Character Generation

[Leitz]

When I was a teen, I traded a guy for "France 1940". I never got any good at it, and that was years ago. I have the ASL rules but neither maps, counters, or skill. The hoarder in me wanted to do Drang Nach Osten!, but circumstances thankfully prevented that madness. Years later I did meet Franck Chadwick at Cold Wars.

[Hvalreki]

Oh my! Those, and several Squad Leader and ASL follow on expansions, plus Midway, D Day, Afrika Corps, Gettysburg, Tactics II, Blitzkreig, Panzer Blitz, 1776, Origins of WW II, 1914, Panzer Leader 1 & 2, Iron Men & Wooden Ships, Jutland, Stalingrad, Waterloo...geeze, and several more I'm forgetting...Tobruk, Guadalcanal, Diplomacy, Civilization and still more! In today's money, I must have spent way over a thousand bucks on those games. I've still got all of them, all well played, but still in their boxes, with all the counters and boards. I haven't played any of them for close to 40 years, though and they are stored away in boxes. And then there were SSI and Mayfair games, too!

There are several feet of Traveller books on my bookshelves ranging from CT through MT, TNE, T4, T20, GT, MgT through T5, many of the magazines, all the supplements and many of the 3rd party stuff that came out for Traveller. Lots of D&D, GURPS, C&C, Star Trek, etc. to fill the rest of the book shelves. And somewhere (put away for safe keeping) is my original 1974 White Boxed D&D and 1977 Black Box Traveller sets. I know exactly where White Box is, but I can't seem to find my original Black Box...I've been playing with slightly later editions for a very long time (the 81 edition, The Traveller Book, the Big Black Book, and the PDF's on the CDRom)...but I know it's here somewhere! I'm not really a collector, more of a hoarder, when it comes to books and games.

Jealous! Somewhere along the line I parted with all my bookshelf games. Loved the SPI, Steve Jackson (Ogre, Car Wars, Illuminati anyone?) My personal favorite, but sadly not mine, was War of the Ring by SPI. I also spent way too many hours playing both sides of Fifth Frontier War since no one else had the patience to set that mother f*er up but me

[atpollard]

I have an interesting question for Herbie ... where does he live?

As a resident, he would have a home.
As someone off to the Army, he would have no need for a home.
As SOC A ... it would be a larger home in The Colony.
Yet that doesn't quite "feel" like how you have played Herbie so far.
Nan could own a home ... but she is living in an ALF.

Thus my conundrum about where Herbie lays his head at night ...

Any thoughts?

[Hvalreki]

I have an interesting question for Herbie ... where does he live?

As a resident, he would have a home.
As someone off to the Army, he would have no need for a home.
As SOC A ... it would be a larger home in The Colony.
Yet that doesn't quite "feel" like how you have played Herbie so far.
Nan could own a home ... but she is living in an ALF.

Thus my conundrum about where Herbie lays his head at night ...

Any thoughts?

Many thoughts! Still trying to figure out Herbie myself...

Nan has been in the ALF for 5 years so from 17-18 Herbie was on the streets. I'm thinking Nan had a prefab home they had to sell off to get her settled in the ALF. Herbie and Slicker had a pressure tent before the unfortunate turn of events that wound them up in the Army. Who knows what kind of condition it's in after 4 years, Herbie hasn't had a chance to check on it yet. He's been too busy hustling!

The way I figure Herbie's SOC A is he's a likeable guy even if he's living in the Colony and probably comes from the lower classes. But Nan didn't raise no layabouts, nosiree!

[Hvalreki]

Hi Atpollard,

I've been thinking about Herbie some more and would like to retcon his skills a bit if that works for you.

1. instead of wheeled vehicle as a Beau bonus can he take Streetwise instead? (grew up in the Colony)
2. Would you be up for a "Hustler" skill instead of Brawling? Affects are -1 to the buy price and +1 to the sell price for speculative trade goods.

Even as an Army vet I don't see Herbie brawling or actually hitting anything with a weapon (his dex is 3 for hecks sake) and he doesn't have the temperament for a knife fight. That said maybe his contribution to the team could be through his sales skills?

Let me know if that works for you.

[Leitz]

Remember that with a PC connection you can pick a reasonable skill that isn't on the Career list. Because of his Army background he has Gambling-0 and Brawling-0, and he has a high enough END to outlast most fist fights.

[TheMyth]

Wouldn't Broker....which is now folded into Admin...be the Merchant-type skill?

[Leitz]

Or Bribery, which also gets the Broker mod and may fit Herbie's "hustle" more. If his SOC A is based on knowing everyone, then he'd get another +1.

[TheMyth]

Or Bribery, which also gets the Broker mod and may fit Herbie's "hustle" more. If his SOC A is based on knowing everyone, then he'd get another +1.

I thought Bribery too, but it seems more... nefarious... Lol

[Eris]

Or Bribery, which also gets the Broker mod and may fit Herbie's "hustle" more. If his SOC A is based on knowing everyone, then he'd get another +1.

I thought Bribery too, but it seems more... nefarious... Lol

To me:

• Admin is understanding and being able to "work" official systems to get what you want
• Streetwise is understanding and being able to "work" illegal/unofficial systems to get what you want
• Bribery is being able to identify individuals you can pay to get what you want and pulling it off. Personally, I'd add it to Admin or Streetwise, as the case may be.
• Liaison is understanding and begin able to "work" social systems to get what you want. I'd use it like Bribery, but without money changing hands, the exchange is social not monetary.
• Broker, which is out in this game I think, is understanding markets and being able to get an advantage on buying and selling goods. Personally, what I do instead of having Broker is give a PC with a Merchant career 1/2 dn Merchant Terms DM for finding, buying and selling goods. ie Merchant 2 gets +1, Merchant 4 gets +2 DM, etc.

I admit, though, I like the idea of Hustler as a skill...I like Scrounger, too! Think Radar O'Rielly, what skill did he use to get stuff for the 4077? He swapped, traded, hustled, scrounged, but did he really have Admin, Liaison, and Streetwise skills? He sure had something, though! Whatever that is, it's an archetype for certain kinds of characters, too.

[atpollard]

I've been thinking about Herbie some more and would like to retcon his skills a bit if that works for you.
1. instead of wheeled vehicle as a Beau bonus can he take Streetwise instead? (grew up in the Colony)
2. Would you be up for a "Hustler" skill instead of Brawling? Affects are -1 to the buy price and +1 to the sell price for speculative trade goods.
Even as an Army vet I don't see Herbie brawling or actually hitting anything with a weapon (his dex is 3 for hecks sake) and he doesn't have the temperament for a knife fight. That said maybe his contribution to the team could be through his sales skills?
Let me know if that works for you.

I admit, though, I like the idea of Hustler as a skill...I like Scrounger, too! Think Radar O'Rielly, what skill did he use to get stuff for the 4077? He swapped, traded, hustled, scrounged, but did he really have Admin, Liaison, and Streetwise skills? He sure had something, though! Whatever that is, it's an archetype for certain kinds of characters, too.

Let me address these two together.

1. VEHICLE SKILL: The idea is that wherever you are from, you had 18 years to get from point A to point B before you started a career … plus all the off-duty times you still needed to get from point A to point B. That really requires a free VEHICLE skill of some sort. People don’t generally all learn to become pilots of million credit flying vehicles, so Air/Grav is off the table as a normal transportation mode learned at age 17. It really should be Ground. (Herbie can have a bicycle or a motorcycle or a jeep or a tractor or a motorized skateboard as his specific form of ground transportation if that fits with your concept better … personally, I think Herbie is a Vespa Scooter guy). Streetwise really isn’t the same as Transportation.

[You can take STREETWISE as your free skill for CONNECTION with another character if you want. Herbie gets 2 skills per term from CharGen, +1 Transportation skill, +1 Connection Skill.]

2. BROKER/TRADER: I know that later books like Merchant Prince added Broker and Trader as skills for PLAYERS to gain to influence buying and selling goods and creating profits. They were also tied to a more abstract Trade System and a campaign geared towards building Merchant Fleets and Empires. “BACKWATER” is more direct Character involvement centered, so Traders are a job that you do and not a skill and Brokers are NPCs that you can hire to boost prices and steal part of your profits.

3. SWAP, TRADE, HUSTLE AND SCROUNGE: So how to achieve the desired goal within the game mechanics. Think of it as a task, rather than a skill. You want to influence the purchase price. You want to locate a buyer willing to pay more. You want to find some hard to locate part. Use ANY SKILL to accomplish the task. Try Streetwise to search the back alleys for rumors that lead to what you seek. Employ your connections at the Starport using an ADMIN skill roll. Search the internet with your COMPUTER skill. All of those are the MEANS employed to achieve the goal of “hustling up” [Radar O'Rielly style] whatever you are trying to get/achieve. If you are a Firangi at heart, there is always Jack-O-Trade skill [which I use to represent a solution not described by any other skill – “thinking outside the box”].

To directly answer the questions … YES, you can RETCON abilities. NO, you cannot trade a Vehicle skill for “Streetwise” or “Broker” or “Hussle”.

[Leitz]

The more I look at Broker in LBB 1-3, the more I think it's a Role and not a Skill. I also find humor in Jim being able to act as a Broker, with an effective Admin-2. I do see him as a logistics Broker with a military background, finding solutions more efficient solutions which are reflected in dice roll modifiers.

[Leitz]

Thumper, your character also gets two skills. One of which comes from having a connection with any of the other characters. So far everyone has been awesome about making those connections, so you have your choice of several PCs.

[Thumper]

Thanks Leitz. I just got Mick fleshed out today.

Mick was a partner in a professional guide company. It involved personally taking groups, often starship crews (with extended downport time or groups of spoiled nobles) out on the live aboard sailboat (with fishing, scuba, and watercraft) enroute to remote regions of Beau on hunting expeditions. He may have met Black, Dawson, Val, or Jim on one of these trips…where a ship’s Steward or noble’s personal assistant taught him the art of Steward/Carousing to take care of customers. He put that skill into use within his business. It was the only way this Cricodile Dundee figure could get along with and make repeat customers out of ship crews and nobility.

Appreciate the help .

[Hvalreki]

Let me address these two together.

1. VEHICLE SKILL: The idea is that wherever you are from, you had 18 years to get from point A to point B before you started a career … plus all the off-duty times you still needed to get from point A to point B. That really requires a free VEHICLE skill of some sort. People don’t generally all learn to become pilots of million credit flying vehicles, so Air/Grav is off the table as a normal transportation mode learned at age 17. It really should be Ground. (Herbie can have a bicycle or a motorcycle or a jeep or a tractor or a motorized skateboard as his specific form of ground transportation if that fits with your concept better … personally, I think Herbie is a Vespa Scooter guy). Streetwise really isn’t the same as Transportation.

[You can take STREETWISE as your free skill for CONNECTION with another character if you want. Herbie gets 2 skills per term from CharGen, +1 Transportation skill, +1 Connection Skill.]

2. BROKER/TRADER: I know that later books like Merchant Prince added Broker and Trader as skills for PLAYERS to gain to influence buying and selling goods and creating profits. They were also tied to a more abstract Trade System and a campaign geared towards building Merchant Fleets and Empires. “BACKWATER” is more direct Character involvement centered, so Traders are a job that you do and not a skill and Brokers are NPCs that you can hire to boost prices and steal part of your profits.

3. SWAP, TRADE, HUSTLE AND SCROUNGE: So how to achieve the desired goal within the game mechanics. Think of it as a task, rather than a skill. You want to influence the purchase price. You want to locate a buyer willing to pay more. You want to find some hard to locate part. Use ANY SKILL to accomplish the task. Try Streetwise to search the back alleys for rumors that lead to what you seek. Employ your connections at the Starport using an ADMIN skill roll. Search the internet with your COMPUTER skill. All of those are the MEANS employed to achieve the goal of “hustling up” [Radar O'Rielly style] whatever you are trying to get/achieve. If you are a Firangi at heart, there is always Jack-O-Trade skill [which I use to represent a solution not described by any other skill – “thinking outside the box”].

To directly answer the questions … YES, you can RETCON abilities. NO, you cannot trade a Vehicle skill for “Streetwise” or “Broker” or “Hussle”.

OK, thanks! I will retcon the Brawling 1 to Streetwise 1 instead. If we're in a position to rely on Herbie's combat skills we're in big trouble any way.

[Leitz]

Spacers from the Blue Fleet often took R&R on Beau. The women were beautiful, the lands were open, and lots of places were willing to take their credits.

One young officer would often hang around the wet water ports and rent sailboats or the small crew submersibles. It is possible that Mick Hogan met Jim Daniels over that time. Jim was rated with watercraft and loved the ocean. He could pilot a boat, run the sails, or scuba dive to a recreational depths.

How old is Mick? Jim is 34.

[atpollard]

How old is Mick? Jim is 34.

Just FYI, I added a "spoiler" to the Mick Hogan "HOUSE OF CARDS" thread that lists Mick NPC style ... what anyone meeting him would know after 5 minutes.

[Thumper]

Spacers from the Blue Fleet often took R&R on Beau. The women were beautiful, the lands were open, and lots of places were willing to take their credits.

One young officer would often hang around the wet water ports and rent sailboats or the small crew submersibles. It is possible that Mick Hogan met Jim Daniels over that time. Jim was rated with watercraft and loved the ocean. He could pilot a boat, run the sails, or scuba dive to a recreational depths.

How old is Mick? Jim is 34.

Mick is 34

It's entirely possible that Jim, anytime in the last 14 years, hired Adventure Tours for a combined sailing/hunting or other outdoors vacation. For the two before that, he may have chartered Mick Hogan for a sailing, fishing and water sports vacation.

And Mick would have been memorable for his accent of mixed Cobalt and Beau.

[atpollard]

Spacers from the Blue Fleet often took R&R on Beau. The women were beautiful, the lands were open, and lots of places were willing to take their credits.

One young officer would often hang around the wet water ports and rent sailboats or the small crew submersibles. It is possible that Mick Hogan met Jim Daniels over that time. Jim was rated with watercraft and loved the ocean. He could pilot a boat, run the sails, or scuba dive to a recreational depths.

How old is Mick? Jim is 34.

Mick is 34

It's entirely possible that Jim, anytime in the last 14 years, hired Adventure Tours for a combined sailing/hunting or other outdoors vacation. For the two before that, he may have chartered Mick Hogan for a sailing, fishing and water sports vacation.

And Mick would have been memorable for his accent of mixed Cobalt and Beau.

You wrote ... 0- Computers, Electronics, Vehicles , Mechanic, (Gravitics Book 5 ??)

I think I meant to get back to you on a question about Gravitics, but got distracted ["Squirrel!"]
Gravitics was combined with "Engineering Skill" - repairing GRAV DRIVES is what a Starship ENGINEER does (Maneuver Drives and Power Plants).
So you can change Gravitics-0 to Engineering-0.

[Thumper]

Ok, that’s interesting for a hunter. Maybe more appropriate as a background skill? Say, he worked briefly at the starport in Cobalt or Beau before dedicating his life to outdoor sports business?