GURPS Traveller: March Harrier Character Generation

More details on character generation

• Starting PCs are based on 150 points, with a -30 point disadvantage limit and a -5 point quirk limit.  All negative attributes count against the disad limit.  (For example, if you take IQ +2 with Per -2 and Will -2 for a net cost of [20], you've used -20 points of disads buying down Per and Will.)
• Sense of Duty (crewmates) [-5] is optional and doesn't count against the disad limit.  (If you take a larger Sense of Duty that includes this one, then -5 points of it don't count against the limit but the rest of the cost does.)  Yes, this is a bribe from the GM to encourage team play.
• Partial, subsidized, strings-attached ownership of the March Harrier is a "free" campaign feature; you don't have to pay points for Wealth or Ship Patron or Ship Owner.  Each PC can choose whether to be an owner and crew member, a non-owner crew member, or a non-crew member.  Owners must have at least Merchant Rank 1, and the Captain and First Officer should be owners.
• The Captain needs to take Merchant Rank 3 [15].  (This gives some free Status.)
• The First Officer needs to take Merchant Rank 2 [10].  (This gives some free Status.)
• Other Officers need to take Merchant Rank 2 [10] (Second Officer), Merchant Rank 1 [5] (for a Third Officer or Fourth Officer who's an owner) or Courtesy Merchant Rank 1 [1] (for a non-owner Fourth Officer).
• The maximum starting attribute is 15.
• The maximum starting skill is 16.
• All PCs should use one of the occupational templates from GURPS Traveller: Interstellar Wars.  (If you don't have the book, they're also in GCS.)  Some particularly useful templates are Starship Commander, Starship Bridge Officer, Starship Engineer, Starship Deckhand, Doctor, and Marine.  Additional points beyond the template cost can be spent on any attributes from any GURPS Traveller occupational template.  Some deviation from the template is fine; ask the GM.
• A March-class subsidized merchant nominally has a crew of five.  (Pilot, Navigator, Engineer, Medic, and Steward.)  If we have exactly five players and everyone wants a different mandatory role then we have a full crew.  If we have fewer players or someone doesn't want to fill one of those roles, then the crew may need to be filled out with NPCs.  Note that crew members need to be paid, fed, and supplied with stateroom space and oxygen, so the bigger the crew, the harder it is to make a profit.  (PCs, especially owners, may choose to not take their salary if times are tough.  NPCs will probably insist on being paid.)
• Imperial regulations require that the March Harrier have a Captain with a Master's License, a First Officer with a Mate's License, a Chief Engineer with a Chief Engineer's License, and a medic who is a Certified Medical Technician.  See GCS for these licenses (from GT Far Trader) ported to 4E rules.  Steward is the one crew role with no explicit requirements -- it would be nice if the Steward had Savoir-Faire (Servant or Merchant) and Cooking and Spacer and First Aid and a positive reaction modifier, but it's not strictly required that Stewards be good at their job.
• In order to be allowed to carry Imperial Mail, the March Harrier is required to have two members of the crew who are qualified gunners: Gunner (Beam Laser) at 12 or higher.
• Most PCs should be human Imperial citizens.  If you really want to play an alien or non-Imperial, talk to the GM.  There may be an Unusual Background in some cases.
• If desired, one PC may be a pre-generated plot-hook non-crewmember who will be met during the first game session.  This character's backstory and basic capabilities are fixed, but minor tweaks are okay with GM approval.
• There are other pre-generated characters available, if you don't feel like making a PC or don't have time.  Talk to the GM about what crew role you want to fill and the GM will give you a rough idea of the pre-generated character that fills that role.  If you accept a pre-generated character, you're allowed to tweak it to your liking, subject to the usual rules.
• If you don't want a pregen but you're having problems making a character on your own, ask the GM and other players for help.
• Starting wealth is KCr 50 or $50000.  Because PCs are itinerant spacers whose home is their spaceship, all of it may be spent.  Owners should consider holding some money in reserve for starship expenses.
• Equipment is limited to what is widely available in the Aramis Trace: GTL 10.  The GM has a GCS file containing Traveller-suitable equipment.  (Basically the Safe-Tech rules from Ultra-Tech, so out-of-genre stuff like swarmbots and cyberware is not allowed.)  The ship's locker will contain some common equipment.
• The game starts on Aramis/Aramis/Spinward Marches on 001-1105.  The ship is on Aramis for two weeks to receive its annual maintenance, which has already been paid for.  The crew gets two weeks of (mostly) vacation on Aramis.  (At least some crew members should probably do some ship's business during that time, like trying to find cargo and passengers for when the ship is ready.)
• You need to submit your GCS character sheet to the GM for approval.  It's up to you whether you want to share your character sheet with the other players, or keep it private and just share a summary of what everyone knows about your character with everyone.