Traveller-style chargen system for D&D?

JongWK · October 15, 2007, 09:39:27 AM

I'm curious. Is there anything like Traveller's system, but for standard D&D?

flyingmice · October 15, 2007, 09:46:46 AM

I made one once, before I wrote StarCluster. I tossed it, however, about seven or eight years ago, with the rest of my D&D notes.

-clash

beeber · October 15, 2007, 09:48:03 AM

how would you do it? instead of terms, use levels? or would you use skills, and if one skill hit (or bonus, like BAB or THAC0) a certain limit, the character gains a level?

flyingmice · October 15, 2007, 09:52:09 AM

Quote from: beeberhow would you do it? instead of terms, use levels? or would you use skills, and if one skill hit (or bonus, like BAB or THAC0) a certain limit, the character gains a level?

I dropped levels - and most aspects of classes - earlier.

-clash

estar · October 15, 2007, 09:56:46 AM

You may want to look at Traveller d20. The basic gist is that you earn xp that you can apply to your character prior to start of game. There are other benefits as well. The end result is that Traveller20 character rarely start at 1st level more typically between 3rd and 5th.

flyingmice · October 15, 2007, 09:59:39 AM

Quote from: estarYou may want to look at Traveller d20. The basic gist is that you earn xp that you can apply to your character prior to start of game. There are other benefits as well. The end result is that Traveller20 character rarely start at 1st level more typically between 3rd and 5th.

Good advice! That's a better way to approach it than mine. By the time I was done with it, it didn't look a heck of a lot like AD&D 2E anymore...

-clash

Settembrini · October 16, 2007, 03:05:14 AM

Spirit of Traveller Chargen + AD&D gameplay =

roll attributes with three dice, in the order you roll them. No switching. Maybe use subtables from stuff like Gazetteers to roll up spells, homeland, name, haircolour, social status etc.

Outer Form of Traveller CharGen + D20 gameplay =

T20

Abyssal Maw · October 16, 2007, 07:02:43 AM

Well, on another tack-- there was Central Casting's Heroes of Legend in the 1990s. You started out rolling what society you came from, etc.

Xanther · October 16, 2007, 12:59:02 PM

You might find this thread helpful:
http://travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=11081

RPGPundit · October 16, 2007, 01:03:11 PM

Quote from: Abyssal MawWell, on another tack-- there was Central Casting's Heroes of Legend in the 1990s. You started out rolling what society you came from, etc.

Yeah, I was thinking that too; there's a lot of systems for D&D where you can flesh out all kinds of random stuff about where you came from, but nothing really for designing a fleshed out higher-than-1st-level character with a "career path". This is pretty well because D&D assumes that characters start at 1st level; but such a system could be really helpful in fact, because it might help avoid the "ideal from-scratch 10th level paragon" syndrome, where if you try to start out a character at a higher level you create him optimized already for 10th level, creating a 10th level character that would never have been done the same way had you been playing him since 1st level.

RPGPundit

Tyberious Funk · October 16, 2007, 09:20:19 PM

On a slightly different tack, rather than just D&D, what about a fantasy RPG that uses a Traveller-style chargen? Are there any?

flyingmice · October 16, 2007, 10:15:55 PM

Quote from: Tyberious FunkOn a slightly different tack, rather than just D&D, what about a fantasy RPG that uses a Traveller-style chargen? Are there any?

The Book of Jalan, though whether it is SF or Fantasy depends on how you run/play it.