Sunday, January 31, 2021

Character 31 of 31: T5 Marine

Shera Tinnent

6B5C6A Marine Reserve 1st Lieutenant, 5 terms, age 38, Disability Mustered

2 Purple Hearts, 4 Exemplary Service Medals
Leader-5, Fighter-2  (Slug Thrower-1, Beam-1, Blade-1, Battle Dress-2, Unarmed Combat-2), Driver (Grav-2), Survival-2, Pilot (Small Craft-2), Tactics-1, Explosives-1, Author-1.
Cr90,000, hand gun

Growing up on the desert planet of Yori, Shera often took long weekends out in the desert, blogging about her experiences. At 18, she joined the Imperial Marines, having seen them guarding the Ancient site. The news sometimes posted stories on Imperial Research Station Beta, which also had Marine squads out and about. She was impressed by those battle-dressed enforcers guarding both sites. And she just thought the uniforms were cool.

Her first term of service gave her plenty of combat. Wounded a bit, she received both a Purple Heart and a Medal for Exemplary Service for leading her small squad when the sergeant was wounded. Her next tour of duty saw yet more combat, yet she survived unscathed, as well as passing her commission testing as her leadership qualities expanded along with her social network. Her third term she spent three years in school, though it took the first year for her to get into the groove of learning versus fighting. She picked up her coveted Battledress as well as learning to pilot the grav APCs the Marines use to haul equipment and soldiers. She was got promoted to 1st Lieutenant. Her fourth term saw a return to school but more combat; schooling taught her to pilot the Marine dropships and shuttles she saw back on her days on Yori in the newscasts, and combat honed her leadership skills. Her 5th and final term she was severely wounded, and was forced to muster out. There was some rehab, but not enough to get her back to her full strength. 

Through the years she became a feared fighter and a respected leader, in the battlefield as well as the military bars. Quick to use fists when she started the Marines, she has learned to think more tactically about the situation. A leader through natural ability and 20 years of fighting, people are quick to follow her lead. She is still a fighter, though she favors her right side a great deal as well as wearing an eye patch, and there is some extensive scaring that she hides with tall collars and often wears gloves.
  • Strength: 11 (5)
  • Dexterity: 10 (5)
  • Endurance: 5 (2)
  • Intelligence: 7 (1)
  • Education: 5
  • Social: 7
  • gender 2, female
Started off with some nice high rolls, but then it went down hill a bit. Looking over the Traveller 5 careers, I can almost guarantee getting into the Marines, and hopefully play off the risk/reward so see if I can get some decorations. Or hurt badly...Though the commission roll is against my endurance so we'll see what happens there. 

Home world 3,3 = Yori, a rich, desert planet. Picking up Survival-1, and an art. As there are 6, a 3 gives me Author-1. 

Enlistment, Branch selection

Rolling a 7, we're in the Imperial Marines. Boo-ya! I'll roll for the branch, and with my education there is no DM.  A 6 = Commando. There is a note for DM of 2 for this branch, which I think is just used as the base DM for the risk/reward roll. The Marine Operations table (aka, branch assignment) table has a set of DMs by branch. Also, the highest mod from the operations is what we use as a DM for the risk/reward roll: apparently no choice? 

Term 1 (18-22) Lance Corporal

4 assignments: 4, 4, 3, 3 gives me Missionx2 and Peace Keeperx2. Highest mod is 2. So I'll take the -2 for the risk making it riskier for this term as it goes against my strength of an 11. However, rolling an 11 + 2 gives me 13, so I get a wound badge, and have to roll a flux roll and add that to the 2 for how much I am hurt. I could get really lucky...rolling a 3-2 for +1, I only have to subtract 1 from my strength. Rolling a 5 and subtracting 2 I have a 3 for the reward roll, Looking over at the table, I get a medal for Exemplary service. To get the big ones you have to roll really high...I also get 4 skill rolls. Rolling a 9 I do not make a commission, and a 4 I do get promoted
  • M1 Rank, Private: Fighter (Slug Thrower-1)
  • M2 Rank, Lance Corporal
  • Wounded, strength -1, UPP AA5757
  • Personal: 6 = +1 social. UPP AA5758
  • Peace Keeper: 2 Fighter (Slug Thrower-1, Beams-1)
  • Mission: 5 Leader-1
  • Personal: 6 = +1 social. UPP AA5759
Rolling a 4, which is less than the 10/strength I need to continue, I'll continue to term 2.

Term 2 (22-24) 2nd Lieutenant

This term my risk/reward is against my intelligence...depending on the mods I may take a less risky approach. My tour of duty this term is 6, 2, 3, 2 for Combat (DM 3!), Combat (2), Peace Keeper (1) and Combat (2). So there is a 3 DM against the risk/reward. I'll take the cautious route this time: 7 - 3 = 4, so I succeed in the risk, getting an Exemplary Service badge to go with the medal. A 12 on the reward is nothing, especially as I need to add 3 to it. With my social getting bumped, I may get a commission this term: a 5 vs the 9 means yes, I am now a 2nd Lieutenant! I don't know that I can roll for a promotion as well - the order of events in the list would indicate I can't unlike classic Book 1.
  • 01 Rank 2nd Lieutenant - Leader-2
  • Combat: 5 = Leader-3
  • Peace Keeper: 2 = Fighter-1 (Slug Thrower-1, Beam-1)
  • Combat: 5 = Leader-4
  • Personal: 6 = social +1, UPP AA575A
She is definitely a leader, both in the skills and the social climb she is on. Rolling an 8, our gung-ho Marine can continue.

Term 3 (24-28) 1st Lieutenant

At least we're back to the strength for risk/reward. So depending on the max DM we may make it a bit riskier. 5, 4, 5, 5 gives 3 years of ANM school and a mission. The ANM (Army, Navy, Marines) school info is in the education sections, and for each year she succeeds she gets a knowledge-2 from any of the Marine schools. I can roll under C2 or C3, and obviously will be picking C2 for that 10 or less! A 6 vs my 7 intelligence and I also get promoted. I am also going to assume I get 1 skill roll for that 1 year of the mission though it is not solidly stated. 
  • Rank 02: 1st Lieutenant
  • Mission: 2 = Survival-2
  • ANM School: (12, did not learn a damn thing; failed)
  • ANM School: 7; Fighter-1 (Slug Thrower-1, Beams-1, Battledress-2)
  • ANM School: 7; Driver (Grav-2)
So we lived, got promoted, and spent 3 years in school though we failed the first year. So they sent us back. Rolling a 6, we can continue our career in the Marines.

Term 4 (28-32) 1st Lieutenant

And with the intelligence as the characteristic we roll against this term, I will be using the DM as a note of caution. 5, 6, 1, 2 means ANM School (0), Combat (3), Combat (2) and Combat (2). Having the 3 DM means a 10 or less to avoid wounded, and a 9 squeaks by, so another XS badge for me. Another 9 fails the success so no medals. A 9 means I failed to get promoted this term.
  • ANM School; 6: Pilot (Small Craft-2)
  • Combat: 4, Soldier Skill: Fighter-2 (Slug Thrower-1, Beam-1, Battledress-2, Unarmed Combat-2)
  • Personal: 4, intelligence +1; UPP AA585A
  • Combat: 5, Leader-5
She is a bit smarter and one heck of a leader! A 9 allows her to go one more term, and I think we'll do that so we can use the strength of 10 as the controlling characteristic. We may get hurt but we could get lucky.

Term 5 (32-36)

1, 1, 6, 2 for Combat (2)x2, Combat (3) and Combat (2). A 12 means I horribly fail at a promotion, though I do have a +1 from the medal. I have no idea what the WB Mods are. So, risk 10 - 3 = 7, and I roll an 8, failing by 1. And worse, my flux roll is -5 so I lose 6 strength! On the bright side, I do still get 4 rolls which I am supposed to do before the risk/reward roll. So I'll go the way I usually do regardless, and perhaps I'll gain 1 strength back. Regardless, by losing 4 or more points I am discharged from the Marines. Sadly my reward roll of 2 means I really succeed there but only get another XS medal. Had only those rolls been switched (had I been helping a player roll for my game I may have allowed that as that 2 is just that bad!). But I did see 4 years of constant combat this term.
  • injured! UPP 4A585A
  • Combat: Tactics-1
  • Personal: 4, intelligence +1; UPP 4A595A
  • Combat: Fighter, Fighter-2 (Slug Thrower-1, Beam-1, Blade-1, Battle Dress-2, Unarmed Combat-2)
  • Personal: education +1; UPP 4A596A
Okay, sadly did not get any of my strength back. And no promotion.

Mustering out

Nice thing is that there are some automatic mustering out benefits. Being a fighter-2, I can keep a personal weapon, and choose a hand gun of some sort. And perhaps, with any luck I may be able to regain strength. Note that as I was disabled during my final term so get double benefits: twice as many rolls so I get 10 rolls, assuming I am interpreting that correctly. I am bound to pick up some strength! I am also going to make the +2 from the officer rank 02 optional as the +1 strength is 2 and with a +2, I will never roll that! And we add the number of terms to the cash table...
  • Benefit: 5 intelligence +1: UPP 4A5A5A
  • Benefit: 4 education +1: UPP 4A5A6A
  • Benefit: 2 strength +1: UPP 5A5A6A
  • Cash: 1 + 5 = Cr40,000
  • Cash:  6 + 5 = Cr50,000
  • Benefit: 1, Forbidden Knowledge; 4 = Explosives-1
  • Benefit: 5, intelligence +1: UPP 5A5B6A
  • Benefit: 2, strength +1, UPP: 6A5B6A
  • Benefit: 4 + 2,  dexterity +1, UPP 6B5B6A
  • Benefit: 5, intelligence +1, UPP 6B5C6A
okay, getting double benefits I think the goal may have been to allow for rehab and hope you can regain some of your physical stats. Our marine mostly got a lot smarter and a bit more educated. And only gained a third of her lost strength. And I did not even do the aging rolls...I think we'll just assume her post-mustering out physical therapy was helping that along.

Challenge Recap

Managed to get through 31 characters, though there was a bit of caching some over the weekends...And the ratio of males and females evened out though I've not counted. Going through the T5 rules a bit more, and getting a little bit better about generating the characters and reading how the skill rolls works lets me think I could possibly run a T5 game. For instance, in a bar fighter, it is a a difficult roll, so 3D < Str + unarmed, or 3d < 6 + 2 or 8. Had she kept her 11 strength, she would have been hard to beat in a brawl. Now it is not nearly as certain - the skill and stats are weighted equally. I am not so sure I agree with that as as well-trained person should be able to take out a stronger one in general. However, T5 does give you some really high skills, sadly her best skill is Leadership. And in most games, that won't come into play, though I'd allow it for intimidation rolls I think, so it could be twisted into something useful in a non-combat scenario.



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Saturday, January 30, 2021

Character 30 of 31: T5 Scout

Katha Rookson

977765    Scouts 1 term, age 22
Hostile Environment-2, Grav-1, Trader-1, Comms-1, Survey-1, Teacher-1, Trader-1, Gravatics-1
Growing up off the hostile world of Boughene, Katha learned early on the dangers of it's methane atmosphere, and using the station's grav shuttles learned to get to and from the station. Her attempt to get into the station's only college failed. Wanting off the station, she somehow ended up in the Scouts, in even smaller ships. She lasted all of a single term, the Scouts feeling she was not quite the fit they wanted. Despite that, she still has a love of the ISS and exploring new worlds and meeting new people.

She is patient with others, and listens well. Observant about cultures, Katha is quick to be able to evaluate goods in the context of that world, and enjoys helping others learn new things as she loves to learn new things. She does have a bit of hostility to college graduates, never having been able to get in herself. Out in the universe on her own, she is trying to figure out the next chapter of her young life.
Katha prefers comfortable clothes when on her ship

Falling on a Saturday and having a bit more time, we'll see if I can muddle through the T5 character generation process. And unfortunately she only lasted a single term, failing the intelligence roll for re-enlistment. It was a shorter process than expected but I think I am finally figuring out the mechanics a bit.

Initial stats, with the genetics (1st die) in parenthesis

  • Strength: 7 (2) 
  • Dexterity: 7 (1)
  • Endurance: 7 (2)
  • Intelligence: 7 (3)
  • Education: 5
  • Social: 5
  • gender 6, female
And that was a series of 7s which was really boring. So nothing outstanding for this character in terms of stats, nothing to help figure out just who she is. Other than her education and social status are below average. Perhaps the birthworld will give us some info. A d66 table is give, and a 1,2 gives us Boughene, a fluid, non-industrial world. 
  • Hostile Environment-1
  • Driver-1 (Driver (Grav-1)
Hostile environment is a new skill for me, and gives her the ability to recognize and better prepare for hostile environmental issues. Bad news is the example skill check is less then her education, which as noted is not good. So we would need to boost her education to make that hostile environment useful other than as chrome for the character. There was a slim chance, 2 on 2d6, that the character was born in space. A 4 means that did not happen (and I noticed this after reading through the birthworld options).

Note that the dice mechanics are a dice pool - the difficulty is tied to the number of dice and you have to roll under. The example given for hostile environment is: Difficult (3D) < Edu + Hostile. So if something domes up, she would need to roll 6 or less on 3d6. So on the one hand, I actually like the idea of more dice = more difficult. On the other hand, it is just not Traveller for me. Note that by the end of her single term, she picked up both another Hostile Environment skill and a +1 on her education. So she has to roll 3D vs 6 + 2, or 8. So still not quite a 50/50 chance but a lot better than 3d vs 6 per her original generation!

So, looking over the education section, Katha really only has college as an option: the pre-requisites for any of the higher education are all education 5+: college at 5+ is her only option as the more prestigious schools require an even higher basic education to apply to. Now, there is an option to get the GED equivalent if your education is 4 or less, just roll 2d6 under your intelligence and get an instant education of 5. So that is also a nice touch. So Katha applies to the Winsanch College, and fails the roll of getting in: 2d6 vs intelligence, and a 9. Trying for a waiver, meaning I need to roll a 5 or less against my social ranking. Katha has no strings to pull. Rolling an 8, and there is no college for young Katha. So off to find a career, perhaps angry that she never got to go to college.

T5 presents 13 careers: it bridges the classic Book 1 and Supplement 4 careers. While some are pretty safe (hard to die as a craftsman, but you can create a masterpiece), others vary in lethality. Though T5 does not have the kill your character in generation except as an option. Looking over the careers, with her stats Katha has a 50/50 chance of most of the careers. Seeing how Boughene has a corrosive atmosphere, she was raised on the station according to the Wiki article, she may want to explore other worlds. So I can see Scouts, Spacer or Soldier to get out of this system. 1 die roll of 1 for a d3 roll and Scouts it is. To get in I have to roll 2d6 against any 1 of my physical stats. They are all 7 so it makes no difference. Interestingly, there is a retry roll should I fail against my education. So it is even less likely. Rolling a 7, Katha gets into the Imperial Scout Service!

Term 1 (18-22)

Risk and Reward. All 4 characteristics Katha uses for this roll are 7. I'll just go through them sequentially. Now we can do the same mechanic as per classic Book 5 and make an adjustment on the risk roll that has the opposite affect on the reward roll. Exactly the same as the survival and decoration rolls I finally figured out. Being exactly a 50/50 chance, I'll not use any mods for either for at least this term. So, using strength of 7:
  • Risk roll: 6 (< 7 so nothing happened)
  • Reward roll: 9 ( >7 so nothing good happened either)
Scouts have no ranks, so looking at the Scout table, and as Katha did the risk/reward process and so is an explorer this term, gets 8 rolls. We'll just go sequentially through the tables, skipping the Academic table as she did not go to college, and the courier table as she was exploration.
  • Personal: 1 = strength +1; UPP 877755
  • Exploration: 3 = Hostile Environment-2
  • Business: 3: Trader-1
  • Vocation: 6 = Comms-1
  • Avocation: 1 trade (okay, no idea where those are listed, we'll defer figuring that out. And they are listed at the end of the skills chapter): Gravatics-1
  • Personal: 1 = +1 strength again! UPP 977755
  • Exploration: 1 = Survey-1
  • Business: 4 = Teacher-1
So Katha's 1st term out among the stars she had to learn to trade with various others for resupplying on the fly, increased her hostile environment skill so must have visited some hostile worlds, learned the ins and outs of using the comm equipment and how to survey new worlds, and started getting buffed up. Too bad we picked strength as this term's controlling characteristic. And we can't use that until we cycle through the others. We also need to roll a 7 or less (intelligence) to continue in the Scouts, and rolling an 8, she is mustered out after a single term! She also picked up gravatics, learning to work on the air/raft that she flies about in on occasion still.

Mustering out

Having a single roll, I'll use the benefits table - perhaps she picked up some forbidden knowledge! With no fame from discovering anything, there are no DMs. A roll of 5 means is C5 +1, or education. So we've had a bit of education.
  • Benefit: 5 = +1 education, UPP 977765
Okay, I think I am getting better at generating T5 characters. I'll do another for the final character challenge tomorrow, and hopefully will get better stats and something a bit more complicated. The fame stuff has had some serious questions over on COTI and I'd like to see how that plays out.


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Friday, January 29, 2021

Character 29 of 31: Hunter

 Janie "JJ" Jackson

A94A45 Hunter 5 terms, age 38
Hunting-2, Electronic-1, Mechanical-1. Shotgun-1, Rifle-1, Laser Rifle-1, Body Pistol-1
Cr0, High Passage, body pistol, hunting rifle, hunting laser rifle, shotgun

Growing up on Dalia in District 268, Janie, known as JJ to everyone, Janie and her parents hunted in the game preserves, learning to hunt most animals before she graduated high school. Shipping with her uncle in his Safari Class Hunters Dream, she picked up some basic skills for maintaining the ship and handling the  inevitable paperwork involved with getting hunting licenses on various worlds. She is an excellent shot with a variety of weapons and has extensively customized her personal guns. She has had a few close scrapes, including one time hunting the very elusive kobrai of Avastan: not from the hunt itself but crossing too close into a setter's land. Some of those people are very intense about property rights.

Younger looking than her 38 years, she is quiet until you get her started on hunting. Then she will have tall tales, expert advice, and a yearning you can hear to get on her next hunt. Eternally calm, she knows how to wait and has a great deal of patience. She also has a complete lack of understanding about animal rights people. She also rarely eats her greens but is a vigorous carnivore and gets along very well with Aslan and Vargr. She is looking to follow in her uncle's footsteps and wanting to get her own hunting ship and crew.
Toting her custom LasTek 15H Laser Rifle
Kobrai of Avaston

  • Strength 11
  • Dexterity 7
  • Endurance 5
  • Intelligence 10
  • Education 4
  • Social 5
  • gender 4, female
Going for a hunter this time around as the strength gives a +2 to the survival roll. And she may end up with a safari ship!

Enlistment is hard with a 9+ to get in and lacking any of the DMs to help. But we do manage it on a 10 (okay, so it took 3 times, but I really wanted a hunter, but no more faking rolls now!)

Term 1 18-22
Survival: 10 + 2. No ranks, so she gets 2 skill rolls a year. Though in re-reading book 1, all classic characters get 2 skills for the 1st term, and up to 4 if they get both a position and promotion if I am reading that correctly. And I've had a string of characters unable to use the advanced education table it seems. Though my gender rolls have evened out.
  • Personal 2 = +1 dexterity UPP B85A45
  • Service 1 = Gun: Rifle-1
  • Career = Hunter-1
Re-enlist on a 5+, and 9 is good to go.
Term 2 22-26
Survive on an 11 (okay, so now I am rolling high again!)
  • Education 2 = Electronic-1
  • Personal 5 = Gun: Shotgun-1
Re-enlist on 10
Term 3 26-30
Survive on an 8.
  • Education 1 = Mechanical-1
  • Personal 2 = +1 dexterity UPP B95A45 (she now gets a +1 DM on shooting things)
Re-enlist on a 12
Term 4 30-34
Survive with 5 + 2 for 7, so it was a close call this term!
  • Service 1 = Gun, Laser Rifle-1
  • Education 6 = Admin-1
Re-enlist on a 7, probably last term
Term 5 34-38
Survive with a 7
  • Personal 5 = Gun, Body Pistol-1
  • Service 4= Hunting-2
I did not roll a 12 (and not sure that really applies), so I can get out. Aging rolls of 7, 9, 7 means I lose a strength & endurance. UPP A94A45. Time to leave!
Mustering Out
5 Rolls, and I really want a safari ship since they are cool. So we'll roll on the material benefits a bit to see if we can roll a 6.
  • Benefit 5 = Weapon, her custom hunting rifle
  • Benefit 2 = High Passage
  • Benefit 3 = Weapon, her custom laser rifle
  • Benefit 3 = Weapon, her custom body pistol
  • Benefit 2 = Weapon, her custom shotgun
Well, dang, never a 6 though she has a crapload of guns. And a high passage ticket...

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Thursday, January 28, 2021

Character 28 of 31: Classic Bureaucrat

Czee O'onian

966885 5 Manager, 5 terms Bureaucrat, age 42
Admin-2, Carousing-2, Blade-1, Cutlass-1, Wheeled-1, Recruiting-1
Cr80,000, High Passage, retirement  Cr6,000/year
Growing up on Anther, Czee was an avid follower of the Swashbuckling Tales, and anthology series glamorizing the pirate life among the stars. She went straight from school to clerking at the starport, and spent her nights cosplaying as pirates and drinking an inordinate amount of alcohol. After a few years, she realized that her bleary eyes and constantly being late in the morning was affecting her job prospects. Buckling down, she started taking actual fencing and sword fighting lessons instead of the cosplay. But as the years seemed to drag inexorably on, she felt a loss of who she was. Finally retiring at 42, she decided to get back to her early cosplay days and head to the fringes of society.

A capable administrator who has a good eye for people and getting them to join her endeavors, Czee would make a good comptroller for larger ships. She is also ever moving outwards in the Imperium, so may be found anyplace. Hopefully at some point she will have found a good cutlass!

And I accidently bought a 2nd copy of Piracy And Privateering (Stellagama Publishing but it is the 4th vs 1st edition so there must be some updates in there; need to find a friend who wants the earlier copy) and realize, with her years of working at a port and her admin skills, she would be the ideal information-gathering source: see what is going out so that pirates can go after the more valuable cargos. Between admin, carousing and possibly even recruiting, she could cover this ground easily:
"The second and more effective way of conducting piracy operations is to gather as much intelligence about the merchant traffic going in and out of a given system and combine this intelligence with social engineering techniques to maximize chances of successful piracy."
I need to dig back to see if I have my old college notes for the "everything" watch. This was a smart watch that could record audio, video, holographic recording and display, health tracking and pretty much all the things modern cell phones do, including interfacing with the local comm systems or acting as a node on a local, private network. Probably even basic computer processing. At least this bureaucrat ended up with a watch!

  • Strength: 10
  • Dexterity: 6
  • Endurance: 8
  • Intelligence: 7
  • Education: 8
  • Social: 5
  • gender: 4, female
  • race: 2, major; 7: human, 5 regular Imperial
  • Book 1 (even) supp 4 (odd): book 4; 1d12: 8 = Bureaucrat
Yeah, not a lot of time today, so going old school. And what an interesting career - a bureaucrat! A roll of 9 with the +1 DM for our education and we get in. Interestingly you get a +2 DM if your strength is 8-. They want pencil pushers here, not body builders! And oddly - this is the 2nd bureaucrat I rolled up: when this sort of seemed familiar I went back over my list. I should have re-rolled for another career. Maybe I'll try a 2nd one today depending on how much time I have.

Term 1 18-22
Survive: 5
Position: 10, yes: Rank 1: Clerk  (going with an extra skill roll for this)
Promotion: 5, no
Skill: Education: 1 = Recruiting
Skill: Personal: 6 = +1 dexterity  UPP A78785 
Re-enlist: 9, yes
Term 2 22-26
Survive: 7
Promotion: 7, no
Skill: Bureaucrat: 2 = Vehicle - wheeled
Re-enlist: 5, yes
Term 3 26-30
Survive: 8
Promotion: 7, yes Rank 2, Supervisor
Skill: Personal 5 = Carousing
Skill: Service 3 = Blade
Re-enlist: 12, no choice!
Term 4 30-34
Survive: 6
Promotion: 6, no
Skill: Education 6 = Admin
Re-enlist: 10
Term 5 34-38
Survive: 4
Promotion: 10, Rank 3 = Assistant Manager
Skills: Personal 3 = +1 intelligence UPP A78885
Skills: Service 3 = Blade, Cutlass-1
Aging: 6, 9, 5 UPP 977885
Re-enlist: 7 (last term!)
Term 6 38-42
Survive: 4
Promotion: 11, Rank 4 Manager
Skill: Education 5 Admin-2
Skill: Personal 5 Carousing-2
Aging: 10, 6, 5 UPP 966885
Mustering Out
8 rolls, 3 on each, as she is retiring she can add 1 to the cash, and has 2 extra rolls for the Rank 4:
  • Cash: 4 +1: Cr40,000
  • Cash: 1 + 1: 0
  • Cash: 4 + 1: Cr40,000 (Cr80,000)
  • Benefit: 5 High Passage
  • Benefit: 3 nothing
  • Benefit: 4 watch
  • Benefit: 4 second watch (may work as short range comms)
  • Benefit: 5 nothing

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Wednesday, January 27, 2021

Character 27 of 31:

Eao Aiyoao

85CC79 Honored Chief Petty Officer Clan Hlaotiyoiho Space Service, 3 terms, not active, age 42
Admin-3, Medic-3, Steward-3, Tolerance-3, Engineering-2, Computer-2, Liaison-2, Interrogation-2, Streetwise-2, Khaifealate-2, Jack of all Trades-1, Forgery-1, Mechanical-1, Hand Gun-1
Cr12,000, personalized Khaifealate

Born deep in the Aslan Hierate, part of Clan Hlaotivoiho, she joined the Spacers out of both duty to her clan and a yearning to seek out strange new worlds and maybe kill things there. Though she was in the the technical branch for all 3 terms, she mustered out after cross-training in the Staff branch twice. Her keen intellect served her well as she took extensive medical training as well as intelligence training, making her an admirable support person for almost any mission. She also learned to be much more tolerant of other cultures and not immediately strike out like many of her male brethren may do. Her many tours of duty on merchant convoys left her thinking that there may be credits to be made in the world of merchants, and is actively seeking a berth on a trader to start her accumulation of wealth and status.

 A Khaifealate is a machine pistol that does 3D of damage. She does not get a dexterity bonus but at least does not get the negative DM either.
As the last couple of days of this challenge fall on the weekend I am hoping to try another T5 character. During the week work and family don't always give me a lot of free time, which is why the Classic Book 1 character generation is great - in a few minutes you can have the character rolled up, dead or alive. However, after rolling up an Aslan based on my tables, and doing a quick once-over, I decided to go with the extended character generation. It would be interesting to take the same starting point but do basic character generation and see what happens. 

Wishing I had more time: I thought about making world maps and things as I really enjoy doing those, but alas, there has been barely enough time to roll up characters and do a brief background on them.

  • Strength: 7 + 1 = 8
  • Dexterity: 6 -1 = 5 
  • Endurance: 11 + 1 = 12
  • Intelligence: 11
  • Education: 6
  • Social: 8
  • gender: 2, female
  • major/minor: 1, major species
  • species: 9, Aslan, so adjustments added above (and we have a clumsy Aslan)
Female Aslans have a wide choice of careers and tend to "seek power, wealth and status" according to the Classic Alien module. The Rite of passage throw of 5 means she gets 6 on her Akhuaeuhrekhyeh, and getting 2 points each for her intelligence, education and social all being above that roll. Which means a +6 on a lot of enlistment rolls! She is just that smart.

The module includes both the Classic and High Guard/Mercenary. Trying to read through the Spacer set and she will get into the Technical branch automatically thanks to her Right of Passage. Interestingly terms are 8 years instead of 4. And not being of a high enough social ranking, enlisted she is.

Term 1 - (18-26)

Year 1: Basic and Advanced Training
  • Service Skills: 2 Mechanical-1
  • Service Skills: 4 Engineering-1
Year 2: Merchant
Not wanting to risk anything yet though survival is pretty easy for a merchant tour, I'll just leave the survival roll as-is. A 6 means I am unscathed, an 8 for decoration means nope, a promotion of 7 means nope again. And a 5 for skills means no skills this year - that must have been one boring tour!
Year 2: Merchant
Here's hoping not as boring! An 8 and I survive, a 9 for no decoration, a 12 means I do get promoted to E-2 Spacehand at least, and a 3 means no skills.
Year 3: Training
Not having an exciting career in the Spaces! Auto-survive, no decorations nor promotions, but at least an 8 means the training actually trained me! Going for the Space Life and I'll let that +4 DM for being female be optional
  • Space Life: 4 - Gun Combat and I'll pick Hand Gun-1
Year 4: Patrol
And realized I had been looking at the wrong table: technical was a lot easier to survive and rarely allows for decorations; however, the net changes are zero based on the rolls anyway. I survive readily. A 6 means no promotion, and a 9 means I barely get a skill. Going for Shipboard life with the save caveat for the +4 DM.
  • Shipboard Life: 6. I'll add +4 for Tolerance-1
Year 5: Special Duty - Pursers Training
Rolling 5, 2, 4, 5, 5, 2 means I get 4 of the 6 skills in Purser School. I missed the broker & trader skills, so apparently not wanting to get into the trading life. Though broker can break the actual value table...
  • Admin-1
  • Computer-1
  • Liaison-1
  • Tolerance-2
Year 6: Merchant
Survive on a 5, no decoration, , a 4 means another missed promotion but an 11 means a skill. Will use the Merchant table
  • Merchant: 6 but using the +4 for Admin-2
Year 7: Special Duty - Specialist School
Attending a specialist school, and a 6 gives me another Engineering skill
  • Engineering-2
Year 8: Special Duty - Attache/Aid
Guess that purser training paid off. Adds another tolerance level and Steward-1. And on a 4 or less I get both a promotion and a social bump, and can specify my next assignment.
  • Tolerance-3
  • Steward-1
  • UPP: 85CB69
  • Promoted to E-3 Veteran Spacehand
A 10 for my re-enlistment, and I'll go another 8 years.

Term 2 (26-34)

Year 1: Battle
Getting to pick my assignment and wanting some action! Still a 3+ and I'll take a -1: 9-1 = 8, so survive! Still miss the decoration roll with a 5+1 for 6. I do get promoted to E-4 but flub the skills roll with a 6.
  • Promoted to E-4 Honored Spacehand
Year 2: Strike
This could be my term of battles! I'll take another -1 chance for survival, and a 6-1 = 4 so I survive. But a 5+1 still yields no decoration. A 7 promotes me to E-5 and a10 means I can gain some skill.
  • Battle: 1 + 4 :Medical-1
  • Promotion: E5 Petty Officer
Year 3: Shore Duty
After 3 years of battle a year of shore duty to help recharge me. I survive with a 6, no decoration possible, I get promoted again with an 8 to E-6, but no skills with a 6.
  • Promoted to E6 Veteran Petty Office
Year 4: Special Duty - Medical Training
Apparently that medical I picked up 2 years ago sparked an interest! Automatically get Medical-2, and rolling 2, 1, 4 I only pick up another steward level
  • Medical-2
  • Steward-2
Year 5: Special Duty - Intelligence School
Apparently they think I am worth all this extra training! 1, 5, 3, 6, 4 for
  • Forgery-1
  • Interrogation-1
  • Streetwise-1
Year 6: Merchant
Back to my first few years, trudging along a merchant convoy. A 3 means I actually barely survived, no decoration, an 8 means another promotion to E7, and a 6 fails the skill roll
  • Promotion: E7 Honored Petty Officer
Year 7: Merchant
Yeah, boring trips! 4 means I survive, 12 for another promotion, and 7 means no skills.
  • Promotion E8 Chief Petty Officer
Year 8: Shore Duty
Last year of this term, and shore duty? And it must have been boring: I survive with an 8, no decorations possible, and fail both the promotion and skills rolls with a 6 and a 5.

So - do I want to stay in the Spacers career? I'll let the rolls decide: a 6 means I can if I want to, so think we'll go 1 more term.

Term 3 (34-42)

Year 1: Training
No risk of death or decoration, failed the promotion roll as well as the skills roll.
Year 2: Special Duty - Medical Training
Already have the Medical-2, so 6, 3, 5 yields the following
  • Jack of all Trades-1
  • Medical-3
  • Steward-3
Year 3: Siege
Survive with a 6, and a 7 and a 6 means no promotion and no skills.
Year 4: Special Duty - Intelligence School
2, 2, 5, 4, 6 for the following skills
  • Gun Combat Khaifealate-1
  • Interrogation-2
  • Streetwise-2
Year 5: Special Duty - Cross-Training
The only other branch I can cross-train in as a female is staff. 
  • Branch Skill Staff: 4 = Liaison-2
It also means I can get into the Staff branch next term but unless I roll a 12, I'll be heading out into parts unknown.
Year 6: Special Duty - Pursers Training
5, 3, 6, 3, 3, 1 gives me the following:
  • Admin-2
  • Computer-2
Year 7: Merchant
Survive with a 7, no decoration, get a promotion to E-8 and fail the skills.
  • Promotion to E9 Honored Chief Petty Officer
Year 8: Special Duty - Cross Training/Staff
  • Admin-3
Rolling a 7 I can but choose not to re-enlist. I'm at the top level for enlisted rank. Oddly my engineering skill is not the highest despite that being the branch I was basically in.

Mustering Out

Looking at the rules, there are 2 rolls per 8 year term, and an extra as I made social 9. Plus a DM of +1 due to the social. I'll make that optional to give me a bit of decision making. So 7 rolls, 3 cash, 4 other.
  • 6 = Cr10,000
  • 3 = Cr1,000 (Cr7,000)
  • 4 = Cr 5,000 (Cr12,000)
  • 2+1 = +1 education UPP 85CB79
  • 5 = personal weapon, her Khaifealate
  • 1+1 = +1 intelligence UPP 85CC79
  • 4+1 = Khaifealate + 1

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Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Character 26 of 31: Traveller Navy

Sir Lase Willy

89646B Petty Officer 3rd Class, MCUF, MCG, Imperial Navy, Engineering, inactive, age 27

Engineering-3, Vacc Suit-1, Ship's Boat-1, Mechanical-1, Electronics-1, Forward Observer-1
Cr50,000, High Passage

His father the Imperial Knight of Munoch, Lase did not want to stay on what he considered the backend of nowhere. On his 18th birthday he applied to the Imperial Navy, and getting in, was shipped to Lebensraum to start his Naval career. Not wanting to trade on the family name, Sir Willy entered the Engineering branch as a a Spacehand Recruit. Over the next few years, he was in the heat of battle, spending 3 years in various strike offenses as far as the Carrillian Assembly. He earning a MCG when the ship he was on took a direct hit, and he saved the section chief and crew mates. He learned to pilot the shuttles, and earned a MCUF when successfully piloting through the battlefield with a transfer crew. Continuing in the Navy, Sir Willy was sent to Engineering School as well as additional training, making him an expert Engineer. Sadly, he was grievously wounded during a siege operation, and after medical rehab, decided the Navy life was no longer what he wanted. Given his mustering pay and a high passage ticket, Sir Lase Willy is ready for the next phase of his life.

A tall, dark haired man, Sir Lase speaks with an upper class accent, is easily distracted and enjoys watching holo-sports. Though technically a knight via his father, he rarely uses his title, preferring to "get by on my own word and deeds" as he likes to say. However, he can be seen as overbearing at times, expecting things to be done in a certain way. This comes from his family as well as Imperial Navy training. Stubborn, once he takes a stance, it is near impossible to change his mind.

How you may meet Sir Lase Willy

He would make an excellent engineer for any ship. He could be a passenger going somewhere, and fully expecting high passage to mean high passage. He may still have contacts at the Navy, and some Imperial Nobility. He could be the victim of a scam to help relieve him of his Cr50,000.



  • Strength: 7
  • Dexterity: 9
  • Endurance: 6
  • Intelligence: 4
  • Education: 6
  • Social: 11
  • gender: 5, male
Decided to try for another Navy character. Not having a good intelligence or education, I figured he'd go straight into the Navy. He applied for the Imperial Navy and succeeded, rolling the 9 minimum. Rolling on the branch, I rolled a 5, then -2 for the Imperial Navy and he is in the Engineering branch.

Term 1: Training, Strike! (18-22)

Year 1: Basic and Advanced Training
  • Branch: 3->5 - Vacc Suit-1
  • Branch: 5->7 - Engineering-1
Year 2: Strike!
He survives with a roll of 10, and gets decorated with another roll of 10. He passed muster to get promoted from E1 Spacehand Recruit to E2 Spacehand Apprentice. Succeeding with an 11 for skills:
  • Navy Life: 2 = +1 strength UPP 89646B
  • MCG (Medal for Conspicuous Gallantry)
  • Promoted to E2 Spacehand Apprentice
Year 3: Strike!
Rolling 1d6 for a 4, I re-roll for the assignment and a 5 gives me another year of strike. Survive with a 10, but there were no decorations with a 3, and passed over for advancement with a 5. And no new skills were learned with a 4. For a Naval Engineer in a strike rotation, he must have had a quiet posting!

Year 4: Strike!
The 1d6 gave me a 6, so he is again in the middle of a strike assignment. Compared to my last Naval character, this guy has already seen more action than she did in multiple terms. He survives with a 7, a 7 gives him a MCUF decoration, an 8 promotes him to E3 Able Spacehand, and a 9 for skills was succesful.
  • Shipboard Life: 5 = Ship's Boat-1
  • MCUF (Meritorious Conduct Under Fire)
  • Promoted to E3 Able Spacehand
He makes his re-enlistment roll with an 8.

Term 2 (22-26)

Year 1: Siege
Deciding to be a bit daring, I'll take a -2 on my survival roll. Rolling an 11 -2 so I survive and get to add 2 to my decoration roll. However, a 3 +2 for a 5 means no decoration. I miss my promotion roll with a 6, and no skills were learned with a 6 as well. Must have been way at the back of the siege.
Year 2: Patrol
As this is an even easier survival roll, I opt for a -3: 8 -3 = 5 and I barely survive. A 5 + 3 for an 8 still misses the decoration roll, I flub the promotion with a 7, and a 12 grants me a skill roll.
  • Engineering Branch: 5 +2 = Engineering-2
Year 3 - Special Duty: Engineering School
Rolling a 5, 6, 1, 6 I gain:
  • Mechanical-1
  • Electronics-1
  • Engineering-3
Year 4: Training
No survival or decoration roll, and a 10 for promotion gets me to E4, Petty Officer 3rd Class. A successful skill roll of 9.
  • Shore Duty: 3 = Forward Observer-1
  • Promotion: E4 Petty Office 3rd Class

Term 3 (26-30) Still in the Navy and probably for life

Year 1: Patrol
Taking a -3 for my survival, 7-3 = 4, and needing a 4, I live! Decoration roll 3+3 = 6, no decoration. A 5 yields no new skills.
Year 2: Siege
The 1d6 pf 4 means I roll again, and a 4 gives me another siege tour of duty. I'll take a -2 for survival, and then I failed: 5-2 = 3 and I needed a 4. So injured or dead, and I'll go with injured and muster him out.

Mustering Out

  • Cash: 5 = Cr50,000
  • Benefit: 5 = High Passage


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Monday, January 25, 2021

Character 25 of 31: Cepheus Bounty Hunter, Vagabond

Arlon Thelly

585689    1 term Bounty Hunter, 2 terms vagabond    age 30
Streetwise-2, Deception (Pickpocket-1), Vacc Suit-1, Melee (Unarmed Combat-1), JoT-1, Investigate-0, Gun Combat (Slug-0)
Cr500, backpack, auto-pistol
Enemy: Tal Vaxter, transient

A scarred and wispy looking young man who looks older than he is, Arlon has fallen upon hard times. While wanting a career in bounty hunting, he barely survived after getting sliced by Donnia Burtson, wanted for spousal abuse. The next few years he wandered about various systems, barely eeking out his own survival. Learning to pickpocket was his primary means of survival. Getting laid low by the Perruque Plague, he is currently bald and still has remnants of fungal spores on his head. He is combative and able to handle his own in a fight. He knows his way around most Imperial worlds, at least as far as the seedy side of things. And despite appearances, he speaks clearly and shows a decent education when pressed.

How you encounter Arlon

He could be begging at the port, a destitute man in worn out clothing, a small hat at his feet with a couple of credits in it. He could also be a a pickpocket encounter. If you have a doctor in your group, they may notice the fungal spores and may want to help out the poor guy.
Before the Plague
Pretty much average initial rolls, so nothing exciting called out to me as a career choice.

  • Strength: 7
  • Dexterity: 6
  • Endurance: 7
  • Intelligence: 6
  • Education: 8
  • Social: 9
  • gender: 5 = male
Using the Diverse Roles book for a career as a bounty hunter. I'll forego the childhood process as I sort of did some things out of order, not sure where I was going with this character. Though oddly his social was the highest stat it never really came up. Guess his background was the upper side of middle class.

Term 1: Basic / Advanced Education (18-22)

Survive: 12
Advance: 3
Skills:
  • Investigate-0
  • Gun Combat (Slug-0)
  • Deception-0
  • Streetwise-0
  • Melee (Unarmed Combat-0)
  • Service Skill roll: 5 = Streetwise-1
Event 5,6 - there is no telling what I may have to do, gain JoT-1. 
Re-enlistment roll of 8, so good to go another round.

Term 2: Scarred ex-Bounty Hunter (22)

Survive: 5! Mishap roll of 7 indicates I am injured on the job and roll on the injury table a 4, so I am scarred and reduce 1 physical stat by 2. I'll reduce strength giving me an UPP 567689. Now this means I am out of this career, and have to enter a new one. I do get 1 benefit roll and choose a material benefit. 4 = weapon, so I'll leave with my custom auto-pistol. I also don't age this term so apparently it happened early on. 

There are 18 careers, so not having an 18 sided die I'll just search for random number generator, of which there are plenty out there. Oddly the next career (with a -2 to get into) is instructor: not sure what I can instruct but hey. And I miss the roll. Another random number gives me 11 for investigator. Very similar in some ways to a bounty hunter. And technically I should use the draft or go into the Vagabond career but I'd like to at least try for another career. And a 5 means no, so off to the Vagabond career it is.

There are 2 career paths: destitute and transient. Transient is the more traditional Other I think, so we'll go with that.

Term 2: Vagabond term 1 - the transient life for me! (22-26)

Survive: 8 is a success. 
Advance: 10 is also a success, so 2 skill rolls:
  • Service Life: 4 = Streetwise-2
  • Personal Development: 2 = +1 dexterity UPP 577689
  • Rank skill - Vacc Suit-1. Hey, I read the instruction books when sneaking aboard.
  • Rank skill: stash, basically I now have a small pack to store what few things I have
Event roll of 5,4: life is tough, and the environment is a harsh but good teacher.
  • Survival-1
  • Melee (Unarmed-1)
No real re-enlistment roll for the transient...

Term 3: Meeting new friends (26-30)

Survive with an 8 again. And I advance with an 8 as well, so 2 skills to pick up. There are only the 3 tables so that's what we'll keep using.
  • Transient: 2 = Deception (Pickpocket-1)
  • Personal Development: 2 = +1 dexterity (for pickpocketing!) UPP 587689
Event 2,4: an argument with another transient, one Tal Vaxter. Using Unarmed-1 I roll a 10, so I beat the crap out of him and he does not steal my stash (and my gun!). Gain an enemy. 

We'll go 1 more term to avoid the age rolls.

Term 4: Getting too sick to roam

Survive: 6 = another mishap! Rolling a 4, I have suffered a horrible disease and lose 2 endurance. UPP 585689. 

Mustering out

There is not much for the vagabond career. Rolling a 5 on the cash table he does score Cr500, but a 2 on the other benefits yields nothing.


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Sunday, January 24, 2021

Character 24 of 31: Mongoose 2e Vargr Corsair

Sergeant Afazkivouz "Riko" Rikouzke

999B89    Corsair 2 terms, Democracy of Greats Army 1 term, age 30
Melee (Natural-1, Unarmed-1), Recon-1, Comms-1, Gun Combat (Slug-1), Drive (Wheeled-1), Medic-1
Cr5,000, Ship Share
Growing up on the high-tech world of Gzaeogvaksksueks, Riko watched all the great Corsair shows on the holo: Captain Ruff Versus the Imps, Commander Keen Takes It All, and other shows. Wanting to be a Corsair as well, he hopped aboard the Corsair ship Daztakhs, known as the Wrath in Anglic for 8 years, adventuring in the Vargr extents, spending time in the underbelly of Vargr society and leading in a Corsair fight that left him wanting something even more. Joining the Great Army, he was rapidly promoted, learning to fight with his natural claws as well as driving all over the bases in the hopped up jeep he and his buddies made. Getting tired of the Army life, and wanting to lead his own pack, Riko has left to seek out his fortunes in the stars.
Security cam footage from Riko's Corsair days
  • Strength: 9
  • Dexterity: 8
  • Endurance: 10
  • Intelligence: 11
  • Education: 8
  • Social: 7
  • gender: 1, male
Now that was a good set of rolls! Average only in social and above average in everything else! Going to find a world first, and see if that sparks any ideas for what sort of career this guy may want in on. Hmm, Gzaeogvaksksueks which is in the middle of the Vargr Extents. So Vargr it is. 

The system UWP is A52489A-6, an excellent port with a very thin, tainted atmosphere and hundreds of millions of people. Very strict law level but only TL-6, entering the nuclear age. Part of the Democracy of Greats in the Vargr Extents, where:
Piracy and privateer activity are mainstay staples of the Democracy of Greats, both inside and outside its borders.

Vargr Corsair it will be! Especially as rolling an 8 to get in meets the 7+ requirement. We can go as a raider, pilot or reaver, and so using a d3 roll of 1 for a 1, raider it is. Mongoose also introduced several subspecies of Vargr, and rolling a 3,2 on the d66 table, this is a regular Vargr. This adjusts the stats with +1 dexterity, and -1 to strength & endurance, giving us the UPP 899B87

Term 1 - Into the Underworld of Bad Doggies (18-22)

The 2e book did not mention basic/advanced training, so we'll just go with the jump into it with all four paws. Needing a a 7+ to survive, I roll a 9 so we live to tell another tail, err, tale. We do not advance in our Corsair Reaver career, but being a Raider gives an automatic skill, and I'll cycle through the tables.
  • Raider skill: Melee (Unarmed Combat-1)
  • Service Skill: 4 = Recon-1
An event of 8 means that our time in the underworld gives us a skill, and I'll choose Gun Combat (Slug-1). A 7 indicates we can continue our corsair career,

Term 2 - Territorial War (22-26)

An 8 means no mishaps, and a 5 is yet another failure to get promoted. We'll use the specialist table:
  • Specialist (Raider): 1 = Stealth-1
And a 9 on the event table lands us in the middle of a territorial war with another Corsair band. Needing an 8+ but having Gun Combat gives me that +1, I roll a 9 so success in beating them back! Gain +1 charisma, giving my UPP 899B88. A note on the Vargr character generation indicates the we should change careers when our charisma gets bumped as we want to lead the ack, and not stay in the current one. So we'll do that but use the draft table to see where we go: 3 = Army. So off to the Vargr Army of the Democracy of Greats. Rolling a d3 for which branch, rolling a 6 for a 3 means we're in support. Not too exciting but more likely to not get hurt,

Term 3 - We're in the Army now! (26-30)

Barely making my survival roll (the Army is tougher than it looks), I also barely make my rank roll, so now I am a Sergeant. And I get 2 skill rolls plus 2 skills for ranks:
  • Private rank skill Melee (Unarmed-1, Natural-1)
  • Service skill: Drive (Wheeled-1)
  • Advanced Education: 1 Comms-1
  • Specialist: Medic-1
A 5 on the event table  allows me to either take a +1 on a benefit roll or +1 charisma. Even for benefit, odd charisma: 3, so taking the charisma for a UPP of 899B89. Getting to be a leader of the pack! But it also means we may want to switch careers, or just leave now and go out & visit the world. So, unless I roll a 12 we'll muster out: 8, so let's get out before something bad happens!

Mustering Out

We have 2 rolls for the Corsairs, so 1 each for cash & benefit, and looking over the Army benefits, we'll see if we can get lucky there.
  • Corsair cash: 2 = Cr5,000
  • Corsair other: 1 = Ship Share
  • Army other: 1 = +1 Strength (not the armor I was looking for)

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