

I also backed the latest 0Hr Kickstarter for some retro-style posters. And realized that we could also play a game of Zombicide:Invader on some of the maps I have. We may try that for some variety. And I still have the Scythe game we may want to try as well at some point.

To be honest, I do have some mild social anxiety. I'm okay with 1 person at a time, but several at a time, even if I've known them for years, seems to put some pressure on me. Playing games is worth it to me, and I also know that is all self-induced but knowing that does not really help me. I have no idea why I am on edge when there are people around me, and I fear it is getting worse as I get older. I am hoping we can move past this last issue with the group, but only time will tell. I am hoping it does not end up like my whitewater kayaking: eventually the fear overcame the fun for me. I did almost drown one time, so that fear was warranted! But the guy I was boating with was a lot better than me and wanted to do harder falls. One final trip where I was just getting tossed all over the place and knowing there was pretty dangerous fall ahead unless you hit it just right, was my last trip. While gaming is not life or death, for whatever reason there is that same fear in there, at least in turns of how I am reacting to it. Yeah, I am strange.

And the turkeys were all over the backyard - counted at least 15! 

Strange New Worlds Part 2

I've rolled up the system, though the main world did have some pre-defined values. We have a single star system with a F5V star. The main world orbits in orbit 4 at 1.9AU. Assuming I did my math correctly, this is a 2.3-year orbit. The star is 1.4 time larger than our sun, massing 1.3 times as much.

There are 2 gas giants and a planetoid belt, as well as 5 captured planets. Interestingly, the innermost planet is a tidally locked small gas giant in orbit 1, with a planetoid belt in orbit in orbit 2 and a large gas giant in orbit 5. Orbit 3 is empty. 

Our main world has no satellites; the inner gas giant has none either and the outer gas giant has 11 moons. The captured planets will have no moons. 

A few notes: this sort of data will take some time to calculate. While the planets in stable orbits are easy to find and calculate the orbits of, those 5 captured worlds will take a good bit more time as they are not in the main plane of the system. Refueling is of course simple enough at the gas giant or the main world.

The main world is an early-stage colony. Though how that fits into the OTU timeline is problematic at best, but fortunately this is MTU. As per a text discussion, there were about 400 colonists in cold sleep and the colony ship is now the main base for the people. What they did not know was the large flying creatures are more than dangerous. Bordering on intelligent, they are a menace to the colony. As a result, most of the colony is underground, using thermal and the remaining fusion power plants for power.

Technology-wise, they can maintain TL-7 stuff for the most part. They do have some makers, but most tooling and manufacturing is manual. The flying critters can't really be hurt by most slug weapons, and there were only a few larger weapons that could make a difference. They originally had 3 additional support craft beyond the colony cruiser. Unfortunately, after 3 generations, 1 is now used for spare parts for the other two.

A few questions I need to ponder:

• Where are they from originally?
• Why did they strike out on their own?
• I rolled up government 3: self-perpetuating oligarchy. The original colony board controls the colony, with most positions being hereditary. With the constant threat from above, few have the time or energy to do anything about the situation.
• Do they speak the same language as our potential PCs?

 Probably a few more things to think about for a potential (once I get past my pouting phase) game. 

I'll see about more mapping, but I did manage to get the typical map down with some hexes. Still need to calculate the size of those hexes.

Main world: E765330-7

Starport: E. Just a rough landing field for the remaining 2 support craft, with one used for parts

Size: 7. Just under Earth sized, with a gravity of about .87G. Makes it easier for those giant flying things!

Atmosphere: 6. Standard pressure and oxy/nitro mix

Hydrographics: 57% water. Several large continents

Population: 3, a few thousand people after a few generations from the original 400 colonists. Large families are normal. Will need to dig out Grand Census for some fun things.

Government: 3 - Self-perpetuating oligarchy. Known as the Colony Board, controls all aspects of the nascent colony. Hereditary positions.

Law Level: 0. No law level per se, and going outside everyone usually goes well armed.

Tech Level: 7. Around early 70s. Though there are some higher-tech facilities in the main colony hub: a few fusion generators, medical facilities still have functioning medbeds. There are a few makers that can create most things as well, but the knowledge to maintain a lot of this is starting to go away as people focus on survival. A caste of "magic users" may eventually start the maintenance. Or I've seen too much Star Trek.

Need to come up with a name as well. But - more to come!

Scout Mission: Strange New Worlds 1 Part 1

If I ever get back to running a Traveller game (my last 2 did not do well, but thinking perhaps a more focused approach vs the sandbox approach may be better), I already decided that the Scouting mission would be the way to go to give it more focus on exploring strange, new worlds vs trying to make a living. As pointed out in the previous post, this gives me an opportunity to flesh out MTU a bit.

And so, I'll start with one of the undefined * worlds in the D'Arlee Quadrant. My group was discussing a colony world with giant flying beasts. How that gets handled really depends on so many things: if we have ship weapons, then these are not really an issue. However, the conversation meandered all over the place, and for a pulpier and Traveller-like feel, we want to have tension with these beasts not easily killed and still posing a threat.

Though I did get AI (sorry!) to have a Scout ship shooting a pterodactyl. Despite wanting these to be a threat, powerful weapons really implies they really cannot be a real threat unless you go without weapons. Which did remind me of a college game where my gung-ho marine, in grav power armor and FGMP managed to kill a red dragon. Though she was also killed as apparently dragon flames destroy armor as well (the ref wanted to run a D&D game, so a convenient misjump to a fantasy world. Must have been a lot of fun as I remember it 40+ years later!)

I did some workups of the planet for 57% hydrographics, and will have to work through some Book 6 system generation. But as it has been a while since my last post, figured I'd let you know that things are not entirely standing still.

Though I am thinking of taking a break from gaming with people for a bit: we got into a bit of a disagreement and I had it pointed out that I do tend to take a high moral ground about some things and that this "high moral ground" comes across as patronizing. As with many things, this is not all on me, but some of it most assuredly is. And to be honest, I do have a hard time in social situations for a number of reasons, and the gaming has been a bit of stress as much as I also like it. (In fact, the person I am having a hard time did call me socially retarded, which has all sorts of connotations that bother me. And I've been ignoring that as just the way he speaks but that coupled with a few other things finally got us into the aforementioned disagreement). Had I been born 40 years later, I am sure there would be a few labels on me. Though not sure if that is really the case or just me internet-doctoring! Regardless, I may back off a bit with the group and try to figure out if I am really being that obnoxious or if some are just more sensitive. It is, of course, somewhere in the middle but I feel I am the only one trying to make accommodations sometimes. And then I worry that I am just feeling sorry for myself! Ahh, naval gazing at its best and worst! Never fear - this too shall pass, but every once in a while, I do get into a funk. Just like the stress from the new job (which thankfully is a lot better) this stress will eventually go away. But I just may need some time. But I'll still post as I like thinking and writing about gaming, just the actual practice is, at the moment, something I don't think I want to do.

Windward, and maybe a Traveller Scouting game

Last weekend I finally got to play Windward, a game that I've had for a number of years. We messed up the first round or so, but in the end, it is a relatively simple game. It is just the rules as written are not particularly well-done, even after their 2nd Kickstarter for the expansion and deluxe version. But we had a good bit of fun, and you cannot go wrong with sky whales! But we figured a few things out as we went along, and the next game we'll have a better handle on things. 

player board and my hired crew

And I've been thinking a lot about why I cannot seem to run a good Traveller game with my current group. Probably a primary reason is that they prefer fantasy over SF for the most part. And Traveller runs both a sandbox SF RPG universe but also adds some limits to the style of universe (and this is from conversations on COTI and a few other blogs I've read, so nothing original other than me realizing it!). It wants to do a harder version of pulp-style science fiction: people have to do things, and it is not so much an extrapolation of science and technology in the real world, but one based on the stories of the first half of the 20th century. It came out well before the cyberpunk/AI/transhumanism themes became prevalent in the SF world. 

And honestly, I like it that way. Traveller is great for things like early Heinlein, 70s TV shows like Space:1999 and UFO (though I actually have the Space:1999 RPG but doubt I'll ever run it). It cannot run a Star Trek or Star Wars style of game: those have entirely different technological assumption underpinnings. Instantaneous interstellar communication would change a great number of things and break the basic idea of Traveller. Even cheap spaceships would have a huge impact (my pet peeve with Star Wars is everyone seems to be able to afford a starship, they never worry about fuel or life support unless it becomes THE plot point. And even a small single-seater ship is capable of vast interstellar journeys. Without a bathroom). 

However, I've been thinking that if I perhaps did an exploratory game instead. I'd limit career options to Scouts, Scientists and military careers, and they would just be the crew of a ship. I'd also reduce fuel usage by 50% and life support as well. That would allow double jumping with the same tankage and not cost so much for life support. Which would not matter much for the players as they would probably be the "boots on the ground" for our planet of the week adventure. Basically, structure it around an episodic TV format. Plus it would allow me to flesh out that section of the D'Arlee Quadrant that has been empty since college! Though I did stick the world of Corsairs there!

Time Keeps on Slipping, Slipping

The new job has been a bit time consuming. Which eats into my mental ability to do much of anything else it seems. It will settle down, it always does.

Last weekend one of the players had car trouble and could not make it, so we ended up playing classic Zombicide instead. I screwed up on the car rules, but we did win (though I feel we cheated).

And I've been playing a couple of other games with my buddy that shows up - while we started with The Fantasy Trip with his kids, teenagers being teenagers and a few other things, meant that they eventually stopped playing. So, we played Zombicide as well and now are moving on through a few of the other games I have for some variety. Which reminds me - need to find a game for tomorrow and get it set up before he shows up. Maybe we'll try Windward this time!

Sadly, not a lot of Traveller things going on for me. While it is my favorite game, I just cannot get a good game going with this group. Part of it is me, but only part of it. I've even stopped working on the software, though I may revisit that again. But as I spend all day right now in software, after hours I need a break. And I am, honestly, depressed by seeing the stuff others are doing over on COTI. Not sure how much of that is AI-driven vs the old-fashioned way of doing it yourself, but regardless it is very impressive.

Which actually does have a Traveller-like connection: over on COTI there are numerous interesting conversations, and one being that a lot of the stuff Travellers do could be automated. My response to that is that it then becomes Passengers. The conceit of Traveller is a pulp-style of science fiction where characters do stuff, not just jump aboard a starship or vehicle and say "go there". I'm re-reading some old Heinlein stories, and Starman Jones is about an astrogator. And their job is all about doing the math to punch it into the computer. I can see this sort of thing as the impetus behind that skill. Yes, computers could do all that. But this is Traveller, a SF RPG for a more pulp-style of science fiction. If I want something to reflect where I think technology is going versus where Traveller had its tech levels, I'd really play something else. And with all the AI now, to be really realistic I fear it would have to be a post-apocalyptic type of game. Or a "utopia" where we don't do anything at all and everything is fully automated. 

I'll just leave it with this image I found. And one of the things that does have me worried is people starting to lose the ability to even think anymore. And I hate that Lego added their smart block - can we not just let kids use their imagination? Sorry, old man screaming at the sky I suppose.

Running Traveller Games

I've tried running a few Traveller games with my current group, and sadly it never really seems to work out well. While part of it is me, I think another part is that Traveller is, in many ways, a lot different than most RPGs.

The obvious differences start with it being a level-less game. Though it is really does have levels - your skill levels. But: you don't start out as a kid off the turnip wagon. You start play usually as a middle-aged person who has already had a full life. You start the game already leveled up.

Which brings up the 2nd point: there is no reward other than credits and surviving. Most games you level up, improving stats or skills. At some point you become basically gods depending on the game, though not all games do it that way obviously. Traveller, no matter how long your character has been in play, can be killed by a laser blast as easily as dying in character generation (which is another major difference!) And yes, there are rules for improvement. But it takes a lot of in-game time! And you can still fail to learn anything new.

And for my group, the nail in the coffin, so to speak, is that space travel in the far future is expensive. Getting a ship is a major expense. While I understand a lot of those rules are designed to force the player into taking risks to just be able to survive, to players used to Star Wars or Star Trek, having to work for an adventure just does not go over well. Add in the mechanics for fuel, jump, and the deliberate "communication at the speed of ships" and it is a SF universe they just don't enjoy. Personally, I have no idea how the economics of the Star Wars or Star Trek universes work: people have spaceships as easily as people have cars now it seems. And unless it is a plot point, never worry about fuel or life support.

I'll admit a large part is on me, and I've tried more rules-light versions where they had benefactors and NPCs to handle all those details. Details I like for a number of reasons, and I can work with that. And I get stressed a good bit beyond my normal levels of stress as Traveller is my favorite RPG (you never forget your first love!) and want them to like it as much as I do. 

I cannot compare our games to my college games. First, 40+ year old memories are always burnished to a high shine, and second. most of us in that group all owned and both refereed and played Traveller. We lived Traveller for those glorious years. And we were in our late teens, early 20s. That is an entirely different gamer than those of us *cough* a bit older now.

Anyway, between a new, high-intensity job and my desire to make them like the game too much, the last game fizzled out. I think I mentioned I may just take a break from running games for a while: still adjusting to a new job, and also very disappointed in myself. To be honest, I feel make a better assistant referee I think: I love creating maps, deck plans, NPCs and the like. But effectively running a game seems like something I am just not doing well. 

However, I know I'll try again anyway. Though I may do the Space:1889 concept instead and so bypass some of those pesky OTU details that they seem to not particularly enjoy. I just love the game too much to give up so easily!

Traveller in a Space:1889 Theme

I have an art book by this guy, Alex Alice, and, while I've never played Space:1889, I think I could at least try a 1-shot using some basic Traveller rules based on the aesthetics of this art. The book is also beautiful.

Alex Alice

Basic premise is very Edger Rice Burroughs: Mars, Venus and the other planets can be visited and have their own biomes. You fly through space via the aether and aether engines.

The way I'd run this, and this is an early idea so I may draft more actual rules later, has the basic stuff as follows:

1. Classic Traveller Book 1 & Supplement 4 careers only. But also limit TL options to TL4 (late 19th/early 20th century analog)
1. Using what I understand the TNE way works: roll 7 times, pick the 6 you want and put in the attribute you want
2. no rolling to get into the career - automatic
3. roll then select table for skills (my normal house rule)
4. failing survival => leave service or die and start over again
2. Ship rules
1. Fuel is not really required - aether engines works very differently and does not require the same space/fuel. So very small relative to the ships
2. life support is still needed - takes a larger percentage of the ship and I'll need to figure out a good amount required per person/per day. 
3. Ships can be made of light metals and glass, and you can tell a lot from the style where it comes from (nationality)
4. Can fly on planets and in space, but not underwater. They will float on top.
5. No external weapons? People get out in bulky space suits and fire weapons? Or turrets / shup guns are available?
6. Speeds
1. max atmospheric
2. max in the aether / between worlds: calculate days for trips to destinations? Different aether engines that do have some correlation between size/mechanics/ship mass. Tiny engines can power gliders and personal flight wings, larger ones for ships to traverse the heavens. Details to be mulled and hopefully written out but may use the same or similar tables from book 2. But will probably work with, other than the moon, something like 1 week to Mars or Venus, +/- days based on engine, 3 weeks to Jupiter, 5 weeks to Saturn, etc. Will have to look at distances again. But I do want to maintain the week trope if I can with some minor adjustment for a better aether engine or engineer.
3. Universe
1. Earth analog, 1890 maybe?
2. Mars as per ERB / art book. Native life includes sentients; Mars Princess is currently on Earth at the Expo (starting point of game?). Dying race?
3. Venus as per ERG / art book, prehistoric environments, no intelligent life
4. Combat
1. always my weak point!
2. armor may work as per a discussion on COTI where the armor level is the number of dice to subtract from damage inflicted which may be interesting:
1. Leather/Synth = Armor 1D
2. Cloth = Armor 2D
3. Combat = Armor 3D (old school plate armor - see image below)
4. Battle Dress = Armor 4D (not in this game)
3. range DMs as per rules with DMs based on range. 8+ to hit

Plate armor (more Alex Alice)

Adventure ideas:

1. At the World Fair they meet a sponsor who requires a small crew for a trip to Mars to fetch something for the Princess
1. all is at it seems, and the crew can meet the last Princess of Mars with her blessings to get the golden seal
2. the sponsor is trying to curry favor with the Princess and Martians and is wanting to retrieve her golden seal from Mars and trade it for favors.
3. The sponsor is working for a rival faction on Earth and want to steal the golden seal and hold it hostage for forcing the Martians to do something
4. The sponsor wants to kill off the Princess' parents for some nefarious reason. The characters may notice that the ship has a few untrusty looking members and more guns than you may expect
5. There is another wanting to retrieve the golden seal and there will be a race to the Red Planet. One of the two is working for the Princess, the other against. Which one are you with?
6. There is nothing to fetch, the Princess is actually sending a message to Mars with the pretense of retrieving the seal. That request is a hidden message to the Martians.
2. A hunter wants to hire the group to go to Venus
1. All is as it seems. Base on one of the several Classic Traveller Hunter adventures
2. All is at it seems, but the hunter does have enemies. Who may be wanting to do their nefarious things. Attempts to sabotage the ship before or during the trip, as well as attempts on the planet itself would be interesting and challenging.
3. The hunter is using this as a pretense to "accidently" kill a rival on Venus. 
4. The hunter is hunting something that is, for reasons, illegal to kill. The players may not find out until sometime on the way there and unable to back out.
5. The hunter is really a spy and wanting to get intel on a foreign power's bases on the planet.
6. The hunter is very inept and kills himself on Venus. What do the players do?