Noob questions

[Toric]

I've always been peripherally familiar with Traveller, and got to play CT once or twice back in the early 1980's but that was about the extent of my experience. I have read Mongoose Traveller, and looked over T20 some years back. Recently I have been able to acquire a bunch of CT items at my FLGS. I got Books 1-8, 9 of the Supplement books, about 8 or 9 of the Adventure and Double Adventure books, Starter Traveller and all but one of the Alien modules. Really digging it. I'm an old school gamer at heart and whether it is nostalgia or preference, my systems of choice are typically older games. CT has the right amount of old school charm, enough crunch and plenty of room for GM interpretation and rulings. I like the minimalist nature of the setting, leaving it very open for the GM to develop.

I'm starting a CT game this weekend for my regular face to face group. At least one of them has quite a bit of experience with CT. I've decided to use Books 4-7 and the advanced character generation from those. A couple of the players just love all the bells and whistles! I have a couple of initial questions, although certainly I will discover more later.

I have noticed that most example characters I have seen that are created using Book 1 only have at most 6-8 skill ranks. I've created a couple of characters using Book 4 and Book 5 and these characters end up with between 12-20 skill ranks (assuming they survive to complete approximately 4 terms). Is that pretty typical of the difference between the basic and advanced character creation?

Next question. Book 1 expects that a character receiving Gun Combat must take a specific weapon like Body Pistol. Book 4 changes that to Handgun for all pistols, Combat Rifleman for all rifles, carbines, etc. Book 5 does something similar but with fewer choices (laser weapons, submachine guns and handguns only). Book 6 mentions selecting a specific weapon as in Book 1 when receiving Gun Combat. So does this mean that the characters generated in Book 4 and Book 5 have the broad categories for Gun Combat like Handgun-1 where they would be able to use any pistol with that same skill level? But a character generated from Book 6 would have to select a specific weapon when receiving Gun Combat like say Revolver-1? Am I reading that correctly?

Also, I think I saw mentioned somewhere in Starter Traveller that you could not have more skills or skill levels than your Int + Edu. Does that mean that if for example you are in term 5 and your Int and Edu total 18, and you get another skill level that would take you to a total of 19 levels, you just don't get that skill? Or is this rule just an optional rule that not everyone uses?

At any rate, I am looking forward to my first time GMing CT and appreciate any answers to the above that the community here can provide. I have found many threads here to be very informative!

 

[aramis]

I have noticed that most example characters I have seen that are created using Book 1 only have at most 6-8 skill ranks. I've created a couple of characters using Book 4 and Book 5 and these characters end up with between 12-20 skill ranks (assuming they survive to complete approximately 4 terms). Is that pretty typical of the difference between the basic and advanced character creation?

Yes. VERY TYPICAL. Note that MT adds advanced Flyers in COACC. Several more are in magazine articles, including some in Dragon and two in JTAS.

Next question. Book 1 expects that a character receiving Gun Combat must take a specific weapon like Body Pistol. Book 4 changes that to Handgun for all pistols, Combat Rifleman for all rifles, carbines, etc. Book 5 does something similar but with fewer choices (laser weapons, submachine guns and handguns only). Book 6 mentions selecting a specific weapon as in Book 1 when receiving Gun Combat. So does this mean that the characters generated in Book 4 and Book 5 have the broad categories for Gun Combat like Handgun-1 where they would be able to use any pistol with that same skill level? But a character generated from Book 6 would have to select a specific weapon when receiving Gun Combat like say Revolver-1? Am I reading that correctly?

Yes. But many (including the DGP guys, who matter because they wrote MegaTraveller) switched Bk 6 and Bk 1/Sup 4 to those same categories:
Handgun, SMG, Rifleman, Laser Wepons, High Energy Weapons (PGMP/FGMP) because it broadens out weapon skills nicely, and breaks little.

 

[kilemall]

Most of us CT folks tend to stick with either 'advanced' or LBB1 chargen as the skill amount discrepancies are serious.

You could choose to resolve this by upping the per term minimum skills to 2 plus promotion skills, 3 for LBB1 Scouts.

I like a lot of the advanced chargen skills, so I've got an INT 8+ Advanced Service table that spreads the love around.

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=33295

 

[mike wightman]

These days I stick with CT/S4 basic skill rates (with the house rule that all careers with no commission or promotion get 2 kills per term.
If a player wants to use the expanded system and the year by year resolution for assignments and decoration fluff they can do so, but they don't get the skill rates of the expanded system.

 

[aramis]

Most of us CT folks tend to stick with either 'advanced' or LBB1 chargen as the skill amount discrepancies are serious.

You could choose to resolve this by upping the per term minimum skills to 2 plus promotion skills, 3 for LBB1 Scouts.

I like a lot of the advanced chargen skills, so I've got an INT 8+ Advanced Service table that spreads the love around.

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=33295

For mixing basic with advanced, borrowing MT's special duty and bonus skills raises basic to almost the same rates as advanced.

 

[Toric]

I definitely don't have a problem using advanced character creation for all of the PCs to avoid the discrepancy between basic and advanced characters. And a couple of the players really like the fluff generated from the year by year creation so I am inclined to use it for my first foray into CT GMing. I figure that as long as all the PCs are created with the advanced system, we'll be fine. Published NPCs in adventures and 1001 Characters and stuff like that will obviously be significantly skill-impaired compared to the PCs but that doesn't worry me too much. Many NPCs are not important enough to need a full battery of skills anyway. And if I feel the need, I can always give an NPC a few more skills to round them out.

As for Supplement 4, I think I might give them an extra skill per term and perhaps do something similar to kilemall and add an advanced education table with some of the advanced book skills so that if a player wants to be a Belter or a Scientist, they can do so and be somewhat comparable to the Book 4-7 advanced characters with regards to number of skills and having access to the advanced book skills.

@aramis - Thanks for the info on Gun Combat, I think I will likely go with the broader categories handgun, rifleman, etc. across the board to simplify things.

New question. There appears to be no initiative rule for combat, unless I am missing something. Is that correct? Do any of you use some sort of initiative system or do you go in dexterity order or anything like that? Or do most of you just have everything happening simultaneously every round?

Thanks for the replies so far. You all seem like a friendly and helpful bunch!

 

[kilemall]

Just reread CT combat, and basically it's one party can achieve surprise and shoot until surprise is over, then it's simultaneous resolution.

I'm personally working into my own weird version of RPG Striker using the melee system as initiative determination, but that's very much a one off me-only sort of thing. Perfectly legit and simple to stick with CT, or you may alter to taste, especially if you like using Tactics or supersniper skill levels to gain advantage.

 

[Timerover51]

@aramis - Thanks for the info on Gun Combat, I think I will likely go with the broader categories handgun, rifleman, etc. across the board to simplify things.

I, for one, am not if favor of that great a blend of Gun Combat skills. If you give someone who is used to a Tech Level 9 Body Pistol a Tech Level 4 .45 caliber Colt Single Action Army, with the side loading port and hand-operated ejection rod, he is going to be totally baffled after the first 6 shots, aside from the major difference in recoil and muzzle blast. That is assuming he figures out that he has to manually cock the hammer after each shot.

Likewise, when it comes to Rifles, if you give someone who is used to Gauss rifles a .577 Snider Royal Army conversion single shot, aside from going crazy trying to figure out how to load it, after the first shot, he may be wondering why he is looking at the sky and has a very sore shoulder and jaw. Give the same person a .30-40 Krag bolt-action rifle with the side-loading magazine, and while he might shoot it, at least maybe five shots, without knocking himself out, he may take quite a while to figure out how to reload it, especially if the single-shot magazine cut-off is down. The reverse may hold true as well, especially for a Gauss rifle.

For that matter, a current Thompson-Center single-shot Contender pistol might be a major puzzle to the auto-pistol guys.

 

[Toric]

I, for one, am not if favor of that great a blend of Gun Combat skills.

I don't disagree that individual guns vary significantly in design and use. I am only leaning towards the broader categories for simplicity. I'll have to think on this a bit more because I'm not entirely sure that using the broad categories as opposed to individual gun skills really DOES simplify things.

 

[aramis]

I, for one, am not if favor of that great a blend of Gun Combat skills. If you give someone who is used to a Tech Level 9 Body Pistol a Tech Level 4 .45 caliber Colt Single Action Army, with the side loading port and hand-operated ejection rod, he is going to be totally baffled after the first 6 shots, aside from the major difference in recoil and muzzle blast. That is assuming he figures out that he has to manually cock the hammer after each shot.

Likewise, when it comes to Rifles, if you give someone who is used to Gauss rifles a .577 Snider Royal Army conversion single shot, aside from going crazy trying to figure out how to load it, after the first shot, he may be wondering why he is looking at the sky and has a very sore shoulder and jaw. Give the same person a .30-40 Krag bolt-action rifle with the side-loading magazine, and while he might shoot it, at least maybe five shots, without knocking himself out, he may take quite a while to figure out how to reload it, especially if the single-shot magazine cut-off is down. The reverse may hold true as well, especially for a Gauss rifle.

For that matter, a current Thompson-Center single-shot Contender pistol might be a major puzzle to the auto-pistol guys.

You grossly underestimate the intelligence of the average shooter.

Having fired several dozens of different weapons, it takes all of 15 minutes to get competition quality shooters shooting accurately on unfamiliar weapons.

No pistol has baffled me, nor any of my friends. Including the muzzle loaders. Took all of 15 minutes to cross apply the competence at shooting to the .45 cal muzzle loader - all of which was learning how to load.

The Colt SAA was no issue, either. Cleaning wasn't an issue.

The worst of the bunch was the percussion revolver... because it fouled easily, and the cylinder pin was worn, so the cylinder didn't like to stay on. No quick drawing that one.

 

[Timerover51]

I don't disagree that individual guns vary significantly in design and use. I am only leaning towards the broader categories for simplicity. I'll have to think on this a bit more because I'm not entirely sure that using the broad categories as opposed to individual gun skills really DOES simplify things.

Basically, it is up to you as Game Master. As I tend to be a weapons bug, along with other things, I like the greater specialization. I have seen the headaches that someone who is 4 foot 10 inches tall has in trying to fire the M16 and who simply could not even get her hand around the grip of a .45 Colt Automatic. I have also seen guys would are over 6 foot 4 inches have problems trying to get a reasonably hold on a M16, with one guy being downright dangerous. Then there was the young lady under 5 feet tall trying to fire an M60.

 

[Toric]

Another question. I think I mentioned this one earlier in the thread but it was buried amidst a couple other questions and probably got missed.

In advanced character generation, is there a cap on skills and skill levels based on Int and Edu?

 

[Hal]

There is a cap equal to In + Ed. When those situations arise, I let the player pick the skill he downgraded. Over time, one does forget skills honed by constant daily use, but hasn't used in a few years.

 

[GypsyComet]

Basically, it is up to you as Game Master. As I tend to be a weapons bug, along with other things, I like the greater specialization. I have seen the headaches that someone who is 4 foot 10 inches tall has in trying to fire the M16 and who simply could not even get her hand around the grip of a .45 Colt Automatic. I have also seen guys would are over 6 foot 4 inches have problems trying to get a reasonably hold on a M16, with one guy being downright dangerous. Then there was the young lady under 5 feet tall trying to fire an M60.

Those are arguably attribute differences, not "skill" differentiation.

 

[Brandon C]

I, for one, am not if favor of that great a blend of Gun Combat skills.

I suppose you also require those with Pilot skill to specify type of ship and tech level of ship as well. So Pilot (Free Trader/TL12) is different from Pilot (Free Trader/TL10) and Pilot (Far Trader/TL12)?

 

[creativehum]

Those are arguably attribute differences, not "skill" differentiation.

For what's worth, following up on this point, the -/+ DMs for different weapons based on DEX do cover these matters to degree. Others DMs for more refined concerns can also be built.

Not to say timerover is wrong in any way for playing as he wants. Just pointing out, along with GC, that the game has levers in place for this rather than expanding skill lists.

 

[Brandon C]

Also, I think I saw mentioned somewhere in Starter Traveller that you could not have more skills or skill levels than your Int + Edu. Does that mean that if for example you are in term 5 and your Int and Edu total 18, and you get another skill level that would take you to a total of 19 levels, you just don't get that skill? Or is this rule just an optional rule that not everyone uses?

It is an official rule, but I ignored it in many campaigns.

 

[atpollard]

It is an official rule, but I ignored it in many campaigns.

Or just require them to exchange the new skill for Int+1 or EDU+1 and then they can learn another skill.

The most common way of handling it is to ignore it during chargen and then let the Player go back and decide what skills to reduce in level or convert to skill-0 to bring the total to INT+EDU.
Remember that +INT is a muster benefit on some careers.

 

[ffilz]

It is an official rule, but I ignored it in many campaigns.

Of course it's "officialness" depends on what Traveller edition you use and if you use the errata...

I was unaware of this rule until the last year or so because my Traveller box is 1977 and i had not read The Traveller Book in enough detail from the CD-ROM to spot this change, nor had I read the errata in detail.

I also haven't actually run Traveller since the 80s.

Frank

 

[mike wightman]

IF you look at the resumes examples in LBB4 you will find a character that breaks the Int+Edu skill cap:

2. Resume: 539667, Army, seven terms. Enlisted in infantry, transferred to
commandos after third term. Final Rank - Lieutenant Colonel.
Special Assignments: Cross Training in Cavalry and Artillery, Commando School,
Instructor at Commando School, Staff College.
A wards and Decorations: Six combat service ribbons, five corn bat commands,
three MCUF's, one purple Heart.
Equipment Qualified On: ACR, Tracked Vehicles, Grav Vehicles, Tech 12 MRL,
Vacc Suit, Grenade Launcher, Demolitions.
Skills: ACR4, Tactics-2, Tracked Vehicle-1 , Grav Vehicle-1 , Tech 12 MR L-1,
Vacc Suit-I , Leader-1 , Demolitions-1, Grenade Launcher-1 , Survival-1 , Combat
Engineering-1, Instruction-1 .

There are several more examples of characters in S4 and S13 that do not abide bythe silly rule either.