Old School
SOC-9
Been lurking for a bit, so here’s my first post. Its long, so I hope someone enjoys it.
Only in Traveller can you hit all the emotions during character creation – joy, anger, humor, , rage, despair etc. We decided to roll up a new group for a MgT2 adventure. I don’t think we could have come up with a more bitter, hard luck (but dang talented) group if we tried.
Here I present the brilliant but underappreciated Sally, the navy man turned pirate Sam, the disillusioned Marine Ox, the reluctant soldier Joe, and everyone’s favorite diplomat / convict / socialite, Slick (ok, so we didn’t spend much time on their names). These need to be fleshed out a bit, but you’ll get the picture. Our heroes and childhood friends are all 38 years old, and after reviewing their bios, let’s hope their mid-life crises are behind them.
Sally, 5A7DF5
University Graduate, Space program
Member of college clique, 12 allies
Contact within the less savory side of the brokerage business
Broker - 4 Admin – 1 Melee – Blade - 1
Engineer - Jump - 2 Investigate – 1 Gun Combat – Slug - 1
Engineer - maneuver - 1. Astro – 2 Persuade – 1
Streetsmart, Vacc Suit, Drive, Steward, Electronics all at 0
Blade TBD, gun TBD, ship share. Zero credits
The undisputed brains of the group, Sally went to school with plans to travel the stars, but soon fell in love with the brokering side of the merchant business. Despite her obvious skills, and a 16 year track record of making money for her employers, including several huge deals (one on an inside tip from her boyfriend, shhh!), Sally was only promoted twice. She is more than a little bitter about this lack of advancement. She also parlayed her skills into 8 benefit rolls, but when she’d finally had enough, she found herself mustering out with a knife, a pistol, and one lousy ship share to show for it. Sally believes that being from the wrong family had a lot to do with her lack of promotions and lack of a ship at the end of her career. Oh, did I mention her boyfriend is a pirate?
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Sam, 599B68
Able Spacehand, less than honorable discharge, 2 terms
Pirate Corporal, 3 terms
Gunner – 2 Mechanic – 1 Astrogation – 1
Pilot – 2 Electronics – comms - 1 Gamble – 1
Gun Combat – Energy – 1
Vacc Suit, Athletics, Gun Cmbt, Carouse, Streetwise 0
TAS, 50,000 Cr, Ship share, combat arm
Sam is a hard luck case. Despite his smarts he was rejected by both the Marine Academy and Marine enlistment, eventually being drafted into the Navy. There he was injured in a frozen watch accident, and a later accident that left several spacehands dead resulted in his discharge. Having recently fallen in love with Sally wasn’t enough to keep him from joining a pirate gang, and somehow they’ve made it work. 12 years of piracy expanded Sam’s skills and he became a good enough card player to clean out Joe and all his friends in an evening that remains notorious among the group. A severe injury (Str -4), forced him out of the trade, although he left with an ally on board. With his new TL11 combat arm and a good woman to nurse him back to health, Sam is looking for his luck to change.
--------------------------------
Ox, A58676
Star Marine Lance Sergeant, discharged after 4 terms
1 term salvager
Gun cmbt – Energy – 4 Vacc Suit – 2 Stealth – 1
Melee – Blade – 2 Gunner – 1 tactics – Military -1
Leadership – 1
Carouse, Streetwise, Survival, Melee (unarmed), Gun Cmbt, Heavy Weapons, Athletics 0
50,000 CR, weapon, implant TBD
Ox was unsurprisingly rejected by the Navy Academy before enlisting in the Marines. Despite some help from his friends – Sally helping him make an extra buck and Slick pulling some strings to get him a special assignment with an assault team, Ox’s career was cut short after he was stuck behind enemy lines through no fault of his own. He found work on a salvage team for a few years, before a random encounter with the ArchDuke at a starport (the dice don’t lie, can’t make this up) convinced him it was time to get back in the game.
--------------------------------------
Joe, A64A9C
Army, Cavalry Captain, Discharged, 4 terms
Part time dilettante, 1 term
Melee – Blade -3 Drive – 1 Deception – 1
Gun Cmbt – Slug – 2 Recon – 1 Leadership - 1
Gun Cmbt – Energy – 1 Gambler – 1 Heavy Weapon – Vehicle – 1
Electronics – sensors – 1
Language, Admin, vacc suit, Athletics (str) 0
200,000 credits, weapon TBD, implant TBD
Enemies: former commanding officer and local noble
Joe was off to college to begin his business career when war broke out, resulting his being drafted to the Army. Joe chose Cavalry because it meant he didn’t have to walk anywhere (END 3 at the time). Joe did well, eventually earning his commission and promotion to Captain. All was well under a disastrous mission due to his Commander’s incompetence led to his discharge. Joe’s family’s social standing has allowed him to bum around the past few years, but even that has led to a new enemy, so he’s now looking for something productive to do with his time.
——————————
Slick, 679A7C
Diplomatic 2nd secretary (3 terms) prior to conviction
Prisoner 1 term, Dilettante 1 term
Poltical Rival, political enemy, ally from prison
210,000 credits, TAS, safari ship
Diplomat – 2 Advocate – 2 Gambler – 1
Gun Cmbt – Energy – 1 Carouse – 2 Persuade – 1
Deception – 1 Streetwise - 1
Electronics, Investigate 0
Slick’s lack of interest in schoolwork led to his being denied admission to University, although his social standing allowed him to join the diplomatic corps, where he excelled, while his buddy Joe went off to war. Slick is a little too slick for his own good, and has picked up a couple of political enemies along the way. At least one of them was responsible for the false charges that cut his promising career short and led to a prison term.
Slick survived prison by being a deal maker; making friends rather than enemies for a change. He has been lounging around since his release, although he did recently come into possession of his uncle’s old safari ship. Slick gets the distinct impression that his family would prefer that he vacate the sector. Slick has always been loyal to his friends, helping them out when he can, so they are who he will turn to for his next adventure (and to fly the ship).
-------------------------
Next session we will get them equipped, and work on stripping down that safari vessel to turn it into something close to a proper freight hauler. It ain’t every day you have a broker – 4 on your team, and our heroes are looking to make some coin. We also need to divvy up one of the skills packages.
Figure that we will ditch the ship’s boat to make cargo room. Unlike a yacht, the safari ship is streamlined, so the heck with the boat. Sally ought to be able to sell for a decent price, although the lender (i.e. referee) requires that all proceeds go to the mortgage. Stripping down the boat dock, the two multi environment tanks, and the trophy room will add 45 tons of cargo space. We’ll try to negotiate our ship shares into some weapons, although our referee seems to think that turning aquariums into cargo space will cost a heck of a lot more than it ought to.
Only in Traveller can you hit all the emotions during character creation – joy, anger, humor, , rage, despair etc. We decided to roll up a new group for a MgT2 adventure. I don’t think we could have come up with a more bitter, hard luck (but dang talented) group if we tried.
Here I present the brilliant but underappreciated Sally, the navy man turned pirate Sam, the disillusioned Marine Ox, the reluctant soldier Joe, and everyone’s favorite diplomat / convict / socialite, Slick (ok, so we didn’t spend much time on their names). These need to be fleshed out a bit, but you’ll get the picture. Our heroes and childhood friends are all 38 years old, and after reviewing their bios, let’s hope their mid-life crises are behind them.
Sally, 5A7DF5
University Graduate, Space program
Member of college clique, 12 allies
Contact within the less savory side of the brokerage business
Broker - 4 Admin – 1 Melee – Blade - 1
Engineer - Jump - 2 Investigate – 1 Gun Combat – Slug - 1
Engineer - maneuver - 1. Astro – 2 Persuade – 1
Streetsmart, Vacc Suit, Drive, Steward, Electronics all at 0
Blade TBD, gun TBD, ship share. Zero credits
The undisputed brains of the group, Sally went to school with plans to travel the stars, but soon fell in love with the brokering side of the merchant business. Despite her obvious skills, and a 16 year track record of making money for her employers, including several huge deals (one on an inside tip from her boyfriend, shhh!), Sally was only promoted twice. She is more than a little bitter about this lack of advancement. She also parlayed her skills into 8 benefit rolls, but when she’d finally had enough, she found herself mustering out with a knife, a pistol, and one lousy ship share to show for it. Sally believes that being from the wrong family had a lot to do with her lack of promotions and lack of a ship at the end of her career. Oh, did I mention her boyfriend is a pirate?
---------------------
Sam, 599B68
Able Spacehand, less than honorable discharge, 2 terms
Pirate Corporal, 3 terms
Gunner – 2 Mechanic – 1 Astrogation – 1
Pilot – 2 Electronics – comms - 1 Gamble – 1
Gun Combat – Energy – 1
Vacc Suit, Athletics, Gun Cmbt, Carouse, Streetwise 0
TAS, 50,000 Cr, Ship share, combat arm
Sam is a hard luck case. Despite his smarts he was rejected by both the Marine Academy and Marine enlistment, eventually being drafted into the Navy. There he was injured in a frozen watch accident, and a later accident that left several spacehands dead resulted in his discharge. Having recently fallen in love with Sally wasn’t enough to keep him from joining a pirate gang, and somehow they’ve made it work. 12 years of piracy expanded Sam’s skills and he became a good enough card player to clean out Joe and all his friends in an evening that remains notorious among the group. A severe injury (Str -4), forced him out of the trade, although he left with an ally on board. With his new TL11 combat arm and a good woman to nurse him back to health, Sam is looking for his luck to change.
--------------------------------
Ox, A58676
Star Marine Lance Sergeant, discharged after 4 terms
1 term salvager
Gun cmbt – Energy – 4 Vacc Suit – 2 Stealth – 1
Melee – Blade – 2 Gunner – 1 tactics – Military -1
Leadership – 1
Carouse, Streetwise, Survival, Melee (unarmed), Gun Cmbt, Heavy Weapons, Athletics 0
50,000 CR, weapon, implant TBD
Ox was unsurprisingly rejected by the Navy Academy before enlisting in the Marines. Despite some help from his friends – Sally helping him make an extra buck and Slick pulling some strings to get him a special assignment with an assault team, Ox’s career was cut short after he was stuck behind enemy lines through no fault of his own. He found work on a salvage team for a few years, before a random encounter with the ArchDuke at a starport (the dice don’t lie, can’t make this up) convinced him it was time to get back in the game.
--------------------------------------
Joe, A64A9C
Army, Cavalry Captain, Discharged, 4 terms
Part time dilettante, 1 term
Melee – Blade -3 Drive – 1 Deception – 1
Gun Cmbt – Slug – 2 Recon – 1 Leadership - 1
Gun Cmbt – Energy – 1 Gambler – 1 Heavy Weapon – Vehicle – 1
Electronics – sensors – 1
Language, Admin, vacc suit, Athletics (str) 0
200,000 credits, weapon TBD, implant TBD
Enemies: former commanding officer and local noble
Joe was off to college to begin his business career when war broke out, resulting his being drafted to the Army. Joe chose Cavalry because it meant he didn’t have to walk anywhere (END 3 at the time). Joe did well, eventually earning his commission and promotion to Captain. All was well under a disastrous mission due to his Commander’s incompetence led to his discharge. Joe’s family’s social standing has allowed him to bum around the past few years, but even that has led to a new enemy, so he’s now looking for something productive to do with his time.
——————————
Slick, 679A7C
Diplomatic 2nd secretary (3 terms) prior to conviction
Prisoner 1 term, Dilettante 1 term
Poltical Rival, political enemy, ally from prison
210,000 credits, TAS, safari ship
Diplomat – 2 Advocate – 2 Gambler – 1
Gun Cmbt – Energy – 1 Carouse – 2 Persuade – 1
Deception – 1 Streetwise - 1
Electronics, Investigate 0
Slick’s lack of interest in schoolwork led to his being denied admission to University, although his social standing allowed him to join the diplomatic corps, where he excelled, while his buddy Joe went off to war. Slick is a little too slick for his own good, and has picked up a couple of political enemies along the way. At least one of them was responsible for the false charges that cut his promising career short and led to a prison term.
Slick survived prison by being a deal maker; making friends rather than enemies for a change. He has been lounging around since his release, although he did recently come into possession of his uncle’s old safari ship. Slick gets the distinct impression that his family would prefer that he vacate the sector. Slick has always been loyal to his friends, helping them out when he can, so they are who he will turn to for his next adventure (and to fly the ship).
-------------------------
Next session we will get them equipped, and work on stripping down that safari vessel to turn it into something close to a proper freight hauler. It ain’t every day you have a broker – 4 on your team, and our heroes are looking to make some coin. We also need to divvy up one of the skills packages.
Figure that we will ditch the ship’s boat to make cargo room. Unlike a yacht, the safari ship is streamlined, so the heck with the boat. Sally ought to be able to sell for a decent price, although the lender (i.e. referee) requires that all proceeds go to the mortgage. Stripping down the boat dock, the two multi environment tanks, and the trophy room will add 45 tons of cargo space. We’ll try to negotiate our ship shares into some weapons, although our referee seems to think that turning aquariums into cargo space will cost a heck of a lot more than it ought to.
