G'Naakbusters
Emperor Mongoose
Not that D'n'D. Less elves, more Aslan 
Traveller Release Schedule 2024
- Thread starter MongooseMatt
- Start date
Micky
Cosmic Mongoose
and even fewer Vargr...Not that D'n'D. Less elves, more Aslan
what is it about our beloved RPG canines.. zero love or respect.
In D&D and sadly in Traveller... not sure how some of you do it. I've been into this game just short of six months and get involuntary eye rolls everytime I see another product featuring the Aslan.
We need more Vargr in Traveller... every dog has its day but sadly not in RPG's it seems
MarkAlexander
Banded Mongoose
I think a dedicated Vargr book would be good, perhaps with a small scenario included.and even fewer Vargr...
what is it about our beloved RPG canines.. zero love or respect.
In D&D and sadly in Traveller... not sure how some of you do it. I've been into this game just short of six months and get involuntary eye rolls everytime I see another product featuring the Aslan.
We need more Vargr in Traveller... every dog has its day but sadly not in RPG's it seems
Micky
Cosmic Mongoose
A girl can dream can't she. That would be great. I've got my eye on a campaign myself... sketched one out while starting to fill in the blank, broad generic strokes of what actually borders the Imperium coreward.
As I love to write and been doing for years for other settings I'm well into starting to write a far more detailed history of the Vargr. A very much understated and untapped topic. While the Terrans get all the press, it was actually the Vargr Rampages, which started centuries before the Vilani-Terran war, and overrunning vast swatches of First Imperium territory that really broke the First Imperium's back.
As far as the Vargr, canon did actually give us a far more interesting, dynamic and varied sophant species than the Aslan. I've been rather surprised how little attention and detail has gone into them. Hopefully that will change in the future!
MarkAlexander
Banded Mongoose
They are often featured in Traveller artwork. They have a distinctive look, which makes for a more interesting character.
Micky
Cosmic Mongoose
yeah they are.. within the context of the Imperium. Especially the naval based ones. Some great art of them as Imperial Navy members. I've joked they are so bad ass that most artists seem to feel they don't' need protective helmets, crimping their styles I suppose haha.
Sigtrygg
Emperor Mongoose
Vargr are not and never have been dogs,
They were uplifted from wolf stock over 300,000 years ago, we don't even know if modern dogs share a common ancestor with the umlifted wolf species or if you have to go back even further to find the domestic dog, wolf, Vargr common ancestor.
300,000 years was enough time for the originally transplanted 'Zhodani' to evolve into two distinct races which would later hybridise to form the Zhodani.
Similarly we know that there have been different Vargr races over the millenia.
"It is certain that the first Vargr bore only distant resemblance to the contemporary Vargr"
As to the Vargr rampages:
"As the First lmperium declined, various provincial governors with ambitions of personal advancement took to arming and outfitting "barbarian" mercenaries from beyond the boundaries. One such governor, who controlled the area now comprising portions of Deneb, Corridor, and Provence sectors, is believed to have been the first human to have had dealings with the Vargr, probably after Vargr corsairs raided a world at the edge of his province. This governor supplied arms and equipment to a large corsair group who were employed in his bid for power. Though he was defeated, he had set a precedent; the Vargr knew about the First lmperium and were interested in the wealth of that decadent civilization; by this point in time, Vilani troubles were such that there was no question of imposing the Pax Vilanica over these "barbarians" from beyond the Windhorn."
"2229AD
Indeed, on the corewardborder – much closer to Vland itself –a new race of alien barbarians was on the rise. These urbarrani (“pack-predator barbarians”) had been a problem for over a century, raiding undefended worlds and hiring out as mercenaries in the service of renegade Imperial officials...
Although the urbarrani raiders were much closer to Vland, they did not pose a threat to the legitimacy of Imperial rule. They were simply barbarians, and non-Human barbarians at that...
Some of the Imperial subject races and dissident subcultures were in open revolt, even without Terran support, and might prove hostile to Terran rule. The urbarrani and other barbarians were tearing chunks out of the Imperial frontier.,,
It will never be known just how much impact the Vargr had on the decline and fall of the First Imperium; the more obvious military victories of the Terran Confederation are generally considered to be the main force in bringing down the Vilani empire, but inroads by the Vargr surely accounted for much of the collapse. It was during this period, in the era of - 2400 through - 1700, when Vargr migrations around either end of the Windhorn became common."
They were uplifted from wolf stock over 300,000 years ago, we don't even know if modern dogs share a common ancestor with the umlifted wolf species or if you have to go back even further to find the domestic dog, wolf, Vargr common ancestor.
300,000 years was enough time for the originally transplanted 'Zhodani' to evolve into two distinct races which would later hybridise to form the Zhodani.
Similarly we know that there have been different Vargr races over the millenia.
"It is certain that the first Vargr bore only distant resemblance to the contemporary Vargr"
As to the Vargr rampages:
"As the First lmperium declined, various provincial governors with ambitions of personal advancement took to arming and outfitting "barbarian" mercenaries from beyond the boundaries. One such governor, who controlled the area now comprising portions of Deneb, Corridor, and Provence sectors, is believed to have been the first human to have had dealings with the Vargr, probably after Vargr corsairs raided a world at the edge of his province. This governor supplied arms and equipment to a large corsair group who were employed in his bid for power. Though he was defeated, he had set a precedent; the Vargr knew about the First lmperium and were interested in the wealth of that decadent civilization; by this point in time, Vilani troubles were such that there was no question of imposing the Pax Vilanica over these "barbarians" from beyond the Windhorn."
"2229AD
Indeed, on the corewardborder – much closer to Vland itself –a new race of alien barbarians was on the rise. These urbarrani (“pack-predator barbarians”) had been a problem for over a century, raiding undefended worlds and hiring out as mercenaries in the service of renegade Imperial officials...
Although the urbarrani raiders were much closer to Vland, they did not pose a threat to the legitimacy of Imperial rule. They were simply barbarians, and non-Human barbarians at that...
Some of the Imperial subject races and dissident subcultures were in open revolt, even without Terran support, and might prove hostile to Terran rule. The urbarrani and other barbarians were tearing chunks out of the Imperial frontier.,,
It will never be known just how much impact the Vargr had on the decline and fall of the First Imperium; the more obvious military victories of the Terran Confederation are generally considered to be the main force in bringing down the Vilani empire, but inroads by the Vargr surely accounted for much of the collapse. It was during this period, in the era of - 2400 through - 1700, when Vargr migrations around either end of the Windhorn became common."
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
1. Pick up stick.
2. Throw and watch them go.
3. Return to sender.
4. Found to be hound.
2. Throw and watch them go.
3. Return to sender.
4. Found to be hound.
Seffix
Cosmic Mongoose
The popular culture of the Gvegh minority on Emerald is significant part of my current campaign, and I have to say we've been having a lot of fun with it.
Might be next week, if all the ducks start waddling in the same line!
Chumbly
Banded Mongoose
A vision of a mongoose doing his best sheep-dog impression and having the time of his life "herding" the office ducks....comes to mind
G'Naakbusters
Emperor Mongoose
Per a change in schedulingA vision of a mongoose doing his best sheep-dog impression and having the time of his life "herding" the office ducks....comes to mind
Red-Eye called to Feather-Skin.
Hear what little Red-Eye cry:
'Get to work, it's do or die!'
Pound by pound and dime by dime,
(Keep the measure, team.)
This shall end in overtime:
(At thy pleasure, team.)
Task by task and twist for twist
(Run and hide thee, team.)
Bah! The deadline has been missed!
(Woe betide thee, team!)
Micky
Cosmic Mongoose
haha perhaps a minority in numbers.. but not in our hearts or lacking pure badassery though. This artist nailed it... we need more Vargr!!!
(and full disclosure.. I am a militant cat lover.. that is how awesome the Vargr are)
Seconded but I sometimes think the Sector boundaries don't make for the best material for adventures.
I'd love a book on a sector sized area stretching from the trailing edge of the Protectorate to the Spinward edge of the K'kree colonies. 3 major races baked in and lots of potential flashpoints
Seffix
Cosmic Mongoose
Love that picture! And there are some seriously badass Vargr in my campaign universe, and I'm hoping the Vargr forces in the Outworld Coalition will get some love in the Other Fleets of the Fifth Frontier War book that I just made up.
However the main Vargr in my game is a Charisma 6 research mycologist -- in the food scientist sense, not the cordyceps bioweapons sense
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Mushroom drive.
Micky
Cosmic Mongoose
you touch on indirectly one of the most interesting, yet not really touched at all points about the setting and the Vargr's place in it. While the Vargr outside the Imperium are presented mainly as corsairs pirates yadda yadda yah. Canon has established the Extents are on the same tech level with the Third Imperium. I'd love to see some fleshing out of the details of that TL 16 Vargr world deep within the Extents looks like.
so yeah while Corsairs/pirates are the Big Macs of the options menu of the Vargr... there is 5 star dining options to be had. The brilliant Vargr scientists pushing them past TL15 on pace with the Imperium for example. Hopefully in the years to come we do see Mongoose some emphasis elsewhere outside spinward... go coreward young man
MasterGwydion
Emperor Mongoose
My problem with the Vargr is that they are basically all Populists. I have yet to see a successful, long-term Populist government. If TL is more than just tech advances, as people on here have said, than there is no way the Vargr could maintain a high TL infrastructure. Heck, look at the US which is only mildly Populist. We haven't maintained or updated Our infrastructure for over 80 years.
So how do you maintain a thing long-term if the entire basis for your civilization is follow whoever is most popular? Projects would be started and stopped midway due to changing priorities. Roads and other infrastructure would only be maintained or expanded on if the current Populist leadership "felt" like it. I need to learn more about the Vargr, because they make no sense to Me as a civilization that is not focused solely on raiding.
