Random Swears Re: LBB6, 7

[Whipsnade]

I do think I might want to try Book 7 CharGen as written, except WITHOUT the skills for promotions. That might just knock it back in line with books 4 and 5.

JAWillroy,

Wait a minute... I don't have LBB:7 with me, but...

... aren't those listed skills prerequisites for promotion and not awards for promotion? Something along the lines of needing Steward-1 to take the Purser O1 exam or some such.

ISTR that because of the "glitch" in the Free Trader career. You needed Navigation to reach XO or Captain, but there was only one chance of ever rolling it on the few tables open to free traders.

Naturally, I could be hallucinating again...


Have fun,
Bill

P.S. Of course the Free Trader career "glitch" does sort of, kind of, maybe, etc., fit the meta-game descriptions of free trader owner/operaters being retired from larger merchant lines. Your average free trader captain recieved their Beowulf after retiring from Al Morai and learned navigating while in Al Morai's employ. It's only a rare free trader captain who has actually spent their entire working life in the Free Trader career.

 

[aramis]

No, Bill, you're right. Those tables by rank list what you need for being qualified. They grant nothing.

However, promotion still brought an extra skill.

 

[jawillroy]

aren't those listed skills prerequisites for promotion and not awards for promotion? Something along the lines of needing Steward-1 to take the Purser O1 exam or some such.

That's right. BUT you also get skill rolls for having been promoted: in the example, the guy gets a promotion skill for making E1... just for signing up. And then he gets one for making O0. And then for O1, I think... I don't think that any of the other advanced CharGen books did that.

ISTR that because of the "glitch" in the Free Trader career. You needed Navigation to reach XO or Captain, but there was only one chance of ever rolling it on the few tables open to free traders.

I think that you might be right there, too...

 

[Whipsnade]

However, promotion still brought an extra skill.

Aramis & JA,

Phew, thanks for that! Worried that my weary wetware had failed again.

You two are correct, of course. While skill rolls for promotion and automatic skills for rank were always part of basic chargen, none of the advanced chargens had such mechanisms.

Just another example of the skill/level/feat inflation all RPGs have experienced.


Have fun,
Bill

 

[CosmicGamer]

Wait a minute... I don't have LBB:7 with me, but... aren't those listed skills prerequisites for promotion and not awards for promotion?

Those tables by rank list what you need for being qualified. They grant nothing.

No, Bill, you're right. Those tables by rank list what you need for being qualified. They grant nothing.

hmm, I don't have LBB:7 but I have Special Supplement 1 Merchant Prince which I think came from The Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society #12. Maybe its different, but it says

If the throw is achieved, the character is promoted to the new rank, and skills increased to the levels shown by the qualifications column.

and there is a DM of +2 for passing the exam if you meet or exceed the listed qualifications. So to me, the skills are a requisite for the position you are trying to obtain and if you have the skills already you have a better chance of obtaining the promotion. If you are able to still pass the test without the bonus for having the skills you are trained once achieving your new rank.

If you met the qualifications you would actually have one less skill by going for promotion since:

A character may seek promotion to the next highest commissioned rank by taking an examination in lieu of regular skill eligibility.

So -1 skill to take test and IF you pass you get 0,1 or 2 skills depending on your department and rank and skills. Now add in that you may have to try more than once to pass, giving up a skill roll multiple times, and you are not gaining a lot of skills by promotion - you could even end up with less.

Personally, my last 3 merchants never made the roll to be an officer to begin with. It's a 9+ to get Admitted to the Merchant Academy and again a 9+ for success. Also wouldn't 4 years of schooling (and gaining no skills) decrease the # of skills you obtain before having to start rolling for aging.

 

[CosmicGamer]

Enforcing the Hard Survival Rule levels the playing field a lot. It's also very important, because of this, that the Optional Survival Rule not be used.

I rolled a character with rather low stats and looked for the most dangerous profession so that I could kill off the character and start a new one. The Hard Survival Rule could possibly reduce the probability of "overpowered" characters AND the number of "underpowered" characters. So I would have to agree with you that enforcing the Hard Survival Rule levels the playing field. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

I usually roleplay my character creation. A character that got promoted and gained new skills would think their career was going well and actually be more likely to stay in the service. "So what if its risky, adventuring is dangerous too and the service is treating me pretty good." The char who was not an officer and got very few skills would be more likely to try their luck at adventuring at a young age. The above player with low stats i roleplayed as suicidal.


Also, regarding using rules that generate more skills; I recall when we made characters with just LBB1-3 they were almost always Scouts so that they could get the guaranteed 2 skills per term. That really leveled the playing field. Yes scouts have the highest mortality but you just kept rolling a new scout until you got one with at least 4 terms. The other services had a higher chance of no reenlistment giving the possibility of surviving with few skills.