SPL's Careers Book 1 (Review)

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

<Author Mode ON>
I chose the rank titles for the Clergy career based on real-world titles. I looked as several different religions, Christian and non-Christian.

The rank titles I selected were based on the Catholic Church. I chose that particular churh organization because it was the only one I could find that had 6 defined ranks. Had Islam had a defined heirarchy like that, I might have used that.

I could have made up titles using the Church of Stellar Divinity or something completely new, but I chose to go with ranks that most people would at least recognize. Following the Traveller tradition going back to Classic Traveller LBB 1.

Rank Titles are easily changed to fit a particular referees setting.

In my own setting, I have TWO major religions and each has their own rank titles.

Feel free to change them (or anything else in the book) to fit your game. It is YOUR game after all.

BTW: The ranks in the CoE are based on the ranks in the Catholic church, since before Henry VIII they were the same church...

<Author Mode OFF>

 

[Gruffty the Hiver]

Guess we'll just have to rename the office Lt-President.

...as long as you do it properly and make sure it's called "Leff-tenant-President" and not "Loo-tenant-President"

Huzzah, boys! God save the King-er-Queen!

<Waves Union Jack in each tentacle rapidly>

 

[AKAramis]

Using the term Vicar is very CoE/British.

Not at all.

Vicarius is a Latin word with the meaning "Representative" or "Lieutenant".
It was a part of many titles used during the Roman Empire, and later be-
came a title in many organizations and institutions in the tradition of the
Roman culture.
The Catholic Church uses Vicar just as well as most Lutheran churches or
the Russian Orthodox church, to name but a few examples, and Vicar has
also become the "Vice-" used almost everywhere in Western culture, from
Vice-Roys to Vice-Presidents.

It also, in Catholic useage, is an assignment, not a rank. Pastor and Vicar are assignments normally but not exclusively used as priestly assignments in the Catholic Church.

Now, in england, primarily the CoE, Vicar is the term used for parish priests... except the pastor. It's one of those terms that you english use one way, and the rest of the world uses differently, so it's permeated the CoE...

The only person I know who is addressed as vicar is the associate pastor of the local Episcopal church... (Which is the US branch of the CoE.)

Having grown up Catholic, and being a Deacon's kid, and having hung out with priests, aside from Cardinal (which for CoE would instead be Archbishop), it looks very CoE.

 

[rust]

It also, in Catholic useage, is an assignment, not a rank.

Well, it depends.

In the case of an Apostolic Vicar, for example, it can be a rank (in this
case that of a bishop) as well as an assignment.
It may well be that you rarely encountered Catholic vicars, but there
are lots of them, even the Pope has Vicarius Christi as one of his titles.

But this is hardly the right forum to discuss vicars, I think.

 

[Gruffty the Hiver]

Using the term Vicar is very CoE/British.

Not at all.

Vicarius is a Latin word with the meaning "Representative" or "Lieutenant".
It was a part of many titles used during the Roman Empire, and later be-
came a title in many organizations and institutions in the tradition of the
Roman culture.
The Catholic Church uses Vicar just as well as most Lutheran churches or
the Russian Orthodox church, to name but a few examples, and Vicar has
also become the "Vice-" used almost everywhere in Western culture, from
Vice-Roys to Vice-Presidents.

It also, in Catholic useage, is an assignment, not a rank. Pastor and Vicar are assignments normally but not exclusively used as priestly assignments in the Catholic Church.

Now, in england, primarily the CoE, Vicar is the term used for parish priests... except the pastor. It's one of those terms that you english use one way, and the rest of the world uses differently, so it's permeated the CoE...

The only person I know who is addressed as vicar is the associate pastor of the local Episcopal church... (Which is the US branch of the CoE.)

Having grown up Catholic, and being a Deacon's kid, and having hung out with priests, aside from Cardinal (which for CoE would instead be Archbishop), it looks very CoE.

As with all things Traveller, each Referee/GM is free to modify what is in any particular book they use, to suit their own or their group's tastes, the game or campaign feel/background/setting/universe and the needs of the actual, distinctly individual, RPG in question.

Spica Publishing, in line with all previous and current publishers of Traveller and Traveller-related materials and books, encourages people to make the necessary changes to the contents of its book (CB1) to meet the needs of the Ref/GM, players and game.

 

[Jame Rowe]

Guess we'll just have to rename the office Lt-President.

...as long as you do it properly and make sure it's called "Leff-tenant-President" and not "Loo-tenant-President"

Huzzah, boys! God save the King-er-Queen!

<Waves Union Jack in each tentacle rapidly>

The hell you say! VIVE LE FRANCE! *Waves American and Canadian flags, one of each in each hand*

 

[M. Lydius Of Phoga]

d66 seems normal to me.

The Federation approves of this material. The alternate background tables show a excellent handling of character creation balance issues. The life events described are very well thought out.

Giving players more options is never a bad thing, and the sophonts at Spica definitely deliver with this product.

 

[Gruffty the Hiver]

d66 seems normal to me.

The Federation approves of this material. The alternate background tables show a excellent handling of character creation balance issues. The life events described are very well thought out.

Giving players more options is never a bad thing, and the sophonts at Spica definitely deliver with this product.

<Waggles tentacle> Thank you! It has always been Spica Publishing's goal to improve the lot of the common sophont, particularly those unfortunate enough not to have been born a Hiver

 

[Jame Rowe]

d66 seems normal to me.

The Federation approves of this material. The alternate background tables show a excellent handling of character creation balance issues. The life events described are very well thought out.

Giving players more options is never a bad thing, and the sophonts at Spica definitely deliver with this product.

Agreed. Thus the note of approval in my review - I think it's done better than (parts of) some of MGP's books--and I think that MGP is doing it well.