Designing an alternate milieu...

[Flynn]

Good morning, All,

I'm currently designing an ATU (alternate Traveller Universe), centered on Earth's expansion into the surrounding star systems. I'm using the Solomani Rim starmap and physical stats for UWPs, but generating my own worlds and background.

The year is 2350, and Earth has had jump technology for over 250 years. The military has Jump-2 capacity (TL 11), but it is not yet available to the public. The United Nations expanded into the Solar System during the 2000's, leading to a System War before jump drive was discovered in 2087. SLT colonization efforts to Alpha Centauri are replaced by jump-based colonies, and now Terrans have populated much of their own subsector and a small cluster of worlds in the adjacent Sirius subsector. The United Nations fell to an internal coup by a military movement, and has now reformed as the Confed (Confederation of Planets). The Great Civil War ended about a decade ago, and the Confed has established a strong military control over Terran space.

The people of the Confed have only encountered the ruins of a previous interstellar civilization. However, stray radio signals, etc, have made the Terrans aware of three other interstellar societies that are active about them: one to coreward, one to rimward-spinward, and one, much more distant, to rimward-trailing.

Psionics are treated more openly as they are in the Milieu 0 setting, not with the scorn and disdain of the CT/MT era. All psions are supposed to be registered and licensed, because the Confed tracks these kinds of things. There are rogue psionic groups, including psychic freedom fighters, if a PC doesn't want his/her abilities registered in some database somewhere.

Confed Exploration Forces are preparing to survey the remainder of the Sirius subsector with a long range mission. That's where the PCs come in...

This is the core of my current idea for a campaign setting.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Flynn

 

[tenntrav]

Sounds cool....do you have uplift races (Vargr or Ursa)?

 

[Flynn]

The TL needed for uplifting races is 14, and the Terran Confed has only reached Tl 11. While there's some experimentation towards those ends, I can't justify widespread uplifts under the current concept.

However, I am thinking of some proto-Ursa and proto-Dolphin adventures, as the game proceeds. At that point, some uplifts could become available as PCs.

I won't allow non-human races to be played until they are encountered in-game. But eventually, I hope to expose the party to Vegans, Fteirle/Aslan, K'kree, Kafer (from T2300) and one or two minor races. (Since it's a small interstellar neighborhood, so to speak, I don't want the surrounding regions to get too full, too quickly.)

Since it's an exploration game, the races should be introduced fairly well, and the crew's reactions will set the standard for interaction with the races they run into.

-Flynn

 

[Solo]

Designing something similar for my first campaign. I'm going to make the Earth Confederation (like better than Terran Confederation) TL 12, maybe 13 on Earth. No uplifts but engineered human beings abound plus alien races (may use some 2300 material also).

The year will be around 2306 AD so I'm thinking lots of interactions with Earth and Vilani nobles, Vilani terrorists and rebellious worlds to the New Universal Order...

Probably use Capella Subsector as beginning base and move from there (having to manipulate canon a lot for this.)

Anyway, I'd be glad to gab with you on this. Good Luck!

-S.

 

[Solo]

Oh, yeah! Greys. Gonna do something with Greys...

-S.

 

[manley_t]

hmmm....I've also been working on my own ATU.

Jump Drives don't exist, neither do the magical 'thruster plates'. Instead, I'm using my own rockets house-rules that I developed not long after MT came out. It uses rockets (chem, fission, fusion) and types of fuel (common, exotic, toxic, toxic-exotic) to determine a G-Hour per dton of fuel rating (the game translation of specific impulse).

Interstellar travel occurs through pre-existing gravity wells (i.e. worm-holes). Every system with a gas giant has at least one due to the gravity wells created by the space-time gravity field interaction between the gas giant and the star. Binary and Trinary systems have more, as do systems with multiple gas giants.

I'm using the standard UWP generation process and am detailing each system (as the gravity holes are nearer to the gas giants).

I'm still trying to develop a quick'n'easy way to determine rotational location. Years ago when I did this I had the game occuring in a single system, and that only had 12 bodies that I had to track. But it was time consuming for just one system. I haven't come up with a way to slap out a quick chart of where a planet is in conjunction with another one...if anyone has any ideas I'm open to suggestions on this one

why is this important? Well, when fuel is an issue you only have so much fuel for so many hours of thrust. That means that launch windows play a big role, as do coast times. You'll accelerate to a point where your fuel consumption will be just below half (need some extra for thos emergency maneuvers) and then decelerate to destination. The rest of the time is spent coasting.

I'm also not having artificial gravity -- nor am I have max 6-G ratings of ships. Your engines can accelerate based on how many rockets you have per ship. This mean that it's posisble to have fractional Gs of thrust.

But, for those that want to go fact, the maximum G thrust you can take before you have to take rolls to keep from passing out is equal to your Con bonus. You get 1G for free. If your Con bonus is +1, then you can handle 2 Gs, anything over 2 G's you have to make a Con save DC 15+ every decimal over 2.0 i.e. -- 2.1 is DC 16, 2.2 is DC 17, 2.3 id DC 18, etc.

The check has to be made every minute.

High G feat gets you an extra G of resistance.

The nature of this setting and FTL method means the physical location of the star systems don't matter. It also means that the more stars and gas-giants a system has the more worthwile it is (i.e. the more gravity holes it has). There are natural combat zones already in place to figh tover systems.

I'm having all the main species from Traveller in the game. I've been toying with including D&D species as well (like, say, a planet of T2 Orcs....etc.

I ran a game' similiar this while in college that lasted nearly 2 years. It took place all in a single system. One player was a nobel that started a pirate cartel and another was a research scientist that found practially unlimited funding from said nobel. The single system G-Hour thrust system worked *really* well and actually gave the feel of space-travel (or so we all thought at the time). In fact, when I speak to them about it to this day they talk about that campaign fondly, and they wish we could all get together to play another one like it.

Who knows, maybe with this one I'll recapture what I had then

 

[Flynn]

Regarding TLs, here are my thoughts for the various races I've got current plans for:

Confed TL 10, with Terra having TL 11.
Vegan Concorde, TL 12.
Fteirle, TL 13.
K'kree, TL 13-14.
Kafers, TL 13.
Ancient Ones (not Droyne), TL 16-17.
Progenitors (pre-Ancient Ones), TL 18-20.

I also want to introduce a reptilian race at TL 7-8, a xenophobic race akin to the Sabmiqys at TL 16 limited to one planet (which will become a Red Zone after first contact, most likely), and one or two other minor races, depending on the worlds I create.

By the time the game has gotten into full swing, I'd like to have Human, Vegan, Fteirle, the reptilian race, and the extra minor races as PC types. (In addition, the proto-uplifts would be available, but that depends on the course of the game.) But that's only once things are settled between the races and good contacts have been established with them.

-Flynn

 

[Flynn]

Oh, almost forgot: Since there are no Ancients in the OTU sense, this milieu will have no Vilani, nor Zhodani.

Also, Kusyu will be moved much closer, perhaps to the G subsector of the sector diagonally spinward and rimward from Sol Sector.

Most of the action for the campaign will focus on the Sirius subsector, spinwardly adjacent to Terra and the Core Worlds of the Confed.

Just wanted to throw that out there,
Flynn

 

[daryen]

Originally posted by Flynn:
Regarding TLs, here are my thoughts for the various races I've got current plans for:

Confed TL 10, with Terra having TL 11.
Vegan Concorde, TL 12.
Fteirle, TL 13.
K'kree, TL 13-14.
Kafers, TL 13.
Ancient Ones (not Droyne), TL 16-17.
Progenitors (pre-Ancient Ones), TL 18-20.

You do realize that (assuming fairly equivalent "throw-weight") the Aslan, K'kree and Kafers can easily kill the Confederation outright, don't you? It won't even really be a challenge, either.

And, unless you radically change their "racial outlook", the K'kree and Kafers will be quite eager to. (The Aslan would be content to merely subjugate them.)

 

[Flynn]

In all actuality, the Kafer and the K'kree are engaged in an endless war of mutual annihilation about a sector away. (Their worldviews are mutually exclusive, and both are dedicated to taking out the other via genocide.) Neither will become aware of the Confed presence until the Confed make themselves known. Hopefully, by then, they'll be ready. I intend to introduce this Genocidal War a long time into the campaign, after the Confed deals with the ihatei threat.

The Fteirle/ihatei threat will force the Humans to work with the Vegans to counter their encrouchment, and push the Confed toward a more rapid TL development. The Fteirle have a much higher TL, but they are far from home at this point, and so have limited resources that are sustainable at that TL. I'm expecting it to be quite a fight when it comes down to it, reminiscent of the Borg versus Starfleet in the middle of ST:TNG.

And if the Fteirle win, then that's a darker, gloomier story to tell.

Hope this helps,
Flynn

 

[soloprobe]

I use the Solomani rim maps IMTU. But I've taken a different tac. MTU is: "IMPERIAL EARTH" Yeah I know it's been done before. Flandry leaps readily to mind. Terra has long since mended fences with the Aslan........Now what will they do about those Vargr Pirates?......

 

[themink]

My ATU -

Approximately TL11 however some things from further up the tree added (ie I have more Bio-tech/Cyber)

Naval Architechture is different (drives don;t scale linearly, more types of weapons, different mounting types)

Psi is known to exist however has never been studied in labs and has no training.

Humanity (notice ending) has a sphere of roughly 20 settled planets (plus about 100 uninhaited/uninhabitable systems). There are two known non-starfaring races. The central "Federation" contains most of the Core, there are breakaway "nations" arround the edges.

No known star faring races.

I'm still working out my travel times for the 3D universe (my first modelling system failed). And trying to work out a way of representing the thing visually to my players.

I'm intending to mostly play online so I am writing a lot of automation (ie they can browse the map themselves once I have the app written)

The Character generation is heretical and doesn;t have prior history!

Still playing with the rules and writing code.
Still adjusting rules

 

[daryen]

Originally posted by Flynn:
The Fteirle/ihatei threat will force the Humans to work with the Vegans to counter their encrouchment, and push the Confed toward a more rapid TL development. The Fteirle have a much higher TL, but they are far from home at this point, and so have limited resources that are sustainable at that TL. I'm expecting it to be quite a fight when it comes down to it, reminiscent of the Borg versus Starfleet in the middle of ST:TNG.

And if the Fteirle win, then that's a darker, gloomier story to tell.

My concern was just that TL12 is such a huge threshold. So a TL11 fleet has no real hope against a TL13 fleet; the TL11 fleet is probably lucky just to inflict casualties. Think Mibari vs. Earth Alliance in the Earth/Mibari War from B5's backstory.

OK, not that bad, as the TL11 PAW spinal weapons will do some damage, but pretty close.

However, if that is your intent (i.e. to give the Terrans that much of a disadvantage), go for it.

Plus, maybe they can talk the Ancients or Pre-Ancients into helping them survive.

Good luck with the setting.

 

[Antony]

My Star Kingdom of Swan campaign also uses the star locations from the Solomani Rim with most worlds redone.

The states I have so far set up in the sector, which is still largely unexplored are

The United Nations of Humanity - TL11
The Sirius Cartel - TL11
The Star Kingdom of Swan - TL10 to early TL11
The Republic of New Columbus - TL9 to TL10
The Telkar Karikar - TL11
The Daanan Empire - early TL12

plus independent systems mostly of lower tech levels

All these states are relatively small. I find that this tech range gives a lot of options. Tie it in with the governments and the results could be interesting. For example the UNH is nominally TL11 but the government is made up of layers committees, as a consequence the UNH navy is equipped from TL9 to TL11 with all the problems that ensues.

 

[Gerald]

Okay, I'll jump in.

The setting I'm building is completely divorced from the Traveller milieu. It is a sort of retro, 1950s-style, drawing on "classic" SF like the Heinlein juveniles, with elements of Rocky Jones, Buzz Corry and Flash Gordon mixed in.

A bit less grit, a bit more swashbuckling.

 

[Flynn]

Antony,

After coming up with my core idea, I discovered your Star Kingdom of Swan website, and enjoyed reviewing it. In fact, it was your website that finally made me decide to have some ancient civilizations in the region.

In case it hasn't been said recently, thanks for the nice job there. Very well presented. BTW, how did you get the great system diagrams?

Thanks in advance,
Flynn

 

[Flynn]

Daryen,

I have not fully explored what the difference between TL 11 and TL 13 will mean in encounters between the Fteirle and the Terrans. I am assuming that the Fteirle will be greatly outnumbered by the Terrans, due to proximity and such, but I don't know how realistically such an assumption will work out.

Once I've done some research, I may scale down the Fteirle a notch, depending on whether I like the results of my research. I do want the Terrans to be able to defend themselves and use the Fteirle threat as a reason to improve their technology, and eventually come through with a hard border between the two stellar polities. But I don't want it to be easy, and I want the PCs to sweat it hard and have to think and play smart to succeed.

I appreciate the concerns. Since you are so evidently concerned, there are obviously factors I hadn't even considered, so I'll dig into the game mechanics and see what I can come up with.

Do you have any suggestions of the things I should consider in making my evaluation?

Thanks in advance for your help,
Flynn

 

[daryen]

Originally posted by Flynn:
I appreciate the concerns. Since you are so evidently concerned, there are obviously factors I hadn't even considered, so I'll dig into the game mechanics and see what I can come up with.

Do you have any suggestions of the things I should consider in making my evaluation?

Please note that I am primarily looking at CT, as I am assuming that you are using either it or T20, and the T20 ships are supposed to be fairly close to CT.

Within that setting, my concern is around the ships weaponry. You have to have TL12 to get basic nuclear dampers or meson screens. Without those, you are dead meat against nuclear missles and spinal meson mounts (the primary weapons of CT).

So, at TL11, the best you can have is very primitive spinal weapons and no screens. While at TL13, they get very powerful spinal mounts and effective screens.

The effect of this is that TL11 ships will only be able to do damage with spinal PAW weapons. (Mesons just won't penetrate the screens.) And the nuclear missles will be slowed by the dampers.

Meanwhile, the TL13 ships will be killing a TL11 ship just about every time it fires. Plus the nuclear missles will also be doing significant damage.

Finally, with a 2 TL difference, the Terrans will always have a -2 to the die roll, while the Aslan will always have a +2, because of the computer level difference. (T20 may do this differently, however.)

Again, if you are using TNE or T4 rules, this may not be an issue.

Ground combat could also be an issue, as the TL11 only has ACRs and such, whereas TL13 has guass rifles and PGMPs.

 

[Flynn]

Very nice assessment, Daryen. I'll definitely have to look at the TLs and see how things are applied in T20. I want the fight to be difficult, not impossible.

Thanks for such a precise analysis,
Flynn