Freelance Traveller
[Editor's Note: This enhanced system requires that the user have the enhanced character generation sequence materials from either 'Classic' Traveller or MegaTraveller, as well as the character generation rules from Marc Miller's Traveller (T4)]
Let's face it, enhanced Traveller career resolution is fun. Damn fun. Indeed I would go as far to say that it is the most fun anyone can have in role playing character generation. Remember the elation of gaining a Starburst of Extreme Heroism and the curses that would spew forth on being court martialled? The giddy delights of gaining a vast amounts of skills upon going to Commando school and the horror of being transferred from Free Trader to a small merchant line?
But gosh darn it, T4 didn't have that. But, oh! how we liked the large jump in skill levels. If only there was some way to marry the two? Create a hybrid system that would deliver the extra skill levels, whilst providing the spills and thrills of enhanced character generation.
SKILL RESOLUTION FOR T4 ENHANCED CAREERS
- Roll 2D6 on the table below at the end of each assignment to determine the number of skill levels gained, applying DMs based on length of service in career, promotions gained and the no. required to gain the skill in CT or MT (e.g., MT characters on a Raid in the Army/Marine careers, gained a skill level on a 5+ on 2D6. In this system, the character gets a DM of +2. For assignments with automatic skills or which have the possibility of more than one skill being gained, see below).
- For assignments with 'automatic' skills (e.g., initial year of first term for army/marines have a skill level from Gun combat and a skill roll on MOS), do not award the automatic skills. Instead, roll as below but add a DM of +1 for each automatic skill. Apply skill levels gained to those automatic skills before rolling randomly for skill.
- If an assignment's (usually special duty) skill determination is based on a roll of n+ on D6 to gain a particular skill, subtract the amount required to gain the skill from 7, add the results together then divide by 6 (rounding up). The result is the DM to the skill roll. Characters can choose from those skills listed in the assignment instead of rolling randomly for skill (maximum of one level for each skill). For example, in CT/MT and undergoing commando school, a character can gain up to 10 skills on a roll of 5+ for each on D6. Subtracting 5 from 7 gives us two, multiplied by 10 gives us 20 and divided by 6 gives us 3.33, which is rounded up to 4.
- Once the number of skill levels has been determined, roll to determine the skill(s) gained. Given the possibility of half skill levels being gained, the player can add either a whole or half skill level after the actual skill has been determined.
SKILL LEVELS GAINED TABLE
| 2D6 | Skill Levels Gained1 | Generic DMs2 | Assignment DMs |
| 3- | 0 | +1 if term 1 | +2 if skill was gained on 5+ |
| 4-5 | 0.5 | +1 if promoted if officer | +1 if skill was gained on 6+ |
| 6-8 | 1 | +1 for first promotion of term if NCO | -1 if skill was gained on 9+ |
| 9-10 | 1.5 | -1 if term 4-5 | -2 if no skills could be gained |
| 11-12 | 2 | -2 if term 6-7 | |
| 13-14 | 2.5 | -3 if term 8+ | |
| 15+ | 3 |
- Half Skill levels: If at the end of character generation, a character has a total of half a skill level in a skill then he/she has level 0 in that skill. If they have skill level-1+ but have a half remainder, then indicate the skill in parentheses eg. 1.5 becomes (1), as the extra half will have no bearing on task determination. The up side is that it takes half the effort to go up the next skill level (given that many refs have their own system, talk it over with him/her).
- If the character is on a second career which is related to the first, then when working out DMs based on terms served, add the no. of term in previous related career divided by two (rounded down) to no. of terms in second career. For example, Navy and Marines would be related as both are both space and military careers. If the character served three terms in the navy before becoming a Marine, treat the character as having served the equivalent of (No. of Terms in Navy)/2 (rounded down), or one, term in the marines when he/she begins marine service (thus missing out on the +1 skill DM for first termers). This is due to the fact that some of what the character will experience in the new career, will have likewise been experienced in the old. It is also designed to hamper 'Min-Max' players who might continually swap careers to gain favourable skill DMs.
OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT RESOLUTION MODIFICATIONS
- For those special duties where the character did not roll for survival, promotion was assured or no promotion could be gained, consider making those rolls and possibly applying modifiers. For example, Specialist School had guaranteed survival, no promotion or decoration but a guaranteed skill level. In my system, I make a survival roll vs. training (because it is a 'training' assignment), likewise for promotion and add a skill DM of +1. I also have a decoration roll of 12+ and anyone who fails by 8 or more (i.e., rolls a four or less (4-)) does not get the brownie point for special duty as they have failed the course. In addition, if failed then they cannot take up the 'transfer branch' option. For the Army Special Duty of Attache, instead of a guaranteed promotion I have a DM of +3, and those promoted already that term can still make the roll. Also, skills on an Attache assignment can be gained with a Skill DM of -2 because I know for a fact, that being a DA is indeed a learning experience, typical skills being Admin, Diplomacy, Fast Talk, etc.
- If you wish to preserve the flavour of T4 of rolling n- as a target number instead of n+ as in CT/MT, simply reverse the numbers above/below 7 (e.g., if required 9+ in CT/MT to succeed at a roll, then in T4 roll 5-). And of course, apply DMs to the target number and not the result (except when determining skill levels).
- Given that T4 skills are a little different from MT and CT skills, use common sense to determine which skill has been gained (e.g., Persuasion in MT becomes Fast Talk in T4). For those T4 skills which are completely new, tack them into a suitable cluster (e.g., The MT Cascade of Environment (Environ?) becomes the Exploration cluster in T4 and as Perception did not exist back then, whack that sucker in here).
A Final Note...
I've tested this a number of times and while it does not deliver as many skill levels as T4 basic generation (especially as a character progresses in the one career), it comes pretty close. However, the flip-side is that all those delightful days of Enhanced Career resolution can be yours again.
Queries/comments/gripes/jellied gasolining/I've number crunched and you are wrong, wrong, wrong, please email me at michael.hughes@cbr.defence.gov.au