Non OTU: Almost The OTU - A Campaign Idea

[mike wightman]

A thought just occurred to me from the x-boat thread - in such a re-imaged setting the x-boat network would be designed to be as efficient as possible in getting communications between population centres.

 

[kilemall]

Well, one thought would be to blow off the jump # = parsec range scale, and Go Big.

Kiloparsec would be probably a bit too far, perhaps 10 parsec per jump number. Then you can have nice civilized routes between major worlds, and arguably 100s of systems in easy distance that are seldom visited and can provide all the mystery and exploration you want on tap.

Each hex would effectively be a 10 parsec wide subsector, which you could skip mapping or map out at will, and players could go straight to with J-1/2.

Then if some system becomes the Nevada silver strike/North Slope Oil, it shows up on the map for X decades then drops off as the resource plays out and everyone moves on.

Strategically the maneuver vibe would be closer to Star Wars, with rebels disappearing into a morass of uninhabitable systems and being able to pop out and strike any major target at will.

 

[McPerth]

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...

The setting that this remembers me is 2300AD one, where only garden worlds are rutinely colonized. IIRC only King and Hochbaden are really hostile worlds with colonies. Less fiendly systems use to have at most small outposts as refuelling, scientific or mining bases.

 

[aramis]

Well, one thought would be to blow off the jump # = parsec range scale, and Go Big.

Kiloparsec would be probably a bit too far, perhaps 10 parsec per jump number. Then you can have nice civilized routes between major worlds, and arguably 100s of systems in easy distance that are seldom visited and can provide all the mystery and exploration you want on tap.

Each hex would effectively be a 10 parsec wide subsector, which you could skip mapping or map out at will, and players could go straight to with J-1/2.

Then if some system becomes the Nevada silver strike/North Slope Oil, it shows up on the map for X decades then drops off as the resource plays out and everyone moves on.

Strategically the maneuver vibe would be closer to Star Wars, with rebels disappearing into a morass of uninhabitable systems and being able to pop out and strike any major target at will.

Technically, that would be T5's Hop Drive - the error rate is increased ×10, and so ±1000km/parsec becomes ±10,000 km/parsec, and the drive being a 10 parsec drive, ±100,000km ... 1/3 light second.

Oh, and Hop drives are, canonically, TL 18, meaning Hop 1 can be TL15.

Start to see where M1900 is going to go?