Traveller Game 2020

Looks like I will be running a Traveller game January and February of next year. The general consensus was for a new game and Classic / OTU. So somewhere in the existing Traveller universe. As I have these wonderful maps of the Great Reft, I believe we'll go out there somewhere on the edge of the edge of the Imperium. And somehow throw in those Element Class Cruisers.

Most of the people have played before, either with me or in years past. For those who have not, I found a really nice 2 page summary of Traveller on the Ace and the Dog site, ace-dog.com. It is a good overview and more succinct than I would have had. We've yet to decide on a theme, so I'll generate another survey for that. Seeing as I only got 3 responses from the last one asking for a Traveller or Fantasy Trip game, the few who like the internet will hold sway!

But basically you can have a general theme to start out with at least. While I do sandbox games where the player characters can do anything they really want to, it helps to have a general consensus of the sort of game to start off with. Using the Mongoose book skill packages as a good starting point, we have:

•  general Traveller - wandering the universe with no real goal in mind. This is where the classic Patron encounters can really come into play. 
•  Mercenary, focusing on heavy combat oriented games. I'll admit I am not particularly good at running these, having no real background in military doctrine (I got into role playing because, while I really like playing games, I have no tactical nor strategic abilities!)
•  Traders - buying cheap and selling high, then still having to take on interesting jobs to make the mortgage. Firefly is the shining example of this style of game (and rumor has it that Whedon played Traveller in college and Firefly is basically from that)
•  Explorers - your Scouts and research people. Can be hard to play for those who don't enjoy getting into world building.
•  Diplomat - government operatives, and I would go as far to say Black Ops could fit into this so I can see a split party of high ranking people aligned with not so high ranking...
•  Investigator - jinkies, figuring out things. Another genre I would have hard time refereeing
•  Criminal - lead a life of crime, one step ahead of the coppers
•  Bounty / privateer - not actually in the Mongoose books, but definitely a possible way to go. I have several deck plans that would work for bounty hunters.

I do like the skills package idea and the concurrent character generation to somehow link the characters together before the game even starts. The skills package is a nice bonus to even out skills. Two games back two players only went through 1 term, so they did not really get the characters they wanted (I was allowing them to start all over and they could have gone on the different careers, but they did not). 

A Note on Psionics

I am not a big fan of this, but if a player wants to try this we can. Note that psionics "age". Unless you are a Zhodani, psionics is feared and illegal in the Imperium. Your abilities will decline as you age unless you get training. So a possible adventure is the search for a psionic institute before any ability you have goes away. You start with 2D6 potential, and every 4 years after 18 it decreases (can't recall how much, only that it does). This is not a Star Wars game with the Force, but ostensibly a hard SF game. 

Races

As for races, I allow the following races to be played. The problem with playing the non-human races is that the players really need to read the books or something to get into the characteristics of that race and not just play furry humans. Sometimes it is hard to step outside of yourself.

Playable

Human. Within humanity there are various origins:

•  bog standard Imperial. 
•  Vilani. A bit conservative :) 
•  Solomani. Better than everyone else, and they do uplifting
•  Zhodani. A peaceful psionic race. Would be an interesting challenge to play

Aslan. There is a strong sexual dimorphism between males and females. Males do not do scientific type of work and are primed for physical battle and acquiring lands. Females handle negotiations and technical things. Do not be disturbed if the Aslan calls all pilots female...A stereotype is the noble samurai. 

Vargr. Your dog-based species. Mongoose splits it up a bit more than my preference with 3 main types. But basically your chaotic, pack-based mentality. 

Droyne. Relatively rare, and the player type most likely to be used would be a Sport. This would require the player (and me!) to read up a great deal on them. They are small, usually winged reptile-like with hidden psionic abilities. Lots of rumors on them.

Not playable.

Races that are not great for playing and I probably won't allow unless a strong case can be made for it include:

Hivers. A manipulative race, very technologically advanced in robotics. A pentapod that uses gestures and translating devices to speak. I just don't know enough to be able to referee them well.

K'Kree, the militant vegan centaurs. First, the player would have to play an entire family as a solitary K'Kree is by definition crazy. And secondly they are extremely claustrophobic and there is no way you could get them to enter any human building or ship just about.

And more

Additionally, I have several other races that possibly could be played (Virushi, Ael Yeal are interesting choices and I have played them way back in the day), as well as a few others. And if a player wants to create an alien race we can do that. Within reason of course. I could even see uplifted apes or bears as they are canonical. 

Careers

A lot depends on what sort of game the players want to play. But I think any of the below are good. I seem to collect career books!

Pre-career options:
 College
 Medical College (somewhere I've got rules on that)
 Military College
 Navy College

Military
 Army (support, infantry, calvary)
 Navy (line/crew, Engineer/gunner, Flight)
 Marine (support, Star Marine, Ground Assault)
 Space Patrol

Science/Exploration
 Scout (courrier, survayor, explorer)
 Scientist (field researcher, scientist, physician)

Adventurer (Hunter, Pioneer, Relic Raider)
Agent (law enforcement, corporate goon, intelligence)
Arts (artist, collector, critic)
Assassin
Belter (asteroid miner, prospector, worker) - at least 2 different career versions available
Bounty Hunter (hunter, repossession, support)
Citizen (corporate, colonist, worker)
Clergy (evangelist, minister, monk)
Craftsperson (architect, tradesperson, labor)
Drifter (Barbarian, Wanderer, Scavenger)
Entertainer (artist, journalist)
Fringe Marketer (black market, fence, pawnbroker)
Gambler (casino, sports, track)
Hunter
Instructor (professor, teacher, tutor)
Investigator (not quite Agent; forensics, inspector, PI)
Merchant (Free Trader, Line, Mega, Merchant Marine, Corporate Shipper[crew, engineer, gunnery])
Noble (administrator, diplomat, dilettante)  - requires 10+ social)
Organized Crime (hitman, enforcer, operator)
Other (rogue: thief, enforcer, pirate)
Police (beat cop, patrol, strike force)
Politician (candidate, manager, operative)
Port Authority (control, inspection, stevedore)
Prostitute (prostitute, hetaerae, streetwalker. here for completeness?)
Psionic (*)
Rebel/Insurgent/Partisan
Scavenger (junker, picker, restorer)
Skyport Authority (aka port authority, I've at least 2 character systems for this)
SORAG (Zhodani intelligence *)
Surface Navy
Thief (con artist, hacker, intruder)

T5 Careers (I've not gone through these enough to generate characters easily, and T5 is not really compatible with Mongoose / Classic that we'll be playing. But we can adjust as necessary somehow)
    Craftsman
    Scholar
    Entertainer
    Citizen
    Scout
    Merchant
    Spacer
    Soldier
    Agent
    Rogue
    Noble
    Marine
    Functionary