How do you become a freetrader captain?

[Sven]

checking out the Character Generation charts of merchant prince, I found a problem.
to become a 1st officer as a free trader, you need pilot-1. I have not found a table yet were you can get that skill without breaking the rules. you are not allowed to use master skills or Deck Skills.
is there an official solution to this problem?


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[T. Foster]

On one of the Free Trader tables has a duplicated skill on it (Steward, IIRC). Change the second entry to Pilot. This change was official in the Megatraveller errata, and was a widely-used house rule before that.

I (obviously) don't have the rulebook with me to give you the specifics, but it should be pretty self-evident from the above. If not (and if no one beats me to it) I'll post the actual change once I get home.

 

[BitKnot]

Guess I should read that errata!

Presuming rules were accurate I vaguely remember interpreting the lack of pilot skill as free trader indicating ships were too scarce and training too poor to advance to 1st officer without a special assignment transferring to a higher line (or getting demoted to free trader with pilot skill)?
[Does that make sense?]

 

[T. Foster]

I forgot that I'd promised to give the details, but I checked the books last night and I was right on both counts:

1) On the Free Trader Business table Steward is listed twice, and the second listing (roll = 5) should be changed to Pilot

2) Given my earlier description, the change is pretty obvious.

So, in case anybody was still wondering, that's the 'official' change from the MegaTraveller errata to allow Free Trader captains and first officers.

 

[BitKnot]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by T. Foster:
...So, in case anybody was still wondering, that's the 'official' change from the MegaTraveller errata to allow Free Trader captains and first officers.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Is there some place one can get a list of the 'official' errata?

I was hoping the Reprints would include an extra section for such

(But I love them anyway, esp. since I 'lost' most of my LLBs over the years!)

Thanks!

 

[T. Foster]

The MegaTraveller errata (among other sets of errata) is available in the Support section at Traveller Downport site <www.downport.com/traveller.html>. Note that the fix I mentioned isn't technically for Book 7, but since the table (and problem)is identical in Book 7 & MT , I figure the fix for the latter can also be assumed to apply to the former.

 

[JAFARR]

This problem and by extension the problem of meeting the required qualifications led me to the solution of letting my players specify that they will be focusing their training on a skill that they need for their next promotion. Then the next they make a sucessful skill roll they automatically receive that skill. The offset is if then get transfered to a department at a rank that requires a skill they don't have, they must make up those skills the same way.

 

[kaladorn]

In MT, they actually did a worse job, including omitting the entire description of a bunch of the special assignments and schools. The errata for MT is pretty important! Though I vastly admit to prefering MT chargen to the LBBs - mostly the same, but more cascade skills and brownie points to help ease painful generation issues (like dying).

Note that it *is* impossible for a Free Trader in MT to get "Sensor Ops". Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I think Sensor Ops would be a *key* skill to free traders who can't outgun pirates, nor outrun them, so they usually would want to *see them coming* and a great sensor operator helps a lot here. But who am I to apply logic to things?