[NewTraveller] Questions: Char Gen Careers and Skills

[Cpt.Future]

Hello,

during the last weeks I have tried to wrap my head around the rules about character generation.

Step 1: These rules are addressed by my questions:

- pg 14: This [pre career education] usually takes place in a Traveller‘s first term (in place of a career), ...
- pg 14: A Traveller can select university or military academy education, making a roll for successful entry. If this is failed, ... Further attempts can be made in terms two or three.
- pg 16: In each term you spend in a career, pick one of these tables and roll 1D to see which skill you increase.
- pg 16: For your first career only, you get all the skills listed in the Service Skills table at Level 0 as your basic training. For any subsequent careers, you may pick any one skill listed in the Service Skills table at Level 0 as your basic training.

Step 2: And these are my questions:

(1) Is it allowed for a Traveller to successfully choose and pass university more than once (maximum of three times/terms)? Or is a succssful entry in university a once in a lifetime thing prohibiting re-entry in university in any other term afterwards (same for military academy)?
(2) If a Traveller chooses university or military academy as a first term pre education career and successfully rolls for entry, and if afterwards the Traveller moves on in a standard career, does he receive all Service Skills at Level 0 as Basic Training, because it is the first Career? Or is it only one Service Skill at Level 0 as Basic Training, because the new career is supposed to be a subsequent career?
(3) In a Career, does a Traveller roll once for a Skill and additionally receive Basic Training in the same career term?
(4) About Basic Training: Does receiving one Service Skill at Level 0 in a subsequent career mean that a Traveller receives this only, if he switches careers? Or does this rule also apply, if the Traveller remains in the same career for subsequent term(s)?
(5) If a Traveller switches assignments within a career, is this a subsequent career in terms of basic training?

Thanks for any help or advise in advance.

Best wishes!
Cpt. Future

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

For basic training, if you're starting your first career, you get all the skills listed there at level 0. If you're starting your next career, you get just one of the skills at level 0 if you don't have that skill already. You get basic training skills during your first term of a career.

In each term of your career, you pick a table to roll on for an additional skill or characteristic.

 

[Cpt.Future]

Hello.

For basic training, if you're starting your first career, you get all the skills listed there at level 0. If you're starting your next career, you get just one of the skills at level 0 if you don't have that skill already. You get basic training skills during your first term of a career.

Thank you. Just for the sake of clarification:

Term 1: university = although being pre-career education this is career #1
Term 2: career #2 > only 1 Service Skill at Level 0?
Term 3: career #2 > none Service Skill at all
Term 4: career #3 > 1 Service Skill at Level 0
Term 5: career #3 > none Service Skill

Or ist it:
Term 1: university ≠ career, because it is pre-career education
Term 2: career #1 > all Service Skills at Level 0
Term 3: career #1> none Service Skills
Term 4: career #2 > 1 Service Skills at Level 0
Term 5: career #2 > none Service Skill
...


My trouble is a confusion I have, because sometimes the core rulebook maybe uses three different terms (pre-career education, career and [career] term) for more or less the same thing (the term in which either a career or a pre-career education takes place) depending on how you look at it.

Best wishes,
Cpt. Future

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Treat university as a whole other thing. Not a career. See flow-chart.

 

[Linwood]

I believe the second scenario is correct.

Some versions of Traveller did have a grad-school option for extending university time but MGT2 does not. Players who want to do something similar can likely get there by pursuing a Scholar, Citizen or Entertainer career.

 

[Hakkonen]

(1) Is it allowed for a Traveller to successfully choose and pass university more than once (maximum of three times/terms)? Or is a succssful entry in university a once in a lifetime thing prohibiting re-entry in university in any other term afterwards (same for military academy)?
(2) If a Traveller chooses university or military academy as a first term pre education career and successfully rolls for entry, and if afterwards the Traveller moves on in a standard career, does he receive all Service Skills at Level 0 as Basic Training, because it is the first Career? Or is it only one Service Skill at Level 0 as Basic Training, because the new career is supposed to be a subsequent career?

See p. 15: "Skills: Gain all Service Skills of the military career the academy is tied to at level 0, as with basic training." If you attend a naval academy, you gain Pilot 0, Vacc Suit 0, Athletics 0, Gunner 0, Mechanic 0, and Gun Combat 0. On graduation, if you're going straight into the navy, you choose three of those skills to advance from 0 to 1. Upon entering the navy, you roll on the skills and training table in your first career term, because basic training was included at the academy.

(3) In a Career, does a Traveller roll once for a Skill and additionally receive Basic Training in the same career term?

I was under the impression that basic training takes the place of a roll on the skills and training table, but on review the book doesn't actually say that. Yay, bonus skills!

(4) About Basic Training: Does receiving one Service Skill at Level 0 in a subsequent career mean that a Traveller receives this only, if he switches careers? Or does this rule also apply, if the Traveller remains in the same career for subsequent term(s)?

Option A. If you spend three terms in the navy, those three terms are all the same career. If you spend two terms in the navy, and then become a scout, then you're entering a new career.

(5) If a Traveller switches assignments within a career, is this a subsequent career in terms of basic training?

For some careers, yes; for others, no. See Changing Assignments, p. 18.

 

[E4MC]

Here's my take on the rules:

(1) Is it allowed for a Traveller to successfully choose and pass university more than once (maximum of three times/terms)? Or is a succssful entry in university a once in a lifetime thing prohibiting re-entry in university in any other term afterwards (same for military academy)?

ANSWER: University and Military Academy are once in a lifetime. Once you graduate from one, you're done. The rules don't say it, but I'm assuming that if you didn't graduate because you got drafted or for some other reason, you can try for readmission.

(2) If a Traveller chooses university or military academy as a first term pre education career and successfully rolls for entry, and if afterwards the Traveller moves on in a standard career, does he receive all Service Skills at Level 0 as Basic Training, because it is the first Career? Or is it only one Service Skill at Level 0 as Basic Training, because the new career is supposed to be a subsequent career?

ANSWER: University and Military Academy are not careers. The traveller receives all service skills at level zero for the career immediately following University unless the traveller already received all service skills at level zero for a career prior to University. The Military Academy is different. While at the Military Academy, you receive basic training for the career affiliated with that military academy, so you don't get basic training again once you go into that career.

(3) In a Career, does a Traveller roll once for a Skill and additionally receive Basic Training in the same career term?

ANSWER: Yes. Plus you can get additions skills from events or mishaps; for being commissioned or advanced to certain ranks; and if you are advanced, you get to roll for an additional skill.

(4) About Basic Training: Does receiving one Service Skill at Level 0 in a subsequent career mean that a Traveller receives this only, if he switches careers? Or does this rule also apply, if the Traveller remains in the same career for subsequent term(s)?

ANSWER: Basic training is one-time per career. In the first term of the first career, the traveller receives all service skills at level zero as basic training. In the first term of all other careers, the traveller receives only one service skill at level zero as basic training. But you still get to roll for a level 1 skill at the start of every term as well as all the other skills you can earn depending on events and advancement.

(5) If a Traveller switches assignments within a career, is this a subsequent career in terms of basic trainin

ANSWER: It depends. In most careers, no. But the rules say that Citizen and Drifter careers use their assignment skill table for basic training, so for these two careers, yea, because the assignments represent different careers.

 

[steve98052]

Just in case the official rules aren't complicated enough, I offer some house rules (from about a year ago) to make things more interesting.

Testing the new rules - first NPC character