The most AMAZING CT character I've ever seen...

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Fritz88:
Also, isn't basic chargen limited to 7 terms in LBB1-8? Just another IYTU you should mention.

Actually, I just figured out that you've got to be mistaken here.

I've never seen that in CT, but look at the aging table. It goes up to 14+ terms!

At Term 12, you've got to start rolling for your INT decrease too.


==================================

Little side note....

Just for grins, we decided, after the character had mustered out, to see what would have happened if he had gone to a 12th term.

On term 12, you not only have to roll for STR, DEX, and END, but INT too.

So, the player rolled for each of those four stats....

...and he failed every roll.

We all laughed.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Fritz88:
Also, isn't basic chargen limited to 7 terms in LBB1-8? Just another IYTU you should mention.

Actually, I just figured out that you've got to be mistaken here.

I've never seen that in CT, but look at the aging table. It goes up to 14+ terms!

At Term 12, you've got to start rolling for your INT decrease too.


==================================

Little side note....

Just for grins, we decided, after the character had mustered out, to see what would have happened if he had gone to a 12th term.

On term 12, you not only have to roll for STR, DEX, and END, but INT too.

So, the player rolled for each of those four stats....

...and he failed every roll.

We all laughed.

 

[Supplement Four]

You know, even with all this....with the two level 5 skills and the on level 4...

We're talking about a character with Brawling-3, Blade-5, and SMG-2. STR-14 and DEX-6.

I can deal with that. He's very capable, but not a complete powerhouse in the combat area.


As long as he's not knife-fighting, he's a very playable character--not something that will unbalance the game.

GOOD GAWD I LOVE TRAVELLER CHARACTER GENERATION!!!

Great freakin' game. The best RPG ever.

It always has been my favorite.

 

[Supplement Four]

You know, even with all this....with the two level 5 skills and the on level 4...

We're talking about a character with Brawling-3, Blade-5, and SMG-2. STR-14 and DEX-6.

I can deal with that. He's very capable, but not a complete powerhouse in the combat area.


As long as he's not knife-fighting, he's a very playable character--not something that will unbalance the game.

GOOD GAWD I LOVE TRAVELLER CHARACTER GENERATION!!!

Great freakin' game. The best RPG ever.

It always has been my favorite.

 

[FlightCommanderSolitude]

From Book 1, page 11:

Service beyond the seventh term is normally impossible, and retirement is mandatory for an individual who has completed a seventh term of service. However, persons who throw mandatory reenlistment must instead serve that additional term of service. It is theoretically possible ... to serve ninth and even tenth terms under mandatory reenlistment.

This means the PC should have ended his service after Term 7, UNLESS the player rolled four consecutive 12's for the reenlistment roll.

 

[FlightCommanderSolitude]

From Book 1, page 11:

Service beyond the seventh term is normally impossible, and retirement is mandatory for an individual who has completed a seventh term of service. However, persons who throw mandatory reenlistment must instead serve that additional term of service. It is theoretically possible ... to serve ninth and even tenth terms under mandatory reenlistment.

This means the PC should have ended his service after Term 7, UNLESS the player rolled four consecutive 12's for the reenlistment roll.

 

[far-trader]

I was wondering about that 11 terms thing too.

Of course I have long thought it odd that in the Far Future, with the increased longevity even without anagathics, that there is mandatory retirement for otherwise healthy individuals at age 46 with a pensioned retirement option at 38. It makes some sense for the military, and I think law enforcement is close to that too, but it sure isn't the way for a lot of employees. Just always seemed odd to me.

 

[far-trader]

I was wondering about that 11 terms thing too.

Of course I have long thought it odd that in the Far Future, with the increased longevity even without anagathics, that there is mandatory retirement for otherwise healthy individuals at age 46 with a pensioned retirement option at 38. It makes some sense for the military, and I think law enforcement is close to that too, but it sure isn't the way for a lot of employees. Just always seemed odd to me.

 

[far-trader]

Anyway, yes the aging tables go higher, to cover the remote possiblity of long careers. I did roll one character that served 2 extra terms, yep 9 terms total, no cheats or fudges. But that's out of a lot of generated, there were the odd 1 extra term forced term character but most of those were less than the max being forced to serve beyond wanting to retire early in term 5.

And of course it's expected that a Traveller game will cover years of game time and the aging tables may need to be consulted later as well.

 

[far-trader]

Anyway, yes the aging tables go higher, to cover the remote possiblity of long careers. I did roll one character that served 2 extra terms, yep 9 terms total, no cheats or fudges. But that's out of a lot of generated, there were the odd 1 extra term forced term character but most of those were less than the max being forced to serve beyond wanting to retire early in term 5.

And of course it's expected that a Traveller game will cover years of game time and the aging tables may need to be consulted later as well.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by FlightCommanderSolitude:
From Book 1, page 11:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Service beyond the seventh term is normally impossible, and retirement is mandatory for an individual who has completed a seventh term of service. However, persons who throw mandatory reenlistment must instead serve that additional term of service. It is theoretically possible ... to serve ninth and even tenth terms under mandatory reenlistment.

This means the PC should have ended his service after Term 7, UNLESS the player rolled four consecutive 12's for the reenlistment roll. </font>[/QUOTE]Interesting. I just plain skipped over that one.

I might have to re-evaluate and start using the rule.

But...mandatory retirement at age 46?

This seems more like a game mechanic just for a rule's sake (to keep characters from doing what the one in my game did last night).

It doesn't seem quite logical, does it?

I mean, I changed the armor to-hit modifiers to modify the damage roll instead of the attack roll because making a target harder to hit just because he's wearing some armor seemed silly to me--very old school of thought (if anything, a character encumbered in armor should be easier to hit).

But, at the same time, armor should protect the character from damage.

So, in my game, those armor mods are applied to the damage throw now instead of the to-hit roll.

I'm wondering about that mandatory retirement thing at 46.

In the 57th century, it seems that age 74 should be a better number for mandatory retirement.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by FlightCommanderSolitude:
From Book 1, page 11:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Service beyond the seventh term is normally impossible, and retirement is mandatory for an individual who has completed a seventh term of service. However, persons who throw mandatory reenlistment must instead serve that additional term of service. It is theoretically possible ... to serve ninth and even tenth terms under mandatory reenlistment.

This means the PC should have ended his service after Term 7, UNLESS the player rolled four consecutive 12's for the reenlistment roll. </font>[/QUOTE]Interesting. I just plain skipped over that one.

I might have to re-evaluate and start using the rule.

But...mandatory retirement at age 46?

This seems more like a game mechanic just for a rule's sake (to keep characters from doing what the one in my game did last night).

It doesn't seem quite logical, does it?

I mean, I changed the armor to-hit modifiers to modify the damage roll instead of the attack roll because making a target harder to hit just because he's wearing some armor seemed silly to me--very old school of thought (if anything, a character encumbered in armor should be easier to hit).

But, at the same time, armor should protect the character from damage.

So, in my game, those armor mods are applied to the damage throw now instead of the to-hit roll.

I'm wondering about that mandatory retirement thing at 46.

In the 57th century, it seems that age 74 should be a better number for mandatory retirement.

 

[Supplement Four]

It seems to me that the aging table is the biggest reason most characters wouldn't want to go more than three terms, even if you don't force them to retire after seven terms.


I mean, making THREE rolls, one each on DEX, STR, and END staring at 8+, 7+, and 8+ is a pretty strong incentive to avoid it.

For every other player in my campaign, this is the case. Nobody, except the one, is attempting a fourth term.

But, the fact is, the guy rolled very high with his starting physical stats, got increases during his early terms, and he decided he could take a few hits to his stats in an effort to increase his skills.

So, he gave it a try.

And, he got damn lucky in those rolls.

I'm not kidding you. I watched him, rolling straight 2D rolls with no funny business, house tweaks, or any type of "bonus" or brownie points, make 24 rolls against his stats.

He failed a couple of them, but not many.

It was unbelieveable.

 

[Supplement Four]

It seems to me that the aging table is the biggest reason most characters wouldn't want to go more than three terms, even if you don't force them to retire after seven terms.


I mean, making THREE rolls, one each on DEX, STR, and END staring at 8+, 7+, and 8+ is a pretty strong incentive to avoid it.

For every other player in my campaign, this is the case. Nobody, except the one, is attempting a fourth term.

But, the fact is, the guy rolled very high with his starting physical stats, got increases during his early terms, and he decided he could take a few hits to his stats in an effort to increase his skills.

So, he gave it a try.

And, he got damn lucky in those rolls.

I'm not kidding you. I watched him, rolling straight 2D rolls with no funny business, house tweaks, or any type of "bonus" or brownie points, make 24 rolls against his stats.

He failed a couple of them, but not many.

It was unbelieveable.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Fritz88:
(BTW, I'm not sniping, just pointing out some things that actually go back to why some of these rules were made - whether after CT or during CT. I'm still very impressed with that character. I'll bet the other players will be jealous....

)

You know, whether we broke a few official rules or not, that character has added so much unexpected "life" to my campaign, and it hasn't even started yet!

It's amazing how everyone in the group is excited about this guy. We're changing the story because of him.

I think that type of player involvement is worth its weight in gold.

It's a happy accident.

All of the players, not just the one, is so much more interested in the game (not that they weren't interested before--it's just now you can feel the excitement).

As a GM, I had to face it. The players are getting a real kick out of this guy--even the ones who aren't going to play him.

For my game, this is like a complementary news story appearing the same day you open your motion picture--the news story that get everyone more interested in your movie..so your box office is much greater than it would have been otherwise.

I'm glad this thing turned out the way it did.

I might adjust some rules (or start enforcing some official ones) so that it doesn't happen again--but this sure has been a very good thing to happen in my game.

 

[Supplement Four]

Originally posted by Fritz88:
(BTW, I'm not sniping, just pointing out some things that actually go back to why some of these rules were made - whether after CT or during CT. I'm still very impressed with that character. I'll bet the other players will be jealous....

)

You know, whether we broke a few official rules or not, that character has added so much unexpected "life" to my campaign, and it hasn't even started yet!

It's amazing how everyone in the group is excited about this guy. We're changing the story because of him.

I think that type of player involvement is worth its weight in gold.

It's a happy accident.

All of the players, not just the one, is so much more interested in the game (not that they weren't interested before--it's just now you can feel the excitement).

As a GM, I had to face it. The players are getting a real kick out of this guy--even the ones who aren't going to play him.

For my game, this is like a complementary news story appearing the same day you open your motion picture--the news story that get everyone more interested in your movie..so your box office is much greater than it would have been otherwise.

I'm glad this thing turned out the way it did.

I might adjust some rules (or start enforcing some official ones) so that it doesn't happen again--but this sure has been a very good thing to happen in my game.

 

[far-trader]

Oh yeah, definitely not razzing you for overlooking that max terms rule WJP. And as you say, quite serendipitiously, it ADDED to your game

That's always good.

You'll note, now that you are aware of the rule, I agree with you that it seems a little odd. It does make some sense for the military but maybe there should be some adjustment for other careers, you know, the less dangerous ones like Bureaucrat. It'll all have to be MTU/YTU though, but bouncing the idea around would be a good thread all on it's own.

 

[far-trader]

Oh yeah, definitely not razzing you for overlooking that max terms rule WJP. And as you say, quite serendipitiously, it ADDED to your game

That's always good.

You'll note, now that you are aware of the rule, I agree with you that it seems a little odd. It does make some sense for the military but maybe there should be some adjustment for other careers, you know, the less dangerous ones like Bureaucrat. It'll all have to be MTU/YTU though, but bouncing the idea around would be a good thread all on it's own.

 

[epicenter00]

At least his life ended nicely.

I player who was literally worked to death before he ever got out of chargen.

He wanted to quit the Navy at 44, then kept getting mandatory re-enlistment for like ... term after term after term and finally failed a survival roll in his 60s and took a dirt (vacc?) nap.

I think that's about the time we all decided that MWM and company must have been enjoying some of the "non-tobacco alternatives" made very popular in 70s when writing Traveller, especially the survival rule.

On another note, all joking aside, I've always thought of Traveller as the "mid-life crisis" game. D&D and stuff like that all revolves around the "bumpkin right off of the farm." In Traveller, if you want to have any skills, you're into middle age (usually the far end of it) when you begin playing. Our Traveller parties were always full of merchants who got replaced by younger men, faded athletics models, and guys who still signed their names with military ranks but had to put (Ret.) after it.

 

[epicenter00]

At least his life ended nicely.

I player who was literally worked to death before he ever got out of chargen.

He wanted to quit the Navy at 44, then kept getting mandatory re-enlistment for like ... term after term after term and finally failed a survival roll in his 60s and took a dirt (vacc?) nap.

I think that's about the time we all decided that MWM and company must have been enjoying some of the "non-tobacco alternatives" made very popular in 70s when writing Traveller, especially the survival rule.

On another note, all joking aside, I've always thought of Traveller as the "mid-life crisis" game. D&D and stuff like that all revolves around the "bumpkin right off of the farm." In Traveller, if you want to have any skills, you're into middle age (usually the far end of it) when you begin playing. Our Traveller parties were always full of merchants who got replaced by younger men, faded athletics models, and guys who still signed their names with military ranks but had to put (Ret.) after it.