"Classic Traveller Help!" Topic

Mayday, mayday, calling all CT grognards, signal GK…

Here's the sitrep: My kids, 9, 10 and 15, all want to play Traveller. Is there a fan supplement somewhere for generating child characters – say, a 'lifepath' that allows for some more depth in the first 18 years or so? They like to play PCs that are close to them in age, and rolling up a bunch of crippled 44 year-olds, while amusing, isn't quite what they want to do.

Any resources, sources, suggestions?

(If it matters, I have all of the CT reprints, including JTAS.)

Do they still want to have skills that let them play out The usual sort of adventures? Or do they want the action to center on 'Outer Space High School'?
I know of no Traveller Jr. rules… I'd probably have them be students and design adventures around that… less high-powered military grade equipment, no starship of their own to start with.

GURPS Traveller ought to be able to handle younger characters much more easily than Classic. The character design system is a lot more variable, and varying degrees of "youth" as a disadvantage (hah!) are built right in to the core rules.

Check out Freelance Traveller

link

I think there were a couple of articles in there on it. Generally a good webzine.

Just use the CT rules but make 'terms' irrelevent… give each character a set number of terms/rolls, etc… and then let the player choose his age (within reason). Or just create the characters with them, according to their concepts, and ignore the character generation rules… maybe give each player 8 skill points to spend, with a maximum rating of 2 or 3, etc… etc…
The remainder of the CT rules can be used as is.

I think bill has a good idea. If you couple that with an article or two from Freelance Traveller that shows innate skills or skills learned on the homeworld prior to service, I think you'd have a pretty good estimation of youth, though you might also want to limit some rolls, such as Strength and Education depending on age.

There was an article in Challenge magazine that had a child character generation system but Freelance Traveller is an excellent site as is Citizens of the Imperium travellerrpg.com who may be able to answer your questions.

I also have Marc Miller's email address….

One further thought. In MegaTraveller a character at age 18 before enlistment had a series of 0 level skills based on the planet of their birth. Most characters started as Wheeled or Grav Vehicle-0, Computer-0 and Weapon skill 0. I would imagine that under 18 characters would have a few 0 level skills but their stats should be rolled without modifications and with a minus or two if under 16.

You could let them set a character age, and then do some civilian-path careers using say 2 year increments from age 10. Depending on the setting, maybe some military or paramilitary careers, e.g. the children of pirates.

Given the way kids are using tech now, that may not be too far off.

I'd also skip over the death and injury rolls too, just roll to get them to the age they want.

Mine started when my son was about 12 & my daughter 10 IIRC. I used the LBB character development glossing over the more difficult parts. They couldn't die during character creation, nor did they age, but we used the process pretty much as is otherwise. I would just get them some skills, some gear, and jump into a game. It didn't take long and they were using the more complicated development rules with yearly assignments, retirement options, aging and all.

Sorry long time ago that i payed traveller….

A solution which was discussed for me as junior player in the 1980s was to create a PC with only one term civilian life and a maximal PSY value. Kind of luke skywalker… But i made me a old marine instead….

I can advise you the following game id you want to play kind of travaller with your kids:

link

Greetings

Belters in CT start at 14….

Okay…you know those movies where orphaned kids are trying to maintain their own homes against nosy neighbors and well-meaning social workers? I guess kind of like pippy longstockings or a series of unfortunate events. Those are all that come to mind but for whatever reason I think they're a whole subgenre.

So imagine that basic concept, but the kids aren't maintaining their family home, they're maintaining a starship. Parents are dead…all the kids have to their name is this far trader…but they know how to operate it and they're flying stystem to system trying to successfully trade and trying to keep it a secret that the whole operation is run by kids.

I almost want to make that an NPC encounter, now!

Have them play with the knowledge they have.

Without life experience any other skills would just be writing on the wall.

Then grant each a psionic talent.

Powers are much easier to grasp.

Grant them a talent that would appeal to that given child…interesting and fun to use abilities…

Maybe a Google talent…a super library of information…

Perhaps teleport.

Etc.

By pass the normal character process and let them be themselves with galaxy unique abilities…but limit these to one each…help build focus.

Just a thought.