Supplement Four
SOC-14 5K
I wrote a couple of posts recently (namely THIS ONE and THIS ONE TOO) that made me think that players new to Classic Traveller might benefit by being clued in on some of the game's nuances.
Let's talk a little bit about skills in the Classic Traveller game. In no particular order, I'll go over a few points--some things being obvious, others items not so much.
Skills Listed On The Character's Sheet:
In many games, every skill possible is listed on the character's sheet. Take most d20 games, for example. Every skill in those games are listed on the sheet, and the player can easily see the character's expertise in each area. By contrast, only the skills where a character excels is shown on the Classic Traveller character sheet. The character has other skills that he can use for which he as no bonus modifier.
Example Character: On page 157 of The Traveller Book are listed nine pre-generated characters. For the sake of this example, I'm going to use #2, which is a 26 year old Marine who served two terms:
Marine 95C689
AutoPistol-1, Cutlass-2
Now, is this all the character can do? Is he only skilled with an AutoPistol and a Cutlass and completely useless at any other type of task in the game?
No. That's silly. This is quite a capable character that can easily excel, mechanically, in the game.
Default Skills: The first thing that is not listed on the character's sheet are the default skills that all characters get. See page 29 of TTB. If we add in all of those skills, then the Marine's resume blossoms into this:
Marine 95C689
AutoPistol-1, Cutlass-2, Air/Raft-0, ATV-0, Forward Observer-0, Steward-0, Vacc Suit-0, Brawling-0, Body Pistol-0, Revolver-0, Carbine-0, Rifle-0, AutoRifle-0, Shotgun-0, SMG-0, Laser Carbine-0, Laser Rifle-0, Club-0, Dagger-0, Blade-0, Foil-0, Sword-0, Broadsword-0, Bayonet-0, Spear-0, Halberd-0, Pike-0, Cudgel-0
The paragraph on Default Skills, there on page 29 of TTB, can also be interpolated with the Ref awarding a Level-0 skill to a character because it "makes sense". Background and Homeworld skills grew out of this thinking in later editions of the game. Thus, if our Marine, above, was born on, or stationed on, a waterworld, then awarding him Watercraft-0 might be appropriate.
But, is that all?
Nope. Note that the Marine above does not have the Medic skill, but on many tasks, skill is not required. If a skill is not required, it's the same as having a default skill for that task.
So, even though this character does not have Medic skill, he can easily attempt to make the 5+ throw required to bring a passenger out of low berth. And, he's not bad at it. In fact, there's only a 1 point difference between this Marine attempting the task and a character with Medic-2 or better skill.
In other words, this Marine, with no Medical training at all, needs a 5+ throw to bring a passenger out of low berth, while a doctor, with Medical-5 skill, needs a 4+. Pretty close.
This type of task in the game makes characters with no skill very useful in a number of areas and a number of types of throws.
Let's keep going.
One set of rules in the game that is often overlooked are the character Experience rules. Straight out of character generation, a player can use the (page 103 TTB) Weapon Expertise rule. This allows the player to IMMEDIATELY pick one gun combat and one blade combat skill to IMMEDIATELY raise that skill by one level. It's true. Read the rule.
Thus, our character that came out of chargen looking like this:
Marine 95C689
AutoPistol-1, Cutlass-2
Can be immediately customized to look like this (if the appropriate roll is made):
Marine 95C689
AutoPistol-1, Cutlass-2, SMG-1, Dagger-1
That, right there, plus what I've discussed above about Default Skills and tasks that do not require skill, shows us a well-rounded character that is capable in many areas.
Interpolation and Combined Skills: Book 4 - MERCENARY introduces the concept of combined skills to the game--a skill that serves as two or more skills. For example, the Pistol skill from Book 4 provides a single skill to represent expertise with an AutoPistol and a Revolver. In Book 5 - HIGH GUARD, there is a Handgun skill that includes AutoPistols, Revolvers, and Snub Pistols.
Precedent is set for this type of skill in the basic game Creating New Skills on page 29 of TTB and in the Interpolation responsibility of the Referee (referencing dice on page 16 of TTB but expanded to the entire game in Loren Wiseman's one of the game's designers From The Management article in JTAS #2).
The Classic Traveller game promotes a creative, strong Referee. It is not a game (as some more modern games--especially d20--have come to be) where every conceivable rule is presented for the Ref. In Classic Trav, the Ref is truly the master of his universe. Thus, if it makes sense that combined skills should be used in Classic Traveller games, then follow the examples presented in Book 4 and beyond and use them!
What I do in my personal game is enforce the Interpolation directive by ruling that, if a weapon is similar in operation to another, then the character can use the other weapon at one level lower. This is not unlike the relationship between the Pilot skill and the Ship's Boat skill (or the relationship among some of the Vehicle skills).
Our Marine, above, has Cutlass-2. This means that I would allow the character to pick up a sword and use it as if the character had Sword-1 expertise.
Remember the Maximum Skills rule on page 29 of TTB, which says that no character can have more total skill levels than the sum of his INT and EDU. But, this, of course, does not count towards expanded skills. If a character has the Pistol skill, allowing him to use both AutoPistols and Revolvers at the same skill level, that Pistol skill is counted as one skill at its current level (you don't double it to account for both types of handguns). And, with my interpolation rule, just because the Marine has Cutlass-2, and I would allow the character to use a sword as if the character had Sword-1, we only count the 2 levels in cutlass towards the character's Maximum Skills.
Just which skills cannot be used without expertise?
None. All of the skills in the basic game can be used by a character who does not have expertise in the skill. Now, there may be a hefty penalty to attempting the task, but the attempt can be made. Which skills cite a penalty for no expertise?
Administration
Bribery
Forward Observer (and this is a default skill!)
Streetwise
That's it. Just those four skills. So, it is up to the Ref to implement penalties (or make the target numbers unattainable without bonuses) when he sees fit. And, instead of a blanket rule for this, such as, "There will always be a -4 penalty on those trying to pilot a starship without skill," I suggest taking the situation on a case by case basis. This is where the CT Ref shines. Our Marine, above, from the waterworld, is from a fairly high tech environment, used to piloting vehicles, and has spent much time in surface-to-orbit launches to the world's orbiting starport. Maybe the Ref doesn't penalize this character for no skill. He let's him roll raw dice. But, a like character from a TL 4 agrarian planet, would suffer a -4 penalty on the same task.
Let's talk a little bit about skills in the Classic Traveller game. In no particular order, I'll go over a few points--some things being obvious, others items not so much.
Skills Listed On The Character's Sheet:
In many games, every skill possible is listed on the character's sheet. Take most d20 games, for example. Every skill in those games are listed on the sheet, and the player can easily see the character's expertise in each area. By contrast, only the skills where a character excels is shown on the Classic Traveller character sheet. The character has other skills that he can use for which he as no bonus modifier.
Example Character: On page 157 of The Traveller Book are listed nine pre-generated characters. For the sake of this example, I'm going to use #2, which is a 26 year old Marine who served two terms:
Marine 95C689
AutoPistol-1, Cutlass-2
Now, is this all the character can do? Is he only skilled with an AutoPistol and a Cutlass and completely useless at any other type of task in the game?
No. That's silly. This is quite a capable character that can easily excel, mechanically, in the game.
Default Skills: The first thing that is not listed on the character's sheet are the default skills that all characters get. See page 29 of TTB. If we add in all of those skills, then the Marine's resume blossoms into this:
Marine 95C689
AutoPistol-1, Cutlass-2, Air/Raft-0, ATV-0, Forward Observer-0, Steward-0, Vacc Suit-0, Brawling-0, Body Pistol-0, Revolver-0, Carbine-0, Rifle-0, AutoRifle-0, Shotgun-0, SMG-0, Laser Carbine-0, Laser Rifle-0, Club-0, Dagger-0, Blade-0, Foil-0, Sword-0, Broadsword-0, Bayonet-0, Spear-0, Halberd-0, Pike-0, Cudgel-0
The paragraph on Default Skills, there on page 29 of TTB, can also be interpolated with the Ref awarding a Level-0 skill to a character because it "makes sense". Background and Homeworld skills grew out of this thinking in later editions of the game. Thus, if our Marine, above, was born on, or stationed on, a waterworld, then awarding him Watercraft-0 might be appropriate.
But, is that all?
Nope. Note that the Marine above does not have the Medic skill, but on many tasks, skill is not required. If a skill is not required, it's the same as having a default skill for that task.
So, even though this character does not have Medic skill, he can easily attempt to make the 5+ throw required to bring a passenger out of low berth. And, he's not bad at it. In fact, there's only a 1 point difference between this Marine attempting the task and a character with Medic-2 or better skill.
In other words, this Marine, with no Medical training at all, needs a 5+ throw to bring a passenger out of low berth, while a doctor, with Medical-5 skill, needs a 4+. Pretty close.
This type of task in the game makes characters with no skill very useful in a number of areas and a number of types of throws.
Let's keep going.
One set of rules in the game that is often overlooked are the character Experience rules. Straight out of character generation, a player can use the (page 103 TTB) Weapon Expertise rule. This allows the player to IMMEDIATELY pick one gun combat and one blade combat skill to IMMEDIATELY raise that skill by one level. It's true. Read the rule.
Thus, our character that came out of chargen looking like this:
Marine 95C689
AutoPistol-1, Cutlass-2
Can be immediately customized to look like this (if the appropriate roll is made):
Marine 95C689
AutoPistol-1, Cutlass-2, SMG-1, Dagger-1
That, right there, plus what I've discussed above about Default Skills and tasks that do not require skill, shows us a well-rounded character that is capable in many areas.
Interpolation and Combined Skills: Book 4 - MERCENARY introduces the concept of combined skills to the game--a skill that serves as two or more skills. For example, the Pistol skill from Book 4 provides a single skill to represent expertise with an AutoPistol and a Revolver. In Book 5 - HIGH GUARD, there is a Handgun skill that includes AutoPistols, Revolvers, and Snub Pistols.
Precedent is set for this type of skill in the basic game Creating New Skills on page 29 of TTB and in the Interpolation responsibility of the Referee (referencing dice on page 16 of TTB but expanded to the entire game in Loren Wiseman's one of the game's designers From The Management article in JTAS #2).
The Classic Traveller game promotes a creative, strong Referee. It is not a game (as some more modern games--especially d20--have come to be) where every conceivable rule is presented for the Ref. In Classic Trav, the Ref is truly the master of his universe. Thus, if it makes sense that combined skills should be used in Classic Traveller games, then follow the examples presented in Book 4 and beyond and use them!
What I do in my personal game is enforce the Interpolation directive by ruling that, if a weapon is similar in operation to another, then the character can use the other weapon at one level lower. This is not unlike the relationship between the Pilot skill and the Ship's Boat skill (or the relationship among some of the Vehicle skills).
Our Marine, above, has Cutlass-2. This means that I would allow the character to pick up a sword and use it as if the character had Sword-1 expertise.
Remember the Maximum Skills rule on page 29 of TTB, which says that no character can have more total skill levels than the sum of his INT and EDU. But, this, of course, does not count towards expanded skills. If a character has the Pistol skill, allowing him to use both AutoPistols and Revolvers at the same skill level, that Pistol skill is counted as one skill at its current level (you don't double it to account for both types of handguns). And, with my interpolation rule, just because the Marine has Cutlass-2, and I would allow the character to use a sword as if the character had Sword-1, we only count the 2 levels in cutlass towards the character's Maximum Skills.
Just which skills cannot be used without expertise?
None. All of the skills in the basic game can be used by a character who does not have expertise in the skill. Now, there may be a hefty penalty to attempting the task, but the attempt can be made. Which skills cite a penalty for no expertise?
Administration
Bribery
Forward Observer (and this is a default skill!)
Streetwise
That's it. Just those four skills. So, it is up to the Ref to implement penalties (or make the target numbers unattainable without bonuses) when he sees fit. And, instead of a blanket rule for this, such as, "There will always be a -4 penalty on those trying to pilot a starship without skill," I suggest taking the situation on a case by case basis. This is where the CT Ref shines. Our Marine, above, from the waterworld, is from a fairly high tech environment, used to piloting vehicles, and has spent much time in surface-to-orbit launches to the world's orbiting starport. Maybe the Ref doesn't penalize this character for no skill. He let's him roll raw dice. But, a like character from a TL 4 agrarian planet, would suffer a -4 penalty on the same task.
Last edited: