Skill: Personal Development - Melee
Survival: Pass
Event: Gain powerful and charismatic noble as an ally. +1 Leadership
Advancement: Pass!
Aging: -1 STR

STR: 6
DEX: 8
END: 9
INT: 9
EDU: 5
SOC: 10

Athletics 0
Carouse 0
Diplomat 0
Drive 0
Flyer 0
Gambling 1
Gun Combat 0
Gunner 1
Leadership 2
Mechanic 0
Melee (Blade) 2
Medic 0
Pilot 1
Streetwise 0
Survival 0
Tactics (Naval) 1
Vacc Suit 0

+1 Enemy - Conspiracy of Nobles
+1 Ally - powerful and charismatic noble

Naval Officer: Rank 5 (Captain)
Career Path: Navy (4 terms), Noble 1
Benefits: Navy 4+3 (+1 to rolls), Noble 2+1
Age: 42

Benefits: 75,000cr, +1 INT, TAS Membership, 4 ship shares

Not a bad position for the captain to be in.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 02:33, Mon 09 Dec 2019.

Draft - Merchant Marines
Basic Training Skill: Steward 0
Survival: Nope
Mishap: Bad deals. Still get a benefits roll.


STR: 7
DEX: 9
END: 4
INT: 7
EDU: 4
SOC: 5

Astrogation 1
Athletics 0
Deception 0
Electronics 0
Flyer 0
Investigate 0
Gun Combat 1
Language 0
Mechanic 0
Melee (Unarmed) 0
Recon 0
Stealth 0
Steward 0
Streetwise 0
Vacc Suit 1

+1 Enemy
+1 Rival
+2 allies


Age: 42
Career: Rogue (Pirate) - 1, Agent (LEO) - 1, Rogue (Pirate) - 1, Drifter (Scavenger) - 2
Benefits: 2+1 drifter, 1 merchant marine.

Benefits: 5000cr, +2 Allies, +1 Weapon,

Skills: +1 Electronics
Survival: Pass
Event: +1 Contact
Advancement: Pass! He is now a 3rd officer
Aging: pass

STR: 6
DEX: 6
END: 6
INT: 6
EDU: 9
SOC: 6

Admin 0
Advocate 1
Animals 0
Art 0
Astrogation 1
Athletics 0
Drive 0
Electronics 2
Engineer 1
Flyer 1
Gun Combat 0
Gunner 0
Language 0
Mechanic 1
Medic 0
Pilot 0
Profession 0
Science 0
Vacc Suit 0

+1 Ally
+1 Contact

Age: 42
Career: Navy 2, Merchant Marine 4
Benefits: Navy 1, Merchant Marine 4+2

---

Skills: +1 Electronics
Survival: Pass
Event: Advanced Training (failed)
Advancement: Pass! He is now a 2nd officer
Aging: -1 DEX

STR: 6
DEX: 5
END: 6
INT: 6
EDU: 12
SOC: 6

Admin 0
Advocate 1
Animals 0
Art 0
Astrogation 1
Athletics 0
Drive 0
Electronics 3
Engineer 1
Flyer 1
Gun Combat 0
Gunner 0
Language 0
Mechanic 1
Medic 0
Pilot 0
Profession 0
Science 0
Vacc Suit 0

+1 Ally
+1 Contact

Age: 46
Career: Navy 2, Merchant Marine 5
Benefits: Navy 1, Merchant Marine 5+2

Mustering Out: 11000cr, +1 blade, +3 EDU, 1 Ship Share

I still need to work on connections and consolidate everything but here is my attempt at that:

Character 1 = Navy Guy
Character 2 = Drifter
Character 3 = Artist
Character 4 = Merchant


Navy Guy is dating Artist. I'm thinking its a recent thing and a bit of a mid-life crisis. Navy met Artist while Navy was doing the celebrity circuit and ended up leaving Navy's family to be with Artist around the time Artist was thinking about leaving the Brokering.

Navy Guy served on the same ship as Merchant. They drifted apart but Navy knew that Merchant got a bad rap for the accident.

Merchant and Drifter know each other because when Drifter was drafted they served on Merchant's ship.

Artist and Drifter know each other from Drifter's LEO days.

---

What ends up happening is that this whole ship on the edge of space is actually Artists's idea. They wanted to see the stars and here comes Navy with their fat naval commission and celebrity status. Artist seduces Navy and they run away for a life on the rim.

What Navy hasn't told Artist is that Navy didn't flee because they are a sucker but because that powerful coalition of nobles that Navy pissed off was about to drop the hammer and so Navy had to GTFO. In comes hot Artist with an idea to be off-the-grid adventurers/smugglers/pirates and the stars have aligned.

Mechanic and Navy are old friends and have stayed in touch. When Navy needed an engineer to trust they reached out to Mechanic and offered them the ability to jump several rungs in the ladder as XO. Mechanic has always been upset that they lost several years due to the cryo accident and blames that for why their career was always behind the curve. While Merchant had some cash saved away it just wasn't where they thought they would be pushing 50 so some under the table dealings is a way to recoup that.

Drifter is just desperate for a job. Drifter just applied for a job and Merchant picked the name out saying they worked with them. Drifter turns out to be the main source of underworld knowledge for the group with their background in piracy, law enforcement and scavenging.

In reply to Captain (msg # 26):

Let's deal with the mechanical side of the connections first:

To get the bonus from the Connection Rule, you have to be able to link a rolled event to each character.

The Navy Guy was probably a witness or was an officer on the ship at the time Merchant had the accident.  So I can see a connection there.  They'd get the bonus for Term 2.

The other connections are connections based on locations.  No bonus thus far.  If you can give me more detail, we can reassess.

For example:  on the Artist/Drifter connection, maybe the Drifter's accident was while he was chasing a suspect who turned out to be a politician's son.  The Artist saw the incident and disclosed what she saw to a news service.  The politician of course pulled out the stops and got the Drifter fired (claiming he was being reckless during the pursuit and had no evidence to be chasing his son) and orchestrated the blowback on the Artist.

That's just an example.  If you don't want to worry about it, that's fine as well.  Just make sure you take the bonus skill for Navy and Merchant on Term 2.

I like the backstory thus far.  It gives me some meat to work with.

From what I've seen, Artist went to work as a talent scout/agent, correct?

Also, Captain has 4 ship shares and Merchant has 1.

Let me review the rules on ships in this edition, but that may be enough to cover the down payment so we won't need to mess with a 'how they got their ship' story.  Which is fine.  Those can be fun, but it's really the Traveler equivalent of 'you need us to kill some rats in your basement'.

Also, are they all humans?  That's fine.  But if any are Vargar or Aslan, make the adjustments on the stats.

Yeah I read that connections are tied to events so I'll be doing that tomorrow. Getting through that character creation as is was a bit of a burn out for me so I needed a day of R&R to recoup.

They are all human. I thought about making Drifter a Vargar but in the end I'm fine with them all being human for now. New characters introduced later on might be aliens but for now I see it just being humans.

Artist was a high class performer. Space ballet or something equivalent however she never really cracked into the scene and when she decided to take a political stand and failed she washed out. After that she became a talent agent for a few years, just long enough to land her a meal ticket.

Here are their names:

Captain: Ledo Typhin

Artist: Tepha Pezal

Drifter: Silver (obviously not her real name)

Mechanic: Gary "Rig" Rigan

If you add them as characters and unlock their character sheets I can move their final stats over and start figuring out equipment.

---

One last thing, what kind of game are you thinking? I need to pick a skill group but I don't know if this is going to be a purely space themed or a general purpose one. Any skill group you think would fit best?

In reply to Captain (msg # 29):

Yeah, Traveler Character Creation is somethin'.

Love the names Silver and Tepha.  Those are both nice fits.

I'm still considering the game.  However, roughly speaking:

20%  Personal/Gun Combat
10%  Ship Combat
30%  Personal Interactions
10%  Exploration
20%  Intrigue/Mystery
10%  Researching

Overall stories will fall in to three buckets:

Capers.  The criminal part of the game.  I'll provide you rumors, contacts, etc.  The crew will decide what opportunites they want to explore.  They'll do the research and plan the heist.  And then they'll execute it.

Mundane Life.  Dealing with more run of the mill stuff like paying the ship mortgage.  Fencing goods.  Maybe some PC specific stories.

The Overreaching Arch.  There will be an overreaching arch to the game.  Still working on that one.

---

Skill package wise: Traveler, Trader, or Criminal.  Investigator or Explorer might be options too.

You can hire NPCs to fill in skill gaps.  That of course can come with it's own set of issues, but you'll work through them I'm sure.

One last note worth mentioning:  make sure you've read the Trade chapter.  You will have to make mortgage payments on your ship.  Even with the crime, make those trade rolls!  Getting your ship repo'd sucks.

That's probably more information than you wanted.  Sorry.  I'm really tired.

I'll check in with you tomorrow.

Sounds good! If you can add those four characters I can get their character sheets situated.

In reply to Captain (msg # 31):

Should all be there now.  Let me know if something is missing or askew.  Thanks.

In reply to Bad Code (msg # 32):

Just to let everyone know:  I will be traveling for the holidays starting December 19th returning around December 28th.  I may post sporadically, depending on my access to internet and schedule.

I will be keeping to my usual schedule until then.

Thanks.

Okay connecting events:

Ledo <--> Tepha through the nobles. The politican that Tepha spoke up against is part of the cabal that Ledo rejected. That commonality is how they connected and bonded to form a relationship.

From that Ledo gained +1 Diplomat and Tepha gained +1 Persuade

Ledo <--> Rig served in combat together. From that Ledo gained +1 Pilot and Rig gained +1 Engineer.


Tepha <--> Silver know each other through a Silver's brother. Tepha dated a Silver's brother who is a pretty big shot in the criminal underground. While Silver had to leave him behind because of the whole "betrayal and becoming a cop thing" Tepha stayed in contact with him.

Tepha gained +1 Art and Silver gained +1 Streetwise


Rig <--> Silver know each other because when Silver was drafted she served on board Rig's merchant ship.

Silver gained +1 Vacc Suit and Rig gained +1 Mechanic.

---

Going with skill group Traveller.

Ledo picks up Gun Combat 1, Deception 1
Tepha picks up Pilot 1, Electronics 1
Silver picks up Gunner 1, Stealth 1
Rig picks up Medic 1, Persuade 1

---

Equipment is going to take a long time. Ledo just has a ton of credits to spend and I'm still getting a handle on the system to know what he will pick up.

In the meantime any thoughts on what kind of ship they'll have?

Minor fix: I just read the rule that if you have the gambler skill you get +1 to your cash rolls so Ledo has 110,000 from his Navy rolls.


Also according to RAW you can purchase up to 2,000 in personal equipment automatically. I'm putting together some shopping lists for basic things like autolaundries and hacking software etc.

I guess we're starting off fresh with the new ship so I get that we wouldn't have a professional arsenal on hand but they will definitely be looking to purchase basic tools, medical supplies and equipment.

For a ship in High Guard there is the Free Trader Type-A.

With a few modifications I think it will work out fine (with Net cost and reduction in tonnage)

Improve Civilian Sensors to Improved Military Sensors: (1.3MCr, 4 power, 2 tons)
Add Pulse Laser Turret (1 MCr, 5 power, 1 ton)
Add Ion Barbette (6 MCr, 10 power, 5 tons)
Add Holographic Controls (2.5MCr)
Add Cargo Scoop (2 tons, 0.5MCr)
Add Forced Linkage TL 12 (2 tons, 0.1MCr)
Convert Power Plant to TL 8 Fusion 7ton (70 power, 3.5MCr) (net -0.5MCr, -3 tons)
===============================================

Adjusted Cargo: 67 tons of cargo, 56.242MCr purchase price.

-5 ship shares = 51.242MCr mortgage = 213,508.33 credits per month on top of
4,686.83 maintenance, 16,000 in life support = 234,195.66 due each month. Oof.

I might think about ripping out some of those low berths but I think I could use them as an impromptu brig? Not really that secure but they're not murderers either so if the other ship is crippled they can just put the crew in low berth and drop them off at the nearest port.

Ledo’s backstory is up in the description.

Everyone has full bios now. Feel free to check them out when you can.

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 36):

The connections are fine.

I don't have High Guard at the moment.  It sounds like it's the Free Trader from the core book with a few upgrades though.

My personal recommendation is to go with a far trader.  The Jump-2 engine can be very handy.  However, a Free Trader is always a solid choice.

That much of a mortgage payment for a first ship is a little on the stout side in most games.  Consider that a vanilla Free Trader from the core book with the 5 ship shares works out to about 165 a month.  That being said, it all depends on how much hustle you've got.  I played in one group where we bought a lab ship which is crazy expensive and managed to keep up with the payments for a good part of the game.  Fun times.

Anyway, let me make a suggestion:  Let's table the ship buying for now.  Let's run an introductory caper.  That will let me reacquaint myself with running Traveler and give you a chance to run through the system outside the ship operations and combat.  I can also test out the mechanics of the caper system I'm thinking of using.

After that, you can decide what kind of ship might be right for you.  I'll even give you the chance to earn another ship share.

Interested?

Oh I'd also hold up on buying too much gear.  Make sure the ones who can use weapons have decent ones.  Make sure those who use tools have them.  Otherwise, you can buy what you may need as you go.

I'll allow you reasonable access to markets both legal and illegal for the first few games.  After that, you'll need to start thinking ahead for each scenario.  Fair enough?

Both ideas sound great!

Also I will elaborate on these NPCs later on but for now here is a cheat sheet for various NPC contacts/enemies etc.


(For Ledo)
Sang Real - Enemy - A coalition of powerful nobles that use legal and illegal methods to steer the Imperium. They approached Ledo for membership and he wholeheartedly rejected them so they killed his career.

Baron Yumi Von Arger - Ally - A powerful and charismatic noble. Von Arger is a voice for reason and change within the Imperium and secretly is working to stymie and break up the Sang Real conspiracy.

(For Tepha)

Rezan - Ally - Ex-boyfriend and Silver's younger brother. Ran a small organized crime syndicate before Tepha accidentally got them busted up. Despite their history and break up Rezan still cares for Tepha (and his sister although indirectly) so despite his better judgement is still willing to extend help and information when he can.

(For Silver)
Xar "Siri" Dano - Enemy - A pirate from Silver's first gang. A drug addict, he betrayed the pirate group to beat a drug charge. What the police don't know is that he is also a mass murderer being responsible for several massacres of crew despite the pirate boss letting them go. The police only know about the drug charges so Xar, nicknamed Serial that evolved into Siri because of his body count, has been going around making sure that the loose ends are all tied up. If/when he finds out Silver is alive she could jeopardize his freedom even all these years later.

Detective Haelee Dupin - Rival - Undercover cop that broke up Silver's second pirate gang. Dupin knows that Silver escaped and could be trying to hunter her down knowing she is a career criminal.

Nishi Malekko - Ally - Ran the salvage crew that Silver was a part of for years before being drafted. The two have a close bond and if Silver hadn't gotten hired onto the crew she probably would have gone right back to Nishi. Nishi is happy that Silver's got a shot at a better life and will help out however she can.

Virato Moyle - Ally - Captain of free trader Allegro that Silver served on when drafted. The two became lovers while she was on board although both knew it wouldn't be a long term thing. Still they parted on good terms.

---

(for Rig)

Captain Johen Slivek - Ally - Johen and Rig bunked together in the Navy and were best friends for years. When Rig left because of the accident Johen stayed and rose through the ranks, now commanding an Imperium Cruiser. The two stay in touch and even grab drinks together whenever their paths cross.

Katrina Rigan - Contact - Rig's estranged wife. She is part of the Imperium bureaucracy regarding ship registration and licensing. They met after Rig left the navy, got married and then suffered through 20 years of long distance relationship. At this point they both agree that their marriage is over, despite neither of them actually talking about it, but they stay together while the children are still at home. Once they leave for higher university Rig expects to be served divorce papers. Until then he can still sometimes wheedle information and services out of her when he needs some paperwork fast tracked through the system.

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 42):

Let me look the character sheets and bios over.  I'll put up the Rumors board (more information to come) and the Lounge threads tomorrow.  We can start on the trial run game.  Due to the holidays, we may not be able to get far at first.  But we can work our way through.

Looking forward to it.  Thanks.

In reply to Bad Code (msg # 43):

Renamed Character Creation OOC.

When you post in a story thread, I ask the following:

Use colored text for dialog.  Any color besides Orange.  If possible, using a different color for each of your PCs would be great, but is not required.  It just helps me when I'm reading posts if the dialog stands out from any narrative description.

Orange text should be used for OOC content that needs to be added, like die roll results or questions.

I gave you a temporary base of operations:  a back room at The Lucky Lizzy.  Atherton is a reasonably trustworthy friend of Ledo's.  At least as far as Ledo knows.  But the rooms are guaranteed to be bug free.

I don't know how much you've read about the Imperium, but here is a little system background:

The Five Sisters subsector is in the Spinward Marches:  a section of the Imperium set behind The Great Rift.  Five Sisters is currently border territory.  It neighbors systems controlled by the Aslan, the Zhodani Empire, and the Sword Worlds.

The Five Sisters is more or less a strong hold for the Imperial Navy.  The 258th Fleet patrols the subsector and does a reasonable job in keeping it safe.

Major industrial powers are Blacklight Technologies, Drexline Industries, CoFalc Conglomerate, and Ariendal Laboratories.

Karin is one of the main systems in Five Sisters.  It is Earth-similar in it's atmo and make up.  The Navy has a large base in orbit.  There is also an independent high port (High Ports are orbital space stations) as well as an extensive Class V starport (or planet side port) at it's southern polar cap.

Karin has always had a history of unstable political regimes.  The situation got so bad that 50 years ago, the Navy interdicted the planet, put it under marital law, and has appointed a new governor for it every ten years since.

The population hasn't taken to this arrangement too well.  The CFA and other freedom fighter organizations have sprung up.  Every few years, one of the groups tries to stage some major operation.  Some have succeeded to some extent, but for the most part the Navy keeps them under wraps.

The Lucky Lizzy is located in the starport.