2025 31 Day Character Creation Challenge: Beltstrike encounter table

[Black Vulmea]

24 January 55 Spy

Spies in CT are kinda given short-shrift, which is unfortunate - espionage fits like a glove with the 'Golden Age sci-fi' that undergirds the game. The Other career works, but with none of the flash; third-party creations in Dragon and White Dwarf are meh, in my experience. For my encounter-list spy, I decided to follow a path more closely rooted in real-world espionage, a college-educated bureaucrat and diplomat, the embassy employee assigned to gathering OSINT - open-source intelligence, like public records - as well as recruiting agents who provide HUMINT - human intelligence, which is more properly SOPHINT in Traveller. This character [*HR] attended college and graduate school by way of "Scientists" in Challenge/JTAS 29, then bureaucrat and diplomat careers in Supplement 4 via Dragon 55, and finally joined the ranks of the political appointees of the Imperial ministries by way of "The Traveller Politician" from Dragon 32.

Published in December 1979, "The Traveller Politician" is a hot mess, but if you kinda defocus your eyes a bit and remember that it predates 99.9% of what we know about the TU, it's actually rather brilliant in a quirky way; it captures the distinction between career civil servants - the Supplement 4 bureaucrat and diplomat characters - and the political appointees who develop policy in the upper echelons of the ministries. I particularly love the fact that characters are expected to enter the political realm AFTER at least three terms in another career and there's no seven-term cap; it's also wildly unbalanced, which to me is a great representation of life in the Imperial government . . .

Adaan Amashgi PhD
753BFA age 51 ex-Deputy Envoy (Retired 1st Secretary)
Mathematics-4 Computer-3 Recruiting-3 Administration-3 Liaison-2 Streetwise-2 Interrogation-2 Bribery-1 Grav Vehicle-0 Basic Weapons-0
HONORS*2

Born and raised on Dramelian, the son of secondary educators, Adaan Amashgi attended good schools before entering the Imperial University of Dramelian for his undergraduate studies then pursuing a PhD in statistics. Graduating with honors, Adaan eschewed an academic career for public service, first joining the Ministry of Colonization for four years before transferring to the Ministry of State and the Imperial diplomatic corps.

Lacking the social pedigree of most diplomats, Adaan forged a different path for himself, developing a knack for gathering intelligence, first through open sources and then by cultivating contacts on the worlds of his postings. With a statistician's eye and a rigorous grounding in espionage methods of identifying, recruiting, and interviewing agents, Addan served as the eyes and ears of the consuls and ambassadors for whom he worked throughout his long career.

After retiring from the Imperial civil service - and mindful of the pittance that was his pension - Addan took the bold step of seeking a political appointment, calling on his many past relationships for favors. Successfully appointed to the diplomatic corps once more, this time as a policy maker, Adaan achieved a measure of social distinction and a considerable collection of stipends and retainers allowing him to live on the garden world of Valisa in the style he desired as a consultant.

The government of Helena - representing the interests of Tri-Star Lines and the Frastin Mining Consortium - most recently engaged Adaan's services to participate in a trade mission to the Reaginworld Belt; both Helena and Arnitag, powerful industrial worlds, jockey for influence and long-term control of the belt's resources with the fractious belters of the Demarchy, and the Helanans and their corporate masters hope Adaan can give them an edge as they plan for the future.



Next up, a charismatic IISS courier pilot.

 

[Black Vulmea]

25 January 81 Scout Pilot

As I mentioned upthread, there are few Vargr in this part of Charted Space, and most work for the Third Imperium. Well, here's one of 'em. This gave me an excuse to pull out AM 3 Vargr; IMTU, the planet Kizator's population is about 90% Vargr and the institutions tend to follow Vargr norms - mostly it's an excuse to bust out AM3's character creation rules, so our scout pilot here started off in Kizator's provincial squadrons before transferring to the Book 6 IISS, again per [*HR] Dragon 55.

Roukht
89988A age 32 Scout (ex-Able Spacehand)
Infighting-2 Communications-2 Pilot-2 Navigation-1 Ship's Boat-1 Computer-1 Medical-1 Carousing-1 Bribery-1 Wheeled Vehicle-0 Basic Weapons-0
CSR*4 MCUF

The Vargr who would become Roukht joined the Kizator Collective Navy, assigned to the gunnery branch; serving at a time when Kizator's squadrons joined those of the Federation of Dreamith and Dramelian to deal with the pirates of Deepwar once and for all, the Vargr fought with distinction and valor, earning a decoration but more importantly gaining significant charisma among his fellows. It was during his second term of service that the Vargr adopted the name Roukht - "leader" - and, deciding that he wanted to see more of the universe than he could from a comms console, elected to join the IISS.

Assigned to the Communications branch, Roukht trained as an x-boat and courier pilot; eventually assigned to the communications office on Valisa, his duties include the regular courier run to the nearby Reaginworld Belt. Reaginworlders are said to have long memories, and the Vargr raids of the Long Night on the Titanstorm subsector a millennium ago are not forgotten. Roukht feels the resentment around him - and revels in it - as he swaggers down the docks and concourses of Reagin's World.



Tomorrow, a member of Red Branch, Reaginworld's security service.

 

[Black Vulmea]

26 January 62 Security Guard

The Reaginworld Demarchy is a form of direct government with no real bureaucracy beyond standing oversight committees; government services are handled by contract. Red Branch, an Arnitag-based 'private security service' - really a mercenary company - is the public safety contractor for the Demarchy, responsible for protecting critical public infrastructure like power plants, life support systems, and so on, and preventing widespread violence in a system with few laws governing personal conduct. This recent hire by Red Branch served two terms as a Book 4 soldier followed by two terms as a [*HR] Dragon 113 "Star Cops!" police officer, via Dragon 55.

Constanza 'Bunny' Bui
B78795 age 36 (mercenary Second) Lieutenant (ex-Patrol Sergeant, ex-Gunnery Sergeant)
Combar Rifleman-2 Interrogation-2 Streetwise-2 Tactics-1 Leader-1 Administration-1 Legal-1 Handgun-1 Cudgel-1 SMG-1 Computer-0 Grav Vehicle-0 Basic Weapons-0

Known to all by a childhood nickname, few dared tease muscular, 1.85 m tall Bunny Bui, and fewer still were surprised when she enlisted in the Arnitag Republican Army at 18. She saw little action in her career, earning only a single combat service ribbon to go with a brace of meritorious conducted medals, and after eight years, upon meeting a police recruiter for Nova Batavia, Arnitag's capital city, she decided to make a change.

At 26 she entered the academy and was assigned to the NBPD patrol division for training and seasoning in life on the streets. Her first few years were routine, but a SWAT assignment and two years of undercover work saw her earn a citation for meritorious service, a medal for gallantry and promotion to sergeant; Bunny rankled at being passed over for a lieutenant's bar, however, so when a Red Branch recruiter saw the ARA veteran pin on her uniform and approached her, she was open to the conversation.

The recruiter explained that most of Red Branch's guards were 'pipehitters,' lacking Bunny's experience in actual law enforcement; as the security company's contract with the Reaginworld Demarchy would be up for renewal within a couple of years, the recruiter offered Bunny a deal including profit sharing to go with a competitive salary if she helped improve their outcomes.

Two years later, with more miscreants brought before miner's courts and fewer broken bones to its credit, Red Branch appears to be cruising toward contract renewal and Bunny stands to earn a considerable windfall.



Next, a scientist who specializes in asteroid belts.

 

[Black Vulmea]

27 January 63 Scientist

A straight-up [*HR] Challenge 29 scientist character; because Dr. Wek is a scientist whose area of study is asteroid belts, I was a little flexible on skills; frex, [*HR] I allowed Wek to take Ship's Boat as his Vehicle skill in his fourth term, and I gave him Vacc Suit-0 - Challenge 29 is a bit stingy about space skills for scientists. As noted above, I also [*HR] use the assignment retention rules for High Guard for scientist characters.

Wekesa 'Wek' Manshur PhD
655AB6 age 44 Planetary Scientist
Planetary Science-4 Astronomy-3 Computer-2 Sensor Operations-2 Ship's Boat-1 Administration-1 Liaison-1 Wheeled Vehicle-0 Vacc Suit-0
HONORS*2 DISCOVERY*5

Born and raised on the planet Walter, a local magnate arranged for young Wekesa Mansur to study offworld, at the University of Bridgeport on Starbridge. An honors graduate, Wek enrolled at the Starbridge Institute of Technology (StarTech), graduating with a PhD in Planetary Science; his graduate work focused on models of asteroid family development in the Arnitag system asteroid belt.

Wek's career included stints working for the Imperial Planetological Survey of the Ministry of Conservation, Republic of Arnitag Secretariat of Industrial Resources, Imperial University of Arnitag, his alma mater University of Bridgeport, and the Frastin Mining Consortium, among others. His research carried him far beyond the Imperial border, to the Zapotec and Shantunia belts deep in the Lesser Rift as well as the Reaginworld belt and belts in the Nathalia and Starbridge systems.

Most recently he returned to Reaginworld as part of a trade mission sponsored by the government of Helena; in addition to his work on resource development in the belt, he's recording a third series of his young adult holovid show, Asteroid Hunters! for syndication by a subsidiary studio of Makhidkarun.



Tomorrow, a holy sister of a mendicant order.

 

[Black Vulmea]

28 January 64 Beggar

I originally thought of a number of prior careers for a beggar - could be anything really - but one of the important actors in the Regainworld Belt is the Revised Canon Church of Sylea from BITS 101 Religions; it's essentially the Catholic Church in space and when I read 'beggar," my mind went to 'mendicant' and the Poor Sisters of Holy Mary of the Light. I started with [*HR] Challenge 29 university and graduate school - and I didn't expect graduate school when I sent her to college - then [*HR] a clerical career by way of "The Stellar Diocese" from Dragon 101.

This character was in part inspired by Rev. Dr. Anna Volodova from The Expanse.

'Sister Anna' (Izanne Dena DDiv)
7568C8 age 42 Sister 'of Light'
Theology-3 Religion-2 Streetwise-2 Psychology-1 Liaison-1 Instruction-1 Medical-1 Computer-0 Grav Vehicle-0

Izanne Dena entered City University of Nathalia with an eye toward public service but with no specifics in mind; she surprised friends and family on graduating by entering St. Hildegard's Seminary of Theology and Philosophy. With a doctorate of divinity in hand, most expected her to enter the priesthood, but she shocked everyone once again by announcing her intention to join the Poor Sisters of Holy Mary of the Light, a tiny mendicant order active in the Reaginworld Belt.

Dr. Izanne Senna soon became aspirant Anna of the Sisters of Light, ministering to the needs of the indigent and wayward in Dockside and the Crawl of Reagin's World. Her devotion to the disadvantaged is matched by her personal experience of the gritty circumstances of their lives. Preacher, counselor, teacher, street medic, Sister Anna brings her faith, her love, and a surprisingly frank wit to her care of her flock.



And finally, the Reaginword native serving as the number two boss of the Imperial starport.

 

[Black Vulmea]

29 January 65 Port Warden

It's back to [*HR] JTAS 19 & 21 for another SPA character, with a detour by way of [*HR] Challenge/JTAS 29 to attend tech school. Given that he graduated technical college, I [*HR] allowed this character to start with a commission; if he'd graduated with honors he could've [*HR] selected his branch automatically as well.

Ismarus Andohel
9798B9 age 36 SPA Port Warden
Administration-3 Computer-3 Interrogation-2 Legal-1 Vacc Suit-1 Ship's Boat-1 Navigation-1 Leader-1 Revolver-1 Basic Weapons-0

Raised on the dwarf planet Reagin's World, Ismarus Andohel's parents sent him to Arnitag to attend the Nova Batavia College of Industry & Technology, hoping he might make something of himself on the populous industrial world; to their surprise (and a little dismay), Ismarus returned home to the belt and applied to the Imperial starport. Immediately commissioned and assigned to the administration department. Ismarus immersed himself in port operations - including a year-long stint touring other starports in the subsector as an attaché - and slowly but steadily climbed through the SPA ranks.

At thirty-two, Ismarus was promoted to assistant director, which carries with it the informal title of port warden, of the Reaginworld Imperial Starport. As port warden, responsible for coordinating the daily operations of the starport, Ismarus strives to perform his duties not just in terms of the SPA regulations but with a deeper understanding of the port's place in the life of Reaginworlders.

Ismarus can expect a promotion to director soon, but if the Reaginworld port has no opening, then he would be forced to move elsewhere - Tawdry or Almira perhaps, or maybe even Valisa. A number of Ismarus' colleagues suspect that he's 'berthed' - in SPA slang, connected too closely to one port to accept a transfer for the sake of a promotion - while a few believe he's young and ambitious enough to go where the SPA sends him on the path to executive director of the whole subsector.



That concludes all the non-player characters from the Beltstrike random encounter list. Since I have two days left, I'll post the two player characters from my solo campaign - first up is Ree Azzer, retired Belter and newly minted robotics technician..

 

[Black Vulmea]

30 January Retired Belter

A player character at last!

I've always loved Beltstrike and the whole idea of asteroid mining and I know I will never find a referee with the same passion for minutiae I have - like the fuel consumption per hour, sensor detections per watch kinda stuff - so I figured this is a dish best served like a microwave TV dinner, sad and alone.

I also wanted to play a little bit each day; I ran a solo merchant campaign a few years back in which each real-world day corresponded to a day in the game world, and I enjoyed it - I only gave it up because my character stopped being fun to play, not the game. I have a tendency toward 'lovable anti-heroes,' except this guy wasn't really all that lovable - more of a reprobate, really.

I also wanted to break out of that rut and so I settled on a husband-and-wife team of belters.

My first inspiration was Virgil and Lindsey Brigman, from The Abyss, minus the acrimony; I wanted a couple that actually likes and respects one another - at least at the start of the campaign! - while keeping the very different skill sets and backgrounds of the characters.

Like Bud Brigman, the husband is the roughneck hero from a country song, a retired Belter using the Beltstike rules for chargen, with the added bonus of a sabbatical - one of classic Traveller's most forgotten rules? - to expand his skill set. There are also two [*HR] in play here: Streetwise-0 for Soc 4- and Zero-G Weapons-0 instead of Basic Weapons-0.

Ree Azzer
996C64 age 38 Retired Belter
Vacc Suit-2 Mechanical-2 Prospecting-2 Brawling-2 Robotics-2 Zero-G Environment-1 Streetwise-0 Zero-G Weapons-0

Born and raised in a spin habitat in the Deepwar asteroid belt, Ree Azzer followed the family trade, a hardscrabble independent rockhopper in a belt dominated by corporate mining platforms grinding asteroids to dust for the industrial worlds of the Nightmare Main. The Azzers owned shares in a slow boat with two other families and it was aboard MC Ball Peen that Ree learned to prospect.

In 1093, after a run of lean years, Ree resigned himself to working aboard a Delgado Trading mining platform, where he ran the suit shack - the vacc suit locker - and the main airlock. Here he met his first wife, a comm tech; they married in 1094, but the union didn't last and after divorcing three years later, Ree returned to the rockhopper life aboard the seeker IMS Ball Mill. Ball Mill would make a rich strike in 1100, and while the seeker was off to neighboring Dramelian for much-delayed annual maintenance in early 1101, Ree celebrated his good fortune in the bars of Belu Station's startown.

Here he met Lishda, navigator and cutter pilot aboard an IISS survey scout temporarily assigned to the belt. Ree spent the last year of his career on an ice hauler so he could regularly see Lishda at Belu Station and toward the end of 1101, the couple married and Ree retired, moving to Dreamith with his new wife the following year.

Lishda wanted to serve one more term to improve her benefits, and Ree needed something to do besides skulk around dependent housing on the scout base, so he decided to learn a new skill, enrolling at the Imperial Institute for Trade and Technology - TradeTech - in Port Harrow, where he studied robotics. Ree knew that the corporate prospecting teams in Deepwar leaned heavily on robots for an edge over the rockhoppers and as Ree and Lish discussed belting once she left the Scouts, he wanted to utilize the best technology to improve their odds of a rich strike.

Tomorrow, Lishda Azzer, Ree's Suerrat wife.

 

[Black Vulmea]

31 January former Scout

(Cue Barry Manilow: "Looks like we made it!" My first 31 Day Character Creation Challenge is in the books. . . mostly . . .)

Ree's spouse is a straight Book 6 Scout character with a small twist: she's a Suerrat, created using the "Contact" article in Imperium Games JTAS 26. IMTU the planet Jullanar, seat of the sector duke for Ley, includes a colony of ~200K Suerrat and after seeing an absolutely magnificent illustration by Arne Niklas Jansson in his Traveller work at Android Arts, I decided Ree's spouse was a member of this arboreal branch of Humaniti.

Ree's initial UWP was pretty average; Lishda's, even before the bumps to Strength and Dexterity earned by Suerrat per JTAS 26, was stellar. For both characters, I sank quite a few skill rolls in tables - Personal Development for Ree, Scout Life and Bureaucracy for Lishda - that improved their ability numbers; in my experience, adding and improving skills over a character's lifetime is easier than bumping their UWP.

Lishda Azzer
AB8DE6 age 38 ex-IISS Group Administrator
Navigation-3 Pilot-2 Administration-2 Bribery-2 Carousing-1 Computer-1 Jack of All Trades-1, Leader-1 Streetwise-1 Laser Carbine-2 Grav Vehicle-0 Vacc Suit-0 Basic Firearms-0

Born and raised on her family's farm on Jullanar, middle daughter of three Lishda - from a Vilani word her mom liked meaning "light of the early morning" - set her sights on the stars by the time she was an adolescent. After completing her secondary education, Lishda entered Gakush College of Technology but sex, drugs, and techno-tribal beats derailed her plans and she crashed out of school after only a year. Chastened but still desirous of a career in space, Lishda next presented herself at the office of an IISS recruiter in Shariza.

Initially assigned to the Imperial Grand Survey, the athletic Suerrat was quickly tagged for away teams and acquired the wide-ranging skills expected of a Field Scout. In her sixth year of service, Lishda transferred to the Operations Office and further developed her skills as an astrogator and administrator. In 1101, Lishda served as navigator and cutter pilot aboard a Donosev-class survey scout assigned to update hazards-to-navigation charts for the belt - cover for a mission to identify likely pirate bases - and there she met a local belter, Ree Azzer. They dated between duties aboard their respective ships and later that year, the couple married.

No longer as ready to take off into the Vargr Extants or the Lesser Rift for years at a time, Lishda sought reassignment to Administration; instead, she was transferred to Detached Duty and trained for intelligence, working from the scout base on Dreamith while Ree went to trade school. In 1106, Lisda became a detached duty Scout herself and she and Ree plan to make their fortune together in the Reaginworld Belt.


Okay, so those are my characters, but really, there's a THIRD character in the mix: their type S, the Kikarmur. I'll do a quick write-up of 'The Kik' tomorrow as a bonus.

 

[casquilho]

Congratulations @Black Vulmea. I know that was a lot of work to keep up for 31 days.

Bravo for doing it.

 

[Black Vulmea]

Congratulations @Black Vulmea. I know that was a lot of work to keep up for 31 days.

Bravo for doing it.

Thank you!

Truth be told, I have about a half-dozen or so characters that life paths took in directions away from the encounter list that I'll add to this, but beyond that, I don't really feel like rolling up any more for a while!

 

[Black Vulmea]

Okay, so those are my characters, but really, there's a THIRD character in the mix: their type S, the Kikarmur. I'll do a quick write-up of 'The Kik' tomorrow as a bonus.

1 February (!) Type S Scout/Courier

Starships are often characters in their own right in sci-fi and I use a couple of house rules I picked up over the years to make them more so straight out of the gate. The first is "New Ideas For Old Ships" from Dragon 51; roll to see if your ship has any modifications, then roll again to see if it comes armed. The second is "77 Quirks" - I have no idea where this came from or how I came by it but I've used it for years.

There are a lot of these sorts of things out there; these happen to be the two I use, and they're not special, just familiar.

Because Lish spent the last term of her scout service in Detached Duty - and two of those four years on base duty! - I gave her advantage in the form of an extra die in rolling up the mods and quirks for the Kik; she was able to call in some favors to get the ship set up the way she wanted for herself and Ree.

IMS (ex-IISS) Kikarmur
Suleiman-class type S scout/courier on detached duty
Assigned to ex-IISS Group Administrator Lishda Azzer

Kikarmur comes equipped with a single pulse laser in its dual turret (Dragon 51). One of the four staterooms has been converted to a breakbulk cargo bay (Dragon 51); this is a not-uncommon IISS modification to give the crew additional supply storage for long-duration missions. It is not connected to the Kikarmur's cargo hold and must be loaded and unloaded through the crew airlock, somewhat limiting its usefulness in exchange for convenience and avoiding modification to an important structural bulkhead.

Kikarmur suffers the usual air filtration problem of the type S ("Funny Smell," "77 Quirks," automatic as a quirk of the class) but is equipped with an advanced Makhidkarun entertainment system ("Premium Entertainment System," "77 Quirks," automatic as a quirk of the class) which the IISS believes is essential for crew morale. With Lish's connivance, the bridge was renovated and fitted with high-quality ergonomic consoles and couches ("Great Ergonomics," "77 Quirks"). The fuel intake valves were replaced, probably during service in the Barakat way station courier flotilla, with non-standard parts; it takes half-again as long to wilderness refuel, either by skimming or by taking in water, as a normal ship of its class ("Slow Refuel," "77 Quirks").

Kikarmur's standard IISS air/raft is replaced with an LSP "prospector's buggy" ("Advanced Vehicle," "77 Quirks") - Ree insists belters don't actually call them that and refers to it as 'the utility.'

And just to put a bow on this, the full crew includes three more members: Boots, the ship's cat, and two 'bots, Astro-Boy, a "belter's friend" which can con the ship and tirelessly read the mass and deep radar sensors leaving Lish and Ree free for other things, and Big Carry, a heavy cargo 'bot with mods for working in zero-G and hostile environments. Both 'bots are from DGP's 101 Robots, with Big Carry modified for space using Book 8.

 

[casquilho]

I do not "77 Quirks" but here is an interesting site in the same vain.

Second Hand Starships

The topic of buying used starships came up during a Traveller Facebook Group discussion recently and it got me thinking about what sort ...

waystarhighport.blogspot.com

Note: Not my site, just one I knew about.

 

[Black Vulmea]

Second Hand Starships

The topic of buying used starships came up during a Traveller Facebook Group discussion recently and it got me thinking about what sort ...

waystarhighport.blogspot.com

" . . . older ships should also have character."

Much like the travellers who fly them!

 

[coliver988]

oddly enough I have a 77 Quirks HTML page I saved off years ago as well - no idea where it came from either! It sounded familiar so I had to poke around to see (I've squirreled away a LOT of Traveller stuff over the years from various sites, knowing that websites may not be around tomorrow. miss the old Traveller ring - the random always took me someplace cool).

and yes - starships *should* be a character in the game. though the only time I really managed that was due to Merchants & Merchandise: added a TL-17 AI system that sounded like Marilyn Monroe and usually scolded my character the ex-Scout. This was in college, though think I'd probably do the same now as it was fun. Can't remember but the 200 ton Scout was a gift from the Imperium for something the character did. 200 tons so I could have the real 3rd deck, which was a library with big windows at the stern. Even then (80s) I knew that there was no way to fit all that into that Scout ship! That and I like libraries.