MT Only: Additional Expanded Career Generation Options Available?

[Kilgs]

Hola,

I'm converting Traveller to the Silhouette system and using MT Character Generation as the base. I've converted all of the Advanced CharGen tables/options from the Players Manual. In addition, I've done Agent and Bounty Hunter through some Highport fanon.

I've also picked up the JTAS/Challenge bundle from DTRPG. But the digest is a mess to work through...

I'm specifically looking for Pirate/Privateer, Diplomat, Bureaucrat, Academic/Scientist, Noble and Criminal generation tables. But am interested in any out there. I also have the StarMerc from Hard Times (which may take the place of Privateer).

1. Any fingerpointing towards specific JTAS/Challenge/Other publications that have new character options?

-I am not using IRIS (agent covers it as IRIS is too specific). I have flagged Journalist and Law Enforcement in Challenge.

2. Any other good sources/fanon?

 

[whulorigan]

...
Any fingerpointing towards specific JTAS/Challenge/Other publications that have new character options?
...
Any other good sources/fanon?

[FONT=arial,helvetica]A good CT CharGen write-up for Law Enforcement, (the same article appeared in two different magazines): [/FONT]

1. [FONT=arial,helvetica]Dragon #113, (September 1986): "Star Cops" by Terrance McInnes[/FONT]
2. [FONT=arial,helvetica]Different Worlds #46 May/June 1987, "Cops" by Terry McInnes.[/FONT]

 

[Quint]

There was a Criminal in one of the Dragon/Ares issues (I can remember articles on both Clergy and Athletes in the same era), and Scientist in the first or second issue of Challenge.

Good luck!

D.

 

[ffilz]

The Freelance Traveller website has some:

http://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/rules/chargen/index.html

More can be found in the Freelance Traveller fanzine:

http://www.freelancetraveller.com/magazine/index.html

 

[sfchbryan]

I've converted a number of careers from CT to MT

They are posted somewhere in the House Rules section

Barbarians
Bounty Hunters
Courtiers
Direct Action Characters (aka Terrorists)
Journalists
Law Enforcers
Sailor (although this was just a reformatting of Terry McInnes work for Wet Navy - Pt 4, character generation was never published, I found it on the hiwg CD.)
Secret Squirrel Agencies (Imperial Secret Service, MOJ in the works,
Scientists
Skyport Authority (this one needs reworking)
Underworld Characters

I'm still fooling around with the Noble character class - I am looking to merge Bureaucrat/Diplomat/CT Noble, which would work about right.

I've also done up some alternates for each of the main classes - I use them for minor polities, such as the Sword Worlds & Darrians, since they tend to merge certain classes.

Let me know if you can't find any of them.

 

[Kilgs]

Thanks everyone!

sfchbryan,

I definitely looted your Bounty Hunter stuff and John Laws from Freelance Traveller! That was included in my v0.5 posted in the House Rules. Looking at it now, I gave all the credit to Laws but yours is far closer to what I ended up with... Sorry! Will amend!
http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=35286

I did that one awhile back and forgot that there were others in the House Rules section. I'll go back and take another look. I passed on Direct Action since it was so specific and I'm just trying to hit the high points.

I considered merging the Noble/Diplomat but have been leaning towards not... instead I was thinking of merging Diplomat/Bureaucrat. With Diplomats being high Soc and Bureacrats being everyone else in the career. Sort of officer/enlisted split.

For Nobles, I was going to go with "Elite" and include celebrities and wealthy heirs. But it got too cumbersome hence looking for a boot in the pants.

Thanks again!

 

[whulorigan]

I'm still fooling around with the Noble character class - I am looking to merge Bureaucrat/Diplomat/CT Noble, which would work about right.

I considered merging the Noble/Diplomat but have been leaning towards not... instead I was thinking of merging Diplomat/Bureaucrat. With Diplomats being high Soc and Bureacrats being everyone else in the career. Sort of officer/enlisted split.

For Nobles, I was going to go with "Elite" and include celebrities and wealthy heirs. But it got too cumbersome hence looking for a boot in the pants.

Regarding Bureaucrats & Diplomats:
I would keep Bureaucrat and Diplomat separate; while they may have overlap, the bureaucrat career covers many types of functionaries, and is much larger and more diverse than just the lower rungs of the Diplomatic Corps.

My thought has always been that by keeping the three careers above separate, you can very easily replicate the three types of Nobles in the Imperium.
Bureaucrat and Diplomat both fall nicely into a career path that can (but does not necessarily) lead to a Rank/Administrator (in T5 called "Ceremonial") Noble.


Regarding the Nobles Career:
The actual "Noble" Career can be neatly subdivided into those with the necessary minimum Social Standing who have "enlisted", but not achieved "position" as Honour Nobles (either dilettantes or "courtiers" to another noble), and those who have achived their "position" roll as "High" or "Landed" Nobles who are actually overseeing Imperial territory and/or wielding the Imperial Mandate (i.e. their Soc-title becomes associated with an appropriate-level Fief or See of responsibility), whereas before making "position" they just had a noble-title with the associated social-distinction.

(Note that those whishing to create a character who is simply an Honor Noble with no greater ambitions can simply "enlist" in the Nobles career and choose NOT to roll for Position/Promotion).

I would also add that any potential "skill table roll" or mustering out benefit result of "+1 Soc" be treated as purely an "honour-title" promotion, whereas only through the proper "Noble Promotion" roll does someone achieve a higher level as an actual High/Landed Noble, with greater authority and responsibility.

 

[Kilgs]

I would also add that any potential "skill table roll" or mustering out benefit result of "+1 Soc" be treated as purely an "honour-title" promotion, whereas only through the proper "Noble Promotion" roll does someone achieve a higher level as an actual High/Landed Noble, with greater authority and responsibility.

Thanks for the tip. I was concerned about this... the Silhouette system attributes are -4 to +4. So any attribute boosts really, really make a difference whereas in Traveller system you may need two boosts to go up a rank.

 

[sfchbryan]

Re: Expanded Nobles

I don't feel that there is enough to make each one a separate expanded career field; the skill sets overlap too much in my opinion.

In the past, I split the Nobles into 3 functional areas:

"Working Joes" - these are the folks that actually run the Imperial/Planetary governments.
"Heroes" - Holiday Nobles
"Playboys" - the folks that are blowing their family inheritance at the 57th Century version of Monaco.

The expanded class I am playing around with are the "Working Joes".

 

[Tarkin]

The article on criminals, "Rogues of the Galaxy", appeared in issue #97 of Dragon magazine.

There was also an excellent piece on Spies, "Space-Age Espionage", in issue #120.

 

[Kilgs]

Much obliged!

 

[sfchbryan]

These are all the ones I have, broken out by functional groups.

These were CT, but I am steadily working my way through converting them. I use a number of them for my campaign (Days of Danger) that I run episodes from at Travellercon.

Law Makers, Law Breakers, and the Travellers that love them:
Bounty Hunters - "Dead Or Alive - Bounty Hunter" - Diane & Richard John White Dwarf #70
Criminals – Criminals – Trevor Graver White Dwarf #19.
Direct Action Specialists - "Terrorists in Traveller" - Kenneth Burke & William A. Barton-Space Gamer #046
Law Enforcers - There When You Need Them by Stepen Birnich & James Schwar -Challenge #30
Law Enforcers - "Star Cops" - Terrence R.McInnes - Dragon Magazine #113
Corporate Security - "Space Age Espionage" - John Dunkelberg Jr. - Dragon Magazine #120
Pirates - "Letter Of Marque" - J. Andrew Keith
Grifters - Rogues - "Scam" - J. Andrew Keith
Underworld Characters - Rogues - "Rogues Of The Galaxy" - Igor Greenwald - Dragon Magazine #097

Secret Squirrel Agencies
Ministry Of Justice – High Passage #01
Imperial Bureau of Internal Security -
Imperial Secret Service - "Imperial Secret Service" - Robert McMahon - White Dwarf #27
Sorag - "Sorag" by Chuck Kallenbach II


Roads Less Travelled
Barbarians - "Sword & Stars" by Roger E. Moore - Ares Magazine Done
Courtier - "Courtesan" - Stuff Online.com"
Imperial Academy of Science and Medicine - Jeffrey Groteboer - JTAS #22
Journalists - "Journalism & the Stars" by Anders Blixt - Challenge #27
Journalists – Journalists – A new class for Traveller – D. Pat Beckfield - Netherwrold Continuum
Noble - "The Traveller Politician" - Rick Stuart - Dragon Magazine #32 +
Scientist Characters "Scientists" - William W. Conners - JTAS 29
Starport Authority - "Starport Authority" - John Ford - JTAS 19 - Done


These Are Not The Travellers You Are Looking For….
Naval Characters (Alt) - "The Traveller Navy Wants to Join You" - R.D. Stuart - Dragon #25
COACC (Alt) - Air & Orbital Force Skill Charts for Traveller - Bill Paley - Dungeoneer #12
Merchants (Alt) - "Merchants Deserve More, Too - Dennis Matheson - Dragon #53
Merchants (Alt) - "Traveller Merchants: An Expanded Character Generation System" - Ratrick Larkin - Judges Guild Journal #01
Merchants (Alt) - "Merchants & Merchandise" - Donald P. Rapp
Nautical Forces (Alt) - "Wet Navy Meets Space Fleet" - Bill Paley -Dungeoneer #11
Other Career - "The 'Other' Class In Traveller" - Bil Paley - Dungeoneer _#16
Other Career _ The ‘Other’ Options – Charles Ahner & Rick Stuart – Dragon #35
Scouts (alt) - "Scouts & Assassins" - Donald P. Rapp - "Scouts & Assassins"


And these "Basic Generation" Characters:
Athletes - "Intersteller Athletes" - Michael Brown
Clergy - "The Stellar Diocese" - Michael Brown - Dragon Magazine
Irklan - "Contact: The Irklan
Sword World Patrol Service - "Contact: The Sword Worlders" - Loren Wiseman, JTAS #18

 

[Hyphen]

FWIW, I created a couple of MT-style chargen rules for Police and MoJ characters.

Go to:
==> Tavonni Repair Bays
==> House Rules
==> Police Characters for MegaTraveller

and also

==> Ministry of Justice (MoJ) Characters for MegaTraveller


Both of these draw on a similar set of articles as quoted by sfchbryan earlier:

Bibliography

The following sources (sorted by publication date) were used as reference material for this article:

1.WALSCHLAGER, Scott & JOHNSON, Craig, Library Data from "The Cobra Conspiracy", High Passage, #2, High Passage, USA, 1981, p 23.
2.McINNES, Terry, "High Justice", Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society, #14, Game Designers' Workshop, Bloomington, IL, USA, 1982, pp 19-22.
3.WISEMAN, Loren, "Police Forces in Traveller", Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society, #14, Game Designers' Workshop, Bloomington, IL, USA, 1982, pp 12-15.
4.JOHN, Diane & Richard, "Dead or Alive", White Dwarf, #unknown, Games Workshop, UK, date unknown (c. 1982), pp 26-27.
5.PARKER, Robert, "Law Enforcers", Travellers' Digest, #4, Digest Group Publications, Boise, ID, USA, 1986, pp 48-51.
6.PARKER, Robert & Nancy, "Forensic Science", Travellers' Digest, #4, Digest Group Publications, Boise, ID, USA, 1986, pp 52-54.
7.MILLER, Marc W., MegaTraveller Players' Manual, Game Designers' Workshop, Bloomington, IL, USA, 1987.
8.BRINICH, Stephen & SCHWAR, James, "There When You Need Them", Challenge, #30, Game Designers' Workshop, Bloomington, IL, USA, 1987, pp 34-36.
9.THOMAS, Gary L., Grand Census, Digest Group Publications, Boise, ID, USA, 1987.
10.GANNON, Charles E., "IRIS", Challenge, #33, Game Designers' Workshop, Bloomington, IL, USA, 1988, pp 53-58.
11.GANNON, Charles E., "Generating IRIS Characters for MegaTraveller", Challenge, #34, Game Designers' Workshop, Bloomington, IL, USA, 1988, pp 35-38.
12.HERBERT, George William, "Law in the Imperium", Challenge, #50, Game Designers' Workshop, Bloomington, IL, USA, 1991, pp 22-26.
13.CHADWICK, Frank & NILSEN, Dave, Traveller: The New Era, Game Designers' Workshop, Bloomington, IL, USA, 1993.
14.ZEITLIN, Jeff, "Law Enforcer Characters", Traveller Mailing List, Jeff Zeitlin, New York, NY, USA, July 1995.
15.MILLER, Marc W., Marc Miller's Traveller, Imperium Games Inc., Lake Geneva, WI, USA, 1996.
16.SMITH, Lester, Milieu 0, Imperium Games Inc., Lake Geneva, WI, USA, 1996.
17.WALSH, Joe, "Spies (House Rules Character Class)", Traveller Mailing List, Joe Walsh, USA, April 1996.
18.McGREGOR, Phillip, "Point-based Character Generation", Dark Star, #1, Phillip McGregor, Sydney, Australia, September 1996, p 15.
19.GARRISS, James, "Secret Agent", Traveller Mailing List, James Garriss, USA, October 1996.

 

[Kilgs]

==> Police Characters for MegaTraveller
and also
==> Ministry of Justice (MoJ) Characters for MegaTraveller

Thanks... I have already looted your site ;-)
>>>
-I've completed Journalists. Made a few changes from sfchbryan's template. I made Freelance a bit more fun since they lack promotions. They get a bit more "dirty" skills. Trying to decide if a Journalism cascade (Anchor, Written, Visual) skill adds or subtracts from my skill list. I originally had Writing and Visual as subskills under Art. But I think Journalism does deserve its own skill... I was a Journalism major once!

-Criminals needs work. I really want to break Syndicate off but have avoided so far. But I did change the assignment methodology and skill lists. Pretty much done but I haven't roll-tested characters yet. Good stuff from sfchbryan.

-The Scholar/IASM stuff is really good. It fits in with my idea to have grad school being the front end of this career. Need to figure out the mechanics. Since the Silhouette system deals with the attribute bonus alone, they stack fast. Between college, medical school, and IASM... folks were Stephen Hawkings mixed with House. Need to stretch those things out.

-I was planning on using my (already completed) Agent career for Law Enforcement but have decided to branch out instead. I had an interesting idea on varying skill lists/assignments based on law level. After all, it might be neat to see the difference between a LL-3 frontier marshal and a LL-C Propaganda Enforcement Agent ;-) Kicking that around and we'll see if it branches out.

-Privateers/Pirates is mostly complete. I needed a break since I took a second look at the skill availabilities and, clearly, I favor this career. Taking some time off before I come back and compare it to others.

I've decided I need to go through and standardize some of these roll probabilities and skill offerings. The main ones (from MT Players) I assume were balanced but they are pretty free with skills. Some of the later ones get downright stingy even when survival is hard. But I'm going to get most of them done before I do that. It's hard to balance everything... skills, ranks, mustering out.

And, someday, I might even start working on getting a game going!! Sheesh.

Thanks for everyone's help!

 

[sfchbryan]

Cascades.

Nothing preventing you from making Journalism a cascade if you want to (I did this with Survival.). The great thing is that you could do this with almost any skill, depending on the level of granularity you are going for. I would caution against going overboard however. If you cascade, you limit what each of the skills can be applied to.

I'd recommend looking at the basic/advanced generation tables, to get an idea of how many cascades you should have per character generation table.