The "Basic" half of the MegaTraveller character generation chapter is the wheel you are trying to reinvent. All eighteen careers, one skill list. Keep using the CT skill *descriptions* except where MT has used a new grouping. Heck, you could probably just drop the MT career tables and the two page master skill chart into the CT processes.
That's a good point. Unfortunately, I sold all my MT stuff shortly after Imperium Games went out of business since I didn't need it for reference anymore and had always preferred CT over it. All I have at this point is my shelves o' CT stuff, long with the T4 stuff from when I was working on that.
I think you have missed the point of the OP - he is wanting to stick to basic LBB1 and S4:CotI character generation, not use advanced.
The problem is skill that were added in LBB4 and LBB5 appear on the skill tables in S4:CotI. You need LBB4 and LBB5 to know how to use the skills.
In LBB1 no military character can get battledress skill, yet in S4:CotI a sailor can.
Solution 1 - remove all skills that are not in LBB1 from S4:CotI and substitute the most suitable replacement from LBB1
Solution 2 - make up rules for the skills you don't have the rules for.
Solution 3 - get LBB4 and 5 for the skill descriptions, and allow LBB1 military careers to substitute battle dress for vac suit if appropriate.
Solution 4 - complete re-write of the LBB1 generation tables using skill cascades to select skills
eg - table says space:technical, select from commo, gravitics, electronics, mechanical - that sort of thing.
I would go with option 1 or 2 personally.
I like Solution 3 there. Besides allowing Battlederess instead of Vaccsuit, what else would be needed? Weapon skills? Any skills from 4/5 that should really be available?
Actually, does a list exist comparing the skills available in Bk1 vs new skills in 4/5? Then the GM could cherry pick for substitutions.
Another option would be to try and pair up the CotI skills with LBB1 skills, then offer the player rolling the LBB1 character the choice of the basic skill or the CotI skill,
e.g. battledress/vaccsuit,, streetwise/carousing, admin/liaison: weapon skills could have demo added as a choice etc.
One final option - make some new skill tables to add to the ones in LBB1.
e.g.
Navy - carousing, commo, gravitics, instruction, liaison, ship tactics
Note there are some skills in cotI that i would remove and replace with LBB1 skills - instruction and recruiting - and some that I would just replace because they are just other skills renamed - liaison/carousing/streetwise are just about all the same (maybe the higher your soc and rank the more refined skill name you take).
Mike - Hmm! Lots of good ideas to think about. Thank you, Mike!
Let me go through the skill list and see if I can divide them up. (By the way, I missed Zero-G Combat when I made my previous post on the list of skills in CotI that aren't in LBB1.)
Easy ones to replace in CotI:
Battle Dress - Replace with Vacc Suit in CotI.
Carousing - Replace with Streetwise in CotI.
Communications - Replace with Electronics in CotI.
Liaison - Replace with Streetwise in CotI.
Skills that should probably be back-ported to LBB1:
Demolition
Interrogation
Recon
Ship Tactics (With Book 2 space combat, perhaps take Ship Tactics skill level minus one, round down, and add to Predict and/or Maneuver/Evade program level?)
Survival
Zero-G Combat
Could Go Either Way:
Gravitics - Replace with Electronics in CotI?
Instruction - Replace with Admin in CotI?
Recruiting - Replace with Streetwise in CotI?
Hmm. As I look at it, Solution 3 is starting to seem most promising. Either that or throw up my hands and just stick to LBB1.
What do you think?
