Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
My Mandroid Friday
Ship's Brain Interface sizing and use
- Thread starter jaysm
- Start date
My Mandroid Friday
mavikfelna
Emperor Mongoose
I currently have 6 active characters, most of the games i play are play by post or only once a month, half of them started with Steward. 1 is GURPS Traveller, but his skill set is such that he is trying to earn the TAS equivalent of a Michelin Star for his ship for his cooking, he specializes in Vilani cuisine but he's not a certified Shigulli, yet. 1 is the Chief Steward on the Venture Fortuna and was designed around the skill so maybe she doesn't count. 
The last one got it from his merchant career and he is the defacto purser for the ship because of it, which is fine with me. Also, my Cluster Truck character didn't start with it, he's only got 3 terms of careers and failed to survive 2 of them :0, is actively trying to learn steward because his dream is to own his own rig and he feels he needs to about every part of the business in order to do that, and customer service is a good way to increase business!
So 4 out of 6 characters me have it or are working on it. I does fall behind medic, most popular with 6 of the 6 having it from either background, my most chosen background skill, or first term basic training. Also mechanic is 6 of 6 but 1 of them picked it up later in their career rather than basic or background.
So, to me, steward is an important skill and it gets a lot of use. My guess is a lot of people do not see steward as relevant because they only think it's cooking and cleaning up after passengers, but it's really a customer service skill with a strong element of planning, organizing and managing. It includes cargo management and load balancing, dealing with service organizations and contractors and pretty much everything a ship needs that isn't dealing with contracts or bureaucracy.
It is easy to replace with a robot, and a lot of folks don't want to deal with logistics or passengers, but it can be really useful if you want to play with it, and who knows, it might be positive modifier for passengers when they find out it's a live person and not an unresponsive machine that can't sympathize with them.
The last one got it from his merchant career and he is the defacto purser for the ship because of it, which is fine with me. Also, my Cluster Truck character didn't start with it, he's only got 3 terms of careers and failed to survive 2 of them :0, is actively trying to learn steward because his dream is to own his own rig and he feels he needs to about every part of the business in order to do that, and customer service is a good way to increase business!So 4 out of 6 characters me have it or are working on it. I does fall behind medic, most popular with 6 of the 6 having it from either background, my most chosen background skill, or first term basic training. Also mechanic is 6 of 6 but 1 of them picked it up later in their career rather than basic or background.
So, to me, steward is an important skill and it gets a lot of use. My guess is a lot of people do not see steward as relevant because they only think it's cooking and cleaning up after passengers, but it's really a customer service skill with a strong element of planning, organizing and managing. It includes cargo management and load balancing, dealing with service organizations and contractors and pretty much everything a ship needs that isn't dealing with contracts or bureaucracy.
It is easy to replace with a robot, and a lot of folks don't want to deal with logistics or passengers, but it can be really useful if you want to play with it, and who knows, it might be positive modifier for passengers when they find out it's a live person and not an unresponsive machine that can't sympathize with them.
I think the strength and weakness of the Traveller skill set is that you can use many skills for the same task. Players are quite inventive in crowbarring the skills they have into every situation possible.
I disagree that Steward skill implies "strong elements of organisation, planning and management". The skill description allows of "basic management" but that is not much of a bar. Every skill will include an element of management, organisation and planning. Engineers do it, as do Scientists and virtually anyone with a Profession. Tactics requires planning and organisation and even some aspects of Streetwise will require it.
If Steward covers everything a ship needs other than admin and contracts then it wouldn't be a primarily Merchant service skill, you would expect it to appear in Navy and Scout careers as well.
Planning and organisation should generally be something the players do, not a skill check. Where it needs to be abstracted Leadership would be the logical skill to tie it to.
The primary purpose of Steward is that bonus to finding passengers. Unless you decide to introduce an awkward passenger it is something that just happens off-screen. Just like the primary purpose of Astrogation is calculating your jump coordinates and unless the referee actually decides to throw in a space anomaly it has no general use. It is a "necessary" skill but a bit of a one trick pony.
If the Travellers were planning a raid and a player asked if they could use their Steward skill to improve the plan I would be extremely sceptical unless it was a raid on the fridge
I disagree that Steward skill implies "strong elements of organisation, planning and management". The skill description allows of "basic management" but that is not much of a bar. Every skill will include an element of management, organisation and planning. Engineers do it, as do Scientists and virtually anyone with a Profession. Tactics requires planning and organisation and even some aspects of Streetwise will require it.
If Steward covers everything a ship needs other than admin and contracts then it wouldn't be a primarily Merchant service skill, you would expect it to appear in Navy and Scout careers as well.
Planning and organisation should generally be something the players do, not a skill check. Where it needs to be abstracted Leadership would be the logical skill to tie it to.
The primary purpose of Steward is that bonus to finding passengers. Unless you decide to introduce an awkward passenger it is something that just happens off-screen. Just like the primary purpose of Astrogation is calculating your jump coordinates and unless the referee actually decides to throw in a space anomaly it has no general use. It is a "necessary" skill but a bit of a one trick pony.
If the Travellers were planning a raid and a player asked if they could use their Steward skill to improve the plan I would be extremely sceptical unless it was a raid on the fridge
Terry Mixon
Emperor Mongoose
“We need to leverage what we have,” said the player. “So, Dave is our Steward. He can get us in via a catering service. Minions gotta eat. And he can at least sneak us as far as the kitchen. Snacks, am I right?”I think the strength and weakness of the Traveller skill set is that you can use many skills for the same task. Players are quite inventive in crowbarring the skills they have into every situation possible.
I disagree that Steward skill implies "strong elements of organisation, planning and management". The skill description allows of "basic management" but that is not much of a bar. Every skill will include an element of management, organisation and planning. Engineers do it, as do Scientists and virtually anyone with a Profession. Tactics requires planning and organisation and even some aspects of Streetwise will require it.
If Steward covers everything a ship needs other than admin and contracts then it wouldn't be a primarily Merchant service skill, you would expect it to appear in Navy and Scout careers as well.
Planning and organisation should generally be something the players do, not a skill check. Where it needs to be abstracted Leadership would be the logical skill to tie it to.
The primary purpose of Steward is that bonus to finding passengers. Unless you decide to introduce an awkward passenger it is something that just happens off-screen. Just like the primary purpose of Astrogation is calculating your jump coordinates and unless the referee actually decides to throw in a space anomaly it has no general use. It is a "necessary" skill but a bit of a one trick pony.
If the Travellers were planning a raid and a player asked if they could use their Steward skill to improve the plan I would be extremely sceptical unless it was a raid on the fridge
You can choose to make a skill useless if you want, but that is not the design intent.The primary purpose of Steward is that bonus to finding passengers. Unless you decide to introduce an awkward passenger it is something that just happens off-screen. Just like the primary purpose of Astrogation is calculating your jump coordinates and unless the referee actually decides to throw in a space anomaly it has no general use. It is a "necessary" skill but a bit of a one trick pony.
If the Travellers were planning a raid and a player asked if they could use their Steward skill to improve the plan I would be extremely sceptical unless it was a raid on the fridge
Steward skill covers cooking, tailoring, managing demanding individuals, catering, and all the sundries involved in running a high end hotel/restaurant. So, yes, I would absolutely allow it to be used to plan a fancy soiree or to impress a wine snob with one's wine knowledge. Or to know which staff to impersonate to allow access to the area you actually want to go. And to tailor the stolen uniforms so they fit properly. Newkirk on Hogan's Heroes, the guy who made sure all the German uniforms they were using were correct and fit, was using Steward skill in Traveller terms.
Astrogation is something of a problem skill, since Traveller had (until Cluster Truck) very limited rules on real space travel, which Astrogation is also supposed to cover. Of course, the "only relevant if the GM introduces that kind of problem" also applies to Pilot, Engineer, and Gunner.
But those are easier problems for the average GM and player to imagine.Also bear in mind that Steward is the primary (though clearly not the only) skill of a butler. And before anyone starts to disparage the idea of a butler being important to a storyline, I want to bring up two points.
My Man Jeeves. (Plus all the rest of the P. G. Wodehouse stories in the series.)
And Alfred Pennyworth.
My Man Jeeves. (Plus all the rest of the P. G. Wodehouse stories in the series.)
And Alfred Pennyworth.
Sigtrygg
Emperor Mongoose
Way back when... a group of Travellers were not automatically assumed to be ship crew and have their own ship. if they wished to travel they had to pay for a ticket, be given free passage by some patron or plot device, or... the working passage.
Characters could sign up as temporary ship crew to get a trip to another world, and steward was a really good skill for that because the skill level requirement to be a steward is 0.
Characters could sign up as temporary ship crew to get a trip to another world, and steward was a really good skill for that because the skill level requirement to be a steward is 0.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
You want to be the Purser, not a steward.
Pursers received no pay but were entitled to profits earned through their business activities. In the 18th century, a purser would buy his warrant for £65 and was required to post sureties totalling £2,100 with the admiralty.[2] The pursers maintained and sailed the ships and were the standing officers of the navy, staying with the ships in port between voyages as caretakers supervising repairs and refitting.[3]
In charge of supplies such as food and drink, clothing, bedding and candles, the purser was originally known as "the clerk of burser."[3] The burser would usually charge the supplier a 5% commission for making a purchase and often charged a considerable markup when the purser resold the goods to the crew. The purser was not in charge of pay, but he had to track it closely, as the crew was required to pay for all of their supplies, and it was the purser's job to deduct those expenses from their wages. The purser bought everything (except food and drink) on credit, acting as an unofficial private merchant. In addition to his official responsibilities, it was customary for the purser to act as an official private merchant for luxuries such as tobacco and to serve as the crew's banker.
As a result, the purser could be at risk of losing money and being confined to debtor's prison. It was the common practice of pursers forging pay tickets to claim wages for nonexistent crew members that led to the navy's implementation of muster inspection to confirm the workers on a vessel.[2] The position, though unpaid, was very desirable because of the expectation of realizing a reasonable profit, and although there were wealthy pursers, their money originated from side businesses facilitated by their ships' travels.
Pursers received no pay but were entitled to profits earned through their business activities. In the 18th century, a purser would buy his warrant for £65 and was required to post sureties totalling £2,100 with the admiralty.[2] The pursers maintained and sailed the ships and were the standing officers of the navy, staying with the ships in port between voyages as caretakers supervising repairs and refitting.[3]
In charge of supplies such as food and drink, clothing, bedding and candles, the purser was originally known as "the clerk of burser."[3] The burser would usually charge the supplier a 5% commission for making a purchase and often charged a considerable markup when the purser resold the goods to the crew. The purser was not in charge of pay, but he had to track it closely, as the crew was required to pay for all of their supplies, and it was the purser's job to deduct those expenses from their wages. The purser bought everything (except food and drink) on credit, acting as an unofficial private merchant. In addition to his official responsibilities, it was customary for the purser to act as an official private merchant for luxuries such as tobacco and to serve as the crew's banker.
As a result, the purser could be at risk of losing money and being confined to debtor's prison. It was the common practice of pursers forging pay tickets to claim wages for nonexistent crew members that led to the navy's implementation of muster inspection to confirm the workers on a vessel.[2] The position, though unpaid, was very desirable because of the expectation of realizing a reasonable profit, and although there were wealthy pursers, their money originated from side businesses facilitated by their ships' travels.
Also, stewards were a good position to put temp hirelings because they didn't need access to engineering or the bridge and how many you needed varied depending on how many high passages you sold. So it was a pretty easy gig to get, relatively speaking.
Stewards in fiction are usually shown as sidekicks (Alfred), obstacles (that annoying maitre'd), or villains (The butler did it!), so it is not a skill set that one imagines when you think of starfaring adventurer, but it is surprisingly useful with or without a ship. That campaign I mentioned above, the players didn't have a ship for the first year of play and rarely took passengers when they did, but the steward skill was used regularly all throughout.
Obviously, if they didn't have an expert Steward they would have used different plans that didn't rely on that skill. But it is definitely a versatile skill.
Yeah, in the olden days, the purser was basically a shopkeeper on the ship. That's not really how it works in any modern context. Whether that is how you have it work in the future is, of course, up to you.
On merchant and cruise ships, they are a senior officer overall in charge of passengers, cargo, and payroll and have more demand for Admin and Broker skills on a day to day basis than steward.
In the USN, there are several supply related positions that, in Traveller terms, would be the Steward skill. But they aren't paid by commission any more.
On merchant and cruise ships, they are a senior officer overall in charge of passengers, cargo, and payroll and have more demand for Admin and Broker skills on a day to day basis than steward.
In the USN, there are several supply related positions that, in Traveller terms, would be the Steward skill. But they aren't paid by commission any more.
I am not suggesting you cannot find creative uses for the skill. Those you mention are all entirely in scope. You may not recall I used "The Night Manager" as an exemplar of the role so I am entirely alongside your definition and how it could be used creatively.You can choose to make a skill useless if you want, but that is not the design intent.
Steward skill covers cooking, tailoring, managing demanding individuals, catering, and all the sundries involved in running a high end hotel/restaurant. So, yes, I would absolutely allow it to be used to plan a fancy soiree or to impress a wine snob with one's wine knowledge. Or to know which staff to impersonate to allow access to the area you actually want to go. And to tailor the stolen uniforms so they fit properly. Newkirk on Hogan's Heroes, the guy who made sure all the German uniforms they were using were correct and fit, was using Steward skill in Traveller terms.
Astrogation is something of a problem skill, since Traveller had (until Cluster Truck) very limited rules on real space travel, which Astrogation is also supposed to cover. Of course, the "only relevant if the GM introduces that kind of problem" also applies to Pilot, Engineer, and Gunner.
I was saying that it wasn't a replacement for skills like Leadership, etc. The main formal skill use is in finding passengers, not finding cargo etc. so it is not a ship' general manager (though a Steward could be a hotel general manager). They can of course perform the same functions for the crew as the would for passengers (and if you play with Morale rules that might improve morale). They could ensure the ship was always stocked with life support supplies, but they would not be able to ensure it was stocked with appropriate Engineering supplies. I do not mean simply checking things off against a list, (virtually anyone can do that), the manager is the one who makes the list based on predicting usage, replenishment levels etc. Engineering supplies requires an Engineer to manage.
Of course if your raid can be styled around sneaking in as caterers, then yes a Steward would likely be able to come up with a convincing cover story. That could be chained with a Persuade or Deception attempt, but it wouldn't replace those skills, in exactly the same way the Mechanic skill might provide an advantage if pretending to be a maintenance team.
