Dying on the STS Fulton

We've had a few deaths, then a TPK, and a WHOLE lot of close calls in this game. My ideal is that whenever a PC dies the player response is "yeah that makes sense" and no one is surprised. A little upset is fine, heck I sometimes think I get more upset when their PCs die, but I always want it to feel fair.

The first death happened within the first few sessions. Two PCs went to talk to a sleeping dragon, one ignored warnings about not asking to ride the dragon, and the dragon killed her. Everyone on the same page with that one. It also helped to set the stakes for the game early one, which I appreciated.

Next two PC deaths were much later, due to a battle with some naked bandits. This one was a little more random but I think (hope?) fit in with the general potential danger of the setting. I'm also very intentional with trying to make encounters be more than "enemy kill!"

How do these deaths get handled from a play perspective? I have a standing policy of "immediate integration" for new PCs which means the new character shows up, everyone is groovy, and play continues.

The first death was real close to them landing their pod so we just handwaved it "oh yeah new PC was just walking slow." For the next two, the party was way out from their drop pod so I said that the Fulton shoots down new cryo pods because it can detect that someone from the Expedition Party has died. This does not stand up to scrutiny AT ALL because it can be exploited in all kinds of ways by my (very clever) players but we all agreed that it was a cool, hand wavey convenience and not meant to introduce new tools or resources for them. Highlights the importance of everyone being on the same page.

Great so random individual deaths are covered. What happened with the TPK? The party attempted a very bold plan of action to steal an airship from an island of pirates. It was not going well. After two PCs went down Gucci triggered the party's suitcase nuke and that was it, Total Party Kill and Total Pirate Kill. The one downside was that two of the players were not in attendance but I tried and failed to come up with some kind of rationale for how they might have survived the nuke that leveled the island they were on (no refrigerators). I really couldn't think of another way to handle it, and the players were sad but okay, but it still broke the general rule of "if you're not here then your PC is safe." It was a pretty extreme situation, at least.

All the best TPKs are player-driven.

In a more standard fantasy game a TPK might just mean you roll up a new party and pick a town to start in but the STS Fulton LNK has an in game method and logic for where new PCs come from. That logic, as represented by the station AI H3LENE, dictated that there would not be a new party thawed out of cryo right away. In fact, 200 years passed in game before H3LENE woke up the next set of PCs. This gave the world a chance to progress and in turn gave the players a new, but still familiar, situation to deal with.

How do you handle TPKs in your game? I liked (and the players liked) the time jump so much that I think I'd go for it a more fantasy toe game as well.

STS Fulton Campaign

Landing page for the STS Fulton campaign I've been running in Troika.

Session Count:102 (as of 12/28/2023)

Tempo: Every Thursday night

General Posts

Five Things: STS Fulton

Current Party

PCs in bold, NPCs in italics, backgrounds custom written for the campaign

 

Ashlee Leblanc, Procurement Specialist (Peanut Butter)

Clint Thircord, Rocketeer (James)

High Priest Basura Lixo, Scavenger (Sugarplum)

Jason Kelce Gamma12, Organ Incubator (Vegas)

Windril Pondo Tuttus, REDACTED (Juice)

Xerxes Armiger, Psyker (Eclair)

Graveyard

PCs in bold, NPCs in italics

 

Beatrice Bonne Nuit, CorpSec Goon, pissed off a dragon [Session 2 or 3] (Sugarplum)

Antone Bioerde aka "Cook Jackson", Cook, slain by naked bandits [Session 55] (Sugarplum)

Truffle, beloved truffle dog, slain by naked bandits [Session 55] (Sugarplum)

Davian Zatharis aka "Mollusc Man", Scientist, slain by naked bandits [Session 55] (Juice)

Hippolyta Bain, Asteroid Miner, shot by guards while trying to steal SKY KING FULMINARIS's lightning sky ship [Session 70] (Eclair)

al-Jazari, Biosimulant, Torn apart by lightning sky ship minigun [Session 70] (Vegas)

Gucci Zircon, Space Attorney, Vaporized by a suitcase nuke [Session 70] (Sugarplum)

Gray Jackson, Navigator, Vaporized by a suitcase nuke [Session 70] (James)

Jettadiah "Jett", Amnesiac Test Subject, Vaporized by a suitcase nuke [Session 70] (Juice)

Jonnifer Macleod, Engineer, 3rd Class, Vaporized by a suitcase nuke [Session 70] (Peanut Butter)

Abrahan Caseus, Goat Wrangler, Old age / natural causes [between Sessions 70 + 71] (Helpful Waffle)

Finn McCool, Spliced Prisoner [Sharkman], Sliced and diced by angry mole creatures [Session 96] (James)

Billybob Hornton, Goat Wrangler, Lost a goat whistlin' battle [Session 99] (James)

Using Luck in Troika

When I first started running Troika I had a hard time with Luck Tests. I didn't really know how to use them and, with one memorable exception, my players never really got in precarious spots from their luck being low. For context, Luck is a stat that can vary from 7 to 12 and you test it by rolling 2d6 under or equal the stat. Succeed or not, your Luck goes down by 1, making you less likely to succeed on following attempts.

After almost 80 sessions of my STS Fulton campaign I think I've got a better handle on it so figured it's worth sharing what's been working for me. Of course I'm curious to hear what others' experiences or tips are as well!

1. Don't say "Test your Luck"; always ask "Would you like to test your Luck".

The specific phrasing of a Luck Test being a player choice is right in the Troika rules but it's something that I worked to internalize so wanted to repeat it. Luck is a resource that decreases whenever used, making it harder and harder to succeed as it goes down, so it should be up to the player whether they choose to expend it. It gives my players a greater feeling of control over the outcome which is always what I'm going for.

2. Luck is for stuff that happens to you.

Rough equivalent to a saving throw in other systems, used for somehow protecting yourself from dragon breath, airship mounted miniguns, getting horrible spores in your mouth, and other similar events.

3. Luck is also for fixing undefined details

If the players ask a question about the situation that I don't already have an answer to and doesn't follow from establishes facts then I will sometimes ask them if they want to Test Luck to make reality match what they're looking for. "Is this important enough to spend your Luck on it?" For smaller questions I'll often just agree, but testing Luck gives an avenue for finding out if something more impactful goes the player's way.

4. Use Luck to power special abilities

I've primarily used this so far for a couple special abilities for backgrounds, like the ole "pull something momentarily useful out of your sack-o-crap", but there's no reason you couldn't more broadly apply it. Stuff like finicky equipment, unreliable cybernetics, or cold calling potential contacts could all work. I also just put a straight "+1 Luck" in a particularly fortune favored background.

5. Use Luck for supernatural favor

I said "favor" very specifically because it felt too mean (to me) to take away from the meagre Luck reserves that most players seem to have. It's not come up yet (soon!), but I could see giving a bonus over and above the normal Luck cap to represent divine influence or exceptional fortune. Maybe more to come on this one.