7 Jul 2014

Fun With Traveller - Cuddy's Sister Sonya

It's been a while since the last Traveller character was created here.  This time around, to add a bit of depth to the potential serial, I'll create Cuddy's little sister, Sonya.  While Cuddy joined the Imperial Army, Sonya joined (or wanted to join, too early to really determine that right now) the corporation that owns their homeworld, Shirene.  A bit of research into the Spinward Marches leads to The Spinward Marches Campaign release for Classic Traveller, where Al Morai is named as the corporate owner.  Al Morai operates within the Spinward Marches, starting as a transport firm and expanding.  Shirene is the home of one of Al Morai's ship maintenance facilities, the other being at Mora.

With Sonya about to join a corporation, it's time to check potential careers.  From the core rules from Mongoose, Agent (Corporate), Citizen (Corporate and Worker), and Merchant (Merchant Marine and Broker) are all possibilities.  There are more options in Book 7: Merchant Prince; Broker (Corporate), Marketer (General Commerce), and Merchant Marine (all three sub-careers).  Most of the careers require an Intelligence check to join and Education for either survival or advancement.  So, while Cuddy was more physical, Sonya needs to focus on the mental characteristics.  I'll set her Social Standing to be the same as Cuddy's since they're family.  The rest of the characters will be rolled and arranged.  The dice come out as 9, 8, 5, 4, and 11.

Name: Sonya Mallory
Species: Human, Imperial
Homeworld: Shirene/Lunion (B984510-B, Ag, Ni, Ga)

Characteristics
  Str 4/-1
  Dex 5/-1
  End 8/+0
  Int 11/+1
  Edu 9/+1
  Soc 7/+0
Sonya gets four background skills thanks to her Education.  Being from Shirene, she gets Animals 0 thanks to the planet being both Agricultural and a Garden world.  The rest she chooses are Art 0, Carouse 0, and Computers 0.  Shirene doesn't qualify as a High Tech world, the tech level is one too low, but computers are used there.

Next step, Sonya is age 18 and ready start her career as a corporate cog.  Well, a cog with ambition.  Brokers can make money, lots of money, just by getting a cut of the sales, and Sonya can see herself going freelance once she retires from Al Morai.  Sonya needs to make an Int check of 6 or higher; her roll is 10, plus 1 for her Int modifier, meaning she's now a Corporate Broker.  Initial training gets Sonya the service skills at level 0.  She takes her first skill roll on the Specialist: Corporate table and gets Steward.  Apparently, she filled in some time on an Al Morai ship helping out with the passengers.

Survival requires an Education roll of 5 or higher; Sonya's roll is 4, plus 1 from her Edu to get 5 exactly.  Not a Mishap, but close.  Next, she rolls on the Events table, the dice come up on 26, a Life Event.  The roll on the Life Event table is a 5, Improved Relationship, like a marriage.  Sonya's still young, so marriage is too soon, but a deeper long-term relationship works here.  Advancement comes next.  Sonya needs to roll 7 or higher on an Int check.  Her roll is 6 plus 1 from her Int to squeak by.  Maybe that passenger she met that she's spending too much time with is interfering with her career?  She gets promoted to Advisor and gets Broker 1 as a result.  She also gets a skill roll.  Sonya rolls on the Advance Education table and receives Comms.

The second term, Sonya continues her career with Al Morai, now a little better as a broker.  Her first skill roll is again on the Corporate table; she receives Persuade this time.  Her survival roll is 7, more than enough before adding her Edu modifier.  The event roll is 66; Sonya was profited as the lead broker on the biggest account and gets an automatic promotion.  She still gets her advancement roll and gets 9, again more than needed before her Int modifier.  Sonya gets another skill roll, this time taken on the Personal Development table.  She receives +1 Influence, a new stat from Merchant Prince.  Influence acts as a modifier when buying and selling, and makes perfect sense after her amazing work as lead broker.

The third term, Sonya is happy with Al Morai and stays with the firm.  First skill roll on the Corporate table gets another level of Persuade.  A total of 11 on Survival means Sonya has no problems succeeding in the office.  The event roll comes up as 65, one of Sonya's deals leads to a windfall for Al Morai.  Given the choice between +4 to her next advancement roll or cash, Sonya takes the cash, Cr18 000.  The promotion roll totals 11, so the +4 wasn't needed.  As an Experienced Broker, Sonya gets Streetwise 1.  The skill roll from the successful advancement is taken the Corporate table; Sonya gets another +1 Influence.

Finally, the fourth term, since Sonya is the younger sister and Cuddy went for five.  The first skill roll is taken on the Personal Development table, resulting in a level in Gun Combat.  I'll hold off on the specialization until after the event roll, but I'm leaning towards either slug or energy pistol.  The survival roll totals 9, plenty to survive the term.  For the event, Sonya gets 62; an elite league of financiers try to lure her away from Al Morai.  She has a choice, a +2 to become a Royal Trader (Financier) if she leaves or a +4 to her advancement roll if she remains.  Sonya opts to remain at Al Morai; she has invested several good years working her way up and can see herself heading the Markets Division someday.  With a total of +5 to her die roll to advance, Sonya should get her promotion, but a natural 2 still means having to leave the careers.  Sonya's total for the advancement roll is 9, another promotion, granting her another +1 to her Influence.  First, Sonya opts for energy pistol for her Gun Combat specialization.  Second, she rolls on the Corporate table for her bonus skill, getting Comms.

Since Sonya has turned 34, she's subject to an aging roll.  As long as she rolls 1 or higher on two dice minus her terms so far, she has nothing to worry about.  The final total is 6, so no worries.  At this point, her creation is over.  She's not ready to muster out.  But, for fun, let's see what she'd wind up with.  She gets four mustering out rolls from terms served, plus two more from her rank, with no modifiers on the rolls.  The first two rolls are taken on the cash table, the results being a total of Cr30,000.  The remaining rolls are on the Other Benefits table, getting two ship shares, +1 to her Int, and an assistant, which Sonya designates as her secretary.

Cuddy's little sister is moving up in Al Morai, already an Experienced Broker despite not having a high skill in it.  Her powers of persuasion makes up for it, and she can help out on a starship as needed.

Final character sheet:
Name: Sonya Mallory
Age:
Species: Human, Imperial
Homeworld: Shirene/Lunion (B984510-B, Ag, Ni, Ga)
Rank: Experienced Broker (4)

Characteristics
  Str 4/-1
  Dex 5/-1
  End 8/+0
  Int 12/+2
  Edu 9/+1
  Soc 7/+0

Skills
  Admin 0
  Animals 0
  Art 0
  Broker 1
  Carouse 0
  Comms 2
  Computers 0
  Gun Combat 0
    Energy Pistol 1
  Investigate 0
  Persuade 2
  Social Science 0
  Steward 1
  Streetwise 1

Influence +3

Career - Broker, Corporate
Term 1: Life Event - Improved relationship.  Promoted
Term 2: Profited as lead broker, promoted automatically.
Term 3: Deal makes Al Morai a great deal of money.  Promoted.
Term 4: League of elite finaciers tries to lure Sonya away, but she remains loyal to Al Morai.  Promoted.

Cr 48 000

Ship Shares: 2
Secretary
If you do wind up playing her, let me know how it goes.

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