Re: Traveller Characters

In article [email removed], [email removed] (Freeland K Abbott) writes:
>  Geez, all these ex-military types... does Traveller still require
>viable characters to go through military training?

This is my primary problem with GDW's conception of Traveller.  Almost
everything they produce is oriented towards the military.  I think
there's a lot of SF roleplaying possible with other backgrounds---some
of it might even be violent!

The best thing for Traveller refs was Supplement 4, Citizens of the
Imperium, which had starts for Doctors, Hunters, Scientists, Nobles,
Bureaucrats, Diplomats, and six other non-military types (okay, they
included Pirates and Barbarians as well).  The worst thing for Trav
were Books 4, 5, and etc: Mercenary and High Guard.  Suddenly the
military would have four times the number of skills as other
characters and all of it oriented towards violent action.  No thanks.

As for MegaTraveller, it looked worse all around so I skipped it.

Charles Martin // INTERNET: [email removed] // BITNET: [email removed]
UUCP: {cmcl2,harvard,decvax}!yale!martin

In article [email removed] [email removed] (Freeland K Abbott) writes:
>In article [email removed] [email removed] (Brad Post) writes:
>>
>>says, "Well my name is Samantha, and I used to be in the Scout Service."
>
>  Geez, all these ex-military types... does Traveller still require
>viable characters to go through military training?  I own the basic

Actually the Scout service was the best place for Samantha to learn her
specialty...flora and fauna of worlds in which humans can survive.  She
is not combat trained...what she does know is from having to deal with
big, dangerous animals and from barroom brawls.
	She would be most upset if you considered her ex-military...
the scouts are civil-service, yes, but she spent the 5th frontier war
helping refugees survive, not killing Zhodani.

	"I thought you were against killing"
	"Well...he was more animal than human anyway..."

	-Brad

In article [email removed] [email removed] (Bradley Solberg) writes:
>In article [email removed] [email removed] (Freeland K Abbott) writes:
>>In article [email removed] [email removed] (Brad Post) writes:
>>>
>>>says, "Well my name is Samantha, and I used to be in the Scout Service."
>>
>>  Geez, all these ex-military types... does Traveller still require
>>viable characters to go through military training?  I own the basic

If, in your campaigns, only military characters are "viable", then
I suspect it is because those campaigns revolved around military
themes and combat.  MT offers all the training services that
appeared in Traveller and its supplments. It is possible to
generate scientists, politicians, nobles, and several others.
Whether or not these characters are "viable" depends heavily on
the campaign.  I tend to run/participate in campaigns where the
primary elements are trade & commerce, piracy, and politics.
Any character with a background in these areas is viable in
this setting, whereas military skills only come into play
for things like protecting trade routes.

I've been a Traveller player/ref for over six years (more like
seven or eight, I guess).  If someone wants to run a campaign
without a military emphasis, Traveller and MT provide plenty of room
to do so.

- --
Ed Driscoll
[email removed]