Going with mostly Traveller this challenge, with my self-prescribed sub-challenge to fit them all in a space station. Just because there needs to be a population there. So far, we've got an ex-SPA customs and security official taking a break and in pseudo-retirement, a noble trying to keep her yacht and working, a lecherous ex-Navy officer hanging around all too much near our noble lady, an insurgent hiding out and doing some odd jobs about the place, a belter who has fallen on some hard times, and an ex-pit crew mechanic also doing jobs about the place. Some even have some personality! Yeah, I am not great at portraying that well in games.
And these characters can be rolled back if you still need them in that position. Pandra could be the on-duty customs agent boarding your ship for an inspection, Phex could be staying at the station at one of the fancier places as his team is running space races. I just went through the entire process.
Anyway, rolling for stats and I get 985698. And an odd roll so a guy. Hmm, and if I roll a 5, Vargr, 6, Aslan. 3. Okay human. And what do we need on this station? Or he could just be passing through. I have again rolled up someone a bit stronger than average with below average dexterity, highly educated and moderate intelligence and social ranking. And what is a high port without a merchant? And of course, I have a wide variety of merchant characters, but for some reason Special Supplement 1, Merchant Prince, is on my pile (I was digging through my stuff as I like to do, and it was left out as my Traveller pile o'stuff is a bit cumbersome to get out & back in. As I recall, this was an insert in one of the JTAS. I really miss that sort of thing. While I got the 1st 6 volumes of the Mongoose version of JTAS (which is a lot of rehashed things from the original, and in my mind, far superior GDW Journals) it is not the same. And yes, I did back, for way too much money, the next round of Journals. Even Steve Jackson's Hexgram, while close, is not the same. I think it may be that marketing and how you buy things has changed. I've not been in the game shop in 2+ years. There is a new one I need to visit as well, so depending on the weather I may try this weekend as it is in a tiny town about 20 miles from my house. I should support local stores more than I do!
Anyway, back to our merchant. The first step is knowing the character's home world's port. And there are pre-enlistment options! A merchant academy, of which I've a less than 50% chance of getting into, and even less of success. Maybe the dice will favor me this evening! A 6, and no, the dice gods are, as always, against me. I age a year to 19 and will see if I can get into the merchants for a short 3-year term (they like the characters to age consistently. One of the things I'd house rule as really, the actual age does not matter other than for those dreaded aging rolls!)
Enlistment barely made it: needed a 7, rolled a 6 but I do get a +1 from my strength. While I'd like to assume that the merchants have a lot of automation, this was the 80s and well before a lot of the automation and powered equipment we take for granted was around. The fun of playing 40-year-old games! Next, determine what line I get into: sector, subsector, or free merchants. Think I'll go with a sector-wide line: they may have a contract with my high port. Which I really need to probably name. Next, I need to choose a department within that. The choices are engineering, pursers and deck. Interestingly they put trade and customer contact into the deck department. I would place it in the purser department so that they are more than just basically custodial staff. And they have to deal with people all day, so it seems a more natural fit to me (and this is also based on some conversations on COTI about who does look for cargo. Some excellent posts there!). Enlisted have no ranks, and I'll need to get a commission which looks to only be available if I get into officer school or special. While I don't necessarily want to end up with a character that has Steward-12, I've yet to generate a character as a purser so what the heck.
Term 1
Year 1: Route. No chance of dying on this safe trade route, nor any bonus (credits we gain during our years working for the man).
Skill roll: 10, so I get a skill. Plus, the 1st two years I get an extra roll as a sort of apprenticeship. Since that has to be on the service table, I'll choose the shipboard life for the second. Steward-1, Ship's Boat-1. He can now pilot the passenger shuttle and be very polite about it.
Year 2: Route.
Skill roll of 7 ensures I get a skill, plus my 2nd for the apprenticeship. Steward-2, Melee-1 from the merchant's life table. Some of those cargo docks can have a rough crowd.
Year 3: Special - Deck Department Training. I needed a 5+ to gain up to 4 skills. Not once did I roll a 5+.
And this ends the first term. At 22 he has had a pretty boring schedule, though he is now a pretty well-qualified steward. He may end up a gentleman's gentleman if all else. Perhaps the Lady Aidy needs a butler...
We make our reenlistment roll.
Term 2
Year 1: Route.
Skills. Now I roll a 12! Back to the merchant life and Brawling-1. He must be going to the seedier side of Startown!
Year 2: Route. Hopefully a different route.
Skills: a 9 says yes and picking the shipboard life I pick up Gambling-1. Yes, definitely hitting the seedier side of town.
Year 3: Route. Perhaps the sector-side merchant career is not as exciting as he could have hoped.
Skills: an 8 does give me a skill, and as I've not rolled on the department table, a 4 actually gives me Vacc Suit-1. That was unexpected but does fit in where this character seems to be going.
Year 4: Exploratory Trade! Something different finally.
Survive: need a 3+ and roll an 8, so good to go.
Bonus: need a 12, and a 3 does not quite make that.
Skills: need an 8, and a 5 equally does not make it. Apparently, it is easier to gain skills on the boring routes as you have more time to train. Exploratory routes there may just be too much going on.
We'll hope for a better 3rd term, and if not, will muster out to seek greener pastures.
Term 3
Year 1: Route.
Skills: make that roll, and a 5 on the merchant life grants me Gambling-2. Okay, that is actually a turn from where I thought he was going. Now he may end up a gambler, hitting the casinos all over the sector.
Year 2: Exploratory trade
Survive on an 8, no bonus (though I can add my +2 from steward 2 but still did not make it) and succeeded the skills roll. Shipboard life gives me Ship's Boat-2. A bit of a hotshot shuttle pilot.
Year 3: Speculative trade
Survival is automatic, a 6 and I still fail to garner any bonus, and another 6 yields no skills this year. Something different and it is still the same old thing.
Year 4 Route. Okay, this will be my last term, our steward is getting bored and going nowhere with the line.
Skill: a 6 on the merchant table and he picks up Streetwise-1. Yes, he is now your back-alley gambler, a rogue perhaps by any other name.
Mustering out
Picking cash and 2 benefits. And as I rolled a 6, and have gambling, picked up a tidy Cr50,000. The benefits were a +1 intelligence and a +2 education (that is a pretty big jump) giving me a UWP of 9857B8. He picked up a good education and more than just street smarts in his 12 years.
Dhani Golotov, 9857B8 3 term merchant purser, age 30
Steward-2, Ship's Boat-2, Gambling-2, Melee-1, Brawling-1, Vacc Suit-1
Raised in the arcology, Dhani was always comfortable in close surroundings. But watching the liners lift from the starport gave him wanderer's lust. His application to the merchant academy was refused, and while miffed, he still enlisted in the sector trade line that was based on his home planet. The next 12 years were rarely exciting. He mostly plied the standard routes but picked up skills. Bored by the routine, he started visiting the startowns' seedier sections when at ports that had them. He picked up street skills as well as some ability to protect himself. His one stint at higher education for training did not take. For two years he was on exploratory trade missions, visiting new systems for the line. He was a shuttle pilot for one of the missions and improved his flight skills. His final term was as boring as the others despite a year doing speculative trading. Deciding he would be better off on his own as he was getting nowhere, he tendered his reservation at the high port, and checked into a tube room while he ponders the next steps to take. He does visit the casinos on the main concourse, and waves at the pretty datagirls at the Documat as he walks by. He has let his hair grow out and favors the ornate clothing of his home world. While not practical in ship, it fits his flamboyant style.
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