"Traveller for kids" Topic

The other day my little guy (he's 7) says, Dad, can we play a game? Sure, says I, what do you want to play? He goes up to my room and comes back down with Snap Shot. OK, here's the problem, dude; this game will take us an hour just to get ready to play, plus it's a pretty complicated game for a 7 y.o. Needless to say, we rolled up the animals and the characters for the introductory scenario and will likely play Thursday or Friday evening.

When I explained that the game was based on another game called Traveller, and showed him the books he was completely taken.

I've been thinking of setting up a simple game for him and his sister (10). I'd have them roll up characters and halve the strength, endurance and education rolls, maybe take a couple of points off of dexterity, and limit the skills they can gain in order to have them play as kids (so they won't be trying to think like adults) on a ship or a spaceport/spacestation.

The problem I'm having is coming up with a scenario for kids. Something that will grab them and hold their attention and keep them coming back for more. Have any of you done this? Or do you have any thoughts/ideas for a situation for them to get out of or a problem to solve?

Escape the Kidnappers. The kids are children of rich/influential/political parents, and are on vacation/field trip when the enemies of the parents decide to kidnap them for ransom/political leverage.

The kids can get into places no kidnapper can (small air ducts, etc.), and can have a grand old time making booby-traps a la "Home Alone" (though bobbytraps on a spaceship/station might be a bit more…permanent to the boobies who trip them…)

Great idea! I was trying to think of something along those lines but couldn't quite get it to gel.

Check out the Heinlein juveniles, gotta be one there you like. Star Beast, Citizen of the Galaxy – maybe a bit too much for a 7 year old. Podkayne of Mars, The Rolling Stones, Space Cadet…

give them some adult scenarios… Like their ship suffers an engineering casualty while looking at an abandoned station, and they need to get mom and dad into a stasis pod, get the parts to fix the ship off the station, and figure out how to bypass the "childproof" lockouts so they can get the ship home…

Everything from spacesuits that don't fit right, to no weapons from the smallarms locker, to no voice authorization on the ship oughta be really fun for them to game around, and should fit right in with the normal "how do we do that thing we want to do bu mom and dad won't let us" that all kids do

Think (home alone) in space.

Home alone in an isolated outpost attacked by aliens

Sundance, that's right in my wheelhouse at the moment.

I've got three boys, 16, 12 and 10, and they're wanting to move on from Dungeon World to some scifi, and Traveller is something I've talked up now and then. But how to make it work for kid characters, especially given the skill system?

I've considered giving them just the 'starter' skill choices, and work their way up. I do like the halved strength, endurance and education. Not sure about dexterity, they can be quick and handy little things…but the inability to know how to use it would be in the lack of skills.

A worry I have about that, though, is that unless they've got some exceptional stats, they're going to be rolling 8+ for almost everything, with very little ability to affect that from their characters, outside of manipulating their environment, perhaps. That's not a lot of agency in respect to their world. And sure, real-world kids don't have a lot of agency, but that's one of the reasons we play these games.

Now, that conundrum set aside, scenarios!

Shipwreck!

Parents are out of commission (but not in deadly peril), kids must deal with problems. In space and on a planetary surface would make for very different situations.

Kidnapped!

As mentioned above, or possibly to be sold into slavery – there might be other kids to rescue!

Invasion!

Their little, mid- or low-tech world is attacked and occupied by raiders, and the kids have to avoid capture, get word to Imperial (or other more local) authorities, etc. This is a chance to drive them into the arms of another culture, to let them learn about the depth of the setting through having to talk to, and for a while, live with, say, Vargr, Aslan, or others.

Explorers!

There's lots to find out in the wilderness of the colony world, especially where Mom says not to go.

Other ideas?

You could have them hunt tribbles, though since it's kids, they'll be using stun settings only.

Also, the tribbles (little, inexpensive puff balls, sold at craft stores) are a lot more mobile than shown in the original Trek series, when they're hungry.

Think the little crab aliens from Alien, and Aliens, etc., only in the reverse. Instead of attacking, they quickly scurry away, and are very good at playing "hide and seek", which is a favorite of many kids.

You can use Snapshot, for the stun gun rules, hits on 8+, 10+, and 12+ on 2D6, depending upon the range.

You can also have them explore a spaceship, or a spaceport, to see what interesting things they can find. Throw in some recent, real world space discoveries, just for fun.

Good ideas, Mako.

The kids are doing chores onboard the ship/station, which take them around the place and present various challenges? Maintenance, vermin control, 'Good Samaritan' patrol?

Keep in mind that roleplaying for kids is very much a learning experience, and they *will* try to apply the skills they need in real life (and vice versa). So I would recommend keeping the scenarios fanciful, or make the objectives and goals ones you'd want them to follow in real life (at this stage, I'd avoid themes that might encourage them not to seek the aid of authority figures if something similar happened in real life).

You might channel a little classic Johnny Quest, upgraded to the Traveller setting, and include a Race Bannon type character, an adult NPC they can trust, whom they can call on "in an emergency." A scenario where he's wounded or ill, and they have to help him, is a good possibility. Give them "kid-sized" problems, and let them assist adult characters in handling "adult-sized" problems.

I like the "rescue the fuzzy aliens" ideas (the Tribbles need to be collected and moved from an approaching threat— flood, wildfire, volcano). Encounters with new aliens (maybe alien kids, or kid-sized aliens) would also be interesting. A variation on the classic "explore the ancient abandoned(?) alien city" is good, as it can include simple logic puzzles and low-danger perils. (Think updating the old "Shadows" adventure.)

FInally, keep the adventures short, or create a continuing story that can be played in brief, fun episodes, like a classic serial: "Last week on Rocket Raider…" Heck, check out the stories in some of the old serials or TV shows and update them as your adventure ideas.

…and now I'm thinking of a space station with a school/youth organization composed of human, Vargr and Aslan kids somewhere in the Spinward Marches…

"Okay, kids, today we're working on our Orienteering and Botany lessons!"

"Aww, dirtside again?"

Oh, and just to make some stuff more challenging, assign them to watch over some troublesome robots/droids, just for comedic humor. The latter are always getting into trouble, and just might get the kids in that too, if they don't properly supervise them (lots of opportunities for learning lessons here).

Have something going on that only the kids notice. All the garbage bots are gathering at odd times in the less used corridors of a space station, and the adults don't listen to the kids worries about it. Are they going sentient? Or has someone on the station corrupted their programming for their own purpose? Maybe there is a evil plot going on that needs to be disrupted by "Those darn kids". The "Kids notice something and have to deal with it because the adults don't see the problem" is a classic of children's stories.

The space-station idea is great…. but I keep getting these visuals of Red Dwarf and Felis-sapiens….

Also, a 'survival story' a la 'Robinson Crusoe on Mars' sounds promising. This is more open-ended, and allows you to drop in hints, goodies, and plot twists as needed to keep pace with thier interest. Adult characters can be encountered as needed, but are not always hovering around the corner and controlling the action, and there is a real sense of freedom and danger.

Good times, I hope everybody has fun!

That sounds like a good idea.

Perhaps their school "spacebus" safely crashlands on some backwater, after a mechanical failure, and they need to find their way to civilization (assuming there is any), and/or a high place to send a rescue beacon signal from.

The main bus one was knocked out when the power failed, before the crashlanding, so they need to use the emergency backup one they've found (make them hunt for it), in the survival kit of their vehicle.

They have to overcome all sorts of terrain, dangers, strange creatures, etc., and to work together as a team to be rescued.

Thanks for all the ideas! I hadn't thought of most of them, but I like several. The 'Lost in Space' approach is appealing because it would allow them to more fully use the game.

A scenario involving chirper or droyne and cross it with a Wizard of Oz scenario. If they have a favorite cartoon have them go on an adventure in that world. My Little Pony crossed with K'kree could be some wild adventures. Pirates of the Starlanes with Vargr Corsair: Long Fang Silver searching for Treasure Planet / Moon. Just a few ideas. Classic childrens' stories, movies and cartoons are an endless source of ideas for kid's adventures.

Mugwump