Wiki Article: Safari (10 September 2016)

[maksimsmelchak]

Wiki Article: Safari

At the risk of opening a can of worms as too many cat herders and monkey jugglers have discovered...

Please check out this wiki article: [http://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Safari ]

I have attempted to research and synthesize several decades of Traveller lore about safaris, mostly canon, and a little bit not-so-much canon...

And constructive feedback and non-troll feedback welcome... LOL

Thank you!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

 

[Whipsnade]

Shriekers are a game animal? Really? A sentient minor race is a game animal?

Their eggs were collectors' items until the Imperium found out what they were, but no one had been actually hunting the adults and displaying stuffed trophies of the same.

And the daghadasi too? The centerpiece of Traveller's first and perhaps only "eco-adventure"? The animals slaughtered to such an extent that the Imperium actually imposed harvesting limits on a megacorp? Suddenly, the daghadasi are game animals for any touring hunter who happens to have a laser-armed submersible hydrofoil with enough missiles?

I also notice there's no mention of photo/video safaris on the page despite the hunting section in Safari Ship specifically mentioning them.

Wiki, where anyone can upload anything.

 

[maksimsmelchak]

Hi Whipsnade,

Shriekers are a game animal? Really? A sentient minor race is a game animal?

Their eggs were collectors' items until the Imperium found out what they were, but no one had been actually hunting the adults and displaying stuffed trophies of the same.

And the daghadasi too? The centerpiece of Traveller's first and perhaps only "eco-adventure"? The animals slaughtered to such an extent that the Imperium actually imposed harvesting limits on a megacorp? Suddenly, the daghadasi are game animals for any touring hunter who happens to have a laser-armed submersible hydrofoil with enough missiles?

Part of the storyline is that they are not "sophonts" and the adventurers discover that they are...

*** What do you recommend for an approach that preserves that plot point? ***

They are definitely part of hunting expeditions or safaris...

I also notice there's no mention of photo/video safaris on the page despite the hunting section in Safari Ship specifically mentioning them.

Great point. Thank you for sharing it. I will have to try and include that valuable observation later.

Wiki, where anyone can upload anything.

I think you come up with really neat stuff when you are being constructive and positive... If you just want to riff on negative themes, then perhaps it's best to not reply. Sarcasm can be fun, but really making something, or at least trying, sometimes involves being a little more positive and serious.

I'd love your help in making the article more true to the storyline... Please help if you are willing.

Thanks for responding.

Shalom,
M.

 

[Whipsnade]

Part of the storyline is that they are not "sophonts" and the adventurers discover that they are...

No. The plot is that no one even knows the Shriekers exist.

Denuli had stumbled across the gems bearing his name in the Valley of Memories nearly 700 years earlier. He either never encountered Shrieker breeding pairs on pilgrimage or kept that information secret for obvious reasons as he was stealing their eggs.

The PCs' expedition is chasing down rumors of a "... staggeringly beautiful trapper with a translucent multi-colored crest..." that Thingvellir wants to identify and name after himself. He'd heard the rumors from another free trader crewman whose ship had spent time on the planet making repairs.

Because the crewman's story didn't include maps, the expedition has to look around and that's when the Shriekers are contacted. There are even specific entries in the animal encounter tables to trigger that contact.

The PCs aren't there to shoot Shriekers. They aren't even there to look for Shriekers.

*** What do you recommend for an approach that preserves that plot point? ***

The best approach would be to actually comprehend the adventure's plot.

Another good approach would be to fix all the stuff already in the Wiki before adding more.

Please help if you are willing.

My advice for and opinion of the Wiki has been made abundantly clear; it's clogged with fanon and other dreck making it less and less useful with each upload of the same. Fix what you've already got before adding your name to any new "articles".

 

[mike wightman]

No mention of the hunting expedition scenario from Kinunir - hunting tree kraken on Knorbes?
There is also rumour J in the same adventure:

J. A member of Travellers (age 34, 397479) says that he once accompanied the
Emperor's cousin on a hunt at Menorb (0203) at the Imperial game preserve,
hunting vicious tree krakens. He insists that the liver of these little beasts is used in
the Emperor's own anagathic preparations.

There is also this patron encounter in 76 patrons:

9. Scout Required Skills: none Required Equipment: starship
Players' Information:
The players are contacted by Josiah Renton, a retired scout. A small religious
group has offered him Cr2,000,000 if he will bring them a mating pair of Rowan's
beasts, which are necessary for certain rituals. These animals are now found only on
Feor, an Imperial reservation world. Renton has obtained a map chip of the planet
and a partial report on Feor that mentions the range of the animals, but he lacks a
means of getting to the planet. He will split the payment 50150 if the group will
provide transport.

 

[Whipsnade]

No mention of the hunting expedition scenario from Kinunir - hunting tree kraken on Knorbes?

Of course not. Who is going to go after tree krakens when Shriekers and daghadasi await?

There is also this patron encounter in 76 patrons...

Note that the religious group needs a mating pair of the beasts. A living pair of the beasts.

I guess all safaris don't involve taxidermy.

 

[maksimsmelchak]

The best approach would be to actually comprehend the adventure's plot.

Sigh. Thanks anyway.

I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised and have you do more than armchair quarterback and make snide remarks.

Hope you have a great day!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

 

[Whipsnade]

Sigh. Thanks anyway.

Don't thank me.

I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised and have you do more than armchair quarterback and make snide remarks.

Not my monkey, not my circus, Maxie.

You've had my advise for months now and this new "Safari" page only further illustrates the problems I pointed out then. The Wiki doesn't need more poorly researched, "doesn't understand the sources" crap. It's already got more than enough of that.

You listed the Shriekers as a game animal because you didn't understand the adventure in question, you listed the daghadasi as a game animal because you didn't understand the adventure they appear in either, you completely missed two game animals easily found in the game's first adventure, and you left out the section concerning non-lethal "photo" safaris despite that being the actual type of safari in Safari Ship.

Yet you think this new "Safari" page so how helps the Wiki? Really?

Try fixing the crap already choking the Wiki before stamping your name on more marginal articles.

Hope you have a great day!

And a passive-aggressive day to you too.

 

[Timerover51]

While this is from material outside of the Traveller canon, James Schmitz story Novice covers the Baluit crest cats of the planet of Jontarou, who are intelligent, telepathic, and by far the finest practitioners of camouflage in the Known Universe. They negotiated a treaty with Schmitz's Federation allowing for the hunting of Crest Cats under the specified conditions as that gave them the enjoyment of hunting men. The exchange rate is said to be about one-to-one.

The you also have the short story, "The Most Dangerous Game", where men are both the hunted and hunter. See the following link here.

https://archive.org/stream/TheMostDangerousGame_129/danger.txt

You could have planets in the Aslan and Vargr sphere that have game ranches where the game is humans, being hunted in a primitive area for sport. I also remember a published adventure that had Aslan being hunted by a rancher on a planet. Then you have the Crested Jabberwock in JTAS 15, located on the planet of Kassan (Vega 0101 A-785757-E) in the Solomani Rim. The is described as:

the challenge of Jabberwock hunting has long been considered the ultimate proof of courage and skill in some circles.

L. Sprague de Camp's story, "A Gun for Dinosaur" could be readily adapted to a primitive planet with controlled hunting. Other science fiction possibilities would be Andre Norton's Star Hunter and Voodoo Planet, which I can remember reading as an Ace Double many, many moons ago, and which can be found on Project Gutenberg. For those with limited knowledge of hunting, I would highly recommend the works of Samuel Baker, also on Project Gutenberg, and Col. Jim Corbett's accounts of man-eater hunting in India.

I am presently working on a novel set in my Alternate Traveller Universe about a planet set up by the Ancients as a North American Rancho Le Brea reserve, with the flora and fauna of North America of about 300,000 years ago.

 

[maksimsmelchak]

While this is from material outside of the Traveller canon, James Schmitz story Novice covers the Baluit crest cats of the planet of Jontarou, who are intelligent, telepathic, and by far the finest practitioners of camouflage in the Known Universe. They negotiated a treaty with Schmitz's Federation allowing for the hunting of Crest Cats under the specified conditions as that gave them the enjoyment of hunting men. The exchange rate is said to be about one-to-one.

The you also have the short story, "The Most Dangerous Game", where men are both the hunted and hunter. See the following link here.

https://archive.org/stream/TheMostDangerousGame_129/danger.txt

You could have planets in the Aslan and Vargr sphere that have game ranches where the game is humans, being hunted in a primitive area for sport. I also remember a published adventure that had Aslan being hunted by a rancher on a planet. Then you have the Crested Jabberwock in JTAS 15, located on the planet of Kassan (Vega 0101 A-785757-E) in the Solomani Rim. The is described as:



L. Sprague de Camp's story, "A Gun for Dinosaur" could be readily adapted to a primitive planet with controlled hunting. Other science fiction possibilities would be Andre Norton's Star Hunter and Voodoo Planet, which I can remember reading as an Ace Double many, many moons ago, and which can be found on Project Gutenberg. For those with limited knowledge of hunting, I would highly recommend the works of Samuel Baker, also on Project Gutenberg, and Col. Jim Corbett's accounts of man-eater hunting in India.

I am presently working on a novel set in my Alternate Traveller Universe about a planet set up by the Ancients as a North American Rancho Le Brea reserve, with the flora and fauna of North America of about 300,000 years ago.

Very cool. Thanks for sharing.

Shalom,
M.

 

[nobby-w]

Note that the religious group needs a mating pair of the beasts. A living pair of the beasts.

Rowan's beast : Larger carnivorous pack animal native to Feor. Distantly related to the common Tribble ...

 

[Whipsnade]

Rowan's beast : Larger carnivorous pack animal native to Feor. Distantly related to the common Tribble ...

Tribbles? That would be a nasty twist.

Adding the list, how about Niven's bandersnatchi? They're also intelligent but, as a geneered species, they're resistant to psioincs by design. They live in the high pressure/temperature equatorial regions of Jinx and allow humans to hunt them as a way to "earn" protheses and other tools.

Like any good writer, Niven lifted the idea from Schmitz and then gave it his own twist.

 

[maksimsmelchak]

Rowan's beast : Larger carnivorous pack animal native to Feor. Distantly related to the common Tribble ...

Hey Nobby,

*** Who doesn't have enough large carnivorous pack animals? ***

Shalom,
M.

 

[Timerover51]

Hey Nobby,

*** Who doesn't have enough large carnivorous pack animals? ***

Shalom,
M.

Large carnivorous pack animals imply the existence of even larger prey animals. A reasonable minimum difference in size would be the prey being at least 3 times the mass of the individual predators, and quite probably more. An individual moose might weigh 5 times as much or more than the average wolf. American Bison bulls could reach a ton in mass.

 

[mike wightman]

Not necessarily, they could just eat lots of small prey animals.
Owl vs mouse for example.

 

[aramis]

Not necessarily, they could just eat lots of small prey animals.
Owl vs mouse for example.

Pack hunters tend to go for big prey around 1 to 3 times their own mass as a general rule. Both the pack hunting big cats (lions, occasionally cheetahs and domestic cats), and the pack hunting canids (wolves, coyotes, some foxes), and the Hyena tend to pack hunt for young herd animals that don't outmass the individuals by too much. They can and will, in need, go for larger... Note that for domestic cats, the maximum pack prey is rabbits of sizes similar to their own, and it's actually rather dangerous for them to do so... but they can and do occasionally group hunt just like lions. My grandfather's cats used to take chickens that out-massed any one cat 2:1... but 3 cats together... Dead, half-eaten chicken.

And the coyote? He was about the same mass as the turkey he died while eating... (.30-06 induced hot-lead poisoning...)