Building the Perfect Dog

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142.14 Building the Perfect Dog

by Roger Myhre

This document has been an article on KU #4. Since then I have changed the rules a bit, and modified the careers. This document will be upgraded as new special careers pop up.

As the Traveller: The New Era (TNE) do not include Vargr character generation I will present some rules here that I think will be of use. Note that GDW may have other plans for Vargr character generating. As the Vargr is quite close to humans (not counting looks, ancestry and behaviour) their skill will be quite like. And I won't introduce any new skills.

The Stats

Vargr got the same stats as humans, with one exception. Vargr do not have Social status, but their Charisma rating is the measure to find where they stand in the Vargr society. A Vargr with high Charisma will attract other Vargr for followers. So put a '-' in the Soc box on the character sheet.

The stats are rolled as following. STR 2D2-2, AGL 2D6, CON 2D-2, INT 2D6-1, EDU 2D-1, CHA 1D6.

If the total stats are less than 33, the player can add the difference to the character stats, with these exceptions:
CHA cannot be increased to more than 3. Any other stat cannot be increased beyond 11. The 33 limit is lower than the limit in the rulebook of 36. The reason for this is that the Vargr is generaly weaker than an average human.

When calculating the weight of a Vargr use the same formula as for humans but the base weight is 70Kg. Making generally Vargr smaller than Humans. The base weight is the same for males as for females. For hand combat damage factor is the same as for humans, but add 1D6 damage each time the Vargr elects to use his or hers claws. For using the claws the skill is as for unarmed combat, Unarmed Melee skill which all Vargr characters start with at level 0, Leadership is also a skill they start with at 0.

SELECTING CAREERS

The Vargr can use all the careers in the book except for "Hiver Technical Academy". There are some consideration to Vargr when they are generated.

Firstly their Charisma rating is a measurement of how successful a given Vargr is. The Charisma rating may go up and down during generation.For CHA beyond A the cost is doubled. Thus it cost is 2 points from A to B. But loss of one point in CHA brings you automatically from B to A. In some careers there is possible to make a big enough mistake that you are thrown out. This is true to all military careers. This does not however stop the character generation, the character just has to enter a new career, but not a military one, if he or she makes the continuity roll. Even if you are thrown out from a career, you always finish the term before you enter a new one.

CHA is increased/decreased like this:

+1 If promotion is made.
+1 if 12+ is rolled. Cumulative with above modifier. And promoted an additional rank.
-1 if the promotion roll is missed by 4 or more
-2 and demoted if the roll is natural 2 regardles of DM's. Not cumulative with above modifier. Holds true for both special duty and promotion rolls.

If a natural 2 is rolled twice in a given military career the character is thrown out at the end of the term.

If your character is from Society of Equals in Gvurrdon, he or she must make a special roll to be rated equal. This is essential to enter the following careers: Any military officer, Diplomat, Lawenforces or Aristocrat.

Difficult, Willpower

This task is rolled before the character generation is started. If the roll is a catastrophic failure roll 1D6 and divide the result on the STR, AGL and CON stat. Reduce the stats accordingly. This is damage taken from the test.

Example: A player rolls 4 on the die, when he has failed. Thus the stats has to be reduced with one each. For the remaining point the player may choose which stat to reduce.

CAREERS:

Oruelaen

Psionic forces of Thirz Empire in Gvurrdon. Thirz empire has a special force of psionic agents. They are not secret agents as portraied in movies, but rather a information gathering group for the King in Thirz Empire. Not much are actually known about them publicly, so a lot of myths has been spun around them. All sophonts that are citizens of Thirz Empire may apply. They will be tested for potentiality before they are admitted. For ranks use Army table in the rulebook. All who are admitted start with rank E5 Sergeant.

Rank O10 General is not available for playing characters when King Thir holds this position. As the force is small and there is only possible to get promoted when a operative dies or quits, the agents start at Enlisted rank, no matter what kind of academies or careers they have attended before. Those who are admitted get a Cha+1.

Prerequesites
PSI strenght of 8+, and at least one of these abilities: telepathy, Teleperception or any useful arcana.
Citizen of Thirz Empire.

First Term
COMMISSION: 10+, +1 if CHA 6+
SKILLS: Psionics-2, Determination-2, Gun Combat-1, Perception-1

Subsequent Terms
COMMISSION: 8+, +1 If CHA 6+. The character becomes an Officer. Rank O1.
SKILLS:

ENLISTED: Psionics, Determination, Unarmed Melee, Gun Combat, Perception

OFFICERS: Psionics, Determination, Space vessel, Gun combat, Unarmed Melee, Perception

All Terms
SPECIAL DUTY: Spacehand, Crime, Social Science, Vehicle, Tactics, Interaction.
PROMOTION: 8+, +1 If CHA 6+, +1 if INT 8+
CONTACTS: Military, Government (Officers only), Intelligence, Academic. Roll 10+ on 2D6 for the contact to be from outside the Thirz Empire.
OTHER EFFECTS:

+1 per term as officer for scout/courier ship.

Money is calculated from CHA stat not Intelligence.

Use Advanced stellar as base when calculating money.

Initiative is rolled 1D6

Aristocrat

As an aristocrat you know how the interstellar governments in the extents is working. And if you are lucky and use your skills properly, you might be able to carve out a place for your own.

Prerequesites
CHA 8+ or Population of 6 or more.
Must not have been thrown out of a military career.

First Term
SKILLS: Charm-2, Interaction-3, Social Science-2, CHA+1

Subsequent Terms
SKILLS: Charm, Interaction, Fine Arts, Determination, Economics. May trade in skill levels for CHA increase.

All Terms
SPC ADVENTURE: 7+. Spacevessel, Perception, Unarmed Martial Arts, Vice, Crime
CONTACTS: Government, Military, Intelligence
OTHER EFFECTS:

+1DM per term for yacht.

Whenever the CHA stat is reduced below 8 the character may not continue this career. Note that CHA may not get above 15 or F.

Fair Witness

This career are only open to citizens of Thoengling Empire in Gvurrdon Sector. A Fair Witness (FW) is a profession where a Vargr, or some other sophont has gone through a training, giving total recall. FW is pledged to report whatever it observed when on duty. Most FW is working free-lance, but need a permit to do so. There is almost impossible to bribe a FW to tell something else, that the FW did observe. The reason for this is that the job itself gives quite good economical freedom, and Charismatic standing among the Vargr. A FW will never offer an oppinion, nor a theory when on duty. Or speak his or her meaning when recalling something they observed while on duty. Thus if asked why a person acted has he did, the FW cannot answer this, but only tell what the person did. The FW will recall what he saw, heard, smelled, felt and so on. A FW may be hired by anyone, but as they get better, their fee increase accordingly. FW are often used when deals are been made, or when there is need for a independent witness in a certain process.

When an obervation is going to be made, let the PC roll an imprint task, using observation as asset. Base difficulty should be difficult, adjusted depending on the situation. When the given situation is to be recalled later, a new task is rolled. The difficulty on this task depends on the success level on the prior task.

Asset: Observation
Imprint Success Level
Recall Difficulty

Outstanding Success 	Routine
Success  		Difficult
Failure   		Formidable
Outstanding Failure 	Impossible

More than 1 year ago +1 level of difficulty
Recall Success Level How much was recalled?

Outstanding Success 	100%
Success                 75%
Failure                 50%
Outstanding Failure      0%

For more information on Fair Witness, read "Stranger in a strange land" by Robert A. Heinlein, a must read for a SF fan.

Prerequesites:
INT 9+, Citizen of Thoengling Empire, No criminal career prior to this.

First Term:
CHA+1, INT+1, EDU+1, Observation-2, Interaction-2, Willpower-1, Vice-1

Subsequent Terms:
SKILLS: Social Science, Perception, Interaction, Charm, Fine Arts. Skill levels may be traded for CHA

All Terms:
SPC ADVENTURE: 9+, Cha+1, Crime, Determination, Gun Combat, Vice, Economics, Physical Science, Melee
CONTACTS: One contact per term from either: Goverment, Legal, Business
OTHER EFFECTS: Roll 1D6/2 for initiative. Calculate money from either CHA or Observation asset, wich-ever is the highest.

Vargr versus other sophont interaction

First time a non Vargr character is interacting with Vargr NPC's or other Vargr characters, divide that characters CHA with 2, and drop fractions. The result may not be below 1. Note however that this will reduce all assets EXCEPT language skills. For the character to increase his or hers CHA to normal level follow the general CHA increase and decrease rules below. The opposit is also true when a Vargr are going to interact with humans for the first time. Note that both of these cases relates to Humans in a Vargr dominated society, or Vargr in a Human dominated society.

Charisma increases and decreases

When a session is over there should be checked if the leader of the group, the character with the highest CHA, will increase his charisma. The difficulty level is up to the referee. But I will give a few pointers.
Asset: Leadership.

The session was an outstanding success 		Average
The group met its goals in the session 		Difficult
The group barely made the goals 		Formidable
The group made only a few of its goals 		Impossible

If any of these tasks are a catastrophic failure the leader loose 1 point of Charisma. If the leader has CHA of A or more increase the difficulty with one level.

The difficulty levels should be modified with how difficult the adventure was. If the adventure was an total failure, the character must roll a formidable task to prevent Charisma decrease. If that roll is a catastrophic failure, the leader loose 2 points of Charisma.

The leader may also by commendate or reprimand the others in the group, and thus increase or decrease the CHA of these characters. The leader may only commendate a character if he himself got a CHA increase, but he may reprimand a character whenever he wish. But reprimand a character without reason will have counterproductive results, and the referee should penalize this.

One good roleplaying tip is that the referee places the players in clockwise fashion, with the highest CHA rated character to the left of him. Whenever there is an important decission to be made, ask the leader first. Ignore the others for a while. If the leader is hesitating, this can mean a loss in Charisma specialy if other players start to come with solutions. This is to simulate that the other Vargr always look to their leader. If the leader fails the others may take command. The referee should be a bit careful with this approach though. The player may not be good at roleplaying in this fashion, so the referee should give him more time than a player that got good abilities at this type of roleplaying.

Whenever 2 players got equal or a difference of one level in Charisma a Charismatic struggle erupts. The leader must then roll a difficult leadership roll to stay in position. If the roll fails, the two players change position.
If a catastrophic failure is rolled, the leader loose 2 CHA points.

The referee may also increase or decrease the CHA of characters during play, to give them a feel of how successful they are. However this should be used sparingly. If a player shows some initiative, and do something daring and succeeds he should be awarded. In doubt let him roll a difficult task.

Equally he should loose Charisma if he does something and fails, especially if he endangers the mission and the adventure group.

Other uses of Charisma is that a high Charisma Vargr will always reduce the Initiative to the opposition by one to a minimum of one, if they are of lower Charisma. If the Charisma to the leaders of the two groups are equal, let the player roll a difficult leadership to gain the upper hand. If this fails the opponent get the upper hand. When calculating loss of initiative to combat damage use the original initiative.

Remember these rules is only valid in a Vargr society. A human will have a hard time to prove herself, but when she gets the wheels turning, there might not be anything stopping her. Note that If the non Vargr character increases her Charisma above her original level it is returned to normal when interacting with other non vargr characters or NPCs.

Bribing Vargr

This may sound easy, but many has fallen into the trap, believing the Vargr nature is working for them. What they do forget is that do not oppose to the Charisma of the clerk in front of them, but the Charisma of his superior officer or leader.

An example is maybe in order. Lets say an Vargr journalist is working on a special report, and need graded information from the police. Offering money for bribery is pointless. As for most human societies social status is measured by the wealth you got. This is not the case with Vargr. To a Vargr you have to offer increase in Charisma. Money is something that comes along.

Money is not as important for a Vargr as for most human cultures. Money is a tool nothing more nothing less. However money should be offered in the bribe, but the amount never is large. Its just a small contribute for the service rendered. So the journalist must actually make up a case were he can prove that the police officer will increase in Charisma if the journalist is successfull in his investigation. Remember that Vargr are pack animals opposed to humans which are more invidiualistic. A Vargr will always view a certain action in the light of what the group will gain by that given action. Each individual Vargr always try to improve their status within a group. This sound contradictory, but viewed from the human point it is, but for the Vargr it makes sense. If the indiviual Vargr feels that he or she will gain Charisma to belong to that group it will be loyal to it, and do whatever is in her power to increase the group Charisma.

Going back to this journalist, he must convince the police officer that the whole department will gain by giving the information he needs. In most cases a person trying to bribe a Vargr only have to go up against the closest leader to the Vargr trying to be bribed.

The difficulty is such a bribery attempt is rarely easier than Difficult. If the group leader of the opposition are of lower Charisma it might be easier. The difficulty level should also be adjusted to how the bribing player is arguing, and how he or she present the deal.

There is also possible to buy information on the street by Vargr. In these cases money have more to say, when this kind of information is bought from Vargr that never are attached to a group over long period of time, and thus do not have the neccessary group loyalty, except for its own day to day survival.

Roger Myhre, 1993/1994