>1. What are the effects on psionics on game play?
> Does it take some of the role-playing aspects out of the
> game by making things to easy (too powerful PCs)?
You have stumbled upon one of the hardest questions for the beginner traveller.
Psionics are certainly attractive to the D & D player, because they are a form
of magic in a scientific world. After a while, you will discover that the
high technology is its own magic, and that life can be lived quite well
without psionics.
I have allowed psionics in my campaigns, but usually too weak or inaccessible
to be of much use. Remember, only the Zhodani have spent a lot of work on
this branch of science, and even they have a hard time coming up with enough
bodies and brains to fill their ranks. Psi is explicitly illegal inside the
Imperium, and is considered by most citizens to be antisocial behavior on the
same order as rape. It is the ultimate in personal violation. Any open
attempts to find the psi institute should be met with disgust, anger, and calls
to the local constabulatory.
I usually allow players to find the institute after a few years (real time!)
of careful searching and being chased by witch-hunters. A good witch hunt is
a fantastic combat scenario. If the players fight back, they're in serious
trouble when they get caught. If they don't fight back, they get caught and
hurt. If they run, they'll have to use that jump drive for the 14th time since
a major overhaul. It can really take the fun out of gaining psi.
By the time the institute is found, they players have found that a good
rifle or a fast tongue can get them out of just about any trouble they've
gotten themselves into. They are also too old to develop any really heavy
psi talent. I try to keep psi down to the levels of Vicky and Andy McGee in
_Firestarter_: you've got a 50-50 chance it'll work, if it works, it'll only
work a little, and if it does work well, you get a headache, numb spots, brain
hemmorraging, etc. When the dice really do give a player strong psi, I don't
let them know it. I just make the 50-50 turn to 75-25, keep the headaches
smaller and fewer, and eventually let the power develop to full maturity like
the books say.
>2. Is it best to stick to Traveller's character generation system?
> What are playable alternatives used?
Yes, the trav system works quite well. It is a bit of a jump from the D&D
system, but the advanced character generation system yeilds very well-rounded
characters. The only modification we ever did was the well-used "phantom
dice" rule: if you rolled something *really* bad, the "phantom dice" would
all of a sudden jump up and roll themselves over.
>3. Do you actually keep PCs from gaining skills, and if not
> how do PCs get more skillful?
Well, in my games, no rules are concrete, but skills are kinda hard to get.
After the initial generation, the "paper" character is largely frozen. It
is really up to the player to flesh out the character and let him grow. If
a character is in a situation where the acquisition of a skill is completely
logical, than I certainly prefer to give the skill level rather than violate
the logic of the world. I try to keep a buffer between the players
imaginations and the dull numbers written on paper.
>4. How many PCs get out of the service in under seven terms,
> and why?
Jeez, a whole bunch of them. If your folks want psi, they should quit as
early as possible before there potential gets all dried up. I actually
play with the age rules, and I play up the fact that a 56-year old man is
running around playing hero with a bunch of young whippersnappers. If
you bring into play the months spent in space travel, the delay time in
between gaming sessions, and the inevitable healing time after an unfortunate
"incident," the players will get tired of their characters getting old and
dying on them.
>5. We have picked up many books. How many books are there?
Good grief. There are dozens. I have books 1-6, journals of the Traveller's
Aid Society 6-23, supplements 1-13 (or more?), a couple books from britain,
jeez, there's a whole slew of them! *Now* there's deluxe edition books,
those annoying 8 1/2 X 11 books, and the alien races books that evolved from
the manuscript I have from a convention way back in '81! But don't despair.
Only the GM needs a lot of reference material to create the universe. Most
of out players only had books 1-5, if that.
Verbosely thine,
--the Zigster