CT Only: Character creation, LBB1 along with extended creation rules: unbalanced?

[BRJN]

If you use the rule, which many Traveller players don't seem to know about or choose to ignore, that a character's maximum number of skills and skill levels is equal to the sum of the character's Int + Edu, then it really doesn't matter which system you use. A Book 4-7 character will hit that cap sooner than a Book 1 or Supplement 4 character, usually by a term or two in my experience.

I hadn't realized that I do this as a 'final check' on my characters. Surplus skill ranks must be 'deflated' or set to Skill-0 (so you still get to avoid the "untrained penalty" from it).

 

[Timerover51]

Looking at this thread again led me to take a look at the 1977 Edition of Classic and the 1981 Edition of Classic again see how skills are handled. Not surprisingly, there are some differences.

1977 LBB

All player characters have an innate weapon expertise, in all weapons, of one-half. Acquisition of expertise in a weapon boosts this to level one. Additional acquisitions of expertise in the same weapon increase the present level by one. Page 12

Untrained Weapons Usage: A character using a weapon in which he has no expertise is subject to a DM penalty of −5 when attacking and +3 when defending.
Note that all player characters have an expertise of ½ in all weapons. This value is sufficient to avoid the no expertise penalty, but not enough to provide a DM advantage. Other characters may have fractional expertise levels, due to a gradual acquisition of the skill during the course of the game. Always round expertise levels down when computing expertise DMs. Page 32 (Emphasis Added)

In all of the years working with Traveller, I totally missed that comment on fractional expertise levels from gradual acquisition of skill levels during the course of the game. Effectively, this allows for experience gain in the game, so that your player-character is not permanently locked at their current skill levels. It would seem to be reasonable to apply this to all of the various skills, and not just weapons, allowing for gradual skill gain during the course of a campaign.

1981 LBB

Jack of all trades can be considered to confer skill level-0 in every other skill (but never level-1). Page 20

All player-characters have an innate weapon expertise, in all weapons, of zero. Acquisition of a weapon skill boosts this to level-1. Additional acquisitions of expertise in the same weapon increase the present level by one. Page 16

Untrained Weapon Usage: Any character using a weapon in which he or she has no training is subject to a penalty of -5 when attacking and +3 when definding. All player-characters automatically have an expertise of zero (0) in all weapons shown in this book. This zero value is sufficient to avoid the no expertise penalty, but it is not enough to provide a positive DM. Page 36.

The Jack-of-all-Trades rule is another that I have missed, but it definitely makes the Jack-of-all-Trades skill a lot more valuable. I would have to think about it applying to every skill, but maybe groups of skill would be more applicable.

Personally, I like the idea of half-skill levels better than Skill Level-0 indicating some familiarity with the skill involved.

Lastly, although this has been mentioned in other threads, this quote is also from the 1981 Edition of the LBBs.

The scout service is an exception to the normal eligibilities. Because the service has no rank or promotion, scout characters do not become eligible for extra skills during their careers. Instead, however, scouts receive two skills for each term of service, including the first. Page 11

 

[ffilz]

Looking at this thread again led me to take a look at the 1977 Edition of Classic and the 1981 Edition of Classic again see how skills are handled. Not surprisingly, there are some differences.

1977 LBB


In all of the years working with Traveller, I totally missed that comment on fractional expertise levels from gradual acquisition of skill levels during the course of the game. Effectively, this allows for experience gain in the game, so that your player-character is not permanently locked at their current skill levels. It would seem to be reasonable to apply this to all of the various skills, and not just weapons, allowing for gradual skill gain during the course of a campaign.

1981 LBB


The Jack-of-all-Trades rule is another that I have missed, but it definitely makes the Jack-of-all-Trades skill a lot more valuable. I would have to think about it applying to every skill, but maybe groups of skill would be more applicable.

Personally, I like the idea of half-skill levels better than Skill Level-0 indicating some familiarity with the skill involved.

Lastly, although this has been mentioned in other threads, this quote is also from the 1981 Edition of the LBBs.

Hmm, I had not read that note on fractional skill levels. Interesting read, difference noted in my section by section comparison and commentary to that point added.

Frank