THE ROBBER BARON: (RE)INTRODUCING THE CREW

     When we last visited this story a few years ago, the stats of the characters may have appeared a little different.  I'm exercising my prerogative to ret-con their skills and characteristics to better fit the way I want to play going forward.

These are the "player characters" who form the crew (party) for the Robber Baron campaign.

ELDON SEXTON                        5569BC

Merchant First Officer (6 terms)                Age:44

Admin-3             Broker-3          Advocate-2    

Auditor-2            Carouse-2      Computers-2

Deception-2       Diplomat-2      Streetwise-2

Zero-Level Skills:  Creative Arts, Drive, Leadership

The retired First Officer of the Free Trader Drakkar, a Type A-P passenger vessel based on the Beowulf class.  He possesses exceptional interpersonal skills.  Eldon rose quickly through the ranks, until his reputation for risky behavior caught up with him.  He has, in time, learned better judgment.

Eldon's father arranged for him to marry the noble daughter of his business partner.  Eldon fell in love with a shipmate and broke off the engagement.  This enraged her father, who dissolved the partnership, ruining Eldon's family and driving him to bankruptcy.  Eldon has managed to salvage what he could, but he has made a powerful enemy in the mercantile world.

Eldon knows about Kellan's addiction issues and hopes to help by restoring his sense of purpose and belonging.  In hiring the young doctor, he has drawn together others who were united by a pivotal and life-changing moment.

JUSTAN ARUNDEL            66699A

Navy Lieutenant (4.5 terms)         Age:36

Sensors-3          Starship-3              Admin-1

Astrogation-1    Athletics (Dex)-1    Blades-1

Crewman-1       Leadership-1     Life Support-1

Tactics (Naval)-1    Turrets-1        Vacc Suit-1

Zero-Level Skills:  Advocate, Jump Space Physics, Mechanic, Persuade, Steward

Justan is a former Naval Lieutenant, skilled in piloting, command, and corresponding crew skills.  During his first command aboard the patrol corvette Ad Astra, an accident occurred that caused the death of several crew members.  He was blamed for the incident, and accepted responsibility as the vessel's commander.  After a long and expensive legal battle, he was acquitted and honorably discharged while the Navy whitewashed the incident.  During the action, he saved the life of a crew mate, who has since become the commander of a patrol vessel and Justan's staunch ally.

Justan feels a sense of obligation toward Serina, whose lover was killed in the "friendly fire" incident in which Justan's ship was involved.

KELLAN DROMA                5869B9

Scholar Researcher (3 terms)         Age:32

Admin-3            Biology-3            Medic-3

Chemistry-2      Computers-2       Investigate-2

Persuade-1       Pharmacist-1      Streetwise-1

Wheeled Vehicles-1

Zero-Level Skills:  Advocate, Diplomat, Flyer, Presentation

Kellan is a talented young doctor who now leads a solitary life.  Two years ago, Kellan made a negligent mistake that led to the death of his patient, a young prospector whose ship was destroyed in a patrol action.  Stricken by grief and guilt, he turned to substance abuse for comfort and solace.  When Kellan hit rock bottom, a fellow doctor helped him get clean and get much-needed therapy.  But he always worries that he might make another mistake, and those demons will come back out of the bottle.  As such, he keeps people at a distance, for fear of becoming close.

SERINA TOKANI     6C6975

Belter Manager (3.5 terms)                Age: 34

Vacc Suit-3        Belter-2                Power Systems-2

Remote Ops-2   Athletics (Dex)-1  Jack'o'Trades-1

J-Drive-1            M-Drive-1            Mechanic-1

Persuade-1        Stealth-1             

Zero-Level Skills: Astrogation, Belter Patois, Geology, Gunner, Pilot

Serina is in her element when working in space.  She has considerable agility and technical prowess, but is perhaps a bit more "rough around the edges" than her crew mates.  Her prospecting ship Yukon was fired upon by a Navy patrol vessel, who had mistakenly identified them as pirates.  Her crew returned fire, and her lover was killed in the attack.  She discovered the truth behind the incident and the cover-up by the Navy, but had to flee and change her identity to protect herself from retribution and possible elimination.  She is secretly in love with Eldon, but is afraid to tell him and worried that Kellan or Justan might discover.

(Images generated by thispersondoesnotexist.com)

TRAVELLER'S TALES RETURNS!

     

    I'm not even sure if anyone follows this blog or reads these posts anymore, but my solo Traveller RPG campaign will be resuming soon!  I had generated an interesting subsector for Classic Traveller and was going to play the LBBs as solo, but I'll be honest - I miss Eldon and his crew, their chemistry and interconnectedness.

    With the introduction of a new version (and total overhaul) of Cepheus Light (my favorite form of this 2d6 ruleset) and Zozer Games releasing a second edition of their fantastic SOLO rules, I couldn't help myself - I was just drawn back in!

    And honestly, a task-oriented system like Cepheus or Mongoose Traveller works better for solo play than Classic does, at least in my opinion.  The strength of Classic Traveller is that the Referee has a lot of latitude and the use of skills and target numbers are more ambiguous and open to interpretation - whereas a solo player relies on the dice to guide the story.

    With that in mind, I have revised the stats and skills of the crew in order to conform with Mongoose Traveller Second Edition career package rules (as seen in the Traveller Companion).  I do wish there were more options for Backgrounds and Career Paths (I'd buy another supplement if they added more!), but what's included is sufficient for our purposes here. 

    I also implemented one significant restriction, that I feel keeps things from getting out of hand: In Mongoose Traveller, the total number of skill levels a character can possess is equal to three times their INT+EDU.  This seems insane!  An entirely average character could have 42 total skill levels and countless 0-level skills as well.  That's not how I roll.  

    In Classic Traveller, the total number of skill levels is equal to INT+EDU, so the average character has 14 skill levels.  And that's how I do it.  But in my game, that's not just a limit on total skill levels, but also on total number of skills - including 0-level skills.  So an average character could have up to 14 different skills, with a total number of levels up to 14.  This allows for core skills and a few level-0 skills at which a character has basic proficiency.  If generation results in more skills, or total levels, skills and levels can be reduced or dropped to get within the limits.

    Furthemore, I am imposing a limit of 3 levels in any particular skill.  I have found that level 4 or 5 in a skill gives far too much of a bonus in a 2d6 system and makes most rolls utterly pointless.  Level 3 is still a very respectable proficiency, and it allows a reasonable amount of success without near-absolute certainty.

    I went with the package generation because it allows me to quickly create characters that are focused on their particular concept, but also retain a bit of variety and depth.  The other option I used is one I've borrowed from Zozer 2d6 games - rather than rolling for each Characteristic, I assign the values of 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and A (10) to whatever Characteristic I wish.  So a character will always have a strong characteristic, and something that's not as good (but may be improved during character creation, depending on the chosen options).

    All that said, I'm eager to begin playing!  If you're new here or want a refresher, please visit these links to see what's happened in the story so far:

The Robber Baron: Part One

The Robber Baron: Part Two - A Stitch In Time

    Stay tuned - the next post will provide a recap on the crew with their updated stats.  Thanks for tuning in!