Character Generation

I am running character generation per the rules in Mongoose Traveller, with High Guard and Mercenary with the following exceptions.

UPP Generation: Roll 12D6, and re-roll any 1's that turn up. Any 1's that are re rolled are kept. Assign 2D6 pairs freely to each characteristic, keeping in mind the intended role of the character.

High Guard ranks: I find 9 enlisted ranks too many to go through and have a reasonable character for the job when only rolling every four years for advancement.  Promotion, on the first term only, is to E-3 on the table (Able Spacehand). Interestingly, this is more consistent with the basic Mongoose Traveller book. When rolling for commission in a specific Naval Career, enlisted personnel with a minimum grade of E-6 will stay in that career, and are promoted to O-2 (Sublieutenant) before the end of the term.

The Ship

The crew mans the newly built Patrol Cruiser INS Boxing Kangaroo (PC-1589234), a typical, if newly built, 400 displacement ton member of it's class at the Imperial Naval Yard, Light Craft Section at Alice Springs, Australia at Terra/Sol (SR 1827). This assumes it is the version on pages 118-120 of Mongoose Publishing's Supplement 2: Traders and Gunboats.

A Quick Guided Tour

When moored planet side, the ship is boarded either through the G-Carrier garage, Ship's Boat Hangar, or one of  two airlocks on the ventral surface. The preferred method is to use the G-Carrier garage, with the belly mounted doors retracted, and a set of stairs known as the 'brow' that lead up to the iris valve. A larger fork system is used to move pallets up to the cargo bay. Shipboard security begins at the foot of the brow, and a 'comms box' is placed here for the watchstander to use.

Up the brow, we go into the cargo bay is a 4.5 m *15 m space. It contains a variety of power hookups for attaching fresh food preservation units, as well as tie down points. Across the cargo bay is a standard 30 dTon Ship's boat in its full hangar. Among other items, it is used for stowage of the Marine's Battle Dress, and can be quickly reconfigured into either a personnel shuttle or for cargo use. Forward is the barracks space for up to 12 sophonts, Normally, it is empty, and the racks are stowed, and this area is used as a crew's lounge. Forward, is the missile magazine for 120 standard 210 mm missiles, supplied to two missile racks. The aft end of this level is taken up by the ship's jump drive.

To go up to the second upper level, there are iris valves in the two airlocks that connect to lower engineering, a third forward of the iris valve to the jump drive in the cargo bay, and a fourth in the missile magazine. For the purposes of this tour, we will go up through the cargo bay.

This leads us to the main engine room, where we are at the power plant. The two units of the maneuver drive, capable of providing 4 g's of acceleration, sit at the outboard edges of the room. Forward of this is the staterooms, providing accomodation for twenty. They feature double bunks, a fresher, and standardized fittings for stowage of personal belongings. Forward of this is small common area, used for messing. The Kangaroo is modified from the standard design, with the port forward bulkhead here pushed out into some of the space used as the Captain's Office, for use as a small galley.

Forward of this is the bridge. Aft, in the center is the Captain's chair, with  a variety or read outs. It also has the ability to takeover any other bridge station. Forward, are on the port side the pilot's console, and starboard the astrogator's station. The two forward most stations are multi-function stations, but normally the port side one is set up as engineering control, and the starboard as sensors. The turrets can be controlled from here, but this is considered to be doctorinally inferior to local control with the captain selecting targets. The forward most section of the ship is the electronics bay, full of the radar, lidar, and other sensor systems. Most of the equipment is mounted in standardized modules easy to swap out to repair. At the aft end of the bridge, there are two small spaces. On the port side, the captain has a small office, this is also where the ship's in port routine is conducted. The starboard has the ship's locker, and stores the vacc suits and small weapons. Heavier weapons are stowed with the Battle Dress. This space is normally locked.

Introduction and Purpose

The idea of this blog is to document a possible Mongoose Traveller solo campaign that I will be running on my own.

The general idea is the first campaign will be the adventures of the crew of a Type T-Patrol Cruiser operating under Imperial Navy orders in the Solomani Rim. Their mission will be to show the flag, keep a war from starting, and not get into too much trouble on Startown Liberty.

Many of the posts will include quite a bit of 'chrome' to make it come alive. Also, I spent six years

The Cast will include:

Our intrepid Captain, the scion of a minor noble family who's only a Lieutenant.

The First Officer/Astrogator, a Sublieutenant who is commissioned from the ranks. The pilot is a hotshot kid who doesn't know he's screwed up.

The Chief Engineer, the daughter of a Marquess who ran away and enlisted, and her two assistants to be detailed later. She may get an unwelcome surprise

The Lead Gunner, the typical old spacer who thinks the entire purpose of a ship is to move and power his weapons. His three Gunners may have their own habits.

The Marine Sergeant, who leads two fireteams, and can't think beyond his Corps. He is really handy with Battle Dress. His fireteam is three grunts, standard Imperial Marine issue.

The Marine Corporal leads the second team and flys the Ship's Boat, and has the medic, armorer, and piper/G-Carrier driver as his group. They can function as grunts as well.