Yags Traveller

Yags Traveller is all about designing characters for use in GDW's Traveller background.

The Traveller campaign is huge in scope, covering many thousands of star systems, many different styles of play, spanning many technology levels and can even be set in different periods. Yags Traveller is focussed on games within the Imperium, around the year 1120. It follows the timeline set by GURPS Traveller.

Advancement and Progression

Characters are assumed to start as fully trained professionals, a lot of them probably in their thirties. As such, progression after character generation is meant to be slow, with most achievements being in the form of contacts, wealth, reputations and knowledge.

Some Definitions

Attributes

There are 8 primary attributes to define, and all begin with a score of 3 (which is average for an adult human). The minimum for any attribute is 2, the maximum is 8, though anything above 5 is considered to be very exceptional.

Strength

How strong you are, including your ability to lift and hurt things. If you have a high strength then you will tend to be larger as well.

Health

A measure of your physical fitness and stamina. Health is used in checks to remain alive after being seriously wounded.

Agility

Your agility represents your quickness, athletic prowess and balance. It is used for brawling, wrestling, sneaking, reaction tests and acrobatics.

Dexterity

Dexterity is your hand-eye coordination, sleight-of-hand and skill with melee weapons. Pistols also use dexterity, and rifles may use dexterity or perception.

Perception

How alert you are, and the general quality of your senses. If perceptive, you are good at hiding and noticing things. Rifles and larger weapons use perception.

Intelligence

A measure of your wit, cunning, memory and intuition. Knowledges are based on intelligence, as are logic and reasoning skills.

Empathy

Empathy is your ability to understand others. It is used to make friends, convince people emotionally, or to tell if someone is lying to you. Empathy doesn't affect your intentions to be nice or nasty, but does affect how well you notice other people's feelings.

Will

Your Will is a measure of mental fortitude, being used to resist psi, instincts and emotions. A high Will makes you a good liar, a low Will means you are gullible and likely to give in to fear, lust and greed.

Skills

Skills are abilities which are gained through study, experience and training. There are 8 basic skills (talents) which all being at a score of 2, all other skills are assumed to start at zero unless stated otherwise for your background.

A skill of 4 is considered to be a trained professional, 6 is an expert, 8 is elite and 10+ is a true master of the profession. Skills above 15 are pretty much unheard of.

Techniques

Techniques are specialities bought within a particular skill. They enable you to perform actions that would be impossible or hard without it, or grant a bonus in certain situations (sometimes to related skills).

Example Characters

The following example characters should give an idea of what is possible using Yags. They have all been built using the character generation system given here. Each states the order of priorities chosen at character generation time.

Building a Character

Designing a character for Yags Traveller is a relatively straightforward process. As always, you will need a character concept before hand, which will depend on the type of campaign being run by the GM, the type of characters everybody else is taking, and your personal preference.

There are no set character classes to choose from, instead abilities are purchased from a number of point pools - attributes, experience and background. Which of these is given priority (and so has the most points available) is up to you.

Characters begin the game very experienced, potentially equivalent to action heroes. However, there will be others who are better than they are.

Priorities

Once you have determined the type of character you wish to play, it is time to determine the priorities of that character.

Attributes

A typical adult human has a score of 3 in every attribute. By prioritising this, you may start with more attributes at a much higher level.

Background

Allows you to choose some special advantages for your character, from wealth and social status to psionic ability. If you want to play a non-human, then this is also a background cost.

Experience

Covers general experience and governs how many skills you start with, as well as the maximum skill level of any one skill at generation time. These points can be spent on any skills and techniques.

The above three groups determine all aspects of your character according to the rules.

Ranking Priorities

When designing your character, you should choose which area will be primary, which secondary and which tertiary. Your choice only affects the number of points placed into each area at character generation, and has no effect after this point.

Category	Primary	Secondary	Tertiary
Attributes	+12/8	+6/6	+3/5
Experience	200/10	150/8	100/6
Background	6	3	1

Where two numbers are given (e.g. 12/8), the first number is the number of points that may be spent, and the second number is the maximum level that an attribute or skill may be raised to. The meaning of these values is described in the sections below.

The above pretty much assumes that Traveller characters begin the game highly experienced.

Attributes

For player characters, attributes are generally rated on a scale of 1 to 10. Humans are limited to a range of 2 to 8, though some aliens can go outside of this. A typical adult human is considered to have a score of 3 in each attribute. A description of what the various levels represent, and their costs, are given in the table below.

The number of points that may be spent on buying up an attribute depends on the priority you chose for attributes - 12 points for primary, 6 for secondary and only 3 for tertiary. This choice also limits the maximum you may buy an attribute up to.

Score	Cost and description
10	Super alien. The limit of what most aliens can achieve, and far ahead of any human.
9	Super human. Beyond want humans can achieve, and only found in a select few alien species.
8	Amazing (+15 points). At the limit of human ability, which only a few people in human history have attained.
7	Outstanding (+10 points). The best olympic athletes and the most renowned of academics will have this level of attribute.
6	Superb (+6 points). Far above human average, attained not by chance but through dedicated training.
5	Exceptional (+3 points). Obviously exceptional. Attributes higher than this are normally only attained through training and dedication.
4	Good (+1 point). Significantly above average for an adult. About 5% of the population has this level or above.
3	Average (0 points). Typical average for an adult. About 90% of the population.
2	Poor (-2 points). Significantly below average, the bottom 5%.
1	Terrible. Obviously impaired compared to a typical human. An attribute of this level is almost worthless.

Levels outside of the range 2-8 cannot be purchased, but are reserved for alien species. Some aliens get a bonus or penalty to a given attribute, and this bonus applies after you have purchased the attribute. You may not purchase an attribute to a level that would cause it to be shifted outside of the 1-10 range once species modifiers have been applied.

Experience

Experience gives you experience points which may be spent on pretty much any skill. The table gives two numbers, in the form points/maximum.

The first number is the total number of experience points you may spend on skills. The second number is the maximum skill level any single skill can be raised to.

Background

You may select one or more background options, which may be advantages or disadvantages. You may take as many advantages as you have points for, plus optionally one disadvantage which gives you an extra point to spend on an advantage.

Advantages

Aslan (+1):

You are an Aslan, one of the lion-like species which are unrelated to humanity. If male, you are a warrior, probably seeking land in the only way that is possible - by conquering it. If female, you are probably a merchant or politician.

You gain a +1 to Agility and Will. If you are male you suffer a -1 to Intelligence and Empathy, but also gain +1 to Strength.

Blackmail (+1):

You have information on someone they really don't want to be made public. Who they are is up to you, but generally the more important they are the less damaging the information is. You can get some money out of them, or sometimes the odd favour, but they will always be looking to get rid their problem permanently, especially if you push them too hard.

Cool (+1):

You remain cool under stress. Gain a +2 bonus to your Will to resist fear, terror and anything else which may break your cool.

Good looking (+1):

You are extremely good looking, and can use it to your advantage in your dealings with anyone who finds you sexually attractive, or in a situation where being smart and presentable would be an advantage. Gain a +1 bonus to whatever attribute you are using (normally Empathy).

High noble (+3):

You are a member of the mid-ranks of the Imperial nobility, being highly ranked in a sub-sector, or of lesser importance in a sector.

Intelligent item (+1):

You have an item (possibly a weapon, likely some item of electronic equipment) which has a machine intelligence programmed into it. It is capable of some independant thought, though is more a Turing Personality capable of following instructions. It can only do what it would normally be capable of, and only sense through whatever sensors it has. It is no smaller than a small handgun or PDA.

Large (+1):

You are very large, being both tall and heavily built. You have a bonus of +1 to your Size (raising it to 6 for humans), which provides you with an extra level of wounds and stuns. You also have extra reach, and any reach 0 melee attacks are instead considered reach 1. You may not have a Strength below 4.

Lucky (+1):

You are lucky, and receive a +1 to luck checks. You may also spend your luck as a luck point, to get out of deadly situations. You may take this multiple times.

Major Reputation (+3):

You have a good reputation in a sector for some achievement of your youth.

Military rank (+1):

You are an officer in one of the Imperial armed forces.

Minor Reputation (+1):

You have a good reputation in a sub-sector for some achievement of your youth.

Noble (+1):

You are a member of the lower ranks of Imperial nobility, or have a high social status for some other reason.

Rich (+3):

You are rich, with a total net worth of about 100 million credits. Most of this will be in property and shares, but you will have about 10% of this as immediate disposable income.

Sexy (+3):

As well as being good looking, the way in which you walk, talk and dress comes across as very sexy to anyone who would be sexually attracted to you. Others will tend to flirt with you given a chance, and you may gain +2 to Empathy in such situations.

Starship (+3):

You own a small jump-capable starship. Choose one of the common jump capable starships up to 200t. You probably couldn't have afforded to buy the ship, so you may have won it in a game, rescued it from a wrecker's yard, or simply obtained it through shady means.

Though it may not look like much, it has it where it counts, being (mostly) reliable, and tuned to being just that bit better than would normally be expected. It may need to be able to defend itself (though not too well to draw attention), and there's always a need to have somewhere to stuff things you don't want Imperial customs inspectors to find.

Useful friends (+1):

You have friends in useful places. They may be Imperial bureacrats, members of the Navy, or even group of terrorists, pirates or underworld bosses who you used to have dealings with. They are willing to help you if you have the need, though their friendship can only be pushed so far, and often they'll want a favour in return.

The sort of help they will be willing and able to provide is up to you and the GM. The greater the power and influence the friend has, the more they will be constrained in what they can do, especially if helping you could harm their reputation.

Vargr (+1):

You are a Vargr, a species descended from old Terran wolves and uplifted by the ancients. Vargr are ill-disciplined, prone to anger and violence but loyal to those they consider friend. They can be difficult to get on with.

You gain a +1 to Agility and Perception, but suffer a -1 to Empathy and Will.

Very Rich (+5):

You are very rich, with a total net worth in the billions of credits.

Wealthy (+1):

You are comfortably well off, and have a total net worth of around a million credits. Most of this will be tied up in property, vehicles and other items which will be hard to sell in a hurry.

You are not wealthy enough to be able to give up working if you wish to maintain your lifestyle.

Disadvantages

Barbarian (-1):

You are from a low tech culture that has little or no knowledge of spaceflight or electronics. You may not start with any high tech skills, and always suffer a -1 attribute penalty when trying to use such skills.

Blackmailed (-1):

Somebody has information that if made public would ruin your career, your family and possible end your life. To make matters worse, they have no qualms about using the threat of release to request small favours from time to time. Of course, these favours are always illegal and unsavoury, and if anyone finding out about these actions, it would also be bad for your career, your family and possibly your life.

Criminal (-1):

You are a wanted criminal, with a bounty on your head for crimes against the Imperium. Your crimes could have been anything from murder to terrorism. Remember that this is an Imperium wide crime, it's not just something you did to upset a local government.

Cybernetics (-1):

Cybernetics are generally viewed with suspicion within the Imperium, and those that have cybernetic 'enhancements' such as limbs or hands may be treated unfavourably, especially at customs inspections and the like.

You have a cybernetic replacement for some bodypart such as an arm or eye. It provides no real benefit, and is simply a medical replacement for the original which was lost when regrowth technology was unavailable to you.

Dead (-1):

Due to an accident during your early career, or because of combat action, you are dead. If you select this option then you need to generate a new character.

Illiterate (-1):

Illiteracy is rare in the Imperium, especially on technological worlds, but it is not completely unheard of. You are unable to read or write (in any language), which can also make use of a computer difficult. Learning the skills later will be difficult for you. This is a social stigma as well as a practical problem.

K'kree (-1):

You are K'kree, a species of militant vegetarians who views all meat eaters as an immoral blight upon the universe when needs to be cleansed. K'kree are 6 limbed centaurs.

You have a base size of 6, and have +1 to Strength and -1 to Intelligence. A K'kree has a split Strength score - the Strength you buy is your half strength, which represents the strength in your arms and legs for punching and kicking purposes. You full strength is four points higher, and is used for figuring how much you can carry. A typical adult K'kree will have a Strength of 8/4.

Being a K'kree is considered a disadvantage for any campaign set within the Imperium. You will be mistrusted, and find it very difficult to function within human culture.

Poor (-1):

You are very badly in debt, and have little or no posessions or wealth of your own. Depending on your social rank, the government, banks or criminal element may be seeking a share of any wealth you do obtain during the game.

Psionic susceptibility (-1):

You are particularly susceptible to psi attacks. Any resistence rolls you make against psionics are halved.

Small (-1):

You are very small, and your Size is one less than it would normally be, meaning you have one less levels of wounds and stuns (loosing the -0 level). You may not have a Strength above 4.

Ugly (-1):

You are very ugly, and receive a -1 to Empthy when trying to persuade someone of your own race.

Unlucky (-1):

You are unlucky, and receive a -1 to luck checks.

Skills

There are a wide range of skills available to Imperium characters, the most common of which are described here. There is a focus on those skills which are common within the high technology of the Imperium, and though low tech skills can be learnt, they are uncommon and are described elsewhere.

There is a high level of education throughout most of the Imperium, and the huge economic base means that people can afford to spend longer specialising in one area. As such, higher level skills will encountered more often, even if only finding a specialist is a lot easier when you can just search for their website.

A skill at a level of '2' represents those who have basic familiarity with the skill. A skill of 2 is sufficient to drive a car safely, operate a computer with confidence, or fire a gun reasonably on a firing range.

A skill at a level of '4' represents having good knowledge of a subject. Most people will have a skill of at least 4 in the primary skills necessary for their jobs, or in those skills they've been using on a regular basis for a long time. A person who has driven a car for many years probably has a Drive of 4; office administrators probably have Computer operation and Administration at 4. Most regular army personel will have 4 in basic combat skills.

A skill of '6' represents special training or lots of experience. The difference between someone who has done something a lot, and someone who has had advanced training, is often represented by the latter knowing a lot of techniques related to that skill.

A skill of '8' or above is normally only held by those who have studied or trained very hard. Special forces operatives may have 8 or more in their primary skill, and well known acamedics will also have this sort of level.

Types of Skills

Standard skills

Most skills are considered to be standard skills. Such skills can be learnt relatively easily, including being self taught. They can also be used by a character who has a skill of zero, though such an attempt fumbles on a natural one or two.

Talents

Talents are skills which are known by everyone from childhood onwards. They are treated just as standard skills, with the exception that all characters start with a skill level of two in all talents.

There are only eight talents, and are listed by default on the character sheet. Talents are sometimes marked with an asterix (*).

Knowledges

A knowledge is a special type of skill which cannot be attempted unless the character has a skill level of at least one. They can rarely be self taught, requiring a teacher or study aid (such as a book) to learn from.

Languages

Language skills are treated on a scale from one to four, and are not normally 'rolled' like other skills. Instead, the level of skill gives a guide to how much of a conversation a character can understand.

Level one

The character can recognise the language and knows a few words, but cannot put sentences together.

Level two

The character can understand and form basic sentences. The character can probably get by in the market or in an inn.

Level three

The character has a good grasp of the language and can hold a decent conversation. They will obviously still be a foreigner however, and many unusual words will be beyond their understanding.

Level four

The character is fluent in the language. If they are a foreigner, then they may still have an accent, but they will not have any problems communicating.

Level five and above

If the character is a non-native speaker, then they can speak without an accent. This level and beyond gives detailed knowledge of different dialects and really obscure words, but is not of use in everyday conversation.

Skill Rules

Defaults

Some skills have a default - this will generally be one of the talents. If desired, the default can be used instead, but the result (after the die roll) is halved, plus the chance of fumbling is doubled.

A default skill may also restrict the type of tasks which are possible. For example, Trade defaults to Guile, but the latter can only be used to barter, and isn't much use if the character needs to know the real value of goods.

Pre-requisites

A few skills have pre-requisites. Before this skill can be purchased at level one, all pre-requisites must be met. A skill like Physics might have a pre-requisite of Mathematics-2 and Science-2 for example, which means both skills must be known at level 2 before buying physics.

Further, the main skill may never be more than double the level of any of the pre-requisites. A physicist would have to raise their Mathematics and Science to at least 3, before raising Physics to 6.

A character cannot put points into a skill if the next level of skill is not allowed.

Limited Skills

Under some genres, a skill may be limited by another skill. This concept is mostly limited to knowledge or science skills. When a skill is limited by another skill, the first skill may never be more than half the score of the second.

For example, during the Enlightenment, when Science was being discovered, the Science skill is limited by Natural Philosophy. If a character has a Natural Philosophy of 7, then their Science cannot be higher than 3 (since raising it any higher would make it greater than 3.5). Once the character's Natural Philosophy has been raised to 8, then they can begin to raise their Science to 4.

A character cannot put points into a skill if the next level of skill is not allowed.

Skill Techniques

A Technique is a specialisation of a skill, and may provide bonuses or allow some particular special action to be attempted. A skill may have several techniques associated with it, and some techniques can be used with more than one skill. In the latter case, the technique only needs to be purchased once - it can then be used with any skill which uses it, as long as the skill is of sufficient level.

A technique has a cost associated with it, which is the number of experience points which need to be spent to buy it. A level 6 technique costs 6 points to buy. The cost of the technique is also the minimum skill level that must be achieved before the technique can be purchased. If you do not have the required skill at a sufficient level, then the technique can't be bought.

Finally, a technique may have a prerequisite. These are the techniques which must be known before this technique can be learnt.

Some techniques will be based on a skill group rather than a skill. In this case the technique can be purchased when any skill in that group reaches the technique's level, but it can only be used with those skills of sufficient level.

Buying skills

All characters who are part of the Imperium start with the following skills for free at a score of 4:

Area lore (Imperium), Speak Galanglic.

Unless you are illiterate, you can automatically read and write any language you have a skill in. You may swap the Area lore (Imperium) for an Area lore of wherever you come from, or specialise in an individual sector (e.g., Area lore (Spinward Marches)) if you wish.

There are also eight Talents which all characters start with at a score of 2. These represent skills which everyone picks up during childhood, and include Awareness, Athletics, Brawl, Charm, Guile, Sleight, Stealth and Throw.

All other skills start at 0, and must be purchased. Increasing a skill by one level costs a number of points equal to the new level of the skill. So to raise a skill from 3 to 4 costs 4 points. To raise a skill from 0 to 4 costs 10 points (1 + 2 + 3 + 4).

Skill list

The following skills are commonly available, and are organised according to category. Some skills may be listed more than once.

Academic

Anthropology(K) - The study of Homonids.
Archaeology(K) - How to dig up ruins.
Area lore(K) - Knowledge about a given region.
Astronomy(K) - The study of the stars and planets.
Biology(K) (Science) - The science of biology.
Botany(K) (Biology)
Chemistry(K) (Science) - The science of chemistry.
Criminology(K) - The study of crime.
Cryptography(K) - Designing and using cyphers.
Ecology(K) (Botany, Zoology)
Economics(K) - Knowledge of financial matters.
First aid - Healing injuries and other ailments.
History(K) - Knowledge of the past.
Law(K) - Knowledge of the law.
Mathematics(K) - Geometry, aglebra etc.
Medicine(K) - Diagnosis and healing.
Paleontology(K) - The science of ancient life.
Physics(K) (Science) - The science of physics.
Politics(K) - Knowledge of politics.
Psychohistory(K) - Predicting groups of people.
Religion(K) - Knowledge about gods and cults.
Research (Any Academic skill) - Being able to find information.
Science(K) - Basic science, logic and reasoning.
Sophontology - The study of intelligent races.
Surgery (Medicine) - Performing complex surgery.
Teach - The ability to teach people.
Theology(K) (Religion) - Theoretical knowledge about religion.
Vetinary(K) (First aid) - Healing for animals.
Zoology(K) (Biology)

Business

Accountancy (Administration) - Managing finances.
Administration - Being able to manage people and paper.
Current affairs(K) - Current affairs.
Economics(K) - Knowledge of financial matters.
Law(K) - Knowledge of the law.
Marketing - Managing advertising campaigns and PR.
Politics(K) - Knowledge of politics.
Trade (Guile) - Bartering and other merchant skills.

Combat

Bow - Using all sorts of bows, except crossbows.
Brawl(*) - Punching, kicking, wrestling and dodging.
Chain weapon (Melee weapon) - Using chains, nunchuk or similar weapons.
Crossbow - Using crossbows.
Heavy weapons (Rifle) - Using heavy machine guns.
Melee - Using a melee weapon in combat.
Melee weapon (Brawl) - Using a sword, club or spear.
Pistol (Rifle) - Firing pistols, revolvers and SMGs.
Rifle (Pistol) - Firing rifles.
Tactics - Knowledge of combat tactics.
Throw(*) - Using thrown weapons, and catching things.

Craft

Architecture(K) - How to design buildings.
Cooking - Preparing meals.
Handicraft - Skill at various village crafts.
Scrounging - Finding and fixing scrap.

Criminal

Burglary - Breaking and entering.
Demolitions - Blowing things up efficiently.
Forgery - Forging credentials.
Gambling (Guile) - Skill at playing card and dice games.
Intimidation (Guile) - Scare someone into doing what you want.
Psionic Block - Protecting your mind from psionic attack.
Sleight(*) - Sleight of hand.
Stealth(*) - Hiding and moving quietly.
Streetwise (Guile) - Dealing with the criminal underworld.
Surveillance systems (Security systems) - Spying on people with electronic devices.
Torture - Making people talk.

Military

Combat engineering - Building things quickly.
Communication systems - Using radios and similar communications gear.
Demolitions - Blowing things up efficiently.
Gunnery - Firing large vehicle mounted guns.
Hypersledding - Safely using orbital re-entry vehicles.
Intelligence analysis - Analysing intelligence data.
Parachuting (Athletics) - Safely using parachutes.
Psionic Block - Protecting your mind from psionic attack.
Sensor systems - Using radar, sonar and other sensor systems.
Signal intelligence - Using sensor and communications equipment.
Spaceship gunnery (Spaceship systems, Gunnery) - Using spaceship weapons.
Strategy - Military strategy and logistics.
Surveillance systems (Security systems) - Spying on people with electronic devices.
Survival - Living in the wilderness.
Tactics - Knowledge of combat tactics.
Torture - Making people talk.

Sport

Bicycling (Athletics) - Being able to ride a bycle well.
Fencing - Fighting with light fencing weapons.
Gliding - Piloting an unpowered aircraft.
Hypersledding - Safely using orbital re-entry vehicles.
Parachuting (Athletics) - Safely using parachutes.
Skiing (Athletics) - Using skies.
Sport - Skill at a particular sport.

Starship

Jump navigation(K) - Plotting a course through jump space.
Orbital navigation(K) - Plotting courses in a system.
Spaceship gunnery (Spaceship systems, Gunnery) - Using spaceship weapons.
Spaceship piloting - Piloting a small space craft.
Spaceship systems - Operating a large spaceship.

Talents

Athletics(*) - Jumping, climbing and running.
Awareness(*) - General ability to notice things.
Brawl(*) - Punching, kicking, wrestling and dodging.
Charm(*) - Being nice to people.
Guile(*) - Using and recognising deceit.
Sleight(*) - Sleight of hand.
Stealth(*) - Hiding and moving quietly.
Throw(*) - Using thrown weapons, and catching things.

Technical

Communication systems - Using radios and similar communications gear.
Computer operation (Intelligence, Electronic operation) - The skill of using a computer.
Electrician (Electronics) - Fixing electrical things.
Electronics - Building electronic devices.
Engineering - The science of building things.
Machinest (Mechanics) - Building tools
Mechanics (Engineering) - Fixing machines.
Security systems - Using and evading security.
Sensor systems - Using radar, sonar and other sensor systems.
Signal intelligence - Using sensor and communications equipment.
Surveillance systems (Security systems) - Spying on people with electronic devices.

Vehicle

Boating - Handling small watercraft.
Drive - Driving simple ground vehicles.
Gliding - Piloting an unpowered aircraft.
Heavy weapons (Rifle) - Using heavy machine guns.
Helicopter - Piloting a helicopter.
Hypersledding - Safely using orbital re-entry vehicles.
Pilot - Piloting a powered aircraft.
RPV operation - Piloting a small RPV.
Spaceship piloting - Piloting a small space craft.

Skill descriptions