Mountebanks
With the mounting decadance of the
Cantonment, Mountebanks (also known as “Grifters”) are a
shockingly common career choice for the quick tongued and amoral.
Though some enjoy only moderately-shady employment by the various factions,
circles, cults, and collectives as “fixers” and spies, most
Mountebanks ply their hustles as a life on the make throughout the
confederation.
Mountebanks have no ranks and receive
two skills per term.
| Enlistment | 7+ |
| DM+1 if | Dex 7+ |
| DM+2 if | Intel 8+ |
| Survival | 6+ |
| DM+2 | if Intel 7+ |
| Reenlist | 4+ |
Aquired Skills Table
Personal Development
| 1 | +1 Endur |
| 2 | +1 Dex |
| 3 | +1 Intel |
| 4 | Gambling |
| 5 | Blade Cbt. |
| 6 | Bribery |
Service Skills
| 1 | Forgery |
| 2 | Leader |
| 3 | Streetwise |
| 4 | Gun Cbt. |
| 5 | Bribery |
| 6 | Jack-o-T |
Advanced Education
| 1 | Streetwise |
| 2 | Leader |
| 3 | Electronic |
| 4 | Admin |
| 5 | Computer |
| 6 | Forgery |
Advanced Education (Educ 8+)
| 1 | Medical |
| 2 | Computer |
| 3 | Electronic |
| 4 | Admin |
| 5 | Pilot |
| 6 | Jack-o-T |
Mustering Out
Material Benefits
| 1 | Low Psg |
| 2 | +1 Intel |
| 3 | +1 Educ |
| 4 | Gun |
| 5 | Blade |
| 6 | High Psg |
Cash Allowances
| 1 | 2000 |
| 2 | 5000 |
| 3 | 10000 |
| 4 | 20000 |
| 5 | 20000 |
| 6 | 50000 |
| 7 | 100000 |
Blaster Pistol (TL: 11)
Base Weight: 1000
Length 350
Ammo 20
Ammo Cost 200
Base Price 6000
Damage 4D
Same modifiers and Dex requirements as Laser Carbine
Why didn't Trav include blasters and light sabres? (yeah I know why, but these seemed like appalling deficiencies to my 11 year old self). I had to get them, and powered armour, from Simbalist, Ratner & MacGregor, and they came packaged with a ton of other stuff that wound up destroying my little sf game altogether.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good job I'm on a nonsensical Bollysciencefantasy kick right now or I'd have to start writing my own hardish-sf Chris Foss ruleset.
Every relevant passage about design choices on personal weapons has this somewhat defensive, somewhat DIY embracing waffling answer that seems a lot like the tone of AD&D. Sure you can and should add in any old weapon you want, but you are likely ruining the game if it's "unscientific".
DeleteIn Book 0 (which incidentally has to be my all-time favorite RPG introduction) there's a bunch of snark about anti-matter weapons going on and on about how much energy it would take to contain them. This in a game where a starship can bend the whole fabric of time and space and "jump" parsecs in a week. How much energy would that take?
CT was written before Star Wars. We added Blasters, they were just like Lasers but Reflec had no effect (or 1/2 effect depending on the campaign). Reflective armor (and ablative to some extent) made Lasers a horrible weapon.
ReplyDeleteAgree, you definitely get the feel that the laser carbine and rifle were only included very grudgingly.
DeleteOne reason I liked Book 4: Mercenary so much was that you (finally)got a range of future tech weapons and armor. Electromagnetic gauss gun? Fusion rifle? Yes please.