Max. skill level and terms

[jaz0nj4ckal]

Folks,
I am little confused. If a skill rank of 4 is famous, what is the max. level of skill ranks? I noticed that Career paths can go to 9+ terms on a few tables, so if that is the case, then what is the max. skill rank I should cap. for a specific skill?

Thanks.

 

[barnest2]

I normally think 5 or 6 as a max.
I also use the same limit for career terms, as older characters don't often function very well. Having an Ex-Admiral, Baron player is... bad...

 

[Old timer]

The max skill level is usually 4, though i don't think that is exactly specified in the MRB.

 

[jaz0nj4ckal]

Hmmm...I was torn between 4 and 5, but was unsure...

thanks so much.

 

[Spence]

I normally think 5 or 6 as a max.
I also use the same limit for career terms, as older characters don't often function very well. Having an Ex-Admiral, Baron player is... bad...

Unless the campaign is about a scout lost in the aether with a crew of geriatrics :mrgreen:

 

[Thile]

I usually say to my players that they can create whatever characetr they want within certain guidelines and among a list of races I have written down. They can be how old they wish, but I do not let them use any anagethics while they create their character, its for ingame play only.

So if someone wish to be an ex-admiral marquis that is 60+ years old sure, I let them, the only problem is that they will have quite a big chance of having lousy physical stats and might not be able to join the other players in all missions as their social/military status might reflect poorly upon them.

I also tell them that if you have 0 in a skill you are a trained newbie without experience and in you have 2, then you are experienced with your skill, however if you have 4, you are quite famous for your skill and 5+ is so good that there are but a handful on each world that reach that level.

This far, from 8 characters, the longest someone have had a character is a Darrian with 7 terms (3 terms military, 1 term scout and 3 terms artist) so her skills are spread out evenly and the highest anyone have in a skill is one guy with pilot (starship) 4 and that guy is quite famous on his homeworld for his skill, being a belter and racer in a planetoid small craft race that is a yearly event from his world.
the other characters have between 0-2 in most skills, and i thin that all but one character has a skill at level 3, that is their specialty. The marine/artist does not even have a skill at level 3 yet.

 

[Jak Nazryth]

I gave my players a 3 term maximum to create characters.
The way I see it, most "adventurers" wont go off on their own to take on the galaxy when they are in their mid 50's. By then they are looking for "real" retirement.
I see somebody more like Han Solo or Malcolm Reynolds. (early to mid 30's when they strike out on their own.) The way I GM, my players don't start out as experts in their field, but they work towards it. I allow training per the rules (and my players installed a library in their ship which per the rules dramatically decreases the amount of time needed to train) But, this is still TRAINING.
As a GM, I also award each player 1 experience point at the end of each game, to spend how they want. They use their experience points to buy skills and even increase their statistics based on the point-buy system in the core books. The reason I do this is to reflect more realistic experience. Sure you can learn how to shoot a gun or fly a ship by a training manual, but you learn a lot faster when you are actually in a firefight. They really seem to like this system and it doesn't seem to overpower the game. One player is saving points to increase his dexterity, so he is spending several months (several game sessions) stretching, working on flexibility etc... That's the in-game effect on him spending his xp's.

 

[Thile]

As a GM, I also award each player 1 experience point at the end of each game, to spend how they want. They use their experience points to buy skills and even increase their statistics based on the point-buy system in the core books.

I also award Xp but I use the Xp as a reduction in time when they train, instead.

 

[jwpacker]

Back in the day, we never put any restrictions on terms. It was seen as a sign of incredible luck if you were able to secure an 8th or 9th term, as you had to roll to "re-enlist" and get a 12 after term 7 in CT.

Were I to run a campaign today, with the Mongoose rules, I would let the player decide how many terms they were going to roll, and make them stick to it, even if that meant that they were forced into Wandering or the like towards the end. And if I were advising a new player, I'd say 3 on average, no more than 5, unless you have a specific character image in mind.

 

[jaz0nj4ckal]

Thanks everyone for the support. I am really getting into Traveller, and so far found that I like the system better then any other xd6 game on the market. The nice blend of hard-core rules, combined with simple aspects, which are detailed enough to give flexibility to the system is blowing my mind in great ways.

Thank you everyone!!!