Fun With Traveller - The Darrian Wanderer

Previously, in preparation a potential NaNoWriMo work set in the Spinward Marches, I created Philomena, an Imperial lawyer, and Spencer, a detatched Imperial Scout.  Spencer has access to a Scout/Courier, which still needs an engineer.  Spencer can handle the astrogation and piloting.  Philomena qualified as a back-up pilot thanks to her time in the Imperial Navy, and can man the ship's gunnery turret.  But neither are engineers.

In the Spinward Marches setting, there is one world that reached a tech level beyond maximum Imperial; Darrian.  Darrian is the homeworld of the Darrians, a human variant rebuilding from a disaster that saw them fall from unimaginable techological achievements to a pre-electronics age, a disaster caused by themselves.  Once the Darrians rebuilt their society and their Confederation in the Darrian subsector, they examined what happened and realized they had a weapon of such destruction, the Star Trigger, the merest hint of it kept Darrian's neighbours at bay.

At the same time, the Darrians are peaceful.  They have military forces, but those forces are used as a defense and a deterrent.  In trying to reach what they once had, Darrians encouraged education, to the point where the initial service that all Darrian youth must serve may be done in either the military or in class.

This is where the latest crew member of the still unnamed Scout/Courier comes in.

Name: Professor Iarond Nihehp Miryim
Species: Darrian
Homeworld: Jacent/Darrian/Spinward Marches (A333744-D Ht Na Ni Po)

Miryim has a traditional Darrian name.  Her given name, Iarond, comes from her father, an old custom despite the Darrian approach to equality between the sexes.  Nihehp was her childhood name, given to her by her mother, again in Darrian tradition.  Miryim was the name she took when she became an adult.  "Professor" will get explained after the characteristic.  Her homeworld, Jacent, is a high tech, non-agricultural, non-industrial, poor world.  The poverty comes from a lack of atmosphere and standing water; given enough time and population growth, Jacent could become an industrial world.

Characteristics
  Str 5/-1
  Dex 5/-1
  End 6/+0
  Int A/+1
  Edu A/+1
  Soc 7/+0

Miryim is below Imperial average in her physical - Strength, Dexterity, Endurance - characteristics.  Darrians tend to lack strength and endurance compared to the human average to begin with; Miriam is below even the Darrian average.  However, she is intelligent and well-educated.  Her education allows her to use the title "Professor" among other Darrians.  However, her family is average standing, neither high-born nor low.

Family:
 Grandparents - both alive; important scientific breakthrough of great benefit
 Parents - father alive; mother a lauded hero for discovering Zhodani plot
 Siblings - younger sibling; well publicized addiction

Darrian families gain some import compared to the average Imperial.  Darrians live longer than the average Imperial human, though not as long as some Vilani, so previous generations are likely still around once character creation is complete.  With Miryim, we see that all her grandparents are still alive, and one made an important breakthrough in a field of science, which will be determined if it ever comes up.  Miryim's father is still alive; her mother discovered a Zhodani plot at the cost of her life.  And then there's Miryim's younger sibling, who is making news for having an addiction.  Miryim is proud of her grandparents and her mother, not so much her sibling.*

At age 18, Miryim heads off on her own.  She has a choice, become a scholar or serve in the military.  Miryim wants to discover what's out there on her own, first hand instead of through lectures, so she enlists in the Confederation Navy, Bridge Department.

Term 1: On secondment to the Imperium, fought in brutal space battle; promoted

What a term it was for her.  Miryim not only travelled outside Darrian space onboard an Imperial ship, she got caught up in a battle of some sort.  Given that the Zhodani and the Imperium are in a state of cold war, it's likely that the Imperial vessel sought out and engaged Vargr corsairs.  For her actions, Miryim received a promotion from Recruit to Spacehand.

Having quite enough of the sheer terror of serving on a naval ship and happy for the 99% boredom, Miryim leaves the Confederation Navy, having served the Darrian Confederation, and enlists in the Merchant Marine.  She might not travel as far as she did in the Navy, but she's far less likely to be shot at.

Term 2: Befriend an ally in one sphere; promoted

Already, Miryim has made a friend in the Darrian Merchant Marines.  She even received a promotion, from Recruit to Crewman.  A great start in her new career.

Term 3: Mishap - superior takes a dislike to me

And that's it for this career.  Someone above her didn't care for her and managed to get her drummed out of the Merchant Marines.  What is a young (Miryim is just 30 years old, still young for a Darrian) woman with wanderlust to do?

She becomes a wanderer, drifting through known space.  Becoming a drifter is easy.  Surviving is another matter.

Term 4: Life Event - Severely injured; promoted

Case in point.  But, despite her off-the-job injury, her work performance is good enough to "get a promotion", or, in the case of a drifter, be recognized for her skill.  With medical bills to pay, Miryim continues to pick up odd jobs here and there.

Term 5: Picked up useful skills here and there; promoted

Miryim also gets more recognition.  At this point, she's had enough aimless wandering and is ready for her latest career, an adventurer.  As she musters out, she gains the following:

Cr 17 000
Medical Expenses: 25 000 (paid)
Ship Shares:
Contacts: in distant starport
Allies: 1-Merchant Marines
Enemies:
Rivals: Superior (Merchant Marines)
Gear:
 Darrian Grav Bike
 Blade
 Gauss Pistol

A bit of cash, enough to live on for about a year if needed.  She knows someone in Imperial space who could help her out, an ally in the Merchant Marines, but her old superior is still around, too.  During her travels, she wound up with a Grav Bike (think the speeder bikes from Return of the Jedi, except no lasers and better AI), a weapon (she chose the Blade, a dagger-like weapon in Traveller) and a Gauss Pistol.  Life on the fringes of society can get rough.

Miryim also finishes her background career with a number of skills:

Skills
 Astrogation 1
 Carouse 1
 Computer 0
 Engineering 0
  Life Support 1

Hey, Engineering!  Perfect!  There's a Scout/Courier looking for someone to maintain the drives.

 Gun Combat 0
 Gunner 0
  Turret 1
 Jack of All Trades 2

Jack of All Trades is an odd skill in Traveller history.  In Mongoose's version, JoT acts to reduce the unskilled penalty in attempting a task.  With Miryim's Intelligence and Education, she is as good as an average person with base skill (skill level 0) in some tasks.  However, note the jump from Engineering to Gun Combat.  Remember that grav bike she got?  She never learned how to pilot it properly.  Even with her JoT levels, she was risking an accident everytime she rode it, and it may have caught up with her, thus being severely injured in her fourth term.

 Language 0
 Mechanic 2
 Melee 0
 Persuade 0
 Pilot 0
  Small Craft 3

Language 0 will let Miryim know a smattering of phrases used in different languages around the Spinward Marches.  Mechanic 2 is great to have as an engineer, letting her fix other items besides the starship drives.  Miryim can also act as a backup pilot; she is far better, though, with small craft like launches and pinnaces than she is with starships.

 Remote Operations 1
 Sensors 1
 Social Science 0
 Space Science 0
 Steward 1
 Streetwise 0
 Vacc Suit 1
 Zero-G 0

Even without Jack of All Trades, Miryim knows a wide number of skills.  Steward is the skill needed to perform duties involving passengers on board a ship; this includes meal preparation (edible but serviceable, as opposed to chef-like quality).  Her Vacc Suit and Zero-G skills will find great use whenever the Scout/Courier is in real space; Spencer can safely depressurize the ship and not have to worry if anyone else will have problems getting into a suit.

Miryim will fit in with Spencer and Philomena, bridging the social gap between them while performing needed duties on board the Scout/Courier.  Her full character sheet is below.

* For fun later at a much later date, I'll create the sibling.

Name: Professor Miryim Nihehp Iarond
Age: 38 (born 221-1068)
Species: Darrian
Homeworld: Jacent/Darrian/Spinward Marches (A333744-D Ht Na Ni Po)
Rank: Spacehand/Crewman/(2) 

Characteristics
  Str 5/-1
  Dex 5/-1
  End 6/+0
  Int A/+1
  Edu A/+1
  Soc 7/+0 

Family:
 Grandparents - both alive; important scientific breakthrough of great benefit
 Parents - father alive; mother a lauded hero for discovering Zhodani plot
 Siblings - younger sibling; well publicized addiction 

Skills
 Astrogation 1
 Carouse 1
 Computer 0
 Engineering 0
  Life Support 1
 Gun Combat 0
 Gunner 0
  Turret 1
 Jack of all Trades 2
 Language 0
 Mechanic 2
 Melee 0
 Persuade 0
 Pilot 0
  Small Craft 3
 Remote Operations 1
 Sensors 1
 Social Science 0
 Space Science 0
 Steward 1
 Streetwise 0
 Vacc Suit 1
 Zero-G 0 

Career - Navy/Bridge; 2-Merchant/Merchant Marine; 4-Wanderer/Drifter
Term 1: On secondment to the Imperium, fought in brutal space battle; promoted
Term 2: Befriend an ally in one sphere; promoted
Term 3: Mishap - superior takes a dislike to me
Term 4: Life Event - Severely injured; promoted
Term 5: Picked up useful skills here and there; promoted 

Cr 17 000
Medical Expenses: 25 000 (paid)
Ship Shares:
Contacts: in distant starport
Allies: 1-Merchant Marines
Enemies:
Rivals: Superior (Merchant Marines) 

Gear:
 Darrian Grav Bike
 Blade
 Gauss Pistol