Kyle Lewis
SOC-1
Does anyone know if someone has done system surveys for the Planets of the sol system? Trying to save time by getting someone else's work.
any ideas for a purely sol system campaign would be appreciated.
Pre-empire terra adventure Idea
- Thread starter Kyle Lewis
- Start date
By pre- empire do you mean pre 2nd imperium?( the rule of man) or pre 3rd imperium? (solomani rim war) I think I can help you if you give me more specific info.....But here's a short history.....
Terra's first wars were against Vilani Imperium.Terra brought down Vland and established the 2nd Imperium. Terra Itself was invaded by the syleans (who estblish the 3rd Imperium) Hope this helps......
Terra's first wars were against Vilani Imperium.Terra brought down Vland and established the 2nd Imperium. Terra Itself was invaded by the syleans (who estblish the 3rd Imperium) Hope this helps......
Kyle Lewis
SOC-1
Pre-jump, pre-contact. Just the sol system.
The alien supplement on Solomani (aliens????) has some discussion as does the Library Data supplement.
MT Solomani and Aslan has a few snippets
The heretical Imperialines had the Vilani landing in the Classical era and a T2k 'dark' supplement had the Vilani capturing T2k troopers
The main thing is that the invention of micro jumps allowed exploitation of solar system and eventually a trip to Barnard's Star
MT Solomani and Aslan has a few snippets
The heretical Imperialines had the Vilani landing in the Classical era and a T2k 'dark' supplement had the Vilani capturing T2k troopers
The main thing is that the invention of micro jumps allowed exploitation of solar system and eventually a trip to Barnard's Star
marginaleye
SOC-12
Here's a (conspiracy) theory:
The Solomani are not *quite* a Major Race.
First contact with the Vilani happened in the second half of the *20th* century.
But which Vilani?
A renegade, a would-be usurper who wanted a horde of disposable barbarian allies. The Vilani are, if nothing else, are long-term planners. The would-be usurper didn't envision seizing the throne himself -- he was laying the foundations for a power-grab by one of his children, or perhaps one of his grandchildren.
At some point, however, the usurper's conspiracy got busted, but the Vilani authorities never found out exactly where Terra was... the tracks were very well-hidden.
So the Terrans were left on the verge of Tech Level 9. The technological uplift pipeline was cut a couple of decades ago, but there are a few aging Vilani conspirators are still on Terra in the 21st century, buying their continued survival with a diminishing hoard of technological secrets. The Terrans know the Vilani are out there, and that their empire is very old, and rather brittle, but they haven't *quite* figured out how to go about breaking off a chunk yet.
The Solomani are not *quite* a Major Race.
First contact with the Vilani happened in the second half of the *20th* century.
But which Vilani?
A renegade, a would-be usurper who wanted a horde of disposable barbarian allies. The Vilani are, if nothing else, are long-term planners. The would-be usurper didn't envision seizing the throne himself -- he was laying the foundations for a power-grab by one of his children, or perhaps one of his grandchildren.
At some point, however, the usurper's conspiracy got busted, but the Vilani authorities never found out exactly where Terra was... the tracks were very well-hidden.
So the Terrans were left on the verge of Tech Level 9. The technological uplift pipeline was cut a couple of decades ago, but there are a few aging Vilani conspirators are still on Terra in the 21st century, buying their continued survival with a diminishing hoard of technological secrets. The Terrans know the Vilani are out there, and that their empire is very old, and rather brittle, but they haven't *quite* figured out how to go about breaking off a chunk yet.
Here's a piece I wrote some time ago, that might prove helpful for fuelling the concept of such a conspiracy:
http://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/culture/societies/ziranii.html
Hope this helps,
Flynn
http://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/culture/societies/ziranii.html
Hope this helps,
Flynn
Kyle Lewis
SOC-1
Oh yeah anything will be helpful
Flynn, I loved your article, I really like conspiracies (grew up in the sixties you know). How do you think the Ziranii would react to the Coalition in the New Era? I'd like to incorporate them into a PBEM campaign I'm running now.
As to the pre-jump solar system, that would be great fun for me anyway. Use the description of the Sol system in the back of the Scouts LBB from CT and just change the government codes etc. to suit yourself. There are a number of good sites from NASA regarding the various planets snd moons and the asteroid belt would be a great place for the frontier and hiding pirates. No aliens, no jump drive, boy you have to keep it moving I think, but it'd be interesting.
Pappy
As to the pre-jump solar system, that would be great fun for me anyway. Use the description of the Sol system in the back of the Scouts LBB from CT and just change the government codes etc. to suit yourself. There are a number of good sites from NASA regarding the various planets snd moons and the asteroid belt would be a great place for the frontier and hiding pirates. No aliens, no jump drive, boy you have to keep it moving I think, but it'd be interesting.
Pappy
Pappy,
I'm not sure how the Ziranii would react to the Coalition. I imagine that different cells of the Ziranii survived on different worlds, and probably made motions toward making psionics more acceptable to the local population. I imagine those efforts would have been met with only limited success in the few generations between Collapse and Recovery.
Given the organization's prior history in dealing with interstellar polities, the first contacted world with a Ziranii cell would have produced some of the following reactions:
1) The Ziranii move to gain some influence over the local interaction with interstellar contact, such as starport authorities or political figures.
2) Using their new position of power, they'd have started two new long-term missions:
a) Insinuate themselves into the interstellar polities at various power levels, working from local outward to polity-wide, with a focus on exploratory and military agencies; and
b) Seek out means to travel to other worlds that once had a Ziranii cell, in an effort to make contact and reunite the cells in an ongoing effort.
3) With the Wilds being as they are, the Ziranii have an unparalleled opportunity to gather together and forge a new pocket empire, but will not do so without a lot of long-term build-up and a great chance of success and safety.
Different cells could have slightly different agendas, though both are directed towards the same goal, so there could be internal factions that arise, to lend some fun that way. Also, depending on the level of success in preparations, the Ziranii could be setting about to gather scouting vessels for exploration, or military vessels for protection, as they begin the first stages of their quest for a place to create their pocket empire, where they once again can be free to practice psionics openly and defend themselves from any who deny them that practice.
Just some thoughts,
Flynn
I'm not sure how the Ziranii would react to the Coalition. I imagine that different cells of the Ziranii survived on different worlds, and probably made motions toward making psionics more acceptable to the local population. I imagine those efforts would have been met with only limited success in the few generations between Collapse and Recovery.
Given the organization's prior history in dealing with interstellar polities, the first contacted world with a Ziranii cell would have produced some of the following reactions:
1) The Ziranii move to gain some influence over the local interaction with interstellar contact, such as starport authorities or political figures.
2) Using their new position of power, they'd have started two new long-term missions:
a) Insinuate themselves into the interstellar polities at various power levels, working from local outward to polity-wide, with a focus on exploratory and military agencies; and
b) Seek out means to travel to other worlds that once had a Ziranii cell, in an effort to make contact and reunite the cells in an ongoing effort.
3) With the Wilds being as they are, the Ziranii have an unparalleled opportunity to gather together and forge a new pocket empire, but will not do so without a lot of long-term build-up and a great chance of success and safety.
Different cells could have slightly different agendas, though both are directed towards the same goal, so there could be internal factions that arise, to lend some fun that way. Also, depending on the level of success in preparations, the Ziranii could be setting about to gather scouting vessels for exploration, or military vessels for protection, as they begin the first stages of their quest for a place to create their pocket empire, where they once again can be free to practice psionics openly and defend themselves from any who deny them that practice.
Just some thoughts,
Flynn
marginaleye
SOC-12
What a pity that canon prohibits telepathy and teleportation across *interstellar* distances.
If it didn't, it would be very easy to envision the psionics institutes playing a *major* role in the reconstruction of civilization (albeit, in all likelihood, covertly -- rather like the Istari and the Rangers of Tolkein's universe -- they only *look* like wandering riff-raff).
Of course, canon is meant to be altered and/or ignored when it's convenient for the referee to do so.
Perhaps a Deus-ex-Machina, like the Empress Wave?
If it didn't, it would be very easy to envision the psionics institutes playing a *major* role in the reconstruction of civilization (albeit, in all likelihood, covertly -- rather like the Istari and the Rangers of Tolkein's universe -- they only *look* like wandering riff-raff).
Of course, canon is meant to be altered and/or ignored when it's convenient for the referee to do so.
Perhaps a Deus-ex-Machina, like the Empress Wave?
far-trader
SOC-14 10K
Prohibits? Kinda strong I think, my old CT says "so far proven incapable of interplanetary ranges" which I took to mean possible. I even went a step further and imagined interstellar was also a possible. So I had a branch of Special versions of the ranged abilities that could be performed across interplanetary ranges and beyond, even as far as a Jump Teleportation talent.
marginaleye
SOC-12
Well, one can always blame any Deus-ex-Machina on the Ancients.
I'm envisioning a sort of "super psionics serum," a nanotechnology-based process that rewires the brain (re-routing neurons and secreting a network of molecular circuitry) for levels of psionic power that ordinary organic brains can't duplicate.This would create a very peculiar campaign... the serum-enhanced (and personally jump-capable) player characters would practically be superheros, particularly if other psionic powers were, likewise, boosted (pulling grav tanks out of the sky with Telekinesis, regenerating traumatically amputated limbs with Awareness, spotting starships jumping in-system several A.U.s away with Clairvoyance, etc.
)Actually, it could be a lot of fun (in a larger-than-life "Amber-ish" kind of way
), as long as you go into the campaign with the right "mind-set."
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Sounds a bit like White Wolf's Trinity game, or the books by Julian May.
marginaleye
SOC-12
Yes, you're right... quite a bit like Julian May (or, rather, like the "Pleistocene Exile" series -- I'm not familiar with her other works, or with the White Wolf game you mention, for that matter).
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
The Galactic Milieu series- Intervention, Jack the Bodiless, Diamond Mask and Magnificat- are amongst my favorite books list. They are an interesting "continuation" of the story begun in the Pliocene Saga.
marginaleye
SOC-12
Hrm...
Suppose you've got a *self-replicating* nanotechnological "super-psionicist serum," that can be transmitted rather like a blood-borne disease... But suppose that the serum "has got to have something to work with" -- that it needs to recognize certain distinctive neural pathways (present only in the brains of trained psionicists) before it becomes active and starts building up that lattice of molecular circuitry. On the other hand, perhaps a non-psionicist *could* be a "carrier," at least briefly. Thus, you wouldn't need the somelike unlikely coincidence of the archaeologist who digs up the original bottle of "super-psionicist serum" needing to *be* a psionicst, for the ball to get rolling. Just a thought.
Suppose you've got a *self-replicating* nanotechnological "super-psionicist serum," that can be transmitted rather like a blood-borne disease... But suppose that the serum "has got to have something to work with" -- that it needs to recognize certain distinctive neural pathways (present only in the brains of trained psionicists) before it becomes active and starts building up that lattice of molecular circuitry. On the other hand, perhaps a non-psionicist *could* be a "carrier," at least briefly. Thus, you wouldn't need the somelike unlikely coincidence of the archaeologist who digs up the original bottle of "super-psionicist serum" needing to *be* a psionicst, for the ball to get rolling. Just a thought.
In My Last Campaign(tm), the players recovered an Ancient device which amplified psionic strength points by three: when in contact with the device (which was a rough sphere 1.5m in diameter), spending one psi point would actually produce the effect of three points spent. Doing this would also produce a moment of delusion or fugue; but when more points were spent, the longer it took to recover. There was also some measurable, cumulative mental damage to using the artifact.
This was primarily for the benefit of Zelda, a player-character who was experimented on as a child by the I.N. and rescued by her older brother many years later. The experiments left her somewhat unstable, but she had a Psi rating of 15, and could teleport. Using the psionics rules somewhat liberally, she was able to scale up the (1) area of effect, and (2) range of effect to teleport a 400 dton starship a few *sectors*. After doing this once, she was essentially incoherently psychotic for a couple of weeks and had to be kept locked up and sedated until she regained her sanity.
This was primarily for the benefit of Zelda, a player-character who was experimented on as a child by the I.N. and rescued by her older brother many years later. The experiments left her somewhat unstable, but she had a Psi rating of 15, and could teleport. Using the psionics rules somewhat liberally, she was able to scale up the (1) area of effect, and (2) range of effect to teleport a 400 dton starship a few *sectors*. After doing this once, she was essentially incoherently psychotic for a couple of weeks and had to be kept locked up and sedated until she regained her sanity.
The Traveller Universe establishes that some humans originate from other planets such as Vland rather than all coming from Earth. What if the Vilani were to show up at Earth's door step early? Say perhaps on January 3, 2003. This is a parallel timeline, the future is up in the air and the Vilani empire has just expanded to include Earth. This puts Earth at the edge of civilization rather than at its center. Earth is at low tech level 8 and a starport has just been established at JFK Airport. The Vilani are spread thin so they attempt to coopt the Earth's governments to do their bidding by bribing them with offers of advanced technology after making a show in low Earth orbit with their Imperial Fleet. This convinces the Earth's governments to make the best of things and sigh a treaty with Vland. The Vilani then recruit some Earthlings to do some exploring beyond the current borders of the Vilani Empire. One other thing, I think I'd like to mention. The Vilani civilization has evolved somewhat differently from Earth's civilization, this version of the Vilani Imperium is a Matriarchal society, women occupy most of the type of positions that would usually be occupied by Men on Earth. Most of the Vilani Marines and Scouts are women. Natural childbirth is a thing of the past on Vland, children are grown outside the womb and this has freed women for other positions in the Vilani Empire for thousands of years. Earth is the most advance human civilization the Vilani have yet encountered, so assimilation with the Vilani culture is somewhat problematic, especially in the region of Earth known as the Middle East.
An interesting variant, Tom. JTAS Online actually has something very akin to that as a campaign variant in one of their articles a year or two back.
Let it slip ninety more years and we're talking pre-Interstellar Wars and the official contact with the Vilani.
Lots of possibilities to explore in this kind of scenario,
Flynn
Let it slip ninety more years and we're talking pre-Interstellar Wars and the official contact with the Vilani.
Lots of possibilities to explore in this kind of scenario,
Flynn
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