Playing with myself
Getting into Classic Traveller
oldhawkeyes has been preaching the gospel of Classic Traveller on the gay beholder discord and his blog for a while now. Since D&D was cancelled tonight, I decided to get my feet wet and play some CT solo - that is, by generating a character using the lifepath system presented in CT '77. I'm not completely unfamiliar with it. I got the three little black books, although I have mostly read Book 3: Worlds and Adventures. I'm also familiar with Any Planet is Earth (APIE), which simplifies/streamlines the lifepath system of CT. I sat down with some dice, paper and pencils and Book 1. So here he is, my first character in Classic Traveller:
Gunnar Gunnarsonson
I rolled my UPP, ending up with 97B849.
Looking at his UPP, Gunnar Gunnarsonson seems like quite an able character, even though he lacks formal education. His Intelligence is high enough for him to be very aware of that, and in my mind, he’s the kind of guy that has to make up for that by pursuing a career that signals competence and grit. He tries to enlist in the marines and passes effortlessly (10+3)
He survives his enlistment (10) and is not only commissioned (10), but also promoted (10+1) to Captain within his first four years. He receives basic combat training with the with the rifle and dagger. His strength improves (+1) after boot camp and he learns how to pilot ATVs (ATV-1).
Gunnar’s success makes him hungry for more, so he reenlists (11). This time, however, things are tougher. He sees his first combat. He’s bruised, but thanks to his newfound Dexterity (+1) and skill with the bayonet (Bayonet-1), he manages to survive (7). He gets promoted to Force Commander for his abilities on the battlefield (11+1) and chooses to reenlist (11).
This time around, things are pretty easy (survival: 9), but Gunnar gets bored and gets into the occasional brawl with other marines (Brawling-1). His superiors take notice of his lack of discipline, which nets him a term without promotion. Unsatisfied with how things turned out, he decides to be more careful in the future and reenlists once more (8).
Gunnar’s discipline is still lacking, but his fights are quick and dirty (Brawling-2) and nobody dares to snitch on him. He learns to operate in Vacc suit (Vac-1) and gets a promotion (9+1) to Lt. Colonel.
Motivated by his most recent promotion, he reenlists once more (6), although he barely makes it this time. It’s another quiet four years and he passes his time gambling (Gambling-1) instead of fighting. Not achieving much, he does not get another promotion.
He decides to reenlist for a final time1 (8), wanting to gain another rank before retiring. Although he gains more experience on the battlefield (+1 Endurance), he doesn’t earn another promotion. Even though he's over forty by now, he decides to try one last time before retiring.
In his final term, his expertise with ATVs (ATV-2) nets him his promotion (8+1) to colonel. There is no combat, but his new responsibilities make him tougher nonetheless (+1 Endurance). Even though he’s sure he could easily have reenlisted for another term (6) the Marines force him to retire at the age of 46.
He’s learned a lot in the last 28 years. In addition to his already formidable combat skills with the rifle, bayonet and dagger, he’s also a good shot with the revolver (Revolver-1) and knows how to slice and dice with a cutlass (Cutlass-1). His time in the marines made him even sharper (3 times Intel + 2!) than before and his lack of education no longer bothers him. He leaves with quite the bonus, netting him 50k in funds (2x 20k, 1x 10k) and a membership in the Traveller’s Aid Society. The marines pay him an annual pension of CR 8000. He is also knighted by the [relevant imperial or planetary authority) allowing him to call himself Sir (+2 Social).
But he's not the young man he once was. He notices some stiffness in his joints and the occasional aches and pains(-1 Strength, Dexterity and Endurance). Sometimes when he wakes up, he feels that a night's rest is no longer enough to prepare him for the strains of another day.2
After all those years, Sir Gunnar Gunnarsonson steps out of an unfamiliar starport, ready for adventure.
Final character: Sir Gunnar Gunnarsonson, Age 46, UPP 97CE4B, CR 50000 in his pockets
Brawling-2
Gambling-1
Dagger-1
Rifle-1
Bayonet-1
Revolver-1
Cutlass-1
ATV-2
Vac-1
Annual pay: CR 8000
Concluding thoughts
This was a ton of fun. It was much more fun than I remember the lifepath system in APIE being. I got super greedy, trying for reenlistment every time. I rolled a five for survival on my second term and only survived thanks to the dice modifier of +2, which made the following survival rolls even more exciting. I hoped to get an aging marine in his late 40s and I got one.
I think it could've been even more fun if I had some setting material - a sector, a few worlds, or a broader game world - prepared beforehand that could have given more context to his bio.
Social standing is interesting. Miller describes titles as hereditary, but why not make honours such as knighthoods something characters can earn, similar to promotions? Even more prestigious titles could be explained through marriage or adoption. Or what would a character with social standing of 12 do in the army?
Yesterday, I was reading through City State of the Invincible Overlord, which includes social levels that influence how you do before court, that is, your social level even influences what kind of court will judge you. This gave me ideas about how social status could be used besides PC-NPC interactions.
I'll toy around with the sector generator next, which was the thing that excited me the most about CT '77. If time permits, I'll generate a small sector, planets and patrons to try out a little solo play. CT seems like a good choice for a first solo experience.