Happy Mani’s Day!
Writer’s Thoughts:
This episode of Space Tramp is a little different in that the story part is at the end. I wanted to first take some time to reflect on the project which was to do a fully fleshed out background story based on the advanced character generation system of Megatraveller the Role Playing Game. The idea is simple in that you roll the dice for each year of character development and then come up with a story to give greater detail on how those things happened.
I must say it had its challenges in the fact that a lot of time very little as far as excitement happened. Route and No Business assignments required a little imagination to give them a story element that was entertaining. Real-life is sometimes dull but that does not mean insignificant things happen. So too with the life of Jeremiah Kilwood. The real surprise is that there was little in the way of danger most of the time for Jeremiah and he faced the challenges of advancement easily. I had no problems and there were actually no rerolls along the way. The only one time I had a survival issue I used a BP to overcome it, but that made for an interesting story of how survival is not just about the physical but could also be legal, in this case, avoiding prison.
From a gamer point of view as someone who loves Megatraveler. I would play Jeremiah with a lot of pride and he is a deep character now with a background full of many stories that could come up. His skills are diverse so there are few situations that he would be caught off guard in or unprepared to meet the challenges to himself. He has space skills, business skills, interpersonal skills, and combat skills. A well-balanced character.
The project comes to a close now. I have enjoyed it but it is time to move on to other things. The one thing I will take with great joy is that Jeremiah’s personality is believable. He is not perfect, but practical. He has had obstacles placed in front of him and overcomes them so he is confident. He is a bit of a carouser both in the sense of drink and the pleasures of women, but he can respect women at the same time. He above all values his freedom and has worked hard to gain his own.
For the future, Jeremiah could use a bit of leadership skill and perhaps ship’s tactics to complete the Captain role but he is going to have to gain that through adventuring.
Final Character Sheet:
Free Trader Senior Captain Jeremiah Kilwood (retired)
Rank: O6 – Senior Captain Terms Served: 5
UPP: A67AA4 Age: 38 Homeworld: Strouden UWP: A-745988-D N Hi In
Skills: Pilot – 2, Navigation – 2, Liaison – 2, Trader – 2, Engineering – 1, Turret Weapons – 1, Vacc Suit – 1, Zero-G Combat – 1, Broker – 1, Legal – 1, Carousing – 1, Intrusion – 1, Brawling -1, Small Blade-1, Handgun – 1, (19 out of 20 possible skill levels)
Default Skills: Ship’s Boat – 1 Sensor Ops -1, Admin-1, Streetwise-1
Zero Level Skills: Grav Vehicle – 0, Computer – 0
Money: 241,500 Cr. Pension: 4000Cr/year.
Equipment:
Free Trader Starship – Type A – Beowulf Class – no payments.
Story:
Jeremiah stood on the bridge of his ship and looked out seeing the dock berth his ship was in. He put his hand on the pilot seat reflecting on how many times he had sat in a chair like this. His mind raced to think of how many things he had learned as a pilot, navigator including some skill in operating ship’s sensors. His time in space had made him a capable spacehand. He knew enough about engineering to work on his own jump and maneuver drives. He could man turret weapons in a pinch and was capable of handling a vacc suit in Zero-G no problem. No one would question his skills as a spacer.
He turned and left the bridge, passing through the crew common area, he walked by the staterooms for the crew and his own captain’s quarters. Much of what was required of being a Captain was learning to be a diplomat, administrator, space lawyer, trader, and a broker. All of which he knew something. The business side he knew very well, but he also knew how to have a drink with a client or his crew as well as when to talk the language of dockworkers and the organized criminal element wherever he went.
He went through the airlock which was currently open for the purpose of loading passengers and went down the gangplank to the hangar floor. He reflected at some of his other skills which he hoped to never use. To bash in a skull with his bare fist or to body check them, to shot them with his handgun or pull his blade and slice at them were all skills he knew. He could even do all that in Zero-G. That plus his natural strength meant people often saw him and moved aside.
He moved out to the front of his ship and looked at the last thing that had just been finished – the nose art. After much deliberation, he had decided on the name of the craft and after checking the registries found that no one had actually named their ship what he wanted. He was surprised, but then again he was connecting an idea with a system.
The nose art had come out well, better than expected. The artist had painted a naked woman straddling a silver rocket. She was a curvy, lightly muscled lass, with larger than normal breasts and bright red hair that was flying behind her. He had actually asked Anabelle to model and surprisingly she said ‘yes’. Although when she saw the finished work she remarked – “my breasts are not that big,”.
Jeremiah smiled and knew, but didn’t share, that this alteration, which he asked of the artist, was drawn from an old picture of Kate Stuvak’s chest. The woman created as nose art was beautiful, sexy, (and because it was modeled mostly on Anabelle’s body), slightly muscled, and strong as well. Under it was was the name of the Ship in blue letters with white trim – “The Regina Space Tramp”. He supposed it and the art was a mosaic of sorts of all the women in his life up to that point. It was a good name – little naughty but with a heart of gold.
Whatever the future brought, he knew this ship would be a part of it and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Maybe now if he found the right woman who: 1) was a spacer herself and 2) would love his ship as much as him, then just perhaps love was in the cards at last. He could only hope. He turned and walked out of the hanger. Time to find a crew and set a destination. Once that was done, it would be time to take on some passengers and cargo and start making money.
Time prepare for the first voyage of The Space Tramp.
Final Word:
I have enjoyed the story and if you have read the whole thing – thank you.
I remain,
The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard, and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.
Skaal!!!
The Grey Wayfarer 