Freelance Traveller

#56: The End

This article originally appeared in the May/June 2022 issue.

The end. Finally, after 39 sessions, we came to the conclusion of The Traveller Adventure. Actually, that’s not quite true. Having a sense that we might be returning to these characters, this ship, this setting, I decided to focus my ‘wrap up’ on the PCs rather than bigger events. This may not have been the best call. Indeed, one of the players mentioned they had thought there would be more of a tidying up of loose ends. They weren’t complaining, it was just an observation, but I took it to heart and arranged an ‘XL’ session. A 40th session if you like or an eXtra Large one. We’d spend a few moments on the loose ends, we’d get to know a new player that wanted to join us from Wales, we’d practise some Melee combat by going very strictly through the rules and trying out specialised rules or gear we’d not really considered before.

In the end those ‘loose’ ends took half an hour or so and were fairly exhaustive as I’d been through my great ‘timeline’ of the whole campaign. It covered 18 months of game time and runs to nearly 20 pages. The snag is that I feel I may have now ‘spoiled’ things that could happen in the future of the PCs should we choose to continue but there was, at least on my part, an even greater sense of completion than the immediate aftermath of defeating Ashkashkur and the Kforuzeng’s dastardly plan to filch an Imperial Navy meson gun.

Before we continue however, and knowing I was ready for a break, one of the players has stepped up and offered to run Signal GK for our next session, or perhaps two, and I’ve very gratefully accepted.

My intention isn’t to write a report here, it’s to confess to the huge sense of relief I’m sensing after six years of not having to think about the ‘next thing’; not having to prepare the next session; not having to feel the weight of being an adequate referee. It was the lowest level kind of stress for 58 out of 60 days or so. (The couple of days before our sessions every other month were a bit hectic and sleepless.) But it was ever present and niggling.

However, that sounds like it’s all negative. I should say that it’s also been an experience I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. It’s been fun, it’s been informative, I’ve learned a lot. I’ve experienced The Traveller Adventure, I’ve dwelt in the Official Traveller Universe, I’ve learned a lot about myself and refereeing, some of which I may have captured here. I wouldn’t give it up for anything and am glad I embarked on the project – although I had no idea what it would involve at the start – and I’m hugely grateful to all nine players (at one time or another) who’ve taken part and been so patient with my newbieness and my mistakes. It has indeed been a Traveller adventure and I’d heartily recommend it!