For 2025, I’m participating in the 2025 Character Creation Challenge. The idea is to create one RPG character per day for each day in January, for a total of 31 characters. You can find new characters as they're created here.
Character 6: Classic Traveller
If you know anything about the Traveller RPG, you probably know that characters can die during creation, and you possibly know that character creation is a lot of fun. It’s a mini game in its own right, and it has the added benefit of building a whole little backstory if you’re willing to pay attention and read between the lines a bit.
Process
For this character, I’ve got a pair of six-sided dice and a copy of the Classic Traveller Facsimile Edition (free right here).
The Character: Lucy Phillips
Traveller characters can be expressed very simply, using the in-game stat block the game calls the universal personality profile (UPP). Here’s Lucy:
Lucy Phillips: 8A6AD5, Medical-2, Vehicle (Helicopter)-1, Credits: 30,000
Lucy’s Career
The UPP, while simple, isn’t a lot of fun for a blog post. Here’s a detailed summary of creating Lucy Phillips.
Lucy Phillips begins as an eager 18-year-old who dreams of joining the Marines. She gets a +1 to her Enlistment roll due to her high Intelligence. I roll and get a total of 8 (7+1), missing by just one point. Lucy just barely misses the cut for the Corps. Since she failed, she has to submit to the draft.
I roll a 4 on the draft, meaning Lucy is drafted to the Scouts. Traveller is famous for the fact that characters can die during character creation, and this next part is where that can happen. To survive her term with the Scouts, Lucy needs to roll 7+ on 2d6. I roll an 8, so she survives. It’s close to a fail, so we can assume that Lucy sees some danger during her enlistment.
Normally, since she was drafted, Lucy couldn’t receive a commission, so we wouldn’t check for that. Further, there is no commission possible in the Scouts, so it’s a moot point either way.
Lucy gains training and skills during her time in service. Since she’s in the Scouts, she gets two skills. She would anyway, as it’s her initial enlistment, but I mention it because it’s a Scouts benefit that’s going to come into play in subsequent enlistments. Anyway, we roll on the Personal Development chart and get a 4, for +1 Strength. Being in the Scouts beefed Lucy up a bit. Lucy has a very high Education stat, which allows her to roll on the Advanced Education table. We definitely want to take advantage of that. Rolling, we get a Medical skill advancement. Although she didn’t make the cut for the Marines, Lucy made the best of her time in the Scouts. They recognized her intelligence and education and trained her as a medic.
Finally, Lucy is required to make a reenlist roll for the Scouts at the end of her term. She needs a 3+, but on a 12+ she has to stay in. I roll a 7 and succeed.
Lucy is now finished with her first enlistment. She is 22 years old and must decide to muster out or continue in her career. At this point, she wouldn’t get many benefits from mustering out, so let’s stay in the service (dangerous as it is).
Before we continue, let’s make sure Lucy survives her second enlistment. Again, she needs a 7+ and rolls…a 12. She not only survives this enlistment, she thrives.
There’s never any chance of commission in the Scouts (the Scouts suck, what can I say?), so we don’t check that. We do, however, get two advancements (as I mentioned above). This time, I decide to roll on the Service Skills table. I get a 1, which is the Vehicle skill. We have to choose a specific vehicle, so let’s say Helicopter.
Our second roll is once again on the Advanced Education table. Another result of 1 gives us the Medical skill again. Lucy is now a trained helicopter pilot with a higher level of medic training. When things go pear-shaped, Lucy is the one the Scouts send in to medivac the wounded to safety.
At this point, because it’s so dangerous in the Scouts, I think it’s time to muster out. But first, we still have to make that enlistment roll. If we get a 12, Lucy has to stay in. I roll and get…7. We’re good to go.
Mustering Out
Lucy doesn’t get much for her time in the Scouts, due to the lack of advancement possibilities. Still, she gets the minimum of 1 roll per enlistment period, or 2 rolls.
For the first roll, I check the Benefits table and get a 3, for +2 Education. This puts her Education at 13.
For the second roll, I decided to roll on the Cash Table. I get a 4, for 30,000 credits.
And that’s it. Lucy Phillips is 26, fresh out of the Scouts, and ready for her post-military Traveller career.
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