character creation

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MasterGwydion

Emperor Mongoose
Other than Mustering Out Benefits, and the chance of a Stat increase, what is the benefit to staying in a career for more than one term, versus leaving the career and improving skills on your own through the skill improvement rules? This seems to be the major difference between PCs and NPCs in Traveller. NPCs are all stock character classes with maybe a stat bump. A PC on the other hand can learn 26 skills to Skill/0 or take 13 skills from nothing to Skill/1 in 4 years. That is way, way better than what you get from an extra tour in your career field. Even if you are Travelling half of the time. 13 skills to Skill/0 or 6 skills from nothing to Skill/1.

Since in this game, PCs and NPCs are not supposed to be different in Traveller, I usually adjust upward the skills possessed by NPCs. How do you guys handle these things in your games?
 
For the 4 years that your training you 26 skills to level 0, you will need to be making money to eat and live on so that cuts down on your training time. If adventuring, trading, or doing whatever that would take up time available to train also. If you GM allows you to spend 4 years doing nothing to get 26 skills at level 0, go for it just does not sound like a fun character creation time. Unless you playing solo your character skills are a compliment to the other players skill you do not need to be skilled in everything as someone else should have that skill in a party and having a higher than level 0 or 1 skill for a clutch move is very nice.
 
If your players are very active and squeeze lots of stuff into their time, then they would get more skills in play than via the terms system. That is as it should be, right? After all, formal careers all have down time when you are not learning much.

However, if you leave earlier, you are starting play with a character with a very low number of skills. Not quite like the old D&D level 1 character, but you get my point. You might not make it far or long. Staying in service, despite the survival rolls, is far less risky than being out there, where you can roll checks vs death in one form or another a lot!
Early mustering out means you won't likely have ranks and contacts, which might open doors. Likewise, less likely have less access with a ship in play (albeit partly owned). Also, don't overlook the rolls from mustering out as they can give you serious amounts of weapon skills if that is what you like: you roll 'Weapon' 3 times, that is the gun itself plus 2 levels of skill. Also, some skills might be hard to acquire in-game. Can't think of any more reasons.

I have found that a few terms are best to make a character with a good set of survival skills. You can always adventure for money and 'buy' skills via implants anyway without any concern of exp or whatever system you use. I use the one in the Traveller Companion as I think it is excellent.
 
JustEastOfTheEdge said:
If your players are very active and squeeze lots of stuff into their time, then they would get more skills in play than via the terms system. That is as it should be, right? After all, formal careers all have down time when you are not learning much.

However, if you leave earlier, you are starting play with a character with a very low number of skills. Not quite like the old D&D level 1 character, but you get my point. You might not make it far or long. Staying in service, despite the survival rolls, is far less risky than being out there, where you can roll checks vs death in one form or another a lot!
Early mustering out means you won't likely have ranks and contacts, which might open doors. Likewise, less likely have less access with a ship in play (albeit partly owned). Also, don't overlook the rolls from mustering out as they can give you serious amounts of weapon skills if that is what you like: you roll 'Weapon' 3 times, that is the gun itself plus 2 levels of skill. Also, some skills might be hard to acquire in-game. Can't think of any more reasons.

I have found that a few terms are best to make a character with a good set of survival skills. You can always adventure for money and 'buy' skills via implants anyway without any concern of exp or whatever system you use. I use the one in the Traveller Companion as I think it is excellent.
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1 week in jump space seems to be good time for study periods. That also doesn't cover the people who work a full time job and study at night. Night School anyone? Working as a janitor while studying for the bar exam? 8 hours of work. 8 hours of school. 8 hours of sleep. If you are from Earth. Might get more time out of a planet with a longer day cycle.

I think that the way the term system was written that way because when it was written people weren't working 2 jobs and going to school. Not like it is today, anyhow. You could pay for college back then on a part time job. Now you need 4 jobs and a loan. lol I think this is very much built into the system. Like the rule, that if you are interrupted in your Study Period, you have to start over for that week. I don't know anyone who is uninterrupted for 8 hours in a row, in the modern world. lol

Heck, I know active-duty soldiers who work a second job when they are not deployed. That is represented nowhere in the rules. The rules are designed for a universe where people on work one job at a time, or go to school and do not work at all. I don't know anyone like that. Everyone I know, at minimum has their main job, their side job, and their family job.
 
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My understanding is that modern society has far more mental health problems as well. I definitely don't know enough about it, so this could be completely wrong, but we could look at the rules assuming one job, and the lack of mental health rules, and make the assumption those are linked.

So if individuals wanted to run 2 or 3 jobs non stop for years, you (under this assumption) should design and implement mental health rules. So they could learn faster as you're describing, but there would be a second set of 'survival' rules they would need to interact with. (This would include PCs who are studying intensely every jump week). Those that go with the standard term, don't need to take that risk.
 
Nelphine said:
My understanding is that modern society has far more mental health problems as well. I definitely don't know enough about it, so this could be completely wrong, but we could look at the rules assuming one job, and the lack of mental health rules, and make the assumption those are linked.

So if individuals wanted to run 2 or 3 jobs non stop for years, you (under this assumption) should design and implement mental health rules. So they could learn faster as you're describing, but there would be a second set of 'survival' rules they would need to interact with. (This would include PCs who are studying intensely every jump week). Those that go with the standard term, don't need to take that risk.
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Based on current understanding, just being in space causes mental health issues. So, I didn't want to go that route, otherwise everyone that works in space would be subject to those same rules. (Think how stressful and dangerous being a belter is) In the old days, pre-industrial era, most people only worked one job, but they worked it for 16+ hours a day. My guess is that We do not have more mental health issues now than before. The only difference is that with communication technology, everyone knows about it now. Also, the general mental health of the population probably increased when slavery was outlawed. I imagine that the abuse slaves or indentured servants suffered caused a lot of mental and physical health issues, but I don't have rules for that in My games anyhow. (Nor do I want them)

Gaming Traveller is My fantasy, since Our actual reality on Earth is so bleak. My fantasy isn't to be all-powerful. My fantasy is that I can travel and have enough money to enjoy My life. I haven't been able to take a vacation in over 5 years. lol Traveller scratches that itch for Me.
 
Fair enough. I was trying to suggest a reason to keep it simple, and keep terms as the most common. So instead of saying 'come up with mental health rules' I'm really trying to say 'since CRB seems to suggest there isn't widespread use of the training rules, this us why. Oh, and PCs by definition get a high score on mental health, so if the mental health rules existed, they would be exempt, by dint of naturally passing the 'survival' checks. But don't use training rules in general.'
 
Condottiere said:
I doubt there are more mental health issues, just more diagnosed.

Perhaps, overdiagnosed.
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Even so, without modern communication technology, none of the rest of Us would ever know about it. One village over was usually as far as you needed to go for no one to know anything about you, unless, of course, you were the famous "Village Idiot of Fenswap", but that would give you a higher SOC score...lol...
 
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