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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6751037" data-attributes="member: 42582">A friend has been cleaning out his old RPG stuff, and so I acquired and have been reading a copy of The Traveller Book. This is a compilation and slight update of the classic black books, dated 1982 (my copy of the black books is dated 1977).One of the areas of updating is in the "how to play" text. The original black books are rather sparse in this respect, although they do have some things to say:The scenario resembles a science-fiction novel, in that some basic goal or purpose is stated, and the adventure occurs as the group strives to achieve the goal. (Book 1, p 2) A group involved in playing a scenario or a campaign can make their adventures more elaborate, more detailed, more interesting with the input of a great deal of imagination. . . . One very interesting source of assistance . . . is the existing science fiction literature. Virtually anything mentioned in a story or article can be transferred to the Traveller environment. . . . with imagination being the only limit. (Book 3, p 44)The Traveller Book is a bit more elaborate. There is this on adventure design and play (pp 1, 9, 12, 123):The referee presents the situation while the players are themselves the characters in this unfolding novel of the moment. Working together as a team, the players solve the riddles set out before them and play out the situation. All action takes place in the imagination of the players as they sit around the table and discuss the fictional events swirling around them. . . . The enjoyment and interest of Traveller come from both the individual creation of imaginative futuristic scenes and from the participation in groups that react to these surroundings. . . . Traveller is set against that background drawn from adventure oriented science fiction. The scope and breadth of this game are limited only by the imagination and skill of the players and their referee. . . . [A]lmost any situation which occurs in a science fiction novel, movie or short story can be recreated with only a little work on the part of the referee. . . . Most Traveller adventures come from the referee's own imagination. Each new world is an opportunity for the referee to present a new situation to the players . . . A scenario is like a science fiction novel; the players are given some specific goal and the adventure occurs as they try to attain it. . . . Create a scenario as you would a story, with something to be achieved and difficulties strewn in the path of that goal. Scenarios can be as complex as the referee feels necessary, ranging from the simplest plot devices to complex adventure worthy of a great adventure writer. . . . The choreographed novel involves a setting already thought out by the referee and presented to the players; it may be any of the above settings [starship, building, natural feature, world], but contains predetermined elements. As such, the referee has already developed characters and settings which bear on the group's activities, and they are guided gently to the proper locations. Properly done, the players never know that the referee has manipulated them to a fore-ordained goal.There is this on encounters (pp 98-99):Encounters are the prime focus in Traveller. Through them, player characters meet and interact with non-player characters (NPCs), events, animals, and other interesting phenomena. The direction and the tone of adventures is inevitably influenced by the type of individuals encountered in the course of the adventurer's travels. . . . During the course of an encounter, the referee builds the situation, presents any appropriate reactions, and administers any activity that may be called for. . . . Encounters with non-player characters serve as the referee's vehicle for direction and input during adventures. The proper presentation of non-player characters can provide players with transportation, information, or other assistance if reactions are appropriate. Non-player characters can also use violence (or the threat of violence) to redirect activity toward more reasonable goals. . . . At times, the otherwise routine encounter may be used by the referee to further the events of the adventure. . . . Often, the player characters acquire a goal and then proceed to accomplish it. In the course of this activity, they are necessarily thrown into contact with a wide variety of individuals who are somehow related to the mission. . . . Such encounters . . . are generated by the referee as required.And there is this on player characters (pp 1, 9-10, 14):The rules also instruct the reader in the techniques of generating unique fictional characters with specific attributes and skills . . . As role-players, readers assume the identities of their imaginary characters, seeing the future through those eyes and reacging as the captain of a starship, a down-and-out spacehande, an Imperial courier, or some other future adventurer. . . . A character has a past and can be more than just a series of numbers on a sheet of paper. . . . During the first adventuring session . . . take a moment to determine a little background data. Why are the characters where they are, and why are they together? Working out this background data will help the players get into their roles. A close examination of the characters themselves can often help with this. Are several of the characters former navy personnel? Obviously they met in the service and became friends, deciding to seek their fortunes after they were all discharged on the same planet. Perhaps the characters are distantly related, or have mutual friends, or are old schoolchums. A little imagination can come up with a reason why these people want to try a group effort, and will give the players some clues to later behaviour.The role of imagination is emphasised a great deal: it's there in 1977, and recurs repeatedly in 1982. Likewise the idea of taking inspiration from science fiction literature.But in the 1982 text, a conception of the referee as making the pre-eminent contribution to the direction of the player begins to emerge pretty strongly ("fore-ordained goal", "reasonable goals", "direction", etc). The idea of players playing their PCs in accordance with a character backstory also emerges clearly ("a character has a past", "background data", "clues to later behaviour", etc).The idea of a shared fiction is pretty clearly there in the 1982 text, and of RPG play having some fairly intimate connection to creating or participating in a story.</blockquote>

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