AM: Solomani & Solomani Rim books? How do they combine?

[Captain Jonah]

When reading this please put on the Ode to joy in the background (the middle section which is the unofficial Solomani Theme)

> Forgot to mention Ode to Joy. Darn it.

> all true!

> Well, mind you, if we were living next to them, we'd probably have to do that as well. But ask any Impie in the Spinward Marches what he thinks of Zhos, and you'll hear racial remarks that would match that of any Solomani citizen!

> And don't forget the ongoing suffering of the humans to spinward on the Aslan Frontier. Look at old maps - human colonies lay deep in Dark Nebula and beyond. Now nothing but Aslan space and wastelands there, conquered by the aliens! Did the Imperium answer the call? No, they showed up - and then they made a peace treaty, and one that only covered Reaver's Deep. It was left to the Solomani to defend the frontier... and our colonial fleets fought against the Aslan and held the line in Magyar and Dark Nebula and Ustral... while the Imperial Navy stayed behind.

>Don't forget the suffering of the Civil War. What if there was another one?

>Indeed. The Solomani Movement wasn't just about racism. The Solomani Movement was also a union of populist "confederationists" (or Devolutionists) who looked to the republican spirit of the Terran Confederation and the Old Earth Union rather than the Vilani-like ideals of Empire.

>Another important element was the desire to rid the Rim of the overweaning power of the Imperial megacorporations (many of them connected to the nobility and Imperial family). Solomani business interests at the planetary and subsector level provided crucial backing to the movement; even today, the huge megacorporations are carefully controlled and monitored within the Confederation; they don't have the same power and autonomy they do elsewhere (except Trannstar, and that is a special case due to its relationship with the state. Sort of a public corporation....think of it like the post office, with passenger ships, okay?)

> The Confederation sometimes ignores these things, but not by policy; rather, it is a republican government, and it is hard to get hundreds of delegates to agree to act and send men into battle. But act it will. As recently as last year its military forces, guided by the voices of the people, removed one genocidal dictator (Yasmin York) by force of arms....

>Probably the fault of Vilani media megacorporation Makhidkarun.

What he said :lol:

Wait. You forgot the Ode to Joy! Damn Imperial sympathiser, lackey of the Emperor, wait till Solsec hear about your unpatriotic actions :twisted: :wink:

 

[AndrewW]

I don't know what you are talking about. I was firing three round bursts of 40mm Ram Grenades. Its not like I slapped in the 20 round drum and went full auto down the starship corridors. :roll:

Damn AI doesn't understand the fine art of the careful application of just enough explosives to take out the enemy, their cover, any hiding place where undetected enemy may be and still leave the bulkheads intact.

Darn ape, doesn't realize just how much work he creates for the poor engineers...

If one needs to know where any enemies may be, just ask the AI who has full access to the ships sensors and a drone with considerably better sensors then those you biologicals have.

 

[torus]

Sgt Kimba Bloodfang Uplifted Lowland silverback Gorilla Ex Marine Assault Grenadier now security officer on the independent trader Whippet.

http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/ancient-trails-a-spacer-s-guild-campaign/characters/sergeant-kimba-bloodfang

That's excellent, I like that. Actually I think a Traveller variant in which all the great apes were sentient (either uplifted or independently evolved) would be fantastic.. I imagine there would be mutual tensions between the species, as well as alliance against external threats.

Of course gorillas are actually peaceful by nature (unless you get them angry by making a move on one of their females). It's chimpanzees who are the violent murdering bunch.

 

[AndrewW]

That's excellent, I like that. Actually I think a Traveller variant in which all the great apes were sentient (either uplifted or independently evolved) would be fantastic.. I imagine there would be mutual tensions between the species, as well as alliance against external threats.

Of course gorillas are actually peaceful by nature (unless you get them angry by making a move on one of their females). It's chimpanzees who are the violent murdering bunch.

The game is using Twilight Sector which has the uplifts:

http://rpgcampaigncentral.com/wordpress/?page_id=8

 

[Captain Jonah]

I don't know what you are talking about. I was firing three round bursts of 40mm Ram Grenades. Its not like I slapped in the 20 round drum and went full auto down the starship corridors. :roll:

Damn AI doesn't understand the fine art of the careful application of just enough explosives to take out the enemy, their cover, any hiding place where undetected enemy may be and still leave the bulkheads intact.

Darn ape, doesn't realize just how much work he creates for the poor engineers...

If one needs to know where any enemies may be, just ask the AI who has full access to the ships sensors and a drone with considerably better sensors then those you biologicals have.

Right. Put my life, the lives of the crew and the safety of the ship in the hands of a floating toaster made by the lowest bidder. :roll:

Damn AIs. A bunch of programs mixed together and they think they are so smart. You can see they are the product of Humans, they go wrong so often.

Gorillas don't use AIs, if a job needs doing properly send a Gorilla to do it, if it needs doing poorly send a human and if you want the job doing wrong send a chimp.

Besides its not often we get boarded or that I get to actualy fire any grenades, I need to keep my skills sharp :twisted:

 

[AndrewW]

Damn AIs. A bunch of programs mixed together and they think they are so smart. You can see they are the product of Humans, they go wrong so often.

And uplifted gorillas are a product of humans as well...

Gorillas don't use AIs, if a job needs doing properly send a Gorilla to do it, if it needs doing poorly send a human and if you want the job doing wrong send a chimp.

Gorillas don't know any better.

Besides its not often we get boarded or that I get to actualy fire any grenades, I need to keep my skills sharp :twisted:

Ah, we shall just have to setup some target practice for you the next time we run across a ship belonging to you know who.

 

[Captain Jonah]

Damn AIs. A bunch of programs mixed together and they think they are so smart. You can see they are the product of Humans, they go wrong so often.

And uplifted gorillas are a product of humans as well....

No. The first few were uplifted but after our first leader fought against the tyrany of the human scientists who made slaves of the Uplifted Gorillas and gained freedom for all Gorillakind it was Gorillas who performed the uplifting of all others of our kind. No human has had anything to do with Gorilla uplifts for centuries and anyone who tries gets his arms and legs torn off. Slowly.....

Gorillas don't use AIs, if a job needs doing properly send a Gorilla to do it, if it needs doing poorly send a human and if you want the job doing wrong send a chimp.

Gorillas don't know any better..

Man creates AI. AI decides it is superior to Man. Man-AI war starts. Both wipe each other out. Gorillas take over the earth and use the remaining primitive humans as slaves. :wink:

Besides its not often we get boarded or that I get to actualy fire any grenades, I need to keep my skills sharp :twisted:

Ah, we shall just have to setup some target practice for you the next time we run across a ship belonging to you know who.

I wish. We went through all the trouble to get a P-Beam and still don’t have a gunner. So we just let them board us and kill them all, slaughter the humans, kill them all. Mwahahahahaha :twisted:

 

[AndrewW]

No. The first few were uplifted but after our first leader fought against the tyrany of the human scientists who made slaves of the Uplifted Gorillas and gained freedom for all Gorillakind it was Gorillas who performed the uplifting of all others of our kind. No human has had anything to do with Gorilla uplifts for centuries and anyone who tries gets his arms and legs torn off. Slowly.....

But if the humans hadn't done the uplifts in the first place there wouldn't be any uplifted gorillas.

Man creates AI. AI decides it is superior to Man. Man-AI war starts. Both wipe each other out. Gorillas take over the earth and use the remaining primitive humans as slaves. :wink:

We don't need to take over, we already run everything.

I wish. We went through all the trouble to get a P-Beam and still don’t have a gunner. So we just let them board us and kill them all, slaughter the humans, kill them all. Mwahahahahaha :twisted:

Who said said we have to use the P-Beam. I figured you would suit up and have someone throw you across the gap so you culd cut your way through their hull then slaughter all of them.

Though I do believe we've gotten a bit off topic here...

 

[Captain Jonah]

OK back on topic.

Due to the mass of Cannon almost everything traveller is based in the 3rdI. You can run campaigns in the Alien zones where there is enough data but generally the game is about the Empire.

Is there enough here between the two Solomani Rim products to run full fledged campaigns in Solomani Space?

Running Solomani campaigns changes the mindset of the players.

Are they from worlds within the conquered zone. Did they grow up secretly listening to Freedom broadcasts and hearing the stories the grandparents used to tell about life before the Jackboot of the Imperium fell upon them. About the golden age of Solomani rule when Terra was the capital.

Or perhaps they grew up accepting that they were now second class Imperial citizens and that Imperial Marine squads patrolling the streets of the cities and flying overhead in attack ships was normal for Terra.

Or did they grow up in Solomani space, just across the border from the conquered zone. Perhaps they grew up on the far side of Solomani space and the Imperium was just stories they heard as children.

Playing a Solomani game requires you to change 30 odd years of Traveller mindset, the big old Imperium is now the bad guy across the border. There are no all powerful Nobles but you still have powerful people ruling planets only they are called President or Governor. A Far Trader is still a Far Trader.

I can see lots of possibilities for Solomani themed campaigns and adventures.

Plus you never know. All those Imperial Lords causing trouble and seeking power. Give it a few years and some powerful Duke or Arch Duke may well do something so bad it causes huge problems, maybe even a civil war. Imagine being across the border or in the conquered zone when that starts.

No virus though but go through the whole hard times bit and then jump to 1248 with the much smaller states. Only from the point of view of the Solomani. The Imperium, the great beast across the border is falling apart, lots of opportunities but then the Kkree come rolling out and the Hiver get restive and the Aslan are invading, Oh my. :roll:

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Plus, you have an open border to Rimward!

Want to Explore virgin worlds never stepped on by man? Just join the Navy!

The Solomani navy could even be a lot like Star Fleet if you wanted to go that way. Captains who are part explorer, part diplomat, part warrior. Very Kirk or Picard if you ask me.

LOTS of galaxy out there to explore...

 

[dlpulver]

OK back on topic.
Is there enough here between the two Solomani Rim products to run full fledged campaigns in Solomani Space?

Are they from worlds within the conquered zone. Did they grow up secretly listening to Freedom broadcasts and hearing the stories the grandparents used to tell about life before the Jackboot of the Imperium fell upon them. About the golden age of Solomani rule when Terra was the capital.
:

You can run a Solomani space campaign with just the Solomani Alien Module and the Traveller Core Rules without any problems at all. Solomani Rim will be useful but the Alpha Crucis sector in the Solomani Alien Module is definitely enough for a campaign on its own.

On the same lines you can also play a Solomani whose grandparents fled as refugees from the "occupied systems" and still has family and friends and lands on the other side of the line.

I mention in the rules that as the war went bad many millions of Solomani fled into exile as the Solomani government attempted to organize an exodus. Of course billions more stayed to fight or were trapped, but there are large "exile" communities of Solomani on the border regions, especially in Alpha Crucis. (And a significant minority of these are involved in infiltrating back into the Imperium to run weapons or join resistance groups there.)

(On the bad side, the Solomani also did a spot of "ethnic cleansing" once the war ended, mostly to remove non-Solomani humans AWAY from certain border worlds on "their side". This was to ensure that their own side of the line was "securely held" by pure racial Solomani. This was not genocide - it was forced population migration, moving non-Solomani to worlds deeper in the interior where they were less likely to start agitating for the Imperium to "liberate" them in future wars... Of course, this also gives you an interesting PC background.

 

[far-trader]

...but there are large "exile" communities of Solomani on the border regions, especially in Alpha Crucis. (And a significant minority of these are involved in infiltrating back into the Imperium to run weapons or join resistance groups there.)

Any mention in the book/books about the Phoenix (iirc) programs? Might be some possible tie-ins. I always thought there was an adventure or two waiting to be written around that.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Yes, the Phoenix project(s) are mentioned. One of the newer symbols within the SolConfed is a phoenix... As with most things, it is kept vague and hinting, allowing a Referee to take it in whatever direction they want.

 

[far-trader]

Yes, the Phoenix project(s) are mentioned. One of the newer symbols within the SolConfed is a phoenix... As with most things, it is kept vague and hinting, allowing a Referee to take it in whatever direction they want.

Cool. Thanks for the info RTT

 

[SJE]

What is the Phoenix project?

 

[far-trader]

What is the Phoenix project?

Without giving away too much, and from memory... hmm, hang on a tic, I bet it's in the wiki

http://traveller.wikia.com/wiki/Phoenix_Project