Traveller:1500

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

Lords,

I have been thinking of a campaign Idea set in the Imperial Year 1500... here's what I got so far:

http://www.geocities.com/chuckshaw2000/trav1500.html

The "Virus" scenario has transformed... giving rise to a culture of AI
Machines that makes the Spinward Union a technical powerhouse. This is
not a machine -run dystopia, but a cooperative of many former states.
This state is aligned with the Imperium. This allows for the addition
of an artificial race to Traveller.

The Imperium has undergone a governmental makeover changing it from
the classic to a more civil service bureaus sort of thing. I was
thinking of a French Revolution style period, followed by
the restructuring. The Claw is full of jumpstations now, making
passage easy and profitable to the smart. The Remaining Imperial
sectors are the oldest and most powerful of the sectors.

The Vargr had/have an Alexander the Great, that with shrewd
application of many techniques, brought the Vargr together under a
fierce cultural empire. Most corsair bands have been reforged into the
powerful and unpredictable Vargr Armada. A unified Lair scares a LOT
of people.

The Dawn Union is a huge government of many minor races and many former
small states.

The Julian Protectorate came into its own with expansion and is now an
Empire. It is an ally of the Imperium.

The Terran Federation is a new government that replaces the
totalitarian one of the old confederation. The reposession of Earth
has had sweeping cultural effect, but in an overall good way.

The Zhos, the Aslan, the K'Kree are all basically the same, but have expanded.

This game would have "Colonist", added as a core class, with
"Terraformer, Industrialist, etc." as prestige or advanced classes.

Overall the mood would be one of expansion, growth and optimism. PCs
should have a hand in the forging of Known Space, directly if they want to and are able.

The max Tech Level would be G? H? I? The shift would definitely go
from what is possible to what is likely. Just about anything is
possible at this level, I guess...

Jump Gates?
Time Travel?
Extra-Dimensional Travel?

 

[flykiller]

The max Tech Level would be G? H? I? The shift would definitely go
from what is possible to what is likely. Just about anything is
possible at this level, I guess...

Jump Gates?
Time Travel?
Extra-Dimensional Travel?

<yerp!> I can barely run an ordinary subsector. tossing in all that would be way more than I could keep up with.

 

[mike wightman]

I like it, but then I've always been into the extreme stellar TLs

I don't think time travel would fit into the TL range you've listed, the other two should work out somehow.

Here's one other technology to throw into the mix - psionic machines. I don't mean AIs with psionics, but rather developments from the Regency artificial psionics program that allow true psionic powers to be built into machines.

This opens up such things as transport booths, regeneration chambers etc.

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

That is a major question in general... what is the Tech Level? What would it be in 400 years? I am not planning on any long standing Dark Ages, so... Should it be a two levels per century rule?
That would make it TL 23, or N ish? Even a +1 TL per century would make it 19... maybe 20 is a nice round number... maybe even the new 15!

I also am leaning towards wormhole transporters for most "civilized" In-System Travel, rather than a Star Trek type setup...

Antimatter Power?

As far as Jump Gates go... Im thinking that they are actually a type of space station, an addition to the up-port, downport...

My intitial thoughts are to say that each system that starts out (before any modifications for it being the future) with an "A" class Starport can be considered to have "aimable" Jump Gates to all systems in a Jump 6 Map area. A new experience, "Gate Queing" can also be added to the "fly to 100 diameters" while ships wait to be projected to thier destinations. "Lesser" systems in civilized space have at least one gate, with higher starport classes having more.

Whoever holds the patent for the jump gate would be inconcievably rich. Or maybe for flavor it could be a tale of espionage and rip-offs...

Other factoids for rumination...
1. Would the Jump Drive be obsolete? Would frontier ships still have one, like a sailboat with an outboard? Would fuel tankage be a major consideration, or would it become interchangeable with cargo space? Xboats would be gone. Warfare would be changed, perhaps for the worse...


I agree with the addition of psionic devices of all kinds. There should be a different attitude towards them, considering people with cybernetics could be just as scary, or even more commonplace.
I've been skimming over d20 future as well for ideas, and there are plenty... in that they mention psi-grenades, all kinds of stuff. Maybe the Zhos could have totally incompatible technology because of it... hmm...

 

[mike wightman]

Here's a thought.
In the T4 adventures Long Way Home, and Gateway, an Ancient era jump portal network is discovered.

The interesting thing is that they are all planetbound.

Imperial research can't crack the jump 6 barrier until they start investigating jumping from a planet's surface.

Anyway, back to jump gates.
Wouldn't the ship using the gate still need a basic jump engine to maintain the jump bubble?
What I envision is the jump gate opens the rift into jump space and generates the initial jump bubble for the jumping ship.
The jumping ship would still need at least a jump 1 engine - or possibly an engine rated at the level of jumpspace being traversed - to maintain the jump field bubble throughout the trip; unless a black globe generator can fulfill the same role

 

[mike wightman]

As to the rate of TL advance, here is the data from the MT ref's companion:

Vilani Imperium</font>

• TL9-TL10, 335 years</font>
• TL10-TL11, 3470 years</font>

Terran Confederation/Rule of Man</font>

• TL9-TL10, 24 years</font>
• TL10-TL11, 10 years</font>
• TL11-TL12, 188 years</font>
• TL12-TL14, 434 years (1)</font>

Sylean Federation/Third Imperium</font>

• TL10-TL11, 1126 years</font>
• TL11-TL12, 500 years</font>
• TL12-TL13, 450 years</font>
• TL13-TL14, 400 years</font>
• TL14-TL15, 300 years</font>

(1)this is implied in T4

 

[mike wightman]

And then there are the Darrians, who managed TL3 to TL16 in only 587 years.
They were bootstrapped to TL10 by the Solomani Traders in a short period of time, about one hundred years, but still...

eighty years between TL jumps

 

[robject]

Doesn't sound viable, does it? I imagine their little interstellar empire was chock-full of tension; had the Maghiz not set them back to stone age, they might have done it via TL16 planetary bombardment...

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

Hard to say, considering that we (humans) went up pretty quick in the last 100 years. Plus, it does seem to get "easier" if that is the right phrase, to invent things when you have an advanced set of tools on hand. Europe was basically the same for a very long time, more or less.

 

[savage]

I like and kicked around a similar situation...Good luck with it.


Savage

 

[JAFARR]

Are we talking about highest TL or prevailing TL? What was the justification for Darrians hitting TL 16 when the surrounding areas only produced a handful of TL 15 worlds? If they could do it, why not the Imperium?

I like the idea. My thought would be bump the average TL to at least early stellar with the main travel paths having a goodly number of high stellar worlds along with a handful of 16 to 18 TL's. Include some good justification for the TL bump and go for it.

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

That's the thing, If a hi tech world was a hub of dissemination of technology, how could you reflect that properly? I always tend to look to the A class Starports to gauge a systems relative worth. This game is looking like its going to be TL 20 (TL K for all you hexidecimaloids!)at its highest level, which would be plenty, the more I look at this...

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Actually, Baron, TL 14 for all us hexadecimaloids! It's only K in a universe where hexadecimal means "as many as we can get into a single digit"!

 

[JAFARR]

Originally posted by Fritz88:
Actually, Baron, TL 14 for all us hexadecimaloids! It's only K in a universe where hexadecimal means "as many as we can get into a single digit"!

To be properly hexadecimaliod that is TL 14oh acording to my computer instructor.

 

[signless]

I'd say under the circumstances you've described My Good Baron, your future universe is one that is really poised on the brink of Vinge's singularity. I've come to conclude that anytime you introduce strong AI into the picture - transhumanism is a very short trip 'round the bend.

 

[The Hinterworlds Rambler]

To say the least.. medical science alone would blur the line between nautral and added. I am only just beginning to try to picture what warfare would be like... if they do it in the traditional sense...

 

[Flynn]

After reviewing the data earlier in this thread, and ruling out the reverse engineering and the highly static Vilani influences, I came up with the following simple table for randomly determining the length of time required to increase in tech levels:

</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">TABLE: RANDOM DETERMINATION OF TECH LEVEL ADVANCEMENT
2d6 Years To Next Level
2 175 + 4d6
3 200 + 4d6
4 225 + 4d6
5 250 + 4d6
6 300 + 4d6
7 325 + 4d6
8 350 + 4d6
9 400 + 4d6
10 450 + 4d6
11 475 + 4d6
12 500 + 4d6

Modifiers:
* Reverse Engineering: Divide time by ten.
* Highly Static Society: Multiply time by ten.</pre>[/QUOTE]Hope this helps,
Flynn

 

[signless]

When tech levels get that high, I usually begin imagining Von Neumann bombs, micro-singularity weapons, and nano-bio tech that would (literally) make your skin crawl.
I also envision most warfare would be silent, and unnoticed...until noticing wouldn't do you any favors.
I think when you get into such topospheric tech level territory, you're playing Wars of the Ancients. Which then ponders the question of what Yaskoydray would be doing...or rather, what would WE be doing to HIM.