I could try and claim I was doing research on the Cepheus Engine (CE) and important adulting stuff but the sad reality is I was goofing off in IWD. However I did read through the first 102 pages of CE and have some thoughts before I get into FU the CE version. First off there are two things that will generate some passion as they have in the past. A standardized task resolution system and armor absorbing damage. The first I have taken part in discussions in this group concerning and the second I don't recall happening specifically in this community but is pretty universal in RPGs. The reason I am doing blog posts rather than keeping my amateur efforts to myself is interaction with a diverse group with differing opinions always makes my final ideas better. I understand the view of the LBBs as written but feel with the limited time most people have to game these days a unified mechanic speeds things up which is also handy when using a VTT. The armor issue I am neutral toward. Mostly because I don't think an RPG is going to accurately simulate combat regardless if armor reduce the effect of getting hit or if it makes you harder to hit in the first place. I willingly suspend reality to play these games and as long as the rules let you have fun I am good with it. A fantasy game I own but never got to play is Altus Adventum which has a Yahtzee like to hit mechanic and your armor adds hit points (called wound levels) both of which are definitely game-ist as opposed to simulation-ist but it seems like it would be fun.
On to CE proper in my case I have the PWYW PDF version clocking in at 208 pages. Those are letter sized pages not the usual digest sized ones so there is quite a bit there. The table of contents is hyperlinked which is always helpful. It is subdivided into the introduction and then 3 books. The introduction is fairly standard stuff with the addition of setting out the task resolution system including modifiers from your attributes. I like having the Attributes having a modifier that is known from the start as it is a helpful shortcut for players to know when you start to shine or stink. Also included is a glossary of common terms which is standard the only thing standing out for me was The Explorer's Guild to take the place of Traveller's Aid Society. The books are in order Characters; Starships and finally Referee's Guide. This is better organized than the LBBs because they move all the relevant stuff into the appropriate book making find things easier. For instance drugs and wound recovery are in Book One not Book Two.
I went through Book One and am okay with most of it. My only issues are multiple careers and inclusion of certain skills. Both of these issues stem from the elements of FU I am bringing over from my original series of posts. My central premise of the original series of blog posts was a mandatory service for 4 years upon reaching eighteen. The reason I had conceived of that was a means to unify the citizens at the end of the civil war in the OTU. There is a strange dynamic to the OTU in that there are few things the Imperium does for or too it's citizens. I pondered that this was an explanation for the civil war and seeming willingness of everyone to break the law in almost every published adventure. Warming to the idea I used the universal draft to explain the very random nature of character creation. Nothing is guaranteed, you can't count on being in a given service or getting any given skill. So dealing with a huge number of recruits across the career spectrum made it plausible to me that you were assigned somewhere and trained to do whatever the Imperium wanted/needed with no regard for your own desires and then you may or may not keep your job randomly. More importantly it gave a narrative tool I really liked, your prior career was largely out of your control when it ended the players were in charge of their own destiny at last. A clear demarcation between the end of generation and the start of play. None of that makes a difference to how the rules worked by descriptively it is very different than the way past careers are usually presented. The skills I a probably going to remove are Spinal Weapons; Bay Weapons; Screens and Battle Dress. I don't see myself ever running a Mobile Infantry campaign or a main battle fleet one so these would just be a waste of player skill choices. There can be a case made for battle Dress I suppose however sticking with my idea of universal service it would be reserved of elite units and because of what one being wearing it could do I posit it is closely monitored to the point of being almost impossible to encounter in civilian life. As for heavier ship weapons I like the dynamic of turrets only. The biggest difference in ships in LBB terms was the computer (I think) adding to your to hit otherwise the weapons on a merchant ship were the same as on a naval one. Naval vessels only had advantages in not needing to pay for themselves so redundant systems and armed small craft made tangling with them a bad but not impossible idea. Also It means it is unlikely in fleet actions ships fight to the death as one hit and the ship blows up doesn't really happen. Most importantly it keeps the focus on individuals rather than technology.
A very brief overview of Book One without any changes. Characteristics are generated normally with the rolls recorded in order as the standard rule, any order is mentioned as an option. Calculate the Characteristic modifier. The UPP is explained and a proposed character stat block is given. Then come the first innovation (for me at least) background skills. You get 3+ your EDU mod in level 0 background skills. I know MT had some based on your homeworld and even further back one of the Judge's Guild products had a similar concept but in both case it was one skill that was explicitly listed. In CE you get from one to five skills only one is dictated by your homeworld the other coming from a kind of everyman list of skills. Level 0 I hear you cry in derision! How lame! Not so if you have no skill you get a -3 DM if you try a task but level 0 get rid of the DM so it is worthwhile. Also setting up my desired tension during creation of limited choices to make players want to start playing. Then you go on to careers and there are twenty-four of them. Enlistment is called qualification now and it confused me at first as I thought it meant minimum characteristic required as opposed to a target number and the characteristic whose DM you use. If you fail to get into the career you attempt yo have to submit to the draft or try and qualify as a Drifter a rootless vagabond. I can't decide if the rules as stated mean every time you fail to qualify for a different career you get drafted or is that only on the first go round at 18. After qualifying or being drafted you do basic training which gives level 0 in everyone of the skills on the Service Skill table which I think is genius. Then comes the standard survive; commission; promotion; re-enlist cycle. Two skills per term is standard for all careers not offering ranks. As long as you have served less than seven total terms you can change careers if you get the boot from your current one or just decide to leave. There is a progressively worse DM for each prior career you have had except for getting into the Drifters which is the only career you can join more than once. Then comes mustering out which is pretty standard except for the addition of ship shares each worth 2 Mcr toward the cost of a ship. I have a quibble here as well as it isn't applied consistently as Scouts and Scientists get the use of a ship rather than a ship share or in most cases 1D6 shares. The gods of polyhedral randomness guarantee your play group will get a player with a ship and at least one other with at least one share. Character generation finishes up with so advise for finishing touches and some sample alien races.
Chapter Two covers skills and how to use them. It covers the task system in detail then gives a list of skills. An major difference is handled in one short paragraph that ends the chapter namely gaining new skills and improving ones you have. The total of all your skills plus the level of the skill you want is the number of weeks you need to spend. Chapter Three covers Psionics which handily are handled like skills. It also covers some Psi/Anti-Psi tech and some notes on psionics in society. Chapter Four covers equipment with many examples including suggest related tasks. The only real standouts are the section on computers and software and the one on robots and drones. Chapter Five is the personal combat rules which I didn't try to analyze to deeply but there is a section on vehicles which is handy. This also where the rules for injury and healing are.
In summary The Cepheus Engine is clearly laid out; more completely covering the sci-fi genre and quite different that Classic Traveller while still being pretty compatible. I am trying to decide if I should go through the rest of CE and then adapt it all at once or dive into characters right off.
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