Let's Read: Traveller 1977 Edition, Page 2

Page 2: Playing the Game

Alright, we’re getting some interesting information here, as right off the bat we are informed that Traveller can be played either solitaire, or in a one-off scenario or campaign style. Solitaire play consists of handling the whole thing on your own, so I guess create the setting, then the scenario, then the characters, and…play? I suppose. It’s not like I didn’t do that before with D&D when I was a kid. But this is the first time, outside of programmed adventures like B3 or the invisible ink/magic viewer modules of the early '80s that I’m seeing an explicit mention of solitaire play. Now that I think of it, this predates those modules anyway, so this would be one of the first mentions of solitaire play in RPGs.

Scenarios are one-time affairs, as the book states, using the example of a sci-fi novel, where the goal is stated, and the idea is to reach the goal. End of story, move along. This would definitely be suitable for tournaments, or just teaching others how to play. An interesting scenario idea is mentioned: going to Sirius in search of huge diamonds. Which means there’s a habitable planet around Sirius, which had dinosaurs or some equivalent (diamonds from coal, coal from dead prehistoric critters) way, way, way back. Or, they could just be some other kind of mineral that looks like and is just as valuable as diamonds. Either way, it’s a clear hook to hang an adventure on.

This leads directly into the notion that players get attached to characters, which in turn says ‘campaign!’ So instead of Starship Troopers, it’s On Basilisk Station, and the story will continue. I use that example specifically because I know that quite a few characters die in that series, and old-school RPGs were not into the tender feeding and care of PCs, unless they were referring to the tender feeding of PCs to some nasty, hungry beast.

So, the campaign. The book expounds on the ‘novel vs. ongoing series’ concept, mentioning the referee’s duty to create the setting (basic facts of the universe, as the book says) before playing. Or, for solitaire play, or just a group without a ref, use the world-generation tables in Book 3 and figure it out as you go. That harkens back to the random dungeon and wilderness tables from the DMG. Fun stuff! You literally have no idea what’s coming next, so get out there and find it! Just don’t get lost…

And the game is written primarily for ongoing campaigns, which makes sense; random single scenarios are great for tournaments, but campaigns are more satisfying, at least that’s been my experience.

The next section bleeds over into the next page, so I’ll continue on in the next post.