New setting for Traveller needed

[Ishmael]

I disagree to a limited extent.
Simply using a form of realistic UWP procedure* and eliminating grav technologies will change much.
These things are simple rules changes, but not game system changes. House rules, really.

* mostly affecting atmo issues and population issues, which will affect a reasonable set of rulings on economies ( Dynasty perhaps? )

I do agree that there ought to be a non-OTU common setting which could allow forms of exploration not possible in the 3rd Imperium and which could allow many of the problems from that setting to be corrected without conflicting with some canon reference in a 30 year old magazine article.

In such a common setting, only major published systems might be set with other worlds left to individual refs, not the catalog-everything support of MegaTrav.

 

[Hopeless]

Okay here goes, firstly used the world creation rules.

World Size: 6 (9,600km, 0.76g)
Atmosphere: 5 (rated as Thin with 0.7)
Temperature: 7 (Temperate with 9')
Hydrographics: 9 (90.6%)
Population: 6 (2,900,000)
Government: 2 (Participating democracy)
Factions (1): Obscure group with little support in charge)
Law Level: 1
Star port: D
Tech Level: 5

So UPP Code is D-659621-5 Lo, Ni, Sc

First character I tried generating is a Star Marine so taking this altogether the world is fourth in a system of 11 worlds, the first two mirror Earth's in that they resemble Mercury and Venus whilst the third is in the process of being terraformed being the main means of employment in the system since the space stations in orbit of each world needs to be sustained more frequently than relying on a weekly or monthly freight run from outside of the system.

The Third world is almost a Water World with what little surface ground being used as part of the space port or scout base for example. Underwater there is an extensive domed settlements with underwater travel being most prevalent along with mining and the use of geothermal power to keep the settlement running.
There is plenty of life, especially sea-life with enormous examples of the latter forcing the inhabitants to stick to underwater terrain to avoid being attacked out in the open (sea) and did I mention the presence of naval and submarine craft?

The fifth and sixth are essentially empty orbits although evidence suggests there may have been a couple of planetoids that eventually crashed together to form part of the asteroid belt that takes up the 7th orbit.

The 8th is a Gas Giant roughly 80% the size of Jupiter and more composed of hydrogen with the 9th being an Ice World the size of Neptune and the 10th and 11th are both rock worlds barely twice as large as Pluto.

Established a century ago the fourth world was established as the main base for the system as they prepared to begin terraforming the third world however a war that waged mostly outside of the system forced the inhabitants of the system to become a lot more self sufficient such that when the war reached them they were able to weather the effects better than the systems nearby and they still have an operational scout base on world as a testament to their activities during that conflict.

However the governments have never been able to stay firmly in control often changing because their activities didn't take into account that the voters have a much larger say into whose in charge than the usual double dealings politicians get involved in so often they barely have a single term to fulfil whatever agenda they have planned.

The current government is too focused on completing the terraforming of the third world to notice that activities on the third world have grown more lawless with even the police being largely corrupt.

Into this world you get involved, are you a native?
Do you hail from outside the system?
What's your agenda?

This is where you begin your character generation, have fun!

 

[F33D]

I disagree to a limited extent.
Simply using a form of realistic UWP procedure* and eliminating grav technologies will change much.
These things are simple rules changes, but not game system changes. House rules, really.

* mostly affecting atmo issues and population issues, which will affect a reasonable set of rulings on economies ( Dynasty perhaps? )

Yes. Creating a new setting by changing the 3I system gen rules to be more realistic, etc. would greatly change the flavor of a setting. Having unexplored space as opposed to being surrounded by settled space (3I setting) also would greatly change the feel/flavor/atmosphere, etc. Getting rid of an omnipresent, huge gov (Imperium) by itself greatly changes much.

 

[Golan2072]

Yes. Creating a new setting by changing the 3I system gen rules to be more realistic, etc. would greatly change the flavor of a setting.

As done in OV. In fact, this was done by using the "Hard Science" rules from the TMB.

Having unexplored space as opposed to being surrounded by settled space (3I setting) also would greatly change the feel/flavor/atmosphere, etc.

Making an open frontier was one of the main objectives of OV.

Getting rid of an omnipresent, huge gov (Imperium) by itself greatly changes much.

OV's FNH government is omnipresent only at the Core, and very far from omnipresent on the frontier.

So, if I understand correctly, you want something similar to OV, but with live aliens and an upper limit of TL15? (and a space opera flavor)?

 

[dragoner]

Move outside of charted space, it is tiny, that is what I did:

If you read my opening post, you'll see that this is what I was proposing as a new published setting. More or less. I am NOT talking about individual GM creation. But, a commercial product. :?

By who, mongoose, or a third party? There could be many reasons why. Though I have thought of publishing my campaign setting.

 

[F33D]

So, if I understand correctly, you want something similar to OV, but with live aliens and an upper limit of TL15? (and a space opera flavor)?

No. Reread what I wrote about that specific topic.

[edit] Golan, I answered B.C. (before coffee). Perhaps close to what I communicated. Trying to think of a different RPG analogy. I'll try to clarify later today

 

[rust]

Simply using a form of realistic UWP procedure* and eliminating grav technologies will change much.
These things are simple rules changes, but not game system changes. House rules, really.

A more realistic UWP procedure may be seen as a house rule,
but eliminating grav technologies would in my view be a major
change of the game's technology assumptions.

 

[Mithras]

I'm not sure about this. It is possible to build a setting that 'feels' different to the default 3I setting without much change to the technological assumptions or the rule systems. Heck, the 2300 setting does this to some extent - although admittedly there are a few areas where things are fairly different. For example, imagine a setting where human augmentation with cybernetics and biotech are more common.

I agree. I planned to follow up Orbital (which is itself an alternate Traveller setting) with a far future setting changing none of the mechanics, technological assumptions or embedded setting quirks. Unfortunately another project came along rapidly and it didn't happen, but it was to be an ancient rendering of the star spanning empire, much along the lines of Ancient Persia. No direct link, but a despotic, colourful, cosmopolitan setting of slave-scouts, Immortal frozen watch star marines, exotic aristocratic clans with far too much power, accepted customs of duelling and the carrying of blades, roving eyes - the secret agents of the emperor that were a little like SolSec, but perhaps with psionics ... And so on. In one iteration, this empire had recently collapsed, the emperor attempting to claim authority over the worlds, but effectively only ruling the one fortress world he had retreated too, out in the dark the clans had picked up the pieces and began to stand-off in a game of interstelllar warlord-ship using the remnants of the empire they could lay their hands on.

It is all setting and no rule changes...

 

[Mithras]

Not neccessarily rust, a great deal can be done with emphasising different rules or aspects of the implied setting, or by toning down or reducing other aspects. Outer Veil's cap on TL is just such a point, it stays within the rules, but says 'well, the rules give us all these TLs to use, why dont't we .....'.

System does matter. A setting that keeps the same rules and
technology assumptions of the core Mongoose Traveller mate-
rial can only have a different kind of window dressing (like dif-
ferent interstellar states, different alien races and thelike), but
on the player character level there could only be minimal dif-
ferences. Careers, skills, combat, trade, space travel and all
that would remain unchanged, the player characters would ha-
ve exactly the same options, only with a different background.
For me this does not work, in my view a fresh new setting re-
quires rules and technology assumptions tailor made for the
specific setting and intended campaign, at least my attempts
to use the core Traveller material unchanged to create some-
thing that really feels different and new have failed miserably.

 

[Sigtrygg]

There is a map in T5 that shows galaxy and lots of civilisations in other places then the known Imperial setting.

I would pick a blank area and develop a setting there.

Think of a reason why you have transplanted humans.

Think of new alien races to interact with.

Fully detail what life is like at the various TLs for the various polities.

Aside - one of my biggest gripes with the Imperium setting is that we only know about the frontiers, we no nothing about the core sectors or how people live at TL15, that has to change.

The alternative is to scrap the OTU background entirely and write a new future history all the way to the far future Traveller.

The first proposal allows people with an OTU like setting to "easily" transport characters to play in the new sandbox while the familiar is always there to fall back on.

The second means a completely blank canvas.

 

[Ishmael]

A more realistic UWP procedure may be seen as a house rule,
but eliminating grav technologies would in my view be a major
change of the game's technology assumptions.

I believe there is a more realistic UWP procedure in the SRD as an alternate, so not really a houserule, but more of an optional official procedure.
There is 'realistic' reaction thrusters in the HIgh Guard SRD, so the tech assumption change is simply not going with reactionless thrusters and forcing zero-g actions except in some cases ( ferris wheels, etc. ). This is also part of OTU, but generally ignored and shunned as 'low-tech'. I think it would make space travel something special and not just starships=recreational_vehicles.

Because those small changes are in the printed ruleset, it would be a single common method as opposed to individual variation houserules per individual referee.

I understand what you're saying, but I just feel that a total change in game systems is unnecessary.

 

[F33D]

The second means a completely blank canvas.

This is what the game needs. 4 decades of baggage is nice for gronards but hasn't demonstrably helped the game expand in the sense of bringing in fresh blood.

 

[Golan2072]

The second means a completely blank canvas.

This is what the game needs. 4 decades of baggage is nice for gronards but hasn't demonstrably helped the game expand in the sense of bringing in fresh blood.

Seconded. Someone should take the Traveller rules, plus supplements, as written, and write a new commercial setting based on them. This is definitely doable. All it requires is someone with a vision, writing skills, and patience. A lot of patience.

 

[Mithras]

Just look what Star Trek did when they couldn't get any more story out of their universe... firstly, BANG! wormhole to another sector of space! And then ... WHOOSH! USS Voyager whisked off to an unexlored part of the galaxy! It's not just Traveller players feeling a bit hemmed in ...

 

[F33D]

The second means a completely blank canvas.

This is what the game needs. 4 decades of baggage is nice for gronards but hasn't demonstrably helped the game expand in the sense of bringing in fresh blood.

Seconded. Someone should take the Traveller rules, plus supplements, as written, and write a new commercial setting based on them. This is definitely doable. All it requires is someone with a vision, writing skills, and patience. A lot of patience.

Right. It doesn't even have to include anything about Earth or whatnot. Star Wars universe isn't even in this galaxy. It works fine.

 

[phavoc]

The nice thing about Traveller is that you can alter the universe for your players as much as you want. Need a new setting for your players to explore? Take the Spinward Marches sector and leave the borders intact, but most of the planets are more or less empty, so you have lots of opportunities for trade, exploration, piracy, etc, etc.

 

[alex_greene]

Yeah, I submitted an outline of one to Mongoose but it got turned down. A pity, because I could write about The Waiting Stars forever. It had that sort of Ringworld feel to it. I swear, writing the outline I could practically hear prog rock playing in the background.

Incidentally, I submitted a setting for Legend to Mongoose, too. To the same music.

 

[Mithras]

The nice thing about Traveller is that you can alter the universe for your players as much as you want. Need a new setting for your players to explore? Take the Spinward Marches sector and leave the borders intact, but most of the planets are more or less empty, so you have lots of opportunities for trade, exploration, piracy, etc, etc.

Messing with the 3i setting has always been an option. One of my own experiments was using the Spinward Marches Map, and assuming that the 3i on the map constituted the bulk of the imperium, with the borders just creeping over the edges of the map. Likewise with the Zhodani, their territory just went off the map a little. So nearly all of human life was there on the map, all other sectors out there were unexplored. The polities were radically changed, different backstory - I simply used the map.

But many people like to use settings as written, whether canon or independant, something 'official' and a point of reference when communicating with other players/referees.

 

[Oracle]

Maybe create a Starting book that allowed the GM following a set of guidelines to design out a Colony ship, and then a set of rules design out completely with loads of details the destination star system and planet the Colony ship will reach. Then add in another set of rules for the GM to figure out based on the Colony ship and resources, how the colony grows over a period of time.

 

[Mithras]

Maybe create a Starting book that allowed the GM following a set of guidelines to design out a Colony ship, and then a set of rules design out completely with loads of details the destination star system and planet the Colony ship will reach. Then add in another set of rules for the GM to figure out based on the Colony ship and resources, how the colony grows over a period of time.

Now that is the way to do it ...!