Tweaking the OTU (Classic) - Ideas?

[vertigo25]

I'm thinking a lot about how I want to structure my universe when I finally get some players together. I love most elements of the Third Imperium, but I want to concentrate more on nobility ala Dune, and a colonial era trade system ala The Dutch East India Company/John Company.

I'm mainly fishing for ideas, here. If people could point me to good online resources that might help me set the whole thing up, that would be great. Even stuff outside of Traveller would be good, too.

These are my initial ideas; stuff I've been putting in to VoodooPad. I know it's really long, but I would appreciate input of any sort on any of the ideas.

By and large, I'm going to use the Classic setting as my starting point, but tweak it to fit my own vision.

I want to make it very Humaniti centric. For whatever reason, they have proliferated, and risen to the top of the chain. There would be many cultures within even the main three groups (Solomani, Zhodani, and Vilani). Most individual worlds will have more than one culture (just like Earth).

Of the three major Human races, the Vilani will be the most homogenized. I see them as this people who dream of someday rebuilding their empire. Transcendent of homeworld or nation, the Vilani feel a particular unity. Even so, through the years, they have been somewhat oppressed and marginalized. As a result the dream of a reborn Vilani empire is generally considered a fruitless one by other races.

The Zhodani, will be the most culturally diverse. Most will consider themselves Imperialists, but most will identify more with their "birth culture." A Zhodani is more likely to identify himself as, say, a Veldia Dashiprian (from the Veld nation on Dashpr) than specifically as a Zhodani. I see the Consulate as a bit more democratic than the Imperium, and less expansionist.

The Imperium will be much more heavy handed. Imperial law supersedes all local authority. Having said that, most Imperial law governs only commerce, and mainly interstellar commerce at that. Still, there are worlds where a dominant nation has joined the Imperium but there are smaller nations who are considered rebels or dissidents. In cases like this, the Imperium will support the Imperialist nation even militarily and even if that nation has no real claim to authority. I'd also like to include the element of various "noble houses" within the Imperium which constantly vie for power and influence. Periodically, two Houses will even engage in open war, but I'm not sure how to handle Imperial involvement when that happens. Should the Imperium side with one side, should they have a "hands-off" approach, or do the attempt to quell the entire thing because it is a threat to the cohesion of the Imperium?

Further, I want for there to be two dominant (monopoly) trade organizations. One for the Imperium, and one for the Consulate. I'm not sure if something like this already exists in the OTU, if it does, please point me to some library data

Often they will come in to conflict with each other, especially on frontier and independent worlds. In fact, the campaign I have in mind deals with the PCs being contractors for the Imperial organization (somewhat like the MARCH project in the Traveller Adventure).

Related to that, I'd like to have some commodity which plays an important part in interstellar trade. Think Dune's melange, but it does not have to be something integral to space travel itself. To some extent, I'd prefer it wasn't so I could get away from obvious Dune comparisons. But... I'm at a loss of what else it may be. I guess I could just have it be Lanthanum, but I'd prefer something that was so rare as to exist on only, say >10% of planets.

I'm left with what to do about the other, non-Human, alien races. I'm really not sure what direction I want to take with them. I'm half-way leaning towards not including them at all. Another direction may be to say they are as diverse as Humaniti itself. So there might be a government that is made up mostly of say, Vargr, but there are many, many smaller governments (pocket empires) too. Yet another thing I'm thinking is that Humaniti is so pervasive that all other alien governments have been destroyed or marginalized. The vast majority of the "other races" would fall under the rule of one of the Human governments, and most likely the Imperium or Consulate.

If I include them at all, however, I want to diverge quite a bit from OTU. I want for Vargr, or Aslan, or whatever to be as culturally diverse as Humans. It's one thing that has always bothered me about sci-fi, that the humans can have all of these various cultures and races, and so-forth, but (as examples) all Klingons are tribal and war-like, all Vargr "have an intensive racial pride and are easily insulted." That makes about as much sense to me as believing that "Whites are up-tight," "Hispanics are lazy," or "Blacks love rap music." If I include the non-human aliens, there will probably be human held stereotypes about them, but they will all ultimately prove false.

I'm thinking I should abandon the official map, too.

I've always thought that boundaries or borders in space didn't make sense. Rather, you would have individual planets belonging to various governments (or being autonomous). There would be some natural groupings due to the way I think expansion would work, but there would be systems even close to the capital world of a government that would fall outside it's jurisdiction. Maybe they won a war of resistance; or chose not to join the coalition; or maybe the government in question never even bothered going there, etc. It just seems to make more sense to me.

I'm not sure, however, how necessary that would be. Although the "realism" of it appeals to me, having a good, pre-established map to refer to is definitely nice.

I guess that's about it. I want to make it similar enough to OTU that I can use canon material when in a pinch, but really want to try out some of my own ideas and use things that have appealed to me for a long time. Will this structure work towards those ends? If you were a player, how much of this would appeal to you?

 

[flykiller]

you're thinking too big for the players. as a ref it's fun (and necessary initially) to think in terms of entire empires and vast swaths of history and territory. you players, though, won't think that way. they're going to think in terms of their friends, their ship, their next port, their next job, the next decision they get to make that affects their game.

sounds to me like you've put more than enough work into the background, now it's time for the individual adventures themselves.

 

[robject]

Regarding the Dutch East India Company: The Traveller Adventure is a good source of material for trade interests in the Imperium, focusing on the Spinward Marches. There are two rivalries explained -- Oberlindes and Tukera; a broadsheet of large freighters, from 1000 to 5000 tons; and some yummy plot hooks involving corporate intrigue and the Vargr. Plus there's a Tradewar scenario.

The setting is also relatively uncivilized; though part of the Imperium, it's on the fringes, and it seems like most of the worlds are more involved in local involving local nobility than anything else. That could be an "entry level" of your squabbling nobility.

Flykiller's right. You can define your Imperium how you like, but keep the scope small for the players, until they start asking questions; you can provide them with an NPC Factor, NPC Dock Workers, and a remote NPC Lawyer (or something like that) who can answer questions about the larger empire if they become inquisitive. And if they don't, then you can use the Factor to simply assign them jobs, and the Dock Workers to give them hot tips.

Or whatever you prefer. Just my off-the-cuff thoughts.

 

[Daneel Olivaw]

Originally posted by flykiller:
you're thinking too big for the players. as a ref it's fun (and necessary initially) to think in terms of entire empires and vast swaths of history and territory. you players, though, won't think that way. they're going to think in terms of their friends, their ship, their next port, their next job, the next decision they get to make that affects their game.

I'm guilty of this myself, sometimes to the extent that my RPG activity consists of worldbuilding and history writing with no actual playing. The downside is that yes, the players may feel lost in the shuffle of your grand machinations. The upside is that the universe will feel more real and more tangible, and the players will likely enjoy the heightened sense that they are part of a living, breathing world that functions with or without their intervention.

As for your TU in particular, it is very Dune-like... but Dune is so cool! I heartily agree that science fiction often employs one-dimensional portrayals of alien species, usually in the form of human basic racial sterotypes.

You might find it helpful to flesh out the major factions of your TU, especially their motivations and specific plans. This will create the spectrum of action, reaction and perception among the groups and NPCs your players are most likely to encounter. I mention this because I read somewhere - perhaps here - that fiction (and, by extension, RPGs) is driven by the actions of the antagonists.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Keeping it close to the players

This is one of the big reasons I went with a Proto-Traveller sized universe. And, my polities are much smaller than the Imperium - maybe 130 systems for the largest three. Players can make a big difference, they can easily (well, maybe) run and hide, there are lots of tensions, backwater planets a J2 from main lines, etc.

Now, if I can just get it done....

 

[Plankowner]

Regarding the mapping. You can always use the stellar map and redo the political boundaries to suit your vision of the Imperium.

I am working on this for a ProtoTraveller Universe that is 5x4 Sectors but still contains all of the published sectors, just rearranged a bit. Use the maps, don't be tied to them.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Well, Plank, I didn't even like the maps or the worlds in them. That's why I've spent a very long time generating stuff......

 

[tinker123]

I've always thought that boundaries or borders in space didn't make sense. Rather, you would have individual planets belonging to various governments (or being autonomous). There would be some natural groupings due to the way I think expansion would work

The other thing that makes borders appear naturally is jump distance. Most ships are limited to jump-1 or -2, so you find them cruising up & down a "main" of planets all within jump-1. Now give control of one of them to a different grouping (empire, race, corporation, whatever), and trade has to somehow go around. The whole fabric of life distorts around it.

The nearest parallel I can think of is West Berlin while Germany was divided. It was a little island of West Germany in the heart of East Germany. You could only get in or out by plane (read: jump-2 or jump-3) and there was a unique local culture. I can't think of another case of that kind of border, and it didn't last. People seem to like to cluster together with others like themselves.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

tinker, you could get to West Berlin by car, but it was somewhat adventurous (precisely timed checkpoints, et al). A modern example that jumps out at me is Alaska: a part of the United States, but not contiguous. If we ever did go to war with Canada, everything big would have to go to Alaska via sea, rather than on trucks up the AlCan highway.

IMTU (mentioned above) I hadn't left any polity "in the way" of another, as I figured the stronger one would end up owning the whole thing anyway. If the bump were not the stronger, it would get steamrolled by the folks trying to connect their two halves. (MTU, BTW is TL12, with J3 being a fairly new thing. It makes travel more interesting....)

 

[tinker123]

Borders = interest

I agree with you that borders tend to straighten themselves, big states swallow up small states that are "in the way". If there was a lot of traffic between Alaska and Washington, then the status of the highway would be a lot more interesting. I was only trying that all the worlds in a grouping are likely to be within easy travel to one another.

On the other hand, features like West Berlin would make for so many exciting role-playing situations that I've gone looking for some. There's Five Sisters subsector in the Spinward Marches. Not much canonical info that I can find, apart from the fact that it's under IN military rule, and a little bit of the Imperium surrounded by other polities and cut off from the rest. I must use that as the setting for some adventures in border-crossing ;-)

 

[Fritz_Brown]

I agree, tinker. That's why my map has a few odd bits, where a cluster that should be part of one polity is surrounded by another polity - except for that single, vulnerable J2 link.... Oh, and the two groups are naturally enemies of each other (at least, in the past).

Well, I will really have to finish that thing up and post it one of these days.... :file_28:

 

[aramis]

Tinker:

There IS a large volume of traffic between the Lower 48 and Alaska.

approximately 10 passenger jumbos a day round-trip to/from anchorage, another 10-20 cargo jumbos, all mostly full, plus 2 container ships, plus 2 supertankers, and during the summers, a cruise ship. Daily. Plus daily MAC flights.

It is just that it doesn't go via road.

 

[Straybow]

Heh, I was going to point out that the ALCan Hwy (and rail) is only useful for certain parts of Alaska. Anchorage is better reached by sea. The panhandle cities are inaccessible from the mainland roads and rails. The Trav model is more like the bush pilots that are the lifeline of a multitude of small Alaska communities.

 

[aramis]

Heh, I was going to point out that the ALCan Hwy (and rail) is only useful for certain parts of Alaska. Anchorage is better reached by sea. The panhandle cities are inaccessible from the mainland roads and rails. The Trav model is more like the bush pilots that are the lifeline of a multitude of small Alaska communities.

Actually, of the "cities", Anchorage, Fairbanks, Kenai, Soldotna, Seward, Homer, Palmer, Valdez, Whitier, and Wasilla are all on the main road grid. The AlCan connects to this road grid. Most stuff comes in to Anchorage, Whittier, Seward, Homer, or Valdez, and goes by rail. Oil leaves via Anchorage or Valdez, most other resources outbound go via Anchorage or WHittier, having shipped by rail.

Juneau-Douglas, Sitka, Kodiak, Bethel, Nome, and a couple others are not connected by road or rail to anywhere else.

Barrow connects only when the haul road is open; 3 months per year. And then only for the oil companies.

Last I checked, ARR didn't interconnect with the Canadian system, but it's been years.

Truth is, 55% of the population is in Anchorage or Mat-Su (Palmer and Wasilla).

only 20% live in the villages... and the bush pilots are the source of above-local-TL commodities. Most of the villages are local production TL1-2, and Low-Common TL6, high-common TL7. Meanwhile most of the cities are 5/6/8.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Where have I heard that before?

only 20% live in the villages... and the bush pilots are the source of above-local-TL commodities. Most of the villages are local production TL1-2, and Low-Common TL6, high-common TL7. Meanwhile most of the cities are 5/6/8.

Hmmm, sounds a lot like something I've seen before. Can't remember where, though. It was this game or something - came out back in the 70s, IIRC.

 

[aramis]

Funny, that. Y'know, There are certain people who think that it's completely unrealistic...

 

[DNA]

not to anyone who has lived in AK. i like using the airports of AK as a good example of star ports in travellers. anchorage with Class A and B star ports. (Anchorage int'l and Merrel field) also showing you can get 2 major star ports in the same area (newer overtaking the older) and catering to different travellers (private vs comercal piolets)... and a class X -Campbell air strip and if you count each "city" town village ect.. as a system you get a pretty good model IMHO

(and yes i did leave out lake spenard/ lake hood)

Dan

 

[aramis]

ANC is not "Anchorage International" any more, it's Ted Stevens International. If you're giving that an A, you need to note the lack of local manufacture...
Merril field isn't anywhere close to a B port, it's just an insanely busy C port. Fairbanks and Juneau both are between ANC and MRL, and both should be B ports.

Anchorage has 7+ airfields:
ANC Ted Stevens International (TCA)
MRI Merril Field (Controlled, in ANC's TCA)
EDF Elmendor Field (Military, TCA overlaps MRL and ANC)
LHD Lake Hood (float plane, adjancent to ANC, in TCA)
Z41 Lake Hood Strip (Adjacent to ANC, in TCA)
BCV Birchwood (Uncontrolled, Autolighting)
D72 Fire Lake (Uncontrolled, Float plane)
C3C Campbell Lake (Float Plane Near ANC, in TCA)

plus 3 or 4 private strips.

It's better to think of MRL and EDF as attached BASES or Spaceports rather than separate starports. Actually, most commercial flights go through ANC anyway. And of course, EDF is the Military base.


This link takes you to an index of the hundreds of Alaskan airports.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Good catch, too, Aramis, on the difference 'twixt starports and spaceports. If you're not doing LBB6 extended system gen, its easy to forget that. (And, that's how you get two 'ports in the same system...)

 

[DNA]

i moved back down the lower 48 in 98. didnt know anc changed names.

true anc does not have manufacturing... but i thought it had some repair. and using AK as a model of a sub sector. anc made the most sense for the only A port in it.

and the air force base and army base i counted as a navel and scout bases attached.

and thanks for the link.

Dan