Freelance Traveller

A Criminal Extended Career for Classic Traveller

by Thomas Barnes

Editor’s Note: This career was originally posted to the Traveller Mailing List in 2002. It has been edited for terminology, clarity, and organization for its appearance in the March/April 2025 issue of Freelance Traveller.

Criminals live a life on the wrong side of the law by calculation and by choice. Rogues have a disdain for the conventions of society and will occasionally cross over the line into lawbreaking, but criminals have decided that their own best interest is served by consistently illegal behavior. This article is intended to present a set of rules for generating such characters.

Becoming a Criminal

Not all characters are temperamentally suited to being criminals. Characters who fail to qualify for this career may attempt to qualify for the Rogue or Drifter careers (in Mongoose Traveller) or Other career (in Classic Traveller and MegaTraveller) before submitting to the draft.

Characters may become criminals before attaining their majority, usually by joining gangs. Roll for qualification normally, but if the qualification succeeded only if DMs applied, reduce the character’s age to 14, and subtract 2 from EDU (representing leaving school before completion).

Example: Juseppy (769685) thinks he can make a good criminal. His player rolls 2D for 5, DM +1 because of SOC 5, and an additional DM +2 because END 9. Juseppy can become a criminal, but since his success at qualifying was only because of applying DMs, he reduces his UCP to 769665 (EDU –2) and age to 14.

What Kind of Criminal?

Broadly speaking, there are three levels at which a character may be involved with criminal activity:

• Independent: The character operates without confederates or organizational direction; targets may be selected on the basis of opportunity or emotion, with limited planning.
• Gang: The character is a member of a group that operates in mutual support. Some advanced planning and attention to needs/desires over time will occur, but ad-hoc actions and crimes of opportunity are still common. Gangs operate over a limited territory, and are prone to internal reorganization and membership flux based on personalities.
• Organized/Syndicate: The character is a member of a well-organized group with a well-defined hierarchy. Ad-hoc activity is essentially non-existent; actions are planned with an eye toward the long-term survival of the organization. It is likely that the organization has some “legitimate” activities that can be used to “cover” similar or related illegal activities, such as running a legal casino to hide an illegal gambling operation.

To determine what sort of criminal activity the character will be involved with initially, roll 2D against the Organization Level table. If the character’s age was reduced to 14, treat any result of 10 or 11 as “Gang”, not “Organized/Syndicate”. Note that events during career resolution may move the character into a different organizational level.

Resolving the Career

The first year of a Criminal’s career is spent learning the ropes of the underworld. The character is awarded Streetwise 1 and one skill rolled on the appropriate column of the Organization Skills table.

For the second and all following years, roll for an annual assignment on the Annual Assignment table. The result doesn’t indicate exclusive activity, but represents where the character’s criminal activities tend to focus.

The types of crime are described below; note that these are general descriptions which may include activities that would not necessarily be called by the same names in law.

• Arson: the deliberate destruction of property, whether for pay, insurance fraud or to support extortion. Generally involves setting fires (to minimize the chance of leaving evidence) but does not require it.
• Black Marketing: selling merchandise of whatever type in violation of the law. Includes selling illegal goods, or legal goods without paying required taxes and fees, and also covers ‘fencing’, (buying or selling goods acquired through larceny or hijacking to a middleman).
• Bookmaking: running an illegal gambling operation.
• Extortion: extracting money from a person or organization by threats and intimidation.
• Fraud: stealing money by deceit. This can include the creation and ‘passing’ of forged documents.
• Hijacking: stealing or misdirecting vehicles for the purpose of misappropriating their cargoes. The ‘cargo’ may include people aboard the vehicle (in which case it includes or morphs into ‘kidnapping’, and piracy is a version of this.
• Kidnapping: abducting persons and demanding a ransom for their safe return.
• Murder: killing, either for hire or to eliminate enemies of the organization. 
• Robbery: stealing money or goods by force.
• Smuggling: moving goods (which may include people) across borders without paying the required duties, or importing illegal goods.

If Transfer Up is rolled, then the character has joined the next higher level of criminal activity (independent to gang, gang to organized); if Transfer Down is rolled, the reverse has occurred. In either case, reroll that year’s assignment (ignoring a result of Transfer Up or Transfer Down).

If Special is rolled, then that year’s assignment is determined by a roll on the Special Assigment table:

• New Identity: the character hides his criminal past behind a new identity. Reroll the character’s SOC on 2d6-2. The new SOC may not be lower than the character’s original SOC. If the character is Caught after receiving a New Identity, then the character’s previous convictions are not considered in sentencing.
• Bodyguard: the character serves directly under a criminal leader. Increase the character’s SOC by 1. The character may choose their next assignment instead of rolling on the Annual Assignment table, but may not choose Transfer (either direction) or Special.
• Bureaucracy, Pirate, or Business Connection: the character is closely involved in criminal activity connected with the indicated organization. Roll 1d6 for the skill received. At the end of the current term, the character may choose to attempt to join the respective career with DM+2 for Enlistment/Qualification
• Inform: the character provides information about criminal activities to the authorities in exchange for more lenient treatment. Reroll this year’s assignment on the Annual Assignment table; ignore and reroll a result of Special. For the remainder of the current term, the character has a -1 DM to Survival and a -2 DM to Caught throws on the Assignment Resolution table.

Resolve each year’s assignment is by rolling 2d6 up to four times on the indicated column of the Assignment Resolution table to determine the chance of Survival, being Caught, accumulating a Stash, and receiving a Skill. A DM of +1 is allowed on the Survival throw if the character’s END is 9+, and +1 if the character’s DEX is 9+. A DM of +1 to the Caught throw is allowed if the character’s INT is 9+. At the end of each term (4 years), roll on the Continuation table to determine if the character will remainin the criminal career. Failing this roll indicates that the character has had a change of heart, and wants to “go straight”. An unmodified roll of 12 indicates that someone “has something” on the character (e.g., blackmail material), and the character must remain in the criminal career.

If the Survival throw is failed, then the character has either been killed during the commission of a criminal act, or has been caught and received a death sentence.

If the Caught throw is failed, the character has been apprehended and successfully prosecuted. In this case, do not make Stash or Skill throws. Instead, follow the instructions below (Prison Time) for resolving a prison term. Note that the year for which the assignment is being resolved counts as the first year of the prison sentence.

If the Stash throw is a success, then the character accumulates a sum of money from his criminal activities. For each successful Stash roll, roll once on the Cash column of the Mustering Out table; if the character has Gambling 1+, DM +1 is permitted.

If the Skill throw is a success, then the character may roll for a skill on either the Organization Skills table or the Assignment Skills table, on the column appropriate to either the branch or type of crime. A DM of +2 is allowed on the Organization Skills table if the character is in their third or subsequent term.

Prison Time

When a Caught throw is failed, the character is sent to prison for a time. Consult the Prison Sentence table to determine the length of the sentence and the effect on the character’s SOC according to how may times the character has been Caught. A prison sentence of one year or less takes up the remainder of the current year. A character’s SOC may not be reduced below 1.

After determining the length of the sentence, throw 2d6 on the Prison Type table to determine the type of prison to which the character is sent to serve their sentence:

• Minimum Security: Prisoners are monitored, and possessions restricted, but socialization among the prisoners is permitted, and under some circumstances prisoners may be allowed to work in the wider community under supervision.
• Work Camp: Prisoners are monitored and compelled to public service in which group isolation can be maintained, such as construction of highways and railroads, or clearing of unimproved land for later use. Prisoners are allowed limited socialization. A group working on a specific project may be required to reside on the project site, under monitoring and in semi-primitive conditions, for the duration of the project.
• Cells: Prisoners are kept within the confines of the facility at all times. Possessions are restricted, and most activities (including limited time for socialization) are scheduled. Except for meals and scheduled activities, individual isolation is maintained.
• Maximum Security: Monitoring is continuous and possessions severely restricted. Individual isolation is maintained essentially full-time.
• “Devil’s Planet”: Effectively a minimum-security facility, but prison staff may be chosen for brutality/sadism/abusiveness, and the location, while technically habitable, may be inimical to survival. Transportation of goods, staff, or prisoners is managed such that the inmates will have no chance to escape the facility or region.

While the character is in prison, normal terms and re-enlistment do not apply. The character must stay in prison until the sentence is completed, the character is paroled or the character escapes. When the character gets out if prison, that ends the current term even if it causes the term to be longer or shorter than the usual 4-year term length. Aging throws are always based on the character's actual age.

Each year in Prison is resolved with three two-dice throws on the Prison Annual Resolution table:

• Survival: Failing the survival roll represents the character being killed, generally by abuse by other prisoners or prison staff, but possibly by overwork if in a work camp. Characters with STR 9+ have DM +1 for this throw.
• Parole: If this roll succeeds, the character is released on condition of subsequent good behavior. For the purposes of character generation, such release ends the term, and the character must roll for continuation or muster out. Characters with SOC 6+ have DM +1 for this throw; characters with SOC 1 have DM –2. A character sentenced to “Devil’s Planet” may not be paroled, and should not make this roll.
• Skill/Escape: Before making this roll, the player must declare whether the character is attempting to escape, or opting for gaining a skill. Successful Escape requires the character to muster out immediately; the referee determines subsequent events as the character is an escaped convict. Characters with Intrusion skill have DM +1 to escape. If the player opts for gaining a skill, success grants a roll on the Prison column of the Organization Skills table. Characters with EDU 8+ have DM +1 to gain a skill.

At the end of each term, the character may choose to attempt to continue in the career by throwing two dice on the Continuation table. A DM of +2 is allowed if the character has any skill listed on the Organization Skills or Assigment Skills tables at level 3 or more, and a DM of -1 is imposed per previous Conviction.

A Criminal character is permitted one throw per term on the Mustering Out table. Either Material Benefits or Cash Benefits may be thrown for, except that a maximum of three throws for Cash are allowed. (Throws on this table for Stash are not counted.) A DM of +1 on Material Benefits throws is allowed if the character served three or more terms. A DM of +1 on Cash throws is allowed if the character has Gambling skill. The Material Benefits that may be obtained include:

• Lockpicks: a set of (usually illegal) tools for opening locks without a key. TL per homeworld TL or determined by the referee.  Lockpicks allow a +4 DM to any use of the Intrusion skill to open a lock of the same TL. Weight 0.5Kg, cost KCr 1×TL. 
• Forgery Kit: a kit (usually illegal) for making unauthorized reproductions of documents.  TL per homeworld TL or determined by the referee. A Forgery Kit allows a +4 DM to the Forgery skill to forge documents of the same TL.  Weight 2.5Kg, cost KCr5×TL.
• Starship: an equity interest in a starship, type and condition to be determined by the referee. This benefit indicates a 20% equity, the remaining equity held by partners, a criminal organization or a bank. Thus, this benefit must be rolled five times to obtain free-and-clear title to a ship.