A few weeks ago, GameDoc finally decided to get us out of quarantine by inviting us to do some online gaming via Fantasy Grounds. My own experience with Roll20 meant I was disinclined to play online, but he had shown us around the program a while back and I thought 'hey, if he's gonna do the setup, I'll show up.' I am now very glad I did.
I'll talk about Fantasy Grounds later, for now, I want to focus on Traveller. Specifically, in this case, Mongoose Traveller 2.0.
I've heard a lot about this for a long, long time. It's a staple in online discussion forums, and I've learned quite a bit just through osmosis. I've seen Traveller material in shops, and even owned Traveller material at various points in my game-time. It was just one of those things we never got around to playing, what with the Rifts and all. And so, I was quite happy to jump in when the invitation to the game went out.
Traveller has a very interesting character creation process that actually outlines the history of your character as you build up their skills, stats and assets. I've seen systems like these, and even played with some such as old school Legionnaire. I like these systems a lot, though they may seem old-fashioned to newer gamers.
As we went through the creation process, events occur to your character. Working together with the GM, we filled out our character's backstories based on what we were presented - you don't always get exactly what you want in character creation, as is evidenced by my constant failings of important tests. Despite all that, I ended up with one of my favorite player characters to date (in any game).
Y-54:
• J.C. Khaine is born on the planet of Mirenme to a
family of colonists.
Y-46:
• Hernando Patrice Mondocane del Contreras LXIX is
born on the planet of Matig. His parents are
researchers who study the indigenous flora and
fauna.
 |
| Planet Matig. Much purple. Such lush. |
Y-40:
• J.C.’s uncle relocates from Mirenme to Tinath,
hoping to establish himself as a merchant among the
younger colonies there.
Y-36:
• J.C. applies to the Calidan Naval Academy, but is
rejected. He instead enlists and serves one term as
crewman. His career is cut short during an accident
in which his legs are crushed. But he managed to
make friends of his shipmates, including the son of a
Baron on Cenhening, who gets him a job on the
household staff.
Y-35:
• Amadeus Khaine is born on Tinath to J.C.’s uncle.
Y-34:
• Sally May is born on Priti into a family of colonists.
• Riley is born on Ashfield Station, where his parents
work on the space docs.
Y-26:
• Amadeus’ parents fall on hard times. His father takes
to fencing stolen and smuggled goods to supplement
his legitimate mercantile operations. Amadeus begins
to show signs of psionic potential.
Y-28:
• Hernando becomes fascinated with the fringe
science of psioncology. He applies to admission to
university, but is denied because essays are focused
on such a controversial field of study. Disillusioned,
he hops a freighter and drifts from system to system.
Y-32:
• J.C. works hard for the Baron of and becomes part of
his official retinue. He is awarded the rank of Knight
and entrusted with increasing responsibility.
• Hernando returns home to Matig and finds work as a
field researcher. He loses an eye during a lab
accident.
Y-31:
• J.C. is assigned to mediate a dispute among the
Baron’s staff. He discovers one of the cooks has
been abusive towards the others and fires the man,
making a new enemy.
Y-28:
• Hernando is dismissed from his research position
due to his unorthodox proposals to look for psionic
potential among animal species of the planet. He
again becomes a drifter, eventually finding work as a
scavenger in the asteroid belt near Ashfield Station.
Y-24:
• J.C.’s service to the Baron is further rewarded. He is
made a diplomat and allowed to represent her family
in off-world dealings.
• Hernando has become a medic for his scavenger
crew working the asteroid belt, while attending
courses in his spare time. The company CEO takes a
liking to him and helps him get admitted to medical
school.
Y-20:
• Hernando completes medical school and applies for
a fellowship under Professor Quentin Warwick, a
neuroscientist who is one of the few credible experts
on psioncology. However, to get the position, he
submits findings from his own graduate research
without giving credit to his partner, making an enemy
of a former friend.
Y-19:
• J.C. uncovers a conspiracy of other nobles on
Cenhening to strip the Baron of his title. For exposing
them, he makes yet another enemy, this time a noble
exposed as a conspirator.
Y-17:
• Hernando completes his fellowship and sets up his
own medical practice and research venture into
psioncology, but has trouble getting funding. He
begins to dabble in shady deals with criminals and
unscrupulous nobles to get funding. It’s quite
lucrative, but not without risks. Although he tires to
cover all his bases, he winds up owing a “favor” to
one of his financiers.
• With the help of Hernando, Amadeus is covertly
transported to Crefleu to study under a psionic tutor.
After four months, he returns home to Tinath to
oversee the illicit aspects of his father’s business,
using his psionic powers for advantage and making
contacts in the criminal underworld.
Y-16:
• Sally is accepted to university and majors in
performing arts, but also studies architecture and
develops a love of gambling.
• Riley enlists in the Calidan Navy and is trained for
flight service. His commanding officer takes an
interest in him and secures him a commission as an
officer.
Y-12:
• Sally graduates from university and is hired by a
large megacorporation as a customer service
representative.
• Riley and J.C. meet when the Baron sends J.C. on a
diplomatic visit to Undpoar and Riley’s ship is
assigned to take him there.
Y-10:
• Sally is enrolled in a business administration course
and then promoted to office manager at the
megacorporation where she works. She befriends a
fellow trainee who works for the Priti ministry of
justice.
Y-9:
• The Baron passes away and his daughter becomes
Baroness. J.C. tried to advise her as best he can, but
as many young suitors seek to gain her affection,
they treat the overprotective J.C. as an obstacle.
Three younger knights in particular begin to see him
needlessly as a rival.
• Hernando competes for the affection of a much
younger woman who shows psionic potential, but
loses her to a bank executive closer to her own age.
Y-8:
• Amadeus’ father’s business collapses and Amadeus
is forced to flee Tinath. He takes up work as a
scavenger.
• Sally’s employer is shut down due to tax evasion.
She takes a new job in a brokerage firm.
• Riley is discharged from the Navy with the rank of
sublieutenant. His skills as space pilot land him a job
in the Calidan Scout Service where he works as a
courier.
Y-6:
• While en route to Ainsarvi, Riley encounters a
passenger ship under attack by pirates. He fires on
the pirate ship, driving it away. Despite his best
efforts, he is only able to save a handful of the
passengers, including a young noblewoman whose.
injuries wind up leaving her paralyzed from the neck
down. He later hears the pirate captain has learned
his name vowed to kill him.
Y-5:
• Hernando is approached by a noble family whose
daughter has been permanently paralyzed from the
neck down. They request that he perform a legal but
ethically questionable procedure: implant the brain of
the young woman into an android body. They pay
him an obscene amount of money. The procedure
appears successful, but before Hernando can.
determine the long term outcome, the patient steals a
ship and a great deal of his money and escapes.
Y-4:
• Amadeus uses his criminal contacts to try and
secure an inside deal on land prospects in Tinath so
he can return home and go legit. Several nobles from
Cenhening are also in on it. J.C. is offered a chance
to take part in the affair, but chooses to expose them,
making even more enemies. Disordering his cousin
in the middle of it all, he works to shield Amadeus
from being implicated.
• The nobles attempted to use Sally’s brokerage firm to
purchase the land. With the help of her friend at the
ministry of justice, and some words of support form
J.C., Sally is able to show the authorities she was
also being conned.
• Feeling bad for almost getting her sent to prison,
Amadeus abandons his prospects on Tinath to help
his cousin clear her. Still wanting to go legit, he takes
a job at the brokerage firm, again using his psionic
abilities to his advantage.
• Riley has managed to secure a mortgage of his own
vessel and elects to leave the Scouts and go into
business for himself as a free trader. He marries an.
engineer from Ashfield Station, but the relationship
ends with a bitter breakup after only a few months.
Y-0:
• J.C.’s status among the nobles of Cenhening is
falling fast amid too many enemies and rivals.
However as gratitude for his fouling to plot to grab
land on Tenath, one of the nobles on that planet, the
Baroness Edda, lets him know he’s always welcome
there. It might be a good home base, but J.C.'s
boyhood dream of space exploration never got
realized. It’s time to Travel.
• Riley decides to take to the stars as a Traveller after
his divorce. He has an ideal ship. Now it needs a
crew. There’s a lot of buzz on Tenath these days.
• Hernando retires from his career as a medical
researcher and decides to use his accumulated
wealth to pursue personal interests. He contacts
Amadeus, one of the few true psions he knows about
joining him on his voyages. Amadeus was born on
Tenath, maybe there’s something in the ancient ruins
there that holds the secret to psionic powers.
• Amadeus and Sally leave the brokerage firm to
pursue the life of a Traveller with Hernando.
That brings us to the start of our game. Check out part 2 here.
