Alternative Ageing rules: relinquishing skill levels to save decline in health characteristics?

[Limpin Legin]

Rules-as-written
Rules-as-written, a Traveller must roll on the Ageing table every term from the age of 34, and onwards. According to the result of the dice roll, this table affects the Traveller's physical and mental characteristics in increasing amounts.

New Idea
While this is quite a realistic way of handling ageing, it neglects the fact that older people sometimes experience a decline in their skill levels, either through neglect of application, or loss of interest, or declining health.

Sometimes an older person would "give up" practicing a skill that they learned in their youth, in order to conserve the characteristics of their health. So I've been thinking it would be nice to introduce that into Traveller Ageing Effects because I suspect it would provide players with an interesting and realistic challenge as their Travellers get older.

The mechanic I am interested in is to leave the Ageing table lookup as it is, and then give an ageing Traveller a new option of relinquishing/forfeiting an earned skill level instead of losing a physical/mental characteristic(s).

For example, on an ageing roll, a Traveller scores an ageing effect score of 0, and is instructed by the Ageing table to reduce one physical characteristic by 1 point. However, using this alternative rule, a player can instead decrease a skill of their choice by one level to save the loss of their physical characteristic(s). Forfeiting one skill level allows the player to prevent the loss of one point of physical or mental characteristics

Consequences
Well, using this alternative method of ageing, Travellers will likely live longer (realistic) and they can "brush up" on lost skills latter on in life. But it does not mean that skill forfeiting can be used to increase characteristics beyond their current levels; relinquishing the skill level can only be used to cancel a corresponding characteristic decrease.

Variations
I had thought up some more elaborate variations to this rule, where only physical skills can be used to cancel out a physical characteristic loss and only mental skills can be used to cancel mental characteristic losses; however the basic game mechanism remains the same.


What would you think of this idea? Suggestions?

 

[Terry Mixon]

I’d make the skill loss 2:1 for the stat.

 

[Geir]

I think the max skill level (essential 42 skill levels for an average person) is way too high and that a lower limit could force you to sacrifice an old skill for a new one, especially if you get so old your INT starts to drop. But that's an entirely different mechanic.

As for your original idea, that has merit as well. It makes some sense to give you a choice of losing that Athletics skill versus losing that DEX DM... for instance. Not sure about the realism though. Most likely the skill would overcome the attribute loss, and it wouldn't be a trade off.

 

[Condottiere]

Medically speaking, in the Sixth Millenia, we probably have nanobots going around policing our cells, and deporting radical elements.

Maybe, someone should come out with Advanced Traveller, and update character generation, as well as technological development.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Medically speaking, in the Sixth Millenia, we probably have nanobots going around policing our cells, and deporting radical elements.

Maybe, someone should come out with Advanced Traveller, and update character generation, as well as technological development.

Traveller: Transhuman (transsophant?)

 

[Geir]

Medically speaking, in the Sixth Millenia, we probably have nanobots going around policing our cells, and deporting radical elements.

Maybe, someone should come out with Advanced Traveller, and update character generation, as well as technological development.

I've previously suggested DM+- SOC modifier and TL modifier (same scale, so 9 =+1, 12=+2, etc... but also 5 = -1, 0-2 = -2) for aging rolls.

 

[Terry Mixon]

I've previously suggested DM+- SOC modifier and TL modifier (same scale, so 9 =+1, 12=+2, etc... but also 5 = -1, 0-2 = -2) for aging rolls.

That makes sense.

 

[Condottiere]

Honestly speaking, it's just a series of plasters covering diabetic wounds.

The problem with a lot of Traveller, is, is that it's part of it's genetics.

You can wait for the player set who most identify with the original game to die out, and reboot it, since by then, more technological developments would likely make a lot of setting assumptions moot.

 

[Endie]

Giving up practicing athletics is not going to preserve your endurance, strength or dexterity.

Best you could do is sacrifice non-physical skill improvements to reflect that you just spent all that time doing push-ups instead.

Anyway, the point of the mechanic is to stop people just staying enlisted as long as possible and amassing house levels of skills. It’s not meant to be an accurate modelling of far future medicine.

 

[swordtart]

I've previously suggested DM+- SOC modifier and TL modifier (same scale, so 9 =+1, 12=+2, etc... but also 5 = -1, 0-2 = -2) for aging rolls.

Which TL though? Who knows what heathen backwater I am currently patrolling in the 4th term of my Army Career

 

[Terry Mixon]

Which TL though? Who knows what heathen backwater I am currently patrolling in the 4th term of my Army Career

The TL of your medical care, I’d imagine.

 

[swordtart]

Giving up practicing athletics is not going to preserve your endurance, strength or dexterity.

Best you could do is sacrifice non-physical skill improvements to reflect that you just spent all that time doing push-ups instead.

Anyway, the point of the mechanic is to stop people just staying enlisted as long as possible and amassing house levels of skills. It’s not meant to be an accurate modelling of far future medicine.

I agree, and given you get 1-4 skills in a term, losing one of them for aging means there is less incentive to stop. Your advancement, promotion and survival are also dependent on stats. Not having them taper will mean you are more likely to survive and get those extra skills.

 

[swordtart]

The TL of your medical care, I’d imagine.

Well yes, and maybe I can influence that once I am mustered out, but I don't have any clues what that might be during a career. It just becomes one more thing the referee has to specify and that makes it a bit arbitrary.

 

[MasterGwydion]

I think the max skill level (essential 42 skill levels for an average person) is way too high and that a lower limit could force you to sacrifice an old skill for a new one, especially if you get so old your INT starts to drop. But that's an entirely different mechanic.

As for your original idea, that has merit as well. It makes some sense to give you a choice of losing that Athletics skill versus losing that DEX DM... for instance. Not sure about the realism though. Most likely the skill would overcome the attribute loss, and it wouldn't be a trade off.

Or you could start sacrificing your total maximum skill points as a way to not loose Attributes. Eventually this would be low enough that you would have to start sacrificing your actual skills. I could see this costing a 3 to 1 ratio or even higher. Depends how the math comes out.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Which TL though? Who knows what heathen backwater I am currently patrolling in the 4th term of my Army Career

TL of the world you are on or the ship you are traveling in? Most PCs with their own ship could use the TL of their ship.

 

[Geir]

Which TL though? Who knows what heathen backwater I am currently patrolling in the 4th term of my Army Career

The army's TL, which should really be the homeworld TL, since I believe the Imperial Army at TL15 (or the entire organization at any TL) is just a post-hypnotic suggestion in a propaganda wrapper (but that's another of my delusions... or is it?).

One of the things (besides uncertain tasks) that I miss about MT is the homeworld part of character generation. One of these days I'll spell out my (completely unofficial MTU) take on char gen in a post. But need to finish going over the vehicle handbook vehicles (~74% there) first.

 

[Condottiere]

It's a given that the Imperium Army has a technological level of fifteen.

But, depending on the viewpoint you want to take, not across the board.

The main infantry sidearm would be the gauss rifle, technological level twelve, and most frontline infantry would be wearing combat armour, charitably technological level fourteen.

And then, maybe you Imperialize nearby colonial garrisons, which would usually be equipped at the standard set up the local planetary governments.

 

[Vormaerin]

I think there are TL 13 Gauss Rifles (or maybe that was a T4 thing?). But unless they introduce an infantry weapon that is TL15 that isn't a squad support weapon (and PGMPs and FGMPs are not good basic infantry weapons, unless you are 100% sure your fighting will never be in close quarters, urban areas, or involving allies who aren't in hazmat suits).

The electronics and other stuff can easily be TL15, even if they are still using Gauss Rifles. The US Army is still using assault rifles that are basically just iterations of the M16, which was introduced in the 1950s. But all of the electronics and other technology around that soldier is significantly more advanced.

 

[rinku]

The manufacturing standards have likely improved in 70 years, even if the underlying weapon is the same. Even if it's just the alloys used and the shift from blue collar workers at lathes to robot factories. (Note, I don't actually know if the current assault rifles are really still made the same way they were in the 50's or not. It was more of an observation about manufacturing progress in general).

 

[rinku]

The army's TL, which should really be the homeworld TL, since I believe the Imperial Army at TL15 (or the entire organization at any TL) is just a post-hypnotic suggestion in a propaganda wrapper (but that's another of my delusions... or is it?).

One of the things (besides uncertain tasks) that I miss about MT is the homeworld part of character generation. One of these days I'll spell out my (completely unofficial MTU) take on char gen in a post. But need to finish going over the vehicle handbook vehicles (~74% there) first.

Well... it's not like those homeworld generation tables aren't 100% compatible with Mongoose. They used the same ones in TNE - world generation and UWP standards are the same for all editions except GURPS, I think.

It's like homeworld affecting your background skills that was in 1st edition MGT. Use the rule if you prefer it to the free choice list.