CHARACTER CREATION CHALLENGE 2023: Classic Traveller (1 of 6)
THE GAME: Traveller (1977)
The Classic Traveller Boxed Set (1977)
Photo by Wayne’s World of Books
Traveller. Where you can die in character creation. That’s usually the first thing non-Traveller players seem to learn about Traveller. And yes, using the 1977 books, that’s true. The current Traveller books from Mongoose Publishing, now in a revised second edition (2022) change the mortality factor into injury, but way back when the game debuted character creation popularized the sort of process we now call “Life Path” and introduced the world to characters who aren’t necessarily “first level.” In Traveller, you generate your character. Stats are rolled, then you attempt to pick up a career, and everything is random. If you fail to get into your chosen career, you’re drafted into a random service. Service happens in four-year terms, and during each term you will roll for survival, skills gained, and if the service has a ranked hierarchy, promotion. Military services allow a roll to gain an officer’s commission. The older a character gets, the more they risk a degradation of their characteristics as they age. But, the longer you stay in your career, the more benefits you’ll accrue when you muster out of service, or actually retire if you spend 20+ years in the career.
All six characters in this party will be generated using Classic Traveller books - today’s character will use the 1977 Book 01 - Characters and Combat. Future characters will showcase the advanced character creation from books like Book 04 - Mercenary and Book 05 - High Guard, and maybe a class or two from the vastly expanded selection in Supplement 04 - Citizens of the Imperium. For the purposes of these articles, we will be rolling raw dice, and allowing dice to determine everything possible, only making choices when the game does not prescribe random results.
Traveller Character Creation Generation
Generate Characteristics
Roll to enter Career
Terms of Service
Another term? Go to 3.
Muster Out/Retire
Step 1: Generate Characteristics
This is one of my favorite parts of Traveller. A character has six characteristics rated 1-15, with 7 being average. Numbers 10 and above are expressed as letters in a pseudo-hexidecimal fashion. So a Strength of 10 would be A, a Social Standing of 12 would be C. Being able to express characteristics in single characters means they can be strung together in a given order to express the “Universal Personality Profile” of six characters. So, the order is Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Intelligence, Education, and Social Standing. A character who is average in everything but has a high Dexterity would have a UPP of 7A7777.
So, let’s roll our UPP: AB4A69.
OK, so our traveller is strong, quick, but has low endurance. Smart, slightly lacking in education but not terribly so, and upper class but not noble. Let’s give them a name - I roll even to determine a female character, and run over to Fantasy Name Generator to grab a name. Randomly rolling, we get a Shona name, a people from Zimbabwe. Our character’s name is Tapiwa Ndlovu.
Step 2: Career
There are six careers available in the 1977 Book 01. Navy, Marines, Army, Scouts, Merchants, and Other. Each has an enlistment roll, and characteristic scores that will add bonuses to that roll. Taking a look at Tapiwa’s characteristics, we see that she has an advantageous intelligence to get into the Navy, but lacks the Education for the bigger bonus. The Marines appreciate her intelligence as well, and her Strength would net her a further +2, for a total of +3 to get into the Marines. The Army values Dexterity and Endurance, only one of which Tapiwa possesses in high enough quantity to qualify for the bonus. The Scouts value both Strength and Intelligence, gaining her a +3 there as well. The Merchants appreciate Strength and Intelligence as well, and Tapiwa qualifies for the full +3.
So, after modifiers, the numbers for enlistment on 2d6 would look like this: Navy 7+, Marines 6+, Army 4+, Scouts 4+, Merchants 4+. She could also opt to join the Other career on a roll of 3+. I’m thinking Tapiwa is leaning toward the Merchant service, as it’s less combat-oriented, and her low Endurance may not be as much of a liability. Out of curiosity I roll a d6 on the Draft line and it comes up 5 - Merchants. So I guess fate agrees with me. Tapiwa will try to join the Merchants, attempting to throw -in Traveller, rolling the dice is called a throw- 4+. Wow. Boxcars. I just wasted a 12 on a 4 or better, but she’s now a member of the Merchant Service.
Steps 3 and 4: Terms of Service
Tapiwa must throw 3+ to survive her term, 5+ but with a bonus of +2 for her Intelligence. 8. She survives her first term. She attempts to gain an officer’s commission in the Merchant Service, and must throw 3+, a base of 4+ with +1 for her Intelligence. 7. Congratulations, 4th Officer Ndlovu! To be promoted, she must throw 10+, modified by +1 for her Intelligence, and throws 7. No promotion. Now she rolls to see if she is able to re-enlist if she wishes. She needs to throw 5+, and if she throws 12, she must re-enlist. 7. She’s eligible for another term. Now we see what skills she picks up.
4th Officer Tapiwa Ndlovu is eligible to learn 3 skills this term. 2 are awarded for the first term in a career, plus a bonus skill for achieving her commission. Had she been promoted, she would have a fourth skill coming. She chooses to place one roll on the Personal Development table, perhaps to raise her low Endurance. A 6 means she has learned Bribery. She tries the Service Skills table, and throws a 1, learning Steward. This skill may sound unexciting, but running passengers can be a lucrative business, and having a good Steward aboard can help keep passengers happy. But Tapiwa wants to do more than pamper passengers, so she uses her last throw on the Advanced Education table. 2- Mechanical. Tapiwa is now 22 years old, and decides to take the opportunity to serve another term in the Merchants.
3+ for survival, throws a 10. A very easy four years, risk-wise. She sits for the 3rd Officer exam, needing 9+ and throwing 6. Her re-enlistment roll is a 7, she needed a 4+, so the merchants will gladly have her back if she chooses to stay. She gets one skill this term, and decides to try for Advanced Education again. 4- Navigation. Tapiwa becomes a bridge officer and trains as a navigator. Now we’re talking. Initially discouraged by her failure to secure promotion, she’s bolstered by her status as a bridge watchstander. She decides to stay. Tapiwa is 26 years old, and ready for more.
Survival - 4. Wow! That was close! Pirate attacks abound, and Tapiwa sees some action. She throws a 7 for promotion, once again being passed over, and an 11 for re-enlistment. The merchants apparently appreciate her, but not enough to give her another stripe on her shoulder boards. She has one skill coming, and takes it in Service Skills. 5- Gunnery. Well, that tracks. With the increased pirate activity, Tapiwa cross-trains as a ship’s gunner to protect her passengers and cargo. She is now 30 years old. Two more terms and she qualifies for retirement, so she decides to re-up and see what happens.
Another 4 on the survival roll! She’d be dead twice over if not for the +2 from her Intelligence. Things are hot and hairy as the pirates step up their attacks. Tapiwa throws snake-eyes for promotion, still stuck as a 4th Officer. Her re-up throw is a 5, making it by 1. She can come back if she wishes. One skill, she opts for Service Skills again, and throws 5. Gunnery goes up to 2. A Skill of 2 is a significant advantage in ship combat, reducing the basic to-hit throw from 8+ to 6+. Tapiwa is now 34, and next term must check to see if age has begun to take a toll. Tapiwa could stay in another four years and get a retirement pension, or get out now and avoid having to roll for age loss. She decides to go for it, because a pension would be nice.
Survival… 7. Things quieted down. A 7 for promotion means she will retire a 4th Officer. I now note the Merchants have the most punishing promotion roll of all the services in the 1977 book. One skill more, and Tapiwa goes for Advanced Education. Mechanical goes up to 2. Tapiwa must now roll to avoid characteristic loss. She must throw 8+ to avoid losing Strength and Endurance, and 7+ to avoid losing Dex. 11, 10, 7. She gets lucky. Her characteristics stay as they are.
Step 5: Muster Out/Retire
4th Officer Tapiwa Ndlovu stands for retirement from the Merchant Service with 20 years in. With 5 terms under her belt, she will receive a pension of 4,000 Imperial Credits per calendar year. She will receive one retirement benefit for each term of service, plus one more for being a commissioned officer of Rank 1. There are two tables upon which a character may roll, cash benefits, and material benefits. She decides to split evenly, 3 and 3. In any case, no character may roll more than three times on the cash table. Interesting - the game seems to use roll for 1d6, and throw for 2d6.
Cash Table - 2, 2, 6. That’s 5,000 + 5,000 + 40,000 for a nest egg of 50,000 credits. Material benefits - 2, 2, 5. That’s +1 Intelligence twice, and a hand weapon. Her Intelligence goes from A to C, and she gets her hands on a Blade, which is like a heavy, broad-bladed dagger with a basket hilt.
With this wad of cash, a weapon on her belt, and her skill set, she’s ready to find fortune and adventure in a Traveller campaign.
