Character Advancement in Traveller?

[Raf Blutaxt]

Sorry if this has been asked before but my searching hasn't turned up anything useful.

I am confused about character advancement in Traveller. In fact I feel rather like an idiot. But I can't find any rules concerning character advancement.
Learning new skills is explained but there seem to be only time costs for learning new skills, no experience system at all.

Have I gotten this right or am I as stupid as I feel?

Thanks in advance for any help

 

[tneva82]

That's pretty much it yes. No experience system in traveler(thank god). You train long enough, you learn it. No need to keep track of how many bad guys you have slaughtered ;-)

 

[Raf Blutaxt]

Thanks!
I have no problems with tis but for an experienced gamer it comes as a bit of a shock to find no such rules in the book.

 

[AndrewW]

Thanks!
I have no problems with tis but for an experienced gamer it comes as a bit of a shock to find no such rules in the book.

It can seem a bit different at first. Just enjoy it.

 

[saundby]

Aside from the section on Training on pg. 59 of the main book, there's the Instruction skill in Mercenary (and the Mercenary SRD.)

Then there's the same advancement mechanism that's been a favorite of players in many RPGs even with experience points--equipment!

 

[grymlocke]

I give a few (1-3) experience points at the end of a "chapter" of the story, points can be used to:
1. shorten training time for improving/gaining skills
2. DM's to mid-term/ term rolls (to see if they 'stick to the study' and 'actually learned from it'
3. dm's that can apply to 'to hit' rolls, damage, etc..
4. dm's to offset "difficult" situations for skills.

points have to be declared/allocated before any dice or training is rolled or begun...it's to make the pc's develop forethought on how they want to develop their characters.

I can post a link to it if anyone wants? try it out, let me know of bugs that can be fix'd.

 

[kungfugenius]

Having played many games with level advancement systems, it came as a shock to my players and I that Traveller had none. So, after many sessions of playing I managed to come up with a system that works very well.

1. Get rid of the training times to advance skills.
2. Whenever a player rolls a natural 12 on any skill check, they put a check next to that skill. 8 checks in a skill means they advance by one level in that skill.
3. At the end of the night we do a secret vote. We vote for the best role player of the night. That person gets 2 check marks to put wherever they like.
4. All the PC's start off being able to purchase and equip TL 6 and lower equipment. Every time a player makes it to two sessions, their character is authorized to carry and purchase items of the next higher TL.
5. When a PC is past TL 14 equipment and has 3 skills higher than 4, they must roll a new character. That character then becomes their new character who is apprenticing under the old character.

 

[AndrewW]

4. All the PC's start off being able to purchase and equip TL 6 and lower equipment. Every time a player makes it to two sessions, their character is authorized to carry and purchase items of the next higher TL.

Is that two sessions in a row?

5. When a PC is past TL 14 equipment and has 3 skills higher than 4, they must roll a new character. That character then becomes their new character who is apprenticing under the old character.

One could concievably start out with 3 skills higher then 4.

 

[kungfugenius]

One could concievably start out with 3 skills higher then 4.

True. It can vary depending on how many terms you allow. I do 4 terms usually, so I'll usually go with 3 or 4 skills that have to be higher than 4. If I did have a player with 3 skills above 4 starting out, I'd probably go with 2 more skills above 4 and then they have to have an apprentice.

Is that two sessions in a row?

Nope, just two sessions period.

At first I thought this may be too rigid but the players really enjoy it. All of them love having some sort of level system.

With Traveller I've found it necessary to include a few house rules here and there. One being that you cannot have optical enhancements unless it is a racial trait. This comes from years of experience as a GM and realizing that optical enhancements in any game can turn out to be a mood killer. Instead, I use taste, touch, and smell enhancements.

 

[sergeant_x]

I always like to make the pitch for trying it straight for awhile if you can convince your players. The lack of a score keeping/advancement system puts the focus of play on the activities of the characters rather than xp accumulation. Also, character death (which can be very dramatic and satisfying in a long running campaign) is more viable when players don't feel like they've "invested" their time "building up" a character.

But if stat-building is what your players are into, roll with it. I tend to think that tacking xp systems onto Traveller (having done it once before myself) kind of undercuts the tone and works against one of the game's strongest features, but it's not like there's any one right way to play.

 

[Kautsu]

Hello,

I personally think that Traveller requires advancement not tied up with gaming sessions but in-game time. That is why the system in the book is good. It is bad in the fact it does not work like the description of skill levels elsewhere. It does not require years for any character I have created to gain one rank in the skill. It is simply too fast.

Yours Kautsu

 

[Kautsu]

Hello,

I personally think that Traveller requires advancement not tied up with gaming sessions but in-game time. That is why the system in the book is good. It is bad in the fact it does not work like the description of skill levels elsewhere. It does not require years for any character I have created to gain one rank in the skill. It is simply too fast.

Yours Kautsu

 

[Sevya]

The system in the book requires some bookkeeping on a calendar, or at least that's how I do it. Our group seems happy enough with it, as long as normal Traveller travel times are maintained. If you tweak with the Jump Drive so it takes hours to get around instead of weeks, you loose the travel time for study.

Sevya