Monday, June 19, 2023

Duelling in Space

In our last session, a player brought a character to the table, which was a product of this online generator: https://www.batintheattic.com/traveller/

Barbarian Warrior Logan Singh B5A758 Age 46 7 terms Cr4,000 
Skills: Brawling-1, Carousing-1, Mechanical-1, Recon-1, Short Bow-2, Sword-7


Yeah, I put that last one in boldface on purpose. I have remarked before on this blog about how high levels of skill are possible. See Enrique Salazar for one. Now there's one in play in my TU.
In the first scenario for Mr. Singh, he and the other PCs found themselves gathered not at a tavern, but at a refueling station off of Shamel. It was on short notice, so the challenge for the group was an inbound ship of Tabrazian Raiders, which are closer to the Reavers of Firefly than Pirates of the Caribbean

The group decided to flee in another PC's scout ship. But to ensure that they had enough time to get away, Mr. Singh challenged the raiders to a duel. He wagered their surrender and enslavement against the raiders buggering off. 

I said, "sure, why not?"  The PC appealed to the raiders' fanatical sensibilities. They see themselves as holy warriors on a mission from their equally fanatical god. Surely they couldn't lose to an infidel?

Two men, meeting in the cargo bay/main airlock of the station. No armor, no guns, just blades. 
 
The combat was over in one round. If you know Traveller's combat system at all (here's a hint) you don't need an explanation of why. Or of who won. 

The PCs all left aboard the Scout, where the players intend to join up with a few other PCs currently involved in adventures. This may have been metagaming on their part, but I'll let that pass. My initial setup was, as was pointed out to me, kind of a railroad. I expected them to coordinate and fight the raiders on the station, but they chose another route, and that worked for me.

Is Mr. Singh invincible?  Not hardly. If his opponent had pulled a pistol or a shotgun against the unarmored man, it would have ended just as quickly. There was no cover of any kind in the cargo bay. Singh does have armor, but even with that he will have to fight smart if he wants to survive.




Image credit: Pixabay

2 comments:

  1. 7 in sword is a bold move in a universe full of ranged weapons. I doubt any human with experience of the game would have generated such a PC.

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    1. Not really the way old school Traveller character gen worked. You took what the dice gave you and hoped it wasn't death. For instance roll up a marine and odds are you'll get someone who seems to have an irrational fetish for using a cutlass.

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