Prefered Character generation
- Thread starter spank
- Start date
I went with what was in the core rule book for each edition starting with CT, if the editions were similar such as MT/TNE/T4 I combined them so it wouldn't be a popularity contest between editions. For example Gurps style could apply to both Gurps and Hero.
Black Vulmea
SOC-12
Belters (S4, BeltStrike from GDW), Barbarians (S4), and Con Men (Scam: Rogues in Space Vol 1 from Cargonaut Press) all begin at age 14 in CT.
MichaelSTee
SOC-12
I chose MT style. Player chooses a specific homeworld, gets background skills, has to choose between careers available for that homeworld. 4 yr terms, aging may start later than 34 for higher tech homeworlds. University and graduate school available. I would add an event table with a roll each term.
MichaelSTee
SOC-12
Oh, I forgot, and Enlisted ranks for the military services, too! And I use the careers in Cepheus Engine.
I voted CT style, though I specifically like (as one can guess from my previous post) the advanced CharGen. I've used the story created by it in many a game...
And, BTW, I believe MT should appear here, not in company of TNE...
And, BTW, I believe MT should appear here, not in company of TNE...
I use
sswstation.blogspot.com
for starting Stats. And choose one skill during CharGen instead of rolling it, to have a non-random focus.
Starting Attributes
If you are pressed for time and you don't want to roll up a bunch of attributes for characters, you can just use these: 5 6 7 8 9 A ...a...
sswstation.blogspot.com
for starting Stats. And choose one skill during CharGen instead of rolling it, to have a non-random focus.
My preference has always been (since release) MegaT. I like the extra choice of the many cascades, that so many skills are available via them.
The Homeworld level 0's are not at all a consideration for me, I don't care about them, even if they're the highlight point in the poll. I don't even always used them. I use them only because players like them.
I do kind of like the Mgt special duty system, but don't much care for their skill list, and detest the up-or-out aspect. Been bitching about up or out since the beta.
I don't like the skill list, don't much like the special events, and think that the chargen produces dilettantes with little depth of skill. I'd forgotten about the way the re-enlistment roll is folded into the advancement roll, and the way it gets harder and harder to pass, effectively forcing older PCs to have multiple careers.
Oh, I also don't like the skills available to many careers. For example: The colonist is described as "building a new life on a recently settled world that still needs taming", yet the only way they can learn to use a gun is by reaching Rank 6 (colonial leaders lead by monopoly of force?) or by getting the right event and making difficult EDU check (not having other skills they want more).
There are other things that annoy me in MgT's chargen, but they are minor (and a ton more elsewhere). I've looked at the rules a number of times, and I just don't warm to them. OTOH, I do like the robots book.
Spinward Flow
SOC-14 5K
Ironically, that kind of mirrors changes in the real world relationship between employers and workers over the last 5 decades. Up until the 1980s, the idea of having 1 job for life that you could build a career/home/family around (as a single earner) was both "normal" and somewhat to be expected. Now in the 2020s, it's almost the stuff of fantasy, when it comes to careers ... to the point where it's now "normal to change career paths" multiple times as people age and "experience" is no longer valued the way it once was.
Experience is still demanded in many fields... but getting it is nigh impossible until you find a desperate employer.Ironically, that kind of mirrors changes in the real world relationship between employers and workers over the last 5 decades. Up until the 1980s, the idea of having 1 job for life that you could build a career/home/family around (as a single earner) was both "normal" and somewhat to be expected. Now in the 2020s, it's almost the stuff of fantasy, when it comes to careers ... to the point where it's now "normal to change career paths" multiple times as people age and "experience" is no longer valued the way it once was.
But it also isn't paid for the way it once was...
No one values the inexperienced professional (MA/MS/MEd) holder the way they used to. One's first few years as a professional are underappreciated and often they're looking for skills that cannot be acquired in education...
But these are issues that (1) border on political and (2) are outside the resolution of the games' skill systems.
