oldhawkeyes put together a great post about combat styles in Classic Traveller. When it was first posted, I threatened to make some of my own, so here here we are. Some of my fighting styles use special abilities from oldhawkeyes’ post, because CT is generally fairly breezy, and needing to remember a squillion special attacks is just a pain, even if they are player-facing, so adding too many should be avoided.

As in the original post, all unarmed hand to hand skills cascade from Brawling. Melee weapons cascade off their relevant weapon skill. Shooting skills cascade off of their relevant gun combat skill.

The following combat styles are available to those who serve their terms within Holy Conclave space. See the end of the post for a short write-up of the Holy Conclave.

Third Conclave Navy

Naval troops are not expected to engage in close combat - if they are already hand-to-hand then things have gone very poorly. That said, not every shore or boarding party can be handled by the Marines, so some downtime is spent on some basics, usually to get their colleagues back aboard after shore leave.

Spacers pick up Brawling-1, Shock Cudgel-1¹ and Full Nelson 2.

Full Nelson: On a throw 12+ when brawling, restrain an enemy fully. All attacks against said enemy are at +6. They make break out on an throw of 10+.

Holy Conclave Marine Commandos

Not every HC Marine becomes a commando, but those who do are trained harder than most, and get additional training. All HC Marines get Submachine Gun-1 (instead of the default Cutlass-1).

Transferring to the Commandos is possible after at least one term is completed. The transfer requires a successful Commission throw. For terms after the transfer is approved:

• The base difficulty of survival throws goes up to 8+ (from 6+) for the remainder of the career - the commandos are the sharp end of the spear, and their duties are hazardous. Any positive DMs still apply normally.
• Each term awards 1 skill point
• Commission and advancement throws are still possible - the commandos also have officers, after all

Commandos get Blade-1, and their choice of Laser Rifle-2 or Laser Carbine-2. They also gain Double Attack.

Double Attack: Anytime you roll an attack at 12+ you may attack with your off hand as well.

Grand Army of the Conclave

Troopers

The ground forces of the Holy Conclave are usually used for internal security and policing, more than outward aggression. Their troops are trained in handling small-scale fights with irregular opposition, not generally peer enemies. The most commonly issued weapons are shotguns loaded with less-lethal ammunition. The default Rifle-1 is not awarded, but selected troopers are able to get special training in other gun combat skills (this is likely to include PCs, unless they like shotguns).

Troopers gain Shotgun-1, Shock Cudgel-1¹, and Solar Plexus Crush 1.

Solar Plexus Crush: On a roll of 12+ deal an additional 2d6 wounds.

Officers

In addition to the standard trooper skillset above, officers gain SMG-1 as in the default career - they are trusted with more lethal weaponry.

Outward Mission (Scouts)

While the Holy Conclave is not expanding via military means, they are actively proselytizing - a success means that a new system will request to join the Conclave. Accordingly, they have an Outward Missionary branch that explores new systems to spread the Word. The individuals serving need to be tough, flexible and resourceful. They also need to be able to defend themselves, whether from local wildlife or misbegotten souls. They have a great deal of overlap with those who become scouts in other polities.

Outwarders are taught Rifle-1 or Laser Carbine-1 (not needing ammunition is helpful, so many go for the latter), Body Pistol-1 and Brawling-2

The Golden Hands of God (Merchant Marine)

While private commerce is not unknown within the Holy Conclave, much shipping is at the behest of the Conclave directly. This leads to somewhat standardised training across the merchant fleet, known locally as The Golden Hands of God.

Sailors

The rank and file are trained in defensive skills in tight-quarters: Cutlass-1, Shotgun-1, Clever Strike

Clever Strike: On a melee weapon attack throw of 10+, add 1D damage.

Other

As in many other places, drifting from place to place or surviving on the margins makes it difficult to commit to effective training. Pick one melee (including brawling) and one ranged weapon to receive a skill in.

The Holy Conclave

Founded 248 years ago, the Holy Conclave is a theocracy that has seen relatively slow and steady expansion in the sector. It has not generally expanded militarily, but through the efforts of the Outward Mission founding new congregations who eventually join the Holy Conclave fully.

The law level on all Holy Conclave systems is generally high; depending on the exact system visitors can expect between 6 and 8 (no fire arms but shotguns through to no weapons larger than a dagger). The Holy Conclave’s central world allows no weapons to be possessed outside the spaceport without written permission - this is difficult to obtain even when escorting a bishop on official business.

In general, the government is pervasive and all-controlling. A congregation consists of approximately 150 individuals and elects its own leader who attends a local conclave of nearby settlements. The elected leader of the local conclave is referred to as a bishop and will attend a regional conclave, which elects one of the bishops present as a representative to the supraregional conclave and so forth. At present there are five levels of conclave from a single congregation’s representative to the Holy Conclave, who meet on the Holy Conclave’s central world:

• Congregations of ~150 adults elect a leader
• Local conclave: all elected leaders in a city or rural region. Usually 30-40 congregations (~5000 adults) will be grouped into a local conclave based on geography. Congregations from systems outside will be part of a local conclave as is convenient. Elected leaders of a local conclave are referred to as bishops.
• Regional conclave: 30-40 bishops from the local conclaves, representing approximately 180 thousand adults. Some external systems have enough believers to join at this level, rather than local, but this is relatively rare.
• Supraregional conclaves: 30-40 bishops from regional conclaves, approximately 6.5 million adults.
• High conclaves: 30-40 bishops from supraregional conclaves, approximately 225 million believing adults.
• System conclaves: 30-40 bishops from the high conclaves on a single system. Should there not be enough population in a given system, nearby systems will be grouped. Approximately 8 billion believers will be governed by a system conclave.
• Holy Conclave: 30-40 bishops from high conclaves. There is only one Holy Conclave, in theory representing approximately 275 billion believers across the sector. In practice, because Holy Conclave-controlled space does not have the required 30-40 systems that would ideally be needed, most system conclaves elect more than one representative, and there is considerable negotiation and politicking as to how many from each.

There are no major restrictions in terms of background or similar for election: if someone is elected by a congregation or a conclave, then they are elected and higher conclaves are unable to reverse this. Terms of office are usually for two to three years, but this varies, and the absence of term limits means that many bishops, especially from High Conclaves and up will serve almost indefinitely. In practice, leadership is often cycled through a handful of families in a given congregation, passed to nephews, nieces, sons and daughters and newcomers struggle to make themselves heard and be able to attend higher conclaves. The fact that in theory a bishop of a High conclave is still the leader of their congregation (in practice the daily administration is done by a secretary) gives some congregations unusually large say in the running of the Holy Conclave as a whole.

The exact details of how the Holy Conclave operates are somewhat arcane to outsiders, but there are a few things that are known:

• Individual conclaves reach agreement through formal debates, where at least two participants take opposing views. The debate is then held, usually between the Conclave and the Dissent. Should the Dissent win the debate, it is possible that this will become the Conclave’s view, but only if the Dissent is carried higher up. How high Dissent needs to go depends on the nature of the debate: local questions will be settled locally, but complex theological Dissent may carry all the way to the Holy Conclave itself.
• In theory, all bishops (the elected leaders of conclaves) are equal, but the greater reach of higher conclaves makes them more influential.
• The core beliefs of the Conclave stem from the three major covenants that God made with His people²:
  1. His son would die for His people (Covenant of Redemption)
  2. Adam was promised life in return for perfect obedience. (Covenant of Works)
  3. Belief and obedience will lead to eternal blessing (Convenant of Grace)
• The presence of God at worship is real, not just imagined.
• Church services are usually quiet and constrained, but visiting preachers with good sermons (and good sermon delivery) are welcomed.

Congregations from systems not controlled by the Holy Conclave are also part of the general conclaves, but their representatives are not often elected as leaders. It is possible to find Conclave believers throughout the sector, thanks to the efforts of the Outward Mission. The OM have three major tasks: bring the Word to those in the sector outside the Holy Conclave; connect outside congregations to the Holy Conclave by carrying news (and bishops); report on the general situation outside the Holy Conclave. This also includes collection of tithes and updating census records.

Visitors find that most Conclavers are polite and quiet, but there is little nightlife and excitement outside a few places: various churches and some entertainment venues. Not all folks living within systems that are part of the Holy Conclave are officially part of the Conclave, although the majority are. This is allowed, but they are very much outsiders with little political power or prospects of upward mobility unless they join. Notably, they are less able to Dissent, making it difficult for them to bring about change from outside the system. The various armed forces are one of the few options open to them, alongside various manual labour, although gaining officer rank (or joining the Ouward Mission) is only for members of the Conclave. In some cases specific conclaves may require outside expertise for specific projects, if there is no one available locally.