traveller 5 character generator

MegaTraveller Basic Character Generator

Decision making, character summary.

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Traveller 5 Character Generation

HAVING been a Kickstarter backer of the  Traveller 5 (T5) RPG, I have had the delivered version in hand for over a year now. In the last year there has been many discussions/arguments/angry expressions/flamewars on the Citizens of the Imperium message boards that often talk ill of T5. My own feelings are actually a bit ambivalent; I like the system but wish the delivered product was proofread better.

I recently moved all the T5 Core rules to my iPad. Along the way I also got the latest errata. I decided to update the Character Generation chapter with all the errata. What I discovered is that, though the errata for this section seems lengthy, there are actually very few “show stoppers” that change too much. So I decided to dig into character generation again and see what happens. I started with the Character Generation Checklist (p. 78).

A. Create a Homeworld:  My character is Conrad Fundo. I defaulted on this and used my favorite world of Arden (Arden/0201 Vilis/Spinward Marches) as his homeworld. Given the Trade Classification of High Population (Hi) this resulted in a Homeworld Skill of Streetwise-1 (p. 81)

B. Generate Characteristics: Using 2d6, I generate Strength-Dexterity-Endurance-Intelligence-Education-Social Standing. The resultant Universal Personality Profile is 993873. The Genetic UPP (taken from the first die in each 2d6 combination) is 341XXX. (p. 69, 113)

C. Consider Education and Training: I decide Conrad wants to go to University. He has the prerequisite Education of 7+. To apply is a 2d6 roll versus Intelligence or Education – I chose Intelligence (8) since it is higher. He successfully applies. Next comes four Pass/Fail rolls (one for each year) against Intelligence or Education. Again I use Intelligence. Unfortunately, he fails the second year. He could apply for a Waiver (roll 2d6 against Social Status) but, needing to roll a 3 or less on 2d6, it fails. (p. 100)

D. Select Career: Leaving University ( a bit shamefully – why? ), Conrad decides to make a career move.

• He tries to join the Arden Space Defense Forces (Spacer Career). To join requires a throw against Intelligence – success! As a Spacer Rank 1 (R1) he automatically gains a skill in Fighter. The Fighter Skill includes Knowledges and the first receipt of the skill gains Skill-0, Knowledge-1. Conrad chooses Slug Throwers as the Knowledge (Fighter Skill-0, Slug Throwers-1) (p. 142, 144).
• Rolling for Branch , he is assigned as an Engineer. Next, the four assignments for this term are generated using the Naval Operations Table. The result is Patrol (Mod 1), ANM School (Mod 0), ANM School (Mod 0), and Mission (Mod 3).
• For Risk/Reward he must use the highest Mod (Mission 3) and chooses Strength (9) as his controlling characteristic. Throwing caution to the wind, he chooses to use the Mod as a negative (-) for Risk and positive (+) for Reward. For his Risk roll, his 2d6 is an 11, which after the -3 Mod means he is wounded (-1 hit against Strength, but 1d6 recovery so all is healed) and gains a Wound Badge. The Reward roll is 9; +3 gives him a Reward but using the Medal Table (p. 109) we get Strength 9 minus Reward Roll 9 for a result of 0 or no medal. (p. 73, 109)
• To try to commission as a Spacer officer is a roll against Endurance (3). Failure! Promotion for Spacer uses the Dexterity characteristic (9) with a +1 mod for the Wound Badge. The roll is successful for promotion to Able Spacehand (R2).
• For skills , we first resolve the skills gained from the ANM School. The Education-1 Table on p. 100 shows what skills can be learned. In keeping with the spirit of being an Engineer, Conrad learns Maneuver Drives (Engineer-0, Knowledge Maneuver Drives-1) and Turrets (Engineer-0, Knowledge Turrets-1). This term, Conrad is eligible for five skills; four for the Term and one for Promotion. The four Term skills must come from the Patrol or Mission skills tables. Making two rolls against the Patrol and Mission column of the Spacer Skills table results in 3x Starship Skills and Sensors. The Starship skills added result in Pilot-1, Knowledge Small Craft-2, and Sensors-1. The fifth roll is against the Personal column of the Skills table and results in Strength +1.
• To Continue  requires a roll of 7 with a Mod of +1 (first term). The roll is a 9 (8+1=9 Failure).

E. Muster Out: Mustering out generates three types of awards: Automatics, Benefits, and Entitlements. Since his Fighter skill is 0 there is no Personal Weapon awarded (p. 75). Without any Noble rank or being an officer or being awarded a medal the Fame is 0; the decision to invoke the Fame Flux event is passed (p. 109). One term is one roll on the Muster Out Benefits Table. Choosing the Money column, the 1d6 roll of 2 results in a Star Pass (a multi-use Middle Passage valid for 1-year after first use; value Cr250,000) (p. 76). As a One-Term-Wonder, Conrad is not eligible for any entitlements.

F. Start Adventuring: So here we have Conrad Fundo, UPP A93873, age 24 from Arden and a one term Spacer veteran who earned a Wound Badge. His skills are Engineer-0 Maneuver Drive-1, Fighter-0 Slug Throwers-1, Gunner-0 Turrets-1, Pilot-1 Small Craft-2, Sensors-1 and Streetwise-1. He has no money but possesses a Star Pass that he can decide to use or cash out.

[Note also that all characters also have Default, or Level-o, Skills (p. 143). These are Actor, Artist, Athlete, Author, Comms, Computer, Driver, Fighter (see chargen), Turrets (see chargen), Mechanic, Steward, and Vacc Suit.]

Conrad can be useful in a starship campaign as a pilot. He can pilot starships or spacecraft and is especially good at piloting small craft (Pilot-1 Small Craft-2). He can fix the engines (Engineer-0 Maneuver Drives-1), use the Sensors (Sensors-1), and even man the guns (Gunner-0 Turrets-1). His Streetwise-1 may also be able to rustle up some “business” – or spare parts – when planetside.

Possible Adventure Hooks

• Why did Conrad fail out of University? Did it have to do with his low Social Status?
• How did Conrad, a university drop-out and one-term-wonder of no fame end up with a Star Pass?

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4 thoughts on “ traveller 5 character generation ”.

Conrad Fundo had to care for his sick mother his second year of University and had to drop out. He was wounded during his one term as a spacer dragging two of his shipmates to safety, one of which has a wealthy merchant father who was able to secure Conrad a Star Pass.

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Seems hard to get a physical copy these days. 😦

Thanks for the T5 Chargen runthrough – doesn’t sound so scary. I must make the time to read my copy of the rules, which have sat on the shelf since Kickstarter.

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Traveller 5th-Edition

From roll20 wiki, character sheet.

Here is a text-based character-sheet for Traveller, 5th-Edition version. There is at present only an interactive character sheet for the Mongoose Traveller version. Someone skilled in HTML and CSS may design one for T5.

Default rolls and characteristics are for Humans; replace these rolls and characteristics for non-human Sophonts or Robots.

Simply create a new Character handout called Blank Character Sheet , insert this text in the Bio & Info tab, and save. Make duplicates entitled with the name of each player and assign Edit control to that player. They will be able to edit everything in the sheet except the Character Sheet title. Once they decide on a character name, the GM can edit the sheet title for them.

It is recommended to make a duplicate and save as "Copy of Blank Character Sheet" in your game's Archive.

CHARACTER NAME: UPP: XXXXXX (fill in) (Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Intelligence, Education, Social Standing) (0-9, A=10, B=11, C=12, D=13, E=14, F=15 etc.) (Sophont races may have Agility or Grace instead of Dexterity; Stamina or Vigor instead of Endurance; Training or Instinct instead of Education; Charisma or Caste instead of Social Standing)

CHARACTERISTICS: SDEIES (characteristics and dice rolls for Humans are shown)

C1: Str 2D = (note in brackets the higher of the 2 dice rolls. This is your Genetic component of the roll) C2: Dex 2D = (ditto) C3: End 2D = (ditto) C4: Int 2D = (ditto) C5: Edu 2D = (no Genetic component for Humans. There will be a Genetic component for Sophonts who have Instinct) C6: Soc 2D = (no Genetic component for Humans. There will be a Genetic component for Sophonts who have Caste, or Caste may be fixed and fully inheritable.) Optional: Sanity: Psionics: Start of Physical Aging: 34 (for Humans; the start of 5th term) Start of Mental Aging: 66 (for Humans)

SPECIES INFORMATION (Human): Overview: HBS-T-AN-LN-N Symmetry: Bilateral Head: Head-Brain-Senses Torso: Torso Limbgroup 1: Arms with Hands Limbgroup 2: none Limbgroup 3: Legs Limbgroup 4: none Tail: none Skeleton: Bony Interior Skin: Skin Fluids: Blood Species Scent: HUM-xxx Organic Int= Edu= Breathes: Air

SENSES: (Humans have VHST) VISION: V-16-RGB HEARING (and voice range): H-16-9382 SMELL: S-10-2 TOUCH: T-06-2 AWARENESS (Magnetic and Electric): Unaware PERCEPTION (Life and thought sense, and poice range): Oblivious

Gender: Birthdate: (Random pick of birthday out of 365, birthyear is 1105-age. Show as ddd-yyyy) Birthworld: (Name and sector coordinates xxxx) Homeworld: Name and sector coordinates xxxx) Service Experience: Career Experience: Education and Training: (list certifications)

Term 01: Term 02: Term 03: Term 04: Term 05: Term 06: Term 07: Term 08: Term 09: Term 10:

SKILLS: (X means no Skill, 0 means Default Skill (can roll but with This is Hard! rule). Skills in brackets next to main Skill are Knowledges; you must add the first 2 levels awarded within these Knowledges before being allowed to add 3rd and subsequent award of the Skill to the entire Skill. E.g. first two awards of Driver could be applied to Tracked-1 and Wheeled-1, or Wheeled-2 by itself, then on further awards the main Driver skill can go up in level (improving the roll for all Knowledges). Skill and Knowledge levels are cumulative on the rolls but you will always be slightly better in certain Knowledges than in the main Skill.)

Regular Skills: Admin-X Advocate-X Animals-X (Rider-X; Teamster-X; Trainer-X) Athlete-0 Broker-X Bureaucrat-X Comms-0 Computer-0 Counsellor-X Designer-X Diplomat-X Driver-0 (ACV-X; Automobile-X; Grav-X; Legged-X; Mole-X; Tracked-X; Wheeled-X) Explosives-X Fleet Tactics-X Flyer-X (Aeronautics-X; Flapper-X; Grav-X; LTA-X; Rotor-X; Winged-X) Forensics-X Gambler-X High-G-X Hostile Environ-X JOT-X Language (Native-(automatic; level is Int or Edu); Second Language (one level less), etc.) Leader-X Liaison-X Naval Architect-X Seafarer-X (Aquanautics-X; Grav-X; Boat-X; Ship-X; Sub-X) Stealth-X Strategy-X Streetwise-X Survey-X Survival-X Tactics-X Teacher-X Trader-X Vacc Suit-0 Zero-G-X

Starship Skills: Astrogator-X Engineer-X (Jump Drives-X; Life Support-X; Maneuver Drive-X; Power Systems-X) Gunner-X (Bay Weapons-X; Ortillery-X; Screens-X; Spines-X; Turrets-0) Medic-X Pilot-X (Small Craft-X; Spacecraft ACS-X; Spacecraft BCS-X) Sensors-X Steward-0

Trades: Biologics-X Craftsman-X Electronics-X Fluidics-X Gravitics-X Magnetics-X Mechanic-0 Photonics-X Polymers-X Programmer-X

Arts: Actor-0 Artist-0 Author-0 Chef-X Dancer-X Musician-X

Soldier Skills: Fighter-0 (Battle Dress-X; Beams-X; Blades-X; Exotics-X; Slug Throwers-X; Sprays-X; Unarmed-X) Forward Observer-X Heavy Weapons-X (Artillery-X; Launcher-X; Ordnance-X; WMD-X) Navigation-X Recon-X Sapper-X

TALENTS: Compute-X Empath-X Hibernate-X Hypno-X Intuition-X Math-X MemAware-X Memorize-X MemPercept-X MemScent-X SemSight-X MemSound-X Morph-X Rage-X SoundMimic-X

PERSONALS: Carouse-X Query-X Persuade-X Command-X

INTUITIONS: Curiosity-X Insight-X Luck-X

LIFE PURSUITS:

PERSONAL EQUIPMENT:

Here are some dice-roll macros for Traveller 5:

To roll a number of D6 (if you don't specify any number it defaults to 2d6).

To roll the Flux dice (d6-d6) used in certain tables in Traveller 5.

Set Visible To as "All Players".

There are a number of useful utilities on external sites for Traveller 5th-Edition, made by users Thalassogen and Eaglestone.

The following site (Thalassogen) includes SectorMaker which generates a spreadsheet with data for an entire sector at a time (averaging about 600 star-systems if set at average galactic density, with one or more stars and an average 10 planets each, with the extended T5 Universal World Profile statistics and orbit tables for all stars and planets). Adobe files (.pdf) with a sector map and 16 subsector maps can be generated as well, with tables included. The site-owner added an essay about how to customize and edit the spreadsheet for the Sector. You can reload an edited Sector onto this utility and get an interactive map with information popping up if you roll over hexes or touch a system name in the table.

(Site down, was heldenhaufen.de/T5 )

The following site includes a very useful Task Roller tailored to the Combat rules of T5. Probabilities are mainly decided by the number of dice rolled. The greater the number of dice, the greater the difficulty. The number of dice rolled is tied to the Range of the attack. Other factors like Attack type (Snapfire, Auto-fire, regular) are also figured in.

(Site down, was eaglestone.pocketempires.com/ )

Pierre S. ( talk ) 01:51, 4 May 2015 (EDT)

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Online Tools for the Traveller Referee/Gamemaster

Many of these tools/playing aids can also be applied to any space rpg, sectors and beyond, other stuff, pertaining to and about characters, names, personality.

Major Race Profile - which traveller race matches your profile

MegaTraveller Character Generator

Quick Character Generator

Classic Traveller Character Generator

Mongoose V1 Character Generator

Mongoose V1 V2 Character Generator

T5 Random Citizen Generator

Villain Personality Generator

General Personality Generator

Generate an unusual scifi bartender for your starport lounge

Stars Without Number NPC personality and concept generator

NPC Personality Generator

Science Fiction Name Generator

Various Name Generator

Story Shack Name Generator - stars,aliens, robots, animals, etc.

Another Traveller Word Generator

Paper Cut Out Andorians

Universal Game Mechanic - Task System

PDF - Player sheet for original traveller

PDF - Player sheet for MegaTraveller

Traveller Weapons

Ace Dog Warbook

Personal Items

Character Possession Generator - great for NPC's

Things on, in, or near planets

Critters and plants.

• Currently Empty - this was linked to a couple of websites but they are defunct.

Vehicles / Military / Combat

Misc Space Counters

Tank/Heavy Weapon Counter Generator - for large scale engagements

Land Unit Counter Generator - for large scale engagements

vehicles - text based

Quick Vehicle Combat Rules

Megatraveller Ships and vehicles

ships and vehicles

Vehicles - pics and specifications

Planet Military Assets Calculator

Generate Damage to Personal Powered Body Armor (Battle Dress)

Character Task Roller

PDF - CEF alternate rules for psionics.

Cartography (Maps)

Planet Generator

Random Map Generator

Known Space and Spinward Marches

Tactical (Small Scale) maps

Hex Map Generator

Medieval/Fantasy City Generator

Quick Map Translator

Hextml map maker

Fantasy Name Generator

Adventure Names Generator

Miscellaneous planet side tools

Weather Generator

Another Weather Generator

Another news site - need to dice roll

Traveller Library Data

UWP Description

UWP analyzer

Sundry Items - Fill up that store in the starport!

Starport Facilities - bars, fuel, repairs, pawnshop - if your players need some credits, and more

How many Starships

Auto Convoluted Bureaucracies

Starport Defense Sites

Ship Counters - for larger scale engagements

Distance and Acceleration calculator

Hiver Space Ships

Ship Deck Plans

Very detailed ship designs for the races of Traveller

Ace Dog Shipyard

Zhodani Base Shipyard

Freelance Traveller Gurps Ships

Elvs Traveller Haven Ships

Ship Design Tools

Design - Hulls and Drives

Starship Geomorphs

Ship Combat

Mongoose Traveller Space Combat card

Privateering and Prize money in the Traveller Universe

Sector tools

Traveller System Generator

Text Based Subsystem Generator

Traveller Universe

Miscellaneous tools that don't fit the other catagories.

Diced - An online dice roller

Virtual Dice roll

Heaven and Earth

SciFi Adventure Generator

Bridge Charts

Ambient Sounds - dinner party, battle, wind - add some flair to your game

It's from DnD but has sounds from wind, desert, jungle, etc.

Traveller GM Screen

Far Future Enterprises

Roll20 Virtual table top for RPG gaming.

The Trove - Traveller Rules and Scenarios for all Versions

Traveller is owned by Far Future Enterprises, Inc.

NOTE: When I put together these links they all worked. However, I have found that over time sites are shut down or moved or repurposed. So if a Link is bad, please email and I will address the issue. And of course if you have a suggestion for a tool that should be added, please email me the link.

Email me at [email protected] for problems/suggestions

Modified: 09-August-2021 Added new links.

This site supports Traveller™ , the game of science fiction adventure in the far future, first published by Game Designers' Workshop in 1977 and continuing on in numerous incarnations since.

Last updated on Wed, May 10, 2006.

Introduction

Over the years I've created a few things for Traveller and I plan to continue to do so. At the moment, there are two things. First are the character and subsector generators, which are interfaces to Perl scripts that will generate characters and subsectors. Second is a set of PDF files that recreate the look of the old TAS forms from the little black books, the Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society etc. These were a labor of love and obsession, and will hopefully help you with your games.

• Classic Traveller Character Generator — incorporating all careers from Book 1 and Supplement 4 . Generate an adventuring party, a band of pirates, a system defense boat crew, a medical team, a hunting party, a noble patron ...
• Classic Traveller Subsector Generator — build subsectors according to Book 3 . Also optionally generates a legend, statistics, and a hex map.
• Classic Traveller Animal Encounter Generator — construct encounter tables according to Book 3 . Populate your worlds instantly with all manner of grazers, gatherers, intermittents and pouncers.
• Tool Notes — brief discussion of the online tools, their features and shortcomings.
• TAS Form 2 [14k .pdf] — personal data and history.
• TAS Form 3 [16k .pdf] — ship's papers (commercial).
• TAS Form 5 x2 [11k .pdf] — sector description.
• TAS Forms 6, 7 [18k .pdf] — subsector map grid and world data.
• TAS Form 14 x2 [14k .pdf] — cargo manifest.
• TAS Forms 65, 66 [11k .pdf] — starship deckplan grids, small and large.
• Imperial Navy Form 3 x2 [17k .pdf] — ship's data.
• Imperial Navy Form 10 [15k .pdf] — ship design worksheet.
• Imperial Navy Form 11 x2 [14k .pdf] — small craft design worksheet.
• Imperial Scout Service Forms 6, 7 [11k .pdf] — xboat message forms.
• Imperial Scout Service Form 7 [15k .pdf] — star system data.
• Imperial Scout Service Form 8, 9 [25k .pdf] — world map grid and terrain data.
• All Forms [102k .tar.gz] — all of the above forms.
• farfuture.net — the official home of Traveller and the Classic Traveller reprints.
• travellerrpg.com — the official home of T20 and the Citizens of the Imperium discussion boards.
• zhodani.space — the Zhodani Base, a great fansite.
• travellermap.com — a fantastic map of the official Traveller universe.
• wiki.travellerrpg.com — the excellent Traveller wiki.

I hope you enjoy the materials on this site. Happy Travelling!

The Traveller game in all forms is owned by Far Future Enterprises . Copyright 1977 — 2020 Far Future Enterprises.

Copyright © 2005 the author.

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Traveller 5: Let's Create a Character

• Thread starter Caplin
• Start date Dec 4, 2018

Validated User

• Dec 4, 2018

I've been getting into Traveller 5 lately. This game has an unfortunate reputation of being a bit of a hot mess. I happen to think there's a great, if crunchy, system buried under the issues, so thought I would walk through character creation for some fun. To liven things up a bit I will be making decisions according to popular choice, at least as much as I can given the constraints of the system. T5 character generation is vaguely similar to earlier versions of the game, with a lot of extra bells and whistles. I will be rolling through a series of four-year career terms, to hopefully end up with an adventurer with a colorful past. Despite conventional wisdom about this game, it's not all that easy to die in character generation, though we can certainly be injured. Without further ado, let's roll for our six characteristics. These are Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Intelligence, Education, and Social Standing. IF I were generating a non-human, some of these would be different, but I won't worry about those complications for now. We roll two 6-sided dice for each of these, in order, and get… 887A7A What's with the weird format, you ask? If you are familiar with Traveller you'll recognize this is a "universal personality profile," or UPP, a compact way of listing characteristics. Basically, starting with Strength, each one is represented by a single character in hexadecimal. Our character is smarter than average, and has a higher social standing, but is otherwise distressingly normal. Our character is automatically fluent in his native language. For lack of a better idea, let's go with the game's default of "Anglic." Anglic starts at the higher of our intelligence or education, so for us 10. Now we have to pick or generate our character's homeworld. I'll use the handy chart provided and discover that we're from the tiny backwater colony of Lakou . This is a kind of horrible place to be from, but does provide us with a single skill, the ability to handle vehicles. As luck would have it, this is a bit of an unusual skill in that it's divided into several sub-skills, or knowledges. The rules aren't 100% clear here, but I'm going to guess that the intent is to have us pick one kind of "knowledge," in this case, one type of vehicle. The obvious choice is wheeled vehicles, but I'm going to buck that trend and say that we're the best/only repair person for nearby truck farmers. Thus, our character looks like this… 887A7A Anglic-10, Automotive-1, Driver-0 That's enough for a first post. My first questions to y'all, how do we intend to proceed? We can theoretically apply to a college or university, a trade school, or try to join up with the military in some capacity. I'll enclose a full list of careers for perusal, though note that we can't necessarily get into all of these easily. University or other higher education is a separate process, which I'll walk through if we decide to go that route. Spoiler: Hide '; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = ' Show '; }" /> Show 01 Craftsman 02 Scholar 03 Entertainer 04 Citizen 05 Scout 06 Merchant 07 Spacer 08 Soldier 09 Rogue 10 Agent 11 Noble 12 Marine 13 Functionary As a final thought, what's our character's name? I hate coming up with names, in truth, so leave that to the hive mind.  

Why are language skills on a totally different scale to all other skills?  

Making wizards funky again

Given their high intelligence and social standing I would suggest that they tried to go to some off-world university.  

Gee4orce said: Why are language skills on a totally different scale to all other skills? Click to expand...

Borbetomagnus

Well-known member.

Thanks for starting this thread C Caplin I too believe there's a great game within Taveller5's 656-page tome. A couple years ago I worked through the Characters and Life chapter and while it was very disorganized, I was able to generate a couple characters. The second time was faster than the first. I've not had a chance to play or referee T5 since I my energy is focused on running Mongoose Traveller 1e, and a few others (see signature). I think you have to approach the T5 Core Rules as a reference work (I'm reminded of Gygax's Dungeon Masters Guide). It could use a short supplement that does a better job of walking a player through the character creation steps, holding your hand along the way with clear instructions and examples.  

Borbetomagnus said: I think you have to approach the T5 Core Rules as a reference work (I'm reminded of Gygax's Dungeon Masters Guide). It could use a short supplement that does a better job of walking a player through the character creation steps, holding your hand along the way with clear instructions and examples. Click to expand...

I've always been partial to Archaeology for my Scholars - more potential to get into trouble. I take it this is based off of the hard copy 5.0 rules and not the current PDF-only 5.09 rules that are going to be supplanted by a hopefully-final 5.1 Real Soon Now (TM)?  

MrTim said: I've always been partial to Archaeology for my Scholars - more potential to get into trouble. I take it this is based off of the hard copy 5.0 rules and not the current PDF-only 5.09 rules that are going to be supplanted by a hopefully-final 5.1 Real Soon Now (TM)? Click to expand...

Bork, bork, bork!

Looking over Lakou's info, I expect this character is probably a landlord's retainer - not quite high enough to actually be a landlord. Maybe they start off as a soldier. Getting into a merc unit would be an alternative to going to university.... As for a name, how's Rense Aury?  

I have both 5.0 hardcover and the 5.09 PDF, but refer to read the hardcopy. I don't think the changes between the two are significant enough to matter for character generation. I'm fine if you use with the one that's easier for you to read.  

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Traveller generators: worlds, systems, sectors, subsectors, and Mongoose 2e characters

I’ve posted about Traveller generators before here on Yore, but I’ve also used one or two I’ve never posted about — and recently found a great Reddit list of even more generators that were new to me. Time for a round-up!

My brain is in Mongoose Traveller 2e [ paid link ] mode at the moment, but given the broad compatibility of the various editions of Traveller — especially in terms of setting creation — these generators should be useful no matter which flavor/fork appeals to you. The only exception is the last one on the list, which specifically creates Mongoose 2e NPCs.

Sectors and subsectors you can revisit, with maps

The inimitable Alex Schroeder offers a triple threat for Traveller GMs , with some really cool features. The main Traveller generator page features links to generate random sectors and subsectors; those output on a new page, with a unique URL. (To generate a new one, you have to hit the link on the main page. Refreshing your generated page, logically enough, changes nothing.)

You can also paste in your own list of UWPs (and the list the page itself generates is preformatted to work perfectly here), or the URL of a page you just generated, and then hit the “Submit” button, and the site will also generate your subsector or sector map. (The map needs to be saved locally for future use.)

Systems, sectors, and subsectors, with options (rift, spiral arm, etc.)

If you want some options when it comes to type of sector/subsector, neuzd’s awesome Mongoose 1e generator is a one-stop shop, and includes options for rift, sparse, spiral arm, and densely populated sectors and subsectors. Those options are what make this one so cool. Do note that you can’t bookmark the results; you’ll need to export or paste them for future use.

Best of all, you can select the type of sector/subsector with this generator, copy the resulting list, paste it into Alex Schroeder’s generator (above), and the latter will create your map for you. The best of both worlds!

Systems and worlds with bells and whistles

One of my go-to sites for generators of all stripes, donjon , offers an amazing system generator that includes planetary images, a breakdown of the system, and a full work-up of the core world that includes a randomly generated world map. For a new system, just hit refresh. The simplest way I’ve found to preserve its output is to take a screenshot.

Worlds you can revisit

The PBE Games world generator is fantastic. It will spit out random worlds, of course, but you can also provide your own UWPs and it will expand them into full write-ups. Best of all, the generator provides a seed for every world it creates — just save that seed (a short string of characters), and you can plug it back into the generator anytime to re-create that world.

Worlds based on milieu, with extras

Not only can you specify the milieu and other details before generation, Traveller Tools will also tell you fun stats like refuel time, travel times and distances, and available trade goods. This one appears to be Mongoose 2e-specific (to the extent that that matters). A permalink is available for every world you create.

Mongoose 2e Traveller character generator

Traveller Tools also features a great Mongoose 2e Traveller character generator, and there’s a permalink for any character you create. You can specify age and careers or just let the randomizer do its work; either way, it’s intended for NPCs and, as the page notes, takes a few liberties with the rules to enable random generation.

Mongoose 2e characters aren’t quite as simple as OG Trav characters (which generally fit into a line or two of text), so I was thrilled to find this one.

The Zhodani Base offers a beefy list of Traveller generators covering everything from sectors to counters to magazine covers. There’s plenty here that should be handy for any Trav GM.

2 thoughts on “Traveller generators: worlds, systems, sectors, subsectors, and Mongoose 2e characters”

Thanks for posting Its nice to see a synopsis of useful Traveller materials and website

You’re welcome! There’s so much cool Trav stuff out there.

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TRAVELLER Character Generator

Character Generator: Background Skills

Your character so far: (Racial stat modifiers included)

Select your background skill(s): (You must take the skills listed for your homeworld; any extra skills can be taken from the education list.)

Traveller 5: Characters and Combat

The 5.10 edition of the Traveller 5th core rule set. Book 1 of 3.

• 1 Image Repository
• 2 Table of Contents
• 3 Library Data Entries (Automated)
• 4 References & Contributions

Image Repository [ edit ]

Core Book 1:

Table of Contents [ edit ]

Library data entries (automated) [ edit ], references & contributions [ edit ].

• Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
• Traveller 5th Books
• Far Future Enterprises Books
• Published 2019
• Articles at intermediate completion state
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Classic Traveller Character Generator

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Welcome to the universe of the Far Future! Far Future Enterprises, as the successor to Game Designers’ Workshop, publishes reprints of the classic role-playing game systems originally produced by GDW: Traveller (as well as many of its licensed support materials), 2300 AD , Twilight: 2000 , and Dark Conspiracy . We work closely with other publishers ( Mongoose, Steve Jackson Games, RPGNow, and DriveThruRPG ) who publish their own versions of our products under license from FFE.

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Traveller 5

Started by jeff37923, July 13, 2013, 10:55:50 PM

• Knight of Common Sense

• Hero Member
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Zachary The First

• Posts: 5,542

Quote from: Zachary The First;670740 Seems like a fair review, Jeff. Thanks for posting it. It sounds like the game wasn't quite ready for primetime, but the Maker systems and tech levels sound neat. How in-depth do they go into the tech levels.

• Toxic SocioCat

• Posts: 14,820

Quote from: Spinachcat;670849 So the Kickstarter patrons paid $75 for a playtest document and after the fan base (what's left of them) does all the playtesting, editing and reworking of the rules, then everyone in the KS is going to get a free copy to replace their "ashcan edition"? Or will they be paying an additional $75?

Quote from: Spinachcat;670849 There isn't any justification for spelling mistakes. There is no real justification for proofreading or editing errors because I am quite sure all these fans who are proofing the game now would have done so quite happily before T5 was sent to the printer.   And as for selling an un-playtested game? That's idiotic, but somehow acceptable in RPGland whereas that shit don't fly in other game genres. Shame. The Maker rules sounded interesting.

Quote from: jeff37923;670878 pretty sure that you didn't bother to be a part of the Kickstarter, because you really aren't that interested in Traveller , so you do not have a stake in this.

Quote from: Spinachcat;671126 As one of the only GMs in California who runs Traveller at conventions, as I have for the past 30 years, I suspect I'm plenty interested in Traveller.  The lack of Traveller at cons has always surprised me since CT especially is perfect for one shots with new players. But sadly, I don't think there is a handful of active GMs in the state who play Trav outside their house I did not join the KS because I wasted money on T4. That game was a half-assed disappointment (with lots of bright points) and nothing in the T5 KS promo lead me to believe that things were going to be better this time around.

• setting junkie

• Posts: 3,882

Quote from: danbuter;671167 Jeff, you're way too defensive about this.

Quote from: danbuter;671167 It was a great review, though.

Quote from: danbuter;671167 My biggest thing is the makers. Could you post how they work, exactly? Your review is very opaque about them, other than they make stuff.

dungeon crawler

• Full Member

rafaelsmoreno

Quote from: rafaelsmoreno;677518 Well, I am a long time role player, being in the game since 1994 (mostly GURPS, AD&D and Shadowrun). I love sci-fi, cyberpunk, space opera, and I thought getting the new Traveller5 to start with the system a good idea. Apparently, I was wrong. What would be the easiest path to get a campaign on the run? Getting rid of Traveller 5 and jumping in Gurps 3rd edition Traveller? Gurps 4th? I find the scenario amazing, but learning the new system seem to be a cumbersome task for veterans, and I am a newbie on that. Any hints?

Quote from: jeff37923;677991 Sorry, I haven't been paying close attention to this thread so ther was a delay. If you are just getting started there are a few options available. The approaches I recommend the highest are using DriveThruRPG and downloading Starter Traveller ( a free basic version of the original Classic Traveller), on the same website download the free Book 0: An Introduction to Traveller for Mongoose Traveller (a backwards compatable in print version of Traveller currently available). Those two will give you a good overview of the roots of the Traveller system. When you are comfortable with spending money, I would suggest either the Mongoose Traveller Core Rules or the Classic Traveller CD-ROM from Far Future Enterprises. GURPS 3rd Traveller is available primarily as a PDF from SJGs and I consider it to be better than GURPS 4th Traveller which is intimately tied to the Interstellar Wars era of the OTU. These will also cost some money.

David Johansen

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