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Digest Group Characters

Alleyne

SOC-2
Hi All,
First post on this forum. As the heading states, I have partially run the Digest series of adventures, but we converted to Gurps. But that did not work for me. My players want to get back into the series, and I am thinking about using a regular version of Traveller rules. So my question is, has any body done a conversion of those 4 characters to say TNE?
If I dont decide to go with that campaign, what other published campaigns are available. My design time is taken up with a Harn campaign, but we usually run a second game at the same time, for when we want a change. So I dont have the time for much design in the second game.
Thanks Allan
 
Why not go back to the original CT rules that they were written for. With so many ways to get the CT rules (FFE or QLI reprints, eBay, CD ROM, the Internet), I would have said this was an obvious choice. TNE is a tad too clunky for the TD adventurers, as the skills need to downgraded and tweaked to fit.

Knightfall & Flaming Eye are mini-campaigns, micro-campaign is also the Psionic Knights that you can use. If you don't mind the T20 rules, there are the adventures off this site. Also, using the CT CD ROM, all of the adventures can be made to interconnect plus, I think the Spinward Marches Campaign is also there but I would suggest integrating the CT adventures into that. Biggest challenge would be somehow situate the Rim adventures in the Marches. But, Sollies are just villainous as the Joes, so there shouldn't be too much problems.
 
Alleyne,

I agree with Kafka. You can run some damn fine adventures using just the CT rules. They're quick, easy-to-use...and well, fun.

If you want to update CT a little bit, you might be interested in THIS thread and THAT thread.

Good hunting.

-S4
 
Thanks All,
One problem I had with CT is the apparant lack of skills by age. I liked MegaTrav but like CT I still think the combat system's were poor (I was looking for a bit more realism). I have never done anything with TNE, but I was assuming that as the latest refinement when it was released that it would have fixed up some of the problems mentioned above.
You maybe right and to stick with CT. But I feel I will have to up the skill's a person would have learned.
S4. Do you have those house rules in one document somewhere?
I had forgotten about those earlier campiagns, I may have to find them and have a look.
Thanks Allan
 
Originally posted by Alleyne:
Thanks All,
One problem I had with CT is the apparant lack of skills by age.
There was a time I thought as you do about CT. That's before I realized that a CT character DOES have a lot of skills--it's just not readily apparent.

(1) ... First off, CT skills are very BROAD. For example, if you want to shoot a rifle, you'd use your character's Rifle skill governed by DEX.

If you want to repair a rifle, you could use your character's Rifle skill governed by EDU.

If your character is on a low Law Level planet with an open air bazaar, and he stumbles upon a rack of rifles being sold, the character could judge the quality of the rifle he is buying making a task throw using the character's Rifle skill and INT.

My point here is that, in CT, skill defintions are BROAD. They're not near as narrow as they are in other Traveller games. In this example, the character's Rifle skill can be used for any type of task roll that addresses the character's rifle expertise (there isn't a different skill called "Weapon Repair", for instance).

And, this makes the game quick and easy.

Some skills, even, overlap. So, if a character doesn't have Rifle skill, but a rifle needs to be repaired, another character with the Mechanical skill could step in and make a roll to fix the weapon.



(2) ... Also, I think you're making the mistake that I used to make about CT ... in that you're thinking of the skills that show up on a character's sheet is every skill the character has.

This is not the case at all. Each CT character has tons of default skills. These are skills at level-0. CT is simple in the fact that only the skills a character has superior knowledge in are listed on his sheet.

Any skill that a character can attempt without specialized training is a default skill. So, each CT character actually has a butt load of skills--they're just assumed rather than marked on the character's sheet.

Take an example from the Traveller Book. The example character there is a free trader merchant captain Alexander Jamison...

Alexander Jamision
5 Terms Age 38 Cr31,200
Dagger-1, Cutlass-1, Vacc Suit-1, Pilot-2, Body Pistol-1, SMG-1, Electronics-3


I see what you're saying. This guy is 38 years old and he's only got 7 skills--and only two of those are improved higher than level 1.

Well, if we listed all of Alexander's defauls skills, the character would look like this...

Alexander Jamision
5 Terms Age 38 Cr31,200
Dagger-1, Cutlass-1, Vacc Suit-1, Pilot-2, Body Pistol-1, SMG-1, Electronics-3, Admin-0, Brawling-0, Bribery-0, Forgery-0, Gambling-0, JOT-0, Leader-0, Mechanical-0, Steward-0, Streetwise-0, Tactics-0, Club-0, Blade-0, Foil-0, Sword-0, Broadsword-0, Bayonet-0, Spear-0, Halberd-0, Pike-0, Cudgel-0, AutoPistol-0, Revolver-0, Carbine-0, Rifle-0, AutoRifle-0, Shotgun-0, Laser Carbine-0, Laser Rifle-0.



That looks a little more reasonable for a 38 year old, doesn't it? The guy looks like he's got some skills, yes?

Whelp, they're the exact same characters. CT chooses just not to list zero level skills except in special circumstances (i.e. it's a skill the requires formal training, like Pilot-0, or it's a default skill that denotes the character's preference, like Shotgun-0).

This, combined with the fact that CT skills are very, very BROAD in definition, gives each and every CT character a lot of reach.

Also note that CT, typically, doesn't penalize a character for using a zero level skill the way other games do. It really depends on whether the skill in question is a default skill. It also depends on the skill's defintion.

For example, a character with Rifle-0 will throw 2D to hit vs. a character with Rifle-1 will throw 2D +1 to hit. See, there's not a huge penalty for using a default skill.

But, according to the Vacc Suit defintion, there is a big penalty between Vacc Suit-0 amd Vacc Suit-1. A character with Vacc Suit-0 will throw 2D while a character with Vacc Suit-1 will throw 2D +4.

Also, remember that there's some hidden expertise qualifications in CT as well. For example, a character with DEX-7 Rifle-0 will throw 2D for an attack, while a character with DEX-5 Rifle-1 will throw the same attack at 2D -1 because of his DEX penalty.



In Sum... What I'm trying to point out here is that CT, although on the surface is a very simple, easy to play game, does a fantastic job of covering the bases. Classic Traveller is a much deeper game than it appears on the surface (which is probably why it's remained so popular for the last 30 years).


(I was looking for a bit more realism).
Try using CT's first blood rule. Under that rule, typically, when a character is shot, he is at least incapacitated and sometimes outright killed (many CT GMs ignore that rule).

I, of course, use the combat mods that I linked to you in the above post.


But I feel I will have to up the skill's a person would have learned.
S4.
Be careful with that. A GM could quickly unbalance a CT game by giving his PCs too many skills.

You wanted realism, and what you'll end up getting is superhuman characters in a more-or-less realistic world.

Remember that stats are used a lot in CT. There's a lot of "roll stat or less on 2D" or "roll stat + skill or less on 2D" types of checks. This makes the STAT-9 Skill-0 character better than the STAT-5 Skill-0 character.


Do you have those house rules in one document somewhere?
I haven't gotten around to doing that yet. Most people copy and past from the thread.

Employee 2-4601 (can't remember the numbers) has a pdf file in his sig that is a write-up of the UGM rules (not the combat rules).

Just find one of his posts, and you can get that pdf on the UGM (it's just a tad different from what I've put on the thread).

-S4
 
You do get more skilled characters with TNE but also an excessively crunchy system to go with them.

If your main issue with CT characters is lack of skills then the solution is either to give them extra skill rolls, or use T4 chargen which gives characters one skill per year as well as various extra skills for rank, background etc.

Though it also has its problems system-wise T4 is still much more recognisably Traveller than TNE.

T4 also has the best combat system of any iteration of Traveller.
 
S4, I gotta disagree with some of what you say about CT (at the risk of having my place in Traveller heaven revoked). CT is NOT all that broad in skills in key places - in fact, I'd go so far as to suggest it is *waaay* over-specific in those cases. The fact that body pistol, auto pistol and revolver or rifle and carbine are separate skills is ludicrous. MT fixed that by creating Rifleman and Handgun which includes appropriately similar weapons.

CT also suffers greatly from having stats have *too much* of an impact on skill rolls. And it suffers from having each separate skill with a list of DMs that pertain and I can't say I find them consistent in nature across the skill set. MT fixed that a bit by coming up with a standardized way to assign assets and conditional modifiers.

CT also had a set of tables for advantageous and penalizing DMs for weapons by stat... that's just painful and is a bit dated as game mechanics go.

Plus some sorts of skills are just plain missing from the game. You might not agree that we need all of the skills in MT, but CT was just plain missing some types of activities. You could invent rules to cover the situation using somewhat related skills or stats, but really, if you have to fill in the blanks by making up rules, you are essentially writing your own and the rules have a hole.

I think CT with something like the BITS skill system grafted on (or MT played in a CT timeline) is a great system. I think CT by itself has some serious weaknesses.

MTs cascade skills and skills which include other skills really was a useful way (I thought) to group skills. Enhanced character generation is also a lot more interesting than basic CT or even basic MT chargen.

Note that basic MT chargen, which is very CT-ish (and could be seemlessly dropped into a CT world in many senses) does produce bigger skill counts. With the Special Duty roll, you tend to get 2-4 skills a term. This produces results roughly compatible with MT enhanced chargen, but could be used just fine in a CT game. In fact, any characters generated in MT could be used in a CT game with the only caveat being that Supplement 13 and Supplement 4 (Veterans and Citizens of the Imperium) both produce 'lower skill' classic characters, so you'd have to upgun these NPCs if you wished to use them.

Nowadays, I've run Traveller now for 25 years... My NPCs don't even tend to have stats anymore. I just imagine the NPC in my head and assign a (perhaps slightly randomized) skill level to them for a pertinent skill.

ex: The guy is a Marine, he should have vacc suit and probably battle dress and either combat rifleman or laser weapons or high energy weapons.
ex: The guy is a storekeeper. He probably has some admin, some trader, maybe a few other skills.

For most of the characters the PCs will interact with, they'll fall into two broad categories: People your PCs are likely to shoot or people they are likely to talk to. If the latter, then you can make up pertinent skill levels in your head and use them as you need them. If the latter, you mostly need to know gun skill levels and how many times they can be shot... (UPP or MT's Hits). The only people you tend to need detailed stats for is long running NPCs seen frequently up close or for the PCs themselves.

TNE I found a bit more 'realistic' but I find that it didn't integrate well with my other CT/MT/GT resources and thus didn't see that much use. I like Brilliant Lances, but they didn't bother to do stats for the classic ships and that's an oversight. Also, realism is a bit of a funny concern in games with PGMPs, neural weapons, psionics, jumpspace, etc. <shrug>

T4 may or may not have the best combat system - my unmitigated loathing for the art and other aspects of that ruleset make it hard for me to even recall it.... <shudder>
 
Skills, characteristics, are just heuristics to move play along. It prevents everyone from being a JofT yet master of none. CT chargen was the weakest point in a link that held CT together and unfortunately some of those links were not solved by MT. But, the secret is play what you can and let your imagination do the rest is a lesson that you have aptly put.


However, the initial poster was interested in getting TD characters back into the groove. We perhaps will have to wait for ACT for the perfect system.
 
Originally posted by kaladorn:
S4, I gotta disagree with some of what you say about CT (at the risk of having my place in Traveller heaven revoked). CT is NOT all that broad in skills in key places - in fact, I'd go so far as to suggest it is *waaay* over-specific in those cases. The fact that body pistol, auto pistol and revolver or rifle and carbine are separate skills is ludicrous. MT fixed that by creating Rifleman and Handgun which includes appropriately similar weapons.
Not exactly...take a look at Book 4: Mercenary, which introduced the Pistol skill.

Pistol served as both revolvers and autopistols.

Then, in Book 5: High Guard, the Handgun skill is introduced, which includes revolvers, autopistols, snub pistols, and body pistols, all under one umbrella (didn't have to wait for MT to get to this idea).

Plus, there's two other things about CT to consider:

(1) That a GM is enabled to develop skills for his campaign as he sees fit (Creating New Skills section in the Traveller Book)...so, combining some skills together that don't make it to official "print" should be a no-brainer.

(2) That there is an implied rule in CT where related skills can be used at one (or two) levels lower (or even at the same level in a different skill). If you have Pilot-2, then you also have Ship's Boat-1. If you have BattleDress-2, then you also have Vacc Suit-2.

If you have Vacc Suit-2, you have BattleDress-2 on a restricted basis (see the BattleDress description in Book 4).

If you have Navigation-2, then you have Sensor Ops-1.

If you have Robotics-2, then you have Robot Ops-2 and Computer-2. You also have Mechanical-1, Electronics-1, and Gravitics-1 on a limite basis. (See the description in Book 8).




The implication for CT is simple: If you're in a situation where your character has AutoPistol-3, but he only has a revolver at hand, does he use that weapon as Revolver-0?

Nope. This is a GM call (and CT is very GM-Decision oriented), but typically a GM should allow the character to use the revolver at the same skill level (Revolver-3) or, at a minium, at one skill level lower (this is what I do--this character would use the revolver at Revlover-2 level of expertise).

It probably depend on your GM (and your GM's grasp of CT), but I still stand by my statement that CT has skills that are very, very broad.

When I'm GMing a situation in a CT game, the first thing I do I ask the players, "What skill do you have that you can apply to this situation?"

If anything comes close to what is needed for the situation, I'll let them use it. I may modify it (one level or two levels lower), but I'll let them use the skill.




CT also suffers greatly from having stats have *too much* of an impact on skill rolls.
I don't agree completely. In combat, for example, stats have a little impact. Skill has more impact.

For example, if you're firing a rifle, you're -2 to hit if your DEX is 5-. You're +0 to hit if your DEX is 6-7. And, you're +1 to hit if your DEX is 8+.

Other than that, your Rifle skill is what gives you the biggest bonus to hit (+1 for each level of expertise).

Now, if you're talking about generic tasks that a GM comes up with--those typically can be weighted too much towards stats. But, remember, CT has no formal task system. The closest it has to a task system are the rules written up (to the fullest) in the Traveller Adventure...and I'd agree that those are weighted towards stats.

Remember, in CT, instead of a formal task system, the GM is encouraged to come up with a roll that is appropriate for the situation. He can do this a number of ways (useing the Traveller Adventure guidelines is a good place to start). But, this is all really the realm of the GM.

If your GM bases everything on stats, then, yes, your CT game will be weighted towards stats.

"You want to force open that stuck hatch...hmmm....OK, roll STR or less on 3D. If you make the roll, you've forced open the hatch."

See, CT is about fast and quick play. The GM has to be sharp and quick. Come up with a roll on the fly and stick with it. No argument. Just go.

But, see, your GM is not directed by any CT rule to always weight a throw in favor of stats all the time. Even the rules in the Traveller Adventure mention this.

Those rules stress that a GM should come up with a roll that seems appropriate and keep the game moving.

"The ship is about to blow!" The GM says.

"I'm running for the airlock!" Says the player, quickly.

"Ok," responds the GM, "I'll roll 2D to see how many round it will be until the ship blows." He rolls dice. The rusult is 8. "Ok, the ship's computer is counting down, saying 'DANGER! THE SHIP'S REACTOR WILL EXPLODE IN TWO MINUTES'. You've got to roll 2D for 8 or less. If you fail the roll, your character did not make it out in time."

"What about my character's quickness? What about is coordiation? Shouldn't that get him some type of bonus?"

"Sure," says the GM, "it makes sense. You get a -1 on the roll if your DEX is 9+, BUT you also get a +1 on the roll if your DEX is 5-. What's your DEX?"

"My character's got DEX-8."

"Well then, no modifier. Roll 8- on 2D, or he didn't make it out...roll them bones."

See...this is the type of gaming CT encourages. Quick, fast, skin-o-the-teeth GMing.





I do recognize that, especially with MT and other more modern games, that players and GMs sometimes need more structure to their games. This is why I created the UGM. It adds structure to tasks in CT, and it doesn't overweight stats.

But, I don't encourage a GM to use the UGM all the time. He should use it only when he thinks it appropriate. Consider it another tool at the GM's disposal.

When the game is fast and fun, with the GM making rolls up on the fly, and the players living the game, that's when CT is at its best.

For best experience, CT players should be aware that a GM will make things up on the fly...and will do his best to be fair and impartial...but to also keep the game moving at a fast clip. Exciting. Fun.

If the players understand that, then they're in for a fun ride.


MT fixed that a bit by coming up with a standardized way to assign assets and conditional modifiers.
I, personaly, do like MT. But, I also think it made things a bit too generic in the interests of "standardizing" as you say.

For example:

Take a character, DEX-8, with Handgun-1. And, let's say that the character has a choice of arms at hand: an AutoPistol, a Body Pistol, a Revolver, and a Snub Pistol. And, let's say this character is going to shoot at a target at Medium Range.

Under MT, here's what this character throws for each of those weapons...

</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">2D +2 for 11+ (2D for 9+) Body Pistol
2D +2 for 11+ (2D for 9+) Snub Pistol
2D +2 for 11+ (2D for 9+) AutoPistol
2D +2 for 11+ (2D for 9+) Revolver</pre>[/QUOTE]Yep, it's all very standardized. All very generic.

Now, take the same character with CT and make the same shot. The character would roll...

</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">2D -8 for 8+ (2D for 16+) Body Pistol
2D -7 for 8+ (2D for 15+) Snub Pistol
2D -3 for 8+ (2D for 11+) AutoPistol
2D -2 for 8+ (2D for 10+) Revolver</pre>[/QUOTE]We're talking about shooting a pistol at a target that is at a range of 6-50 meters. MT says this can be accomplished on a roll of 9+ if the character has level-1 expertise. CT says that the difficulty depends on the weapon as well as the expertise of the character. You don't have a Body Pistol shooting at a target 27 meters away as well as you do when a Revolver is being used.

This is another reason why I use CT in favoer of MT.

A similar idea is used for rifles in MT. They all fire that same (have the same to-hit) where as CT differintiates between each weapon.

I like that about CT.


Plus some sorts of skills are just plain missing from the game.
I'm looking at CT and MT right now. Which skills are you referring to?


I think CT by itself has some serious weaknesses.
I think every game has something that needs to be "fixed", some more than others.

CT is no exception. But, neither is MT, TNE, T4, or any other RPG for that matter.


MTs cascade skills and skills which include other skills really was a useful way (I thought) to group skills.
This was first used in CT, BTW.

With the Special Duty roll, you tend to get 2-4 skills a term.
We agree here. I absolutely love the Special Duty roll in MT. I use it in my CT game.


Nowadays, I've run Traveller now for 25 years... My NPCs don't even tend to have stats anymore. I just imagine the NPC in my head and assign a (perhaps slightly randomized) skill level to them for a pertinent skill.
We'll have to differ here. My group absolutley loves the CT chargen. We love to "discover" who a character is through chargen--then role play to what has been developed through the rules.

It so addictive that one of my players loves to roll up NPCs for use in the game later. If it doesn't impact that story or surprises I have in store for them, I let him do that (otherwise, I just use a computer program).

-S4
 
Ok, granted that I was only following the early versions actively (pardon the pun) but it seems like ACT took the best of the Advanced Chargen and made it workable.
 
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No, I have to side with kaladorn here and I can't let you lead Alleyne down some garden path to YOUR TU without interjecting here S4:

First off, yes CT skills are broad. Just not as broad as you make them out to be. For example, Rifle skill is specifically for conducting combat with the weapon and nothing else officially.

If you want to repair a rifle, you need Mechanical. A kind ref might allow Rifle skill to substitute as Mechanical 0 specifically for Rifle repair but that would be a YTU option. Not a bad thing, just not official.

If your character stumbles upon a rack of rifles being sold they could judge the quality based on Rifle skill but the important skill in such a situation will be Streetwise or Trader if you intend to haggle the price based on your judgement of the quality.

My point here is that the character's Rifle skill should NOT be used for any type of task roll that addresses the character's rifle expertise. There IS a different skill for repairing items for example, it's called Mechanical.

And it doesn't affect the quick and easy nature of the game.

Ah, there it is...

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
Some skills, even, overlap. So, if a character doesn't have Rifle skill, but a rifle needs to be repaired, another character with the Mechanical skill could step in and make a roll to fix the weapon.
So you have seen Mechanical skill is the fix-it skill. There is no overlap. You wouldn't argue that being able to fix a Rifle means I can shoot it with skill would you.



Originally posted by Supplement Four:
Each CT character has tons of default skills. These are skills at level-0. CT is simple in the fact that only the skills a character has superior knowledge in are listed on his sheet.
Mostly true up to this point. However...

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
Any skill that a character can attempt without specialized training is a default skill.
This goes too far.

It devalues not only the acquired skills with actual levels but the JoT skill and the experience system.

The ONLY specified zero level skill all PCs have are the weapon skills covered by Brawling, Blade Combat, Gun Combat, and (I think) Gunnery. At least in B1 generation and I don't think the later enhanced generation changed that.

Default skills are specifically suggested to be used only when needed to further the adventure and only if some orientation is taken first. A case by case application, not a blanket "everything is known to everyone at birth". And it's only the most basic ability. Vacc-Suit-0 means you know how to put it on and walk around without falling down. If you try to run you'll rip something. If you try to shoot wearing it you'll mess up. If you get holed you won't know what to do and panic.

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
Take an example from the Traveller Book. The example character there is a free trader merchant captain Alexander Jamison...
You can't possibly make a valid argument for the character to have any of the following for gratis under the rules. Not without some in game justification. Admin-0, Bribery-0, Forgery-0, Gambling-0, JOT-0 (there isn't even such a thing), Leader-0, Mechanical-0, Steward-0, Streetwise-0, Tactics-0. Most of those (NOT JoT!) could possibly be allowed under certain circumstances but not as a given at the outset.

The weapon skills yes if he's a PC, though you missed Gunnery-0, those are a givenm but NOT NPCs. So if the good Captain is an NPC he doesn't get them either.

This fact doesn't mean CT characters don't have depth and ability, but it does mean they are nowhere near as versatile as you imagine.

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
Also note that CT, typically, doesn't penalize a character for using a zero level skill the way other games do.
That's right, it does not usually penalize zero level skills, used in non-dangerous or fancy situations. In fact the way the rules read without at least zero level you can't even attempt to apply the skill. There is no unskilled penalty* because it is simply impossible to do.

* Except in combat, where there is an untrained penalty if you don't have at least zero level in the weapon. Which only happens if the weapon is not B1 weapon or the character attempting the use is an NPC.

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
Also, remember that there's some hidden expertise qualifications in CT as well. For example, a character with DEX-7 Rifle-0 will throw 2D for an attack, while a character with DEX-5 Rifle-1 will throw the same attack at 2D -1 because of his DEX penalty.
That's not "hidden expertise" :rolleyes: That's the ability score adjustment and you know it. You're trying too hard to make your point




Originally posted by Supplement Four:
In Sum... What I'm trying to point out here is that CT, although on the surface is a very simple, easy to play game, does a fantastic job of covering the bases. Classic Traveller is a much deeper game than it appears on the surface (which is probably why it's remained so popular for the last 30 years).
At least we can agree completely on this :D


But I feel I will have to up the skill's a person would have learned.
S4.
Originally posted by Supplement Four:
Be careful with that. A GM could quickly unbalance a CT game by giving his PCs too many skills.

You wanted realism, and what you'll end up getting is superhuman characters in a more-or-less realistic world.
Which sounds not much different from your arguments for zero level everything to me ;)

Actually upping the number of skills a little, or better yet, balancing the acquired numbers a little won't tip the balance too badly. The enhanced generation rules do exactly that and are fine as long as everyone is created the same. The only trouble comes when trying to mix B2 characters with B4-7 and S4. As long as the method of generation is consistant and not too generous the game will still work.

Originally posted by Supplement Four:
Remember that stats are used a lot in CT. There's a lot of "roll stat or less on 2D" or "roll stat + skill or less on 2D" types of checks. This makes the STAT-9 Skill-0 character better than the STAT-5 Skill-0 character.
I don't see that, and it would be an abuse of the game. Without the skill they shouldn't even get to roll a check. Oh sure if it's something like "To lift the tree off the trapped hunter roll STR or less." Fine. But to say that a STAT-9 Air-Raft-0 character can outrace a STAT-5 Air-Raft-0 character is a no go. If either one of them races they'll crash, and if they both behave and drive cautiously which is all that zero level allows they'll both get there together.
 
Dan,

Read your post. Respect your opinion. Don't agree with you on about 85% of what you said (and think you're wrong about the "official" CT defintion in many occurences)...but...hey, let's just agree to disagree.

I started to write a long winded reply to your comments but decided against it.

Alleyne, there you go. Two polar opposit takes on CT.

Info to help you decide, from both sides of the barrell.

-S4
 
Thanks for all this interesting material for my puzzler.
Coming back into Trav after a long break and not following all the versions, is there some help with the abreviations for example;
ACT, B2, B4-7 etc.
With realism for things like combat, I suppose my main problem was rates of fire for example. Years ago I looked into converting the Trav combat to Daredevils, as I have always liked that system, especially not having initiative.
Thanks Allan
 
Originally posted by Alleyne:
Thanks for all this interesting material for my puzzler.
No prob. Hope I helped.

Coming back into Trav after a long break and not following all the versions, is there some help with the abreviations for example;
ACT, B2, B4-7 etc.
ACT is an acronym for Avenger Classic Traveller. It's Martin D's home system written up and may be published for public consumption.

B2, B4-7 refers to Classic Traveller Books. Book 2, Books 2-7, etc.


With realism for things like combat, I suppose my main problem was rates of fire for example.
Yes, CT allows one pull of the trigger per 15 seconds. There's a rule in Book 4 that allows up to three attacks per round given a -2 DM is used.

I updated CT a bit with THESE combat rules. Not only is rate of fire addressed, but armor no longer makes a target harder to hit. Armor, under those updated rules, reduces damage after a hit is scored on a target.

You can click on the link to see all the aspects of the updated combat system.

-S4
 
Originally posted by Supplement Four:
Not only is rate of fire addressed, but armor no longer makes a target harder to hit. Armor, under those updated rules, reduces damage after a hit is scored on a target.
To elaborate a bit...

I use the Armor Values for Striker (which were copied into MT later). So, each armor type has a base AV. The base AV of an armor is subtracted from the damage roll (reducing damage to the character).

But, I also use another DM to the damage roll in my game, based on weapon penetration.

I use the standard CT armor DM table as a penetration table. These DMs do not modify the attack throw, as in vanilla CT. Instead, they modify the weapon's damage vs. specific CT armor types.

Here's an example:


If you pick up an autopistol in my game, the weapon will do a base of 3D damage, modified by the two DMs I mention above (base AV, and Weapon Penetration).

So, the weapon will do different damage based on what it hits...

</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">3D +1 vs. No Armor
3D +1 vs. Jack
3D -3 vs. Mesh
3D -8 vs. Cloth
3D +1 vs. Reflec
3D -2 vs. Ablat
3D -13 vs. Combat
3D -15 vs. Battle Dress</pre>[/QUOTE]What I like about this system is that it already uses CT numbers. You don't have to make things up. AVs are available in Striker (or MegaTraveller), and the weapon penetration DMs are the same as shown on the "Defender's Armor" table in Book 1. Just add the armor's AV to the penetration value, and you've got your modifier to damage.

For example, Cloth Armor is AV5. An AutoPistol vs. Cloth, on the table, shows "-3". Sum those together, and you get a modifier of -8. The AutoPistol will do 3D -8 damage when it hits a part of the target's body protected by Cloth Armor.

Simple as that.

-S4
 
Question:

What makes the TNE (actually the skill-enhanced Twilight2000 V2.2) system so "crunchy" and/or complex?

Chargen can take a while but that's a do once, don't look back affair. And a quite straight-forward one if you do it mechanically.

Task resolution is roll D20 under (Skill+Attribute) * Modifier with the Modifier a static value either 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4. Combat is handeled that way too.

Only complex combat thing is automatic fire, takes a few more rolls but the mechanic still applies.

Damage is "Substract armor class D6 from weapon damage", then roll hit location, roll remaining damage dice and apply.

Did I overlook something?
 
Originally posted by Supplement Four:
Dan,

Read your post. Respect your opinion. Don't agree with you on about 85% of what you said (and think you're wrong about the "official" CT defintion in many occurences)...but...hey, let's just agree to disagree.

I started to write a long winded reply to your comments but decided against it.

Alleyne, there you go. Two polar opposit takes on CT.

Info to help you decide, from both sides of the barrell.

-S4
Appreciate the read and honesty. No problems here, I may be misremembering some of the CT stuff so I can't say 100% I'm right. We probably agree more on what matters than differ on what doesn't
Most of the time ;)
 
Originally posted by Michael Brinkhues:
Task resolution is roll D20 under (Skill+Attribute) * Modifier with the Modifier a static value either 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4. Combat is handeled that way too.
Doesn't TNE suffer from the same problem as T4, where stats are way overweighted in the task system?

You get the old problem where the EDU-9 Medical-1 paramedic actually has a better chance of success at healing a wounded character than the EDU-5 Medical-4 expert surgeon.

Or, is there something in TNE that fixes that problem?
 
Jup, the "Bigger Hammer Theory of clock repair" still can be a problem if a player rolls really well for attributes. Classic problem of the T2K system.
 
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