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.
3 comments:
I'm kind of iffy on her being a Reservist still. She's been medically retired, so I'd make an argument the Marines wouldn't want to keep her on the rolls, but the way the rules are, it's ambiguous.
Of course, in the modern US Naval services, an enlisted member who completes twenty years is transferred to the Fleet Reserve, and is then moved to the Retired Reserve thirty years after beginning service.
Congrats on finishing up the challenge!
yeah, I wavered on the reserves but as her primary skill was leadership, figured it was possible. And while there are notes about disability mustering out, there is nothing that indicates this prevents the Marine from going into the reserves.
A lot of the rules in T5 are open to a bit of conjecture (well, true of most RPGs and games in general). Sort of frustrating as this was the 3rd version of T5.
And thanks Chimerical Realm - I did have to cheat as there was a lot actually going on in January so the weekends were used to get ahead.
I think there is an A-Z challenge coming up at some point, so there are a few days I can miss! Plus it will allow me to get back to map making and other things.
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