Ah, when sociopathy was considered the default in RPG's

[jeriendhal]

I was flipping through The Traveller Adventure recently, after pulling it off my bookshelf in a fit of nostalgia. Published around 1980, it was perhaps one of the first actual grand campaign settings for an RPG, not merely a one off adventure that a GM would have to connect together with his PC's somehow.

The plot revolves around a MacGuffin that the PC's get a hold of, a brooch that contains a microfilm(!) message with evidence that a major subsector arms manufacturer is selling a pair of naval meson guns to a local pirate group. Once getting it, the PC's fly off on their subsidized merchant, the March Harrier and spend potentially game years trying to figure out what's going on prevent the sale and stop the pirate from taking over the sector.

Here's the thing. The plot starts with them coming to the aid of a Vargr (an anthropomorphic wolf) who is being chucked out a museum, while they're on leave on the planet as their ship is being repaired. Once he (partially) explains the situation, the default assumption in the adventure (there are no other options considered) is that they're going to drop everything to aid this guy breaking into the museum and help him recover "his" property.

This makes no sense. Especially on a world which from the description in the campaign book is a perfectly law abiding place, not a "Wretched hive of scum and villany".

[Poll #1459167]

Comments

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

Not responsive to your poll, but I vividly remember my first Traveller campaign. At the end of the first session, our party was on a submarine, hiding from the Imperial Space Navy. The charges included poaching, several counts of assault, kidnapping, hijacking, trespassing on government property, theft of government property, sabotage, espionage, and extortion. We were guilty of all but the first; nonetheless, we were (in our own minds) the good guys.

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

So, pretty typical campaign then. ;p

[secoh.livejournal.com]

I voted break in, only coz I always wanted to sneak into a museum after hours haha

I miss playing "Paranoia". By far the most fun and manic RPG I ever played.

[jvowles.livejournal.com]

You missed the obvious: roll for initiative, kill the wolf, harvest the corpse. :)

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

Most races in that universe would object to skinning a sentient being. The one that wouldn't are a bunch of Imperialistic herbivores, so they'd just object to the smell.

[selenite.livejournal.com]

I recall my last D&D game had a moment where the DM offered us some bait and all eight players had no interest. He faced united gazes of "Next plot hook please."

I can't remember having one of my plot hooks rejected, though there was the group that wound up voting on it. Went like this:
NPC passenger: "Hi, I'm a plot hook!"
Captain: "It's a trap!"
Rest of players: "Of course it's a trap, it's the plot hook."

Actual dialogue was in-character but that's the gist.

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

We had a similar conversation once:

GM: This guy comes up...

PC 1: We'll take it.

GM: But you didn't even hear...

PC 2: Well it's not like we've got anything else to do this evening.

I can't help it...

[secoh.livejournal.com]

Re: I can't help it...

[selenite.livejournal.com]

Always. Though to keep the players constantly surprised, I make the employers honest and spring the trap from another direction.

[iosef.livejournal.com]

As I was playing a Solomani IntSec agent, we just put down the wounded animal.

"we shoot the Vargr"

The GM was not happy. First time I ever got asked to do something else instead.