Ministry of Justice Characters

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Introduction

Since its inception, the Imperium has been governed by laws covering its member states. Naturally, as with all laws, not all are obeyed. While the Imperial armed forces such as the Army and Navy are the usual instruments of control, the Imperium's lawbreakers are investigated by the Imperial Ministry of Justice.

General Background

The Imperial Ministry of Justice (MoJ) prosecutes the high justice of the Imperium. In many respects, it operates as the Imperium's police force, being primarily concerned with potential threats within Imperial society. The MoJ was established to pursue the four basic goals of Imperial high justice:

to prevent revolt;
to keep the peace among member worlds, subsectors, and sectors;
to uphold the rights of sentient beings; and
to preserve free trade between member worlds, subsectors, and sectors.

In practice, MoJ agents primarily maintain contacts with the law enforcement systems of the worlds of the empire. This intelligence network focuses on criminal activity. MoJ agents also undertake investigative research, protect non-military Imperial officials and offices, raid criminal havens, and enforce Imperial law in the field. The MoJ is especially valuable when dealing with criminal elements within the empire, and can offer great rewards in terms of amnesty or pardons. MoJ and megacorporation agents often oppose one anothers efforts (SMITH 1996, p.50).

The Coordinator of the MoJ is informally known as the "Head". The current Coordinator is Duke Daranth En La (WALSCHLAGER & JOHNSON 1981, p.23).

MoJ character generation is outlined below. The two lower levels of law and justice (middle and low justice) are covered by a separate Police character generation system, although Police characters do have opportunities to transfer into the MoJ.

MoJ Ranks

Ranks for characters in the Ministry of Justice are shown in the MoJ Table of Ranks. Ranks O1 to O10 are called commissioned MoJ agents, with ranks O6 to O10 also called coordinators. Ranks E1 to E7 are simply called MoJ agents, and correspond to enlisted rank in the military.

Agents

The general term for serving MoJ officers, regardless of rank or branch, is agent.

Initial Activities

A beginning MoJ character must determine their homeworld (see pp.11 and 13 of the MegaTraveller Players' Handbook). Direct enlistment in the MoJ is limited to characters from worlds with a minimum tech code of Early Stellar.

Pre-Career Options

Once the character's statistics are rolled, their homeworld determined, and their default skills allocated, characters intending to follow a MoJ career may consider attending College.

If the character chooses this option, roll the indicated number or higher on 2D for each activity below. If the character is both admitted and successful, then they can roll to increase their EDU statistic and check to see if they passed with honours.

Activity	Roll	Modifiers
Admission	9+	DM +2 if Edu 9+
Success	7+	DM +2 if Int 8+
Education	1D-2	DM +1 if Int 9+
Honours	10+	DM +1 in Int 10+

Honours graduates receive EDU +1 or EDU 10, whichever is greater.

Enlistment

The character must now enlist in the MoJ. Enlistment is automatic (if desired) for College graduates, otherwise they must roll the indicated number or higher on 2D.

Activity	Roll	Modifiers
Enlistment	10+	If INT 9+, DM+1; if EDU 10+, DM+2; homeworld starport B+, +1

College graduates and normal enlistees begin with rank E1; police officer transferees begin with rank E3; college honours graduates and commissioned police officer transferees below rank O4 (Superintendent) begin with rank O1, commissioned police officer transferees of rank O4+ begin with rank O3.

Note that direct enlistment in the MoJ is limited to characters from Early Stellar homeworlds and above.

Terms of Service

A term of service is 4 years long. Each term is subdivided into 4 one-year assignments, each resolved separately. At the end of a term, a character can attempt to re-enlist or elect to muster out.

2D	MoJ Branch
2	Strike
3	Security
4	Security
5	Intel
6	Intel
7	Field
8	Field
9	Admin
10	Admin
11	Liaison
12	Liaison
Optional DMs: If INT 10+, DM+2; if DEX 9+, DM-2.

Strike: Strike operatives are the "commandos" of the MoJ. They conduct raids on newly-discovered havens of criminal activity, track and capture criminals wanted for crimes against the Imperium, conduct search-and-rescue missions for missing or kidnapped Imperial officials, perform counter-insurgency operations along the Imperial border, and conduct other covert operations as required under the MoJ's mandate.
Security: Security operatives protect the Imperial non-military bureaucracy, either by guarding Imperial non-military installations or by acting as bodyguards for high-ranking Imperial and foreign diplomats. They also infiltrate anti-Imperial organisations in order to gather covert intelligence for the Intel branch.
Intel: Intel operatives conduct investigative research targeted at anti-Imperial elements within the empire, especially those identified as destabilising. They monitor criminal activity through a large intelligence network, gather information in order to determine if Imperial intervention is required, perform reconnaissance of criminal havens, and conduct counter-intelligence and disinformation campaigns among the known criminal elements of the Imperium.
Field: Field operatives perform the basic legwork of the MoJ. They undertake field investigations, enforce the law in Imperial jurisdictions (including space), and enforce customs regulations in areas of Imperial control.
Admin: Admin operatives organise and manage the day-to-day operations of the MoJ. They perform administrative duties, staff the MoJ headquarters on Capital and MoJ agencies throughout the Imperium, and work as aides to Imperial legal staff during the course of a legal prosecution or defence.
Liaison: Liaison operatives work closely with the Subsector Police and the various law enforcement agencies on worlds of the empire. While much of their work focuses on passing local information to the Intel branch, they also perform a more clandestine role as they investigate the level of support for the Imperium on target worlds. They also negotiate directly with Imperial member worlds in order to keep the peace and preserve free trade, including organising joint anti-piracy missions and conducting truce negotiations to halt military actions. They also send diplomatic missions to client-states and other non-Imperial governments to negotiate over matters of law.

Brownie Points

Brownie points (BPs) are special DMs received for significant success efforts on the part of a character. A brownie point may be used as a special DM on any die roll after it has been rolled. Once expended in this way, a brownie point is used up for good. Any number of brownie points may be used on a given roll, as long as the character has them available. They may be accumulated for as long as desired and used whenever desired.

For MoJ characters, Brownie Points include:

Graduation from College:		1 BP
Upon receiving honours:		1 BP
Completion of each four-year term:		1 BP
Upon receiving Special Duty:		1 BP
Upon receiving a decoration:	Meritorious Conduct Under Fire (MCUF)	1 BP
	Medal for Conspicuous Gallantry (MCG)	2 BP
	Starburst for Extreme Heroism (SEH)	3 BP

No Brownie Points are awarded for a Wound Ribbon.

Basic/Advanced Training

Characters who enter the MoJ through direct enlistment or College undergo Basic Training. They receive Gun Combat and one skill rolled on the appropriate Branch Skill table. Advanced Training occupies the remainder of their first year after enlistment. Roll one skill on the appropriate Branch Skill table.

Characters who enter the MoJ as transferees from the Police Character career undergo a short form of Advanced Training, before being sent on assignment for the first year. Roll one skill on the appropriate Branch Skill table, then complete the current term of duty as a MoJ character. This may mean that the first "term" in the MoJ is a short term of 1-3 years.

Career Resolution

Contacts (optional)

If the referee allows it, a character may check to see what sort of Contacts they may have made during their career (see pp.29-31 of Traveller: The New Era). College graduates receive one Academic or Journalist contact. MoJ characters receive one Law Enforcement contact per term. They also receive one Government contact (if Intelligence, Liaison, or Diplomacy, and they are NOT Undercover) or one Criminal contact (if Strike, Security, or ANY Undercover) per term. The referee should determine the specific nature of these contacts, preferably by reference to the assignments the character undertakes that term.

Assignment Determination Each year, roll 2D on the appropriate Assignment Table to determine the character's basic assignment for the year. Special Duty Assignments are determined by rolling on the Special Duty Assignment table.

2D	Strike	Security	Field	Intel	Liaison	Admin
2	Liaison	Counter-Insurgency	Counter-Insurgency	Counter-Insurgency	Undercover Duty	Security
3	Fieldwork	Undercover Duty	Undercover Duty	Undercover Duty	Fieldwork	Fieldwork
4	Undercover Duty	Liaison	Undercover Duty	Liaison	Agency Ops	Liaison
5	Security	Fieldwork	Investigation	Agency Ops	Investigation	Investigation
6	Counter-Insurgency	Security	Fieldwork	Investigation	Liaison	Agency Ops
7	Counter-Insurgency	Security	Fieldwork	Investigation	Liaison	Agency Ops
8	Security	Fieldwork	Investigation	Agency Ops	Liaison	Investigation
9	Undercover Duty	Liaison	Agency Ops	Liaison	Agency Ops	Liaison
10	Training	Training	Training	Training	Training	Training
11	Special Duty	Special Duty	Special Duty	Special Duty	Special Duty	Special Duty
12	Special Duty	Special Duty	Special Duty	Special Duty	Special Duty	Special Duty

Agency Operations: Perform administrative duties, staff MoJ agencies, and act as aides to Imperial legal personnel.
Counter-Insurgency: Conduct raids on known havens of criminal activity, track and capture wanted Imperial criminals, perform search-and-rescue missions for missing Imperial personnel, and undertake other covert operations both inside and outside the Imperium.
Fieldwork: Enforce Imperial laws and regulations such as those dealing with customs, maintain free trade, conduct field investigations to identify and gather evidence against criminal suspects and anti-Imperial groups, and investigate criminal activity involving multiple Imperial worlds or violating the Imperial border.
Liaison: Maintain links with planetary and subsector police organisations to share and gather information, arrange extradition of Imperial lawbreakers, negotiate with Imperial and non-Imperial governments over specific matters of law, and conduct direct diplomacy with world and subsector governments over free trade, excessive military actions, anti-piracy operations, and the rights of sentient beings.
Investigation: Conduct investigative research to identify and gather evidence against criminal suspects and anti-Imperial groups (such as those seeking to plot sedition or disrupt free trade), perform intelligence reconnaissance of Imperial criminals and anti-Imperial groups, wage disinformation campaigns against hostile foreign powers; and disseminate false information among the criminal community to disguise real and on-going investigations.
Security: Act as a bodyguard for representatives of the Imperial government and visiting foreign diplomats, guard non-military Imperial installations such as embassies, government offices, and the residences of Imperial nobility, and infiltrate subversive organisations in order to monitor their activities.
Special Duty: Roll on the Special Duty table below.
Training: Attend routine training.
Undercover Duty: Perform various plain-clothes undercover work, usually surveillance of criminal groups.

Assignment Resolution

Roll on the appropriate table for the year in order to determine survival, decorations, promotions, and whether skills are acquired. Special Duty Assignments are each resolved as separate procedures, below.

Liaison and Admin

	Training	Agency Ops	Liaison	Fieldwork	Investigation	Security	Undercover	Counter-Ins
Survival	auto	auto	3+	4+	5+	5+	5+	n/a
Decoration	none	none	12+	11+	10+	9+	8+	n/a
Promotion	(8+)	(9+)	10+	9+	7+	7+	6+	n/a
Skill	5+	8+	8+	8+	7+	6+	6+	n/a

Intel and Field

	Training	Agency Ops	Liaison	Fieldwork	Investigation	Security	Undercover	Counter-Ins
Survival	auto	3+	3+	4+	5+	n/a	6+	6+
Decoration	none	12+	11+	10+	9+	n/a	7+	7+
Promotion	(8+)	(9+)	8+	7+	6+	n/a	6+	6+
Skill	5+	8+	7+	6+	5+	n/a	5+	5+

Strike and Security

	Training	Agency Ops	Liaison	Fieldwork	Investigation	Security	Undercover	Counter-Ins
Survival	3+	n/a	3+	4+	5+	5+	6+	7+
Decoration	none	n/a	11+	10+	10+	8+	7+	6+
Promotion	(9+)	n/a	8+	10+	10+	8+	7+	6+
Skill	5+	n/a	7+	7+	6+	6+	5+	5+

Survival: A character risks some chance of injury or death while serving in the MoJ. To survive a duty assignment, roll the indicated number or higher. If successful, the character survives and continues with the resolution of the assignment. If unsuccessful, the character must leave the service immediately. The current term of service does not count when determining the number of mustering out benefits, but the character does receive a yearly pension no matter how long they have been serving (they are "pensioned out sick").; If the indicated number is rolled exactly, the character has been wounded while on duty and receives a "Wound Ribbon".; The character may take a negative DM for survival and add that figure onto the Decoration roll. Alternatively, they may take a positive DM for survival, but must subtract this from their Decoration roll.
Decorations: If a character rolls the indicated number or higher, they have performed outstandingly well and receive a decoration for actions above and beyond the call of duty (note that as members of an Imperial organisation, MoJ characters have access to Imperial awards). If the character rolls the indicated number or higher, they receive a Meritorious Conduct Under Fire (MCUF). If they roll at least three higher than the indicated number, they receive a Medal for Conspicuous Gallantry (MCG). If they roll at least six higher, they are awarded the Starburst for Extreme Heroism (SEH).; If the character fails a decoration roll by 6 or more they have been criminally charged and must consult the Court-Martial Table (MegaTraveller Players' Handbook, p.47).
Promotion: A character may receive a promotion by throwing the indicated number of dice. Promotion chances in brackets are for E1-E6 only; officers cannot be promoted in these assignments.; Promotion to the level of O6 (Regional Coordinator) is a major step, since this effectively "marries" the agent to the MoJ for the rest of their life. At this level, the character becomes privy to information that is so confidential and sensitive that "retirement" is no longer an option; the inherent security risks are too great. It is better to leave characters of this rank as NPCs.; If you still want to advance a character to these upper levels, their candidacy must be checked at the end of the term in which they attain rank O5 (Assistant Coordinator). The candidate character must roll 1/2 INT on 2D6, with DM -3 for Field and Intel, -2 for Liaison, -1 for Admin, +1 for Security, and +2 for Strike agents. Failure to be confirmed results in an honourable discharge (retirement if 5+ terms). Success confers automatic reenlistment, with the ability to rise further in rank.

Skill Eligibility

Skills are received from basic/advanced training, special assignments, or from the skill roll. The Skill Tables are restricted as follows:

MoJ Life:	any MoJ character.
NCO Skills:	character is rank E4–E7
Officer Skills:	character is rank O1+
Field Skills	character is in a Fieldwork, Investigation, Security, Undercover, or Counter-Insurgency assignment.
Staff Skills:	character is in a Training, Agency Operations, or Staff assignment.
Branch Skill Tables:	the character is in the appropriate service branch.

If the character's skill roll succeeds, select a Skill Table and roll for a skill on 1D. Note that skills in bold are Cascade Skills, requiring further selection as per the MegaTraveller Player's Manual.

Service Skills

1D	Police Life	NCO Skills	Officer Skills	Field Skills	Staff Skills
1	Brawling	Brawling	Mental	Hand Combat	Academic
2	Carousing	Investigation	Academic	Gun Combat	Technical
3	+1 Str	Gun Combat	Instruction	Vehicle	Influence
4	+1 Dex	Admin	Influence	Infiltration	Medical
5	+1 End	Leader	Vice	Influence	Vice
6	Streetwise	Tactics	Inborn	Jack-of-all-Trades	Investigation
7	+1 Edu	Academic	Economic	Economic	Recruiting
8	+1 Soc	Influence	+1 Soc	Investigation	Economic
DMs	+1 if E4+ +2 if O4+	+2 if E4+	+2 if O4+	+2 if O1+	+2 if O1+

Branch Skills

1D	Strike	Security	Field	Intel	Liaison	Admin
1	Gun Combat	Gun Combat	Gun Combat	Gun Combat	Gun Combat	Gun Combat
2	Vehicle	Vehicle	Vehicle	Vehicle	Vehicle	Vehicle
3	Space	Infiltration	Influence	Infiltration	Interpersonal	Science
4	Hand Combat	Hand Combat	Economic	Economic	Academic	Academic
5	Investigation	Investigation	Investigation	Investigation	Investigation	Investigation
6	Special Combat	Vice	Vice	Technical	Inborn	Technical