My Variant OTU

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Yeah, the whole fixation on UFOs was actually a way to keep the US military from developing the NERVA spaceship propulsion system (diverted funds before the project even got off the ground). It also started the Arms Race and pushed the Cold War into the Moon Race (which was a financial disaster).

So, the reason humans were so late getting into space was because of the Hivers.

YES, I said it... We don't have Hoverboard and Flying Cars by 2000 because the Hivers deliberately Manipulated us to divert our technological development away from space travel and towards consumer electronics. Bill Gates is a Hiver Agent (so was Steve Jobs and Steven Hawking was poisoned by Hiver Agents).

(sorry I'll stop now...)

 

[Golan2072]

LOL! :mrgreen:

In space, no one can hear you mop!

 

[Nathan Brazil]

Umm..
Where are the "Self-Proclaimed Champions of Human Supremacy"?

 

[daryen]

I cannot speak for Golan, but in the setup I did, that Golan used as an inspiration, the Solomani were intentionally excluded. The reason for the exclusion was to remove Earth from the equation.

Including Earth involves a whole host of issues and quandries that are always bound to annoy someone. Plus, making the version of "us" ridiculous racist bastards always annoyed me. In addition, including Earth implies certain aspects of astrography that the OTU (and certainly this condensed version) gets wrong. So, it just makes more sense to exclude Earth and the Solomani.

The general idea is that there is no known trail to Earth. The distance to Earth is not known. It could be in-setting somewhere, but it has no status, and its history is no longer known, lost in one of the long collapses. It could be "off-map" to any distance; it could be on-map and populated; it could be on-map and a funeral pyre; it could be on-map as a burnt cinder orbiting a red giant. Doesn't matter, but it isn't specified in the setting.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

You could certainly have your Racial Supremists within the Imperium - More like the OTU 3I was before the Solomani Autonomous Region was created.

THIS 3I should have several "homeworlds" of Humans from before the collapse and Long Night. You can keep the Vilani and any of the other races of humaniti that you want. After all, you have the Zhos and Daryen (assuming you want to keep them human).

Separately, in an effort to move the center of the Imperium to the center of the 2-sector empire, Perhaps Vincennes would be a good candidate?

 

[Golan2072]

Think of it in the terms of the old computer game "Starflight": bad things happened, and Humanity is recovering from far-flung colonies who do not remember the way back to Earth.

 

[daryen]

You could certainly have your Racial Supremists within the Imperium - More like the OTU 3I was before the Solomani Autonomous Region was created.

Nothing to stop that. They just aren't an entire power on their own.

Separately, in an effort to move the center of the Imperium to the center of the 2-sector empire, Perhaps Vincennes would be a good candidate?

I do agree I would recommend Vincennes over Deneb, as Deneb is such a ridiculous star to have a habitable world around.

Think of it in the terms of the old computer game "Starflight": bad things happened, and Humanity is recovering from far-flung colonies who do not remember the way back to Earth.

Oh, good. We are on the same page, then.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

daryen, thanks for that insight. Makes this VTU comprehensible to me now. Still, I like my racist jackboots in there somewhere. No one is the villian of their own story...

Golan2072, is there anybody/anything in the Islands subsectors in your map? If star positions are maintained then only high Jump tech cultures or those who arrived on slowboats. OTOH I suggest the Solomani might reside there. Remote isolated culture stewing in its own dreams of grandeur. I could see at least some adventures. Something like
"We've got to get out of here! These Solomani as the call themselves are nuts!" or
"Where do these Solomani raiders come from? They're not from any of the known systems." :wink:

 

[Golan2072]

daryen, thanks for that insight. Makes this VTU comprehensible to me now. Still, I like my racist jackboots in there somewhere. No one is the villian of their own story...

Imperial Troops (AKA Marines) serving the will of the big Merchant Houses have plenty of jackboots. My Imperium is not evil, but neither is it good, and corruption runs rampart in it. (think Dune).

Golan2072, is there anybody/anything in the Islands subsectors in your map? If star positions are maintained then only high Jump tech cultures or those who arrived on slowboats. OTOH I suggest the Solomani might reside there. Remote isolated culture stewing in its own dreams of grandeur. I could see at least some adventures. Something like
"We've got to get out of here! These Solomani as the call themselves are nuts!" or
"Where do these Solomani raiders come from? They're not from any of the known systems." :wink:

Hmmm... Given the fact that the Hivers are behind the Rift, the Islands could be a prime site for a Manipulation... :twisted:

 

[Golan2072]

I do agree I would recommend Vincennes over Deneb, as Deneb is such a ridiculous star to have a habitable world around.

Ok, Vincennes it is!

Oh, good. We are on the same page, then.

Great!

 

[Golan2072]

Updated map:



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Some empires are multi-species: the Hivers have a veritable menagerie of servitor species; the Imperium has several "Imperialized" species in addition to Humanity; the Darrian-Reidain Confederation have Darrians, Cicek ("lizardmen") and Droyne, among others. The Zhodani are mostly Greys (Hiver-modified Humans) with some other species as minorities (especially Droyne); the K'Kree are just that - K'Kree; the Vargr are one species but MANY cultures; the Aslan are mostly Aslan but also "Aslanized" individuals from other species (especially Humans).

The Hivers are far away, mysterious and usually the only thing you see of them are their Diplomats and Ithklur bodyguards coming to Foreven and the Marches to trade high-end TL13 goods for various local specialities.

The Outrim Coalition is a Zhodani-led alliance of powers including the Zhodani, the Vargr and the Sword Worlders. Their main goal is defence against K'Kree aggression on the Trailing - Vargr forces fighting alongside Swordie mercenary cadres and Zhodani "military advisers" - but four times in the last 299 years they have attacked the Imperium. Such Frontier Wars usually break out when the Coalition delivers a major blow to the K'Kree at a reasonable cost, and thus buys a few quiet decades on the border with them, allowing the Coalition to pursue ambitions along the Imperial border.

 

[Golan2072]

Now that I have changed the Rift a bit, the Imperium has two frontiers - one to the Trailing (in Deneb), contested by teh K'Kree, and one on the Spinward (in Foreven), contested by the Aslan and the Zhodani (in addition to the Confederation). The main reason to expand into Foreven is to keep the trade routes with teh Hivers under Imperial control.

Or would moving the Aslan around (maybe removing the K'Kree altogether and replacing them with Aslan) woul;d be better for an open 'frontier' feel?

 

[daryen]

Or would moving the Aslan around (maybe removing the K'Kree altogether and replacing them with Aslan) woul;d be better for an open 'frontier' feel?

I don't think that is necessary. If you really want to open Foreven up a bit, push the Aslan down more. Put Kuzu along the edge of the Rift in subsector N of Trojan Reach. Then, let them expand along the Rift border, "flattening" their shape more. They would control more of subsectors I-P of Beyond, and way less of subsectors A-H. This pulls pressure off of the Imperial passage into Foreven. All without drastically shifting the Aslan around.

Alternatively, just make everyone smaller, particularly the Aslan and K'kree. Don't let them be so big, and let them be more "upstarts" compared to their more advanced competition.