Finding the right sector for a campaign

[l8knight]

"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...

Hey, stop reading my campaign!

 

[far-trader]

Hey, stop reading my campaign!

Wanna buy a used Psi-shield helmet?

 

[GypsyComet]

"The Empty Subsector. That's what the maps call it. Turns out they are wrong. We're proof.

(I'd use the thumbs up emoticon, but we don't appear to have one.)

 

[Morte]

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.

A fine choice. One nice thing for you is that much of RD is an "exclusion zone" between the 3I and the Aslan, where both sides agreed to stay out. So you can be further from authority than it seems by looking at the map.

I've always liked to think that various OTU are analogous to certain places and times on Earth. The Spinward Marches is the Northwest Frontier, where Kipling's "great game" was played the British and Russian Empires. The Solomani Rim is Germany in the cold war, with two mighty powers nose-to-nose waiting to see who blinks and brings the apocalypse. Gateway domain is the Balkans, lots of little states doing their thing and occasionally trying to force it on the neighbours. And Reaver's Deep is Casablanca, a neutral zone, a dusty relic of old diplomacy where backroom/dirty deals get done and sorry little tales sometimes have a happy ending.

Alas, the Reaver's Deep Sector Sourcebook is a really fine setting but it's one of those "old skool trav" books that does in all seriousness make more sense if you read the chapters in reverse order. For my RD campaign, I OCRd it and edited it into a sensible shape.

As for your planet and the grog factor, just pick one and alter the UWP. Let potential players know that you have overwritten one world before they come aboard. Almost everybody will be OK with that, and you really are better off without people who can't handle it.

 

[Morte]

As an aside, people who are interested in doing exploration within OTU might like to look at GURPS Traveller: Interstellar Wars, which set out to support that sort of gaming and made a pretty good job of it.

 

[Elrick]

There is a good map of Reavers Deep here: http://jtas.net/librarydata/LibraryData/Images/ReaversDeepMap.jpg

 

[l8knight]

Thanks! Excellent map. This thread has been very helpful, its given me alot to work with! Thanks to everyone for the help.