The software built by RPG Suite is designed to give you the flexibility of paper, pencil, and dice, while illuminating the drudgery of page flipping, and rules analysis.
Some players want to shape their character back-story more than the random rolls & selected tables will allow, and RPG Suite accommodates this.
The Traveller Character Generator (TCG) allows editing your stats, finances, character name, gender, home planet, and notes just by clicking on the edit tab associated with that area of the character sheet. It is also possible to manually change most die rolls during the career generation process.
To do this, when you have seen the result of the roll on the screen, you press CTRL, and "`" at the same time. This will bring up a box at the bottom of the screen into which you then enter a number, and hit the "OVERRIDE" button. The result of the entered number should then be in effect. You can only override an individual roll this way once. This is a developer's back door, and has two issues for you to be aware of. If you are rolling for a range of 2 to 12 (such as for career events), you need to enter a number one less than the desired result. For example, if you want a Life Event, which is number 7, you should enter a 6 into the box. Also if you enter a number outside the range of table you are rolling on (above a 6 on skill tables, and mishap or above an 11 on events), it will freeze the program. If this happens, you should save the character, and then reload it using the "Load Character" option from the main menu.
In the Digital Character Sheet (DCS), most information is either available to edit, and skill levels can be changed via the "+" and "-" next to the ROLL button. For skill checks, or combat rolls, you can change them using the "+" or "-" selectors after you have hit the roll button. We are currently working on the ability to manually enter a die roll and look forward to this support in the near future.
Obviously, one could use these options to create a character with straight 15's for stats, who graduated from the Naval Academy with honors, moved up to the rank of Admiral in record time, and is now wealthy. And if that is the way you enjoy playing Traveller, then go for it.
Most players enjoy working around the holes in their skill sets, living at the edge of their capabilities, and punching far above their weight. And for these players, a history of being drafted into the Army, being forced out after three terms due to circumstances beyond their control, and then becoming a merchant after drifting for a term is a much more enjoyable back story. It gives them goals to achieve, obstacles to overcome, past friends and enemies to interact with, and a reason for adventuring.
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