Double Skills for Occupations with no Promotions
- Thread starter ddamant
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Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
I apply that whenever there are no promotions given, or spend some time thinking about what would be a reasonable promotion sequence. I have worked up a promotion sequence for Scouts, and I am thinking about the Hunter and Doctor classes. For the Hunter class, I am thinking that every time the Hunting skill increases, there is another skill role. For the Doctor class I am thinking of the following sequence. Intern to Resident to Doctor to Staff Physician to Department Head, with every increase in Medical Skill giving a promotion and additional skill roll.
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mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
I've been doing it that way for thirty seven years.
marginaleye
SOC-12
For whatever it's worth, however, characters who receive promotions also get more Mustering Out benefits, which can be non-trivial (e. g. a bonus to Intelligence or Education, or membership in the TAS). In careers without promotions, you're limited to getting one benefit roll per term.
Check, me too.
I do 2 skills/term for all careers, with promotions providing no extra skill roll (nor automatic skills for ranks): this is a significant change to RAW, but also better matches the experience rules (i.e., improve two different weapons or two different skills every four years).
I do preserve the rank bonus of +1 on the mustering out tables for ranks 5 or 6, though.
I do preserve the rank bonus of +1 on the mustering out tables for ranks 5 or 6, though.
I do, always have.
It's curious how the Citizens of the Imperium errata never applied the same double skill rule to those other professions. Perhaps it was deemed that the Scout service had such a low survival rate that double skills were a good compensation. Or maybe it was a simple GDW oversight.
I also use 2 skills per term across the board.
Balance is a illusion anyway, a retired 1 term Army Corporal travelling with a retired 5 term Merchant Captain will have nowhere near the same number of skills. In addition, most classes with Promotion will probably end up with more than 2 skills per term by the time you add in those free skills at certain ranks.
Balance is a illusion anyway, a retired 1 term Army Corporal travelling with a retired 5 term Merchant Captain will have nowhere near the same number of skills. In addition, most classes with Promotion will probably end up with more than 2 skills per term by the time you add in those free skills at certain ranks.
Some careers are blessed like that. Between earned skills, automatic skills, commission & promotion, and mustering out benefits, a one term PC in the Army or Marines can get 6 skills and/or levels:
- Two for initial term
- One automatic for career (Cutlass or Rifle)
- One for commission (Revolver or SMG)
- One for promotion
- One from rolling Gun/Blade benefit twice
kilemall
SOC-14 5K
You could also consider the NCO house rule I recently worked up- if you don't commission, you still go up an NCO chain or equivalent and roll for promotion, only success is for NCO rank advancement with concomitant skill additions.
Doesn't count for rank mustering out bonuses, but does allow for an LBB4-5ish NCO career.
Doesn't count for rank mustering out bonuses, but does allow for an LBB4-5ish NCO career.
I'm at a loss to where I saw it, but I have seen something official granting the Supplement 4 careers without ranks two skills per term, leaving Other the only career without.
I give 2 skills per term to all careers without promotion.
Note that with commission and promotion, a ranked career can result in 4 skills per term (and then with automatic skills, Army can produce 6 skills in term 1). I think this somewhat offsets the advantage of the automatic 2 skills (and note everyone gets an automatic two skills in term 1, so the advantage only applies to 2 term or longer careers). Also, careers with ranks tend to have more automatic skills from rank.
In the end, the number of skills for 3-5 term characters is still pretty low no matter what, so I don't see these changes as impacting balance too much.
Frank
I give 2 skills per term to all careers without promotion.
Note that with commission and promotion, a ranked career can result in 4 skills per term (and then with automatic skills, Army can produce 6 skills in term 1). I think this somewhat offsets the advantage of the automatic 2 skills (and note everyone gets an automatic two skills in term 1, so the advantage only applies to 2 term or longer careers). Also, careers with ranks tend to have more automatic skills from rank.
In the end, the number of skills for 3-5 term characters is still pretty low no matter what, so I don't see these changes as impacting balance too much.
Frank
creativehum
SOC-14 1K
I don't.
The two-skills-per-term was introduced in the 1981 edition of Traveller, but no mention was made of giving Other two-skills-per-term.
So at least one prior career only gets one skill per term (Other). Which means the prior careers in Supplement 4 either fall into the pattern of Scouts or Other.
Since the text in S4 doesn't say anything about the matter one way or the other, I default to the base assumption: Skills without promotions in S4 are like Other.
As for balance... the game and character generation are not about balance. (If they were there would be a point buy.) The system of character creation is crazy random.
Moreover, I've always seen the original Traveller rules as having a "play the hand your dealt" sensibility. The effectiveness of a PC is not limited to the PC's numbers, but what the Player does with the PC. (The rules of Traveller seem to support this reading: "Obviously, it is possible for a player to generate a character with seemingly unsatisfactory values; nevertheless, each player should use his character as generated.")
Part of this hand is one gets dealt is the draw: Different prior careers have different benefits and risks. Some are better at some things. Some offer easier commissions or promotions. Some are riskier. Some offer some skills that others don't have. And so on.
When creating a character per the rules in Traveller, you don't have a character in mind. You find out who you get. Some of this is choosing which prior career your character tries to get into (but might not!). And from this there is a whole fallout of consequences of the chosen career. The fact that they are different is, in my view, part of the appeal of the system.
I'm not typing this to convince anyone of anything. I understand my view on this is quite idiosyncratic.
The two-skills-per-term was introduced in the 1981 edition of Traveller, but no mention was made of giving Other two-skills-per-term.
So at least one prior career only gets one skill per term (Other). Which means the prior careers in Supplement 4 either fall into the pattern of Scouts or Other.
Since the text in S4 doesn't say anything about the matter one way or the other, I default to the base assumption: Skills without promotions in S4 are like Other.
As for balance... the game and character generation are not about balance. (If they were there would be a point buy.) The system of character creation is crazy random.
Moreover, I've always seen the original Traveller rules as having a "play the hand your dealt" sensibility. The effectiveness of a PC is not limited to the PC's numbers, but what the Player does with the PC. (The rules of Traveller seem to support this reading: "Obviously, it is possible for a player to generate a character with seemingly unsatisfactory values; nevertheless, each player should use his character as generated.")
Part of this hand is one gets dealt is the draw: Different prior careers have different benefits and risks. Some are better at some things. Some offer easier commissions or promotions. Some are riskier. Some offer some skills that others don't have. And so on.
When creating a character per the rules in Traveller, you don't have a character in mind. You find out who you get. Some of this is choosing which prior career your character tries to get into (but might not!). And from this there is a whole fallout of consequences of the chosen career. The fact that they are different is, in my view, part of the appeal of the system.
I'm not typing this to convince anyone of anything. I understand my view on this is quite idiosyncratic.
Not idiosyncratic at all: I think this is probably the most common take on CT chargen. But all of what you describe which I've quoted is still applicable when a 2nd skill roll is added to careers without promotions: crazy random, +1.
And THAT is why I like Traveller - you never know what you will get, so it can break you out of the stereotypes you always play in other games. As noted elsewhere - I don't think your view is idiosyncratic but, in reading the RAW as well as any of the interviews w/Mr. Miller, seem to be what was intended.
The Spinward Marches Campaign which sort of has updated stuff for the CotI careers mentions 2 skills per term for all 6 careers that don't have position and promotion rolls. Unfortunately the skill charts in this (at least in the PDF on the CD-ROM) are just repeats of the original 6 career skill charts.
So with that, all careers without promotion except Other were eventually granted 2 skills per term. I choose to grant Other 2 skills per term. Clearly other's will play differently (the GM I played with in Roll20 didn't even grant Scouts 2 skills per term, sticking with 1977 Book 1).
But I totally agree you play the character that is presented. Sure, you get to make some decisions as you follow the previous experience system, but it's definitely very random. Some folks reduce the randomness by letting you pick the skill table after rolling the 1D.
I definitely think it's all valid. I choose to GM a specific way but it's also valid if someone chooses to not choose (i.e. they just take whatever house rules someone else shares with them and GMs - still totally valid - I just happen to like being intentional).
Frank
I knew I had seen it in print, I just couldn't remember where.
Huh. I always imagined that "Other" only getting 1 skill per term after the first term was Marc's way of saying that people who don't join an organized service don't get trained as well.
I use "2 per" for services without promotions, which up until this thread, I'd considered a "house rule".
I use "2 per" for services without promotions, which up until this thread, I'd considered a "house rule".
Lord Kilgore
SOC-6
I used to, including Other. Lately, though, I've been using 1981 Books 1-3 only and I do not allow 2/term for Other.
