Gateway in 1248

[knirirr]

I recently purchased T:1248, and found it a most interesting read. I've never been much of a fan of TNE, virus &c., but having read this book I am tempted to give it a go. Survival Margin's suggestion to keep PCs in low berth from 1130 is something I might try.
Unfortunately for them, the campaign I've previously run was the Gateway one from MT journal 4. It appears from the 1248 book that the entire area is now under k'kree control. It might make an interesting campaign to end up on one of the worlds in Gateway sector and stir up resistance, but how easy it would be would depend on what sort of presence the Dominate has in that area.
The book seems to hint that the Galian Federation has been wiped out, and the worlds therein were under dominate control. Would that still be the case after the second Battle of Gateway? Are there any thoughts on exactly what level of power the Dominate would have in that area? I wonder if it would be feasible for low-tech worlds to have some orbital capability (perhaps discovering the PCs as their ship drifts into orbit from the outer system), or whether the Dominate's power would still be so great that nothing other than servitude in labour camps is an option for the surviving Galians.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[Roger Calver]

If you ask these questions over at the TAS forum Martin is online most days and so might be able to answer them for you.

http://traveller.comstar-games.com

 

[clementk]

Some of the 1248 moot playtest briefly touched upon this. Suggest searching the archives for gateway etc. if you've not already done so.

 

[knirirr]

Thanks for your replies.
I didn't find anything on the playtest forum that gives a clear answer, and I await registration on the TAS forum to complete so that I can ask there.

Edit: I found a thread where the classification (e.g. wilds, holocaust) etc. of the subsectors is suggested:
http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=52;t=000136#000000
It looks like this has not developed further, but it does at least suggest a basis for knocking up a script to apply the collapse/recovery rules, when I have the time. Hopefully this will provide enough hints to construct something worthwhile.

 

[knirirr]

Here are some further thoughts on the matter.
I've been reading this thread: http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=4;t=000511;p=2#000022
...which points out the various problems that the K'kree are likely to encounter in space battles against races that do not suffer from such severe constraints on their ship designs. The argument that the K'kree are not likely to be very effective in space combat is quite convincing, and I recall reading that their incursions into Imperial space during the early period of the Rebellion were easily defeated. Why, then, have then managed to do so much damage to the human states of Gateway? Presumably the following:

If they were TL13 to begin with this would put them at a considerable advantage against the TL11- human fleets of Gateway sector. If, due to the dominate alliance with the virus, their TL did not drop much then such an advantage would be increased.

Such states as the Renkard Union and Megusard Corporate probably only had navies suitable for defence against raiders, which would not have enough large ships to defeat the Dominate fleets.

By the time of the Dominate attacks on Captial the Imperial factions would have dropped sufficiently in TL and size/number of ships to give the Dominate a chance.
After the battles of Gateway the Dominate forces are probably greatly reduced in size. I think that Gateway itself was probably only a naval base and forward staging area for attacks toward Capital, and that there would have been no concerted effort to colonise any worlds in that sector unless they happened to have untainted atmospheres etc. If so, the shaded area on the map could be considered as one where the Dominate has bombed anyone who got in their way but is not a universal presence in the area, except perhaps in the RU and Megusard which they had more time pre-virus to colonise. Outside the affected area it might be assumed that the whole region is crawling with k'kree/virus, but there could well be areas where there is sufficient resistance - perhaps in the region of the HPA. A few rolls on the collapse/recovery table produced a potential 3-world pocket empire around Danovan (TL-9, democratic, starport B), and perhaps even Dover may have survived as an independent world (TL-9, starport C, religious dictator). I have quite a bit more rolling to do, though.
Does this seem reasonable?

 

[Flynn]

If you would like, I could run my Collapse/Recovery code to generate 1248 stats for the Gateway domain, but realize that they would not be considered official. I believe there is a sourcebook planned on that region by Avenger, though I don't know who is writing it.

Just a thought,
Flynn

 

[knirirr]

I'd be very grateful if you would not mind running that code. I have been writing some myself, but it would save me a lot of time (too much work on right now). I was in fact planning to use your rules from Stellar Reaches, and then use the Gateway to PDF code to prepare maps after working out borders.
I would prefer an official sourcebook, but the players are keen now so I might as well move along with something.

 

[Flynn]

I'll try to get something up and posted for you by this time next week. I am leaving town tomorrow for the weekend, and so today will be too hectic, but I can do something upon my return.

Just one sector? Or all four?

More later,
Flynn

 

[knirirr]

That would be great - many thanks!
If you could do all four that would be useful, but I will probably only need Gateway sector so that alone would be fine if you're busy.

 

[Flynn]

I'll even calculate some possible borders for you. I've got an allegiance calculator that looks for appropriate worlds (Starport A, TL 9+, Pop 7+) that would establish and support interstellar polities, and then calculates borders based on proximity to those central worlds (out as far as four jumps, so that there's about a 3 month turnaround from capital to frontier and back.) Chances are, though, you may not see very many of them if the worlds are devastated enough. (I've done some sectors several times, only to find that sometimes the devastation can be too harsh in a sector with lower TLs in general that no empires are formed without some intervention on the part of the Referee.)

Just offering that up, as well,
Flynn

 

[knirirr]

That sounds great as well, thanks.
I'm not really expecting much to survive, though as I discussed on another forum I was hoping that some parts of the HPA might remain, perhaps under a more reasonable government. I suppose that the Akeena union, if it survives Virus, would be left alone by the Dominate. I would also like something to survive in the vicinity of the Swanfei Free worlds (perhaps just one world with jump capable ships), which would allow me to perpetrate an amusing joke upon the players. This probably means a fair bit of hand-editing for me, but if I do that I will make anything I have altered available in case it's of use to anyone else.