Tell us Your Ideas for Solomani Supplements

[dmccoy1693]

JBE is focusing on the Solomani regions these days. But what I want to know is what you want for your games in this region. More adventures? Ships? Details of worlds and corporations in the region? Careers specific to these sectors?

Tell us your thoughts. We'd love to hear them.

 

[mike wightman]

The rim expedition.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

For Trader / Merchant Campaigns - Customs!
Yes we know how starports work in the Imperium and the Confederation for its own citizenry. But what if you cross the border into "foreign" territory in either direction?
What are the procedures?
Do you have to "reflag" your starship? Do you need a "sponsor" corporation?
Who works customs? A different group like Imperial Intelligence? An individual like a SolSec agent (Monitor or secret)?

Which leads to SPIES!

"There's a man who leads a life of danger
To everyone he meets he stays a stranger
Oh, with every move he makes another chance he takes
The odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
SolSec Agent Man
SolSec Agent Man
They've given you a number and oh, they've taken 'way your name" - Cover of a popular Authentic song

How do you do your job? How do you evade authorities? (Equipment)
Cross the border? (Stealth Ships?)
Evade bio-scans for you mixed race lesser human (or do Imps only use pure-Solomani here?)
Who are these agents (careers) ? What missions do they do? (Adventures)
Is there a hot-spot planet which "allows" intrigue and spies regardless of it UWP Allegiance Code? (A locale)

 

[Vargr Breath]

I also vote for The Rim Expedition.

 

[whulorigan]

I also vote for The Rim Expedition.

I am a third vote for The Rim Expedition.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Zhodani ... coreward.
Solomani ... rimward.
Aslan ... spinward.
K'kree ... trailing.
Hivers ... um ... northward?

So I guess the Imperium is ... going southward?

 

[Nathan Brazil]

The rim expedition.

I like this as well Dale, but I was not going to burden you with such a grand project. Also in previous thread, Matt Sprange intimated Mongoose was working on something similar as a tie-in to his Deepnight Revelation campaign. It relates to the launch and encounters of the ill-fated Solomani fleet prior to meeting the Imperial expedition. OTOH we'll see if that ever bears fruit.

 

[Condottiere]

The Imperium is boxed in, so it's either Upwards or Downwards.

 

[Spinward Flow]

The Imperium is boxed in, so it's either Upwards or Downwards.

You only THOUGHT the map was 2D!

 

[aramis]

You only THOUGHT the map was 2D!

Officially, Traveller's jumpspace is in fact a set of 2d planes. I asked Marc a few years back.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Officially, Traveller's jumpspace is in fact a set of 2d planes. I asked Marc a few years back.

So ... now we need the maps for the parsecs above and below the existing maps in order to complete the 3D distribution of star systems.

Definitely a job for a 3D mapping software system.
It's also another way to have more stars within the coreward/trailing/rimward/spinward confines of the sector maps we already have.

Certainly one way to make galactic north and galactic south relevant.

 

[Condottiere]

It would certainly increase potential destinations.

Might require some mental gymnastics to avoid gravidity wells.

 

[Vargr Breath]

I like this as well Dale, but I was not going to burden you with such a grand project. Also in previous thread, Matt Sprange intimated Mongoose was working on something similar as a tie-in to his Deepnight Revelation campaign. It relates to the launch and encounters of the ill-fated Solomani fleet prior to meeting the Imperial expedition. OTOH we'll see if that ever bears fruit.

There is still one ship missing from the Rim Expedition. So maybe do something in the Star Trek -Voyager style.

 

[infojunky]

Zhodani ... coreward.
Solomani ... rimward.
Aslan ... spinward.
K'kree ... trailing.
Hivers ... um ... northward?

So I guess the Imperium is ... going southward?

Note the Aslan, Hivers and Solomani have rimward expansion potential.

I for one would like to see fragmentary states of all throughout the distant rim region. Rather than direct extensions of the larger states.

 

[dmccoy1693]

The rim expedition.

With as many people saying this, I hate to burst your bubble by saying I can't. The license doesn't allow me. For the Solomani territories at this point in time, I can only work in the Solomani Rim and Alpha Crucis sectors plus Home parsec. And as has been mentioned above, there's talk on Mongoose covering that at some point. I try to avoid covering what the main company will cover at some point (I learned that one back when Paizo released ultimate campaign covering the same material as my most popular Pathfinder book at that point; sales on that died instantly).

Even if both of those weren't true, I still wouldn't because the scope of the project is beyond what I can do at this point in time. I'd want to do it the justice it deserves and I just can't these days. I'm best at this point in time sticking with sub-32-page projects or compendiums when they are beyond such a size. I don't think I could do it in either size idea.

Again, sorry to burst your bubble. I do appreciate the idea though.

 

[dmccoy1693]

There is still one ship missing from the Rim Expedition. So maybe do something in the Star Trek -Voyager style.

This is an interesting idea. An adventure where the players encounter the missing (read misjumped) ship and discover what became of the crew.

 

[Spinward Flow]

But what I want to know is what you want for your games in this region. More adventures? Ships? Details of worlds and corporations in the region? Careers specific to these sectors?

I'm best at this point in time sticking with sub-32-page projects or compendiums when they are beyond such a size.

That was the missing puzzle piece ... the limits on scope (or word count) that you can devote to particular topics.

So in the spirit of the question asked:

• More adventures?
  Adventure resources can fit rather nicely into a sub-32 page project and can act as the seed for campaigns that extend beyond the confines of the adventure itself. Campaign resources are always welcome.
  
  
• Ships?
  I would put this on the lowest rung of priorities. Ships are "nice to have" but there isn't anything especially "unique" about Solomani ship designs (in terms of rule sets to follow to make them). Besides, there's plenty of starship designs floating around on various wikis and forums already, so adding more to this pile wouldn't necessarily be something that will kick off a lot of interest in campaigning in the Solomani Rim region.
  
  
• Details of worlds and corporations in the region?
  Not all Traveller campaigns need to be interstellar. Sometimes it can be fun to detail a "low tech" backwater world that is firmly in the Age of Sail where the "frontier" is merely over the horizon, rather than parsecs away. Likewise, corporations can be an interesting angle to take, particularly for the resource extraction types in a resource rich star system, such as one with multiple planetoid belts and lots of Belters who all need to make a living (and occasionally strike it rich). Both of these options can become seeds for a campaign setting.
  
  
• Careers specific to these sectors?
  This is an interesting option that can blend the mundane with the extraordinary when done right. Note that an extension of such an endeavor would almost inevitably lead back into the corporate sphere, along with guilds and unions in a lot of cases, which again can be a springboard for a wealth of ideas and campaign seed options.

So a broader answer is that if you're reaching for more of a "capstone" design to your releases, you could do something like this:

1. Detail a world and some of its corporate interests
2. Detail careers specific to that world and how those careers intertwine with the corporate powers
3. An adventure using the provided details for the world, its corporations and career paths

That way, you basically "set the table" before laying into the feast you've created.
Each of the items can stand on their own, but when combined you get extra value from having all of them.
Note that such an approach would be both repeatable and scalable (start with one world for the first iteration, then do a cluster for the next iteration, working your way up in scale to the subsector and sector scales over time).

That way you can crank out material at your own schedule and build up your offerings piece by piece where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and you can draw inspiration from your own products to create new extensions on them as the winds of inspiration blow through you. The important thing is that at no stage in the process do you attempt to "bite off more than you can chew" in any one individual release segment.

 

[aramis]

So ... now we need the maps for the parsecs above and below the existing maps in order to complete the 3D distribution of star systems.

Definitely a job for a 3D mapping software system.
It's also another way to have more stars within the coreward/trailing/rimward/spinward confines of the sector maps we already have.

Certainly one way to make galactic north and galactic south relevant.

THe other planes cannot systain life - the jump drive already accesses them for faster movement. Officially, FTL is 2D in the OTU.
Marc hasn't quite admitted that it's an artefact of Yaskodry, but when asked, the response was ""...

 

[whartung]

an artefact of Yaskodry

An artifact of what?

 

[whulorigan]

An artifact of what?

Yaskoydray, as in "Grandfather" of the Ancients. In other words, Yaskoydray may have "invented" Jumpspace for his own purposes; before the Ancients-period it might not have even existed (or at least not physically in some form that Imperial scientists would recognize). Perhaps it only continues to persist today because of an Ancients-device that still operates.

I personally still prefer 3D-Jumpspace, and having the option of non-canon Sectors above and below the "plane", which as noted upthread gives more "frontiers" to the various polities.