Adventure locations
- Thread starter parmasson
- Start date
Much as I love the frontier as a setting, I believe every planet to be a frontier of sorts just waiting to be explored.
Therefore, even Capital itself would yield its secrets very slowly. Yes, everyone knows about the Imperial Palace and Grounds. But, what lies hidden amongst the University grounds or lies beneath in vast array of sewers and waste disposal sites. I often steal a bit from Fading Suns (esp. Byzantium Secundus sourcebook) for my Core systems and leave the frontier to more settled climes.
Blue Planet also rates up there for a real frontier planet. As one of the problems that Traveller has had up to now is to build really convincing planets and civilizations. Part of it is that players are transitory. But, describe a few really wicked worlds...it would do much to spur the imagination.
(And yes, I count those worldbooks by GT to lumped in with the rest of what Traveller has done up to now. Just quite bland compared to some of its competitors.)
Therefore, even Capital itself would yield its secrets very slowly. Yes, everyone knows about the Imperial Palace and Grounds. But, what lies hidden amongst the University grounds or lies beneath in vast array of sewers and waste disposal sites. I often steal a bit from Fading Suns (esp. Byzantium Secundus sourcebook) for my Core systems and leave the frontier to more settled climes.
Blue Planet also rates up there for a real frontier planet. As one of the problems that Traveller has had up to now is to build really convincing planets and civilizations. Part of it is that players are transitory. But, describe a few really wicked worlds...it would do much to spur the imagination.
(And yes, I count those worldbooks by GT to lumped in with the rest of what Traveller has done up to now. Just quite bland compared to some of its competitors.)
Keklas Rekobah
SOC-14 1K
"Within a pocket empire or a smaller state"
A small pocket empire, about 13 parsecs across.
Small towns can provide some adventure hooks, especially when based on real ones. I use real city maps to fill in the details of the towns IMTU. For example, my home town of Grand Ledge, Michigan provides plenty of detail for a Traveller setting.
A grain elevator (Sorry, no quadro-triticale).
A lumber yard (Well, until it burned down nigh on to thirty years ago).
A brick factory (Hasn't been in business for a long, long time).
A clay tile factory.
A furniture factory.
A chemical plant (closed superfund site).
A rail yard.
Two opera/play houses.
An airport (Spaceport? "Them parts will hafta come in from about 3 parsecs out. Meantimes, you all can park that thing over there next to that wedgie ship.").
A series of small caves, coal mines, and gravel pits ("Hey mister! Y'wanna see the neat coins I found?").
The usual commercial interests ("How much is that PGMP in the window?").
A large amount of laid-off auto workers ("Yeah, I knows how to drive a... whadja call that thing again?").
And about as many bars as churches.
This city is divided into quarters by the river and the highway, which intersect each other downtown. Each quarter seems to have its own culture and dominant ethnicity.
The river cut through some sandstone deposits, making for a small-scale 'Grand Canyon' with climbing, hiking, and camping facilities.
There must be a lot of 'Rust Belt' towns that can be adapted. Appalachia should provide some smaller towns to map out.
I use these types of settings to provide the PC's with a TL6/7 setting for R&R, wilderness treks, and pick-up points for new PC's. They also seem to adapt well to a 'Firefly' -like adventure.
A small pocket empire, about 13 parsecs across.
Small towns can provide some adventure hooks, especially when based on real ones. I use real city maps to fill in the details of the towns IMTU. For example, my home town of Grand Ledge, Michigan provides plenty of detail for a Traveller setting.
A grain elevator (Sorry, no quadro-triticale).
A lumber yard (Well, until it burned down nigh on to thirty years ago).
A brick factory (Hasn't been in business for a long, long time).
A clay tile factory.
A furniture factory.
A chemical plant (closed superfund site).
A rail yard.
Two opera/play houses.
An airport (Spaceport? "Them parts will hafta come in from about 3 parsecs out. Meantimes, you all can park that thing over there next to that wedgie ship.").
A series of small caves, coal mines, and gravel pits ("Hey mister! Y'wanna see the neat coins I found?").
The usual commercial interests ("How much is that PGMP in the window?").
A large amount of laid-off auto workers ("Yeah, I knows how to drive a... whadja call that thing again?").
And about as many bars as churches.
This city is divided into quarters by the river and the highway, which intersect each other downtown. Each quarter seems to have its own culture and dominant ethnicity.
The river cut through some sandstone deposits, making for a small-scale 'Grand Canyon' with climbing, hiking, and camping facilities.
There must be a lot of 'Rust Belt' towns that can be adapted. Appalachia should provide some smaller towns to map out.
I use these types of settings to provide the PC's with a TL6/7 setting for R&R, wilderness treks, and pick-up points for new PC's. They also seem to adapt well to a 'Firefly' -like adventure.
Somewhere in between beyond the border of a large empire and on the border of a very small "empire."
Specifically, IMTU the campaign centers around two powerful lost colonies from an Exudos from Terra at the late TL9 stage (but still no J drive). The colonists believe Earth was overrun and enslaved by the alien menace they fled. Unbenownst to them humans survived and over the centuries the Imperium came into being and has slowly expanded in their direction. No destiantions were ever recorded for these Exudos ships so the Imperium keeps stumbling across lost colonies from time to time that are usually more trouble than they are worth.
The "lost colonies" discovered J drive independently and two powerfull colonies have fashioned rough hegemonies/alliances around themselves. Colonies are really a bad word as one is pop A (barely) high TL12, the other pop B and TL11. Treaties between these two powerhouses have given the "colonies" of these worlds a fair degree of independence.
Then there are a few small alien empires, and one powerfull yet samll one (low TL14) coreward between the colonies and the Imperium. Wars and treaties have left "neutral zones" between several of these as well. Then there are the rumored beserkers and the bugs. It's a very dangerous space. Taxes are high to support massive defense spending so there is a strong incentive for trade in the unregulated "neutral zones." The area is rife with nebula and navigational hazards so for brave and skilled navigators there are many ways to get from point A to point B.
Specifically, IMTU the campaign centers around two powerful lost colonies from an Exudos from Terra at the late TL9 stage (but still no J drive). The colonists believe Earth was overrun and enslaved by the alien menace they fled. Unbenownst to them humans survived and over the centuries the Imperium came into being and has slowly expanded in their direction. No destiantions were ever recorded for these Exudos ships so the Imperium keeps stumbling across lost colonies from time to time that are usually more trouble than they are worth.
The "lost colonies" discovered J drive independently and two powerfull colonies have fashioned rough hegemonies/alliances around themselves. Colonies are really a bad word as one is pop A (barely) high TL12, the other pop B and TL11. Treaties between these two powerhouses have given the "colonies" of these worlds a fair degree of independence.
Then there are a few small alien empires, and one powerfull yet samll one (low TL14) coreward between the colonies and the Imperium. Wars and treaties have left "neutral zones" between several of these as well. Then there are the rumored beserkers and the bugs. It's a very dangerous space. Taxes are high to support massive defense spending so there is a strong incentive for trade in the unregulated "neutral zones." The area is rife with nebula and navigational hazards so for brave and skilled navigators there are many ways to get from point A to point B.
I count 34 members vote and only 13 votes shown in one category and 4 members voted with a tally of 38?
What kind of a pole is that?
One where the instructions are "pick two" rather than "Pick only your favorite."
Edit: Correction to match the poll creator's directions
Last edited:
Pick 2
The majority of my adventures are set in TNE wilds (heading out to and back from Depots on ship hunting trips)
Some are available as Keklas Rekobah so nicely laid out in back water planets.
The majority of my adventures are set in TNE wilds (heading out to and back from Depots on ship hunting trips)
Some are available as Keklas Rekobah so nicely laid out in back water planets.
When I get round to it I'm planning on running a campaign with no empire, just independant worlds. Some systems may even have seperate states for each world in a system and seperate states in a world.
Previously I've played set in the Spinward Marches but not really had the Imperium play any role in the game other than being there.
So no empires for me
Previously I've played set in the Spinward Marches but not really had the Imperium play any role in the game other than being there.
So no empires for me
Shadowrunner
SOC-12
Universities have cadet and reserve programmes and are abundant with historical rumours. "IF", directed by Lindsay Anderson in 1969 portrays schoolboys finding a cache of WW2 weapons in their college and one can easily imagine a forgetful professor mislaying valuable or dangerous items.
Heating systems are upgraded over the years and in the case of Victorian buildings, they can be left intact, leaving heating tunnels which connect buildings and access or reveal subterranean caches or forgotten rooms. Harry Potter takes it to the extreme, but archaic academic institutions would have an abundance of redundant disused or forbidden architecture.
I come from Cheltenham, home of GCHQ ("Euro-Pentagon"), home of the first flight of the jet engine, home of a surviving Russian princess (hence the Faberge eggs in the local museum), home to many many secrets in the last 100 or so years. When you try to scientifically account for the abundance of royal, military and intelligence secrets in this "sleepy" rural town, then there are some clues. It is built on limestone, has soft water, is one of the first places of altitude that the Gulfstream hits, it's geographical location and topography all make sense as a "cold war" safe haven for the intelligence community, yet it is relatively close enough to the capital for commuting. There are some clues to the "sleepyness".
The unusual number of US military number plates, the strange road signs marking unmarked paths, the unusual aircraft, vehicles, patterns all are big clues that it is not just about GCHQ, but these facts are not readily available, until you actually visit and even then you would have to know a little or care a little to discover these secrets. It is aided by the disposition of the "sleepy" locals, situated in the "mild mild West", the location is generally affluent, conservative, traditional and establishment-oriented. In other words, it is the ideal location to site a crucially important security or defence project or to accomodate a VIP in some safety. Gloucestershire once had the highest concentration of US forces anywhere in Europe, but driving through you wouldn't know it, except for the occasional space shuttle/747 or lost B-52 heading for Fairford. It's also relatively close to Bristol and Boscombe Down and also the SAS HQ and Marine HQ. In fact very little is in the capital, but these sites are all relatively close. Call Wales the Solomani and Scotland the Spinward Marches.
Personally I like the Spinward Marches and anything rimward, but also interested in Core/Solomani and 2300.
The ideal adventuring location in my Outer Veil setting is on the Outer Veil itself - the frontier of a "large" "empire" (Federated Nations of Humanity - centred on Earth and somewhat less than a sector in size). Authority is usually several weeks away by jump, so the PCs actions are important - if a colony needs saving, and you're around, you're the only one who can do this; if you're the captain of a 300-dton Patrol Frigate, you're the law and the government.
The Verge Sector.
It has the following advantages:
No official content to speak of written for it. (1 para. for Hard Times).
Largest area in the Imperium that doesn't belong to a domain.
A very large number of Scout bases, for an area that has been colonized for well over 4 millennia.
Low TL average for a sector that has been colonized for well over 4 millennia.
As 2 large polities nearby (Aslan Heirate & Solomani Confederation). Espionage opportunities abound.
The emptiness of the rift - lots of places to hide things.
It has the following advantages:
No official content to speak of written for it. (1 para. for Hard Times).
Largest area in the Imperium that doesn't belong to a domain.
A very large number of Scout bases, for an area that has been colonized for well over 4 millennia.
Low TL average for a sector that has been colonized for well over 4 millennia.
As 2 large polities nearby (Aslan Heirate & Solomani Confederation). Espionage opportunities abound.
The emptiness of the rift - lots of places to hide things.
I see plenty of Traveller story potential with the:
Thirz Empire
Society of Equals
Thoengling Empire
So, my vote(s) were for adventures just outside smaller states or pocket empires, the more outlander the better for that dash of unknown to a non-standard game. Go Gvurrdon or scamper back to your safe Imperium, humans.
Live from the Lone Star above Roethoeegaeaegz, this is the Pakkrat for Net-7 News.
Ma'am? I'll have another one of these. What do you call it again?
Thirz Empire
Society of Equals
Thoengling Empire
So, my vote(s) were for adventures just outside smaller states or pocket empires, the more outlander the better for that dash of unknown to a non-standard game. Go Gvurrdon or scamper back to your safe Imperium, humans.
Live from the Lone Star above Roethoeegaeaegz, this is the Pakkrat for Net-7 News.
Ma'am? I'll have another one of these. What do you call it again?
Ok - now look at the xboat routes within the Verge.
2 routes that go to the Illeish sector (Gallejat - Wells; Dirakhasu - Byrne). Both are on a spinward - trailing route that doesn't turn Coreward until Mordred, on the trailing side of Illeish.
And one that goes to the Reft Sector (and doesn't connect to anything else in the Imperium (Kameron - Haliburn).
Mail Centers? - Doesn't fit. See above.
Mail Ship Repair Centers? - Doesn't fit. See above.
Exploration Support Centers? - Area settled for 4 millennia.
Make work for field scouts? - Please, the 3rd Imperium is too cheap for that.
Intelligence Centers? Ding! Ding! Ding! - We have a winner! Where else would be a good place to hide the IISS Historical Division (and things it has recovered over the years).
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