Here be a draft copy of the Traveller: The New Era character generation
rules.
If you prefer to comment privately, send them to GDW.SUPPORT (on GEnie),
[email removed], or
Dave Nilsen
C/O GDW
[address removed]
Part 3 of 4
(c) copyright 1992, Game Designers' Workshop
This is draft material. Do not concern yourself with spelling
errors or the like. Rather, we are interested in "big picture" comments.
Are there careers that you want to see? Ones here that are too weak/too
powerful? What do you think about the controlling attributes for the various
skills (skills that appear in Dark Con and Twilight are, alas, not
negotiable).
REENLISTMENT AND MUSTERING OUT
Characters may reenlist for continuing service. Eventually, events will
force a character to leave the service to muster out.
Reenlistment: Generally, a character is free to leave the service or to
remain for another term, depending on the individual's goals and desires. As
always, war, peace, and other events loom ever-present over the character,
and then others may decide the course of his career.
Each service has a reenlistment number; in order to undertake a subsequent
term of service, a character must throw that number or greater (no DMs are
allowed). If the throw is not successful, reenlistment has been denied, and
the person must leave the service and muster out into the game. If the throw
is 12 (exactly), the needs of the service require that the character serve
another term, regardless of his or her personal desires.
Because a character may be required to serve another term, the
reenlistment throw is required at the end of each term of service, whether
the character intends to continue or not.
Changing Careers: Most human characters have only one career in their
lives, although a few humans are daring enough to make a complete shift from
their current career into a totally new career. The Traveller player
character is one of these rare individuals.
Although entry into a character's initial career is automatic in a
player's first term, players who chooses to change careers must make the
reenlistment die roll for their new career to enlist (in addition to meeting
the prerequisites for the career). This enlistment die roll is made with a
die roll modifier of -1.
Retirement: A character may serve any number of terms voluntarily and may
leave after any term (provided a mandatory reenlistment throw of 12 exactly
does not occur). A person may retire any time after the end of the @fth term
served in a single career. Retirement grants the individual an annual
retirement pay (in addition to any mustering out bene@ts); rates of
retirement pay are shown in the Retirement Pay table.
Mustering Out: When a character leaves a chosen career, either through
retirement or failure of the reenlistment roll, he is eligible for mustering
out bene@ts. The two Mustering Out tables indicate the nature of these
bene@ts: one provides travel, education, and material bene@ts, while the
other provides cash severance pay. Each table is matrixed by service and a
single die roll. When mustering out of the service, a character is allowed to
consult these tables based on total terms of service and on @nal rank. Note
that only the last career served in counts toward mustering out benefits, and
only the terms served in that career are used to determine number of allowed
die rolls.
One bene@t roll is allowed for each full term served in the
career(exception: see Aging). Note that if a character serves only half a
term, that term does not count toward mustering out bene@ts.
In addition, a character who has achieved rank O1 or O2 receives one extra
roll, while a character with rank O3 or O4 receives two extra rolls. A
character who has received rank O5 or O6 receives three extra rolls and, in
addition, may apply a DM of +1 to die rolls on the Skills and Bene@ts table.
Characters with the skill of Gambling-1+ or higher may add +1 to the die roll
on the Cash table.
A character is free to choose between the Bene@ts table and the Cash
table, but no one may consult the Cash table more than three times
(exception: see Aging) during the mustering out process.
For example, a character who has served four terms of service and has no
rank is eligible for four mustering out bene@ts. She may roll a total of four
times, distributing the rolls as she desires between the two tables, provided
only that she may roll no more than three times on the Cash table. The player
must designate the table being used before rolling the die.
In addition to the skills acquired while actually in service, the
following skills and substantial rewards can be acquired through the
mustering out procedures.
Retirement Pay: Any character who leaves the service at the end of the
@fth or later term receives retirement pay. This pension is paid at the
beginning of each year, effective upon leaving the service, and may be
collected at any class A or B starport. If from a pre-stellar of lower tech
homeworld, retirement pay may only be collected on the homeworld. The table
indicates the rate of pay, which is dependent upon the character's total
terms of service. Service beyond the eighth term adds Cr2000 per additional
term (this bene@t is waived for each term in which the character opted to
take anagathics: see Aging and also Anagathics).
Retirement pay is not available to characters who have been Barbarians,
Corsairs, or Rogues.
Travel Allowances: The mustering out procedure makes a variety of bene@ts
available which may generally be called travel allowances. Such allowances
take three basic forms: money, passages, and Travellers' Aid.
Money: The Cash table indicates speci@c amounts of money which become
available. Some portion of the money should be considered severance pay or
life's savings; the remainder is a travel allowance.
Passages: The Skills and Bene@ts table includes passages (tickets for
interstellar travel). They are acquired in blank, and each represents one
passage (interstellar voyage) between one world and the next world visited by
the starship. They are available in three classes: high passage (@rst-class
accommodations worth Cr10,000), middle passage (second-class accommodations
worth Cr8000), and low passage (frozen- sleep accommodations worth Cr1000).
Passages may be retained, or they may be cashed in at 90 percent of their
face value. Passages are not available to characters from pre-stellar or
lower tech homeworlds; these results should be ignored and the die rolled
again.
Travellers' Aid: The Travellers' Aid Society is a private organization
which maintains hostels and facilities at all class A and B starports in many
parts of human space. Facilities are available (at reasonable cost) to
members and their guests.
Travellers' Aid Society membership may be acquired upon mustering out
while using the Bene@ts table. Membership may be achieved only once per
character. Receipt of membership in the Travellers' Aid Society upon
mustering out may be construed as a reward for heroism or extraordinary
service to the Society rather than an [email removed] bene@t of the service.
Membership is for the life of a character and is not transferable. The
Travellers' Aid Society invests its member- ship fees and other income; it
uses its capital and return to provide bene@ts to its members. Every two
months it pays dividends in the forms of one high passage to each member.
This passage may be used, retained, or sold.
The Travellers' Aid Society is active only in areas where interstellar
travel in commonplace. If the character's homeworld is not in such an area,
as determined by the referee, this result should be ignored and another die
roll made.
Material Objects: The mustering out procedure makes several types of
objects available: weapons, instruments, forensic kit, a letter of marque, a
watch, or a starship.
Weapons: The Bene@ts table indicates a receipt of a weapon; in such cases,
a character may choose any weapon.
If, while mustering out, the same bene@t is received again, the character
has the option of taking another example of the same weapon, selecting a
different weapon, or taking the bene@t as +1 in skill in the weapon category
previously received. For example, the bene@t weapon entitles the character to
select any weapon, so he may choose a cutlass. On the next bene@t roll, he
again receives weapon as a bene@t. He could select a different weapon, choose
cutlass again, or elect to take expertise in the weapon category he has
already received (giving an expertise of Large Blade-1).
Instruments: A Doctor may receive a full set of instruments for treatment
of injuries and illnesses. The set includes surgeon's instruments, diagnostic
tools, and a supply of drugs suitable for most purposes. Basic value of the
set is Cr5000.
Forensic Kit: A Law Enforcer may acquire a forensic kit to test for
evidence at the scene of a crime. The kit includes equipment to test for
@ngerprints, residues, poisons, gasses in the air, and so on. The kit also
includes a still camera for recording the scene. Approximate value of the kit
is Cr9000.
Watch: Bureaucrats may receive the proverbial gold watch for their years
of service. Typically, this item has a value of Cr100. On a throw of 7+, it
will have a value of 2D6 x CR100.
Letter of Marque: A government may issue a letter of marque authorizing a
Corsair to raid the shipping of its enemies. Such a Corsair receives
[email removed] status as a privateer. A letter of marque has no monetary
value; it provides a positive DM for receipt of a ship as a bene@t.
Starships: Several types of starships are available as mustering out
bene@ts: a scout/courier, a safari ship, a lab ship, a corsair, a seeker, a
yacht, or a free trader. A Scout/Courier is a very common type of dispatch,
survey and exploratory vessel within human space. A Safari Ship is an
excursion vessel intended for trophy-taking (real or photographic)
expeditions to other worlds. A Lab Ship is a mobile base for scienti@c
analysis and investigation. A Corsair is an armed commercial raiding ship. A
Seeker is a Scout/Courier modi@ed for asteroid prospecting and mining. A
Yacht is a noble's plaything used to entertain friends and undertake
political or commercial missions. A Free Trader is an elementary interstellar
merchant ship plying the space lanes carrying cargo and passengers.
*************
Scout/Couriers are technically loaned to ex-Scouts and are subject to
recall; because of upheaval in the Imperium, the Scout/Courier is effectively
owned by the characters but cannot be sold. Corsairs are owned by the
character. Regardless of how many times a character receives a Scout/Courier
or a Corsair as a bene@t, he can receive only one ship.
Other ships are subject to 40-year loans. The @rst ship bene@t receipt
provides the ship with a liability for the loan. If the bene@t is received
more than once, each additional one is considered to represent actual
possession of the ship for a 10-year period. (The ship is 10 years older, and
the payment term is reduced by 10 years.) A character may own a ship, free
and clear, by rolling the ship bene@t @ve times (once to obtain it, four
times to pay off the sequences of payment); the ship is 40 years old.
*******************
We need a system for shared ownership of starships, particularly in the
case of merchant characters. Terms and rank should contribute to "shares" in
a ship, with a total of maybe 100 shares. Characters need a minimum of, say,
20 shares between them, with each additional share representing 6 months of
the 40-year mortgage.
Scouts probably get a cut on any mineral wealth or technological salvage
on newly surveyed worlds (or at least officers do), which may be converted to
shares in a scout/courier.
A Seeker should come for free if the Belter makes a strike (see career
description). Otherwise, nothing. (No retirement bennies for being a belter,
either.
Corsair? I'm not sure of this one, and I'm inclined not to allow it. We
don't want characters tooling around in hot ships I wouldn't think.
INITIATIVE
Initiative represents a character's ability to remain cool and act most
effectively in combat situations. Characters with a high initiative score
will move further and/or achieve more actions in a combat round than will
characters with low initiatives. This is not because the high- initiative
characters are any faster, but simply because they react more quickly and
spend less time hesitating.
Initiative values range from 1 to 6, with beginning characters tending to
start out on the low end of the scale, then increasing as they gain
experience in combat. Each combat turn in Traveller is divided into six
phases, counting backward from 6 to 1, and characters get to perform one
action in each phase equal to or less than their initiative level. The combat
chapter explains this all in a bit more detail, but it should be obvious even
now that initiative is very important if you are to be involved in combat.
Each character's initial initiative is determined by the types of careers
that character has pursued. All characters start with an initiative of 1. If
any terms were spent in the Navy, Army, Marines, Aviation, Nautical, Law
Enforcement, Corsair, Hunter, Barbarian, or Rogue careers (regardless of how
many terms were served or how many different careers were served in), add 2
to initiative. If any special assignments or special adventures were rolled
(regardless of how many) add 1 to initiative.
For example, Bo Johnson has spent one term in the Army and two in the
merchants, in which he had a special assignment. He begins with an initiative
of 1. The Army stint would give him a +2 (total of 3), and the special
assignment gives him a +1 (final total of 4).
SKILL AND ATTRIBUTE DERIVED VALUES
Once the character has @nished all steps of character generation affecting
skills and attributes, the following values, which are derived from skills
and attributes, can be calculated.
Hit Capacity: Hit capacity is a measure of the amount of damage (hit
points) a character can take before suffering serious injury. Hit points can
be suffered in any of seven different parts of the body: left leg, right leg,
left arm, right arm, head, abdomen, and chest. The hit capacity of the head
is equal to twice the character's Constitution (CON2). The hit capacity of
the character's chest is equal to three times the sum of his Strength and
Constitution (STR+CON3). Each of the other body parts has a hit capacity
equal to two times the sum of the character's Strength and Constitution
(STR+CON2).
Weight: A male character's weight in kilograms is equal to eighty, plus
four times Strength minus Agility, or [4([email removed])]+90. (One kilogram is
approximately 2.2 pounds.) Thus, a character with a Strength of 6 and and an
Agility of 1 would weigh 100 kilos (about 220 pounds), while a character with
a Strength of 4 and an Agility of 8 would weigh 64 kilos (roughly 141
pounds).
Physiological differences, particularly in bone structure, result in
smaller body masses for women. Therefore, weight in kilograms for female
characters is calculated by substituting 65 for 80 in the formula, or
[4([email removed])]+65. Thus, a female character with a Strength of 6 and an Agility
of 1 would weigh 85 kilos (about 187 pounds), while a female character with a
Strength of 4 and an Agility of 8 would weigh 49 kilos (roughly 108 pounds).
Load: A person can lug a considerable weight of equipment, even cross-
country, but there is a limit. In Traveller a character may carry, without
being heavily burdened, a total weight in kilograms equal to three times the
sum of his Strength and Constitution (STR+CON3). This is called the
character's normal load. Up to twice this weight can be carried, but the
character is considered burdened and has movement reduced, as explained later
in the rules. A character may lift loads up to four times this amount and
carry them short distances (50 to 100 meters), but this counts as hard work
under the fatigue rules (as explained later). Note that characters may add
their load capacities to lift heavy objects.
Throw Range: The distance (in meters) a character can throw a one-
kilogram weight accurately is called the character's throw range. Throw range
is four times the character's Strength (STR4).
Martial Arts Combat Damage: Martial Arts Combat damage indicates how many
hit points loss a character [email removed] on an opponent when that opponent is
successfully hit during melee combat. Martial Arts Combat damage is
determined by multiplying Martial Arts skill by Strength and dividing by 10,
rounding fractions down. The result is the number of hit points the striking
character will [email removed] per successful attack. (Note: A result of 0 is
considered 1.)
Example: Oscar has a Strength of 9 and a Martial Arts skill level of 8.
98=72. 72v10=7. Therefore, Oscar will [email removed] 7 hit points per successful
Martial Arts attack.
STARTING MONEY AND INITIAL EQUIPMENT
Just as characters have a history of careers and contacts before the start
of a Traveller adventure campaign, they also will have accumulated equipment
and savings. In order to [email removed] this fact, players generate starting money
for their characters, then use that money to buy the equipment they desire.
Starting Money: In general, during each career term, a character gains a
certain base cash value multiplied by the character's Social Level. The base
cash value is determined by the Tech rating of the character's homeworld.
This rather generically represents both a character's earning power and
ability to save. Of course, the money itself represents not only savings, but
also equipment accumulated. (That is, after starting money has been
calculated, any of it that is spent on equipment is considered to have been
spent over the course of the character's life thus far, not all at once. And
any money left over is considered savings.)
As has been stated, Social Level is typically the value used when
calculating starting money. The career descriptions list exceptions to this
rule. (For example, belters receive no money for terms served as Belters, but
may have made a strike, and earned considerable money from that.)
Finally, while it may be somewhat easier to generate all starting money
after character generation is complete, it is actually more accurate (and
more enjoyable) to do so term by term as characters progress through their
careers. This is so because Social Level often changes during character
generation. For purposes of fairness, it is important that all players either
do it the one way, or the other. Your referee will tell you which way she or
he prefers.
CASH BASE VALUES
Tech Cash
Pre-Industrial CR10
Industrial CR100
Pre-Stellar CR500
Early Stellar CR1000
Advanced Stellar CR5000
Initial Equipment: After generating a character's starting money, a player
can look through the equipment chapter and purchase items appropriate to the
character. While doing this, there are a few things to keep in mind.
First, on many worlds of the future, it is illegal to carry knives,
pistols, or other weapons. Even if something is legal that doesn't
necessarily make it wise. If you walk into a bank with a laser rifle across
your back, a revolver strapped to your thigh, and a hunting knife in each
boot, you can expect trouble from the locals.
Next, buy equipment that is appropriate for your conception of your
character. Your referee will reward you for adhering to a realistic character
concept.
Finally, before buying equipment, ask your referee if he or she has any
guidelines for you to follow speci@c to the campaign you will be playing. For
example, laws concerning what is or is not legal vary greatly from locality
to locality in Traveller, so depending upon where your characters will be,
you may be allowed more or less than usual. As well, your referee may decide
that certain items of equipment are easier or harder to @nd in your
character's locale, which could also affect your purchase of equipment. By
following your referee's guidelines, you'll help to ensure that your
adventures have a consistent atmosphere.
TABLES OF RANKS
Army/Aviation/
Marines Navy/Maritime* Scouts
E1 Private Apprentice Spacehand Scout Apprentice
E2 Corporal Able Spacehand Scout Technician
E3 Sergeant Petty Officer Scout Specialist
E4 Gunnery Sgt Chief Petty Officer(CPO) Asst. Team Leader
E5 First Sergeant Senior CPO Team Leader
E6 Sergeant Major Master CPO Senior Team Leader
O1 Lieutenant Ensign Junior Leader
O2 Captain Lieutenant Leader
O3 Major Lt. Commander Junior Commander
O4 Lt. Colonel Commander Commander
O5 Colonel Captain Senior Commander
O6 General Admiral Expedition Leader
* In Maritime service, the term "Spacehand" is replaced by "Seaman"
Merchants Law Enf. Science
E1 Apprentice Spacehand Trainee Trainee
E2 Able Spacehand Deputy Junior Technician
E3 Senior Spacehand Officer Technician
E4 Purser/Supercargo Sergeant Senior Technician
E5 Mate Snr. Sergeant Supervisor
E6 1st Mate Supervisor Senior Supervisor
O1 3rd Officer Detective Doctor
O2 2nd Officers Detective Sgt Assoc. Professor
O3 1st Officer Detective Lt. Asst. Professor
O4 Captain Detect. Inspector Professor
O5 Captain Detect. Captain Fellow
O6 Snr. Captain Detect. Chief Senior Fellow
Diplomacy Bureaucracy Barbarian
R1 Attache Asst. Cmmssnr Laborer
R2 Deputy Consul 1st Asst. Cmmssnr Hunter
R3 Consul Deputy Cmmssnr Scout
R4 Envoy Commissioner Warrior
R5 Special Envoy Under Secretary Chief
R6 Ambassador Secretary Senior Chief
Medicine Corsair
R1 Orderly Spacehand
R2 Technician Technician
R3 Paramedic Mate
R4 Nurse Master-at-Arms
R5 Therapist Lieutenant
R6 Practicioner Captain
O1 Doctor
NOBLE RANKS
SL Rank
B Knight (Sir, Dame)
C Barron/Baroness (von, haut, hault)
D Marquis/Marchioness
E Count/Countess
F Duke/ducjess
G Archduke/archduchess
H Monarch (King/Queen. Emperor/Emperess)
- --
Edjs _
------ _ // CI$ : 76427,662
[email removed] \X/ GEnie: [email removed]