So, you've failed your survival roll...
- Thread starter RobertFisher
- Start date
daryen
SOC-14 1K
Or just use the included option: failing the survival roll means you sustain a non-permanent injury that forces you out. You age two years (instead of four), get your skills, but also don't get a promotion or credit towards your mustering benefits.
The Classic Traveller Utility uses that mechanism instead of just killing the character outright.
The Classic Traveller Utility uses that mechanism instead of just killing the character outright.
daryen
SOC-14 1K
Or just use the included option: failing the survival roll means you sustain a non-permanent injury that forces you out. You age two years (instead of four), get your skills, but also don't get a promotion or credit towards your mustering benefits.
The Classic Traveller Utility uses that mechanism instead of just killing the character outright.
The Classic Traveller Utility uses that mechanism instead of just killing the character outright.
Colonel Mac
SOC-11
I have noticed that no one has brought up the "Poltroonery, Court Martial, and the Imperial Code of Military Justice" article from JTAS #10 (A Referee's Guide to Planet Building).
Pages 31, 32 detail court martial tables for enlisted and officer ranks that fail to make their decoration rolls by +6 or better. If you don't make you survival roll, but like your character, you get to roll on these tables. I have incorporated this for survival rolls rather than decorations, and I must say it adds color to the games.
Ex: If one in your ranks is being actively pursued for a crime they committed while in the service, authority figures chasing them can pop up at any starport or during the course of a mission to add complications to the game.
Then there is the ol' sting operations: Authorities can even act as patrons to effect an arrest.
It does provide options.
Pages 31, 32 detail court martial tables for enlisted and officer ranks that fail to make their decoration rolls by +6 or better. If you don't make you survival roll, but like your character, you get to roll on these tables. I have incorporated this for survival rolls rather than decorations, and I must say it adds color to the games.
Ex: If one in your ranks is being actively pursued for a crime they committed while in the service, authority figures chasing them can pop up at any starport or during the course of a mission to add complications to the game.
Then there is the ol' sting operations: Authorities can even act as patrons to effect an arrest.
It does provide options.
Colonel Mac
SOC-11
I have noticed that no one has brought up the "Poltroonery, Court Martial, and the Imperial Code of Military Justice" article from JTAS #10 (A Referee's Guide to Planet Building).
Pages 31, 32 detail court martial tables for enlisted and officer ranks that fail to make their decoration rolls by +6 or better. If you don't make you survival roll, but like your character, you get to roll on these tables. I have incorporated this for survival rolls rather than decorations, and I must say it adds color to the games.
Ex: If one in your ranks is being actively pursued for a crime they committed while in the service, authority figures chasing them can pop up at any starport or during the course of a mission to add complications to the game.
Then there is the ol' sting operations: Authorities can even act as patrons to effect an arrest.
It does provide options.
Pages 31, 32 detail court martial tables for enlisted and officer ranks that fail to make their decoration rolls by +6 or better. If you don't make you survival roll, but like your character, you get to roll on these tables. I have incorporated this for survival rolls rather than decorations, and I must say it adds color to the games.
Ex: If one in your ranks is being actively pursued for a crime they committed while in the service, authority figures chasing them can pop up at any starport or during the course of a mission to add complications to the game.
Then there is the ol' sting operations: Authorities can even act as patrons to effect an arrest.
It does provide options.
Random Goblin
SOC-12
Good point, Colonel Mac. I believe I'll use that next time we roll up characters.
Random Goblin
SOC-12
Good point, Colonel Mac. I believe I'll use that next time we roll up characters.
RobertFisher
SOC-12
Thanks. That gives me at least one reason to buy one of the JTAS reprints now.
RobertFisher
SOC-12
Thanks. That gives me at least one reason to buy one of the JTAS reprints now.
B
Black Globe Generator
Guest
Please forgive me for replying to such an old thread - I've been combing thorugh the archives (as site newb's are prone to do...).
We used the alternate rules for medical discharge on a failed survival roll, unless the player wanted to kill off the character and start again. In one case a player decided that his character was discharged for disciplinary reasons, as it fit his character concept - we didn't use a chart that offered alternative explanations for discharge, though it's not a bad idea.
We also allowed "career changes" - your character could leave one service and try for another, subject to making the enlistment roll. Mustering out benefit rolls were based solely on the number of terms in a given service - a three-term Scout who next spent two terms in the Merchant Service didn't receive five rolls on the Merchant tables!
As far as random skill generation goes, we allowed a player to roll the dice and then pick the skill table. Another alternative that I experimented with but never tried was to allow a player to roll a number of dice equal to her character's term of service for each skill, and select the die roll she wanted - for example, a four term merchant would select a skill table and roll four dice for each skill, then the player would choose whichever number she wanted to apply to the skill table. Both methods provide a means of "customizing" a character while retaining the ebb and flow of events over which the character has limited control.
I'm in full agreement with those who see chargen in CT as a game-within-the-game. Rather than a player sitting down and writing a background for her character, she could actually play out an abstracted version of that background. I used to record the dice numbers as I would go, then use those numbers to reflect certain events when I wrote up the descriptive part of my character's background - for example, a merchant who barely survived his third term may have encountered pirates or a shipboard emergency like a meteoroid strike, so I would includes some sort of description of an event in the background blurb of the character.
We used the alternate rules for medical discharge on a failed survival roll, unless the player wanted to kill off the character and start again. In one case a player decided that his character was discharged for disciplinary reasons, as it fit his character concept - we didn't use a chart that offered alternative explanations for discharge, though it's not a bad idea.
We also allowed "career changes" - your character could leave one service and try for another, subject to making the enlistment roll. Mustering out benefit rolls were based solely on the number of terms in a given service - a three-term Scout who next spent two terms in the Merchant Service didn't receive five rolls on the Merchant tables!
As far as random skill generation goes, we allowed a player to roll the dice and then pick the skill table. Another alternative that I experimented with but never tried was to allow a player to roll a number of dice equal to her character's term of service for each skill, and select the die roll she wanted - for example, a four term merchant would select a skill table and roll four dice for each skill, then the player would choose whichever number she wanted to apply to the skill table. Both methods provide a means of "customizing" a character while retaining the ebb and flow of events over which the character has limited control.
I'm in full agreement with those who see chargen in CT as a game-within-the-game. Rather than a player sitting down and writing a background for her character, she could actually play out an abstracted version of that background. I used to record the dice numbers as I would go, then use those numbers to reflect certain events when I wrote up the descriptive part of my character's background - for example, a merchant who barely survived his third term may have encountered pirates or a shipboard emergency like a meteoroid strike, so I would includes some sort of description of an event in the background blurb of the character.
B
Black Globe Generator
Guest
Please forgive me for replying to such an old thread - I've been combing thorugh the archives (as site newb's are prone to do...).
We used the alternate rules for medical discharge on a failed survival roll, unless the player wanted to kill off the character and start again. In one case a player decided that his character was discharged for disciplinary reasons, as it fit his character concept - we didn't use a chart that offered alternative explanations for discharge, though it's not a bad idea.
We also allowed "career changes" - your character could leave one service and try for another, subject to making the enlistment roll. Mustering out benefit rolls were based solely on the number of terms in a given service - a three-term Scout who next spent two terms in the Merchant Service didn't receive five rolls on the Merchant tables!
As far as random skill generation goes, we allowed a player to roll the dice and then pick the skill table. Another alternative that I experimented with but never tried was to allow a player to roll a number of dice equal to her character's term of service for each skill, and select the die roll she wanted - for example, a four term merchant would select a skill table and roll four dice for each skill, then the player would choose whichever number she wanted to apply to the skill table. Both methods provide a means of "customizing" a character while retaining the ebb and flow of events over which the character has limited control.
I'm in full agreement with those who see chargen in CT as a game-within-the-game. Rather than a player sitting down and writing a background for her character, she could actually play out an abstracted version of that background. I used to record the dice numbers as I would go, then use those numbers to reflect certain events when I wrote up the descriptive part of my character's background - for example, a merchant who barely survived his third term may have encountered pirates or a shipboard emergency like a meteoroid strike, so I would includes some sort of description of an event in the background blurb of the character.
We used the alternate rules for medical discharge on a failed survival roll, unless the player wanted to kill off the character and start again. In one case a player decided that his character was discharged for disciplinary reasons, as it fit his character concept - we didn't use a chart that offered alternative explanations for discharge, though it's not a bad idea.
We also allowed "career changes" - your character could leave one service and try for another, subject to making the enlistment roll. Mustering out benefit rolls were based solely on the number of terms in a given service - a three-term Scout who next spent two terms in the Merchant Service didn't receive five rolls on the Merchant tables!
As far as random skill generation goes, we allowed a player to roll the dice and then pick the skill table. Another alternative that I experimented with but never tried was to allow a player to roll a number of dice equal to her character's term of service for each skill, and select the die roll she wanted - for example, a four term merchant would select a skill table and roll four dice for each skill, then the player would choose whichever number she wanted to apply to the skill table. Both methods provide a means of "customizing" a character while retaining the ebb and flow of events over which the character has limited control.
I'm in full agreement with those who see chargen in CT as a game-within-the-game. Rather than a player sitting down and writing a background for her character, she could actually play out an abstracted version of that background. I used to record the dice numbers as I would go, then use those numbers to reflect certain events when I wrote up the descriptive part of my character's background - for example, a merchant who barely survived his third term may have encountered pirates or a shipboard emergency like a meteoroid strike, so I would includes some sort of description of an event in the background blurb of the character.
Black Globe Generator's game sounds a lot like the game we played. Except if you want to change careers there was a -1/term penalty on the enlistment roll. +1 if you had appropriate skills from your prior career. Miss your enlistment roll and muster out.
Miss the survival roll and you either died or took an extra aging roll right now and mustered out. Player's choice.
I just turned fifty, and I have come to appreciate the normal aging rolls. I have seen people get to my age and stay fit, but I have also seen PCs make all their aging rolls. In real life most middle-aged men loose some endurance. Their eyes get weak, and they accumulate small injuries that affect strength and dexterity.
If you think your physically active character will keep fit take some rolls off of the PDT. Those fit and athletic middle-aged men spend long hours in the gym. And there are few sports where an athlete remains competitive into his thirties, never mind forties.
I also like the random skill table as-is. I have very few of the skills I wanted at 18. In fact, of all my friends and acquaintances, none have the skills and experience they wanted when we were in college.
Miss the survival roll and you either died or took an extra aging roll right now and mustered out. Player's choice.
I just turned fifty, and I have come to appreciate the normal aging rolls. I have seen people get to my age and stay fit, but I have also seen PCs make all their aging rolls. In real life most middle-aged men loose some endurance. Their eyes get weak, and they accumulate small injuries that affect strength and dexterity.
If you think your physically active character will keep fit take some rolls off of the PDT. Those fit and athletic middle-aged men spend long hours in the gym. And there are few sports where an athlete remains competitive into his thirties, never mind forties.
I also like the random skill table as-is. I have very few of the skills I wanted at 18. In fact, of all my friends and acquaintances, none have the skills and experience they wanted when we were in college.
Black Globe Generator's game sounds a lot like the game we played. Except if you want to change careers there was a -1/term penalty on the enlistment roll. +1 if you had appropriate skills from your prior career. Miss your enlistment roll and muster out.
Miss the survival roll and you either died or took an extra aging roll right now and mustered out. Player's choice.
I just turned fifty, and I have come to appreciate the normal aging rolls. I have seen people get to my age and stay fit, but I have also seen PCs make all their aging rolls. In real life most middle-aged men loose some endurance. Their eyes get weak, and they accumulate small injuries that affect strength and dexterity.
If you think your physically active character will keep fit take some rolls off of the PDT. Those fit and athletic middle-aged men spend long hours in the gym. And there are few sports where an athlete remains competitive into his thirties, never mind forties.
I also like the random skill table as-is. I have very few of the skills I wanted at 18. In fact, of all my friends and acquaintances, none have the skills and experience they wanted when we were in college.
Miss the survival roll and you either died or took an extra aging roll right now and mustered out. Player's choice.
I just turned fifty, and I have come to appreciate the normal aging rolls. I have seen people get to my age and stay fit, but I have also seen PCs make all their aging rolls. In real life most middle-aged men loose some endurance. Their eyes get weak, and they accumulate small injuries that affect strength and dexterity.
If you think your physically active character will keep fit take some rolls off of the PDT. Those fit and athletic middle-aged men spend long hours in the gym. And there are few sports where an athlete remains competitive into his thirties, never mind forties.
I also like the random skill table as-is. I have very few of the skills I wanted at 18. In fact, of all my friends and acquaintances, none have the skills and experience they wanted when we were in college.
Speaking as someone still waiting for his CT books (see the Essentials thread for THAT)
I think I remember enough to talk about CG though.
I'm probably going to take Uncle Bob's idea of allowing reenlistment, but at -1 per term. Each profession that fails enlistment etc. has effectively blackballed the character, but he can try with another service, and another up to say...4 career attempts. If I did that I'd want to set a maximum age for some services. (For example, the US military max is Age 35, so I wouldn't allow someone older to select any of the military careers.)
I've heard an 'automatic aging roll' suggested for injuries/kills before and its interesting, though I wonder if its lenient. (I've also heard 1d3 off a random physical stat.) It might work. I don't care for the 'instant kill' of CT, though I definitely think serious injury is a possibility. Even for a non-combat career - sometimes crap just happens.
Skills...I'm considering adding one skill point per term (since CT didn't allow for many skills), and letting that be player choice. I'm considering restrictions on that, otherwise I'd probably start seeing people with Weapon-5, though it might complicate things too much. The other (canon CT) skills would be random.
I'm probably going to take Uncle Bob's idea of allowing reenlistment, but at -1 per term. Each profession that fails enlistment etc. has effectively blackballed the character, but he can try with another service, and another up to say...4 career attempts. If I did that I'd want to set a maximum age for some services. (For example, the US military max is Age 35, so I wouldn't allow someone older to select any of the military careers.)
I've heard an 'automatic aging roll' suggested for injuries/kills before and its interesting, though I wonder if its lenient. (I've also heard 1d3 off a random physical stat.) It might work. I don't care for the 'instant kill' of CT, though I definitely think serious injury is a possibility. Even for a non-combat career - sometimes crap just happens.
Skills...I'm considering adding one skill point per term (since CT didn't allow for many skills), and letting that be player choice. I'm considering restrictions on that, otherwise I'd probably start seeing people with Weapon-5, though it might complicate things too much. The other (canon CT) skills would be random.
Speaking as someone still waiting for his CT books (see the Essentials thread for THAT)
I think I remember enough to talk about CG though.
I'm probably going to take Uncle Bob's idea of allowing reenlistment, but at -1 per term. Each profession that fails enlistment etc. has effectively blackballed the character, but he can try with another service, and another up to say...4 career attempts. If I did that I'd want to set a maximum age for some services. (For example, the US military max is Age 35, so I wouldn't allow someone older to select any of the military careers.)
I've heard an 'automatic aging roll' suggested for injuries/kills before and its interesting, though I wonder if its lenient. (I've also heard 1d3 off a random physical stat.) It might work. I don't care for the 'instant kill' of CT, though I definitely think serious injury is a possibility. Even for a non-combat career - sometimes crap just happens.
Skills...I'm considering adding one skill point per term (since CT didn't allow for many skills), and letting that be player choice. I'm considering restrictions on that, otherwise I'd probably start seeing people with Weapon-5, though it might complicate things too much. The other (canon CT) skills would be random.
I'm probably going to take Uncle Bob's idea of allowing reenlistment, but at -1 per term. Each profession that fails enlistment etc. has effectively blackballed the character, but he can try with another service, and another up to say...4 career attempts. If I did that I'd want to set a maximum age for some services. (For example, the US military max is Age 35, so I wouldn't allow someone older to select any of the military careers.)
I've heard an 'automatic aging roll' suggested for injuries/kills before and its interesting, though I wonder if its lenient. (I've also heard 1d3 off a random physical stat.) It might work. I don't care for the 'instant kill' of CT, though I definitely think serious injury is a possibility. Even for a non-combat career - sometimes crap just happens.
Skills...I'm considering adding one skill point per term (since CT didn't allow for many skills), and letting that be player choice. I'm considering restrictions on that, otherwise I'd probably start seeing people with Weapon-5, though it might complicate things too much. The other (canon CT) skills would be random.
