ProfGrizzlyJon
Cosmic Mongoose
Area of Concentration- the new mechanic for Trivial Characters
New Rule (possibly): Group Narrative Checks
- Thread starter MongooseMatt
- Start date
Terry Mixon
Emperor Mongoose
Ah. I didn’t recognize the acronym. Thanks.
MasterGwydion
Emperor Mongoose
Why isn't this just a $2 PDF?
List a couple hundred professions. List the Primary and Secondary skills for each. Gain skillpoints by age. Max Skill Level for primary skills = the AOC. Max skill level for secondary skills = 1/2 AOC round down.
Congrats! Now you have a mook generator. Simple.
List a couple hundred professions. List the Primary and Secondary skills for each. Gain skillpoints by age. Max Skill Level for primary skills = the AOC. Max skill level for secondary skills = 1/2 AOC round down.
Congrats! Now you have a mook generator. Simple.
Limpin Legin
Emperor Mongoose
Think of these mechanics as being Prototech. Any Inventor who invents Prototech never knows how to market their new inceptions.
MasterGwydion
Emperor Mongoose
lolz. Fair enough.
ProfGrizzlyJon
Cosmic Mongoose
Like this?
| AOC / Profession | Primary Skills | Secondary Skills |
|---|---|---|
| Medic | Medic, Science (Life) | Admin, Electronics, Advocate |
| Pilot | Pilot (Spacecraft), Astrogation | Engineer (M-drive), Mechanic |
| Engineer | Engineer (Power, J-drive) | Electronics, Mechanic, Science (Physics) |
| Scientist | Science (any), Investigate | Admin, Computers, Language |
| Merchant | Broker, Admin | Advocate, Persuade, Carouse |
| Diplomat | Diplomat, Advocate | Admin, Persuade, Deception |
| Smuggler | Streetwise, Stealth | Pilot (Small Craft), Deception |
| Bounty Hunter | Recon, Gun Combat | Melee, Investigate, Athletics |
| Hacker | Computers, Electronics | Deception, Investigate, Streetwise |
| Marine | Gun Combat, Melee | Recon, Athletics, Tactics (Ground) |
| Navy Officer | Pilot (Spacecraft), Tactics (Naval) | Admin, Gunner, Engineer |
| Army Officer | Leadership, Tactics (Military) | Gun Combat, Recon, Survival |
| Scout | Survival, Recon | Pilot (Small Craft), Astrogation |
| Belter | Profession (Belter), Vacc Suit | Zero-G, Mining, Explosives |
| Noble | Leadership, Advocate | Diplomat, Admin, Carouse |
| Psi-Technician | Psionics (any), Science (Psionicology) | Electronics, Medicine |
| Researcher | Investigate, Science (any) | Language, Computers |
| Courier | Pilot (Grav), Navigation | Streetwise, Carouse |
| Criminal Enforcer | Melee, Intimidate | Deception, Streetwise, Gun Combat |
| Explorer | Survival, Navigation | Recon, Science (Planetology), Medic |
| Journalist | Investigate, Persuade | Deception, Carouse |
| Starship Engineer | Engineer (any), Mechanic | Electronics, Astrogation |
| Lawyer | Advocate, Admin | Persuade, Deception |
| Entertainer | Art (Performance), Carouse | Deception, Streetwise, Diplomat |
| Tech Specialist | Electronics (Sensors, Comms), Mechanic | Engineer (Power), Computers |
Terry Mixon
Emperor Mongoose
MasterGwydion
Emperor Mongoose
Yeah! Exactly like that!
ProfGrizzlyJon
Cosmic Mongoose
They have their place (and have been a part of the Traveller universe for years), but I really don't like the trend towards railroading scripted adventures and undeveloped non-player characters.
Even GenAI NPCs have more soul than a trivial character.
Limpin Legin
Emperor Mongoose
Hacker
- Primary Skill
- Computers, Cybernetics
- Secondary Skill
- Deception, Remote Ops, Investigate
ProfGrizzlyJon
Cosmic Mongoose
Compare this example from Pirates of Drinax 1, Gods of Marduk
And this one from Reach Adventure 9
With this Named Trivial Character from Opening Moves:
or this random Gang Member from JTAS 17
They seem empty. How is AOC (Gang Life) any more useful or informative than Streetwise 2? How is AOC (Noble Social Climber) better than Carouse, Persuade, Art, Diplomat, Language (Any)? The Referee still has to decipher what skill to use for a check, and we don't even have a SOC stat to work with.
For me, IMTU, I would rather use Profession (Any) and flavor it with the background skills from the Core Rulebook for so called Trivials. If they have a name, I use the Package-Based Creation rules from the Traveller Companion as a starting point.
And this one from Reach Adventure 9
With this Named Trivial Character from Opening Moves:
or this random Gang Member from JTAS 17
They seem empty. How is AOC (Gang Life) any more useful or informative than Streetwise 2? How is AOC (Noble Social Climber) better than Carouse, Persuade, Art, Diplomat, Language (Any)? The Referee still has to decipher what skill to use for a check, and we don't even have a SOC stat to work with.
For me, IMTU, I would rather use Profession (Any) and flavor it with the background skills from the Core Rulebook for so called Trivials. If they have a name, I use the Package-Based Creation rules from the Traveller Companion as a starting point.
ProfGrizzlyJon
Cosmic Mongoose
Aren't both of those Primary Electronics? Isn't Remote Ops an Electronic subskill as well?
I should add, IMTU, there is a Tactics (Cyber) skill that would be in there.
Limpin Legin
Emperor Mongoose
If you start with the Traveller Companion as a starting point, it interprets SOC differently, to include "who you know" rather than just "who you are."
From what I gather from this discussion, AOC is more "who you are" based in capability without the usual historical social stigma, so is more role-context aware.
I suppose a trivial character has little role in SOC ("who you know" -- backstory stuff --) and more time for ("the context of who you are").
Hmmmm ... I'm still floating with these thoughts ...
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Limpin Legin
Emperor Mongoose
Well I was just interpreting your "flatter" specialities, from your table. Some of the skills were expanded with specialities, but Electronics was not , leading me to believe you'd opted to remove the Electronics specialities. (But, maybe a table doesn't speak more than a thousand words.)
ProfGrizzlyJon
Cosmic Mongoose
That was actually just a quick output as an example, interpolated from my Obsidian notes.
Definitely not what I am publishing as the $2 pdf
Just to pick you up here, if I understand you correctly...
There is not a trend towards such adventures - we have scripted adventures, open world adventures, and those in-between. This is a deliberate choice on our part because, well, all Travellers are different
Same reason we do both one-shots and the grand epics that take literal years to play!
MasterGwydion
Emperor Mongoose
I buy adventures both large and small, entirely for the setting information in them, since I sandbox most things. It could be the worst written adventure ever, but if it has good setting information, I will buy it. If it is setting generic or the setting info isn't very good, I will likely not buy it.Just to pick you up here, if I understand you correctly...
There is not a trend towards such adventures - we have scripted adventures, open world adventures, and those in-between. This is a deliberate choice on our part because, well, all Travellers are different
Same reason we do both one-shots and the grand epics that take literal years to play!
ProfGrizzlyJon
Cosmic Mongoose
Thanks, Matt.Just to pick you up here, if I understand you correctly...
There is not a trend towards such adventures - we have scripted adventures, open world adventures, and those in-between. This is a deliberate choice on our part because, well, all Travellers are different
Same reason we do both one-shots and the grand epics that take literal years to play!
I was speaking more in general about narrative TTRPG adventures, as opposed to leveling a specific accusation against Mongoose and Mongoose products.
koan_mandala
Mongoose
As a new Traveller ref, I'm with @ProfGrizzlyJon here. I wouldn't know what to do with Biisur Ginkar, where Bounty Hunters are immediatelly playable. Further, I've seen this before (not a new GM), where information compression is not lossles, and then I have to do mental math at the table, or reference the rules, which are types of activities most referees try to minimize. One example I remember vividly, as it was super annoying and wasted my prep time, was Ptolus for Cypher System, where NPCs had lines like "has offensive magic", so I had to reference 5E or 3E DnD version of Ptolus to get a list of spells for that NPC. Super not helpful.
