Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Classic Traveller Childhood Charts

Classic Traveller homebrewing continues. Given my abiding love for using background charts to signal things about the tone and feel of a campaign it was inevitable that I would start tinkering with background charts in the game that inspired that mania in the first place. Pre-career childhood and adolescent charts were a natural full circle.

Crowdsourcing being the omnibenevolent Kirby space god that has never failed me, I would love to hear suggestions for more entries as I'd love to extend this list to a good old-fashioned d66 chart. Anything to add, brain trust?

“The People of My Homeworld Tend to Be...” Chart
Roll 3d6, 1d3 times (d6 divided by two and rounded up). If the same result is rolled double any mechanical effects that may apply, otherwise re-roll. Results dictating class background give the option to roll on one of the results of the player or Ref's choice. Re-roll contradictory results—if desired.


3
Maladjusted Space Reavers
Blade combat or Brawling 1. +1 to enlist in Other or Pirates. -1 SOC.
4
Spacefaring
+1 to enlist in Navy, Scouts, or Merchants. Pilot 0
5
Mercantile
+2 to enlist in Merchants. +1 INT, -1 SOC
6
Dirt-Farming Colonists
-1 EDU or -1 SOC, +1 STR
7
The “Undeserving” Poor
Streetwise 1, -2 SOC.
8
Fat and Wealthy
+1 SOC or +2000 CR. -1 DEX
9
Warlike Savages
+2 enlist Barbarians, +1 Army. Blade combat 1. EDU -2
10
Hollow-Boned, Zero-G lovers
-1 STR, -1 DEX. Vacc Suit 1
11
High-Gravity Dwarves
+1 STR or END. -1 DEX
12
Gun Nuts
Gun Combat 1. -1 INT
13
Learned/Cultured
+1 EDU, -1 END
14
Decadently Civilized
+1 SOC, -1 EDU
15
Crazed Religious Fanatics
- 1 INT, +1 END
16
Insane/Drug-Addled
- 1 random stat, +1 random stat.
17
Secret Psi-Lovers
+2 to a Psionic Strength roll
18
Tech Scavengers
Mech 1, -1 SOC


5 comments:

  1. It's a good mix as it is, and has feel and tone for sure - the law of averages suggests there are plenty of warlike savage dwarves out there who like getting it on in zero-G. If you do want more, help yourself to any of these:

    Ancestral Hosts
    -1 DEX, +1 EDU

    Bathyoneers
    Small Watercraft 1, -1 SOC
    or Large Watercraft, -1 DEX

    Cuticle Channellers
    Electronics 1, -1 END

    Interlogulators
    Liaison 1, -1 STR

    Truer Believers
    Persuasion 1, -1 INT, -1 SOC

    Vengeful Bureaucrats
    Forgery 1, -1 STR and either Admin 1 or +1 INT

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bravo, dully incorporated though I am afraid to ask about the Cuticles involved.

      "Plenty of warlike savage dwarves out there who like getting it on in zero-G." Welcome to the Space Cantons, brother.

      Delete
  2. Xenophiliac Perverts
    Utopianist Isolationists
    Piratical Spacefaring

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh I was so remiss in not adding the various kinds of bolo utopianists one finds in the Space Cantons. Will rectify.

      Delete
  3. Love it. I hope in the Cantons these are assigned a hex code and appended to a "expanded UPP" or what in school we would call Your Permanent Record, guaranteed to give bureaucrats the giggles, ambitious PCs headaches and the forensic psychohistorians plenty of leads.



    ReplyDelete