# COMMENTARY: On the Four Legs of Traveller (pt 1: Mortgage) tags: #thoughts , #game/rpg/traveller [](https://64.media.tumblr.com/93657843f86db364ad97f1d66409781c/fdbbbe3ca8149471-1b/s500x750/bef87b1d3bf4a69b3450ee6682db5020c2d2af09.png) Proving that *[[Mastodon]]* is not completely useless – all the time – I stumbled on to an article someone wrote about the pivotal nature of your ship mortgage and why it drives so much of the game in **[[Traveller]].** > **[On the Four Table Legs of Traveller, Leg 1: Mortgages](https://sirpoley.tumblr.com/post/623913566725193728/on-the-four-table-legs-of-traveller-leg)** It's been so long since the introduction of the game that it's good to be reminded some people are still discovering it and the reasons why it works. Everything in this article is applicable to **[[Ironsworn - Starforged|Ironsworn: Starforged]]**, by the way. Everything. If you're looking for motivations or origins of good vows, this certainly qualifies. In fact, the background file, "I will pay off the mortgage on this ship" certain theme makes for a good epic vow. > The beating heart of a *Traveller* sandbox campaign is this loop: >  Round and round we go and where we come out – is a good story. Though I will comment on this: > To bring this back to mortgages, if your players don’t have the threat of having their spaceship repossessed by the bank hanging over them like the Doom of Damocles, then the whole system breaks down, and the DM has to do all the heavy lifting of providing character motivation to go explore new planets. This is a problem with traditionally architected RPGs. By default, they believe that the GM is responsible for providing character motivation and not the players. It's no wonder that so many of them reach burnout or frustration with players – because that's just not true. The players should be bringing motivation to the characters. The characters should literally want something that they can't have and must take action to acquire. If they don't, that's not a fault of the GM. It may be a fault of the game system itself, which doesn't care about character motivation or hoping to mechanize that in order to encourage it. It may be a fault of bad or poorly socialized players, who expect to be spoon-fed or are just used to a GM running roughshod down the railroad tracks. But it's not a necessity. It shouldn't be treated as a necessity. If you find that it's a necessity in your game – you are doing something wrong.