Classic Traveller does have a scientist career path to follow in Supplement 4: Citizens of the Imperium but, to be fair, it is not very good at producing mission specialists of an academic nature. What follows is my (un-playtested) attempt to create a career path for the Academic Adventurer. It is based on my observations whilst attending collage to study for a combined degree of history and social science. Obviously I have taken a few liberties with actual academic structure. Please note, the usual character generation rules from Citizens apply unless changed or over-ridden here.
PRIOR SERVICE TABLE
Enlistment 8+
DM +1 if Intel 7+
DM +2 if Educ 8+
Survival 4+
DM +2 if Intel 6+
Position 10+
DM +4 if rank 1
DM +3 if rank 2
DM +2 if rank 3 or higher
Promotion 10+
DM +4 if rank 1
DM +3 if rank 2
DM +2 if rank 3
DM +3 if published
Reenlistment 5+
DM +2 if Tenure
Upon enlistment the player must choose their Academic Specialism I.E. which subject they are going to study E.G. Xeno-biology, Planetary Ecology, Particle Physics etc. An academic specialism cannot be an already existing Traveller skill. A character with Intel 8+ and Educ 7+ may choose to do a “combined” course; this allows them to choose two specialisms instead of one, however, they must evenly divide any specialism skills acquired between their chosen subjects. A character of rank 2 or higher may re-enlist at rank 1 providing they choose a different specialism.
In an academic context enlistment should be understood to mean passing the requisite entry examinations in order to enter the institution of choice, all characters start at rank 1. Re-enlistment should be understood to mean securing funding for another term of study for ranks 1 to 3 and being retained by the faculty for ranks 4 and above. Position should be understood as undertaking the necessary work to create a dissertation/thesis for ranks 1 to 3 and for research of a paper or book for ranks 4 and above. Position must be thrown for every term until Rank 4 is achieved after which it is voluntary. Promotion should be understood as passing an exam for ranks 1 to 3 and for being published for ranks 4 and above.
TABLE OF RANKS
Rank 1: Student
Rank 2: Bachelor of Arts
Rank 3: Master of Arts
Rank 4: Lecturer
Rank 5: Professor
Rank 6: Senior Professor
A further promotion beyond rank 6 indicates that the character has been given tenure, meaning that they cannot be dismissed from service except upon the most gravest of circumstances.
AUTOMATIC SKILLS
Rank 2: Specialism-1
Rank 3: Research-1
Rank 4: Instruction-1
Rank 5: Administration-1
Every time a character gets an automatic skill they also gain Edcu +1.
Research Skill
Research is the ability to coordinate data from disparate sources to answer a specific question or proposition, it is an investigative skill. It can be used in conjunction with computer when attempting to get information from data bases. If a character fails their specialism roll when attempting a task it is suggested that Ref’s might allow the character to “research the problem” – this would allow another roll (this time using the character’s research skill) to attempt the task but at an increased cost in time.
A character with research 2+ and that is also rank 4+ may add the title “Research Fellow” after their name, any character that does this replaces any further automatic skills they may gain with another level in Research.
I've also written up at my blog a career generation description for scholarly & academic adventurers - http://deepinthestax.blogspot.com/2012/04/for-traveller-new-career-path-school.html we should compare notes!
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