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Ship of Cripples
Jan. 29th, 2007 08:01 amFantasy author David Eddings recently burned down his own house. Ah well.
***
To business!
Been reading a lot of old Traveller material lately, for whatever reason. Traveller is an odd duck, RPG wise. The volume of material and detail is impressive, with tens of thousands of worlds described, and detailed deck plans available of every ship, and supplement books covering all the major races.
But at the same time the material in print only manages to suggest the setting. So much time and space is covered by the game that, even if you slavishly incorporate all the source material into your campaign, the end result will only superficially resemble another person's game. Yet, at the same time, much of the setting is determined by the game engine and character generation system itself, and proceeds from that facet of the game engine. I suspect that someone using only the tiny Characters and Combat book to run a Traveller game would end up with something recognizably similar to a game run by someone using all 5000 pages of supplementary material.
One thing that impresses me about the materials produced for the game is the fact that the writers were clearly playing by the same rules they wanted you to use. This is sometimes painfully evident in the stats assigned to NPCs or other pre-generated characters. As an example, the adventure Argon Gambit (published in 1981) presents eight pre-generated characters for player use. Their stats and skills were plainly rolled up randomly.
Four examples:
Retired Merchant Captain 616668 Age 50 8 terms Cr1,000
Navigation-1, Admin-1, Steward-1, Medic-1 , Pilot-1 , Shotgun-1 Ship
Ex-navy Lieutenant Commander 118894 Age 34 4 terms Cr2,000
Gunnery-1 , Computer-2, Engineering-1 , Pistol-2
Ex-scout 365BB4 Age 34 4 terms Cr1,500
Vacc-2, Pistol-1 , Pilot-1, Electronics-1, Brawling-1 TAS member
Ex-navy Starman 961797 Age 50 8 terms Cr1,300
Dagger-4, Admin-1, Ship's Boat-1, Computer-1, Navigation-1, JOT-1
If you don't understand the numbers, don't worry about it. You probably dated a lot more than I did.
The string of numbers after the descriptive title is the Universal Personality Profile (UPP). Each number reflects a physical, mental, or social characteristic. In order, they are Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Intelligence, Education, and Social Status. These range from 1 to 12 (or higher, if you're lucky), with numbers greated than 9 represented by a letter. Thus, 10=A, 11=B, and so on.
What's interesting is the way these short stat block encapsulations suggest a history for each character.
So, the first character is the 50 year old pilot and ship owner. He (or she) has a 1 in Dexterity. His other stats are pretty mediocre. Now, it is impossible to roll a 1 for a starting statistic, meaning that this character (and the others) suffered some injury in the course of their life. I'm picturing a middle-aged astronaut with some kind of degenerative nerve disorder. Alternately, he was exposed to the vacuum of space and partially paralyzed! He shakes uncontrollably, but piloting a freighter doesn't require fine-motor control, as the ship is mostly automated. He just has to punch the right buttons. And notice that he has a skill in shotgun - about the only firearm he can handle with any degree of accuracy!
The second character is a 34 year old retired Navy officer. He or she has a 1 in Strength AND a 1 in Dexterity, which means this character is so feeble and uncoordinated as to be practically confined to bed. And indeed, most of this character's skills are the sort of things that can be performed by someone in a wheelchair. So, I get the mental image of capable young woman, who had a promising military career cut short when she was shot in the spine by space pirates. She's been forced to take employment as a gunner/techie on an ancient space freighter under the command of a guy she met at the Disability Office. She can barely stand, but that doesn't matter on board the ship. Crank the grav plates down to 1/4 G, and she can get around fine. And she's still a fair shot with a pistol, so look out.
The third character is apparently some kind of working class nerd in his early 30s. He has a 3 in Strength, a mediocre 6 in Dexterity, a 5 in Endurance, a low Social Standing... but very high Intelligence and Education. He was in the Scout service, which is a branch that attracts the sort of loners willing to knock around the universe in a tiny ship for months at a time. So, I imagine an over-educated nerd from a blue collar home. His education was supposed to be his ticket to a better life, but in the end the only way off his depressing home world was to sign up as a Scout. For most of his adult life he's been alone, with only adventure story booktapes and holovids for company. He has 2 in Vacc Suit operation, so I imagine him spending long hours drifting in a space suit tethered to his ship, just enjoying the solitude. The Scout service kicked him out, and he's signed on with this freighter as the engineer and co-pilot. He's been in rough spots before, and maybe sees himself as something of an adventurer. Maybe there's there's some romantic tension between him and the ex-Naval officer? Unrequited, perhaps, because she only has eyes for...
The fourth character. This guy is a real enigma. He's ex-Navy as well, retired (or forced out) at the age of 50. Look at that range of skills. A FOUR in Dagger? He can fly a Ship's Boat? Jack of all Trades? No way was this guy some bridge officer. I'm imagining a Special Forces type, trained in covert assassination. He'd use his "Jack of all Trades" skill to get hired on a pirate ship, or by a gang of terrorists. He even has Admin skills, so he can play the part of a harmless bureacrat. Once in place, he wins the confidence of his new friends, then kills his target silently with a dagger and escapes in a Ship's Boat, which is the most nondescript of vehicles in the Traveller universe. His 9 Strength (at the age of 50!) suggests an athletic type. His Intelligence and Social Standing are purely average, letting him fit in with a crowd, but his above-average Education is a hallmark of years spent researching various backgrounds. He knows a little bit about everything, or can fake it.
But look at that Endurance. This athletic guy has a 1 in Endurance. So, he's big and brawny, and still deadly with a knife, but can barely climb a flight of stairs these days. Cancer, maybe. Or a heart condition. Or a mysterious poison some old enemy gave him? Or maybe he knew too much, and the service (or a rival) tried to take him down? They think he's dead, but he's just biding his time on some civillian garbage scow full of losers! Or, he's genuinely afraid of his life, and is playing the part of the genial old Navy quartermaster, forced into retirement because of a bad heart? And one day, someone tries to mess with that sweet new Techie we hired, and out comes the service dagger...
I forgot what my point was.
Uh... I think I was going to say that most players would ditch these characters minutes after rolling them. But now I think they're cool, and almost want to run a PBEM game that features them.
***
To business!
Been reading a lot of old Traveller material lately, for whatever reason. Traveller is an odd duck, RPG wise. The volume of material and detail is impressive, with tens of thousands of worlds described, and detailed deck plans available of every ship, and supplement books covering all the major races.
But at the same time the material in print only manages to suggest the setting. So much time and space is covered by the game that, even if you slavishly incorporate all the source material into your campaign, the end result will only superficially resemble another person's game. Yet, at the same time, much of the setting is determined by the game engine and character generation system itself, and proceeds from that facet of the game engine. I suspect that someone using only the tiny Characters and Combat book to run a Traveller game would end up with something recognizably similar to a game run by someone using all 5000 pages of supplementary material.
One thing that impresses me about the materials produced for the game is the fact that the writers were clearly playing by the same rules they wanted you to use. This is sometimes painfully evident in the stats assigned to NPCs or other pre-generated characters. As an example, the adventure Argon Gambit (published in 1981) presents eight pre-generated characters for player use. Their stats and skills were plainly rolled up randomly.
Four examples:
Retired Merchant Captain 616668 Age 50 8 terms Cr1,000
Navigation-1, Admin-1, Steward-1, Medic-1 , Pilot-1 , Shotgun-1 Ship
Ex-navy Lieutenant Commander 118894 Age 34 4 terms Cr2,000
Gunnery-1 , Computer-2, Engineering-1 , Pistol-2
Ex-scout 365BB4 Age 34 4 terms Cr1,500
Vacc-2, Pistol-1 , Pilot-1, Electronics-1, Brawling-1 TAS member
Ex-navy Starman 961797 Age 50 8 terms Cr1,300
Dagger-4, Admin-1, Ship's Boat-1, Computer-1, Navigation-1, JOT-1
If you don't understand the numbers, don't worry about it. You probably dated a lot more than I did.
The string of numbers after the descriptive title is the Universal Personality Profile (UPP). Each number reflects a physical, mental, or social characteristic. In order, they are Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Intelligence, Education, and Social Status. These range from 1 to 12 (or higher, if you're lucky), with numbers greated than 9 represented by a letter. Thus, 10=A, 11=B, and so on.
What's interesting is the way these short stat block encapsulations suggest a history for each character.
So, the first character is the 50 year old pilot and ship owner. He (or she) has a 1 in Dexterity. His other stats are pretty mediocre. Now, it is impossible to roll a 1 for a starting statistic, meaning that this character (and the others) suffered some injury in the course of their life. I'm picturing a middle-aged astronaut with some kind of degenerative nerve disorder. Alternately, he was exposed to the vacuum of space and partially paralyzed! He shakes uncontrollably, but piloting a freighter doesn't require fine-motor control, as the ship is mostly automated. He just has to punch the right buttons. And notice that he has a skill in shotgun - about the only firearm he can handle with any degree of accuracy!
The second character is a 34 year old retired Navy officer. He or she has a 1 in Strength AND a 1 in Dexterity, which means this character is so feeble and uncoordinated as to be practically confined to bed. And indeed, most of this character's skills are the sort of things that can be performed by someone in a wheelchair. So, I get the mental image of capable young woman, who had a promising military career cut short when she was shot in the spine by space pirates. She's been forced to take employment as a gunner/techie on an ancient space freighter under the command of a guy she met at the Disability Office. She can barely stand, but that doesn't matter on board the ship. Crank the grav plates down to 1/4 G, and she can get around fine. And she's still a fair shot with a pistol, so look out.
The third character is apparently some kind of working class nerd in his early 30s. He has a 3 in Strength, a mediocre 6 in Dexterity, a 5 in Endurance, a low Social Standing... but very high Intelligence and Education. He was in the Scout service, which is a branch that attracts the sort of loners willing to knock around the universe in a tiny ship for months at a time. So, I imagine an over-educated nerd from a blue collar home. His education was supposed to be his ticket to a better life, but in the end the only way off his depressing home world was to sign up as a Scout. For most of his adult life he's been alone, with only adventure story booktapes and holovids for company. He has 2 in Vacc Suit operation, so I imagine him spending long hours drifting in a space suit tethered to his ship, just enjoying the solitude. The Scout service kicked him out, and he's signed on with this freighter as the engineer and co-pilot. He's been in rough spots before, and maybe sees himself as something of an adventurer. Maybe there's there's some romantic tension between him and the ex-Naval officer? Unrequited, perhaps, because she only has eyes for...
The fourth character. This guy is a real enigma. He's ex-Navy as well, retired (or forced out) at the age of 50. Look at that range of skills. A FOUR in Dagger? He can fly a Ship's Boat? Jack of all Trades? No way was this guy some bridge officer. I'm imagining a Special Forces type, trained in covert assassination. He'd use his "Jack of all Trades" skill to get hired on a pirate ship, or by a gang of terrorists. He even has Admin skills, so he can play the part of a harmless bureacrat. Once in place, he wins the confidence of his new friends, then kills his target silently with a dagger and escapes in a Ship's Boat, which is the most nondescript of vehicles in the Traveller universe. His 9 Strength (at the age of 50!) suggests an athletic type. His Intelligence and Social Standing are purely average, letting him fit in with a crowd, but his above-average Education is a hallmark of years spent researching various backgrounds. He knows a little bit about everything, or can fake it.
But look at that Endurance. This athletic guy has a 1 in Endurance. So, he's big and brawny, and still deadly with a knife, but can barely climb a flight of stairs these days. Cancer, maybe. Or a heart condition. Or a mysterious poison some old enemy gave him? Or maybe he knew too much, and the service (or a rival) tried to take him down? They think he's dead, but he's just biding his time on some civillian garbage scow full of losers! Or, he's genuinely afraid of his life, and is playing the part of the genial old Navy quartermaster, forced into retirement because of a bad heart? And one day, someone tries to mess with that sweet new Techie we hired, and out comes the service dagger...
I forgot what my point was.
Uh... I think I was going to say that most players would ditch these characters minutes after rolling them. But now I think they're cool, and almost want to run a PBEM game that features them.
