The ancients in your campaigns.

[Bygoneyrs]

Actually in my both my book I was writing som 20+ years ago for GDW the Ancients called themselves the "'T'Aleen". They physically looked like a cross between two mythical creatures from Terrian cultural. They look like a cross between both Gargoyles and Demons, standing on the average 8+ feet tall and the males having huge wings inwhich males can fly, females have smaller wings and they can hover or glide.

Now the T'Aleen race is extremely old, and had developed extremely strong mental powers (Psion). Now the race was made up of three sexes:1/5th was male, 1/5 was female, and 3/5s are non reproductive at all(Drones).

I have a history of how Grandfather was different and how he cloned (12) perfect copys of himself, and that his clones starting having children and etc. Also grandfather took a cousin race to them, we call them "Chirpers" and altered their DNA to create the "Dryone" race. These uplifted race was simular to the T'Aleen but not as advanced. The Chirpers were beloved by the T'Aleen as "pets" like our Cats and Dogs are to us humans. The Dryone were used as servants/slaves by the T'Aleen throughout their space. Latter other races were also uplifted as well too, by different T'Aleen and used in much the same ways.

In my work I 'explained" what was and how it came about, and finally what happened to them all. Most would only be known by GMs and never enter into play.

Actually I had worked out a network of "Steller Portals" thoughout the known space, I plotted it out using the "Atlas of the Imperium" years ago as well. Much of this network has never been discovered, and yes most still work too. As to where are the true Ancient/T'Aleen cities, well they mostly lived in huge floating cities in Hyperspace Pockets that modern tech doesn't even know how to reach/locate. Yes some are still out there too. Grandfather is still living in one of them.

Just my 2 cents...

Penn

 

[dreamingbadger]

any moment I expect someone to say "Mornington Crescent"and the game will be over.

Could someone point me to some reference material on ancients and Grandfather so I can read up on this?

 

[FreeTrav]

any moment I expect someone to say "Mornington Crescent"and the game will be over.

No, that wouldn't be a legal move right now; someone needs to do a double-shunt at Waterloo and then make an anticlockwise move along Circle.

Could someone point me to some reference material on ancients and Grandfather so I can read up on this?

That would be the Classic Traveller Alien Module on the Droyne, subtitled 'Secret of the Ancients'; I don't recall what the number was.

 

[AndrewW]

That would be the Classic Traveller Alien Module on the Droyne, subtitled 'Secret of the Ancients'; I don't recall what the number was.

Adventure 12, not an Alien Module.

Alien Module 5 is Droyne - The Last of the Ancients.

 

[dreamingbadger]

No, that wouldn't be a legal move right now; someone needs to do a double-shunt at Waterloo and then make an anticlockwise move along Circle.

Ahh Neo-Napoleonic rules...

Adventure 12, not an Alien Module.

Alien Module 5 is Droyne - The Last of the Ancients.

Thanks both I picked them up from Marc's FFE site as PDF's

 

[Rev503]

Twilights peak was the first adventure of CT to have an ancient base (one of my old favorites)

Personally I never liked Grandfather (or the Droyne for that matter) - I went the Ancients route along the lines of Forsters Humanx universe, where there were several precursors at varying times and with varying levels of nastys still floating about waiting for some poor unsuspecting fool (or as I like to call them, players) to get involved with them.

I did include the ever popular "Could they still be out there?" background plot for one set of ancients if the players ever wanted to investigate (no takers at the time)

 

[Bygoneyrs]

Even with the great amounts of "detail" I gave to the Ancients, the players would never interact with them, just discover minor things about them or discover minor stuff. They might even discover other races yet undiscovered that were Bio-Gene modified by the Ancients for some purpose. My favorite type of minor race, is a Ape-Man like race.

Penn

 

[kafka]

Well, we know that the Apemen were just one sector over from our favorite (Verge)... But, I prefer the term Genetically Temporal Anomaly or as they prefer to call themselves...the Surreat.

The ultimate secret, as we both know, lies in the Great Rift but that would be telling wouldn't it...

 

[Bygoneyrs]

Well, we know that the Apemen were just one sector over from our favorite (Verge)... But, I prefer the term Genetically Temporal Anomaly or as they prefer to call themselves...the Surreat.

The ultimate secret, as we both know, lies in the Great Rift but that would be telling wouldn't it...

***** Oh now you have spilled the beans...Ok it is true there is a Dyson Sphere located out in the middle of the Great Rift


Well that is what I wrote in my source book...

Penn

 

[FreeTrav]

Well, we know that the Apemen were just one sector over from our favorite (Verge)... But, I prefer the term Genetically Temporal Anomaly or as they prefer to call themselves...the Surreat.

I believe you mean Suerrat.

The ultimate secret, as we both know, lies in the Great Rift but that would be telling wouldn't it...

***** Oh now you have spilled the beans...Ok it is true there is a Dyson Sphere located out in the middle of the Great Rift


Well that is what I wrote in my source book...

Penn

Actually, it's not in the Great Rift, but there IS an incomplete Dyson Sphere - inhabited, even. See GURPS Traveller: Alien Races 3, the minor race called "the Inheritors". It's in Nooq sector, on the trailing edge of the Hive Federation.

 

[Bygoneyrs]

The ultimate secret, as we both know, lies in the Great Rift but that would be telling wouldn't it...

***** Oh now you have spilled the beans...Ok it is true there is a Dyson Sphere located out in the middle of the Great Rift


Well that is what I wrote in my source book...

Penn

Actually, it's not in the Great Rift, but there IS an incomplete Dyson Sphere - inhabited, even. See GURPS Traveller: Alien Races 3, the minor race called "the Inheritors". It's in Nooq sector, on the trailing edge of the Hive Federation.[/quote]

***** Actually I never EVER bought GURPS Traveller, and my writting Pre-Dates Gurps Traveller..and my Dyson Sphere was located in the Great Rift in the Verge sector. My writeup for my version of the Dyson Sphere was a completed one. Actually ot was set up as a kinda of campaign for "Gamma World" like, where the players would never truely know that they were inside a "Dyson Sphere".

Penn

 

[kafka]

The ultimate secret, as we both know, lies in the Great Rift but that would be telling wouldn't it...

***** Oh now you have spilled the beans...Ok it is true there is a Dyson Sphere located out in the middle of the Great Rift


Well that is what I wrote in my source book...

Penn

Actually, it's not in the Great Rift, but there IS an incomplete Dyson Sphere - inhabited, even. See GURPS Traveller: Alien Races 3, the minor race called "the Inheritors". It's in Nooq sector, on the trailing edge of the Hive Federation.

***** Actually I never EVER bought GURPS Traveller, and my writting Pre-Dates Gurps Traveller..and my Dyson Sphere was located in the Great Rift in the Verge sector. My writeup for my version of the Dyson Sphere was a completed one. Actually ot was set up as a kinda of campaign for "Gamma World" like, where the players would never truely know that they were inside a "Dyson Sphere".

Penn[/quote]

I think that you forgot to mention that is Travelling at near relativistic speeds Trailing and will hit Verge...anytime...now... 8)

I think we both had ideas for Verge, we should really see if we can talk about really putting together a Verge sourcebook that combines both of our ideas...as long ago we discussed.

 

[Anonymous]

For ancient tech, I think the small items work best in games - like the everlasting tiny power source in Twilight's Peak (I think???). The players should have to think about how to use them.

 

[dayriff]

I don't have Ancients, I have Forerunners, being the big Andre Norton fan I am. (Okay, I still sometimes call them Ancients.) Lots of civilizations have risen, bloomed, and then decayed into their own Long Night never to return. Many planets bear the marks of long-extinct spacefarers who once visited them.

I really haven't bothered to work out a timeline for the galaxy, but there were Ancients of all shapes, sizes, and tech levels, I know that much.

 

[EDG]

One of the things I liked about DP9's Core Command setting (nice idea, horribly executed) was the idea of "Dreamstate worlds" - essentially, these are ancient civilisations that have gone totally post-singularity - they've retreated into entirely virtual worlds (or gone elsewhere), leaving their physical worlds behind... but surrounded by traps and defence systems to keep prying eyes and looters at bay.

Sorta like what the Beta Aquilans in 2320AD might be.

 

[Animation]

I hate to Necro an old thread, but I just wanted to say that I must be the only guy I've seen on this forum that LIKES the official story of the Ancients and Grandfather. I like the concept of it so much that I had to reply.

Haters.

 

[Infojunky]

I hate to Necro an old thread, but I just wanted to say that I must be the only guy I've seen on this forum that LIKES the official story of the Ancients and Grandfather. I like the concept of it so much that I had to reply.

I like the story just not the fact that everybody knows it. and treats as common knowledge in games.

 

[smiths121]

I like the story just not the fact that everybody knows it. and treats as common knowledge in games.

Infojunky I think you hit the nail on the head so to speak.

Secrets are fantastic in a gaming universe (particularly a RPG universe) if they are slowly revealed, they need to be universe alterting though. The problem with the ancients in the classic traveller timeline is, you play through the adventures interspersed through a campaign, travel to a pocket universe (as you do), and bingo changes very little back to trading machine parts (or is that Elite).

I think GDW did a better job in 2300. Early Kafer adventures focused on their intelligence. Arcturus Station brought in a bit of philosophy, and the Aurora sourcebook started the invasion. A similar slow reveal, I remember as a player learing about my enemy. Next thing you know they are half way down the french arm with a space combat game published, and the Invasion sourcebook. Talk about no going back.

Both have a slow reveal, GDW got this right in CT with the ancients. Problem is no change because of the secret - in Megatraveller, and historical footnote, as in TNE and TNE 1248. Never tried T4, but try doing an ancient "thing" in T4 Milieu 0 - the secret is out. They turn out to be a visit to a pocket universe and not much else except a 1000 GP, and couple of +1 magic items - to coin a phrase.

Given at the time we were used to Traveller Journals with news entries (TNS archives theses days), a campaign spread amongst the adventure being published (the original secret of the acients), and the lead up to a war - 1105 Traveller seemed an alive ever changing, naturally hostile environment - even before concepts of the "dark Imperium".

I personally welcome any "explosive" relevations, and new tidbits that Mongoose can add, such as in the new secret of the acients campaign (and hopefully the Darrian sourcebook) that can be published without breaking the existing story.

 

[Infojunky]

I like the story just not the fact that everybody knows it. and treats as common knowledge in games.

Infojunky I think you hit the nail on the head so to speak.

Yep that is my general take on it too, but I made the original comment.

I personally welcome any "explosive" revelations, and new tidbits that Mongoose can add, such as in the new secret of the ancients campaign (and hopefully the Darrian sourcebook) that can be published without breaking the existing story.

I don't mine new bits like that as it is a big universe. A book of alternate weirdness would be greats as would a little bit in each. AS the universe even within the "cannon" universe has room for High Weirdness. One of my favorite parts of the jTas was the odd bits of tek.

 

[Captain Jonah]

Eek a thread risen from the dead. Anyone got a stake handy in case it tries to walk off

Everyone knows the stories about werewolves, silver bullets and full moons. Everyone knows the stories about witches, broomsticks and pointy hats. Everyone knows the stories about the Loch Ness monster (well in the UK anyway). Has anyone ever seen one. Or watched a discovery channel interview, a national geographic cover of one. Nope

Same with the ancients. They are the Imperiums version of folk stories. Even the back story says most Ancients sites are unlike each other so are they sites or artifacts from the "Ancients" or sites from some ancient civiliasation that went the dodo way a few 100,000 years ago.

Someone moved the doggies out into space and set up the Zho. Someone blew up a few planets in a vast and powerfull war. Someone did all the other things credited to the "Ancients".

Was that someone the ancients or have other races risen to power and faded away over the millions of years the galaxy has been hanging around.

How many races over the last 500,000 years have reached tech 20 and blown up the odd world then been wiped out by the next tech 20 race that wandered past and blew up thier worlds.

The ancients are now too well known to be anything but the great social myth, the romance has gone from finding an "Ancient" ruin because, hey look its an ancient ruin, everyone look around for one of those neat disintigrator pistols.....

So for me they remain the myth, nothing to do with the droyne who once were a tech 20 power and left thier own ruins around. They sit on the bits of the map that say here be dragons because they are the myths and stories people tell on those late evenings in jump space.

You find a ruined city made of ceramics, ancient certainly, the "ancients". Nope.