Universal Personality Profile
"Universal Personality Profile:" The Imperial Bureaucracy rates personnel using the Universal Personality Profile (UPP), which expresses basic characteristics in a specific sequence using hexadecimal (base 16) notation.
- It has also been called the Universal Character Profile or UCP.
Metahistory
The UPP or UCP and other universal codes have been one of the endearing trademarks of the Traveller setting. The UWP is perhaps the best known of the set, which is a wonderful worldbuilding device helping a budding author or referee to develop a background for a mainworld by providing a data baseline from which to build.
In the original Traveller, there were six codes that defined a character. of the form "777777". (Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Intelligence, Education and Social Standing)
As time progressed, it was recognised that not all characters could be described using just those six Attributes and others were used as substitutes or additional codes. In Traveller: The New Era (book) the UPP had eight values in the form "777777-7-7". T5 Core Rules defines six core values, some of which may vary in usage depending upon the character's genetics, and two additional ones used when needed.
Description (Specifications)
Attributes are listed as a string of codes, in the order originally rolled: e.g. Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Intelligence, Education, and Social Standing.
- For example, an adventurer who is totally average in all respects would have a UPP of 777777. If, instead, the individual were highly intelligent, his UPP would be 777B77 (...the B in the fourth position indicates an Intelligence of 11). While the use of the UPP is optional, it allows the Referee (...and the players) to tell at a glance the characteristics of persons they encounter and deal with.
References & Contributors (Sources)
- Book 1: Characters and Combat
- Frank Chadwick, Dave Nilsen. Traveller: The New Era (Game Designers Workshop, 1993), .
- Gareth Hanrahan. Core Rulebook (Mongoose Publishing, 2008), .
- Marc Miller. T5 Core Rules (Far Future Enterprises, 2013), .
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science
- Author & Contributor: BackworldTraveller