I really thought I would succeed in going through Starter Traveller and go on to actually playing it. And then real life happened and I had to re-think it. It was/is still interesting to go through the rules and interpolate what setting you can come up with from them and how it differs from GDW and I like the ideas I came up with. But, and you knew there would be a but, between my life and my abilities I am doubtful I can run (solo or for a group) Traveller no matter the setting. Essentialy the pay off in Traveller is figuring out what is going on in the Universe. This is the big difference from other RPG's and not a bad one.
Your characters are fiendishly difficult to change once generated and because you can buy all the cool stuff (the magic of the system) with money the reward becomes hearing a rumor that an ancient vacc suit helmet is in the native bizarre with the only legible letters being ".s.s. Bla__nt L_e" and realizing a clue to the missing Gyro Cadiz convoy is at hand. You really need a group playing to feel the buzz from figuring this out. And to realistically expect anyone to connect dots like this you need a stable, long playing group that plays fairly regularly. Even with Roll20/G+ most of us have full time jobs and real lives making that a dubious prospect. In my case I work in security which if you don't know means my schedule is essentially random. Fortunately it is always full time but the days and for the most parts shifts I work are different week to week. So if I were to run it is doubtful I could do so on a regular schedule which means me and my players would constantly have to re-read past logs to make the linking of mysteries possible. Does anyone really want a research project to have fun? One offs are possible but with Traveller's deadly combat system the easy and satisfying dramatic confrontation is difficult to do. And so another good intention is slain by adulting.
No comments:
Post a Comment