Classic Traveler - Using Subsector Creation rules for...

So… did you think I was done talking about Classic Traveller??? Huh??? Did you? Nope, I’m not. Today I want to start talking about the subsector mapping rules that are used their and one possible application that I see for them in a different sci-fi based game.

Over the last couple weeks, I have been pretty busy, but I have gone back to the Classic Traveller books a bit more as I have been exploring a new game on my horizon – Rogue Trader. I know that game has been out for a while, but hell, like I always say, I’m slow. Sorry. Rogue Trader was another of my purchases back during Christmas and I can say that I love it so far. Everything about the Core book is over-flowing with awesome, except for the fact that they don’t really give a clear and easy way of making a portion of space for you to send your starships hurtling through.

So, for that, I opened up my Classic Traveller PDF and gave things a look see. I really like how easy it is to make a Subsector using Traveller. You use an 8x10 hex grid, some dice, and a couple pages of tables and rules and you have yourself pretty much everything you need. Once again here, I love the fact that so much of the Traveller experience is so easily randomized. Not having so spend hours upon hours pondering over the composition of the universe makes me feel a very, very big sense of relief.

The other really nice thing about this rules system is that so much of the Subsector and World creation rules is not based around any mechanics, but rather around fluff and story mechanics. Apart from the presence of Gas Giants, which provide a benefit for starships in refueling, which might not work so well in Rogue Trader, the majority of these rules are very fluffy and provide an easy way to describe not only planetary and stellar systems, but also a great way of figuring out the composition of the world’s within those systems. Whether you are rolling for planetary population, government, atmosphere, or whatever, you can make your world simply and easily and relatively mechanics free.

Translating all this over to Rogue Trader then simply becomes an application of 40K terms and Rogue Trader Mechanics. Once a world gets generated, all you really need to do is figure out what kind of world that would be – is it a death world? A hive world? Maybe neither. Maybe that world is an imperial world and has military installations of the Imperium of Man. You can do pretty much whatever you want with the Classic Traveller Subsector creation rules, which provide a great baseline for conversion into Rogue Trader. The Universe, after all, isn’t that much different. Though the Rogue Trader version might use distance in a different way, nothing fundamentally has to change there either; honestly, all that you would really need to do is sprinkle some threats around your Subsector which are 40K in theme and you are rolling.

For all those Rogue Trader players out there, you will want to go back and give the Classic Traveller rules a try if you are going to GM. If you are a fan of Classic Traveller and are thinking about playing a new sci-fi game, you might want to pick up Rogue Trader and try it out.

Classic Traveller Character Series Comes to an End

All good things must eventually come to an end. I have done about 2 weeks worth of Classic Traveller Character generation back story posts. Some of these were pretty interesting and fun, but I think I have posted about as many as I want to at this point. I will be moving on to Space Ships in the near future, so you can count on more wonderful Classic Traveller stuff coming to this blog as the days go on. I have made a TON of characters and I keep seeing the same general things going on, so I want to end the series before it gets to repetitive. Thanks for all your comments on these. It was a fun time running the series.

-The Help

Classic Traveller Character - Seaman Garp

Garp was never a very strong kid. He had a weak arm. But, his UPP of 387877 meant that he had what it took for a life of military service. He enlisted in the Navy as a youth, but throughout his entire career, never received a commission. Garp was a bastion of perseverence. He made it through 6 terms without every looking to quit his Navy lifestyle. During his time as a Seaman, Garp gained training in a variety of skills. He became a Jack of all Trades, picked up some skills in Gunnery (Gunnery 2), and also learned how to use a Vaccume Suit (Vacc Suit 1). But, apart from that, he also picked up some very valuable skills, and despite his aging, managed to leave the Navy with a UPP of 297A78.

Classic Traveller Character - Private Alexi

Alexi was the cream of the crop growing up. He was strong and smart and bosted a UPP of 956A68 to boot. His family were of some small note, but nothing too overly important. Alexi really wanted to Join the Navy as a young man, but his enlistment papers were rejected and he was forced into the Army. In his first term, he excelled at his training in Gunnery and Electronics and also improved his physical skills as well (STR +1), but due after he hit his CO in the face, he was not allowed back for a second Term, but the single term had done a great deal for Alexi in the realm of Rifle training; he picked up Rifle 2 during his Muster Out. Happy Space Adventures Alexi! Final UPP A56A68.

Classic Traveller Character - 2nd Officer Alexandra Quinn

Alexandra Quinn, or Lexi, as she was referred to by her friends, always had a mind for money. She knew how to get it, and she knew how to keep it. She had little interest in fighting, guns, or brawling (though she did always have a secret love of the blade). She wanted to get rich and buy herself the dream planet that her social status never afforded her. Her UPP of 656974, wasn't really anything special, but she had the wits to be a merchant. In her first Term of Service, she received her first commission. Over her many terms, she also received several promotions, earning the rank of 2nd Officer, by the time she retired, at the end of her 6th Term. Her years as a merchant served her very well. She could space-walk like the best of them (Vacc Suit 2) and she also developed a mind for electronics and machines working on ship hulls, doing repairs, in deep space (Electronics 3, Mechanical 1). She also managed to improve her Strength and her manual dexterity quite a bit, though after all her years of service, she retired with a UPP of 744984, not much better than when she started off. But, she also ended her Merchant career with quite the mother lode of cash, 120,000 Cr. and a significant working knowledge of the Blade (Blade 4).

Classic Traveller Character - Private Shawna

Shawna was quite the tomboy growing up. She never felt that she had to be tied down by her sex. She always wanted to be one of the boys. So, she joined the Marines. She was not very welcome there, despite her UPP: 5A6657. She could shoot like the best of them. In her first term though, she was restricted to Vacc Suit Training (Vacc Suit 1) because she started a fist fight with her CO who made several sexist remarks against her (Brawling 1). During her 2nd Term however, she was allowed to train and go on missions with everyone else. However, her unit was ambushed and all members of her squad were killed. R.I.P. Private Shawna.

Classic Traveller Character - Scout Pollard

Pollard enlisted in the scouts at a ripe young age. He was perfect for the job, having a UPP of 964B97. His above average Intelligence, Education and Strength were to be an asset to his dangerous position. During his first term, Scout Pollard gained Medical Training (Medical 1) and also learned how to use a Jack-o-T (Jack-o-T 1). In his second term, he was given Navigation training and learned how to be a pilot (Navigation 1, Pilot 1). However, his original fascination with the Jack-o-T, drove him to accelerate and advance his training in this area (Jack-o-T 2). However, he mysteriously perished during his 4th Term due to friendly fire. R.I.P. Scout Pollard.

Classic Traveller Character - 4th Officer Pierce

Brian Pierce was the supreme measure of mediocrity. His UPP was nothing but average: 674878. Although he was from a fairly wealthy, and well-known family, there was little about him which would be considered extraordinary. Rather than pursue a career in the Navy, or the Marines, which his family wanted, Pierce became a Merchant. In his first term, he was given a commission, but failed to receive any further promotion. Being surrounded by people that were either extraordinarily bad, or good, sent Pierce into a deep depression, which escalated in him paying off certain government officials in order to gain trade rights (Bribery 1). Other than his Bribery problems, 4th Officer Pierce was an average Navigator (Navigation 1) and also knew, generally, how to use a Jack-o-T (Jack-o-T 1). In his second term, he thought it best to learn how to defend himself, so he learned how to wield a knife (Dagger 1) and a hand gun (Auto Pistol 1). But, he didn't get reenlisted after his second term. All he could show for his 8 years of service was a bit of book learning (Education +1) and some Low Passage (Low Psg).

Classic Traveller Character - CRION

Very little is known about master hacker CRION. His childhood background is a mystery. Some records exist from when he began his career, which indicate his original UPP as 674994. He was highly intelligent and well educated. Over his 16 year career, he spent a considerable amount of time around black markets, where he was fairly well known in the underworld (Streetwise 2). He also has been linked to several important Forgery Reports (Forgery 1). His skills with electronics and computers are a matter of public record as many of his hacks have left tell-tale signs and signatures (Computers 1, Electronics 1). However, 16 years after the start of his career, all record of his existence went black. He is believed to be still alive, but he has not been seen on any known Space Ports, or Empire Worlds.

Classic Traveller Character - Lieutenant John Doe

Lieutenant John Doe was always teased as a child. His name was a bit odd, and more than a bit dark. But, John was always a fighter, and never put up with the crap his friends gave him. He was tough as nails and strong to boot. His UPP of 997797 showed that he was not some average border-world maggot. He had what it took, so he made it his goal to join the Navy. But, they didn't really want him. Instead, John got drafted into the Army, and got shipped off to a border-world, where he was going to have to put up with border-world maggots on a daily basis. In his first Term of Service John went all out, trying to get attention and a better assignment. He hit the books (Edu +1), learned how to use a PC (Computer 1), went to flight school and learned how to pilot a helicopter (Helicopter 1); he even started picking up some pretty good skills with the Sub Machine Gun (SMG 1). All his hard work paid off. He got his commission and a promotion all in his first term of Service, rocketing to the rank of Lieutenant. But, just when everything seemed like it was going great, he was refused Reenlistment. Apparently top brass just couldn't have themselves a Lieutenant that everybody thought would end up in a body bag. John was given 10,000 CR, and some manuals to help him improve his shooting skills as severance (SMG 2, Rifle 1). Good luck Lieutenant John Doe. May you have many space adventures ahead of you!!

(You thought this one would die too didn't you?! Well, at first I did as well.)

Classic Traveller Character - Sailor Raymundo

Raymundo came from an incredibly wealthy and prestigious family, even for galactic standards. His line had possessed a small colony for centuries and each of his ancestors had done their tour in the Navy. Raymundo was to be no exception. But, he was going to have to start at the bottom. He enlisted without a problem. His UPP of 57A4CC was proof that he had what it took to make it to the rank of Admiral. In his first term of service, he picked up some skills with a Vac Suit (Vac Suit 1) and a bit of manual dexterity (DEX +1) after being relentless forced to work outside the ship, doing repairs. However, a horrible accident on one of these repair trips meant that Raymundo would not be making it through his second term of service. His rich, socially advanced family decided to have the Ship's captain court-marshaled in response. R.I.P. Sailor Raymundo.

Classic Traveller Character - Private Harold

Harold was always a rambunctious and trouble making youth. His punches could break bricks, and skulls, but he never could take a hit very well. At boarding school, he received a top class education, but his teachers always thought he was a trouble maker. Before enlisting in the marines, His UPP of C436A6 showed that he had some promise. But, his old boarding school ways caught up to him. During his first term, he got in serious trouble, and was sent to the Brig for gambling and brawling (Gambling 1, Brawling 1), but once he got out, he decided that he was going to turn a new leaf and pledge to go straight. In his second term though, he couldn't kick the Gambling habit. During a game of cards, Harold got accused of cheating; in response he through a hay maker that broke his accuser's nose. Unfortunately, his opponent was armed and pretty ticked off. A few Revolver rounds later and Harold was gone. R.I.P. Private Harold.

Classic Traveller Character - Private Robert (Bob)

In his youth, Robert held dreams of travelling the stars. He was a well educated, smart young lad, with a UPP of 6A5885. But, after thinking long and hard about it, he felt that the Stars were a bit too dangerous for him; so, Bob joined the army. Unfortunately early into his training, in his first term of service, Bob fell of the climbing rope in the Army training Gym, landing on his neck. Rest in Peace Private Bob. You will be missed.

Classic Traveller Character - Lieutenant Dan

Dan was always very good with his hands and his head, and could take a licking like no other; his UPP could prove it as well, having a 6AAB74, wasn't some ordinary UPP. He was a tough kid with a mind that could move mountains. But, his lack of Social Standing, and only moderate education meant that he wouldn't be cut out for the Navy. He didn't have the family for it.

But Dan would not be disheartened. He said, "Screw It! I'm Joining the Marines!" and sent in his enlistment papers. He was happily accepted. But, the marines was a tough spot for a kid like Dan. In his first term, he got caught up playing and betting on dice (Gambling 1) which meant no Commission for him. As discipline, Dan ended up shining Revolvers for a year, which, as it turns out, helped him to really understand the inner workings of that most basic of handguns (Revolver 1).

Dan's second term had him working in the repair shop, where he picked up some skills in Electronics (Electronics 1), but it also kept him out of the lime light and out of the commissioned lists.

During Dan's third term, he started training harder and harder, he was determined to get the commission he felt he so deserved. His training was rewarding to some degree (STR +1), but the commission still failed to come. In his 4th Term, he was given a Vac Suit (Vac Suit 1) and put to work. No commission, no fame, no fortune. Poor Dan just never got any time to shine...

Until... His fifth term. In his fifth term as an enlisted Marine, Dan ended up saving a General who had fallen out of a helicopter using a Grav Jeep (Grav-Vehicle 1) that had been left unmanned by a group of his COs. The General was so grateful that he gave Dan his very own Cutlass and promoted him to Lieutenant on the spot.

That was enough for Dan. He didn't make reenlistment in his 6th term. He was just getting too old. But, he finished out his career with a UPP of 589C74; he could handle a Cutlass like no other (Cutlass 3) and was a fancy shot with a Revolver as well (Revolver 2). He could drive a pretty mean Grav-vehicle and was a fair gambler to boot.

Classic Traveller Character - Ensign Bill

Bill was always a bright and strong young lad. His parents were so proud of him when they got his UPP coming up with with a 786999. Bill had all the potential to become one of the greats. He had the Intelligence, the Education, and the Social Standing to make it in the Navy. His folks hoped that one day he might even become a ship captain at some point.

Bill joined the Navy with ease. He took to life flying through the great sea of stars with ease. During his first term, he couldn't quite make his first commission, but picking up some people skills (Social 1) and learning to pilot the Ship's Boat (Ship's Boat 1), he still held so much hope. Determined to climb the ladder of rank, Bill was the first to hand in his reenlistment papers.

During his 2nd Term, Bill finally got his commission. He achieved the rank of Ensign and was sent to work in Engineering where he quickly took to his new skill set (picking up Engineering 1 twice) and the brute work did his body good (STR +1). Bill was getting all the attention that he was looking for, so reenlistment was an obvious choice.

But... his 3rd Term proved to be one term too many. The Boat Bill was assigned to took an unfortunate jump into a Supernova. All were lost. Bill's Naval career was cut tragically short.

D&D 4e Character creation ala Classic Traveller

I posted up a thread on the RPG Table Talk forums which I am hoping that we can use to come up with some house rules for creating characters in D&D 4e that mimic the character creation rules that you use in Classic Traveller. If anybody would like to contribute to this discussion, I encourage you to get over the the RPG Table Talk forum and add to the thread. You can find the thread here: http://www.rpgtabletalk.com/index.php?topic=145.0

Classic Traveller Character - Kebo the Merchant

Starting off my Classic Traveller character dump, I present Kebo, the character I built with my wife at the dinner table. We first rolled up Kebo's stats and got the following.

Strength - 7
Dexterity - 4
Endurance - 5
Intelligence - 7
Education - 4
Social Standing - 4

Kebo, at first, was not looking too good. He had some pretty low stats, but he would not let his poor ability profile get in the way of his desire to join the Navy, but the Navy would. He failed his enlistment and got drafted into the role of a merchant. A career which would suit him well, until the end of his career.

During Kebo's first Term of service, he was commissioned into an officer position, but failed to receive a promotion. He picked up some skills in Strength, Jack-o-T, and Gunnery during this term (it is believed that during Gunnery training Kebo may have accidentally shot down an allied Scout Ship, which prevented any promotion during his first term).

Kebo was reenlisted, but received no promotion, yet again. This failure to gain notice was most likely caused by Kebo's time spent at the Gym, where he gained an additional +1 Strength, but failed to improve any of his other relevant skills.

In Kebo's third term, he finally got down to business and learned how to be a Steward and how to work with machines (picking up Steward 1 and Mechanical 1). The top merchant brass finally recognized Kebo's potential and promoted him to 3rd Officer.

Kebo was enjoying his merchant life very much and decided to reenlist again, but in his fourth term, picking up the Bribery 1 skills meant that he was not going to be getting a promotion over the term.

Kebo's 5th term sent him off world, where he was promoted to 2nd officer and picked up some training in the operation of prop airplanes, but working on the Street served him well in the Streetwise skill department.

But, Kebo began to get bored, and in his 6th term, he went back to his old ways and hit the gym again, forgoing a shot at a promotion for time on the bench press. No promotion in his 6th term, but he did pick up an extra 1 Strength.

Kebo managed to age well over his terms, only failing 1 Strength, 1 Dexterity, and 2 Endurance checks while aging. At muster out, Kebo picked up a bit of cash (around 80,000 Cr) and also got a bit smarter, all of a sudden (picking up +2 Intelligence), before finally learning how to use an Autorifle. A bit of Low Passage finished out Kebo's benefits package.

Classic Traveller Character Extravaganza!!

Starting tomorrow, up until New Years, I will be posting a new tale of Classic Traveller character gen every day. I have had a super fun time with this character generation process so far and I really want to showcase some of the fun characters that have both lived and died during the character generation process. I will be kicking off this character generation bonanza with one of my favorites, Kebo, the Merchant, a character that I built with my wife, and guess what, she actually enjoyed the process (she liked getting to roll dice to make her character). I hope you enjoy the following series.

Classic Traveller vs. 4e Character Gen

I have been giving the whole concept of the Character Generator a lot of thought lately. I have come to a few personal conclusions that I think I want to share with the world. If you find this post boring, blame Classic Traveller.

This last week, I started generating characters for Classic Traveller. Almost an entire notebook later, my hands were worn out from recording survival results and my dice were chipping. I made a lot of characters. Not all of them lived. Actually, most of them died.

I came to the conclusion that I enjoy the Classic Traveller character generation process more than I have enjoyed character generation in almost any game I have ever played. This includes virtually every edition of D&D as well as Vampire and Shadowrun. Why is this?

The fact that character gen is a game in itself is wonderful and amazing. For someone like me who lives in an isolated region of the mountains in a country that doesn't speak English, having a game that I can play on my own is really important. Character gen in this game is perfect for me. I can make a character in about 10 minutes and spend the next half an hour thinking up a backstory that fits all the rolls. How cool is that?!

I must say, I enjoy this process a whole lot more than typical character gen. When I end up playing D&D or Shadowrun, I put a lot of thought into my character. I guess you could even call me a bit of a power gamer. I may not try to pick the best class out there, but I sure as hell will optimize my already sub-par PC. I like playing odd multi-classes or strange Race/Class combos; but once I have that odd-ball rolled up, I want to turn him into a lean mean fighting machine. Doing something like this takes hours. I have spent days upon days designing 4e characters from L1-L30.

But Classic Traveller isn't like that. I spend minutes making a character that dies have way through generation. But hey! That is ok. I can just start from the beginning again.

But... all of this is really getting away from the point of this post. The point of this post was originally supposed to be a discussion about the Character Generator. In my opinion, using a character generator for Classic Traveller would completely suck the entire fun out of the process.

When I do all of my 4e Character design work, I spend hours in front of my netbook, clicking away on the character builder looking for the right combination of feats that will turn my oddball into a meatgrinder. But, with Traveller, If you took all the random out of the die rolls and built it into a program, all the fun would go away. The utility that the 4e character builder gives me far outweighs the fun that I have flipping through real books, but you can't get much easier than the character gen process in Traveller. Having a character builder for that would just make everything go away.

So, where am I going with this? Well, in all honesty, I would love to see somebody put together a 4th Edition Character generation rules system that is essentially a mimic of the Classic Traveller rules setup. It may take a couple of tables, but I think it would be freaking worth it and it would be a hell of a lot of fun. I could definitely see a few of my D&D characters dying as they try to hit level 1.

Who wouldn't want to make characters like that in other games? If nobody else is going to do this, I might just have to make those charts myself.

Classic Traveler - Character Build Check List

I just got done putting together a one page checklist for Character Building in Classic Traveller. It is really just a bunch of boxes where you can write down whether you passed a certain check, or what benefit you got when. Thought it might be useful for all of us who picked up the free Traveller bundle and have been having fun with character building. I will put it up on Megauploads a little bit later and than throw the link into this post. I hope people can use it. It only goes up to Tour 6, but if you get past your 6th tour, you are a lucky SOB (under those unlikely circumstances, just use a second page!).