[ooc]Traveller T20 - Full

[Douane]

Force Commander's an actual rank? Aw, nuts.

Although, frankly, a hard charger with 7 ranks in P/Administrator is more interesting than one without, no?

"They just kept promotin' me, kid. What the hell was I supposed to do?"

Old traveller tradition. The only difference between the ranks of army and marines.


Given your rather colourful past, two medals and all, they probably promoted you in spite of yourself.

"Damn press. Why had they to make him into a hero?"

 

[Wilphe]

Great, he's also of equivalent rank to my character.


It's just the 12 point difference in SOC

and the whole Marine-Navy thing

and the physical v mental/social stats thing

and the Human-Vargr thing,


that are going to make this relationship very interesting indeed.

 

[Maerdwyn]

Great, he's also of equivalent rank to my character.


It's just the 12 point difference in SOC

and the whole Marine-Navy thing

and the physical v mental/social stats thing

and the Human-Vargr thing,


that are going to make this relationship very interesting indeed.

 

[Maerdwyn]

BTW, Speaking of "" The Red Sox won tonight! So you have a very happy GM until about 8pm eastern, when you will have a very anxious GM again.

 

[Watus]

Given your rather colourful past, two medals and all, they probably promoted you in spite of yourself.

"Damn press. Why had they to make him into a hero?"

Hmmm... I don't know. That isn't quite how I see him. I imagine he might have made a rather competent officer. I mean, sure... he's gruff. He's uncouth. He doesn't know his shrimp fork from his salad fork, like those nancies in the Navy. But he does have a 14 Intelligence, 8 ranks in Leadership, and 7 in P/Administrator. He may drink his beer out of the can, but he knows how to get results.

"Kid, the TS-30s need to be filed in triplicate. If I have to tell you again, I'm gonna kick your ass."

 

[Watus]

Great, he's also of equivalent rank to my character.


It's just the 12 point difference in SOC

and the whole Marine-Navy thing

and the physical v mental/social stats thing

and the Human-Vargr thing,


that are going to make this relationship very interesting indeed.

Quinn's likely to think that Ruzz'koff's a little soft ("What is that? Silk?"). And Ruzz'koff's likely to think that Quinn's a little thick ("Do you always make that much noise when you eat?").

But I'm sure they'll be able to agree on one thing: Army are losers.

Anyway, Quinn's spent the majority of his professional life surrounded by more traditional sorts of officers. I'm sure he's used to it. And besides, he's been exploring his softer side now that he's mustered out. He's learning to cook.

 

[Douane]

Hmmm... I don't know. That isn't quite how I see him. I imagine he might have made a rather competent officer. I mean, sure... he's gruff. He's uncouth. He doesn't know his shrimp fork from his salad fork, like those nancies in the Navy. But he does have a 14 Intelligence, 8 ranks in Leadership, and 7 in P/Administrator. He may drink his beer out of the can, but he knows how to get results.

"Kid, the TS-30s need to be filed in triplicate. If I have to tell you again, I'm gonna kick your ass."

I surely wasn't questioning his competence.

I saw that sort of coment more from the POV of a superior who had (repeatedly) clashed with him.


Folkert

 

[Douane]

But I'm sure they'll be able to agree on one thing: Army are losers.

Ahem. On the point of "losers": Army and Marines don't fly at all. Navy gets all the best toys and manages to lose one war after the other. So I guess it's up to us Scouts to save the day.


Zaedrarrg, Vargr Scout

 

[doghead]

I think that it interesting when a character turns up something unexpected. Instead of the grizzelled Gunnery Saergent from the wrong side of the tracks (system?), you get the grizzelled Force Commander. And having got that high up suggests a reasonalbly sharp political instinct to me.

If Maerdwyn decides to throw some of the bureaucratic red tape that Traveller allows for so well, then guess who is probably going to save our butts. Interesting.

 

[doghead]

little mini rant

Watus's character reminded me of why I don't really like the use of Social as an attribute. A person's stength, dexiterity etc (barring injury or disease) won't really change much. One's social standing however, can change dramatically.

Generally high SOC is useful in that officials tend to react better to high status individuals. High SOC is required to gain access to the world of nobility and important military and government officials ... p9 Traveller T20 Lite

The latter part of the quote confirms that the military is considered an important institution, on par with the government and nobility. So military status can be considered to carry social status. In addition, as a fairly senior decorated officer Watus's character would have the access to important officials refered to. If you go by the descriptions, he should have SOC not much shy of nobility, potentially up to 14 depending on how high up the ranks a Force Commander is. A senior Navy officer would easily push 14 I believe.

And a character could also lose that standing to some degree by being dishonourably discharged, convicted of a crime, becoming a wino, etc.

Of course, Watus could always choose to go back to his roots and "play" the working joe (in a way that one born to and raised in privilage probably could not without some kind of exposure or instruction) should he choose to. Indeed, a high SOC would probably be a disadvantage if you were on the streets on the prowl for some dodge gear or something. Unlike the attributes, high does not necessarily equate with advantage.

Anyway, just thought that I would share. I dislike the use of EDU as attribute as well for similar reasons, but at least it increases the advantage as it increases in value. I am not suggesting getting rid of them, I used to use them in all of my games but separated them from the other attributes. I am just ... er, sharing!