Frunobulax "Frux", Wizard -- HOW character

Frux started as a hireling of Sir Trevor of Cumbria, while he was questing for the Grail. After many adventures and several close calls, he decided to join the quest in ernest.

(Frux was converted from a TFT version here.)

ST: 10

DX: 11

IQ: 11

EN: 10

Possessions:

Dagger

Wizard's Staff: 5 EN

Robes (-1 AR, -1 DX)

Spells:

Reveal Magic
Lesser Fire

Shock Shield

Reverse Missiles

Summon Bear/2
Detect Enemies
Trip
Assist

Translation:
I had to trim back his stats by 4 points, since Frux was experienced, and his spell list is shorter as well. Two spells (Ward and Staff) doesn't show up in the HOW book, so they were cut. I used the Wizard's Staff from Magi Carta to replace Staff spell. Since Frux was a 36 point character in TFT, I decided to add 4 spell levels.

Sir Trevor of Cumbria, Knight -- TFT/GrailQuest conversion to HOW

Sir Trevor was called to Camelot by a mysterious woman, dressed in red. The knight-errant, out in the world to prove his mettle, came upon a damsel in distress -- she was being accosted by a group of bandits. Sir Trevor rescued her, and she told him to go to Camelot for his destiny lay there. Then she dissipated into mist before his eyes. That night he had a dream, or perhaps a vision, of the Grail. The next morning he set out for Camelot.

After meeting the other knights, and being allowed to join the Round Table, Sir Trevor set out to find the Grail. This is Sir Trevor at the end of his Grail Quest, with the equipment he acquired over the adventures.

Sir Trevor of Cumbria

Knight of the Round Table

ST: 11 / 13

DX: 13 / 11

IQ: 10

EN: 10

Skills:

Swords/3

Shield/1

Crossbow/2

Riding/1

Alertness/2

Charm/2

Tactics/2

Equipment:

Fine broadsword (+1 DX)

Fine dagger (+1 DX)

Fine large shield (+2 AR, -0 DX)

Magic crossbow (+3 DX)

Fine Chainmail (+4 AR, -2 DX)

Upper-class clothing, 2 suits

Magic amulet (+2 ST, +2 AR)

Pouch ($53)

5 torches

Warhorse

Saddle, bridle

Saddle bags

Bedroll

Blankets

7 days rations

2 wineskins

lantern

6 oil flasks

For a doughty knight, I gave Sir Trevor an extra 2 points for attributes. All of his TFT attributes were reduced to fit into the points available. I removed Charm and Courtly Graces, but I want to revisit that.

Squire Halsten, Squire -- HOW character

Squire Halsten is translated from TFT Grail Quest here.

Halsten was a young farm hand in a village until Sir Trevor came to town. He had learn a little swordplay from a guard hired by the local inn. He also knew his way around horses. Trevor saw potential in the boy and took him on as his squire.

This character has been redesigned as if he was a starting character, not the experienced character depicted on the TFT page.

ST: 10
DX: 13 / 11
IQ: 9
EN: 10

Skills:

Swords
Shield
Riding
Animal Handling
Athletics

Equipment:

Sabre

Leather

Design notes: 

The original Halsten also had Physicker and was ST 11, DX 12, IQ 11. I shifted stats around to give some points to EN. Running was changed to Athletics. Literacy is assumed for Common. The equipment was reduced to what he can afford starting out. So this version is Halsten right as Sir Trevor found him.

Merchant character -- back to Traveller

Here is another character for Traveller. A merchant with a free trader.

Captain Horatio Belanga

5-term Merchant

STR: 7

DEX: 8

END: B

INT: C

EDU: 9

SOC: 3

Auto pistol-1

Blade-2

Bribery-2

Gunnery-1

Navigation-2

Pilot-2

Streetwise-1

Cr 7000

Auto pistol

Free Trader

Pension: Cr 4000/yr

Captain Harry, as he likes to be called, was very successful in the merchants. He rose to captain in 5 terms, and mustered out with a Free Trader. His moral ambiguity lets him take shady jobs, sometimes smuggling items or carrying sketchy passengers trying to avoid the law. His ships has some custom modifications that trim 4 tons of cargo for 4 tons of smuggling holds.

Tolin the Mage: Heroes and Other Worlds character

I took a short break from Traveller to make a Heroes and Other Worlds character.

I present to you Tolin the Mage.

Tolin the Mage

ST 9
IQ 12
DX 11 (9)
EN 10

MV 5

Fireball
Invisibility
Reverse Missiles
Summon Wolf
Lock/Knock
Light
Lesser Illusion
Healing Touch
Silent Movement

Common
Sorcerer's Tongue

Tolin is an adventurer. He is experienced (10 skills rather than 5).

Modified Far Trader

Another Book 2 redesign of a classic ship, this time the Far Trader from Supplement 7: Traders and Gunboats. My version of the Book 2 starship construction rules uses the Book 5 power plant fuel consumption rules (i.e. power plant fuel = 0.01MPn, where M is the hull size and Pn is the power plant number).

Far Trader

200-ton hull-streamlined, Jump-2, Maneuver-1, Power plant-2, fuel scoops, 44 tons of fuel tankage, bridge, computer model 1-bis, 2 hardpoints, 2 double turrets (no weapons installed), 10 staterooms, 4 low berths, 3 emergency low berths, air/raft, 63 tons of cargo space. 4 crew. MCr 54.27. (including standard design discount).

Modified Scout/Courier (Type S)

So, one of my house rules is that the Book 2 ship design system uses the Book 5 fuel requirements for power plants, namely Power plant fuel = 0.01MPn, where M is the hull size of the ship and Pn the the power plant number. I figure if the Book 2 rules are for "off-the-shelf" ships, the fuel consumption would be the same as for custom ships.

So here I present my updated standard Scout/Courier (Type S), using these house rules.

Scout/Courier (Type S)

TL-9, 100-ton hull-streamlined, Jump-2, Manuever-2, Power plant-2, fuel scoops, 24 tons of fuel tankage, 8 week operating range, bridge, computer model 1-bis, 1 hardpoint, 1 double turret, 4 staterooms, 1 emergency low berth (holds 4), Air/raft, and 18 tons of cargo. MCr 29.52 (with standard design discount).

The extra space was allocated to cargo and an emergency low berth for up to four people.

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What do you think?

Escape Pods for Classic Traveller

I recently reread The Traveller Book, rolled a character, rolled up his home world, started on a subsector, and modified the starship rules slightly. I changed the fuel consumption of power plants to match the rules in Book 5: High Guard. In the process, I created a new starship component. The escape pod was a sci-fi trope long before Star Wars came out.

Escape Pods

Escape pods are a safety component of many commercial starships, as well as other spacecraft. In the case of a critical emergency, passengers and crew can use an escape pod to evacuate the ship -- think of lifeboats on the Titanic. The escape pod has basic propulsion, flight controls, streamlining, a distress beacon, and life support. If it is close enough to a habitable planet (within 30 diameters), the pod will automatically land on the surface using autopilot. If not close to a planet, the auto-pilot program will move the pod a safe distance from the mother ship and then follow on a parallel course.

Escape pods come in two types: standard and low berth. The standard escape pod holds up to two passengers on acceleration couches with life support for two weeks. The low berth model holds up to four passengers in an emergency low berth indefinitely. A survival kit is stored on-board for each passenger.

Escape pods take up 1.5 tons each and cost Cr 500,000 for the standard model, and MCr 1.5 for the low berth model.

Upon re-entry, throw 5+ for the pod and the passengers to survive the landing. DMs: Attending ship's boat pilot of expertise 2 or better: +2. If using a low berth model, roll again to survive low passage.

Survival Kit: Filter/respirator, 4 liters water, food for 30 days, 30 cold-light sticks, manual torch, LR commlink/beacon, manual generator, 4 signal flares, survival rifle, 500 rounds ammo, tarp, cord (300 m), rope (50 m), grappling hook, 24 climbing spikes & hammer, machete, binoculars, sheltersuit and heat pump, water purification filters and pills, raft, compass, fishhooks and line, waterproof matches (5+ roll for success), and survival manual packed in a durable synth-canvas carrying case (50 x 40 x 15 cm.). Total kit weight is 23 kg. (Modified from Double Adventure 4: Marooned/Marooned Alone.)

Adventure Seed: On entering a system, the characters pick up a distress signal. Homing in on it, they find a low berth escape pod drifting through the system. Throw 3D to see how many years the pod has been drifting. For each 6 rolled, add another die to the total.

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How's that look?