Finding the right sector for a campaign
- Thread starter l8knight
- Start date
Yep, and the authors failed to expand it. For example, when Leviathan wasGypsyComet said:
written, much of the Outrim Void was officially unexplored. Then it was of-
ficially mapped, but no new, unexplored frontier beyond it was added to
the setting. Traveller New Era attempted to use Virus to turn the situation
upside down, with a tiny "known space" and almost all of the previous Im-
perium the "Wilds", the equivalent of a frontier the characters could ex-
plore, but with only 70 years between the well documented Imperium and
the "unknown" Wilds this was not really unexplored space.
GypsyComet
Emperor Mongoose
DFW said:
Make it clear you are answering his question or yours, but don't pretend your answers are his. Or mine.
GypsyComet
Emperor Mongoose
DFW said:
If everyone were Human, maybe. Not all races think that way.
GypsyComet
Emperor Mongoose
DFW said:
And the explored frontiers of Charted Space are held by Vargr, Aslan, Hivers, and K'kree. Oh, and the Zhodani, who made a conscious decision to stop expanding.
Humaniti is expanding in exactly the kind of frontier you describe, but are only doing so in the one direction available to them. That the borders of the Imperium are 300 ly behind them is hardly their fault.
DFW said:
By your stating, in so many words, that the setting he is looking for his answer in is not suitable to his needs.
True, but the Solomani are as human as possible, and still just one sectorGypsyComet said:
further towards the rim from their border the explored and mapped space
abruptly ends. This region would have been perfect for a true frontier of
the Traveller setting, with no other interstellar state's border to limit the
expansion and no canon to straightjacket an author's ideas.
GypsyComet
Emperor Mongoose
rust said:
Except the straightjacket of Solomani political thought, and a multi-sector spread of stars so thin that the goverment *must* be involved in any exploration. When every jump requires huge fuel needs, there is no profit to be made. Without profit, the mercantile concerns won't touch it.
And let's face it. At the scale set by the speed of travel, the map is already pretty darned big.
GypsyComet
Emperor Mongoose
rust said:
The Vilani stopped short several years of travel time from their capital, and the Aslan weren't in space yet. The Hivers were limited to J2, and are hardly brave explorers in the broad scheme of things. Once Earth entered the picture it had its hands full with the Vilani, and once that all collapsed no one Human was doing a lot of long-range travel, much less fresh exploration. Solomani space rose to polity status while the 3I was expanding, and again their attention was focused on the Empire in front of them and the aliens at their flanks.
Only in the last (from the 1104 perspective) three hundred years or so have the Solomani been both large enough and not bothered with *all* of their neighbors enough to think about exploration. They spent some of this time agitating for independence, winning and losing it, and generally being distracted by themselves. The Solomani give every indication of being deeply conservative at the governing level. Each power bloc has its worlds and populations, and free thinkers are not appreciated.
An unpublished manuscript* from the MT era, titled Grand Explorations, posited a Solomani-run deep exploration expedition to rimward, operating from two or more huge motherships and many subsidiary ships. Their goal was to reach the next spiral arm and see everything there was to see along the way.
As of 1116, they had not returned.
--
* No, not mine.
GypsyComet
Emperor Mongoose
DFW said:
Stars every 10-15ly is hardly thin by real standards, true. In Traveller, that's a lot of j3+ required just to get around. The dot maps for the sectors just rimward of Solomani space are that thin or worse.
GypsyComet
Emperor Mongoose
Part of it is a bit of reverse psychology. Exploration is not constrained by the map they released in 1978. Instead, the map was defined by the exploration.
At some point, especially in a rules environment that supports and encourages lots of detail, the writers have to say "enough" and let the players escape the map. Resisting this point is what turned D&D's Forgotten Realms into the over-written mess they are. GDW tried to resist giving too many details for many years, but the setting grew anyway. DGP said "Map the whole Imperium! We have PLANS!"
Frankly, it's been almost all downhill since then.
At some point, especially in a rules environment that supports and encourages lots of detail, the writers have to say "enough" and let the players escape the map. Resisting this point is what turned D&D's Forgotten Realms into the over-written mess they are. GDW tried to resist giving too many details for many years, but the setting grew anyway. DGP said "Map the whole Imperium! We have PLANS!"
Frankly, it's been almost all downhill since then.
This thread demonstrates why I was struggling to figure out where to "place" this unexplored world and why I was worried about a player questioning the location.
Given that the party are supposed to be running cargo I couldn't find a place that was far enough out to be plausibly unexplored yet not so far out for the players to ask "why the heck are we out here?"
For my campaign and the back story, I've decided to go with the Reaver's Deep sector suggested earlier. There are 2 unnamed sectors upward of Gulf and Riftrim so I guess I get to name the sectors too
This allows for my pirate encounter and a remoteness that should satisfy a single ship disappearing.
I may be stretching it with the Bwap being present on this planet but I'll have to accept that as it is also necessary for many hooks in the campaign. Can't have everything
As for the far reaches; The way I look at it, is the blank sectors on the outer rims are open canvas for the GM. Why not?
Given that the party are supposed to be running cargo I couldn't find a place that was far enough out to be plausibly unexplored yet not so far out for the players to ask "why the heck are we out here?"
For my campaign and the back story, I've decided to go with the Reaver's Deep sector suggested earlier. There are 2 unnamed sectors upward of Gulf and Riftrim so I guess I get to name the sectors too
This allows for my pirate encounter and a remoteness that should satisfy a single ship disappearing.I may be stretching it with the Bwap being present on this planet but I'll have to accept that as it is also necessary for many hooks in the campaign. Can't have everything
As for the far reaches; The way I look at it, is the blank sectors on the outer rims are open canvas for the GM. Why not?
GypsyComet
Emperor Mongoose
l8knight said:There are 2 unnamed sectors upward of Gulf and Riftrim so I guess I get to name the sectors too
Those subsectors are unnamed probably because they have no stars in them. That's a branch of the Great Rift. They are part of Ilelish Sector. According to the Wiki, they are named "Zagrab" and "Empty".
far-trader
Mongoose
"The Empty Subsector. That's what the maps call it. Turns out they are wrong. We're proof. Nav finally managed to work out our rough position after the misjump and that's where we are. In the middle of nowhere, on a planet that all the charts and exploration say doesn't exist, around a dim star that nobody else has laid eyes on. Maybe we get to name it, not that anyone will ever know. Getting a star fix was difficult due to the dense debris field of the system. Nav figures this is why nobody else has ever found it too. Meaning not much chance of a rescue."
"P.S. Late addendum. Turns out we're not alone after all, and not the first to discover this world. While scouting for more supplies I stumbled on a small settlement. I recognize the Bwap, but I'm not sure what the race they're working for is. Maybe we can get some parts to repair our ship and with enough fuel make our way back to civilization... "
...or something like that. Just because the maps and charts all say there is nothing there doesn't mean there isn't.
The Bwap colonization ship also misjumped, ages ago, will their old decaying wreck be of any use to the players in getting home? Will the players be able to rig enough fuel to make such a crossing of empty parsecs? Stay tuned...
"P.S. Late addendum. Turns out we're not alone after all, and not the first to discover this world. While scouting for more supplies I stumbled on a small settlement. I recognize the Bwap, but I'm not sure what the race they're working for is. Maybe we can get some parts to repair our ship and with enough fuel make our way back to civilization... "
...or something like that. Just because the maps and charts all say there is nothing there doesn't mean there isn't.
The Bwap colonization ship also misjumped, ages ago, will their old decaying wreck be of any use to the players in getting home? Will the players be able to rig enough fuel to make such a crossing of empty parsecs? Stay tuned...
