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(Sci-Fi) Interest Check - Do you want to die in Character Creation? - Classic Traveller

Nihilistic_Impact

Nihilistic_Impact

Brigadista
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Joined
Aug 14, 2009
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The title is a little tongue in cheek; but character creation for this game does have the possibility of death as it is a mini game which I have enjoyed playing solo many times. Now though I feel like I've done more than enough solo play and my in person group has not managed to meet since before Covid began and I've got an itch. I want to run some Classic Traveller.

What is Classic Traveller?
Classic Traveller refers to the first edition of the Science Fiction TTRPG, in particular I use the 77 Boxset; but for ease of providing information I'll instead be using the 81 reprint.​

What sort of Sci-Fi?
There are many Sci-Fi that inspire me, I do not expect everyone to know my references, nor is this list exhaustive and limited to just books.​

Dune by Frank Herbert
Dumarest of Terra by EC Tubb
Solar Queen by Andre Norton
Demon Prince by Jack Vance
Downbelow Station by CJ Cherryh
Miles Vorkosigan by Lois McMaster Bujold
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
Bel Dame Apocrypha by Kameron Hurley
But my idea of a setting follows a couple precepts.
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  • A distant Imperium lays claim; but distance, internal intrigues and external wars makes lie to the claim.
  • Humanity has spread to the stars in a Great Diaspora, earth is a myth.
  • Ancient alien ruins of unknown purpose litter known space waiting to be explored and exploited.
  • Alien polities vie for dominance of worlds.
  • Technology is a blend of the wonderful and mundane. Ships fly on fusion tails while lead kills a man.
  • Psionics are feared by the masses; but treated as a tool by the elites.
Like wise characters are typically those who are restless in peaceful times, resourceful and accomplished. They dwell in liminal spaces.

What sort of Player?
I am looking for 2-3 people.

I am looking for people who are willing to post with good regularity. I am not looking for novels with each post. This is a system rp, think of it like you would at a table and how you must quickly describe what your character is doing. A sentence or two is alright in my book.

I am not looking for sexy fun times. If you want your character to have a sexual encounter, fine; but I'm not going to write out that scene.​

I hope that this will be successful, I hope there is some interest. So let's have some fun.
Let's see if you die in Character Creation.​
 
Thank you for your interest Kitten. Hopefully some others are about.

At some point soon I'll be sharing some more details on character creation. I imagine some people are interested in just how you die.
 
Well that plan fell through, had some rough days but they're past and now how does one go about dying in character creation?

So the first step is you must create a character in order for them to be able to die. They don't need a name yet; but one does need to roll 2d6 six times, each result will be tallied up and applied to one of six stats. The stats are, Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Intelligence, Education and Social Standing, start with B or more in Social Standing and you'll officially be a knight.

A B? Why yes, a B on 2d6. When Traveller was originally made the creators thinking they were cool or just wanting to save ink and paper space decided to use a hexadecimal counting system. So you're 2d6 results could be 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C. Stats can possibly go higher depending upon rolls later on. My wife once rolled up a Navy Admiral with a F for Social Standing, as the referee I decided that for her years of service she was given the title of Duchess on some old world that had fallen off the more recent maps.

Stats have been rolled and applied and the next step is to decide what sort of career you want your character to pursue starting at the age of 18. Your options are: Navy, Marines, Army, Scouts, Merchants, and Other. Picking one of these you roll to see if they accept your enlistment for a four year term, if you fail this roll you become subject to the draft were a d6 is rolled and you are forced into whatever service the result is.

Now that you're in a service you have to roll to see if you survive. If you fail this roll you die.

And that is how you can die in character creation. In another post I'll finish going through character creation; but that's enough of an info dump for now.
 
Same. I'd like more info on the different careers and their strengths and weaknesses. Also, a Merry Christmas to all who have posted in this thread and who come across it and read this message!!
 
This is still open, though if the three people that have expressed interest are committed we could start rolling up characters over DMs, going to trust folks to roll their own dice.

Suppose this means I should roll up some worlds myself. This could be an opportunity for me to just use the Spinward Marches from Supplement 3. At the end of this post I will go into detail of the services.

From where I left off assuming you have survived the survival roll you get to see if you get a commission in your service; unless you were drafted in which case you need to wait another term or if you're part of the Scouts or Other which do not have ranks. Certain stats will give a bonus to this throw. If you make it you can check to see if you were promoted.

Next come the skill rolls to see what your character actually learns in the service. There are four tables to roll on, Personal Development, Service Skills, Advance Education, and Advance Education. The second one you need to have an Education stat of 8 or more to roll on it. By the book you would pick a table and then roll a d6. Personally I do like to allow for some decision making so I let players roll and then pick the skill they want from any of the tables. The first term each service gives two skill rolls, you get another one for getting a commission and another for a promotion.

Each term after the first only the Scouts get two skill rolls per term, though since Other doesn't give them the chance for getting extra through promotions I allow them two as well.

The very last step is the re-enlistment roll. If you fail this they don't want you around any more and your character is off into the great depths of space with hopefully some decent skills and some mustering out perks. If you pass you can do it all over again or decide to leave the service; but if you get boxcars, double sixes, you are forced to serve another term. Even if it would put you pass the max limit of terms served.

At 34, if you've staid in the service a new mechanic kicks in. You're getting old and you need to throw some dice to see if you didn't throw your back out, eventually you roll to see if you're going senile. Push your luck a little too far and you start to lose your stats.

And that is effectively character creation.

Since some clarification as to what each service is like we'll now explore each of them a little.

Starting with the Navy this is your starships; going around doing anti-piracy actions, maybe a little privateering, fighting in large fleets. You can be Honor Harrington in command of a vessel or just someone pushing buttons at someone else's command. Maybe you were working in engineering and gave it all she got.

The Marines are your ship borne troops. They are not troops carried via starships, they are the ones that fight and die either boarding other ships or repelling boarders. They like to use cutlasses since they automatically get that as a skill and their elites can learn to use battle dress, or power armor.

The Army is your ground pounders, they hold territory. They can even be part of a wet navy or air force. They're one of the easier services to see advancement in.

Scouts, if you want a high chance of death, as the Scout Service has the highest target number for survival checks, then the Scouts would be for you. They are the ones that go out and explore space, forgotten worlds, assist stranded travellers. They also have a chance of being loaned a small starship when they muster out.

Merchants is your space traders, if you really liked hulling cargo in Elite Dangerous you have an idea of what they are up to. Merchants also have a chance of getting a bigger ship free and clear; but the chances are lower.

Other is kind of a catch all. I like to think of it as either espionage or criminal in nature. The skills available to them are a little scattered shot; but they do have the best chance of mustering out with the most money.
 
Well this all sounds very cool. My own sci-fi knowledge is somewhat limited to Star Trek, Star Wars, Mass Effect and maybe one or two others I can't think of at the moment. But I shall, as everyone's favorite Chief Engineer says, 'give it all she's got.' That said, would someone like Shepard or Ryder by more of a Scout or a Marine? As far as they themselves are concerned, that is, irrespective of the Normandy or the Tempest.
 
I've not played Mass Effect myself; but from what little I know and how combat heavy the game is Marines would probably be a better go to.
 
All right. The reason I asked is because in ME Andromeda, the Ryder character is what's called a Pathfinder, who is tasked with exploring and securing the various potential colony worlds for settlement. Which of course made me wonder if they'd be more of a Marine or a Scout.
 
See, there goes my lack of knowledge for the games as that does sound more like Scouts. Shepard though would not be.
 
Okay, I'm just gonna go ahead and commit, so if the other two players will do so, then we can maybe get this started and N.I. can clear up any confusion regarding how to do the stats.
 
Yep! LOL. Do system RPs get sub-forums like the group ones do? Alternatively, have you considered using Discord? I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes, it's merely a suggestion.

Also, have EKT and Raku committed or have they just been expressing interest? Not saying that there's always a difference between the two, but I suppose it never hurts to make sure. Forgive my harshness, but flaking is extremely common 'round these parts.
 
Kitten seems committed, Raku has the one post; but with the holidays I don't expect people to be right on top of things.

I have considered discord; but for now I think I'll favor the forum. This is a bit of a test run. And I am very well aware of the flakiness on the forum and particularly for group rps.
 
I'm committed. Just working A LOT lately. They gave me more hours at my job so I'm working 4-5 days in a row, one day off then another 4-5 days in a row.
 
That's quite the schedule Kitten, hope it's not too rough on you. Been slowly working on a map. Taking suggestions for names.

If anyone hasn't posted their interest this is still open.
 
Suppose some explanation is in order. First column is for location on the map. Second is the name of the system. These two are probably the most easy to understand. Next is the Universal World Profile, UWP, and is for the primary world in the system. The details go star base, planet size, atmosphere, surface water percentage, population, government, law level and technology level. Remarks is some trade code designations. B is for bases, N standing for Naval Bases and S for Scout Bases. Z is for zones, with A for Amber and R for Red. They are travel warnings, amber is dangerous and travellers being cautious and red being all travel to advised against. PBG stands for Planets, Belts, Gas Giants with the numbers in that progression saying how many of each are in the system. A is Allegiance, the two of note are Im for Imperial and Zh for Zhodani. The Stellar part, I'm not sure about.

But sure, character. Have you rolled stats at all? Do you have any profession you're interested in? I'll post info as to what stat requirements give bonus for the enlistment rolls.
 
Remember, it's 2d6 for each stat.

Alright, I thought it best to include all the info so you can make a more informed decision between the two.

Marines, to enlist you need a 9 or better on a 2d6 roll. You get a +1 if your intelligence is 8 or greater and +2 if strength is 8 or greater.
Survival is 6 or greater on a 2d6 roll with a +2 if endurance is 8 or greater.
Commission is 9 or greater on a 2d6 roll with a +1 if education is 7 or greater.
Promotion is 9 or greater on a 2d6 roll with a +1 if Social Standing is 8 or greater.
Re-enlistment is 6 or greater on a 2d6 roll.

Scouts, to enlist you need a 7 or better on a 2d6 roll. You get a +1 if your intelligence is 6 or greater and +2 if strength is 8 or greater.
Survival is 7 or greater on a 2d6 roll with a +2 if endurance is 9 or greater.
Re-enlistment is 3 or greater on a 2d6 roll.
 
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