Guest Post - The Tale of Diluc Mack, Traveller

Today's post was written by my son, telling the tale of the Traveller I described in this post. 

Diluc was born in the slums of his home planet in the Talaveran Empire. Growing up hating the nobles and upper class, he began using has last name, Mack, as an alias for petty thievery, stealing silverware and pinching other valuables. When Mack was 12, he was caught trying to break into the house of a Marquis.

He was sentenced to 5 years in juvenile prison, where Mack would pick up skills that soon get him aboard ship. Having served his sentence, Mack was left listless at the starport, until a certain ship came by. That ship was crewed by pirates and was called the Swinging Hammer. Mack immediately signed on with the pirates as a deck hand and started his life among the stars. Across is 20 years as a pirate, Mack would rise to the captain and command his own ship the High Victorian. He had an interesting way of handling boarding actions, insisting that his men do not, in any way harm the passenger unless it was necessary.

When Mack was about 38, his crew was about to board a ship when he suddenly felt the urge to join them, despite usually handing off command to his lieutenants. Once aboard the star liner, he heard is name being called, though no one else did. Mack soon found himself wandering through the halls of the ship, until he came across a small chapel, where a priest was praying the akathist to Saint Lawrence the Wonderworker (of Dekalb) known for his protection against cabin pressure loss. When Mack tried to enter the chapel though, he was thrown back against the far wall. The priest then stood up, walked over to the doorway of the chapel and explained that Christ would not allowed Mack to enter as he was. The two of them proceeded to speak for over forty minutes, wherein Mack was convinced of Christianity and pledged to renounced his piratical ways. He returned to his crew and they moved on to their home base.

Once there, Mack prepared to take his ship and leave, but was surprised when one of his lieutenants decided to join him. Together, they stole the High Victorian as their last act of piracy, and got out as quick as the could. After a year of somewhat listless sailing, helping little pockets of Christians where they could, the two of them were picked up by a certain baron who decided to be a sponsor of sorts for them. Mack was brought to a church, where a bishop gave him a four year penance to the church, meaning that he would run supplies, missionaries, monks, and settlers to wherever they needed to go. After a year in the Baron's service, Mack left to focus solely on his penance.

When he was finished, he was brought into the Church by baptism as Brendan. He continued his work for the Church, but only a year after his baptism, his old pirate crew found him. In order to defend his passengers, Brendan, who still went by Mack most of the time, offered up his life in exchange for his passengers safety. He was martyred on the spot, with one of his old lieutenants putting a bullet right between his eyes. But, true to their promise, the pirates left the ship alone and went their way. Then, something incredible happened: the High Victorian, despite having no captain, piloted itself home to port, through hyperspace, and docked at Holtzmann. Brendan was buried on Holtzmann with the highest honor possible, and the question of whether or not the ship's miraculous return was due to him or not is still debated by the fathers of the Church years later.

 

 

image credit: Pixabay 

Take to the Skies! Personal Flight Gear

 "Break out the Rocket Belts, Boys!"

• Dr. Benton Quest, in The Invisible Monster

That's probably my favorite quote from the Jonny Quest show. What adventure-seeking kid hasn't wanted to take to the skies with pounds of highly flammable fuel strapped to their backs?

The Traveller Book's vehicle chapter gives us the Grav Belt at TL12:

Grav Belt (12) Cr100,000, negligible weight if on; 10 kg if turned off. Personal anti-gravity transportation using a single null-gravity module and a personal harness. Performance is similar in speed and range to the air/raft.

But what other devices have appeared in fact or fiction to give somebody a lift? Turns out there have been quite a few.

TL-1 the Wings of Icarus Cost: 20 Cr Speed: 15kph Range 5km

More About High Level Play - Paths to Get There

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.

Alternate Random Encounter Tables for Traveller

Somebody's about to have a Random Encounter.

The Traveller Book makes it plain that Referees can and should create their own custom encounter tables for their game. These custom tables will reflect the specific situations on the planets the Travellers visit. 

From the Encounters chapter:

"The list provided is only an example, and other lists may be generated for specific adventures or situations. For example, if the adventuring group is on a world embroiled in a civil war, the random encounter list might be full of troops, refugees, guerrillas, war profiteers, petty warlords, and members of various factions."

"Reactions are an important part of random encounters. Once the encounter occurs, the referee should consult the reaction table to determine the specific response to the encounter by the other side."

Here are two that I've done, to get you started. While still 'generic', they have elements distinct enough from the baseline table to keep your players guessing. 

Urban Encounter Table, sample:

31	Drunks (roll for SOC)	-	1D
32	Noble with retinue	L, G	2D
33	Street food vendor	-	1-2
34	Tourists	+1 TL	3D
35	Street gear vendor	-	1D
36	Police Patrol	GA	2D
41	Fugitives	G	2D
42	Fugitives	L	3D
43	Criminals fleeing pursuit	L, G	1D
44	Vigilantes	L, G	2D
45	Muggers	G	1D
46	Purveyor of Vices	L, G	1D

More Patron Saints in the Far Future

It is the season of Advent once again, and I have a new group of stories to share about Saints of Holtzmann's Corridor. 

• for Diplomats: St. Arthur the Peacemaker
• for Colonists: St. Titus of Icemont
• for (Reformed) Pirates: St. Felix the Tabrazian
• for Belters: St. Cassian of Ferrocore

This has nothing to do with the content of this post, but it's still a cool pic.

Saint Arthur the Peacemaker

Arthur (of Mavramorn) was part of the negotiation team sent to Stavanger to bring an end to the Stavanger-Mavramorn war that had raged for several years. During the many heated meetings, he was always the voice persuading for forgiveness and contrition. “Mutual repentance” was his constant refrain. A radical faction of the Stavangerian military attempted to disrupt the negotiations and kill a Stavanger diplomat whom they felt was betraying their cause. St. Arthur sacrificed himself to protect this man from a shooting attack. He died to save an enemy from that enemies' own allies. Shocked both by the betrayal and the sacrifice, the two sides confirmed the treaty and honored Arthur's sacrifice by signing the peace treaty in Arthur's name.

Another Benefit of playing a Noble PC

I realize that I have overlooked something about what it means to play a Noble PC in Traveller. Having high status confers more benefits than just money.

Elites Know People. They go to the same schools, they belong to the same clubs and Orders of Knighthood. They go on vacation to the same places. They Know Each Other. Think about how many European royalty used to be in fact related to one another back in the day. They met at diplomatic functions and at exclusive resort spots. 

I work in higher education. It is common knowledge that the quality of education is not necessarily better at an Ivy League school. What the Ivys offer is connections. Mention that you went to Harvard and all kinds of doors will open that would not otherwise. This confers advantages that people will pay top dollar to acquire.

I translate that into contacts for Traveller Nobles. Whenever a PC Noble arrives on a new planet, they can check if there's anyone that they know on planet. Such people might lend direct aid. Contacts can provide information to assist the PCs in their endeavors. Starports will have records of off-world visitors. A simple Admin throw (6+) will get the PC access to the records.

When the player announces that his PC is looking for Contacts, the player gets a number of throws equal to SOC-10. For each success there is one Noble Contact on the planet.

As you walk into the Starport Lounge, you recognize this man from that time with the Thing and the Guy in the Place. Good Times.