(Classic Traveller) Setting Background Material - Solomani political activism

Another reposted guest post I wrote for Christine Mayfeld's Transstar News Network blog. I'm copying it over here along with her additions via the comments on her blog, with her permission.

The Solomani Mind: Grassroots political activism in the Solomani Confederacy

Although overall and long term governance of the Solomani Confederation rests solely in the hands of the highest Directors of the Solomani Party, who are usually kept divided equally between Home and Terra, with a third portion spread around various other Confederation worlds to prevent a possible mass assassination of the Party's leadership, matters of little importance to the Confederation as a whole, and day to day administration of individual worlds and settlements is left to the corporate interests that actually own those locales.  Some of these corporations handle all such affairs internally, effectively ruling the citizens of their settlement with strict yet generally fair and tolerable policies dictated by the administrators of that organization.

Other, more progressive Corporations and local Party Directors have found it both more economically advantageous and beneficial to the morale of the citizenry to preserve (or at least pretend to preserve) the ancient political systems of Terra, giving the people a chance to elect representatives to convene on their behalf to direct the policies of their settlement, as well as to petition the Party Directorate on various matters. This arrangement has led to the creation of myriad political causes and "parties (lower case P)" around the Confederation. Most of these factions come and go within a year or two as their members awaken to the futility of trying to change a nearly 5000 year old society, and many others evolve and adapt to changing political memes, but only a rare and select few, such as the Preservation party, headquartered on Luna (Terra, Sol) have the actual numbers and clout to genuinely influence Party policies. More than a few parties also exist only as public relations operations of local or rival corporate organizations, seeking to influence the morale of the citizenry.

A few sample parties are provided here, but use your imagination and consider how irrelevant and whimsical some fringe real world political causes may seem to those not affiliated with them.


A few sample minor Solomani "Political Parties"

The Labor party:
The Labor party is the oldest continuously operating socio-political faction in Solomani space, tracing its roots directly to the Lunar Labor party on Luna in Sol system's pre-jump drive colonial era.

The Labor party exists to improve the plight of the common working folk of the Confederation, constantly petitioning local administrators and directors, as well as Party leadership itself in hopes of obtaining higher wages, safer working conditions and other matters of importance to the average citizens.

Most Laborers and leaders are down to earth, hard working and well meaning folk who, despite wildly variant views on larger social and political issues, band together for their basic day to day interests, though corrupt and opportunistic charlatans seeking only to elevate themselves as liaisons with the corporate and governmental interests on their world or colony are not unknown.

Other parties, common citizens (even those not actually affiliated with the Labor party) and many low level Party government officials are sympathetic to and friendly with the Labor party, at least grudgingly agreeing that the working man sometimes suffers to promote the welfare and productivity of the Confederation. It is usually only the administrators and low to mid level management of corporate organizations that actively dislike and oppose Labor party members and leaders.

The Social party:
Generally dismissed as idealistic, irrelevant and out of touch with economic reality by almost all corporate and Party government officials, the Social party is simply the current incarnation of a fairly constant yet ever changing theme in Solomani politics; the idea that the government and corporate masters should provide all basic needs and luxuries to their citizens.

Social party causes are usually focused on attempts to obtain cheaper (or, ideally, free) air, water, food and medicine for the citizens of whatever world or colony the party cell is active on. Less often, such luxuries as improved holovid network access, cheaper or faster transportation networks and other frivolities are the subject of the party's activism.

Most Socialites are well meaning and harmless, generally wide eyed youths driven by grandiose dreams but inexperienced in the realities of life in 57th century Solomani space. Although most corporate and Party officials find the Social party annoying, there is rarely any real ill will toward them and it is highly uncommon for party members or leaders to have any noteworthy enemies.

The Preservation party:
Almost as old as the Labor party, the Preservation party was founded almost immediately upon public awareness of the discovery of the Vilani on Barnard's Star in 2097 (Terran). Isolationists and social conservatives within the nations of the UNSCA feared that the introduction of alien influences to Terran culture would endanger the traditions and legacies of the people of Terra.

The Preservationists existed as a moderately influential force throughout the Rule of Man, when Solomani culture was on the rise and exerting its own influence on the other sophonts of known space, as well as through the Long Night, when limited to nonexistent contact with outsiders made threats to Solomani culture a less critically important matter, and it was not until the formulation of the Solomani Hypothesis and its confirmation by the members of the haut-Devroe expedition that the Preservation party blossomed into its current and ongoing prominence.

The Preservation party is directly responsible for the formation of the Solomani Movement and the themes of racial, historical and political patriotism common in the Confederacy. The Preservationists are closely allied with, though formally independent of the Party government, and often occupy low level administrative positions in local corporate or government bodies, granting them a fair amount of local clout as well as access to contacts through the Party government.

The Repatriation party:
An offshoot of the Preservationists, and one of the Confederation's newest socio-political factions, the Repatriates advance the cause of welcoming home the far flung kindred of the Solomani people, to include all races transplanted or manipulated by the Ancients from Terra to their current home worlds, with the exception of the Aslan/Fteirle, for reasons discussed previously in the "Solomani Hypothesis and Terran Human Supremacy" article on this blog, provided that those individual beings cast off their "alien" culture and adopt the lifestyle and values of the Solomani.

Obviously, the Repatriate agenda is quite controversial in much of the Confederacy, especially among elder Solomani humans. Old, deeply ingrained suspicions and prejudices are difficult to cast off, though the general peaceful success of the Repatriate party so far is having a slow but soothing affect on relations.

Christine added the following:

 I want to emphasize the undertone of Rich's second paragraph, summed up with the statement "preserve (or at least pretend to preserve) the ancient political systems of Terra".

Despite the similar naming convention, the Solomani Confederation has little or nothing in common with Star Trek's United Federation of Planets. The vast majority of Sol. citizens are in reality nothing more than living property of the corporations who control their home world or colony. The Solomani Party operates behind a carefully crafted facade of Terran patriotism, manifest destiny and traditional republican (in terms of the illusion of a governmental republic with a representative government, not the early 21st century political agenda) democracy, but in truth, Party directors are either hereditary successors to a position their family purchased (with money and/or loyalty) ages ago, or carefully controlled and monitored puppets for the powerful corporations, both Confederate and Imperial, with interests in the Confederacy.

Only the off the beaten path world of Tlaloc (Kukulcan, Solomani Rim, 2631), an agricultural center exclusively adminstered by the SolAg Corporation, operates as a true representative democracy. On that world, natives of the planet (80% Sol human, 15% Vargr, 5% other) who enter employment with the company are granted status as shareholders after one term (4 standard years) of work. Once a person attains shareholder status, they not only begin to scale their income based on corporate performance, they are entitled to vote in any of the nearly weekly polls that help the company management run SolAg and administer all aspects of life on Tlaloc. SolAg's Party operative, stationed on Terra since the end of Imperial occupation 3 years ago, is a stalwart supporter of the Labor party and a vocal critic of the less people-friendly Party directors. SolAg's rapidly growing influence in the food trade within the Confederation and beyond, including regular acquisition of smaller rivals, prevents other interests in the Party from retaliating against SolAg's critiques, for now at least.

The rest of the Confederacy looks more like a hybrid of the Star Wars Empire, where the illusion of a functional senate is kept to hide the tyranny of a corrupt Emperor and his cronies, and the Alliance from the Firefly-Serenity universe, where high tech, wealthy corporations run almost every aspect of people's lives, while distracting them with high tech shinies and sometimes unsubtle social engineering.

Sort of like Neo and friends in the Matrix, once a Solomani citizen wakes up to the harsh realities of life, they often become bitter and resentful, and if possible, sign on with the next free trader that comes along and hope for a better, freer, life.

This article is based on material from "Luna: A Traveller's Guide" 
by Marc W. Miller, from Dragon Magazine Issue 87 (1984, TSR, Inc.)

(Classic Traveller) House Rules - Experience & Character Improvement

This was originally a guest post I wrote for Christine Mayfeld's Transstar News Network blog. I'm copying it over here along with her additions via the comments on her blog, with her permission.

Classic Traveller Character Experience 
& Improvement Revisited
For many players, especially those who came to the hobby after the golden age of the late 70s to early 80s, the biggest "flaw" in CT's design is the lack of a proper experience system for character advancement and improvement. "I have to take 4 years of game time off and then I get to make a die roll check to see if the training stuck? -F- that!!!" Although the CT arrangement didn't bother me back in the early days, even I now tend to agree that there needs to be an easier way to improve the characters through play without allowing them to build latter day D&D style supercharacters.

I reviewed the various incarnations of the improvement rules in Traveller's editions (except GURPS and T20, which operate within the paradigms of their base systems) and was generally sad to see that the status quo from CT is basically maintained, with even more complexity added here and there. While I don't begrudge the designers and their probably quest for "realism" in the game mechanics, I wasn't totally satisfied with any of the "canon" systems, although, TNE's system came close, and seems the most workable and satisfying to the player who wants to see somewhat regular improvement in their character. Based on that, I present the custom experience and improvement rules I've been using for a while now, based loosely on the TNE system.

Alternate CT Experience & Improvement Rules

Earning Experience
At the conclusion of each episode of the campaign(1), the referee will award each PC a couple of Experience Points (XP), based on the following:

• Survival of the episode: 1xp
• Player went above and beyond to enhance the fun of the episode for the group: 1xp
• PC made a major self sacrifice to aid the team or another PC: 1xp
  Peer MVP award (the players, not the referee, mark a secret ballot voting for their pick for the most valuable PC for the episode. They cannot vote for themselves unless they have a solid, exceptional reason.) 1xp

With the referee's approval(2), XP may then be spent to improve a character's attributes or skills. There are a couple steps to this process:

Acquiring New Skills
If a character wishes to add a new skill to his talents, he must spend 3xp and succeed at a 2d throw of 8+ (DM+1 if EDU 8+, DM+2 if EDU 12+). If the throw fails, the xp are not lost unless the unmodified throw of the dice resulted in a total of 2 (in other words, two 1s, "snake eyes", whatever your group calls a "fumble".), in which case 1xp is permanently lost. In either case, a failed throw to acquire a new skill results in that skill being unavailable to that character for 6 months of game time. 

A success on the acquisition throw means that the desired skill is added to the character at a level of (Skill-1). In addition, a natural, unmodified roll of 12 (two 6s, a "critical" success) on the acquisition check signifies that the new skill came naturally to the character and only cost him 2xp instead of 3.

The Inspiration DM rules, below, apply to new skill attempts.

Improving An Existing Skill
Most characters will not be satisfied long with skills of level 1, and will want to improve their ratings once they have the XP to do so. The method is similar to that for gaining a new skill. The xp cost for raising a skill one level is equal to the target level (Princess Vespa wants to raise her Vacc Suit-2 to Vacc Suit-3, this improvement would cost her 3XP). Then, as with gaining a new skill, the player must succeed at a 2d throw of 8+ (DM+1 if EDU 8+, DM+2 if EDU 12+). If the throw fails, the xp are not lost, but a failed throw to improve a skill results in that skill being closed to improvement for 6 months of game time.

A success on the acquisition throw means that the desired skill is added to the character at a level of (Skill-1).

The Inspiration DM rules, below, apply to new skill attempts.
Skill Inspiration
It is very likely that a character will want a skill that someone else, PC or NPC, has used recently and proven to be useful. It is therefore logical to assume that a character who has studied under another person, or even simply observed that person's regular performance of a skill will have a slightly easier time learning that skill himself.

Any time a character decides to forgo his actions for the duration of another character's performance of skill, doing nothing but observing, taking notes, memorizing, etc, he may make a 2d throw against 6+ to gain an Inspiration point in that skill. The observer receives a DM of +2 to that roll if his mentor is taking the time to actually demonstrate and teach the skill, which doubles the time it takes to perform the skill task.

A character may accumulate up to 4 Inspiration points for any given skill at a time, and these points may be applied 1 for 1 as positive DMs to the throw to acquire or improve a skill.

Inspiration points may also be awarded upon completion of a formal training class, self study holo-vid or computer program, or other means of education, at the referee's discretion in terms of cost, time required and Inspiration points gained, but the 4 point total still applies.

Improving A Character Attribute
Although costly in terms of xp, this process is fairly simple.

The xp cost is the attribute's target score multiplied by 1.5 (rounded UP)
(Our friend Princess Vespa wishes to improve her DEX score from 8 to 9. This costs 9 + 4.5=13.5 rounded up to 14xp).

The character must then make a 2d throw against the attribute's target score. Success means the xp are spent and the attribute is raised to the target score. Failure means the xp are not spent, but the character must wait 1 year of game time before attempting to raise that score again.

Inspiration points, in the form of tutoring, physical coaching, etc, apply, using the same guidelines as for skills, about.
XP do not need to be spent immediately, and the character will in fact often have to save up for a few episodes to afford the improvement he wishes to purchase.

Notes:
(1) For our games, one episode is usually the completion of one 4 to 6 hour game session. A shorter or uneventful session may be rolled into the next session to count as an episode, and conversely, an exceptionally long, grueling or action packed session might count as 2 episodes. The individual referee is responsible for deciding how often XP are awarded.
(2)Most of the time, we just apply the time honored concept of handwavium and allow the player to, if they wish, purchase the improvements they desire right when they get enough XP to do so, assuming that their character has been training, studying, observing a mentor's actions, etc and is ready to gain the benefits of a new or improved skill or attribute as soon as they can afford it. In exceptional cases (learning a rather difficult skill, for example) or for referee's wishing for a little more realistic improvements, the character may be required to return to a proper resting place, or library, or gymnasium, whatever in order to practice for a short time before applying their newly purchased improvements. I do not recommend further monetary costs to the character beyond those mentioned in the Inspiration points section, and we prefer to keep any training "downtime" to a few weeks at most (maybe a throw of 1d to decide how many weeks of study or training is needed?)

Christine added the following:

I just wanted to add that under our system, there is one more thing you can do with an earned XP, though in the long term, it's kind of foolish unless it's a life or death situation.

Tempting Fate:
Once per game session, a PC with saved XP may spend one point to add a one die booster to any failed roll.
For example, First Mate Piggy needs to make a mechanical skill check to quickly (and temporarily) repair gunfire damage to the ships life support system after an attempted hijacking that got out of control in the engine rooms. If she fails, the crew is doomed, so she rolls against the referee's stated target of 9, and gets a total of 7. She decides to tempt fate and rolls one additional d6 to boost her chance of success and gets a 3. 7+3 gives her 10, enough to make the required difficulty of the task, and manages to patch things together enough to quickly head for a starport to get real repairs.

Tempting fate can also be used to lessen damage rolled against a PC, again rolling 1d, but this time subtracting the result from the enemies damage roll. In this case, but not the former, tempting fate can be used on another PCs (or ally or otherwise important non-hostile NPCs) behalf. First Mate Piggie can either roll to lower damage rolled against her, or she can attempt to save Capn. Hogthrob by rolling to reduce damage rolled against him. At the referee's discretion, the successful sacrifice of an XP to aid another character can qualify as "self sacrifice to aid the team or another PC" and earn the PC another XP at the end of the episode, but I'd be careful to make sure the player's dont abuse it. The attempt to save another PC must be genuine and self sacrificing, not just an attempt to milk the XP system knowing you'll get that XP point restored at session's end.

Death - The Final Frontier (Character death in RPGs)

"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor."
- Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers (1959)
I often turn to the craft of writing for inspiration for my RPG gaming, and recently stumbled on a nice YouTube video blog by one Jenna Moreci. Though Miss (Mrs?) Moreci doesn't assign her videos a clever series title, they're focused on all manner of tips for the aspiring writer. This one caught my attention:



I'm approaching the issue from a Game Master's point of view. It's a good idea to discuss the matter with your player group though, to avoid unfulfilled expectations.

Now, right from the start, some of her points don't apply to RPG gaming. Pointless characters, for one. While she's correct in saying that most of the time in a novel or short story, we the readers do not need to read about every Tom, Dick and Harry in the setting, in an RPG, we have non-player characters (NPCs), the bystanders, incidental contacts and out of the spotlight players in the game setting.


Most of these hapless souls will get a name and one or two sentence description in your game prep, at best. To create a believable world stage for the adventurers to interact with though, these folk are just as important as the heroes and developed villains. The Mos Eisley Cantina needs a bartender, band, random other patrons and maybe an alien waitress or two to be a functional bar, not just Han, Greedo and the poor brute Obi Wan 'disarms' (heh).

Greedo and the now one armed random alien are what I'm getting to. In an RPG, we do need random, pointless bystanders, and sometimes they will die! Rather than treat the event as meaningless though, a clever GM can weave the events into the ongoing plot. If Obi Wan had lived to return to Mos Eisley, he might face arrest for murder (if not for suspicion of being a Jedi, given Order 66). Han Solo could look forward to another arrest warrant for the killing of Greedo. Remember that player character actions will have consequences. Even in a setting with little or no law presence, a slain person's family or friends might seek revenge for the killing. PCs that regularly kill innocent bystanders will get a nasty reputation and either be avoided, or sought out by some local tough guy wanting to prove something.

Anyway, the point is that although the death of a "meaningless" NPC may have little or no impact on the main campaign story, it can, and should, have an impact on the immediate scene, or on future side trek scenes.

So now that we covered NPC death, what about actually killing a PC? The attitude of gamers on the matter has changed drastically over the years. In the early days of the hobby, character death was expected, often! The adventure scenarios were lethal and unforgiving, and having a couple backup PCs on standby was commonplace. Over time, especially with the advent of video games and the concept of save points and respawning, many players have come to resent PC death, feeling discouraged at having to start all over again with a new PC. Some players also grow attached to their PCs, and take it personally when that alter-ego dies (to be fair, some GMs get over attached to their major NPCs as well, and will cheat the system to keep them alive and recurring. FOUR words, folks, "DO NOT DO IT!" The entire point of the game is for the PC heroes to defeat the villain, eventually. Even NPC friendlies might get caught in a crossfire or something and perish, replace them with a new NPC and move on. You destroy the integrity of your setting when certain folks are bulletproof.). I'm going to briefly discuss the three major approaches to PC death among GMs, and I suggest reading them over, then discussing the ideas with your players, to see which works best for both your campaign story and their goals in playing the game. So here we go, the three major approaches to PC death, in no particular order:


We're bulletproof!

In the heroic fantasy, super hero and space opera genres, good guys rarely die. Consider the Star Trek films, the only major protagonist character to truly die in one of the movies was Kirk, and even that was a heroic sacrifice to save the others. Sure, Spock died in Wrath of Khan, but he was brought back in the next movie, and Kirk's death in Into Darkness lasts less than a half hour of screen time. Neither of those count as character deaths. Likewise, in the first six Star Wars movies, only three good guys die, and only one of those is a true, permanent death. Padme Amidala dies, yes, but Yoda and Ben Kenobi return as force ghosts after their deaths, so in terms of the character still having an influence on the story, they are not really dead. Vader/Annakin doesn't count, Vader's death was a requisite part of Annakin's salvation, and he too returns as a force ghost almost immediately.


In gaming circles, a lot of GMs tend to embrace this trope, with two very different reasons. If you are presenting a story founded in mythic archetypes and heroic cinematic action, and killing one of the protagonists would harm your story, that's a fine approach to take. More often though, GMs are coddling player's they think will protest or ragequit the game due to the previously mentioned feelings of character attachment or frustration at starting over. In this case, I highly recommend having a talk with the players about balancing everyone's enjoyment of the story telling part of the game. Sure, noone likes to "lose" the game, but the very premise of role playing games is that there is a group story being crafted. Point out examples from film or literature where a hero's death actually advances the plot and betters the story. Ben Kenobi sacrifices himself because he knows that Luke's rage and sorrow will push him toward the showdown with Vader. Wash's untimely death in Serenity provokes a rage in his comrades that forces them to accept that they can't keep running and must stand and fight. Also point out that even in video games with save points, there is an immense satisfaction in finally winning, and that feeling is even stronger if you failed a dozen or three times along the way. To quote Aerosmith, "You've got to lose to know how to win".


Best make peace with your dear and fluffy lord.

Some gritty SciFi and fantasy just plain kill everyone! The original Alien film shows the xenomorph gobble up everyone but Ripley. Predator slaughters most of the heroes. Do I even need to mention Game of Thrones?



In most Space Opera or heroic SciFi games, this approach is, to be blunt, bullshit. What's the point of playing if you know you're going to die every time? On the other hand, if you're playing a Cthulhu type campaign, or a gritty cyberpunk story, or even an Aliens inspired bug hunt, this approach can work, as long as you allow some slight, real chance for a clever and cautious player to keep their character alive. Sure, everyone's probably screwed, but there would be a big feeling of accomplishment to be among the few survivors of a suicide mission. Just don't let them call your bluff. Make it perfectly clear right up front that it's a doomed mission, and chances of getting through it are slim, but, the rewards for those lucky, clever and tough enough to defy the odds will be great. Then, show no mercy. If they make bad decisions or the dice aren't cooperating, kill them. Make them earn it. If they still happen to persevere, congratulate them, and don't make them pay taxes again, ever...


Not every man really lives.

In general, the best approach to PC death is to use it sparingly. The PCs scrape by, battered and bruised, most of the time. Luke Skywalker had to take a time out on Hoth to recuperate, the heroes in the Lord of the Rings were constantly staring death in the face, and in both cases, the death of a friend and/or mentor served to both motivate them and remind them how fleeting life is. If a player is overly foolish or careless, or they roll poorly, consider whether the campaign story is better served by a little subtle deus ex machina or by the death of that hero. The player can easily rejoin the action fairly quickly in most cases with a backup PC. On the other hand, if you do end that character's part of the story, do the story and the player a favor by considering a possible legacy impact. If they were a space marine, name a ship or fort somewhere after them. Have an NPC news reporter show up before long to interview the other PCs briefly for a tribute documentary she's putting together. Hell, let the character make a cameo return later on as a force ghost or prophetic dream sequence to assist the rest of the heroes. You get the idea. Don't let heroes die in vain. If you do decide to go the deus ex machina ruote, don't make it totally painless. Make them sit out a scene or two healing, give them a permanent lingering wound side effect if your particular game system provides a mechanic for it, dock their experience for the session, whatever. Flirting with death is not without consequence.


So, that wraps up my take on PC death, and for the record, I usually employ the third option, killing a PC just often enough to remind the players that it is a game, and you can "lose" if you're not careful, but not often enough to discourage them.

I'm interested to hear how others handle PC death, or even character death in their own writing or fanfic. Any examples of a PC death having a memorable impact, for better or worse, on your game? Any character deaths in established SciFi film or books that really impacted your enjoyment of the work as a whole? Leave a comment!