Coriolis: The Great Dark First Look Review

So after getting frustrated with ChatGPT, I ordered Coriolis: The Great Dark which is published by Free League Publishing. I have purchased DragonBane and read through it extensively and had liked what I saw. Definitely liked the production values, and all the reviews of it were great (to me, it's a 5E-adjacent but streamlined with OSR feel Fantasy Adventure Game, to use the latest terminology I've discovered).

So Coriolis: The Great Dark (CGD) is a 'new version' of Free Leagues' (FL) Coriolis: Third Horizon (CTH). I do not have CTH but it got good reviews also as a more wide open space opera rpg. Both use The Year Zero Engine (YZE) mechanics (dice pool) with some changes for CGD I guess. I had no experience with YZE. The Great Dark is specifically separated from the Third Horizon setting, although it is nominally related. Owners of the Third Horizon have voiced displeasure at that, but it seems either at GM discretion or future releases they could be 'rejoined'. That was zero impact for me just picking up the Great Dark. 

The Great Dark was 'inspired by 19th century expeditions, deep sea diving and pulp archeology.' It is a 'roleplaying game about exploration and intrigue. Join dangerous expeditions, navigate the Byzantine schemes of Ship City, and hunt for the leys that unlock the mystery of this Lost Horizon.' That all sounds great!

From my first partial reading, it looks like there are some issues. One reviewer said it seems like it is an 'environment looking for a system'. Typically you have the game mechanics, then you design a milieux to play in using those mechanics. The Great Dark wanted a remote environment ('frontier') with the suspense of exploring possibly cursed archeological ruins. So it designed mechanics for that, and it seems a little heavy handed. The 'Delve' is the exploration of ancient ruins, which they have structured as 2D vertically to 'get the feel' of spelunking, I think. But it is all mechanics driven, roll for this scan for information, roll for resisting this threat, mark off 'supplies' which cover everything from food to light to oxygen. 

The overly mechanic driven 'delve' just carries forward from the character creation, which railroads characters into the Explorers Guild, so they will be 'delving'. Coming from the sandbox of Traveller, this is a turn off in an initial read through. 

Other reviews have also praised the production values and art, which are at the high level I've come to expect from Free League, so no surprise there. But neither of those are required to play the game (except maybe rules organization and clarity), so those don't matter to me in the end. I quickly got the hang of the dice pool mechanic based on (usually) an attribute, plus a talent, so that is easy enough. And there are three health pools (Health, Hope, and Heart, which are reduced by Damage, Despair, and Blight - the ancient mystical force). I like the Hope and Heart/Despair and Blight aspects that seem to bring a Call of Cthulhu insanity feel to the game, so I look forward to that aspect. 

Overall at this point in my read through most of the mechanics but only the overviews of the environment, I find myself in the 'meh' category but wanting to really love it. I think in the end I will like it enough to try it out, but already see me taking the mechanics and the basic environment and opening it up more. But I will probably be tempted to get the boxed campaign Flowers of Algorab to see what they envisioned for the game. But I think it would be interesting to run a sandbox (albeit in the confined Great Dark area) and let players have free reign, whether it be delving, other exploration, pirating or what-have-you. But I would want to streamline the mechanics so it isn't just endless dice pool rolling. I guess I like more role play, and only go with a mechanic when there is something bigger at stake. 

So we'll see how my opinion changes as I digest more mechanics and soak up more of the environment with the factions and unique star travel system/constraints.

Using ChatGPT as a solo Classic Traveller GM: Update #2

So I froze my first character, Bran, and decided to create a new character and try and play a more ‘kinetic’ scenario. With all my new found knowledge, I knew I had to check and constrain and dictate to Chat to try and get it right. So I verified all the Book 1 tables for a Marine. The Term roll table (enlistment, survival, etc) was all correct. Asking for the rank table, it provided some mishmash, giving me two tables, starting with enlisted ranks and progression to officer ranks. So I had to correct that. Then with the skills tables, it started out well getting 100% on the Personal Development Table, and I think only one error on the Service Skills, but both Advanced Education tables were out to lunch. With those all corrected, I fed it entry skills for Marines (enlistment, and then commission). Then I check muster tables, another mixed bag. Benefits were mostly correct but missing the line 7 for rank 5 or 6 since they get a +1 DM. Cash tables were all wrong, which I expected from before. So with all the tables corrected and locked, and telling it to run strict die rolling, I got into attributes.

The first set really sucked so I tried again (I know, I’m not doing true Traveller. But since this is an experiment with not really a lot of roleplay, I wanted something decent). Second sucked too. So I said give me a table of 6 sets of rolls and I’ll pick. In those 36 numbers there was only one double-digit (a 10), so I asked if it was truly doing 2d6 or just a random 2-12 calculation. It said it was doing 2D6 and this was just an oddity. Sure, a 1% chance of that, so possible, but not expected. I meant to ask for another set of 6 sets of attributes, but it gave me one, and it was ok so I just went with it.

For my test (and my normal house rule) I play a modified version of CTs survival roll option. Miss by 1 just wounded, miss by 2 seriously wounded, but stay in, miss by 3 or more seriously wounded and complete the term with just one skill roll.  I use the wounds for the character story. This works better with Mercenary/High Guard etc when you have the 4 assignments in each term, as you can create a story based on the assignments also. But other than this survival mod, I play rolling for reenlistment.

I ended up with a 2-term marine LT, with Cutlass-1 (Marine base skill), Revolver-1 (Marine LT base skill), Auto Pistol-1, ATV-1, and Vacc Suit-1. One other skill roll was a +1 Edu. With three muster rolls, I took two benefits and 1 cash, getting a plus Int and Mid Passage, and 10,000credits.

So not a stellar character, but functional, and with the skill-0 in all weapons I could still do security work.

So I asked Chat to start a new campaign with this character. Showing it’s penchant for just continuing, even though I said ‘new campaign’ it just started right in with the other characters ‘world’. This meant it had me just landed on Jenghe. At least it had kept the right UPP with a tainted atmosphere (I verified the UPP just to be sure). When I asked the cab driver about a place to look for work, it pointed me to the ‘Exchange’ which was the same place mentioned in my previous campaign. So unless you specifically tell it to start from scratch, maybe give it a new world and other parameters, it will just carrying on with what you had been doing with it.

I wanted to try and play with a group of NPCs, and as soon as I asked that of a potential patron, it shifted smoothly to her being able to accommodate that. So I was quickly on a team with a contract mission. This mission was also tied to the previous campaign. Not explicitly, and not until the end really, but still the same kind of comms/data package MacGuffin at the center of it all, and also still seeming to conflate computer system nodes with physical locations. Not a big deal, but again showing it can’t create something new unless you tell it too or start a new session.

The mission was assaulting a location, securing it, and calling in the client to take over. It did a fairly good job of tracking the 4 of us, but most of the action centered on me. I saw this in my first run with the other character, where after some queries from me it explained it was trying to focus the narrative on me and for me to be successful. It was all theater of the mind and it didn’t do a good job of painting the picture, especially for a tactical assault. I did not try and query it much for more details though.

When the shooting started, since I said show all rolls, it showed a 6+ target number. I took the kill    (😊), but corrected it to 8+. I also tried to correct it for skill DM, but may have been too specific, since going forward the only DM I got was when I used my pistol. It didn’t seem to ‘know’ the mechanics of Traveller combat or injury. Overall it was just doing a narrative ‘game’ with the only mechanic being my shot rolls. But on those rolls it was not applying any DMS. There was also no surprise rolls, initiative, or DMs for cover/concealment, movement, aiming, etc. At the end I fired my pistol blindly down a ladder shaft at someone climbing up the ladder. Granted I said I was firing down the ladder, so thinking as a GM I might not give a penalty for not being able to see the target, but I thought there might be something. But no.

When the mission was over and we were debriefing as a team (and the team leader deferred to me a lot, so again the Chat doing narrative with my character as the focus), I wanted to compare skills to see what holes we had. Chat just gave the NPC skills as generic descriptions, not as Traveller skills. So it isn’t ‘rolling up’ NPCs with attributes and skills.

So here’s another bottom line. I think unless you feed it a lot of mechanics data and tell it specifically to use it, to create NPCs with attributes and skills, to use all combat and wounding mechanics, it will always default to just narrative storytelling with your character as the focal point, and driving towards constant success. So there is no real game there, with the risk of dying.

So I’m back at the same point, trying to decide how much I want to invest in it. It acts like it knows all about Traveller, and just saying Classic Traveller it came back saying ‘ok, we’ll just use Books 1-5’. But it can’t really discern ‘just books 1-5’, and it doesn’t ‘know’ what that means when I ask it to run a game using those books. It doesn’t ‘know’ there are mechanics in there it is supposed to use, and details it is supposed to track (wounds, ammo, etc). It’s doesn’t ‘know’ to be a GM to take what the player says at face value and hold them to a ‘reality’. After I bought my guns and ammo, we were heading to the hotel and I just said ‘my auto pistol is in a drop leg holster’ and it added that to my character sheet. It didn’t say ‘you didn’t buy that, do you want to go back?’. Another example of just trying to carry the narrative forward with success for my character.

Reading more about ChatGPT, it is a language model designed to carry on a conversation. It wants you to ask it questions. When I was asking it about orbits and star luminosities and such (with in the context of Traveller, so it ‘knew’ I was wanting to work within the game) it kept offering GM tools with table and such. So maybe it is better as a GM aid to create those kinds of things, unless you just want to run a narrative campaign and not worry about mechanics. I’m sure you could guide it to not be so focused on character success, and put some probability into the game. For the first character it was consistently ‘rolling’ against a target number by difficulty with DMs for skills and planning. That was more fun and gave a sense of potential failure.

I so want this to be a simple and efficient Traveller GM, but I don’t think it can be. I think the amount of work to teach it how to do that would be equal to creating my own scenarios.

Using ChatGPT as GM for Solo Traveller Play update

Update/revision after getting back on last night to finish the mission.

As others have noted, Chat seems to get worse at being a GM the longer it goes. When I said execute the final part of the mission, it just ran through everything in one big dump (had to enter a access node, log in, find the data stream, note the changes, hack into it to create problems, then exfil). Before it had walked through each step/role, giving me a chance to respond/input. So that was sign number one. Number two was I asked to show me my character stats/skills etc. It had forgotten most of my character, and for most stats (the ones it hadn’t used) it made up a number. That was shocking. It doesn’t really have a way to save data. If you are using something it seems to keep it handy, but other stuff from previous in the chat session gets lost. My assumption was it kept the chat ‘stored’ (well, it does because I can go see it all) and would reference it for data, but I guess not. It did say I could present the character data and tell it to lock it, but even then it recommended I ask it to show the locked character and ensure it was correct and/or fix it. It even said the best thing would be for me to keep a copy of the data!

So here’s one easy improvement for the AI, especially when I am paying for it (did the $8/mth level to get more interactions/messages per day, as I was running into the limit the free was set for, which is just to ask it a question not run a game): provide some cloud storage so data, mechanics, procedures, and other items ‘worked out with ChatGPT’ can be more robustly stored.

So after the completion of the mission and working through those lack of storage issues (and making a ‘locked’ character sheet, plus a hardcopy :/), it asked if I wanted to continue. Since I hadn’t really cracked the evil network, I can understand it wanting to continue in that vein. But since I was exfil from Regina, since I had pissed a lot of bad folks off (even though I seemed to have gotten out clean and except for one guy at the first no one knew who I was), I figured I would try some new missions on the system I was headed to (Jenghe). That brought up another point, when I bought tickets off Regina it did not ask me where I wanted to go.  It also didn’t track clothing and gear very well unless I mentioned something. So I asked it what UPP it had for Jenghe, figuring that was pretty standard. Nope it had something different. So I fed it the UPP and verified it defined those numbers correctly.

This whole time I thought game time was frozen, but since I didn’t say that it kept me headed to Jenghe. I asked my patron for intel for another mission and everything was still related to the previous mission, even though Jenghe wasn’t really applicable to that. So it can’t just ‘create a different set of missions/types’ unless you tell it to. Once I did that, it gave me a list to select from or give input to. I said contract/security/espionage to try and get a little more kinetic this time, and had it reset back to leaving Regina to play the space flight and interaction with the passengers heading to Jenghe, since maybe there could be a patron. It put me on a generic ship, so I had to direct it to a Free Trader. Then every passenger (only 7 of us) seemed to be a possible patron/connection to contract security work! The first two I talked with were going to Jenghe for ‘short contract work’. It was disappointing.

 So that really started to get me to rethink this whole thing.

It can’t save/remember data or procedures we agree to.

It will lock onto the mission type until directed otherwise.

Everything it does will be mission directed/specific, there is no fluff or scenery.

I spend half my time, at least, correcting/directing it.

So now I am debating whether to keep going with this character/mission, start over giving it more clear direction up front and knowing to lock things, or give up on it. My wife (who is not a gamer, and can’t even understand why anyone would want to play them or how it is ‘fun’) even asked my why I was playing with Chat instead of real people. I explained the time commitment real people game requires, but at this point I can definitely say it isn’t a very good replacement/stand in for a people game. With enough direction and constant tending, it can scratch some of the itches of playing an RPG if you can’t get to a live game. But just barely. Marginally better than playing solo with books, where the only intrigue you can have are table rolls or just making up options and dicing the result. At least with Chat there is some suspense of ‘what is the NPC going to say/do’.

Added to this the wife is pissed for two evening all I did was sit at the computer (which I do too much of anyway) and play a game with AI, and she had to listen to my keyboard clickety-clack the entire time. So I should probably take a break, for the sake of my marriage if nothing else.

And ponder how much of a glutton for punishment in babysitting Chat GPT I really want to be.

ChatGPT GM for Solo CT Traveller

So I recently used ChatGPT to GM a Classic Traveller session for me to play solo. I had previously played around with Chat for character generation and other rules references, and of course forgot the limitations I had learned. The key point is that Chat ‘knows too much’, and can’t discern between editions, even though it says it will. I have repeatedly tried to constrain it to Classic Traveller, Books 1 to 3. It will acknowledge and say that is all it is using, but then the next prompt it is using Book 4 or MG or something else. Of course when you correct it it will congratulate you on the catch, admits it’s error, and insist it has made the correction, only to do it again soon thereafter. So just be prepared to have to constantly correct it, or live with the variances. The more you can directly feed it to use the better, but that adds to your load. The whole point is supposed to be it already has everything!

So I started by just asking it to GM a Classic Traveller solo game (see screenshot). It offered to generate a character or go through generation with me. It also asked what kind of game I wanted and gave me 5 or 6 options: Free trader sandbox (Firefly-style), Military / mercenary missions, Intrigue / espionage, Exploration (Scout-style), Frontier survival / low-tech worlds, or Something specific (tell me). I told it sandbox intrigue/espionage. 

I chose to generate a character with it rolling the dice and providing the table results (skills, etc). The first indication of an error was when it said it rolled an 8 for a skill and gave me a skill. Skill tables are 1d6. In correcting that I asked it to provide the table it was using (I had selected to roll an Army character. The tables were close, although each had errors. And one was labeled ‘Office Table’ which doesn’t exist in CT. It seemed to be in place of the Advanced Education Table (the normal, not EDU 8+, which it had labeled). I corrected that labeling and the data.

It also did not include service skills (for my Army guy, Rifle-1 at enlistment, and SMG-1 at LT). And then mustering out the tables had errors again.

So, guidance for generating a character: ask it to provide all the tables it will use, and correct them. Once you do that, you should be able to reuse them if you use the same chat conversation/project.

Another big item I discovered later during play was that it assumed I wanted a DnD 5E ‘everyone is a hero and always succeeds’ type of play experience, so even tho it presented dice rolls like it was randomizing 2-12, they were all 6 or 7 or higher, and succeeding 90% of the time. So up front work out the dice rolling convention: strict 2d6, show each dice roll if you want, the total, and DMs with explanations. Once I did that in play, the stress level went up a bit because I started failing checks more often. However, it continued to ‘temper’ failures to be ‘it didn’t go quite as planned’ so nothing completely blew up in my face. I have not corrected that yet, but may investigate it further. Playing a solo character, I didn’t really want to die right away, I wanted to play a bit.

So it took my character (Army, 2 terms, Capt) as just mustered out on Regina sitting in a bar when a guy sits down at the table and presents a data chip and says ‘I got a job, delivering this, if you want’. So a bit abrupt, and suspicious. It tried to tie it into my character development, where I had directed it to take missed survival rolls as being wounded in action. So it created something about I was wounded on a mission that didn’t take place, only showing as training mission in my records, and if I did this job he could help me find out what really happened. Hmm, I was there, so I would know. Like I said, didn’t make a lot of sense.

So this guy was pressing hard, high pay, supposedly easy job. Sounded like a set up I didn’t want to jump on, so I kept asking questions. He went on about how it was an intercepted message packet that had be altered or something. It was really hard to follow the ‘logic’. I ended up taking the job after getting some money up front. I had to take it to a ship in orbit, deliver it, and he would be watching for reactions (somehow) when they loaded it up. Very suspicious, so I checked the data out first and learned (remember, this was before I corrected Chats die rolls, so I was all success) that it was altered, and had some type of trigger when it was read that would send some message/info, either in the system or broadcast. It all sounded bad.

So I decided to turn the tables when I delivered it, and told the contact/recipient I had more information they wanted/needed. That all went well, I got more money, and brokered myself to work for them. The ship seemed connected to mil intel somehow, so I figured better to work for them than the guys against them. So now they set me on trying to figure out who was doing the altering.

At each point it would give me choices for ‘what do you do’, and of course I could provide my own (which I usually did as a combination of the offers). I could constrain it to not provide so many options, but the logic of the networks and hacking was confusing, so I elected to let it keep prompting. I did call it out at one point because it seemed to be conflating computer programs/access with physical access points. It went through a big explanation, and we clarified a few terms, but I think it is till doing that. For instance, maintenance corridors (physical hallways) have maintenance access points (terminals) that I have to access. Maintenance programs can only be accessed from these terminals, and the hacking could only have been done this way because admin (offices or terminals) don’t have the access. Seems a bit constrained to me. But I’m going with it.

Another aspect I noticed was NPCs seem to provide a lot of info with little prompting. Most times they would say one thing, pause, and then provide a great nugget of info. And that’s all in one response from Chat, no extra prompting/questioning from me. I think despite what it said it is still trying to have my PC ‘win’ a lot. It did roll reactions to each thing I would say, but again even a failure was just the NPC hesitating or asking e a question instead of providing info. No hostile reactions or completely shutting down.

Also, even though I said play CT, it is using a challenge matrix/difficulty test for most things, with my ability as a DM based on a table. Not in CT. But it works so I’m going with it, instead of using roll under ability score type of test. I only have Tacts-1 and Computer -1 (and Air/Raft-1, Rifle -2, and SMG-1) as skills, so I think it based this scenario on my computer skill. But tactics is a +1 DM to most challenges as well for ‘situational awareness’ or ‘planning’. Again I’m taking it for now and will see if I want to try and refine things later or in another round with a different PC.

One interesting thing I ran into towards the end of my play last night. I asked it if I could start a fire in a trash can as a diversion, and it shut down and said it could not provide me with that information. I was confused, because I had a gun and could have been shooting people in the game. After some back and forth it explained it was final answering a general statement of intent within the game (I create a diversion), but could not give me direction on how to do something that could be used in real life to harm people. I guess maybe a version of Asimov’s First Law of Robotics?  It was interesting to run into that, and will be interesting when I get into combat. Most interesting to me was that I did not ask it ‘how’ to create a fire, I asked if I ‘could’. In an rpg, I guess as a PC I shouldn’t ask a GM that in general, because they could just say ‘sure you can’. Just that it took ‘could’ to me ‘tell me explicitly how I can start a fire’.

So overall I was fairly happy with my experience, but only because I had played with Chat before and was not as surprised when I had to keep correcting it. I’m going to keep playing this PC and see where it leads, but I also want to try a party with my PC and NPCs that I nominally control. Getting into some combat will be interesting too, and then space travel/combat. I just have to remember to have to provide the tables it will be using so I can correct them and make sure we are on the same page and playing CT as much as possible.

#CharacterCreationChallenge: Hot Wash #2

 

TardisCaptain's Blog of Holding, instigator of the #CharacterCreationChallenge, since this isn't his first rodeo, has a nice recap of the challenge listing each system he used and the character created, with links to those pages. I thought that was great, to see all the systems plus all the character names.

Day 1: 1st Edition AD&D: Arnon Obend, 1st Level Paladin. Gallant of Pelor

Day 2: Aftermath!: Artimus Smith 17 year old born post-apocalypse 

Day 3: SPIs Universe: Kleton Bavlander, Explorer

Day 4: 1st Edition Gamma World: Gurt Mobass 3 meter tall Humanoid mutant

Day 5: Star Frontiers: Zmat Drangian, a Yaziarian agent of the United Planetary Federation

Day 6: Classic Traveller Book 1 Navy: Ex-Imperial Navy LCDR Clinok (Nok) Bartholomew, Pilot

Day 7: Classic Traveller Book 1 Merchant: 7 Term Retired Merchant 3rd Officer Mikel Lancelles Jamison

Day 8: Classic Traveller Book 1 Scout: Joe Average, but with a Type S Scout Ship

Day 9: Classic Traveller Book 1 Army: MacIntosh (Mac) Blarney. Ex Army LtCol. 30 years old

Day 10: Dragonbane: Wolfbite Lunariem, Wolfkin Hunter

Day 11: D&D BECMI: Vasen 'Vase' Polnifil, Lawful Halfling, Master of the Short Bow

Day 12: Classic Traveller Book 1 Marine: ex-Marine CAPT Michef 'MJ' Jalson

Day 13: Classic Traveller Book 4 Marine: Ex-Marine Sergeant Major Mortimer 'MoFo' Fodan

Day 14: Classic Traveller Book 5 High Guard: Ex-Navy Chief Petty Officer Nathen Hapsberg

Day 15: Classic Traveller Book 1 Other: Tomsar 'Tooms' Lanthden (BS Interstellar Finance)

Day 16: Classic Traveller Book 1 - Another Other: Frankis Malnott, the Getaway Driver

Day 17: 2nd Edition Call of Cthulhu: Carl Franklin, semi-famous tabloid Journalist

Day 18: Aftermath! Round Two: Carton Smith, age 36

Day 19: CyberPunk Red: Hobson Ambrose, a Mauri-descended Solo Level 4

Day 20: Classic Traveller RAW: Bruce Filbert, ex-Merchant 4th Officer Steward

Day 21: Thousand Suns: Markon Vassim, Myrmidom Clade, 32 year old ex-Marine, Novice Colonist

Day 22: Top Secret S.I.: Mateo Delgado

Day 23: Top Secret S.I. - Redux: Mateo Delgado revised

Day 24: 1st Edition Gamma World: Kona Moea, 30 year old mutant of the aftermath

Day 25: Star Frontiers: Momen Vasilikous, Dralasite

Day 26: 2nd Edition AD&D: Lykris Newlim Half Elf Fighter/Magic-User

Day 27: Shadowdark: Deeg, the 1st Level Shadowdark Goblin Thief

Day 28: Aftermath!:  Me!

Day 29: Classic Traveller Book 5 High Guard: Me! in Traveller

Day 30: Classic Traveller Book 1 Scout: ex-Scout Maden 'Mads' Sontrome, owner of Type S Scout/Courier LS1-4H7-1V8 "Reliable Bet" (credit to Douglas Flewelling)

Day 31: Classic Traveller Book 1 Army: Bryne 'BOM' O'Malley, ex-Army LTCOL

Bonus #1: Classic Traveller - Supplement 4 Citizens of the Imperium: Arkim Montayo, 34 year old ex-Air Force helicopter and grav vehicle pilot

Bonus #2: Classic Traveller Book 6 Scouts: Stephin Baccino, 30 years old, ex-Scout (Commo)

So you meet in a tavern....

 

So there are ongoing discussions everywhere about how to start a D&D campaign. The common trope is 'you meet in a tavern': the characters all randomly show up in the same tavern, meet, start drinking and telling tales, and decide to 'adventure together'. Or something like that. 

Everyone complains about it. I've never worried about, because I think everyone just wants to get going on the adventures, they know they are going to be in a group, so who cares - let's get going. But I understand they complaints to some degree. The DM strives so hard to create a coherent world and setting, tying adventures together, trying to be immersive. But right at the beginning you have to ignore the hand wave. 

As I was crafting my Greyhawk campaign (started in the Great Kingdom, but then moved to Nyrond, pre-war) I kept mulling the starting point over to try and solve the 'meet in a tavern' problem. I didn't want to railroad the party, either together or on adventure paths. I wanted there to be a common basis for their gathering and their adventuring.  I also am trying to craft a more political campaign, something beyond just dungeon crawls.

What I came up with was the stealing the patron from Traveller. But how to get all characters to gather to the same Patron? Then it hit me, how does each character get to 1st level? They have to have some type of mentor. What if they all had the same mentor?

So I created Mo, the half elf fighter/magic user/thief. He is level 3-5 in each class, and is an ally of Crown Prince Lynwerd. Prince Lynwerd is loyal to his father King Archbold, but can see that his father is losing his touch and not up to the coming fight with the Great Kingdom. So he is working now to build allies in the various principalities of Nyrond and the surrounds, as well as building a network of capable folks to seek out magic and relics to assist them.

Mo job is to travel the lands and find promising adventuring types, train them up, and set them out onto the lands. Mo will wander into a village as retired adventurer, just seeking calmer waters. He will spend some time getting to know folks, and find the one or two that show promise in any of his classes. He will then start to train them. He ends up spending about a month in a village before moving on, slowly growing a cadre of 1st level characters that are nominally loyal to him.

He gives each character a magic necklace, and tells them when it activates to use it to guide them to a meeting place where he will meet them to give them more information. This is presented to each character separately in their home villages. He tells them they will recognize like minded friends by the necklace, that they can trust them, and his information will be for them all.

So this gets all the characters from various villages, backgrounds, and classes to one place, expecting to meet other. And they've also been 'indoctrinated' into Mo's plans, to some degree. He has sussed out their loyalty to the crown, and promotes they're missions just as 'service to the crown'. He doesn't want to broadcast that he is working for Prince Lynwerd, to keep his network underground to some degree.

I was debating whether to have Mo not make the meeting, and have the characters decide between going to look for him or go on the mission he was providing them with. His mission would actually be a general tasking, and they would have to find more information to determine a 'target', and they could come across information directing them to three different areas. One of which could be containing Mo! Lots of opportunities.

I'm proud of this setup, and having multiple starting missions available leaves it to the players. Which means they will probably pick number 4: None of the above.

Bonus Character #2: Book 6 Scouts

 

Stephin Baccino, 68ABA5, a smart and educated guy was looking for something a little more in life. The Scout recruiter caught his ear and, as recruiters do, spun a wonderful story of exploration and adventure. "Enlist NOW, 70% of Field billets are in Survey or Exploration! Explore new worlds, immerse yourself in new cultures, see the Imperium and beyond!". 

So Stephin signed.

Communications Office. Yep, the 30% found him. 

Well, at least there is still a chance for the Imperial Courier Service branch, and something more exciting than X-Boat tenders.

After one year of Initial Training for his Pilot rating, Stephin was off on his adventure. His first duty assignment was standard courier duties on a Type S. Not too bad to be on a small crew for standard detached duties. Stephen applied himself more at the downports than enroute, but was having fun (Gambling - 1). The next assignment was a Mission, on which Stephin was training in Communications.

His final duty assignment in his initial term was Training, and he was selected for a special Field Training School, where he learned Survey skills and techniques, along with getting his Air/Raft qualification.

Stephin was having fun, learning new things, and seeing different systems. He reenlisted with no problem, as he was just the type of smart, independent thinker the Scouts were looking for in the Field.

His second term started out quiet, with routine missions that did not stretch his abilities. But the next assignment was a Special Mission on which he spent most of his time planet-side on a survey team, where he learned to handle horse-like domesticate beasts and also qualified with a service rifle. The next two years were routine missions, and Stephin used the jump times to take advantage of Scout-offered education courses (+1 EDU). 68ABB5.

Stephin reenlisted for one more 4 year term, then he was going to head out on his own. While the hands-free oversight of the Scout life was great, in the end they were still telling you where to go and when. Stephin had seen too many interesting things that called out to him for further exploration, that he felt he needed to get out and get exploring before age started to catch up with him too much.

The first assignment was more routine missions with his standard crew, which while enjoyable left Stephin hoping for more excitement. He wondered who he pissed off in the Bureaucracy when he was yanked into a Commo mission on an X-Boat tender. He took advantage though and finally got his Vacc Suit paperwork routed properly (how had that slipped through all these years??). By now Stephin had a few connections, and after calling in some favors, pulled a classified special mission assignment. It was out on the Fringe, and Stephin got his Navigation qual on the multiple jumps. All he say about the rest of the mission is he learned how outworld bureaucracies truly work (Bribery - 1). The 'payback' for those favors was to fill a routine slot after the outworld fun, which Stephin had no problem with doing. Why risk your life right before you're getting out? Well, he didn't risk his life if you don't count STDs and bar fights (Carousing - 1).

So after 12 fun years, 30 year old Stephin mustered out. Dreams of a Scout Ship of his own were quickly dashed, but he was rewarded for his faithful and diligent service with 100,000 credits, his service rifle, and a ceremonial blade from one of the planets he visited.

Stephin Baccino, 30 years old, ex-Scout (Commo)

68ABB5

Pilot - 1

Navigation -1 

Commo - 1

Vacc Suit - 1

Survey - 1

Air/Raft - 1

Rifle - 1

Carousing - 1

Gambling -1 

Bribery -1

Equestrian - 1

100,000 Cr, rifle, Blade

Mea Culpa

 I was reading Book 6 Scouts more thoroughly in preparation of rolling one up to make up for missing that during the challenge, and read the passage about 'officers' (Bureaucracy Office in the Scouts) can only be promoted Once Per Term. I looked back at Books 4 and 5 and found the same thing. Oops.

I had been rolling every assignment regardless whether if enlisted or not. I love extra Mustering out benefits!

I'll have to be sure to abide by that rule in the future, and next years Character Creation Challenge.

Random Gygaxian #1

 

My intro to RPGs was AD&D 1st Edition. As soon as I could I bought the Players Handbook, the DMG, and the Monster Manual. But it was always the DMG that had a spell on me (no pun intended). From the cover art, to the densely worded pages, it seemed to contain so much cool information. I read alot of it (far from most of it I will admit), but the biggest thrill was looking at warships and the fortress construction costs. I dreamed of getting to that point, but never did.

The other thing about the DMG was the crash course introduction to Gygaxian Prose, or High Gygaxian as it's been called. His writing style was amplified by the two column layout of 8 (smaller?) point font. This thing was packed with words! Yes, yes it was. But that layout and style made it difficult to easily (or quickly!) parsed out the rule details one needed. 

I was the forever DM because I would take the time to read the rules and figure them out. My main playing buddy Craig did not have the patience for that, and was content for me to be the DM and educate him in the rules. He would skim them over and have a basic understanding at least, but I would have to run things. That worked, and we played alot, and a few different games besides D&D (Traveller, Aftermath!, Gamma World, Twilight 2000, Top Secret, even Bushido I think).

So that is all a rather long introduction to a recurring feature idea I had, to select a random paragraph from the DMG, to share and discuss the Gygaxian it contained, and parse out what it was actually trying to say. 

So here we go. I'm only dealing with the first 120 pages, because the treasure tables called for those long descriptions, plus the appendices and tables would be no fun either.

Page 86, GAINING EXPERIENCE LEVELS. Eleven paragraphs, almost the entire page, discussing the finer details of gaining experience levels. The first paragraph has the first Gygax warning: UPWARD PROGRESS IS NEVER AUTOMATIC (all caps in the original). The remaining paragraphs go one to explain how it is automatic, it will just take longer to train for the next level if the DM has judged you the player as having not played your character well to type (class). The DM is to rate each character after each adventure from Excellent to Poor. A poor rating should be given to 'cautious' characters that do not pull their weight.

Of course Gary created a formula form the ratings that determines the number of weeks of training required to gain the next level. Down to the decimal 'because each .145 equals a game day'. Poorer performance will require longer to train (have to remind that character how to act properly in that class!). 

If you are below the 'named level' of your class you only have to train with someone of your class that is at least one level higher. Well, that is not clearly stated but inferred by the sentence 'Training under a higher level character applies only to characters who are below the "name", or nominal upper level, of their class and profession." So even with eleven paragraphs dedicated to explaining the gaining of experience levels, the critical point for beginning characters is not clearly stated.

Training will cost 1,500 gp per week per (current) level of the trainee. Above the named level, you self train, but are still assessed a cost for various things depending on your class (vestments, largess, tithes, equipment, etc).

So Gary set up a system where treasure is experience points, and so you need alot of it, but then had to have ways to remove said treasure from the characters lest they spend it on something they want or need. Training.

Reading this makes me wonder if Gary wasn't ever in the Air Force. The Air Force is very proscriptive in what their pilots can do (that which is not explicitly allowed is forbidden). I was a Navy pilot, and the Navy operates more independently. Our mantra was 'that which is not explicitly prohibited is allowed. 

The ending paragraph is a litany of prescriptions: 

• All training/study is recorded in game time.
• The period must be uninterrupted and continuous.
• He/she cannot engage in adventuring, travel, magic research of any nature ...
• If there is a serious hiatus .. lose all of the benefits of the time spent prior..
• Under no circumstances can a character gain additional experience points by any means until he or she actually acquires the higher level

Look, I get it, what Gary was trying to do. He was trying to define everything, explicitly, every case, so that there was ONE way to play D&D. A '"universe" into which similar campaigns and parallel worlds can be placed.'

But in the end, what GM rated their players? At best it was assumed you played your character correctly per class, so you had one week of training to level up, at 1500gp times your current level. It was always an option to make finding the required instructor a bit of a quest. But at lower levels it shouldn't be that hard to find a 2nd or 4th level of just about any class. 

So maybe no great High Gygaxian prose in this section, but plenty of directions and proscriptives. And you can definitely get the feeling of DM vs players, keeping the players 'in check'. I always wonder if this was just Gary, or if it evolved as his DM style because of his players? From Blackmoor and early Greyhawk, it seems the players were always trying to see what kind of crazy stuff they could do, really testing the boundaries of the game and systems. Maybe from the wargame history of us vs them, and someone has to 'win'.

The way we played, and the way I think the game has evolved, is the DM wants the players to have fun. And leveling up is a main source of the fun in D&D - more HP, new spells, new abilities. So there isn't much impetous to restrict leveling up - actually the opposite, with the creation of milestone experience points, or even milestone leveling up! 

I personally prefer the slog of gaining experience points, so you never really know when you will be leveling up. That makes it more exciting and satisfying when it finally does happen. Even just making second level is an achievement!

Bonus Character #1: Citizens of the Imperium

 

This is one of the Citizens of the Imperium I rolled up but didn't post with the challenge.

Arkim Montayo. 4BAC36. A brilliant guy, ultra marathon runner, who just plain didn't like school. All he wanted to do was run. When he showed up at all, he would soak things up but then not do any homework and purposefully flunk the tests. Ended up dropping out and working odd jobs, but soon got tired of the 'just making ends meet' lifestyle. He had no urge to bust out into the universe, so he enlisted in the System Air Force.

Despite his lack of formal education, he easily passed the entrance tests. He easily passed and survived basic (Vacc Suit - 1, Survival - 1) and advanced training and his first tour. He selected Grav Vehicles out of basic for his primary flight position (Air Craft: Grav/Air Raft - 1). But he continued his slacker ways, and did not make any friends with leadership. So there was no promotion, and he barely made reenlistment.

With 4 years of maturity, and recognizing he was pissing away this chosen path which could be good to him, he started to buckle down and change his ways. He was more attentive and applied himself to studies, and was rewarded with position of Pilot, followed soon by a promotion to Flight Leader. Maybe Arkim had found his home at last. He hit the gym, since he wasn't running nearly as much as he would like, and increased his strength, which helped when pulling Gs. He also got advance quals in Vacc Suit and some combat training with an SMG as part of an advanced survival course. Despite his hard work and efforts this tour, he was barely retained for reenlistment.

His third tour was step back. He was assigned one staff position after another, and did not receive a promotion. His positive attitude began to crumble, and he spent more and more time at back alley poker tables losing his money (Gambling -1). He decided he give it one more tour, and if things didn't turn around he was punching out. 

His fourth tour started out well, with an opportunity to cross train in helicopters (Aircraft - Helicopter - 1). But he was assigned to a logistics unit and spent the next 3 years flying personnel and supplies to research stations. The constant flying kept him out of the gym and he lost the small bit of strength he had added in previous years. No promotion sealed the deal for him, and he departed with some skills, but about the same attitude he had coming in. His severance was 15,000 Cr and a middle passage - a pittance for 16 years of service. But his record did positively reflect the training he had received (2 x EDU +1).

Arkim Montayo, 34 year old ex-Air Force helicopter and grav vehicle pilot.

15,000CR, Middle Passage

4BAC56

Air Craft - Air/Raft - 1

Air Craft - Helicopter - 1

Vacc Suit - 2

Survival -1 

SMG - 1

Gambling - 1

Character Creation Challenge Hot Wash

I did it! I managed to create and post a character every day in the month of January. I have to say I'm proud of myself, as it did become a true 'challenge' as the month wore on. Work and family time, and then having to make the time to create a character, added up to long days. An added level of difficulty was creating characters with systems I have never played, and had not studied the rules before creating the character. So it was learn as I go.

But that was one of the best aspects of the month, was getting into systems that I either had form my youth but never played, or have picked up in the last few years (or months even!) and haven't played. It made me want to play them all that much more!

Looking back at my first post where I listed all the games I wanted to build in, I did very well there too. I built in everything I listed except four: 5E D&D, original Top Secret, Traveller Book 6 Scouts, and Traveller Supp 4 Citizens of the Imperium. I wasn't sure why I listed original Top Secret, but checking my PDFs now I see I have the original in there. I'm disappointed I do a Book 6 Scouts. I think I'll have to do that today. I did do a couple of Citizens of the Imperium, but I think I held them for emergencies and never came back to them. I rolled characters and took notes in a spiral notebook, so once I turned the page they went down the memory hole. I'll probably post them just for fun too.

I didn't do 5E because I'm just not a fan of it, too much min/maxing right from the get go from what I remember when I was studying up on it a couple of years ago. I would have had to work through alot of refresher to build a character. I did add one system that was not on my list, Thousand Suns. So of the 19 systems I listed, I built in 15 of them, and with Thousand Suns built in a total of 16 systems.

Here's the final stats:

Classic (Book 1) Traveller: 10

Aftermath!: 3

Classic Traveller (High Guard Book 5): 2

Gamma World 1E: 2

Star Frontiers: 2

Top Secret S.I.: 2

AD&D 1E: 1

AD&D 2E: 1

BECMI: 1

Dragonbane: 1

Universe: 1

Call of Cthulhu 1E: 1

Classic Traveller (Mercenary Book 4): 1

CyberPunk Red: 1

Shadowdark: 1

Thousand Suns: 1 (bonus system)

Original Top Secret: 0

Classic Traveller (Scouts Book 6): 0

Classic Traveller (Citizens of the Imperium Supplement 4): 0 (2 built put not posted)

D&D 5E: 0

So not too surprising to me. I had no plans or schedule, I just built what I felt like each day. Traveller Book 1 is familiar, fast, and builds a story so it's alot of fun. It is explicitly one of the 'games within the game' of Traveller.

Aftermath! being my acknowledged favorite RPG in my youth, it's no surprise I did multiple characters there. Gamma World was fast and fun also with the mutations.

I really want to do more in Universe, Dragonbane, and Thousand Suns to explore and learn those systems some more.  And maybe an Original Top Secret to compare to SI.

So this was fun and a great learning experience for systems I wasn't familiar with. 

Character #31: Classic Traveller - Book 1

 

To finish out the month and my first #CharacterCreationChallenge, I'm going to do a Classic Traveller Book 1 character. I love Traveller, the character generation process creates a story, and they are quick and easy.

This is Bryne 'BOM' O'Malley, 8A8AA6. Pretty good rolls across the board, could probably do well in any service. BOM chooses the Army, as he thinks he has the best chance for a commission and promotions in the Army. He's a physical guy, but also smart, and thinks he can serve best as an Officer.

BOM enlists with no issues and quickly sees his plan come to fruition. He earns a Commission based on his entry scores and performance in boot camp, followed shortly by a further promotion to Captain. The Army had quickly recognized his leadership abilities and intelligence would serve them well. BOM gets an expert rifle badge in boot camp (Rifle - 1), SMG training in Officer School, and an Air/Raft license. However, he also spends off duty time in the local casinos (Gambling - 1), perhaps a sign of problems to come. He reenlists with no issues.

His second tour sees another promotion to Major, and various operational missions where he is trained in the art of being a Forward Observer. He also earns a posting to Command and General Staff College, where he is schooled up in Tactics. Reenlistment is no issue for Major O'Malley.

His third tour starts strong, with another promotion to LTCOL. BOM really loves this tour as a Battalion Commander, and enjoys getting to know the troops. He 'gets his hands dirty' with his various components, and learns to drive the various tracked vehicles in his command, as well as earning a Combat Lifesaver rating (Medical - 1). Despite staying active and hitting the gym with the troops, BOMs many nights of drinking and gambling take a toll on his stamina. 8A7AA6.

With his eyes set on another tour and a 'sure thing' promotion to full Colonel, BOM is dumbfounded when the service rejects his package for a fourth term. His gambling and drinking had begun to interfere with his ability to lead, and a couple of fraternization charges that were swept under the rug, all added up to too many issues for the Army to deal with.

BOM quickly ran through the stages of grief, and settled on anger. Not angry at himself for torpedoing a great career, but angry at the Army. Because his units had all operated well, BOM didn't realize the liability he had become.

The Army processed him out quickly with the minimum severance package of 12,000 Cr and a Middle Passage ticket. Another slap in the face in BOMs view. But BOM was not going away empty handed. He pulled strings and leveraged his rapport with the troops to make off with his rifle and pistol as 'surplus gear'.

Bryne 'BOM' O'Malley, ex-Army LTCOL, 34 years old

12,000 Cr, Middle Passage, Rifle, Auto Pistol

8A7AA6

Rifle - 1

SMG - 1

Auto Pistol -1

Gambling - 1

Air/Raft - 1

Vehicle - Tracked - 1

Medical -1 

Fwd Observer - 1

Tactics -1

#CharacterCreationChallenge

Character #30: Classic Traveller

 

We're getting to the end of this challenge, and I have to admit to getting a bit worn out. It's everything else of life actually, that pushes me to doing these after 1800 and a long day at work, when I should be spending time with the family. To spend time with family, some of these I've not started until 2230, and have had some late nights to get them posted.

So tonight (time hack: 2110), I'm doing straight Classic Traveller Book 1.

Maden Sontrome: 79AA43. Mads is very intelligent, but no schooling. A self-taught brainiac from the wrong side of the tracks of a backwater world. By age 18 he managed to scrape together low passage to a main world, and attempts to enlist in the Imperial Marines. They want nothing to do with him, as they think he cheated on the ASVAB since he almost aced it but only shows up as having completed the 6th grade. He gets automatically entered in a service draft, and pulls the Scouts. He'll take it, anything to get as far away as possible from the hell that was home.

His first tour is uneventful with basic training, basic flight school, and two years line duty on an X-Boat tender. He earns Pilot - 1, Vacc Suit - 1, and spends his downtime taking online courses and gains +1 EDU. 79AA53. Despite his efforts to better himself, and having no problems with any assignment, he is barely accepted for reenlistment (rolled a 3 for the target 3! The easiest service to reenlist in!)

After the scare of almost getting booted after just one term, Mads vows to doubly apply himself and not let that happen again. His next tour is on the fringe, and he has a number of close calls, including barely surviving a freak meteor impact that destroyed the Scout Courier he was on. He spent 3 weeks in a rescue ball, and only his hardy upbringing saw him through that. He continued his intensive studies during this tour, in Electronics, and was also cross trained in Gunnery. This reenlistment passed with no issues at all.

His third tour was on a brand new Scout Courier on a survey mission. No close calls, but many hours spent conducting surface ops, where he earned a Grav Vehicle license along with training in Mechanics keeping the vehicles running. Reenlistment was again no issue.

His fourth tour was back on an X-Boat Tender, and Mads made the most of the routine again with self study in philosophy and linguistics (INT +1), and Advanced Electronics. His years in space began to take a toll on his body, reducing his strength and endurance. He decided to reenlist one more time, then head out and see what he could make of himself on his own. 699B53

For his fifth tour, he was again assigned to a fringe exploration mission on an armed survey scout. This mission encountered many pirates, and Mads increased his gunnery skill. In down times he continued his self study program (INT +1). But age continued to take it's toll. 698C53. The Scouts did not retain him, and Mads happily headed out into the Imperium.

For mustering out benefits, Mads took two for cash and three for benefits. For cash, he cleared 70k credits. For benefits, Mads was rewarded for his years of dedicated service with a surplus Type S Scout/Courier. He could not believe his good fortune! Backwater dropout to independent ship captain! And his continuous self study across many fields had greatly increased his intellect (+2 INT). He was well trained, able to operate and maintain anything on the ship. All he needed to do was recruit a few like-minded trained crewmen to share the duties, and find a patron.

Maden 'Mads' Sontrome, 38, ex-Scout

698E53

70,000 Cr

owner of Type S Scout/Courier LS1-4H7-1V8 "Reliable Bet"

Pilot - 1

Vacc Suit - 1

Electronics - 2

Gunnery - 2

Mechanical - 1

Grav Vehicle - 1

graphic credit to Douglas Flewelling

#CharacterCreationChallenge

Character #29: Classic Traveller Book 5 High Guard - Me!

 

Keeping with what I started yesterday, I'm going to do myself in Book 5 High Guard, since I was in the US Navy as a pilot for 20 years. I had an odd entry path, career path, and career tours, so based on that alone it would be hard to get a direct translation. Plus going pilot in the water navy to spaceship navy is going to twist things too. I'm not rolling anything, just selecting what matches up with my reality, as much as possible.

So here goes.

For my attributes, I'm setting them fairly average at my 18 year old starting point, although I am above average intelligence (honors classes through high school, graduated with honors, etc).

STR 7
DEX 7
END 8
INT 9
EDU 9
SOC 7

Go to college, succeed (4 years), Aeronautical Engineering degree, graduate with honors. I'll take a +2 EDU bump. 22 years old.

But here's my first oddity: I technically was enlisted my last two years of college, just had to go to classes and stay on the B honor roll, and when I graduated I was guaranteed a slot at Officer School (Aviation Officer Candidate School - AOCS, actually. With Marine Corps Drill Instructors!). And if I  succeeded and got my commission, I was guaranteed a pilot school slot.

So here's how I crafted my 'first 4 year term':

1: Basic and Advanced Officer School for 1 year (my AOCS was 12 weeks!), earning Admin - 1 and Vacc Suit -1. I took Admin because we learned a unit operates, which includes paperwork. Plus we learned basic skills (survival, basic engine theory and aerodynamics, etc), so I took Vacc Suit as a basic space Navy skill.  

2 and 3: Flight School for two yeasr, earning Pilot - 1 and Navigation - 1.

4: First operational tour, first year. Patrol (I was actually a Patrol Plane Pilot).  Earning another pilot rating (Aircraft Commander), so I'm up to Pilot - 2. And Promotion to Sublieutenant O2 (Lieutenant Junior Grade in real life).

Second 4 year Term: 

1: First operational tour, second year. Call it Strike (we did counter drug ops in the Caribbean). Promotion to LT O3, Commo - 1 skill.

2. First operational tour, third year. Flight - Training, Pilot - 3

I was #3 in my Officer School Class, so I earned a Regular Navy Commission. That meant I served until they kicked me out, didn't have to reenlist.

3: My first shore tour was to go to Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) and get a Masters Degree in Aeronautical Engineering. I take this as a Special Assignment - Cross Training in Engineering, Engineering - 1.

4. I was as NPS for two and a half years actually, so I'll take this second year as Special Assignment -Cross Training in Technical Services, for a Mechanical - 1 skill.

Third 4 year term:

1. I then went on a two year 'Dissociated Sea Tour', which meant I had to go on a ship (and aircraft carrier) as ships company. I take this as Special Assignment - Cross Training - Line. We played alot of poker, so Gambling - 1.

2. Another year on the carrier, so another Special Assignment - Cross Training - Line, and I take Liaison - 1 (I had to smooze some big wigs). Promotion to Lieutenant Commander O4 (R3). I was actually promoted at the end of my carrier tour, although I did not 'put it on' until the next tour.

3. More oddities:  I had a one year assignment to Army Command and General Staff College at Ft Leavenworth, Kansas. This was a fun tour because I was from Kansas City which was only 30 minutes away. I'll take this as Special Assignment - Staff College, and take Fleet Tactics - 1. 

4. I then went back to operational flying for two years. So back to Flight, Training assignment, and I'll take Ship Tactics - 1.

Fourth 4 year term:

1. Another year of operational flying, with a deployment to the Caribbean for counter drug ops again. I'll take that as Patrol, and skill in Ship's Boat - 1.

2. I then went to another aircraft carrier, on the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) Staff (Admiral's staff). I'll take the first year as Special Duty - Cross Training - Line, Shore Duty with no skills.

3. Second year on the CSG staff. We deployed to combat operations in the Gulf. So I'll take a Special Duty - Cross Training - Line, Strike Assignment. Computer - 1.

4. More Oddities. The CSG staff was sent with the Admiral to Djibouti to fill in the Combined Joint Task Force staff. We received some weapons and combat training before deploying. I'll take this as Special Assignment - Cross Training - Line -Siege, for a Rifle - 1 skill.

Fifth 4 year term:

1. I ended up in Tampa at Centcom as a representative of the Combined Joint Task Force.  So I'll call this Line - Shore Duty, with skill in Fleet Tactics - 2.

2. Final year before I retired, was simple shore duty. Flight - Shore Duty, no skills. 

Forced retirement at 20 years, counting last 2 years of college, as O4 Lieutenant Commander (R3) at age 40.

Pension 4,000Cr/year. I'll take 4 muster benefits for terms (not getting one for the truncated 5th term) plus 2 for rank. 2x50,000cr, +1 Intel, +2 Educ, +2 Social, and Traveller's Aid Society.

So here's me, Traveller Book 5 High Guard Navy veteran.

Wes

LCDR (R3) Retired, Imperial Navy

STR 7

DEX 7

END 8

INT 10

EDU 13

SOC 9

Pilot - 3

Navigation - 1

Commo - 1

Engineering - 1

Mechanical - 1

Gambling - 1

Liaison - 1

Fleet Tactics - 2

Ships Tactics - 1

Ship's Boat - 1

Computer - 1

Rifle - 1

100,000Cr

Traveller's Aid Society

#CharacterCreationChallange

Character #28: Aftermath! Me

 

For this build, as I approach the end of January, I thought I would change tactics. I have been generating basic characters, or level 1 where applicable, in the various systems. That's getting a little stale.

Since Aftermath! was my favorite RPG, and me and my buddy tried to generate 'ourselves' as characters but it didn't work so well when you are only 15, I thought I'd give it another go 34 years later.

So after growing up hunting, fishing, and backpacking, owned a horse, degrees in Aeronautical Engineering, 20 years in the US Navy as a multi-engine fixed wing pilot, my ham radio Technician license, mountain bike riding, etc etc, the skills add up. But I tried to be honest about my Attributes, which are 1 to 40, with the 'average man' being 10-12.

Wit (WT): I'm of above average intelligence, was in honor classes through high school and college, BS and MS in Aeronautical engineering, and upper level management in a defense training company to include my Project Management Professional certification. 30 points.

Will (WL): Strength of mind, drive and determination. I've accomplished everything I set myself too, from US Navy Officer Candidate School (Marine Corps drill instructors), Flight School, Engineering Degrees, a Tough Mudder and other endurance races. I've looked over the precipice into the black void of depression and survived. My favorite motto is 'Not dead, don't quit'. 25 points. 

Strength (STR): Here I had to be brutally honest with myself. My brain, which is stuck at about 35 years old, wants to pick the value for my peak, would have been maybe a 25. I was never super strong, but was in good shape, excellent on all my military PFTs, could do 20 pullups and 70 pushups. But I'm not 35 anymore, darn it! Even ignoring my current torn rotator cuff, I had to rate myself as the low end of average for a 59 year old, because I haven't been to the gym in forever. 10 points.

Deftness (DFT): Manual dexterity and reaction time. I think I've always had good reaction times, and my manual dexterity is still pretty good. 15 points.

Speed (SPD): Agility and rapidity of action. Agility is ok, but I don't move super fast (bad knees). 15 points.

Health (HLH): I'm in good health, and I think I am above average in resistance to disease as I'm rarely sick. 14 points.

So my critical derived scores for action are:

Base Action Phase - BAP (SPD Ability Saving Throw): 5 (my initiative number)

Maximum Number of Actions - MNA (DFT Group): 3

Phases Consumed in Action - PCA (BAP/MNA, down): 1

So these numbers make sense for my average physicality and advanced age. In the Aftermath!, I would have to make up for my slowness and weakness by using my brain more, out witting and outsmarting opponents via ambush or avoidance.

Skills were fun, based on my age and experiences. Quite the list, but again I tried to be accurate or 'true to life'.

My use and enjoyment of firearms from a young age, plus additional military training, building my own ARs, and owning and shooting somewhat regularly, I gave myself Rifle and Pistol time 2, giving me a Base Chance of Success (BCS) of 20 in those skills. That doesn't mean I always hit, it means the environment and conditions are what will influence my chance to hit more than my skill.

I took one level of Primitive Rifle because my dad and I built a Hawkin black powder rifle and shot it frequently, so I know how that works as well. We also reloaded shotgun shells so I took Handloading (the biggest stretch I think, because I don't know for sure I could do it from scratch).

We owned horses when I was a kid so I took beast riding. I rode my mountain bike on trails frequently as an adult so took bicycle riding. Fishing and hunting from growing up doing both frequently. I got certified in SCUBA diving. I live in a 100+ year old house and have rebuilt much of it (floors, porches etc): carpentry. Know how to drive a stick shift and have taken a tactical driving course, so Auto Driving times 2. Aeronautical degrees give me Mathematics times 2 and Physics. Ham license gives me Radio Communications.

1500 hours of pilot time with instrument and multi engine ratings gives me Pilot, Fixed Wing times 2.

I bought lockpicks and training materials and taught myself to picklocks. I have succeeded on some padlocks, so I'll take it.

Grew up swimming, comfortable in the water and under water.

From other tours in the Navy I took Tactics and Operational Command.

For gear I also tried to stick with what I actually have. The best part is I'm building an XM177E2/CAR-15 AR (even paid Uncle Sam to SBR it), which is what I always wanted when we played Aftermath! So that is my primary weapon, and my Hellcat Pro is my backup. Seven 30 round magazines for the AR, and 5 17 round magazines for the pistol.

Lightweight backpack, tent, sleeping bag, etc from my backpack trips (AT thru hike is on top of my post-retirement bucket list!). Other gear is normal gear I have on hand (tourniquet, Sawyer squeeze water filter, flashlights, etc).

One stretch is a plate carrier/tactical vest with a plate. I have a tactical vest from an IA assignment to Djibouti, but I haven't been able to justify a plate carrier and plate, yet. But if things get any crazier that would be top of my list, so I took it.

So here I am, post-apocalypse, geared up and ready to go. Already in hindsight I should have taken one of my other ARs with a red dot or 1-8 scope. Oh well, I'll look cool with my shorty AR!

#CharacterCreationChallenge

Character #27: Shadowdark

 

I'm sure everyone has heard about Shadowdark. It made a big splash in the OSR/Retro-clone world. It's main claim to fame is tracking torches, with no infravision, so torch management and the dungeon raid mentality is back. That was alot of OD&D: get in, grab what you could, and get out before something killed you. I've heard nothing but good things about Shadowdark. While I have not picked up the full ruleset/book seen above, I did grab the free Quickstart intro to try and get a feel for it.

Here's what the Quickstart guide says about the game:

WHAT DEFINES THIS GAME?

Speed, danger, and simplicity. Magic is perilous, and battles are fast and deadly. Being clever is crucial for survival.

Shadowdark RPG is rules-light and intuitive. It encourages quick decisions rather than hunting through the rulebook for answers.

In this game, a torch only holds back the pressing darkness for one hour of real-world time. There isn’t a moment to waste when the flames are burning low...

So let's roll a character! The Quickstart guide covers the basics, if not somewhat disjointed (not presented in a stepwise fashion). But I got there.

 First is a Background 1D20 roll on a table: I got Sailor.

Then roll 3D6 down the line for standard D&D stats, and note the Modifier from a table:

STR 11 +0

DEX 15 +2

CON 14 +2

INT 10 +0

WIS 10 +0

CHA 13 +1

Next is pick Ancestry (Race). There are six available (dwarf, elf, halfling, half-orc, human, and goblin), so I rolled a D6: Goblin! Goblins know the Goblin and Common tongue, and have Keen Senses so cannot be surprised (nice!).

Next is picking Class from Fighter, Priest, Thief, or Wizard. Given my DEX, Thief seemed appropriate.

You get one roll on the Thief Talents table, and I got +2 to STR, DEX, OR CON (I originally misread this and thought it was to ALL of those!). I'll take it on my already high DEX, which will effectively give my an additional +1 to my AC using leather armor, the only armor allowed to thieves.

Thieves have Advantage on checks for Climbing, Sneaking/hiding, Disguises, Finding/Disabling Traps, and Picking pockets or locks. They also get thieves tools, which do not take up a gear slot (see below).

They also have a Backstab attack, if the target is unaware of your attack, giving a Plus 1/2 level (rounded down) weapon damage dice.

Next is Alignment (Chaos, Neutral, or Law: more old school!). I choose Choas for my Thief, whose first level title is Thug (titles are based on class and alignment), and I pick the Chaos Deity Memnon.

I finally find the formula for starting gold (2D6 x5) giving 35. I have Gear Slots equal to my Strength or 10, which ever is higher, so 11.

I buy leather armor for 10 gp, which takes 1 gear slot and has an AC of 11 plus my DEX modify (3), for a total AC of 14. A shortsword for 7gp and dagger for 1gp completes my armor and weapons, and I'm down to 17 gp. A Crawling Kit of basic gear is available for 7 gp and 7 gear slots, so I pick that up and I'm left with 10gp. The Crawling Kit consists of a Backpack, flint&steel, 2 torches, 3 rations, 10 iron spikes, a grappling hook and 60 feet of rope. 

I roll for hit points, 1D4 for thief (a 3), plus my CON modifier (2) for 5 Hp.

Lastly, there is a great table to roll a name on based on race, excuse me, Ancestry. A 14 for a Goblin gets me Deeg.

So here's Deeg, the 1st Level Shadowdark Goblin Thief. 

STR 11 (+0)

DEX 17 (+3)

CON 14 (+2)

INT 10 (+0)

WIS 10 (+0)

CHA 13 (+1)

AC 14 Leather Armor

HP 5

GP 10

Short Sword (1d6 Damage)

Dagger (1d4 Damage)

Special Abilities: Goblin - Keen Senses - Cannot be surprised

                            Thief - Advantage on thief actions (climbing, sneaking, etc)

                            0 gear slot thieves tools (lockpicks, etc)

Crawling kit gear.

I really hope I get a chance to play Shadowdark. And I'd like to play Deeg! I'm usually not a thief player, but playing a true Goblin of Chaos sounds like fun!

#CharacterCreationChallenge