What setting do you use to play Traveller?

[Cleon the Mad]

Prior to MGT - everything was my own TUs (just used core CT LBBs).

Recently 'inherited' refereeing of a game set in the OTU (sort of) - and I must say, its a real pain. I am finding that having a setting provided for you is a double edged sword. On the one hand, there is lots of starting material - on the other, making my plots conform to existing material is quite challenging. Not only because things are not of my own choosing, but also because I must remember and constantly look up what others have done.

When I do things myself, I can actually wing it a lot more - since I can avoid inconsistencies when creating completely new material.

(I can also completely nix the whole silly swords in space load...)

True, but then again one can always take your campaign into sections of the TU that have only had light or no real write up too. Remember, if nothing else a misjump can send the group in a ship up to 36 parsecs in a random direction. If you don't mind fudging things a bit you could even add a bit too that. I did that once to send my group two sectors into the middle of nowhere. I wanted to write up a few completly original subsectors but keep things in the OTU. It let me have an area of space where the locals had heard of the Imperium, but to them it was some big empire "over there" that had mostly no effect on their lives.

If your players don't mind a new campaign but they want to stay in the OTU, you can always pick a time in the past too. You're still stuck with canon worlds and what not, but it lets you fudge a bit on the borders for at least a frontier area like the Spinward Marches, lets you lower the tech level some to give the campaign a bit different flavor while staying in canon, and lets you change whom is important then and why, especially if you pick a century of the OTU without much writeup. Might be interesting to set things a bit before the Third Frontier War instead of the Fifth. Or maybe a bit before the Solomani Rim War, but in a different sector.

Anyway, I'm a bit tired so in "ramble/post wall of text" mode, so I'll stop here for now.

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

I can remember getting one of the old LBB supplements and it had stats for Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker in it.

It might have just started going into the 3rd Imperium by then, but 'Traveller' certainly was initially generic (well trying to model a wide-ish range of Sci-Fi, at any rate).

 

[kafka]

I play the OTU but in the era known as the cusp of history. This means that I look at what my players are expecting in terms of the game and plan the megaplot to coincide with major developments that they might have a hand in forming or even changing...although, I am very much in the Doctor Who school...that certain points are fixed but Time/History is still a wibbly wobbly thing that players can influence.

For example in the period of Antiquity, they have played in:
-200,050 just prior to the Ancient War

For the Interstellar Wars, I have set it on Terra circa 2080AD

Milieu 0, I usually leave as is because I have 200 years prior and 200 years after to play around with...

CT/MgT/MT I usually played in 1110

Hard Times, leave as is.

TNE I start play in 1250

 

[Cleon the Mad]

Okay, going to reply to two people at once.

Lord High Munchkin: I remember what you mentioned, it was perhaps in the LBB Suppliment Four, Citizens of the Imperium? If so they included that, but were already using the word "Imperium". But I'm pretty hazy on what book that was in, other then it was way at the end of the book. But I'd have to look, my original LBB's are packed away somewhere and I only have a couple of the reprints by FFE. As an aside they also included stats from other Sci-Fi sources, I want to say Beowulf Shaeffer from Larry Niven's Known World series was one of the characters they gave stats for at the end of the book.

Somebody: Yep, well aware of the historical settings, but I counted those as "OTU" in my poll. I actually did somehow forget that TNE's game mechanics was as you explained, but remember such now. Then again I'm forced to admit I didn't like TNE/Twilight 2000 2nd edition game mechanics. I also played Twilight 2000 1.0 way back when and even with IMO some notable flaws I liked it a lot better then the newer game mechanics. My suggestion to the one guy who inheirted an OTU Traveller campaign was for picking one that actually doesn't have a lot of write up, so he'd have more freedom to make it "his own" without breaking canon. Can't break canon too badly if there isn't a lot about a specific time period's canon posted.

 

[Lord High Munchkin]

I remember what you mentioned, it was perhaps in the LBB Suppliment Four, Citizens of the Imperium? If so they included that, but were already using the word "Imperium".

Like I said they were just starting to implement the 3rd Imperium setting at about that time. Initially it was generic though (but 'Foundation' ish).

 

[Cleon the Mad]

I remember what you mentioned, it was perhaps in the LBB Suppliment Four, Citizens of the Imperium? If so they included that, but were already using the word "Imperium".

Like I said they were just starting to implement the 3rd Imperium setting at about that time. Initially it was generic though (but 'Foundation' ish).

Which does help to explain a LBB adventure module like the Annic Nova. They mention (I think) one or more canon locations in the Spinward Marches, albeit without mentioning a subsector map. But then have this ship that uses a method of jumping that completly breaks canon compared to what was written a bit later. Then again Levithian includes jump torpedos being installed on the Levithian class of ships if I recall right (a LBB I actually never got so bit hazy on it), something that at least will start a big debate on if they really should be considered canon or not.

As an aside IMTU I don't usually use the Annic Nova. The few times I have used it, I've made it an experimental vessel of some sort, and the jump drives it has too unstable to use, hense why other ships with a similar way of charging the drive for jump aren't about. I also don't use jump torpedos at all.

 

[AndrewW]

Lord High Munchkin: I remember what you mentioned, it was perhaps in the LBB Suppliment Four, Citizens of the Imperium?

Yup that would be the book those stats where in.

 

[Captain Jonah]

Cannon gets sort of confused with jump mechanics over the versions. Some of which made more sense than others.

Initiating a jump for stored power/capacitors etc has been covered a number of times.

If you allow initiating the jump to jump space from stored power and use on board H purely to maintain the jump bubble volume which fits with black globe capacitors powering a jump and the jump projectors then all you need is a way to protect the ship from jump space matter contact.

Now this is normaly the bubble of H which ablates the incoming jump space matter burning off as it vaporises on contact hence jump lights. However in the case of the Annic Nove it must have some form of energy based method of doing this, white globe type.

As the Imperium advances eough to understand Black globes and moves towards white globes you can, in theory, develop a jump globe which protects the ship in jump space dumping the energy of contacts into capacitors which are then drained to power the jump grid.

The power level of these jump globes would not be high enough to be used in combat as they don't need to stand up to high energy impacts just the lower level of jump space contacts.

This leads towards a massive jump in ship tech where the fuel is just for a powerplant and the volume which was used for the jump is free for other uses.

 

[Cryton]

IMTU, or at least the current incarnation of it, starts with the Traveller 1248 setting books and the MGT rules with the following changes:

1) I limit the number of skill levels a character can have (0 levels do not count toward this total) to the sum of Int + Edu. reciepts of skills levels beyond this total lower the characters least used skill by one (to a minimum of 0). Psionic skill levels are counted towards this total as well.

2) The mods to the Cym chips that resulted in thier becoming virus have "bred out", resulting in third or later generations of virus reverting to becoming Cym Chips (though they do use viral personality templates), and I use the rules from Signal GK for them. Mind you this fact is not known to the general public, and Chips chips can and still do spread their "progeny" to new computer systems, but the comm infection vector has been all but removed from my game for all non GM planned encounters.

3) there is no longer any secondary wave of hard radiation following the psionic element of the Empress wave, as it dissapated thousands light years to coreward. The psionic element is however responsible for a lot of damage as it tends to spawn shocking numbers of insane psionicists in its wake.

4) Finally, The Droyne seem to be increasingly more active, and there are roumors that the Ancients may have somehow returned. 8)

 

[Cleon the Mad]

RE: The Annic Nova. My thoughts have always been that if Annic Nova is a possible alternative design, why other then that specific adventure don't we see more of them? The ship itself had a Jump 3, with a Jump 2 backup drive if memory serves. All of the major races seem to use the "10 percent of ship volume per jump number" method. I suppose that doesn't invalidate it as canon per-se, but I tend to say it "doesn't exist" IMTU. I guess that and jump torpedos (I just don't like them. ) are two places where I do deviate from the OTU. I do tend to stick mostly with it though.

I don't ever use circa 1200 so I haven't had to address the little jump boats the regency is using instead of Xboats. I guess if I did run something in that era or in the 1248 timeline, I'd have to decide. Since I don't use jump torpedos though, I suspect I'd have them still using xboats in the circa 1200 Regency.

Having said that, when I'm a player and not a GM, if the GM wants to make one or both exist in his TU, go for it.

 

[OddjobXL]

I'd been giving a Traveller campaign some serious thought and while I'd probably test the waters using OTU Spinward Marches, as is from Mongoose, a real campaign would take place in an original setting that would blend setting elements from the TU (the general concept of the Imperium, role and function of starports) with aliens (suitably disguised) and political/cultural dynamics taken from other settings including Fading Suns and Star Wars.

As much as I'd like to just sit down and play OTU, for sake of simplicity, there are setting elements that aesthetically don't appeal to me. In some ways OTU feels, and this is subjective, a bit emotionally detached and culturally thin.

I'd like a little more flavor and personality to work with. A stronger sense of human factions, politics, personalities, cultures and innate dramatic tensions that don't always revolve around mining rights or corporate schemes. I want really crazy stuff like fleshed out like religious zealots, cults, ideological wing-nuts, clashing cultural memes, and just plain loopy or sociopathic individuals influencing politics.

Traveller is so dry and rational. That's not how people are, really, or likely most aliens this side of Vulcan. Just look around at the world today.

 

[Gamerguy]

I use a First Imperium with TL-16 norm that spans the entire galaxy. In MTU the First Imperium won the Interstellar Wars and captured Terra intact. The Terrians from within converted a stagnant Empire into a vibrant one.

I still use Norris and Stephon as characters - but I use matter transporters, warps drives instant FTL communication, etc. to me this is quite fun - the best of the Traveller OTU with some custom ideas of my own.

Terra is a sector capital and a TL-16 garden world with independant rule.

8)