Forwarded message:
>From anaylor Mon Jun 15 17:35:35 1992
Date: Mon, 15 Jun 92 17:35:34 +1000
From: anaylor (Adam Naylor)
To: anaylor
I did not like a few things in the character generation and resolution of
skills in Twilight 2000, so I made a few changes . I would really like to
know peoples views on these changes (If possibly, but only if it is not too
much trouble, especially Loren Wisemans)
1) Change 4 year terms to single years in character generation .
I felt that the 4 year term of Traveller did not really fit the genre of
Twilight 2000 (You don't have to agree with me, thats just my view) .
At the end of each year roll under 5 x A % . A = (No of years)/4 . (Round all
fractions down) . Eg for the first 4 years of character generation, the
chance for the out - break of war is 5% . For the next 4 years after that, the
chance is 10% and so forth .
Most occupations give 4 levels of skills every term, so the character simply
gets 1 skill per year . If in the 'First' Term of an occupation, the
character selects 1 skill level per year from the skills listed for the
first term till all have been taken . If say, there are only 3 first term
skills, then skills are gained for 3 years, and in the 4th, no skill (besides
secondary skill) is gained .
2) When war does out break, roll for the number of years the character is
involved on a D10 .
1 to 2 = 0
3 to 4 = 1
5 to 6 = 2
7 to 8 = 3
9 to 10 = 4
A result of 0 means the character has not seen any 'action' yet . If drafted,
the character has done basic training (Assume basic takes a year (18 weeks (?)
basic, transport times, 'fudge' factor) .
Multiply the number of years in the war by 2 for the skill levels . I let my
players choose any reasonable skill when in war situation (So character can
gain any skill, and not be limited to his occupational skill list .
Draftees also get this (+ basic training) . But if in the first term of
the military, the skills listed under the first term skill list must be
'gained' . Eg Eric spends 3 years in the war, giving him 6 skills . As it is
his first year in the military (Infantry), 2 of the 6 skill levels must be
Small Arms : 1, and Melee Combat : 1 .
3) Initiative : Initiative is no worked out as [(No of years in war/2*) +
1D3 + Modifiers] . * Round all results down .
The modifiers are
+ 1 : If in the following military branches : Rangers, Airbourne, Special
Forces, Force Recon, Snipers and Equivalents .
- - 1 : If in the following military branches : air force enlisted, aviation
enlisted, and military intelligence .
- - 1 : If Drafted (ie was not in military before outbreak of war) .
Eg Bill was drafted into the military, and served 3 years of the was in an
airbourne division . His initiative is worked out as following . He gets 1
for the amount of time he served in the war (3/2 = 1.5 . 1.5 is rounded down
to 1) . He rolled a 2 on a 1d3 . So far his total is 3 . His initiative is
modified by + 1 for serving in the airbourne branch and -1 for being
'Drafted' . So his Total Initiative is 3 + 1 - 1 = 3 .
4) A person gets 1 skill level in secondary skills every 2 years instead of
every term (4 years) .
I felt that people become quite skilled at hobbies . Eg I have a friend who
has done martial arts ever since he went to UNE and in senior school . Over
a period of 3 to 4 years he is a high bluse belt at Tae Kwon Do and is very
good . In twilight 2000 terms he would be at least 'Rank' 2 . Another
friend has just started Scuba Diving, but according to the rules, an easy
task means that he has a 40% chance of drowning (He has Skill level 1, this
is doubled for an easy task . A catastrophic failure is (Chance + 4) .
5) NCOs and Officers gain 1 level in either leader, persuassion, or
instruction every time they are promoted (And this does not cost any skill
points) .
6) Languages cost 1/2 a point per level . If in the characters 'sphere', then
the Language Rank is increased by 50% . Eg Boris, a German wishes
to learn english . He has 1 skill point . It costs him 1/2 a skill point to
progress each Rank . For 1 skill point, he has English at Rank 2 . However,
because English is in the European sphere of influence this actually gives
him Rank 3 .
7) Ignore the Skill Rank limitations based on stats .
I found that the character rarely got to a stage where this was a problem,
and since I felt that the chances for successful skill checks were a bit
harsh, this helped to make up for it .
8) Instead of basing skills on stats, add a 'Skill associated Stat' modifier
(Like Megatravller) to the base Chance . The modifier would be [Stat/3 Rounded
Down] . Eg A Eric has rank 3 in swimming, and a CON of 5 . He attempts to
make a swimming check at average level of difficulty . His chance is 3 (Rank)
+ (5/3 Rounded down to 1) 1 = 4 . He has to roll a 1, 2, 3 or 4 to succeed .
If a skill does not really have a Stat associated with it, then the MOD is
(Skill Level/3 Rounded Down) .
Note : The recoil rule is a bit harsh when using a D10 in combat, this
MOD helps relive some of its harshness (I think) .
9) Some of the Stat - Skill links presented in Twilight 2000 I thought were
not really apt, such as Rifleman with Strength . I would associate that more
with agility . But use the Twilight 2000 guidelines .
Those that play Twilight 2000, please any comments on these ideas at all
(Even if they are 'critical') . And, if at all possible, Loren Wiseman's
views as well (Since Loren played a huge part in the games design) .
As it has been pointed out to me, my spelling and punctuation is not very
good . So in advance I humbly state my apologies in advance (This is a big
problem with me, especially since I am in fact an English major) .
Michael Hughes (Or Edmund) Care of anaylor, Armidale, NSW