From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Brad
Thompson
Sent: Monday, October 09, 2000 3:24 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: ooooo... traveller... (was: [ogf-d20-l] Everything old is
new again department...)
<< Race, Class, Feats & Skills would all be easy. That isn't the problem.
The
character generation system for Traveller is one of its most distinctive
features. To do a conversion justice, you'd need to find a way to transport
that feel to d20, which is hard under a license which prohibits one from
describing the process of creating characters. >>
...
<< A straight terms-for-levels conversion would have lots of unwanted side
effects, but it is a good place to start experimenting. I suspect that a
good conversion would end up redefining how levels improve characters and
change the effects of advancement.
The deeper problem is that the setting is only half the game. When I ran
Traveller games oh so long ago, I always made notes about the players'
character generation process Every award, promotion, and skill was
accompanied by a note about what the character was doing to earn those
details. The whole thing combined to give every character a distinctive
feel, with lots of roleplaying potential. Then I used those notes to makes
hooks for adventures. It's setting certainly deep enough for a rich
campaign, but no more so than those of Herbert, Roddenberry, Lucas or Niven.
Lose the chargen process and Traveller becomes just another sci-fi game. >>
I think you could do a pretty good job with it without violating the
proposed D20 restrictions at all. Simply change the "skills acquired"
portion of the character creation to "experience points acquired. "Let's
see... OK, the result is that you survived your term, but had a nasty
battlefield injury that cashiered you out of the service. That works out
to... hmmm... (consults chart) 1300 more experience." Then let the character
advance in levels, feats, and skills as appropriate for the experience
accrued. You'd need to add in some rules for the way different assignments
incline the character toward different skill acquisitions -- maybe a certain
number of the skill points gained are at DM's discretion or dictated by a
chart or something -- but I think there's possibilities here.
Never actually got to play Traveller, but I've made dozens of characters for
it. Character design there is a game in itself.
Martin L. Shoemaker
Emerald Software, Inc. -- Custom Software and UML Training
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.EmeraldSoftwareInc.com
www.UMLBootCamp.com
