Iconic Elements

[esampson]

Well, I want book 2 to be The Third Imperium. I want a full atlas and UWPS. I want all the major races and many iconic minor races like Vegans and Dolphins and I want stats for all the iconic ships and vehicles.

I would settle for a book with table top wargame and campaign rules though as long as the races and vehicles all got official stats in it.

So I was going to respond in the thread and ask him what he considered iconic ships and vehicles but then I thought about it a little more and decided to break it out into a new thread and ask:

What do you consider iconic elements of Traveller?

I'm referring to anything that you would strongly associate with your Traveller games; ships, vehicles, equipment, races and such.

As an example for me the iconic elements of Traveller would be Scout/Couriers, Far Traders, the IISS, Nobles, Vargr, Aslan, the Zhodani, and the Spinward Marches.

I probably would not include things like the Solomani, the Hivers, or the K'kree because even though they have almost always been a part of the Traveller lore for as long as I've been playing they rarely made appearances in the games that I played (though your mileage may vary). Things like battle dress, the PGMP and the FGMP are kind of in a funny land because I certainly think of them when I think of Traveller although not usually in the hands of players.

 

[Drakon]

What do you consider iconic elements of Traveller?

I'm referring to anything that you would strongly associate with your Traveller games; ships, vehicles, equipment, races and such.

As an example for me the iconic elements of Traveller would be Scout/Couriers, Far Traders, the IISS, Nobles, Vargr, Aslan, the Zhodani, and the Spinward Marches.

Actually, I think you covered just about all of them. Jump drive technology is kind of iconic to Traveller.

 

[fyndo]

Air rafts. Free Traders (esp. named Beowulf). Villani (the language at least is everywhere).

 

[SanDragon]

Irridium!!

 

[esampson]

What do people consider to be iconic weapon for Traveller? For us it was snub nosed pistols and knives (not saying that other weapons were never used but if someone talked about a "gun" in Traveller for us it was probably a snub nose) but I'm curious about other people's games.

 

[Hemdian]

There's loads of stuff I want to include, but sticking to 'iconic':

• Small ships: Suleiman, Beowulf, Empress Marava, X-Boat, (possibly Broadsword)
  
  
• Big ships: Tigress, AHL
  
  
• Spinal mount weapons (including meson guns)
  
  
• The concept of battle riders and tenders (though there doesn't seem to be an example that I'd call iconic, unless you count the 'World' class on p16 of Supp8)
  
  
• Vehicles: Air/raft, G-Carrier
  
  
• Races: All major plus Bwaps, Virushi, Vegans
  
  
• The major polities (3I, Zhodani Consulate, etc)
  
  
• Organisations: All the Megacorps plus IN, IISS, TAS, TNS
  
  
• Nobles and the feudal structure
  
  
• Jump drive but no FTL communications
  
  
• Dispirate (socially, economically, and technolically) and largely independant worlds making up larger polities (ie. all 3I member worlds)
  
  
• Other: Battledress and FGMPs (but not for players)

Someone will probably add something and I'll kick myself for missing it.

 

[Hemdian]

What do people consider to be iconic weapon for Traveller? For us it was snub nosed pistols and knives (not saying that other weapons were never used but if someone talked about a "gun" in Traveller for us it was probably a snub nose) but I'm curious about other people's games.

Gauss pistol.

 

[aramis]

What do people consider to be iconic weapon for Traveller? For us it was snub nosed pistols and knives (not saying that other weapons were never used but if someone talked about a "gun" in Traveller for us it was probably a snub nose) but I'm curious about other people's games.

Snub Pistol and Gauss Rifle. (The lack of a CT Gauss Pistol rules it out...)

 

[mike wightman]

It's in Striker which makes it CT in my book

 

[the.barwickian]

Snub Pistol and Gauss Rifle. (The lack of a CT Gauss Pistol rules it out...)

Much as I love the gauss pistol, I have to agree with Aramis. It wasn't CT (though it was in the original Striker, IIRC).

Iconic personal weapons?

Lasers with powerpacks. Illegal in most places, but you wanted one...

The ACR.

FGMP. Nope, I never let non-Merc PCs have one, either, but they were their.

Body Pistol. If it was the only firearm that'd get through security, that was what you used.

And, as Aramis says, the gauss rifle.

 

[David Johansen]

I think the core adventure class ships, the six major races, the imperium with its long history, and yes the personal weapons and armor are all iconic. I think the Lightning Class Cruiser and Kinur and maybe the Crysanthanum are iconic as well. The visual library of imagery is also iconic (one of my many beefs with Mongoose Traveller) I'd even go as far as TNE being iconic in that the thousand year empire having an ending is an important part of its story. Though I wasn't really impressed with what came after TNE and probably would have done TNE differently. At the very least Virus would have had to physically interact with computers that weren't based on cymbaline chips. Of course people would still believe that radio could infect ships and behave accordingly.

Some of the personalities, Alexander Lascilies Jameson, Archduke Noris, Emperor Strephon, Archduke Margaret, Archduke Dullinor also strike me as important though of those only Noris really came into play much in CT. However Traveller should mostly be about adventurers not movers and shakers. I do think it would be nice to have some defined key personalities for various sectors or domains but these change over time anyhow. It's just handy for the referee to be able to look it up. Hmmm maybe we need a random archduke encounter table?

 

[whulorigan]

Archduchess Margaret

Some of the personalities, Alexander Lascilies Jameson, Archduke Norris, Emperor Strephon, Archduke Margaret, Archduke Dullinor also strike me as important though of those only Norris really came into play much in CT.

Sorry for the slightly off-topic post, but was Margaret ever promoted to Archduchess? I ask because this is not the first place I have seen her referenced this way. In the TNE:1248 Sourcebooks she is called an Archduchess as well, but I remember her only ever having been Sector Duchess of Delphi & Anaxias. Delphi and Anaxias are in Gateway Domain, which was under the authority of Archduke Tranian.

Anyone have any insight?

 

[robject]

Somewhere in my email, and also somewhere posted here on COTI, I have a list of iconic Traveller elements. I cannot find it with a trivial search, though.

 

[Midgardsormr]

For me, the iconic elements of Traveller are less concrete.

The feudal system, the limits of FTL communication, and the economics are most of what set Traveller apart from other games in my mind. Those things are expressed differently every time I play, but they're always a foundational aspect of the setting, whether I'm using the OTU or something else entirely.

To a lesser extent, the lifepath character generation and the lack of character progression.

Specific equipment, ships and organizations are secondary.

 

[Zutroi]

My iconic elements: speed-of-travel limits on communication, air/rafts and chemical slug-throwers, and mature characters instead of 'just out of school' kids... even with the infamous "died during chargen"!

 

[robject]

My List

Here we go... is this thing on? Ok then:



Traveller Iconic Elements.

FOUNDATIONAL.

The Jump Drive is the key to travelling to other stars. Starships of size 100 tons or greater can travel to a nearby star system in about 1 week’s time. Communication travels at the speed of jump.

Sequential jumping. To go two parsecs, you may make two consecutive 1-parsec jumps.

Starports are like Deep Water Ports, and service interstellar ships. Spaceports are like Airports, and service insystem ships. Both follow a basic classification system: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, X, Y.

Ships may refuel by skimming Gas Giants.

Two-dimensional space maps. "Empty" hexes only indicate "no star system present".

Tech levels. Traveller allows for multiple levels of technology. Worlds are not homogenously hi-tech. Backwaters are part of this.

Technology Level defined by particular items. See ACS Power Plants, Sensors, Weapons, and Defenses for some examples of this. See T5 chapters discussing gravitics and equipment, as well.

Modular rules. Like The Traveller Book but don't like its starship design? Swap in Traveller 5's ACS and you're done.

Humans are recognizably and unapologetically twentieth century humans. Transhumanism, cyborging, and the like are exceptions, not the norm.

Pre-career character generation. Chargen is a solo mini-game with its own risks and rewards.

Six main characteristics per person.

Characteristics take damage from combat.

Combat is deadly.

Patron oriented adventures. You have a vast setting... you never know where the players will go.... But patrons give the referee a lot of control over such a chaotic situation. They are a coping mechanism that solve a problem created by the scope of the game and contrast greatly with lists of "standard" adventure premises. There is an implication of wide-open, wide ranging player driven adventuring here.

Mercenary Tickets.

Push, Pull, Gimmick, Enigma.

PCs and NPCs are on an even footing.

No meta-game rewards. No "experience points", for example.


OFFICIAL SETTING – The Third Imperium.

Sophont direction is essential. Devices, vehicles, and other technology need someone in charge.

Starships have several basic designs. A, C, SDB, CE, J, K, L, M, P, R, S, X, XT, Y.

Shotguns in Space. Traveller includes "anachronistic" elements that defy science fiction conventions. Not everything is blasters and lasers.

Lots of worlds and Feudal Politics. SOC, Navy, and Marines implies these.

High Passage

Low Berths

Library Data

Ship's Locker

The Timeline. As Don showed us, that can go on for pages.

The Spinward Marches is Traveller's 'home'. Others like other settings, and they are still all 'Traveller'. But the Spinward Marches is 'home'.

More generally, Charted Space is Traveller's home, which is (by extension from the original Regina subsector) the Example of the default assumptions that undergird Traveller's rules.

Cosmopolitan. A number of sophont types interact in Traveller.


Traveller's Aid Society. TAS News Service (TNS) is part of that.

Sophonts. Significant non-human sophonts includes:

· Aslan

· Droyne

· Hiver

· K'Kree

· Vargr

 

[esampson]

. . .Shotguns in Space. Traveller includes "anachronistic" elements that defy science fiction conventions. Not everything is blasters and lasers. . .

I've always attributed that to Traveller being a bit harder 'sci fi' than most settings. The truth of that matter is that for people to switch from one tool to another the new tool has to at least be comparable to the old tool. In the case of weapons this is generally expressed in terms of ease of use, cost to build, and how effective it is at making people dead.

Well, cost to build will nearly always be significantly higher during the early production of a new tool. This is simple supply and demand. You've got people producing smaller batch runs because the demand isn't as high and it pushes up the price. Unless there is something inherently cheaper about the new device it will almost always start as more expensive.

Since the cost to build is higher you won't see wide adoption until the combined ease of use and effectiveness is greater than the previous tool. They don't have to both be higher, but together they need a clear advantage over the old tool (thus, a new tool could even be more expensive and less effective but if it is easier to use then it could supplant the older tool).

In the case of guns they are relatively inexpensive to make. It is very hard to imagine a technological advancement where a scifi railgun would start off significantly less expensive to build (it could reach that stage after mass production has begun since electricity is cheaper than propellant, but to reach that stage is going to take a lot of refinement to get the base cost down which means the weapon has already been in production). It is also hard to imagine that a scifi gun is going to be a lot easier to use. Guns are pretty basic and while there is a danger with untrained people playing around with guns the same danger probably exists with the scifi gun.

That leaves 'being more effective'. Guns, however, are pretty effective at their job in general (there are edge cases such as snipers where a laser would definitely improve effectiveness, but we're talking overall replacement), so I suspect we will continue to see gunpowder weapons for an awfully long time to come.

 

[Limburger59]

My top 12 Iconic Elements

1) The Type S Scout
2) Jump Drive
3) The Imperial Navy
4) The speed of Communications
5) Tech Levels
6) Cutlasses
7) The Feudal System
8) Zhodanis
9) The Spinward Marches
10) Skimming Gas Giants (and the lurking SDB's)
11) Travellers Aid Society
12) The air filtration system on the Type S Scout

 

[lspitz]

Curious that the ubiquitous fresher hasn't made the list.

 

[esampson]

Kind of one of the reasons I thought I'd start up the thread. Asking about canon elements is easy, but iconic elements will generate a slightly different answer, and assuming that what you view as iconic is the same as what everyone else will view as iconic is dangerous, even if you happen to know a lot of players.

It kind of helps because it puts certain things into perspective. For instance no one has mentioned the modular cutter yet, so if I was going to pick a subject to work on (or if they were trying to decide what equipment to generate for an equipment guide) it would definitely rank in below things like the Vargr or Free Traders.

That isn't to say that the modular cutter should be ignored but it doesn't need a lot of attention given to it until some of the more iconic elements are resolved first.