Non OTU: Almost The OTU - A Campaign Idea

[Supplement Four]

I've often thought of playing a campaign where only Earth-type and Near-Earth-type worlds are used. Sure, there would be space stations and such. And, maybe I'd throw in an occasional moon base or outpost on some cold ball of ice somewhere. But, for the most part, the Imperium would consist of only worlds where humanity could flourish easily.

I've been thinking about this idea, on and off, for years. Decades. I first thought of it when I realized (way back when) that the Imperium consists of mainly worlds that are not earth-like. More often than not, in Traveller, the players are jetting off to some world where the temperature is extreme, or the gravity is too low or too high. People have to live in protected buildings--inside, unless suited up for the harsh environs.

Now, here's the kicker: In this campaign I'd only change what must be changed from the OTU to support the idea. For example, fuel would be a problem. The same method of rolling up sectors and solar systems would be used--which would create a lot of "main worlds" that would not be used in this campaign. There would be a ton of systems with no Earth-like worlds.

Thus, the distance traveled would be far greater than for an OTU Traveller campaign.

Using OTU technology, how would travel amongst the stars be changed? Certainly, a lot more fuel skimming would have to happen. Obviously, the star maps would be changed, with just a few worlds in each sector becoming the new "main worlds".

Should a new governmental service, akin to the Scouts and the XBoats, be created? Deep Space fuel stations?

I've never created such a campaign, but it is interesting to ponder.

 

[McPerth]

First ideas I think about:

1. (Obvious): some trade zones would not exist (Fl, Va, As...)
2. Higher jump ships would be quite more usual, as there will rarely be two habitable planets 1-2 parsecs from each other.
3. Time among ports of call would be greater. This will have strong effect on merchants. While freight and passengers cost/benefit will not change (as they are per jump, just many such contracts would be for multiple jumps), the benefits for speculative cargo will be lower, as you will keep it in your holds for several jumps.
4. (corolary of 3) Only very rich people can afford space travel (even more tan in OTU) when most trips are more than one jump (and prices are per jump).
5. Piracy might be more common, as they will have many uninhabited systems to hide

 

[BillDowns]

I created several similar settings ages ago. usually what I would do is:

1. Halve jump fuel requirements;
2. Or place O'Neill or Stanford torus type colonies in between;
3. Or both

The small in-between colonies are the basic USA small town type environments, like Springer NM or Bastrop TX. No starports above Class C, except for special hand-picked locations.

For the major worlds, I would have Class A-C starports only, and Class C offers refined fuel.

Just my offering...

 

[rancke]

I don't think you need to change anything except the cultural attitude to less habitable worlds. Indeed, you can have such a setting in the OTU: The First Imperium. There's a fanon theory (although I can't remember if Jon Zeigler made it explicit canon in Rim of Fire -- I remember talking about it during the playtest) to the effect that the Vilani almost exclusively settled Human-norm and Human-prime worlds and kept populations within 50-500 millions. There'd be a few outposts here and there for various reasons, but most of the inhabited worlds would be quite habitable.


Hans

 

[Garnfellow]

I don't think you need to change anything except the cultural attitude to less habitable worlds. Indeed, you can have such a setting in the OTU: The First Imperium. There's a fanon theory (although I can't remember if Jon Zeigler made it explicit canon in Rim of Fire -- I remember talking about it during the playtest) to the effect that the Vilani almost exclusively settled Human-norm and Human-prime worlds and kept populations within 50-500 millions. There'd be a few outposts here and there for various reasons, but most of the inhabited worlds would be quite habitable.

World generation in GURPS Traveller: Interstellar Wars follows this logic for Vilani worlds.

 

[Supplement Four]

What's the Jump maximum for the First Imperium? J-3? What's the average J number for most ships? J-1, during the First Imperium?

It seems hard to establish an galactic empire under those restrictions, when only Earth-type worlds are colonized.

 

[Golan2072]

I'm using a similar logic for my Visions of Empire setting - most Humans and similar aliens prefer to live on shirt-sleeve worlds, and the various rockballs would only have outposts, waystations, hideouts, research stations and if the world is rich then mines and refineries, but little else. Worlds are either Primary (habitable and near-habitable) with the full population range, Secondary dirtballs/marginals with reduced populations, or Tertiary rockballs/hellworlds with mostly tiny outposts unless the world is resource-rich (10+ on 2d6) and then it'll have a mining colony.

An interesting result is that CT-type Industrial worlds are far rarer.

 

[flykiller]

It seems hard to establish an galactic empire under those restrictions, when only Earth-type worlds are colonized.

not at all. the british did it with sailing ships over relatively greater distances. all you need is a reason to do so, a way to pay for it, and people willing and able to make it happen.

 

[Garnfellow]

What's the Jump maximum for the First Imperium? J-3? What's the average J number for most ships? J-1, during the First Imperium?

It seems hard to establish an galactic empire under those restrictions, when only Earth-type worlds are colonized.

J-2 was the max, so I would imagine the average was close to J-1. The Terran development of J-3 and meson weapons were key turning points in the Interstellar Wars.

 

[flykiller]

J-2 was the max, so I would imagine the average was close to J-1.

why? j2 would render j1 obsolete immediately. plenty of room in any hull for j2 and its fuel even if max armor is included. the only advantage j1 would have over j2 is in slow hauling of bulk cargo, absolutely everybody else would want j2.

 

[mike wightman]

Vilani military/megacorp was jump 2. Civilians/client states were once restricted to jump 1.

Which means you had to carry fuel for multiple jumps or build refuelling outposts in sub-optimal systems.
Over three thousand years many of those refuelling stations grew in population and other industries sprang up in their systems.

 

[rancke]

Vilani military was jump 2. Civilians were restricted to jump 1.

Vilani were allowed J2. Client races were restricted to J1.


Hans

 

[mike wightman]

It seems hard to establish an galactic empire under those restrictions, when only Earth-type worlds are colonized.

Only earth type worlds colonised for population growth.

Other systems are exploited for resources and as refuelling stations.

The thing to remember is that even a TL9 culture has easy and cheap access to space and the ability to exploit the resources of whole systems.

 

[Supplement Four]

Only earth type worlds colonised for population growth.

Other systems are exploited for resources and as refuelling stations.

The thing to remember is that even a TL9 culture has easy and cheap access to space and the ability to exploit the resources of whole systems.

So, the "empire" is mainly composed of refueling stations.

If Civilians are limited to J1, then I would bet that starships were a lot larger back then, with extra fuel for two or three jumps.

 

[whartung]

I don't quite understand the fuel limitation. A gas giant is a gas giant. If a planet has pretty much liquid anything (assuming it's not liquid metal, but you know), I'm guessing a purifier can crack H2 out of it.

Many of the crummy planets in Traveller may be awful places to live, but, apparently, they have water.

But given that, you'd have instances of simply "remote" fueling -- that is, skimming/dipping fuel in an otherwise empty/uninhabited system. So, that leads to interesting starship encounters.

As the "empire" matures, the important stop overs would I think get refining stations to make fueling easier for trade, as well as to host patrols. Train stops and Harvey Girls, effectively.

 

[HiverLord]

Ramifications that come to my sleep-deprived brain include:
* Naval Bases - Fleets can be concentrated to heavily defend the major worlds. Outlying, non-habitable worlds may have a small tripwire element (especially if the world is valuable, or near a border), though most unimportant systems wouldn't have a permanent presence. Worlds on important trade routes would have a presence, of course, or be visited regularly by Naval patrols.
* Smuggling - with so many Naval ships hanging around the major systems, smuggling becomes very difficult, at least without connections.
* Piracy - Not sure how much piracy could occur, at least against main worlds. It would be suicide for pirates to attempt to hit a major system, unless they timed a strike well in the outer system.
Remote systems would, of course, be the likely targets - pirates hitting outposts, mining worlds, etc, for supplies.
* Free Traders - The major free trader markets are, in essence, in those minor, off-the-beaten-path worlds, usually ignored by the Mega's. In this type of setting, those opportunities dry up. I could see a few getting by, run by tough, capable independents, themselves only a step or two away from piracy themselves, but for the most part, the classic free trader may be an untenable option. Ditto for adventurers, at least in the classic sense.
* Overpopulation - with so few habitable worlds available, there are few options for relocating people (assuming no significant orbital cities, etc). Without rigid social controls, most habitable worlds could easily become overpopulated.
* Terraforming - once the appropriate TLs are reached, terraforming could be highly desired, to create new settled worlds, and new markets.

I'm sure there are other possible ramifications to consider.

 

[whulorigan]

why? j2 would render j1 obsolete immediately. plenty of room in any hull for j2 and its fuel even if max armor is included. the only advantage j1 would have over j2 is in slow hauling of bulk cargo, absolutely everybody else would want j2.

According to Canon, the Vilani monopolized J2 as their advantage over subject races, so that they always had a military tactical advantage. It was part of how they maintained their stranglehold on the First Imperium.

It was the Solomani independent development of J2 that made them a serious threat during the Interstellar Wars, and then their subsequent development of J3 that allowed them to outmaneuver the Vilani.

 

[robject]

Only earth type worlds colonised for population growth.

Other systems are exploited for resources and as refuelling stations.

The thing to remember is that even a TL9 culture has easy and cheap access to space and the ability to exploit the resources of whole systems.

This is how my "Hop Culture" ATU works out.

 

[McPerth]

Ramifications that come to my sleep-deprived brain include:
* Naval Bases - Fleets can be concentrated to heavily defend the major worlds. Outlying, non-habitable worlds may have a small tripwire element (especially if the world is valuable, or near a border), though most unimportant systems wouldn't have a permanent presence. Worlds on important trade routes would have a presence, of course, or be visited regularly by Naval patrols.
* Piracy - Not sure how much piracy could occur, at least against main worlds. It would be suicide for pirates to attempt to hit a major system, unless they timed a strike well in the outer system.
Remote systems would, of course, be the likely targets - pirates hitting outposts, mining worlds, etc, for supplies.

I partially disagree with you in those points. While I agree about fleets being more concentred, they also have to patrol more systems, as piracy can act in uninhabited systems, msotly lurking in the gas giants where merchats need to refuel.

Assuming the average trip between two inhabitated systems is 3-4 jumps, there are 2-3 jump stops in uninhabited systems wherepirates can lurk.

This will sure lead to some changes in ship design:

• Steamlined (or partial steamlined) configurations will be a must, as will fuel scoops and purification plants.
• Ships will be (on average) more heavily armed (and armored, if the version you use allows for it) due to increased risk of piracy in those uninhabited stops.
• Accomodations must be more spacious, if you're spected to spend 3-4 jumps in the ship, against the one jump between planet falls usual in most travller versions, if crew (and passengers, probably less accostumed to it) are to keep their sanity.

Also, changes in trade, assuming CT trade rules are kept (some of them hinted in my previous post):

• As in the average you spend 3-4 jumps between systems, but the stops among them are just to refuel and systems check/recalibarate, you'll spend more time in jumpspace (let's say 24-48 hours between jumps, instead of the 1 week in jump, 1 week in realspace assumed in OTU, That will mean you can expect about 3 jumps per week (and one making planetfall) on the average
• For the same reason, carrying freight from one planet to another will give you 3-4 kCr per ton (3-4 jumps), while passgers will pay 30-40 kCr (HiPsg) or 24-36 kCr (MdmPsg), while the life support costs (calculated per forthnight) will be lesser in comparison, making more attractive to carry freigh/passengers against speculative cargo
• Speculative cargo is not competitive unless you can expect to earn at least 3-4 kCr profit per ton, while in the OTU is the main income source for most merchants.

 

[Golan2072]

Feels a bit like Alien(s) - just add in (relatively) safe low-berths, and you're all set - long multi-week travel times between systems while the crew (or at least the passengers) stay in cold sleep and the computer runs things while the ship automatically goes through several uninhabited or lightly inhabited systems. Most uninhabitable systems are rarely surveyed in detail once it is determined that no Earthlike worlds exist there, so surprises may exist and your computer may divert your ship to explore a distress beacon on some god-forsaken planet in a barely-explored waypoint system...