Since we have been having discussions about how to handle various situations
as a gamemaster, let me throw out a question to the crowd. This is inspired
by a never run 2300AD character, but the same would apply to a similar
Traveller situation. Suppose we have a character who is a journalist.
In 2300AD he/she would have a high writing and perhaps imaging skill. In
Traveller, you might have to wing it, but let's assume that we are talking
about a character with a high education and intelligence, and that we will
use those to modify any task die rolls. Clearly, such a character could,
with the proper selection of other skills, be an asset to a group without
regard to the journalism. But suppose the player wishes to keep his character
in pocket money (or more) by selling their stories. I see no reason in
particular why this should be role played out, especially if it was a routine
occurence. (Ship lands, journalist sends files to his/her favorite publisher).
What would you do? Set it as a task with a set payoff, with extra for
extraordinary success, less for failure? Add modifiers if you deem the
adventure to be "exciting" or newsworthy"? How would you decide how big to
make the average payout?
What about other characters with skills that could be marketed freelance?
Or craftsmen who could build things while they whiled away the endless hours
in jumpspace?
Rob