Character generation: Injury and Poltroonery

[binky]

(cross-posted to traveller5.com forums as well)

On injuries:

From Preliminaries 2:

Service May End. Permanent injury of 3+ points (even if from more than one injury) requires a disability discharge. Roll a half die (1-2-3) for the number of years served in the current term and receive double mustering out benefits.

Is this 3+ points in total or 3+ points to one stat?


On Poltroonery:

From Preliminaries 2:

Poltroonery. Army, Navy, Marine, and Scout characters may elect the Poltroonery DM -2 (which reduces the chance of injury).

From the Marines career description:

Avoid Injury: 8 -; DM - 2 for Poltroonery (optional).
(the Navy description is the same).

From the Army career description:

Avoid Injury: 8 -; DM +2 for Poltroonery (optional).
(the Scouts description is the same).

Some contradiction here, anyone know which is correct?

- Neil.

 

[Granpafishy]

On the first part, I would venture to say that it's 3 points total. You are getting a chance to continue unline in previous versions.

On the second part the DM should be increasing the target number, so I believe it shoould be DM+2

 

[binky]

Thanks for the replies.

Originally posted by Granpafishy:
On the second part the DM should be increasing the target number, so I believe it shoould be DM+2

In actual fact, having done a little research, it would appear the -2 DM is the correct option. Poltroonery means cowardice, so by using it the character is attempting to avoid injury. So subtracting 2 from the dice roll makes sense.

The only problem I have with it now is that it has no real downside. It reduces the characers chance of getting a Military Heroism Award, but that really isn't that big a deal. I would possibly have it have some effect on the promotion and commission rolls but I'm not sure how harsh that would be? Of course that wouldn't work at all for a scount.

Time to go generate some more characters I think.

- Neil.

 

[Granpafishy]

Doesn't it also hurt the chance for promotion?

 

[kaladorn]

IIRC, Poltroonery or Cowardice in MT was such that you could take as large a positive survival DM as possible, but if you blew your survival roll, you could get anything from years in prison with a DD all the way up to being an escapee with a death sentence. That was a fairly large downside.

And it would certainly prevent you claiming positive modifiers from bravery to decorations. In fact, one might suggest it should negatively influence things.

Promotion, being more a product of the results of decoration, may well not be so affected. After all, plenty of REMFs who've pushed paper have gotten promotions while sending other men to their deaths....