High Guard- qualifying and previous terms oddity

[Delerium]

According to the book you can enter a naval branch by either rolling what you need under Qualifications OR by meeting the number of terms of prior service.


Q1) According to my calculations you could then automatically qualify for Command after 3 terms, going straight to rank 05?
That don't seem right to me.

Q2) And for these automatic rank gains,do we get any skill rolls?

Q3) Also I would like to know how the example character in the book is Rank 02 after 1 term


I really hope I won't be finding many more questions!

 

[Delerium]

I would rather like an answer from Mongoose, its a show-stopper as far as I am concerned.

 

[Infojunky]

According to the book you can enter a naval branch by either rolling what you need under Qualifications OR by meeting the number of terms of prior service.


Q1) According to my calculations you could then automatically qualify for Command after 3 terms, going straight to rank 05?
That don't seem right to me.

I can see Commander in 12 years (Fast, but not unheard of).

 

[Cleon the Mad]

According to the book you can enter a naval branch by either rolling what you need under Qualifications OR by meeting the number of terms of prior service.


Q1) According to my calculations you could then automatically qualify for Command after 3 terms, going straight to rank 05?
That don't seem right to me.

I can see Commander in 12 years (Fast, but not unheard of).

This might just get me laughed at for using this example, but wasn't Kirk in the original Star Trek 34 or so when he was Captain? That's 4 Traveller terms to Captain, so possibly 3 to Commander. His case in Star Fleet was unusual, youngest ever Captain so again fast, but not unheard of.

I don't have the book (yet, it's apparently coming) so I can't comment directly other then again my possibly laughable example.

As an addendum, the core Traveller rules has (I think, they aren't in front of me) Commander rank 4, Captain at rank 5. Since it's possible to hit rank 4 in 4 terms under the core rules, thus age 34, an age 30 Commander would be very unusual as stated above, but again not TOO absurd, even if technically the core rules don't allow such.

Again, don't have the book, so I will need to read the section when I do get it and see. When I have it, I may post an addendum.

 

[dreamingbadger]

According to the book you can enter a naval branch by either rolling what you need under Qualifications OR by meeting the number of terms of prior service.


Q1) According to my calculations you could then automatically qualify for Command after 3 terms, going straight to rank 05?
That don't seem right to me.

Q2) And for these automatic rank gains,do we get any skill rolls?

Q3) Also I would like to know how the example character in the book is Rank 02 after 1 term


I really hope I won't be finding many more questions!

Q1) You do have a -1DM for every grade you are shy of the minimum (pg 6 High Guard), this is the "person who stands out" the exceptional candidate, the guy the system couldn't hold back, a battlefield commision perhaps, or is it nepotism of the worst kind...

Q2) You get a skill roll for a promotion as per pg 9 of MBT. What I don't know is if you only get 1 or if you get one per grade "bump", my gut would say only as there is only one roll here.

Q3) looks like a typo he would have had to rolled an event 66 (automatic commision) not a 13 for this to work and then made his advancement roll

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Regarding making Captain (Rank 5) in 4 terms, don't forget that some Events give you an Automatic Promotion. These are in addition to the rolled Advancement that your character already made for that term.

So, if a character succeeds in advancement every term AND rolls a 12 on the Event Table (page 25 of the TMB), then he would be Rank 5 after 4 terms.

 

[Delerium]

How about this situation too?

I notice some careers , comissioned ranks start at 02.

So if you start that career as , say , E1 , roll a successul comission, are you Rank 02 now?

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

I think most of the "advanced" careers are for officers only.

It is a bit of a stretch to think of a "Legendary Captain" who is a Petty Officer 3rd Class!

So, in the case of entering the career as an O2, you would already have to be an officer before entering that career or, like a medical guy, have spent time in Medical School which would give you the equivalent time-in-service to achieve O2.

 

[dreamingbadger]

How about this situation too?

I notice some careers , comissioned ranks start at 02.

So if you start that career as , say , E1 , roll a successul comission, are you Rank 02 now?

It also says you have to do one tour of previous naval service as a minimum, iso if you are an E1 and you don't get commissioned you would have a -9DM (?) on your qualification roll, if you did make your commision roll you would have a -1 as commsioning makes you an O1.

 

[Delerium]

How about this situation too?

I notice some careers , comissioned ranks start at 02.

So if you start that career as , say , E1 , roll a successul comission, are you Rank 02 now?

It also says you have to do one tour of previous naval service as a minimum, iso if you are an E1 and you don't get commissioned you would have a -9DM (?) on your qualification roll, if you did make your commision roll you would have a -1 as commsioning makes you an O1.

I think it means you need to roll the qualificaton number OR have the number of of previous terms service. That's how its worded anyway in the explanations before all the careers.

And the negative Dm's are for the qualifcation roll to join a service in the first place, not for promotions as such, as far as I can see.

Those things are not a problem. The problem is what happens to an E rank that gets a lucky comission roll and ends up being an O rank when there is no O1 or O2, etc.

There should be absolute clarity in these matters.

 

[dreamingbadger]

How about this situation too?

I notice some careers , comissioned ranks start at 02.

So if you start that career as , say , E1 , roll a successul comission, are you Rank 02 now?

It also says you have to do one tour of previous naval service as a minimum, iso if you are an E1 and you don't get commissioned you would have a -9DM (?) on your qualification roll, if you did make your commision roll you would have a -1 as commsioning makes you an O1.

I think it means you need to roll the qualificaton number OR have the number of of previous terms service. That's how its worded anyway in the explanations before all the careers.

And the negative Dm's are for the qualifcation roll to join a service in the first place, not for promotions as such, as far as I can see.

Those things are not a problem. The problem is what happens to an E rank that gets a lucky comission roll and ends up being an O rank when there is no O1 or O2, etc.

There should be absolute clarity in these matters.

EDIT
I Take it back. Or is on page 4 another High Guard Typo, my brain edited it out and replaced it with AND.

You are correct i missed the OR, I still think the right approach is to replace it with an AND though