ShawnDriscoll
Cosmic Mongoose
I just stick to what the Star Fleet Technical Manual and Prime Directive RPG says.
Prime Directive...
- Thread starter Galahad64
- Start date
Tom Kalbfus
Mongoose
Another interesting question is what do Klingons look like in Prime Directive.
Do they look like Russians and Bulgarians with thick eyebrows and brown skin, as in the original series? Do they have bumps on their foreheads as in the Star Trek movies and the television series starting with The Next Generation, do they look like the Abrams version of the Klingons as seen in Star Trek: Into Darkness? I think the original series Klingons could easily pass for human if they simply shaved their beards and plucked their eye brows, the more modern Star Trek Klingons would have definite problems passing for human. Another question is, are there plans to include Classic Traveler races such as the Aslan and the Vargyr? I think both races could easily fit into Prime Directive just by creating Prime Directive versions of their cultures. I think the Aslan are similar to the Kzinti since they are both "cat people", not at all sure whether they would get along however though.
Do they look like Russians and Bulgarians with thick eyebrows and brown skin, as in the original series? Do they have bumps on their foreheads as in the Star Trek movies and the television series starting with The Next Generation, do they look like the Abrams version of the Klingons as seen in Star Trek: Into Darkness? I think the original series Klingons could easily pass for human if they simply shaved their beards and plucked their eye brows, the more modern Star Trek Klingons would have definite problems passing for human. Another question is, are there plans to include Classic Traveler races such as the Aslan and the Vargyr? I think both races could easily fit into Prime Directive just by creating Prime Directive versions of their cultures. I think the Aslan are similar to the Kzinti since they are both "cat people", not at all sure whether they would get along however though.
Star Fleet Universe Klingons look like the ones from TOS, as shown here.
There is a Klingon Empire sourcebook for Prime Directive in GURPS and D20M, which includes writeups of several subject planets and species in addition to the Klingons themselves. I would imagine seeing it being prepped for conversion to Mongoose Traveller once the core T
D rulebook is published.
There are some other species differences, too. The SFU Kzintis have cat ears, no tails, sentient females, and are "Kzinti" in singular and "Kzintis" in plural. They are biologically related to the lynx-like Lyrans, since both species (and certain others which emerged in that region of space, such as the now-presumed-to-be-extinct wolf-like Carnivons) are descended from populations seeded on various worlds in the distant past.
The Gorns (plural s) are three genetically-identical populations seeded on three seperate planets by a different (and equally unknown) precursor faction, and are themselves related to other species (not least the bird-like Paravians, who became extinct in the Alpha Octant but would re-emerge as an exile power over in the Omega Octant).
The SFU Tholians had a number of different strains which emerged on their ancestral homeworld back in the M81 Galaxy, but the dominant Tholian phenotype are the "pillars", which have no legs and literally hover above the ground. Once masters of their home galaxy, they were overthrown and virtually exterminated by the Seltorians, an insectoid species they had genetically engineered to serve as their enforcers. One group of Tholians fled to the Alpha Octant, founding the Tholian Holdfast. Another known group later arrived in the Draco Dwarf galaxy, but didn't come into contact with the Holdfast Tholians until much later in the timeline.
The Orions are handled differently than in the Paramount/CBS Franchise, too. In the SFU, Orion (the planet) is a member of the Federation, albeit one which cut a unique deal when signing up which would come to haunt the UFP in later years. The Orion Pirates are "officially" disavowed by the Orion government, though rumours abound of various under-the-table dealings going on in the Orion Enclave. But while the first pirate oprations were undertaken by "ethnic" Orions, the modern Orion Cartels have a wide array of species involved, and are united more by a common technology base and mode of operation than through any particular species or faction loyalties.
There is a Klingon Empire sourcebook for Prime Directive in GURPS and D20M, which includes writeups of several subject planets and species in addition to the Klingons themselves. I would imagine seeing it being prepped for conversion to Mongoose Traveller once the core T
D rulebook is published.There are some other species differences, too. The SFU Kzintis have cat ears, no tails, sentient females, and are "Kzinti" in singular and "Kzintis" in plural. They are biologically related to the lynx-like Lyrans, since both species (and certain others which emerged in that region of space, such as the now-presumed-to-be-extinct wolf-like Carnivons) are descended from populations seeded on various worlds in the distant past.
The Gorns (plural s) are three genetically-identical populations seeded on three seperate planets by a different (and equally unknown) precursor faction, and are themselves related to other species (not least the bird-like Paravians, who became extinct in the Alpha Octant but would re-emerge as an exile power over in the Omega Octant).
The SFU Tholians had a number of different strains which emerged on their ancestral homeworld back in the M81 Galaxy, but the dominant Tholian phenotype are the "pillars", which have no legs and literally hover above the ground. Once masters of their home galaxy, they were overthrown and virtually exterminated by the Seltorians, an insectoid species they had genetically engineered to serve as their enforcers. One group of Tholians fled to the Alpha Octant, founding the Tholian Holdfast. Another known group later arrived in the Draco Dwarf galaxy, but didn't come into contact with the Holdfast Tholians until much later in the timeline.
The Orions are handled differently than in the Paramount/CBS Franchise, too. In the SFU, Orion (the planet) is a member of the Federation, albeit one which cut a unique deal when signing up which would come to haunt the UFP in later years. The Orion Pirates are "officially" disavowed by the Orion government, though rumours abound of various under-the-table dealings going on in the Orion Enclave. But while the first pirate oprations were undertaken by "ethnic" Orions, the modern Orion Cartels have a wide array of species involved, and are united more by a common technology base and mode of operation than through any particular species or faction loyalties.
Nathan Brazil
Banded Mongoose
Tom Kalbfus said:
Righto the first time!
The published products for the other versions of Prime Directive will give an idea of what their Klingons look look like.
As has been mentioned earlier, the only source materials that can be called upon is The Original Series and The Animated Series so you won't find any do-gooder from future shows (thank goodness). Despite that, the setting is fleshed out. You wont find any of the traditional Traveller races, except for humans. And no, the Kzinti are not Aslan! Watch the Animated Series episode "The Slaver Weapon" and you will know who they really are. Heh heh heh....
Tom Kalbfus
Mongoose
So the Kzinti have Slaver Weapons in the Star Fleet Universe as well as the Known Space Universe, which is the setting of Larry Niven's Ringworld. What if there was a similarly built Ringworld (also known as a Niven Ring) in the Prime Directive Universe? The Ringworld in Known Space was built by the same race known as slavers, maybe there is a Prime Directive version of such, also known as "Pak Protectors". What sort of contention might it cause for the various powers in the Prime Directive setting? I think Federation ships would have to approach it carefully, to avoid getting zapped by the Ringworld Meteor Defense system. Matching the rotational speed of the Ringworld should be no problem with impulse drive, and if a starship does get zapped, perhaps some or all of the starship crew might beam down to the surface, or get into shuttles and do the same.
Again, the Star Fleet Universe Kzintis are not the same as the Kzinti shown in The Slaver Weapon. Their ships (which look like this) are armed with phasers, disruptors, and drones, though they generally have a higher proportion of drones than disruptors. Logistically, they use the same kind of planets, bases, and transports as most other Alpha Octant powers.
From a game design perspective, their ships were originally designed by ADB to act in opposition to the Klingons. The blueprints used to help inspire the first Klingon SSDs in SFB showed a number of aft-firing phasers, as well as nuclear-tipped missiles that were never shown on-screen. So it was deemed that the aft-firing phaser mounts were defensive in nature, and that someone must have been firing missiles of their own for those phasers to try and shoot down. That "someone" became the Kzinti Hegemony, which lies coreward of the Klingon Empire on the "western" portion of the Federation and Empire map.
There is only one known ring world in the Star Fleet Universe, and it belongs to the Helgardians out in the Triangulum Galaxy.
In their case, the Helgardians are "sliders", whose home system abruptly appeared in "our" Triangulum a thousand or so years prior to Y1. They had ten thousand years' worth of development in their home dimension prior to this, so already had their ring world with them when they were transplanted from one quantum reality to another.
From a game design perspective, their ships were originally designed by ADB to act in opposition to the Klingons. The blueprints used to help inspire the first Klingon SSDs in SFB showed a number of aft-firing phasers, as well as nuclear-tipped missiles that were never shown on-screen. So it was deemed that the aft-firing phaser mounts were defensive in nature, and that someone must have been firing missiles of their own for those phasers to try and shoot down. That "someone" became the Kzinti Hegemony, which lies coreward of the Klingon Empire on the "western" portion of the Federation and Empire map.
There is only one known ring world in the Star Fleet Universe, and it belongs to the Helgardians out in the Triangulum Galaxy.
In their case, the Helgardians are "sliders", whose home system abruptly appeared in "our" Triangulum a thousand or so years prior to Y1. They had ten thousand years' worth of development in their home dimension prior to this, so already had their ring world with them when they were transplanted from one quantum reality to another.
Tom Kalbfus
Mongoose
If one ringworld can slip between quantum realities, why not another? Also something like a ringworld would explain a lot about the Star Fleet Universe. Niven's Ringworld is full of humanoids, or homonids as he calls them, so is the Star Fleet Universe. I think a Star Fleet version of Niven's Ringworld would have a map of the Klingon Homeworld on its Great Ocean, as well as one of Romulus, Vulcan and Earth. One could use the ringworld series as a generalized guideline for what maybe found there and replace the races found in the "Known Space" with their Star Fleet equivalents. In Niven's universe the Kzinti are sort of the equivalent to the Klingons, they serve the same role as the warlike alien race, the Pierson's Puppeteers fill the same nitch as the Vulcans do in Prime Directive, though the specifics are different.
The Triangulum galaxy is quite far away, at 3 million light years. I'm surprised that Star Fleet would know about alien races in that galaxy. What is the Warp scale in the Prime Directive Universe? I keep thinking back to the Voyager series, where traveling to the other side of the Galaxy was a big deal, which would be only 60,000 light years, so the Triangulum Galaxy is 50 times that distance! In the Original series, the Star Ship Enterprise couldn't routinely travel to the Andromeda Galaxy, so the Warp Drive was not fast enough to practical intergalactic travel. I assume the Great Galactic Barrier was reached by traveling across the thickness of the spiral arms, that is either Galactic North or South, a distance of about 3000 light years or so, again one fiftieth of the distance to the opposite point of the Galaxy from which Earth resides.
The Triangulum galaxy is quite far away, at 3 million light years. I'm surprised that Star Fleet would know about alien races in that galaxy. What is the Warp scale in the Prime Directive Universe? I keep thinking back to the Voyager series, where traveling to the other side of the Galaxy was a big deal, which would be only 60,000 light years, so the Triangulum Galaxy is 50 times that distance! In the Original series, the Star Ship Enterprise couldn't routinely travel to the Andromeda Galaxy, so the Warp Drive was not fast enough to practical intergalactic travel. I assume the Great Galactic Barrier was reached by traveling across the thickness of the spiral arms, that is either Galactic North or South, a distance of about 3000 light years or so, again one fiftieth of the distance to the opposite point of the Galaxy from which Earth resides.
The SFU Kzintis are different from the Known Space/Slaver Weapon Kzinti in part due to licensing issues.
There are discussions in various Prime Directive volumes about the mysteries of species seeding in the Alpha Octant, as well as the issue of near-duplicate planets and other mysteries which may never be resolved. But whatever the answers may be, they would be required by the terms of ADB's licences with Paramount/CBS, the Niven estate, and the Franz Joseph estate to be distinct from non-licensed works published in other franchises.
The warp scale used in the Star Fleet Universe is talked about in this file, which is an extract from GURPS Prime Directive 4th Edition. (To be clear, there haven't been four editions of GURPS PD; the tagline is more an indicator that the current version is written with GURPS 4e in mind.)
One conceit in the SFU is that the Milky Way galaxy is physically bigger than what we know "our" galaxy to be. Each hex on the Federation and Empire map (or rather, its "West" and "East" map portions; you can buy a combined large scale hex map as a special order from ADB) is approximately 500 parsecs across. This allows the habitable region of the galaxy to be one hex thick, which makes life easier when playing the strategic-level Federation and Empire wargame.
As for the size and layout of the galaxy itself, the SFU incarnation (which was originally derived from the layout presented in the Star Fleet Technical Manual) looks like this. Rather than the quadrant system used in the Franchise, the SFU Milky Way is divided into 24 sectors, which are bunched into five habitable regions by near-impassable Voids, the limits imposed by the galactic energy barrier, and the Storm Zone to coreward.
The area covered by the Federation and Empire map is shown on the galaxy map. The Federation covers much of the Beta Sector (in the Alpha Octant), the Klingons and others are in the Gamma Sector, and so on. For most of the "modern" SFU history, the Alpha Octant empires were limited to their own region of space. But due to the need to counter an invasion by the extra-galactic Andromedans, the "home" powers would come into contact with more distant regions late in the SFU timeline.
Before launching their assault on the Alpha Octant, the Andromedans arrived in (and gradually conquered) the Lesser Magellanic Cloud, using it as a springboard for their wider galactic invasions. In order to put a stop to this, the surviving Alpha Octant powers launched Operation Unity, which destroyed the chains of Andro bases connecting the Alpha Octant to the LMC. Once in the Cloud, the Unity powers destroyed the Andro starbase providing a "trunk line" connection to the Andromeda Galaxy, and made contact with the surviving Magellanic holdouts (which had been driven into exile by the initial Andromedan conquest of the Cloud).
Over time, the LMC would itself become a jump-off point for further explorations of the galaxy. One example of this is the Star Fleet advanced technology survey cruiser NCC-1821 USS Sakharov. This ship set out from the LMC in Y212 to visit the Omega Octant, which it first reached in Y214. It would eventually return to the Federation in Y219, providing Star Fleet with a wealth of data gathered from that volatile region of the galaxy.
It won't all be plain sailing for the Federation and others post-Unity, however. It seems that the Xorkaelian Empire (the masters of that giant chunk of space over on the far side of the galaxy) are set to launch an assault on the Alpha Octant in Y210. In their case, it has been suggested that they get across by skimming the outer edge of the Storm Zone, but the full details of that invasion won't be revealed until SFB Module X2 is published (or perhaps not even then, depending on whether there will be a separate Xorkaelian module afterwards).
Since the Triangulum material available for SFB is still in playtest (as in, there has yet to be a formally-published module for M33), it hasn't been spelled out just yet how the data on Triangulum appears in the "Air Force data tapes". For now, we (the readers) know some of what exists out there, but we don't yet know when, how, or even if Star Fleet manages to find out any of that data "in-universe" prior to the cut-off point in Y225.
(The Alpha timeline stops in Y225, at the end of the second generation of advanced technology. As the history file states, "Presumably a third generation of X-ships was developed, but The Next Generation is not within the scope of the Star Fleet Universe.")
There are discussions in various Prime Directive volumes about the mysteries of species seeding in the Alpha Octant, as well as the issue of near-duplicate planets and other mysteries which may never be resolved. But whatever the answers may be, they would be required by the terms of ADB's licences with Paramount/CBS, the Niven estate, and the Franz Joseph estate to be distinct from non-licensed works published in other franchises.
The warp scale used in the Star Fleet Universe is talked about in this file, which is an extract from GURPS Prime Directive 4th Edition. (To be clear, there haven't been four editions of GURPS PD; the tagline is more an indicator that the current version is written with GURPS 4e in mind.)
One conceit in the SFU is that the Milky Way galaxy is physically bigger than what we know "our" galaxy to be. Each hex on the Federation and Empire map (or rather, its "West" and "East" map portions; you can buy a combined large scale hex map as a special order from ADB) is approximately 500 parsecs across. This allows the habitable region of the galaxy to be one hex thick, which makes life easier when playing the strategic-level Federation and Empire wargame.
As for the size and layout of the galaxy itself, the SFU incarnation (which was originally derived from the layout presented in the Star Fleet Technical Manual) looks like this. Rather than the quadrant system used in the Franchise, the SFU Milky Way is divided into 24 sectors, which are bunched into five habitable regions by near-impassable Voids, the limits imposed by the galactic energy barrier, and the Storm Zone to coreward.
The area covered by the Federation and Empire map is shown on the galaxy map. The Federation covers much of the Beta Sector (in the Alpha Octant), the Klingons and others are in the Gamma Sector, and so on. For most of the "modern" SFU history, the Alpha Octant empires were limited to their own region of space. But due to the need to counter an invasion by the extra-galactic Andromedans, the "home" powers would come into contact with more distant regions late in the SFU timeline.
Before launching their assault on the Alpha Octant, the Andromedans arrived in (and gradually conquered) the Lesser Magellanic Cloud, using it as a springboard for their wider galactic invasions. In order to put a stop to this, the surviving Alpha Octant powers launched Operation Unity, which destroyed the chains of Andro bases connecting the Alpha Octant to the LMC. Once in the Cloud, the Unity powers destroyed the Andro starbase providing a "trunk line" connection to the Andromeda Galaxy, and made contact with the surviving Magellanic holdouts (which had been driven into exile by the initial Andromedan conquest of the Cloud).
Over time, the LMC would itself become a jump-off point for further explorations of the galaxy. One example of this is the Star Fleet advanced technology survey cruiser NCC-1821 USS Sakharov. This ship set out from the LMC in Y212 to visit the Omega Octant, which it first reached in Y214. It would eventually return to the Federation in Y219, providing Star Fleet with a wealth of data gathered from that volatile region of the galaxy.
It won't all be plain sailing for the Federation and others post-Unity, however. It seems that the Xorkaelian Empire (the masters of that giant chunk of space over on the far side of the galaxy) are set to launch an assault on the Alpha Octant in Y210. In their case, it has been suggested that they get across by skimming the outer edge of the Storm Zone, but the full details of that invasion won't be revealed until SFB Module X2 is published (or perhaps not even then, depending on whether there will be a separate Xorkaelian module afterwards).
Since the Triangulum material available for SFB is still in playtest (as in, there has yet to be a formally-published module for M33), it hasn't been spelled out just yet how the data on Triangulum appears in the "Air Force data tapes". For now, we (the readers) know some of what exists out there, but we don't yet know when, how, or even if Star Fleet manages to find out any of that data "in-universe" prior to the cut-off point in Y225.
(The Alpha timeline stops in Y225, at the end of the second generation of advanced technology. As the history file states, "Presumably a third generation of X-ships was developed, but The Next Generation is not within the scope of the Star Fleet Universe.")
Tom Kalbfus
Mongoose
Just one more question: Why can't Prime Directive starships cross the void? Is it because they run out of antimatter? Seems to me that antimatter powered starships can't easily refuel unless there is an advanced civilization to supply them with antimatter.
Voids are hostile regions of space, where sensors do not function, magnetic and ion storms abound, and ships can be lost without trace within minutes of entry.
In the case of the Alpha/Omega Void, things are made worse by the presence of the Souldra. They are dark energy life forms from an alternate "dark matter" dimension, which have their primary beach-head in the physical universe at the Black Sun, a star in the Void which somehow draws energy from their native realm. Souldra ships (flying dark matter crystals capable of launching vampiric Black Shards, which can attach to enemy ships and leech the occupants of their life energy) are among the few types capable of navigating the Void.
It's not known if there are Souldra infestations in any of the other known Voids in the Milky Way, but these regions are hazardous enough even in their absence.
If you want to get from one habitable region of the galaxy to another, you have few options. One is to try and go "under" (or "over") each Void, by flying out through the galactic barrier and diving back in again once you've travelled far enough to do so safely, relatively speaking. Another is to do something similar, but by using a satellite galaxy (such as the LMC) as a waypoint. A third is to try and skim the edge of the Storm Zone, where the local space is not quite so hostile as to rule out all forms of travel.
From a game design perspective, the Voids were put there to make sure that each region of the galaxy would be (mostly) isolated from the others, at least in the early-to-mid portions of the SFU timeline. When the Omega Octant was being developed, the Void was needed to make sure that it didn't disrupt what had already been established for the Alpha Octant timeline, as well as in the Federation and Empire strategic game.
However, not all "empty" regions are as hazardous as the Voids. For example, on the Omega Octant hex map, there is a region called the Wasteland. While stars and planets are few in number there, the Wasteland is "calm" enough to be safely navigable, so long as you have set the appropriate logistical preparations in place on either side (or during your crossing). Similarly, once the Unity task forces got past the galactic barrier, the main issue they had (aside from dealing with those hostile Andromedan ships shooting back at them) was the need to place mobile bases of their own, in order to support travel to and from the Lesser Magellanic Cloud.
And to clarify, "Prime Directive" is the term used more to describe the RPG games in particular. The setting overall is known as the Star Fleet Universe.
In the case of the Alpha/Omega Void, things are made worse by the presence of the Souldra. They are dark energy life forms from an alternate "dark matter" dimension, which have their primary beach-head in the physical universe at the Black Sun, a star in the Void which somehow draws energy from their native realm. Souldra ships (flying dark matter crystals capable of launching vampiric Black Shards, which can attach to enemy ships and leech the occupants of their life energy) are among the few types capable of navigating the Void.
It's not known if there are Souldra infestations in any of the other known Voids in the Milky Way, but these regions are hazardous enough even in their absence.
If you want to get from one habitable region of the galaxy to another, you have few options. One is to try and go "under" (or "over") each Void, by flying out through the galactic barrier and diving back in again once you've travelled far enough to do so safely, relatively speaking. Another is to do something similar, but by using a satellite galaxy (such as the LMC) as a waypoint. A third is to try and skim the edge of the Storm Zone, where the local space is not quite so hostile as to rule out all forms of travel.
From a game design perspective, the Voids were put there to make sure that each region of the galaxy would be (mostly) isolated from the others, at least in the early-to-mid portions of the SFU timeline. When the Omega Octant was being developed, the Void was needed to make sure that it didn't disrupt what had already been established for the Alpha Octant timeline, as well as in the Federation and Empire strategic game.
However, not all "empty" regions are as hazardous as the Voids. For example, on the Omega Octant hex map, there is a region called the Wasteland. While stars and planets are few in number there, the Wasteland is "calm" enough to be safely navigable, so long as you have set the appropriate logistical preparations in place on either side (or during your crossing). Similarly, once the Unity task forces got past the galactic barrier, the main issue they had (aside from dealing with those hostile Andromedan ships shooting back at them) was the need to place mobile bases of their own, in order to support travel to and from the Lesser Magellanic Cloud.
And to clarify, "Prime Directive" is the term used more to describe the RPG games in particular. The setting overall is known as the Star Fleet Universe.
Tom Kalbfus
Mongoose
Sounds interesting! Can't wait for the game to come out. With 500 parsec hexes however, it looks like we'll need smaller scale maps to locate specific worlds. Say on the more familiar 1 parsec per hex scale. The Referee will need to make lists of what worlds are in each hex, not all of them, mind you, just the ones that are important to the players, realistically, there can be millions of stars within a 500 parsec hex that is also 500 parsecs thick, offhand within the spiral arm of a galaxy, there might be from 1 million to 10 million stars, but the referee need only list a few that are important to the players. A typical exploration might involve the referee rolling up a random star system using the Traveller rules. My guess is starbases are class A Starports often located in deep space, probably near a star, because one of the functions of a starbase would be to refuel starships, and for that, the most economical way to do that would be to collect a star's energy with solar panels, the energy would then be applied to dilithium crystals which would moderate a reverse annihilation reaction to convert the energy into equal amounts of matter and antimatter in the form of hydrogen and anti-hydrogen, the anti-hydrogen is stored, and the hydrogen may either be stored or discarded. This follows the general principle that any reaction (matter + antimatter ---> dilithium---> energy) may be reversed (energy ---> dilithium ---> matter + antimatter) and if dilithium crystals are involved in one, they may also be involved in another.
One way for starships to refuel locally, maybe to skim gas giants if they are equipped to do so, then channel the hydrogen into a fusion reactor, and funnel the energy through the warp engines into the dilithium crystals to produce small amounts of matter and antimatter for storage.
That's my idea anyway, how does Prime Directive deal with fuel consumption and refueling? Just curious?
One way for starships to refuel locally, maybe to skim gas giants if they are equipped to do so, then channel the hydrogen into a fusion reactor, and funnel the energy through the warp engines into the dilithium crystals to produce small amounts of matter and antimatter for storage.
That's my idea anyway, how does Prime Directive deal with fuel consumption and refueling? Just curious?
The strategic-level Federation and Empire wargame provides data on the major military installations found in the UFP and elsewhere in the Alpha Octant.
For example, if you go back to the "west" map and look to the western half of Federation space, you can see a chain of battle stations (upgraded versions of the base station type shown on-screen) every thousand parsecs or so along the Fed-Klingon, Fed-Kzinti, and Fed-Tholian borders. The next "ring" further in shows a set of starbases, which are much larger installations (based on the Star Fleet Headquarters design shown in the Technical Manual). Another ring of battle stations is further in, with a trio of starbases surrounding the capital hex.
The capital region (shown as a star in hex 2908) is where the founding planets of the Federation can be found: Earth, Vulcan, Alpha-Centauri, Andor, Rigel IV, and others (such as Mars). F&E comes with a "capital chart" which shows how many minor and major industrial planets there are in this hex, as well as where any starbases in the region can be found.
Also, in the "off-map" Federation Survey Area, various facilities (to include a starbase) exist to support coreward exploration efforts. The Survey Area more or less equates to the "blank" territory shown on the galaxy map in the Beta sector, running from the coreward edge of the blue Fed circle to the nearest edge of the Storm Zone (which cannot be colonized).
Note that this map is essentially a snapshot of how the Alpha Octant stood at the onset of the General War in Y168. Many bases were lost, rebuilt, or placed in new locations over the course of the next twenty years and more.
In terms of the civilian economy, those kind of bases are "below" the level you see in F&E.
A number of civilian base stations exist, along with commercial platforms, outposts, ground installations, and other means of supporting a given empire's interstellar economy. The freighters and transports vary in terms of how they interact with these assets, since some ship types can land on planets and others cannot.
If I recall correctly, the assumption is that, in the Federation and the Klingon Empire, there is an average of fifty "viable" locations per hex. Some other regions, like much of Romulan and Gorn space as shown on the "east" map, seemingly have lower numbers of habitable planets per hex. This makes it somewhat more awkward for both species to establish new "open-air" colonies (since there aren't as many worlds conducive for either species to go around).
For example, if you go back to the "west" map and look to the western half of Federation space, you can see a chain of battle stations (upgraded versions of the base station type shown on-screen) every thousand parsecs or so along the Fed-Klingon, Fed-Kzinti, and Fed-Tholian borders. The next "ring" further in shows a set of starbases, which are much larger installations (based on the Star Fleet Headquarters design shown in the Technical Manual). Another ring of battle stations is further in, with a trio of starbases surrounding the capital hex.
The capital region (shown as a star in hex 2908) is where the founding planets of the Federation can be found: Earth, Vulcan, Alpha-Centauri, Andor, Rigel IV, and others (such as Mars). F&E comes with a "capital chart" which shows how many minor and major industrial planets there are in this hex, as well as where any starbases in the region can be found.
Also, in the "off-map" Federation Survey Area, various facilities (to include a starbase) exist to support coreward exploration efforts. The Survey Area more or less equates to the "blank" territory shown on the galaxy map in the Beta sector, running from the coreward edge of the blue Fed circle to the nearest edge of the Storm Zone (which cannot be colonized).
Note that this map is essentially a snapshot of how the Alpha Octant stood at the onset of the General War in Y168. Many bases were lost, rebuilt, or placed in new locations over the course of the next twenty years and more.
In terms of the civilian economy, those kind of bases are "below" the level you see in F&E.
A number of civilian base stations exist, along with commercial platforms, outposts, ground installations, and other means of supporting a given empire's interstellar economy. The freighters and transports vary in terms of how they interact with these assets, since some ship types can land on planets and others cannot.
If I recall correctly, the assumption is that, in the Federation and the Klingon Empire, there is an average of fifty "viable" locations per hex. Some other regions, like much of Romulan and Gorn space as shown on the "east" map, seemingly have lower numbers of habitable planets per hex. This makes it somewhat more awkward for both species to establish new "open-air" colonies (since there aren't as many worlds conducive for either species to go around).
Tom Kalbfus
Mongoose
I imagine for Prime Directive, imagine using the 2300 World Generation system and roll about 1 million to 10 million star systems disregarding all results that don't lead to a habitable planet for humans, but don't do it really, just imagine doing it. So in Traveller terms, a class M planet would have at atmosphere of 5, 6 or 8, would have variable gravity perhaps between just under one half an Earth gravity to perhaps 1.25 Earth gravities or there about with over one million or more star systems per hex, most Federation colonists are not even going to consider a planet where a filter mask is required because the atmosphere is tainted. I notice in the original series, crew members don't often get into their environmental suits on landing parties. I admit, I am only familiar with the original series and some animated series episodes. I don't know what official history occurred after those series with Star Fleet Battles and the like.
So what are the standard player character races? I imagine they would include Human, Vulcan, Andorian, Klingon, Romulan, Kzin, and maybe Gorn. From the original series, I note there are androids on Harry Mudd's planet, don't know if they are viable player character races. Don't know if a Klingon would serve on a star fleet vessel unless he was a spy disguised as a human. As a potential plot device I think Khan Noonan Singh might still be out there, unless official Star Fleet Battles history had him killed. If we're not talking specific named characters, then one of his band might have escaped the planet they were exiled on in the episode "Space Seed", they might not necessarily be villains, depending on the situation.
So what are the standard player character races? I imagine they would include Human, Vulcan, Andorian, Klingon, Romulan, Kzin, and maybe Gorn. From the original series, I note there are androids on Harry Mudd's planet, don't know if they are viable player character races. Don't know if a Klingon would serve on a star fleet vessel unless he was a spy disguised as a human. As a potential plot device I think Khan Noonan Singh might still be out there, unless official Star Fleet Battles history had him killed. If we're not talking specific named characters, then one of his band might have escaped the planet they were exiled on in the episode "Space Seed", they might not necessarily be villains, depending on the situation.
ShawnDriscoll
Cosmic Mongoose
With software, you can roll a million systems in less than a minute and report back on the good ones.
RE: Void --- This is only -MY- opinion, and the game's designer might have other thoughts, but here's how I explain the Void. Remember the formula Speed = Warp-factor cubed times light-speed? That works great for Tactical Warp Speed, up to SFB speed 31-hexes, but not for F&E strategic speeds. I figure once you go above Warp 3.14159, the math changes slightly to include another variable based on the natural gravimetric distortion caused by mass (stars/planets/etc) in the surrounding time-space continuum. Without this, Warp 9.0 = 729 times speed of light. It would take 27 months to cross one F&E hex. However, the average gravimetric variable in the region covered by the F&E map brings Warp 9 up to some 500,000 times light speed. In the Voids, the local mass is so low that the extra variable becomes 1 (or is it zero?) and cancels out of the formula. Ergo, it would take YEARS to cross the Voids.
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RE: Number of stars / planets in one F&E hex --- Each F&E hex 500 parsecs across and thick. That's 125,000,000 cubic parsecs. Let's assume for simple-math's sake that there is an average of one stellar body every five parsecs, or one such per 125 cubic parsecs. That means there are roughly one million stellar bodies per F&E hex.
If one were to further assume, again for simple-math's sake, that 10% of these are stars with planetary systems, and then 1% of those have planets worth visiting. That's about a thousand planets that one could "safely" put a mining base or military outpost on. Let's further estimate that 1% of these planets are Class-M and can support life without too much terraforming required. Therefore, by this math, there are approximately ten potential colony worlds in each F&E hex. Of course, few of these would actually have been discovered, let alone of any colonies built yet. I mean, how long would it take to survey a million stars?
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RE: Number of stars / planets in one F&E hex --- Each F&E hex 500 parsecs across and thick. That's 125,000,000 cubic parsecs. Let's assume for simple-math's sake that there is an average of one stellar body every five parsecs, or one such per 125 cubic parsecs. That means there are roughly one million stellar bodies per F&E hex.
If one were to further assume, again for simple-math's sake, that 10% of these are stars with planetary systems, and then 1% of those have planets worth visiting. That's about a thousand planets that one could "safely" put a mining base or military outpost on. Let's further estimate that 1% of these planets are Class-M and can support life without too much terraforming required. Therefore, by this math, there are approximately ten potential colony worlds in each F&E hex. Of course, few of these would actually have been discovered, let alone of any colonies built yet. I mean, how long would it take to survey a million stars?
Reynard
Cosmic Mongoose
"I notice in the original series, crew members don't often get into their environmental suits on landing parties. I admit, I am only familiar with the original series and some animated series episodes. I don't know what official history occurred after those series with Star Fleet Battles and the like.
Kirk and the gang went to M class planets because it cost Desilu Studios a whole lot less. I'm sure the suits didn't help the budget with the sound system. Then again, we have to forget the environmental force fields from the animated series because... again, cheap budget and stock footage. Positive point for the animated series is discovering the galaxy isn't so human centric.
That said, the valiant player characters can (and should) touch down on all those worlds other than starting with 'M' populated by non-human or even humanoid sentients and face BIG BUDGET life forms. That especially goes for races with ridged noses and foreheads.
Speaking about more races, I look over my old D20 copy of PD and the races both TOS and ADB designs. Traveller is a pretty friendly system for creating aliens. Will see more races other than what's available in the book be included in future products as either PCs and/or NPCs? I know the GM (and players) can make all the unofficial races they want.
Kirk and the gang went to M class planets because it cost Desilu Studios a whole lot less. I'm sure the suits didn't help the budget with the sound system. Then again, we have to forget the environmental force fields from the animated series because... again, cheap budget and stock footage. Positive point for the animated series is discovering the galaxy isn't so human centric.
That said, the valiant player characters can (and should) touch down on all those worlds other than starting with 'M' populated by non-human or even humanoid sentients and face BIG BUDGET life forms. That especially goes for races with ridged noses and foreheads.
Speaking about more races, I look over my old D20 copy of PD and the races both TOS and ADB designs. Traveller is a pretty friendly system for creating aliens. Will see more races other than what's available in the book be included in future products as either PCs and/or NPCs? I know the GM (and players) can make all the unofficial races they want.
It's worth bearing in mind that the SFU has its own "past" (prior to a certain "five-year mission") as well as a separate "future". Not counting the differences in what happened during that time period (which in the SFU timeline ran from Y154 to Y159, though the incident at Talos IV happened in Y142). If it helps, there is an online version of the Alpha Octant time line at this link. (A separate file covers the history of the Lesser Magellanic Cloud, for those interested in seeing what happened there before and during the Andromedan occupation, and the point at which the Alpha Octant made contact with the surviving locals through Operation Unity.)
For example, the Earth history section in PD Federation goes into more detail on what happened prior to First Contact, as well as in its aftermath. (Since the SFU history was laid out long before Star Trek: Enterprise was aired, the two are very different. Not least since ENT is not part of the SFU source material. There is, or was, no NX-01 in this universe.)
Also, the SFU has its own series of planetary classifications, with a range of worlds capable of hosting "open-air" colonies for the majority of Federation member species (local pathogens or other concerns notwithstanding).
Class K worlds are habitable desert planets (such as Vulcan), Class L has less than one-third of its surface covered by water, Class-M is Earth-like, class-N covers ocean worlds with less than 10% of its surface covered by dry land, and class-O covers ice balls (such as Andor, which has a very different setup to ENT's Andoria). A few worlds overlap these classifications; for example, Alpha-Centauri is a borderline Class M/Class N planet.
In terms of species, the core book in each game system has a mixture of "TV species" (Humans, Vulcans, Andorians, Klingons, Romulans, Gorns, and others) and "home-grown" ADB species (Lyrans, Hydrans, and suchlike). The GURPS version has a few more species that aren't in the D20M volume, such as the five founding species of the Inter-Stellar Concordium. (In the case of the ISC, anyone who played Starfleet Command 2 may recall a mention of the frog-like Meskeen, but that particular species was made up by Taldren and does not exist in the "regular" SFU.)
Of the books that are in print for GURPS4e and D20M so far, the Federation sourcebook has more details on the UFP members, the Klingon sourcebook covers the subject planets of the Empire, while the Romulan book includes three "suppressed planets" that lie within their space. (The SFU Romulan Star Empire doesn't have any proper subject species, and is more ethnically homogenous than the Federation or the Klingon Empire).
There are a few other species which surface in other files (such as issues of Captain's Log), and the Hydrans have a species writeup in GURPS Module Prime Alpha.
There would presumably be scope for more new species in future sourcebooks. For example, Loren Knight has been working on a Tholian sourcebook for Prime Directive, which should include a look at their history back in the home galaxy. What scope that may leave for the various life forms the Tholian Will enslaved during its reign over M81 remains to be seen.
Plus, if PD ever makes it to other regions of the universe, such as the Omega Octant, the Lesser Magellanic Cloud, or the Triangulum Galaxy, there'd be plenty of new species in those settings to add to the mix.
For example, the Earth history section in PD Federation goes into more detail on what happened prior to First Contact, as well as in its aftermath. (Since the SFU history was laid out long before Star Trek: Enterprise was aired, the two are very different. Not least since ENT is not part of the SFU source material. There is, or was, no NX-01 in this universe.)
Also, the SFU has its own series of planetary classifications, with a range of worlds capable of hosting "open-air" colonies for the majority of Federation member species (local pathogens or other concerns notwithstanding).
Class K worlds are habitable desert planets (such as Vulcan), Class L has less than one-third of its surface covered by water, Class-M is Earth-like, class-N covers ocean worlds with less than 10% of its surface covered by dry land, and class-O covers ice balls (such as Andor, which has a very different setup to ENT's Andoria). A few worlds overlap these classifications; for example, Alpha-Centauri is a borderline Class M/Class N planet.
In terms of species, the core book in each game system has a mixture of "TV species" (Humans, Vulcans, Andorians, Klingons, Romulans, Gorns, and others) and "home-grown" ADB species (Lyrans, Hydrans, and suchlike). The GURPS version has a few more species that aren't in the D20M volume, such as the five founding species of the Inter-Stellar Concordium. (In the case of the ISC, anyone who played Starfleet Command 2 may recall a mention of the frog-like Meskeen, but that particular species was made up by Taldren and does not exist in the "regular" SFU.)
Of the books that are in print for GURPS4e and D20M so far, the Federation sourcebook has more details on the UFP members, the Klingon sourcebook covers the subject planets of the Empire, while the Romulan book includes three "suppressed planets" that lie within their space. (The SFU Romulan Star Empire doesn't have any proper subject species, and is more ethnically homogenous than the Federation or the Klingon Empire).
There are a few other species which surface in other files (such as issues of Captain's Log), and the Hydrans have a species writeup in GURPS Module Prime Alpha.
There would presumably be scope for more new species in future sourcebooks. For example, Loren Knight has been working on a Tholian sourcebook for Prime Directive, which should include a look at their history back in the home galaxy. What scope that may leave for the various life forms the Tholian Will enslaved during its reign over M81 remains to be seen.
Plus, if PD ever makes it to other regions of the universe, such as the Omega Octant, the Lesser Magellanic Cloud, or the Triangulum Galaxy, there'd be plenty of new species in those settings to add to the mix.
Tom Kalbfus
Mongoose
Speaking of Tholians, do the SFU tholians look like the one captured by the ISS NX01 Enterprise in the Mirror Universe Enterprise episode "In the Mirror Darkly?" I suppose SFU would have its own Mirror Universe based on the original series episode "Mirror Mirror" with the bearded Spock. I think that would make an interesting adversary. Say for instance the Terran Empire finds a wormhole leading to the SFU and sends an invasion fleet through.
As I mentioned further up the thread, there are numerous "strains" of Tholians in the Star Fleet Universe. But the dominant "Pillar" strain has no legs, and possesses a limited means of hovering above the ground instead.
Actually, if you want to see a preview of how the Tholians would be detailed in Prime Directive (along with a bunch of other fiction and background articles of note), there is a set of files sieved out of various issues of Captain's Log and grouped in one place in Away Team Log. ATL is available right now on Warehouse 23 and DriveThruRPG, while the print edition should go to press in the near-to-mid future. (You can see a list of documents in this file here.)
Away Team Log is ruleset-neutral, so should work just as well as a resource for Mongoose Traveller players as it would for those of GURPS4e and D20M. (There was talk at one point of a series of supplements supporting the ATL material in each ruleset, but I don't know what the current story is on that front.)
Actually, if you want to see a preview of how the Tholians would be detailed in Prime Directive (along with a bunch of other fiction and background articles of note), there is a set of files sieved out of various issues of Captain's Log and grouped in one place in Away Team Log. ATL is available right now on Warehouse 23 and DriveThruRPG, while the print edition should go to press in the near-to-mid future. (You can see a list of documents in this file here.)
Away Team Log is ruleset-neutral, so should work just as well as a resource for Mongoose Traveller players as it would for those of GURPS4e and D20M. (There was talk at one point of a series of supplements supporting the ATL material in each ruleset, but I don't know what the current story is on that front.)
