ISO A4 format - Freelance Traveller

Fifth Imperium(Continued from page 4)elements).9. Plot arcs can really help to give form to acampaign. I already mentioned that I ran three majorplot arcs in my campaign. More specifically,they were: hunting down the person who‘d causedthe crash of a star ship; getting to Mora to receivecommendations; and delivering a person of importanceto Vanejen.Besides providing structure to the campaign,these plot arcs also ensured that every 6 weeks orso players could succeed at a goal they‘d beenworking on. Two of the three arcs led to multiweekfinales (where most of my sessions over thecourse of the campaign were one-offs) which justimproved the sense of accomplishment. I love big,meandering plots, but I think these mini-arcsworked better within the strictures of an RPG, especiallyfor a game that was sometimes run irregularly.10. Letting characters in on the creativity canwork wonders. I used to jealously guard the creativityof my games, but thanks in part to some ofthe podcasts of 2d6 Feet in a Random Direction Idecided to try and get the players more involvedthis time with telling me what they wanted to see inthe campaign.I did a lot of different stuff, some more successfulthan others. The best was my ―next time onIn A Store Near YouStim Stixby Ken MurphyStim Stix are a mixture of proprietary alchemicalingredients bonded to a pectin/gum based deliverysystem about 2.5cm long and about 6mm wide.Chewing the stick releases the mild stimulant, andthe active ingredient should last for approximatelyone hour. Chewing a stick more often than that, orchewing more than a single stick at a time—bothfrowned on by the manufacturers—will inevitablyincrease the duration of the effects.Sticks come twenty to a small pack (or occasionallythe Lucky 21 pack), and one hundred (orTraveller‖ segment, where I‘d ask players to giveme a scene, idea, or something else that they‘d liketo see in an upcoming game. On average I usedabout half of what I got, usually as some small elementin a story. However, I also ended up runningat least one episode entirely based on ―next time‖ideas and some pretty cool subplots appeared becauseof them, too. Even better, players wouldsometimes talk after the game about which plot elementshad been based on previous ―next times‖. AsI sometimes changed things around, and there werealways at least two weeks from one session to another,people rarely realized immediately what Iwas doing.Player empowerment, player buy-in, ideas thatI wouldn‘t have thought, and general grist for thecreative mill were all excellent results of lettingplayers into the creative process.ConclusionOverall, I‘m very pleased with how my Travellercampaign went, and I‘m hoping to repeat theexperience a few years down the road when I don‘thave quite as much other stuff in my life.For now, I‘ve got one more article coming upbased on my campaign: a list of short plot hookswhich will summarize the plots I ran and give youideas for how to use similar hooks in your owncampaign.That‘ll be next month.The Gun Shopsometimes missing up to 14) to a belt-clipped pack.Packaging is all smooth lines and a fast-lookingtypeface.Unlike the cigarette butts found nearly everywherehumankind has managed to reach in hisquest for the stars, the pectin/gum base makes StimStix a guilty pleasure with a conscious. They areeasily consumed, rather than turned into an eyesore.A small pack of Stim Stix costs Cr2, while thebelt pack costs only Cr9.Simulation Stats: Approximately 30 secondsafter chewing, the stimulant is dumped into the(Continued on page 6)5