Lost Worlds of the Ancients

Creating your character

In Traveller, character creation is a fun group activity, frequently referred to as "the best part of the game." I'll walk the group through the process during Session 0. You'll each end up with a developed character who is fun to play and has a built-in backstory that connects them to the other characters—you can focus on who your character is, instead of trying to optimize stats.

Preparing for the session

• You'll need free accounts at both Discord and The Forge (forge-vtt.com). If you need help setting those up, message me. • You'll need some way to participate in voice chat on Discord—a headset mic would be perfect. • We won't be using webcams. • You'll need a desktop or laptop computer to access the game on Foundry. The only software you'll need is whatever web browser you prefer. • If you're new to Traveller, I'll provide links to tutorial videos.

What Call Me Gary brings to the table

I'll provide • The Traveller core rules and a bunch of supplements. For those who don't own their own copies of the books, I'll make excerpts of important sections available. • A published mini-campaign that we'll use to kick-start the game • Discord and Foundry servers • An Obsidian Portal page dedicated to the campaign, where all the details of the game can be recorded • Star charts and encounter maps • Experience playing Traveller going all the way back to the 1980s • A relaxed, easygoing atmosphere • A commitment to making sure you have fun Traveller is a roleplaying-first game, so I'll be using a lot of Theater of the Mind except when combat or exploration is involved. This is a long-term, open-world game, and the party will have a great deal of agency in deciding where they go and what they do. But whatever the party decides, I'll be sure to prepare an interesting adventure to accommodate it—there will be no aimless, boring sandbox wandering. Fun is the highest priority. If the rules are slowing things down or making the game less fun, we'll break them. For those unfamiliar with Traveller, it leans toward the harder, more realistic end of the science fiction spectrum. The characters are less over-the-top than in some other RPGs. The style has been called "ordinary joes in space." It's a bit grittier than a run-of-the-mill RPG, but it isn't grim or horrific. New players will be able to learn the rules as we play—they aren't very difficult to master. This campaign will draw material from Mongoose's Ancients campaign and from the Classic Traveller Sky Raiders campaign, but we won't be following the storyline of either.

Homebrew rules

Most of the rules original to the table are little tweaks to existing rules, to make things easier on player characters and provide a little variety. All house rules will be on the campaign's Obsidian Portal page for easy reference. I also use a bunch of official variant rules from the Traveller Companion (most notably Luck and Broad Skills). All of these rules will also be posted to Obsidian Portal, so everyone will know exactly what rules we are using and how they work, whether they own the books or not. Unlike most Traveller games, this campaign won't heavily feature ship mortgages, speculative trade, or taking on passengers. The party will have an opportunity to get a ship in the first adventure, and will be able to focus more on adventure and less on paying bills.

How Call Me Gary creates a safe table

This is a long-term, player-driven campaign and could encompass many kinds of stories. The content warnings list elements that will absolutely be included, but if there are specific things that make you uncomfortable, make sure you discuss them with me—I want to make sure this becomes the right campaign for you, and not one you'll regret playing. I will also have a more detailed content warning list in the campaign's Discord channel, and all players will be able to either comment on it or message me privately about it, so we can avoid topics that you'd rather not deal with in the game.