In The Black - A Quest in the world of The Expanse

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I'm a touch confused by that -- would a Rank 0 from Ganymede and a second Rank 0 of the same type from University not stack into becoming Rank 1?
 
Logos01 said:
I'm a touch confused by that -- would a Rank 0 from Ganymede and a second Rank 0 of the same type from University not stack into becoming Rank 1?
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It does not. In Traveller, when something says "you get Petting Dogs 0" you get petting dogs at 0. If you already have Petting Dogs 1, you don't gain anything.
 
So the maximum mechanical gain is to just dump the Rank 1 into Engineering still and pick a different Rank 0 than Science. But since we didn't specify a specialty for the Rank 0 Science from Ganymede we should be able to develop acceleration drugs without the -3 Unskilled penalty right?

Maybe take Medic 0 just in case...

Back to Astrogation it is. Weee.
 
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Logos01 said:
So the maximum mechanical gain is to just dump the Rank 1 into Engineering still and pick a different Rank 0 than Science. But since we didn't specify a specialty for the Rank 0 Science from Ganymede we should be able to develop acceleration drugs without the -3 Unskilled penalty right?

Maybe take Medic 0 just in case...
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Yes, that is correct. You already have Medic 0 from Ganymede though.
 
Logos01 said:
So the maximum mechanical gain is to just dump the Rank 1 into Engineering still and pick a different Rank 0 than Science. But since we didn't specify a specialty for the Rank 0 Science from Ganymede we should be able to develop acceleration drugs without the -3 Unskilled penalty right?

Maybe take Medic 0 just in case...

Back to Astrogation it is. Weee.
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If we're gonna do engineering we shouldn't take astrogaton IMO. Switching Science to 1 and getting engineering at 0 makes more sense. After all on a ship you don't have someone that's doing maneuvers and engineering duties. Shouldn't spread out to far on ship duties.
 
inbred martian said:
If we're gonna do engineering we shouldn't take astrogaton IMO. Switching Science to 1 and getting engineering at 0 makes more sense. After all on a ship you don't have someone that's doing maneuvers and engineering duties. Shouldn't spread out to far on ship duties.
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Unless you're flying solo or doing backup shift rotations on a small ship. The idea of Engineering 1 there is that you'd want the design and construction skills if you're doing things like setting up a company for building Belter-optimized accel couches, or running a rockhopping refinery.

Belters aren't really doing a vast amount of research themselves. Those who do, don't get around and navigate the system much.

Engineers though -- they are a hot commodity. Engineers that can act as backup pilots even more so. Belters in particular have to be deeply flexible and resourceful.

Basically I'm hoping to get us a skillset that will result in some decent space operatic shenanigans of traversing the Belt on a tramp ore processor or something while we work on field retrofits to the ship to work with the Johnson faction OPA and so on.

We could wind up as sole operator/owner of an ore hauler based out of Tycho Station for example, spending the downtime on transits doing design work and meeting more reputable black market OPA marketeers to build "for the Belt, by the Belt".

I like the idea, for example, of setting up small tethered 'troid spin habitats (take two or more asteroids of roughly the same size, tie them to a central maglev ring anchored on a third, use the maglev rail to spin up the asteroids. Core out the asteroids -- instant spingrav habitat. Just add self-sufficient hydroponics / bioreactors for air and food) to make and sell food and medical services to rockhoppers. Fighting off the occasional Inaros or Black Sky pirates while building up a reputation of proverbial Johnny Appleseed in the deep and empty black.
 
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Sorry for the double-post here but this is useful information for us Questors so I thought I'd share it here, separately:

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Given Expanse vehicles "flip and burn" at a halfway point to maintain linear gravity in transit, and that as a Belter we'd consistently be traveling at like 0.3g at best ... You can triple the travel times listed there.

So for example going from Ceres to Jupiter would be a 9-day one-way trip.
 
[X]University (roll EDU 6+ to enter)
- [X] Engineering 0, Science (Pharmaceuticals) 1
Drugs are always in high demand on long voyages, bad working conditions, and when suffering from health problems.
 
Logos01 said:
Sorry for the double-post here but this is useful information for us Questors so I thought I'd share it here, separately:

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com www.reddit.com

Given Expanse vehicles "flip and burn" at a halfway point to maintain linear gravity in transit, and that as a Belter we'd consistently be traveling at like 0.3g at best ... You can triple the travel times listed there.

So for example going from Ceres to Jupiter would be a 9-day one-way trip.
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Thanks for this! These travel time are definitely gonna help the quest!

Edit: Womp Womp
Texas Red threw 2 6-faced dice. Reason: Entrance Exam to College +1 Total: 2
1 1 1 1
 
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Well that's one way to end the skill selection debate. Next we'll have to roll to see if we survive childbirth.

<Sighs in Traveler>
 
Oof, that's a pretty bad failure.

Time to start growing drugs in the maintenance closet, or whatever back-up carreers are a possibility.
 
0-3 Change of Plans
  • Threadmarks
    • @Logos01 this is honestly my favorite part of Traveller, making stories you wouldn't expect still meaningful.

    You wanted to go to college, but it just wasn't in the cards for you. You somehow botched every entrance exam you took, and your dreams of learning how to work on a starship and maybe even start your own business making drugs up near Tycho fell through your fingers. You had to move on with your life. The ice-hauler Ulysses was in port one day in June when you were sulking and wondering what to do with your life, and given you had to do something, you asked a few of the crew if they could use someone with your skill set on bored. The rock hoppers laughed about "skill set" and said welcome aboard.

    You were fresh meat on the blocky, crane covered ice hauler you spent your first time in Zero G in, but they were never cruel. You were just the rookie, until someone even younger than you joined up two years later. The Ulysses became your found family quick, though you always made sure to shoot mom and dad a tight beam on Sundays to tell them what you were doing.

    Basic training!
    • Pilot 0
    • Mechanic 0
    • Astrogation 0
    • Vacc Suit 0
    • Profession 1 (Asteroid Miner)
    • Gun Combat 0
    You took the reins of the ships a couple times, learned to fix leaky pipes, you watched the navigator work a few times, learned how to use a vacc suit, got better at holding down a job, and learned how to handle a gun. That last part was a bit upsetting for you to hear, that it was just a fact of life that pirates could turn your rust bucket into a smash-and-grab job and you needed to protect your livelihood yourself, because no one else would.

    Life Event: Life on the edge hones your abilities, increase any skill you already have by one.
    • Science (Pharmaceuticals) 1
    You hadn't given up on your dream of developing pharmaceuticals in the Belt, so in your spare time you downloaded college coursework on chemistry and pharmaceuticals. No one in the Belt cares about a degree if you're competent. You weren't able to move up in rank, you probably spent too much time dicking around on your own time, but out of the possibilities of where you could have ended up in the universe, you could have done worse.

    Would you like to continue with this career, or try to enter a new one? Do keep in mind that every previous career gives a -1 to enter a new career. Refer to the list above for new careers. You cannot reenter a career you have left or flunked out of.
    Texas Red threw 2 6-faced dice. Reason: Advancement! END 7+ Total: 4
    1 1 3 3
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Merchant INT 4+

    Let's give our man some ambition in life. Moving up to Free Trader status by getting some success with designing, making, and trading accel couches like the thought was. All custom work of course, and if he should just so happen to make some friends along the way so be it.

    (Also it's one of the only Terms we can switch to with high confidence thanks to the -1 offset.)

    Texas Red said:
    @Logos01 this is honestly my favorite part of Traveller, making stories you wouldn't expect still meaningful.
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    Oh I know. I was just making "the" oldest joke about Traveler.
     
    [X]University (roll EDU 6+ to enter)
    - [X] Engineering 1, Business 0

    Might as well try again. And since we got pharmaceuticals up to one we can take engineering 1 and try and get some basic business knowledge under our belt

    Edit: whoops didn't see the can't re-enter if we flunked out of a career path.

    [X] Scholar INT 6+
    -[X] Scientist on Ganymede, focusing on drugs

    Let's see if we can't become a doctor or scientist on Ganymede so we can have easy access to people and drugs needed to do our research. And maybe take some night classes to boost our stats
     
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    Shame we can't go try again at education given how often people go back irl, but that is the nature of the system.

    [X] Scholar INT 6+
     
    Just to be clear, there's now a 28% chance of failing the Scholar choice vs. a 7% chance to fail at Merchant, folks.
     
    I mean worst case we just keep working as a drifter? There's a lot of ways to read the story but my personal headcanon is that the pharmaceuticals thing is our characters passion. So let em go for it I say.
     
    [X]Merchant INT 4+
    -Merchant Marine (Working on a megacorp's trade ship)

    Time to learn how to turn passion into profit. At least we got some combat skills from this that we may not have gotten otherwise.
     
    [X] Scholar INT 6+

    I'm worried about what the low roles here mean for us going forward. Perhaps we're not meant for the educated life...
     
    Alright, seems scholar is the way to go! You have a +1 to INT but a -1 from a previous career, so I'm gonna need a flat roll to see if you can follow your dreams!
     
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