Other new full-book careers for CT.

[BlackBat242]

Since you seem to be playing with CT now, I would like to suggest options for later Career Books.

Here's a list of career articles I have collected... if permission could be obtained from their authors, some could be combined into sufficient material (when properly filled-out) for a Book.

Suggestions are:
1. Underworld (has several different career paths), Rogue, and Terrorist.
2. Star Cops, Wanted Dead or Alive (Bounty Hunters), and Espionage (Spies).

and more could be worked out if there is demand.

For Classic Traveller

Pre-enlistment skills in TRAVELLER®
The Space Gamer #79, March/April 1985

I’m a Doctor, Not a… (expansion of Medical skill)
The Space Gamer #47, January 1982

Poltroonery, Courts Martial, and the ICMJ (alternate system for failed survival in military careers)
JTAS #10



b=basic system (LBB 1-3 style), e=expanded system (LBB 4-7 style)

e Competitive Citizens Expanded Character Generation for Traveller’s Citizens of the Imperium
The Space Gamer #70, July/August 1984

e Terrorists in TRAVELLER Creating terrorist characters for Traveller
The Space Gamer #46, December 1981

b The Stellar Diocese The Clergy in the TRAVELLER® universe
Dragon magazine #101, September 1985

e Swords and Stars The expanded Barbarian career in TRAVELLER® game.
Ares, Winter 1983

e Star Cops!
Dragon magazine #113, September 1986
Also published as Cops! A TRAVELLER Police Character Generation System in
Different Worlds magazine #46, May/June 1987

e Space Age Espionage (spies, of course)
Dragon magazine #120, April 1987

b Dead or Alive The Bounty Hunter as a Career in Traveller
White Dwarf magazine #70, October 1985

b The Underworld Some Shadier Interstellar Services
Different Worlds magazine #33, March/April 1984

e Rogues of the Galaxy An expanded TRAVELLER® character class
Dragon magazine #97, May 1985

b Journalist Character Generation
Traveller’s Digest vol. 1-no. 2, 1985

b More Careers Six new classes for Traveller (cavalry, artillery, technician, engineer, reporter, civilian)
Different Worlds magazine #15, October 1981

e Skyport Authority (port operations career)
JTAS #19

e The Imperial Academy of Science and Medicine (university education for characters)
JTAS #22

b The Irklan (religious sect character career, far-future Thuggees)
JTAS #23

b The Sword Worlders (humanati culture & career generation)
JTAS #18

I don't have these, so I don't know how useful they could be:

White Dwarf Magazine:
19) Criminals: an additional livelihood for Travellers
22) Robe and Blaster: Upgrading Aristocracy in Traveller
25) The Self-Made Traveller: Optional Skill Acquisition
27) The Imperial Secret Service
31) Prior Service in Traveller: alternative character generation
59) CORE: Consulary Office of Reconnaissance and Exploration
63) Imperial Trooper: new characters

 

[MongooseMatt]

All good suggestions.

Should probably point out that the reason we went ahead with this book is because a) we had some Classic writers on hand, b) it seemed like a bit of fun, and c) why not?

What we did not expect was the response on social media which was... somewhat more than we thought it might be

We'll have to see how things go once Book 9 is released. It makes no sense running two different game systems alongside one another, but doing some other bits and pieces would potentially be on the cards. And it is quite a funky thing.

When settling on which release to do, we figured a new Adventure/Double Adventure would not be desperately exciting, and we had talked about a Supplement 14. Book 9 seemed like the right place to start.

As I said, we'll see what happens next. However, we had already pencilled something in for Classic Traveller for the 50th anniversary...

 

[kilemall]

Robe and Blaster is basically a Nobles power up benefits article, but the benefits are some nice plot hooks.

 

[McPerth]

One career I always mised is MoJ...

 

[smiths121]

In the mean old days of 37 different competing versions of Traveller (OK I might be exaggerating a bit), Avenger used to dual (or sometimes triple stat), their NPCs. BITS did a good task covergance system.

I think I might be suggesting published adventures for both systems as the same time?
I mean those CT players have not had to buy anything for decades, loads of money in their wallets

Simon

 

[FreeTrav]

One career I always mised is MoJ...

I might offer a suggestion of David Jaques-Watson's John Law IV: Ministry of Justice Character Generation for MegaTraveller as a stopgap until Mongoose decides to an official one...

 

[kilemall]

I might offer a suggestion of David Jaques-Watson's John Law IV: Ministry of Justice Character Generation for MegaTraveller as a stopgap until Mongoose decides to an official one...

MgT1 had the book Agent that covered this area. Plenty of such in the CE offerings, particularly the Careers book for Clement Sector.

 

[Enoki]

One to consider is Colonist. I would envision this as a career that could be played solo or in a group setting. Solo it is more of a survivalist / lone prospector / "mountain man" sort of thing where you are up against variable level of hostile environment trying to eke out living. In a group setting it's trying to set up a colony on some planet on a shoestring budget.

It would open up a range of skills not normally associated with Traveller like construction, farming, terraforming, and survey (for resources etc.) for example.

 

[kilemall]

One to consider is Colonist. I would envision this as a career that could be played solo or in a group setting. Solo it is more of a survivalist / lone prospector / "mountain man" sort of thing where you are up against variable level of hostile environment trying to eke out living. In a group setting it's trying to set up a colony on some planet on a shoestring budget.

It would open up a range of skills not normally associated with Traveller like construction, farming, terraforming, and survey (for resources etc.) for example.

I did a CT version of that. Skills included

usual mix of fixit tech,
Prospecting,
Recon,
Hunting,
Survival,
Combat,
Instruction,
Equestrian,
Survey,
Medical,
new skills Agriculture,
Carniculture (natural animal raising or vat meat),
my expanded Architect skill (in addition to Naval Civil, Bioengineering, Vehicle, Equipment, Materials, and Social),
and Jack of all trades.

 

[Enoki]

I did a CT version of that. Skills included

usual mix of fixit tech,
Prospecting,
Recon,
Hunting,
Survival,
Combat,
Instruction,
Equestrian,
Survey,
Medical,
new skills Agriculture,
Carniculture (natural animal raising or vat meat),
my expanded Architect skill (in addition to Naval Civil, Bioengineering, Vehicle, Equipment, Materials, and Social),
and Jack of all trades.

I would add a few like

Construction that cascades to things like carpentry, masonry, plumbing. This allows the character to build and maintain durable structures. Without it, you get ramshackle huts and the like that don't survive the elements well. After all, everybody likes indoor plumbing that works...

Heavy vehicle operator. Allows player to operate and maintain construction and agricultural machinery and the like. ATV -1 is a substitute.

Terraformer. Knows how to set up and operate advanced terraforming equipment. Knows what sort of terraforming is needed and works best. Makes it so the colony can modify planetary conditions on a local to global level.

Resource procurement. Cascades to things like lumberjack, miner, hunter, fisherman, etc. These skills allow the character to produce larger quantities raw materials efficiently. Can combine with skills like survey and prospecting that allow finding the resources. Example: A prospector finds a mineral vein and can recover some materials at low efficiency. A miner is shown the vein and recovers far larger quantities quickly.

These are skills geared to building a colony rather than say operating a starship or engaging in combat which is where most Traveller skills are pointed.

 

[kilemall]

I would add a few like

Construction that cascades to things like carpentry, masonry, plumbing. This allows the character to build and maintain durable structures. Without it, you get ramshackle huts and the like that don't survive the elements well. After all, everybody likes indoor plumbing that works...

Heavy vehicle operator. Allows player to operate and maintain construction and agricultural machinery and the like. ATV -1 is a substitute.

Terraformer. Knows how to set up and operate advanced terraforming equipment. Knows what sort of terraforming is needed and works best. Makes it so the colony can modify planetary conditions on a local to global level.

Resource procurement. Cascades to things like lumberjack, miner, hunter, fisherman, etc. These skills allow the character to produce larger quantities raw materials efficiently. Can combine with skills like survey and prospecting that allow finding the resources. Example: A prospector finds a mineral vein and can recover some materials at low efficiency. A miner is shown the vein and recovers far larger quantities quickly.

These are skills geared to building a colony rather than say operating a starship or engaging in combat which is where most Traveller skills are pointed.

My approach is to let the mechanical/electronics and other trade skills do the building, and the architects do the plant/refinery/smelting etc design.

Construction design would be covered under Civil because I prefer expansive main skills not cascade but that is preference.

But yes I think new skills are needed for that use case.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Terraformer. Knows how to set up and operate advanced terraforming equipment. Knows what sort of terraforming is needed and works best. Makes it so the colony can modify planetary conditions on a local to global level.

To be honest, this feels like something that belongs in the Researcher career.
There really ought to be an "Academic" cascade skill that covers all kinds of esoteric topics and fields ... such as terraforming, mathematics, astronomy, economics, geology, computer sciences, robotics, etc. etc. etc. which amounts to a case of allowing the Player to "pick your specialty field(s)" in more of an open ended, rather than closely defined (predetermined) list to choose from.

Resource procurement. Cascades to things like lumberjack, miner, hunter, fisherman, etc. These skills allow the character to produce larger quantities raw materials efficiently. Can combine with skills like survey and prospecting that allow finding the resources. Example: A prospector finds a mineral vein and can recover some materials at low efficiency. A miner is shown the vein and recovers far larger quantities quickly.

Broaden the scope a little bit and you've basically got "Prospecting" cascade skill for different specialties (animal, vegetable or mineral, basically). The notion that there is a "Resource" skill, which then has a collection of specializations under it (land hunter, water fisher, vegetation clearer, miner, etc.) then makes it possible for an incredibly wide variety of potential resource extraction skills and specialties to be supported.

 

[mike wightman]

All the skills that are needed for a colonist are there in CT LBB:1
medical
vehicle
mechanical
electronic
jack-o-T
Take the Other career path, concentrate on those skills - instant colonist prior-career.

 

[kilemall]

All the skills that are needed for a colonist are there in CT LBB:1
medical
vehicle
mechanical
electronic
jack-o-T
Take the Other career path, concentrate on those skills - instant colonist prior-career.

Hmm I dunno if I buy that, Other ends up being kind of a shady criminal thing with all that bribery and forgery, more like Rogue Lite.

 

[Tobias]

Some that offer good potential for associated rules extensions and campaign styles, like Books 5-7 did, IMHO:

Scientist (might overlap a bit with Book 6 I guess) - include rules for scientific research; include extensive tech level tables and such, which never appeared in non-DGP CT.
Belter (... definitely overlaps a lot with Beltstrike) - include rules for prospecting and the space environment in general.
Noble/Diplomat - include rules for political ambitions; information on political systems and such.
Barbarian - include the whole gamut of options for playing Traveller as a low-tech or even fantasy game.

 

[Enoki]

To be honest, this feels like something that belongs in the Researcher career.
There really ought to be an "Academic" cascade skill that covers all kinds of esoteric topics and fields ... such as terraforming, mathematics, astronomy, economics, geology, computer sciences, robotics, etc. etc. etc. which amounts to a case of allowing the Player to "pick your specialty field(s)" in more of an open ended, rather than closely defined (predetermined) list to choose from.

I see this as a person who knows how to select locations for dams and build them, or someone who knows how to 'bulk up' the atmosphere with various gases in a cheap and effective manner. If the planet lacked, say a magnetic field, how to create alternative to stop the solar wind from stripping the planet's atmosphere, that sort of thing. It isn't research, but rather special applied civil engineering and physics at play for that.

Broaden the scope a little bit and you've basically got "Prospecting" cascade skill for different specialties (animal, vegetable or mineral, basically). The notion that there is a "Resource" skill, which then has a collection of specializations under it (land hunter, water fisher, vegetation clearer, miner, etc.) then makes it possible for an incredibly wide variety of potential resource extraction skills and specialties to be supported.

Prospecting is different from exploitation of resources. Prospecting is small scale and focused on discovering the resources, while Procurement focuses on extraction on a mass scale at reasonable cost.

 

[mike wightman]

Hmm I dunno if I buy that, Other ends up being kind of a shady criminal thing with all that bribery and forgery, more like Rogue Lite.

Only if you want it to, it can just as easily be policeman.

 

[Enoki]

All the skills that are needed for a colonist are there in CT LBB:1
medical
vehicle
mechanical
electronic
jack-o-T
Take the Other career path, concentrate on those skills - instant colonist prior-career.

I agree with Kilemall here. "Other" is focused on being a neer-do-well rather than on being someone engaged in creating a stable society--however big or small--on a planet.

The idea of "Colonist" is closer to say running a city building / world building simulation than being involved in some sort of nefarious get rich quick scheme.

 

[mike wightman]

Other does not have to be synonymous with criminal, it is for the referee and the player to decide the nature of the actual career.

 

[whulorigan]

Scientist (might overlap a bit with Book 6 I guess) - include rules for scientific research; include extensive tech level tables and such, which never appeared in non-DGP CT.

Could be expanded to include Design Engineers and Physician/Doctor as well (or any higher-level Educated Degreed individual). This could be the "Scholar" Book.

Belter (... definitely overlaps a lot with Beltstrike) - include rules for prospecting and the space environment in general.

Could include Salvage-workers of various types as well, and Drifters in general.

Noble/Diplomat - include rules for political ambitions; information on political systems and such.

I would also include Bureaucrat in the above as well. In Basic CharGen I have noted that you can already replicate the three classes of Nobility in the Third Imperium by judiciously choosing among the above careers:

Ceremonial/Administrative/Rank Noble:​

1. Start with Initial Soc=A+ and join the Bureaucrat Career (or start with Initial Social high enough that you get Soc +1 through CharGen to promote you into the Nobility).
2. Start with Initial Soc=A+ and join the Diplomat Career (or start with Initial Social high enough that you get Soc +1 through CharGen to promote you into the Nobility).

Landed/High Nobility: Start with Initial Soc=A+ and join the Noble Career as normal, and successfully roll for position.​

​

Honour Nobility: Start with Initial Soc=A+ and join the Noble Career as normal but choose NOT to roll for position (or alternatively, fail to make your roll for position when attempting to join the Landed/High Nobility).​

Barbarian - include the whole gamut of options for playing Traveller as a low-tech or even fantasy game.

This would also be a great addition, although it can be said that there are already a number of Traveller-based or Cepheus Engine based rulesets that already have covered similar ground.