FTL communications in the OTU (campaign idea)

[BP]

It made mass transports by air and sea possible.

They were already possible - they just became much easier and safer. Consider - the air and shipping traffic during WWII - most made without the benefit of radar! (The videos are always impressive!)

Even today - pre-arranged altitudes and schedules account for most of the traffic handling. Radar is most beneficial in foul weather and in faciliating more congested (i.e. compact) facilites with greater safety.

To us today - it may seem like radar is a requirement - just as many folks can't dream of a business world without faxes, email or cell phones...

 

[kristof65]

BP and locarno - you guys make some very excellent points.

I never considered the analogy of telegraph and the old west, which puts a new light on things. My one concern with that analogy is that prior to the development of telegraph, man didn't really understand the advantages "instant" communications could give them, whereas by the time of the third imperium, 90% of the planets will be familiar with instant communications on at least a world wide basis.

Would that drastically change the way this new technology is approached? I do think you're onto something BP when you point out that the long term campaign impact is vastly different than the short term party level.

My thinking on the FTL ansibles is that they are variation of jump technology that work in a manner analogous to Mesh Networks where each ansible is both an access node to the network, and a repeater for data travelling through the network. Like J-drives, they would have a rating that would be their range in parsecs. From a practical standpoint, they would be similar to cel phone networks as far as coverage and access is concerned. Where the MGT rules are concerned, I'm developing some draft rules that base them on the Code A-F j-drives in terms of size, cost and power requirements.

As a variation of jump drive technology, I'm thinking that any TL14 or up facility capable of building a j-drive is capable of building the ansible itself, assuming they have the plans or one to reverse engineer.

The PCs themselves will only stumble across 2-6 working units, plus some various repair parts that could be used to convert some j-drives to another half dozen more or so. They will have been human built, but the previous builders long since dead and gone. The original experiment having been long thought a failure, and a branch of j-drive theory long discredited as foolish, reckless and dangerous.

I am counting a bit on player selfishness/greed here. Theoretically, the PCs could make the find, test the system, see that it works, and simply publish the data, allowing anyone capable of building or converting a j-drive to make their own. Should the PCs decide to do that, the addition of FTL comms won't really affect them, unless, of course, some of them have criminal histories that haven't caught up to them yet due to distances.

My guess is though that most groups of players/PCs will immediately grasp upon the advantage they have, and some how attempt to profit from it. What nature that greed takes form in probably depends a lot on the players themselves.

 

[BP]

...prior to the development of telegraph, man didn't really understand the advantages "instant" communications could give ...

They may have had limited experience (signal fires, etc.) - but I think they understood - hence the motivation. However, they already had working systems. And the adoption was rather swift (re the redline) - but it was relatively bloodless I believe...

Your plot does sound interesting - especially since it involves cooperation (repeaters) and thus points where the content can be 'manipulated'.

You might want to also consider how/ramification of 'signal' interception/jamming.

 

[phild]

The OP asked what the impact to the OTU would be - the answer could easily be 'not much' during adventure/short campaign time scales...

One group of people who'll be pursuing this technology very hard will be investment bankers. When the rest of the galaxy is basing stock market investments on jump-speed information, any individual with access to faster communications is going to be able to pre-empt the rest of the market, and make a complete killing. Similarly, if a feature of your campaign is mining MegaCorps chasing around after prime locations, those with faster comms will always be ahead of the competition.

 

[kristof65]

You might want to also consider how/ramification of 'signal' interception/jamming.

Well, I'm trained as a Navy communications technician, and I've been dealing with various forms of electronics for the past 25 years, so yeah, I've considered that.

In order to make it easier on myself, I've decided that the FTL portion of the communications is very secure - no way to easy way to tap into that, as the ansibles have to be "tuned" to each other and know where and how many other ansibles are in range of them. So someone could "add" an ansible to tap into the FTL portion, but the other ones would immediately know it was there, setting off alarms. There are several ways to "tune" them, so that multiple networks can exist side by side - giving me coverage maps ala AT&T & Verizon's 3G coverage maps

The actual signals going back and forth will be more "standard" - various encrypted voice, video and data encryption streams, processed by by computers much like regular shipboard and planetside communications are. And since the tech will be j-drive based, like j-drives, the ansibles won't work inside the 100d limit - systems will have to have a platform outside the 100d limit, and comms will be standard light speed between them (allowing for some comm lag, and opportunities to "tap" into them).

Shipboard ansibles will cease to work inside the 100d limit, which should make for some interesting tactical situations to fleets using the ansibles.

One group of people who'll be pursuing this technology very hard will be investment bankers. When the rest of the galaxy is basing stock market investments on jump-speed information, any individual with access to faster communications is going to be able to pre-empt the rest of the market, and make a complete killing. Similarly, if a feature of your campaign is mining MegaCorps chasing around after prime locations, those with faster comms will always be ahead of the competition.

I was making somewhat of a quick list of every entity that would be pursuing the technology once they learned of it, and how they might react:

Imperial Navy & Scout Service - would probably start by appealing to the patriotism of the PCs. Some particularly ruthless individuals might try to use some sort of laws to coerce/pry it from them. The Scout Service wouldn't rely on obtaining the technology, but would immediately embark upon an expensive research program to duplicate it, and feed every little bit of data they did manage to acquire to that program.

The Zhodani - stealth agents, would probably first attempt to simply pry it from the PCs minds, without them being any wiser. Depending on the precautions the PCs take, the tech might fall into the hands of the Zhodani first.

Various Aslan Clans - I could see internal problems within the clans themselves as the females attempt to buy it, where as many males simply want to seize it.

Various Vargr Clans - can you imagine the Charisma gain of being a Vargr who manages to acquire and effectively use the tech? I think most Vargr would definitely try a physical seizure of the tech in some way.

The MegaCorps:
Most of the megacorps would want the tech for their own internal communications systems, and would attempt to set up their own networks as a new communications divisions. Certain mega-corps, like Ling Standard, GSbAG, and General Products would have advantages in that they already produce jump drives, while other mega-corps like Naasirka and Makhidkarun already specialize in the communications equipment.

I'm thinking most of the firms would be reasonable in their pursuit of the tech at first - mostly suited guys with briefcases/datapads full of contracts with every increasing sums of money - until one of their rivals either acquired it or looked like they were about to. At that point, they'd probably start using more drastic measures to coerce the PCs into forking over the plans.


The more I look over this, the more I realize that I need a way for the PCs and their knowledge of the tech to be valuable, even if they sell it off to someone else for an incredible amount of money. That way they are always pursued by those who don't have it and those who do who would rather they not share it with anyone else.

Hmm - maybe I'm going about this all wrong - maybe the PCs should simply be hired by the guys who invent it.

 

[silburnl]

I never considered the analogy of telegraph and the old west, which puts a new light on things.

In addition to the tactical (insystem) and grand tactical (multi-system) implications for naval operations, one thing to bear in mind WRT the OTU is that the comms lag between the Imperial core and the frontiers (currently on the order of a year for a report/reply dyad IIRC) would be dramatically reduced once a complete chain of ansible relays has been installed. This will significantly increase the span of effective political oversight and will therefore have serious effects on the geopolitical shape of the universe in the longer term.

I would expect that there would be serious high level Imperial interest in this technology, especially if they they think that they can prevent word of it leaking out to strategic rivals such as the Zhodani.

Regards
Luke

 

[BP]

Don't forget to include those who are interested in the technology not getting out or used...

The PCs could have interesting 'allies' who want to make sure that they (and their tech) are kept 'safe' from those that would take from them

The PCs- assuming they survive - would likely become pawns in the larger scheme of things unless they take the money and run (which may not be possible - for their own good, of course).

 

[kristof65]

I never considered the analogy of telegraph and the old west, which puts a new light on things.

In addition to the tactical (insystem) and grand tactical (multi-system) implications for naval operations, one thing to bear in mind WRT the OTU is that the comms lag between the Imperial core and the frontiers (currently on the order of a year for a report/reply dyad IIRC) would be dramatically reduced once a complete chain of ansible relays has been installed. This will significantly increase the span of effective political oversight and will therefore have serious effects on the geopolitical shape of the universe in the longer term.

I would expect that there would be serious high level Imperial interest in this technology, especially if they they think that they can prevent word of it leaking out to strategic rivals such as the Zhodani.

Oh yeah, I was thinking about that whole arena. If the Imperium in the Spinward Marches were to acquire it, most likely they would immediately begin building their network and laying their ansibles out. As that went on, plans for the network would be sent by fast courier towards the Imperial core.

OTOH, given the history of the Emperors of the Flag and the MegaTraveller leanings of Dulinor, would a personality in the Marches or somewhere in between seize the opportunity to seize control of the Imperium? Or just breakaway? With FTL communications capability, and no one else close to it, someone could really set themselves up a nice empire in the Spinward Marches/Deneb section. Or better yet, in Dulinor's Domain.

Even assuming that no one chooses to grab power from Strephon, interstellar politics get a lot more interesting. I can see the Imperium putting together a network with it's priorities being a hub at Capital/Core, and spokes out to the most important depots and worlds on the fringes of the Imperium, then back filling the rest. At some point, the K'Kree, Hivers, and Solomani are going to hear of it - probably well before it's use actually reaches their borders, and do their best to acquire it before it can be used against them, while using various methods to slow it's deployment within the Imperium. I don't really see how war can be avoided along the Imperial Fringes.

 

[kristof65]

Don't forget to include those who are interested in the technology not getting out or used...

The PCs could have interesting 'allies' who want to make sure that they (and their tech) are kept 'safe' from those that would take from them

The PCs- assuming they survive - would likely become pawns in the larger scheme of things unless they take the money and run (which may not be possible - for their own good, of course).

That thought occured to me as I was writing up my last post.

I really don't see the Imperial Navy wanting to share the technology with anyone until they can deploy it on a fairly widespread basis. I could see them building enough ansibles to mount on their main ships in the Marches, and to deploy a network to Core, then the powers that be there doing the same thing until it's fairly widespread among the Imperial Navy.

At that point, making the technology public, and allowing commercial interests to piggy back on their network and spending the money to backfill the rest of the Imperium. In the mean time, I can see those high level officials who know about the network using it to gain an advantage in the markets.

Likewise, a pirate or criminal organization wouldn't mind having just a few of the ansibles around, and rather than building a network, using them to gain advantages - either in avoiding the law, or messing with markets (or both).

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Also don't forget that the other governments might be able to figure out how to do it without outside help.

Once you KNOW something is possible, then it is easier to figure out HOW to make it happen.

Once word gets out, some groups are just going to go out on their own figuring it out without having to steal it.

I see the Imperium establishing their Ansible links following the old X-Boat routes, and moving the X-boats to secondary routes and then expanding the Ansible network until every world with a starport has an Ansible. Central control becomes much more likely and you might have the makings of your own Civil War as the outlying regions don't want the Emperor making all their decisions for them.

Consider the US Civil War. It was as much about States Rights vs Federal Rights as anything. The Imperium could be torn apart by a similar split: Sector (or Domain) Rights vs Imperial Rights.

What a feeding frenzy such a technology would cause! Could be great fun!

 

[kristof65]

Also don't forget that the other governments might be able to figure out how to do it without outside help.

Once you KNOW something is possible, then it is easier to figure out HOW to make it happen.

Once word gets out, some groups are just going to go out on their own figuring it out without having to steal it.

Yep. Especially since it's a derivitive of j-drive technology. I was thinking of leaving that to depend upon what the PCs do with the tech. If they immediately go out and gamble their life savings to have 100 ansibles built at the local LSP factory, the more likely knowledge of the devices is going to get out. Even without industrial espionage of the ansibles themselves, rivals are likely to figure out enough to begin their own R&D.

OTOH, if the PCs handbuild every one of them, it's going to be a lot harder for others to figure out the basi processes they're built with.

I see the Imperium establishing their Ansible links following the old X-Boat routes, and moving the X-boats to secondary routes and then expanding the Ansible network until every world with a starport has an Ansible. Central control becomes much more likely and you might have the makings of your own Civil War as the outlying regions don't want the Emperor making all their decisions for them.

That's pretty much along my line of thinking, too. Only problem with it is that the intitial ansibles themselves would only have 1 parsec range to begin with, later on in the campaign they might be able to up that to 2 parsecs. 3 parsecs and greater should eventually be possible, but for the course of a campaign, the shorter range makes for more interesting times.

So while the preferred method might be to follow the X-Boat routes, in many cases - like the Spinward Main - it might be more economical to follow the worlds with 1 parsec spacing, rather than the x-boat routes. I was also thinking that since the size of an ansible is a minimum of 10 tons, and requires comminciations equipment to be attached, the X-boats themselves would be perfect for converting to the ansible platforms, and the X-boat tenders becoming ansible maintance ships.

What a feeding frenzy such a technology would cause! Could be great fun!

That's kind of my hope. I've always like the chaos of the Shattered Imperium in MegaTraveller shaking things up, but it always seemed so far removed from the PCs. This was somethign that I was thinking could put the PCs right in the middle of the Maelstrom.

 

[BP]

...I was thinking of leaving that to depend upon what the PCs do with the tech. If they immediately go out and gamble their life savings to have 100 ansibles built at the local LSP factory, the more likely knowledge of the devices is going to get out.

Ah - be a shame if the folks buildng the ansibles for the characters were to team up with a government agency and have the characters framed for some terrible crime - leaving them no choice to flee and hope their new technology doesn't allow the authorities to catch up with them! :shock:

 

[Twin Agate Dragons]

I came up with this idea myself quite a long time ago (cack in the days of AD&D 2nd Edition). I don't imagine it would be very hard to implement.

Another thing that I thought of was Beaming Beacons (beam me up, Scotty). A network of beaming beacons on a planetary scale would allow to be anywhere at almost any time and would invalidate areial menas of going to and fro (imagine Airlines reeling from this discovery).

A way to limit this would be to make it expensive enough to so that only the independently wealthy can afford to buy their own receiver/sending platform, and airports would be repurposed to accomadate this new tech. Mobile beacons that could be worn (military application of this would be horrific, imagine a horde of troops materializing inside national borders).

Putting these beacons in space at regularly spaced intervals would allow for inter-planetary beaming.

In addtion to using the beacons as a means of travel, would be for the storage of criminals by placing them in a beacon by using a holding pattern (mischevious GMs can also think of other ways to use a holding pattern).