If I were to start a Traveller campaign...

[kesher]

...what advice would you give me (I've never run it before)?

I'm not real interested in the "canon" background, though I love the Imperial Sci Fi meme (The Stars My Destination, etc.)

[Otto Harkaman]

Keep it simple. Its easy to get caught up in all the information available.

[Vile Traveller]

Traveller first taught me how to run sandbox campaigns. You basically have two choices, let your players have a starship and go where they want, or don't let them have one and keep control over what happens next.

Okay, I'm biased and it's not imperial sci fi, but if you want a tight, manageable, near-future background you couldn't go far wrong with Outer Veil from Spica Publishing. I assume you're running Mongoose Traveller?

[coffee]

My advice might seem a little weird, but here goes:

Watch Michael Palin's "Around the World in 80 Days" travel documentary.

Why, you may ask?

Because it gives you a real sense of how different tech levels and different population levels (not to mention different government types) would act, and particularly how they would affect people who travel into/through them.

(Also, take a look at Rob Conley's absolutely awesome "How to set up a Traveller Sandbox" post(s). Should be required reading.)

[kesher]

Thanks for the suggestions!

Vile Traveller: Actually, I'd run Classic Traveller, from the Big Black Book. Though the stuff you linked to looks great. What exactly are the differences between CT and MT?

@coffe: Conley--check! PDF'd (only one page = awesome), saved, printed.

[makofan]

I am a die hard CT fan, but MT is probably going to be my next campaign - more character class options, and its like 20 years of playtesting and errata spent to make MT consistent and coherent. It is what MegaTraveller should have been

[kesher]

Hmm, makofan, you are swaying me.

Are there any major rules changes?

[eris]

Feb 14, 2013 13:29:18 GMT -6 kesher said:

Hmm, makofan, you are swaying me.

Are there any major rules changes?

MongTrav has a task system, rather than CT's skill specific and "beat 8" general way of dealing with tasks. The weapons and armor rules are different from CT's, so is Trade, Combat, heck most everything!

But THE FEEL IS PRETTY MUCH THE SAME.

Personally, I still use CT...or say I do, anyway. However, I have tacked on a variant of the BITS task system, the MongTrav trade rules, different weapon and armor stats...and it's not in the Imperium.

[kesher]

Awesome. That tells me what I need to know. I think I'll pick up the pocket edition of the Core MT rules and cherry pick if I feel so inclined. Otherwise, it's CT, as I've a crapload of books, supplements, etc...

Looks like this is actually going to happen, so, if inclined, please keep doling out the advice...

[eris]

Kesher,

Create an "adventure class" ship (100 to 300 ton), adding some "quirks" to it and contrive a way for your player's PC's to be on it, run it, own it. I'd make it a rust bucket, a fixer up, a salvage job...with lots and lots of "personality": fresher breaks down and stinks; flaky jump or maneuver drive; grav plates scattered around the ship that stop working at random until replaced; computer glitches; mismatched power plant parts that need constant attention to keep working...in other words a deep money pit!

Three examples:

1. PC's are captives on a pirate's ship. They have to get free and take the ship or die! Once they take it, they keep it and become (a) pirates, (b) privateers or (c) traders. Maybe the former owners eventually come after it. Maybe friends of the pirates do the same.

2. PC's are signed on as the crew of a ship and the NPC Captain/Owner of the ship leads them on adventures (is their "patron"), but eventually dies leaving the ship to the crew. This gives you some time as built in patron to steer newbies toward your adventures before completely letting them sandbox it.

3. PC's muster out on the same world at the same time, meet in a bar and overhear a conversation about (a) a ship in a local junkyard that "would be a sweet ride with only a little fix up" if only someone had the down payment, (b) the rumor of a ship abandoned at the bottom of a nearby lake, crashed landed in a remote jungle/mountain range, or in orbit around a distant planet/moon in this system. Once they get it, they have to get it flying and earn money to make payments...and that means they have to look for jobs (adventures).

Put the ship and the PC's in the middle of a cluster of stars or in the middle of a Main and turn them loose.

You can gen systems as you go and make up stuff on the fly, but I usually have a sub-sector done already when we start, but little in the way of details beyond the basic world profiles. As things develop, so do the details of the systems the PC's visit and the area around them.

PS. Over at the "In Like Flynn" blog, he has done a long series of posts on how to set up a Traveller Sandbox (as well as other kinds). This is seriously good stuff for campaign builders.

Here is a link to the first in the series:
flynnwd.blogspot.com/2012/10/next-project-traveller-sandbox.html

[aher]

The MT rules are Open Content, and you can browse the SRD here:

www.travellersrd.com/content/official/mongoose_traveller_srd/mongoose_traveller_srd_index.html

There used to be a very nice, free PDF edition of the MT SRD on the Mongoose Publishing forums, but I couldn't find a working link. If you are interested, PM me, I think I can dig up a copy.

I played MT for about 6 months in a campaign a few years ago. I found the rules very much streamlined over CT. For the most part we just used the 8+ on 2d6 resolution system for everything.

The driving force behind the campaign was that you are in a very expensive cargo ship. You have to pay your mortgage; pay for fuel, maintenance and docking fees; pay local taxes, fees and bribes; and still afford to eat. This causes you to find work, transporting cargo from world to world. And then taking odd jobs on the worlds in between cargo runs. But legal jobs don't pay enough. When you start to starve, you take smuggling jobs and other dangerous missions like corporate sabotage or spying. It was great fun!

[kesher]

This is great stuff! Be Thou Exalted!

[Vile Traveller]

Yeah, MGT (Mongoose Traveller) is firmly rooted in CT and does an excellent job of maintaining the feel. It differs a lot in detail, but IMO those differences are all good. The best thing is the expanded character generation, it takes what was already a coll little mini-game in CT to a whole new level.

One note about the pocket-sized editions, some people have said they're a little hard to read. But check out the SRD, it has all the rules. There are also SRDs for High Guard and Mercenary, but I don't think you need them unless you go for big ships.