So, not too much to say today - I'm going to go with the Roman silver economy, but I'm not sure about the whole tirade about Arcs and episodes. On a nights sleep, I have yet to come up with any way for the non- linear time concept to work without too much grief and paperwork; and I'm not sure I want to abandon an experience system to ease it.
Which brings me to a question: would anyone play a fantasy RPG without some form of experience ? If Adventurer was more like pure traveller, the experience system would be minimal, but would it still feel like OD&D which is the goal ?
1 comment:
First; regarding the flashback article. I actually enjoyed the write-up. I've actually used this technique (once) to communicate some subtle points about the setting to my players. Yes, it did require some more leg-work on my part. However, getting handed character sheets and being allowed to attempt the ill-fated battle themselves effectively drove home the heroism of those ancestors...
In the classic Traveller rules, they describe solitaire, scenario, and campaign play. Modern gamers will recognize scenarios as one-shot adventures / convention games. Everyone else appreciates the campaign (the modern default method of play). What you've described is a cunning combination of campaign with a one-shot stuck in the middle of it. With a minimum of handwavium, you can express the importance of that old tome to the group without railroading. Win/win!
I hope you don't give up on this concept. Good first draft; let it percolate and see what it turns into as you progress.
Second; in working on my Wanderer implementation, I've had long conversations with my group about the lack of an experience / progression system native to the classic Traveller rules. Pretty much across the board, none of them like the idea of static characters. Everyone (in my group) sees the progression of a character's skills and toughness as the pay-off for successfully engaging in plot at the table.
This has led to the beginning of the Optional Rules I'm including in Wanderer. Honestly, I'm still stumped on how to work an advancement system into Classic Traveller.
For the one-shots, you don't have to worry about the advancement. However, given the relative simplicity of a Traveller character sheet, it shouldn't be all that hard to keep older versions handy for "regression play". Yeah, it's a quick fix (and more bookkeeping) but it's what leaps to mind immediately. If the experience system didn't immediately affect the skill levels or attributes on the character sheet, would there be the need for the bookkeeping for tracking progression?
Thanks for putting questions in my head.
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