Character Rank and non-Military careers

[GothiousRex]

If I switch between assignments in a non-military career, do I retain my rank? Do I then get the complimentary rank based skills for that assignment as well?

eg.
Scholar (Field Researcher) Term 1-3
Scholar (Physician) Term 4-5
Scholar (Field Researcher) Term 6

as I switched back and forth would I retain my rank?
would I also get the rank based skills for each?

 

[Twi'lekk_Den-keeper]

pg 8 of the rule book uner Career Format: Qualification answers that. What you did, in strict game rules, is "illegal." Personally, I would just homebrew it and say that you retain your rank. But the rule book disagrees with you.

 

[GothiousRex]

if you look at the characters presented in the Patrons+ section

there are characters with multiple assignments in the same career
so that would seem to indicate that it is legal

I believe it was a Rogue(enforcer) Rogue(pirate) character...
but I don't have my book with me

 

[Shiloh]

pg 8 of the rule book uner Career Format: Qualification answers that. What you did, in strict game rules, is "illegal." Personally, I would just homebrew it and say that you retain your rank. But the rule book disagrees with you.

Having just re-read that section, I don't see anything about how "assignments" are, well, assigned under the Qualification paragraph. The only reference is in Skills and training.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Assignments are vague, perhaps deliberately so.

I use the following rule:

You can try to change assignments at the beginning of any term. You must roll the Enlistment roll to transfer (no DM for prior service though). If you make the roll, you may change assignments, if you fail, you must stay in your current assignment for that term.

Within the same Career, I allow all rank to be retained. That may not be per the book, but it is how it works in real life in the military. A change from the Support to the Line doesn't change your rank. I figure the same applies in the civilian world.

As an engineer, I moved from an operational environment with an airline to a design/construction company and all rank transfered... in game terms anyway.

 

[JimG]

Assignments are vague, perhaps deliberately so.

I use the following rule:

You can try to change assignments at the beginning of any term. You must roll the Enlistment roll to transfer (no DM for prior service though). If you make the roll, you may change assignments, if you fail, you must stay in your current assignment for that term.

Within the same Career, I allow all rank to be retained. That may not be per the book, but it is how it works in real life in the military. A change from the Support to the Line doesn't change your rank. I figure the same applies in the civilian world.

As an engineer, I moved from an operational environment with an airline to a design/construction company and all rank transfered... in game terms anyway.

I think transferring between assignments makes sense within the military careers, but they cause some problems (which are probably all in my head ) with some of the non-military careers.

I don't have the books with me, but I think the one that tripped me up originally was Nobility. I was having problems visualizing someone going from "Black Sheep" to Ambassador or whatever... also in the Merchants, an Experienced Broker with no ship skills transferring and becoming a Merchant Marine 3rd Officer didn't seem right to me. I suppose I could have reset the rank, but I think that would cause issues with mustering out benefits.

My house rule is that you can transfer between assignments freely as long as they share a rank table.

Looking at what RTT mentioned, I might allow transfer between other assignments with a succesful re-qualification roll, and a loss of all rank.

 

[cbrunish]

The military careers all seem to be with the same service. Meaning that if I was a Naval engineer and became a pilot my rank would not change. But with the non-military careers it seems to be a complete change in profession (similiar but different). The above example about Nobles is an excellent example. Now if the noble went from Administration to Diplomat then the rank structure might stay the same.

 

[Cleon the Mad]

.

I don't have the books with me, but I think the one that tripped me up originally was Nobility. I was having problems visualizing someone going from "Black Sheep" to Ambassador or whatever... also in the Merchants, an Experienced Broker with no ship skills transferring and becoming a Merchant Marine 3rd Officer didn't seem right to me. I suppose I could have reset the rank, but I think that would cause issues with mustering out benefits .

I take it as more of a case by case basis. In your example of the experienced broker going to a merchant marine 3rd officer I might not reduce his rank. In that example, I'd say he transfered from said merchant line's brokerage house to a ship ran by the same merchant line as the ship's cargo buyer. Could be the ship has a good crew as far as starship operations but the captain has made some dumb deals lately as far as speculating on cargo, so they put the broker on the ship to authorize any cargo deals instead. (I figure at least at the Megacorp level, if not the Sector wide line level, many if not most or all the corporations that make some or all of their money with shipping also has planet based brokerage houses.) Free Trader I'd probably disallow and rule the Broker lost rank, or maybe even demand the Broker treat it as mustering out of one career, and then joining a new one.

Your example of the Noble I again agree, even if a Noble went from "rich playboy" to responsible Ambassador, he'd be starting at the lowest rung. Again might even count as a "end old career, begin new one" situation, he is in effect doing so IMO.

Military, it's basically a transfer. Have no problem with the idea of a Survey scout being transfered to being on a X-Boat route for instance, or a Naval Flight officer going to the Line/Crew.

 

[Klaus Kipling]

pg 8 of the rule book uner Career Format: Qualification answers that. What you did, in strict game rules, is "illegal." Personally, I would just homebrew it and say that you retain your rank. But the rule book disagrees with you.

Actually, I think this is incorrect. Strictly, by the rules, and the summary on pg5, a character chooses his/her speciality each term (step 5). It does not specify that a character must start from Rank 0 in that new speciality, and it would seem in the case of military careers that this is obviously not so (else you'd lose your commission if you changed). I reckon with other careers some common sense is in order.

 

[Jame Rowe]

I generally say that for each career you are in (not necessarily specialty), you have to climb the rank ladder over again. Not so when switching specialties.

Of course, if you're going from Army to Navy or Marines, or any other such combination, you keep your rank.

 

[Cleon the Mad]

I generally say that for each career you are in (not necessarily specialty), you have to climb the rank ladder over again. Not so when switching specialties.

Of course, if you're going from Army to Navy or Marines, or any other such combination, you keep your rank.

Not sure if I'd have the person keep their rank if going from let's say Army to Navy. What does a Colonel in let's say the Planetary Army of Regina or Rhylanor know about commanding a ship in either system's Navy, the Imperial one or the one funded by each system? Even if going Imperial Army to Imperial Navy, I'd find it strange. I guess there would be exceptions where the change wouldn't be that dramatic (Army Doctor to Navy Doctor for instance) but in general what the services each do is different enough that I don't see how they would keep rank. Possibly tell the Colonel if he mustered out and then joined the Navy that they would recognize him as an officer, sure. But past that I can't see them suddenly making him a Navy Captain, his tactics skil if nothing else is geared toward ground troops, not Naval operations.

 

[Jame Rowe]

Maybe they put him in as a staff officer?

Anyways, I think you might be right - an Army Colonel would become a Navy Senior Lieutenant, which is a lower rank sure, but one where the person actually has some leadership potential.

 

[Shiloh]

Any inter-arm transfers are going to involve a lot of "orientation", but yes, a Colonel from the gro-pos won't be commanding a starship in their first term as a spacer, unless you have a story reason for them doing so, whether that be the patronage system of the armed services in YTU ("I told Uncle Eneri that I'd had enough of minding the family Regiment, and he fixed up this shipboard command for me. How different can it be?"), or a narrated-during-chargen background of secondment to Navy units, with an appropriate mix of Navy-relevant skills already learned... the chargen system makes for a great framework for retconning things to produce an eventual coherent character.

 

[atpollard]

Personally, I see allowing multiple careers as enough of a benefit that the 'character' is owed nothing! I treat the second career exactly as if the character were 18 and just starting.

I can see allowing an officer to remain an officer. Just treat him like a college Graduate entering the new service. In that case I would replace the first term of 'Basic Training' with an 'OCS' type of first term to reorient him in his new career.

How many people do you know of 'In Real Life' who serve in multiple Armed Forces? I allow it as a tool to create a specific background, but I see no reason to make it the preferred norm for the well equipped power gamer.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

When I went through Navy bootcamp there were about 20 people transfering from other services. Most of them were able to keep their rank, some lost 1 grade, some started over. It seemed to depend more on how long they had been out of the service, but specialties could have been a factor; it was a long time ago.

From what people have said above, it seems like there shouldn't be a hard and fast rule. If it makes sense IN THAT SITUATION to let them keep their rank, then do so, if it doesn't, then make them start over. Although I agree that once an "officer" always an officer.