New to Traveller

[Devilmountain]

Very very new. I haven't played any version of the game, but I feel (after reading the core rules) this system will be perfect for the Sci-Fi Campaign I feel like running.

However I do have some questions I hope the good people of this web-community can help me out with.

So in interest of expediency, I will jump right in:

I'm thinking of running a space exploration type campaign, but one thing I couldn't find rules for was long range sensors or scanning. If a starship is in unexplored territory then all of the sub-sector map would be virtually blank. Due to fuel considerations, one would have to make sure there was a Gas Giant (provided the vessel in question was equipped with fuel scoops) in nearly every destination hex. So the idea of long range scanning and observation came to me. However I find no rules for this. Am I missing something? Has anyone used a system to represent this?

Your help is much appreciated.

 

[rust]

The rules you are looking for are in Mongoose Traveller Book 3: Scout.

 

[dmccoy1693]

Welcome to Traveller and welcome to the boards.

 

[Devilmountain]

Thanks, Rust.

Unfortunately I just bought Core, Mercenaries and High Guard....gonna have to wait a while for that book.

 

[Devilmountain]

Welcome to Traveller and welcome to the boards.

Thanks! Nice to be here.

 

[rust]

Unfortunately I just bought Core, Mercenaries and High Guard....gonna have to wait a while for that book.

You are not really missing much. In the end the relecant paragraph of
Scout only informs you that pre-jump assessment is usually done over a
distance of 2 parsec with extreme long range sensors and provides data
about gas giant presence, gross system structure, companion star presen-
ce, initial system structure and stellar anomalies.

 

[Devilmountain]

Unfortunately I just bought Core, Mercenaries and High Guard....gonna have to wait a while for that book.

You are not really missing much. In the end the relecant paragraph of
Scout only informs you that pre-jump assessment is usually done over a
distance of 2 parsec with extreme long range sensors and provides data
about gas giant presence, gross system structure, companion star presen-
ce, initial system structure and stellar anomalies.

Ok then, without giving much away, does the book state how long this scan takes and would the Scout book be a worthwhile addition to my collection anyway (given the knowledge of my campaign intention of space exploration)?

 

[rust]

"Typical time can range from one to five days, depending on range to TOS
and preexisting data."

I think that Scout would be useful. It contains informations on scout cha-
racters, scout starships and bases, scout equipment and scout procedures
that can help to enrich an exploration campaign quite a bit.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Also, don't forget that planet-side sensors will have had time to examine nearby star systems.

Star and GG locations everywhere in the subsector should probably already be known. Depending on the TL of your game, it is very likely that at least the orbit and size of all worlds within 6 parsecs would also be known.

I would use an inverse TL approach...
TL7 only GG would be known throughout the subsector (we are almost there in RW)
TL 8 any Size 8+ worlds would be known out to 6 parsecs
TL 9 any Size 4+ worlds 6 parsecs and Size 8+ throughout the subsector
TL10 all worlds (size 1+) would be known to 6 parsecs and Size 4+ for the subsector

1d6 days using Scientific Sensors (or anything other than basic sensors in the TMB) will identify stars/GG/large planets within 1 parsec. For each 1d6 days additional spent, I would let them go out 1 more parsec (maximum of 6).

 

[Gamerguy]

Yea the rules you are looking for are in Mongoose Traveller Book 3: Scout.

If you do a search on google using "Traveller: Scouts" you'll find some good information that will get you by until you can get this book.

The Mongoose Scouts book is very good and perfect for what you are doing.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Be warned though. There are no Mongoose Traveller (MGT) books that will give you detailed was of creating planetary systems. Mongoose has no method for determining what type of star(s) a world orbits, nothing abuot moons and nothing about any other planets in the system other than the mainworld.

There ARE older versions of Traveller that have these rules, but they are seriously broken and do not give realistic (or even semi-realistic) results. You will probably have to do most of that yourself.

 

[AndrewW]

Be warned though. There are no Mongoose Traveller (MGT) books that will give you detailed was of creating planetary systems. Mongoose has no method for determining what type of star(s) a world orbits, nothing abuot moons and nothing about any other planets in the system other than the mainworld.

Perhaps the World Builders Handbook will cover this, though who knows when we'll see it.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

There are several good planetary system design sequences out there, but none for Traveller.

GURPS: Space comes to mind as a good one, but it won't give you Traveller UWPs, you will have to convert everything over after you complete your design.

 

[BP]

How about the T-5 pre-release CD - does it have any solar system generation support?

At any rate, no game system can have a realistic (or even semi-realistic) result depending on ones definition - our current knowledge of our solar system is constantly being redefined - and our extra-solar knowledge verges on the non-existant!

 

[rust]

At any rate, no game system can have a realistic (or even semi-realistic) result depending on ones definition - our current knowledge of our solar system is constantly being redefined - and our extra-solar knowledge verges on the non-existant!

Yes and no, because I think we can assume that some basic laws of na-
ture will be the same in other planetary systems, too, and therefore we
can consider at least much of the dynamics and some of the astrophysics
and geophysics as realistic - or not.

For example, the orbital radius of an extrasolar planet should account for
the diameter of the star it circles, the orbital period should have some
plausible connection with its orbital radius and the mass of its star, the
surface gravity should be connected to its diameter and density, and so
on.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

The T5 pre-release DOES have planetary system building, but it is a variation of LBB5 and it is still broken.

 

[RandyT0001]

As a stop gap measure one could use the Win Star Gen program to create the star system and then use the world generation rules in the main book to create and detail the mainworld. No star system generation sequence/program is going to be perfect you just need one that's good enough for now to play the game.

 

[BP]

At any rate, no game system can have a realistic (or even semi-realistic) result depending on ones definition - our current knowledge of our solar system is constantly being redefined - and our extra-solar knowledge verges on the non-existant!

Yes and no, because I think we can assume that some basic laws of na-
ture will be the same in other planetary systems, too, and therefore we
can consider at least much of the dynamics and some of the astrophysics
and geophysics as realistic - or not.
...

Sure - on the surface - and making assumptions - the problem is that these assumptions haven't held up in a great many cases over our lifetimes.

Understanding the mechanics of the 'laws of nature' is unfortunately often not enough to accurately apply them...

Solar systems are huge open systems. As such, an immense amount of imperical (numeric, multi-dimensional) knowledge is required to make even vague assertions based on known mechanics. And most systems are variable, non-linear and non-homogeneous.

And we really don't have enough information (or even understand) those systems in our own solar system yet! Just late last year the results of the IBEX sky survey completely rocked the solar astronomy world with the 'discovery' of the ~2 billion mile ribbon of ENAs on the heliosphere. (My dad helped fab that spacecraft and works for the principal investigator, David McComas - he told me about the 'anomaly' early last year when they feared the equipment was in error and the whole project might be a failure).

And the accuracy of our information is actually appalling - we cannot send an automated probe even to mars - without manual corrective course overrides none of our near and deep space probes would have much chance of success (and even then they can and do fail). It is the sheer volume and scale of things - our understanding of the solar environment is actually still quite limited because of this. And this hampers the practicallity of our theories.

I won't even talk about the error ranges for EM/optical measurements past 100 ly.


For game systems all that is needed is something that is acceptable to one's suspension of disbelief. By definition any fiction is inherently unrealistic.

More important in a game systems is the mechanics of how such things are applied. And by this I mostly mean consistency and lack of typo/math errors. The old CT system was certainly unrealistic/broken/etc in terms of even the RW knowledge of the day. But it was playable and provided a framework on which to hang more detailed fiction...

 

[BP]

As a stop gap measure one could use the Win Star Gen program to create the star system and then use the world generation rules in the main book to create and detail the mainworld. No star system generation sequence/program is going to be perfect you just need one that's good enough for now to play the game.

That's a nice link - this program has been around for a while and is not bad!

 

[BP]

The T5 pre-release DOES have planetary system building, but it is a variation of LBB5 and it is still broken.

Broken?

Applying that to an abstract creative work is a bit vague. You mean you don't like it because it is unrealistic? Or inconsistent?