Revising the expanded CharGen System

[Golan2072]

My revised Pre-Enlistment Options are now available here.

 

[Golan2072]

My revised Pre-Enlistment Options are now available here.

 

[Golan2072]

Every CharGen system's foundation lies in the general pool of available skills. The following is a renewed attempt by me to create a copnsolidated skill list for CT that will, on one hand, provide varied abilities and interesting character colour and specialities, but on the other hand preserve the spirit of CT. It will be used in my Revised Expanded CharGen House-Rules.

Renewed Skill and Cascade List:

GENERAL (14)
Animal Handling
Fleet Tactics
Hunting
Jack of all Trades
Language
Medical
Naval Architect
Perform
Prospecting
Ship Tactics
Steward
Survey
Survival
Trader

Social (5)
Admin
Liaison
Carousing
Leader
Recruiting

ACADEMIC (2)
Instruction
Legal

SCIENCE (12)
Agriculture
Archeology
Biology
Chemistry
Civil Engineering
Economics
Forensics
Linguistics
Parapsychology
Physics
Planetology
Sophontology

MELEE COMBAT (5)
Blade
Brawling
Cudgel
Polearm
Sword

CLANDESTINE (6)
Bribery
Forgery
Gambling
Interrogation
Stealth
Streetwise

GUN COMBAT (8)
Auto-Weapons
High Energy Weapons
Lasers
Pistol
Shotgun
Submachinegun
Rifle
Zero-G Weapons

ARCHAIC WEAPONS (5)
Archaic Pistol
Archaic Rifle
Blunderbuss
Bow
Crossbow

HEAVY WEAPONS (3)
Field Artillery
Launchers
Vehicle Gunnery

SOLDIER (7)
Battle Dress
Combat Engineering
Demolitions
Forward Observer
Recon
Tactics
Throwing

SPACE (7)
Engineering
Navigation
Pilot
Ship's Boat
Ship Gunnery
Vacc suit
Zero-G

TECHNICAL (9)
Armory
Communications
Computer
Craftsman
Electronics
Gravitics
Mechanical
Sensors
Robotics

VEHICLE (5)
Aircraft
Air-Cushion Vehicle
Gravcraft
Ground Vehicle
Watercraft

Notes:

1) Careers specialized in a broad field (e.g. Nobles in Social Skills) will get the Cascade Group (e.g. Social) and the player will choose from it freely; careers not specialized in a broad field (e.g. Bureaucrats) will get only specific skills from this field (e.g. Admin).

2) Planetary-surface navigation is subsumed in the Survival skill.

3) Computer or Navigation could serve as the Sensors skill, but at one level lower (similar to Pilot and Ship's Boat).

4) Computer could serve as the Robotics skill, but at one level lower (similar to Pilot and Ship's Boat). Also note that the Robotics skill in this system includes both the "Robotics" and "Robot Ops" skills presented in CT-LBB8.

5) No PCs with Broker skill in my system (as it denotes significant local "networking", contacts and intimate economical knowledge), except for rare and extreme cases, and even then it works only on one planet at a time. Trader denotes general knowledge of trade customs and techniques.

 

[Golan2072]

Every CharGen system's foundation lies in the general pool of available skills. The following is a renewed attempt by me to create a copnsolidated skill list for CT that will, on one hand, provide varied abilities and interesting character colour and specialities, but on the other hand preserve the spirit of CT. It will be used in my Revised Expanded CharGen House-Rules.

Renewed Skill and Cascade List:

GENERAL (14)
Animal Handling
Fleet Tactics
Hunting
Jack of all Trades
Language
Medical
Naval Architect
Perform
Prospecting
Ship Tactics
Steward
Survey
Survival
Trader

Social (5)
Admin
Liaison
Carousing
Leader
Recruiting

ACADEMIC (2)
Instruction
Legal

SCIENCE (12)
Agriculture
Archeology
Biology
Chemistry
Civil Engineering
Economics
Forensics
Linguistics
Parapsychology
Physics
Planetology
Sophontology

MELEE COMBAT (5)
Blade
Brawling
Cudgel
Polearm
Sword

CLANDESTINE (6)
Bribery
Forgery
Gambling
Interrogation
Stealth
Streetwise

GUN COMBAT (8)
Auto-Weapons
High Energy Weapons
Lasers
Pistol
Shotgun
Submachinegun
Rifle
Zero-G Weapons

ARCHAIC WEAPONS (5)
Archaic Pistol
Archaic Rifle
Blunderbuss
Bow
Crossbow

HEAVY WEAPONS (3)
Field Artillery
Launchers
Vehicle Gunnery

SOLDIER (7)
Battle Dress
Combat Engineering
Demolitions
Forward Observer
Recon
Tactics
Throwing

SPACE (7)
Engineering
Navigation
Pilot
Ship's Boat
Ship Gunnery
Vacc suit
Zero-G

TECHNICAL (9)
Armory
Communications
Computer
Craftsman
Electronics
Gravitics
Mechanical
Sensors
Robotics

VEHICLE (5)
Aircraft
Air-Cushion Vehicle
Gravcraft
Ground Vehicle
Watercraft

Notes:

1) Careers specialized in a broad field (e.g. Nobles in Social Skills) will get the Cascade Group (e.g. Social) and the player will choose from it freely; careers not specialized in a broad field (e.g. Bureaucrats) will get only specific skills from this field (e.g. Admin).

2) Planetary-surface navigation is subsumed in the Survival skill.

3) Computer or Navigation could serve as the Sensors skill, but at one level lower (similar to Pilot and Ship's Boat).

4) Computer could serve as the Robotics skill, but at one level lower (similar to Pilot and Ship's Boat). Also note that the Robotics skill in this system includes both the "Robotics" and "Robot Ops" skills presented in CT-LBB8.

5) No PCs with Broker skill in my system (as it denotes significant local "networking", contacts and intimate economical knowledge), except for rare and extreme cases, and even then it works only on one planet at a time. Trader denotes general knowledge of trade customs and techniques.

 

[MaineCoon]

I am working on something similiar based on Employee's Revised Chargen, incorporating per-year resolution into the different careers, but I'm approaching it slightly differently:

1. One Survival roll per year
2. One or more Promotion, Decoration, and Extra Skill rolls per year, cumulative DM-4 per additional roll (at least in Marines; other classes may have different cumulative DM penalties or not allow additional rolls)
3. Lower base difficulties
4. Each yearly assignment accumulates modifiers to the DMs for Survival, Promotion, Decoration, and Special Duty (Extra Skill)
5. Commission occurs by special assignment (OCS); all accumulated Promotion DMs are discarded.
6. Uses an extended Rank structure when applicable (ex. 9 Enlisted and 10 Officer ranks)

Here is an example from Marines promotion chart:

</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;"> Promotion
Enlisted / Officer
Base: 3+ / 8+
Training: +.5 / -1
Garrison: +0 / -1
Internal Sec: +.5 / -1
Police Act: +0 / +1
Ctr Insg: -1 / +.5
Raid: +1.5 / +2
Ships Troops: +.5 / -1
Special Assgn: -3 / -1.5

Extra attempts allowed at cumulative DM-4(assumes the 9 enlisted / 10 officer ranks)</pre>[/QUOTE]Commissions would occur by Special Assignment result of Officer Candidate School, which would zap any accumulated Promotion DMs for the term.

Example roll for an Enlistee:

Base: 3+
Raid (+1.5)
Garrison (+0)
Special Assignment - Cross training (-3)
Ships Troops (+.5)

Difficult 3+, DM -1 (roll 4+) for first attempt, DM -5 (roll 8+) for second, DM -9 (roll 12+) for third. If the character doesn't have the Social (or in this case, probably Edu) to boost the chance, then there is a 90% chance of receiving 1 promotion, and about a 40% chance of receiving 2 promotions. Getting DM+1 due to high stat will increase the chances to 99% and about 56%, and a 4% chance of 3 promotions.

Since this is the extended rank structure, this faster advancement keeps up with the Traveller 6-rank structure.

 

[MaineCoon]

I am working on something similiar based on Employee's Revised Chargen, incorporating per-year resolution into the different careers, but I'm approaching it slightly differently:

1. One Survival roll per year
2. One or more Promotion, Decoration, and Extra Skill rolls per year, cumulative DM-4 per additional roll (at least in Marines; other classes may have different cumulative DM penalties or not allow additional rolls)
3. Lower base difficulties
4. Each yearly assignment accumulates modifiers to the DMs for Survival, Promotion, Decoration, and Special Duty (Extra Skill)
5. Commission occurs by special assignment (OCS); all accumulated Promotion DMs are discarded.
6. Uses an extended Rank structure when applicable (ex. 9 Enlisted and 10 Officer ranks)

Here is an example from Marines promotion chart:

</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;"> Promotion
Enlisted / Officer
Base: 3+ / 8+
Training: +.5 / -1
Garrison: +0 / -1
Internal Sec: +.5 / -1
Police Act: +0 / +1
Ctr Insg: -1 / +.5
Raid: +1.5 / +2
Ships Troops: +.5 / -1
Special Assgn: -3 / -1.5

Extra attempts allowed at cumulative DM-4(assumes the 9 enlisted / 10 officer ranks)</pre>[/QUOTE]Commissions would occur by Special Assignment result of Officer Candidate School, which would zap any accumulated Promotion DMs for the term.

Example roll for an Enlistee:

Base: 3+
Raid (+1.5)
Garrison (+0)
Special Assignment - Cross training (-3)
Ships Troops (+.5)

Difficult 3+, DM -1 (roll 4+) for first attempt, DM -5 (roll 8+) for second, DM -9 (roll 12+) for third. If the character doesn't have the Social (or in this case, probably Edu) to boost the chance, then there is a 90% chance of receiving 1 promotion, and about a 40% chance of receiving 2 promotions. Getting DM+1 due to high stat will increase the chances to 99% and about 56%, and a 4% chance of 3 promotions.

Since this is the extended rank structure, this faster advancement keeps up with the Traveller 6-rank structure.

 

[Golan2072]

Characteristic Generation

The player rolls 2D6 six times and assign the six resulting numbers to the six Characteristics (Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, Intelligence, Education and Social Standing) as he sees fit. Meanwhile, the Referee rolls 4D-12 (IMTU) or 2D (in the OTU) secretly to determine the character's PSI-Strength; this number is kept on the Referee's records and is revealed to the player only by a Psionic Examination.

The Effects of Homeworlds

Each player must select a homeworld for her character; in every campaign I run the known universe (i.e. the worlds from which the PCs could come) are generated before the actual play begins, so the player chooses a homeworld from the list of UWPs (about nine whole subsectors to choose from IMTU), subject to referee approval.

Homeworld has three effects on the character:

1) Each character rolls twice on any table relevant to his homeworld's trade codes; I'll post the tables later onin PDF format as I don't want to type them twice. In addition, there is one table for Nobles (SOC 11+) and one for characters with high Education (EDU 10+).

2) Any character from a TL4- homeworld may automatically apply to the Barbarian career; any character from a TL5+ world CANNOT apply to the Barbarian career. Similarly, characters from a world with a Hydrographics digit of 0 cannot enlist in the Sailor career, and characters from a world with an Atmospheric digit of 1 or 0 cannot apply to the Flyer career.

3) Characters from a world with a Size digit of 1 or 0 recieve -1 STR and +1 DEX; characters from a world with a Size digit of 9 or 10 recieve +1 STR and -1 DEX. Note that characteristics cannot go below 1 that way.

Zero-Level Skills

At the end of the character generation process, the player chooses EDU/2 (rounded down) skill-0's to be chosen freely (subject to the referee's consent, ofcourse). For example, a character with EDU 7 may choose 3 zero-level skills. These skills come in addition to any zero-level skills recieved by virtue of a character's homeworld, as described above. In addition, the following zero-level skills are recieved automatically:

1) Any character from a homeworld with an Atmosphere of 0 or 1, or who have served in a space-bourn service (Navy, Marines, Merchants, Scouts, Pirates, Belters and so on) recieves Vacc Suit-0.

2) Any character from a world of TL5-9 recieves Ground Vehicle-0.

3) Any character from a world of TL10+ who posses SOC 8+ recieves Grav Vehicle-0.

4) Any character who have served in a military or paramilitary career (Army, Marines, Navy, Fliers, Sailors, Hunters and Law Enforecement) may choose ONE weapon skill as skill-zero.

 

[Golan2072]

Characteristic Generation

The player rolls 2D6 six times and assign the six resulting numbers to the six Characteristics (Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, Intelligence, Education and Social Standing) as he sees fit. Meanwhile, the Referee rolls 4D-12 (IMTU) or 2D (in the OTU) secretly to determine the character's PSI-Strength; this number is kept on the Referee's records and is revealed to the player only by a Psionic Examination.

The Effects of Homeworlds

Each player must select a homeworld for her character; in every campaign I run the known universe (i.e. the worlds from which the PCs could come) are generated before the actual play begins, so the player chooses a homeworld from the list of UWPs (about nine whole subsectors to choose from IMTU), subject to referee approval.

Homeworld has three effects on the character:

1) Each character rolls twice on any table relevant to his homeworld's trade codes; I'll post the tables later onin PDF format as I don't want to type them twice. In addition, there is one table for Nobles (SOC 11+) and one for characters with high Education (EDU 10+).

2) Any character from a TL4- homeworld may automatically apply to the Barbarian career; any character from a TL5+ world CANNOT apply to the Barbarian career. Similarly, characters from a world with a Hydrographics digit of 0 cannot enlist in the Sailor career, and characters from a world with an Atmospheric digit of 1 or 0 cannot apply to the Flyer career.

3) Characters from a world with a Size digit of 1 or 0 recieve -1 STR and +1 DEX; characters from a world with a Size digit of 9 or 10 recieve +1 STR and -1 DEX. Note that characteristics cannot go below 1 that way.

Zero-Level Skills

At the end of the character generation process, the player chooses EDU/2 (rounded down) skill-0's to be chosen freely (subject to the referee's consent, ofcourse). For example, a character with EDU 7 may choose 3 zero-level skills. These skills come in addition to any zero-level skills recieved by virtue of a character's homeworld, as described above. In addition, the following zero-level skills are recieved automatically:

1) Any character from a homeworld with an Atmosphere of 0 or 1, or who have served in a space-bourn service (Navy, Marines, Merchants, Scouts, Pirates, Belters and so on) recieves Vacc Suit-0.

2) Any character from a world of TL5-9 recieves Ground Vehicle-0.

3) Any character from a world of TL10+ who posses SOC 8+ recieves Grav Vehicle-0.

4) Any character who have served in a military or paramilitary career (Army, Marines, Navy, Fliers, Sailors, Hunters and Law Enforecement) may choose ONE weapon skill as skill-zero.

 

[Golan2072]

Updated the above house-rules.

 

[Golan2072]

Updated the above house-rules.

 

[Golan2072]

My Homeworld effects (and skills) are now detailed in a PDF downloadable from here.

 

[Golan2072]

My Homeworld effects (and skills) are now detailed in a PDF downloadable from here.

 

[Jeffr0]

Sweet! Nice "Classic" feel, too.

One change I would do:

(Stealing from WJP)

You get 5 chances on the homeworld table... but you pick up the skill only if you roll under your SOC on 2D.

 

[Jeffr0]

Sweet! Nice "Classic" feel, too.

One change I would do:

(Stealing from WJP)

You get 5 chances on the homeworld table... but you pick up the skill only if you roll under your SOC on 2D.

 

[Golan2072]

Originally posted by Jeffr0:
Sweet! Nice "Classic" feel, too.

One change I would do:

(Stealing from WJP)

You get 5 chances on the homeworld table... but you pick up the skill only if you roll under your SOC on 2D.

Why SOC and not EDU?

 

[Golan2072]

Originally posted by Jeffr0:
Sweet! Nice "Classic" feel, too.

One change I would do:

(Stealing from WJP)

You get 5 chances on the homeworld table... but you pick up the skill only if you roll under your SOC on 2D.

Why SOC and not EDU?

 

[Jeffr0]

I guess I have a dim view about what actually gets accomplished in the educational system!

 

[Jeffr0]

I guess I have a dim view about what actually gets accomplished in the educational system!

 

[Golan2072]

Who said formal educational system? I could easily picture a criminal with no formal education (hardly finished 8 years of school) but ALOT of street knowledge having high EDU.

On the flipside, with the right amount of corruption, high SOC could get you academic degrees without you having to increase your EDU (i.e. to actually study)...

 

[Golan2072]

Who said formal educational system? I could easily picture a criminal with no formal education (hardly finished 8 years of school) but ALOT of street knowledge having high EDU.

On the flipside, with the right amount of corruption, high SOC could get you academic degrees without you having to increase your EDU (i.e. to actually study)...