Hello, this is GM RegisP, 3rd GM of this campaign :)

The campaign was slowed by GM Starmaster's illness, and stopped by his unfortunate demise. :(
Now, I'm picking it up again, because I feel we've got a good backstory and we had excellent players - who I hope will come back.

- about the campaign :
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Beto Arark, 66, retired Commander of the Florian League Navy, put her hands back on her own ship, a A3Lc Far Trader, whose name is updated to "The Old Lady's Hope". However, she must pay 5 million every 13 weeks to a loan shark, or lose it (again). You shall join the crew, invest if you dare, and help to make a lot of money fast!

There's no other megaplot, so newcomers won't have to read a lot to be brought up to date. The aim is to make a lot of money fast, so you'll probably cross the law for that. Smuggling ? We smuggled some Aslan from Nora'a. Firefights ? on Iryao we attacked a docked ship to freed slaves; but we were so swift we did it without shooting. Also we did it for free, so no windfall there.

- about the Traveller genre:
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Traveller's genre is Space Opera, it's not hard-SF. It runs on handwavium. It's 70s SF with laser-guns.
It has become retro-SF since the 35+ years it was designed. There's a lot of common things today that Traveller hasn't.
I am not playing Artificial Intelligence to its full potential because then AIs would do the actions and not your PCs.

So we're not playing Transhuman Space or Eclipse Phase. Please suspend your disbelief :)

- re-connecting the dots :
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The last time we left, the crew was travelling to Tanar (Nora'a Subsector , Trojan Reach 0722), and that is where the campaign restarts. The characters of the players who left will leave the ship at Tanar. The new PCs will join there.

- New players may take over abandoned Player Characters. Some of them are really cool and interesting: Anzha (Zhodani psi and computer nerd), Baris (OLD Navy Captain), the charming Countess, Khor'ruhn the rugged ex-cop, Yuri the former spy. :) Just let me check with their players, in the coming week, that they do not intend to return. :/
As a bonus for taking over an old character, you may continue its improvement for his skills and stats (see Notice: V. ATTRIBUTE AND SKILL ADVANCEMENT)

- New players may bring the characters of their choice. Avoiding duplicates and blanks - like having 3 pilots but no broker - would be appreciated, however. :)

- about my GMing style
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What I promise:
- I shall post more often than poor Rob :’(
- I want to use elements of your background. Remember that No-name you pissed off 20 years ago? He’s eventually finding you – with a vengeance!
Communicate me your background and I’ll make your PC a hero! :)

- I’ll invest in more plots ; you'll be offered adventures, for a faster pace (i.e. plots will come to you)

What I can’t do
- English is not my mother language (greetings from the French Riviera!). However I've been translating RPG articles from English in my spare time for years, so this shouldn't be a problem if you're not too demanding.
There will be misunderstandings. If you think I misunderstood, rephrase. If you don’t understand, tell me to rephrase ;) this might slow down the rhythm slightly. It is inevitable.

- I know only the basic rules. If I can’t find someone to handle the fights and the space battles, I’ll wing it. This is play-by-forum anyway, so the less rules, the more the game rolls :)

- I don’t know the setting; My Traveller Will Vary, IE be Non-Canon. Since we’re not in the Spinward Marches, the immediate scenery isn't that specific anyway.
However, if you happened to have documents about the subsec, the .pdf about the Glorious Empire and so on, I'll be happy to read it! :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:22, Sun 10 Sept 2023.

Due to timing of which posts I saw, I ended up creating a new character. Depending what happens with resurrecting the abandoned characters, some of those listed do look interesting. Depending … Sven may have to cool his heals awhile. Or catch up with the ship he owns part of. I also do not know enough about the skills of the current/old characters to know how well his skills fit with what already exists. Meet:

Sven Glanz
 Homeworld: Insec/Yggdrasil (Trojan Reach 0317)
 A421542-E
 Race: Humanity/Floriani/Barnai

Bright and well educated, but clumsy, and tires easily. He has a single specialization in each of  Electronics, Engineer, and Pilot. Medic and Mechanic round out the basic direct ship skills.  A variety of rank 0 supporting skills that fit surprisingly well for mostly random rolls.

Mustering out on Tanar after one term as Agent:Intelligence, graduated from university, failed to qualify for the Navy, got drafted for a term as Scout:Explorer. He could not handle that psychologically, Having washed out for the Navy, he was successful at getting into the Merchant Marine, where he spent the next 5 terms. Mustering out netted him a single ship share plus 25% ownership in a Free Trader. He is looking at converting the ship share and some of that 25% ownership into a stake in the Old Lady's Hope. He can also bring a little cash from benefits. He'll have to wait to pick up his first pension payment until he gets to a better starport.

Some highlights.

• Gained an enemy in his term as an Agent
• Was a follower in a political movement at university
• Psychologically damaged by his time in the scouts
• Smuggling illegal items onto a planet did not go well. twice.
• Gained a contact in his last Merchant Marine term.

Hi, I'm Baris' original original player, taking him back

Welcome back and welcome aboard.
Just remember, I'm a doctor, dammit, not a Walmart greeter.

As I mentioned before, every chance I get.

Well well well, if it isn't the old gang...

Hello hello, I'm here, a little older and tireder, but exactly as ignorant of the seeing and lore as ever xD

The present situation

Previous players
Hey welcome back ! I did not expect you to be so eager to return and did not realize that you have been missing Beto so much ;) , so my apologies to you if I considered that your characters were free to give out. Mind you, before Nerull pulled strings and I was promoted owner of the game, I couldn't even give you your old characters back! I had choices like “give all characters to ONE player”, which you might have disagreed with ;)

BTW you’re not married to your old character. If you feel that they have no purpose and no importance (...looking at you, Grouch ;)), please feel free to bin it and start a more interesting one! :)

New Players
Hey welcome ! Please accept my apologies for stating that all previous PC would be available for the picking… I thought I wouldn’t be able to contact the old players and they all had moved on…
I still wasn’t able to find the rmail moniker of the player of Yuri Argunov, and the player of Carmichael told me he won’t come back, so I wasn’t totally wrong with allowing the picking up old characters ;)
Never mind, original new PCs look promising! :)
by the way, please post/edit your full character sheet in the F. Crew UPP thread

Roll call


The ship needs a Stewart (the Countess can't be a servant!) and gunners who can handle cannons!

FAQ:

Character Y has better stats/skills than mine, I can't do anything!
I played in “Aramis: The Traveller Adventure”.
Another player's Character Alyx had UPP 579FFA - that's INT 15 EDU 15 SOC 10. He also had Jack-of-all-trades +3. He succeeded at everything he did! - This was just boooring.

My Vargr best stat was DEX 8. His frequent failures (he missed a man on the ground 3 meters away!) were comical. His miraculous successes were legendary. :)

Guess which character was more memorable ? :)

Look at Baris Dahl. He’s so old and weak he wouldn’t survive a fight. However, with his miserable 2,2,2 in STR DEX END, Baris has only a stat modifier of -2, and the player might roll endless 12s on the dice ! :)
Dice rolls are as important as MODs in Traveller :)

Will there be an opportunity for Sven to use the connections rule to link with other characters? To pick up a couple more skills.
Yes.
Since, to my knowledge, all other characters have already spent their connections points, Sven may connect with them, but only him will earn skill points :) And please add that previous relationship story to the huge background story y’all send me, so I can build on events common to two PCs! :)

For spending a little of his cash, what TL limit needs to be applied?
Your PC has traveled for YEARS. Of course he has bought the best ware he wished when he could. TL15. :)

My PC doesn’t have the (Stewart) skill you require, or his skill is not high enough!
I won’t start a debate on how stupid (IMHO) it is that your character can’t choose what they learn during their career, especially if they are civilians… :) Let’s experiment this : you are allowed to move skill points 1:1 if they end up in the specialty the ship needs! :)

Any more questions about characters adaptation ? :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:57, Sat 02 Sept 2023.

Uoh, broker, scout, accountant.
Would have liked to see the exact generation. Incredibly many skills at high levels.

Well, I'll try my very best.

There are so many variables in different books that it might be a good idea to announce which rules we do use. Obviously in the previous owner's PMs there was quite some nitpicky stuff referring to books I have no access to. Plus, I have no idea how to handle the tool provided... yet.
So I humbly ask not to delve too much into trade right from the start :D

Hi all, looking forward to restarting this game.

While I received two skills from connections I do not remember what those connections were.

In reply to Carmichael (msg # 7):
Carmichael was a soldier specialized in Recon (=scout), and when he got older he tried thecivilian live.

He's the broker because he has broker-1, the highest skill among the crew ! (probably obtained through evening classes) :)

He's the accountant because IRL nobody wanted to handle Excel sheets, except Carmichael's player ;) - but yes, use the 1:1 skill swap to have at least Admin-1

For the trade rules, just use those of the core rulebook of MgT2 - this campaign is not a video game about corporate management! :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:57, Sat 02 Sept 2023.

Should we not have a new thread Vadada to Tanar to have a "cut".

Also, so far I have been unable to find what is in our cargo hold, which is freight, which is speculative, how many passengers we have...

In reply to Carmichael (msg # 12):

-All of you : if you have a message that is addressed mainly to the GM, please send me a private message. :) Though this is an OOC thread where you players may relax, I'd like to keep it clean, funny, informative and functional :)

- damn I did not notice it's the "Iryao to Vadada" thread :/ My mind kept reading "Vadada to Tanar"! :(

- you'll find the present status of the cargo in the last post of "Notice: E. Trade Goods and Cargo". I edited it. :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:27, Sun 03 Sept 2023.

Oh gosh, so much detail I've totally erased from my mind. I sort of remember I had a very posh onboard tearoom, and I don't recall a uniform at all, except that I bought reflec because it sounded just like the 70s Space Camp thing to do... maybe I/we need a TL;dr summary from someone with better memory than me (i.e. anyone but me.

Likewise. I keep on biting off the existing information and lore in small sections, but still feel like I am scrambling a bit to catch up.

I am sure we will all get there sooner than later.

All 9 passengers?
Am still struggling to get the status, sorry.
I thought we had low berths? Does this mean they were revived?

[grin] Mag Boots in the locker might not be that effective. They need to be close by when needed. I am seeing (zero-g) unskilled crew converging on the locker, everyone trying to get to the boots, and get them on.

"Get your foot out of my eye"
"You got your boots, now get out of the way"
"Heh! Watch where you are grabbing"

A flailing tangle of limbs.

In reply to Carmichael (msg # 16):

There are 9 *awake* passengers.
two 1st-class passengers in the High passage cabin
two 2nd-class passengers in the Middle passage cabin
four 3rd-class passengers on four bunks in the high passage cabin

it's 5:15 PM for them, they are all awake

the eight 4th-class passengers, frozen in lowberths? I'll mention them soon :)

Please read Link back to this game
Link back to this game
and look at the map of the ship at Link back to this game

+0.1 skill/stat bonus for whoever quotes the post with the description of our uniforms (and badge)! :)

link to a message in this game

Baris provided a link, but the actual quote would be:

Prize has got to go to Sven!

I don't know if players have seen it, but Sven's profile says 'attention to detail' :)

The colors are dark purple, with lavender trim; the patches are lavender with the figure on them in full colour and outlined in dark purple
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:36, Wed 06 Sept 2023.

In reply to Sven Glanz (msg # 17):

Lol, as broker/accountant I just feel responsible to acquire them, not distribute them.
Needless to say, you are right. I meant to imply/write 'each room's locker' not the ship's locker with the weapons etc.
Either way, funny picture :D
This message was last edited by the player at 04:58, Thu 07 Sept 2023.

1. A review of one of Traveller's inspirations, and the perspective it gives on drifters, tourists, penniless people... :)

https://greatdungeonnorth.blog...traveller-games.html

2. As usual, but it bears repeating, if you do not understand a sentence or part of a sentence, please mention it in this channel :)
and which part you don't understand
and you may not reply "all of it" ;)
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:16, Fri 08 Sept 2023.

Quick questions for better inderstanding.
Am putting those ooc since my char has no expertise.

In each and every Traveller gsme I've been there is the discussion whether the jump is with normal space velocity or not.
Since we have just received comms to slow down I take it here we play with N-Space velocity. I.e. before you jump you do not need to have zero velocity and the velocity ipon reemtering N-Pace is the same as the one you had before you jumped.
Right?

Typically Jump Drive and Normal drive have a separate fuel storage. At least that's my experience. Must we assume that noth Drives are affected by the bad fuel? I presume so, or we would not have much trouble right now.

We do have fuel scoops and a refinery to process. My understanding anyway. There is no Gas giant but there is water on Tanar. So we can at least make sure this does not happen again in the next jump.
Right?

Also, who/what was the OLH again? Previous owners or ship operators?
This message was last edited by the player at 19:16, Sat 09 Sept 2023.

OLH == Old Lady's Hope

I also expected the ship to exit jump with near zero velocity, approximately matching the velocity it had when entering jump. My reading says the usual process is to get to zero velocity before jump to simplify the astrogation jump calculations. It is not "necessary" to be at zero, but is higher risk when not.

Of course the current problems could have caused the exit velocity to be higher than expected as well.

The description here is that it was the power plant that died, not the drives. Not happening again needs to have the lines 'purged', to get rid of any remaining contamination that might be left over, then making sure to only use refined fuel afterwards. For both the power plant and jump drives. And purge both too.

With fuel refining capability on board, the assumption would be that the previous 'tenants' were in a rush, and were not willing to take the time to do their own refining.

Other topic: Is there anyone on the current crew with medic skill? Medical supplies on hand? An easy way to extend that life support time, is to inject some 'Fast Drug' (Hibernation) in all those that are not contributing to running the ship or making repairs.

Also, declare an emergency to the port. They may have a ship that could tow you in to where there are at least 'some' tools to do repairs with. More than the toolkit that should be part of the normal supplies. GM is of course free to adjust specific details, but a class C starport is normally capable of doing 'major' repairs. This would seem to be within their scope.

There should also be local ships capable of ferrying supplies out and/or people back. If some of the above is not going to get the ship docked in a timely fashion.