I rolled a few sets of statistics until I found one that I was interested in. Having a character with a high endurance and education, and quite low social standing seemed to stand out a bit. Rendan Bardle’s starting UPP numbers:
78A8A3
Having a decent Dexterity, and such notable Endurance and Education made Rendan perfect for the Army, where his lack of Social standing was not likely to be held against him, so I toddled him off to the recruitment office.
First term
Bardle had no trouble being enlisted in the Army. Nor did he have any difficulty in getting both a commission and a promotion within his first term. I decided I would spend two of his four improvement rolls on the Personal Improvement table (Gambling and an improvement to his Dexterity resulted). And deciding I wanted to capitalize on his high Education score, I thought I would spend all Bardle’s remaining improvement rolls in his career on the Advanced Education table (Admin, Tactics) – there must have been some reason that the Army saw such promise in Bardle, despite his humble beginnings.
Colonel Rendan Bardle
Retired Army Colonel 6899D3
Age 38, 5 terms
Admin-2, Computer-1, Gambling-1,
Leader-2, Medical-2, Rifle-1,
SMG-1, Tactics-2
60,000cr savings
4000cr retirement pay
High passage, medium passage
Rifle
Second term
In his second term, Bardle got promoted again (now a Major), and his improvements came with even more focus on Administration and Tactics.
Third term
Bardle’s third term came with yet another promotion (Lt Colonel); clearly the army had decided that Bardle was, for one reason or another, a high-flyer. Perhaps his Admin-2 skill was paying dividends as he networked his way from one important desk to a another slightly more impressive desk. Having become a Lt Colonel, some acquisition of Leadership skills seemed inevitable, and Bardle spent some of his professional development time learning the rudiments of field medicine.
Fourth term
In his fourth term, Bardle’s career stalled a bit. He improved his Leader expertise, but was granted no promotion. Although he had to begin submitting himself to the Aging Tables, the relative ease of his career thus far probably paid dividends and he suffered no ill effects. Perhaps deciding it was time to make a bold move, Bardle may have manoeuvred his way into a slightly more exciting posting, determined to keep moving up the ranks and maximize his chances for at least a modest pension.
Fifth term
Bardle’s transfer into a field command met with success; another promotion! Now a full Colonel, he parlayed the development bonus into a bump to his Medical expertise, and an introduction to the rudiments of Computing. Unfortunately, for the first time since basic training, Bardle had found himself in a posting that required more of him physically, and his body began to show it’s age, failing every single aging check and thus dinging all his physical stats.
Realizing that he had gotten sufficient rank and tenure to both retire, get a pension, and not have to continue taking his chances with survival, Bardle decided not to attempt re-enlistment after his fifth term.
Mustering out
Bardle ended up with a 4,000cr retirement stipend; not profligate, but enough to keep him fed and comfortable for the rest of his years. He also managed to parlay his years of service, his weekly poker game, and his familiarity with gambling (and, no doubt, his default appearance as a hayseed thanks to his Social 3 statistic) into quite a healthy savings account (60,000 credits).
The rest of his retirement benefit allotment resulted in a bump to his Intelligence and Education, and vouchers for High and Middle passage.
All in all, a successful, if somewhat boring, career.
Probably feeling that, at 38, he was quite ready to see some of the rest of known space, and having got a taste of adrenaline from his final term of service, Bardle has found himself on a frontier world with some curiosity for adventure, relatively secure in the understanding that his pension and bank account can provide a soft resting spot for him when he has had enough of the wandering life.