4 ms·

Traveller's system had the odd effect of making the best characters (those with the most skills) also really old. It was odd as a teenager roleplaying a 48 year

by guyzero 12y ago

Traveller's system had the odd effect of making the best characters (those with the most skills) also really old. It was odd as a teenager roleplaying a 48 year-old military veteran. My main thought was always "why am I out adventuring instead of just getting some rest?"

kephra 12y ago
Ask any old military veteran. To old to rock'n'roll, to poor to rest. You have 10 years to earn enough money for retirement. Is that a reason to risk an adventure, that could earn that money? Also children out of school, wife divorced, thats an other reason to try a new start somewhere far away from the old shit. A balancing rule is, that older characters earn less experience, and therefor younger learn faster by adventure.
- guyzero 12y ago
  So... there actually wasn't an experience system in Classic Traveller. MegaTraveller had one but I don't think it actually had any relation to age or existing skill levels, just whether the character accomplished tasks or not. Anyway, Traveller was unusual in that it used age in a slightly meaningful way, but it definitely got away from the trope of all PCs being young and/or inexperienced.
walshemj 12y ago
I always assumed that this is the far future and life spans are longer so 40 is relatively young
- guyzero 12y ago
  Wait, did you ask for a huge lecture on the canonical background universe for Traveller? No? Darn. Anyway, Traveller is the least futuristic science fiction setting ever (maybe). In game mechanic terms you have to start rolling for age-related characteristic effects starting at age 34 - you could lose strength, dexterity or endurance. At older ages you could lose intelligence too. But overall it assumes human lifespans more or less like they are today.
  - walshemj 12y ago
    It was my second ever rpg purchase after the 3 brown 1st ed dnd books :-) I think at imperial tech level's life extending drugs where not uncommon for the well off - depends on how you build the traveller universe.
- kephra 12y ago
  Yes, if you are wealthy and live on a high tech world. But Traveller Tech Level is defined as the maximum level an economy can sustain with a population of 10 ^ TL. So 10 people, even with books of knowledge will be at TL:1 bronce age within a few generations. 100 people at iron age and so on till Tl:8 is our current knowledge, its not 9 because most parts of population does is to poor and not yet educated to participate in the economy. And Tl:9 of course offers the first future techs, e.g. fusion reactors. Tl:A reliable interstellar travel and automatic factories, and huge progress in the high times of big trade empires spanning years of FTL travel, and the collapse of civilization, technology and dark ages, when ever those empires fall. Living at Tl:F and being wealthy could buy you a lot of years, before you need to worry about age. But I was restricting my idea of a "better" assignment to Tl:8. So you can imagine every career path here and now, e.g. odd ones you never want to live in real life like the doctor who works for crime syndicate (above example), but that is fun in a role playing game, or would make a good trope in a novel or film.

by guyzero 12y ago

kephra 12y ago

Ask any old military veteran. To old to rock'n'roll, to poor to rest. You have 10 years to earn enough money for retirement. Is that a reason to risk an adventure, that could earn that money? Also children out of school, wife divorced, thats an other reason to try a new start somewhere far away from the old shit. A balancing rule is, that older characters earn less experience, and therefor younger learn faster by adventure.

guyzero 12y ago
So... there actually wasn't an experience system in Classic Traveller. MegaTraveller had one but I don't think it actually had any relation to age or existing skill levels, just whether the character accomplished tasks or not. Anyway, Traveller was unusual in that it used age in a slightly meaningful way, but it definitely got away from the trope of all PCs being young and/or inexperienced.

walshemj 12y ago

I always assumed that this is the far future and life spans are longer so 40 is relatively young

guyzero 12y ago
Wait, did you ask for a huge lecture on the canonical background universe for Traveller? No? Darn. Anyway, Traveller is the least futuristic science fiction setting ever (maybe). In game mechanic terms you have to start rolling for age-related characteristic effects starting at age 34 - you could lose strength, dexterity or endurance. At older ages you could lose intelligence too. But overall it assumes human lifespans more or less like they are today.
- walshemj 12y ago
  It was my second ever rpg purchase after the 3 brown 1st ed dnd books :-) I think at imperial tech level's life extending drugs where not uncommon for the well off - depends on how you build the traveller universe.
kephra 12y ago
Yes, if you are wealthy and live on a high tech world. But Traveller Tech Level is defined as the maximum level an economy can sustain with a population of 10 ^ TL. So 10 people, even with books of knowledge will be at TL:1 bronce age within a few generations. 100 people at iron age and so on till Tl:8 is our current knowledge, its not 9 because most parts of population does is to poor and not yet educated to participate in the economy. And Tl:9 of course offers the first future techs, e.g. fusion reactors. Tl:A reliable interstellar travel and automatic factories, and huge progress in the high times of big trade empires spanning years of FTL travel, and the collapse of civilization, technology and dark ages, when ever those empires fall. Living at Tl:F and being wealthy could buy you a lot of years, before you need to worry about age. But I was restricting my idea of a "better" assignment to Tl:8. So you can imagine every career path here and now, e.g. odd ones you never want to live in real life like the doctor who works for crime syndicate (above example), but that is fun in a role playing game, or would make a good trope in a novel or film.