Some months ago I came across that wondeful photo of the Wanderer mockup. Not for the first time, but this time it fired one of my sudden enthusiasms, and I set about writing it for real. Some weeks later I found out that others had done the same before me, and were far ahead of me. At the same time my enthusiasm waned, and I put the file away. But inspired by Rob's thread, I've decided to post the bits I did manage to do. Anyone who wants to use any part of it are free to do so. If my permission is needed, it is hereby granted.
Oh, and if anyone have any ideas, suggestions or criticism, please don't hesitate to post them. Who knows, it may fire my enthusiasm again.
Continued below.
Hans
Oh, and if anyone have any ideas, suggestions or criticism, please don't hesitate to post them. Who knows, it may fire my enthusiasm again.
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WANDERER: CHARACTERS AND COMBAT
The following is an attempt to apply the Classic Traveller rules to a Sword
& Sorcery setting. All rules from CT: Book 1 apply unless superceded by
explicit rules in this article.
Skills not described in this article can be found in either CT _Book 1:
Characters and Combat_ or CT _Supplement 4: Citizens of the Imperium_.
INITIAL CHARACTER GENERATION
Characters are generated initially by throwing 2D6 for each of the six
basic characteristics, Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Intelligence,
Education, and Social Standing.
BOONS
After rolling stats, the player may select one boon for his character. The
referee may disallow any boon that would not fit with his campaign.
* The character has magical aptitude. At the end of each term, throw a
D6. If the result is equal to or less than the term number, his magical
aptitude has been discovered. He recieves Magic-0 and is now eligible for
using the Magical Education table during subsequent terms. If the character
musters out before his ability has been discovered, he is asssumed to have
figured it out just before play begins and he receives Magic-0 anyway.
* The character started young. His first term started at age 14. To enter
the Barbarian career voluntarily, a character must take this boon.
* The character has a title. This boon may only be selected for a character
with a SL of 11 (knight) or 12 (baron). Characters with SL of 11+ without a
title are younger sons or belong to cadet branches or have been disowned or
(as in the case of barbarians) have titles that are not considered legitimate
by the nobility of the kingdoms.
* The character starts as an officer (literally in the case of soldiers and
sailors, figuratively in the case of scholars and traders) of rank 4. This
represents someone procuring such a position for him through bribery or
influence and is only available to characters with SL 9+. He may only select
one of the first four careers for enlistment, but automatically makes his
enlistment roll, no matter how unsuitable his stats are for that career. He
goes through the career normally, rolling for promotions as if he had started
at rank 1, getting automatic skills for rank-2 (if any) when he makes the
first promotion roll, automatic skills for rank-3 (if any) when he makes the
second promotion roll, and automatic skills for rank-4 (if any) when he makes
the third promotion roll (He makes a third promotion roll instead of a
commission roll).
* Two careers: When the character leaves his first career, fate will grant
him the opportunity to enter another. The second career is selected exactly
as the first, including a draft roll if the character fails to enter his new
chosen career. His previous career may not be selected, but the draft may
land him in the same career again. In that case, some drastic change has
taken place, such as having had to leave his birth country and enter foreign
service. A character that enters the barbarians as a second career has
obviously not been born a barbarian; rather he has been captured by them or
sought refuge among them. He enters the new career at rank-1 if he embarked
on a new career and at rank-1 or one less than his former rank (whichever is
the highest) if he is drafted into the same career again.
The referee should feel free to allow any other boon of comparable value that
he or his players come up with.
When using these rules to generate non-player characters, the referee should
feel free to let them have more than one boon, such as a titled character
who starts his career as an officer at the age of 14, or a barbarian with
magical aptitude who gets to change career when the aptitude is discovered.
CAREERS
All beginning characters start off at age 18 unless the boon "Early start"
is chosen, in which case the character starts off at age 14. After choosing
a boon for his character, the player attempts to enlist him in his choice
career:
SOLDIER: Someone who makes his living a a fighting man. This includes, in
addition to members of regular army units, city guards, rangers, scouts,
private guards, mercenaries, militiamen, etc.
SAILOR: Someone who makes a living sailing a ship. This includes merchant
sailors, pirates, navy personnel, fishermen, etc.
SCHOLAR: Someone who makes a living from book-learning.
TRADER: Someone who makes a living buying goods in one place and selling
them in another. Includes tinkers, caravaneers, seatraders.
ROGUE: Someone who lives by his wits at the fringes of society. This
includes thieves, burglars, forgers, gamblers, con-men.
BARBARIAN: Rugged individuals from the edges of civilization accustomed to
hardship and well-trained in wilderness and survival situations.
Should an attempt at enlistment fail, the character must submit to the draft.
Each of the six careers has a draft number; the draftee rolls one die, and
enters the career with that draft number. Note that a character can be
drafted into that very career which had just previously rejected him.
Draftees are not eligble for promotions during their first term; they do
become eligble during the second and subsequent terms if they reenlist.
The sixth career, Barbarian, isn't really a career, it's a lifestyle. Nor is
there a selection board that assigns people to become rogues or barbarians.
The "draft" is a game mechanic that reflects the fickle finger of fate. The
character that applies to become a barbarian, fails, and is drafted into the
rogues 'fails' by not being born into a barbarian tribe and is 'drafted' into
the rogues by, perhaps, becoming orphaned at an early age.
Terms: Careers are resolved in blocks of four years called 'terms'. Each
completed term adds four years to the character's age. Each time a character
embarks on a new term, it is for an additional four years.
Achievement: Each term involves obstacles to overcome; during the term, a
character must successfully throw his career's achievement number to avoid
his career ending precipitously. Failure to make the achievement throw forces
the character to terminate his career after serving only two years of the
present term. This short term does not count towards mustering out benefits,
and the character must roll once on the Calamitous Career Termination Table.
Promotions: [Rank 7 only available for non-player characters]
The character must now proceed to mustering out, unless he has the boon
"Second Career".
Optional Rule: Iron Man Wanderer: If the referee and player agree, a failure
can be interpreted as a fatal ending to the life of the character, allowing/
forcing the player to roll up a new character.Continued below.
Hans
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