Payn's Pondering/ Traveller House rule discussion

[payn]

Greetings,

Currently running a game of Traveller for some friends. They are first timers and we are using the Mongoose second edition. So far so good everyone seems to be having a good time. However, the players do seem to want to have some ability other games allow in play. Namely an inspiration/push/advantage/reroll meta currency. I have been kicking around a few ideas and wondering what y'all may think of them?

The first was actually a player suggestion; drop in the inspiration mechanic from 5E. For those unfamiliar, an inspiration point allows the player to reroll a check. They get one of these to start the session. As referee, I am allowed to award more inspiration points based on good role play, cool actions, inspired storytelling, etc...

For me this option is just ok. Its limited so I dont have much concern of it impacting play too heavily. I dont like the idea of being put on the spot to award points as referee though. I like to be an impartial judge when I run games. For example, I do not use XP anymore because it lead to behavior in games that was too scripted and not organic. It limited actions more than it promoted inspired role play. For some folks, that is a feature because they want to drive particular play, but I have a more open ended game play style when it comes to RPGs. This is likely an overblown concern since we are talking one point per Traveller and likely only one bonus point id award per session. Also, my players seem to really like it and I want them to enjoy themselves. Curious as to other EN Worlder's thoughts?

The second option was a push ability. Free League games often have it where you make a check and either live with it, or push it. A push is a reroll attempting to change the result, but with added consequence and/or danger. You may be successful the second time, but you also might take damage or have a complication added to the result. I was thinking of a modified version thats perhaps a bit simplified. Anytime a player wants to push a roll they are welcome to do so. However, anytime a Traveller engages in a push, I the referee, get to put a push in my pocket. The NPCs now have the ability to push, but only as often as the Travellers do.

I see it as sort of Karmic. It might turn out horribly for the Travellers if RNG kicks them in the nuts, and doubly so when opposed checks end up successful as a result. I do think this is a bit mitigated by the fact the Travellers are in control of how often they engage the push. I dont have a ton of experience with this though and as much as Id like to try it, I dont want to derail the game with an experiment. Anybody try something like this in Traveller?

I would certainly appreciate any commentary on the above. This particular example is something I'm thinking about a lot. Though, if you have other house rules for your Traveller games, I'd certainly like to hear them too.

Cheers,
Payn

 

[pemerton]

Anytime a player wants to push a roll they are welcome to do so. However, anytime a Traveller engages in a push, I the referee, get to put a push in my pocket. The NPCs now have the ability to push, but only as often as the Travellers do.

Based on experience at trying something similar in D&D, I wouldn't recommend it. The record-keeping is a headache, and it's hard to be an impartial referee and also choose when to deploy your pushes.

 

[payn]

Based on experience at trying something similar in D&D, I wouldn't recommend it. The record-keeping is a headache, and it's hard to be an impartial referee and also choose when to deploy your pushes.

Tracking I'm certainly not worried about. You make a good point about choosing when to use them and remaining partial.

 

[aramis erak]

Note that the "Push" mechanic in YZE also punishes those who rely upon it.

Doing it in Traveller would require some jiggery pokery to have the same level of effect...
In all games, 6 is a success. In T2K, 6-9 = 1S, 10+=2S. In Forbidden Lands, 6-7 is 1S, 8-9 is 2S, 10-11 is 3S, and 12 is 4S... but only 1 of the dice might not be a d6, and then only for magic items.
Pushing in some of the games (Vaessen, Tales from the Loop, Things from the Flood), pushing causes a damage condition be marked.
Forbidden Lands, MYZ itself, and one other do direct temporary attribute reduction for 1's on the push on some sources of dice.
Alien has no 1's effect on atts/skills, but stress dice are gained by bushing. 1's on the stress dice mean a freakout of some form.
T2K has damage to HP or Stress Points (by type of action) for the much rarer 1's on a push. (Only 2dX, and X is often greater than 6...) But they DO hurt, when PCs have at most 7 HP or 7 Stress, and just lost them on a push.

Also, all the YZE game are a "One try only ever" approach to rolls. If you fail on the initial, and have some non-1, non-success dice, you can push.

The question becomes, how to incorporate the limit? What effect does the push have?

I can come up with a stress mechanic for Traveller easily... assuming you're generally using roll-high, 2d6...
add a 3rd die, different color. if it rolls Stress Level or less, add it. +1 stress for a push attempt. Trigger a panic test on doubles. Stress also becomes a penalty to morale tests...