Hey Tim, how about some elaboration of how it all worked out?
Did you succeed where Strephon failed?
Yes! That was my particular memory of the adventure!
(see under 'A Second Highlight')
It's difficult to know what to add to that - especially over half a decade later, but let's see if I can summarize what I recall and add some notes:
- I very nearly didn't play! Because I was running Three Blind Mice and two slots of Ashfall (i.e. 3 games), I only had two free slots to play in. The year before I'd played in Steve Ellis' _The Zhodani Candidate_ which I'd loved but as Steve had said this was similar, I thought it would be wiser to give something else a shot.
- Fortunately he persuaded me to think again although I was perhaps naughty in saying that I'd play as long as I could play Strephon. Little realizing when I rather casually threw that out that a) he'd take me up on it and b) just how much of an emotional attachment I had to the whole enterprise because I got to play the Emperor
- The other players round the table will make a big impact on how this game runs. It helps - although it isn't absolutely vital - if they have some idea of Traveller's background (as the review says). I was fortunate perhaps in having several excellent role players in the slot with me. (My write up records the names of all but one, so I'm not sure who played Norris).
- Nick as Dulinor was just brilliant for the machiavellian role and he really went for it with IIRC lots of intrigue and lots of private chat/notes to Steve as Referee. I knew I had to 'watch' him.
- Lindsay playing the twins (Varian and Lucan) is a much quieter gamer but with lots of experience and bought lots of thoughtful subtlety to the two roles. I remember a really 'Doh' moment as I twigged about the brilliance of getting one player to be both twins!
- a standout memory was Anne playing Princess Iphigenia. She is Andy Lilly's daughter - he organizes TravCon. She was just (14?) I think at the time - although going on 18 in maturity. She was playing her very first Traveller game. Really thrown in at the deep end! But she took to it like a duck to water - no doubt with Steve giving her gentle steers if need be.
- what worked really well in our game (and won Anne and I jointly the Starburst award at the end of the convention) was that her (Iphigenia) seeking out my (Strephon) secrets and 'wisdom' about the political situation and the various goals that Strephon and she have, played really neatly into her being a novice and me having all this background knowledge from having known Traveller for 30 years. As I briefed her on, say, Project Longbow or JumpStart, it felt as if we were really 'there'.
- in addition to this my real life daughter was about the same age as Anne (give or take) so the whole 'father passing stuff on to daughter' thing suddenly became really intensely 'real' to me which I believe affected my 'performance' and gave others at the table added fun. (This was a discussion, iirc that could have happened in the corridor, but took place round the table because either it was towards the end or because Steve correctly predicted it wouldn't be crucial to how we were playing or would be interesting or both.)
- What is interesting to me even all these years later is how long it took me to really take on board just how much I was 'allowed' to do. I was emperor. Several times I asked Steve about what I could reasonably do and he told me flat out 'whatever you want' but I was only really adjusting to this very different mind set towards the end. Of course Steve has ways of balancing that amongst the players and *their* demands, but I suspect I missed opportunities to utilize the power of the throne more effectively.
- on which note, I'm really curious to know how this adventure might go down with players who know it well (and thus could 'game' it). Then again, that's what the Referee is for. If it runs again, I might have to give it a second go... I'll have probably forgotten the detail by then anyway, my memory is good like that.
- at this distance I can't really remember how actual events panned out in any real detail. I recall Varian I think it was being killed in a crash that wasn't an accident (Dulinor's doing), I do remember - I think - we played down the Princess' drug taking in deference to Anne's tender years. Not that she wasn't giving as good as she got in terms of intrigue. I think I may have explored possibilities for revoking Dulinor's licence to carry his pistol knowing it was a weak spot without knowing anything about the scenario (I don't recall, but I'm willing to bet that Steve had a quite-reasonable-at-the-time reason why I couldn't overturn centuries of tradition.
- I do remember lots of conversations in the corridors of the convention motel. In that respect it reminded me a lot of Diplomacy games I've played in the past. From that experience I knew to make sure I was talking to everyone in the game so that it didn't look like I was playing favourites.
- Steve, of course, may recall more but he's run the scenario several times so the details of this one may be lost in his memory as well.
- But of course, I shall never forget the denouement. Played out round the table even though it was strictly just Dulinor and Strephon present. I knew he'd been plotting with the Referee, I knew he'd arranged this meeting. I thought bodyguards etc and my own self-preservation would be enough (I don't recall if I had any other precautions, I may have done), but it was still apparent that THIS was the moment. Dulinor draws his pistol and, as I write in the AAR, the archduke managed - in what was I believe the only dice roll of the game - his snake eyes and Steve decreed that he missed and my bodyguards dealt with him. Nick took it in good heart and I hope he remembers it as fondly.
I wish I could remember more. I'm pretty certain that every time this is run it must go very differently depending on the players, but I shall treasure both playing the Emperor of the Third Imperium and in particular surviving the assination attempt that caused so much trouble in one alternate timeline. [2]
I hope that helps or is of interest. I'm sorry there's not more detail.
tc
[1] My colleague JP has played it with virtually no background which is why I think the review slightly oversells the difficulty of doing this. As it happened her lack of background knowledge quite nicely replicated the 'noble from the marches' being something of a fish out of water and not having all the contacts and connections he'd be used to
[2] Having said that, a more recent game I played in which was refereed by the young James Firminger had me and the other PCs as the cause of unleashing Virus many millennia after the events of the actual adventure! See A Long Sleepless Night reported under the Face Off! paragraph at https://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/stories/aartravcon17.html