Setting: Extreme Archaeologist

[robject]

What is it? A TL-4 pulp-adventure setting, centered on explorer-archaeologists, leveraging Traveller5 mechanics.

Where is it? The action typically takes place in the terrain and overgrown ruins around ancient but clever civilizations. Occasionally, the action switches to an academic setting. The world is Earthlike with Earthlike countries.

Who's there? Globe-spanning empires hold extensive lands outside their homeland, but the colonies are invariably tenuous and undergoing revolutions, or are engaged in local wars against states or other colonies.

How advanced is the technology? This setting has airships -- zeppelins, in other words. Compared to our world, this world had two decades of airship use before the first sustained and controlled heavier-than-air flight.

What professions are there? Scholars are in high demand, as are mercenaries and drivers. Colonists are in demand as well, but their survival rate is as low as that of scholars. Nobility rules states, empires, and their colonies.

 

[rancke]

Where is it? The action typically takes place in the terrain and overgrown ruins around ancient but clever civilizations. Occasionally, the action switches to an academic setting. The world is Earthlike with Earthlike countries.

Sounds like Milieu 1000 Ruie. Or rather, my JTAS Online writeup of Ruie that got overwritten by the MgT reboot of Rescue on Ruie. I still haven't found a suitable world to move my writeup to.


Hans

 

[Reban]

I like a little pulp and diesel punk.

The action typically takes place in the terrain and overgrown ruins around ancient but clever civilizations

So what are these ancient but clever civilizations? Were they TL1-3 or were they higher TL?

How advanced is the archaeology? Is there an academic school and an "Indie" school of archaeology?

Do the airships trail red lines across the map?

 

[flykiller]

is this a product, or a game startup, or thoughts on a potential setting being shared?

 

[mike wightman]

Doc Savage meets Flash Gordon...

 

[pendragonman]

Sort of Indiana Jones is my first thought.

 

[robject]

I was watching Raiders of the Lost Ark last night, and wondered about archaeological swashbuckling in Traveller. However, I tried not to nail down that setting too tightly, and for some reason gave it that LTA spin (I'm still not sure why I did that).

So when I saw Doc Savage and Flash Gordon, I was happy that someone could put some more 'spin' on it.

"Dieselpunk" - yes, that described my mood, without actually going too far down that route. I already had at least one "unreality" in Pulp Archaeology. I suppose that explains the zeppelins.

 

[rancke]

I was watching Raiders of the Lost Ark last night, and wondered about archaeological swashbuckling in Traveller. However, I tried not to nail down that setting too tightly, and for some reason gave it that LTA spin (I'm still not sure why I did that).

Sorry about that. It's just that Ruie:Year 1000 leapt to my mind when I saw your post. It would be solidly TL4. It's interdicted for extra complications. It has a world map and a decent chronology (~40 entries). It has 152 separate nations, ranging in population from 1.2 billion in the former world power, Strolojka, to 23,000 on the tiny island kingdom of Ringinsel. It's the homeworld of an extinct minor non-human race. It had a settlement in -2200 that eventually died out (some time before -1500). And it's first settlers (that survived) must have had a tech level of 9 to 12 before they regressed, so there coulld be technological wonders to be found (compared to TL4, that is).

There could even be an abandoned Darrian base.

"Dieselpunk" - yes, that described my mood, without actually going too far down that route. I already had at least one "unreality" in Pulp Archaeology. I suppose that explains the zeppelins.

What's unreal about zeppelins? As long as there are no massive disasters to scare people and aircraft are not developed enough to outcompete them, there's nothing unrealistic about them. Have a few setbacks with airplanes and they could dominate the skies for a decade or two.


Hans

 

[Reban]

What's unreal about zeppelins? As long as there are no massive disasters to scare people and aircraft are not developed enough to outcompete them, there's nothing unrealistic about them. Have a few setbacks with airplanes and they could dominate the skies for a decade or two.


Hans

Well there are plenty of stories I can think of where the airships are capable of feats far beyond what should be possible:

Unrealistic lift capacity, unrealistic speed, etc. etc.

The biggest one is the capacity to weather storms.

Airships should be fragile and prone to having the wind carry them off and wreak them.

Otherwise pulp shades its way into super-science.

 

[Scratches]

Zeppelins? Sold!

Long while ago had a scenario with zeppelins storming a crashed ship sporting a meson spinal mount. Zeppelins 1 Meson 0.

 

[atpollard]

Well there are plenty of stories I can think of where the airships are capable of feats far beyond what should be possible:

Unrealistic lift capacity, unrealistic speed, etc. etc.

The biggest one is the capacity to weather storms.

Airships should be fragile and prone to having the wind carry them off and wreak them.

Otherwise pulp shades its way into super-science.

K class blimps were capable of trans-Atlantic anti-submarine patrols.
There is no innate reason an airship could not weather storms as well as any navy surface vessel.

Until they get VERY large, rigid airships are not essential.

The ZMC-2 showed promise as a new technology with still greater rough weather capability (but the company developing it did not survive the Great Depression).

 

[robject]

Zeppelins it is, then. That distracts the setting (slightly) away from a pure Indiana Jones rip-off. As mentioned, it's not unreasonable for them to dominate for a few generations before airplanes finally take off. So to speak.

 

[aramis]

Zeppelins it is, then. That distracts the setting (slightly) away from a pure Indiana Jones rip-off. As mentioned, it's not unreasonable for them to dominate for a few generations before airplanes finally take off. So to speak.

And it's starting to look like zeppelins are about to make at least a partial comeback...

 

[atpollard]

In FedEx shipping terms, there are three basic classes of transportation.

• "6 to 8 weeks" = a slow boat from China. Ships large, heavy, low priority items by the slowest and cheapest means possible. Surface Ships have always held dominance in this area.
• "3 business days" = too important to wait for a slow boat, but not a candidate for the 'money is no object' attitude of Aircraft. This is an area where Airships can dominate the market over slower ships or more expensive aircraft.
• "10 AM Next Day" = Aircraft will/have quickly come to dominate this class of travel. It is why we have commercial Jets today. Until aircraft come along, airships may briefly hold this spot.

 

[robject]

Pencil in the "working age" of the setting to correlate to 1890 thru 1940. Call it 1920 or so (but we don't have to assume the map will be of our Earth).

(Note that the submarine develops sort of along the same timeline as the airship.)

I suppose there will be different types of airship construction. I figure a significant portion of its revenue will be in carrying mail and other courier duties.

Looks like airships had payloads from 4 to 60 tons.
Typical range is 100 hours, more or less.
Sacrificing payload for fuel extends range to up to 400 hours.
Cruising speeds are 70 to 100 kph
Maximum speed is 125 kph.

An intercontinental airship with 15,000 kg of payload (passengers, cargo, and crew) requires:

+ Captain (x3 shifts)
+ Navigator (x3 shifts)
+ 2 Helmsmen (x3 shifts)
+ Radioman (x3 shifts)
+ Steward (x3 shifts)
+ 6 Engineers (x3 shifts)
= 36 crew

So if I were to make a guess, I'd say that every airship needed a Captain, Navigator, Helmsman, Radioman, Steward, and two Engineers. More engineers, and an occasional extra Helmsman, were needed for larger ships. Then, multiply crew by two if the airship is to fly for 24 to 32 hours, and multiply by three if the airship is to fly for more than 32 hours.

 

[Reban]

You're going to have two types of Engineers or engineering specialties.

Mechanical Engineers to look after the engines.

Structural Engineers or Riggers to look after the airframe, skin and gas cells.


D'Orcy's Airship Manual is a useful real world reference book (great pictures and drawings) from around the 1920s.

Forgotten Futures ABC Files might be worth mining for ideas on more prolific use of airships in an alternate history. (I'm not sure if I can post a link to a non Traveller rpg?).

 

[robject]

Mechanical Engineers to look after the engines.

Structural Engineers or Riggers to look after the airframe, skin and gas cells.

Thanks for that. The website I gleaned this from had two different titles for the engineers, so this may reflect your note.

Sounds like they could be shoehorned into Knowledges under Engineering. That, or we use Mechanic for Structure, and Engineers for Engines, or vice versa.

Of course my real goal is to use Starship Design to build Airships

 

[McPerth]

Pencil in the "working age" of the setting to correlate to 1890 thru 1940. Call it 1920 or so (but we don't have to assume the map will be of our Earth).

(Note that the submarine develops sort of along the same timeline as the airship.)

I suppose there will be different types of airship construction. I figure a significant portion of its revenue will be in carrying mail and other courier duties.

Looks like airships had payloads from 4 to 60 tons.
Typical range is 100 hours, more or less.
Sacrificing payload for fuel extends range to up to 400 hours.
Cruising speeds are 70 to 100 kph
Maximum speed is 125 kph.

An intercontinental airship with 15,000 kg of payload (passengers, cargo, and crew) requires:

+ Captain (x3 shifts)
+ Navigator (x3 shifts)
+ 2 Helmsmen (x3 shifts)
+ Radioman (x3 shifts)
+ Steward (x3 shifts)
+ 6 Engineers (x3 shifts)
= 36 crew

So if I were to make a guess, I'd say that every airship needed a Captain, Navigator, Helmsman, Radioman, Steward, and two Engineers. More engineers, and an occasional extra Helmsman, were needed for larger ships. Then, multiply crew by two if the airship is to fly for 24 to 32 hours, and multiply by three if the airship is to fly for more than 32 hours.

I've always understood than only a Captain may be in a ship. Shouldn't it be 1 Captain + 2 officers (to fill the 3 shifts)?

 

[Reban]

Under Flyer Skill there's a Knowledge: Aeronautics which covers the kind of things a Rigger does. Mechanic Skill fits nicely too and is easier to implement.

In a crew such as you describe there'd probably be a Petty Officer in the "chief engineer" role that has skill in both areas. In each shift there'd be a mechanic monitoring the engines (sometimes called power eggs as they have their own pods) from a central panel although if you're looking for that 1920s feel the mechanic will be making visual inspections of the engines, oiling, checking settings and listening to the sound of the engines. It was possible to stop one engine during flight and perform maintenance.

The Rigger on duty during a shift would be patrolling inside the envelope checking for leaks from the gas cells, stress on the aluminum or wood structural girders, tightening rigging wires and checking for leaks in the rubberized fabric of the outer hull (needs an entry for Rubberized Fabric in ACS ).

Of course thats probably just for cruising. For evolutions it would be a case of all hands on deck with each Mechanic looking after one or two engines and Riggers attending to their duties plus watching for icing and acting as look-outs etc.

 

[robject]

I'm liking Kipling's future world. It diverges from Extreme Archaeologist in that it is a future world, one which has a single planetary government that rules via control of the means of transportation.

Extreme Archaeologist presumes a Late Trade Empire, telegraphy, bakelite, radio (CW and AM, vacuum tubes), and candlestick telephones, but not global government.

So, probably 1920.

It just occurred to me that it falls just after Space: 1889, but I've not assumed ether flyers, so it's not really related to that one, either.