gridlore: The Imperial Sunburst from the Traveller role-playing game (Gaming - Sunburst)
Douglas Berry ([personal profile] gridlore) wrote2006-03-24 11:27 am
Entry tags:

Traveller noodling...

While waiting for my comp copy of Interstellar Wars to show up, I've been thinking about what, if any, type of Traveller game I'd like to try to run in the future. Because, frankly, I've burned out on the game. I cannot stomach another debate on how many Zhodani warbots can dance on the head of a pin, or more endless calculations of the heat generated by a Type S Scout (enough to melt the entire ship to slag the first time you fire up the power plant, evidently.)

This burnout is part of the genesis of the Concordat; I want something different to play with, dammit! But still the Third Imperium calls to me. But what to do?

I'm not going to run another bloody Free Trader game. As much as I like them, the tend to fall apart quickly. Besides, I want something grander, something epic.

So this is what I'm thinking: A game set at the end of the Civil War and running through the Arbellatra Regency. The characters would be officers of the fleet Arbellatra gathered on her march to the Core. The beginning of the campaign would be the final battles of the Civil War, and Grand Admiral Arbellatra becoming Regent.

Now canon indicates that she took the Regency in order to search for a legitimate heir to the Lentuli dynasty. Guess what the characters are assigned to do?

This would be a grand quest, starting with a few clues. The team would have to negotiate hostile courts (not everyone is thrilled with this Admiral from the frontier taking the throne, no matter what she calls herself) intrigue, red herrings, and the possibly the last pockets of fighting. Along the way, they might have to track down war criminals, deal with mysteries left by the war, and negotiate unfamiliar territory.

And there's a dark twist I've been considering. What if the actual reason for the heir search is to eliminate them, leaving the path clear for Arbellatra to take the throne without fear of a dynastic challenger? What happens if the characters actually find the Empress Nicholle's third cousin twice removed or something?

Things could get interesting.

[identity profile] cmdr-zoom.livejournal.com 2006-03-24 08:29 pm (UTC)(link)
IMO, you're not burned out on the game, you're burnt out on the pedantic wanking and nitpicking.

[identity profile] jonathonbarton.livejournal.com 2006-03-24 08:33 pm (UTC)(link)
This one looks interesting to me, too... It'd be a *PERFECT* game for those who want something a bit...Star Wars-y.

"In response to the threat, Vland began tightening its control of its trade sphere, and finally organizing it into a centralized state in -5273. This marked the beginnings of the First Imperium, although there was as yet no emperor. During the thousand year period of the Consolidation Wars, Vland conquered and absorbed its enemies until there were no longer any civilized states on its borders (except for a portion of the Vargr Extents, isolated from the Imperium by the Windhorn Rift)."

[identity profile] jeffreyab.livejournal.com 2006-03-24 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Imperial Death Squad,

I am thinking an IW survey game might be fun, esp if MTU has a pocket state out by Capella.

[identity profile] jonathonbarton.livejournal.com 2006-03-24 08:35 pm (UTC)(link)
If I ever get the chance to run another Traveller Game...
I think I'll run this:
http://www.wolfram.demon.co.uk/rp_traveller_top.html#t_index

I found it last Saturday, and was *spellbound* reading it - all 18 sections in one sitting.

Positively delectable.
cleverthylacine: a cute little thylacine (Default)

[personal profile] cleverthylacine 2006-03-26 10:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Now that's a game I'd wanna go to SJ for :) You know my love of noble intrigue.

I'd kind of like to BE one of the heirs, actually. But possibly...not knowing it.