Session 0 Character Creation Thread

Okay, the way that Traveller works is that you will choose a career that you will attempt to enter. If you make it, you continue in that career until you are forced out or decide to leave of your own volition. You may then either attempt to enter another career or begin play. If you fail to enter your chosen career field, you may try another or submit to the draft, in which case you will randomly determine which service you enter.

Quite often (as in real life), your career will not go the way that you planned and you will have to take another option. Such is part of the fun of Traveller. In the original Traveller, it used to be that getting ejected from a career often meant death. Mongoose softened that blow somewhat (but you can still suffer serious injury).

After you have all been through your careers, we will be picking from a list of extra skills appropriate to the genre, just to ensure that your group isn't completely crippled (in case no one becomes a pilot, for example, Pilot will appear on the skill list).

Unlike a lot of games, where you begin as a rank amateur, in Traveller, you have already lived part of your life. What age you begin at is up to you (determined by how many terms you take). The more terms you take, the more skills (and the more benefits) you can earn, but... if you remain in the workforce too long, you stand a risk of losing physical attributes due to ageing (and of course, there is always the possibility of injury). You decide how much risk you wish to take.

As a matter of practicality, I recommend that no one go over six terms in any one career. Each term is four years long, and ageing rolls begin at age 34 (your character begins at 18 years of age). Staying in for more than six terms really stretches believability (a two-star general has decided to leave retirement and go adventuring?).

On Aliens
If anyone desires such, there are two alien races that you can play; the Vargr and the Aslan.

Aslan
The Aslan are the youngest of the great powers, an expansionist race of feuding clans and predatory warriors, eager to seize all the universe has to offer. Aslan are descended from four-limbed carnivorous pouncer stock which was originally near the top of the food chain in the forests of their homeworld, Kusyu. True to their pouncer ancestry, Aslan are capable of short bursts of speed somewhat greater than that manageable by humans. They also have slightly superior hearing and night vision. Otherwise, they are one of the most human-like of all alien races, excepting, of course, the Vargr (who are, after all, genetically altered mammalian stock originally from Earth).

Early Terran explorers regarded the Aslan as ‘lion-like', and the simile has stuck ever since, although the Aslan bear only a passing resemblance to terrestrial lions. Nonetheless, this early misnomer has influenced a great deal of human thinking about the Aslan, including terminology (the use of pride to translate ahriy, for instance) and ascribed behaviour – which is not at all leonine.

Vargr
The Vargr are the only major race to have been uplifted by the Ancients, a fact that the Vargr are extremely proud of. They are typically seen by other races as aggressive pirates and scavengers but the Vargr actually have a diverse culture that is deeply rooted in their pack mentality and the desire for companionship, charisma and loyalty. Their constant struggle for charisma and leadership results in a culture fuelled by conflict and change.

The Vargr are descended from carnivore/chaser stock; genetically engineered by the Ancients circa –300,000 from the genus Canis. The carnivores were transplanted from Terra to Lair/Grnouf in the Provence sector. The Vargr bear a close resemblance to their canine ancestry, as can be seen by their muzzle, tail and fur, though several anatomical modifications were made by the Ancients to the canine body structure. Vargr adopt a digitigrade stance (putting their weight on their toes rather than the soles of their feet) and many have a slight stoop.

My rolls were 12/11/11/7/5/3

I'm going to put my stats as 12 Dexterity 11 Strength 11 Intelligence 7 Endurance 5 Education 3 Society.

Rolling to see if I can become a pirate. *rolls dice*

As soon as everyone has generated their attributes, we'll continue. In the meantime, everyone needs to think about their background.

You get a number of background skills equal to your 3 +/- your EDU modifier. You may choose from the following skills: Admin 0, Advocate 0, Animals 0, Art 0, Athletics 0, Broker 0, Carouse 0, Comms 0, Computer 0, Drive 0, Electronics 0, Engineer 0, Flyer 0, Gun 0, Language 0, Mechanic 0, Medic 0, Profession 0, Science 0, Seafarer 0, Streetwise 0, Survival 0, Trade 0, Vacc Suit 0, Watercraft 0, Zero-G 0.

Remember that a 0 in a skill represents that you are trained and have proficiency in that skill.

You also need to consider the route that you are going to attempt: either a career, university, a military academy, or the Draft.

I think I'll go 6/6/6/8/A/4.

Are we restricted to the list you put up, or can we take from anything in the SRD? I was thinking of taking Engineering, Mechanics, and a Gun specialization of some sort to start with, but I don't see Engineering and gun Combat on your list.

A 0-level skill is just that. Specialization doesn't begin until you reach level 1 in a skill. I have edited and expanded the skill list available. Ordinarily, you would randomly create your homeworld (or choose from a list I provide) and that would determine some of your skills, but I decided not to burden you guys with that. Also, different SRDs offer different skills available as background skills, but I think I have them all consolidated now.

Hey Everyone, new player joining.

I'm completely new to Gamers Plane, so apologies in advance if I mess things up ;-)

Oh, question to the GM, Are we using Mongoose Traveller v1. v2, Cepheus? (Edit: Assuming MgTv2 because of the Military Academy)

Roll Result:
6, 6, 7, 7, 9, 10

Could be worse.

Okadokay. I''m gonna distribute my rolls like this:

STR 5 | -1
DEX 7 | +0
END 6 | +0
INT 9 | +1
EDU 7 | +0
SOC 7 | +0

Skills:
Gun 0
Survival 0
Admin 0

Presenting Sophia Nudanaga.
A young woman from a wooded planet called Yahoon. She lives a decent life on a large scale agricultural facility, owned by her father
From childhood on she wanted nothing more than to be a space marine. Unfortunatly though her inspiration for becoming a space marine mainly comes from the many books she read. She never really physically prepared herself for the career and as she looked at the application requirements for the military acadamies' space marine branch she knew that she probably wouldn't make it. So she chooses to apply to the second best option: the navy

---

Apparently reading novels about daring space marines isn't the best preparation for the military academy. She should've tried to read more technical books but so her answer to the question what the main characteristic of the SFPP-261 fusion reactor is was: It goes boom when you hit it with a rifle
Looks like Sophia has to look for another career. Maybe she finds a job that makes her travel with a starship

Str: 6 0
Dex: 7 0
End: 9 +1
Edu: 6 0
Int: 7 0
Soc: 10 +1

Background Skills (3+0):
Admin - 0
Electronics - 0
Carouse - 0

Presenting: Aleksis Dempster Scott
Born as the youngest son of a Minor noble on the planet of Darluge, Aleksis' childhood was one of luxury and impossible expectations. At-least for Aleksis to meet. Doing average in school, even with the help of a squad of private teachers, he was never the quick learner and avoided study as much as possible. He was quite good in physical exercises, and loved having a good time with friends. While expected to go to the military academy, Aleksis declined, much to the utter disappointment of his father, and went decided to apply for the Marines directly, becoming one of the many hopeful recruits of the Star Marines.

---

Term 1: 18-22 Years of Age

Being accepted into the Marines, Aleksis went through basic like the rest of the grunts, picking up some useful skills

Atheltics - 0
Vacc Suit - 0
Tactics - 0
Heavy Weapons - 0
Gun Combat - 0
Stealth - 0

Enlisted - Gun Combat - 1

And after basic training he was assigned to the security staff of a space station. This meant long ours of standing guard and patrolling in armoured suits, causing him to become quite familiar them (Vacc Suit 1).
Being a bright and ambitious young Star Marine, he applied for officer status, as befitting of origin. Whether through his family name, his charming personality, influence of his father or just plain luck, they did commission him to officer status, becoming a lieutenant (Leadership - 1).

Connection StevetheNPC: Leadership - 2

Admin - 0
Electronics - 0
Carouse - 0
Atheltics - 0
Vacc Suit - 1
Leadership - 1
Tactics - 0
Heavy Weapons - 0
Gun Combat - 1
Stealth - 0

Assigning attributes, having a career with the Scouts in mind, hence the 9 (+1) in Endurance for the survival rolls.

Str: 7
Dex: 8
End: 9 (+1)
Edu: 7
Int: 6
Soc: 5 (-1)

Background skills: Comms 0, Survival 0, Vacc Suit 0

Anton Perkins

Anton had a pretty dull childhood. Growing up in a mining colony on a airless world means there are almost no opportunities to "go outside and play." Watching the vids was his main escape from boredom. He especially liked the program Dustin Walker: Frontier Explorer, which dramatized the life of a Scout out on the edge of known space. Imagine, flying across the galaxy to the far reaches of space, exploring new worlds! Excitement! Danger! Anton knew exactly what he wanted to do as soon as he could get off this lifeless rock that he was stuck on.

So i'll go with

6/6/6/8/A/4.

With the background skills of
Engineering
Mechanics
Zero-G
Gun

I'm a little confused on how the Career system tables work, though admittedly I haven't had a lot of time to study them yet. Would anyone mind giving me a bit of a walkthrough? I was thinking of trying to go the Technician route, for a few terms.

For generic careers (as in, not the university or military academy), you have a qualification roll to get into the career, if you get into it, you have a survival roll to see if you make the full term, then, if this is NOT your first term) you roll for which skill you learn. If it IS your first term, you learn the skills in the service skills column at level 0.

Finally you roll to see which event marked this term.

Edit:
Your second term in the same career does not require a qualification roll.
If you fail on your survival roll, you roll on the mishap table, and exit the career (unless the mishap says otherwise).
If you exit a career for whatever reason, you roll for benefits for each term in that career, and an additional amount depending on your final rank:
rank 1+2 => +1 roll
rank 3+4 => +2 rolls
5+6 terms => +3 rolls and +1 to each roll.

University and Military Academy are very similar to normal careers, but you get different benefits. And depending on how well you graduate, may allow you to have an easier time on your next career, if it is in-line with what you just graduated from. I can expand if you want on this ;-).

First term: 18-22

Being rejected by the military academy Sophia was somewhat disillusioned and therefore chose to persue another career path than the military.
When she saw an ad for the "Surveyors of the Galaxy"-company she knew which career to take.
She went to their office and took an entry exam...

[Qualification roll successful]

...which she managed to pass. Sophia Nudanaga - Junior Surveying Assisstant! She was assigned the scout ship "Ever Taken" and flew away to far away worlds. She was last in the corporate ladder and thus always was assigned the most dangerous and menial tasks like cleaning the ship, being lowered into shafts and caves first, keeping the tools in working condition and maneuvering small craft for docking.
Even though those all were not the most exciting tasks she managed to learn a lot

Basic training - Sophia gains the following skills:
Pilot - 0
Mechanic - 0
Astrogation - 0
Vacc Suit - 0
Gun Combat - 0
[Survival roll successful]
Nevertheless she managed to keep herself healthy and had no major accident during her first years of service for the "Surveyors of the Galaxy"
[Event roll result - Roll on the life event table]
[Life event - Birth or Death]
Unfortunatly though her father died due to an unfortunate accident. Her brother inherited the company. He would've offered her a job but Sophia was determined to stay among the stars.

Sophia rolls on the Surveyor skill table and gains the skill:
Electronics - 1


Career advancement skill roll successful. Sophia is Rank 1 scout and gains the skill:
Vac Suit - 1
During her four years she became something of an expert in repairing the sensors of the ship. Half the time onboard the ship she was crawling all over it in her Vac Suit and recalibrated or repaired the sensors.
Due to her great work she was promoted to scout and signed another four year contract to work with the company.

Term 2: 22-26 Years of age

Gambler - 1

Chosen for a secret infiltrate mission, Lieutenant Aleksis Scott led a small team against a Pirate Base. However, the pirates were tipped and the mission is a failure, with most of the team being captured, including Aleksis. After being held and tortured for a month by the enemy, specifically certain cruel Thomas Blunt (Enemy), Aleksis rescued but the pirate base has been evacuated by that point and the mission a complete failure. Aleksis is being discharged with honours due to his injuries (-1 Str, -1 Dex).

Although part of the medical costs are being paid for by the marines, Aleksis is unlucky part of the medical costs fall outside of their purview and falls unto Aleksis himself (75% * 10.000 = 7500 Being paid by the Marines, leaving 2500 Debt)

However his platoon does chip in and grant him a TAS membership and a TL12 Stunner.

I am really sorry, I missed the invite. I am here now to roll my stats. I am not sure of careers yet.

OK, I will reroll the 3

Strength - 7
Dexterity - 7
Endurance - 8
Intelligence - 8
Education - 11
Social Standing - 8

Born to a wealthy family went to university then became a reporter (if that is even an option), then one term as a merchant.

Language - 0
Broker - 0
Profession - 0 (merchant)
Carouse - 0


What do I need to roll.
How do you get hack of all trades
I would like to roll for planet, if you don't mind. What do I roll? I will add a % roll and a 2d6 roll just in case.

Starting Stats: 6/6/6/8/A/4.
Current Stats: 4/4/4/8/A/4.

Background Skills:
Engineering 0
Mechanics 0
Zero-G 0
Gun Combat 0


Term 1 (18-22 y.o.)
Career Attempted: Technician - Failed to Qualify
Submit to Draft: Marines
Basic Training Skills: Vacc Suit 0, Athletics 0, Gun Combat 0, Recon 0, Melee 0, Heavy Weapons 0
Survival: Failed.
Mishap: injured
Injury: Nearly killed (Str -5, Dex -2, End -2) New stats 1448A4
Seeking medical care to bring STR back up to 4 (Cr 15,000)
Medical Treatment Coverage: 75% (Medical debt Cr3,750)
New Stats: 4448A4
Muster out Material Benefits: Mid Passage

Ok, found the rules, I think I can do the university part myself.
I am taking Astrogation at 0 and medic at 1 if I get in. Need a 7

Ok I did not get in. Now I am not sure where I go from here.

@luctius: That chart is perfect for our needs.

@StevetheNPC: Go ahead and throw 2 dice (2d6) to see if you get into the Scouts. Don't forget to add your INT modifier as a DM. You need a 5 or higher.

@Machiabelly: Having failed to make the qualifications for University, you may choose to enter a career, become a Drifter, or submit the Draft.

@JabBurrwalky: Your draft roll indicates that you will be drafted into the Army! You gain the following skills in basic training: Drive or Vacc Suit (your choice) 0, Athletics 0, Gun Combat 0, Recon 0, Melee 0, Heavy Weapons 0. If you already have one of these, it does not increase!

Ok. I am going to do entertainer (journalist) twice. Then profession (commerce in some way)