[guest author] Rest in Peace, San Holo
Panning for gold in the used bin at Gary’s Games, we found a tattered copy of Traveller Book 1 1977 for $2. I had always been curious about “classic” Traveller, especially since I had heard characters can die during creation. So, we whipped up a bunch characters and here are the final results: 5 of our 9 characters survived the service and mustered out to PC-dom leaving the other 4 dead in character creation. Of the 5 survivors, 4 were one tour wonders, not making their re-enlistment roll.
Of the dead, the most tragic was San Holo, the space rogue who wanted nothing more from life than to have his own ship. Enlisting in the Scouts as a pilot, he turned into a serious renaissance man (Jack of all Trades-4). After his 4th tour, he started to feel the effects of old age, but decided to re-enlist just one more time. Oh, San Holo, 5th time’s not the charm. You should have listened to your creaking bones and quit while you were ahead and gotten your ship. DEAD.
The most successful character was JTK, Captain Janelle T. Kinser, Queen of Space. Gifted and an ambitious social and professional climber who survived five tours in the Navy and mustered out with some serious skillz (Int-B, Edu-F, Soc-F). A highly trained physician (Medical-4) but with some serious military experience to boot, she retired with a nice little pension to rule the universe.
Basically, it felt like we were creating real characters, not ones that just popped straight out of Zeus’ head fully-formed and god-like.
Leave a reply to Scholz
I remember playing Traveller in Junior High. I couldn’t imagine how a 30 year old could manage to adventure, I am that sooooooo old.
I’ve got a real soft spot for old Traveller. It really made you feel like you’re character had achieved something just by becoming a PC.
Not Ping, but I heard a rumor that _somebody_ is thinking of running Traveller for Run Club. I won’t name any names.
Ooohh, is your next Run Club gonna be Traveller 1.0? It has a certain appeal for a single shot in that the char generation is part of the game. Its kinda like a combat – you could die but you get experience and improve if you live. And not a lot of sitting around discussing char conceptions and who’s gonna be what.
Or maybe I’ll run Traveller for my run club….
I am sure I’ve seen systems that granted the same lived-in feeling, but with more of the poor dears…you know, living.