Colonization in Traveller

[Reynard]

A friend and I were having casual discussions one slow day at the local game store. We were both messing around with Traveller and 2300AD. My friend then started enthusiastically talked about the colony design rules in Tools for Frontier Living for 2300AD and his description piqued my interest. I have the 2300 Core Book and TfFL but don't play around with it as much as Traveller so I dug out my copy and was intrigued.

Unlike 2300AD, Traveller doesn't deal with colonization that much. Book 3: Scouts describes exploration, survey and contact but no colonization. Unless I missed something, there's no source for it. Traveller is more attuned to a mature (if random) galaxy with most or all worlds already inhabited. To that end, there was a recent topic on another thread that lead to the region of 3I Charted Space Spinward of the Imperium filled with uncolonized (not necessarily uninhabited) worlds. As I took one region (Fulani) to try the concept of colonization from a home world or more I now was trying to determine how the process would run such as what parameters would scouts and the planners back home be looking for the best world to colonize in what order. Traveller doesn't have the answer beyond gas giant presence for fueling, planetoid belts for ore mining and the first three digits of worlds for a suitable colony location and that is highly simplistic. It seems the races in charted space will colonize anything. But what if you had to be more selective?

Back to Tools for Frontier Living. It IS a colony book. The first part of colony design is Base Characteristics for a planet, "factors that determine the attractiveness and ease of settlement". That's a perfect start and it uses Traveller World generation intact. In general, it creates a world's possible biological makeup, natural resources, tectonics, tides and habitability factors, all the whys to be there or pass over. It also leads to describing the function of a colony.

Unfortunately the actual colony design is heavily dependent on 2300AD National Tier system which Traveller has no real equivalent. The colony design lets you grow a colony like a character in ten year increments. This would be great to have a campaign with some colonies in the starting history. I'm going to study more about how it could be matched to Traveller. Traveller really needs it's own Colony Design book.

 

[Condottiere]

I get the feeling that attractive real estate gets claimed and jumped on by the nobility and megacorporations, the Navy picking out strategic reservations, and the Scouts places that need to be left alone.

 

[F33D]

It would be completely situational. The first question that MUST be completely answered is: WHY is the planet looking to colonize a distance star system?

Once you really know all the answers to that. It becomes rather simple to determine the remainder.

 

[simonh]

I get the feeling that attractive real estate gets claimed and jumped on by the nobility and megacorporations, the Navy picking out strategic reservations, and the Scouts places that need to be left alone.

For the 3I yes, but if you're roliwng your own sandbox using the world generation system it could be a major activity. I didn't know the new 2300AD uses standard Traveller world generation, interesting. I might have to get this.

Simon Hibbs

 

[dragoner]

My whole beyond the frontier campaign are colony worlds, I did it myself, years ago, with CT. But the Raison is various waves of colonization: Vlazhdumecta, Zhodani, in the first era, some Solomani during the long night; more Zhodani, some Aslan, Vargr allies of the Zhodani's failed wars resettled there Space Pilgrims (Linkhorns), Then during the collapse of the Imperium and Zhodani Consulate, successive waves of Imperials, Zhodani and Solomani.

 

[Reynard]

All the reasons people historically migrated and colonized everyplace on Earth would fit once a technologically advanced people have the ability to travel. If Mars was a friendlier environment we would be making batter efforts to go there. I'd say many colonies would be either research or business ventures. If it becomes 'cheap' enough, you could see groups wanting to move for reasons such as ideology to just needing to get away from the crowds. Many nations might have desires to alleviate population pressures rather than something sensible such as population control. Takes all types. Come up with a reason and there will be a colony.

A colony campaign seems ripe for adventure simply for the unknowns meeting both exploratory scouts, survey crews and colonists themselves. Star systems would be the Dark Country, wild and threatening. Not a lot of easy backup support. Law enforcement becomes a challenge (and employment for law enforcement characters) and even citizen characters become important to challenges.

The discovery of alien races can be a major challenge too when your stellar nation is young and vulnerable especially if they are equal.

 

[dragoner]

I took the blank sectors, figured that the T-prime type worlds would be settled first, then expanded out from there. Some worlds, that were near enough, esp water worlds, were terra-formed, with long projects into livable real estate as business ventures. I also added some things from science fiction, like a cluster becoming like the Culture, or the Vorkosigan saga, Metamorphosis Alpha (using Strontium Dog for mutants), and strange aliens. That way I can keep all the careers and world books (there are even a few Sword Worlders and Luriani settled systems) and run it straight Traveller, but with a twist.

 

[JBRocky]

I get the feeling that attractive real estate gets claimed and jumped on by the nobility and megacorporations, the Navy picking out strategic reservations, and the Scouts places that need to be left alone.

For the 3I yes, but if you're roliwng your own sandbox using the world generation system it could be a major activity. I didn't know the new 2300AD uses standard Traveller world generation, interesting. I might have to get this.

Simon Hibbs

2300AD does indeed use the Mongoose Traveller rules system so pick it up I think you will enjoy it. Part of the setting is exploration and colonization of the areas not to distance from Earth. Tools for Frontier Living really helps with this and like many people I had a campaign idea where the PC's were the ones who set up the Colony.

Yes if you are talking about the 3I there isn't that much colonization except behind the claw and that a big maybe. However there is rimward for the Solomani and coreward for the Zhodani.

 

[Reynard]

For those who remember the original Alpha Centauri computer game (and the old GURPS RPG), there's a great example for colonization and all the strange encounters on just one world. Any other examples for colonization adventures?

 

[Condottiere]

I've always liked Pournelle's take on it in the CoDominium.

By the way, I think the Chinese will be the the ones in the marriage of convenience with the Americans.

 

[Tom Kalbfus]

I get the feeling that attractive real estate gets claimed and jumped on by the nobility and megacorporations, the Navy picking out strategic reservations, and the Scouts places that need to be left alone.

For the 3I yes, but if you're roliwng your own sandbox using the world generation system it could be a major activity. I didn't know the new 2300AD uses standard Traveller world generation, interesting. I might have to get this.

Simon Hibbs

2300AD does indeed use the Mongoose Traveller rules system so pick it up I think you will enjoy it. Part of the setting is exploration and colonization of the areas not to distance from Earth. Tools for Frontier Living really helps with this and like many people I had a campaign idea where the PC's were the ones who set up the Colony.

Yes if you are talking about the 3I there isn't that much colonization except behind the claw and that a big maybe. However there is rimward for the Solomani and coreward for the Zhodani.

There is the Holowon Sector In the Singh subsector, there is a pocket Empire called the Old Earth Union:
Flavian 3034 D665794-4
Kiril 3135 B762972-9
Guinevere 3035 D120200-9
Evansville 3136 C666446-6
Salsburg 2836 C689852-9
Christchurch 2937 A85A831-9
Nikkita 3039 D663734-6
Saud's Planet 3040 B663774-9
Here is the map:
http://travellermap.com/?y=-237.396&x=-0.332&scale=142.0234375
Notice the Numentower subsector to the right has a bunch of uninhabited planets ripe for colonization by the Old Earth Union.

I'm going to add some information about population entirely my own to develop a more complete picture.
Old Earth Union
Flavian 3034 D665794-4 Amber Zone, Scout Base PBG = 912
Starport D
Size 9,600 km (gravity 0.7 gs)
Atmosphere Standard
Hydrographics 50%
Population 90,000,000
Government Impersonal Bureaucracy
Law Level 4
Tech level 4 Industrial

Kiril 3135 B762972-9 PBG = 325
Starport B
Size 11,200 km (gravity 0.9 gs)
Atmosphere Standard
Hydrographics 20%
Population 3,000,000,000
Government Balkanization
Law Level 2
Tech level 9 Pre-Stellar

Guinevere 3035 D120200-9 PBG = 600
Starport D
Size 1,600 km (gravity 0.05 gs)
Atmosphere Very Thin, Tainted
Hydrographics 0%
Population 600
Government No Government
Law Level No Law Level
Tech level 9 Pre-stellar

Evansville 3136 C666446-6 PBG = 303
Starport C
Size 9,600 km (gravity 0.7 gs)
Atmosphere Standard
Hydrographics 60%
Population 30,000
Government Representative Democracy
Law Level 6
Tech level 6 Atomic Age (circa 1960s)

Salsburg 2836 C689852-9 PBG = 602
Starport D
Size 9,600 km (gravity 0.7 gs)
Atmosphere Dense
Hydrographics 90%
Population 600,000,000
Government Feudal Technocracy
Law Level 2
Tech level 9 Pre-Stellar

Christchurch 2937 A85A831-9 PBG = 623
Starport A
Size 12,800 km (gravity 1.0 gs)
Atmosphere Standard
Hydrographics 100% (Largest islands about the size of New Zealand, rest of planet is a global ocean with a scattering of smaller islands here and there.)
Population 600,000,000
Government Self-perpetuating oligarchy
Law Level 1
Tech level 9 Pre-stellar

Nikkita 3039 D663734-6 PBG = 714
Starport D
Size 9,600 km (gravity 0.7 gs)
Atmosphere Standard
Hydrographics 30%
Population 70,000,000
Government Self-perpetuating oligarchy
Law Level 4
Tech level 6 Atomic Age (1960s)

Saud's Planet 3040 B663774-9 PBG = 434
Starport B
Size 9,600 km (gravity 0.7 gs)
Atmosphere Standard
Hydrographics 30%
Population 40,000,000
Government Balkanization
Law Level 4
Tech level 9 Pre-stellar

Total Population of Old Earth Union = 4,400,030,600 a total of 8 planets with the highest tech level at 9 pre-stellar.
Which indicates that they can't build starships, I guess they import their starships. Where do you suppose they get them from? What would a campaign set in the Old Earth Union look like? As the name suggests, the primary inhabitants are human, probably from Old Earth, and probably they didn't want to be part of the Solomani Confederation so they settled way out here at the edge of charted space. Perhaps each planet represents a different old Earth nation, Christchurch is composed of descendents from New Zealand that didn't want to be part of the One World government of Earth or the Rule of Man, so they came out here as soon as the Jump tech became available during the second Imperium, and then the Long Night cut them off and they were pretty much on their own for a while.

What do you think?

 

[Reynard]

First thing I realize the homeworld will start at TL 9 and have a starport A to build starships. Unless the world is balkanized, there will probably be only one space program. The big this for an exploratory and colonization is conservation od resources.

The homeworld will be, by virtue of only Jump 1, only scouting the local Main, all the worlds connected by one parsec. The first explorer will be a 200 tonner. It won't be until TL 11 they discover Jump 2 engines will fit on 100 tons. Until the race reaches TL 11 decades or centuries away, the main cluster will have their most mature colonies. A 200 ton explorer will have the room as both explorer and surveyor gathering as much initial system and planetary data as possible before moving on. Once the main is surveyed, boards will analyze the information for which worlds offer the most potential for colonization establishing a priority of settlement. A world at the far end of a main might be far more attractive than three around the homeworld.

The predecessor to traders will be colony ships built to haul materials, equipment and colonists to establish the initial outpost which, hopefully, will grow to a colony and beyond. Some worlds may only need outposts to serve a function such as a small refueling port in a system with no other importance. Once an outpost is established, dedicated freighters will ferry more people and materials for growth and development. By the way, all these colonies will have the same TL as the home world. Differing TLs would only occur with maturing colonies that become research centers leading to breakthroughs or disasters that cause collapse.

Once colonies are well established, freighters will move resources and goods to and from the homeworld and colonies. Entrepreneurs can begin to build trading companies and trade vessels to take advantage of markets not served by the larger freight haulers such as luxury items. There would be no need for commercial vessels to carry hardpoints and weapons at these early stages unless some entrepreneurs somehow discover 'jumpcussing'.

Rather than planetary defenses, unless there is an actual outside threats, economy of force will have small squadrons of travelling security vessels that patrol the colonies making ports of call and presenting the flag plus reacting to unrest. These vessels carry 'marine' forces for both boarding and ground security. If the homeworld was originally balkanized, there may be colonies of different nations and incidences might call for higher states of security.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

There is no reason per the MGT rules that a Jump-1 ship couldn't go anywhere in the subsector.

You can put 20% of the hull as fuel and do 2 consecutive Jump-1 hops. It takes 2 weeks, but it can be done. Nothing in the rules prevents it (older versions of Traveller differ on this point, and contradict each other).

So, while the local main would be the primary settlements, there isn't a "gap" that can't be crossed if the race wants to. If there is a Prime world Jump-2 off the main, they might still colonize it. A 2 week trip isn't that difficult. During the 19th Century, ships took weeks to cross the Atlantic and there were LOTS of colonists.

 

[F33D]

There is no reason per the MGT rules that a Jump-1 ship couldn't go anywhere in the subsector.

Correct. In the MGT Spinward Marches supp. they list internal fuel bladders for just that purpose. Stuck into a Free Trader cargo hold. Jump 1+1.

 

[CosmicGamer]

During the 19th Century, ships took weeks to cross the Atlantic and there were LOTS of colonists.

And back before mankind learned to farm they were hunter gathers. Nomads. Setting up temporary colonies everywhere they went. Perhaps this should be the model for mankind going into space? A possibility. A group traversing the vastness of space hopping from planets in one system to the next exploring and determining their usefulness hoping to eventually find Edan. But I'm getting off my point.

I'm not meaning to criticize you Rikki, just what I think is the over, and often misused, references to the past. Yes, learn from the past, but when trying to make these analogies, keep in mind that people likely moved on and don't live like that any more for a reason.

Back then, what were they giving up and look at what they had to work with? Vast land with ample resources for building, farming, and hunting. The average person now has a much better lifestyle fit for a king compared to the 19th century. How many people with their cushy and safe lives with indoor plumbing, electricity, cell phones, internet, mass transit and so on would take me up on an offer for cheep or even free land in Antarctica for them to go live on?

What would the people of the future be giving up? What would they be gaining? Probably take a bit more know how, planning, and technology to set up a space colony.

 

[F33D]

Back then, what were they giving up and look at what they had to work with? Vast land with ample resources for building, farming, and hunting. The average person now has a much better lifestyle fit for a king compared to the 19th century. How many people with their cushy and safe lives with indoor plumbing, electricity, cell phones, internet, mass transit and so on would take me up on an offer for cheep or even free land in Antarctica?

I'd think colonizing harsh alien worlds wouldn't be done by the average Joe who can step off the ship and hunt, gather and farm. What would the people of the future be giving up? What would they be gaining? Probably take a bit more know how, planning, and technology to set up a space colony.

Excellent points. This is why I said that it is critical to know WHY the need(s) to colonize in order to then figure out what would happen. A looming, world destroying calamity will produce a certain reaction. Over population (at least where people feel they cannot own even a very small place) would produce a different movement, etc.

 

[Reynard]

The concept of a two jump ship has always been around. Problem is that's a lot of lost volume normally to retrofit. Only reason to have such a ship is there's something way over there you NEED to be at that is as or more important than you will find in your local J1 systems.

Once your main has been sufficiently surveyed that the exploratory vessel isn't actively engaged, I can see modifying it (or them) to check 'over the horizon' for lucrative finds. Even so and at the start of the age of colonization these would be lower priority since the costs involving carrying so much extra fuel would not be too attractive and pre-jump assessment from Scouts says you can only do such an assessment no greater than 2 parsecs and no planet assessment. Still, this all depends on need. If you take a chance and find a garden world just across the 1 PC gap, that could out weight a lot of far flung low quality main worlds.

The advent of Jump 2 should normally make the beginning of commercially feasible second generation colonization.

I'm using the Fulani sector for my experiment specifically on the four center subsectors taking the system information from Traveler Map removing information not from MgT Core and Scout and will add the Base Characteristics from Tools. There is a large 30 star main in the middle and a smaller eleven star main to trailing plus several other clusters ranging from 2-10 systems surrounding the primary. This is plenty for an ongoing campaign including introducing other races. There are 9 worlds within 2 parsecs of the homeworld that have been assessed even before the first ship is ready to launch. Only things known are star type and companions plus presence of gas giants. Not knowing if there is a water bearing worlds until you go there means the first worlds to survey are ones with has giants and there are four to start at 1 parsec. Many systems have gas giants so surveys will favor these and leaving a few unknowns until the extra fuel for a return jump make it safe.

 

[F33D]

The concept of a two jump ship has always been around. Problem is that's a lot of lost volume normally to retrofit.

No retrofitting needed. The few "fittings" in the cargo hold would become standard.

 

[Reynard]

That's the retro I meant. Taking a vessel that has space for specific functions and modifying by removing space and the functions within those spaces.

Exploratory vessels won't be brimming with cargo space it doesn't need. Making a J1 scout a J2 scout will mean diminished ability. essentially it won't carry out as much beyond taking a peek if crew, lab space and/or sensors are removed. I'm sure a TL 9 vessel lose more than the standard TL 12-13.

 

[F33D]

That's the retro I meant.

??? Cargo space DOESN'T need retrofitting to carry fuel bladders.

Exploratory vessels won't be brimming with cargo space it doesn't need.

If a J1 "exploratory" ship wants to explore widely, it'll NEED that cargo space. If for no other reason than to be ABLE to explore further than 1 parsec...