Wherein your humble scribe presents a group of three characters for (classic) Traveller. All of these were rolled up by-the-book from Book 4: Citizens of the Imperium.
This group of well-educated, yet oddly not very bright, folks met after mustering out of their various careers on Hepaxion in the Claybourne Subsector. They’re not entirely sure what they want to do with the rest of their lives, but between the three of them they have a good grasp on the mechanics of getting there. It’s only a matter of time before one of them reads a good idea that someone else thought of and works out how to put it into action. That, or some quick-witted patron will realize that his transportation needs are covered by this largely non-threatening trio.
Reuben Matusiak
4996B8 Age 34 4 Terms (Service: Bureaucrat, Final Rank: Assistant Manager)
Vehicle: Hovercraft-2, AutoPistol-1, Admin-2, Computer-1, Recruiting-1
AutoPistol
Cr130,000
Stefan Ozols
8764A6 Age 22 2 Terms (Service: Sailors, Final Rank: Lieutenant)
Water Craft-2, Demolition-1, Electronic-1, Communications-1
SMG
Cr30,000
Teresa Ballinger
8675C5 Age 38 5 Terms (Service: Flyers, Final Rank: Staff Major)
Air Craft: Helicopter-2, Survival-2, SMG-1, Medical-1, Admin-1, Gambling-1, Carousing-1
SMG, High Psg
Cr20,000
ACES! This post highlights one of the things I like most about Traveller character creation: the “Okay-now-what?” position in which newly-minted characters find themselves. There they are, starting a new chapter in their lives, with experience behind them and skills at their disposal — so what next?
Anything.
Glad you dig, amigo. And I’m with you – I love to “meet my character” (as opposed to “building my character” – though that’s certainly nice sometimes) and look up to the sky and say “Let’s go do something.“
‘Ozols’ sounds familiar . . . you’re not a fan of Jack Vance, are you? I’m thinking specifically of the Alastor novels.
You know, I must admit with sadness that I’ve not actually read any Vance to this point. He’s on my radar, but it just hasn’t worked out to date. I was going to go for the “Dying Earth” series based on its impact on early D&D development, but would you recommend the Alastor stuff over that?
I actually got the names for these three (and the other Traveller NPCs in previous posts) from this Census-based random name generator. I believe the “Ozols” came up in high (75 or so) obscurity run.
‘Ozols’ are a unit of currency, at least in the first of the Alastor novels.
Vance wrote breathtaking sci-fi in addition to the Dying Earth stories (which fuse some sci-fi elements in with the fantasy). Alastor and the Demon Princes aren’t stellar (pardon the pun) examples of his work, but they illustrate his idiosyncratic take on a Traveller-style universe, with millions of systems. When Vance describes spaceships they sound more like yachts, with detail given to the intricate wood paneling and lanterns in the staterooms.
This is the opening to Alastor:
“Out towards the rim of the galaxy hangs Alastor Cluster, a whorl of thirty thousand live stars in an irregular volume twenty to thirty light years in diameter. To the exterior view, Alastor presents a flamboyant display of star streams, luminous webs, sparkling nodes. Dust clouds hang across the brightness; the engulfed stars glow russet, rose, or smoky amber . . . Scattered about the cluster are three thousand inhabitated planets with a human population of approximately five trillion persons . . .they share a common language and all submit to the authority of the Connatic at Lusz, on the world Numenes.”
I wouldn’t recommend these stories over the Dying Earth series, because DE is so seminal to D&D and because they’re very quick reads.
I’m definitely interested in the Alastor stuff now as well. I may just have to go on a serious Vance jag shortly. Thanks for clueing me in, G-Man. And all thanks to a random name generator. Man, life is weird and cool. 🙂 Cheers!