CT Only: My TC Universe

[kilemall]

DL mods are as follows-

Simple +6
Easy +3
Routine +0
Challenging -3
Difficult -6
Impossible -9

DL and time taken for each task attempt should be assigned by the referee taking into account conditions, equipment, audacity of task attempted, etc. Combat has specific DL mods outlined.

Alternatively, if a random DL and time is desirable a 1d6 can be used with Simple=1, Easy=2, etc. This random number can also be used for the base amount of time- a d6 for each pip, result is number of minutes. Or the time roll can be separate from the DL generate roll.

Example of DLs
Simple- turn the computer on and off
Easy- log onto the computer, send personal messages, shop
Routine- do normal business/clerical work, compose work correspondence, create simple computer routines
Challenging- do the above in half time, hack small businesses, write standard report programs
Difficult-hack major human businesses or military orgs, write new programs/apps
Impossible- hack genius/AI opponent machine or alien mothership shield routine

Critical success usually means success, although particularly impossible rolls should require a 1d6 added to the roll number to see if the character actually succeeds. Otherwise 1d6 indicates degree of success, including damage roll effects for combat.

Critical failure usually means something went BADLY wrong, a character mistake OR equipment failure, or the character broke a critical tool while making a mistake. 1d6 should be rolled for the severity of the failure, higher numbers should indicate increased DL, broken equipment, etc.

A Critical Failure/Success allows for a Critical Skill Roll later, which may increase or decrease skills.

 

[kilemall]

No comment?

 

[Magnus von Thornwood]

Nope.

Nada, zip, squat, nuffin for you.

Honestly I am the last guy to ask about rolling tasks. I am awfully loose about such things and I don't usually mess with the skills, just the background and mayebe what skills a particular CharGen grants. Once they got them I pretty much go with the base system inthe rules I am using.

Or I just wing it and just make something up.

Oh, and Jack of all trades is abbrivated as JOT, no "a" in there. :devil:

 

[kilemall]

Oh, and Jack of all trades is abbrivated as JOT, no "a" in there. :devil:

Noted.

But they will always be Joaties to me.

 

[Adam Dray]

Have you seen the way Mongoose Traveller handles tasks, especially "Going Faster or Slower" (p50) and "Timing"?

The clean task resolution system is the main reason I prefer MgT over CT.

 

[robject]

My impressions:

1. An interesting TC variant with lots of neat stuff.

2. Wow, you've gone out of your way to change a lot.


Some thoughts and suggestions:


Mars is perhaps being terraformed, with a long way to go, unless the TC has been at it for centuries. Got Martians / Martian ruins?

I presume that the Pharmabanks have expanded beyond 'mere' pharma-genetics, and moved into the usual areas of industry and commerce?

re SubC exploration: very nice. It creates a buffer period between exploration and development. It also creates local "waves" of exploration, similar to a gold rush mentality maybe.

Also re SubC travel: note the two adventures that mention long-distance travel are The Chamax Plague and Fate of the Sky Raiders.

1. The Chamax ships (TL9 but no jump) took 400 years to travel 1 parsec... and they survived. The entire ship is essentially a hibernation ship, and one way, but still.

2. The Loeskalth Planetoid from the Sky Raiders trilogy is 50 billion tons, Jump-1, with another ice planetoid that it dragged along with it for initial fuel. It jumped into the rift... accelerated... and then drifted across the rift. It also took centuries, but they did it fine. I suppose they had enough ice for fuel, plus handwaved a "low power mode" for just keeping critical functions running.


Also also re SubC travel: the "Spheres" RPG presumes interstellar travel with a weak field generated by the drive, plus one heckuva super-thick, super-strong "aegisite" plate fore. Been awhile so I can't remember offhand.

So, I might suggest an option where a very specific front-facing hunk of armor is buildable to protect ships moving near C speeds. Very thick, very expensive, but not as expensive as coating the entire ship.



re Certification. Turn this entire set into a two-step mini game for players. Require a small fee (Cr100 to Cr1000) for every step chosen. Offer a first layer of task checks for passing tests and acquiring permits, then use those results to feed into DMs to the final round of certifications. Thus the results of the first layer close off or open up doors to certifications, and provide DMs towards getting certified.

Then watch the players go nuts.



I like the vertical rocket-ships. Nice retro feel without necessarily being retro.


Don't forget the Rocket Planes, too, a la 2001's Pan Am model. And the "Serpent" class Scouts from Paranoia Press.

 

[kilemall]

Have you seen the way Mongoose Traveller handles tasks, especially "Going Faster or Slower" (p50) and "Timing"?

The clean task resolution system is the main reason I prefer MgT over CT.

Not those specific pages, but I can see them referred in context in some of the additional MgT material I purchased.

But, lubs my 2d6, seems to be just as integral to Traveller to me as beam lasers and jump drives.

If I were to detach entirely from CT, I would likely go away from the system entirely, 2300 would be my next preference (cause, the aliens are UTTERLY superior cept for dem Hivers), definitely go 1d10 and 2d10 for percentage rolls, and probably redo the tech entirely, and incorporate some of the more advanced RP concepts of the last 10 years for the task/story resolutions.

This is a heritage/nostalgia/fix things that bothered me trip.

 

[kilemall]

My impressions:

1. An interesting TC variant with lots of neat stuff.

2. Wow, you've gone out of your way to change a lot.

Heh, I haven't shown what I did to combat yet, and ship combat, I am redoing it pretty seriously (hint, think incorporating HG AND LBB2 ships together, in a mashed resolution system, that operates on 100 second phases so players are 'in the drama' and have more of a sense of fighting their ship, I want Ship Tactics to be A Thing beyond initiative rolls, and lots of engineering/sensor drama).

Oh, and 'make your own' martial art.

Mars is perhaps being terraformed, with a long way to go, unless the TC has been at it for centuries. Got Martians / Martian ruins?

TBH I haven't settled on what to do about Mars. Alpha Centauri is going to freak them out badly enough, haven't decided how tightly to tie Mars into that storyline, or be it's own thing. May give a nod to Exosquad and have genetically engineered colonists (but skip on the vat/revolt thing).

I presume that the Pharmabanks have expanded beyond 'mere' pharma-genetics, and moved into the usual areas of industry and commerce?

Well, to the point that many of the 'hard metal tech' people are used to in Traveller is 'squishytech', or taking advantage of other life forms found out there.

For instance, 95% of the wood that is used decoratively, furniture etc. is coming from a colony where the plant life naturally grew under very low light conditions from a red dwarf, enough to sustain an atmosphere. With genetic engineering mixing that plant design with Earth trees and growing them under lights, redwoods grow in a day, are harvested, and then run under INTENSE decontamination to make sure every cell is DEAD before even cutting it up.

But, it's a VERY dangerous planet to be on, just turning on your landing lights could cause the landing pad to be overgrown and risk contamination. This stuff is DYNAMITE, think Kudzu on a nanogoo apocalypse scale, and trading with this place involves likely never setting foot there.

Food scarcity of course could be eliminated with this agtech, but its just too darn dangerous so high value items are the only ones grown.

Another example, magboots are largely supplanted by squishyboots that grip using very tiny grown nanohooks.

Spidersteel is a major build component.

Hyperalgae is integral to life support systems.

re SubC exploration: very nice. It creates a buffer period between exploration and development. It also creates local "waves" of exploration, similar to a gold rush mentality maybe.

Well, sort of.

re Certification. Turn this entire set into a two-step mini game for players. Require a small fee (Cr100 to Cr1000) for every step chosen. Offer a first layer of task checks for passing tests and acquiring permits, then use those results to feed into DMs to the final round of certifications. Thus the results of the first layer close off or open up doors to certifications, and provide DMs towards getting certified.

Then watch the players go nuts.

Heh, while I like the idea of driving the players nuts, I don't plan on bringing out the bureaucracy monster until they start cutting corners. Which, being players, they will. Making them wince at maintenance time to make sure they have all their safety vacc suits, clean galley, working everything, and of course having to have that great McGuffin of all ship inspection comedy, the anchor.

Yes, they have to have anchors. Regulations. Says so right here. Doesn't matter whether it's USEFUL or logical, we have rules for a reason.

Among other things I expect they will tumble into the underground interstellar economy, where you can get shipment done J-1 100Cr and passage for similar cutrate deals, with..... risks they must manage.

Which given the upcoming TL tumble, will assume more importance, and more legit operators are going to end up in a bind.

I like the vertical rocket-ships. Nice retro feel without necessarily being retro.


Don't forget the Rocket Planes, too, a la 2001's Pan Am model. And the "Serpent" class Scouts from Paranoia Press.

I have a lot of that vibe going on with what I call the Whisperliners, passenger ships that have extra grav repulsion systems built in to avoid that whole tawdry reentry burn business those tawdry low class Type A Free Trader passengers endure.

One commercial will have a Whisperliner landing while not spilling a drop of the patrons' drinks.

 

[kilemall]

From the bot thread-

IMTU robots are heavily used as augmentation for vacuum work as they can operate for the most part without vacc suits or delay besides maintenance and fueling, in mining and space industry. They are very important for building and running the Cities.

They are used in ships most often in a server/client bot format- the expensive CPU portion is the Ship's Robot, normally a fixed server installation and powered by ship's power (with provision for a few hours of emergency power), with typically two or more wireless controlled bots as the working parts.

They are cut off from direct access to ship's computers to avoid breaching threats, and have to interact much like the humans do. This is a safety thing as bots are not as hardwired isolated as ship computers.

Bots are also not allowed to replace crew on a 1:1 basis, due to HAL concerns and lack of flexibility/problem solving with critical ship tasks. Ships are allowed to have robots repair, pilot, etc. but with a human supervising in more or less required crewing levels. This is partially a jobs thing, but mostly a stupid bot crashing into space station/planet thing.

Scouts, warships and unlicensed craft of course do not need to observe such limits, and G limit issues sometimes make bot pilots irresistible to some space forces, with unfortunate consequences at times when facing crafty pirates.

Bots are the nucleus of Autodocs, a very popular feature of rescue ships or large liner/warship medical bays.

For infantry support suits, powered man-sized exoskeletons, I use the Robots rules, leave enough room for a human pilot AND a bot running systems and guns for the pilot, bot will take on tasking and firing at pilot command and can return a wounded pilot automatically if programmed to do so.

In general bots are not used in warbot mode simply because again they can be fooled too easily, mostly as a crew reduction or safety move- smart 'shoot this now' augment, autoloading ammunition, drive home, etc.

At TL10 the very limited lifespan of bots, 10 years so more like the replacement cycle of cars, PCs etc. means that the full value of a big investment in a bot, especially smart and self learning, isn't worth it.

So I have them dropping in value at a precipitous rate, 10% every year past the point they start being used.

This economic factoid gives rise to an itinerant class of unskilled robot owner, where they will pick up a 90,000 Cr bot near end of life for 9-18,000 Cr, use them to earn passage or money before discarding them at breakdown and buying another one.

 

[Adam Dray]

Not those specific pages, but I can see them referred in context in some of the additional MgT material I purchased.

But, lubs my 2d6, seems to be just as integral to Traveller to me as beam lasers and jump drives.

MgT is 2d6! It's just a clean, unified task system.

Roll 2d6 + appropriate attribute mods + appropriate skill bonus + difficulty modifier. 8 or better succeeds. DMs are Simple +6, Easy +4, Routine +2, Average +0, Difficult -2, Very Difficult -4, and Formidable -6. Tools add +1. Additional actions apply -2 to every task. "Effect" is defined as your roll-8 and sometimes matters.

The Faster/Slower thing lets you decrease/increase the time frame by a category in exchange for a -1/+1 DM.

(All of this should work nicely with CT, I think.)

 

[kilemall]

Well, that's largely what I am doing, had settled on a basic time element of 'do this in half the time increase DL by one' so I got there on my own, but I'm not interested in dropping my far more UPP-centric base stat.

People are natively capable or not, education is a POWERFUL stat, combat REALLY hurts if you take a hit in DEX and all of a sudden cannot hit the broad side of a barn, SS means something, aging hurts making combat very much a young man's game (but the skilled older ones are still dangerous), getting drunk can drop your DEX and INT with some ugly roll effects, and in general those personal development rolls look a LOT smarter then the skillcentric way most system rolls are handled.

 

[aramis]

MgT is 2d6! It's just a clean, unified task system.

Roll 2d6 + appropriate attribute mods + appropriate skill bonus + difficulty modifier. 8 or better succeeds. DMs are Simple +6, Easy +4, Routine +2, Average +0, Difficult -2, Very Difficult -4, and Formidable -6. Tools add +1. Additional actions apply -2 to every task. "Effect" is defined as your roll-8 and sometimes matters.

The Faster/Slower thing lets you decrease/increase the time frame by a category in exchange for a -1/+1 DM.

(All of this should work nicely with CT, I think.)

Many of us used the DGP Task system from the moment we found it in Traveller's Digest

Given a label of

To do X
Difficulty, AssetA, AssetB, TimeUnit
notes​

2d6+AssetA+AssetB for DifficultyTN+
DifficultyTN is Easy=3 Routine=7 Difficult=11 Formidable=15 Impossible=19
Assets: If skill, add it. If Attribute, add 1/5 the attribute.
Time: 3d6-(assetA+AssetB) * TimeUnit

On a fail by 2+, a mishap occurs. If task was labeled fateful and fails, a mishap occurs. 2d6, +1d if natural 2, +1d if task was labeled hazardous.
3=superficial, 7=minor, 11=major, 15=destroyed. Safe tasks never mishap.

That's the core of the DGP task system. It was later adopted by GDW for 2300 and MT.

 

[kilemall]

From the stainless steel robot rat thread-

The most common robot IMTU is the Ottobot, basically a CPU box with a full sensor set but no appendages and very limited power supply, it just basically plugs in and drives/operates machinery with X skill level, whether vehicles, factory or construction/cargo frames, a low end version of the Ship's Robot. It's TL10 so it isn't very smart, just enough to have a driver or one shot skill set under close human supervision.

The second most common robot is the remotely controlled drone particularly for Ship's Robot or Factory's Robot server, about the same form factor as your common bot, typically with grav modules, medium arms and special EVA/tool sets for specific situations and roles.

 

[kilemall]

Heh, just saw Interstellar last Thursday night, I imagine some of you thought I cribbed from that movie given the similar blight and O'neill colony/necessity of space themes, but I had not read anything or derived my storyline.

Saw trailers, but I assumed the movie had global warming not blight that was making the Earth unlivable.

And IMTU it was a direct kill people plague doing the honors.

 

[kilemall]

Update to the task system from another thread, ended up going with a +2 system if for no other reason then integrating Striker as THE combat system.

[FONT=arial,helvetica]
1. Determine difficulty of task and relevant char/skills, Easy/Simply/Routine/Challenging/Difficult/Impossible. Tasks are increased 1-2 levels for hurrying up. Roll is CFHJLN, adding characteristic + skill- 2 autofail 12 + 1d6 to roll to succeed.

2. If the character to attempt task has relevant skill and it's a non-physical skill and routine or easier, the character can use the higher of INT or EDUC + skill. If the non-physical task is higher then routine, normally INT is the base characteristic.

3. If the task is higher then routine, the character can attempt a knowledge roll against the task before actually trying it, EDUC + skill. If successful, the task will reduce one step. This can apply to a physical/social/pure characteristic task as well as non-physical.

4. If successful with a knowledge check, the player is required to immediately note what the character turns out to know and announce how the character knows this, can apply this to future rolls automatically, cannot get additional attempts at further difficulty reduction and cannot preroll specific knowledge.

5. A crew or military unit or other organization can execute constant practice and drills to get knowledge roll reduction on specific tasks equal to the skill level of the person running the drills. The advantage disappears after 1d6 months of stopping practice/drills.

6. If the character has no relevant skill that is required, the difficulty increases two steps, including the knowledge roll.

7. JOT-1 or greater eliminates the no skill penalty, the entire JOT skill level can be applied to a knowledge roll to reduce difficulty but cannot apply to the actual task.

8. Autofail and Autosuccess allows for a breakthrough in skill increase/reduction at the player's option, purposely rolling many times to generate chances will incur penalties.

9. Combat rolls correspond to Striker ranges Effective/Routine, Long/Challenging, Very Long Difficult, with equipment and ammo potentially modifying.

[/FONT]

 

[kilemall]

[FONT=arial,helvetica]Example-

Scotty, Kaylee and MacGyver are faced with an engineering crisis.

Relevant skills are Engineering and JOT, Characteristics are Int/Educ.

Scotty
BC Engineering-5

Kaylee
A5 Engineering-3

MacGyver
BC JOT-4

Let's assume a Difficult task (20+ required) and a roll of 7 for each knowledge and task attempt.

Scotty adds his engineering wizardry and prodigious engineering journal/ education to the knowledge roll, +17, to the 7 roll for 24 and knocks the difficulty down to Challenging (18+).

He rolls 7 again for Challenging and as usual makes the near impossible look easy, only possibly failing on a 2 in both cases.

Kaylee is a frontier wonder but undereducated, she adds only +8 to a knowledge check, with the 7 roll that's 15 and so the task stays Difficult.

On the task itself she gets +13 due to her intelligence and skill, with a roll of 7+13 she just succeeds at the Difficult task (2-6 would have been a failure). An astute player will note her success and it should be an autoreduction to Challenging next time.

MacGyver is a modern renaissance man that gets into and out of trouble with equal ease, using his wide-ranging knowledge and problem-solving capabilities. Against a Difficult Engineering task he performs a knowledge check, +16 thanks to the JOT skill and education, 23 against a 20+ check so the task itself drops to Challenging. Another task reduction to note in likely a long list.

A Challenging roll is 18+, however he cannot use the JOT skill but just intelligence, fortunately 7+11 is JUST going to make it. 2-6 would have been a failure.

Obviously these are very gifted characters and so they are capable of doing some amazing things, the average character will not likely be so gifted in skill AND characteristics, and will have a tougher go of it. But it should give you an idea of how I resolve JOT compared to other skills and a real value to increasing characteristics, particularly Educ.[/FONT]

 

[Adam Dray]

That's a cool system.

 

[kilemall]

That's a cool system.

TY, the bell curve modifier for the characteristics always bothered me, IMO makes the characters 'mushy' and ill defined except for the outliers and the delicate differences in weapons' advantage.

This really helps things like getting drunk and dropping intelligence/social temporarily to disastrous effect, or getting wounded and not being able to hit the side of a barn even with a light wound, really make events and effects pop, and aging REALLY hurts.

That personal development table looks a lot more enticing.

Yet skill still matters, and a 'Lion in Winter' may be a more effective opponent then young 'talent' and low skill.

 

[kilemall]

Well, ran this through the 'what if you have INT 3 trying to do an easy task' outlier test, its a bit harsh, and realized I had made the success numbers higher then say the standard 68A or 8+ for hits for both CT and Striker combat.

So the adjusted success numbers are BDFHJL, or 11/13/15/17/19/21.

Also worked out that in most cases failing a roll is not disaster or incompetence, just more of a 'taking more time' to get the task done.

In the case of an autofail, roll d6, that is the difficulty level for a recovery roll on the scale of 1 being Easy and 6 being Impossible. If recovery fails, the 1d6 also serves as severity of the problem (1 being replace the now broken breaker switch, 6 being replace the drive no chance of repair).

 

[kilemall]

Skill breakthrough-

A mechanic simulating that often under moments of stress a breakthrough in understanding can occur, rather then the more typical 'getting better' of study practice and work.

On a natural 2 or 12 during a Challenging or better task roll, the character will be eligible for a roll to increase the skill that was used for that check.

The Skill Breakthrough roll is undertaken after the immediate danger has passed, anytime within the next two weeks. The roll can be ignored, refused or missed, it is not mandatory.

On a 12 the skill is increased by 1. On a 2 the skill is decreased by 1.

The combination of breakthrough moment and subsequent skill result should effect the character's understanding of what 'progress' they made.

On a fail 2 and 12 breakthrough, the character in a flash saw or realized 'what they have been doing wrong' and has improved greatly as a result.

On a success 12 and 12 breakthrough, the character performed at a higher level during the task and has learned the lessons of success.

On a fail 2 and 2 skill loss, the character failed miserably and has been traumatized, has trouble 'getting back in the saddle' and/or is being overly cautious to the point of impeding their tasks.

On a success 12 and 2 skill loss, the character drew the wrong lessons from their success and is now performing recklessly and/or counterproductive procedures that hurt the skill. The character should be played with the assumption that the skill is now higher, not lower.

This is a fun mechanic and a counterpoint to the usual study/study/practice/practice or 'wafer up' skill increases, but referees must not allow players to roll constant/unnecessary tasks to generate opportunities for skill increase. The skill loss risk part should dissuade most min/maxers, but disallowing rolls or reffing task results may be necessary for the incorrigible abuser.