This can be rather daunting to a new Referee/DM/Game-Master who is the director of the campaign. Where and how do you start? How do I prepare for the players ability to go ANYWHERE??
First lets break down the elements of your future game in TRAVELLER.
The Players:
First thing to consider is the players themselves. What kind of players are they? Do they like to lean a certain way? Are they law-abiding? Are they Mercs? Are they "Bad-guys"?
Quite often, this will be dictated buy "whom" they play as. So a lot of this will become more apparent when they roll up their characters and provide the interesting protagonists/antagonists to the setting.
The Ride:
Players will go from point A to B via some form of transportation. The Referee controls if this exists currently. This is your first point of control, at least to establish how this group will work.
Some cases, the ride is part of a character's benefits. This might scare you, but you still have a lot of control here as well.
The System:
The first scene takes place in the game, you have your choice of systems in the Imperium or in your own homebrew of systems.
Every system will have numerous worlds, the most habitable one is the one listed as the prominent world of the system. Depending on Tech levels, this system could have multiple locations on several planets in the system. You must make each system feel like it's more than one world. You want to make it feel like there is a LOT to explore in each system.
The most prominent point of control in these three elements is the Ride.
Remember with Benefit Starships introduced by a character due to their good fortune within their career path, this ride will be an old bucket of bolts. They do not give out brand-new off the line ships as Benefit give-a-ways. This ride might have failing components, a borked Jump drive is always the best faulty aspect of an acquired starship. AND if the players want to be free of the system, they need to earn the creds to buy the parts... or steal them or scavenge them.
Controlling this element is key to have several things happen for the group of players.
1: Gives them a goal
2: Gets them to work together to earn the part they need.
3: Let's you as the Ref, see how the players work together, will they do this with honest jobs? will they steal the part? will they be good-guys? bad-guys? will they work for the highest bidder?
After working on the system, detailing the planets (if they have a ship, at least let them have a functioning maneuver drive to explore the system) and creating points of interest on any colonies on other planets. Create some companies for the players to work for. Makes some really evil ones, make a few neutral ones, make ones that work for an out-of-system syndicate. Make some gangsters... corrupt officials...
Now you are starting to get it... this system will be LIT with adventures.
Now lets make a job board. This is where you have all these companies and organizations promoting jobs for the players to take. Some will be jobs that undermine other companies... this creates dynamic tension in the system, and an urgency to leave or gun-up and take em out!
This is as far as I go prepping the game. After the first session, I should know what to prep for. The players have established their connection, a job is taken, the course is plotted to the next location...
Establishing the way the PC group interacts with the system is key to you understanding where they will likely go next. Follow my tips above for your next TRAVELLER session and let me know how it went in the comments below.
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