It seems to me, the trick to doing a traveller d20 conversion justice is to
add a step after initial character generation. Every roles up a 1st
character, using the traveller races, and the traveller occupations as
classes, just as in any d20 system game.
Then, introduce an optional step, after char-gen is complete, where the
player may choose to participate in a traveller type career simulation,
where levels, skills, feats, money and gear may be aqcuired, at the cost of
added aging and possible loss of rank or status, and possible permanent
wounds or even death. The fine tuning of such a system might be a bit
tricky, but could easily give a d20 game the traveller feel while, afaik,
not violating the d20 license, because you wouldn't be discussing how to
_create_ a character, but merely an optional system for advancing the
character once it is created.
>From: "Martin L. Shoemaker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
><< Race, Class, Feats & Skills would all be easy. That isn't the problem.
>The
>character generation system for Traveller is one of its most distinctive
>features. To do a conversion justice, you'd need to find a way to
>transport
>that feel to d20, which is hard under a license which prohibits one from
>describing the process of creating characters. >>
>
>...
>
><< A straight terms-for-levels conversion would have lots of unwanted side
>effects, but it is a good place to start experimenting. I suspect that a
>good conversion would end up redefining how levels improve characters and
>change the effects of advancement.
>
>The deeper problem is that the setting is only half the game. When I ran
>Traveller games oh so long ago, I always made notes about the players'
>character generation process Every award, promotion, and skill was
>accompanied by a note about what the character was doing to earn those
>details. The whole thing combined to give every character a distinctive
>feel, with lots of roleplaying potential. Then I used those notes to makes
>hooks for adventures. It's setting certainly deep enough for a rich
>campaign, but no more so than those of Herbert, Roddenberry, Lucas or
>Niven.
>Lose the chargen process and Traveller becomes just another sci-fi game. >>
>
>I think you could do a pretty good job with it without violating the
>proposed D20 restrictions at all. Simply change the "skills acquired"
>portion of the character creation to "experience points acquired. "Let's
>see... OK, the result is that you survived your term, but had a nasty
>battlefield injury that cashiered you out of the service. That works out
>to... hmmm... (consults chart) 1300 more experience." Then let the
>character
>advance in levels, feats, and skills as appropriate for the experience
>accrued. You'd need to add in some rules for the way different assignments
>incline the character toward different skill acquisitions -- maybe a
>certain
>number of the skill points gained are at DM's discretion or dictated by a
>chart or something -- but I think there's possibilities here.
>
>Never actually got to play Traveller, but I've made dozens of characters
>for
>it. Character design there is a game in itself.
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