RTT Career Notes

An analysis of the character creation rules in Mongoose's Traveller reveals the following guidelines:

Qualification/Enlistment

One gets automatic entry to the Drifters, or into the Nobility if one is a noble. Otherwise, you have to roll. The attribute and the target number depend on the following:

Str
None.

Dex
Illegal careers: if you can successfully run away from the cops after your first job, you're in. (Rogues.)

End
Careers with rigorous Basic Training. (Army, Marines.)

Int
Most careers.

Edu
Careers based on aptitude testing. (Citizens.)

Soc
Careers open only to the "right kind" of people. (Nobility)

Psi
Psionic careers only.

4+:
Careers with a reputation for taking anyone. (Merchants.)

5+:
Careers with low requirements. (Examples: Army, Scouts, Citizens.)
Careers that anyone with a little talent could try. (Entertainers.)

6+:
Careers with stringent entry requirements, both physical and mental. (Agents, Marines, Navy.)
Careers that require advanced or specialized training. (Scholars, Psions.)
Careers that are easy to get into, but hard to get past the training. (Rogues.)

10+:
Careers with very specialized requirements. (Nobility for characters that aren't nobles.)

Survival

The attribute and target number depend on the following:

Str
Careers that involve a lot of humping and fighting. (Infantry.)

Dex
Vehicle operators, and personnel on small ships. (Cavalry, Flight, Free Trader, Pirate, Scavenger.)

End
Tough guys (Marines, Law Enforcement, Barbarian.
Laborers (Army Support, Worker).
Careers that involve long hours in the middle of nowhere. (Field Researcher, Scouts, Wanderer.)

Int
Most careers.

Edu
Careers involving figures or words. (Broker, Journalist, Scientist.)
Careers where you use your degree or special training. (Physician, Adept.)
Careers where you do a lot of work by the book. (Merchant Spacer.)

Soc
Careers where pleasing your employers and avoiding scandal are the most important things. (Dilettante, Corporate Citizen, Wild Talent.)
Careers based around getting and holding attention. (Artist)

3+:
Careers where you don't have to do anything, and get paid for it. (Dilettante.)

4+:
Safe office or laboratory occupations.
Routine physical labor.

5+:
Reasonably risky (either physically or socially) or stressful, but not outright dangerous.

6+:
Careers where you actively go into harm's way. (Most soldiers, agents, etc.)
Deep space occupations.
Exploration or espionage. (Also includes Artist, for artistic exploration.)
"Rat race" careers, due to the combination of sheer boredom and social competition. (Corporate Citizen.)

7+:
Actively looking for trouble. (Journalist.)
Heavy combat troops. (Cavalry, Ground Assault.)
Living on the fringes of civilization. (Colonist, Drifters.)

8+:
(Hypothetical) Obviously suicidal occupations.

Mishaps

Dangerous careers get both the "Severely Injured" and "Injured" results. Safe careers only have a single "Injured" result.

• x) Severely injured. (This is the same as a result of 2 on the Injury table.) Alternatively, roll twice on the Injury table (page 37) and take the lower result.
• y) Injured. Roll on the Injury table (page 37).

Scholars are unique: half of the Mishaps don't require you to leave the career.

Advancement/Promotion

The target number is inversely proportional to the Survival number:

• Survival 3 or 4 = Advancement 8
• Survival 5 = Advancement 7
• Survival 6 = Advancement 6
• Survival 7 or 8 = Advancement 5

Exception #1: Nobility have higher Advancement numbers, reflecting the lack of positions to advance to (as you're already
on top of the heap).

Exception #2: Scouts have lower Advancement numbers, reflecting their vast range of experience (as you get extra skills).

The attribute depends on the following:

Str
Careers in which you hit things for a living. (Barbarian, Enforcer.)

Dex
Careers that greatly reward speed and agility. (Performer, Thief.)

End
Careers where simple survival is the measure of success. (Colonist, Scavenger.)

Int
Most careers.

Edu
Careers that prefer one to do things by the book. (most military careers, Administrator, Courier.)
Careers based upon specialized knowledge. (Physician, Workers in a trade.)
Careers where advancement is based upon how well you write the report. (Explorer.)

Soc
Careers in which one closely deals with the upper classes. (Diplomat.)

Ranks

Only military and other heirarchical careers have ranks at every level. Loosely organized or skills-based careers tend to have ranks at every other level (1 and 3; 2 and 4; or 1, 3, and 5), not all of which are named.

In general, the first or second, and the or next-to-last ranks will have skills, but not every one between will.

Skills

Remember, all members of the career get the Service Skills at default level, except for Citizens and Drifters, who get their Specialty Skills instead. The Personal Development table is mostly (but not always entirely) attribute bonuses.

Advanced Education usually requires Edu 8+.

Careers without much advanced career training, or that are already operating in an advanced field, use Edu 10+ instead. (Citizens, Entertainers, Rogues, Scholars.)

Drifters don't have Advanced Education at all.

No one receives as Basic Training the skills Explosives, Flyer, Gambling, Jack of All Trades, Language, Navigation, Remote Operations, or Sensors.

Events

All careers have:

• 2) Disaster! Roll on the Mishap table, but you are not ejected from this career.
• 7) Life Event. Roll on the Life Events table (page 34).
• 12) [Whatever explanation.] You are automatically promoted.

Common results are:

Advanced Training. Throw Education 8+ to increase any one skill you already have by one level. Alternatively, throw Education 10+ to increase any one skill by one level. Most careers have this; loosely-organized careers may not (Entertainers, Nobility, Rogues, Scouts).

Adventure. These vary widely, but are usually a skill roll, or a choice between outcomes, or other special rules. All careers have at least one of these, and most have two; adventurous careers like Rogues and Scouts get three or four. Drifters, Merchants, and Rogues all have at least one risk vs. reward gamble, where you can gamble for Benefit rolls.

Contacts. Gain a single Contact outside your normal circles, or 1d3 Contacts within your usual circles. Appears in highly social careers (Agents, Entertainers, Merchants, Psions.)

Decorated. Gain a +2 DM on your next Advancement check. Most organized or hierarchical careers have this, while loosely-organized careers (Drifters, Entertainers, Merchants, Psions, Rogues, Scouts) do not.

Patron. Either gain X skill at level 1, or get a +4 DM on your next Advancement check due to your Patron's help. Sometimes, you may also take the Patron as an Ally; sometimes, the DM is only +2. All careers have this.

Rewarded. Gain a +1 DM to one Benefit roll. All careers except the Marines have this; the Marines aren't in it for the rewards.

Special Assignment. Gain one of four skills at level 1, or gain one level in one of the four skills. Most careers have two of these. Army, Marines, and Nobility have three; Agents, Drifters, and Psions only have one.

Unusual Event. Roll for an Unusual Event, as on the Life Events table (page 34). This only occurs to certain odd careers (Drifters, Entertainers), to help keep them odd.

And there are a few unique events: Rogues may be Drafted; Psions may gain a Rival or Psi Strength.

Benefits

Cash benefits run from none to Cr200,000.

Averages:
Poverty-level careers average less than Cr8,000 per roll. (Drifters, Psions.)

Working-class careers run from Cr10,000 to Cr20,000 per roll. (Agents, Army, Marines, Merchants, Navy.)

Middle-class careers average about Cr25,000 to Cr40,000 per roll. (Citizen, Entertainer, Scholar.)

Daring and dangerous careers average about Cr35,000 to Cr40,000 per roll. (Rogues, Scouts.)

Upper-class careers average about Cr75,000 per roll. (Nobles.)

Minimums:
The usual minimum is from Cr1,000 to Cr5,000.

Drifters, Entertainers, and Rogues are gambles: You might not get any money from a Benefits roll.

Nobles and Scouts are a sure thing: You never get less than working-class pay.

Maximums:
Most careers have an upper bound of Cr40,000 to Cr50,000.

Careers with a chance of comfortable living have an upper bound of Cr80,000 to Cr100,000. (Citizens, Entertainers, Rogues, Scholars.)

Nobles can get the maximum of Cr200,000.

Range:
Scouts have the most stable income, always Cr20,000 to Cr50,000. Citizens have the widest range, from Cr1,000 up to Cr100,000.

Other Benefits:
As to other benefits, the possibilities vary widely, but most have +1 Int, +1 Edu, +1 Contact, and some kind of Ship Shares.

TAS Memberships only occur for Citizens (presumably megacorporate employees), Marines, Navy, Nobility, and Psions. But just about everyone gets Ship Shares; where you'd use a TAS membership in earlier versions of Traveller, use Ship Shares instead.