Fri 24 Dec 2021, 04:56
This is how I have understood the preparation of Twilight 2000 game sessions. Se explanation below.
Read page 31 in Referee Manual about preparing sessions and read page 70 in Referee Manual about scenario sites. Then use the tables at pages 99-101 to create two or three scenario sites. Use the moral code or the big dream of the player characters and add interesting elements into the scenario sites so that the player characters will be interested in visiting the scenario sites. Then use the Radio chatter and the Rumors tables at page 50 and 51 in Referee Manual to let the player characters get to know about the scenario sites. The scenario sites will be located 5-10 hexes from the hex the player characters i staying at when the session starts. Draw an encounter card during each shift when playing out the traveling from the current hex to the hex where the scenario site is located. Check if the encounter on the card will happened or not (depending on terrain and time of the day).
Prepare another two scenario sites and let the player characters hear about the sites by radio chatter or rumors. Let the players decide whatever their characters do want to go to any of the scenario sites or not (probably they will if the sites are interesting enough and in accordance with the big dreams of the player characters). Play out the traveling from the current hex to the scenario sites by drawing encounter cards each shift of the day. There are four shifts each day (typically morning, day, evening and night). It's not possible to prepare these encounters because they are dependent of the choice of travel. Do the players chose to travel by vehicle, by boat or by marching, on road or off road, in wood or in mountains, by day or by night? The players are also able to let their character spend shifts by hunting/fishing, resting, foraging, scrounging, building camp, exploring and so on (page 137-149 in Player Manual).
Let's say a player character is the archetype Civilian and has the big dream "Get the hell away from these battlefields. Find a safe haven, where ever it may be.". Create a scenario site that match the big dream and let the player characters pick up a rumor that says that there is a civilized enclave called "Heaven's place" where people live almost as the did back in the old days. The enclave is located 8 hexes from the current hex. Maybe the rumor also says that the leader of the enclave is a woman that the player character recognizes as a childhood friend. There will have to be a conflict at the scenario site though. The player characters will not know about the conflict beforehand. It will be a surprise at the scenario site. Maybe an evil group is planning to overthrow the leadership of the enclave and sell all the civilians as slaves to a gang of marauders. As a referee you will have to prepare this situation (page 70 and 101 in the Referee Manual). You will also have to prepare a countdown of the situation (page 70 in the Referee Manual), events (page 70 and 101 in Referee Manual), locations within the scenario site, NPC:s and so on.
Hopefully the preparation of the scenario sites will be enough material to get the game going for a couple of sessions. But don't forget to ask the players at the end of each session (or between sessions) what their player characters do want to go the next session. You will have to prepare other scenario sites (or better reuse an existing scenario site by modifying it) if the players want to go in a new direction. Otherwise you will steer the players to much. Twilight 2000 is a hex crawling game. A hex crawl game is driven by the choice of the players. Your role as a referee (game master) is to prepare interesting scenario sites, "trick" the players to go to the scenario sites (by radio chatter, rumors or just by coincidence) and then between the sessions tie the scenario sites, the encounters that has happened, NPC:s together into an exciting story.
Please correct me if I'm wrong!