Prior history question - mustering out

[stofsk]

I swear I searched the boards before I composed this post.

Ok, I'm making a group of characters for my own edification. I'm purposely making them 'flawed', and by that I mean on at least one occasion they will have failed their survival roll. On page 125 of THB, it says that failing to survive means you don't earn XP that term, and you forgo any commission, promotion and XP bonus rolls if available. It says nothing about Cash bonus rolls.

Let's say one of my characters is a belter. I want him to have a Rumour duty assignment, and he's a risktaker so add +4 to the survival DC. He'll need a natural 20 to get through this term intact, but I'm doing this to really screw with him. So he fails his survival DC roll, he doesn't get his XP bonus roll but my understanding is he still gets his cash bonus roll. (things fell apart, but he still made money off it?)

Roll on the survival mishap table (except I'm not, I'm picking and choosing which option to properly torment my hypothetical Belter). All the options beyond 1 have 'lose any cash bonus for this term' or 'lose all benefits'. The first is clearly understood: the money he made working this rumour of an el dorado type asteroid in a remote, barely accessible system, Cr100,000 - is gone. He was robbed.

But, what does 'lose all benefits' mean? See, I want my hapless Belter to muster out at this point to start adventuring, so he should get a muster out roll - but if this mishap was selected, does that mean he can't muster out at all? Take a look at mishap 3 - Claim jumped, lose all cash bonus for this term and any prior terms! That seriously sucks, but the wording is at least clear. In the far more nebulous phrasing of 'lose all benefits' it's somewhat unclear if this refers to the cash bonus you might get that term regardless of surviving or not (in this case not - I guess even if you have a mishap you can still roll a 1), and it is doubtful that it applies to the XP bonus roll since you can't roll on it if you fail to survive anyway. So does it mean that you cannot roll if you muster out? If so... man, does that suck.

Why am I asking this? Because I read in the retiring/mustering out section nothing which would suggest a failure to survive the term meant you don't get a cash/material benefits roll. A little clarification is in order (and since these characters are more or less intended to be featured in my own imagination, I am well aware that I can just 'do whatever' I want; that said, I would still like to know where the rules stand on this, since it is open to interpretation).

 

[BetterThanLife]

I have always read lose all benefits as all benefits (Except for expierence earned along the way). That does mean (since the lose all benefits is virtually always a dishonorable discharge or equivalent) that you get no mustering out benefits for that service.

So if you serve as a Belter for a term, get through that safely and muster out. Then join the Navy and serve for 5 terms in the Navy, your last term you fail your survival roll and get dishonorably discharged. You get no mustering out benefits from the Navy, but you would get to keep your mustering out benefits as a Belter. As I run it for my players, getting kicked out of a service, either as a failed reenlistment roll, or a failed survival roll, does not mean you are now required to end prior history. (Though you do have to have a good roleplaying reason to continue in Prior History.

)

 

[c_osborne]

So in that interpretation (1 term belter followed by navy terms and then lose all benefits), I assume you are thinking that the navy took your previous personal belongings and held on to them for you while you were in prison.

But if it was reversed (navy first, then belter gets stranded and loses all benefits), it would make sense that you would lose ALL material benefits, including any navy money you had.

I'd be a little leary of just eliminating the mustering out rolls. I'd roll first, and then eliminate any rolls that logically would be lost. If the belter were stranded, TAS membership might not be lost, for example (although it could be taken away if imprisoned). Things like +1 INT couldn't be taken away either.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is that you have to apply a little logic and common sense, and interpret accordingly.

Chad

 

[BetterThanLife]

Just because you got kicked out of the Navy doesn't mean that you lost your belter rolls or reverse. Your money may have been stashed someplace before you entered the appropiate job. If you catch a dishonorable discharge from the Navy, they aren't going to let you out with a weapon, your social standing won't increase, you certainly won't be entitled to a nice ride home. When it says lose all benefits, then you are going to lose all the benefits from that career. (Though I am not going to take your XP.

) Of course YMMV.

 

[Yardiff]

I also have a question about Prior History. In the survival part of prior history you have a chance to take ability damage, is this damage permanent damage? Also could find under combat or healing any place where it talks about ability damage and healing such damage. Is there somewhere they cover this?

 

[stofsk]

I don't think any damage is permanent unless you die - and depending on the TL, reanimation is even possible. If you lose ability points due to a survival mishap I would say it's possible to receive reconstructive therapy to repair the damage. Such things aren't cheap though.

(Although if you were a member of the TAS or if you happen to be on a world which has socialised medicare then as Ref I'd make these things cheaper - being a member of the TAS is something really special in my opinion)

 

[BetterThanLife]

In past versions of Traveller this is permament damage. So if it says lose a point of Charisma, it means lose a point of Charisma. You can of course improve it back to normal at 4th, 8th, 12th etc. Level.

Further a person takes a permament loss in all three physical stats when they hit middle age. (Unlike CT this is not a roll.) This and the point of diminishing returns helps limit the number of terms a starting character takes.

 

[stofsk]

Unless you have anagathics in YTU.

 

[BetterThanLife]

Originally posted by stofsk:
Unless you have anagathics in YTU.

True, but you still hit the wall around 5th to 6th term.