31 Days of Character Creation #7 – Traveller 2022 Edition

I have heard about the complexity of the Traveller character creation system for years, particularly that your character can die as you are rolling up their lifepath. After going through it, it is quite an experience. I really love systems where character creation is a game unto itself, like Heinrich’s Call of Cthluhu Guide to Character Creation. I had zero idea of who my character would be going into this, but by the end I really understood her much better.

Traveller is considered the science fiction equivalent of Dungeons & Dragons. It is much more on the crunchy side than I typically play with, but you can feel how that play experience would be rewarding and immersive. Here’s the description of the game from its official website:

Welcome to the Far Future.

The latest edition of Traveller is based on the original classic but tweaked, finessed and updated for the 21st Century! Every Traveller book is now printed in full colour and all core rulebooks and supplements are gorgeous hardbacks, packed with everything you have come to expect from your favourite science-fiction RPG.

Traveller contains everything needed to play any science-fiction campaign, from desperate battles across the stars against evil empires, through free traders operating on both sides of the law, to mercenary companies desperate to find their next ticket or face bankruptcy – Traveller gives you the tools to explore the universe in a way that suits you.

(I decided to set this in my Megaverse from all my Starforged games)
And here’s my character, Araceli Farlander. She grew up on the dense industrial/urban world of Trone in the United Planetary Alliance. Despite not having a formal education and growing up in poverty, Farlander got access to reams of literature available on the Net. By the age of 18 she was well read in all the classics with Moby Dick being one of her favorites.

At first, Farlander sought entry into Spiner University on Trone, but was rejected for not meeting enough of the requirements. Daydreams of sailing on the sea were still swirling in her mind led the young woman to joining the merchant marines for Star Command. As a crewman, she became close to 2nd Officer Tristan Mindar who was impressed with her literary knowledge and prowess climbing the stacks in the cargo holds.

Farlander became a Senior Crewman and entered a course to specialize in administration after encouragement from Mindar. She failed and became discouraged from pursuing academics for years. One area Farlander grew in was endurance, strengthening her ability to survive harsh climates and environs over her first two years in the merchant marines.

In her third term, Farlander was promoted to 4th Officer, but things took a bad two years later when a war broke out along the UPA and Renkat Empire border. All trade routes in this region were destroyed and Mindar was killed during a Renkat attack on the ship. Farlander walked away a little smarter and Cr6000 in her pocket. At 30, she needed a new direction and with a war brewing she had some ideas.

Farlander enlisted as a Scout, starting out as a Courier for Star Command. It was through this job that she befriended, Stavik. He is a Sulvu lawkeeper she partnered with during a dangerous expedition behind enemies lines to deliver coordinates to a Renkat weapons depot to an embedded Star Command squad. They worked well together which paid off when Farlander started to feel the effects of aging finally getting to her. She quit after one year as a Courier and has decided to become a Traveller with Stavik, who has also going into private practice.

Click this link to see the character sheet in better detail.