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Message: <blockquote data-quote="clearstream" data-source="post: 8650248" data-attributes="member: 71699">I took a look at Traveller to gain more insight. It is up to the referee in Traveller what information a player-character can find out with Streetwise, and whether that information is true. The game text doesn't bind a referee to give a player information that is guaranteed to be true; the text outright states a referee can use informants to feed false data. It's even implied that sometimes referee may lie to the players.One interpretation is that a referee ought to classify information into four types, and it is the type of information that decides whether it can be relied on. Suppose the "dirt" in some case "is the fact that the information contained in the library is false", then that would be type 4 and players cannot find it out by their own efforts. If the "dirt" is type three, it can be found out at a cost. A cost could be risks taken while searching for it, such as breaking into safes that turn out to be empty. It's not defined so it is up to referee. I found reviewers discussing the potential arbitrariness of the skill system, for example "It's 'make-it-up-as-you-go-along' time and it really strains the gameplay."I believe Traveller can be played without difficulty as [USER=42582]@pemerton[/USER] describes, through following the appropriate principles. I went to the trouble of searching out this information because I feel there are some assumptions about 5e that folk are comfortable avoiding in relation to other games. Speculatively, folk adopted a practice toward those games (their social agreements) that resulted in grasping and upholding the game text to produce the play that they go on to describe.Traveller Streetwise: [SPOILER="Streetwise"]The individual is acquainted with the ways of local subcultures (which tend to be the same everywhere in human society), and thus is capable of dealing with strangers without alienating them. This skill is not the same as alien contact experience. Close-knit subcultures (such as some portions of the lower classes, trade groups such as workers, and the underworld) generally reject contact with strangers or unknown elements. Streetwise expertise allows contact for the purposes of obtaining information, hiring persons, purchasing or selling contraband or stolen goods, and other shady or borderline activities.Referee: After establishing throws for various activities desired by the characters (such as the name of an official willing to issue licenses without hassle: 5+; the location of high quality guns at low prices: 9+), allow streetwise as a DM. If streetwise is not used, impose a DM of -5.[/SPOILER]Traveller statements about refereeing information[SPOILER="Refereeing information"]It is necessary for the referee to divide the information about his or her universe into four parts: 1) information which player characters would logically know by virtue of what they are, 2) information which player characters can find out with little or no cost, 3) information which player characters can find out only at great cost, and 4) information which the player characters would be unable to find out by their own efforts.Type 1 could be such things as how to behave in polite society, or some simple data about a planet if the character has navigation skill. Type 2 could be information obtained from a library, from asking around at bars, hotel lobbies, and so on, or obtained by direct observation of some event or condition. Type 3 could be information that requires the theft of one or more documents (payment in time) or the bribery of some official (payment in money). Type 4 should be information about the true nature of reality, perhaps the fact that the information contained in the library is false with regard to the planet mentioned above, or other information for the referee's eyes only.Informants serve to give the players information, and are ideal for those situations in which the referee needs to give false data, but does not feel like lying to the players outright. Informants may be experts the players consult (such as a university professor or scholar). passengers or crew of a starship the players are on, or people the players casually meet in the course of seeking rumors or employment.The referee must decide how much information the group can find out, and how long it will take them. The referee reveals the information the players have discovered, and tells how much time was used up, and any other relevant details (or irrelevant details intended to throw the players off track) that the player characters may have noticed, like the fact that someone is following them as they leave the library.As the adventure progresses, the referee will often have the urge to "help out" the players by providing them with information that they otherwise would not, or could not logically know. This is poor form, and the referee should resist this urge whenever it arises.[/SPOILER]</blockquote>

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