A brief experiment

[sabredog]

So I’m taking a break from single-handedly writing this supplement for T5/CT/MT with hordes of animals, adventures, drawings, Good Lord – its getting out of control….and I need a break. I decide that something fun might be to do a “There but for the grace of…” kind of experiment and roll up one character and run it through the assorted careers in LBB 1 (this was supposed to be fun and relaxing, after all, so no expanded careers) to see what would happen if the same rolls were used across the entire spectrum for a single character. Same rolls, same tables.

I never tried this before, and it turned out better than I thought so I here are the results:

The rules were that the basic attributes would be rolled on 2D6 only in the order they are in the UPP. And then I would roll once at each stage of each career prior to actually generating the character. So I rolled for enlistment, then survival, etc. for four terms just as if I was rolling a character and wrote down the numbers. For each term I rolled twice for skills and recorded those and what table they were on. If the character, once the scores were applied to an actual service and modded by abilities allowed for commission and promotion, then I would roll those as they came. Since each service has different requirements for those, and some none at all, I didn’t think it would skew the results – they just showed that in some services this particular character might have more choices available due to the same rolls that would restrict (maybe) those choices in other services.

At the end of each potential 4-term career (or sooner) I mustered the character out with the max number of cash rolls allowed and then material benefits.

So the basic abilities rolled were pretty normal at 8A7987, and I applied the same aging roll to each (lose 1 point in Endurance) in the end. As I rolled each I was able to come up with a coherent and interesting background to go with each – IMHO that was always the most fun about the Trav chargen system, that in-built background generator so long as you applied a little imagination – but I won’t include that here for brevity’s sake. Just the final results.

Navy LtCmdr
UPP= 8A6987

Laser carbine-1
Gunnery- 1
Ship’s Boat- 1
Navigation- 1
Vacc Suit- 1
Fwd Obs- 1

65,000 Cr.
High Passage
Traveller’s Aid Society


Scout

This guy had a bright and shining first term, then died in the second one. Scouts, what can you say?


Merchants First Ofcr

UPP= 9A6997

STR+1
SMG-1
Gunnery-2
Navigation-1
Jack of all trades-1
Vacc Suit-1
Engineering-1
Pilot-1

85,000Cr
SMG
+1 EDU
Blade



Marines Captain
UPP= 8A7987

+1END
Laser Rifle-1
Cutlass-3
Revolver-1
Vacc Suit-1

33,000Cr
Cutlass



Army Lieutenant
UPP= 8A6987

Rifle-2
SMG-1
Blade-1
Computer-1

30,000Cr






Other
UPP= 8A6987

Autopistol-1
Brawling-2
Bribery-1
Gambling-1

160,000Cr
Autopistol



The skills spread out well, and all of the characters have potential. Except, naturally, for the would-be Scout. If I had a choice I would use either the Navy or Merchants character for adventuring, but the big wad of cash in the Other’s pocket might be fun to start with.

Anyway, it was interesting for a small diversion. Back to the mines…

 

[Fritz_Brown]

*marks this page for further examination*

 

[BytePro]

LBB1 chargen is random, but in its elegant simplicity, comfortably consistent.

By merely stating term limits, a Ref has a real good idea of what to expect in the way of PCs. At the same time, Players get a good mixup to hang backgrounds and personalities on, without going overboard (and getting so hung up on a character as to not want to actually 'risk' playing them).

Now the really interesting thing would be to try this with the follow-on chargen systems...

 

[SpaceBadger]

Cool idea! Would bear repeating a few times for more data - I'll see if I can find time and post my results, following your methodology.

 

[BytePro]

If you use an program - just fix the starting random seed so all rolls will repeat.

 

[aramis]

LBB1 chargen is random, but in its elegant simplicity, comfortably consistent.

By merely stating term limits, a Ref has a real good idea of what to expect in the way of PCs. At the same time, Players get a good mixup to hang backgrounds and personalities on, without going overboard (and getting so hung up on a character as to not want to actually 'risk' playing them).

Now the really interesting thing would be to try this with the follow-on chargen systems...

Not when the number is greater than 4 terms...

A 4 term PC could have 1 to 10 skills, and it's not too unlikely of certain skills being level 4, especially if the player takes all rolls on one table; conversely it's possible for the guy to have no skills at all, and just raised 5 attributes, and got no commission/promotion, in a service without a service skill.

And that's assuming the cap is also a floor...

 

[Fritz_Brown]

If you use an program - just fix the starting random seed so all rolls will repeat.

Or, just populate one set of rolls, and re-use them (as I would do in a spreadsheet).

 

[sabredog]

Or, just populate one set of rolls, and re-use them (as I would do in a spreadsheet).

Which a more concise way of describing what I did manually.

But, I like the feel of the dice and the sound they make when they roll, though, so I wouldn't use a spreadsheet. I'd miss out on all of that good gaming sensory stimuli which always gets me in the creative groove in a Pavlovian sort of way.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Pavlovian? Remind me not to borrow your dice (unless you've washed the drool off).

 

[sabredog]

Hey - they're plastic...a little drool won't hurt 'em and might keep the ref from looking too closely at the cleverly shaved edges.

But seriously, doesn't anyone have the same response I do to hearing the dice clatter across the table, the first greening and warm weather in Spring, the first long period of daylight that says, "Yes, it's time to play some games all night"? Every summer, for as long as I can think back started (at least since 1976) with me putting pencil to paper and writing that summer's campaign for whatever. Rolling dice and generating characters, and making plans to get together with my friends every weekend for long-into-the-early-morning hours of gaming. Every year at around May that same geeky feeling creeps in as soon as I see the leaves coming out in the tree outside my home office window. The first day of summer for me is like a single uninterrupted pre-game session reaching back in my mind for 37 years. When I roll my dice to start that first character I'm 15 again - it's like a time machine rewinding the years with every roll of the dice and scratch on the paper.

It doesn't mean I actually get to play much, if any at all that year, but the reflexive response is still the same. The usual result nowadays is to just generate a campaign nobody actually plays in as an intellectual exercise that expands my personal TU. Maybe someday.

 

[navanod]

Oh, you're not alone in that response. My little gaming group (wife, daughter, son, his girlfriend, and I) just picked up gaming again a month ago after too long of a hiatus. We started out experimenting with roll20.net, which would be an acceptable alternative if we couldn't do face to face, but we've come to the consensus that, while it's okay, we'd all rather drag out the books and dice bags and go strictly old school.

 

[JimMarn]

I have currently around 2-3000 dice. Polysets, and others.

In the early to mid-1980s I DMed games in 2 game stores and at the house. I was up to 5 game sessions with different people per week. I enjoy rolling dice. So did most of my players. I still buy dice. Some of my players and I are trying to get back together, but it looks like virtual table top is the only way we'll be able to do it.

We'll be using a camera on the physical table, and a microphone. Gotta hear the dice roll, and the yells of anguish when I ambush their characters. Or the yells of triumph when they vanquish their character's foes.

Watching tokens on a vtt just isn't the same.

 

[tancred]

I'm with you there too.
I do all my work as a GM on my laptop, EXCEPT for rolling the dice.
There just is no substitute for the sound and feel of dice on the table.

 

[pennshome723]

I am still old school, as I use pencils and paper, heck I still use grease pens on a glass surface over a hex or grid maps. Heck I also use paper pics to help define what folks see. I even have a chalk board to draw on too...LOL

 

[HG_B]

I'm with you there too.
I do all my work as a GM on my laptop, EXCEPT for rolling the dice.
There just is no substitute for the sound and feel of dice on the table.

As a GM I sometimes don't want the players to know that I'm rolling. I keep sheets of various "dice rolls" handy and cross them off (in sequence) as I use them.

I generate them here.

 

[pennshome723]

I always use a GM screen and just roll behind the screen out of the players view!

 

[HG_B]

I always use a GM screen and just roll behind the screen out of the players view!

I do it "silently" so the players don't even know a roll is occurring. Prevents even unintentional meta-gaming. Also good for instances where you might need a large amount of rolls all at once.

 

[aramis]

I always use a GM screen and just roll behind the screen out of the players view!

I won't play with people who do that, at least not anymore. I make all rolls that affect PC's in the open these days.

Any rolls I'm making out of player view are simple decision making.

 

[HG_B]

I won't play with people who do that, at least not anymore. I make all rolls that affect PC's in the open these days.

Any rolls I'm making out of player view are simple decision making.

Did you have the misfortune of playing with a "crooked GM"?

 

[pennshome723]

I won't play with people who do that, at least not anymore. I make all rolls that affect PC's in the open these days.

Any rolls I'm making out of player view are simple decision making.

LMAO then I guess it would really un-nerve you when I make FAKE Rolls just because to make you think I was doing something or etc...LOL!!!

Look doing rolls behind a GM screen is no big deal and it has been the norm now for 37+ years that I have been playing. I can make judgement calls on the fly, just as well as roll for something too.

Remember as a GM your job is to make it entertaining for your players and you, and the plot is key to it all. Regardless weather you win or loose, as long as it is fun for all and exciting then everyone is happy.

I even use a element in my game called "Roll your Luck". Basically the player on d100% must tie or beat what I the GM roll and I roll that in front of them. If they do I roleplay and story tell what happens, as well as if they fail. It is all for fun and to move the story along.

So one shouldn't be so HARD-LINE is what they will or will not do, go with the flow and do what is best for you and your game.