28 October 2019

T5 Character Generation

Nigel the Cat "Helps"
Having gotten my copy of the T5.10 books last week, I decided to take try out the process of character generation for myself. At one point, I had quite a few Classic Traveller characters generated, and it's always been a minigame I've enjoyed in many systems. Here's my first attempt at generating a Traveller: 5 character.

Meet Coronel Sir Elden Cox, IM (ret), SEH, XSx4, WBx2, BA (Hons). Born on 195-1063, he is a native of Preslin/Gulf (Dene 0633). One of the few non-Jonkeereen natives of the world, he ended up dropping out of high school, and finding some work around the Navy Base. Seeing how unpleasant life was during that period, he completed his basic education at the Downport Education Company, to apply for college at the Imperial College of Preselin, where he obtained a honors degree in electronics, and joined NOTC, where his massive physique got the attention of the Marine Sergeant-Instructor. With his humble background, and previous lack of academic success, he opted to join the Marines instead. After completing the Deneb Marine Officer's School, he was assigned to Protected Forces, meaning Meteoric Entry and Ship's Troops his entire career. On his first tour, on mission against the Kforzeung corsairs, he was decorated with the Starburst for Extreme Heroism, with the following citation: "While in action against hostile Kforzeung Corsiars, he entered with a few enlisted men the mouth of a cave occupied by a desperate enemy, this act having been ordered after he had volunteered several times. In this action 1st Lieutenant Cox was wounded. An inspiring and courageous leader, 1st Lieutenant Cox's extraordinary heroism and supreme dedication to his comrades were commensurate with the his rank and reflects the highest credit upon himself and upon the Imperial Marines." Other than schools, his career showed a typical alternation of units, moving between command of Marine Detachments aboard ships to that of Meteoric Entry companies.

UPP: D69AAB, Skills: Driver-1, Electronics-5, Fighter-4 (Battle Dress-2, Blade-3, Slug Weapons-2), Flyer-2(Grav-1), Forward Observer-2, Hostile Environment-1, Leader-4, Liasion-1, Medic-1, Philosophy-2, Robotics-2, Survey-1, Stealth-1, Steward-1, Survival-2, Tactics-2, Vacc Suit-1.
Languages: Anglic-9, Battle-8, Gvegh-7
Equipment: BVIGR-13, SEH, WBx2, XSx4, TAS Membership,1 Ship Share, Cr 50,000 cash, Life Insurance, Cr 36,000 pension

My general conclusion is that it's kind of clunky to use for generation, and a little opaque, especially with respect to the Knowledge/Skill for Fighter and the like. I do like the Risk and Reward mechanic, and the flux for damage. The E5 course listed is a godsend, and makes sense in the setting, and may find it's way into future Mongoose or Classic Traveller games I have.

19 October 2019

Traveller 5.10 Kickstarter Arrival and Unboxing

This spring, against possibly my better judgement, I backed the Traveller 5.10 Kickstarter. Despite the delay, the packages were shipped on October 16th, and arrived on the 19th, a delivery day in advance of what was stated. The Courier route to me was a bit more direct than most, it seems. The box arrived with out an issue, and largely damaged from when it was on the pile at Mr. Miller's residence in his last update.