Newbie questions

[Larry]

Hey guys, I am a grognard newbie to Traveller, hailing from Finland. I am still learning and I gravitated to T5, precisely because it is not recommended as an entry version to Traveller.

Traveller is one of two mountains that I still need to conquer, the other being Tekumel, which is a work in progress. I figured if I am going to run Traveller, it is going to be solely T5.

Anyhow, part of the reasoning for all of this is that the first TTRPG campign I ever ran, was Traveller 2300 in early 90’s when I was on 5th grade. We also played ICE MERP with Rolemaster and Twilight 2000 2.2 extensively from early on, so by accident I grew up playing crunchy games, and was able to skip the the common dungeon delving, without being conscious of it. Basically, my understanding of TTRPG´s were the crunchy games. Currently, I am gamemastering Harn with HMK, and active in the scene. I am also a player in Glorantha campaign set in Fonrit, eagerly wanting to add Traveller to the list.

So anyhow, now the intro is done, would you guys mind if I ask some questions in this particular thread or should I make separate ones?

 

[McPerth]

First of all, welcome

So anyhow, now the intro is done, would you guys mind if I ask some questions in this particular thread or should I make separate ones?

As you wish.

Separate threads may make it easier to find and avoid mix-ups of issues, but a single thread keeps all together, mostly if issues are related, and avoids double answers...

Both ways are accepted

 

[Larry]

Thank you!

1) In Education, have I understood correctly, that Apprenticeship, Mentoring and Training Course are mainly for non-humans?

2) So, humans could go for Training Course with Edu/2, in what kind of situation what kind of environment would this happen?
A human in non-human world, who wants to assimilate, perhaps?

 

[Larry]

3) On page 60, C Education - chart, in the uppermost right corner, it says "If Edu already at this level, award Edu+1". Does this mean that
if a character graduated from ED5, he does not get it, since he only went there because he had EDU 4 or less and by graduating gets EDU 5, thus,
there is no way to get it. With College, a character graduating gets EDU 8 + BA certificate, but if they went to College with EDU already 8, they get
the +1? And the goes from College down until Law School, and not the Military schools as no EDU is mentioned?

4) Why is Honors Degree among the higher education degrees and not with College/University/Service Academy, since aren´t they studied along
with the bachelors degree?

 

[AnotherDilbert]

1) In Education, have I understood correctly, that Apprenticeship, Mentoring and Training Course are mainly for non-humans?

Yes, it's primarily for sophonts with TRA instead of EDU.

2) So, humans could go for Training Course with Edu/2, in what kind of situation what kind of environment would this happen?
A human in non-human world, who wants to assimilate, perhaps?

In a TRA culture, that might be what's commonly available?

T5 is a toolbox, as Referee you can do whatever you want, use any tool you want from the toolbox.

3) On page 60, C Education - chart, in the uppermost right corner, it says "If Edu already at this level, award Edu+1". Does this mean that
if a character graduated from ED5, he does not get it, since he only went there because he had EDU 4 or less and by graduating gets EDU 5, thus,
there is no way to get it. With College, a character graduating gets EDU 8 + BA certificate, but if they went to College with EDU already 8, they get
the +1? And the goes from College down until Law School, and not the Military schools as no EDU is mentioned?

Yes, you get the stated EDU minimum, or else if you already have it EDU+=1.

4) Why is Honors Degree among the higher education degrees and not with College/University/Service Academy, since aren´t they studied along
with the bachelors degree?

An Honors degree is available in any Higher Education (College, University, Academy, Masters, Med School, etc), you have just succeeded very well at the chosen program. It is not a separate program, just good grades.

Honors is also available for Trade School and Training Course, see p72.

 

[Larry]

Thanks for the replies! I have a ton more questions. I will will formulate them when I have proper time for it.

 

[Larry]

Ok, here we go:

5) Could you explain what are the Knowledge/Knowledge-only skill exactly, how do they function and how are they acquired. I have tried to read and reread the text over and over again, and I still don't get it (Sorry, English is not my mother tongue). Are these tied mainly to Homeworld generation, for example, Agriculture world gives you "Animals" skill, of which breaks down to Rider, Teamster and Trainer. Does this mean that you choose one of the 3 skills, when you are "awarded" Animals skill?

But then again, in the Education chart on page 60), several of the options provide the character Skill or Knowledges....

6) Regarding Major and Minor subjects chosen for a school, I assume that you only choose from the letter coded options ( C for college and uni. M or N in Service Academy, whether it is for Marines or Navy, and so forth)

7) In Education chart, what is the difference with Skill-2 vs. Skill+2? Is the former a new skill and the latter increases a one you already possess?

8) On page 61, the character example of Eneni, on the NOTC part, why can Eneri choose Pilot from the Ship skills, even if Pilot is not marked with any of the letter codes? N in this case. Then again, none of the Knowledges do, so am I assume that the the "Pilot" skill is in actuality either Small Craft, Pilot-ACS or Pilot-BCS?

Sorry for the retard questions, I really try to understand the system, even if these sound like trolling.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

5) Could you explain what are the Knowledge/Knowledge-only skill exactly, how do they function and how are they acquired. I have tried to read and reread the text over and over again, and I still don't get it (Sorry, English is not my mother tongue). Are these tied mainly to Homeworld generation, for example, Agriculture world gives you "Animals" skill, of which breaks down to Rider, Teamster and Trainer. Does this mean that you choose one of the 3 skills, when you are "awarded" Animals skill?

But then again, in the Education chart on page 60), several of the options provide the character Skill or Knowledges....

Knowledge is school training.
Skill is experience.

A knowledge skill works like a cascade skill, but you can have levels in the cascade skill itself.

When you get a knowledge skill, you must first take two levels in a Knowledge, e.g. Rider.
Education and training only gives Knowledge.
Then, in your Career, if you roll up Animals (and you have two levels in e.g. Rider), you can choose the skill itself: Animals.

Generally, when you roll a task, you roll against characteristic + skill + knowledge (CSK), so both are used.

6) Regarding Major and Minor subjects chosen for a school, I assume that you only choose from the letter coded options ( C for college and uni. M or N in Service Academy, whether it is for Marines or Navy, and so forth)

Yes, if the letter is in the right column...
M in the college column means Medical School.
M in the Academy column means Military (Army/Marine).
M in the School column means Marine.

7) In Education chart, what is the difference with Skill-2 vs. Skill+2? Is the former a new skill and the latter increases a one you already possess?

I don't think there is any difference?

8) On page 61, the character example of Eneni, on the NOTC part, why can Eneri choose Pilot from the Ship skills, even if Pilot is not marked with any of the letter codes? N in this case. Then again, none of the Knowledges do, so am I assume that the the "Pilot" skill is in actuality either Small Craft, Pilot-ACS or Pilot-BCS?

NOTC gives any Ship Skill, as indicated, even if it's not available as a major or minor.
OTC gives any Soldier Skill, even if it's not generally available in college.
T5 is full of exceptions...

Pilot given in training/school/education is always a Pilot knowledge: SmallCraft, ACS, or BCS, only experience can gain you the skill: Pilot.

 

[TamsinP]

7) In Education chart, what is the difference with Skill-2 vs. Skill+2? Is the former a new skill and the latter increases a one you already possess?

Skill-2 raises you to 2 in that skill; Skill +2 raises your current level in that skill by +2.

 

[whulorigan]

Skill-2 raises you to 2 in that skill; Skill +2 raises your current level in that skill by +2.

Which means that if you get "Skill-2" and you already have Skill-2 or better, you gain no benefit. But Skill +2 adds +2 to your skill-level regardless of whatever you may already have.

 

[Bartleby]

I gravitated to T5, precisely because it is not recommended as an entry version to Traveller.

Fantastic!

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Skill-2 raises you to 2 in that skill; Skill +2 raises your current level in that skill by +2.

That was my recollection too, but I checked superficially and only found this:

T5.10, B1, p61, "Young Eneri Dinsha Goes Off To College":


We also have:

Here "Skill-1" means "increase skill by one"...