Seven Wonders

[Spinward Scout]

Has anyone ever made a list of the seven wonders of the Traveller Universe? Or even a hitch-hiker's guide? I mean, there should be at least something special in each sector, right? What are some things that people use to visually "Wow!" their players. All I can picture is a scout/courier against a backdrop of the Horsehead nebula from one of the Challenge magazines.

Later,

Scout

 

[Spinward Scout]

Actually, that horsehead nebula picture would probably be a good one for the guy making all the digital art for GURPS Traveller. They've got a beautiful picture of the nebula one of the NASA web pages.

Scout

 

[phydaux]

well, there's a Dyson sphere somewhere in the Imperium. An Ancient holdover, I think. Also, there's a Black Hole on the Imperium/Varger border somewhere.

That's 2 off the bat. an anyone think of any others?

 

[far-trader]

Well there are the deserts of Wardn - LUNION in the Spinward Marches, famous for the carved large scale patterns generated by local anaerobic life forms during the seasonal migrations. Some scientists studying the phenomena believe its an expression of intelligence.

I seem to recall that there was also a partly built ring world somewhere but I might be mixing my games here. Of course that pales beside the Dyson sphere.

 

[Takei]

There was a T4 book (Anomolies or Alien Anomolies?) but it wasn't all that good.
This subject would seem to be one that hasn't been covered in any books so far.

------------------
Paul

 

[TimAllan]

The ringworld is in the Hinterworlds sector in a non Imperial State. The Dyson sphere is from an adventure in Challenge called Deadly Artifact, but it is not location spacific.
There are some multi-world rosetts mentioned though, in library data I think. The planet depicted on the cover of the Diaspora sector module is interesting, but I don't know if it would be a wonder. Capital or Vland might be considered wonders, perhaps even Earth.

 

[tjoneslo]

There is five world rosette is in vargr space. And adapting from RL, there ought to be a real black hole a few parsecs beyond vargr space.

If you believe in GURPS Traveller cannon, there's another (partal) dyson sphere on the far side of Hiver space, occupied by a sulpher based alien race.

For home worlds, Terra is a definite. Muan Gwi (The Vegans homeworld) is a good second. Vland, Capital, Zhladt (sp?) would all be interesting.

For techological achievement, the Vargr built a beanstalk over Lair, the floating imperial palace. I know there have been at least three mentions of floating (unnamed, unlocated) cities. And one passing reference to a highport which completely encircles the world.

For real adventurer, find grandfather's pocket universe...

 

[Vargas]

Howz about Ranther with its giant trees?

By the way, which issue of Challenge had the Dyson Sphere?

 

[daryen]

I imagine Daryen (oddly enough ) would be pretty cool. Seeing the relics from a near TL17 society should be impressive. Plus they have one of those floating cities mentioned above. And another city under a polar ice cap.

 

[phydaux]

So let's see:

1) ringworld is in the Hinterworlds sector
2) The Dyson sphere is from an adventure in Challenge called Deadly Artifact
3) Black Hole in Varger Space
4) Earth, where Humaniti evolved
5) K'Kree homeworld
6) Hiver homeworld
7) Dryone homeworld (lost)

 

[T. Foster]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by phydaux:
So let's see:

5) K'Kree homeworld
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Per Lords of Thunder the k'kree are very wary of allowing non-k'kree onto Kirur, and there have only been a small handful (3?) of human scientific expeditions there. So, while surely a point of interest that a lot of people would want to see, I can't picture there actually being much/any "tourism/sightseeing" for Kirur.

 

[Elliot]

Droyne Homeworld???

I have a vague recollection that the Ancient of Ancients (i.e. MWM) said it was Shionthy/Regina and that it was destroyed in the last war.

Any one else remember that one?

 

[Vargas]

The Droyne homeworld no longer exists (in our universe) I believe. (See CT Adv. 12)

 

[phydaux]

Yeah, to the common citizen the Droyn homeworld is kind of like Atlantis to us - This fabled mythic place where magic happens

 

[kafka47]

Now there is a seed for an epic campaign. A visit to the 77 Wonders of Charted Space...

They could include the supernatural with the Ancients figuring prominently, natural wonders like the singing crystaline caves of Deimnos, sentient-made wonders like the Grav Platforms of the Gas Giant Terbus III...

 

[N.I.C.E. Labs]

I'm at work so I don't have my books in front of me, but I know in Vargr space there is a ringworld and a Kempler's Rosette (mentioned in the Atlas of the Imperium if memory serves).

If you'll permit me, as a campaign-constructed wonder you might think about making a change to the planet Stellatio in the Spinward Marches (forgive me not remembering the subsector...it's near the Sword Worlds).
At the risk of being lewd, with name like Stellatio it screams for the planet to be the ultimate hedonistic resort. Sometimes more important than a ship, my players are raising money for a trip to the domed Pleasure Cities of Stellatio 7 ^_^ The entire planet is about pleasure...each dome has a theme...food, combat, gambling, adrenalin sports. etc. (and yes, women)....It's been a great addition to my personal campaign and would rank right up there as a wonder

------------------
AIM Niceman65706

 

[Spinward Scout]

Ok, so, from everyone's great examples, the Seven Criteria for Galactic Wonders of Charted Space could be:

Unique/Important Race Homeworld
examples: Terra (true homeworld of Humaniti), Muan Gwi, Vland, Zhladt, Kirur, etc...

Unique Natural/Geological/Planetary Feature
examples: Singing Crystaline Caves of Deimnos, Giant Trees of Ranther

Unique Spacial Feature
examples: Black Hole in Vargr Space

Unique/Outstanding Technological Feature
examples: Hinterworlds Ringworld, Dyson sphere, Lair Beanstalk, Grav Platforms of the Gas Giant Terbus III, Kempler's Rosette

Outstanding Ancient Site
examples: Andory

Outstanding Racial Relic/Site
examples: Darrian Sun/Homeworld, The Domed Pleasure Cities of Stellatio 7 (he he he - non-canon, of course)

Unique/Outstanding Government Headquarters
examples: 3I Capitol - Imperial Palace

A tour of all of these sites could take a lifetime. Or several. I think once T20 comes out, I might start doing a weekly post of a Galactic Wonder.

Later,

Scout

 

[N.I.C.E. Labs]

I remembered another feature of my campaign that I feel is another candidate for a Wonder. An Imperial Research Station (in my game I chose Station Epsilon (Vreibefer, Lanth) I decided they were studying Temporal Anthropology...to that end they constructed the Looking Glass. It's essentially a gigantic radio telescope, nearly an AU in diameter. Of course physically it's not that big, most of it is magnetic and gravitic shunts and projectors at strategic locations. Still the whole thing is immense. Most of the population of the system are hired spacers constantly flying patrols to shoot down any asteroid or some such object that would pose a danger to the 'dish'. Here's it's purpose:

Earth is roughly 400+ light years away. With that gigantic telescope they are studying the history of the Solomani by watching what went on back in the 600-700s Imperial Calendar. They can't zoom in to see what so-and-so had for breakfast, but they can see cities, space battles, natual disasters...all the highpoints in the history of the time..as it happened (sort of).

 

[Spinward Scout]

I've updated what I use for criteria for Galactic Wonders and thought I'd post it:

Natural Wonder

Ancient Artifact or Site

Modern Technological Marvel

Scientific Oddity

Lost Rarity

Astonishing Place

Extraordinary Race

I think this should cover just about eveything special you could come across. Once I'm finished with my list, I'll post it here.

Later,

Scout

 

[Gaming Glen]

The Travellers Aid Society would probably have some classification system for wonders.

I'm reminded of tourist brochure stands in the lobby of hotels. So what would be some tourist brochures in a TAS hotel, both local, subsector, sector, and empire wide?

How about:

Come ride the floating train over the Empress
Marava Gorge, the deepest gorge in the sector!
Fine dining available in the 5-star Dining Car. For those of sterner stuff ride in the Revolving
Car and watch the gorge pass by over your head.
Your destination is the Waterfall Casino that hovers beside the Iridescent Waterfall, famously known for the rainbow vines hanging within it.


Glen