Low lottery

[F33D]

Its a standard model Mining Vessel (Core rulebook) three of the characters ...

I have the Core Rule Book (in which this example doesn't exist). I did a string search. But, mine is (v2)...

Used the Seeker Mining Vessel from the core rules on page 115 with the picture on page 116 guess I really ought to stick to what its actually called!

Mongoose eliminated that example in v2 of the CRB. Not surprised as they used both EDU & Int mods. You use one or the other but not both generally.

 

[Nuclear Fridge Magnet]

People who resort to the 'meat locker' mode of space travel are either a) desperate to get the *%$@ out of the star system or b) flat broke. They have little or no choice when it comes to the survival check - and if they don't survive the defrosting sequence, they can't lodge a complaint with the captain...

...That said, when I run games in MTU I only resort to the survival rolls when it's dramatically appropriate. Twice during the Aramis Subsector campaign I've been running, the crew of the Type-R ship has had to use their low berths to store and stabilise shipwreck survivors for transfer to a starport's medical facility (they simply didn't have the cabin space to keep the survivors awake).

 

[Hopeless]

Mongoose eliminated that example in v2 of the CRB. Not surprised as they used both EDU & Int mods. You use one or the other but not both generally.

Actually assumed it would be the best of either but since they're both at high enough level that he'd get +2 regardless of which is used.
Recently bought a spare copy of the pocket rulebook will need to check that anyway!

 

[F33D]

Mongoose eliminated that example in v2 of the CRB. Not surprised as they used both EDU & Int mods. You use one or the other but not both generally.

Actually assumed it would be the best of either...

It is usually the one that the GM determines is most appropriate. It depends on the skill and, what the situation is. For instance, apply medical skill to handle a known (to medical science & training) problem would be EDU. Trying to use medical skill to solve a hitherto unknown medical problem might use INT as the mod.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

Since it was asked in a previous reply: Time frames are listed on p.50 of the Core Rules. Basically, by taking a longer amount of time than "normal" to perform a skill check you get a +1DM bonus to your skill roll. Conversely as book example shows, you can go faster and incur a -1DM penalty. So each row you go up or down on the chart can modify the skill roll by 1.

Timeframes for tasks are
1–6 Seconds
10–60 Seconds
1–6 Minutes
10–60 Minutes
1–6 Hours
6–24 Hours or 4-24 Hours (disagreement between timeframe and increment info
10–60 Hours
1–6 Days
An "increment" is the minimum amount that fits in the time frame (1 second, 10 seconds, 1 minute and so on)
One example is applying first aid taking 1-6 minutes. If you take 10-60 minutes to perform the task, you get a +1DM to your Medic roll. Of course sometimes taking longer may not help (like the patient dying) but as was said this is a game not a real life simulation. Another example is a -1DM on the roll to fix the ship's Jump Drives faster to escape (10-60 minutes instead of 1-6 hours)

 

[far-trader]

Since it was asked in a previous reply: Time frames are listed on p.50 of the Core Rules. Basically, by taking a longer amount of time than "normal" to perform a skill check you get a +1DM bonus to your skill roll. Conversely as book example shows, you can go faster and incur a -1DM penalty. So each row you go up or down on the chart can modify the skill roll by 1.

Of course sometimes taking longer may not help (like the patient dying)...

Quite. Per your example of First-Aid....

PC Medic "I'll take 10-60 hours for the +4 Timing DM"

Ref "Err, the patient bleeds out and goes into shock after a few minutes of you humming and hawing over what to do about the gaping knife wound. They die. You notice... after 40hours."

Sounds a bit like Zoidberg.

Seriously, this is where Refs need to step in and say "Look, sometimes you just can't do it slower and expect better results. And sometimes you just can't do it faster either, no matter how good you are." See my silly example of turning on a light switch task above

I think it was MT that introduced the concept to Traveller, and iirc they included a descriptor in the task definitions where some task times were labeled "absolute" meaning you could NOT do it faster or slower for DMs. That seems to be missing from MgT. Even the suggestion that the rule can't be applied in all cases seems missing (or I missed it, and others are missing it). It NEEDS to be stated no matter how obvious it is.

Another problem:

Another example is a -1DM on the roll to fix the ship's Jump Drives faster to escape (10-60 minutes instead of 1-6 hours)

So, by taking a -1 DM I can try 6 times in the same time frame? That is a problem unless you impose a failure penalty or limit the attempt to ONCE. Or the penalty DM needs to be greater to offset the time difference. Again, iirc, MT did have a better method for this as well and the MgT one seems to need some patching.

Of course if the capture is imminent that will limit the attempts, if limited to just one try or you're out of time then it works. I still think the -1 DM is a bit generous for rushing the job 6 times faster even with other limitations and penalties for failure.

Yes, it is just a game, but some (uncommon) common sense still needs to apply or reality looks more like Wonderland. In my opinion of course