Travellerbus 2: Boldly Going Nowhere

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Fri May 08, 2015 5:42 am #86673

This is the OFFICIAL thread for the /tg/station Traveler game. I'll be your shitty host (can one man fuck up hosting twice? WATCH AND FIND OUT) joined by our players EndgamerAzari, Wyzack, Maccus, TheMightyGalvatron, Scones and NSOS.

Feel free to read along but please don't post if you aren't one of players. No, it's too late to join.

Dem Books

We're playing the Mongoose Publishing re-release of the classic Sci-Fi RPG Traveller. Our galaxy sector looks like this:

And you can find a description of each system here:

http://pastebin.com/EHm5mmbm

Sit back and watch as people piss off different diplomats and merchants by trying to import or export restricted goods while the ship falls the fuck apart and everyone is literally buried alive under a mountain of debt.

Mal: Ship like this, be with you 'til the day you die.
Zoë Washburne: 'Cause it's a deathtrap.

nsos · Post by **nsos** » Fri May 08, 2015 6:01 am #86677

scones is missing

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Fri May 08, 2015 6:02 am #86680

scones was inside all of us the whole time

nsos · Post by **nsos** » Fri May 08, 2015 6:04 am #86681

maybe the real scones was the friends we made along the way

Scones · Post by **Scones** » Fri May 08, 2015 6:16 am #86684

...Wait, am I in or not?

eded: Oh yeah I'm in the OP now

Where the rulebook @

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Fri May 08, 2015 6:32 am #86688

Scones wrote:...Wait, am I in or not?

eded: Oh yeah I'm in the OP now

Where the rulebook @

Link in the tabletop thread. I'll edit the OP and put a link to it there.

Maccus · Post by **Maccus** » Fri May 08, 2015 7:34 am #86693

I'll roll my guy up either tomorrow or Saturday. I have everyone but Scones and Galvatron added on Steam (I might have Galvatron but I'm running on caffeine and can't find him), so I can ask questions or whatever then.

http://steamcommunity.com/id/snaccus/

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Fri May 08, 2015 1:17 pm #86712

Gonna roll my character today probably. So glad this came together!

EDIT: What sort of shit do we want to do guys? Ship cargo, go bounty hunting, smuggle spice, be hired guns? Maybe a little bit of everything?

DOUBLE EDIT: Man character creation is like a game of life style choose your own adventure game in space. I am kind of leaning towards a charismatic gunslinging ship pilot with a criminal past, do you think that is too Han Solo?

EndgamerAzari · Fri May 08, 2015 2:15 pm

Ah, good ol' Innerside. A weirder place I never called home.

You've got my character sheet, right, An0n3? Would you mind posting it? I might have it somewhere but if you've got it handy that'd make things a lot smoother.

THE MIGHTY GALVATRON · Fri May 08, 2015 2:56 pm

Character creation is funny, jumped into the Agent track and ended up losing an eye and almost becoming a cripple. Thank god for modern medicine and all the expenses that go with it!

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Fri May 08, 2015 3:49 pm #86732

Anon3 do you have any further data on planet coord 4-1? Or can i just make it up?

EndgamerAzari · Fri May 08, 2015 3:56 pm

Wyzack wrote:Anon3 do you have any further data on planet coord 4-1? Or can i just make it up?

CO-ORD 4-1
Starport: D - Poor, unrefined fuel, limited repairs
Atmosphere: 4 - Thin, tainted (filter)
Temperature: 3 - Cold (-51 to 0 C)
Hydrographics: 8 - Water world

Good lord, it's a poverty-stricken toxic snowball!

Trade Codes: Ag (agricutural), Ga (garden), Lt (low tech)

>Agricultural
>Garden
>Potentially 50 degrees below 0, covered in water, polluted/poisonous atmosphere

Whaaaaaat

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Fri May 08, 2015 4:00 pm #86736

I mean like in terms of specific stuff like cities, what the planet is called, stuff like that. My guy enlisted in the navy to escape that shithole

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Fri May 08, 2015 4:47 pm #86747

Doublepost for where the shit do i find medical treatment costs? I got my arm blown off in the navy and they are gonna cover the treatment cost, but i want to know if i get a dope cybernetic or just regrow the limb

Scones · Post by **Scones** » Fri May 08, 2015 4:55 pm #86749

Who's ready for military Chef? I'm ready for military chef. This character creation process is literally the coolest, I wish more RPGs had this.

THE MIGHTY GALVATRON · Fri May 08, 2015 5:06 pm

Wyzack wrote:Doublepost for where the shit do i find medical treatment costs? I got my arm blown off in the navy and they are gonna cover the treatment cost, but i want to know if i get a dope cybernetic or just regrow the limb

Medical treatment is on page 37. 5000Cr per characteristic point lost. Seems like you can get either the dope cybar or a vat grown limb.

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Fri May 08, 2015 5:10 pm #86754

Nice, Robolimb it is, thank you navy insurance. 3 careers and not a single failed survival roll, although snakeeyes on my event roll did give me a bad injury. This is so much fun!

EDIT anyone have a link to a good fillable charsheet?

EndgamerAzari · Fri May 08, 2015 5:15 pm

Scones wrote:Who's ready for military Chef? I'm ready for military chef. This character creation process is literally the coolest, I wish more RPGs had this.

Wyzack wrote:This is so much fun!

I know, right? You don't get a ton of control but the novelty and character of it more than makes up for it.

So what roles are you guys going for? Mac, my old character, was specced mostly for engineering and stewardship, taking care of basically all things shipboard. I think she could pilot, too. If there's significant overlap I can see about re-rolling, though I think I'll still play the same character/personality.

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Fri May 08, 2015 5:21 pm #86757

I am pretty much done, no name yet but he is a 30 year old from a shitty poor world. Enlisted in the navy, made officer due to good service. On his second tour he get real blowed up and lost his left arm in a bad fight, got it replaced with a cyberlimb but missed his chance for promotion. Fed up with the navy, he left and began a grand tour of piracy culminating in a bloody feud with a rival pirate organisation, which he helped win.

So he is a ex navy ex pirate who is a skilled pilot and good in a gunfight. I have a ship's boat and about 60 000 creds, but i have not bought equipment yet. Wrapping it up now

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Fri May 08, 2015 6:22 pm #86765

EndgamerAzari wrote:Ah, good ol' Innerside. A weirder place I never called home.

You've got my character sheet, right, An0n3? Would you mind posting it? I might have it somewhere but if you've got it handy that'd make things a lot smoother.

here ya go:

http://pastebin.com/cwKPLmMr

Wyzack wrote:I mean like in terms of specific stuff like cities, what the planet is called, stuff like that. My guy enlisted in the navy to escape that shithole

You're welcome to create the fluff for the major planet in that system. Make sure what you describe makes sense with the codes from the chart, though. IIRC the actual "color" for a lot of planets beyond their numbers and factoids was created by players who had characters that originated from there or done sort-of communally.

When picking a home planet make sure it shares some planet codes with the planet your character supposedly grew up on based on what you rolled, too. There should be enough diversity in the sector that you can find a home planet no matter what you rolled. If you can't let me know and we'll work something out.

>all these prosthetic eyes and limbs

Space Pirates when

EDIT: Individual ships you will VERY LIKELY end up trading in towards ship shares for the ship you guys collectively own. I'm not going to force you to but it really is for the best if you all are traveling around in the same boat, and having a private ship docked up at some corner of the galaxy somewhere isn't going to help you get rid of THE DEBT like being able to knock off chunks of it with ship shares would.

EndgamerAzari · Fri May 08, 2015 6:29 pm

Huh, she's younger than I recall. Smarter, too. Also holy shit all those skills. Talk about a Jill of All Trades.

IIRC, having a 0 rank in a skill is basic training in it, right? So 1 rank is actually pretty accomplished.

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Fri May 08, 2015 6:47 pm #86769

Yes. Rank 0 means you're acclimated to a skill and have basic competency in using it. Being completely untrained in something means you have no idea what things even are or how to use them. A person with Vac-Suit 0 knows what one is, how it functions, how to put one on. They're just not very good at doing any of those things.

Someone without the Vac-Suit skill at all may have never even seen one before and likely couldn't figure out how to crawl inside of one without help.

Someone with Vac-Suit at 2 can hop in and out of one like they were putting on regular clothes and fly around in zero-g doing kung-fu moves and other acrobatics with very little risk of losing control and flying off into deep space.

Scones · Post by **Scones** » Fri May 08, 2015 6:51 pm #86770

I'm gonna need some help finalizing this character but they're pretty entertaining thus far. I don't entirely understand the skill systems but I documented every roll so I shouldn't have to start over again.

I got really unlucky and 2 of my 3 terms of service ended in a mishap that was a discontenuation of career, first with co-worker sabotage in the civillian work, and later with a conflict in the Marines. I guess my character keeps getting fucked over by other people.

I JUST WANTED TO OPEN A RESTAURANT AND LIVE PEACEFULLY

FATE HAD OTHER PLANS

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Fri May 08, 2015 6:54 pm #86771

That's probably for the best. Unless you're the kind of chef Steven Segal is in Under Siege having one player do nothing but be a dedicated steward for passengers might not help the whole crew a whole lot.

Traveler is really good at forcing you to diversify. If your skills look like a gigantic mess of generic stuff that's perfect. That's exactly what a good character should have.
Honestly you should look at the kind of character Traveler gives you and apply it to other RPG's. The generation process is that good.

Scones · Post by **Scones** » Fri May 08, 2015 6:59 pm #86773

Yes I have a really horrid mess of skills ranging from steward to driving to basic combat

I'm not sure where it's going to get me but the array isn't that bad and honestly is pretty well-rounded.

EndgamerAzari · Fri May 08, 2015 7:09 pm

Traveler characters tend to feel like real people as opposed to the weirdly hyper-specialized PCs you usually get in other systems. For example, IRL my big specialty is research, reading comprehension, and writing, but I also have some basic boxing experience and I know generally how to make a welder work, so I'd probably have a 0 in those skills. Real life just tends to make you wind up with a really eclectic smattering of experiences, and Trav replicates that pretty well.

On that note, though, it always struck me as weird that Mac only has a 0 in Zero-G considering that Innerside was a hollowed-out shell with almost no gravity. Maybe she spent so much time in artificial gravity in the Navy that she got a bit rusty at it.

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Fri May 08, 2015 7:16 pm #86777

That's the point though. Unlike other systems the idea with Traveler is that you're all prettymuch average joes. You aren't special, you aren't heroic. You didn't spend your entire life living in a basement lifting weights and practicing combat skills. You had a career. It probably wasn't very glamorous unless you rolled really well. Now you're taking your first steps into exploring the universe for yourself.

Whenever I roll up a Traveler character I feel like I didn't really make them, but I know them. Like they're an individual all their own.

THE MIGHTY GALVATRON · Fri May 08, 2015 7:27 pm

Wyzack wrote:I am pretty much done, no name yet but he is a 30 year old from a shitty poor world. Enlisted in the navy, made officer due to good service. On his second tour he get real blowed up and lost his left arm in a bad fight, got it replaced with a cyberlimb but missed his chance for promotion. Fed up with the navy, he left and began a grand tour of piracy culminating in a bloody feud with a rival pirate organisation, which he helped win.

So he is a ex navy ex pirate who is a skilled pilot and good in a gunfight. I have a ship's boat and about 60 000 creds, but i have not bought equipment yet. Wrapping it up now

Damn that's cool. I got a 30 year old from an over-populated asteroid. Got recruited into 'The Company', did some undercover work infiltrating a criminal outfit , got to the rank of field agent and gained 3 contacts. On my 3rd term he refused an offer that he couldn't refuse and got blown the fuck up for it, nearly killing him(didn't actually lose the eye, I read the mishap table wrong!) gained an enemy and put him into beautiful debt (because 'The Company' is too cheap to help an agent out I guess go figure).

He got some subdermal armor and 1,000Cr out of it, so you know, yay! Also have deception 2 so he can lie really really really well.

Kinda sad he only went through one career. Spy work is all he knows! And it's not like it's something you can talk about with other people, ' yeah I was totally a spy and killed that one diplomat causing the entire region to be destabilized and throwing it into 1000 years of civil war yep yep!' God, is this how Jimmy Bond feels?

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Fri May 08, 2015 7:34 pm #86783

It's up to you whether you want the other crew members to know you were an ex-spy. As far as they know you might just be some kind of slimey businessman con artist that helps the crew get cargo cheap and lie their way through customs.

For now, at least...

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Fri May 08, 2015 7:46 pm #86787

If I am reading this correctly I can only buy 2000 credits of atuff at game start right? Also what is the highest tech level available, can I buy TL 13 gauss pistols?

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Fri May 08, 2015 8:34 pm #86796

I'll have to look that up again when I have a moment but I'm not quite sure how that availability goes.

Innerside at 1-2 is the only place in the whole sector that could produce a gauss pistol and they have a really weird fixation on technology. I remember reading something that the list of items you can purchase is capped at a lower tech level, anything really high-tech you need to have rolled to receive as a result of an event.

I'm going to be really busy all this weekend so it'll take a sec to figure out. Assume that you can't for now.

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Fri May 08, 2015 8:44 pm #86798

Roger that, probably going to go for an autopistol and a nice classy revolver instead. Also i think my ship is just a little dingy type deal, but i am totally up for trading it for a few ship shares. I also have 2 shares from my naval benefits

EDIT: Hey Azari want to have known eachother from the navy? My guy served from 12 years pre campaign to 4 years, and made officer incredibly fast before an honorable discharge and a bad injury, we may have served together

EndgamerAzari · Fri May 08, 2015 9:54 pm

Wyzack wrote:EDIT: Hey Azari want to have known eachother from the navy? My guy served from 12 years pre campaign to 4 years, and made officer incredibly fast before an honorable discharge and a bad injury, we may have served together

It's possible! I'll have to check my background and stuff when I get home tonight, assuming I can find it, and see if it makes sense.

nsos · Post by **nsos** » Sat May 09, 2015 12:08 am #86821

my power went out while i was filling out my finished charsheet and i didn't save any of my rolls written down

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Sat May 09, 2015 12:19 am #86824

Hahaha holy shit that sucks.

For people watching along go check out the process to roll up a Traveler character from the books above. It's not like D&D where you roll up a couple attributes, pick a class/race, buy some shit, and you're good to go.

Time yourself to see how fast you can create a character. Good fucking luck.

nsos · Post by **nsos** » Sat May 09, 2015 12:27 am #86825

i was going to ask you on steam but steam installed a beta client update and now i can't actually connect to steam: what's 1-4's deal, i was thinking about making it my character's homeworld

EndgamerAzari · Sat May 09, 2015 12:40 am

Oh, I found the document where I was keepng my progress from when I originally generated Mac.

Spoiler:

'course that last part is moot, but that's fixed easily enough.

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Sat May 09, 2015 1:19 am #86829

nsos wrote:i was going to ask you on steam but steam installed a beta client update and now i can't actually connect to steam: what's 1-4's deal, i was thinking about making it my character's homeworld

It never got fleshed out beyond its codes. If your character's homeworld attributes match up with the planet's (Rich, Non-industrial, Water) then by all means you can fill in some of the blanks in regards to its name and what its results on the tables mean.

nsos · Post by **nsos** » Sat May 09, 2015 2:46 am #86835

i was hoping for a really fucked and crazy chargen but my character ended up a total fucking normie

Spoiler:

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Sat May 09, 2015 3:28 am #86841

The books make great mention of some kind of human empire, do they have dominion across our entire sector? Could me and Azari have served in the same navy despite me enlisting in the navy in the middle-western portion of our sector?

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Sat May 09, 2015 3:39 am #86843

I'm really not up enough on the background of Traveller myself. Guess it's time we all read this:

http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Third_Imperium

...the gist of which is that there is a giant over-arching Imperial rule that blankets all known systems of Man.

Space itself is so vast though that it's impossible for one governing body to legislate over all of it, so there is a certain amount of autonomy given to sectors which are in turn ruled over by local Imperial Barons. Within those sectors there are varying amounts of lawful/lawlessness systems though.

I should look at the sector that we generated and determine where the local seat of power is based on Tech/Law levels and types of government, though if you guys want to have some input on that I'm open to suggestion.

The answer to your question is yes. Even if you guys didn't serve side-by-side it's possible you were in the same service...either serving in the larger Imperial Navy, the local Baron's personal levy, or a single system's local defense fleet. Keep in mind that your homeworld isn't necessarily where you'll be starting the game proper. You guys all have to come together at some point somewhere. I'll leave that up to you to decide which of these systems you'd prefer to start your careers from.

EDIT: Actually the sector capital is 6-3. It's the only system that has a 9 for governance (Imperial Bureaucracy) as well as having an Imperial Consulate base. Thank you RNG.

Fun map note: Azari your homeworld is a feudal technocracy. Which means it's ruled by a bunch of scientists and technicians who have given themselves royal titles and use their labs like fiefdoms and treat their lab technicians and workers like serfs.

EndgamerAzari · Sat May 09, 2015 6:48 am

I was wondering how the hell those qualities worked together. Kinda reminds me of Asimov's Foundation.

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Sat May 09, 2015 7:04 am #86872

Basically instead of working in the fields people are turning out microchips and other technological goods.

I imagine it's somewhere inbetween Castle Vidcons and a Chinese tech sweatshop. People who invent great stuff or further SCIENCE ascend to a sort of royalty and lord over people who don't. "He knows a lot about metallurgy and astrophysics, that means he should be a great leader!"

...all of this taking place on a desert planet only slightly larger than our own moon, with a population of BILLIONS crammed onto it. I think we had ruled that people had dug down into the planet and most of the population lives in giant subterranean habitats.

EDIT: Oh right and don't forget there's a crazy cult of people who worship technology and the "ghost in the machine" that's gaining traction amongst the populace, and in a distant third a single corporation looking to seize control of the whole thing.

Maccus · Post by **Maccus** » Sat May 09, 2015 7:35 am #86878

Making my guy later today when I wake up. Hope you're ready for a load of questions An0n3, I'm flying blind in this.

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Sat May 09, 2015 8:03 am #86882

I'll do the best I can but I'm relaltively quite new to Traveller vs. almost any other pen-and-paper RPG I'm as big a fan of.

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Sat May 09, 2015 12:02 pm #86893

We have all been making characters so if you post questions here i am sure we will be able to help you out

nsos · Post by **nsos** » Sat May 09, 2015 2:57 pm #86907

An0n3 wrote: Fun map note: Azari your homeworld is a feudal technocracy. Which means it's ruled by a bunch of scientists and technicians who have given themselves royal titles and use their labs like fiefdoms and treat their lab technicians and workers like serfs.

this seems familiar

Timbrewolf · Post by **Timbrewolf** » Sat May 09, 2015 6:31 pm #86929

Yes please make our government into a giant Russian botnet.

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Sat May 09, 2015 7:14 pm #86934

Does out sector have any major threats besides the usual pirate scum? Alien invaders, rebels and the like?

THE MIGHTY GALVATRON · Sat May 09, 2015 7:29 pm

Wyzack wrote:Does out sector have any major threats besides the usual pirate scum? Alien invaders, rebels and the like?

Us, definitely us. I feel it in my bones that we're going to do something that makes everyone hate us.