Traveller Tuesdays - Changes to Character Generation for 19th Century Characters

So, I have been thinking about how to use Traveller in order to generate characters that could populate a fictional gaming universe set in the 19th century.  I began with looking at the ARMY career generation tables.

It appears as if all is well, there, with the exception of two skills.  COMMS and SENSORS.  So I have come up with two alternatives.

Instead of COMMS, whenever it appears on the character generation chart, replace it with the skill SIGNALS (new).  And whenever SENSORS appears, replace it with FIELDCRAFT.

Here are the two new skills (they both are cascade skills).

---

Signals - The character has the ability to send and receive signals using pre-radio systems.  Choose one of the following Specialties, expertise in one grants familiarity in the others:

• Semaphore - the character is expert in sending and receiving visual signals using based on a color and position based code, such as hand flags, or much larger semaphore towers.
• Optical - the character is expert in sending and receiving light based messages, such as with the use of reflected sunlight (using a heliograph) or with the use of signal lamps, such as on a ship.
• Audio - the character is expert in sending and receiving signals over a pre-radio wire based electronic system where audible signals are sent from one station to another, such as with Morse code.

---

Fieldcraft - The character has the ability to support military operations that take place in a wilderness, away from urban support systems.  Choose one of the following Specialties, expertise in one grants familiarity in the others:

• Tracking - the character is expert at following tracks and trails left in the wilderness.  Note this is not useful, nor transferable, to urban or indoor settings.
• Scouting - moving undetected through a wilderness setting, and making a military assessment of forces and emplacements that can be observed. Similar to Recon but specialized for a wilderness setting.
• Fieldworks - the character is expert in constructing wilderness based engineering projects, typically of a military value.  This may include log forts, earthworks trenches and earthen gun emplacements.
• Camouflage - similar to the Stealth skill, but rather than applying to the character himself, the camouflage skill allows the character to be expert at hiding military emplacements, or small troop movements that can be less well detected.  Again, this is only applicable in a wilderness setting.

---

Update Army career, mustering out, and events tables will follow.  This is getting exciting.