From the Traveller Book, Introduction chapter, “Adventuring in Traveller”
Traveller is a set of detailed rules covering how the universe operates. These rules govern day-to-day activities to be expected for any individual. Against this background of basic information, players can work, earn money, travel to distant worlds, and lead exciting lives of daring and adventure.
But Traveller does much more. The characters have an opportunity to undertake genuine adventures as they search for their own self-appointed goals. Some adventures happen as a result of day-to-day activity. Some occur as players use pre-written adventures . . . (m)ost Traveller adventures come from the referee's own imagination. Each new world is an opportunity for the referee to present a new situation to the players, who must cope with this scenario if they are to progress in their own adventures. (emphasis mine)
What's the win condition? What you (the player) decide it's going to be.
When you start playing Traveller, you look for patrons, NPCs who tell you what to do. Your PC uses skills and equipment to accomplish the mission. As a player you learn how Traveller 'does' as a game. Marc Miller states in the Experience chapter that real experience in Traveller is in the realm of the player. “Experience gained as the character travels and adventures is, in a very real sense, an increased ability to play the role which he or she has assumed.” That role is a person in a setting who interacts with other people in that setting. That person will develop goals of their own in the setting, beyond what the patron of the adventure wants. (See above)
The End State or Goal in Traveller is the same for everyone.
Any Traveller can set themselves on the path to being a Patron from the very first adventure. There's no requirements; just get hustling.
Your Man wants to be the one directing the Travellers. “I'll pay you X Credits to go do Y.” And why have them do this? Because it will benefit your operations. What operations? The goals that player has chosen for their Traveller. Next question: what are those goals? They can be anything. In a setting as expansive as Travellers', any kind of venture is possible.
For inspiration at least, look at the Travellers' prior career. While there are no 'classes' in Traveller, a PC's prior career will likely influence the way they go about becoming the Patron. Each will have a different vision of what Making It Big looks like. Think about how a Traveller's prior career would influence them.
Possible paths by Prior Career:
The Merchants's path is obvious. Get a ship, pay it off, buy another ship, expand operations. Hire ship crews to operate YOUR ships.
The Nobles' path might look like this: Make contact with local Nobles in the area you want to influence. Get integrated into the local power structure. Gain power, get a new Title with benefits. Hire Travellers to defend your interests.
A Scout can lead expeditions into the wild (and the universe of Traveller is a big as space) to start a new colony somewhere. He becomes the Boss of the colony. This eventually merges into the Nobles' path.
Navy veterans can build a space fleet and patrol the space-lanes. Shut down piracy or become a Pirate King yourself.
Pirates are the flip side of this. Fight the Navy, raid the Merchants, or go legit and follow the Merchant path.
Belters are looking for the big strike to finance another ship or a bigger ship. Repeat that cycle and found your own mining corporation.
Scientists' path depends on the specialty the player chooses. Lean into the Experience rules and boost the Education, get a ship and build your Scientific Institute. Scientists should be seeking out the Enigmas (see TTB, p. 125) of the TU. Fame (and funding) will follow.
Army/Marine veterans build fighting forces, large or small. Lean into Experience, acquire vehicles and gear and become a Force to reckoned with. This path also fits the Wet Navy and Flyer careers.
Bureaucrats can start companies or engineer hostile takeovers, using Travellers as corporate espionage agents. The end state is the CEO office.
Those from the Other service can build Networks. The goal of the network can be anything at all; Others with Streetwise and Bribery are probably criminal networks, but not necessarily. Build the network and pursue its goals. Rogues are more specifically criminal, but otherwise the path is the same.
You get the idea. The adventures (planned or random) are sources of cash, contacts, friends (also enemies) and finding out what's in the setting. This serves to further the Traveller along the path to High Level. Remember that Traveller assumes long-running characters. Your PC has a lifetime to accomplish the goal. And if you do, then find another Goal. Repeat. Adventure!
There are no rules for how to pay for a 'job'. Referee should dangle enough to get your interest or you Walk Away. In other words, Know the Game, Know how much that amount of Cash can do for you. Is it worth it?
Traveller is not an economic simulation game, so don't worry too much about that end of things. Put your money into a bank and draw 0.5% annual interest. Banking solved. Your PC won't get rich by careful investing, but that's because this is a game about ADVENTURE!
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| Don't know what's going on here, but it looks cool! |
I happen to like an element introduced by JTAS – the Stock Market. Pick a company and invest in stocks. If your PC is invested in Spacely Sprockets, would he be interested doing a 'job' that benefits the company or hurts the competition? Of course he would. He's basically paying himself at that point. Buy stocks and take on jobs to support your companies, or to undermine the competition.
Force Multipliers – and how to use them
What are your force multipliers? Every Traveller starts with two: skills and weapons. In play you add vehicles and henchmen. Eventually it's Starships (see below). Given the eye-watering costs involved, any Traveller who owns his own ship is automatically Elite.
Contacts and Money build up and provide more of the previous Force Multipliers. The best is knowing what's going on in the setting around you. Where's the action? Where can you make money and build a reputation?
Patrons lead to contacts lead to a Leg Up. Rumors can may give way to information which leads to Contacts. Contacts are people who can help you. Random Encounters lead to contacts leads to patrons leads to a Leg Up. Make plans to be involved with power brokers. Be someone the NPCs have to consider and contend with.
There is no holding power in a vacuum, because it is not a personal progression, unlike in level based games.
Gain Influence by improving your SOC attribute. There are NO game-mechanical processes for doing this. It must be done in play. Refer back to Contacts. The Patron list has lots of VIPs on it, do some jobs for them and see how much your reputation rises. The SOC attribute is not limited to formal title holders. The letter strata includes all the people with power and influence.
I personally have no experience of what it's like to be rich and influential. Probably most Traveller players do not. So I'm just guessing at what it's like. Watch shows like Burn Notice and other 'fixer' type shows to get ideas for jobs that power-seekers might get up to.
Hirelings & Henchmen
Why would you not have henchmen? Reliable adventurers who are by your side and have your back?
Sherlock Holmes had Watson; Hercule Poirot had Capt. Hastings; Jules de Grandin had Dr. Trowbridge.
The Lone Ranger was not alone – he had Tonto.
James Bond had Felix Leiter and Q.
The Scarlet Pimpernel had his League backing him up.
Horatio Hornblower, Lucky Jack Aubrey, Captains Kirk & Picard all had crewmen and junior officers following their commands and lending support.
Malcolm Reynolds had the (much smaller) crew of the Serenity. “If I'm not back in an hour, you take the ship . . . and you come and rescue me.”
Conan the Cimmerian led armies, pirate crews, bands of raiders and such all the time.
John Carter adventured with many loyal companions: Tars Tarkas, Kantos Kan, Hor Vastus, Parthak Carthoris (his son!) and don't forget Woola! (RAWR!)
Where are your loyal followers?
Hire a Broker and let him do the speculative trading while you're busy doing adventures!
Henchmen can go on adventures without the Leader. You the player can still do adventures, which is the point of the game, while keeping your Main Man out of harm's way. Nothing wrong with playing multiple characters, as long as it's not simultaneous.
Build in contingencies. Something will go wrong and cost you a project, cash, a ship or your PC. Get Medical support. Have henchmen lined up to continue The Good Work if your PC buys the farm.
A last thought - How to get ships:
The easy answer is “Muster Out of service with one”. What if that doesn't happen? Adventure hard for a few years and build up the bank account to take out a loan. Mix in some Trade & Speculation and it may not take as long as you might think. Of course, there are other ways . . . and here are just a few of them:
Ever considered being a Skip Tracer? Because they work to track down those mega-expensive starships, they get paid Big Credits.
A daring crew of Travellers might run a Free Trader as bait for pirates, then counter-board them and seize the ship!
Hunt rumors of starship crashes. Then go find one and conduct salvage or repair the ship into working condition.
Small craft are still very expensive, but easier to reach for than starships. Book 6 Scouts tells how to build a solar system – plenty of room for adventure, and a small craft can get you there.
Image Credit: Pixabay
Image Credit: Pixabay
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