tim_manley
SOC-12
How many of you ignore the Traveller setting and create your own?
why base setting?
- Thread starter tim_manley
- Start date
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Very good question.
I have several answers.
Most of the time I use a MTU close to the proto-Traveller view of the OTU.
I have used settings based on films and books.
And I have a completely homebrew setting.
I have several answers.
Most of the time I use a MTU close to the proto-Traveller view of the OTU.
I have used settings based on films and books.
And I have a completely homebrew setting.
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It's complex.
I used to and at times still mess with the OTU. However, since I am currently working with Traveller5 and my players aren't to keen on the OTU, I am now working on my second ATU. (A friend of mine totally took me to town on the first ATU.)
I used to and at times still mess with the OTU. However, since I am currently working with Traveller5 and my players aren't to keen on the OTU, I am now working on my second ATU. (A friend of mine totally took me to town on the first ATU.)
I do OTU and homebrew.
I have four base settings, and working on a fifth.
First is my Greater Magellanic Clouds games, totally non-canon (mind you I haven't used this setting for something like ten years)
Second is the Faraway Sector, Nelson sector, located six sectors rimward of Canopus. Some interaction with the OTU but very limited (haven't used this one for about five years)
Third is Interstellar Wars.
Forth is Gateway domain in M0, most of my games are set here.
The one I'm working on is Hadji sector, close enough to interact with the OTU but far enough away to be "independent"
I'm also thinking about expanding my "Winter Blooms" setting (http://jtas.sjgames.com/login/article.cgi?1343 and http://jtas.sjgames.com/login/article.cgi?1373 and http://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/advents/ladyluck.html) into something more usable
Oh and I'm currently writing an adventure for the Spinward Marches that will need to be playtested someday. It was going to be submitted to either Mongoose or JTAS, but I'm already up to 2,000 words and not even a third of the way through
Mind you since the earthquake all my players have left town, so I haven't actually run a game for over a year.
First is my Greater Magellanic Clouds games, totally non-canon (mind you I haven't used this setting for something like ten years)
Second is the Faraway Sector, Nelson sector, located six sectors rimward of Canopus. Some interaction with the OTU but very limited (haven't used this one for about five years)
Third is Interstellar Wars.
Forth is Gateway domain in M0, most of my games are set here.
The one I'm working on is Hadji sector, close enough to interact with the OTU but far enough away to be "independent"
I'm also thinking about expanding my "Winter Blooms" setting (http://jtas.sjgames.com/login/article.cgi?1343 and http://jtas.sjgames.com/login/article.cgi?1373 and http://www.freelancetraveller.com/features/advents/ladyluck.html) into something more usable
Oh and I'm currently writing an adventure for the Spinward Marches that will need to be playtested someday. It was going to be submitted to either Mongoose or JTAS, but I'm already up to 2,000 words and not even a third of the way through
Mind you since the earthquake all my players have left town, so I haven't actually run a game for over a year.
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Most of the time I run something close to the OTU, I have a CT campaign timeline based on a sheared timeline that overshot the kick off of the Rebellion back in the day by about a game year by the time we got the JTAS/Challenge TNS article, even when you factor in Com-Lag from Capital/Core a few months had passed since we should have got the news, and we where hitting X-Boat stations every 45 days at the most, we even had a PSA contract that had us siting on the sub-sector Capital for the month the news of the assassination should have reached us, I use that timeline when I want to run a CT game and dodge the Rebellion.
ATM I'm working on a Pocket Empire that could or could not be part of the OTU way spinward of the Marches and a good way past Far Frontiers in a Sector that the Impies call "Far Beyond" if it's part of something close to the OTU. Hell the main Race may be a Major Race, but how they required J-Drives is lost to history since how it happened originally was Top Secret and the "Empire" that developed it fell centuries ago (apx 100 IC)
ATM I'm working on a Pocket Empire that could or could not be part of the OTU way spinward of the Marches and a good way past Far Frontiers in a Sector that the Impies call "Far Beyond" if it's part of something close to the OTU. Hell the main Race may be a Major Race, but how they required J-Drives is lost to history since how it happened originally was Top Secret and the "Empire" that developed it fell centuries ago (apx 100 IC)
Gray Pennell
SOC-12
I mostly start with an OTU and go from there. Its nice to have building blocks that I can work with. Its like building a house using store bought fixtures.
I started Traveller with my own setting then found it did not work out. And, slowly with CT AM Solomani, it won me over to the OTU.
Since then, I play in the OTU but never in a populated or dense corner - so in a sense I am still making stuff up. For me the background is the reward for seasoned players who may get the inside jokes that have been long running in Traveller.
Since then, I play in the OTU but never in a populated or dense corner - so in a sense I am still making stuff up. For me the background is the reward for seasoned players who may get the inside jokes that have been long running in Traveller.
30 years ago, my gaming group, we started with the Spinward Marches, played some RPG then wargamed the Fith Frontier War and the Imperium lost and the campaign went on from there for years as sort of a shared milieu.
Now I have just roughed out four sectors care of travellermap and am carrying on with 75 years after the 1248 era.
Now I have just roughed out four sectors care of travellermap and am carrying on with 75 years after the 1248 era.
"Detail what parts of Traveller you do (or don't) use in your campaign"
I use a large part of the OTU, as it's a bit easier to deal with experienced player's expectations. However, my Traveller universe has some differences;
- The Imperium is generally a bit evil. This is probably canon, but I don't want to argue that point. My Imperium is highly socially stratified (which is why SOC is one of the six most important things about any character). My Imperium is also a fair bit smaller.
- Less freedom of movement for "ordinary" people. High, mid and low passage muster benefits imtu give the right to purchase passage (and you start with a "free" one per benefit). Ship skills qualify for crew, and prior service allows certain "rights" similar to those enjoyed by medieval guild members. This applies to the socially divided Imperium, the politically controlled Solomani, and certainly to the Zhods. However, on the fringes, it's all a bit Firefly - you can probably get passage etc, but if the Imps find out, you're in right trouble.
- No really big ships. Anything over 1,000t is very rare and is either military or run by a megacorp, etc.
-I've got Droyne, Vargr and Hivers, but most other aliens are taken from SF (as I don't need to pay royalties, so Aslan=kzinti, etc). And simply because of the song "Stuck In The Middle With You" I have the Jokers and the Clowns.
-Anything over TL12 is very rare. No "super batteries" or backpack fusion plants, so lasers, etc are heavy support weapons, not sidearms. No meson guns until I get a note signed by Freeman Dyson saying they're possible.
-My timeline is highly compressed, with Vilani culture being much younger - achieving FTL about 1200AD, and the current date is less than 200 years from now.
-My Ancients (and Droyne) are intelligent tool-using dinosaurs from Earth who are the descendants of STL crews who were off-planet when the KT Event happened. Their STL ships were rather slow. Eventually a group settled in the Marches, where they discovered the Rech Fruit - which when grown under certain conditions imtu makes Droyne smarter and more aggressive, much like Niven's Protectors. My Ancients are not responsible for settling humanity all over the shop and making the Vargr - that's something the Hivers did (my Hiver civilisations are perhaps older than the OTU Hivers).
-Much colonisation was STL, and so there's a chance that people alive today in the real world are still around imtu. Most of the STL colony ships have landed or been evacuated by Jump-capable ships, but there are a few still out there.
I use a large part of the OTU, as it's a bit easier to deal with experienced player's expectations. However, my Traveller universe has some differences;
- The Imperium is generally a bit evil. This is probably canon, but I don't want to argue that point. My Imperium is highly socially stratified (which is why SOC is one of the six most important things about any character). My Imperium is also a fair bit smaller.
- Less freedom of movement for "ordinary" people. High, mid and low passage muster benefits imtu give the right to purchase passage (and you start with a "free" one per benefit). Ship skills qualify for crew, and prior service allows certain "rights" similar to those enjoyed by medieval guild members. This applies to the socially divided Imperium, the politically controlled Solomani, and certainly to the Zhods. However, on the fringes, it's all a bit Firefly - you can probably get passage etc, but if the Imps find out, you're in right trouble.
- No really big ships. Anything over 1,000t is very rare and is either military or run by a megacorp, etc.
-I've got Droyne, Vargr and Hivers, but most other aliens are taken from SF (as I don't need to pay royalties, so Aslan=kzinti, etc). And simply because of the song "Stuck In The Middle With You" I have the Jokers and the Clowns.
-Anything over TL12 is very rare. No "super batteries" or backpack fusion plants, so lasers, etc are heavy support weapons, not sidearms. No meson guns until I get a note signed by Freeman Dyson saying they're possible.
-My timeline is highly compressed, with Vilani culture being much younger - achieving FTL about 1200AD, and the current date is less than 200 years from now.
-My Ancients (and Droyne) are intelligent tool-using dinosaurs from Earth who are the descendants of STL crews who were off-planet when the KT Event happened. Their STL ships were rather slow. Eventually a group settled in the Marches, where they discovered the Rech Fruit - which when grown under certain conditions imtu makes Droyne smarter and more aggressive, much like Niven's Protectors. My Ancients are not responsible for settling humanity all over the shop and making the Vargr - that's something the Hivers did (my Hiver civilisations are perhaps older than the OTU Hivers).
-Much colonisation was STL, and so there's a chance that people alive today in the real world are still around imtu. Most of the STL colony ships have landed or been evacuated by Jump-capable ships, but there are a few still out there.
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For most of my play, my 'OTU' was defined by LBB 1-3, 5, & 6 and Supp 12 & 2 mentions of 'Imperium'.
Notably, the 'OTU' as defined in those books didn't have any of the OTU aliens (Book 7 & 8 made references - but I did not have those till the CT Re-prints), there was no 'charted space' (no maps, just blank forms) and, of course, no backstory.
So, royalty was generally just hereditary titles (really just that provided by SOC), maybe wealth - but no inherent political power (though not unusual for politicians and dictators to have). Aliens were not common (at least mixing with humans). Robots were not uncommon - even had occasional free AI ones. PCs were human and had no knowledge of 1,000's of years of history, especially nothing going back to an 'Earth'. The Imperium government was basically a faceless entity that had very little to do with PCs.
Aside from some house rulings dealing mostly with combat, no Teleporation (psionics was really rare), and some custom gear - essentially just played the game based on those limited resources. Had a few Judge's guide adventure/maps - but the quality was so poor never used anything but one map (as a play surface).
Everything else was homebrew - and still is - though I've done a bit of OTU in PbP. Really, I rarely play with 'settings' that exceed much in the way of 'locales' related to a given adventure, since rarely play campaigns and no sandboxes - I have maps and descriptions of encountered tech, society, government and we just wing it from there...
Notably, the 'OTU' as defined in those books didn't have any of the OTU aliens (Book 7 & 8 made references - but I did not have those till the CT Re-prints), there was no 'charted space' (no maps, just blank forms) and, of course, no backstory.
So, royalty was generally just hereditary titles (really just that provided by SOC), maybe wealth - but no inherent political power (though not unusual for politicians and dictators to have). Aliens were not common (at least mixing with humans). Robots were not uncommon - even had occasional free AI ones. PCs were human and had no knowledge of 1,000's of years of history, especially nothing going back to an 'Earth'. The Imperium government was basically a faceless entity that had very little to do with PCs.
Aside from some house rulings dealing mostly with combat, no Teleporation (psionics was really rare), and some custom gear - essentially just played the game based on those limited resources. Had a few Judge's guide adventure/maps - but the quality was so poor never used anything but one map (as a play surface).
Everything else was homebrew - and still is - though I've done a bit of OTU in PbP. Really, I rarely play with 'settings' that exceed much in the way of 'locales' related to a given adventure, since rarely play campaigns and no sandboxes - I have maps and descriptions of encountered tech, society, government and we just wing it from there...
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...or the uncertainty principle, The Imperium is in fact Schrödinger's cat, simultaneously both alive and dead, in more ways than just the interpetation of events. Though it does instantly become IMTU, you are correct, such as for me, if 1105 is 2nd century Rome, then my 1323 Imperium is 7th century Byzantium.
My default setting is about the same as that.
I also have a homebrew Faraway Sector with a mashup of influences.
Enoki
SOC-14 1K
Why reinvent the wheel? The amount of stuff available on Traveller on line and in the various canon publications etc., are only sufficent to make the barest inroads into a detailed Traveller universe. You can simply build on what's there to virtually no end. Simply pick a part of the existing Traveller universe that is less well known (ie., don't do the Spinward Marches) and you can have all the room to create you want.
I do the Glimmerdrift and Hinterworlds myself. These provide massive amounts of creative room for play.
I do the Glimmerdrift and Hinterworlds myself. These provide massive amounts of creative room for play.
I stick to the most densely documented region of the OTU for precisely the reason Enoki mentions: There's barely enough material to provide a minumum of background material even there. I stay inside the Duchy of Regina as much as possible, with the occasional foray into the surrounding areas (such as dabbling a bit with the Sword Worlds
). Sometimes I get an idea that won't really work in the Marches, but then I just look around for a place where I can make it work. There's room and to spare in Charted Space.Hans
Icosahedron
SOC-14 1K
When I started playing there was no wheel.
I began MTU before the OTU was published. Back then you had no choice but to create your own. For a while I was out of touch with what was happening in the Traveller Community, and by the time I discovered that an OTU existed it was far too different from mine to integrate. I especially didn't like the OTU aliens.
Yes, it's a lot of hard work to create an ATU but, realistically, whether you play OTU or ATU, you rarely need more than a subsector in play - the rest is little more than a nebulous rumour, so there are limits to what you need to do and you can import setting-independent stuff anyway.
I haven't found inventing my own wheel to be a burden - especially since the official construct is somewhat 'pear shaped' IMO.
BlackBat242
SOC-14 1K
Well, my general setting is based on the OTU... but the late IW period... and even then there is s significant divergence.
Basically, there is no "2nd Imperium/Rule of Man"... instead of the Vilani Imperium collapsing when a teeny-tiny Terran Confederation nudges it a little, it basically ignored them for just a little too long.
When they finally decided to squash the upstarts, the forces that could be brought to bear were basically similar in power, and the fight resulted in an eventual stalemate... and the establishment of a one subsector-wide "demilitarized zone" across the narrow part of the OTU Imperium about halfway between Core and Sol sectors.
This "Cold War" situation has lasted for most of the OTU 2nd Imperium period... but in less than 100 years the war will kick back off with a vastly increased intensity.
This will cause the collapse of both polities, and bring on the "Long Night" (as scheduled in the OTU).
So far, most adventuring has been done in the Reavers' Deep sector, which is not as colonized as in the OTU material on that sector and its subsector. RD is still a true "frontier" sector in my setting, with an Aslan-controlled group of systems, the TC controlling about 2/3 of the Drexilthar sub-sector, several "pocket Empires", and a few minor race multi-world groupings, as well as a few low-tech alien species and lots of basically non-settled worlds.
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