Question about character creation...

[Maximo-R-GTG]

Hi, I'm new to running Traveller, having finally picked it up after months of thinking about it!
Character creation went FAIRLY smoothly. However, I do have one question. (I have attempted to find the answer on these forums, but have been unsuccessful.)

I understand that once you leave a career, you cannot go back into that same career, but what if you want to change specializations in the same career?

For example, a character who is a Marine Ground Assault wishes to switch to a Star Marine, is that possible, or would it count as leaving a career and as a result it can't be done?

Thanks in advance!
~MAXIMO

 

[Captain Jonah]

Hi there.

You can freely swap between the seperate subsets of a career as long as you make the requirements. In books 1, 2, 7 and 8 you have all the subset careers available and they each list the entry requirements etc needed to join, many of them also specify a numer of terms in the career before becoming elegible to join that subset.

However you mention star marines which is book one. Page 8 of the main rule book says: "In each career, there are three specialisations. Pick one of those when you enter the career".

Now you cannot re enter a career after you have left it so if you were kicked out of the ground marines then you could not join the star marines becasue it is a career you have already been in.

How I would do this is to allow a character who is a ground marine in the Imperial Navy to roll for enlistment as a Star Marine in the subsector Navy. If the enlistment roll fails the subsector don't want him and the Imperial Navy give him the boot when they find out he has applied for a job with the subsector navy.

If he makes the roll to enlist then he can become a star marine in a subsector fleet but since he is still in the same career he does not get all the basic training skills for starting a new career but I would sugest giving him at least battledress or zero G skill at rank 0 otherwise he will be a fairly useless star marine.

There are three levels that can be dropped down then you are in the mercs, Imperial Navy, Subsector Navy (the numbered subsector fleet which in MonT is maintained by the subsector) and finaly planetary Navy.

You can also add some character background for doing this, Imperial marines who know of him may give him some trouble for dropping out of the proper marines and joining the "Subsector Mob" or even worse the "Planetary Rabble".

This is one of those, erm fuzzy areas that need ref ruling on but if your players want to do it and you are ok to let them then go ahead with it.

 

[CosmicGamer]

"In each career, there are three specialisations. Pick one of those when you enter the career".

... but what if you want to change specializations in the same career?

As Captain Jonah quoted, the specializations are all part of the same career.

I'm not sure if changing specializations is spelled out in the text portion of the rules. You can certainly house rule things as Captain Jonah gets into. Don't know if the newer reprints are the same but in my older book on page 5 there is a Character Generation Checklist. If you have not been forced out of your career or chosen to leave for another career you go to step 5 which is "Choose a specialization for this career". So you simply select a specialization at the beginning of each term.

In regards to Captain Jonah's 'How I would do this'
I'm very confused on what exactly your house rule is and how it varies from the way things are done in the book.

You mention "ground marine in the Imperial Navy". Is this a career in some book I don't have or some career you made up? Or do you house rule that the marines are part of the Navy?

You then get into additional basic training skills.

If he makes the roll to enlist then he can become a star marine in a subsector fleet but since he is still in the same career he does not get all the basic training skills for starting a new career

If the character started as a marine ground assault specialist and is changing specialization to star marine they would already have Battle Dress 0 as one of the 6 basic training level 0 skills. If the character is changing careers and joining the marines, they would get to pick one basic training skill. Page 8 under basic training.

Also, if "he is still in the same career" why is there "a roll to enlist". It would just be a change in specialties.

House ruling leaving a career for another then later in life coming back to it might be interesting to discuss (At this time I wouldn't consider it). I'd suggest only do it if the character voluntarily left. If it was because of a failed survival roll I'd say that whatever blunder caused them to be kicked out keeps them from getting back in.

 

[Captain Jonah]

Starting from the begining

Yep you are indeed correct you can pick a specialisation each time you start a new term. Ignore me, I typed this before my third cup of morning coffee :shock:

Ground marine with the Imperial navy as in an Imperial Marine on an Imperial ship rather than a subsector Marine on a subsector fleet ship or a planetary one. Its a pecking order thing

 

[Jame Rowe]

I would just have all Marines, support ground assault and star, pick up Vac Suit 0 and Zero G 0 in the first place.

 

[rust]

House ruling leaving a career for another then later in life coming back to it might be interesting to discuss (At this time I wouldn't consider it). I'd suggest only do it if the character voluntarily left. If it was because of a failed survival roll I'd say that whatever blunder caused them to be kicked out keeps them from getting back in.

I think I will have this situation in my next campaign, where at least some
of the colonist characters will have to temporarily give up their current ca-
reers in order to become "generic colonists" (e.g. aquafarmers, construc-
tion workers, etc.) until the colony is established well enough to make it
possible for them to return to their original professions.

An example could be a lawyer. During the first years the colony will have
no urgent need for a lawyer, so he will have to work in some other field.
However, once the colony has been established and has introduced its
own laws and courts, he may well decide to return to his old career and
work again as a lawyer.

In such a case I will probably not even require an enlistment roll. If the
setting makes this kind of return to a previous career plausible, I will al-
low it.

A similar example from a different kind of setting could be a former sol-
dier who is now a member of the reserve and is reactivated during a cri-
sis, he should proably also be able to return to the military career with-
out a roll or any other problems.

 

[CosmicGamer]

A similar example from a different kind of setting could be a former soldier who is now a member of the reserve and is reactivated during a crisis, he should proably also be able to return to the military career without a roll or any other problems.

And recall is something that seams much more likely for a scout.

 

[Captain Jonah]

A similar example from a different kind of setting could be a former soldier who is now a member of the reserve and is reactivated during a crisis, he should proably also be able to return to the military career without a roll or any other problems.

And recall is something that seams much more likely for a scout.

Happens all the time for scouts and the loaned ships

In game this should be up to the ref to allow players to swap back into previous jobs, they have the skills rusty as they may be so why are they not allowed to go back to being a lawer.

During character creation it makes sense, sort of, if you are kicked out. If you are kicked out because you betrayed your unit and that makes sector wide news no one will want to take you on as a marine again.

But if you leave your career because of an injury which is treated why are you not allowed back, even if not with your first employer. Marine, mishap 5 is driven from his career by an enemy officer.

Nothing here to stop you taking your skills to the Subsector marines who will most likely never heard of the office who cost you your job with the Imperial marines.

Down to ref's discretion as usual

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

The written rules do not clearly state what you have to do (if anything) to change specialties within a career.

Options:
1. Let the character change specialties every term if they want, no rolls.
2. Make the character role for enlistment again and if they fail, they have to stay in their existing specialty (I use this one).
3. Make the character roll for enlistment again and if they fail, they are kicked out of the career completely. (Captain Jonah's original suggestion)

Up to you really.

Having been in the military, it is somewhat difficult to change your specialty but it can be done and no punishment is given if you fail to move over, which is why I use #2 above. I believe that Mongoose intended it to work like #1, but that is just my guess based on several posts and reading the other books.

 

[rinku]

Note that in some careers you're not changing service branches, but actual jobs. For example, Agent, Citizen, Academic and Rogue. (And yes, it is possible you may be switching within a company, but then again you may not be). You may want to impose one rule for Army, Navy, Marines and Scouts, and another for the others, though I'm pretty much with RTT.

There won't be any roll required to switch "branches" in Drifter, even if this is required for other careers. Technically you could declare yourself to be quitting Barbarian and enlisting as a Scavenger, which you would automatically succeed in.