Morale in Traveller

[Enoki]

Morale in Traveller Part 1

One of the most important functions of combat is morale. That is, a character's willingness to continue to fight or fight at all. Yes, there is a system in Striker for morale but it doesn't translate cleanly to Traveller. The reason morale is needed is that players may, and frequently do, things that if they were actually the character they wouldn't do in combat.
Frequently morale is not going to be a conscienteous decision either. A character will simply be reacting to events rather than making an intelligent decision. Therefore, morale should be more of a forced system than simply leaving it to the player to decide what their character will do in a combat situation when faced with threat of death or adversity.
Note, these situations also include animal encounters, encounters with police or, other adversarial situations. So, the system is not just limited to combat.
Morale in such situations is based on a combination of training, skill, experiance and, situation. The system described below takes that into consideration. It follows the MegaTraveller Universal Task Profile system to make it uniform with the rest of the game. It also attempts to keep this function from becoming a major obstacle to play by being quick to resolve.
It is intended for use with adventuring parties of up to maybe 10 characters at most. It is not designed to be used with large groups like big military units or a crowd. It is also intended for use with Human parties not other species. Those will require some modification of the various checks and modifiers to reflect their specific traits.


MORALE CHECKS

There are two parts to the morale system. The first is the check in specific circumstances. There are just six conditions in which a morale check is called for in an adversarial or combat situtation. These are:

1. Upon meeting. That is when the character or party comes upon a situation that potentially has danger involved. This could be encountering a criminal, an animal, an opposed party intent on combat or, other such situations.
This check is considered a Routine confrontation with uncertain outcome. The difficulty is modified by Surprise (explained below) and the distance at which the encounter occurs.
This check is made just once at the beginning of the encounter by both parties (animal encounters the animal does not check this way).

2. When first fired on or physically attacked by the opposing party. This is can be a mutual or unilateral check. It is mutual if both sides start their attack in the same combat round. If one side attacks before the other only the one first fired on need make this check.
Like the Upon meeting check this is a Routine confrontation that is modified in difficulty by surprise and distance. It is made before the results of combat are made.

These two checks will normally occur at the begining of an encounter and be made once. Once complete they do not have to be made again.

3. The character takes damage. Whenever a player's character takes damage in fighting they have to make a check for the morale of the character. This is done as follows:

Superficial wounds: Routine check
Minor wounds: Difficult check
Major wounds: Formidable check

4. A similar check is necessary when a member of the party sees another member take damage also. For this check the level of difficulty is reduced by one level:

Superficial: Simple
Minor: Routine
Major: Difficult

5. If a member of either party attempts to engage in hand-to-hand or close combat with their opponets that character must pass a morale check to engage. If the character passes, then their potential opponet(s) that are, or will be, within short or close range must pass a morale check to remain there and fight. That is, it takes special nerve to attack someone face-to-face and equal nerve to stand there and fight back.
In this check the attacking character(s) check first. If the character fails the check then they will not advance and close to combat. Instead, they will remain where they are in the condition they were prior to the attempt. If the attacker's attempt fails the defending characters need not take any morale check. They only have to check if the attackers succeed in passing their morale check to close to close combat range. The defense must pass their check before attempting return fire or other actions.

The check is made as follows:

Attacker is one on one or greater in number to the defender: Difficult task check
Attacker is one on several (3 or less defenders): Formidable task
Attacker is one on many (more than 3 defenders): Impossible task

6. The last morale check situation is when the situation changes. This check is made at the refree's descretion. The refree may set the level of difficulty based on the situation. Some typical cases where this would occur are:

One side gets reinforcements
A character's cover is gone.
The vehicle the character(s) is in is disabled or destroyed. The compartment of a starship the character is in is damaged or destroyed.
Running out of ammuntion or a jammed weapon
A player wants to be a Hero (see below).

 

[Enoki]

Morale in Traveller Part 2

STATES OF MORALE

The results from a morale check using the universal task profile are as follows:

Exceed the needed roll by: 10 or more

BEZERK A bezerk character will immediately charge the opposition. They do not need to
pass a morale check to close to close or short range for hand-to-hand combat. They will disregard using cover. If equipped with a firearm they will fire unaimed at the highest rate of fire at their opponet(s). They must be incapacated to stop them. They do not need to check morale for damage / wounds.

Exceed the needed roll by 5 or more

ENRAGED / IMPETUOUS Enraged characters will immediately return fire. They disregard cover and will advance on their opponet(s) if possible. They disregard morale checks unless seriously wounded or worse. Attacks can be aimed but all attacks are made at the highest rate of fire.

A result of + 4 to 0

NORMAL Character acts as player wishes.

Failed roll by -1 to -5

SCARED / STARTLED The character cannot advance towards their opponet. They may run away if desired by player. If in cover will stay in cover. Will seek cover if immediately available within the current move. May fire but fire is unaimed.

Failed roll by -6 to -10

PANICKED / STUNNED The character will attempt to move away from danger and leave the fight. If in cover will remain in cover. If cover is available will move to cover. May fire blindly at opponets but only if in cover.

Fails roll by greater than 10

TERRIFIED A catastrophic failure of morale. Character will flee disregarding cover. They will not fight. They may not fire. Will attempt to surrender (if this is practical given situation... a character will obviously not try to surrender to a wild animal for example) if opponet is at short or close range. Will throw weapons and any encumbering equipment away. Will abandon vehicles and flee. They will continue to flee until there is no longer any danger.

THE HERO FACTOR

A player may attempt to make a heroic move with a character in some circumstances. Players may attempt a heroic action when the scenario appears to be failing, the party is severly threatened or, disaster appears immient. The refree makes the final decision as to whether to allow a heroic moral check or not.

An individual player nominates their character for this action. They can select a modifier to the outcome of their choice. A normal morale check is then rolled by the player using all normal modifiers without the hero modifier.
If the morale check is passed (ie., the roll is equal to or exceeding what is needed) then the check succeeds and the modifier is added as a positive to the result with the attendent actions. If the check fails the modifier is added as a negative or bad outcome to the roll with the same attendent results.

MORALE FAILURE RECOVERY

A character recovers their morale (ie., returns to normal) when they either:

Pass a subsequent morale check OR

Are no longer under fire / attack and the danger is not present.

 

[BlackBat242]

As soon as I saw "It follows the MegaTraveller Universal Task Profile system" I made my morale check and walked away.

I need something for the CT system, not that overblown, overcomplicated, restrictive, DM-creativity-strangling UTP thingy.

 

[aramis]

As soon as I saw "It follows the MegaTraveller Universal Task Profile system" I made my morale check and walked away.

I need something for the CT system, not that overblown, overcomplicated, restrictive, DM-creativity-strangling UTP thingy.

I found MT's task system to open my creativity to other places than, "What should I have them roll?"

In no way did I find it creativity strangling. In fact, I personally find such description an affront to those of us for whom it's a creativity enhancer, by causing us to think about combining skills on a task.

(I honestly think it's one of the best methodologies ever invented for tasks.)

 

[Dragoner]

I think it is a good morale check sytem; CT also does have morale in book 1 & 4, just to say.

 

[Icosahedron]

I haven't playtested it and I'm not overly familiar with the MT system, but I wonder whether anyone would ever melee with these rules. At first glance they appear to make everyone afeared of getting up close and personal.
Good idea, though, and could be ported easily to CT using S4's Rule 68A or similar systems.

 

[Enoki]

I haven't playtested it and I'm not overly familiar with the MT system, but I wonder whether anyone would ever melee with these rules. At first glance they appear to make everyone afeared of getting up close and personal.
Good idea, though, and could be ported easily to CT using S4's Rule 68A or similar systems.

There's more to come. I just haven't typed everything up yet. But, yes, it is more difficult to get into a melee just as it is in reality. My expertise is really in military history and technology. The massive amount of studies (like the US Army's ones by John Appel and Gilbert Bebee) show that there is a real reluctance to engage in hand-to-hand combat on the part of most people. You really have to be trained to want to do it and the system reflects that.

What I want to avoid is being arbitrary with a player who decides to do something that would be insanely rash and completely out of character in "real life" like, "I'm going to charge the bad guys (with my pistol armed character who is level 1 in that skill and has no combat experiance while the bad guys have gauss rifles and are trained infantry) and engage them at point blank range!"
No, you are going to take an impossible morale check and then their fire and effectiveness is going to make you panic and flee like any sane person would.....

 

[BytePro]

Yeah, that seems generally the case - with the exception of racial or religious violence. 'Belief' is a strong motivator that can overcome normal inhibitions and sense... people who believe they are superior or oppressed will fight and may even believe it is their duty to do so.

Didn't look at your rules (as I don't use any set mechanics for morale effects per se), but I suspect that aspect of human nature is not addressed?

There is also peer pressure and gang mentality (probably represented with leader aspects).

 

[E.D.Quibell]

As soon as I saw "It follows the MegaTraveller Universal Task Profile system" I made my morale check and walked away.

I need something for the CT system, not that overblown, overcomplicated, restrictive, DM-creativity-strangling UTP thingy.

Well go and download the BITS task system here:

http://www.bitsuk.net/Archive/GameAids/files/BITSTaskSystem.pdf

And if you want to convert to T20, go and get a copy of StellarReaches from here:

http://stellarreaches.nwgamers.org/

with the BITS task system T20 add ons and you can then convert to any task system (or non task system in CTs case) you like.

Best regards,

Ewan

 

[E.D.Quibell]

I found MT's task system to open my creativity to other places than, "What should I have them roll?"

In no way did I find it creativity strangling. In fact, I personally find such description an affront to those of us for whom it's a creativity enhancer, by causing us to think about combining skills on a task.

(I honestly think it's one of the best methodologies ever invented for tasks.)

I agree. It has an easy to understand structure. Skills beat Stats. It's roll over, and the % are about right.

Not perfect, but pretty much there.

It doesn't have the flexability of CT, but if you understand the flexability of think of a target number and roll over it with DMs allocated by the GM of CT then you can apply simmilar principles to the MT task system very easily.

Nice post on Morale by the way.

Bets regards,

Ewan

 

[E.D.Quibell]

There's more to come. I just haven't typed everything up yet. But, yes, it is more difficult to get into a melee just as it is in reality. My expertise is really in military history and technology. The massive amount of studies (like the US Army's ones by John Appel and Gilbert Bebee) show that there is a real reluctance to engage in hand-to-hand combat on the part of most people. You really have to be trained to want to do it and the system reflects that.

What I want to avoid is being arbitrary with a player who decides to do something that would be insanely rash and completely out of character in "real life" like, "I'm going to charge the bad guys (with my pistol armed character who is level 1 in that skill and has no combat experiance while the bad guys have gauss rifles and are trained infantry) and engage them at point blank range!"
No, you are going to take an impossible morale check and then their fire and effectiveness is going to make you panic and flee like any sane person would.....

So it's liable to be a good system for NPCs then.

PCs are somewhat different, because they are supposed to be special, different, heroic etc. However knowing how to model the behaviours of your NPCs is likley to have knock on effects on you PCs as they watch them run away.

Best regards,

Ewan

 

[Enoki]

Traveller Morale Part 3

SURPRISE

Surprise only occurs upon initially meeting in an adversarial situation. The levels are:

Minor: The opponet was expected and comes from a known direction or opens fire from an expected direction. The opponet appears suddenly. Party or individual has clues that there is an opponet like noise but cannot see the opposition. Initial check for morale is Difficult

Major: Opposition appears from an unexpected direction. There is little or no warning of their presence. An unseen, unexpected opponet opens fire on party or individual. The opposition in any instance opens fire with far greater intensity and volume than party or individual expects or can generate themselves. Initial check for morale is Formidable

Complete: Opposition appears totally unexpected. Opponet appears at close or short range. Party or individual sees what appears to be overwhelming opposition. Initial check for morale is Impossible


WOUNDS
When a character is wounded or someone in the party is seen to be wounded the individual and party take a morale check as follows:
Individual Party
Minor wound: Difficult Routine
Serious: Formidable Difficult
Incapitating: Impossible Formidable


MODIFIERS

Skills:

Leader: Reduce check one level of difficulty for each level when leader checks. Reduce party level of difficulty by one level for each two levels of leader present.

Tactics: + to roll per level for whole party. Sum all available tactics levels for this roll.

Sword/blade/spear/polearm/brawling etc.: Reduce difficulty level by one for each level an individual has when attempting to engage in close combat.

Combat Experiance:
This is determined from the character's career. Decorations, wounds, and receipt of combat skills indicate the general level of experiance of the character. This modifies the morale checks each time.

No combat experiance: 1D-3 (roll once apply each time)
Little combat experiance: 0 (combat indicated once or twice)
Some experiance: +2 (multiple cases, wound, decoration)
Considerable experiance +3 (multiple cases, multiple wounds, multiple decorations)

Note: If engaging in Zero G combat apply Zero G skills level as the indicator of number of engagments.

Party:

No designated leader or clear leader present: Increase difficulty of check one level

Disorgainzed party. No chain of command, no designated tactics, not trained as a group: Increase difficulty of check one level

Individual lacks appropriate training for situation: Increase difficulty of check one level
Examples: Lacks military training for combat, lacks police skills for criminal fight, lacks hunting / scout skills for an animal encounter. Military training can generally be accepted as a substitute in most cases for needed training.

Other:
Each party member fleeing in sight -2
Each party member under cover, in sight and, not fighting -1
Each party member in sight advancing +1 (max of 2)
Each party member visible and fighting +1 (max of 2)
Each party member visible who has a serious or greater wound this round of combat -2

Meeting: Distance of contact. Use only upon initial meeting of parties.

Long or greater 0
Short -3
Close: Increase difficulty one level.

Fire exchanged this round: This is expressed as a ratio of incoming to outgoing fire.
x .5 or < +1
x 1.5 or > -3
x 2 or > -5
x 3 or > -9

Hand-To-Hand combat engagement: A player checks as follows to move to close range with an opponet or opponets or when an opponet advances to close range. Attacker rolls first. Defending characters roll only if attacker is successful.

One on one: Difficult
One on several (2-3) Formidable
One on many (>3) Impossible

There is no penality for failing this check. The character simply does not advance and this finishes their combat round.


HEROS:

The heroic morale check is allowed to be made by any character / player but only in critical situations. These occur when a portion of the scenario will fail that is critical to success, the party is in serious trouble, or other situtations where the party needs immediate success in order to continue. The refree determines if this check will be allowed.

To make a heroic check the player designates a modifier to the final result. The player can choose any amount they want to add. Example: The player chooses to add +10 to the final result.

A normal morale check with all normal, applicable, modifiers is made without the hero modifier. If this check is passed by any amount then the hero modifier is added to the result and that becomes the new level of the character's morale. Example: A character currently in a morale state of scared takes a hero check and passes by 1. The hero modifier the player chose was 9. The character is now bezerk and acts accordingly.
If the morale check fails by any amount the hero modifier is applied as a negative to it with the attendent results. Example: The same character fails the check by 1. The modifier of 9 becomes a negative and the failure is now -10 and the character becomes terrified with the attendent actions.