Organic Towns Month 4: Windemere Crossing and solo Traveller

As I do my monthly organic towns, I am reminded of not one but two TAS articles: in JTAS 13 and JTAS 18. In JTAS 13, Real Time Traveller:

The boardless nature of Traveller, however, permits greater flexibility. With some ref's notes small adjustments, a satisfying solitaire Traveller campaign can be conducted on the basis of a few minutes each day, by playing the game in "real-time" terms. Make one day in your life match one day in the game. After breaking down Traveller events into daily steps, most actions (a patron search, selling cargo) can be handled in the few minutes it takes to throw dice, consult a table, and note the result in a continuing log. 

In JTAS 18, Travelling Without a Starship:

A single planet alone can furnish multitudes of adventure ideas. Tens of millions of square kilometers of surface area are open to ventures in dozens of climates and terrain types, among many cultures and subcultures, and among different levels of civilization . . . any referee could keep games going for years on a single isolated planet, with no need for repetition of adventures and no need for a spaceship. Some vary successful adventure novels have worked this way. 

Of course, I have tried the Zozer Solo rules and while that works, I may have to expand out to see about the mythic DM or some other process. But anyway, doing my monthly turns at Organic Towns is essentially the same sort of thing - roll some dice, note the results, and move on. While I'd much prefer a real time game with people, adulting is hard to get everyone coordinated! Though our group does have 1 retired gamer, I'm still 6 years out (unless I win the lottery, but of course, I'd have to actually play to win!) Not sure if I'll return to that solo Traveller game - it was not as much fun as I was hoping. In fact, I do find most solo games pretty boring. Though world-building is fun, I am not sure it will actually go anywhere.

And I seem to recall a trading without a starship article as well - I may have to dig through my actual print copies as pretty sure I read it (and yes, I do have the Journal CD but as I've said so many times, I much prefer reading "real" books. I'm old, so get off my lawn!)

Month 4 of Organic Towns for Windemere Crossing

Moving on to month 4, we are still constructing our western gate: workers are expecting to have it completed next month. In the meantime, the taverns in town have benefitted from the workers thirst and hunger.

First, our building roll: the tower (which honestly I had forgotten I stuck there but as this was a military outpost in the past, it was part of the infrastructure!) And it is a level II tower, so, this morning the guards spotted an ominous sign: hundreds of birds migrating the wrong way!

Next, our moral roll, slanderous graffiti regarding the settlement leaders has been appearing more frequently. Wonder if this is the same graffiti artist that was writing those bawdry limericks on the barracks a couple of months ago?

Interestingly, other than graffiti, there are no reports of crime. Could be our newly enlarged town guard is having a beneficial effect on our fair trade town.

At this point, the town hall is complete, and the first town meeting took place with a bit of festivity. The Sea Elves are still looming in the back of the meeting hall, with the grand table for the Burgermeister, sheriff and Nomehi Wirididea representing the town, the police and the local merchants. A decision was reached to expand out the market. As caravans pass almost daily along the Ocean Trade Route, they want a bigger piece of that pie. And it could make Windemere Crossing a destination instead of a waystation. This will cost us 36 SP and take two months to build. We're also going to add a pasture to help feed the town, and the fencing should be completed next month.

There was rumor of a retired merchant fightng a weaver outside of town, but no one is certain of that, and Rennor, who seems to know everyone, has not said anything. And she does like to break up fights. The new fine tooling from Bernice Lister (town guard who dabbles in leatherworking) and Durdo's wife Viola have started selling some wares in the merchants' quarter. Sheriff Sprigbasher did buy a nice new coin purse with his initials stamped on it from them. As he did get a small raise now that he is leading two new guards. 

The spearmen train daily in the space behind the barracks. They also patrol outside the city walls in pairs, while the town guard stays inside the walls. 

With the new housing, pastures being built, and Durdo and his wife welcoming twins, our population is now 348 residents. 

And asked for some fantasy spear carrying soldiers patrolling outside a walled townvnext to the desert and got this. Though I could also image dive in the web but then I feel bad when I don't attribute who did that art, then I remember the AI is trained on that and also does not give proper attribution. We do live in strange times! But I do like to browse through art and find things that seem interesting. I am so glad people do share their stuff online!

I am also tracking a lot of these updates in the Windemere document (and got lazy and just doing some copy/paste) but thinking some stuff I really need to consolidate better. And I know - I keep saying that! For someone who likes organization, I am not that good at it!

World Explainer

I've stalled on this (really, me, stalled?) Work got more interesting than I like (we lost one of our developers as he moved on to a better position, and he was the primary source of a lot of institutional knowledge. So just me and a junior developer, though I am trying  to get a friend from my last job hired as he was laid off last week, and would be a really good asset for my new job). Just need to figure out the OAUTH and signing thing and should be good for the Android store. Though I do need to re-read the freight part as that is not 100% correct - think I need to do lots and tons per lot or something. I may finish that, but the deploy as a test application is swirling around the "I've already got too many software things I need to keep track of" situation.  Plus I've not heard back from Marc Miller so that also is a bit bothersome. Though he does have a fairly liberal view of this sort of thing, I don't like to make assumptions!

Fantasy Trip Solo: Til Death Do Us Part pt 2

Continuing on with our wounded  Taran, we camped a couple of days in the woods. Arashina kept us well fed while Taran rested a bit, healing some from his wounds. Pressing on, we headed to the Nunnery of Holy Sisters, known for their healing potions. We camped again a couple of nights, letting Taran recover a bit more of his vigor. Finally, on our 7th day, we came into site of the nunnery, but it was under siege by a party of Orcs. The brave Sister Masrak, seeing us, cried out that her prayers had been answered. As Sir Rostam and Taran rush to the Sister's aid, Arashina takes a step forward and readies her bow.

The Battle of Bonesetter, err, the Nunnery of the Holy Sisters

Round 1 Arashina's arrow flies true, and while the leather armor the Orc wears help, he still feels the prick of the barb. Sister Masrak, wielding her mace, slams the Orc facing her, doing 8 points of damage. Despite his hurt, he hits back and deals 2 points of damage to the armored sister. The other 2 Orcs miss Sir Rostam and Masrak, while the one hit by Arashina starts moving to her at a run. Taran and Sir Rostam cannot attack this round.

Round 2 The Orc rushes up to Arashina, and Taran moves around to the side of the second Orc. Arashina gets last shot off, hitting the Orc for another point of damage. Taran somehow misses, while Masrak finishes off one of the 2 Orcs facing her. The second Orc misses Sir Rostam, and the 3rd lands a blow on Sister Masrak.

Round 3 Arashina switches to her saber and cannot attack this round. Taran misses, still weak from his earlier fights (yeah, I think technically he does not have the strength to wield that battle ax. but that is one of the rules I tend to not entirely hew to. I figure a lot of that is technique, and not just raw strength. But I will try & read up on that rule to see if it really is a rule). Sir Rostam, true to himself, misses yet again. Unfortunately, the Orc he missed did not miss him, and a point of damage got through his shield and armor. The 3rd Orc missed attacking Sister Masrak.

Round 4 Taran moves behind Orc number 3 who is still attacking Sister Masrak. Arashina swings her saber and deals 6 points of damage to Orc 4, whose leather takes a bit of the damage. Taran, having a good advantage by attacking from the rear, hits and kills the 3rd Orc, dealing 10 points of damage. Masrak hits the Orc fighting her, still not killing the snarling creature. Who in turn, though, does hit and wound her more. Finally, the Orc facing Arashina swings and misses. 

Round 5 Arahina finishes off the Orc facing her, while Taran misses the final Orc. Sister Masrak does not miss, but his armor absorbs most of the blow. Somehow, finally, Sir Rostam actually hits something, and kills off the final Orc. 

There was much rejoicing, and one of the sisters, being a master physiker, healed up that battle damage as our group did not actually get too hurt this time around. They also offered 5 healing potions, which Taran took, bringing him back to 11 points of strength. Resting two more days, he is back to 12 strength and they are ready to resume their journey.

Sister Masrak in front of the Nunnery, mace in hand

There were some story elements in here, and I won't ruin it in case anyone else runs this game. But I have picked up some more plot words. Plot words are a way of dynamically creating different paths at the same story point. For instance, as we did not have the plot word LATE Sister Masrak was at 7 strength versus the 4 she would have been. And a good thing - she would have died if she only had 4 as she took the most damage of anyone there. Other than the 4 dead Orcs.

I am not including a lot of the story exactly, other than embellishing the battles. There is some dialog, and some interesting story points that we've uncovered. In fact, here are the plot words we have so far:

Trust, Letter, Masrak, Tale, Nun

The tale belongs to Lady Shirin, the bride to be who has learned a few things she did not know about her sister. There are some other plot lines in here, besides us trying to get to the seaboard in 21 days. And as we are at day 9, we're not making good progress. We'll no longer allow Taran to rest up and hope for the best.

And I think I am getting a bit more into the story, which does make this choose-your-own adventure a bit more appealing. And this would also be a game you could run as a regular game, though I would have an overland map! Maybe I'll make one tomorrow, though it will change as I play. I really should have taken better notes (I only noted the fights mostly, but I can recreate the journey as I can start where I was and make the same choices to get info on what we're seeing).

And for those who are celebrating Labor Day - I hope you have a wonderful day! Though I've never been in a union, it was the trades and unions that wanted to celebrate American labor and how it built this country. Per Wikipedia: 

Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United States. The three-day weekend it falls on is called Labor Day Weekend.

Beginning in the late 19th century, as the trade union and labor movements grew, trade unionists proposed that a day be set aside to celebrate labor. "Labor Day" was promoted by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor, which organized the first parade in New York City. In 1887, Oregon was the first state of the United States to make it an official public holiday. By the time it became an official federal holiday in 1894, thirty states in the U.S. officially celebrated Labor Day.

For all of you who actually work and build things, thank you! I write computer code so nothing I build is real sadly. And while I enjoy that (and have for 36 years of professional, well, at least paid, software development) sometimes I wish I had picked a career where I actually did something tangible. But then again, if I did that I could not work from home and have a cat on me during the day!

June Bug, a stray we foster-failed at. The older boys seem to finally accept her. And the dog was raised by cats so knows how to deal with her.

Fantasy Trip Solo: Til Death Do Us Part

Finally had some time (3-day weekend, whee! Though I actually did work a couple of hours on some documentation as we've under a tight deadline for some things. Hate deadlines but they are a part of the working world).  Anyway, finally broke out the Til Death Do Us Part, and it took a bit of time for me set up. Yes, I actually have cards as I did, per usual, get everything I could. But I had to find the right minis for the characters being played. But finally, the group was ready to leave the castle to head to the princess' prince in far-off Prufax. We are all mounted, but as I don't have any mounted minis other than skeletons on skeleton horses, we're just going to pull a Monty Python trick and use some coconuts to sound like horses.

Off on an adventure! maybe good luck storming the castle!

Day 1 we head off to Endelyn, a day's ride. We have a peaceful night at the Hungry Basilisk Inn. Next morning we decide to continue down the main road. Alas, this section is badly maintained, and we are waylaid by a masked bandit and 3 henchmen!

who would have thought there would be bandits?

Fortunately, Arashina our ranger, has alertness so we were not surprised. The bandits to the rear and front charged in, exceeding half their movement allowance. Breaking it down by round:

Round 1 Arashina's bow twangs and the arrow finds its mark, Sadly the leathers worn by the masked bandit deflected enough of the barb. The masked man shoots back, his arrow going wide. Taran hits a bandit with his war ax and kills him on the first round! Sir Rostam misses, and the remaining bandits, having rushed to the attack, cannot attack this round. So far, so good!

Round 2 Arashina's next arrow hits and hurts the bandit. The masked archer again misses, as does Taran, blood from his ax at least splattering his opponent. Unfortunately for Taran, the blood is no distraction, and he is hit, taking 5 points of damage. The third remaining bandit hits Sir Rotam, but between armor and shield, the blow never lands. 

Round 3 Arashina's third arrow also hits, but the lightly armored archer was lucky and no damage, the arrow glancing off his leather jerkin. Alas for Arashina, this time his arrow strikes true, and she takes a couple points of damage. Taran, stunned from his earlier blow, misses. Fortunately, his opponent also misses, blades clashing in the woods. The third bandit again connects with Sir Rostam, but his shield and armor protect the gallant knight. The gallant knight, well protected, though still seems unable to hit his enemy.

Round 4 Throwing down her bow, Arashina rushes to the masked man, and switches to her saber. Apparently daunted from the rushing ranger, the masked bandit misses, his arrow flying wide of his target. Taran misses again, as does his opponent. Sir Rostam is hit again, but once more his armor absorbs the blows. And he misses yet again.

Round 5 Angered, Arashina hits with double damage! She manages to kill the masked bandit with a mighty blow of her saber, and he falls to the ground, his life bleeding out of him. Taran, leaking his own blood, misses yet again. Unfortunately, his opponent gets in a solid hit, hurting the soldier badly. The bandit attacking our noble knight misses. As does said noble knight. Perhaps the sweat from combat is getting into his eyes, blinding him.

Round 6 Seeing Taran getting mauled, Arashina rushes up behind the bandit. Taran finally hits the bandit and almost kills him (he is down to a single hit point/strength!).  Sadly, and in desperation, the bandit swings and hits Taran again, almost killing him as well (Taran is down to 2 strength). The fight between Sir Rostam and the bandit continues as before: both swinging and missing each other. 

Round 7 Seeing as the bandit is about dead, Arashina moves back to Sir Rostam's aid. While she hits the bandit, she must be out of breath as she does no damage to the fellow. Taran on the other hand, hits the weaving bandit, killing him after 7 rounds of combat. The bandit facing our knight, getting sliced across the back, faulters and misses Sir Rostam. Who also misses. 

Round 8 Arashina finally does enough damage, and the final bandit is killed. 

Dreya bandages up Taran and Arashina, but even so, he is at all of 4 strength at the moment and will need time or magic to heal. No one else was hurt in the combat, but he is a right bloody mess. 

So, is this more fun than my Traveller solo game? Yes, in some ways. It is a programmed choose-your-adventure style of game with multiple options, so there will be some replay ability. Especially if using different NPCs - currently I am using the default 3. And of course, TFT is perfect for this sort of solo gaming (I've gone through Death Test a few times and managed to survive once so far by taking the most direct route - always go west [or east, been a minute] and run away when you can). 

Too early to tell how enjoyable it will ultimately be. Obviously not as much fun as playing with live people, or even 2D people via computers. We'll see how well I'll do.

What could have made this game a bit better area couple of things. I'd have liked a big map of the kingdoms and the paths: while in a dungeon like Death Test it may not matter which way you go too much, for an overland-style game an overland map would have been handy. I may end up making one eventually as there are some broad descriptions at the beginning of the game. All I know is that we need to go east. No idea if that is more northeast or southeast. Those things, at least for the initial game run-through, would have helped me decide a bit on which choices to make. 

The other thing would have been nice to have the prices. Though it may - seems to me I did read something about that, so need to look. But I've no idea from the paragraph on the Hungry Basilisk Inn how much it is costing all 5 of us to stay there. And a quick look and voila - found it. $10/night per person, and $5/mount. We've spent $85 of the $1000 already, and based on Taran's health, may have to spend a couple of days at the next inn to at least get him another strength back. Can't remember, but pretty sure he cannot wield his battle ax unless he is at full strength, 

Finally, as always, high dexterity characters are best in many ways, though usually they cannot do significant damage against armored foes. And heavily armored foes can take a lot of punishment but have a much harder time actually hitting their opponents (witness Sir Rostam not hitting anything in 7 active rounds of combat. Of course, I also rolled consistently bad for him), I do like an archer - high enough dexterity and they will almost never miss and can shoot twice in a round. 

Anyway, I may play again tomorrow. If so, more game notes. 

I also got an email about the UFO Technical Manual. Yes - they are making it and yes, I will be pre-ordering as soon as I can. I may see about writing up some ideas for actually playing a UFO/Space:1999 game. I may be able to convince my group to play it. 

Solo Traveller - In Jump To Llamma

 With the traditional dimming of the lights, we left normal space and entered that oddity of jump space. All external systems went dark, and the external monitors now showed a simulated starfield. As the No Refunds was not really set up as a passenger ship, and her Ladyship needed her own stateroom, I had moved all my stuff out and set up temporary quarters with the doctor. The Engineers were already bunking together. It was a bit crowded, but we would at least have the credits applied.

I went and buzzed on Lady Khou's door, and her bodyguard answered. He was a huge Vargr, scarred and to me at least, terrifying. He growled something at me, and I took a step back. I heard her Ladyship's voice from the back, and he stepped aside, gesturing for me to come in.

Not really a lot of passenger space!

The stateroom had already been set up with some Vargr hangings against the walls. I did not recognize any of them, but they looked old and somehow impressive. I introduced myself to Lady Khou, and after some chitchat, I learned that the bodyguard's name was a series of growls I could not pronounce but translated out close enough to Gouck, which at least I could pronounce. Apparently Gouck spoke little Anglic (something I learned later: he could understand it just fine but chose to play ignorant as people will say a lot more when they think the person present cannot understand them). I gave them a couple of choices for the celebratory dinner and left them to their own devices as I prepped the big meal. 

A few hours later, and the crew and our two special guests were eating at the table. Unlike most Imperial designed ships. the No Refund has a spacious dining and common area. I think the designers realized that a lot of time would be spent here and having more space would help. After the meal, Captain Laux broke out some Vargr wine I did not know he had. Turns out Oeg had been saving it for a special occasion, and while the 2nd engineer did not look too happy about the use of his private collection, her Ladyship seemed quite appreciative. We found that they were indeed looking to establish a conclave of Vargr in the League, and this sight-seeing trip was to sound out how the various systems and people may accommodate them. 

"Honestly, Hendar has been our best choice so far. Though there is no technology base to speak of, we'd import what we need. The planet is mostly empty. But we're still looking and getting a feel for what the natives think." She had an aristocratic voice that, while quiet, still managed to carry well. She had dressed up for the dinner, and while we had no ship uniform, most of the crew were also dressed better than I normally saw them. Even Lando, our chief engineer, managed to get out of the coveralls he normally wore and was wearing a somewhat threadbare yet still presentable suit. I almost did not recognize Ewo: I had never seen here wearing jewelry before, and those little orbs glinting from her ears with the gold chains made her seem almost regal as well. 

The rest of the week went well until the 5th day, 2 days before we were going to drop out of jump space. Gouck came up to me while I was in the commons area, working on my journal. He handed me a page that Lady Khou had written, asking me to come to her cabin. Putting up the tablet I followed the hulking Vargr (I really did not know Vargr could get that large!) and entered her cabin.

"It seems that I am missing a certain legal document," she said without preamble. While my jaw did not drop, I was a bit shocked: this was a classic case of theft on a closed ship. I stammered a bit and told her that "we need to see the captain and bring this to his attention." 

Not long after, there was a general ship meeting in the commons, the captain sitting at the top of the table. Her Ladyship was next to him, and Gouck was behind her, arms crossed and a deeper scowl than normal on his muzzle.

"It seems that we have some sort of theft on the No Refunds. That is entirely unacceptable. As we are all gathered here now, I want everyone's story for the last day."

Neither the captain nor Lady Khou mentioned what was stolen, and beyond them and me, only Gouck knew what was missing.

So, in rolling for what happened in jump, something from a passenger cabin was stolen. At this point, I need to come up with a plan, and actually what really happened. Did something actually get stolen, is this some sort of test of the crew, or something else entirely. And honestly, this is where solo role playing gets a bit predictable as it is all in my head without bumping into other people's ideas.

Going to first make it a 50/50 thing: even it is something actually missing, odd it is some sort of test. And a 6 - this is some sort of test the captain is putting the crew through with Lady Khou. Back to our wheels within wheels.  I just need to figure out what sort of test this is: probably a loyalty test of sorts. I'll just have to think about it.

As to the large Vargr, Mongoose did make a variety of types of Vargr. While I personally don't like it, it does add a bit of flair to the stock Vargr. Mongoose added several subspecies, one of which is the Urzaeng. These get a +1 to strength and dexterity but a -2 to intelligence. The Classic book does not separate out sub-species. I think Traveller was well ahead of its time in many ways by generally not making differences between genders and things like that (though the Aslan do have a large sexual dimorphism, most races, notably Humanity, makes no differences based on gender). Anyway, I digress as normal! Going with the bodyguard is Urzaeng. Though I've yet to roll up characters.

And I'll think about this test - going to play the deeper game as per the previous solo post: wheels within wheels. I'm just lazy when it comes to the solo game. Had I been running this for a group, I would have more concrete ideas. And so perhaps I'll try & treat it that way. 

Solo Traveller - Leaving Hendar 227-1105

 Having spent most of the week bouncing around in the low gravity, hauling a trailer that bounced even higher, it was good to get back to the port. There I found that Captain Laux had managed to somehow get a 6-month contract with some Vargr noblewoman, a Lady Khu and her bodyguard, a rough looking Vargr named Araegougzadharaegougzadh Oerrghingghong. As none of the humans could quite pronounce his name, he said to call him Ara. Even I could see the disdane on his face.

We loaded the herbs up and settled the remaining debts at the port to prepare for lift-off. I walked over to the admin building with the captain and we actually hand-wrote the log info and our destination, the additional cargo we had picked up, as well as our 2 long-term guests. Walking back, I asked Lynwood just how Lady Khu was on Hendar.

"Her previous transport had significant jump drive issues" he said, gesturing to the only other ship at this class C port. There was a lone air/raft sitting next to the engineering section, but I could not see any workers or anything from this distance. "As the local authorities are, shall we say a bit more relaxed, and the No Refunds is in good working order, I was volunteered. There is bonus pay, and this should not affect our routing and trading. Lady Khu is simply on what amounts to a sight-seeing excursion. Apparently, some pack or another are thinking about migrating here. This far from the Extents the Vargr are not overly common, and some remember raiding that some of their corsairs are inclined to do. As we've a bit in the way of protection, as well as being a good deal faster than most merchants, seems we're a good fit to play tour guide. And who knows - it should give you something more to write about."

We entered the ship, walking up the gangway. I secured the ramp and hatches and walked up the stairs to my station behind the bridge, across from Ewo. A few moments later, we were airborne and heading for space. It was nice to be a standard gravity finally. As we were heading to the jump point, sensors picked up a vessel heading in. I hailed them, but other than a curt reply, the crew of the Equity was not very communicative. From the transponder ping, Ewo said that they were a subsidized merchant, probably here to drop off supplies and pick up the half-printed cash for its final preparations and distribution in the league.

A couple of hours later, we left the real universe and entered jump space. Giving me a week to try & keep her Ladyship entertained and fed. 

Well, I managed to get off of Henday, and off to Llamma. I'll do the in-jump rolls and things next post. 

Now to see about the wheels within wheels. Why was Lady Khu on Hendar, and is she really doing a grand tour of the League. Putting on my referee hat, let me expand on the as-yet-to-be-defined goings on. Captain Lynwood is a merchant, yes, but he is linked to my old Antares Ship Builders and Traders corporation, which is an Imperial corporation. He owns his ship, and is free to do what he wants. But he does get information and brokers available from Antares which I've yet to touch on. And so far they have been operating almost at a loss: trade is complicated and it is not always easy to make credits: I could not get a good roll for selling those medical supplies (which worked out well: for such a small population, despite literally making money, they probably do not have actual capital for such a purchase. 

Lynwood and company are not spies per se, but rather information gatherers and brokers. He does report back to corporate headquarters every 6-18 months, and does gather intelligence on what is going on. He also has contacts which I am going with I've not covered in the game notes so far. Playing solo the impetus for working through plot lines is a lot different than running an actual game (my notes for the Cowboy game are a continued work in progress but so far almost 40 pages. Though a lot of that is copy/paste and images, I do have 2 random encounter tables for the 1st few sessions worked out). Anyway, Lady Khu is actually one of the contacts as she is approaching the League from a different perspective and social strata than our merchants. While she is a Vargr noblewoman, she is also a vice-president of Antares (and now I need to see if I can find my old company hierarchy. I did that after getting Book 6, Scouts, and decided I too could use a company structure). She is gathering high-level trends for trade as well as anything else. Information is also a commodity.

Egg, the Vargr engineer, may be a double-agent. He is ex-Imperial Navy. As such perhaps not as retired as you think. And he may be in cahoots with Lynwood, or just using him to help track the comings and goings in the League. The League of Independent Planets only has a couple high-value worlds, but those are worth watching as some of that technology is coveted by the Imperium.

Next "session" I may have Malik going over the books and see that there is more credits coming in than expected. It also helps that the ship is technically a fast courier / trader. And honestly is not set up for a high passenger at all: the 6 double staterooms are mostly used by the crew. But we'll just fake that for now.

And finally - I've been trying to us a hex map program, Hex Kit, for the GM maps so that I can have encounters and things mapped out. I was reading an interesting blog post about mapping in games, and that you have 2 maps. The pretty (and incomplete) players map that just the relationships between places but won't have all the details. And the GM map which has a scale and all that so you can tell exactly where the players are and what they should be encountering.

Anyway, Hex Kit does have some nice desert type things, and I just downloaded another tile set and saw it had a dinosaur in it! Perfect for encounter marking for the Cowboy & Dinosaur game. That would be starting in a couple of weeks.

And my initial notes & encounter tables for that section of the desert (or perhaps anywhere in the desert, not just this particular spot)

The trail is relatively fresh, but will take a few hours to follow to the bandit’s camp. I may want to roll for some random encounters on the way for those on foot/dino/horse:

1	Rattlesnake
2	Pack of desert wolves
3	Small herd of dinosaurs (roll on dino-table below)
4	Single dinosaur, wounded (roll on dino-table below)
5	Nesting dinosaur (roll on dino-table below)
6	Herd of bison

1	Magyarosuarus (p139) HP: 36  Defense: 10 Reduction: 4 Attacks: Stomp +4 1d12
2	Triceratops (p138) HP: 48 Defense: 12 Reduction: 4 Attacks Horns +4 1D10 Stomp +4 1d6
3	Chasmosauris (p138) HP: 40 Defense 12 Reduction 4 Attacks Horms +4 1d8, Stomp +4 1d6)
4	Ultraraptor (p137) HP 28 Defense 12 Reduction 2 Attacks Claws +8, 2d6
5	Ornithomius (p137) HP 20 Defense 15 Reduction 1 Attacks Claws +7, 1d10
6	T-Rex (p140) HP: 90 Defense 15 Reduction: 6 Attacks: Chomp +12, 2d12

Solo Traveller: Hendar

The main port building was fairly small: some radio masts and what really looked like someone camping on the roof. There were some small warehouses next door, and Ewo and I sorted out our ship manifest and bounced over to the building.

Nicely enough, there were grav plates inside, so I was no longer concerned with hitting my head on the ceiling just trying to walk. After talking to the port warden (who was the same person who we contacted by comms a few hours back), we were directed to another building across what he called the quad. Apparently the grav plating covered a larger area than just the building. When I asked, Stin, the warden, told me that there was about a 200 meter area where the buildings were at, including some dorm type rooms for the locals to sleep in once in a while. Bone density and other health issues were helped by the residents sleeping in the port area every few days. Apparently there were sleepover parties and it was one of the times when the mostly disparate people gathered, shared any news, and generally caught up with each other.  The warehouses, fuel depot and other facilities were "off-grid" to help with moving things around. 

Finding someone to buy the medical supplies turned out to be a lot more difficult than expected: there was no local government, just a few groups of the "Hippies of Hendar", a name they proudly call themselves I found out. Our first few inquiries did not go well, and Ewo was starting to get a bit angry and perturbed by the lack of any sort of governing body. We had medical supplies they probably needed as they could not produce these themselves. Yet no one seemed to care or had the credits necessary. I felt there was some sort of irony in this, as I could see one of the buildings on the quad was where they actually printed currency. There were literally piles of half-printed money, but none to purchase our goods. There was a lot of low-tech security there, including what looked to be a small patrol on foot carrying shotguns.

We did unload the 230 tons of bulk freight we did have. It was made easier as we turned off the grav plates in the cargo hold. Though inertia is still a thing, it does make it easier for the alcohol-based port tractors they have to move the shipping crates. 

We also started to search for cargo: Ewo and rented a buggy and started out searching the hills, so to speak. Having only 300-odd residents, there were only a few communes to look around for. Given a paper map and no GPS proved to be a bit frustrating, but there were paths so we did not get lost. On the second day of our sojourn, we encountered a native creature (world encounter: interesting or potentially dangerous encounter with some local wildlife; it's reaction roll had it run away). We slowed down and stopped at hopefully a safe distance, not knowing exactly what a safe distance would be. It stared at is a few minutes, then trotted off in a long, loping run that had it taking 20 meter strides before it was out of sight.

Deviantart link to original

We finally found a farmer that had some interesting herbs for sale, technically a ton, but fortunately it was fairly light despite the bulk, and would fit on the trailer we had (see this post for the details) Apparently, sales were not great, as we managed to purchase the herbs for just half of what this would normally go for (I actually used the Mongoose sales table, and with 3d6 actually rolled 18, which is 55%, then there is a bonus from the Solo rules as we are away from the port so better deals are found, bringing us to 50% of the cost) We set up the contract to pay the Cr30,000, and we loaded the crates. The light gravity helped. We finally headed back to the ship. I for one was ready to sleep back in full grav - while initially it seems easier to sleep, simply turning in bed could bounce you out of the bed sometimes! 

While we heard about the knifesmith, Nathan Hillback. Sadly, he did not have anything really for sale at a bulk level, and while the knives were beautiful, at a few thousand cred each, they were outside of my price range. Though Ewo did get two. "These knives are perfectly balanced and will last forever. And you can never under-estimate a well-made knife," she told me as she bargained with the burly smith.

We bounced over the terrain, crates on the trailer behind the buggy, and arrived back at the port late in the evening. Loading the cargo, we slept in our own beds that night, finally back in full gravity.

The next day, Captain Laux introduces us to Lady Khu Knueguegzo, a Vargr noblewoman who was dropped off here from her last ship, and required transport throughout the League. She would be paying high passage rates for her and her body guard. We were to provide possible additional assistance if required. While I am not a body guard type, I've been around high profile people in my reporting career (yes, he was a journalist in his previous career from way, way back when I started to set up this solo game!) Egg seemed almost cowed by her - I'm always curious about the Vargr relationships and how everything is a sort of pack hierarchy. Then those thoughts always end back to humans are pretty much the same, just with different names and reasons for those relationships. I think the Vargr are just more honest about it.

There was no freight available: this sparsely populated planet was not in the cross-roads of any trade routes apparently. We'd have to accept that we have a pair of passengers and a ton of herbs. And after reading through the cargo manifest, I noticed that the 2326793-02167515-[915 984 8Y]-(2) codes indicated that this deadly for Ewo and the Aslan, so I handled the cargo and then did a fast sterilization of the bay and loading ports. I let Ewo know to be careful and stay out of the cargo bay just in case. 

Okay, we had our time with the Hippies of Hendar and picked up some weed. The knife smith is actually based on a friend of mine that does actually make knives - he's still in the journeyman status but it is really cool to see what he does. He is the one that made me that battle axe. We've also got a sort of patron: the section for contacts and actually starport encounters both had me roll a patron. So, I pulled out 76 Patrons, figured we had 1-5 characters, rolled the dice and had the following patron:

From 76 Patrons:  The players' group is approached by a representative of the Imperial Minister of State, who is searching for a small party to act as an escort for a visiting Vargr noble. She will remain in the subsector for about six months before departing for home. Anti-Vargr sentiment is high for the moment, due to a  number of unfortunate incidents  involving Vargr warships, and the League is anxious about the noble's visit. The group will receive Cr2000 each at the successful conclusion of the assignment, and will undoubtedly get first consideration for future jobs. 

Cr2000 per character is really not a whole lot, though reading between the lines, this would have included ship fare and living expenses so quite a bit more than the Cr2000 says. As we do have a ship, we'll make her pay the full high passage rates for her and her bodyguard. We already have 1 Vargr on board, now there are three. It will make for some possibly interesting interactions. And, just why was Lady Khu even on Hendar? Honestly, I am going to work this into the back-plot that the Captain and "Egg" have been hatching (see what I did there?). It is still pretty vague in my head, but there are wheels within wheels here. I just need to figure out where I want to go with that.

And I can see how I may have handled this had this been a game with players: there were a few role-playing scenes here that would have been fun. My dialog, when I do it by myself, is somewhat stilted and dry. And while I can't think too fast on my feet, so to speak, it is more fun to talk and role play against live people versus just my imagination. Hopefully I'll get back to some face to face gaming at some point.

Finally, in looking at the map, there is really only 1 planet to go to from here unless they want to backtrack. Llamma, a planet I have detailed before. I'll have to poke the archives to see if I made a post about it. Apparently, I used it in one of my games as I have a directory full of maps and things, including a complete visitors guide! Next post - details on Llamma!

Llamma

Solo Traveller: Hendar

For a planet that literally makes money, there seems to be no real security at Hendar. We called in to the port, a small class C that was situated next to a lake and, from what our passengers said, near the printing presses that they were there to inspect.

"The is the No Refunds arriving at Hendar, requesting clearance for landing." It seemed to take several minutes before a laconic voice finally responded. "'ello No Refunds. You are cleared for landing pad 2. Do you have any goods to declare, or passenger?"  

I started the standard transmission of our passenger and cargo manifest and was interrupted a few moments later. "I'm sorry, No Refunds. We currently do not support that mode of transmission. Please state for our logs your manifest." Fortunately for us, we only carried the two inspectors, the medical supplies and some freight cargo we had picked up for delivery. After going through that short list, the same voice responded, "Thank you. We'll be a-seeing you shortly then." 

It was almost three hours as we came into Hendar's immediate vicinity, and I was amazed that such a tiny world had an actual breathable atmosphere (probably not by the current rules, but original world gen allowed this. Or I messed up 40 some years ago!) The atmosphere was barely an impediment as Captain Laux expertly landed the ship, landing on pad 2. Having only 5 landing pads, it was not difficult to make out the large "2" painted on the pad. There seemed to be a lot of extra details around that "2": I zoomed in an exterior camera and saw that there were scenes of the mountains I could see over the very short horizon painted on the pad. I've never seen a decorated landing pad before.

As the No Refunds settled on her landing gear, a small van came out of what I assumed was the admin building, bouncing almost comically in the low gravity as it approached. As the captain passed Ewo and myself, he told me to use the airlocks for our passengers. Though the exterior atmosphere was breathable, it was also thin, and we preferred regular air pressure. 

I went to the passenger cabins and assisted with what little luggage they had. We fit into the starboard lock, and the air became thinner as we pressurized to Hendar's native atmosphere. It was also chiller than expected out there as I walked Ms. Tachac and Mr. Simril down the ramp and into the waiting passenger van. It smelled a bit odd, then I realized it was some sort of diesel engine running some cooking oil or something that gave it a unique, food-flavored aroma as it turned around and headed back to the low concrete building. I had a spring in my step from the low gravity - I felt I could probably jump up to the air lock, but, having transitioned enough times between gravity fields, I loped back up the ramp, repressurized the lock, and went back inside the ship.

Well, I at least finally landed on Hendar. As previously mentioned, this is a small world, size 1, that somehow manages a thin atmosphere. Classic and Mongoose v1, 2d6-7 + size means this is a valid atmosphere. T5.09 is flux + size, so again legal. Just seems really unlikely that a world only about 900 miles in diameter, with a gravity of 0.15G, could maintain an atmosphere. Now, I also realize that the universe is big, and we've only scratched a tiny bit out in terms of understanding things. 

So, to figure this out we need the escape velocity, and this handy chart I found:

An alternative expression for the escape velocity particularly useful at the surface on the body is:

With Hendar being a size 1 world, we have a diameter of about 1600km, so escape velocity - and then my math did not compute. But: it is smaller than Pluto. So, it would have to be a LOT colder to maintain an atmosphere if I am reading all this correctly. But hey, it is a game, not a simulation of real planets (if it was, there would probably be a lot fewer habitable planets than Traveller assumes. Apparently, we are really lucky by having Jupiter in an orbit out there as it "sweeps" a lot of the solar debris and helps keep our little solar system a bit safer. 

We'll just twang our suspenders of disbelief, and I'll try & continue the story soon. Inside the port there will be grav plating, and probably a cheap hostel or something so that those living on the planet can sleep periodically in a heavier gravity for health reasons. I think we'll have some sort of custom or quirk for that. 

OSE Solo Test - Into the mansion

As a trial run, I had a party of 4 attempting to break into a rich merchant's house to steal back a book of mushrooms (Fungi Of The Far Realms, of which I actually have a copy of so can physically hand them the book when they find it). 

Using the turn tracker really helps as well it turns out. Each turn is 10 minutes, and they can explore an area or whatever in that time frame. Every other turn we check for random monsters, in this case a random guard or attack dogs. What the players did not know is that there is also a war dog along with the outside guard making the rounds inside the walled villa.

Game prep, with the "real" map/poster and the map given to them by their patron. A thief, a cleric, a wizard and a fighter walk into a house...

Deciding to go in the back, our group of book-freeing associates look at the 8-foot wall in front of them. They are in a dark alley behind the villa, wisely deciding to avoid the front door. Also, the library is in the back, so they are hoping the book is in the library to minimize their chances of discovery. I did not make them do any rolls to get over the fence, and in rolling, there was no guard nor the unknown war dog that sniffs around inside the walls. The next turn, the thief actually rolled a 6, having a 15% chance of picking the lock. Level 1 thieves are not, let us say, very good yet. While the rules state a thief cannot retry that lock again until they level up, I'd let them try again per turn but reducing the chance by 5%, meaning they would have a 10% on the next turn, then 5% the final turn and then no chance. Plus checking for wandering guards. Had they not managed to get through the lock, I am not sure what the next approach would have been.

Breaking into the library, both the thief and the cleric noticed the flash trap, so they cautioned the group to avoid it. After a thorough search, the book was not found, nor was any treasure. Books and scrolls were not of any real interest: a Treaty on Trade Negotiations with Amazons did not seem to spark any interest. I'll have to come up with a few choice book titles for this merchant library! And that is where all my random table stuff may come in handy: not at the table, but in preparation for the table!

In the library. I think Colonel Mustard did it,

For turn 5, the thief listens at the door. As the GM I know he missed his roll, but he does not and hears nothing. Fortunately, there actually is nothing there. Deciding that they should rest to avoid combat modifiers, they take a few minutes more in the luxurious library, then start up the stairs for turn 7.

At the top of these stairs, there is a guard. I gave it a 50/50 chance the guard would be asleep. Unfortunately for our crew, she was awake, and she actually heard them creeping up the stairs. She got initiative and the first (and turns out only) battle of the game starts.

Wait, she is awake?!

Our battle goes like this by round (and only lasted 2 rounds):

1. Guard as the initiative so moves around to attack the thief (the easiest target). Our group is blocking the stairs so she cannot escape. She attacks and hits. Her dagger deals 3 points to our poor thief, who only has 4 hit points. Feeling his life blood leaving his body, our thief attacks with his sword. I actually rolled a 20, which is an automatic hit. I also decided to house-rule double damage for a nat 20 roll. Even so, he does not kill the guard who is a level 2 NPC. He does deal 6 points of damage. Her having 8 means she is reeling but still alive. The fighter, apparently taken by surprise by this fast combat, swings. A 1. While I am not doing critical fumbles (though I might if they want to), it means he misses entirely. 
2. Round 2 and the guard manages to hit again, killing off the thief with a stab of her dagger. Never under-estimate a dagger! The fighter rolls a 14, and with his +2, does finally hit the guard, killing her. The rest of the group makes it up the stairs to see the thief and guard, both dead with blood pooling on the stone floor.

Finding nothing of value here, our remaining group goes back down the stairs for turn 8. Into the study they go, only to find a hunting dog resting there! Oddly enough, I decided to roll for a reaction, and the hunting dog takes up with the cleric. The fighter was ready to kill the dog but the cleric intervened. They also find 500sp here in the study while searching. Still no book.

Turn 9 they move up the second staircase, and find two doors to two bedrooms. The first they search has no book, but they find 100sp in the bedside stand. Turn 10, they finally find the book in the small bookcase next to the bed, though nothing else of value in the room.

They creep back down the stairs, and the next two turns make it back out of the villa and over the back wall. No encounters were made for the 1 turn there was that 1/6 chance. 

In the end, they have a total 0f 20 (for the guard) + 50 + 10 XP to split. Having a character die I'll go with splitting the 80XP by 3, or 26XP each. Seeing how it is at least 1500XP for the cleric to level up, I may have to rethink the treasure found.

What did I discover about running this 1st test?

1. As expected, low level characters die easily. Unless you are a well-armored tank, best to avoid combat if possible.
2. I need to work on my trap stuff: still not sure the best way to handle this. I was reading about the "click" method: if they trigger a trap they hear a click. Then they tell me what they do and go from there.
3. rolling for the players (as in the case of listen at the door) should actually be more fun. The players will never know if they hear nothing whether or not that means they really heard nothing or failed the roll. The Fantasy Trip does the same thing, I've just been leery about rolling for the players. Now I am seeing how this can add excitement and the unknown to the game.
4. I really still like playing with minis. It also shows just how small some places are: that guard station really did not have room for everyone, so it matters as to who is first. While not quite the same tactical style as TFT, it is still a tactical game.
5. Resting every hour, as per the time tracking chart, may seem a bit heavy handed. But if you were in a very stressful situation, it will wear you down. Plus, it really showcases just how much time some things really take. I actually liked using that. Not so sure my (eventual) players will handle it, but hopefully we'll find out.
6. The referee's tome does have some good info on the front overleaf for running the game. I will still probably print up the pertinent things. Or wait and see what is on the screen that I am going to get with the OSE Kickstarter - depends on when we actually play. I do have those ref screens from the Planet Mercenary kickstarter (another game I've never played. I think it would be hard to get the "feel" correct even with the mayhem cards).
7. While I played side initiative, I think in an actual game I'd run individual initiatives. I do have those nice initiative trackers to use.
8. Treasure as XP is a simple mechanism. Though I may have to beef up some of the treasure found. However - we always do have to trade risk vs reward. But in having only 26XP for this scenario, it would take quite a few heists to level up. While I don't want them to level up too fast, months of playing at level one will not do. And treasure does give a better and less risky method for experience points. I'll probably add a number of potentially rewarding books in the library. Maybe some gold statuary in the study. That sort of thing. I'd like to see if I could get them out of level 1 after 1 or two sessions. 

I'll have to update the PDF for this game up a bit. Add some descriptions, place more treasure, maybe even have a turn-tracking chart in there as well. The group did not explore a large chunk of the mansion. There actually is a lower level, one that would be more dangerous. I'm going to add some clues that there are more levels, and if the thief had not been killed so soon, would have moved the book to someplace later so that they would explore more of the place. This would give them more chance at treasure and the resulting experience points. 

Solo Traveller: In jump 214-220 1106 to Hendar

Jump space is always a time to catch up on various things: studies for certification, shipboard maintenance, and when we have passengers, talking with them as at least it is new people on board the ship. Mr. Simril and Ms. Tachac both worked for the League's Currency Department it turns out. Apparently Hendar is the only place where the albra capella,  or groat willow, can grow. This tree has a very unique cellulose property that apparently cannot be artificially created without costing more than the results are worth. The League has its own paper currency, though most systems also take the Imperial credit. You just generally pay a surcharge for the Crimp outside the port and most of the merchant hubs. It also reminded me that the Navy often carries the fleet payroll in actual credsticks and cash. Many stories have been told about fleet payroll carriers crashing. I've yet to follow up to see how much stellar myth that is versus just tall tales to tell over drinks.

Regardless, Ms. Tachac and Mr. Simril were going to Hendar to inspect the pulping and paper production facilities. In talking with Captain Luax, it turns out we have shipped out paper currency on the No Refunds before, but he felt the paperwork was not worth it. Ewo's eyes lit up - she really enjoys paperwork, almost as much as a Bwap at times. Turns out that the currency created on Hendar is in itself worthless: the bills are created on large sheets and printed only on one side in a process called intaglio printing. The currency is then shipped to Montca for the final processing and reverse side printing. Hendar is simply the first few steps in creating the League script. These inspectors were to check the inks, raw materials, processed material and whatever else. While they actually seemed quite enthusiastic about all this, I'll admit to abject boredom. Most of my life was spent with the credstick, so I rarely used actual currency other than odd and ends.

While we tried to ignore it, our engineer Lanod Dietgard and Ms. Tachac spent a lot more quality time in her stateroom than some of us were comfortable with. Or perhpas it was just me: the rest of the crew seemed complacent about their affair, and there were apparently some bets that I must have missed out on.

I was happy when we finally emerged from jump a few hours past the expected time, and Hendar's bright F3 star shone on the sensors.

For fun I did look up some info on how money is made: http://www.madehow.com/Volume-3/Paper-Currency.html. And figured for safety reasons, only half the printing is completed here on Hendar. Seems like a fairly safe thing, though I suppose stealing half-printed currency could be useful if you could print the other half. Of course, there is all that about inks, the plates, and a fair amount of other detail.

The jump tables rolled up a crew member having an affair with a passenger. I still maintain a mostly PG-13 game even in solo playing, so it was all behind closed doors. And I also realize I've not really fleshed out any interactions between the various characters other than Ewo and Malik. I may try & spend a session working on that at some point. There are rules in the Solo book to have the cross-crew relationships, so I should see how that works. I've got some behind the scenes stuff with the captain and some of his crew. Malik is just pretty naive which is strange as he spent several years being a reporter. I think it is because I am generally quite naive about a lot of things. Most of my characters in games I play are the same way. As much as I complain about others always playing the same type of character, that could be some projection going on there. I generally play "good" characters (the paladin, the do-gooder). I suppose I play a type as well.

There are 2 planetoid belts and no gas giants in the Hendar system. The planets I made there just have interesting atmospheres (I found a fun way to make gas giants in GIMP and played around a bit. Need to see if there is a way to make rocky, no atmosphere planets like that). 

And while the father is excited about the new game, his kids not so much. While I'll not share that family moment, I do want him to know family is more important than games. If we can game with family - great! But they grow up way too fast. Speaking as one whose son is now tattooed and pierced in more places than I know about (based on guessing). Enjoy them while they are young & listen to you! As a result, it does not look likely we'll be playing OSE or any game any time soon. I can hope for summer break and they get bored and want to play. The father & I may get some solo TFT in as I do have a few solo Fantasy Trip games. Not quite as much fun, and now wondering if I could convert the mechanics to OSE. I also made up a small package for them: a couple "treasure chests", 3 sets of dice for his 3 kids from the mystery dice kickstarter, and I printed out the basic character generation from the free rules for OSE that can be found here on DriveThru. While I would have saved a bit of money had I bought the tomes via Kickstarter, it was worth it to start reading these and get excited about an old game. And I am hoping that the thief class as outlined in the basic rules may entice them back to gaming. I never could get my son to play sadly. While I don't exactly envy my friends who can play with their kids, it could have been fun I think. 

Mystery Dice. I was really only happy with 1 set so won't be doing that if it comes up again. It was exciting but in the end, expectations were much higher than the actual results.

I am also getting some cardboard buildings - close enough to 28mm scale and a lot cheaper than getting actual minis 3D printed or otherwise. Of course, without any actual face to face games not sure why I am getting these. But they are fun, and I thought that gate would work for Windemere and other city gates. 

Cardboard sets - cheaper than minis and a lot lighter. More like 25mm but still, impressive detail for $20. And the buildings open up so you can use the interiors as well!

Traveller Solo: Mont (277-214 1106)

 While Chutaco was larger than the No Refunds, it was still a big cave. I've never been one for claustrophobia, but sometimes having a stone roof over my head seemed a bit oppressive. Oddly I never worried about a ship hull out in space, with only hull metal between me and the dark.  Despite staying a few nights at the "beach", I was glad to go back to the ship and stay there instead. While Mont had the basic supplies, we were not going to be eating well the next part of our trip. Looking at the neighbors, we had 5 choices: Helfrom, a planetoid belt that has one huge ice ball where the people of Mont came from. San Por was another belt, a mid-tech world barely surviving in close quarters inside asteroids. I was pretty sure that the only reason they were there was in support of the Scout station. Hendar was a poor, non-industrial world. Port Kar was a small planet outside the League but at least has a good port. Gromm was deeper into the League of planets, another non-industrial world. I realized that just a few worlds carried the bulk of industrial production in the League, and other than Krim's advanced medical technologies, there was no reason for the Imperium to bother or worry about this political group.

Petria came through for us again, a parting gift: 25 tons of medical supplies that would fetch a good price Hendar. Though that would take most of our profit, it should fetch a good price on Hendar. Apparently, Evo had spoken with the captain, and Hendar was our next port of call. The rest of the ship will be empty: nothing was going from Mont to Hendar other than the medical supplies. (using Mongoose 1e freight rules, going from a non-industrial world to another non-industrial world gives is a -2, and a TL difference of 2 for another -2 if I got the TL difference correct. Then add in the destination population which is 2 for Hendar. A 0 on the available is nothing at all is available! Surprising there are cargoes available for speculative trading). We managed to find 2 mid-class passengers wanting to go to Hendar, so at least we have that (though middle-class passengers barely break even, but it is still better than nothing. The low local population, and going from a non-industrial for a NI, poor world does not do well for passengers).

It took 2 days to load the cargo into the nearly empty lower cargo hold, and we were ready to say goodbye to the almost a hell-world of Mont.

Liftoff was uneventful. Almost an hour towards our jump point, a safari ship, the Ocelot, was approaching Mont. We made contact, and they were quite happy to talk to us. Graham Tyson was on the comms with us, and saying that they were en route to Port Kar. While the atmosphere was thin, there were some native life that were apparently quite delicious, and the Ocelot was under charter. Knowing that we had had just basic rations for the next week, my stomach rumbled in sympathy. I gave the warning to our passengers, dimmed the lights, and the outside universe went away as we entered jump space.

Well, mostly boring. While I had a bit more time this weekend, the weather was so nice it is hard to stay in the basement. 

Unrelated to Traveller, I got the minis from a Kickstarter in (no, not the much maligned Blacklist Games) but the Wildspire minis. Interestingly, it is a set of fun minis, four of each mostly except for the large ones. I now have way too many dragons, though a book-reading dragon could be a useful patron actually. The adventurers are sent out to retrieve books for this voracious reader. As I'll be starting an OSE game sometime soon, I'll need some low-level adventures for them so they can level up and not get killed by something simple. I also got another fey book, and as it has 5th edition stats, I can basically use those almost as-is for OSE. I'll be adding some of them to the game at some point. 

I'll start making some world images of Hendar and see what the system is actually like. It is more difficult to get as much into Traveller if it is just me as much as I love Traveller. I just am getting excited by OSE (and yes, I backed their boxed set Kickstarter but also ordered the Tomes which should show up next week. I need to be able to share at the table. The dad & I are hoping that a class-based, more old-school game may appeal to them).

Speaking of, I found this blog over the weekend: B/X Black Razor. It has some interesting thoughts about old school vs new, but interestingly one of the comments points to Traveller as the beginning of what the author thinks of as new school (where the story is more important than the adventure). Traveller specifically suggested fudging the DM's dice rolls if it helps the story or it did not make sense. Always a contentious discussion, I will admit to having fudged dice rolls at times. Even in this solo game.

Regardless of old-school vs new, things have changed. And while us older players often lament the games as they are now, we are also living in a veritable paradise of gaming potential. The market for RPGs has exploded over the last few years, and the cost of entry is mostly just time. What with Kickstarter, cheap PDF creation and sites like DriveThru and itch.io, there is bound to be a game you can find to scratch whatever itch you have. While the OSR games are really popular, most are really, at least in my opinion, what we just want to think the old gaming world was like as seen through the prism of nostalgia. Fortunately, that nostalgia keeps a lot of the old games still available (hello Traveller! hello The Fantasy Trip!) as well as new versions of those games and new variants. Life goes on, and nothing is the same as it was. And looking back is always through the lenses of our memories: we tend to remember the really good and the really bad. The vast majority of the mundane we just don't remember. And yes, I've digressed again. Bottom line is I think we all need to be grateful for what we have now. We don't need gatekeepers to define what a good game is or should be, or if you are doing it right. If you are having fun, and your group is having fun, you are doing it right. And now to get off my high horse (hmm, maybe a dinosaur as I do need to work on that game at some point!)

Regardless, I also need to probably get my Sunday group to read the "A Quick Primer for Old-School Gaming". While TFT can be pretty lethal, OSE level 1 characters are going to die if they do frontal attacks. We'll see what we shall see, but I am getting excited by that. I may even use my 0-Hr map of a mansion for the actual game!