Cold As Ice - The Frozen Frontier of Deep Space
Traveller | Campaign
About the adventure
This is a stand-alone, short-term campaign, intended to run 6-10 sessions. It is also able to serve as the intro to a full-length campaign, so the option is available to continue beyond that point, for any players who choose to. This game takes place in a homebrew setting divorced from the typical Traveller setting, an area called Explored Space, approximately a third of the size of the Milky Way, with multiple different alien species, but no humans. Heavily inspired by Schlock Mercenary, and to a lesser degree by Mass Effect. I have a full list of playable species available, which also gives context on their histories, and their mechanical differences. I also am prepared to include new species if players have anything the want to contribute to the setting, which is still malleable, and often localised enough to accomodate variety and changes. A comprehensive knowledge of the setting won't be necessary or important, the only important things to know is that the planet you begin on is part of the Arcandine Empire, one of the more powerful civilisations in Explored Space, that it is isolated, undeveloped, and very cold. "It's just not fair. You finally hit the jackpot, and you can't cash it out. The propaganda always makes colonies like this seem like big opportunities, but really they're just vainglorious attempts for the Arcandine Empire to plant its flag on another bit of the galaxy and claim residency. Minerals or trade routs or not, sometimes they just seem to want to paint a bit more of space in their favourite colour. Maybe you bought the hype about the rugged frontier life, maybe you just wanted somewhere quiet and out-of-the-way to while away the time. Whatever the reason, you're all stuck here on this forsaken iceball, scraping a living together. Not much of a living either, really, since the infrastructure here is so bad there's no trade to speak of, just the occasional shuttle coming in from Hoolastoo station nearby to top up the chemical supplies for the hydroponics. That means communications out here are still strictly local too, no banking, no manufacturing, just subsistence of some kind or another, usually involving cutting out chunks of ice for water and gas, and some mines that are hoping to someday find something worth selling. Of the two professions, nobody would have guessed that you'd find buried treasure in the ice rather than in the mines. While at your jobs, out trying to find something usable on the endless ice-sheets, you found it. The motherlode. A crashed, derelict ship of some kind. Filled to the brim with advanced tech. Now what do you do with it? There are scrap dealers here, that's for sure, but they couldn't give you a tenth what this is worth, and that's assuming they wouldn't try to rip you off. Getting it off-world would be a chore, it's hard enough just getting yourself off-world. No, finding it was the easy part. Figuring out what to do with it? That's the challenge."
Game style
Roleplay Heavy
“Roleplay Heavy” games place the focus on the story, the characters, and the world they live within, and tend to lean hard into the various roleplaying elements of the game. These games will frequently find the party talking with NPCs, exploring the personal elements of their backstories, or even having emotional moments around the camp fire.
Theater of the Mind
“Theater of the Mind” uses little to no visuals for scene settings and combat. Instead, the narrative imagery comes from the Game Master’s descriptions and character action and movement comes from Players’ descriptions.
5.0
(5)
Less than a year on StartPlaying
8 games hosted
Highly rated for: Storytelling, Creativity, Inclusive
Average response time: Under 1 hour
Response rate: 100%
Additional details
How to prepare
Players will need a microphone of some kind to talk through voice chat on a Discord server I'll provide, and while I heavily prefer players have a webcam and have it turned on, that won't be strictly necessary. Once you have access to the discord server, you can also get more access to the setting-specific documents I've prepared. I will be having discussions with any prospective players before accepting them into the game, so please be prepared to just briefly chat about what kind of game you want to play and questions are very welcomed so that we can all arrive at Session 0 prepared and without any illusions. I'll be giving everyone their consent checklist as part of that discussion, so that it can form the basis of our safety discussion in Session 0 as well, and so that anyone that struggles with the open discussion is still going to have their issues addressed. I can provide you with PDF copies of the rulebooks to look through, but you wouldn't need to read through any of it in advance, I am fine with teaching as we go. It could still be very useful to read pages 2,3,4 and 48-62 of the core rulebook, as those cover the basic mechanics of playing Traveller moment-to-moment. Read more than that if you wish to get a headstart, but be aware that some rules may be changing, and most of the other relevant material will be covered as part of group character creation. If you have anything mechanically that you're relying on for your fun or for your character, then bring it up with me, and I can make an informed call on whether or not you'll be affected. Other splatbooks that I'll be providing are going to be used primarily for character creation purposes, and are just more options rather than fundamentally changing gameplay.
What I provide
Firstly, for this game specifically, I am planning on running a short, self-contained arc as a sort of 'pilot episode' so that everyone can get more comfortable with the rest of the party, with the setting and system, and at the end of that arc I will have the option for people to continue into a fuller campaign, or if they prefer for any reason, to step away instead. More generally, my main focus as a GM is story and roleplay and I only write my own campaigns. I run an inclusive table, and actively encourage diverse player groups to bring different perspectives to the table. I use the rules as my base point, and will typically stick to them as written, or as homeruled in advance, but I am flexible enough to amend them when the rules prove to be at odds with everyone's enjoyment or with the kind of story being told. I tend to start hands-off, and allow my players as much freedom as possible to approach things as they wish, then make the scene responsive to your choices, focus most on what matters to you, and tailor each game, scene by scene to the party and the players. I love to do character work with my players if you struggle with fleshing out your character or need to know more about the scenario. I do character voices whenever possible and I encourage but don't require players to do the same. My challenges tend to be more based on social, political, or even philosophical difficulty, making difficult decisions and piecing together information. In general I do not kill player characters, but have more specific rules regarding that, see my profile for more information. I can provide access to PDF copies of the rulebooks for every game I run. I use Kenku FM to stream music through discord and always make a playlist, and I have a subscription to the Obsidian Portal campaign management tool, so my players can use it for free. Please see my profile for more details on all the above points!
Gameplay details
I use Red/Yellow/Green card in place of X/N/O's, and they can be messaged to me privately or said verbally. Session 0 will include creating characters together so we can discuss if anything we create crosses lines for others. I will be sending everyone a consent checklist prior to session 0 as part of first discussions with any potential players. A lot of the campaign is still to be determined, so while other triggers may be introduced, I can use our discussions to avoid anything relevant to those at the table. The listed content warnings are just the things that are unavoidable with the premise and setting given. My Open Door policy is a general one, not just for safety measures, but for anything players would like to discuss. It's something I urge players to use if they have any safety concerns though, and I will never be upset if you come to me with a problem. I will be happy for the opportunity to help.
Content warnings
Safety tools used
• Aftercare
• Lines and Veils
• Luxton Technique
• Luxton Technique Discussion
• Monte Cook RPG Consent Checklist
• Open Door
• Session 0
• Stars and Wishes
• X, N, and O Cards
How will character creation work
Character creation will be done as a group as part of session 0. I encourage people to have a character concept ready, and would also recommend having more than one just in case, but the actual mechanics of character building will be gone through together over discord. This is so that players unfamiliar with the system get to take part in the process and learn as they go without feeling singled out, and so that everyone's characters complement each other. I have made some significant changes to the Traveller character generation system as it is written. You will still be rolling for your base stats, and applying bonuses based on your species. If you are unfamiliar with the traveller character generation system, do not worry, I can walk you through everything step by step and will be doing so for everyone in either case. Just know that Traveller character creation is notorious for random events affecting your character and how they develop, and it is technically possible for your character to die during the generation process. However, that's actually incredibly rare and completely optional, but the risk can make it fun if you embrace the unpredictability. I run a low-psionic, but high-tech setting, and am happy to discuss ways to make most character concepts work. Space is big, after all. It might be strange, but it's probably happened somewhere. For those more familiar here are some details. While I still follow the career system and there is randomness involved, I have introduced some safety features to make it easier to guide your character's progression by picking skills rather than rolling for them, and banning the Jack of All Trades skill. I'll also be specifying a number of career terms that all characters will go through, to try and keep everyone roughly on par with each other. Normally this would require every character to be the same age, but I have decided to decouple the career terms from any specific timeframe. Perhaps your character simply had a very eventful few years before the game started. Psionic characters are permissible, but it is a low-psionic setting, and psionic characters are encouraged to specialise in it. Technology abouve TL 16 is not yet available, and your background and species may affect the availability of other technology.
Players can expect
Combat / Tactics
Low
Roleplay
High
Puzzles
Low
Experience level
Open to all
Platforms used
• Discord
• Roll20
$25.00
/ Session
Each player will be charged when a session starts.
Details
Weekly / Saturday - 1:00 PM UTC
3-3.5 Hour Duration
0 / 5 Seats Filled
Requirements
Experience required: Open to all
Age: All Ages