Unmapped parts of the OTU

[Golan2072]

I'm looking for an unmapped (atleast in Cannon/semi-cannon [JG/FASA/GL) part of the OTU (preferrably Rimward or Spinward of the Known Space) which is not too far from known space (to allow refugees from the OTU to settle it, but not close enough to allow Imperial/SolConfed control or even much contact). It should also be within the Ancients' sphere of influence.

It's just that Jame's subsector-building thread gave me the appetite to gearhead and worldbuild in details a small (up to 4 SubSectors) "MTU" within the OTU (to allow the use of some cannon material and adventures with minor modifications). This will be done during breaks I sometimes take from my main TU (the Solar Triumvirate) and while the Unity of Gaia awaits my purchase of either T20 and/or MT.

 

[Border Reiver]

Marc officialy made at least one sector of known space, the Foreven Sector a ref's preserve. But if you really want to go down the non cannon route go far to rimward. It has been explicitly stated that there was much Solomani colonisation in that direction and potentially has many lost colonies.

 

[archhealer]

I wanted much the same thing, so I made up my own sector. I called it Solitude Cluster, generated it 100% randomnly, modifying it so that the cluster was more dense near the core and sparse toward the rim, and placed it outside the plane of the rest of the OTU. It's 7 parsecs 'above' the Gateway Sector, and passage in/out is highly controlled by a special contingent of the imperial navy. J3 drives are required to get there, in several jumps, to a few isolated starsystems. Once there, return traffic is all but forbidden, and megacorporations control the whole thing.

Microclusters make a great way to have some 'open terrain' to work with in Traveller. You don't really n eed to change much of anything to create them, just a reason why theyre' remote/distant/isolated etc.

 

[daryen]

Originally posted by Border Reiver:
Marc officialy made at least one sector of known space, the Foreven Sector a ref's preserve.

Do be aware that while Foreven is called a "referee's perserve", there is still a lot known about it. We know where the political borders are, and we even know the general dispositions of the two client states. (The small is an Imperial client, the larger is a Zhodani client.) We also know the positions of all of the stars, and we know the UWPs for five worlds.

I can even upload a scan of the officially published map, if you would like.

Quite frankly, Foreven is a very crappy "preserve".

 

[daryen]

Two great sectors that don't even have "circles" on them in the big Charted Space map are Fulani and Astron. These two sectors are directly spinward of the Vanguard Reaches. (Astron is the most spinward of the two.)

They are, however, three full sectors away from the Imperium. They will be dealing more with distant Zhodani and Aslan than they will Imperials.

The other good area, as mentioned by BR, is a couple sectors rimward of the Solomani Confederation. There, the only major race that will likely be encountered are other Solomani. That is probably the best location for a "human only" type of campaign.

 

[Flynn]

I'd suggest consulting the following:
http://winterwar.prairienet.org/dmckinne/sector.html

According to it, the following sectors are open for Referee development:
Delphi
Foreven
Fornast
Zarushagar

Zarushagar will be detailed in 1248, but the others are still open. Of course, there's also a lot of sectors outside of the region charted in AotI that are little more than dot maps in DGP products or on the MT Referee's Screen.

HIWG has done a lot of work on these areas, but most of that work is non-canon, and will remain so until it receives print in an officially sanctioned Traveller product.

Given that, you can easily decide what you want to do within Charted Space, or simply choose a sector outside of Charted Space.

As a basic guideline based on a review of OTU canonical references, most of the current multi-sector polities will rarely travel more sectors away from their borders than their maximum Jump capability, and even at those ranges, their presence will be miniscule. (The biggest exceptions here, of course, are the Zhodani Core Expeditions, and perhaps the Solomani Rimward Expeditions, though those are of a lesser note in the annals of the OTU.)

So, if you are looking for a particular culture or two to be present, try to keep that in mind if you want to maintain a reasonable sense of continuity with the OTU. (Of course, if that's not your aim, no worries.)

Hope this helps,
Flynn

 

[robject]

Even though there is a significant amount of stuff on Foreven, I ignore almost* all of it.

* I keep Alenzar.

 

[Border Reiver]

True, true. If you like the spinward end of town there is always Fulani, Theron, Theta Borealis and Astron. I don't remember much about them other than appearing on DGP's dot maps.

Is the published map similar to what is listed on BerKa's site?

 

[RainOfSteel]

There is a blank sector to rimward that can be seen here: Anthony's Map Site.

 

[Golan2072]

Originally posted by RainOfSteel:
There is a blank sector to rimward that can be seen here: Anthony's Map Site.

You mean directly spinward of the Banners sector?

 

[Flynn]

The sector you're talking about is called Ahkiweahi' (by the Aslan, anyway), according to this map site:
http://inexorabletash.members.winisp.net/maps/map.htm

Also, according to BerKa's space atlas, it hasn't been developed for Galactic 2.4:
http://zho.berka.com/data/CLASSIC/

One of those comprehensive allegiance lists found with Google provides only one reference to a polity within the sector, but that can be overlooked if you don't mind losing the DGP dot map boundaries:
Sh Steaakh Hlaia

So, basically, it's about as barebones as anything out there, so perhaps it might meet your needs.

Hope this helps,
Flynn

 

[Golan2072]

I'll probably go to a place about four sectors to the Rimward of the SolConfed border, unexplored to hell, but still within the Ancients' sphere (IIRC). The known sentient life in the relevant 4-subsector cluster would be a 'lost' Aslan STL colony, atleast one Ancient-transplanted Human variant race (called "Celirans"; small-bodied, slender tree-dwelling-modified people with prehensile tails [?]) and a 'lost' Solomani colony, created either by early STL or by a misjump (of what ship?). Another possibility is a jump-capable refugee ship running from the Solomani Rim War and then breaking down on one of the worlds.

 

[Flynn]

So long as you're within about 12 sectors of the Spinward Marches, you're probably fine in regards to the chance of an Ancient presence in the region.

The reason I use that is that most sources seem to indicate that there's a sphere of about 500 parsec radius centered on that region in which Ancient ruins or other elements indicating a former Ancient presence have been found. 500 parsecs/40 parsecs per sector gives us 12 sectors and some loose change.

I think you are at about the border of that, so it's all good.

Hope this helps,
Flynn

 

[Vargas]

Originally posted by daryen:
Quite frankly, Foreven is a very crappy "preserve".

Originally Foreven would have been just a big empty playground but one of the co-writers of the one and only article on the sector was determined to throw in the details and background histories on the interstellar governments described there. (Those details having been invented by a friend if I recall).

Personally I would have preferred a much more sketchy Foreven.

 

[Whipsnade]

Originally posted by Vargas: Personally I would have preferred a much more sketchy Foreven.

Vargas,

You got that right. Alenzar is waaaaaaay too big for one. Look at the various maps, Zho Berka's site has good ones and so does Anthony's.

You've got a Zho client state that starts at the Consulate border in Foreven's coreward subsectors, runs straight down the middle of the Froeven Sector, and then extends into the coreward subsectors of the Beyond Sector!

It controls four entire subsectors and parts of two more in Foreven along with controlling an entire subsector and parts of one more in the Beyond. And yet this 'client' state has does nothing against the Darrians or Imperium in five wars across 1000 years? Wars for which it's patron, the Zhodani Consulate, rounded up as allies the single subsector-sized Sword Worlds Confederation and a handful of one or two system Vargr polities?

Yeah, right. Pull the other one, it has bells on it.

Foreven as a blank slate? Fine. Foreven as an initially well-intentioned but ultimately shoddy and suspender-snapping fan effort? Forget about it!


Have fun,
Bill

 

[daryen]

The client state is the Avalar Consulate. It is also much higher tech than the Sword Worlds and, presumably, much more stable and reliable.

Regardless, even if the whole sector was a complete hole, it still doesn't really work. Even with no world locations and no political borders, we know the Zhodani directly control a good chunk of it and probably indirectly control (or at least influence) the rest of it.

I have mentioned this before, but a single sector doesn't really work because even with no information on it directly, too much is already known because we know everything around it. The only way to have a relevant "referee's preserve" is to have a "hard line" that separates the known/published of Charted Space from the unknown preserve.

 

[inexorabletash]

In the Spinward area, Theron is probably the least developed. It was a big blank space in everyone's map sites. I generated random data based on DGP's dotmap in S&A, but beyond that and a slight border on the Charted Space map, you've got at least 12 subsectors that no-one has touched before.

 

[GypsyComet]

Avelar's reach was defined by the original poster map of Known Space.

Forever was NOT set aside as a Blank, it was set aside as a place where official print would not go further. As such, no development past that article (and the CT adventures that were placed there), no TAS news items, no bugaboos emerging to influence events in other sectors.

 

[Vargas]

Originally posted by GypsyComet:

Forever was NOT set aside as a Blank

Guilty as charged of hyperbole, the client state boundaries appear on that wonderful CT artifact which was the map of charted space. IMO there was little need to define quite so much about the client states however.

 

[Whipsnade]

Originally posted by GypsyComet:
Avelar's reach was defined by the original poster map of Known Space.

GC,

I can understand that, but there are plenty of long standing canonical client states that don't match the various "blobs" on that poster.


Have fun,
Bill